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Post by inger on Jun 11, 2024 22:00:18 GMT -5
One of the reasons that I liked Tom Selleck in "Magnum, PI" in the 1980s was he was a baseball fan, specifically a Detroit Tigers' fan, both in real life and in the series. Lt. Tanaka as 5-O in the show always wore a Tigers' ball cap. Not unlike Thomas Magnum, in my closet you could find a gorilla mask and a rubber chicken and a fitted NY Yankees New Era ball cap, though Magnum wore the classic Detroit New Era cap. In the series, players' names were dropped from Kaline and Cash to Trammell and Whitaker. Selleck reportedly hit a home run in batting practice with the Tigers, and like Billy Crystal with the Yankees, Selleck got an at bat during a Spring Training game. Selleck fouled off six pitches before striking out. Selleck was a fine athlete, walking on at USC as a junior and then receiving a basketball scholarship as a senior. He was also a top notch volleyball and beach volleyball player. Yeah I like him too Rizz. The only thing I don’t like is when he hawks reverse mortgages. It’s a product he certainly doesn’t have nor need. What does he know about what a senior must do to live a fulfilling life and survive financially? Other than that, what a great voice. Good in westerns, too. That’s extra points with me. Just advertise something else, Tom… |
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Post by inger on Jun 11, 2024 23:10:59 GMT -5
Snuffy Sternweiss joined the little club of fellows that hit 2 doubles and 2 triples in the second game of a double header on Sept 3, 1945.
It’s easy to push Snuffy’s accomplishments aside as a “war time replacement player, but he was pretty good for his times.
Only two players have ever led their league in both offensive and defensive WAR. One was Wille Mays in 1954.
The other was Sternweiss with an OPS of .862 and an excellent DWAR of 2.8.
He led the majors with 22 triples in ‘45 as well. The year before he only led the AL with 16.
He starred in three sports at Fordham Preparatory School, a known alma mater of baseball talent. He was a football phenom in college at U. of North Carolina, where he stood out in both football and baseball. As a football player, he played quarterback, halfback & punter…
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Post by inger on Jun 12, 2024 7:02:33 GMT -5
Ed Stroud signed his first contract just a few weeks before he was called away to join in the Vietnam conflict.
He didn’t get started in the minors until he was 23, made the majors at 26. He went in to play in over 100 games on four of his six MLB seasons.
He hit two doubles and two triples in the same game on July 4, 1968…
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Post by inger on Jun 13, 2024 7:14:09 GMT -5
Gino Cimoli rapped a pair of doubles and a pair of triples in a game on April 27, 1962.
He was the first MLB player to step into the batters box after the West Coast migration.
Get a look at all the Hall of Famers Gino got to play ball with:
With Dodgers, Cimoli shared the dugout with Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Dick Williams & Walter Alston (mgr.). With PIT, he had Roberto Clemente &Bill Mazeroski. His Braves teammates were Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews & Warren Spahn. In St. Louis, Stan Musial & Bob Gibson were also on the team. In KC, Tony LaRussa &Luke Appling (Coach). Orioles Luis Aparicio, Robin Roberts & Brooks Robinson were there to greet him. The expansion Angels, however, didn’t have the stars that they would have later.
Also alumni of San Francisco’s Galileo H.S. were Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, one-time AL President Bobby Brown as well as Richard Goldman, co-owner of SFG, Walter A. Haas, Jr., owner of OAK.
Although he had a ten year career, Cimoli has the lowest WAR (1.3) of any player to perform the 2doubles/2triples feat…he never had a single season above 95+ OPS…
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Post by pippsheadache on Jun 13, 2024 8:48:33 GMT -5
Gino Cimoli rapped a pair of doubles and a pair of triples in a game on April 27, 1962. He was the first MLB player to step into the batters box after the West Coast migration. Get a look at all the Hall of Famers Gino got to play ball with: With Dodgers, Cimoli shared the dugout with Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Dick Williams & Walter Alston (mgr.). With PIT, he had Roberto Clemente &Bill Mazeroski. His Braves teammates were Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews & Warren Spahn. In St. Louis, Stan Musial & Bob Gibson were also on the team. In KC, Tony LaRussa &Luke Appling (Coach). Orioles Luis Aparicio, Robin Roberts & Brooks Robinson were there to greet him. The expansion Angels, however, didn’t have the stars that they would have later. Also alumni of San Francisco’s Galileo H.S. were Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, one-time AL President Bobby Brown as well as Richard Goldman, co-owner of SFG, Walter A. Haas, Jr., owner of OAK. Although he had a ten year career, Cimoli has the lowest WAR (1.3) of any player to perform the 2doubles/2triples feat…he never had a single season above 95+ OPS… Sounds like Gino hung out with the right crowd. An essential Baseball Card Guy for me, starting with his 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers card. By far my main memory of him was leading off the bottom of the eighth inning for Pittsburgh in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series. One of the most awful innings in the history of the Yankees. With the Yankees leading 7-4, Cimoli pinch hit for Roy Face against Bobby Shantz and got a base hit. Then Bill Virdon hit what should have been a double play grounder to Kubek that took that bad hop and hit Kubek in the throat, putting him out of the game and Cimoli on second. The Pirates went on to score five runs to take a 9-7 lead into the ninth, and although the Yankees valiantly tied in the top of the ninth, we know what happened afterward. Maz's shot was the one everyone remembers, but if that certain DP ball hadn't hit that stone or whatever it was, there would have been no ninth-inning heroics. Still ticks me off. |
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Post by inger on Jun 13, 2024 9:15:01 GMT -5
Gino Cimoli rapped a pair of doubles and a pair of triples in a game on April 27, 1962. He was the first MLB player to step into the batters box after the West Coast migration. Get a look at all the Hall of Famers Gino got to play ball with: With Dodgers, Cimoli shared the dugout with Roy Campanella, Don Drysdale, Gil Hodges, Sandy Koufax, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Dick Williams & Walter Alston (mgr.). With PIT, he had Roberto Clemente &Bill Mazeroski. His Braves teammates were Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews & Warren Spahn. In St. Louis, Stan Musial & Bob Gibson were also on the team. In KC, Tony LaRussa &Luke Appling (Coach). Orioles Luis Aparicio, Robin Roberts & Brooks Robinson were there to greet him. The expansion Angels, however, didn’t have the stars that they would have later. Also alumni of San Francisco’s Galileo H.S. were Joe DiMaggio, Tony Lazzeri, one-time AL President Bobby Brown as well as Richard Goldman, co-owner of SFG, Walter A. Haas, Jr., owner of OAK. Although he had a ten year career, Cimoli has the lowest WAR (1.3) of any player to perform the 2doubles/2triples feat…he never had a single season above 95+ OPS… Sounds like Gino hung out with the right crowd. An essential Baseball Card Guy for me, starting with his 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers card. By far my main memory of him was leading off the bottom of the eighth inning for Pittsburgh in Game Seven of the 1960 World Series. One of the most awful innings in the history of the Yankees. With the Yankees leading 7-4, Cimoli pinch hit for Roy Face against Bobby Shantz and got a base hit. Then Bill Virdon hit what should have been a double play grounder to Kubek that took that bad hop and hit Kubek in the throat, putting him out of the game and Cimoli on second. The Pirates went on to score five runs to take a 9-7 lead into the ninth, and although the Yankees valiantly tied in the top of the ninth, we know what happened afterward. Maz's shot was the one everyone remembers, but if that certain DP ball hadn't hit that stone or whatever it was, there would have been no ninth-inning heroics. Still ticks me off. I suppose the obverse of that play was the line drive that McCovey hit to Richardson in ‘62… |
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Post by azbob643 on Jun 13, 2024 9:34:45 GMT -5
I suppose the obverse of that play was the line drive that McCovey hit to Richardson in ‘62… I was so nervous that I couldn't watch when McCovey came to the plate, so I turned the TV up to full volume and sat outside on the stoop. I didn't see the play, but I heard it and was ecstatic. That play had been embellished a bit, saying that Richardson made a leaping grab, but it was pretty routine...fortunately Richardson had positioned himself exactly where McCovey hit it. I "met" Richardson, my boyhood hero, many years later at an old-timers game in Denver...  |
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Post by pippsheadache on Jun 13, 2024 9:56:42 GMT -5
I suppose the obverse of that play was the line drive that McCovey hit to Richardson in ‘62… I was so nervous that I couldn't watch when McCovey came to the plate, so I turned the TV up to full volume and sat outside on the stoop. I didn't see the play, but I heard it and was ecstatic. That play had been embellished a bit, saying that Richardson made a leaping grab, but it was pretty routine...fortunately Richardson had positioned himself exactly where McCovey hit it. I "met" Richardson, my boyhood hero, many years later at an old-timers game in Denver... That was about as nervous as I have ever been as a Yankee fan. That play was set up by Roger Maris getting to Willie Mays' double very quickly and firing a great throw to the infield to hold Matty Alou at third. Like you, I remember the embellishment that had Richardson making a leaping grab. Even though I had seen the actual play, in those pre-replay days after awhile I began thinking that maybe I missed it and he really did jump high in the air to stab it. But perfectly positioned for sure. Can you imagine -- Ralph Terry, who just two years earlier had given up the Mazeroski HR in Game Seven, was left in, a righty, to face the dangerous left-handed McCovey. With first base open and Cepeda on deck in a 1-0 game. I have no idea how many pitches Terry had thrown, but there is no way he would ever be left in today to even start the ninth in a situation like that. Marshall Bridges had replaced Luis Arroyo as the Yankee closer by then, and he had been pretty effective. Different game. |
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Post by azbob643 on Jun 13, 2024 10:07:46 GMT -5
Either way, it was as nerve-racking and exciting as a 9th inning World Series game/series ending scenario can get. |
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Post by inger on Jun 13, 2024 20:33:00 GMT -5
I’m certain by now that all of us know that Don Mattingly set a record in 1987 with six grand slams AND that he never hit another slam in any of his other seasons before, or after.
There’s another layer to that story as he also only had only one other XBH with the bases loaded…odd… so odd…
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Post by inger on Jun 13, 2024 20:54:18 GMT -5
The best hitting combination in baseball history is Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig from 1926 to 1934, when they terrorized MLB pitchers as the heart of the fabled Murderers’ Row.
The comparisons below are based on OPS+ unless otherwise noted…
1926 Ruth 225, Gehrig 152
1927 Ruth 225, Gehrig 220 (#1)
1928 Ruth 206, Gehrig 193 (#4)
1929 Ruth 193, Gehrig 166
1930 Ruth 211, Gehrig 203 (#2)
1931 Ruth 218, Gehrig 194 (#3)
1932 Ruth 201, Gehrig 181 (#5)
1933 Ruth 176, Gehrig 177
1934 Ruth 160, Gehrig 207…
👀…
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Post by inger on Jun 14, 2024 13:59:54 GMT -5
Jamie Moyer played in 50 MLB stadiums over his career…
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Post by inger on Jun 14, 2024 14:01:08 GMT -5
In 2017, pitcher Luis Perdomo of the Padres hit .109 (5 for 46). His five hits were a double and FOUR triples...
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Post by inger on Jun 14, 2024 14:12:01 GMT -5
In 1952, Virgil Trucks went 5-19. In those 5 wins he gave up 0, 2, 6, 1 and 0 hits - all CG except for the 2 hitter, which he went 7.2 innings...
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Post by inger on Jun 14, 2024 14:37:34 GMT -5
In 1912 Morrie Rath was the White Sox starting 2B. He led the AL in plate appearances with 711, yet drove in only 19 runs all season…
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