Yeah a lotta tweeners/borderliners alright
Jim Rice & Willie Horton help to define that line

Jim Ed, .298, 382 HR, 1,400+ RBI
Was inducted, but only after a long spell

Willie - .273, 325 HR, 1,100+ RBI - not inducted, but imo should be
His big comeback year w/Seattle was epic - made career highs in games (all 162) & ABs (646)

His longest hit ever
& it went for a single
OTDay, 1974
When Mike Schmidt hit a PA speaker located 117 feet in the air & 329 feet from home plate
The Houston rocket is later mathematically computed by a team of Rice University geeks, that it would’ve traveled 550 feet if unimpeded
But it was ruled a single b/c of Astrodome ground rules

Jim Wynn, same thing - the veteran TV announcer said it was the longest HR he’d ever seen hands down/bar none - great replay too of the Toy Cannon’s 1966 Crosley Field moon shot visibly returning to earth on I-75 in the far distance - Jim passed away in March

Which HOFer was drafted before Schmidt in the same draft?

Yeah a lotta tweeners/borderliners alright
Jim Rice & Willie Horton help to define that line

Jim Ed, .298, 382 HR, 1,400+ RBI
Was inducted, but only after a long spell

Willie - .273, 325 HR, 1,100+ RBI - not inducted, but imo should be
His big comeback year w/Seattle was epic - made career highs in games (all 162) & ABs (646)

Even as a Tigger fan I have to say no on Horton. Very good player but not a HOFer. He fit in with the Detroit 60s teams and was certainly a cog. Met him once, he signed my 1968 baseball card of him. Nice man.

Hmmm good ? - Robin Yount? (No clue)

B/c of his great defense, Dwight Evans should be at the forefront of consideration -
Dewey & Frank Howard are real close - Dwight, .272, 385 HR, 1,400+ RBI - Hondo, the Capital Punisher w/those tape-measure shots - .273, 382 HR, then 1,100+ RBI

He has the #s, throw the glove in w/it, & Dewey Belongs - the top RF of his era
Dwight btw passed Ted Williams for 2nd all time in games played w/Sox, on June 11, 1989

Can’t forget Nolan Ryan either - added to his record, Plus became the oldest to throw a no hitter - at the ripe old age of 43, On This Day, 1990 - can’t be topped, yeah Nolan brought the heat alright

What do you mean about Yount? I think he's definitely worthy of being a HOFer. Funny story about Yount. The Brewers were in town (Detroit) in 1984 and my grandpa took me and a couple friends downtown to see the game. We got our baseball cards together so we could get autographs. Got a whole bunch of Brewers. Jim Gantner was the nicest guy. He told me to root for the home team.

So our one buddy had a little league game and couldn't go. He gave me a card of Yount and asked me to get it signed. Yount signed mine and then I asked him to sign one more for my friend. I'll never forget this. His response,

"No Because Your Friend Is Yourself". I detested the guy for the rest of his career. Why would you say something like that to a kid?

Regarding Dwight Evans, yeah he was a great player. HOFer? Not in my opinion but still had a wonderful career. Question for you Mr. Boston : Boston had Evans, Fred Lynn, Jim Rice and Yaz on the team at the same time (I think) for a few years. I don't recall the exact years but how did they fit four great outfielders into the lineup? This was before they moved Yaz to first so did one of them DH?

Which HOFer was drafted before Schmidt in the same draft?

Hmmm good ? - Robin Yount? (No clue)

Yeah good ? about the OFs - when George Scott returned from Milwaukee in ‘77 the 1B job was his - then when he left after the ‘78 season Carl went to 1B & DH almost full time - that’s my recollection anyway 😮

Great Robin Yount story! Yeah he, Molitor, Gantner, Gorman Thomas etc were there (Milwkee) for a long time
No ? that if Yount isn’t in the HOF, he should be

Finally, it was 50 years ago today
W/kaleidoscope eyes a high flying Dock Ellis taught the Padres how to play 😮 - a no no for the ages

[Edited on 6/12/2020 by Stephen]

 

Hey, I've actually seen the Windy City Thunderbolts. Their stadium isn't too far from me. They used to have Tuesday night games for $2 ...... and fairly cheap beer. Stadium is a little weird - the grass and dirt are all astroturf.....

Today's title is brought to you by Major League Baseball. I don't care what side you might lean on but this is nuts. I have friends that are saying eff the whole thing. Too bad. Welcome back to 1994. 🙁

Today's title is brought to you by Major League Baseball. I don't care what side you might lean on but this is nuts. I have friends that are saying eff the whole thing. Too bad. Welcome back to 1994. 🙁

Totally agree, billionaires and millionaires trying to nickel and dime each others while millions are out of work and a pandemic continues. Screw them all!

I decided MLB will never see another dime from me when the Commissioner decided cheating to win the Championship meant nothing and that the teams were only playing for "a piece of metal."

MLB can go screw itself.

Yeah his 15-inning marathon w/Spahnie 3 weeks later was one for the ages
But the one on June 15 1963 is also one of the greatest pitching duels ever at Candlestick Park, or anywhere
Juan Marichal
pitches his first no hitter while Colt 45s counterpart Dick Drott is almost as good w/a 3-hitter as Juan wins 1-0

Today's title is brought to you by Major League Baseball. I don't care what side you might lean on but this is nuts. I have friends that are saying eff the whole thing. Too bad. Welcome back to 1994. 🙁

I highly doubt the season will happen, or any of the big 4 for that matter. Owners like money, but not as much as they hate liability.

Who wants to see a home run bounce around empty bleachers?

At Candlestick Park, Willie Mays (615) and Ernie Banks (504) become the only two players w/500+ HR to go deep in the same game (1970)

On June 17 1956 in Brooklyn, Joe Adcock’s game winning HR clears an 83-foot sign at the 350-foot mark, and is believed to be the only ball to ever hit the roof at Ebbets Field

Bob, I never thought about liability and I am no insurance agent but I kind of doubt that would be their main concern. That's what you pay for insurance . 😉

Bob, I never thought about liability and I am no insurance agent but I kind of doubt that would be their main concern. That's what you pay for insurance . 😉

I'm not saying fans would actually sue, (well, successfully at least) there's no way to prove where you contract an airborne disease. But MLB doesn't want to be featured in the headlines as a petri dish. Not to mention, getting their own players that they've invested in sick. Their premiums would probably go up.

Reading "The Glory of Their Times" this week. I think I have mentioned that book before here but I hadn't read it in a while. Guess I need my baseball fix. Wonderful read.

MLB Uniform Advertisements Could Be On The Way
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jaredwyllys/2019/08/20/mlb-uniform-advertisements-could-be-on-the-way/#79a239f4156e

This would be a horrible door to open, the Nike swoosh on the front of uniforms is distracting enough. But I wouldn't put any dumb idea past Rob Manfred.

Do you want baseball to be played this year? I'm kinda leaning toward just hope for next year. Sad but that's my opinion at the moment. 🙁

Not if they were playing to empty seats - or to fans seated 6 feet apart wearing masks - how dumb can it get
Suppose they still have time enough for part of a season.....yawn 😮 - looks doubtful tho

Nap Lajoie!! don’t have to look that up - from the days of the Cleveland Spiders, Boston Pilgrims, NY Highlanders.....one of the greats - that’s a great book alright Lee!

The Boogster could hit em a mile - became the first Oriole to clear the CF hedge at cavernous Memorial Stadium when Boog Powell went deep June 22 1962 - tape-measure 469-foot blast
Mickey M was the 1st to do it in 1957

[Edited on 6/22/2020 by Stephen]

The Lady by the Lake, Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, was just as cavernous
Never knew that, according to one website, the longest HR ever hit there was by the Indians’ Luke Easter 70 years ago today - 477 feet into the RF upper deck

[Edited on 6/23/2020 by Stephen]

Do you want baseball to be played this year? I'm kinda leaning toward just hope for next year. Sad but that's my opinion at the moment. 🙁

The season actually happening would be bittersweet. A nice distraction, but without the crowd (or being in the crowd) it robs sports of a pretty key element.

Meanwhile, do players even want the season to happen? How much fun and focus would there be on the field? Obviously they want to make money but a locker room is probably COVID's dream come true.

[Edited on 6/23/2020 by porkchopbob]

Not if they were playing to empty seats - or to fans seated 6 feet apart wearing masks - how dumb can it get
Suppose they still have time enough for part of a season.....yawn 😮 - looks doubtful tho

Nap Lajoie!! don’t have to look that up - from the days of the Cleveland Spiders, Boston Pilgrims, NY Highlanders.....one of the greats - that’s a great book alright Lee!

The Boogster could hit em a mile - became the first Oriole to clear the CF hedge at cavernous Memorial Stadium when Boog Powell went deep June 22 1962 - tape-measure 469-foot blast
Mickey M was the 1st to do it in 1957

[Edited on 6/22/2020 by Stephen]

I picked Naps for the title because I just read about Lajoie. I didn't know this but the year after he left the team they changed their name to the Indians. I know teams have named stadiums after owners but I don't recall a team naming themselves after a particular player.

There's an outside chance I can get into Wrigley Field this year. I would do it.

“Outside” is becoming “slim” w/“none” soon to follow 😮 😛 - minor leagues have sensibly scotched their seasons - one would think MLB would follow suit - but this is MLB

Saw Tygiz signed their top pick to an $8.4 mil deal - what happened to their previous top pick, Casey Mize -
Would like to see Miggy prove his doubters wrong & have 1 more big season a la Willie Horton In ‘79 & the Big Hurt In ‘06 w/their new teams
No One however will have the final season David, then 40, had in ‘16

Finally, at Briggs Stadium Bob Lemon became the first to throw a nitetime no-hitter 6/30/47 - Tygiz were last to install lights, having done so 2 weeks earlier

Sandy Koufax from the same era and Steve Carlton. I am a sucker for old time players so I have always liked reading about Carl Hubbell, The Meal Ticket. What a nickname.
Having said that, I won't argue with Spahn. Still like Hubbell though.

Yep the Meal Ticket - authored the greatest game in history in 1933 - the Giants LHP went all 18 innings in a 1-0 shutout of Cards - 6-hitter, 12 Ks - incredible -

30 years to the day later, the one we all know about, Spahn-Marichal, July 2 1963 - 15 shutout innings, SF wins 2-0 on Willie Mays’ HR

Sandy Koufax went 96-27 in the last 4 years of his career - even Spahnie & the Meal Ticket never had a four-year run like that -

on the mound, Sandy’s final season (1966, 27-9, a sick 1.73 ERA) was the equal of Big Papi’s at the plate (2016, .315 BA, 38 HR, league highs in RBI, 127, & doubles, 48)

[Edited on 7/2/2020 by Stephen]

We never would’ve had the Spahn-Marichal classic if the umps hadn’t blown the call on what would’ve been Willie McCovey’s moonshot game-winning HR bottom-9th, that they called foul

Stretch said in later years it may have been the longest ball he ever hit, fair or foul - he insisted, as did mgr Alvin Dark & others, that it was fair

Willie was a good guy & joked that mayb the blind mice in blue couldn’t be blamed for blowing the call “b/c the ball landed in Oakland”

Spahn & Juan were teammates at the end of Warren’s career, why there isn’t a photo....

[Edited on 7/3/2020 by Stephen]

Tom Cheney?
Amazing what people like me who think they’re knowledgeable fans, learn for the first time

All he did was pitch a game in Sept 1962 that was the equal of Hubbell’s or Spahn-Marichal

The Senator brought a career 9-18 record into the game vs local rival Balt

Handed the ball, this journeyman RHP incredibly morphed into Cy Young for a night

Pitched all 16 innings, fanning a record 21 batters in his 2-1 win, scattering 10 hits w/a mere 4 walks

[Edited on 7/3/2020 by Stephen]

Taking away Chief Wahoo wasn’t enough
It figured
After 105 years of thrilling their fans as the Tribe, The Cleveland Indians are likely to go the way of their beloved mascot (I feel ya Pop) - even if they decided on the Spiders, they’ll have disappointed a legion of fans - besides, “the prospect of a Spider bite which can be lethal & worse would be upsetting to fans,” OMG
They’ll end up as the Lakesiders or Eriemen or some baloney like that

They’ve been an institution of the nation’s capital since 1937 after their 1st four years in Boston
Their fans greet each other w/“how”
Now PC & its icky ilk say “how offensive”
So Redskins soon enough’ll cleanse their fans’ tortured offended souls & become the DC Demons, wait that’s PiC too....
Washington Americans
Washington Native Americans?
Memo To PC Clowns, Fans Don’t Give A Hoot, Just Leave The Stinkin Names Alone

I hope Braves fans rally to keep their name, even resorting to the tomahawk chop if they have to

[Edited on 7/4/2020 by Stephen]

We all remember the Billy Martin-Reggie Jackson dugout dustup at Fenway Park after Billy pulled Reggie outta the game claiming he loafed on a ground ball in RF

Wattabout July 8 1951

When Casey Stengel likewise yanked the Yankee Clipper himself, Joe DiMaggio, outta the game after Joe made an error in CF

Joe was in his last season and had indeed slowed down
But most agreed this was a bush move & according to info, “further strained an already acrimonious relationship” between the 2 NY heroes

Joe & Casey didn’t have it out in the dugout like Billy & Reggie

[Edited on 7/8/2020 by Stephen]