BASEBALL
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Next week is the Midsummer Classic, otherwise known as the Major League Baseball All-Star Game. The only other use of the term midsummer that comes readily to my mind is Shakespearian, A Midsummers Night Dream. In my mind that seems quite appropriate. I must confess that I often wonder about those who do not like… Read more
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On July 5th, 1987, Mark McGwire became the first rookie to hit 30 homers before the All-Star break and Jose Canseco homered twice, leading Oakland to a 6-3 victory over Boston The 1987 OAKLAND Athletics finished the season with a .500 record (81-81). But a year later they began a dynasty. In 1988, OAKLAND won 104 games and… Read more
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On July 2nd, 1963, at 12:31 A.M. in San Francisco, Willie Mays homered off Warren Spahn in the bottom of the 16th inning to give Juan Marichal a 1-0 victory in the National League’s longest game ended by a home run In 1963, my family lived in Santa Cruz, California. On the night of July 2nd when the Giants were playing… Read more
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On July 1st, 1951, Bob Feller pitched the third no-hitter of his career, tying the record of Cy Young and Larry Corcoran, as he beat Detroit’s Bob Cain 2-1. Hall of Famer Bob Feller began pitching in the Major Leagues for Cleveland while still a high school student in Van Meter, Iowa. He was considered one of the hardest throwers of… Read more
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On June 28th, 1987, Mark McGwire homered twice to tie a Major League record with five homers over two games as the OAKLAND Athletics beat Cleveland, 10-0. Mark McGwire won the 1987 American League Rookie of Year vote when he hit 49 HR. Born to hit homers (he hit 583 HR in his 16 year… Read more
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On June 24th, 1979, Rickey Henderson made his major-league debut for Oakland in a 5-1 loss to Texas in the first game of a doubleheader. Henderson had a single and double in four at-bats and stole the first base of his big-league career. If you have ever watched a game when a rookie gets his… Read more
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On June 21st, 1917, “Scrappy” Moore, played his first Major League game for the St. Louis Browns vs. the Detroit Tigers. William Allen “Scrappy” Moore was born in St. Louis, Missouri in 1892. He pinch hit and played 3B in a total of 4 major leagues games in his career, all in 1917. He also… Read more
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On June 18th, 1976, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the A’s sales, totaling $3.5 million, of Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers to the Red Sox and Vida Blue to the Yankees, saying they were ‘not in the best interest of baseball.’ A’s owner Charlie Finley filed a $10 million damage suit against Kuhn, and would refuse… Read more
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On June 17th, 1983 Andy Van Slyke played in his first Major League game. In his 13-year career, Andy Van Slyke played for the Cardinals, the Pirates, the Orioles, and the Phillies. For 8 of those seasons of course, he was the standout Centerfielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he won 5 Gold Gloves. Van… Read more
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Born when I was, I grew up measuring hitters by the traditional Triple Crown stats: Batting Average, Home Runs, and Runs Batted In. Those were stats that were easy to understand and were available in any box score. The Sabermetrics Revolution started by Bill James and others introduced more “advanced” stats over the years like… Read more
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