Baseball
Taking it back to July 22nd, 1997 when Pitcher Greg Maddux threw a complete game 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs in only 76 pitches!! He gave up just five hits, with no walks. In fact he only threw 13 balls the entire game. There is even a stat named after Greg called ‘The Maddux’ for when a pitcher has a complete game under 100 pitches. Greg had 13 of them over his career. Happy Monday Dudes!!
It was back on July 17th, 1990 that the dynamic dual sport duo of Bo Jackson & Deion Sanders met for the fifth and final time on the baseball diamond. Bo started off the festivities with a homer to centerfield in the top of the 1st, just passed the outstretched glove of Deion as he scaled the wall. Bo would homer two more times in the 3rd & 5th innings. His shot to right center in the 3rd measured in at 464 ft.
‘Neon Deion’ got in on the homerun theme himself with one of the inside the park variety. In the bottom of the 6th, Bo made a diving attempt at Deion’s liner to center, just missing it, allowing Sanders to round the bases, ultimately leaping over the Royals Cather Mike MacFarlane at the plate to score. It was the first inside the park homer for the Yankees franchise since 1984. Unfortunately Jackson hurt his shoulder on the dive, and would miss the next month of baseball. Both teams went on to have pretty bummer years with the Royals finishing at 75-86 and the Yankees faring even worse with a 67-95 record.
On July 17th, 1990 the Minnesota Twins, in a game against the Boston Red Sox, became the first & last team to turn two triple plays in one game. Both were sharply hit grounders to 3B Gary Gaetti who quickly tagged 3rd base and threw to 2b Al Newman who sent a strong throw to 1B Kent Hrbek to complete the 5-4-3 triple play. Unfortunately all the good fortune was in the infield that night, as the Twins failed to score a run, & lost 1-0 to the Sox. Random Stat of the Day - Gary Gaetti was apart of seven triple plays in his 20 year MLB career.
Did you know Jeff. Uhh… I mean Terry Pendleton’s team went to the World Series 5 times over his 15 year MLB career? Unfortunately he & his squad were on the losing end each time. He made it all the way twice with the St. Louis Cardinals in ‘85 & ‘87 and three times with the Atlanta Braves of the 90’s. He was away with the Florida Marlins for the 1995 season when the Braves got the monkey off their back and won the crown over the Cleveland Indians. He would be traded back to Atlanta late in the ‘96 season but the Braves would come up short again against the powerhouse Yankees. Oh well. Happy Birthday Terry!
It was back on July 14th, 1995, in a 7-0 victory against the Florida Marlins, that pitcher Ramon Martinez threw the 22nd No-Hitter in Dodgers history. Ramon just missed pitching a perfect game that night, only giving up one walk in the bottom of the eighth inning. Just a month prior, his younger brother Pedro had a perfect game of his own broken up in the bottom of the 10th inning. How cool would that have been? Brothers with Perfect Games.
Willie Wilson was the coolest! The speedster hit only 41 homers over his 19 seasons, but 13 of them were inside the park round trippers. He had five alone in 1979. Happy Birthday Willie !!
Lance Johnson was the coolest! He became the first MLB player to lead his league in Triples for four straight seasons, when did it as the leadoff man for the Chicago White Sox from 1991-1994. ‘One Dog’ went on to lead the National League in triples in 1996 as a member of the New York Mets making him just the 3rd player to lead both leagues in triples. He’s also on the short list of players to ever have a trio of triples in one game. Happy Birthday Lance!
July 5th, 1993 - In a Monday Doubleheader between the Oakland A’s & Cleveland Indians, Rickey Henderson leads off both games with a Homerun. NO one had accomplished that feat since 1913 when Harry Hooper of the Red Sox did it. Rickey was actually traded to the Toronto Blue Jays just 3 1/2 weeks later, where he would go on to be apart of the Blue Jays World Series repeat in ‘93. He would return to Oakland the next season.
Did you know that it was Moises’ walk off double in the bottom of the 10th inning that won the 1994 MLB All-Star Game for the National League? The shot to the left center gap scored Tony Gwynn all the way from first base giving them an 8-7 victory. The win broke the NL’s 6 year losing streak in All-Star Games. It was Fred ‘Crime-Dog’ McGriff who would receive game MVP honors though. His two run pinch hit homer in the bottom of the ninth tied it 7-7. Oh well Moises. Happy Birthday!
Oakland A’s relief pitcher Gene Nelson steals second base while pinch running in the 12th inning of a 16 inning marathon against the Toronto Blue Jays. He would be considered crazy by most for even attempting to nab 2nd in the tight 6-6 game. In extra innings no less. What’s even crazier is that he did it while Jose Canseco was up to bat! In fact, Jose would hit a homer three pitches later driving in Nelson to give the A’s an 8-6 lead. They would go on to win 9-8. He became the first American League pitcher to swipe a base since John’ Blue Moon’ Odom stole one of his own in 1973.
Tony Fernandez was one of the best defensive shortstops of his era, & one of the coolest. He won four straight Gold Gloves from 1986-1989. Random Stat: Tony led the majors with 17 triples during the 1990 season.
1988 & 1991 Donruss Kings
Puzzle of Willie Stargell from 1991 Donruss Baseball Cards. Anybody else finished this puzzle?
June 28th, 1976 - Bird Mania-
Mark ‘The Bird’ Fidrych mows down the 1st place New York Yankees during an electrifying 5-1 complete game shut out victory. The game was featured on ABC’s Monday Night Baseball and lasted only 1 hour & 51 minutes. Fidrych went on to win AL Rookie of the Year honors with a 19-9 record and a 2.34 era. He also led the AL with 24 complete games that season. He’s the only baseball player to ever be featured on the cover of Rolling Stone Magazine. R.I.P Bird
My wife came through with some killer thrifting finds. Sports Illustrated from 1977, 1990 Upper Deck & 1992 Stadium Club
The Chicago White Sox actually retired the # 3 for Harold Baines after they traded him to the Texas Rangers mid-way through the 1989 season. Pretty strange huh? He would re-claim his # when he returned to the Sox in 1996, 2000, and throughout his coaching days with the club.
Did you dudes know that in 1986 California Angels 1B Wally Joyner broke up two no-hit bids in the 9th inning?
