Call Him Pass Ball Petralli

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Our man Geno Petralli had quite the bad day back on August 30th, 1987, when he stepped in behind the plate to catch ole’ knuckleballer Charlie Hough. In the afternoon affair against the Detroit Tigers, Geno would allow a record 6 passed balls, allowing the Tigers to score 7 unearned runs, in their 7-0 win. Petralli had a record 35 passed balls in ‘87, with 32 of them coming while trying to wrangle in one of Charlie’s knucklers. He’s also the weirdo who bit Bo Jackson in 1993, during the infamous Nolan Ryan vs Robin Ventura dust up.

MDP

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Big brother William ‘The Fridge’ Perry got all of the attention and limelight, but it was little bro, Michael Dean Perry, who had himself one hell of an NFL career. MDP was a 6x pro-bowler, 2x 1st Team All-Pro, 2x 2nd Team All-Pro, & the 1989 AFC Defensive Player of the Year. He even had his own burger at Cleveland area McDonalds called the ‘MDP’ It was basically a Big Mac with an extra patty & bacon. Happy Birthday Michael Dean !!

Back to Back. Not Once. But Twice

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Back on August 25th, 1993 Atlanta Brave teammates Fred McGriff & David Justice hit back to back homers, not once but twice during in a 9-1 victory against the San Francisco Giants. The Braves had acquired McGriff just a month earlier from the Padres, and he became a key player a Braves lineup who would finish the season on a 51-19 run to overtake the Giants, and win their third straight NL West crown. Crime Dog finished with a career high 37 homers that year.

Happy Birthday Mark Gubicza!

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Happy Birthday Mark Gubicza! Mark had his best season back in 1988 while pitching for the Kansas City Royals when he went 20-8 with a 2.70 e.r.a. and finished 3rd in the AL Cy Young vote. He also made one of his two career All-Star appearances; with the other being in 1989 when he led the league in games started with 36.

What If? - Tony Gwynn almost hitting .400 in 1994

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It was August 12th, 1994 when the MLB Players Strike began, allowing it to become only the second season in MLB history to have no World Series be played. 1904 was the other. Along with the cancellation of the series we saw a number of players, and teams lose out on their quest for statistical greatness. One of those was Tony Gwynn and his chance to be the first player to hit .400 since the great Ted Williams batted .406 in 1941. Gwynn was batting .394 for the season when the players walked, cancelling the final 45 games. R.I.P. Tony

Antonio Langham - 1992 SEC Championship

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Remember Antonio Langham’s pick six in the 1992 SEC Championship game? With the score tied 21-21 late in the 4th quarter, Antonio stepped right in front of Florida Gators quarterback Shane Matthews fluttering pass, and took it 27 yards to the house. Bama would prevail 28-21, allowing the undefeated Crimson Tide to move into the National Title game. This was the very first SEC Championship game, and in fact it was the first post-season Conference title game in Division I Football. They ended up running all over the other undefeated squad in college football, the #1 Miami Hurricanes, 34-13 in the Sugar Bowl. Langham holds the all time Alabama INT record with 19. Happy Birthday Antonio!