When I was younger baseball came to me through the TV superstations like the Braves on WTBS and the Cubs on WGN. One of the baseball diamond stars of my younger days was Ryan Sandberg. He passed away on July 28th at the age of 65.
He was a Hall of Fame second baseman for the Chicago Cubs. He was the National League MVP in 1984. He was a 10-time All Star.
Some highlights...
Six-time All-Star, two-time World Series Champion, Rookie of the Year and Cy Young winning pitcher Fernando Valenzuela passed away on October 22. His M LB record of 173-153 was good enough to have him inducted into the Mexican Professional Baseball Hall of Fame. Fernando was a broadcaster for the Los Angeles Dodgers from 2003 through this past season.
Dodgers tribute prior to Game One of the World Series
Charlie Hustle is perhaps the greatest baseball player not in the Hall of Fame. Pete Rose hit over .300 for his career. He has played in more Major League Baseball games and has more hits than any other player in the league's history.
Highlights:
Real estate tycoon and the principal owner of the Washington Nationals baseball team passed away at the age of 97. He was a founder in Lerner Enterprises which is the largest landowner in the Washington DC area. Forbes named him the richest man in Maryland in 2015. His family currently owns the Nationals but from 2006 when they arrived in Washington through 2018 Ted Lerner was the principal owner of the team. In a lot of ways, the man responsible for bringing baseball back to the Nation's Capital.
He won the Power of Baseball Award in 2022...
Ryan Zimmerman recently from baseball and the Washington Nationals. Fitting to end the A to Z challenge with him. He was a World Series Champion, a two-time all-star, who enjoyed a 16 year career.
A tribute to him:
They award the best pitchers in the American League and National League the Cy Young Award. However, how great was Cy Young? Cy Young holds the records for 511 wins and 749 complete games which are both records which will probably never be broken.
Opening of Baseball's Hall of Fame
Jose Uribe played in the Major Leagues for 10 seasons, mostly for the San Fransisco Giants. The shortstop. His life ended in a car accident in his native Dominican Republic when he was 47. Not the biggest stat, but he had a long career. Who are some of your favorite players who might not have been stars?
I will be back tomorrow with a new post.
Today's athlete has played two professional sports. Tim Tebow best known for his college glory days of winning two National Championships and a Heisman Trophy Championship.
During his career Sammy Sosa hit 609 home runs, was an MVP and a 7-time All Star. He was a baseball player and the athlete for S. Sammy played in the steroid, performance enhanced drug era. However, his longball hitting did pique an interest in the sport.
Pete Rose was a 17-time all-star, a three-time World Series Champion, MVP and rookie of the year. Known as Charlie Hustle as a kid I thought he played the game the right way. He is the all-time hit leader.
April air, the green of Spring luring me back to baseball as I continue through the A to Z Challenge. Today's letter is H and I return to baseball, and the Atlanta Braves with Hank Aaron. H is for Hank and for home runs which he hit a ton. Many years the slugger held the all time home run record until he was passed in 2007 by Barry Bonds. He was a great player being a 25 time all star, and his records for runs batted in, extra base hits and total bases still stand!
Historic home run 715
I grew up in the era of superstations, WGN in Chicago broadcasting Cubs games to the masses and WTBS broadcasting Braves games across the nation. I have found members of watching many of games on television at my Granddad. Like many people who followed the Atlanta Braves Dale Murphy became my favorite baseball player.
Below Dale Murphy hits his 300th homerun
Cal Ripken Jr known as baseball's Iron Man for breaking Lou Gehrig's consecutive games played record and also set the league's record for most consecutive innings played. He won awards from the get-go Rookie of the Year, World Series Champion, Two-time MVP, 19-time All-Star, and capped off with an induction to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Setting the record...
Winning a championship is always special. When the Mississippi State Bulldogs baseball team won the College World Series last month the school earned their first baseball championship and the school's first athletic championship in 126 years of competing.
Highlights from the championship game....
Hank Aaron's baseball career ended probably before I discovered baseball. He was the Home Run King most of my life. He earned that title, in a different time, and earning it meant something. He endured stuff he shouldn't have had to when he broke the record. His homerun record broken in 2007 by Barry Bonds. Looking back I don't think it meant as much as when Hank set the bar.
Hank Aaron was a 25 time All Star. He is still the all time leader in runs batted in, extra base hits, and total bases. Obviously a Hall of Fame player. A class act.
Home Run 715
Baseball Hall of Fame member and four time All-Star pitcher Don Sutton died yesterday at the age of 75 due to cancer. He pitched for 23 seasons in the major leagues mostly with the Los Angeles Dodgers where his number 20 jersey is retired. Sutton also pitched for the Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics and California Angels.
He was a 300 game winner pitching 324 wins in his career. He only had one 20 win season. However he pitched five no hitters and 58 shutouts. He also threw 3574 strikeouts during his successful career. In his post playing career Sutton was elected to the Atlanta Braves Hall of Fame as a broadcaster.
His Hall of Fame induction speech...
Tommy Lasorda managed the Los Angeles Dodgers for 20 years. His teams won two World Series titles, four National League championships, and his teams won eight division titles. His number was retired by the Dodgers and he became a Hall of Fame inductee based on his success as a manager.
Here is his induction speech for the Hall of Fame...
When someone mentions knuckle ball pitchers the first name that pops in my mind is Phil Niekro. He was pitching well before I was born. However, as a Braves fan it wasn't long before I knew who he was. Later in his career I was able to see him pitch in person, he was playing for the Cleveland Indians and I saw him pitch in Baltimore.
He won 318 games, threw a no hitter, struck out over 3000 batters and is in baseball's Hall of Fame. He lead the league in wins twice, won 5 Gold Gloves, was a 5 time All Star, simply put he was a good pitcher.
He will be missed by his fans, friends and family.
Highlights...
Charley Pride was considered the first Black Country star, one of three African-Americans in the Grand Ole Opry and a Hall of Fame member. He was a two time All Star baseball player in the Negro leagues. In 1956 he was was drafted into the Army. Regardless of his race he could be described as a hero and due to his race he could be described as a pioneer.
A veteran, a talented athlete and a legendary musician that was Charley Pride. As mentioned a member of the Grand Ole Opry and a Country Music Hall of Fame member. 30 number one hits, four Grammy Awards and numerous other awards document an incredible career.'
Here he sings the National Anthem...
Covid 19 has been terrible for sports, especially Major League Baseball. Empty stadiums, a shorten season, no All Star game, and a World Series played at a neutral site are four glaring reasons it has been bad for baseball. However, 2020 is proving to be a great year for the city of Los Angeles as the Lakers won the NBA title and now the Dodgers have won the World Series.
The Dodgers won the series in six games a week ago today. They bested the Tampa Bay Rays who had a great Cinderella season with a very low payroll.
The Dodgers won game one 8 to 3, below are the highlights...
