Random Baseball Posts

[Tiger337]

3 hours ago, lordstanley said:

I thought I knew everything about the Fidrych '76 season but Pearlman pointed out a couple of big things I missed. I didn't realize he had made a 1-inning appearance in relief against Baltimore before his first start vs. Cleveland. I didn't realize he had drawn 36k vs the Angels prior to the famous Monday night game. I got emotional watching that video. I have said it on this board before but I'll say it again: June 28, 1976 was hands-down the most memorable day of my childhood and if a time machine could bring me back to one moment in time that would be it.  Last day of 3rd grade was the Friday before. I was turning 9 two days later.  We held my birthday party in the lower deck in left field at that Yankees-Tigers televised game. Brought a few friends, one with whom I remain close friends to this day, gradually drifted apart from the other two but still remember them well. A few close family members came along, a couple who are still alive and important in my life today, a couple who have since passed away. Whenever I see the replay of that game and whenever they pan to the crowd, I keep hoping that I'll spot our group on camera even though I've seen the footage multiple times. I'll never forget the curtain call moment, because those were rare back then and we didn't even know for sure whether Fidrych was hearing about the cheers and would come back out - the moment he popped back was honestly as exciting to me as the final out of the '84 Series. 

I get emotional about that game every time I see it.  Maybe it was because of my age at the time, but it was the most unforgettable game I have ever seen - better than the Ordonez homer, better than the Gibson homer, better than any of the no hitters,...  

[papalawrence]

51 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

I get emotional about that game every time I see it.  Maybe it was because of my age at the time, but it was the most unforgettable game I have ever seen - better than the Ordonez homer, better than the Gibson homer, better than any of the no hitters,...  

Same for me. I've watched that game many times. 1976 was one long Christmas for me, at 10 years old

[Sports_Freak]

This guy pitching for the Yankees, named Camio Doval, is one of 24 children in his family. Wait...24 kids? They all had the same mom? That's.....dangerous.

[Sports_Freak]

On 10/7/2025 at 3:39 AM, papalawrence said:

Excellent video about Fidrych by writer Jeff Pearlman 

 

This is a great video. Thanks for sharing the link.

[Sports_Freak]

Da Yankees Lose....🤣🤣

 

[papalawrence]

RIP Mike Greenwell. Early in his career I thought he was going to be a superstar. Still had an excellent career. Battled thyroid cancer and passed this week.

Edited October 9 by papalawrence

[IdahoBert]

Banana Ball is coming to my fair city of Boise, Idaho, and instead of being in our former Northwest League stadium, it will be on the infamous blue turf of Albertsons Stadium and the Boise State Broncos football team on July 31 and August 1 and you have to enter a lottery and tickets are either $35 or $100 for the “meet and greet.” Whee!

They have 75 dates planned for the summer all over the country.

I can’t imagine being that far away from the action as very enjoyable but I don’t know how they’ll configure it. When I saw the Harlem Globetrotters in Boise, I had courtside seats and it was spectacular. 

[CMRivdogs]

I just got an email about Banana Ball in Richmond next Spring. Same deal, join a lottery for tickets. I didn’t check prices, but assume it would be in the same range.

[CMRivdogs]

On October 14, 1909 — 1909 – George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers outlasts three Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers for a 5 – 4 victory that sends the World Series to a seventh game in Detroit. This is the first World Series to go the limit.

On October 14, 1984 — With the Tigers leading 5-4 in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, Kirk Gibson hits his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to the upper deck in right field, putting the game out of reach to give the Motor City its fourth World Championship in franchise history. Padres manager **** Williams had ordered his pitcher to intentionally walk the Detroit right fielder, but Goose Gossage, after ignoring the walk sign at first, convinces his skipper he can get the slugger out, only to be proven wrong two pitches later. Sparky Anderson becomes the first manager to win World Championships in both leagues.

 

 

 

[lordstanley]

2 hours ago, CMRivdogs said:

On October 14, 1909 — 1909 – George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers outlasts three Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers for a 5 – 4 victory that sends the World Series to a seventh game in Detroit. This is the first World Series to go the limit.

 

On October 14, 1984 — With the Tigers leading 5-4 in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, Kirk Gibson hits his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to the upper deck in right field, putting the game out of reach to give the Motor City its fourth World Championship in franchise history. Padres manager **** Williams had ordered his pitcher to intentionally walk the Detroit right fielder, but Goose Gossage, after ignoring the walk sign at first, convinces his skipper he can get the slugger out, only to be proven wrong two pitches later. Sparky Anderson becomes the first manager to win World Championships in both leagues.

 

 

 

Magglio’s homer was also on an October 14th. I remember because Fox announcer Thomas Brennaman mentioned in his home run call how “on this day 22 years ago…”

[papalawrence]

Just saw that Bobby Shantz is still alive at age 100. He was a rookie in 1949. Wow. Talk about bridging eras!

[Tiger337]

8 minutes ago, papalawrence said:

Just saw that Bobby Shantz is still alive at age 100. He was a rookie in 1949. Wow. Talk about bridging eras!

Wow, I did not know that.  My family has a connection to him. My father's friend Eddie "Bucky" Boehm (you can look him up on b-ref) played with Shantz in the minors in 1948 and they became lifetime friends.  Shantz owned some really nice rental houses in Lakeland and he sometimes let Bucky use them when he wasn't doing anything with them.  One of them happened to be available the weekend my father, mother (the only time she joined the boys on a Lakeland trip!) and I were heading to Lakeland, so Bucky passed it on to us.  It was the nicest vacation housing I every stayed at.  That was a good thing because I doubt my mom would have liked Lakeland much otherwise!.  

[papalawrence]

From 1971 through 1973 Wilbur Wood's combined war was 30.

Wilbur Wood Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com https://share.google/BdAOWNDwZlHgn47Il

[chasfh]

12 hours ago, papalawrence said:

From 1971 through 1973 Wilbur Wood's combined war was 30.

Wilbur Wood Stats, Height, Weight, Position, Rookie Status & More | Baseball-Reference.com https://share.google/BdAOWNDwZlHgn47Il

The 1972 White Sox had what was essentially a three-man rotation. Wilbur, Stan Bahnsen, and Tom Bradley started 130 of 162 games between them. That’s 80% of their games. That’s gotta be some sort of record, at least since World War I.

[Screwball]

On 10/14/2025 at 8:40 AM, CMRivdogs said:

On October 14, 1909 — 1909 – George Mullin of the Detroit Tigers outlasts three Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers for a 5 – 4 victory that sends the World Series to a seventh game in Detroit. This is the first World Series to go the limit.

 

On October 14, 1984 — With the Tigers leading 5-4 in the eighth inning of Game 5 of the World Series, Kirk Gibson hits his second home run of the game, a three-run blast to the upper deck in right field, putting the game out of reach to give the Motor City its fourth World Championship in franchise history. Padres manager **** Williams had ordered his pitcher to intentionally walk the Detroit right fielder, but Goose Gossage, after ignoring the walk sign at first, convinces his skipper he can get the slugger out, only to be proven wrong two pitches later. Sparky Anderson becomes the first manager to win World Championships in both leagues.

 

 

 

I know we have all watched this before, but one of the greatest moments in Tiger history. I had a dog named Sparky.

 

[Screwball]

Wilber Wood pitched 376 innings in 1972. He was a knuckleballer. 359 in 73.

Those are neat pitches.

[Tiger337]

22 minutes ago, Screwball said:

I know we have all watched this before, but one of the greatest moments in Tiger history. I had a dog named Sparky.

 

Definitely one of my favorites Tiger moments.  Better than the Ordonez homer because of the personalities involved.  

[Screwball]

9 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Definitely one of my favorites Tiger moments.  Better than the Ordonez homer because of the personalities involved.  

I was a huge Gibson fan. IIRR, Sparky made Gibson out to be the next Micky Mantle, but obviously he wasn't. Sparky was entertaining, and many love him. I was not a fan. When he had the big red machine in Cinci his toughest job was to find a pencil to make out the lineup. He drove me nuts. 

But you can't argue with his resume. I was also biased because I thought Leyland should have gotten the job when Sparky did. Jimmy's my guy.

[Tiger337]

35 minutes ago, Screwball said:

I was a huge Gibson fan. IIRR, Sparky made Gibson out to be the next Micky Mantle, but obviously he wasn't. Sparky was entertaining, and many love him. I was not a fan. When he had the big red machine in Cinci his toughest job was to find a pencil to make out the lineup. He drove me nuts. 

But you can't argue with his resume. I was also biased because I thought Leyland should have gotten the job when Sparky did. Jimmy's my guy.

Sparky was a character, but I agree he was probably not a great manager.  Enough players have said good things about him for me to think he was a pretty good manager.  However, I think he was better at managing veteran egos than developing young players.  He had a lot of talent in place in both Cincinati and Detroit.  It was hard to screw that up.  

Edited October 26 by Tiger337

[Screwball]

8 minutes ago, Tiger337 said:

Sparky was a character, but I agree he was probably not a great manager.  Enough players have said good things about him for me to think he was a pretty good manager.  However, I think he was better at managing veteran egos than developing young players.  He had a lot of talent in place in both Cincinati and Detroit.  It was hard to screw that up.  

From all I've heard over the years the guys who played for either one of them loved playing for them. That matters when you spend Feb to October together traveling all over the country. I suppose there are a few...

They both deserve to be in the HOF. I would love to watch Jim's speech, but I can't. I would ball like a baby.

[Tenacious D]

3 hours ago, Screwball said:

Wilber Wood pitched 376 innings in 1972. He was a knuckleballer. 359 in 73.

Those are neat pitches.

It helped that he was throwing underhanded.

Edited October 26 by Tenacious D

[Tiger337]

2 hours ago, Screwball said:

From all I've heard over the years the guys who played for either one of them loved playing for them. That matters when you spend Feb to October together traveling all over the country. I suppose there are a few...

They both deserve to be in the HOF. I would love to watch Jim's speech, but I can't. I would ball like a baby.

Leyland's best line in the speech:

"I asked my wife: did you ever think in your wildest dreams that I would make the Hall of Fame?  She said: Jim You aren't in my wildest dreams"

Edited October 26 by Tiger337

[oblong]

All you need to know about Leyland is the way he got emotional when the team won the division in 2011, after the city went through the recession and bankruptcy and all that... he grew up in a very blue collar world so he understood the city.  He just started talking and realizing what he said and he started to choke up... that's character.

Then he danced with the fellas in the celebration. 

I remember the first time I saw him with the Pirates... "hey, it's Harry Dean Stanton!"

[papalawrence]

Earl Wilson hit 35 home runs in 740 career at-bats, including 7 hr in 88 ab's in 1968

[chasfh]

2 hours ago, papalawrence said:

Earl Wilson hit 35 home runs in 740 career at-bats, including 7 hr in 88 ab's in 1968

That's a home run every  slightly less than 20 at bats.

At that rate, had Earl Wilson had as many career at bats as the average player on the top 200 all-time career home runs list, he would have hit 384 homers in 7,592 at bats. That would be good for a tie for 69th (giggity) place on the all-time list with Harold Baines, who needed 9,908 at bats to achieve his 384 home runs.