1986 was the year my beleoved Mets won their last championship. I thought I watched every game that year that was on TV because I remember not having cable.
However, I don’t remember this incident at all. But, seeing is believing.
On Sept. 15, 1986, legend has it that Mike Laga of the St. Louis Cardinals crushed a foul ball out of the old Busch Stadium. Of course, as The FYC pointed out in 2005, nobody remembers witnessing the titanic clout with their own eyes and there has never been any video evidence of the at-bat.. until now.
Thanks to Joe Sports Fan, there is finally proof of Laga's extraordinary accomplishment.
The clip below is from a New York Mets highlight tape and it not only shows Laga's incredible foul ball, but it also shows the fans giving him a standing ovation. Scroll down to watch the video.
Benches cleared in the top of the sixth inning during Friday night's game between the Phillies and Giants after San Francisco reliever Ramon Ramirez hit Shane Victorino in the back with a pitch.
Victorino began walking toward the mound and Giants catcher Eli Whiteside stepped in front of him. Placido Polanco raced in from second base and was tackled by Whiteside, who along with Victorino was ejected. Ramirez also was tossed.
Giants first baseman Aubrey Huff was in the middle of the scrum and Phillies leadoff man Jimmy Rollins shoved San Francisco bench coach Ron Wotus as they exchanged words. More here
Baseball has a well documented history going back to the 1919 Black Sox scandal in which eight players were banned for life for throwing the World Series.
Back in the day, ballplayers and gamblers had a cozy relationship and often many a game was thrown so gamblers can collect on huge bets.
Since then MLB has signs posted in every locker-room specifically warning players against getting involved in any form of gambling
But, who says Arod is particularly bright?
The Sporting News New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez, currently rehabbing in Miami after knee surgery July 11, could face suspension if reports are true that he took part in illegal, underground poker games in California, allegations that Major League Baseball is taking “very seriously,” ESPNNewYork.com reported Wednesday.
“We're talking to people involved in the investigation, and we're taking this very seriously,” an MLB executive who spoke to ESPNNewYork.com on condition of anonymity. “Because he had been warned about this before, I would say a possible suspension would be very much in play.” MLB said Wednesday that investigators with the commissioner's office will interview Rodriguez. Yahoo! Sports, citing an anonymous source close to Rodriguez, reported Wednesday night that Rodriguez will cooperate in the probe.
The allegations, first published by RadarOnline.com, are that Rodriguez played in at least two of the games, one of which took place at the Beverly Hills mansion of a record executive at which “a fight nearly broke out” when one of the poker players refused to pay up after losing “more than a half-million dollars.”
Reminds me of the catch Ron Swaboda made in the 1969 World Series
The Huffington Post Well, this kid is going to be pretty good. In the clip above, a 9-year-old kid named Jayden robs his opponent of a hit by making an incredible diving catch during a little league game.
The rest of the players on the field and the parents watching gave Jayden an applause as he threw the ball back to the pitcher. This is the type of highlight that is routinely shown on SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays.
I saw Alomar play and he could do it all. He had speed, power, an excellent fielder, and a switch hitter to boot. At one point in his era of the 90s, he was the best player in baseball.
Blyleven throw the nastiest curve in baseball history. He was always tough on the mound and racked up a bunch of strikeouts.
Pat Gilick was the thinking man’s GM that knew how to build a championship baseball team such was Toronto Blue Jays 2 championships in the early 90s. And he’s the GM that turned the Philadelphia Phillies into a powerhouse.
With Puerto Rican flags waving in the breeze and many of his countrymen cheering in appreciation, Roberto Alomar was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday.
Speaking first in his native Spanish, the third Puerto Rican player to be enshrined, along with Orlando Cepeda and Roberto Clemente, said he felt proud to be a Puerto Rican.
"I always played for my island," he said at Sunday's ceremony in Cooperstown, N.Y., before adding "It is a true blessing to be able to share this moment with all of you. I have you in my heart."
The governor of Puerto Rico, Luis Fortuno, took a moment to congratulate Alomar, saying that his induction "is an honor for all Puerto Ricans." He thanked Alomar for representing his Caribbean homeland well in the big leagues.
Alomar, a member of the Toronto Blue Jays' World Series championship teams in 1992 and 1993, is the first player to enter the Hall of Fame wearing a Blue Jays cap and just the 20th second baseman to be inducted.
"I did not know how nervous I would be," said Alomar, who was bypassed in his first year of eligibility and on his second try was named on 90 percent of ballots cast, becoming the 26th player to garner at least 90 percent in any election. "Suddenly, I feel speechless."
The switch-hitting Alomar won a record 10 Gold Gloves at second base, was a 12-time All-Star and a career .300 hitter. Full of baseball smarts and grace, he's also linked with one of the game's most tawdry moments — he spit on umpire John Hirschbeck during an argument in 1996. The two have long since moved past that, and Hirschbeck was invited to come on Sunday. He had to decline because he's working a game in St. Louis.
Also inducted Sunday was right-hander Bert Blyleven, the first Dutch-born player to be enshrined. He thanked his late father and 85-year-old mother for the drive and determination he needed to succeed.
Blyleven, whose amazing curveball frustrated batters, finished with 287 wins, 3,701 strikeouts, 60 shutouts and a pair of World Series rings — in 1979 with the Pittsburgh Pirates and 1987 with the Twins.
Blyleven's path toward the Hall was a slow, steep one — he drew the backing of only 14.1 percent one year — but on his 14th try became the first pure starting pitcher to get selected by the BBWAA since Nolan Ryan in 1999.
Blyleven's father, who died of Parkinson's in 2004, fell in love with baseball and the Dodgers after the family moved to Southern California in the late 1950s.
"I wish he was here," Blyleven said. "But you know, mom, I know he's up there looking down right now."
Front-office guru Pat Gillick was the other inductee. His teams posted winning records in 20 of his 27 seasons as a general manager and advanced to the postseason 11 times. He was general manager when the Blue Jays won World Series titles in 1992 and 1993 and the Phillies in 2008.
I say Labron James purposely because when it was crunch time these ladies choked it away like James disappearing in the 4th quarter when his team needed him.
Don’t give me Japan rising from despair after what happened with Tsunami and earthquake, this was a choke pure and simple.
Sporting News Japan, a grieving nation for months, finally can rejoice, finally have something to celebrate.
The Japanese rallied twice to tie the United States and send the Women's World Cup final into penalty kicks -- and then won 3-1 in the shootout.
Shannon Boxx, Carli Lloyd and Tobin Heath all missed shootout tries for the Americans, who squandered dozens of chances throughout the game and blew a lead just six minutes from winning their third World Cup title. When asked to explain the three missed penalty kicks, U.S. coach Pia Sundhage simply responded: "You don't; you can't. Sometimes in, sometimes out."
For all of Derek Jeter’s detractors, and I’m not one of them, he more often than not rises to the occasion. That’s what makes him a great player. He may not have gaudy numbers like other player, but when playoff time comes around, Jeter is a clutch performer that outshines everyone else.
He’s always been a class act!
And to his credit, he’s accomplished something noYankee player has ever done, not Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, or Mantle has ever entered the 3,000 hit club!
After Jeter knocked a single in the first inning to pull himself to 2,999 career hits, he came up in the bottom of the third against Tampa Bay Rays lefthander David Price and, for the second time in the game, worked the count full. He then reached down and launched a low breaking ball into the stands in left field, his third homer of the year.
The homer, appropriately hit at 2 p.m. ET, tied the score at 1 and sent the Yankee Stadium crowd into a frenzy. Jeter was greeted at home plate with hugs and high-fives from Yankees teammates, who were joined by teammates from the bullpen. The ovation lasted nearly five minutes, and even Rays players stepped onto the field to clap and show their appreciation of Jeter's accomplishment. Jeter is just the 28th player in major league history to reach 3,000 hits. He is the first Yankee to accomplish the feat and the sixth-youngest to get there, behind Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Robin Yount, Pete Rose and Tris Speaker. He is the 11th player to have all 3,000 hits with one team.
The hit also marked something of a full circle for Price. The first hit Price allowed in his major league career was a homer to Jeter on Sept. 14, 2008.
A fan died Thursday when he fell from the left field stands during the Texas Rangers' game against the Oakland A's. The Rangers announced the death, which resulted when the man tried to catch a ball tossed into the stands.
The accident occurred one year and one day after another fan was seriously injured after he fell from the second deck at Rangers Ballpark, The Dallas Morning News noted.
Thursday's victim was not immediately identified.
Rangers president Nolan Ryan confirmed the death with the following statement:
"We are deeply saddened to learn that the man who fell has passed away as a result of this tragic accident. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family."
According to the Morning News and other reports, the accident occurred in the second inning. With the A's at bat, Conor Jackson hit a foul ball that went into left field. Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it toward the stands.
According to the Morning News and other reports, the accident occurred in the second inning. With the A's at bat, Conor Jackson hit a foul ball that went into left field. Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton retrieved the ball and tossed it toward the stands.
What started as a light-hearted blooper, ended in tragedy at the ballpark in Arlington.
30-year-old Shannon Stone, a firefighter and Ranger`s fan from Brownwood, fell to his death while trying to catch a ball thrown into the crowd by Ranger`s left-fielder Josh Hamilton. Stone was at the game with this son and as he caught the ball just over the railing he lost his balance falling head first more than 20-feet.
Initially Stone appeared alright, but he died in route to a Fort Worth hospital due to cardiac arrest.
A seven-foot-tall former women's basketball star has died of a heart attack at the age of 37.
Margo Dydek, who was pregnant with her third child, collapsed at her home in Brisbane, Australia, last week.
The Poland-born former WNBA star was put in a medically induced coma but died earlier this morning.
Cathy Roberts, the operations manager for the Northside Wizards in the Queensland Basketball League, where Dydek was head coach, said that Dydek was at an early stage in her pregnancy and that her unborn child had also died.
Dydek was the No. 1 pick in the 1998 WNBA draft by the Utah Starzz. She also played for San Antonio, Connecticut and Los Angeles.
The seven-foot-two Dydek, who was affectionately nicknamed 'Large Marge', was once said to be the tallest active professional female basketball player in the world.
She held the record for most blocks in a WNBA career, with 877 in 323 games, and led the league in blocks nine times, from 1998 to 2003 and again from 2005-07.
On August 27, 2008 Dydek signed with the Los Angeles Sparks following time away from basketball due to the birth of her first son in April 2008.
For suffering Met like myself, we’re hoping that this guy someday free us from the Wilpoms. Also I have theory that Einhorn may have a lot to say whether or not players like Jose Reyes and Carlos Beltran stay with the team. Why pay $200 mil and then break up the team?
The debt-ridden Mets have agreed to sell less than 49 percent of the team for $200 million to a Manhattan hedge-fund manager, the team announced today. David Einhorn, who is president of Greenlight Capital Inc., will buy the minority stake in the franchise pending approval from Major League Baseball. “Having an opportunity to become part of the Mets franchise is exciting beyond my wildest childhood dreams. I spent my first seven years living in New Jersey and rooting for the Mets," Einhorn said.
"In 1975, I even dressed in a homemade jersey as a Met for Halloween. I have been a baseball fan for my entire life and have enjoyed teaching the game as the coach of my daughter’s little league team." The Mets lost $51 million last season and expect to lose upwards of $70 million this season.
The team was hoping to close on a deal by June 30 so it could use the investment cash to fund day-to-day operations and repay some debt. The Mets took a $30 million emergency loan from MLB last year.
MLB pressured Sterling Enterprises, which owns the team, to raise money after it lost $500 million in Bernie Madoff's funds and found it difficult to bankroll the franchise.
Fred Wipon, principal owner of the Mets said of Einhorn "Equally important, David’s intelligence, integrity and success in both business and civic affairs provides us with another perspective in evaluating what is best for this organization and our fans, and we welcome his input. In partnership with David, we look forward to achieving our ultimate goal of again becoming World Series champions."
Einhorn co-founded Greenlight Capital in 1996 and is also the author of the book "Fooling Some Of The People All Of The Time," which detailed his battle with the investment firm Allied Capital.
"I look forward to partnering with the Wilpon and Katz families through the good seasons, the tough seasons and especially the championship seasons,” Einhorn said.
Also in New York Post The man who's on the verge of owning part of the Mets is a shrewd investor who doesn't back down from controversial calls.
In 2002, David Einhorn went public with his doubts about Allied Capital and bet the stock would fall.
Then he withstood a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into whether he was conspiring to drive down the company's stock, Allied stealing his phone records, and then-Attorney General Eliot Spitzer promising his own inquiry, New York magazine reported.
Einhorn didn't give up and ultimately Allied was exposed and its stock collapsed
The episode was the basis for his book "Fooling Some of the People all of the Time," which also pointed out the daunting issues investors face.
He also doubted that Lehman Brothers was forthcoming about its finances, something he made clear in a call with the company's chief financial officer, the magazine reported.
"The conversation was reminiscent of the ones I had with Allied," Einhorn told the magazine in 2008. "We had our questions, we were organized, but she was evasive, dishonest. Their explanations didn’t make any sense." Lehman later failed. Einhorn had shorted the stock, a bet against it.
Just yesterday he went after Microsoft, saying it's time for CEO Steve Balmer to go.
"Ballmer's continued presence is ruining your stock," he said, according to Business Insider.
But he doesn't always wager against companies.
Filings this month showed that he bought GM shares. And he's long been an Apple fan, holding 837,500 shares of the high-flying stock, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Einhorn clearly has been a baseball fan for some time. In the first letter to investors in his Greenlight Capital, he and then partner Jeffrey Keswin signed off with a quote from Ken Griffey Jr.
"I don't consider myself a home-run hitter. But when I'm seeing the ball and hitting it hard, it will go out of the park."
Story in the Mercury News Harmon was before my time, but everything I read about him describes his swing as ferocious. He was the Minnesota Twins version of Mickey Mantle
Here’s an interview with Killebrew along with some footage of his best work.
This is a slow blogging day. So why not add a little sports to the crazy mix at TLT?
It’s good to see a player finally get a shot to play everyday in The Show. Justin Turner, who paid his dues in the minors, is getting a chance to shine with my beloved New York Mets.
Mets are 2 games under .500. I’m just sayin’…
CBS Sports reports at the end of Mets spring training, Justin Turner was sent to the minor leagues and told to be ready in case he was needed in New York.
As manager Terry Collins put it: “You never know what’s going to happen.”
Now he knows.
Turner homered and drove in a career-high five runs, and Jason Pridie hit a go-ahead single and stole home to help the New York Mets beat the Houston Astros 7-4 Sunday.
“He loves to play and here’s his chance,” Collins said. “You spend a few years in the minor leagues and you’ve been able to play for a while and you say ‘If I just had a chance, if I just had a chance.’
“Well, here’s his opportunity and he’s making the most of it.”
Turner hit a tying, two-run double in the Mets’ four-run fifth inning, and later scored the go-ahead run. Turner tacked on a three-run homer in the sixth and the Mets won for the seventh time in 10 games.
“Any time you drive in some runs you feel pretty good,” Turner said. “It makes it nicer to get an at bat every day and get comfortable and make adjustments from at bat to at bat as opposed to from day to three days.”
Brandon Marshall is an asshole! He always has been since he entered the league. I’m sick and tired of these pampered athletes that don’t know how to act in civil society. Ya’ take a player out the ghetto, but ya’ can’t take the ghetto out of the player.
I don’t know what went down between him and his wife. But with his sordid track record, I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt that she was indeed defending herself against this creep!
Daily Mail reports Miami Dolphins Pro Bowl wide receiver Brandon Marshall is in hospital after allegedly being stabbed by his wife in the early hours of this morning. Michi Nogami-Marshall, has been arrested on a charge of aggravated battery with a deadly weapon.
She told officers she stabbed him with a kitchen knife while defending herself, according to a police report posted on the South Florida Sun Sentinel's website. She is in jail on a $7,500 bond. Marshall was taken to Broward General Hospital in Miami where he underwent surgery for a stab wound to the stomach.
No vital organs were pierced. Doctors have told representatives of the player that he should make full recovery in two to three weeks.
Marshall said he wanted to leave hospital immediately, but doctors advised against it in case of infection to the wound. In a statement, Marshall's agents Harvey Steinberg and Kennard McGuire said: 'This is a very difficult time for Brandon and family, thankfully he will make a full recovery.
'We simply ask that his privacy is respected.'
This isn't the first time Marshall suffered a serious injury during the offseason. During the 2008 off-season he suffered a bad laceration to his arm when smashing through a television set at his home. Marshall initially said he slipped on a McDonald's wrapper but then admitted he also was involved in 'horseplay' with a family member.
I thought tennis was supposed to be the gentile sport?
The Blaze reports a baby was bawling, and Sony Ericsson Open quarterfinalist David Ferrer wasn’t too happy, either. Trailing in his match and annoyed by the crying, Ferrer directed a forehand lob toward the infant after losing his serve midway through the second set Wednesday.
I guess you find the biggest jerks on the tennis court as well. If I was the kid’s father and the ball hit the baby, there would be one less tennis player in the world.
Was that Lindsey Lohan or Charlie Sheen driving the SUV?
The Blaze reports KGTV-10’s Sports Reporter Ben Higgins doesn’t skip a beat–he continues his report about the NCAA basketball tournament unfazed, eventually saying, as you can see in this version of the clip, “back live here in Tucson, and just barely….”
I graduated St. John’s, class of 85, with Chris Mullin. But, I don’t seem to recall Louie Carnesecca’s wife looking like this.
New York Post reports that St. John's is expected to storm the NCAA tourney this week with one of its strongest squads in recent memory -- but their good-luck charm sits behind the bench.
Mary Ann Jarou, the stunning wife of freshman coach Steve Lavin, is the Red Storm's rock. Known as "Miss Mary," the plucky, petite Midwesterner has caught nearly every game in her husband's remarkable first season with the Johnnies, including those in Alaska.
"It was live, breathe, eat basketball," said Jarou, 33. "The team is like a family."
Tomorrow is never guaranteed for any of us. It’s a tragedy to bury a child. I can’t think of any worse a pain.
Go hug your kids tonight extra tight!
CBS News reports a Michigan high school's star basketball player collapsed on the court and later died after making a game-winning layup in overtime to cap his team's perfect season. Wes Leonard of Fennville High died Thursday night, Holland Hospital spokeswoman Deb Patterson said. A cause of death was determined to be an enlarged heart. Paramedics performed CPR on the 16-year-old before he was pronounced dead at the hospital, Patterson said.
Leonard, a junior, was "by far the best player on that basketball team — outstanding athlete," said coach Mike Miller, whose Bridgman team lost 57-55 to Fennville Thursday night.
"All of Bridgman's thoughts and prayers are going toward Fennville right now," Miller told The Associated Press Friday morning. Leonard was a multi-sports star at Fenville High School - as a quarterback, he helped take the football team to the playoffs, CBS affiliate WWMT in Kalamazoo reports. (Watch video at bottom of story). Grief counselors were on hand at the high school on Friday, the district said.
"We did receive a loan from Major League Baseball in November," the Mets said in a statement. "Beyond that, we will not discuss the matter any further."
The team’s principal owner, Fred Wilpon, and his partners are scrambling to line up an investor to purchase as much as 25 percent of the team in the wake of a lawsuit brought by the bankruptcy trustee charged with clawing back billions for victims of Bernie Madoff.
The trustee, Irving Picard, has sued the team for as much as $1 billion, alleging Wilpon and his partners knew — or should have known — about Madoff’s massive Ponzi scheme.
Fred Wilpon and his son Jeff have insisted they will maintain majority ownership of the Mets despite the suit, although a financial adviser to the team recently said they would consider selling a bigger stake.
The November loan from the MLB suggests the team was experiencing a cash crunch before Picard’s suit against them became public
