Yankee4Life

I was very happy with these past two games and was glad to see them playing like they should be. Two things I really liked about today: 1. The first time up Cole made Devers uncomfortable at the plate and the guy stared him down because he may have wanted to start a fight because that is what Boston is known for. It didn’t work on Cole and Devers struck out. 2. Joey Gallo homered. If this guy can get going he can really end up helping the team a lot.

No, he was a regular here years ago. He also made the 1988 Total Classics mod and also was a former staff member.

10 out of 10, 45 seconds. These people like being tricky sometimes with their questions.

I would seriously drill the SOB the first time he is up tomorrow because he is just too comfortable at the plate. The Yankee staff treats him like Ortiz and he isn't.

10 out of 10, 55 seconds. A decent outing that I am satisfied with.

10 out of 10, 50 seconds. Yeah ok, but I did it kind of slow.

6 out of 10, 48 seconds. I don't know what the hell these were about today.

Ok, ok. So I am panicking. I always seem to. I just hope he isn't hurt.

Gutless outing by Severino. This is the beginning of the end.

7 out of 10, 71 seconds. These were hard today.

Hello Marty, I am sorry I did to see this post before now. I started this thread back in 2005 and I have learned something about each player that I have featured in here even if I had heard of them or not. It’s funny you should mention the profiles of players like Dimaggio or Gehrig for example. While most of us know a lot about these guys there is always going to be something that you end up learning about them and some of these under the radar players in here are down right fascinating. (Check out the Howard Ehmke profile on page eight.) In this same section of the forum I have a list of the players that have been already done so if you want me to do one please take a look at that list and if their name is not there please let me know.

6 out of 10, 55 seconds. How I did better than yesterday is the big mystery.

5 out of 10, 61 seconds. No excuses, I did terrible today and should have done better.

Chapman is a free agent at the end of the season and the Yankees should let him go.

It sure does. I am sick of these four hour games and every time the Yankees and Red Sox play they act like it is the final game of the season. Always have a good pillow and something nice to drink when you watch these two teams and best of luck!

10 out of 10, 38 seconds. I think this was my fastest ever.

Indirectly, the injury to Oakland’s Frankie Montas can be looked at as a blessing in disguise. If he is hurt for any period of time his trade value is going to go way down and there will be some legitimate concerns about his shoulder. Oakland is a team that will gladly trade with the Yankees provided they can get every good player they can off of them and they won’t budge until Cashman gives them what they wants. When they trade with other teams that is not the case. Look at the crap the Braves gave them for Matt Olson. Last night’s Yankee - Boston game took 3 hours and 51 minutes to play. It took them almost an hour and half to play three innings. This is why I hate these games between these two teams. And it might be longer tonight because the game is on FOX.

10 out of 10, 46 seconds. Very surprised I did not mess up any of the easy questions.

Hoyt Wilhelm There was nothing conventional about Hoyt Wilhelm's path to the Hall of Fame. He spent most of his big league career coming out of the bullpen, becoming the first reliever ever enshrined. He didn't make his major league debut until he was 29 years old, then pitched until he was nearly 50. And his arsenal featured not overpowering fastballs or knee-bending curveballs, but instead relied almost exclusively on a darting, unpredictable knuckleball. "I got to messing with the (knuckleball) in high school," Wilhelm said. "I started to see that the ball was doing something. I figured it was my only ticket to the big leagues, 'cause I couldn’t throw hard, and I knew if I was going to play ball, I'd have to make it some other way." Wilhelm's big league career nearly ended before it began. While serving in the Army during World War II, shrapnel from a German artillery blast struck Wilhelm in the back and right hand. He received the Purple Heart for his actions, and he would pitch his entire career with that piece of metal still lodged in his back. Wilhelm spent seven seasons in the minors before getting to the big leagues with the New York Giants in 1952. He'd been a starter throughout his minor league career, but Giants manager Leo Durocher moved him to the bullpen. As a rookie, Wilhelm went 15-3 with a league-high 71 appearances and an NL-low 2.43 ERA. After helping the Giants win the 1954 World Series title, Wilhelm bounced to the Cardinals, Indians and then the Orioles. In Baltimore, manager Paul Richards gave Wilhelm the chance to be a starter again. In just his third start, Wilhelm threw a no-hitter against the Yankees on Sept. 20, striking out eight. He remained in the Orioles rotation in 1959 and won the AL's ERA title with a 2.19 mark before moving back to the bullpen the following season. Richards helped increase Wilhelm's success by devising a larger catcher's mitt that was 41 inches in circumference – later reduced to 38 by rule – for Wilhelm's receivers to use, cutting down the passed balls that plagued him and so many other knuckleballers. Wilhelm settled in as the premier relief pitcher in an era dominated by pitching. From 1964-68 with the Chicago White Sox, Wilhelm went 41-33 with 99 saves and a 1.92 ERA in 361 games – all coming after his 40th birthday. While some marveled at Wilhelm's longevity – he was the big league's oldest player from 1966 through the end of his career in 1972 – he himself was quite pragmatic about it. He took care of himself, and he recognized that the knuckleball wasn't as taxing on his arm as conventional pitches would be. "He had the best knuckleball you'd ever want to see," Brooks Robinson said. "He knew where it was going when he threw it, but when he got two strikes on you, he'd break out one that even he didn't know where it was going." An eight-time All-Star, Wilhelm finished his career with a record of 143-122, 228 saves and a 2.52 ERA in 1,070 games.

7 out of 10, 61 seconds. Coin flipping and good guessing.

Elmer Valo Elmer William Valo was born in Czechoslovakia but lived the American dream during nearly sixty years in professional baseball. He insisted he was not a “natural athlete,” saying, “Being a baseball player is not a glamorous job, it’s hard work.” In twenty years as a major league player, he reached base as often as Joe DiMaggio. As teammate Eddie Joost noted, Valo was a complete player who always put out 100 percent and was well liked. Though not a graceful outfielder, he used his sprinter’s speed, superior leaping ability, and sheer determination to make up for any deficiencies. He served as a player representative and goodwill ambassador for the Philadelphia Athletics, and had a lifelong commitment to youth sports as a baseball instructor at clinics and a basketball referee. Al Simmons reportedly said of him, “There is a guy who should never hit less than .340. He has the timing, the coordination and the strength. If he could only learn to relax a little, he’d be great. How Valo came to sign with the A’s while he was a junior in high school was reported by John L. Faust in a 1983 article in the Lehighton Times News. According to Faust, Elmer developed blisters on his feet in a touch football game and decided to caddy at a local golf course. Paulsen took off after Elmer, bought him a larger pair of spikes and drove him to the game. After a few more looks, Elmer was signed to an agreement to play after graduation in 1939. No money changed hands. He joined the Federalsburg, Maryland, team of the Class D Eastern Shore League. In his abbreviated season he hit .374 and helped the team win the championship. It has been said that Valo had one at-bat as an 18-year-old for the Philadelphia A’s in the last game of the 1939 season, which would have made him a four-decade player. Red Smith, a sports writer with the the Philadelphia Record at the time, later wrote that this at-bat was expunged from the official record, supposedly because Valo was not on the active roster and Connie Mack would have incurred a stiff fine. Smith related the story in 1975 as if Valo were jogging his (Smith’s) memory about it. Smith had been the official scorer. When asked about the article years later, Valo politely refused to comment. Valo rejoined the Athletics after the was in April, 1946. He played sparingly and was batting .083 at the end of the month as the team got off to a horrible 2-10 start. By June he began to hit the ball hard, getting four hits in a 10-4 win over Cleveland to help break a nine-game losing streak. Two days later his game-winning double beat the Indians again, 3-2. The Sporting News reported that he had been working hard on his fielding. He began to gain a reputation as a courageous outfielder. In Baseball’s Pivotal Era, author William Marshall tells how “Elmer robbed Ted Williams of a home run, crashing so hard into the fence he had to be carried off the field.” Valo finished at .307, the first of three consecutive seasons batting .300 or better, but the A’s 49-105 record was the same as 1943. In 1947 the Athletics were the surprise team of the AL. By mid-June they were only seven games behind the Yankees. Valo missed three weeks after a beaning by Sid Hudson. On September 3, his first day back, he ran up the scoreboard in Shibe Park to make a brilliant catch of what seemed a certain extra-base hit by Mickey Vernon. The play preserved a 3-0, no-hit, no-walk game by Bill McCahan. Ferris Fain committed an error in the first inning of the otherwise perfect game. Valo was also the offensive hero with a two-run double. He batted .300 and the A’s finished over .500 for the first time in 14 years. The A’s continued to surprise in 1948. The 35 days they spent in first place must have seemed like heaven to the perennial doormats’ fans. Valo hit .305 and provided superb defense. On May 15th before a then-record Saturday crowd at Yankee Stadium of 69,416 he went high up against the right field wall to make two improbable catches and then a third, leaping over the wall in the eighth inning to rob Yogi Berra of a home run and falling back to the field unconscious. Trade rumors in 1951 had Valo and a pitcher going to the White Sox for slugger Gus Zernial. The A’s got Zernial for two other players, but not Valo. Despite the urgings of new manager Jimmy Dykes, the A’s were in last place on June 15. They then beat the White Sox, who had won 12 straight road games, in the eleventh inning of the opener of a doubleheader. Valo walked with two outs and scored on Zernial’s double to left-center field. Valo would have been out by 15 feet, but he bowled over catcher Gus Niarhos and knocked him unconscious, dislodging the ball. A bench-clearing brawl followed, and Valo and Chicago pitcher Saul Rogovin were ejected for fighting. Valo was injured and was suspended as well. The Athletics’ move to Kansas City in 1955 was the first of three franchise shifts in Valo’s career. Even after the change of scenery, most sportswriters picked the club for last place. Manager Lou Boudreau announced he would platoon Valo in left field with Gus Zernial. After two years spent mostly on the bench and the disabled list, the 34-year-old Valo rebounded to put up the best numbers of his career: a .364 average and .460 on-base percentage in 338 plate appearances. As a pinch hitter he batted .452 with 14 hits in 31 at bats. He received five votes in the AL Most Valuable Player balloting as the Athletics rose to sixth place. He moved with the Dodgers from Brooklyn to Los Angeles. As the club fell to seventh place in its new home, Valo hit .248 as a part-timer. After the season, he was assigned to Montreal but asked for and received his release. After 17 years in the majors, Elmer received no interest from major league teams and signed with the Seattle Rainiers as a player-coach in 1959. He became a hustling fan favorite there and big league clubs took notice. Washington Post columnist Shirley Povich wrote, “Who else but Elmer Valo is leading the Pacific Coast League in hitting at .340?” In August, the Cleveland Indians, still in the pennant race, purchased Valo’s contract. He hit .292 in 34 at bats, but the Indians finished third. In October of 1961 he announced his retirement from baseball. In his twenty year big league career he hit .282, with 58 home runs, and 601 runs batted in.

9 out of 10, 60 seconds. The one that should have been a given for me I ended up missing.

5 out of 10, 47 seconds. What the hell?

10 out of 10, 40 seconds. Some easy ones today.

8 out of 10, 55 seconds. Just a total screw up today. My fault!