Yankee4Life

Willie Horton A standout on the sandlots of Detroit, Willie Horton became the first black superstar for his hometown Tigers and spent parts of 15 seasons with the team. A tremendously powerful right-handed slugger, Horton was one of the strongest men in the game and launched 325 homers in his career. Extremely popular in Detroit, Horton worked in the Tigers front office after his playing career, where he helped bridge relations between the club and the African American community. Called up by the Tigers at the tail end of the ’63 season, Horton came through in his first two pinch-hit at-bats and finished the season with a 6-for-10 stretch against the Orioles. Willie made a name for himself during spring training in 1964 when he led the team in home runs and drove in 18 runners. On Easter Sunday, he clubbed a ninth-inning, pinch-hit homer more than 420 feet to deep center field to win the first game of a doubleheader, and hit another game-winning homer in the second game. His play—and his weight—caught the attention of manager Charlie Dressen. The Tigers skipper stripped more than 20 pounds from Horton’s frame during the spring, after the youngster reported weighing 222 pounds. “He looks like a natural hitter to me,” Dressen said. “Willie throws good, and he can run.” His spring heroics earned Willie a spot on the Tigers’ roster, and he began the season platooning with veteran Bill Bruton in left field. But Horton struggled, especially against off-speed pitches, and slumped to an 8-for-59 start (.136 with no home runs). In mid-May, the Tigers shipped Horton to Triple A Syracuse, where Willie felt more comfortable playing every day, slugging 28 homers and batting .288 with 99 RBI for the Chiefs. His efforts earned him another late-season call-up to Detroit. In his final game of the season, Horton clubbed a home run against Milt Pappas in Baltimore. While playing winter ball in Puerto Rico in early 1965, Horton received tragic news. Both of his parents were killed in a New Year’s Day car accident in Albion, Michigan. Horton quickly flew home to attend the services. The youngest child, Horton had been particularly close to his father, who had been in the stands at Tiger Stadium when his son hit his first major league home run, victimizing Robin Roberts. Overcoming the death of his parents, Horton lost his usual off-season weight during the spring and made the big league club. “Whatever I do this year, I’m doing for my dad and mother,” Willie said. He began the 1965 season as Detroit’s fourth outfielder. But his hot-hitting quickly won him the left field job from Jim Northrup and earned him a spot on the American League All-Star team. In 143 games, the 22-year-old batted .273 with 29 homers and 104 RBI, finishing eighth in Most Valuable Player Award voting. During an East Coast road trip to Washington and Boston in May, Horton socked six homers in four games, each of the blasts traveling more than 400 feet. “Willie the Wonder” had arrived on the big-league scene. Having established that he could hit right-handed pitching well enough to be in the lineup on a daily basis, Horton was entrenched in the starting lineup for Detroit in 1966. Once again he put up big offensive numbers, driving in 100 runs on the strength of 27 home runs. An ankle problem hampered him in 1967, but Willie still managed 19 homers and 67 RBI in 122 games. With the Tigers battling into the final weekend in a four-team race for the pennant, Horton hit homers in the first inning of the first games of doubleheaders on the last two days of the season to help defeat the Angels. However, Detroit lost the flag by one game. That season, Horton thrust himself into the Detroit riots, fleeing Tiger Stadium in uniform to address the irate crowds in the streets of fire. Showing tremendous courage, Horton pled with Detroiters to calm the violence, but his efforts were in vain, and the city burned for nearly a week. Horton was the most consistent bat in the Tigers’ lineup in the magical 1968 season. In a season dominated by brilliant pitching performances, Horton’s .285 average was fourth in the league, and his 36 homers were second to Frank Howard’s 44. In the World Series against the Cardinals however, it was Willie’s right arm that won him eternal fame with Detroit rooters. In the fifth inning of Game 5, with Detroit trailing 3–2 and St. Louis threatening to extend its lead, Lou Brock tried to score standing up on Julian Javier’s single to left field. Horton fielded the ball and fired a one-hopper to home plate. Freehan caught the ball and tagged Brock to swing the momentum in Detroit’s favor. The Tigers came back to win the game, 5–3, and captured the final two games to win the title. Horton batted .304 with six runs scored and three extra-base hits in the Series victory. In contrast with the previous season, 1969 was filled with disappointment for Horton. Mired in a 4-for-35 slump on May 15, Willie left the team midgame and disappeared for four days due to “personal pressures.” When he came back, he had lost more than $1,300 in pay and was admonished by Detroit General Manager Jim Campbell. On June 28 in Baltimore, Horton pulled up at second base on a double and tore thigh muscle in his right leg. The injury forced him to miss 10 games and relegated him to the bench for seven more. He played the final weeks of the season with a sore right hand. Nonetheless, Horton still managed 91 RBI and 28 home runs. Detroit returned to the postseason in 1972 while Willie suffered one of his most frustrating seasons, hitting .231 with 11 homers in 108 games. He reported to spring training overweight and fought hard to shed the pounds, but never got on track, and suffered foot and shoulder ailments that hampered his effectiveness. Following that disappointment, Horton arrived at spring training in 1973 in good shape and focused on a return to form. He did just that, hitting .316 in 111 games, spending much of the season among the batting leaders in the league. Now 30 years old, Horton continued to have troubles with his legs, especially after the All-Star break, which limited his playing time. “By the fourth inning my legs are so stiff the way it is that I can hardly move,” Willie said. Horton also injured his wrist when he ran into a wall chasing a fly ball, but he credited his new roommate, veteran slugger Frank Howard, with helping him have one of his better seasons. He was also helped by a new daily exercise regimen that involved a broom handle Willie called “the wand.” Yet despite the broom handle, his nagging legs bothered Horton again in 1974, and in early July, after nearly a month without hitting a homer, he was shut down and underwent knee surgery. Even though he had been unable to run very well all season, Horton had managed to hit .298 with 47 RBI in 72 games. In April he was involved in a bizarre incident at Fenway Park when he lofted a high foul fly directly over home plate that struck a pigeon. The bird landed at the feet of Red Sox catcher Bob Montgomery. On the next pitch, Willie singled. With the retirement of Al Kaline following the 1974 campaign, Horton was now an elder on the club. Having always been sensitive to his status in the clubhouse, Horton aimed to have a big 1975 and boost his salary into the $100,000 mark that Kaline had received. Spurred by that possibility, Horton stayed healthy all season for the first time in six years. Manager Ralph Houk helped the situation by using Horton exclusively as a designated hitter. Horton played in 159 games and set career marks at that time for hits and at-bats. His 92 RBI were 32 more than any other Tiger, and his 25 homers were nearly double that of any of his teammates. He was named DH on The Sporting News’ AL All-Star team. Though he was not sure at first if he would like being a DH, Horton warmed to the role as the season wore on. Horton’s tenure with his hometown team came to an end early in the 1977 season. After going 1-for-4 in left field on opening day against the Kansas City Royals, he sat on the bench until he was traded to the Rangers five days later. With a backlog of outfielders and Staub at DH, the Tigers shipped their slugger to Texas for reliever Steve Foucault. Willie packed his bats and his helmet (he wore the same helmet throughout his career, having it painted when he changed teams) and joined his new club. It began an odyssey for Horton that took him to six different teams in three seasons. In the off-season, Horton tested the free agent market for the first time and received his long-sought-after two-year deal—with the Mariners. In Seattle, as a veteran on an expansion club, Willie found a comfortable environment and enjoyed playing for manager Darrell Johnson, who inserted Horton’s name in the lineup every day. Willie rewarded Johnson’s confidence, slugging 29 homers with 106 RBI, a career best, and earning American League Comeback Player of the Year honors. Seattle fans fell in love with 36-year-old Horton, dubbing him the “Ancient Mariner.” Facing his former Tigers team June 5, 1979, Horton belted a ball at the Kingdome in Seattle that disappeared in the roof in left-center field. Initially ruled a home run—the 300th of his career—it was changed to a single when it was determined that it had struck a speaker. The next game, Horton hit his for-real 300th homer off Detroit’s Jack Morris. With a two-year extension in his pocket, Horton got off to a dreadful start in 1980, and without a home run to his credit and his average languishing below .200, he sat for two three-game stretches during May. Later he spent two stints on the disabled list with a hand injury. He finished his 18th season with a .221 average and just eight home runs. He entered the off-season knowing he would have to fight for a job on the Mariners, but that didn’t matter on December 12, when he was dealt to the Rangers as part of an 11-player trade. After spring training in 1981, Horton was released by Texas. In 2000, he was brought back into the Tigers organization by owner Mike Ilitch as a special adviser, and he still serves the team’s front office today. A bronze statue of Horton taking a mighty swing is located at Comerica Park beyond the left-field stands, and Willie is the only non-Hall of Famer to receive that recognition. His uniform number 23 was also retired by the club. On September 27, 1999, the final game was played at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. As part of the postgame festivities, former Tigers ran onto the field in uniform and took their positions. When Horton ran into left field, he was greeted with a tremendous ovation from fans who appreciated his 15 seasons and 262 home runs wearing the Detroit uniform. Willie Horton, the slugger who starred for the 1968 World Champions, the little kid from the streets of Detroit, the teenager who belted a homer nearly out of the ballpark, the strong man who shattered bats with brute strength, broke down and cried like a baby.

Norm Cash Norm Cash came to Detroit in exchange for outfielder Steve Demeter. Detroit general manager Rick Ferrell was dumbfounded when Frank Lane, his Cleveland counterpart, offered Cash for Demeter, unsure if he meant “cold cash or Norm Cash?” While Demeter’s career with the Indians consisted of merely four games, Cash became a fixture at first base in Detroit for 15 years. Lane was not through making controversial trades with the Tigers. Five days later, he sent Rocky Colavito to Michigan for Harvey Kuenn, and later in 1960, the two clubs swapped managers, Joe Gordon for Jimmie Dykes. Cash’s teammates took an immediate liking to him. A comedian both on the field and in the clubhouse, he once tried to call time after being picked off first base. In another instance, Cash was stranded on second base during a thunderstorm. Once play resumed, however, he returned to third base. The umpire was baffled. “What are you doing over there?” “I stole third,” he answered. “When did that happen?” “During the rain.” After a respectable 1960 season in which he batted .286 with 18 home runs, Cash captured the baseball world by storm in 1961. Although playing in the shadow of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, Cash posted one of the most outstanding offensive single season records in American League history. Stormin’ Norman led the junior circuit with 193 hits and a .361 batting average. Number 25 also established personal marks of 41 home runs, 132 RBIs, and eight triples. Even more astounding, he hit .388 on the road! Facing Washington’s Joe McClain on June 11, Cash became the first Detroit player to clear the Tiger Stadium roof, hitting a home run that landed on Trumbull Avenue. Another against Boston’s Don Schwall struck a police tow truck. He was equally skilled at first base, fielding a sterling .993 as he caught dozens of long foul balls before they could fly into the stands. With Kaline’s .324 batting average and Colavito’s .290 complementing Cash in the lineup, the Tigers, led by Frank Lary and his 23 victories, challenged the Yankees for the American League pennant. The Bengals came within a game and a half of the Bronx Bombers on September 1 before retracting to finish eight behind in the standings with 101 victories. Was Norm Cash destined to become a one-year wonder? Even at the time, he knew his ’61 season was a freak, saying that everything he hit seemed to drop in, even when he didn’t make good contact. After Frank Lary injured his leg on Opening Day and Al Kaline broke his shoulder during a nationally televised game in May, it became clear that the Tigers would not again challenge the Yankees in 1962. The season was equally disappointing for Cash, who batted only .243 for the season. The 118 points shaved from his average remains a record of futility among batting champs. Cash ultimately found his swing, batting .342 in an autumn exhibition trip to Japan, but by that point, the regular season was long over. Still the 1962 season was far from a write-off for the affable Texan. Cash hit 39 home runs, including three more roof shots, as the league runner-up to Harmon Killebrew’s 48. His .993 fielding percentage was identical to his 1961 average. Cash never again cracked the .300 plateau. Years later, when Mickey Lolich asked why, he replied that “Jim Campbell pays me to hit home runs.” Indeed, Cash’s 373 home runs for the Tigers remains second only to Al Kaline’s 399 among aggregate team records. However, it soon became evident that other factors besides the maturation of expansion pitching compromised Stormin’ Norman’s batting average. Cheating in baseball was as much an issue in 1961 as it remains today, and Sonny Eliot remembers why Norm Cash called that season “the Year of the Quick Bat.” Cash was nothing if not consistent for the balance of the 1960s. He was the only American League hitter to slug 20 or better home runs each year from 1961 to 1969. In 1964, he set a record among Detroit first baseman by fielding an outstanding .997. On July 9, 1965, Stormin’ Norman hit an inside-the-park home run against the A’s at Municipal Stadium in Kansas City. The blast must have ignited Cash’s non-corked bat, as he decimated American League pitching with 23 home runs and 58 RBIs in 78 games after the All-Star break. His second-half exploits earned him Comeback Player of the Year honors, and in 1966, he was invited to the All-Star Game. Cash, once again, led junior circuit first basemen in fielding with a .997 percentage. Stormin’ Norman proved to be the exception on the 1968 Tigers as he was fighting an early season slump. On July 27, the 6-foot-0 Cash was barely hitting his weight, batting .195 on a team cruising to its first American League pennant in 23 years. In dramatic fashion, he hit a torrid .333 in his last 54 games to finish the season at .263. Included in his 12 home runs and 33 RBIs in August and September was a three-run blast against Oakland on September 14. The winning pitcher of the 5-4 decision was Denny McLain, his 30th of the season. Cash led Tigers batsmen in the World Series, hitting .385 against Cardinals pitching. Setting a dubious October record as Bob Gibson’s 16th strikeout in Game One, he redeemed himself the following afternoon, homering off Nellie Briles in an 8-1 complete-game victory for Mickey Lolich. Facing elimination in Game Six, Cash enjoyed another productive day at the plate, accounting for two of the 13 Detroit runs, tying the Series at three games. This set the stage for an historic Game Seven. The Tigers were unfazed at the prospect of facing a pitcher who specialized in winning Game Sevens, Bob Gibson. In the clubhouse after practice, manager Mayo Smith encouraged his players that Gibson “can be beat, he’s not Superman!” To this, Cash chimed “Oh yeah? Just a little while ago, I saw him changing in a phone booth!” Tigers hitters proved to be Kryptonite with two outs and no score in the seventh inning. Cash ignited a Detroit rally with a single off Gibson, and later put the Tigers ahead as the first runner to score on Jim Northrup’s triple. The final score was 4-1, and the Detroit Tigers were world champions. After being relegated to pinch hitting in 1970, Cash enjoyed a renaissance season playing in the Renaissance City in 1971. So torrid was his first half that spectators across Major League ballparks voted him to start the All-Star Game on July 13. Played in Detroit, it drew 53,559 spectators. American League manager Earl Weaver, however, took exception to Cash’s assignment, as he was not the reigning MVP playing for the defending World Champions. Boog Powell, Weaver’s first baseman in Baltimore, could claim both. Accordingly, Weaver, scrapped Cash from the lineup and replaced him with Powell. The roster move was not kindly received by the Detroit faithful. After public address announcer Joe Gentile introduced the National League All-Stars were announced, he began to present the American League. Starting with Weaver! Again, a cloud of boos rained over Tiger Stadium. Although Rod Carew was the next to be announced, the Twins’ second baseman did not take his place when called. Carew was apprehended by Cash and Bobby Murcer to prevent him from leaving the dugout, thereby prolonging the catcalls. Only after a prolonged interval did Carew emerge, breaking up the hecklers. When the dust cleared on the 1971 season, the Tigers had won 91 games, but finished 10 games behind Earl Weaver and the Orioles. Stormin’ Norman clubbed 32 round trippers — one shy of Bill Melton’s league lead — while driving in 91 runs, batting a respectable .283. His offensive record was enough to win his second American League Comeback Player of the Year Award. It would have surprised nobody to hear Cash proclaim, after accepting the honor, that he hoped he would win the award again next year. Cash was, however, named to the All-Star team once again in 1972, his fourth and final trip to the midsummer classic. is offensive output may have retracted, but the Tigers vaulted ahead in the standings to win their first American League East Division title. The 1974 season was a transitional one for the Tigers and their personnel. For only the second time in franchise history, Detroit finished the season in last place. Stormin’ Norman no longer held the nomenclatural monopoly when youthful infielder Ron Cash joined the Tigers in spring training. Equipment manager John Hand wanted to change the name on Norm’s uniform, but the first baseman refused. Cash exclaimed in disgust, “If the people can’t tell the difference between me and the other guy, something’s the matter!” He became even more incensed when he received a telephone call from the general manager on August 7. Batting only .228 with 12 home runs and 12 RBIs, Cash was released. “I thought at least they’d let me finish out the year. Campbell just called and said I didn’t have to show up at the park.” Norm Cash was a player who knew his baseball career would not last forever. As a player, his offseason occupations included banking, ranching, and auctioning hogs. In the early 1970s, Cash hosted a local variety show in Detroit called “The Norm Cash Show.” In 1976, he teamed with former October archrival Bob Gibson as broadcasters for ABC Monday Night Baseball. Although Cash continued to display his brand of humor, it was not appreciated by all. On-air remarks such as equating entertainment in Baltimore with going “down to the street and [watching] hubcaps rust” earned Cash his dismissal from the network. In 1978, he made his film debut with a cameo appearance in One in a Million: The Ron LeFlore Story. In a scene filmed at Lakeland, Cash was standing with Kaline, Freehan, and Northrup to watch LeFlore in first spring training after accepting his release from Jackson State Prison. When the others marveled at his speed, Cash chimed in with “He can’t be too fast, the cops caught him.” Cash died at the young age of 51 on October 11, 1986 when after having dinner he went to the dock to check on his boat. Unable to navigate the slippery pier in cowboy boots, he fell into the water and could not pull himself out. The next morning, he was found floating in 15 feet of water in St. James Bay. Norman Dalton Cash was pronounced dead the next day. Perhaps the most vocal and outward posthumous tribute to Norm Cash in the final hours of the ballpark whose first base he called home from the Eisenhower to the Nixon administration. A sellout crowd of 43,556 jammed Tiger Stadium on September 27, 1999 for the final game against the Kansas City Royals. Several Tigers switched uniform numbers to pay homage to players who passed before them. Paying tribute to Ty Cobb, Gabe Kapler did not wear any number at all. Rookie Rob Fick switching his number 18 for 25 to honor Norm Cash. Only Fick went one step further. The Tigers enjoyed a comfortable 4-2 eighth-inning lead when Fick crushed a Jeff Montgomery fastball for a grand slam home run. In true Norm Cash fashion, the ball nearly cleared the right field roof. Tom Stanton reports in The Final Season, a diary which paints Tiger Stadium as a metaphor for the bond between fathers and sons, that Fick “looked up in the sky and thought of my dad,” who passed away the year before. “I know that he had something to do with all this.” So did Norm Cash.

This is the closest the Yankees have played to me at any time during the regular season but I'm so wound up I am not going. This has been an awful year so far. Oh well, at least our friend Mr. Gittens got his memento baseball. That's all that matters.

You just got to love selfish people. 😕

Chris Gittens hit his first career homer against the Blue Jays on Tuesday June 15, 2021 as the Yankees beat Toronto 6 - 5. This was needed!

Ed Figueroa The New York Yankees won three straight American League pennants from 1976 to 1978, becoming World Series champions in the latter two years. Yet even devoted fans might have trouble recalling which pitcher got the most victories for the Bronx Bombers over this period. It wasn’t Catfish Hunter or Ron Guidry — it was Ed Figueroa, the only native of Puerto Rico (as of 2017) to have a 20-win season. Figueroa relied on a good sinking fastball and a variety of breaking pitches. As Guidry described him, “Figgy was a good pitcher. He wasn’t an overpowering guy. He was always around the plate. He wasn’t flashy, wasn’t dominant, wasn’t a strikeout guy. He just won.” Unfortunately, elbow problems ended his run of success after just four seasons. Although he started the 1975 season at Salt Lake, Figueroa said in 2008 that it still might have been his best year overall. Crediting Angels pitching coach Billy Muffett, he became a sinker/slider pitcher. Figueroa told Phil Pepe, “I’d say those two pitches, plus the confidence I gained by pitching regularly at California, enabled me to have a winning season.” He was 16-13 with a 2.91 ERA for a team that “was one of the worst in baseball. . .We had no hitting.” That season, he earned the nickname “Señor Stopper” – 15 of his wins came after the Angels had lost. Figueroa actually had a better year than Nolan Ryan in ’75, but teammate Frank Tanana emerged to lead the league in strikeouts. On December 11, 1975, Yankees general manager Gabe Paul made another in his sequence of brilliant trades that helped lift the team back to pennant-winning status. He sent Bobby Bonds to the Angels and received both Mickey Rivers and Figueroa in return. The headline in the Los Angeles Times said “Angel Offense: More Security With Bonds” – but the Christian Science Monitor rightly observed, “The Yankees, in terms of youth and potential, got a lot from California for Bonds.” Bonds had a disappointing, injury-marred 1976, and though 1977 might have been his career year, he was traded again that December. Meanwhile, Rivers and Figueroa were vital parts of the Yankees’ 1976-78 run. Plus, while Paul said he hated to let Bonds go, the deal also allowed him to trade Doc Medich and obtain another key cog: Willie Randolph. The Bonds swap was not received well in New York. As Phil Pepe wrote in 1977, “Remember the flak that was stirred? Remember how people criticized the deal? Figueroa was a tough sell to Yankee fans and know-nothing television critics.” But the club liked how well he had pitched against key divisional rivals Baltimore and Boston. “He’s going to be one of the best pitchers in baseball in the next few years,” predicted Gabe Paul and George Steinbrenner. They were right. Figueroa (sporting a fierce-looking mustache by then, as did many of his Yankee teammates) won a club-high 19 games in 1976. He might have reached the 20-win plateau two years earlier than he eventually did, but he missed a couple of turns in August with a stiff elbow, lost his last two decisions, and then a rainout canceled his last start of the season. Right around that time, the Christian Science Monitor said, “When it comes to using only the corners of home plate, Ed Figueroa is a craftsman.” Figueroa’s postseason record was not impressive. He was 0-2, 8.10 in four starts in the AL Championship Series of 1976-78, all against the Kansas City Royals. In Game Five of the 1976 ALCS, though, he pitched seven steady innings and left with a 6-3 lead. Grant Jackson then gave up a game-tying homer to George Brett (who hit an astounding .610 against Figueroa in his career during the regular season and .592 overall). An inning later, Chris Chambliss brought New York the pennant with his memorable homer off Mark Littell. In the 1976 World Series, Figueroa went eight innings and allowed five runs as the Cincinnati Reds completed their sweep in Game Four. For reaching the 20-win milestone in 1978, Figueroa got a hero’s welcome in Puerto Rico. He threw out the first ball to open the PRWL season (although he did not play that winter and the next two). Governor Carlos Romero Barceló held a luncheon in Figueroa’s honor, and former Governor Luis Muñóz Marín invited the pitcher to his home. However, Figueroa was never effective again in the majors after 1978. Author Bruce Markusen summed it up well in 2008: “Over a four-year span, he averaged 248 innings per season, a substantial workload that became exacerbated by an awkward motion. In his wind-up, Figueroa tucked his left leg and left arm in toward his mid-section; by the time he put himself in position to deliver the pitch, he was throwing the ball across his body. It was a fun delivery to imitate (as I know well from hours of throwing a ball up against a boulder outside of my house), but it sure did appear to put extra stress on the arm and shoulder. Figueroa’s arm problems began in 1979; by 1981, he was fully cooked.” In his eight season career Figueroa had an 80 - 67 record with a 3.51 ERA. He started 179 games and completed 63 of them and had 12 shutouts. He struck out 571 hitters and walked 443 in 1,309 2/3 innings of work.

You're welcome. And if you can think of someone just let me know. Just be sure to check the list of completed players and if you do check the list that is in alphabetical order. It's easier that way.

You start over.

Sparky Lyle Albert Walter “Sparky” Lyle never started a game in his 16-year major league career, has 238 career saves, and was the first American League relief pitcher to win a Cy Young Award (1977). Breaking into the major leagues on July 4, 1967, in the seventh inning at Anaheim Stadium. Al “Sparky” Lyle made his big debut just 18 days before his 23rd birthday, facing the California Angels. After Russ Gibson batted for Sox pitcher Darrell Brandon in the top of the seventh, Lyle came in to pitch in the bottom of the inning with the Red Sox down, 4-1. He gave up a base hit to Jimmie Hall, but then struck out Rick Reichardt, got Buck Rodgers on a ground out (catcher to first), and struck out Tom Satriano. In the eighth inning, he walked a batter and threw a wild pitch but escaped other damage. Ken Poulsen batted for Lyle in the ninth, but the Red Sox lost the game, 4-3. In the two innings he pitched, Lyle gave up one hit, walked one, allowed no runs, and struck out three. From then until season’s end, he pitched 43 1/3 innings, gave up 33 hits and struck out 42, and had a 1-2 won-lost record. He did not appear in the World Series due to a sore arm. In 1968, Lyle was 6-1 with 11 saves, settling in to a role as the team’s primary left-handed reliever. The following season, he pitched 102 2/3 innings, chalked up 17 saves and had 93 strikeouts, along with his 8-3 record. This season made him one of the best relief pitchers in baseball. In the next two seasons he logged 36 more saves, leading the team in that category three straight seasons. His future looked bright. Lyle became one of the game’s dominant relievers of the 1970’s, but it most of his best seasons came with the team’s hated rivals. In what many Red Sox fans consider the team’s worst trade of the past 50 years, Lyle was traded during spring training in 1972, to the New York Yankees for first baseman Danny Cater and a player to be named later (Mario Guerrero). Cater batted an abysmal .237 in his first year with the Red Sox, although he rebounded in 1973, hitting .313 in 63 games. Meanwhile, the Dominican shortstop Guerrero struggled with a .233 batting average in 1973. From 1972 through 1978, Lyle established himself as the Yankees’ bullpen ace. He helped lead the Yankees to three straight pennants from 1976-1978 and World Series titles in 1977 and 1978. Saving 35 games in 1972, he set a major league record for left-handed relievers. (Just the next year, John Hiller of the Detroit Tigers surpassed Lyle’s total, recording 38 saves.) In 1972, Lyle had become the first lefty to compile 100 saves in the American League, helping him earn the 1972 Fireman of the Year award from The Sporting News. Leading the league again in 1976 with 23 saves, he broke future Hall of Fame pitcher Hoyt Wilhelm‘s American League record of 154 career saves, and proceeded to break Ron Perranoski‘s major league record for left handers of 179 career saves. By 1977, Lyle had collected 201 career saves and was fast closing in on Wilhelm’s career record of 227. Lyle did briefly hold the record when he tied Wilhelm on May 26th at 227. That record was itself equaled by Rollie Fingers of the San Diego Padres a few days later on May 31. Lyle went to 228 on June 4; Fingers tied him June 7. Lyle then went up by two with saves on June 13 and again on June 16. Fingers tied him at 230 on June 25, but Fingers then went ahead for good June 1. In 1973, he was named to his first of three American League All-Star teams. He pitched one full inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. He was again named to the AL All-Star teams in both 1976 and 1977; he didn’t appear in the 1976 game and pitched two innings in the 1977 game. Sparky Lyle’s contributions to the New York Yankees from 1972 through 1977 were so paramount to their success that the team played “Pomp and Circumstance” as theme music at Yankee Stadium each time he entered from the bullpen. Primarily using his superb slider, which became his signature pitch, he also had a great fastball and a very impressive curve ball in his arsenal. His career year, 1977, produced a 13-5 record, a 2.17 ERA, 26 saves and the first American League Cy Young Award for a relief pitcher. Lyle worked 137 innings in 72 appearances.

Hank Bauer Right fielder Hank Bauer was a mainstay of the Casey Stengel–Yogi Berra Yankee dynasty who sparkled in the World Series spotlight. In the final game of the 1951 Series his bases-loaded triple broke a tie and gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead. After the Giants narrowed the margin to 4-3 in the ninth, with the tying run on second base, Bauer made a sliding catch of a sinking line drive for the last out. He hit safely in a record 17 consecutive World Series games — all seven in the 1956 and 1957 classics and the first three games in 1958. After the Braves’ Warren Spahn ended his streak in Game Four, he homered off Spahn in the sixth game. It was his fourth home run in that Series, a record he shared at the time with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Duke Snider. Before joining the Yankees, Bauer won two Bronze Stars and two Purple Hearts as a marine in World War II. After the Yankees he managed the Baltimore Orioles to their first World Series championship. He was tough and looked it. Sportswriter Jim Murray said Bauer had “a face like a clenched fist.” He grew up watching the St. Louis Cardinals Gashouse Gang and played the game their way: all-out. Before Pete Rose was born, Bauer learned from the Cardinals’ Enos Slaughter how to run hard to first when he drew a walk. “It’s no fun playing if you don’t make somebody else unhappy,” he said. “I do everything hard.” After finishing third in 1948, the Yankees brought in Stengel as manager and began working young players into the lineup. Bauer, a 26-year-old rookie, was one of six position players his age or younger. That was partly out of necessity, because the club was hit with an epidemic of injuries in 1949. Bauer played center field early in the season while DiMaggio was recovering from surgery on his heel. He batted .272/.354/.432 in 103 games. The Yankees won the 1949 pennant by beating Boston in the last two games of the season, then defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in the World Series. It was the first of five consecutive Series championships, a run unmatched in baseball history. Bauer, a right-handed batter, was primarily a platoon player in his first three seasons. (It is a misconception that he was platooned throughout his career.) He often shared time with Gene Woodling, although Woodling played left field and Bauer right. They were close friends, and each man believed he should be playing every day. Stengel “used to keep us both mad,” Bauer said, “and once we got in there we busted our butts to stay in the lineup.” During the Yankees’ five-year championship streak, Bauer batted .298 with an OPS over .800. He won a regular spot in the lineup, though Stengel sat him down against certain tough right-handers. In 1953 Stengel installed him as the leadoff hitter; his on-base percentage topped .350 for his first 10 full seasons. He was the American League’s starting right fielder in the 1952-53-54 All-Star Games. The most infamous moment of Bauer’s career happened at a birthday celebration for Billy Martin on May 15, 1957. Several Yankees and some of their wives went to the Copacabana night club to see Sammy Davis Jr. perform. Later testimony revealed that at least one drunken member of a bowling team taunted the African American entertainer with racial slurs, and Bauer told him to pipe down. What came next was in dispute. The loudest drunk bowler wound up on a bathroom floor with a broken nose and bloody face. He said Bauer had slugged him, but Bauer insisted, “I know it was not me, and it was not Billy Martin.” The truth remained a mystery for six decades, until a former Copa bouncer, 88-year-old Joey Silvestri, claimed he had thrown the punches. One tabloid headline screamed “Bauer in Brawl.” The injured man swore out a warrant for Bauer’s arrest, and he was fingerprinted and booked. After Berra testified, “Nobody never hit nobody nohow,” a grand jury threw out the charges. The victim in the case turned out to be Martin, whose crime was having a birthday party. He was soon traded to Kansas City. General manager George Weiss had been looking for an excuse to get rid of him, believing he was a bad influence on his pal Mantle. Bauer had notched career highs in 1956 with 26 home runs and 84 RBIs, but his batting average slipped as he reached his mid-30s. Still, Stengel defended him: “He hits the long ball and he gets the hit when you need it. He’s the hardest-running thirty-six-year-old I’ve ever seen, and he gives you every ounce of his energy for nine full innings every day.” The Yanks won nine pennants and seven World Series in Bauer’s first 10 full years. As the roster turned over from the prewar DiMaggio generation to the Mantle era, only Bauer and Berra played in all nine Series. Bauer’s 53 games in the Fall Classic are tied for fourth all-time, his 46 hits tied for fifth. (Berra, who played in 14 World Series, leads in both categories.) After the club sank to third place in 1959, Bauer was traded to the Kansas City Athletics as part of a deal for a younger right fielder, Roger Maris. Bauer heard of the trade on the radio. He thought he deserved better. The Athletics were a dumping ground for unwanted Yankees. They were also the American League’s doormat, only once finishing as high as sixth in their 13 years in Kansas City. In June 1961 new owner Charles O. Finley made Bauer the manager with Finleyesque flair. In mid-game he had the stadium public address announcer say, “Hank Bauer, your playing days are over. You have been named manager of the Kansas City A’s.” Bauer always said he had no ambition to manage, but he agreed to give it a try. He was a popular choice. He had settled his family in Kansas City, Charlene’s hometown. The club finished ninth in the 10-team league in 1961, besting only the expansion Washington Senators. The volatile Finley dictated lineup changes and meddled in personnel decisions. Bauer said, “The only bad thing about Charlie is, he hires you to do a job but he wants to do it for you.” After a 90-loss season in 1962, Bauer resigned before Finley could fire him. He found work as a coach for the Baltimore Orioles, whose general manager, Lee MacPhail, had been a Yankee executive and his wife’s boss. The Orioles, after contending for the pennant in 1960 and 1961, dropped to seventh place in 1962 under new manager Billy Hitchcock. The club rose to fourth in 1963, but it was a distant fourth, and Hitchcock was fired. Bauer replaced him with only a one-year contract. In 1966 they were underdogs in the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers, who had Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale to quiet the Baltimore bats — or so the smart money said. Before Game One Jim Russo, the Orioles’ advance scout, gave the team a discouraging description of the Dodger pitching staff. “If these guys are that good,” Bauer snarled, “we got no chance. Meeting over.” He knew his team didn’t need a pep talk. In the first inning, the two Robinsons rocked Drysdale with back-to-back home runs. So much for invincible. Drabowsky relieved McNally, pitching 6 2/3 scoreless innings, giving up one hit, and striking out 11 in a 5-2 victory. For the rest of the Series the Baltimore bullpen sat at ease while the young starters took charge. The Dodgers didn’t score another run. Palmer, Bunker, and McNally reeled off consecutive shutouts to give the Orioles a sweep and a trophy. “Great pitching and great defense did it,” Bauer said in the raucous clubhouse, as his players sprayed shaving cream instead of champagne. “Personally, I never dreamed of a four-game blitz. I figured six or seven and we’d win — but never four games. I didn’t think we’d get this kind of pitching — but then I don’t think anybody else did.” He won his second Manager of the Year award.

It’s called satire. It’s a form of humor and I suggest you look up the meaning of the word. I did spend some time on it because I wanted to try to hopefully get a laugh out of one of or all of the images. Even though the only comment on it was yours it was my hope that maybe there was someone out there that understood what I was trying to do here because obviously it was not you.

Nice variety of photos!

I have to admit that with the inclusion of the 1963 mod in the Total Classics stable of historical seasons I was met with a feeling of sadness and before I go any further I should clear up what I mean. I have read countless books on baseball history and biographies about famous players and at an early age I knew that the 1963 season did not end well for the Yankees. It was the very first time in their history that they were swept in World Series play and if you take a look at this page on Retrosheet that details the four games in that season’s fall classic. The Dodgers won and they hardly got their uniforms dirty. Ignoring this I downloaded Total Classics 1963 with the full expectation of being suitably impressed with the effort of Dennis and Jim and once again they delivered like they always do. That shouldn’t be news to anyone here because when these two guys put out a mod you can be sure that it is looked over and tested to their high standards before we have a chance to download it. Now that it has been uploaded to the website I will go through the steps to install the mod so you can get into it in a matter of minutes. For those of you who can do this part blindfolded and in the dark please go ahead and skip this paragraph. First you will need a clean copy of Mvp 2005 installed on your system. A clean copy is a right out of the box installation with no mods installed. Extract the explodeme.exe file that is included in the 1963 mod into the directory where you have your clean copy waiting and let Jim’s install do its job. Depending on the speed and age of your system that did not take long and now you have the mod installed and ready to be played. Before I did the write-up for this game I played a few games with different teams each time and I do not like to use World Series teams in exhibition play. That’s because mostly everyone knows the Yankee roster during this time period. Mantle, Maris, Ford, etc, etc but it is harder to name a lot of players from the ‘63 Athletics or ‘63 Angels for instance. Check those teams out and you’ll be surprised at how many familiar names there are that you know. One thing about these Classics mods that I can not point out enough is how much you will learn about baseball’s history while playing these enjoyable seasons. It doesn’t matter what mod you have be it the 1934 mod, the 1951 mod, etc. You will always discover a player that you’ve never heard of and what I do is write the guy’s name down and then look him up later. For instance Jerry Lynch of the Pirates, whom I screen captured tripling off of Bob Gibson. I’ve never heard of him but when I read about him I found out that he was one of the best pinch-hitters in baseball and that was for all time. Who knew? And I have to thank Jim and Dennis for this. It’s easy to know about the famous players but the not so familiar ones get lost in history. Now that you are into the game and before you pick your teams the music from the ‘63 season is piped through your speakers. You’ll notice that four of the songs on the playlist have to do with the beach or surfing. That’s because in 1963 it was the start of the beach party movies, which were highly forgettable films featuring Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Also groups like The Beach Boys and Jan and Dean were very popular with the vocal surf music style. Jim picked a good selection of songs for this mod. The uniforms were created by Dennis James and it is my belief that he has not made a bad uniform yet. Check out the Reds home jerseys for a real treat. The loading screens are very well done with the picture of a player and his baseball card from 1963. This is an exciting mod to play from the team select screen until the end of your game. As I said previously I played some games before doing this write up and the game I chose to showcase was the St.Louis Cardinals at Pittsburgh to take on the Pirates in Forbes Field. It was a close game until the Cardinals decided that the game should be a blowout. I highly encourage you to download Dennis and Jim’s latest work of art because that is exactly what it is. Thank you very much Jim and Dennis! Screenshots Welcome to Total Classics 1963! The 1963 Total Classics overlay is shown here and as usual it is a simple, easy on the eye display that does not distract from the action on the field. Between innings overlay. The game is tied now but the Cardinals soon had something to say about it. Bill White of the Cardinals. White had a very good career from 1956 to 1969. He was an eight-time All-Star and won seven gold gloves. He announced Yankee games from 1971 to 1988 and was one of the best announcers they had at the time along with Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messser. He also was elected president of the National League in 1989.

Yeah, like a toothache. 😀 You responded to a four-year-old thread that has already served its purpose. If you read closer in the third post in this thread you would have come across this sentence. There is already a Windows 10 thread. That should have told you that there is a thread already created that covers Windows 10, Mvp baseball and the problems mixing those two things together. What you need to do from here on out -and this I tell to every new user here and not only you- is whatever question you have you should search the forums because I promise you that anything that people have had trouble with over the years with this game has already been covered.

Hello I’m Bryce Harper and most of you know me as a discontented, dissatisfied and bad tempered ball player. That’s ok, so does my family but I make thirty million dollars a year so if they still want to be in my will they had better be quiet. Since my opinion is the only one that counts, I believe that I am the greatest baseball player ever. That includes Babe Ruth. I’d kick his ass if he wasn’t dead and show him that I could hit better than him. And everybody in Philadelphia better agree with me here or else I’m not playing! Today we are going to try something a little different in Mvp Baseball. I’m going to be playing a game and while it is going on I will jump in and add some comments just to let you know what I am thinking. The game today is the Washington Nationals, who had the nerve to win the World Series the year after I left the team against my team, the Philadelphia Harpers. We won 4 - 3 and I went 4 for 4 with two doubles and two RBI’s. Sounds good but I was not happy at all. I like to hit home runs so I can jog around the bases and rub it in on the other team and laugh at their fans but today I had to run all four times. It was a hard day. Anyway, sit back and enjoy the commentary.

I have to agree with you. When I play my games I have people in the ball park. Covid-19 is not going to invade my Mvp games.