Yankee4Life

Updated to 12-23 ...Well today's the 23rd and that means Christmas is almost over and not a moment too soon if you ask me. I am not someone who hates Christmas but I sure as hell don't embrace it anymore. Over time this holiday has somehow taken over the last two months of the year in preparation for the big day. And if by any chance that anyone needs a reminder that there are only two shopping days until Christmas each store and restaurant you go into until the 25th will be playing holiday music. You'll be so fed up with listening to favorites like Jingle Bells and Winter Wonderland even listening to the best of Taylor Swift would be a better option. Same for the Christmas movies. How many times can you watch the same ones over and over again? In my case I reached my limit five years ago. That was the last time I watched White Christmas and I don't miss it one bit. It snows at the end and Rosemary Clooney and Bing Crosby get back together. Sorry if I spoiled it for the remaining three people in the world who haven't seen it yet. Christmas for me is all about family and friends and not about a Walmart special. It's not going to be a good one for me because this will be the first one for me without my mother. It's going to take me quite some time to get that Christmas spirit back again but every so often I can still feel it inside me. I just wish she was still here. ...Ramsey Bearse, the former Miss Kentucky pageant winner in 2014 was recently arrested and charged with sending nude photographs of herself to a fifteen-year-old boy who happened to be a former student of hers when she was teaching at a Charleston, West Virginia middle school. She admitted sending four topless photos of herself via Snapchat to him from August to October of this year. The boy's parents found the photos on his phone and told police about them last week. Now as soon as I found out how the parents found these pictures I had a good idea what went down. This kid gets a set of topless pictures dropped in his lap from one of the hottest teachers he is ever going to hope to have for his entire school career and he couldn't keep his mouth shut about it. Chances are he told one or two kids who were jealous of his good luck and they told their parents until word got back to his folks who then found the pictures on his phone. Bearse was charged with four counts of distributing obscene materials to a minor, which is a felony. If I were her I would object to the word "obscene" because one look at her in a swimsuit will prove to anyone that there is absolutely nothing offensive with this woman's body. Trust me, I looked. 😉 ...That SOB Manny Machado let everyone know that he is not going to make his decision on where he wants to play until the new year arrives. This means for the entire Christmas week it will be in the back of mind that he could be a Yankee next year. I just hoped that the meeting that the Yankees had with him did not go well and that there was something, however small that it was, that will influence the Yankees not to sign him. I just keep going back to what the Orioles have said and not said about him. Above anyone else Baltimore should know best on what kind of person Machado is. However noteworthy his talent is on the field off the field he seems to be the complete opposite. I feel that the Yankees have a good chemistry right now and their future will be even better without someone like Machado. Sure he'll win some games but at what cost? Didi Gregorius will be back sooner than we realize. So let Machado make a big announcement after the new year. I think he will look wonderful in a Phillie or White Sox uniform. ...Now for the other selfish SOB who has been rumored to be going to the Yankees just because they are the Yankees. Even though the Yankees have enough outfielders; in fact they have so many that one of them didn't play at all last year and he wasn't even missed. Despite that Bryce Harper has been rumored to be going to New York to play first base notwithstanding that he has only played one game at first during his entire seven year career. Whomever came up with that little scenario should next time be sure to sleep it off before coming up with something like this. Harper is another guy that I have never heard say he was a good teammate. It's easy to see his talent out on the ball field. Even his fiercest detractors will grudgingly admit that. But like Machado he gives off the feeling of aloofness that many fans do not like. But thanks to the Dodgers and the Reds the "you never knows" about Harper going to the Yankees may finally have been put to rest due to that seven-player deal two days ago. The Dodgers traded Matt Kemp and Yasiel Puig and two others to the Reds for Homer Bailey and some prospects. Bailey will take his 1 - 14 record and a 6.09 ERA to the west coast where his goal will be to win at least five games. Kemp and Puig are talented but could be used as trade chips by the Reds to get younger and cheaper players. Besides, Puig would never fit in in Cincinnati. As a Dodger he can lick his bat all he wants because no one cared. In Cincinnati they expect you to act professionally which is something Puig has never done since he joined the Dodgers back in 2013. ...I have not missed one episode of the reboot edition of Magnum, P.I. that started back in September. I like this one as much as the Tom Selleck version as I saw all those shows during the eight years they were on. It also doesn't hurt that the show is filmed on location in Hawaii because if there is any place in the world that is meant to be seen on an HDTV it's Hawaii. While the new show is faithful to the original there is one very big difference. On the first one the role of Higgins was played by a man, English aristocrat Jonathan Higgins. In the reboot Higgins is still English but then things take a big turn. It's Juliet Higgins now instead of Jonathan as the role has been taken over by a woman (Perdita Weeks) and she is just as resourceful and perceptive as John Hillerman was in the part. It's not a bad show and I hope it stays on for a few years. The big difference for me occurred in the first few minutes of the pilot episode when I first laid eyes on the new Higgins. This Higgins was hot, and if I would have said this when the 80's show was on people would've looked at me like I was nuts. ...Is there any woman that Cubs shortstop Addison Russell has been with that he hasn't beat up? If he doesn't watch out he will out of a job and probably out of the league too. His one saving grace could be in Boston where players like him are appreciated by the fans because their actions mirror themselves. ...I don't think I have seen anyone more resolved and relieved to be going to prison than Michael Cohen. And he's going away for three years! When prison life is more appealing than working for that guy that is really saying something. I don't feel sorry for the guy at all since he put the gun in his hand, so to speak, but I got to admire the way he came clean. ...I read a lot of funny comments about my blood pressure during the baseball season because of my lack of patience towards the Yankees when they do something stupid, which for them begins on the first day of spring training. The truth is my blood pressure holds up pretty well despite the workout that you all seem to think I give it for six months. Baseball is a wonderful game that draws you in each spring and holds on to you until the last out in the World Series is made. That's what it does to me because I pay more attention to this sport then all the others combined. At the same time I welcome the break because while I still enjoy spending time watching it like I always have I don't love it as much as I had in the past. I blame it on rule changes and FOX. Those two combined make it painless for me each winter to take a break and walk away from baseball and what gets me really worried is this is getting easier and easier for me to do. Pretty soon after they add more teams and extend the season and post season I won't recognize one name on the Yankee roster. That is of course if I bother to look. ...Laugh instead of crying, Dept: Its been another dispiriting season if you are a fan of the Oakland Raiders. People sometimes laugh when I tell them I am an Oakland fan because most of the ones who do the laughing were not even born when the Raiders were the class of the NFL. These days I have to settle with the rare win that they get on Sundays and rejoicing in the failures of teams that I can't stand. So far this year there's been two games whose endings were so shocking mainly because they both ended up in last-second defeats for two teams that in my opinion have been overrated for years. The first one I am talking about was when the San Diego Chargers made that two point conversion with four seconds remaining in the game at Kansas City to beat the Chiefs. What a fearless call that was especially in Arrowhead where all the calls go the Chiefs way. Those farmers were so mad at the end of that game that they were shooting at street signs and knocking over mailboxes until the early hours of the morning. The next game was down in Miami where the Dolphins executed a perfect double lateral sixty-nine-yard touchdown with no time remaining to beat the New England Patriots 34 - 33. Any time a Boston team loses is cause for a celebration for me but this one was special. It was just as good as the catch David Tyree made against them in Super Bowl XLII. That catch and Plaxico Burress’ wide open thirteen-yard touchdown reception that won the game for the Giants compare to what Miami did to the darlings of the NFL back on December 9th. I realize these are just minor victories for me to appreciate and it is no substitute for a Raider season to be proud of but I'll take what I can get, especially when with tomorrow's Monday Night game against Denver it could be the last time the Raiders play in Oakland, which is a tragedy in itself. ...Before I sign off for another year I want to wish everyone here at this wonderful website a very Merry Christmas. I think we had another good year and a lot of mods were released for two games that have been out of circulation for a while now. It's the credit to our modders that if you want to buy Mvp '05 or MLB 2k12 you are going to have to pay a lot for it from eBay or Amazon. I hope you all have a relaxing Christmas with your family and friends and that you are where you want to be. A great many of our service people are all over the world and won't be able to make it home so if any of you know of someone who is in the armed forces let's salute their service and appreciate what they do for us all. Christmas, and I mean the real Christmas, is not a gift you can order online or pick up at a store. The real Christmas is still something that the commercialization of it that we see all around us can not touch. That is what I wish for you and your families. Merry Christmas and also have a safe and healthy 2019.

You posted in a four-year-old thread. Even though you are from Germany you should have noticed that the previous post from yours was from 2014. Many of the people who have posted in this thread are no longer here. However, if you read the first page of this thread KC has a remedy for this. Search the forums.

Updated to 11-18 ...For those of you who have thought I have been bemoaning the Yankees loss in the A.L.D.S. last month you must not have been reading my shoutbox posts since the start of Opening Day. There wasn't one day that I was sold on this team. Sure, they had that hot streak in May but that ended and so did the last time they played consistently for the rest of the 2018 campaign. When other people saw nothing but all those home runs I saw weak starting pitching, inconsistent hitting with runners on base along with too many strikeouts game in and game out. It's like the entire team didn't know what the hit-and-run play was about. All they knew was the hit a homer and trot play and when that didn't happen that's when the strikeouts became a problem. The Yankees struck out 1,421 times. Only the White Sox and Rangers were worse. Giancarlo Stanton struck out 211 times all by himself. Just knowing that the Yankees have this guy under contract for the next nine seasons should cause a sleepless night or two during the off-season for their fans especially with rumors that Manny Machado may or may not be Bronx-bound. Pitching should be the main focus from now until pitchers and catchers report in February. The Yankees employ enough people that spend most of their time striking out and they don't need Machado to make one more. At the end of the end of the 2000 season Baltimore's Mike Mussina and Cleveland's Manny Ramirez were free agents. The Yankees knew Ramirez could hit but they went after pitching because they felt in the long run it would make them a stronger team. They need to do the same thing this off-season. You stay, you go and get lost Dept: It didn't take long for the Yankees to make their first questionable move as the Hot Stove League season approaches. Before the calendar turned into November they brought back outfielder Brett Gardner on a one-year deal. Gardner's a guy who plays well up until the middle of July and as soon as the All-Star game is done it's like his bats immediately stop working until spring training the following year. Now if I had my way (and I don't and I am not going to pretend that I do) I would have bought out his contract and told him to scram. Same goes for C.C. Sabathia. The Yankees brought him back too so maybe after these two klunkers they'll stop resigning guys that were past their prime six years ago. I'd get rid of Gary Sanchez too but who the hell is going to take him? Sanchez is the typical Yankee prospect who is full of hype and unlimited potential until you let him play and you see for yourself that he's not the second coming of Yogi Berra but rather Yogi Bear. I would keep Greg Bird around another year just out of curiosity. I'd like to see what injury he can come up with next to keep him out for two months. I liked Jacoby Ellsbury but if the Red Sox had the sense to release Hanley Ramirez back in May then the Yankees can do the same with Ellsbury. The other guys on the team I can see keeping around but who knows who is going to be used as trade bait? Pitching should be the first concern for them. If they don't get the pitching before Opening Day next year I can only see them having more of the same kind of year they had this season. 100 wins was good but it didn't measure up to a Boston team that had career years out of everyone including the ushers. They are already going into 2019 worse than they did this year because Didi Gregorius will be out half the year and his glove and bat will be missed. ...One thing I forgot to mention in the last random thoughts I posted in here was something that I kept on noticing when Masahiro Tanaka is on the mound and Gary Sanchez is catching him. Have you seen these two guys be interviewed by the press? Both of them have to have interpreters next to them to translate but when Sanchez goes out to the mound to talk to Tanaka they both have no problem understanding each other. I am sure that they can understand some English words like "fastball" "curve" or "passed ball" but Sanchez is yapping away at Tanaka and he seems to discern every word. Just something I was wondering. ...The only thing I am going to miss about Mike Scioscia retiring is the confused look he has on his face when he throws his hands in the air after a call goes against the Angels. Other than that, no. ...Thanks to Boston being there and having the games on FOX I did not watch a lot of the World Series. I just couldn't take long periods of Joe Buck praising the Red Sox for everything they did. I don't know if he is intentionally annoying or that it just comes natural to him. Either way he's Joe Buck and as long as he and FOX are around October baseball will be hard to watch. ...Oh, and did you happen to catch the new thing that they did during the series? As the catcher threw the ball back to the pitcher they showed a commercial while at the same time allowing us to keep our eyes on the game. They did the same thing when a batter was walking up to the plate for his turn at bat. Instead of these people trying to somehow improve the telecasts of the games they had the idea to add more commercials. ...I don't know who the Red Sox fan was that hit Alex Cora with a beer can when the team had their victory parade but whoever it was I wish they had a better aim and would have hit him right in the head. ...Doesn't it seem that the Christmas season gets longer and longer every year? To me it does especially back on November 2nd when I saw a lady wear a red Santa hat when I was driving home. ...Gravity always wins, Dept. An Indian couple who lived here in the United States fell to their deaths recently in California's Yosemite National Park when they were trying to take a selfie. Their family said that the couple was known for taking risks when they took photos from dangerous locations. The couple fell almost 800 feet in an area surrounded by steep terrain and rescuers had to use a helicopter to recover the bodies. Their phones were also found near the area where they fell and after a quick inspection were given the last rites also. This is not the first time this year that an accident like this happened at Yosemite. Not too long ago an eighteen-year-old kid from Israel was hiking in the park and decided to take a break because he had the bright idea of taking a selfie at the edge of Nevada Fall, a place that has an 820 foot drop, which was 819 more than this kid bargained for. There are signs all over the park that tell visitors to watch their step. They're not to be taken as suggestions. They should be taken as serious as a sign that tells you to not walk on train tracks or not to drive the wrong way on a one way street. One thing is for sure though. These three people are not going to make the same mistake twice. ...The happiest people in the world have to be Ariana Grande's parents after she told them that she would not be marrying Pete Davidson. Watching those two has been like watching a couple of high school freshman. I've had head colds that lasted longer then those two were together. ...A little boy from Arizona was going to be turning six years old and his parents invited his entire class to a pizza party to celebrate. As it turned out only he, his mother and father and a waitress bothered to show up. His mother took the opportunity to take a picture of him sitting alone at a table with a sad look on his face and then she promptly posted it to Facebook so everyone could see what took place. And they did. This story got a lot of attention and soon people from all over the world were sending this boy gifts to help cheer him up. Now the mother is saying that she wishes she had never shared the picture and in no way wanted all the attention it received or the gifts that were sent to her son. Wait a second. Now she didn't want the attention? Then who gave the media her address to send the things to? I am sure that Good Morning America and the Today Show had to have her blessing to give out their address on the air. Good going Mom! At the expense of your young son you got your fifteen minutes of fame. ...Of all the things that I did not need to happen to me, having additional knee pain would be near the top of the list but, like having to sit next to a person on a plane that insists on telling you their life story, sometimes your luck is so bad you can't figure out what you did to deserve it. It all started with a pile of leaves that the wind blows up to my garage and for the past week or so I have been looking at it as it sat by the mailbox waiting patiently for me to pick them up. I took the bait on Monday and twenty minutes later I had them bagged up and thrown away. After patting myself on the back for five whole minutes I discovered that there was something seriously wrong with my left knee. Laying down for a few hours did not help and it didn't get any better the next day or as the week went on. The longer I have had this pain the more terrified I have been. I've had knee surgeries before and I have another one scheduled in February on my right knee but this pain is something I've never experienced. I am not walking but I am rather limping along holding on to chairs or walls or tables just so I can get from one place to the other in my home. I never appreciated the gift of walking without pain until the right one started acting up and now with this one I am afraid I am not going to be able to ever again. I called on Friday to try to see my knee doctor but I won't be able to get in until November 28th. I ended up going to an Urgent Care place and I did get urgent care since I was the only one there. X-rays were taken and it showed that I have a left knee strain and a knee effusion, whatever that is. My hope is that it heals up and I don't need surgery. I already have one of those on my calendar and I don't need another. ...The story of actor Geoffrey Owens is a rare as far as social media is concerned. Usually when an actor or well-known person finds him or herself displayed on celebrity websites without their knowledge or consent it is because they did something that they shouldn't have done and usually it's pretty embarrassing. Owens was on the Cosby Show in the 1980's but when that show ended he was not receiving steady work. Which in turn brings him to a few short months ago. To make ends meet for his family he took a job at Trader Joe's, a national grocery store chain. It helped pay the bills as he continued to get some acting jobs on the side. And that is how it was for him until one day a woman came into the store and saw Owens bagging groceries and snuck a picture of him as she was cashing out. She said later on that she used to watch Cosby when she was younger and she looked up to him when he was on the show. It's a good thing she thought so highly of him because if she hadn't there would have been no telling what she would have done. Her excuse for doing this was that "everybody does it." Quite a thing to say for someone who is fifty-years-old and should know better. If this woman has kids all I can say is God help them. Or us. This woman was denounced on social media, the same place she wanted the attention of being the one who took his photo. She began to get hate mail to her own social media accounts from both normal people and celebrities, accusing her of “job shaming.” As for Owens things took a turn for the better. Acting gigs have become more steady now. Recently he did a guest spot on NCIS and is finishing up working on two movies. I have nothing but respect for a man who doesn't think himself above any job. Working at that grocery store just showed that he has his priorities straight. As for that woman, maybe next time she'll think twice about taking someone's picture because the only one she made look bad was herself. ...Every time it's time for me to think about the Thanksgiving football games on TV I am always reminded about a guy I used to work with. His wife would not let him watch any game all day long. And he never said a word year after year. I don't know if they are still married but if they aren't I don't blame him. Anyway, for the rest of us who are allowed to look at the TV here is the schedule for Thursday the 22nd. The first game is the Chicago Bears at the Detroit Lions. The NFL should give their fans a gift next year by removing the Lions from the Thanksgiving schedule until they become serious contenders in the NFC North, something that won't happen until at least 2026. The next one is in Dallas as the Cowboys host the Washington Redskins. This one is going to be on FOX and while this game sounds good because it brings back memories of some classic games between these two teams don't be fooled. The Redskins are the only team in the division with a winning record and they are to put it mildly, a mediocre team. The Cowboys at 4 - 5 still can go on a run but they don't have it in them. Finally the evening game will be the Atlanta Falcons visiting the New Orleans Saints. It's going to be on NBC and they are going to be taking a financial bath on this one because no one outside of those two states will be paying any attention five minutes into it. Football on Thanksgiving is a great way to pass the time or take a nap. It sure beats watching Christmas movies on Hallmark. ...As I close I would like to wish everyone here at Mvpmods a very happy Thanksgiving. And that goes for everyone around the world even if you don't celebrate it yourself. Wherever Trues is I wish him and his family a wonderful day and also to the rest of the staff here. And I have a request to the people who have kidnapped KcCityStar. Just let him go so he can come back here. Have a good holiday and a good weekend everyone. Take care!

Mike Schmidt Mike Schmidt was a second-round pick out of Ohio University in 1971, one pick after George Brett was selected by the Royals. Signed by legendary Phillies scout Tony Lucadello, Schmidt didn’t spend long in the minors, making his major league debut on Sept. 12, 1972. Because of that, he took some lumps as a rookie in 1973, hitting just .196/.324/.373. But Schmidt turned things around in a hurry—making the All-Star team in 1974 and never looking back. Schmidt was a 12-time all-star during his career. Home runs were Schmidt’s calling card at the plate. He led the National League in homers eight times during his career and his 48 home runs in 1980 set the Major League record for a third baseman, which he held for 27 years until Alex Rodriguez broke it. On April 18, 1987, Schmidt became the 14th member of the 500 home run club and finished his career with 548. Along with the power, Schmidt also led the National League in strikeouts four times and retired with the third-most strikeouts in major league history. However, Schmidt drew walks almost as often as he struck out. In the field, Schmidt was a graceful defender at third base and was occasionally the Phillies’ emergency shortstop. Schmidt was a 10-time Gold Glove Award winner and won six Silver Slugger Awards. He was voted the National League’s Most Valuable Player in 1980, 1981 and 1986. The Phillies won the World Series in 1980, beating the Royals in six games, and Schmidt was named World Series MVP.

That's exactly what I said when I first saw this!

Nap Rucker Nap Rucker was one of the Deadball Era's top left-handed pitchers. Brooklyn's winning percentage was an even .500 when the hard-throwing Southerner got the decision, but without him the Superbas played .430 ball, losing 175 more games than they won. "The Rucker appendage is the only thing that has kept Brooklyn in the league," wrote the New York Herald, while the Brooklyn Eagle lamented that "the fates have tied him up with an aggregation that has steadfastly refused to make a bid for championship honors." Still, the gentlemanly Rucker loved pitching for the blue-collar borough. "It's got New York beaten by three bases," he told a reporter in 1912. "You can get a good night's rest in Brooklyn. You meet more real human beings in Brooklyn. Your life is safer in Brooklyn." The son of a former Confederate soldier, George Napoleon Rucker was born on September 30, 1884, in Crabapple, Georgia, just north of Atlanta. In 1909 Rucker set a career-high with 201 strikeouts, and on July 24 of that season he struck out 16 St. Louis Cardinals, tying the modern record that stood until Dizzy Dean broke it in 1933. (Nap always claimed that he fanned 17 that day, but a lackadaisical official scorer whose name he still remembered--Abe Yager--forgot to record one of them.) Once again he was the best pitcher on a terrible team, going 13-19 despite a 2.24 ERA. His record improved to 17-18 in 1910, the year he led the NL with 320 innings pitched, 27 complete games, and six shutouts. Rucker started 1911 with six consecutive losses--during which Brooklyn scored a total of 10 runs--but rebounded to post the only 20-win season of his career, finishing at 22-18. In 1912, however, he reached the 20-loss plateau, going 18-21 despite a 2.21 ERA, more than a full run better than the league average. All the strikeouts, no-hit bids, and low ERAs brought Rucker acclaim as one of the NL's fastest pitchers. On October 6, 1912, he and Walter Johnson became the first to have their throwing speed scientifically measured when they submitted to testing at the Remington Arms Plant in Bridgeport, Connecticut. Using copper wires set up several feet apart, the rudimentary test measured the amount of time it took the pitches to travel a given distance. It almost certainly underestimated the pitcher's speed: Rucker tested at 113 feet per second (77 mph), Johnson at 122 (83 mph). When not subjecting himself to speed-throwing experiments, the Brooklyn lefthander spent his off-seasons as a typesetter for the Marietta Free Press, a newspaper owned by a cousin. To his managers' dismay, he also spent much of his winters eating peanuts and ice cream. Never one for vigorous training, Rucker routinely reported to camp weighing 210 lbs., though by Opening Day he was usually down to his playing weight of 180. On August 1, 1916, Rucker pitched 5.2 innings of scoreless relief against Cincinnati to earn the 134th and final victory of his major league career. The win evened his lifetime record at 134-134, with 28 percent of those victories coming by shutout (the second-highest percentage in history, behind only Ed Walsh). His career 2.42 ERA was 85 percent of the league average, which was 2.85 over the same period. To honor its best pitcher of the Deadball Era, Brooklyn held a "Nap Rucker Day" at Ebbets Field on October 2, 1916. "I will not monkey around with baseball any more," the veteran southpaw said on the occasion. "I have had my day, and it has been a long one, in which I have made money and gained thousands of friends." Knowing that Rucker would retire after the season, Wilbert Robinson allowed him two innings of mop-up duty in Game Four of the 1916 World's Series. Rucker pitched scoreless ball, striking out three Red Sox in his swansong.

Damn man, you're my hero!

Gary Sanchez went deep for a staggering 479-foot blast over the Green Monster, his second of the game for a three-run home run as the Yankees defeated the Red Sox in game 2 of the ALDS on October 6th, 2018.

What the heck, it can not hurt to try. Thank you.

Well, they made the playoffs. And with the way this team depends on the home run and nothing else, they won't be there long.

Ken Singleton Over a ten year Orioles career that spanned more than 6,000 plate appearances, Ken Singleton batted .284/.388/.445 and finished in the top three of the league MVP voting on two separate occasions. For someone who's used to watching plate discipline-starved Orioles teams, it's Singleton's on-base percentage that stands out when looking back now. Singleton walked over 100 times in three different seasons and had another three seasons where he was in the 90s for number of walks. No surprise that he had an on-base percentage over .400 in four years. The Orioles have yet to have a player record 100 walks in one season since the 21st century began. The last was Albert Belle in 1999, although Nick Markakis did have 99 in 2007, but 99 is not 100. His .388 OBP in his O's career stands behind only Frank Robinson on the franchise leaderboard. That Orioles career began when the team cashed in on the end of Dave McNally's career, dealing him to Montreal, where Singleton spent three seasons in his mid-20s. It's good to draft well, but it's just as good to trade well. He turned in one of those 100-walk, .400+ OBP seasons in his first year in an O's uniform, dropping 37 doubles and 15 home runs in the process. Two years later, in 1977, he had one of those unicorns, a .300/.400/.500 season, on his way to finishing third in the MVP voting. With a 165 OPS+, he was 65% better than the average batter that season. That was the best he hit compared to his peers in his career, but over the decade he was on the Orioles, he was still 35% better than everyone else. Not many hitters are so much better than the league for a decade or more. That's what makes him one of the franchise best. As the team surged into the 1979 World Series, Singleton had another near-MVP caliber season in the eyes of the baseball writers. He finished second in the voting, coming in with a .295/.405/.533 batting line. This was one of his 100+ walk seasons, and he had a career-high 35 homers at the age of 32. Pitchers walked him intentionally 16 times, more than even the 12 intentional walks given to Chris Davis in his 53 homer season. Singleton was still going strong four years later when the team found themselves back in the postseason again. Though he was 36, by then a full-time designated hitter, he was still an important part of the team. If all you do is hit, you'd better be good at it. He hit .276/.393/.436, walking 99 times, 19 of which were intentional, and hitting 18 home runs. That'll do, indeed. The 1,446 games he played as an Oriole are eighth-most in the 60 years of Orioles history. He had 1,455 hits - sixth-most - meaning he averaged more than one hit per game played, and added 886 walks (fourth-most) besides. Within a single season, runs batted in don't reveal much, but it does show that he came through when it mattered that he had 766 RBI in his O's career, which is fifth on the franchise leaderboard. Double digit home runs in nine out of ten years left him with 182, coming in seventh. In every category you look, he's there.

With this pitch Jorge Lopez lost his perfect game tonight against Minnesota.

Bob Shawkey Prior to 1923, the largest attendance at a baseball game was 47,373 at Game 2 of the 1916 World Series. This record was shattered on Opening Day, April 18, 1923, when 74,200 fans filled the brand-new Yankee Stadium to see the New York Yankees play the Boston Red Sox. The Seventh Regiment Band, led by John Philip Sousa, played the national anthem, and New York Governor Alfred E. Smith threw out the ceremonial first pitch. The noise produced by the crowd was overwhelming. Yankee manager Miller Huggins selected 32-year-old Bob Shawkey as his starting pitcher. Amidst the din and excitement, Shawkey coolly delivered a complete game and allowed only three hits in a 4-1 Yankee victory. He singled in the third inning and scored the first run, and Babe Ruth smacked the first home run, in the stadium that became known as “The House That Ruth Built.” This game was “the greatest thrill of my life,” said Shawkey A four-time 20-game winner, Shawkey played on seven American League champion teams and won 195 games over 15 seasons. “He has a beautiful fastball with a great hop to it,” said Amos Rusie. Shawkey was also known for his sharp-breaking curveball. One of the smartest pitchers in baseball, Shawkey kept a mental book on hitters and their tendencies. “Pitching,” he said, “is first and last a study of the batter and a never-ending effort to give him something that he doesn’t want.” “Sailor Bob” (aka “Bob the Gob”) Shawkey served in the Navy in World War I. He taught baseball in Japan with Ty Cobb, and he mined for gold in Canada. He was industrious, adventurous, and affable. On July 16, 1913, Shawkey made his major league debut with the first-place Athletics, allowing two runs in seven innings to the Chicago White Sox. He shut out the Detroit Tigers in his third start and pitched a two-hitter against the second-place Cleveland Indians in August. He admired Mack and veteran pitchers Chief Bender and Jack Coombs who mentored him. “I was throwing too much with my arm,” said Shawkey. Bender “showed me how to get my body into it.” Bender and Coombs declared the 22-year-old phenom to be “one of the finds of the game. Shawkey was acquired by the Yankees midway through an uninspired 1915 season. His 1916 season was outstanding: a 17-10 record in 27 starts, plus a 7-4 record and league-leading eight saves in 26 relief appearances. His 24 wins were second in the AL behind Walter Johnson, and his 2.21 ERA ranked eighth in the league. Shawkey’s work as both a starter and reliever in 1916 was unusual: The only other pitcher in major league history to start at least 24 games, and finish at least 24 games as a reliever, was Mordecai Brown in 1911. Shawkey “is beyond any doubt one of the best right-handers in the game,” wrote Grantland Rice. In 1920, Shawkey again won 20 games, including eleven consecutive victories from May 12 to July 23. His 2.45 ERA was the best in the league. The Yankees finished three games behind the first-place Indians, despite Shawkey’s 6-1 record and two shutouts against the Tribe. His greatest nemesis was Indians outfielder Elmer Smith. “I couldn’t seem to fool him,” said Shawkey. “He would hit me no matter what I gave him.” Six of Smith’s 70 career home runs were launched off Shawkey’s pitches. “He was a good fastball pitcher,” said Smith, “but I hit him like I owned him.” Another nemesis was Clarence “Tillie” Walker, who hit eleven of his 118 home runs off Shawkey. For each season from 1919 through 1924, Shawkey ranked in the top four in the American League in strikeouts. During that period, he accumulated 743 strikeouts, and only Walter Johnson had more strikeouts (761) among AL hurlers. Shawkey “worked slowly and methodically” on the mound in a “steady, unemotional manner.” He was “the most maddening deliberate pitcher I ever saw,” said Waite Hoyt. Shawkey’s walk rate was average for a major league pitcher and noticeably higher than the walk rates of other elite pitchers. In games in which he walked six or more batters, though, he was “effectively wild” with a 14-7 record and 2.87 ERA. Shawkey's last season was in 1927. He finished with a 195 - 150 record with a 3.09 ERA.

Just for Gordo