Yankee4Life

Here is a nice sight. Giancarlo Stanton at the plate in the Bronx. FYI: These images I upload in this thread can be seen in its full size if you click on it.

Mark Belanger The most electrifying defensive shortstop of his generation, Mark Belanger set the standard by anchoring a great Baltimore Orioles infield for most of 14 seasons. During this stretch, Baltimore won 90 or more games 11 times with six postseason appearances capped by the 1970 world championship. Belanger and Ozzie Smith are the only shortstops to retire with fielding averages over .975 while averaging more than five fielding chances per game. Belanger used two tiny black gloves per season and broke them in with spit and coffee. He got upset if anybody touched them. Watching him have a catch with a teammate on the sidelines was striking. He never seemed to actually catch a ball; rather he redirected them into his throwing hand. Sports Illustrated once wrote: “Belanger would glide effortlessly after a grounder and welcome it into loving arms; scooping the ball up with a single easy motion, and bringing it to his chest for a moment’s caress before making his throw.” Belanger’s fielding prowess was due to the start-and-stop speed of an All-American high school basketball star, his lightning-quick hands, and what scouts called Belanger’s First Step. A student of pitch counts, locations, and batter tendencies, Belanger sprinted at odd angles for the big hop and is best appreciated in slow-motion video. His small glove transferred the ball to his right hand – the seams of the ball always aligned the same way – enabling him to uncoil a strong throw on his next left step. In 18 years, he never dove for a ball, insisting that an all-out sprint was faster and maintained the mechanics of the play. And he was supremely confident: He never wore a protective cup. Called “the greatest shortstop prospect in baseball history,” Belanger drew offers from many clubs but General Manager Harry Dalton was adamant: “I will never trade Belanger.” Playing behind Luis Aparicio, a seven-time All-Star and seven-time Gold Glove winner in his career thus far, Belanger showed uneven play in his rookie year of 1967. On April 30 he dropped Aparicio’s feed as a second baseman and allowed an unearned run to score to give Steve Barber a loss in what ended as a no-hit game. (Barber threw 8 2/3 no-hit innings and Stu Miller 1/3 in the loss.) The Orioles’ manager, Hank Bauer, still said Belanger “sparkled” and Bauer liked the fact that Belanger hit well when given consecutive starts. Aparicio had an off-year and Belanger became his late-inning replacement. In the same May 14 game in which Mickey Mantle hit his 500th home run, Belanger hit one off Yankee Stadium’s left-field pole, victimizing the Yankees’ Mel Stottlemyre. In 1969 bullpen coach Charlie Lau approached Belanger to offer batting tips. Lau kept track of every pitch Belanger saw that year, sending him up to bat with instructions to take and swing on specific counts, and encouraging him to expect certain pitches in certain spots based on previous batter-pitcher matchups. Belanger responded with his best batting season ever, won his first of eight Gold Gloves, and earned the nickname Blade for his silhouette as Baltimore rolled to a team record 109 wins. He hit for a .287 average with 50 RBIs. Belanger became a respected member of the team, offering an articulate clubhouse interview and buffering Earl Weaver’s rants. Between the foul lines he was no-joke, all business, directing fielders to shade right or left and approaching rookies and new players with the abrupt “We don’t do it that way” – a line he even used on Jim Palmer in 1978. Backed by veterans Brooks Robinson and Frank Robinson, Belanger became a leader on the team, replacing Davey Johnson as assistant player representative. Even in the loose clubhouse atmosphere after wins, Belanger elevated small talk into something relevant without being called a clubhouse lawyer. Late after games, Belanger was still in his canvas chair by his locker talking baseball through a haze of Marlboro cigarette smoke and sips of National Bohemian beer. When the team’s mock “Kangaroo Court” was in session, Belanger was often fined one dollar for ludicrous imperfections, to which he would exclaim: “I appeal!” In 1970 Charlie Lau signed with Oakland, and Belanger jammed his thumb in March. He was described as lost at the plate, batting “all-arm” without a clue. He developed “projection room eyes” from looking at so much film, but all he got for it was a .218 average and a mountain of broken bats. He did hit .333 in the American League Championship Series – in the opener against Minnesota, Belanger’s soft liner off pitcher Jim Perry’s glove was called the turning point, loading the bases for Mike Cuellar’s fourth-inning grand slam. Belanger hit just .105 in the World Series, but celebrated the Orioles’ victory anyway. The next year he rebounded to a more respectable .266 and captured his second Gold Glove. The tradeoff between Belanger’s lousy offense and great defense was usually one Weaver was willing to make, but he was not above trying to gain an edge. In September of 1975, Weaver often used Royle Stillman as the shortstop high in the starting lineup in road games, allowing rookie Stillman to bat in the first inning and Belanger to replace him in the bottom of the first. Stillman was an outfielder, and never played an inning of shortstop in his career, despite his six “starts” there in 1975. He hit 3-for-6 in these games. Belanger holds the American League career record for being pinch-hit for – 333 times. And if he wasn’t being pinch-hit for, he was sacrificing; his league-leading 23 sacrifices in 1975 were an Oriole record at least through 2009. In 1976, Belanger carried a .300 average into June and earned over a million votes in the All-Star balloting, making the team as a backup. When Peter Gammons wrote, “Belanger could be the first 140 lb. weakling to win the MVP award,” Belanger sought him out at Fenway Park and confronted him: “I’m 170 pounds, and I’m not a weakling.” The next year, writing for Sports Illustrated, Gammons called Belanger “the leader of the club.” One of the last players to represent himself and not use an agent, Belanger signed after 1976 for $60,000, a contract that was later extended through the end of the 1981 season.

Gardner safe at first Bases full of pinstripers

Except from me. I worry about everything with this team. Three-run home run by Didi in the 7th. It is freezing in New York but Gregorius is having a great day.

You just posted in a four-year-old thread.

No need to thank me man. Your work speaks for itself. And I did not forget guys like themewin and Hollywood. I have X box people that have not been done yet but they will be included too.

This week we take a look at a modder who created quite a number of minor league uniforms for Mvp 2005 and a full set of major league uniforms for Mvp Baseball 2004 and a modder who restored (colorized) the classic stadiums found in Mvp '05. And our behind the scenes modder is a guy whose work is very well known to anyone who has spent time playing Total Classics Phase 10. RAM RAM, or rambully (his original screen name) was a uniform modder who made a very good looking MLB uniform set for Mvp Baseball 2004 at the time that more well known uniform modders like KcCitystar and Umachines were creating total MLB sets themselves. RAM's MLB set has almost been lost to time on this web site since he made them for a game that gets very little attention anymore but his uniforms for that game, like the other modders mentioned here, improved the look of Mvp '04 immensely. When Mvp rolled around he went in another direction as he concentrated on making uniforms for the minor league teams in the game. Ram's Tacoma Rainiers -M's AAA - 2xlite Ram's Bakersfield Blaze - Rangers A- 2xlite Ram's Richmond Braves -Braves AAA- 2xlite Ram's Umpires 2xlite uni for Mvp 2005 Seattle alternate road unis by rambully (for Mvp 2004) Rusmur At first I was going to place Rusmur in the behind the scenes category but after thinking it over I decided that wouldn't have been the right place for him because even though people may not be familiar with his name these days, his work in the total classics and total conversion mods are very recognizable to anyone who has used these mods. Rusmur was the modder who restored the classic ballparks in the game and colorized them and when he did that those old stadiums almost looked brand new. It takes a lot to create a total conversion mod and Rusmur's input was a big part of it. Color restored Shibe Park Color restored Sportsman's Park v1.0 Color restored Griffith Stadium Color restored Classic Fenway Color restored Forbes Field Behind the Scenes Deadballfan Before there was a Total Classics, people like deadballfan used to create something called "team packages." These mods replaced minor league team slots in Mvp 2004 with classic teams from the past and they included the full team roster,logo and portraits. Many people are not aware of the fact that the first total classics was for Mvp 2004 and it included team packages from deadballfan and many others such as Trues,Jim825, AlexTony, Yankees763 and Fuzzone. These team packages were the predecessors of the total classics mod. You would have to download these separately to put in your game before Fuzzone had the idea of combining all of these team packages when he created the first edition of Total Classics. Without these complete team packages from people like deadballfan, this mod would look drastically different. 1894 Baltimore Orioles Team Pack for TC 10 This pack is designed to replace either the 2006 Detroit Tigers or 1962 NY Mets (your choice) in Total Classics 10. 1910 Philadelphia A's Package by deadballfan (for Mvp 2004) 1968 St. Louis Cardinals (for Mvp 2004) 1909 Detroit Tigers Package with Logos (for Mvp 2004) 1905 New York Giants Package w/Logos by deadballfan and Fuzzone (for Mvp 2004) Please note: I just provided the links so you can view the early work that made Total Classics what it is today. You do not need to download any of these team packages that you see here because they are all included in Total Classics Phase 10. Thank you.

That's right, but all I want to know is why he was watching the Red Sox?

Adrolis Chapman vs. Randal Grichit Call strike three. Yankees 4, Toronto 2.

Felipe Rivero pitching like Delin Betances here in Detroit. Meaning that he was wild and was walking everyone. Get lost, you're out of the game. Man it has to be cold in Detroit. Dixon Machado ties the game for the Tigers. 10 - 10 and we are going to the tenth inning.

Hahahahaha You bet!

You see you guys? I was nice and calm. Aaron Boone gets his first win as a manager as the Yankees win 6 - 1. Lazy Bradley, Jr grounds out to end the game. That team was winning 4 - 0 but the Rays scored six runs in the eighth to win 6 - 4!

I think so.

The first pitch of 2018. Jose Urena of the Miami Jeters pitches to the Cubs Ian Happ. Ian Happ homers on the first pitch. Jeter immediately fires an usher.

Great idea and let's keep this going. The TIgers game in Detroit has already been cancelled. The first game on the slate today is the Cubs at Miami at 12:40 EST. Then the Mets soon after. I want to see if they play that one. MLB TV is ready for a season's-long love affair. Yankees in Toronto at 3:37 p.m. I am not saying a word until Gary Sanchez has his first passed ball. That should happen by the third inning. Then all bets are off. Got to leave right now, going to go and get a sandwich so I can be ready for the games. Ham, cheese, tomato, light mayo. You can't go wrong.