Yankee4Life

But you still have to have the season mods installed! If you want to play TC 1958 for example you need that mod on your hard drive.

Howard Ehmke Howard Ehmke compiled a career win–loss record of 166-166 with a 3.75 earned run average (ERA). His greatest success was with the Red Sox, including a no-hitter and his only 20-win season in 1923. Ehmke still holds the American League record for fewest hits allowed (one) in two consecutive starts. Ehmke also ranks sixteenth all-time in hitting batters. Ehmke hit 137 batters in his career and led the American League in the category seven times, including a career-high 23 in 1922. He is best known for being the surprise starter who won Game 1 of the 1929 World Series for the Athletics at the age of 35. Howard Ehmke is best remembered as the 35-year-old right-hander of the Philadelphia Athletics who unexpectedly started Game One of the 1929 World Series against the slugging Chicago Cubs and struck out a then record 13 en route to a surprising triumph in one of Connie Mack’s most famous tactical decisions. But it would be an injustice to reduce Ehmke to just that victory, the last in his career. Over an eight-year stretch, from 1919 to 1926, he was one of the American League’s most durable hurlers, averaging 16 wins, 21 complete games, and 266 innings per season for weak Detroit Tigers and Boston Red Sox teams. While winning 20 games for last-place Boston in 1923, Ehmke tossed a no-hitter and came within an official scorer’s controversial call on what appeared to be a muffed ball of his second straight no-hitter four days later. After retiring from baseball with 166 wins and 166 losses, in 1930, Ehmke founded a company that produced the first tarpaulins that could be spread over baseball infields. Ehmke was known for his overhand, side-arm, and submarine-style deliveries and was considered a hard-throwing strikeout artist in the first half of his career. He set a New York State League record by whiffing 195 in 1916 and ranked in the top four in strikeouts in the AL from 1922 to 1925. His pitching arsenal included a fastball, curveball, and several variations of slowballs. In his later years, as his fastball diminished, he relied almost exclusively on slowballs and curves. He was also considered among the inventors of the “hesitation ball,” which he initially threw overhand and later side-arm. “He starts to wind up,” wrote Harry P. Edwards, and “pauses for an exceedingly brief fraction of a second, thus throwing the batter off stride. Of course it only can be used when the bases are clear. Otherwise, it would be a balk.” Ehmke threw both curves and slowballs as a hesitation pitch, which the Philadelphia press dubbed the “shade ball” because the batter lost the white ball against the backdrop of fans with white shirts in the center-field stands. The year 1927 started out bad for Ehmke and got worse. In January he was among a group of players who testified in Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis’s investigation into charges that Chicago White Sox players had paid Detroit Tigers pitchers to “slough” off in an early September 1917 series during the former’s pennant drive. Ehmke denied all charges and wasn’t implicated in any wrongdoing. During spring training he was slowed by tonsillitis and then hampered by chronic arm pain. When Ehmke failed to register an out and surrendered four runs against the lowly Red Sox on July 4, Mack shook up the team by suspending the pitcher for two weeks for not being physically ready to pitch. “I felt discouraged and disgusted,” Ehmke once admitted about his arm woes, which remained with him for the rest of his career. He performed much better when he returned in August (6-2, 3.21 ERA) to finish with a 12-10 record and 4.22 ERA in 189 innings for the AL runner-up. In the wake of Ehmke’s five-game losing streak and a knee injury that prematurely ended his 1928 season, many wondered if the 34-year-old who logged just 139 innings would return to the A’s in 1929. But Mack had a soft spot for the teetotaling hurler. While the A’s cruised to the pennant with a 104-46 record, Ehmke was relegated to a spot starter, logging just 54 innings. Mack’s decision to start seven-game-winner Ehmke instead of southpaws Lefty Grove (20-6) and Rube Walberg (18-11) or righty George Earnshaw (24-8) in Game One of the World Series against the Chicago Cubs shocked the baseball world, but it was a calculated move by the Tall Tactician. According to Ehmke, the plan was hatched in early September when the two discussed the right-handed-heavy and free-swinging Chicago lineup. Prior to making his final start of the season, a victory over the White Sox on September 13, Ehmke had scouted the Cubs, who were playing the Phillies several blocks away from Shibe Park in the Baker Bowl. On October 8, in front of more than 50,000 spectators, Ehmke hurled a complete-game eight-hitter to defeat the Cubs, 3-1 in one of the most storied games in the history of the fall classic. He set a Series record with 13 strikeouts, including Hall of Famers Rogers Hornsby, Hack Wilson, and Kiki Cuyler twice each, and walked just one. In the dramatic conclusion of the game, Ehmke faced Chick Tolson in the bottom of the ninth with runners on first and third. The Cubs had scored an unearned run that frame and trailed, 3-1. With the count 3 and 1, Ehmke had a conference with catcher Mickey Cochrane, whom he instructed to yell “hit it” as the ball approached the plate. “Well, Mike yelled and Tolson swung,” recounted Ehmke. “[T]hat yell kind of disturbed his timing. He swung too fast.” Ehmke had a chance to close out the Series in Game Five in Philadelphia, but last only 3 innings, surrendering six hits and two runs. He was relieved by Walberg, who shut down the Cubs on two hits and picked up the Series-clinching victory when Bing Miller hit a walk-off double. Ehmke returned to the A’s in 1930, but made only three ineffective appearances before announcing his retirement in May. Ehmke was well positioned to transition into his post-playing career. In the late 1920s Ehmke began representing a Detroit-based firm that manufactured tarpaulins that covered football fields. In 1929 he opened his own business, Ehmke Manufacturing, in the City of Brotherly Love, and is credited with developing the first canvas tarpaulin to cover baseball infields. He maintained a close relationship with the A’s, who were the first team to use the tarpaulin, in Shibe Park, and also appeared occasionally in exhibition or charity events. NOTE: Ehmke's company that he founded all those years ago is still located in Philadelphia this very day.

He sure did. Thanks for your input.

Al Kaline Al Kaline was the Detroit Tigers for more than two decades. Through last place finishes and World Series triumphs, the Motor City knew it had its sweet swinging right fielder to cheer for throughout the summer. Chuck Dressen, a big league skipper for 16 seasons, the last four with the Tigers (1963-66), claimed that Kaline was the “best” player he had ever managed. “In my heart, I’m convinced Kaline is the best player who ever played for me. For all-around ability – I mean hitting, fielding, running and throwing – I’ll go with Al.” The 18-year-old Kaline came to the Tigers in 1953 directly from high school, having never spent a day in the minors, and by the next season established himself as one of the game’s bright new talents. By 1955, at age 20, he became the youngest player to win a batting title when he hit .340. That same year the youngster became only the fourth American League player to hit two home runs in a single inning. Offensive consistency became Kaline’s hallmark over the years, hitting at least 20 home runs and batting .300 or better nine times each. A superb defensive outfielder with a strong throwing arm, he also collected 10 Gold Glove awards. In the 1968 World Series, Kaline’s only appearance in the Fall Classic, he batted .379, hit two home runs and drove in eight to help Detroit knock off the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. “You almost have to watch him play every day to appreciate what he does,” said veteran pitcher and former Tigers teammate Johnny Podres. “You hear about him, sure, but you really can’t understand until you see him. He just never makes a mistake.” By the time Kaline’s 22-year big league career ended in 1974, the lifelong Tiger and 18-time All-Star had collected 3,007 hits, 399 home runs and a .297 career batting average. “People ask me, was it my goal to play in the majors for 20 years? Was it my goal to get 3,000 hits someday? Lord knows, I didn’t have any goals,” Kaline once said. “I tell them, ‘My only desire was to be a baseball player.’”

Woo wee this looks good!

Yes, it applies to any Mvp mod we have here.

Joe Adcock Joe Adcock smashed some of the longest home runs ever witnessed. Although measuring the distance home runs traveled has historically been an imprecise science, driven by myth and legend, Adcock belongs to a select few sluggers, among them Mickey Mantle, Frank Howard, and Willie Stargell, whose feats still inspire awe. As a vocal leader of the Braves during their halcyon days in Milwaukee, Adcock hit the first ball into the revamped center-field bleachers at the Polo Grounds and the first shot over the 83-foot-high grandstand onto the upper-deck roof in left-center field in Ebbets Field, and was the first right-hander to smash one over the 64-foot-high scoreboard in right-center field at Connie Mack Stadium. One of the most feared sluggers of the 1950s and early 1960s, Adcock became just the 23rd batter to slug 300 home runs and finished with 336 round-trippers in his injury-plagued career that was marred by years of platooning. Adcock’s impressive debut as a 22-year-old first baseman for the Reds against the Pittsburgh Pirates on April 23 (2-for-4 with a double) was followed by an embarrassing outing early in the game the next evening. “I’m sitting on the bench … before the game,” he recalled, “and [manager] Luke Sewell throws me a glove and says, ‘You’re playing left field.’ It was the first time in my life that I ever had a fielder’s glove. The first groundball hit to me should have been held to a single, but I had to chase it all the way to the wall.” Struggling at the plate through June in limited duty, Adcock showed that he could hit big-league pitching in a six-game stretch (10-for-24) in early July, then replaced the weak-hitting Peanuts Lowrey in left field after the All-Star Game. From July 5 through the end of the season Adcock hit a team-high .315 (102-for-324) and earned a berth on The Sporting News Rookie All-Star team. By his third season, Adcock was vocal in his opposition to playing left field because of his home park’s distinctive embankment, which bothered his knees. “Every player who came into Crosley Field,” said the New York Giants Bobby Thomson, “paid attention to … the unique outfield terrace that ran in front of the left and center field walls.” Increasingly moody, Adcock got off to a hot start (batting .333 and slugging .667) when he aggravated his knee injury on May 22 in Brooklyn, missing three weeks. Hobbled in his return, his average steadily declined to .278 by season’s end with little power. He clashed with Rogers Hornsby (the club’s third manager during the season), who desired a more athletic and speedy left fielder. Adcock wanted to play first base, but with just 31 home runs in his first three seasons, he failed to show the consistent power to dislodge Ted Kluszewski, a consistent .300 hitter who had hit 54 home runs during the same period. On February 16 Adcock was traded to the Braves, at the time officially located in Boston, in a complicated four-team, five-player plus cash deal. Adcock’s first home run for the Braves was a prodigious 475-foot blast against the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds on April 29. He launched a pitch from Jim Hearn that landed ten rows up on the left side of the center-field bleachers; he was the first player to do so since the ballpark was renovated in 1923. Another titanic shot, against the Pittsburgh Pirates on July 18, rocketed almost as far, clearing the 457-foot sign in cavernous Forbes Field just to the left of straightaway center. Just as important as Adcock’s 18 home runs and 80 runs batted in for the season were his durability (he played in all of the team’s 157 games) and his fielding. “He has a good pair of hands and shifts well,” said Grimm, a former first baseman with the Cubs. The surprising Milwaukee Braves finished in second place and led the National League in attendance. He retired with a .277 career average with 336 home runs and 1,122 runs batted in during his seventeen-year big league career.

Because it is not uploaded here. All I can tell you is to message Pena1 but he hasn't been here since last August or maybe by chance someone grabbed it.

Sorry for responding so late. I've had some last-minute running around to do for the holidays and at the same time am fighting off a cold. I've said this many times since I started this thread in 2005. The opinions from other people really make this thread worthwhile. I know what my random opinions are but I always want to know yours. Thank you and have a wonderful holiday!

Updated to 12-22 ...Next month the 2020 Hall of Fame inductees will be announced and while it is always hard to surmise as to who will be lucky enough to give their speeches next summer in Cooperstown, one guy, namely Derek Jeter, is considered a shoo-in. He will get enough votes on his first try to get in but I believe that unlike Mariano Rivera he will not get in unanimously. Believe me I am someone who can recite the Jeter hype material chapter and verse. Rookie of the year, five-time World Series champion, World Series MVP, multiple All Star, 3,000 plus hits and on and on. All Hall of Fame material and I can’t argue with any of it. But he’s also the same guy who has never won an MVP award or a batting title and his defense that was scorned so much during his career is what I really think is going to cost him some votes. And there’s one other thing. When Alex Rodriguez first came to the Yankees in 2004 Jeter did not want to move to third base so that Rodriguez, the better shortstop of the two, could play that position for the Yankees. Rodriguez was forced to learn a new position at third base and no one to my knowledge ever came out publicly to criticize this move. Had it been the other way around and Rodriguez refused to change positions we all would have heard about it. Ted Williams cost himself a few votes for his bad relationship with the Boston press during his playing career and some of those writers resented him so much that they got even with him by not voting for him when he became eligible. Jeter was not like Williams personality-wise but he was just as hard an interview as he was and all I’m saying is this could become a factor. Jeter’s fans are going to be happy for him next month but just don’t expect a clean sweep. ...I know it may seem that I am an odd sort of Yankee fan because I never seem to be satisfied with anything that they do and I seem to hate more than half the team at any given moment starting with the has-been who’s behind the plate. I’m happy with the addition of Gerrit Cole as I am sure anyone would be had he gone to their favorite team instead of the Yankees. But I am really concerned about the loss of Didi Gregorius and Austin Romine, to Philadelphia and Detroit respectively. I’m not sure what loss is going to be the hardest. Gregorius is a great shortstop and he played the position so much better than Derek Jeter did. He had range that Jeter never had even in a video game. Romine may not have the home run power that Sanchez has but that’s all that he had on him. Romine’s a decent hitter and an outstanding defensive catcher. I never worried about passed balls behind the plate. With Sanchez it was just a matter of time. These are just two of the many reasons why I am not going along with the sudden declaration that the Yankees are the team to beat. It’s December and championships are not won before the arrival of Christmas. I don’t believe any of the hype that is said about this team now or in the spring. I’m hoping that Giancarlo Stanton can play in more than eighteen games next year but that remains to be seen. It’s been a long time since they’ve won and I just want to see them do that and any bit of buildup that surrounds this team is going to be ignored by me. I’ll celebrate just like anyone else next October. I just refuse to start early. ...I watched the Gerrit Cole Yankee press conference and when he put on his pinstriped uniform I had my first look at the Nike Swoosh logo on the front of it and I hated it. Sure, it’s a small addition that will be on every uniform but it doesn’t belong there and I had to wonder to myself what logo is going be next after Nike? Major League Baseball said that they agreed to have Nike logo on the uniforms so it “would appeal to younger consumers.” How thoughtful of them. And if by chance their younger consumers don’t fall in line to start buying jerseys at an alarming rate, the league can still rest easy because of the ten-year one billion dollar deal that they made with Nike to have that logo on the uniforms. In other words who needs the kids when you already cashed a one billion dollar check? ...I’m pretty used to watching players switch teams during every off season but it still looked pretty odd to me seeing Madison Bumgarner in an Arizona Diamondbacks uniform. I hope the Giants knew what they were doing when they let him go. ...Greed Rules, Dept: It was one week ago today that the Raiders played their last home game in Oakland. It was a day that I erroneously thought I’d never have to see again after they returned home in 1995 but twenty-four years later they did it again and this time there is no going back. The need for a new stadium was not the problem because everyone agreed that is what had to be done but once Mark Davis started looking at other places for the Raiders to play it wouldn’t have mattered if the city of Oakland built it themselves and given him the key to the place. Fan loyalty means nothing to the NFL who, when they mention something being all about the fans you should immediately look for additional hidden surcharges because money is the only thing that makes them stand up and take notice. The Raiders will be around next year but not the Oakland Raiders and the identity of the team will slowly fade away as the years go by. Once the novelty of having an NFL team in Las Vegas begins to wear off Davis may wonder if it was all worth it. By then I won’t even have cared anymore. ...I don’t watch college football at all and the only time it catches my eye is when an unbelievable play happens and it’s shown over and over again on ESPN, where in that case I can’t avoid it. Over the Thanksgiving weekend holiday there was something called the Egg Bowl that’s played between Ole Miss and Mississippi State and it has been going on since 1901. News of this was such a surprise to the rest of the country because they had no idea this all was taking place all this time since no one pays attention to anything that happens in Mississippi. In the closing moments of this game an Ole Miss wide receiver named Elijah Moore scored a touchdown to cut Mississippi State’s lead to 21-20. The game was headed into overtime because all the Ole Miss kicker had to do was hit a chip shot and the extra period would have begun. That is until Moore rumbled into the end zone and started his celebration where by the look of it he was either celebrating his touchdown or he suddenly had the urge to urinate really bad because he lifted up his leg just like you catch your neighbor’s dog doing when he is too close to your flower bed. The officials saw what happened and gave Ole Miss a fifteen-yard penalty for unauthorized urination. Faced with that extra yardage from this penalty it was almost expected that the Ole Miss kicker would miss the extra point and sure enough that is just what he did and Mississippi State won the game by one point. This may be the first football game ever played where a kicker missed an extra point or a field goal that ends the game and no one blamed him for the loss. No matter what level football is played on it has lost its sportsmanship. It’s all about showing up the other team these days. Defensive players posing with their arms crossed after they sack a quarterback. Running backs pointing straight down the field signaling for a first down after a long run. You’ll see this in the pros every week on every team. This Elijah Moore kid was wrong and he had no defense for his actions and he said all the right things at the end of the game. He better. He probably had a whole locker room full of his teammates who wanted to personally thank him for what he did with their fists. Moore’s got nothing to worry about though because if he is good enough the NFL will still come calling when it is time for him to be drafted. I grew up watching Walter Payton play and later on Barry Sanders. No matter how big the touchdown, they handed the ball to the official and then they celebrated with their teammates because they knew that before long they’d be in the end zone again without looking foolish at the same time. These days it’s not good enough doing something good for your team because if you can’t rub it in the face of your opposition at the same time why bother? ...Well, you got to give them credit because they almost made it. With two weeks left in the regular season it was looking like the New England Patriots were going to go the entire year without having to answer to a cheating scandal but last week they got caught up in another one. It’s almost as if they can’t help themselves anymore. This time a videographer that was hired by the Patriots illegally filmed the field and the Cincinnati Bengals sideline during the Bengals’ December 8th game against the Cleveland Browns. Almost immediately after word spread around the league about New England’s latest bypassing of the rules the Patriots suspended the producer who took the video. It makes you wonder why they bothered filming the Cincinnati bench because they are a team who has struggled this year, winning only one game so far but they probably just wanted to make sure so they could give them the beating they deserve. Even though the Patriots said they had a legitimate reason for the film crew being there as they said they were filming a segment on an advance scout for the team their actions proved that this was just a ploy from what they were really trying to do. Now it’s up to Commissioner Roger Goodell to do something about. He will of course but just don’t expect too much. After all, it’s the Patriots. ...Vegas awaits, Dept: If this is a preface into what is in the NFL’s future then all I can say is that they asked for it. Defensive back Josh Shaw of the Arizona Cardinals has been suspended for the rest of this season and all of the 2020 season for betting on NFL games. Shaw has not played at all this year and has been on injured reserve since the preseason. He decided to go to Las Vegas with some friends of his from high school and instead of taking in a show while he was there he thought he’d have more fun placing a few bets because after all why go to Vegas if you can’t bet? Shaw was caught because he used his own player card and ID when laying down the bets. He is appealing the suspension but if he pays any attention to history he may as well forget it. Way back in 1963 Paul Hornung of the Packers and Alex Karras of the Lions were suspended for one year by Pete Rozelle for the exact same thing and for that entire year the only time they had a football in their hands was when they were autographing one. If those two guys didn’t get their bans cut short then Shaw won’t either. Professional sports leagues do not tolerate gambling, especially the kind when they don’t get a cut in it. Some of you out there with good memories might wonder why I didn’t include Art Schlichter here. Schlichter was also an NFL player and was caught gambling and eventually was suspended for it but he never bet on NFL games. He bet on everything else but left the NFL alone. He’s now in prison after stealing millions in a sports ticket scheme so while Shaw finds himself in a tough situation now it’s nowhere near as bad as Schlichter got himself into that ended up ruining his career and his life. With the Raiders preparing to open up shop in Las Vegas next year you almost have to stop and wonder who the next player is who is going to be caught gambling during their free time there. They wanted a team there so let them deal with the eventual fallout. It’s only going to get worse. ...I love watching Saturday Night Live especially when the gorgeous Cecily Strong is in the sketches because I think she is even funnier than Kate McKinnon. There’s nothing wrong with her either especially when she is imitating Rudy Giuliani but for the love of God why is Aidy Bryant taking up space there? Nothing she has ever done has ever been funny. If the woman went to a kindergarten class and made funny faces in front of them for an hour she still wouldn’t get a rise out of them. One time SNL had a pie throwing sketch planned but they had to scratch it because she ate all the pies. Even then she couldn’t get a laugh. And a child shall lead them, Dept: Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg was named Person of the Year by Time magazine for her tireless efforts to make the world more aware of climate change and she is the youngest person ever to earn this distinction. She has inspired kids from around the world to speak out and be heard about their concerns about climate change and has also addressed world leaders at the United Nations about this subject in an intelligent manner that was way beyond her sixteen years. What makes what’s she doing more amazing is that she has Asperger’s syndrome, a condition that significantly increases a person’s difficulties in social interactions and yet she does not let this stop her from speaking out on the most important issue facing the planet. I can not help but admire what she is doing and how her actions influenced so many people to follow her lead. All I can say is good for her and to never stop doing what she thinks is right because it won’t be long before her generation will be able to do more about this than just speak out. ...Probably for the past five years or so each time I have come across a Christmas movie on TV I would go on to the next channel as quickly as possible. It’s because I’ve seen them enough times and the Hallmark ones do not count because when you’ve seen one of those you’ve seen them all. I’m talking about movies like White Christmas or It’s a Wonderful Life. I’ve lived through many Christmas seasons and I would have to say if I had to guess that I’ve seen these movies over thirty-five times and what made me decide to start a new tradition and not watch them is when I realized I was able to quote dialog from these films word-for-word. That’s when you know you’ve seen a movie too many times. George Bailey was still going to jump in the river and Clarence was going to save him every single time whether I watched it or not so I let them have at it and I looked for other things to watch during the holidays, namely non-Christmas shows. However there was one movie, A Christmas Carol that I made an exception to. I actually read the book as a school assignment many years back and it made me appreciate the movies even more. There’s been many versions and takeoffs of the Dickens classic and I have enjoyed them all and if a new movie is made about the book I’ll watch it. Each time I would watch Scrooge as he looked at his past, present and future and I wondered how I’d feel if I had been in his place and somehow got the same chance as he got. I’m not saying I’m a rich miser like Scrooge was since I am neither rich nor a miser. But like him I do have regrets. Christmas was so much nicer for me when I was younger with my relatives still around and now that I am facing my second Christmas without my mother I don’t see a reason to celebrate much. What a gift that would have been to get that kind of glimpse in your past. Maybe in a way it is better that I can’t. ...And with that I want to leave off by wishing everyone on this website a very Merry Christmas. Thank you Trues for keeping this website going. It has been a pleasure to help out here since the doors opened all those years ago. I hope all our members realize that you and all the staff members here work to give them a well-run site that they can be proud to be a part of. But the modders are our heart and soul around here because no one logs in here for the excitement of finding out that a thread was locked. These guys who make the mods for Mvp and 2k are why people come here and I want to thank you again and the rest of the staff for what they do. Merry Christmas to you and have a safe New Year and above all in 2020 may it be a healthy one for you and your family. That goes for us all!