centerfield maz

Sunday September 15th, 1963: A s the expansion New York Mets started gathering a fan base, they began to come up with unique ideas to root on their team.  The early Mets teams were not good ball clubs on the playing field, barely able to compete, but the fans still loved them. Many of these fans were old National League New York Giants & Brooklyn Dodger fans. In 1958 the two teams had left New York for the west coast. Other Mets fans were a new breed of Young New Yorkers getting ready to let loose in what was to be the swinging sixties. One of the young Mets fans popular things to do was to express themselves with banners or " Plaquards" as Manger Casey Stengel called them. Soon banners were seen all around the Mets first ballpark, the Polo Grounds. But at the time, Mets President George Weiss banned the banners at the games, claiming they were blocking the view for other fans sitting in their seats. The controversy began as Mets fans blasted the team management f...

Arthur Louis Shamsky was born October 14, 1941, in St. Louis, Missouri. Art Shamsky grew up a Cardinals fan & his hero was Stan "the Man" Musial. Shamsky went to the same high school as future big league pitcher Ken Holtzman. Other notable school alumni are Tennessee Williams & Mets outfielder Bernard Gilkey. The six foot one, left hand hitting outfielder would also play at first base. In 1959 Shamsky was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cincinnati Reds. At age 18 he was Pete Rose roommate for the 1960 Geneva Red legs & homered in his first at-bat there. He led all outfielders in assists & was second in the league with 18 HRs just ahead of future MLB sluggers; Tony Perez and Dick Allen. Shamsky got to the AAA Pacific Coast League San Diego Padres in 1963 & the following season hit 25 HRs behind Tony Perez’s league leading 34. MLB Debut: I n April of 1965, Shamsky made the Reds team debuting against his favorite childhood team the Cardinal...

John William Valentin was born on February 18th, 1967, in Mineola, New York on Long Island.  Seton Hall Pirates: Valentin attended Seton Hall University in New Jersey where he played for the Pirates from 1986 - 1988. In 1987 he helped them win the Big East Championship then followed up batting .392 the following year. In 1988 he was drafted by the Boston Red Sox  in the 5th round. By 1991 Valentin was playing at AAA Pawtucket hitting 9 HRs & batting .260 in 100 games.  MLB Career - Red Sox: In July 1992 he got a call up & drove in a run with an 8th inning single off Texas' Terry Mathews in a 7-5 Red Sox win. Valentin remained on the team batting .276 the rest of the way.  He would spend ten years with the Red Sox, playing his first five years as the Sox main short stop until young Nomar Garciaparra arrived on the scene. Valentin then moved over to second base & then third base following an injury to Tim Naehring in 1997. That year...

Roger Lee Craig was born February 17, 1930, in Durham, North Carolina. He was one of ten children to John & Irene Craig. The tall six-foot four right hander was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1950. He spent two seasons in the minors winning 14 games each year & then went off for two years of Military Service during the Korean Way.  MLB Career: Craig arrived at Ebbett's Field in Brooklyn in July 1955 earning a complete game win in his debut against the Reds. He started out 3-0 that month with two complete games.  Overall, for 1955 Dodgers championship team he was 5-3 with two saves, posting a 2.78 ERA pitching in 21 games.  1955 World Series: In the 1955 World Series he got the win in Game #3 at Ebbett's Field, pitching six innings allowing two runs on four hits while striking out four. He gave up a 4th inning RBI single to Billy Martin & a 7th inning lead off HR to Bob Cerv. That year Brooklyn went wild as the Dodgers won th...