centerfield maz

Saturday July 8th, 2006: Willie Randolph's first place New York Mets (52-36) were hosting Joe Girardi's third place Florida Marlins (38-47). This was the second game of a doubleheader in which the Mets had lost the first game 3-2.  A good crowd of 41,477 had all filled in for the second game played in the evening.  Tonight, Mike Pelfrey was making his MLB debut going up against the Marlins' Ricky Nolasco. In the top of the 1st, the first batter Mike Pelfrey faced Alfredo Amezaga reached on an infield single then stole second base. He struck out Hanley Ramirez but got wild hitting Dan Uggla with a pitch. Then Miguel Cabrera hit into an inning double play. In the bottom of the 1st, Endy Chavez led off with a triple into center field. Paul Loduca singled bringing in Endy with the Mets first run. Carlos Beltran walked & Cliff Floyd singled to load the bases for Jose Valentin. Valentin hit his seventh career grand slam HR giving the Mets a 5-0 lead. It was Jose...

Timothy Shawn Teufel  was born on July 7, 1958, in Greenwich, Connecticut. His father William was a carpenter & his mother Marjorie took care of the family's three sons. Teufel attended St. Mary’s High School in Greenwich, then moved on to Clemson University. The six foot right-handed hitting infielder, was a star baseball player there getting drafted by both the Milwaukee Brewers (1978) & the Chicago White Sox (1979). He did not sign either time. In 1980 he did sign as a second-round pick of the Minnesota Twins. In his third minor league season he hit 27 HRs & batted .323 for the AAA Toledo Mud hens, getting a September call up to the Twins big league team. MLB Debut: On September 3rd, Teufel  made his MLB debut going 1-4 playing second base in a 13-0 loss to the Baltimore Orioles. He hit well during the month, batting .308 (24-78) with three HRs, seven doubles & six RBIs.  On September 16th he had a 5 -5 day with two HRs against the Toronto...

Saturday July 7th, 1973: A Saturday afternoon crowd of 30,468 filled up Shea Stadium on a beautiful sunny day to watch Yogi Berra's last place Mets (34-45) take on Eddie Mathews fifth place Atlanta Braves (38-49).  At this point, Braves slugger Hank Aaron was chasing the All-Time HR record & was the most famous face in baseball.  Aaron was #2 on the all-time HR list with 694 career HRs & the Mets' own Willie Mays was #3 on the all-time with 657 career HRs.  The Mets were bottomed out in last place 12.5 games out of first place, just about their lowest point of the season. There was still a long way to go in what was to be a pennant winning season  as the NL East remained tight all year. The Mets would not make their unlikely comeback until late August on. The Mets 13 year veteran, Ray Sadecki got his first start of the year, his first start in 14 months after having made 43 relief appearances.   Sadecki would eventuall...