New Jersey's Greatest Baseball Player- Hall of Famer: "Ducky" Joe Medwick (1932-1948)

Joseph Michael Medwick was born on November 24, 1911 in Carteret, New Jersey. The strong hardnosed player was born to Hungarian immigrants and became a star player any where he played baseball. A woman saw him swimming and said he looked like a duck earning the nickname “Ducky Wucky”. The fans then called him Ducky because of the way he waddled when he walked, but his team mates never dared using that phrase. To players he was known as “Muscles” because of his size & strength.

He played hard and had a notorious temper fighting with team mates, opposing players & fans. He once decked a pitcher on his team for walking infron of him to many times when he was being photographed. He punched out another when he criticized him for not running out a fly ball. Legend has it, Medwick was the only player Dizzy Dean was afraid, after he threatened to take him & his brother out with a bat.

He came up with the Cardinals in 1932 becoming a ten time All Star & one of the National League’s best hitter. Ducky Joe was the last NL Player to win the Triple Crown Award that was in 1937 when he batted .374 with 31 HRs & 154 RBIs. He also won the MVP Award that year, posting 237 hits, 56 doubles, 10 triples, and a .414 on base percentage while scoring 111 runs. Ducky would hit well over .300 for 11 straight seasons, gathering over 200 hits four times, leading the league twice (1936 & 1937). He drove in over 100 runs six straight years, leading the league three straight years from 1936-1938. Medwick hit over 40 doubles seven times, including a record 64 in 1938, leading the league three straight years in that category. He hit over 10 triples eight times, leading the league in 1934 with 18. He also scored over 100 runs six times, leading the league in his Triple Crown season.

He was one of the stars of the St. Louis Cardinals Gas House Gang in 1934, along with team mates Frankie Frisch, Leo Durocher, Ripper Collins, & brothers Dizzy & Paul Dean. In the 1934 World Series he hit .379 with a HR & 5 RBIs. In the 7th Game of the Series the Cards were running away with it with a 7-0 lead, when Medwick slid hard into third base leveling third baseman Marv Owen. When he returned to his outfield position the Detroit fans, let him have it throwing fruit, vegetables, bottles, cushions, & anything else they could toss at him. Baseball Commissioner Mountain Landis ordered Medwick to taken off the field for his own saftey. Old Newsreel footage shows him slamming his glove onto the bench in disgust as h returned to the dugout.

In 1940 he was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers to play for his old team mate now manager, Leo Durocher. In his first game against his old Cardinals team mates, four days after the trade he was almost killed getting hit in the head with a pitch. The beaning came from pitcher Bob Bowman, knocking Medwick unconscious as his wife screamed from a box seat in horror. Durocher & Dodger GM Lee Mcphail had to be restrained from going after Bowman & the Cards manager. Medwick was removed from the field on a stretcher & taken to a hospital. It affected his career, at age 28 he was never the same player again.

He led Brooklyn to a pennant in 1941 batting .318 with 18 HRs & 88 RBIs. The next year he drove in 96 runs but only hit 4 HRs as his career began to wind down. Midway through the 1943 season the New York Giants purchased his contract, and he would play in New York for two years. In 1944 he hit .337 (third in the league) posting a .386 on base % with 24 doubles & 85 RBIs. He was second in the league in fielding as well. Medwick finished his career out in St. Louis in 1948, finishing a 17 year career with 2471 hits (97th all time) a .324 batting average (47th all time) 540 doubles (28th all time) 113 triples (115th all time) 205 HRs 1383 RBIs (73rd all time) 1198 runs scored (165th all time) playing in 1984 games (243rd all time).

Quotes: In a 1944 World War II USO Tour, he was lucky enough to meet Pope Pius XII, he greeted him by saying; "Your Holiness, I'm Joe Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal."

Honors: For some reason it took Medwick 20 years before he got elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, making the class of 1968. The main reason was probably because he would antagonize the media during his playing days. He said “it was one of the first times in his life he was left speechless, it was like ending a twenty year slump.”

He was one of only three players to be elected to the Hall of Fame & was voted New Jersey’s Athlete of the Century in 2000. The Sporting News voted him #79 of the greatest players of all time list in 1999 & he was nominated for the All Century team. He worked at an insurance company in St. Louis after his playing day, & passed away in St. Petersburg Florida in 1975 at age 63.

Terry Collins Named the 20th Manager in Mets History

Terry Lee Collins was born on May 27, 1949 in Midland, Michigan. Collins began playing in the minor leagues in 1971 as an infielder in the Pirates organization. He was traded to the Dodgers system next, and played 10 years of minor league ball, batting .255 but never making it to the major leagues. He began to coach & then mange in the minor leagues for the same two organizations into the nineties.

He got his first managerial job in the majors with the Houston Astros in the 1994 strike shortened season, replacing Art Howe who was fired after the 1993 season. In Collins’ first season at the helm, he posted his best winning percentage of .574 (66-49). He managed in Houston for three seasons, finishing in second place every year, posting winning records each time. The Astros fell off at the end of the 1996 season, finishing at 82-80 and Collins was dismissed.

In less than a month he was hired to manage the Anaheim Angels. The previous year the Angels had finished fourth and went through three different managers; Marcel Lachemann John McNamara and Joe Maddon. Collins led the Angels to two straight second place finishes, & after an injury ridden team was to finish fourth in 1999, he stepped down. He had lost the confidence of his players although the front office wanted him to stay.

So what has been doing the last decade? In 2001 he was coaching with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, first as their bull pen coach & then moving on to being their third base coach. In 2005 Collins was in line to be the next Dodgers manager under then GM Paul DePodesta. But when Depodesta was fired, that didn’t work out. Obviously Depodesta now the Mets, VP of Player Development, had some positive things to say to Mets GM Sandy Alderson about Collins.

In 2004 he was one of three finalist for the Mets managerial job, but it went to Willie Randolph instead.

Collins went on to manage in Japan, for a one full year but then resigned during the following season. By 2009 he was the manager for the China national baseball team, in the World Baseball Classic. In 2010 he came to the New York Mets organization as a minor league field coordinator, and will now guide them as manager for the 2011 season. Reports say he will get a two year deal.

Former Italian /American Player of the Day: Paul Sorrento (1989-1999)

Paul Anthony Sorrento born November 17, 1965 in Somerville, Massachusetts. Sorrento attended Florida State University getting drafted in the 4th round of the 1986 draft by the California Angels. Sorrento was a hot prospect & in 1988 he & two minor leaguers were traded to Minnesota for Bert Blyleven. In the Twins organization in 1989 he was named to the AA Southern League's All-Star team as he led the league with 35 doubles and 112 RBI. His 27 home runs was only second to MVP Eric Anthony's 28. Defensivley he was a fine first baseman with his glove.

Sorrento debuted with the Twins in 1989, hitting his first career HR the following season. He saw action in the 1991 World Series going 0-3 as a pimch hitter.

In March of 1992 he was traded to Cleveland where he had two straight 18 HR seasons driving in over 60 RBIs. In 1995 he hit 25 HRs with 79 RBIs for the AL Champion Indians, averaging a HR every 13 at bats, although his batting average was only at .231. In the ALDS he batted .300 with an RBI but fell below .200 in both the ALCS & World Series.

He was sent to Seattle the next season, having career highs in hits (136) RBIs (93) doubles (32) & batting average (.289). In 1997 he hit 31 HRs averaging a HR every 15 at bats (7th most in the league) while posting the leagues second best fielding % (.996). He got to another post season that year, batting .300 with a HR in Game #3 of the NLDS against Baltimore. In 1998 he signed with Tampa as a free agent playing out his last two seasons there.

After an 11 year career, Sorrento hit 166 HRs in 3412 at bats, averaging a HR every 20 at bats, ranking him in the top 140 all time. He batted .257 with 565 RBIs enjoying four 20 plus doubles seasons as well as three 30 plus HR seasons. At first base his career .994 fielding % in 55th best all time. He currently coaches in the state of Washington.

Former Italian /American Player of the Day: Greg Gagne (1983-1997)

Gregory Carpenter Gagne was born on November 12, 1961 in Fall River, Massachusetts. The shortstop was originally drafted by the A.L. New York team, in the 5th round of the 1979 draft. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins with Ron Davis in the Roy Smalley deal in April 1982.

He peeked his head in the majors in 1983 getting a cup of coffee & driving in three runs in 27 at bats. By 1985 he would solidify himself as the Twins shortstop for the eight years, winning two World Championships. He proved to be one of the AL’s better fielding shortstops in that time, leading the league in fielding % (1993) put outs (1994) while coming in tops in most defensive categories during his playing time. He would also lead in errors at short twice (1986 & 1995).

In October of 1986 he hit two inside the park HRs in the same inning, tying a modern day MLB record. Both came off Chicago’s Floyd Bannister at Minnesota’s Metro dome. In 1986 he hit 12 HRs with 12 stolen bases & a Twins career high 54 RBIs. In the Twins 1987 Championship season he hit .265 with 7 triples 10 HRs & 40 RBIs.

Post Season: In the 1987 ALCS, he hit a HR in Game #4, then another off Frank Tananna in Game #5, breaking a 1-1 tie in the 4th inning. Both HRs came in Detroit’s Tiger Stadium. In the World Series he hit another HR against St. Louis, driving in three runs in the Series overall.

In 1988 he hit a career high 14 HRs stealing 15 bases, although he struck out a career high 110 times as well. From 1986-1989 Gagne averaged six triples per season, totaling 26 overall.

Post Season: In Game #1 of the 1991 World Series, Gagne hit a three run HR in the 6th inning off Atlanta’s Charlie Leibrandt at the Metro dome, giving Minnesota a 4-0 lead as they went on to win Game #1 & the Series. He struggled the rest of the Series only getting three more hits & batting .167 overall.

After the 1992 season he signed on with the Royals for two seasons, having career highs in RBIs (57) & batting average (.280) in 1993. He closed out his final two seasons with the Dodgers batting .253 over two seasons there, retiring in 1997.

In his 15 year career he played in 1798 games, batting .254 with 1440 hits 296 doubles 111 HRs 50 triples & 604 RBIs, while posting a .972 fielding percentage.

Italian / American Player of the Day: Nick Punto (2001-2010)

Nicholas Paul Punto was born on November 8, 1977 in San Diego, California. The scrappy infielder was raised in Mission Viejo getting selected out of high school by the Twins down in the 33rd round but did not sign in 1997. He then signed with the Phillies the next season getting selected in the 22nd round. He hit .305 at Clearwater in A ball in 1999, then fell off the next two seasons.

He had cups of coffee with the Phillies in 2001 & 2002 then while hitting .317 after 25 games in AAA Wilkes Barre in 2003 he was brought back up. In the off season he was traded to the Twins with Carlos Silva for pitcher Eric Milton.

Punto settled in with hustle & nonstop determination, & by 2005 became an everyday player in Ron Gardenhire’s line up. He played a solid defense at third, second, short & occasionally in the outfield. His aggressive style of play got him labeled as one of the four Twins “piranhas” by White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen.

In 2006 he had career highs batting .290 with 133 hits, 17 stolen bases, 21 doubles & 7 triples. He had a .352 on base percentage & was second in the league with 10 sacrifice hits. In the post season he struggled, going 2-12 against Oakland in the ALDS.

The following season his average fell off to .210 and he drove in 20 fewer runs as he struggled at the plate but still stole 16 bases. In an interview that season Punto said, "I take too much pride in my defense to ever let offensive struggles affect me or affect my team. The one thing I can control is how I play defense." That he did, as he was 3rd in the league posting a .973 fielding percentage for all third baseman. His teammates call him the “human highlight reel” because of his splendid defensive play.

In 2008 he played in the World Baseball Classic for Team Italy, & then signed a $8.5 million deal for two seasons with the Twins. He raised his average up 74 points to .284 stealing another 15 bases with 19 doubles. In 2009 he missed time playing in 125 games batting only .228. He had a good ALDS batting .444 (4-9) with three walks & an RBI. He suffered through more injuries in 2010, eventually losing his everyday job at third to Danny Valencia. But his versatility kept him playing as JJ Hardy & Orlando Hudson went down with injuries at second & short. He finished the year batting .238 with 20 RBIs & 6 steals in 88 games.

Former Met of the Day: Matt Lawton (2001)

Mathew Lawton III was born in Gulfport Mississippi on November 3, 1971. He was drafted by the Twins in the 13th round of the 1991 draft. In 1994 he hit .300 at A ball & played in the Florida State League All Star Game.
As an outfielder he was rated a poor defensive player who sometimes made basic fundamental mistakes. He made the best of his abilities and after two brief appearances in 1995 & 1996, became the Twins everyday outfielder by 1997.

He had some good hitting seasons, hitting over 35 doubles three times, driving in over 60 runs five times, scoring over 90 runs three times and stealing 23 or more bases four times.

He had his best season in 2000 making the All Star team, batting .305 with 44 doubles, 13 HRs and 88 RBIs. He was batting .293 through July of 2001 when the Twins traded him to the New York Mets for popular pitcher Rick Reed.

Lawton would only play in 48 games as a Met right fielder, as his average dropped to .246 in 183 at bats, with 3 HRs 11 doubles & 13 RBIs. In an early September series sweep over the Marlins, Lawton had six hits with three RBIs.

That winter he was involved in a multi player trade going to Cleveland with Alex Escobar for Roberto Alomar and a couple of minor leaguers. Lawton spent three season in Cleveland, having his best year in 2004, batting .277 with 20 HRs & 70 RBIs making his second All Star team. In 2005 Lawton got caught up in a steroids scandal, he apologized and admitted using horse steroids. He finished his 12 year career in 2006 batting .267 with 1273 hits 138 HRs 267 doubles 631 RBIs & 165 stolen bases.