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Showing posts from May, 2016

Early 2010's Mets Outfield Slugger: Scott Hairston (2011-2012)

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Scott Alexander Hairston was born on May 25th, 1980 in Fort Worth Texas. At the time Scott was born, his father ; long time major leaguer Jerry Hairston was playing in Mexico. Scott's brother Jerry Hairston Jr. also is a major leaguer & played with the New York Mets. Scott attended Canyon del Oro High School in Arizona which also featured a talent of future major leaguers at the time; Ian Kinsler, Chris Duncan, Shelly Duncan & Brian Anderson. Hairston then attended Central Aizona College with Kinsler, getting drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2001. He would hit at least .300 all but once, in eight minor league seasons.  In 2004 he made the Diamondbacks and became the teams main second baseman batting .248 with 13 HRs & 29 RBIs. He spent most of the next two years in the minor leagues returning for 76 games in 2007. That July he was traded to the San Diego Padres and hit 8 HRs while batting .287 in 31 games the rest of the season. By this point he became a fu

Scott Hairston's Long Line of Baseball Relatives: Jerry Hairston - Jerry Hairston Jr. & Sam Hairston

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Jerry Wayne Hairston Jr. was born May 29th 1976 in Des Moines Iowa. The five foot ten, right hand hitting utility player plays all infield as well as all outfield positions. After attending Southern Illinois University the older brother of Scott Hairston was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 11th round of the 1997 draft. Hairston went on to a long career playing with the Orioles from 1998-2004. Hairston stole 29 bases in 2001 & stole 21 more the next year. In his 2004 season he batted his Oriole best .303 playing in 86 games. He then moved on to the Chicago Cubs (2005-2006) Texas Rangers (2006-2007) Cincinnati Reds (2008-2009) A.L. New York club (2009) San Diego Padres (2010) Washington Nationals (2011) Milwaukee Brewers (2011) & Los Angeles Dodgers (2012-2013). In 2008 with the Reds he hit a career best .326 in 80 games while stealing 15 bases. In 2009 & 2010 he showed the most power of his career hitting over ten HRs in each season. In a 16 year caree

Former Italian / American Player: Frank Mancuso (1944-1947)

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Frank Octavius Mancuso was born May 23rd, 1918 in Houston Texas. He is the younger brother of New York Giants catcher Gus Mancuso. Frank Mancusco was the youngest of seven children and followed in his brothers footsteps as a catcher.  The six foot right hand hitting Mancuso served in the United States Army during World War II. In 1942 serving as a paratrooper he suffered a serious injury & was discharged. It looked as though his baseball career was over, especially being a catcher. The injury reulted in a condition where when he looked straight up he would lose the flow of oxygen to his brain making him pass out. At times he was also unable to look straight up to catch pop flies. He defied the odds & made it to the big leagues with the St. Louis Browns in 1944. That year he played in 88 games batting just .205 with one HR 11 doubles & 24 RBIs.In 87 games behind the plate he led the AL with 17 errors. In 1944 the Browns won their only American League title, finishing

Former Mets Reief Pitcher: Carlos Muniz (2007-2008)

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Carlos Javier Munoz was born March 12th 1981 in Torrance, California. The six one right hander attended Long Beach University getting drafted by the New York Mets in the 13th round in 2003. After pitching four years in the minors & in the Mexican League as a reliever, he got his break in 2007. Muniz would get called up in late September debuting in a 10-9 loss to the Washington Nats during the Mets 2007 collapse. He helped finish out the combined one hitter with John Maine pitching a hitless 9th inning. In 2008 he had a decent Spring Training & made it North with the club. He made three April appearances finishing off games with no decisions. He would be up & down to the minors a few times during the year. On May 29th he got credit for a hold in an 8-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. On July 2nd, he served up a walk off HR to Troy Glaus in St. Louis as the Cards beat the Mets 8-7. A week later he earned his only career win, it came in a 3-0 Mets shut out of th

Former Mets Pitcher: Willie Collazo (2007)

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William Collazo was born November 7th 1979 in Carolina, Puerto Rico. The five foot eight left handed relief pitcher, attended school in Miami Florida & Cedar Rapids Iowa. He tied for the Sun Belt Conference in wins & was named a third Team All American by Baseball America. Collazo was drafted by the Atlanta Braves in 2001 in the 10th round. After pitching four years in the minor leagues, he tested positive for steroids in 2005 & was suspended 15 games. Upon his return he struggled. The next year he pitched good at Winter Ball to enough to win Pitcher of the Year honors. In March of 2006 he was signed by the New York Mets. At AA Binghamton he went 7-6 with the leagues fourth best ERA (3.11) getting promoted to AAA Norfolk the same year. There he was 3-3 the rest of the way. In 2007 he began the year at AAA New Orleans going 6-5 with a 2.46 ERA posting four saves in 56 games. Collazo got his call up that September debuting on September 5th in a 7-0 loss to the Reds

Remembering Mets History: (1986 & 1987) Looking Back At Two of Tim Teufel's Walk Off Hits

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Monday May 12th 1986:   Chuck Tanner's Atlanta Braves (13-17) came to Shea Stadium for a night game against Davey Johnson's first place Mets (21-5). The Mets starter; Sid Fernandez was outstanding tonight. Through seven innings he shut out the Braves, allowing just four hits, with one walk while striking out ten. The Braves Rick Mahler shut the Mets out through six innings, allowing seven hits & walking three but always got out of a jam when needed. Roger McDowell came on for the Mets & shut out the Braves in the 8th & 9th innings. The Braves reliever Paul Assenmacher had come on in the 7th inning with the bases loaded & one out. He got Kevin Mitchell to ground out & then struck out Howard Johnson. In the bottom of the 9th inning, the Shea crowd of 25,906 began their "Lets Go Mets" chants. Ray Knight who was hot, was batting .326 & led off with a double. Knight had hit just .218 in 1985 and was almost let go by upper management, but Da

Mid Nineties Mets Backup Catcher: Brook Fordyce (1995)

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Brook Alexander Fordyce was born on May 7, 1970 in New London, Connecticut. He attended high school in the town of Uncasville, Conn., which is now the location of the Mohegan Sun Hotel & Casino. The catcher was drafted in the third round of the 1989 draft by the New York Mets. He spent six years in the Mets organization, before making the team out of Spring Training in 1995. He made his MLB debut as a pinch runner in Colorado on April 26th. In his first MLB at bat he walked as pinch hitter and scored his only career Mets run that same day. He made two more pinch hit appearances getting his only Mets hit, which was a double, on May 12th against the Montreal Expos. That season the Mets had Todd Hundley as their main catcher with Kelly Stinnett & Alberto Castillo as backups. Fordyce was placed on waivers two days later & got picked up by the Cleveland Indians. Fordyce was soon signed by the Cincinnati Reds, playing there for three seasons. With the Reds he played b

Late 2000's Mets Backup Catcher: Robinson Cancel (2008-2009)

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Robinson Castro Cancel was born on May 4, 1976 in Lajas, Puerto Rico. The six foot catcher was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in 1994. He played in the minors for six years before he got to the AAA level. In 1999 he also got his first call up to the big leagues playing in 15 games for the Brewers striking out a dozen times in just 44 at bats. He batted only .182 with eight hits, two doubles & five RBIS as the fourth catcher on the team.  He was sent back down to the minor leagues and did not resurface in the majors until almost a decade later with the 2008 New York Mets. In an 18 year minor league career he hit .266 with 1098 hits, 88 HRs & 580 RBIs in 1240 games. He threw out 37% of would be base stealers & posted a .984 fielding %. He came to the Mets organization in January 2007 and batted .264 at AAA New Orleans as a backup catcher to Mike Difelice. In 2008 he had a decent spring training getting some notice, but still began the year at A ball St. Lucie.

Former Mid Ninties Mets Pitcher: Juan Acevedo (1997)

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Juan Carlos Acevedo was born on May 2nd, 1970 in Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. His family came to the United States settling in Carpentersville, Illinois. The big six foot right hander was listed at 243 lbs on his MLB profile. In 1992 he was drafted by the Colorado Rockies in the 14th round while attending Parkland College. After an impressive 17-6 record at AA New Haven in 1994 he was promoted to AAA Colorado Springs in 1995 & was brought up to the Rockies staff after three games. He debuted on April 30th getting no decision in a start at Houston, pitching five innings of shut out ball. He went 4-6 into July, then allowed six runs on nine hits in a horrific relief appearance against the New York Mets. A few days later he was sent to the New York Mets for a player to be named later & Bret Saberhagen. Acevedo finished the year at AAA Norfolk & went 4-8 there with a 5.96 ERA in 19 games for 1996. In 1997 he improved his ERA a bit to 3.86 & was 6-6 with the Tides when he