centerfield maz

Antonio Francisco Bastardo was born September 21st, 1985 in the Dominican Republic. The five foot eleven left handed reliever bats right handed. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Philadelphia Phillies in 2005. He began his career at low A ball going 9-0 with 1.87 ERA blowing away hitters with his fastball. He was used as a started in his early career, spending four full seasons in the minors before getting to the big leagues with the Phillies in 2009 for six games, going 2-3 as a starter. A shoulder injury shut him down for most of the rest of the regular season but he made the post season roster. Bastardo had one appearance in both the 2009 NLDS & NLCS. Bastardo returned as a reliever for 25 games in 2010, he went 2-0 with 26 strike outs in just 18 innings, finishing up two games. His ERA was a concern at 4.25. He made another appearance in the NLCS loss to the San Francisco Giants.  In 2011 Bastardo took over the Phils closer role when Ryan Madsen went dow

Vernard Arthur Hoscheit was born April 1st, 1922 in Brunswick, Nebraska. The five foot nine, catcher, outfielder would spend 12 seasons in the AL New York teams minor league system, never getting to play at the big league level. Overall he batted a career .283 in 1155 games. Hoscheit also served three years military service during World War II. After his playing days ended he began a long career as a coach & minor league manager. He started out managing the AL New York clubs minor leagues in the late forties & through the fifties. He also was a minor league executive in those years. In the sixties he was a scout & in charge of the instructional League staff for the Baltimore Orioles. In 1968 he was a coach on the Orioles staff. In 1969 he became a coach for the Oakland A's, staying with them through their dynasty tears as the Swingin' A's or the Moustache Gang, if you prefer. He would be on board for all three A's World Series titles from 1972-1974 unde

Johnny Monell was born on March 27th 1986 in the Bronx, New York. His father Johnny Monell SR. was a catching prospect with the New York Mets in the 1980's, peaking with the AAA Tidewater Tides but never making it to the big leagues.   Monell SR. also played baseball in Italy, Tawain, Mexico & Puerto Rico. As he & his wife divorced he would get half custody of Monell Jr. Johnny would spend time traveling with his father & grew up around baseball clubhouses. At seven years old he used to take players equipment & put it in his locker. One day former Met Bernard Gilkey & friends put the kid safely in an equipment bag & hung it on a door. It was their way of telling his father to have him stop taking the others equipment. His father said he let him hang there a bit to teach him a lesson, it was all in fun. He grew up across from Pelham Bay Park & also played baseball in between the apartment buildings where he lived. He & his friends would hi

The Mets home ball park; Citi Field in Queens, New York is one of baseball's best looking stadiums. It was designed with the old look of Brooklyn's old Ebbets Field in mind since the teams owner was a die hard Brooklyn Dodger fan  while growing up. Complete with the Jakie Robinson Rotunda, similar to the rotunda at the old ball park in Brooklyn. Ebbets Field construction began in 1912 on various lots, that Dodgers owner Charles Ebbets had bought up. One of the lots was an  garbage dump called "pig town". It got its name because pigs actually ate there & helped create the stench. Ebbets Field was made of concrete & steel and originally held 25,000 fans, although it eventually upped its capacity to32,000. It's location was perfect for the early part of the 20th century before cars took over the roads. It was located on Bedford Avenue, bounded by Sullivan Place, McKeever Place & Montgomery St. It was walking distance to the junction of a maj

Garry Lewis Templeton was born on March 24, 1956 in Lockney, Texas. The highly touted good hitting, quick footed, shortstop was the St, Louis Cardinals #1 draft pick (13th overall) in 1974. In 1975 he hit .310, stealing 24 bases playing in both A & the AA levels. The following year he was at AAA Tulsa where he batted .321 with 25 steals, now ready for the big leagues. Templeton made his debut in St. Louis in the bicentennial year batting .291 in 53 games with 11 stolen bases. The next year he was the NL’s third best hitter, batting .322, leading the league with 18 triples, making the All Star team & getting votes for the MVP Award. He stole a career high34 bases that year (8th in the league). He would lead the league in triples three straight seasons from 1976-1978. Templeton was among the top ten in batting average as well as hits three times, in his career. In 1979 Templeton led the NL in hits (211) becoming the first switch hitter to get 100 hits from each side of the

George Dallas Green was born August 4th, 1934 in Newport Delaware. The six foot five Green attended the University of Deleware where he was a roommate to Lee Elia whom became a lifelong friend. He would later hire Elia as a coach, while he was managing in Philadelphia & Chicago. Green was a right handed pitcher during his playing days getting signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1955. He would spend five years in the minors before getting to the major league level. Overall he played ten years in the minor leagues (seven years at the AAA level) posting an 89-64 record with a 3.59 ERA in 201 games (172 starts). Green came up with the Phillies in parts of seasons from 1960-1964. He saw Robin Roberts pitch his last days as a Phillie, as well as seeing Dick Allen win the Rookie of the Year Award. In 1964 Green was aboard early on as the team rolled along staying in first place much of the season. He returned as September call up witnessing the team lose a six game lead wi

Anderson Mejia Hernandez was born on October 30th 1982 in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. The five foot nine infielder, is a switch hitter who was signed by the Detroit Tigers in 2001 as a free agent. Hernandez began his minor league career in 2001 as a speedy base runner, but did not get to the AA level until 2004. In January of 2005 he was traded to the New York Mets organization for Vance Wilson. This was mainly due to the fact he had no patience at the plate & struck out quite often. In 2005, his first full year in the Mets organization he hit .326 & stole 35 bases at AA Binghamton, getting promoted to AAA Norfolk where he hit .303 in 66 games. Hernandez got a September call up , making his debut on September 19th in a 4-1 win over the Atlanta Braves. He saw action in six games that month getting one hit in 18 at bats. He made the 2006 club out of Spring Training, and was penciled in as the second baseman replacing the injured Kaz Matsui. But Hernandez was hitti