centerfield maz

Franklin Crisostomo Fabian Taveras was born December 24, 1949, in the Dominican Republic. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1968. The tall six-foot, speedy infielder was a terror on the base paths. Taveras was never scouted as a good hitter, only batting a best of .267 in the minors. But when he did get aboard, he stole a lot of bases. In 1970 at A ball Gastonia, he swiped 35 bases followed by 19 in 1971 at AA Charleston.  MLB Debut: He made his MLB debut on September 21st, 1971, at Shea Stadium coming in as a pinch runner for Willie Stargell, in a 15 inning Mets 2-1 victory. It was the only appearance he made that season. He was back in the minors the next two seasons stealing 17 bases in 1973 at AAA Charleston.  MLB Career: Tavares made the Pirates team in 1974, replacing Dal Maxvill as their regular short stop. He would be the Pirates main shortstop for the next five seasons, becoming one of the league's biggest ...

John "Pretzel" Pezzullo was born to an Italian American family, on December 10, 1910, in Bridgeport, Connecticut. He was born into a family with five children. John left school after the 8th grade & went into the trade to learn cabinet making. Nickname Pretzel: He earned the moniker Pretzel because of his strange twisty wind up & pitching delivery. He began the motion with a high leg kick then he would drop down with a side arm delivery, confusing the hitters. Pezzullo started out in the New York Giants organization in 1934. He was part of a big trade that sent Dick Bartell to the Giants in exchange for Blondy Ryan, George Watkins & Johnny Vergez.  In 1935 Pretzel started out the season with the Phillies, making his debut on Opening Day finishing off a 10-9 win over the Brooklyn Dodgers.  On May 27th he made his first start, earning a win at Pittsburgh pitching into the 5th inning of a 4-2 win. Strangely the next day he made another start & too...

Henry Curtis Thompson was born December 8, 1925 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The five foot left handed infielder/outfielder played in the Negro Leagues for the Kansas City Monarchs throughout the nineteen forties. He was drafted into the army during World War II and saw action at The Battle of the Bulge. He returned to baseball, playing for the Monarchs in 1946 coming in fourth in the league in HRs. That season, Kansas City with Thompson & team mates Buck O’Neil & Satchel Page beat the Newark Eagles in the Negro League World Series, for the Championship title. In 1947 Thompson integrated into the major leagues, with the St. Louis Browns three months after Jackie Robinson, becoming baseball's third black player. He was in a historic game, that season at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, when he & Larry Doby became the first two black players to oppose each other in an MLB game. Thompson didn’t hit well starting out his MLB career and returned to the Monarchs...

Amado Ruperto Samuel was born on December 6, 1938, in in San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic. The six-foot utility infielder was signed in 1938 by the Milwaukee Braves. He was a pioneer in his own right, being the very first player in a long line of short stops signed out of the small town of San Pedro des Marcoris.  He would bounce around the minors for a full decade before spending parts of three seasons in the major leagues. MLB Career: Samuel made his debut in 1962 with the Milwaukee Braves, playing in a career high 76 games batting .206 hitting all three of his MLB career HRs. In 1963 he played in only 15 games at the major league level, batting a weak .176 before having his contact purchased by the New York Mets. Mets Career:  For the 1964 Mets, Samuel played mostly at short stop (34 games) & at third base (17 games) in 53 games.  In the first game ever played at Shea Stadium, he batted in the 8th position was the starting short stop...

 Longtime Fleetwood Mac singer Christine McVie passed away in hospital after a brief illness, she was 70 years old. The lovely Christine was a beautiful singer, songwriter, piano/keyboard player for Fleetwood Mac & in a solo career. Christine Anne Perfect was born in Lancashire, England on July 12th, 1943. Her father was a concert violinist & her mother a physic medium. Originally wanting to be an art teacher but she ended up in the music business. In 1968 she married Fleetwood Mac bassist John McVie, by 1971 she became a full-time member. It wasn't until 1975 when Stevie Nicks & Lindsay Buckingham joined Mac as the group became one of the biggest rock bands of all time. McVie usually was overshadowed by the star of Stevie Nicks. In 1975 her biggest songs from the album- Fleetwood Mac, Over My Head & Say You Love Me, both reached the top twenty in the US. She also co-wrote World Turning with Lindsay Buckingham, as well as Warm Ways & Sugar Daddy on he...

Joshua M. Smoker was born November 26th, 1988, in Calhoun, Georgia. He grew up an Atlanta Braves fan in their glory years of the later part of the 20th Century. The six-foot two left-handed pitcher was signed out of high school as a first-round pick by the Washington Nationals in 2007, the 31st pick overall. He spent five years in the Nationals organization, getting plagued by injuries by 2012, making it to pitch in just six games that year with an ERA over seven. After his fastball lost most of it's velocity & he had two arm surgeries the Nationals released him. The next year he was out of baseball & then found himself pitching in an Independent League in the Mid-West at Illinois. In 2015 he signed as a free agent with the New York Mets. He pitched his way through the Mets minors, Savannah, St. Lucie & Binghamton going 3-0 with a 3.12 ERA. In 2016 he began the year at AAA Las Vegas & was t be another Mets pitching story gettin...

Honoring Italian / American Ball Players Michael Lorri Scioscia was born on November 27, 1958, in Upper Darby, Pennsylvania. His father Fred was a salesman for a beer distributor & his mother Florence a schoolteacher. He went to high school in the Italian American neighborhood outside of Philadelphia near where Tommy Lasorda had grown up.  In 1976 Lasorda was involved in helping to recruit the young 17-year-old  catcher. After a scout spoke highly of him, Lasorda left a message for him to try out for the Dodgers while playing a road game in Philadelphia. In 1976 he was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as a first-round draft pick (19th overall). The six foot two, two-hundred-pound catcher batted left-handed but threw right-handed.  MLB Career: After five minor league seasons, he made the Dodgers big league team by 1980. That year Steve Yeager & Joe Ferguson both got hurt & the club had released veteran Johnny Oates. Scioscia made...