centerfield maz

Frank James Malzone was born on February 28, 1930 in the Bronx, New York. His father Frank was born in Salerno Italy & his mother Pauline was born in America. The two met while Pauline was on an extended visit to Italy. Frank Jr. was one of four Malzone children. In the 1940's, Malzone attended Samuel Gompers High School on Southern Blvd. just off 149th St. Malzone planned to be an electrician if his baseball career didn't work out. After trying out for the New York Giants & being told he was too short to for the big leagues, he didn't give up. In 1947, the five foot ten, third baseman was spotted by a Boston Red Sox bird dog. He was signed, for $150 a month salary by the Sox.  In 1949, Frank married his wife Amy, while playing in the minor leagues at Oneonta, NY. They remained married for 57 years, until her death in 2006. Military Service: Before getting to the major leagues in the early 1950's, Malzone served two years of Military service, during the Ko

Alberto Terrero Castillo was Born on February 10, 1970, in the Dominican Republic. The tall six-foot catcher was signed out of high school by the New York Mets as an amateur free agent in 1987. Catillo would spend eleven years in the Mets minor leagues, making brief appearances in the big leagues with New York four different seasons.  MLB Debut: Castillo debuted in the big leagues on May 28th, 1995, catching Dave Mlicki at Shea Stadium going 0-3 against the Giants. He hit just .103 in 13 games with the Mets that season but showed good abilities behind the plate, even throwing out 4 of 5 base stealers. He saw action in six MLB games the next year & 35 games in 1997. 1998: Castillo was with the club out of Spring Training & had his shining Mets moment on Opening Day. Walk Off Hit: In an exciting pitcher's duel between the Mets & Phillies at Shea Stadium, Bobby Jones blanked the Phillies for six innings. Greg McMichael & Dennis Cook held them down for the next

Jerry Lee May was born on December 14, 1943 at Staunton, Virginia. May was originally a pitcher & outfielder playing in American Legion ball back in 1961. The six foot two right-handed hitting May, was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1961. He hit 21 HRs batting .284 in the A ball NY Penn League in 1962. He never hit that well again, playing three more seasons in the minors. MLB Career:  Jerry May would play behind Pirates main backstop Jim Pagliaroni with the Pirates for the 1964-1966 seasons. May had a strong throwing arm and was excellent at gunning down base stealers. In 41 games in 1966 he threw out 63% of would-be base stealers.  Over the next five years he would throw out over 40% of base stealers attempting to steal.  He became the Pirate regular catcher in 1967 batting .271 with 3 HRs 13 doubles & 22 RBIs in 110 games. In 1968 he played a career high 137 games but fell off to a .219 average with 15 doubles, one HR & 33 RBIs. In 1969 he was back as the s

 August 20th 1978:  The cast of the TV show Happy Days had a softball team that played charity events from the mid-seventies into the early eighties.  The idea came from the great creator of the show, Gary Marshall. Gary Marshall was an Italian American, born in the Bronx & the older brother of Penny Marshall.  Penny started out on the Odd Couple as Oscar Madison's secretary Myrna Tyrner. She then appeared on Happy Days as Laverne DiFozio before going on to star in her own series- Laverne & Shirley with Cindy Williams.  A Young Howie Rose Interviews the Fonz Gary Marshall directed all three of those classic TV shows mentioned -the Odd Couple, Happy Days & Laverne & Shirley. He would also direct movies like - Pretty Woman, the Flamingo Kid, Overboard, Frankie & Johnny & the TV show  Mork & Mindy.  The Happy Days soft ball team also featured other actors & actresses at times. They would play for charity & tour throughout major league ball parks acr

Rey Francisco (Guadalupe) Sanchez was born on October 5, 1967, in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. Sanchez attended high school in Morgan Hill, California where he was signed by the Texas Rangers in 1986. He played in the Rangers minor league system throughout the 1980's missing & missing the entire 1990 season due to injury.  MLB Career: Sanchez was traded to the Chicago Cubs in 1990 & played there from 1991 into the 1997 season. He was the back up to both; Shawon Dunston at short stop filling, as well as playing behind Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg at second base. Sanchez would bat over .280 twice in Chicago getting into 90 games four straight seasons (1993-1996).  In 1996 he posted a .977 fielding % (3rd best in the NL). The next season he was traded to the A.L. New York club for a minor leaguer. There he hit .312 in just 38 games & made the post season seeing action in the 1997 ALDS. Sanchez went to the San Francisco Giants from there, where he hit .285 in 109 games

Luther Haden Taylor was known in the politically incorrect time of the early 20th century as Dummy Taylor. Taylor was a deaf mute who was born February 21, 1875 in Oskaloosa, Kansas. He attended the Kansas School of the Deaf in Olathe Kansas, just outside of Kansas City, Missouri.  He began playing semi pro ball in the Mid West, before breaking through in organized ball in Albany, New York. From there he was signed by the New York Giants and played with New York from 1900-1908.  He would communicate with the other players on the field through sign language and has been credited with helping expand the use of signs in baseball. He & his team mates would raise their fingers to show how many outs there were and do the same for pitch counts.  Taylor was a fan favorite with the Polo Grounds faithful at the turn of the century. He was also popular with his team mates & manager John McGraw, possibly because he couldn’t answer back.  In any event McGraw learned to communicate

Sal Anthony Yvars was born February 20, 1924, on Houston St. in Little Italy, New York. His family soon moved to Westchester County to Valhalla, New York when he was six months old.  Yvars starred in three sports at White Plains High School in the late thirties & early forties. In 1942 he served in World War II with the US Air Force.  When he returned, by 1946 got signed by the New York Giants.  He was a tough guy with a mean disposition. Brooklyn Dodger pitcher, Don Newcombe told a story, that Yvars once came to bat in the minors, picked up a handful of dirt & threw it in Roy Campanella's face.  He hit .290 or better every year from 1946-1949 in the minors' leagues. He was also considered a fine defensive catching prospect with a strong arm. The day after he was called up to the Giants, he got married to his high school sweetheart.  MLB Career: Yvars would only make a handful of appearances over the next four seasons backing up the likes of Giants full tim

Sunday May 3rd, 1992: Jeff Torborg's New York Mets (15-10) visited Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium to play Bobby Cox's N.L. Champion Atlanta Braves (12-13) in front of 41,282.  The Mets were coming off a bad 1991 which was their first losing season 1983. They had been in contention until the last part of that season. In the off season the Mets brought in veterans Eddie Murphy, Bobby Bonilla, Willie Randolf, Kevin McReynolds & pitcher Bret Saberhagen as well as manager Jeff Torborg.  Due to injuries, age & bad performance the Mets went 72-80, the teams' most losses since 1983. They became known as the Worst team money could buy. But in this game, there was to be two career milestones for two good players, providing some season highlights. The starting pitchers for matinee, were David Cone (2-1) for New York & Charlie Leibrandt (2-1) for Atlanta. The two pitchers matched zeros until the top of the 5th inning. The Mets, Bobby Bonilla led off with a

Michael Stephen Lolich was born September 12, 1940 in Portland Oregon. Lolich was a natural right-hander, but as a child he broke his arm and learned to throw left handed. He was signed as an amateur free agent by the Detroit Tigers in 1958. Lolich pitched in the Detroit minor leagues for four seasons winning ten games in 1962 at AA Knoxville. He debuted in 1963 going 5-9 as both a starter & reliever. Loich became a top starter the next season & remained in Detroit pitching for 14 seasons. He never experienced any arm trouble with his so called rubber arm putting in seven straight seasons with 200 plus innings of work.  In 1971 he began a four year stretch where he tossed over 300 plus innings each season. He won 14 games or more from 1964 through 1974. He won 17 or more games five times in his career, including two super twenty win seasons.  Lolich & Catcher Bill Freehan 1968 World Series Lolich was in the league's top ten in victories eight times in hi