centerfield maz

Wednesday August 1st, 1973: On this night a rain out from May 10th was rescheduled making it a classic twi-night double header. 27,189 fans came out to Shea on this August evening as Yogi Berra's Mets (46-57) were still eleven games under .500, dead last in the NL East. They were coming off a four-game losing streak that dropped them to 10.5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals. They had also dropped the opener of this series to Danny Murtaugh's Pittsburgh Pirates (51-53).  In the first game of this twin-bill Tom Seaver (12-5) entered the game with an ERA under two (1.96) & was going for his fifth straight win as he went up against a struggling Steve Blass (3-6).  Trivia:  Steve Blass had been one of the league's top pitchers from 1968-1972, helping his team win the 1971 World Series, as he is still the last NL pitcher to throw a complete Game #7 victory in a Fall Classic. In the top of the 1st inning, Seaver allowed a double to Al Oliver, but other than that st...

Kevin Michael Collins   was born August 4, 1946, in Springfield, Massachusetts. In high school he competed against future MLB players Mark Belanger & Fran Healy. Collins was signed out of high school by the New York Mets in 1964 for $25,000. He was part of Casey Stengel’s “Youth of America” young Mets players of the mid-sixties.  Collins made the club out of Spring Training 1965 at age 17. Unfortunately, he tore a muscle in his throwing arm & had to wait until September to make his debut. Mets Debut: His first career game was at Shea Stadium on September 1st, 1965, pinch hitting in the 5th inning, in a game against the Houston Astros. His first hit came on September 22nd against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He played in just eleven games that month batting .184. He then spent the next two seasons in the minor leagues playing on an infield with Ken Boswell, Sandy Alomar & Amos Otis. In 1966 he hit .251 with 6 HRs & 32 RBIs at AA Williamsport. He...

Nicholas Raymond Plummer was born July 31st, 1996, in Lathrup Michigan. The five-foot ten outfielder bats left-handed & throws righthanded. He was selected by the St. Louis Cardinals in the first round of the 2015 amateur draft, the 23rd overall pick. Plummer would miss the entire 2016 season due to a wrist injury. He returned having a miserable 2017 where he batted just .198 in 92 games. His next years were just as bad at the plate, he batted .205 in 2018 & then .176 in 2019. Then came the Covid-19 season where he did not play at all. In 2021 he had his best minor league season, batting .280 with 15 HRs & 54 RBIs. On July 8th, he hit three HRs including a walk off HR for the Springfield Cardinals. He was named Player of the Month with 6 HRs five doubles & 21 RBIs batting .326. He then set a team record reaching base safely in 33 straight games. He was promoted to the AAA Memphis Red Birds. At the end of the season, after not being promoted to the Cardina...

Thomas Joe Moore was born July 7th, 1948, in Lynwood, California. His is of English, Croatian & Austrian decent. He attended John Glenn High School in Nowalk, California where he played baseball, football & basketball. The five foot eleven, right-handed pitcher was first drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1966 but did not sign, choosing to go to Cerritos college instead. In 1967 he was signed by the New York Mets in the 10th round. The scout who secured Moore was Nelson Burbank who had previously landed Tom Seaver. Serious Hit by Pitch: In the minor leagues he was a position player then suffered a serious beaning, where he was hit in the face with a pitch, broke his jaw & lost many of his teeth, requiring him to get dentures. After sitting on the bench, he decided to become a pitcher.  In 1970 he was 3-8 at A ball Pompano Beach but was still promoted to AAA Tidewater for four games. In 1971 at AA Memphis, he went 11-10 with 160 strike outs, four shut outs ...

Monday July 21, 1975: A small crowd of 13,414 came out to Shea Stadium to see Yogi Berra's third place Mets (46-44) barely over .500 & ten games back of the first place Pittsburgh Pirates. Tonight,  the Mets hosted Preston Gomez's last place Houston Astros (34-63). The Mets sent George Stone (2-1) to the mound. Stone was recovering from rotator cuff surgery. Although he was never as effective as he once was, especially in the 1973 Mets pennant season, he was one of the first pitchers to make a slight come back from that surgery. Stone had gone down at the end of July in 1974. He made his first start of 1975 on June 13th & this was his 6th start of the year. His opponent on this night was Ken Forsch (3-7) of the Astros.   Forsch the brother of pitcher Bob Forsch, spent 11 years with the Astros as both a starter & reliever going 114 -113 with 50 saves & a 3.18 ERA. He finished  his career with the California Angels (1981-1986).  In the 1st inn...

Donald John Bosch was born on July 15, 1942 in San Francisco, California. The five foot ten switch hitting outfielder was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1960. Bosch hit .332 at A ball Kinston in 1963, then showed some power hitting 15 HRs at AA Asheville in 1964. He was touted as being a good centerfielder with a big future ahead of him. He played three brief games for Pittsburgh in 1966, before getting traded to the New York Mets along with pitcher Don Cardwell in exchange for Dennis Ribant and Gary Kolb. Mets Career: Bosch came to New York & was highly touted as the next star centerfielder. The Mets wanted him to replace young Cleon Jones who was playing center but was more of a corner outfielder. He had some speed, but never hit well in the major leagues. Appearance wise, Bosch made a bad impression with his pre mature grey hair & small size. 1967: He was the Mets Opening Day leadoff man; getting a single in his first at bat & scoring the Mets first ru...

Timothy Donald Locastro was born July 14th, 1992, in Auburn, New York. Auburn is located at the end of Lake Oswego in the Finger Lakes region of Cayuga County.  Trivia: The town has a long association with baseball going back to 1877. Today it is home to the minor league Auburn Doubledays. The Italian American Locastro attended Ithaca College breaking records for stolen bases & runs scored with his blazing speed. In 2013 he was named the Empire 8 Player of the Year, getting drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the 13th round that year. In the Blue Jays minor leagues, he stole thirty or more bases two straight seasons collecting 62 steals in 80 attempts in those two seasons. He was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization & made his big-league debut as a pinch runner in late September 2017. MLB Career: In 2018 he was called up to the Dodgers for eight games in May collecting his first big league hit on May 4th in a 4-0 Walker Buehler six inning shut out over the Padr...

Lawrence Joseph Jansen was born July 16, 1920 in Verboort, Oregon. The right hander was the last AAA pitcher to win 30 games, while pitching for the San Francisco Seals. In 1946 he led the Pacific Coast league in wins (30), earned run average (1.57) and winning percentage (.833) He was brought up to the New York Giants in 1947 & in his rookie season he led the league in winning percentage (8.08%) and tied for second in victories going 21-9. He completed 20 of 30 starts, pitched 248 innings and posted a 3.16 ERA. If it weren’t for Jackie Robinson he would have won the Rookie of the Year Award, as Jansen came in second. He was a great control pitcher and had the fewest walks per nine innings allowed (2.02). He would come in second place in that category in the league three more times. Jansen became one of the top pitchers in the league in the late 1940’s & early 1950’s. He was in the top four in victories four times from 1947-1951, leading the league with 23 wins in 1951. ...

  Monday July 12th, 2021: On the eve of the 2021 All Star Game at Coors Field in Colorado, Pete Alonso went to bat with Mets coach Dave Jauss in the HR Derby Competition.  Alonso & the other sluggers took advantage of the thin Denver air hitting HRs to the delight of the fans.  For New York Mets, Pete Alonso, h won his second HR Derby, beating out the Baltimore Orioles, Trey Mancini, in the final round.  In the three round event, Alonso first beat out The Kansas City Royals' Salvador Perez & then The Washington Nats' Juan Soto, before finishing off Mancini.  In the final round, Alonso was ten HRs down, with 36 seconds left on the clock, when he took a deep breathe & stepped back in the box, quickly blasting five HRs in that time & then another six HRs, in bonus time to take the crown. Quotes- Pete Alonso: "I think I'm the best power hitter on the planet. Being able to showcase that, and really putting on a fun display for fans, I just think it's...

Tuesday July 11th, 1967: The 1967 All Star Game was played at Angels Stadium " The Big A" in Anaheim California. The reigning World Champion' Baltimore Orioles manager, Hank Bauer led the A.L. All Stars & L.A. Dodgers skipper, Walter Alston led the NL squad. The game featured twenty future Hall of Famers. It was the  longest All Star game played up to that point in time, the 2008 affair would earn that distinction some thirty years later.  This game went 15 innings, as twelve different pitchers were used, seven for the N.L. five for the A.L. Every pitcher had at least one strikeout in "The Year of the Pitcher". The pitchers on both sides combined for a tot of thirty strike outs, also a record which lasted until 2008. The sole representative for the New York Mets  was a young 22 year old rookie named Tom Seaver. Seaver looked so young when he arrived in the clubhouse wearing a sweater, that the St. Cardinals future Hall of Famer; Lou Brock thought he ...