centerfield maz

Michael Ausley Maddux was born August 27, 1961, in Dayton, Ohio. Mike Maddux is the younger brother of future Hall of Fame pitcher, Greg Maddux. The six-foot two right-handed pitcher attended the University of El Paso Texas. Maddux was then drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round of the 1982 draft. He pitched five seasons in the minors before getting a 1986 call up to the Phillies.  MLB Debut: He made his MLB debut on June 3rd pitching into the second inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed him with five runs on five hits. He took his first loss that day & started out at 0-5 before getting a win on August 15th. In his first year he was 3-7 with a 5.42 ERA. After that season he became a career journey man middle reliever for 15 seasons. He pitched with the Phillies (1986-1989) for four years going 10-13 overall with a 4.40 ERA. He then went to the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990) & San Diego Padres (1991-1992).  It was there in 1991, ...

  Tuesday August 27th, 1974: It was a terrible year for the reigning NL Champion Mets, as they found themselves 56-70 ten games out of first place in fifth place. Yogi Berra's club suffered through lots of injuries, no one hit higher than Cleon Jones .282, no one drove in more runs than Jon Milner's 63. He also led the team with 20 HRs.  Even the pitching staff struggled, Tom Seaver had problems with his mechanics & had a career worst 11-11 record. Jerry Koosman won 15 but lost 11. He posted a 3.36 ERA.  Jon Matlack did win 13 games but lost 15 mostly due to lack of runs support as he posted a 2.41 ERA which was third best in the league Cleon Jones hurt his thumb & went out with the injury. The Mets brought up outfielder Benny Ayala to fill his roster spot. Ayala had hit .274 with 11 HRs 21 doubles & 40 RBIs at AAA Tidewater. He was in his fourth year in the Mets organization. On this day Ayala was called up to the big leagues while he was in Portsmouth Virgi...

Sunday August 25th, 1974: A small crowd of 9,358 came to Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium to see Yogi Berra’s fifth place Mets (54-70) take on Clyde King’s third place Braves (70-57).  The Mets were still the reigning NL Champions, but they floundered in 1974 finishing 5th going 71-91. The Braves had celebrated Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's HR record in April but would finish third in the West with an 88-74 record. Today's game would be a great pitcher’s match up with the Mets veteran Ray Sadecki (4-7) going up against future Hall of Famer; the Braves Phil Niekro (14-10). Both pitchers held the opposing team down through the first four innings. In the home 5th, with one out the Mets Jim Gosger singled to right field. He advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Vic Correll. He then advanced to third base on Duffy Dyer's ground out. The Mets pitcher Ray Sadecki then singled to right field bringing in Gosger with what turned out to be the game’s only ...

Wednesday August 22nd, 1973: After a nice walk off victory the previous night, the Mets (56-67) returned in a match up hosting the L.A. Dodgers (77-48). The Mets still struggling in last place but slowly stating to turn things around heading for a spectacular September where they would win the NL Eastern Division. On this night 25,442 came to Shea to see the Mets George Stone (7-3) go up against the Dodgers Andy Messersmith (11-8). George Stone was a pleasant surprise for the 1973 Mets he had won his last three decisions & six of his last seven since getting into the starting rotation on July 2nd. He entered the game with a 2.83 ERA. As mentioned in a previous post, Messersmith was one of the games top pitchers in the early to mid 1970's, going 92-64 with a 2.70 ERA from 1970 to 1975 including two twenty-win seasons & another where he won 19 games. In the top of the 1st, George Stone walked the leadoff man Davey Lopes. Lopes advanced to third on Willie Davis's base hit...

Tuesday August 21st, 1973: The Mets had completed a four-game series split with the Cincinnati Reds (76-50) in what was a preview of that years NLCS. Now the NL West first place Dodgers (77-47) came to Shea for a three-game series. Walter Alston's Dodgers were holding a two-game lead over the Reds in their division. As for the Mets (66-67) they were in last place seven games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East. Tonight, the Mets sent Ray Sadecki (2-2) up against future Hall of Famer, Don Sutton (15-7). At the time Sutton was battling the Mets among others for the Cy Young Award candidacy. The Mets Ray Sadecki had taken a loss & a no decision in his last two outings. Earlier in the month he earned his second victory of the year, allowing one run to the Pirates in eight innings of work in a 5-1 Mets win on August 2nd. Don Sutton came into the game on a three-game win streak where had allowed just three earned runs in his last 25 innings of work. He would go 33 the rest...

Michael Dwaine Phillips was born August 19, 1950, in Beaumont Texas. He attended McArthur High School, at Irving, in the Dallas/ Fort Worth Metroplex. He was an outstanding infield prospect, becoming the San Francisco Giants first round pick (#18 overall) in 1969.  MLB Career: Phillips made his debut as a utility infielder in 1973, behind a solid Giants infield of Chris Speier, Tito Fuentes & Steve Ontiveros. He hit .240 in his rookie season playing at third base, second & short stop.  In 1974 he saw more action, playing in 100 games but only hit .219. He also made 19 errors playing around the infield. After ten games in 1975 the Giants placed him on waivers, and he was picked up by the New York Mets. Mets Career: In New York, Bud Harrelson was down for most of the season, & Phillips was brought in to fill the role. He debuted as a Met on May 8th, getting two hits at Shea Stadium in a 4-2 loss to the Pirates.  On June 8th, he singled in a ...

Roger Leandro Cedeno was born August 16, 1974 in Venezuela. The six foot one, switchhitter was signed out of high school in 1991 by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent. The speedy Cedeno stole 40 bases in the Rookie League in 1992, followed up by a 28 stolen base year in 1993. At AAA Albuquerque in 1994 he stole 30 bases & hit .321 getting a call up to the Dodgers that season. He was supposed to replace Bret Butler in centerfield, but it didn’t quite work out that way. Roger was back & forth to the minors over the next three seasons, batting .354 at AAA in 1997. He played four seasons in Los Angeles batting a best. 273 in 1997, while stealing only nine bases in 80 games. He saw more action in 1998 (105 games) but the Dodgers gave up on him after he batted just .242 with only eight steals. In December 1998 he was traded along with Charles Johnson to the New York Mets for catcher Todd Hundley after the arrival of Mike Piazza in New York. Mets Career:  In...