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New York Giants Hall of Fame Centerfielder: Edd Roush (1916 / 1927-1929)

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Edd J. Roush was born May 8th, 1893 in Oakland City, Indiana. The young Roush, grew up on a farm milking cows & played baseball so he could get away. Quotes: Edd Roush"I didn't expect to make it all the way to the big leagues; I just had to get away from them damn cows." He made it all the way to the big leagues & the Baseball Hall of Fame. He was one of the better defensive centerfielders of his day & a good hitter as well, winning two batting titles, while finishing second twice. He came up with the Chicago White Sox in 1913, playing just nine games. He played two seasons in the Federal League before landing for a short time with the 1916 New York Giants. In 39 games he hit just .188 before getting traded with Christy Mathewson who was at the end of his career to the Cincinnati Reds for Buck Herzog & Red Killefer. It was with the Reds that Rousch would spend twelve years playing the best years of his Hall of Fame career. In his second year w...

Early Eighties Mets Second Round Draft Pick: Floyd Youmans (1982-1984)

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Floyd Everett Youmans was born on May 11, 1964 in Florida. The right handed pitcher was a child hood friend of Dwight Gooden in Tampa. The two pitchers went to the same high school & were teammates on the baseball team. In 1982 he was the New York Mets second round pick, behind Dwight Gooden and his future looked bright. He did well enough at A ball Columbia winning 12 games to get the promotion to AA in 1984. He then bounced back & forth from A to AA before getting traded to the Montreal Expos along with Hubie Brooks, Mike Fitzgerald and Herm Winningham in the Gary Carter deal. Youmans went 20-8 in various levels of the Expos system and got called up in the middle of the 1985 season. He went 4-3 with a good 2.45 ERA (best on the staff) in 77 innings & 14 games for Montreal. On June 8th 1986, he tossed a one hit shutout against the Philadelphia Phillies, striking out eight. A month later on July 9th, he tossed a two hit 2-1 win over the Houston Astros. In 33 game...

Former Bronx Born Mets Minor League Manager: Dan Monzon (1978-1982)

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Daniel Francisco Monzon was born on May 20th, 1946 in the Bronx, New York. He attended James Monroe High School and was two years behind Ed Kranepool at the school. The famous public high school also had famous alumni as Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, actor Danny Aiello & actress Estelle Reiner, mother of Archie Bunker’s son in law “meat head” Rob Reiner. It was Estelle Reiner who had the famous line in Harry met Sally saying “I’ll have what she’s having” in Katz’s delicatessen. Also attending Monroe were the girl group The Chiffons, actors Robert Strauss & Lost In Spaces Jonathan Harris, as well as NFL players Wilbur Young & Darren Carrington. Monzon would attend Buena Vista University getting signed by the Minnesota Twins in the second round of the 1967 draft as an infielder. In 1972 he hit .305 at AAA Portland in the Pacific Coast League making the Twins big league club in 1972. As a utility player he saw action in 55 games batting .273 (15-55) with five RBIs. ...

Former Italian / American Pitcher: Barry Zito (1999-2013)

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Barry William Zito was born on May 13, 1978 in Las Vegas Nevada. His father was a musical arranger for Nat King Cole & his mother was a singer in Cole’s band known as "The Merry Young Souls". Barry was named after his uncle who practiced Zen & disappeared into the Big Sur Mountains of California back in 1964. Barry Zito is a surfer & guitar player. On the road the free spirited Zito, collects stuffed animals & is known to light incense to relax himself. The six foot two inch, left handrer went to a Catholic high school at San Diego becoming a star pitcher. He attended the University of California at Santa Barbara, earning All American Freshman honors, striking out 105 batters in 85 innings pitched. He soon transferred to Pierce College so he would be eligible for the draft a year earlier, but decided to stay in school anyway for that time earning All State honors. He then transferred to USC becoming the Pac ten Pitcher of the Year going 12–3 with...

Italian / American Player-Coach-Manager: Yogi Berra

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Lawrence Peter Berra was born on May 12th, 1925 in the Italian neighborhood of the Hill, in St. Louis, Missouri area. His father, Pietro Berra had emigrated to the United States from Milan , Italy in 1909. Yogi said, in a Baseball Hall of Fame interview: "My father came over first. He came from the old country. And he didn't know what baseball was. He was ready to go to work. And then I had three other brothers and a sister. My brother and my mother came over later on. My two oldest brothers, they were born there—Mike and Tony. John and I and my sister Josie were born in St. Louis." The Berra family lived on Elizabeth Av. a very famous street in the Hill neighborhood. Directly across the street lived Berra's childhood friend who turned into a lifelong friend, Joe Garagiola. Years later baseball, Cardinals broadcaster Jack Buck moved onto the same block, raising his son (future Cardinal/ FOX Sports broadcaster) Joe Buck there. The small street has been rename...