centerfield maz

Saturday August 21st, 1971: Gil Hodges fourth place Mets (61-62) sent Tom Seaver (13-8) to the mound, trying to get the club back to the .500 mark. The Mets had been in first place in May & although they fell to second later that month, were still withing reasonable reach of first place in early July. But now at eleven games back things were looking grim for another divisional title. This afternoon they hosted Preston Gomez's, last place San Diego Padres (47-80). The Padres sent Dave Roberts (11-12) to the hill up against Seaver in front of 26,584 fans at Shea Stadium. This was a typical Tom Seaver game, a low scoring pitcher's duel as San Diego's Dave Roberts matched Seaver along the way. After four scoreless innings, the Padres Ed Spiezio hit a solo HR in the top of the 5th, giving the Padres a 1-0 lead. Trivia: Ed Spiezio hit 39 career HRs in 1544 at bats. He is the father of former 2002 World Champion Anaheim Angel Scott Spiezio. In the bottom of the 7th inni...

Friday August 24th, 1973: Although the Mets were coming off a loss, they had taken two of three from the Los Angeles Dodgers, both were walk off wins. They came into tonight eleven games below .500 at 57-68 but were just 6.5 games out of first place. Tonight, Yogi Berra's Mets hosted Charlie Fox's third place San Francisco Giants (70-55) in front of 35,361 at Shea Stadium. The Giants were just 15 years removed from New York & were still drawing big crowds when they came town. The Giants were eight games behind the first place Dodgers. Tonight's pitching matchup was future Hall of Famer Juan Marichal (10-9) for the Giants & Jerry Koosman (9-14) for the Mets.  Trivia: "The Dominican Dandy" Juan Marichal's 16-year career was winding down as this would be his final season in San Francisco. In 16 seasons with the Giants he was 238-140. In the off season his contract would be purchased by the Boston Red Sox where he would go 5-1. Jerry Koosman was coming o...

 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 ...

 Thursday August 17th, 1967: This Thursday afternoon the Mets played a double header at Forbs Field in Pittsburgh. Wes Westrum's Mets (48-69) were in ninth place of a field of ten battling just to stay ahead of the last place Hoston Astros.  At the end of the season, with just eleven games left to play Wes Westrum would resign as manager. Westrum was looking to stay on as Mets manager but heard the rumors that the team was looking to bring in Gil Hodges who was managing in Washinton D.C. with the Senators. The most took on sixth place Pirates (56-62) who were now being managed by Danny Murtaugh who had just took over the job from Harry Walker in July. In 1967 the Pirates would finish at .500 (81-81). On this afternoon, Mets Rookie of the Year, Tom Seaver (12-8) made the start, Seaver had just pitched a three-hit shutout over the Pirates four days earlier at Shea Stadium on August 13th. He went up against the Pirates Steve Blass (4-5). In the top of the 1st inning, Bud Harrels...

Claude Edward Lockwood Jr. was born August 17, 1946, in Roslindale, Massachusetts located just outside the Boston area. He has one younger sister. His mother Florence (Gorman) was a former Radio City Music Hall Rockette & had once taught ballet. His father, Claude would be a big coaching influence on Skip's baseball career. As a child his arm went thru a window & was almost cutoff by the pane. His father brought home a ball & glove for them to have a catch with, to build his arm strength back up. The six-foot one right hander was originally a third baseman signed out of West Roxbury high school, where he earned 14 letters. Since 1964, Lockwood’s 14-yard dash school record still stands. In 1964 he signed as a bonus baby with the Kansas City Athletics.  At the time of the signing, he was presented with a contract for $35,000. He took the pen & added a one in front of the numbers& it was accepted for $135,000. According to Lockwood, it was th...