centerfield maz

William Henry Walker was born on October 7th, 1903 in East St. Louis Illinois. Long before there was an Arch on the other side of the Mississippi, Walker was playing baseball in the St. Louis area. He was brought up by the New York Giants back in 1927 & got his feet wet his first two seasons mostly in relief. In 1929 he emerged as the Giants #3 starter behind Carl Hubbell & Freddie Fritzmorris, winning 14 games against 7 losses. His 3.09 ERA was the best in the National League surprising many people. In 1930 he was 3rd in ERA with a 3.90, 4th in wins with 17, 6th in strikeouts with 105, but he also lost 15 games. His last good season was 1931 when he led the NL in both ERA (2.26), and shutouts (6). He won 19 games (16-9) and threw 239 innings striking out 121 against only 64 walks. Things turned sour the nest season going 8-12 with his ERA doubling to 4.14. He also gave up a league leading 23 HRs after only giving up six the previous season. He was traded to his hometown S...

John Anthony Castino was born on October 23, 1954 in Evanston, ILlinois. He attended Rollins College at Winter Park, Florida getting picked by the Twins, third round in 1976. In the minors he was the AAA Southern Leagues All Star third baseman leading the league in fielding percentage. He came up to the Twins in 1979 taking over as their third baseman winning the Rookie of the Year Award, tied in the voting with Alfredo Griffin. He played in 148 games but only had 393 at bats. He hit .285 with 112 hits 5 HRs 13 doubles 8 triples, 52 RBIs & a .331 on base percentage. He followed that up with career highs in HRs (16) RBIs (64) batting average (.302) & games (150). In 1981 he led all AL third basemen in put outs (86) turning 24 double plays posting a .975 fielding percentage. He would play in over 100 games the next three seasons, but began to suffer from chronic back issues which ended his career by 1984. He never matched his first two seasons numbers, batting a best .2...

Walter Anton Berger was born October 10, 1905 in Chicago, Illinois. He grew up in San Francisco & was a high school team mate of future Hall of Famer Joe Cronin. He came up with the Boston Braves in 1930 and set a rookie record by hitting 38 HRs that record stood for 58 years until Mark McGwire broke it in 1988. Berger drove in 119 runs, also a rookie record until broken by Albert Pujols in 2001. Berger also hit 27 doubles 14 triples & batted .310, quite a debut. He hit over .300 over the next three seasons & over .290 the next five. In 1934 he hit 34 HRs with 131 RBIs both third best in the league. The following season (1935) he led the league in both HRs (34) & RBIs (130) with 39 doubles a .295 batting average & a .355 on base percentage. He hit over 30 HRs three times & drove in over 100 runs four times, making four All Star teams & coming in among the top vote getters for the MVP Award five times. Babe Ruth called him the best centerfielder in the ...

This is just great, well done Ozzy! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=awOcbVoS4yE&feature=youtube_gdata_player

James Patrick Barbieri was born on September 15, 1941 in Schenectady, New York. In 1953 he was captain of the Schenectady Little League World Series Championship team. His team was runner up the previous year as well. His team mate on those teams was future Mets coach Billy Connors. When he grew up, the outfielder a contract with the Dodgers in 1960, and played six seasons in the Pacific Coast League for Spokane. In 1966 he was having his best year batting .357 leading the PCL in hitting when the first place Dodgers called him up on the 4th of July. He only played in 39 games that season & his whole MLB career, batting .280 (23-82) with 5 doubles, 3 RBIs & 2 stolen bases. He also made the post season roster and had one World Series at bat going 0-1 against the Orioles. He became the first player ever to play in both the Little League & Major League World Series’. It was a tough Dodger outfield to get into with Tommy Davis, Ron Fairly, Willie Davis, & Lou Jo...

Aerosmith’s "Cocked & Loaded" 2010 Summer Tour rocked across Europe in June, wrapping up in Venice, Italy on July 3rd. This month they are bringing it home across North America with last night’s stop in New York, on Long Island at the Jones Beach Theater. The weather looked like it may be an issue, but it held off with only a few sprinkles, just enough to frizz up Steven Tyler’s hair. It’s hard to imagine that Aerosmith have now been around go ing on four decades. I go back to the seventies as a fan of the band, since they exploded on the radio with Walk this Way, and came alive out of the pages of Creem magazine. Did you practice drawing the Draw the Line album cover as much as I did? I was there as they reunited in the early eighties and I think have seen just about every tour since. I lost count but I believe last night was my ninth or tenth Aerosmith show. Once again they did not disappoint. The band opened up the show with a rocking killer version of 1975’s album tit...

Barry Paul Manuel was born on August 12, 1965 in Mamou, Louisiana. He was a star pitcher at Louisiana State University getting drafted in the 2nd round of the 1987 amateur draft by the Texas Rangers. He came up in September 1991 and got his first MLB victory pitching in just 8 games. The next year he pitched only 3 games in September going 1-0 again. He was released then picked up by Baltimore, released & signed by Montreal. He spent four years in the minors leagues before coming back up in Montreal in 1996 going 4-1 with a 3.24 ERA. The Mets purchased his contract in Spring Training in 1997, and he was put right in the bullpen. He took a loss on the 5th game of the 1997 season, allowing two runs in the 8th inning after Rick Reed had thrown seven shutout innings. Manuel pitched in 19 games getting only that one decision, going 0-1 with a 5.26 ERA, allowing 15 earned runs in 25 innings pitched. His stay in New York was short, and he was granted free agency at the end of the year. H...