centerfield maz

Darren A. Douglass Reed was born on October 16, 1965 in Ojai, California. He attended high school in Ventura California getting drafted by the AL New York team in the third round of the 1984 draft. In 1987 between AA & AAA he hit 28 HRs with 95 RBIs, making him look like a desirable prospect. That winter he was traded along with Phil Lombardi & Steve Frey to the New York Mets for Rafael Santana. He never matched those power numbers again, hitting just9 HRs in 345 at bats at AAA Tidewater the next year. In 1990 he hit 17 HRs with 21 doubles & 74 RBIs getting him two call ups to the Mets. After hitting just .126 in six games in May he was sent back down returning in mid August. His average fell below .100 by September 30th when he hit his first career HR in a game at Shea against the Chicago Cubs. He finished the year hitting .205 with four doubles one HR & two RBIs in 26 games played. At the start of the 1991 season he was traded to the Montreal Expos for two mino...

On what would have been John Lennon's 71st birthday, Paul McCartney chose to get married. As a die hard Beatles fan, "maybe I'm amazed" (or not) at some of the decisions & comments Paul has made since Johns tragic passing so many  (31) years ago. Most notably wanting to change the song writing credits to McCartney/ Lennon changing the pact the two had made "all those years ago" as kids. Of all days to wed, why pick John's birthday? And not for nothing why pick the same place (Old Marylebone Town Hall Registry Office)  he married Linda Eastman back in 1969? Don't get me wrong I love Paul & wish him "all the best" with his new lovely American wife Nancy Shevell. I just feel his timing is sometimes off, many of us Beatles fans consider John's birthday a special day which we remember in his honor. I know fans still gather at Strawberry Fields in Central Park in Johns memory, I did so for twenty years. I still don't underst...

“Break out The hats & hooters”….. Steely Dan, a band that did not tour much during their hey days now seem to be a regular on the concert circuit every couple of years. They have found a home at the Beacon Theater on The Upper West Side of Broadway in Manhattan. The Beacon is not my favorite venue, great location but the seating is rather high up in the loge area. We were in the first loge at a very high priced $150 ticket for being so high up. The seats are tightly close together, not enough leg room, rest rooms & a rather small lobby which is very tight at the start or end of the show. The sound can also be iffy, although it was pretty good last night. No matter what economic times we live in the huge Steely Dan fan base are loyal and always come out. Last nights show was the fourth of seven sold out nights at the Beacon on their Shuffle Diplomacy 2011 Tour. Each night at the Beacon has a different theme usually where an entire album is played, on the fourth night it was...

The Mets did a fantastic job of honoring 911 on the tenth anniversary at Citi Field. The Mets players along with eight New York City agencies lined the foul lines in a touching pregame ceremony. MLB & Joe Torre denied the team the right to wear FDNY / NYPD caps in place of their usual Mets caps. 2001 Mets Pitcher & native New Yorker John Franco threw out the ceremonial first pitch to Mike Piazza. Also on hand from the 2001 team were manager Bobby Valentine who was on hand broadcasting the ESPN nationally televised game in honor of the anniversary. Robin Ventura, Todd Zeile & Steve Trachsel were also on hand to escort the honored guests onto the field. Former Met Rusty Staub who's organization The New York Police and Fire Widows' and Children's Benefit Fund has donated more than 115 million dollars since 911 was also on hand.  here is the link from the Mets site of the ceremony: http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20110911&content_id=2...

It was a beautiful night on the ocean as Stevie Nicks put on another incredible performance closing out her “In Your Dreams” tour. It was the final night of the twenty show tour which mostly ran through the e late summer. Earlier in the year Stevie supported Rod Stewart on his Heart & Soul Tour. This latest set of shows was a Stevie Nicks solo tour featuring Michael Grimm as an opening act. No matter how many times I see Stevie Nicks ( I have to go through my ticket stubs because I lost count) she never disappoints. Is it possible that she even gets better? It sure sounds that way. We had incredible sixth row seats just off to the right of center stage, nice & close. The weather was also perfect as breeze blew into the Jones Beach Theater from the nearby beach. Stevie played her usual legendary classics (Rhiannon, Gold Dust Woman, Dreams, Stand Back, Edge of Seventeen, Landslide) but this show was different than previous tours because she is currently promoting a new album/...

Charles Aaron "Bubba" Smith was born on February 28, 1945. The huge six foot seven, two hundred sixty five pound defensive end was a popular celebrity & awesome football player in the late sixties / early seventies hey days. He was a star defensive player at Michigan State University for the Spartans, having his number retired & becoming a member of the College Football Hall of Fame. The crowds would cheer " Kill Bubba Hill" as a rally cry duing his college football days in East Lansing, Michigan. He was selected as a first round draft pick in 1967 by the Baltimore Colts. He became one of the games first true modern day pass rushers & quaterback sack artists. He would play under coach Don Shula in Super Bowl III on the losing end but return in 1971 winning Super Bowl IV against the Dallas Cowboys. Smith claimed he didn't wear his Super Bowl ring because the game was sloppily played by the Colts. Smith would play in two Pro Bowls over those sea...

The Concert for Bangladesh was the first major benefit concert of its kind. The idea came from George Harrison who was asked by his friend Bengali musician Ravi Shankar how to raise money for the refugee problem in Banladesh (then called East Pakistan). The problem occurred during the brutal Bangladesh Liberation War as East Pakistan was struggling to become a separate state from West Pakistan. The war resulted in brutal treatment of the East Pakistani people & led to a mass refugee exodus into the border of India. A major tropical cyclone storm followed, taking the lives of thousands or more people. The storm (Nora) is one of the worst natural disasters on record, bringing torrential rains & flooding, only making the devastation & starvation worse by 1971. Harrison recorded the song Bangla Desh (a top twenty five US hit) as his first attempt to donate profits & bring awareness to the cause. When Shankar brought up the idea of a concert, Harrison ran with it. In jus...