centerfield maz

Gary Thorne was born on June 9, 1948 in Bangor, Maine. He attended the University of Maine, graduating in 1970.  Thorne then attended the University of Maine School of Law, graduating in 1973 & lastly the Georgetown Law School, graduating in 1976. Thorne helped pay his tuition by working as a disc jockey & broadcaster.  Thorne began his law career, working for the Bangor Maine, district Attorney’s office. He was also a member of the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.  Thorne became unhappy in his work & felt bored in the courtrooms. He decided he wanted to get back to what he loved best, which was broadcasting sports. The young man made a complete career change & became very successful at it. Sports Casting Career: In the late 1970's, Thorne began calling play-by-play for the Augusta, Maine hockey team. He followed up with broadcasts of the University of Maine's hockey games. He soon became a popular figure in Bangor Maine.  Mets Broadcastin...

John Victor Leathersich was born July 14th 1990 in Beverly, Massachusetts. The five foot eleven left hander attended the University of Massachusetts. In his senior year at U Mass he broke school records with 126 strike outs & an average of 12.74 strikes out per nine inning. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the 5th round of the 2011 amateur draft. Nicknamed the " Leather Rocket " he had posted amazing strike out totals but  had control issues which led to walks & runs. Although he threw at 93 mph tops, his delivery is deceptive & made his pitches seem like they are actually faster. Brooklyn Cyclones: In 2011 he pitched at A Ball Brooklyn, striking out 26 batters in 12 2/3 innings while posting a 0.71 ERA for the Cyclones as a reliever.  Minors: He spent 2012 with Savannah & then St. Lucie where although he was 2-5 he struck out 76 batters in 48 innings but also walked 24. He was invited to Mets Spring Training in 2013, then ...

Donn Alvin Clendenon was born July 15, 1935 in Neosho, Missouri. His father died when he was six months old, and his mother remarried former Negro League catcher-Nish Williams. They then moved to the Atlanta Georgia area where he spent most of his time growing up. Donn Clendenon was a star athlete growing up not only in baseball but basketball & football as well. He actually preferred playing the other sports over baseball. His step father, Nish Williams influenced young Donn to play baseball, and coached most of the early teams he played on. Clendenon would get the chance to meet & get pointers from some of his step dads famous baseball friends. This included MLB Players like Roy Campanella, Jackie Robinson & Negro League stars like Sad Sam Jones & the legendary Satchel Paige among the many. Later in 1970 he received a congratulatory phone call from an aging Cool Papa Bell who tearfully apologized for missing Nish Williams funeral two years prior. In high...

Friday April 23rd, 2021:  Luis Rojas' Mets (8-7) hosted Dave Martinez's Washing Nats, in front of a limited crowd of 8,130 due to Covid19 restrictions. Tonight the Mets sent the April Pitcher of the Month to the mound, Jacob deGrom. At this point in the early season, deGrom had allowed just one earned run in 20 innings for a 0.45 entering this game. He had struck out 14 batters in each of his two previous starts, but was just 1-1 record wise. On this night, deGrom was even more awesome. He threw a two hit, complete game shut out, striking out a season 15 batters.  He began the game, striking out Andrew Stevenson looking & Josh Harrison looking. In the 2nd inning, he blew away Josh Bell to start the inning & Yan Gomes to end it.  In that inning, Starling Castro singled for the first Nationals hit. Then in the 3rd inning, Andrew Stevenson doubled for the last Nats hit of the night, as deGrom retired the next 18 batters he faced to complete the game. deGrom added two...

 Aaron Christopher Loup was born December 19th 1987 in Raceland, Louisiana. The five foot eleven, left hander, grew up a fan of the Atlanta Braves in their hey days of the 1990's. He was influenced in baseball by both his father & grandfather. Loup attended Tulane University, playing for the Green Wave baseball team, getting drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in 9th round of the 2009 MLB draft. In the minors he was taught to throw side armed, by pitching coach & former Oakland A's pitcher, Darold Knowles. The side arm delivery helped him become a better pitcher. After three years in the minors, he was called up to a Blue Jays staff that used 32 different pitchers in the 2012 season. In 33 games he was 0-2 but posted a 2.64 ERA & was voted the Jays Rookie of the Year.  He would be a main stay in the Blue Jays bullpen for parts of seven seasons, as a situational one inning guy, which is the way manager John Gibbons described him. He was less effective in 2015 & i...

Thursday June 25th 2015: Terry Collins Mets were at one of their lowest points of the season, riding a seven game losing streak, that started in Toronto, dragged through Atlanta & was now in Milwaukee. The Mets were at .500  (37-37) in second place 3.5 games out of first. 33,354 fans attended the Miller Park matinee in Milwaukee as Craig Counsell's Brew Crew (27-47) hosted the Mets. The Mets sent the reigning Rookie of the Year, Jacob deGrom to the mound to stop the bleeding. Jacob DeGrom was outstanding, shutting out the Brewers for eight innings, scattering just four hits. deGrom didn't walk anyone & struck out eight Brewers along the way. In the 4th inning, Mets manager Terry Collins was ejected, while arguing an out call as Darrell Ceciliani was attempting a steal of second base. With two outs in the Mets 6th, Michael Cuddyer singled. Wilmer Flores then doubled down the left field line, brining in Cuddyer with the first run. In the 7th, Ja...

May 31, 1977: At this point in the 1977 season the Mets were 15-30 & in last place. The front office made a move & fired Manager Joe Frazier, replacing him with Brooklyn's own Joe Torre.  Torre had been brought over in 1975, after the team had tried to acquire him in a trade for years. He was to remain on the active roster as well & be a player / manager. Joe Frazier had been a manager in the Mets organization since the late sixties. He had won four championships at various minor league levels.  After Yogi Berra was fired late in 1975, coach Roy McMillan was named interim manager, until a replacement was found. In 1976 the Mets gave Frazier the job. He was dubbed" a winner" at the press conference and Frazier stated "I'm the type of manager who stresses fundamentals. I think a man should go from first to third on a hit and second to home. I demand hustle. If I have my way, you're going to see a Mets' club next year that will hustle....