On this date in 1909, Cleveland shortstop Cornelius "Neal" Ball pulled off the first unassisted triple play in modern Major League history against the Boston Red Sox. In the second inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Boston Red Sox, while playing shortstop, he caught a line drive hit by the Sox's Amby McConnell. He then stepped on second base to double up Heinie Wagner, and tagged out the Sox runner, Jake Stahl, who was going from 1st to 2nd, thus completing Major League baseball's very first Unassisted Triple Play. He also recorded 9 putouts in the game at his position, which set a record for shortstops. To date, there has only been 10 more unassisted triples plays in the Major Leagues since his feat.

 

 

His glove from that game is on exhibit at the Baseball Hall of Fame.

 

In 1907, Ball was signed by the New York Highlanders (Yankees), for whom he played two seasons. Midway through the 1909 season, he was traded to the Cleveland Naps (Indians). During the 1912 season, he joined the Boston Red Sox, for whom his final game was played June 30, 1913.

From 1913 to 1923, he was affiliated with 6 minor league baseball teams as a player and manager.

 

So, how did our guys do??  The relievers were like

 

butter!!!

 

 

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers win over the Astros on Saturday.

 

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Brauny didn't play in Saturday's game against the Reds as a result of the sore thumb he received on Friday when he was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo in the fifth inning of he Reds' 4-0 win Friday night. The ball hit Brauny in the left forearm and deflected across his hands, catching his right thumb. X-rays on Saturday found no fracture.     

 

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig pitched a perfect 8^th inning on Saturday against the Angels by striking out the side!!!!  Way to go Craig!!!!  That stellar effort lowered his ERA to 4.25 and makes 2 clutch relief performances in a row!!!

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott had his three-game winning streak snapped. He gave up three runs, five hits and struck out five over six innings. Although he didn't pick up the win, that's now five straight quality starts for Scott, who is 3-1 over those five games. His record fell to 8-3 and his ERA rose to 3.87. 

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John pitched a scoreless eighth inning and earned his 16^th hold of the year in the Pirates 2-0 victory over Giants on Saturday.  He struck out one batter and lowered his ERA to 3.24.

John has earned a Chai 5 and an Iron City Beer for his pitching.

  

                 

 

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe pinch ran for Willie Aybar in the eighth inning of the Rays win over the Royals on Saturday.  He came around to score on B.J. Upton's single and stayed in the game as the right fielder. 

 

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 1-for-4 in the Rangers loss to the Twins on Saturday. His average remained at .249.

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies loss to the Padres on Saturday.

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron didn't pitch in the Chisox win over my O's on Saturday.

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott didn't in the D-backs win over the Cards on Saturday. 

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk went 1-for-4 on Saturday against the Blue Jays and struck out twice. And in a shocking development, he didn't walk!  He lowered his average a point to .299.

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day - Craig Breslow

                       

 

On this date in 1970, Hall of Famer Willie Mays recorded

his 3,000^th hit by singling against Expos pitcher Mike

Wegener.   He finished his career with 3,283 hits.

 

He was the first member of the 3,000 Hit Club to record

his 3,000 hit on the West Coast and the landmark hit

came just two months after fellow slugger Hank Aaron had

joined the Club.

  

Below is a brief summary of the game in which he

achieved this feat and the box score of the game.

 

 

 

Let's see who in the Minyan made progress towards their

3,000th hit!

 

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers loss to the Astros on Friday.

 

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Brauny went 1-for-3, hit his 20^th double of the year and was hit by a pitch from Cincinnati's Bronson Arroyo in the fifth inning of the Reds' 4-0 win Friday night. The ball hit Brauny in the left forearm and deflected across his hands, catching his right thumb. X-rays on Saturday found no fracture.  He was replaced in the field late in the game by Frank Catalanotto. His average held steady at .310.

 

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig earned his second win of the year and his career by pitching 2/3 of a scoreless inning in the A's win over the Angels on Friday. He recorded two outs, one each in the sixth and seventh, for his first win since the A's claimed him off waivers from Minnesota on May 20.  He lowered his ERA to 4.37. 

Craig has earned a Chai 5 and a pastrami sandwich for his effort!

 

 

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott didn't pitch in the Rangers loss to the Twins on Friday.

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John pitched a scoreless ninth inning in the Pirates 14-inning 2-1 victory over Giants on Friday.  He lowered his ERA to 3.24.

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe didn't play in the Rays 1-run win over the Royals on Friday.

 

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 1-for-5, scored a run on Josh Hamilton's 1^st inning homer and stole his 19^th base of the year in the Rangers loss to the Twins on Friday. He also took part in 4 double plays!!  The Rangers lead the majors in double plays with 104. His average is now at .249.

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies win over the Padres on Friday.

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron didn't pitch in the Chisox win over my O's on Friday.

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott pitched 2/3 of an inning with mixed results against the Cardinals in the D-backs loss on Friday.  Although he recorded both of his outs on strikeouts, he walked two batters (with one of them being an intentional walk to Albert Pujols), gave up a hit and was charged with 2 earned runs.  His ERA rose to 6.32.  Ouch.

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk went 1-for-3 on Friday against the Blue Jays, with his lone hit being a 2-run homer (#17) in the first inning.  In a big surprise, he also walked and then scored on a Big Papi double in the 5^th inning.  Ergo, Youk was instrumental in 3 of the Sawx 4 runs in their 4-1 victory.   He raised his average to .299.

 

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Youk

 

 On this date in 1917, Hall of Famer Lou Boudreau was born in Harvey, Ill.  He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., in 1970.

 

 

Boudreau, who was the son of a French-American father who played semipro baseball and worked as a machinist and a Jewish mother. His parents divorced when he was young and he did not get along with his stepfather after his mother remarried. Boudreau was raised by his father and brought up as a Christian.

He graduated from Thornton Township High School in Harvey, Illinois, and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a member of Phi Sigma Kappa fraternity, excelling in sports at both schools.

 

Thornton High Basketball Team Photo

He was captain of the basketball and baseball teams at the University of Illinois when Cleveland Indians general manager Cy Slapnicka paid him an undisclosed sum in return for agreeing to play baseball for the Indians following graduation. Boudreau's father complained to the Big Ten Conference, and league officials ruled him ineligible for collegiate sports. During his junior and senior years at Illinois, he played pro basketball with the Hammond All-Americans of the National Basketball League.

Boudreau made his Major League debut on September 9, 1938 for the Cleveland Indians, at the age of 21, playing first base. In 1939, manager Ossie Vitt informed Boudreau, who normally played third base, that he would have to move to shortstop as Ken Keltner already had the regular third base job.

In 1940, his first full year as a starter, he batted .295 with 46 doubles and 101 RBI. He was also selected to play in his first All Star Game.

Boudreau helped make history in 1941 as a key figure in stopping the 56-game hitting streak by Joe DiMaggio. After Ken Keltner made two fine stops at third base earlier in the game, Boudreau snagged a bad hop grounder at short barehanded and started a double play to retire Dimaggio. He finished the season with a .257 batting average and a league leading 45 doubles.

After the season, owner Alva Bradley promoted manager Roger Peckinpaugh to general manager and appointed Boudreau as the player manager, becoming, at age 24, the youngest person to have taken on the job of manager at the beginning of an MLB season.  Boudreau managed the Indians throughout World War II.

One of the best defenders of his time, he led American League (AL) shortstops in fielding percentage for eight seasons. Boudreau was also a productive hitter and had a lifetime average of .295. He led the AL in hitting in 1944 with a .327 average and led the league in doubles three times. Boudreau was an eight-time All Star selection, starting three times. He won the 1944 AL batting title (.327), and led the league in doubles in 1941, 1944, and 1947. Boudreau still holds the record for hitting the most consecutive doubles in a game (four), set on July 14, 1946.

  

 

The 1948 season was the pinnacle of Boudreau's career. That year, he managed Cleveland to the AL title and World Series championship while hitting for a .355 average with 18 home runs and 106 runs batted in. In 1948, Boudreau also led the league's shortstops in fielding percentage and was selected as the AL Most Valuable Player. After 13 seasons with Cleveland and two more with the Boston Red Sox,

 

Boudreau stopped playing baseball in 1952 to become a full-time manager. He spent six seasons managing the Red Sox and the Kansas City Athletics

before retiring to join the broadcast team of the Chicago Cubs. Boudreau briefly came out of retirement to manage the Cubs for the 1960 season, after which he returned to broadcasting Cubs games, where he remained until 1988.

 

As a Cubs Announcer (above and below)

 

 

Lastly and certainly not least, here is a picture of Lou and his wife Della all dressed up:

 

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers loss to the Astros on Thursday.

 

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Coming off being in the starting lineup for the NL All Stars as the cleanup hitter, Ryan snapped an 0-for-16 skid, by going 1-for-4, scoring a run, stealing his 8^th base and throwing out the plodding Ramon Hernandez at home in the Brewers win over the Reds.  His average rose to .310.

Brauny scoring his run and....

the end result of his outfield assist, which prevented a run!

Notice the lack of hustle from Ramon!  One big reason why he is no longer an Oriole.

 

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig didn't pitch in the A's loss to the Angels on Thursday.

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

The Rangers had the day off on Thursday.

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates had the day off on Thursday.

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays had the day off on Thursday.

 Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

The Rangers had the day off on Thursday.

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies win over the Padres on Thursday.

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

The Chisox had the day off on Thursday.

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-backs had the day off on Thursday.

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

The Sawx had the day off on Thursday.

 

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Brauny

Cool T-Shirt!!!

Hey, where have I been?  You might ask.  I've been here, not on vacation or travel, but my quality time to devote to this blog has been fleeting of late.  So, after some time away, I'm back with my All Star game update!

As you know, three members of the minyan were on All Star teams: Youk in the AL, and Brauny and the Marquis in the NL (I'm going with nicknames right now).  However, my man Ian

got royally dissed (you know what word I really want to say, but this a family blog!).  Not only did Pedroia somehow beat him out for the starting spot, but he was edged by Brandon (no HR in the HR Derby!) Inge for the Final Man slot.  I actively campaigned for Ian on both Facebook and Twitter as did my friend Jen of AJRoxmywhitesox  http://ajroxmywhitesox.mlblogs.com/.  However, there appeared to be an alliance with the Shane Victorino voters to vote for both, thus Ian got dissed once again.   And Joe Madden was no friend of this blog either, due to the fact that he picked Ben Zobrist (he of the stupid Zorilla nickname) as a sub when Pedroia had to back out due to family health issues.  Maybe Cliff of  Rays Renegade http://raysrenegade.mlblogs.com/ can shed some light on the dim-witted decision by Joe Maddon, because I sure can't!!

 

Darn, I could have had a V8 or picked Ian!

 

Anyway, I promised an update, so how did our boychiks do in the big game?

 

Brauny, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Brauny was in the starting lineup for the NL and batted cleanup!!! 

 

You heard that right, Ryan Braun batted cleanup!!!  Not Triple Crown Candidate Albert Pujols

 or slugger Raul Ibanez,

 

but our guy Brauny!!!  Somewhere in heaven, Hank Greenberg must be kvelling!!!

 

Brauny flied out to deep center in the 2^nd inning and ground out to short in the 3^rd, while fielding his position flawlessly. 

 

Brauny, congratulating teammate Prince Fielder on winning the HR Derby

 

The Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason participated in all the workouts and the pre-game festivities but was solely a spectator at the game. 

 

           

 

Youk, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk pinch hit for his BoSox teammate, Jonathon Papelbon in the 8^th inning and singled into center.  

 

                 

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  YOUK!!

 

Check out the unique batting stance and grip!

 

I'd like to congratulate three members of the Minyan on being

selected to the 2009 MLB All Star Game:  Ryan Braun, Kevin

Youkilis and Jason Marquis. 

 

 

 

Ryan was selected as a starter by the fans, receiving the

highest vote total amongst ALL MLB outfielders!!!!  A huge

Chai 5 for the Hebrew Hammer!!! 

 

Youk had been leading the voting for AL 1B for most of the

Spring but was in a tight battle with Mark Teixeira, who

unfortunately beat him by 239,144 votes. 

Youk is thrilled by his selection!!

 

Youk, deservingly, was selected to the team by Tampa Bay

Rays manager Joe Maddon, who is an idiot (see below). 

 

Rockies starter, Jason Marquis, who is leading the NL in

wins with 10  11, was selected to the NL team by Philadelphia

Phillies manager Charlie Manuel.

 

However, I have a HUGE shankbone to pick with Ian Kinsler

being left off the team!! 

 

 

Ian was the leading vote getter amongst AL second basemen

all the way up to the final vote, then somehow, scruffy Dustin

Pedroia, beat him out by a measely 73,086 votes!!!! 

 

Dustin at the plate

 

So who does Joe Maddon pick??  His own guy, Ben

Zobrist!!!!  Who, you might ask?? 

 

 

Zobrist getting attacked by the batting cage.

 

Exactly is what I say!!!  What a low blow!!!  I now have lost

all respect for him.  Not picking Ian so that his own guy is on

the team??  Please!!! 

 

He must have had WAYYYYYYYYYYY too much of that

wine he likes when making that choice

 

 

 or Zobrist must have something on him!!!

 

 

Below are the total votes received and the resulting rosters. 

I'll leave it to you, my loyal readers, to determine whether

these rosters are fair or not.  You already heard my opinion

about Ian.  So please go to http://mlb.mlb.com/index.jsp and

cast your votes for Ian!!!

2009 All-Star Vote Tallies

American League First Basemen 1 Mark Teixeira, Yankees 3,309,050 2 Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox 3,069,906 3 Justin Morneau, Twins 2,186,567 4 Miguel Cabrera, Tigers 1,447,125 5 Chris Davis, Rangers 1,145,037 6 Carlos Pena, Rays 1,083,447 7 Russell Branyan, Mariners 586,020 8 Lyle Overbay, Blue Jays 473,248 Second Basemen 1 Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 3,404,384 2 Ian Kinsler, Rangers 3,331,298 3 Robinson Cano, Yankees 2,115,056 4 Aaron Hill, Blue Jays 1,233,710 5 Placido Polanco, Tigers 1,032,428 6 Brian Roberts, Orioles 779,159 7 Asdrubal Cabrera, Indians 511,542 8 Akinori Iwamura, Rays 474,552 Shortstops 1 Derek Jeter, Yankees 4,851,889 2 Jason Bartlett, Rays 2,098,422 3 Elvis Andrus, Rangers 1,586,224 4 Marco Scutaro, Blue Jays 1,064,344 5 Jed Lowrie, Red Sox 933,876 6 Adam Everett, Tigers 603,488 7 Alexei Ramirez, White Sox 602,329 8 Nick Punto, Twins 566,629 Third Basemen 1 Evan Longoria, Rays 4,315,210 2 Alex Rodriguez, Yankees 2,350,496 3 Mike Lowell, Red Sox 1,759,195 4 Michael Young, Rangers 1,741,982 5 Brandon Inge, Tigers 891,112 6 Scott Rolen, Blue Jays 850,033 7 Joe Crede, Twins 646,915 8 Chone Figgins, Angels 542,797 Outfielders 1 Jason Bay, Red Sox 4,087,450 2 Ichiro Suzuki, Mariners 2,846,069 3 Josh Hamilton, Rangers 2,412,359 4 Torii Hunter, Angels 2,363,481 5 Carl Crawford, Rays 2,253,397 6 Jacoby Ellsbury, Red Sox 2,250,799 7 Johnny Damon, Yankees 2,012,368 8 J.D. Drew, Red Sox 1,735,703 9 Nelson Cruz, Rangers 1,715,709 10 Ken Griffey Jr., Mariners 1,669,135 11 Adam Jones, Orioles 1,247,826 12 David Murphy, Rangers 1,101,818 13 B.J. Upton, Rays 1,080,662 14 Curtis Granderson, Tigers 1,068,626 15 Nick Markakis, Orioles 1,049,331 16 Brett Gardner, Yankees 1,033,1031 17 Bobby Abreu, Angels 1,024,786 18 Vladimir Guerrero, Angels 916,404 19 Grady Sizemore, Indians 908,434 20 Magglio Ordonez, Tigers 745,379 21 Michael Cuddyer, Twins 717,940 22 Matt Holliday, Athletics 689,018 23 Pat Burrell, Rays 678,426 24 Jermaine Dye, White Sox 656,536 Catchers 1 Joe Mauer, Twins 4,335,739 2 Jason Varitek, Red Sox 2,225,630 3 Jorge Posada, Yankees 1,916,436 4 Jarrod Saltalamacchia, Rangers 1,497,588 5 Victor Martinez, Indians 1,087,761 6 Dioner Navarro, Rays 569,785 7 Rod Barajas, Blue Jays 545,735 8 Gerald Laird, Tigers 527,388

National League First Basemen 1 Albert Pujols, Cardinals 5,397,734 2 Prince Fielder, Brewers 2,118,947 3 Ryan Howard, Phillies 2,059,760 4 Adrian Gonzalez, Padres 1,504,979 5 Lance Berkman, Astros 922,870 6 James Loney, Dodgers 622,482 7 Carlos Delgado, Mets 567,956 8 Derrek Lee, Cubs 542,371 Second Basemen 1 Chase Utley, Phillies 5,027,029 2 Orlando Hudson, Dodgers 1,703,710 3 Rickie Weeks, Brewers 1,355,204 4 Skip Schumaker, Cardinals 1,191,954 5 Dan Uggla, Marlins 893,916 6 Luis Castillo, Mets 729,780 7 David Eckstein, Padres 727,585 8 Kazuo Matsui, Astros 658,523 Shortstops 1 Hanley Ramirez, Marlins 3,218,917 2 Jimmy Rollins, Phillies 2,246,792 3 J.J. Hardy, Brewers 1,857,288 4 Miguel Tejada, Astros 1,415,539 5 Jose Reyes, Mets 1,114,295 6 Khalil Greene, Cardinals 819,412 7 Rafael Furcal, Dodgers 811,340 8 Ryan Theriot, Cubs 718,058 Third Basemen 1 David Wright, Mets 3,100,863 2 Chipper Jones, Braves 2,035,936 3 Ryan Zimmerman, Nationals 1,681,239 4 Bill Hall, Brewers 1,403,589 5 Pedro Feliz, Phillies 1,380,058 6 Casey Blake, Dodgers 972,763 7 Aramis Ramirez, Cubs 878,993 8 Pablo Sandoval, Giants 758,334 Outfielders 1 Ryan Braun, Brewers 4,138,559 2 Raul Ibanez, Phillies 4,053,355 3 Carlos Beltran, Mets 2,812,295 4 Alfonso Soriano, Cubs 2,692,994 5 Shane Victorino, Phillies 2,123,079 6 Mike Cameron, Brewers 2,018,879 7 Manny Ramirez, Dodgers 1,739,736 8 Corey Hart, Brewers 1,683,452 9 Rick Ankiel, Cardinals 1,632,113 10 Jayson Werth, Phillies 1,542,347 11 Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals 1,427,898 12 Justin Upton, Diamondbacks 1,282,501 13 Adam Dunn, Nationals 1,220,758 14 Matt Kemp, Dodgers 1,145,428 15 Andre Ethier, Dodgers 1,133,863 16 Carlos Lee, Astros 989,889 17 Chris Duncan, Cardinals 886,223 18 Brad Hawpe, Rockies 868,980 19 Hunter Pence, Astros 857,223 20 Kosuke Fukudome, Cubs 828,796 21 Nate McLouth, Pirates/Braves 777,613 22 Garret Anderson, Braves 723,537 23 Milton Bradley, Cubs 695,729 24 Jeff Francoeur, Braves 635,818 Catchers 1 Yadier Molina, Cardinals 2,641,467 2 Brian McCann, Braves 2,375,808 3 Ivan Rodriguez, Astros 1,810,308 4 Jason Kendall, Brewers 1,752,062 5 Bengie Molina, Giants 1,729,471 6 Carlos Ruiz, Phillies 1,417,906 7 Russell Martin, Dodgers 1,172,618 8 Geovany Soto, Cubs 756,900

On this date in 1988 - The Orioles' Cal Ripken, Jr. plays in

his 1,000th consecutive game, a 10-3 loss to Boston.

Ripken's streak was the sixth-longest in major-league history

at that time.

I'm not sure that any of these guys have played in 1,000 total

games, but they are my guys, so let's see how they did on

Wednesday, June 24.  

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers loss to the ChiSox. 

  

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan went 2-for-4 in the Brewers win over the Twins

and raised his average to .319.

   

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig didn't pitch in the the A's loss to Giants.

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott didn't pitch in the Rangers win over to the D-Backs.                  

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John pitched a scoreless 8th inning, striking out two batters,

in the Pirates win over the Indians. He lowered his ERA to

4.09.

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe didn't play in the Rays victory against the Phillies in a

World Series rematch.

                                   

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 1-for-4, stole his 15th base and scored

one of the Rangers's two runs in their victory over

the D-Backs. He lowered his average to .266. 

 

Ian has earned something to nosh on!

 

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason (9-5) had an awful start against the Angels throwing 88

pitches over 3 1/3 innings in the second-shortest of his 15

starts this season. Jason, who was trying to tie for the major

league lead in wins, retired only nine of the 21 batters he

faced and allowed eight runs, nine hits, including a homer to

Vlad Guerrero, and two walks on the way to raising his ERA

to 4.22.  For good measure he even was called for a balk!

 

 

"I couldn't command my pitches, couldn't make the

adjustment. I put my team behind the 8-ball," Jason stated

obviously.

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron didn't pitch in the ChiSox win over the Dodgers.

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott didn't pitch in the D-Backs one run loss to the

Rangers.    

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk went 0-for-3, walked and scored a run in

the BoSox win over the Nats.  He lowered his

average to .313.

 

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  John Grabow

 

              

                                 

On this date in 1947 - The Dodgers win 4-2

over the Pirates as Jackie Robinson swipes

home for the first of 19 times in his career.

 

  

I'm pretty sure that none of these guys have ever stolen

home, but I wouldn't put it past Ian Kinsler to accomplish it. 

Let's see how they did on Tuesday, June 23.  

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers victory over the Chisox. 

  

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan went 0-for-3 and walked twice in the Brewers loss to

the Twins.  He lowered his average to .316.

   

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig didn't pitch in the A's loss to their cross-Bay rivals, the

Giants.

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott didn't pitch in the Rangers loss to the D-Backs.                  

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John didn't pitch in the Pirates loss to the Indians.   

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe went 1-for-3, hit his 10th double of the year and walked

in the Rays loss to the Phillies. Gabe raised his batting

average to .240.   

                                    

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 1-for-5 and drove in a run (#49) in the

Rangers loss to the D-Backs. He also took part in

one double play.  His average fell to .266.

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies loss to the Angels.  

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron pitched a scoreless 9th inning in the ChiSox loss to the

Dodgers, giving up 2 hits and striking out 1.  His ERA remains

a perfect 0.00.

Aaron deserves a bagel and lox for his continued excellence.

 

 

Oy vey, that looks tasty!!

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott didn't pitch in the D-Backs win over the Rangers.  

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk went 2-for-5, hit his 17th double of the

year, drove in 2 runs, scored 2 runs and of

course, he walked in the BoSox victory over the

Nats.  He raised his average

to .318.

 

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Kevin Youkilis

 

              

                          

On this date in 1963: Jimmy Piersall of the New York Mets

hits the 100th home run of his major league career and

celebrates by running around the bases backwards. Dallas

Green of the Phillies, who gave up the home run, is not

amused. Neither is Commissioner Ford Frick, who is in the

stands.

It looks like none of our guys saw any action on June 22

judging from my entries below.  So how will I decide who gets

to be Macher of the Day?  

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

The Dodgers had the day off on June 22.

  

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

The Brewers had the day off on June 22.

   

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig didn't pitch in the A's victory over the Giants.

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Ranger

The Rangers loss had the day off on June 22.                  

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

The Pirates had the day off on June 22.   

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

The Rays had the day off on June 22.                                 

 

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

The Rangers had the day off on June 22.

  

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies win over the Angels.  

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

The ChiSox had the day off on June 22.

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

The D-Backs had the day off on June 22.    

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

The Sawx also had the day off on June 22.

 

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Me!!!

 

I just found out that this blog was written up

 

on Heeb Magazine!!!  That makes 2

 

references on Jewish themed sites!!!  Here's

 

the link:

 

http://www.heebmagazine.com/blog/view/1669

  

 

  

On this day in 1909, Harry Rosenberg was born in San

Francisco, CA  

• Debut July 15, 1930

 

• Final Game September 20, 1930

 

• Born June 22, 1909 in San Francisco, CA

 

• Died April 13, 1997 in San Mateo, CA

 

While working as a shovel operator in San Francisco, in 1930,

he tried out for the San Francisco Missions and made the

club, continuing to work his job in construction in the

mornings.

 

His first year, Rosenberg displayed superb range in center

field and hit .368, sixth in the Pacific Coast League. John

McGraw scouted Harry and was impressed. The New York

Giants purchased Rosenberg's contract for $35,000-50,000.

He initially refused to sign, unless he got a $5,000 bonus, but

eventually he joined New York without a bonus.

 

As with other Jewish players signed by McGraw, there was a

lot of publicity in New York, but Rosenberg only played in nine

games and got five at-bats. After walking in his first plate

appearance, he never got another walk or a hit, but he did

score a run.

 

Rosenberg would not return to the majors. In 1931 he played

for the Newark Bears, hitting .284, then with the Bridgeport

Bees (.329) and the Indianapolis Indians (.330) to complete a

busy year. In 1932, Rosenberg hit .318 for the Indians,

then .281 the next season. He also appeared for the Fort

Worth Cats (.325) in '33. With Indianapolis full-time in 1934,

Harry batted .329. He returned to the PCL to stay in 1935

when he signed with the Sacramento Solons and posted

a .354 average, around 8th in the league. Back with the

Missions in '36 and '37, Harry hit .334 and .330; he was

fourth in the Coast League in the latter campaign.

 

In 1938, Rosenberg hit .320 for the Portland Beavers, then

followed that with years of .331 and .314 for the club. Moving

to the Hollywood Stars in 1941, Harry had a .286 average,

his first full season with a team in which he hit under .300.

After not playing in 1942, he finished his career by

batting .362 for the 1943 San Francisco Seals.

 

I'm pretty sure that these guys will have a longer career than

Harry, so let's see how they did on Sunday, June 21.  

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad went 0-for-2 with a strikeout and 2 sacrifice bunts in the

Dodgers victory over the Angels.  He lowered his average

to .302. 

  

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan had a rare bad day at the plate went 0-for-4 in the

Brewers loss to the Tigers and lowered his average to .320.

   

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig pitched 2/3 of an inning but allowed a single to Tony

Gwynn, Jr., who scored on Kevin Kouzmanoff's 2-run homer

in the 8th inning of the the A's loss to Padres. He raised

his ERA to 4.72.

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott didn't pitch in the Rangers loss to the Giants.                  

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John didn't pitch in the Pirates loss to the Rockies.   

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe entered the Rays victory against the Mets as a pinch

hitter for Gabe Gross in the 7th inning and hit a double to

drive in a run and the next inning he hit a sacrifice fly to drive

in another run. Nice work!!  Gabe raised his batting average

to .237.  He also earned a pastrami sandwich from Katz's

Deli. 

                                    

 

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 0-for-2, walked twice and was doubled

up on first in the Rangers loss to the Giants. His

average is now .267. 

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies win over the Pirates.  

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron didn't pitch in the ChiSox win over the Reds.

 

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott pitched to one Mariners's batter, 1B Mike Carp, who

got a hit and came around to score later in the inning, but of

course he was charged with the earned run because that is

how baseball works. Thus, his ERA rose to 3.75.    

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk, playing third, went 1-for-4, singled,

reached on an error, scored a run and was

caught stealing in the BoSox victory over the

Braves.  He lowered his average to .316.

 

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Gabe Kapler

 

              

                         

        

Philip Weintraub, nicknamed Mickey died on this day in

1987. 

 

He was primarily a reserve outfielder, though he was

platooned at first base in the last few years of his career. He

batted .295 for his career, with a .398 on base percentage.

Through 2006, he had the 4th-best career batting average of

all Jewish major league baseball players, behind Hank

Greenberg, Buddy Myer, and Lou Boudreau. Blessed with an

excellent eye and bat control, he walked 232 times in his

career while striking out only 182 times.

 

Weintraub was a heavy hitter in the minors. In 1934, he was

helped to the first .400 season in Southern Association history

by Nashville Vols manager Chuck Dressen's ability to tip him

off to pitches.

 

In 1939 with the Minneapolis Millers in the American

Association he hit .331 with 33 home runs and 126 RBIs. He

followed in 1940 by hitting .347 with 27 home runs and 109

RBIs.

 

His professional debut was on September 5, 1933, for the

New York Giants. In 1934 he batted .351, with a .461 on

base percentage, in 31 games.  

 

In 1938 he was 3rd in the National League in on base

percentage (.422), 9th in batting average (.311), and 10th in

walks (64) for the Phillies

 

In December 1938 he was purchased by the Boston Red Sox

from the Phillies.

 

He did not play major league baseball from 1939-43.

 

In November 1943 he was drafted by the New York Giants

from the St. Louis Browns in the Rule 5 draft.

 

In 1944, Weintraub returned to the majors with the Giants as

a war-time player after a 6-year absence. He was 5th in the

NL in OBP (.412), slugging percentage (.524) and at bats per

home run (27.8), 6th in triples (9), 8th in batting average

(.316), and 9th in home runs (13).

 

On April 30, 1944, Weintraub had 11 RBIs, one short of the

major league record, as the Giants defeated the Brooklyn

Dodgers, 26-8. He had two doubles, a triple, and a home run.

Amazingly, he missed the cycle because he didn't get a

single.

 

Weintraub played his last game on August 5, 1945.

 

Miscellaneous

 

He had the last hit in Philadelphia's Baker Bowl

 

In 1934 during spring training a Florida hotel refused entry to

Weintraub and fellow Jew Harry Danning. "Hibiscus" was a

code word for Hebrew in Florida -- as in "we don't have

hibiscus in our hotel." Giants manager and All-Star first

baseman Bill Terry threatened to take the entire World

Champion team to another hotel unless his Jewish players

were given lodging. The hotel's management backed down

 

On Yom Kippur of 1938, Phil Weintraub and his Phillies

teammate Morrie Arnovich opted to take the day off.

 

Called "baseball's best-dressed pinch hitter" by journalist

Fred Lieb.

 

One cold, windy afternoon in spring 1944, the Giants played

at the Lakehurst Naval Air Station, and the Navy staged a

sideshow by dropping baseballs from a blimp 400 feet in the

air to Giant players. Weintraub managed to make a catch.

NY Giants 1944 signed baseball

Jack Brewer, Buddy Kerr, Bruce Sloan, Johnny Allen, Mel Ott, Phil Weintraub, Gus Mancuso

 

Let's see how the guys did on June 20. 

 

Brad Ausmus, C - Los Angeles Dodgers

Brad didn't play in the Dodgers over the Angels.

 

Ryan Braun, OF, 3B - Milwaukee Brewers

Ryan had a big day going 4-for-5, with a homer (# 15 ), 2

RBIs, 2 runs scored and a stolen base (#6) against the

Tigers. He raised his average to .325.

 

Ryan earned a Chai 5,

but he could just as easily been the Macher of the day!!

 

                           

   

Craig Breslow, P - Oakland A's

Craig didn't pitch in the A's victory over the Padres.

 

Scott Feldman, P - Texas Rangers

Scott didn't pitch in the Rangers extra-inning loss to the

Giants.                  

 

John Grabow, P, Pittsburgh Pirates

John had a lousy day.  In the one inning that he pitched, he

gave up 3 earned runs on a homer by Rockies C Chris

Ianetta, but somehow notched 3 strikeouts. He blew his

second save of the year and raised his ERA to 4.22.   

                   

Gabe Kapler, OF - Tampa Bay Rays

Gabe went 1-for-3 in the Rays victory over the Mets, hitting

his 8th double of the year and knocking in his 16th run. He

raised his average to .228 and earned a pastrami sandwich

from Katz' Deli!!!   

 

 

 

 

Ian Kinsler, 2B - Texas Rangers

Ian went 2-for-4 and was practically the entire

offense for the Rangers in their extra-inning 2-1

loss to the Giants.  Ian accounted for 2 of the

Rangers 3 hits with one of his hits being a solo

homer (#18).  He also stole his 14th base and took

part in 2 double plays!! His average rose to fall

to .269. 

 

 

Jason Marquis, P - Colorado Rockies

Jason didn't pitch in the Rockies win over the Pirates.

 

Aaron Poreda, P - Chicago White Sox

Aaron didn't pitch in the White Sox victory over the Reds.

  

Scott Schoeneweis, P - Arizona Diamondbacks

Scott didn't pitch in the D-Backs loss to the Mariners.     

           

Kevin Youkilis, 1B, 3B - Boston Red Sox

Youk went 1-for-3 in the Bosox win against the

Braves, drove in a run and in a big surprise he

walked!!!  He raised his average  to .317.

                   

Macher (Big Shot) of the Day  -  Ian Kinsler