Baseball Hall of Fame Quiz: Just a few more of this one…give me the birth places for the following Hall of Famers…Rogers Hornsby, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, Harmon Killebrew, Ralph Kiner, Mickey Mantle, Christy Mathewson, Willie Mays. Answer below.
Well, I’m going ahead and posting this with the Heat up big in the fourth, on their way to evening up the series at 1-1. Should be fun in San Antonio.
“If the Spurs had gone to a factory that produced NBA players and ordered one to fit their team personality, Leonard would have been handmade and delivered to their doorstep. He is a 21-year-old Californian, a 6-foot-7 forward out of San Diego State and the old school where one learns to fit seamlessly into what his team does.
“Leonard answered reporters’ questions in the jammed locker room Thursday night professionally but blandly, the Duncan way. Standing nearby, General Manager R.C. Buford was asked if Leonard had shown any sign of nerves before his first NBA finals.
“ ‘He doesn’t say enough for anybody to understand how he feels,’ Buford said with a laugh.”
B-ball Bits
–It is pretty amazing that George Karl was dismissed as coach of the Denver Nuggets, 29 days after he was named coach of the year for leading the Nuggets to a 57-25 record – the franchise’s best since entering the NBA. He is the 11th head coach to lose his job since the start of the season. The Grizzlies are expected to make it 12 when they let Lionel Hollins leave. He could end up in Denver. And Minnesota’s Rick Adelman, who took a leave of absence this past season to be with his ailing wife, might resign.
Karl presided over eight trips to the playoffs for the Nuggets, but they made it out of the first round only once. This year they fell to Golden State in the opening round. He apparently irritated ownership by flirting with the Clippers while seeking a contract extension at the same time.
Forget for a moment the issues Karl had with management. As Johnny Mac pointed out to me…check out the following records.
Memphis…56-26
Denver…57-25
Los Angeles Clippers…56-26
“What kind of league is this? Who exactly is waiting around to take the reins at any of these teams? It’s not like there is a large talent pool of coaches who have actually won an NBA title.”
–I didn’t have a chance to say anything about Jason Kidd’s retirement last time but what a career. 19 seasons, an NBA title with the Mavs, 10 All-Star games, Gold medals in 2000 and 2008.
12.6 points, 8.7 assists, 6.3 rebounds…Kidd did it all. He never shot well, but that didn’t matter. Jason Kidd played the game the right way and the effort was there, night in and night out.
One thing that kind of ticked me off as Kidd finally flamed out in the playoffs this year, going 3 for 25 from the field in 12 games, including 0 for his last ten games, 17 shots, is that everyone seemed to forget how great he played for the Knicks down the stretch of the regular season.
Kidd was one of those players you had to watch to appreciate. There were a ton of games this year where his final line would be something like 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, but if you didn’t watch him, you’d never understand how someone could say after, “Man, Kidd played a great game.”
Around these parts, though, J-Kidd will forever be known for his time with the Nets.
“(Let’s) huddle up here, and rehearse the one factoid you need about Jason Kidd, if or when some basketball agnostic demands that you put his career in perspective.
“Over seven tedious years, which pretty much covered Clinton’s two terms, the Nets averaged 28.8 victories per season.
“Then J-Kidd showed up in East Rutherford.
“ ‘I was thinking of that today,’ said Rod Thorn, the man who brought Kidd to Jersey on July 18, 2001. ‘I remember when Larry Bird went to the Celtics, they took a huge jump up – it’s happened with a few special players. But we went from 26 wins to…what, 52 as soon as Jason arrived? That’s a pretty incredible jump. And that was entirely Jason.’….
“Players of all kinds come and go in the NBA, ‘but a guy like this?’ Lawrence Frank once asked. ‘A guy who changes your entire culture overnight? Maybe you find one once every 30 years. Maybe.’
“So now Kidd departs after 19 seasons that not only changed the historic arcs of franchises from New Jersey to Dallas, it essentially changed the way a lot of us looked at the game.
“Because that’s what truly separated Kidd from his contemporaries. He was blessed with a judoka’s hands and a sprinter’s feet, but his greatest advantage was actually between his ears: He had an intuitive gift shared only by the special ones – guys named Magic and Bird – and he demonstrated a grasp of the game’s rhythms that few had shown before or since.”
But what he did better than just about anyone in the sport the last 30 years was elevate the games of everyone around him. He was the toughest on the court and if you were his teammate, you didn’t want to disappoint him.
It’s why he’ll be a great head coach someday. Mike Lupica had the excellent idea that the Brooklyn Nets should look at him seriously for their current vacancy.
So thanks, J-Kidd. You were one of a kind. A true Hall of Famer.
–Reminder, Monday night on NBA TV, “The Doctor,” a documentary on the life and career of Julius Erving.
Ball Bits
—Oh, to be a Mets fan. Saturday afternoon/evening was so typical. They lose a 20-inning, 6-hour, 25-minute marathon to the lowly Marlins, 2-1. Then they lose 8-4 in 10 on Sunday as Miami goes to 8-3 against the Mets and 10-41 against everyone else. You’re reading that right.
In fact the Marlins’ batting average against the Mets is .314 and .207 against the rest of baseball.
On Saturday, the Mets were a team record worst 0-for-19 with runners in scoring position. And poor Shaun Marcum. He allowed one run in eight innings of relief but saw his record go to 0-7. Starter Matt Harvey remained at 5-0 with 8 no decisions. Thankfully, he appears to be alright after leaving the game with a lower back issue.
The New York Post’s Steve Serby commented it was so quiet in the stadium, the entire day, even with Harvey on the mound, that the place should really be called Citi Library.
[The Blue Jays defeated the Rangers 4-3 in 18 on Saturday as well, making it just the second time in MLB history that two games stretched to 18 on the same day.]
–Meanwhile, the Nationals continue to struggle, now 30-31, with Stephen Strasburg and Bryce Harper on the DL, but at least the word on both is better and Strasburg is scheduled to start June 16.
“The Nationals’ unexpected joyride in 2012 [Ed. 98 wins] has yielded to a parade of injuries, underperformance, backfiring decisions and worst-case scenarios….
“Nationals players are resolute they can right their season….
“But under the burden of new expectations, frustration has surfaced. Last month, reliever Ryan Mattheus broke his throwing hand when he punched his locker in San Diego. After the Nationals placed him on the disabled list this week, second baseman Danny Espinosa emptied his locker, nameplate and all. The tension he perceived prompted new closer Rafael Soriano to ask teammates how this year’s vibe compared to last year.
“ ‘I’ve even said, ‘What’s going on with this team? What’s going on?’’ Soriano said. “ ‘Everyone is different. We’re not doing what we’re supposed to do. Give it some time.’ There’s no time. In Atlanta they’re winning and in Philadelphia. There’s no time for anything. We have to get at it.’
“Baseball’s marathon season allows slow-starting teams ample opportunity to recover. Last year’s Detroit Tigers stood 27-32 after 59 games and captured the American League pennant. In 2011, the St. Louis Cardinals were 10 ½ games out of a playoff spot in late August and won the World Series.”
89 wins is the average victory total for a team to make the postseason under the current format. One thing seems certain. The Nationals don’t have a shot at that total without Strasburg and Harper quickly returning and contributing as they are expected to the rest of the way.
—40-year-old Andy Pettitte won his 250th game on Saturday in defeating the Mariners 3-1. Pettitte has a sterling 250-145 career mark. [And another 19 postseason victories.] 87-year-old Mariano Rivera picked up his 22nd save…the only blown save of the season being against the Mets. Rivera has saved 71 of Pettitte’s wins. [Rivera got save No. 23 on Sunday.]
–Back to the New York Mutts, aka The Mets. As noted in a Wall Street Journal piece by Jared Diamond:
“Since 1988, the Mets have drafted and signed just eight players who went on to make an All-Star game during their careers. Only three National League teams have developed fewer over that span, and they rank among the least successful franchises in baseball: the Miami Marlins (seven), San Diego Padres (seven) and Chicago Cubs (six).
“Even the Arizona Diamondbacks have produced more than the Mets (nine) – and they didn’t even exist until 1998.
“In recent years, the Mets have fared even worse. They haven’t drafted a future All-Star since left-handed pitcher Scott Kazmir, a 2002 first-rounder who never threw a single inning for the Mets.”
Well, at least you would think Matt Harvey – the No. 7 overall pick in 2010 – makes his first All-Star appearance next month.
–So the Pirates are 37-26 as they attempt to snap their 20 consecutive losing seasons streak, the longest such streak in North American professional sports history.
As Norman Chad of the Washington Post observed the other day:
“The last time the Pirates had a winning season, George H.W. Bush was still in office. Then they went 0 for 8 during the Bill Clinton presidency, 0 for 8 during the George W. Bush years and now 0 for 4 through Barack Obama’s first term.
“There’s an outside chance another Bush or Clinton could be in the White House before the Pirates finish over .500 again.”
But while the Pirates are comfortably over the .500 mark today, their fans are reminded they were 63-47 last year on Aug. 8, then promptly lost 36 of their last 52 to finish 79-83.
–The Dodgers’ 22-year-old Cuban defector phenom, Yasiel Puig, tied a record with 10 RBIs in his first five games. The others to do it are Danny Espinosa (2010), who then had just five his next 23 games for Washington, and a fellow named Jack Merson (1951).
Merson was a 29-year-old rookie that season for the Pirates and in 13 games at the end of that year hit .360 with 14 ribbies, including the 10 first five.
But in 1952, he only hit .246 with 5 HR 38 RBI in 398 ABs and that was it, save for a final four at-bats with the Red Sox in ’53.
Something tells me Mr. Puig will do a little better than Merson, let alone Espinosa, who totally blows this season.
Over their last 20 home games, the Mutts are 5-15. They are hitting .199 and scoring 2.3 runs per game. With runners in scoring position, the average is .156.
At least it was announced Sunday evening that Ike Davis and his .161 batting average is heading down.
–We have us an “Idiot of the Year” candidate…Cleveland Indians closer and two-time All-Star Chris Perez. Perez and his wife were charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession in connection with two packages of pot allegedly mailed to their suburban Cleveland home earlier in the week.
“Police, tipped off to suspicious packages by postal inspectors, arranged a delivery Tuesday under surveillance, and Perez’ wife, Melanie, accepted two packages.
“Melanie Perez, whose maiden name is Baum, told the undercover officer delivering the packages that they were intended for her dog, named Brody. The package was addressed to Brody Baum, according to postal inspectors.”
–This is gross. I didn’t realize what an awful seagull problem the San Francisco Giants have as in the latter innings the gulls begin to gather, sensing the fans are about to leave, after which they can munch on the nacho remains, half-eaten franks and soggy garlic fries, as reported by the Wall Street Journal’s Jim Carlton. Apparently, the seagull invasions have gotten worse this year.
“I think they come in early to check out the menu,” says Duane Kuiper, radio and television broadcaster for the Giants.
“During a May 9 game with the Atlanta Braves, Giants center fielder Angel Pagan was surrounded late in the game by gulls that had landed on the grass….
Actually, it seems “seagulls are showing up in unusually big numbers at waterfront parks all over the country, according to an informal survey of field managers.” Some say fish might be in short supply, thus the gulls are seeking other food sources.
Mets reliever Robert Carson has given up 8 home runs in 18 innings this season! Is that good? I just don’t know. [By comparison, Matt Harvey has yielded 4 in 90 innings.]
But Carson was also just sent down to Las Vegas, too.
“What (Commissioner Bud) Selig is doing – going after Ryan Braun and Alex Rodriguez the way he is – is almost unprecedented for a commissioner of a professional sport, at least going all the way back to the original baseball commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, who suspended for life one of baseball’s biggest stars, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and seven of his Chicago White Sox teammates for their role in fixing the 1919 World Series, even though they were acquitted in a court of law. Since then, no commissioner in any sport has dared to tamper with the product….
“(It) is a wonder why, after establishing the most comprehensive drug program in all of professional sports, Selig would be motivated to take the fight even further, by going to the mat with A-Rod, Braun and all the other players associated with Anthony Bosch and his south Florida Biogenesis clinic. After all, he had succeeded where no other commissioner had, dragging the union kicking and screaming into agreeing to the toughest drug penalties anyone, 10 years ago, could have imagined, and which seemed to be serving as an ample deterrent.
“Why not, like George Bush on Iraq, just declare mission accomplished and move on into the sunset of his commissionership?
“According to Selig’s close confidants, the steroid scandal has really wounded him, and he won’t rest until he is satisfied he did everything he could to clean up the game and, by association, rid it of all those who would attempt to thwart that effort. Even though there were undertones for years, undertones that were ignored when Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa were winning back the fans with their high-spirited, home-run record chase in 1998, Selig was blind-sided by the magnitude of steroid use going on in baseball when Sports Illustrated’s Tom Verducci first detailed it in his revelatory interview with former San Diego Padres MVP Ken Caminiti in June of 2002….
“ ‘There was a point in time,’ a close Selig associate told me, ‘when Bud, after having the union block him at every turn when he first tried to get a handle on the steroids, made up his mind to shape his own destiny and not let someone else do it.’
“Since the Bosch scandal first came to light, Selig is said to have been relentlessly pressing his investigative team, headed up by MLB Executive VP Rob Manfred. He calls it 10-12 times a day for updates, with his constant refrain: ‘We are a social institution and we need to do what we need to do. If, god forbid, we have stars who have lied to us, been involved in this, then we have to go and get them. An organization and its programs are only as good as our f—ing enforcement. The fans have to be satisfied our game is clean, regardless of circumstances.’….
“If, in fact, the evidence and testimony provided by Bosch is tangible, and it is determined by Selig’s team that any of the players have lied to MLB and obstructed justice, the 100-game suspensions being widely reported may be greatly understated. Another close associate of Selig’s told me the commissioner considers lying to baseball an offense that comes under his ‘best interests’ powers, meaning those guilty parties could thus face substantial, indefinite suspensions.”
A-Rod’s rehab from hip surgery, by the way, seems to be going pretty well and he’s slated to return to the Yanks after the All-Star break. But will he? [Derek Jeter does not seem close at all.]
–31-year-old Serena Williams won her 16th Grand Slam title in defeating Maria Sharapova (“Ohhhh….Ohhhh…. Oohhhhhhhhh…..”) 6-4, 6-4 in the finals of the French Open. Williams is the oldest Grand Slam winner since Martina Navratilova was 33 at Wimbledon in 1990. She also now has the sixth-most major titles in the history of women’s tennis. Two more gets her to Navratilova and Chris Evert’s 18.
In the men’s final, Rafael Nadal met fellow Spaniard David Ferrer, with Ferrer in his first Grand Slam final at age 31. Nadal whipped him in straight sets, 6-3, 6-2, 6-3, to become the first man to win any of the Grand Slam events eight times. Nadal now has 12 majors overall.
Of course tennis fans were still buzzing over Friday’s dramatic 4 hours 37 minutes semifinal between Nadal and Novak Djokovic, Nadal prevailing 6-4, 3-6, 6-1, 6-7 (3), 9-7.
And as Mike Lupica noted, with Nadal’s win Sunday, he, Roger Federer and Djokovic have 35 major championships between them.
“If just one of the current Big 3 of tennis was an American, imagine how differently this country would look at a golden age like this”
–The Boston Bruins continued their improbable march to the Stanley Cup, completing a sweep of the Pittsburgh Penguins in taking Game 4, 1-0 in Boston. The Penguins, who led the NHL in scoring, managed just two goals and never had a lead in the four games.
And now Boston faces Chicago in a delicious final; the Blackhawks having wrapped up their series with the Kings in five on Saturday, a double-overtime victory.
–What a yawner…Palace Malice won the Belmont, giving horse racing three different winners in the Triple Crown races, exactly what the sport didn’t need. Preakness winner Oxbow was second, Derby winner Orb was third. Palace Malice had finished 12th in the Derby and skipped the Preakness.
–The U.S. defeated Jamaica 2-1 in Kingston in a World Cup qualifying match, with right back Brad Evans, making only his second start at the position, scoring his first international goal in the 92nd minute.
With two home games remaining on its June qualifying schedule, the U.S. (2-1-1) is in good positions to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
–I think we are in agreement that for most of the country, this has been a godawful spring, so golf fans are praying there is some good weather at Merion for the U.S. Open. So far it looks like the course could get a ton of rain leading up to it, including Thursday, but then OK after. Ergo, all many of us want is to finish on time, Sunday. And without a playoff.
But I do have to note two items from Open qualifying I wasn’t able to last time.
“Play golf for a lifetime, know it through generations of your family and there can and will be moments like Sam Saunders faced Monday night (June 3) at Woodmont Country Club in Rockville. ‘Oh, man,’ Saunders said, and he looked to the sky. ‘If I miss by one shot…’ He couldn’t complete the thought.
“As the sun went down, the thought was completed for him. Sectional qualifiers for the U.S. Open aren’t broadcast on network television. There are no ropes for the scant galleries. They feel casual.
“They are not casual, though, as Saunders knows well now. Everywhere he goes, for his entire life, he is Arnold Palmer’s grandson, for both good and bad. But on Monday at Woodmont, he was an any-day, every-day golfer walking off the course, ticking off regrets in his head.”
You see, while Saunders said he was more mad about his last tee shot on the 36-hole qualifier, he missed a four-inch putt. Yup…four inches. He missed it on his second hole of the afternoon round and it cost him as Saunders eventually lost in a playoff for the final spot.
But at the same event, two-time Open winner Lee Janzen (1993, 1998), arrived at the Woodmont qualifier attempting to make the tournament for the first time since 2008.
After he shot a 75 in the morning on the more difficult North course, “someone heard the click-clack of steel spikes on Woodmont’s stone walkways as Janzen strode by. Tournament officials reminded Janzen that the second of 19 bullet points in an e-mail sent to all competitors was quite clear: Steel spikes are not – and the words ‘are not’ were underlined – permitted. The final sentence of the reminder read: ‘Penalty for breach of the condition: Disqualification.’”
As of Friday, Major League Baseball had 30 games postponed this year. There were all of 21 the entire 2012 season. The Mets have had six games postponed already.
–Meanwhile, Harris English won his first PGA Tour event at the Danny Thomas/Memphis Open.
Oops….FedEx St. Jude Classic. Phil Mickelson had a T-2 heading into the Open.
—Jimmie Johnson won his 63rd Sprint Cup/NASCAR race at Pocono on Sunday, totally dominating. Like try 128 of 160 laps.
–Here’s another “Idiot of the Year” candidate…North Carolina basketball player, P.J. Hairston, the team’s leading scorer, who was arrested on a marijuana possession charge.
That’s not awful these days. But officers also seized a 9mm handgun and ammunition. That is awful.
–New Jersey is finally going to get the Formula One Grand Prix of America on the Hudson River, June 2014, owing to Leo Hindery, the former YES Network executive and retired racer who first talked of this race in October 2013.
Supposedly, Hindery has a new, 15-year contract and work is proceeding on the 3.2-mile street circuit.
So we’ll see. I hope they pull it off. I would be there.
–We note the passing of Esther Williams, 91. Williams won three gold medals at the U.S. national swimming championships in 1939 and was poised for Olympic gold, only the 1940 Olympics were canceled with the onset of World War II.
So she headed to Hollywood and from “Bathing Beauty” in 1944 to “Jupiter’s Darling” in 1955, Williams swam in Technicolor pools, lakes, lagoons and oceans, becoming a Top 10 box-office star.
MGM built a $250,000 swimming pool on Stage 30, with underwater windows, colored fountains and hydraulic lifts. It was 25 feet deep and Williams ruptured her eardrums a number of times.
“By 1952, the swimming sequences in Ms. Williams’ movies, which were often elaborate fantasies created by Busby Berkeley, had grown more and more extravagant. For that year’s ‘Million Dollar Mermaid,’ she wore 50,000 gold sequins and a golden crown. The crown was made of metal, and in a swan dive into the pool from a 50-foot platform, her head snapped back when she hit the water. The impact broke her back and she spent the next six months in a cast.”
Williams begged the studio for serious non-swimming roles, but the studio’s response was, in effect, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.”
–Give Rutgers basketball coach Eddie Jordan credit. Faced with the embarrassing revelation he had never gotten his degree from Rutgers, Jordan is out to set things right and is currently taking classes. He told ESPN.com: “It’s fun and exciting. I’m doing my work, trying to squeeze it in and get done by December or by this time next year.”
Meanwhile, it appears Julie Hermann is going to survive after the storm created by allegations she was at one time a verbally and mentally abusive coach. In her first press conference she said of her time as volleyball coach at the Univ. of Tennessee, “So that lesson of 17 years ago was honestly part of why I felt I was not only very qualified but uniquely qualified.”
Oh brother, what a jerk. Her first official day is June 17. [There’s still time….]
“A four-pound newborn baby girl is alive today due to the heroic actions of a dog in Thailand.
“The male Thai Bangkaew dog named Pui, reportedly found the child in a plastic bag discarded among trash at a roadside garbage dump in Ayutthaya, Thailand, on Monday.
“Pui carried the bag containing the baby home to his owners where he barked until he managed to get their attention and discovered the baby, the Bangkok Post reported.
“The newborn was immediately taken by the dog’s owner to a local hospital.
“After examining the baby, physicians determined the child was likely born premature at around seven and a half months….
“The baby’s overall health condition was not reported.
“Local authorities are still searching for the child’s mother, according to the Bangkok Post.
“Pui is known for routinely wandering throughout the community, said Tha Rua district chief Withit Pinnikorn.
“In a show of gratitude, Pui was given a medal from the district’s Red Cross chapter along with a brand new leather collar….
“This isn’t the first time a dog has saved a child in need in recent months.
“In March, a 3-year-old Polish girl went missing in a rural area overnight under near freezing conditions. Local firefighters discovered the girl the following morning when they followed her dog’s barks.
“The dog had reportedly remained with her the entire night, using its body heat to keep her warm.”
–North American Director of Shark Operations for Bar Chat, Bob S., passed on the story from NJNews that a 303-pound mako shark landed in Capt. Tom Rostron Jr.’s boat off Manasquan, N.J.
“At first there’s fear he’s going to kill you ‘cause his teeth are chewing everything in the boat,” said Rostron.
Rostron and Clint Simek of Brielle were in Rostron’s 31-foot sport fishing boat when said mako suddenly leaped out of the water and landed in the bow of their vessel.
“It then proceeded to eat through a broom stick, seat cushions, and the fiberglass decking before the two men were able to subdue it with a gaff and rope.”
Mr. Mako did not survive his encounter with Rostron and Simek. Rostron said the damage cost $5,000 to fix. Mr. Mako was 8-feet-4-inches long.
As Bob S. (whose territory now includes Nova Scotia and Labrador) said:
Personally, I haven’t dipped more than a toe in the ocean since 1986, the last time the Mets won the Series.
“Authorities at Yosemite National Park were searching for a 19-year-old man who was swept over the edge of Nevada Fall on Saturday afternoon.
“(John Jones…no reason for me to mention the guy’s real name) of Sacramento was witnessed swimming above the 594-foot waterfall, about 150 feet from the precipice, when a strong current swept him to the edge of the fall shortly before 3 p.m., officials said. The man, who was hiking the Mist Trail with a church group, was trying to swim to shore from a rock in the middle of the river, officials said.”
The river was flowing at “a very swift and powerful” speed – 500 cubic feet per second, according to park officials.
This happens all too frequently here. It was in 2011 that three young people from a Modesto-area church group were swept over the edge of the 317-foot Vernal Fall after climbing over a metal guardrail.
Top 3 songs for the week of 6/12/76: #1 “Silly Love Songs” (Wings…incredibly stupid…) #2 “ Get Up And Boogie (That’s Right)” (Silver Convention…talk about not aging well….eegads…) #3 “Misty Blue” (Dorothy Moore…whatever…)…and…#4 “Love Hangover” (Diana Ross…what a diva…) #5 “Happy Days” (Pratt & McClain…bored as hell of this week….assume you are…) #6 “Shannon” (Henry Gross…very high voice…kind of makes you wonder…) #7 “Sara Smile” (Daryl Hall & John Oates…finally! One of my two favorites of theirs…big slow dance in college that fall….oops, shouldn’t have said that….where’s the delete key….) #8 “Shop Around” (Captain & Tennille…I go to Dollar Tree every Thursday morning after the market opens…in case you were wondering when the best time to break into my place is….generally 9:50 AM ET, for those of you playing at home…) #9 “More, More, More” (Andrea True Connection…you know, for a Disco tune this was alright…) #10 “Fool To Cry” (The Rolling Stones…not bad…but as you know I prefer the ‘Hot Rocks’ Stones…)
Baseball Hall of Fame Quiz Answer: Birth places…
Rogers Hornsby…Winters, TX
Catfish Hunter…Hertford, NC
Reggie Jackson…Abington, PA
Harmon Killebrew…Payette, ID
Ralph Kiner…Santa Rita, NM
Mickey Mantle…Spavinaw, OK [Went to Commerce HS, Commerce, OK]
Christy Mathewson…Factoryville, PA
Willie Mays…Westfield, AL
*Can you imagine Killebrew in today’s game…adding muscle on top of his already considerable muscle with modern-day weight training? And the small parks? Good lord. It just wouldn’t be fair. [But great fun to watch.]
**So in looking up Westfield, AL, I saw this. Carlos May, Lee May, and Lee Maye were also all born in Alabama.
Why it’s Cappy Dick! Fun Facts to Know!
