If Your Birthday is April 28th...

The spotlight's on shortstops:

...you share it with Anthony Volpe.  The Yankees rookie won the starting shortstop position after outplaying Oswald Peraza in spring training.  While the suburban New Jersey product struggled as hitter for his first dozen games, he's hit his stride since moving into the lead off spot.  After all, who wouldn't want to hit with superstar Aaron Judge right behind you?  While it's a long season and nothing is written in stone, Volpe appears to have the talent and demeanor to be a middle inning mainstay in the Bronx for years to come.

Barry Larkin also got to play for the team he grew up rooting for.  In his case, his heroics carried Cincinnati native all the way to Cooperstown.  A 12-time all star and 1995 NL MVP, Larkin batted a career . 295 with 198 homers and stands as the Reds best shortstop ever.

Coming up tomorrow, the 29th, the first Venezuelan elected to the Hall of Fame.  Luis Aparicio played 10 of his 18 major league seasons at the original Comiskey Park -- noted for its colorful "exploding scoreboard."  The speedy, slick fielding shortstop was the 1956 American League Rookie of the Year -- the first of nine straight seasons where he led the AL in stolen bases. Aparicio also earned nine gold gloves en route to Cooperstown.  Along with starring for the 1959 pennant winning "Go-Go Sox," the Maracaibo native was the Orioles regular shortstop on their 1966 World Series champs.  A happy 89th to the man whose number-11 has been retired by the Sox.

Then, on Sunday the 30th...

Jose Peraza spent four years as a Reds infielder, and was a handy 2021 fill-for the Mets after they were hit by a wave of injuries.  He's back in the organization this season, a call away if needed, playing with their AAA team in Syracuse.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Rare Remnant of a Lost Ballpark

Image
When the subject of baseball in Brooklyn comes up, the discussion centers around Ebbets Field, the Flatbush venue most famously home to The Boys of Summer.  Those legendary 1940s and '50s teams that featured such historic and beloved players as Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella and Gil Hodges. Ebbets Field hosted its last major league game in 1957 and was torn down during the winter of 1960. But decades earlier, just before World War One, the Dodgers were based in the Park Slope area and played at Washington Park.  Once they moved out, the land was occupied by another stadium, which housed a different franchise.  The upstart Federal League, which played in the 1914 and '15 seasons, had a Brooklyn team called the TipTops.  Owned by a local baking magnate Robert Ward, whose company produced TipTop bread, the club took over the abandoned lot along 3rd Avenue and built a new brick and steel venue. The only no-hitter in the Federal League's two...
Read more

Will He Wear Zero in the Bronx?

Image
The Yankees bolstered their starting rotation with Thursday's signing of Marcus Stroman .  The Long Island native, who spent 2019 and '21 with the Mets before moving onto the Cubs, brings a 77-76 career record to the Bronx, along with a recent loyalty to uniform number (?) zero.  If he requests that, he'd become the third Yank to wear it, following the path of Adam Ottavino and Domingo German.  Of course, neither of their Yankee tenures ended all that well -- Ottavino struggled badly in 2020, before reviving his career with the Red Sox and Mets; German's alcohol and domestic violence issues sabotaged such Yankee highlights as last year's perfect game. Can a number truly be lucky? You can understand kids in little league or high school ball wanting to wear 2 in honor of Derek Jeter or 7 for Mickey Mantle.  But is there an heroic ballplayer associated with 0?  The closest I recall comes from pro football, where the Oakland Raiders Hall of Fame center Jim Otto wore...
Read more

Spring Training Flashbacks: Subway Series, Florida Style - 2016

Image
It's a return visit to the Mets' Florida home in Port St. Lucie, this time for a 2016 showdown with the Yankees. (Below), Joe Girardi and Brian Cashman chat during batting practice. Aaron Judge and Rob Refsnyder have their game faces on in the dugout... though neither would be in the starting lineup. (Above) A couple of Brooklyn natives that made their mark in New York baseball -- Lee Mazzilli and John Franco. (Below) Mets pitcher Josh Smoker makes friends by signing a few autographs. (Above) Mets reliever Jeurys Familia; (Below) 2nd baseman Neil Walker (Above) Curtis Granderson, one of the select few players to star for both the Yankees and Mets, getting ready for his third summer at Citi Field. (Below) Aaron Hicks came to the Yankees in a trade the previous November. 3rd baseman Chase Headley enjoying the Grapefruit League vibe, even against Mets ace Jacob deGrom. (Above) Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes watches where he hit one... so does Joe Girardi from the visitor's dugou...
Read more