If Your Birthday is May 19th...

...you share it with Pirates 1st baseman Ji-Man Choi.  Now with his fifth MLB club, does anyone recall his brief five game trial with the 2017 Yankees -- that began when he crushed a 457 foot home run in his very first game?

The Korea native is has battled injuries in recent years -- and has appeared in just nine games this season after being traded from the Rays, where I saw him last in 2021.  He's expected back from a strained achilles in about a month.

A couple of other Yankee connections on today's list: 

  • Deivi Garcia, the once-top pitching prospect whose only 2023 appearance was a three-inning relief outing that earned his first major league save.
  • And the late Gil McDougald, the versatile and talented infielder who played his entire 10-season career with the Yanks, winning the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award -- and earning five World Series runs -- before a successful second career as Fordham's baseball coach.
Then, on Saturday:

Jayson Werth, the onetime Dodger prospect whose career took off during his four years with the Phillies (2007-2010) -- where the club made the playoffs each season -- before becoming the first big-money free agent to sign with the Washington Nationals.
He's also from a three-generation baseball family. His grandfather Dick Schoefield, his uncle Ducky and his step-father Dennis Werth, all played in the big leagues.


 

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