Random Images

Let's start with a pair from our "Before They Were Famous" file:  above, it's Aaron Judge in 2015, when he was working his way up the Yankees' farm system.  14 months away from graduating to the Bronx, he's wearing the pinstripes (and the interlocking NYY) for the Yanks' double-A club in Trenton, NJ.  Hats off to Judge for a superb month of May, where  he crushed 14 home runs to take over the major league lead -- and, according to ESPN state, also became the first MLB player ever to reach 35 career multi-homer games in fewer than 1,000 career games.
Below:  A year later -- and also photographed at Trenton's Arm & Hammer Stadium, say hello to Rhys Hoskins, then playing 1st base for the Reading Fightin' Phils.  After returning to the active list last Friday, he's now ready to face his former club for the first time, as his Brewers open a series at Citizens Bank Park.

Francisco Alvarez got his rehab off to a great start Thursday night... crushing an opposite field three-run, 2nd inning home against Harrisburg.  The broken thumb that needed surgery in April didn't seem to be bothering him a bit.

Jose Iglesias (below) finally got the call back to the majors.  The Mets became his seventh big league club, when they recalled him Friday to serve as their backup infielder.  Of course, got right into action, going 1-for-4 in a win over the Diamondbacks.
 

Ben Brown might have been on his way to history last Tuesday night.  After throwing seven no-hit innings -- and striking out 10 -- against the division leading Brewers, manager Cubs manager Craig Counsell pulled the rookie righty -- who had to settle for a no-decision when the bullpen couldn't hold the lead.  While the Cubs won it in 10, Brown was the story... he finished his month of May by giving up just one run in his last 18.2 innings!






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-year r
Read more

Another Yankee Trade

Image
Yankee fans: here's a last look at shortstop Trey Sweeney .  The 2021 first round draft choice was part of the three player trade with the Dodgers that brings reliever Victor Gonzalez and infield prospect Jorbit Vivas to New York. Now seeking to rebuild their pitching depth after dealing for Juan Soto and Alex Verdugo, the Yanks deemed Sweeney expendable.  While the Louisville native showed promising power in his three seasons with the organization -- he batted only .248 to go with his 36 career homers -- Brian Cashman has committed to Anthony Volpe and Oswald Peraza as his young middle infielders.  So Sweeney became a trade chip. ( My images of Trey Sweeney are from the Somerset/Binghamton AA games on July 15th and September 19th, 2023. )
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 00
Read more