If Your Birthday is June 24th...

...you share it with Phil Hughes, a top Yankees prospect of the '00s, whose career was dogged by injuries. After winning 18 in 2010, he looked like a future ace -- albeit one who gave up a lot of home runs. He posted an 88-79 record over a dozen big league seasons.

George Vukovich divided his six big league seasons between the Phillies and Indians. He never delivered the power expected from an everyday player, until his two seasons (1986-'87) in Japan.

Ken Reitz was the Cardinals regular 3rd baseman for most of the 1970s. Taking over for Joe Torre, he was especially adept at fielding grounders on the slick, fast artificial surface then used at Busch Stadium.

And we remember....

Don Mincher, a power-hitting 1st baseman best known as with the 1960s Twins, who was part of history on June 9th, 1966 -- when he was one of five Twins players to hit home runs during the 7th inning of a game against the Kansas City A's. The first time that ever happened. (The feat was matched by the 2017 Nationals against the Brewers.)

George Harper, an outfielder who struggled with the 1916-'18 Tigers, but after returning to the majors with the Reds in 1922, he became a career .300 hitter. Harper, who stood just 5'8, hit 15 or more homers six times during the "Roaring 20s." On a date without a Hall of Famer, Harper stands as the best player born on the 24th of June.

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 Street 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