If Your Birthday is February 18th...


 ...you share it with the shortstop who has won #18 for the Yankees and the Phillies, Didi Gregorius. Born in Amsterdam and raised in Curaçao, the son of a pitcher in Dutch pro ball, he originally signed with the Reds. After moving onto the Diamondbacks, he was traded to the Yanks in 2015, where he was handed the unenviable job of taking over for Derek Jeter at shortstop. Not only did he raise his game after moving to the Bronx, he quickly became a fan favorite. But a 2018 elbow injury that needed Tommy John surgery cut down his offensive effectiveness. Moving onto the Phillies, he enjoyed a bounceback year in 2019, but has struggled the last two seasons -- and isn't assured of a starting spot if and when the season begins.

He shares the day with a teammate:

Nick Maton showed promise during his rookie season in 2021.He got his first major league hit April 19th off Giants ace Kevin Gausman. In fact, he began his big league career hitting safely in his first six games -- including multi-hit efforts in four of them.

Also on today's cake and candles list:

  • Dal Maxvill, who played for the Cardinals in three 1960s World Series and spent 11 years (1984-'94) as the club's general manager.
  • John Mayberry smacked 255 home runs over his 15 year career; his namesake son later played for the Phillies, Blue Jays and Mets.
  • John Valentin was born on Long Island, and grew up in New Jersey -- but only came home for his final big league season with the Mets (2002) after spending a decade as a Red Sox infielder. 
And remembering:
  • Joe Gordon, the Hall of Fame 2nd baseman on five Yankee pennant winners in six years (1938-'43), before being traded to the Indians for Allie Reynolds, a deal that helped both teams. A manager after his playing days, Gordon was also involved in one of the most unique trades ever -- being swapped to the Tigers after the 1960 season for their skipper Jimmy Dykes, 


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