If Your Birthday is August 4th...

 

...you share it with several familiar New York baseball names.  Let's start with Domingo Germán.  Back on June 28th, the Yankees righthander became the fourth pitcher in franchise history to throw a perfect game. (Ironically all four Yanks to do so have first names beginning with the letter D: as he joined Don Larsen, David Wells and David Cone.)

But his career has been a story of peaks and valleys: in 2016, Germán became the first pitcher in major league history with nine or more strikeouts and no hits allowed in his first MLB start.  He went 18-4 and seemingly claimed stardom in 2019, only to have his season end with a lengthy domestic violence suspension that also wiped out his 2020.  The Dominican native lost 10 games earlier this season for excessive stickiness.  And earlier this week, he went on the restricted list when he entered alcohol rehab.  

Cleon Jones made his Mets debut in a 1963 game at the Polo Grounds.  But he's remembered for his heroics at Shea Stadium -- especially during 1969, when he led the club in hitting, was named to his only All Star team -- and caught the final out of the Amazin's stunning World Series championship.

The Mobile, Alabama native published his memoir,  Coming Home: My Amazin' Life with the New York Mets, in 2022.

Also in our August 4th birthday circle: 
  • Roger Clemens, who won 354 games, a pair of Yankee World Series rings and a record seven Cy Young Awards — but remains shut out of the Hall of Fame from connections to PED use.
And we remember:
  • Joe Pignatano, the Brooklyn native who caught the final out of the final Dodgers game at Ebbets Field, stayed with the team and appeared in the 1959 World Series and wrapped his playing career with the 1962 Mets.  After joining Gil Hodges' coaching staff with the Senators, he followed his former teammate to New York in 1968 and remained with the Mets through 1981.
  • Kevin Collins who broke in the with the 1965 Mets as a 19-year old rookie and spent parts of six other seasons in the majors as a backup infielder.
  • Dallas Green, who managed the Phillies to their first-ever World Series championship and as Cubs GM, brought the club to its first post-World War II post/season appearance in 1984. The Delaware native managed both New York clubs, posting under-.500 records in both the Bronx (1989) and Queens (1993-'96).  He later returned to Phillies as a senior advisor to general managers Ed Wade, Pat Gillick and Ruben Amaro, Junior.
  • Jim Coates pitched in three World Series as a Yankees reliever.  1960 was his best season when he posted a 13-3 record and was named to both All Star teams.  I met him at the 2011 Pinstripe Passion collectors and autographs show in New Jersey.

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