Players of the Week

Ben Rice (above) and James Wood (below) each smacked five home runs — while batting over .420 between July 6th and 12th -- to earn American and National League Player of the Week honors.  That's not all they have in common.  

Both hit left handed, have already topped 20 homers, are in their third MLB seasons and have become the #1 power source on their respective clubs.

Even better, both will be in Philadelphia tonight, having been named (for the first time) to the All Star Game. 

My image of Rice is from a Yankees/Orioles games this May.  I snapped Young in his AAA days, playing for the Nats top farm club Rochester in a the 2024 season opener at Syracuse.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Wayback: 70 Years Ago Today

Image
September 2nd, 1955 :  Whitey Ford takes a no-hitter into the 7th inning, while Yogi Berra adds two hits and Mickey Mantle crushes a three-run homer as the Yankees beat the Washington Senators 4-2 . It's also a big day for Billy Martin .  Back from a year and an half of active duty in the Army, the shortstop goes 2-for-4 as the Yanks stay a half-game back of the league-leading White Sox. (They would regain 1st place on the 16th and go on to their 21st American League pennant.   Martin would hit .300 over the final 22 games.) The Monument Park plaques are from a 2021 visit to Yankee Stadium.  The image of Whitey and Yogi up top is from the 2012 Old Timers Day at the Stadium.
Read more

If Your Birthday is September 5th...

Image
...you celebrate it with  Bill Mazeroski , the first player to end a World Series with a walk-off home run. 65 years ago next month, leading off the last of the 9th in game seven against the Yankees, he crushed Ralph Terry's second pitch over the left field wall, giving Pittsburgh perhaps its greatest baseball moment. A gifted defensive player with more modest offensive skills, Maz remains one of the more controversial inductees of the Hall of Fame. A statue, depicting his joyful scamper around the bases following that 1960 home run, is one of several outside PNC Park in Pittsburgh. And below,  Pablo Lopez  , who earlier this season, added his name to the nearly 170 who have played for both the Yankees and Mets. The utilityman got into 24 games for Bronx Bombers -- highlighted by driving in the go-ahead run against the Royals on June  12th,  His Mets tenure was microscopic -- he pinch ran for JD Martinez (and scored a run) in the September 1st, 2024 game against...
Read more

If Your Birthday is August 29th...

Image
  ...you share it with Anthony Recker , a "well traveled backup catcher," whose seven big league seasons included stops with the A's, Cubs, Braves and Mets -- where one of his highlights was a 13th inning homer that beat the Angels in Anaheim.  He's since built a successful second career as an analyst with MLB Network and SNY (the Mets regional network). Roy Oswalt , who won 163 games spanning the Astros, Phillies, Rangers and Rockies.  His best days came in Houston, including back-to-back 20-win seasons -- the second, 2005, marked the Astros' first trip to the World Series.
Read more