June 29- Arizona Diamondbacks

The 2012 Major League Baseball season is hands down the craziest, most enjoyable season I have had the privilege of following. While it truly would have been spectacular to be in the stadium of all the no-hitters, perfect games and cycles hit last season, thank God I have the power of MLB.tv to help me get as close to the action as possible without leaving the comfort of my home. I realize that sentence sounded like some cheesy promotion, just bear with me. As awesome as it was to be in the MLB Fan Cave for the first two-and-a-half months of the season to watch a lot of these games, that experience laid the foundation for what ultimately became one of the greatest baseball experiences on my life.

Of all the crazy historical things to occur last season there is one experience that now sits in my top-three “All-Time Greatest MLB Moments” list which started with a handshake back on May 5, 2012. If you read my post from June 26^th you’d know about the visit in the Fan Cave from Arizona Diamondbacks pitchers JJ Putz and Patrick Corbin.

After an hour or so of shooting the breeze both Putz and Corbin said that they would probably be back the next night to hang out and watch the Jon Bones Jones UFC fight against Rashad Evans. Now, one thing I’m a bit confused about is that according to his fight stats Jones fought Evans on April 21^st, soooooo… I don’t know what the hell we watched. All I know is that Jones and his crew had stopped by the Fan Cave about a week prior to promote the fight, which makes me all that more confused.

Anyway, Putz and Corbin lived up to their word and stopped by in the evening after their 3-4 loss to the New York Mets. Not ones to let a rough day get in the way of their fun, Corbin brought friends and relatives from upstate New York with him and Putz did the same with his parents and a life-long friend named “Rooftop.” As the evening progressed with beers in hand, intense pool and skee-ball games and excellent conversation, other members of the Diamondbacks arrived as well including Willie “The Igniter” Bloomquist and Aaron Hill. Most of the night I just chilled out, nursing the same bottle of Bud Light for an hour, chatting it up with Corbin’s brother and Putz. Lindsay Guentzel (the Minnesota Twins fan) had taken the duty of showing everyone around the Fan Cave and taking photos for the executives so the rest of us had to wait until she was finished to go over and talk to Bloomquist and Hill. Around the time the main event was getting underway Hill and a friend of his were on their way out as they had just stopped to poke around. It was at this time I finally had a chance to talk to him as he had apparently been interested in talking to me since he stepped in. I was a bit confused by that at first, but it all made sense when he talked about how he had seen me on the jumbotron at Citi Field before the game as one the episodes of “Player Poll” I had done was being shown. Putz confirmed this as well as he happened to walk by Hill at the right moment. Hill then asked me a few questions about myself which I kicked off with going to the University of Oregon, hailing from the Bay Area and especially Bakersfield, California. Hill lit up immediately, “Dude! I’m from Visalia! That’s crazy!” Bakersfield and Visalia are roughly 80 miles apart from one another off of Highway 99, but are practically the same city if you’ve ever spent time in either. Hill then asked which baseball leagues I played in growing up, trying to figure out if we had played one another. As it turned out, we missed each other by a year; which also would have made for an interesting conversation seeing as I played second base growing up and he’s an All-Star second baseman. Suddenly, the urge to head out went away as we continued to gab about growing up in the armpit of California… that is until Lindsay decided to butt in. It literally went from us totally bro-ing out to Lindsay wanted everyone to take a photo for all of the executives. I’m not sure why she cut in at that moment, but it completely changed the mood rapidly. Either way, it was good to get the chance to share a few words with someone who had a similar upbringing. What I didn’t expect, besides getting kicked out of the Fan Cave, was that Hill was about to embark upon a historical journey. But first, the cap!

The Dbacks unveiled this cap back in 2007 along with the cap I wrote about on April 29^th. While the red brick cap serves as their game cap, this black model with the “A” logo serves as the home alternate cap. By this I mean that the Dbacks generally wear it on Sundays OR whenever the starting pitcher decides to roll with it for their start which also contingent upon the jersey/pant combo they elect to roll with. What’s a little disappointing about this cap is that I decided to mark it up with dates and stories despite the fact that the cap wasn’t even worn when the events took place. No matter, it’s still worthy of praise.

6/18-29/12: If there was ever a fitting bit of irony in all of 2012, June 18, 2012 was certainly a fitting day. It was the fourth game of the Northwest League season and I happened to be down in Eugene to watch the Emeralds face off against the Yakima Bears in the fourth of their five-game series. I had all ready been to Opening Day, in which I wrote my experience on June 18^th (what a coincidence!) and I rolled back down from Portland to catch this particular game with my friend Chris Crude. The main reason why I say today was filled with irony is because the then-Bears, who are now the Hillsboro Hops, are the short season-A affiliate of the Dbacks. Now, even though I was all ready at a baseball game I always take the time to check up on how things are going around the league using my MLB.tv application on my phone. One of the games on interest I had was the Dbacks versus Seattle Mariners game taking place in Phoenix. Normally I would be blacked out due to the fact that Eugene sits within Mariners territory; however, I lucked out. Here’s why.

Flashback

During my time in the Fan Cave I had won the phone during a scavenger hunt challenge set up in the first two weeks we were there. It proved to be especially useful for me as I was the only one there who didn’t have a smart phone. So, anytime I went to the bathroom or upstairs to grab a drink I always made sure to have at least one game going. The only problem was that I ran into the same issues with blackouts from time-to-time. The worst instance came when I had to give fellow University of Oregon alum and SB Nation host Dan Rubenstein a tour of the Fan Cave. During the tour, I had to keep my eyes on the Mets versus Washington Nationals game that was taking place; however, the game was blacked out due to the fact that I was standing in Mets territory. When I pointed this out to the head of business public relations for MLB Jeff Heckelman, he took it upstairs for a moment and came back with the game on the screen. Apparently Heckelman had the tech guys play with it in which one of them installed a master key, so now I never have to worry about blackouts, missing spring training games, playoff games, the World Series and the All-Star game. Tight! All I need to do is take care of it and not lose it.

Back to reality

About two weeks prior to this game Hill had almost hit for the cycle June 5^th against the Colorado Rockies, but more important, since our chance meeting Hill had been hitting well so I decided to monitor his progress, plus deep down I’ve always had a soft spot for the Dbacks and enjoy watching them. At first the only true redeeming quality of the game was that Wade Miley was taking the hill for the Dbacks, just one of the many games in which he would be lights out and build a solid case for the National League Rookie of the Year award. Despite giving up a single to Kyle Seager in the first inning, Miley dealt the rest of the way. In the bottom of the first inning Mariners pitches Hector Noesi gave up three consecutive singles to Bloomquist, Hill and Justin Upton. At the time, no one really thought much of it and the Dbacks put a few runs up on the board by the end of the inning to take a 3-0 lead.

In the bottom of the third inning Hill led off with a triple, but was then brought in to score after an Upton sacrifice fly to deep right field to take a 4-0 lead. Once again, as the inning then came to a quick close, nobody really knew what was going on.

In the bottom of the fifth inning Miley led off with a strikeout while Bloomquist fired one to second baseman Dustin Ackley. With two outs, nobody on, Hill slapped a line drive into left field which allowed him to get to second on the stand. With the single, triple and double in the books in only the fifth inning, the mood of Chase Field tensed up a little bit, despite the fact that the Dbacks were still holding onto a 4-0 lead.

As the bottom of the seventh inning loomed the Mariners decided to make a pitching change and brought in Shawn Kelley to take things over with Bloomquist leading off as the Dbacks now led 6-1. If the first batter faced was any proof of how probable it was going to be for Hill to hit for his first career cycle, then anyone who had the chance to make a bet on Hill hitting a home run to finish it out should have been made. Prior to Bloomquist’s at-bat Kelley had only given up two home runs on the year; the first was Oakland Athletics outfielder Yoenis Cespedes’s first career home run on Opening Day in Tokyo, Japan and the second was on May 8^th against Detroit Tigers first baseman Prince Fielder. In both cases it’s not like Kelley was getting teed off of by some slouch. Against Bloomquist, Kelley served up a tater right down the middle, but Bloomquist could only get it to deep center. With a little more pop in his bat, if Hill was given the same pitch, it definitely would have gone over the way. Luckily for Hill, that happened. After taking the first pitch for a strike, Hill played the next pitch as aggressive as possible, launching it over the left field wall, becoming the fifth player in Dbacks history to hit for the cycle and the second player in MLB on the season to pull it off; the first being Mets outfielder Scott Hairston.

After Hill hit the double I began tweeting up a storm, mostly focusing on how had he hit the double he needed against the Rockies on June 5^th he would have been the third player in MLB history to hit for the cycle twice in a season. Once again, the irony of this day, and especially this tweet, were about to come back in a big way.

On June 28, 2012 I was laying in bed watching baseball on my computer as I had just gotten back from a three-day road trip in Seattle to watch the Athletics play the Mariners along with my friend, and 2013 Fan Cave hopeful Tommy Bentley (@RealTomBentley). Due to my fatigue level I was kind of in-and-out of the Dbacks game as they were playing the Milwaukee Brewers on the road. I don’t remember too much about the other three games I had going at the same time, but as the Dbacks game progressed I ended up closing the other screens out.

Just like the game on June 18^th (2012), Hill batted in the two-hole behind Bloomquist who ended up grounding out in his first at-bat against Brewers pitcher Randy Wolf. With a called strike against him, Hill mashed a hard liner into left field which bounced over the wall for a ground rule double. Aside from putting himself in scoring position, the hit also turned out to be the 1,000^th of his career. Upton and Jason Kubel followed Hill by both striking out looking, marooning Hill on second base to close out the first. Once again, no one really paid much attention.

In the top of the third inning “The Igniter” led off with a double which was then followed up with a bloop single just over the head of Brewers second baseman Rickie Weeks and into centerfield by Hill. Hill then stole second base before Upton roped a single himself, scoring Bloomquist from and pushing Hill to third. After that, the floodgates opened as the Dbacks ended the inning with a 6-1 lead. With a double and a single in the bag, plus a five-run lead, very few gave much though to Hill, once again, despite the fact that he still had a solid amount of at-bats left in the game.

In the top of the fourth Dbacks starting pitcher Ian Kennedy struck out looking to lead off while Bloomquist reached on an error by Weeks. Not being the one to waste pitches, Hill took the first for a strike and then exploded upon the second. Hill sent a screamer to deep left field to not only put his team up by seven runs, but also got the social media world jibber-jabbing about how he still had five more innings to lock up a triple. Not since Babe Herman of the Brooklyn Robins in 1931 had a player hit for the cycle twice in one season, and not since John Reilly in 1883 had someone done it in games so close together.

In the top of the sixth inning catcher Henry Blanco and Kennedy both recorded outs. Bloomquist then legged out a slow rolling single to short, which paved the way for all of the eyes of the baseball world to be focused on Hill. Livan Hernandez had replaced Tim Dillard at the top of the inning who in turn had replaced Wolf at the top of the fifth. Hernandez started off by throwing two consecutive balls, none of which Hill wanted a piece of. As Hernandez let the third pitch go (a changeup) Hill dipped his head down after making contact as if he thought it was a pop out. Nope! The ball actually had a decent amount of speed behind it and as soon as Hill saw it drop into play he kicked his run into third gear. Morgan got to the ball slowly, which rolled to the wall as he figured Hill was going to holdup for a double. Nope! Weeks caught the cutoff throw and fired it slightly offline to the waiting Aramis Ramirez at third base… too late. Hill dug it out like a champion and slid his way into the record books when he touched (and stayed) on third base. A fair amount of Brewers fans applauded Hill for his effort, which was a bit classy on their part. Not too bad of an achievement for a kid from Visalia, California who went home with two balls in his pocket. You know, one for hit #1000 and the other for the double cycle. What were you thinking? Video

#46- Patrick Corbin was especially a treat to meet, but even weirder is that he looks almost identical to my U of O roommate Lyle Birkey, just a bit taller See..

Somewhat unknown last season, Corbin was drafted by the Los Angeles Angels in the second round of the 2009 amateur draft only to be traded to the Dbacks on July 25, 2010 along with Rafael Rodriguez, Joe Saunders, a player to be named later (Tyler Skaggs) in exchange for Dan Haren… who I look nothing like.

From then until the end of the 2011 season Corbin muscled his way through the minor league system, posting solid numbers while playing with the Rookie League Orem Owlz, intermediate-A Cedar Rapids Kernels, advanced-A Visalia Rawhide and Rancho Cucamonga Quakes and the AA Mobile Bears plus a brief stint with the AAA Reno Aces before making his Major League debut on April 30, 2012 against the Miami Marlins. Corbin got tagged for three earned runs in that first game, also allowing eight hits and three walks, but he struck out six and received the win for his efforts.

For the rest of the season Corbin had his highs and his lows, but in every case he stuck through it and didn’t make excuses. After the game on May 5^th against the Mets Corbin, his brother and I got into a bit of a discussion in regard to his performance that day. He was pulled after 83 pitches after going 3 1/3 innings and only allowing two runs. Despite the high pitch count it was a situation that his brother and I felt he should have been allowed to attempt to get himself out of. For being a first-year pitcher, sometimes you have to take the lumps in order to know how to correct your mistakes down the road; a lesson in baseball that isn’t much different from real life. Corbin finished the 2012 campaign with a record of 6-8 with a 4.54 ERA in 17 games started. Like I said, it had its ups and downs, but in the end it all proved to be an eye-opener for Corbin’s 2013 effort… which has gone by rather smoothly.

So far this season (as of July 28, 2013), Corbin is on pace to potentially win the National League Cy Young award with a 12-2 record, 2.24 ERA, 123 strikeouts and a .991 WHIP. That’s one hell of a turnaround! Not to mention the fact that the Dbacks are hanging tough in the NL West and looking to secure their sixth trip to the postseason since the team’s inaugural year in 1998. Lord knows I bet on them to do it. Here’s to hoping I’m not as crazy as I look.

June 19- Tampa Bay Devil Rays

I’m still trying to figure out how it’s possible that I own so many Tampa Bay Devil Rays hats at which none of them were actually used on the field. Today marks the third time I’ve written about a Devil Rays cap which was custom made to look like a game-worn cap, but features slight differences to prove its dismissal. The other two caps I wrote about on January 8^th and almost two weeks ago on June 7^th. Both of these caps feature the same logo on the front as this one, the slightly off-center “TB” with the upward moving Devil Ray, but the main differences in each cap came in the form of the bill color or the overall penal and bill color combination. I realize all of this sounds way more complicated than it should, but it’s just the way it is. This particular logo was actually used on the team’s caps from 1999-2000; however, the cap itself featured black panels and a black bill. This cap is a combination of those two years’ caps, according to the panels and logo; however, the purple bill was only used for their home caps during their inaugural season in 1998 on this cap which I wrote about on February 28^th. So in a nut shell, this cap is a combination of the first three years in the history of the Devil Rays. Whew! Now that we have that settled, let’s move on.

I picked this fancy little number up in Union Square in Manhattan on May 7th during my time in the MLB Fan Cave. We had gotten a three-hour break in between games after a short visit from current Beach Boys members Mike Love and Bruce Johnston. Love, if you didn’t know, is the uncle of Minnesota Timberwolves power forward and Oregon-born Kevin Love. Love didn’t say much during the 35 minutes or so that they were there, but Johnston was a gas. For as old as he is the man was full of energy. He told us stories of past tours after he took over at bass in 1965 with the departure of Glen Campbell. Johnston then left the group in 1972 to embark upon a successful solo career. What’s most interesting about this time period is that Johnston won a Grammy award for “Song of the Year” in 1977.

Flashback

In 2011 my roommate at the University of Oregon and I went to Magic Mountain in Valencia, California the day before the Ducks had won the Rose Bowl over the University of Wisconsin Badgers. One of the most popular ides featured is a ridiculous roller coaster called X2. It’s hard to describe its awesomeness so I just suggest you go check it out. One of the perks of waiting in line for over an hour it was that there was a guy kicking it in the middle of the line barriers tossing out trivia questions while we waited. No prizes were awarded, but it was a great way to keep your mind off the lull. For a good 25 minutes while Jared and I were waiting I answered all but one of the questions right, and we’re talking out of about 40 or 50 questions. The topics varied, but I knew my stuff. One of the questions that I only knew was, “What’s the name of the resort that Zak Morris and his friends from “Saved by the Bell” worked at?” The answer: Malibu Sands Beach Club. It also haled that I knew the name of the owner, Leon Carosi, and his daughter Stacey’s names. What’s the point of this tangent you may be thinking? The last question he asked was, “What is the name of the “ironic” sing that Barry Manilow won a Grammy for in 1977, but didn’t write?” As soon as he asked this question he thought he stumped me… until I said, “I Write the Songs.” And then I followed it up with, “Yah, it was written by Bruce Johnston of the Beach Boys.” After I let that out the quiz master then said, “Well, on that note I’m going on break.”

Back to the Story

While we were giving Johnston and Love a tour around that song came up in the discussion. It was actually proposed as more of a question from Johnston to see if any of knew what he was talking about. This is when I chimed in with the song title, the artist who got famous for it, what awards he won from it, etc. Johnston was rather blown away by the fact that someone as young as me knew, not only who he was, but so much about his career. This is when I explained to him that I had taken A LOT of music history courses, not to mention, studied a lot of this stuff on my own. This of course was all made better by the fact that my fellow Cave Dwellers and I had no clue they were coming in. I admit it. I get nerdy on occasion.

After they left we were free to mill about. I opted to catch the N train down to Union Station where the largest Lids in the city is located, all the while listening to “Pet Sounds” on my IPod. I had been there a few times before, every visiting pretty much entailing that I would be leaving with somewhere between five and 11 hats. I mean, when you look at a wall like this you just know you’ll find something that you need, especially if you’re an ardent New Era Cap collector like myself.

It wasn’t until I got back to the Fan Cave that I realized I had made a “mistake” in purchasing this cap. I don’t have anything against it; it’s just that I had mistaken the 1998 home cap for this one. I’m a little bit of a stickler when it comes to game style caps is all, but I do really enjoy this one. As for the marks, I had to keep it within the realm of when it could have been used if it were.

#13- Very few really remember this guy playing for the Devil Rays, but he did from 1998-2000. Miguel Cairo was originally signed as a free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers at the age of 16 in 1990, although he didn’t make his Major League debut until April 17, 1996 with the Toronto Blue Jays where he only played in nine games that season. On November 20, 1996, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in exchange for minor leaguer Jason Stevenson. Cairo spent most of the 1997 season with the AAA Iowa Cubs, where he hit .279 in 135 games and was selected to the American Association All-Star team. He also appeared in 16 games for the Cubs and had 7 hits in 29 at-bats (.241).

Having not played in very many games Cairo was not added to the Cubs’ protected list for the upcoming expansion draft, which would help the incoming Devil Rays and Arizona Diamondbacks fill their rosters and minor league affiliates. The Devil Rays selected Cairo with the eighth overall pick. He hit his first home run on April 28, 1998 off of Mike Oquist of the Oakland Athletics. Cairo had a pretty decent three years in Tampa. He hit .275 with 373 hits, 69 stolen bases and 116 RBI in 389 games before getting singed by the Athletics after his he became a free agent, but was ultimately traded back to the Cubs for Eric Hinske just a few days away from the start of the 2001 season.

#39- A bit of a journeyman after the 1997 season, Roberto Hernandez found his way onto the Devil Rays as one of the few free agents they decided to sign going into their inaugural season. One thing I should first point out is that this is not the same Roberto Hernandez, formerly Fausto Carmona, who currently pitches for the Rays. This Hernandez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in New York City. He was taken with the 16^th overall pick by the California Angels in the 1986 amateur draft out of the University of Connecticut. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1989. In 1991, while pitching for the Vancouver Canadians of the Pacific Coast League, Hernandez experienced numbness in his pitching hand, later determined to be caused by blood clots. He was rushed into emergency surgery to have veins transplanted from his inner thigh to his forearm. The surgery was successful and he went on to make his major league debut as a starting pitcher against the Kansas City Royals on September 2 of that year.

Hernandez had a long and largely successful career as a relief pitcher in the major leagues. In 1993 he was instrumental in the White Sox' drive for the American League West Division pennant, going 2–1 with 21 saves in the second half of the season. He made four appearances in the American League Championship Series that year and pitched four scoreless innings.
In 1997, Hernandez was traded to the San Francisco Giants as part of a nine-player deal and appeared in all three games of the National League Division Series against the Florida Marlins. After the season, he signed as a free agent with the Devil Rays. In 1999, he earned his career-high of 43 saves which is also a Devil Rays team record. His 43 saves were for a team that only won 69 games overall.
His performance level declined after being traded to the Kansas City Royals prior to the 2001 season. Since then, he has signed as a free agent with the Atlanta Braves in 2003, the Philadelphia Phillies in 2004 and the New York Mets in 2005. After 2002, he moved from being a closer to being a setup man, in which role he has generally flourished. He signed a one-year contract with the Pittsburgh Pirates for the 2006 season. On July 31, 2006, Hernandez was reacquired by the Mets along with pitcher Oliver Perez for outfielder Xavier Nady.
On December 2, 2006, Hernandez signed a one-year, $3.5 million contract with the Cleveland Indians for the 2007 season with a $3.7 million club option for 2008. Coming out of spring training, he and Rafael Betancourt were the Indians' primary right-handed eighth-inning relievers. But Hernandez pitched poorly over the first three months of the season (6.23 ERA in 28 games) and eventually lost the confidence of manager Eric Wedge. He was designated for assignment June 20 and waived for the purposes of giving him his unconditional release June 28. Hernandez was signed to a minor league contract by the Los Angeles Dodgers on July 7, 2007 and, after pitching in one game for the Triple-A Las Vegas 51s, was recalled to the Dodgers on July 18.
On August 16, 2007, Hernandez appeared in his 1000th game against the Houston Astros. He became the 11th pitcher in major league baseball history to appear in 1000 career games. Hernandez made two All-Star Game rosters; the first in 1996 with the White Sox and the second in 1999 with the Devil Rays. In both of those seasons Hernandez cracked the top-10 in voting for the AL Cy Young award as well; the only times he ever made the lists.

June 17- St. Louis Cardinals

Somewhere in my quest to write about and publish stories that took place on their actual date for this New Era Cap blog I really fell off the wagon with this hat. For some crazy reason I thought the original idea I had for this post took place much later in the season, around the end of August/early September, but boy was I wrong. In fact, I should have written about this cap on June 3^rd if I was going to be accurate about things, yet here we are on June 17^th, a little over two weeks late. Damn it! So with that, I have two stories for you. The first of which is a personal story and the second is one that took place on a much earlier date and really should have been my main focus as it has to do with two records which may never be broken. But first, the hat.

I picked this St. Louis Cardinals cap up from the Lids in Eugene, Oregon in June of 2010. I’ve always fancied navy blue and figured it would be the best option for my collection as, at the time, I only set out to acquire one cap per team. The Cardinals first introduced this cap in 1992 as a throwback to the hat I wrote about on May 1^st, but instead this one featured the same-sized “STL” logo on their current game caps. From 1992 through the present the Cardinals have worn this cap for all of their road games while occasionally adopting a third cap which I will cover later in the year. What’s really coincidental about both of my stories is that, not only did they both take place on the road; they both took place in the same stadium. What are the odds?

As I mentioned above my first story takes place on June 3^rd, 1998 on a warm spring day in Los Angeles at Dodger Stadium. If you read my post from yesterday you might remember that I had mentioned that the last game my father and I had gone to prior to 2011 took place in 1998. Well, this is that game. I was a few days away from completing my freshman year of high school at Centennial High School in Bakersfield, California when my father decided to pull me out of my Spanish class for a special trip. As we drove home he let me know that I needed to change into something nice as he was taking me on a business trip with him, so I had to look somewhat presentable. I grabbed some slacks and a nice shirt, which met his standards, and we jumped in the car without him letting me know what where we were going. As we pulled onto Highway 99 he reached into his pocket and pulled out tickets to that night’s Cardinals versus Dodgers game. I thought it was an awesome surprise, but unfortunately there was one thing that I was disappointed about that my father knew as well, Mark McGwire wasn’t playing that night. Talk about the worst luck in the world; throughout the entire 1998 season McGwire played in 155 of the possible 162 regular season games. Three of the seven games he missed that season took place during their series against the Dodgers in LA. At that point in the season McGwire was at 27 of his eventual season record-breaking 70 home runs. Just imagine what he would have finished at had he played in those seven, let alone three games.

Anyway, my father was working for Southern California Gas Co. at the time, in between his tenures with Pacific Gas & Electric. One of his jobs was to entertain and bring in new clients. Most of the time it involved long afternoons of golf at fancy clubs, but in this case it involved baseball, my specialty. We somehow didn’t get caught up in a great deal of traffic on the way down and we pulled into Chavez Ravine about two-and-a-half hours before the game started as my father had access to “The Stadium Club,” the semi-fancy restaurant which sits near the first base side foul pole. My dad’s client and his son met up with us there and we enjoyed a ridiculously amazing meal before the game started. Everything is set up buffet-style, which features a mountain (not an exaggeration) of Dodger Dogs as the centerpiece. Needless to say, even after I got my fill I still stuffed my pockets with as many Dodger Dogs as I could. The other thing that stuck out to me was that the Dodgers were playing Game 1 of the NBA Finals (Utah Jazz versus Chicago Bulls) on the jumbotron throughout batting practice, which should have featured McGwire hitting dingers, but no dice.

About 35 minutes before game time we headed down to our seats… which were third base side, four rows up from the field and about 15 yards to the left of the dugout. It was pretty ridiculous. The people who had seats to the left and right of us didn’t show up until around the second inning, and that was the moment when I realized how much crazier the night was going to be. To our left sat Dan Lungren and his wife Bobbi. Who is Dan Lungren you might be asking? Well, if you’re not from California I don’t expect you to know, but if you are, and don’t know then shame on you. Lungren was the Attorney General of California at the time and had been serving at that position since 1991. In ’98 however, he ran for governor as the Republican representative, but lost to Democrat Gray Davis, who was then recalled in favor of Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2003. Funning thing about the Davis recall is that he is only the second governor to have that happen, the first being Lynn Frazier of North Dakota… in 1921. From what I remember Lungren was a nice guy. We chatted a little bit about baseball, but nothing too memorable outside of little trivia tidbits and such. I think he was more focused on the “of age” voters that sat around him instead. The person sitting to our right left me in a slight state of shock when he sat down, but I made sure to keep my mouth shut and not make an ass out of myself. That person? Billy Zane. 

Rather interesting timing on that one too as “Titanic” had been released just six months prior, but was still kicking ass in theaters, so it’s not like there was anyway I didn’t know who he was, even though I was familiar with his other body of work including “Dead Calm,” “Sniper,” “Demon Knight,” “The Phantom” and of course the “Back to the Future” trilogy. Three things that I swear happened that I wasn’t expecting:

1. He was more than willing to chat it up with me about “Demon Knight” as I’m a huge “Tales from the Crypt” fan.

2. He shared his package of Starburst with me.

3. He laughed his ass off when my dad’s client’s kid asked the ball boy Freddie for a ball, which was rejected, to which I shouted, “Son! We can do this the easy way or the hard way,” in a slight southern accent. Not only was it Zane’s most memorable line from “Back to the Future II,” but it also got Freddie to toss me a ball.

To be honest, the game itself wasn’t entirely memorable other than the fact that Dodgers’ pitcher Ramon Hernandez, Pedro’s brother, pitched a solid seven innings with six strikeouts for the win, and of all the players on the Cardinals to step up and get a home run it was almost 40-year-old Gary Gaetti who took Antonio Osuna deep in the ninth inning. Oh, and Eric Karros had a decent 4-5 game with a home run, but that was standard for Karros back in those days. The Dodgers won 7-4 and as sure as the sun does rise, McGwire knocked #28 in the first game after the series with the Dodgers ended. My dad and I were both a bit heated after that one.

Now, onto the real story…

4/23/1999: It was Game 15 of the Major League Baseball season and the Cardinals were sitting in first place in the National League Central Division. McGwire had done his home run thing the season before as I mentioned above, but the Cardinals didn’t come anywhere near making the playoffs that year. This season then-manager Tony LaRussa wasn’t going to settle for an early offseason.

At the trade deadline of 1998 (July 31) the Cardinals made a deal with the Texas Rangers which sent shortstop Royce Clayton and pitcher Todd Stottlemyre to Arlington in exchange for outfielder Mark Little, relief pitcher Darren Oliver and an up-and-coming third baseman by the name of Fernando Tatis. One of the more ironic parts of this story is that Tatis was the replacement for Gaetti who was dealt to the Cubs shortly after the arrival of Tatis.

At 17-years-old Tatis was signed as a free agent by the Rangers in 1992, but didn’t start playing in the Rangers’ circuit until 1994. For three-and-a-half seasons Tatis bummed around the minors, doing a pretty solid job at that. From 1994-1997 Tatis played at every level from Rookie League in the Gulf Coast League through AAA Tulsa with the Drillers, batting .309 with 57 home runs, 24 of which came in AAA. On July 26, 1997 Tatis made his MLB debut as the starting third baseman against the Chicago White Sox in a 4-1 victory. Tatis went 1-4 with a single and RBI that game. From then on, he was the man at the hot corner.

When Tatis joined the Cardinals in 1998 he started off a little slow, but turned on the offense during his fifth and sixth games with the club as he went 3-5 and 3-6 respectively during a three-game sweep of their division rival the Chicago Cubs. For the rest of the year Tatis hit .287 with eight home runs and 26 RBI to bring his season total to .270 with 11 home runs and 58 RBI. Even though he put up decent numbers in his first full season, Tatis wasn’t even considered for the American League or NL Rookie of the Year award that season. Shame!

With 1999 just around the corner Tatis was given the full-time job at third base, which would end up being his first full season in the Majors with one team. In some cases players have been known to crumble under the pressure; however, Tatis was not one of those players. Leading up to April 23^rd Tatis was hitting a modest .250 with four home runs and 11 RBI. The most notable stat to look at is how he started the first three games of the season off with a home run, just like McGwire had done the previous season. But here we are; a shade over two weeks into the season and Tatis’s bat had leveled out… or so everyone thought.

Chan Ho Park was on the mound for the Dodgers that night. He was 1-1 on the season with a 5.29 ERA in three starts. Not exactly stellar after coming off of a 15-9 record with a 3.71 ERA the previous season, but still decent nonetheless.  Park pitched well, if you want to call it that, in the first two innings as the Dodgers built a 2-0 lead off of Cardinals’ pitcher Jose Jimenez. Despite not scoring the Cardinals bats were discovering Park’s weaknesses early as he gave up a few early hits and walks, but not a single run as of yet. As the top of the third inning begun Park did his best to prepare for the worst outing of his career.

Cardinals’ right fielder Darren Bragg kicked things off with a single, which was then followed by a Edgar Renteria hit-by-pitch and then another single by McGwire in which Bragg did not advance past third. One thing that should be noted here is that McGwire was batting in the three-hole, not the cleanup spot like a guy of his stature should be hitting in. That night cleanup duty went to Tatis. The first two pitches Park threw went in for balls. In most cases this early in the game most batters would bother swinging at the next pitch unless it was served up to them. This was one of those cases. Tatis swung with all of his might and lodged a ball over the left field wall to give the Cardinals a 4-2 lead. As it turned out, this would be Tatis’s first career grand slam.

Despite the early rattle Dodgers’ manager Davey Johnson elected to keep Park in the game. Not only that, he kept him in through a solo home run by catcher Eli Marrero, two walks to follow, a bunt single, a reach on error to Bragg which scored a run, a RBI-single to Renteria and a flyout by McGwire. Prior to Marrero’s solo shot JD Drew had grounded out. So now, with two outs, the bases loaded yet again, up walked the cleanup hitter Tatis with a 7-2 lead having all ready hit a grand slam off of the pitcher he had all ready faced eight batters prior. You would think at this point Johnson would have pulled Park for a long reliever. Nope! Tatis battled this time around, getting to count to 3-2. As Park threw the payoff pitch Tatis, a hanging breaking ball, Tatis unloaded, knocking the ball over the left field wall once again, becoming the first player in MLB history to record eight RBI in one inning, not to mention the first player in MLB history to hit two grand slams in one inning. One the more comical inverse, Park became the only pitcher in MLB history to give up two grand slams in one inning. Johnson finally wised up and pulled Park out immediately afterward.

For the rest of the 1999 season Tatis went on to have the best season of his career, batting .298 with 34 home runs, 107 RBI and 21 stolen bases. The most unusual part about all of this is that Tatis didn’t receive a single vote for NL MVP that season, which ultimately went to Atlanta Braves third baseman Chipper Jones. Even though Tatis was dealing with stiff competition that season, he was still hosed for even the slightest bit of recognition for what he was able to accomplish that season. I guess on the bright side he’ll always be able say that he made history.

June 3- Indianapolis Indians

If there’s one thing I’ve taken comfort in over the years, it’s certainly baseball. Whether it’s at the professional level, collegiate, high school or even the occasional Little League game I can be as happy as a clam in the seats. I’ve learned rather quickly that anything can happen at the most random of times in a baseball game, not necessarily life-altering, but merely something I may never see again within the confines of the diamond. One moment in particular I wrote about on April 22^nd. I was attending the Little League game of a friend of mine’s son Robert in New York City when he had a blooper hit to him just behind the pitchers mound which he caught and then proceeded to tag second and first base to complete and unassisted triple play. That’s right; an eight-year-old pulled that off. Since then, everything has looked rather pedestrian. Kidding of course. But seriously, one should not take the professional game for granted, even just the Major League level, because it’s when you don’t pay attention to the smaller teams and leagues magical things can happened.

A few weeks ago I bought this hat off of the Lids Web site after running across a truly amazing stat within the team’s history… but I’ll get to that later in this piece. This cap was introduced at the start of the 1993 season by the Indianapolis Indians. It's also a little funny that I would be buying this cap considering the fact that Lids is based out of Indianapolis, Indiana. Hmmmm... The Indians are a AAA team in the International League whose Major League affiliate at the time was, you guessed it… the Cincinnati Reds. Wait! Wait a sec… the Reds? Yes, with a name like the Indians one can’t help think of the OTHER Ohio-based MLB franchise. “How did this come to be?” you may be asking your self. Well…

Professional baseball was first played in Indianapolis in 1877. After 15 years of various franchises competing in various leagues (including four years in the National League and one year in the American Association), the current Indianapolis Indians franchise was founded as an original member of the American Association in 1902. That year's team won 95 games, and the first of 21 pennants.

The ballclub played its early seasons at several ballparks, including two on Washington Street, before Norm Perry, who took ownership of the team in 1929, built a new stadium on 16th Street in 1931. He named the park Perry Stadium in honor of his brother James who had been killed in a plane crash. That ballpark, which was renamed Victory Field in 1942 and Bush Stadium in 1967, remained the Tribe's home until July 1996, where they still play today. They are currently on their eighth team of affiliation, the Pittsburgh Pirates. Prior to that they were the Boston Braves (1946-1947), Cleveland Indians (1952-1956), Philadelphia Phillies (1960), Chicago White Sox (1957-1959, 1962-1967), Montreal Expos (1984-1992), Reds (1939-1941, 1961, 1968-1983, 1993-1999), Milwaukee Brewers (2000-2004) and now again the Pirates (1948-1951 and 2005 to the present). In their 111-year history the Indians have won seven class titles, 10 League titles and 23 division titles. Their most recent International League title came in 2000 behind the likes of Ben Sheets and Marco Scutaro.

As I was saying above, this hat was first introduced in 1993, an interesting move which has been known be more of a curse to the team than a blessing. In this case, the changes were rather dramatic. In 1992, the final season the Indians had under the Expos, their uniforms looked like this…

They were basically Expos uniforms and Expos hats except with an “I” as opposed to the multi-colored “M.” And yes, I really want that hat. When 1993 rolled around and the Reds become the parent clubs of the Indians, uniform changes were desperately in order as to look more like the Major League club and not of the team who just left town. Thus, these were born…

The Indians have elected to keep the logo and colors going for the last 20 years, which is pretty smart considering how unique the logo is. Although, this logo from 1969 would make for a pretty awesome cap nowadays, even for just a “turn back the clock night.”

Indianapolis is a rather interesting city. I used to go there once or twice the years with my father to watch Reggie Miller and the Indiana Pacers play back in their heyday. Victory Field sits only a few blocks away from the RCA Dome, where the Indianapolis Colts play, and only a few more blocks away from Bankers Life Fieldhouse (formerly Conseco Fieldhouse) where the Pacers play. My dad and I drove by Victory Field numerous times during our stays, but it was never during baseball season. I hope to get back there again some day soon. I would love to catch a game.

When coming up with a mark for this cap there was only one thing that made sense.

5/20/1998: In my introductory paragraph I talked about magical moments that seldom happen, and if you don’t pay attention, you could miss it. On May 20, 1998, one of those moments occurred, and it’s only happened twice ever during a professional game.

Now, I would love more than anything to stretch this into an amazing story; however, I am unable to. I scoured the internet for hours over the last few days and came up with nothing but cold trails. I even took to the Indianapolis Star’s Web site to go through the archives for the newspaper from May 21, 1998, the one that would have the boxscore from the game as that’s all I really need. Unfortunately, I have to pay $3.95 to be able to look at it. I mean, I’m all for supporting newspapers, but not that much for what I need. So I apologize for being frugal and not being able to give you a more in-depth story, but I’ll give you a story nonetheless.

Based on what I’m seeing the Indians were at home against the Pawtucket Red Sox. It also doesn’t say who the pitcher for the Red Sox was; however, based on the stat sheet on Baseball-Reference.com I can safely assume that it was Jim Farrell, Peter Munro, Brian Barkley or Brian Rose based on their ERAs and home runs allowed. Now, one thing I do know is that all of this takes place during the fifth inning which is how I deduced my conclusion. Indianapolis players hit for a "Homer Cycle". Pete Rose, Jr. opens the inning with a solo home run, Jason Williams connected for a 3–run shot, Glenn Murray slugged a grand slam, and Guillermo Garcia finishes the scoring with a 2–run blast. The Indians won the game 11–4. Like I said, amazing stuff. This was the only time during a professional game that, not only did the team complete the home run cycle in one inning, but they hit for it in general. Only one other time has a home run cycle ever occurred, but that story will have to wait for another night.

One thing that I should point out, which may be a valid reason as the why most people don’t know about this stat, is because of the timing. In 1998 the internet was still in its early going process in the average American home. On top of that, news from a Minor League game was not exactly worthy of national attention, even something like this. In most cases there would be a brief blurb in the local paper; however, that means it would have been printed on May 21, 1998, the day after it occurred. I don’t know how it was how it was where you live, but on that day there was only one headline grabbing national attention, and then took place in Thurston, Oregon, about 10 miles east of Eugene. A boy named Kip Kinkle had been expelled from school the previous day for carrying a gun in his backpack to class. After senselessly murdering his parents he went to Thurston High School and unloaded his carnage up the student body killing two and injuring 20. I was living and going to high school in Bakersfield, California at the time, but it was still chilling to see. Baseball at the time just didn’t matter, and the stat faded into the record books unnoticed by many.

I didn’t move to Oregon until I was 17-years-old in 2000. Between 2005 and 2007 I worked for Just Sports (@JustSportsPDX) as a store manager in Woodburn, the same town where Kinkle is serving a 112-year sentence in a youth detention facility. I moved to Eugene in 2007 and worked for a soccer shop in 2008. Around Memorial Day of that year I had to work the sales tent during a soccer tournament at Thurston High School. For the first few hours of the day I didn’t really think much of it. In fact, I didn’t even remember what had taken place. I overheard someone talking about in passing and a chill ran up my spine. Once you know you’re in a place where something tragic happened the feeling never seems to go away.

UPDATE (5/16/14): Today my lovely girlfriend Angie and I decided to venture out near our apartment to try and find a new bar we can call home. Since we moved here at the beginning of February we had hit quite a few places up on the east side of the I-580 freeway in the Lake Merritt area, but tonight we opted to hit up the west side. As luck would have it, we found our new public house. The bar is called Portal, and they offer a great assortment of beer and food during happy hour, not to mention their lunch and dinner menu is out of this world as well. As we sat at the bar, enjoying the assortment of delectables they had to offer, we watched the Oakland Athletics game as they took on the Cleveland Indians at Progressive Field in Cleveland. We missed the Athletics' first time at the plate but were soon "treated" to Indians' first baseman Nick Swisher's solo home run off of Athletics' pitcher Sonny Gray to draw first blood. Even though it was only one run, Angie and I both felt that this might be how the night goes for the A's. Needless to say, we were wrong. 

In the bottom of the second inning with the bases full of Athletics, outfielder Josh Reddick teed off on Indians' pitcher Zach McAllister for his second career grand slam. Not too long after that Athletics' third baseman Josh Donaldson took McAllister yard for a three-run home run. That closed the book on McAllister. In the bottom of the third inning Athletics' shortstop Jed Lowrie crushed a solo home run off of Indians' relief pitcher Kyle Crockett (no relation to Don Johnson's character on "Miami Vice") and then finally in the seventh inning Reddick hit his second home run of the night off of Indian's relief pitcher Carlos Carrasco, a two-run shot making the Athletics the first team in Major League history to hit for the home run cycle. As happy as I was and how cool historically as this is, I found myself thinking about one unusual coincidence immediately after Reddick went yard for the second time, the school shooting at Thurston High School. 

The reason why this is so unusual, at least in my mind, is because a few years after the shooting (2004) Oakland Athletics' pitcher Dan Straily's family moved to Springfield during Dan's junior year. And, as fate would have it, Straily attended Thurston High School for the remainder of his high school years. No other player before or after Straily time at Thurston has gone on to play in the Majors. It's also a bit strange that even though both games took place 16 years apart, the game date was a difference of four days. It's a very unusual connection amongst the three points in history, but a connection nonetheless. 

June 1- Chicago White Sox

This is the first and hopefully only post where my finances prevent me from writing a particular story about a specific hat on the day that I intend. I really have no one else to blame but myself on this one. I had been meaning to pick this cap up some time last year, but kept putting it off over and over again until it finally swam up and bit me in the ass. In my head I sounded like Richard Dreyfus in “Jaws” when I said that last bit. I finally DID pick this cap up; I got it off of the Lids Web site some time around the end of April and got it in the mail on May 6^th. And yet, even getting it two days before the intended date, I somehow managed to completely forget about what I had intended, let alone what I had marked up on my cap. Needless to say, I was pounding my head against a wall in the days to follow.

Now that I have you attention, let me tell you a little bit about this cap. Don’t worry; the epic story is not too far away. The Chicago White Sox, as you’ll learn throughout the year, are one of the more notorious teams in Major League Baseball history to make changes to their hats and uniforms on a four-to-five year basis. On this occasion I present to you their home cap used from 1982-1986. In the spirit of the 80s this is the first time the White Sox introduced a rather unorthodox-looking logo, which happens to be my favorite of all-time; the robotic version on the MLB logo.

I wrote about a similar hat back on April 4^th; however, the biggest difference between that cap and this one is that this is an actual game used cap. The other awesome feature about this time frame is that this is when the White Sox starting printing the players’ numbers on the left hip of the pants. I think the most unusual part of all of this is that this all came right as soon as the Jerry Reinsdorf legacy was just getting started. I say this because Reinsdorf is a very business savvy guy and doesn’t come off as someone who makes a lot of changes to a successful product. Well, unless it benefits him that is. Here’s the story behind his ownership for starters.

Former owner Bill Veeck and his partners sold the White Sox to Reinsdorf, a real-estate developer who owns the Chicago Bulls, and Eddie Einhorn, a television sports producer who had once sold hot dogs at Comiskey Park. Stocking the team with solid veterans like Carlton Fisk and Greg Luzinski, the new owners brought a division title to Chicago in 1983. But the erosion of fan support and media coverage continued, leading to fears that Reinsdorf and Einhorn would move the White Sox to another city. Reinsdorf had threatened to move the White Sox to Itasca or Addison, Illinois in DuPage County. Reinsdorf, through his real estate business purchased 100 acres in Addison. Chicago Mayor Harold Washington lobbied the Illinois legislature, and subsequently then-Illinois Governor James R. Thompson promoted a package of incentives to retain the team in Chicago. The state floated bonds to build New Comiskey Park and let Reinsdorf keep all parking and concession revenues, as well as the $5 million per year from 89 skyboxes. This was a home run of a deal for Reinsdorf who wasn’t particularly fond of the original Comiskey Park. New Comiskey opened in 1991 across the street from the old stadium, which was demolished in favor of a parking lot.

The White Sox went through another uniform change in 1987, which happened to feature one of my favorite hats in the White Sox history, until they changed again one last time in 1991, which they’ve stuck with ever since.

5/8-9/84: Like I said above, I got this hat in the mail on May 6^th and for some reason I completely spaced it out even after I marked it up with these numbers the second I opened the package. My mistake was brought to my attention on May 20^th as I was sitting on my friends’ couch in South San Francisco, watching MLB Network as I really had nothing better to do with my time. It was early in the morning and I was about to take to my computer, as I’m doing now, to write my blog post for that day about the Stars and Stripes hat for the Atlanta Braves. “MLB Now” was at a commercial break when out of the blue Bob Costas’s voice came over the television for MLB Network’s “this day in baseball” segment. Well, rather than talk about the day that it was, they opted for a general month of May highlight… which talked about this particular game. Almost immediately the light bulb kicked on and a wave of “I can’t believe I just did that” punch me in the gut, knocked me to the ground and kicked me in the face for good measure. So now, I bring you this epic tale, and hope to God I don’t blow it on another important anniversary again.

On May 8, 1984 the White Sox hosted the Milwaukee Brewers at the original Comiskey Park in a contest that featured five future Hall of Famers and Tony Larussa managing the White Sox. Don Sutton started the game for the Brewers while Bob Fallon took to the hill for the White Sox. The game got off to a masterful pitchers duel. Both Sutton and Fallon got through five frames without allowing a single run and only allowing at least one hit and a few walks each.

In the bottom of the sixth inning Sutton struck out Carlton Fisk and then gave up a single to White Sox first baseman Greg Walker. Greg Luzinski struck out next. While Sutton stared down Harold Baines to hopefully get the third out, Walker stole second, making him the first base runner to end up in scoring position thus far on the night. Baines then popped the next pitch up into foul territory on the third base side… which was dropped by Brewers’ third baseman Randy Ready, who was clearly not ready for the ball. Terrible joke, I know. Baines ended up drawing a two out walk as a result of the error. Left fielder Tom Paciorek then came to the plate and fired a single into left field, scoring Walker easily before Vance Law flew out to right field.

In the top of the seventh inning Salome Barojas relived Fallon who was on the hook for the win. Barojas’s first batter was Ready. Ready redeemed his folly by drawing a walk. The next batter, Jim Sundberg, moved Ready over to third with a single to right field. Next up, Robin Yount. Yount drilled a single to centerfield which scored Ready and moved Sundberg to second. Larussa had had enough and replaced Barojas with Brit Burns who ended up getting out of the jam. The score now is 1-1.

The seventh and eighth inning featured a few walks, a Pete Ladd for Sutton pitching change, a Dave Stegman pinch run for Luzinski and not much of anything else. In the top of the ninth Larussa made a defensive change by replacing Walker with Mike Squires (no relation to Billy). Not a lot of good it did as Burns collapsed on the mound, giving up a double to Yount, who then stole third and scored on a throwing error on the play. Ted Simmons then roped a single in which he advanced to second on a wild pitch and then scored after a single by Ben Oglivie. Oglivie then got caught stealing by Fisk. The next batter, Bobby Clark, walked only to be caught stealing by Fisk as well. So now it’s 3-1 Brewers.

With a two-run pad Brewers manager Rene Lachemann went to his closer, Rollie Fingers, to wrap things up quick before Happy Hour ended. Fingers’ first test was Paciorek, who ended up getting on second due to fielding error on the right fielder’s behalf. Next up, Vance Law, who flew out to centerfield. One down. Jerry Hairston then pinch hit for Scott Fletcher… only to fall victim to the “Mike Tyson’s Punch Out.” Two out. White Sox second baseman Julio Cruz worked himself a nice count before crushing a double into centerfield, easily scoring Paciorek. 3-2 Brewers with two out now. With Cruz on second it was back to the top of the White Sox batting order, where centerfielder Rudy Law stepped in to be a potential hero. With a 2-2 count Law smoked a single into left field, scoring Cruz from second to tie the game at three apiece. Fingers got tagged with a blown save, but still needed to get out of the inning. Fisk then grounded out to the shortstop and the game moved into extra innings.

For the sake of speeding things along, no one scored all the way through the 17^th inning. That’s right, the game lasted eight more full innings before the umpires halted the game 12:59 AM due to a rule which prevented any game to continue beyond 1:00 AM, a rule that has since been kicked to the curb as shown by the Oakland Athletics versus Los Angeles Angels game with went 19 innings on April 29^th.

The game was continued the next day as an accidental doubleheader. The game would remain scoreless all the way through the end of the 20^th inning. At the top of the 21^st the White Sox made a pitching change. Ron Reed replaced Juan Agostoas backup catcher Bill Schoeder came to the plate and proceeded to strike out. One out. Yount came up next and quickly flew out to right field. Two out. Designated Hitter Cecil Cooper was next. Cooper had been 0-9 prior to this at-bat and finally proved his worth with a single to the second baseman. Next up, Simmons, who proceeded to draw a walk. With runner on first and second Oglivie blasted a three-run shot to give the Brewers a 6-3 lead. Reed was now on the hook for the loss.

In the bottom of the 21^st the White Sox made short work on Chuck Porter. Leadoff man Law got a single and Fisk knocked him in to bring the score to 6-4 in favor of the Brewers. The first three batters got on base while the fourth, Dave Stegman who had replace Luzinski in the eighth, struck out. Baines then drew a walk to load the bases. Paciorek, who had been lights out all game continued his rampage by singling to centerfield, bringing in two runs. Porter was able to make the final two outs but tagged himself for a blown save and a 6-6 tie ball game.

Both teams breezed through the 22^nd inning. In the top of the 23^rd, Floyd Bannister replaced Reed for the White Sox with two outs and runner on first and second. He was able to get Oglivie to fly out to left field to end the side. The White Sox then squandered a potential win in the bottom of the 23^rd inning after Stegman and Paciorek both singles; however, Stegman ended up getting called out at third due to interference. Law then singled, putting two runners on at which shortstop Jerry Dybzinksi grounded out to end the side. Baines had flown out too, three outs.

The 24^th inning came and went. Each time had a base runner on at one point, but nothing more than one.

At the top of the 25^th the White Sox had to make a call to the bullpen again, this time to Tom Seaver. What’s interesting about this move is that the White Sox were so depleted on pitchers that they had to use the guy who was supposed to start the game which followed this game in to pitch. But, desperate times call for desperate measures. With little time to warm-up, Seaver gave up a single to Schroeder. Next up, Yount, who grounded into a double play. Next, Cooper, who flew out to left field to end the side.

Porter was still in for the Brewers in the bottom of the 25^th innings when Cooper came up to bat for the White Sox. Cooper quickly got two strikes on him and for some reason decided to bunt which he fouled back for an automatic out. With one out u walked Baines. Baines had gone 1-9 so far in the game with a double and two walks under his belt. Baines, a left-handed batter, was perfectly matched up against right-handed Porter. Porter fired a fastball right down Broadway. Baines kicked his right leg up, a la Mel Ott, and swung with the fury of a thousand winds. As soon as Baines made contact Porter knew he had made a mistake. As soon as Baines made contact all of Comiskey knew that Porter had made a mistake. As soon as Baines made contact he knew he had won the game. At eight hours and six minutes the White Sox had beaten the Brewers 7-6 in the longest game (by time) in MLB history. Porter was tagged with the loss. Seaver got the win and Baines was the toast of South Chicago. The storybook ending was complete… well, not really actually. They still had another game to play. Even though Seaver had won the game that had just ended, he still pitched in the next game. Seeing how he had only done one inning of work, he was beyond warmed up, and ended up getting two victories in one day as the White Sox won again 5-4. Crazy.

March 21- Colorado Rockies

During my baseball related travels of 2012 there were unfortunately three stadiums that I never had the opportunity to visit (Tuner Field, Target Field and Coors Field), but more importantly, there was only one team I have still yet to see play live at home or one the road… the Colorado Rockies. I didn’t really put two and two together until one night when I had a two hour layover in Denver International Airport. DEN is one of the few airports that still have smoking facilities on the inside so I made sure to pay a visit to relax having just been stuck on a plane that had left Kansas City, Missouri a few hours prior. It was September 10, and not exactly a particular day that I wanted to be flying, especially considering I hate flying. I was in the bar watching the Oakland Raiders versus the San Diego Chargers on Monday Night Football with the Rockies game tucked in the back corner on a significantly smaller television. What I didn’t realize until that moment was that the Rockies were playing at home against the San Francisco Giants. It was also in that moment that I realized that moment was the closest I had ever been to seeing the Rockies play in person.

It’s kind of a weird personal stat for me to carry around, especially when considering that I’ve had so many opportunities to catch them when I was living in Bakersfield, California. The Los Angeles Dodgers were two hours away from me, and the Giants were four hours away. But even with such proximity, I always blew the Rockies off. It’s really kind of sad how much love the Colorado Rockies never seem to get. Granted, they’ve only been in Major League Baseball since 1993; however, there are a lot of stats the team compiled in a short time frame which may be unbreakable, at least for the rest of my lifetime. For instance, did you know that the Rockies set the single season attendance record in their inaugural year? Yup! 4,483,350 people went to go see an unproven ball club play in Mile High Stadium. Granted, it did help their figures on account that they played in a NFL stadium, but it’s still impressive nonetheless.

I think one of the things that’s even more impressive is that in the upcoming 20 years the team has been around they managed to hang on to this one baseball cap. The all black with a purple button and purple/white interior “CR” has been one of the few hats to last the test of time. I’ll admit, I don’t give this hat much love, but it is still considered to be one of the best looking hats in baseball by fans and critics. Hell, this was actually the hat the high school (Columbia River) I attended in Vancouver, Washington for my senior year repped the most. It also helped that we had the same colors.

With the Rockies celebrating their 20^th birthday this season I figured I had to do something really special to mark this cap up with. I doubt I’ll get much of an argument. I should also point out that the order in which I threw these numbers on was not by accident. I’ll explain at the end.

#26- Ellis Burks is one of those few guys that many know the name, but very few remember what kind of a career he had despite the fact he played for 18 seasons. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox with the 20^th overall pick in 1983 and made his debut in Bean Town in 1987. His best year came in 1990 when he went .296/21/89 which was good enough for his first of two trips to the All-Star game, 15^th on the American League MVP list and he even got himself a Gold Glove that season. Through 1992 the rest of his Red Sox career was mediocre at best; the same could be said about his one year with the Chicago White Sox in 1993. At the end of ’93 the Rockies came knocking and signed Burks to a five-year deal. He got off to a great start his first season, but the players strike cut it short. 1995 didn’t pan out all that wonderful; however, it was 1996 when Burks make his mark in MLB history. That season he finished third in the National League MVP vote after slugging a career high 40 home runs, a career high 128 runs batted in and even a career high in runs scored at 142. Oh, and he also had a .344 batting average which led the NL that season. Yah, Burks really got hosed that year. Thanks a lot Ken Caminiti. Burks never quite mustered anything even close to the same season he had in ’96 for the rest of his career. His finished at .291/352/1206.

#9- Vinny Castilla is arguably one of the greatest players in MLB history to be born in Mexico. The only other guy I might put ahead of him is Fernando Valenzuela. Castilla’s career began in 1991 with a two-year stint with the Atlanta Braves. He only played 21 games in that time frame so it made the decision easier for the Braves to allow him to get picked up by the Rockies in the 1992 Expansion Draft. From 1993-2000 Castilla was, and still is, one of the most beloved players in Rockies history. His time from 1996-1997 was especially magical as he went .304/40/113 both years. Yes! He posted the exact stats back-to-back years! What are the odds on that happening? I have no clue, and I sure as hell won’t try to figure it out either. In 1998 he went .319/46/144 which was somehow only good enough for 11^th in the NL MVP voting that season. Ludicrous!!! For his career Castilla made only two All-Star game appearances and won three Silver Slugger awards. Should have been more.

#14- Andres “The Big Cat” Galarraga was hands down one of my favorite players growing up, especially during his time on the Montreal Expos (1985-1991 and 2002), but it was his time with the Rockies that he truly shined. From 1993-1997 Galarraga finished in the top 10 in NL MVP voting every season except 1995 when he finished in 16^th. His two best years in that stretch, statistically that is, came in 1996 and 1997. In ’96 he went .304/47/150 which put him three spots behind Birks in the voting that season. In ’97 The Big Cat went .318/41/140 which was good enough for seventh in NL MVP voting. Granted, the man did hit a career/League high .370 in his first year with the Rockies, but give the guy a break. Back-to-back 40 home run and 100 RBI seasons, are you kidding me!? (More on Galarraga’s accolades in a future post)

#33- Larry “Booger” Walker, like Burks, was another long term contract signing for the Rockies, but this time right before the start of the 1995 season. From 1989-1994 Walker was a member of the Expos and one of the key offensive factors in their storybook season that was cut short by the players strike. He also had a pretty solid glove, winning two Gold Gloves with the ‘Spos in 1992 and 1993. In 1997; however, Walker played out of his mind batting .366 while crushing a League high 49 home runs and raked in 130 RBI; all good enough for his one and only MVP that season. Walker then went on to win three batting titles in 1998, 1999 and 2001. He finished his career going .313/383/1311 while making five All-Star game appearances and winning seven Gold Gloves. He also served as one of the coaches for the Canadian World Baseball Classic team.

Now, as I mentioned above, there is a particular order in which I put their jerseys numbers on my hat which pertains to a record in MLB history which has only occurred twice. In 1996 Burks, Castilla and Galarraga became the first set of three teammates to record 40+ home runs and 100+ RBI in a season (26-9-14 jerseys). In 1997 Castilla, Galarraga and Walker became the second set of three teammates to go 40+/100+ in a season (9-14-33 jerseys). So, from start to finish, the numbers all line up.

Now, while I probably should have given a bit more focus to the 1995 season in which they became the first NL team to win the Wild Card that season, I didn’t find it to be as impressive, especially considering that the 2007 Rockies made the World Series. One last thing that should be pointed out is that 1997 was also the third time in which four teammates hit 100+ RBI in a season. The four: Castilla, Galarraga, Walker and Dante Bichette.