Four Strikeouts : One Inning

During today's game between New York Yankees and Toronto Blue Jays, a rare feat happened... Phil Hughes of the Yankees struck out four Blue Jays in one inning!

Hughes struck out J.P. Arencibia for the first out, then also fanned Adeiny Hechavarria; however, the last pitch of the at-bat tipped catcher Russell Martin’s glove and became a passed ball, allowing Hechavarria to reach first safely on the dropped third strike rule, which occurs when a catcher fails to cleanly catch the ball that led to the third strike.

The right-hander then went on to strike out Anthony Gose swinging and got Brett Lawrie on a called third strike to end the fourth inning.

Famous Bat

The year was 1891, and Johnny Plessey was having a career year for the Cleveland Spiders. His batting average of .331 was one of the highest in the league. What was most remarkable about all this? He did it using a rolled-up, lacquered copy of the Toledo Post-Dispatch as a bat!

The Garbark brothers

In 1944, two brothers, Bob and Mike Garbark were both playing in the Major Leagues. That in itself is a pretty amazing feat, but one that is not uncommon in baseball. The DiMaggio brothers, the Alou brothers, and the Ripken brothers are among the most well known. What was unique were the similarities they shared while playing.

During that year, both had the exact same batting average, .261. Over their career, they both threw out 39% of players attempting to steal. Bob played 145 games in his 7 year career, while Mike played in 149 games in his two year career.

Mike Garbark

Bob Garbark

1963 MVP

In 1963, Sandy Koufax of the Los Angeles Dodgers was the National League MVP, while Elston Howard was the American League MVP while playing for the New York Yankees. That same year, Jim Brown of the Cleveland Browns in the National Football League won the MVP. What was remarkable about all of this? All three players wore the number 32!

Sandy Koufax 

Elston Howard

Jim Brown

May 17th

Carlos May is a former left fielder in Major League Baseball who played in the late 1960s through the mid 1970s for the Chicago White Sox through most of his career. His birthday was on May 17, 1948. Having his last name be the name of the month he was born, he was able to accomplish the feat of being baseball's only player to wear his birthday on his jersey, May 17!

Trading franchises

The year was 1957. The Brooklyn Dodgers were getting ready to move to the west coast the following year, along with their rivals, the New York Giants. Before that happened though, they were a part of one of the oddest trades in the sports history.

On February 21, 1957 the Brooklyn Dodgers trade the Chicago Cubs their minor league team in Forth Worth, TX for the Cubs' minor league team in Los Angeles. Not a player or two, but the entire 25-man roster. This was convenient for the Dodgers, with their impending move to Los Angeles, and the Cubs must have just felt a need for new blood in their system.

Not the strangest trade in baseball history, but probably the largest!

Mud

MLB Rule 3.01, part C, states that:

Before the game begins the umpire shall:
(c) Receive from the home club a supply of regulation baseballs, the number and make to be certified to the home club by the league president. The umpire shall inspect the baseballs and ensure they are regulation baseballs and that they are properly rubbed so that the gloss is removed. The umpire shall be the sole judge of the fitness of the balls to be used in the game;

What exactly is used to remove the gloss from baseballs? MUD! And here's where it gets a little bit more interesting. It's not just any mud, it's "special mud."

The mud is from Lena Blackburne Baseball Rubbing Mud. The exact location of where the mud comes from is supposed to be  secret, but an internet search reveals its mud from Rancocas Creek, on the New Jersey side. There is even a google maps link out there to help narrow it down even further.

The mud isn't just packed at the site and sent to your local ballpark. No, it is cleaned, screened, and baking soda is added as a "secret ingredient."  

Each year, the company visits the site and stores away 1,000 pounds for the season. It is considered to be the "perfect baseball-rubbing mud."

The one-pitch win

Ken Ash played a total of 55 Major League games in his 4 years career. That was all it took for him to make his mark in history.

On July 17, 1930 Ash, then pitching for the Reds, was brought into the game against the Chicago Cubs in the sixth inning with the Reds trailing, no outs, and two runners on base. This was clearly not the best scenario.

Ash threw his first pitch to Charlie Grimm, which he grounded and resulted in a triple play. All outs on tags.

In the bottom half of the 9th, the Reds staged rallied for the comeback, winning 6-5 and thus giving Ash the victory on one pitch, the only person in Major League Baseball to ever accomplish this.

Ash was lifted the next inning for a pinch hitter, and the Reds scored 4 times, giving him the 6-5 win, his last win as a Major League pitcher. Thus, with a single pitch, Ash won a game and became the only person to have accomplished this feat.

115,300

The Boston Red Sox and Los Angeles Dodgers played a game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in 2008. In that game, Boston beat Los Angeles 2-1. If the crowd in the picture looks insanely big, you are correct. The attendance for that game was 115,300, which is a Major League Baseball record for attendance. In fact, no larger crowd in the world has been assembled for a baseball game.

Double Rainbow!

A beautiful September evening in San Francisco gave us this wonderful picture of a double rainbow over AT&T Park during tonight's game. Enjoy!

Gotta love it

Days like these are why I love September Baseball so much. 4 of the 5 teams in the National League West are playing against each other. The San Francisco Giants have the lead, but the Los Angeles Dodgers are just 4.5 games behind. And then you get scores like these:

They're both in extra inning and the games are tied. Every game is that much more magnified this time of year, it's great!

World War II and Baseball

I ran across this great piece of history that I'd like to share. It's a letter from President Franklin D. Roosevelt to the then Commissioner of Baseball Kenesaw Landis. Commissioner Landis had written to him, asking whether he felt it was best to cancel the upcoming baseball season, in light of Pearl Harbor and the United States becoming involved in the Second World War.

The transcription for easier reading:

The White House

Washington

January 15, 1942.

My dear Judge:-

Thank you for yours of January fourteenth. As you will, of course, realize the final decision about the baseball season must rest with you and the Baseball Club owners -- so what I am going to say is solely a personal and not an official point of view.

I honestly feel that it would be best for the country to keep baseball going. There will be fewer people unemployed and everybody will work longer hours and harder than ever before.

And that means that they ought to have a chance for recreation and for taking their minds off their work even more than before.

Baseball provides a recreation which does not last over two hours or two hours and a half and which can be got for very little cost. And, incidentally, I hope that night games can be extended because it gives an opportunity to the day shift to see a game occasionally.

As to the players themselves I know you agree with me that individual players who are of active military or naval age should go, without question, into the services. Even if the actual quality of the teams is lowered by the greater use of older players, this will not dampen the popularity of the sport. Of course, if any individual has some particular aptitude in a trade or profession, he ought to serve the Government. That, however, is a matter which I know you can handle with complete justice.

Here is another way of looking at it -- if 300 teams use 5,000 or 6,000 players, these players are a definite recreational asset to at least 20,000,000 of their fellow citizens -- and that in my judgment is thoroughly worthwhile.

With every best wish,

Very sincerely yours,

Franklin D. Roosevelt

Hon. Kenesaw M. Landis,

333 North Michigan Avenue,

Chicago,

Illinois.