Trade Deadline Reactions

The Major League Baseball trade deadline of 1 p.m. on Wednesday, July 31 was eventful around the league, but in the Bay Area the trade deadline was less than memorable for the Oakland Athletics and the San Francisco Giants.

While the Oakland Athletics made a move on Tuesday night, July 30 with their Southern California and American League West rival the Anaheim Angels the San Francisco Giants stayed put with their team, in what is turning out to be a very dismal season for the reigning World Series Champions.

The Giants who have several big name players with large sums of money on the table such as Tim Lincecum, Hunter Pence and Barry Zito it was almost hard to believe that General Manager Brian Sabean could not make a deal, or did not want to make a deal to bolster his team for another pennant run, or trade for the future. But as the trade deadline past the Giants stayed put.

To me Sabean’s actions were similar to those of Manager Bruce Bochy. He is going to stay with his big guns, and little ones, and try to ride out the storm, one that has been disastrous of late. If the Giants don’t make the postseason this year I wouldn’t be shocked if Lincecum or Zito does not return next year, and the Giants are compensated with draft picks.

On the other side of the Bay the Oakland Athletics made a trade for veteran infielder Alberto Callaspo.

In getting Callaspo the Athletics had to trade minor league second baseman Grant Green, who had been called up earlier this month was 0-16 in his major league bats with no walks, one sac-fly RBI and six strikeouts. However, in AAA for Sacramento, the Athletics highest minor league affiliate, Green was doing well at the plate hitting .325 in 378 at-bats with 11 home runs and 50 RBIs. But that did not translate to the majors in his short stint.

Trading Green and getting Callaspo is a clear sign that the Athletics and General Manager Billy Beane are intent on pushing for the now, instead of the future.

“We needed some infield help, particularly someone who could help swing from the right side,” said A’s General Manager Billy Beane.

Callaspo, in his eight seasons in major league baseball with the Arizona Diamondbacks, Kansas City Royals and Anaheim Angels is a career .273 hitter with 42 home runs.

So far in 2013, with the Angels, Callaspo is hitting .252 with five home runs and 34 walks in 86 games.

What Callaspo will add to the Athletics is depth in the infield that was previously held by Adam Rosales, who was designated for assignment Wednesday morning.

Callaspo will also add a right-handed bat, as a switch hitter he will fill in to platoon with Eric Sogard at second base against lefties, who the left handed hitting Sogard hasn’t had much chance to face this year with Manager Bob Melvin electing for the situational match ups all season long.

While the Athletics were in the conversation to grab a premier arm like Chicago White Sox Jake Peavy, who went to the Boston Red Sox in a three-team trade or Houston Astros Bud Norris, who went to the Baltimore Orioles, the Athletics should be fine with their current pitching staff of Bartolo Colon, A.J. Griffin, Tommy Milone, Jarrod Parker and Dan Straily who have guided the Athletics to a 63-44 record and a five game lead over the Texas Rangers for first place in the American League West as of July 31.

Pair the current starting rotation with the preseason projected ace of the staff Brett Anderson resuming baseball duties in the last month and Sonny Gray getting some major league experience over the last month, the Athletics are actually deep in terms of starting pitching and could actually put one of those arms into the bullpen which could do wonders when rosters expand in September.

With the trade deadline behind us, teams like the A’s and Giants can still look to make moves to bring players in or trade players away, but the players in those deals must be waived by their teams, so the frequency of moves after July 31, and before the August 31 waiver deadline is fewer.

While there are still chances for quality players to move teams much like the Los Angeles Dodgers acquired Josh Beckett, Carl Crawford and Adrian Gonzalez last year from the Boston Red Sox on August 25 in what turned out to be a block-buster trade but the odds are against teams to land that must have arm or big bat that might lift them into the postseason.

Garnett Lands In Boston

On July 31, 2007, after weeks and weeks of speculation and after rumored trades with the Los Angeles Lakers, Phoenix Suns, and Golden State Warriors fell to the wayside, the Minnesota Timberwolves trade Kevin Garnett to the Boston Celtics for Al Jefferson, Sebastian Telfair, Theo Ratliff, Ryan Gomes, Gerald Green, and two first round draft picks.

The Boston Celtics traded ten current and future players, essentially everyone but Paul Pierce, in order to acquire Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett. 

It payed off though, as the threesome of Pierce, Allen, and Garnett was easily the best trio in the NBA at the time.

The anticipation for the Celtics season was instant. 

In the span of one week, the Celtics' odds of winning the title went from 100-1 to 5-1. 

By opening day, Boston had sold out 94 percent of their home tickets for the season. Plus with the additions of James Posey, Eddie House, and P.J. Brown, the Celtics did not disappoint. 

They began the season 8-0 and never looked back, finishing with a league-best 66 wins.

Boston struggled to maintain their excellence in the postseason. Both their first and second round series with the Hawks and Cavaliers went seven games, and they even trailed in the third round to the Detroit Pistons. 

Ray Allen was atrocious the first two and half rounds of the playoffs, but he got it going late in the Conference Finals. 

He then played great in the NBA Finals, helping the Celtics beat the Lakers and win their first NBA Finals title in over two decades.

The Celtics' acquisition of a future Hall of Famer in Kevin Garnett was the best thing to happen to the NBA in a while. 

The NBA was coming off a terrible season that included a horribly-rated San Antonio Spurs  and Cleveland Cavaliers Finals and the revelation that one of their officials was fixing games. 

Getting the attention off of the negative, and back onto the glory of a Celtics-Lakers Finals, was just what the doctor ordered.

Garnett, with Allen and Pierce would be a great tandem, but would only win one NBA Finals title during their time together, and this off-season the Celtics parted ways with Garnett and Pierce after parting ways with Allen last off-season.

Two Phillies Get Inducted Into Cooperstown

On July 30, 1995 two Philadelphia Phillies Richie Ashburn and Mike Schmidt get inducted into Cooperstown Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

Don Richard "Richie" Ashburn also known by the nicknames, "Putt-Putt", "The Tilden Flash", and "Whitey" due to his light-blond hair, was a center fielder, which played 15 seasons in the MLB between 1948 and 1962 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and the New York Mets.

Ashburn was of the famous "Whiz Kids" of the National League champion 1950 Phillies.

Ashburn finished his career with a .308 batting average with 2,574 hits, which included 317 doubles, 109 triples and 29 home runs. He also had 1,198 walks 1,322 runs scored, 586 RBIs and 234 steals while only striking out 571 times.

Ashburn was a six-time All-Star, including twice in 1962, when the MLB held two All-Star Games during the season. He was also a two-time National League Batting Title champion. Twice during his career Ashburn was in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting.

The Philadelphia Phillies retired his no. 1 jersey in 1979.

Ashburn was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Hall's Veterans Committee in 1995 after a long fan campaign to induct him, which included bumper stickers that read, "Richie Ashburn: Why The Hall Not?"

Ashburn was inducted into The Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia Hall of Fame in 1997.

Ashburn was also inducted into the inaugural class of the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame in 2004.

Each year the Phillies present the Richie Ashburn Special Achievement Award to "a member of the organization who has demonstrated loyalty, dedication and passion for the game."

The center-field entertainment area at the Phillies current stadium, Citizens Bank Park, is named Ashburn Alley in his honor in response to the demand of numerous fans requesting that the Phillies name the stadium in Ashburn's honor (due to Ashburn's 47 seasons of service to the Phillies organization, which was second in length in Philadelphia baseball history only to Connie Mack, who was so honored with the renaming of Shibe Park in 1953).

At Citizens Bank Park the Phillies' radio-broadcast booth is named "The Richie 'Whitey' Ashburn Broadcast Booth". It is directly next to the TV-broadcast booth, which was renamed "The Harry Kalas Broadcast Booth" after Kalas's death in 2009.

As for Mike Schmidt, he is widely considered as one of the greatest third baseman in the history of Major League Baseball. He played his entire 18-year career with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Schmidt finish his career with a .267 batting average, 2,234 hits, which included 408 doubles, 59 triples and 548 home runs. He also compiled 1,595 RBIs, 1,506 runs scored, 1,507 walks and 174 steals while striking out 1,883 times.

Schmidt led the league in walks four times, including three consecutive years from 1981-1983. He also led the league in runs once, 1981 when he scored 78 runs.

Schmidt was a 12-time All-Star including six consecutive selections from 1979-1984. He was a three-time National League MVP, including back-to-back awards in 1980-1981. He was in the top 10 in MVP voting in nine times, including five consecutive years from 1980-1984.

He was a 10-time Gold Glove winner including nine-consecutive awards from 1976-1984. He was an eight-time National League home run champion including three-consecutive years from 1974-1976.

He was a six-time Silver Slugger Award winner including five-consecutive awards from 1980-1984.

He was a four-time National League RBI Champion, including back-to-back awards in 1980-1981.

Schmidt was a member of the 1980 Philadelphia Phillies who won the World Series, and was named the World Series MVP.

In 1983 Schmidt was awarded the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award.

In 1990 the Philadelphia Phillies retired his no. 20 jersey.

In 1995 he was inducted into the Cooperstown MLB Hall of Fame with 96.5 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he was on.

In 1997 he was named to the MLB All-Time Team and in 1999 he named to the MLB All-Century Team.

McCovey Makes His Debut

On July 30, 1959 in his major league debut, San Francisco Giants first baseman Willie McCovey goes 4-for-4 against Hall of Famer Robin Roberts.

McCovey nicknamed "Mac", "Big Mac", and "Stretch", is a former Major League Baseball first baseman. He played nineteen seasons for the San Francisco Giants, and three more for the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics, between 1959 and 1980.

McCovey finished his career with a .270 batting average with 2,211 hits, which included 353 doubles, 46 triples, and 521 home runs. He also had 1,345 walks, 1,555 RBIs, 1,229 runs scored and 26 steals while striking out 1,550 times.

Three times McCovey led the league in home runs, where he won the National League Home Run Champion award, including back-to-back years in 1968-1969.

He also won the National League RBI Champion award in back-to-back years in 1968-1969.

McCovey was the 1969 National League MVP when he hit for his highest single season total of home runs, 45; his highest single season RBI total, 126; and hit for a .320 batting average, his highest single season total with more than 52 games played. McCovey was in the top 10 in MVP voting four times during his career, including three consecutive years from 1968-1970.

McCovey was a six-time All-Star, including four consecutive appearances from 1968-1971. In 1969 McCovey was also the MLB All-Star Game MVP.

In 1977 McCovey won the National League Comeback Player of the Year award in his first year back with the San Francisco Giants after three years with the San Diego Padres and Oakland Athletics.
He was also awarded the Hutch Award, which is given annually to an active Major League Baseball (MLB) player who "best exemplifies the fighting spirit and competitive desire" of Fred Hutchinson, by persevering through adversity. The award was created in 1965 in honor of Hutchinson, the former MLB pitcher and manager, who died of lung cancer the previous year.

The Hutch Award was created by Hutch's longtime friends Bob Prince, a broadcaster for the Pittsburgh Pirates and KDKA; Jim Enright, a Chicago sportswriter; and Ritter Collett, the sports editor of the Dayton Journal Herald. They also created a scholarship fund for medical students engaged in cancer research to honor Hutchinson's memory.

McCovey is just one of 11 Hall of Fame members to be awarded the Hutch Award.

The San Francisco Giants have retired McCovey’s no. 44 jersey and present the Willie Mac Award annually to the player that best exemplifies the spirit and leadership shown by Willie McCovey throughout his career.

In 1986 McCovey was elected into Cooperstown MLB Hall of Fame with 81.4 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he was on.

In September 2003, McCovey and a business partner opened McCovey's Restaurant, a baseball-themed sports bar and restaurant, located in Walnut Creek, California.

The Philadelphia Phillies Retire Carlton's Jersey

On July 29, 1989,  the Philadelphia Phillies retired the no. 32 formerly worn by Steve Carlton.  

Carlton spent 15 seasons as a member of the Phillies and joined Richie Ashburn, no. 1; Jim Bunning, no. 14; Mike Schmidt, no. 20; and Robin Roberts, no. 36 as the only men to have their numbers retired by Philadelphia.

Along with the five men that have their numbers retired by the Phillies, there is also Jackie Robinson’s no. 42 jersey that is retired by every team in Major League Baseball.  

Also, Grover Cleveland played in the era before MLB used uniform numbers, so he is honored with the letter “P”, along with Chuck Klein, who wore a variety of numbers with the Phillies throughout his career.

Steve Carlton enjoyed the best years of his career while playing for the Philadelphia Phillies.  He joined the club in 1972 and made seven of his 10 all-star appearances. He also led Philadelphia to a World Series title in 1980 and in that same season he won his third of four career Cy Young awards, which ranks tied for third all-time behind only Randy Johnson and Roger Clemens and tied with Greg Maddux. Along with a gold glove in 1981 he also won two World Series titles in 1967 and 1980. Five times Carlton was in the top 10 in Most Valuable Player (MVP) voting, but he never placed higher than fifth, as he did in three of his four Cy Young award winning seasons.

Carlton would finish his career with 4,136 strikeouts, which was second all-time behind only Nolan Ryan, but since Clemens and Johnson have passed him putting him in fourth. But even so Carlton’s mark is more than 400 more than the next pitcher, Burt Blyleven who finished his career with 3,701 strikeouts.

Carlton's career numbers include 329 wins and 244 losses and two saves in 741 games with 709 starts over 5,217.2 innings pitched. He also threw 254 complete games and had 55 shut outs. He compiled a 3.22 ERA with 4,136 strikeouts and just 1,833 walks while allowing only 414 home runs.

Once during his career Carlton led the league in ERA, wins, complete games and strikeouts, in 1972, his first year with the Phillies. He recorded a 27 wins with 30 complete games, a 1.97 ERA and 310 strikeouts, and had an impressive eight shutouts. 1972 was Carlton's first Cy Young award winning season. 

Carlton would lead the league in wins three more times, but his total of 27 wins in 1972 was the highest single season total of his career. 

Carlton would league the league in complete games two more times, but his total of 30 in 1972 was the highest single season total of his career.

Carlton would also lead the league in strikeouts four more times, but the 310 strikeouts in 1972 was the highest single season total of his career.

The 1.97 ERA in 1972 was his lowest single season ERA of his career and the only time in which he led the league in ERA.

In 1982 Carlton led the league in shutouts with six, however that was the not his single season career high as in 1972 he tossed eight shutouts, although that was not a league high that year.

Carlton was inducted into Cooperstown Hall of Fame in 1994 with 95.8 percent of the vote on the first ballot in which he appeared.

Rogers Throws A Perfect Game

On July 28, 1994 Texas Ranger Kenny Rogers pitches the fourteenth perfect game in MLB history against the California Angels 4-0.

Rogers followed Lee Richmond, Monte Ward, Cy Young, Addie Joss, Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Len Barker, Mike Witt and Dennis Martinez in throwing perfect games.

Since Rogers’ perfect game David Wells, David Cone, and Randy Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay, Phillip Humber, Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez have all achieved perfect game status.

The shortest span of time between perfect games throw was just five days between Richmond’s perfect game on June 12, 1880 and Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880. The longest span between perfect games is just under 24 years, between Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880 and Young’s perfect game on May 5, 1904.

The American League has seen 14 prefect games while the National League only nine times.
No single player has ever thrown more than one perfect game.

The most perfect games for a single team is three as the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees have had perfect games pitched. However, only two of the Yankees perfect games came in the regular season, with Larsen’s perfect game coming in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, meaning the Chicago White Sox have more regular season perfect games.

Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series was the first and last time a perfect game has been thrown in the playoffs, let alone the World Series.

The team with the most perfect games pitched against them is the Tampa Bay Rays, with three. All of them coming since 2009 with Chicago White Sox Buehrle, Oakland Athletics Braden, and Seattle Mariners Hernandez all doing the feat against the Rays.

Last season saw the most perfect games in a single season as Cain, Hernandez and Humber all pitched perfect games in one season, the most since 2010 when Braden and Halladay both pitched perfect games.

Rogers would finish his career four All-Star appearances including three consecutive from 2004-2006. He was a five-time Gold Glove winner including three consecutive from 2004-2006.He was honored with a Fielding Bible Award in 2008 as the top fielding pitcher in MLB.
Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane stated that Rogers "Was the best fielding pitcher he ever saw. It's like having an extra infielder".

He was a World Series Champion in 1996 with the New York Yankees and was inducted into the Texas Rangers Hall of Fame in 2011.

Rogers ended his 20-season career with 219 wins and 156 losses and 28 saves in 762 games with 474 starts in 3,302.2 innings pitched. He totaled a 4.27 ERA with 1,968 strikeouts and just 1,175 walks. Rogers would throw 36 complete games, with his highest single season total coming in 1998 with the Oakland Athletics, with seven. He also had nine shutouts, with his highest single season total coming in 1994 with the Texas Rangers, he threw two that season, one being the perfect game against the California Angels.

Rogers led the league in games pitched in 1992 with 81 games, and led the game in games started in 2004 with 35.

Rogers is second all-time in pickoffs with 93 in his career. On May 9, 2008 against the New York Yankees, Rogers picked off Wilson Betemit in the second inning for his ninty-second pick-off, passing Mark Langston.

The all-time leader in pickoffs is Dodgers great Sandy Koufax, another member of the perfect game crew.

El Presidente Tosses A Perfect Game

On July 28, 1991 Montreal Expos’ Dennis Martinez pitches the thirteenth perfect game in Major League Baseball history against the Los Angeles Dodgers 2-0.

Martinez followed Lee Richmond, Monte Ward, Cy Young, Addie Joss, Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Len Barker, Mike Witt in throwing perfect games.

Since Martinez’ perfect game Kenny Rogers, David Wells, David Cone, and Randy Johnson, Mark Buehrle, Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay, Phillip Humber, Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez have all achieved perfect game status.





The shortest span of time between perfect games throw was just five days between Richmond’s perfect game on June 12, 1880 and Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880. The longest span between perfect games is just under 24 years, between Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880 and Young’s perfect game on May 5, 1904.

The American League has seen 14 prefect games while the National League only nine times.
No single player has ever thrown more than one perfect game.

The most perfect games for a single team is three as the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees have had perfect games pitched. However, only two of the Yankees perfect games came in the regular season, with Larsen’s perfect game coming in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, meaning the Chicago White Sox have more regular season perfect games.

Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series was the first and last time a perfect game has been thrown in the playoffs, let alone the World Series.

The team with the most perfect games pitched against them is the Tampa Bay Rays, with three. All of them coming since 2009 with Chicago White Sox Buehrle, Oakland Athletics Braden, and Seattle Mariners Hernandez all doing the feat against the Rays.

Last season saw the most perfect games in a single season as Cain, Hernandez and Humber all pitched perfect games in one season, the most since 2010 when Braden and Halladay both pitched perfect games.

Martinez would finish his career with four All-Star appearnces, including three consecutive appearances from 1990-1992. He was a World Series Champion in 1983 with the Baltimore Orioles. He was also in the top five in CY Young Award voting twice and in the running for the MVP award twice.

Martinez nicknamed “El Presidente” would finish his 23-season career with 245 wins and 193 losses and eight saves in 692 games with 562 starts over 3,999.2 innings pitched. He totaled a 3.70 ERA with 2,149 strikeouts and just 1,165 walks. Martinez would throw 122 complete games, with his highest total, and a season high of 18 coming in 1979. He also had 30 shutouts with his highest single season total coming in 1991 when he threw five, one of them being the perfect game against the Dodgers.

Martinez led the league in wins in 1981 with 14, while in 1991 he led the league in ERA with a 2.39 mark.

Martinez is the all-time winningest Latin American pitcher with his 245 wins, setting the record on Aug. 9, 1998 with win number 244.

Irsay and Rosenbloom Trade Ownerships

On July 26, 1972, in a truly unprecedented move, Robert Irsay, the owner of the Baltimore Colts and Carroll Rosenbloom, the owner of the Los Angeles Rams, trade ownership of their NFL teams.

Rosenbloom wanted to retain ownership of a team while living in a more profitable city, one that would satisfy his wife's ambition to live on the west coast and his ambition to escape the D.C. press. Meanwhile, former Colts assistant Joe Thomas was itching to become the general manager of a franchise, but there weren't any offers. Then, when Rams owner Dan Reeves passed away, Thomas convinced his good friend Irsay to buy the Rams for $19 million – in exchange; Irsay would immediately become the owner of the Colts, then Rosenbloom the Rams'. Irsay, who was looking to become an NFL owner anyway, also received an additional three million dollars in the transaction, while Thomas was rewarded with the general manager position of the Baltimore Colts.

Today, a swap like this would be impossible to pull off. Not only are even the lowliest of sports teams worth hundreds of millions of dollars, many of the teams are now owned by corporations and a group of people, rather than just one wealthy individual.

In the end, football fans in both Baltimore and Los Angeles wound up getting screwed. The Colts failed to win a single playoff game under Irsay and eventually moved to Indianapolis. L.A. fans were initially on the much better end of the spectrum, as the Rams made the postseason in every year that Rosenbloom was their owner. But in 1979, Carroll mysteriously drowned to death while swimming in the Atlantic Ocean, and control of the team was handed over to his wife, Georgia Frontiere. Georgia then moved the team to Anaheim, married her seventh husband, and in the mid-90's, she moved the Rams out of California altogether and to St. Louis, Missouri.

However, the franchises involved in the deal and the cities where the teams played would end up winning Super Bowl anyways.

Los Angeles would be the first city of the bunch to win a Super Bowl; in 1984 the Raiders beat the Washington Redskins in Super Bowl XVIII (28), 38-9.

The St. Louis Rams and the Baltimore Ravens would both win Super Bowls in the early 2000’s as the Rams beat the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV (34), 23-16. Finally the Ravens beat the New York Giants in Super Bowl XXXV (35), 34-7.

The Colts who moved to Indianapolis in 1984 would win the Super Bowl in the late 2000’s against the Chicago Bears in Super Bowl XLI (41) 29-17.

Maddux Joins 3000-Strikeout Club

On July 26, 2005 that Greg Maddux became the thirteenth member of the 3000-strikeout club.  Maddux struck out Omar Vizquel in front of his home crowd at Wrigley Field, however, the Cubs would go on to lose the game 3-2 to the Giants.

Greg Maddux enjoyed an incredible career that started in Chicago as a member of the Cubs.  After winning the CY Young award in 1992, Maddux left Chicago via free agency and joined the Atlanta Braves.  He would go on to win the Cy Young his first three seasons with the Braves, becoming the first pitcher in history to win the award four consecutive times.  In addition to his four Cy Young’s, Maddux was an 18 time Gold Glove winner, eight time All-Star selection and a member of the 1995 World Series championship Atlanta Braves.

Maddux would finish his career with 3,371 strikeouts ranking him 10 all-time for most strikeouts in the Major Leagues.

The list of 3000 strikeout pitchers includes in this order from most to least, Nolan Ryan, 5,714, Randy Johnson, 4,875, Roger Clemens, 4,672, Steve Carlton, 4,136, Bert Blyleven, 3,701, Tom Seaver, 3,640, Don Sutton, 3,574, Gaylord Perry, 3,534, Walter Johnson, 3,509, Greg Maddux, 3,371, Phil Niekro, 3,342, Ferguson Jenkins, 3,192, Pedro Martinez, 3,154, Bob Gibson, 3,117, Curt Schilling, 3,116 and John Smoltz, 3,084.

Smoltz was a teammate of Maddux from 1993-2003 on the Braves in which they were part of the ‘Big Three’, which included Maddux, Smoltz and Tom Glavine.

Also to note is that the Braves had three members on the 3,000 strikeout club, with Maddux, Niekro and Smoltz, even though none of the three who are on the list got there 3,000 strikeout in a Braves jersey.

The 3,000-strikeout club might become more elusive as the closest pitcher to the feat is 47-year-old Jamie Moyer. Moyer is the active leader in strikeouts with 2,405 but is currently a free agent after being released by the Toronto Blue Jays AAA affiliate. Because of this Moyer will most likely not reach 3,000, and with the way the game has changed in recent years, one wonders if we will ever see another pitcher join the elusive 3,000 strikeout club.

1992 Summer Olympic Games Kick Off

The 1992 Summer Olympic Games, officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event.

The International Olympic Committee voted in 1986 to separate the Summer and Winter Games, which had been held in the same year since 1924, and place them in alternating even-numbered years, beginning in 1994. The 1992 Summer Games were the last to be staged in the same year as the Winter Games.

Due to the end of the Cold War, these games were the first without boycotts since 1972.
Some of the highlights from the 1992 Olympic games follow.

South Africa was allowed to compete in the Olympics for the first time since the 1960 Games, after a long suspension for its apartheid policy. White South African runner Elana Meyer and black Ethiopian runner Derartu Tulu fought a close race in the 10,000 m (won by Tulu) and then ran a victory lap hand in hand.

Following its reunification in 1990, Germany sent a single, unified Olympic team for the first time since the 1964 Games.

As the Soviet Union had been dissolved in 1991, the Baltic nations of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania sent their own teams for the first time since 1936. The other Soviet republics competed under the name "Unified Team".

The break-up of SFR Yugoslavia led to the Olympic debuts of Croatia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Herzegovina. Due to United Nations sanctions, FR Yugoslavian athletes were not allowed to participate with their own team. However, individual athletes could compete under the Olympic flag as Independent Olympic Participants.

In the diving competitions, held in the view of the Sagrada Família, Chinese Fu Mingxia won the high dive event at the age of 13, becoming the youngest Gold medalist at the Olympics of all time.
In men's artistic gymnastics, Vitaly Scherbo from Belarus, representing the Unified Team, won six gold medals, including four on a single day. Five of the six Golds were in individual events, tying Eric Heiden's record for individual Gold medals at a single Olympics. Michael Phelps would break this record in 2008.

Evelyn Ashford won her fourth Olympic gold medal in the 4x100 meter relay, making her one of only four female athletes to have achieved this in history.

In women's 200-meters breaststroke, Kyoko Iwasaki of Japan won a gold medal at age of 14 years and six days, becoming the youngest-ever Gold medalist in swimming competitions at the Olympics.
After being demonstrated six times, baseball became an Olympic sport, with Cuba winning the Gold medal, Chinese Taipei winning Silver, and Japan, the Bronze.

Roller hockey became a demonstration sport in the 1992 Games, with Argentina winning the Gold medal.

On the twentieth anniversary of the Munich massacre and the five hundreadth anniversary of the Alhambra Decree, Yael Arad became the first Israeli to win an Olympic medal, winning a Silver medal in judo. The next day, Oren Smadja became Israel's first male medalist, winning a Bronze in the same sport.

Gail Devers won the 100-meter dash in one of the closest races in history. 5 women finished within 0.06 seconds of each other.

In basketball, the admittance of professional players led to the formation of the "Dream Team" of the United States, featuring Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and other NBA stars. The Dream Team, which easily won the gold medal, would be inducted as a unit into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2010.

Two gold medals were awarded in solo synchronized swimming, after a scoring error in which a judge inadvertently entered an 8.7 instead of the intended 9.7 in the computerized scoring system for one of Sylvie Fréchette's figures. An immediate protest to FINA was unsuccessful. The error ultimately placed Fréchette second, unable to catch Kristen Babb-Sprague for the gold medal. In December 1993, however, FINA awarded Fréchette a gold medal, replacing her silver medal and leaving the two swimmers both with gold.

The Unified Team won the most Gold medals and total medals with 112 total consisting of 45 Gold, 38 Silver and 29 Bronze medals.

The United States placed second in Gold medals and total medals with 108 total consisting of 37 Gold, 34 Silver and 37 Bronze medals.

Germany placed third in Gold medals and total medals with 82 total consisting of 33 Gold, 21 Silver and 28 Bronze medals.

Grove Joins The 300-Win Club

On July 25, 1941 - Red Sox Lefty Grove becomes just the twelfth pitcher to win 300-games, it was also his last victory.

At the time Grove joined Cy Young, 511; Walter Johnson, 417; Christy Matthewson, 373; Grover Cleveland Alexander, 373; Pud Galvin, 364; Kid Nichols, 361; Tim Keeke, 342; John Clarkson, 328; Eddie Plank, 326; Charles Radbourn, 309 and Mickey Welch, 307 as members of the 300 win club.
After Grover joined the 300-win club 12 pitchers have since joined the club. In chronological order they are Warren Spahn, 363; Early Wynn, 300; Gaylord Perry, 314; Steve Carlton, 329; Tom Seaver, 311; Phil Niekro, 318; Don Sutton, 324; Nolan Ryan, 324; Roger Clemens, 354; Greg Maddux, 355; Tom Glavine, 305 and Randy Johnson, 303.

Grove pitched for the Philadelphia Athletics and Boston Red Sox during his 17 year career. He was a two-time World Series Champion, both with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1929 and 1930. In 1931 he was named the American League MVP. He was also a six-time All-Star including five straight appearances from 1935-1939.

Grove finished his career with 300 wins and 141 losses and 55 saves, in 616 games with 457 starts over 3,940.2 innings pitched. He accumulated a 3.06 ERA, with 2,266 strikeouts, 1,187 walks and allowing just 162 home runs over his career.

Grove was a 30 game winner once, and a 20 game winner eight times, with seven consecutive seasons with 20 or more wins from 1927-1933. Nine times Gove led the league in ERA, with his lowest single season ERA of 2.06 in 1931. In seven consecutive years Grove led the MLB in strikeouts with his highest single season total coming in 1930 with 209 strikeouts.

Grove pitched 298 complete games and had 35 shutouts. Three times he led the league in complete games and three times he led the league in shutouts. His highest total for complete games in a single season was 27, which he did in back-to-back seasons, 1931-1932. His highest single season total for shutouts was in 1936 when he had six shutouts.

In 1947 Grove was elected to the Cooperstown Major League Baseball Hall of Fame with 76.4 percent of the vote on the third ballot in which he appeared.

In 1998 Grove ranked as no. 23 on the The Sporting News list of Baseball's Greatest Players. He was just the second left-handed pitcher listed behind Warren Spahn, third when Babe Ruth was counted as a pitcher.

In 1999 Grove was named as a member of the Major League Baseball All-Century Team.

Coleman In Hot Water Over Firecrackers

On July 24, 1993, Vince Coleman gets in trouble for throwing firecrackers at a group of fans outside of a ball game.

Coleman was one of the fastest base runners the game of baseball had ever seen, compiling multiple seasons with more than 100 stolen bases and even stealing a record 50 in a row in 1989.

After leading the league in stolen bases the first six seasons of his career, Coleman left the St. Louis Cardinals to sign a large deal with the New York Mets – where his productivity took a nosedive. He did not live up to his massive three million dollar salary and failed to even keep out of trouble.

He feuded with Jeff Torborg, scuffled with a batting coach, claimed that Shea Stadium's aesthetics were preventing him from being a Hall of Famer, cost Dwight Gooden a start when he accidentally wacked him with a golf club, and was even accused of a raping woman in 1991, although no charges were ever filed.

But his most infamous moment came after a 5-4 extra-inning loss in Los Angeles. Coleman and Bobby Bonilla were in the passenger's seat of a car, driven by teammate Eric Davis, when they pulled up in front of Dodgers Stadium, where a few hundred fans were exiting. Coleman, as a practical joke, hurled a firecracker into the throng of people before they drove away laughing. The citizens involved weren't laughing though; the explosion injured several people, including a 33 -year old woman, an 11 year-old boy and the eyesight, cheek, and finger of two year-old Amanda Santos.

Coleman would play in three more games before the Mets dismissed him for the rest of the season (albeit with pay). He was given three years probation, 200 hours of community service, and an additional $2,500 in fines. It took him several days to apologize, and when he did, he offered the following statement: "I'm a father first and an athlete second. Amanda stood out near a gate to catch a glimpse of a ballplayer. But today, I want her to catch a glimpse of a loving father and a helpful friend."

The next season, he was traded to the Kansas City Royals.

George Brett "Pine Tar" Incident

On July 24, 1983, George Brett and the ‘pine tar’ incident make headlines.

It was the top of the ninth at Yankee Stadium. With two out and a man on first, Royals third baseman George Brett was at the plate, with New York closer Goose Gossage on the mound. In the matchup between two future Hall of Famers, Brett got the upper hand, hammering a pitch into the right field bleachers. The home run gave the Royals a 5-4 lead.

Yankees third baseman Graig Nettles had noticed earlier in the year that Brett used a large amount of pine tar on his bat (as many hitters did to grip the bat better). Nettles was aware of an obscure baseball rule forbidding no more pine tar on a bat than the width of the plate (18 inches), and that Brett appeared to violate this rule. Nettles who was caught using a corked bat nine years earlier, had informed manager Billy Martin of this previously in the year. Now that Brett had hit, barring a ninth inning rally, a game-winning home run, there was no better time to bring it up with the umpires.

Martin was already talking to home plate umpire Tim McClelland before Brett even touched home plate. McClelland summoned the other umps to the diamond to discuss it, and then rested the bat on the plate as Brett watched curiously from the dugout.

Instead of hitting the game-winning home run, he had been called out on violation -- ending the ballgame in a Yankees win.

Instantly, Brett bolted out of the dugout with his arms shaking and his eyes bulging. He approached McClelland and had to be restrained, as he appeared hysterically upset. The image of Brett's ballistic tirade is one of the most replayed highlights in sports history. "The video of me now is pretty hilarious," Brett said in the book, Once Upon a Game, "with me charging the umps, having to be held back, yelling and screaming and flailing my arms, but at the time it wasn't funny. It was highway robbery!"

During the commotion, Royals pitcher Gaylord Perry, a player also known for breaking a few rules, stole the bat from McClelland and carried it toward the dugout. He threw it to Rocky Colavito, who in turn passed it off to another Royals player before security intervened. The bat was confiscated by the umpires and sent to AL president Lee MacPhail.

The Royals filed a protest, claiming that the game had been unfairly taken away from them. In a rare occurrence from any of the four major sports leagues, the protest was upheld by MacPhail, who noted that while the pine tar extended 23 inches up the bat, and that technically it was illegal to use, Brett's bat "did not violate the spirit of the rules." In other words, while the bat should have been removed from the game, Brett shouldn't have been called out.

Less than a month later, on August 18, 1,245 dedicated sports fans walked into Yankee Stadium to see the game pick up right where it left off, right after Brett's home run. It was an odd site. Brett, Colavito, Perry, and manager Dick Howser had all been ejected three weeks ago, so none of them showed up to the ballpark. Meanwhile Billy Martin, who called the game's resumption three weeks after the fact "a mockery," staged his own protest by putting pitcher Rod Guidry in center field, because their center fielder from the July game (Jerry Mumphrey) had been traded. He also put first baseman Don Mattingly at second, making him the first lefty to play a middle-infield position in years.

The Yankees had filed an injunction to stop the game from continuing, however the courts had ruled against them. Martin had one final trick to pull. Before Yankees pitcher George Frazier faced Hal McRae of the Royals, Martin went up to the umpires and argued that Brett had not touched all of the bases during his home run trot. There was a completely different umpire crew from the July game, and Martin figured they wouldn't be able to disprove him. But crew chief Davey Phillips was ready and produced an affidavit signed by the previous crew saying that the home run should stand.

Martin then took out his frustration on Phillips, yelling at him until he got ejected. George Frazier struck out McRae to retire the side. In the bottom of the ninth, the Yankees went down one-two-three to Royals closer Dan Quisenberry, at last finalizing a 5-4 Kansas City win, and ending probably the most intriguing baseball game ever played in July.

Brett would eventually donate the bat to the Hall of Fame, where it rests today.

Dellavedova Gets A Shot At The NBA

For one player the NBA Summer League experience with the Cleveland Cavaliers was the hopeful first step on the way to the NBA.

That one player is Matthew Dellavedova.

Dellavedova, a three-time first-team ALL-WCC selection of the St. Mary’s Gaels finished his collegiate career with a laundry list of accolades including being the all-time leader in points with 1,933, breaking Daniel Kickert’s record of 1,874, being the all-time school leader in assists with 778, all time three-points made with 288, assists with 761, free throw percentage of .860, with 133 games started and 136 games played.

But none of that mattered when Dellavedova stepped on the court for Cleveland Cavaliers during the NBA Summer League over the past two weeks.

Dellavedova averaged 2.8 points. 3.0 assists and 2.6 rebounds per game over five games in the Las Vegas portion of the Summer League. His highest points total came in a 66-62 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans when he scored six, while his highest assist total came in a 70-62 victory over the Los Angeles Lakers, where he dished out five assists.

“The role was different, but I still played point guard,” said Matthew Dellavedova. “I had to make sure my teammates got the ball in the right spot and help win games.”

Winning was something Dellavedova came accustomed to under Head Coach Randy Bennett at St. Mary’s in Moraga. Dellavedova left St. Mary’s with 105 wins and only 28 losses as a starter, winning the West Coast Conference as a junior, as well as reaching the NCAA Tournament three times and going as far as the Sweet-16 in his freshman year.

But the NBA is a whole new beast for Dellavedova to tackle.

“There were better athletes than in college, stronger as well,” said Dellavedova. “It was a much quicker game. A 24 second shot clock instead of the 35, and more space to cover on defense because of a bigger court, a bigger key, the defensive three second violations. It was more intense on every aspect of the game and possession.”

But Dellavedova already had a jump start on some his competition who might not have seen any caliber of NBA action before.

“Playing in the Olympics last year helped me get used to that,” said Dellavedova.

Dellavedova represented Australia in the 2012 Olympics, starting all six games for the Boomers, leading them to the tournament quarterfinals with averages of 7.3 points, 4.5 assists and 3.8 rebounds per game. His assist total ranked him as the twelfth best among all Olympians in 2012.

Despite not coming home with an Olympics medal, the Olympics game play has helped to shape Dellavedova in becoming the player he is today, along with former Gaels Coach Bennett.

“He (Coach Bennett) recruited me to St. Mary’s, and I was blessed to play four years of basketball,” said Dellavedova. “It was an awesome four years, on and off the court. I made life long friendships.
 Basketball wise Coach Bennett taught me a lot, leadership wise a lot too. I could go on for a while, he taught me a lot of things. I will always be very grateful for Coach Bennett.”

While Dellavedova was just one of many looking to get a chance with an NBA club in the upcoming season, he is hopeful for his immediate future.

“I’m going to the Cavaliers training camp in late September, and I think I have got a good chance to make the team after training camp,” said Dellavedova. “Before that I am going to go back and play with the Australian National Team. We have six games versus New Zealand this year, then I will head back in early September to get ready for Cleveland.”

As for the Summer League, Dellavedova seemed to enjoy it, as the Cavaliers went 3-2 losing in the quarter-finals of the Inaugural Summer League tournament to the Miami Heat.

“It was good training, I got better, and learned a lot more,” said Dellavedova. “It was a good experience. It was good fun.”

Buehrle Throws A Gem

On July 23, 2009 Mark Buehrle of the Chicago White Sox becomes just the eighteenth pitcher to throw a perfect game in Major League Baseball history, defeating the Tampa Bay Rays 5-0.

Buehrle would join Lee Richmond, Monte Ward, Cy Young, Addie Joss, Charlie Robertson, Don Larsen, Jim Bunning, Sandy Koufax, Catfish Hunter, Len Barker, Mike Witt, Dennis Martinez, Kenny Rogers, David Wells, David Cone, and Randy Johnson as pitchers to have thrown a perfect game in the Major Leagues.

Since Buehrle threw the perfect game five more pitchers including Dallas Braden, Roy Halladay, Phillip Humber, Matt Cain and Felix Hernandez have achieved it.

The shortest span of time between perfect games throw was just five days between Richmond’s perfect game on June 12, 1880 and Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880. The longest span between perfect games is just under 24 years, between Ward’s perfect game on June 17, 1880 and Young’s perfect game on May 5, 1904.

The American League has seen 14 prefect games while the National League only nine times.
No single player has ever thrown more than one perfect game.

The most perfect games for a single team is three as the Chicago White Sox and New York Yankees have had perfect games pitched. However, only two of the Yankees perfect games came in the regular season, with Larsen’s perfect game coming in Game 5 of the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, meaning the Chicago White Sox have more regular season perfect games.

Larsen’s perfect game in the World Series was the first and last time a perfect game has been thrown in the playoffs, let alone the World Series.

The team with the most perfect games pitched against them is the Tampa Bay Rays, with three. All of them coming since 2009 with Chicago White Sox Buehrle, Oakland Athletics Braden, and Seattle Mariners Hernandez all doing the feat against the Rays.

Last season saw the most perfect games in a single season as Cain, Hernandez and Humber all pitched perfect games in one season, the most since 2010 when Braden and Halladay both pitched perfect games.

As of Monday, July 22, Buehrle is now pitching for the Toronto Blue Jays and has a 5-7 record in 20 starts with a 4.83 ERA in 123 innings pitched with 82 strikeouts and 33 walks.

So far in Buehrle’s career he has been an All-Star four times, including back-to-back appearances in 2005 and 2006. He was a Gold Glove winner four times, including four consecutive times from 2009-2012.

He was also fifth in Cy Young voting in 2005, when he has a 16-8 record in 33 starts with a 3.12 ERA with 149 strikeouts and just 40 walks.

Buehrle’s career numbers over 14 seasons are 179 wins and 139 losses in 441 games, 416 starts, with 28 complete games, eight shutouts and one perfect game. He has a total of 1,603 strikeouts compared to just 637 walks in 2,802 innings pitched.

Twice Buehrle has led the league in innings pitched, in 2004 and 2005 when he pitched 245.1 innings and 236.2 innings respectively.

His best year for wins was 2002 when he won 19 games and lost just 12 in 34 starts, that year he had five complete games with two shutouts.

Gehrig Hits His First Grand Slam

On July 23, 1925 New York Yankees great and Hall of Famer Lou Gehrig hits his first of 23 career grand slam home runs.

The 23 grand slams by Gehrig are the most all-time tied with another current Yankee, Alex Rodriguez.

Of current players on the list with most all-time grand slams Rodriguez, 23; Jason Giambi, 15; Travis Hafner, 12; Raul Ibanez, 11; Robinson Cano, 8; Mark Teixeria, 8; Nick Swisher, 7; Lance Berkman, 6; Curtis Granderson, 6; Vernon Wells, 6; Eric Chavez, 5 are on or have played on the Yankees at one point in their career.

Of the players with more than 10 grand slams in their career Jorge Posada, 10; Dave Winfield, 11; Bernie Williams, 11; Tino Martinez, 11; Reggie Jackson, 11; Cecil Fielder, 11; Don Baylor, 13; Gary Sheffield, 13; Joe DiMaggio, 13; Babe Ruth, 16; Dave Kingman, 16 played on the Yankees.

Gehrig goes down as one of the greatest players to ever don the Yankee’s pin-stripes and the nickname “Iron Horse” for the consecutive games played streak had his career cut short by amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), a disorder now commonly known in the United States and Canada as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Despite the debilitating disease Gehrig finished his career with a .340 batting average, with 493 home runs, 2,721 hits and 1,995 RBIs. He was a seven-time All-Star, a six-time World Series Champion with the Yankees. He also won two MVP awards in 1927 and 1936. He was the Yankees captain from 1935 to 1938 and the Yankees retired his no. 4 jersey on July 4, 1939. He became the first baseball player to have his uniform number retired on January 6, 1940; his July 4, 1939 farewell to baseball speech, fans voted as the fifth-greatest moment in Major League Baseball history in 2002.

Gehrig won a triple crown in 1934 batting .363 with 49 home runs and 165 RBIs, but did not win the MVP award that year. He became the only player in MLB history to collect 400 total bases in five seasons as he did so in 1927, 1930, 1931, 1934 and 1936.

With St. Louis Cardinals great Stan Musial, he is only one of two players with at least 500 doubles, 150 triples and 450 home runs in his career. He is also only one of four players with Babe Ruth, Ted Williams and Musial to end career with a minimum .330 batting average with 450 home runs and 1,800 RBIs. He is also only one of two players to hit 40 doubles and 40 home runs in the same season three separate times.

Gehrig was named a member of the MLB All-Century team in 1999, MLB All-Time team in 1997 and was inducted into Cooperstown’s Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939 through a special election.
Gehrig was also the first athlete ever to appear on a box of Wheaties.

Sonny Liston KO's Floyd Patterson Again

On July 22, 1963 boxer Sonny Liston defended his World Heavyweight title against Floyd Patterson in a rematch from the previous year. The fight took place in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Sonny Liston entered the first fight against Patterson as a heavy betting line favorite. However, Sports Illustrated along with former heavyweight champions James Braddock, Ezzard Charles, Rocky Marciano and “Jersey” Joe Walcott all predicted that Floyd Patterson would come out victorious. However, Muhammad Ali predicted Liston would get a knockout in the first five rounds.

Ali was right on target as Liston used his power to dominate Patterson, knocking him out just 2:06 into the first round.

The one-sided nature of the bout was a major surprise. Patterson was expected to try to employ his speed and agility to counter Liston's size and power but in the event Patterson's tactics showed a complete lack of guile. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin characterized the fight as "bathetic," claiming Patterson didn't punch enough, had inexplicably sought to clinch with his far heavier opponent and repeatedly made the basic error of failing to tie up both his opponent's arms in a clinch. Liston bulled Patterson around while using his free hand to batter him with body blows before shortening up and connecting with two double hooks high on the head.

It was the third-fastest knockout in a world heavyweight title fight and the first time the champion had been knocked out in round one. Rogin discounted speculation that Patterson had thrown the fight and suggested that "mental problems" had been responsible for his poor performance.

The rematch was a carbon copy of the first fight as Sonny Liston used his huge weight and reach advantage to once again knockout Patterson in the first round. The fight lasted just four seconds longer that the first one as Patterson was counted out at 2:10 of the first round. After the victory the champion, Liston, was loudly booed.

After his victories against Patterson, Liston would go on to fight against Muhammad Ali, two times, and lost both. Fans and judges speculated that Liston took a dive during both fights, though Liston denies the claims.

Liston finished his career with a record of 50-4, with the only boxer he lost to more than once being Muhammad Ali, both times being for the World Heavyweight title.

Appling Goes Deep Off Spahn

On July 19, 1982, Luke Appling hits a homerun during the Cracker Jack Old Timers game at RFK Stadium. In his 20-year career, White Sox shortstop Luke Appling made seven All-Star teams and collected 2,749 hits, enough to place him in the Hall of Fame. But no amount of All-Star selections could compete with the notoriety he received in 1982, after hitting a home run at the Cracker Jack Old Timers game at RFK Stadium.

Facing off against a 61 year-old Warren Spahn, Appling belted the pitch from the Hall of Famer to the left field stands, 250 feet from home plate. While the smaller configurations of the stadium, which had not been adjusted for a baseball game, certainly helped, the fact that the 75 year-old Appling had hit it out was unbelievable. He had hit only 45 home runs over the course of his career, and that was when he was in his twenties and thirties. At 75, he was the oldest man playing in the old timer's game.

"Funny thing about that homer," he said a month later, "I only took three swings in batting practice. First pitch goes off the end of the bat and the next two off the fists. Thought I'd broken my thumb, so I stopped right there. On the pitch from Spahn I was just trying to get the bat out front. I didn't want to hit it off my wrists."

Appling died in 1991 at the age of 83. For many people, the lasting image of Luke Appling was as a 75 year-old home run hitter, and not a 30 year-old singles hitter.

Florida Marlins Logo Unveiled

On July 18, 1991 Major League Baseball unveils its newest expansion team the Florida Marlins' logo.
Currently the Marlins now are named the Miami Marlins after being the Florida Marlins from 1993-2011.

The Marlins began play in the 1993 season as the Florida Marlins.

They played home games from their inaugural season to the 2011 season at Sun Life Stadium, which they shared with the Miami Dolphins of the National Football League (NFL) and which was also called Joe Robbie Stadium, Pro Player Park, Pro Player Stadium, Dolphin Stadium, Dolphins Stadium, and Land Shark Stadium during their tenancy. Since the 2012 season, they have played at Marlins Park in downtown Miami, on the site of the former Orange Bowl.

The new park, unlike Sun Life Stadium, which was criticized in its baseball configuration for poor sight lines in some locations, was designed foremost as a baseball park.

The new park's name is a temporary one until naming rights are purchased. Per agreement with the city and Miami-Dade County, which owns the park, the Marlins officially changed their name to the "Miami Marlins" on November 11, 2011. They also adopted a new logo, color scheme, and uniforms.

The Marlins have the distinction of winning a World Series championship every year they qualified for the postseason, doing so in 1997 and 2003 — both times as the National League wild card team. They defeated the American League champion Cleveland Indians in the 1997 series in seven games, and then they defeated the New York Yankees four games to two in the 2003 World Series.

The Marlins have been littered with good pitching, but have struggled with keeping good players around. This has been quantified with four no-hitters, and not a single player hitting for the cycle or winning the MVP Award. All four no-hitters have also come against the National League West, a division consisting of the Arizona Diamondback, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, San Diego Padres and the San Francisco Giants.

On May 11, 1996 Al Leiter pitching against the Colorado Rockies threw the first no-hitter in Marlins history with an 11-0 victory at Pro Player Stadium.

Just one year later Kevin Brown, on June 10, 1997 threw the second no-hitter in Marlins history with a 9-0 victory over the San Francisco Giants at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Calif.

On May 12, 2001 A.J. Burnett threw the Marlins third no-hitter with a 3-0 victory over the San Diego Padres at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego, Calif.

Finally on September 6, 2006 Anibal Sanchez threw the Marlins fourth and most recent no-hitter in a 2-0 victory against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Dolphins Stadium.

Despite the four no-hitters in franchise history, the Marlins have never had a CY Young Award winner.

The Marlins have had successful hitters including Gary Sheffield (1996), Mike Lowell (2003), Miguel Cabrera (2005, 2006) Hanley Ramirez (2008, 2009) and Dan Uggla (2010) who all won Silver Slugger Awards, but all of those players have gone on to play with other teams, including Cabrera who won the Triple Crown and MVP in 2012 with the Detroit Tigers.

The Marlins have only one retired number in franchise history, the number 42 jersey that Jackie Robinson, of the Brooklyn Dodgers, whose jersey was retired by all of MLB on April 15, 1997, now Jackie Robinson day.

From 1993 until 2011, the Marlins had retired the jersey number 5 in honor of Carl Barger, the first president of the Florida Marlins who died prior to the team's inaugural season. Barger's favorite player was Joe DiMaggio, thus the selection of number 5. With the move to the new ballpark, the team opted to honor Barger with a plaque. The team opened up number 5 for use on February 11, 2012. Logan Morrison, a Kansas City native and fan of Royals Hall of Famer George Brett. Who wore that number with the Royals, became the first Marlin to wear the number.

The Marlins have two Hall of Famer in Cooperstown, but neither are shown wearing a Marlins cap on their Hall of Fame plaque. First, Tony Perez was inducted as a player, but also managed the club; Andre Dawson who played two seasons with the Marlins and is currently a special assistant for the club.

Cobb Starts The 4,000 Hit Club

On July 18, 1927 Hall of Famer and Detroit Tigers great Ty Cobb hits his career hit 4,000.
At the time Cobb was the only player in Major League Baseball to reach 4,000 hits. Since Cobb only one player has hit more than 4,000 hits and that is former Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies and Montreal Expos great Pete Rose.

Cobb, nicknamed "The Georgia Peach," was an American Major League Baseball outfielder. He was born in The Narrows, Georgia, a small rural community of farmers that was not an official city or village at the time.

Cobb spent 22 seasons with the Detroit Tigers, the last six as the team's player-manager, and finished his career with the Philadelphia Athletics. In 1936 Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes.

At the end of his playing career Cobb was credited with breaking 90 MLB records including ending his career with a .366 batting average, still the highest ever, 54 career steals of home, still the most of all time, 892 stolen bases, which has since been surpassed by three players including current stolen base champion Oakland Athletics great Rickey Henderson. Most runs scored with 2,245, which has since been surpassed only by Henderson. Most career hits with 4,191, which has since been surpassed only by Rose.

Cobb finished his career as a one time American League MVP in 1911, the winner of 12 batting titles, including nine in a row from 1907-1915, both of which are the most of all time. He batted over .400 three times, which is tied for an MLB record and only batted under .320 once in his career. He also led the American League with a .350 batting average at age 20, second youngest in MLB history to do so.

Cobb’s career numbers include a .366 batting average, a .433 on-base percentage, a .512 slugging percentage, 4,189 hits, 724 doubles, 295 triples, 117 home runs, 1,249 walks, 1,938 RBIs, 2,246 runs scored, 897 stolen bases in 3,034 games played.

Cobb was named to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team, and Cooperstown Hall of Fame in 1936 with 98.23 percent of the vote. Cobb received the most votes of any player on the inaugural Baseball Hall of Fame ballot, receiving 222 out of a possible 226 votes.

Since the inception of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York there have been 300 members elected with only three members with a higher percentage of the vote being inducted after Cobb including in this order of percentage; New York Mets great Tom Seaver 98.84 percent, Texas Rangers, Houston Astros and California Angels great Nolan Ryan 98.79 percent and Baltimore Orioles great Cal Ripken Jr. with 98.53 percent.

Only Kansas City Royals George Brett has topped 98 percent of the vote without surpassing Cobb, with 98.19 percent.

This year no one was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame even though arguable two of the best players of All-Time, Roger Clemens, seven CY Young awards, and Barry Bonds, seven MVP awards, both more than anyone else in history, were not inducted.

The Baseball Writers of America chose not to elect anyone this year, including Bonds and Clemens because of the looming discussion around Performance Enhancing Drugs and their baseball careers.
The next election into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. is in January of 2014. Mike Mussina, Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux top the list of potential first ballot candidates.

Minnesota Twins Make Triple Play History

On July 17, 1990, the Minnesota Twins accomplish something that had never been done before as they turn not one, but two triple plays in a game at Fenway Park. The triple plays occurred in the fourth and eighth innings and were nearly identical; in both instances, Twins third baseman Gary Gaetti stepped on third base on a ground ball, threw the ball to second baseman Al Newman, who then threw the ball to first baseman Kent Hrbek.

There had been over 600 occurrences of the rare triple play, but never had more than one happened in the same game. It was a moot point though, as the Red Sox beat the Twins anyway, 1-0. The next day, the Twins tied an American League record by recording six double plays, but again lost to the Sox, 5-4. The Red Sox also turned three double plays that game making for the most double plays ever turned in a single game, nine.

The six double plays tied a record the Twins already owned. Three years earlier in 1977 playing against the Toronto Blue Jays, the Twins turned six double plays in a 10-inning game.

In 2006 the Twins turned another great triple play, against the Seattle Mariners, with the bases loaded and no outs, Juan Rincon gets Kenji Johjima to ground into a 4-5-6-3 triple play to end the inning.

In the history of the Twins organization the Minnesota ball club has turned 11 triple plays on defense, and hit into seven.

San Francisco Warriors Add Golden State To Name

On July 16, 1971 the National Basketball Association San Francisco Warriors, add Golden State, and take away San Francisco from their name.

The San Diego Evening Tribune reports that the San Francisco Warriors will play half of their home games on the 1972 schedule in Oakland, with the other half to be played in San Diego. With the team moving out of San Francisco, it was also reported that the team would be changing its name to the "Golden State Warriors," so as to identify with both the cities of Oakland and San Diego.

As it turned out, the Warriors only played six games in San Diego that year, and then switched to playing in Oakland full-time. But they kept the "Golden State" name anyway, making them the only team in the NBA to not include their city or state in their name (although California's state motto was "the Golden State.")

The team would also change their logo, which was supposed to compensate for the confusion some fans had when they asked, "Where do the Golden State Warriors play?" The Warriors' new logo featured the outline of California, and had a blue star positioned on the edge of the state where the Bay Area was located.

As unique as it was, the Warriors weren't the only Oakland sports team to go this route.
One year earlier, the Oakland Seals of the NHL changed their name to the "California Golden Seals." Besides dropping the "Oakland" from their title, the Seals had also moved out of San Francisco.

In 1976, the Seals moved east and became the Cleveland Barons, where they lasted for two seasons before folding.

However, the Golden State might drop from the teams name as the team has proposed to build a 17,000-to-19,000-seat waterfront arena on Piers 30 and 32 in San Francisco on a 13-acre site near the Bay Bridge they hope to finish in time for the 2017-18 NBA season, when the team's lease at the Oracle Arena in Oakland expires

Since being named the Golden State Warriors, the Bay Area’s sole basketball franchise has won one NBA Championship coming in the 1974-1975 season, where the team beat the Washington Bullets in a four-game sweep, with home games being played in Oakland and San Francisco.

Since that 1974-1975 season the Warriors have struggled to get back to the NBA Finals obtaining only one Division Title coming in 1976.

Last years playoff appearance for the Warriors was only their second in the last 19 years, and were able to reach the second round again beating the higher seeded Denver Nuggets four games to two, before being eliminated by the San Antonio Spurs in the Western Conference Semi Finals four games to one.

This off-season the Golden State Warriors made several moves to bolster their lineup for the upcoming season including signing marquee free agent Andre Iguodala who the Warriors General Manager Bob Myers is the right piece to put the Warriors over the hump and playing for the Western Conference Championship.

DiMaggio Extends Hit Streak To 56 Games

On July 16, 1941, Hall of Famer, Martinez Native and New York Yankees slugger Joe DiMaggio gets three base hits in a game against the Cleveland Indians.

The three hits extended his consecutive-games-with-a-hit streak to 56 games, a full dozen past the previous record held by "Wee" Willie Keeler.

Just one day later, in a rematch against those same Indians, the New York Yankees won, 4-3 -- but DiMaggio went 0-3 thanks to a pair of great defensive plays by Indians third baseman Ken Keltner.
The Yankees won 41 games, lost 13, and tied twice during Joe's streak, and they would later run away with the American League pennant. But the streak was over.

At 56 games, DiMaggio had carried the hit record to a seemingly insurmountable mark; to this day, it remains the most ever in Major League Baseball history. Immediately following that game, DiMaggio got a hit in 16 straight games, meaning that he hit safely in 72 of 73 games and had safely reached base in all of them.

A then-record nighttime crowd of 67,468 had come out to watch him extend it to 57. Had he done it, the Heinz 57 Company would have given him a $10,000 endorsement.

The “Yankee Clipper”, DiMaggio’s, 56-game streak became one of the most idolized numbers in baseball and joined Babe Ruth's home run records, and later Wilt Chamberlain's 100-point game, as the most hallowed records in all of sports.

Whenever any player recorded a hit streak in the mid-thirties, still twenty short of the record, that player would receive an immense amount of coverage from the media. That's how enormous DiMaggio’s record was.

DiMaggio would have had a much more storied career if it were not the case that he enlisted in the United States Air Force in February of 1943. DiMaggio was stationed at Santa Ana, California, Hawaii, and Atlantic City, New Jersey, as a physical education instructor. He was released on medical discharge in September 1945, due to chronic stomach ulcers.

Other than now being paid $21 a month, DiMaggio's service was as comfortable as a soldier's life could be. He spent most of his career playing for base teams and in exhibition games against fellow Major Leaguers and minor league players, and superiors gave him special privileges due to his prewar fame.

DiMaggio ate so well from an athlete-only diet that he gained 10 pounds, and while in Hawaii he and other players mostly tanned on the beach and drank. Embarrassed by his lifestyle, DiMaggio demanded combat duty in 1943, but was turned down.

DiMaggio would return to baseball in 1946 after three years in service.

However, even with time in the Air Force during the prime of his career DiMaggio ended his career as one of the most loved Yankees, as he was a nine-time World Series Champion, a three-time MVP and of course he holds the record for consecutive game hit-streak with 56 games. DiMaggio’s career stats are not to be looked over either; in his 13-year career he was an All-Star every year, including seven consecutive appearances from 1936-1942, and then six more consecutive appearances from 1946-1951. He finished his career with a .325 batting average, 2,214 hits, 389 doubles, 131 triples, 361 home runs, 790 walks 1,537 RBIs, 1,390 run and a .398 on base percentage.

DiMaggio led the league in batting average twice in 1939 and 1940. In 1939 he won his first MVP award. DiMaggio also led the league in home runs twice in 1937 and 1948, both times he was runner up for the MVP, in 1937 he also led the league in runs scored. In 1941 and 1948 he led the league in RBIs, in 1941 he won the second of his three MVP awards.

DiMaggio was in the top 10 in MVP voting in 10 of his 13 years of action, and in the top three six times.

In 1955 he was inducted into Cooperstown Major League Baseball Hall of Fame with 88.84 percent of the vote on third ballot in which he was named.