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Showing posts from November, 2010

New Jersey's Greatest Baseball Player- Hall of Famer: "Ducky" Joe Medwick (1932-1948)

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Joseph Michael Medwick was born on November 24, 1911 in Carteret, New Jersey. The strong hardnosed player was born to Hungarian immigrants and became a star player any where he played baseball. A woman saw him swimming and said he looked like a duck earning the nickname “Ducky Wucky”. The fans then called him Ducky because of the way he waddled when he walked, but his team mates never dared using that phrase. To players he was known as “Muscles” because of his size & strength. He played hard and had a notorious temper fighting with team mates, opposing players & fans. He once decked a pitcher on his team for walking infron of him to many times when he was being photographed. He punched out another when he criticized him for not running out a fly ball. Legend has it, Medwick was the only player Dizzy Dean was afraid, after he threatened to take him & his brother out with a bat. He came up with the Cardinals in 1932 becoming a ten time All Star & one of the National ...

Former Met of the Day: Matt Lawton (2001)

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Mathew Lawton III was born in Gulfport Mississippi on November 3, 1971. He was drafted by the Twins in the 13th round of the 1991 draft. In 1994 he hit .300 at A ball & played in the Florida State League All Star Game. As an outfielder he was rated a poor defensive player who sometimes made basic fundamental mistakes. He made the best of his abilities and after two brief appearances in 1995 & 1996, became the Twins everyday outfielder by 1997. He had some good hitting seasons, hitting over 35 doubles three times, driving in over 60 runs five times, scoring over 90 runs three times and stealing 23 or more bases four times. He had his best season in 2000 making the All Star team, batting .305 with 44 doubles, 13 HRs and 88 RBIs. He was batting .293 through July of 2001 when the Twins traded him to the New York Mets for popular pitcher Rick Reed. Lawton would only play in 48 games as a Met right fielder, as his average dropped to .246 in 183 at bats, with 3 HRs 11 doubles ...