centerfield maz

Wilson Antonio Valdez was born May 20th, 1978 in Nizao Peravia Dominican Republic. The five foot eleven infielder was originally signed by the Montreal Expos in 1997. After six minor league seasons and some moving to various organizations, he got a call up with the 2004 Chicago Whites Sox. He was placed on waivers & picked up by the New York Mets but was quickly traded to Seattle. He saw action in 42 games batting just .198 & then was traded to the San Diego Padres. He briefly ended up with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 2007, then went on to Pitch in Korea for 2008. He signed as a free agent with the Cleveland Indians but was purchased by the New York Mets in May 2009. Valdez debuted with the Mets on May 27th 2009 as a pinch hitter going 0-1 in a game against the Washington Nationals. On June 1st he tripled & doubled driving in three runs in a Mets 8-5 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh. At the end of July he was batting .244 & was sent down to the minor leagues un...

Steve Charles Kraly was born on April 18t, 1929 at Whiting, Indiana. The five foot nine left hander was signed by the A.L. New York club in 1949 at the age of 20. In the minor leagues he was a roommate of Mickey Mantle winning 18 games at Joplin in the Western Association. At Binghamton he was a 19 game winner & became a local star pitcher. He would settle in the area, get married & raise his family there. Kraly went 19-2 over 22 starts for the Binghamton Triplets before receiving a promotion to the big league club. He would pitch just two games and go 0-2 with a save appearing in five games. He earned a World Series ring but did not pitch in the Series. The next year his arm would tighten up between the tendons and doctors said it was a blood clot, which today is diagnosed as an aneurysm. He would pitch in the minor leagues through 1960 with the Reds, Phillies & Tigers organizations. In 1956 he returned to Binghamton going 5-6 with a 4.55 ERA. In 1961 his old manag...

I went into this concert very skeptical & almost attempted to sell off the tickets. I wasn't sure if the Beach Boys could pull it off & was afraid it would be a show of backing musicians covering for the originals. Boy was I wrong.............. A beautiful cool evening on the shores of theJones Beach Theater, made for a perfect setting for the Beach Boys 50th Anniversary Tour. Last time I saw the band was at Live Aid & at this same venue way back in 1984. This current show blew me away, it was an incredidible celebration of a fantastic musical library the Beach Boys posses. The surf songs, the party songs, the love songs, the psychaeldic songs, the car songs & the timeless summer sixties music we all have grown up on. Of course how can you mention the Beach Boys without talking about their incredible harmonies. Those harmonies were so good they even inspired the Beatles & tonight they were right on cue. The music was great as a nine piece band backed ...

Larry Don Miller was born June 19th 1937 in Topeka, Kansas. The six foot left handed pitcher attended the University of Kansas getting signed as an amateur free agent by the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1959. Miller pitched in the Dodgers organization through 1964 having his best season there that year going 8-0 with a 1.68 ERA at AAA Albuquerque. He was called up to the Dodgers staff in June debuting in Cincinnati taking a 2-1 loss to the Reds. Later in the season the Mets would tag him for three runs over six innings at Shea Stadium as he took his eighth loss of the season. He went 4-8 with a 4.18 ERA for the sixth place Dodgers. That October he was sent to the New York Mets for Dick Smith.   Miller began the year with AAA Buffalo going 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA making a good impression, getting called up to a poor 1965 Mets staff in June. He debuted as a Met in Pittsburgh against Pirates on June 3rd, getting hit for three runs not recording an out in the inning. He would pitch mostl...

Today centerfieldmaz would like to give mention to the life of musician Bob Welch who passed on this week. In the fall of 1977 my favorite song was Bob Welch's Ebony Eyes. At the time I was eleven years old and music became a big part of my life. In New York WPLJ radio was the top rock station & Ebony Eyes was in constant rotation. Those were the hey days of Creem magazine where Welch would often get featured along with his old group Fleetwood Mac. It was then that a pre teen centerfieldmaz fell in love with Stevie Nicks!  I even learned to draw a caricature of Welch, as I was a young aspiring artist in those days too. He was easy to draw with his glasses, lopsided hat & long hair. My Stevie Nicks caricatures didn't turn out so well. I drove my little brother crazy playing Ebony Eyes on the cassette player & drawing those pictures with colored pencils. Bob Welch was born on August 31st in Los Angeles, California. He was raised in Beverly Hills, the son of Holl...

I sat watching this game not in my centerfieldmaz room but in the living room with a chance at the TV after a long day/week of work. As the game rolled on I thought (as I did every time a Mets pitcher went into the 5th inning with a not hitter) this could be the night. But usually it doesn't work out so the tension didn't mount for me until the 7th / 8th innings. By then I didn't move from my spot on the couch, no calls, no texts no moves. I admit it was one of my happiest regular season Mets moments as an emotional wave went through me. After all these years & all the great pitchers that I have seen get close to a no hitter, tonight the Mets finally had a pitcher toss a no hitter. As a diehard fan from a very young age, I remember my favorite player of all time Tom Seaver getting so close five times, but ending up with one hitters. Yes, I remember the 35 one hitters by the likes of: Nolan Ryan, Gary Gentry ( twice), Jon Matlack (twice), David Cone (twice), Steve ...

JULY 9th 1969 If there was ever a night in which a sports team first earned respect & recognition as a true contender, it was July 9th 1969. It is one of the most important nights in Mets regular season history as well as one of the greatest Mets regular season games. The Mets were an expansion team in 1962 and lost a record 120 games. The team consisted mostly of washed up veterans & below average young players who never had a chance to develop. By 1969 they had finished last all but one year, but had some good young players who came through their system as well as some of the best young pitching arms in baseball. By July 9th 1969 the Mets were playing the best baseball in their short history under manager Gil Hodges. The Mets were taking on the first place Chicago Cubs, whose manager was the old New York Giants legendary Manager Leo Durocher. The Cubs were the best team in the NL at that time, with Hall of Famers Ernie Banks, Fergie Jenkins & Billy Williams, as w...