centerfield maz

Salvatore Philip Butera was born September 25, 1952 in Richmond Hill, Queens. His parents had emigrated from Italy, settling in Brooklyn, New York at first, then moving over to Queens. After Sal was born, the family moved to Long Island where Sal grew up playing ball in high school at Bohemia, NY. He attended Suffolk County Community College, getting signed by the Minnesota Twins in 1972. The six foot right hand hitting catcher, would spend eight years in the Twins minors leagues. He didn’t hit for power & hit a best .278 in the minor leagues in 1977. In 1980 he made the Twins club out of Spring Training, starting out as the back up to Butch Wynegar. In 1981 Butera saw most of the action behind the plate, appearing in 62 games for the Twin; hitting .240 with no HRs & 18 RBIs. He had a strong arm and nailed 54% of base runners attempting to steal, while posting a .970 fielding percentage. But lack of power & hitting made him Tim Launders back up the following seaso...

Michael Dwain DeJean was born on September 28, 1970 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The right handed Cajun boy was drafted out of the University of West Alabama in the 24th round in 1992 when he was still a shortstop. He was soon converted to a relief pitcher, and saved 16 or more games four times at various minor league levels. He made the big leagues by 1997 debuting with the Colorado Rockies, going 5-0 with two saves & a 3.99 ERA in 55 appearances. He stayed in Colorado for four seasons, mostly as a mid reliever. In April 2001 he was Traded along with Mark Leiter and Elvis Pena to the Milwaukee Brewers for Juan Acevedo, Kane Davis and Jose Flores. In Milwaukee he became a closer, saving 27 games with 1-5 record in 2002. He posted 18 saves in 2003 when he found himself traded to the St. Louis Cardinals toward the end of the season. From there he became a journey man middle reliever, going to the Baltimore Orioles where he was 0-5 before getting traded to the New York Mets in Ju...

Herbert Moford was born on August 6th, 1928 in Brooksville Kentucky. The six foot one right-hander spent a total of 17 years in the minor leagues going 147-131 in 462 games pitched at that level. In 1954 he won 17 games (17-14) at AA Columbus and made his debut the next year with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was 1-1 with a 7.88 ERA in 14 games through mid June when he was sent back down to the minors. He was 1-6 the rest of the year & was traded to the Detroit Tiger organization for Bob Thorpe. He returned to the majors in 1959 going 4-9 with a 3.61 ERA & was soon traded to the Boston Red Sox. On April 16th 1959 he was shelled for two HRs & four earned runs in his Red Sox debut in a game against the Washington Senators. In his third & final outing of the season he was hit for five runs on five hits , again by the Senators. His ERA ballooned to 11.42 as he lost both decisions & was shipped back to the minors the rest of the year. He ended up in Baltimore Orioles ...

Jon Erich Rauch was born September 27th in Louisville, Kentucky. The big six foot eleven Rauch attended Morehead State University, the same school the great Football New York Giant Quarterback Phil Simms attended. He was originally signed by the Chicago White Sox in the third round of the 1999 draft. In 2000 he pitched for the US Olympic Team at Sydney Australia. That same year he was voted the Sporting News Minor League Player of the year. In 2002 he made the White Sox out of Spring Training getting his MLB debut against the Seattle Mariners pitching the 7th inning in relief. On April 21st he was roughed up by the Detroit Tigers allowing eight runs in just four innings of work. He was sent down to the minors but returned in September. In eight games he allowed seven HRs that season. He spent all of 2003 at AAA Charlotte, as well as most of 2004. That year he went 7-1 striking out 94 batters getting him back to the big leagues. He was traded to the Montreal Expos for Carl Evere...

Gennaro Joseph Casale was born on September 27th 1933 in Brooklyn, New York. The six foot, two right handed pitcher was signed as an amateur free agent by the Boston Red Sox in 1952. In his first pro year he won 14 games (14-13) in the California League of the minor leagues. By 1954 he won 14 games again (14-8) at A ball Albany.  From there he was projected to be a starter with the Red Sox for 1956, but he was then drafted into the US Military. He spent two years there making it back to the big leagues fo two games in 1958. In 1959 Casale led the Sox fifth place staff with 13 wins (13-8) posting a 4.31 ERA. His three shut outs were fourth best in the AL & his .619 winning % was tenth best. More famously he hit three HRs on the season batting .169 with nine RBIs. His HR against Russ Kemmerer & the Washington Senators is forever famous in Red Sox lore. Quotes: Jerry Casale: "I believe I hit the longest home run ever by a Boston player. I hit it over the center fie...

Vincent Maurice Coleman was born on September 22, 1961 in Jacksonville, Florida. Coleman attended the Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University setting stolen base records there as well as playing football. He followed in the footsteps of his cousin Greg Coleman who was one of the first African American punters in the NFL. Greg Coleman is a member of the Florida A & M Hall of Fame, as well as being a member of the Minnesota Vikings 40th Anniversary team. He played for the Vikings from 1978- 1987, leading the NFC in punts in 1982. He is currently a sideline reporter for the Vikings in Minnesota. Vince Coleman chose baseball instead of a football career, getting drafted by the St, Louis Cardinals in the tenth round of the 1982 draft. In the minor leagues he set a professional baseball record by stealing 145 bases with A ball Macon in 1983 depite missing a month of the season. During his prime he was one of the fastest men in the league & baseballs best base steale...

Eugene James Petralli was born September 25, 1959 in Sacramento, California. He is the son of former minor league player; Gene Petralli.  Geno was drafted in the third round of the 1978 draft by the Toronto Blue Jays as a catcher. He made his debut in 1982 but only saw very limited action until the Indians purchased his contract in 1985. T hey released him & he signed with the Texas Rangers as a free agent. He played a s a back up catcher to Don Slaught as well as seeing some time at third base & DH. In 1987 he was the teams main backstop getting into 101 games, batting .302 with 7 HRs 11 doubles & 31RBIs. In 1987 he set a record with 35 passed balls on the season, while catching behind the plate. He broke former Met J.C. Martin’s record of 33 set with the White Sox in 1965. Martin’s passed balls were due, in part, to catching knuckleball pitchers Hoyt Wilhelm and Eddie Fisher.  Petralli had one nightmare of a game where he had six passed balls in one g...

Edward Wayne Spiezio was born on Halloween October 31st, 1941 in Joliet, Illinois. The five foot eleven infielder was signed out of college in 1963 by the St. Louis Cardinals.  He made the team the next year during their 1964 Championship season playing in 12 brief games batting .333. Spezio played five seasons in St. Louis, mostly as a backup third baseman to Mike Shannon getting to three World Series. He hit .210 with three HRs & ten RBIs playing in 55 games in the Cards 1967 Championship season. Post Season: He went 0-1 in the 1967 World Series against the Boston Red Sox. In the 1968 Fall Classic against the Detroit Tigers he got a hit in Game #5 off Mickey Lolich in the 5-3 Tiger win. In the off season he was traded to the expansion San Diego Padres with three other players for pitcher Dave Giusti. Trivia: On April 8th 1969, Spezio made Padres history, getting the teams first hit & hitting the franchise’s first ever HR off pitcher Houston Astros pitcher...

Brian Alexander Stokes was born on September 7, 1979 in Pomona, California. The six foot one right handed pitcher was signed by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998 out of Riverside Community College. He toiled at the A ball level for five seasons before leading his Bakersfield team in wins (10) in 2002. The next season he fell to 2-5 & had arm troubles. He then needier Tommy John surgery missing the next year and a half of action. Stokes successfully returned in 2006 going 7-7 at AAA Durham. He got the September call up to the Rays big league team, debuting in a game against the Seattle Mariners. On September 24th He earned his first career victory against the AL New York club in a start at Tampa. He pitched into the sixth, allowing three runs on seven hits . In 2007 he pitched in 59 games out of the Rays bullpen posting a 2-7 record with a 7.07 ERA. In November his contract was purchased by the New York Mets. At the end of Spring Training he was designated for assignment ...

Richard Santo Aurilia was born on September 2, 1971 in Brooklyn, New York. Aurilia went to Xaverian high school in Bay Ridge Brooklyn and then attended St. John’s University. He was a star player for the Red Storm baseball team, making All Big East getting & eventually being inducted in the school's Hall of Fame. The six foot infielder was drafted by the Texas Rangers in the 24th round of the 1992 draft. He got eventually was traded to the San Francisco Giants with Desi Wilson for pitcher John Burkett. Aurillia would play for the Giants as their main second baseman for nine seasons (1996-2003) then returning for three more years at the end of his career (2006-2009). He was a good defensive short stop, anchoring the Giants infield for most of the late nineties & early 2000’s. Aurilla made it as a September call up in 1995 going 9-19. In 1996 he got into 105 games sharing time with veteran Shawon Dunston at Short stop. Aurillia struggled hitting .239. In 1997 he hi...