centerfield maz

John Eric Hillman was born on April 27th 1966 in Gary, Indiana. The tall six foot ten left hander was drafted by the New York Mets in the 16th round of the 1987 draft. He pitched in the minors for six years, going a best 9-2 with a 3.65 ERA leading the AAA Tidewater Tides staff in 1992. That season he was called up to the Mets on two separate occasions, making his MLB debut in San Diego on May 18th pitching one inning of relief of Dwight Gooden. On August 11th he pitched eight innings of shutout ball, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 at Shea Stadium earning his first win. In his next start he went into the 9th inning earning a win at San Francisco beating the Giants 5-3. He would finish the year at 2-2 taking two losses at the end of September where he allowed eleven earned runs in just four innings of work. That season he was the tallest pitcher in the big leagues along with Randy Johnson of the Seattle Mariners. Hillman returned to the Mets in May of 1993 and was greeted to a ...

Kevin Burkhardt was born March 2nd 1974 in Bloomfield, New Jersey. Burkhardt was a young Mets fan who idolized Mets announcer; Gary Cohen.  After graduating from William Patterson University he worked at the radio station WGHT in Pompton Lakes, New Jersey. He began to cover high school football games & New Jersey Jackals minor league games as well. Burkhardt would work selling Chevy cars at a dealership in Eatontown, New Jersey. Quotes: Kevin Burkhardt “I thought I was good enough to make it in broadcasting, but after so many years of busting my tail, I was making $18,000 a year and working all kinds of odd hours. It just wasn’t happening for me.” He sent many tapes of his work to local stations before getting a break on WCBS-AM doing part time sports reports. This led to a gig on WFAN on 20/20 updates & as a Jets reporter. In 2007 he joined the Mets Broadcast team at the newly former SNY network. He quickly earned a reputation as a nice guy, a fine interviewer...

Christina Thompson was born in Wisconsin in 1985 & attended Vanderbilt University. She was Miss Wisconsin & a top eight runner up in the 2008 Miss America Pageant. She appeared in the reality TV show, Miss America: Reality Check in 2008 & 2009.  She is a classical violinist who has taught classes & worked as a personal violin instructor. Thompson became a model & actress in the Chicago area before moving to New York. Thompson is the current in game host at Citi Field for the New York Mets, doing live promotions in between innings of Met home games. She also does commercial work for the SNY network & Mets games promotions. In addition to her Mets work, she is the On Camera host of Fast Lane Daily & co-host of Shakedown Nation on the drive network. She is trained specialist working for Bentley & Ford motor companies as well. Her resume also includes being part of Napa Auto Parts instructional videos & on camera host of Escoffier Schoo...

Alexa Datt is a freelance sports reporter on SNY network & current host of Mets Insider.  Datt began working as a Production assistant on Americas Most Wanted in 2006. From there she moved on to Comcast Sports Mid Atlantic region from 2006-2009. In 2010 she began to do high school sports & College Basketball on Staten Island. From there she worked on Men's & Women's College basketball at Rutgers University.On SNY she also covers the Fordham Rams basketball games.   In 2013 she was hired at SNY Sports Network & was soon seen on air. She is a weekly host on the social media segment of the "Covino & Rich Show" on SNY. In addition she works on "Hitting the Streets" talking to New Yorkers about various sports issues. Datt began doing New York Mets promotional segments during Mets games advertising future events & promotions at Citi Field. At Mets Spring Training 2015, she began doing on the field & in the dug out ...

Kaitlin Monte was born on February 9th 1989 in Pittsford, New York. She first attended Clarkson University but then graduated from the University of Tampa with a Bachelor Degree. Having grown up with three with three siblings with disabilities, she became an avid advocate for disability awareness. After college she moved to New York City & started out in musical theater working in off  Broadway shows. She also became a member of the USO Show Troupe bringing support to US military personnel, veterans & their families. In 2011 she held the title of Miss New York & entered the 2012 Miss America competition. She finished second runner up as Miss New York & was awarded scholarships in National fitness & lifestyle. As Miss New York she selected Anti Bullying, as her personal platform.  She founded an on line petition to bring the issue of cyber bullying to state legislators. She was named the Anti-Defamation League's No Place for Hate 2012 Difference ...

Omir (Rios) Santos was born on April 29th, 1981 in Bayamon, Puerto Rico. The big six foot 215 pound catcher, attended East Central College in Missouri. He was selected in the 21st round of the 2001 draft, by the AL New York club. Santos spent seven years in the clubs organization, as a catcher at all minor league levels. He was released in late 2007 & signed with the Baltimore Orioles. He played in ten games at the big league level, debuting at age 27. At the end of the year he was granted free agency & got signed by the New York Mets. He played 84 games with the AAA Norfolk Tides, batting .269 with one HR & 36 RBIs. In 2009 he began the year at AAA Buffalo, but after three games he was called up to the Mets big league club when injuries struck the catching staff, putting out Brian Schneider. On April 17th he appeared as a pinch hitter, going 0-1 in a 5-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. Two days later he got a start at Shea Stadium catching Nelson Figueroa in a 4-2...

Robert Craig McClure was born April 29th 1952 at Oakland, California. The five foot eleven left handed pitcher, attended the College of San Mateo, getting drafted in the third round of the 1973 amateur draft. McClure moved up quickly, finding himself in the majors by late August 1975. He debuted finishing out a 3-0 loss in Baltimore to the Orioles. On August 16th, he earned career save #1, coming against the AL New York team. In his last outing of the year he earned his first career win as well. He spent most of 1976 in the minors & in March of 1977 was sent to the Milwaukee Brewers as a player to be named later in a deal that also sent Jamie Quirk & Jim Wohlford to the Brewers. Kansas City received Darrell Porter & Jim Colborn. McClure would spend ten years in Milwaukee making the post season twice (1981 & 1982). He spent his first five years with the Brewers as a reliever leading the team in saves in 1978 with nine & again in 1980 with ten. After battli...

Orber (Aquiles) Moreno was born on April 27, 1977 in Caracas, Venezuela. The tall slender right hander was signed at the age of sixteen by the Kansas City Royals.  He would spend six years in the minors as a starter, reliever even a closer at times before debuting with the Royals in 1990. He appeared in seven games posting a 5.63 ERA with six strikeouts in eight innings of work. In 2003 he was signed by Jim Duquette & the New York Mets during Spring Training. He went 5-1 posting a strong 1.90 ERA in 38 games at AAA Norfolk, getting a September call up to Shea Stadium. He debuted on September 3rd in a game against the Braves & was greeted with a two run HR by Javier Lopez, but he got no decision in the 9-3 loss. He had another rough outing in Florida as the Marlins tagged him for four runs & in seven games he posted a 7.88 ERA on the season. In 2004 he made the club after a good Spring Training, and in the second game of the season was greeted with a two run do...

John Joseph Cerutti was born on April 28th 1960 at Albany, New York. The six foot two, left handed pitcher attended Amherst College. He was a first round draft pick of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1981, the 21st pick overall. He got a cup of coffee in 1985 going 0-2 in four games with a 5.40 ERA. The next season he went 9-4 establishing himself as a solid pitcher. He was mostly a starter but used in a relief role as well. This was the case in his entire seven year career. In 1987 he won a career high 11 games (11-4) with a .733 winning % (second best in the AL). After a 6-7 season in 1988, he rebounded for the First place AL Eastern Champion Jays in 1989. On June 7th, 1989 he made Blue Jays history, recording the teams first win at the newly opened SkyDome, as he beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-2. On the year he matched his career high, eleven wins but lost eleven games as well. Cerutti posted a 3.07 ERA (9th in the AL) putting up career highs in innings (205)...

Angelo Bartlett Giamatti was born on April 4, 1938 in Edgartown, Massachusetts on Martha’s Vineyard. His grandfather had emigrated from Naples, Italy in early 1900 & his father became an Italian language teacher at Mount Holyoke College. Bartlett grew up in Wakefield , Massachusetts outside of the Springfield area. He attended his junior year in high school overseas in Rome. He returned to attend Yale University, eventually becoming the Yale University from 1976 to 1986. He was a lifelong die hard Red Sox fan who once said, all he ever wanted to be was “President of the American League”. In 1986 he became President of the National League overseeing the Mets win the World Series. He suspended Pete Rose in April of 1988 after he shoved Umpire Dave Pallone. During the NLCS between the Dodgers & Mets he suspended L.A. pitcher Jay Howell after he was caught using pine tar. The executives in MLB loved the way Giamatti enforced rules, something he learned by fighting th...

A great day at Citi Field today as the Mets tie a franchise record with their 11th win in a row.  Great fun with DarthMaz, Uncle Frankie (UF) & Freddie. Ran into my buddy from Dave's Mets Dugout, met Citi Field in game host: Christina Thompson & won Zac Brown Band Tixx playing name that City on the Jumbotron.   with Citi Field Mets Host Christina Thompson DarthMaz- UF & Fred with Dave of Dave Mets Dugout

Jim Tolbert Hearn was born on April 11, 1921 in Atlanta, Georgia. The big six foot, five inch right handed pitcher, was known as “Jumbo Jim” because of his size. He attended Georgia Tech University and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1942. Hearn then served three years in military service during World War II. He returned to pitch in the minor leagues by 1946, & making it to the Cardinal staff in 1947. He had a solid rookie year pitching in 37 games going 12-7 with a 3.22 ERA. In 1948 he was 8-6, as his ERA rose to 4.22. He then struggled due to a lack of confidence over the next two seasons. getting placed on waivers in mid 1950. The New York Giants picked him up and their pitching coach, Frank Shellenback, taught him to throw a sinker ball. Hearn improved to become one of the league’s top pitchers the rest of the season. He went 11-4 and led the league in ERA (2.49) & shut outs (5). He struck out 58 batters , his highest season total so far, pitching in 134 i...

Vincent Antonio Rottino was born April 7, 1980 in Racine, Wisconsin. After attending the University of Wisconsin at La Crosse, Wisconsin he was signed by the hometown Milwaukee Brewers in 2003. The six foot one right hand hitter, is a versatile fielder who  plays outfield, third base, first base & catcher. Rottino was called up in September 2006, debuting as a pinch hitter on September 1st against the Florida Marlins. and only played in 25 games over three seasons (5-25 with a .208 average). In 2007 he helped the Milwaukee Brewers clinch their first winning season in 15 years.Even though he appeared in only eight regular season games that season, he had a key pinch hit  on the next to last day of the season.  Rottino came in to pitch hit against the San Diego Padres; Joe Thatcher, in the bottom of the 12th inning with two men on. He singled with a weak grounder through the left side of the infield and drove in the winning run, helping the...