centerfield maz

It was a beautiful night for an outdoor concert. Many years ago I stumbled on the original Forest Hills Tennis Stadium, on the site of the West Side Tennis club, right smack in the middle of a residential neighborhood of beautiful Forest Hills. Being a New York & Stadium history buff, I explored as close as I could. I did my research & followed its progress to it becoming a once again prime concert venue. photos by centerfieldmaz     It's an old stadium and there are no rest rooms, just a bunch of porto-sans & mobile rest rooms. There was make shift sinks with running water & sanitizer stations. There was plenty of food in the food court area at the entrance. Heineken sponsors the venue & there was a surprising number of countless beer stands. The seats where we sat were just a long steel bleacher/ bench with no back. It was ok because there was enough room on either side & most of the time everyone was standing. That said- I ...

Kenneth Ray Oberkfell was born on May 4, 1956 in Highland, Illinois. The versatile infielder was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals as an amateur free agent in 1975. By 1979 he was playing at second base alongside that year’s NL co-MVP & future Met, Keith Hernandez. He led all NL second baseman in fielding % posting a .985 %. Oberkfell hit over .300 his first two seasons in St. Louis posting on base percentages over .375% both years as well. He spent seven seasons in St. Louis hitting over .290 two more times, gathering over 100 hits five straight seasons. He was a solid hitter without much power or run production but got on base & could even steal a few bases. In 1981 he made the move over to third base replacing long time Cardinal Ken Reitz at the position. Oberkfell was a fine defensive infielder & made the move over to the hot corner very easily.He would twice lead all NL third baseman in fielding %. For the 1982 World Champion Cardinals he led all N.L. third...

Leonard Richard Merullo was born on May 5th 1917 in Boston, Massachusetts. The five foot eleven right hand hitter attended both Villanova University & Boston College. Merullo was a star player in the Cape Cod League & was eventually elected to heir Hall of Fame.  He got to the big leagues in 1941 becoming the Chicago Cubs regular shortstop from 1942-1945 & again in 1947. He saw a lot of action at short, leading the league in errors in 1947 (29) coming in second in the league in that category in both 1942 & 1943. He would be among the top four in his league in assists, put outs & double plays in his years as a regular as well. He got to play in three games of the 1945 World Series loss to the Detroit Tigers. After the death of Andy Pafko in 2013, Merullo is now the last living Cubs player to have played in a World Series game.  Merullo (right) with Red Sox legend Johnny Pesky 2010 Retirement : In a seven year playing career he hit .240 with 497 ...

Bobby Gene Smith was born on May 28, 1934 in Hood River, Oregon. In 1952 he signed with the St. Louis Cardinals as an outfielder. He would hit .300 twice in the minors making the Cardinals as a reserve outfielder for three seasons (1957-1959). He hit a HR in first career game but didn’t hit too many more as the season went on. He was labeled the ultimate six o’clock hitter by teammate Bill White, meaning he would hit HRs in batting practice but rarely in the real game.  He was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Carl Sawatski in December 1959. He hit a career best .286 in 98 games with the 1960 Phillies, hitting 4 HRs with 5 doubles & 27 RBIs. Smith was the New York Mets 16th pick in the 1961 expansion draft, making him an original Met. Smith appeared in the third game in New York Mets history as a pinch hitter in the 9th inning, grounding out against Pittsburgh’s Roy Face. Smith’s Mets career was very short, lasting just eight games. In that time he got three...

Lindsey Nelson was born May 25, 1919 in Campbellsville, Tennessee. Nelson attended the University of Tennessee , graduating in 1941 & would forever be linked to that school. After serving as an Army Captain during World War II, he became an English teacher & then a newspaper writer. In 1948 he broke into broadcasting, with his deep southern drawl, by being the first announcer to cover the play by play of games at the University of Tennessee. Next he was hired as an administrator at NBC & was doing baseball broadcasts by 1957. He worked there for ten years, without a contract & without being represented by an agent. From there it was on to CBS, where he would work NFL football Games for nineteen years. Nelson's great football calls also led him to do the play-by-play for the Cotton Bowl for 25 seasons. He was also the voice of Notre Dame Football for 13 seasons as well as a Monday Night Football radio broadcaster from 1974-1977. Nelson is remembered for bei...

Steve Zabriske was born May13, 1947 in Palo Alto California. After college, Zabriskie began covering sports for a television station in Austin, Texas during the early 1970's. The station made him change his name to Steve Zanon, saying his real name sounded to Polish. He then moved on to doing sports news in Tulsa, Oklahoma and became known as “the Big Z”. He started doing MLB baseball games on the USA Network in the early days of cable television. In 1980, MLB did an early TV experiment that had 22 teams take part in Thursday Night Games of the week on the USA Network. Zabriskie did broadcasts for the last two years of its run from 1981-1982. From there he joined the New York Mets broadcast team in 1983. Steve was the Mets Channel 9 & Sports Channel announcer along with Ralph Kiner & Tim McCarver from 1983 -1989. He was a very straight forward announcer with a dry sense of humor, his style worked well with Ralph Kiner. His most famous broadcast was doing the ...

Daniel Muno was born February 9th, 1989 in Long Beach California. The five foot eleven, switch hitting infielder attended California State University at Fresno. In his Freshman year he hit .322 with 62 runs scored, helping lead Fresno State to a win in the 2008 College World Series. That year he was named All Western State. In his junior year he became the schools All Time walks leader, as well as batting .379 with 25 doubles & 74 runs scored. In 2010 he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in the 26th round, but he did not sign. He played out his senior year & hit .348 with 52 RBIs in 56 games. In 2011 he signed with the New York Mets, as an eighth round pick. In 2011 he played for the A Ball Brooklyn Cyclones & led the New York Penn. League in batting (.355) as well as on base % (.466%). Muno was noted the leagues 18th best prospect, made the All Star team & struck out just 39 times in 220 at bats while hitting 23 doubles. In 2012 he was promoted to A ball...

Kevin John Mulvey was born on May 26th 1985 in Parlin, New Jersey. Parlin is located in Midlesex County between Old Bridge & Sayrevillle. After attending Bishop Ahr high school in Edison, New Jersey, the six foot one right hander went to Villanova, University. Mulvey had been a star pitcher & hitter in high school. At Villanova he was an overall 15-14 in his four years, striking out 222 batters, the most in school history. He was a two time All Big East pitcher, throwing a no hitter vs. UConn in his sophnore year. In 2006 he posted the Big East's fifth best ERA although he was 3-8. He was drafted by the New York Mets in the second round of the 2006 draft, as the 62nd overall pick. The Mets had lost their first round round pick that year, so technically Mulvey was their first. After pitching in just one game with the A ball, Gulf Coast Mets, he was promoted to AA. In 2007 he was 11-10 with a 3.32 ERA at AA Binghamton getting called up to AAA New Orleans later in the...

Clarence Edward Metzger was born on May 23, 1952 in Lafayette, Indiana. The six foot right hander went to high school in Sacramento, California at La Salle, getting drafted by the San Francisco Giants in the second round of the 1970 draft. Metzger was a starter in the minor leagues, by 1973 he was 10-3 at A ball Amarillo getting moved up through the ranks. In 1974 he was 12-10 at AAA Phoenix getting a call up to the Giants that same year. At Candlestick Park he only pitched in four games before getting traded down the Coast to the San Diego Padres along with Tito Fuentes in exchange for infielder Darrell Thomas. He got a cup of coffee in 1975 after going 15-7 at AAA Hawaii, but was still having serious control issues. By 1976 he made the Padre staff and surprised everyone by winning the Rookie of the Year Award, sharing the honors with future Met, Cincinnati’s Pat Zachary. Metzger pitched strictly as a reliever getting to 10-0 by August and already had himself eleven saves. Go...