centerfield maz

William Josseph Hicks was born on April 7th, 1933 in Ivy Virginia. The six foot left hand hitting outfielder, threw right handed. He attended the University of Virginia at Chalottesville, where he earned a degree in education. He was signed by the Chicago White Sox in 1953. He toiled in the minor leagues for seven seasons before getting a chance in September of 1959 for the Go Go Sox who were on their way to face the Los Angles Dodgers in the World Series. Hicks played in six September games going 307 (.429) but was not eligible for the post season. In 1960 he hit .303 at AAA San Diego in the Pacific Coast League, getting back to Chicago for 36 games where he hit just .191. That December he was drafted by the expansion Los Angeles Angels as the 42nd pick in that draft. But just six days later he was traded to the Washington Senators, where he appeared in just 12 games. In 1962 he saw the most action of his career playing in 102 games for the tenth place Senators who won just ...

Larry Floyd Stahl was born on June 29, 1941 in Belleville, Illinois. The left handed outfielder was originally signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1960. MLB Career: In 1964 he made his MLB debut as a September call up, and hit two HRs while driving in four runs in a September 29th game against the Minnesota Twins. After another brief call up the next year, he got a chance as a regular outfielder for the 1966 Athletics. He hit .250 with 5 HRs 11 doubles & 34 RBIs. In the off season guys like Reggie Jackson & Rick Monday were brought up to the A’s team. Unfortunately for Stahl, he was placed on waivers.  The New York Mets picked him up for the 1967 season. Mets Career: He made the club out of Spring Training, debuting in the second game of the season as a pinch hitter. He drove in a run in the fourth game of the Mets season, playing in left field in a 6-2 loss at Philadelphia. He struggled, batting .088 in early May & was sent down.   He ret...

John Dominic Boccabella was born on June 29, 1941 in San Francisco, California. His parents were Italian immigrants, coming over from Italy in the 1930's. His father was from Sampeyre near the border of France & his mother was from Tuscany in the hamlet of Sant' Angelo in Campo. Boccabella attended Santa Clara University and was drafted by the Chicago Cubs in 1963. The six foot one right hand hitter, received attention & became even more popular just because of his Italian sounding name. When he first came up with the Cubs out of their farm team in Pocatello, Idaho, the broadcasters dubbed him “Boccabella from 'Pocatella'". He started out his MLB career playing first base and was at one time considered to be the successor to Ernie Banks. He also played outfield then converted over to being a catcher, at the request of then Cubs manager Leo Durocher. He stayed in Chicago for six years mostly as a reserve player, playing in 24 games or more in t...

  Americo Peter Petrocelli was born on June 27, 1943 in Brooklyn, New York. He graduated from Sheepshead Bay High School in Brooklyn. In 1961 at age 19, he was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an amateur free agent. Petrocelli played three seasons in the Red Sox minors, getting a one game call up in 1963. He was brought up for good in 1965 and became the Red Sox everyday shortstop for the next decade.   Rico batted .232 with 15 doubles & 33 RBIs making the Topps All Star Rookie team. He hit for some power, which was still rare in the sixties. He hit 13 HRs that season followed by 18 in his sophomore year. In the Red Sox 1967 "Impossible Dream" AL pennant winning season, he hit .259 with 17 HRs 24 doubles & 66 RBIs,. He began the year with a three run Opening Day HR & finished up April batting .333. By the All Star break he had 9 HRs with 38 RBIs, getting to start at third base while batting 8th for the American League in the All Star Game in Anahe...

Octavio Antonio (Castro) Fernandez was born on June 30, 1962 in San Pedro de Marcos, in the Dominican Republic. He was one of many Dominican shortstops, to come up to the big leagues in the seventies/ eighties period. Fernandez was signed by the Toronto Blue Jays in 1979 playing four years in the minor leagues before making his brief MLB debut in 1983. Two seasons later, he was the Blue Jays regular shortstop & stayed there for the next five seasons (1985-1990). He was a fine defensive shortstop, winning four straight Gold Gloves from 1986-1989 setting a record for AL short stops with a .992 fielding percentage in 1989. He led the American league in fielding percentage & assists twice, as well as put outs three times. He was famous for throwing the ball underhanded to first base, on shots hit to his right side. The tall six foot, two, 165 pond Fernandez ,was always in top shape and was a fitness fanatic. He loved to buy unusual work out machines and use them in...

William Charles Harris was born on June 22nd, 1978 in Cairo, Georgia the same hometown of Jackie Robinson. The five foot nine Harris attended Kennesaw State University in Kennesaw Georgia. In 1999 he was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the 24th round. Harris never showed much power, even in the minor leagues. In 2001 he batted .305 at AA Bowie getting pushed up to the majors for a brief nine games in September. The next season he was traded to the Chicago White Sox for Chris Singleton. At AAA Charlotte in 2002 he to hit .283 and was brought up for 49 games where he hit .233. He had a strong minor league start in 2003 batting .380 in 28 games getting back to the Sox big league club where he hit just .204. In 2004 he became a regular outfielder in Chicago batting .262 but hit just 2 HRs with 15 doubles & 27 RBIs in 129 games. He was part of the White Sox 2005 World Series team, scoring the winning run in Game #4 after singling off Houston's Brad Lidge, he scored on ...

Richard Anthony Drago was born on June 25th in Toledo, Ohio. The six foot one, right hander attended the University of Detroit, getting signed by the Detroit Tigers in 1965. He would win 15 games in each of three consecutive minor league seasons, beginning in A ball (1966) right through AAA Toledo in 1968. It was a thrill for Drago to be pitching in his home town with the Toledo Mud hens. In 1968 he was the 31st pick in the expansion draft, chosen by the Kansas City Royals. In his first season he went 11-13 with a 3.77 ERA, second in both categories to Wally Bunker on the Royals staff. After a 9-15 season in 1970 he had his best season as a starter in 1971. He went 17-11 with a 2.98 ERA, throwing 15 complete games, striking out 109 batters in 241 innings of work, with four shut outs. That season he finished up fifth in the Cy Young voting behind Vida Blue, Mickey Lolich, Wilbur Wood and Dave McNally. On July 30, 1971 he took a loss to the Baltimore Orioles, in a strange rain s...

Jeffrey Joseph Musselman was born on June 21, 1963 in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. The six foot left handed pitching Musselman, attended Harvard University and was the last player tp make it to the majors from the school. He was selected by the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth round of the 1985 draft. He went through the ranks of the minor leagues quickly, after going 5-1 at AA Knoxville he was promoted to AAA going 12-8 overall on the year. After a brief call up in 1986, the left-handed rookie impressed everyone in 1987 while pitching out of the Blue Jays bullpen as a reliever. He led the A.L. in winning percentage (.706%) going 12-5 with three saves, while posting a 4.15 ERA, making the Topps All Star Rookie team. He never amounted to the potential he showed in his rookie year, dropping to 8-5 the next season when the Blue Jays made him a starter. Musselman had a rough start in April 1989 posting a 10.29 ERA in his first three games, getting him sent down to the minors. He went 5-2 a...

Kenneth Joseph Aspromonte was Born on September 22, 1931 in Brooklyn, New York. Ken is the older brother of former New York Mets 1971 third baseman; Bob Aspromonte. The six foot right handed hitting Ken Aspromonte also attended the famous Lafayette High School in Brooklyn in the late forties. I n 1950 he was signed by the Boston Red Sox as an infielder. He did two years service in the military, serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War doing radio broadcasting at SHAPE headquarters in Paris, France. He got back to playing baseball, in the AAA Pacific Coast League for much of the rest of the mid fifties. He was the PCL's 1957 batting champion (.334) leading the AAA San Francisco Seals to the pennant, the last season before the Giant left New York & came to town.   Ken made it to the big leagues late in 1957 with the Boston Red Sox for 24 games. In just his second career game, he started at second base & got three hits in his home city of New York as the Sox b...

Claudio Vargas was born on June 19, 1978 in the Dominican Republic. The six foot four right hander was signed by the Florida Marlins in 1995, and pitched in their system for seven years. His best season there was in 2000 going 11-6 with a 3.36 ERA through all levels of A ball. In July of 2002 he was traded along with Cliff Floyd & Wilton Guerrero to the Montreal Expos for Carl Pavano, Mike Mordecai, Justin Wayne and Graeme Lloyd.   In his first career game he debuted against the Houston Astros earning no decision. As a starter that year he went 6-8 with a 4.34 ERA. Over the years he would get used as both a starter & reliever. After two seasons in Montreal he moved on with the franchise to Washington D.C. going 0-3 in just four games in the teams first season. He was eventually placed on waivers getting picked up by the Arizona Diamondbacks . H e had his best year at Arizona in 2006, going 12-10 with 123 strikeouts in 167 innings, posting a 4.83 ERA. He got trade...

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 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 mostly middle re...