centerfield maz

Ellis Clarence Valentine was born on July 30, 1954 in Helena, Arizona. The six foot four, right handed hitting outfielder went to high school in Los Angeles getting drafted by the Montreal Expos in the second round in 1972. Within three years he flew through the minors & was batting .306 at AAA Memphis with 13 HRs when he got a call up. Valentine made his MLB debut on September 3rd, 1975 in Philadelphia going hitless in three at bats. He played in 12 games at the end of the 1975 season batting an impressive .364. In the bicentennial year he played in the outfield alongside Gary Carter & Bombo Rivera but he was batting just .238 in June & was sent down to tune up at AAA Denver. He returned to put in a good enough year batting .279 Ron Leflore, Ellis Valentine & Gary Carter It didn't take the league long to see that Valentine had a rocket launcher for an arm. His manager Dick Williams boasted, he had the best arm in the NL & compared it to Robert...

Brian James Buchanan was born on July 21, 1973 in Miami Florida. The tall six foot four switch hitter attended the University of Virginia at Charlottesville, Virginia. The outfielder hit .322 in 1993 as a sophomore.  In 1994 he made All American batting .396 with 22 HRs & 66 RBIs. He was selected as a number one pick for the A.L. New York team (the 24th pick overall). He remained in their organization through 1997 when he hit .309 at AA Norwich. He was traded to the Minnesota Twins organization making it to the big leagues by May 2000. He debuted against the Athletics in Oakland playing right field. In Mid June he was sent back down after hitting .224 with one HR & four RBIs. He returned in September then made the club out of Spring Training the next season, playing 69 games while batting .274. The next year he was traded to the San Diego Padres for Jason Bartlett. He was the Padres main utility player in 2003, getting into 115 games batting .263 with 8 HRs & 2...

Sunday June 22, 1980: Joe Torre’s fifth place Mets (28-35) took on Tommy Lasorda’s second place Dodgers (38-28) at Dodger Stadium. A good crowd of 43,000 settled in to see New York's John Pacella take on L.A.'s Dave Goltz. Claudell Washington started out the Mets 1st with a  two run HR, his first of the day. John Pacella allowed two runs in the second & was removed as manager Joe Torre replaced him with Mark Bomback.  The Mets struck again in the 4th when short stop, Jose Moreno (Moreno had a brief 37 game stint with the 1980 Mets) tripled home Steve Henderson & John Stearns.  Then in the 5th Eliott Maddox singled, and Claudell Washington hit his second HR of the day, putting New York up 7-3.  But he wasn’t done yet, in the top of the 7th with knuckleball pitcher; Charlie Hough on the mound, Claudell hit his third HR of the afternoon, sealing the 9-6 Mets victory. Mark Bomback who was now 4-1 on the season. The HRs were only Washington’s second, th...

Biff Benedict Pocoroba was born on July 25, 1953 in Burbank, California. To everyone's surprise, his actual name on his birth certificate is Biff. The five foot ten inch catcher, was signed in the seventeenth round of the 1971 amateur draft by the Atlanta Braves. In 1975 he began to get some attention when he threw out eleven straight would be base stealers during Braves Spring Training. He made the Braves squad that year, backing up catcherVic Correl who only hit .215. Pocoroba would see action in 67 games, batting .255 with 7 doubles 1 HR & 22 RBIs. Defensively he had a rougher time than in Spring Training, throwing out only 17% of base stealers while getting charged with 13 passed balls. His defense got better as he went along, throwing out 34% of the base runners attempting to steal the next two seasons. By 1977 he was the Braves main catcher, batting .290 with 24 doubles, 8 HRs & 44 RBIs. In May he hit a walk off grand slam HR to beat the Montreal Expo...

Guillermo Reynoso Mota was born on July 25, 1973, in the Dominican Republic. The six foot six right hander, was originally signed by the Mets as a third baseman in 1990 right out of high school. He played with the Kingsport, Gulf Coast & St. Lucie Mets where he was transformed to a pitcher because he struck out way too often as a hitter. In 2006 he was taken by the Montreal Expos in the Rule five draft. After three seasons there, he was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Drama: It was with the Dodgers he became famous for an incident where he was chased off the mound & into the dugout by Mike Piazza. Mota had thrown a pitch at Piazza in Spring Training at a Vero Beach. Piazza grabbed him by the neck, as Mota was getting taken out of the game down by the first base line. Piazza yelled at him without throwing any punches. A year later at another Spring Training matchup in Port St. Lucie, the two faced off again. The Dodgers had Mota pitch a second inning of work,...

Jackie Delane Aker was born July 13, 1940 in Tulare, California. The six foot two right hander, went to high school in Visalia California, where the Mets future farm team the Visalia Mets would play. Aker was originally an outfielder when he got signed by the Kansas City Athletics in 1959. He was converted into a pitcher the next year & won double figures over the next two seasons. By 1963 he was 6-1 with a 1.24 ERA at A ball Lewiston, getting pushed right up to AAA Portland. After going 3-4 at AAA Dallas the next year he was brought up making his MLB debut in 1964. He would spend four years in Kansas City with the A's then moved to Oakland with the franchise to pitch there in 1968. In 1966, he was voted the A.L. Fireman of the Year by the Sporting News, leading the league in saves (32) & games finished (57) going 8-4 while posting a 1.99 ERA. He fell to 3-8 the next year and his ERA rose to 4.30, although he still saved 12 games (seventh in the A.L.). In Oaklan...

Daryl Dean Spencer was born on July 13th 1928 in Wichita, Kansas. The six foot two right handed infielder, known as "Big Dee" was a local boy all the way. He attended East High in Wichita & Wichita State University as well. He had his contract purchased by the New York Giants in 1950 & got a late season call up, for seven games with the Giants in 1952. In 1953 he played behind Hank Thompson at third, Alvin Dark at short & Davey Williams at second base. He got into 118 games and showed a lot of power with 20 HRs 18 doubles & 56 RBIs but only hit .208. On May 4th he hit a grand slam HR off the Reds Clyde King, as New York beat Cincinnati 12-5 in the Polo Grounds. On June 3rd, he hit a pair of HRs in a big 11-3 win over those same Reds. Two weeks later he had another two HR day against the St. Louis Cardinals. From July 23rd through July 5th he hit five HRs & drove in ten runs. At the end of July, Spencer had yet another game where he blasted two HRs. ...

Anthony Razor Shines was born July 18, 1956 in Durham, South Carolina. He is third of a line of men in the family with the middle name of shines, although he doesn’t know the origin of the name. Shines spent a good sixteen seasons in the minor leagues; the majority of that time was with the Indianapolis Indians. He resided nearby, became a fan favorite & a local Indianapolis legend. He was so popular that in Charlotte they held “Razor Shines Night” even though he was an opposing player. Shines was originally drafted in 1978 by the Expos as a catcher, but with Gary Carter there he became an outfielder. Shines got a chance in the majors in 1983 playing in just three games that September. He was so star struck in the big leagues when he was asked what it was like all he could say was: "My Mama's so proud of me. I'm a Major Leaguer!” He resurfaced in 1984 and hit .300 (6-20) in 12 games, driving in his first two MLB runs. In 1985 he was in the opening day lineup, ...

Richard Alexander Ankiel was born on July 19th 1979, in Fort Pierce Florida. The six foot lefthander attended high school in Port St. Lucie, Florida Spring Training home to the New York Mets. He began his career as a pitcher, getting signed by the St. Louis Cardinals in the second round of the 1997 draft. He won double figures in his first two minor league seasons, winning the Baseball American Monor League Player of the Year in 1999. After making a one game debut in 1999 he was on the 2000 St. Louis Cardinals NL Central Champions staff. Ankiel was runner up in the NL Rookie of the Year voting going 11-7 with a 3.50 ERA (9th in the NL) & 194 strike outs (7th in the NL). During the regular season he faced the NL Champion New York Mets just once, pitching seven innings allowing just one run on two hits getting no decision in a 4-3 loss. But it was in the post season everything fell apart for Ankiel. Post Season: He started Game #3 of the NLDS at home against the Atlant...

John Lawrence Antonelli was born July 15th 1915 in Memphis, Tennessee. The five foot ten, right hand hitting infielder had a brief playing career making it to the big leagues in 1944. He played eight games for the St. Louis Cardinals batting .190. After just two games in 1945 he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies, where he played as a regular third baseman. In 125 games he hit .256 with one HR & 28 RBIs. It was his only season as a full time player & his last in the major leagues. Antonelli played 15 seasons in the minor leagues, hitting a career .287 while playing through the 1950 season. Retirement: After his playing days he managed the Memphis Blues a Mets minor league team in the Texas League in his home town. They were the first minor league team in Memphis beginning in 1968. In 1969 Antonelli was one of three Memphis Managers, including Roy McMillan who went on to be a Mets coach. That year the Blues won the Texas League championship, surprising every...