centerfield maz

Edward Lawrence Sudol was born on September 13th, 1920 in Passaic New Jersey. He attended Farleigh Dickenson University at Rutherford, long before the Meadowlands NFL football arrived in the area. He played minor league ball through the forties in various farm systems. He batted over .300 twice, while playing mostly as a first baseman. By 1953 he retired from playing & began to umpire. He first worked in the Tri State League, then the AAA International League from 1955-1957 when he got called up to the big leagues. Sudol was a National League umpire from 1957-1977 working three World Series & many classic baseball games. He was the home plate umpire in the 1965 World Series for Game #4 at Dodger Stadium as Don Drysdale beat Mudcat Grant striking out nine Minnesota Twins. Sudol also worked the 1971 World Series, serving as the home plate umpire in Game #2 at Baltimore’s Memorial Stadium as the Orioles hosted the Pittsburgh Pirates. Sudol worked his third & final Wo...

Elieser Marrero was born November 17, 1973 in La Habana, Cuba. He attended high school in Corals Gables Florida outside of Miami. He was drafted in the third round of the 1993 draft by the St. Louis Cardinals. He spent five years in the minor leagues getting to the big league club by 1997 debuting in an inter league games against the Chicago White Sox as a September call up. He would spend seven years in St. Louis playing at catcher, first base & in the outfield. He began the 2000 season as the Cardinal catcher but lost a lot of time due to a bout with Thyroid cancer. That same season he caught a September no hitter thrown by Bud Smith.  In the Cards 2000 NL Central Division Champion season he played in 53 games with 5 HRs & 17 RBIs in 102 at bats although he only hit .225. Post Season: In the NLCS against the New York Mets he got the start at catcher going 1-3 with an RBI hit against Al Leiter in the Mets 6-5 victory. He had his best year in 2002 playing in 1...

Harry Minor was born in 1927 at Long Beach California. Minor was signed out of high school by the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1947. Minor would play outfield, first base, catcher & even pitch 22 games in a 12 year minor league career. He reached AAA in 1950 with the Buffalo Bisons, his only year at that level. He spent the next two years in military service returning to the minor leagues by 1953. He would play until the 1960 season, serving as a player manager from 1958-1960. Overall he would hit .283 with 154 career minor league HRs.   Minor soon became a scout, working in the Milwaukee / Atlanta Braves for six years 1961-1967. It was minor who actually signed Tom Seaver out of USC, for the Braves. The deal was made when Seaver was technically still a college student, therefore not making him eligible. The deal was voided by Commissioner Eckert & a lottery was held in which the Mets won, by picking Seaver's name out of a hat. Minor then joined t...

Daisuke Matsuzaka was born on September 13th, 1980 in Tokyo, Japan. The six foot right handed pitcher was a star pitcher in his native country before coming to America pitching in the major leagues. Matsuzaka soon became a star pitcher at Yokohama high school, a school known for baseball. He went on to lose the Championship game after throwing a wild pitch  in the semi final round.  The next year he led his school to victory & also led his team to victory in the Summer Koshien Tournament. Koshien is the largest amateur sporting event in Japan. Matsuzaka earned the attention of the souts when he threw a no hitter in the final game, after already tossing a shut out earlier.  He was shown interest from a few MLB teams but chose the Seibu Lions of the Nippon Professional League, after the team's manager had dinner with him & gave him a ball he had earned on his 200th career win. Matsuzaka went on to a star career with Lions winning Gold Gloves in seven of eigh...

Ross A Jones was born January 14th in Miami Florida. The six foot two infielder attended Miami Dade College before going to the University of Miami, playing with the Hurricanes. Jones was the Los Angeles Dodgers first round pick (the 9th pick overall) in the 1980 draft. In 1983 he came over to the New York Mets in the same deal that brought Sid Fernandez to New York, in exchange L.A. got Bob Bailor & Carlos Diaz. After spending time with AAA Tidewater he made the 1984 Mets Opening Day Roster. On April 28th, he had his day in the sun with a walk off RBI double against the Philadelphia Phillies. It was his only Mets RBI in 13 at bats. Unfortunately he didn't hit, batting just .111 by May 15th & was sent back down. On May 13 Jones committed an error that led to three unearned runs in the Mets 5-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. He came up for two more games in July but lost his job to guys like Ron Gardenhire, Kelvin Chapman & Jose Oquendo. He was primarily...

Leonard George Koenecke was born January 18, 1904 in Baraboo, Wisconsin. He began his career playing in various semi pro ball clubs and working as a fireman on the Chicago Illinois Railroad. In 1928 he hit .390 playing at various levels of AA & the minor leagues. By 1931 Koenecke was a hot prospect at Indianapolis, batting .353 with 24 HRs in the American Association making the All Star team. The New York Giants manager John McGraw watched Koenecke & that winter he was acquired by the New York Giants for four players. Koenecke wouldn’t stop hitting; he batted .355 with 18 HRs for the Jersey City Giants & got a call up to McGraws Giants. B ut when he arrived in the majors he didn’t play as well as in the minors, in 137 at bats he did hit .255 with 4 HRs 14 RBIs . The next season he was at AA Buffalo where he hit .355 and was sent to the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. He played the full 1934 season in Brooklyn, setting an NL record at the time with a .994 field...

Andrew Marshall Brown was born on September was born September 10, 1964 in Dallas Texas. The six foot right hand hitting outfielder attended the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, getting drafted by the St. Louis Cardinals in 2007, in the 18th round. In 2010 Brown got to AA Springfield, hitting 22 HRs & batting .291. The next year he was promoted to AAA Memphis where he hit .284 with 20 HRs & 73 RBIs, getting a short promotion to the Cardinals for eleven games in June. At the end of the year he was placed on waivers & got picked up by the Colorado Rockies. He hit well enough at AAA Colorado Springs to produce 24 HRs & 98 RBIs with a .308 average in 100 games. He played 46 games with the Rockies, batting .232 with 5 HRs & 12 RBIs. He was granted free agency & was signed by the New York Mets in January of 2013. Brown began the year at AAA Las Vegas, where he hit .346 with 7 HRs & 41 RBIs in just 41 games. He was called up to the Mets in early May...

Michael Grant Marshall was born January 15th 1943 in Adrian, Michigan. The five foot eight, right handed Marshall attended Michigan State University where he earned three degrees, including a Ph. D in kinesiology.  Kinesiology is the scientific study of human movement. He believes his philosophies could completely eradicate pitching-arm injuries.  Marshall believes pitchers should externally rotate early as they swing their arm up & lift the hand before the elbow, so that the wrist faces away from the body upward. The hand is above the elbow when the front foot touches the ground, which leads to a smooth transition without a "forearm bounce," as Marshall calls it. He believes this causes UCL injuries, which require Tommy John surgery). Marshall signed as an amateur free agent in 1960 with the Philadelphia Phillies. He began his career slowly, debuting with the 1967 Detroit Tigers where he shared the top relief closing role with Fred Gladding (6-4 / 12 saves). Ma...

Earl L. Carlyle was born o December 21st 1977 in Omaha, Nebraska. The six foot three, right handed pitcher is known as "Buddy". He attended Texarkana College & was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the second round of the 1996 draft. By 1999 he was with the San Diego Padres, where he made his MLB debut on August 29th getting a start against the Milwaukee Brewers. He allowed four runs in seven innings earning no decision.  He got his first win on September 9th, beating the Montreal Expos. In seven games he went 1-3 with a 5.97 ERA. The next year he pitched in just four games in relief & had a huge ERA of 21.00, allowing seven runs in just three innings. After that Carlyse became a journey man pitcher, in 2001-2002 he went to Japan pitching for the Hanshin Tigers going 7-12 over the two seasons. In 2003 he pitched for the Kansas City Royals minor league Omaha Royals. In 2004 he pitched for the A.L. New York club in their minor leagues.  In 2005 he was back in ...

Jeffrey Aaron Walters was born November 6th 1987 in Orlando, Florida. He attended the University of Georgia pitching for the Bulldogs baseball team. He was eventually drafted by five different MLB teams, finally signing in 2010. The six foot three right handed pitcher was the New York Mets 7th round draft pick of the 2010 season. In 2011 he pitched for the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones going 4-6 with a 3.32 ERA pitching as a starter. The next year he was converted into a reliever where he pitched at A ball St. Lucie & A Ball Savannah. In 2013 Walters was promoted to AA Binghamton where he became the AA Mets closer, saving 38 games while going 4-3 with a 2.09 ERA. He also struck out 60 batters in 56 innings of work finishing up 52 games. In 2014 he made the Mets Spring Training roster, seeing some early March action. He was then moved up to AAA Las Vegas for the season, closing six games for the 51s. He pitched in 23 games before needing Tommy John surgery ending his...

Nieves Mardie Cornejo was born August 5th, 1951 in Wellington, Kansas. The six foot three right handed pitcher was known as "the Chief". He attended Miami University of Ohio & then the University of Tulsa, which was a baseball powerhouse at that time, getting drafted by the New York Mets in the 21st round of the 1973 draft. He began his career as a starter but was converted to a reliever by 1976. He was promoted to AAA Tidewater in 1977 where he posted 14 saves with a 2.64 ERA going 11-6 as well. He made the 1978 Mets pitching staff out of Spring Training under manager Joe Torre. Cornejo debuted at Shea Stadium on April 8th 1978, in the Mets third game of the year. He came in relief in the 7th inning with the Mets down 5-2 to the Montreal Expos. The Mets rallied winning the game with a classic Ed Kranepool walk off pinch hit HR, giving Cornejo his first career win. The next day he earned a save. He would get another win a week later as Lenny Randel provided an extr...