centerfield maz

Marcus  Earl Stroman was born May 1st 1991 on Long Island, in Medford, New York.   His mother was Puerto Rican & his father African American. His father was a Suffolk County Police Detective. His parents divorced when he was in the 5th grade.  He was very close to his grand mother, as she regularly attended his high school & college games. The five foot seven, right hander, attended Patchogue high school in Medford, Long Island. He was an outstanding pitcher & all around star baseball player.  He would face his future Mets team mate, Steven Matz who also grew up on Long Island, many times in competition. The two were even player, roommates at one time. Duke University: Stroman was drafted by the Washington Nationals in 2009 but did sign, instead electing to go to college at Duke University.  At Duke he pitched & set a Duke career record for strike outs (290 in 222 innings). He also played second base & short stop in his Duke years....

April 22nd, 1973: Yogi Berra's New York Mets (8-6) faced off against Gene Mauch's Montreal Expos (6-7) for a classic Sunday afternoon double header. A crowd of 27, 230 came out to Shea Stadium on this Easter Sunday. In the first game, that years Cy Young Award winner, Tom Seaver went up against the Expos' John Strohmayer. Strohmayer would pitch for the Mets later in the season & again in 1974. T he Expos Ron Fairly, hit a lead off second inning HR and Strohmayer held down the Mets scoreless through the end of the 8th inning. He was relieved by relief ace, Mike Marshall who allowed a leadoff 9th inning walk to Jim Fregosi. He then threw a wild pitch advancing him to second. Jerry Grote sacrificed Fregosi to third & pinch hitter Ken Boswell came through with a base hit tying the game.  Newly acquired Mets relief pitcher Phil Hennigan, had his own troubles in the 10th inning. He walked John Boccabella, then walked pinch hitter Boots Day, intentional...

Warren Edward Spahn was born on April 23, 1921 in Buffalo New York, being named after President Warren Harden. The tall six foot lefty, was known as "the Invincible one" and became the winningest left handed pitcher of all time. He came up with Boston Braves in 1942 briefly before serving military time in the Military during World War II. In the war his heroic efforts won him a Purple Heart & a Bronze Star. He returned back to pitching by 1946 at the age of 26 going 8-5 with a 2.94 ERA. Quotes: "People say that my absence from the big leagues may have cost me a chance to win 400 games. But I don't know about that. I matured a lot in three years, and I think I was better equipped to handle major league hitters at 25 than I was at 22. Also, I pitched until I was 44. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to do that otherwise." In Boston he along with the number two man on the staff Johnny Sain, were so much better than the rest of the staff they inspir...

 April 16th 1964: Bill Shea, the man whom Shea Stadium was named, was instrumental in bringing back National League baseball to New York City. When MLB originally denied New York a new NL team, the prominent New York lawyer proposed the start up of a third league, in a newly formed Continental League, which would rival the major leagues. On the even of the opening of Shea Stadium, Shea christened the ballpark. Using water from the Harlem River, near the Polo Grounds, the former home of the New York Giants & the Mets in their first two seasons, as well as water from the Gowanus canal, which flows near the former Ebbetts Field, home of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Shea poured water from two separate bottles onto the field of the new grand ballpark, which was a spectacular new venue in the early sixties. With the elaborate Worlds Fair going on thru the summer near the new ballpark, Flushing Meadows Queens was the place to be.

Thursday April 12th, 1962: On this drizzly cool day in New York City, the expansion New York Metropolitan baseball club was given a ticker tape parade. The Mets had just played their first game ever, the day before in Pittsburgh. The day before their home opener in New York's Polo Grounds, the City welcomed the Mets to town. An approximate 40,000 or so people attended the festivities in lower Manhattan. The players, manager Casey Stengel & team coaches wore their new Mets home uniforms, driving down Broadway in open convertibles.  The broadcasters & other team associates were also in the parade. The Mets threw out plastic baseballs sponsored by Rheingold beer, to the crowd.  New York City Mayor Robert Wagner, introduced Casey Stengel & the infant team as "New York's own".  Casey did player introductions & made a speech in Stengelese. After the parade the Mets went uptown to have a work out in the Polo Grounds. The rain delayed that practic...

Gary Edmund Carter was born April 8, 1954 in Culver City California just outside of Hollywood.. At seven years old he was already a football, Punt Pass & Kick winner for his age bracket. On a sad note, the next year he lost his mother to leukemia & would be a lifelong charity raiser for the cause. At Sunny Hills High School he was an All American quarterback, member of the National Honor Society & captain of his baseball team. He originally signed a letter of intent to play football for UCLA but then was drafted by the Montreal Expos in the second round of the 1972 draft. He chose to play baseball instead of a football career. In 1973 he hit 15 HRs at the AA level at Quebec, returning to hit 23 while driving in 83 runs the next season at AAA Memphis. He got the nickname “the Kid” at his first Expos spring training camp in 1974. Former Mets; short stop Tim Foli, outfielder Ken Singleton and first baseman Mike Jorgensen started calling him Kid because he was trying to wi...