centerfield maz

David William Wallace was born on September 7th, 1947, in Waterbury Connecticut.  The five-foot ten right hander attended the University of New Haven getting signed by the Philadelphia Phillies in 1969.  Minor Leagues: Wallace would spend nine seasons in the Phillies minor leagues, five of them at the AA level. Overall, he spent parts of twelve seasons in the minor leagues going 48-37 with a 4.11 ERA in 360 appearances.  MLB Career: Wallace made brief appearances in three seasons at the major league level.  In 1973 he appeared in four games over July & August, for the last place Philadelphia Phillies ( 71-91)  posting no record. He allowed nine earned runs in 3.2 innings posting a whopping 22.09 ERA. In May 1974 he had three appearances, taking a loss to the San Diego Padres on May 7th, the only decision of his career. In 1978 he was released by the Phillies & signed with the Toronto Blue Jays. He appeared in four games with Toron...

Monday August 28th, 1989: For the first time in MLB history, the two reigning Cy Young Award winners faced off against each other in a regular season matchup The New York Mets sent Frank Viola to the mound to face the reigning World Series Champion Los Angeles Dodgers & their ace, Orel Hershiser. Frank Viola had been the A.L. Cy Young winner while pitching with the Twins in 1988. One year after earning the World Series MVP for 1987 World Champion Minnesota Twins.  Viola came to New York in 1989 on the July 31st trade deadline.  It was a huge addition to the Mets team, as the Long Island born Viola returned home.  He went 8-12 that year in Minnesota & was 1-3 entering this game on a personal three game losing streak with an overall 9-15 season record.  Orel Hershiser had a similar season the previous year. He was the NL Cy Young Award winner & the World Series MVP as the Dodgers surprised everyone to beat the Mets in the N...

Michael Ausley Maddux was born August 27, 1961, in Dayton, Ohio. Mike Maddux is the younger brother of future Hall of Fame pitcher, Greg Maddux. The six-foot two right-handed pitcher attended the University of El Paso Texas. Maddux was then drafted by the Philadelphia Phillies in the fifth round of the 1982 draft. He pitched five seasons in the minors before getting a 1986 call up to the Phillies.  MLB Debut: He made his MLB debut on June 3rd pitching into the second inning, as the Los Angeles Dodgers welcomed him with five runs on five hits. He took his first loss that day & started out at 0-5 before getting a win on August 15th. In his first year he was 3-7 with a 5.42 ERA. After that season he became a career journey man middle reliever for 15 seasons. He pitched with the Phillies (1986-1989) for four years going 10-13 overall with a 4.40 ERA. He then went to the Los Angeles Dodgers (1990) & San Diego Padres (1991-1992).  It was there in 1991, ...

  Tuesday August 27th, 1974: It was a terrible year for the reigning NL Champion Mets, as they found themselves 56-70 ten games out of first place in fifth place. Yogi Berra's club suffered through lots of injuries, no one hit higher than Cleon Jones .282, no one drove in more runs than Jon Milner's 63. He also led the team with 20 HRs.  Even the pitching staff struggled, Tom Seaver had problems with his mechanics & had a career worst 11-11 record. Jerry Koosman won 15 but lost 11. He posted a 3.36 ERA.  Jon Matlack did win 13 games but lost 15 mostly due to lack of runs support as he posted a 2.41 ERA which was third best in the league Cleon Jones hurt his thumb & went out with the injury. The Mets brought up outfielder Benny Ayala to fill his roster spot. Ayala had hit .274 with 11 HRs 21 doubles & 40 RBIs at AAA Tidewater. He was in his fourth year in the Mets organization. On this day Ayala was called up to the big leagues while he was in Portsmouth Virgi...

Gil Hodges New York Mets had just come off an outstanding home stand where they won nine of ten games including three shut outs & sweeps of the Dodgers & Padres.  The Mets were now 71-52 five & 1/2 games behind the Chicago Cubs. They had gained five games in the standings during that homestand & the Cubs were worrying. Tuesday August 26th, 1969: After an off day to travel to the West Coast, the Mets arrived in beautiful San Diego for a Twi-night double header. The starting pitchers were Tom Seaver (17-7) & Dick Kelly (4-7) in front of just 8,873 fans at Jack Murphy Stadium. The stadium was named after Mets broadcaster Bob Murphy's brother who was very influential in bringing MLB to the city of San Diego. For Tom Seaver he would earn win #18 as he sailed through nine innings with another complete game, his ninth on the season. He allowed just four hits & four runs (three earned) on this night.  A 25-year-old, Cito Gaston (the future Toronto ...

Sunday August 25th, 1974: A small crowd of 9,358 came to Atlanta’s Fulton County Stadium to see Yogi Berra’s fifth place Mets (54-70) take on Clyde King’s third place Braves (70-57).  The Mets were still the reigning NL Champions, but they floundered in 1974 finishing 5th going 71-91. The Braves had celebrated Hank Aaron breaking Babe Ruth's HR record in April but would finish third in the West with an 88-74 record. Today's game would be a great pitcher’s match up with the Mets veteran Ray Sadecki (4-7) going up against future Hall of Famer; the Braves Phil Niekro (14-10). Both pitchers held the opposing team down through the first four innings. In the home 5th, with one out the Mets Jim Gosger singled to right field. He advanced to second on a passed ball by catcher Vic Correll. He then advanced to third base on Duffy Dyer's ground out. The Mets pitcher Ray Sadecki then singled to right field bringing in Gosger with what turned out to be the game’s only ...

Wednesday August 22nd, 1973: After a nice walk off victory the previous night, the Mets (56-67) returned in a match up hosting the L.A. Dodgers (77-48). The Mets still struggling in last place but slowly stating to turn things around heading for a spectacular September where they would win the NL Eastern Division. On this night 25,442 came to Shea to see the Mets George Stone (7-3) go up against the Dodgers Andy Messersmith (11-8). George Stone was a pleasant surprise for the 1973 Mets he had won his last three decisions & six of his last seven since getting into the starting rotation on July 2nd. He entered the game with a 2.83 ERA. As mentioned in a previous post, Messersmith was one of the games top pitchers in the early to mid 1970's, going 92-64 with a 2.70 ERA from 1970 to 1975 including two twenty-win seasons & another where he won 19 games. In the top of the 1st, George Stone walked the leadoff man Davey Lopes. Lopes advanced to third on Willie Davis's base hit...

Bruce Michael Berenyi was born August 21, 1954, in Bryan, Ohio. His father was a Hungarian emigrant who arrived in 1938. He married an Ohio woman named Madeline & they went on to have four children. Bruce Berenyi attended Northeast Missouri State University and once tied a college record by striking out 21 batters in a game. The six-foot two-inch, right hander was the Cincinnati Reds first round draft pick (third pick overall in the secondary draft) in 1976. He went on to lead the American Association pitchers in strikeouts & ERA, earning him a call up to the Reds in September 1980.  Big League Career: He went 2-2 in Cincinnati although he had a rather high 7.81 ERA pitching in six games.  In the 1981 strike shortened season, he spent the two months off at his parents' home in Sherwood Ohio. He said he stayed in shape because there weren't too many distractions in the 1400 populated town.  Berenyi was 9-6 with 157 strikeouts (6th in ...