centerfield maz

  Mets Career:  In the early days of the New York Mets, the team were trying to bring back some former National League New York stars to draw fans to the Polo Grounds.  In 1963 the Brooklyn Dodger legend, Duke Snider was brought in & reunited with former teammate Gil Hodges.  Snider had considered retiring but was convinced by Dodgers GM Buzzie Bavasi that he should go play back in New York, as h e was close to reaching milestones in hits & HRs. Bavasi worked out a deal selling his contract to the Mets for $40000. D uring their 1950’s heyday, Snider had batted third in front of Hodges, the cleanup man. Duke Snider & Gil Hodges were the only players of the decade of the 1950's to drive in over 1000 runs each.  Snider had hit the most HRs (326) & driven in the most RBIs (1031) in the 1950s, while his teammate Gil Hodges was second to him in both categories.  But in 1963, the two players were at the ends of their careers. Snider ...

Thomas William Harkness was born December 23, 1937 in Quebec, Canada.  Hockey Player: Growing up in Canada, Harkness was a good hockey player and actually thought about perusing an NHL career. Instead of hockey, he chose baseball, signing with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1956. In April of 1957 the six foot two, first baseman was traded along with Elmer Valo to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Chico Fernandez. He would hit 118 HRs in the minors, including 28 at AA Atlanta in 1960, making him a power hitting prospect. Harkness was a minor league teammate of Tommy Lasorda in Montreal and the two played ball in Cuba just as Fidel Castro took power.  Drama In Cuba: During a game, Clay Bryant accidentally hit one of the armed Cuban soldiers. The soldier had a fit, pointing his gun straight at Harkness. Tommy Lasorda was the only person who spoke Spanish for the American team, he explained the situation and helped ease the tension. Harkness says, “He saved my life, he be...

Addison Devon Reed was born December 27th, 1988, in Montclair, California. The six-foot four right hander was drafted out of San Diego State University by the Chicago White Sox in 2010 as a third-round pick. In 2011 he went from Class A ball to the major leagues as a September call up debuting on September 4th in game against the Detroit Tigers.  In 2012 he became the second place White Sox closer, saving 29 games (7th most in the AL) going 3-2 with 54 strike outs in 55 innings with a 4.75 ERA under manager Robin Ventura. In 2013 Reed saved a career high 40 games (4th best in the AL) going 5-4 with a 3.79 ERA, he struck out 72 batters, walked 23 in 71 innings in 68 appearances. On June 5th he was the winning pitcher in a wild game in Seattle against the Mariners. He came into the game in the bottom of the 14th inning after the Sox had scored four runs on a Kyle Seager grand slam. The game was scoreless before that. As Reed was expected ...

Thomas Patrick Gorman was born on December 16, 1957, in Portland Oregon. The tall six-foot four left hander was signed by the Montreal Expos in fourth round of the 1980 draft. Tom is not to be confused with the 1950's pitcher Tom Gorman from Valley Stream, Long Island. In 1981, this Tom Gorman was a 12-game winner (12-9) at AA Memphis, then got promoted to AAA Wichita in 1982.  MLB Debut: That year he got his MLB debut on September 2nd at Cincinnati pitching the 5th through the 7th innings. He closed out the season in a 2-1 loss to the New York Mets. In 1982 he got his first career win in a May game against the Houston Astros at Montreal's Olympic Stadium. That day he found himself in an elevator with hall of Fame pitchers, Nolan Ryan & Don Sutton both members of the Astros. He got them to crack a smile when he commented “there’s a lot of wins in this elevator.  Later that season he was traded to the New York Mets for a player to be named l...

 Adonis Medina Del Rosario was born December 18th, 1996, in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic. At age 18 the right-handed pitcher was signed by the Philadelphia Phillies. He spent five years in the Phillies minor leagues before making the big leagues. MLB Career: On September 20th of the 2021 Covid-19 shortened season, he made his MLB debut, taking a loss to the Toronto Blue Jays.  He spent most of 2021 at AAA Leigh High Valley, going 4-5 with a 5.05 ERA. He got a September call up seeing action in four games allowing three runs in 7.2 innings for a 3.52 ERA. In Spring Training of 2022, he was signed by the Pittsburgh Pirates but on April 7th, the Mets purchased his contract. Mets Career- 2022: Medina made his Mets debut on April 23rd, finishing off a 5-2 loss at Arizona. He would spend time going back & forth from AA Syracuse where he pitched in 18 games & the Mets all season. Mets Seven Run Comeback: On May 5th, he relieved Chasen Shreve in the 6th inni...

Aaron Michael Heilman was born November 11, 1978, in Logansport, Indiana. The tall six-foot five right hander was a star pitcher at his Logansport high school. He was the team MVP leading the school to two regional titles. Heilman attended the University of Notre Dame majoring in management information as well as philosophy. He became one of the most dominant pitchers in the Fighting Irish's history. He was drafted twice but did not sign, until he inked a deal with the New York Mets in the 18th round of the 2001 draft.  In 2001 he pitched just seven games at A ball St. Lucie before getting promoted to AA. He advanced to AA Binghamton & AAA Norfolk.  In 2003 he was 6-4 with the Tides getting promoted to the Mets staff. Then the team hyped him up as the starter of the future and none of this ever worked out.  Mets Career:  In the early part of his career he was a starting pitcher. He made his big-league debut on June 26th, 2003, at Shea Sta...