centerfield maz

Thomas Matthew Hausman was born on March 31, 1953, in Mobridge, South Dakota. The six-foot four right hander was an All-State basketball player as well as a top pitcher in Laverne, California. He was drafted by the Milwaukee Brewers in the tenth round of the 1971 amateur draft.  Hausman would win 13 games at A ball, with the Newark Co-Pilots in the New York / Penn league in 1971. In 1972 & 1973 he won 12 games each season, posting winning records both times, getting called up to the 1975 fifth place Milwaukee Brewers staff.    MLB Career: He debuted pitching in New York, allowing two runs in 10-1 loss to the A.L. New York club. He suffered from back issues throughout the season. On the year he was 3-6 with a 4.10 ERA in 29 games pitched.  With the exception of three appearances with the Brewers, he spent most of 1976 & all of 1977 with AAA Spokane, in the Pacific Coast League. There he was 13-6 leading the league with 30 starts....

Alex Ochoa was born on March 29, 1972, in Miami Lakes Florida. He was signed by the Baltimore Orioles in the third round of the 1991 draft.  Over the next four seasons Baseball America had his rated along the top fifty prospects each season, peaking at #35 in 1995. He hit over .290 three times in his first four seasons getting up to the AA ball level.  He eventually got traded to the New York Mets with Damon Buford (son of former 1969 Oriole Don Buford) in July 1995 in exchange for Bobby Bonilla. After landing at AAA Tidewater, he batted .309 in 34 games with two HRs six doubles & 15 RBIs before getting called up to the big leagues in September.  Mets Career:   On September 18th, 1995,  Alex made his MLB debut getting a hit in his first at bat & stealing a base. He scored a run in the 7-1 loss at Atlanta. As a September call up, he hit .297 going 11-37, with four multi-hit games in eleven games play...

Jose Luis (Pimental) Vizcaino was born on March 26, 1968, in San Cristobal, Dominican Republic. The versatile six-foot one switch hitting infielder was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent in 1986. Vizcaino spent two seasons in A ball batting a best .291 in 1987 getting pushed up to the AAA level. He hit .283 while playing great defense at AAA Albuquerque in 1989 getting a September call up to the Dodgers. H e spent two seasons in Los Angeles as a part time player, then was traded to the Chicago Cubs for Greg Smith in 1991. After two seasons as a backup, he got a starting role in 1993, seeing playing time in 151 games batting .287 with 153 hits, 131 of them singles (9th most in the league). He also had nine sacrifice hits, second most in the league, plus 12 stolen bases, 57 RBIs & 19 doubles. During the 1993 season, the Mets had Tony Fernandez begin the year at short stop, but then he departed going off to win a World Series in Toronto w...

Marvin Edward Grissom was born March 31, 1918 in Los Molinas, California.  MLB Relatives: Marv's older brother Lee Grissom was a left-handed pitcher with the Cincinnati Reds (1934-1939) AL New York team (1940) Brooklyn Dodgers (1940-1941) & Philadelphia Phillies (1941) going 29-48 lifetime with seven saves & a 3.89 career ERA.  Marv's nephew Jim Davis was a left-handed pitcher as well,  pitching for the Chicago Cubs (1954-1956) St. Louis Cardinals (1957) & New York Giants (1957) as a teammate of Marv's. He was 24-26 lifetime with 8 saves & a 4.01 ERA. Marv began to find placed to pitch on weekends because his high school had no baseball team.  Military Service: In 1941, Grissom went off to World War II serving in the US Army for four years of service.  In the Army he pitched against a team managed by the New York Giants star Johnny Mize. Mize was impressed by Grissom's wicked curve ball. When Mize returned home, he recommended ...

Joseph Michael Smith was born on March 22, 1984, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The six-foot, two right-handed Smith was the New York Mets third round draft pick in 2006 (the 94th pick overall). In 2006 Smith pitched on the A ball Brooklyn Cyclones team earning nine saves with an 0.45 ERA in 17 appearances. He was named one of the Top twenty Prospects in the minor leagues by Baseball America.  In summer 2006,  when the Mets Dauner Sanchez went down with injury after a taxicab accident in Miami, Mets General Manager Omar Minaya, considered bringing up Smith. But instead made the trade for Roberto Hernandez & Oliver Perez. 2007: Smith was invited to Spring Training & surprised everyone when he made the team going north. He soon became a popular player and was known as an all-around good guy at Shea Stadium.  Trivia: photo by centerfieldmaz centerfieldmaz had the pleasure of meeting him at a batting practice session before an interleague...