Happy Birthday Gary Carter

Gary Carter Autograph on a 1983 Fleer (#278)

Courtesy of Baseball-Almanac.com

Quotations From & About Gary Carter

Quotations From Gary Carter
"He really just wanted to go about his business. I would put Eddie Murray in the same category as Andre Dawson. He would like to kid around with the press and (be surly), but he was a total professional. I see why he is a Hall of Famer. I am just glad I had the pleasure of playing for Eddie (Murray) for one year."

"I got overly excited and screamed (after hearing of his election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame on January 7, 2003). Now we can do a little celebrating."

"It is a grueling position (catching). My knees will tell you that. I've had nine knee surgeries. I've had a couple of broken thumbs, one on each hand. I can look back at it and say it's worth it to be enshrined in Cooperstown. I don't have any pain in my knees right now."

"Johnny Bench befriended me my first year in the big leagues. He took me under his wing during my first All-Star Game and we've been friends ever since. He's one guy I've tried to emulate and I'll always compare myself to Johnny (Bench)."

"My first year in the big leagues I divided time between catching with Barry Foote and playing the outfield. It wasn't until my breakthrough year in 1977, when I had the opportunity to catch every day under Dick Williams, that I hit thirty-one home runs. It was then that I said maybe if I keep putting some of these years together, maybe I can dream of the Hall of Fame."

"Nothing will ever replace the feeling I got when Jesse Orosco struck out Marty Barrett to end the game (Game 7 of the 1986 World Series) and I got the opportunity to run out into his arms. To me, that was the greatest accomplishment. Without a doubt, that was my biggest thrill."

"The dream became a reality today, and I must say this is a very proud day today. I don't think there was ever a point where I didn't think I was going to make it (into the National Baseball Hall of Fame)."

Quotations About Gary Carter
"He was a human backstop back there. Early, before his knees went bad, you couldn't steal on him in Montreal. When he wasn't able to throw because of his knees, that never affected his performance. He was running on and off the field after three outs. This guy played in some pain and it was hustle, hustle, hustle." - Teammate Keith Hernandez

"I'm happy for Gary (Carter). It was a matter of time for him getting in (the National Baseball Hall of Fame). I think I'll probably follow suit. It may take me a little longer, I don't know." - Andre Dawson (January 7, 2003)

"They (the Baseball Writers Association of America) made two fine choices, Eddie Murray and Gary Carter, both well-deserving. I played against both of them and both definitely deserve to be there." - Ryne Sandberg (January 7, 2003)

Courtesy of Baseball-Almanac.com

The Glory of Their Times

REMEMBERING THE TRADITION: The library at Cal State Los Angeles

is presenting an exhibit of team photos, news clippings, baseball gear

and other memorabilia from the history of Mexican American baseball

in Los Angeles. The exhibit runs until June 9.(Carlos Chavez / LAT)

The Chorizeros were the Yankees of East L.A. in the years after World War II. In the barrio, baseball wasn't just a game, it was an event.

By David Wharton,
Times Staff Writer
April 6, 2006

On a Sunday morning washed bright and blue near the start of baseball season, only ghosts ramble around an empty diamond at Fourth and Evergreen streets. There is a puddle out by second base and kids playing soccer down the foul line. Hard to imagine how it used to be. You have to squint your eyes against the sunlight, look back a ways.Back to the late 1940s, when baseball at Evergreen Park was a genuine social event in Boyle Heights. After church, whole neighborhoods congregated there, wives and friends, gossip and laughter, children hanging on the fence to watch.

The memories run hazy with smoke from carne asada on the grill, an old man selling nuts from a cart. The adults brought beer to drink as they sat on crude wooden bleachers and listened to mariachis. On special occasions, a local priest blessed the field.They came by the hundreds — sometimes thousands — for the Carmelita Chorizeros, the New York Yankees of barrio baseball.

Read the rest of the article at latimes.com

Friday Night At the Fights

Courtesy of BaseballLibrary.com

Shea Stadium / October 8, 1973
By Nathan Hale

Pete Rose could see his team's pennant chances slipping away. Despite squeaking by Mets ace Tom Seaver in Game 1, the powerhouse Cincinnati Reds had scored just two runs in each of the first two games of the 1973 National League Championship Series. In the fifth inning of Game 3, they trailed the underdog New York Mets 9-2 in the unfriendly confines of Shea Stadium.

It was the perfect time for Charlie Hustle to intervene. In a desperate move designed to kick-start his team, Rose throttled lightweight Buddy Harrelson after the Mets shortstop landed hard on him while trying to turn a double play.

Harrelson had drawn the Reds' wrath by opining that the Big Red Machine reminded him of himself -- a light hitter, to say the least -- while being shut out by Mets hurler Jon Matlack in Game 2. Even though Harrelson insisted he in no way intended his comments to be read as an insult, the Reds certainly thought he did. Reds second baseman Joe Morgan grabbed Harrelson during batting practice and issued the warning, "If you ever say that about me again, I'll punch you."

Halfway through Game 3, the Reds were being manhandled by Jerry Koosman and found themselves behind by seven runs. From the dugout, Tom Seaver was keeping a close watch on Rose. "You knew somehow, somewhere Pete was going to do something." Seaver recalled. "Now Koosman hits Pete with a pitch and I thought to myself he's going to go to the mound after Jerry. He started on the grass, then he came back to the baseline and went directly to first base, so I said, 'I got that one wrong, too.'"

Seaver decided to get a cup of coffee; by the time he had reached the clubhouse, a brawl was underway. After the Mets turned a beautiful 3-6-3 double play, Rose and Harrelson exchanged words, and the next moment a fight had started. "I gave him my little pop-up slide," Rose explained later. "Buddy says to me, 'You blankety-blank,' and I told him, 'Hey, you don't know me well enough to say that.' I grabbed him and [Mets infielder] Wayne Garrett came tumbling into me from third and all hell broke loose."

The bout erupted as Rose (5'11", 195 pounds) jumped on top of the slight-built Harrelson (5'11", 160). Baseball writer Roger Angell described the ensuing scene: "First the benches emptied and then the bullpens, with the galloping Met battalion led by -- ta ra! -- Teddy R. McGraw."

The excitement almost ended there as both teams just milled around second base. Then, Reds reliever Pedro Borbon landed a sucker punch to the right temple of Buzz Capra, a Mets reliever who hadn't seen any action in several weeks. Capra, joined by backup catcher Duffy Dyer, got in some retaliatory punches of his own before being pulled out of the melee by Willie Mays.

When Rose returned to his position in left field, the fans let him know how they felt. A variety of objects showered down from the upper deck, and when a whiskey bottle landed just feet away from the Cincinnati star, Reds Manager Sparky Anderson pulled his team from the field.

At risk of losing the game to forfeit, the Mets sent a delegation of Seaver, Mays, Rusty Staub, Cleon Jones and Manager Yogi Berra out to left field to appeal to the rowdy fans to stop. The New York faithful complied and returned the next day with banners reading "Rose is a Weed "and "This Rose Smells." This only added incentive for Rose to have a big day, and he did. His 12th-inning homer evened the series at 2-2.

In the finale, the Harrelson and Rose's tussle was overshadowed as the arms of Seaver and McGraw and clutch pinch-hits by Mays and original Met Ed Kranepool carried the Mets to the World Series.

As the fans at Shea Stadium edged closer and closer to the field in the ninth inning, players from both sides -- including Rose, who was at first base -- and the Reds' wives in their special box seats, planned the quickest route to safety. Indeed, when Morgan made the final out a swarm of fans stormed the field; Rose and his teammates made a hasty escape. "Right there at the end of the game, that's the most scared I've ever been in my life," Rose said.

Courtesy of BaseballLibrary.com

Barry Bonds - Will 2006 Be Year of Vindication?

We've all heard the stories, read the articles, and perused the books about Barry Bonds and his steriod use. Did he use the stuff? Before 2003 it wasn't illegal, baseball-wise, but it was illegal otherwise, unless a doctor prescribed it.

Baseball is trying to prove it one way or another, with this new investigation. Barry may break Babe Ruth's homerun record very soon and next year, Henry Aaron's.

But what Barry needs to do to prove he's clean is march forward and break the two hallowed records, and the sooner the better. Because if he's hitting homeruns this year like he did before the 2005 season, when he didn't play much due to injury, it would prove that he doesn't need the juice to hit the crap out of the ball.

That is what Barry Bonds needs to do. Keep on truckin, Barry. Just do your stuff and if you can do it under today's testing rules, then you deserve to be called the greatest.

Marc Seror

Jim Kaat; nickname Kitty

Courtesy of BaseballLibrary.com

The square-shouldered, 6'4" Kaat is one of a handful of major leaguers to play in four decades. His 25 years of pitching was a major league record. The last active original Washington Senator, Kaat moved like a cat around the mound, winning 16 consecutive Gold Gloves. He won 18 games for the AL champion Twins in 1965, then had his best season in 1966, going 25-13 and leading the league with 41 starts, 19 complete games, and 304 innings. That year only one Cy Young trophy was awarded for both leagues, to the Dodgers' Sandy Koufax, but TSN selected Kaat as AL Pitcher of the Year.

Following five more seasons with victories in double figures, Kaat was 10-2 in 1972 when he sprained his left wrist and missed the remainder of the season. He was 11-12 in August 1973 (including a one-hitter at California on July 1) when, thinking Kaat's best days were behind him, the Twins sold him to the White Sox. In Chicago, Kaat was reunited with his former Minnesota pitching coach and mentor, Johnny Sain. In his two full seasons in the Chicago stable, Kaat won 41 games, often using a quick-pitch delivery.

Despite his 20-14 record with over 300 innings pitched in 1975, Kaat, age thirty-seven, was sent to the Phillies in a trade for Alan Bannister, Dick Ruthven, and Roy Thomas, the oldest of whom was twenty-four. In his first tour of duty in the NL, Kaat was 26-30 in three seasons. In May 1979, he was sold to the Yankees and, for the first time, relieved in more games than he started. He spent most of his final':(((four ML years working out of the bullpen, and pitched in relief in four games of the 1982 World Series for St. Louis against Milwaukee.

A good all-around athlete, Kaat also hit 16 homers in his career, with a .185 lifetime batting average. He stands as the Twins' all-time winningest pitcher, with 189 victories. After retiring as a player, he was the Reds' pitching coach in 1986. He has also worked as a TV announcer for the Yankees. (RM)

Courtesy of BaseballLibrary.com