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4/30/2008
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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The only spin here is on my screwball
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Top of the 1st
SAY “HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!”
Since 1900, only 13 players have hit four homers in a game. Today is the anniversary of the incomparable Willie Mays great game on April 30, 1961, which gives us the opportunity to celebrate all those who achieved the feat
The first of the modern era to go four deep was the great Lou Gehrig on June 3, 1932, in the Yankees 20-13 victory over the Philadelphia Athletics. In the 1st and 5th innings, Gehrig’s homers were to left center. In the 4th and 7th he homered to right. Gehrig grounded out in the 8th and then sent one to deep center in the 9th that was grabbed by Al Simmons. The next day, Gehrig who always seemed to live in the Babe’s shadow, was not even the lead baseball story as John J. McGraw, had sadly chosen June 3, to resign as manager of the New York Giants because of ill health, a post he had held for thirty years.
The next man to do it was the Philadelphia Phillies star Chuck Klein, on July 10, 1936 in a 9-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Klein became the first modern NL player to hit four home runs in a game, with Bob Lowe of the Boston Nationals in 1894 and Ed Delehanty of the Phils in 1896, having done it before modern records. Klein’s homer into the right field stands occurred in 1st, 5th, 7th, and 10th innings.
Next up, was the White Sox’ Pat Seerey on July 18, 1948, once again against the Philadelphia Athletics, in a Sox 12-11 victory. Seerey’s homers were hit in the 4th, 5th, 6th, and 11th innings of the first game of a doubleheader. The second game was stopped after five innings by Pennsylvania’s Sunday curfew law. Seerey hit 86 career homers.
On August 31, 1950, the great first baseman, Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers joined the club going deep four times against the Boston Braves in a 19-3 victory. Hodges drove home nine runs in that game. Gil’s first homer was in the 2nd inning off Warren Spahn. The second in the 3rd off Normie Roy and the third was off Bob Hall in the 6th. In the 4th, Gil grounded out to third and in the 7th he singled before he hit number four, into the upper left field stands, off Johnny Antonelli in the 8th inning. Gil accumulated 17 total bases. Following that game Spahn’s record was 16-15. He is the only Hall of Fame pitcher to be victimized in a four homer game.
Next up, another great power hitting first baseman, Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves during a 15-7 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers on July 31, 1954. Adcock treated his hosts at Ebbets Field rudely homering off Don Newcombe, Erv Palica, Pete Wojey, and Johnny Podres. In the 3rd inning, Adcock doubled off the top of the wall resulting in a record 18 total bases. Adcock had broken his regular bat and accomplished the feat using a borrowed bat belonging to Milwaukee’s reserve catcher Charley White. The next day, the Dodgers’ Clem Labine greeted Adcock with a pitch that hit Joe above his left ear. The Milwaukee Journal ran a full color picture of Adcock with a caption that read, “This Joe Must Stay – Yes Sir!” a reference to the “Joe Must Go Club” a reference to the unsuccessful bid for a recall movement against Senator Joseph McCarthy of Wisconsin.
Next up, the pride and joy of Cleveland, the Indians’ Rocky Colavito who hit his four homers against the Baltimore Orioles on June 10, 1959 in an 11-8 victory. Colavito walked in the 1st, then homered in the 3rd against Jerry Walker, in the 5th and 6th against Arne Portocarrero and in the 9th against Ernie Johnson.
Today is the 47th anniversary of the great Willie Mays four by four as the San Francisco giant of Giants led his team to a 14-4 victory over the Braves in Milwaukee. Mays, who had to call a trainer to his room in the middle of the night before suffering from a stomach bug, connected in the 1st, 3rd, 6th, and 8th innings and the Milwaukee crowd was cheering for one more in the 9th but Mays never made it past the on-deck circle. Lew Burdette gave up the first two homers (420 feet and 400 feet), Seth Morehead the third (450 feet), and Don McMahon the fourth (430 feet). Moe Drabowsky retired him on a line drive to center in the 5th. Mays had gone hitless in seven at bats in the series prior to his big day. The homers brought his career total at the time to 285. The game was on a Sunday, in the opener of the Series on Friday, Warren Spahn had thrown a no-hitter. Billy Loes was a complete-game winner for the Giants that day. He was with the Dodgers on the day Hodges went for four, still with the Dodgers when Adcock did it and then with the Orioles when Colavito did it for the Indians.
On April 17, 1976, the great Phillies third sacker Mike Schmidt went deep four times in a 10-inning 18-16 pitcher’s duel against the Cubs at Wrigley (there was a 20 mph wind blowing out). Schmidt became the first NLer to hit four consecutive homers in the same game since Bob Lowe as the Phils battled back from a 13-2 deficit. Schmidt didn’t hit his first homer until the 5th inning. This was just the fifth game of the season for the Phils.
When Bob Horner of the Atlanta Braves hit his four homers against the Montreal Expos on July 6, 1986 he was the first to hit them in a losing cause since Ed Delehanty in 1896 as the Braves lost, 11-8. Horner hit homers with no one on base in the 2nd, 4th, and 9th and he hit a three-run homer in the 5th. He popped out in his only other time at bat. ''In my wildest dreams I would never have expected to do anything like that,'' said Horner. ''I had a good week today.''
Perhaps the most spectacular four homer performance was on September 7, 1993, when the St. Louis Cardinals’ Mark Whiten drove home 12 runs as Cards topped the Reds, 15-2 in the second game of a doubleheader. The Reds had won the first game 14-13 thanks to a misplay by Whiten. Whiten’s two-run home run off Rob Dibble in the 9th enabled him to tie Jim Bottomley's major league record for RBI in a game. Whiten, a switch hitter, hit all his homers from the left side of the plate. Whiten hit a grand slam off of losing pitcher Larry Luebbers in the 1st, fouled out his next time up, then hit three-run homers in the 6th and 7th off Mike Anderson, making his major league debut. When the game was over, Whiten walked into the clubhouse with his four home run balls in a plastic bag as his teammates held their bats aloft in a salute.
One of two four homer hitters still active is Mike Cameron who on May 2, 2002 led his Seattle Mariners to a 15-4 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cameron, who was traded for and replaced Ken Griffey Jr. as the Mariners' center fielder hit all four his homers in the first five innings at Comiskey Park. Cameron homered twice in the 1st, once in the 3rd, and then again in the 5th. He was a hit by a pitch in the 7th and then drove one to the warning track in the 9th. Teammate Bret Boone also hit a pair in the first as they became the first teammates to double up in one inning. Cameron said, ''For one night, I was as good as anybody has been in the game.''
Just three weeks later on May 23, 2002, Shawn Green of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the last National Leaguer to complete the feat in a 16-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Never before had two players achieved the feat in the same season. But no one had ever done what Green had done. Green went six for six (which no four homer hit had never done before) including a double and a single for a major league record 19 total bases. Green scored six runs and drove home seven.
The 15th and last batter to achieve the feat was Toronto’s Carlos Delgado on September 25, 2003 as the Jays edged the Rays, 10-8. It was a memorable night for Delgado not just for his four in a row, but his first homer of the night was his 300th of his career. When Delgado returned to the dugout after his fourth homer, he took off his helmet and acknowledged the cheers from the crowd of 13,408 at the Skydome. Cameron, Green and Delgado all have played for the New York Mets with Carlos still active, but not taking curtain calls.
Top of the 2nd
TWO PITCHING LINES
Pitcher A threw 8 innings giving up one hit, walking four, striking out six, while throwing 96 pitches and did not allow a run.
Pitcher B threw 8.2 innings giving up five hits, one walk, struck out six, threw 112 pitches and allowed one run.
Neither pitcher picked up a win.
Pitcher A was Jon Lester who was masterful last night for the Sox against the Jays.
Pitcher B was Roy Halliday who was brilliant last night for the Jays against the Sox.
The Sox won 1-0 on a walk-off single with two down in the 9th by Kevein Youkilis.
Paplebon got the win (with an assist by a spectacular diving fielding play by Dustin Pedroia in the 9th in which he jammed his shoulder..again).
Halliday took the loss. It was Halladay's fourth straight complete game. He's lost the last three.
Top of the 3rd
THE TIGERS SWITCH
It wasn’t so much the five errors in 14 games. Although that tied him for the league lead. It was that Detroit’s Miguel Cabrera and his .900 fielding percentage could barely get to any balls hit his way at third base. Cabrera had a Zone Rating of .683. Zone rating is the percentage of balls fielded by a player in his typical defensive "zone," as measured by STATS, Inc. Adrian Beltre has a ZR of .69 and A-Rod’s is .893.
So the Tigers moved Cabrera to first base and Carlos Guillen to third, neither of which is his natural position. On scout said, "He is the worst in baseball, and it's not close. And the bigger he gets, the less he can move." Before the move, Cabrera, who is listed at 6-4, 240, was kicking one chance in 10 -- and that didn't take into account how little ground he was covering. "I don't think he'll be terrible at first," a scout says. "He won't be good, but he'll hurt them less at first." Cabrera, 25, had never played first in a professional game until this season.
Guillen was switched from shortstop to first base this season because he is injury-prone and, at 32, his range had decreased. "He turned out to be a butcher at first, and that surprised me," a scout says. Guillen played third early in his career (100 games) and was adequate.
Manager Jim Leyland has been typically circumspect about the reason for the change. "This will make our team better," he says. "Both players were talked to, and both players were quick to say, 'Whatever makes us the best team, do whatever you want.' "
A scout who has seen the Tigers quite a bit over the years says, "This is a team built on offense. They knew they'd have to win games 9-8 -- not because of their pitching but because the defense is so bad. Now their offense is not producing. This ain't what Jim thought he was getting."
Top of the 4th
STEALING FIRST
Major League Baseball's new investigative unit is at work on several probes that could lead to discipline while also dealing with the burgeoning business of player identity theft.
I knew it! That’s not Ryan Howard, that’s Tim Russert!
Top of the 5th
WIN A RING
There are three ways to get a World Series ring-
1. Be a member of the winning organization
2. Wait for some poor unfortunate retired player to put it up for sale on eBay
3. Win the Red Sox raffle
This July 11, nine genuine and authentic World Series rings and a special edition Red Sox Volvo C30 will be awarded to 10 lucky winners of this year's Ring Raffle.
Registrants, who must be Massachusetts residents and at least 18 years of age, can go to http://boston.redsox.mlb.com/bos/fan_forum/raffle.jsp for the chance to win. Anyone 18 years or older, regardless of their state of residence, may purchase Raffle tickets in person at Fenway Park or in other locations as available in Massachusetts.
The 2008 Volvo C30 Red Sox Special Edition car is one of just 107 automobiles worldwide of its kind. Each of the limited production vehicles is sequentially numbered 1 to 107 and is valued at approximately $30,000. The car features a passion red exterior, a Red Sox logo on the gearshift, a team hologram on the rear window, and a certificate of authenticity, personally signed by the CEO of Volvo Cars of North America and Red Sox president/CEO Larry Lucchino.
Tickets for the raffle are $10 and all net proceeds will go to benefit the Red Sox Foundation and its charitable programs. Tickets will be on sale through July 5 or whenever the maximum of 200,000 tickets are sold.
The prizes will be presented to the 10 lucky winners at a pregame ceremony on July 26.
Top of the 6th
BILLY-BALL-SITE-OF-THE-DAY
Want to be friends with Dustin Pedroia?
Head to his My Space blog – our site of the day - http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=267657279
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
Chicago White Sox at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 pm
(R) Nick Masset (0-0) vs. (R) Nick Blackburn (1-1)
Detroit Tigers at New York Yankees, 7:05 pm
(R) Jeremy Bonderman (1-2) vs. (L) Andy Pettitte (3-2)
Seattle Mariners at Cleveland Indians, 7:05 pm
(L) Jarrod Washburn (1-3) vs. (L) Cliff Lee (4-0)
Toronto Blue Jays at Boston Red Sox, 7:05 pm
(R) Dustin McGowan (1-2) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (4-0)
Tampa Bay Rays at Baltimore Orioles, 7:05 pm
(R) Andy Sonnanstine (3-1) vs. (R) Jim Johnson (0-0)
Kansas City Royals at Texas Rangers, 8:05 pm
(R) Brian Bannister (3-2) vs. (R) Kevin Millwood (1-2)
Oakland Athletics at LA Angels of Anaheim, 10:05 pm
(L) Dana Eveland (3-1) vs. (R) Ervin Santana (4-0)
NL
Pittsburgh Pirates at New York Mets, 1:10 pm
(L) Tom Gorzelanny (1-3) vs. (L) Oliver Perez (2-1)
Cincinnati Reds at St. Louis Cardinals, 1:15 pm
(R) Aaron Harang (1-3) vs. (R) Braden Looper (3-1)
Houston Astros at Arizona Diamondbacks, 3:40 pm
(R) Shawn Chacon (0-0) vs. (L) Randy Johnson (1-1)
Colorado Rockies at San Francisco Giants, 3:45 pm
(R) Ubaldo Jimenez (1-2) vs. (L) Jonathan Sanchez (2-1)
Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals, 4:35 pm
(R) Jair Jurrjens (3-2) vs. (R) Shawn Hill (0-0)
San Diego Padres at Philadelphia Phillies, 7:05 pm
(R) Chris Young (1-2) vs. (L) Jamie Moyer (1-1)
Los Angeles Dodgers at Florida Marlins, 7:10 pm
(R) Chad Billingsley (0-4) vs. (L) Scott Olsen (3-0)
Milwaukee Brewers at Chicago Cubs, 8:05 pm
(R) Jeff Suppan (1-0) vs. (R) Ryan Dempster (3-0)
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
FANTASY PLAYER ALERT!
Max Scherzer, the Arizona Diamondback’s first-round draft pick in 2006, made his major league debut last night and threw 4 1/3 innings in relief, and retired all 13 batters he faced.
The radar-gun readings on first six pitches: 92, 93, 96, 95, 96, 96. Scherzer touched 98 mph in his second inning of relief and struck out Miguel Tejada on an 88-mph change-up while blowing a 94-mph fastball past Lance Berkman and striking out Jose Cruz Jr. (96 mph) and J.R. Towles (96 mph) on fastballs. Scherzer threw first-pitch strikes to eight of the 13 hitters and went to a three-ball count just once.
Scherzer struck out 38 and walked just three in 23 innings for Triple-A Tucson. It is very likely you will see this kid in the Arizona rotation very soon.
Top of the 9th
A QUAD OF PROBLEMS
1. Alex Rodriguez is now on the 15-day disabled list with a strained right quadriceps.
2. Colorado Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki left last night’s game in the 1st inning with a strained left quadriceps muscle.
3. The Braves’ John Smoltz was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with inflammation in his right rotator cuff and biceps tendon
4. Nationals reliever Chad Cordero expects to head back to the disabled list after leaving last night's 6-3 victory over the Braves after only 13 pitches with what was initially diagnosed as a strained lat muscle below his throwing shoulder.
Bottom of the 9th
BUY THE BOOK
Bill Chuck is the creator of Billy-Ball.com and, with Jim Kaplan, is the author of the book, “Walk-Offs, Last Licks, and Final Outs – Baseball’s Grand (and not so Grand) Finales,” with a Foreword by Jon Miller available now from ACTA Sports.
Autographed first editions are available by contacting, Bill@billy-ball.com or order directly from Acta Sports, http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427 or from your favorite bookstore worldwide.
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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