If it’s the end of July, then it’s time for us to be bombarded with around the clock rumors regarding the trading deadline. Actual transactions will be plentiful, as some names (AJ Puk, Randy Arozarena and Zach Eflin) havw already been moved. It’s July 26 and we are just getting warmed up. Among all the names that have been tossed about, the most fascinating one is a guy that is pushing my age: Rich Hill.
Rich Hill is waiting for a call in 2024. Photo from the Boston Globe
According to the great site for all things news, mlbtradrumors.com, the 44-year old Hill is drawing interest from the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Dodgers. In an interview conducted in August 2022, Hill had considered only playing in the second half of the 2023 season and try to hook on with a playoff contender. He ended pitched the entire season, first with the Pittsburgh Pirates and then the San Diego Padres. Hill is sticking with the plan this season, working out and waiting by the phone. This schedule allows him to spend quality time with his family and not have to endure the grind of a full season.
Pitching always sought after at this time of year. Given his tough 2023, I wouldn’t be surprised if Hill doesn’t get a call. However, if you are an American League team, why would you not reach out to him? After all, virtually any left hander will shut down the Yankees. Personally, I hope Rich Hill goes to the Atlanta Braves. Who doesn’t want to see a guy with 14 different organizations?
Generally, when you think of a Hall of Fame player, you think of someone that spent his entire career with one or two teams, three at the most. However, that’s not really the case with pitchers, especially those hurlers who played in the 1970’s and later. Dennis Eckersley pitched for five teams, Fergie Jenkins, four. Gaylord Perry was a frequent traveler, as he was a member of eight teams. The King of the well traveled Hall of Famers is the subject of this week’s Immaculate Grid Superstar, Rich “Goose” Gossage”.
Goose Gossage, charter member of the Immaculate Grid Hall of Fame. Photo from CBS Sports.
Goose’s career spanned three decades for a total of 22 seasons. He started with the Chicago White Sox where in 1976, the year after he led the American League in saves with 26, he became a starter, going a less than stellar 9-17 with a 3.94 ERA. He did finish with 15 complete games. That was the last year the Goose started a game as he returned to his All Star reliver form in 1977 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He then became much more recognized nationally beginning in 1978 when he joined the New York Yankees. Gossage registered the final out of the one game playoff, the American League Championship Series and the World Series as the Yankees repeated as champions. He then flew to San Diego and helped the Padres to their first World Series appearance in 1984.
It was after his time with the Padres that Gossage really moved around. He went to five more organizations (including a second Yankee stint) before finally calling it a career after the 1994 season. He finished with 310 saves and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2008. If there was a Hall of Fame for Immaculate Grid, Rich Gossage would be a charter member.
I’ve been behind on my writing but I’m right on schedule with the happenings in Major League Baseball. The Atlanta Braves, at one time the clear #1 Wild Card team in the National League, has seen their lead shrink a little bit. The Houston Astros, thought to be dead at the beginning of May, are back on top of the American League West. The All Star Game, while not a truly memorable contest, still reminded everyone why it is far and away the best All Star Game in professional sports. The trade deadline arrives next week so the games coming up represent the final evaluation of teams considering to buy a playoff push or sell for the future.
Bryce Harper and the Phillies host the Guardians this weekend. Photo from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Series to Watch: Cleveland Guardians at Philadelphia Phillies
It’s a tasty interleague matchup as the teams with the first (Phillies) and third (Guardians) best records in baseball meet for a weekend clash at the Bank. Both teams have lost two of their first three games coming out the break. Despite the stumbles early, each team enjoys a relatively comfortable lead at the tip of their respective divisions. The Phillies can actually do Cleveland a favor to start the week as they travel to Minnesota to take on the second place Twins. This is the Terry Francona mini classic as two of the legendary manager’s teams square off in a potential Fall Classic preview.
Player to Watch: Clayton Kershaw, Los Angeles Dodgers
The future Hall of Fame pitcher is set to make his season debut on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants. Kershaw isn’t the only Dodgers pitcher making a return this week as Tyler Glasnow will return on Wednesday against those same Giants. All eyes in baseball will be on Kershaw as the last time we saw him in a Major League game, he didn’t make it out of the first inning in Game One of the 2023 National League Division Series. His final rehab start was Friday night in Oklahoma City where he pitched four innings and gave up three runs on six hits. A patchwork LA rotation will certainly get a boost with both Kershaw and Glasnow coming back this week.
The White Sox are solid in the rotation.
The Chicago White Sox are heading for a historically bad season. They are 27-74 and are currently on a seven game losing streak. Their run differential is an unsightly 191. What is utterly confounding is that their starting rotation is actually pretty darn solid 1-3. Garrett Crochet was the Sox’s All Star representative and leads the American League in strikeouts with 150. Eric Fedde sports a 2.99 ERA in 19 starts. Rookie Drew Thorpe has a 3.02 ERA and a 1.01 WHIP through his first seven starts. Crochet is one of the hot names in trade talk and Fedde could be gone as well. It’s a shame that the efforts by these pitchers is being wasted by an offense that has scored 30 runs fewer than the next lowest team.
A star under the radar
Much has been made of Oakland A’s rookie closer Mason Miller. The big right-hander routinely hits 100 MPH and was the club’s lone All Star. However, the player you should watch is outfielder and designated hitter Brent Rooker. The 35th overall pick in the 2017 draft, Rooker is hitting .462 over his last 15 games. Oakland is his fourth stop in his career that started with the Minnesota Twins. He was given regular playing time last year and responded in a big way by clubbing 30 home runs and going to the All Star Game. Rooker has been even better this year, hitting .294 with 22 home runs and an OPS of .951. You don’t hear Rooker’s name much as a tradable part but any team looking for a right handed power bat should be looking in the A’s direction.
Man, it feels like forever since I last posted. That’s what happens when other things in life pull you in multiple directions. Work, Lake George, Saratoga and kids’ sports occupy much of my time. However, we did take time out to head to Citi Field for our (potential) last game of the year. On July 11th, the New York Mets went for the sweep against the division rival Washington Nationals. The Mets were rolling at this point, kick started by Grimace and Jose Iglesias’s, “OMG” becoming their vibe for 2024. Would the good times continue?
Section 109 is a great view at Citi Field. Photo from my collection.
The Mets’ David Peterson and the Nats’ MacKenzie Gore matched zeros for the first four innings. After Washington was held scoreless in the top of the fifth, the Mets erupted for five runs, highlighted by Brandon Nimo’s three run double. J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso produced RBI singles to give New York their fourth and fifth runs. In the bottom of the eighth inning, Mark Vientos and Harrison Bader drove in Martinez and Alonso to give the Mets a 7-0 lead. Adam Ottavino came on to get the final three outs but this being Ottavino, it came with a lot of drama. He managed to load the bases but preserved the shutout by striking out James Wood and Jesse Winker to end the game. The Mets would then close out the schedule leading up the All Star Break by winning the first two games against the Colorado Rockies before losing the finale on Sunday.
It was a day that saw the excessive humidity finally break in the New York City area. However, we sat in the sun all day and by the end of the game, we were fried. Still, if you head to Citi Field one day, section 109, row 22 is a pretty good area to watch the game. After visiting Citi Field, Citizens Bank Park and Yankee Stadium, the kids still agree: the Bank is the best.
This past Saturday, June 29th saw our family attend the second of our three game “road trip” this baseball season. In May, we went to Yankee Stadium to watch the New York Yankees hand the Chicago White Sox yet another loss. Saturday had us head south to Philadelphia as the Phillies hosted the Miami Marlins. Once again, the weather cooperated almost fully. A little bit of humidity couldn’t stop us from enjoying ourselves as we had some great seats down the left field line. It’s too bad the home team could not taste victory.
Our seats down the left field line. From my photos.
The Marlins walked away with a 3-2 win on the strength of two Nick Gordon RBI’s. Aaron Nola pitched reasonably well, allowing two runs over 6 2/3 innings but could not get the one big out. With two outs in the top of the 7th and the Phils leading 2-1, Nola gave up the tying hit to Miami backup catcher Nick Fortes, who was hitting .158 at the time. It was the right decision by manager Rob Thomson to leave Nola in the game. Trust the veteran pitcher to get out the #9 hitter and go into the home half of the inning with the lead. It didn’t work out and then the next batter, Jazz Chisholm, Jr. ripped a single to close out the scoring. On the bright side, we saw Garett Stubbs hit his first home run of the season. My daughter says Stubbs is the best backup catcher in baseball and would start for a lot of other teams. Who am I to disagree?
My family has been to three ballparks: Yankee Stadium, Citi Field, and Citizens Bank Park. They all say the same thing: the Bank is the nicest of the three. I’m not sure if I agree 100% with that assessment but there are some things about Citizens that are solid. It is so easy to get in and out of the place compared to the New York parks. There were no escalators and ramps like the other two places. We literally walked into the stadium and entered on the same level as our seats. There is also a little bit more of a retro feel at Citizens. The overall experience at the stadium also seemed to be less of a hassle than at Yankee Stadium and Citi Field. All of them are unique in their own special own.
Up next is Mets-Nationals on July 11 at Citi Field. Maybe next season we can expand our horizons but going to either Baltimore or Boston. It would be great if one day, we can say we have seen all 30 Major League stadiums.
The Phanatic staring down the Marlins. Photo by me.
It’s very hard to remember Major League Baseball games in the regular season. Sure, no hitters, perfect games and heroic individual offensive displays (think three or four home runs by the same player) are certainly memorable. There are literally thousands of games that I have born witness to either by viewing them or reading about them over the past 44 years. However, there are a handful of contests that stick out to me for extraordinary circumstances. One such game took place on my 14th birthday, June 29, 1987.
Thank you, Dave Winfield. Photo from Sports Illustrated
I had just graduated 8th grade. The New York Yankees got off to a wonderful start to begin the season but in typical 1980’s Yankee fashion, they faltered in the second half. Dare I say that this game on the night of June 29th was the high point of their season? The Yanks beat the Toronto Blue Jays by a score of 15-14 but it was how they did it that made it such a classic. Two Yankees in particular gave me a 14th birthday to remember: Ron Kittle and Dave Winfield.
In the top of the first inning, Kittle, the 1983 American League Rookie of the Year for the Chicago White Sox, lifted a fly ball to right field that confounded the Blue Jay outfield. By the time the ball was retrieved and thrown in, Kittle, not exactly a burner, raced around the bases for a two run, inside the park home run. I’m telling you, that play felt like it took five minutes from beginning to end. That gave the Yankees an early 4-0 lead. It was the beginning of a slugfest for the ages as New York tacked on four more runs for an 8-3 lead after two innings. After the Blue Jays scored a run in the fourth inning, the Yanks scored three more times in the top of the sixth for an 11-4 lead. It was then Toronto’s turn to pile on the offense, scoring four runs in their half in the sixth and then pouring on six more to take a 14-11 lead going into the eighth inning. It was then that Winfield delivered the biggest blow, a grand slam that was the difference in the game, ending it at 15-14.
To show you that memories can be fuzzy, I thought this was the game that Yankee closer Dave Righetti, after giving up a late home run, threw the ball over the fence in frustration before being taken out of the game. Alas, that happened in June 1986. Nevertheless, on the day of birthday number 14, Dave Winfield, Ron Kittle and the Yankees gave me a night and a present to remember.
Have you filled out an All Star ballot yet? While at my parents’ house on Sunday, my three kids fill out theirs and I assisted my sister with hers. With the Fall Classic coming up in three weeks, I’ll get mine in by Saturday morning. This is now the last week of June and the National League has 13 of its 15 teams with realistic chances of playing playoff baseball. Let’s see what’s coming up around the league as we close out the third full month of the 2024 season.
Steven Kwan is batting .390 in 200 at bats this year. Photo from the Akron Beacon Journal
Series to watch: Cleveland Guardians at Baltimore Orioles.
I feel like when we talk about the elite teams in Major League Baseball, the Guardians are not on anyone’s list. Yet, they enter this showdown with the same number of wins as the more celebrated Orioles. Since returning from a hamstring injury on May 31, outfielder Steven Kwan’s batting average is over .400. Josh Naylor has supplied 20 home runs and Jose Ramirez is continuing to be his magnificent self, ranking second among all players in RBI’s with 67. The O’s were just swept in Houston after taking two of three games against the Yankees. Outfielder Heston Kjerstad, the organization’s #4 prospect according to MLB.com, will be brought up this week (his third callup) to provide punch to a lineup that scored only two runs in 18 innings on Saturday and Sunday.
Player to Watch: CJ Abrams
The 23-year old shortstop, who came to the Washington Nationals in the Juan Soto trade with the San Diego Padres, is making a case to make his first All Star team. Abrams is hitting .344 over the last two weeks and he leads he Nationals in just about every offensive category. He was the 6th overall pick in the 2019 draft and had a breakout 2023 season with 18 hone runs and 47 stolen bases. Abrams’ career arc mirrors that of former Nat Trea Turner who also was a shortstop drafted by the Padres a decade ago and later was traded to Washington.
Sneaky Red Sox
Very quietly, the Boston Red Sox have had a solid 2024 thus far. Thought to finish last in the American League East, Boston sits at 42-36 and in the final Wild Card spot. They won two of three games against the Yankees last weekend and then went 5-1 last week, sweeping three in Toronto and winning two of three in Cincinnati. The most interesting aspect is that Rafael Devers is having, by his standards, a below average season. Catcher Connor Wong has been a revelation, hitting .330 and left fielder Jarren Duran leads the Majors with 10 triples. On the mound, Tanner Houck is bidding to be the the starting pitcher for the American League as he leads the league in ERA with a 2.14 mark.
Mauled Marlins
The Miami Marlins have had a terrible season. Injuries have played a huge role in the big step back after their playoff appearance in 2023. Miami has literally lost an entire starting rotation to various aliments. Sandy Alacantra had Tommy John surgery right after the Marlins were eliminated from the playoffs. Before the 2024 season began, Eury Perez was told he needed TJ surgery. Edward Cabrera hasn’t pitched since May 7 because a shoulder issue. To top it off, Jesus Luzardo was placed on the IL Saturday with a back problem and Braxton Garrett, who was on the IL until May 12, had to be scratched from his Sunday start with a stiff elbow. In all of my years following baseball, I don’t think I have ever seen an injury situation quite like this.
I think a big reason why I am a big baseball fan sits in the corner of my closet. Boxes upon boxes of baseball cards sit at the bottom while albums occupy the top shelf. As a kid, and even now, I could spend hours looking at the pictures in the front and memorizing the stats on the back. All of those endless Summer days studying baseball cards allowed me to recite Reggie Jackson’s stats from 1980 without breaking a sweat: .300 batting average, 41 home runs and 111 RBI’s. Sometimes, it’s the baseball card that can make a player memorable I wrote about one such card in May, the 1980 Topps John Pacella. With the Baltimore Orioles in town to play the New York Yankees, another player and card comes to mind: the 1991 Topps Mickey Tettleton.
The line that made Mickey Tettleton famous. Photo from my personal collection.
Keep in mind that Mickey Tettleton had some tremendous seasons from 1984 through 1997. He was a rarity; a switch-hitting catcher with power who walked quite frequently. He had four seasons of more than 30 home runs, collected three Silver Sluggers and made two All Star teams. He accumulated 100 or more walks in a season five times, leading the league with 122 in 1992 as a member of the Detroit Tigers. For his career, Tettleton hit 245 home runs for the Orioles, Tigers, Oakland A’s and Texas Rangers. By 1996, he was primarily a DH but he contributed 24 home runs, helping the Rangers win their first American League West title. Despite all of those accolades, many recall Tettleton for what was printed on the back of his 1991 baseball card:
Mickey lists Fruit Loops among his favorite foods.
I remember being in college and whenever the name Mickey Tettleton came up, inevitably the next line was, “Fruit Loops”. In fact, 33 years after its issuance, I can guarantee you I can find some random fan my age that will have that same exact line of thinking. I wonder if Tettleon regrets his decision of making his cereal choice so public. I’ve spent this post writing about what an excellent career he enjoyed, yet he might be more well-known for breakfast than for hitting. For me, when I think of Mickey Tettleon, I think of power hitting catcher first, while celebrating his excellent taste in food.
I write this in the aftermath of another Father’s Day success. Nothing crazy, no places to go, just surrounded by those who are most important in my life. The week ahead in Major League Baseball will be anything but calm, with one gigantic series being played, one superstar whose status is in question and another superstar who might be getting ready to make his season debut. On top of that, we get a classic 1975 World Series flashback as the Cincinnati Reds take on the Boston Red Sox!
Gunnar Henderson and the Orioles head to Yankee Stadium for three big games. Photo from WBAL TV.
Series to watch: Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees.
It’s a battle in the Bronx between the teams with the two best records in baseball. Aaron Judge and Gunnar Henderson are the top two home run hitters. They are the only clubs with more than 100 home runs. A regular season series does not get any better than this. The O’s took three of four games from the Yanks in Camden Yards in during the last days in April/first days in May. You can bet New York remembers that set and will be looking for a bit of payback. I’m reliving a bit of my youth when both of these teams were solid year in and year out and their games were a big deal.
Player to watch: Gerrit Cole
There is a possibility that the 2023 Cy Yong winner will make his season debut on Wednesday against the Orioles. Cole pitched for Triple A Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Friday, his potential final step after being out all season so far with elbow discomfort. The Yanks have their starting pitcher as TBD with Cody Poteet listed as the other potential option. New York’s rotation as been strong all year long and getting back their ace adds another stroke of luck in this magical start.
Not Dodging injuries
The Los Angeles Dodgers endured a painful series this past weekend against the Kansas City Royals. Despite winning two of three games, the Dodgers lost two big pieces of their championship puzzle. Pitcher Yoshinobu Yamamoto left Friday’s game after two innings with triceps tightness. He was placed on the 15 day IL. His velocity was down noticeably as compared to his previous outing vs. the Yankees. On Sunday, Mookie Betts fractured his left hand after being hit by a pitch from the Royals’ Dan Altavilla. Though it was announced surgery was not needed, there is no timetable for his return. Despite these latest injury setbacks, Los Angeles still owns an eight game lead in the National League West and have pitcher Bobby Miller returning this week. They can afford to be careful with Yamamoto and Betts.
Turner back
Cole is not the only star coming back. Trea Turner is set to return to the Philadelphia Phillies’ lineup Monday night barring anything unforeseen. The Phils lost the last two games of their series against the Orioles and have dropped five of their last seven contests. Turner’s return from a hamstring injury comes at a good time with Philadelphia set to play six games at home against playoff contenders the San Diego Padres and the Arizona Diamondbacks.
In my first two posts about Immaculate Grid go to guys, I selected Paul Lindblad and Joe Morgan, two players who have long since retired. For today’s edition, I think it is about time we choose someone that is still active. There are no shortages of players to choose from, with quite a few having stints with five teams or more. I’d like to start a round of current players with a guy I have grown to admire over the past year, Tommy Pham.
Tommy Pham with his ninth team in 13 years. Photo from the Chicago Sun-Times.
This isn’t the first time I’ve written about Mr. Pham. Nearly three months ago, I wrote that it was nearing late March and he didn’t have a team. It was highly disappointing that Pham was still unemployed despite the fact he could potentially be a missing ingredient for a playoff contender. He eventually signed with the Chicago White Sox, who currently have the worst record in baseball. Chicago represents the eighth stop in Pham’s Major League odyssey and considering the plight of the Sox, team number nine is just around the corner. With a .313 batting average in 31 playoff and World Series games, expect Pham to be playing deep into October once again.
Position players aren’t usually known for bouncing around between that many teams. Relievers are usually the ones who switch teams every two years or so. However, Pham is an exception to this rule and at this time next year, he very well could hit double digit organizations.
Threeunassisted 