Big Red Machine, meet the Big Hit Machine 4/30/12

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Thanks for giving me so many views. I really appreciate your support. Anyway, here's my next blog:

The Big Red Machine was the nickname for the Cincinnati Reds during the '70s and early '80s because they had such a great team. Well, there was another machine in the central United States; a hit machine: Robin Yount! Yount was hitting off all pitchers in the AL for the Brewers from 1974-1993 (the Brew Crew moved to the NL in '98). He had 3142 career hits, good for 17th on the all-time list. That's not all he did, though. He won 2 MVP awards, in '82 and '89. Also, his career batting average was .285. Some competition for Dave Winfield and Rickey Henderson!

Baltimore+Murray=Great times in Maryland 4/26/12

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Sorry that I haven't posted in like 4 days. Anyway, I promised a blog about Baltimore, so you will get a blog about Baltimore.

When a scout looks at a high school prospect, they look for 5 tools: hitting for average, power, speed, throwing ability, and fielding ability. Eddie Murray was a five-tool guy. His career with mainly the Orioles from 1977-1997, is probably one of the most underrated careers of all time. Steady Eddie had 3255 hits, good for 12th on the all-time list. The funny thing is, he wasn't really considered a power hitter. However, he has the second-most home runs in a career by a switch-hitter, only behind Mickey Mantle, with 504, 25th on the all-time list. Fun Fact: Murray is the only baseball player to never hit over 35 dinggers in a season, but still have over 500 career homers, and to never have 200+  hits in a season, but still have at least 3000 career hits. He may have been underrated, but he had one of the best offensive careers in baseball history.

36 up, 36 down, and still lost 4/22/12

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In honor of Philip Humber pitching a perfecto yesterday, I want to blog about a very strange ALMOST-perfect game. I'll talk about the Orioles next time:

Harvey Haddix, of the Pittsburgh Pirates, was nothing special, but on one day, he happened to just be a pitcher who pitched a perfect game through 12 innings, but gave it up in the 13th. It was May 26th, 1959, Pirates vs. Braves. Haddix was pitching masterfully through 9 innings, not giving up a hit, walk, or error. However, the opposing pitcher, Lew Burdette, held the Pirates scoreless through nine, too. So into extras it went, tied 0-0. After 12 innings, still tied 0-0, and still, Haddix was pitching a perfect game. In the bottom of the 13th, an error by Don Hoak of the Pirates allowed Felix Mantilla to reach first, ending the perfect game, but the no-hitter was still in tact.  After a sacrifice bunt and an intentional walk to Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock hit an apparent home run, ending the no-hitter and the game. However, in all the confusion, Aaron left the base paths and was passed by Adcock for the second out and the Braves won 2-0. Eventually, the hit was changed to a double by the ruling of NL president, Warren Giles; only Mantilla's run counted, for a final score of 1-0, but Haddix still lost. Although Haddix lost, it is considered by many to be the best pitching performance ever.

What's black, white, and Red (Sox) all over? 4/20/12

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In honor of the 100th anniversary of Fenway Park, I will be blogging about one of the greatest Red Sox ever, and a greater one:

When Fenway Park just opened in 1912, the Red Sox already claimed the title of an AL dynasty. That year, they won the World Series. 'What was one of the reasons why?' you ask yourself. Well I have the reason why the Red Sox were so good back then: Tris Speaker! The Grey Eagle had 3514 hits in his career with mainly Boston and the Cleveland Indians from 1907-1928. He had a career batting average of .345, good for 6th on the all-time list. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1937, the second year of election.

Other than The Grey Eagle, the Red Sox have had many other stars play for their team, one of them being Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz played for Boston for his entire career, from 1961-1983. He had 3419 hits, and a .285 lifetime batting average. However, Carl was known for his power. He had 452 career round-trippers, and 1844 RBIs. Interestingly, he is the last player to hit for the triple crown ('67), with 44 homers, 121 RBIs and a .326 batting average. The Red Sox were so good when Yaz was playing-- too bad the Orioles had to spoil almost all of their fun.

Some are cold, some are hot 4/18/12

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I hope all of your teams are doing well so far in the baseball season! Here is my next blog:

In 1961, the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota and were renamed the Twins. Minnesota is much cooler than Washington D. C., so you would expect all of the Twins to flop, right? Kinda. They were 70-90 that year, but there was a bright spot: Harmon Killebrew! Not only in that season did the slugger shine, with 42 homers and 122 RBIs, but he crushed AL pitching. From 1954-1975, Killebrew hit 574 homers and 1559 RBIs. He won the AL MVP in '69, and helped the Twins to a pennant in '65. But who was the Killer's successor? Here's a hint: Carew.

Rod Carew was probably the most dominant contact hitter from 1967-1985. He had 3053 hits. He was awarded the MVP award in 1977, and had a career batting average of .328. Another great achievement in Carew's career was that he made it to all but one (his last season) All-Star game his entire career. A funny fact about Killebrew and Carew is that they are one of the only pairs of teammates to be elected into the Hall of Fame, and have their last name's rhyme. Now that's what I call a "Twin killing".

The Barrier Breaker 4/15/12

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This is my second blog today. The only reason I'm blogging a second time today is because of what day it is:

65 years ago today, in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, NY, Jackie Robinson became the first African-American baseball player to ever play the sport professionally. He broke the color barrier for baseball, and since then, African-Americans have flourished in the MLB. But today, I wanted to talk about the person who started it all:

Jackie Robinson, from 1947-1956, prospered for the Brooklyn Dodgers. He had a lifetime batting average of .311, and helped the Dodgers win a World Series in 1955. He also won the MVP Award in 1949. Jackie may not have been treated so nicely because of the color of his skin, but he made an impact on baseball and the world.

St. Louis isn't Blue, even with the hockey team 4/15/12

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Like I promised, here's the first blog in Baseball with Matt history about a NL player:

Every year, it was basically a 25% chance that the Yankees and Dodgers would meet each other in the World Series in the late '50s, early '60s. However, one pitcher and one pitcher alone on the St. Louis Cardinals, helped the Redbirds to becoming a NL powerhouse. His name was Gibby, Bob Gibson. From 1959 to 1975, Gibby won 251 games and helped the Cards to three pennants and two World championships ( the championships coming in '64 and '67). He is a Hall of Famer and one of the only pitchers to win an MVP award and Cy Young award in the same season (1968). Bob Gibson was good, but if their was inter league play back then, I think a couple Minnesota ballplayers would have owned him.

The NL Yankees of the '40s and '50s 4/14/12

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Sorry about not blogging the last couple days. I was in the Bahamas. Now usually I blog about a certain player but this time it'll be about a certain team:

If you were to hear the words New York baseball team, you would think about the Yankees. However, before 1957, two other teams played in New York (by the way, the Mets weren't even created in 1961), the New York Giants and the Brooklyn Dodgers . During the 1940s and 1950s, the Giants were good, but the Dodgers were unbelievable! Stars like Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Clem Labine, and Preacher Roe helped the Dodgers to win seven pennants and one World Series championship (1955) from 1940-1957. They were called "The Boys of Summer" or "Dem Bums". Unfortunately for the Dodgers, all the World Series they played in were against the Yankees who were pretty awesome. So when they finally won it all in 1955, it was huge, and the whole Borough of Brooklyn celebrated.

The Cleveland Cavalier before the NBA team 4/9/12

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The season has started and to commemorate this occasion, I want to talk about the only pitcher to pitch an opening day no-hitter:

In the '30s and '40s, Hank Greenberg and Joe DiMaggio dominated baseball, along with many others. But, perhaps the greatest pitcher of this time was "Bullet" Bob Feller. Feller pitched in 18 major-league seasons with the Indians, and won 266 games. Not bad for someone who lost playing time because of World War II military service. As I mentioned before, he is the only pitcher to pitch a no-hitter on opening day, which in the no-hitter's case, was Opening Day, 1940, early in Rapid Robert's career. Wow, I've never talked about a national league player before(who didn't have to play with these war horses), but I'll get to it, don't worry.

The "Other" Cy Young 4/6/12

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Happy Opening Day number two! This next blog is the first blog about a pitcher in Baseball With Matt history:

Have you ever heard of Cy Young, perhaps the greatest pitcher in the history of baseball? Well, the second best would probably be Walter Johnson. Johnson pitched from 1907-1927 for the Washington Senators. He won an amazing 417 games and helped the Senators to Washington's only World Series championship in 1924. He was one of the first five players elected to the Hall of Fame in 1936. Maybe, in each league, there should be a Walter Johnson award for the second best pitcher in each league and the best pitcher in each league would be awarded the Cy Young award! How funny would that be!

The Anti-Babe Ruth 4/3/12

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Matt N here with your next blog. Considering I started from the beginning of the baseball era, I'll stay in chronological order for now:

As I said before, Babe Ruth ended the Dead Ball Era with 714 homers, the most before Hank Aaron and Barry Bonds (they'll come up later). But who competed against him for the home run crown every season? I'll give you one hint: He hit 534 career dinggers, Jimmie Foxx! The Beast (as he was called) won the MVP 3 times in the AL. He played for 20 years from 1925-45, mainly with the Philadelphia Athletics and the Boston Red Sox. Another important fact was that he also won 2 World Series in 1929 and 1930 with the A's. Some match for the Babe to put up with!

First ACTUAL Blog 4/2/12

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Matt N here with the first ever blog on Baseball With Matt that actually gives info about baseball!
My fact is:
You know all of those big home run hitters of today like Alex Rodriguez, David Ortiz, and Albert Pujols. Well at the start of the 1900s, no one hit more than 29 round-trippers! That era was known as the Dead Ball Era. Stars like Ty Cobb and Honus Wagner hit a lot, but didn't leave the ballpark more than 10 to 15 times a year. There was one person who began the era of home runs. He was one of the greatest, Babe Ruth!

First Blog 4/2/12

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Matt N with Baseball With Matt! This is my first posting on my new blog site, baseballwithmatt.blogspot.com. On this blog, I will be writing interesting facts about baseball history that kids (like me) don't know enough about! Tell your friends! Tell your friends' friends! Tell your friends' friends' friends! Enjoy!