Power Pros Forum

Unless you're being sarcastic, yeah, he was.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akinori_Otsuka

The 2013 Yankees roster (as of 3/27/13) have eight of the 30 players that received AL MVP votes in 2006.

The origin of the seventh-inning stretch is much disputed, and it is difficult to certify any purported history. One claimant is Brother Jasper of Mary, F.S.C., the man credited with bringing baseball to Manhattan College in the late 19th century. Being the Prefect of Discipline as well as the coach of the team, it fell to Brother Jasper to supervise the student fans at every home game. On one particularly hot and muggy day in 1882, during the seventh inning against a semi-pro team called the Metropolitans, the Prefect noticed his charges becoming restless. To break the tension, he called a time-out in the game and instructed everyone in the bleachers to stand up and unwind. It worked so well he began calling for a seventh-inning rest period at every game. The Manhattan College custom spread to the major leagues after the New York Giants were charmed by it at an exhibition game. However, a letter written by Harry Wright of the Cincinnati Red Stockings dated 1869 – 13 years earlier than Brother Jasper's inspired time-out — documented something very similar to a seventh-inning stretch. In the letter, he makes the following observation about the fans' ballpark behavior: "The spectators all arise between halves of the seventh inning, extend their legs and arms and sometimes walk about. In so doing they enjoy the relief afforded by relaxation from a long posture upon hard benches." Another tale holds that the stretch was invented by a manager stalling for time to warm up a relief pitcher. A popular story for the origins of the stretch is that President William Howard Taft at a Washington Senators game in 1910 was sore from prolonged sitting and stood up to stretch. Upon seeing the chief executive stand, the rest of the spectators in attendance felt obligated to join the president in his gestures. This story is set at a far later date than the others, however. As to the name of the practice, there appears to be no record of the phrase "seventh-inning stretch" from before 1920. By that time the practice was already at least 50 years old.

“Guys, I have just one announcement to make - you guys should jump on my back tonight. I’m going to carry us.” - Kirby Puckett before Game 6 of the 1991 World Series

OF Elijah Dukes hit a home run in his first major-league at-bat in 2007, vs the Yankees. He would later be traded by the Rays for Top 10 pitching prospect Glenn Gibson of the Nationals.

In July 1959, the Red Sox became the last major league team to integrate its roster.

"I do not care if the guy is yellow or black, or if he has stripes like a f*ckin' zebra. I'm the manager of this team, and I say he plays. What's more, I say he can make us all rich. And if any of you cannot use the money, I will see that you are all traded." – Former Dodgers manager Leo Durocher, on Dodger players insisting they would not play with Jackie Robinson on the team

ProjectProspect considered 3B Andy LaRoche their 2008 NL Rookie of the Year pick after his batting .309/18/48 in the minors the previous year. The brother of 1B Adam LaRoche went on to hit just .166/5/18 in 76 games in the MLB in 2008 while Rays 3B Evan Longoria was the unanimous American League selection of the 28 voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America, for hitting 27 homers with 85 RBIs.

Babe Ruth finished his career with the Boston Braves in 1935 after leading the Red Sox and Yankees to 3 and 4 championships, respectively.

In 2008, Reds infielder Jeff Keppinger had the lowest strikeout percentage in the majors, at 4.8%, striking out about once every 19.1 at-bats.

Joey Votto hit his first career pinch hit home run against Cleveland's Cliff Lee, who would go on to win the AL Cy Young Award. He also broke the Reds' record for the most runs batted in by a rookie in a single season. The previous record was held by National Baseball Hall of Fame outfielder Frank Robinson with 83 RBI set in 1956.The Canadian was named the National League Player of the Week for September 21–27, 2009, after hitting 10 doubles in a five-game span, a concentrated display not seen in 77 years. Hall of Fame outfielder Paul Waner did it for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1932.

Joe DiMaggio’s legendary 56-game hit streak lasted from May 15 to July 16 1941. But what’s more impressive is that he continued to get on base for the next 16 games making his total at 72 out of 73 games.

"If Doc's not Doc, OK, now he just went from immortal to still sort of immortal," - Cole Hamels on Roy Halladay's struggles coming into 2013

The Reds dealt young former Rule 5 OF Josh Hamilton to the Rangers to open up a spot for #1 prospect OF Jay Bruce heading into 2008. While it paid off as Bruce and P Edinson Volquez (who was acquired in exchange for Hamilton) joined fellow Red Joey Votto in NL Rookie of the Year voting that year, one can only imagine an outfield with future All-Stars Bruce and Hamilton together.

Astros SP Bud Norris has never won more than one game in April. He's been with the team since 2009.

Wow... Roberto Hernandez's outing next week for the Rays will end a streak of 1,693 games without having a game started by a free agent, according to Buster Olney.

I think that means just pitchers, but I'm not sure... Does anyone know for sure?

It's for Rays starting pitchers probably. Either way you look at it, that's pretty crazy.

"Maybe I'm not a great man, but I damn well want to break the record." ~ Roger Maris on eclipsing The Babe's HR record

With the exception of a four-pitch walk, Reggie Jackson collected 4 consecutive HRs between Game 5 and Game 6 at-bats during the 1977 World Series.

"If you keep making trades like that you will be in last place forever." ~ AL East teams, towards then Brewers owner Bud Selig when his team acquired Cecil Cooper for Red Sox first baseman George Scott and outfielder Bernie Carbo in 1976

The Giants had 28 players take an at-bat for them in 2008, and the average age of the players was 28. Of those players, only eight of them took an at-bat for any major-league team in 2012. Only one of them was a starter five years later.

"Baseball is a red-blooded sport for red-blooded men. It's no pink tea, and mollycoddles had better stay out." - Ty Cobb

After Game 6 of the 1918 World Series, it would be some 87 years until the Cubs and Red Sox would play again. A three-game interleague matchup at Wrigley Field began June 10, 2005 and was Boston's first ever visit to the park. The Cubs would not return to Fenway Park for nearly 94 years until a three-game interleague matchup beginning May 20, 2011.

In 2008, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce of the Reds became the fifth rookie teammates in the divisional player era to hit 20 home runs in the same season.

"I never say 'seven-fifteen' anymore. I now say 'quarter after seven.'" ~Al Downing, on giving up homer #715 to Hank Aaron

"And now Boston knows how England felt when it lost India." ~ Ed Linn on Ted Williams' retirement

4/1/13 has the Mets and Yankees both at home on the same day for the first time ever.

The Red Sox have opened the MLB season on the road for 15 of the last 18 years.

Cliff Lee led the AL in wins at 22 in ’08 while Justin Verlander had the most losses (17).

1975 marked the first year of a black manager in the MLB.

The Brewers have the best record in the last two years at home in the majors, yet they have lost 4 straight Opening Day games.

Along with the 1906 and 1907 World Series, the 1918 World Series is one of only three Fall Classics where neither team hit a home run.

At 591 SB, Marlins OF Juan Pierre is atop the leaderboards for stolen bases among active players.

The Mets are 33-18 on the first day of the season, the best in the MLB at that.

In 1984, 19 year-old P Drew Gooden was the youngest player on Opening Day. That record still stands but in 2013 Bryce Harper is only 33 days older than Gooden was back then.

Bryce Harper's 2 homers in his first two at bats today made him the first person in MLB history to achieve this feat.

Ben Revere's 37 infield hits in 2012 ranked 2nd in the AL.

The Yankees had outscored the Pirates 55-27 over the span of the 1960 WS, until Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 walk-off homer.

On Opening Day 2013, Dodgers P Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher since Mike Hampton in 2001 to hit a go-ahead homer in the eighth inning or later. He's also the first pitcher since Bob Lemon of the 1953 Indians to pitch a shutout and homer on Opening Day.

At the time of his debut in 2007, Homer Bailey was the youngest player in the National League.

"I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me ... all I ask is that you respect me as a human being." - Jackie Robinson on his career on and off the field

Former Angels OF Tim Salmon hit more home runs than any player to not have played in an All-Star Game.

The Diamondbacks and Cardinals went 16 innings on April 3, 2013. It was the longest game in Chase Field's 15-year history.

As of the first series in the 2013 season, Jose Bautista was 1-13 with 4 strikeouts vs Ubaldo Jimenez.

"In a year that has been so improbable, the impossible has happened.." ~ Vin Scully on Kirk Gibson's game-winning HR in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series

It's said Cubs great Ernie Banks coined the term "Friendly Confines" for Wrigley Field after listening to Cubs' opponents for so many years. They thought they the park was a "friendly" place to play because the visiting team won there so often. However, there is another thought to how the nickname came to be that is similar. After the Chicago Cubs won their 2nd World Series, fans started to call Wrigley Field "The Friendly Confines" because it was a fun place to go and have a hotdog and talk with friends, but at the same time watch your Cubs lose. The "myth" is that they called it The Friendly Confines because the Cubs would always, always lose, fans thought they were being "too friendly" to the opponent.

Former Dodgers OF and current D'Backs manager Kirk Gibson was the NL MVP in 1988, yet he did not make the All-Star team that year or any other year in his career.

The Braves have won Kris Medlen's last 23 starts (as of 4/4/13) - a major league record.

Former Cardinals starter John Tudor had a historical season in 1985. The lefty started off a poor 1-7 with a 3.74 ERA but pitched to a spectacular 20-1 record with a 1.37 ERA the rest of the way. He ended up 21-8 with a 1.93 earned run average and would become the only pitcher to have 10 complete games in his last 21 decisions. He would win his last 11 decisions, rank 6th in strikeouts, and despite the amazing season, he was topped by only Dwight Gooden (who lead the MLB with 24 wins, 268 strikeouts, and a 1.53 ERA - the second lowest in the Live Ball Era, trailing only Bob Gibson's 1.12 in 1968 - and also picked up the Triple Crown) for the NL Cy Young award. Moreover, Tudor's ten complete game shutouts in 1985 made him the only pitcher since Jim Palmer in 1975 to reach double-digits in that category (Bob Gibson holds the Cardinal record with 13 in 1968). To make the achievement more impressive, his ten shutouts were all in the last four months of 1985. To date, Tudor is the last Major League player to record 10 or more shutouts in a season. The most since then had been 8 by Roger Clemens while playing also for Boston in his early career, in 1988, during his 5th season in the majors.

Tigers Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg, the first major league player to hit 25 or more home runs in a season in each league, had amassed an astounding (and record-setting) 103 RBIs by the 1935 All-Star break. Due to 1B like Lou Gehrig and Jimmie Foxx also on the team, he was not voted on. He got the last laugh, however, as he totaled 170 RBIs, won the AL MVP unanimously, and captured the World Series title with Detroit.

SP Dennis Leonard, formerly of the KC Royals, collected 3 20-win seasons and yet never gained a spot in the Midsummer Classic. He's the first player since the ASG began in 1933 to do so. Apparently it's because Leonard was known to be a bad first-half pitcher (7-7, 9-9, 9-11 in those 20-win seasons) before picking it up in the second half - he had 3.43 ERA in his career in September.

In 2007, Mariners reliever Brendan Morrow set a club rookie record with 18 holds, breaking the old record of 13 set by Ed Vande Berg in 1982. Morrow had the fourth most appearances by a rookie reliever in club history with 60 and fifth most strikeouts with 66. Among American League rookie relievers Morrow ranked second in strikeouts, third in appearances, and fourth in ERA.

According to Brian McTaggart of MLB.com, all four starters who have faced the Astros so far in the 2013 season (as of 4/6/13) have either matched or tied their career-high in strikeouts.

In early 1945, while Jackie Robinson was at Sam Houston College, the Kansas City Monarchs sent him a written offer to play professional baseball in the Negro leagues. Robinson accepted a contract for $400 ($5,101 in 2013 dollars) per month.

After the Players' League collapsed in 1890, the National League's Pittsburgh club signed two players, including Lou Bierbauer, whom the Philadelphia Athletics had forgotten to place on their reserve list. A Philadelphia sportswriter claimed that Pittsburgh "pirated away Bierbauer" and the Pirates nickname was born.

The Giants played the most games decided by two runs or less in the Majors (94) in 2007.

Game 1 of the 1918 World Series marked the first time "The Star Spangled Banner" was performed at a major league game.

got up at 3am and drove all the way down to hell with my Dad. Our first trip to the house of the Bums, and we got razzed for being Giants fans, but the worst we got was some used sunflower seeds thrown at us from behind. Still astonished at seeing that ball from Kershaw keep going and going, and the eruption from the crowd that had been easy like sunday morning until that moment. Well done, Bumfans, lets have us a division race this year.

Oh yeah, some trivia, ummmm.....Yu Darvish had heartbreak but check this out. I was at the Brian Holman(seattle m's pitcher) game in Oakland, 4/20/1990, when he had one out to go to get a perfect game. Tony LaRussa sent up Ken Phelps to pinch hit, and he HOMERED. perfecto gone, no hitter gone, shutout gone. And that wasn't against the lowly astros, the A's would go to their 3rd straight world series that year. Somewhere I still have the scorecard kept by my 13 year old self. Of course, I did not understand how special that could have been until many years later. Also saw Scott Garrelts come one out away from a no-hitter that same year, on Mothers Coookies baseball card day no less.

As of April 8, 2013, San Francisco is only the 2nd team since 1916 to have starters not allow an earned run in the 1st 4 games of the season. No team has done it over its 1st 5 games.

On August 8, 2010, Blue Jays starter Brendan Morrow was one out away from a no-hitter against the Tampa Bay Rays when Evan Longoria hit an infield single. It would have been the first no-hitter by a Blue Jay since Dave Stieb's no-hitter on September 2, 1990. He finished the one-hitter for his first complete game while compiling 17 strikeouts, a career high for Morrow in a game and one strikeout shy of the team record 18 strikeouts set by Roger Clemens in 1998. According to the Game Score metric devised by sabremetrician Bill James, this tied for the fourth-highest rated pitching performance since 1920, with a game score of 100.

Since 2010, Jose Molina has stolen 75 percent more bases than Grady Sizemore.

Marlins rookie SP Jose Fernandez is just the seventh starter under the age of 21 to record at least eight strikeouts in his MLB debut since 1916 and only the fourth pitcher in the past 13 years to record six or more strikeouts in his debut. He joins Oliver Perez, Clayton Kershaw, and teammate Jacob Turner in that accomplishment.

The Marlins’ home run sculpture cost close to $2.5 million to build. That’s more than 22 of the 25 players on the Marlins’ roster are making in 2013.

Of the 35 players on the Giants' big-league roster at the conclusion of the 2007 season, 18 were products of their farm system.

Charlie Hough did not pitch 200+ innings until he was 34 years old, but he would nonetheless pass the 200 inning mark nine times in his career, with the last season coming at 45 years of age

Coming into April 8, NL pitchers were hitting .138/.180/.198. The Pirates, as a team, were hitting .119/.188/.159.

Pee Wee Reese and Elston Howard have the dubious distinction of playing on the most losing World Series teams (six each). Reese's only World Series win as a player, with the Dodgers in the 1955 World Series, occurred against Howard's New York Yankees during Howard's first World Series. No other non-Yankee ballplayer has appeared in that many World Series for the same team.

Bruce Chen was recorded as having struck out some Twins hitters with fastballs from 84-87 MPH on April 10.

The 2008 Major League Baseball season began on March 25, 2008 in Tokyo, Japan with the 2007 World Series champion Boston Red Sox defeating the Oakland Athletics at the Tokyo Dome 6–5 (in 10 innings) in the first game of a two-game series.

The Red Sox scored only nine runs in the entire 1918 WS; the fewest runs by the winning team in history.

On September 20, 2008, the Chicago Cubs became the second team to get their passport to October with a win over the St. Louis Cardinals, clinching only their fifth divisional title in team history. This marked the first time since 1907 and 1908 that the Cubs appeared in consecutive postseasons, the latter two being part of a three-year streak which began in 1906.

Dodgers great Sandy Koufax retired at the peak of his career, and in 1972 became the youngest player ever elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame, aged 36 years and 20 days.

The Angels are now 2-7 (as of 4/11/13), their worst start since 1961.