In light of the recent deaths of Yankee legends Bob Sheppard and George Steinbrenner, the New York ballclub’s graphic designers have been busy coming up with a patch that will adorn the uniforms of the Yankee players. 

Both are stark black and white to match the Yankee uniforms.  The Steinbrenner patch includes his full name plus his initials “GMS”.  At the bottom, it says The Boss”.  Nice touch.

Sheppard’s patch is a nicely done graphic of an old time PA mike within a baseball diamond and simply says, “Bob Sheppard The Voice of Yankee Stadium”.

The GMS patch will be worn above the NY on the left breast on the home jerseys and above the YORK on away jerseys. 

You’ll find the Sheppard patch on the Yankees’ left sleeves.

Related posts

• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Times getting all Sox-less (0)
• Ugliest uniforms, really?? (1)

Posted in: Deaths by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

Truly a rough week for the Yankee faithful.  In the last three days, two iconic figures who represented the Bronx Bombers in two very different ways, passed away

On Sunday, PA announcer Bob Sheppard passed on at the ripe age of 99.  His time with the Yankees goes back to the days of DiMaggio and Mantle.  His voice was long lived.  It could be heard as late as 2007. 

Then today the Boss was finally dragged kicking and screaming from this dimension into the next life.  George Steinbrenner, the shipbuilder turned baseball team owner who swore he would not get involved in his team’s business died at the age of 80.

Steinbrenner was controversial, aggressive, intrusive and yes, sometimes mean.  But he won, too.  Under his ownership, the Yankees won eleven championships and seven World Series. 

A friend posed this question to a few of us over email:  “Which had more effect on player salaries,  George Steinbrenner or Curt Flood’s free agency case?”

Truly an academic question which has no real answer.  But it does give one pause to think.  Other owners were skeptical of free agency, not wanting to shell out the big bucks for players.  Meanwhile, Steinbrenner, who inherited a sub-par Yankee team in the early 70s, wasn’t afraid to adapt his business model to include the concept of Flood’s idea of free agency.  With the acquisition of Catfish Hunter and so many others, Steinbrenner changed the way, for better or for worse, how baseball owners approach acquiring on-the-field personnel. 

The results,in Steinbrenner’s case, speak for themselves.

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Times getting all Sox-less (0)
• Astros fan goes to a better place (0)

Posted in: Deaths by The Baseball Zealot
4 Comments »

This story is a bit of a tear-jerker.  Sister Damian Kuhn, a Catholic nun as well as a devout Astros fans, passed away at the age of 89. 

She certainly did have a sense of humor:

“She was our No. 1 fan, and she always took it personal,” recalled (Astros owner Drayton) McLane. He told her it was time to start praying.

After a long sigh, she replied, “Drayton, my knees are bloodied. It’s going to take more than that!”

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• What’s the Buzz? Vuvuzelas! (0)

Posted in: fans by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

A nice touch by the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim players. 

The team, who made the playoffs this year, voted deceased pitcher Nick Adenhart a full share of the playoff winnings according to the LA Times Blog.  That comes out to roughly $138,000.  The cash goes to Adenhart’s family, of course. 

Nick Adenhart gave all he had for the Angels.  Unfortunately, it for just one game when he pitched six scoreless innings in his MLB debut in April.  That night, he was killed in an accident by a drunk driver. 

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Kendry Morales’ moments before the crash (3)

Posted in: Deaths by The Baseball Zealot
No Comments »

A very odd story is coming out of Venezuela in which former MLB pitcher Geremi Gonzalez’ body will be exhumed as part of an investigation.  Prosecutors are trying to determine if he was struck by lightning as originally thought or if he was a victim of a fatal robbery.

Authorities determined that Gonzalez, 33, died instantly when he was hit by lightning at a beach in May 2008. Investigators ruled out homicide after an autopsy blamed "an electric shock produced by natural causes."

Doubts surfaced, however, after a friend notified the family that some of Gonzalez’s belongings were being offered for sale, including a gold chain he was wearing when he died, federal police commissioner Cesar Gomez told Diario Panorama.

Nice detective work by the family friend. 

Gonzalez debuted with the Cubs in 1997 with a 11-9 record.  He came in ninth in the Rookie of the Year voting that year.  For his career, he was 30-35 with a 4.93 ERA. 

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Astros fan goes to a better place (0)

Posted in: Deaths by The Baseball Zealot
2 Comments »

Hours after holding the A’s scoreless for six innings, 22 year old righthander Nick Adenhart was killed in a car crash. The accident occurred shortly after midnight at the intersection of Orangethorpe Avenue and Lemon Street in Fullerton, said Lt. Craig Brower of the Fullerton Police Department. Several witnesses told police the driver of a red minivan ran a red light at the intersection, hitting a silver Mitsubishi carrying four passengers. Two people in the Mitsubishi were pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics, authorities said. Two others also in the Mitsubishi were taken to a nearby hospital, where one was later pronounced dead, Brower said. The driver of the minivan fled on foot, but police found him about a mile away and took him into custody on suspicion of hit-and-run, Brower said. Further charges are pending as the investigation continues, he said.

This is a tragedy beyond baseball, it puts things into perspective, what’s really important in life, how very precious life is, and how it can end at any time. Please take the time to enjoy your life, reach out & touch those you love, and remember Nick Adenhart.

I still remember, forever young, 27 year old righthander, Paul Edmondson, a starting pitcher for the Chicago White Sox, who died in a Santa Barbarba car accident February 13, 1970 (one day after his birthday) on a rain soaked highway 101.

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Kendry Morales’ moments before the crash (3)

Posted in: Deaths, Prospects by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Jerome Sacharski, a former teacher who is credited with popularizing the game of T-ball, died Friday at the ripe age of 93. 

No one knows who actually exactly invented the game of T-ball.  But many credit Sacharski for popularizing it in his hometown of Albion, Wisconsin where he was teacher and coach.  It is said that here in Albion is where it was first played as an organized sport.

US Rep. Nick Smith even offered a tribute to Jerome Sacharski for his contributions:

“After he started teaching, Jerry took it upon himself in 1954 to head up the Albion recreation department’s summer baseball program,” Smith said at the time. “Because of this position, he was able to see the lack of opportunity for younger children that two years later would drive him to develop one of the largest innovations in youth sports.”

T-ball is similar in so many ways to baseball yet made simpler for younger kids by giving them a fighting chance to hit the ball by hitting a ball off a tee rather than a thrown ball.  Today, millions of boys and girls play the game which emphasizes fairness and education of the game over competition. 

So for all the parents (and for that matter, kids who have grown up) out there going back all those years, I say thanks Mr Sacharski.  That tee made it sooo much easier to hit.

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• five year old can PLAY (0)

Posted in: Deaths, Youth Baseball by The Baseball Zealot
1 Comment »

Just received an e-mail from Captain Will, it said…

“One of my favorites. I used to love to watch him pitch

When he was with Yanks, one preseason the Yanks were struggling and a reporter asked Dock, “Why are the Yanks struggling?” Dock replied, “Well it is by design, the more we lose, the more George flies down here, and the more George flies, the better the odds are of a plane crash.”

In 1970 Dock overcame eight walks in the first game of a doubleheader against the Padres to throw a no-hitter, several years later, he admitted he was high on LSD when he accomplished the feat. He was 19-9 with the Buccos in 1971 when the Pirates won the World Series. On July 13, 1971, Reggie Jackson blasted what almost certainly is the longest home run ever hit in an All-Star game, and one of the longest of all time. Jackson’s home run came at Tiger Stadium in Detroit off the NL pitcher, Dock Ellis. After the 1975 season Ellis was traded to the Yankees along with Willie Randolph & Ken Brett, in exchange for Doc Medich.

In 1986 the Yankees hired him to offer guidance to their minor leaguers on drug & alcohol abuse. Ellis kept up his campaign against addiction for the rest of his life, and frequently joined former teammates to support them on their charity work.

Dock Ellis always spoke his mind, he was one of a kind, he will be missed.

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Times getting all Sox-less (0)

Posted in: Deaths by Teddy Ballgame
1 Comment »

In Venezuela, Carlos Blanco, the 39 year old brother of major league catcher, Henry was murdered by kidnappers after he was abducted Sunday in Guaranis, a Caracas suburb. Police believe the kidnappers were seeking ransom. Carlos’s bullet riddled body was discovered Monday.

Venezuela is a dangerous place. I was reminded of this statement made by a major league scout, whose assignment was going to be to go to Venezuela to sign some amateur ballplayers. He told his major league club, he’d need to bring with someone who spoke Spanish, he’d stay in a first class hotel, he wasn’t going off the beaten path, and it would cost about $5,000. The major league club decided to skip the trip, which was alright with this major league scout. That said, I feel bad about the senseless death of Carlos Blanco, my heart & condolences go out to Henry & the entire Blanco family.

Related posts

• Lou Piniella, lame duck (0)
• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)

Posted in: Cubs, Deaths by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »

Former Brooklyn Dodgers lefthander Preacher Roe has passed on at the ripe old age of 93. Roe, who long ago settled in West Plains, Mo., near his childhood home of Viola, Ark., had undergone colon surgery recently and never fully recovered. Elwin Charles Roe was a five time All Star and a central character on Brooklyn’s storied “Boys of Summer” teams.

Roe prided himself with keeping hitters off balance with his slider and his “Beech-Nut slider”. Players regularly chewed Beech-Nut gum at the time, he’d use juice from the gum on the ball, causing it to dip dramatically. After Preacher retired he admitted throwing a spitter, without regret, and wanted to pitch made legal. His best year was in 1951, at the age of 36, when he went 22-3 for the Dodgers.

Brooklyn Ralph Branca said he was called Preacher because “he could talk your ear off.” In an interview with an eighth-grader in West Plains, Roe expressed his pride in having had Robinson as a teammate. “I just felt if Jackie hit a home run while I was pitching, it counted just as much for me as if Pee Wee Reese hit it or some of the other guys that were white. … I’d say, ‘You never have seen a good ballplayer until you’ve seen him.’ He was that good.”

Related posts

• New patches will be worn in memory of Yankee legends (0)
• Steinbrenner changed baseball (for better or worse) (4)
• Blue Wine? (0)

Posted in: Deaths by Teddy Ballgame
No Comments »