Wednesday, August 09, 2006 |
Today's Birthdays
Juan Alvarez ANA b. 1973, played 1999-2000
Leo Callahan BRO b. 1890, played 1913, d. 1982-05-02
Chuck Essegian LAN b. 1931, played 1959-1960. Update: I got a late note from one John Hinchley, who pointed out that Essegian was one of two players to have two pinch-hit homers in the World Series; his first one, a two-out solo shot in the top of the seventh during Game 2, tied the game, with Charlie Neal's immediately ensuing solo blast giving the Dodgers the lead; and then in the top of the ninth in Game 6, his solo shot was the final run scored by the Dodgers, who went on to win 9-3, and take the series 4-2. (The other man to hold the pinch-hit-homer in the World Series was Bernie Carbo in 1975.)
Eli Grba LAA b. 1934, played 1961-1963
John Grim BRO b. 1867, played 1895-1899, d. 1961-07-28
Scott Karl ANA b. 1971, played 2000
Vance Lovelace CAL b. 1963, played 1988-1989
Johnny Mitchell BRO b. 1894, played 1924-1925, d. 1965-11-04
Jerry Moses CAL b. 1946, played 1971, All-Star: 1970
Claude Osteen LAN b. 1939, played 1965-1973, All-Star: 1967, 1970, 1973. See my comments on Ken McMullen. Not that Osteen was a bad pitcher by any stretch — he surely had a good stretch in a Dodgers uni — but the trade that got him into a Dodgers uniform in the first place unbalanced the team terribly and left them vulnerable once Sandy Koufax was involuntarily retired.
Troy Percival ANA,CAL b. 1969, played 1995-2004, All-Star: 1996, 1998-1999, 2001. Number seven in the Top 100 Angels list, the converted catcher still holds the club record for career saves (316, towering over number two holder Bryan Harvey at 126), and eight of the top ten single-season saves records (his 1998 mark of 42 is third after Harvey's 46 in 1991 and K-Rod's 45 in 2005). He also holds the lead in both single-season save conversion percentage (92.9%, 2001, and five other years in the top ten), career (86.3%) save conversion percentage, and career game appearances (579). Percival is third in career K/9 (after K-Rod and Bryan Harvey), fourth in fewest baserunners per nine innings, and second in fewest hits per nine. A great Angel player whose unblemished 2002 postseason will go down as the cherry on top of a special career.
Tom Sunkel BRO b. 1912, played 1944, d. 2002-04-06
Ben Van Ryn CAL b. 1971, played 1996
Matt Young LAN b. 1958, played 1987, All-Star: 1983. A phenom from UCLA, he was a Mariner in his rookie year of 1983. He headed into the All Star break with a 2.86 ERA, with a stretch from April 21 through May 19 where he surrendered two runs over six starts and 44 innings, so, hells yeah he's going. He was never quite that good again; with the Dodgers he was used exclusively as a reliever, and not a particularly effective one. He had only one winning season, in 1986 with the Mariners following a 1985 that saw him lead the majors in losses with 19, a number he came close to matching upon his return to the M's in 1990 when he lost 18.
Yes, Keith was the Channel 5 News at 10 sports guy. At the time, his sardonic and irreverent style was quite refreshing. He'd show baseball highlights in December - "Gratuitous Baseball" - just for kicks.
Anyway, Young had a stretch of extreme wildness (not good for a late-innings reliever) while wearing the blue. It got to the pont where Olbermann would introduce Young's highlights with the theme from Mission Impossible, and he would inevitably proceed to uncork a wild one or two and cost the Dodgers a game.
It was funny stuff, especially if you despised the Dodgers as much as I did.
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