centerfield maz

Timothy James Leary was born on December 23, 1958 in Santa Monica California. The golden boy was a star pitcher at UCLA and considered a highly touted prospect. He struck out 16 batters in 17 innings in the 1978 Amateur World Series. Leary went 2-1 taking the loss as Team USA lost the final game against Cuba to win the Bronze Medal. The Mets drafted him in the first round (the second pick overall) in the 1979 draft. In 1980 he won the Texas League MVP Award with the Jackson, Mets. The next year, the Mets thought he was ready; he made his MLB debut on April 12, 1981 at Wrigley Field. He pitched only two innings striking out three Cubs. It was his only start of the year, as an elbow injury shut him down and he didn’t resurface on the Met roster until September of 1983. In two games that month he went 1-1 allowing 10 runs (four earned) on 15 hits. His win was a complete game victory against the Expos on the last day of the season. With the emergence of Dwight Gooden, Ron Darl...

Philip Joseph Gagliano was born December 27, 1941 in Memphis, Tennessee. Phil’s brother Ralph Gagliano played in the minors throughout the sixties, playing one game in the majors with the Cleveland Indians in 1965. Phil was an all around infielder/ outfielder who had a 12 year career mostly as a utility player & pinch hitter. The six foot one right handed infielder, was signed out of high school by the St. Louis Cardinals in 1959. After five minor league seasons he made his debut in 1963. He spent seven seasons in St. Louis as a utility player seeing the most action in 1965. That year he played 57 games at second base, 25 games in the outfield & 19 games at third base. He made appearances in 122 games total, batting .240 with 8 HRs 14 doubles & 53 RBIs. He got to play in three World Series with the Cardinals in the sixties, winning two Championships in 1964 & 1967. In the 1964 season he hit .259 in 40 games without getting a chance to play in the World S...

John Robert Cocker was born May 20th, 1944 in Sheffield, South Yorkshire. He earned the nickname of Joe as a child playing a game called "Cowboy Joe" & it stuck with him.  Cocker's biggest influences were that of Ray Charles & Lone Donegan. He began singing in a skiffle group, playing in local pubs in the early sixties while working as a gas fitter to make money.  It was also around this time he began dating Eileen, whom he would have a relationship with until 1976. His middle class working roots fit his raspy, gritty, gravely voice. When Joe Cocker sang he was mesmerizing, he would jerk his body in spastic motions like he was possessed & belt out songs with one of the most powerful different voices rock & roll has known. It seemed every word he shouted out could be his last but the next verse would then come out stronger than the last. He was amazing, certainly different. After some failed solo & group efforts he formed the Grease Band ...

John Francis D'Acquisto was born December 23, 1951 in the Little Italy section of San Diego, California. The tall six foot two right hander, was a first round draft pick for the San Francisco Giants in 1970, the 17th pick overall. By 1972 he was a seventeen game winner at A ball Fresno & followed up with a 16-12 year in the Pacific Coast League at AAA Phoenix. That year he made a brief seven game debut in the majors in September 1973. In 1974 he rose on the scene with his blazing fastball. It was said to he had registered the next best fast ball after Nolan Ryan's 104 mph on the radar gun in the mid seventies. On April 8th he was brought in to pitch in relief in the 7th inning at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati in a scoreless game. He faced off against Johnny Bench with a 3-1 count and two on. He struck out Bench, eventually earned the win and secured his spot on the Giants roster. After a tough early May road trip where he lost three games, he regrouped. On ...

Joshua Blake Satin was born December 23, 1984 in Hidden Hills California. Hidden Hills is one of the wealthiest cities in America, it is located at the western edge of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. Some of its famous residents at one time or another were: Ozzy & Sharon Osbourne, Don Drysdale, Sean Penn, Nicolette Sheridan, Britany Spears, Lee Ann Rimes, Chad Kroeger (Nickelback singer) Melissa Etheridge, Jenifer Lopez & Marc Anthony as well as Kris & Bruce Jenner. Trivia: Satin's mother once owned a clothing store with comedian; Howie Mandel's wife. Josh was a high school baseball star, earning a three time all league selection. He was inducted into Harvard West Lakes High School Hall of Fame in Northern Hollywood. Satin then attended the University of California at Berkeley, earning a degree in political science. He was a star baseball player there as well, winning the 2005 Freshman of the Year & All Pac-10 Awards. The only othe...

Gregory Winston McMichael was born on December 1st, 1963 in Knoxville Tennessee. The tall six foot three right hander attended the University of Tennessee playing for the Volunteers baseball team. He was drafted in the 7th round of the 1988 draft by the Cleveland Indians. He was released in 1991 & got picked up by the Atlanta Braves two weeks later. Two years later he was on the Braves staff saving 19 games behind main closer Mike Stanton. McMichael went 4-6 making 63 appearances posting a 4.67 ERA over 52 innings pitched. In the 1993 NLCS he was the losing pitcher in Game #1 in Philadelphia, when pinch hitter Kim Batiste doubled home John Kruk with the winning run. In 1994 he became the Braves top closer as he saved 21 games, while finishing 47 games going 4-6 for the second straight year, posting a 3.84 ERA in 51 games. In the Braves 1995 Championship season, McMichael was one of the game's best middle relievers, as he went 7-2 with 20 holds posting a 2.79 ERA in 67 ap...

John Joseph Doyle was born on October 25, 1869 in Killorglin, Ireland. His family came to the United States when he was a child & settled in Holyoke, Massachusetts. Doyle came to the Bronx & attended Fordham University where he began his long baseball career. He began playing for Columbus in the American Association, eventually coming over to the Nation League. In 1892 with Cleveland, he got credited as being the first pinch hitter in pro baseball history, getting a game winning single against Brooklyn. He came over to the New York Giants later that season & batted .298. He became the team’s captain & his aggressive style of play earned him the nick name “Dirty Jack”. He would argue with umpires, opposing players, fans & even his own team mates at times. During one game in 1900 he slugged the umpire when he was called out stealing a base. Fans jumped onto the field & Dirty Jack fought with them as well. The police broke it up & arrested Doyle righ...

Jason William Simontacchi was born on November 13th, 1973 in Mountain View, California. The six foot two right handed pitcher attended Albertson College then San Jose University, where he was picked in the 21st round of the 1996 draft by the Kansas City Royals. He pitched for two years in the Royals minor leagues, but then moved on to the Frontier Independent League in 1998. That season he was the leagues pitcher of the year, as his team won the championship as well. He moved on to pitch in Italy in 2000 & appeared on the Italian Team Italy Baseball Team in the Olympics at Sydney, Australia. He beat South Africa but took a loss to the Netherlands. In January 2002 he signed with the S. Louis Cardinals & got up to the big league team by May. On May 4th he made his MLB debut, pitching seven innings against the Atlanta Braves. He gave up two runs & earned his first career win. He would pitch into the seventh inning or beyond in three of his next four starts, getting ...

Philip Gregory Humber was Born on December 21, 1982 in Nacogdoches, Texas. The six foot three right hander attended Rice University where he was 11-1 with a 2.77 ERA in his freshman year. He was 11-3 as a sophomore as his team got to the College World Series. He hit a record three straight batters in the Series semi finals, but pitched a complete game five hitter in the finals. By his senior year he was selected by Baseball Americas to the second team All American. But The American Baseball Coaches Association and Collegiate Baseball magazine both made him a first-team All-American pick. Humber then got drafted in the first round (the third pick overall) in 2004 by the New York Mets, signing a year later for $4.2 million. He began his career at St. Lucie going 2-6 with a 4.99 ERA and was promoted to AA Binghamton but had his season cut short due to elbow surgery. In 2006 he flew through the minors going 5-3 overall getting called up to the Mets in September after they had ...

Joseph Gregory Salvatore Randa was born December 18, 1969 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. A star athlete from early on, in high school he played baseball, basketball, tennis & football having his #12 retired by the school. The five foot eleven infielder, attended the University of Tennessee getting signed by the Kansas City Royals in 11th round of the 1991 draft. He hit over .290 three times in the minors making it to the big leagues in 1995. In 1996 he became the Royals regular third baseman, leading the team (tied with Jose Offerman) in batting at batting .303. He also had 24 doubles 6 HRs 47 RBIs & 13 stolen bases. The next season he was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jay Bell & Jeff King. He spent just one year with the Pirates batting .302 helping the Pirates remain in the pennant race despite having the league's lowest payroll. It was there he earned the nickname “The Joker” because his teammates said he resembled the comic book villain when he smiled. Ra...

Kenneth Wayne Trinkle was born on December 15th 1919 in Paoli, Indiana. The six foot one, right hander made his debut with the New York Giants in 1943. In 11 games he was 1-5 with a 3.74 ERA, but was sent back down to the minor in mid June. In 1944 he went off to serve in the military during World War II with many other Major Leaguers where he played baseball. He was in the Battle of the Bulge during his time in France where he received a Bronze Star medal. Quotes: Ken Trinkle- "I was a scout in a reconnaissance outfit. We would go out in front of the infantry to report if anything was there. If you didn’t come back, they knew there was something out there." Trinkle returned to the Giants in 1946, leading the league in appearances (48) going 7-14 with a 3.87 ERA & two saves. In 1947 the Giants improved to fourth place, as Trinkle was one of the leagues top relievers, in a time the position was not recognized. He led the league in appearances once again (62) a...

Dale Scott Thayer was born on December 17, 1980 in Fountain Valley, California. The six foot right hander was signed as a free agent out of California State University in 2002. In the minors his career began well as he saved twenty games or more or five straight seasons at all levels. His totals went down at AAA Durham when he lost his closer status to Scott Dohmann in the Tampa Rays organization where he was traded in 2006.  In 2009 he was 2-5 with 17 saves getting a September call up to the Rays. He pitched in 11 games finishing three games with one save. He was the subject of good natured jokes with his thik seventies porn start styled moustache. In 2010 he was back at AAA Durham, going 4-1 with just three saves, getting to Tampa for one game and granted free agency. He was picked up by the New York Mets as a free agent in February 2011, reporting to AAA Buffalo for the 2011 season. He pitched in 54 games with the Bisons going 4-3 with 21 saves posting a 2.66 ERA. In late ...