MLB History

Ralph Houk managed the Tigers when the team was in suspended animation.

The Tigers were between eras when GM Jim Campbell tabbed Houk to replace the fiery but out-of-control Billy Martin.

It was just after the 1973 season.

It was a comment that received little attention during spring training, but it might have been a turning point for Mickey Mantle.

Some New York Yankees' rookies were showing off their skills at St. Petersburg in 1956. Mickey watched the hopefuls a few minutes and then the Yankees' 24-year-old veteran turned to a reporter.

"A lot of these young kids of ours are going to be good ballplayers."

This was a new Mickey Mantle.

Andy Pettitte thinks he can be back on the mound in three weeks.

After watching the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim slaughter the New York Yankees, any encouragement that the team could manage without the Southpaw went right out the window.

Phil Hughes went into the game with a 3-0 career record against the Halos. That was short and sweet after Hughes gave up nine hits, six runs and two home runs over five innings.

It was the icing on the cake on this streak of bad luck the Yankees have had since the start of the second half of the season.

The June swoon, the July good-bye, the August bust, and the September to dismember could all be used to discuss the ghosts of Cubs' season past.

There are a few exceptions of course; one being the '84 team that headed into San Diego up 2-0 and found a way to cough up the NLCS. I am sure that Gatorade on a glove had everything to do with it.

The '89 team showed promise until they met up with a buzz-saw in the San Francisco Giants and were taken in five games.

On Saturday, September 12, 2007, the Philadelphia Phillies lost 12-0 to the Colorado Rockies at Citizens Bank Park to fall seven games behind the New York Mets in the NL East with 17 games to play.

From that point forward, the Phillies won 13 of their final 17 games, including a three-game sweep of the Mets in New York, and won the NL East by 1.0 game as the Mets suffered a historic collapse.

Two pitchers with heavily decorated resumes.

The first, CC Sabathia, has more of a track record and is completing his 10th full season in the Majors.

The second, Tim Lincecum, affectionately known as "The Freak," is in his fourth season, and has two Cy Young Awards.

However, both are known as workhorses, the proverbial baseball term that gives revered status to those pitchers who miss very few starts to injury and normally throw 200-plus innings per season.

Either tonight, tomorrow, or at some point in the near future, New York Yankees third baseman Alex Rodriguez is going to swing his familiar swing the way he has 599 times before and become the seventh player ever to hit 600 major league home runs.

When he does so, he will join an exclusive club comprised of Barry Bonds, Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Ken Griffey Jr., and Sammy Sosa.

Lou Piniella is finally going to hang it up.  He's confirmed that this season will be his last on anybody's bench, and I think it's about time.

Why? How could I think it's time for Lou to hang it up when he's such a great "baseball mind"?

Well, let's consider the obvious.  There's the: temper tantrums, temper tantrums, tempter tantrums, and inexplicable losses in the postseason.

One of baseball's best managers is leaving the game. Like Bobby Cox, another respected manager, Lou Piniella has decided that after this season he will retire. 

Some might say it's because of the Cubs, but while they gave Lou his fair share of aches and pains, he's also shared laughter and joy while managing the Chicago Cubs. In his career, he was a two time American League Manager of the year and one time National League Manager of the year

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