We're borrowing this segment from the gang at "Captain and Coach" for the full read, click here. In the meantime, enjoy these baseball nuggets from the coach:
a. I was watching some of the Mets-Giants game Friday Night at the house and the great Gary Cohen said that no Met had hit three home runs at Shea Stadium or Citi Field. How can this be accurate?
b. Thru games of May 5, the Yankees have scored in 37.1% of innings the highest in MLB, while the Astros have scored in 19.2%, the lowest.
c. Here is another 3 home run in a game stat that relates to a New York team. On Saturday, Mark Teixeira became the second Yankees player all-time to hit 3+ HR vs. the Red Sox in a single game (Lou Gehrig - 6/23/1927).As many times as these teams have played each other, I am shocked this has only happened twice.
d. With a win on Saturday over the Marlins, the Nationals are now 10-5 in games decided by 2 runs or less. In 2009, the Nats were 33-46 in such games.
e. Barry Zito needs some credit for the turnaround he has had over the last year and a half. Zito was 31-43 in his first three seasons with San Francisco and even started 0-8 in 2008, when he was sent to the bullpen for a while. This season he is 5-0 with a 1.49 ERA.
f. How similar have the careers of Ozzie Guillen and Terry Francona been? Francona managed his 1,000th game for Boston Wednesday, a day after Guillen managed his 1,000th for Chicago. Francona’s record was 579-421, while Guillen was 523-477. Francona won two pennants and two World Series, Guillen one pennant and one World Series. Francona was the 22d player taken in the 1980 draft. Guillen was signed as an amateur free agent out of Venezuela in the summer of 1980.
g. They both have ties to the Atlanta Braves as Ozzie played for the Braves during the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Francona's dad played for the Braves for parts of three seasons in 1967, 1968, and 1969.
h. On Sunday Dallas Braden threw the 19th perfect game in MLB history against the Tampa Bay Rays. The Tampa Bay Rays have now been on the receiving ends of back to back perfect games.
i. How special was Braden's perfect game? Factoring in inflation, the average salary of the last 6 perfect game pitchers before today was $9.43 million. Braden 2010 salary? $420,000. The $420,000 is less than the gamer in Alabama will receive when he threw a perfect game playing XBOX and received $1 million.
j. Braden since start of 2009: 29 GS, 21 quality starts, 17 games 2 ER or fewer, 24 of 3 ER or fewer. 2.41 BB/9, 3.74 ERA, 1.26 WHIP.
k. Through Thursday, in Manny Acta’s last 162 games managing the Nationals and the Indians, his record was 53-109 (.327)
l. More than half of the Brewers runs this season (87) have come in just 6 games-those 6 games of runs are more than the Astros have all season.
m. Cubs rookie Starlin Castro got off to an impressive start in his first game homerung in his first AB, the first Cub player to do so since Jim Bullinger in 1992. Castro's first 4 career hits came in this order: HR, triple, double, single.
n. Adrian Beltre is now batting .533 (8 for 15) on 0 and 2 counts. Beltre entered the game leading the AL in 2-strike hitting with a .347 average, and third in MLB behind Ryan Hanigan of Reds and one Manny Ramirez.
o. More Perfect Game talk...Dallas Braden pitched the third Perfect Game on Mother's Day. The other two Charlie Lea for Montreal in 1981 against the Giants and Hod Eller for the Reds in 1919 against the Cardinals.
p. Even more special for Braden throwing the perfect game on Mother's Day is that his mom died of skin cancer hen Braden was a senior in high school. The embrace he shared with his grandmother was pretty cool.
q. Jerry Crasnick with a good read on the character that is Dallas Braden.
r. Joe Posnanski has an even better read on Braden and the perfect game. He tells this awesome story, there has now been 19 Perfect Games pitched in MLB history and for some reason these always include two thrown in 1880 (five days apart, no less) when it took eight balls to walk somebody, the mound was 50 feet from home plate and pitchers were still supposed to throw underhand.
s. It has been said before and will be said again, no sport cherishes its past like Baseball.
t. One more decent Sunday read is on an Employee who has worked 48 years for the New York Yankees.
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