Happy Baseball Birthday...Fred Scherman

Happy Baseball Birthday to former big league pitcher Fred Scherman, who turns 70 today.

The former Tigers, Astros, and Expos pitcher was born on July 25, I 944, in Dayton, Ohio.

Fred played high school baseball for Fairview HS, then for the Ohio State  Buckeyes of the Big Ten before signing with the Minnesota Twins as a amateur free agent in 1964.

Later in '64 Scherman was drafted from the Twins system by the Tigers in the 1st Year MLB Player Draft.

Fred made his big league debut for Detroit on April 26, 1969, at the age of 24.

Fred pitched for the Tigers until 1973, including the American League Eastern Division Championship team of '72.

Fred's best season in the big leagues was 1971 with the Tigers. 

In 69 games Scherman compiled a 11-6 record,  2.71 ERA, 20 saves, in 113 innings pitched. 

Scherman forever put his name in baseball history, albeit fir a bad thing, when  on September 13, 1971 he surrendered future Hall of Famer  Frank Robinson's 500th home run.

Scherman was traded by the Tigers after the '73 season to the Astros, and was then purchased from Houston by the Montreal Expos on June 8, 1975.

Fred's final big league game came as an Expos pitcher on July 6, 1976, at the age of 31.

His 1972 Topps baseball card below us a photo I took of one if my Fred Sherman cards I have.

Happy Baseball Birthday Fred.

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Happy Baseball Birthday..John Bateman

Today's Happy Baseball Birthday! is former big league catcher John Bateman.

John Alvin Bateman was born on July 21, 1940 in Ft. Sill (Lawton), Oklahoma.

John was signed by the Houston Colt '45s as a amateur free agent in 1962.

Bateman made his big league debut for Houston on April 19, 1963, at the age of 22.

In 128 games as a rookie, Bateman collected 85 base hits, 8 doubles,  6 triples, 10 home runs, and 59 RBI in 404 at bats.

John also made Houston baseball history by catching the clubs first ever no hitter, pitched by the Colt .45s Don Nottebart  on May 17, 1963, a 4-1 win over the Phillies.

John had his best year in Houston in 1966, batting .279, with 121 hits, 17 home runs, 70 RBI, and 24 doubles in 433 at bats.

In 1969 the expansion Montreal Expos drafted John off the Astros roster with the 6th pick.

In just the teams 7th game of 1969 Bateman caught his second no hitter, this time by the Expos Bill Stoneman, against, ironically, the Phillies, on April 17, 1969.

John led all National League catchers in double plays turned in 1966 (14), 1970 (19), and 1971 (12).

John was traded by Montreal om June 14 of the 1972 season to the Phillies for catcher and future Hall of Fame broadcaster Tim McCarver.

John's final big league game was on October 3, 1972, at the age of 32.

In his ten year big league baseball career, John Bateman started 923 games behind the plate, catching a total of 7, 941 innings, with a fielding percentage of .982.

At the plate John collected 765 base hits, 123 doubles, 18 triples, swatted 81 home runs, drove in 375 base runners, and scored 250 runs, in 3,330 at bats.

One reason that I selected John Bateman today is the Twitter feed @1969Expos

This Twitter page is a great honor to the late Expos catcher, who pased away much to young on December 3, 1996, at the age of 56,  In Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

I had the pleasure of talking about John Bateman, the old Astros and Expos, with the man behing @1969Expos , Mr. Ken Webster.

Ken is a terrific baseball fan, and his knowledge of the game, and his tweets are a true honor of the former big league catcher.

If you're a baseball fan on Twitter, follow @1969Expos, youll enjoy the info very much.

In addition to Mr. Webster, information for this blog was obtained by some good baseball sites, baseballreference.com , The Baseball Alamanac, AstrosDaily.com , and Wikipedia. 

Happy Baseball Birthday! John Bateman!

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Happy Baseball Birthday...Ron Swoboda

Today we say Happy 70th Baseball Birthday to former New York Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda.

Ronald Alan Swoboda was born on June 30, 1944, in Baltimore, Maryland.

Ron played baseball at Sparrows Point high school in Baltimore, and went on to NYU  and the University of Maryland.

In 1963 Swoboda signed  a contract with the New York Mets, and played one year of Double A ball in Williamsport, PA in 1964.

Ron made his big league debut with the Mets, on April 12, 1965, at the age of 20.

Swoboda appeared in 135 games as a rookie, collecting 91 hits in 399 at bats, with 50 RBI.

Ron smacked 19 home runs as a rookie, a Mets club record that would stand until it was broken by a young Mets rookie named Darryl Strawberry in 1983.

Swoboda had a terrific throwing arm from the outfield, and played at least 109 games for the Mets between 1965-1970.

Ron collected 126 hits in 1967, batting .281, and in '68 Ron smacked 109 base knocks with 59 RBI.

In the Mets 1969 Championship season Swoboda played in 109 games, with 57 hits, 9 HR, and 40 RBI in 327 at bats.

Swoboda will be forever in the hearts of Mets fans for his diving grab of a sure extra base hit into right center field gap off the bat of the Orioles Brooks Robinson in Game 4 of the '69 World Series.

The great ninth inning defensive play saved the game for the Mets, who won the game, 2-1,  and went on to a 4 games to 1 series win over Baltimore.

In the middle of the 1971 season, Swoboda was traded to the Montreal Expos, where he played in just 39 games.

The Expos then traded Swoboda to the New York Yankees, where Swoboda would play through the 1973 season.

His last big leaguel appearance was with the Yankees, on September 30th, 1973.

After being released by the Yankees Swoboda went to Spring Training with the Atlanta Braves in 1974, but was released in March.

Swoboda tried another comeback in the spring of 1976 with his old team, the Mets, but didn't make the team.

In his nine year big league career Ron Swoboda played in 928 games,  collected 624 hits, scalloped 73 home runs, scored 285 runs, with 344 RBI in 2,581 at bats.

After his playing days Ron worked in TV and radio broadcasting baseball games.

He lives with his family in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Happy Baseball Birthday Ron!

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Happy Baseball Birthday...Ron LeFlore

Go Go Go!

Today we celebrate the Happy Baseball Birthday of former big league center fielder Ron LeFlore.