Badeball Hall of Fame 2015... Craig Biggio

Congratulations to former big league ballplayer Craig Biggio, now a member of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

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.

PLAY Ball!

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!

PLAY BALL!

This Week's Sports Illustrated Cover...Houston Astros

As you probably know, I love when baseball is featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.

This week the magazine spotlights the young Houston Astros, including rookie slugger George Springer on the cover.

The Astros young squad is led by 24 year old shortstop Jose Altuve, who leads the American League in batting average, .337, and all of MLB with 105 base hits.

Springer has hit .240, with 14 home runs, 39 RBI, and 54 base hits in 59 games this season.

The Astros, in their second year in the American League, are in last place in the A.L. Central.

SI has the Astros headed out if the cellar soon, and has pegged the team as the 2017 World Series Champions.

Happy Baseball Birthday...Jimmy Wynn

Today we say Happy Baseball Birthday to the "Toy Cannon," Jimmy Wynn. 

Jimmy Wynn was born on March 12, 1942, in Hamilton, Ohio, just outside Cincinnati.

Wynn was signed by the Reds as a free agent in 1962, and made his big league debut on July 10th, 1963, with the Houston Colt 45s.

Jimmy Wynn would slam massive home runs...tape measures...even though he was just 5 foot, 8  inches tall, and being so small he, became known as the "Toy Cannon" because of the sound the ball made coming off Wynn's bat.

In 15 years of big league baseball, Wynn smashed 291 home runs, with 964 RBI, 1,665 hits, 1,105 runs scored,  and 1,224 bases on balls in 6,653 at bats in 1,920 games played.

Happy Birthday Jimmy!

Play Ball!