This weeks Sports Illustrated Regional Covers

This week Sports Illustrated has combined previews of the 2014 big league baseball post season and the 2014-15 NHL season preview on three regional covers.

The East Coast cover has Baltimore Orioles Gold Glove center fielder Adam Jones and Washington Capitals goal scoring great Alex Ovechkin.

In the Midwest its the St. Louis Cardinals ace right hander Adam Wainwright and USA Hockey and St. Louis Blues forward T.J. Oshie.

Out West the cover features Los Angeles Dodgers Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw and Stanley Cup Champion Anze Kopitar of the Los Angeles Kings.

Sports Illustrated points out that no team since the 1935-36 sports year have both the World Series and the Stanley Cup Champions resided in the same city.

That city?

Detroit, Michigan... The 1935 Detroit Tigers won the World Series and the following spring the Detroit Red Wings won the Stanley Cup.

With that very fact in hand, why didn't SI have a cover with Miguel Cabrera and Pavel Datsyuk on the cover representing the ONLY city to accomplish the feat?

Happy Baseball Birthday...Rocky Colovito

Happy Baseball Birthday! to former big league slugger Rocky Colovito.

Rocco Domenico Colovito was born on August 10, 1933 in New York, New York.

Rocky attended Roosevelt High School in NYC, and signed as a amateur free agent with the Cleveland Indians in 1951.

Rocky made his big league debut with Cleveland on September 10, 1955, and came up to stay in 1956, hitting .276 in 101 games, scoring 55 runs,  slugging 21 home runs, with 65 RBI,  in 322 at bats.

Those 21 home runs started a streak of 11 consecutive 20+ home run seasons, 1956-66,  including three 40+ HR years, '58, '59, '61.

With the Tribe in '58 Rocky smashed 41 home runs, with 113 RBI, batting .303, and leading the American League in slugging percentage at .620.

In '59 the Indians slugger smacked a American League leading 42 HR, driving in 111 Tribe runners, making his first American League All-Star team.

Just before the start of the 1960 season the Cleveland Indians shocked the baseball world by trading Colovito to the Detroit Tigers for 1959 American League batting champion Harvey Kuenn.

Indians fans loved the slugging Colovito, and Tigers fans loved Kuenn, and neither set of fans were very happy.

Colivito and the Tigers would prove to be the winners of the trade.



One of my favorite baseball cards in my collection is the 1962 Topps card of him in his classic Tigers road uniform.

In 4 years alongside future Hall of Fame RF Al Kaline, Colivito smashed 139 home runs, 45 of them coming in 1961, along with 140 RBI, a .296 average and his first All Star Game as a Tigers player.

Following the 1963 season the Tigers traded Rocky to the Kansas City Athletics,  after a 22 HR, 91 RBI season.

Rocky hit 34 HR, with 102 RBI for the '64 A's, who then traded Colovito back to his original team, the Indians.

Colovito promptly smacked 26 homers and drove in an American League leading 108 base runners in 1965.

In '66 Rocky slugged 30 homers and had 72 RBI, making his final All-Star Game.

In the middle of the '67 season, on July 29th, the Tribe sent Colovito to the Chicago White Sox, who  then sold Rocky to the Los Angeles Dodgers.

On July 7, 1968, the Dodgers released Rocky, who signed with the New York Yankees on July 15th.

The Yankees then released Rocky at the end of the 1968 season, Rocky's final year in the big leagues.

In his 14 years in the big leagues,  Rocky Colivito played in 1,841 ball games, collecting 1,730 base hits, 282 doubles,  21 triples, 374 home runs, 1.159 RBI, and 971 runs scored.

In the field Rocky made just 70 errors in 3, 516 chances, finishing with a .980 fielding percentage.

Colovito coached in the big leagues after his playing days, with the Indians in the 1970s and the Kansas City Royals in the 1980s.

Rocky Colovito was named to the Indians All Century Team in 2001, and was Inducted into the Cleveland Indians Hall of Fame.

 Happy Baseball Birthday! wishes to the Rock, Rocky Colovito!

PLAY BALL!

One more year

The Los Angeles Dodgers announced  on Tuesday night that legendary baseball play by play broadcaster Vin Scully will return for his 66th year behing the microphone calling ball games.

The announcement was made on Vin Scully Microphone Night at Chavez Ravine, honoring Vin's 65th year broadcasting baseball games.

I'll need to get one of those microphones for sure.

Way to go Vin!

Bob Welch (1956-2014)

Monday...Rick Monday

Today marks the 38th anniversary of the day Chicago Cubs outfielder Rick Monday ran across the outfield grass at Dodger Stadium to rescue an American Flag from being burned by protesters.

Monday's amazing dash to save that flag from being burned by a father and young son has resonated with baseball fans and military service members over the decades.

Monday served in the military before his big league career, and has been honored over the past decades since that day in 1976.

Rick Monday became an American Hero that day.

Rick Monday will tell you he's not the hero, that the real hero's are the great men and women of our great country.

God Bless you Rick Monday, and God Bless our awesome military members who risk their lives to keep us safe.

Happy Baseball Birthday....Johnny Oates

Today's Baseball Birthday is former big league catcher and manager Johny Oates.

I remember watching Johnny Oates catching in the big leagues in the 1970s, mostly for the Phillies and the Dodgers.

Johnny Oates was born on January 21, 1946, in Sylva, North Carolina.

Oates played baseball at Virginia Tech and was drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the first round, pick , #10, in the 1967 Amateur MLB Draft.

Johnny Oates made his big league debut with the Orioles as a pinch hitter on September 17th, 1970, getting a single of the Washington Senators Dick Bosman in the 9th inning if a 2-0 Washington win.

Johhny Oates was a good big league catcher, playing with the Orioles, Braves, Phillies, Dodgers, and Yankees.

In 11 years, Oates collected 410 big league hits in 593 games, hitting 14 HR and 126 RBI.

Behind the plate Oates was a good fielding catcher.

In 533 games, Oates compiled a .987 fielding %,  playing 3, 955 innings, with 2,416 put outs in 2,729 on chances.

Oates only committed 36 errors, and collected 277 assists in his big league career.

Johnny Oates played his final game as a big leaguer on May 24, 1981.

In 1991 Oates took over as mananger of the Orioles, and in 4 years had a 291-270 record.

Oates took over the managerial reigns of the Texas Rangers in 1995, leading the club to thier first ever playoff appearance in 1996.

 Oates wad named Co-Manager of the year in 1996, sharing the award with the Yankees Joe Torre.

Oates managed the Rangers into 2001, compiling a 506-476 record.

Johnny Oates was diagnosed with a brain tumor in 2001, and was given just months to live.

He passed away on December 24th, 2004.

Today we celebrate the life of Johhny Oates.

Happy Birthday Johnny!