He went on record with Baseball Digest to discuss the upcoming season and reflect on his development in 2011.

1. What was the biggest adjustment from High-A To Double-A?

This biggest adjustment for one was being away from my family. I was spoiled playing in San Jose with my family catching 20 of my 27 starts.  But on the baseball end of things it was the patience of the hitters and establishing the inner half of the plate. Each pitch has a purpose in setting up hitters later in counts and the 2nd and 3rd times through the lineup. Taking something off your fastball, pitching inside, purpose pitches, and not being scared to trust your stuff and know its good enough to get that guy out.

2. You spent a full season with Richmond. What did you feel you’d improved the most at the end of it?

I really struggled with my command early in the season. I was walking a lot of guys and I wasn’t burying hitters like I wanted to. I was able to make a few adjustments in my mechanics stretch and windup which allowed me to throw a lot more quality strikes with my fastball. I also made an adjustment to my slider grip which allowed more of a biting action. Being able to throw my 4 pitches for strikes late in the season was my biggest improvement.

3. You pitched a ton of innings in 2010 & 2011. Were there any changes in your throwing program over those two years?

Switching from reliever to starter was supposed to be a huge adjustment. At first it was. But, because the Giants let me know as soon as the 2009 season was over that I would be making the switch it gave me the opportunity to get into the groove of what its like to prepare as a starter in the off-season. First, it was my training schedule. The Giants sent me to Fischer Sports Physical Therapy and Conditioning in Phoenix, AZ where I get top notch training and conditioning opportunities as well as treatment opportunities to keep my arm fresh. As far as throwing I started my bullpens slightly earlier and added long toss twice a week out to 200 feet.

4. Break down your pitches. What is your out pitch, what pitch improved the most in 2011, and how was your command last season?

I throw a 4 seam fastball, 2 seam (sinker) fastball, Slider, Spike Curveball, and a circle changeup. To right handed hitters if I am in need of a strikeout I tend to go towards my slider and to a lefty I more often throw the Spike CB. But, it all depends on situations and hitters with what pitch I will go with. A lot of it also has to do with how certain pitches feel that particular start. Like I said in question 2 my command improved a lot throughout the season. Small tweaks and feel for mechanics made the difference.

5. You’ve been given an invitation as a non-roster invitee to spring training camp. What are your goals going into camp?

My goals going into camp are to be in the best shape possible, work as hard as I can once I get there, listen and learn from veterans to get a feel for what it takes to be in the big leagues, and leave a lasting impression amongst the staff with my work ethic and performance.

6. Have the Giants told you what they expect of you? Is there something you told you at the end of the season that stuck with you?

There hasn’t been anything in specific but continue to stay in shape and be ready for every chance that they give me. They have been awesome at giving me the opportunity to showcase the type of pitcher I have become and a lot of credit goes to the people they surround us with year in and year out. As of now its be the best starter you can be and perform when called upon. Hopefully in Fresno this year if not wherever they do send me.

7. Finally, would you be disappointed if you had to start the season with Richmond and not with Fresno?

I won’t lie it would be a slight disappointment but it would not get me down. I can still prove I am a worthy pitcher in the Eastern League.  I still have a job and I am still playing the game I love. I am going to work hard regardless because I have one goal in mind just like each and every player that puts a uniform on and that’s to perform at the highest level possible.

You can follow Justin @jfitzgerald31

Due to overwhelming response, here is an extended list, 11-20 top MILB players to follow.

A few things. A lot of these guys were considered for the top ten. The selection process is difficult because, whether you know it or not, there are numerous minor league players using Twitter. That led to adding an Honorable Ten list.

Reminder about how this was decided: frequency, interaction, humor, overall just compelling feed. Interacting with their fans/followers was big in deciding. Tweet frequency counted a lot as well. Humor matters. Every single guy that made these lists had a way with a joke or making fun of themselves. When their personalities shine through, the flow of the content is fun and interesting to read. For guys trying to make it to the big leagues, they experience a lot of transition and adversity. Every player named in the Twitter Ten and Next Ten shares a fascinating look into the unique life of baseball.

Starting with #11, a player whose use of Twitter gives him an important connection to fans. After being so protected by his team, that connection has been meaningful.

11. Bryce Harper @BHarper3407 – Washington Nationals
12. Cody Decker @Decker6 – San Diego Padres
13. Tyson Gillies @TysonGillies21 – Philadephia Phillies
14. Thomas Neal @TdaddyNeal – Cleveland Indians
15. Will Middlebrooks @16WMBrooks- Boston Red Sox
16. Mike Trout @Trouty20 – Anaheim Angels
17. LV Ware @LV_Ware – Atlanta Braves
18. Deck McGuire @deckmcguire – Toronto Blue Jays
19. Ryan Tatusko @RyanTatusko – Nationals
20. Michael Crouse @_crouse_ – Blue Jays

Honorable Ten Mentions:

1.Bryan Harper @BHarp45 – Nationals
2. Chris Swauger @cswag8 – St. Louis Cardinals
3. Matt den Dekker @UpperDekker – New York Mets
4. Bryan Longpre @BryanLongpre- Blue Jays
5. Jack Murphy @JackMurphy219 – Blue Jays
6. Justin Fitgerald @jfitgerald31 – Giants
7. Trent Mummey @trentmummey7 – Baltimore Orioles
8. C.J. Cron @CCron24 – Angels
9. Jordan Comadena @Funky2414 – Houston Astros
10. Kellin Deglan @keldegs – Texas Rangers

Our featured bloggers that provided us with the in depth Report Card series that has just concluded are back to give everyone an in depth look at what the off season holds for the major league teams they cover.  A look at what each team needs, what each team has already gained and lost, and some of the youth in each team’s system will be examined in these articles.  You can find all of the author’s information at the bottom of the article.

Fortunately for the Giants, they aren’t losing a whole lot to free agency this offseason. Their pitching staff (pretty much entirely) remains intact — and it looks to be stellar once again. Matt Cain and Tim Lincecum, both of whom are currently involved in extension talks, will head the rotation, and Madison Bumgarner — just 22 years old, will be quite possibly the best “third starter” in all of baseball. In addition, Ryan Vogelsong — who came out of virtually nowhere to earn a rotation spot last season — is arbitration-eligible and will be an important part of the picture in 2012. Lastly, Barry Zito will be the fifth starter — barring some kind of catastrophe — and he’ll hopefully bounce back from the worst season of his career.

Where the Giants do take a real hit in free agency is mostly outfield: Cody Ross, Pat Burrell, and Carlos Beltran all become free agents, leaving the Giants with vacancies in the corner outfield positions (vacancies that will presumably be filled by Brandon Belt and Nate Schierholtz). Burrell will surely retire, but Ross could re-sign (though he might be able to get more playing time if he goes elsewhere). Beltran, who’s obviously one of the top free agents on the market this winter, will likely be expensive, and due to self-imposed payroll limitations, the Giants probably won’t seriously pursue him.

Ultimately, the Giants seem pretty much done with the offseason shopping already. They’ve got just about every position filled, and they’ve made it seem as though they’re content with Brandon Crawford has all but earned the starting shortstop job. They’ll likely add middle-infield depth, as well as a backup catcher and some cheap rotation insurance, but they’re mostly a final product at this point.

Just several weeks into the offseason, they’ve made a few important moves. First and foremost, they exercised Jeremy Affeldt’s $5MM option, and they re-signed lefty specialist Javier Lopez on a two-year $8.5MM deal. The Giants are paying roughly $10MM to retain a couple lefty relievers — which seems pretty excessive — but they’re sticking to their pitching-first philosophy. What that means, essentially, is that they’re doing what it takes to make sure their stellar pitching remains stellar — even if it means making minimal improvements on offense.

The other move they’ve made: they traded lefty Jonathan Sanchez and LHP prospect Ryan Verdugo for outfielder Melky Cabrera; though they’re not really adding a big bat or anything, Cabrera will probably prove to be their biggest acquisition of the offseason — for better or for worse. The deal rids the Giants of some rotation insurance (which could be disastrous if the back of their rotation falters), but it fills their void in centerfield with an acceptable (albeit uninspiring) one-year stopgap. Cabrera, ideally, would take over in centerfield this year, leaving the position open to top prospect Gary Brown in future seasons.

The Giants don’t have much in the way of trade pieces, but Hector Sanchez could be on the trading block. The young prospect is blocked by Buster Posey at catcher, and given that the Giants have a lot of catching depth in their farm system (Tommy Joseph, Andrew Susac), they might see what they could get in return for Sanchez.

Minor Impact
With limited rotational depth, Giants starting pitching prospect Eric Surkamp could play a huge role in 2012. He dominated Double-A throughout 2011 but struggled in his first taste of the majors. If Zito proves futile in the fifth starter role, or Vogelsong is hit with some heavy regression, the Giants will have to rely on Surkamp to step up. With his plus command and excellent secondary pitches, he has the potential to succeed at the major-league level, and if he puts it all together next season, he’ll add some much-needed stability to the starting rotation.

Julian Levine
Giants Nirvana
Twitter: @GiantsNirvana

These report cards were written by twenty nine talented individuals across the internet that keep a close eye on the team they cover.  It was the first of our “Featured Blogger” series.  The second part, an Off-Season Outlook, will be brought to you the remainder of this week.  The same writers will return in the Spring to provide a 2012 Season Preview about the teams.

This year’s Featured Bloggers are listed below along with their website and the link to their Report Card:

American League East
Baltimore Orioles - Austin Gisriel, Seamheads
Boston Red Sox – Michael Lynch, Seamheads
New York Yankees – William Tasker, The Flagrant Fan
Tampa Bay Rays – Yossi Feins, The Rays Rant
Toronto Blue Jays – Peter DeMarco, Some Thoughts On Baseball

American League Central
Chicago White Sox – Terry Keshner, Planet Back
Cleveland Indians – David Henderson, Tribe Cards
Detroit Tigers – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Kansas City Royals – Todd Fertig, I-70 Baseball
Minnesota Twins – Von Hendry, Seamheads

American League West
Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim – Bryan Grosnick, Roto Hardball
Oakland As – Jason Leary, Junk Ball
Seattle Mariners – Nick Waddell, Seamheads
Texas Rangers – Dan Edmonson, Chicken Fried Baseball

National League East
Atlanta Braves – Andrew Martin, Baseball Historian
Florida Marlins – Eddie Gilley, Eddie Gilley Blogspot
New York Mets – AC Wayne, Mets Public Record
Philadelphia Phillies – Matthew Buesing, Fire And Ice Sports
Washington Nationals – Aaron Somers , District On Deck

National League Central
Chicago Cubs – Robert Harris, Blue Batting Helmet
Cincinnati Reds – Gary Schatz, Full Of Schatz
Houston Astros – Michael Barr, Fan Graphs
Milwaukee Brewers – Paul Heinz, Paul Heinz.com
Pittsburgh Pirates – Ryan Sendek, Analysis Around The Horn
St. Louis Cardinals – Daniel Shoptaw , C70 At The Bat

National League West
Arizona Diamondbacks – Patrick Lagreid, Baseball On My Brain
Colorado Rockies – Michelle Hoag, Rockies Woman
Los Angeles Dodgers – Paul F Sullivan, Sully Baseball
San Diego Padres – Michael Metzger, Padres Trail
San Francisco Giants – Julian Levine, Giants Nirvana

Bill Ivie is the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com and the founder of i70baseball.com, an official Baseball Digest website covering the Cardinals and Royals.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!

BaseballDigest.com aims to keep up that tradition.  This season, we bring you a Report Card on each team in Major League Baseball from writers that cover that team directly.  At the bottom of each write up, you will find the writer’s name, website, and any other pertinent information.  

Following last year’s championship run, expectations for the Giants were high. At minimum, another playoff berth seemed all but guaranteed. Unfortunately, a barrage of injuries (particularly season-ending injuries to Buster Posey and Freddy Sanchez), combined with massively disappointing seasons from Aubrey Huff and Andres Torres, destroyed the Giants’ hopes of a repeat. In the end, they finished 86-76 – a distant second place in the National League West.

Rotation: A-
Unsurprisingly, the Giants’ rotation – led by the fantastic trio of Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain, and Madison Bumgarner – had a strong 2011 season. Though he didn’t really put up Cy Young-caliber numbers, Lincecum posted a 2.74 ERA in 33 starts, and reached the 200-K mark for the fourth consecutive season. Matt Cain, who seems to only get better as he progresses, set a career-low in ERA at 2.88, and only allowed nine home runs in 221 innings. Meanwhile, Bumgarner – who just turned 22 this season – finished sixth in the National League with a 4.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Lastly, Ryan Vogelsong – whose story you’ve no doubt heard by now – had a remarkable breakout season out of nowhere, and even led the league in ERA for a brief period (he finished at 2.78).

The back of the Giants’ rotation, unfortunately, wasn’t as stable. Barry Zito only made nine starts, as his season was derailed by injuries – not to mention that when he was on the mound, he struggled mightily. Jonathan Sanchez, too, had his year shortened by injuries – and was ultimately a disappointment, as he showed a complete lack of control (5.86 BB/9). The Giants got a brief look at Eric Surkamp – arguably the organization’s top starting pitching prospect now that Zack Wheeler is gone – and it was not pretty: he walked more hitters (17) than he struck out (13) in his six starts.

Overall, though, the Giants’ rotation was excellent in 2011, and the only reason they were able to stay above .500

Bullpen: A-
Even though Brian Wilson had a rather unimpressive season, the Giants’ bullpen was lights-out in 2011. Wilson, who battled elbow injuries, saw his K/BB ratio dip precipitously, but still managed a solid 3.11 ERA in 57 appearances. No Giants reliever had a better season than Sergio Romo, whose numbers were off the charts (70 strikeouts, and just four unintentional walks). The rest of the gang (Javier Lopez, Ramon Ramirez, Jeremy Affeldt, Santiago Casilla) were all fantastic as well, each of them possessing an ERA under 3.00

BD Report Cards brought to you by Seamheads

Catchers: C-
Buster Posey got off to a good start for his sophomore season, and ultimately finished at .284/.368/.389; unfortunately, he saw his season cut short after an infamous collision at the plate with Scott Cousins. From that point forward, the Giants went with a duo of Eli Whiteside and Chris Stewart, neither of whom came close to replacing Posey’s production. Whiteside struggled both defensively and offensively, and Stewart – while an asset on defense (particularly his ability to gun down would-be base-stealers) – posted a .592 OPS. At the beginning of the season, catcher was a position of high hopes and stability for the Giants, but in the end, it was a black hole of struggles.

Infield: D
Defensively, the infield – or at least, the corner infield – was pretty strong. Pablo Sandoval, fresh off of an offseason full of conditioning, put up a Gold Glove-caliber season at the hot corner; Aubrey Huff, meanwhile, was solid at first base. Freddy Sanchez, when healthy, provided quality defense at second base, but his replacement – Jeff Keppinger, who was acquired midseason in exchange for prospects Henry Sosa and Jason Stoffel – displayed an utter lack of range at the position. The same goes for Miguel Tejada, who manned shortstop for a good part of the season before being designated for assignment; Orlando Cabrera, who took over at short (he was acquired from the Indians in exchange for prospect Thomas Neal), was a slight improvement over Tejada, though his impact on defense was pretty negligible.

Offensively, the infield was horrid – particularly those players not named Pablo Sandoval. Aubrey Huff followed up an all-star caliber 2010 with an incredibly bad 2011 season, as he finished with a .676 OPS. Tejada earned his DFA, hitting .239/.270/.326 – but Cabrera was even worse (.222/.241/.270). Keppinger was underwhelming at the plate as well – failing to draw walks and hit the ball with much authority – and whatever contributions he made on offense were entirely negated by his poor defense. The only bright spot here was Sandoval, who had a great bounceback season at the plate (.315/.357/.552). Though he broke his hamate bone and accordingly missed fourty games, he wasted no time returning to form upon his recovery.

Outfield: C+
Andres Torres was once again superb defensively and on the basepaths, but it’s hard to ignore his struggles at the plate (his slugging percentage dipped all the way to .330). Cody Ross had his fair share of struggles at the plate, but thanks to a team-leading 49 walks (in only 461 plate appearances), he was one of the team’s top contributors at the plate (for better or for worse). Nate Schierholtz had somewhat of a breakout season following an alteration to his batting stance, but like most others on the team, he had his season shortened by injuries. Aaron Rowand was designated for assignment following 108 games of struggles and constant complaints. Pat Burrell hit well in limited playing time (he, too, had his season derailed by injuries), while Brandon Belt struggled to find consistency as he was yo-yoed between the majors and the minors.

In an attempt to drastically improve the offense, the Giants traded top prospect Zack Wheeler in exchange for Carlos Beltran. Though Beltran did miss time due to a hand injury, he OPS’d .920 when healthy. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to carry an otherwise miserable offense.

Top Offensive Player
Pablo Sandoval pretty clearly was the Giants’ top offensive contributor in 2011, as he led the team in a number of statistical categories, including slugging percentage and on-base percentage. Had he stayed healthy enough to play a full season, he might have received some strong NL MVP consideration (and even so, he got a well-deserved all-star nod).

Top Pitcher
Unlike the offense, no Giants pitcher really stood out as the best – as Cain, Lincecum, and Bumgarner all had fantastic seasons. Nevertheless, I’d say Cain was the top pitcher this year, as he combined strong peripherals (7.27 K/9, 2.56 BB/9, 0.37 HR/9) with great results (2.88 ERA in 221.2 innings).

Julian Levine
Giants Nirvana
Twitter: @GiantsNirvana

Epstein fired manager Mike Quade on Wednesday after just a little over one season in Chicago. The Sun-Times has the story.

Dodgers fans are ecstatic that the McCourts are selling. The LA Times has the full story.

Baseball is a zero-sum game; for every home run hitting hero there is a pitcher who served it up.  Often, like Mike Torres, Dennis Eckersley and, yes, Ralph Branca, he is as famous for having delivered the pitch as the batter for having swung the bat.

Thomson’s “Shot Heard Round the World” changed many lives, none more than those of the principles, who like many of the pitcher-hitter duos have become inextricably linked.  For decades, Branca kept secret the knowledge that for the latter weeks of the ’51 season, including the fateful playoff at bat, the Giants had utilized an coordinated sign-stealing system involving powerful binoculars and an electronic buzzer system to erase a huge deficit to force the extra series to decide the NL crown.

That story was first told in Josh Prager’s The Echoing Green in 2006.  But for the first time, Branca himself puts pen to paper on the subject in the newly-released A Moment In Time: An American Story of Baseball, Heartbreak and Grace (Scribner, 223 pps.), which delightfully details the New York native’s life.  While the ’51 season and sign controversy is the flash that helps draw readers to the book, the rest of Branca’s story is well worth the read.

Branca’s story is a delicious slice of the baseball world in an intriguing time in its history.  Jackie Robinson joined the Dodgers, changing the game forever, and he and Branca became fast, lifelong friends.  Branca’s absolute love for the game comes through page after page, and his straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is style gives his own perspective on some of the most significant figures of the time, including Leo Durocher and Branch Rickey.

Though he eventually developed a close friendship with Thomson, Branca to this day is distressed that the Giant never admitted to using the stolen sign on the winning home run.  It’s one of the few tinges of sadness that can be found in what serves as a celebration of the life of man who though many remember him primarily for it, has never allowed his life to be solely defined by a single moment in time.

The Detroit Tigers’ Justin Verlander was the most dominant pitcher in the game en route to 24 wins. Jose Bautista didn’t match his 54 home runs of a year ago, but had another 40+ home run season. Lance Berkman looked like his career was done in 2010, but he hit 30 home runs this season and is an NL MVP candidate. Jacoby Ellsbury was the king of the AL DL a year ago, but this season was a candidate for both the comeback player of the year and AL MVP awards.

Curtis Granderson had a bust out season, topping 40 home runs for the first time in his career. Teammate Derek Jeter picked up his 3,000th hit, while another, Mariano Rivera, broke the all-time record for career saves. Across town, Jose Reyes won his first batting title in what might be his last year as a Met.  Albert Pujols had an “off” year and still hit 35 dingers and Matt Kemp met and exceeded all expectations.  With all of that in mind, the finalists for the individual awards in each league should look something like this…

AL MVP – Curtis Granderson and Robinson Cano (NY), Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Jose Bautista (TOR), Justin Verlander (DET)

AL Cy Young – Justin Verlander (Det)

AL Rookie of the Year – Jeremy Hellickson (TB), Ivan Nova (NY), Eric Hosmer (KC), Mark Trumbo (LA), J.P. Arencibia (TOR)

AL Manager of the Year – Manny Acta (CLE), Jim Leyland (DET), Ron Washington (TEX), Joe Girardi (NY)

AL Comeback Player of the Year – Jacoby Ellsbury (BOS), Melky Cabrera (KC)

NL MVP – Ryan Braun and Prince Fielder (MIL), Matt Kemp (LA), Lance Berkman (STL), Justin Upton (AZ)

NL Cy Young – Ian Kennedy (AZ), Roy Halladay and Cliff Lee (PHI), Clayton Kershaw (LA)

NL Manager of the Year – Kirk Gibson (AZ), Ron Roenicke (MIL), Clint Hurdle (PIT), Charlie Manuel (PHI)

NL Rookie of the Year – Freddie Freeman and Craig Kimbrel (ATL), Danny Espinosa (WAS), Javy Guerra (LA)

NL Comeback Player of the Year – Carlos Beltran (NY,SF), Lance Berkman (STL)

But baseball isn’t about the individual, it’s about the teams.

Early on the Indians, Royals, and Pirates played beyond expectation. In fact the Indians held first place in the AL Central for 85 days. The three teams would eventually fade, but the Arizona Diamondbacks did just the opposite. They were six games under .500 in mid-May, but played at a torrid pace the rest of the season to win the division title. Meanwhile Boston and Atlanta entered the final month of the season as virtual locks to make the post-season only to be eliminated on the final night of the season.

The LA Dodgers and the Mets had ownership and money issues, the Colorado Rockies and Cincinnati Reds were huge disappointments, and the Baltimore Orioles, despite much promise, finished last in the AL East for the fourth straight year. In the end the Yankees, Tigers, Rangers, Phillies, Brewers, and Diamondbacks captured their divisions while the Rays and Cardinals entered the playoffs as wild card entries.

What’s that? How did the Baseball Digest team do at predicting the post-season teams? Let’s take a look.

Well it appears, ahem, one person knew what they were talking about with the AL East. Yes, that would be me. Michael Maher, likewise, was the only one of our bunch who had the insight to pick the Tigers in the AL Central. He was also the only one to pick the Rays to win the AL wild card. Four out of seven dentist, er writers, chose the Rangers correctly in the AL West, while none of us had the Diamondbacks sniffing a title in the NL West.

Bill Ivie stuck his neck out picking the Braves to win the NL East, while everyone else selected the Phillies. Needless to say, his neck hurts. Bill’s beloved Cardinals didn’t win the NL Central as he had selected, but he was brought joy on the night of Game 162 when they made the post-season. Meanwhile Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb, Kirk Verner, and Matt Wilson all correctly chose the Brewers for the Central crown, but just like the NL West, no one got the NL wild card correct either. So the finally tally of correct predictions..drum roll please…four writers with 3 right each. Meanwhile Josh Landsburg, Mark Healey, and Bill Ivie…um, better luck next year. (In fairness, Bill did get 2 playoff teams correct, just in the wrong spots)

Michael Maher 3
Drew Sarver 3
Simon Sharkey-Gottlieb 3
Matt Wilson 3
Shai Kushner 2
Kirk Verner 2
Josh Landsburg 1
Mark Healey 1
Bill Ivie 0

Please check back after the league championship series for updated standings, and be sure to bookmark Baseball Digest to view all of our post-season coverage.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

No dwelling on it. Answer with whichever choice comes to mind naturally after hearing the question.

Which Fab Five was more impressive: Chris Webber, Jimmy King, Jalen Rose, Juwan Howard and Ray Jackson…or…Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Honus Wagner and Christy Mathewson?

(I’ll wait for you to stop laughing and then we can carry on with the rest of the piece).

The latter group in the poll represents the very first group of major league baseball players to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown. In 1936, the five men were the first to receive the game’s greatest honor and set the bar for all to follow.  The last name on the list, Mathewson, was born on this day in 1880.

From Factoryville, Pennsylvania, Mathewson grew up playing multiple sports, earning recognition for his skills in baseball and football while attending Bucknell University. Factoryville celebrates Christy Mathewson Day every year on the Saturday closest to his birthday. Bucknell University’s football stadium is named Christy Mathewson Memorial. However, it was his performance on the baseball field that truly cemented his legacy.

Mathewson spent a few years playing minor league ball, including simultaneously during some of his time at Bucknell. In 1900, Mathewson caught the eye of the New York Giants when he posted a 20-2 record pitching for the Norfolk team in the Virginia-North Carolina League. Nowadays, a pitcher that would go on to win a World Series, rank third in the majors in career wins, eighth all time in wins and post seasons with 20 or more victories ten times and 30 or more wins, four times, would cost you a pretty penny. Even based solely on projections and potential. In 1900, Mathewson’s contract only cost the Giants $1,500.

Their relationship would go on to last a very happy sixteen years, however it didn’t start very smoothly. After acquiring Mathewson, he would kick off his time with the squad with a rather unimpressive, not-so-Hall-worthy start of an 0-3 record. The Giants were furious and returned him to the Norfolk team. As his destiny would have it however, Mathewson would still go on to spend those sixteen seasons in a Giants uniform after the Cincinnati Reds picked him up from Norfolk and went on to trade him to New York after all.

In the final act of his career, he made an appearance for a season on the Reds’ roster. His golden years were made up of his time with New York. Over his seventeen seasons in the majors, Mathewson posted an overall win-loss record of 373-188. His career ERA is among the best of all-time and just think about how impressed we all are when watching a pitcher go the distance. When it happens in 2011, a rare feat at that with bullpen pitching strategies and pitch count becoming a larger part of the game with every day that passes, people applaud the effort and begin thinking of ways to keep the pitcher’s locker free of kryptonite. In the early 1900′s? Achieving the feat once would hardly even get a mention in the overall summary of the day’s events. The bar was being set high at an alarming pace as pitchers in this era, known as the ‘dead ball era’ were iron men. Mathewson, for example, threw 79 total complete games in his career.  Roy Halladay, to put it in perspective, is the active leader with 64 complete games thrown. Highlighting the stat helps to put how impressive Halladay is as a pitcher more than Mathewson.   However, the bar is set with players  like Mathewson. Halladay is only impressive because we know the precedent that has been set before him. Mathewson was one of the players who laid the foundation for all others to be compared to. Halladay is the rare example of someone coming any where near what Mathewson accomplished in the game. However, that is only one category.

There is a reason Mathewson was one of the first five to be inducted into Cooperstown. There is a lot more to the story than ‘total complete games’.

Mathewson struck out 2,502 batters in his career (2,502 at least that is, as strike outs weren’t even tracked in the NL until 1910), which was three times the amount of batters he walked In the 1905 World Series, while pitching for the New York Giants against the Philadelphia Athletics, Mathewson was masterful. In games one and three, he pitched the Giants to victory with dual four hit shutouts. In game five, his performance took a couple of steps back. He threw a six hit shutout. That day, on two days rest, he completed what ESPN called the greatest playoff performance of all-time and brought the championship to Giants fans everywhere.

1905 proved to be one of Mathewson’s greatest seasons and that is saying a lot. Almost every season delivered reason to brush up his resume or at least the information on the back of his baseball card. He won the pitching triple crown in 1905 and 1908, was a five time ERA champion, five time strike out champion, threw two no-hitters and did all of this while never pitching on Sunday. A devout Christian, Mathewson had no problem doing his part as one of the greatest pitchers of all time Monday-Saturday. Sunday, however, was God’s day and he refused to pitch.

Baseball fans have continued to respect Mathewson’s performance in the 1905 World Series long after the fact, as shown in this excerpt from the February 1993 issue of Baseball Digest.

When his playing days were over, he enlisted in the armed services in the same newly formed Chemical Service as Ty Cobb. Accidentally gassed while serving, Mathewson developed tuberculosis, the disease that would eventually take his life at the young age of 45.

Mathewson played his last game in 1916, ironically enough in a Cincinnati Reds uniform. The Giants honor him among their retired numbers with his name and old NY logo hanging at AT&T. Cooperstown proudly displays his plaque, naming him the greatest of all the great pitchers in the 20th century’s first quarter. His stats and accomplishments are preserved in baseballs record books forever. Fans can read them over and relive the feats he provided fans in the past. Players can look them up and know what ‘greatness’ means and try their best to live up to the precedent he set.

Good luck, modern-day ballplayers. You’re going to need it. As for the other ‘Fab Five’? Black socks, baggy shorts and not one NCAA championship? They never stood a chance.

Also Born Today:

Matt Clement turns 37 today. Born in McCandless, PA, Clement pitched for the Padres, Cubs, Marlins and Red Sox. He made an All-Star appearance for Boston in 2005. For the Cubs in 2002 and 2003, he finished among the top 10 in the National League in the strike outs per nine innings pitched category.

Bob Buhl was born on this day in 1928 and passed away in 2001. From Saginaw, MI, Buhl pitched in the major leagues for the Braves, Cubs and Phillies. 1957 was his best season finishing fifth in complete games, second in winning percentage, and fourth in ERA.

Ryan Maloney is a staff writer for BaseballDigest.com, author of the popular Chicago Cubs blog titled ’Prose and Ivy, and a contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

Follow Ryan on Twitter.

Check out Ryan’s Top 100 Chicago Cubs MLBlog Prose and Ivy.

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter.

Like Baseball Digest on Facebook.

If we were to truly honor Deion Sanders, the right way, this article would include a link at the bottom of the page leading to its continuation at NFL.com.

If we were to truly honor Deion Sanders, the right way, this article would include not only a link to a previous Baseball Digest print edition mention of Sanders’ career, it would include a video making it stand out among the rest, done in Flash.

If we were to truly honor Deion Sanders, the right way, this article would no longer refer to Deion Sanders as ‘Sanders’, but ‘Deion’. ‘Neon Deion’ would be even better. However, like Sanders at the end of his induction speech this past weekend into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, Ohio, applying a bandana to his bronze likeness, we’re going to simply make do.

As one of the greatest two-sport athletes of all-time, Sanders excelled in both football and baseball. Born in Fort Myers, Florida, Sanders attended Florida State University, where he made a name for himself on the basepaths, the gridiron, and in track and field competitions. One story has it that Sanders once played game one of a doubleheader, left to compete in a leg of a 4×100 relay only to return to start in the second game of the doubleheader.

Sanders wasted no time getting a jump on a collegiate career that would result in records being set and his football jersey number being retired. In his freshman year, Sanders started on the football team in the secondary, played outfield leading his team to rank fifth in the nation and took advantage of his base-swiping speed to help lead his track and field squad to a conference title.  While the Seminoles had no reason the keep their receipt when it came to Sanders, it was Deion who would do all the returning. As a two-time All-American cornerback, Sanders intercepted 14 passes over his career including three in bowl games and broke the longest interception return for a TD by one yard when he managed to grab a pass on defense and return it the entire length of the field in 1988.

Considering how much Sanders accomplished in his collegiate career, it is no wonder both professional baseball and football teams alike were interested in signing him. I’m guessing if there were a National Track and Field League with the same impact across the nation as MLB or the NFL, where kids hang posters of track and field stars in their room the way they do their favorite baseball and football stars, an NTFL team would have looked to draft Sanders as well.

The New York Yankees selected Sanders in the 30th round of the 1988 draft and he signed with the team in June of that year. I give credit to the Kansas City Royals for having the foresight to draft Sanders years ahead of the Yankees. The Royals drafted Sanders while he was still playing for Fort Myers High School however, Sanders decided not to sign with a professional team at that time. The NFL also came calling for Sanders’ services as the Atlanta Falcons selected him with the fifth overall pick in the 1989 NFL Draft.

To play two professional sports in a lifetime is an incredible feat. To play two professional sports within a same season is incredible. To play two professional sports within the same season at the level Sanders was able to is other-worldly. Bo Jackson is probably the only other athlete who could relate to what it took for Sanders to continue a professional football and baseball career at the same time. Sanders definitely knew what Bo knew, and vice versa.

In his young professional career, like at Florida State, Sanders got out of the box quickly in both sports. He returned his first career punt return for a touchdown. With the Yankees, in 1989, Sanders hit a home run in pinstripes and later that week scored a touchdown wearing Falcon black. He remains to this day, the only player to ever do so. Another honor bestowed to Sanders ,and only Sanders, is that he is the only professional athlete to ever play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series.

Not a fan of arrogant professional athletes? Then you probably aren’t a fan of Sanders. Actually, according to this recent Hall of Fame speech, it’s not that you aren’t a fan of Sanders, you aren’t a fan of Prime Time. Prime Time is a character, a persona, that Sanders came up with at Florida State. He knew he would need to stand out amongst the other great athletes of his time and Prime Time was his way of putting his numbers up against the stats of other great players, and then giving himself the advantage when it came to being remembered and earning an unbelievable living for himself as a professional athlete. Once, as a Yankee, Sanders came up to bat, dug in, and drew a money sign with his bat before taking his stance. Future Hall of Famer Carlton Fisk, catching that game, took offense to the gesture and let Sanders have it after Sanders didn’t run out a pop up to the infield. Arrogance was something that Prime Time delivered to make Deion Sanders even more entertaining. High stepping touchdowns became a cultural phenomenon, and started with  Sanders. I don’t recall ever seeing him high step in a run on the baseball diamond which is probably a good thing. I highly doubt Carlton Fisk would have appreciated that either.

The June 2004 edition of Baseball Digest featured an article displaying how Curt Schilling felt about Sanders’ antics on the baseball diamond. You can read what he had to say here.

It was while playing with the Atlanta Braves that Sanders’ juggling act really stepped up a notch. Clearly, the longer the baseball season lasts, the more it interferes with the football schedule. The Yankees weren’t exactly making the playoffs in the late ’80s, however, once Sanders started wearing a jersey with Atlanta across the chest, this calendar juggling became more of an issue because the Braves were in the post-season and in the early ’90s, on quite a regular basis.

In 1991, Sanders contributed to the Braves’ run to the National League West division title. However, because of a clause in his contract with the Falcons, he had to report to his football job the very next day and went on to miss the postseason. This prompted a reworking of his deal with the Falcons. He would now be able to report to the Falcons for training camp in August after playing baseball April-August, however, if the team were to make the playoffs, he could now rejoin the Braves for the postseason.

That renegotiation came with some impeccable timing. The Braves did in fact make the playoffs in 1992 and even earned their way into the 1992 World Series. If it weren’t for Dave Winfield’s heroics in game 6, the Braves may have found a way to win that Series and Sanders would have been a great reason why. Sanders played in four games in the 1992 World Series and batted .533 with 4 runs, 8 hits, 2 doubles and 1 RBI. All of that was accomplished while playing with a broken foot.

One knock on Sanders, in which he called out his critics during his Hall of Fame speech, was that people believed he didn’t like to tackle. That he avoided contact. While Sanders had his own answer for his football critics, the baseball folks that followed his career would be slow to say the same thing. On the baseball diamond, Sanders enjoyed contact. He amassed 558 hits in his career and led the NL in triples in 1992 with 14. Sanders is a career .263 hitter, with 39 HRs and 186 stolen bases, having played with the New York Yankees, Atlanta Braves, Cincinnati Reds and San Francisco Giants.

Showcasing your athletic skills on two grand stages provided to you in the way that MLB and the NFL do, the media is bound to take notice. College Football News named Sanders #8 in its list of 100 Greatest College Football Players of All-Time. ESPN named Sanders #74 in its list of the 100 Great Athletes of the Century, released in 1999. While Sanders was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this past weekend, you won’t see a Deion Sanders plaque in Cooperstown. His numbers simply don’t warrant that type of honor. However, there is no doubt that Sanders had an impact on the game of baseball. Attend a Braves game at Turner Field. Do you hear that annoying chant all around you? That’s the tomahawk chop and Sanders is credited for bringing it to Atlanta upon his arrival.

This article will not continue in a link leading to NFL.com and while that would be appropriate given the subject of the piece, it’s simply not going to happen. Canton is a more appropriate place for Sanders to be enshrined as opposed to Cooperstown. The fact that he left his mark on two professional sports while in his ‘prime’ is impressive enough to warrant a feature story here.

In Sanders’ Hall of Fame speech, he made it very clear that he did all of it for his mama. All the hard work, all the antics, all the dedication and desire. He had a lot to thank her for and he made it clear that she was his motivation behind his success. Obviously there is one more thing he has because of her, that helped make all things possible. One more thing to thank her for, Deion. Look at today’s date. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.

Also Born Today:

Jayson Heyward turns 22 today. Heyward, a current stand out and right fielder for the Atlanta Braves, was born in Ridgewood, New Jersey. With stars like Chipper Jones aging and soon to wrap up his time with the team, it will be on youngsters like Heyward to carry the load and continue the success the team has seen in recent years forward. Heyward hit a home run in the first at-bat in each of his first two years in the majors and is a career .277 hitter.

Troy Percival turns 42 today. Percival played in the majors from 1995-2009, splitting time between the Angels, Tigers, Cardinals and Rays. He is one of only six Angels pitchers to strike out 100 batters in a season with starting a single game. Percival, a four-time All-Star selection, has a career ERA of 3.17 and won the World Series with the Angels in 2002.

Ryan Maloney is a Staff Writer for BaseballDigest.com, author of the popular Chicago Cubs blog, Prose and Ivy and contributing writer to MLB.com/Entertainment.

Follow Ryan on Twitter.

Check out Ryan’s Top 100 MLBlog: Prose and Ivy

Like Baseball Digest on Facebook

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter

Done Deals

Boston – Kansas City: The Red Sox have added to their depth by picking up Mike Aviles from the Royals for infielder Yamaico Navarro and pitcher Kendal Vez. In Aviles, the Red Sox get a player who can play 2B, SS, and 3B, all positions that have seen players banged up this season. He also swings a decent stick. Aviles fell victim to the youth movement in KC and was sent to the minors at one point this season. He could face a demotion again when Red Sox shortstop Jed Lowrie returns from the DL.

Texas – Baltimore: The Rangers spoke with a number of teams about relievers and were hoping to land the Padres’ Heath Bell.  But the asking price was too high for the pitchers that Texas most coveted. So instead, the Rangers went a cheaper route by sending corner infielder Chris Davis and pitcher Tommy Hunter to the Orioles for Koji Uehara.

It’s a low risk move for both teams. Uehera is good, but not outstanding. He’s a strikeout pitcher despite not having overpowering stuff, but also can’t be used on back-to-back days due to his tendency to get banged up. Davis has been a productive hitter in the minor leagues, but hasn’t been able to put it together in “The Show”. He strikes out way too much and can’t hit left-handed pitching. Unless the Orioles deal Derrek Lee, Davis will probably only see occassional playing time at DH and 1B.

Hunter is a #4 starter at best. He pitches to contact and isn’t going to blow anyone away.  The Rangers’ number one pick in 2007, Hunter got off to an 8-o, 2.31 start last season, but went 5-4, 5.07 in his final 14 starts plus one relief appearance. Hunter is also an injury risk and missed a good chunk of this season with a groin injury.

Detroit – Seattle: The Tigers wanted to shore up their starting rotation for the stretch run and feel they did so by picking up Doug Fister from the Mariners. Fister can’t be judged by the 3-12 record he amassed with a bad Mariners club. In 21 starts, Fister allowed less than a hit an inning and walked just two hitters per nine innings while he struck out 5.5 batters. He also allowed just four home runs and had a 2.8 WAR with the Mariners.

Reliever David Pauley accompanied Fister to give the Tigers some depth in their bullpen. In return, Seattle received pitcher Charlie Furbush, outfielder Casper Wells, third baseman Francisco Martinez and a player to be named later.

Furbush is a 25-yr old left-handed strikeout pitcher that was used as both a starter and reliever by the Tigers. No word yet if he’ll replace Fister in the rotation or Pauley in the pen. Wells is a fourth outfielder that can play all three outfield spots, but doesn’t hit much.  Martinez is a highly touted third baseman, but only the second best hot corner man in the Tigers organization. The 20-yr old Venezuelan is still developing his power, but had pretty good splits (.282/.319/.405) for Single-A Erie.

Arizona – Washington: The Diamondbacks added to their rotation by sending infielder Zach Walter, a former 9th round draft pick, to the Nationals for veteran starter Jason Marquis. The soon-to-be 33-yr old joins his sixth organization after 1+ seasons in the Nation’s capital. Marquis was 8-5, 3.95 in 20 starts this season and averaged six innings each time out. With a WHIP over 1.4 and 0.8 WAR, Marquis is a shaky back-end-of-the-rotation starter. He missed most of last season with elbow surgery.

Rumors

Ubaldo Jimenez: The Rockies have reportedly lowered their demands since they have yet to make a deal.  The Red Sox, Reds, and Indians are said to be negotiating the most, while the Yankees are still in play.

Hiroku Kuroda: The Dodgers right-hander really doesn’t want to leave LA, but has reportedly told the cash-strapped team that he’d be willing to accept a trade to the Rangers, Red Sox, or Yankees.

Josh Willingham and Ryan Ludwick: The A’s and Padres outfielders are still being talked about and are expected to be moved at some point this weekend. Right now it appears A’s GM Billy Beane is asking too much for Willingham.

Heath Bell: Unless the Padres lower their demands, the team’s closer won’t be going anywhere.

Denard Span: The Nationals have been working for days to try to land the Twins’ outfielder. A rumor spread earlier this afternoon that the Twins were trying to get the Yankees involved in a possible three-team deal.

Rafael Furcal: The shell-of-himself shortstop is close to being sent from the Dodgers to the Cardinals.

Update 7:20 PM

Hiroki Kuroda has refused to waive his no-trade clause and will remain an LA Dodger. The ramifications of Kuroda off the market is that the Rockies can now boost their asking price back up for Ubaldo Jimenez.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Long before that though, the future Hall of Fame member was born in Kansas City, Missouri in 1890. He was a good athlete growing up and quit high school to play for the Kansas City Blues of the American Association. He later played in the Northern Association and the Blue Grass League, but still studied to become a dentist.  Obviously, baseball won out and Stengel was chosen by the Brooklyn Dodgers in the 1911 draft. He appeared in 17 games for the Dodgers in 1912, hitting .316 with one home run and 13 RBI.

Stengel hit .284 in six seasons in Brooklyn (who were known as the Dodgers, Superbas, and Robins during that time; they didn’t become the Dodgers full time until 1931.), and helped lead them to the World Series in 1916. He was 4-11 (.364) in the Series, but the Dodgers lost to Babe Ruth and the Boston Red Sox in four games. His final four seasons were in the tutelage of legendary manager Wilbert Robinson.

In 1918, Stengel was dealt to the Pittsburgh Pirates as part of a deal for another future Hall member, pitcher Burleigh Grimes. Stengel was dealt three more times in his career, to the Philadelphia Phillies, New York Giants, and Boston Braves. One of his best seasons with the Giants was in 1922 when he hit .368/.436/.564 with 48 RBI in only 84 games. He also went 2-5 in that year’s World Series when the Giants topped the Yankees. One year later, he was on the losing end to the Yankees, but hit .417.

During his time in Pittsburgh, Stengel’s reputation for nutty/funny behavior was best exemplified when his Pirates team visited his old Brooklyn team. The fans booed Stengel mercilessly until he stepped into the batters’ box, doffed his cap, and a bird flew out.

Learn more about “The Old Perfessor” in Milton Richman’s 1957 profile in Baseball Digest. Click here to read all about it!

Stengel retired early in the 1925 season to become player/manager of the Worcester Panthers of the Eastern League. A year later he began a six year stint at the helm of the Toledo Mud Hens of the America Association. (He saw some playing time as well in five of the six years.) Then it was back to the Major Leagues and Brooklyn as a coach for two years before Stengel was named as the Dodgers manager. Unfortunately for Stengel, the Dodgers lacked talent and didn’t finish higher than 5th place before Stengel was fired after the 1936 season.

Stengel got another chance with the Boston Bees/Braves in 1938, but the talent level was no better than in Brooklyn. Boston had four seventh place finishes in Stengel’s first five seasons, but that may not have hurt as much as the broken leg Stengel suffered when a car hit him in April, 1943.  Casey missed 46 games, but the Braves continued their losing ways when he returned, though the  team moved up a notch to sixth place. With the Braves coming under new ownership prior to the 1944 season, Stengel decided to resign, saying he did not want to “embarrass the new stockholders…”.

Stengel’s best days were ahead of him though, as were many more games to manage. After one season running the minor league Milwaukee Brewers he returned to his roots as the skipper of the Kanas City Blues in 1945. Then it was three years at the helm of the Pacific Coast League’s Oakland Oaks before Stengel got the break of a lifetime. The Yankees and manager Bucky Harris agreed to a mutual departure after the 1948 season and Stengel was hired. He would wear the Yankees’ pinstripes and road greys for 12 seasons (Kind of sounds a little like the Joe Torre story, no?).

Stengel became one of the first managers to heavily utilize platooning. He inherited an aging DiMaggio, a young  Mantle, and stalwarts like Berra and Rizzuto. Though he would sometimes clash with veterans and maybe liked the attention he got a little too much, it’s hard to argue with “The Old Perfessor’s” success. 10 pennants and seven world championships, including five straight titles from 1949-1953. He was nearly fired after losing the 1957 World Series to the Milwaukee Braves and then fell behind three games to one to the Braves in the 1958 series. But the Yankees rallied to win three straight games and the Series. Among his memorable moments as Yankees manager was his 1958 anti-trust testimony in front of Congress, in which he had everyone in stitches with his rambling style.

Yankees ownership decided to go in a new direction after the 1960 season and let Stengel go. He would be out of the Majors for one season before accepting a job across town with the expansion New York Mets. The Mets were short on talent so they knew they needed a charismatic figure to help boost attendance. The 71-yr old Stengel was the perfect fit, it didn’t really matter what the Mets did on the field. Good thing too since they lost 120 games that first year and dropped over 100 in the next two seasons as well.

In July, 1965, the 75-yr old manager broke his hip getting out of a car and, on advice from his doctor, retired in August. A year later, the Veteran’s Committee selected Stengel for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. Casey is the only person to wear the uniform of all four 20th century teams in New York and both the Mets (1965) and Yankees (1970) retired Casey’s #37.

The baseball world was saddened on September 29, 1975 when Casey Stengel passed away at age 85. He was married to his beloved Edna for 51 years.

Also Born Today:

Clint Hurdle (Big Rapids, MI 1953): Clint Hurdle was a Sports Illustrated cover boy in 1978 and was predicted to be a star in Major League Baseball. Though his time with the KC Royals and three other organizations never lived up to the hype, Hurdle has made a successful career for himself in post-playing days. He’s currently in his first year as manager of the surprising Pittsburgh Pirates, who are in the running for a division title for the first time in nearly 20 years. Hurdle previously managed the Colorado Rockies from 2002-2009 and took the team to it’s sole World Series appearance in 2008.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

It appears the answers to those questions are just a formality away from being answered.  Beltran must waive his no-trade clause to accept a deal to the San Francisco Giants, the team he’s wanted to go to all along.In return the Mets will get higly touted prospect Zack Wheeler, who was ranked prior to the season by Baseball America as the #55 prospect in baseball.

Beltran is in the final year of an seven year, $119MM contract and is owed the remainder of $18.5MM for this season. The 34-yr old had his ups and down in New York and fell in and out of favor with the fans. Many have, unfairly, pointed to his NLCS ending strikeout at the hands of Adam Wainwright as his defining moment in New York. He hit .280/.369/.500 in his Mets’ career with 149 home runs and 559 RBI. He didn’t produce much offensively in his first year at Shea Stadium, but averaged nearly 34 home runs and 113 RBI over the next three seasons. Injuries took their toll the last two years, and limited the outfielder to 81 and 64 games in 2009 and 2010.  Beltran bounced back this season with 15 HR, 60 RBI, and a league leading 30 doubles. He also made his first All-Star appearance in two years.

Wheeler was the Giants number one pick, 6th overall, in the 2009 amateur draft. In 146.2 minor league innings, Wheeler has averaged 10.3 strikeouts and 5.2 walks per nine innings, and posted a 3.99 ERA. He’s made 37 appearances, 29 of them as a starter. Wheeler has a low to mid-90′s fastball, a sharp curveball and a changeup that’s about 10 mph less than his fastball.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

www.squirrelsbaseball.com

Baseball Digest.Com: What are your thoughts and feelings as the Squirrels approach Opening Day, April 7th?

Bill Papierniak: I have a lot to get done in a short amount of time; that thought keeps running through my head! Every year as you get closer to Opening Day, it gets exciting. I cannot wait until we start playing games and the crowds start rolling in. There is nothing quite like the start of baseball season each year.

BD.Com: When did you start working with the Squirrels? What are your responsibilities for your team?

Papierniak: I became General Manager of the Richmond Flying Squirrels on September 15, 2009 (coinciding with approval from Minor League Baseball and the Eastern League for relocation of the Connecticut Defenders franchise to Richmond). I am responsible for overseeing the day-to-day operations and direction of the team and facility (The Diamond) and everything that it entails (all revenue streams and expenses).

BD.Com: What other teams were you General Manager?

Papierniak: I was GM for the Daytona Cubs (Florida State League) for the previous 6 seasons.

BD.Com: When you were in college, what career were you considering? How did you wind up in baseball?

Papierniak: I was considering any career in business management while at James Madison University in Harrisburg, Virginia but ended up running a concrete plant in Northern Virginia. About a year after graduating, I decided that I wanted a career change to something that I would enjoy and started looking at Minor League Baseball.

I sent my resume out to quite a few teams and through a college friend found an opening for an entry-level position (at the time a glorified internship) with the Lynchburg Hillcats, in Lynchburg, Virginia. They hired me prior to the 1998 season and I have been in Minor League Baseball ever since then.

BD.Com: How long were you with the Hillcats and what did you do?

Papierniak: I spent four seasons with the Carolina League’s Hillcats as the club’s Director of Group Sales and Promotions.
BD.Com: What college did you attend and what degree did you achieve?

Papierniak: I went to James Madison University located in Harrisburg, Virginia. I graduated with a BBA in Management in 1995.

BD.Com: What is the most challenging part of your current job?

Papierniak: This entire season has been a challenge with the extremely aggressive time-table to launch a team. The lack of time and having to do so much has been a constant challenge since we arrived in town in mid-September. I am fortunate to be surrounded by a terrific staff and able to pick the brains of two of the all-time greats in Chuck Domino and Todd (Parney) Parnell. That has made this difficult to impossible task, one that we accomplished.

BD.Com: What is the part of your job you enjoy the most?

Papierniak: There is so much that I enjoy that I cannot pick just one thing. I love the creativity and ability to put together a promotion and see it become reality. The energy and faces of both the employees and fans at each game (especially the children).

The ability to make a difference in the community is what I enjoy. The development of staff members and seeing them grow. Last but certainly not least, the opportunity to do things that not many thought was possible and create something out of nothing (I have had the opportunity to step into three straight rehab, launch or underperforming teams in Hagerstown, Daytona and Richmond and see each of those respective franchises do things that people did not expect).

BD.Com: Where were raised?

Papierniak: I was raised in Remington, Virginia, that is in Northern, VA. I went to Fauquier High School in Warrington, VA.

BD.Com: While attending college, what career were you considering before you entered baseball?

Papierniak: I ran a concrete plant after college for a little more than a year.

BD.Com: Are you married? Do you have any children?

Papierniak: Michelle and I have been married for thirteen years. We have three children: Trae, seven – Ainsley, five – and Adalyn, 6 months.

BD.Com: What are you most proud of during your career in baseball?

Papierniak: I am most proud of the organization we built in Daytona, Florida, the Daytona Cubs in the Florida State League and the launch of the team in Richmond, last year. Both were tasks that many people doubted we could reach the level we obtained.

BD.Com: What makes you successful at your job?

Papierniak: I hire good people and give them the tools to be successful. I have a clear concise vision and goals that are understood by the entire staff. I also create a fun atmosphere in both the office and at games. Paying attention to detail and working hard are my mottos.

BD.Com: When did you get interested in baseball? When did you see your first professional game?

Papierniak: I loved baseball ever since I was a kid. The first game I saw was the Prince William Pirates, in the Carolina League – (now Potomac Cannons) in Prince William County, Virginia. I went with my Little League team when I was eight or nine years old. (my dad was a coach)

BD.Com: What sports did you play in High School? Do you play any sports now?

Papierniak: I played baseball, basketball, football and I swam while in High School.
I did not play sports in college. I ran my first Monument Avenue 10K in Richmond, Virginia on April 2, 2011 and play some golf.

BD.Com: What is the most difficult part of your job?

Papierniak: The long hours. With young children, finding the balance is at times a challenge.

BD.Com: What are some of the most outstanding memories you have in your baseball career?

Papierniak: I have a few: selling out the Opening Day after taking over the Daytona Cubs as GM in 2005. It was the first sellout Daytona had seen in a decade and winning the Florida State League Championship in 2008.

Also, a sellout on Opening Day in Richmond last year and accomplishing launching a franchise in a mere seven months. The entire 2010 season in Richmond as we continued to better even the most aggressive goals that we set.

And winning the Bob Freitas Award, (Single A) Florida State League Executive of the year with the Daytona Cubs. The 2006 Larry MacPhail nomination, State of Florida Volunteer Organization of the year in 2009 and 2003 South Atlantic League Sales Executive of the Year with the Hagerstown Suns.

Also, all the friendships I have developed over the years and seeing former staff members and interns rise throughout the business.

BD.Com: What is your favorite ballpark to watch a game?

Papierniak: Wrigley Field – it was absolutely awe inspiring from Wrigleyville to the ivy walls to the crowd (it didn’t hurt that I had the chance to walk out onto the field and take in the entire atmosphere before the game)

I have enjoyed many MiL stadiums from Durham Bulls, Raleigh, NC (Athletic Park) to Lakewood Blue Crabs, Lakewood, NJ (First Energy Park) to Myrtle Beach Pelicans, Myrtle Beach, SC (BB&T Coastal Federal Field) to Lehigh Valley IronPigs, Allentown, PA (Gwinnett Stadium) etc. They all had something special about them.

BD.Com: What advice would you give a young person considering a career in baseball?

Papierniak: I would tell them to get an internship with a team while in college (if possible) and make sure that the internship allows real learning opportunities and not just “busy work”

Call or e mail as many teams as possible (and attend the Baseball Winter Meetings as well) to get your foot in the door with an internship. Once you have that, work hard and demonstrate that you will do whatever it takes to be a successful team player.

BD.Com: How do you deal with fans complaining about the poor play of some players?

Papierniak: I remind them that this is a developmental process and they are still working at honing their craft.

BD.Com: What was the biggest obstacle you overcame to get into baseball?

Papierniak: Knowing where to start looking. As someone who did not work in baseball right after college, I was not sure of the process and how to get that first job. Luckily, one of friends from college was already working in baseball and gave me a tutorial and my first interview.

BD.Com: We are losing kid to other sports like football and basketball. Fewer African/American players are now playing at the Major League level. What can baseball as an industry do to draw more kids to our great game?

Papierniak: Focus on specific programs targeted at drawing kids from all types of social-economic backgrounds and put forth an effort to make sure they are successful.

We currently work with all the Little Leagues in the area and offer clinics, etc to help create that connection. Additionally, we offer a Kids Club that is free to join and have numerous different events that are also free. We work closely with the schools on everything from educational programs to programs getting kids active.

We try and touch every child in our market through one or more programs and make ourselves available to regular appearances, etc (for example, we have visited one-hundred elementary schools for our reading program in the past month and a half for assemblies with the entire school)

BD.Com: What are your ambitions in baseball?

Papierniak: I do not have loftier goals than I have already achieved at this point – just to run as profitable and well-respected team as possible by doing things the right way and not taking short cuts (at the same time making a positive community impact).

BD.Com: Major League Baseball had a steroid problem a few years ago. How did your team or the MiL handle that problem?

Papierniak: It was not really an issue for our team – Minor League Baseball had testing. I had people ask about Major League players – but that is about it.

BD.Com: Should players who used steroids or found guilty of using be in the Hall of Fame?

Papierniak: I do not know that it is my place to pass along that judgment. The Hall of Fame is chosen by the the Baseball Writers Association and in my opinion, that is their decision to make – but they should be consistent either way.

BD.Com: What is your favorite baseball movie?

Papierniak: Bull Durham – having been in both the South Atlantic and Carolina Leagues, it was awesome to see all the ballparks that I would later see working in minor league baseball.

BD.Com: Are you a movie fan? What are a few of yur favorite movies?

Papierniak: I love movies. Meet the Parents, Hoosiers and Seven to give you three completely different genres.

BD.Com: In 2002, you won a “Veeckie”. What is it and what did you win it for?

Papierniak: It was for a unique promotion we did for the Hagerstown Suns in Hagerstown, Maryland provided by ESPN. The promotion was a funeral promotion.

BD. Com: Was that promotion the best one you have been associated with?

Papierniak: From a talk and buzz perspective, the funeral giveaway was the best. It had a lot of media and fan attention. This promotion received national attention, our phones were ringing nonstop. The gentleman who won it passed away a few years ago and the family took advantage of our giveaway. He was a former military man, a super nice guy, great family.

BD.Com: Which General Manager in baseball do you admire the most?

Papierniak: Chuck Domino. He is now the CEM. Chief Executive Manger for the Squirels. He was formerly the GM with the Reading Phillies.

BD,Com: What GM stands out for you, all-time in baseball?

Papierniak: Bill Veeck. He was a trailblazer in baseball, he pushed the envelope and thought out of the box.

Richie Zisk, a friend of mine played for the Chicago White Sox back in 1973 or 1974 with Bill Veeck as owner. Richie told some great stories about Bill who had the White Sox playing in shorts at home.

BD.Com: Do you follow any other sports?

Papierniak: Yes, I do. I am a huge football fan, season ticket holder for the Washington Redskins. I follow some College football teams, mostly the Florida Gators in Gainesville, FL

BD.Com: What is the most creative part of you?

Papierniak: My background was in Corporate Sales so coming up with unique ways for people to get their message, out using the minor league model as their vehicle is where I have been most creative over the years.

BD.Com: What do you do for relaxation after a hard day at work?

Papierniak: I go home and spend time with my wife and three children.

BD.Com: Do you have a favorite quote or motto you live by?

Papierniak: Give your very best. Give one-hundred percent and make it your best.

BD.Com: What are your thoughts on instant replay in the Major Leagues?

Papierniak: I am not a big fan of instant replay. Part of the game is that occasionally mistakes are made and they become part of the memories hat baseball has accumulated ed over the years. I think of he kid who stole the homerun at a Yankee-Oriole game.

The game is played by and judged by imperfect people but most of the time the people involved due amazing things and the umpires get things right most of the time, about ninety-nine percent.

BD.Com: Baseball is famous for its nicknames. Do you have one?

Papierniak: Some of the guys here call me Pap.

BD.Com: Do the Squirrels have a Buster Posey standout guy, someone who is a “sure thing” to make it to the Show?

Papierniak: Hard to say, our roster is not set yet but we are getting some guys from the California League champions, San Jose Giants. The Giants have high hopes for Brandon Crawford, shortstop who is a standout and could be in the Giants lineup before to long.

BD.Com: When you and your wife travel, what is your favorite place to go?

Papierniak: We like going to the Outer Banks in North Carolina. (b) I love to fish; it is quiet. no big buildings, no big crowds, like the way things were when I was growing up.

BD.Com: What do you do in the off-season?

Papierniak: Get ready for the next year. We started preparing for this year after
our last game last year, the day after Labor Day. The off-season is constant preporation for the following year. It is not the slow time when I first started.

BD.Com: When you were a kid, who were your favorite players? Team?

Papierniak: I followed the Yankees as a kid. Rickey Henderson was my favorite player because he had power and speed. Obviously, being an affiliate of the San Francisco Giants, they are the team I follow.

BD.Com: Of the modern players, who do you enjoy watching?

Papierniak: There are a lot of guys I like to watch but there is no one better than
Albert Pujols for pure hitting. For pitching, Tim Lincecom is fun to watch. He is such a little guy, to throw the way he does. I like watching Billy Wagner of the Atlanta Braves, also a little guy.

BD.Com: How about one of the older players from the past?

Papierniak: I loved watching David Cone of the New York Yankees. He could do so many odd things throwing off hitters, he was fun to watch. I also liked watching
Rob Dibble of the Cincinnati Reds. You never knew what was going to happen next when he pitched.

BD.Com: What is your favorite ballpark food to eat at your park?

Papierniak: I like the pork bar-b-que, it is terrific.

BD.Com: What is your best baseball memory?

Papierniak: There are a few, but opening the ballpark here was special. We had five to six months to launch a franchise and to sell out Opening Day. We put in a lot work, it was the most daunting tasks that I have ever been a part of, it was exhausting.

Also, when the Daytona Cubs won the League Championship in the Florida State League.It was the first time I had been involved on a team that won the Championship. And yes, we did get a ring.

BD.Com: What are a few of your interests outside baseball?

Papierniak: I am a big sports fan, I like watching football but my biggest interest is with my kids. Playing catch with my seven year old son, Trae, who is now playing Little League and he loves it. My son has grown up around ballplayers and loves coming to the park and playing catch with his dad. It is awesome!

My family likes to hike in the Appalachian mountains not to far from here. Without a doubt, my family is my number one interest.

(a) The name The Diamond was chosen from thousand of entrys in a regional contest. The Eastern League replace the Norwich Connecticut team in The Diamond for the 2010 season. The club committed more than two million dollars prior to the 2010 season to renovate the park. These included replacement of aluminum bleachers with 3164 state-of-the-art fold down seats and a new scoreboard. Capacity 9560.

Former stars who played here are Tom Glavine, David Justice, Chipper Jones and Mike Stanton.

(b) The Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina beginning in the Southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the East Coast of the United States.

Norm Coleman is a sports writer, actor and photographer. He lives in Half Moon Bay, CA.

Like Mantle, Murcer played shortstop poorly and was quickly moved to centerfield. He hit .365 in a 32 game stint in rookie ball in 1964 and followed with another .300 season and 16 home runs the following year at Greensboro of the Carolina League. He had cups of coffee in the Majors in both 1965 and 1966, but missed the next two seasons for military service.

When Murcer returned in 1969, his hero Mantle had retired and the 23-yr old was dubbed “the next Mantle”. It was an unfair expectation to put on any young player, but especially one who played the same position for the winning-est franchise in all of baseball. Murcer hit 26 home runs and drove in 82 runs in his first full season in the Bronx. Two years later he made his first All-Star team when he led the league with a .969 OPS, hit .331 to finish second in the batting race, and placed in the top 10 in the AL MVP voting.

Murcer began a streak of five straight AL-All Star Game appearances, won a Gold Glove, and smacked a career-high 33 home runs, but the Yankees continued to watch other teams win the AL East. In a doubleheader on June, 1970, he tied a Major League record by hitting four straight home runs in a doubleheader against the Cleveland Indians. Murcer, Thurman Munson, and Mel Stottelmyre were among the few stars that Yankees fans had to root for in the early 1970′s. Things changed later in the decade, but Murcer wouldn’t be a part of it. Yankee Stadium was remodeled in 1974 and 1975, so the Yankees were forced to play their home games at Shea Stadium. Murcer’s swing, customized for Yankee Stadium’s “short porch” in right field (294 ft.) was no match for the larger dimensions of the New York Mets’ home ball park.

Famed baseball writer Maury Allen, then of the New York Post, profiled Bobby Murcer, the Yankees Quiet Hero in a 1971 edition of Baseball Digest. Click here to read this classic article.

Murcer hit just 11 home runs in 1974 and saw his average drop 30 points from the year before. That winter, owner George Steinbrenner decided it was time to shake things up and dealt Murcer to the San Francisco Giants for Bobby Bonds in a swap of stars. Murcer only knew Yankeedom and was heartbroken.  He would also be miserable in cold, windy Candlestick Park for the next three seasons.  Murcer had a pair of 20+ home run seasons in 1976 and 1977 and watched as the Yankees reached the World Series for the first time since the mid-1960′s.

Prior to the start of spring training in 1977, Murcer was shipped to the Chicago Cubs as part of a swap for then-two time batting champion Bill Madlock. Murcer liked day baseball and the friendly confines of Wrigley Field. He hit 27 home runs in 1977, the most he had hit in five years, but slumped mightily the following season. In 1979 he got his wish though, a return to the Bronx on June 26 in a deal for a Yankees minor leaguer. Murcer’s old number 1 was now worn by manager Billy Martin, so Murcer suited up with number 27 (he quickly switched to number 2) as he stepped in against the Blue Jays in Toronto on the same day he was dealt. Happy to be back, Murcer went 2-4 with a run scored. But his happiness wouldn’t last long.

A little over a month later, one of his best friends, Thurman Munson, was killed in a plane crash while practicing take offs and landings at Akron-Canton airport. The two-time defending World Champion’s season perished right then and there with their captain and heart and soul of the team. Murcer delivered an eloquent eulogy at Munson’s funeral on August 6 in Canton, OH and the team returned that night to play the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. In front of a national television audience, Murcer paid tribute to his fallen friend with his bat. Trailing 4-0, Murcer hit a 3-run home run off of Dennis Martinez and then delivered a game winning 2-run single off of Tippy Martinez in the bottom of the 9th for an emotional 5-4 Yankees victory.

Murcer finally reached the playoffs with the Yankees in 1980 and his first World Series in 1981, though New York lost to the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games. In June, 1983, Murcer decided to retire from baseball and moved upstairs to the broadcast booth where he worked on and off for the next two decades, winning a trio of Emmy Awards. He also was part owner of the Triple-A Oklahoma City 89ers, became an anti-tobacco activist, headed the Baseball Assistance Team (B.A.T.), wrote his autobiography (Yankee for Life: My 40-Year Journey in Pinstripes) and was generally liked and beloved by everyone he came in contact with.

In Decemeber, 2006, Murcer was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and underwent surgery. He would battle the disease for nearly two years before succumbing on July 12, 2008. He was survived by his wife and high school sweetheart Kay, and his children Tori and Todd.

Also Born On This Day:

Jayson Werth (Springfield, IL 1979): The outfielder was born into a family of college stars in track, football, and soccer. His uncle, Dick Schofield, and his grandfather, Ducky Schofield, were Major League Baseball players and his step-father, Dennis Werth, also played in the Majors. Werth was selected by the Baltimore Orioles as the 22nd overall pick in the 1997 draft, but was later dealt to the Toronto Blue Jays. After spending time in the Blue Jays and Los Angeles Dodgers organizations, Werth became a star as a member of the Philadelphia Phillies. Werth averaged 29 home runs and 84 RBI from 2008-2010 before he left for a seven year, $126MM free agent contract with the Washington Nationals.

David Wells (Torrance, CA 1963): “Boomer” was a standout at Point Loma High School in San Diego before being chosen by the Toronto Blue Jays with the second pick of the second round (30th overall) in the 1982 amateur draft. After scuffling as a starter in the minor leagues, the Blue Jays moved Wells to the bullpen. The move paid off for both the organization and Wells, who became a fixture in the Blue Jays bullpen after he made his Major League debut in 1987. He was used as a spot starter by the Jays from 1990-1992 before he left the organization as a free agent to become a full-time starter for the Detroit Tigers. He went on to win 239 games for seven teams in his Major League career, World Series rings with the Blue Jays (1992) and Yankees (1998), and on May 17, 1998 tossed a perfect game against the Minnesota Twins. It was the first perfect game by a Yankee since his fellow Point Loma alum Don Larsen completed the feat in the 1956 World Series. Wells wrote a controversial autobiography, “Perfect I’m Not: Boomer on Beer, Brawls, Backaches and Baseball” in 2003, and was always outspoken and loved the night lifeduring his career. He retired after the 2007 season, and can now be heard on TBS baseball broadcasts.

Like Baseball Digest on Facebook

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Though minor league statistics throughout history can be hard to verify in some respects, there is a possibility that Hall of Fame pitcher Joe McGinnity has the greatest number of victories at the minor league level as any other pitcher in the Hall of Fame. More impressive, most of these victories came after his big league stint.

Joe McGinnity, born on March 20th, 1871 in Cornwall Township, Illinois, played seven seasons at the minor league level(though numbers for only one season is available) before joining the Baltimore Orioles and leading the league with 28 wins in 1899. Over the course of a ten year career(spent mostly with the New York Giants), McGinnity led the league in victories five times, led the league in innings four times, and led the league in games started six times. His 246 career wins ranks him 46th all-time, and his career 2.66 ERA ranks him 66th all-time, 103 years after his last MLB season.

McGinnity holds the distinction of pitching both ends  of a doubleheader several times, to solidify the nickname “Iron Man”, earned reportedly when he mentioned that he was an iron man by trade.

In an August 1955 issue of Baseball Digest, Pat Harmon wrote about Joe McGinnity’s ‘Iron Man’ ability of pitching both ends of a doubleheader! Click here to check it out!

At the age of 37, McGinnity was the fourth oldest player in the big leagues and it was his last season at the highest level.  It was just the beginning of his second career in the minor leagues, however. He played 14 seasons(over 18 years) with nine different teams, and earned 207 victories in the minors between 1909 and 1925.  He won 20 or more games 7 times, including 29 and 30 wins in his first two seasons with the Newark Indians of the Eastern League.   In total, McGinnity won more than 450 games(the exact number depends on the source) in his professional career.  He passed away in 1929 of bladder cancer, just four years after his last season in the minor leagues.

Also Born Today:

George Altman(b.1933) spent nine seasons in the big leagues, primarily as a member of the Chicago Cubs. He had a career year in 1961 when he knocked in more runs than teammates Ron Santo, Ernie Banks, and Billy Williams. Though he hit just 101 home runs in his MLB career, he slugged 205 between 1968-1975 while playing ball in Japan.

Stan Spence(1915-1983) played nine seasons, most notably as a member of the Washington Senators.  Despite missing the 1945 season to service in World War II, Spence averaged 14 homers and 84 RBI on his career. He was a four time All-Star, and also had two stints with the Boston Red Sox.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com and he can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com. You can also follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!

NL East

Atlanta: Superstar-in-the-making Jason Heyward returned to the Braves’ lineup yesterday after sitting out the the last four games due to a sore back. Heyward saw a specialist on Wednesday for further evaluation. “He told me it’s bone structure vs. muscle or anything like that, nothing to be torn,” said Heyward, who hasn’t played since his back stiffened Saturday in batting practice, a scheduled day off for him. “If I can’t tear anything or do anything worse, I’ll play, and that’s what I told Fredi (Gonzalez).”

Florida: The Marlins may have a makeshift outfield in their lineup on opening day. Another superstar in the making, Mike Stanton, has yet to play in a spring game after injuring his quad in an exhibition game against the U. of Miami. While he has taken some at-bats in minor league games, he’s been replaced by a pinch-runner each time he gets on base. On Thursday, Chris Coghlan was sidelined with tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. Manager Edwin Rodriguez has not ruled out Coghlan starting the season on the DL.

Free agent pitcher Javier Vazquez was scratched from a Tuesday start due to elbow soreness, but threw a bullpen session on Wednesday and felt fine afterwards. He’s scheduled to start against St. Louis tomorrow. Fellow starter Anibal Sanchez is expected to pitch in Sunday’s game after being out since March 10 after a comebacker bruised his shin. Their potential battery mate, John Baker, is day-to-day with a muscle strain near his right throwing elbow. He can swing the bat, but so far he has been prohibited from throwing.

New York: Things have been rough in Metsville and they may get rougher. Reports surfaced this week that ace Johan Santana was behind schedule in his recovery from shoulder surgery. The Mets have denied the report, which specifically stated that Santana’s bullpen sessions were not going as planned. Whatever the case, Santana will be on the DL (as expected) to start the season. Carlos Beltran has been slowed by left knee tendinitis and might start the season on the DL. GM Sandy Alderson is contemplating not having Beltran play any additional spring games so that the DL time can be backdated.

Philadelphia: All-Star 2nd baseman Chase Utley continues to be bothered by patellar tendinitis and chondromalacia in his right knee and sought out assistance from a specialist on Thursday. GM Ruben Amaro Jr. is hoping Utley can avoid surgery. “We’re doing everything we possibly can to have him not get into a surgery,” Amaro said. “Until we stop seeing progress, then we’ll continue to exhaust all those possibilities.”

Third baseman Placido Polanco had to leave Wednesday’s game after hyperextending the same elbow he had surgery on in November. He’s expected to be back in the lineup in a few days. Closer Brad Lidge is day-to-day with muscle soreness in his right bicep, but Amaro is not worried since Lidge has already thrown a good number of innings. Finally, prospect Domonic Brown was lost for the season after he broke the hamate bone in his right hand and underwent surgery.

Washington: Chien-Ming Wang continues to try to come back from 2009 shoulder surgery. He’s been limited to a pair of bullpen sessions, including one this past Tuesday, so the Nationals have not been able to set a timetable for his return. 3rd baseman Ryan Zimmerman strained his groin on Monday and has sat out since. He’s expected to return to action next week and said he would have played had it been during the regular season.

NL Central

Chicago: Angel Guzman will miss the start of the season and won’t be back until mid-April at the earliest, as he recovers from a tear in his throwing shoulder.

Cincinnati: Johnny Cueto had to leave his start last Friday with stiffness in his right bicep, but after having a throwing session yesterday, he’s expected to return to the mound on Saturday.

Houston: Earlier this month, the Astros lost their starting catcher, Juan Castro, for the year with torn ligaments in his knee. Infielder Jeff Keppinger is no longer hampered by the walking boot he’s been wearing since he underwent foot surgery to remove the sesamoid bone in his left foot. He’s hoping to be back in the Astros lineup in mid-May. Wandy Rodriguez, who signed a new deal this winter, has been bothered by shoulder tendinitis and was scratched from his last start. But the right-hander threw a side session this morning and is good to go.

Milwaukee: The Brewers were hoping to get off to a good start with their 1-2-3 punch of Zack Greinke, Shaun Marcum, and Yovanni Gallardo, but Greinke injured his ribs playing pick up basketball and is out until mid-April. Outfielder Corey Hart may miss opening day due to a strained rib cage. He took swings off a batting tee on Tuesday, but still doesn’t feel right. ”It’s still not coming as fast as I want it to,” Hart said. “It won’t go away. I still can’t go full-speed on anything. Hitting off the tee is fine, but I can’t amp it up the way I know I can. I can throw, but as soon as I have to do a quick move or let it go, it kills.” Catcher Jonathan Lucroy may or may not be ready to catch on opening day. He’ll undergo surgery on Monday to remove pins that were placed in his hand when he broke his pinky finger during a catching drill back in February.

Pittsburgh: Reliever Joe Beimel has been out since early March with pain in his left forearm, but has been cleared to pitch against the Orioles this coming Monday. Catcher Ryan Doumit has missed a week with a strained oblique, but is expected to be back in the lineup today.

St. Louis: Utility infielder Nick Punto underwent surgery in February for a sports hernia and is out until at least mid-April. The Cardinals’ most devastating injury was, of course, losing starter Adam Wainwright to Tommy John surgery.

NL West

Arizona: Infielder Geoff Blum will miss a few days with a swollen right knee that he strained earlier in the week.  Zach Duke, who was competing for the #5 spot in the rotation, is out until May after a line drive broke two bones in his pitching hand.

Colorado: Aaron Cook was already starting the season on the DL due to shoulder inflammation, but then slammed and broke his finger in a car door and is out until May. 3rd baseman Ian Stewart is day-to-day with a sprained right knee. Eric Young Jr. is back competing for the utility position after sitting out all spring with a broken tibia.

Los Angeles: The Dodgers were expected to be competitive  because of their starting pitching, but have suffered two injuries already. Jon Garland is out until mid-April with a strained oblique, and Vicente Padilla is lost until late April/early May with forearm surgery.

San Diego: Outfielder Kyle Banks returned from a 10-month absence after undergoing Tommy John surgery, and he served as the DH on Monday. He is a certainty to start the season on the DL. Starter Tim Stauffer is still hurting from a strained hip flexor and missed his scheduled start today. He’s listed as day-to- day. Southpaw Joe Thatcher was scheduled to undergo an MRI today on his ailing left shoulder. Thatcher hasn’t appeared in a game this spring and is headed to the DL as well.

San Francisco: Starter Matt Cain returned from a nearly two-week absence caused by elbow inflammation to throw three scoreless innings on Monday. Just like their AL counterparts, the defending NL pennant (and World Series) champions are in good shape to start the season.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

Those words were spoken by the late, great Tom Cheek, the “voice” of my hometown Toronto Blue Jays on October 23, 1993. And he was right: Joe Carter never hit a bigger home run than the one that won the second consecutive World Series title for the Blue Jays. Being seven years old and having a babysitter that night, I wasn’t allowed to stay up and see the home run live (thanks Mom and Dad!), but I remember the days that followed vividly. Toronto was simply on fire, and the parade down University Avenue was an outpouring of love for our heroes. With that one swing Joe Carter, a baseball player from Oklahoma, had joined the ranks of Gretzky, Lemieux, and so many other hockey players as one of Canada’s greatest sports heroes.

What people outside of Toronto often forget is that Carter was more than the guy who hit one of the most famous home runs in history. He was a regular 30-home run, 100-RBI machine, won a pair of Silver Sluggers, and played in five all-star games. Today, Baseball Digest looks back at Joe Carter’s career on his 51st birthday.

Carter was born in Oklahoma City and played his college baseball at Wichita State University, winning College Player of the Year in 1981. The Chicago Cubs selected him second overall in the 1981 draft. Within two years, Carter had reached the big leagues; however, he only appeared in 23 games for the Cubs in 1983. Carter began 1984 back at triple-A Iowa, and was traded to the Cleveland Indians in June as part of the deal that brought Rick Sutcliffe to Chicago. He would then spend the rest of 1984 in Cleveland, hitting .275 with 13 home runs.

The 1990 blockbuster trade that sent Joe Carter from San Diego to Toronto sent shockwaves throughout the baseball world.  Dan Schlossberg wrote about the trade in Baseball Digest’s May 1991 issue.  Click here to check it out!

In 1986, Carter broke out to lead the American League with 121 RBI while hitting a career-best .302 and reaching the 200 hit mark for the only time in his career. The following year, Carter posted a 30-30 season, becoming the first Indian to achieve that feat. Despite his power numbers and acute base running, the Indians were concerned with Carter’s defensive play. Following the 1989 season he was traded to the San Diego Padres for a package including future Indians stars Carlos Baerga and Sandy Alomar, Jr.

After one season out west, where his numbers fell off at Jack Murphy Stadium, the Padres and the Toronto Blue Jays completed a blockbuster trade that changed the course of both franchises. In a swap of four marquee names, the Padres sent Carter and a young second baseman named Roberto Alomar to Toronto in exchange for Fred McGriff and Tony Fernandez. While the Padres ignited a fire sale two years later that was led by trades of McGriff and Fernandez, Carter and Alomar formed the nucleus of the Blue Jays’ championship clubs.

Carter was finally noticed in 1991 when he hit 33 home runs, won a Silver Slugger award and made his first of five All-Star teams. Along with Alomar and fellow newcomer Devon White, Carter immediately became a star in Toronto and earned his place as one of the most popular Blue Jays. In 1992, he finished third in MVP voting and was again an All-Star, while playing a key role in helping the Blue Jays franchise shed its tag as the team that couldn’t win.  He was a key contributor to the Blue Jays’ first World Series win in 1992(hitting .273 with 2 home runs), and made the final out of the Series playing first base. After the game, Carter said that he would be part of Toronto history forever after being involved in the final out. Nobody could have known he’d play an even bigger role in history the following October.

After spurning a free-agent offer from his off-season hometown of Kansas City, Carter returned to Toronto and had another solid, 30-home run season in 1993. His heroics in game six of the World Series overshadowed his regular season by a great deal. Down 6-5 in the bottom of the ninth inning with two men on base and staring at a game seven, Carter strode to the plate to face the erratic Mitch Williams of the Philadelphia Phillies.  After working the count to two and two, he took a pitch that was low and inside — Williams later said it was a “terrible pitch” — and jacked it into the Blue Jays left-field bullpen.  In one magical moment, all 52,000 fans at SkyDome and an entire country (minus Expos fans) were in a complete frenzy.

Joe Carter’s home run remains the moment that defines not just Blue Jays baseball, but baseball in Canada.  The image of Carter bouncing around the bases like a kid in his backyard after hitting the Series-winning home run is one of the most iconic images of the 1990s, and in the game’s history on both sides of the border. Tom Cheek’s call of his home run remains one of the most celebrated sports calls in Canada’s sports history. I still remember waking up the next morning and watching the home run on video, then mimicking Carter’s jumping around the bases all over my living room.

The Blue Jays franchise began a freefall after the high of back-to-back titles and as the franchise went south, so did Carter’s production. While still hitting his career averages in home runs and RBI, and continuing to lead the club in both categories in 1994 and 1995, the overall decline in his numbers were noticeable. Carter began to see more time at both first base and designated hitter, as his fielding difficulties became more noticeable with age. In 1997, his final season with the Blue Jays, Carter hit only .234 while popping just 21 home runs. After longtime manager Cito Gaston was fired with five games remaining, Carter showed his displeasure with the move by switching from his longtime number 29 to Gaston’s 43 for the remaining games.

Carter signed with the Baltimore Orioles for the 1998 season for what was subsequently his final campaign. In July, Carter was traded to the San Francisco Giants and gave them some power off the bench during a Wild Card race. The Giants lost a one-game Wild Card playoff at the end of the season to Carter’s original team, the Chicago Cubs. Fittingly, the final at-bat of Joe Carter’s career was a pop-out to first base at Wrigley Field – his first big-league ballpark – that ended the game and clinched the Wild Card for the Cubs.

Carter retired after 16 seasons, seven with the Blue Jays, with a career average of .259, 396 home runs, and 1,445 runs batted in. He averaged 162 hits and 29 home runs per season. Carter left the Blue Jays in 1997 with 203 home runs, which was at the time a club record – only one home run higher than George Bell. His mark has since been passed by both Carlos Delgado and Vernon Wells. Carter remains in the top ten in nearly every Blue Jays offensive category.

Today Carter remains a fixture in the Toronto area, spending his time on many charity projects including an annual golf tournament, and often can be seen at Blue Jays games.  He has often been quoted as calling Toronto his “second home”. His status as a sports icon in Toronto, and across the entire country of Canada, has remained strong since his retirement. His name and number 29 was placed in the Blue Jays’ Level of Excellence at Rogers Centre in 1999, and he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame in St. Mary’s, Ontario in 2003.

Also Born Today:

Jeff Kent turns 43 today. Probably best known for his six tumultuous seasons hitting with Barry Bonds in San Francisco, Kent was a three-time Silver Slugger winner and won the 2000 NL Most Valuable Player award. He also played for the Blue Jays, Mets, Indians, Astros and Dodgers over his 17-year career, and finished his career with 377 home runs. Kent should be considered in the discussion of the best offensive second basemen in history. Despite being traded for David Cone in August of 1992, the Blue Jays gave Kent what turned out to be his only World Series ring after winning the title in his rookie season.

Jeff Burroughs turns 60 today. The native of Long Beach played outfield for the Senators, Rangers, Braves, Mariners, Athletics and Blue Jays over a 16-year career. Drafted first overall by Washington in 1969, Burroughs won the AL Most Valuable Player in 1974 with Texas – just his second full season in the major leagues. He finished his career with 240 home runs and 882 RBI.

Simon Sharkey-Gotlieb, a proud Canadian baseball fan, has joined the staff at BaseballDigest.com as an intern for the 2011 season.

Follow Simon on Twitter.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!

It would be four years before Vance returned to the Major Leagues. That’s when the Brooklyn Robins (who would later become the Dodgers) bought him from the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association. No longer a kid at 31, Vance started to become the player that would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 1955.

He won 86 games in a four year stretch, and led the league in victories in 1924 (28) and 1925 (22). He would average just under 15 wins a game over the next seven seasons (topping 20 wins one more time in 1928), leading the league in ERA twice. From 1922-1928 Vance led the National League in strikeouts, topping the 200 mark three times. Nothing topped the ’24 season though when Vance led the NL in every major category and captured the MVP award.

Vance spent parts of the 1933-34 seasons with St. Louis, which does indeed mean the Cardinals had a Dizzy (Dean), Daffy (Dean), and Dazzy on their roster. Dazzy actually was given his nickname as a child though his given name differs depending on the source. Baseball-Reference.com has him listed as Charles Arthur Vance while the Baseball Hall of Fame has him listed as Clarence Arthur Vance. His biography points out the reason for the confusion (toh to Neil of Baseball Reference). At birth, no first name is listed- apparently the doctor left before Dazzy’s parents chose a first name. His mother Sarah kept the children’s names (they had six) in a bible and listed it as “Charles Arthur Vance”. However, about the time he started playing minor league ball, Dazzy started going by “Arthur Charles Vance”.

Later on as a Major Leaguer, he jokingly told a reporter (who was unaware) that his real name was “Clarence”, which led to him being  known as either “Arthur Clarence Vance” or “Clarence Arthur Vance”.  However, when the BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1955, Vance told them to use “Arthur Charles Vance”. He may be Dazzy, but I can’t blame you if you are dizzy right now. As for the Dazzy nickname, the Vances had a neighbor who would mispronounce the word “daisy” as dazzy. He also meant it as “Isn’t she a beaut? (daisy)”. As a child Dazzy picked up on the expression, was tagged with the nickname and it stuck.

Michael Gaven of the New York Journal-American wrote “His Curve Was The Most”, an article discussing Vance’s great curveball that helped pave the way to his 1955 election to the Hall. Click here to read all about it.

Vance was also part of the infamous “three men at 3rd base” play. With Vance on 2nd base and Chick Fewster at 1st, Babe Herman hit a gapper in the outfield. The 3rd base coach yelled for Herman to hold up because he would catch Fewster, but Herman didn’t hear him and continued on. Unfortunately, Vance did hear him, thinking it was intended for him, stopped on the way home and returned to 3rd…where he met Fewster and Herman. The two were tagged out for a double play while Vance was ruled safe. Truly Dazzy.

Vance retired after returning to Brooklyn for one more season in 1935 (he was 44-yrs old). He finished with 197 career wins, a 3.24 ERA, one no-hitter, and 2,045 strikeouts. He passed away in 1961.

Also Born Today

Lefty O’Doul (1897-1969): Born Francis Joseph in San Francisco, CA, O’Doul was a .349 career hitter (.945 OPS) as a member of the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Phillies, and Dodgers from 1919-1934. His best season was in 1929 when he finished second in the NL MVP voting after he hit .398 with 32 HR, 122 RBI, and 254 hits.

Like Vance, O’Doul’s career did not take off until he was in his 30′s. In addition to playing the outfield, he also pitched 34 games (all but one in relief), with 23 of the appearances for the Red Sox in 1923.  He played the inaugural All-Star game in 1933 and retired after the following season.

Drew Sarver is a senior writer  for BaseballDigest.com.  You can also read his work at his blog, My Pinstripes. He can be contacted at mypinstripes@gmail.com and can be followed on Twitter at @BD_Sarver and @MyPinstripes.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!

Nearly eighty years before Major League Baseball included an organized player’s union, John Montgomery Ward established the very first player’s union.  Though it was another eight decades before players had their voices heard, the eventual Hall of Famer Monte Ward left his impression on baseball history by challenging the Reserve Clause in 1885.  It was just the beginning of a long fight for Ward to establish player’s rights.

Born on March 3rd, 1860 Monte Ward entered college at the age of 13 and started playing ball at Penn State University.  Several years later, when he was trying to establish a career for himself, he signed with the Providence Grays of the National League.  At age 18 in 1878, Ward won 22 games and led the league with a 1.71 ERA. In his first three season he notched 108 wins, but it was also the peak of his pitching career.  Due to an arm injury he eventually switched to shortstop.  In nine seasons as the every day shortstop, Ward hit .293 and swiped more than 500 bases.

Though a solid all around baseball player, Ward’s Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players and the subsequent Player’s League is what he is best remembered for.  In the winter of 1888, the owners of the NL teams met and established a player ranking system that determined a player’s salary.  The highest salary of a player was $2,500 and an owner’s sale of a player sparked outrage from Monte Ward.

Following the 1888 season, after Ward and the New York Giants won the World Series, the team elected to sell Ward to the Washington Nationals for a sum of $12,000. Ward refused and demanded a meeting with owners to garner a slice of the fee being exchanged. The owners shelved talks until the end of the 1889 season(which Ward’s Giants again won the World Series), hoping the put an end to the complaint.

In a May 1964 issue of Baseball Digest, Edward Pierce highlights “What They Wrote About Monte Ward”. Click here to check it out!

Instead, Monte Ward went ahead and used business contacts to set up the Player’s League, a league that comprised of eight teams with many star players that played in the National League the year before.  The league was a moderate success in some cities, but struggled with owners that were cautious of the future of the league and the league lasted just one season.  Major League Baseball officially recognized the PL as a major league during its one year stint, in 1968.

The attempt by Monte Ward to establish a new league without a Reserve Clause or player classifications is impressive on a number of levels.  New professional leagues crop up throughout the years, but usually never with the star power that the Player’s League carried. Hall of Famers King Kelly, Old Hoss Radbourn, Buck Ewing, and Charles Comiskey among many others either played or managed in the PL. On the flip side, the failure of the PL set players back nearly 9 decades with regard to the Reserve Clause and other player’s rights.

Like the rest of his newly formed league, Ward returned to the National League and was a player/manager for the final four years of his career in the big leagues.  After his playing days, Ward worked as a lawyer representing ballplayers and had a owner role with the Boston Braves before getting involved with the Federal League in 1914.  In retirement he established the New York Golf Association as well as the Long Island Golf Association.  Ward passed away on March 4th, 1925, and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964.

Also Born On This Day:

Hall of Famer Willie Keeler(b.1872) was a nineteen year veteran who spent the bulk of his career playing in New York with the Highlanders, Superbas and Giants. His .341 career batting average ranks 14th all time in Major League Baseball history.  In 1897, Keeler led the league with a .424 average! He died in 1923 and was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1939.

Scott Radinsky(b.1962) played eleven seasons with the Chicago White Sox, Cleveland Indians, St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers.  His career was nearly derailed when he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Disease.  He missed the entire 1994 season undergoing treatment and returned to form by 1996.  After retirement following the 2001 season, Radinsky has worked as a coach in the minor leagues and off the field he’s a member of a punk rock band, “Pulley”.

Michael Maher is a senior writer for BaseballDigest.com.  He can be reached at MinorLeagueSpotlight@Gmail.com or you can follow him on Twitter @BD_Maher.

“Like” Baseball Digest on Facebook!

Follow Baseball Digest on Twitter!