2019 starts in a few hours, so to welcome the new year, here’s an installment of baseball in year 9s. From Roger Connor to Hideki Matsui, baseball has taken a wild ride in year 9s.
1889: Managed by Jim Mutrie, first baseman Roger Connor and the New York Giants topped the National League, a game ahead of the Boston Beaneaters, winning the league championship with an 83-43 record. They shared their city with the American Association Champs, the Brooklyn Bridegrooms, led by outfielder Oyster Burns and managed by Bill McGunnigle, who topped their faction of baseball with a staggering 93-44 record. They played each other in a primitive form of the World Series, the Giants winning six games to three. 1899: Finishing eight games above the second-place Beaneaters, another Brooklyn team took home a league title in this ‘99: the Brooklyn Superbas led the National League with a record of 101-47. In May of that season (May 15, 1899), Brooklyn’s Wee Willie Keeler hit an inside-the-park grand slam to win a game over the rival third-place Philadelphia Phillies. 1909: The classic seven-game World Series between the gentleman Honus Wagner’s Pittsburgh Pirates and the dastardly Ty Cobb’s Detroit Tigers took place in this year. Despite losing the series, Cobb made history that year for compiling baseball first Hitter’s Triple Crown since Nap Lajoie of the 1901 Philadelphia Athletics. On July 19, Neal Ball of the Cleveland Naps turned the first unassisted triple play in the history of Major League Baseball. 1919: Scandal struck the 1919 season when after the Cincinnati Reds took home their first World Series trophy in a five to three series win over the Chicago White Sox, it was revealed that the powerful representatives of the American League, now nicknamed the “Black Sox,” had purposefully lost the series to the seemingly inferior National League team. Gangster Arnold Rothstein had bribed players into throwing the series to receive more money than they would have received for winning the series in the first place. Eight players from that Black Sox’ team were banned from baseball for life, the most notable suspension being handed to, as anyone who’s ever seen the 1989 classic baseball movie starring Kevin Costner, Ray Liotta, and James Earl Jones, “Field of Dreams” can tell you, Shoeless Joe Jackson. During this year, Rube Foster began plans to form the Negro Leagues. 1929: Despite being named the MLB’s Most Valuable Player, second baseman Rogers Hornsby could not bring his Chicago Cubs to win the World Series Championship they would chase so fervently until the early morning of the November 3, 2016. Instead, the Cubs lost the series in five games to Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, and Lefty Grove’s Philadelphia Athletics, managed by the genius, Connie Mack. This was the final time in the World Series era (1906 and 1922 preceding it) that Boston held last place in both the American and National Leagues, the Red Sox at the bottom of the AL at 58-96, and the Braves at the bottom of the NL at 56-98. In the Negro Leagues, at a staggering 66-14 record, the Kansas City Monarchs won their fourth of 12 Negro National League titles. 1939: In this year, the Reds’ Bucky Walters (the National League Most Valuable Player) became the first National League pitcher since the Brooklyn Robins’ Dazzy Vance in 1924 to win the Pitcher’s Triple Crown. His Reds lost the World Series in four games to the American League MVP, Joe DiMaggio, and the New York Yankees. The National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York (incidentally, where I’m writing this edition of this annual article from) inducted its second class, including Cap Anson, Eddie Collins, Charles Comiskey, Candy Cummings, Buck Ewing, Lou Gehrig, Willie Keeler, Charles Radbourn, George Sisler, and Al Spalding. The American League won the MLB All-Star Game 3-1 at Yankee Stadium, the West won the first Negro League All-Star Game 4-2 at Comiskey Park, and the East won the second Negro League All-Star Game 10-2 in New York City. The Monarchs won their sixth Negro National League Pennant and the Baltimore Elite Giants won their first of two Negro American League titles. 1949: Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox in the AL and Jackie Robinson of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the NL won their respective MVP Awards. Robinson lost the World Series to the crosstown rival New York Yankees four games to one in an unexciting World Series exhibition. The Rockford Peaches won their second of three consecutive and third of four total championships to win the All-American Girls’ Professional Baseball League, defeating the Grand Rapids Chicks three games to one. The American League won the MLB All-Star Game at Ebbets Field 11-7 and the East won the Negro League All-Star Game 4-0 in Chicago. The Baltimore Elite Giants won their second and final Negro American League title. On June 15, future MLB manager Dusty Baker was born. On July 21, future terrifying closer Al Hrabosky, and a week later future Oakland Ace Vida Blue were born. On September 27, considered maybe the greatest third baseman of all-time, Mike Schmidt was born. 1959: Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers won their first World Series as the Los Angeles Dodgers, beating the AL MVP Nellie Fox and the Chicago White Sox four games to two. The Chicago Cubs’ Ernie Banks won the NL MVP. While Bob Allison of the Washington Senators took home the Rookie of the Year Award, future first-ballot Hall of Famer Willie McCovey won the award for the San Francisco Giants. On April 22 of this year, future two-time World Series Champion manager Terry Francona was born. On October 21, future Canadian Baseball Hall of Famer George Bell was born. 1969: A wild year for the entire world, this year involved Woodstock, Neil Armstrong set his foot on the moon, and, possibly the most unlikely of all, the New York Mets won the World Series. Only seven years old, the franchise with Tom Seaver and a young Nolan Ryan secured its first Championship with a “Miracle Mets” victory in five games over the Baltimore Orioles. Willie McCovey, the Rookie of the Year ten years prior, was the MVP of the All-Star Game at Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, which the NL won 9-3. McCovey also won the NL MVP and Harmon Killebrew of the Minnesota Twins won it in the AL. Early in the decade, San Francisco Giants’ pitcher and teammate of McCovey, Gaylord Perry, conjectured that men would never walk on the moon. Being a terrible hitter, he said, “They will put a man on the moon before I hit a home run.” On July 20 of this season, just minutes after Armstrong stamped his foot and the American flag on the lunar surface, Perry knocked a solo blast over the fence in the Giants’ 7-3 win over Los Angeles Dodgers in San Fran at Candlestick Park. 1979: Led by the co-NL MVP Willie Stargell (the other was the St. Louis Cardinals’ Keith Hernandez) the Pittsburgh Pirates won the Fall Classic in seven games over Ken Singleton of the Baltimore Orioles. Stargell also won the World Series MVP Award. The AL MVP was Don Baylor of the California Angels. The Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dave Parker won the All-Star Game MVP in the NL’s 7-6 victory at the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington. 1989: This would be the second of three consecutive American League Championships for the Oakland Athletics, but this would be the only one of these times that they won the World Series, beating the San Francisco Giants in a series sweep. The Series was interrupted by the Loma Prieta Earthquake which collapsed part of the Bay Bridge. This occurred just minutes before Game Three was scheduled to start. The natural disaster temporarily knocked out the television feed and prompted both teams to venture onto the field for safety and the umpires and Major League Baseball decided to postpone the game until ten days later on October 27. A’s pitcher Dave Stewart won the Series MVP. The MVPs were Kevin Mitchell of the Giants in the NL and Robin Yount of the Milwaukee Brewers in the AL. The Kansas City Royals’ Bo Jackson was the MVP of the All-Star Game at Anaheim Stadium, which the AL won 5-3. Jackson and Wade Boggs of the Boston Red Sox led off the bottom of the first with back-to-back home runs off of the Giants’ Rick Reuschel. 1999: The New York Yankees, led by their young stars Derek Jeter, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Mariano Rivera, and veteran Roger Clemens, won the World Series in four games over the Atlanta Braves (with their young, new third baseman future Hall of Famer Chipper Jones). The Braves had just won their eighth of 14 consecutive division titles. Jones was the NL MVP and Iván “Pudge” Rodriguez of the Texas Rangers was the AL MVP. The AL won the All-Star Game 4-1 at Fenway Park. Boston Red Sox’ ace Pedro Martinez was the MVP after a historic start, striking out five of the six batters he faced, striking out the first four: Barry Larkin, Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, and Mark McGwire, and finishing on Jeff Bagwell. Two of those five, Larkin and Bagwell, would make it into Cooperstown, and the two of the other three would probably be alongside them if their steroid use had never come out (Walker is still on the Hall of Fame ballot). 2009: World Series MVP Hideki Matsui (and Jeter, Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Alex Rodriguez, and Rivera) led his New York Yankees to a four games to two World Series victory over Ryan Howard, Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley, and the defending champion Philadelphia Phillies. The Minnesota Twins’ catcher Joe Mauer won the AL MVP Award and the St. Louis Cardinals’ first baseman Albert Pujols won the NL MVP Award. Andrew Bailey of the Oakland Athletics won the AL Rookie of the Year and Chris Coghlan of the Florida Marlins won the NL Rookie of the Year. The Boston Red Sox’ right-handed starting pitcher Daisuke Matsuzaka led Team Japan to their second World Baseball Classic Championship defeating South Korea 5-3 in ten innings at Dodger Stadium in the Final. 2019: Right around the corner, tomorrow, January 1, 2019, will start a story just as great as the previous 13 decades mentioned in this article. Already looking exciting, 2019 will feature Bryce Harper apart from his Washington Nationals, possibly, and now joining any one of many exciting teams, Paul Goldschmidt with the St. Louis Cardinals instead of the Arizona Diamondbacks, Manny Machado playing for, at this point, anyone, Yasiel Puig leading a brand new Cincinnati Reds roster, and Mookie Betts taking his reigning World Champion Boston Red Sox for another spin. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball In Year 9s: Welcoming 2019” December 31, 2018
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2018 starts in a few hours, so to welcome the new year, here’s an installment of baseball in year 8s. From Charlie Comiskey to Chase Utley, baseball has taken a wild ride in year 8s.
1888: The St. Louis Browns held the best record in all of baseball. Atop the American Association at 92-43, the Browns were better than any team in the American Association or National League. Led by player manager Charlie Comiskey, the Browns helped pave the way for decades of great 8 baseball. 1898: Five years before winning the first World Series, the Boston Beaneaters, later named the Red Sox, had the best record in baseball at 102-47. Future Hall of Famers Hugh Duffy and Slidin’ Billy Hamilton led the team to their abundant victories. 1908: 1908 was the last time until 2016, 106 years, that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. In October of that year, not only was the first game between an all-American team and an all-Japanese team played, but singer Billy Murray (eerily similar to the name of the most famous Cubs fan alive, comedic actor Bill Murray) introduced the world to “Take Me Out To The Ballgame,” and Baseball’s Sad Lexicon led the Cubbies to 4-1 series victory over the Detroit Tigers. The Cubs were led by a trio of infielders: Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance. The poem about the 3 may happen to be what put them all in the Hall of Fame, however Baseball’s Sad Lexicon did more to cause anguish to the Cubs’ opponents.: These are the saddest of possible words: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” Trio of bear cubs, and fleeter than birds, Tinker and Evers and Chance. Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making a Giant hit into a double Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble: “Tinker to Evers to Chance.” The poem describes that if a ball comes anywhere near 1 of these 3 greats, all hopes of getting on base vanished. The smug Tigers thought that they would walk all over Chicago, but the Detroit crowd would be silenced in 5 games. The next year, 1908, would mark the last Cubs World Series victory for 108 until November 2 and 3, 2016. 1918: This may possibly be the most hated season in Boston Red Sox’ history, considering that right after the season ended, BoSox’ owner Harry Frazee traded arguably the greatest baseball player of all-time, George Herman “Babe” Ruth, to their hated rivals, the New York Yankees. Beantown took the World Series (their last one until 2004, an 84 year drought called “The Curse of the Great Bambino”) 4 games to 2 over the Cubs led by Ruth. 1928: Taking the Cards down in four, the New York Yankees’ Murderers’ Row easily won the World Series led by Lou Gehrig, Tony Lazzeri and the great Bambino. With the best record in all of Major League Baseball at 101-53, the Bronx Bombers were an unstoppable force that continues to dominate baseball to this day. At 68-25, the St. Louis Stars led the Negro National League that same year, with a wide margin over the 49-31 Kansas City Monarchs. 1938: While the fearsome Yankees, now led by rookie Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio, swept the North Side Cubbies in the Fall Classic, 1938 was an unusual year for baseball. On June 11, the Cincinnati Reds’ Johnny Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Bees at Crosley Field in Cincy and he made history on June 15 of that same year in Brooklyn when he no-hit the Dodgers, becoming the only man in baseball history ever to pitch two consecutive no-hitters. Not out of the ordinary, the 32-15 Monarchs and 27-10 Homestead Grays led the Negro American and National Leagues, respectively. 1948: One year after Jackie Robinson broke baseball’s color barrier and thankfully forever integrated the MLB, the Cleveland Indians started baseball’s longest active World Series drought. They took the Series 4 games to 2 over the Boston Braves. At 55-21, the Birmingham Black Barons were atop the Negro American League. 1958: The Yankees, led by DiMaggio and catcher Yogi Berra, took a thrilling World Series over the Milwaukee Braves 4 games to 3 to end the season, led by Cy Young Bob Turley. On January 28, however, bad news opened up the year the career of Los Angeles Dodgers’ catcher Roy Campanella broke his neck and paralyzed his legs. In addition to the mediocrity of the year, for the first time in eight years, no new members are elected to be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. 1968: Another thrilling World Series, in the midst of a presidential election (which Richard Nixon won over Hubert Humphrey), the 103-59 Tigers beat the 97-65 St. Louis Cardinals 4 games to 3. The MVP and the Cy Young winners were the same for both leagues and both represented a World Series team: Denny McLain of Detroit and Bob Gibson of St. Louis. Gibson, a Hall of Famer, also set the record for best single season Earned Run Average at 1.12. 1978: Now split into the East and West, the American and National Leagues boasted the Yankees (AL) and the Dodgers (NL) in the Championship Series. The Yankees took it 4-2, winning their second series in a row. The Boston Red Sox’ Jim Rice was the AL Most Valuable Players and the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Dave Parker won the award for the NL. 1988: Dennis Eckersley’s Oakland Athletics were heavily favored over the LA Dodgers, but in Game 1 Kirk Gibson hobbled up to the plate. The iconic Dodger broadcaster Vin Scully had the call, “And look who’s coming up!” when the injured outfielder, Gibson, surprised West California and the rest of the world by hitting a walkoff home run to start the Trolley Dodgers’ sweep off of the Hall of Fame closer, Eck, opposite him. The Minnesota Twins’ (AL) Frank Viola and the Dodgers’ (NL) Orel Hershiser, who pitched the longest scoreless streak in baseball history at 59 innings without a run that year, were the Cy Young winners and Gibson of the Dodgers and José Canseco of the A’s were the MVPs. 1998: Led now by Andy Petit, Jorge Posada, the greatest closer of all-time, Mariano Rivera, and the greatest shortstop, arguably greatest player in history, Derek Jeter, sweeping the San Diego Padres, the Yankees won their 24th World Series Championship. The leagues now had East, West and Central divisions, as well as a Wild Card spot in the postseason. There were four 20 game winners, three of them in the American League: the Toronto Blue Jays’ Roger Clemens (AL), the Yanks’ David Cone (AL), the Texas Rangers’ Rick Helling (AL), and the Atlanta Braves’ Tom Glavine (NL). 2008: Led by Chase Utley, Ryan Howard, Cole Hamels and Cy Young Award winner Cliff Lee, the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Rookie of the Year Evan Longoria led Tampa Bay Rays in five games. Hamels was the World Series MVP. Boston’s Dustin Pedroia won the American League MVP and the Cardinals’ Albert Pujols won it for the National League. 2018: Right around the corner, tomorrow, January 1, 2018, will start a story just as great as the previous 13 decades mentioned in this article. Already looking exciting, 2018 will feature Giancarlo Stanton apart from his Miami Marlins and now joining the 2017 Rookie of the Year, Aaron Judge, in the Yankees’ outfield, Shohei Otani accompanying Mike Trout for the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, and a red hot Rhys Hoskins leading the reborn Phillies. Jesse A. Cook “Baseball In Year 8s: Welcoming 2018” December 31, 2017 The last 50 years have given us some great Mid-Summer Classics, but what are the best moments? There are many fantastic instances, but to fit in as many as possible, a few have to be combined.
Don’t be alarmed if your favorite moment is missed: plays like Chipper Jones’ last hit won’t be included because incredible players retire every year, and in Chipper’s case, he got aboard on Ian Kinsler letting a ground ball get by him for a “hit.” If you really feel as if a moment that should’ve been here wasn’t, remember that this is only a review of the last 50 All-Star Games, from the 38th in 1967 in Anaheim to last year’s 87th in San Diego. If you still feel left out, feel free to leave a comment about it and there will either be a response in the comments, or, provided there are enough requests, they will be responded to in another article. 5: Torii Hunter robs Barry Bonds 2002 in Milwaukee In the 7-7 tie, the Minnesota Twins’ Torii Hunter was to take part of the blame for the draw. If it were not for his first inning play, robbing the San Francisco Giants’ Barry Bonds of a solo shot, the game would have ended in a National League victory. Of course, in the 2013 American League Championship Series, the Boston Red Sox David Ortiz and bullpen cop, Steve Horgan, made Hunter’s robbing a home run look like a fevered dream. 4: Randy Johnson vs. John Kruk and Larry Walker 1993 and ‘97 in Baltimore and Cleveland These two count as one because both involved the Seattle Mariners’ Big Unit, Randy Johnson, embarrassing a National League left-handed star. In ‘93, the Philadelphia Phillies’ John Kruk took the stand and after Johnson fired one over his head, Kruk’s one hope was to not get killed at Camden Yards that day. The next few pitches, which led to a strikeout, involved spinning, twirling, and, yes, even some dancing as after he thankfully “swung” at strike three he promptly and joyfully tossed his bat and helmet aside with a major grin spread across his face. It was a similar case with the Colorado Rockies’ Larry Walker in ‘97 when Johnson threw one over his head in Cleveland, only Walker took a different stance… literally. Walker, a lefty, took initiative and went to the right handed batter’s box. Walker only spent one pitch with his helmet backwards on the right side of the plate before going back, but thankfully for him, Johnson walked him. 3: Cal Ripken Jr. Homers In Final ASG 2001 in Seattle Under different circumstances, such an occasion as a hit in a player’s final ASG would not be mentioned, but the Baltimore Orioles’ Cal Ripken Jr. went out in pretty historic fashion. The first pitch from the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Chan Ho Park looked good enough, and Ripken sent it into the left field stands. Ripken’s third inning shot stands above Hunter’s home run robbing grab and Randy Johnson making Kruk and Walker look silly at number 3. 2: Pedro Martinez Fans Five And The All-Century Team 1999 in Boston The two great events at historic Fenway Park are combined into one unbelievable moment for this list. The pregame began with Red Sox’ Hall of Famer Ted Williams touring the field that he played on just over 50 years before and shaking the hands of all the all-stars on either team and with the present members of baseball’s “All-Century Team.” It was an incredible sight to see the greatest players in the world congregate around the then greatest living player inside baseball’s greatest ballpark. Sox future Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez started the game by doing the seemingly impossible: with the first four batters in the NL lineup being future Hall of Famers (in order) the Cincinnati Reds’ Barry Larkin, the Rockies’ Walker, the Chicago Cubs’ steroid age power hitter, Sammy Sosa, and the St. Louis Cardinals’ steroid age power hitter, Mark McGwire, getting through even a small portion of the lineup without a scratch looked to be a daunting task for Pedro. Pedro amazingly cut down Larkin, caught Walker looking, pushed another K past Sosa, and started off the second by making McGwire look like a Little Leaguer. While the next batter, the Arizona Diamondbacks Matt Williams reached base when the second baseman, the Cleveland Indians’ Roberto Alomar, made an error, Pedro lucked out when Williams was caught stealing second and the next batter, the Houston Astros’ Jeff Bagwell, struck out; an inning-ending double play. 1: Pete Rose Collides With Ray Fosse 1970 in Cincinnati Imagine, if you will, you’re set and ready to receive the throw from the Kansas City Royals’ Amos Otis in the bottom of the 12th inning as the Cincinnati Reds’ Pete Rose barrels around third. You’re the Cleveland Indians’ catcher, and friend of Rose, Ray Fosse, and just as you’re about to put your glove on the ball to get ready to tag Charlie Hustle, he trucks you and steps on home plate as the walk-off, winning run while you topple backwards, doubled-over in pain. The hometown Cincinnati crowd was excited to see their beloved Rose hustle his way to the winning run for the NL over the AL in the 1970 All-Star Game at Riverfront Stadium, but concern quickly arose after seeing Fosse be hurled backwards. Fortunately, he played another nine seasons, so he turned out to be okay, but every baseball fan knows about this historic moment. Rose’s collision with Fosse to win the ‘70 ASG in extra innings is not only the greatest and most famous All-Star Game play from the last 50 years, but perhaps the greatest and most famous All-Star Game play of all-time. There have been many, many incredible plays, events, and moments in MLB ASG history and these are the top five from just the last 50 years; the first 37 All-Star Games aren’t even represented, here. Keeping that fact in mind, if you feel that an important moment was left out, please make yourself heard in the comments! Your feedback will be appreciated. The next Major League Baseball All-Star Game will be on Tuesday, July 11, 2017 at Marlins Park in Miami, Florida. Who knows, maybe there will be something from the game twelve days from now to report on net year’s list… Jesse A. Cook “The Five Greatest MLB ASG Moments In The Last 50 Years” July 1, 2017 Becoming the first man in team history to accomplish the amazing feat, the Cincinnati Reds’ second baseman, Scooter Gennett, had a four-home run game last night at home in the 13-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals! He came merely one runner shy of becoming the first player in baseball history to hit for the home run cycle! That would be a solo shot, a two-run blast, a three-run dinger, and a grand slam all in one game.
Scooter led off his day with an RBI single in the bottom of the first which broke the 0-0 tie. Scoring on the play was Billy Hamilton from third. Hamilton, by the way, scored on May 24 to go ahead against the Cleveland Indians in the top of the ninth inning with two outs from first on a Zack Cozart single… I’ll just let that sink in… Now, as great as the speed demon, Hamilton, is, we must return to the topic of the fantastic history the scrawny middle infielder of Cincinnati made last night against the rival Cardinals: the young Gennett, born and raised in Cincinnati, might I add, stepped up again in the bottom of the third against the same pitcher, Adam Wainwright. Around the bases stood Reds’ teammates, Zack Cozart, Joey Votto, and Eugenio Suarez. With one out, Gennett looked to make a large contribution to his team’s 1-0 lead. With the full count, Wainwright dealt suicide to his Cards: Gennett hit a shot over the right field wall for a grand slam. 5-0 Reds was the score, and Gennett had the first of his ten total RBIs. It was now the fourth inning and Gennett had a tough act to follow: not merely repeating his homer of the previous inning, but following Eugenio Suarez’s base loaded-bases clearing triple. Gennett looked in at the new pitcher, John Gant; Gant put Scooter on another full count, but delivered the pitch that would put this game at a double digit lead for Cincy. Gennett swung hard and drove a line drive over the center field wall, which was a long way away; 404 feet. That turned from a 404 foot hit to a 404 error: baseball not found. Gennett, now coasting at 8 RBIs looked forward to the rest of the historic evening. Gant, nervous to face the red-hot Reds’ second baseman, put on his game face to attempt to keep Scooter off of the bases. Gennett stepped up to the plate in the sixth inning with nobody on base and one out with an eager expression. Fittingly standing with a three and one count, otherwise known as a “hitter’s count,” Gennett moved Gant to a gaunt mood with the ensuing 3-1 solo drive to opposite, left field. After Stephen Piscotty finally put his team on the board, hitting a solo homer to left against starter Tim Adleman, John Brebbia took the hill to try to be the man to shut down Gennett and keep him from the history books. Disregarding the fact that the lone Scott Schebler on base would definitely keep him from hitting for the fabled home run cycle, Scooter went up to the plate merely looking for a base hit. Having only hit three bombs all season before the three last night, Gennett had had enough excitement for one night… Or had he? With a count of zero balls and two strikes, Brebbia looked to be leading the young batter away from history. With two away, Brebbia dealt the pitch: “Gennett hits a drive to right! Did he do it? He has!” Scooter hit a line drive over the Great American Ballpark right field wall to complete his four home run night, only becoming the 17th player in baseball history to achieve such a feat. Before last night, the last man to hit four home runs in one game was Josh Hamilton of the Texas Rangers on May 8, 2012. Now Scooter has joined the names of Mike Schmidt, Willie Mays, and Lou Gehrig. Scooter Gennett made history last night and the Cincinnati Reds have a great shot at the playoffs if players like him can continue to play great. Jesse A. Cook “Scooter Knocks Out 4!” June 7, 2017 |
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