On
April 4, 1994 Tuffy Rhodes of the Chicago Cubs became the first National
Leaguer to hit three home runs on Opening Day. He accomplished the task against New York Mets
ace Dwight Gooden. Rhodes only hit 10 other
home runs in his 590 career at-bats. Finishing his major league career with 13
home runs and 44 RBI.
Rhodes
would enjoy a stellar career in Japanese baseball where he hit 464 home runs
including tying Sadaharu Oh’s season record of 55 home runs (since broken by Wladimir
Balentein in 2013 with 60). He also drove in 1269 runs.
Joe Glasgow is
a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com, and is the author of the book Play
Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
Don
Kessing was a slick fielding shortstop for the Chicago Cubs from 1964-1975. During
that period he would be a six time National League All-Star. He would win the
Gold Glove Award in 1969 and 1970.
Never
known for his offense, he hit 14 home runs with 527 RBI with a hitting line of .252/.314/.312.
His best offensive season would be 1969, when he hit 4 home runs with 53 RBI.
He
would spend the end of his career with the St. Louis Cardinals and Chicago
White Sox. He would serve as manager for the White Sox in 1979 with a record of
46-60.
Joe Glasgow is
a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com, and is the author of the book Play
Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
Ken
Holtzman’s misfortune was to break in with the Chicago Cubs in 1966, when the
Cubbies would finish dead last in the National League. In his rookie campaign,
he would finish with a record of 11-16 with an ERA of 3.79.
In
1969, on August 19, 1969, he would throw his first no-hitter besting the
Atlanta Braves. June 3, 1971, Holtzman would no-hit the Cincinnati Reds at
Riverfront Stadium. It would be the first no-hitter in that in the history of
Riverfront Stadium. Holtzman was the first pitcher in modern baseball to toss
two no-hitters.
After
the 1971 season, he was traded to the Oakland
A’s for an outfield named Rick Monday. Holtzman would have his best seasons in Oakland.
He
was a two time all-star, three time World Series Champion with the Oakland A’s 1972-1974. The
1973 season would be his only twenty win season. He would finish his career
with a record of 174-150 with an ERA of 3.49. He had 1,601 career strike outs.
He made stops with the Baltimore Orioles, New York Yankees, and came back to
finish his career with the Cubs.
Joe Glasgow is
a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com, and is the author of the book Play
Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
Jim
Edmonds was known for his spectacular defensive plays. He would win eight Gold
Glove Awards over the course of his career. Edmonds was also an offensive weapon for the
California Angels and St. Louis Cardinals.
Edmonds had a career hitting
line of .284/.376/.527 with 393 home runs, and 1,199 RBI. He was a four time
all-star, 2004 Silver Slugger Award, and a member of the St. Louis Cardinals
Hall of Fame. He was a member of the 2006
World Series Champion St. Louis Cardinals.
Mordecai “Three-Finger” Brown is one
of the best hurlers ever to pitch for the Chicago Cubs. It was a farm machine
accident as a twelve year old that gave him the moniker of Three-Finger. He
gave his ball unique movement.
He was from Nyesville, Indiana,
and signed with the St. Louis Cardinals, and made his debut in 1903. He was
9-13 with an ERA 2.60. The Cardinals traded Brown to the Chicago Cubs.
In Chicago, Brown would win 20 plus games from
1906-1911. He would lead the Cubs to the World Series four times, and winning
it in 1907-1908.
He would finish his career with a
record of 239-130, and an ERA of 2.06. He would be elected by the Veteran’s
Committee to the Baseball of Hall of Fame in 1949.
Richie Asburn was a member of the 1950
Philadelphia “Whiz
Kids” that won the National League pennant. Ashburn would spend the first 12
years of his career in the Phillies uniform, before spend two years with the
Chicago Cubs, and his last with the infamous 1962 New York Mets.
Ashburn hitting line was
.308/.396/.382 with 29 home runs and 586 RBI. He had 2,574 hits and a lifetime
batting average of .308.
He was a two time NL batting champ,
his #1 has been retired by the Phillies, and a member of the Philadelphia
Baseball Wall of Fame. He was elected by the Veteran’s Committee in 1995 to the
Baseball Hall of Fame.
Alfonso Soriano had one of the most
productive four game stretches in major league baseball history. He had 13 hits,
and drove in 18 runs from August 13-16, 2013.
Soriano broke in with the New York
Yankees in 1997. Always an offensive threat Soriano hit 412 home runs with 1,159
RBI before retiring at the end of the 2014 season.
He had been a seven time all-star and
four time Silver Slugger award winner while hitting .270 over the course his
career.
Opening
day on April 8, 1969, Willie Smith delivered a two-run home run off the
Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Randy Lersch in the 11th giving the
Chicago Cubs a 7-6 win. It sparked the Cubs to an 11-1 start on the season.
Smith
broke in with the Detroit Tigers as a pitching prospect, and before converting
to the outfield he compiled a record 2-4 with a 3.10 ERA. He finished his
career with a batting line of .248/.295/.395 with 46 home runs and 211 RBI.
The video is of the seven greatest offensive seasons in baseball
history. Hack Wilson
is the first of the seven.
Hack
Wilson was a
hard drinking, hard hitting outfielder, quick with his fists, that made
for one the most colorful players of his day. At only 5-6, he would display
power not seen in the National League at that time. Wilson broke in the major leagues in 1923
with the New York Giants. In his official rookie season of 1924, the Giants
would win the pennant, but Wilson
struggled in the World Series hitting only .233. In May of 1925, Wilson was slumping so
badly he lost his job in left field. His slump continued most of the season,
and was sent to the minor league Toledo Mud Hens of the American Association.
The
Chicago Cubs wallowing in last place would claim Hack Wilson that winter on
waivers when the Giants failed to protect him. The Giants right-fielder Ross
Youngs at the time offered the prophetic words "They let go the best
outfielder I ever played beside, and they're going to regret."
Getting
claimed on waivers by the Cubs Wilson would win the center field job, and is
his first season on the north side of Chicago,
he hit a league leading 21 home runs with 109 RBI. The Cubs went from last to
fourth place finishing 10 games over .500. Over the next three seasons he
would hit 30 or more home runs including leading the league in 1927-1928.
The 39 home runs he hit in 1929 would help lead the Cubs to the National
League pennant. In 1930, Wilson
would have an offensive season for the ages. He would hit 56 home runs, a first
in the National League with a major league baseball record of 191 RBI. The RBI
record is believed by many to be a record that will never be broken. He
finished the season with a slash line of .356/.454/.723.
After
the great season of 1930, Wilson's
drinking became very heavy. He reported for spring training in 1931 twenty
pounds overweight. He went into a long slump during the season, and the
last straw for the Cubs came when he got into a fight with reports on a train
in Cincinnati.
He was suspended by the Cubs for the rest of the season. He had hit only .261
with 13 home runs. In December the Cubs shipped the troubled outfielder to the
St. Louis Cardinals. They in turn traded him the Brooklyn Dodgers.
He
bounced back in Brooklyn during the 1932
season hitting 23 home runs with 123 RBI. His career like his drinking was
spiraling out of control. He would retire from baseball in 1935. Wilson died broke in 1948, National League President Ford
Frick paid for the funeral when Wilson's
wouldn't claim the body. Wilson
would be elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979 by the veterans
committee.
In
his final interview with CBS Radio Wilson left us with these words of advice: "Talent
isn't enough. You need common sense and good advice. If anyone tries to tell
you different, tell them the story of Hack Wilson. ... Kids in and out of
baseball who think because they have talent they have the world by the tail. It
isn't so. Kids, don't be too big to accept advice. Don't let what happened to
me happen to you."
Hickman is remembered for delivering the game winning hit in the
1970 All-Star game in which Pete Rose blew up Ray Fosse at home plate.
Hickman broke in
to the big leagues with the New York Mets after being selected in the expansion
draft from the St. Louis Cardinals, and played with them from 1962-66. While in
New York,
Hickman became the first Met to hit for the cycle, and it was Hickman that hit
the last home run in the Polo Grounds. He played the 1967 season with the Los
Angeles Dodgers before being sent packing to the Chicago Cubs.
He enjoyed his
most productive year in 1970 with the Cubs. Hickman blasted 32 home runs with
115 RBI, and finished with a .315 batting average. They were career highs in
all three categories. He would provided the Cubs two more solid seasons before
tapering off in 1973, and spent 1974 with the Cardinals.
As a young fan
of the Cubs Jim Hickman was always one of my favorites among the non-star
players. In my young mind, it seemed he was always delivering in the clutch.
Sweet Swinging Billy Williams, he was tagged early in his career
with the Chicago Cubs. Williams, who was the 1961 National League Rookie of the
Year made his mark in baseball history with his durability, and bat.
Williams spent
sixteen seasons in the major leagues fourteen of those with the Cubs, and his
last two with the Oakland Athletics. Williams was an iron man his day playing
1,117 straight games from 1963-1970. His streak currently ranks sixth in major
league history. He was a six-time National League All-Star, won the battling
title in 1972. He was snubbed for the All-Star game in 1970 when had a 26 home
runs and 80 RBI at the all-star break.
His best season
was 1972, when he hit 37 home runs with 122 RBI, and hit .333. He finished
second to Johnny Bench of the Reds in the MVP voting. His career numbers of 426
home runs, 1475 RBI, and a .290 batting average were enough to get him elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Often over
shadowed in recent years by fellow Hall Fame players Ferguson Jenkins, Ron
Santo, and Ernie Banks, but Williams was a key member of the solid Chicago Cubs
teams of the late 60's and eaarly 70's.
Dave
Kingman was known for his ability to crush long towering home runs, a poor
glove, and an abrasive personality. Kingman was drafted by the San Francisco
Giants out of USC (University
of Southern California)
in 197. He made his Major League debut in 1971 with his first full season in 1972, a strike delayed
season, he hit for the cycle on the second game of the season (April 16, 1972).
Kingman would hit 29 home runs that season with 83 RBI, but he would finish
with a sub par slash line of .225/.303/.478 which would become indicative of
what was to come in his career.
His
offensive numbers continued to dip over the next two seasons. The Giants gave
up on Kingman as a third baseman after making 12 errors in only 59 chances in
1974. His run production had slipped from his rookie campaign. He hit only 18
home runs with 55 RBI, and a slash line of .223/.302/.440. He would be
traded to the New York Mets after the 1974 season.
In
New York, he
was moved to the outfield where he put up career high in 1975 in home runs with 36
and RBI with 88. During the 1976 season on June 4th, he would hit three home
runs in an 11-0 thumping of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He would accomplish this
feat five times in his career. He also set a new high in home runs during the
season with 37.
The
1977 was a poor season for Kingman, who was traded to the San Diego Padres, and
after performing poorly was waived and claimed by the California Angels on
September 6th. Only nine days later he was shipped to the New York Yankees. He
is one of the few players in Major League history to play for four teams in the
same season.
In
1978, he would sign as a free agent with the Chicago Cubs. He would hit
28 home runs and drive in 79 runs in his first year on the north side of Chicago. He followed it
up by having the best year of his career hitting 48 home runs driving in 115
with the best slash line of his career at .288/.343/.613. He was named to
the National League all-star team for the second time in his career. He was an
all-star with the Mets in 1976, and would be named an all-star with the Mets
again in 1982. The Cubs tiring of Kingman's personality traded the outfielder
back to the New York Mets.
In
his last six seasons he hit thirty or more home runs four times. Including the
last three seasons with the Oakland
A's. Despite hitting 35 home runs with 94 RBI , he wasn't offered a contract.
Despite lofty home run totals Kingman was plagued by a poor slash his entire
career finishing .236/.302/.478. He hit 442 home runs in his career with 1210
RBI. He became the first hitter with more than 400 home runs not to be elected
to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
He
was entertainment on many mediocre teams in New York,
Chicago, and Oakland.
April 25, 1876, the Chicago White
Stockings when their opening game in the inaugural season of the National
League. They beat the Louisville Grays 4-0 inLouisville.
The White Stockings would change their name first to the Colts, Orphans, and
now known as the Chicago Cubs. They would win the National League championship
in the first year of the the league.
The White Stockings would finish the
season at 52-14, and would dominate the National League by winning six of the
first eleven titles. They would be called the Cubs in 1902 by the Chicago Daily News, but the team name wasn't officially changed until 1907.
When the Cleveland Indians last won the World Series in 1948, Lou Boudreau was the starting shortstop, and manager. He also won the American League batting title. That season he would hit 18 home runs and drive in 106 runs, a career high. In 676 plate appearances he struck out only nine times. He finished with a slash line of .355/.453/.534, and was the American League MVP.
He would spend 15 seasons in the major leagues, 13 seasons with the Cleveland Indians and part of two seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Boudreau managed the Cleveland Indians, Boston Red Sox, Kansas City Athletics, and Chicago Cubs. He would go on to serve as play-by-play announcer for the Chicago Cubs.
In 1970, the eight time all-star was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The same year the Cleveland Indians retired his #5. Boudreau died in 2001.
Bobby Thomson will be remembered forever by baseball for this pennant winning three-run home run of Ralph Branca of the Brooklyn Dodgers to give the New York Giants the National League pennant. The Giants would go on to lose the World Series to the New York Yankees four games to two. The Giants had trailed the Dodgers by 13 1/2 games in mid-August before they made a miracle run to the pennant. The home run would vault the outfielder into a stardom, but would cast a shadow over the rest of his accomplishments in an outstanding Major League career.
Thomson was born in Glasgow, Scotland, and was raised in Staten Island, NY after his family immigrated to the United States. He was signed by the Giants out of high school for only $100. He served in the Army Air Corps during World War II but spent no time overseas. At the age of 22, he made a brief appearance with the Giants in 1946. In his official rookie season he would hit 23 home runs with 85 RBI. He would be a starter in the Giants outfield for the next seven seasons. In six of those seven seasons he would hit 20 or more home runs, and in four of the seasons he would drive in more than 100 runs.
After the end of the 1953 season the Giants traded their 3-times all-star outfielder to the Milwaukee Braves. In his first season with the Braves, he broke his ankle in spring training. It paved the way for another historically famous outfielder to break into the Braves line up. A kid named "Hank Aaron." Thomson's season never really got going , and he slumped to .232 batting average. His time in Milwaukee was marginal by his career standards. He hitting a modest .257 in 1955, and .235 in 1956. He was shipped by the Braves back to the Giants for the finish of the 57' season.
After the 1957 season, Thomason was traded by the Giants to the Chicago Cubs. Thomson looked more like his old self with the Cubs in 1958. He his 21 home runs with 82 RBI, and a slash line of .283/.351.466. His numbers would fall dramatically the next season. Thomson would go on to play for the Boston Red Sox and Baltimore Orioles in the American League to close out his career.
He hit 264 career home runs in his career, and knocked in 1, 026 runs, but he will always be remembered for the three-run homer off Ralph Branca that gave the New York Giants the 1951 National League title.
Joe Glasgow is a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com,
and is the author of the book Play Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
June 19, 2016. Chicago Cubs rookie catcher Willson Contreras hits a two-run blast on the first pitch thrown to him in the Major Leagues. The home run helped lead the Cubs to a 10-5 win, and a sweep of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
Joe Glasgow is a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com,
and is the author of the book Play Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
May 26, 1997. The Chicago Cubs Sammy Sosa and the Pittsburgh Pirates Tony Womack both hit inside-the-park home runs in the 6th inning at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Cubs win the game 2-1.
Joe Glasgow is a former senior staff writer at Fanstop.com,
and is the author of the book Play Ball! Growing Up With Baseball https://amzn.to/2o4M62h
