Tony
Perez broke into the major leagues with the Cincinnati Reds in 1964, but it
wasn’t until 1967 that his power started to show. It was a season that he would
hit 26 home runs with 102 RBI. His career would see 9 more seasons of 20+ home
runs, and the first of 7 seasons of 100+ RBI.
He
was a seven time all-star, and won back to World Series Championship with the
Big Red Machine in 1975-1976. His career hitting line was .279/.341/.463 with
379 home runs and 1,652 RBI. In 2000, Perez was elected to the Baseball Hall of
Fame. He is a member of the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame, and the Reds have
retired his #24.
Perez
would have productive seasons with the Montreal Expos, and Boston Red Sox. He
would make a brief stop with the Philadelphia Phillies before retiring with the
Reds in a second stint with the team.
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
Al Oliver broke into the major
leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in1968, and with his official taking place
in 1969. Oliver finished with a batting line of .285/.333/.445 with 17 home
runs and 70 RBI. It was just the beginning of a long and productive career.
In 18 seasons, Oliver won three
silver slugger awards, he was a 7 time all-star, and won a World Series
Championship with the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1982, while playing for the
Montreal Expos, Oliver was the National League leader in RBI, batting average,
doubles, and hits.
His career ended after the 1985
season. He finished with a career batting line of .303/.344/.451. He had 2743
hits over the course of his career with 219 home run and 1326 RBI.
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
They were three brothers that all escaped poverty in the Dominican Republic, and were each signed by the San Francisco Giants. The Alou brothers were the first set of three siblings to play in the outfield together on September 15, 1963. They were also the first set of three siblings to bat in the same half inning only 5 days earlier. They never started a game together in the outfield.
Jesus Rojas Alou at the time of his signing the Giants considered him the best prospect of the three brothers. The Giants signed him for $4,000. July 10, 1964 was the best game of his career going 6 for 6 with a home run and five singles. He never developed the power the Giants expected. He had a career high of 9 home runs in 1965. 1970 with the Houston Astros was his best offensive season slashing .306/.335/.384, but with only one home run his was traded to the Oakland Athletics. In Oakland, he would be part of the 1973-1974 Oakland A's World Series Champions. Always a solid outfielder, he had a long career with 15 seasons in the Major Leagues.
Mateo "Matty" Rojas Alou made his Major League debut for the Giants on September 26, 1960. His career was wasting away in San Francisco as platoon player. He was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates, and under the instruction of Harry "The Hat" Walker his career was revived. In his first season with the Pirates in 1966, he won the National League batting title hitting .342/.373/.421. It was the start of a four-year stretch where he hit .330 or above. He was a National League all-star in 1968-1969. He was also a member of the 1972 Oakland A's World Series Champions. He closed out his career with the Cardinals, Yankees, Padres, and a three-year stint in Nippon Professional Baseball.
Felipe Rojas Alou signed with the Giants in 1955 for$200. When he made his debut in 1958, it would be the start of a 17-year career in Major League Baseball. It wasn't until 1961 that he started to get enough playing time for his power to blossom. He hit 18 home runs that season, he would hit 25 and 20 respectively before being traded to the Milwaukee Braves. In 1966, he enjoyed the best season of his career hitting 31 home runs with 74 RBI. He topped the National League in runs scored (122), hits (218), and had the best slash line of his career .327/.361/.533/.894. 1968, he again led the NL in hits with 210 hits, but at 33 his power was tapering off at a rapid rate. He would bounce between the Oakland A's, New York Yankees, Montreal Expos, and Milwaukee Brewers to close out his career. He was 3-times all-star (62, 66, and 68). He served as manager of the Montreal Expos from 1992-2001, and was National League Manager of the Year in 1994. He also managed the San Francisco Giants from 2003-2006. In 2015 he was elected to the Canadian Baseball Hall of Fame, and 2016, Alou was elected to the Caribbean Baseball Hall of Fame.
Dave McNally is now remembered as being part of the 1975 Seitz decision, which ushered in the free agent era, but from 1968-1971, he was one of those most dominating pitchers in baseball. He won 20 games or more in each of the four seasons. Including the best season of his career in 1970, when he led American League in wins with 24, and had a 3.22 ERA in 40 starts.
He made his debut as a 19 year-old with the Baltimore Orioles in 1962. In 1963, he would become a starter for the Orioles, and would pitch for them for 13 seasons. He would finish with 181 wins and 113 losses as a Baltimore Oriole. He was 184-119 with a career ERA of 3.24. At one point between the end of the 1968 season, and a 15-0 start to the 1969 season winning 17 straight decisions.
He pitched for the 1966 and 1970 World Series champion Baltimore Orioles. In game 3, of the 1970 World Series, McNally became the only pitcher in Major League history to hit a grand slam in a World Series game. The Orioles would also win the American League pennant in 1969, and 1971.
McNally was a 3 time all-star in 1969, 1970, and 1972. In 1971, he was part of the Orioles staff that produced four twenty game winners (Mike Cuellar, Pat Dobson and Jim Palmer were the other three). McNally would die from lung cancer on December 1, 2002.
Jim "Mudcat" Grant made his Major League debut in 1958 with the Cleveland Indians. He was given the nickname Mudcat by roomate Larry Doby. Who claimed he was "ugly as a Mississippi Mudcat." The name stuck, and Grant won ten games in his rookie season winning, in which he made 28 starts and 14 appearances out of the bullpen.
Grant would write his own chapter into baseball history by becoming the first black pitcher in the American League to win twenty games. He did it in 1965 with the Minnesota Twins, when he went 21-7 with an ERA 3.30. His 21 wins were the best in the American League, along with a league leading 6 shutouts in the leading the Twins to the American League pennant. In the World Series, he would become the first black pitcher to win a World Series game, and in game six of the series he launched a three run homer, making him only the second pitcher from the American League history in accomplish the feat. He was honored by The Sporting News that season as their Pitcher of the Year.
Grant was an American League all-star in 1963 and 1965. After 1966, he worked out of the bullpen, and as with many relief pitchers it was have arm will travel. He made stops with the Los Angeles Dodgers, St. Louis Cardinals, Montreal Expos, Pittsburgh Pirates and two tours with the Oakland Athletics. He finished with a won-loss record of 145-119 with a career ERA of 3.63. He earned 54 saves along the way.
Grant wrote a book titled The Black Aces: Baseball's Only African-American Twenty-Game Winners. Featuring a chapter on each of the African-American pitchers who have accomplished the feat. A book I can recommend.
May 23, 1991. Tommy Greene of the Philadelphia Phillies no-hits the Montreal Expos 2-0. Greene had just become a member of the starting rotation due to a pulled groin muscle of Danny Cox.
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 14, 1981. The Los Angeles Dodgers fans are
caught up in Fernando mania. Valenzuela wins his eighth straight to start his
career in a 3-2 decision over the Montreal Expos. The 20-year old southpaw has
started the season 8-0 including five shutouts.
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 10, 1981. Montreal Expos hurler Charlie Lea no-hits the San Francisco Giants 4-0 . Lea also becomes the first French born pitcher to hurl a no-hit game. Lea had a won-loss record of 62-48 with an ERA of 3.54. His career was cut short by arm, and shoulder injuries. Lea died on November 11, 2011 at the age of 55.
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
April 26, 2000, Vladimir Guerrero hits his 100th career home run for the Montreal Expos. The clip above is the young outfielder connecting on his first home run against the Atlanta Braves in 1996. The 100 home run comes at the expense of Julian Tavarez of the Colorado Rockies at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Guerrero would play 16 seasons of Major League Baseball, He finished with 449 home runs, 1496 RBI, and a batting average of .318. He was a nine time All-Star, 2004 American League Most Valuable Player, and an eight time Silver Slugger Award winner.
April 25, 1989, the Seattle Mariners trade their starter Mark Langston, and minor league player Mike Campbell to the Montreal Expos for Brian Holman, Gene Harris, and a lefty named Randy Johnson. Johnson would anchor the Mariners staff for the next ten seasons. He would finish with a 130-74 record with a 3.42 ERA in Seattle. He would be a ten time All-Star, win five Cy Young Awards, a World Series Most Valuable Player Award, pitched both a no-hitter and a perfect game. He also pitched for the New York Yankees, Houston Astros, Arizona Diamondbacks, and San Francisco Giants. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.
April 15, 1993. Playing for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park, Andre "The Hawk" Dawson launched his 400th career home run. In his career he would be an eight time All-Star, 8-time Gold Glove winner, 4 time Silver Slugger winner, 1987 MVP, and was 1977 Rookie of the Year in the National League. In 2010, The Hawk was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
On this day in baseball history Pete Rose collected his 4,000th hit at Olympic Stadium in Montreal off Philadelphia's Jerry Koosman a double into the rightfield corner. It came 21 years to the date of his first hit in 1963 off of the Pittsburgh Pirates Bob Friend. You can leave us your comments on whether Pete Rose belongs in the Hall of Fame or not.
