Posts in Major Leagues (MLB)
Mark Whicker: “Brazen and unconventional” Leyland has earned plaque in Cooperstown

“Jim Leyland was like your first favorite car.

It started like a dream every morning. But all the miles were hard.

He managed 11 years in the minor leagues. His first stop was Bristol, in the Appalachian League. He was “stylin,’’’ as he recalled, with a new pair of white shoes that he unfortunately placed on the top of the hot water heater in the clubhouse.

Pretty soon they were bubbles.

“And I paid 40 bucks for those suckers, too,” Leyland said. He was 26.”

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Gagne to throw first pitch for Dodgers on July 3 to commemorate saves record

Former Los Angeles Dodgers closer and 2003 National League Cy Young award winner Eric Gagné (Mascouche, Que.) will throw out the honorary first pitch prior to the Dodgers’ matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday, July 3 at 7:10 p.m. The date marks the 20th anniversary of Gagné recording his 84th consecutive save, which still stands as the longest consecutive save streak in Major League history.

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Kennedy: Aparicio Hall of Fame's oldest living member after Mays' death

Canadian Baseball Network contributor Patrick Kennedy writes about legendary Chicago White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio now being the Hall of Fame’s oldest living member (OLM) after Willie Mays’ death on June 18.

Being the “OLM” is a “strange accolade,” Kennedy writes, “one that’s earned simply by waking up each morning and, as the Irish like to say, “looking down at the grass and not up at the roots.”

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Mark Whicker: Numbers indicate finding “Next Willie Mays” will be difficult

“For those of a certain age, the death of Willie Mays was a ride in the Wayback Machine. America knew him through black-and-white film clips, since major league baseball was rarely televised nationally, and through the power of oral history. People were transfixed by the catch he made in the 1954 World Series, off Vic Wertz in the Polo Grounds. They were stunned, and thrilled, to learn that Mays thought other catches were better. Through such limited visibility, people came to think that Mays brought a bag of thrills every time he came to the ballpark.”

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