Game 47. Soto and Gil put on a show in Yanks’ 6-1 win. Yanks 6th win in a row.

I am typing this up shortly after arriving home after a happy bus trip home from Yankee Stadium after watching Juan Soto and Luis Gil put on a show as the Yankees (32-15) beat the White Sox earlier today 6-1 for their sixth consecutive victory.

Soto went 4 for 4 with a walk, driving in 3 runs while hitting two homers, and Gil set a Yankees’ rookie record by striking out 14 batters in six innings of work while raising his record to 5-1 while lowering his ERA to 2.39.

Gil gave up his only run in the top of the first inning. He gave up two consecutive singles to start off the game then after a strike out and line out, former Yankee Andrew Benintendi hit an excuse me double down the left field line for a run. Gil walked the next batter to load the bases but then got a strikeout to get out of the jam. After that it was smooth sailing.

The Yanks came right back. With one out in the bottom of the first, Soto hit his first HR (10) of the day to tie the game up. Aaron Judge then got an infield single and after Alex Verdugo forced Judge at second, Giancarlo Stanton ripped a double off the right-center field wall to score Verdugo and give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.

In the bottom of the second, with one out, Jose Trevino hit a HR (5) to make it 3-1. Jon Berti then reached on a throwing error, moved up to second on a groundout, and scored on a single by Soto to make it 4-1.

In the bottom of the third, Stanton homered (11) to make it 5-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, Soto hit his second HR of the game (11) to make it 6-1 and close the scoring.

I believe the Yanks are the only team in the majors with three players (Soto 11, Stanton 11 and Judge 12) with 10 or more homers each.

Meanwhile, after that first inning, Gil was cruising. He had to come out after six innings because of pitch count, but his 14 strikeouts broke the Yankees rookie record of 13 previously held by Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez who just happened to be at the park today to throw out one of the first pitches!

Soto 4 for 4 with a walk. 3 RBI. 2 solo HR (11).
Stanton 2 hits, 2 RBI. Solo HR (11).
Trevino solo HR (5)

Gil (W, 5-1) 6 IP, 1 R, 5 H, 1 W, 14 K. 2.39 Yankees rookie K record.
Burdi 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 0 W, 2 K. 1.04
D. Santana 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 4.34

Ex-MLB 3B Sean Burroughs, son of Jeff, dies suddenly at the age of 43.

A tragic news story two days ago, on May 9th. Sean Burroughs, a former major league third baseman and son of 1974 AL MVP Jeff Burroughs, collapsed and died while coaching his son in a Long Beach Little League game. He was only 43.

Burroughs starred for Long Beach in the Little League World Series himself. His team won the 1992 Little League World Series after their opponent in the championship round was disqualified for using overage players. They repeated as champions in 1993, and during that run, Burroughs pitched consecutive no-hitters.

He was a first-round draft pick of the San Diego Padres in the 1998 MLB draft, was the MVP of the 2000 Futures Game, and won a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympics.

A lefty hitter, he played for the Padres (2002-2005), Rays (2006), Diamondbacks (2011) and Twins (2012), getting full-time action in 2003 (146 games, .286-7-58) and 2004 (130 games .298-2-47) as the Padres third baseman.

For his career he played in 528 games, hitting .278 with 12 HR and 143 RBI. His 162-game average was .278-4-44, OPS+88.

He got into 5 postseason games, two with the 2005 Padres and three with the 2011 Diamondbacks. He went 1 for 4.

How tragic not only that he was only 43 when he died, but that he collapsed and died in front of his own son while coaching his son’s little league game, for the very team that he himself starred on some 30+ years ago.

Game 37. Yanks 5-0 on season vs. Houston after 10-3 rout. Gil, Verdugo shine.

Five games so far this season against the Houston Astros. Five victories for the Yanks. How sweet is that after all the heartbreak the Astros have given the Yanks for almost a decade?

In a 10-3 win, there are a lot of heroes, but I will shine the spotlight first on two players. First off, Luis Gil. The rookie went up against future Hall of Famer Justin Verlander and thoroughly outpitched him. Gil gave up a HR in the top of the first and nothing thereafter in his six innings of work. That was the only run and hit he gave up in improving the Yanks’ record to 24-13. As I mentioned in the Lehigh Valley Yankee Fan Club meeting tonight, Gil, if he has his control, is electric. He has given up more walks than hits this year. As long as he has his control and does not give up too many walks and doesn’t let the walks, a high pitch count and lack of control beat him, he’s tough to hit and beat.

The second is Alex Verdugo. After the Yanks fell into that 1-0 hole in the top of the first, Verdugo hit a 3-run HR (5) in the bottom of the first, following a one-out single by Juan Soto and a walk to Aaron Judge, to give the Yanks the lead. Verdugo had three hits on the night, 4 RBI and made two diving catches in the outfield. Just a great night.

Verdugo made it 4-1 in the bottom of the third inning. After Soto singled again, followed by another walk to Judge, Verdugo singled in Soto to make it 4-1.

In the bottom of the fourth, Jose Trevino singled, and one out later, Anthony Volpe homered (4) to put the Yanks up 6-1.

In the bottom of the fifth, the Yanks poured it on Verlander yet again, as Giancarlo Stanton homered (7) to make it 7-1. The HR was the 409th of Stanton’s career, tying him with Mark Teixeira on the all-time HR list.

In the bottom of the sixth, Jon Berti led off with a single and stole second. Two outs later, Judge singled to make it 8-1.

In the bottom of the seventh, Stanton led off the inning with a walk, then Anthony Rizzo singled. A WP moved up the runners, then after an out, Jose Trevino was HBP to load the bases. Berti singled in a run, and Volpe grounded into a force out which brought home another run to make it 10-1.

With two out in the top of the ninth, a walk, two-base throwing error by Berti and a single brought in two runs for Houston before the Yanks closed it out.

Volpe 3 RBI. 2-run HR (4).
Soto 3 hits.
Verdugo 3 hits, 4 RBI. 3-run HR (5).
Stanton solo HR (7). #409 of career ties Mark Teixeira on all-time list.
Berti 2 hits, RBI.

Gil (W, 3-1) 6 IP, 1 R, 1 H, 4 W, 5 K. Gave up 1 HR. 2.92
Marinaccio 2 IP, 0 R, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 1.54
Tonkin 1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 1 H, 1 W, 0 K. 3.68 (3 team ERA)

Oswald Peraza started rehab today at Low A Tampa. Jasson “The Martian” Dominguez should start rehab i in 7-10 days.

Game 25. Yanks hit 3 HR in 7-3 triumph.

The Yankees (17-8) got HRs from Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and Juan Soto in beating the Oakland A’s 7-3 Wednesday night.

In the bottom of the first, Soto drew a one-out walk. It appeared that Judge was struck out, but a balk moved Soto to second and gave Judge new life, whereupon he hit the next pitch for a two-run HR (4). His 261st career HR passed Derek Jeter on the all-time list.

In the bottom of the fourth, Austin Wells broke an 0 for 23 skid with a bunt single. Anthony Volpe lined a hit to right, and when the RF dove for it and missed it, he misplayed a single into a run-scoring triple, making it 3-0. Soto hit a SF to increase the Yankees’ lead to 4-0.

Rizzo led off the bottom of the fifth with his third HR of the season and it was 5-0.

Clarke Schmidt shut out the A’s for five innings, but then his bugaboo arose again. It seems like every time the sixth inning or that third time around the order happens, Schmidt gets hit and it happened again when he gave up a 3-run HR in the top of the sixth that cut the Yanks’ lead to 5-3.

Soto homered (6) in the bottom of the sixth to made it 6-3, Yanks.

In the bottom of the seventh, Giancarlo Stanton, Rizzo and Gleyber Torres all singled to load the bases with no one out, then Alex Verdugo hit a SF to make it 7-3, which wound up as the final score.

Volpe 2 hits, RBI.
Soto 2 RBI. Solo HR (6).
Judge 2 hits, 2 RBI. 2-run HR (4).
Rizzo 2 hits, RBI. Solo HR (3)
Wells 2 hits.

Schmidt (W, 2-0) 5 1/3 IP, 3 R, 4 H, 2 W, 6 K. 1 HBP. Gave up 1 HR. 3.55
Weaver (H, 2) 2 2/3 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 3 K. 4.02
Hamilton 1 IP, 0 R, 0 H, 0 W, 0 K. 3.07

Dave McCarty, member of 2004 Curse-breaking Red Sox, dies at the age of 54.

Dave McCarty, a 1B/OF who was a member of the 2004 Red Sox team that finally ended the “Curse of the Bambino”, died of cardiac arrest today, April 19. He was only 54.

McCarty was mostly a platoon/backup player for the Twins (1993-1995), Giants (1995-1996), Mariners (1998), Royals (2000-2002), Devil Rays (2002), A’s (2003), and Red Sox (2003-2005).

He only got into two postseason games, both in 2003, one in the ALDS against the A’s and one in the ALCS against the Yankees. He didn’t get in any postseason games in 2004 when the Red Sox won the World Series. In that 2004 season, he got into 89 games with Boston, 151 at bats, hitting .258-4-17.

For his career, McCarty hit .242 with 36 HR and 175 RBI in 630 games. OPS+ 76. He pitched in three games, and in 3 2/3 innings, gave up just one run.

Larry Brown, Cleveland SS of mid-1960s, passes away, age 84.

Larry Brown, an infielder who was mostly known as the Indians’ SS in the mid 1960s, passed away April 13 at the age of 84.

Brown played for the Indians from 1963-1971, the A’s 1971-1972, the Orioles 1973 and the Rangers in 1974. He was part of the A’s 1972 WS Champion team. He played in 17 games for the 1973 AL East Champion Orioles.

From 1964 to 1969 he averaged 130 games a year, with an average season of .236-7-32. OPS+ 81. In 1129 MLB games he hit .233 with 47 HR and 254 RBI.

His only postseason appearance was in one game of the 1973 ALCS for the Orioles against the A’s with no plate appearances.

Erskine, last of the “Boys of Summer,” passes away at the age of 97.

In Brooklynspeak, he was known as “Oisk”. Carl Erskine, the last of Brooklyn’s “Boys of Summer”, passed away today at the age of 97.

Erskine pitched for the Dodgers from 1948 to 1959, starting with them in Brooklyn and finishing with them after their move to Los Angeles. He was part of six pennant winning teams and two WS champion teams.

In Game 3 of the 1953 WS against the Yankees, Erskine struck out 14 Yankees, a record for a WS game that lasted until Sandy Koufax struck out 15 Yankees in Game 1 of the 1963 WS.

Erskine threw two no-hitters in his MLB career, one in 1952 and the other in 1956.

On October 3, 1951, he was warming up in the bullpen alongside Ralph Branca when he bounced a curveball. His bouncing of the curveball made bullpen coach Clyde Sukeforth recommend Branca relieve Don Newcombe instead of Erskine. Branca went on to give up the pennant-winning HR to Bobby Thomson, the “shot heard ’round the world.”

Erskine was a 20 game winner in 1953, when he finished 9th in MVP voting. He was 20-6, 3.54 that year and led the NL in winning percentage. He was an All-Star in 1954 with an 18-15 record.

He was 16-12 in 1951, 14-6 in 1952, 11-8 in their WS Title year of 1955, and 13-11 in 1956.

His career record was 122-78 with an ERA of 4.00. His ERA+ was 101. 335 games, 216 starts.

In 11 WS games, 7 of them starts, and all against the Yankees in those Subway Series, he was 2-2 with an ERA of 5.83.

As a hitter he hit .156 with one HR and 31 RBI. He went 1 for 12 batting in the WS.

Erskine had a son Jimmy, who was born with Down Syndrome. As a result, Erskine was involved deeply with the Special Olympics and charities which aimed at helping people with developmental difficulties.

HOF manager Whitey Herzog passes away, age 92.

Hall of Fame manager Whitey Herzog passed away yesterday at the age of 92.

Herzog was an OF/1B for the Senators (1956-1958), Kansas City Athletics (1958-1960), Baltimore Orioles (1961-1962) and Detroit Tigers (1963). In 634 MLB games, he hit .257 with 25 HR and 172 RBI. His 162-game average was. .257-6-44. He had an OPS+ 97.

It was as a manager and executive where he made his mark and made the Hall of Fame.

He took over the Texas Rangers in 1973 from Ted Williams and went 47-91 before being let go with them in last place. He was an interim manager for the Angels in 1974, going 2-2 in four games.

In 1975 he took over the Kansas City Royals, and went 41-25, as they finished second in the AL West. He then led the Royals to three straight AL West crowns, losing in the ALCS each year 1976-1978 to the New York Yankees. He was let go after a second-place finish in 1979.

He went to the Cardinals and managed them from 1980 into 1990. With the Cardinals, he won pennants in 1982, 1985 and 1987, winning the World Series in 1982.

His overall managerial record was 1281-1125, .532, which over 162 games averages out to 86-76. He was named manager of the year for 1985.

At the time of his passing, Herzog was the second oldest Hall-of-Famer, behind Willie Mays.

Holtzman, a mainstay of A’s rotation that won 3 straight WS, dies at age 78.

Kenny Holtzman, who along with Jim “Catfish” Hunter and Vida Blue, were the big three pitchers of a rotation that helped the Oakland A’s win three straight World Series from 1972-1974, died yesterday at the age of 78.

Holtzman pitched for the Cubs (1965-1971), A’s (1972-1975), Orioles (1976), Yankees (1976-1978), and back with the Cubs (1978-1979). He was part of four WS Champion teams and was a 2x All-Star. He threw two no-hitters, both as a member of the Cubs, one in 1969 and one in 1971. He was one out away from a third no-hitter in 1975.

He went 17-13, 3.58 for the 1969 Cubs, a team that held the lead in the NL East for most of 1969 before faltering down the stretch and blowing that lead to the Amazin’ Mets. He won 17 again in 1970 for the Cubs before struggling to a 9-15 mark in 1971. He was then traded to Oakland for Rick Monday.

In 1972 he was an All-Star, going 19-11, 2.51 in helping Oakland win the World Series. It was the A’s first WS win since they were in Philadelphia back in 1930. He started one game against Detroit in the ALCS, giving up two runs in four innings and taking the the loss. In the WS against the Reds, he pitched in three games, starting two, and went 1-0 with a 2.13 ERA.

In 1973, Holtzman went 21-13, 2.97 and was an All-Star for the second and last time. It was the only 20-win season of his career. Against the Orioles in the ALCS, he got the win in a masterful performance, giving up just one run on three hits in a complete game, eleven inning victory. In the World Series against the Mets, he started three games, going 2-1, 4.22, but winning the decisive game 7.

In 1974, he went 19-17, 3.07. He threw a complete game five-hit shutout to beat Baltimore in the ALCS, then started two games in the World Series against the Dodgers, going 1-0, 1.50. In that WS against the Dodgers, Holtzman even hit a home run. In postseason play, he hit 4 for 13 with 3 doubles, and that HR. All those hits were in the 1973 WS against the Mets and the 1974 WS against the Dodgers.

In 1975 he went 18-14, 3.14 to help the A’s, now without Hunter, win the AL West. But in the ALCS against Boston, Holtzman started and lost two games as the A’s lost to the Red Sox. Holtzman’s ERA in that ALCS was 4.09.

With most of the A’s facing free agency and ready to leave Oakland and Charlie Finley, Finley traded Holtzman to Baltimore in a deal along with Reggie Jackson and another for Don Baylor, Mike Torrez and Paul Mitchell. Holtzman went 5-4, 2.86 in Baltimore but wasn’t there long. In mid-June 1976, he was dealt to the Yankees in a 10-player trade. Even though Holtzman was only 30 at the time of the deal, it was the beginning of the end. For whatever reason, and there were and are rumors of anti-semitism (Holtzman was Jewish, and still has the record for most wins by a Jewish pitcher, even more than Sandy Koufax), Billy Martin buried Holtzman. Holtzman went 9-7, 4.17 for the Yanks after the trade, finishing 1976 with a combined record of 14-11, 3.65 between Baltimore and the Yankees. Even though Holtzman had all that postseason experience over the past four seasons, for whatever reason, Martin didn’t use Holtzman at all in the ALCS against the Royals or in the World Series against the Reds.

Holtzman was part of the 1977 World Series champion “Bronx Zoo” Yankees, but not a big part. Once again, he was buried by Martin, and the inactivity hurt him. He only got in 18 games, 11 of them starts, going 2-3 with an ERA of 5.78. Once again, he wasn’t used in the postseason. In 1978, after just five games with the Yankees, three of them starts, he was traded to the Cubs, and his total record for those last two years of 1978-1979 was 7-12, 4.97.

For his career, Holtzman was 174-150 with an ERA of 3.49, ERA+ 105. In 13 postseason games, 12 of them starts, he was 6-4, 2.30. As a hitter, he hit .163 with 2 HR (not counting postseason. See that above).

Fritz Peterson, lefty starter on late ’60s, early ’70s Yankees teams, part of infamous “trade”, dies at the age of 82.

Fritz Peterson was a good lefty pitcher who joined the Yankees at the wrong time, when the dynasty had collapsed. At another time, he would have been a solid piece of a pennant winner. A pitcher with great control, Peterson had the lowest ratio of walks per innings pitched for any left-handed pitcher to pitch in the major leagues since the 1920s. Between 1969 and 1972, Peterson was one of the most successful left-handed pitchers in baseball; only Mike Cuellar, Mickey Lolich and Dave McNally won more games in the American League than Peterson did during those four years. Peterson, who generally was the #2 starter for the Yankees during those years behind Mel Stottlemyre, also holds the record for the lowest all-time ERA among Yankee pitchers at the original Yankee Stadium with a 2.52 mark. Whitey Ford is second at 2.55.

Peterson also was the starting pitcher in the last game in the original Yankee Stadium before the mid-1970s renovation, on September 30, 1973.

Peterson pitched for the Yankees from 1966-1974, the Indians 1974-1976 and the Rangers 1976. His career record was 133-131, ERA 3.30, ERA+ 101 (100 is average). He was an All-Star in 1970, when he went 20-11, 2.90. He never pitched in a postseason game.

In 1966, his rookie year, he went 12-11, 3.31 in 34 games, 32 of them starts. 11 complete games.

From 1968 to 1972, he put up fine numbers in a pitching dominated era.

1968 12-11, 2.63 36 games, 27 starts.
1969 17-16 2.55 37 games, all starts, 16 complete games.
1970 20-11, 2.90 39 games, 37 starts. Only All-Star game.
1971 15-13, 3.05 37 games, 35 starts. 1 save. 16 complete games.
1972 17-15 3.24 35 games, all starts. 12 complete games.

During each of these years, he led the league in least walks per 9 innings. If only the Yanks were a better hitting team. Nice ERAs. Took the ball every 4th day. Look at the number of complete games. 250 or more IP each year 1969-1972. As a hitter in that pre-DH era, he hit .159-2-31.

Then, THE trade. No, not to another team. Instead, he and teammate Mike Kekich traded lives. Wives, dogs, children… needless to say, it was a scandal. As one wag put it, family day at the Stadium wouldn’t be the same. Kekich was soon traded. Peterson suffered through a 8-15, 3.95 1973 season, in which he heard plenty of boos. There was a lot of “free love” going around at that time but people weren’t (and still aren’t) ready for that. Wife swapping. Peterson and the former Mrs. Kekich did stay married, while the union of Kekich and the former Mrs. Peterson didn’t last long.

A couple of shoulder surgeries ended his career at the age of 34, and after retirement, Peterson worked as a blackjack dealer at a casino and wrote a few books. He was a known practical joker and and survived prostate cancer twice. I don’t know about those early days, especially with the wife-swap, but Fritz (born Fred Ingles Peterson) was an intensely religious man who was an Evangelical Christian and was involved in the Baseball Chapel. I don’t know if he had a conversion afterwards or what so no comment on that.

But for a few years, Fritz was a very fine pitcher on a mediocre team. If only he could have been on those powerhouse Yankee teams that came just before his tenure or those Bronx Zoo teams that came just after.

Unfortunately, his pitching record is overshadowed by THE TRADE. For when you mention Fritz Peterson to those who remember him, the first thing that usually comes to mind isn’t his pitching career, but that scandal that rocked the baseball world in the spring of 1973.

Fritz was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in 2018 and succumbed to the disease yesterday at the age of 82. I am 62 myself, and my first years of watching Yankee baseball were of those CBS years, the years known as the “Horace Clarke years” and not affectionately. Years that Fritz was a big part of.

Research off of Wikipedia, baseball-reference.com and various sources.