Baseball Digest articles from September 2004

Baseball Digest archives from September 2004

The fans speak out.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2004... I watch the Boston Red Sox games every day on TV, and would like to know the nationality of Johnny Damon. He looks like he's American Indian. Anna C. Silva Fall River, Mass. Johnny Damon's mother was born in Thailand where she met...

Baseball's 11 greatest individual streaks in major league history.(Warm Up Tosses)
September 1, 2004... IN BASEBALL, STREAKS OF SUCCESS BY HITTERS, PITCHERS AND FIELDERS come and go. While in progress, they generate extended interest among fans, the media and players themselves if they reach eye-catching heights. Such was the case earlier...

Scott Rolen: baseball's best all-around third baseman.(Cover Story)
September 1, 2004... IT HAS BEEN ALMOST TWO YEARS since Scott Rolen left the only organization he had ever known, the Philadelphia Phillies, for what has been termed "baseball heaven" in St. Louis. Rolen says he has passed the point where he is merely an...

Stealing home: a lost art in major league baseball: swiping a run was once a common offensive tool that created excitement for fans, but today it is rarity.
September 1, 2004... APPARENTLY FEW, IF ANY, HAVE noticed, but present-day fans are being short-changed of what is possibly baseball's most dramatic play, one surpassing even a game-winning home run for heart-pounding excitement. Sure, a "walk-off" homer...

Coming of age: Dodgers' Adrian Beltre showing signs of greatness: once a struggling young prospect, Los Angeles third baseman is beginning to establish his talent as a major leaguer.
September 1, 2004... TIMES SQUARE. THE STRIP IN Las Vegas. Aurora Borealis. General Electric at dusk. The sun at dawn. Yes, for Adrian Beltre, it's as if all the lights went on at once. You think Beltre, the Dodgers' third baseman and potential MVP candidate...

Baseball profile: Rocco Baldelli--Tampa Bay Devil Rays.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... FULL NAME: Rocco Dan Baldelli AGE, HT., WT.: 22, 6-4, 205 Born: September 25, 1981 in Woonsocket, Rhode Island HOME: Cumberland, Rhode Island STATUS/FAMILY: Single NICKNAME: I don't have one. My name is pretty weird...

Barry Bonds: the best ever? Giants slugger will forever be compared to the greatest major league players and his numbers will rank him as the top performer of his era.
September 1, 2004... BARRY BONDS. "Just remember you're watching more than a baseball player," New York Yankees right fielder Gary Sheffield said. "You're watching history." BARRY BONDS. "When he hits it, I don't know, it just sounds different," Atlanta...

Baseball quick quiz.
September 1, 2004... Collect ten points for each question answered correctly. Answers on page 90 (If you score 80 or better, you are a baseball expert; 70 or better, superior; between 60 and 70, good, and between 40 and 60, average. 1. Ty Cobb holds the...

Building the perfect bullpen corps: majors' best relief ensemble more than the sum of its parts.
September 1, 2004... DURABILITY. CONTROL. Flexibility. Variety. Resiliency. Power and/or trickery. And we haven't even yet gotten into the intangibles of guts, confidence and selective amnesia--all equally valuable components of a topnotch bullpen. In modern...

Rafael Palmeiro: quietly swinging into the record books: Orioles slugger ranks high on all-time list among the game's elite hitters in slugging percentage, hits, home runs, doubles, RBI and runs scored.
September 1, 2004... BALTIMORE ORIOLES FIRST baseman Rafael Palmeiro has quietly established himself as one of the most productive hitters in major league baseball history. As a member of the Texas Rangers, Palmeiro on May 11, 2003 became the 19th major...

Pitchers' body language can tip off batters: some moundsmen's movements allow hitters to determine what type of offering is being thrown.
September 1, 2004... DEREK LOWE'S EARLY-SEASON problems may have been caused in part by his body language. Curt Schilling was wondering why his fellow Boston Red Sex starter was having such a tough go of it. In his last three May outings, Lowe was pelted for 19...

Baseball's greatest--Brooks Robinson: the game's best defensive third baseman: his glove work during the 1960s and 1970s was unmatched, and today, players defending the hot corner are compared to the Orioles Hall of Famer who mastered the position.
September 1, 2004... BROOKS ROBINSON'S PEERS BELIEVE HIS DEFENSE WASN'T JUST ONE OF the Orioles' defining characteristics. His play at third base was the defining characteristic, they say. "The Orioles were built on having great defense, and Brooks was the...

My childhood hero: as selected by former major league stars.
September 1, 2004... CHILDHOOD HEROES. THEY ARE A part of our earliest recollections, comprising the fabric of our greatest memories. For every kid aspiring to reach the Hall of Fame, or simply reach any goal along the way, heroes teach us the spirit of...

Former outfielder Mike Marshall: players who left the game on their own terms: one-time Dodgers slugger led Los Angeles with 82 RBI during a 1988 World Series-winning season.(Curtain Calls)
September 1, 2004... MIKE MARSHALL IS ONE OF A select few who won a Triple Crown in their baseball career. The former Dodgers outfielder accomplished the feat in 1981, when he hit .373 with 34 homers and 137 RBIs for Albuquerque (Triple-A) of the Pacific Coast...

Where are they now? Bill North: former Oakland athletics outfielder: one-time American League base stealing champ played 11 seasons in the majors and was part of 1973-1974 World Series club.
September 1, 2004... HE WOULD PREFER THAT YOU call him Bill North, not Billy, now that he's a Kirkland financial planner, and likely a good one considering what he accomplished in his baseball career. North started small and built himself into something big....

Hitting streaks: top major league single-season hitting streaks by each club: through June 27, 2004.(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Top major league single-season hitting streaks by each club Through June 27, 2004. AMERICAN LEAGUE ANAHEIM ANGELS Player Year Streak Garret Anderson 1998 28 Rod Carew 1982 ...

7th inning stretch: teams with most 40-HR hitters, season.(Illustration)
September 1, 2004... Teams With Most 40-HR Hitters, Season Teammates have clubbed 40 or more home runs in the same season 23 times in major league history. The 1973 Atlanta Braves and 1996, 1997 Colorado Rockies are the only teams to have three players...

Baseball rules corner: rules protect middle infielder trying to launch double play.
September 1, 2004... PLAYERS NORMALLY VIEW THE rulebook as a document to reprimand or penalize. Just the basic sound of the word "rule" has a cold, prickly connotation. Yet, if used properly, the rulebook can be more friendly than unfriendly. A keen knowledge...

Q & A with Robin Yount.(Interview)
September 1, 2004... THE FIRST-BALLOT HALL OF FAMER TALKS ABOUT THE CHANGING BREED OF SHORTSTOPS AND THE NOW-RARE CIRcumstance of playing an entire career with one team. Q: You played all 20 years of your Hall of Fame career with one team--the Milwaukee...