Baseball Digest articles from September 2005

Baseball Digest archives from September 2005

The fans speak out.(Letters To The Editor)(Letter to the Editor)
September 1, 2005... My father and I were at the game when Hank Aaron broke Babe Ruth's career home run record. I was 15 years old then. Do you know what the attendance was that night? Richard O. Timms Columbia, S.C. A crowd of 53,775 was on hand at...

Unusual cache of vintage baseball collectibles scarce old cards, uncut sheets, prints, and signs.
September 1, 2005... 1980s All-Time Greats Baseball Greats. 50 card set full of Hall of Famers. Included are Aaron, Banks, Berra, Campanella, Clemente, Cobb. DiMaggio, Feller, Ford, Foxx, Gehrig, Greenberg, Hornsby, Mantle, Mathewson, Mays, Musial, Ott, Brooks...

Igniting the offense: a demanding job for leadoff hitters.(Warm Up Tosses)(Interview)(Cover Story)
September 1, 2005... PLAYERS WERE LIMBERING UP BEFORE AN INTER-LEAGUE MATCH BETWEEN THE Dodgers and White Sox earlier this season when an inquiring reporter sought the opinions of two experts on a subject closely related to winning ball games. "What makes for...

Remarkable: one-season performances: here are some extraordinary accomplishments achieved by batters and pitchers that are among the greatest in baseball history.
September 1, 2005... IT'S PERHAPS NOT SURPRISING THAT George Sisler's mark for most base hits in a season, surpassed by Ichiro Suzuki in 2004, was almost never listed among the game s hallowed achievements in speculation about which records were at risk or remained...

The angels' Darin Erstad plays hard to win: left-handed hitting first baseman comes up big when game is on the line and has the bruises to show for it.
September 1, 2005... IF THE INSINUATIONS WERE UGLY, THE charges were ridiculous. Two weeks after that bone-rattling collision at the plate in Atlanta late last spring, the overriding conclusion remains the same. The only thing dirty about Darin Erstad is his...

Base stealing: a vital offensive weapon is finding its way back into prominence among big league speedsters.
September 1, 2005... CARL CRAWFORD WAS FAST, MAYBE the fastest athlete to ever walk down the streets of Houston's Fifth Ward. But when Crawford, now a left fielder for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, made up his mind to go straight into major league baseball's...

A wonderful group of vintage collectibles of great teams, great players, great records.
September 1, 2005... (1) 1984 Detroit Tigers World Champion 30" Pennant--Huge 6" Tigers logo. Players' names in 10" scroll. Very Fine condition. It is now some two decades old and has a $55 value in The Standard Catalog of Sports Memorabilia. Baseball Digest...

Pinch hitting: the job nobody wants: coming through with a safety as a substitute batter in the middle or late in a game remains a difficult task.
September 1, 2005... THE GREAT MEMOIR BEGAN 15 years ago at Riverfront Stadium, on that September Sunday when Tommy Lasorda beckoned a 21-year-old player, fresh from Albuquerque. "First at-bat in the big leagues, 1990, Cincinnati," Dave Hansen recalled last...

Baseball quick quiz.
September 1, 2005... 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. I played on World...

Adam Dunn: hitting his stride as a big league slugger: young left-handed swinging outfielder developing into one of game's most threatening batsmen.
September 1, 2005... ACCORDING TO CINCINNATI REDS FIRST baseman an Casey, Adam Dunn is a rare player. Says Casey: "He's one of those special talents who comes around once every 20 years, you know what I mean? Adam is someone who really changes a game and can hit...

Craig Biggio--king of hit batsmen: Astros veteran is closing in on 3,000 safeties, while setting a painful record for most times being plunked by a pitch.(Houston Astros)
September 1, 2005... EIGHTEEN SEASONS IN THE MAJOR leagues, and Craig Biggio has never done an endorsement for Timex. That's too bad because soon no player in the modern era (since 1901) will have taken more of a ticking and kept on ticking. Biggio, who...

Reggie Sanders: Cardinals' outfielder claiming his place in baseball history: earlier this season, he was striving to become one of the few players to reach 300 career HR and 300 stolen bases.(Interview)
September 1, 2005... THE QUESTIONS NEVER CHANGED in his first spring training with the Cardinals. Reggie Sanders' answers, polite and uttered with a smile, never changed, either. In February 2004, Sanders arrived at Jupiter, Florida, as baseball's traveling...

Pirates' Oliver Perez: has a bright future in majors: left-hander had a breakout year in 2004 and despite struggles this season, he still has all the tools to have a long, successful career.(Interview)
September 1, 2005... IT WAS NO PLACE FOR A YOUNG pitcher, not even a wide-eyed wunderkind. It was Denver's Coors Field, the hitters' paradise of baseball with its mile-high air and mammoth gaps. To boot, it was a brisk 39 degrees on a mid-May night. And into...

Body of evidence: some hitters say they can identify what a pitcher is throwing by noticing movements in the wrist, finger or glove or through facial expressions.
September 1, 2005... NEW YORK METS COACH RICK Peterson is usually one of baseball's most obliging interviews, particularly on anything pertaining to pitching. But he suddenly seems detached and indifferent when asked about tipping pitches. Instead of embarking...

Baseball profile: LaTroy Hawkins--San Francisco Giants.(Interview)
September 1, 2005... FULL NAME: LaTroy Hawkins AGE, HT., WT.: 32, 6-5, 215 HOME: Frisco, Texas STATUS/FAMILY: Married with two children NICKNAME: Hawk LIFE OUTSIDE OF BASEBALL: I hang out with the family and I'm more of a soccer dad outside...

Hall of Famer Warren Spahn: the all-time record holder for victories by a left-hander with 363, he won 20-plus games in a season 13 times.(Biography)
September 1, 2005... IF NOTHING HAPPENS TO THAT boy in the way of injuries, he's going to be one of the best in the business. He has an easy motion and every time he throws that ball, it's doing something." That was what the late Casey Stengel had to say about...

Milestone clubs.(hitters and pitchers with outstanding records)
September 1, 2005... Milestone Clubs Listed in the accompanying charts are noted milestone achievements for major league hitters and pitchers and those active players who are approaching historic career marks. (+) Indicates active players' records are...

Baseball rules corner: instant replay for disputed home run calls would be beneficial.(Column)
September 1, 2005... FOUR YEARS AGO IN THIS COLUMN I endorsed the idea of using the instant replay for distance calls that involve disputed home runs that might be fair or foul and spectator interference that is called in fair territory between the foul poles. ...