HOF DONATION
The Hall of Fame Game between the Cubs and Padres was rained out, but not before a ceremony in which Greg Maddux donated to the Hall the jersey he wore in his 350th victory.
PINK BATS ON MLB.COM
The first wave of pink MLB Mothers’ Day bats is on MLB.com’s auction listing at present. Bids close anywhere from July 7th through the 10th, based on each individual bat.
O”S REMEMBER JIM
No, not Jim Palmer, as he’s quite alive and well. The Orioles are wearing black mourning bands on their right sleeves for recently deceased announcing great Jim McKay. The voice of Wide World of Sports was a minority owner of the team.
PHONY PUMA PIECE
I recently saw a retail Puma Vikings jersey being offered on eBay as a game used jersey. Sad to say, it wasn’t, as the Puma size tag, white on pro-issued Puma shirts, was black (the retail tag color) on this one…a little tip I learned many moons ago from game-used dealer Jim Yackel.
NOSTALGIA NEWS
Some of the latest TBTC styles and other specials include the following:
June 21: Give credit to the Tampa Bay Rays. Despite being only in their 11th year, they find new and different styles to wear for every retro game. This day, it was a 1989 St. Petersburg Pelicans uniform being recreated. The Pelicans were the 1989 Champions of the defunct Senior Professional Baseball League, a late fall/winter operation in Florida back then that feature pro players from the 1960s and ’70s on rosters. The Astros, meanwhile, went back to the 1975-86 rainbow jerseys for yet another time.
June 22: AIS produced Negro League attire for the Royals and Giants…a different Kansas City Monarchs style for the Royals, and a 1927 barnstorming Royal Giants design for San Francisco.
Also June 22: The Padres again wore their military camouflage uniforms.
GUESS SOMEONE DIDN”T CHECK GETTY IMAGES
A recent eBay lot had what was described as a Josh Hamilton game used Reds jersey. Hamilton’s only season with the Reds was 2007, and the home jersey, shown front and back, is posted alongside a 2007 photo of Hamilton’s back…with a NOB and numeric font that doesn’t even come close to the one on the seller’s jersey. Even the low $75 opening bid (a red flag right there) hadn’t brought a bid as of this writing. I wonder why…?
HISTORY MADE
Aaron Boone poked an infield single Wednesday night that created an unprecedented statistical milestone. Aaron’s single was his 1000 career MLB hit, meaning that three generations of baseball-playing Boones (the late Ray Boone, his son, Bob, and Bob’s offspring, Bret and Aaron) all have piled up at least 1000 hits in the Bigs.
OBITUARIES
Tom Catlin, a LB in the 1950s, died from complications from surgery at age 76. He played for five seasons: four for Cleveland, and the final one for Philadelphia.
Jonathan Goddard, a DE who played one game for the 2005 Colts, was killed in a motorcycle accident. He was 27.
Lastly, Bert Shepard, a wartime Major Leaguer, died on June 16, just short of his 88th birthday. Shepard’s lone MLB appearance was on August 4, 1945, when he took the mound in relief for the Washington Senators, and hurled 5 1/3 innings to close the game, yielding only 1 earned run.
BATISTA….TAKE DOWN EDGE!!!