Baseball Milestones Today

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Just watched Baseball tonight and a few significant events happened in the world of baseball on Saturday:



*Derek Jeter hit his first grand slam ever. I never would have guessed Derek did not have a grand salami to his credit. After a long slump it looks like the Yankees are getting rolling again.



*Sammy Sosa tied Mark McGwire's home run total for 6th place all time.



*Julio Franco of the Atlanta Braves became the oldest MLB player ever to hit two homers in one game. The dude is 46! He made the largest offensive contribution by batting in half of Atlanta's 6 runs.



Another note on Franco: he stole two bases in the last game he played! Oldest player to do that too.



Vaughn

 

[TPCDrafting]

Thanks Vaughn, I'd like to add the Rockies still stink, but that is no milestone.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Julio Franco does it again. . . grand slam last night. The 46 year old is Atlanta's hottest hitter for June, batting . 394.



Vaughn

 

[daytripper63]

I guess the big question is...

Is he doing it all natural or with Barry Bonds Hand Lotion

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

LOL. . . one could wonder. It's the hottest he's batted in a few years.

 

[loncray]

Around here, everyone's trying to figure out why the Nationals keep winning. I've never been a baseball fan (until now), but I understand that this IS basically the same team as last year's Expos, right? They can't steal bases, they don't hit many home runs, they have been outscored by their opponents (116 - 110 last I saw), and they've had more players than any other team (indicating injury problems). And Frank Robinson was voted the worst manager in MLB during the preseason, and their payroll is $48 million, less than a quarter that of the Yankees. Yet they're the 3d best team in all of baseball, with the best home record in a stadium that last saw professional baseball 34 years earlier and is basically a big pile of rust. This whole region has been waiting for them to collapse since the season began, and it just isn't happening. Anybody who knows baseball have a clue how this is happening? And how to bottle it for sale?

 

[mazdarotary]

Well first off anyone that would rank Frank Robinson as the worst manager in the majors should have their head examined. I think Frank has forgotten more about baseball than some other mangaers will ever know. Secondly they have had a great run at home for whatever reason(probably because they actually have a home),and they have gotten some solid pitching from some cast-offs.



The funny thing is the Montreal/Washington franchise has created some of the better players in the game over the years,but had the bad luck of a strike in 94 that killed their hopes of making some noise in the playoffs. I think they have a pretty good team with lots of youger players that just wanted a place to play hard everyday in front of fans that still cared. This is not to say the people of Montreal were bad fans. I have been an Expos fan for a few years after going up there,and checking out the team. I thought what little fans they had were passionate about the team,but sadly the poor managment over the years,and fire sales of players turned away alot of fans. Couple all of this with a region(country for that matter)that is really hockey mad,a stadium that was well past its prime(not to mention kind of remote),and you have a recipe for failure. I actually think baseball could work there again(even though I know it won't happen)given the proper stadium,and management. It is really too bad baseball turned its eye to the long suffering fans in places like Montreal. It was a very vibrant,and festive place to watch a game even in the Big-O. I say Go Nat's!!!!!

Around here, everyone's trying to figure out why the Nationals keep winning. I've never been a baseball fan (until now), but I understand that this IS basically the same team as last year's Expos, right? They can't steal bases, they don't hit many home runs, they have been outscored by their opponents (116 - 110 last I saw), and they've had more players than any other team (indicating injury problems). And Frank Robinson was voted the worst manager in MLB during the preseason, and their payroll is $48 million, less than a quarter that of the Yankees. Yet they're the 3d best team in all of baseball, with the best home record in a stadium that last saw professional baseball 34 years earlier and is basically a big pile of rust. This whole region has been waiting for them to collapse since the season began, and it just isn't happening. Anybody who knows baseball have a clue how this is happening? And how to bottle it for sale?

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Ol' Julio does it again. . . still playing baseball and became the oldest ever to hit a home run last night at 47 years 8 months.



Vaughn

 

[easleyj1]

I am a braves fan and enjoyed watching Julio play for the last couple of years. He was my favorite player and a remarkable athlete. Miss him.



Jonny

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

The guy is nothing short of amazing, to hold decent numbers like that starting into his 29th year in the Majors.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

Ol' Julio does it again. . . still playing baseball and became the oldest ever to hit a home run last night at 47 years 8 months.



Vaughn

Franco only hit 2 homers last year, but he hit a 417-footer off Randy Johnson Friday night in Arizona. With that he continues the "oldest ever" streak now at 48 years 8 months http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/ar...t_id=1947091&vkey=news_nym&fext=.jsp&c_id=nym



Video on this page (titled "Franco, Johnson Define Golden Oldies") http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/news/index.jsp?c_id=nym

 

[JPope]

Roger Clemons with Yankees

For $24 Million for remainder of 2007!



What a deal



So what we will pitch, 2 games a month, 5 months and if he wins all of them, 10 games @ $2. 4 Million.

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

For $24 Million for remainder of 2007!

What a deal

So what we will pitch, 2 games a month, 5 months and if he wins all of them, 10 games @ $2. 4 Million.

Yep, only in New York LOL

The 4-game series the Mariners wrapped up in New York was a little entertaining. I saw some of it, got a little testy Sunday, not sure why the Yanks were trying to rough up the Mariners when they were up 5-0 I'm glad we were able to get out of there with a split. This weekend will be interesting when the Yankees come to Seattle.

 

[HEMI®Dart]

Around here, everyone's trying to figure out why the Nationals keep winning.

They should have named the team the Washington Senators.

 

[JacobsD]

The 4-game series the Mariners wrapped up in New York was a little entertaining. I saw some of it, got a little testy Sunday, not sure why the Yanks were trying to rough up the Mariners when they were up 5-0 I'm glad we were able to get out of there with a split. This weekend will be interesting when the Yankees come to Seattle.

Yeah you guys took care of us last night, too bad I can't keep my eyes open enough to watch games at 10:00 at night. :-laf

 

[Vaughn MacKenzie]

More Julio Franco news. . . once again things aren't looking great for his future as he was just put on assignment for the second time in the last month. He was cut by the Mets and was picked up by the Braves, and despite playing well there his 1st Base job was relieved to Teixeira, picked up in the MLB acquisitions going on lately.

Julio had limited playing time with the Mets this year and batting avg. dropped. After going to the Braves about 2 weeks ago he started most games and batted . 250. Not great but not terribly shabby either. Hopefully something will work out for Julio but when you're almost 49 years old your options are pretty limited.

The Official Site Atlanta Braves Julio Franco placed on Assignment