Jackie Robinson Day: Celebrating a Legend

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives." - Jackie Robinson.

While most of the country associates April 15 as the dreaded "Tax Day" the rest of us know that today's date has much more meaning.

Happy Jackie Robinson Day.

Today is the 64th anniversary of the date when Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball, becoming the first black man allowed to play the game outside the Negro League. The baseball legend played his first big league game with the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbets Field on April 15, 1947. He went on to win the Rookie of the Year honors and play in six All-Star games.

Ron Santo Will Be Missed

When we think of Ron Santo, one word comes to mind: Courage.

He passed away Thursday in a hospital in Arizona at the age of 70.

The former Chicago Cubs star third baseman and longtime broadcaster, a revered figure for not just the North Side, but across the entire country, died from complications of bladder cancer, according to WGN Radio, where Santo served as the Cubs color commentator.

Santo played for the Chicago Cubs from 1960 to 1973 before spending his final season in the big leagues with the cross-town White Sox. He hit 342 career home runs, won five Gold Glove Awards and made the All Star team on nine occasions.

He enjoyed four seasons in which he batted at least .300 with 30 home runs from 1964 to 1967, and had a playing streak of 390 consecutive games before being hit in the cheekbone by a Jack Fisher pitch in June 1966.

Robin Yount: Palatable

Robin Yount was pretty awesome back in the day... but lemonade?

Yeah, it was delicious.

And I Got Mad Hits Like I Was Rod Carew

Ichiro Suzuki, being the total badass that he is, reached his ninth consecutive 200-hit season Sunday night after the second game of a double header against the Texas Rangers.

No one in the history of baseball has ever had that many 200-hit seasons in a row, now that the Seattle Mariners right fielder has passed up the legendary Wee Willie Keeler, who enjoyed eight consecutive 200-hit seasons from 1894-1901. Even more impressive? That record was 108 years old.

Post game, teammate Ken Griffey Jr. picked up Ichiro, slung him over his shoulder and carried him to the showers, where teammates then treated him to a beer shower.

Hot.

Ichiro is now batting .353 on the season with 9 homers and 40 RBIs.
[Reuters] | [Every Joe] | [The Hardball Times]

Baseball Says Goodbye to Dom DiMaggio

Dominic DiMaggio, whose time spent as a Boston Red Sox center fielder was clearly overshadowed by his older brother Joe's illustrious career, passed away Friday at his Massachusetts home, surrounded by his family with the replay of Thursday night's Sox game in the background.

At the age of 92, DiMaggio had seen a lot in his lifetime. I mean, the invention of the almighty television? Microwaves? Computers? Contact lenses? It blows my mind to think about living that long.

The seven-time All Star, who still holds the record for the longest consecutive hitting streak in Boston history at 34 games, was known as the "Little Professor" due to his smaller stature and eyeglasses. And who ended that string of hits for Dom? His big brother, of course. Joe (who set the big league record with 56 straight games with a hit) caught the tough liner in the eighth inning of a 6-3 Red Sox victory over the New York Yankees. At least his team won, I guess.

A life-long Red Sox player, Dom was a career .298 hitter with 87 home runs.

[AP] | [Sports of Boston] | [100 and 8]

Doc's Hancock Stays

After Dwight Gooden signed a wall in the Ebbets Club when he attended the April 13th opener at Citi Field, there was speculation that some janitor was going to come along with a Magic Eraser and remove the autograph which read,

Doc Gooden
84 R.O.Y.
85 Cy Young
86 W.S. Champs

Sayonara, Blowhard

Curt Schilling just knows you're going to miss him something fierce, so he's said goodbye in blog form over at his soapbox, 38 Pitches. The first line of his entry?

"Turn out the lights the party’s over..."

God, what a dork.

The 42-year-old pitcher retired Monday with "zero regrets" after an illustrious career in which he snagged three World Series rings: one with the Arizona Diamondbacks back in 2001, where he enjoyed the World Series MVP honor, and two with the Boston Red Sox. Most memorably, aside from the whole Game 2 bloody sock fiasco, would be the simple fact that the Sox hadn't won the World Series in 86 years up until 2004. And he got to be a part of it.

Continue reading and rate this story at Fantasy Pros 911.

Even The Wave Will Be There!

As most old folks do when they're three-quarters of a century old, Hammerin' Hank Aaron will enjoy a giant birthday bash, thrown by friends and family of the legend in downtown Atlanta this evening.

Anyone who's anyone at all will be there, including Dave Winfield and former President Bill Clinton. Oh yeah, and someone invited Bud Selig, who's always the life of the party.

Happy Birthday, Hank. Your 755 longballs will always be the best according to most.

[MLB] | [Hardball Times] | [My Pinstripes]

Dan "Dazzleman" Gladden's Mudflap Immortalized

Have you seen this thing? It's a Dan Gladden bobblehead, complete with sweet mustache and Tom Petty hair.

Dazzle is perhaps best known not for his striking good looks, but for scoring the winning run during Game 7 of the 1991 World Series (my most exciting moment as a Twins fan) after stretching a bloop hit into a double, and later scoring on a Gene Larkin pinch-hit single to win it all.

This bobblehead all yours if you are one of the first 10,000 fans at the Metrodome in Minneapolis on Friday, June 20th to watch the Minnesota Twins play the Arizona Diamondbacks. All yours. For free.

600 Reasons to Love Ken Griffey Jr.

Ken Griffey Jr. nailed his 600th career homer on Monday, joining Hank Aaron, Babe Ruth, Willie Mays, Barry Bonds, and Sammy Sosa as the sixth member of the 600 Club, highlighted by three legendary Hall of Famers, and at least one controversial slugger who is not likely to join them.

Speculation states he'd likely be at #700 by now if not for serious injury after serious injury, but the 38-year-old Cincinnati Reds living legend still has quite a bit of gas left in his tank, even though he's batting .260 with 7 homers and 29 RBIs on the season. Okay, so he's running on fumes.

The milestone came on a 3-and-1 pitch from Florida Marlins lefty Mark Hendrickson in the first inning, sailing 413 feet inside the right field foul pole for a 2-0 lead.

...and only 16,003 people saw it live. Get out to the god damn ballpark, people!

Also, read about the Rocket's rocket here.

[USA Today]

Go See Something Awesome

In the New City area this July? Then you should check out the showing of Don Larsen's perfection from Game 5 of the 1956 World Series between the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, a year before their move to Los Angeles.

For $30, you can visit the BB King Blues Club in Times Square on Thursday, July 10th for an exclusive viewing of the only known copy of the sweetest game ever played at Yankee Stadium.

Watch a sneak peek of the top of the fourth here at Reel Sports Fan.

Complete with original commercials, the rarely-seen gem will begin in the 2nd inning and end with the last out, as the famous image of Yogi Berra jumping into Larsen's arms comes to life. That's gonna be pretty awesome.

[Reel Sports Fan]

Jackie Robinson: Celebrating a Legend

"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives."
- Jackie Robinson.

It's been 61 years since the late, great Jackie Robinson broke baseball's color barrier and thrilled fans with his sweet swing.

"What, no Rufus?" - [Deadspin]

"There was no other ballplayer like Jackie..." - [The Shooter's Lounge]

"I'm not okay with that." - [Beantown West]

"Jackie's Top 10 Moments" - [NY Daily News]

"...to watch and listen as he explained what Jackie Robinson meant to him as well as what he meant to baseball was a humbling experience." - [Diary of a Diehard]

Greatest Baseball Quotes of All Time

"Hello again, everybody. It's a bee-yooo-tiful day for baseball." -- Harry Caray

Instead of quoting various sports bloggers' stories today, we've decided to bust out some of the more memorable quotes from the players themselves. Enjoy!

"If a tie is like kissing your sister, then losing is like kissing your grandmother with her teeth out." [George Brett]

"I get the ball, I throw the ball, and then I take a shower." [Mariano Rivera]

"Why should I stretch? Does a cheetah stretch before it chases its prey?" [Ken Griffey Jr.]

Art Imitates Baseball

The Colorado Rockies are conducting a Jackie Robinson Youth Artistic Contest for elementary and middle school students at 100 schools in the Denver area. This event was inspired by local artist Darrell Anderson, who 10 year ago, made his own artistic tribute to the icon who broke through baseball's color barrier in 1947.

The theme of the art contest is "Breaking Barriers" and students may submit anything artistic to describe what breaking barriers means to them. Poetry, music, art or a video presentation of dance and drama which may focus on Robinson or a personal experience relating to the theme are all acceptable.

Revisiting History: Don Larsen's Perfect Game

We've all seen it: Yogi Berra leaping into Don Larsen's arms after the final out of the pitcher's perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

For decades, it also was considered one of the few images that survived from that day, with footage from the original broadcast of the entire game assumed to be lost forever.

Enter Doak Ewing, an Illinois sports film collector and founder of Rare Sports Films, Inc. He revealed last year that in the early 1990s he had acquired a kinescope - made by using a movie camera to film a television broadcast directly off the screen - that featured all but the first inning of Game 5 between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees.

Apparently, an Alaska man acquired the recording while serving overseas. It was a common practice in the 50s for networks to send kinescopes of the World Series to U.S. forces to watch, with the condition that they be destroyed afterward.