Negro League legend and would-be Hall of Famer Buck O’Neil was hospitalized for fatigue over the weekend.  The 94-year-old recently received thunderous ovations both before and after speaking at the recent Hall of Fame induction ceremonies and just weeks ago became the oldest player in professional baseball history when he was signed by the Kansas City T-Bones for one game and drew two intentional walks.  He was said to be resting comfortably.  Bob Kendrick, marketing director for the Negro League Baseball Museum and a friend of O’Neil’s, told reporters, “mostly doctors just wanted to be extra cautious with him.”  DN&N sends its best wishes to Buck for a speedy and complete recovery and also urges everyone to sign the petition calling for Bud Selig and the Veteran’s committee to step in and right the wrong that was committed when O’Neil was not among the recently inducted group of 17 from the Negro Leagues. 

 

The Mets moved on Sunday to lock up the other half of the left side of their infield, signing David Wright to a 6-year, $55 million extension just four days after signing Jose Reyes to a 4-year, $23.25 million deal.  Like Reyes, negotiations moved quickly and ensured that two of the best young players in baseball will be playing side by side for several more years.  Wright, in just his second full season, is a career .304 hitter and has 22 HR and 83 RBI on the year.  Wright also made a game saving play to end the Mets’ win on Saturday as negotiations were ongoing, prompting GM Omar Minaya to tell reporters, “I think that play cost us a few thousand more.”

 

The Diamondbacks on Monday moved to shore up their rotation by adding Livan Hernandez in a trade with the Nationals.  Washington picks up a couple of former third round draft picks in right hander Garrett Mock and left hander Matt Chico.  Hernandez is 9-8 with a 5.34 ERA on the year but has pitched well of late, going 3-0 with a 3.27 mark in his last 5 starts (33 IP, 33 H, 12 ER)

 

Wayne Krivsky, meanwhile, continued the overhaul of his beleaguered bullpen, acquiring Ryan Franklin from Philadelphia with cash for the infamous PTBN.  The move coincided with the Reds placing reliever Gary Majewski on the disabled list with a “tired shoulder.”  Majewski was acquired from Washington in an 8-player deal on July 13 that was supposed to shore up the pen.  However, he had a 12.53 ERA in his 11 appearances with Cincinnati, allowing a run in 7 of those and retiring the first batter just 3 times.  He says now that his shoulder has been bothering him since his time in Washington, raising the question of whether the Reds knew he was hurt when the acquired him or if the Nationals might have known he was damaged goods.  Majewski was not examined before the deal by the team’s medical director, Dr. Timothy Kremchek. 

 

Milestone Tracking Pt I  – Chasing the Hammer – Barry Bonds last Friday hit the 723^rd home run of his career, pulling him to within 32 of Henry Aaron on the all-time list, and to within 10 of Aaron’s National League record of 733.  The blast came off of the Rockies’ Jeff Francis, making him the 429^th pitcher (and 3^rd Canadian) to surrender a home run to Bonds.  The home run also tied Bonds with Stan “The Man” Musial for 2^nd all-time in extra-base hits with 1,377.  Bonds then doubled both Saturday and Sunday to pass The Man and pull to within 98 of The Hammer for tops all-time.   His double on Saturday also gave him 1,900 RBI in his career, making him the 10^th player in history to reach that mark and with an RBI on Monday, he is now just 2 behind his Godfather Willie Mays for 9^th all-time (1,903).  His 6^th inning single on Saturday also made him just the 44^th player in history to reach 2,800 career hits.  Bonds went 1-for-4 on Monday and he now has 2,803 hits for his career, just 9 behind George Sisler on the all-time list.    

 

Milestone Tracking Pt II – Chasing Mr. October – On Sunday, Ken Griffey Jr. hit the 559^th home run of his HOF-worthy career, pulling The Kid to within 4 of tying Reggie Jackson for 10^th all-time.  John Smoltz, who had never allowed a home run to Griffey, became the 357^th pitcher to serve one up to Junior.  The home run also gave him 1,599 RBI in his career, tying him with Napoleon Lajoie for 25^th all-time.  On Monday, Griffey collected the 2,384^th hit of his career to pass Enos Slaughter and the disabled Gary Sheffield on the all-time list.  Griffey is now sixth among all active players in hits, just two behind Ryne Sandberg for 100^th all-time.   

 

Milestone Tracking Pt III – Chasing 3,000 – After seeing his previous three hits all leave the yard, Craig Biggio appropriately beat out an infield single against Dustin Nippert on Saturday to make the future Hall of Famer just the 34^th player in baseball history to reach 2,900 career hits.  Biggio, the active career hits leader, is 27 hits behind Al Simmons on the all-time list. 

 

All-Time Hit List Trivia Question – Biggio and Bonds top the list of active players in the top 100 all-time in base hits.  Can you name the three other active players ahead of Griffey on this list?  (answer below)

 

Milestone Tracking Pt IV – Chasing the Kid – In the same game that Biggio reached his milestone, and just a day after his 44^th birthday, Roger Clemens finally received some run support, helping him earn his 3^rd win of the season.  The Astros had scored just 12 runs in his previous 8 starts this season, but plated 9 in their win on Saturday, including 4 on a Brad Ausmus grand slam, driving the Rocket to the 344^th win of his storied career.  Clemens threw 7 innings in the win, allowing 3 runs on 8 hits while striking out 5 and walking just 1, and upping his season record to 3-4 with a 2.32 ERA.  The Rocket is 8^th all-time in victories, an unlikely 17 wins behind Kid Nichols. 

 

Milestone Tracking Pt V – Chasing 300 – Fending off the hard charging Phillies, Tom Glavine allowed only Ryan Howard’s 3-run first inning home run in 7 strong innings Saturday to earn his 12^th win of the year, and the 287^th of his career.  Glavine was also the benefactor of Wright’s game saving play as he moved passed Robin Roberts, and into a tie with Bert Blyleven for 25^th all-time.  His next win will move him into a tie with Tommy John for 5^th all-time among left handed pitchers and leave only Bobby Matthews (297) between him and 300 career wins. 

 

On Deck – Chasing Lefty – The marquee pitching match up for Tuesday comes to us from Chavez Ravine where Greg Maddux (10-11, 4.49) will make his second start for the red hot Dodgers against Byung-Hyun Kim (7-6, 4.57) and the Rockies in game two of that series.  Maddux is coming off a spectacular debut in which he threw 6 no-hit innings before rain prematurely ended his attempt at his first career no-hitter.  Kim, meanwhile, is coming off back-to-back starts in which the sidewinder has allowed just 1 ER in 15.2 innings.  With one more win, Maddux will tie Steve Carlton for 10^th place on the all-time list with 329.

 

No-Hit Trivia Question – Quite possibly only the rain stood between Maddux and his first career no-hitter in his first start as a Dodger.  Can you name the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his first game with a new team?  (answer below)

 

The Longest Streak Pt Ia –Chase for DiMaggio Over – Chase Utley’s run at history ended Friday night in New York, going 0-for-5 in the Phillies 5-3 win over the Mets.  At 35 straight games, Utley’s streak tied him for the 10^th longest in major league history with Fred Clarke (1895), Ty Cobb (1917) and Luis Castillo (2002).  It also tied him with Clarke and Castillo for the 6^th longest in NL history.  Utley batted .405 (62-for-153*) during the streak which began back on June 23 against Josh Beckett and the Red Sox. 

 

*DN&N reported in last Friday’s edition that Utley had batted .408 (62-for-152) during the streak, the same mark Joe DiMaggio recorded in his record 56 game streak.  DN&N blames this on bad math and sleepy eyes and begs forgiveness.

 

The Longest Streak Pt Ib – A New Chase - With Utley’s streak in the books, that leaves Manny Ramirez with the longest current hitting streak in the majors at 22 straight games.  Ramirez’ streak is the longest in the American League this season, bettering Ichiro’s 20 game streak back in May, and is the longest of his career as well.  Manny previously hit safely in 20 straight games from August 15 through September 5 of 2000.  Man-Ram is batting .383 (31-for-81) since his streak began back on July 15 with a double off of Dan Haren in a 3-hit game against Oakland. On Saturday, he hit the 466^th home run of his career, moving him past Dave Winfield on the all-time list.  Ramirez, fourth on the active list, is now alone at number 26, six behind Frank Thomas who hit the 472^nd of his career on Sunday.  Willie Stargell and Stan The Man (475) are next up for Thomas and Ramirez on the HR list. 

 

The Longest Streak Pt II – Brad Penny kept things rolling for the red hot Dodgers on Monday, allowing just 2 runs on 5 hits in 8 innings to up his record to 12-5 on the year.  For Los Angeles, it was their 10^th straight win after losing 8 straight from July 19-26.  The streak is the longest currently in the majors and has helped the Dodgers climb back to within 2 games of the first place Padres.  Penny was backed by Jeff Kent, fresh of the DL, who had two hits, including a home run and 3 RBI.  The home run gave Kent 341 in his career and moved him past Jack Clark for 77^th all-time.  He is one behind Ron Santo on the career list.

 

The Longest Streak Pt III – The Kansas City Royals were swept at home over the weekend by the Minnesota Twins to give them the longest current losing streak in the majors at 4 straight.  The win gave the Twins, who possess the best home record in baseball at 39-15, 8 straight wins on the road (a streak that was ended on Monday in Detroit).  The Royals, at 38-73 (.342), have the worst record in baseball.  In the series finale on Sunday, the Twins pounded out 22 hits, with six hitters in the Minnesota lineup combining to go 21-for-29 (.724) while Nick Punto, Justin Morneau and Josh Rabe combined to go 1-for-15.  Jason Bartlett was 5-for-5 in the win, giving him 11 hits in 18 at bats for the series.  Despite going 0-for-3 in Monday’s loss to the Tigers, Bartlett is batting .519 (27-for-52) since July 24.  KC was off on Monday and will take on Jon Lester (5-1, 3.59) on the Red Sox  at home on Tuesday with Luke Hudson (4-3, 4.67) trying to end the slide. 

 

Miscellaneous Milestone Notes

 

Jim Thome hit career home run number 464 on Monday.  He is 28^th all-time, one behind Winfield. 

 

Vladimir Guerrero hit career home run number 329 on Monday, moving him past Mo Vaughn for 87^th all-time.  He is two behind Hank Greenberg. 

 

Andrus Jones hit career home run number 328, breaking a tie with Luis Gonzalez and tying him with Mo Vaughn for 88^th. 

 

Ichiro Suzuki, 0-for-4 on Monday, has 1,286 career major league hits to go with 1,278 career hits in Japan, giving him a combined total of 2,564. Only Bonds and Biggio have more major league hits among active players.

 

All-Time Hit List Trivia Answer – Julio Franco (2,552), Steve Finley (2,504) and Omar Vizquel (2,427) are the three active players ahead of Griffey and behind both Bonds and Biggio on the all-time major league hit list.  Franco and the Mets were off on Monday while Finley drew a walk in his only plate appearance in the Giants 8-4 win over Arizona.  Vizquel, however, went 3-for-4 in his 37^th multi-hit game of the year.  He has now hit safely in 7 straight, going 16-for-29 (.551) in those games and is batting .414 (24-for-58) since July 24 and .350 (41-for-117) since July 2. 

 

No-Hit Trivia Answer – Former Dodger Hideo Nomo, making his first start in a Boston uniform on April 4, 2001 was the last pitcher to throw a no-hitter in his debut with a new team.  It was Nomo’s second career no-no, the first coming on September 17, 1996 in Colorado, and was also the last no-hitter thrown by a Dodger. 

Questions or comments for Richard? Richard Van Zandt is a staff writer for Baseball Evolution who lives in San Francisco, California. You can reach him at richard@baseballevolution.com.