Major League Baseball announced 50-game suspensions for Braves righthander Darrel Leiva and Phillies righthander Gabriel Bermudez after both of them tested positive for steroids. Leiva, 18, tested positive for metabolites of both Stanozolol (commonly sold as Winstrol) and Nandrolone (commonly sold as Deca-Durabolin), both anabolic steroids. Leiva signed with the Braves out of Nicaragua last [...]
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Jim Thome wants his second stint in Philadelphia to come with the World Series title he missed the first time around.
Thome agreed to a $1.25 million, one-year contract with the Phillies on Saturday, returning to the franchise for a second time.
The 41-year-old Thome hit .256 with 15 home runs and 50 RBI in a combined 93 games with the Minnesota Twins and Cleveland Indians last season. He batted .350 with runners in scoring position and .424 over his final 11 games of the season.
“Every player sees the way the Phillies have done things,” Thome said. “They’ve set the bar very, very high.”
Thome played for Philadelphia from 2003-05 and has remained close with Phillies manager Charlie Manuel, his hitting coach for several years in Cleveland.
“Everyone knows my relationship with Jimmy,” Manuel said. “But he’s not here because of that. He’s here to contribute to our team in a positive way, both on and off the field.”
Thome hit .260 with 96 home runs and 266 RBIs in his first stint with the Phillies.
“I think the Phillies have set the bar very high in baseball,” Thome said. “This is as good a place in baseball right now to be in.”
Thome has a .277 career average with 604 homers and 1,674 RBIs. He is one of just eight players to hit more than 600 homers.
Thome was once considered the Phillies’ franchise player when he signed as a free agent in the winter of 2002.
With his down-home charm and mammoth homers, Thome was an instant hit in Philadelphia. He led the NL in homers in 2003 with 47 and hit 42 the next season. In the final game at Veterans Stadium in 2003, Hall of Famer Mike Schmidt raised Thome’s hand at home plate in a symbolic passing of the torch.
On June 14, 2004, Thome hit career homer No. 400 in Philadelphia.
Back and elbow injuries limited him to 59 games in 2005, when he slumped to .207 with seven homers and 30 RBIs in 193 at-bats. Ryan Howard’s emergence made it easier to consider moving Thome.
Howard is recovering from surgery on his left Achilles. Thome, expected to add some left-handed pop off the bench, could be called on to play first base. Thome said he’ll be preparing this offseason. Aside from a symbolic appearance at third base for the Indians in his finale at Progressive Field this season, Thome has not played defensively since 2007.
Thome had been taking his career year by year. When Amaro and the Phillies called early in the free agency period, Thome jumped at the reunion.
“When a team like the Phillies called, that’s a great opportunity to be in,” he said. “There was history here. I think to me, it was a good decision.”
Thome went to the World Series in 1995 and 1997 but the Indians came up short both times. He left after the 2002 season and signed a six-year, $85 million deal with the Phillies. Thome helped usher in the Phillies’ move to Citizens Bank Park in 2004 and their rise to NL East contenders.
He was traded before the Phillies started their current run of five straight NL East titles. The Phillies won the World Series in 2008 and were eliminated this season by eventual champion St. Louis in the NL division series.
Winning a World Series is the lone void over Thome’s stellar career. He believes a return to the perennial NL power can help win him a ring.
“When they win, they create a lot of very good things,” Thome said.
© 2011 The Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Ryan Howard could miss the start of next season after the Phillies’ slugger had surgery Wednesday to repair his torn Achilles’ tendon.
Howard ruptured his left Achilles’ tendon while making the final out in Philadelphia’s 1-0 loss to St. Louis in the deciding game of the NLDS last Friday night.
“It’s going to be five-to-six months from the surgery until he can play at his accustomed level,” general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr., said.
Howard will be immobilized for one to two weeks, and could possibly put weight on his leg in one month.
“A lot depends on how he recovers,” Amaro said. “The start of the season could be impacted, but I still hope he makes his first at-bat.”
© 2011 The Associated Press
Jon Paul Morosi of Fox Sports is reporting that the Phillies and Royals are discussing a trade that would send Melky Cabrera to Philadelphia.
Cabrera would seem to fit the bill for what the Phils are coveting this July. In 95 games with the Royals this season, the 26 year old has put up a line of .294/.331/.456 with 12 home runs, 54 RBI’s and 61 runs scored while swiping 14 bases.
Read more at Call to the Pen
The Minnesota Twins have announced that they have no interest in trading right fielder Michael Cuddyer. Minnesota officially removed their coveted right handed batter from the market this weekend. Teams such as the Braves, Phillies and Giants were known to be interested in Cuddyer as an offensive upgrade.
Read more at Call to the Pen
1877 – 1st Wimbledon tennis championship is held
1953 – Phillies Robin Roberts ends streak of 28 consecutive complete games
1988 – Nolan Ryan is 7th to win 100 game on 2 teams, as Astro beat Mets 6-3
1991 – South Africa readmitted to Olympics
1994 – 11,000th HR in NY Yankees history (Matt Nokes)
1997 – Mike Tyson is banned from boxing, for biting Holyfield’s ear
2000 – Pete Sampras of the United States set a record when he won the men’s singles tennis championship at Wimbledon. It was his 13th Grand Slam title.
2002 – The major league baseball All-Star game ended in a 7-7 tie after 11 innings. Baseball commission Bud Selig called the game after both team managers informed him that they had run out of players.
The ball that Adrian Gonzalez hit went one way and the glove that saved Cole Hamels from complete disaster went another. And for a few seconds, the frenzy madness that had been Citizens Bank Park this week had fallen into an eerie silence. It didn’t matter if the Phillies had the best record in the sport. Another one of the “Four Aces” appeared to be in pain and even his teammates seemed a bit concerned.
Read more at phillyBurbs.com
1937 – Phillies trailing 8-2 to St Louis, forfeit game
1939 – NY Giants beat Reds 17-3, with 5 HRs in 4th inning
1944 – Baseball cancels all games honoring D-Day invasion
1946 – 11 Basketball of America Assn teams meet to schedule 1st season
1946 – The Basketball Association of America is formed in New York City.
1966 – NFL & AFL announce their merger
1969 – Joe Namath resigns from NFL after Pete Rozelle, football commissioner, said he must sell his stake in a bar
1971 – Willie Mays hits record 22nd & last extra inning HR
1975 – Nolan Ryan’s bid for 2nd no-hitter broken in 6th inning
1986 – Jurgen Schull sets world discus record (74.07 m)
1987 – NY Yankees play their 13,000th game
1989 – Mets turn their 1st triple play in 7 years but lose to Cubs 8-4
1990 – Stump Merrill replaces Bucky Dent as NY Yankee manager
1992 – NY Met Eddie Murray sets RBI record by a switch hitter
1948 – Phillies Richie Ashburn sets NL rookie consecut hitting streak at 23
1952 – 1st sporting event televised nationally-Walcott vs Charles boxing
1955 – NY Yankee Mickey Mantle hits 550′ HR off Chicago Billy Pierce
1974 – A’s Reggie Jackson & Bill North engage in clubhouse fight at Detroit
1977 – LA Dodgers retire Walt Alston’s #24
1981 – Astro’s Nolan Ryan passes Early Wynn as all-time walk leader (1,777)
1989 – Toronto Blue Jays Skydome stadium opens, Milwaukee Brewers win 5-3
1734 – 1st Jockey Club forms in SC
1900 – 2nd modern Olympic games opens in Paris (lasted 5 months)
1920 – Policemen raid the Cubs’ bleachers & arrest 24 fans for gambling
1922 – Babe Ruth & Bob Meusel, suspended on October 16, 1921, by Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis, return to the NY lineup & go hitless
1941 – White Sox Taft Wright sets AL record of RBIs in 13 consecutive games
1946 – Cubs Claude Passeau makes his 1st error since September 21, 1941, ending pitcher’s fielding record of 273 consecutive errorless chances
1948 – Cleveland Indians tie AL record of 18 walks (beat Red Sox 13-4)
1960 – Baseball game in Milwaukee postponed due to dense fog
1964 – Buster Mathis defeats Joe Frazier to qualify for US Olympic team
1983 – Phillies Steve Carlton passes W Johnson with 2nd most strike outs
1984 – Boston’s Roger Clemens beats Twins, 5-4, for his 1st victory
1985 – Indians-Brewers game at Cleveland Stadium is 1st rain-out of 1985, ends record string of 458 ML games since Opening Day without a rain-out
1988 – Mike Schmidt hits his 535th HR, moving into 8th place
1991 – Chicago Bulls Michael Jordan, named NBA’s MVP
1997 – White Sox Frank Thomas reaches base safely for 15th straight time
1909 – Jack Johnson fights Jack O’Brien to no decision in 6 for boxing title
1910 – Cleveland Indians Cy Young gets his 500th win, beats Wash 5-4 in 11 innings
1911 – Philadelphia Athletics are 12½ games back in AL, & will win World Series
1912 – AL President Ban Johnson tells Tigers if they continue protest of Ty Cobb’s suspension, they will be banned from baseball
1935 – NFL adopts an annual college draft to begin in 1936
1942 – Braves Paul Waner is 3rd NLer to get 3,000 hits (Anson & Wagner)
1960 – Juan Marichal debuts as SF Giant pitcher, beats Phillies on 1 hitter
1962 – Stan Musial breaks Honus Wagner’s NL hit record with 3,431
1984 – Pat Lafontaine scores 2 goals within 22 sec in an NHL playoff game
1988 – Red Sox retire Bobby Doerr’s #1
1991 – Willy T Ribbs becomes 1st black driver to make Indianapolis 500
1994 – Tennis star Jennifer Capriati (18), checks into a drug rehab center
1912 – A’s beat Tigers 24-2, who use amateurs protesting Ty Cobbs suspension
1929 – Dodgers beat Phillies 20-16 & lost 8-6 in 2nd game (record 50 runs)
1933 – 1st major league All-Star Game announced for July 6 at Comiskey Park It will be played as part of the Chicago World’s Fair
1942 – NYC ends night baseball games for rest of WW II
1956 – Mickey Mantle hits HR from both sides of plate for record 3rd time
1990 – Cubs Ryne Sandberg ends 2nd baseman record 123 errorless game streak
1997 – Tiger Woods wins Byron Nelson Golf Classic
1917 – Red Sox Babe Ruth beats Wash Senator Walter Johnson, 1-0
1925 – Phillies have their 8th game postponed in a row
1945 – Branch Rickey announces formation of the US Negro Baseball League
1951 – Intl Olympic committee allows Russia to participate in 1952 Olympics
1959 – “Roy Campanella Night” Largest baseball crowd (93,103 in LA Coliseum) sees Dodgers’ Sandy Koufax beat Yankees 6-2 in exhibition
1982 – Federal jury rules NFL violates antitrust laws in preventing Oakland Raiders to move to LA
1994 – Denver Nuggets become NBA’s 1st #8 seed to beat a #1 seed (Seattle)
1863 – Joe Coburn KOs Mike McCoole for US boxing title in 63rd round
1904 – Cy Young of Boston pitches perfect game against Phila A’s (3-0)
1925 – Ty Cobb goes 6 for 6, (16 total bases)
1938 – Phillies Harold Kelleher faces 16 batters in 6th, as Cubs score 12 runs, both marks are NL records off one hurler in a single inning
1956 – World championships of Judo are 1st held, in Tokyo
1966 – Willie Mays hit his 512th HR
1978 – Cincinnati Red Pete Rose becomes 14th player to get 3,000 hits
1987 – Detroit Tigers are 11 games back in AL, but go on to win AL East
1995 – Last basketball game at Boston Garden (Magic beats Celtics)
1871 – 1st baseball league game (National Association of Baseball Players), (Ft Wayne 2, Cleveland 0) Deacon Jim White gets 1st hit, a double
1918 – Yankees set record with 8 sacrifices, beat Red Sox’s Babe Ruth 5-4
1919 – 1st legal Sunday baseball game in NYC (Phillies beat Giants 4-3)
1929 – Lou Gehrig hits 3 consecutive HRs, Yankees 11, Tigers 9
1965 – Willie Mays 512th HR breaks Mel Ott’s 511th NL record
1973 – Longest game in Veterans’ Stadium, Phillies beat Braves 5-4 in 20
1975 – Houston’s Bob Watson scores baseball’s one-millionth run of all time
1980 – White Sox 1st baseman Mike Squires catches final inning of 11-1 loss to Brewers, becoming 1st lefty to catch since Dale Long in 1958
2002 – Barry Bonds hits his 400th home run as a Giant, leading his team to a 3-0 win over Cincinnati. Bonds is the first player to hit 400 homers for one team and 100 with another
1887 – 1st game played at Broad & Huntingdon St Park (Baker Bowl) in Philadelphia; Phillies beat Giants 19-10
1905 – 1st official soccer game between Belgium-Netherlands (1-4)
1916 – Chicago Cubs play 1st game at Weeghman Park (Wrigley Field) beat Reds
1953 – Little-Bigger League changes its name to Babe Ruth League
1958 – Ted Williams is 10th major league player to get 1,000 extra-base hits
1961 – SF Giant Willie Mays hits 4 HRs in a game
1967 – NY Met pitcher Tom Seaver wins hist 1st game
1970 – Cubs Billy Williams is 1st NLer to play in 1,000 consecutive games
1976 – Muhammad Ali beats Jimmy Young in 15 for Heavyweight boxing title
1982 – Atlanta Braves win record 12th straight from beginning of season
1989 – US beats Costa Rica 1-0, in 3rd round of 1990 world soccer cup
1997 – Atlanta Braves win record 19 games in April
1905 – Cubs Jack McCarthy becomes only major league player to throw out 3 runners at plate in 1 game, all were ends of a double play
1912 – 1st homerun hit at Fenway Park (Hugh Bradley, Red Sox)
1931 – Lou Gehrig hits a HR but is called out for passing a runner, mistake costs him AL home run crown; he & Babe Ruth tie for season
1941 – A tradition begins, 1st organ at a baseball stadium (Chicago Cubs)
1961 – Roger Maris hits 1st of 61 homers in 1961
1966 – Arnold “Red” Auerbach retires as Boston Celtic’s coach
1980 – Phillies’ Steve Carlton pitches his 6th 1-hitter (beats Cards)
1988 – NBA approves addition of 3rd referee in 1988-89 season
1990 – Nolan Ryan ties Bob Feller’s record of pitching 12 1-hitters
1995 – Baseball season begins after lengthy strike