Goat becomes a Hero

Today we are looking at a game from 1981 in the Gulf Coast League. The early days of the Gulf Coast League made it a unique league to play in. From its first games that were played in 1964 until 1986, the league restricted itself to the Sarasota-Bradenton Area of Florida. The leagues clubs were based in as many as 5 different ballparks scattered thoughout the two cities. In 1981 the league peaked out at 12 clubs in the era. As many as 3 clubs would share one park. Most of the times though because the facilities that were used had more then one field that could be used, more then one game could be played at one facility at a time.

Such was the case on July 17, 1981 when Lyle Olsen, manager of the Astros-Orange team, took his team across the field at Arthur Allyn Park in Sarasota to the visitors dugout to play the Rangers team in the league. The Astros two clubs shared the park with the Rangers Club. The Royals also had two clubs in the league playing in Sarasota, but they were based at the Royals Academy in a different part of the city.

In the top of the sixth inning, Steve McAllister of the Astros hit into an unassisted triple play. Rangers second baseman Craig Goodin pulled the feat. The game would later go into extra innings. In the top of the 13th inning, McAllister got his revenge on Goodin and the Rangers when he drove in the winning run of what turned out to be a 3-1 win for the Astros-Orange club. McAllisters career peaked out in AA with the Pirates and Goodin, a second year player in the league peaked out after two years of low A ball with the Royals.

Today the league is scattered thoughout Central and Southern Florida in three divisions, however the league does not allow its clubs to play outside of its divisions until playoff time. The league no longer has teams sharing parks as each club plays in its spring training facility.
No MLB team has had more then one team in the league since 1981. As with 2009, all clubs that trained in Florida had a team in the league. Although the league is down one club as the Reds moved to Arizona, where the Ariona Rookie League develops prospects for teams training there. The Arizona Rookie League started in 1988.

Tomorrow, we take a look at the Arizona Rookie Leagues first no-hitter.

It takes a Thief or two

On July 16, 1952 it did not take long for the Omaha Cardinals of the Western League to figure out that their catcher might be in for a long day at Runyon Field in Pueblo, Colorado. In the first inning, catcher Gilbert F. Shirk of the Dodgers in a span of three pitches, stole second on a triple steal, third on a double steal and then home outright. The Dodgers finished with 7 stolen bases in the inning. The Dodgers already had three runs, 2 outs and one stolen base when the fun began. The Dodgers needed all the runs they could get to secure a 13-11 victory. Shirk never got his chance to play in a higher league as he was inducted into the Army following the season and killed in a car crash the following spring.

Tomorrow we will look at an unassisted triple play in rookie ball.

Five strikeouts in one inning

As I have stated previously in this blog, I have been researching the history of sports for well over 20 years. I have in all my research I have only found 5 cases where one pitcher has struck out 5 batters in one game. Interestingly enough, three of the 5 pitchers eventually make it to the Majors. Today we are only looking at one of the pitchers, Michael A. Schultz of the California Leagues' Lancaster Jethawks. On July 15, 2004 Schultz struck out 5 Rancho Cucamonga Quakes batters in the 5 run, 7th inning. The Quakes won the game very easily by a score of 19-3. The Quakes made themselves very much at home at Clear channel Stadium in Lancaster. After the dubious feat, Schultz would receive two promotions and finish the year with the Tucson Sidewinders of the Pacific Coast League. In 2007, he would pitch one inning with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Striking out 5 batters in one inning is an interesting feat and not one that any pitcher would ever strive for, but it does not spell doom for a pitchers chance at a major league career. I have after all this time probably missed a few of these feats and I will undoubtly uncover more times that it occurred, it will be interesting to see how many times a pitcher has done and still reached the big club.

Tomorrow we will look at a club that stole 7 bases in one inning.

A Million for Citation

Today race horses can very easily win a great deal of money in a short period of time. Yet like any other sport milestones never come easy. Lots of times once a big milestone is breeched once it seems to become an easier target to reach. Today we look at the first horse to to have one million dollars in career earnings, Citation.


Citation breeched this milestone in his final career race on July 14, 1951 at Hollywood Park in Inglewood, California. The race was the famous Hollywood Gold Cup with jockey Steve Brooks in the saddle. Today that race carries a $750,000 purse. Citation reached this milestone by winning and winning frequently. At one point in time, he had won 16 major races in a row. After the Hollywood Gold Cup race, Citiation retired and was put out to stud. After his death on August 8, 1970, the Cessna Aircraft Company named a new line of aircraft after Citation.

Tomorrow we look at a five strikeout inning.

The First World Cup Games

With the 2010 Soccer World Cup having been completed and Spain being crowned with their first championship we are going to look back at the begining. On July 13, 1930, the first World Cup games were played at Montevideo, Uraguay. Two opening games were played at the same time different stadiums in Montevideo. At 3 PM both games began, the France-Mexico game at Estadio Pocitos and the USA-Belgium game at Estadio Parque Central. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal, when he scored his only goal, in the 19th minute against Mexico. The French went on to win their game 4-1 and the Americans won their game 3-0. Of the four teams believe it or not, the Americans were the only team to make it to the semi-finals, as the other three teams in the semi-finals, were drawn from the the other 9 teams in the tourament. The host team won the finals after beating fellow South Americans from Argentina.

Today the World Cup draws many more teams and plays alot more then the original 18 games in the first tournament, where only 36 players scoring 70 goals in 3 stadiums. This years tournaments 32 countries, 64 matchs saw 145 goals scored in 10 stadiums.

Tomorrow we look at a Horse Racing milestone.

Another Ballpark Fire

On July 20th of 1942 the Amsterdam Rugmakers of the Canadian-American League had scheduled their parent club, the mighty New York Yankees to play an exhibition game agianst them at their home park Mohawk Hills Park in Amersterdam, New York. The plans for this game were in serious trouble when just eight days before the game, intense flames raced through the park. Club officials thought for sure that they would have to call the game off when the saw the remains of the park. Even the metal stands holding the parks lights in place had melted and twisted into odd shapes.

As the remains of the park cooled off, the light stands slowly twisted themselves back in place and the club officials went to work at repairing the damage. They did such a good job, that on the 20th when the Yanks showed up, they were able to play the game and save the team from almost certian ruin. The team was able to complete their season, but the following season was out of the question as the league suspended operations because of World War II. Thanks to modern fire prevention we do not see things like this happen very often anymore. The last ballpark I am aware that suffered this fate was in March of 1985 when Crockett Park in Charlotte, North Carolina burned down.

Tommorrow we will look at the first World Cup Soccer game.

Minors in the Depression

The first minor league was formed in 1877. Until the early 1960s, it was not uncommon for several leagues to fold during the season and a like number of teams to fold in midseason. The Great Depression made it especially challenging for minor league teams to make it through the season. On July 11, 1932 the National Association, the governing body for minor league baseball entered what was probably the deadilest period of their history.

Over the course of the next 13 days, four leagues folded and a fifth league had a close call. The trouble all started when the Decatur, IL and Springfield, IL Clubs of the Three-I League called its quits. The move left four clubs to finish the season. The loss and one more club and the league would be done for the year. The next day, the Danville, IL Club moved into the freshly vacated Springfield market. Three days later, things for the league got worse when the Quincy, IL Club was forced under, ending the leagues season. The scheduled season closer was September 5. The league would be reorganized in time for the 1935 season.

By the time the Quincy Club went under on the 15th, the trouble in the Cotton States League came to a head when the league folded on the 14th. The leagues biggest problem was the DeQuincy, Louisiana Club. The league had tried to transfer the club to Opelousas, Louisiana. The attempt to move the club failed. The league then tried to move the club to Vicksburg, Mississippi. The league needed a loan from the National Association to make the move happen. The loan request was denied and as a result the league folded. The league also had a scheduled season closer of September 5. The league was reorganized as the Dixie League in time for the 1933 season.

Just two days after the Quincy Club and the Three-I League folded, the Eastern League and its eight clubs folded. The Eastern League called it quits after it lost its Bridgeport, CT and Hartford, CT Clubs folded. The Eastern League had a scheduled season closer of September 11. The New York-Pennsylvania League slowly took over the leagues territory over the course of the next six seasons and for the 1938 season changed its name to the Eastern League. Today the league is a 12 club league.

Not all the troubled leagues folded. On the 18th, the day after the eastern League gave up the ghost, the troubles in the Western Association continued. Over the course of the first half or so of the season the league was in constant trouble. Teams seemed to move as often as they went on a road trip. On this date, the Bartlesville, OK and Hutchinson, KS Club merged at Bartlesville and the Topeka, KS Club folded, reducing the league to four clubs. One of the clubs, the Independence, KS Club then moved into the freshly vacated Hutchinson market. This time the moves worked and league was able to finish the season.

One last league was in trouble in this period, strugling to stay afloat. The Arizona-Texas League lost its Albuquerque, NM and Tucson, AZ clubs on the 24th, dropping league membership to three clubs. The league like the Three-I and Cotton States League had a scheduled season closer of September 5. The league would reorganize again in time for the 1937 season season. The real bummer on the part of the Albuquerque Club folding, was that the team had just 3 1/2 months earlier opened a new park with a bang. The park had opened on April 6th with a 43-15 win over El Paso.

Fortunately, minor league baseball was stablized in the early 1960s and has not seen a league or team fold in many years. Even independent baseball has stablized over the last couple seasons despite a sluggish economy. Its been about 5 years now since an indy club has folded in mid season.

Tomorrow we will look at another ballpark fire.