HALL OF FAMER AND 13-TIME ALL-STAR GEORGE BRETT TO SERVE AS AMBASSADOR FOR 2012 MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL ALL-STAR SUMMER
Brett to Participate in All-Star FanFest, Taco Bell All-Star Sunday Events and
MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run Presented by Nike

Hall of Famer and 13-time All-Star George Brett will serve as the Ambassador for MLB All-Star Summer. Brett will participate in All-Star events leading up to and during All-Star Week in Kansas City, including MLB All-Star FanFest (July 6-10). Brett has been selected as the manager for the U.S. Team in the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game (July 8), which features some of the game’s best young prospects from the U.S. and around the world. Brett previously served as the manager for the U.S. Team in 2005.  Also on Sunday, July 8, he will play in the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game and will be the Official Race Starter for the MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run presented by Nike.

“I’m excited to share the city and stadium I love with today’s All-Stars and baseball fans around the world,” said Brett. “It’s an honor to once again be a part of the Midsummer Classic and baseball’s special celebration.”

ALL-STAR CAREER WITH THE ROYALS

Brett spent his entire 21-year career with the Royals from 1973 to 1993, throughout which he accumulated 3,154 hits, 665 doubles, 317 home runs and 1,596 RBI. Brett stands alongside baseball legends Hank Aaron, Willie Mays and Stan Musial, as one of the four players in Major League Baseball history to collect at least 3,000 hits, 300 home runs and a .300 batting average over his career. He is the only player in MLB history to win the batting title in three different decades (1976, 1980 and 1990). Brett, who was voted the 1980 American League Most Valuable Player, represented Kansas City in the All-Star Game in consecutive years from 1976 through 1988. He was also awarded the American League Championship Series Most Valuable Player Award during the Royals World Championship season in 1985.

Even after retirement, Brett has continued his long-time association with the organization and is an active resident of Kansas City. The Royals retired Brett’s No. 5 in 1994 and inducted him into the club’s Hall of Fame. Five years later, he was inducted into Baseball’s Hall of Fame after receiving 98 percent of the votes, the fifth‑highest mark in history. Brett is currently in his 19^th year as the organization’s Vice President of Baseball Operations and serves as a special instructor during Spring Training. He is also an active Minor League instructor helping prospects develop.

MLB ALL-STAR FANFEST

MLB All-Star FanFest will transform the Kansas City Convention Center/Bartle Hall into the largest interactive baseball theme park in the world. MLB All-Star FanFest opens on Friday, July 6, runs through Tuesday, July 10, and provides an unrivaled experience for fans of all ages. Visitors will experience more than 400,000 square feet of baseball fun, with attractions including exhibits from the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, batting cages, clinics, free autograph sessions with former Royals, MLB legends and Hall of Famers, memorabilia and much more.

TACO BELL ALL-STAR SUNDAY

Taco Bell All-Star Sunday includes the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game, 4 p.m. CT, and the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game, approximately 7:30 p.m. CT, followed by a spectacular fireworks show to cap off the evening. Now in its 14^th year, the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game showcases many of the top Minor League prospects and has featured Kansas City’s Billy Butler (2006), Alex Gordon (2006), Eric Hosmer (2010) and Mike Moustakas (2010). Players who have competed in both the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game and the MLB All-Star Game include Prince Fielder, Zack Greinke, Josh Hamilton, Felix Hernandez, Troy Tulowitzki and Justin Verlander.

The Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game will feature stars from film, music, television and entertainment teaming up with Hall of Famers and former Kansas City stars immediately following the SiriusXM All-Star Futures Game. Past celebrity participants have included Jon Hamm, Jimmy Kimmel, George Lopez, Chris Rock, Jordin Sparks and Kate Upton. The game has also featured a collection of Hall of Famers including Ernie Banks, Rollie Fingers, Goose Gossage, Rickey Henderson, Paul Molitor, Ozzie Smith and Dave Winfield.

MLB ALL-STAR GAME CHARITY 5K & FUN RUN PRESENTED BY NIKE

Hall of Famer George Brett will serve as the Official Race Starter at the 2012 MLB All-Star Game Charity 5K & Fun Run presented by Nike. The charitable event, open to all ages, will take place on Sunday, July 8, on an All-Star-themed course in downtown Kansas City and will feature appearances by MLB Legends, mascots and celebrity guests. Major League Baseball will donate 100% of all net proceeds from the event to three charities supporting cancer research and awareness – Prostate Cancer Foundation, Stand Up To Cancer and the Greater Kansas City Affiliate of Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

The 5K, an officially timed event, will begin at 7:30 a.m. CT. Immediately following, at 8:00 a.m. CT, the family-friendly 1-mile Fun Run will begin; the wheel chair division will begin 5 minutes prior to each. All registered finishers will receive an official commemorative All-Star medal and t-shirt. All fans who sign up now via AllStarGame.com/5k can take advantage of the special early bird price of $25 (adult) and $20 (children 12 and under) for the 5K and $20 (adult) and $15 (children 12 and under) for the Fun Run. For more information, and to register as an individual or team, please visit AllStarGame.com/5k.

Tickets for MLB All-Star FanFest and to Taco Bell All-Star Sunday are currently on sale. To purchase, visit the official All-Star Game website of Major League Baseball (AllStarGame.com), the Royals official website (royals.com/2012), the Royals Box Office at Kauffman Stadium or call 1-888-FanFest (326-3378).

     For more MLB All-Star Week information, please visit AllStarGame.com and the All-Star Game Twitter account (@AllStarGame).

BBA Selects Kimbrel, Valverde For Goose Gossage Award

In earlier voting this postseason by the Baseball Bloggers Alliance, Atlanta Braves closer Craig Kimbrel won the Willie Mays Award for top rookie handily while the American League race for that award was much tighter. With the Goose Gossage Award, handed out to the best reliever, Kimbrel got to see how the other half lives, at least somewhat.

Kimbrel beat Milwaukee’s John Axford by 13 points in the votes submitted by the National League voters of the Alliance, accumulating 78 points and garnering 12 first place votes. Axford, on the other hand, received 65 points on the strength of seven first place selections. Kimbrel’s bullpen teammate Johnny Venters was a very distant third with nine total points.

The race in the American League was a little more anti-climatic as Detroit closer Jose Valverde gained 13 first place votes on his way to a league-leading 74 point total. Two New York Yankees followed him in the voting, with Mariano Rivera receiving four first place votes and 56 total points while David Robertson gained 39 points for third.

The complete voting results are as follows (first place votes in parenthesis):

American League
Jose Valverde, Detroit (13) 74
Mariano Rivera, New York (4) 56
David Robertson, New York (3) 39
Jonathan Papelbon, Boston (1) 21
Koji Uehara, Texas (1) 6
Alfredo Acevas, Boston (1) 5
Neftali Feliz, Texas 2
Greg Holland, Kansas City 2
Chris Perez, Cleveland 2
Brandon League, Seattle 1
Vinnie Pestano, Cleveland 1

National League
Craig Kimbrel, Atlanta (12) 78
John Axford, Milwaukee (7) 65
Johnny Venters, Atlanta (1) 9
Joel Hanrahan, Pittsburgh 8
JJ Putz, Arizona 7
Sean Marshall, Chicago 6
Heath Bell, San Diego 3
Tyler Clippard, Washington 3
Sergio Romo, San Francisco 1

The Baseball Bloggers Alliance was formed in the fall of 2009 to encourage cooperation and collaboration between baseball bloggers of all major league teams as well as those that follow baseball more generally. As of this writing, the organization consists of 316 blogs spanning all 30 major league squads as well as general baseball writing.

The BBA is organized under a similar structure as the Baseball Writers of America, where blogs that follow the same team are combined into “chapters” and only two votes from the chapter on an award are counted. The blog chapters that are focused on general baseball were allowed two votes as well, which they could use both on the same league or split between the two leagues.

Chapters generally followed one of two methods when casting their ballot. Either representatives of the chapter were given the ballots for voting or a “group ballot” was posted, accounting for both of their votes.

Notably, though the Alliance’s awards come out well before their official counterparts, the BBA selections have matched those of the Baseball Writers of America in all but two instances in the past two years. This, of course, does not include the Goose Gossage Award that is exclusive to the BBA.

Ballots are posted on the respective blogs and for this award, were tabulated on a 5-3-1 point scale for first through third place. In the interest of transparency, links are given below for the ballots. Chapter affiliation is in parenthesis. Those chapters that decided on the group method are noted with an asterisk.

American League
Baltimore Sports and Life (Baltimore)
Baseball Is My Boyfriend (Texas)*
Baseball North (Toronto)
Boston Red Thoughts (Boston)*
Contract Year (Oakland)*
The Flagrant Fan (General)
Kings of Kauffman (Kansas City)*
Lady At The Bat (New York)
Misc. Baseball (History)
Motor City Bengals (Detroit)
North Dakota Twins Fan (Minnesota)
The Rays Rant (Tampa Bay)
Seattle Mariners Musings (Seattle)
Seedlings To Stars (Other)
Some Thoughts On Baseball (Toronto)
Tigers Amateur Analysis (Detroit)
The Tribe Daily (Cleveland)*
Twins On Twins (Minnesota)

National League
Appy Astros (Houston)
Blog Red Machine (Cincinnati)
Cincinnati Reds Blog (Cincinnati)
Dugger Sports (Philadelphia)
The Eddie Kranepool Society (New York)*
The Flagrant Fan (General)
Misc. Baseball (History)
On The Outside Corner (St. Louis)
Phils Baseball (Philadelphia)
Prose and Ivy (Chicago)*
Raise The Jolly Roger (Pittsburgh)
RJ’s Fro (San Diego)
Rockies Woman (Colorado)
22 Gigantes (San Francisco)
Victoria Seals Baseball Blog (Other)
Websoulsurfer (San Diego)
Where Have You Gone, Andy Van Slyke? (Pittsburgh)

Prior Winners: 2010: Rafael Soriano, Tampa Bay; Brian Wilson, San Francisco

The official website of the BBA is located atbaseballbloggersalliance.wordpress.com. The BBA can be found on Twitter by the handle @baseballblogs and by the hashmark #bbba. For more information, contact Daniel Shoptaw at founder@baseballbloggersalliance.com.

Kimbrel, Hosmer, Hellickson Selected As Top Rookies From BBA
The Baseball Bloggers Alliance names their Willie Mays Award winners.

Kansas City may no longer be the Siberia of the major leagues.

In years past, it seemed every veteran in KC was ready to pack his bags and head for greener pastures. Dating back to the 1990s, it seemed no one really wanted to stay with the Royals if there were bigger paydays and playoff games waiting elsewhere.

The most bitter of those days was when the Royals had to sell off an all-star outfield of Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye and Carlos Beltran because they didn’t want to be Royals.

The trend continued right up to the past off-season, when the Royals had to part ways with Zack Greinke because the kid just could not wait around for the team to develop its young talent.

But in the last few weeks, at least one veteran has voiced his desire to help KC build a contender, then backed up those words by putting his name on a contract extension.

After putting together a solid first half, teams were actually inquiring about trades for the much-maligned Jeff Francoeur. But Francoeur went public, proclaiming his faith in the direction of the franchise and expressing his desire to be part of the movement.

Now, you might be tempted to question the motives of a player basically lobbying for a job. Considering it was just a few months ago that no one saw Francoeur as more than a platoon player, it might seem he was just trying to parlay a few good months into a secure gig.

But Francoeur could have kept silent long enough to let the game play out. A trade to a contending team at a time when he was playing well could have helped to resurrect his image.

Instead Francoeur chose to speak out about his satisfaction with the city, the team and the leadership of the franchise. And last week he signed on for two more seasons, making himself a part of the rebuilding project during those crucial seasons when he will be 28 and 29 years old.

What’s the big deal? Well, though Francoeur may not be Willie Mays, he is a legit major leaguer with experience in big markets and playoff races. And he wants to play the prime years of his career in KC.

That example should carry some weight with other players nearing the end of their contracts – Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera, Joakim Soria. The Royals must put a lock on the revolving door that has permitted the exit of every talented player (minus Mike Sweeney) seemingly since the 1990s.

In order to build a winner, not only do you have to grow up young talent, you have to be able to retain the good players you want to keep. Signing Francoeur looks like a step in the right direction.

While most of the attention from Cardinals fans the next six weeks will rightfully be focused on the team’s attempt to catch and pass the Brewers for the NL Central title, another more personal battle will be going on at the same time.

Albert Pujols and Lance Berkman, who have adjoining lockers in the Cardinals’ clubhouse, will be going head-to-head in a competition for the NL’s home run title. Pujols pulled into the lead on Sunday night with his 29^th homer of the year, one more than Berkman and the Dodgers’ Matt Kemp, who hit his 28^th homer on Sunday.

This is the first time in franchise history that the Cardinals have had the top two home run hitters in the league this late into the season. The last time a National League team finished the year with the first and second place home run hitters was 1965, when Willie Mays and Willie McCovey of the Giants accomplished the feat.

Pujols has led the league in home runs the last two seasons, and is trying to become the first Cardinal in history to lead the league in homers for three consecutive seasons. The only two St. Louis players who have won two home run titles in back-to-back seasons were Johnny Mize in 1939 and 1940 and Mark McGwire in 1998 and 1999.

The last hitter to win three consecutive home run crowns in the NL was Mike Schmidt of the Phillies from 1974 to 1976. Schmidt is the only player to complete the hat trick since Ralph Kiner of the Pirates won or tied for seven consecutive home run titles between 1946 and 1952.

With 29 homers on the season and just 41 games to play, Pujols is on a pace for 39 homers. Berkman, who has never led the league in homers in his career, is on pace to finish with 37 homers, meaning this could be the first year since 1992 that the home run title was won with less than 40 homers. Fred McGriff of the Padres led the league that year with 35 home runs. Dante Bichette of Colorado won the 1995 crown with 40 home runs.

This also could well be the sixth consecutive season the league-leading home run total fell from the previous year, starting with Ryan Howard’s total of 58 in 2006, down to 50 for Prince Fielder in 2007, 48 by Howard in 2008 and 47 and 42 from Pujols the last two years.

Berkman also has his sights set on breaking the Cardinals’ franchise record for most home runs by a switch-hitter, 35, set by Ripper Collins in 1934. He also is attempting to become the first outfielder, and non-first baseman, to lead the league since Andruw Jones did it for the Braves in 2005.

The closest the Cardinals have come to having the top two home run hitters in the league was in 1928, when Jim Bottomley and Hack Wilson of the Cubs tied for the title with 31 homers and Chick Hafey finished third with 27.

This year’s race will not just be between Pujols and Berkman, however. After Sunday’s games, six other players were within three homers of the two Cardinals and Kemp, who hit his 28^th homer on Sunday. The group includes Fielder and Dan Uggla of the Braves with 27 homers; Howard of the Phillies, Mike Stanton of the Marlins and Jay Bruce of the Reds, all with 26 homers, and Justin Upton of the Diamondbacks with 25.

Only seven players in Cardinals history have led the league in homers. In addition to Pujols, McGwire, Mize and Bottomley, Joe Medwick tied for the title in 1937, Collins tied for the league lead in 1934 and Rogers Hornsby was the first Cardinal to do it, in 1922 and then again in 1925.

Both Pujols and Berkman also are climbing the ranks in career home run totals. Pujols is now at 437 for his career, one behind Andre Dawson fox 38^th place on the all-time list. He is within 10 of passing Vladimir Guerrero and Chipper Jones, which would place him third among active players behind Alex Rodriguez and Jim Thome. Since the start of the 2001 season, Pujols has hit the same number of homers as Rodriguez for the most in the majors since that time, and Pujols’ total of 118 the last three years leads the major leagues.

Berkman now has 355 home runs and ranks fourth all-time for the most home runs hit by a switch-hitter. He is second among active players in that category, trailing Chipper Jones.

Rooting for both Pujols and Berkman to continue hitting home runs also could figure into the Cardinals’ attempt to chase down the Brewers. Sunday night’s win over Colorado improved the Cardinals’ record when they hit at least one home run to 49-29. They are 16-27 when they fail to hit a homer. Even better, the team’s record is 25-8 when they hit two or more home runs in a game.

Head over to RobRains.com and see Rob’s notes on Major and Minor League Baseball by clicking here.

When the New York Giants (57-27) came into St. Louis on July 15, 1954, manager Eddie Stanky knew he had his hands full. The Giants were a very solid team and were playing exceptional baseball. Their pitching was very good, and if the opposition somehow got into the bullpen, they had to contend with the likes of Hoyt Willhem (12-4) and Marv Grissom (10-7), both with ERA’s hovering around 2 runs per game. If that wasn’t enough, manning center field was a young slugger named Willie Mays. Mays would go on to win the first of his two Most Valuable Player awards, the other coming in 1965.

The Cardinals would split the first two of this early summer three game series. They would be shut out in the opener, 4-0, but after nearly blowing a lead late, Ray Jablonski drove in Wally Moon with a 2 out walk off single in the ninth. That set up an exciting rubber game on Saturday.

Royce Lint would get the start for the Cardinals. The rookie left-hander would start the season in the bullpen, and had been shaky at times. He had also been able to work long relief, often 5 innings or more. Thanks to a doubleheader in Chicago on July 4, Lint would make his first major league start and it was a dandy – a complete game shutout at Wrigley Field. That would earn him another start, and he pitched well enough to win, but the Cardinals bats did not cooperate. This game would be his third start, and also the shortest of his brief career, lasting just 1/3 of an inning.

Cot Deal

Three of the first four Giants batters would reach base against Lint. With the score 2-0, Stanky goes to his bullpen for Cot Deal. Deal was a veteran who had been called up several times, but failed to stay with the big club for long. Entering the game in a difficult situation, he gets Willie Mays to hit into a double play, ending the inning without any further damage.

Deal would retire the Giants in order in the second inning, but totally fell apart in the third. Deal would face seven men in that brutal inning, not retiring any of them. A pair of errors by Ray Jablonski, the late inning hero the day before, extended the inning and led to a barrage of subsequent hits and runs.

Ralph Beard would enter the game with runners on the corners and a 7-0 deficit. A pair of fly balls would give the Giants two more runs and a seemingly insurmountable 9-0 lead. Or that’s what the modest crowd at Sportman’s Park thought.

Beard would pitch three more scoreless innings, doing all that he could to give the Cardinals a chance for a comeback. That comeback would start in the sixth inning.

Giants starter, Johnny Antonelli, had been cruising until the Cardinals bats came to life in the sixth inning. And that inning reads like a Who’s Who in Cardinals history: Wally Moon, Stan Musial, Joe Cunningham and Red Schoendienst. The big blow in the inning was a two out double by Red, cutting the Giants lead to 9-5. The Cardinals also managed to chase Atonelli, with Hoyt Willhem taking over in relief.

The Cardinals would pull even closer in the seventh. With Ray Jablonski on first base with two outs, pinch hitter Solly Hemus draws a walk. Pinch hitter Joe Frazier would rip a triple, scoring Jablonski and Hemus. That would be the end of Wilhelm’s appearance, a rare short and ineffective outing. Frazier would not stay on third base for long. A Rip Repulski single brought the Cardinals to within a run at 9-8.

Meanwhile the Cardinals bullpen was just brilliant. The Giants had not been able to mount anything resembling a rally against Ralph Beard, Joe Presko, and the new Cardinals hurler, Al Brazle.

Harry "Peanuts" Lowrey

With the score still 9-8 in favor of the Giants, the Cardinals were about to accomplish the unthinkable. After chasing Hoyt Willhem, they were about to tie the game against the Giants All Star reliever, Marv Grissom. And it was just the kind of run you would expect in a game like this. With runners at first and second base with one out, Joe Cunningham grounded into what looked like an inning ending double play. But the 3-6-3 is one of the hardest to turn, and the Giants failed to do so. Dick Schofield, grandfather of the Washington Nationals right fielder Jayson Werth, scored from second base when a throw went wild, tying the game. Solly Hemus would extend the inning with a single, putting the go-ahead run on third base. Unfortunately, Peanuts Lowrey was unable to drive Cunningham home.

The game would go into the ninth inning tied at 9 runs apiece. Marv Grissom and Harvey Haddix were now the pitchers of record. They would still be on the mound when the Giants took the lead in the 11th inning, and it was a beautifully manufactured run, typical of how that Giants team won many of those 58 games. A lead-off single, sacrifice bunt and infield single would put the potential winning run on third base. That run would score on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Don Mueller. Haddix limited the damage to just one run, but that would prove to be enough as Windy McCall retires the now disappointed Cardinals in order in the bottom of the 11th.

Marv Grissom failed to earn the save, but a courageous long relief effort was enough to earn him the win. McCall would pick up the save. Harvey Haddix would take the loss for the Cardinals.

Following this series, the Giants would continue steamrolling over opponents in the National League. They would go on to win 97 games, capturing the NL Pennant by 5 games over their crosstown rivals, the Brooklyn Dodgers. In a workman like fashion, they would sweep the Cleveland Indians in the World Series.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

As the Cincinnati Reds prepare to make their first trip to Busch stadium in the 2011 season, it is time to take another look at the unfortunate events that took place at Great American Ballpark on August 10, 2010. A late season pennant race between the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds turned tragic when Yadier Molina took exception to some things that Brandon Phillips had said the previous day. The two proud baseball players yelled at each other, some of it happening with their faces separated by mere inches. The two benches would soon empty and the ensuing scrum brought Johnny Cueto of the Reds into contact with Chris Carpenter and Jason La Rue of the Cardinals, and the results were disastrous for La Rue.

When it came time for Major League Baseball to take action, the Roseboro incident was cited as a precedent for their ruling. In the first part of this series, we will take a look back at that infamous moment in baseball history.

August 20, 1965

The events that led up to Juan Marichal striking Johnny Roseboro with his bat actually started in the middle of this Friday night game in San Francisco. The Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers were battling for the National League Pennant, with the Giants 1 1/2 games out. Thanks to a Willie Mays home run and a successful squeeze bunt, the Giants had built up an early 4-1 lead. Things got interesting when Maury Wills stepped up to bat to start the fifth inning.

Maury Wills was one of those types of players that made things happen. Sometimes it could really get under the skin of the opposition, and this was one of those times. He took a very long and slow swing, coming in contact with catcher, Tom Haller’s glove. The home plate umpire immediately ruled catchers interference and Wills was awarded first base. The Dodgers failed to capitalize on this controversial call, but that was not the end of the matter.

When the Giant’s Matty Alou, another player who could get under the opposition’s skin, led off the next inning, he tried the same trick that Wills had done moments earlier. The home plate umpire ruled that Alou’s bat did not come in contact with Johnny Roseboro’s catcher’s mitt, negating an interference call. The Giants were furious about the Alou non-call, claiming that the umpires were favoring the Dodgers. Roseboro was furious because Alou caused him to take a fastball in the chest protector. The Giants would go on to win the game, but the issue was far from settled.

August 22, 1965

With 1 1/2 games separating the two teams, Juan Marichal and Sandy Koufax would meet in the Sunday afternoon series finale. Both pitchers were having exceptional seasons. Koufax had won 21 games thus far, while losing just four. Marichal had just won his 19th game a few days earlier, and was looking to go over the 20 win mark for the third consecutive season.

It didn’t take long for the tempers to flare in this game. Marichal was still fuming over the officiating earlier in the series. When Maury Wills stepped up to the plate to start the game, Marichal sent a clear message that he was not going to put up with anything out of the Dodgers’ shortstop. He threw a high and tight fastball that put Wills on his backside. Undaunted, Wills fired back by laying a beautiful bunt down the third base line. The first two shots across the bow had been fired.

Things turned even more tense when Marichal knocked down the next batter, Jim Gilliam. With that message delivered, Marichal tried to turn his attention back to the game, but got into a bit of trouble. He would give up a run in each of the first two innings, the second ironically on a Johnny Roseboro single.

When Juan Marichal came up to the plate, things turned ugly, but not in a way that anybody expected.

Johnny Roseboro called for an inside knock down pitch, but that was not how Sandy Koufax played the game. Perhaps if it was a position player, but even then, that was not how Koufax went about his business. On a low curveball to Marichal, Roseboro dropped the ball which allowed him to get up and walk behind Marichal. He then threw the ball back to Koufax uncharacteristically hard, and quite close to Marichal’s head. Depending on which account of the story you believe, it either buzzed by closely or actually clipped Marichal in the ear. Regardless, it enraged Marichal and he confronted Roseboro.

If you want to see what happens next, here is the actual game video – but please be advised, there are a several disturbing and graphic moments.

Before continuing, it is important to know that Johnny Roseboro was a great catcher, but more than that, he was one of baseball’s toughest players. He would courageously block home plate with runners bearing down on him without as much as blinking. I remember a game when Mike Shannon, in full stride, hit Roseboro, and it was Shannon that went bouncing off in another direction.

Roseboro leaving the game (photo by Neil Liefer)

When the players were finally separated, the resulting scalp cut from Marichal’s attack left Roseboro bleeding rather badly. Willie Mays escorted the injured Roseboro off the field so that he could be taken to the Dodgers training room. The Dodgers’ catcher would require several stitches to close the wound on his forehead, and would be diagnosed with a concussion. As a result, he would miss the next two games, although he did travel with the team to New York. By August 25, he was back behind the plate, no worse for the wear. Roseboro was a very tough baseball player.

Although he protested vigorously, Juan Marichal was immediately ejected from the game. The league office would decide what additional punishment was warranted over the next several days.

Punishment

The commissioner would eventually suspend Marichal for 9 games, plus the final series of the season between San Francisco and Los Angeles. For those last two games, he was barred from even traveling with the team to Los Angeles. In addition to those 11 games, he was fined $1,750, or about 3 percent of his annual salary.

Many fans, especially those in Los Angeles, were angered over the perceived light punishment that Marichal received. The 9 game suspension worked out to just two missed starts. Giants manager, Herman Franks, used Marichal on just two days in Chicago, just so the Los Angeles travel ban would not cost him another start.

The true punishment for Marichal came much later, when it was time for his induction into baseball’s Hall of Fame. In spite of being one of the best pitchers of his era, winning more games than any other pitcher in the decade of the 1960′s, he would not be invited into Cooperstown until 1983, three full years after the start of his eligibility. Roseboro might have had a big part to play in that too, but we’re getting slightly ahead of ourselves.

The Giant Meltdown ?

Historians often cite the Roseboro incident as a turning point in the 1965 season. Marichal and the Giants were hot on the Dodgers heels, and those two (plus perhaps one later) start Marichal missed might have been the difference between San Francisco or Los Angeles going to the World Series. While that would be a storybook ending to the season, that’s not how things actually happened.

The Giants would keep winning, in spite of Marichal’s suspension. They would even win both remaining games against the Dodgers, with Juan Marichal safely tucked away in San Francisco. As late as September 16, they held a 4 1/2 game lead in the National League.

The difference in the 1965 season was a 13 game Dodgers winning streak, largely on the arms of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Johnny Podres and Ron Perranoski. It had nothing to do with Marichal, and the Giants didn’t collapse. The Dodgers just ran away with it, as the Cardinals had done with Cincinnati the previous year.

Civil Suit and Forgiveness

Disappointed with the light punishment handed down from the commissioner, Johnny Roseboro filed a civil suit against Marichal for $110,000. That suit was later settled out of court for $7,000. The matter was settled, or so we thought. What happens next surprised everybody.

Johnny Roseboro did what a lot of people might not have been able to do, he forgave Marichal. Perhaps it was because his actions played a big part in that terrible event, or he was just a really good person; the two were able to put that unfortunate event behind and become friends.

Marichal a Dodger ?

Things got very interesting in Los Angeles when Juan Marichal, now 37 years old and in the tail end of his career, signed a free agent contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. He only appeared in two games that season, one of them in Dodger Stadium. Johnny Roseboro made a plea with the fans in attendance to forgive Marichal and accept him as a Dodger. Marichal even wore Roseboro’s number, on the former catcher’s insistence.

There were no hard feelings on my part, and I thought if that
was made public, people would believe that this was really over
with. So I saw him at a Dodger old-timers' game, and we posed
for pictures together, and I actually visited him in the Dominican.
The next year, he was in the Hall of Fame. 

Hey, over the years, you learn to forget things. --Johnny Roseboro

After Baseball

After baseball, the two became close friends. Roseboro may have even had a hand in Marichal’s induction into the Hall of Fame when he wrote letters to Baseball Writes’ Association of America (BBWAA), urging them to reconsider their opposition to the former Giants pitcher. On the third ballot, Marichal received enough votes, and was finally inducted in 1983. The two would frequently show up at old-timers events, and Roseboro would travel back to the Dominican Republic to play in Marichal’s charity golf events. Perhaps the most touching moment came in 2002, when Marichal delivered an emotional eulogy at Roseboro’s funeral.

Next time we will take a look back at August 10, 2010, and see how the two incidents were similar, and where they were drastically different.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

Quick. Name all the players with 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases. Name the only player to hit 20 homers with six different teams. Name a player who, in the last decade, played in three World Series for three different teams.

You’d be hard pressed to find many fans out there that could come up with the answer to those questions.

The name Reggie Sanders wouldn’t come quickly to the minds of many fans when it comes to such lofty credentials. Sanders flew under the radar most of his career – frequently injured and generally solid but not spectacular.

But St. Louis fans will remember the Reggie Sanders who played a key role in helping the Cardinals to the 2004 World Series. Signed as a free agent prior to the season, he played a solid left field and produced 22 homers and 67 RBIs while hitting .260.

For his contribution in two years in St. Louis and two more in Kansas City, Sanders is one of five players inducted into the I-70 Baseball.com Hall of Legends.

Sanders was a fixture in the World Series during the early 2000s. In 2001 he played a leading role for Arizona, hitting 33 homers and driving in 90 runs to help the D-Backs defeat New York in the series. He was back in the series the next year with the San Francisco Giants.

Sadly, Sanders was having one of his finest seasons of his career for the Cardinals in 2005 before he was derailed by a broken leg suffered in a collision with Jim Edmonds. Sanders hit .271 and tallied 21 homers in just 93 games that year. He returned from the injury in time to play in the playoffs for the sixth time in his career.

Sanders’ playoff performances in a Cards’ uniform were a mixed bag. He went hitless in the 2004 series versus Boston, but he hit .286 and homered in the NLDS against the Dodgers. In 2005 he drove in 10 runs in a three game NLDS against San Diego.

Sanders’ biggest highlight in Kansas City came in June 2006 when he joined Willie Mays, Bobby Bonds, Andre Dawson and Barry Bonds in the 300 homer/300 stolen base club. (Steve Finley joined the club just four days after Sanders) Sanders stole his 300^th base in a Royals’ uniform as well.

Signed to provide veteran leadership for the Royals as they developed young talent, Sanders unfortunately spent much of his tenure in KC on the DL. The Royals shopped his services to contending teams to no avail, and they allowed him to become a free agent after the 2007 season, in which he played just 24 games. At 40 years of age, Sanders sought opportunities to play in 2008, but eventually retired.

One can only speculate about the numbers Sanders could have compiled had he avoided injuries throughout his career. Sanders made it into 140 games in just one of his 17 seasons. In eight of those seasons, he actually played fewer than 107 games. Had he avoided injury in some of those seasons, Sanders could possibly have made it to 400 homers and 400 steals, recorded over 2000 hits and had well over 1,000 RBIs.

But regardless of the numbers, Sanders was a winner. He was a respected clubhouse leader who played a key role on several successful teams throughout his career. For his two productive seasons on playoff teams in St. Louis, and for his record-setting time in Kansas City, I-70 Baseball.com bestows the honor of “Legend” status on Reggie Sanders.

Every year, the group known as the Baseball Bloggers Alliance places their ballots for various awards to be announced at the end of the season. This year, it is my pleasure to place the votes for the St. Louis Chapter of the Baseball Bloggers Alliance in the category of Rookie Of The Year. The award is officially titled The Willie Mays Award.

The National League this year has shown some diversity amongst the teams. Highly competitive races came down to the last few weeks of the season, highlighted by three teams and the men that guided them. In my mind, the top three managers to be considered for the award are listed here….

3 – Jaime Garcia, St. Louis Cardinals
I will probably catch some heat around Cardinal Nation for not placing Jaime higher in consideration for this award. Truth be told, he put together one of the most impressive seasons of a rookie pitcher in recent memory. That being said, the team, as a preventative measure, shut Garcia down in the early part of September for the remainder of the season. After costing him two or three more starts, the team also made it very hard for voters to seriously consider him in post-season award conversations.

Even after the team had shut him down, Garcia would finish with 13 wins in 28 starts and a 2.70 earned run average. He struck out 132 batters, walked only 64, and even threw a complete game shut out, just for good measure. A “dark horse” candidate for this award in the early part of the season, it seemed that Garcia was overlooked by everybody in baseball that was not following the St. Louis Cardinals. Garcia will not take the award home this season, but being considered in the top three is an accomplishment in its own right.

2 – Buster Posey, San Francisco Giants
What Buster Posey lacked in patience at the plate, he certainly made up for with solid contact and the presence on the field of a veteran. Posey took charge of the Giants’ pitching staff while putting together a season that would make most veteran catchers proud.

Posey would come on strong, hitting 18 home runs and driving in 67 runs over the course of 2010. Add into those number his 23 doubles and Posey would post a slugging percentage of .505 while hitting an impressive .305. He would only strike out 55 times, but only walk a total of 30 times. When Posey came to the plate in 2010, he came to hit, and he did just that. If Posey can learn some patience at the plate, the Giants will be talking about this young, talented man for a very long time.

1 – Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves
He was the favorite to win this award when teams broke camp in Spring of 2010. What Heyward did throughout the year, despite a stint on the disabled list, was not a disappointment in the slightest.

Heyward would match fellow rookie Buster Posey’s 18 home runs, drive in 72 runs and hit a respectable .277. What set him apart was his approach at the plate – though he would strike out an alarming 128 times, he would also walk 91 times, showing some patience and veteran style approach. A .456 slugging percentage and 29 doubles showed many pitchers that he was a force at the plate and moved him to the top of most ballots on the rookie award categories. In the long run, Heyward is ready for greatness in Major League Baseball, and that greatness is coming sooner rather than later.

There you have it, my picks for the Willie Mays Award for the Baseball Bloggers Alliance.

Bill Ivie is the editor here at I-70 Baseball as well as the Assignment Editor for BaseballDigest.com.
He is the host of I-70 Radio, hosted every week on BlogTalkRadio.com.
Follow him on Twitter here.