It Was the Best of Times, the Worst of Times... Gene Freese and I Have So Much In Common...

I have been dying to break the ice and get back to blogging… As always I feel like I could write a book about where I have been, where I am going and where I want to be… Lucky for you the reader, I will spare the longwinded song and dance and sum things up with a Collective Troll Card of the Day… This comes from my new favorite set, 1963 Topps Baseball, card #133 of Cincinnati Reds third baseman Gene Freese…

Just looking at the color scheme of this card is going to make most of you crave McDonalds, but I am looking deeper. Gene Freese sums up the day late and a dollar short story of my life… In 1961 Freese had the best season of his career; he hit .277 with 26 homers and 87 RBI.

He was 27, in the prime of his career and he joined the Reds, his 5th major league team. Along with Frank Robinson and Vada Pinson he helped lead the Reds to their first National League pennant in 21 years. Freese and the Reds were overmatched by the Yankees and fell to New York in the ’61 series.

There is no doubt he spent the off season working hard to put his team back into the position to battle the Yankees again for the World Championship.

Of course this didn’t happen. Gene Freese has my luck. He broke his ankle in spring training and missed nearly the entire season. The Reds would not see the postseason again in that decade and Freese would never have a full time job again. He never hit double digit homers again and never saw the postseason again. He did jump around to 3 more teams before playing his final big league season with Houston in 1966. He managed just 3 hits for the Astros before ending his hard luck twelve year big league career.

He never made an All Star squad or won a Gold Glove, but many who saw him play in the late 50s and early 60s say he deserved to be… For today he is someone with a broken limb just like me. Go Rays! Troll out.

Gomes Goes Yard-Again and Again!!!!

Well, my good buddy Paul from the awesome Carl Crawford Cards blog wrote about this earlier tonight, but I am gonna continue the story, simply because I think Jonny Gomes is awesome. Jonny was drafted by the Devil Rays in the 18th round of the 2001 draft and by 2005 he earned a regular spot on the team. He hit 3 homers in one game as a rookie against the Royals in 2005, he went on to hit 21 long balls that year in 101 games, placing third in AL Rookie of the Year voting. He has the second longest home run in Tropicana Field history at 474 feet. He has hit the catwalk more times than anyone and he still holds the club record for most home runs by a right handed hitter, although Evan Longoria will be breaking that soon. He still holds team records in getting hit by a pitch. He was beaned three times in one game in 2005 against the Yankees. That’s a team record and it ties the AL record. He also holds the team record getting hit by a pitch 28 times in his tenure with Tampa Bay. He also shares (with Longo) the Rays mark for most total bases in a game with 12, courtesy of his 3 homer day against the Royals in ’05. He was a vocal clubhouse leader throughout the stretch run in 2008 with the Rays and despite being left off the playoff roster; he was always the first out of the dugout to congratulate his teammates after scoring. After the 2008 season, he was non-tendered by the Rays and out of work. The Cincinnati Reds were the only takers; they signed him to a minor league contract with a spring invite. Despite a strong showing in the spring, he was sent to AAA to open the year. He was finally called up on May 21st and has been on a tear ever since. Having spent much of his time with the Rays playing designated hitter, the Reds were concerned with his defense, but it has been solid, he has made just 1 error in 63 chances with 2 outfield assists and 1 double play. So far this year, he has hit .271 with 14 homers and 33 RBI in just 166 at bats and a .566 SLG %. Project those home runs per at bats over a 500 at bat year and you have a 42 homer year. Compare him to the guy that replaced him, Pat Burrell, who is batting .220 with 10 homers in 275 at bats. Plus Gomes is making millions less in salary this year. I think the Rays made a pretty choice there. That said, I am writing about Gomes performance last night when he homered in his first three at bats against the Washington Nationals. These weren’t barely over the wall dingers either. His longest measured out at 439 feet to left, he added a 385 footer to left and finished with a 410 foot blast to straight away center. He had the chance to hit number 4 when he came up against Mike MacDougal in his final at bat. MM promptly buzzed a fast ball up in his face. Gomes ended up striking out. MacDougal was pitching for the Royals in 2005 and had served up Gomes’ third homer that night, he wasn’t about to give up his fourth tonight. As it turns out, one homer would have been enough. Reds starter Bronson Arroyo threw a gem, needing only 103 pitches to defeat the Nats in a two-hit shutout, his second of the year. His record improved to 11-11 with a 4.74 ERA and 3 complete games. Some fun facts about Gomes and other guys to have multiple three-home run games…
Another Jonny, actually Johnny. Mize that is, shares the record with Sammy Sosa for most 3 homer games with 6. Dave Kingman, Joe Carter, Mark McGwire and Carlos Delgado have done it 5 times over their careers. Babe Ruth, Ralph Kiner, Larry Parrish, Ernie Banks, Willie Stargell and Lou Gehrig all had four 3-homer games in their careers. Other than Larry Parrish, everyone in that bunch is in the Hall of Fame. Some Hall of Famers who accomplished the feat once in their career (therefore trailing Gomes in this category) include an interesting list of Hall of Famers including Hank Aaron, Frank Robinson, Mickey Mantle and surprisingly Ty Cobb who hit 3 in one game back in 1925. 29 different players have had 3-dinger games for two different teams, of them Johnny Mize, Dave Kingman and A-Rod have done it for 3 different teams. Anyway, I want to congratulate my favorite ex-Ray, Mister Jonny Gomes on another 3-homer game. Here’s to many more Jonny! As an end note, Jonny has always been a fantastic autograph signer-I have about 10 of his sigs in my collection, he always signs at the park-before and after games and is a great TTM signer. Go Rays! Troll out.