N is for No Hitter

You Tube A TO Z

N is for No Hitter

A baseball game can take 3-4 hours to complete.  But if all you are interested is watching all the outs it can take 5-10 minutes.  3-5 minutes if you are just looking for all the outs on one side.  When would you want to do that?  When you want to relive a no hitter.  You tube is your friend when it comes to finding those.

on April 18,2007 Mark Buehrle (see B is for Buehrle from earlier this month) pitched a no hitter for the Chicago White Sox against the Texas Ranger.  This means in his 9 innings of work no one got on base with a hit.  Former Sox player Sammy Sosa did get a walk and you can watch what Buerhle did to him.  

A no hitter when no one gets on base for any reason is called a perfect game Buerhle got one of those also.  It was 2 years later July 23, 2009 against the Tampa Bay Rays.  Since it is technically a no hitter and since I am not doing P is for Perfect Game I'll show you that one as well.  You'd be Wise to watch the 9th inning of this one.




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All 27 outs of Mark Buehrle's perfect game

N is for Nichholson

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

N is for Nicholson 

Bill Nicholson 1914-1996

Athletics as Philadelphia Athletics, Cubs, Phillies

Bill Nicholson played all but 11 of his 1677 major league ball games in the National League.  He had a cup of coffee with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1936 where he went 0-12 in his only 12 American League plate appearances.  He came back to the Major leagues in 1939 the first of 19 consecutive season with the Cubs.  He languished in Philadephia for the Phillies for 5 years at the end of his career where he only saw limited action.  His time with the Cubs was the pinnacle of his 16 season career.  He made 4 all star teams from 1940 to 1944 and helped the Cubs to their last World Series appearance in 1945.His  245 doubles with the team  puts him 16 on the all time list and  his 205 homers makes him the 8th most prolific Cubs home-run hitter of all time.  

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M is for Mark

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

M is for Mark 

Mark Grace

Cubs, Diamondbacks

Mark Grace played 13 of his 16 big league seasons for the Chicago Cubs from 1988 to 2000. Although the 3 time all star never had a 20 HR season his longevity with the Cubs puts his 148 Homers for them as 14th on the all time list.  25 homers with Arizona at the end of his career puts him with 173 homers all toll.

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L is for Lee

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

L is for Lee

Derrek Lee

 Padres, Marlins, Cubs, Braves, Orioles, Pirates

Derrek Lee played for the Cubs from 2004 to 2010.  A two time all star and fan favorite who hit 319 major league homers.  179 of those long balls came for the Cubbies, which puts him 12th on the all time list.

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M is for Monkees

You Tube A TO Z

M is for the Monkees

Because of the time I was born mid sixties I have no memory of life without the Monkees and I have no memory of never loving the Monkees.  If you love the Monkees like I do You Tube is a friend with many videos of past shows and hit songs.  

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K is for Keith

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

K is for Keith 

Keith Moreland


PhilliesCubs, Padres, Tigers Orioles

Keith Moreland played baseball from 1978 to 1989.  He started with the Phillies and came to the Cubs  in 1982.  He played 6 seasons with the Cubs and left for San Diego after the '87 season came to a close.  While about 69 % (902) of his 1306 games were with the Cubs 100 (87%) of his 115 homers were hit for the Northsiders.  

The former Cubs raidio announcer's 100 dingers was good enough for 20th all time for the Cubs until  Anthony Rizzo over took him last year.  

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L is for Late Late Show

You Tube A TO Z

L is for Late Late Show

Today's entry comes from the first episode of the Late Late show hosted by James Corden. It's a touching/humorous ballad about hosting late night show which has always been one of my ambitions.

 


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K is for Kiss Cam

You Tube A TO Z

K is for Kiss Cam

A Kiss Cam is when at a professional sporting event the camera pans onto couples and when they see them selves on the jumbo=tron they smooch.  Sometimes things don't always happen correctly.  Take a look at a Kiss Cam portion of a Bulls Celtics Game held in Chicago.

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J is for Jody

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

J is for Jody

Jody Davis


Cubs, Braves 

Jody Davis caught for the Cubs from 1981 to 1988 and played parts of 3 seasosn with the Atlanta Braves retiring in 1990 from Major League Baseball.  Davis hit 122 of his 127 major league homers for the Cubs  which places him 17th on the Cubs all time list.

Davis a 2 time all star with 1 gold glove to his credit was a fan favorite and is still well revered on the north side.  

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J is for Judges

You Tube A TO Z

J is for Judges

When Veggie Tale creator Phil Vischer started a web based bible series called Jelly Telly,  he had different feautures he would rotate in.  One was a group called The Fabulous Bentley Brothers who would sing snippets  of Old Testament bible books.  The song Judges does for memorizing all the judges in the Old Testament what School House Rock did for memorizing the preamble of the constitution.  And yes that's Rhett and Link, who you may remember from F is for Facebook as the Fabulous Bentley Brothers.

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I is for Irvin

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

I is for Irvin

Monte Irvin (HOF)

1919 -2016

Giants, Cubs

The first paragraph of Monte Irvin's page at the baseball hall of fame website reads as follows

Monte Irvin was not the first African-American player in the modern major leagues, but of all the talented players who made the perilous trip from the Negro leagues to the big leagues in the late 1940s, Irvin may have been the best.

Irvin played with the Newark Eagles of the Negro League and came to the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1949 and played seven season there.  In 1956 he finished his career with the Cubs and hit 15  of his 99 major league homers in his farewell season.  Irving was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.

Irvin passed a way in January of this year 6 week prior to his 97th birthday.

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I is for Ishmael United - If you can't shout saved

You Tube A TO Z

I is for Ishmael United

In 1985 I discovered a group called Ishmael United in the bargain basket of my local Christian book store. I loved the cassette and told anybody I met about it. I lent it it to a friend who lent it  to someone in his youth group who lent it  to her boyfriend. Then in perfect sitcom fashion, he broke up with her, she stopped going to youth group and I never saw the cassette again. At about the same time the cassette went out of print. Enter Youtube ,someone takes a video of one of the songs playing and it's 1985 all over again


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H is for Hank Sauer

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

H is for Hank

Hank Sauer

1917 - 2001

Hank Sauer , a 2 time all star and NL MVP of 1952 was a Cubs outfielder from 1950 to 1955.   He hit 288 homers in his 15 major league seasons.  His 7 seasons with the Cubbies yielded 198 of those round trippers which puts him 9th all time for the club.

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H is for How it Should Have Ended

G is for Gabby

Cubs Home run hitters from Aramis to Zimmerman

G is for Gabby

Charles  Leo "Gabby" Hartnett(HOF)
1900-1972

Cubs, (NY)Giants

Gabby Hartnett hit 231 homers for the Cubs from 1922 to 1940 which puts him 7th all time with the club.  The 6 time all star and 1935 NL MVP is best remember for 1 specific homer,  The homer in the gloaming which took place 9/26 1938.  Before I get to the significance of the homer , let me explain how baseball in 1938 from the baseball we understand.

1. Until the late 60's there were no playoff series prior to the World Series.   Each year the best team in the National League would play the best team in the American League in the World Series.  The entire season was played to determine which team would win the pennant and play in the World Series.

2.  While the first MLB night game was played in 1934, night games were still not common in 1938 and not played at Wrigley Field until 1988.

The Pittsburgh Pirates led the NL for most of the 1938 season but started to unravel in September. When they came into Chicago for a 3 game series , the Cubs were only 1 1/2 games behind the Bucs.  Dizzy Dean who was traded from the Cards to the Cubs in 1938 beat the Pirates in the first game.  In the 2nd game the score was tied 5-5  as the Cubs came to bat in the 9th.  Because Wrigley had no lights the umpires decided that the 9th inning would be the last which would cause the entire game to be replayed the next day.



The Cubs were down to their last out and Hartnett was 0-2 in the account.  As twilight descended Hartnett homered into the left center bleachers and the crowd erupted.  The Cubs essentially won the pennant on that home run.

Hartnett hit all but 5 of homers for the Cubs but his walk off in 1938 put the immortal touch on an already HOF career,

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G is for Grover

You Tube A TO Z

G is for Grover

I grew up on Sesame Street.  I mean the television show, not the actual street.  My love for all things Muppets began watching sketches like these on PBS.  Like many sesame street sketches of it's time, it starts with a usual situation and put's an educational/wacky take on it.

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