Olde Man’s Tavern: The Year That Was 2010

Next week, the Tavern will continue its famous (or maybe not so famous) trek across the baseball countryside and visit some more teams.

For this week, I’m constructing a list of my favorite (and others, not so much, but worthy of at least a mention) memories from 2010. I’m sure you’ve already read a blue million of these types of posts by now. Yet, here’s another one for the inhabitants of the Tavern to enjoy.

The 2010 baseball season etched memories into all of our heads. Here’s a quick review of the ones that will live on inside this whacked out think I call a brain. As I reflect on 2010, the first thing that stands out are some of the great debuts that occurred.

Jason Heyward, Atlanta Braves (April 5):
On the third pitch of his first major league at-bat and facing a 2-0 count, Heyward deposited a Carlos Zambrano pitch into deep right field resulting in a three-run homer. His blast helped to provide the Braves with a six-run first inning.

, Washington Nationals (June 8):

What a debut the first overall pick in the 2009 amateur draft had. Seven innings pitched while allowing only two runs and four hits. The result was a 5-2 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Oh, and the kid also had 14 strikeouts.

Aroldis Chapman, Cincinnati Reds (August 31):
The native Cuban became one of the most sought after free agents prior to 2010. The Reds surprised many an analyst in signing him. Chapman faced three batters that night. He threw eight pitches in retiring the Milwaukee Brewers 1-2-3. He would later shock the baseball world with a pitch registering 105.9 MPH on the gun, an official MLB record.

Throughout a baseball season, we always see a couple of tussles. The two teams could be bitter rivals. They could just be hacked off at one another. Or someone may say something that maybe they shouldn’t have said. Or a player may have been a bit ill-advised to do something. The result could be a bench clearing brawl or just an exchange of words.

Dallas Braden and Alex Rodriguez (April 22):
The Yankees were in Oakland for a getaway day game against the A’s. In the sixth inning after a foul ball, A-Rod chose a path to return to first base that didn’t quite sit so well with Braden…across the pitcher’s mound. Braden sounded off via Jane Lee of MLB.com:

"“He should probably take a note from his captain over there and realize you don’t cross the pitcher’s mound in between an inning or during the game. I was just dumbfounded that he would let that slip his mind — being someone of such status.”"

Rodriguez was none too congenial with his take. Again, Jane Lee produces A-Rod’s “commentary”.

"“He just told me to get off his mound,” Rodriguez said. “That was a little surprising. I’d never quite heard that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career.“I didn’t even know he was talking to me. I’ve never heard of that in my career. I still don’t know. I thought it was pretty funny, actually.”"

I think they both needed a timeout here.

Brandon Phillips takes on the Cardinals (August 9):
The Reds held a two game lead in the NL Central division and the second place St. Louis Cardinals were coming to town for a crucial three game series. On the afternoon before the series was to commence, BP was chatting with Hall of Fame writer Hal McCoy. Phillips had sat out the previous game against the Chicago Cubs after fouling a ball of his (Phillips) shin. This is merely speculation here, but I’m guessing McCoy asked Phillips about his availability. Phillips didn’t hold back as McCoy documents:

"“I’d play against these guys with one leg. We have to beat these guys. I hate the Cardinals. All they do is bitch and moan about everything, all of them, they’re little bitches, all of ‘em.“I really hate the Cardinals. Compared to the Cardinals, I love the Chicago Cubs. Let me make this clear: I hate the Cardinals.”"

As McCoy explains, BP may have been referring to a couple of incidents in Cincy when the Cards previously visited. The Cards complained about how the baseballs were not properly rubbed and maintained a slickness about them. Not that Phillips has a defense for comments such as these, but questioning the Cards collective manhood sparked a bench clearing brawl during the second game of the series.

Phillips was the leadoff hitter for Cincinnati that game. As he approached the batter’s box, he attempted to use his customary “bat tap” on the shin guards of the home plate ump and opposing the catcher. The ump was fine, but Cards catcher

wasn’t. He obviously objected to the comments Philips had made and he let BP know it by getting in the Reds second baseman’s face. Next, benches clear and everyone is running toward the arguing players.

Never mind that a few moments later Cards pitcher Chris Carpenter and Reds third baseman Scott Rolen had to be separated. Never mind that Reds hurler Johnny Cueto was in full view kicking the backside of Cards catcher Jason LaRue. This was all set off by one person’s mouth. And baseball filled the headlines far more than usual this day.

“Tony Plush” and the Fish (September 1):
“Tony Plush” is the self-proclaimed “gentleman’s name” of Washington Nationals center fielder Nyjer Morgan. On the previous night, Morgan had taken out Marlins catcher Brett Hayes. A few days before that, Morgan had taken a swipe at Cardinals catcher Bryan Anderson. Yes, a history had already been established and the Marlins perceived Morgan’s hit on Hayes as “dirty”.

So…Marlins pitcher Chris Volstad drilled Morgan hit Morgan for that hit on Hayes. At the time, the Marlins lead 14-3 and it’s the fourth inning. All is good, right? Wrong. Morgan proceeded to steal second base…and then third. He would later score on a sac fly to make the score 14-4. It’s was Morgan’s next at-bat that would send Mr. “Plush” over the edge.

Volstad was still on the mound. He didn’t hit Morgan again. Didn’t come close. He threw behind Morgan and all hell broke loose. Yes, “dogs and cats sleeping together” kind of thing. In the end Morgan was told to take a seat for seven games.

One of baseball’s bigger lists involves personal milestones. Some note worthy, some not. Here’s a few worthy milestones.

Manny Ramirez, Los Angeles Dodgers (May 15):
Manny records his 550th career home run against the Arizona Diamondbacks. He becomes the 14th player to accimplish the feat.

Ichiro Suzuki, Seattle Mariners (September 23):
Extended his record for consecutive season with 200+ hits to ten against the Totonto Blue Jays. The only other player with ten 200+ hits in a season for a career is Pete Rose. And those ten were not consecutive.

Matt Stairs, San Diego Padres (July 7):
Stairs tied Cliff Johnson for career homers by a pinch hitter with 20. The Washington Nationals then closer Matt Capps served up the dinger.

Alex Rodriguez, New York Yankees (August 4):
A-Rod finally blasted career home run #600 against the Totonto Blue Jays. A-Rod is one of only seven players to reach this milestone. He is also the youngest player to eclipse that plateau.

Juan Pierre, Chicago Wite Sox (August 5):
Pierre swiped a base for the 500th time. With that achievement, Pierre became the 37th player to cross the 500 steals mark.

David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox (September 29):
Big Papi became only the second player to amass 1,000 RBI as a DH. The only other member, Edgar Martinez.

Albert Pujols (season):
What more can be said about Albert. 2010 saw Pujols become the first player to ever record ten straight seasons of 30+ HR to begin his career. He’s not slowing down either.

Austin Jackson, Detroit Tigers (season):
Jackson became only the fourth rookie since 1901 to score 100 or more runs (103), 180 or more hits (181), 30 or more doubles (34) and 10 or more (10) triples. “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, Juan Samuel and Hanley Ramirez are the other three players to accomplish this. Pretty nice company.

How many times did we hear this season was the year of the pitcher? Oh, about every other week it seems. Well, there was a good reason. Two perfect games, a near perfect game and four no-hitters were hurled.

The earliest of either a perfect game or no-hitter recorded during 2010 occurred on April 17. Colorado Rockies ace

no-hit the Atlanta Braves. About three weeks later,

tossed the season’s first perfect game. His victim was the Tampa Bay Rays. Twenty days later, the Philadelphia Phillies

duplicated Braden’s feat with a perfect game. The Florida Marlins fell to the Phillies ace (how many do they have there now?)

June 2nd. Ah, a day that Armando Galarraga will never forget. Yes, the near perfect game. Stripped away by a blown call by first base umpire Jim Joyce, Galarraga exuded class amidst the furor from baseball fans across the country.

Edwin Jackson tossed his no-hitter on June 23 againt…wait for it…the Tampa Bay Rays. Yes the Rays were no-hit and on the bad side of a perfect game. The Rays would finally get a no-hitter on the franchise docket as Matt Garza pulled off the feat against Detroit Tigers.

And what about the postseason? Three teams marked a bit of history. Just a bit. The Cincinnati Reds showed up after a fifteen year absence (1995). The AL Champion Texas Rangers not only made it to the World Series, but they also appeared in the playoffs for the first time since 1999.

And how about the World Champions, the San Francisco Giants? The first title for the Giants since 1954. The were the New York Giants at that time. In ’54, they had a guy named Mays and were managed by some guy named Durocher.

Finally, baseball lost many a legend in 2010. Here’s a list of some basbeall greats that bid farewell this past year. This list is courtesy of Marty Noble on MLB.com.

Maury Allen, New York Post Writer
Sparky Anderson, Tigers/Reds Manager
Jim Bibby, Rangers Pitcher
Steve Boros, Tigers Third baseman
Bobby Bragan, MLB Player/Manager
Phil Cavarretta, Cubs First baseman
Mike Celizic, Bergen Record Writer
Mike Cuellar, Orioles Pitcher
Willie Davis, Dodgers Outfielder
Walt Dropo, Red Sox First baseman
Bob Feller, Indians Pitcher
Clint Hartung, Giants Pitcher
Ernie Harwell, Tigers Broadcaster
Gene Hermanski, Dodgers Outfielder
Bill Hoeft, Tigers Pitcher
Ralph Houk, Yankees Manager/GM
Clyde King, Yankees Manager
Ed Kirkpatrick, MLB Utilityman
Bill Lajoie, Tigers Executive
Al LaMacchia, MLB Scout
Jose Lima, MLB Pitcher
Joe Lis, Indians Outfielder
Billy Loes, Dodgers Pitcher
Bob Mandt, Mets Executive
Gil McDougald, Yankees Infielder
Keli McGregor, Rockies President
Dave Niehaus, Mariners Broadcaster
Al Pilarcik, Orioles Outfielder
Robin Roberts, Phillies Pitcher
Jeriome Robertson, Astros Pitcher
Ron Santo, Cubs Third baseman
Bill Shannon, Yankees Official Scorer
Bob Shaw, MLB Pitcher
Bob Sheppard, Yankees PA Announcer
George Steinbrenner, Yankees Owner
Valmy Thomas, Giants Catcher
Bobby Thomson, Giants Outfielder
Wayne Twitchell, Phillies Pitcher
Tom Underwood, MLB Pitcher
Lubie Veal, MLB Groundskeeper
Frank Verdi, Yankees Shortstop
Vic Ziegel, New York Post Writer

Great players, great baseball people and great announcers left us in 2010. I think of Sparky, The Boss, Ron Santo and how much he loved his Cubs, the sounds of Ernie Harwell and Dave Niehaus and the numerous replays of Bobby Thomson’s home run and all I can do is smile. They are among the many that have guided me on my personal journey through the sport of baseball. Basbeall really IS a great game.

Happy New Year to everyone on behalf of the Call to the Pen staff. And may 2011 be prosperous year for you.