Bewerbungen » ades and for becoming the first amputee

While reading this week that two very good players - Lance Berkman and Michael Young - had decided to retire, I started to wonder about the perfect way to go out. Berkman and Young both could have kept on playing, but decided the time was right. Ive alway been fascinated by Ted Williams final at-bat for the Red Sox. He homered off Jack Fisher of the Orioles in the bottom of the 8th at Fenway Park on September 28, 1960. "The Spendid Splinter" trotted out to left field for the start of the 9th, whereby his manager Mike Higgins took him out of the game so he could get one last ovation from the fans in the Bosox final home game of the season. Boston rallied for two in the bottom of the 9th to win 5-4. Williams opted to retire immediately and did not go to New York for the final series of the season against the pennant-winning Yankees. So Williams, arguably the best hitter of all time, ended his career with a home run. What I was surprised to discover is this isnt nearly as rare as I thought it would be. Twenty-three American League players have homered in their final at-bat and 22 have done it in the National League. The last to do it was Jim Edmonds on September 21, 2010. A couple of others who accomplished the feat had Blue Jays connections. Wille Mays Aikens slugged his final homer in a Jays uniform on April 27, 1985, and Tony Kubek, star shortstop with the Yankees who later worked on Blue Jays telecasts, homered in his final big league at-bat on October 3, 1965. The saddest of all though was the home run hit by Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane on May 25, 1937 off the Yankees Bump Hadley. Next time up in the game, Hadley nailed the Tigers player-manager in the head with a pitch. His skull was fractured, and it was weeks before Cochrane recovered. He never played again so for the record, his final official at-bat was also a home run. Mickey - for whom Mickey Mantle was named - returned and finished out the 1937 season as manager only of the Tigers before calling it quits at the end of that season. Cochranes .320 career batting average for a catcher was the all-time record, until the Twins Joe Mauer broke it in 2009. Hitting a home run in your first Major League at-bat is far more common. It has been accomplished 113 times - 47 in the American League and 66 in the National. Twenty-eight were hit on the very first pitch the batter saw. Four were grand slams and 19 of those who homered in their first Major League at-bats never hit another one in their entire careers. Three Blue Jays homered in their first at-bats. Al Woods hit a pinch homer in the Blue Jays first-ever game on April 7, 1977. Junior Felix followed that up nearly a dozen years later on May 4, 1989. J.P. Arencibia, the last in the trio, did it more than 11 years after Felix on August 7, 2010. All three homered on the first pitches they saw. This is the real rarity though, and I didnt even realize it had ever happened before. There are actually two players in Major League history who slugged homers in their first and last Major League at-bats. John Miller, a journeyman first baseman who later played five years in Japan, played parts of two seasons in the Majors back in the 60s. His first was with the Yankees where he hit a homer in his first Major League at-bat and then on September 23, 1969, he connected in his final Major League at-bat for the Dodgers. Oddly enough these were also his only two Major League homers. The first to accomplish the feat was a catcher by the name of Paul Gillespie who was a back-up catcher with the Chicago Cubs during the Second World War in 1942, 44 and 45. He connected for his first in 1942 and then belted his final home run in his final regular season at-bat on September 29, 1945. If you want to add a caveat to Gillespies mark, he did play in the World Series for the Cubs in 1945 - their last World Series appearance - and went hitless in the three games he played. I started with Ted Williams, so let me add this personal footnote. Im not old enough to have seen Ted Williams play in person, however there is a bit of a connection. The first Major League game(s) I ever saw was a doubleheader at old Tiger Stadium in August of 1968 against the Chicago White Sox. Pitching for Chicago in that first game was the man who gave up that final home run to Williams, Jack Fisher. He was nearing the end of his career which would wind up the following season in Cincinnati. This particular night in Detroit wasnt good for Fisher. He only lasted four innings and wound up taking the loss. Strangely enough he gave up a home run to the Tigers Gates Brown. Brown, a veteran by this time, is one of the 47 American Leaguers to homer in their first bat and so it comes full circle. Dud of a Deal Michael Youngs retirement re-ignites the debate over the worst trade in Blue Jays history. This one just might be it. The Jays sent third base prospect Young to Texas along with swing reliever Darwin Cubillan for right-hander Esteban Loaiza. Esteban was supposed to help round out the rotation when he was picked up on July 17, 2000 for a Blue Jays playoff push under manager Jim Fregosi. Instead Loaiza went 5-7 the rest of the way and was basically a non-factor. Adding on the next two seasons with the Jays, he went 25-28 with a 4.96 ERA. Then in 1993, he had the best year of career after signing with the White Sox, winning 21 games and coming close to winning the Cy Young Award. Young, meanwhile, played 14 seasons, was versatile enough to play all four infield positions and wound up with a career .300 batting average. Hes not a Hall of Famer by any means but was a classy talented player who would have been of far greater value to the Blue Jays than Loaiza was. Michael Youngs best friend in his early years in the Jays organiztion was Vernon Wells. Still not sure yet if Vernon is going to try to play out the final year of his contract or like Young, call it a career. Air Max 270 Australia Sale . Altidore strained his left hamstring in the Americans opener against Ghana on June 16 and didnt play in their next two games. "We dont know how much because we need to see how hes going, but hes available," U. Wholesale Air Max 270 Australia . The traditional pre-Masters event was halted early due to inclement weather. Harrington, who tied for first in 2003 and won in 2004, became the first three-time champion of the event. http://www.wholesaleairmax270australia.com/.Y. - Matt Harvey wants to make sure hes on the mound in late October — if the New York Mets get there for the first time since 2006. Air Max 270 Australia . Its the second straight year he has decided not to play as he cuts back his schedule. Stricker was replaced in the field by Ryo Ishikawa of Japan. Cheap Air Max 270 Free Shipping . -- Edwin Encarnacion hit a three-run homer, Colby Rasmus drove in two runs and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Detroit Tigers 9-4 on Saturday. CAPE TOWN, South Africa -- Oscar Pistorius was served with new indictment papers Wednesday containing two extra charges believed to allege that he recklessly shot his gun out the open sunroof of a car last year and fired someone elses handgun at a restaurant weeks before he killed girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp. The double-amputee Olympian has already been indicted on a main charge of murder for the Feb. 14 shooting death of Reeva Steenkamp and another firearm charge for illegal possession of ammunition in his home. He now faces the two additional charges relating to firing guns in public. Pistorius will likely face all four charges at his trial starting in March, although his lawyers can argue against the new gun charges being added to his current indictment as the offences are alleged to have taken place in Johannesburg -- a different court jurisdiction to Pistorius fatal shooting of Steenkamp at his upscale villa in the South African capital, Pretoria, in the pre-dawn hours of Valentines Day. Pistorius lawyers were served with the new papers, South Africas national prosecution spokesman Nathi Mncube told The Associated Press. "What happened today is ... Mr. Pistorius was served with a new indictment." Mncube said. "We have to advise him (of the extra charges) to accord him with enough time to prepare his defence." Mncube declined to give the exact details of the new charges, only saying they "relate to the contravention of the firearms act." Mncube also said there had been no indication from Pistorius lawyers if they would challenge the adding of the charges to Pistorius indictment for the trial. Prosecutors sought special permission to include the two gun charges against Pistorius on the indictment because they did not fall in the same jurisdiction. Permission was granted by South Africas director of public prosecutions last month. Its reported in South Africa that the new charges relate to two alleged incidents where Pistorius recklessly shot a gun in public: The first when Pistorius is alleged to have fired his own licensed 9mm handgun -- the gun used to kill Steenkamp -- out the open sunroof of a car in Johannesburg while travelling with friends last year.dddddddddddd In the second in January this year, and just weeks before Steenkamps shooting death, Pistorius is said to have accidentally shot a friends gun under the table at a Johannesburg restaurant, apparently while admiring it. For both alleged offences he could be charged with public endangerment and damage to property. The multiple Paralympic champion, known as the Blade Runner, is world-famous for his carbon fiber running blades and for becoming the first amputee to compete on the track at the Olympics. He already faces a possible life sentence with a minimum of 25 years in prison if he is convicted of premeditated murder for fatally shooting Steenkamp. Pistorius says he shot her by mistake thinking she was a dangerous intruder in his house. It will be Pistorius 27th birthday on Friday and he was photographed by a newspaper this weekend while out at a Johannesburg restaurant with family, according to the paper. The City Press published photos Sunday of Pistorius in the restaurant wearing a white T-shirt and with a short beard, smiling in one photo and with a black baseball cap pulled down near his eyes in another. The newspaper also quoted Pistorius as saying that he was "anxious" about his upcoming trial. "I feel calm. I now spend most of my time with my family and I enjoy their company," Pistorius said, according to the newspaper, in rare public comments. "They are wonderful and their support is incredible. But, I must say, at the same time I am also anxious about the upcoming court case." ' ' '