By now, EVERYONE knows that Derek Jeter notched his 3,000th hit today with one of his career-best days. 5 hits, a HR which was #3,000, a double and 2 RBI in a 5-4 Yankmee win over Tampa Bay. One of only two players to hit a HR for hit #3,000 (Wade Boggs). Of course, we all know that Jeter is the ONLY Yankmee with 3,000 hits, but did you know that he’s the 4th youngest player ever to notch 3,000? He’s behind Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron and Robin Yount. That’s pretty dang impressive. What a career! Jeter is class act, a clutch player, a leader, a winner. Well done, Derek!
Did you know that one of the first major league teams was the Cleveland Spiders? And one of the worst teams ever was the 1899 Cleveland Spiders. Get this … they were 20-143 that year!!! OMG…that’s unbelievably bad. All-time really bad teams are discussed in Houston right now as the underwhelming DisAstros are 30-60 (.333) and losing big to the Marlins as I write this. Anyway, when it came to naming that Cleveland franchise back in the day, how do you think that conversation went?
“Okay, boys, what should we call ourselves? We need something distinctive!”
“Well, how about the Cuyahogas … you know … after the river”.
“Nah, that just doesn’t flow … how about the Indians??”
“No way … we’ll offend them and that just doesn’t have any staying power. We want to create a real brand.”
“Well, what if we call ourselves the Rockers?”
“What??? What the heck is that?”
“No, wait … I got it … let’s call ourselves the Spiders!”
” Spiders?!?!? Why the Spiders?!?!”
“We’ll be so good at catching the ball, the other teams we’ll think we all got 6 or 8 sticky arms attached to webbed gloves!!!”
“Wait … that’s BRILLIANT!!! Very distinctive. Very Cleveland. Spiders it is!”
Now you know the rest of the story.
Anyone else find the MLB Network fantastic? What a great idea and I love the way they’ve implemented it. Anyway, I was watching the Milwaukee Bears (Brewers) play Cincinatti in throwback uniforms. Seriously, the Brewers were dressed like sailors on shore leave. Quite humorous. Anyway, Prince Fielder almost legged out an infield single … with great hustle I’m happy to report. He was indeed out on the play … but I gotta think the wind resistance in his non-aerodynamic baggy sailor suit did not help. 🙂
That’s all I’ve got for now … let’s get some discussion started.
Kyle Soppe says
MLB network is the greatest channel ever to be created! i used to schedule days around watching ESPNs baseball tonight, claiming that it was must see TV. But now, MLB network runs the equivlant of baseball Tonight for like 20 hours a day. Great channel with great personalities and great insight
Wally says
Kyle … I think we’re gonna get along just fine! Again, it’s great to have you join us here on the Pine!
Your support of the Braves was rewarded last night in that close win over Philly.
Chas says
I returned home Saturday afternoon, looked at the Yankees box score, saw that Jeter went 5-for-5 and turned on the MLB network to see if I could catch the highlight of #3000. I turned it on and they were in the midst of replaying the entire at bat. Unbelievable…admittedly, I got a little lucky with the timing, but it’s still a great example of how awesome the MLB network is.