TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY

Hey Folks!

Welcome to March 28 is the kind of date that makes you realize how much baseball history never made it into the textbooks. Today's game of the day takes us back to a forgotten classic — the 1970 Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial All-Star Baseball Classic at Dodger Stadium, where Joe DiMaggio managed the East, Roy Campanella directed the West from his wheelchair, Roberto Clemente delivered the big blow, and 31,694 fans showed up to honor one of America's greatest voices. It happened once and never again. We also look back at the trade that almost sent Tom Seaver to the Dodgers for Don Sutton — a deal that Mets fans killed before it happened and never stopped being grateful for. Vic Raschi, the Springfield Rifle, is born today in 1919 — one of the most underrated Yankees starters of the dynasty era. Chuck Klein, Triple Crown winner and Hall of Famer, passes on this date in 1958. 1978, The Oakland A’s release veteran first baseman Dick Allen, ending his 15-year career, glad Allen finially got his due! 1986, the Boston Red Sox acquire designated hitter Don Baylor from the New York Yankees for outfielder-designated hitter Mike Easler.

March 28, 1958 - Slugger Chuck Klein dies in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the age of 53. Klein batted .320 with 300 home runs and 1201 RBI over a 17-year career. His most productive season came in 1933, when he won the National League Triple Crown. Klein will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1980.

One of the most prodigious sluggers of the late 1920s and early 1930s, Chuck Klein was a star from the day he joined the Phillies in July 1928. The short right-field fence at Baker Bowl (280 feet) contributed to the lefthanded-hitting Klein's slugging records and high batting average. He collected more than 200 hits for five straight seasons (1929-33), leading the NL the last two. With 250 hits in 1930, he batted .386 but still finished third in the league behind Bill Terry (.401) and Babe Herman (.393). It was a hitter's year, but Klein's average was 83 points above the league mark.

Klein led the league in total bases for four consecutive years (1930-33), leading in doubles in two of them and HR in three. He led in runs scored three straight years, powered six HR in four straight games in 1929, and twice hit five in three games. Unlike most sluggers, he was a competent baserunner, topping the circuit in 1932 with 20 steals and hitting 15 triples it was the lowest total for a stolen base leader in the history of the league up to that point.. His league-leading numbers of outfield assists in 1930 (44, a modern NL record), 1932, and 1933 were largely a product of his skill at fielding the strange caroms off the corrugated tin wall at Baker Bowl.

The NL MVP in 1932, Klein won the Triple Crown in 1933 (28 HR, 120 RBI, .368), though Carl Hubbell took MVP honors. During his first six years, Klein hit 191 HR and collected 1,209 hits, 699 runs, and 727 RBI. Traded to the Cubs for the 1934 season, Klein was a disappointment in Chicago by his previous standards. Many Baker Bowl home runs turned into long outs at Wrigley Field. Even so, he hit 20 and 21 HR in two seasons and batted .301 and .293. He was the first player to play in the All Star Game for different teams, Phillies and Cubs.

The Phillies reacquired him in May 1936, and Klein had his greatest game when he smashed four homers in a 10-inning contest on July 10. Klein was elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1980. He was inducted into the Indiana Baseball Hall of Fame in 1981. In 2001 his number will be retired by the Phillies

1929
On the last day of the season, the Phillies played a doubleheader against the New York Giants. The Giants' star slugger, Mel Ott, was tied with Klein for the lead with 42. In the first game, Klein homered to put him one ahead of Ott, who was held to a single. In the second game, the Phillies' pitchers walked Ott five straight times, including once with the bases loaded. Early in the 1930 season before their season debut with the Giants, New York press acknowledged that Klein's home run record was tainted, because of what happened with Ott in the last game the previous season. "He calls me the pop fly home run champ." Klein said in referring to Ott. "Say, I can hit a ball farther with one hand than that little runt can with two. Bring on those Giants. I'll eat them up!"

From 1941 onward, he never played in more than 50 games in a season, and was often used as a pinch hitter. In his last eight seasons, from 1937 to 1944, he averaged 69 games played, batted .253 and hit 43 home runs. He retired midway through the 1944 season after getting one hit in seven at-bats. On May 1, 1942, he was pressed into duty as an umpire, alongside Cincinnati Reds pitcher Bucky Walters, assisting home plate umpire George Magerkurth, because umpire Lou Jorda had the flu. The two players only worked a single inning, until Jocko Conlan, who had flown in from Pittsburgh, PA to Cincinnati, OH, made it to the ballpark.

March 28, 1907 --Popular outfielder Chick Stahl, who replaced Jimmy Collins as manager of the Boston Americans at the end of last season, committed suicide while traveling with the team in West Baden Springs, Indiana. After breakfast, he returns to his room and drinks four ounces of carbolic acid.

Born: Friday, March 28, 1919 in West Springfield, MA . . . Vic Raschi was already 28 when he broke into the Yankees' starting rotation for good in 1948. He then ran off consecutive records of 19-8, 21 10, 21-8, and 21-10. The Springfield, Massachusetts native had tremendous determination and a blazing fastball. His size (6'1" 205 lbs.) and the menacing scowl on his dark, unshaven face were helpful, too. He never missed an assignment although his knees deteriorated painfully.

March 28, 1958 - Slugger Chuck Klein dies in Indianapolis, Indiana, at the age of 53. Klein batted .320 with 300 home runs and 1201 RBI over a 17-year career. His most productive season came in 1933, when he won the National League Triple Crown. Klein will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1980.

March 28, 1976, media sources report a potential blockbuster trade between the New York Mets and Los Angeles Dodgers. According to the rumor, the deal will send Tom Seaver to the Dodgers in exchange for another future Hall of Famer, Don Sutton. Mets fans respond negatively to the proposed deal, perhaps influencing management to call off the trade. Seaver will remain with the Mets until 1977, when he is traded to the Cincinnati Reds, in a trade which will be universally rued by Mets fans.

March 28, 1978, The Oakland A’s release veteran first baseman Dick Allen, ending his 15-year career. The Wampum, Pennsylvania native finishes his stormy relationship with major league baseball with 351 HRs, 1,192 RBIs, and a .292 batting average. The highlight of Allen’s career occurred in 1972, when he earned the MVP Award with the Chicago White Sox.

March 28, 1985, Sports Illustrated releases its April 1st issue, which contains a fictitious article about a New York Mets pitcher named Sidd Finch. The George Plimpton article, which contends that Finch throws a 168-mile-per-hour fastball, fools numerous readers around the country.

March 28, 1986, the Boston Red Sox acquire designated hitter Don Baylor from the New York Yankees for outfielder-designated hitter Mike Easler. Baylor will hit 31 home runs and drive in 94 runs, helping the Red Sox to the AL East title. (Below his homerun closed the gap far Dave Henderson heroics)

TRIVIA

TRIVIA: Who was the fastest player to get to 1000 hits?

IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!

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 ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA

YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: IIn 1969 Nettles showed promise at third but was bloked by a future hall of famer, who was he?

Answer: Harmon Killebrew

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