Baseball: Harold Gould, Leonys Martin, Phillies, Kim Tae-kyun, Charles Finley

The community has a pitch of their own for former Philadelphia Stars pitcher Harold Gould — pay tribute to a hometown hero. The Negro League right hander, whose record went to 19-4 within two seasons, will be the guest of honor on Nov. 11 at a fundraiser being held at Centerton Country Club. “Here’s a guy who’s basically part of history,” said Gil Walter, event co-chair and President of CompleteCare Health Network. - link  

Leonys Martin defected from Cuba and was introduced to capitalism by way of a five-year, $15.5 million contract with the Rangers. Already 23, Martin is of an advanced age for a prospect but he’s also very advanced in his skills. The Rangers let him get his feet wet in Rookie ball before sending him to AA for his first extended taste of American professional baseball. Martin dominated the Texas League to the tune of a 1.007 OPS and .423 wOBA in 112 at-bats before the Rangers moved him up to AAA. Martin did not have as easy of a time with the Pacific Coast League, where he compiled a .630 OPS and .297 wOBA. Still, the Rangers have called him up to Texas to finish out the year. I’ll look at Martin’s bat and glove after the jump - http://baseballinstinct.com/2011/09/18/prospect-instinct-leonys-martin-of-texas-rangers/#more-14048  

For Philadelphia, this recent run has evolved from a ragtag collection of castoffs grabbing a divisional pennant on the last day of the season into a five year renaissance of a sterling franchise. The organization that became the first professional sports franchise to lose 10,000 games and which took 97 years to finally claim their first World Championship was finally taking their place among the MLB elite. Look at the names of the other double-digit division winners… St. Louis Cardinals, Atlanta Braves, New York Yankees… all have held their reign over the sports of baseball. - http://www.prosportsblogging.com/2011/09/17/best-in-baseball  

Baseball slugger Kim Tae-kyun, who has ended 20 months in Japan`s Nippon Professional Baseball League, says he wants to return to his old team, the Daejeon Hanwha Eagles. He said this Saturday in an interview with The Dong-A Ilbo in Daejeon. The team welcomed his return, saying it will offer him the best conditions with an annual salary of more than 1 billion won (902,120 U.S. dollars). Looking bright in the interview, Kim said he regained peace of mind after undergoing troublesome times since he decided to leave the Lotte Chiba Marines of Japan. - http://english.donga.com/srv/service.php3?bicode=070000&biid=2011091954158  

Charles O. Finley moved the A’s to Oakland and won the World Series three years in a row, from 1972 to 1974. He spearheaded changes that transformed the sport – the designated hitter rule, night World Series games – and pushed for others that didn’t get any traction, like orange baseballs and designated runners. Finley also inadvertently helped bring about baseball’s big-money era of free agency by losing a particularly bitter contract dispute with star pitcher Catfish Hunter. Along the way, this hard-charging Chicago insurance tycoon drove a lot of people – players, fans, other owners and especially the baseball establishment – to distraction. - http://californiawatch.org/dailyreport/memories-fade-former-oakland-baseball-owner-charles-finley-12651