Mack’s Apples – League Leaders, Frank Lary, Old Baseball Cards, Chason Bradford, George Yankowski

Good morning.

How would you like to have the player that had the fourth highest batting average at the AAA level (PCL)?

He also had a teammate that was sixth in the league in BA?

Or what about having the guy that had the lowest ERA AND had the highest strikeouts at the AA level in The Eastern League?

Let’s move down a level to A+… how about someone that has the fifth highest BA in the Florida State League, is second in OBP, and fourth in OPS?

He also had a teammate that was second in the league in home runs?

Want more strikeouts? Well about FSL teammate led the league in them?

Not bad, huh?

Well… ladies and gentlemen… welcome:

1B Dominic Smith, SS Amed Rosario, SP Corey Oswalt, C Patrick Mazeika, 1B Peter Alonso, SP Nabil Crismatt

There’s more.

Who had the lowest ERA and WHIP in the Sally League last year?  P Jordan Humphreys

Who was second in the Appalachian League in batting average, fourth in OBP, and fifth in OPS?  3B Rigoberto Terrazas

Who led the Appalachian League in home runs?  CF Anthony Dirocie.

Who was fourth in the Appalachian League in strikeouts (three behind the leader), seventh in lowest ERA, and eighth in WHIP?  SP Carlos Hernandez

And who was the player that was second in ERA and WHIP in the Gulf Coast League?  SP Jaison Vilera.

And lastly, in the Dominican League, who was second in batting average, and fourth in OBP?  3B Yoel Romero

Major League standout  Frank Lary , of Northport, dies at age 87

His best season came in 1961, when he was an all-star, won a Gold Glove award as the best-fielding pitcher and went 23-9. Only the Yankees’ Whitey Ford had more wins in the American League that season.

Lary’s baseball career was put on hold when he served in the military during the Korean War. He didn’t make his major league debut until 1954, when he was 24, after his military service.

He finished his major league career with 128 wins and 116 losses. He had a career ERA of 3.49 and posted 1,099 strikeouts.

The Mets purchased Lary from the Tigers in 1964 and he pitched two years for us, going 2-3, 4.55 in 1964 and  1-3, 2.98 in his last year in baseball.

                        R.I.P Mule.

How Much Are Those  Old Baseball Cards Worth?

What isn't valuable? Most cards from the 1980s and 1990s. "They were so mass-produced, and there were so many card manufacturers," Osacky says. Also, the introduction of eBay has made it so much easier to track down missing cards to make full sets that these, too, have come less rare and less valuable.

New York Mets   fringe players who can be key contributors in 2018 –

        

    Chasen Bradford may have made his MLB debut at 28 years old, but that did not stop him from being a quality option out of the bullpen. In fact, Bradford was impressive in his late-season stint in which he threw 33.2 innings.

He was able to strike out 27 batters in those 33.2 innings while walking only 13. Although he technically has three pitch offerings, he mainly uses his fastball and slider to induce outs. And when he gets those outs they come on the ground.

 George Yankowski , WWII vet,  battles baseball for recognition

         

  George Yankowski knew he wasn’t alone that morning. Somewhere in the freezing mist, he sensed a German sniper had him in his sights. Yankowski clutched his M3 machine gun and started blasting back. As the bullets sprayed wildly through the Ardennes Forest, a telling thought popped into his head. “I’m a ballplayer, not a soldier!” All in all, he’d much rather have been in Philadelphia catching for the A’s. But Adolf Hitler wanted to rule the world and somebody had to stop him.