Chicago Base Podcasts

Donald Howard Sutton (born April 2, 1945) was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County, and on the same date as former Dodger teammate Reggie Smith. Clio is also the birthplace of the late Alabama governor George Wallace. He was born to sharecroppers at the end of World War II, in a tar-paper shack. At the time he was born his father was 18 and his mother was 15. Sutton's father, Howard, gave him the strong work ethic that he had throughout his career. His father tried logging and construction work, and in looking for work, moved the family to Molino, Florida, just north of Pensacola. A right-handed pitcher, Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers as a minor leaguer, and entered the major league at the age of 21. Don Sutton's major league debut was on April 14, 1966, the same day that future 300-game winner Greg Maddux was born. In the majors, he played 23 years for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. He won a total of 324 games, 58 of them shutouts and five of them one-hitters, and he is eighth on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574 K's. He also holds the major league record for number of consecutive losses to one team, having lost 13 straight games to the Chicago Cubs. He was known for doctoring baseballs. His nickname was "Black & Decker"; legend has it that when Sutton met notorious greaseballer Gaylord Perry, Perry handed him a tube of Vaseline, and Sutton responded with a thank-you, then handed him a sheet of sandpaper. A 4-time All-Star, Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His candidacy and subsequent election were controversial, with critics pointing out that he had never won a Cy Young Award, had won 20 games only once, and had rarely led his league in any statistical category. However, supporters noted that no pitcher with either 300 victories or 3000 strikeouts had ever failed to be elected to the Hall of Fame, and that his 324 wins were, at the time of his retirement, the most by any right-handed pitcher since the 1920s, and many pitchers with worse records were in the Hall of Fame. Sutton holds the modern record for most at-bats (1,354) without ever hitting a home run. Sutton's legacy of consistency and longevity is an amazing feat in itself, in an age before pitching counts would lift pitchers well before nine innings. He was the mainstay of a ball club with a pitching-rich tradition, a career that spanned from the Drysdale-Koufax era (1966) to Fernando Valenzuela (1980). In the final game of the 1980 season, Sutton was called on to complete a game winning save, 4-3, over Houston, forcing a one-game playoff ? a poetic conclusion to a brilliant span of 15 years in L.A. Sutton started his broadcasting career in 1989 with the Atlanta Braves on TBS, a position that he held through 2006. He left TBS after the 2006 season, mainly because the network will broadcast fewer games in future seasons. Sutton is now a color commentator for the Washington Nationals on the MASN network. This data was drawn from Wikipedia. This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987. Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

Wade Anthony Boggs' hitting in the 1980s and 1990s made him a perennial contender for American League batting titles, in much the same way as his National League contemporary Tony Gwynn. Boggs was elected to the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2004 and the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2005. With 12 straight All-Star appearances, Boggs is third only to Brooks Robinson and George Brett in number of consecutive appearances as a third baseman. His finest season was 1987 when he set career highs in HR(24), RBI(89), and slugging percentage(.588). Also in that season he batted .363 and held a .461 OBP, both stats leading the league. A left-handed hitter, Boggs won five batting titles starting in 1983. He also batted .349 in his rookie year which would have won the batting title, but was 121 plate appearances short of the required minimum of 502. From 1982 to 1988, Boggs hit below .349 only once, hitting .325 in 1984. From 1983 to 1989, Boggs rattled off seven consecutive seasons in which he collected 200 or more hits, an American League record for consecutive 200-hit seasons that was later matched by Seattle's Ichiro Suzuki. Boggs signed with the Tampa Bay Devil Rays for the final two seasons of his career, in 1999 collecting his 3,000th hit. Despite his deserved reputation as a singles hitter with limited power, he is the first and only member of the 3,000-hit club whose 3,000th hit was a home run. Boggs retired in 1999 after sustaining a knee injury, leaving with a career batting average of .328 and 3,010 hits. He is credited with teaching the Yankees their current pitch-selection technique; swinging only at perfect pitches and fouling off close but tough to hit pitches, forcing teams to go to their usually weak bullpens. Before Boggs joined the Yankees, they were 14th in pitches per plate appearance, and 4th and then 1st after he joined. In addition, the Yankees were 12th and 8th in on base percentage the two years prior to Boggs joining the team and 2nd the year he came on board (1993), followed by 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 1st. In 1987, Boggs ? who was up for a new contract following the season ? hit 24 home runs, easily the most in any year of his career. His "#12" has been retired by the Tampa Bay Rays. Although he has not had his number retired by the Boston Red Sox, he was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame in 2004. This data was drawn from Wikipedia. This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987. Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

During an 11-year playing career, Roger Craig (born February 17, 1930 in Durham North Carolina) won 10 or more games in 1956, 1957, and 1962. A master at the split-finger fastball, Craig started his career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, and closed out his playing career with the Philadelphia Phillies. Craig was best known for being an original member of the New York Mets. In 1963, he suffered through an 18-game losing streak. Remarkably during those two years, he completed 27 games while winning only 15, demonstrating that he was one of the best pitchers on the staff. From 1986 to 1992, Craig was the manager of the San Francisco Giants. In Craig's first five full seasons with the Giants (1986-1990), they never finished with a losing record. Prior to coming to San Francisco, Craig served as a pitching coach for the 1984 World Champion Detroit Tigers and as manager of the San Diego Padres (the Tigers' opponent in the 1984 World Series) from 1978-1979. Under Craig (who along the way, instilled the unique motto and rallying cry "Humm Baby"), the Giants won the National League Western Division title in 1987. The original term of "Humm Baby" was given to the roster's third catcher for the 1986 season, Brad Gulden, who was on his way out of baseball but he managed to squeeze onto the roster for the 1986 season. Craig felt that Gulden didn't really have the talent but he had the heart so he called him the "Humm Baby". The Giants' divisional title in 1987 came just two years after they lost 100 games; Roger Craig replaced Jim Davenport for the remaining 18 games of the 1985 season (posting a 6-12 record). The Giants came within one game of going to the World Series that year having lost to the St. Louis Cardinals in seven games. In 1989 though, the Giants won their first National League pennant since 1962 by defeating the Chicago Cubs in five games in the NLCS. Unfortunately, Craig's Giants were swept by the Oakland Athletics in the World Series, which was interrupted by an earthquake, in a four game sweep. Roger Craig stepped down from the San Francisco Giants in 1992 after posting a dismal 72-90 record. His successor, Dusty Baker went on to win 103 games the following year and eventually won the 1993 National League Manager of the Year Award. This data was drawn from Wikipedia. This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987. Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

Alvin Glenn Davis was a first baseman/DH who played for the Seattle Mariners and the California Angels. Davis played college baseball at Arizona State and broke into the Majors with the Mariners in 1984 and remained there until 1992 when he played one season for the Angels before retiring. He was the 1984 winner of the American League Rookie of the Year Award, he also an All-Star in his season debut. Davis was a career .280 hitter with 160 home runs and 683 RBI in 1206 games. He hit 20-plus homers in three seasons and drove in over 100 runs in two. Though Davis' statistics are by no means mind-blowing, he was well-known by Mariners fans and held just about every offensive team record for quite a few years. He burst onto the major league scene in 1984, homering in his first two big-league games and collecting three doubles in his third. He won his team's MVP award that season and was named American League Rookie of the Year after posting .284, 27HRs, 116 RBI. Davis, who was nicknamed "Mr. Mariner", was inducted into the Seattle Mariners Hall of Fame in 1997.[1] This data was drawn from Wikipedia. This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987. Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

Darrell Evans is a former third and first baseman in who played from 1969 to 1989 with the Atlanta Braves (1969-76, 1989), San Francisco Giants (1976-83) and Detroit Tigers (1984-88). Overshadowed in his prime by fellow National League third baseman Mike Schmidt, he has been described by author Bill James as the most underrated player in baseball history, primarily because his defensive skill, home run power, and ability to draw walks in a long career were offset by a low career batting average of .248. Evans became the first player to hit 40 home runs in both leagues, and at 38 became the oldest player ever to lead the league in home runs. Evans hit over 20 home runs in 10 different seasons and drew over 100 walks 5 times, with a career high 126 in 1974. In 1988, he hit his 400th home run, becoming the 22nd player to reach that milestone. He retired after having joined Reggie Jackson in becoming only the second player to hit 100 home runs with three different teams, and ranking in 11th place among all-time walks leaders. Evans hit 60 home runs in his 40s, a major league record. He later served as a coach with the New York Yankees in 1990. A two-time All-Star (1973 and 1983), Evans was selected as the third baseman on the 1973 Sporting News National League All-Star team. He won the 1983 Willie Mac Award for his spirit and leadership. Evans gained unusual attention when he stated in 1984 that he and his wife had witnessed a UFO in 1982 at their home in Pleasanton, California. He also works as a consultant for Netamin Communcation Corporation, ensuring accuracy as the gaming company develops Ultimate Baseball Online 2007, the first-ever Massively Multiplayer Online Sports Game (MMOSG). This data was drawn from Wikipedia. This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987. Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.