Baseball 2009

[Pam]

JA Happ has made Philadelphia very HAPPY today! 10-0 shutout against Toronto! Boy did we need that!

[pomtzu]

JA Happ has made Philadelphia very HAPPY today! 10-0 shutout against Toronto! Boy did we need that!

Amen! And as long as they keep the Marlins at bay, I'm happy. Big brother is a Marlins fan, so I need something to hassle him about! Last year for his birthday, I sent him a World Series commemorative mug, and I was at his house to watch the winning game with him. It was soooo sweet!

[RICHARD]

The LADs have lost 4 of the last 5...newscasters are saying it's part of the "Manny Effect"-the team may be getting wound up about his return.

This should be interesting.

[cassiesmom]

Pittsburgh fans, I have a question for you. The Cubs are playing there tonight. My dad and I have been watching the game. The camera periodically shows a beautiful picture of the city with a bridge, a building that says UPMC (or UPNC? sorry but I don't have my bifocals on!) at the top, and to the left of that building is another that is lighted at the top in sort of a yellow-orange color -- what is the lighted building? It reminds us of one here in Chicago. Dad and I are architecture buffs.

Thanks,
Elyse

(P.S., yes I'm one of those who would happily go on a couple dozen weekend road trips to see all the stadiums where the different teams play)

[davidpizzica]

Pittsburgh fans, I have a question for you. The Cubs are playing there tonight. My dad and I have been watching the game. The camera periodically shows a beautiful picture of the city with a bridge, a building that says UPMC (or UPNC? sorry but I don't have my bifocals on!) at the top, and to the left of that building is another that is lighted at the top in sort of a yellow-orange color -- what is the lighted building? It reminds us of one here in Chicago. Dad and I are architecture buffs.

Thanks,
Elyse

(P.S., yes I'm one of those who would happily go on a couple dozen weekend road trips to see all the stadiums where the different teams play)

Elyse, I think you're thinking of the Gulf building. I not sure of the code, but you can look at the top of the building and tell the weather. I think if the top was blue, it meant rain an if it flashed on and off, it means thunderstorms. Orange was for fair weather. Before the USX tower was built, the Gulf building was the tallest in Pittsburgh. Like the Empire State building, it has it's own observation deck.

[Grace]

This Saturday, July 4th, will mark the 70th Anniversary of Lou Gehrig's luckiest man on the face of the earth speech.

MLB to fight '4♦ALS' awareness
Campaign commemorates 70th anniversary of Gehrig speech

By Barry M. Bloom / MLB.com
"For the past two weeks you have been reading about a bad break I got. Yet today I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth. I have been in ballparks for 17 years and have never received anything but kindness and encouragement from you fans."
-- Lou Gehrig, July 4, 1939

Those words were uttered by Lou Gehrig in a ceremony between games of a doubleheader at Yankee Stadium nearly 70 years ago as he was dying from ALS -- amyotrophic lateral sclerosis -- a disease that was unknown at the time, but would ultimately bear his name.

In honor of Gehrig's memory, Major League Baseball has teamed with four major non-profit organizations to find a cure for the illness that destroys the nerve cells controlling muscles, causes complete paralysis and ultimately leads to death an average of 3-5 years after diagnosis.

The campaign, called "4♦ALS Awareness," will culminate with Gehrig's words being read at all Major League ballparks where games are played this coming July 4, during the seventh-inning stretch.

"We are honored and pleased to have the opportunity to join these four important organizations in an attempt to make progress in the fight against ALS, a disease that is associated with one of the greatest players in baseball history," Commissioner Bud Selig said in a statement. "Lou Gehrig displayed tremendous courage and strength in the face of a debilitating illness, and his speech 70 years ago still stands as one of the defining moments in baseball history."

The four participating organizations are The ALS Association, ALS TDI, Augie's Quest (the Muscular Dystrophy Association's ALS research initiative), and Project A.L.S. MLB.com will also conduct an online auction to raise funds for the initiative.

"Major League Baseball is making a huge difference in the fight against Lou Gehrig's disease through this July 4 effort," said Augie Nieto, founder and chief inspiration officer for MDA's Augie's Quest. "Both in terms of public awareness and fundraising, the MLB contribution is significant and has a profound impact on the lives of people living with this devastating disease."

Gehrig, the Yankees first baseman and Hall of Famer, was still in the midst of his famous 2,130-game consecutive playing streak when he began to feel weakness in his muscles. Eight games into the 1939 season, on May 2 at old Tiger Stadium in Detroit, Gehrig decided he couldn't go and ended the streak. He'd never play again.

Fred Rice, an usher at Tiger Stadium that day, recalled on the 60th anniversary of Gehrig's last game that he muffed a few balls during batting practice at first base that day, threw down his glove in disgust and didn't return to the field.

"I remember it just like it was yesterday," Rice told Knight-Ridder a decade ago.

Gehrig passed away on June 2, 1941, only 17 days before his 38th birthday. His record consecutive-game playing streak was broken by Orioles shortstop Cal Ripken Jr. on Sept. 6, 1995, at Baltimore's Camden Yards. Ripken would far surpass the mark, playing in 2,632 consecutive games before voluntarily sitting one out against the Yankees late in the 1998 season at Baltimore's home park.

Generations later, Catfish Hunter, another Yankees Hall of Famer, died while suffering from ALS on Sept. 9, 1999. He was only 53.

"ALS is a crisis. It is an unmet medical need. It has been labeled an incurable disease, but with the technology and expertise available now we believe this problem can and will be solved," said Sean Scott, president of ALS TDI. "This is exactly what is happening in our lab today. We are grateful to be part of this initiative and encourage everyone to get involved in the '4♦ALS Awareness' campaign."

As part of the 70th anniversary commemoration of Gehrig's famous speech, MLB will ask all players to wear a "4♦ALS" patch on their chest.

"The ALS Association is proud to partner with Major League Baseball, and our ALS organization team members in this historic initiative to raise awareness and resources in the fight against ALS," said Allen L. Finkelstein, chair of The ALS Association National Board of Trustees. "The '4♦ALS Awareness' campaign provides renewed hope that Lou Gehrig's greatest accomplishment will not be measured by statistics, but by the lives saved in his name."

"Project A.L.S. is thrilled to partner with Major League Baseball and the ALS Community to forward research that will result in effective treatments and a cure," said Valerie Estess, founder and director of research of Project A.L.S.

"This is Lou Gehrig's legacy."

[RICHARD]

THanks,
I know some one with LG's. It's a sad thing.

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http://www.slate.com/id/2221384/

An interesting article.....I thought many pitches were strikes!