“ Home runs are over-rated. You don’t have to hit home runs to win. If I don’t get a home run all year, and the team wins, I’ll be more than satisfied.” – Steve Henderson (1981)
The Reccoppa family piled into Dad’s burnt orange 1970 Plymouth Duster for the short ride across the bridge on Route 37 to Seaside Heights. A visit to grandma’s summer house, a sure sign school would be out soon.
No player in Phillies history — which dates back to 1890 (and includes a two-year blip in 1943-1944 when they were the Philadelphia Blue Jays) — has reached the 20 home run plateau faster than Raul Ibanez. Not Mike Schmidt. Not Ryan Howard. Not Richie Allen, Greg Luzinski, Chuck Klein, Jim Thome, Del Ennis or Johnny Callison.
At the height of winter, just as New York sports fans were coming to grips with the fact that the Giants would not repeat as Super Bowl champs, the news that the New York Mets signed former Red Sox utilityman Alex Cora to a one-year, $2 million contract was hardly a backpage splash.
In the final chapter of his new book The Complete Game, former Mets pitcher Ron Darling shares the mixed emotions he felt when, in 1995, then Oakland Athletics manager Tony LaRussa broke the news that his career was effectively over.
With one-half season of major league experience in his back pocket, Daniel Murphy is still learning. His education includes a new vocabulary. In May, Murphy was introduced to a word he’d never heard before – slump.
I am a 25-year media/marketing/public relations professional. I have worked in radio, television, print and digital media. I contnue to pursue journalism as a freelance sports reporter for print and digital publications. You can follow me on Twitter @johnstrubel, friend me on Facebook or +John Strubel on Google. Story ideas? Comments? Questions? Email me at: john@johnstrubel.com.© 2012 John Strubel | Powered by JGS MEDIA INC.
