Dr. Doug Feldmann, author of Gibson’s Last Stand: The Rise, Fall, and Near Misses of the St. Louis Cardinals, remembers the first and only time he saw Bob Gibson pitch. It was 1974. Gibson was 38 years old, Feldmann was four.
“This Gibson guy is horrible,” Feldmann remembers telling father on the car ride home after the game.
Time magazine called the moment “the most iconic play in sports” for 2010. Veteran Major League Baseball umpire Jim Joyce has no explanation. “I can’t even explain the feeling, because there are no words,” he told ESPN.com. Former Detroit Tigers pitcher Armando Galaragga, on the other hand, calls it a perfect game — still.
Major League Baseball has had its share of troubled times. In terms of sheer dirt, three scandals rise to the top: Shoeless Joe and the Black Sox, the 1985 Pittsburgh drug trials, and the steroid era. The former and latter have been covered extensively. Yet there has never been a book detailing the biggest drug trials in baseball history. The Pittsburgh Cocaine Seven tells the whole story in all its shocking details.
Dave Hudgens relationship with the New York Mets started in 1969 — as a fan. Six years later, in 1975, the Mets drafted Hudgens in the fifth round of the January draft, but he never signed a contract.
“It’s kind of ironic that I get to work for them now,” Hudgens said during a phone interview from Venezuela on Thursday. “I never really thought I would get the opportunity because I really didn’t know anyone. When Sandy (Alderson) called, I was really excited.”
Nelson Figueroa started 17 games, compiling a 2.25 ERA, for the Buffalo Bisons (Triple-A) in 2009, before being promoted by the Mets in late August. Over the final six weeks of the 2009 season, he was the Mets most consistent and effective arm, despite losing five games.
Figueroa went on to pitch winter ball, including a complete game three-hit shutout for the Dominican Republic in early February. This spring, in three appearances, he has pitched eight innings, allowing no runs.
