Ichiro Does It All

It wasn’t that long ago that I speculated that Ichiro Suzuki’s days in a Yankees uniform could be numbered. That’s not going to happen if the 40-year old has more days like he had in the first game of a day-night doubleheader with the LA Dodgers Wednesday.

Ichiro stood out at the plate and in the field in the Yankees 6-4 win in the first regular season contest played between the two storied franchises in Yankee Stadium. Already up 2-0, Ichiro hit a solo home run off Dodgers left-hander Hyun-jin Ryu in the 6th inning.

After the Dodgers scored a pair of runs off starter and winner Hiroki Kuroda, Ichiro helped out his countrymen again with a 2-run single to cap a 3-run 7th inning.  The 10 time Gold Glove winner then flashed the leather in the 8th inning when he made a running, leaping catch to take an extra base hit and an RBI away from Adrian Gonzalez. The play proved crucial when the next batter, Hanley Ramirez, belted a 2-run home run to cut the Yankees advantage to 6-4.

Kuroda helped himself out in the early part of the ballgame with some quick reflexes. Gonzalez and Ramirez started the top of the 4th off with a single and double to put two men in scoring position with no one out. Andre Ethier lined a ball back up the middle, but Kuroda snared it and threw to David Adams to double Gonzalez off of third. Kuroda then retired veteran Juan Uribe to keep the Dodgers off the board.

Mariano Rivera bounced back from his struggles Sunday in Anaheim to pitch a 1-2-3 9th inning for his 25th save of the season.  Rivera welcomed rookie Yasiel Puig to the bigs with a game ending strikeout.

Notes

Despite a shortage of infielders, the Yankees brought up outfielder Zoilo Almonte, who will play in the evening contest.  Almonte impressed Joe Girardi in the past two Spring Trainings and was having a good year for Triple-A Scranton. In 68 games, the recently turned 24-year old had splits of .297/.368/.421 with 6 HR and 36 RBI. The right-handed hitter also had 12 doubles, a triple and was 4-5 in stolen base attempts.

The main reason the Yankees brought up an outfielder, as Mark Feinsand pointed out on the radio broadcast, was due to injuries to infielders Corban Joseph and Ronnier Mustelier, both of whom are on the DL.

The Bleacher Creatures chanted “Donnie Baseball” in tribute to former Yankees standout and current Dodgers manager Don Mattingly. The former #23 now dons #8 (See what I did there) in Dodger blue and gracisously tipped his cap to the Creatures. He and Joe Girardi hugged each other when they brought out the lineup cards prior to the game.

Back in the lineup as a regular, Lyle Overbay came through in the clutch again. He drove a ball over Ethier's head in center field for a 2-run double to start the day's scoring.

Phil Hughes and Chris Capuano will face off in the nightcap.

Baseball Digest Birthdays: Dazzy Vance | Baseball Digest

Baseball Digest Birthdays: Dazzy Vance | Baseball Digest

Dazzy Vance was born on March 4, 1891 in Orient, IA and raised in Nebraska. Baseball was not actually a part of his life until he was a teenager and he would be a late bloomer in his career as well. He broke into the big leagues with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1915, but lasted only one game. He was then bought out by the New York Yankees, whom he didn’t do much to impress over a 10 game span in 1915 and 1918. An elbow injury from his off-season boxing/training regimen also slowed his progress to “The Show”.

It would be four years before Vance returned to the Major Leagues. That’s when the Brooklyn Robins (who would later become the Dodgers) bought him from the New Orleans Pelicans of the Southern Association. No longer a kid at 31, Vance started to become the player that would eventually be elected to the Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 1955.

He won 86 games in a four year stretch, and led the league in victories in 1924 (28) and 1925 (22). He would average just under 15 wins a game over the next seven seasons (topping 20 wins one more time in 1928), leading the league in ERA twice. From 1922-1928 Vance led the National League in strikeouts, topping the 200 mark three times. Nothing topped the ’24 season though when Vance led the NL in every major category and captured the MVP award.

Vance spent parts of the 1933-34 seasons with St. Louis, which does indeed mean the Cardinals had a Dizzy (Dean), Daffy (Dean), and Dazzy on their roster. Dazzy actually was given his nickname as a child though his given name differs depending on the source. Baseball-Reference.com has him listed as Charles Arthur Vance while the Baseball Hall of Fame has him listed as Clarence Arthur Vance. His biography points out the reason for the confusion (toh to Neil of Baseball Reference). At birth, no first name is listed- apparently the doctor left before Dazzy’s parents chose a first name. His mother Sarah kept the children’s names (they had six) in a bible and listed it as “Charles Arthur Vance”. However, about the time he started playing minor league ball, Dazzy started going by “Arthur Charles Vance”.

Later on as a Major Leaguer, he jokingly told a reporter (who was unaware) that his real name was “Clarence”, which led to him being known as either “Arthur Clarence Vance” or “Clarence Arthur Vance”. However, when the BBWAA elected him to the Hall of Fame in 1955, Vance told them to use “Arthur Charles Vance”. He may be Dazzy, but I can’t blame you if you are dizzy right now. As for the Dazzy nickname, the Vances had a neighbor who would mispronounce the word “daisy” as dazzy. He also meant it as “Isn’t she a beaut? (daisy)”. As a child Dazzy picked up on the expression, was tagged with the nickname and it stuck.

Michael Gaven of the New York Journal-American wrote “His Curve Was The Most”, an article discussing Vance’s great curveball that helped pave the way to his 1955 election to the Hall. Click here to read all about it.

Vance was also part of the infamous “three men at 3rd base” play. With Vance on 2nd base and Chick Fewster at 1st, Babe Herman hit a gapper in the outfield. The 3rd base coach yelled for Herman to hold up because he would catch Fewster, but Herman didn’t hear him and continued on. Unfortunately, Vance did hear him, thinking it was intended for him, stopped on the way home and returned to 3rd…where he met Fewster and Herman. The two were tagged out for a double play while Vance was ruled safe. Truly Dazzy.

Vance retired after returning to Brooklyn for one more season in 1935 (he was 44-yrs old). He finished with 197 career wins, a 3.24 ERA, one no-hitter, and 2,045 strikeouts. He passed away in 1961.

Also Born Today

Lefty O’Doul (1897-1969): Born Francis Joseph in San Francisco, CA, O’Doul was a .349 career hitter (.945 OPS) as a member of the Yankees, Red Sox, Giants, Phillies, and Dodgers from 1919-1934. His best season was in 1929 when he finished second in the NL MVP voting after he hit .398 with 32 HR, 122 RBI, and 254 hits.

Like Vance, O’Doul’s career did not take off until he was in his 30′s. In addition to playing the outfield, he also pitched 34 games (all but one in relief), with 23 of the appearances for the Red Sox in 1923. He played the inaugural All-Star game in 1933 and retired after the following season.

Dodgers Great Duke Snider, 84 | Baseball Digest

Dodgers Great Duke Snider, 84 | Baseball Digest

In New York’s glory days of baseball, when there were three teams in town, fans argued over who had the greater centerfielder. The Giants’ Willie Mays, the Yankees’ Mickey Mantle, or the Dodgers’ Edwin “Duke” Snider. It even inspired the baseball song, “Willie, Mickey, and the Duke”. Mays is the sole surviving member of the trio after Snider passed away early Sunday at age 84.

Snider played 16 seasons with the Dodgers, beginning in Brooklyn in 1947, and followed the team out west to Los Angeles. He came back to New York for one season with the Mets in 1963 before finishing up his career with the San Francisco Giants in 1964. Snider was beloved by fans of “Dem Bums” and was part of the 1955 squad that finally beat the Yankees in the World Series.

Mantle thought Snider would one day break Babe Ruth’s single season home run record. But the Dodgers great told Milton Richman back in 1957 that he felt no one would ever pass the Bambino. Click here to read all about it.

He was a .295 lifetime hitter with 407 home runs, 1,333 RBI, and 2,116 hits. He was an eight time All-Star and won two World Series rings (1959 Dodgers). He’s the only player to hit four or more home runs in two different World Series (1952, 1955), and yes, he was smooth as silk in centerfield. Snider wore #4 every season, but his final one due to the number being retired for the Giants’ Mel Ott.

Post playing, Snider served 13 years as a broadcaster for the Montreal Expos. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the BBWAA in 1980. The "Duke of Flatbush" is survived by Beverly, his wife of 63 years, and their four children.