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I remember Motton but not due to my watching him play. For one thing he was an American Leaguer and I was a NY Met fan. Sometimes I watched the Yankees on WPIX, but not all that often and Motton was a utility player who didn’t play all that much. His most prolific year was 1968 when he had 218 at-bats.
Why I recall Motton is because at Christmas in 1970 or 1971, I got a game called ‘Gil Hodges Pennant Fever‘. For a few years I played many games, mostly with the 69 NY Mets which GHPF attempted to recreate, but sometimes with the Baltimore Orioles. I used Motton as my primary pinch hitter and still remember that 35 plus years later. RIP.
Former Baltimore Orioles outfield Curt Motton has died after a long battle with stomach cancer.
Motton died Thursday at his Parkton home. He was 69.
Motton played for the Orioles from 1967-71, when he was traded to Milwaukee. He returned to Baltimore in 1973, and finished his playing career in 1974.
Motton also served as a bench coach for the team in 1991.
He is taking a job in the front office of the San Diego Padres. From ESPN-
Mark Loretta has announced his retirement as a player and has been hired by the San Diego Padres as special assistant to baseball operations.
Loretta’s playing career spanned 15 big league seasons. He played with the Padres from 2003-05. Loretta most recently was with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
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A two-time All-Star, Loretta finished his career with a .295 batting average with a .360 on-base percentage. His best season came in 2004 for the Padres when he set career highs in batting average (.335), homers (16) and RBIs (76).
Loretta originally came up with Milwaukee. He was a good player, more valuable with the bat than with the glove. Last year he had a very poor year by his standards, so it was probably a good time for him to retire.
The deal is contingent on Tejada passing a physical. From ESPN-
Miguel Tejada will return to Baltimore after agreeing to a one-year, $6 million deal with the Orioles, the slugger told ESPNDeportes.com’s Enrique Rojas on Saturday.
The free agent shortstop played in Baltimore from 2004-07, before being traded to the Houston Astros in December 2007 for five players.
The deal includes around $1 million in incentives for playing time registered, Tejada said.
“I am happy to return to Baltimore, it’s like my home,” Tejada told Rojas. “We have great young talent, and I think many good things could happen with the club in 2010.”
Tejada is being slated to play third base, a position he has never played in the major leagues. I think that’s the riskiest part of this signing for Baltimore. There is no way of knowing if Tejada can make the conversion.
He was a cousin of Hall of Famer Bob Feller. RIP.
Waukee native and former Major League Baseball player Harold “Hal†Manders died Thursday at The Village at Legacy Pointe in Waukee. He was 92.
Manders, a right-handed pitcher, played parts of three seasons in the majors (1941, ’42 and ’46), mostly with the Detroit Tigers — but also two games with the Chicago Cubs.
He broke into the majors, at age 24, in the same season as future Yankees star Phil Rizzuto. The 1941 baseball season Manders is remembered for Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak — still a major-league record — and the .406 batting average of Ted Williams (no player has hit over .400 since).
In 30 major-league games, Manders produced a 3-1 record and 4.77 ERA, with an equal number of walks and strikeouts (28).
Manders, who attended the University of Iowa, was the cousin of Hall of Fame pitcher Bob Feller.
I agree with ESPN’s Rob Neyer, who calls this the oddest baseball news.
Oakland Athletics prospect Grant Desme is retiring from baseball to enter the priesthood.
Desme was recently selected the 2009 Arizona Fall League MVP and was considered one of the top prospects in Oakland’s system.
“We respect Grant’s decision and wish him nothing but the best in his future endeavors,” A’s general manager Billy Beane said in a statement.
The 23-year-old outfielder batted .288 with 31 homers, 89 RBIs and 40 stolen bases in 131 games at Class-A Kane County and Stockton last season.
1950′s and 60′s baseball player Frank Thomas supposedly studied for the priesthood before becoming a professional baseball player.
Rob Neyer’s blog post said Desme, who played college ball for Cal Poly, wasn’t a top prospect. In part because of his age and high strikeout rate
Yes, that sounds terribly pessimistic. The point is that Desme wasn’t a sure thing — not a Grade A prospect. He was a Grade B prospect, or maybe a B+ for the people who really loved him. The A’s need star hitters if they’re ever to get somewhere, and Desme didn’t look like a future star.
Coincidentally I’m leaving for a Catholic Men’s retreat in only minutes. This will be my last blog post till Sunday.
He made his Major League debut with the Philadelphia Phillies where the recently deceased Stan Benjamin was also a player. Later on Bragan would manage three franchises, and be the first skipper of the Atlanta Braves after the team moved from Milwaukee. RIP.
FORT WORTH, Texas — Bobby Bragan, who earned the nickname “Mr. Baseball” and was dedicated to seeing baseball blossom in Fort Worth, died at his Fort Worth home on Thursday night. He was 92.
“We are dealing with the loss of one of the great ones,” former Rangers manager Bobby Valentine told ESPN.com. “He was a true renaissance man. He was amazing, so incredibly special. He had such great knowledge of baseball, such retention. He could talk baseball on one hand, recite poetry on the other. There was no one else quite like him.”
Bragan, a native of Birmingham, Ala., arrived in Fort Worth in 1948 as a player and manager after parts of seven seasons in the majors, ending up with the Brooklyn Dodgers. He was a backup catcher for the Dodgers before spending two years in the military. He returned for the 1947 season. The Dodgers went on to lose the World Series that year to the New York Yankees, and Bragan had a pinch-hit double in his only World Series plate appearance.
The next season he was in Fort Worth helping the Cats become a winner. He stayed through the 1952 season and his teams won regular season titles in 1948 and 1949, never finishing below .500 during his tenure.
Bragan went on to manage in the majors for Pittsburgh (1956-57), Cleveland (1958), Milwaukee (1963-65) and Atlanta (1966). Bragan was the first manager of the Braves after they moved from Milwaukee to Atlanta. He managed Hall of Famers Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Bill Mazeroski, Roberto Clemente, Bob Lemon and Warren Spahn, compiling a 443-478 career record.
Bragan also was a major league coach for the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Colt .45s. His minor league managerial stops also included the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League.
For now, the Florida Marlins are keeping their promise to spend more money on payroll. From the Miami Herald-
Two days after pledging to raise payroll, the Marlins locked up pitcher Josh Johnson to a long-term deal, reaching agreement on a four-year contract that pays $39 million. The deal was confirmed Thursday by the pitcher’s agent, Matt Sosnick.
“To know where I’m gonna be the next four years, you can’t really put it into words,” Johnson said. “Hopefully I can throw the first pitch in the new ballpark. Not too many people can say that.”
Johnson is the first Marlins pitcher to have a long-term contract since Jeffrey Loria took over as owner in 2002.
The Marlins are buying out Johnson’s final two years of arbitration and also securing his first two years of free agency.
*****
The year-by-year breakdown for Johnson’s contract: $3.75 million in 2010, $7.75 million in 2011, $13.75 million in 2012 and $13.75 million in 2013.
Johnson, who turns 26 on Jan. 31, was the team’s fourth-round draft pick in 2002 and quickly rose through the minor-league ranks before making his debut in ’05.
But he sustained an arm injury toward the end of the 2006 season, and after an unsuccessful comeback bid the following year, underwent elbow ligament replacement surgery on his pitching arm.
Johnson made his way back toward the end of the ’08 season, going 7-1, and confirmed his status as one of the league’s elite pitchers last season when he started the first half of the year with an 8-2 record and a 2.74 ERA. He also earned his first All-Star team selection.
While Johnson pitched very well the last two years, one has to remember he had Tommy John surgery in 2007. He’s 26, and pitchers of that age who undergo serious arm surgery have a greater risk of recurrence.
As for the big deal the Marlins made, they could still try to trade Johnson before those hefty payments have to be made in 2011, 12, and 13. I wouldn’t designate the Johnson signing as a permanent change of team policy quite yet.
Like so many players of his time, Layne lost some of prime baseball years to World War II. He played for the Washington Senators before and after serving in the Army.RIP.
Hillis Layne, 91, a Whitwell native, played in the major and minor pro baseball leagues. For much of his career, Layne played for the Seattle Mariniers of the Pacific Coast League. His play on the field earned him the nickname “Mandrake†after the magician in the comics and the league’s batting championship in 1947.
Other playing stops for Layne included the Chattanooga Lookouts and the major league Washington Senators.
Layne was a scout for many years for the Texas Rangers. Altogether, Mr. Layne spent 40 years playing, managing and as a scout for professional baseball teams.
A complaint by the Players union was what caused the change. From the Miami Herald-
The perennially frugal Florida Marlins have reached an agreement with the players’ union to increase spending in the wake of complaints the team payroll has been so small as to violate baseball’s revenue sharing provisions.
The deal was announced Tuesday in a joint statement by the Marlins, the union and Major League Baseball. The parties did not comment beyond the statement, and it was unclear how much the Marlins’ payroll might increase.
The agreement runs through 2012, when the Marlins’ new ballpark is scheduled to open.
“In response to our concerns that revenue sharing proceeds have not been used as required, the Marlins have assured the union and the commissioner’s office that they plan to use such proceeds to increase player payroll annually as they move toward the opening of their new ballpark,” said Michael Weiner, executive director of the players’ association.
Mediation will be used in case there is any future disagreements.
The Marlins current payroll is 37 million. How much is team owner Jeffrey Loira willing to increase it? I’d really be surprised at any figure more than ten percent. The Marlins have been run on a shoestring since 1998, and the only way I see any real change occurring is if and when the team gets a new owner. The Marlins are supposed to move into a new stadium in 2012, but I would bet the Loira remains thrifty after it opens.
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OTB Sports linked with Florida Marlins sign P Josh Johnson to a 4-year deal...
The contract he signed pays 5.5 million and has performance bonuses. From ESPN-
The Texas Rangers have signed free-agent slugger Vladimir Guerrero to a one-year deal with a mutual option for 2011.
Sources said Saturday that the deal is around $5.5 million and includes performance bonuses. Guerrero, who passed his physical on Monday in Arlington, gets $1 million if the club elects not to exercise the option. He can walk away from the contract without penalty after 2010 if he chooses.
“We’re excited to welcome Vlad to the Rangers family,” general manager Jon Daniels said in a statement. “This is a guy we’ve both admired and feared for years from across the field. He’s been one of the most dangerous hitters in the game for over a decade. He’ll bring a presence to the middle of the order, and a winning pedigree to the club.”
More on the Rangers
Richard Durrett and the rest of the ESPNDallas.com team have the inside scoop on the Rangers, the American League and Major League Baseball. Blog.
Guerrero, who turns 35 in February, will fill a void for a right-handed bat in the middle of the lineup after the team lost Marlon Byrd to free agency. Guerrero likely will be the club’s designated hitter.
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Guerrero has a .321 career batting average, fifth among active players. He has played the last six seasons with the Los Angeles Angels, and he hit .295 with 15 homers and 50 RBIs in 100 games last season. He had two stints on the disabled list, including one nearly month-long stretch with a strained left knee.
Guerrero’s Slugging percentages have decilined every season dating back to 2004. He has always hit for a good batting average but he isn’t a real disciplined hitter. The Rangers are hoping Vlad can help them and see the the one-year contract has having little risk. I just don’t think it is going to work.
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