November 13, 2020: Kim Ng Becomes the 1st Female GM In American Sports

November 13, 2020: Kim Ng is named the general manager of Major League Baseball's Miami Marlins. She is the 1st woman to be named GM of any team in North American major league sports. She is also the 1st person of Asian descent to hold such a post.

Despite her surname, pronounced "eng," she is not of Vietnamese ethnicity. The daughter of a Cantonese-American financial analyst and a Thai Chinese banker, she was born in 1968 in Indianapolis, but grew up in Queens, New York City. Her father was a sports nut, and she played softball and tennis at Ridgewood High School in Queens (not the one in nearby Ridgewood, Bergen County, New Jersey). She continued played softball at the University of Chicago, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts in public policy.

She stayed in Chicago to get her first front-office job, as assistant director of baseball operations for the Chicago White Sox, working under GM Ron Scheuler, who had also pitched for the White Sox. In 1995, she became the 1st woman, and the youngest person, to present a salary arbitration case, against pitcher Alex Fernandez. She won.

That got the attention of not just the other 29 MLB organizations, but of the MLB offices, who are about holding down player salaries first, and protecting and promoting the sport second. In 1997, the American League hired her away from the White Sox, appointing her Director of Waivers and Records, meaning she had to decide whether to approve any transaction.

In 1998, Bob Watson left his post as GM of the New York Yankees, and his assistant, Brian Cashman, was promoted into that post. He offered Ng his former assistant's job. She held it through 2001, receiving 3 World Series rings. She was hired as assistant GM by the Los Angeles Dodgers, and held that post through the 2010 season. She then took a job as senior vice president of baseball operations for MLB, reporting to the president of baseball operations, former Yankee and Dodger manager Joe Torre.

It was working for Torre that led to her getting hired by the Marlins, because, at the time, the Marlins' CEO was former Yankee Derek Jeter. Jeter and the group he was with ended up selling the Marlins in 2022, but Ng has stayed, and is now responsible for one of the franchise's periodic rebuilding efforts.

She is married to Tony Markwand, who runs a winery in Oregon. She has no children.

UPDATE: The Marlins made the Playoffs in the 2023 season, but Ng resigned at the end of it, anyway, citing differences with how the rest of team management wanted to proceed. She became the Commissioner of Athletes Unlimited Pro Softball, the 1st serious attempt at a women's professional softball league.

*

November 13, 2020 was a Friday -- a Friday the 13th. Certainly, it wasn't unlucky for Kim Ng. Baseball season was over. And, due to COVID restrictions having postponed the 2020 Playoffs in each league, the 2020-21 NBA and NHL seasons hadn't started yet.

There were 3 college football games played, including one with a Top 10 team, an intra-metro area rivalry, and a major trophy rivalry:

* The University of Cincinnati, then ranked Number 7, beat East Carolina, 55-17 at Nippert Stadium in Cincinnati.

* Florida Atlantic, based in Boca Raton, beat Florida International, 38-19 at Riccardo Silva Stadium in Miami. This rivalry is known as the Shula Bowl, complete with a trophy named the Don Shula Award, because both schools, relatively new to college football at the top level, had ties to Shula, the longtime Miami Dolphins head coach. FAU's 1st head coach, Howard Schnellenberger, who coached the University of Miami to the 1983 National Championship, was an assistant coach to Shula on the Super Bowl VII and VIII winners. And FIU's 1st head coach, Don Strock, was a backup quarterback for Shula's Dolphins a few years later.

* And Iowa beat Minnesota, 35-7 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis, for the bronze pig trophy known as Floyd of Rosedale.

September 28, 2014: Derek Jeter's Last Major League Game

Left to right: Jim Rice, Mookie Betts,

David Ortiz, Derek Jeter and Carl Yastrzemski

September 28, 2014: The New York Yankees beat the Boston Red Sox, 9-5 at Fenway Park. Michael Pineda outpitches Clay Buchholz. With the game scoreless in the top of the 3rd, Francisco Cervelli leads off with a walk. Chris Young strikes out, but Jose Pirela singles, and Buchholz moves the runners over with a wild pitch. Ichiro Suzuki triples the runners home.

Derek Jeter, the designated hitter on this day -- Stephen Drew is the shortstop -- hits a ground ball to 3rd base. Garin Cecchini fields it, but Jeter beats the throw, and Ichiro scores, to make it 3-0 Yankees.
It is Jeter's 3,465th career hit (which included 544 doubles, 66 triples and 260 home runs), and his 1,311th run batted in. Only Pete Rose, Ty Cobb, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial and Tris Speaker have more career hits -- meaning Jeter had more hits than all but 2 living people (Rose and the since-deceased Aaron), and more hits than anyone born after April 14, 1941 (when Rose was born).

Girardi sends Brian McCann -- perhaps the slowest runner on the team, but whose bat will fill the DH slot -- in to pinch-run, and the Fenway crowd, which despises the Yankees and has long maintained that Jeter and his teammates "suck," gives him a standing ovation as he leaves a major league field for the last time. It is 46 years to the day after Mickey Mantle played his last game for the Yankees, also at Fenway.

Three days earlier, on September 25, Jeter had made his last plate appearance at Yankee Stadium, singling in the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning, to win, 6-5, after the Yankees had blown a 5-2 top-of-the-9th lead over the Baltimore Orioles. That game, unlike the finale on the 28th, is in regular rotation on the YES Network series Yankees Classics.

Mantle had played in more games, 2,401, and in more seasons, 18, than anyone in Yankee history. Jeter broke both of those records: 2,747 games and 20 seasons. (Mariano Rivera played a 19th season, but not a 20th; and, as a pitcher, appeared in far fewer games.) I didn't get to see Mantle play, but I saw Jeter play many times. I even got to see him hit a home run at Fenway Park, in a 13-3 Yankee demolition of the Red Sox on July 30, 1999. Great memory.

My in-person memories of Mantle are limited to Old-Timers Days, and an appearance (in a suit rather than a uniform) on Phil Rizzuto Day. And while I saw Joe DiMaggio a few times at Yankee Stadium, it was only in a suit, never a uniform, although his 1995 Opening Day first ball ceremony meant that, at the least, I got to see Joe DiMaggio throw a baseball. Which is more than I can say for Mantle. And I never got to see Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig, who died long before I was born.

But I've seen plenty of legends in person, at various ballparks and at the Baseball Hall of Fame induction ceremony. So I've had some luck -- if not, as Gehrig would say, become the luckiest man on the face of the Earth.

With this game, Jeter became the last active member of the 1996 World Champion New York Yankees.

*

September 28, 2014 was a Sunday. These other Major League Baseball games were played that day:

* The New York Mets beat the Houston Astros, 8-3 at Citi Field.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 2-1 at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.

* The Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins, 1-0 at Nationals Park in Washington. Jordan Zimmerman pitched a no-hitter, coming within a 5th-inning walk of Justin Bour, and a 7th-inning dropped 3rd strike on a strikeout of Garrett Jones, of pitching a perfect game. He struck out 10.

* The Baltimore Orioles beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 1-0 at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. How many Oriole pitchers does it take to pitch a 5-hit shutout? Apparently, 6, with starter Miguel González going just 5 innings.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-2 at Progressive Field in Cleveland.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 4-1 at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Minnesota Twins, 3-0 at Comerica Park in Detroit. David Price (7 1/3rd innings) and 2 relievers combined for a 4-hit shutout.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Chicago White Sox, 6-4 at U.S. Cellular Field (now Guaranteed Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 5-2 at Miller Park (now American Family Field) in Milwaukee.

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Texas Rangers, 4-0 at Globe Life Park (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. Sonny Gray pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 1-0 at Chase Field in Phoenix. Josh Collmenter pitched 8 innings, and Evan Marshall finished the 3-hit shutout.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies, 10-5 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles.

* The San Francisco Giants beat the San Francisco Giants, 9-3 at AT&T Park (now Oracle Park) in San Francisco.

* The Seattle Mariners beat the Los Angeles Angels, 4-1 at Safeco Field (now T-Mobile Park) in Seattle.

And it was an NFL Sunday. These games were played:

* The New York Jets lost to the Detroit Lions, 24-17 at MetLife Stadium at the Meadowlands.

* The Baltimore Ravens beat the Carolina Panthers, 38-10 at M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore.

* The Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-24 at Heinz Field (now Acrisure Stadium) in Pittsburgh.

* The Indianapolis Colts beat the Tennessee Titans, 41-17 at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis.

* The Green Bay Packers beat their arch-rivals, the Chicago Bears, 38-17 at the new Soldier Field in Chicago.

* The Minnesota Vikings beat the Atlanta Falcons 41-28 at TCF Bank Stadium (now Huntington Bank Stadium) in Minneapolis.

* The Dallas Cowboys beat the New Orleans Saints, 38-17 at AT&T Stadium in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. This was hours after the A's-Rangers game in the same sports complex, but parking was almost certainly still a mess.

* The Houston Texans beat the Buffalo Bills, 23-17 at NRG Stadium (as Reliant Stadium was then known) in Houston.

* The San Diego Chargers beat the Jacksonville Jaguars, 33-14 at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.

* The San Francisco 49ers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 26-21 at Levi's Stadium in the San Francisco suburb of Santa Clara, California.

* The Miami Dolphins beat the Oakland Raiders, 38-14 at the Oakland Coliseum.

* The preceding Thursday, the New York Giants beat the Washington Redskins, 45-14 at FedEx Field (now Northwest Stadium) in the Washington suburb of Landover, Maryland.

* The night after these games, on Monday Night Football, the Kansas City Chiefs beat the New England Patriots, 41-14 at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

* And the Arizona Cardinals, the Cincinnati Bengals, the Cleveland Browns, the Denver Broncos, the St. Louis Rams and the Seattle Seahawks had a bye week.

August 9, 2025: MLB's 1st Female Umpire

Jen Pawol (left) and Marlins manager Clayton McCullough

NOTE: While these entries are dated 2022, I decided to backdate the posting dates of events from 2023 onward to the same date in 2022.

August 9, 2025: The Atlanta Braves swept a doubleheader from the Miami Marlins, 7-1 and 8-6 at Truist Park in the Atlanta suburb of Cumberland, Georgia. Michael Harris II hit a home run in the opener, and Marcell Ozuna hit 2 in the nightcap.

The 1st base umpire in the opener, and the 3rd base umpire in the nightcap, was Jen Pawol. This made her the 1st female umpire in the history of Major League Baseball. A few women had tried to make it, including Pam Postema, who umpired in Class AAA, and umpired games during Spring Training of 1988. But none had ever gotten to a regular-season game before Pawol.

Jennifer Pawol (no middle name) was born on December 29, 1976 in West Milford, Passaic County, New Jersey. Derek Jeter lived in the same town for the 1st 4 years of his life, and Olympic Gold Medal skier Donna Weinbrecht also grew up there. Pawol played softball and soccer at West Milford High School, continued playing softball at Hofstra University on Long Island, and began umpiring high school softball games.

She went to a professional umpiring school in 2016, and began umpiring in the Gulf Coast League in 2017. By 2023, she had reached Class AAA. Two years later, she "got the call." During that first doubleheader on August 9, there were no complaints about any calls she made.

The next day might have been more important, because umpiring behind the plate is more important than doing so at any base. In what turned out to be another 7-1 Braves win over the Marlins, she correctly called 99 out of 104 balls, and 41 of 47 strikes.

That translates to her called ball accuracy being 95 percent, compared to the major league average of 97 percent; and her called strike accuracy was 87 percent, compared to the major league average of 88 percent. In other words, in her 1st major league game, as a rookie home plate umpire, she was only slightly less than the average.

Online, plenty of toxically masculine "traditionalists" complained about her even being in the major leagues. However, neither Braves manager Brian Snitker nor Marlins manager Clayton McCullough argued with her, not even once. Over the rest of the season, not one man in uniform argued with her at any time.

*

August 9, 2025 was a Saturday. These other games were played in Major League Baseball:

* The New York Yankees beat the Houston Astros, 5-4 at Yankee Stadium II. Trent Grisham hit a home run in the 8th inning to win the game for David Bednar, in relief of Luis Gil. José Altuve went 2-for-4 with an RBI.

* The New York Mets lost to the Milwaukee Brewers, 7-4 at American Family Field in Milwaukee. The Mets got home runs from Pete Alonso, Starling Marte and Juan Soto. For Alonso, it was his 252nd career home run, tying him with Darryl Strawberry for the Mets' all-time leadership.

* The Sacramento Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 11-3 at Camden Yards in Baltimore.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 2-1 at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

* The Los Angeles Angels beat the Detroit Tigers, 7-4 at Comerica Park in Detroit. Mike Trout went 1-for-5.

* The Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox, 3-1 at Rate Field in Chicago.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins, 2-0 at Target Field in Minneapolis. Noah Cameron pitched 5 2/3rds innings of 6-hit shutout ball, and 4 relievers completed the 8-hit shutout.

* The Chicago Cubs beat their arch-rivals, the St. Louis Cardinals, 9-1 at Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Texas Rangers, 3-2 at Globe Life Field in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies, 6-5 at Chase Field in Phoenix.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Petco Park in San Diego. This game went to extra innings, the "ghost runner" rule came into play, and Xander Bogaerts was ghost runner for the Red Sox in the bottom of the 10th inning. Ryan O'Hearn was intentionally walked to set up the double play. But, Cliché Alert: Walks can kill you, especially the leadoff variety. Ramón Laureano singled Bogaerts home.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-1 at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. Shohei Ohtani went 2-for-4 with a solo home run.

* The Washington Nationals beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-2 at Oracle Park in San Francisco.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Tampa Bay Rays, 7-4 at T-Mobile Park. Julio Rodríguez hit 2 home runs, and Cal Raleigh hit his 44th homer of the season.

July 28, 1993: Anthony Young Gets the Zoo Off His Back

July 28, 1993: The unluckiest man in baseball finally sees his luck turn around.

Anthony Wayne Young was born on January 19, 1966 in Houston. He went to the University of Houston in the mid-1980s, a time when Carl Lewis, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler were recent graduates. He was drafted as a righthanded pitcher by the New York Mets in 1987.

He made his major league debut on August 5, 1991. He pitched 2 1/3rd innings in relief of Pete Schourek, and allowed a run. As a result of a double switch, he was placed in the 5th spot in the batting order, but did not come to the plate. The Mets lost 7-2 to the Chicago Cubs at Shea Stadium.

The next season, he switched from Number 33 to 19. Unfortunately, these were the 1992 Mets, The Worst Team Money Could Buy, according to the title of a book by sportswriter Bob Klapisch of the New York Daily News. On April 19, Young was the winning pitcher, despite allowing 2 runs in 3 1/3rd innings of relief, as the Mets beat the Montreal Expos, 11-6 at the Olympic Stadium. This was followed by relief appearances without decisions in Philadelphia and Atlanta.

Then, on May 6, he was the losing pitcher as the Mets lost 5-3 to the Cincinnati Reds at Riverfront Stadium. He kept losing, finishing the year with a record of 2-14, although he did have 15 saves.

The streak continued into 1993. He broke the record of 23 consecutive losing decisions, by Cliff Curtis of the 1910-11 Boston Rustlers (forerunners of the Braves). He eventually lost 27 straight decisions: 0-14 as a starter and 0-13 as a reliever.

If 1992 was a competitive disaster for the Mets, the 1993 season was a disaster both competitively and morally. It was the year Bobby Bonilla threatened Klapisch in the locker room, captured on video; Bret Saberhagen put bleach in a water gun and squirted it at reporters, and Vince Coleman set off a firecracker in the Dodger Stadium parking lot, injuring 3 children, including a toddler. That followed a 5-4 10th inning loss in which Young walked home a run with the bases loaded, extending his streak to 0-27.

Manager Jeff Torborg was fired, and noted disciplinarian Dallas Green was brought in. Green was able to stop the tomfoolery, but not the losing. And it was hardly just Young: Even stars like Saberghagen and future Hall-of-Famer Eddie Murray were underachieving.

It's not that Young was particularly bad, either: Included in that streak was 12 straight save opportunities successfully converted, and a streak of 23 2/3rds consecutive scoreless innings. Those 27 losses included 13 "quality starts," but the Mets went just 4-23 in those games -- and in none of those 4 wins could the win be credited to Young.

Instead of turning on him, the way New York sports fans so often do to players who let them down, fans sent him good luck charms: Four-leaf clovers, horseshoes, rabbits' feet. Psychics called the Met offices, offering their help. No less than Hall-of-Famer Bob Feller, one of the greatest pitchers then living, wrote him a letter of encouragement. He was introduced to Cliff Curtis' descendants, who wished him well. Jay Leno invited him to appear on The Tonight Show, for after the streak ended, whenever that might be, and he accepted. It got to be like the stories of Catholics praying for Gil Hodges of the Brooklyn Dodgers during his hitless run in the 1952 World Series.

Certainly, his new manager, however tough he was, could empathize: Green had been a pitcher for the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who set a 20th Century team record by losing 23 straight games; and was still with the Phillies in 1964, when they dropped 10 straight games in September to blow the Pennant.

"Finally!" I remember Len Berman saying on WNBC-Channel 4 on the night of July 28, 1993. Young was 0-13 on the year, 0-for-his-last-27, and Green brought him in to pitch the 9th inning against the expansion Florida Marlins at Shea. He didn't help himself, but an error by catcher Todd Hundley also contributed to the Marlins scoring a run. But in the bottom of the 9th, Jeff McKnight singled, Dave Gallagher sacrificed him to 2nd, Ryan Thompson tied the game with a single, and Murray doubled Thompson home with the winning run. Mets 5, Marlins 4. WP: Young (1-13). LP: Bryan Harvey (1-3).

After the game, reporters asked Young if it felt like "the monkey is off your back." He said, "It wasn't a monkey, it was a zoo." An entire zoo.

Years later, he said, "I got a bad rap on that. I always said I didn't feel like I was pitching badly. It just happened to happen to me. I don't feel like I deserve it, but I'm known for it."

The Mets traded him to the Cubs before the 1994 season, and he finished his career with the Houston Astros in 1996. His career record was 15-48 -- 15-21 without the streak -- but his career ERA was 3.89, giving him an ERA+ of 100, exactly average, and his WHIP was 1.387, bad for a reliever, but for a guy who was a starter and a reliever, not especially shabby.

He returned to the Houston area, married, had 3 children, worked in a chemical plant, and coached in local youth leagues.

But he developed an inoperable brain tumor, and died on June 27, 2017. He was just 51 years old. Anthony Young did not deserve to lose 27 straight decisions. He did not deserve to have his 51st and 52nd years be full of pain and misery. He certainly did not deserve to have his 52nd year be his last.

*

July 28, 1993 was a Wednesday. These other games were played that day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers, 12-7 at Tiger Stadium in Detroit. For the Tigers, Travis Fryman goes 5-for-5 with 4 RBIs, hitting for the cycle: He hit a single, a double, a triple and a home run, all in the same game. But it's far from enough. Don Mattingly, Pat Kelly and Paul O'Neill hit hit home runs for the Bronx Bombers. Bob Wickman is the winning pitcher, in relief of Mark Hutton.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-6 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia. Lenny Dykstra and Mariano Duncan, the top 2 hitters in the Phils' batting order, each had 3 hits. Darren Daulton went 2-for-3 with a home run, 2 walks, and 6 RBIs.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-4 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Cal Ripken Jr. not only goes hitless, 0-for-3, but makes an error in the bottom of the 10th inning, allowing the winning run to score.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Montreal Expos, 3-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the San Diego Padres, 8-6 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Sammy Sosa and Kevin Roberson hit home runs. Surprisingly, Tony Gwynn went 0-for-5.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-4 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago. Yes, both Chicago teams were at home on the same day, and both won on the same day.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 8-4 at Milwaukee County Stadium. Robin Yount, in his final season, goes 1-for-4 with a walk.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals 10-3 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. George Brett, in his final season, went 1-for-4.

* The Houston Astros beat the Cincinnati Reds, 4-2 at the Astrodome in Houston.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies, 3-2 at Mile High Stadium in Denver.

* The California Angels beat the Oakland Athletics, 3-2 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim). Rickey Henderson hit a home run.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers beat their arch-rivals, the San Francisco Giants, 2-1 at Candlestick Park in San Francisco. Barry Bonds went 0-for-4.

* And the Minnesota Twins beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-1 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Willie Banks outpitched Randy Johnson. Dave Winfield, 41 and from St. Paul, Minnesota, hit a home run for the Twins. The Mariners' only run came in the 7th inning, on a home run by Ken Griffey Jr. It was his 8th straight game with a home run, tying the major league record set in 1956 by Dale Long of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and tied in 1987 by Don Mattingly of the New York Yankees. None of them made it to 9 straight.

May 22, 1998: The Mets Trade for Mike Piazza

May 15, 1998: The Los Angeles Dodgers trade Mike Piazza and Todd Zeile to the Florida Marlins, for Gary Sheffield, Bobby Bonilla, Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich, and Manuel Barrios.

This trade seems to make no sense, especially since the Marlins, defending World Champions, have broken up the team and started all over, resulting in one of the biggest single-season crashes in both payroll and results in MLB history. If they wanted to cut payroll, why trade for Piazza? As it turned out, to use him as trade bait.

There was a reason the Dodgers made the deal: Piazza wanted more money than they were prepared to pay. The fans turned on him, and he personally blamed broadcaster Vin Scully for this. If there's one thing no Dodger player has ever done, it's win a popularity contest with Vin Scully.

Piazza played 5 games for the Marlins, then was traded again:

May 22, 1998: The Marlins trade Piazza to the New York Mets for outfielder Preston Wilson, and pitchers Ed Yarnall and Geoff Goetz.

Goetz never reached the majors. Yarnall hadn't yet, and would appear in 7 games, all for the New York Yankees in 1999 and 2000, impressing no one. Wilson, stepson of Mets legend Mookie Wilson, did all right for the Marlins, but his best years came after they traded him.

Piazza immediately became the team's most popular player, and eventually one of the most beloved players in Met history, the symbol of their 1998-2001 revival. He hit 427 home runs in his career, a record 396 of them as a catcher, and 220 of them for the Mets. He helped them reach the National League Championship Series in 1999 and win the Pennant in 2000, though they bowed out ignominiously in the next round each time.

When the Mets played the last game at Shea Stadium in 2008, and the 1st game at Citi Field the next year, both times, the ceremonial first ball was pitched by Tom Seaver, and caught by Mike Piazza.

When the Mets celebrated their 50th Anniversary in 2012, and fans voted for their all-time team, they chose Piazza as the catcher -- not Gary Carter, the one member of their 1986 World Series winners who had yet met the Hall of Fame.

The downsides? Piazza didn't help them win a World Series, and only the one Pennant. He was a born designated hitter: He could not field the position of catcher, and when they tried him at 1st base, he was even worse. And accusations of steroid use followed him, to the point where, in the infamous exchange with Roger Clemens in Game 2 of the 2000 World Series, it was Clemens who remained calm, and Piazza who acted as though he were in the middle of "roid rage."

The Mets named Piazza to their team Hall of Fame in 2013, and retired his Number 31 in 2016, the same year he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

*

May 22, 1998 was a Friday. Football was out of season. The Stanley Cup Playoffs were between games. One game was played in the NBA Playoffs: The Utah Jazz beat the Los Angeles Lakers, 109-98 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California. Shaquille O'Neal scored 39 points, but no other Laker had more than 16. Karl Malone led the Jazz with 26.

And these Major League Baseball games were played:

* The New York Mets, not yet having Mike Piazza in uniform, beat the Milwaukee Brewers, 3-2 at Shea Stadium. Rick Reed was the winning pitcher.

* The New York Yankees lost to their arch-rivals, the Boston Red Sox, 5-4 at Fenway Park in Boston. Ramiro Mendoza had a fair start for the Yankees, but Mike Stanton allowed 4 runs in the bottom of the 8th. Tim Wakefield was the winning pitcher. Troy O'Leary hit a home run for the Sox, while Bernie Williams hit one for the Yanks. Derek Jeter went 0-for-3 with a walk.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Montreal Expos, 7-5 at the Olympic Stadium in Montreal. Mark Lewis and Doug Glanville drove in runs in the top of the 10th inning.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 8-2 at Turner Field (now Center Parc Stadium) in Atlanta. Sammy Sosa hit his 9th home run of the season. No one yet had any idea of how many homers he would hit that season.

* The Florida Marlins, now without Piazza, beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 3-1 at Pro Player Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida.

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Toronto Blue Jays, 9-7 at Jacobs Field (now Progressive Field) in Cleveland.

* The Colorado Rockies beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-2 at Riverfront Stadium (then named Cinergy Field) in Cincinnati.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox, 9-5 at the new Comiskey Park (now Rate Field) in Chicago.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the San Francisco Giants, 4-3 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis. Mark McGwire hit his 21st home run of the season -- and it wasn't even Memorial Day Weekend yet. Barry Bonds went 1-for-4 with a walk, but did not hit a home run. Ray Lankford also hit a home run. Ron Gant singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 12th inning.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Kansas City Royals, 13-10 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas.

* The San Diego Padres beat the Houston Astros, 9-6 at the Astrodome in Houston. The Padres got home runs from Tony Gwynn, Greg Myers, and 2 by Greg Vaughn.

* The Los Angeles Dodgers, now without Piazza, beat the Arizona Diamondbacks, 5-0 at Bank One Ballpark (now Chase Field) in Phoenix. Darren Dreifort pitched a 6-hit shutout.

* The Anaheim Angels beat the Minnesota Twins, 10-3 at Edison International Field (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

* The Oakland Athletics beat the Baltimore Orioles, 9-5 at the Oakland Coliseum (then named the Network Associates Coliseum). Rickey Henderson went 1-for-2 with 3 walks and a stolen base. Cal Ripken Jr. went 3-for-5.

* And the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Seattle Mariners, 5-2 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Ken Griffey Jr. went 0-for-3 with a walk. The night before, he had hit his 17th home run of the season.

April 25, 1995: Baseball Resumes After Its Longest Strike

April 25, 1995: For the 1st time since August 11, 1994 -- 247 days -- a regular-season Major League Baseball game is played.

In the interim, football player-turned actor Woody Strode; former Heavyweight Champion Jack Sharkey and former Middleweight Champion Carlos Monzón; soccer legend Billy Wright; runner Wilma Rudolph; tennis legend Fred Perry; sportscaster Howard Cosell; scientist Linus Pauling; authors James Clavell, Robert Bloch, James Herriot; directors Terence Young and George Abbott; actors Patrick O'Neil, Jessica Tandy, Harriet Nelson, Martha Raye, Burt Lancaster, Raúl Juliá, Noah Beery Jr., Sebastian Shaw, Peter Cook, Donald Pleasence, David Wayne, Ed Flanders, Priscilla Lane, Burl Ives and Ginger Rogers; songwriters Jule Styne, Antônio Carlos Jobim; singers Carmen McRae, Cab Calloway, Melvin Franklin of The Temptations, Selena, and rapper Eazy-E; fashion magnate Maurizio Gucci, astronaut Stuart Roosa; former Secretary of State Dean Rusk, former Senator J. William Fulbright, and Kennedy family matriarch Rose Kennedy died.

Basketball player Jabari Parker, soccer players Bruno Fernandes, Takuma Asano, Raheem Sterling, Joshua Kimmich, Naby Keïta, Héctor Bellerín, Divock Origi and Adrien Rabiot; skier Mikaela Shiffrin; actors Zooey Deutch and Jake T. Austin; singer Halsey, rapper Megan Thee Stallion; and model Gigi Hadid were born.

The Strike of '94 began the preceding August 12. When the MLB team owners threatened to use "replacement players" -- essentially, strikebreakers, or "scabs" -- a federal Judge ruled that this was in violation of their contract. With nothing else they can do, the owners settled, and the players "won" the strike. The judge was Sonia Sotomayor, a Yankee Fan from The Bronx. In 2009, she was appointed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

This was each MLB team's 1st game back:

* April 25: The Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Florida Marlins, 8-7 at Joe Robbie Stadium (now Hard Rock Stadium) in Miami Gardens, Florida. Marlin pitcher John Burkett restarted the proceedings by getting Delino DeShields to fly out to center fielder Chuck Carr. Raúl Mondesi hit 2 home runs, including the 1st one in restarted baseball, while Terry Pendleton and Jeff Conine homered for the Marlins. The Marlins trailed 8-2 going into the bottom of the 8th inning, and a comeback fell just short.

On April 26:

* The New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers, 8-6 at Yankee Stadium. I was there, setting near the back of the Main Level, behind home plate. Joe DiMaggio threw out a ceremonial first ball. Danny Tartabull and Bernie Williams hit home runs in support of Jimmy Key.

* The New York Mets lost to the Colorado Rockies, 11-9 in the 1st-ever game at Coors Field in Denver. The Mets got home runs from Rico Brogna and Todd Hundley. They trailed 5-1 going into the top of the 6th, then took leads of 7-6 into the top of the 9th, 8-7 in the top of the 13th, and 9-8 into the top of the 14th. But the Rockies just kept on coming, until Dante Bichette hit a 3-run homer off Mike Remlinger to win it for the Rockies in the bottom of the 14th.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Minnesota Twins, 9-0 at Fenway Park in Boston. Aaron Sele allowed just 1 hit over 5 innings, and 4 relievers helped complete a 2-hit shutout.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the San Francisco Giants, 12-5 at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Braves went on to win the National League Pennant.

* The Toronto Blue Jays beat the Oakland Athletics, 13-1 at the SkyDome (now the Rogers Centre) in Toronto. Officially, since there was no World Series the year before, the Jays were now beginning their 3rd straight season as defending World Champions.

* The Montreal Expos beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 6-2 at Three Rivers Stadium in Pittsburgh.

* The Chicago Cubs beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Milwaukee Brewers beat the Chicago White Sox, 12-3 at Milwaukee County Stadium.

* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 7-6 at Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis.

* The Kansas City Royals beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City. In spite of the strike, the consecutive games played streak of Cal Ripken Jr. was officially still going. He would break Lou Gehrig's record of 2,130 straight games on September 6.

* The Houston Astros beat the San Diego Padres, 10-2 at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the California Angels, 5-4 at Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim).

On April 27:

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Rangers, 11-6 at The Ballpark (now Choctaw Stadium) in the Dallas suburb of Arlington, Texas. The Indians went on to win the American League Pennant, but the Braves beat them in the World Series.

* And the Seattle Mariners beat the Tigers, 3-0 at the Kingdome in Seattle. Randy Johnson allowed 3 hits over 6 innings, and 2 relievers completed the 3-hit shutout.

*

April 25, 1995 was a Tuesday. Football was in the off-season. The NBA was between its regular season and the Playoffs. There were 5 games played in the NHL, whose regular season was pushed back by a strike of its own:

* The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3 at the United Center. Murray Craven scored the winning goal, 2 minutes into overtime.

* The St. Louis Blues beat the Dallas Stars, 8-4 at the Reunion Arena in Dallas.

* The Edmonton Oilers beat the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3 at the Winnipeg Arena.

* The Los Angeles Kings beat the Detroit Red Wings, 5-1 at The Forum outside Los Angeles in Inglewood, California.

* And the Calgary Flames beat the San Jose Sharks, 3-2 at the San Jose Arena (now the SAP Center).

April 5, 1993: The 1st Major League Baseball Game In Florida

April 5, 1993: Two new Major League Baseball teams play their first games. At the facility then named Joe Robbie Stadium, in the Miami suburb of Miami Gardens, Florida, the team then named the Florida Marlins played the first major league game in Florida, and beat the Los Angeles Dodgers, 6-3.

Baseball legend Joe DiMaggio, who lived in nearby Hollywood, Florida, threw out the first ball. Hialeah, Charlie Hough, a 45-year-old knuckleballer from nearby Hialeah, Florida, who had 202 career wins at that point, 47 of them for the Dodgers, started for the Marlins, and went 6 innings to beat his former team. The Marlins' 1st batter was center fielder Scott Pose, and Tim Wallach of the Dodgers hit the 1st major league home run in Miami.

Since 1915, major league teams had been playing Spring Training games in Florida, leading to its being nicknamed "The Grapefruit League." It had been, more or less, a race between Miami and Tampa to become the city that would bring Florida into MLB.

In the 1970s and 1980s, there were suggestions that the Cleveland Indians, the Houston Astros, the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Seattle Mariners might move to Miami, playing in the Orange Bowl with a short fence until a real ballpark could be built. None of these bids ever got much traction. Art imitated life in 1989, with the film Major League showing a plan to move the Indians to Miami.

In contrast, moves to the Tampa Bay area were considerably closer. The construction of what became known as Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, to open in 1990, made the threats real. The Chicago White Sox threatened to move in 1989, and if not for some political shenanigans, necessary to build a new ballpark in Chicago, the move would have happened. The San Francisco Giants announced an agreement to move to St. Petersburg for the 1993 season, which would have given Florida 2 teams at once, but the team owners voted it down, and they stayed. The Mariners and the Minnesota Twins also threatened to move to Tampa Bay, before another expansion produced the Tampa Bay Devil Rays in 1998.

The former Dolphins/Marlins stadium is now known as Hard Rock Stadium. In 2012, the team moved to Marlins Park, now known as LoanDepot Park, built on the site of the Orange Bowl, and changed their name to the Miami Marlins.

UPDATE: The team has a Marlins Legends Hall of Fame. From their 1997 World Champions, they have honored 1st baseman Jeff Conine, 2nd baseman Luis Castillo, and manager Jim Leyland. From their 2003 World Champions, they have honored Conine, Castillo, pitchers Josh Beckett and Dontrelle Willis, and manager Jack McKeon.

Conine has been elected to the Florida Sports Hall of Fame. So have 3rd baseman Gary Sheffield and pitcher Al Leiter, from the 1997 World Champions. So has founding owner Wayne Huizenga. So have Tim Raines and Andre Dawson, based mainly on their performances with the Montreal Expos, although both were from Miami, and both played briefly with the Marlins.

*

Also playing their 1st game on April 5, 1993 were the Denver-based Colorado Rockies. They debuted at Shea Stadium with a 3-0 loss to the New York Mets. After decades as one of the leaders in attendance among minor-league baseball teams, Denver finally got its own MLB team in the expansion of 1991, along with Miami.

Their 1st starting pitcher was David Nied. Their 1st batter was 2nd baseman Eric Young, who grew up as a Met fan in nearby New Brunswick, Middlesex County, New Jersey, and had played baseball and football at Rutgers University. Four days later, he hit a home run to help win the 1st Rockies home game. His son Eric Young Jr. would play for both the Mets and the Yankees.

*

April 5, 1993 was a Monday. These other Major League Baseball games were played on this day, Opening Day:

* The New York Yankees beat the Cleveland Indians, 9-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It would be the last Opening Day at that stadium, where the Indians had played part-time since 1932 and full-time since 1947. A pregame tribute was held for pitchers Steve Olin and Tim Crews, who were killed in a boating accident during Spring Training.

Wade Boggs, Paul O'Neill, Spike Owen and Jimmy Key made their Yankee debuts. Key started and went 8 innings for the win. Boggs had a 2-run single. O'Neill went 2-for-5. Owen went 3-for-5. Danny Tartabull, Matt Nokes and Pat Kelly hit home runs.

* The Texas Rangers beat the Baltimore Orioles, 7-4 at Oriole Park at Camden Yards in Baltimore. President Bill Clinton threw out the ceremonial first ball.

* The Cincinnati Reds beat the Montreal Expos, 2-1 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati.

* The Atlanta Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 1-0 at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Greg Maddux, a Cub the season before, took a shutout into the 9th inning against his former team.

* The Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals, 3-1 at Royals Stadium in Kansas City. Later in the season, the ballpark's name was changed to Kauffman Stadium.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Houston Astros, 3-1 at the Astrodome in Houston. 

* And the Oakland Athletics beat the Detroit Tigers, 9-4 at the Oakland Coliseum.

That night, the NCAA Tournament Final was played. North Carolina beats Michigan to win college basketball’s National Championship. It should have been remembered for a nice performance by a Carolina team with Eric Montross and Jerry Stackhouse, getting coach Dean Smith his 2nd title. Instead, all everyone remembers is Chris Webber making the biggest goof in college basketball history. I have a separate entry for this event.

Football was out of season. The NBA chose not to schedule any games for the day, so as not to conflict with the NCAA Final. The NHL scheduled 1: The New York Rangers lost to the Hartford Whalers, 5-4 at Madison Square Garden. The Broadway Blueshirts blew 2-1 and 4-2 leads, and former New Jersey Devil star Pat Verbeek scored the winning goal with 2:17 to go.