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Daryl Strawberry & Mookie Wilson on the 1986 Pennant Mets v Houston
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Darryl Eugene Strawberry (born March 12, 1962) is well-known both for his play on the baseball field and for his controversial behavior off of it.

Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Strawberry was one of the most feared sluggers in the game, known for his prodigious home runs and his intimidating presence in the batter's box with his 6-foot-6 frame and his long, looping swing. During his 17-year career, he helped lead the New York Mets to one World Series championship in 1986 and the New York Yankees to three World Series championships in 1996, 1998, 1999.

A popular player during his career, Strawberry was voted to the All-Star Game eight straight times from 1984-1991.

In 1985, despite missing 40 games due to an injury to his right thumb, he hit 29 home runs but the Mets fell 5 games behind the St. Louis Cardinals in the NL East.

In 1986, Strawberry hit 27 homers and had 99 RBIs as the Mets won the 1986 World Series.

Strawberry signed as a free agent with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1991, inking a lucrative five-year $22.25 million contract. In California, he was named Big Brother of The Year for that year. After hitting 28 home runs and bringing in 99 runs batted in a successful first year for the Dodgers, injuries and personal problems kept him sidelined for much of the next two seasons, hitting five home runs in each season.

William Hayward "Mookie" Wilson (born February 9, 1956) played with the New York Mets (1980–89) and Toronto Blue Jays (1989–91). He was a switch hitter, known for his impressive speed and positive attitude. Fans would frequently chant "Mooooo-kie" in appreciation of him.

Born in Bamberg, South Carolina, Wilson played college baseball at Spartanburg Methodist College and then the University of South Carolina. Later, in 1996, he earned a bachelor's degree from Mercy College in New York.

In twelve seasons, Wilson was a .274 hitter with 67 home runs, 438 RBI, and 327 stolen bases in 1403 games. Wilson held the Mets record for career stolen bases (281) and career triples (62) until Jose Reyes broke both marks during the 2008 season.

Wilson is the batter who, in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series, avoided being hit by a wild pitch, allowing the tying run to score in the bottom of the 10th. His ground ball later in the same at bat went through the legs of Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner, allowing the winning run to score. The ball that rolled through Buckner's legs is now housed in the Seth Swirsky baseball collection.

When the Mets decided to rebuild, Wilson requested a trade. The Mets accommodated him by trading him to the Blue Jays in exchange for Jeff Musselman and Mike Brady on August 1, 1989.

Wilson was inducted into the New York Mets Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2005, Wilson managed the single A team Brooklyn Cyclones. Previously, he managed the Rookie League Kingsport Mets team and was a coach for the New York Mets from 1997 to 2002.

In 1999, Wilson obtained a license to drive tractor-trailer trucks and began hauling freight in the offseason, a job he stated his intention to keep if and when he left professional baseball.

This data was drawn from Wikipedia.

This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in October 1987.

Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

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Ray Knight's Biggest Laugh and Biggest Oops in Baseball
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Charles Ray Knight (born December 28, 1952, in Albany, Georgia) was primarily a third baseman, although he did see some action at first base, second base, designated hitter, shortstop and in the outfield. He played for the Cincinnati Reds (1974–1981), Houston Astros (1982–1984), New York Mets (1984–1986), Baltimore Orioles (1987), and the Detroit Tigers (1988). He is now a studio analyst for MASN's coverage of the Washington Nationals.

While Knight is notable as being a very high quality hitter, making the Top 10 leaderboard in batting three times, he is mostly known for his role in the 1986 World Series, when he not only scored the winning run in Game 6 on Mookie Wilson's famous grounder through Bill Buckner's legs, but he also hit the tie breaking home run in Game 7. Due to his contributions Knight won the World Series MVP award, and then became the first player to join a new team the season after winning the award, signing with the Orioles in 1987. The Mets granted Knight free agency after it was decided that Howard Johnson would be the Mets' everyday third baseman. His all-time statistics in the postseason include a .279 BA, with 1 home run and 7 RBIs.

In 1986, Knight also won the Babe Ruth Award for the National League and The Sporting News Comeback Player of the Year Award. He was also a winner of the Hutch Award in 1983.

In a 13-season career, Knight put together a .271 batting average with 84 home runs and 595 RBIs in 1495 games. He had 490 runs and 14 career stolen bases. He accumulated 266 doubles and 1311 hits in total, in 4829 at bats.

In Knight's managerial career, he is 125-137, managing the Reds from 1996-97 and in 2003 for one game. In 1997, he forgot how many outs there had been in a half-inning in which the Reds were at bat and called for a bunt at an inopportune time. He later fined himself $250 for the incident. The team's lack of success would lead to his eventual firing and his replacement with Jack McKeon.

Knight is married to LPGA star Nancy Lopez, and briefly caddied for her after retiring.

This data was drawn from Wikipedia.

This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in July 1987.

Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

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Pitcher Don Sutton Talks About Being on The Dating Game
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Donald Howard Sutton (born April 2, 1945) was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County, and on the same date as former Dodger teammate Reggie Smith. Clio is also the birthplace of the late Alabama governor George Wallace. He was born to sharecroppers at the end of World War II, in a tar-paper shack. At the time he was born his father was 18 and his mother was 15. Sutton's father, Howard, gave him the strong work ethic that he had throughout his career. His father tried logging and construction work, and in looking for work, moved the family to Molino, Florida, just north of Pensacola.

A right-handed pitcher, Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers as a minor leaguer, and entered the major league at the age of 21. Don Sutton's major league debut was on April 14, 1966, the same day that future 300-game winner Greg Maddux was born. In the majors, he played 23 years for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. He won a total of 324 games, 58 of them shutouts and five of them one-hitters, and he is eighth on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574 K's. He also holds the major league record for number of consecutive losses to one team, having lost 13 straight games to the Chicago Cubs.

He was known for doctoring baseballs. His nickname was "Black & Decker"; legend has it that when Sutton met notorious greaseballer Gaylord Perry, Perry handed him a tube of Vaseline, and Sutton responded with a thank-you, then handed him a sheet of sandpaper.

A 4-time All-Star, Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His candidacy and subsequent election were controversial, with critics pointing out that he had never won a Cy Young Award, had won 20 games only once, and had rarely led his league in any statistical category. However, supporters noted that no pitcher with either 300 victories or 3000 strikeouts had ever failed to be elected to the Hall of Fame, and that his 324 wins were, at the time of his retirement, the most by any right-handed pitcher since the 1920s, and many pitchers with worse records were in the Hall of Fame.

Sutton holds the modern record for most at-bats (1,354) without ever hitting a home run.

Sutton's legacy of consistency and longevity is an amazing feat in itself, in an age before pitching counts would lift pitchers well before nine innings. He was the mainstay of a ball club with a pitching-rich tradition, a career that spanned from the Drysdale-Koufax era (1966) to Fernando Valenzuela (1980). In the final game of the 1980 season, Sutton was called on to complete a game winning save, 4-3, over Houston, forcing a one-game playoff — a poetic conclusion to a brilliant span of 15 years in L.A.

Sutton started his broadcasting career in 1989 with the Atlanta Braves on TBS, a position that he held through 2006. He left TBS after the 2006 season, mainly because the network will broadcast fewer games in future seasons. Sutton is now a color commentator for the Washington Nationals on the MASN network. This data was drawn from Wikipedia.

This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987.

Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

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Nolan Ryan fondly remembers Little League Baseball
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Lynn Nolan Ryan, Jr. (born January 31, 1947) is a former American right-handed pitcher who played in a major league record 27 seasons for the New York Mets, California Angels, Houston Astros, and Texas Rangers, from 1966 to 1993.

Ryan, a hard-throwing right-handed pitcher, threw pitches that were regularly recorded above 100 mph, even past the age of 40. The media tagged him, or more specifically his pitching, as "The Ryan Express" (a reference to the 1965 film Von Ryan's Express).

Ryan was an eight-time MLB All-Star, and his 5,714 career strikeouts rank first in baseball history. He leads the runner-up by over 1,000 strikeouts as of early in the 2007 season. The pitcher in second place as of early 2007 varies between Roger Clemens and Randy Johnson, who are both active and who are both over the 4,600-strikeout mark. Similarly, Ryan's 2,795 bases on balls lead second-place Steve Carlton by 962—walking over 50% more hitters than any other pitcher in Major League history.

Ryan is also the all-time leader in no-hitters with seven, three more than any other pitcher. He is tied with Bob Feller for the most one-hitters with 12. Ryan also pitched 18 two-hitters.

This episode originally aired September 11, 1987.

Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.

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Roger Clemens Recalls His First Game with the Red Sox
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Roger Clemens big league debut with the Boston Red Sox was May 15, 1984. In this interview conducted during Spring Training of 1987, he recalls a cold night against Cleveland.

This episode originally aired May 12, 1987.

SmarterPodcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice

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