Friday, April 21, 2006

Baseball Sees The Old Guys Still Making An Impact

The week began with New York Mets' Pedro Martinez becoming the seventh active pitcher to reach 200 victories with a win over their National League nemesis the Atlanta Braves.

It comes to an end with teammate Julio Franco becoming the oldest player in major league history to hit a home run in a Mets rally win over the San Diego Padres. The 47 year old slugger toped the previous record owner Athletics pitcher Jack Quinn, who was 46 years, 357 days old when he homered on June 27, 1930. Franco already was the oldest player to hit a grand slam, a pinch-hit homer and have a multihomer game.

And the Frank Robinson got his 1,000th win as a manager, thanks to Nick Johnson hitting a pair of homers in the Washington Nationals' 10-4 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies.
The 70 year old is 1,000-1,095 in 16 seasons of managing, with stints in Cleveland, San Francisco, Baltimore and his current run with the Montreal-Washington franchise. He is the 53rd manager to reach the milestone.

- Pedro Wins 200th Game (Berkshire Eagle)
- Franco, At 47, Becomes Oldest Player To Hit Home Run As Mets Win (San Jose Mercury News)
- Nats Give Robinson 1,000th Victory (Washington Times)
Posted by J. Cleveland Payne @ 11:26 AM   0 comments ---------------------------------------