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The First Pitch: July 28, 2025
Mike Trout becomes the third player in Angels history with 1,000 RBIs, as his two-run homer in the fifth caps the scoring in a 4-1 home win over the Mariners. The 33-year-old Trout joins eight other active players who’ve also previously hit the milestone.
Kansas City pitcher Seth Lugo, in the midst of a second straight solid season with the Royals, is re-upped for two years and $46 million—making him the first pitcher in franchise history to earn at least $20 million annually on average. The contract includes a vesting option worth another $20 million for 2028.
Lugo had a $15 million player option for next season, but the Royals feared he would turn it down and declare free agency. In a year and a half playing for the Royals, the 35-year-old Lugo is 23-14 with a 2.98 ERA over 52 starts.
It’s a day of celebration, introspection and humor as five former star players are formally inducted into the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
Ichiro Suzuki, the first Japanese-born member of the Hall, gives a rare speech in English and shows off his comedic chops—throwing shade on the one voter who didn’t elect him, and his third team, the Miami Marlins—who he claims (jokes) didn’t even know that they existed before signing with them. He also does an excitable impersonation of Mariners broadcaster Rick Rizzs.
CC Sabathia, only the third black pitcher elected through the general vote (with others chosen through special committees), gives credit to his mother who introduced him to baseball, driving him to Oakland from his nearby birthplace of Vallejo, California to watch the A’s. Currently working with MLB to keep baseball accessible to urban African-Americans, Sabathia hopes that he will not be the last “Black Ace”—black pitchers born in the U.S. or Canada—who’ve won 20 games in a major league season.
Billy Wagner, the first left-handed reliever ever enshrined at Cooperstown, gives nods of thanks to his former teammates including Hall of Famers Jeff Bagwell and Craig Biggio, while encouraging others not to be overwhelmed by the obstacles to success. “I wasn’t the biggest, I wasn’t left-handed, I wasn’t supposed to be here,” says Wagner, who switched to becoming a lefty after breaking his right arm at an early age.
Dave Parker, who died just four weeks before his induction, had a poem he wrote read by his son, Dave Parker Jr. It starts with, “Here I am—39. About damn time. I know I had to wait a little. But that’s what you do with fine, aged wine.” Along the way, he rightfully brags: “Top-tier athlete, fashion icon, sex symbol. No reason to list the rest of my credentials. I’m him. Period. The Cobra.”
Dick Allen, who passed four years before being named to the Hall after countless no-votes through both the general and committees, is remembered on the podium by his widow, Willa. Though Allen had a reputation for being difficult with teammates and management, Willa reminds the audience that he always took time to meet and have substantive chats with fans, club house staff and other ballpark personnel.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
3-3-2-1—CJ Abrams, Washington
It may not be the most impressive box score line on the day, but sometimes the full story is buried in the fine print. In the Nationals’ 7-2 win at Minnesota, Abrams singled and hit his 14th home run—but beyond that, he was also hit twice, and stole three bases. The former first-round draft pick from six years ago is arguably in the midst of his best year, batting a career-high .275 with 14 homers, 66 runs (on pace for 100) and 23 steals.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7.1-3-1-1-1-8—Brady Singer, Cincinnati
After getting blown out in his last start against the Nationals, the 28-year-old Floridian really needed this. Singer evened his season record to 8-8 with a superb effort against the visiting Rays, taking a shutout into the eighth inning before Taylor Walls’ solo homer ruined the bid. In was his first victory after seven winless starts, a run which included just two quality starts.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1875: Joe Borden throws the first no-hitter in major league history as he shuts down the visiting Chicago White Stockings in a 4-0 win for a Philadelphia team using the same nickname. It’s one of two wins on the year for Borden; he’ll also gain credit for the first win in National League history a year later, in his second and last season amid an ordinary career as a big-league pitcher.
1909: NL president Harry Pulliam, receding into bad health and emotionally tortured by the pressures of his job, steps into his office at the New York Athletic Club, takes out a revolver—and kills himself. The 40-year-old Pulliam was the NL’s head man for six years; all games in both leagues will be postponed five days later while his funeral takes place.
1917: Red Sox pitcher Ernie Shore becomes the first and only player ever to be hit twice on the basepaths by his teammates’ grounders in one game. Despite the accidental contacts, Boston still defeats the St. Louis Browns, 3-2.
1970: The Pirates sweep a doubleheader from the Cubs in what will be the last two games played at historic Forbes Field. Bill Mazeroski, who gave the Bucs their most legendary moment with his walk-off homer in the 1960 World Series at Forbes, collects the Pirates’ last hit and makes the final putout at the 61-year-old ballpark.
1989: The Cardinals’ Vince Coleman is caught stealing for the first time after 50 successful attempts, which had set an MLB record. Despite the out, the Cardinals defeat the Expos at Montreal, 2-0.
1991: The Expos’ Dennis Martinez throws the only perfect game to date in Expos/Nationals history when he retires all 27 Los Angeles batters he faces at Dodger Stadium in a 2-0 victory.
1993: Relieving for Bret Saberhagen in a 3-3 tie, the Mets’ Anthony Young gives up a ninth-inning run to the visiting Marlins and looks headed for a 28th straight defeat—but New York rallies for two in the bottom of the frame to end his skid at 27, which still remains the longest by any pitcher in MLB history.
1993: Ken Griffey Jr. goes deep for his eighth straight game, tying the major league mark co-owned by Dale Long and Don Mattingly. His solo shot is the lone run for the Mariners in a 5-1 home loss to Minnesota.
1994: The Rangers’ Kenny Rogers throws baseball’s fifth perfect game in just 14 years when he silences the California Angels, 4-0, at Arlington. It’s the only perfecto ever thrown by a Rangers pitcher, and the only no-hit performance thrown by anyone in the 26-year history of Globe Life Park.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Happy birthday to:
Boston pitcher Walker Buehler (31), owner of career 53-28 record; two-time All-Star
Born on this date:
Vida Blue (1949), breakout pitching star of 1971; six-time All-Star; 209-161 career record with 3.27 ERA; TGG interview subject
Freddie Fitzsimmons (1901), 19-year pitcher who compiled 217-146 record; two-time league leader in winning percentage
Bullet Rogan (1893), Hall-of-Fame, two-way Negro League star; 120-52 record as pitcher; career .338 batting average playing many positions; managed the Kansas City Monarchs from 1926-30
Shameless Link of the Day
Hard to believe, but it’s been 20 years since our very first edition of the Comebacker. Check out our story on its humble beginnings and evolution to the much bigger resource of baseball history that it is today
Join Us on X and BlueSky
Besides our growing and active presence on X, TGG has spread its social media wings to BlueSky for those who’ve found the X culture too toxic. For those who are wondering, we provide the same posts on both platforms, and they’re non-political. We’re just talking baseball.
Meanwhile, we’ve given up our fight trying to reactivate our Facebook page, which was hacked last year. The page remains up but is frozen in time, as we are unable to access it—and Facebook, in all its infinite lack of wisdom, continues to provide absolutely no customer support in the matter as they literally have none. All the more reason to join us on X and BlueSky.
And Now For Something Completely Different From TGG Co-Founder Eric Gouldsberry
From 1975-78, my father, Ray Gouldsberry, took photographs of the original San Jose Earthquakes soccer team, an ingeniously marketed collection of colorful players embraced by a growing, sports-starved community which constantly sold out ancient, cozy Spartan Stadium. Shortly after my father’s passing in 2019, I took the negatives of all the precious, invaluable photos he snapped, scanned them, and put together Our Life & Times with the Earthquakes: Images and Memories from the Glory Days of San Jose’s Original Pro Soccer Team. It’s not only a tribute to the Earthquakes and the North American Soccer League, but to my father for capturing all the wonderful memories we shared during our time as season ticket holders of the team through its entire existence (1974-84).
Much like baseball’s Deadball Era, Our Life and Times with the Earthquakes looks at a similar era in soccer history when the game in America was boldly attempting to blaze its own trail clad in flamboyance and imperfection, giving the NASL vivid character. As with those early times of baseball, historical images from the NASL remain scarce and elusive, making Ray Gouldsberry’s photographic collection of the Earthquakes and other star NASL players all the more cherished.
Although the Earthquakes are the primary focus of Our Life and Times with the Earthquakes, the book also spotlights the vibrant and turbulent history of the NASL and its legendary list of stars such as Pelé, Giorgio Chinaglia and George Best (who briefly played for the Earthquakes), all through my father’s photos and the treasure trove of memorabilia I collected during those years.
Formatted at 8.25” x 8.25”, running 200 pages plus cover and containing over 200 photos, 100 images of memorabilia, and a foreword by former Quake and U.S. Soccer Hall of Famer Johnny Moore, Our Life and Times with the Earthquakes is available for purchase on Amazon. Read and enjoy!
To Whom It May Concern
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