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The First Pitch: April 1, 2025
The Athletics, going without a city ID until their move to Las Vegas, play the first game at their temporary home in Sacramento before a sellout crowd of 12,192 at Sutter Health Park—but it’s the visiting Cubs, and catcher Carson Kelly in particular, who steal the show.
In an 18-3 rout of the A’s, Kelly hits for the cycle, notching his third career triple (in this, his 559th game) with his final at-bat in the eighth. He’s the 10th Cub to hit for the cycle, and the first since 1993; the 10th-year catcher is also just the third major leaguer since 1901 to do it while also adding two walks.
No visiting player ever hit for the cycle against the A’s in 4,493 games at the Oakland Coliseum, the team’s home of 57 years.
In honor of Rickey Henderson, who passed away late last year, all A’s players wear #24.
The start of the 2025 season for the Atlanta Braves goes from bad to worse. Before they even take the field against the Dodgers in Los Angeles, it’s announced that veteran outfielder (and first-year Brave) Jurickson Profar is given an 80-game ban after a positive PED test. In a statement, Profar seems to plead ignorance by saying that “I would never knowingly do anything to cheat,” but takes full responsibility.
Without Profar, the Braves drop to 0-5 with a 6-1 defeat against the Dodgers. Tyler Glasgow sails through five shutout innings for Los Angeles, while the two Hernandezes—Teoscar and Kiké—both drill home runs for the Dodgers, who are 6-0. In their five losses, the Braves have scored just eight runs and are batting .144.
Even worse than the Braves are the Minnesota Twins, who are blown out at Chicago against the White Sox, 9-0. Martin Perez, in his first start for the Sox after playing for five teams over 13 previous years, throws no-hit ball for six innings before his removal on 93 pitches and a career high-tying nine strikeouts. Chicago starting pitchers have yet to allow an earned run through 23 innings.
The Twins are batting .143 as a team, and have scored just six runs in four defeats.
The Red Sox have already seen enough of pitcher Garrett Crochet, who they poached from the White Sox during the offseason, to bless him with a six-year, $170 million extension. The deal with the 25-year-old southpaw, who struck out 209 batters in 146 innings last season, will begin next season with an opt-out after 2030. The dollar figure is the most ever given to a major leaguer with just four years of service.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Hitters Edition)
5-4-4-7—Elly De La Cruz, Cincinnati
There’s an awful lot of folks out there believing that the 23-year-old shortstop is ready to break out in a Ronald Acuna/Shohei Ohtani kind of way; his dominant performance in the Reds’ 14-3 drilling of the Rangers will only bring on more believers. De La Cruz singled, doubled, blasted two homers and stole a base; his seven RBIs represent a career high. The sky’s the limit with this guy.
Congrats, Your Box Score Line Was the Best (Pitchers Edition)
7-1-0-0-2-8—Brady Singer, Cincinnati
Lost in De La Cruz’s big night was the stellar start for Singer, who switched uniforms during the winter after five years at Kansas City. He’s the first pitcher to toss seven scoreless in a debut for the Reds since the great Tom Seaver in 1977.
It Was Whatever-Something Years Ago Today
1970: Bankrupt and in need of new ownership, the second-year Seattle Pilots are sold to a group of Milwaukee investors including future MLB commissioner Bud Selig, who will immediately move the team to Wisconsin and rename it the Brewers.
1989: NL President A. Bartlett Giamatti is named baseball’s new commissioner, succeeding Peter Ueberroth. The well-liked Giamatti will immediately find the going tough as he deals with Pete Rose’s betting scandal; he will die of a heart attack before the end of the season.
1996: Just three batters into an Opening Day contest between the Reds and Montreal Expos in Cincinnati, veteran 328-pound umpire John McSherry collapses face-first onto the turf behind home plate and dies of a heart attack in front of 53,000 stunned fans. The game is called and will be replayed the next day.
You Say It’s Your Birthday
Boston pitcher Kutter Crawford is 29; three-time All-Star first baseman Daniel Murphy is 40; closer of 144 saves John Axford is 42; 14-year first baseman employed by nine different teams Willie Montanez is 77. Born on this date is early 23-year vet and early Montreal Expos favorite Rusty Staub (1944), Hall-of-Fame knuckleballer Phil Niekro (1939), 1960s reliever Ron Perranoski (1936), and two-time league leader in triples Jeff Heath (1915).
Shameless Link of the Day
Carson Kelly adds his name to the list of Cubs players hitting for the cycle. Here’s the full list.
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!
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