Catchers and pitchers reported to Spring Training.
I'm more than ready for sunshine, green grass and baseball.
So, in honour of the first day of workouts, the HBWHOF is getting a jump-start on Spring with Ernie Harwell's annual rite:
Song of Solomon 2:11-12 – The Voice of the Turtle
For, lo, the winter is past,
The rain is over and gone;
The flowers appear on the earth;
The time of the singing of birds is come,
And the voice of the turtle is heard in our land.
Geez, just as Spring Training is kicking-in, Wake is hanging up the mitt.
Tim Wakefield is retiring after 19 years in the Big Leagues.
Wake pitched his first 2 seasons with the Pittsburgh Pirates and the last 17 seasons with the Boston Red Sox.
His career record is 200-180 with a 4.41 ERA. His Red Sox stats are 186-168 with a 4.43 ERA. Only Roger Clemens and Cy Young had more wins (192) with Boston.
The HBWHOF loves knuckleball pitchers. Sadly, there aren't many left...
Hall of Fame catcher Gary Carter passed away today.
Carter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor 10 months ago.
He was an 11-time All-Star and 3-time Gold Glove winner.
He hit .262 with 324 home runs and 1,225 RBIs with the Montreal Expos,
New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Carter was the first player enshrined in Cooperstown wearing an Expos cap.
Gary Carter was 57 years old.
He looks pretty good rockin' the old english 'D'...doesn't he?
What do we have here?
The Detroit Tigers have signed Prince Fielder to a 9-year, $214 million contract!
The Tigers cranked it up a notch after discovering that DH Victor Martinez could miss the entire season after tearing his left ACL during offseason conditioning.
This is only the fourth $200 million contract in baseball history. The others:
A-Rod's $275 million, 10-year deal with the New York Yankees, A-Rod's $252 million, 10-year deal with Texas and Albert Pujols' $240 million, 10-year contract last month with the Los Angeles Angels.
Imagine the possibilities, folks, Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder in the same lineup! Prince is 27. Miggy is 28. The Tigers become the 2nd MLB team in history with two players under age 30 with at least 200 career homers. It has happened only once before! In 1961 the Milwaukee Braves featured 29-year-old Eddie Matthews (338 homers) and 27-year-old Hank Aaron (219).
This is SWEET!!
WOWEE!! The big MLB news is the signing of a couple of big names.
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim of Orange County of California of the Pacific Rim have JUST signed Albert Pujols to a $254 million, 10-year contract!!!
But wait, that's not all, the Angels have also signed pitcher C.J. Wilson to a deal reportedly worth $75 million for 5 years.
The Miami Marlins?? have a new manager in Ozzie Guillen and have signed pitcher Mark Buehrle to a 4-year deal worth $58 million. They also signed shortstop Jose Reyes to a 6-year, $106 million deal and closer Heath Bell to a 3-year, $27 million deal.
The big news, here, at the HBWHOF, however, is that Kimberly DeJesus is going home!
Yep, the first big move that new Cubbies' GM Theo Epstein made was to sign David DeJesus to a 2-year, $10 million deal.
The HBWHOF is thrilled that my favourite Hot Baseball Wife is returning to Chicago!
