Random Baseball

Jose Lima

• It's Lima Time on the Big Mound in the Sky. Sadly, former MLB pitcher Jose Lima passed away last week. My memories of him are vague but I remember him as part of the Houston team and when he beat the Cardinals in the playoffs a few years back. Here's a heart tugging rememberance of his fun loving nature in the bigs. Here's another of his continued efforts to mount a come back.
  



• WOW! Twice??!? Phillies pitcher Roy Halladay pitched the 2nd perfect game of the year, the second of the month, on Saturday. Combined with Buerhle's perfect last year that's 3 in two years. But Halladay's was only the 20th of all time. Strangely, all three have been pitched against Florida teams. The Marlins are now selling previously unsold tickets to the game.
  
  
• I present to you Hall of Famer Walter "Smokey" Alston. I stumbled across him back in January when comparing some batting statistics for HOF members.
  
  

  A reporter once asked Alston about his playing record; he said, "Well, I came up to bat for the Cards back in '36, and Lon Warneke struck me out. That's it." He also played first base--two fielding chances, one error.

  
  
  Yes, a Hall of Famer. Turns out he was a much better manager than a player.
  

  Alston won seven National League pennants in his 23 years tenure as Dodgers manager. In 1955 he led Brooklyn to the pennant and its only World Series championship; the team repeated as National League champions in 1956. After the Dodgers moved to Los Angeles, Alston led the team to pennants in 1959, 1963, 1965, 1966 and 1974, and three more world championships (1959, 1963, 1965). He was the first Dodger manager to win a World Series.