News & Neuigkeiten » a four-run seventh against relievers Scott Rice

The voting results for the Baseball Hall of Fame will be announced on January 8 in the new year. Unlike last year when nobody got in, there have been estimates of as many as five getting voted in this time around and as few as one, Greg Maddux. Going over the list of players already in Cooperstown, I found it interesting that four went by the nickname "Kid" or "The Kid". They would be former Expos and Mets star Gary Carter, the Brewers Robin Yount, the immortal Red Sox legend Ted Williams and one you may not be as familiar with, Charles "Kid" Nichols. "Kid" Nichols began his career in the Majors in 1890 and was through in 1906. But the numbers he put up were truly remarkable. Starting in 1890, with the Boston Beaneaters in the National League he went 27-19 with a 2.23 ERA. In seven of the next eight seasons he won 30 or more games. He finished his career with 361 victories against 208 losses and a 2.96 ERA. Not only that he started 562 games over his career and finished 532. In other words he pitched complete games in about 95 per cent of his outings. Granted it was a different era. In his first three seasons, 1890-92, the distance from the pitching mound to home plate was only 50 feet. Nevertheless Nichols was the main reason the Beaneaters won three consecutive pennants. After that though the mound was pushed back to its current distance of 60 6" but Nichols remained every bit as dominant. The funny thing is Nicholls wasnt physically imposing. It has been estimated he only weighed about 138 pounds when he broke in with Boston and looked like a teenager, hence the nickname "Kid". "Kid" Nichols threw straight over the top and threw few if any breaking pitches. He and others have credited this for his durability and good fortune in avoiding injuries. He had impeccable control, and an uncanny ability to change speeds on his fastball. Nichols was almost lost in the annals of baseball history and didnt get into the Hall of Fame until 1949 when he was selected by the Veterans Committee. One of the loudest voices in getting him elected was a charter member of the Hall of Fame was none other than Ty Cobb. The most amazing fact about "Kid Nichols" is that he won his 300th game when he was only 30 years old. Again, there is a bit of a caveat. During his career teams usually only carried five pitchers at most and depending on circumstance you could be pitching every second or third day. Still the numbers he put up and the career he had was amazing. Heres the thing Im wondering about. Its "Kid" Nichols Canadian connection. Baseball Reference.com claims he went to secondary school at Queen Elizabeth High School in Surrey, BC. If you click on the school name, Nichols name comes up along with another former Major Leaguer who attended the same school, Kevin Nicholson. Nichols was an American born in Wisconsin, who spent part of his youth in Kansas City. I can find no mention of how he wound up in a Canadian high school. Interesting to say the least. I also wanted to mention another "Kid" who is not in the Hall of Fame. You might remember the name "Kid" Gleason. He was the manager of the infamous 1919 Chicago White Sox, of the "Black Sox" scandal infamy. Gleason played no part in throwing the series to the Cincinnati Reds, in fact he called out some of his own players for tanking after they played a brutal first game of the World Series. Well before that series, Gleason was a decent player in his own right. In 1890 for instance, he pitched 506 innings and completed 54 of the 55 games he started. Gleason was also a decent position player over part of his career in addition to being a manager. It was said he was every bit the fiery competitor Cobb was, if not more so. Bringing Back Banks It seems only fitting, when Disney is releasing the movie "Saving Mr. Banks" about the making of the "Mary Poppins" movie, the Blue Jays should be shooting out a lifeline to a Mr. Banks of their own. Theyve signed right-hander Josh Banks, a pitcher they originally drafted in the second round in 2003 to a minor league deal. Banks only pitched in three games for the Jays back in 2007, then bounced from San Diego to Houston and finally to the minor league systems of the Giants and Orioles. He was actually released by the Os on March 31, 2012. So why is he back? Well back in the day Banks could throw eight pitches including a knuckleball. Now at age 31 he has re-invented himself as a knuckleballer. The Jays are hoping theyve caught "Lightning in a Bottle" on this one. Altogether now, the Jays have three knuckleballers in their organization, R.A. Dickey, Tomo Ohka who is coming back as a knuckler at age 37, and now Josh Banks. If Banks makes it after three years out of the Majors maybe Disney will come calling about another movie. Balenciaga Shoes Sale .C. - Alberta prop Andrew Tiedemann will captain Canada against Uruguay on Friday, the opening day of competition at the IRB Americas Rugby Championship. Fake Balenciaga For Sale . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. https://www.fakebalenciaga.com/ . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Cheap Balenciaga . -- John Senden never imagined it would take more than seven years to win again. Fake Balenciaga Shoes . The club announced Friday that Mauro Biello will be kept on as an assistant to coach Jesse Marsch when the Impact join the MLS in 2012.NEW YORK -- Toby and Jodi Roark were in the midst of a 12-hour drive from Wilmington, Ill., to Washington, D.C., to watch their son Tanner pitch in the Nationals home opener. Then they got a call from their daughter-in-law, telling them he wouldnt be starting Friday. In the clubhouse at Citi Field, Tanners phone beeped. "My mom is texting me, Whats happening?" Tanner remembered. "They were bummed out." Jordan Zimmermann had a fever and was vomiting, so Roark started Thursdays series finale against the New York Mets on just three hours notice. After a shaky first inning, Roark recovered and the Nationals rallied for an 8-2 victory and an opening three-game sweep. "I just go with the flow," the 27-year-old right-hander said. "Whatever they tell me to do, its what Im here for." Ryan Zimmerman tied his career high with four hits, including three that led off innings. His second-inning home run off Zack Wheeler (0-1) started the Nationals comeback from a 2-0 deficit. Washingtons leadoff batter reached in the first seven innings, and the Nationals rallied to win for the third time in the series. While Washington opened 3-0 for the second straight season, the Mets fell to 0-3 for the first time since 2005. They had not lost their first three home games since 1997. "Theyre proud of the way theyve played so far and so am I," Nationals first-year manager Matt Williams said. "Just the way theyre grinding." Roark (1-0) made his major league debut on Aug. 7 last season and went 7-1 with a 1.51 ERA in five starts and nine relief appearances. He got just two swings and misses in the first four innings and fell behind 2-0 in a 30-pitch first but wound up allowing just the two runs and six hits in six innings with three walks and five strikeouts -- including his final four batters. "Thats what Tanners done since basically we called him up last year," Zimmerman said. "When its his turn to pitch, he goes out there and challenges the hitter.dddddddddddd. He throws a lot of strikes and works quick." Roark allowed an RBI double in the first to Curtis Granderson, who had been 0 for 9 with the Mets, and Juan Lagares sacrifice fly. Then he started making adjustments. "I was letting the ball go and not trying to pinpoint and try to nibble as much," he said. Wheeler gave up three runs and seven hits in six innings, trying to work out of trouble for much of the afternoon before a small crowd of 20,561, a couple hundred above Citi Fields record low. Washington went ahead 3-2 in the fifth when Denard Span hit an RBI single to right, advanced as Granderson heaved a two-hop throw home and scored on Jayson Werths two-out single. The Nationals broke open the game with a four-run seventh against relievers Scott Rice and Jeurys Familia that included a two-run single by Adam LaRoche off the glove of first baseman Lucas Duda. "I assure you, were better than what youve seen the last three days," Mets manager Terry Collins said. Soon after that, thoughts turned to the home opener against Atlanta. Roark said his parents and in-laws still plan to be in the stands at Nationals Park on Friday and Saturday. "Theyll still get there, spend time together, so thats good," he said. "First time in D.C., so that will be fun." NOTES: Washington pitchers struck out 39 in the series, third-most in any teams opening three games since 1914, according to STATS. The only teams with more were Texas last year (43) and Cleveland in 1966 (42). ... Mets 2B Daniel Murphy returned from paternity leave and had a throwing error and a fielding error in his season debut. ... Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson presented the Rick Rescorla National Award for Resilience to the New York Mets, Walgreens and Monsignor John Brown, then bounced the ceremonial first pitch. ... Werth was 6 for 13 in the series and Zimmerman 6 for 14. ' ' '