Off The Radar Sports

  On this day way back in 1961 the second annual All-Star game was held in Boston at Fenway Park. For the first time in the history of baseball though the game ended in a tie due to rain. Normally a rain delay will cause a game to be postponed and rescheduled, but due to the All-Star game just being for friendly competition with little stakes there was no reason for the game to be finished at a later date. Especially considering the fact that the game was postponed in the 9th inning.   Moving toward 1978, Pete Rose would single off Phil Niekro to extend his hitting streak to 44 consecutive games. Pete's single would tie Wee Willie Keeler's eighty one year old National League Record. Keeler set the record between the 1896-1897 season ultimately Pete would only tie the previous record having his streak snapped at forty-four games.  Fast forward to 1997, the infamous trade that would shape the future expectations for the Oakland Athletics. Former slugger Mark McGwire wo...

  "Jon Heyman of the New York Post tweeted this afternoon that the Fish are willing to listen to offers on everyone other than ace Sandy Alcantara . It’s hard to imagine Miami trading Chisholm since he’s controllable through 2026 and currently on the injured list, but it seems the bulk of the team could be available. Aside from Alcantara and Chisholm, perhaps no one else on the roster would draw more interest than starter Pablo López . While Miami hasn’t previously shown much appetite for dealing López, Barry Jackson and Craig Mish of the Miami Herald report that the Marlins are now willing to hear offers on the 26-year-old righty. According to Jackson and Mish, the Fish aren’t actively shopping López, but they’re “no longer dismissing calls” from interested teams." "If Miami follows through on dealing some veterans, López wouldn’t be the only player on the roster to attract interest. MLBTR examined a few of the club’s other possible trade candidates last week. First ...

  On this day in sports history way back in 1959, William A Shea announced his plans to have a baseball team in NYC in 1961. This team would join the MLB alongside the Houston Colt 45's in 1962 becoming the replacement teams in New York after the Giants & Dodgers left town in 1957. The new team would become the New York Mets and the team would name their first stadium after the teams founder known as Shea Stadium which would be the teams home from 1964-2008.   In one year two hall of famers would join the 3,500 strikeout club in 1983. Both Nolan Ryan and Steve Carlton would join the 3,500 strikeout club on this day in 1983. Carlton would end his career with 4,136 strike outs and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1994 ironically enough eleven years after this moment. The "remarkable" Ryan would finish his career with 5,714 strike outs and would be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1999.   A few interesting notes based on random interesting events that have happened...

  To start we go back to 1923 when future Hall of Famer pitcher Walter Johnson becomes the first pitcher in baseball history to reach the 3,000 strike out milestone. The longtime Washington Senator would finish his career with 3,508 career strike outs en route to being inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1936 as a member of the first class. In most circles Walter Johnson is considered to be the best pitcher in history next to Cy Young.  Fast forward to this day in 1963, in what was the second meeting between Sonny Liston  and  Floyd Patterson  the results were the same when Sonny KOs Floyd in round 1 at the Convention Center, Las Vegas to retain the world heavyweight boxing title. Prior to the ascension of Cassius Clay the boxing world had Sonny Liston at the head of the table.  It was on this day in 1994 when OJ Simpson would enter the plea of "Not Guilty" in the upcoming murder trail of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. The trail would begin ea...

  On this day in 1910, legendary starter Denton "Cy" Young would incredibly win his 500 career game in his MLB career. To this point and for the foreseeable future Young is the only person to reach the 500 win milestone. Anyone who knows about the game of baseball Cy Young would have an award named in his likeness and it is give to the MLB's best pitchers in each league.  XXII Summer Olympics open in Moscow, Russia but a number of states are missing from the festivities a total of sixty-six countries boycott the Olympics in the summer of 1980. Lead by the United States a number of others countries would boycott the Olympics due to the Soviet-Afgan War and the Cold War also played a part in the boycott.  On this day, thirty-one years ago the legendary Oriole Cal Ripken Jr. would reach a milestone for his consecutive game streak. Thirty-one years ago Ripken Jr. would hit consecutive game number 1,500 of his streak which would reach 2,632 consecutive games played ending his ...

  Looking at the birthday list I noticed Ben Sheets who is celebrating his forty-fourth birthday today. Though Ben never got his chance to win the Cy Young during his career and according to baseball reference he only received votes for the award once in 2004. In my opinion, looking at his stats Sheets seems like one of the most consistent pitchers during the era. The Brewers were lucky enough to develop him into the team's first real ace in the turn of the century. The Brewers weren't exactly ever known for pitching during the history of the team so having one of the best pitchers in baseball wasn't something that was common for the team. Take a look at Ben Sheets' tenure with the Brewers from his debut in 2001-2008.  Sheets would become a four time all-star as a member of the Brewers. In response, to what was a career year for Ben and as mentioned earlier the one year he received votes for the Cy Young at the end of the 2004 season was given a four year extension by t...

  On this day in 1921, Yankee outfielder Babe Ruth hit his 139 career home run passing former leader Roger Connor. Babe would become the all time home run king, mounting a total of 714 career home runs during his career. Babe's record would stand pat until April 1974, when Braves outfielder Hank Aaron broke the record hitting his 715 career home run. July 18 holds significance for two of the all time greats and MLB Hall of Famers with both Ty Cobb and Willie Mays reaching milestones on this day. In 1927, legendary Tigers outfielder Ty Cobb reached 4,000 hits in his career. Fast forward forty-three years later to 1970 when Giants outfielder Willie Mays reached the 3,000 hit milestone for his career becoming the 10th player in baseball history to reach the feat. An interesting note on this day in 1942 the first legal horse race in the state was held. This was the first time in fifty years a legal race was held according to research. The Garden State Park Racetrack would also open off...

Earlier today various news outlets reported that Nationals star outfielder Juan Soto officially turned down the team's best possible offer for a new contract. First reported by The Athletic the offer for Soto was an astounding fifteen years and $440 million dollars. Early last month current Nationals General Manager Mike Rizzo had expressed little interest in dealing the twenty-three years old superstar with the hope he would rebuild the Nationals around him. However, after Soto chose to turn down the recent offer it seems likely that Soto will be dealt prior to the August 2nd trade deadline. A quote taken from an msn.com article:  "Rosenthal reports that the prevailing sentiment in Washington is that if Soto won’t agree to this deal, he won’t agree to any deal. Unlike previous large contracts the Nationals have handed out, this offer didn’t include any deferred money." Debuting at 19 years old back in 2019 it didn't take long for Soto to set the baseball world abla...

On this day, over one hundred years ago one of the greatest managers in the history of Baseball began his career as a manager. John McGraw would begin his thirty year tenure with the then New York Giants on this day. A star player before his retirement McGraw would mount an incredible 2,840 victories as a manager and was a member of the first class to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937. McGraw would win three World Series Championships and twelve league championships with only Connie Mack having more career victories as a manager. See if you can follow what happened on this day in 1948 when three managers were given the boot in the same day with one finding a new home the same day he had been fired. The Phillies fired Ben Chapman and hired Eddie Sawyer, New York Giants fired Mel Ott and hired Leo Durocher while the Brooklyn Dodgers fired Leo Durocher and hired Burt Shotton. Did you follow that? Imagine over 200,000 people coming together to watch the World Cup, that ha...

 This isn't exactly how I was going to continue with the story, but we will take things slow and find more of a direction. Back in 2005, Steve Schott would sell the Oakland Athletics to John Fisher and Lew Wolff ending his nearly ten year tenure with the organization. Fisher and Wolff weren't the only people interested in purchasing the team one name was Joe Lacob and Peter Guber. For those who might not be aware Lacob would become the owner of the Boston Celtics and later on the owner of the Golden State Warriors. For more background we turn to digital.olivesoftware.com  " I interviewed Lacob in October for a book with former A’s owner Steve Schott. Other parts of the interview are relevant to what’s now transpiring with the A’s, who are leveraging Oakland against Las Vegas in their pursuit of a stadium. “ This never really came out, but I had an agreement to buy the Oakland A’s, literally,” Lacob confirmed after Schott briefed me on those negotiations. According to Schot...

 Yesterday was the twenty-six year anniversary of a trade that up until last night I didn't even know happened. I mentioned it when I wrote the Baker Mayfield article a few days ago I don't know much about sports outside of Baseball and Hockey. So my knowledge of both the NBA and NFL are lacking at best, but unless you lived under a rock you've heard the name Kobe Bryant. Growing up in a sports household like I've grown up in you learn about sports without even watching. One thing I never knew was the Charlotte Hornets actually drafted Kobe Bryant. It still rings over the intercom of draft day history with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA the Charlotte Hornets select Kobe Bryant out of Lower Merion High School in Philadelphia. Later on the announcement was the Charlotte Hornets would deal Kobe Bryant to the Los Angels Lakers for Vlade Davic. This would become one of the most lopsided trades in NBA History!!  Check out this quote from a usatoday.com article: "Charlott...

  "The combination of putting a great product on the field, giving a lot of young players a chance and keeping the team in the Bay Area," Schott said from an overstuffed leather chair at Citation Homes, the homebuilding company he owns in Santa Clara. "We never spoke of moving the team out of the area, and it feels good that we were able to keep that promise." That promise was made to the Haas family, when they sold the A's to Schott and Hofmann for $72 million in November of 1995. This was a promise made by former team owner Steve Schott to the long-time owners of the Oakland Athletics the Haas family when they bought the team in 1995. Now under the guise of the Fisher family something has changed, because that promise isn't in place anymore and clearly a desire for something new is more important than keeping a promise to a former owner. Steve Schott is the man who brought both Sandy Alderson and Billy Beane in as general managers of the organization and w...

 Following a World Series win with Florida Marlins in 1997 the world of Major League Baseball changed with the arrival of another new franchise the Tampa Bay Rays. In the 1997-1998 offseason baseball would hold it's second expansion draft of the 1990's welcoming two more teams into the fold. The Rays would join the Marlins as the newest Florida based MLB franchises. The Rays would select former Marlins starter Tony Saunders in the expansion draft and the youngster would have the chance to start again on a new team. The one thing that jumps out at me from looking at the Rays rotation from 1998 is that Tony wasn't not covered like he was with the Marlins.  I am a firm believer in the idea that youngsters are better off being able to come along at their own pace as oppose to being thrown into the fire. Tony was covered by two veterans in Florida with Kevin Brown and Al Leiter leading the rotation. In Florida, Tony also had fellow youngster Livan Hernandez alongside him to shar...

Though it might be a hard pill to swallow not everyone gets drafted, not everyone makes the big time or catches on. This doesn't always have to do with skills or timing, sometimes tragedy hits and changes everything. This is the story of former pitcher Tony Saunders who in three seasons played for two teams including winning a World Series. Tony Saunders went undrafted in the 1992 and would be signed by the Florida Marlins as an amateur free agent and would be sent to rookie ball. Before we continue I would like to take second and explain that any undrafted amateur are given the chance to freely sign with teams after the draft. For example, Tony was signed by the Marlins on June 9 which was actually the first time expansion Marlins were in the draft alongside the Rockies. Both teams would be brand new teams the following year.  Most famously Derek Jeter and Chipper Jones were the biggest gets in the draft with veterans like Paul Shuey, Jason Kendall, and Jeffrey Hammonds having sol...

Days before the Baker Mayfield deal was announced it had been rumored for a few weeks with teams like the Seattle Seahawks, and Pittsburgh Steelers in sweepstakes alongside Carolina. A Pantherswire article written back in March following the Panthers signing of former Browns Wide Receiver Rashard Higgins even eluded to Baker being moved to Carolina. However, back in March that was prior to the Deshaun Watson trade so my question is why exactly would Cleveland be looking to move Baker Mayfield. Especially considering the fact that the current Browns Quarterback hasn't thrown a pass in a meaningful NFL game in 439 days. Watson sat out the entire 2021-2022 season and was paid his contract by the Texans who somehow got three first round picks from Cleveland along with a third and fifth round pick.  I have very few words but will express my opinion after: Taken from an msn.com article "Now that the hearing is over, Watson’s team is focused on persuading Judge Sue L. Robinson to n...

This will be my first attempt talking about the NFL! I saw the recent news about Baker Mayfield being sent off to the Carolina Panthers from his former team in Cleveland. Honestly, it seems like it's been a never ending headache for fans of the Browns and things have gotten worse since DeShaun Watson has come to town. I will not comment on the Watson situation as I don't know enough about the situation to be able to comment on it. From an outsider's perspective it seems like 90% of the time when the Browns are in the news it's nothing good. However, Baker Mayfield had done a wonderful job of bringing some stability to the team and giving them a chance to build around him. Again from an outsider's perspective with additions at Wide Receiver from Odell Beckham Jr, to Jarvis Landry to Amari Cooper you would've thought Baker had some tools he could use to his advantage. Well Odell flopped in Cleveland and Jarvis hasn't mounted to being a superstar as he needs he...

Over the last few years there have been a number of problems and issues arising in Oakland for the final professional sports team in the area. This has led to a number of rumors having to do with the possibility of relocation for the Athletics. As of this writing, Athletics executives have visited the minor league affiliate for the team enough that the local has begun to cover the visits. The Las Vegas Aviators or the formerly known Vegas 51's have been the Athletics top minor league affiliate since 2019 which was also the team's first year as the Aviators. It is crazy to think that a minor league affiliate is drawing higher attendance numbers to their games then a major league team but that is exactly what is happening in this situation.  According to various articles it seems that if the A's moved to Vegas they would initially move to the Las Vegas BallPark which is the home of the Aviators while a new ballpark is built for the A's. This move would be out of the ordin...

Last Thursday the Athletics finally got some good news when a vote came down during a meeting of the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development commission voting in favor of a new ballpark for the Oakland Athletics. This vote which ended up a landslide at 23-2 is the first in many legal hurdles that the team will need to overcome in order to break ground and move forward with the new stadium. The current plan is as followed in a quote taken from an abcnews.com article: "In Oakland, the A’s proposal includes a $1 billion privately financed 35,000-seat waterfront ballpark at Howard Terminal, which is currently being used as overflow parking for containers and trucks. The project also would include 3,000 residential units, office and retail space, hotel rooms and an indoor performance center." This would be the plan if the Athletics can reach an agreement to keep them in Oakland. Following the departures of both the Golden State Warriors and Oakland Raiders to San Francisc...

One of the most troubling franchises in not just the world of MLB, but in the sports world in general are the Oakland Athletics. In the past the Athletics had been a consistent playoff contender that always found a way to win every single season. Veteran general manager Billy Beane had a way to work magic with the team on a yearly basis getting the most out of any player that comes through the door. Ownership always seems to find a new way to put different hoops for Billy to jump through on the yearly. This past offseason A's ownership even allowed former manager Bob Melvin to walk a year earlier to San Diego and almost allowed Billy Beane to walk as well. At this point, Billy is still with his long term employer and will once again try and make another rebuild work for the Athletics.  Outside of consistently shipping top players out of town and the recent clearing of top players like Matt Chapman, Chris Bassit, and others prior to the 2022 season. Relocation or a never ending disc...

  Three time MVP award winner Top five finish in the MVP voting from 2012-2020 Injured during the 2021 season would miss a majority of the season. On pace for over 500 home runs  Reached over 40 homers twice A War of around 80 according to Baseball Reference which is the highest War of any Angels player in history of the franchise. These accomplishments can only be describing one player! Number 27 on the Angels has been a staple of the baseball world since he appeared on the scene in 2011. In my opinion, Trout was one the first highly touted draft picks to appear at least in my generation. It takes a special player to be able to finish top five in MVP voting for eight years in a row. Unfortunately, the Angels haven't found much success since the arrival of Mike Trout. A lot of fans and analysts figured that Trout paired with Otani would be a dream pairing and even though it is, the Angels haven't been able to put it together.  The Angels have paired Trout with fo...