Big League Stew
  • After Mike Trout's monster rookie season in 2012, many believed it wasn't a matter of if, but when he would achieve some of baseball's most distinguished feats. Like, for instance, hitting for the cycle.

    Trout can check that off his to-do list after Tuesday night's Los Angeles Angels game. All told, he was 4-for-5 with two runs, five RBIs and a stolen base. His at-bats went like this: strikeout in the first inning, single in the third, triple in the fourth, double in the sixth and in the eighth inning — with everyone watching to see if he could do it — a home run to complete the cycle.

    A few notes of historical context:

    (USA Today)• Trout is the youngest player in American League history — at 21 years, 9 months, 16 days — to hit for the cycle. Mel Ott, who achieved the cycle in 1929 at age 20 — is the youngest overall.

    • Other younger-than-22 cycle-hitters: Cesar Cedeno (1972), Arky Vaughan (1933) and Alex Rodriguez (1997).

    • Trout is the first hitter this season to hit for the cycle.

    • He's the

    Read More »from Mike Trout hits for the cycle, becomes youngest player in AL history to do so
  • (Getty Images, BLS Illustration)The New York Yankees proved Tuesday they won't be confined — not to baseball and maybe not to New York City either.

    A $100 million partnership was announced Tuesday between the Yankees and Premier League club Manchester City to create a Major League Soccer team called New York City FC. Yahoo! Sports soccer blog, Dirty Tackle, has more of the particulars. But here's one interesting tidbit that's emerged on the baseball side: This could open the door for the Yankees to play in England.

    From London newspaper The Telegraph:

    Read More »from The New York Yankees-Manchester City partnership could mean Yankees games in England
  • Montreal renames street to honor Gary Carter

    (AP, Getty Images)

    Catcher Gary Carter has already been immortalized in the Baseball Hall of Fame, but now he's immortalized in Montreal too, where he used to star for the Expos.

    At a Tuesday ceremony, Montreal officially renamed a street in his honor, or in this case, honour. Gary Carter Street will now replace Faillon Street West on Montreal maps. According to the Montreal Gazette, the street was chosen because it's near the ex-Jarry Park Stadium, where the Expos played 1969-1976.

    Carter, who died in 2012 from brain cancer at age 57, played for the Expos 1974-1984. He was a seven-time All-Star and MVP runner-up in 1980. He later played for the New York Mets, San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers.

    Gary Carter Street is the first of two namings in Montreal to honor Carter. Gary Carter baseball park is opening June 15. From the Gazette:

    Little league teams from across Quebec are to participate in a series of baseball games for the park's opening. Montreal sportscaster Rodger Brulotte, who will

    Read More »from Montreal renames street to honor Gary Carter
  • When baseball legend and St. Louis icon Stan Musial died in January at 92 he left behind a legion of fans and a long list of honors, including having the fourth-most hits in MLB history. He also left behind a 5,286-square-foot, three-acre estate in St. Louis that was built in 1962. The house is now on the market for $1.795 million.

    It has four bedrooms, seven bathrooms, a pool and a mid-century style you'd expect from someone born in 1920 — like a checkered marble floor in the entry way and a decent amount of pastel in the living room.

    We've heard of people buying old cars owned by famous people, but how about Musial's house? For a hardcore Cardinals fan, that's a one-of-a-kind souvenir, definitely something to talk about at dinner. And at a modest price when you consider what some houses sell for. Andruw Jones' mansion cost $5 million, and he didn't have anything near Musial's 3,630 career hits. Though, as was Stan "The Man's" style, he lived modestly compared to Andruw Jones' of the world.

    Read More »from Baseball icon Stan Musial’s St. Louis home for sale with $1.7 million asking price (Slideshow)
  • (BLS Illustration)

    In sticking up for one of his struggling players over the weekend, Kansas City Royals manager Ned Yost introduced a neoclassical term to the world. Coming into play Tuesday, third baseman Mike Moustakas was batting .240/.294/.384 with 29 home runs in 1,130 career plate appearances. This season alone, his numbers are much, much worse.

    It appears Royals brass has overreached in expecting Moustakas and first baseman Eric Hosmer to develop into reliable corners this season. But it's too soon to give up on Moustakas — even for a while, by demoting him to the minors — Yost said to Kansas City Star reporter Bob Dutton:

    “You know what?” Yost said. “Maybe when we get home, I can go to the third base tree and pick another third baseman. … Obviously, third basemen who can hit and hit with power, they must grow on trees."

    There it is. "The Third Base Tree." Soak it in, in all of its grandeur. If he contributes nothing else in his managerial career, either on the field or in a press conference, Yost has borne fruit by conjuring a mystical tree from which any major league team can pluck a ripe stud for the hot corner.

    • Miguel Cabrera would be the trunk.

    • David Wright, Adrian Beltre, Evan Longoria and (UPDATE) Manny Machado (who someday will cross-pollinate over to the Shortstop Tree) would be the biggest branches.

    • Kyle Seager would be a blossoming bud.

    • George Brett would still be attached, double-tapered and tan.

    • Moustakas would be a fallen leaf.

    • (UPDATE) Jeff Keppinger is poison oak.

    Later in the interview, in case you weren't sure that Yost's quote didn't drip with sarcasm, he broke it to everybody:

    Read More »from Ned Yost: ‘There is no third baseman tree’

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