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05/04/2007 10:00 AM ET
Beyond the Box Score

The other side of summer
Teams in the Japanese Majors try to put their hopes into words by selecting a motto at the start of each season. With the realization that something may be lost in translation, here are the 2007 slogans of Japan's big-league teams:
Pacific League
City, Team, Slogan
Chiba, Chiba Lotte Marines, "All Hands to the Flag"
Fukuoka, Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks, "First in the City"
Osaka, Orix Buffaloes, "One Heart Beat"
Sapporo, Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters, "Focus, Advance, Nexus Spirit"
Sendai, Tohoku Rakuten Golden Eagles, "Think Hard, Win More"
Tokorozawa, Seibu Lions, "Together We Play, Together We Stand"

Central League
City, Team, Slogan
Hiroshima, Hiroshima Carp, "All-In"
Nagoya, Chunichi Dragons, "Road to Victory"
Nishinomiya, Hanshin Tigers, "Be the Best for the Fans"
Tokyo, Tokyo Yakult Swallows, "Let's Make It Happen"
Tokyo, Yomiuri Giants, "SHOW THE SPIRIT -- Win Back the Pennant"
Yokohama, Yokohama BayStars, "Make it Now -- Move On"

Like fine wine
The final pick in the Israel Baseball League draft was Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax. The Modi'in Miracle chose the legendary Jewish pitcher, who famously refused to start Game 1 of the 1965 World Series because it fell on Yom Kippur. Koufax was one of the most dominant pitchers of the 60s and retired from baseball unexpectedly in 1966 at the age of 30.

"It's been 41 years between starts for him," said Miracle manager Art Shamsky. "If he's rested and ready to take the mound again, we want him on our team."

The 71-year-old Koufax was a six time All-Star, threw four no-hitters, won three Cy Young Awards and can probably still uncork a decent fastball.

Big stick
Manny Ramirez, on Tuesday, became the 14th Major Leaguer to garner 1,000 hits with two different teams when he reached a grand with the Boston Red Sox. Ramirez posted 1,086 knocks with the Cleveland Indians from 1993-2000. The Sox outfielder joins the likes of Jake Beckley, Joe Cronin, Carlton Fisk, Jimmie Foxx, Frankie Frisch, Tris Speaker and Joe Torre in the double-grand club.

Iron will
Monday marked the 68th anniversary of Lou Gehrig's last game. The New York Yankees icon and future Hall of Famer played his final game in the Majors on April 30, 1939, against the Washington Senators going 0-for-4. Gehrig, who was suffering from undiagnosed amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), asked manager Joe McCarthy to drop him from the lineup for the club's next game on May 2, ending his consecutive games streak at 2,130. When he played his last game, Gehrig ranked second to former teammate Babe Ruth in career homers with 493 -- today he ranks 21st. According to David Vincent of "The Home Run Encyclopedia," the top 10 home run hitters on the day the "Iron Horse" played in the Majors for the last time were (* -- career homers on 4/30/1939; # -- final total):

Player, HRs*, HRs#, Current Rank
Babe Ruth, 714, 714, 3rd
Lou Gehrig, 493, 493, 21st
Jimmie Foxx, 431, 534, 14th
Mel Ott, 344, 511, 19th
Rogers Hornsby, 301, 301, 113th
Al Simmons, 299, 307, 106th
Chuck Klein, 280, 300, 114th
Cy Williams, 251, 251, 175th
Goose Goslin, 248, 248, 178th
Hack Wilson, 244, 244, 186th


All in one
Troy Tulowitzki of the Colorado Rockies executed a baseball rarity on April 29, when he turned an unassisted triple play. Tulowitzki is just the 13th Major Leaguer and the eighth shortstop to record three outs on one play all by himself.

The triple killing came in the seventh inning against the Atlanta Braves in Denver. Tulowitzki caught a line drive off the bat of Chipper Jones, stepped on second to double off Kelly Johnson then tagged out Edgar Renteria, who was running from first. It all happened so quickly the shortstop wasn't sure he'd made all the requisite outs, so he stepped on second again then threw the ball to first baseman Todd Helton just in case.

Unfortunately, Helton, without thinking, tossed the ball into the stands as he usually does at the end of an inning, depriving his teammate of a souvenir of his once-in-a-lifetime play. The first baseman treated Tulowitzki to lunch the next day to make up for his gaffe. On Monday, a Denver talk show host claimed he caught the ball, but video of the play includes no shots of Helton tossing the ball into the stands or of the fan who caught it.

Loyal retainer
Closer Trevor Hoffman set a new big-league record when he made his 803rd appearance for the San Diego Padres on April 28. The all-time saves leader set the mark for most appearances by a pitcher for one Major League team. Hoffman broke a tie with Walter "Big Train" Johnson of the Washington Senators and Elroy Face of the Pittsburgh Pirates. The five pitchers who appeared in the most games for one club are (* -- through Wednesday):

Pitcher, Team, Appearances
Trevor Hoffman*, Padres, 804
Walter Johnson, Senators, 802
Elroy Face, Pirates, 802
Phil Niekro, Braves, 740
Mariano Rivera*, Yankees, 729


Masquerade
Five fans in the left-field pavilion at Dodger Stadium are wearing wolf masks every time Randy Wolf starts for Los Angeles. Paul Hagen of the Philadelphia Daily News reports the tradition began at old Veterans Stadium and continued at Citizens Bank Park when Wolf plied his trade for the Philadelphia Phillies. The idea originated with Wolf's former Pepperdine University teammate Micah Weathers. In order to continue the tradition at Chavez Ravine, though, Weathers had to get special permission from the Dodgers because the club usually prohibits the wearing of masks in the stands at their home park.

Roaming the outfield
It looks like Josh Hamilton is a keeper. The Cincinnati Reds outfielder finished April leading all National League rookies in homers, RBIs, total bases and slugging percentage. The Reds acquired Hamilton in the offseason when they persuaded the Chicago Cubs, in exchange for cash, to pluck Hamilton out of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays system in the Rule 5 Draft, then trade him.

Hamilton recently demonstrated his versatility when he became just the 10th player since 2004 to play all three outfield positions in one game. Reds manager Jerry Narron moved him around the outfield in a series of late-inning double switches during a 10-3 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on April 24. The rookie started the game in center field, moved to left in the eighth and to right in the ninth. The only Major Leaguer who made circuits of the outfield more than once in the last four seasons was Damon Hollins, who did it twice for the Devil Rays in 2005. The 11 times since 2004 one player rotated through all outfield positions in one game were (* -- didn't start game):

Date, Team, Player (Sequence)
4/24/2007, Reds, Josh Hamilton (CF-LF-RF)
8/7/2006, Giants, Randy Winn (CF-LF-RF)
5/9/2006, Red Sox, Wily Mo Pena (RF-CF-LF)
9/28/2005, Devil Rays, Damon Hollins (CF-LF-RF)
9/11/2005, Devil Rays, Damon Hollins (CF-LF-RF)
8/30/2005, Padres, Ben Johnson (CF-LF-RF)
5/25/2005, Cardinals, So Taguchi (RF-LF-CF)
4/6/2005, Dodgers, Jason Repko (LF-RF-CF)
10/1/2004, Angels, Jeff DaVanon (LF-CF-RF)
9/8/2004, Twins, Lew Ford (RF-LF-CF)
6/7/2004, A's, Eric Byrnes (LF-RF-CF)
5/6/2004, Cardinals, Colin Porter* (LF-CF-RF)

Long ball lit
For all those who love the big fly, Potomac Books has just released David Vincent's new opus entitled: "Home Run: The Definitive History of Baseball's Ultimate Weapon." Vincent, who co-authored "The Home Run Encyclopedia" in 1996, further illuminates the history and tradition of the round-tripper in his newest work.

Deal or no deal
Time Warner and Liberty Media are trying to close a deal for the Atlanta Braves before a provision in the federal tax code changes on May 17. Major League owners need to approve the deal, which would send the Braves, a group of magazines and tons of money to Liberty in exchange for Liberty's huge block of Time Warner stock.

Major League Baseball's quarterly meeting is scheduled for May 16-17 in New York, and the companies must complete the complex deal by 11:59 p.m. ET on May 16 in order to reap the tax benefits in the current code. A delay could significantly reduce the amount of cash and stock changing hands and make it less attractive for both parties.

A fan to the end
Red Sox baseball is an essential part of life, and death, in the Northeast, as noted by Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe. Cafardo spotted an obituary in the Portland Press Herald (Maine) last week that began: "Shirley Elizabeth Zeegers, 79, of Fort Pearce, Fla. and Oxford, Maine, died Sunday evening between the third and fourth consecutive home runs of the night by her beloved Red Sox. Some suspect she may have had an influence in the fourth home run."

The Red Sox hit four homers in a row on April 22 to defeat the New York Yankees, 7-6, and sweep their series with the Bronx Bombers.

Around the Horn
Tony La Russa became just the fourth manager in Major League history to lose 2,000 games when the Cardinals lost on Monday. On the positive side, La Russa has registered the third-most managerial victories in the bigs. ... When Mariano Rivera recorded the first save of the season for the Yankees in the team's 22nd game, it was the longest a team had gone without a save at the start of a campaign since the 1986 Tigers -- the 1975 Orioles set the record by going save-less in their first 58 contests.

According to "Great Baseball Feats, Facts and Firsts," the new book by Scott Flatow and David Nemec, Curt Schilling became the first big-league pitcher to record his 3,000th strikeout before issuing his 700th walk. ... Derrek Lee of the Cubs led the Majors in doubles in April with 14. ... Setup man Brian Shouse has stranded all 16 runners he's inherited this season, but the rest of the Brewers bullpen has allowed 18 of 25 inherited men to score. ... The Rockies have already used 19 different pitchers this season. Last year, they used just 16 before the All-Star break. ... Bobby Cox is moving up: the Braves skipper needs just seven more wins to pass Sparky Anderson (2,194) for fourth place in managerial victories and just five more ejections to pass John McGraw (131) for the all-time lead in that category.

Lance Berkman of the Astros, Chipper Jones of the Braves and Jose Vidro of the Mariners are the only active switch-hitters with 3,000 or more plate appearances who have career batting averages of .300 or better. ... Royals batters set a new franchise record for the month of April by getting hit by pitches 20 times -- the old club mark was 18 set in 2004. ... Through Wednesday, Miguel Tejada needed to play in 10 more games to pass Billy Williams (1,117) for the fifth-longest consecutive game streak in Major League history. ... Through Wednesday, Mike Scioscia needed one more victory to become the Angels' winningest manager -- Bill Rigney (625 wins) holds the mark. ... With his next win, Mark Buehrle will join Red Faber, Joe Horlen, Ted Lyons and Ed Walsh as the only White Sox pitchers to post their first 100 wins with the team.

Frank Thomas is just five homers away from breaking Edgar Martinez's record (243) for most homers by a designated hitter. ... The Reds plan to retire uniform number 13 in honor of former shortstop Dave Concepcion. The three other Reds who wore the number were Eddie Miller (1946), Eddie Pellagrini (1952-53) and coach Ray Shore (1966-67). ... Eric Chavez joined Jason Giambi as the only other player to both homer and make an error on their bobblehead day. Chavez accomplished the feat on April 28, while Giambi did it on September 13, 2003. ... Phillies pitcher Jamie Moyer went 6,887 days between his second career double in 1988 and his third on April 29 of this year. ... Hideki Matsui needs six more hits to become the 46th member of Japan's "Golden Players Club," the members of which must have 200 wins, 250 saves or 2,000 hits. Matsui had 1,994 career hits through Wednesday between the Japanese and American Majors.

In his five-year career, Mark Prior of the Cubs has been on the disabled list nine times. ... The New York Mets lead the Majors in hitting. The last NL team to lead the bigs in hitting for an entire season was the 2001 Rockies. ... Former Major Leaguer Carl Everett is planning to play for the Long Island Ducks of the independent Atlantic League. ... On Wednesday, the Yomiuri Giants became the first franchise in the Japanese Major Leagues to record 5,000 victories. ... Thursday marked the 71st anniversary of Joe DiMaggio's big-league debut. In his first game, the "Yankee Clipper" started in left, batted third, went 3-for-6 with a triple and two singles, scored three runs and drove in one against the Browns.