All-Star MVP Award Named For Ted Williams

While Major League Baseball’s tradition of selecting the All-Star Game’s Most Valuable Player to recognize the most outstanding performer in each year’s game, didn’t begin until 1962, baseball historians and knowledgeable fans agree that Ted Williams personified the MVP spirit.

Aside from the MLB All-Star Game itself and the Home Run Derby, the most anticipated and watched element of each year’s All-Star Weekend is the Taco Bell All-Star Legends & Celebrity Softball Game.  Once again this year, “Mr. Cub®” Ernie Banks will be heading up the National League team, which is looking to rebound after last year’s loss in Anaheim.  

Harmon Killebrew
(June 29, 1936 – May 17, 2011)

Minnesota Twins Bids Fond Farewell To The Original Twin Star in Arizona, Fans Remember Beloved Legend at Target Field

Harmon Killebrew was the Minnesota Twins’ first and most enduring superstar, playing 14 thunderous seasons and then continuing his role as the face of the franchise after becoming its first Hall of Fame inductee in 1984. 

Millions of people worldwide look forward to seeing what the next Sports Illustrated cover is going to be.  And SI's commitment to featuring baseball’s greatest sluggers was made abundantly clear when it spotlighted 500 Home Run Club member Eddie Mathews hitting a titanic blast out of Milwaukee’s cavernous County Stadium on the cover of its inaugural issue on August 16, 1954.

June has always been a pivotal month for major league teams, and it was the month that many members of the 500 Home Run Club hit their pivotal long balls.
 

I’m delighted to announced that my friends at Triumph Books have teamed up with Chicago Tribune reporter/ author Phil Rogers to publish a new biography of you know who entitled “Ernie Banks: Mr. Cub and the Summer of '69.”

500HRC Greats Battled At The Plate…and In The Military

Members of the 500 Home Run Club were known for their ability to “fight off” inside fastballs and knock baseballs into the “wild blue yonder.”  But two of MLB’s greatest sluggers (Ted Williams and Willie Mays) also took time out of the playing career to serve in our nation’s military.

The old saying “Behind Every Great Man Stands A Great Women” has certainly proven true over the years as 500 Home Run Club® members’ spouses supported their men – before and after they became stars – through the good and lean years, and helped them to cope with the pressures and responsibilities that came with being amongst the greatest sluggers in MLB history.

Mays Claimed Share of MLB Record With Four Homers In Single Game

On April 30, 1961 at Milwaukee’s County Stadium, The San Francisco Giants scored fourteen runs against the Braves and eight of them belonged to Willie Mays.  The “Say Hey Kid” put on a dazzling display of power by going deep in the first, third, sixth, and eighth inning.  

Major League Baseball’s Opening Day is one of the most anticipated days of the year, with fans in cities all over the nation, and around the world, sitting on the edge of their seat in anticipation of spectacular exploits and amazing performances to come during the spanking new season.  And no one delivered more excitement on Opening Day than the members of The 500 Home Run Club®.

Four Homers Heat Up Cold Day in Chicago

On a frigid April 17th afternoon in 1976, with the wind whistling out of Chicago’s Wrigley Field, Mike Schmidt led his beloved Phillies to one of the most improvable victories in MLB history, with four home runs.  He also became the first National Leaguer to hit four homers in a row. 

Tell-All Book Chronicles The Life and Thunderous Career of Baseball's Mr. October

On the September 17, 1984, Reggie Jackson celebrated the seventeenth anniversary of his first Major League round-tripper, by connected off of Kansas City Royals pitcher Bud Black for his 500th career home run.  When asked about hitting so many home runs, Jackson was quoted as saying “God do I love to hit that little round sum-bitch out of the park and make 'em say WOW!"

Members’ Game-Worn Jerseys Demand Historical Bids at Auction

1954 Mickey Mantle Game-Worn Jersey Sold For $119,500.00 

In 1951 the Yankees trained in Arizona instead of Fort Lauderdale. The dry desert air and higher altitude are conducive to the long ball, and Mickey made the most of it.   

Doubters beware…Manny Ramirez has a chip on his shoulder and a lot to offer the right team during 2011…and that team is the Tampa Bay Rays.

After he posted a .627 slugging percentage in 340 plate appearances and sending 25 home runs screaming into the sky during a 2010 season that surprised just about everyone whose last name isn’t Thome, the Thomenator is fulfilling on his promise (see "I'll Be Back") by returning for what he predicts will be another productive year with the Minnesota Twins. 

After 22 years of never backing down at the plate, despite having pitchers like Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax dial up their meanest fast balls, nastiest sliders, and scariest curve balls in an effort to defeat him…it’s no surprise that 500 Home Run Club® member Harmon Killebrew is confidently preparing for a fight with perhaps the toughest adversary he’s ever faced: esophageal cancer. 

In honor of Black History Month – which was established to encourage Americans of all races to recall and celebrate the positive contributions to our nation made by people of African descent – we’ve assembled quotes from members of the 500 Home Run Club® on what Jackie Robinson meant to the sport of baseball as it has evolved over the years, as well as what Jackie meant to them personally and professionally.

After 18 seasons of being a “difference maker” for the Red Sox and Dodgers, Manny Ramirez had a less than “Manny Being Manny” kinda year in 2010.  His trademark smile and good-natured spirit were less often on display, while his trademark swing that terrorized teams in both leagues over the past decade was less than awesome. 

After a joyous reunion with Tony La Russa in St. Louis, and a successful first year as the hitting coach of his beloved Cardinals, the man know to millions as simply “Big Mac” is hard at work getting the redbirds’ speedy young guns ready to battle for the National League Central crown.