The pennant races are very exciting in the big leagues with many teams still holding post season aspirations. That can also be said of the teams in the Longball League.
Roster Moves
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This week's Three Trivial Things...
1. The Angels' Kendrys Morales blasted two homers in one inning last Monday as the Halos downed the Texas Rangers, 15-8. Morales became just The 25th man in baseball history to homer twice in one inning. However, if that isn't rare enough of a feat, he became just the third man in baseball history to homer from both sides of the plate in a single inning. The other two men to accomplish this feat were Cleveland's Carlos Baerga in 1993 and the Mark Bellhorn of the Cubs in 2002.
2. The popular theory about the origin of Aluminum bats were that they were invented in the 1960s and then became popular in the 1970s. Yes, they did find widespread use in the 1970s, but I read an article the other day that at least dates their invention back to the late 1940s. In an Associated Press article dated September 19th, 1944, Aluminum bats with metal plugs were being made and readied for release by the Light Metals Laboratory at the Washington State College's Schools of Mines (Wazzu). The "Joe Di Maggio model was tested by ballplayers in Spokane to rave reviews according to the article.
3. Did you know that the first ever athlete to appear on a Wheaties Box was baseball player? It was, and that player was Lou Gehrig. The Iron Horse graced the cover of the cereal box back in 1934.
Baseball Card of the Week
For his great homer feat earlier in the week, the Angels' Kendrys Morales gets the nod. Here's a look at Kendrys' 2012 Topps Heritage card #79.
Until next week folks, remember that Vernon Wells is 0 for 15 with five strikeouts since being activated off the the disabled list by the Angels.
-The Commissioner
