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On August 7th, 1963, Jim Hickman collected ten total bases at the Polo Grounds, and they sorted just so to be blessed with a name, "the cycle." Hickman was the very first Met to perform this feat of incrementality.
On August 7th, 1985, a second consecutive Mets game was canceled owing to a major league-wide labor stoppage. If you're looking to give back to the internets by supporting an under-served wikipedia page, look no further than here. At issue were player's pension funds and the slice of television revenue going thereto. MLB cried poor and opened its black and white and red-all-over books. The conflict was resolved with a quid pro quo that reduced pension contributions while raising the minimum salary to $60,000 and gagging cap talks indefinitely. For a predictable piece of spittle-on-the-lips outrage, try here. Play resumed the next day, August 8th, and 25 games were rescheduled with double-headers.
Transactions
- 2010: The Mets released "utility"-player Alex Cora assuring we never would see his vest.
- 2009: The Mets released shortstop Angel Berroa. 2009, man.
- 1986: The Mets released George Foster days after he suggested that race played a part in his limited playing time. Foster was taken on by the White Sox but hung up the spikes only 15 games later.
Birthday
- Kirke Niewenhuis was born August 7, 1987. In high school he earned the nickname "Horse" -- for his work ethic -- and "Bonesaw" -- something about his bballing style. You may have heard he has a "football-type mentality"; indeed he ran the pigskin 268 yards through a blizzard to bring the Colorado Christian Crusaders a Class 2A Champtionship, and was subsequently recruited as a wide-out for Colorado U. His ideal dinner companions consist of Jesus Christ, Winston Churchill, and George W. Bush, which violates all manner off AA discussion parameters.
- Tyler Yates (turns 35) made his major league debut with the Mets in 2004, splitting time between the rotation and the pen. In 46.2 innings he struck out 35, walked 25, and averaged 6.36 earned runs per nine. The native of Hawaii has gone under the knife for a rotator cuff surgery and two Tommy John surgeries.
- Danny Graves (turns 39) flung 20.1 innings of relief for the 2005 Mets, signing with the team after flipping off his home crowd in Cincinnati. He retired the following year. The son of an American serviceman and a Vietnamese mother, the ten-year veteran is the only major league player in history born in Vietnam.
Amazin'-ly Tenuous Connection
On this date, 1949, IBM introduced the first modern calculator, the Automated Sequence Controlled Calculator, popularly known as Harvard Mark 1. Prior to this innovation, there was no scenario where you or I could have enjoyed a baseball game.