July 26, 2016

On Sunday, July 24, Ken Griffey, Jr., and Mike Piazza became the newest members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York. At a ceremony attended by previous Hall of Fame members and some 50,000 fans, both players paid tribute to supportive parents and—with baseball-sized lumps in their throats—they each broke down in tears. Griffey, a graceful outfielder with a legendary swing, dedicated his inauguration “to my dad, who taught me how to play this game and to my mom, the strongest woman I know.” Piazza, one of the game’s all-time great catchers, was grateful for the freedom and opportunity to play baseball: “Dad always dreamed of playing in the major leagues. He could not follow that dream because of the realities of life. My father’s faith in me, often greater than my own, is the single most important factor of me being inducted into this Hall of Fame.” Griffey is the highest draft pick—number 1 overall in 1987—ever to enter the Hall of Fame. Conversely, Piazza was drafted in 1988 in the 62^nd round at number 1,390—the lowest draft pick to end up in Cooperstown. The Major League Baseball (MLB) draft was first held in 1965 and is now limited to 40 rounds.

Ken Griffey, Jr., springs from the batter’s box on April 27, 2000, during his first season with the Cincinnati Reds. He hit 40 home runs that year with 118 runs batted in.
Credit: © Ezra Shaw, Allsport/Getty Images

Griffey played 22 seasons in his MLB career, split mainly between the Seattle Mariners and Cincinnati Reds. He hit 630 home runs (sixth all time), drove in 1,836 runs, made 13 All-Star teams, won 10 Gold Gloves in center field, and was the 1997 American League Most Valuable Player. Griffey is the first Mariners player enshrined in Cooperstown. In Hall of Fame voting (cast by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America), he was named on 437 of 440 ballots. His vote percentage of 99.3 was the highest since Hall of Fame voting began in 1936.

Mike Piazza steps to the plate in a 2005 Spring Training game in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It was Piazza’s last year with the New York Mets.
Credit: © Aspen Photo/Shutterstock

Piazza played 16 years in the big leagues, primarily as a catcher. He spent most of his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the New York Mets. Piazza retired with a .308 career batting average and 427 home runs, including an MLB record 396 as a catcher. He was selected to 12 All-Star teams. He is the second Mets player (after Tom Seaver) to enter the Hall of Fame. Piazza received 83 percent of the Hall of Fame vote. No other players reached the minimum of 75 percent.

Other World Book articles: 

Baseball (1997) – A Back in Time article
Baseball (2008) – A Back in Time article

November 2, 2015

The Kansas City Royals seized the World Series crown with a comeback victory at Citi Field in New York last night, defeating the New York Mets 7-2 in Game 5. It was the eighth game in the 2015 post-season that the irrepressible Royals had come from behind to win, including all four of their World Series victories.

The Kansas City Royals celebrate after Game 5 of the World Series against the New York Mets. Credit: © David J. Phillip, AP Photo

The Mets began the game with a leadoff home run by outfielder Curtis Granderson and a dominant pitching performance by starter Matt Harvey. Harvey held the Royals to eight scoreless innings before returning to raucous applause to pitch with a 2-0 lead in the ninth. But trouble developed early with a leadoff walk to Kansas City center fielder Lorenzo Cain. Cain then stole second, and Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer doubled him in to cut the Mets lead in half. The Mets brought in closer Jeurys Familia to face Royals third baseman Mike Moustakas, who grounded out to send Hosmer to third.

 Then, in the critical play, Royals catcher Salvador Perez grounded out to Mets third baseman David Wright, who looked Hosmer back to the bag before making the throw to first. Hosmer broke for home instantly, scoring as the throw from Mets first baseman Lucas Duda flew wide of catcher Travis d’Arnaud. Familia, a reliable closer for most of the year, had a tough series, blowing all three of his save opportunities after being brought into some tight situations.

 Starting pitcher Edinson Volquez of the Royals also turned in a memorable performance, having returned just before Game 4 from his father’s funeral in the Dominican Republic. Volquez held the Mets to two runs, allowing only the leadoff by Granderson and one additional run as he escaped from a bases loaded, no outs jam in the sixth. Both teams carried the tie into the 12th inning, when the Royals finally broke through with a five-run rally against Mets relievers Addison Reed and Bartolo Colon.

 The victory marked something of a double comeback for the Royals, who were returning from a heartbreaking 4 games to 3 loss to the San Francisco Giants in the 2014 World Series. The 2015 victory marked Kansas City’s first MLB championship since 1985. The defeat ended a magical season for the Mets, who took their division despite trailing the majors in runs scored per game before Aug. 1.

Other World Book articles

• Baseball (1985-a Back in time report)
• Baseball
• World Series Winners: 1961 to Present (a Timeline)

October 21, 2015

Today, October 21, 2015, is the future—or so it was way back when in the old days of 1989. Late in that now distant year, a movie directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox captured people’s imagination: Back to the Future Part II. The first half hour of the film, which is a sequel the 1985 hit Back to the Future, features a leap forward into the year 2015—October 21, to be exact. Today. As science fiction movies have always done, Back to the Future Part II made bold (if tongue-in-cheek) predictions on what the future would look like—what we would wear, what we would eat, what we would drive. The film made a lot of other wild guesses about the future, too—or perhaps, “II”. Did any of their predictions come true?

Canadian actor Michael J. Fox portrayed time-traveling teenager Marty McFly in the Back to the Future films. © Robert Pitts, Landov

What they got right: drones walked dogs in Back to the Future Part II. Drones (or UAV‘s) are beginning to do just about everything, so that seems plausible. There are cameras everywhere in the movie, following nearly everything people do. Got that right. The film also features alternative fuel cars and large, flat-screen televisions showing multiple channels; there are video chat systems, motion sensor video games, and wearable technology—all that sound familiar?

There were some obvious swings and misses, however. Flying cars, every sci-fi movie’s favorite future thing, do not exist. They could exist, but they would be impractical. Instead, we have Google and other companies developing cars that drive themselves. That’s futuristic, right? Disappointingly, there are no hoverboards (excepting one or two concepts) in today’s world of 2015. For better or worse, lawyers have not been banished, either. Telephone booths still stand on street corners, and fax machines are stacked around the house and mounted on mailboxes in the movie. Big misses. Hardly could the film creators have imagined how the Internet and smartphones would change nearly every aspect of communication. The movie also predicted the long-suffering Chicago Cubs would win baseball’s World Series in 2015. Tantalizingly close, this too seems like a long shot at best in the real 2015. The Cubs are down 3 games to 0 to the New York Mets in the National League Championship Series. Barring a miraculous comeback, this will also be a failed prediction.

1989 was 26 years ago. How well could you predict 26 years into the future? In the year 2041, what will you be wearing? How will you get to work? Will you even need to leave home to work? What will you eat or drink, how will you communicate or play? What will your hair look like? Will you have any? There are a lot of things to think about…