Bo Belinsky--Happy Birthday Quote of the Day

Among the baseball players born on December 6th was Robert "Bo" Belinsky. Belinsky was one of the great baseball characters of the early to mid 60's. He had a playboy image that he played up tremendously plus he was gifted with a great sense of humor.

Unfortunately his on field game was nothing like his off field game. His career record was 28 and 51. He played for the original California Angels and his greatest accomplishment was pitching a no-hitter in his rookie year.

After pitching a no--hitter, Belinsky said,

"If I had known I was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I would have gotten a haircut"

Happy Baseball Birthday Quote--Jocko Conlan---One of the Greatest Quotes of All-Time

Jocko Conlan, a Hall of Fame Baseball Umpire, was born on December 6th.

Besides being an all-time great umpire, he has provided one of the all-time funniest quotes in baseball history.

 

 

"No, I wanted to dedicate it to Bill Klem, the greatest umpire who ever lived. What the hell does my wife know about baseball?"

--Jocko Conlan, asked if was going to dedicate his autobiography to his wife

 

www.baseballquotations.com

Happy Baseball Birthday in Quotes to Christian Yelich

December 5th is the 25th birthday of Marlins young star, Christian Yelich. After being drafted by the Marlins in the first round of the 2010 draft, there were high expectations for Yelich.

He has clearly met those expectations and more with a Gold Glove in 2014 and a Silver Slugger award in 2016 culminating with a .298 batting average and 98 ribbies.

For this great play at a young age, he has won the coveted Baseball Birthday Quote of the Day. baseballquotations.com

"We've said it many times. I think that one day he has a chance to be a batting champion himself. He's a pure hitter."
--Dan Jennings, talking about Yelich

Happy Baseball Birthday in Quotes to Harvey Kuenn

December 4th birthday baseball quote of the day goes to Harvey Kuenn. Talk about an underrated star. Check out some of his credentials--- Career batting average of .303. He led the American League in hitting in 1959 with a .353 batting average. He was the Rookie of the Year in 1953 and a ten time all-star.

On top of that, in his brief stint as a manager, he led the Brewers to their only World Series appearance. His team was known as 'Harvey's Wallbangers' with the likes of Robin Yount, Gorman Thomas and Cecil Cooper leading this offensive juggernaut. I hope the veterans committee takes Kuenn seriously for the Hall of Fame.

He is also famous for being involved in one of the most controversial trades in baseball history. After leading the league in hitting in 1959, he was traded from the Tigers to the Indians, for Rocky Colavito who led the league in home runs in 1959. While Kuenn was a great player and a great guy, Colavito and his power were loved in Cleveland. Took years for the Indians to get over the deal.

Kuenn is also the answer to a trivia question. In Sandy Koufax's four no-hitters, Kuenn was responsible for two of the final outs.

For his long storied career, Harvey Kuenn still may not have been voted into the Hall of Fame, but he has been the recipient of the Baseball Birthday Quote of the Day for December 4th.

"If this guy was hurt, his team might be hurt, but the pitching all over the league will improve."
--Casey Stengel, on an injured Harvey Kuenn

Happy Baseball Birthday in Quotes to Clay Dalrymple

So I am all excited since I have started this blog about the birth of famous baseball players on December 3rd. It is my birthday so I was hoping to see some big names. Well, I guess Clay Dalrymple is a big name---lots of letters. But hardly a star. Turns out December 3rd was not a big birthday for baseball stars.

Nevertheless, Dalrymple was a terrific defensive catcher, who over the course of his long career, threw out almost fifty percent of runners trying to steal. He spent his career with two teams--the Phillies and the Orioles.

The quotes comes from his Phillies Manager, Gene Mauch

"I never had a better catcher than this guy at nurturing pitchers through the first few innings until they find their stuff."
--Gene Mauch, on Clay Dalrymple.

Happy Baseball Birthday in Quotes to Gary Sanchez

Yankee phenom Gary Sanchez has his birthday today. Much has been written about the start of his MLB career. Few quotes about him were better than the one posted below by Mark Teixeria.

Baseball Birthday Quote: Gary Sanchez

"Shoot, if Babe Ruth is hitting behind him, you'd intentionally walk him."
--Mark Teixeria, asked if he was offended that Gary Sanchez was intentionally walked to face Teixeria

Happy Birthday Quote of the Day Javier Baez

December 1st is the birthday of one of the most exciting young stars in baseball, Javier Baez, who turned 24.

In the post season Baez shined both offensively and defensively. Some of his plays at second base were nothing short of incredible. He is going to be a star for years to come and is well deserving of the baseball birthday quote of the day--an award even more prestigious than his 2016 NLCS Co-MVP Award.

"He swings with violent intentions."
--Theo Epstein, on Javier Baez

www.baseballquotations.com