Nick Swisher

2012 Stats: 148 Games, .272 BA, 24 HRs, 93 RBIs & .837 OPS

Nick Swisher signed with the Cleveland Indians this off-season. He's a high energy guy who will bring a good leadership quality to a rebuilt Indians team. He will play mostly at 1B where his career Fielding % is .994. Batting in the middle of the lineup Swisher should get 100 RBIs in a season for the first time in his career.

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This Day in Sports History - 1/15/1994

San Francisco 49ers RB Ricky Watters scores an NFL postseason record five touchdowns during a 44 - 3 thrashing of the New York Giants in a divisional playoff game at Candlestick Park. Watters crosses the goal on a run of one yard in the first quarter, jaunts of one and two yards in the second quarter, and six yards and two yards in the third. He is the first to score more than 3 TDs in a playoff game. During the rout of the Giants, Watters gains a total of 118 yards on 24 carries and grabs five passes for another 46 yards.

Kevin Youkilis

2012 Stats: 122 Games, .235 BA, 19 HRs, 60 RBIs & .745 OPS

The New York Yankees signed Kevin Youkilis to a one year deal worth $12 million. Youk spent 2012 with the Red Sox & White Sox. He will play 3B to start the season as Alex Rodriguez will be out for a large portion of the season. Although he only batted .235 last season he still had a .336 OBP. Look for him to play well this year and get a big time contract next off-season.

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This Day in Sports History - 12/30/1962

Under coach Vince Lombardi, the Green Bay Packers win the NFL Championship for the second straight year by defeating the New York Giants, 16 - 7, at Yankee Stadium on a day in which the temperature in New York is 13 degrees F with wind gusts of 40 mph. The Packers capped the 1961 season by devouring the Giants, 37 - 0, in the Championship tilt in Green Bay.

This Day in Sports History - 10/23/2000

The Jets shock the Dolphins 40 - 37 in overtime on a Monday night at the Meadowlands. Heading into the fourth quarter, Miami is ahead 30 - 7 before the Jets mount an amazing comeback to tie the score. Vinny Testaverde fires three TD passes, John Hall boots a field goal, and a two-point conversion fails. But it takes only 22 seconds for the Dolphins to strike on a 47-yard kickoff return and a 46-yard TD pass from Jay Fiedler to wide receiver Leslie Shepherd for a 37 - 30 lead. The Jets knot the contest again with 42 seconds remaining in regulation on Testaverde's fourth TD pass of the fourth quarter, a three yard toss to tackle Jumbo Elliott, who bobbles the ball but holds on for the only reception of his career. The game is won 6:47 into OT on a 40-yard field goal by Hall.

Happy Birthday Mike Richter

Happy Birthday Al Toon

Happy Birthday Paul O'Neill

Carlos Beltran

The St. Louis Cardinals signed Carlos Beltran to a two year deal. Beltran spent the 2011 season with both the New York Mets & San Francisco Giants. Beltran was the Rookie of the Year in 1999 when he was a member of the Kansas City Royals. He's a six time All Star & three time Gold Glove award winner. Beltran is 83 hits away from 2,000 and has 302 career HRs & 293 SBs.

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RIP Gary Carter

Gary Carter passed away on Thursday at the age of 57. He was an 11-time All-Star and a great teammate. Here is his HOF biography:

Happy Birhtday Babe Ruth

Today is Babe Ruth's birthday. Here is a video from "The Batting Stance Guy" about Babe Ruth.

Super Bowl XLVI Preview

This Sunday February 5th will be Super Bowl 46 between the New York Giants and New England Patriots. Here are 46 facts and stats that hopefully you'll enjoy.

1. This is a rematch of a game from Week 9 as well as Super Bowl XLII
2. Bill Belichick was assistant for the Giants for 12 years
3. New England had 8 players selected for the Pro Bowl
4. New England was 3-1 vs. NFC while New York was 4-0 vs. AFC
5. The Giants have two players from Ohio State (Jake Ballard & Jim Cordle)
6. Eli Manning has a record 15 TDs in the 4th Quarter
7. Tom Brady is tied with Joe Montana with 16 playoff wins
8. This will be Tom Brady's 5th Super Bowl start; which ties him with John Elway
9. New England did not beat any team during the regular season who had a winning record
10. This is New England's 7th Super Bowl appearance & New York's 5th
11. Tom Brady was drafted as a catcher in the 18th round of the 1995 MLB Draft by the Montreal Expos
12. BenJarvis Green-Ellis went to the same High School as actor Carl Weathers
13. Victor Cruz had a Giants record with 1,536 receiving yards during the regular season
14. Tom Coughlin & Bill Belichick were assistant coaches on Giants Super Bowl XXV team
15. New England OC Bill O'Brien has been named the new Head Coach for Penn State
16. Former New England LB Larry Izzo is the Assistant Special Teams Coach for the Giants
17. TEs Rob Gronkowski & Aaron Hernandez combined for 169 receptions
18. New England allowed nine QBs to pass for 300 or more yards during the regular season
19. Jason Pierre-Paul had 16.5 sacks this season; only Michael Strahan & LT have had more in a season
20. Tom Brady has 3 seasons with 35 or more TD passes
21. The last time Wes Welker didn't have a reception in a game was 2005
22. Safety Antrell Rolle led the Giants with 96 tackles
23. Mark Anderson & Andre Carter each had 10 sacks for New England
24. Chad Ochocinco had just 15 receptions during the season
25. Mark Herzlich played lacrosse in High School
26. Stephen Gostkowski's FG % is 84.8
27. DT Vince Wilfork has 2 career INTs
28. Antrell Rolle & Vince Wilfork were college teammates
29. The Giants last six 1st round draft picks are major contributors to the team (Matthias Kiwanuka, Aaron Ross, Kenny Phillips, Hakeem Nicks, Jason Pierre-Paul & Prince Amukamara)
30. Matt Light protected Drew Brees' blind side in college
31. This is the 9th Super Bowl rematch of a regular season game decided by TD or less; 7 of the previous 8 games were won by team that lost 1st game
32. In his first 10 postseason games Tom Brady was 10-0 with 3 INTs; in his last 11 he's 6-5 with 16 INTs
33. Manning & Brady will be 3rd set of QBs to meet in multiple Super Bowls; the others were Bradshaw-Staubach & Aikman-Kelly
34. Lawrence Tynes is 1st player to score winning points in 2 playoff overtime games
35. The Giants drafted LBs Greg Jones & Jacquian Williams in the 6th round of 2011 NFL Draft
36. Chris Snee is Tom Coughlin's son-in-law
37. Bill Belichick is not a member of the NFL Coaches Club
38. The only 100 yard receiving game that Wes Welker has had in the playoffs was Super Bowl XLII loss to the Giants
39. Julian Edelman has played as a WR & CB this season
40. New England TEs coach Brian Ferentz is the son of Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz
41. Eli Manning is 6-1 in road or neutral site games in the playoffs
42. John Mara is the 3rd generation of his family to own the Giants
43. The Patriots have retired 8 player's numbers; the Giants have retired 11
44. Tom Brady has 2 Super Bowl MVPs, Eli Manning & Deion Branch each have 1
45. Tom Brady, Kevin Faulk & Matt Light are only current Patriots who won the 3 New England Super Bowls
46. Giants OC Kevin Gilbride was OC under Tom Coughlin for the Jaguars in 1995 & 1996

Jose Reyes

The Miami Marlins have signed Jose Reyes to a 6 year $106 million deal. In 2011 Reyes played for the New York Mets and led the National League in Batting Average and triples. He also was in the top 10 in OBP, runs, stolen bases & hits. Reyes is a 3-time All Star & has a career stolen base percentage of just a bit over 80%. The one issue with Reyes over the past few years has been his health, so the one question is can he stay healthy? Only time will tell.

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This Day in Sports History - 5/31/1964

After a nine-inning 5 - 3 San Francisco win on a Sunday afternoon at Shea Stadium, the Giants and Mets play 23 innings in a game that lasts 7 hours and 23 minutes. The tally is 6 - 6 after 7 innings, but the next 15 innings are scoreless. Gaylord Perry pitches 10 shutout innings of relief (the 13th through the 22nd) for the Giants. Larry Bearnarth hurls 7 shutout innings for New York (the 8th through the 14th) and is relieved by Galen Cisco, who allows no runs for 8 innings before surrendering two to the Giants in the 23rd. San Francisco wins, 8 - 6.

This Day in Sports History - 5/20/1999

Robin Ventura of the New York Mets becomes the first player in major league history to hit grand slams in both ends of a double header. In the first inning of the opener, Ventura clears the bases with a homer off the Milwaukee Brewers' Jim Abbott to give his club a 4-0 lead and the Mets hang on to win, 11-10. Facing Horacio Estrada in the fourth inning of the second tilt, he belts grand slam number two and the Mets win again, 10-1. He'll finish his career with 18 grand slams in 188 at-bats with the bases loaded.

This Day in Sports History - 4/6/1973

The New York Yankees' Ron Blomberg becomes the first designated hitter in major league history as he draws a walk from Luis Tiant in the first inning of a 15 - 5 loss to the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Orlando Cepeda is Boston's DH in the same game. Also on this date, during an 8 - 3 victory over the Athletics in Oakland, the Minnesota Twins' Tony Oliva becomes the first DH to come through with a home run.

Andy Pettitte & Trevor Hoffman

The final two players on my 25 Free Agents to watch are Andy Pettitte and Trevor Hoffman. Both players decided to retire instead of returning for another season. Pettitte has a career record of 240 - 138 and 2,251 strikeouts. He also has the most postseason wins with 19. Hoffman, who started as a SS in the Minor-Leagues, had 601 career saves. Included in that were nine seasons of 40 or more saves. Hoffman is known for his change-up like Bruce Sutter is known for his splitter or Mariano Rivera is known for his cutter.

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Rafael Soriano

RP Rafael Soriano signed with the New York Yankees. Soriano will be used as a set-up guy for future Hall of Famer Mariano Rivera, and may be the team's long term answer to replace Rivera when the time comes. Soraino has 88 career saves and 49 career holds. Last season Soriano was an All-Star for the Tampa Bay Rays and led the Majors with 45 saves.

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Happy Birthday Mookie Wilson

Today is the birthday of former New York Mets' OF Mookie Wilson. Wilson may be best known for the game-winning hit in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. Here is the entire inning with Mookie's heroics at the end.

Derek Jeter

Derek Jeter re-signed with the New York Yankees. Jeter was the Rookie of the Year in 1996 and World Series MVP in 2000. In 2010 he batted a career low .270 and a career low OPS. (On-Base % + Slugging %) of .710. Jeter is 74 hits away from 3,000 as he has 2,926 career hits. Jeter also has a career postseason batting average of .309 with 20 homeruns and 57 RBIs.

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