Backwards K Pod

In an era dominated by sluggers putting up prodigious video game power-numbers, Vladimir Guerrero becomes one of the game's most electrifying players, in defiance of the baseball Gods with his five-tool arsenal of hitting for average, power, baserunning insticts, defense and the intercontinetal ballistic missile, he had for a right arm. His unlikely rise to baseball immortality begins in abject poverty in the Dominican Republic, as a fifth grade dropout, playing baseball in his barefeet on the dusty Dominican sandlots, and drinking rain water from the puddles in the Nizao Bani streets. His batting style was unconventional; See the ball, hit the ball, as hard as humanly possible, as he would swing at virtually any pitch offerred up to him, becoming one of the best bad ball hitters the game has ever seen. He was throwback to a different era of ballplayer, when batting gloves were shunned and pine tar covering the bat and helmet was a badge of honor. This week we follow his incredible baseball journey. #VladimirGuerrero #NizaoBani #DominicanRepublic #WiltonGuerrero #FredFerreira #MontrealExpos #FelipeAlou #PedroMartinez #AnaheimAngels #TexasRangers #BaltimoreOrioles

This week's biopic is on the greatest player in Brewers history, Robin Yount. Robin played on the competitive edge, and left everything on the field during his 20 year playing career. In fact, Yount left it all over the field, winning the American League MVP, at two different positions, 6 years apart. Drafted by the Brewers with the third overall pick in the 1973 Amateur MLB Draft, Yount makes his big-league debut at the age of 18, on Opening Day of 1974, as the Brewers starting Shortstop, and establishing himself as the new breed of power-hitting Shortstops that is so prevalent in the game today, before having a career threatening arm surgery and becoming a fleet-footed, sure-handed Center Fielder. #RobinYount #MilwaukeeBrewers #LarryYount #TaftCharterHighSchool #GeorgeBamberger #HarveyKuenn #PaulMolitor #CecilCooper #GormanThomas #BenOgilive #BJSurhoff #AmericanLeagueMVP #CountyStadium #GordonGoldsberry #DavidClyde #DavidStearns

This week we take an introspective look at the life and baseball journey of one Peter Lawrence "Yogi" Berra, who would become one of baseball's greatest characters and catchers. The World War II veteran and unprecedented 13 time World Champion as a player. was best described by his manager Casey Stengal, " As a very strange fellow with remarkable baseball abilities." He served as the anchor and bridge between the Joe DiMaggio and the Mickey Mantle era of the Yankees of the 1940's and 1950's, the storied franchise's most dominanat era. Not only would he craft a legendary playing career through grit and determination, he would also become a cultural icon, whose fame transcended the baseball diamond with his Yogiism style of speech, with phrases such as, "It aint over till it's over." and, " A Nickel aint worth a dime anymore." #YogiBerra #TheHill #JoeGaragiola #StLouisCardinals #BranchRickey #NewYorkYankees #LeoBrown #GeorgeWeiss #BrooklynDodgers #MelOtt #JackieRobinson #DonLarsen #CaseyStengel #GeorgeSteinbrenner #CarmenShort #BillDickey #GilHodges #PhilLinz

When a plumber's blowtorch accidentally causes Washington D.C's Boundary Field to burn to the ground in 1911. engineers from the Cleveland based Osborne Company quickly construct Griffith Stadium inside the skeletal remains of Boundary Field. and it would serve as the Senators home park from 1911 to 1961. The stadium would become a centerpiece for baseball in the district housing the Senators and the Homestead Grays Negro League team, as well as the Washington Redskins NFL football team, that relocates from Boston to Washington in 1937. It would also feature boxing and wrestling matches, concerts, the circus. religious revivals, George Washington University, the Georgetwon Hoyas, Howard University and Maryland Terrapins college sports during this time. This week's profile is on this throwback crib's profound construction and history that would leave an indellible impression on the sporting theater of the Nation's Capital. #ClarkeGriffith #GriffithStadium #WashingtonDC #WashingtonSenators #WashigtonNationals #WilliamHowardTaft #FranklinDelanoRoosevelt #GeorgeWashingtonUniversity #GeorgeTownHoyas #MarylandTerrapins #HowardUniversityHospital #WashingtonRedskins

Whenever Willie McCovey had a bat in his hands, he meant business. Whether it's a tight pennant race game in September against the Dodgers or a batting practice in May, his focus was to cut the ball in half and smoke line drives. His path to Major League immortality was oddly uneven, mostly due to circumstance. But despite all of the obstacles, mishaps and injuries he endured, he still managed to squeeze out a 22 year playing career that saw him belt 521 career home runs, earning him the admirations and respect pf seemingly every person he ever encountered, especially in his adopted hometown of San Francisco Giants. For the city by the bay, the loss of Stretch, was more than just the loss of a ballplayer. It was the loss of a local and civic institution, just as proinent as Alcatraz Prison, the Golden Gate Bridge, the cable cars, and they hills they race up and down. Willie McCovey was San Francisco. #WillieMcCovey #EsterMcCovey #FrankMcCovey #JessThomas #AlexPompez #MobileAlabama #SanFranciscoCalifornia #SanFranciscoGiants #WillieMays #OrlandoCepeda #CandlestickPark #SanDiegoPadres #OaklandAthletics

This week we profile the baseball life and journey of the legendary skipper Bobby Cox, who was became one of the most successful managers in the game's history, chartering the course for the Braves' dominanace during the 1990's and early 2000's. His teams would hold the unique distinction of winning 14 consecutive division pennants, and he would go onto become the fourth winningest manager in baseball history. The seeds of National League supremacy hardly happened overnight. It was a seed that would take 14 seasons to bear fruit, with an international sojurn along the way. #BobbyCox #AtlantaBraves #RalphHouk #NewYorkYankees #BillyMartin #TedTurner #PatGillick #TorontoBlueJays #JohnSmoltz #TomGlavine #GregMaddux #JohnSchuerholz #ChipperJones #MarquisGrissom

This week we take an introspective look at the fascinating History Of Baseball In Queens, New York. A story that begins in 1886, when Queens was the only municipalty in New York City that disregarded the Sunday Blue Laws, which prohibited commerce and personel ammusement on Sundays. The borough's landscape was dotted with three ballparks at this time, Ridgewood Parks One and Two in Woodhaven, and Dexter Park located in Jamaica, Queens, and because a blind eye was turned on the Sunday Blue Laws of New York City, Queens became the tourist destination spot on the day of the Sabbath, for the hard working blue-collar citizens of the city, as the Brooklyn baseball team, who would eventually become the Dodgers, begin scheduling Sunday games in the borough, Soon thereafter teams as far away as Jersey City begin scheduling home Sunday games there as well, when the Brooklyn ball team is out of town. 76 years later after the Dodgers and Giants flee the city for California, the expansion franchise team, New York Mets becomes the team most famously celebrated for calling Queens home, is born. This comes with two baseball stadiums in the team's history in Shea Stadium and Citi Field, and we will cover the construction and colorful histories of both cribs. #QueensNewYork #BrooklynGrays #SundayBlueLaws #GeorgeGrauer #GrauersRidgewoodPark #CharlieByrne #WilliamWallace #WallacesRidgewoodPark #JimKennedy #BrooklynGladiators #NatStrong #BillShea #GeorgeVMcLaughlin #WalterOMalley #WilliamShea #WillieStargell #JimBunning #JohannSantana #OJSimpson #BillBuckner #MikePiazza

As a player, Billy Martin was a fundamentally sound second basemen with a .257 batting average over an 11 year playing career, most notably for the Yankees fom 1950 to 1957. On the World Series stage, he was a clutch beast with a .333/.371/.369 slash-line, 5 Home Runs and 19 runs driven in, with flawless defensive play. As a manager, he developed the reputation of a strategical genius, who could ostensibly turn almost any team into a contender. But he was also considered a longterm liability whose erratic personal behavior, usually due to his excessive alcohol consumption. and his inability to handle veteran players, or young pitchers, led to early dismissals. In his 16 seasons as a field general, he would win five divisional titles with four different franchises; two American League Pennants and a World Championship in 1977 with the Yankees. This week we profile the baseball journey of this brash, fearless, and pugnacious leader who would hone his craft on the Oakland sandlots, before implementing his lessons on life and winning in the majors. #BillyMartin #BerkeleyCalifornia #CaseyStengal #MickeyMantle #WhiteyFord #AlfredManuelPesanoJr #JoanPesano #JimmyPiersell #ClintCourtney #JackieRobinson #MattBatts #ReggieJackson #GeorgeSteinbrenner #MinnesotaTwins #DetroitTigers #OaklandAthletics #TexasRangers #NewYorkYankees

San Francisco Giants right-handed ace Juan Marichal was among the elite pitchers during the "The Golden Age Of Pitching" of the 1960's, but he always seemed to live in the shadows of Sandy Koufax and Bob Gibson during that era. He was the winningest pitcher of the decade, and his 2.57 era during that span is third best behind only Koufax and his 2.37 and closer Hoyt Wilhelm's 2.16. This week we will cover the baseball journey of the kid who from humble beginnings as the poor farmer's kid from the Dominican Republic, would change his stars, becoming the first Dominican superstar player and a baseball immortal, changing the face of baseball forever. #JuanMarichal #SanFranciscoGiants #RamfisTrujillo #SandyKoufax #BobGibson #JohnnyRoseboro #LagunaVerde #JesusAlou #MattyAlou #FelipeAlou #AlmaCaravajal #AndyGilbert #AlDark #WarrenSpahn #BostonRedSox #LosAngelesDodgers

This week's focus is on the legendary pitching icon Ferguson Jenkins, who is arguably the greatest ballplayer that Canada has ever produced (with all apologies to Larry Walker) and indeed one of the country's finest all-around athletes ever. During a time that many consider "The Golden Age Of Pitching", Fergie stood shoulder to shouler with the era's greats, and he towered above the rest. He is the only (and most likely the last, considering the evolution of the bullpen in the modern game) pitcher in the last 50 years to win at least 20 games a year, for six consecutive seasons, and along with Greg Maddux, Pedro Martinez and Curt Schilling, they are the only four pitchers in the game's long history with 3,000 strikeouts to their credit, and less than 1,000 walks surrendered. From Chatham, Ontario to Cooperstown, NY, I give you the life and baseball journey of this pitching great. #FergusonArthurJenkins #Fergie #DeloresJenkins #ChathamOntario #ChathamVocationalHighSchool #TerrysCoalYard #GerryMcCaffery #DaveDziadura #PhiladelphiaPhillies #ChicagoCubs #TexasRangers #BostonRedSox #JimBunning #BobGibson #HarlemGlobetrotters #GaryTempleton