Thank you, Major League Baseball for depriving most St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds fans from seeing flame-throwing Hunter Greene’s debut against the Redbirds on April 22.
The game was on AppleTV as MLB continues its quest to earn every dollar possible, regardless of how many baseball fans are alienated.
OK, I’m not here to rail on MLB greed. I’m here to toast Greene and two other young Black pitchers with tremendous futures. Hopefully, their careers will include 20-win seasons and Cy Young Awards.
In just the second start of his career, the 22-year-old Greene set an MLB record for most 100+mph pitches in a single game with 39, according to MLBStats. Greene’s sorry Reds lost to the Dodgers 5-2. Greene’s velocity was down in a 4-2 loss to the Cardinals in which he pitched less than five innings, but the buzz around the young hurler continues.
“Obviously, it would have been nice to go longer, but you have more pride in the days you don’t have your best stuff and you just have to go out and compete,” Greene told reporters following his 3 1/3 inning outing.
With more run support from his Cleveland Guardians teammates, Tristin McKenzie could be on his way to a big season. McKenzie, in his second full season, has made 31 starts in his career and his Earned Run Average [ERA] is 4.43.
However, his 2022 ERA is a miniscule 2.38. He has 11 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched, which combined with his stinginess in surrendering runs, makes him a serious All-Star Game contender.
In a 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox, McKenzie had a no hitter through four innings with four strikeouts. He left the game in the fifth inning with the lead, and relief pitchers saved the day. His nickname is “sticks” because of his thin frame.
When the Washington Nationals dealt ace pitcher Max Scherzer and shortstop Trea Turner to the L.A. Dodgers last July, among the top prospects the team got in return was righthanded starter Josiah Gray.
Gray has been superb for the Nationals in 2022, posting a 2-1 record and an excellent 3.14 ERA in 14.1 innings pitched. He has struck out 18 batters, including eight in 5 1/3 innings in an April 19 start against Arizona.
A newfound curve ball is making a difference, Gray told reporters after the game.
“From learning it in 2019 to using it the last two years and now this year, it’s become a real weapon for me along with my slider, changeup and fastball,” Gray said. “I throw it to both hitters, and I think today was a really good weapon.”
Black Aces
The late Jim “Mudcat” Grant, who died last year, made “Black Aces” the title of his autobiography. The former Minnesota Twins great became the first Black American League pitcher to win 20 games in 1965. That puts him in a unique club – African American pitchers who won 20 games or more during a season.
The other “Black Aces” and the seasons they accomplished the feat are Vida Blue (1971, ’73, ’75); Al Downing (1971); Bob Gibson (’1965, ’66, ’68, ’69, ’70); Dwight Gooden (1985); Ferguson Jenkins (1967, ’68, ’69, ’70, ’71, ’72, ’74); Sam Jones (1959); Don Newcombe (1951, ’55, ’56); Mike Norris (1980); David Price (2012); J.R. Richard (1976); CC Sabathia (2010); Dave Stewart (1987, ’88, ’89, ’90); Dontrelle Willis (2005) and Earl Wilson (1967.)
The Black pitchers to win Cy Young Awards, noting the best pitcher in the respective American and National League, are Newcombe (1956), Gibson (1968), Blue (1971), Jenkins (‘71), Gooden (1985), Sabathia (2007), and Price (2012.)
The Reid Roundup
Two Black on-ice officials worked a game together for the first time in NHL history on April 14. Referee Jordan Samuels-Thomas and linesman Shandor Alphonso officiated the host Chicago Blackhawks’ 5-4 shootout win against the San Jose Sharks. It was Samuels-Thomas’ NHL debut, and he became the first Black referee to work a game since Jay Sharrers in 2004…Marshawn Lynch, former Seattle Seahawks All-Pro running back, has become a minority owner of the NHL expansion franchise Seattle Kraken.
