Daily Archives: April 21, 2012

#29 Smoltz Jersey to be Retired: A Tribute to a Future Hall of Famer

Saturday April 21st, 2012

Ryan Ritchey: On June 8th, 2012, John Smoltz’s number 29 jersey will be retired as an Atlanta Brave. This will be the 4th in 4 seasons for the Braves. Reality is that Smoltz was one of the most underrated pitchers ever to pitch in the majors. He is not a 300 game winner (a number that every starting pitcher shoots for), but he was one of the most consistent pitchers to ever toe the rubber.  Winning 213 games throughout his 21 year career, he had to be consistent. Also as a reliever he also saved 155 games in 4 seasons. Impressive stats to say the least.

As a rookie at the age of 21, he had a rough start to his career going 2-7 with a 5.48 ERA. As a pitcher, he learned from his mistakes and became an all-star in only his second season in the bigs. He went 12-11 on the year, but had 5 complete games with a 2.94 ERA. Read the rest of this entry

An Interview with Wrigley Field ‘Expert’ Bob Devries

Follow me-@chuckbooth3024 on twitter

Follow my streak all the through to the bitter end.  Schedule is this link:

https://mlbreports.com/gwr-tracker/

fastestthirtyballgames3021.wordpress.com/2012/04/18/30in20/

Saturday April 21, 2012

Chuck Booth (Lead Baseball Writer and @chuckbooth3024 on twitter)-  Bob Devries loves baseball, this much is evidently clear when you get to know his story around the game.  I am going to meet Bob in person for the doubleheader attempt of Chicago and Milwaukee.  I can think of no other one person than I would rather hang out for the day in Chicago than Bob.  His spirits were brought back up back in his life by visiting all of the 30 MLB parks.  While my case was entirely different from Bob’s, our common theme is that baseball brought us both back from the depths of despair.  I had the chance to talk to Bob about life, baseball and how we share the unique distinction of being the only two people on the planet to have attended a game in every park as a fan for two consecutive years in a row.

DB: “Welcome to the MLB Reports Wrigley Field Expert Interview Bob Please tell us about yourself and then give us some information on your life as a Cub fan?”

BD:  “I am just your average, soon to be 49-year-old sports fan. I got married last summer to someone who I have known since we were in the 6th grade and reconnected on Facebook. Charlie (Charlene) and I make our home in McHenry, IL. I work for a distribution company as a logistics manager. I have a stepson, Brent, who is of all things, is a St. Louis Cardinal fan. Brent got to live out a baseball fans’ dream this past season. He was at Busch Stadium for game 6 and 7 of the World Series.

My life as a Cub fan started in 1971 when my dad took me to Wrigley Field for my birthday. I often wonder if we would have gone to old Comiskey Park for a Sox game that day would I be a Sox fan today, thankfully we went to Wrigley.

Being a Cub fan, like all Cub fans, has been met with frustration and disappointment but thru it all we have remained fiercely loyal to the Cubs and always will. Why you ask? I don’t know and I ask myself that question every season when the Cubs are eliminated from the playoffs. Read the rest of this entry