Beyond the Box Score 5/19/2001

While the day of the week was in Burnett's favor, Saturday being the most popular day for no-nos, the month was not particularly auspicious, May being only the fourth best for no-hitters. Below are the no-hit totals since 1893 for each day of the week and for each month of the baseball year:

DAYS

Day	No-Hitters
Monday	21
Tuesday	20
Wednesday	36
Thursday	33
Friday	40
Saturday	44
Sunday	34

MONTHS

Month	No-Hitters
April	30
May	35
June	37
July	34
August	38
September	50
October	4

DOING HIS BIDDING

Larry May, a retired truck driver, won a bat signed by both Babe Ruth and Bob Feller in a contest earlier this year. The bat originated from the Babe's final appearance at Yankee Stadium on June 13, 1948. May's good fortune has been short-lived, though, since the bat was appraised at a value of $107,000 which resulted in a tax bill of $35,000. He tried to sell the bat on eBay but the highest bid was only $18,700. May has also rejected an offer from Bob Feller and from two other potential buyers who bid in the high five figures.



REVOLVING DOOR

The position of pitching coach seems to be a temporary one in Kansas City. Manager Tony Muser and general manager Allard Baird fired pitching coach Brent Strom on May 12. Strom was the third pitching coach Muser has employed since replacing Bob Boone in 1997. Bullpen coach Tom Gamboa will fill the pitching slot on an interim basis.



Muser's first pitching coach was Bruce Kison who lasted just one year. Then Marc Wiley took over but his tenure was only one season. Finally, Strom took on the challenge but lasted just 202 games. The Royals are 259-334 during Muser's time at the helm.



BOBBLING THE BALL

The latest baseball marketing craze is a reworking of an old one, bobble-head dolls. The dolls have come and gone several times since their first give-away go-round 40 years ago. The current crop of bobbles are modeled after specific players and are the brainchildren of Malcolm Alexander, the owner of Alexander Global Promotions, who is credited with the current revival. The company is based in Bellevue, Washington, and got its start when it made a Willie Mays bobble-head for the San Francisco Giants in 1999.



This year, Bobby Higginson of the Detroit Tigers, Jason Giambi of the Oakland A's, Jim Thome of the Cleveland Indians, Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki of the Seattle Mariners and Hall-of-Famer-to-be Kirby Puckett of the Minnesota Twins have all been immortalized as bobble-heads. Current production plans call for Alexander Global to manufacture six million dolls this year.



STREAKY HITTERS

Rickey Henderson of the San Diego Padres is just 63 hits away from becoming the 25th member of the majors' 3,000-hit club. After a slow start, Henderson recently put together a 13-game hit streak, the second longest of his career. Henderson's longest streak was 14 games which would be the shortest on record for a 3000-hit man.



HOME RUN HERO

Gary Sheffield of the Los Angeles Dodgers became the first player in major-league history to win three 1-0 games in a season with a home run. Sheffield popped a solo homer on May 12 when the Dodgers defeated the Atlanta Braves, 1-0. He also provided the only scoring by going yard on April 2 versus Milwaukee and on May 7 against Florida.



CATCH-ALL

Charles Johnson of the Florida Marlins became just the 13th catcher in major-league history to catch as many as three no-hitters in his career when he caught A.J. Burnett's no-no on May 12. In fact, Johnson has caught all three Marlin no-hitters.



PRICE CONSCIOUS

A 1953 newspaper advertisement for a box seat season ticket at Philadelphia's Shibe Park to watch the A's lists a price of $178.75 for 65 home dates (including 12 doubleheaders). After taking inflation into account, that ticket would cost $1,153 today, or about $15.00 per seat per game. By comparison, a 2001 season ticket for a box seat at the San Francisco Giants' Pac Bell Park is $2,184 covering 81 games and three exhibitions, or about $26.00 per seat per game.



THE FIRST SHALL BE LAST

The New York Mets have struggled so far this year and, on May 13, they fell into last place in the N.L. East. If the Mets don't manage to improve their position this season, they would become the eighth major-league team to go from the postseason one year to last place the next. The first team to achieve this dubious distinction was the Philadelphia A's who won the A.L. pennant in 1914 then, after owner Connie Mack sold off most of his star players, finished the 1915 season in last, 58.5 games back, with a record of 43-109. The last team to go from postseason to last was the Texas Rangers who won the A.L. West crown in 1999 but finished last in 2000, 20.5 games out.



HIT AWAY

Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners has hit in 37 of his team's first 39 games and posted hit streaks of 15 and 21 games. Ichiro joins Kent Hrbek (1982) and Juan Pierre (2000) as the only major-leaguers to put together two hit streaks of at least 15 games apiece in their rookie campaigns. The record for most games with at least one hit in a single season is shared by Rogers Hornsby (1922), Chuck Klein (1930) and Wade Boggs (1985) at 135 games each. Hornsby batted .401 in 1922 with 250 hits and played in 154 games, Klein batted .386 in 1930 with 250 safeties in the 156 games and Boggs hit .368 in 1985 with 240 in 161 games. At his current pace, Suzuki would finish the season hitting in 154 games.



DOUBTING THOMAS

Chicago White Sox slugger Frank Thomas is out for the remainder of the season after undergoing surgery to repair a torn muscle in his right arm. How well will the Chi-Sox perform without him? Most teams that lose a marquee player like Thomas suffer from the loss. However, in the past, the White Sox have done relatively well sans Frank posting a more-than-respectable .510 winning percentage (52-50 with one tie).



Copyright 2001, Sports Features Group

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