Former huge league pitcher and coach Kevin Hickey has passed away . His cause of death is unknown but he was a diabetic and had been found unresponsive in his hotel room in Dallas prior to Opening Day last month. He was 56. Hickey did not have a distinguished huge league career except to say that it is a minor miracle that he pitched in the huge leagues at all. Born on the South Side of Chicago, Hickey worked in a steel mill and his spare time played softball and semi-pro baseball. In 1977, he was one of 250 players to attend an open tryout at Comiskey Park and was the only player offered a contract by the White Sox . He made his huge league debut with the Chisox in 1981. He pitched with the White Sox through the 1983 season. That year the White Sox reached the post-season for the first time in 24 years winning the AL West by 20 games over the Kansas City Royals . It marked the first of 14 post-season appearances for manager Tony La Russa. I remember the '83 White Sox well. Ron Kittle won AL Rookie of the Year on the strength of his 35 homeruns. Greg Luzinski, Carlton Fisk and Harold Baines also supplied power. There were the Laws - Rudy and Vance (no relation). And how many people besides diehard Chisox fans remember that Jerry Dybzinski was the starting shortstop? Then there was the?pitching staff?led by LaMarr Hoyt, whose 24 wins would earn him the AL Cy Young Award. Richard Dotson quietly won 22 games. The starting rotation was rounded out by Floyd Bannister, Britt Burns and 40-year ancient Jerry Koosman of Amazin' Mets fame. The Chisox didn't really have a closer that season. Dennis Lamp led the team with 15 saves but Salome Barojas had 12 while Juan Agosto and Dick Tidrow had seven apiece. For his part, Hickey recorded five saves in '83. I remember Hickey because he had long hair and a moustache. He looked like a lefthanded version of LaMarr Hoyt. Most baseball fans might not remember Hickey but George Brett sure does. The three time AL batting champion and Hall of Famer was 0-for-15 lifetime against Hickey . But then Hickey disappeared. He was released by the White Sox prior to the 1984 season but re-signed with them days later. He would be traded that summer to the New York Yankees along with pitcher Doug Drabek (who would later win the NL Cy Young Award with the Pittsburgh Pirates) as players to be named later for Roy Smalley. Hickey would bounce around in the minors with the Philadelphia Phillies, back with the White Sox and with the San Francisco Giants before signing with the Baltimore Orioles prior to the 1988 season. I was shocked to see Hickey when he returned to the huge leagues with the O's in 1989 after an absence of more than five years. His hair was much shorter but he still found a way to get lefthanded hitters out. That year the Orioles nearly went from worst to first in the AL East. Unfortunately, the Toronto Blue Jays had other thoughts. Nevertheless, Hickey was back in the bigs and would remain with the O's until they released him during the 1991 season. In 1994, Hickey got some acting work and appeared in Major League II alongside Charlie Sheen, Tom Berenger, Corbin Bernsen and ex-huge leaguers Bob Uecker and Steve Yeager. After being out of?baseball for more than a decade, the White Sox hired Hickey as a part of their coaching staff as a pre-game instructor/batting practice pitcher in 2004 and was on hand in 2005 when the Chisox won their first World Series in 88 years.
More:Kevin Hickey, R.I.P.
Texas Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton became the first major league player in nearly a decade to hit four home runs in a game. Hamilton slugged four dingers and drove in eight runs en route to a 10-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards. Hamilton leads the majors with 14 home runs and 36 RBI and as of this writing is tied with Matt Kemp of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a Ted Williams like .406 batting average. To read the rest of this post, please check out The Spectacle Blog .
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Hamilton Hits 4 Home Runs
Chicago White Sox pitcher Philip Humber threw a perfect game against the Seattle Mariners at Safeco Field this afternoon. FOX broke away from the Yankees-Red Sox game to broadcast the final three outs. I thought Brendan Ryan checked his swing on the 3-2 count but the ump called it a strike. The ball, but, rolled to the backstop and Chisox catcher A.J. Pierzynski ran like Rickey Henderson to retrieve the ball and threw it to Paul Konerko to record the final out. Humber's perfecto is the 21st in MLB history and first since Roy Halladay in May 2010. Well, that should be Armando Galarraga but let's place that aside. Humber entered the game with only 11 huge league victories on his resume. The 29-year ancient Humber was a third round draft pick by the New York Mets in 2004. He was one of four players traded to the Minnesota Twins for Johan Santana following the 2008 season. Humber has bounced around with the Twins, Royals, Athletics before being picked up on waivers last season by the Chisox. He worked his way into the starting rotation finishing 2011 with a 9-9 record. Humber is the third White Sox pitcher to throw a perfect game. Charlie Robertson threw the first in 1922 in only his fourth huge league start and Mark Buehrle did it in 2009. Many of the White Sox players in today's game were on hand for Buehrle's perfecto. Still, I'm certain those players were every bit as excited to be on the field for this game as they were nearly three years ago. In a post-game interview with Dave Sims and Eric Karros, Humber was humbled by his accomplishment and said hello to his wife who is expecting their first child. While becoming a father will undoubtedly be a larger thrill, this is a day he will never forget.
Read this article: Humber Humbled by Perfection
Whenever I see March 5th on a calendar, the first thing that comes to mind is that it is the day John Belushi died. To read the rest of this post, please check out The Spectacle Blog .
See the original post here:Remembering John Belushi Thirty Years After
Singer Whitney Houston was found dead in her hotel room tonight. She was 48. Her cause of death is not known as of this writing. She had been scheduled to attend a pre-Grammy party tonight hosted by Clive Davis, who signed her to her first recording contract with Arista records. To read the rest of this post, please check out The Spectacle Blog .
Read the rest here: Whitney Houston, 1963-2012. R.I.P.
