The Baseball News of 2001
McGwire saying goodbye to baseball
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Having smashed Roger Maris' 37-year-old single-season home run record, in the spring of 1999 Mark McGwire mused about his chances of making it a clean sweep and catching Hank Aaron's career record.
McGwire ended up 172 home runs short of Aaron's magical 755 when he announced his retirement Sunday night.
Injuries led to a rapid descent for the former home run king, who was an expensive spare or broken part on St. Louis Cardinals playoff teams the last two seasons. He strongly hinted of retiring several times this season, saying at one point he was "fried and embarrassed" by his lack of production.
The 38-year-old McGwire batted .187 with 29 homers in his final season as he struggled to recover from a knee injury that also cost him half of 2000. He walks away from a $30 million, two-year contract extension that he agreed to in spring training but never signed.
"After considerable discussion with those closest to me, I have decided not to sign the extension, as I am unable to perform at a level equal to the salary the organization would be paying me," McGwire said in a statement. "I believe I owe it to the Cardinals and the fans of St. Louis to step aside, so a talented free agent can be brought in as the final piece of what I expect can be a World Championship-caliber team."
Bonds CRUSHES McGwire's homerun-record
October 6th 2001
SAN FRANCISCO — San Francisco Giants slugger Barry Bonds hit his 71st home run Friday night, taking him to a place no player has gone before. Then he hit his 72nd and pushed the single-season home run record even further out of this world. On a night when the Giants' playoff hopes were dealt a severe blow, Bonds struck back-to-back blows for the history books as he surpassed Mark McGwire's record 70 homers set in 1998 and became the new single-season home run king. A game after tying Big Mac for the record in a 10-2 victory at Houston's Enron Field, Bonds ended the suspense on his first at-bat and first swing before a sellout crowd of 41,730 at Pacific Bell Park.
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| Barry Bonds picks up his son Nikolai at home plate as his teammates greet him after Bonds hit his record-breaking 71st homer Friday. |
Bonds slams his seventieth homer
October 5th 2001
HOUSTON — Barry Bonds hit his 70th home run Thursday night to stamp his name next to Mark McGwire as the co-holder of one of baseball's most prestigious records. The San Francisco Giants slugger, who had drawn 10 walks and been hit by pitches twice since hitting No. 69 Saturday, finally found his foil in Houston Astros rookie left-hander Wilfredo Rodriguez in the ninth inning. On a 1-1 count, Bonds launched a 96-mph fastball into the upper deck in right-center field at Enron Field, bringing joy and relief to Bonds as he circled the basepaths to chants of "Barry, Barry, Barry."
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Rickey Henderson now leads all-time run list
October 5th 2001
SAN DIEGO — Rickey Henderson promised he'd slide into home plate to officially mark his reign as baseball's career runs leader. When the moment arrived Thursday, the game's biggest showman kept his word — even though he homered. Henderson, San Diego's leadoff batter, passed Ty Cobb with No. 2,246 and celebrated — feet first — as the Padres beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 6-3. ''Sliding into home plate was really a treat for my teammates,'' the 42-year-old Henderson said. ''I think they were expecting me to go headfirst into home plate but I told them I hate sliding into home plate headfirst, so I eventually went feet first. It was a thrill, and I guess I made their day as well as my day.''
| All-Time Runs Leaders |
|
|---|---|
| Player | Runs |
1. Rickey Henderson |
2,246  |
| 2. Ty Cobb | 2,245 |
| 3. Hank Aaron | 2,174 |
| 3. Babe Ruth | 2,174 |
| 5. Pete Rose | 2,165 |
| 6. Willie Mays | 2,062 |
| 7. Stan Musial | 1,949 |
| 8. Lou Gehrig | 1,888 |
| 9. Tris Speaker | 1,881 |
| 10. Mel Ott | 1,859 |
Barry Bonds goes deep for the 60th time
September 7th 2001
Barry Bonds has become the fifth player in baseball history to hit 60 homeruns in a season.
San Frasico Giants' leftfielder has 21 more games to get 71 homers, like McGwire did in 1998.
Bonds watches his 60th go deep
The players of the Dutch team for the European Championships
July 23th 2001
Coach Robert Eenhoorn has selected the
following players for the Dutch team that will play the European Championships in Germany.
ADO:
Johnny Balentina, Eugene Henson, Orlando Stewart, Raily Legito
Amsterdam Expos: Jeroen Deken, Tim Keuter, Remy Maduro
HCAW:
Ronald Jaarsma, Dave Draijer, Michiel van Kampen, Jurjan Koenen, Patrick de Lange, Ralph
Milliard
Kinheim:
Sydney de Jong, Eelco Jansen, Patrick Beljaards, Marcel Joost
Neptunus:
Maikel Benner, Rob Cordemans, Melfried Comenencia, Harvey Monte, Percy Isenia, Erik
Remmerswaal,
Dirk van 't Klooster
Holland will start off against Great-Brittain in Germany.
Marcel Joost has been
selected for the Dutch team
July 19th 2001
Marcel Joost returns in the Dutch team. The
player of DPA Kinheim has been selected by coach Robert Eenhoorn for the
European Championships.
Record-international Joost (40) also played in the Dutch team a year ago, but he wasn't
selected for the team that played the Olympic Games.
Cal Ripken Jr. quits baseball next year
June 19th 2001
After 21 years of playing for the Baltimore Orioles, the 'Iron Man' stops.
After this season the 41 year old American is going to spend more time to his family.
Ripken played 2.632 games in a row between 1982 and 1998, an untouchable record. He was elected twice for the American League MVP.
Cal Ripken Jr. in the stadium of the Baltimore Orioles.