By Robert Dominguez He was a winner on the mound, a threat at the plate and a cancer in the clubhouse, but Carlos Zambrano was never boring. On this day in béisbol, June 3, 2012, the colorful ex-Cub pitcher hit his 24th and final lifetime home run in a game against the Phillies — while pitching for the Miami Marlins. The Venezuela native was in his first and only season with Miami after 11 years with Chicago when he hit a blast to deep center in the top of the third inning. The home run tied him with Cardinals ace

By Robert Dominguez One of baseball’s best pure hitters walked away from the game on this day in béisbol, June 2, 1986, after a brilliant 19-year career. Rod Carew, the Panama-born infielder with the smooth lefty stroke, made the mistake of turning 40 and earning a then-big bucks salary of close to $1 million when he called it quits after seven years with the California Angels. The team declined to resign him at the start of the ’86 season, and the proud Panamanian decided to go out on his terms despite other offers. “I made my decision … ,” he

By Robert Dominguez It was a wild week for Jose Canseco, even by his standards. On this day in béisbol, May 29, 1993, the controversial, muscle-bound slugger ended his season after just 60 games when he injured his right arm — pitching. Canseco, then 28 and in his second year with the Rangers after a trade from Oakland, was the DH in a game against the Red Sox at Fenway Park that soon turned into a rout.  In the bottom of the eighth, with the Rangers down 12-1 and not wanting to waste their bullpen, Canseco volunteered to pitch an

By Robert Dominguez Mariano Rivera lived a Dickensian drama on this day in béisbol, May 28 — in games 13 years apart. It was the best of times for the future Hall of Famer on that date in 2000, as Rivera recorded his career 300th save after just three-and-a-half years as the Yankees’ full-time closer. The milestone came in a 7-5 win against Tampa Bay, and made him the 17th pitcher — and first Yankee — to reach that milestone. Exactly 13 years later, Rivera lived through one of the worst of times in his otherwise brilliant career.  The Panama-born

By Robert Dominguez Don’t disrespect pitcher Yovani Gallardo. Especially when he's at the plate. The Brewers ace was having an off-year when on this day in béisbol, May 27, 2014, the Orioles learned the hard way how good Gallardo can be — as a hitter. Milwaukee had blown a 5-0 lead late in the game and had managed to tie the score at 6-all in the bottom of the 9th in an exciting interleague game. But in the bottom of the 10th the Brewers were in a tough spot. With two outs and no one on base, Baltimore had opted

By Robert Dominguez He was on a new team playing with an old body after an off year, and Vladimir Guerrero needed to have a monster of a season to prove plenty of people wrong. On this day in béisbol, May 25, 2010 the future Hall of Famer had a monster of a game that showed he was still one of the most dangerous hitters in the American League. Playing on a one-year-contact with the Texas Rangers after five seasons and an MVP with the Los Angeles  Angels, Guerrero was coming off an injury-plagued 2009 in which he only played

By Robert Dominguez No team sells tradition and history like the New York Yankees. But true fans know that whenever mention is made of the beloved and now fabled “Core Four” — the group of elite, homegrown players that formed the nucleus of the Bombers’ late-1990s dynasty and was still together for the 2009 championship run — there’s one vital player from the era who gets short shrift. On this day in béisbol, May 24, 2015, the Yankees gave Bernie Williams the ultimate honor. In front of a packed house at The Stadium, the organization retired his No. 51 and

By Robert Dominguez He was considered the best two-way player not named Babe Ruth.  And if times had been different, Martin Dihigo — the Cuban-born star who excelled as both a pitcher and position player but never got to strut his stuff in the U.S. major leagues — would have likely been the Roberto Clemente of his era as the biggest Latin American-born star to grace an MLB ballfield. On this day in béisbol, May 20, 1971, Dihigo died in Cienfuegs, Cuba, a few days before his 65 birthday, a proud and seemingly happy man revered in his homeland, lauded