Tag Archives: Barry Larkin

Elly De La Cruz Becomes Youngest MLB Player to Post 25 HR, 60 SB Season

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Elly De La Cruz has etched his name in the annals of Major League Baseball history.

The 22-year-old Dominican professional baseball infielder, who plays for the Cincinnati Reds, became the youngest player in MLB history to hit 25 home runs and steal 60 bases in a season during his team’s 7-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday.

Elly De La CruzBut that’s not all… He’s also the first shortstop with 25 homers and 65 steals in a season.

De La Cruz hit the benchmark when he blasted his 25th home run of the season in the fourth inning, a three-run shot that struck the railing just below the upper-level bar in right field, to make the score 6-0. He finished the game with three hits, including a double, and four RBIs.

De La Cruz joined Eric Davis and Barry Larkin as the only Reds players with 25 homers and 65 stolen bases in a season.

“It means a lot to me, those are great players,” De La Cruz said. “I feel great. I wanted to finish strong.”

De La Cruz stole his 65th base of the season on Friday night. It was his 100th career stolen base in his 251st career game.

Also on Saturday, De La Cruz became the third player in major league history with 35 doubles, 25 homers and 60 stolen bases in a season, joining the Atlanta Braves’ Ronald Acuna Jr. in 2023 and Cincinnati’s Joe Morgan in 1973, according to ESPN Research.

Ibañez Among Finalists for Tampa Bay Rays’ Manager Role

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Raúl Ibañez may soon be taking on a new role in baseball…

The 42-year-old Cuban-American professional baseball right fielder and designated hitter is among the finalists to replace Joe Maddon as manager of the Tampa Bay Rays.

Raúl Ibañez

Ibañez, a Major League Baseball (MLB) All-Star in 2009, is up against Kevin Cash and Don Wakamatsu for the role.

Dave Martinez, the Rays’ bench coach for the past seven seasons, was among seven candidates dropped Friday. Also cut were Barry Larkin, Doug Glanville, Manny Acta, Craig Counsell, Charlie Montoyo and Ron Wotus.

Tampa Bay said interviews with the finalists will be scheduled for the week of December 1. Maddon left the Rays after nine seasons to manage the Chicago Cubs.

“The decision on Dave Martinez was especially difficult,” Rays president of baseball operations Matt Silverman said in a statement. “He’s played a key role in our organization’s evolution, and he’s done all he can to put himself in position to be a manager. In the end, we determined that our clubhouse would best benefit from a new voice that will add to our already strong and cohesive culture.”

Ibañez has spent 19 seasons in the major leagues with the Seattle Mariners, Kansas City Royals, Philadelphia Phillies, the New York Yankees and the Los Angeles Angels and has 305 homers and 2,034 hits. He helped the Royals win this year’s AL pennant.

Sheen to Serve as a Guest Analyst on ESPN’s “Baseball Tonight”

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Charlie Sheen is ready to play ball…

The 48-year-old part-Spanish actor will serve as a guest analyst on ESPN’s Baseball Tonight when the show broadcasts live from the Cincinnati Reds–St. Louis Cardinals game on Sunday night.

Charlie Sheen

Sheen will be in the broadcast booth for the Sunday Night Countdown show airing on ESPN at 7:00 pm ET from Cincinnati’s Great American Ballpark.

Sheen is an avid baseball fan and portrayed a player in Major League (plus the sequel) and Eight Men Out.

Even though he grew up in California — where he was a star pitcher and shortstop for the Santa Monica High School baseball team — Sheen has been a lifelong Reds fan because his West Wing star father, Martin Sheen, is from Dayton, Ohio.

It has been a long time since Sheen graduated from high school, but he still roots for his team and posted a photo of the SaMo High Vikings mascot on Twitter earlier this month with a shout-out to the coach, Tony Todd. He reportedly has donated tens of thousands of dollars to the school’s baseball program since playing there in the 1980s, including buying a new pitching machine in January.

Sheen convincingly played an ex-con reliever for the Cleveland Indians in both Major League films, and portrayed Chicago’s Happy Felsch in Eight Man Out, the biopic about the Black Sox scandal of 1919. Even his wedding to Denise Richards in 2002 was celebrated with a gospel rendition of “Take Me Out to the Ball Park” during the ceremony, and one of the wedding gifts was an authentic Gold Glove trophy.

The former Two and a Half Men star, who later went on to launch his comedy series Anger Managementon FX, follows in the footsteps of Jon Hamm, who was a guest analyst on Baseball Tonight during the Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates game May 11, after the ESPN crew joined him on the red carpet for the Hollywood premiere of Million Dollar Arm.

Like Hamm, Sheen will join Reds legend and Hall of Famer Barry Larkin and Baseball Tonight host Karl Ravech on the set.

Viewers can expect to see more special broadcast events to celebrate the 25th season of ESPN’s Baseball Tonight and Sunday Night Baseball, as the network is planning to get other famous fans involved.