1994

July 7

K.C.

Kauffman Stadium

Royals

Brewers

8-3

Tom Gordon

Cal Eldred

Brent Mayne

Mike McFarland

Hal McRae

Vince Coleman

Greg Vaughn

Highlights:  Dave Nilsson put the Brew Crew ahead in the top of the second by combining for three runs batted in off of Flash Gordon.  However, Gordon settled down to shut down the Brewers for the rest of his 8 innings, and the Royals roughed up Cal Eldred for six runs in the bottom of the 7th frame, including a two-run shot by the powerful Brent Mayne and a 3-run dinger by Mike McFarland.  Royals third baseman Tom Howard also contributed to the cause with three runs batted in on the strength of two hits.  As memory serves, Mound Ball was enjoyed by the HSL at a fever pitch.

1994

July 8

Boston

Fenway Park

Red Sox

Mariners

4-3

Chris Nabholz

Bill Risley

Ken Ryan

Mike Blowers

John Valentin

Tom Brunansky

Rich Rowland

Alex Rodriguez

Ken Griffey, Jr.

Edgar Martinez

Goose Gossage

Andre Dawson

Highlights:  This one’s easy:  John Valentin’s unassisted triple play.  Of course, a couple of league members were dozing and didn’t realize the immediate significance of what they had just seen, but nonetheless, they were there, and present, and “witnessed,” at least in some sense, one of the rarest of all baseball feats.  The Hot Stove Leaguers also saw a rare triple by Griffey, Jr., and were present for the major league debut of a soon-to-be superstar, young Alex Rodriguez.  Not a bad night.

1994

July 9

N.Y.

Yankee Stadium

Yankees

Angels

5-10

Craig Leftwich

Scott Kamieniecki

Roberto Kelly

Matt Nokes (2)

Wade Boggs

Bernie Williams

Paul O’Neill

Jim Edmonds

Damien Easley

Highlights:  The Bronx Bombers got roughed up by the visiting Angels, who pounded out thirteen hits against Kamieniecki and a trio of forgettable relievers.  Spike Owen went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, Tim Salmon and Chili Davis both went 6-1-2-1, and Gary DiSarcina was 2-for-3 with a run batted in.  The Angels posted a five spot in the top of the fifth, three runs in the seventh, and two in the eighth to turn the game into a laugher against the once proud Yankees franchise.

1994

July 10

Baltimore

Camden Yard

Orioles

Athletics

4-5

Ron Darling

Lee Smith

Dennis Eckersley

Scott Brosius

Mark McGwire

Rickey Henderson

Mark McGwire

Dennis Eckersley

Cal Ripken

Rafael Palmeiro

Rubin Sierra

Brady Anderson

Jaime Moyer

Scott Brosius

Harold Baines

Highlights:  The final game of the 1994 East Coast Trip was a bully of a game, pitting Ron Darling of the Oakland Athletics against Jaime Moyer of the Orioles, and featuring at least five Hall-of-Famers (Eckersley, Ripken, McGwire, Henderson and Palmeiro), one who might make it (Lee Smith), and a couple who probably won’t but who have had outstanding major league careers (Jaime Moyer, Harold Baines, Rubin Sierra).  The best part was that we saw a close game that was won by the Athletics when McGwire hit a two-run shot in the top of the 9th to give the A’s a 5-4 win, and more importantly, the game saw the Skipper take one of the largest Mound Ball pots of all time, but unfortunately too late in the game to allow him to buy a round.