Wood vs. Wood #345

Last time it was an 8-0 shutout for 1987. Will 1962 get on the board here?

Chuck Schilling poses in front of the left field grandstand at Yankee Stadium. The setting is kind of ironic; Schilling grew up on Long Island, in New Hyde Park, as a New York Giants fan who hated the Yankees. After high school two teams were interested in him - the Yankees and the Red Sox, so Schilling chose Boston. He had a good rookie season in 1961, hitting .259 with 5 HR and 62 RBI. However, he broke his hand in 1962 and never regained his rookie form. By '63 he had lost his starting job at second base, and his big league career was over after the 1965 season, at the age of 27. Overall in 541 games he hit .239 with 23 HR and 146 RBI. After his playing career he moved further out east on Long Island, first working in his father's electrical shop in Farmingdale, and then teaching math at Selden Middle School for over 20 years. He died in 2021.

Andre Dawson hits one high and far at a spring training game in West Palm Beach. Andre Dawson was a five-tool player who excelled at every area of baseball. In 2,627 games, mostly with the Expos and Cubs, the Hall-of-Famer hit .279 with 438 HR, 1,591 RBI and 314 stolen bases. Injuries from playing the first decade of his career on the artificial turf in Montreal prevented those numbers from being even higher. He signed with the Cubs in 1987 and was rejuvenated playing on grass, hitting .287 with a league leading 49 HR and 137 RBI as he won the NL MVP award. He now owns the Paradise Memorial Funeral Home in Miami, FL. He runs the business, drives the hearse, picks up bodies from hospitals, and occasionally poses for pictures and signs autographs for surprised mourners.