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PAGE 2B BARROW JOURNAL WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 31, 2008 Highlights of MLB from 2008 W hat a great year 2008 was for major league baseball. Although my beloved Braves failed to launch, we saw many great moments throughout both leagues. I have endeavored to bring the biggest moments to you here at year’s end: John Smoltz racked up his 3000th strikeout. In 1923, Walter Johnson became the first pitcher to reach 3000 strikeouts. Smoltzy became the most recent member of this club. He is one of sixteen to do it. Ken Griffey Jr. became the 6th player to reach 600 home runs. Griffey Jr. is not only a great ballplayer, but also a great human being. Good guys do win. Manny Ramirez became the 24th player to reach the 500 home run mark. Some day I'll research how many of those have flown over the Green Monster. Chipper Jones became the 43rd player to reach 400 home runs. At 37 years young, he’s looking better than ever. Albert Pujols became the 118th player to reach 300 home runs. On Aug. 14th, Mark Kotsay hit for the cycle. Now this may not seem like much to most fans, but it is a tre mendous feat. Each year in the majors, perhaps only one player hits for the cycle. The Chicago White Sox tied an existing record of clobbering four homes runs in a row. Thome, Konerko, Ramirez and Uribe join a very elite club here. Two more no-hitters went into the books. One by the Red Sox’s Lester and one by the Cubs’ Zambrano. Number 256 and 257, respectively. Major league baseball initi ated the play review on ques tionable home runs. Sadly, commissioner Bud Selig approved this new rule. I see this as the beginning of a slip pery slope. I predict the review scenarios will gradually be expanded. What a lousy rule. Greg Maddox announced his retire ment. At 42 years young, Maddox decided to hang it up after a Hall of Fame career. Maddox threw john w. rieken •Preacher Roe, St. Louis Cardinals and other teams •Tom Tresh, New York Yankees •Ed Vargo, Umpire ...and I save the most devastating loss for last: Skip Caray. Skip came to us decades ago, a young sportscaster for twenty-three years, amassing 355 wins (that’s 15.43 wins per season). For years he was the lynchpin of the Braves rotation. Maddox is another example of a nice guy finish ing first. Yankee Stadium and Shea Stadium are retired. Another sad day in baseball history. These two relics (Yankee was the second-oldest stadium in the majors) will be missed by all true baseball fans. Baseball’s Hall of Fame inducted Rich (Goose) Gossage. The Goose played for nine major league teams during his 22-year career, winning 124 games and los ing 107 games. He finished with a 3.10 era. He did this all as a reliever. His 310 saves is second only to Rollie Fingers in MLB. Now the sad highlights. I hate doing this. More than 50 major league players passed away in 2008. Space does not allow me to list them all, but I mention a few I remember quite well: •Buzzie Bavasi, Los Angles Dodgers GM •Bruce Dal Canton, Atlanta Braves coach •Doc Ellis, Pittsburgh Pirates •John McHale, Former Milwaukee Braves GM •Bobby Mercer, New York Yankees •Johnny Podres, Los Angles Dodgers following in the footsteps of his father, Harry. Skip combined a vast warehouse of knowledge and a very, very dry sense of humor to produce a delightful description of the game. In one moment he could be belittling a call-in fan for asking what he considered to be a ridiculous question and then as kind and patient as a saint to the next caller. His mastery of sarcasm and cynicism was second-to- none. He became noticeably upset when a fan mentioned his father. I always thought that he was mired in Harry’s legacy (the good and the bad) and lived a lifetime making peo ple believe that he was his own man — and he was. He became very content when he broadcast with his son, Chip, sounding as proud as a peacock. I miss Skip but will remember his baseball voice and baseball mind. And I will always remem ber his humorous attacks on the Georgia Department of Transportation. Listening to the Braves" games will never be the same. John Rieken is an avid baseball fan and contribut ing columnist for the Barrow Journal. E-mail comments about this column to jriek- en @ windstream. net. Barrow night planned at VGA basketball Barrow County Chamber of Commerce members, employees and their fami lies will be able to attend two University of Georgia basketball games at a dis counted rate. The games are desginated as “Barrow County Night” with tickets being $5 and $1. Tickets for the Lady Bulldogs game against Mississippi State on Feb. 1, 2009 will be available online for just $1 through Jan. 29. In addition, tickets for the men’s game against SEC foe LSU on Feb. 4 may be pur chases for $5 online through Feb. 3. Tickets may be purchased through the website www. georgiadogs.com with the promotional code barrow- dogs. For additional informa tion or questions about Barrow County night, call 706-542-9039 or e-mail pcarden@sports.uga.edu. Peach State Speedway plans name change BY Brandon Reed Peach State Speedway is now history, at least in name. The track, which was recently purchased by a part nership comprised of Jim and Tony Gresham of Gresham Motorsports and Gene Roberts a former NASCAR Cup Series crew chief and current Gresham Motorsports’ late model crew chief for driver Max Gresham, will be re-christened Gresham Motorsports Park. It will be the fourth name for the facility, which is tout ed as the fastest paved half- mile oval in the state. The track opened as Jefco Speedway in July of 1967, hosting its first event, a NASCAR sanctioned Late Model Sportsman raced dubbed the “Tiger 200.” That first event, fittingly, was won by “Tiger Tom” Pistone of Chicago, Ill. The track was later renamed Georgia International Speedway in the early 1980s, then was rechristened Peach State Speedway after the track sold in the early 1990s. According to a track press release, the owners agreed that the name change would fit the new facility because of the desire of the Gresham family to bring the most professional and exciting automobile rac ing to the facility. The release said the partner ship will make needed chang es to bring to the 41-year old facility the best racing pos sible for fans and drivers. Track officials have also announced that Dan Elliott, brother of NASCAR Sprint PEACH STATE NO MORE Officials have announced that Peach State Speedway will be renamed ‘Gresham Motorsports Park’ as part of a series of changes coming to the Jefferson speed way. More announcements are expected in the coming weeks. Photo by Brandon Reed Cup champion Bill Elliott, has been named general manager of the facility. He has been in racing almost all of his life, from short tracks to the highest ranks of NASCAR. Officials said Elliott plans to use every resource available to make this the best racetrack in the country. ”We plan to do an extreme makeover, race track edition,” Elliott said this week. “This track once hosted some of the most famous drivers that ever raced and if anyone can do that again I want to be the man to do it and I want this to be the track where new talent is discovered. “I am excited and proud to be a part of the new Gresham Motorsports Park and highly praise the Greshams and Gene Roberts for this awesome opportunity.” The track previously held events for NASCAR’s Sprint Cup events, which was then called the Grand National Series. In 1968, the series’ season finale was held at the track, with Cale Yarborough winning. The series would visit the track again in November of 1969, with Bobby Isaac taking the win. In 1983, the track’s signa ture event, the World Crown 300, was held for the first time. Fittingly, the sale of the track was official following the conclusion of the 25th running of the World Crown on Nov. 9 of this year. The new track owners plan to unveil the facility’s future plans after the New Year. For further information and to view the track’s current updates, you can visit the track’s website at www.gresh- ammotorsportspark.com AHS boys continued from IB Morris saw his team make another defensive stop as Clayton Barber came down with a key rebound. After making l-of-2 free throws for a two-point lead, the Wildcats continued to use their strong defense to force another Towers offensive mis- cue. After Barber grabbed another rebound, the Towers coach was called for a techin- cal foul and by the time AHS was finished at the foul line, the lead was up to six points. Dillon Moon paced the Wildcats with 16 points in the win Saturday. “We didn’t shoot that well in the first half,” Morris said. “We were limited in the number of attempts we had. Our scoring was so low, not because we turned it over but because we didn’t get as many attempts.” The AHS coach said his team did a much better job on the defensive end in the second half. “We don’t do a lot of scout ing for these types of tourna ments,” Morris said. “However, Towers had been putting up some high scores so I was pleased by our defense. It was one of our better games.” Following play at the Oconee County tournament, the Wildcats will open sub- region play Saturday at Habersham Central. Varsity games are scheduled to begin at 4 p.m. in Cornelia. R U Sick & Tired Of being Sick & Tired? Crawl N, Walk N, just get N 2 RAGLAND CHIROPRACTIC CENTER 82 West Candler St. Winder, GA 770-867-2115 IF YOU’RE NOT AT YOUR LAST JOB, YOUR 401 (k) SHOULDN’T BE EITHER. 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