The New York Yankees have solved their vacancy at third base and re-signed a former San Diego Padre they acquired prior to this year's trade deadline. Also, the baseball world lost a notable figure this week when Sy Berger passed away at the age of 91.
Chase Headley is reportedly coming back to the Yankees on a four-year, $52 million deal, according to Jon Heyman of CBS Sports. Headley's return ensures the solidarity of New York's infield since Alex Rodriguez's ability to be an everyday third baseman has been in question for some time now. The acquisition of shortstop Didi Gregorius from the Arizona Diamondbacks was perhaps the move that propelled the front office's pursuit of Headley.
Yankees' general manager Brian Cashman mentioned on Sunday that, "Chase [Headley] wants to be a Yankee." He was right, especially since the third baseman apparently turned down a four-year, $65 million offer from an unknown team. The longtime Padre batted .262/.371/.398 with six home runs and 17 RBIs in 58 games with New York in 2014. In eight seasons (908 games) with San Diego, the 30-year-old slashed .266/.346/.410/.756 with 87 home runs and 401 RBIs and he'll now likely serve as the Yankees' everyday third baseman.
Off the field, Sy Berger, known as the father of modern day baseball cards, passed away of natural causes on Sunday at the age of 91. Baseball historian Marty Appel announced the news on behalf of Berger's family. Berger was responsible for pioneering the practice of signing professional baseball players each year to obtain the rights to use their name and image on baseball cards.
Berger began working for The Topps Company in 1952, about 14 years after it was founded as a chewing gum company. He created and produced the company's first set of baseball cards that year and each pack consisted of six cards along with a piece of chewing gum for the cost of only five cents. It took decades before the cards became an attractive investment, largely because they were so scarce since nobody was buying them.
"We came out in 1952 with a card in color, beautiful color, and a card that was large," Berger told the Society of American Baseball Research back in 2004. "For the first time, we had a team logo. We had the 1951 line statistics and their lifetime statistics. No one else did it."
Berger maintained relationships with a number of players, including Willie Mays, who was regarded by Berger as the most instrumental player to get the baseball trading card business started. The 91-year-old passed away in Rockville Centre, New York.
