Friday, April 03, 2009

Tuffy Rhodes: 15 years ago he made National League history with the Chicago Cubs


Saturday will mark the 15th anniversary of a great moment in baseball history...

Who could ever forget the show that Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes, of the Chicago Cubs, put on for the Wrigley Field faithful on Opening Day of the 1994...Tuffy unloaded for three homeruns to become the first and only National League player to ever hit three homers on Opening Day...all three shots came off Doc Gooden of the Mets...

What a day it was for Tuffy...after that three homer performance, he went on to hit a total of five more home runs the rest of the season and finish with a .234 batting average...by the way, the Cubs did lose that opener to the Mets 12-8 despite Tuffy's heroics...

So whatever happened to Tuffy?....

In 1996 he went to Japan...he is the all-time home run leader for foreign-born players with 442 home runs...in 2001 Tuffy unloaded for 55 home runs which tied the mark set by the great Sadaharu Oh...at the age of 40, Tuffy is still trying hook on to a team in Japan...

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