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When youre typing the name Alex Rodriguez or A-Rod almost every day, it gets you to thinking about many things, including why there are so few nicknames in baseball anymore. There used to be a time when it seemed all the stars had a handle. There was Rocket Roger Clemens, Bill The Spaceman Lee, Randy Big Unit Johnson, and just Lefty for Steve Carlton to name just a few for pitchers. Then there were the stars and the baseball legends such as George Herman Babe Ruth, the Sultan of Swat, Stan the Man Musial, Hammerin Hank Aaron, the Kid Ken Griffey Jr. and that other Kid – late great Hall of Famer Gary Carter. You can come up with so many more yourselves. What surprised me, when I did a little digging, was the most popular nickname ever is Doc. Marlin Bressi did an article for Yahoo in 2011 detailing 81 different players with that nickname. I even managed to come up with a few more that werent on that list - Roy Doc Halladay, Ron Taylor known by all in these parts as Doc Taylor, because he actually is a practicing physician in Toronto. Another name I remembered from his brief stay with the Blue Jays was right hander Danny Darwin, who was known as Doctor Death, for not being afraid to throw high and tight on batters. And then there was the late Dock Ellis, who spelled his with the K. And the greatest Doc of them all was probably New York Mets star Dwight Gooden who short-circuited his outstanding pitching career by abusing drugs and alcohol. The Doc I really wanted to tell you about though, is Maurice Mike Doc Powers - a catcher who began his big league career in the late 1800s and played thru the early 1900s mainly for the Philadelphia As. I always thought the first and only baseball death, related to an on-field incident, involved shortstop Ray Chapman of the Cleveland Indians. On August 16 of 1920, Carl Mays - a hard-throwing, side-winding pitcher - hit Chapman in the head with a pitch. He collapsed and died in hospital 12 hours later. That incident led to the outlawing of the spit ball and a rule change whereby umpires would remove balls from games as soon as they became scuffed or scratched or anyway discoloured. I was surprised to find out Chapman may not have been the first to die because of something that happened in a Major League game. On April 12 of 1909, the Philadelphia As were playing their season opener at Shibe Park. It was quite a sight - the first stadium ever built entirely of concrete and steel, a state-of-the-art facility for its time. Mike Doc Powers was in the twilight of his career in 1909 at age 38. He was also a licenced, practicing physician. In the later years of his career Doc Powers was known as the Personal catcher of Future Hall of Famer Eddie Plank. Powers was also considered to be the unofficial pitching coach of the As and the right hand man to their legendary skipper Connie Mack.At some point early in this Opening Day game against the Red Sox, Powers made a Herculean effort to catch a foul pop and crashed hard into a wall. By the seventh inning he was doubled over in pain in the dugout. Doc Powers insisted, he should finish the game, which ended as an 8-1 victory for Philadelphia. After the game, Powers was taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with gastritis and or Peritonitis. Two days later he was operated on for a twisted/strangulated intestine. A surgeon removed a section of the intestine. Unfortunately, gangrene had begun to set in and after two more operations Doc Powers died on April 26 of 1909. Powers, over the last two weeks of his life, was reluctant to blame his condition on baseball. He actually thought he became ill from eating a spoiled cheese sandwich during the game. Author Brian McKenna, who deeply researched this story, mentioned it could have been a pre-existing condition that just happened to surface on that day. Doc Powers funeral was on April 29 and the entire As and Washington Senators teams were on hand, along with players from four other teams. So popular was Powers that thousands of mourners had to be turned away. Two years later on July 1 of 1910, the As organized what might have been the very first benefit game. Eight thousand dollars was raised for Doc Powers children. I found another fascinating Doc as well. Doc Cramer played in the majors for 20 seasons up until 1948 and helped the Detroit Tigers win the 1945 World Series over the Chicago Cubs - the last time the Cubbies made it to the Fall Classic. Cramer finished with a .296 batting average and 2,705 hits. Thats the most hits for any player before 1975 who didnt wind up in the Hall of Fame. What is the best Chinese web site for cheap Jerseys . 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What is the best site to buy team jerseys from China . -- Matt Rupert scored once in regulation and again in the shootout as the London Knights extended their win streak to nine games by defeating the Owen Sound Attack 4-3 on Friday in Ontario Hockey League action. Michigan and Notre Dame?are resurrecting their football rivalry in 2018.Both schools announced Thursday that the Wolverines and Fighting Irish would square off in the 2018 season opener on Sept. 1 in South Bend, Indiana. The return contest is set for Oct. 26, 2019, in Ann Arbor, Michigan.New Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel said in March that he would be open to discussing future matchups with the Irish in football after the two programs ended their annual series in 2014 with an unfriendly parting of ways.This is a game that holds great significance for the student-athletes and coaches who compete on the field, Manuel said in a statement. A great deal of credit goes to Coach Harbaugh and Coach Kelly for initiating the discussion of scheduling this series. This rivalry is also important for the fans of both programs, and we look forward to renewing one of college footballs great rivalries.Manuel said there have been ongoing discussions to extend the series beyond 2019. Notre Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick indicated that the teams may not play every year.While the schedule commitments of both Notre Dame and Michigan make an annual series impractical, were optimistic that additional games can be scheduled in the future, Swarbrick said.To make room for Notre Dame, Michigan has canceled its series with Arkansas and moved a 2019 Big Ten game against Rutgers to a new date.dddddddddddd. The Wolverines will pay the Razorbacks $2 million for games scheduled in 2018 and 2019.Primarily, we are disappointed in Michigans timing in pulling out of a non-conference football series between the SEC and the Big Ten that has been set for four years, Arkansas AD Jeff Long said in a statement. While there are many other quality opponents that would help us strengthen our non-conference schedule, the late notice of Michigans cancellation makes securing those games substantially more difficult.The Wolverines had to pay a $2 million cancellation fee to the Razorbacks.Michigan and Notre Dame have played 42 times in a rivalry that goes back more than 100 years but ended when Notre Dame dropped the series to make room to schedule more ACC teams as part of an agreement with that conference.After that decision by Notre Dame, former Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon said it would be a long time before the two schools played again. But Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly said in September that he thought the possibility of the series returning was trending up.The Wolverines lead the all-time series 24-17-1.Information from ESPN staff writer Dan Murphy and The Associated Press was used in this report.? ' ' '