Former NY Met Herm Winningham joins Mark and Aj to talk about his playing days. Herm was a 9 year veteran in Major League Baseball.

Drafted by the New York Mets in the 1st round of the 1981 amateur draft, Herm made his major league debut with the Mets on September 1, 1984, and appeared in his final game on October 3, 1992.

He was a member of the Cincinnati Reds team that defeated the Oakland Athletics in the 1990 World Series.

Former NY Yankee Chris Hammond joins Mark and Aj to talk about his major league career.Chris Hammond was drafted by the Cincinnati Reds in the sixth round of the 1986 amateur draft. Hammond met with considerable success with a revival as a relief pitcher with the 2002 Atlanta Braves. Hammond's career went through two distinct phases, one as a  starting pitcher/swingman and one as a reliever. Hammond first appeared in the Major Leagues in 1990 where he pitched three games for the  World Series Champion Reds. He was also a member of the inaugural Marlins team that began play in Major League Baseball in 1993. In his inaugural season as a Marlin, he hit two home runs (one a pinch-hit grand slam)

Director David Vyorst of The First Basket joins Mark and AJ to discuss this outstanding documentary .On November 1, 1946, in the opening game of the fledgling Basketball Association of America (BAA), Ossie Schectman scored the opening basket for the New York Knickerbockers against the Toronto Huskies. Schectman and his teammates Sonny Hertzberg, Stan Stutz, Hank Rosenstein, Ralph Kaplowitz, Jake Weber, and Leo "Ace" Gottlieb went on to win the opening game 68 – 66 and finish the season with a

33 – 27 record. In 1949, the BAA became the National Basketball Association (NBA), and Schectman’s shot is considered the first basket in the NBA In fact, several of the BAA and NBA teams had evolved out of the semi-pro teams, settlement houses, playgrounds, schoolyard and community center leagues, and college teams that sprung from the Jewish inner-city neighborhoods of the early 20th century. While the era of Jewish professional basketball players has passed, the story of these sports pioneers illustrates how the American 20th Century was shaped by the experiences of many immigrant groups.

The First Basket follows these Jewish basketball experiences, from ash cans placed on the stoops of brownstones, to the bright lights of Madison Square Garden.

Andrew Sherburne the director of Forgotten Miracle joins Mark And AJ to discuss this great film and the 1960 USA Olympic Hockey Team

“Do you believe in miracles?”

Al Michaels’ famous call—maybe the most famous in all of sports—resonates beyond one hockey match. Do we believe in underdogs, freedom and the American way of life? Even watching replays today, we all join Michaels to answer a resounding, “Yes!”

For many Americans, the 1980 Miracle on Ice was the beginning of hockey’s history in the US. Youth leagues exploded, the NHL expanded,and indoor ice rinks spread to every corner of the country.

But 20 years earlier, the few Americans tuned in to the first-ever televised Olympic Games saw a remarkably similar sight. On February 27th, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, the underrated US hockey team stunned the defending Olympic champion Soviet sextet en route to an undefeated march for Olympic gold.

It’s a story that shares many connections with the 1980 Miracle team, but the 1960 team also had its own unique challenges. The team had never beaten the Soviets, the Canadians had dominated the sport for decades, and internal dissent threatened to rip the team apart from within.

By winning seven games in ten days, the 1960 team achieved something that has still never been matched by an American hockey team: an unblemished record in an Olympiad. But for all the greatness of the 1960 US Olympic team, they remain a footnote in the history books. It’s a triumph that could aptly be called a “Forgotten Miracle.”