Tommy Giordano Jason Motte Jersey , a longtime scout who played only 11 games in the major leagues but spent more than seven decades in a variety of baseball roles, died Thursday. He was 93.Known affectionately as “T-bone,” Giordano was stricken in December with a blood infection, said his daughter, Gail Przeclawski. He died at her home in Orlando, Florida, after the family decided against further treatment.Giordano worked for the Atlanta Braves as baseball’s oldest scout through last season, his 71st in professional baseball. He had intended to come back for another year until he became ill.“I can’t wait to get up in the morning and go to the ballpark,” he said in a 2016 interview with The Associated Press. “I’m still in baseball, so I must have been doing a pretty good job.”Giordano, a slick-fielding middle infielder, played in the minor leagues for a dozen years. His only appearance in the majors came toward the end of the 1953 season, when he was called up by the struggling Philadelphia Athletics.He had a memorable debut at Connie Mack Stadium, homering off 20-game winner Virgil Trucks of the Chicago White Sox in his second career at-bat. But Giordano hit only .175 with two homers and five RBIs during that 11-game stint and never returned to the Show. The Athletics played just one more season in Philadelphia, moving first to Kansas City and eventually to Oakland.Giordano spent most of the 1953 season with Savannah in the Class A South Atlantic League, where he met future home run king Hank Aaron, then an up-and-coming prospect with Jacksonville. Aaron led the Sally League in almost every offensive category except one — Giordano hit 24 homers, two more than the Hammer.Giordano became a scout after his playing days were over http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , serving in that role for numerous teams beginning with the Kansas City Athletics in 1960. He relished the opportunity to comb the backwoods and backwaters for potential future stars.Two of his biggest prizes were Cal Ripken Jr. and Manny Ramirez.“Get in the house” was a scouting mantra that Giordano swore by, giving him a chance to check out a prospect’s family and any off-the-field red flags.“See what kind of furniture they have in the house. See how many cars they have. See what kind of dad he has. Does he drink? Does he smoke? Are there any problems in the house? Get to know that family. I love doing that kind of work,” he said.Over the course of his long career, Giordano served as a scouting director, player development executive and assistant to the general manager with the Baltimore Orioles, Cleveland Indians and Texas Rangers. He was selected by his peers as Major League Baseball’s East Coast scout of the year in 2007.Born Oct. 9, 1925 in Newark, New Jersey, Giordano’s baseball career almost ended not long after it started. His father, who owned a grocery store, believed young Tommy should focus on his schoolwork and devote any free time to working at the family business.When Giordano joined the high school team, he fibbed to his parents about his reason for coming home late.“I used to hide my spikes,” Giordano said. “Well, my dad got hold of them and put them on the butcher block. He cut them up. He cut everything up. My bat, my glove, everything.”Eventually, though, his father came around. He even had a pregame ritual that gave his son a nickname Brett Cecil Jersey , one that stuck with him through the rest of his life.T-bone.“I hit a couple of home runs one day,” Giordano recalled. “Someone made the statement, ‘Hey, where did you get all that power? What did you do?’ I told ’em, ‘Before every game, my dad fixes me a big T-bone steak.’ That’s where it all started.”Still vibrant into his 90s and determined to remain part of the game, Giordano was hired before the 2016 season as a special assistant by his protege John Hart, then serving as president of baseball operations for the Atlanta Braves.That would be Giordano’s final stop.“I love what I’m doing,” he said in 2016. “I’m going to do this until I die.”Hart was able to visit with Giordano in his final days, part of a steady stream of visitors who descended on his daughter’s home to say goodbye. Many others called, including Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson.In a text to the AP, Hart wrote that Giordano was “like a father to me, and I have been so blessed to have him in my life.”Giordano is survived by two children, two grandchildren, four great-grandchildren and two brothers.His wife, Berenice, died almost a year ago. The couple was married for 70 years.A memorial service is scheduled in Orlando on March 10. The family also plans memorial services in Newark and on Long Island, where Giordano and his wife lived for many years before moving to Florida. SAN DIEGO (AP) — Consecutive losses to the last-place Padres had some people wondering what was going on with the Colorado Rockies.Just as quickly http://www.stlouiscardinalsteamshop.com/authentic-marcell-ozuna-jersey , consecutive wins have the Rockies feeling pretty good about themselves.“We feel as though we’re a contending team,” manager Bud Black said after the Rockies beat the last-place Padres 7-3 Sunday to salvage a split of a four-game series. “We feel as though we can play with anybody in the National League. We’ll see how these next few weeks go. This is good stuff. This is where we want to be. We know we’re in a dogfight with the Diamondbacks and Dodgers. We’ve just got to keep doing it.”About an hour after the Rockies won, Los Angeles beat Arizona 3-2. The Dodgers have a one-half game lead over Colorado, with the Diamondbacks another half game back in third.Chris Iannetta hit a go-ahead, two-run double in the seventh inning for the Rockies, who came into the series one-half game behind Arizona before losing the first two games. They snapped San Diego’s four-game winning streak on Saturday night and then beat rookie Jacob Nix (2-3) on Sunday.Colorado, which lost to Arizona in the NL wild-card game last year, won for the third time in seven games.With the score tied at 3, Nix faltered opening the seventh by allowing a leadoff single to Ian Desmond and walking Gerardo Parra before being lifted for fellow rookie Trey Wingenter. Desmond and Parra pulled off a double steal and Iannetta brought them both in with a double to the base of the fence in center.The double steal “takes the double play out of order, gives them a base open and they’ve got to pitch to you,” Iannetta said. “He made a mistake over the plate and I was able to get the barrel to it. I was just trying to hit a ball to the outfield and score one, and was able to hit a line drive and score two.”Charlie Blackmon singled with one out to bring in Iannetta.That made a winner of Kyle Freeland (13-7), who allowed three runs and seven hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked two.The Rockies return home for a 10-game homestand that starts with three games against San Francisco and finishes with three against the Dodgers and four against Arizona.“Splitting the series certainly wasn’t what we were hoping for but we’ll take it,” Freeland said.The seventh inning “was huge,” the lefty added. “They were obviously seeing me pretty well and barreling-up balls. To get through six and then have the offense explode there in the seventh inning and throw some runs on them and kind of step on their throats, that was really great to see.”David Dahl homered in the eighth, his eighth.The double steal was big for the Rockies.“The Rockies have never historically really run on us,” San Diego manager Andy Green said. “They ran all over us this series. It’s a bunch of young guys on the mound that have come up not realizing how important that is. We’ve got to drill that into them that those are free bases Michael Wacha Jersey , and they turn into runs, and they turn into losses.”Nix allowed five runs and five hits in six-plus innings, struck out four and walked two.“I take pride in not walking guys. Nothing frustrates me more than walking a guy and having him score,” Nix said. “Especially like if I ever walk a guy and he steals second then I give up a double, it’s like, that guy shouldn’t have been on base.“The ball that Story hit, I put that ball right where I wanted. About six inches off the plate, wanted him to chase. He did, got it down the line. Good hitters get hits sometimes.”Freeland got into early trouble when he walked leadoff batter Freddy Galvis and allowed a single to left by rookie Luis Urias. He walked Eric Hosmer with one out and then allowed rookie Franmil Reyes’ two-run single to center for a 2-1 lead.Colorado got a sacrifice fly from Nolan Arenado in the first and a sac fly from Dahl in the fourth, and then tied the game in the sixth when DJ LeMahieu walked with one out and scored on Trevor Story’s double to right.UP NEXTRockies: LHP Tyler Anderson (6-7, 4.79) is scheduled to start Monday in the opener of a three-game series against San Francisco. The Giants will counter with LHP Madison Bumgarner (5-5, 2.68).Padres: RHP Bryan Mitchell (0-3, 7.08) is scheduled to start Monday night in the opener of a two-game series at Arizona, marking his return to the rotation for the first time since early May. He was moved to the bullpen after struggling in his first seven starts and then missed 2 ½ months with an elbow impingement. Arizona is set to counter with RHP Zack Godley (14-7, 4.42).