Nearly two decades ago, Delmon Young was one of the most coveted prospects in baseball. Unsurprisingly, the massive and advanced right-handed hitter was the first overall selection in the 2003 MLB draft by the Tampa Bay Devil Rays out of high school. Although he went on to have a solid 10-year big-league career, his last game at the level occurred in 2015 when he was still just 29. Instead of simply fading away, he has continued his playing career and is currently dominating professional baseball in the unlikeliest of places — Australia.

The younger brother of two-time MLB All Star Dmitri Young, Delmon never became the superstar many had him pegged for but was far from a failure in the majors. Playing for five teams in his career, he combined to hit .283 with 109 home runs and 566 RBIs. His best season came in 2010 with the Minnesota Twins, as he hit .298 with 21 home runs and 112 RBIs, earning him a 10th-place finish in American League MVP voting. …

Rumors and fervent hopes have run rampant over the past couple of weeks due to speculation that SPAC CCIV (Churchill Capital Corp IV) might merge with emerging EV company Lucid Motors. It has helped the stock more than double during that time, including a giant 30% jump on January 22nd alone, despite no merger being announced yet. With each passing day, excitement and theories mount but what do we know for certain at this point?

At $23.41 per share, CCIV is currently well above its initial offering price of $10. The enthusiasm over a possible merger and the highly anticipated potential of Lucid Motors has driven the price skyward. With neither company publicly commenting about the other, speculative investors have had to rely on bits of information here and there to make their decision about whether or not to jump in — with the hope that doing so will ultimately result in a successful merger and Tesla-like price raises as their vehicles start to hit the market. …

Healthcare stocks are a continuous highway of companies working diligently to develop and bring to market a dizzying array of products designed to treat our many ails. Typically, there is a short amount of time for investors to identify products and companies they believe are headed in the right direction. Determining if these stocks are worthy of investment funds requires taking a closer look and determining whether or not they make sense for a portfolio. One such stock that has recently appeared on many radars is SENS (Senseonic Holdings, Inc.), …

Right-handed pitcher Christy Mathewson is still one of the greatest pitchers in baseball history, more than 100 years after he pitched his final game. With all of his talent and accomplishments, he is perhaps best known for his fadeaway pitch (modern day screwball), which quite literally became the stuff of legends. Where did his famous offering originate? His former teammate Red Murray knew.

Mathewson spent all but the final start of his 17-year (1900–1916) big-league career with the New York Giants. He was a combined 373–188 with a 2.13 ERA, not only perhaps the best hurler in the game but also one of its most popular players. He was the hero of the 1905 World Series, pitching three shutouts on the way to his team taking the championship, and was also widely admired for his blend of talent and wholesomeness. Sadly, he passed away at the age of 45 from injuries suffered while serving in World War I. …

There has very likely never been a baseball player as passionate and competitive as Hall-of-Fame outfielder Ty Cobb. His break-neck style was widely known, appreciated and feared. One might expect someone who put so much into the game would want to remain involved as long as possible, but as it turned out, the Georgia Peach was relieved to leave baseball behind once his playing career was over.

In a 24-year major league career with the Detroit Tigers and Philadelphia Athletics, the left-handed hitting Cobb batted an all-time record .366 with 4,189 base hits, 117 home runs, 1,944 RBIs, 2,245 runs scored and 897 stolen bases. His intensity was so well known that over time, with the help of those seeking to make a buck (authors who invented wholesale stories and lies about his life and career and sold them as fact), his reputation was remolded into someone who was a sadistic monster instead of a hard-nosed and determined ball player. It’s true he ran hard, slid hard and sometimes got into fights. However, it wasn’t anything untypical for players of his time. …

Now that the college football season has wrapped up and the NFL is in the midst of their playoffs, the 2021 draft isn’t far away. There are many prospects that teams will look at, but a few have an advantage that the others don’t. Those are the young players who not only stood out in college but also had fathers who previously played in the NFL, including these three:

Patrick Surtain II, Cornerback (Father- Patrick Surtain): Surtain II is one of the best secondary prospects in the upcoming draft. He turned into a star after playing the past three years with Alabama, totaling 116 tackles, 24 passes defended and four interceptions. He has elite size at 6’2” and 202 pounds, which will allow him to match up well with the hulking wide receivers that are so favored in the professional game. He is forgoing his senior season after being a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation’s top defensive back. …

The MLB Hall of Famer struggled mightily after his career as a pitcher ended

Grover “Pete” Alexander was simultaneously one of the best pitchers who ever stepped on a mound and also a tragic cautionary tale. His greatness in baseball was in direct contrast to his struggles off the field. Once his playing career ended, he should have been able to sit back and enjoy the spoils of his legendary career. Instead, he struggled to make ends meet, including at one point working as an act in a popular flea circus.

An April 21, 1940 issue of the Philadelphia Inquirer caught up with a 53-year-old Alexander, who was in between performances with the Hubert Flea Circus in New York City. He participated in a number of shows daily, in between sword swallowers, jugglers and freaks. Speaking for several minutes about baseball, he would then do a brief question and answer from the crowd; many agape that a real live baseball legend was in their midst. …

You can’t turn around in the investing world these days without a new SPAC being announced. Not all of them complete mergers but enough have successfully paired with an emerging company to be brought public that they have become a very popular, and frequently lucrative, investment sector. Keeping track of all the dates of votes, filings and the like can be overwhelming but there are some SPAC events happening in the coming days that deserve your attention.

January 19, 2021: OAC is holding its shareholder’s vote to confirm a merger with Hims/Hers, a telehealth and prescription subscription service. The merger is expected to pass, which in a matter of days would change the ticker from OAC to HIMS. The stock currently sits at $18.19 …