Baseball History

[67RedSox]

Earl Averill Sr., not a well-known name among the last couple of generations of baseball fans, was selected for induction to the Hall of Fame on this date in 1975…34 long years after he finished playing in the Majors, a fact that he had a lot to say about.
Averill was the Indians centrefielder for all of the 1930’s. He only played 11 full seasons plus 135 ABs in parts of two other seasons but he left his mark for a 5’9” – 170 pounder. In his 10 seasons with the Indians he averaged .322/22/108 per season and to this day is the All-Time Indians leader in RBIs, Runs Scored, Triples and Total Bases.
During his time in Cleveland, the team never a power house and never finished higher than 3rd place despite his efforts. He's famous for hitting the line drive that broke Dizzy Dean's toe in the 1937 All-Star Game. Averill was the first ML’er to hit 4 home runs in a doubleheader (3 in the first game and 1 in the second game) on September 17, 1930; he was also one of the first players to hit a home run in his first ML at-bat (April 16, 1929, opening day). Averill batted .378 in 1936, leading the American League in hits with 232, but finishing 2nd to Luke Appling in the batting race (Appling batted .388 for the White Sox).
After his career, he was very outspoken on being elected to the Hall of Fame. While he didn't campaign for induction because being argumentative or confrontational was just not in his vocabulary. He did make his feelings known about the process and even in his Cooperstown induction speech and advised that "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame." Averill was inducted in 1975, 8 years before his passing.
He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game. He insisted on bringing his own bat in a gun case. If he made news in those days imagine how many years he’d get in jail for doing that now.
His son, Earl Averill Jr., also played in the Majors for 7 seasons in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He wasn’t a star but holds the ML record (tied) for getting on base in 17 straight plate appearances during the 1962 season while he was playing with the LA Angels. ( He had no idea about this record until several years after he set it ). He was the Angels catcher in their first season in 1961 and was one of five players to hit 20 or more HRs for them that season. He loved hitting in Wrigley Field West. Although now in his 80’s is a fabulous baseball interview. Despite playing in less than 500 ML games he did so with five different teams and played with dozens of ML’ers and can speak with great detail on those years in Baseball.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4urecDoTX9g]Earl Averill - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=earl...entid%3D20472%26start%3D1%26page%3D47;800;562

It was on this date in 1915 the emery ball is banned in the American League. Since it was banned 99 years ago I suppose one might believe it has never since been thrown in a MLB game but since Joe Niekro was caught red-handed with an emery board on his person on the mound I guess we’ll have to believe that once in a while the odd pitcher or two may try to get away with something.
The Emery Ball is a pitch, "invented" by pitcher Russell Ford , which relies on scarring or roughening part of the baseball in order to achieve an unnatural break. Ford had discovered the effects of scarring the baseball in 1907 while warming up with batterymate Jeff Sweeney while both were playing for the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers. He experimented with the idea of scuffing the ball in 1909 and parlayed it into an astonishing season with the Jersey City Skeeters limiting batters in the Eastern League to a league low 5.6 H/9 innings.
Pitcher Bugs Reisigl would later claim to having used the pitch in 1906 and that roughing the ball to improve the break was somewhat common knowledge.
Ford would manage to keep the emery ball a secret for nearly a decade due to the fact that he was a spitball pitcher as well as being discreet. He was brilliant as a New York rookie, going 26-6 in 1910. He followed with a 22-11 mark in 1911. Not only was the spitball legal pitch at the time, it literally meant moistening the ball with saliva or mucus, as opposed to the modern day usage to refer to any doctored baseball. The exceptional break from the emery ball was merely seen as proof of Ford's excellence as a spitballer.
By 1913 a second pitcher, Cy Falkenberg, caught wind of Ford's method of success and used it to revive his career with the Cleveland Naps. However, Falkenberg was less discreet with his new-found secret. Coupled with facts that Falkenberg was a a thirty-three year old veteran when he debuted the pitch and that he was not a spitballer like Ford, the sharp, unnatural break was suspicious to opposing teams, notably pitcher Kid Gleason and Manager Clark Griffith.
Both Falkenberg and Ford would jump to the Federal League in 1914 and use the emery ball to great success, but Falkenberg left behind a number of Cleveland pitchers who had seen the emery stitched to his glove. From 1913 to 1915, there were "many pitchers were practicing it. There was a grand stampede for the emery ball." There was speculation that the entire Red Sox staff and several Yankee pitchers were using the pitch.
Ford was accused of originating the pitch, and all three leagues quickly sought to stop the use of the emery ball. The Federal League threatened to fine players two hundred dollars for use of the pitch in an era where the salary for a star pitcher did not often top four thousand dollars. The three Major Leagues all clarified that the emery ball would not be tolerated and the emery ball was effectively pitch non grata in professional baseball.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=russ...ly_Facts_and_Trivia_Thread%3Fpg%3D354;508;493

I’m sure it’s just me but bridges and ballparks seem to mix together well. The following Minor League ballparks all are among the Top 25 Minor League ballparks. Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo with a capacity of 18,050 was voted the #1 Minor league ballpark. I bet it’s great value for the money whichever one you set foot in:

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

https://www.google.ca/search?q=coca...tadium%2F2002%2FBuffalo%2FBuffalo.htm;600;399

 

[67RedSox]

Earl Averill Sr., not a well-known name among the last couple of generations of baseball fans, was selected for induction to the Hall of Fame on this date in 1975…34 long years after he finished playing in the Majors, a fact that he had a lot to say about.
Averill was the Indians centrefielder for all of the 1930’s. He only played 11 full seasons plus 135 ABs in parts of two other seasons but he left his mark for a 5’9” – 170 pounder. In his 10 seasons with the Indians he averaged .322/22/108 per season and to this day is the All-Time Indians leader in RBIs, Runs Scored, Triples and Total Bases.
During his time in Cleveland, the team never a power house and never finished higher than 3rd place despite his efforts. He's famous for hitting the line drive that broke Dizzy Dean's toe in the 1937 All-Star Game. Averill was the first ML’er to hit 4 home runs in a doubleheader (3 in the first game and 1 in the second game) on September 17, 1930; he was also one of the first players to hit a home run in his first ML at-bat (April 16, 1929, opening day). Averill batted .378 in 1936, leading the American League in hits with 232, but finishing 2nd to Luke Appling in the batting race (Appling batted .388 for the White Sox).
After his career, he was very outspoken on being elected to the Hall of Fame. While he didn't campaign for induction because being argumentative or confrontational was just not in his vocabulary. He did make his feelings known about the process and even in his Cooperstown induction speech and advised that "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame." Averill was inducted in 1975, 8 years before his passing.
He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game. He insisted on bringing his own bat in a gun case. If he made news in those days imagine how many years he’d get in jail for doing that now.
His son, Earl Averill Jr., also played in the Majors for 7 seasons in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He wasn’t a star but holds the ML record (tied) for getting on base in 17 straight plate appearances during the 1962 season while he was playing with the LA Angels. ( He had no idea about this record until several years after he set it ). He was the Angels catcher in their first season in 1961 and was one of five players to hit 20 or more HRs for them that season. He loved hitting in Wrigley Field West. Although now in his 80’s is a fabulous baseball interview. Despite playing in less than 500 ML games he did so with five different teams and played with dozens of ML’ers and can speak with great detail on those years in Baseball.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4urecDoTX9g]Earl Averill - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=earl...entid%3D20472%26start%3D1%26page%3D47;800;562

It was on this date in 1915 the emery ball is banned in the American League. Since it was banned 99 years ago I suppose one might believe it has never since been thrown in a MLB game but since Joe Niekro was caught red-handed with an emery board on his person on the mound I guess we’ll have to believe that once in a while the odd pitcher or two may try to get away with something.
The Emery Ball is a pitch, "invented" by pitcher Russell Ford , which relies on scarring or roughening part of the baseball in order to achieve an unnatural break. Ford had discovered the effects of scarring the baseball in 1907 while warming up with batterymate Jeff Sweeney while both were playing for the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers. He experimented with the idea of scuffing the ball in 1909 and parlayed it into an astonishing season with the Jersey City Skeeters limiting batters in the Eastern League to a league low 5.6 H/9 innings.
Pitcher Bugs Reisigl would later claim to having used the pitch in 1906 and that roughing the ball to improve the break was somewhat common knowledge.
Ford would manage to keep the emery ball a secret for nearly a decade due to the fact that he was a spitball pitcher as well as being discreet. He was brilliant as a New York rookie, going 26-6 in 1910. He followed with a 22-11 mark in 1911. Not only was the spitball legal pitch at the time, it literally meant moistening the ball with saliva or mucus, as opposed to the modern day usage to refer to any doctored baseball. The exceptional break from the emery ball was merely seen as proof of Ford's excellence as a spitballer.
By 1913 a second pitcher, Cy Falkenberg, caught wind of Ford's method of success and used it to revive his career with the Cleveland Naps. However, Falkenberg was less discreet with his new-found secret. Coupled with facts that Falkenberg was a a thirty-three year old veteran when he debuted the pitch and that he was not a spitballer like Ford, the sharp, unnatural break was suspicious to opposing teams, notably pitcher Kid Gleason and Manager Clark Griffith.
Both Falkenberg and Ford would jump to the Federal League in 1914 and use the emery ball to great success, but Falkenberg left behind a number of Cleveland pitchers who had seen the emery stitched to his glove. From 1913 to 1915, there were "many pitchers were practicing it. There was a grand stampede for the emery ball." There was speculation that the entire Red Sox staff and several Yankee pitchers were using the pitch.
Ford was accused of originating the pitch, and all three leagues quickly sought to stop the use of the emery ball. The Federal League threatened to fine players two hundred dollars for use of the pitch in an era where the salary for a star pitcher did not often top four thousand dollars. The three Major Leagues all clarified that the emery ball would not be tolerated and the emery ball was effectively pitch non grata in professional baseball.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=russ...ly_Facts_and_Trivia_Thread%3Fpg%3D354;508;493

I’m sure it’s just me but bridges and ballparks seem to mix together well. The following Minor League ballparks all are among the Top 25 Minor League ballparks. Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo with a capacity of 18,050 was voted the #1 Minor league ballpark. I bet it’s great value for the money whichever one you set foot in:

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

https://www.google.ca/search?q=coca...tadium%2F2002%2FBuffalo%2FBuffalo.htm;600;399

 

[67RedSox]

Earl Averill Sr., not a well-known name among the last couple of generations of baseball fans, was selected for induction to the Hall of Fame on this date in 1975…34 long years after he finished playing in the Majors, a fact that he had a lot to say about.
Averill was the Indians centrefielder for all of the 1930’s. He only played 11 full seasons plus 135 ABs in parts of two other seasons but he left his mark for a 5’9” – 170 pounder. In his 10 seasons with the Indians he averaged .322/22/108 per season and to this day is the All-Time Indians leader in RBIs, Runs Scored, Triples and Total Bases.
During his time in Cleveland, the team never a power house and never finished higher than 3rd place despite his efforts. He's famous for hitting the line drive that broke Dizzy Dean's toe in the 1937 All-Star Game. Averill was the first ML’er to hit 4 home runs in a doubleheader (3 in the first game and 1 in the second game) on September 17, 1930; he was also one of the first players to hit a home run in his first ML at-bat (April 16, 1929, opening day). Averill batted .378 in 1936, leading the American League in hits with 232, but finishing 2nd to Luke Appling in the batting race (Appling batted .388 for the White Sox).
After his career, he was very outspoken on being elected to the Hall of Fame. While he didn't campaign for induction because being argumentative or confrontational was just not in his vocabulary. He did make his feelings known about the process and even in his Cooperstown induction speech and advised that "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame." Averill was inducted in 1975, 8 years before his passing.
He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game. He insisted on bringing his own bat in a gun case. If he made news in those days imagine how many years he’d get in jail for doing that now.
His son, Earl Averill Jr., also played in the Majors for 7 seasons in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He wasn’t a star but holds the ML record (tied) for getting on base in 17 straight plate appearances during the 1962 season while he was playing with the LA Angels. ( He had no idea about this record until several years after he set it ). He was the Angels catcher in their first season in 1961 and was one of five players to hit 20 or more HRs for them that season. He loved hitting in Wrigley Field West. Although now in his 80’s is a fabulous baseball interview. Despite playing in less than 500 ML games he did so with five different teams and played with dozens of ML’ers and can speak with great detail on those years in Baseball.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4urecDoTX9g]Earl Averill - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=earl...entid%3D20472%26start%3D1%26page%3D47;800;562

It was on this date in 1915 the emery ball is banned in the American League. Since it was banned 99 years ago I suppose one might believe it has never since been thrown in a MLB game but since Joe Niekro was caught red-handed with an emery board on his person on the mound I guess we’ll have to believe that once in a while the odd pitcher or two may try to get away with something.
The Emery Ball is a pitch, "invented" by pitcher Russell Ford , which relies on scarring or roughening part of the baseball in order to achieve an unnatural break. Ford had discovered the effects of scarring the baseball in 1907 while warming up with batterymate Jeff Sweeney while both were playing for the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers. He experimented with the idea of scuffing the ball in 1909 and parlayed it into an astonishing season with the Jersey City Skeeters limiting batters in the Eastern League to a league low 5.6 H/9 innings.
Pitcher Bugs Reisigl would later claim to having used the pitch in 1906 and that roughing the ball to improve the break was somewhat common knowledge.
Ford would manage to keep the emery ball a secret for nearly a decade due to the fact that he was a spitball pitcher as well as being discreet. He was brilliant as a New York rookie, going 26-6 in 1910. He followed with a 22-11 mark in 1911. Not only was the spitball legal pitch at the time, it literally meant moistening the ball with saliva or mucus, as opposed to the modern day usage to refer to any doctored baseball. The exceptional break from the emery ball was merely seen as proof of Ford's excellence as a spitballer.
By 1913 a second pitcher, Cy Falkenberg, caught wind of Ford's method of success and used it to revive his career with the Cleveland Naps. However, Falkenberg was less discreet with his new-found secret. Coupled with facts that Falkenberg was a a thirty-three year old veteran when he debuted the pitch and that he was not a spitballer like Ford, the sharp, unnatural break was suspicious to opposing teams, notably pitcher Kid Gleason and Manager Clark Griffith.
Both Falkenberg and Ford would jump to the Federal League in 1914 and use the emery ball to great success, but Falkenberg left behind a number of Cleveland pitchers who had seen the emery stitched to his glove. From 1913 to 1915, there were "many pitchers were practicing it. There was a grand stampede for the emery ball." There was speculation that the entire Red Sox staff and several Yankee pitchers were using the pitch.
Ford was accused of originating the pitch, and all three leagues quickly sought to stop the use of the emery ball. The Federal League threatened to fine players two hundred dollars for use of the pitch in an era where the salary for a star pitcher did not often top four thousand dollars. The three Major Leagues all clarified that the emery ball would not be tolerated and the emery ball was effectively pitch non grata in professional baseball.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=russ...ly_Facts_and_Trivia_Thread%3Fpg%3D354;508;493

I’m sure it’s just me but bridges and ballparks seem to mix together well. The following Minor League ballparks all are among the Top 25 Minor League ballparks. Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo with a capacity of 18,050 was voted the #1 Minor league ballpark. I bet it’s great value for the money whichever one you set foot in:

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

https://www.google.ca/search?q=coca...tadium%2F2002%2FBuffalo%2FBuffalo.htm;600;399

 

[67RedSox]

Earl Averill Sr., not a well-known name among the last couple of generations of baseball fans, was selected for induction to the Hall of Fame on this date in 1975…34 long years after he finished playing in the Majors, a fact that he had a lot to say about.
Averill was the Indians centrefielder for all of the 1930’s. He only played 11 full seasons plus 135 ABs in parts of two other seasons but he left his mark for a 5’9” – 170 pounder. In his 10 seasons with the Indians he averaged .322/22/108 per season and to this day is the All-Time Indians leader in RBIs, Runs Scored, Triples and Total Bases.
During his time in Cleveland, the team never a power house and never finished higher than 3rd place despite his efforts. He's famous for hitting the line drive that broke Dizzy Dean's toe in the 1937 All-Star Game. Averill was the first ML’er to hit 4 home runs in a doubleheader (3 in the first game and 1 in the second game) on September 17, 1930; he was also one of the first players to hit a home run in his first ML at-bat (April 16, 1929, opening day). Averill batted .378 in 1936, leading the American League in hits with 232, but finishing 2nd to Luke Appling in the batting race (Appling batted .388 for the White Sox).
After his career, he was very outspoken on being elected to the Hall of Fame. While he didn't campaign for induction because being argumentative or confrontational was just not in his vocabulary. He did make his feelings known about the process and even in his Cooperstown induction speech and advised that "Had I been elected after my death, I had made arrangements that my name never be placed in the Hall of Fame." Averill was inducted in 1975, 8 years before his passing.
He made news of a different sort, according to Baseball Digest, in the early 1960s when he was boarding an airplane to fly to a site for an old-timers' game. He insisted on bringing his own bat in a gun case. If he made news in those days imagine how many years he’d get in jail for doing that now.
His son, Earl Averill Jr., also played in the Majors for 7 seasons in the 1950’s and 1960’s. He wasn’t a star but holds the ML record (tied) for getting on base in 17 straight plate appearances during the 1962 season while he was playing with the LA Angels. ( He had no idea about this record until several years after he set it ). He was the Angels catcher in their first season in 1961 and was one of five players to hit 20 or more HRs for them that season. He loved hitting in Wrigley Field West. Although now in his 80’s is a fabulous baseball interview. Despite playing in less than 500 ML games he did so with five different teams and played with dozens of ML’ers and can speak with great detail on those years in Baseball.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4urecDoTX9g]Earl Averill - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=earl...entid%3D20472%26start%3D1%26page%3D47;800;562

It was on this date in 1915 the emery ball is banned in the American League. Since it was banned 99 years ago I suppose one might believe it has never since been thrown in a MLB game but since Joe Niekro was caught red-handed with an emery board on his person on the mound I guess we’ll have to believe that once in a while the odd pitcher or two may try to get away with something.
The Emery Ball is a pitch, "invented" by pitcher Russell Ford , which relies on scarring or roughening part of the baseball in order to achieve an unnatural break. Ford had discovered the effects of scarring the baseball in 1907 while warming up with batterymate Jeff Sweeney while both were playing for the Southern Association Atlanta Crackers. He experimented with the idea of scuffing the ball in 1909 and parlayed it into an astonishing season with the Jersey City Skeeters limiting batters in the Eastern League to a league low 5.6 H/9 innings.
Pitcher Bugs Reisigl would later claim to having used the pitch in 1906 and that roughing the ball to improve the break was somewhat common knowledge.
Ford would manage to keep the emery ball a secret for nearly a decade due to the fact that he was a spitball pitcher as well as being discreet. He was brilliant as a New York rookie, going 26-6 in 1910. He followed with a 22-11 mark in 1911. Not only was the spitball legal pitch at the time, it literally meant moistening the ball with saliva or mucus, as opposed to the modern day usage to refer to any doctored baseball. The exceptional break from the emery ball was merely seen as proof of Ford's excellence as a spitballer.
By 1913 a second pitcher, Cy Falkenberg, caught wind of Ford's method of success and used it to revive his career with the Cleveland Naps. However, Falkenberg was less discreet with his new-found secret. Coupled with facts that Falkenberg was a a thirty-three year old veteran when he debuted the pitch and that he was not a spitballer like Ford, the sharp, unnatural break was suspicious to opposing teams, notably pitcher Kid Gleason and Manager Clark Griffith.
Both Falkenberg and Ford would jump to the Federal League in 1914 and use the emery ball to great success, but Falkenberg left behind a number of Cleveland pitchers who had seen the emery stitched to his glove. From 1913 to 1915, there were "many pitchers were practicing it. There was a grand stampede for the emery ball." There was speculation that the entire Red Sox staff and several Yankee pitchers were using the pitch.
Ford was accused of originating the pitch, and all three leagues quickly sought to stop the use of the emery ball. The Federal League threatened to fine players two hundred dollars for use of the pitch in an era where the salary for a star pitcher did not often top four thousand dollars. The three Major Leagues all clarified that the emery ball would not be tolerated and the emery ball was effectively pitch non grata in professional baseball.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=russ...ly_Facts_and_Trivia_Thread%3Fpg%3D354;508;493

I’m sure it’s just me but bridges and ballparks seem to mix together well. The following Minor League ballparks all are among the Top 25 Minor League ballparks. Coca-Cola Field in Buffalo with a capacity of 18,050 was voted the #1 Minor league ballpark. I bet it’s great value for the money whichever one you set foot in:

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

The 25 Coolest Minor League Ballparks in America | Complex

https://www.google.ca/search?q=coca...tadium%2F2002%2FBuffalo%2FBuffalo.htm;600;399

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1956 the Cy Young Award was established in memory of the Hall of Fame hurler who died the previous year. The Award was then established to honour the outstanding ML pitcher of the year. It would be in 1967 that each League would have a recipient. Receiving 62% of the vote the first recipient was Don Newcombe, who posted a 27-7 record along with an ERA of 3.06 for the Dodgers.
During the 11 years when there was only one Award for both Leagues (1956-1966) winners included Newcombe, Warren Spahn, Bob Turley, Early Wynn, Vernon Law, Whitey Ford, Don Drysdale, Sandy Koufax (3) and Dean Chance.
During those 11 seasons the only unanimous Award winner was Koufax. In fact, each of his three Awards, was won unanimously.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Young_Cy_1_MLB_HOF.jpg

MLB Awards | MLB.com: History

He was described as “the soul of Baseball” during the Dead Ball Era…Germany Schaefer was born on this date in 1876. He died in 1919 at the age of 42 just before the Dead Ball Era died. In between most of his life was dedicated to Baseball and the baseball field was his stage.
An infielder with decent range and an average bat, Schaefer had impeccable timing, and more than once delighted fans with clutch performances, including legendary homers off Rube Waddell and Doc White. He gained his greatest notoriety for "stealing first base," a maneuver that led to a rule change.
He was born to German immigrant parents in Chicago's South Side Levee District, a neighbourhood world-famous for prostitution and vice, including a patchwork of ethnic gangs which often served as a violent backdrop for Schaefer's youth. Nevertheless, Schaefer had an enjoyable childhood because he gravitated to the game of baseball, which he and other neighborhood kids played in sandlots and in the streets.
After a few years of playing Minor League ball he made it to the Majors at the end of the 1901 season with the Chicago Cubs. In 1902 he was back with the Cubs but struggled with the bat and ended up in and out of the line-up. He did partake in a bit of history on September 13, when he played third base in the game that featured Joe Tinker, Johnny Evers, and Frank Chance in their familiar spots in the infield together for the first time. That was one of his last games in the Majors until 1905 when the struggling Detroit Tigers, desperate for middle infielders, brought him in from the Minors. He fit in immediately.
"The Prince," as he was often called because of his flashy showmanship on the field, always enjoyed performing in front of his hometown crowd, and on June 24, 1906, he turned in one of the most memorable games of his career. Schaefer was called on to pinch hit with two outs in the ninth, a runner on base, and his Tigers down by a run. According to teammate Davy Jones in The Glory of Their Times, Germany announced to the crowd: "Ladies and gentlemen, you are now looking at Herman Schaefer, better known as 'Herman the Great,' acknowledged by one and all to be the greatest pinch-hitter in the world. I am now going to hit the ball into the left field bleachers. Thank you." Facing Chicago's Doc White, Schaefer proceeded to hit the first pitch into the left field bleachers for a game-winning homer. As he made his way around the diamond, Germany supposedly slid into every base, announcing his progress as if it were a horse race as he went around. "Schaefer leads at the half!" and so on. After hook-sliding into home, he popped up, doffed his cap, bowed, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, this concludes this afternoon's performance. I thank you for your kind attention."
Once while facing Rube Waddell, one of his favorite targets for verbal abuse, Schaefer reportedly launched a long home run out of Philadelphia's Columbia Park and razzed the left-hander as he trotted around the bases. Carrying his bat with him, Schaefer pretended it was a gun, "shooting" Rube as he moved from bag to bag. Among Schaefer's other supposed antics: during a steady rain he once appeared at the plate wearing rubber boots and a raincoat, and he once ventured to the plate sporting a fake black mustache. In both instances, his outlandish behavior reportedly resulted in his ejection. In addition, Schaefer was a master of the hidden-ball trick, which he performed in the 1907 World Series.
In 1907, Schaefer was named captain of the Tigers, whom he helped to back-to-back Pennants. Germany was one of the few Tigers who befriended Ty Cobb. Despite his popularity in Detroit, late in 1909 Schaefer was traded to Washington, for whom he played through 1914. In 1911, he enjoyed his finest offensive season, batting .334 in 125 games. During his last few years with Washington, Germany spent more time in the coach's box than on the field. He was an accomplished sign-stealer and heckler, qualities integral to coaching during the era.
On at least one occasion Schaefer stole first base. On August 4, 1911, in the bottom of the ninth, Schaefer stole second, hoping to draw a throw and allow teammate Clyde Milan, who was on third with the potential winning run, to steal home. White Sox catcher Fred Payne didn't fall for the gambit, however, so Schaefer, now on second, took his lead toward the first-base side of the bag and promptly stole first on a subsequent pitch. Sox Manager Hugh Duffy came out to argue, and while Duffy jawed with umpire Tommy Connolly, Schaefer scampered for second again. This time Schaefer got caught in a rundown, as had been his intention, and Milan dashed for home but was tagged out to end the inning. The official scorer credited Schaefer with only one stolen base, but he "had a perfect right to go from second back to first," umpire Connolly insisted after the game.
After his playing days were over he coached for a couple of seasons where his antics continued. His last year was spent scouting for the Yankees and on a trip through upstate New York he died suddenly of a hemorrhage due to pulmonary tuberculosis.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=germ...ny-schaefer-baseballs-clown-prince%2F;364;386

Bobo Newsom was the first ML player to wear the number "00." He did that during his fourth stint with the Washington Senators in 1946/1947. That's right – his fourth sojourn in the Nation's Capital (but not his last). Bobo, whose real name was Louis Norman Newsom, is best known for his ‘wandering from one team to another’ career. Below is the list of his stops. Newsom's best seasons were 1940 (20-5 for Detroit), 1939 (20-11 with Browns and Tigers), and 1938 (20-16 for Browns). He played in the World Series for Detroit in 1939 and 1940 and for the Yankees in 1947. For his career Bobo was 211-222 with a 3.98 ERA.

1929-30: Brooklyn Dodgers
1932 Chicago Cubs
1934-35 St. Louis Browns
1935-37 Washington Senators
1937 Boston Red Sox
1938-39 St. Louis Browns
1939-1941 Detroit Tigers
1942 Washington Senators
1942-43 Brooklyn Dodgers
1943 St. Louis Browns
1943 Washington Senators
1944-46 Philadelphia Athletics
1946-47 Washington Senators
1947 New York Yankees
1948 New York Giants
1952 Washington Senators
1952-53 Philadelphia Athletics

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bobo...ing-upton-real-franchise-leaders.html;350;282

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1934 Hank Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama. Now that name sounds familiar…didn’t he hit a few HRs in his time…or was that Tommie. He hit his first HR on April 23, 1954 off Vic Raschi, then of the Cardinals but previously with the Yankees and the last Yankee pitcher to Win 20 games in back-to-back-to-back seasons. His last HR was 22 seasons later on July 20, 1976 off Dick Drago.
His rookie baseball card in 1954 has him fielding a grounder...I wonder why?

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1954...tions.com%2Fauction%2F2008%2F778.html;400;557

On this date in 1921 the NY Yankees issued a press release to announce the purchase of 10 acres of property in the west Bronx. The land, purchased from the estate of William Waldorf Astor for $675,000, sat directly across the Harlem River from the Yankees' current Manhattan home, the Polo Grounds, which they shared unhappily with the landlord Giants of the National League since 1913. The construction contract to build Yankee Stadium was awarded to New York's White Construction Co. on May 5, 1922 with the edict that the job must be completed "at a definite price" ($2.5-million) and by Opening Day 1923. Incredibly, it was. In only 284 working days, Yankee Stadium was ready for its inaugural game on April 18, 1923 vs. the Boston Red Sox. Babe Ruth christened his new home with a three-run homer to cap a four-run third inning as the Yankees coasted to a 4-1 win.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=yank...08%2Fthe-original-yankee-stadium%2F;1917;1371

It was on this date in 1880 that Worcester, a city of 58,000 in Massachusetts, is awarded a franchise in the National League, The Worcester Worcesters (now that’s original) sometimes known as the Ruby Legs would play 3 seasons in the League. On June 12, 1880, pitcher Lee Richmond threw the first Perfect Game in ML history, against the Cleveland Blues (Cy Young is credited with the first Perfect Game of the Modern Era in 1904). The Worcester team was dropped from the league following the 1882 season, due to minuscule attendance. Needing an eighth team to balance the schedule, the National League granted an expansion franchise to the Philadelphia Quakers, who later became the Philadelphia Phillies.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=worc...americanantiquarian.org%2Ftickets.htm;591;342

On this date in 1891 Roger Peckinpaugh was born. He was one of the finest defensive shortstops and on-field leaders of the Dead Ball Era. Like Honus Wagner, the 5'10", 165-lb. "Peck" was rangy and bowlegged, with a big barrel chest, broad shoulders, large hands, and the best throwing arm of his generation. From 1916 to 1924, Peckinpaugh led American League shortstops in assists and double plays five times each. As Shirley Povich later reflected, "the spectacle of Peckinpaugh, slinging himself after ground balls, throwing from out of position and nailing his man by half a step was an American League commonplace." The even-tempered Peckinpaugh was equally admired for his leadership, becoming the youngest Manager in Baseball history, at 23, when he briefly took the reins of the New York Yankees in 1914. Described as the "calmest man in baseball," Peckinpaugh's steadying influence later helped the Washington Senators to their only World Championship, and won him the 1925 Most Valuable Player Award, making him the first shortstop in Baseball history to receive the honour.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=roge...F227047-colorized-players-groups.html;600;750

The State of Wisconsin has produced 238 ML baseball players and that’s a healthy total ranking it 22nd among the 50 States. Greenwood, Wisconsin is a small community that has a population today of just over 1,000 souls. I don’t know what the population of Greenwood was in 1919, almost 100 years ago but I suspect less than the 1,028 living there today. Cy Buker, the only native of Greenwood to play in the Majors was born on this date in 1919. He played but one season in the Majors and that was in 1945 when he pitched in 42 games for the Brooklyn Dodgers. His record was 7-2 with 5 Saves. He pitched well in his singular season. His career was no more distinguishable than many hundreds, perhaps thousands of others who enjoyed a short MLB career so why mention him today? I found one aspect of his Baseball story interesting and perhaps others will so I’ll share it.
The Brooklyn Dodgers won 87 games in 1945 and finished a respectable 3rd in the National League behind the Cubs and the Cardinals. In early July they were in 1st place but by the end of that month had fallen out of contention. They didn’t hit with a lot of power that season hitting only 57 HRs as a team. Just as was the case 20 years later in 1965 their top HR hitter (Goody Rosen) banged out 12 just as Jim Lefebvre and Lou Johnson did in 1965. I remember the ’65 Dodgers…better pitching than hitting and that’s what the 1945 Dodgers were about so I can relate. Cy Buker made his contribution to that season’s pitching staff. When Branch Rickey sent the right-hander a 1946 contract with a raise of $500 above the ML minimum of $5,000, Cy reacted by tearing it up and mailing the pieces back to Brooklyn. That gesture was the beginning of the end for him. A month later Rickey sent another contract, this one with a $1500 raise. But this contract was contingent upon Buker surviving the cut-down date…in other words he had to be on the Big League roster when the season ended.
Due to the contract squabble he reported to Spring Training 3 weeks late. Buker recalled arriving at Spring Training:
"I could see that everyone was mad at me. Nobody would even talk to me. I was assigned to the 'B' squad immediately, without throwing a ball. It went that way throughout spring training and into the season. I sat on the bench. I never pitched one ball in 1946. They didn't want anyone to see me. I sat on the bench until the final hour of the last day before cut-down, and, you guessed it. I was optioned to Montreal. I got no $1500 and no chance to pitch in 1946. I did not throw a single ball in the Majors in 1946!"
He never pitched in the Majors again but did return to Wisconsin to teach and coach HS football and after he retired in 1970 he was elected to the State’s HS Football Hall of Fame. He only died recently at the age of 93 and despite pitching well in the majors felt the wrath of Branch Rickey for not accepting that first contract.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=cy+b...ERS-SIGNED-8X10-PHOTO-%2F230687081316;239;300

 

[67RedSox]

119 years ago today, on this date in 1895 Babe Ruth was born. Did you know he is the only player in the Hall of Fame to pitch 10 seasons and post a winning record in each of those years? In fact, his lowest winning percentage was .643.
The bat with which Ruth hit his first home run at Yankee Stadium on 18 April 1923 was sold at a New York auction on 2 December 2004 for a record $1,265,000.
Babe Ruth had more career Triples (136) than Brett Butler, Vada Pinson, Pete Rose, Joe DiMaggio, Robin Yount, Kenny Lofton and Paul Molitor. I could go on but hope the point has been made. I could do the same with career steals of Home of which Ruth had 10 but I won’t.
Babe Ruth was born in Baltimore and for a time being lived where Oriole Park at Camden Yards is now situated.
In Game 2 of the 1916 World Series, Ruth pitched 14-inning complete game to beat the Dodgers 2-1. It is still the most innings ever thrown by one pitcher in a single postseason game.
Ruth is the only player since the turn of the 20th century to lead his league in Triple Crown categories as both a hitter and a pitcher and he did it in the span of three years.
Ruth broke the single-season home run record in three consecutive seasons, with 29 in 1919, 54 in 1920 and 59 in 1921. Prior to Ruth, the record was 27 and had been set in 1884 by the Chicago White Stockings’ Ned Williamson, who played in a home ballpark in which the rightfield wall was just 196 feet from home plate.
After losing a ball in the sun in the Polo Grounds’ leftfield on July 16, 1922, Ruth refused to ever play the sun field again, and he didn’t. His position thereafter was determined by the geographic orientation of the ballpark in which he was playing. For the rest of his career, Ruth played exclusively in rightfield at the Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium, as well as in Washington and Cleveland but exclusively in leftfield at the other AL cities (Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis).
In 1927, Ruth and Gehrig became the first pair of teammates in baseball history to each hit 30 home runs. Gehrig walloped 47 to go with Ruth’s record 60.
On May 25, 1935, Ruth went 4-for-4 with three home runs in Pittsburgh. His last major league hit was his third home run on that day, a solo shot that was the first ever to clear the roof of the double-decked stands in Forbes Field’s rightfield and considered the longest home run in the history of that ballpark, which was home to Pirates games from 1909 to 1970.
Ruth never struck out 100 times in a season, though he did retire as the career strikeouts leader with 1,330. He no longer ranks in the top 100 in that category.
Ruth’s No. 3 was the second Yankee number ever retired, but while Ruth was the first to wear it, he was far from the last. Seven other Yankees wore No. 3, and from 1935 to 1948 it was never unassigned. Outfielder Cliff Mapes was wearing it in 1948 when it was retired. Mapes switched to No. 7 the next year. After he was traded to the Browns in mid-1951, No. 7 went to a rookie named Mickey Mantle.
Ruth’s final appearance at a ballpark came on June 13, 1948 at Yankee Stadium. Photographer Nat Fein’s famous photograph of Ruth from that day, in full uniform, shot from behind while leaning on a bat, won the Pulitzer Prize.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=babe...ww.gallerym.com%2Fwork.cfm%3FID%3D278;450;329

First, I’ll mention the name Clayton Kershaw. Second, I’ll mention the phrase… the most dominating pitcher in Baseball. Third, I’ll combine the two to say that Clayton Kershaw is the most dominating pitcher in Baseball. My guess is just about everyone this side of Pluto would have to agree with that. What Kershaw has done over the past three years is win 2 Cy Young Awards and finish runner-up the other season. He’s also led the World in ERA in each of those three seasons. I’m hoping that gives you a pretty good picture of what the best pitcher in Baseball looks like.
Now, if Kershaw does what he has done over the last three seasons for the next three years what will you have? I can tell you precisely what you’ll have…you will have Robin Roberts during the six seasons from 1950-1955 when he averaged 23 Wins a season and 323 Innings Pitched for the Phillies. He was hands down the most dominating pitcher in Baseball over those years. He won no Cy Young Awards only because the Award did not exist. Had it existed he most likely would have won three times.
I’m really not trying to compare Kershaw and Roberts. All I’m trying to do is provide some sense to the more recent Baseball fan who may not know Roberts as to just how good he was in those days. After those six incredible seasons Roberts pitched another 11 seasons but most would describe him as a ‘decent’ pitcher in those seasons not dominating. Clearly he rode those six fabulous seasons all the way to the Hall of Fame to which he was elected to in 1976 in his 4th year of eligibility.
He pitched for the Phillies through the 1961 season and finished with 234 of his 286 lifetime Wins wearing a Phillies uniform. The Yankees signed him in 1962 but released him before ever pitching a game for them. He ended up pitching for Baltimore in 1962 and would win 52 more games before retiring in 1966.
The Phillies chose not to delay retiring his uniform #36 and did so on this date in 1962. It isn’t too often you have your number retired while still active but that’s what happened to Roberts. It was the first uniform # the Phillies retired and it wasn’t until 1979 when they retired the second…Richie Ashburn’s #1.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tuznyXHpsqg]Robin Roberts - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

Smokey Burgess was born on this date in 1927. Despite being the slowest MLB player I think I ever saw he hit a surprising 33 career Triples. Despite being referred to as “The Budda” and “The Catcher with a Belly” his ML career lasted 18 seasons. Old Smoky, who inherited his name from his father, was a NL All-Star with three different teams. Built short and squat, he was a fine catcher and became of one of the best pinch hitters in the history of the Game. He retired with a record 507 pinch at-bats. Only Manny Mota has surpassed his 145 pinch hits.
Burgess batted .368 in 108 games for the Phillies in 1954. Always a strong, lefthanded hitter, he drove in nine runs for the Reds against Pittsburgh on July 29, 1955. Three of his four hits were home runs - one a grand slam off future batterymate Vern Law. He finished 1955 with a career-high 21 HR. He reported that his most satisfying pinch hit was his home run off Chicago's Sam Jones with two games left in the 1956 season. The Reds needed just one HR to equal the NL record of 221 set by the Giants. Manager Chuck Dressen ordered Burgess to hit for Roy McMillan, barking, "Make it a home run - or nothin'!" The ball landed on Sheffield Avenue. On May 26 of that season, he had caught a three-pitcher no-hitter when Johnny Klippstein, Hersh Freeman, and Joe Black combined to skunk the Braves. Exactly three years later, he was Harvey Haddix's batterymate when the Pirate hurler pitched his famous 12-inning perfect game against the Braves.
After almost six seasons in Pittsburgh, Burgess was sold to the contending White Sox late in 1964. In his first AL appearance he hit a pinch homer off Detroit's Dave Wickersham to tie a crucial stretch-drive game. Much heavier than in his NL prime, Burgess almost seemed to roll out of the dugout for his frequent pinch-hitting appearances. From 1965 through 1967, he appeared in 237 games, catching only seven. He led the AL in pinch at-bats all three seasons, and in pinch hits the first two. He retired as a .286 lifetime pinch hitter. During the 1980s he coached in Atlanta's farm system. He died in 1991 at the age of 64.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=smok...k-satchel-yogi-ted-the-say-hey-kid%2F;631;431

 

[67RedSox]

- Only two ML pitchers have struck out their age. Bob Feller struck out 17 at age 17 and Kerry Wood struck out 20 at age 20.

- It’s been 60 years since a Cleveland Indian won a Batting Crown when Bobby Avila’s .341 actually beat out Ted Williams’ .345 -Williams broke his collarbone in spring training in 1954 and missed so many games at the start of the season that come season’s end, he fell 14 at-bats short of having the requisite 400 to qualify for the batting crown he would have otherwise won with his .345 average. Ted appeared in only 117 games, but still drew enough walks to lead the league (136). The walks hurt him, though, since the batting title was based on “official” at-bats alone. This seemed so unfair that the criteria was later changed to be based on plate appearances.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bobb...F58055%2F1955-Red-Man%3FPageIndex%3D2;348;363

- He played 21 seasons in the Majors but didn’t get his first basehit until his last season. Yes, of course it was a pitcher. Frank Tanana came to the Majors with the Angels in 1973 but because of the DH rule did not get his first hit until April 23, 1993, when he moved over to the NL New York Mets. He managed to bang out 9 hits including a Double and Triple.

- In 1933 Chuck Klein of the Philadelphia Phillies won the Triple Crown with 28 home runs, 120 RBIs and a .368 Batting Average which enabled him to win the National League MVP Award in cake walk. Apparently, the powers that be in the Phillies Front Office weren't impressed. In the off-season he was traded to the Chicago Cubs.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chuc...onic.phillies.photos%2Fcontent.1.html;632;800

- The two MVP's for 1984, Jeff Bagwell for the National League and Frank Thomas of the American League, were both born on the exact same day, May 27th, 1968. Despite career batting lines not to different from one another Thomas will enter the HOF in 2014 after getting 84% of the vote in his first year of eligibility while Bagwell garnered 54% of the vote in his 4th year of eligibility.

- My guess is that if you were in the most remote jungle in the Amazon Rainforest ( if that even exists anymore ) and encountered a long lost tribe chances are they would know who Bill Mazeroski was and would have heard of the most famous HR in Baseball history. O.K. that may be an exaggeration but it’s safe to say one would be hard pressed to find a Baseball fans not familiar with Game 7 of the 1960 Series. Did you know however that in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series there were 19 runs being scored, 24 basehits and 5 Base on Balls. That means there were an awful lot of players came to the plate in the game yet there was not one strikeout recorded…the only game in World Series history that has happened.

October 13, 1960 World Series Game 7, Yankees at Pirates - Baseball-Reference.com

- In 1957 the Kansas City Athletics led the American League in home runs with 166. However, they finished dead last in runs scored with a mere 563.

1957 Kansas City Athletics Batting, Pitching, & Fielding Statistics - Baseball-Reference.com

- On June 10, 1959, Rocky Colavito accomplished the rare feat of hitting four home runs in one game. It was at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. Up until that time no TEAM had ever hit four home runs in that park since the facility opened up in 1954.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=rock...2F2009%2F07%2F380-rocky-colavito.html;418;300

- During his Major League career Warren Spahn won 363 games. As a hitter he got exactly 363 hits.

- On September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth hit his historic 60th home run of the season off of Tom Zachary of the Washington Senators. That game was memorable for a second reason. Hall Of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson appeared as a pinch hitter. It was the final Major League appearance ever for the "Big Train".

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aE9D0oAyCC4]Babe Ruth vs Walter Johnson - 1942 Benefit Game Newsreel - YouTube[/ame]

- During the regular season, in over 800 at bats, Mickey Lolich never hit a single home run, however, in his first at bat ever in the World Series against Nelson Briles he knocked one out against the St Louis Cardinals on October 3, 1968.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=mick...Lolich-Home-Run-Photo-%2F190957713569;300;254

- You had to be good to get a HR off of Sandy Koufax… During his career Sandy Koufax gave up 204 home runs to 110 different batters. Here are the leaders:

Frank Robinson...............7
Hank Aaron................... 7
Ernie Banks................... 7
Felipe Alou.................... 7
Robert Clemente............ 6
Dick Stuart................... 5
Orlando Cepeda............ 5
Willie Mays.................. 5

 

[67RedSox]

Ah, those were the days when a family of 4 could attend a MLB for $1.00. It was on this date in 1916 that the National League votes down a proposal by Charlie Ebbets of Brooklyn to impose a limit of 2,000 seats that clubs can sell for 25 cents. Boston has 10,000 such seats, St. Louis 9,000, Philadelphia 6,500 and Cincinnati 4,000.

It was on this date in 1956 the legendary Connie Mack dies at age 93. After managing Pittsburgh's N.L. club from 1894 to 1896, the former catcher became a prominent figure in Ban Johnson's Western League. Mack was a founder of the American League and its Philadelphia franchise in 1901. In 50 years with the Athletics, he won nine pennants and five World Championships ( also finished last 17 times ) but don’t hold your breath that anyone will ever topple his 3,731 Wins or 3,948 Lossess.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYC88wU8tgA]83 year old Connie Mack with the Philadelphia A's - 1946 - YouTube[/ame]

It was on this date in 1982 the Dodgers break up the longest-playing infield in ML history by trading veteran 2B Davey Lopes to the A's for minor leaguer Lance Hudson. Lopes, first baseman Steve Garvey, third baseman Ron Cey, and shortstop Bill Russell had been the starting infielder for Los Angeles since 1974.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dodg...F2011%2F02%2Ftrip-to-top-of-park.html;640;452

It was on this date in 1996 Dave Winfield announces his retirement after 23 seasons. The 12-time All Star joins Hank Aaron‚ Willie Mays and Stan Musial as the only players with 3‚000 hits and 400 home runs. Yes, he’s in the Hall of Fame but despite that I feel he never received enough recognition for his contributions to the game. Winfield looked like a Goliath in the batter's box and his offensive statistics certified his menace. Over his 22-year career Winfield amassed 3,110 hits, 465 home runs and 1,833 RBI, putting him in a class with the great modern sluggers. Furthermore, Winfield's personality helped carry baseball through the 1980's. Few players were as involved with fans, ownership, the press and the local community as much as Winfield.
Winfield was born on October 3, 1951 -- the day Bobby Thomson hit the famous "Shot Heard Round the World" for the New York Giants. Although he played only 8 of his 22 seasons in San Diego I think of him first as a Padre and then as the hero of the 1992 World Series. He played in two World Series, one he’d like to forget…in 1981 when the Dodgers got revenge on the NY Yankees for the second time ( the first was in 1955 ) by beating the Yankees 4 games to 2. Winfield went a horrible 1 for 22 in that Series wearing pinstripes.
After signing a free agent contract with the Blue Jays in 1992, Winfield achieved sweet vindication. Playing in Toronto -- the city in which he was once reviled -- Winfield demonstrated that he could still hit, field, and carry a team. He hit .290 with 26 home runs and 108 RBI and led the team to its first-ever World Series appearance against the Atlanta Braves. His greatest moments came, ironically, in October. In the eighth inning of Game Six, he demonstrated that he still had game-saving range when he robbed Atlanta's Ron Gant of a base hit on a sliding shoestring catch. Then in the top of the eleventh inning, Winfield came to the plate with men on first and second and two outs and the scored tied at two. Facing a full count against fellow veteran Charlie Liebrandt, the slugger choked up and laced a double down the third base line, driving in two runs and catapulting Toronto to a 4-3 victory and their first World Series Championship ever.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dave...ield_1992_world_series_winning_double;340;425

It was on this date in 1940 the St. Louis Browns make one of their best acquisitions ever when they purchase Elden Auker from the Red Sox. Auker who was one of the mainstays of the Detroit rotation that went to back-to-back World Series in 1935 & 1935 will become the ace of the Brown’s staff winning 44 games over the next 3 seasons. Although remember for his baseball efforts he’s also remembered for his War efforts. Auker realized that his career as a ballplayer wasn’t going to last forever so in at the age of 28 in 1938 he began to prepare himself for life after baseball. He was one of the Game’s best golfers but he stayed in Detroit that winter instead of going to Florida to chase the little white ball around the golf links. A Detroit friend, Jim Jackson, offered him a job at his small firm, the Midwest Abrasive Company. Auker learned the abrasive industry from the ground up by working in all departments. The next year he moved into the sales department, and then learned how the abrasive was employed in the honing process that removed all the microscopic rough spots from the interior of 20mm and 40mm anti-aircraft gun barrels -- a critical step in fabricating accurate gun barrels. By the end of 1942, Auker was a vital link in the production of defensive armaments for the Navy and he believed his country needed him more than baseball. Although offered a lucrative contract by St. Louis, he decided not to return for the 1943 season. He was 32 years old, and was fully aware that by the time the war ended he would be too old to resume his career on the diamond. Abandoning Baseball and committing himself to the war effort was a noble, patriotic decision. It was also a very expensive one, as his annual income was greatly reduced. Ultimately, Auker was rewarded because by the time he retired in 1975, he had risen to be President of what was then the industry’s second largest firm and was very well off financially.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=elde...%2Fkansas-top-athletes-littleton.html;569;450

Bug Holliday was born on this date in 1867. He was an outfielder with the Cincinnati Reds for the ten seasons from 1889 to 1898. Holliday was nicknamed ‘Bug’ because, at a mere 151 lbs, he looked so small playing center field. Bug sized or not he was a two-time HR Champion in the Majors…in 1889 and again in 1892. A century after his death, Bug Holliday still lives on in the Cincinnati Reds record book. He ranks second behind Cy Seymour in single season Batting Average. Seymour batted .377 in 1905, Bug .376 in 1894. He also ranks 6th with a career Batting Average of .312.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Bug_Holliday.jpg

Rocky Bridges played 11 seasons in the Majors, mostly in the 1950’s and managed in the Minors for 21 seasons. Here’s a couple of quotes of his on motivating young players:

- "If you don't catch the ball, you catch the bus."

- "We may lose again tomorrow, but not with the same guys."

https://www.google.ca/search?q=rock...otDetail.aspx%3Finventoryid%3D39472;1720;1394

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1971 Satchel Paige is selected to the Hall of Fame becoming the first ***** League star to be so selected. Who could argue with his selection. However, the individual I wanted to mention particularly is Oscar Charleston who was selected for induction into the Hall of Fame on this date in 1976, five years later.
I mentioned Paige for two reasons. He was the first and that should be acknowledged and secondly in case anyone questions if he really was the first ***** League star to make it to Cooperstown. Some might believe it to be Jackie Robinson who was elected to the HOF in 1966…clearly five years prior to Paige. After all, he was 28 before he made his ML debut so the assumption by some might be that he must have played in the ***** Leagues. Well, first University and then WWII kept Robinson busy in those prior years. He did play briefly ( 58 AB’s ) for the Kansas City Monarchs in 1945 in the ***** American League but that was it so he can’t be described as a star or even veteran of the ***** Leagues whereas Satchel Paige can.
Now, to Oscar Charleston. I am embarrassed to say his name was unknown to me until very recently. Charleston is considered by many ***** Leagues experts to have been the greatest ballplayer of the ***** Leagues. Bill James ranked him as fourth-greatest player of all time in his New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. He made The Sporting News list of the 100 Greatest Baseball Players and was nominated as a finalist for the MLB All-Century Team in 1999.
He was born in 1896, joined the Army in WWI at 15 and served in the Philippines. After returning to the U.S., he immediately began his baseball career and until he died in 1954 it was his life. He was primarily a CF’er in the early part of his career, switching to LF and then to 1B as he aged. He is among the top five ***** Leaguers in batting average and HRs, as well as the all-time leader in stolen bases. He was also a Manager for about 20 years. Due to the lack of accurate baseball records in the ***** Leagues I‘ve seen his lifetime batting average recorded anywhere between .348 and .354, either way we’re talking a good hitter plus a great outfielder to boot. He did play 53 exhibition games against MLB competition and hit .318 with 11 HRs and contemporary observers compared his play to that of Tris Speaker and Babe Ruth.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=satc...ions.com%2Fauction%2F2012%2F1179.html;500;641

It was on this date in 1920 the Joint Rules Committee bans all foreign substances or other alterations to the ball by pitchers‚ including saliva‚ resin‚ talcum powder‚ paraffin‚ and the shine and emery ball. A pitcher caught cheating will be suspended for 10 days. The AL allows each club to name just 2 pitchers who will be allowed to use the pitch for one more season. The NL allows each club to name all its spitball pitchers. No pitchers other than those designated will be permitted to use it‚ and none at all after 1920 (though this will be changed in December). The list of grandfathered spitballers will include Red Faber (White Sox)‚ (Doc Ayers and Dutch Leonard (Tigers)‚ Ray Caldwell and Stan Coveleski (Indians)‚ Bill Doak (Cardinals)‚ Phil Douglas (Giants)‚ Dana Fillingim (Braves)‚ Ray Fisher (Reds)‚ Marv Goodwin (Cardinals)‚ Burleigh Grimes and Clarence Mitchell (Dodgers)‚ Jack Quinn (Yankees)‚ Dick Rudolph (Braves)‚ Allan Russell (Red Sox)‚ Urban Shocker and Allen Sothoron (Browns).

https://www.google.ca/search?q=the+...2%2F04%2Fhow-to-throw-a-spitball%2F;1003;1353

Yes, both of these pictures were taken during Spring Training at Salt River Fields where the Rockies and Diamondbacks train. You chose which day you would have preferred to be there:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=salt...february-2013-snow-in-scottsdale.html;960;540

https://www.google.ca/search?q=salt...e.com%2Ftag%2Ftalking-stick-resort%2F;720;333

One of the Game’s better fielding 3B of the 1950’s and 1960’s, Gold Glove winner was born on this date in 1937. He began his MLB career in 1955 and if you go watched the 1964 World Series you may recall him hitting a HR. It would be natural to immediately think of Ken Boyer you’d be correct based on these facts except one…Ken was born on May 20, 1931, six years before this player. If you’re thinking his brother, Clete Boyer, you’d be correct.
Clete began his ML career in 1955 in Kansas City. Ken also started his ML career in 1955 in St. Louis.A third brother, Cloyd Boyer, a third brother, was playing the last of his 5 years in the Majors that season and was a teammate of Clete’s in Kansas City. He was a pitcher and spent the first four years with the Cardinals.
Both Clete and Ken were Gold Glove fielders at a time when a Gold Glove actually signified fielding excellence. Despite Ken winning 5 Gold Gloves to Clete’s single Award there are many who believe Clete was the superior fielder, certainly his range was greater. The difficulty Clete had was playing 3B at the same time Brooks Robinson was at his height. In the years 1961–1963 Boyer led all American League 3B in putouts, assists and double plays, finishing ahead of even rival Brooks Robinson—yet Robinson, not Boyer, won the Gold Glove Award each year.
Clete Boyer began his ML career in 1955 at the age of 18 with no Minor League experience. There’s a reason for that… the NY Yankees wanted him but couldn’t have him, so…enter the KC Athletics who are known to have done the Yankees a few favours. Some describe the Athletics of the 1950’s to be a Yankee farm club.
Boyer was originally scouted by the New York Yankees from high school. But because the Yankees signed two other "bonus babies", prior to scouting Boyer; Frank Leja and Tommy Carroll, the Yankees felt they couldn't sign Boyer due to the rules in which highly touted "bonus babies" have to be kept on the Major League roster for two seasons. They used their influence with the Athletics to have them sign Boyer, keep him the requisite two years and then trade for him which they eventually did.
The Yankees who seldom traded with other clubs to acquire talent except Kansas City…between 1955-1960 there were 15 separate trades between the two clubs with the Yankees almost always coming out on top. The Baseball Almanac did a story on this a few years ago…it’s attached below.
I got sidetracked there a bit but regardless of how the Yankees came to get him it doesn’t change the fact he was a very good 3B. Not as good with the bat as brother, Ken but both of them knew how to prevent a batted ball getting past them…they were exceptional glove men. Game 7 of the 1964 World Series, one of my favourites, saw them both hit a HR…first time brothers hit HRs together in a WS game.

http://d6673sr63mbv7.cloudfront.net...020581e68c9491818fcbff3ba0dc1f90826f227a8.jpg

Baseball Almanac - The Corner of the Dugout : The Yankees and the A's

Vic Wertz was born on this date in 1925. He was a very good ML player and enjoyed 17 seasons in the Big Leagues but will always be remembered for the one pitch he swung at and hit further than any other ball in his career. It didn’t come down until it was 450’ from home plate. Unfortunately, for Wertz it came down in Willie Mays’ glove and remains to this day one of the most memorable plays in MLB history.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dK6zPbkFnE]Willie Mays the Catch - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

On this date in 1910 the first sod was turned for the building of what we knew as Comiskey Park, then as White Sox Park. Amazingly, the first game was played there less than 5 months later. You couldn’t do that today. My guess is maybe two years.
Comiskey Park was very modern for its time. It was the third concrete-and-steel stadium in the Majors to be built since 1909. As originally built, it sat almost 32,000, a record at the time. Briefly, it retained the nickname "The Baseball Palace of the World."
The park's design was strongly influenced by Sox pitcher Ed Walsh, and was known for its pitcher-friendly proportions (362 feet to the foul poles; 420 feet to center field). Later changes were made, but the park remained more or less favorable to defensive teams. For many years this reflected on the White Sox style of play: solid defense, and short, quick hits. The park was unusual in that no player ever hit 100 home runs there: Carlton Fisk set the record with 94.
The first game in Comiskey Park was on July 1, 1910. The last, on September 30, 1990.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nbEWLZxVWrY]Comiskey Park - YouTube[/ame]

Here’s a clipping from I presume a San Diego newspaper in 1936 in which it’s announced Bill Lane the owner of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League will offer Ted Williams, who pitched and batted Herbert Hoover High School to many victories over the past three years, an Offer to play professional baseball. What I find amusing is Lane as quoted as saying that he won’t use Williams as a pitcher but in the Outfield and …“if he can hit, he might earn a regular berth”. Surprisingly, the time he spent in San Diego…part of 1936 and all of 1937 was about the only place Williams did not hit…finishing the two seasons with marks of .271 and .291. The following year he hit .366 in Minneapolis and then averaged .344 in the Bigs.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=vint...field-ted-williams-jackie-robinson%2F;624;934

Who here hasn’t gone to the website “Cot’s Baseball Contracts”…the authority when it comes to players contracts. Cotton Tierney, a NL 2B for 6 seasons in the Majors, 1920-1925, for whom the site was named was born on this date in 1894.

Cot's Baseball Contracts

HOF’er Herb Pennock was also born on this date in 1894. Frank Vaccaro wrote a very good article on Pennock describing him as the 11th and last Boston regular to make the exodus to New York in the days when Boston owner, Harry Frazee, the debonair owner of the Red Sox never hesitated to sell a player to the highest bidder, nearly always the Yankees, to meet his theatrical payroll for his Broadway and burlesque shows. Pennock was a Pennsylvania Quaker ( I have visions of Gary Cooper ) and when the Yankees acquired him in time for the 1923 season he fit in like the final piece of a jigsaw puzzle. Finally, the Yankee pitching staff had depth and only then did the Yankees start to win the pennant in record-breaking fashion and the first of twenty-five World Series championships in 20th century. Relaxed, humble, and with a quirky sense of humor that kept Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig loose, Herb Pennock came into his own at Yankee Stadium. He was a left-hander and pitched at a slow pace, walking around the mound, fixing his pants and tugging on the bill of his cap between pitches. He had a graceful, almost languid, pitching motion. He was six feet tall and thin, with an oval face atop a long neck, a thin serious line for a mouth, and a squinting expression. He threw the curveball, not the fastball, and he never seemed to exert himself. Grantland Rice said he pitched each game "with the ease and coolness of a practice session." On October 15 of his first year as a Yankee, Pennock got the win that gave New York its first World's Championship ever. Pennock may have been the greatest "non-ace" in baseball history and soon developed a reputation of winning "the big game." He also showed off an encyclopedic knowledge of the weaknesses of opposing hitters.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=herb...odpa.org%2Fhamilton%2Fherbpennock.htm;231;321

I’m not sure if anyone will bother reading beyond this point but it’s time to yak about one of those players that most Baseball fans have never heard of but someone who defines what the Grand Old Game is all about. His name is Chuck Stevens. He played 211 games in the Majors, all of them for the St. Louis Browns. Were that the only thing he had ever achieved in baseball Chuck Stevens would have plenty to be proud of, having climbed the Minor League ladder to achieve the dream of most every boy of his generation, to compete at Yankee Stadium and Sportsman's Park, to play a game he loved at the highest level. But that was not all he accomplished in the game, not by a long shot.
He spent the better part of twenty years playing, coaching and managing… much of it in the Pacific Coast League during the tail end of its heyday. When his career in a Baseball uniform finally came to an end, he spent almost forty years lending a hand to former baseball people who had fallen on hard times.
Stevens was born in a community that existed at one time but has now faded into history…the coal mining ‘ghost town’ of Van Houten, New Mexico just across the Colorado border.at one time a town of as many as 1,500 inhabitants. Oil and gas replaced coal and Van Houten disappeared. Long before that happened the Stevens family moved to Long Beach for the sake of educating the children.
Around 2004 Stevens wrote an article for a book written about the Pacific Coast League. The article describes just how important the PCL was for Baseball fans on the West Coast. In those days both the NL and AL only went as far West as St. Louis. There was no "Major League" baseball on the West Coast in the 1920s and 1930s, but the Stevens family could still watch a high brand of ball by traveling to old Wrigley Field to see the Coast League's Los Angeles Angels. The PCL ball players were Chuck's heroes, the Major Leaguers being but a rumor in those days before television.
After WWII Stevens, who played in 4 games for the Browns in 1941, became the Browns 1B for the 1946 season and played in 122 games. He spent 1947 in the Minors but came back and played for the Browns in 1948 and took part in a bit of Baseball history on July 9 in Cleveland. Chuck's old friend Bob Lemon started for the Tribe, but when he fell behind 4-1 he was relieved by Satchel Paige to start the fifth inning. It was Paige's first game in the "Major Leagues," and the first batter he faced was Chuck Stevens. Chuck had faced Paige many times in exhibition matches in California, and remembered hitting him pretty well. In this instance, he spoiled the story by lining a single to left field on the second pitch he saw. The Browns' devotion to Stevens lasted only 85 games this time around and they they tried to farm him out to San Antonio on July 26, but by this time Stevens had had enough and refused to go. He packed up his wife and daughter and headed back to Long Beach. Stevens requested that he be sold to the Hollywood Stars, and the Browns relented a few weeks later. Stevens hit .321 over 38 games for Hollywood at the tail end of the 1948 season.
The Hollywood years, which lasted into 1954, were the favorite ones of Stevens' baseball career, back home with his friends and family. In 1949, Fred Haney became the manager of the Stars, reuniting Stevens with his favourite skipper. Even better, the Stars won three PCL championships while Chuck was their first baseman (1949, 1952, and 1953).
Stevens began to slow down at the plate in 1953 (.230 in 108 games) and lost playing time. The next year the Stars sold Stevens’ contract to the San Francisco Seals. Chuck played for the Seals for the next year and a half as a reserve player, also serving as a player-coach for the 1955 campaign.
At the end of the 1955 season, the Boston Red Sox, who purchased the Seals sent Chuck along with some of their other surplus players to Louisville of the American Association, their former farm club. Stevens had no interest in going to Kentucky and bought out his own contract.
After his days on the field ended he stayed connected with Baseball working as the Secretary of the Association of Professional Ball Players of America (APBPA) from 1960 until 1998. APBPA is a charity set up in 1924 to assist professional baseball players. The organization caters to players from all Leagues, including the Minor Leagues. The organization was started by 12 former players in Los Angeles and now has over 11,000 members. If a baseball person was in need, someone would get hold of APBPA, and Stevens was responsible for verifying the claim and working out a way to help. In Stevens' words, he wanted all of these people to "live with dignity."
Born on July 10, 1918 Stevens is now 95 years of age…the 11th oldest former MLB player. The article he wrote in 2004, when he was in his mid-80’s follows…I found it interesting.

How it was...by Hollywood Stars great Chuck Stevens | Pacific Coast League About

 

[67RedSox]

Hitting for the cycle has happened 304 times in ML history or, on average, 2.3 times a season since Curry Foley first did it in 1882. This past season it was accomplished three times including a current member of the Colorado Rockies, Brandon Barnes, acquired after season’s end from Houston in the Dexter Fowler trade. Jimmy Ryan, who was born on this date in 1863 is the only player to have hit for the cycle and pitch in the same game. He was an Outfielder but would pitch occasionally and did just that in a game in 1888, the same season he was the NL’s HR Champion.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jimm...thread.php%3F70636-Jimmy-Ryan-Thread;1162;651

Willie Smith was born on this date in 1939. Although he played nine years in the Majors which by itself is quite an accomplishment he never became a ‘star’ however he’ll be remembered as one of the International League’s best pitchers in 1963 when playing for the Syracuse Chiefs, he led the League in winning percentage (.875) with a 14–2 won/loss mark, and posted a 2.11 ERA. Of course that got him a promotion to the Big Leagues and in 1964, as a rookie, he led all Los Angeles Angels with a Batting Average of .301 as an Outfielder…Go figure.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=will...r-Press-California-Angels-8x10-Photos;402;499

Speaking of Smiths…how about the famous photo taken during the 1959 World Series of Al Smith getting drenched with beer in Right Field. Smith estimated that he signed photographs depicting that moment at least 200,000 times.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=al+s...est.com%2Fpin%2F156218680797643261%2F;736;886

There doesn’t seem to be an awful lot that makes this date stand out so how about a little triva…something to ponder on… I’ll Post the answers tomorrow:

Between 1950-1970 there were three MLB pitchers who won back-to-back-to back Strikeout Crowns. Two did so in the AL and one in the NL:

-The NL pitcher also won a Cy Young, 3 ERA titles and hit a HR in 17 consecutive ML seasons. When his MLB career finished he moved to the Pacific Coast League where he both pitched and managed and not to mention spending time coaching in Japan over six seasons.
-One of the pitchers to do it in the AL was an 18 year rookie in 1961 and later traded for Gaylord Perry. (Perry enjoyed the change in scenery so much he promptly won 24 games and a Cy Young). He was a 6-time All-Star and won an ERA Crown. He was an extreme alcoholic who was broke and living with his parents upon retiring. He successfully rehabbed and earned a degree from Pitt and became a sports addiction counsellor with MLB teams including the Toronto Blue Jays and earned a 1993 World Series ring with them.
-The other AL’er had, according to Ted Williams, the best curveball in the AL for the 18 seasons he pitched, was a two-time 20 Game winner and a 5-time All-Star…English would not be his native language.

Can you name the only two ML’ers who have played at least 1,000 games at two Infield positions. Both are MVP winners and HOF’ers. (Note-Both Stan Musial and Ron Fairly played 1,000 games at two different positions but only one of those positions was in the Infield. Pete Rose played over 600 games at each of 1B, 2B and 3B but never as many as 1,000 at any of them.)

A two-part question. The first part could be quite easy, the second part if you get it right you go to the Baseball Trivia Hall of Fame:

- Since the introduction of the DH there is only one team to go through the Post-Season undefeated and they became the only World Series team to play the entire Series with the minimum number of players (9 including the DH), other than pitchers. The batting order was exactly the same in each game and there were no pinch-hitters, pinch runners, defensive replacements or bench use of any kind. A player from the opposition team in that World Series managed them to a World Championship some years later.

- Who is the Catcher who caught both Babe Ruth and Ted Williams in the Major Leagues.

 

[67RedSox]

One of the biggest innovations in the Grand Old Game culminated on this date in 1878 when Fredrick Thayer received a patent for his innovative invention, the catcher's mask. The Harvard captain, who nevered play in a ML game, uses an oblong wire frame that supports a series of strategically-placed pads made from animal skins.
There was a time before catcher’s masks, an era when catchers wore tightly wound rubberbands around their teeth to protect from getting them knocked out. As with any popular new past time, Baseball evolved quickly. Cincinnati Red Stockings’ founder and shortstop George Wright began to use a mouthpiece in the 1860′s. He patented it and made a pile of money selling his mouthguard on the open market. While many catchers were saving teeth, there wasn’t much they could do for the rest of their face, until the mid-1870′s. That’s when a few fellows at Harvard started talking about making a mask that would change the catching position forever.
In 1875 with a late season game between arch-rivals Harvard and Yale, Harvard pitcher Harold Ernst came to bat. As the first pitch approached he jumped back, startled by the extreme new swerving movement on the ball. Ernst struck out on three pitches. The rest of the Harvard lineup also seemed to be swinging at air. Ernst watched Yale pitcher Charles Avery’s throwing motion closely for the rest of the day. After the game, Ernst knew that to be one of the best he would have to learn the delivery of this tantalizing pitch. In the off-season he went about teaching himself how to throw what we now call the curve ball. The effects of Ernst’s offseason work were immediate. On opening day in 1876, throwing as many curves as his elbow could stand, Ernst no-hit the powerhouse Lowell, Massachusetts club. He led Harvard to a 25-12 record that season and established himself as one the pioneers of pitching.
The curve ball was considered by most players and spectators as the best new pitch in baseball - but also the riskiest. Catchers everywhere were having a heck of a time holding on to pitches, causing a rise in errors as well as a rise in mangled jaws and noses. Harvard catcher Howard Thatcher wasn’t returning for the 1877 season, but he had helped to prepare James Alexander Tyng as his replacement. Tyng was Harvard’s best all-around athlete and would later go on to become the first Harvard alum to play in a ML game (1879 Boston Red Caps). Like Thatcher before him, Tyng was having a terrible time catching Ernst. His face was taking a beating and he was becoming increasingly worried about permanent disfigurement. This safety concern prompted Player/Manager, Fred Thayer to consider how to boost Tyng’s confidence and protect his face.
Thayer had been brewing an idea for a while, ever since some dugout chats he had once held with former catcher Howard Thatcher. Back in 1875, after Thatcher had taken a few too many foul tips to the noggin, the two men had discussed how to better protect a catcher without impeding his visibility. Realizing he could no longer sit on the idea, Thayer decided a fencing mask provided the closest blueprint to what they needed. In the winter of 1876 he hired a local tinsmith to construct a "bird cage" mask with padding in the chin and forehead area. During practices Tyng and Thayer experimented and revised the mask several times until they got it just right for Tyng’s face. On April 12th, 1877 James Tyng became the first man to wear a catcher’s mask in a professional game. The reaction in the media was mixed to say the least, some feeling it to be a complete success while others holding on to the belief it was unnecessary.
Later in the year, A.G Spalding and Brothers Company, the leading sporting goods dealer in the country, began selling the Thayer Catcher’s Mask for $3.00 in their catalogue. Slowly, catcher’s started to use it, but it wasn’t until 1879 that sales took off because of a rule change that did away with the one bounce rule. It was now necessary for a catcher to catch a two-strike foul tip in the air in order to record an out. With catchers moving closer to the batter in order to take advantage of this new ordinance, the catcher’s mask became indispensible. Although Fred Thayer received the patent, it should be noted that both Howard Thatcher and James Tyng also layed partial claims to the invention of the first catcher’s mask.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=thay...2Fbb_catchers%2Fcatchers%2Fequip2.htm;228;290

The MVP Award as we know it today was introduced in the AL starting in the 1922 season. It was on this date in 1924 the National League announced it will join the AL in awarding $1,000.00 to the player selected by writers as the league's Most Valuable Player. Dazzy Vance, who posted a 28-6 record along with an ERA of 2.16 for the Dodgers, easily outpoints Rogers Hornsby to become the Senior Circuit's first MVP.
George Sisler was the AL’s first recipient followed by Babe Ruth in 1923, who that year won the only MVP Crown of his career. There was a reason for that however as the rules for MVP voting then stated that once you won the Award you were not eligible to win the Award again. This will account for why in 1924 when Ruth won the Triple Crown you will not find his name among the 24 different players who received at least 1 vote. When Sisler won the Award in 1922 he sizzled with the bat which was nothing new for him, hitting .420 that season, collecting 247 Hits. Sisler was the greatest player in St. Louis Browns history and in addition to his hitting exploits he was an excellent baserunner and superb fielder. He was really the first great 1B of the 20th Century. 1922, at age 29, would be his last great season. At the peak of his powers following his historic 1922 performance, Sisler missed the entire 1923 season with a severe sinus infection that impaired his optic nerve, plaguing him with chronic headaches and double vision. Though he was able to return to the field in 1924, when he also agreed to serve as manager of the Browns, Sisler was never again the same player. At the end of the 1922 season the eight year veteran had a career batting average of .361 but would see that drop to .340 by the time he retired. As it was only 15 players have topped that mark.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=geor...75602-Bill-s-Rare-Photo-Finds%2Fpage6;748;575

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dazz...F1-dazzy-vance-1891-1961-granger.html;740;900

It was on this date in 1942 former Texarkana outfielder Gordon Houston is the first professional ballplayer to be killed in WW II. The Minor League batting champion enlisted in the Army Air Corps in November 1940 and became a full-time fighter pilot following the attack on Pearl Harbor. He practiced as a fighter pilot, patrolling the coast for Japanese ships and submarines. He was preparing to land his Republic P-43 Lancer, at Washington’s McChord Field when another plane decided to come in right after him. He opted for the head of the runway and overrun, not knowing that a ditch had been dug that day to put sewer tile in. His plane hit the ditch and flipped over, killing him at the age of 25. The P-43 was a significant plane in its time… fast and well-armed with excellent long-range capabilities, until the arrival of the P-38, the Lancer was the only Allied fighter capable of catching a Japanese Mitsubishi Ki-46 "Dinah" "recon bird" at the speeds and heights at which they flew. In addition, the P-43 flew many long-range, high-altitude photo recon missions until replaced by F-4/F-5 Lightnings.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=gord...m%2Fbiographies%2Fhouston_gordon.html;140;153

https://www.google.ca/search?q=p-43...ter-planes%2Frepublic-p-43-lancer.htm;700;340

Here’s the answers to the trivia questions I posed yesterday in the order they appeared:

NL-Warren Spahn, AL-Sam McDowell, Camilo Pascual

Ernie Banks & Rod Carew

1975 Cincinnati Reds ( Lou Piniella would later be the Manager to lead them a WS Championship )

Joe Glenn

 

[67RedSox]

Re above Post...it was the 1976 Cincinnati Reds and not the 1975 version that was so dominating with so few. Sorry about that.

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1964 Ken Hubbs, the Cubs 2B dies, at age 22, when the Cessna 172 plane he is piloting crashes in Provo, Utah during a winter storm. The 1962 National League Rookie of the Year and Gold Glove winner took flying to overcome his fear of flying had obtained his pilot’s license the previous month.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ken+...2%2F29%2F550-ken-hubbs-in-memoriam%2F;756;544

It was on this date in 1866 Crazy Schmit, sometimes called Germany Schmit due to his heritage and German accent, was born in Chicago. His 5 year MLB career, as a starting pitcher, was forgettable as he went 7-36 with an ERA of 5.45. He is credited with being the first pitcher to keep a “book” on the hitters he faced. That book was always in his pocket when he took the mound and listed the weakness of each hitter. Based upon his record the book didn’t seem to provide much good for him. Story has it the caption in his book for Cap Anson, Baseball's first superstar and career leader in Basehits with 3,435 when he retired with a lifetime average of .334 was simply…”Base on Balls” and Schmit would walk him rather than face the consequences of trying to get one by him.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=craz...%2F%2Fwww.lonecadaver.com%2F1901.html;273;349

Hal “Prince Hal” Chase was born on this date in 1883. He was the poster boy for an era when gambling and throwing games seem to have been much more common than anyone was willing to admit. Chase was the most notoriously corrupt player in Baseball history. He was also, according to many of those who saw him play, the greatest defensive first baseman ever. In 1981, 62 years after his last ML game, baseball historians Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book, The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. He’s remembered mostly for his 9 seasons with the New York Highlanders (Yankees) and three seasons in Cincinnati where, in 1916, he won the NL Batting Crown with a batting average of .339. His career, 1905-1919, ended the year before Judge Landis became the Commissioner of Baseball. Good thing…if you think Landis threw the book at the Black Sox players he would have thrown the whole library at Chase.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=hal+...Frolic-for-the-Yankees%25E2%2580%259D;600;449

Chances are Heinie Heitmuller is not a familiar name to you. He died over 100 years and is the only professional Baseball player to win a Batting Crown after he died.
"Heinie" was a popular nickname for German Baseball players in the early 1900s. William Frederick “Heinie” Heitmuller was one of 22 ML Heinies in the first half of the 20th century. No Major League ballplayer has gone by the nickname "Heinie" since the end of World War II.
Heitmuller was born in San Francisco in 1883. Most of his Baseball career was spent in the Pacific Coast League with Oakland, Seattle and finally the Los Angeles Angels in 1911 and 1912 however he did get a shot in the Majors playing 95 games over the 1909 and 1910 seasons with the AL’s Philadelphia Athletics.
After collecting six hits in a double header on September 27, 1912 Heitmuller plays in his final Baseball game for the Angels a day later, going 0-for-3 with a sacrifice in a 3-2 win over Vernon. The next day, September 29th, Heitmuller is unable to play in a double header against the Vernon Tigers … 24 hours later, the Angels announce that their star right fielder has been admitted to the hospital and will not travel with the team for its upcoming series in San Francisco. Heitmuller’s roommate, 21-year-old catcher Hugh Smith, has already left the team for what is later diagnosed as typhoid fever … the entire team later receives inoculation shots for the disease … Smith recovers from his illness but doesn’t play again in professional baseball.
On October 8, 1912, 29-year-old Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder succumbs to typhoid fever and dies at the Good Samaritan Hospital in Los Angeles … the Angels’ game versus the Vernon Tigers later that day is cancelled and his body is shipped home to San Francisco for the funeral on the 11th.
At the time of his death Heitmuller had a career high 15 HRs and is second in the Pacific Coast League batting race with a .335 average, trailing teammate Pete Daley (.338) by three points. Over the remaining 22 games Daley’s average slips to .322 and Heitmuller becomes the only player in professional Baseball history to win a League Batting Crown posthumously.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=hein...580%2599s-posthumous-batting-title%2F;174;265

I read an article today about the dying art of people keeping score at a baseball game. Believe it or not doing just that would be one of the things on my bucket list if I ever decide to create one. I have never kept score, don’t know how to keep score, consider it akin to learning to speak another language but think I’m perfectly suited to do so. From what I’ve read on the art of scorekeeping there are some basic rules and symbols one follows and then everyone seems to add a personal flair of one sort or another.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=base...ba-pro-baseball-basic-game-review%2F;1181;929

- Pee Wee Reese played in 44 World Series games, All 44 were against the New York Yankees.

- In 1982 The National League Cy Young Award Winner, Steve Carlton, had a higher batting average (.218) than the National League Home Run Champion, Dave Kingman(.204)

- In 1958 the NY Yankees and Milwaukee Braves met in the Fall Classic, both teams having identical 92-62 records that season. It would be than 55 years later before two teams meeting in the World Series would have similar records…2013, Boston and St. Louis at 97-65.

- Despite having to pitch for the lowly Philadelphia Athletics over his entire 10 year ML career Dick Fowler ended up with some decent numbers and was a two time 15 Game winner but man were Wins tough to come by for him. In 1942 before he went off to serve in the Canadian Army and missed almost 3 complete seasons he threw all 16 innings in a game against St. Louis and lost 1-0. After three years in the military he re-joins the Athletics against on September 9, 1945 and in his first game back he faces the same St. Louis team on the same ball field and tosses a 1-0 No-Hitter but the game was not decided until the Athletics scored a run in the bottom of the 9th inning. In two games against Browns Fowler tosses 25 innings gives up 9 Hits and 1 run for an ERA of 0.36 but comes away with 1 Win and 1 Loss. That’s what it was like pitching for the A’s in those days.

- The largest attendance for a MLB game is 92,708 at the Coliseum in Los Angeles for the 5th game of the 1959 World Series. In that game Billy Pierce outdueled Sandy Koufax for a 1-0 White Sox victory. That single game attendance was greater than the St. Louis Brown’s attendance for the entire 1935 season, 80,922.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=base...%2F26coliseum.html%3Fpagewanted%3Dall;600;280

 

[67RedSox]

Valentine’s Day seems an appropriate day for Baseball fans given their love affair for the game. So, let’s get the stuff that’s a bit maudlin out of the way. Here’s some quotes :

"Baseball is a symbol of eternity. It wipes out all sense of time, destroying all memory of a beginning and all fear of an end."

"Baseball is a game that two teams can play and both win."

"Baseball is the greatest refreshment in life."

https://www.google.ca/search?q=base...4%2Fvalentines-for-baseball-lovers%2F;383;213

It was on this date in 1916 that the Chicago White Sox acquire “Shoeless Joe” in a trade with the Cleveland Indians. Many Baseball fans think of Shoeless Joe Jackson as only having worn the uniform of the White Sox. The fact is, other than 10 games with the Philadelphia Athletics he split his 12 seasons in the Majors equally between the Indians and the White Sox. He played six seasons and 674 games with the Indians and six seasons and 648 games with the White Sox. He six seasons in Cleveland were an extraordinary success. He hit .375 overall during those years with individual seasons where he batted .408 and .395. His years with the Indians were more prolific than his years with the White Sox where he hit a “mere” .340. The natural question then would be…Why would Cleveland trade such a talent? The answer is almost one of the Indians having virtually no choice except to do so.
In 1915 Cleveland owner, Charles Somers, teetering on the edge of bankruptcy, decided that he could not afford to keep his two best players, Jackson and Shortstop Ray Chapman who 5 years later would meet his demise due to a Carl Mays high and inside fastball. He needed to trade one and rebuild the ballclub around the other. Somers' mind was made up when the newspapers reported that the Federal League had offered Jackson a multiple-year contract at a salary of $10,000 per year. Somers feared that Jackson would bolt for the new circuit, leaving the Indians with nothing in exchange, so the Cleveland owner solicited offers for his cleanup hitter.
Jackson, who at the time was in the second season of a three-year contract for $6,000 per annum, was not opposed to a trade. The Washington Senators offered a package of players for Jackson, but Somers rejected the bid to await a better one, which soon came from the Chicago White Sox. Owner Charles Comiskey coveted Jackson, and sent his secretary, Harry Grabiner, to Cleveland with a blank check. "Go to Cleveland," ordered Comiskey, "watch the bidding for Jackson, and raise the highest one made by any club until they all drop out." On August 20, 1915, Grabiner and Somers reached an agreement. Somers signed Joe to a three-year contract extension at his previous salary, then sent him to Chicago for $31,500 in cash and three players (outfielders Bobby Roth and Larry Chappell and pitcher Ed Klepfer).

https://www.google.ca/search?q=shoe...y.com%2Fjjcard%2FjacksonPostCard.html;344;446

Love may make the World go round and Valentine’s Day is probably not the time to be talking about the opposite of love…which is hate…but it’s exactly that which fuels rivalries and rivalries are part of what make Baseball great. Here’s one man’s opinion of the greatest four rivalries in the Grand Old Game:

4 – Willie Mays / Mickey Mantle

Some will argue there was can be no rivalry between the two because they didn’t play against each other outside of the 1951 and 1962 World Series however Mays and Mantle will forever be linked in Baseball history for several reasons…started at same time, both played in same city, played same position, incredible talents and so on. Throw Duke Snider into the mix and it makes my head spin to think of being a Baseball fan living in New York in the 1950’s.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=mays...st_rivalry_of_baseballs_golden_age%2F;750;500

3 - St. Louis Cardinals / Chicago Cubs

It goes back to 1901 and surprisingly the Cubs lead the all-time series 1,110 – 1,076

https://www.google.ca/search?q=card...t.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fbest-rivalry.html;720;534

2 - New York Yankees / Boston Red Sox, ( a.k.a. - The Evil Empire vs. Red Sox Nation )

It goes back to 1901 and although the Yankees are up almost 1,000 Wins ( 2,137 – 1,151 ) that doesn’t matter a hoot. Bad blood is bad blood.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=yank...%2Fyankees-vs-red-sox-ticket-giveaway;389;205

1 - Dodgers / Giants whether East or West Coast version.

The season record favours the Dodgers to a wide margin, 2,392 – 1,174 going back to their first meeting on April 18, 1883…131 years ago. How strong has this rivalry been? Let’s just say it makes it makes the Yankees and Red Sox look like choir boys. Despite this I’ve heard a Dodger fan on these Boards give credit to Willie Mays being the best player he has seen play the game so despite the rivalry there has to be some degree of respect between the two.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dodg...recent-interview-experience.864231%2F;483;146

When it comes to love, Valentine’s is the day. When it comes to love in Baseball, Slim is the guy. Of the 18,174 players who have worn a ML uniform only one, Slim Love has enjoyed that last name. He pitched six seasons in the AL in the years between 1913 - 1920, mostly as a Yankee in the pre Babe Ruth days. He won’t be remembered for his pitching…but for something else…his height. In the first 107 years of the Major Leagues there was no one taller played the game than he. Love's nickname was based on his large, lean frame, at 6 ft 7.5 in (2.02 m) and 195 pounds. Upon his debut, Love became the tallest pitcher in ML history, surpassing Hippo Vaughn who stood six feet, four inches. Love remained the tallest pitcher in major league history for 58 years until JR Richard made his debut in 1971 at six feet, eight inches.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=slim...AR%3Fcy%3DBaseball%26kw%3DSlim%2BLove;220;308

 

[67RedSox]

The Colorado Rockies are the only MLB franchise that has neither won 100 or more games in a season nor lost 100 or more games in a season.

During the 1951 season Gus Zernial of the Philadelphia A's hit 10 home runs against the St Louis Browns. It is still the record for most home runs by one player against one team in a single season.

For 54 consecutive seasons, 1900 to 1953, the Pittsburgh Pirates opened the season on the road. The question that begs to be asked is, why? Yet, no one knows the answer to that.

Ferguson Jenkins is the only pitcher to give up at least one home run to each of the three Alou brothers.

On April 8, 1986, Will Clark hit a home run in his first at bat ever in the Major Leagues. It was off of Nolan Ryan. Clark went on to hit 5 more homers off of the fast-baller for a total of six. It was the most by any player off of the Hall Of Famer.

There were only two no hitters pitched in the history of the St Louis Browns. Both by pitchers named "Bobo". Bobo Newsome in 1934 and Bobo Holomon in 1953.

The last time that the American League home run champion faced the National League home run champion in the World Series was back in 1956 when Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees faced Duke Snider of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The last time that the American League batting champion faced the National League batting champion in the World Series was back in 1954 when Bobby Avila of the Cleveland Indians played against Willie Mays of the New York Giants.

Only one player in MLB history has hit a home run in his first TWO at bats in the Major Leagues. It was Bob Nieman for the 1951 St Louis Browns. He ended his career with 125 long balls.

In the 52 years history of the Boston Braves only one player, John Russell, was able to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game. In the 57 year history of the Brooklyn Dodgers only one player was able to hit a home run from both sides of the plate in the same game, it was the same man, John Russell. He did it for the Braves on June 7, 1948 and for the Dodgers on July 26, 1950.

Hall Of Famer Eddie Mathews is the only Brave to play for them in all three cities. There was Boston, then Milwaukee, then on to Atlanta.

Bert Blyleven is the only pitcher in MLB history to throw a no-hitter and then get traded before his next start. In happened in 1977 when Bert no-hit the Angels on September 22nd. It was his final start of the year and was traded in the off-season to the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Early Wynn is the only player in MLB history to give up a pinch hit grand slam home run as a pitcher and hit a grand slam home run as a pinch hitter.

Stan Musial (St Louis Cardinals), George Brett (Kansas City Royals), and Robin Yount (Milwaukee Brewers) are the only three players in MLB history to lead their respective franchises in lifetime singles, doubles, triples and home runs.

Babe Ruth, Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were three of the greatest sluggers in the history of the game and all three are Hall Of Famers. An interesting note about these three as they all ended their MLB careers in the same city they started in, but with a different team.

First Team Last Team
Babe Ruth.................... Boston Red Sox Boston Braves
Hank Aaron.................. Milwaukee Braves .. Milwaukee Brewers
Willie Mays.................. New York Giants .. New York Mets

Although he is one of baseball's all time career base stealer, Lou Brock never stole home during his MLB career.

50 years ago today (1964) as teams were getting the kinks out in Spring Training the Beatles, I Want To Hold Your Hand, was enjoying a 7 week stay atop the charts.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MHkgwA8t-g]The Beatles - I Want to Hold Your Hand 1080p [HD] - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

All too often we learn a Baseball player has died as a result of an accident. Many times it’s a result of an automobile accident. It was on this date in 1924 that Boston Braves' 3B, Tony Boeckel, becomes the first ML’er to be killed in an automobile accident. It happened near San Diego when Boeckel and his good friend Bob Meusel, an outfielder with the NY Yankees, were involved in a three-car accident near San Diego on February 15, 1924. Boeckel suffered critical injuries and died one day later, despite undergoing an operation. Meusel escaped from the mishap unscathed. Their driver was Los Angeles theatrical man Bob Albright, who received minor injuries. The three were returning from a hunting trip in Mexico.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tony...FLotDetail.aspx%3Finventoryid%3D99019;800;993

It was on this date in 1950 Mel Ott and Bill Terry, long-time teammates on the NY Giants, prove Baseball writers often have no idea about the Grand Old Game they cover when both were denied entrance to the Hall of Fame when each fails to obtain the necessary 75% of votes. All Ott did was play 20+ seasons hit 500+ HRs and have a career BA over .300. Terry finished his career with a lifetime BA of .341 and in 1931 hit .401. Go figure.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=mel+...2Fwww.rmyauctions.com%2Flot-553.aspx;1000;793

It was on this date in 1953 Ted Williams safely crash-lands his damaged Panther jet after flying a combat mission in Korea. The plane was hit by enemy fire. Below are details of his harrowing escape. All I can say is what a life Teddy Ballgame must have lived. No wonder he liked fishing for salmon on the Miramichi…no War or sportswriter in sight.

Welcome to the Official Ted Williams Website

Alex Ferguson was born on this date in 1897. Never more than a journeyman right-hander he played 10 years in the Majors from 1918 to 1929 and never enjoyed great success going 61-85 in his career including 14-17 for the Boston Red Sox in 1924 when he led the AL in Losses. There’s nothing in anything said so far that separates him from hundreds of others who have come before and after him except one thing…which I love to hear from a ballplayer…he was once asked what his greatest thrill was. He could have said starting and winning Game 3 of the 1925 World Series but he didn’t. Instead he merely replied…”my greatest thrill was always just before a game … standing on the dugout steps waiting to run onto the field in front of the spectators. ‘It’s a feeling I can’t describe.”

https://www.google.ca/search?q=alex...File%3AAlex_Ferguson_(baseball)_2.jpg;418;519

Born on this date in 1918 was Creepy Crespi who deserves a mention on the basis of his name alone but merits mention on a couple of other merits as well. He wasn’t a Hall of Famer by any means but in 1941 with only 59 Major League to his credit he became the St. Louis Cardinals full-time 2B at age 23. Marty Marion, the Cardinals star Shortstop of who helped lead the Cardinals to four World Series during the 1940’s and the NL’s MVP in 1944, had this to say about his play in 1941… "For one year—1941—Crespi was the best second baseman I ever saw. He did everything, and sensationally."
Crespi played one more season, 1942…it would be his last taste of MLB… before the Army came calling early in 1943. Though he qualified for a deferment as the sole supporter of his elderly mother, he refused, claiming, "I don't think I'm too good to fight for the things I've always enjoyed."
During an Army baseball game in Kansas, he suffered a compound fracture of his left leg while turning a double play. Soon afterwards, he broke the same leg during a training accident, and later he broke it a third time while in the hospital. While he was recuperating at the hospital, a nurse accidentally applied 100 times the appropriate quantity of boric acid to his bandages, causing severe burns on Crespi's leg and leaving him with a permanent limp. According to Marty Marion, a total of 23 operations were performed on Crespi's leg.
After the War with his playing career over Crespi, in an attempt to qualify for the MLB pension plan, applied various times as coach. Unable to obtain the position, he became a budget analyst for McDonnell Douglas, where he worked for 20 years. After his retirement from McDonnell Douglas, Crespi discovered that he had not been retired from Baseball, but rather had been on the disabled list, when the MLB had first implemented its pension plan during the 1940s. This discovery entitled Crespi to his ML pension.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=cree...8f5f-cf80-5723-bae0-510d8ca49acc.html;620;449

It was on this date two HOF’ers died. Gary Carter on this date in 2012 and Dazzy Vance on this date in 1961. Vance was 31 before he won his first ML game. He would end his career with 197 Wins, as many as 28 in one season, and MVP Crown in 1924 and 7 consecutive seasons leading the NL in Strikeouts. No NL pitcher accomplished that before or since Vance. However the interesting part of Dazzy Vance’s story has nothing to do with what happened on the baseball field.
Could a friendly poker game among Minor League teammates lead to a Hall of Fame career for a 29-year-old who had been pitching in professional baseball for nine years, never had won a ML game, and seldom had put two good years back to back in the minors? Perhaps. Arthur Vance had earned the nickname Dazzy for the dazzling fastball he had shown as a teenage semipro in rural Nebraska. He had even had two shots at the Majors but nary a victory there as his total Big League record consisted of zero wins and four losses. In the Minors he showed occasional flashes of brilliance, but his best performances were usually followed by a sore arm and a disappointing next season. He was with the New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern League that evening when the fateful poker game occurred in the Big Easy. According to Jack Kavanagh and Norman Macht, Vance banged his arm on the edge of the table while raking in a pot. He immediately felt intense pain. When the arm still hurt the next morning, Vance went to a doctor, who diagnosed an underlying injury that had not been discovered by all the medicos who had examined him previously. Exactly what the doctor did is unknown. Bill James speculated that the surgeon probably removed bone chips and debris from the elbow. That guess seems as good as any. At any rate, the operation was a success and the patient not only survived, but he thrived. After receiving this treatment, Dazzy was able to pitch again painlessly. The Dazzler rebounded to win 21 games for the Pelicans in 1921, his first 20-win season since 1914. He made it to the Majors to stay the very next year. The rest, as they say, is history.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=gary....com%2Farticle.asp%3FarticleID%3D2070;550;350

Dazzy Vance breakdown | MLB.com

 

[67RedSox]

Nemo Leibold was born on this date in 1892. Never heard of him? If he was alive today he’d probably tell you he was glad his name is not well known. He played in the outfield with Shoeless Joe Jackson for 4 seasons and is one of only 3 regulars on the 1919 White Sox who was not implicated in the Black Sox scandal.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=nemo...dal-gives-baseball-a-black-eye-2%2F;3017;1151

Wally Pipp was born on this date in 1893. In 1916 the left-handed, free-swinging Pipp became the first player in AL history to lead the League in both HRs and strikeouts. In addition to his batting exploits, Pipp was one of the finest defensive 1B of the Dead Ball Era; in 1915, he led all AL first basemen in putouts, assists, double plays, and fielding percentage. Yet despite these achievements, today Pipp is most remembered as the man whose nagging headache persuaded him to accept a day off on June 2, 1925, a decision that--along with his poor hitting that year--led to his permanent displacement from the starting lineup by a young Lou Gehrig.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wall...2F%2Fwww.lonecadaver.com%2FPipp.html;1040;704

Here’s some Baseball stuff compliments of George Will either directly or inspired by. George Will is as good a friend to Baseball as we are and when he talks about baseball, I listen:

- In 1978 when Ron Guidry went 25-3 and pitched as well as I have ever seen he tossed more Complete Games than he gave up Home Runs…and that is clearly not an easy thing to do.

- Ted Williams, Willie McCovey, Rickey Henderson, Omar Vizquel have each hit Home Runs in four different decades.

- The 1986 Red Sox and the 2011 Texas Rangers have experienced Baseball’s greatest pain…losing a World Series after being one strike away from winning it.

- What NL team has won the most World Series games. I would answer the Giants but of course be wrong because it is the St. Louis Cardinals with 58…the Giants have won 53, the Dodgers 45 and Cincinnati with 26.

- The 1940’s saw four players win multiple MVP Awards…Stan the Man, Joltin Joe, Teddy Ballgame and Hal Newhouser

- Between 1956 when it was instituted and 1966 Juan Marichal won at least 25 Games in three separate seasons yet not only never won a Cy Young Award he never received a single vote.

- Frank Robinson, Don Baylor, Joe Torre and Kirk Gibson can put something in their resume no one else can… both a MVP Award and Manager of the Year Award.

- 85% is the success ratio Tim Raines had in stealing bases…808 steals in 954 attempts. No one with at least 500 SB Attempts is as high. Rickey Henderson was successful 81% of the time, Lou Brock 75%, Luis Aparicio 79%, Vince Coleman 81%, Ron LeFlore 76%...for Ty Cobb the the stat of Caught Stealing was not often recorded however the season he stole 96 to set the record in 1915 he was caught 38 times for a success ratio of 72%.

- Was Dennis Eckersley’s 1990 season the best ever by a reliever. It would be hard to argue against it. It is the only season a relief pitcher has had a season with more saves than baserunners allowed. In 73 innings pitched he allowed 41 basehits, had 4 base on balls and 1 intentional walk…46 baserunners, 48 Saves. His WHIP was 0.61…If you were a hitter that year it must have been embarrassing for more than a few.

- There have been two 3rd Basemen hit 400+ HRs while playing the Hot Corner. Of Mike Schmidt is one with 509. The second is not Chipper Jones if he was your guess... but Eddie Mathews with 486.

- Thanks to Ernie Banks, Shortstops, who once upon a time had been considered inoffensive little guys, got into the act of carrying big sticks in the 1950s when he won two consecutive MVP awards for seasons (1958, 1959) in which he hit a total of 92 home runs.

- In Ted Kluszewski's torrid seasons, 1953 through 1956, he hit 171 home runs, a four-year total rarely matched. But what looks most remarkable from the perspective of later decades is that in those four years he struck out only 140 times.

- Yes, the 1950s were renown for Home Run bashing but they also saw the two most famous pitching performances in Baseball history. One was Don Larson's perfect game for the Yankees against the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series. The other was Harvey Haddix's 1959 heartbreaker, the 12 perfect innings he pitched for the Pirates in Milwaukee only to give up a hit in the 13th and lose the game.

- The 1950’s saw up until that time included Baseball's most storied home run (Bobby Thomson's, which won the 1951 play-off for the Giants) and the most famous catch (Willie Mays's over-the-shoulder gem in the 1954 World Series). Both occurred in a park, the Polo Grounds, that would echo with emptiness by the end of the decade.

A George Will clip follows where he discusses the Non-Perfect Game Armando Galarraga threw in 2010. You might agree or disagree with him .

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k1qJWWSFFA]George Will on Armando Galarraga and his Perfect-ish Game - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

It was 70 years ago today. How often does it happen that a ML pitcher needs permission from his High School principal to pitch in the Majors. I can’t see it happening again but on this date in 1944 15-year old Joe Nuxhall signs a contract with the Reds after getting permission from his parents and principal. Later that year, on June 10th, he will become the youngest player ever to appear in a ML game, tossing 2/3 of an inning for Cincinnat, still just 15 years old.
Nuxhall came into that game on June 10th to start the 9th inning against the St. Louis Cardinals with the Reds down 13-0. After a groundout, walk and pop-up he was close to working a scoreless inning but didn’t get there, thanks in part to giving up a basehit to some guy named Musial. It must have been pretty tough to face the best team in Baseball as a 15 year old but my guess is that Nuxhall cherished the moment.
Nuxhall would eventually pitch 16 seasons in the Majors, 15 with Cincinnati and then spend 40 years in the Reds radio broadcast booth.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=joe+...-joe-nuxhall-ernie-lombardi-and-frank;640;427

It was on this date in 1960 Walter O'Malley completes the purchase of land just north of downtown Los Angeles as the site of a new ballpark for his transplanted Brooklyn club. The Dodger owner paid a reported $494,000 for the property at Chavez Ravine, believed to be worth $92,000 at the time. I’m going out on a limb here but my guess is that the land is worth more now than what O’Malley paid for it.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chav...bject%2Fhistory-of-chavez-ravine.html;600;485

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chav...edu%2F50643%2Fhoming-in-on-a-phd%2F;2833;2283

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chav...0%2F07%2F3rd-base-dodger-stadium.html;720;378

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dodg...rry-bruckheimer-jon-hamm-show-674078;1296;730

It was on this date in 1908 that Cy Young is traded by the Boston Red Sox back to where his ML career started…Cleveland. This despite he won 21 games, set a record low ERA mark of 1.26 and tossed a No-Hitter that season. However, at 41 he was the second oldest player in the League and in the twilight of his career. He would pitch three more seasons with Cleveland winning 33 more games including his 500th.
After he left the game he spent the last 42 years of his life living and working on his farm in Ohio taking the odd job here and there to make ends meet but he never returned to the Game.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=cy+y...crc=0;cy young baseball card&imgdii=_&imgrc=_

Quick now, name the ML’er who had the initials Z.Z. If you said Zip Zabel you’d be correct. Zip was born on this date in 1891. On June 17, 1915, he set the record for most innings pitched in relief in one game. He came in relief for Bert Humphries with two out in the first inning, and pitched the final 18 1/3 innings to earn the win over the Brooklyn Robins and opposing pitcher Jeff Pfeffer, who pitched the complete game.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=zip+...-in-baseball-history-zip-zabel-day%2F;402;501

Not a HOF’er but someone worth remembering. Spook Jacobs died on this date in 2011. I don’t know the name and my guess is most reading this won’t know the name but I’m sure if Tommy Lasorda goes back about 60 years the name will come to mind.
Jacobs made a name for himself long before he reached the Majors in 1954 when he was the full-time 2B for the Philadelphia Athletics…their last year in Philadelphia before moving to Kansas City. Immediately after graduating from High School Jacobs enlisted in the United States Army where he rose to the rank of sergeant during World War II and was awarded the Asian Pacific Theatre Medal, the American Theatre Medal, the Good Conduct Medal, and the United States Victory Medal…all of this accomplished while still a teenager. Following his honorable military discharge, he was signed by the Brooklyn Dodgers and ended up playing professional baseball for 17 seasons. He never wore a Dodger uniform in the Big Leagues and other than his season in Philadelphia he had cups of coffee in the Majors with Athletics after they trasnsferred to KC and then 11 games with the Pirates. 14 of his professional seasons were playing Minor League ball including Winter Ball in Panama and Cuba where he won Batting Crowns. Because of his contributions in Cuba he was honoured by being elected into the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame and the Cuban Sports Hall of Fame. To date the only American to receive both prestigious honours.
On April 13, 1954, in his Opening Day ML debut, he became the only player in ML history to collect four consecutive hits in his first four ML at-bats and still one of only three players in ML history to go 4-for-4 in their debut, the others being Delino DeShields and Willie McCovey.
Jacobs and Tommy Lasorda were teammates on the 1956 Athletics. While pitching for the Los Angeles Angels (PCL), Lasorda deliberately hit Jacobs in the 5th inning of an August 1957 game at Gilmore Field. The knockdown came after relief pitcher Fred Waters hit a 400-foot home run which broke a 4–4 tie. Jacobs charged Lasorda and then went after his rival second baseman, Sparky Anderson. Finally, Jacobs' Hollywood Stars went on to score seven runs in the fifth inning to gain an 11–4 win.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=spoo...logspot.com%2F2010_11_01_archive.html;400;266