Baseball History

[67RedSox]

Chuck Aleno was born on this date in 1919. His ML career was brief as he played in only 118 games, all with Cincinnati spread over 4 seasons during WWII, 1941-1944. His lifetime BA was a modest .208 however he holds the record for the longest hitting streak to start a career , 17 games (from May 15 to May 31, 1941).

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chuc...infielder-Chuck-Aleno-%2F390598940525;218;300

Just a few days ago I mentioned how the White Sox acquired Shoeless Joe in a trade with the Indians in 1915. I didn’t mention who came over from the White Sox to the Indians in return. There were three players in fact and one of them was a 25 year old Outfielder by the name of Larry Chappell who was born on this date in 1890. His stay with the Indians amounted to 3 games and 2 At-Bats before he was purchased by the Boston Braves. His entire MLB career consisted of 109 games. He is well worth a mention though because when WWI came calling he answered and died at an Army camp in France in 1918…not from a War injury but the Spanish influenza pandemic which killed 50-100 million world wide. Nevertheless, he went to War and did not survive.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=larr...ball_phot_mousepad-144907201538272402;512;512

For three years running, 1926-1927-1928, the NY Yankees dominated the American League. Many will argue the 1927 Yankees were the best team ever. In 1928 they were being challenged hard by the Philadelphia Athletics who would overtake the Yankees in 1929 and see themselves go to the World Series three times straight in 1929-1930-1931.
In 1928 there was a huge series between the two in Philadelphia’s Shibe Park. The series started on May 24th with a Thursday doubleheader and the Yankees holding a 3.5 game lead in the standings. Shibe Park ( later known as Connie Mack Stadium ) had a capacity of under 30,000 in 1928 but 40,000 jammed in to watch at least the 2nd game. The fans outside the stadium who couldn't get in numbered 15,000, including those perched on rooftops beyond the RF fence. Well, the Yankees won the series but the fans who watched the 1st game of the series, Game 1 of the Thursday doubleheader got to see something pretty special…the most Hall of Famers on the field during a single MLB game. If you had to guess how many would you say…if you guessed 17 you would be correct. That included 13 players, 2 Managers and 2 Umpires:

Umpires - Tommy Connolly and Bill McGowan

Managers - Miller Huggins (Yankees) and Connie Mack (A's)

Yankees players

CF Earle Combs
SS Leo Durocher
LF Babe Ruth
1B Lou Gehrig
2B Tony Lazzeri
P Waite Hoyt

Athletics players

RF Ty Cobb
CF Tris Speaker
C Mickey Cochrane
PH Al Simmons
PH Eddie Collins
P Lefty Grove
PH Jimmie Foxx

There were three more Cooperstown enshrinees on the Yankees roster, but they didn't get in the game:

P Stan Coveleski
P Herb Pennock
C Bill Dickey

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1928...rical-Archival-Photographs%2Fpage13;1704;1192

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1928...helter.com%2Fimage%2FI0000kWEo.nmIyIU;750;443

On June 8, 1961 fans in two different MLB ballparks were treated to something that few have ever witnessed.

In a game at Yankee Stadium the Kansas City Athletics came to bat in the bottom of the 3rd inning trailing the Yankees 5-1. After a couple of hits and a hit batsman the Athletics had scored 2 runs and were threatening to score more. Then it happened… three consecutive triples by Leo Posada, Norm Siebern and Joe Pignatano.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1961...icalsociety.com%2FTeams%2520pics.html;450;324

Not to be outdone the Milwaukee Braves slugged four straight HRs in a loss, 10-8, to the Reds at Crosley Field. Ed Mathews, Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock, and Frank Thomas belted the HRs.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1961...media%2F1961Bravesteamphoto.jpg.html;1024;790

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1923 Christy Mathewson becomes the President of the Boston Braves. After contending for most of 1915 and 1916, the Braves only twice posted winning records from 1917 to 1932. The lone highlight of those years came when Giants' attorney Emil Fuchs bought the team in 1923 for $300,000.00 to bring his long-time friend, pitching great Christy Mathewson, back into the game.
In the time when Giants walked the earth and roamed the Polo Grounds, none was more honoured than Christy Mathewson. Delivering all four of his pitches, including his famous "fadeaway" (now called a screwball), with impeccable control and an easy motion, the right-handed Mathewson was the greatest pitcher of the Dead Ball Era's first decade, compiling a 2.13 ERA over 17 seasons and setting modern National League records for wins in a season (37), wins in a career (373), and consecutive 20-win seasons (12). Aside from his pitching achievements, he was the greatest all-around hero of the Dead Ball Era, a handsome, college-educated man who lifted the rowdy world of baseball to gentlemanliness.
The original plans called for Mathewson to be the principal owner. While in France Mathewson endured a bad bout of influenza and was exposed to mustard gas during a training exercise. He was hospitalized and apparently had recovered by the time he returned to the United States however he was unable to shake the cough that had plagued him. At the tuberculosis sanitarium in Saranac Lake, New York, he was diagnosed with the disease and initially received a prognosis of six weeks to live. For the next two years he fought as hard as he ever had on the diamond to recover from the deadly disease. By the winter of 1922-23 he thought he was strong enough to return to baseball. By the end of the 1923 season, it was obvious Mathewson couldn't continue even in a reduced role, and he turned over the presidency to Fuchs. His health began to fail and he died in 1925 at the age of 45.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=chri...A%2F%2Fblogs.uoregon.edu%2Fengland%2F;524;750

It was on this date in 1963 the Chicago Cubs officially put an end to their radical approach in using multiple field bosses during the course of the season when they hire Bob Kennedy as their only Manager, or sometimes referred to, Head Coach. With the "College of Coaches" system disbanded, the club will post an 82-80 record…their best since 1946.
The College of Coaches was an unorthodox strategy employed by the Chicago Cubs in 1961 and 1962. After the Cubs finished 60-94 in 1960, their 14th straight second-division finish, Cubs owner P.K. Wrigley announced in December 1960 that the Cubs would no longer have a manager, but would be led by an eight-man committee. The Cubs officially rolled out the College of Coaches during 1961 Spring Training. The original "faculty" included El Tappe, Charlie Grimm, Goldie Holt, Bobby Adams, Harry Craft, Verlon Walker, Ripper Collins and Vedie Himsl. Each coach would serve as "head coach" for part of the season. The original concept called for the eight coaches to rotate through the entire organization from the low minors all the way to the Cubs, ensuring a standard system of play. Additionally, Wrigley argued that it would be better for the players to be exposed to the wisdom and experience of eight men rather than just one.
The head coach position rotated among four different men in 1961 and three more in 1962. Occasionally the various coaches were at odds with each other. Each coach brought a different playing style and a different lineup. Additionally, according to relief pitcher Don Elston, the other coaches didn't bother to help the "head coach," leaving whoever was in charge to fend for himself. Without firm and consistent leadership, chaos reigned in the Cubs' dugout. Under the circumstances, the result was predictable. In 1961, the Cubs finished with a 64-90 record, seventh in the National League, which was actually a slight improvement over the previous year. The 1962 season brought the worst record in Cubs history, as they finished 59-103, in ninth place in the expanded NL; only the first-year New York Mets, who lost 120 games, finished lower.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bob+...Biebel-Press-Photo-50-%2F380781177063;300;246

It was on this date in 1953 August A. Busch buys the Cardinals from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million and pledges not to move the team from St. Louis. Perhaps the best thing that ever happened as far as Baseball in St. Louis is concerned…other than Stan Musial. It certainly meant the survival of the team there even though attendance dropped the first season under the Busch banner.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=augi...p%3A%2F%2Ftherealbsmile.tumblr.com%2F;500;436

Until Dave Winfield entered the Hall of Fame there was only one other native of Minnesota enshrined there and his name was Charley Bender. The name may not be familiar because he almost always went by his nickname…Chief Bender except by his Manager, Connie Mack, who called him Albert ( his middle name ).
Bender pitched 15 seasons (plus 1 inning of a 16th season purely as a gimmick ) in the Majors, 1903-1917… the first 12 seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics. In the first two decades of the 20th century, during the height of the Dead Ball Era, they were one of Baseball’s elite teams. Six times in his twelve seasons with the A’s Bender went to the World Series and won three Rings. 193 of his 212 ML Wins came with the Athletics but it wasn’t his Win total that got him into the HOF or why he’s was remembered as one of the best pitchers of his time it was his stinginess in giving up runs and the fact that he seldom was defeated in a big game.
His mother was a full Ojibwe Indian. His Native American heritage caused him to be at the receiving end of a lot of racist comments during his career. In those days of Baseball nicknames were not always the most creative. If you had blond hair there was a good chance you’d become “Whitey” and if you were of Native American descent you were almost always called “Chief” which Bender was. He resented the name for most of his playing days (this is why Connie Mack called him by one of his given names, Albert) but because he was almost always referred to as “Chief” by everyone he simply accepted it in the end.
In 1953 he was selected to the HOF by the Veterans Committee but unfortunately he died, at age 70, of prostate or heart issues shortly before the induction ceremony. His legacy in the game lives today however. Pitchers like Ron Guidry, Randy Johnson, C.C. Sabathia, Zack Grienke, Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson and a host of notable relievers like Joe Nathan and Brad Lidge all owe their success, or part of it, to a pitch Bender invented back around 1910. It was called the nickel curve for decades but is now known as the slider. Rollie Fingers won a Cy Young Award using the pitch and Dennis Eckersley tried to throw one by Kirk Gibson in the 1988 World Series but as we all know Gibson was waiting on it and deposited it in the stands beyond the outfield fence in Dodger Stadium. Today, the best pitcher on the planet is Clayton Kershaw and it’s one of his pitches. By the way…how good is Kershaw…his career ERA is the lowest among starters in the live-ball era with a minimum of 1,000 innings pitched.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QBtE11UXKmQ]Albert "Chief" Bender - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1931 the Chicago White Sox and the New York Giants play the first night game in MLB history, albeit an exhibition game. Yes, the game was played in…Houston’s Buff Stadium and went to extra innings.
Buffalo Stadium, a.k.a. Buff Stadium and Busch Stadium, was a Minor League stadium primarily used by the Texas League Houston Buffaloes from 1928 through 1958 except for 1943 - 1945 because of World War II. The Buffaloes were a farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals and provided many great ballplayers to the Cardinals' success in 1930s and 1940s. The arrival of the National League Houston Colt .45s in 1962 brought an end to Minor League baseball in Houston. Capacity was 11,556 and later increased to 14,000. It favoured pitchers, the wind blew in from right field, and it was outdoors with high humidity and with LF and RF fences 344’ from home plate…straight away CF was a poke of 430’.
What the White Sox and Giants were doing in Houston during Spring Training in 1931 and not the Cardinals…I don’t know.

A Buff Stadium Pictorial | The Pecan Park Eagle

It was on this date in 1966 Emmett Ashford becomes the first black to be a MLB umpire when he is hired by the American League. Known for his flashy style in the Pacific Coast League where he honed his skills for 12 years before spending 5 years in the Majors including the 1970 World Series, thereafter retiring as he had reached the mandatory retirement age of 56.
His style was that as a showman, exuberant, strong, alert, loud and expressive. Ashford was a sensation right away, but not principally because of his race. His style, well-known on the west coast, took the conservative major leagues by a storm. The stocky (5-foot-7, 185 pounds) Ashford sprinted to his position between innings, stepping on the bases or leaping the pitcher's mound, and raced around the field after foul balls or plays on the bases. The Sporting News was impressed enough to claim, "For the first time in the history of the grand old American game, baseball fans may buy a ticket to watch an umpire perform." The fans did not always need to watch Ashford, they could just listen to his high-pitched cannon of a voice, as he called out a batter or runner.
On a strike call, Ashford jerked his right arm first to the side, then up, then down like a karate chop. That completed, he would then reach either up as if twice yanking a train whistle, or to the right as if opening a car door. Even while dusting the plate he knew every eye in the house was on him, and he behaved accordingly, pirouetting on one foot and hopping back to his position.
In his first game behind the plate, Andy Etchebarren, the Orioles' catcher, recalled diving into the stands after a foul ball: "I knew I couldn't reach the ball, but I dove into the seats thinking a fan would put the ball in my glove or I could grab it off the floor. But while I was reaching I looked around, and who was in the seats with me but Emmett. I couldn't believe it." In a later Baltimore game, Frank Robinson quipped, "That Ashford gets a better jump on the ball than Paul Blair [the Orioles' fleet-footed center fielder]."
Though he was generally well-liked and admired by the people in the game, the open question was always whether he was a good umpire--whether his style came at the expense of substance. But then, what umpire’s ability has never been questioned.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=emme....edu%2Fbaseball%2FprideAndPassion.cfm;640;807

https://www.google.ca/search?q=emme...%2Fbrentmayne.com%2Femmett-ashford%2F;279;300

It happened on this date in 1957…in an ominous development for Brooklyn‚ Walter O'Malley "trades" Minor League franchises with Phil Wrigley of the Cubs‚ giving up the Dodgers' Ft. Worth (Texas) club in return for the Cubs' Los Angeles Angels (Pacific Coast League). This effectively gave the Dodgers territorial rights to L.A., which they obviously used in 1958.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fort...2F12%2Flagrave-field-fort-worth-tx%2F;938;629

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wrig...aseballfield.com%2FWrigleyField1.html;970;453

It was on this date in 1958 Alan Trammell was born. For me, one of life’s mysteries is why Trammell receives so little respect/support for Hall of Fame enshrinement…on average, less than 20% of the vote over the 13 years he’s been on the ballot. I can only conclude it’s me overrating the guy.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=alan...2Fformer_tiger_alan_trammell_pre.html;380;302

Jouett Meekin was born on this date in 1867. He was a right-hander whose best years were pitching for the NY Giants in the 1890’s.In 1894 he finished 33-9 for the Giants. He’s considered to be one of the three hardest-throwing pitchers of the 1890s, along with Hall of Famers Cy Young and Amos Rusie. That trio was probably the main reason why Baseball decided to move the pitching mound back from 50 feet to 60 feet, 6 inches. Meekin was also a "head-hunter." He once stated that when facing a good hitter, the first two pitches should come "within an inch of his head or body.”

https://www.google.ca/search?q=joue...ann.mlblogs.com%2Ftag%2Ftemple-cup%2F;348;480

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1934 George Lee Anderson is born in Bridgewater, South Dakota. He will earn the nickname Sparky, play 152 games for the Phillies in 1959, and never play another major league game. He will, however, win 2,194 games and capture World Championships in both the N.L. and A.L. as Manager of the Cincinnati Reds and Detroit Tigers.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=spar...anderson.rare.photos%2Fcontent.1.html;641;602

It was on this date in 1936 that Walter “Big Train” Johnson got to play George Washington for a day. There are two myths of George Washington created by the Rev. Mason L. Weems. Perhaps on the theory that an entertaining fiction is much better than nothing, he wrote (about 1800) The Life and Memorable Actions of George Washington, a highly imaginative effort to endow Washington with a youth worthy of a future President. One of the "memorable actions" recorded was George's confession of chopping down a cherry tree. Another was his casual pitching feat which spun a stone (or silver dollar) across the Rappahannock River.
In planning the 1936 anniversary of Washington's birth, the people of Fredericksburg decided to honor (besides Washington) these two Weems fables. They therefore arranged to plant 200 cherry trees along a boulevard being built to Ferry Farm, which is half a mile from the center of town, and they invited Walter Johnson (the Washington Senators' greatest all-time pitcher) to come down from his Maryland farm and try the silver dollar trick. Johnson, then 48, accepted and began warming up his arm for the big chore, now the most important part of the February 22 celebration. He sent the following word to the Fredericksburg cheering section: "I am practicing with a dollar against my barn door. Arm getting stronger, barn door weaker."
Despite the fact that the Rappahannock was edged with ice and its banks snow covered, a shivering 1,000 people surrounded Johnson the afternoon of the 22nd as he took off his coat and advanced to make his toss. Across the river 3,000 more shivering people waited, hoping to catch the coin. Actually, Johnson had three silver dollars. The first two, however, were for practice throws. The third (official) one was engraved with the date and Johnson's name. The first dollar fell into the river. On the second try, however, Johnson succeeded. The third coin flew triumphantly into the waiting crowd, covering a distance of 286 feet 6 inches. Johnson returned to Maryland in triumph.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=walt...category%2Fbaseball-art%2Fpage%2F5%2F;600;457

On this date in 1957 Walter O'Malley says the Dodgers may play 10 exhibition games in California in 1958. It turned out to be 154 regular season games.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dodg...Fdodgers-first-game-in-los-angeles%2F;970;615

Clarence Mitchell, born on this date in 1891, was a MLB pitcher for 18 seasons and won games with 6 different ML teams however is best remembered not for a pitch he threw from the mound, but for one he hit while standing in the batter’s box. It was Sunday, October 10, 1920, the fifth game of the World Series between Cleveland and Brooklyn. The series was tied at two games each, but in this game the Indians had knocked out Burleigh Grimes early and were leading 7-0 at the end of four innings. Pete Kilduff led off the top of the fifth for the Dodgers with a single to left field. Otto Miller followed with a single to center. So there were two men on base and nobody out when Clarence Mitchell, who had entered the game in relief of Grimes, stepped up to the plate. He hit a line shot up the middle, just to the second baseman’s right, a rising liner that looked like a sure base hit. But second baseman Bill Wambsganss was off with the crack of the bat, running toward second and making a tremendously high leap to spear the ball. One out. Wamby’s motion carried him toward second, and he tagged the bag to double up Kilduff who was still running toward third. Two out. Then Wamby noticed Miller, who had come down from first base, was standing a few feet away, so he tagged him for the third out. Shortstop Joe Sewell later said that he thought that Wambsganss was going to throw to first to double off Miller, but that he yelled, “Tag him!” Mitchell became the first—and, so far, only—man to hit into an unassisted triple play in a World Series. ( In the picture below you can see Mitchell cross 1st Base as Wambsganss tags out the runner from 1st ) The next time up, Clarence hit into a double play, making him responsible for five outs in two consecutive trips to the plate, another World Series record.
In 1920 when the spitball was banned from the Major Leagues 17 pitchers were given grandfather exemptions to continue throwing it…Mitchell was one of those 17 but he was unique from the other 16 in that he was a southpaw. A left-handed spitballer was among the rarest of sightings in the Majors. Clarence Mitchell was the only legal left-handed spitball pitcher to appear in a major-league game since 1920, and there were few, if any, before that. Mitchell doctored the baseball with slippery elm sliced from a special tree on the farm of a neighbor, Jess Williams, in Franklin County, Nebraska.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=clar...otDetail.aspx%3Finventoryid%3D19637;1297;1688

https://www.google.ca/search?q=worl...ll-almanac.com%2Ffeats%2Ffeats8.shtml;299;300

Take any pitcher you want that played in the Majors during either the 1950’s or 1960’s that you think opposing hitters would least like to face. Perhaps Sandy Koufax comes to mind who could throw a fastball by me without my ever seeing it. Perhaps Bob Gibson comes to mind or Don Drysdale, Herb Score or Sam McDowell. Sorry, these guys are all pussycats compared to one pitcher, Ryne Duren, who was born on this date in 1929. Of all the pitchers mentioned before Duren you may not want to face them because chances were about 80% certain you wouldn’t get on base against them but with Duren you had something greater to worry about…would you physically survive the At-Bat. Koufax, amazingly almost never hit anyone with a pitch, a mere 18 in his career. Gibson and Drysdale would only hit you with a pitch if you deserved to be hit. Score, like Koufax almost never hit a batter…only 7 in his abbreviated career.
Ryne Duren ( Ryne Sandberg was named after him by the way ) was different. He was known for the combination of his blazing fastball and his very poor vision. With his thick coke bottle glasses, few batters dared to dig in against Duren. Casey Stengel said, "I would not admire hitting against Ryne Duren, because if he ever hit you in the head you might be in the past tense." He was a relief specialist and when called into a game and started his warmups, the first pitch was typically a hard fastball 20 feet over the catcher's head. The succeeding warmup pitches would be thrown lower and lower (but not slower) until Duren would finally "find" the plate. Imagine waiting in the on-deck circle waiting to face him.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ryne...stball-glasses-mound-article-1.150702;635;460

 

[67RedSox]

Wilin Rosario was born on this date in 1989. Has just turned 25 and already has 254 ML games under his belt and has knocked 52 out of the park. Guaranteed he will be one of the more sought after catchers in the baseball pools this season…a word to the wise if you’re in any pools with me this year.

Rockies catcher Wilin Rosario focused on improving defense | Rockies.com: News

Sometimes you have to be good to be bad. Two great players from different generations hold a ML record that I’m sure they’d just as soon forget about. Glenn Beckert the Cubs 2B from 1965 to 1973, a 4 time All-Star and Gold Glover did it on September 1, 1972 and Todd Helton duplicated the feat on April 11, 1998. They both left 12 men on base in a single game. (Twice done in AL as well since).

https://www.google.ca/search?q=glen...10%2Fblow-out-candles-october-12.html;500;408

https://www.google.ca/search?q=todd...ckies-plays-in-final-home-game-092513;660;320

Before Don Mattingly, before Tommy Lasorda, before Walter Alston, before Chuck Dressen, Burt Shotton and Leo Durocher there was Casey Stengel. It was on this date in 1934 Stengel was hired to become the Manager of the Dodgers. He didn’t meet with great success but would in another borough of New York in years to come.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=case....thedandelionwar.com%2Fnewsletter.htm;196;257

Ron Hunt was born on this date in 1941. For those not familiar with Ron Hunt he’s the one you always see that’s black and blue in pictures. Hunt once said, "Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball." He retired with three ML records for HBP: most times in a career (243); in a season (50, 1971); and in a game (three, tied). For seven straight years he led the NL in HBP. He had other ways to get on, as two .300 seasons and good walk totals showed. He set Expo team records for fewest strikeouts in a season (19, 1973) and fewest times hitting into double plays (one, 1971). Though he played on the early, horrid Met teams (in '64 he was their first All-Star), he was heartbroken when he was traded to the Dodgers in November 1966 for Tommy Davis.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ron+...photogallery%2Fexpos_35%2Fpage_05.jsp;470;325

Elston Howard was born on this date in 1929. He was an AL All-Star for 9 consecutive seasons, 1957-1965 and the AL’s MVP in 1963. Over the 10 years 1955-1964 he went to 9 World Series with the Yankees. Like, Roger Maris, his teammate on all 5 consecutive World Series teams from 1960-1965 he died way too young at age 51.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=elst...2%2Fblow-out-candles-february-23.html;478;480

Since 1950 there have been 26 MLB players who have played at least 2,500 games in the Majors all with one team. On this date in 1939 Woody English went from the Reds to the Dodgers to the Cubs in just one day.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wood...collection.com%2Fwoody-english-4.html;640;800

Johnny Lindell was an Outfielder with the Yankees in the 1940’s and a good one. He won Rings with the Yankees in 1943, 1947 and 1949. In the 1947 World Series against the Dodgers he was the Yankees hitting star batting .500 for the Series and leading all players with 7 RBIs. He had the knack of hitting the ball between outfielders and led the AL in Triples in back-to-back seasons in 1943 and 1944. He not only led the AL in Triples in 1944 but in Extra Base Hits and Total Bases as well. With the approaching of Mickey Mantle to the Yankee outfield in 1951 and his age, 33, Lindell was considered expendable by the Yankees and he ended up going to the Cardinals. Now what would any aging outfielder do when he sees the end of his career approaching? Exactly correct…he goes to the Pacific Coast League…to pitch. His Manager with the Hollywood Stars, Fred Haney converts him to a knuckleball pitcher. 1951 he goes 12-9 for the Stars and follows that up by going 24-9 for the Stars in 1952. Those efforts bring him back to the Majors for one final season in 1953 as a pitcher when he goes 9-17 starting 26 games and tossing 15 Complete Games. Fred Haney his Manager in Hollywood becomes the Pittsburgh Pirates Manager in 1953 and brings Lindell with him.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=john...84046-gambo-t_wil1-photopack-797.html;577;711

Leading the League in RBIs for three consecutive seasons is a difficult thing to do. Since 1900 it’s been accomplished three times in each the AL and the NL. Both Ty Cobb in 1907-1908-19009 and Babe Ruth in 1919-1920-1921 did it way back when but only once since when Cecil Fielder did it in 1990-1991-1992. In the NL Rogers Hornsby turned the trick in 1920-1921-1922 and Ducky Medwick in 193-1937 -1938. George Foster was the last to do it in 1976-1977-1978.

Runs Batted In Year-by-Year Leaders on Baseball Almanac

 

[67RedSox]

Maybe, just maybe Eddie Plank was the most annoying pitcher to ever don a MLB uniform. Pitching in an era where games might last 2 hours maximum he seems better suited to pitch in today’s modern era because he by himself could turn a 2 hour game into a 3 hour game. The ultimate would have been to see him pitch against Mike Hargrove, The Human Rain Delay. The Dead Ball Era pitcher who won 326 Major League games died on this date in 1926, two days after suffering a stroke, at the age of 50.
Eddie Plank fidgeted. On every pitch, Plank went through a seemingly endless ritual: Get the sign from his catcher, fix his cap just so, readjust his shirt and sleeve, hitch up his pants, ask for a new ball, rub it up, stare at a base runner if there was one, look back at his catcher, ask for a new sign—and start the process all over again. As if that wasn't enough, from the seventh inning on, he would begin to talk to himself and the ball out loud: "Nine to go, eight to go . . ." and so on until he had retired the last batter. Frustrated hitters would swing at anything just to have something to do. His fielders would grow antsy. Fans, not wanting to be late for supper, would stay away when he was pitching. Writers, fearful of missing deadlines, roasted him.
Plank rarely threw to a base to hold a runner close. Sad Sam Jones, good enough to win 229 games over a long career, told Lawrence Ritter, "I once heard Eddie Plank say, 'There are only so many pitches in this old arm, and I don't believe in wasting them throwing to first base.' And he rarely did. Made sense to me. I was just a young punk, and I figured if it was good enough for Plank it should be good enough for me."
Somebody that annoying can hang around for only one reason—if he's a winner. Plank was exactly that, winning 326 games, the most by any lefthander until Warren Spahn and Steve Carlton came along. His 69 shutouts remain the standard for southpaws. Despite all his accomplishments, however, it was Eddie Plank’s fate to be second banana. He had some great seasons and many good ones, but there always seemed to be someone having a better one. Usually it was Walter Johnson, but there would occasionally be someone like Jack Chesbro, Ed Walsh, or Joe Wood, whose overall careers weren't the equal of Plank's. Accordingly, in no season was he considered the top pitcher in the American League; he had to be satisfied with being one of the top four or five, but he was in that position year after year, and while other pitchers came and went, Plank persevered, helping the Philadelphia Athletics to five American League pennants and three world championships. "Plank was not the fastest," teammate Eddie Collins once observed. "He was not the trickiest, and not the possessor of the most stuff. He was just the greatest."

https://www.google.ca/search?q=eddi...abr.org%2Fbioproj%2Fperson%2F339eaa5c;400;504

On this date in 1943 the Texas League announces it will quit for the duration of World War II. The Cardinals, with 260 farm players in the service, will reduce farm clubs from 22 to six. Only nine Minor Leagues will start the 1943 season. Advertisements for players appear in The Sporting News. There may not be baseball in Texas in 1943 but there is in war-torn London.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=texa...yer_biographies%2Feisenmann_chuck.htm;600;321

On this date in 1990 former Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro dies of pneumonia and kidney failure at the age of 45. Hitting 32 home runs in 1965 at the age of 20, the hometown boy becomes the youngest player ever to lead the American League in HRs. Also, despite nearly being blinded by a 1967 beaning he was the youngest American League player ever to reach 100 career HRs.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alFTOLlJyks]Boston Red Sox Tony Conigliaro's 1st Home Run At Fenway Park! - YouTube[/ame]

Wilbur Cooper was born on this date in 1892. Beyond the city limits of Pittsburgh he may not be a household name or even a known name but to any knowledgeable Pirate fans he is considered the greatest Pirate pitcher of all-time.
Even though his 13 years in the Steel City fell between the World Championship seasons of 1909 and 1925, Wilbur Cooper was arguably the greatest pitcher in Pittsburgh Pirates history. Cooper holds the franchise single-season record for ERA (1.87 in 1916) and the all-time records for victories (202) and complete games (263). He was an exceptional control pitcher and as Cooper developed, he increasingly relied on pinpoint control: from 1917 to 1924 he finished in the NL's Top 10 five times in fewest walks per nine innings. A fast worker, he was often in mid-windup when he received the signal from Walter Schmidt, his catcher. When Wilbur and fellow quick-pitcher Pete Alexander once hooked up for a game in Forbes Field, the contest was over in 59 minutes. As the Pirates slowly built themselves back into contenders, they leaned heavily on Cooper to consume innings and protect their otherwise-mediocre staff. From 1918 to 1922 he finished no worse than third in the NL in innings pitched every season, leading the league in 1921. During that span he led the NL in complete games twice while finishing in the Top Five in ERA three times. In three of those five seasons Cooper was a 20-game winner, and in the other two he finished with 19 victories. In 1919 the New York Giants offered $75,000 for him; the Pirates turned them down.
Cooper reached the 20-victory mark for the fourth and final time in 1924, leading the NL with four shutouts and helping the Pirates to a 90-63 record, just three games off the pace, the closest the club had come to a pennant in more than a decade. Pittsburgh won the World Series the next season, but the man who helped bridge the rebuilding gap for the franchise wasn't there to see it happen. On October 27, 1924, the Pirates traded Cooper ( and others ) to the Chicago Cubs. It was a devastating blow for the 32-year-old Cooper. "I do not want to see again in baseball a spectacle like that of the lonely, homesick Cooper trying to pitch a game against his long time teammates at Wrigley Field in Chicago," wrote long time Pittsburgh baseball reporter Charles Doyle in 1925.
Despite a lifetime record of 216-178 and a 2.89 ERA, Cooper drew little support for induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame, receiving no more than 11 votes from the baseball writers during his period of eligibility. He remains one of only two pitchers with more than 3,000 innings and an ERA under 3.00 who are not enshrined at Cooperstown. In one of his last letters he wrote: "I would die a happy man if they voted me into the Hall of Fame. But, if they don't, I will understand."
I believe Jack Powell…primarily of the St. Louis Browns…is the other pitcher with 3,000 innings and an ERA under 3.00 not in the Hall of Fame. Cooper and Powell were both Dead Ball Era pitchers. In the Live Ball Era ( 1920- ) of the 83 pitchers that threw at least 3,000 innings only 7 had a career ERA under 3.00:
1. Whitey Ford: 2.75 Career ERA
2. Jim Palmer: 2.86 Career ERA
3. Tom Seaver: 2.86 Career ERA
4. Juan Marichal: 2.89 Career ERA
5. Bob Gibson: 2.91 Career ERA
6. Don Drysdale: 2.95 Career ERA
7. Carl Hubbell: 2.98 Career ERA

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wilb...um%2Fphotos%2Fpittsburgh_pirates.html;500;625

 

[67RedSox]

What were you doing when you were 30? If you’re not 30 yet what do you plan on doing when you turn 30? It was on this date in 1933 that 30 year old Tom Yawkey buys the Boston Red Sox, for $1.2M after acquiring a very generous inheritance from his step-father. The acquisition of the Boston AL franchise, which lasts for 44 years, is the longest by a sole owner in baseball history.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tom+...storical-Archival-Photographs%2Fpage4;628;480

Ron Santo one of four Hall of Famers from those wonderful Cub teams that ended the 1960’s and began the 1970’s was born on this date in 1940. I’ve spoken of Santo before but usually concerning his accomplishments in the Majors so this time something pre Major League. Santo was born and grew up in Seattle. The Seattle Rainiers of the Pacific Coast League were the big team in town those days. Santo grew up near old Sick’s Stadium in Seattle, where he worked as an usher, in the press box, and in the clubhouse. The Rainiers were then the top farm team for the Cincinnati Reds. Santo would say, “I shined Vada Pinson’s shoes and then three years later I am playing against him.” I’m already on record as saying Pinson should be in the Hall of Fame but unlike Santo who eventually made it I doubt Pinson ever will. Both Pinson and Santo died way too young…Pinson at age 57 from a stroke.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ron+...o-elected-to-Hall-of-Fame-2345706.php;628;426

Another HOF’er Monte Irvin was born on this date in 1919 and celebrates his 95th birthday today. Giant fans from the 1950’s remember Irvin. 1951 was his year to shine. He sparked the Giants' miraculous comeback to overtake the Dodgers in the Pennant race, batting .312 with 24 homers and a NL best 121 runs batted in, en route to the World Series (he went 11–24 for .458). In the third game of the playoff between the Giants and Dodgers, Monte Irvin popped out in the bottom of the ninth inning before Bobby Thomson hit the historic home run. That year Irvin teamed with Hank Thompson and Willie Mays to form the first all-black outfield in the Majors.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6ZHOKRRl84]Monte Irvin - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

In the history of the NL there have been 7 players to lead the League in Stolen Bases four seasons in a row. Vince Coleman, Tim Raines, Lou Brock, Maury Wills, Willie Mays, Max Carey and the first to do it was Bob Bescher, 1909-10-11-12. Bescher was born on this date in 1884. To this date he holds the Reds Post 1900 single season SB record with 81 in 1911. Like the aforementioned Santo and Pinson he died too young…at the age of 58 when a train slammed into the car he was driving.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bob+...irst_name%3DBuck%26last_name%3DHerzog;500;402

Collecting 250 basehits in a season is a rarity. Only 7 players have accomplished this since 1900 and only once since 1930 when Ichiro Suzuki banged out 262 in 2004. Between 1920-1930… the first years of the Live Ball Era six players turned the trick –

George Sisler in 1920 – 257
Lefty O’Doul in 1929 - 254
Bill Terry in 1930 - 254
Al Simmons in 1925 - 253
Rogers Hornsby in 1922 - 250
Chuck Klein in 1930 - 250

Discounting his rookie season when he played in only 54 games Tony Gwynn played 18 Major League seasons and never, never, never, hit below .309. Explains the 8 Batting Titles and .338 Lifetime BA.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tony...n.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FTony_Gwynn;3456;2304

Since WWII there has been only one player hit .325 or better for three separate ML teams. The teams are Toronto, Baltimore and Cleveland and the player is a Hall of Famer…Roberto Alomar.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=robe...om%2Fshowproduct.aspx%3Fpid%3D680160;819;1024

The player who has the lowest Lifetime BA of those who have won multiple Batting Crowns:
AL - Carl Yastrzemski (3) in 1961, 1967, 1968 - .285
NL – Tommy Davis (2) in 1962, 1963 - .294

George Kell is perhaps the best hitter in the American League since WWII that few, outside of Detroit, know about. The 10 time All-Star and Hall of Fame 3B played 15 years in the Majors ( and broadcast another 37 years ) retiring after the 1957 season with a lifetime BA of .306. In 1949 he established the AL record for fewest strikeouts in a season by a Batting Champion. He hit .343 and whiffed only 13 times.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=phFixkF3Sls]George Kell - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

All good things must come to an end they say and maybe the best good thing in Baseball history came to an end on this date in 1935 as Babe Ruth’s days as a Yankee end when he is granted his release giving the aging superstar an opportunity to play for the Boston Braves. The 39-year old outfielder hit 659 home runs and batted .349 during his 15-year tenure with New York.

In 1951 Don Newcombe becomes the first black pitcher to become a 20 Game Winner in the Majors. How is he rewarded…why the U.S. Army comes knocking on this date in 1952 and invites him to join them for a couple of years because of what’s going on in Korea.
Newcombe, at 87, still works for the Dodgers. He battled alcohol but has maintained sobriety since 1967. Despite all the honours earned while playing here’s what he has to say…“What I have done after my baseball career and being able to help people with their lives and getting their lives back on track and they become human beings again — means more to me than all the things I did in baseball.”
Others have noticed and paid attention to what Newcombe has done with his life and once in a while acknowledge it. Here’s something President Obama had to say in 2010…first a comment referring to just Newcombe, “someone who helped America become what it is” and then about Newcombe, Jackie Robinson and therefore Baseball, “I would not be here if it were not for Jackie (Robinson) and it were not for Don Newcombe.”

https://www.google.ca/search?q=don+...est.com%2Fpin%2F572872015071847544%2F;736;534

Tony Lazzeri died before I was born so I never got to see him play the game but if time travel was possible he would be among the first I would like to travel back in time to watch. I would sit quietly in the stands and watch a master work his craft. Many will tell you the Yankee 2B through their glory years in the 1920’s and 1930’s was as important to the team as Ruth or Gehrig. That’s saying an awful lot and if so it’s a shame it took over 50 years after he retired in 1939 for him to make it to the Hall of Fame which he did on this date in 1991 when the Veterans Committee elects him.
Popular with his teammates and respected by his opponents, Lazzeri was a leader, cool under pressure, quick thinking, and considered by many as one of the smartest men in the game. Even Miller Huggins acknowledged him to be the brains of the Yankee infield. Lazzeri took charge when events called for steady nerves.
Lazzeri was an excellent fielder, and for a smaller man compared to the likes of Ruth, Gehrig, and Meusel, he could hit the ball exceptionally far. He also had the knack of hitting with men on base, becoming one of the best "clutch" hitters in baseball.
Lazzeri did not like the limelight, he would shy away from it and sportswriters who said this about him…"Interviewing that guy," one reporter complained, "is like mining coal with a nail file."

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tony...onlon-Collection-TSN%3FPageIndex%3D12;253;350

Scott Service was born on this date in 1967 in Cincinnati. His 12 year ML career was spent entirely as a reliever with a record of 20-22 with 16 Saves in 338 games. Nothing jumps out at you about him but I find his career interesting on a couple of points. First, in the 12 seasons he spent in the majors he played for 9 different teams and in those 12 seasons his hometown Cincinnati Reds acquired him on 7 separate occasions meaning…they must have never been able to decide if they really wanted him or not. How crazy is that.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=scot...6sCardNum%3D%26sNote%3D%26sSetName%3D;253;350

Don Lee was born on this date in 1934. He was one of those pitchers who spent his time both starting and relieving and stayed in the Majors from 1957 to 196. His father, Thornton Lee pitched 16 seasons in the Majors from 1933-1948 and in 1941 led AL pitchers with an ERA of 2.37 and 30, yes 30 Complete Games. There’s a Ted Williams connection with the father and son Lees. On September 2, 1960, Don Lee surrendered a HR to Ted Williams in the first game of a doubleheader between the Senators and Boston Red Sox. 21 years before, in his rookie season, Williams hit a home run off Thornton Lee, then with the Chicago White Sox, on September 17, 1939. With this feat, Williams became the only player in ML history to hit home runs against a father and son.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=don+...r-don-lee-listened-to-dad-former.html;275;385

One of the Boys of Summer, Preacher Roe, was born on this date in 1916. Roy Campanella named Roe as the best pitcher he ever caught. Roe’s best season was Brooklyn’s most heartbreaking. He won his first ten decisions in 1951 and another ten in a row in the second half. He finished 22-3 with a 3.04 ERA, recording career highs in victories, starts, innings, and complete games. His .880 winning percentage is still the National League record for a 20-game winner. The Sporting News named him the National League Pitcher of the Year. But the Dodgers blew a 13-game lead in August and September to finish tied for first place with the New York Giants. Roe did not pitch in the playoff, when Bobby Thomson hit “The Shot” that won the pennant for New York.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=prea...y-campanella-preacher-roe-duke-sniker;751;606

Grover Cleveland “Pete” Alexander was born on this date in 1887. Some will argue he’s as good as any pitcher who pitched in the Majors. His 373 Wins and ERAs of 1.22, 1.55, 1.83, 1.73, 1.72 and 1.91 in successive seasons to close out the Dead Ball Era, 1915-1920 lend credence to that argument. His 1918 season was abbreviated due to WWI.
Alexander was cursed. Except for Ty Cobb among his contemporaries, no other player had to cope with so many personal demons. In 1918 Alexander won two of his three decisions, all complete games, with a 1.73 ERA when the army came calling. A sergeant assigned to the 89th Division and the 342nd Field Artillery, Alex shipped out from New York on June 28 and arrived in England on July 9. His unit went to the front late in July.
Many men survived the war, but they didn't recover from it. One of the many cruel coincidences of the war is that it destroyed the two greatest NL pitchers of the Dead Ball Era, if not of the 20th century, Christy Mathewson and Grover Cleveland Alexander.
Alexander spent seven weeks at the front under relentless bombardment that left him deaf in his left ear. Pulling the lanyard to fire the howitzers caused muscle damage in his right arm. He caught some shrapnel in his outer right ear, an injury thought not serious at the time but which may have been the progenitor of cancer almost thirty years later. He was shell-shocked. Worst of all, the man who used to have a round or two with the guys and call it a day became alcoholic and epileptic, a condition possibly caused by the skulling he'd received in Galesburg. Alex tried to cover up his epilepsy, using alcohol in the mistaken belief that it would alleviate the condition. Living in a world that believed epileptics to be touched by the devil, he knew it was more socially acceptable to be a drunk. Life and Baseball continued but the quality of each was never the same and when his baseball career ended his personal life went into a downspin from which he never recovered.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p0a9_ChpJv8]Pete Alexander Pitching Footage - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1912 the NY Yankees announce they will begin wearing pinstripes on their uniforms. It was essentially done as a fashion statement. The 1912 uniforms featured the pinstripes but for the next two seasons, 1913 & 1914 the pinstripes were dropped for some reason and came back to stay for good in 1915.
As for the Yankee insignia…the interlocking N and Y…that came along in 1909 and specifically to compete with the orange NY symbol used by the rival New York Giants ballclub. The insignia was first created back in 1877 by Louis B. Tiffany of the famous jeweler, Tiffany & Co. The symbol was first struck on a medal that was awarded by the New York City Police Department to the first NYC policeman shot in the line of duty - Officer John McDowell. Thirty-two years later the design was repurposed by the Yankees, then known as the “New York Highlanders”. The insignia was worn on the uniform over the heart as it is today from 1909-1917 and then disappeared for 20 years until making its return in 1936 which means the Babe played his entire Yankee career without the insignia on his uniform.
The Yankee logo did not make its appearance until after WWII. It was created in 1947 by sports artist Henry Alonzo Keller and consists of "Yankees" against a baseball, written in red script with a red bat forming the vertical line of the K, an Uncle Sam hat hanging from the barrel. The logo was only slightly changed over the years, with the current version first appearing in the 1970s.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ny+y...p%3Fapp%3Ddownloads%26showfile%3D6710;250;250

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ny+y...%2F15%2Fyankees-and-nypd-interlock%2F;300;449

https://www.google.ca/search?q=yank...File%3ANewYorkYankees_PrimaryLogo.svg;300;333

One doesn’t often think of women in Baseball’s Hall of Fame…at least I don’t…but on this date in 2006 Effa Manley was among the 17 significant historical figures from the ***** Leagues to be selected by a special committee for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The former Newark Eagles executive, known as the Boss, will become the first woman to be enshrined in Cooperstown.
Since Baseball's earliest days, women have been major contributors to the strength and character of the National Pastime. Women have a long history in Baseball and many women's teams have existed over the years. Baseball was played at women's colleges in New York and New England as early as the mid-nineteenth century… Vassar College, Smith College, Wellesley College, and Mount Holyoke College as examples. An African American women's team, the Philadelphia Dolly Vardens, was formed in 1867.
A number of barnstorming teams also existed and women have played alongside ML players in exhibition games. In the 1930s, 17-year-old Jackie Mitchell of the Chattanooga Lookouts struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in an exhibition game.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=effa...FBookDetail.aspx%3FproductID%3D237157;150;225

Fenway Park in Boston is one of Baseball’s most interesting ballparks with a number unique features. It has one of the weirdest right field configurations in all of baseball and part of that is The Pesky Pole, a.k.a, Pesky’s Pole. Johnny Pesky, one of the Boston Red Sox’ favourite players of all time was born on this date in 1919…not as John Michael Pesky as he lived his life from 1947 until his death in 2010 but as John Michael Paveskovich, his birth name that he changed to Pesky in 1947.
After being named the American Association’s MVP in 1941 Pesky was bound for Boston where he would play for $4,000.00 in 1942. He joined the Red Sox for Spring Training in 1942 three months after Pearl Harbor. War loomed large over all of Baseball, and during Johnny’s rookie year; he spent three evenings a week beginning in May taking classroom instruction for the United States Navy where he was in training to become a Naval aviator, in the same program as teammate Ted Williams. Pesky won the shortstop spot in Spring Training and was assigned uniform # 6. Despite the need to balance Baseball with Naval training, Johnny Pesky finished his rookie season leading the AL in basehits with 205 and with a .331 batting average, second only to Ted Williams’ .356 . He led the League in sacrifice hits. He would have easily won the ROTY Award but that Award was not established until 1947…when Jackie Robinson won it in his inaugural season. The Sporting News named Johnny the shortstop on the 1942 All Star Major League team. Johnny came in third in MVP voting, behind Joe Gordon and Ted Williams. He had Hall of Fame written all over him but the War came calling and he missed the entire 1943, 1944 and 1945 seasons because of it.
He left the Red Sox in 1942 as a 23 year old and returned in 1946 as a 27 year old but didn’t miss a step as his first two seasons back in the AL after missing three full seasons he again led the AL in basehits with 208 in 1946 and 207 in 1947. Hitting at the top of the order he also scored a lot of runs…in 1950 he joined Ted Williams as the only ML’ers to score 100 Runs in their first six seasons.
The Pesky Pole, is the nickname for the right field foul pole at Fenway Park. The pole sits only 302 feet away from home plate. Like the measurement of the left-field line at Fenway Park, this has been disputed. Aerial shots show it to be noticeably shorter than 302 feet. Pesky himself has been quoted as estimating it to be "around 295 feet." Former teammate and Sox broadcaster Mel Parnell named the pole after Pesky in 1948. On September 27, 2006, on Pesky's 87th birthday, the Red Sox officially dedicated the right field foul pole as Pesky's Pole with a commemorative plaque placed at its base.
In the history of the Red Sox the team has retired seven uniform numbers, other than Jackie Robinson’s # 42. The Red Sox have a strict policy as to the requirements for retiring a number and they are, 1) the player must be inducted into Baseball’s HOF, and 2) the player must have played at least 10 years for the Red Sox. Pesky however, qualifies on neither requirement. He played only eight seasons with the Red Sox and in 1960, the only year he was on the Hall of Fame ballot he received 1 of 270 votes cast and fell off the ballot. Thus, Pesky joins Bobby Doerr (1), Joe Cronin (4), Carl Yastrzemski (8), Ted Williams (9), Jim Rice (14) and Carlton Fisk (27) on the right field facade in Fenway Park.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=pesk...2012%2F12%2F02%2Fbaseball-stadiums%2F;800;600

Red Sox: Johnny Pesky, No. 6 | MLB.com

https://www.google.ca/search?q=red+...n.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FFenway_Park;1280;751

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1966…Sandy Koufax’s last season in the Majors that he and Don Drysdale begin their famous holdout for $1.05M. This sum is to be split equally between them and to cover three years…or roughly $167,000.00 per season for each of them. In comparison to today’s salaries it would be ‘tip money’ but in 1966 it would have made them the highest paid players in the game topping the $125,000.00, I believe, the Say Hey Kid was making.
In the mid-1960’s there was not a team I despised more than the Dodgers because they were good and because I was a Yankee first and an AL fan second. The Dodgers did a number on my Yankees in the 1963 World Series and I don’t mean they just beat them, I mean they did a number on them. I wasn’t even a teenager then but I remember that Series as if it was yesterday. It was painful. I thought revenge would be sweet when the Twins defeated Drysdale and Koufax in the first two games of the 1965 World Series but the Dodgers won 4 of the next 5 to take the Series. Therefore, 1966 started with not a good taste in my mouth. The audacity of Koufax and Drysdale holding out. However, I knew it then and I feel exactly the same almost 50 years later…Koufax was and still is a class act the best pitcher I’ve ever seen. As painful an opponent as he was there was always something about Koufax that made you respect him. The only other Dodger I could tolerate was Junior Gilliam…underrated and selfless, the ultimate team player and I’d be surprised if even a Giants fan wouldn’t say exactly the same thing ( if given some truth serum ).
After the Koufax / Drysdale holdout In 1966 and after Koufax had no option except to retire after the 1966 season Sports Illustrated did an article with Buzzie Bavasi , then the Dodger GM, about the holdout. I’ve attached it below and I think it allows me to understand why I respected the guy despite the pain he inflicted upon me.

The outspoken general manager of the Dodgers, currently - 05.15.67 - SI Vault

Crescent City is a town in Florida about midway between Jacksonville to the north and Orlando to the south. It was on this date in 1926 the Spring Training Cleveland Indians were on a train that derailed in Crescent City. None of the players were injured and one, George Uhle slept through it if you can believe it. He had the nickname of ‘The Bull’ and it’s no wonder.
Three times Uhle led the American League in Games Started, twice in Complete Games including a 20-inning Shutout in 1919, and twice in Innings Pitched… and that’s what earned him the nickname ‘The Bull’. He led the League in Wins twice, in 1923 and 1926. Uhle was an innovator with the slider and named it when describing the motion of the pitch. Among strictly pitchers he was the best hitter the Majors has ever seen. He holds the record for most Base Hits made in a season by a pitcher, 52 in 1923. He batted .361 that year and had a lifetime average of .288 in 723 games. His goal was to win 200 games, but he lacked two victories when the Tigers cut him loose at the end of 1933. Despite an aching arm, the Yankees signed him and he managed two more victories to finish his career at 200-166.
Babe Ruth is on record as saying Uhle was the toughest pitcher he faced. Here’s a story that would lead one to believe Ruth’s comment. Tris Speaker in the 1920’s was the player-manager of the Indians. CF was his position and you would think the notion of walking a batter to pitch to Babe Ruth, in his prime, in the 9th inning with the game on the line sounds crazy but it happened. Here’s how Speaker describes it…
“We were in the ninth inning one day, leading the Yankees by one run, but they had the tying run on second base. Mark Koenig was the batter and George Uhle the pitcher. Ruth was on deck. Out in center field, I didn’t think anything was unusual when Uhle’s first pitch was a low curve for a ball. But when the second was two feet outside, I figured it was time to have a talk with George.”
“ ‘Are you nuts?’ I asked him. ‘Make this fellow hit the ball. Don’t you know the gentleman who will be up next if you walk Koenig? Uhle said, ‘Tris, I’d rather pitch to Ruth than to Koenig anytime. I thought I would try to get Mark out on a bad pitch, but if I walk him, I’ll still be all right. I can take care of the big fellow.’ ”
“ ‘Okay,’ I told him, ‘but if that’s the way you feel about it, let’s tell Ruth.’ I walked toward the plate and motioned O’Neill out of the catcher’s box. ‘We’re putting him on, Steve,’ I said. ‘George would rather pitch to Ruth.’ The big fellow’s neck turned purple and he really was cutting when he stepped to the plate. George gave him two curves on the inside and he fouled them over the stands in right. Then he worked the count to 3 and 2. George broke off a beautiful curve. The Babe started to lunge at it, then tried to hold his swing. But it didn’t make any difference.The umpire yelled strike three.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=geor...storical-Archival-Photographs%2Fpage7;831;486

Nolan Arenado, the Rockies 3B rookie sensation has something in common with former Red Sox 3B rookie sensation Frank Malzone. It's not their heritage...Arenado is of Cuban descent from Newport Beach while Malzone is of Italian descent from the Bronx. It's their fielding ability. Malzone was the first 3B to win a Gold Glove as a rookie when he did so in 1957...he also won again in 1958 and 1959 and thereafter somebody by the name of Brooks Robinson came along and made it his personal possession for 16 straight years. In 2013 Arenado became the first rookie 3B in the NL to win a Gold Glove making him and Malzone the only rookie 3B to win a Gold Glove.
Malzone was born on this date in 1930. In his 11 seasons with the Red Sox Malzone was an All-Star 6 times. Other than playing in 82 games for the Angels in the 1966 season when his playing career with the Red Sox ended he has been an employee of the Red Sox for 67 years (since 1947) and still is today as he celebrates his 84th birthday. After 35 years as a Boston scout, Malzone now serves as a player development consultant for the Red Sox.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fran...s.com%2Ftag%2Fcavalcade-of-sports%2F;1649;800

Lyle Spencer: Colorado Rockies' Nolan Arenado highlights baseball's talented young infielders | Rockies.com: News

Terry Turner would not be a household name to most Baseball fans but I suspect a few in Cleveland know the name. He was born on this date in 1881 and played in the Majors for 17 seasons, 15 of them in Cleveland. His career and the Dead Ball Era ended the same year, 1919. He is the all-time leader in Games Played in an Indians uniform with 1,619. Known for his fielding prowess and head-first slides, Terry "Cotton Top" Turner was, in the words of sportswriter Gordon Cobbledick, "a little rabbit of a man with the guts of a commando." Because normal slides hurt his ankles, he pioneered the use of the head-first slide. For over 77 years, Turner held the Indians' team record for the most career stolen bases with 254. His record was broken by Kenny Lofton in 1996.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=terr...2F%2Fwww.leaguepark.org%2FTurner.html;500;633

Ah, to be a baseball fan in New York in the 1950’s…at least up until 1958. Three CF’ers by the names of Willie, Mickey and the Duke…pick your favourite. Duke Snider died on this date in 2011.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWKA9Zi5-_Y]Willie, Mickey, and the Duke (Talkin' Baseball) - YouTube[/ame]

 

[67RedSox]

His name has come up before, first by Silas I believe. Dickey Pearce was born on this date in 1836. Depending on how you look at it Pearce was either born 44 ½ years ago or 178 years ago today. He was one of those rare Leap Year babies born on February 29th so technically only has a birthday once every four years.
If you pull up Dickey Pearce’s statistics at the reference sites you’d be completely unimpressed. His numbers in the National Association and the National League are unremarkable. This is only part of the story; he was 35 years old when the National Association started and 40 when the National League began. Pearce’s reputation and contributions were made long before. He was one of the most famous and respected of all the early ballplayers. He and James Creighton were two of the game’s most recognizable stars and if not the first among the first to be paid for their baseball skills.
Pearce played for and captained perhaps the top team of the amateur era and the game’s first dynasty, the Atlantics of Brooklyn – champion of the National Association of Base Ball Players in 1859-1861, 1864-1866 and 1869. Upon joining the Atlantics, Pearce, short and squat (5-feet-3½, 161 pounds), was assigned to the short field position, a roving spot beyond the infield but not deep enough to be an outfielder. At the time the three infielders hugged their bags. Pearce quickly decided he was more valuable moving into the infield to the open spot to the left of second base; hence, he redefined the infield, in the process created the now-familiar shortstop position. With the bat, Pearce also redefined strategic hitting. He introduced the bunt.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=dick...p%2F5-iconoclasts-and-their-moment%2F;570;411

I have never been to Pittsburgh. It’s close to the top of my list of Baseball cities to visit some day and that’s because of PNC Park which many will tell you is the nicest ballpark in the Majors…and they built the place for a measly $216M. Whoever was responsible is a genius.
The area around Pittsburgh was inhabited by the Shawnee when the British and French began fighting over the territory. The area was first settled with trading posts around 1717 and was the city was founded 40 years later, in 1758 when the French surrendered the area to British General John Forbes. Forbes began construction on Fort Pitt, named after the soon-to-be Prime Minister William Pitt and named the settlement Pittsburgh.
So, 150 years later, on this date in 1909 the Pirates begin construction of a new stadium near the Oakland section of Pittsburgh. The state-of-the-art stadium is named Forbes Field in honor of this Scottish born British Army General.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yBowAe3aIH0]Forbes Field: A Brief History - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=gene...teeleblog.wordpress.com%2Fpage%2F8%2F;500;656

On this date in 1961, a mere few weeks after leaving Office, former President Eisenhower finds himself at the Angels Spring Training site in Palm Springs joking with the Angel players. He will sit in the dugout with the newly established expansion team during its five-inning scrimmage. My guess is he had more fun in the Angels dugout than he did in the Oval Office. A couple of pictures follow, the first is one of Bill Rigney leading his players from that 1961 Angel squad through a workout and the second is a great picture of the Cubs training on Santa Catalina Island sometime between 1921-1951 when they trained there. William Wrigley’s two passions were the Cubs and Catalina, and he owned them both.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1961...ning-major-league-baseballs-preseason;500;359

http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/F1999.jpg

It was on this date in 1910 the National Commission prohibits giving mementos to players on winning World Series teams. This will later be reversed‚ making way for the traditional winners' watches‚ rings‚ and stickpins. Following are shots of every World Series ring from the first one issued in 1922 except for the Red Sox from last year. Clicking on any of them will provide greater detail.

WorldSeriesRings.net

On this date in 1898 the National League passes a resolution to "suppress obscene‚ indecent‚ and vulgar language on the ball field by players." I’m sure to this day there has never been any coarse language used on a National League field…it only those vulgar players in the American league who have to resort to such language.


On this date in 1888 it was a Thursday. I know this because the NL’s Washington Senators head for the South for a tour in advance of the regular season. They were scheduled to leave the following day, March 2nd but couldn’t because in those days it was considered superstitious to leave on a trip on a Friday so they bumped it up a day.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1888...n_Nationals_(1886%25E2%2580%259389);1464;1030

On this date in 1964, 50 years ago, there were 20 MLB clubs in existence and Spring Training saw 14 clubs in Florida, 5 in Arizona and 1 in California. NL Offensive leaders for the upcoming season like Clemente (BA, Hits-Tied), Santo (OB%), Mays (HRs, Slugging %), Richie “Call me Dick” Allen (Runs), Flood (Hits-Tied), Boyer (RBIs – MVP), Wills (SB) and NL Pitching leaders like Jackson (Wins), Koufax (ERA, Shutouts), Woodeshick (Saves), Drysdale (IP) and Veale (K’s) were gearing up. The Beatles had the # 1 songs on the charts for the entire ST period, in fact for 14 consecutive weeks first with I Want To Hold Your Hand then with She Loves You and finally with Can’t Buy Me Love. Tops at the Movies were Kissin’ Cousins with Elvis and The Pink Panther.

 

[67RedSox]

Master Spy, Moe Berg was born on this date in 1902. He wore the tools of ignorance in the Majors for 15 seasons from 1923 to 1939 (only in one season did he play more than 100 games) but was anything but dumb as he graduated from both Princeton and Columbia Law School and he mastered 12 different languages. Here’s the kettle calling the pot black…Casey Stengel, an eccentric man himself, called Moe Berg "the strangest man ever to play baseball."
One of Berg's many eccentricities involved the newspaper. He would not let anyone touch his newspapers until he had read them. If anyone did touch them, Berg considered them dead and would go out and buy the papers again. Even in a snowstorm Berg would go out to buy papers if someone had touched them before he did.
Berg was recruited into the Office of Strategic Services (OSS), later to become the CIA and carried out several missions. On one mission, during WWII, Berg posed as a German businessman in Switzerland. His job order from the OSS was to carry a shoulder-holstered pistol and assassinate Werner Heisenberg, the top scientist suspected of working on an atomic bomb (if indeed the Germans were moving ahead on the A-Bomb). Heisenberg divulged nothing. Berg, who was to shoot him on the spot and then take cyanide to avoid capture, concluded that the Germans were nowhere close to an atomic bomb. Heisenberg and Berg were to live another day.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4RI5GrUhdY]Moe Berg Podcast Trailer - YouTube[/ame]

Hall of Famer, Mel Ott, was born on this date in 1909. I written about Ott from time to time so I won’t repeat his contributions again but I will say that Ott who hit 511 HRs, drove in 1860 runs in his career and averaged more than 100 RBIs in every one of his 18 full seasons in the Majors and retired with a lifetime BA above .300, a lifetime On Base % above .400 and a lifetime Slugging % above .500 did have to wait until his 4th year of HOF voting to get in.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yoi-OuqGvkg]Mel Ott - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

The origins of Spring Training are lost in the shadows but we know this: Spring training is almost as old as baseball itself. On an 1886 barnstorming tour of the South the Chicago White Sox were said to stopped off at Hot Springs, Ark., to basically sober up before the start of the season. The best evidence points to ST first taking place in 1870, when the Cincinnati Red Stockings and the Chicago White Stockings held organized baseball camps in New Orleans. Other baseball historians argue that the Washington Capitals of the NL pioneered spring training in 1888, holding a four-day camp in Jacksonville. In a well-documented argument for ST, Gus Schmelz, when managing the Cincinnati Red Stockings of the original American Association in 1888, petitioned team owner Aaron Stern to allow the team to train down South. It was a unique proposition: the players and the team would split the costs of training, and the two would also share in any profits. Though it was pitched more as a barnstorming tour than as an intense training session, Stern gave approval to the plan on the basis of it being a cheap way to figure out what veterans were expendable and what youngsters were worth keeping.
Still, most teams did not view Spring Training as being an activity that warranted out-of-town travel until barnstorming became an integral part of the equation. Most teams trained locally (indoors when the elements did now allow outdoor training), as it was cheaper for owners. When teams did train on the road, they combined workouts with exhibition games; many of these tours ran through Arkansas, Mississippi and Georgia, where the sight of pro baseball players was still a novelty.
Spring Training was not the big business back then as it is today where you can pay as much as $34-$44 for a box seat. These were truly training camps designed to get players into playing shape. Typically most baseball players could not live year-round on their baseball salaries and took on other jobs that might or might not keep them in shape.
The Detroit Tigers are credited with being the first team to conduct a Spring Training camp in Arizona when they trained in Phoenix in 1929. While Florida and Arizona now host all MLB teams for ST, this has not always been the case. Venues have included Arkansas, Tulsa, New Orleans, Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs, Riverside / San Bernardino, Las Vegas and Catalina Island. The Brooklyn Dodgers trained in Havana, Cuba in 1947 and 1949, and in the Dominican Republic in 1948. The New York Yankees also trained in the early 1950s in Cuba and the Dominican Republic. Spring Training camps and games were also held in Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and various cities of northern Mexico. During WWII teams, because of travel restrictions, trained closer to home.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=spri...Fbrooklyn-dodgers-stadium-la-tropical;500;456

https://www.google.ca/search?q=vint...om%2F2012%2F02%2Fspring-training.html;600;454

https://www.google.ca/search?q=spri...line.com%2Fteams%2Fchicago-cubs-3.htm;580;347

Perhaps this next blurb is mere rambling on my part but every once in a while something Baseball related surprises me and that has happened again. I was reading a list of the Top 25 “Baseball” books that you should have with you if you were to get stranded on a desert island. Number 1 on that list was a book entitled, A Day in the Bleachers by Arnold Hano. I had never of the book nor the author and at first thought, well, this is just one person’s list… so any obscure book could be on it but because it was #1 on the list I looked into it further. Not only did the writer of the article have it on his list but a lot of people had it as a must read.
It is about the first game of the 1954 World Series between the New York Giants and the Cleveland Indians, in which Willie Mays made his legendary over-the-shoulder catch deep in center field, known ever after as “The Catch”. The entire book is a first-person account of that game at the Polo Grounds. Hano sat in the bleachers in deep left center field, giving him a perfect view of a guy in center named Willie Mays making the most famous catch in postseason history. Hano's description of this play literally lasts pages, and his game account is interspersed with amusing conversations with the fans and vendors around him. Arnold Hano who was a thirty-two year-old author and editor in September 1954, when he decided, on the night before the opening game, to try to get into the bleachers…his wife laughed at his chances of getting a ticket. Turns out he did get a ticket and his book is some of what inspired noted Baseball writer, Roger Angell. This book has been and continues to be a popular read among baseball fans. One guy who reviewed it highly says he has read the book every decade since his first read in 1959.
Now I know there’s been thousands and thousands of Baseball books written since the 1950’s. Only the most ardent of fans might be aware of 1% of them. Most of us know the bestsellers and countless others but to have never heard of what seems to be one of the best of our time blows my little mind. However, I would like to say I have heard of Mays’ catch in that game once or twice.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=a+da...morial-and-the-hilda-chester-award%2F;189;279

 

[67RedSox]

March 3 is a bit of a quiet day in the history of the Grand Old Game but it’s worth mentioning a couple of Hall of Famers were born on this date. Monte Ward was born on this date in 1860…yes the very Monte Ward who pitched the 2nd Perfect Game in ML history, won 86 games in back to back seasons in the NL and twice won NL Stolen Base Crowns, first with the NY Giants and then with Brooklyn. He could pretty much do it all and when he was finished with Baseball he took up golf and became just as good at that.
Wee Willie Keeler who inspired the saying, “hit ‘em where they ain’t”, was born on this date in 1872. Eight straight times he collected more than 200 hits, and his .424 average in 1897 is the highest single-season mark by a left-handed hitter in Baseball history. Keeler compiled a .341 career batting average and racked up 2,932 hits – 85 percent of them singles – in 2,123 games.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=mont...owstuffworks.com%2Fmonte-ward-hof.htm;200;336

https://www.google.ca/search?q=wee+...%2Fhall-of-fame-willie-keeler-1939%2F;297;350

It was on this date in 1961 Frank Robinson is indicted in Cincinnati for carrying a concealed weapon. He was arrested on February 8 when he was discovered to be carrying a .25 caliber pistol. The discovery occurred after an incident in a restaurant where Robinson was eating with two friends. He was fined $250 for it. Being a bad boy worked wonders for Robinson and the Reds that year. He was the NL’s MVP and the Reds win the NL Pennant.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fran...iew%2F82290%2F25820777%2F%3Fpg%3Dlast;438;450

On this date in 1916, Jack Dunn, the owner of the International League Orioles‚ buys the ballpark built by the Baltimore Terrapins of the Federal League for $30,000.00. On the face of it this doesn’t seem like it’s worth much mentioning here but there’s two or three stories that one can spin off it…so I will.
Jack Dunn was a pitcher and infielder who played 7 seasons in the Majors and won 23 games for the pennant-winning Dodgers in 1899. He was one of the few pitchers of his era who did not wear a fielder’s glove. Dunn was also a skilled position player, playing equally well in the infield and outfield. Jack, who stood just 5’9” and weighed around 170 pounds, was known as a fierce competitor and an extremely smart ball player. After his ML career he took to managing and managed Providence (Eastern League) to a pennant in 1905, then had his greatest success in Baltimore (Eastern League/International League) starting in 1907 where, as owner-manager, he built the most successful Minor League franchise in history. After winning a pennant in 1908 he bought the team from his former manager Ned Hanlon. Known for his ability to size up young players, he never forgot a player or a play. He found and developed players like Lefty Grove, Babe Ruth, Joe Boley, Jack Bentley and Ernie Shore.
As an owner, Dunn was popular with his players, paying them fairly and treating them well. During the 1920’s, Dunn’s annual Oriole payroll, which was the highest in the International League, was estimated to be around $50,000. When his team played on the road he put them up in the best hotels. Dunn’s success can be attributed to a variety of factors including his ability to use a network of scouts in cities all over the country. This group of ivory hunters was made up of his former and current players, umpires, baseball executives and loyal fans. Over the years, they supplied Dunn with a multitude of potential players.
On February 14, 1914, George Herman Ruth signed with Jack Dunn’s International League Orioles. In order for Ruth to be released from St Mary’s, Dunn had to become his legal guardian. The former incorrigible youth from the hard-scrabble streets of Baltimore was now a Baltimore Oriole under the care and guidance of his new mentor Jack Dunn. The Orioles held their spring training in Fayetteville, North Carolina, that year. It didn’t take long for Ruth to make his mark with the team. Dunn’s latest prospect pitched good ball against major league competition in addition to playing solid defense as the team’s left-handed shortstop. The future Sultan of Swat also showed his proclivity for power hitting by belting the longest home run ever recorded in the city of Fayetteville. It was during those Oriole practice sessions in North Carolina that Ruth was christened with the everlasting moniker of Dunn’s baby, later shortened to Babe. A friend of Dunn’s named Scout Steinmann, who was managing one of the Orioles’ intra-squad teams, gave the nickname to the future idol of the baseball world.
On the field the Orioles once posted a 27-game winning streak. In 1914 he fielded the greatest team in the Minors. They were 15 games in front when competition from the crosstown Federal League team (the Federal League was a 3rd Major League formed in 1914 to compete with the NL and AL) forced him to sell off his 12 top stars to the Majors and temporarily move to Richmond. The young left-handed pitcher Babe Ruth, 22-9 that season under Dunn, was offered for sale to Major League teams. Ruth's contract was purchased by the Boston Red Sox, after being turned down by Connie Mack and the Philadelphia Athletics. Ruth and other stars were sold for $50-$100,000.00. The Minor League Orioles would return to Baltimore after the demise of the Terrapins and Federal League…thus, as this Post started Dunn buys the Terrapins ballpark.
Starting in 1919, they won seven International League pennants in a row. During that time he sold pitcher Lefty Grove to the Philadelphia A’s for the tidy sum of $100,600. This was the highest price ever paid for a player up to that point in baseball history, exceeding the Boston Red Sox’ sale of Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees by six hundred dollars. Dunn’s fellow International League owners voted at this time to reinstate the Major League draft although the stubborn Dunn continued to sell his players to the highest bidder. Baltimore’s championship run finally ended with a second-place finish in 1926. In October of that year, the Baltimore Sun reported that Dunn had sold 29 players to major league teams and received a total of $404,100 in cash from these transactions.
The loss of his key players eventually began to take its toll, and Dunn’s Birds dropped dramatically in the standings in 1927 and 1928. Nonetheless, he still cashed in by selling pitcher George Earnshaw to the Philadelphia A’s and batting champion Dick Porter to the Cleveland Indians for a combined $80,000.
In the fall of 1928, Boston Braves owner Emil Fuchs asked Dunn to manage his team, but Dunn turned down the offer, saying he was happy in Baltimore and determined to rebuild his Oriole franchise. On October 22, 1928, the avid hunter and sportsman was competing in field trials with his prized hunting dogs just a few miles north of Towson, Maryland. Dunn was on horseback, leaning forward, watching his dogs chase down a bird, when he toppled from the saddle, a victim of a fatal heart attack at the age of 56. Members of the crowd immediately sought help while one of the judges, Reverend E.C. Callahan, administered the last rites of the Catholic Church to the fatally stricken Dunn. A short time later, Dr. Daniel from the nearby Thomas Jennifer School arrived at the field. Sadly, there was nothing the physician could do for the Orioles’ esteemed leader, who was pronounced dead on the scene.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jack...l8tion.net%2Ftag%2Fglass-negatives%2F;505;630

 

[67RedSox]

Obtuse: adjective, origin: 1500-1510, from late Middle English: from Latin obtundere, from ob- 'against' + tundere 'to beat'. Definition - annoyingly insensitive or slow to understand.

Acute: adjective, origin: 14th Century, Middle English, from Latin acutus, past participle of acuere to sharpen. Definition - having or showing a perceptive understanding or insight: shrewd.

Lefty O’Doul was born on this date in 1897. Few, I will say very few, have matched his contributions to the game of Baseball. From the days of his youth until he turned 60 in 1957 his life was Baseball at all levels. Why he’s not a member of the Hall of Fame simply defies explanation. Clearly, Cooperstown has been obtuse in the matter of his selection. On the other hand, both the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame and the Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame have been acute in the matter of his selection.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dHTHDKJRPqA]Why Kids Need Baseball - Our Mission at the Lefty O'Doul's Foundation For Kids - YouTube[/ame]

Red Murray was born on this date in 1884. He played in the NL for 11 seasons and was for years noted as one of the greatest outfielders in the NL. A Baseball writer of the time, JC Kofoed had this to say about him… “His throwing arm was the best ever, his ground covering ability and sureness of eye were classic. Furthermore, he was remarkably fast as a base runner, and noted as a batter as well." In his seven seasons as a regular, Murray led NL outfielders in HRs, RBIs, stolen bases, and assists a total of 16 times. Despite his impressive statistics in power hitting, baserunning, and fielding, he remains one of the least-recognized stars of the Dead Ball Era.
Murray's combination of power and speed places him in some heady company. Since 1900 only 13 players have finished in the top five in the ML in HRs and stolen bases during the same season. Willie Mays (1955) and Hank Aaron (1963) are the only players to accomplish this feat in the past 70 years. Only three men did it twice: Honus Wagner (1907-08); Red Murray (1908-09); and Ty Cobb (1909-10).
On August 16, 1909, he made what has been described as the greatest catch in the history of Forbes Field. Heavy thunderclouds threatened throughout the game, and at the moment of his leaping, fingertip catch, blinding lightning lit up the sky and "the accompanying crash of thunder fairly jarred the earth." Manager John McGraw of the Giants called it the "greatest and most dramatic" catch he ever saw, and it was later featured in Ripley's Believe it or Not. Lightning struck twice, as it were. On July 17, 1914, Murray was knocked unconscious by a bolt of lightning after catching a fly ball for the final out in a 21-inning contest.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=red+...Fen.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FRed_Murray;200;283

Charles Ebbets was born in New York City in 1859. He was a draftsman and an architect. He was also first a City and State politician but mostly he’s remembered as the owner of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Whereas the Dodgers are now located ( some say except for their heart ) 2,444 miles to the west in Los Angeles Ebbets remains in Brooklyn about six feet beneath the surface not too far away from where the Dodgers last played in Ebbets Field or Washington Park where they played previously.
Ebbets’ association with the Dodgers began in 1983 when he joined them as a bookkeeper. He became a shareholder in 1890 and took over team operations in 1898. He also managed the Dodgers for much of that year and the team finished tenth. In 1905 he took control of the Dodgers. At that time the Dodgers were playing at Washington Park, the second of three versions that served as Major League parks. It was a wooden structure that sat 18,800 and opened in 1898. It consisted of a covered grandstand behind the infield and uncovered stands down the right field line.
Ebbets wanted more than Washington Park offered and he started looking for a new site to build a ballpark. After locating the prospective new site to the stadium to replace the wooden Washington Park he started to acquire the property over several years, starting in 1908, by buying parcels of land until he owned the entire block. This land included the site of a garbage dump called Pigtown, because of the pigs that once ate their fill there and the stench that filled the air. It was on this date in 1912 that Ebbets turns the first shovel of ground over to commence. It would be completed in time for the start of the 1913 season and play host to the Dodgers until the end of the 1957 season and be demolished in 1960 after the move West.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJMCa-8Teb4]The Lost Ball Parks: Ebbets Field - YouTube[/ame]

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ebbe...baseball.com%2Fpast%2FEbbetsField.htm;490;363

https://www.google.ca/search?q=ebbe...ield-brooklyn-dodgers-jackie-robinson;800;588

It was on this date in 1913 the NY Yankees, technically theHighlanders but soon to be named the Yankees, became the first MLB team to train outside of the U.S.. The poor souls had to take their Spring show to the shores of Bermuda... (say that fast three times). The Yankees were founded in 1901 as the Baltimore Orioles, one of the 8 Charter franchises in the AL but moved to New York in 1903 and became known as the Highlanders. This name arose because of the fact that they played their home games at Hilltop Park which was located not too far from where Yankee Stadium is today but even closer to the Polo Grounds where the Giants played. The true name of the ballpark was the New York American League Park which opened April 30, 1903. However, people called it Hilltop because the field was built on one of the highest elevations in the city. Thus…came the nickname Highlanders…oh, so original.
However, back to Bermuda. Ralph Graber did a good piece on the Yankees Spring in Bermuda in 1913 delving into why they went, how they fared and the apparent reason for they not returning. The Yankees enjoyed only modest success in their first several seasons. They had not won a Pennant and wouldn’t do so until 1921…perhaps the addition of Babe Ruth had something to do with that. The 1912 version of the team went 50-102 good enough for a last-place finish a mere 55 games behind Boston. So Frank Chance, who had led the Cubs to four Pennants and two World Championships, was brought from the NL to turn the club into a contender.
In an effort to improve the spring conditioning, business manager Arthur Irwin persuaded owner Frank Farrell to have the squad train in semi-tropical Bermuda, where the Jersey City Skeeters had conditioned in 1912. To provide exhibition competition, the Skeeters would go to the coral island again in 1913. Irwin felt that a combination of the climate, the isolation from the night spots of the mainland, keeping the players together in one place, Chance's disapproval of drinking, and food specially prepared by a jewel of a chef would make for a successful experiment. Irwin had visited Bermuda, which was becoming a winter playground, and had come back bristling with enthusiasm. On his next trip he leased the little Hotel Brunswick in Hamilton, the capital city, and had a diamond laid out on the cricket grounds.
The experiment seemed to work well. The players ignored the hotel's bar, worked diligently and spent their free time fishing, playing cards and buying summer clothes in the shops. The reporters found the hard training infectious and spent time warming up young pitchers and playing lawn tennis rather than making their headquarters in the bar. In intra-squad games and exhibitions with the Skeeters, the experiment and Chance's astute managing seemed to be paying off. By the end of March the venture appeared to be an unqualified success. But the proof of the pudding was in the season ahead. The club lost 94 games and finished seventh. The Yankees would not return to Bermuda in 1914 nor would Chance survive the season getting his pink slip 20 games before the end of the 1914 season.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=berm...FLotDetail.aspx%3Finventoryid%3D25147;575;396

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1922 Babe Ruth signs a 3 year deal with the Yankees at a salary “worthy of a railroad President”.

Babe Ruth Signs for Three Years At the Toss of a Coin « Hot Springs Arkansas Historic Baseball Trail

Jeff Tesreau was born on this date in 1888. He pitched only 7 seasons in the Majors 1912-1918 all for John McGraw’s NY Giants and during that period he was about as good as any ML pitcher going 119-72 with an ERA of 2.43. An argument with McGraw during Spring Training in 1918 led to his early departure from the game while still in his 20’s.
In his rookie season, 1912, the American and National Leagues recognized ERA Champs for the first time and Tesreau took the NL Crown with a mark of 1.96 while Walter Johnson took home the hardware in the AL. One of the reasons his ERA was so low was because he was one of the toughest pitcher to get a hit off leading the NL in that category his first three seasons in the League.
At 6'2" and 225 lbs., Tesreau was big and strong, just the way John McGraw liked his pitchers. With a steady personality and solid work ethic, Tesreau quickly leaped to stardom after developing a devastating spitball, which he threw with the speed of a top fastball.
Prior to Spring Training in 1918 McGraw had asked Tesreau to take the pitchers, catchers, and some out-of-condition players down South for some early work. When the Manager arrived later, he asked Jeff to report on the players' evening activities. The big pitcher refused, claiming that a man's behavior away from the ballpark was his own business. That touched off a feud between the stubborn manager and his equally stubborn pitcher. Two months into the season Tesreau suddenly left the team. He never pitched another game in Organized Baseball. Tesreau refused to play for the Giants, and McGraw refused to trade or release him. Tesreau took a position as Baseball coach for Dartmouth College, a position he held until his death on September 24, 1946. He became a beloved figure as well as a successful coach on the Ivy League campus winning 348 games frequently going up against his nemesis from the 1912 World Series, Smokey Joe Wood, who was coaching at Yale. He was only 57 when he died in Hanover, New Hampshire, five days after suffering a stroke during a fishing trip.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jeff...o-2-New-York-NY-Posters_i4117815_.htm;473;355

Obviously with a record of 0-0 every pitcher begins his MLB career with an even number of Wins and Losses. There have been 5 pitchers who have played 25 seasons in the Big Leagues and 4 of those 5 had winning records for their career, namely… Nolan Ryan 324-292, Tommy John 288-231, Jim Kaat 283-237 and Jamie Moyer 269-209. With a record of 216-216 this pitcher spent 25 years pitching in the Majors to finish at exactly the same spot he started at…an even number of Wins and Losses. Do you know who this pitcher is. Here’s some clues and his identity is at the end of this Post:
- He was born in Honolulu in 1948
- He made his Major League debut against the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1970
- He pitched in 3 World Series, all in the 1970s with one team who lost all three World Series
- He was the starting pitcher for the first game in the Florida Marlins history
- In 1992 he played with Carlton Fisk…both 44 year olds
- His 800+ games in the Majors were split almost evenly as a starter and reliever
- He served as the pitching coach for the Dodgers in the 1990s and the Mets after that

In 2008 the Washington Nationals began play in their brand-new Nationals Park, and the next year unveiled three statues in their center field plaza, depicting Walter Johnson (who pitched for the first 20th- century version of the Washington Senators), Josh Gibson (who starred in the ***** Leagues for the Homestead Grays, who played in Griffith Stadium), and Frank Howard (representing the expansion Senators). Although he hit only 123 of his career 382 HRs in a Dodger uniform I think of Frank Howard as much in a Dodger uniform as I do in a Senators uniform. He was the most intimidating batter I ever saw standing at the plate with what looked like a toothpick in his hands. It was on this date in 1958 the Dodgers sign the basketball star out of Ohio State to be a baseball player and they called it right.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fran...2F42-frank-howard-50-greatest-dodgers;800;450

Hall of Famer, Sam Thompson, was born on this date in 1860. Like a lot of pre-1900 players he’s been pretty much lost in the Baseball’s shadows but if you ever needed a player who could drive in runs he was the guy. He was considered the Game’s greatest slugger of the 19th Century.
In 1887 the Detroit Wolverines and Thompson had one of their best seasons. Sam set a record of 203 hits, thus becoming the first man in ML history to garner more than 200 hits in a season. Sam also drove in 166 runs, a record that stood for 34 years until Babe Ruth delivered 171 RBIs in 1921. In 1889 he became the first ML player to reach 20 home runs and 20 stolen bases in the same season. He was the only 19th-Century player to drive in 150 or more runs, and he did it twice. His .923 RBIs/game is still a ML record, and he has the still-standing record of 61 RBIs in one month, which he accomplished for the Philadelphia Phillies in August 1895.
Finally, during his days in Philadelphia, Thompson played in the only ML outfield of future Hall of Famers who had all three fielders batting over .400 in one season. In 1894 Sam batted .407, Ed Delahanty hit .400, and Billy Hamilton hit .404.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=sam+...Fthe-forty-greatest-philadelphia.html;322;451

(Charlie Hough is the fifth 25 year pitcher )

https://www.google.ca/search?q=char...charlie-hough-does-what-he-pleases%2F;350;233

 

[Silas]

I certainly remember Mr. Charlie Hough. I can't say I ever felt confident when he pitched, but he will certainly be remembered in Dodgers lore.

Knuckleball pitchers tend to make me nervous and knuckleball pitchers seem to be a dying breed. If I remember correctly, Burt Hooten used to throw a knuckle curve. That was a tough pitch to hit. I don't recall another pitcher with that pitch in his arsenal.

Any way, thanks for another great post in a fabulous continuing Series.

 

[67RedSox]

On this date in 1825 Beethoven's Opus 127: String Quartet No. 12 in E flat major was performed for the first time, however, my guess is you’d be more interested to know two Hall of Famers, one who intimidated pitchers and one who intimidated batters, were born on this day… Willie Stargell was born on this date in 1940 and few players in the game enjoyed as much respect from their teammates as Stargell did. His post-baseball retirement years were filled with health problems which resulted in his premature passing at the age of 61. Lefty Grove, who many will argue is the best pitcher in the history of the game was born on this date in 1900.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyFoS0MgDlo]Beethoven String Quartet No. 12 in E flat, Op. 127, (II. Adagio) Part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaDrciZppT0]Willie Stargell - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6xFYPD9ka-M]Red Sox Lefty Grove: 9 ERA Titles - YouTube[/ame]

August 8, 1903 started as a leisurely Saturday in Philadelphia. It would end being forever known as “Black Saturday” in Philadelphia. Over 10,000 people flocked to National League Park to watch the hometown Phillies take on the Boston Beaneaters in an afternoon doubleheader. By the end of the day, however, several people would lay dead with hundreds more seriously injured after a catastrophic ballpark accident replaced the summer sounds of a ballgame with screams of pain and horror. (See the full Bob Warrington article further below)
It was on this date in 1907, almost four years after the tragedy, A.J. Reach and John Rogers, the former owners of the Philadelphia Phillies but still the owners of National league Park are acquitted of damages resulting from the 1903 disaster.
19th Century baseball parks were cramped, single-decked structures built entirely of wood. Typically, the grandstand encircled the area behind home plate and extended a few feet past first and third bases on either side. The grandstand had a roof that was supported by wooden pillars spaced evenly throughout the structure. Single-decked bleachers without a roof extended in foul territory down the first and third base lines into the outfield. The expense of acquiring the land for a ballpark and excavating it often exceeded the ballpark's construction cost.
Such was the case with Philadelphia’s first ballpark, Recreation Park, which was hastily constructed in 1883 after Philadelphia had been awarded a National League franchise, Recreation Park was a single-decked structure built entirely of wood and held just 6,500 people.
Phillies' owner Alfred J. Reach quickly became aware of the inadequacies of Recreation Park, and his dissatisfaction rested primarily on two factors. First, wood was susceptible to fire and decay. Second, the seating capacities of single-decked wooden ballparks could not keep pace with the growth in urban populations and the increasing popularity of baseball as a spectator sport. As Reach became frustrated watching his patrons get turned away from Recreation Park because they could not be seated, he would seek to build a larger and more grandiose facility for the club which he did in 1887. It was christened Philadelphia Base Ball Park and its seating capacity was 12,500. Although revolutionary in its construction because of the use of brick jn the walls and massive pavilion at the entrance there was still a considerable use of wood and that drawback became apparent on August 6, 1894 as the Phillies were preparing for an afternoon game against the Baltimore Orioles when, at 10:40 A.M., one of the players noticed a fire in the grandstands. The fire quickly spread and largely consumed the ballpark. Its cause was never determined, although various theories for the fire included sparks from a passing locomotive and a torch that a plumber was using to make repairs. Although there were no fatalities and only minor injuries, the fire caused $250,000 in damage and destroyed the ballpark with the exception of part of the outer brick wall that enclosed it.
Determined to avoid such catastrophes in the future, Reach planned and built a new ballpark at the same location that would be elaborate, elegant, and fireproof. Constructed mostly of steel and brick it was the first ballpark to feature cantilever construction, a radical new architectural technique in ballpark design. Using cantilevered concrete supports and iron girders, architects could eliminate most of the columns supporting the upper deck and roof that made for so much "obstructed view seating" at ballparks. Dubbed National League Park ( and later the Baker Bowl ) when it opened in 1895, and seating 18,800 people, the ballpark's construction was a defining moment for the future of baseball. Reach's foresight and willingness to embrace improved building materials and innovative architectural features in his new ballpark moved baseball decisively away from the small, crowded firetraps that had previously housed ball clubs. It also started a fundamental shift in ballparks moving from temporary structures to a lasting part of a city’s architectural landscape.
Reach was right in assuring fans that his new ballpark did not pose the fire hazard previous structures presented. Potential catastrophe was the furthest thing from Phillies' patrons' minds when they came to the ballpark to cheer on the hometown crew but that catastrophe was lurking just around the corner. In 1902, 7 years after National League Park opened, Reach and his partner John Rogers sold the team for $170,000 however retained ownership of the ballpark itself.
That doubleheader Saturday saw the Braves take the first game in 12 innings, edging the Phillies by a score of 5-4. In the second game, the teams were locked in a 5-5 tie in the fourth inning. At 5:40 PM, the Braves’ Joe Stanley was at the plate with two outs. However, the attention of the fans who had each paid 25 cents for seats in the bleachers down the left field line had been drawn to an incident occurring below on 15th Street outside of the ballpark.
Two drunken men were walking slowly down 15th Street followed by a small group of boys and girls who were teasing them. Suddenly, one of the men turned toward the children and grabbed one of the girls by the hair. In doing so, he stumbled and fell on top of her. The child, who was later identified as 13-year-ol Maggie Barry, shrieked in terror as did her companions. They cried, “Help!” and “Murder!” The commotion drew people in the ballpark to the top of the bleachers to see what was happening below.
They congregated on an overhanging wooden balcony at the top of the outer wall that ran along 15th Street and continued around the corner on Lehigh Avenue. The balcony was seven-to-eight feet wide and protruded beyond the wall by about three feet. It was intended as a footway for people to use for entering and exiting the grandstand and bleachers. The balcony had a handrail but was not independently braced underneath.
Instead, the same joists that were used to support the grandstand and bleachers held up the balcony. The joists extended through the top of the wall to provide support. According to newspaper accounts of the time, an estimated three hundred people jammed onto the balcony to witness the incident that was unfolding approximately 30 feet below on 15th Street. The Inquirer described what happened next in a headline story that ran the following day:
Suddenly, jammed with an immense, vibrating weight, the balcony tore itself loose from the wall, and the crowd was hurled headlong to the pavement. Those who felt themselves falling grasped those behind and they in turn held on to others. Behind were thousands still pushing up to see what was happening. In the twinkling of an eye the street was piled four deep with bleeding, injured, shrieking humanity struggling amid the piling debris.
The final count showed that 12 had been killed and 232 injured in the catastrophe, and it remains Philadelphia’s deadliest sports disaster as well as Baseball’s greatest disaster.

?Black Saturday?: Philadelphia?s Deadliest Sports Disaster | Philadelphia Athletics Historical Society

 

[67RedSox]

On September 27, 1953 the St. Louis Browns played their last game and were finally put out of their misery, packed their bags and headed to Baltimore. For 51 of their 52 seasons they were irrelevant. Only in 1944, when they went to the World Series against their cross-town rival, did they rise above that irrelevancy.
That isn’t to say some of the players who wore their uniform didn’t have success. George Sisler twice hit over .400 wearing a Browns uniform. Between 1918-1931 Babe Ruth failed to win the AL’s Home Run Crown only twice and in both of those seasons there was only one player, Ken Williams, who tied or hit more HRs than Ruth and Williams wore a Brown’s uniform. Why, the Brown’s Urban Shocker won 27 games in 1921 and no one in the Majors won more than that.
Their final season was brutal, losing 100 games yet again. In fact late in the season, the Browns were running so low on baseballs that they were forced to ration them during batting practice. When the Browns' last game in St. Louis--a 2-1 loss to the White Sox--went into extra innings, the Browns had so few baseballs on hand that the umpires were forced to recycle the least damaged ones that had previously been used. Reportedly, the last ball used was gashed from seam to seam.
Well there was one moment in their final season that there was some sunshine. On this date in 1920 BoBo Holloman was born and on May 6, 1953 BoBo would become the only pitcher in the modern era of the Major leagues to throw a No-Hitter in his first ML start. Ever since it’s been referred to as “ BoBo’s No-No “. Like the Browns, BoBo’s star fizzled and within two months he was back in the Minors never to pitch in the Majors again.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=1953...F01%2F10%2Fat-home-with-the-browns%2F;300;321

https://www.google.ca/search?q=bobo...%2F206791-help-finding-photos-28.html;375;525

To the best of my determination there have been two players who were born in Colorado, went to school in Colorado and who have a World Series Ring. They are:

- Tippy Martinez who played 14 seasons in the Majors, most notably with the Orioles. Born in La Junta, went to H.S. there and attended Colorado State University (Fort Collins). Won a Ring in 1983.

- HOF’er Rich Gossage who played 22 years in the Majors with nine different teams but best remembered with the Yankees, Padres and White Sox. Born in Colorado Springs and went to H.S. in Colarado Springs and was drafted out of High School. Won his only Ring with the Yankees in 1978.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=tipp...uick-update-mcgowan-drabek-wallace%2F;321;439

https://www.google.ca/search?q=goos...l-of-famer-goose-gossage-in-1978%2F;1992;1482

J.R. (James Rodney) Richard was born on this date in 1950. His Major League career came to an abrupt end 34 years ago when on July 30, 1980 he collapsed during pre-game throwing drills with Wilbur Howard and was rushed to Southern Methodist Hospital. J.R. had suffered a major stroke and would have died that day without emergency surgery. When reporters asked about the condition of J.R.'s arm, the doctors replied that they were interested in saving his life, not his arm.
Much like the timeless Greek tragedies written thousands of years ago, Richard’s is the story of a great figure brought to ruin at the height of his glory by forces beyond his control. Losing his Baseball career was just the start of his fall. His personal life spiraled downward as well. His money was sucked away through his falling prey to business scams as well as two divorces. In the 1990s he was homeless, destitute and living under highway underpasses. His Baseball pension and friends help rescue him from that fate and he later became an ordained minister.
Richard for the 5 year period, 1976-1980 was one of the most dominant pitchers in Baseball winning 20 Games in a season, winning an ERA Crown, three times giving up the fewest hits per 9 innings and becoming the first righthander in ML history to have back-to-back 300 Strikeout seasons. For some reason the Astros have chosen not to retire his number despite calls to do so. The Astros have retired nine uniform #s plus Jackie Robinson’s # 42. This includes pitchers like Don Wilson, Nolan Ryan, Jim Umbricht ( cancer survivor then victim ) and Mike Scott. Their records, while with the Astros, are inferior to or no better than Richard’s yet they choose not to retire his number. It’s their call completely but seems strange they have remained steadfast on the matter.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jr+r...%2F06%2Fretire_jr_richards_number.php;640;452

Here’s a couple of great pictures. The first is from 1939…a Pacific Coast League game. That’s Dom Dallessandro from the San Diego Padres making his way down the first base line. It’s believed the photo was taken at Lane Field on the San Diego waterfront and the Padres were playing the Oakland Oaks. The second is from 1965 as the Los Angeles Dodger’s center fielder Willie Davis prepares to slide into second base.

http://90feetofperfection.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/pcl-padres-1939-dom-dellessandro1.jpg

http://90feetofperfection.files.wordpress.com/2014/01/willie-davis-slide-neil-leifer.jpg

Here’s a quote from Freddie Hutchinson, Reds Manager in the 1960’s:
"For five innings, it's the pitcher's game. After that it's mine."

https://www.google.ca/search?q=fred...ti-Reds-219-Baseball-Card-%2F85005306;214;300

 

[67RedSox]

An important decision was made in Baseball as the 1899 season closed and the 20th Century dawned. The decision made on this date in 1900 was the National League deciding to go with eight teams. Those selected eight cities would remain the same for 53 years until the Boston Braves move to Milwaukee in 1953.
In 1899 the NL was a 12 team League so four teams were contracted. Those four teams were the Louisville Colonels, Cleveland Spiders, Baltimore Orioles and Washington Senators. The Senators did not fare well in their nine years as a franchise, which might have been the reason they were contracted. Washington never had a winning season and compiled a winning percentage of 0.366. However , in 1899 they did have a player by the name of Buck Freeman whose name has been long since forgotten but in his heyday he was one of the most feared “sluggers” in the game.
Buck Freeman was born in Catasauqua, Pennsylvania in 1871. Catasauqua, part of Allentown now was the centre for the production of anthracite iron in the 1800’s. By 1900, Catasauqua boasted 5,000 residents, and had the highest percentage of self-made millionaires of any town in the United States. Well the Freeman family was far from millionaire status. Buck’s father was an immigrant coal miner from Ireland and Buck followed him into the mines picking slate and then driving mules, but his real interest was in baseball and his skills on the diamond first as a pitcher and then as an OF/1B led him out of the mines and into the Majors. Ironically, although he ‘escaped’ the mines ( no disrespect to miners ) Catasauqua did not escape Baseball. Almost on the very site he was born now sits Coca-Cola Park a beautiful 8,200 seat (11,100 capacity) ballpark… home field for the Lehigh Valley IronPigs, the Triple-A level Minor League baseball affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies.
In 1899 Freeman slammed 25 HRs. Although a rather pedestrian accomplishment today at that time it was a truly remarkable feat. The second highest total in the League was less than half of that and the second highest total on the Senators was 6 and it wouldn’t be surpassed until 1919, when Babe Ruth hit 29 for the Boston Red Sox.
After the Senators disbanded Freeman ended up in Boston first with the NL team in 1900 and then in 1901 with the new AL team then known as the Americans but soon to be renamed as the Red Sox. In 1902 led the American League with 121 RBIs. In 1903 he helped Boston to the inaugural World Series by leading the league in both home runs (13), and RBI (104); in doing so Freeman became the first player to have led both the National League and the American League in home runs.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=buck...orld-series-biography-buck-freeman%2F;583;480

It was on this date in 1946 the first spring training game ever to be played in Arizona takes place at Tucson’s Hi Corbett Field. The Indians, behind the pitching of Bob Lemon, beat the Giants, 3-1, in the inaugural Cactus League contest. The Indians would train there for 38 seasons, until 1992. Hi Corbett Field is well known to the Colorado Rockies and their fans as when the Indians vacated they moved in and it was their Spring Training site from 1993 until 2010.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=hi+c...how%3Dspring%26image%3D9%26new%3Dtrue;800;450

Carl Furillo was born on this date in 1922. He played 15 seasons in the Majors, every one of them with the Dodgers both in Brooklyn and in Los Angeles from 1946-1960. He retired shortly before I began actively following the Grand Old Game but for some reason I seemed to know a lot about him and his career…it could have only come from reading about him. The first two things I think of when it comes to him are how much he and his Manager, Leo Durocher hated each other and how tough he was. Perhaps that toughness is attributable to the fact that he replaced in the Dodger outfield the toughest player ever to play the game, Pete Reiser…and both won NL Batting Crowns and both died way too young…in their 60’s.
People who saw Carl Furillo play most often talk about his throwing arm and the way he played the right field wall at Ebbets Field. The wall was nineteen feet high, with a nineteen-foot screen on top (which was in play), and the scoreboard with a Bulova clock atop it sat in right center. The wall was concrete and concave, a vertical top half and an angled bottom half. According to Philip J. Lowry in Green Cathedrals, there were nearly 300 angles a ball could take after hitting different parts of the wall.
Furillo described how he played the wall. “Will it hit above the cement and hit the screen? Then you run like hell toward the wall, because it’s gonna drop dead. Will it hit the cement? Then you gotta run like hell to the infield, because it’s gonna come shooting out. I can’t even tell you if it’s gonna hit the scoreboard. The angles were crazy.”1

https://www.google.ca/search?q=carl...2Fcarl-furillo-practicing-right-field;562;721

Also born on this date in 1922 was Al Gionfriddo…the exact same day Carl Furillo was born. Gionfriddo made one of the most famous catches in World Series history when he robbed Joe DiMaggio of a 3-Run Home Run in Game 6 of the Series. He was a defensive replacement in LF in that game playing beside Furillo in CF and in the clip of the catch below you’ll will see Furillo retrieve his cap after the catch.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2aSI0u7F3A]1947 WS Gm6: Al Gionfriddo robs Joe DiMaggio of homer - YouTube[/ame]

Richie “Call me Dick” Allen was born on this in 1942. He was the NL Rookie of the Year in 1964 and the AL’s MVP in 1972. His first season in the majors, 1964, ranks among the greatest rookie seasons ever. He led the league in runs (125), triples (13), extra base hits (80) and total bases (352); he finished in the top five in batting average (.318), slugging average (.557), hits (201), and doubles (38). Playing for the first time at third base, he led the league with 41 errors. Along with outfielder Johnny Callison and pitchers Chris Short and Jim Bunning, Allen led the Phillies to a six-and-a-half game hold on first place with just twelve games to play in an exceptionally strong National League. The '64 Phillies then lost ten straight games and finished tied for second place for the biggest collapse in the history of MLB Pennant races.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=rich...otDetail.aspx%3Finventoryid%3D33714;1514;2310

Here’s a photo of an unknown Oakland Oaks player taken from the 90 feet of perfection website (ninety feet of perfection. | Ninety feet between home plate and first base may be the closest man has ever come to perfection. ? Red Smith.) The photo wasn’t posted so much because of the player but the uniform which is considered to be one of the finest uniforms of all-time by the poster. The site is great for vintage photos, particularly if you’re a fan of the old Pacific Coast League if you ever want to check it out.

http://90feetofperfection.files.wordpress.com/2013/08/1939-oakland-oaks1.jpg

 

[67RedSox]

In my time there has been no shortage of Gold Glove CF’ers and I mean when the Gold Glove was a meaningful award and one’s popularity or offensive numbers had nothing to do with winning it. I think if you win 5 consecutive Gold Gloves it’s a pretty good bet you were good with the leather. In the National League Willie Mays was the first CF’er to win 5 consecutive Gold Gloves. Do you know who the first CF in the American League was to turn the trick? He was born on this date in 1934 in Fresno, California. It was none other than Jim Landis who is still considered to be among the best CF’ers to ever play the game.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jim+...ock.com%2FOldComiskey%2FFifties.htm;1228;1146

Jackie Jensen was born on this date in 1927. One of the AL’s best players during the mid to late 1950’s. For the six seasons 1954-1959 he averaged 26 HRs and 111 RBIs a season winning the AL MVP Crown in 1958.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=jack...me%3DMickey%26last_name%3DMcDermott;2514;3264

If you asked a baseball fans to name quickly name some Hall of Fame Shortstops they would come with a few names but chances are most would not mention Arky Vaughan who was born on this date in 1912. Not surprising since most Baseball writers of the time shamefully didn’t know him either even though his death had occurred only a few months before his name went on the HOF list for the first time. In his first eight years on the HOF ballot he was virtually ignored by the baseball writers and received, on average, less than 5 % of the vote. The Veterans Committee corrected that wrong. Vaughan’s career achievements were remarkable. In 1935 Vaughan won the NL Batting Crown with a .385 batting average. His .318 lifetime average is second among all shortstops to Honus Wagner’s .327. Over his career Vaughan walked 937 times, while striking out just 276 times and is was among the most difficult players to double up. At the time he retired in 1948 he was among the players in the history of the game with an On-Base % of .406 leading the NL in that category for three consecutive seasons 1934-1935-1936. He was an All-Star selection for nine consecutive years, 1934-1942.
Following his retirement from baseball, Vaughan devoted all his energies to his family, his ranch, and his hobby of fishing in Northern California. On August 30, 1952, he and a friend, Bill Wimer, sailed their fishing boat to Lost Lake, east of their of Eagleville, home. The lake, is the crater of an extinct volcano. According to a witness, Wimer stood up in the boat, causing it to capsize… Vaughan and Wimer started swimming for shore. The men swam about sixty-five yards in the chilly water and were only twenty feet from shore when they sank in water that was twenty feet deep. Later reports stated that Vaughan was trying to save Wimer, who, it was reported, could not swim. Their bodies were recovered early the next morning. Vaughan was 40 years old.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=arky...-pirates-in-history-arky-vaughan.html;285;366

One of Baseball’s most tragic heroes, Billy Southworth, was born on this date in 1893. Southworth was like Casey Stengel’s long-lost twin brother. Both were born west of the Mississippi, less than three years apart. Both were outfielders in the teens and ’20s. Bill James lists each as the other’s most similar player. And both became hugely successful managers after long, serpentine routes to the top. They were even traded for each other in 1923. But unlike Stengel, who had no children, lived a long, happy life with a wealthy wife, and has never left the public consciousness, Southworth endured tremendous tragedy in his personal life and pretty much was forgotten by the Baseball world after he took off the Major League uniform for the last time in 1951. He died in 1969 but not forgotten by some as he finally made it to the Hall of Fame, and deservedly so, thanks to the Veterans Committee in 2008. Long after his death the honours keep coming…in January 2014, the Cardinals announced that Southworth was among 22 former players and personnel to be inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum for the inaugural class of 2014. As a Manager Southworth need take a back seat to no one…in fact, he and Joe McCarthy who took the Yankees to 7 World Series championships could arguably drive the bus with all other Managers in the seats behind them. I know not many would agree with that otherwise Southworth would have made it to the Hall of Fame quicker than he did, 57 years after his managerial career ended but he does enjoy the 2nd best winning % among all Post 1900 MLB managers and was at the helm of those St. Louis Cardinals teams in the 1940’s when they enjoyed mini-dynasty status.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9xnup_8wF9o]Billy Southworth - Baseball Hall of Fame Biographies - YouTube[/ame]

That great Yankee outfielder from yesteryear, Myril Hoag, was born on this date in 1909. Hoag had a long career as a generally mediocre outfielder for the Yankees, St. Louis Browns, White Sox and Indians during the 30s and 40s. His moment of glory however, came on June 6th, 1934 when he set a Yankee record that remains to this day: most hits in a nine-inning game, 6. At Fenway Park that day the Yankees and Sox played a double-header. In the first game, the Yankees crushed the Sox 15-3. Hoag was "playing in the left garden in the absence of Babe Ruth" (as the New York Times story the next day put it) and despite hitting in the seventh spot in the line-up, Hoag came to the plate six times. In each of his chances Hoag banged out a single (another Yankee record he holds: most singles in a nine-inning, 6) against Sox pitchers Lefty Grove and reliever Henry Johnson. Incidentally, Hoag’s great-nephew, Max Stassi, made his ML debut last season with the Houston Astros.

https://www.google.ca/search?q=myri...iew%2F82290%2F29246933%2F%3Fpg%3Dlast;380;609