Sunday, June 27, 2010
The Book Review: "Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert" & "Blows To The Head" and more
A very important yet not too well documented corner of baseball history - - interracial baseball prior to the arrival of Jackie Robinson on the scene is the subject matter of "Satch, Dizzy & Rapid Robert" by Timothy Gay (Simon & Schuster, $26.00,349 pages).
We are there with Leroy "Satchel" Paige, Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean and Robert William Andrew "Bob" Feller. We are there in the barnstorming and amidst Jim Crow, there for the elation and joy and humor and also for the degradation, hurt and racism. There are many never before told stories in this well researched and important tome.
"Blows To The Head" is a slim but fascinating and virtually inspirational story by Binnie Klein (Suny Press, $19.95, 195 pages) all about as the book's sub-title proclaims "how boxing changed my mind." The prime focus of this appealing narrative is how in the mid 1950s the author, a Jewish psychotherapist, became interweaved with boxing and in the process discovered so much about her roots. A KNOCKOUT OF A BOOK
Back in the day there was arrogant and in-your-face Charlie Finley, possessor of hype, hoopla and histrionics. He was the owner who moved his team from KC to Oakland, winning three straight division titles, three World Series, developing such players as Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers and more. "Charlie Finley" by G. Michael Green and Roger D. Launius,(Walker,)$27.00, 336 pages) could have used some tighter editing and perhaps 75 less pages; nevertheless, it brings back a time, a place and one of baseball history's more zany characters.
Douglas J. Gladstone's slim paperback "A Bitter Cup of Coffee (Word Association, $18.00, 192 pages) is a carefully researched look at how MLB and the Players Association and the vexing issue of 874 players who played in the Majors for that proverbial "cup of coffee" and never were retroactively included in amended vesting requirements.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 41 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
NBA Draft history (From the Vault)
The NBA draft is all the rage. Prospects are dissected, analyzed, and compared to heroes of yesteryear. There is the pre-draft camp, the endless talk show hustle as well as fantasy drafts. Preceded by hype, hope and hoopla, the NBA Draft finally arrives with a cast of hundreds of personalities, nationally televised hour after hour. And then there is the endless post-draft commentary.
Once upon a time things were quite different in a simpler world and a smaller NBA. The first draft in 1947 saw first-round selections made by Pittsburgh, Boston, Providence, New York, Philadelphia, St. Louis, Chicago, Washington and Baltimore. No name from that first-round faraway time (aside from Knicks draftee Walt Dropo, who went on to a distinguished Major League baseball career) had any kind of real basketball impact.
The records from that primitive time are so shrouded in a time warp that a couple of the players drafted in '47 like Bob Alemeida and George Petrovick have a question mark next to their name signifying a lack of information as to the college they played for.
A few non-first-round players went on to make a name for themselves in pro ball like Andy Phillip out of Illinois, Jim Pollard from Stanford, Bob Kurland of Oklahoma A&M, and Red Rocha who had played at Oregon State.
A footnote to NBA history is Tony Lavelli of Yale, taken by Boston in the 1949 Draft. He went on to play the accordion for the Celtics at half time, sometimes. But contrary to rumors, his musical skill was not one of the reasons for Boston drafting him.
The 1950 Draft went 10 rounds for some teams and 12 for others, as a few teams lost interest. Territorial picks were sometimes much fought over and debated. The exclusive right to draft a player who came from a team's geographical region gave Philadelphia the legendary Paul Arizin in 1950.
A couple of others who went on to fame and glory were picked in that draft: Bud Grant (NFL) by Minneapolis and Bob Cousy by Tri-Cities.
The 1951 NBA Draft lasted 12 rounds, but most teams stopped picking by then.
The First Round went this way:
Team Player College
1 (Baltimore) Gene Melchiorre, Bradley
2 (TriCities) Mel Hutchins, Brigham Young
3 (Indianapolis) Marcus Freiberger, Oklahoma
4 (Ft Wayne) Zeke Sinicola, Niagara
5 (Syracuse) John McConathy, NW Louisiana
6 (NY Knicks) Ed Smith, Harvard
7 (Boston) Ernie Barrett, Kansas State
8 (Rochester) Sam Ranzino, North Carolina State
9 (Philadelphia) Don Sunderlage, Illinois
10 (Minneapolis) Whitey Skoog, Minnesota*
*The pick of Skoog was a Territorial one.
In the sixth round, the New York Knicks plucked Al McGuire from St. John's. The last player picked was John Burke of Springfield, Massachusetts by Baltimore in the 12th round. By 1966, the territorial selections were eliminated. A year later, the New York Knicks used their fifth pick to get Walt Frazier and their 17th to obtain Phil Jackson.
In the ensuing years, all kinds of marquee players and also-rans have made their way onto NBA rosters through the draft. In my opinion, the 1970 and 1981 NBA Drafts rank among the all-time best yielding bumper crops of players.
The 1970 NBA Draft yielded such greats as Dave Cowens by Boston (4th); Pete Maravich by Atlanta (3rd); Bob Lanier by Detroit (1st); Calvin Murphy by San Diego (18th); and Geoff Petrie by Portland (8th).
The 1981 draft included such gems as Isiah Thomas by Detroit (2nd); Mark Aguirre by Dallas (1st); Buck Williams by New Jersey (3rd); Tom Chambers by San Diego (8th); Rolando Blackman by Dallas (9th); Danny Ainge by Boston (31st); Kelly Tripuka by Detroit (12th); Orlando Woolridge by Chicago (6th); and Eddie Johnson by Kansas City (29th).
Who knows what the NBA Draft 2010 has in store. Stay tuned.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 40 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball."
Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Father’s Day Weekend 2010 at Fenway
Fenway Park, Circa 1960 Saturday, June 19th, was a day that was perfect in every way for Red Sox Nation. Game time temperature was 83 degrees and sunny. Another sellout at Fenway, 37,454 (101.4% full)
Fathers and sons and others bonding and enjoying this great game of ours at America’s most beloved ballpark. Fans following every pitch, friendly and competent staff - - there at the ready with directions, security, food and drink.
And this father and his son (a Dodger fan) there, too.
And Manny Ramirez was back - - wearing a Dodger uniform.
In the game’s early going it was almost like old times for Manny who got the Dodgers off and running in the second inning, singling, stealing second base and scoring on a Garret Anderson single to get L.A. on the board. He smashed a 356- foot shot off knuckleballer Tim Wakefield into the Green Monster’s second row seats in the sixth inning, cutting the score to 3-2 Sox. Fenway exploded with cheers and boos for Red Sox’s Nation’s one time favorite as he ran out the circuit clout.
The game see-sawed back and forth, tied at four all in the bottom of the ninth. “BEAT L.A. BEAT L.A.” The crowd roared. The Celtics almost had done it. Now the Sox had their shot.
Bill Hall singled off Dodger reliever Ronald Belisario to start the home team off, but was snuffed out at second on a poorly executed sac bunt by Daniel Nava. Darnell McDonald fanned for Boston. Marco Scutaro walked.
It was now little Dustin Pedroia at 5 feet and 9 inches versus the 6 feet 5 inch Jonathan Broxton, star Dodger closer. Two outs.
"When you go out and the guy's throwing 100 and it looks like he's 9-feet tall, I was thinking I've got to wake up," the Red Sox peppery player said. "I check swung twice. When I check swung, it really wasn't going that good. I just stepped out, thinking I've got to put the ball in play."
“The two breaking balls Broxton threw were filthy,” said manager Terry Francona. “ I know how good Broxton is, but any time Pedey has something to do with the outcome of the game, we feel good. He kind of wills himself to do something good.’’
Pedroia did something real good. He lined a 98-mile-per hour fast ball for a two-strike single into right. Nava raced around the bases.
“I was trying to make up for that bunt,’’ Nava said. “I was just saying to myself, ‘I’ve got to get home.’ I was at least trying to make it close. I just wanted to get my hand in there. There was no way I was going to get punched out at home.’’
Nava’s headfirst slide gave the Sox a 5-4 dramatic win, their fifth straight victory. The huge crowd was on its feet celebrating, high-fiving, some fans were deliriously happy, thrilled. Just another miraculous moment in the 98 year fabled history of Fenway Park – and even Dodger fans seemed to love it.
Friday, June 18, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Baseball Names - and How They Got That Way! (L)
The words and phrases are spoken and written day after day, year after year - generally without any wonderment as to how they became part of the language. All have a history, a story. For those of you who liked Part I, Part II, Part III, X and all the others and wanted more, here is more, just a sampling. As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome
LE GRANDE ORANGE Rusty Staub played for the Montreal Expos in the years 1969-71. "He came here as an unknown, and not only was he our first big star," Expo President John McHale remembers, "but he had a way of relating to the people and a sense of being a star. His reddish hair, his physical stature, his unselfishness made him an easily identifiable figure. He was a very important factor in those years in the success of the team." Staub's size, red hair, and personality all merged into the nickname the Montreal fans coined for him.
LEFTY Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton was a private man who never talked to the press. He was a southpaw and a man with some odd habits. letters team name printed on the front of a jersey.LIP, THE When he was an infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1930's, Leo Durocher was known as Screechy because of his high-pitched voice and bench-jockeying ability. As he moved through his 17 year playing span and 24-year managing career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Houston Astros, Durocher attracted the ire of umpires and the hostility of rivals with what they termed his motor-mouth. A tough, combative, at times profane individual, Durocher's nickname was an apt one.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL In 1939 Carl E. Stotz founded the first Little League in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Within two decades, kids and parents all over the United States and other countries were competitively involved. Williamsport has been the site of the Little League World Series since 1947. And the enterprise begun by Stotz is a big time sports phenomenon.
LITTLE NAPOLEON John J. McGraw came from the old Baltimore Orioles to take control of the New York Giants on July 16, 1902. He inherited a last-place team that had had 13 managers since 1891. The man they called Muggsy immediately released half the players on the roster of the Giants. "With my team," he said, "I'm absolute czar." Driving, cajoling, innovating, McGraw moved the Giants from a last place finish in 1902 to a second-place finish in 1903. He drove the New York team to a pennant in 1904. In his 30 years as manager, the Giants won ten pennants and finished second 11 times. McGraw's small physical stature contrasted sharply with the giant power that his gait, his face, and his name, projected throughout the world of baseball. He was famous for such lines as "The only popularity I know is to win," "Do what I tell you, and I'll take the blame if it goes wrong," and "I do the hiring and the firing around here." He was little in size but had Napoleonic power, and these two traits merged into the nickname of the man who was one of the greatest managers in baseball history.
LITTLE PROFESSOR Joe DiMaggio's younger brother, Dom, played center field for the Boston Red Sox for 11 years and compiled a lifetime .298 batting average. He wore glasses, was a keen student of the game, and was but five feet, nine inches tall and 168 pounds-and these characteristics supplied the reason for his nickname.
THE LINE Detroit Hall of Famer Al Kaline was called this as a tribute to his reliability and a play on his last name.
LITTLE LOOEY Small in size, shortstop Luis Aparicio made his mark as a member of the Chicago White Sox in the 1950s.
LOLO Mickey Lolich, former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, for his last name, and how low his leg drive was in his delivery.
“LONESOME GEORGE Former legendary Yankee General Manager George Weiss, for his aloof ways.
LOOK THE RUNNER BACK A situation in which a pitcher attempts to control a base runner by staring at him, implying a throw; the pitcher's gaze alone will most times convince a runner to stay close to the base.
LOOPER A batted ball that drops in flight.
LOSING PITCHER One year he won eight games and lost 18; another year he won ten games and lost 20; in 1939 he lost 16, and in 1940 he led the National League in losses with 22. These statistics earned Hugh Noyes Mulcahy his nickname. In a nine-year career, Mulcahy won 45 games and lost 89.
LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), named after the famed New York Yankee who had the disease
LOUISIANA LIGHTNING The 95-mph speed he can put on a fastball and his Louisiana birthplace have earned for Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees his colorful and alliterative nickname.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER This bat is named for the Kentucky city that was named for a French king, Louis XVI, in 1780. The Hillerich and Bradsby bat factory has been manufacturing Louisville Sluggers since 1884. One white-ash tree is needed to produce 60 bats. More than 6 million bats are manufactured annually. Major league ball players use 2 percent of the annual production, but each of their bats is built according to precise individual specifications. Babe Ruth's Louisville Slugger model weighed 48 ounces, while the one wielded by Wee Willie Keeler weighed just 30 ounces.
LE GRANDE ORANGE Rusty Staub played for the Montreal Expos in the years 1969-71. "He came here as an unknown, and not only was he our first big star," Expo President John McHale remembers, "but he had a way of relating to the people and a sense of being a star. His reddish hair, his physical stature, his unselfishness made him an easily identifiable figure. He was a very important factor in those years in the success of the team." Staub's size, red hair, and personality all merged into the nickname the Montreal fans coined for him.
LEFTY Hall of Fame pitcher Steve Carlton was a private man who never talked to the press. He was a southpaw and a man with some odd habits. letters team name printed on the front of a jersey.LIP, THE When he was an infielder for the St. Louis Cardinals during the 1930's, Leo Durocher was known as Screechy because of his high-pitched voice and bench-jockeying ability. As he moved through his 17 year playing span and 24-year managing career with the Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants, Chicago Cubs, and Houston Astros, Durocher attracted the ire of umpires and the hostility of rivals with what they termed his motor-mouth. A tough, combative, at times profane individual, Durocher's nickname was an apt one.
LITTLE LEAGUE BASEBALL In 1939 Carl E. Stotz founded the first Little League in Williamsport, Pennsylvania. Within two decades, kids and parents all over the United States and other countries were competitively involved. Williamsport has been the site of the Little League World Series since 1947. And the enterprise begun by Stotz is a big time sports phenomenon.
LITTLE NAPOLEON John J. McGraw came from the old Baltimore Orioles to take control of the New York Giants on July 16, 1902. He inherited a last-place team that had had 13 managers since 1891. The man they called Muggsy immediately released half the players on the roster of the Giants. "With my team," he said, "I'm absolute czar." Driving, cajoling, innovating, McGraw moved the Giants from a last place finish in 1902 to a second-place finish in 1903. He drove the New York team to a pennant in 1904. In his 30 years as manager, the Giants won ten pennants and finished second 11 times. McGraw's small physical stature contrasted sharply with the giant power that his gait, his face, and his name, projected throughout the world of baseball. He was famous for such lines as "The only popularity I know is to win," "Do what I tell you, and I'll take the blame if it goes wrong," and "I do the hiring and the firing around here." He was little in size but had Napoleonic power, and these two traits merged into the nickname of the man who was one of the greatest managers in baseball history.
LITTLE PROFESSOR Joe DiMaggio's younger brother, Dom, played center field for the Boston Red Sox for 11 years and compiled a lifetime .298 batting average. He wore glasses, was a keen student of the game, and was but five feet, nine inches tall and 168 pounds-and these characteristics supplied the reason for his nickname.
THE LINE Detroit Hall of Famer Al Kaline was called this as a tribute to his reliability and a play on his last name.
LITTLE LOOEY Small in size, shortstop Luis Aparicio made his mark as a member of the Chicago White Sox in the 1950s.
LOLO Mickey Lolich, former pitcher for the Detroit Tigers, for his last name, and how low his leg drive was in his delivery.
“LONESOME GEORGE Former legendary Yankee General Manager George Weiss, for his aloof ways.
LOOK THE RUNNER BACK A situation in which a pitcher attempts to control a base runner by staring at him, implying a throw; the pitcher's gaze alone will most times convince a runner to stay close to the base.
LOOPER A batted ball that drops in flight.
LOSING PITCHER One year he won eight games and lost 18; another year he won ten games and lost 20; in 1939 he lost 16, and in 1940 he led the National League in losses with 22. These statistics earned Hugh Noyes Mulcahy his nickname. In a nine-year career, Mulcahy won 45 games and lost 89.
LOU GEHRIG’S DISEASE Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), named after the famed New York Yankee who had the disease
LOUISIANA LIGHTNING The 95-mph speed he can put on a fastball and his Louisiana birthplace have earned for Ron Guidry of the New York Yankees his colorful and alliterative nickname.
LOUISVILLE SLUGGER This bat is named for the Kentucky city that was named for a French king, Louis XVI, in 1780. The Hillerich and Bradsby bat factory has been manufacturing Louisville Sluggers since 1884. One white-ash tree is needed to produce 60 bats. More than 6 million bats are manufactured annually. Major league ball players use 2 percent of the annual production, but each of their bats is built according to precise individual specifications. Babe Ruth's Louisville Slugger model weighed 48 ounces, while the one wielded by Wee Willie Keeler weighed just 30 ounces.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
The Book Review: “The 300 Club,” “The Only Game in Town” and more
The highly prolific Dan Schlossberg is at it again with another winner – “The 300 Club” (Ascend Books, $24.95, 293 pages). Carefully crafted, brilliantly organized, this terrific tome focuses on that rarest of baseball fraternities, the two dozen hurlers who won 300 games in their careers.
We are there with the great Nolan Ryan, Roger Clemens, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Cy Young and his 511 wins, Lefty Grove and Early Wynn who just made it into the exclusive club with 300 victories and Pud Galvin (361 victories) who was there first way back when. Painstakingly researched - HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
“The Only Game in Town” edited by David Remnick (Random House,$30.00, 492 pages) is a mother lode of fabulous sports writing from the pages of the New Yorker Magazine where the editor of this book is the editor.
We are able to enjoy works by Roger Angell, John Updike, Ring Lardner, Dom Delillo, John Cheever, Nancy Franklin and others on all matter of sports representing 80 years of writing in the storied magazine. GO FOR IT
“Batting Stance Guy” by Gar Ryness and Caleb Dewart (Scribner, $18.00, 255 pages, trade paperback original) is part unique and detailed analysis of what the authors deem to be the 50 most interesting stances of the last three decades, part book of lists (like best home run trot, etc.), part all over the map insights into the facts and factoids and stats of the national pastime. YOU HAVE TO LOVE IT
“Dream Golf” by Stephen Goodwin (Algonquin Books, $24.95, 344 pages) is about golf, architecture, dreaming, adventure. It is a must read containing as it does splendid writing about the adventure of the creation of a quartette of top courses that grace the coast of Oregon.
“Miracle Ball” by Brian Biegel (Three Rivers Press, $15.00, 231 pages, paperback reprint) is a narrative focused on the author’s quest to find the Bobby Thomson “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” baseball. Biegel’s two year effort reads like a detective story.
Interesting, beautifully written, “Lay the Favorite: A Memoir of Gambling” by Ruth Raymer (Random House/Spiegel & Grau, $25.00, 226 pages) is sort of like a coming of age adventure. The “sort of” is the key word here in a book that takes on a roller coaster Damon Runyan world of hipsters and gamblers and touts and gaming – all of which is sort of a sports universe.
Children’s Corner: “Bases Loaded” by Mike Knudson illustrated by Stacy Curtis (Viking, $14.99, 155 pages) showcases the duo Raymond and Graham and a thrill a minute scenario spinning of the pair’s goal to have their Little League team beat their rival and cop the championship. Suitable for ages 8 and up, but a nice “read to” for lower ages – this is a home run of a book.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 41 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Saturday, June 05, 2010
The Armando Galarraga Imperfect Perfect Game
The Don Larsen Perfect Game
Armando Galarraga pitched a Perfect Game last week and the whole world knows it, courtesy of that marvel of marvels, instant replay.
Even Umpire Jim Joyce who gave the “safe sign” for the 27th batter despoiling the 27 up, 27 down recorded by the Tiger hurler, knows it.
And Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig refused to over-rule the ump. He even went a step further taking at jab at those who he deemed protest too much.
"The game's become altogether too partisan," Selig said. "It seems people are not happy unless one side wins, the other loses." And the Commish added on his Facebook page: "Whether you're a Tiger or an Indian, surely there's got to be some capacity for us to work together, not agree on everything but at least set aside small differences to get things done. People have to break out of some of the ideological rigidity and gridlock that we've been carrying around for too long."
Huh?
The day after Armando Galarraga was jobbed of the Perfect Game GM presented him with a (consolation) prize, a base price $75,505 Corvette. Nice for Galarraga but not needed since he earns enough to purchase many Corvettes. Not nice for the taxpayers who own 60% of General Motors along with the federal government.
Let’s flash backwards to another time, another pitcher who was awarded a Corvette.
Hank Bauer rf 4 0 1 1
Joe Collins 1b 4 0 1 0
Mickey Mantle cf 3 1 1 1
Yogi Berra c 3 0 0 0
Enos Slaughter lf 2 0 0 0
Billy Martin 2b 3 0 1 0
Gil McDougald ss 2 0 0 0
Andy Carey 3b 3 1 1 0
Don Larsen p 2 0 0 0
Totals 26 2 5 2
Name Pos AB R H RBI
Jim Gilliam 2b 3 0 0 0
Pee Wee Reese ss 3 0 0 0
Duke Snider cf 3 0 0 0
Jackie Robinson3b 3 0 0 0
Gil Hodges 1b 3 0 0 0
Sandy Amoros lf 3 0 0 0
Carl Furillo rf 3 0 0 0
Roy Campanella c 3 0 0 0
Sal Maglie p 2 0 0 0
a-Dale Mitchell
ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 27 0 0 0
I have been asked a million times about the perfect game.” Don Larsen said. “ I never dreamed about something like that happening and everybody is entitled to a good day and mine came at the right time.”
"I still find it hard to believe I really pitched the perfect game," Don Larsen said. "It's almost like a dream, like something that happened to somebody else."
The date was October 8, 1956
The image of the Yankee right-hander casually tossing the ball from a no-stretch windup to Yogi Berra remains as part of baseball lore. Larsen struck out Junior Gilliam on a breaking ball to start the game.
Then the 3-2 count on Pee Wee Reese – and the strikeout.
It all blended together - the autumn shadows and the smoke and the haze at the stadium, the World Series buntings on railings along the first and third base lines, the scoreboard and the zeroes for the Dodgers of Brooklyn mounting inning after inning.
The 6'4," 240 pound hurler threw no more than l5 pitches in any one inning against the mighty Dodgers of Campanella, Reese, Hodges, Gilliam, Robinson, Snider and Furillo.
A second inning Jackie Robinson line drive off the glove of Andy Carey at third was picked up by Gil McDougald. Out at first. Mantle’s great jump on a fifth inning line drive by Gil Hodges positioned him for a backhand grab of the ball. Hodges eighth inning hot shot down the third base line was converted into an out by Andy Carey. Sandy Amoros and Duke Snider of the Dodgers hit balls into the right field seats - foul but barely so.
Just two seasons before Don Larsen pitching for Baltimore had one of the worst records ever (3-21). He became a Yankee in the fall of 1954 in a 17-player trade. “ Nobody lost more games than me in the American League that year,” Larsen said. “But two of my wins came against the Yankees. That's probably why I came to them.
In 1956, "Gooneybird,” his teammates called him that for his late-night behavior, posted an 11-5 record. In his next-to-last start of ‘56, Larsen unveiled his no-windup delivery. "The ghouls sent me a message," he joked explaining why.
Larsen started Game 2 in the World Series against Brooklyn. He was atrocious walking four, allowing four runs in 1 2/3 innings. There was no one more shocked than the big right-hander when he learned when he arrived at Yankee Stadium that he be the starter in Game 5. Now he was finishing it.
"Everybody suddenly got scared we weren't playing the outfield right," Stengel said. "I never seen so many managers." The Yankee infield of first baseman Joe Collins, second baseman Billy Martin, shortstop Gil McDougald and third baseman Andy Carey were ready for any kind of play.
The Yankees were clinging to a 2-0 lead scratched out against veteran Sal Maglie, age 39. Gilliam hit a hard one-hopper to short to open the seventh inning,and was thrown out by Gil McDougald. Reese and Duke Snider flied out. In the eighth, Jackie Robinson grounded back to Larsen. Andy Carey caught Hodges' low liner at third base. Amoros struck out.
The huge crowd of 64,519.at the stadium cheered each out. The game moved to the bottom of the ninth inning. "If it was 9-0, Larsen would've been paying little attention," Berra remembered. "It was close and he had to be extremely disciplined. He was. At the start of the ninth I didn't say a thing about how well he was throwing. I went to the mound and reminded him that if he walked one guy and the next guy hit one out, the game was tied."
"The last three outs were the toughest," the Indiana native. recalled. "I was so weak in the knees that I thought I was going to faint. I was so nervous I almost fell down. My legs were rubbery. My fingers didn't feel like they belonged to me. I said to myself, 'Please help me somebody.' "
The 64,5l9 in the stands were quiet. Four pitches were fouled off by Furillo and then he hit a fly ball out to Bauer in right field. Campanella grounded out weakly to Billy Martin at second base. Left-handed batter Dale Mitchell pinch hit for Sal Maglie. It would be the final major league at bat for the 35-year-old lifetime .3l2 hitter. Announcer Bob Wolff called it this way:
"Count is one and one. And this crowd just straining forward on every pitch. Here it comes....a swing and a miss! Two strikes, ball one to Dale Mitchell. Listen to this crowd! I'll guarantee that nobody - but nobody - has left this ball park. And if somebody did manage to leave early man he's missing the greatest! Two strikes and a ball. . . Mitchell waiting stands deep, feet close together. Larsen is ready, gets the sign. Two strikes, ball one, here comes the pitch. Strike three! A no-hitter! A perfect game for Don Larsen!"
That final pitch - Larsen's 97th of the game that took just 2 hours and six minutes - was the only one that elicited controversy.
"The third strike on Mitchell was absolutely positively a strike on the outside corner," Berra maintains to this day. "No question about it. People say it was a ball and that I rushed the mound to hug Larsen to make the umpire think it was a strike. Nonsense. It was a perfect strike."
Casey Stengel was asked "Was that the best game he had ever seen Larsen pitch?"
"'So far,'" was the Yankee manager’s response.
The rest of Larsen's 14-year career - with eight teams - consisted of unbroken mediocrity punctuated with flashes of competence. He finished with an 81-91 record and 3.78 ERA.
Named the MVP of the Series by Sport magazine for his epic feat, Larsen received a Corvette. He also earned about $35,000 in endorsements and appearances, including $6,000 for being on Bob Hope's TV show. He spent $1,000 for plaques commemorating the game and gave them to his teammates, Yankee executives, the six umpires, his parents and close friends.
The man who reached perfection also received many letters and notes including this one:
“Dear Mr. Larsen: It is a noteworthy event when anybody achieves perfection in anything. It has been so long since anyone pitched a perfect big league game that I have to go back to my generation of ballplayers to recall such a thing – and that is truly a long time ago.
“This note brings you my very sincere congratulations on a memorable feat, one that will inspire pitchers for a long time to come. With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President of the United States
“I pitched for 14 years with 8 different clubs and won only 81 games,” Larsen said. “ Hey, I gave it my best shot and I tried and I wish my record had been better but I was very pleased to get into the World Series and pitch the Perfect Game. And I guess that is what I will always be remembered for.
“I have been asked a million times about the perfect game,” Larsen mused. “I never dreamed about something like that happening. Everybody is entitled to a good day, and mine came at the right time.”
So did Armando Galarraga’s.
Wonder if President Obama will write a letter to Galarraga the way President Eisenhower sent off a letter to Don Larsen.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 41 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Armando Galarraga pitched a Perfect Game last week and the whole world knows it, courtesy of that marvel of marvels, instant replay.
Even Umpire Jim Joyce who gave the “safe sign” for the 27th batter despoiling the 27 up, 27 down recorded by the Tiger hurler, knows it.
And Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig refused to over-rule the ump. He even went a step further taking at jab at those who he deemed protest too much.
"The game's become altogether too partisan," Selig said. "It seems people are not happy unless one side wins, the other loses." And the Commish added on his Facebook page: "Whether you're a Tiger or an Indian, surely there's got to be some capacity for us to work together, not agree on everything but at least set aside small differences to get things done. People have to break out of some of the ideological rigidity and gridlock that we've been carrying around for too long."
Huh?
The day after Armando Galarraga was jobbed of the Perfect Game GM presented him with a (consolation) prize, a base price $75,505 Corvette. Nice for Galarraga but not needed since he earns enough to purchase many Corvettes. Not nice for the taxpayers who own 60% of General Motors along with the federal government.
Let’s flash backwards to another time, another pitcher who was awarded a Corvette.
Hank Bauer rf 4 0 1 1
Joe Collins 1b 4 0 1 0
Mickey Mantle cf 3 1 1 1
Yogi Berra c 3 0 0 0
Enos Slaughter lf 2 0 0 0
Billy Martin 2b 3 0 1 0
Gil McDougald ss 2 0 0 0
Andy Carey 3b 3 1 1 0
Don Larsen p 2 0 0 0
Totals 26 2 5 2
Name Pos AB R H RBI
Jim Gilliam 2b 3 0 0 0
Pee Wee Reese ss 3 0 0 0
Duke Snider cf 3 0 0 0
Jackie Robinson3b 3 0 0 0
Gil Hodges 1b 3 0 0 0
Sandy Amoros lf 3 0 0 0
Carl Furillo rf 3 0 0 0
Roy Campanella c 3 0 0 0
Sal Maglie p 2 0 0 0
a-Dale Mitchell
ph 1 0 0 0
Totals 27 0 0 0
I have been asked a million times about the perfect game.” Don Larsen said. “ I never dreamed about something like that happening and everybody is entitled to a good day and mine came at the right time.”
"I still find it hard to believe I really pitched the perfect game," Don Larsen said. "It's almost like a dream, like something that happened to somebody else."
The date was October 8, 1956
The image of the Yankee right-hander casually tossing the ball from a no-stretch windup to Yogi Berra remains as part of baseball lore. Larsen struck out Junior Gilliam on a breaking ball to start the game.
Then the 3-2 count on Pee Wee Reese – and the strikeout.
It all blended together - the autumn shadows and the smoke and the haze at the stadium, the World Series buntings on railings along the first and third base lines, the scoreboard and the zeroes for the Dodgers of Brooklyn mounting inning after inning.
The 6'4," 240 pound hurler threw no more than l5 pitches in any one inning against the mighty Dodgers of Campanella, Reese, Hodges, Gilliam, Robinson, Snider and Furillo.
A second inning Jackie Robinson line drive off the glove of Andy Carey at third was picked up by Gil McDougald. Out at first. Mantle’s great jump on a fifth inning line drive by Gil Hodges positioned him for a backhand grab of the ball. Hodges eighth inning hot shot down the third base line was converted into an out by Andy Carey. Sandy Amoros and Duke Snider of the Dodgers hit balls into the right field seats - foul but barely so.
Just two seasons before Don Larsen pitching for Baltimore had one of the worst records ever (3-21). He became a Yankee in the fall of 1954 in a 17-player trade. “ Nobody lost more games than me in the American League that year,” Larsen said. “But two of my wins came against the Yankees. That's probably why I came to them.
In 1956, "Gooneybird,” his teammates called him that for his late-night behavior, posted an 11-5 record. In his next-to-last start of ‘56, Larsen unveiled his no-windup delivery. "The ghouls sent me a message," he joked explaining why.
Larsen started Game 2 in the World Series against Brooklyn. He was atrocious walking four, allowing four runs in 1 2/3 innings. There was no one more shocked than the big right-hander when he learned when he arrived at Yankee Stadium that he be the starter in Game 5. Now he was finishing it.
"Everybody suddenly got scared we weren't playing the outfield right," Stengel said. "I never seen so many managers." The Yankee infield of first baseman Joe Collins, second baseman Billy Martin, shortstop Gil McDougald and third baseman Andy Carey were ready for any kind of play.
The Yankees were clinging to a 2-0 lead scratched out against veteran Sal Maglie, age 39. Gilliam hit a hard one-hopper to short to open the seventh inning,and was thrown out by Gil McDougald. Reese and Duke Snider flied out. In the eighth, Jackie Robinson grounded back to Larsen. Andy Carey caught Hodges' low liner at third base. Amoros struck out.
The huge crowd of 64,519.at the stadium cheered each out. The game moved to the bottom of the ninth inning. "If it was 9-0, Larsen would've been paying little attention," Berra remembered. "It was close and he had to be extremely disciplined. He was. At the start of the ninth I didn't say a thing about how well he was throwing. I went to the mound and reminded him that if he walked one guy and the next guy hit one out, the game was tied."
"The last three outs were the toughest," the Indiana native. recalled. "I was so weak in the knees that I thought I was going to faint. I was so nervous I almost fell down. My legs were rubbery. My fingers didn't feel like they belonged to me. I said to myself, 'Please help me somebody.' "
The 64,5l9 in the stands were quiet. Four pitches were fouled off by Furillo and then he hit a fly ball out to Bauer in right field. Campanella grounded out weakly to Billy Martin at second base. Left-handed batter Dale Mitchell pinch hit for Sal Maglie. It would be the final major league at bat for the 35-year-old lifetime .3l2 hitter. Announcer Bob Wolff called it this way:
"Count is one and one. And this crowd just straining forward on every pitch. Here it comes....a swing and a miss! Two strikes, ball one to Dale Mitchell. Listen to this crowd! I'll guarantee that nobody - but nobody - has left this ball park. And if somebody did manage to leave early man he's missing the greatest! Two strikes and a ball. . . Mitchell waiting stands deep, feet close together. Larsen is ready, gets the sign. Two strikes, ball one, here comes the pitch. Strike three! A no-hitter! A perfect game for Don Larsen!"
That final pitch - Larsen's 97th of the game that took just 2 hours and six minutes - was the only one that elicited controversy.
"The third strike on Mitchell was absolutely positively a strike on the outside corner," Berra maintains to this day. "No question about it. People say it was a ball and that I rushed the mound to hug Larsen to make the umpire think it was a strike. Nonsense. It was a perfect strike."
Casey Stengel was asked "Was that the best game he had ever seen Larsen pitch?"
"'So far,'" was the Yankee manager’s response.
The rest of Larsen's 14-year career - with eight teams - consisted of unbroken mediocrity punctuated with flashes of competence. He finished with an 81-91 record and 3.78 ERA.
Named the MVP of the Series by Sport magazine for his epic feat, Larsen received a Corvette. He also earned about $35,000 in endorsements and appearances, including $6,000 for being on Bob Hope's TV show. He spent $1,000 for plaques commemorating the game and gave them to his teammates, Yankee executives, the six umpires, his parents and close friends.
The man who reached perfection also received many letters and notes including this one:
“Dear Mr. Larsen: It is a noteworthy event when anybody achieves perfection in anything. It has been so long since anyone pitched a perfect big league game that I have to go back to my generation of ballplayers to recall such a thing – and that is truly a long time ago.
“This note brings you my very sincere congratulations on a memorable feat, one that will inspire pitchers for a long time to come. With best wishes,
Sincerely,
Dwight D. Eisenhower
President of the United States
“I pitched for 14 years with 8 different clubs and won only 81 games,” Larsen said. “ Hey, I gave it my best shot and I tried and I wish my record had been better but I was very pleased to get into the World Series and pitch the Perfect Game. And I guess that is what I will always be remembered for.
“I have been asked a million times about the perfect game,” Larsen mused. “I never dreamed about something like that happening. Everybody is entitled to a good day, and mine came at the right time.”
So did Armando Galarraga’s.
Wonder if President Obama will write a letter to Galarraga the way President Eisenhower sent off a letter to Don Larsen.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 41 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Tuesday, June 01, 2010
Baseball Names and How They Got That Way, Part XVII (J and K)
The words and phrases are spoken and written day after day, year after year - generally without any wonderment as to how they became part of the language. All have a history, a story. For those of you who liked Part I, Part II, Part III, Part X and all the others and wanted more, here is more, just a sampling. As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome
JARRY PARK The Montreal Expos ended their baseball history in the 2004 season in the 70,000-seat Olympique Stadium, a futuristic leftover from the Montreal Olympics. The roots of the team reach back, however, to Jarry Park, their first home. Months before the Expos played their first baseball game, in 1969, a site for the team had not been determined. National League President Warren Giles, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn, Montreal Mayor Jean Drapeau, and Montreal Expos President John McHale came to Jarry Park "as the last thing to look at as a possibility," according to McHale. He continued, "There was an amateur basebal1 game going on. There was great enthusiasm. As we walked into the park, the people recognized Warren Giles, and they stood up. They cried out: 'Le grand patron. Le grand patron!' Giles said, 'This is the place. This is the place. This is the only place I've seen where we can play baseball in Montreal.'" The Expos expanded the amateur ball park from the 2,000 seats that existed behind home plate to a facility that accommodated 28,000. In the ninth year of their existence, the Expos left Jarry Park and its tonjours un beau coup ("a hit every time") basebal1 for something new. The old park remains for the people of Montreal une aJ7aire du cocur ("an affair of the heart").
"Jet" Sam Jethroe, for his tremendous speed on the bases. He was one of the first Negro League players to break through baseball's color barrier, the first black athlete to play for the Boston Braves.
""Joltin' Joe" Joe DiMaggio, for the jolting shots he hit.
JUG-HANDLE CURVE A wide-breaking curveball.
JUNK PITCHER A hurler who throws slow and deceptively breaking pitches, or "junk."
“Juan Gone” Juan Gonzalez got this nickname for his home run skills.
"Jumping Joe" Joe Dugan earned his nickname for being AWOL from his first big league club as a youngster
“JUNIOR” The Los Angeles Dodgers dedicated the 1978 World Series to James Gilliam, who died at the age of 49 just before the Series began, a victim of a cerebral hemorrhage. There have been many athletes over the years who have been called Junior, but Gilliam seemed to have a lock on the name as he had a lock on the emotions of all of those associated with baseball. He was given the name when he performed as the youngest player on the Baltimore Elite Giants, a black baseball team. There were attempts to retire the name when Gilliam played for the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Los Angeles Dodgers and then coached the L.A. team, but the name endured. In the 1978 World Series, all the Dodgers wore on their uniform sleeve a round black patch with Gilliam's number 19 on it. In the eulogy for the man who was proud he was a Dodger, it was said, "He went through al1 of his life without ever once getting his signals crossed." Gilliam was "Junior," but he was a big man. Also Ken Griffey and countless others.
JUNK MAN, THE Eddie Lopat was the premier left-handed pitcher for the New York Yankees in the late 1940's and through most of the 1950's. He recalls how he obtained his nickname: "Ben Epstein was a writer for the New York Daily Mirror and a friend of mine from my Little Rock minor league baseball days. He told me in 1948 that he wanted to give me a name that would stay with me forever. 'I want to see what you think of it—the junk man?' In those days the writers had more consideration. They checked with players before they called them names. I told him I didn't care what they called me just as long as I could get the batters out and get paid for it." Epstein then wrote an article called "The Junkman Cometh," and as Lopat says, "The rest was history." The nickname derived from Lopat's ability to be a successful pitcher by tantalizing the hitters with an assortment of offspeed pitches. This writer and thousands of other baseball fans who saw Lopat pitch bragged more than once that if given a chance, they could hit the "junk" he threw (see STEADY EDDIE).
K The scorecard symbol for a strikeout. A backwards K is denotes a strikeout looking while a forwards K indicates a strikeout swinging.
KANSAS CITY ROYALS The name Royals was chosen by the team's fans in 1969 after the home of the "American Royal", one of the largest livestock shows and parades in the USA. The name also in honor of the old Negro League team in Kansas City the Monarchs.
Kauffman Stadium The Kansas City Stadium was originally named Royals Stadium, but changed to Kauffman Stadium after original owner, Ewing Kauffman.
KEYSTONE Second base.
KEYSTONE COMBINATION The second baseman and the shortstop.
KNOCK OUT OF THE BOX To score runs against a pitcher in such a way that he is removed from the game.
KNUCKLEBALL An unusual pitch that flutters as it comes to the batter (FLUTTERBALL; KNUCKLER).
KNUCKLE CURVE A combination knuckleball and curveball.
"Killer" Harmon Kleberg played for the Washington Senators (1954-1960), Minnesota Twins 1961-1974). His nickname was a play on his surname and a tribute to his hitting skills.
KENESAW MOUNTAIN LANDIS Judge Landis was baseball's first commissioner. He ruled the sport with supreme authority until 1946. The first part of his name came from the place where his father had been wounded during the Civil War.
"Kentucky Colonel" Earl Combs came from Kentucky
"King and the Crown Prince" Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig
KING KONG Charlie Keller played major league baseball for 13 years, all but two of those years with the New York Yankees. Keller was a solid ball player with a lifetime batting average of .286. He was a muscular 5'10", 185-pounder, and his nickname came from the main character of the movie of the same name. Keller's given names were Charles Ernest, but there were many pitchers who believed it was King Kong who was hitting against them.
"Kitty" Hurler Jim Kaat played for quite a few teams 1950s through 1970s. Nickname was a play on his surname.
KLU Ted Kluszewski played 15 years in the major leagues. He pounded out 279 homers, recorded a lifetime slugging average of nearly .500 and a career batting average of nearly . 300. He was a favorite of the Cincinnati fans; at 6'2" and 225 pounds, his bulging biceps were too huge to be contained by ordinary shirt-sleeves. Kluszewski cut off the sleeves and started a new fashion in baseball uniforms-just as fans and sportswriters cut off part of his name to make for a nickname more easily pronounced and printed.
"Knight of Kennett Square" Pitcher Herb Pennock because he raised thoroughbreds and hosted fox hunts in his home town of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania.
“Knucksie" Phil Niekro used his knuckleball to last 24-years and win 318 games with 121 of those victories coming after he turned 40.
Harvey Frommer is in his 34th consecutive year of writing sports books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, the author of 40 sports books including the classics: "New York City Baseball,1947-1957" and "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball," his acclaimed REMEMBERING YANKEE STADIUM, an oral/narrative history (Abrams, Stewart, Tabori and Chang) was published in 2008 as well as a reprint version of his classic "Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball." Frommer's newest work CELEBRATING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is next.
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