The Book Review
Big and beautiful, carefully conceived and masterfully organized, “The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Cowboys Baseball Club” by DJ Stout (University of Texas Press, $34.95, 250 pages, coffee table Texas sized) is one of those books for your sports library that you keep.
Sub-titled “An Illustrated History of the Best Little Semipro Baseball team in Texas,” this work about the Alpine Cowboys is part cultural, all baseball. In the 1940s and 1950s mostly every small town in the USA had bragging rights to a baseball team as did the Big Bend Cowboys. The team played on Kokernor Field, a facility that rivaled many big league parks and many Cowboy players wound up as major leaguers “The Amazing Tale of Mr. Herbert and His Fabulous Cowboys Baseball Club” is a page turner, a wonderful addition to sports book history, a grand slam home run.
"The Most Memorable Games in Giants History" by Bernard Corbett and Jim Baker (Bloomsbury, $24.00, 372 pages) is an oral history of some of 13 top games ever of the legendary franchise. Such as Pat Summerall, Tucker Frederickson, George Martin, Phil Simms, Kerry Collins and Michael Strahan bring back the times of accomplishment and futility.
From Bison Books comes "Football's Last Iron Men" by Norman L. Macht ($14.95, 154 pages, paper) focuses in detail on 1934, Yale vs. Princeton, and a very stunning upset. Macht, author of more than 30 books, in vivid detail and with a marching narrative, shows how eleven Yale Elis on November 17, 1934 played the entire game with grit and guile - and defeated the previously unbeaten Bulldogs, 7-0. HIGHY RECOMMENDED
“Men of Kent” by Rick Rinehart (Lyons Press, $14.95, 210 pages, paper) is as its sub-title proclaims a book about “Ten Boys, A Fast Boat, And The Coach Who Made Them Champions.” If you are into the sport of rowing – this book is a must read.
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, August 31, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Baseball Names and How They Got That Way! (P - -PART XXIII)
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, XV and all the others and wanted more, here is more, just a sampling. As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome. And bear in mind - - this is by no means a complete list.
PAPA (“Steady Edgar”) Edgar Martinez was the Seattle Mariners’ family man and father figure in the clubhouse.
BIG PAPI David Ortiz, Boston Red Sox, sign of respect for a Hispanic person who leads.
PEBBLE PLAY In the 12th inning of the final game of the 1924 World Series between the New York Giants and the Washington Senators, a ground ball that bounced over the head of Giant infielder Freddy Lindstrom led to a score for Washington that gave it the World Championship. It was claimed that the batted ball hit a pebble. "It was never written up the way I looked at it," observed former Giant and Hall of Famer George Kelly. "Now it did hit a pebble, but Fred backed up on it, inexperience. It was his rookie year. This gave the ball an extra hop—the ball played Fred, he didn't play it."
PEERLESS LEADER, THE Frank Leroy Chance, the first baseman in the famous Tinker-to-Evers-to-Chance Chicago Cub infield trio, was aptly nicknamed. In the years 1906-191 1, he led the Cubs to four pennants and two second-place finishes. Functioning as both a player and a manager, Chance recorded 405 career stolen bases—a Cub record—and his clutch hitting and spirited play served as examples of his leadership.
PEE WEE Harold Henry Reese was also known as the Little Colonel, for he hailed from colonel country in Kentucky, but most everyone called him Pee Wee. Various reasons have been advanced for his nickname—he liked playing marbles as a kid; he was small (5'10", 160 pounds); he came up at the same time as Harold "Pistol Pete" Reiser, and writers sought to have the two paired with alliterative nicknames. Whatever the derivation, Reese was anything but small in his influence on the fortunes of the Dodgers, with whom he played for 15 years in Brooklyn and a final year in Los Angeles. He could run, hit, bunt, field, steal, throw, inspire—and most of all win, and influence his team's winning.
Reese was anything but "Pee Wee" in his influence on the Dodgers in over 16 seasons. He could run, hit, bunt, field, steal, throw, inspire and most of all win. And he was especially instrumental in easing the way for Jackie Robinson to break the color line in major league baseball.
When the 1947 season started, some opposing National League players gave Jackie Robinson a hard time. In Boston one day, Reese made a gesture of acceptance for all the world to see. He went over to Robinson and simply put his arm around Jackie. This was at a time when even Robinson's own teammates staged a short-lived protest against having him on the team.
"I get a lot of credit and I appreciate it," Reese said. "But after a while, I thought of him as I would Duke Snider or Gil Hodges or anyone else. We never thought of this as a big deal. We were just playing ball and having fun."
Reese spent his entire 16-year career with the Dodgers, appearing in seven World Series. He played 15 years in Brooklyn and followed the team to Los Angeles for one more season before retiring in 1958. His uniform Number 1 was retired by Los Angeles on July 1, 1984.
One of the magical moments in Reese's career took place on June 22, 1955. It was a day after he had recorded his 2,000th hit. "Pee Wee" was given a birthday party at Ebbets Field. It was the first and only night dedicated to a player up to that time when fans were asked not to contribute anything.
All they were asked to bring was cigars, cigarettes, lighters, candles - - anything they could light up for Pee Wee who remembered, "When I came to Brooklyn in 1940 I was a scared kid. To tell the truth I was twice as scared on my birthday night at Ebbets Field."
And then the moment arrived. Fans at that old Brooklyn ballpark watched the lights dim, lit up whatever they had brought and sang Happy Birthday to Pee Wee with varying levels of competency:
There are those of a certain age who still remember Pee Wee Reese bringing the lineup card out to home plate, raising the right arm, leading the Dodgers onto the playing field.
"Being Captain of the Dodgers," Reese recalled, "meant representing an organization committed to winning and trying to keep it going. We could have won every year if the breaks had gone right."
PENGUIN, THE A Tacoma, Washington, native, Ron Cey of the Los Angeles Dodgers is one of major league baseball's top third basemen. His awkward movements when walking and, especially, when running have resulted in his nickname.
PEOPLE'S CHERCE, THE Fred "Dixie" Walker compiled a .306 batting average in an 18-year major league baseball career, with five different teams. From 1940 to 1947 he starred in the outfield for the Brooklyn Dodgers and won the affection of the fans at Ebbets Field. The team had bigger stars, more proficient players, but Walker somehow had a rapport with the fans that made him their favorite and earned for him his "Brooklynese" nickname.
PEPI Short for Joe Pepitone out of Brooklyn, New York, of brief major league fame with the Yankees and other teams.
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Bobby Thomson's Famous Homer Lives On (Adapted From the Vault)
It was back in the late 1970s that I was researching and interviewing for my book “New York City Baseball 1947-1957 the Last Golden Age” for Macmillan Publishers. That work was about the old Brooklyn Dodgers, New York Giants and New York Yankees.
The old Giant Bobby Thomson, not that far removed from “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World,” was one of my more intriguing and modest interviewees. We had such rapport that I suggested to the publisher that he be used when I went around talking and signing books. It didn’t happen. Too bad. The price was minimal and the rewards would have been maximum.
Now the sad news has come out that the man they once called “the Scot from Staten Island” has passed at age 86. His epic clout was tarnished when it was claimed decades later that Leo Durocher’s Giants had used a buzzer-and-telescope system that season to steal signals from opposing catchers. Thomson, however, always firmly denied that he ever knew what pitch was coming that long ago day – October 3, 1951 at the old Polo Grounds in New York City.
Some refer to that time as "The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff." Others, especially in Brooklyn, call it "Dat Day." But no matter what label is applied it was a time to remember.
It was a time when the Giants played out of the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and the Dodgers entertained millions in their tiny Brooklyn ballpark, Ebbets Field. It was a time of tremendous fan devotion to each team.
In July, Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen had bragged, "The Giants is dead." It seemed to aptly describe the plight of Leo Durocher's team. For on August 12 the Giants trailed the Dodgers by 13 l/2 games in the standings.
Then, incredibly, the Giants locked into what has been called "The Miracle Run." They won 37 of their final 44 games - 16 of them in one frenetic stretch - and closed the gap.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation," recalls Monte Irvin, who batted .312 that year for the Giants. "We kept on winning. The Dodgers kept on losing. It seemed like we beat everybody in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning.
The Giants and Dodgers finished the season in a flat-footed tie for first-place and met on the first day of October in the first game of the first play-off in the history of the National League. The teams split the first two games setting the stage for the third and final game.
Don Newcombe of the Dodgers was pitted against Sal Maglie of the Giants. Both hurlers had won 23 games during the regular season.
The game began under overcast skies and a threat of rain. Radio play-by-play filtered into schoolrooms, factories, office buildings, city prisons, barbershops.
The Wall Street teletype intermingled stock quotations with play-by-play details of the Giant-Dodger battle.
The game was tied 1-1 after seven innings. Then Brooklyn scored three times in the top of the eighth.
Many of the Dodger fans at the Polo Grounds and the multitude listening to the game on the radio thought that the Giants would not come back.
Durocher and the Giants never gave up. "We knew that Newcombe would make the wrong pitch," said Monte Irvin. "That was his history."
The Giants came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning - only three outs remained in their miracle season.
Alvin Dark led off with a single through the right side of the infield. Don Mueller slapped the ball past Dodger first baseman Gil Hodges. Irvin fouled out. Whitey Lockman doubled down the left field line. Dark scored.
With runners on second and third Ralph Branca came in to relieve Newcombe. Bobby Thomson waited to bat. Durocher said, "I did not know whether they would pitch to Thomson or not. First base was open. Willie Mays, just a rookie, was on deck."
Veteran New York Giant announcer Russ Hodges described the moment to millions mesmerized at their radios that October afternoon:
"Bobby Thomson up there swinging.... Bobby batting at .292. Branca pitches and Bobby takes a strike call on the inside corner. Lockman without too big of a lead at second but he'll be running like the wind if Thomson hits one.
"Branca throws ... there's a long drive...it's gonna be, I believe. . .' The precise moment was 3:58 P.M., October 3, 1951.
"... the Giants win the pennant!" Hodges screamed the words at the top of his voice, all semblance of journalistic objectivity gone. "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"
Hodges bellowed it out eight times - and then overcome by the moment and voiceless, he had to yield the microphone.
Pandemonium was on parade at the Polo Grounds for hours after the game. For almost half an hour after the epic home run, there were so many phone calls placed by people in Manhattan and Brooklyn that the New York Telephone Company reported service almost broke down.
Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca would play out their major league careers. But the moment they shared - as hero and goat that October day at the Polo Grounds - would link them forever.
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 REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is set for March 2011 publication. .
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
The old Giant Bobby Thomson, not that far removed from “The Shot Heard ‘Round The World,” was one of my more intriguing and modest interviewees. We had such rapport that I suggested to the publisher that he be used when I went around talking and signing books. It didn’t happen. Too bad. The price was minimal and the rewards would have been maximum.
Now the sad news has come out that the man they once called “the Scot from Staten Island” has passed at age 86. His epic clout was tarnished when it was claimed decades later that Leo Durocher’s Giants had used a buzzer-and-telescope system that season to steal signals from opposing catchers. Thomson, however, always firmly denied that he ever knew what pitch was coming that long ago day – October 3, 1951 at the old Polo Grounds in New York City.
Some refer to that time as "The Miracle at Coogan's Bluff." Others, especially in Brooklyn, call it "Dat Day." But no matter what label is applied it was a time to remember.
It was a time when the Giants played out of the Polo Grounds in Manhattan and the Dodgers entertained millions in their tiny Brooklyn ballpark, Ebbets Field. It was a time of tremendous fan devotion to each team.
In July, Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen had bragged, "The Giants is dead." It seemed to aptly describe the plight of Leo Durocher's team. For on August 12 the Giants trailed the Dodgers by 13 l/2 games in the standings.
Then, incredibly, the Giants locked into what has been called "The Miracle Run." They won 37 of their final 44 games - 16 of them in one frenetic stretch - and closed the gap.
"It was a once-in-a-lifetime situation," recalls Monte Irvin, who batted .312 that year for the Giants. "We kept on winning. The Dodgers kept on losing. It seemed like we beat everybody in the seventh, eighth and ninth inning.
The Giants and Dodgers finished the season in a flat-footed tie for first-place and met on the first day of October in the first game of the first play-off in the history of the National League. The teams split the first two games setting the stage for the third and final game.
Don Newcombe of the Dodgers was pitted against Sal Maglie of the Giants. Both hurlers had won 23 games during the regular season.
The game began under overcast skies and a threat of rain. Radio play-by-play filtered into schoolrooms, factories, office buildings, city prisons, barbershops.
The Wall Street teletype intermingled stock quotations with play-by-play details of the Giant-Dodger battle.
The game was tied 1-1 after seven innings. Then Brooklyn scored three times in the top of the eighth.
Many of the Dodger fans at the Polo Grounds and the multitude listening to the game on the radio thought that the Giants would not come back.
Durocher and the Giants never gave up. "We knew that Newcombe would make the wrong pitch," said Monte Irvin. "That was his history."
The Giants came to bat in the bottom of the ninth inning - only three outs remained in their miracle season.
Alvin Dark led off with a single through the right side of the infield. Don Mueller slapped the ball past Dodger first baseman Gil Hodges. Irvin fouled out. Whitey Lockman doubled down the left field line. Dark scored.
With runners on second and third Ralph Branca came in to relieve Newcombe. Bobby Thomson waited to bat. Durocher said, "I did not know whether they would pitch to Thomson or not. First base was open. Willie Mays, just a rookie, was on deck."
Veteran New York Giant announcer Russ Hodges described the moment to millions mesmerized at their radios that October afternoon:
"Bobby Thomson up there swinging.... Bobby batting at .292. Branca pitches and Bobby takes a strike call on the inside corner. Lockman without too big of a lead at second but he'll be running like the wind if Thomson hits one.
"Branca throws ... there's a long drive...it's gonna be, I believe. . .' The precise moment was 3:58 P.M., October 3, 1951.
"... the Giants win the pennant!" Hodges screamed the words at the top of his voice, all semblance of journalistic objectivity gone. "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!"
Hodges bellowed it out eight times - and then overcome by the moment and voiceless, he had to yield the microphone.
Pandemonium was on parade at the Polo Grounds for hours after the game. For almost half an hour after the epic home run, there were so many phone calls placed by people in Manhattan and Brooklyn that the New York Telephone Company reported service almost broke down.
Bobby Thomson and Ralph Branca would play out their major league careers. But the moment they shared - as hero and goat that October day at the Polo Grounds - would link them forever.
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 REMEMBERING FENWAY PARK: AN ORAL AND NARRATIVE HISTORY OF THE HOME OF RED SOX NATION is set for March 2011 publication. .
FROMMER SPORTSNET (syndicated) reaches a readership in the millions and is housed on Internet search engines for extended periods of time.
Tuesday, August 17, 2010
Baseball Names and How They Got That Way! Part XXII (O)
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, XV and all the others and wanted more, here is more, just a sampling. As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome. And bear in mind - - this is by no means a complete list.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS The former Philadelphia Athletics franchise from 1901-1954 was the Kansas City Athletics. Then from 1955-1967 the team was the Oakland A’s, in 1968 then to the Athletics in 1987.
OCTOPUS, THE Marty Marion was a fine fielding shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s into the 1950s – he had long arms and legs.
OIL CAN Former colorful hurler Dennis Boyd grew up and learned to play ball in the deep south. He would get so thirsty that the beverage drank in his phrase was”just like drankin' ole]."
OLD FOX Name given to pilot-manager Clark Grifith of the old Highlanders because of his cunning ways. OKLAHOMA KID The young Mickey Mantle came from Oklahoma.
OLD ACHES AND PAINS Luke Appling performed for two decades with the Chicago White Sox. A .310 lifetime batting average was just one of the reasons he was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 1964. His nickname stemmed from the
numerous real and imagined illnesses he picked up playing in 2,422 games, while averaging better than a hit a game. Appling was born April 2, 1907, and in 1950 was still playing major league baseball, aches, pains, and all. OLD HOSS Charles Radbourne was known as Charles or Charley until his amazing 1884 season, when he pitched 678 innings and earned the nickname.
OLD RELIABLE Tommy Henrich played for the New York Yankees from 1937 to 1950. His lifetime batting average was only .282, but the value of Henrich to the Yankees was in his clutch hitting. Time after time he would come up in a key situation and deliver. His nickname had its roots in his ability to function under pressure and to perform reliably with distinction.
OLE PERFESSOR Hall of Famer Charles Dillon Stengel was an original. Born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri, he played in the majors for 14 years and managed for 25 more—with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves, the New York Yankees (10 pennants), and the New York Mets (four tenth-place finishes). He had seen it all, and in one of his more coherent statements, he said, "This here team won't win anything until we spread enough of our players around the league and make the others [teams] horseshit, too." The statement underscored the ineptitude of the early Mets. Loquacious, dynamic, vital, Casey could lecture on baseball and life for hours and hours, and that was just part of the reason for his nickname. Actually, in 1914 Stengel held the title of professor at the University of Mississippi, for he spent that year's spring-training coaching baseball at that institution. That's how he really came by his nickname.
ONE AND ONLY The” Babe Ruth, he was.
ONE-ARMED PETE GRAY Born Peter J. Wyshner (a.k.a. Pete Gray) on March 6, 1917, Gray was a longtime New York City semipro star who played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. He actually had only one arm and played center field with an unpadded glove. He had an intricate and well developed routine for catching the ball, removing the ball from his glove, and throwing the ball to the infield. Gray hit .218 for the Browns, not bad for a hitter with only one arm.
$100,000 INFIELD That was the price tag and the nickname given to Eddie Collins, "Home Run" Baker, Stuffy McInnis, and Hack Barry, the players who composed the infield for Connie Mack's 1914 Philadelphia Athletics.
OAKLAND ATHLETICS The former Philadelphia Athletics franchise from 1901-1954 was the Kansas City Athletics. Then from 1955-1967 the team was the Oakland A’s, in 1968 then to the Athletics in 1987.
OCTOPUS, THE Marty Marion was a fine fielding shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s into the 1950s – he had long arms and legs.
OIL CAN Former colorful hurler Dennis Boyd grew up and learned to play ball in the deep south. He would get so thirsty that the beverage drank in his phrase was”just like drankin' ole]."
OLD FOX Name given to pilot-manager Clark Grifith of the old Highlanders because of his cunning ways. OKLAHOMA KID The young Mickey Mantle came from Oklahoma.
OLD ACHES AND PAINS Luke Appling performed for two decades with the Chicago White Sox. A .310 lifetime batting average was just one of the reasons he was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 1964. His nickname stemmed from the
numerous real and imagined illnesses he picked up playing in 2,422 games, while averaging better than a hit a game. Appling was born April 2, 1907, and in 1950 was still playing major league baseball, aches, pains, and all. OLD HOSS Charles Radbourne was known as Charles or Charley until his amazing 1884 season, when he pitched 678 innings and earned the nickname.
OLD RELIABLE Tommy Henrich played for the New York Yankees from 1937 to 1950. His lifetime batting average was only .282, but the value of Henrich to the Yankees was in his clutch hitting. Time after time he would come up in a key situation and deliver. His nickname had its roots in his ability to function under pressure and to perform reliably with distinction.
OLE PERFESSOR Hall of Famer Charles Dillon Stengel was an original. Born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri, he played in the majors for 14 years and managed for 25 more—with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves, the New York Yankees (10 pennants), and the New York Mets (four tenth-place finishes). He had seen it all, and in one of his more coherent statements, he said, "This here team won't win anything until we spread enough of our players around the league and make the others [teams] horseshit, too." The statement underscored the ineptitude of the early Mets. Loquacious, dynamic, vital, Casey could lecture on baseball and life for hours and hours, and that was just part of the reason for his nickname. Actually, in 1914 Stengel held the title of professor at the University of Mississippi, for he spent that year's spring-training coaching baseball at that institution. That's how he really came by his nickname.
ONE AND ONLY The” Babe Ruth, he was.
ONE-ARMED PETE GRAY Born Peter J. Wyshner (a.k.a. Pete Gray) on March 6, 1917, Gray was a longtime New York City semipro star who played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. He actually had only one arm and played center field with an unpadded glove. He had an intricate and well developed routine for catching the ball, removing the ball from his glove, and throwing the ball to the infield. Gray hit .218 for the Browns, not bad for a hitter with only one arm.
$100,000 INFIELD That was the price tag and the nickname given to Eddie Collins, "Home Run" Baker, Stuffy McInnis, and Hack Barry, the players who composed the infield for Connie Mack's 1914 Philadelphia Athletics.
Tuesday, August 03, 2010
Baseball Names and How They Got That Way! Part XXII (O)
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, XV and all the others and wanted more, here is more, just a sampling. As always, reactions and suggestions always welcome. And bear in mind - - this is by no means a complete list.
Oakland Athletics The former Philadelphia Athletics franchise from 1901-1954 was the Kansas City Athletics. Then from 1955-1967 the team was the Oakland A's, in 1968 then to the Athletics in 1987.
OCTOPUS, THE Marty Marion was a fine fielding shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s into the 1950s he had long arms and legs.
OIL CAN Former colorful hurler Dennis Boyd grew up and learned to play ball in the deep south. He would get so thirsty that the beverage drank in his phrase was"just like drankin' ole]."
OLD FPX Name given to pilot-manager Clark Grifith of the old Highlanders because of his cunning ways.
OKLAHOMA KID The young Mickey Mantle came from Oklahoma.
OLD ACHES AND PAINS Luke Appling performed for two decades with the Chicago White Sox. A .310 lifetime batting average was just one of the reasons he was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 1964. His nickname stemmed from the numerous real and imagined illnesses he picked up playing in 2,422 games, while averaging better than a hit a game. Appling was born April 2, 1907, and in 1950 was still playing major league baseball, aches, pains, and all.
OLD HOSS Charles Radbourne was known as Charles or Charley until his amazing 1884 season, when he pitched 678 innings and earned the nickname.
OLD RELIABLE Tommy Henrich played for the New York Yankees from 1937 to 1950. His lifetime batting average was only .282, but the value of Henrich to the Yankees was in his clutch hitting. Time after time he would come up in a key situation and deliver. His nickname had its roots in his ability to function under pressure and to perform reliably with distinction.
OLE PERFESSOR Hall of Famer Charles Dillon Stengel was an original. Born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri, he played in the majors for 14 years and managed for 25 more--with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves, the New York Yankees (10 pennants), and the New York Mets (four tenth-place finishes). He had seen it all, and in one of his more coherent statements, he said, "This here team won't win anything until we spread enough of our players around the league and make the others [teams] horseshit, too." The statement underscored the ineptitude of the early Mets. Loquacious, dynamic, vital, Casey could lecture on baseball and life for hours and hours, and that was just part of the reason for his nickname. Actually, in 1914 Stengel held the title of professor at the University of Mississippi, for he spent that year's spring-training coaching baseball at that institution. That's how he really came by his nickname.
ON DECK A term describing a player stationed in the batter's on deck circle in front of the dugout, preparing to be the next batter to come up and hit.
ONE AND ONLY Babe Ruth, he was.
ONE-ARMED PETE GRAY Born Peter J. Wyshner (a.k.a. Pete Gray) on March 6, 1917, Gray was a longtime New York City semipro star who played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. He actually had only one arm and played center field with an unpadded glove. He had an intricate and well developed routine for catching the ball, removing the ball from his glove, and throwing the ball to the infield. Gray hit .218 for the Browns, not bad for a hitter with only one arm.
$100,000 INFIELD That was the price tag and the nickname given to Eddie Collins, "Home Run" Baker, Stuffy McInnis, and Hack Barry, the players who composed the infield for Connie Mack's 1914 Philadelphia Athletics.
ONE-BAGGER (ONE-BASE HIT) A single.
OPPOSITE FIELD The part of the field opposite the batter's box a hitter occupies. Thus, right field is the opposite field for a hitter who bats right, and left field is the opposite field for a hitter who bats from the left side of the plate.
Oakland Athletics The former Philadelphia Athletics franchise from 1901-1954 was the Kansas City Athletics. Then from 1955-1967 the team was the Oakland A's, in 1968 then to the Athletics in 1987.
OCTOPUS, THE Marty Marion was a fine fielding shortstop for the St. Louis Cardinals in the 1940s into the 1950s he had long arms and legs.
OIL CAN Former colorful hurler Dennis Boyd grew up and learned to play ball in the deep south. He would get so thirsty that the beverage drank in his phrase was"just like drankin' ole]."
OLD FPX Name given to pilot-manager Clark Grifith of the old Highlanders because of his cunning ways.
OKLAHOMA KID The young Mickey Mantle came from Oklahoma.
OLD ACHES AND PAINS Luke Appling performed for two decades with the Chicago White Sox. A .310 lifetime batting average was just one of the reasons he was admitted to the Hall of Fame in 1964. His nickname stemmed from the numerous real and imagined illnesses he picked up playing in 2,422 games, while averaging better than a hit a game. Appling was born April 2, 1907, and in 1950 was still playing major league baseball, aches, pains, and all.
OLD HOSS Charles Radbourne was known as Charles or Charley until his amazing 1884 season, when he pitched 678 innings and earned the nickname.
OLD RELIABLE Tommy Henrich played for the New York Yankees from 1937 to 1950. His lifetime batting average was only .282, but the value of Henrich to the Yankees was in his clutch hitting. Time after time he would come up in a key situation and deliver. His nickname had its roots in his ability to function under pressure and to perform reliably with distinction.
OLE PERFESSOR Hall of Famer Charles Dillon Stengel was an original. Born on July 30, 1890, in Kansas City, Missouri, he played in the majors for 14 years and managed for 25 more--with the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Braves, the New York Yankees (10 pennants), and the New York Mets (four tenth-place finishes). He had seen it all, and in one of his more coherent statements, he said, "This here team won't win anything until we spread enough of our players around the league and make the others [teams] horseshit, too." The statement underscored the ineptitude of the early Mets. Loquacious, dynamic, vital, Casey could lecture on baseball and life for hours and hours, and that was just part of the reason for his nickname. Actually, in 1914 Stengel held the title of professor at the University of Mississippi, for he spent that year's spring-training coaching baseball at that institution. That's how he really came by his nickname.
ON DECK A term describing a player stationed in the batter's on deck circle in front of the dugout, preparing to be the next batter to come up and hit.
ONE AND ONLY Babe Ruth, he was.
ONE-ARMED PETE GRAY Born Peter J. Wyshner (a.k.a. Pete Gray) on March 6, 1917, Gray was a longtime New York City semipro star who played in 77 games for the St. Louis Browns in 1945. He actually had only one arm and played center field with an unpadded glove. He had an intricate and well developed routine for catching the ball, removing the ball from his glove, and throwing the ball to the infield. Gray hit .218 for the Browns, not bad for a hitter with only one arm.
$100,000 INFIELD That was the price tag and the nickname given to Eddie Collins, "Home Run" Baker, Stuffy McInnis, and Hack Barry, the players who composed the infield for Connie Mack's 1914 Philadelphia Athletics.
ONE-BAGGER (ONE-BASE HIT) A single.
OPPOSITE FIELD The part of the field opposite the batter's box a hitter occupies. Thus, right field is the opposite field for a hitter who bats right, and left field is the opposite field for a hitter who bats from the left side of the plate.
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