Baseball History

[67RedSox]

On this date in 2007, I was in front of the television set watching my favorite rookie turn his unassisted triple play. I was amazed and dazzled. Because of that play, his overall proficiency on the field, his quality hitting, and the leadership he exhibited at the age of 22, I felt and was sure that he would be the ROY, which unfortunately was bestowed upon Ryan Braun. This was the same Ryan Braun who undeservedly won MVP honors over a very valuable Matt Kemp several years later.

smf52...to your statement the other day - I meant to comment on it at the time but got distracted so I'll do so now. Tulo deserved to be ROTY in 2007 and I think that's just another snub Rockies' players have had to endure over the years. They are simply penalized for where they play. Braun had a good rookie campaign but I will give it to a SS over an OFer 100 out of 100 times when it's close and in '07 I didn't think it was even that close.

 

[C U Buff Fan1]

My first game at Coors Field happened to be the first time Bret Saberhagen pitched after his acquisition. That trade was announced when the team was en route back to Denver and the entire plane erupted in a cheer as they felt that move showed that management believed in that team and was going to do what they could to get to the playoffs. Unfortunately, the game I saw with Saberhagen pitching was probably his best one as a Rockie as he developed almost immediate shoulder soreness.

I was at that game too and Saberhagen threw like 130 pitches. I remember the story of the players on the plane cheering when the Saberhagen trade was announced.

 

[C U Buff Fan1]

Where were you on this date in 2007 when Troy Tulowitzki turns the 13th unassisted Triple Play in Big League history. 31,445 were sitting in Coors Field watching.

I seem to remember he then threw the ball into the stands. On purpose.

Braun had a good rookie campaign but I will give it to a SS over an OFer 100 out of 100 times when it's close and in '07 I didn't think it was even that close.

The worst part for me was that Braun was a horrible fielder. He had 26 errors that year but he played 3rd not OF.

He also starred at the same HS as John Elway. Granada Hills.

 

[smf52]

That slight to Tulo was one of a long list of Rockies players being snubbed by the media and MLB. I also remember all of the errors that Braun had at 3rd and was shocked that that was not taken into consideration when the voting results were announced. I was told that fielding didn't really factor into ROY awards. Huh? I also think though, that in retrospect, it showed that Braun was already getting a little special treatment in the press and by MLB for him to win MVP over the superior Matt Kemp and then the "forgiving" of his PEDS transgression by so many. Yes, I know that it was dismissed but many times an allegation will dog a player for the rest of his career and Braun has seemed to have been given a pass.

 

[67RedSox]

The worst part for me was that Braun was a horrible fielder. He had 26 errors that year but he played 3rd not OF.

C U Buff Fan1...he did play 3rd that year...thanks for that. I simply forgot.

 

[67RedSox]

Can you remember what you were doing 77 years ago today. On this date in 1936 Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio makes his ML debut. I don’t know why there was so much hype about this rookie. All he did that season was collect 206 Hits, hit .323, drive in 125, score 132 runs and made the All-Star team (as he did every single season he played). In his second season he hit .346 and drove in 167 runs, teammate Lou Gehrig hit .351 and drove in 159 runs and Bill Dickey hit .332 and drove in 133. How would you like to face those guys 3-4-5 in the order if you were pitching against them. I know the Rockies’ bats can be menacing but facing those three in a row would make you twitch a bit wouldn’t it.
Fast forward exactly 15 years and on this date in 1951 another Yankee rookie had a pretty good day when Gil McDougal drives in 6 runs as the Yankees drub the hapless St. Louis Browns, 17-3 in front of 1,612 fans ( yes that’s correct ). By the way, he drove in those 6 runs in a single inning which tied a ML record thanks to a grand slam and a 2 run triple. Later in the WS that year he poked a grand slam HR against the Dodgers becoming the first rookie to hit one in WS play. McDougald can tell you all about how damaging being hit in the head by a baseball can be. He was involved in two incidents and both had devastating effects. The first was when he was hit in the ear by a ball during batting practice. At the time he was thought to have suffered ‘just’ a concussion but it was much more and as a result of the incorrect diagnosis he soon lost the hearing in his left ear and later the hearing in his right as well. In 1994 his hearing loss was somewhat restored by cochlear implant surgery. The second incident was in 1957 when it was he who hit the line drive that that drilled pitcher, Herb Score, in the eye which effectively ended his career and was one of the most horrific on-field injuries to witness the game has ever seen.
It was on this date in 1987 that Joe Cowley, pitching in relief for the White Sox, makes his final major league appearance. What was unique in this case is that the 28-year old becomes the only pitcher in Major League history never to win another game after pitching a no-hitter. The previous season he tossed a No-No against the Angels as a starter with the White Sox.
It was on this date in 2000 that the Rockies set a franchise record collecting 24 hits in a 16-7 rout of Montreal. Todd Helton goes 5-for-5 in the Coors Field contest, with all nine starters getting at least one hit and driving in at least one run. I guess that’s what you call everyone making a contribution.
I find it hard to believe that Davey Lopes who was born on this date in 1945 is 68 years old. It seems like just yesterday he was running, at will, on the base paths. I detested him. He was a thorn in the side of my Yankees back in their WS match-ups in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. It’s hard to believe he hung up his spikes over 25 years ago or that he even played with the A’s, Cubs and Astros after the Dodgers.
I can’t forget to mention that it was on this date in 1854 that George ‘Piano Legs’ Gore was born. I suppose you know he is the only Batting Champion from Maine. He was one wicked good ballplayer in his time…some called him an early version of Ty Cobb or Tris Speaker. He’s also considered to be the first ‘holdout’ in Baseball. When his baseball talents were recognized as something special he was enticed out of Maine to play for Fall River and then New Bedford in the New England League for the then princely sum of $55.00 a month plus expenses. He had hit the big time but the majors would soon come calling in the person of A.G. Spalding the owner of the Chicago White Stockings who offered Gore $1,200.00 to play in Chicago in 1879. Gore told him to take a hike unless he coughed up $2,500.00. The two eventually compromised on $1,900.00 and his ML career began and in 1880 he won the NL Batting Crown with a mark of .360.

 

[67RedSox]

17 years ago Jamey Wright was pitching at Coors Field for the Rockies...last night he was still pitching there but on the other side of the field.
Speaking of old time Rockies there are still a couple who played with the Rockies even before Wright who are still playing professionally in the Mexican league...Juan Acevedo who pitched with the Rockies in 1995 and 2001 is still a starting pitcher and the oldest tenured Rockie still going, Pedro Castellano, who played in the infield for the Rockies in 1993-94-95 is still doing the same south of the border.
With Jamie Moyer now gone from the scene there is only one MLer born in the 1960s still playing in the Majors...Mariano Rivera. He has, to this point in his career, earned over $169M pitching in the Big Leagues. I wonder if he's put a little something away for his retirement.

 

[67RedSox]

The Majors are full of players who never got a full chance to show the talent they had and end up unknown except to a few. I can't let today go by without mentioning one of the best of that group because on this date in 1925 he was born...Bob Cerv is his name. His last year in the Majors was 1962 so if can't say what his lifetime stats are off by heart you're forgiven. I remember him primarily because he was a Yankee (my team back then) and I had his baseball card (must have been 1961's) and I remember it like yesterday even though I don't think I've seen it since way back then...I hope I didn't put it my spokes, but I could have because as a rookie fan what did I know.
Cerv was an OFer and came up with the Yankees in the early 1950's when it was tough to crack their OF. He rode the bench most of the time and wore #7 until some guy named Mantle took it after wearing #6 when he first came up. The Yanks traded Cerv to their top farm club...the ML Kansas City Athletics...after the 1956 season. Playing as a regular his star shone. 1958 was his best season when he came close in all three categories of the Triple Crown. He hit .305 with 38 HRs and 104 RBIs beating out Ted Williams as the starting LFer in the All-Star game. He had that incredible year despite having a broken toe and breaking his jaw in May and having to play 6 weeks with it wired shut and only able to consume liquids. While the Athletics played in Kansas City and before moving to Oakland in 1968 Cerv hit more HRs in a season than any other player. The Yankees got him back but he was in the twilight of his career and finished up playing for a couple of expansion teams...the Angels and Astros.
He played in three WS including '55 and '56 against the Dodgers. The Dodgers (Brooklyn) won their only WS Championship in 1955 and lost the encore in 1956.
Cerv and surprisingly a whole bunch of participants in the 1955 Series are still around...15, I think from 58 years ago.

 

[67RedSox]

- If you were at the Polo Grounds on this date in 1915 you would have seen Babe Ruth hit his first ML Home Run. I wonder what that ball would be worth if you had it.
- In a game a couple of years ago I listened to the Blue Jays hit back-to-back-to-back triples in a game against the Indians and figured that has to a record but it wasn't because on this date in 1934 the Red Sox hit 4 consecutive triples at Fenway against the Tigers.
- On this date in 1953 Bobo Holloman tosses a No-Hitter in his first ML start for the hapless St. Louis Browns in front of 2,473 fans in St. Louis. The Win boosts the Browns record to 10-9 for the season. It's all downhill after that for both Holloman and the Browns. Holloman's ML career would be over by mid July of that year. He will not pitch another complete game and win only two more games in his 1 year career going 3-7. There have been 21 Rookies toss No-No's since 1900 but Holloman is the only to do it in his first start. That game would mark the last time the Browns would be above .500 for the season as they would finish with 100 Losses and cease to exist as the following season... they would morph into the Baltimore Orioles.
- Rene Lachemann, the Rockies 1B Coach, managed the first of his 988 ML games on this date in 1981 when he took over the Seattle Mariners from a fired Maury Wills. He would also manage the Brewers, Marlins and Cubs going 428-560 for a .433 mark.
- It was on this date in 1998 that Kerry Wood in his rookie season with the Cubs pitches one of the greatest games in the history of MLB when he 1-hits the Astros. He was a bit off that day as he only strikes out 20 batters...to set a new NL record and tie Roger Clemens ML record for the most strikeouts in a 9 inning game. Don't forget neither Wood nor Clemens holds the record for the most K's in a single game...that belongs to Tom Cheney who struck out 21 while he was pitching for the Washington Senators in 1962.
- Bill Hands, who was a 20 Game Winner with the Cubs in 1969 (sorry smf52) was born on this date in 1940, 73 years ago and the Say Hey Kid turns 82 today, born on this date in 1931. Incidentally, Willie just lost his wife of 41 years who died after a long battle with Alzheimer's...about 17 years, I believe and she was at home and Willie cared for her.

 

[67RedSox]

There's a couple of things worth mentioning today. In was on this date in 1999 that the Colorado Rockies by scoring in the first inning on a Larry Walker two-out homer, tie a National League record established by the 1894 Pirates and 1949 Giants scoring in 14 consecutive innings. The major league mark is 17 set by the 1903 Red Sox. That was the Jim Leyland year...one of those years you'd just like to forget about.

When the Dodgers moved West in 1958 it started a few years drought as far as meeting up with their old nemesis, the NY Yankees. In the six years leading up to their moving the Dodgers and Yankees played in four World Series. They wouldn't play in another one until the dreadful 1963 Series (guess who I was rooting for) when the Yankees were swept in a WS for the first time and the Dodgers won there only WS at their home ball park. The Dodgers were just too much for the Yankees thanks to Drysdale, Podres, Koufax, Perranoski and some white shirts. However in between the 4 WS in the 1950's and the 1963 WS the Dodgers and Yankees did hook up once at the Coliseum in LA. On this date in 1959 the Yankees defeat the Dodgers, 6-2, in an exhibition game played to benefit Roy Campanella, who was paralyzed in an auto accident prior to the team moving to the West Coast in 1958. The game, which draws the largest crowd ever for a baseball game, 93,103 fans with another estimated 15,000 turned away.

Finally, it was on this date in 1896 that Tom Zachary was born. Zachary was a pretty good ML pitcher for 19 years winning close to 200 Games. In 1924 he and the Washington Senators won a WS but he is best remembered as the pitcher who gave up Babe Ruth's record setting 60th HR in 1927. He did not enjoy being part of that bit of history even almost 40 years later when he was asked to write a letter about the experience...here's what he had to say about it, and Ruth:

Tom Zachary's Letter About Babe Ruth's 60th Home Run

Tom Zachary surrendered The Babe's groundbreaking 60th home run on September 30, 1927. This letter, written in 1965 by Zachary, recounts the home run and reveals Zachary's still-brewing anger at the circumstances of the event nearly 40 years later.

"…Tied 2-2 in 8th. 2 outs, one man on and a count of 3 and 2 strikes on Ruth. I threw him a curve, but I made a bad mistake. I should have thrown a fast one at his big fat head. Lost game, 4-2. It was a tremendous swat down right field foul line. At that time there were just bleacher seats in right field with foul pole. But since (at first) It went so__ and far up in bleachers that it would be difficult to judge it accurately. I hollered "foul ball" but I got no support, very little from my team mostly so it must have been a fair ball - but I always contended to Ruth that it was foul."

P.S.: In the 9th inning, pitching legend Walter Johnson made his final appearance as a player. He pinched-hit for Zachary and flied out to Ruth!

The following season after giving up the historic HR Zachary was traded to the Yankees and he would win another WS ring in 1929 when he went 12-0 and set the record for most Wins in a season without a Loss.

 

[4thefences]

Wow that's an amazing amount of fans that showed up in support of Campanella. Although the Rockies were not yet born on this date, May 7th 1989 was the birth of our daughter who would be the start of 2nd generation Rockies fans in our family. Happy Birthday Courtney!!

 

[Silas]

Happy Birthday, Courtney! Have a terrific day!!

 

[67RedSox]

Well, I know you've been wondering about this and the answer is yes...Hank Aaron did hit an inside-the-park-homer but he only did it once and it was on this date in 1967 against a HOF pitcher, Jim Bunning. I'm surprised that of the 755 HRs he hit all but one cleared the fences. Incidentally, Jesse Burkett holds the ML record with 55 lifetime inside-the-parkers. In our time, both Greg Gagne in 1986 and Richie "Call me Dick" Allen in 1972 hit two in one game.
Can't let today go by without saying Happy Birthday to one of my favourite players that few know (in this case smf52 will and Silas possibly)...Jim Hickman who was born on this date in 1937. Gentleman Jim was an original Met in 1962 and endured the worst years of their existence until he moved on to the Dodgers in 1967. While with the Mets he became the first to hit for the cycle and it was a natural cycle which has only been accomplished 14 times in MLB history. He has the distinction of hitting the last ever HR at the Polo Grounds. That happened on September 18, 1963 off of a pretty good pitcher, Chris Short of the Phillies. He was the first Met to hit 3 HRs in a single game and finally, he was the last of all of the 'original' Mets. However, he became one of my favourites during his years with the Cubs, 1968-1973. smf52 you'll recall that the year we'd like to forget, 1969, was Ernie Banks final full season. In 1970, after 17 years of being the consummate professional and leader he had to pass the torch to the next generation and it was Hickman who stepped into his place. Ernie only started 57 games at 1B that year. Hickman was more an OFer than a 1B but he moved to the infield when Banks had to slow down. I do not hold any malice at all toward Hickman for that. In 1970 while Billy Williams was having his career year with 42 HRs and 129 RBIs Hickman was following him with 32-115 to win Comeback Player of the Year.

Finally...although late... a Happy 24th Birthday to Courtney...the second generation of baseball fan in the Fences family and I'm presuming the mother of Jordyn, the start of the third generation. It's almost one year to the date when (May 16th ) Jamie Moyer became the oldest pitcher to win a ML game and guess who was in the stands at that game.

 

[4thefences]

You have that right 67RS, all 3 generations of our family. Wonder how many Moyer generations were there? BTW thanks to all of you for dropping a Happy B-Day note towards my daughter and what a memory 67RS has. No need to remind him of our grand-daughters name who is indeed Courtney's little one.
So the Rockies are off to St.Louis were they will be seeing red. Lots of it and against the Cards who have been playing very good ball. Time to kick it up another notch or two as the Rockies have been looking flat the last week. Lets go Rockies!

 

[67RedSox]

Maybe the best pitcher of the 1950s that nobody knows tossed a No-Hitter for the Cubs on this date in 1955 before a huge crowd of 2,918 at Wrigley Field. smf52...have you ever been to a game at Wrigley in front of a sparse crowd like that...must seem pretty empty. Despite tossing the No-No this pitcher would lead the NL with 20 Losses that year but would make up for it when in 1959 he was the NL Pitcher of the Year when, pitching for the Giants, he lead the League with 21 Wins. Had there been a Cy Young Award for each League back then he would have won it in the NL. Between 1955-1958 he won three NL Strikeout Crowns and each one of those years he also led the League in Walks...so he had a bit of a control problem which actually made him a better pitcher. You see he had what was considered the best curveball in the League in those days...it was before Koufax managed to tame his stuff. Batters were continually kept off guard because of his curve and because they didn't know if his pitch would cross the plate or the middle of their head (pre batting helmet days). Because he spent some time in the ***** League and the Minors before making it to the Majors his career wasn't a long one but it was memorable. He was diagnosed with cancer in his neck during the 1962 season and after cobalt treatments was considered cancer-free but other than a couple of seasons in '63 and '64 with the Cardinals and Orioles where he pitched in only 18 games his career was over at age 38. He died a few years later at age 45 when the cancer returned but couldn't be overcome. Do you remember Toothpick Jones, aka Sad Sam Jones...a lot of NL batters in the mid to late 50s remember walking back to the dugout with bat in hand after facing him.
One of the guys who played behind Toothpick Jones in the field when he tossed his No-Hitter was SS, Ernie Banks and on this date in 1970 in front of only 5,264 fans, Mr. Cub hit HR #500 to the Left Field bleachers at Wrigley which bounces back onto the field where it's retrieved and given to Banks. Frank Secory, umpiring at 1B in the game oddly also umpired the game in 1953 when Banks hit his first ML HR.
HOF Yogi Berra was born on this date in 1925 making him 88 and on this date in 1935 Felipe Alou, my favourite Manager, was born...making him 78, hard to believe.

 

[67RedSox]

Do you remember where you were on this date in 1929. Well if you were in Cleveland and wanted to watch a ballgame the Yankees were in town for what would feature for the first time in ML history a game played with both teams wearing numbers on the back of their jerseys. The numerals will become a permanent fixture on each club's attire and were determined by where you hit in the batting order. Thus, Babe Ruth gets #3 to wear and Lou Gehrig #4. Incidentally the game was played in Cleveland’s League Park which was built in 1891 and demolished in 1951. Babe Ruth hit his 500th HR there, Joe DiMaggio 56th and last game in his hitting streak took place there and Cy Young tossed threw the first pitch in the place. Long gone perhaps but not forgotten because the City of Cleveland recently approved a plan to restore the ticket house and remaining bleacher wall, as well as build a new diamond on the site of the old one and last October the groundbreaking of the League Park restoration began. The project includes a museum, a restoration of the ball field, and a community park featuring pavilions and walking trails…what a great idea.
If you’re Polish you’ll like this story. On this date in 1958 Stanislaw Franciszek Musial collects his 3000th hit in the sixth inning off Moe Drabowsky who was born in Poland in the Cardinals' 5-3 victory over the Cubs at Wrigley Field. 'The Man' was the youngest player to reach the milestone and 8th MLer to do so. The count presently stands at 28.
Jimmy Archer was born on this day in 1883. He was ‘the’ Catcher of the Dead Ball Era and played for the Chicago Cubs. He’s in the Hall of Fame, eh…the Canadian baseball Hall of Fame that is. He was easily the best catcher of his time and renowned for popularizing the snap throw from a squatting position. Chief Meyers another catcher of the time said… "He didn't have an arm. He had a rifle. And perfect accuracy." Al Bridwell, the ex-Giant shortstop who played with Archer on the 1913 Cubs, agreed. "Best arm of any catcher I ever saw," said the man who received many of Archer's snap throws. "He'd zip it down there to second like a flash. Perfect accuracy, and under a six-foot bar all the way down." Clark Griffith who was the Manager in New York said this about him…"If I had that fellow I'd work him every day just to watch him peg, there is not another man in his class when it comes to shooting the ball. He is faster than chained lightning, and he never has to take a step to get the ball to any of the bases.” He was born in a place where baseball didn’t exist, Dublin, Ireland. If any sport was in his future it normally would have been Gaelic football or hurling but like so many of the time his family immigrated to Canada and he grew up in Toronto and loved to play baseball and was a pretty good player. Most young players develop their skills in a prescribed manner but Archer took an unconventional route. During the winter of 1902, the 19-year-old Archer was working as a barrel maker at a cooperage in Toronto when he fell into a vat of boiling oak sap, scalding his right arm and leg so badly that he was hospitalized for three months. Jimmy was in so much pain during his hospitalization that he begged for his arm to be amputated. As a result of the accident, the tendon in his right arm shrunk and made his right arm shorter than his left. Jimmy was left with a unique strength; he always claimed that the accident was what gave him his unique ability to throw quickly and accurately from a squatting position.
If he was still alive Johnny Roseboro who was born on this date in 1933 would be 80. I remember him catching Koufax and Drysdale. My strongest recollection of him isn’t when Marichal took a bat to his head but the 1965 WS when the Twins beat Drysdale and Koufax in the first 2 games and I thought, how sweet it is. Alas, the Dodgers weren’t buying defeat and won 4 of the next 5. I would have to wait another year before the Dodgers would see defeat.

 

[67RedSox]

It was on this date in 1920 that the NY Giants decide to give the boot to the NY Yankees and not renew their lease to play in the Polo Grounds. The Giants were apparently concerned that because the Yankees had acquired Babe Ruth who had set the HR record with 29 playing for the Red Sox in 1919 they would become too big a draw and hurt the Giants . The Yankees have 2 more years left on their lease and Ruth destroys the record of 29 HRs by hitting 54 and 59 HRs in his first 2 seasons with the Yankees while they still played in the Polo Grounds. The Yankees and their newly acquired Babe Ruth will have to find a place to play and they find it just across the Harlem River from the Polo Grounds. Yankee Stadium is built for a cost of $2.4M or about $32M in 2013 $. Had there been 12 Yankee Stadiums built in every one of the 50 States in 1922 the cost of constructing those 600 Yankee Stadiums would be less than the cost of the New Yankee Stadium.
The Polo Grounds and Yankee Stadium across the Harlem River from each:

https://www.google.ca/search?q=the+...ds-New-York-City-Poster_i2508591_.htm;400;320

It was on this date in 1993, 20 years ago today, that Jay Gainer makes his ML debut for the Rockies playing at 1B. On the very first pitch he sees in the Majors he cranks one out of the park for a HR. His ML career consists of 41 ABs but at least he has a story to tell.

The Trading Card Database - 1993 Fleer Final Edition 29 Jay Gainer

 

[4thefences]

On this date in 1972 Willie Mays plays his first game as a NY Met. He hits a HR in the 5th inning which proved to be the decisive winning run....against the SF Giants.

 

[67RedSox]

Man, it's hard to believe that was over 40 years ago. Cripes, I must be getting old. It was rather sad to see Mays' career come to an end the way it did in NY...a shell of his former self. That deal was made as a favour to Willie Mays. The Mets could guarantee Mays a coaching salary of $50,000.00 a year for 10 years after he retired...the Giants couldn't. The Giants were in real financial difficulty. By the 1970's no one wanted to go watch a game in the cold and wind at Candlestick any more and they came close to moving to Toronto until they were sold.

 

[Silas]

Candlestick Park was the worst ballpark I ever attended. Plus you had to walk up a steep hill, called "Cardiac Hill" to reach the gates. People actually had heart attacks walking up to the place.

Any way, they've apparently learned their lesson by building AT&T Park which is one of the nicer Parks I've attended, though not the best.

It is located in a very picturesque setting, but to me, feels a bit confining once inside. Plus, the RF fence is only 309 feet from Home Plate. Give a guy like Barry Bonds some PEDS and 309 feet and it's no wonder he hit so many HR's. (That's my Giants' dig for the day! )