Baseball History Thread

[OleMissCub]

A few of Babe Ruth's less than admirable moments on the diamond.

 

From when he threw dirt in an umpire's face and ran into the stands to beat up a heckler, May 27th 1922:

 

http://img183.imageshack.us/img183/8849/ruthfanrn9.jpg

 

From when he punched an umpire, June 24th 1917:

 

http://img93.imageshack.us/img93/9580/ruthpunchth5.jpg

[OleMissCub]

This picture of Tris Speaker, Connie Mack, and Ty Cobb is just crazy. Connie Mack lived damn near forever. For example, when Ty Cobb came up as an 18 year old rookie, Mack had already been managing for 11 years!

 

http://img529.imageshack.us/img529/9261/speakermackcobbqi5.jpg

[OleMissCub]

Theodore Samuel Williams: The Greatest Hitter of All Time (imo) and a bona fide American Patriot.

 

162 game avg: .344/.482/.634, 191 OPS+, 37 HR, 37 doubles, 5 triples, 130 RBI, 127 runs, 143 walks

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted12.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted5.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted15.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted24.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted4.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted13.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted17.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted39.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted21.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted23.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted7.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted8.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted44-1.jpg

 

From WWII:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted10.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted18.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted19.jpg

 

From the Korean War:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted26.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/ted45.jpg

[TruffleShuffle]

if i was alive in the '40s, i'm pretty sure that ted williams would've been my idol, regardless of what team i rooted for.

[OleMissCub]

Stanley Frank Musial, candidate for greatest living player.

 

162 game avg: .331/.417/.559, 159 OPS+, 25 HR, 39 doubles, 9 triples, 104 RBI, 104 runs, 86 walks

 

2nd all-time total bases: 6134

3rd all-time runs created: 2562

3rd all-time extra base hits: 1377

3rd all-time doubles: 725

4th all-time base hits: 3630

6th all-time RBI: 1951

6th all-time games: 3026

9th all-time runs: 1949

9th all-time at bats: 10972

12th all-time walks: 1599

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan2.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan12.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan13.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan14.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan15.jpg

 

Catcher is Roy Campanella

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan16.jpg

 

Jackie Robinson is the baserunner

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan6.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan4.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan-1.jpg

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan11.jpg

 

Hard for us to imagine that an MVP award winner would work at a grocery store in the offseason, but Musial did for a time:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan19.jpg

 

Enlisting in the Navy for WWII:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan17.jpg

 

With wife Lillian (he married her on his 19th birthday) and child:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan18.jpg

 

with Koufax and Spahn:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan10.jpg

 

with Mickey:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan3.jpg

 

with Mays:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan8.jpg

 

with Mantle and Maris:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan9.jpg

 

with Tris Speaker and Paul Waner:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan7.jpg

 

with Ty Cobb:

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/stan5.jpg

 

http://img182.imageshack.us/img182/7788/stangifqf7.gif

 

game footage of Musial:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GsQ9juMGXA

[Derwood]

when his career is over, where do you think Alex Rodriguez will rank in the list of "greatest living ball players?"

 

at age 33, he ranks:

 

18th in career OPS

10th in career SLG

45th in career runs

112th in career hits

41st in career total bases

13th in career HR's

37th in career RBI

33rd in career runs created

 

assuming he plays at least 4 more years, he'll be top 10 in many of the counting stats

 

ETA: If, conservatively, he averages 150 hits, 100 runs, 100 RBI and 25 HR over the next four years, he'd rank:

 

9th in career runs

29th in career hits

5th in career HR

6th in career RBI

 

add one more year and he's at:

 

4th in career runs

19th in career hits

4th in career HR

3rd in career RBI

 

and those are very conservative yearly averages

[TruffleShuffle]

Stanley Frank Musial, candidate for greatest living player.

 

willie mays

[Derwood]

Stanley Frank Musial, candidate for greatest living player.

 

willie mays

 

10 years from now: Albert Pujols

[TruffleShuffle]

Stanley Frank Musial, candidate for greatest living player.

 

willie mays

 

10 years from now: Albert Pujols

 

is that because willie mays is dead or pujols has passed him in greatness?

[Derwood]

Stanley Frank Musial, candidate for greatest living player.

 

willie mays

 

10 years from now: Albert Pujols

 

is that because willie mays is dead or pujols has passed him in greatness?

 

I'm saying he'll be a contender, not necessarily THE greatest.

 

The greater point is that there are modern era players who should be in the conversation (Barry Bonds being #1 on that list). Pujols has the 4th highest career SLG in history, 5th highest OPS, 24th highest batting average (and 1st among active players). He also has a career 169 OPS+, 310 HR, .425 OBP.....all at age 28.

[OleMissCub]

when his career is over, where do you think Alex Rodriguez will rank in the list of "greatest living ball players?"

 

I think most serious students of baseball history already have A-Rod in their top 15 all-time (I certainly do) and that will only go up. I suspect that by the time he is retired, he will be ranked in the 4-7 range by most and perhaps even higher by some.

[OleMissCub]

 

The greater point is that there are modern era players who should be in the conversation (Barry Bonds being #1 on that list). Pujols has the 4th highest career SLG in history, 5th highest OPS, 24th highest batting average (and 1st among active players). He also has a career 169 OPS+, 310 HR, .425 OBP.....all at age 28.

 

Pujols has a chance to surpass Gehrig as the greatest 1st baseman ever. They are remarkably similar players. Check out their 162 game avgs against each other:

 

Gehrig: .340/.447/.632, 179 OPS+, 37 HR, 40 doubles, 12 triples, 149 RBI, 141 Runs

 

Pujols: .334/.425/.622, 169 OPS+, 42 HR, 44 doubles, 2 triples, 127 RBI, 124 Runs

 

Now, of course, Gehrig put those average figures up in over 8000 AB's, Pujols is around 4500. He has a long way to go, but it is possible he'll pass Gehrig and Foxx. He must have many more seasons of dominant numbers though to achieve that.

[OleMissCub]

This was a photo taken by Casey Stengel himself. The writing on the back was written by Casey too.

 

http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50500&stc=1&d=1219760721http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50501&stc=1&d=1219760736

 

The best part: "Commodore Hotel - at breakfast - after which he went to our stadium and mopped up with us! NOW THAT WAS NICE?

 

Awesome that Casey wrote the same way he talked.

[sneakypower]

i don't know how you can't make a determination right now as to whether Pujols is better than Gehrig, or where A-Rod stands amongst the all-time greats. we're pretty well-aware already of what each player's true talent level is and can easily compare to other great's peaks also. the only thing yet to be determined is how long they'll sustain high levels of play, and that is more of an issue of counting stats, where there is more noise than is worth sifting through for these comparisons. that would be simply a discussion of milestones; but i don't really think any more of Biggio's career since he floundered around that extra season to reach 3,000 hits.

[OleMissCub]

I'd take this team against just about any other team in baseball history.

 

http://img300.imageshack.us/img300/951/1933pittsburghcrawfordsap1.jpg

[OleMissCub]

18 year old Ted Williams with the Minneapolis Miners:

 

http://img134.imageshack.us/img134/1610/teddyhy7.jpg

[OleMissCub]

http://www.baseball-fever.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=50597&stc=1&d=1219871142

[rocket]

Wow. If that happened today he'd probably be suspended at least 50 games. Was there any disciplinary action taken against him then?

[OleMissCub]

Wow. If that happened today he'd probably be suspended at least 50 games. Was there any disciplinary action taken against him then?

 

I don't know if there was any league action against him, but did find this:

 

http://img82.imageshack.us/img82/7255/tedheadvn6.jpg

[OleMissCub]

A photo of Lou Gehrig as a senior in high school:

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/gehrig3.jpg

 

 

From his Columbia days:

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/gehrig2.jpg

 

http://education.baseballhalloffame.org/experience/thematic_units/character_education/assets/young_ballplayer.jpeg

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/gehrig4.jpg

 

http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh153/OleMissCub17/gehrig-2.jpg

[series65cubsfan]

Good show, OMC, very well done. Keep them coming please.

[MSG T]

Good show, OMC, very well done. Keep them coming please.

 

Agreed.

 

I've been showing all these pics to my boys, and trying to describe the players, and the game, with each one. I started showing them Ken Burns' series, and along with your pics, they're starting to get a good feel for the game's history.

 

I'm starting to create a monster though, my younger son(8 y.o.) wanted to know how his OPS+ this season compared to Babe's. I had a tough time explaining the difference between the majors and Pee Wees.

[OleMissCub]

Good show, OMC, very well done. Keep them coming please.

 

Agreed.

 

I've been showing all these pics to my boys, and trying to describe the players, and the game, with each one. I started showing them Ken Burns' series, and along with your pics, they're starting to get a good feel for the game's history.

 

I'm starting to create a monster though, my younger son(8 y.o.) wanted to know how his OPS+ this season compared to Babe's. I had a tough time explaining the difference between the majors and Pee Wees.

 

That's great!! I'm glad someone is enjoying it. I feel like I'm talking to myself sometimes in this thread!

[erik316wttn]

Good show, OMC, very well done. Keep them coming please.

 

Agreed.

 

I've been showing all these pics to my boys, and trying to describe the players, and the game, with each one. I started showing them Ken Burns' series, and along with your pics, they're starting to get a good feel for the game's history.

 

I'm starting to create a monster though, my younger son(8 y.o.) wanted to know how his OPS+ this season compared to Babe's. I had a tough time explaining the difference between the majors and Pee Wees.

 

That's great!! I'm glad someone is enjoying it. I feel like I'm talking to myself sometimes in this thread!

 

I'd participate, but I don't have nearly as much cool stuff as you do.

 

I could make all-time gimmick lineups, for example, like the all-black team or the all-Canadian team, etc. But I don't have the access to the pictures and old newspaper articles.

[MSG T]

Good show, OMC, very well done. Keep them coming please.

 

Agreed.

 

I've been showing all these pics to my boys, and trying to describe the players, and the game, with each one. I started showing them Ken Burns' series, and along with your pics, they're starting to get a good feel for the game's history.

 

I'm starting to create a monster though, my younger son(8 y.o.) wanted to know how his OPS+ this season compared to Babe's. I had a tough time explaining the difference between the majors and Pee Wees.

 

That's great!! I'm glad someone is enjoying it. I feel like I'm talking to myself sometimes in this thread!

 

 

I wish I had more to contribute, but as Erik said, I don't know where to find some of the great stuff you've accumulated.

 

BTW, I'd love to show the pic of you had of Stan Musial's batting stance to the guy that keeps trying to get my kid to keep his elbow up, since his stance is similar to Stan's, only nowhere near as hunched over. I might have to print it and show him the next time I see him. I don't like it, but he hits well with it, so I'm not changing him. I knew I'd seen it before, but couldn't place it until I saw your pic. So if you see a rookie in 15 years or so, that stands similar to Musial, and is a lefty, that's my boy!! :grin: