Baseball History Thread

[NCCubFan]

I got them all in just over 2:30. :P

 

 

It would have been even quicker if I remembered how to spell Thomson at first.

 

[OleMissCub]

1907 World Champion Cubs poster:

 

 

Top: L-R: Mordecai Brown, Johnny Kling, Johnny Evers, Joe Tinker, Orval Overall, Carl Lundgren, Jimmie Sheckard, Jim Slagle, Art Hofman, Frank Schulte, Ed Reulbach, Harry Steinfelt, Jack Pfeister, Pat Moran, Charlie Fraser, Blaine Durbin, George Howard, Heinie Zimmerman, Frank Olis, Johnny McCormick (trainer), Charlie Williams (treasurer), Charles Thomas (Secretary).

 

http://img188.imageshack.us/img188/5650/1907chicagocubschampion.jpg

 

[Derwood]

http://www.sporcle.com/games/baseballmemorables.php

 

I only got 14/20 :x

 

Oh c'mon. Which ones did you miss man? Those were all really, really easy.

 

consecutive no-hitters, perfect game in WS, Yankee hit in '78 among others. I'm aware of all of these things happening, I just don't retain the names attached to them

[Exile on Waveland]

http://www.sporcle.com/games/baseballmemorables.php

 

I only got 14/20 :x

 

Oh c'mon. Which ones did you miss man? Those were all really, really easy.

 

consecutive no-hitters, perfect game in WS, Yankee hit in '78 among others. I'm aware of all of these things happening, I just don't retain the names attached to them

 

I couldn't think of Vander Meer. Duh. 19/20. That was pretty easy though.

[Guest]

Got them all in 1:15.

[OleMissCub]

Players with 20+ years of service with the same franchise:

 

Yastrzemski, Carl - Red Sox

Robinson, Brooks - Orioles

Musial, Stan - Cardinals

Kaline, Al - Tigers

Ott, Mel - Giants

Ripken jr, Cal - Orioles

Brett, George - Royals

Stargell, Willie - Pirates

Johnson, Walter - Twins

Lyons, Ted - White Sox

Feller, Bob - Indians (would have done it except for military service)

Williams, Ted - Red Sox (would have done it except for military service)

Yount, Robin - Brewers

Biggio, Craig - Astros

Gwynn, Tony - Padres

Appling, Luke - White Sox

Trammell, Alan - Tigers

Faber, Red - White Sox

Harder, Mel - Indians

[laurens]

Aramis is pretty close to history: only 86 RBI short of the 1000 mark, so he'll probably get there sometime next season.

[inari]

This isn't ancient history by any means, but it's a cool video; Frank Thomas' first major league at bat. Notice the guy on deck, as well.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfwp70Bdfy8

[OleMissCub]

This isn't ancient history by any means, but it's a cool video; Frank Thomas' first major league at bat. Notice the guy on deck, as well.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jfwp70Bdfy8

 

That's really cool!

[NCCubFan]

Notice the guy on deck, as well.

Exactly who I figured it was from your comment.

Sammy Sosa

[NCCubFan]

40 years ago yesterday was Ken Holtzman's first no-hitter. They were discussing it on the telecast. The Cubs won 3-0 on a Ron Santo 3-run home run. He pitched another no-no for the Cubs in 1971.

[OleMissCub]

Best 5 year spans for 1st basemen:

 

Lou Gehrig: .354/.458/.677, 43 doubles, 15 triples, 41 HR, 168 RBI, 151 Runs, 10 SB, 114 BB, 196 OPS+

 

Jimmie Foxx: .348/.454/.675, 35 doubles, 8 triples, 49 HR, 155 RBI, 138 Runs, 8 SB, 117 BB, 185 OPS+

 

Hank Greenberg: .327/.433/.662, 45 doubles, 9 triples, 46 HR, 162 RBI, 142 Runs, 30 SB, 82 BB, 167 OPS+

 

Frank Thomas: .323/.450/.598, 39 doubles, 1 triple, 39 HR, 125 RBI, 117 Runs, 4 SB, 137 BB, 183 OPS+

 

Albert Pujols: .336/.429/.634, 44 doubles, 1 triple, 44 HR, 127 RBI, 130 Runs, 7 SB, 95 BB, 173 OPS+

 

Willie McCovey: .295/.410/.587, 27 doubles, 4 triples, 41 HR, 120 RBI, 97 Runs, 2 SB, 105 BB, 178 OPS+

 

Jeff Bagwell: .310/.430/.588, 42 doubles, 2 triples, 39 HR, 133 RBI, 125 Runs, 23 SB, 120 BB, 171 OPS+

 

Todd Helton: .349/.450/.643, 51 doubles, 3 triples, 38 HR, 126 RBI, 129 Runs, 4 SB, 110 BB, 160 OPS+

[OleMissCub]

Cubs v. Giants, 1944

 

 

http://img41.imageshack.us/img41/2449/wrigleyfieldpan1944.jpg

 

[baseballfan50]

That quiz I only got 12 of the 20.

 

I've seen video of Don Larsen throwing the perfect game and the Bobby Thomson homerun. I just couldn't recall their names.

 

Brain fart I guess.

[rookiecmon]

Shin Soo Choo of Cleveland Indians is the first Asian-born player in MLB history to reach that 20(HR)-20(SB) mark today.

[OleMissCub]

This is pretty damn cool. Apparently the MLB Video production guys were given some footage of Ruth striking out and playing right field, but they don't know where the footage is from or what year.

 

Scroll down a bit for the video on the left side

 

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/09/sports/baseball/09video.html?_r=1

[erik316wttn]

I've always been fascinated by the very brief career of one Herb Washington for the 1974 and 1975 Oakland A's.

 

31 career steals, 33 career runs, not one single plate appearance, nor one single appearance in the field.

 

He was an accomplished collegiate sprinter that Charley Finley signed exclusively as a pinch-runner. Pretty bad baserunner considering he was caught stealing 17 times in his career, and was picked off of first base in the 9th inning of Game 2 of the 1974 World Series.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/washihe01.shtml

 

His baseball card was the only one Topps ever issued with "pinch runner" listed as the position.

 

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m100/fishmaster17/b__herbwashington75.jpg

 

edit: And if you're ever bored, read the wikipedia article on Charley Finley to find out how big of a d-bag the man really was.

[NewUserName]

 

edit: And if you're ever bored, read the wikipedia article on Charley Finley to find out how big of a d-bag the man really was.

 

I read in a baseball abstract that when the A's were in KC, Finley wanted to change the dimensions of the field to be the same as Yankee stadium. MLB wouldnt allow it so Finley had a line put in the outfield to show where the fence was at Yankee stadium. Everytime the ball was hit over the line he had the PA announcer say "That would have been a HR in Yankee Stadium" The Twins set the MLB record at the time by hitting 4 straight HRs. Supposedly the 5th batter hit one over the line in RF and the PA announcer said "and That would have been a HR in Yankee Stadium"

[J.R.]

I always thought Charlie O. would have loved what Beane did with the A's earlier this decade. It was a lot smarter than his usual brand of [expletive]-the-establishment thinking, but it was [expletive]-the-establishment nonetheless.

[NCCubFan]

I've always been fascinated by the very brief career of one Herb Washington for the 1974 and 1975 Oakland A's.

 

31 career steals, 33 career runs, not one single plate appearance, nor one single appearance in the field.

 

He was an accomplished collegiate sprinter that Charley Finley signed exclusively as a pinch-runner. Pretty bad baserunner considering he was caught stealing 17 times in his career, and was picked off of first base in the 9th inning of Game 2 of the 1974 World Series.

 

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/w/washihe01.shtml

 

His baseball card was the only one Topps ever issued with "pinch runner" listed as the position.

 

http://i102.photobucket.com/albums/m100/fishmaster17/b__herbwashington75.jpg

 

edit: And if you're ever bored, read the wikipedia article on Charley Finley to find out how big of a d-bag the man really was.

The previous year the As had a player named Allan Lewis who was also used exclusively as a pinch runner. Lewis, however, did have some plate appearances in other years.

 

Today is the 90th anniversary of the Reds winning the World Series over the Black Sox.

[OleMissCub]

Maybe some of you old timers can help me out, but why in the HELL did the Cubs trade Bill Madlock away after the 76 season??

 

He was a 25 year old third baseman that had already won 2 batting titles and averaged an OPS+ of 139 in his first 3 seasons with the Cubs.

[The Other One]

Maybe some of you old timers can help me out, but why in the HELL did the Cubs trade Bill Madlock away after the 76 season??

 

He was a 25 year old third baseman that had already won 2 batting titles and averaged an OPS+ of 139 in his first 3 seasons with the Cubs.

 

I lived through the Cubs of the mid-60's. It was a heady time coming off what we thought at that time was a drought of epic proportions since the 1945 World Series. When there were only 8 teams in each league, going without a title for 20 yrs was a little embarrassing. As the team became good, many of the players became icons.

 

Perhaps none bigger than Fergie. He was a consistent 20 game winner and the ace in a four man rotation. He was our answer to Gibson, Seaver, Marichal, etc. Several of the players from '69 were traded in the early 70's and that hurt as it signaled the end to the era. While some of the players traded were on their last legs and the return was minimal, the return for Jenkins had a higher expectation - Vic Harris and a throw in, Bill Madlock.

 

Vic Harris was a dud from the start. Which sucked. But Madlock came out of nowhere and was a solid player. The team had nothing at that time and having Madlock get the winning hit in the all star game and leading the league in hitting was a huge shot in the arm.

 

But, this was also the beginning of the free agents and players not being indentured servants to the owner. PK Wrigley had an expectation that players should be happy to be playing and getting paid. I don't remember the date, but he broke out of his recluse sports owner persona in time to write a letter to the Tribune in the early seventies to criticize everyone for not being Ernie Banks, who was happy to play two and acted like he didn't care if he got paid.

 

Madlock wanted an increase. PK thought a player asking for a raise was unbecoming. Madlock's contract demands were not out of the realm for what he should have been paid, but I think PK was insulted the way it went down. The most disappointing thing was Murcer came back in the deal and was paid more than Madlock. But Murcer was at the end of his career and it was a terrible trade overall.

 

As a Cubs fan, I nearly cried at the time and continued to moan every time he came up to bat in the playoffs in those ugly yellow and black uniforms. It was criminal.

 

PK died one or two years after the deal.

[OleMissCub]

Wow, thanks so much for the information! I figured that it had to do something with contracts because there is no way you get rid of a 25 year old third baseman with 2 batting titles.

 

And ya, Bobby Murcer...and older OF vs. young batting champion third baseman....hmmmm

[Guest]

[

 

As a Cubs fan, I nearly cried at the time and continued to moan every time he came up to bat in the playoffs in those ugly yellow and black uniforms. It was criminal.

I didn't nearly cry, I bawled my eyes out. Of course I was 5.

[NCCubFan]

PK Wrigley had an expectation that players should be happy to be playing and getting paid. I don't remember the date, but he broke out of his recluse sports owner persona in time to write a letter to the Tribune in the early seventies to criticize everyone for not being Ernie Banks, who was happy to play two and acted like he didn't care if he got paid.

I think that was either 1970 or 71. My recollection is that Wrigley's letter was mainly to say that Leo Durocher was remaining as manager (there were many people calling for him to be fired at the time). At the end of the letter he said "P.S. I wish we had more team players like Ernie Banks."