Baseball History Thread

[bukie]

mule man, the famous mule riding baseball player

Very close. Hint is it's a player that is an announcer today.

[Sammy Sofa]

That's Mule BOY, ya idiot.

[treebird]

len

[Sammy Sofa]

Donkey Lips before he got fat.

[treebird]

That's Mule BOY, ya idiot.

 

mule boy carried a mule on his back while bobbing for apples. mule man is the one who played baseball.

[bukie]

Actually, it's Hawk Harrelson.

[treebird]

it would be better if it was mule harrelson

[Sammy Sofa]

Too bad he didn't go out like Dick Whitman's dad.

[OleMissCub]

Realizing I know anything about that goober other than "Dad gummit!", "He gone!" and "ALEEXXIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I checked out his wiki. Gotta love this paragraph:

 

Harrelson served as a Chicago White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985 and briefly left broadcasting during the 1986 season to become the White Sox's General Manager. During his one season as GM, Harrelson fired field manager Tony La Russa (who was soon hired by the Oakland Athletics) and assistant general manager Dave Dombrowski (who became baseball's youngest general manager with the Montreal Expos just two years later). Harrelson also traded rookie Bobby Bonilla, later a six-time All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher José DeLeón.

[Felix Leiter]

Realizing I know anything about that goober other than "Dad gummit!", "He gone!" and "ALEEXXIIIIIIIIIIIIIII!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I checked out his wiki. Gotta love this paragraph:

 

Harrelson served as a Chicago White Sox announcer from 1982 to 1985 and briefly left broadcasting during the 1986 season to become the White Sox's General Manager. During his one season as GM, Harrelson fired field manager Tony La Russa (who was soon hired by the Oakland Athletics) and assistant general manager Dave Dombrowski (who became baseball's youngest general manager with the Montreal Expos just two years later). Harrelson also traded rookie Bobby Bonilla, later a six-time All-Star, to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher José DeLeón.

 

It's surprising that Hawk has turned into a cranky lapdog for Reinsdorf, because as a player he was a rebel and epitomized 'cool' in the 60's. He was pals with Joe Namath and Derek Sanderson(Bruins) and had ownership in a pretty hot nightclub. He had a mind of his own and wasn't opposed to do crazy stuff. Had a good year in 1968.

[OleMissCub]

Cardinals gonna Cardinal. Check this out

 

1944 MVP Award

 

1. Marty Marion, STL, 190 MVP votes: .267/.324/.362/.686, 90 OPS+, 135 hits, 50 runs, 6 HR, 63 RBI

2. Bill Nicholson, CHC, 189 MVP votes: .287/.391/.545/.935, 162 OPS+, 167 hits, 116 runs, 33 HR, 122 RBI

 

and how about him beating his own teammate Stan the Man:

 

4. Stan Musial, STL, 136 MVP votes: .347/.440/.549/.990, 174 OPS+, 197 hits, 112 runs, 12 HR, 94 RBI

[Sammy Sofa]

Did he save someone from a burning building that year?

[OleMissCub]

Apparently he was a good fielder and, even though he was a bad hitter, he was clutch...or something.

 

http://retrosimba.com/2011/03/18/how-marty-marion-won-mvp-by-one-point/

 

In 1944, Marion batted .267 with 63 RBI and helped the Cardinals to their second World Series title in three years. Marion played 55 errorless innings at shortstop in the World Series against the Browns.

 

“Marty Marion, as far as I was concerned, if it was an important game, the most important game you have, and you need a base hit, I would take Marty over anybody I ever played with,” Danny Litwhiler, an 11-year big-league veteran and a Cardinals outfielder from 1943-46, said in the book “The Spirit of St. Louis” (2000, Avon). “He had something about him in a clutch _ he was tough. He was not a real good hitter, but in a clutch he was tough.

 

I guess Litwhiler had Alzheimer's when he made that statement since he obviously forgot that he shared the outfield with one of the best hitters in history.

[Guest]

Did he save someone from a burning building that year?

 

He did, but he threw the box of kittens so he still wasn't really worthy.

[Sammy Sofa]

Did he save someone from a burning building that year?

 

He did, but he threw the box of kittens so he still wasn't really worthy.

 

I'm going to assume he drunkenly crashed his car into a burning house and knocked it down before the fire could spread to the other homes.

[OleMissCub]

Was looking at Pete Rose's stats just now and you'd be hard pressed to invent a better utility player.

 

- Switch Hitter

- 939 games at 1st

- 628 at 2nd

- 634 at 3rd

- 673 in LF

- 589 in RF

- 73 in CF

 

Over 500 games played at 5 different positions. That's obscene.

[PackLandVA]

Was looking at Pete Rose's stats just now and you'd be hard pressed to invent a better utility player.

 

- Switch Hitter

- 939 games at 1st

- 628 at 2nd

- 634 at 3rd

- 673 in LF

- 589 in RF

- 73 in CF

 

Over 500 games played at 5 different positions. That's obscene.

 

 

Yeah, but could he hit???

[OleMissCub]

Walter Johnson interviewed by Baseball Magazine about the best hitters he faced:

 

I wouldn't care to say who was the best hitter I ever faced. I never saw Hans Wagner but, I have faced Hornsby, but only in an exhibition game when he wasn't in his best form. No I am not in a position to judge just how good he is. Undoubtedly he has developed greatly in recent years. I am inclined to believe that the hitter who impressed me most of all those that I have faced was Lajoie. It is hard for me to believe that anybody could be a greater hitter than the Frenchman.

 

I would put Joe Jackson close to him, however. Joe was certainly one of the greatest natural hitters who ever lived. Poor Joe is out of it now and I feel sorry for him. Others were guilty. Joe was merely foolish. Tris Speaker was a great hitter, but I don't think he had quite the natural talent that Joe had.

 

Of course Ty Cobb has to be considered. But I don't class Ty with Joe Jackson or Lajoie. So far as natural hitting ability is concerned, they were his superior beyond any reasonable doubt. Where Ty had it on them and where he has it on any batter who ever lived is in amazing speed and tricky head work. He was always doing something, bunting, placing his hits here and there through the infield, slugging when he had to slug. An ordinary roller to short stop was a hit for Ty. If you're talking about great players, Ty is in a class by himself. But when I say that a fellow is a good hitter, I mean that he is naturally a good batter, quite apart from speed of foot, originality and all round head work.

 

Eddie Collins was a great hitter, but he was something of the Ty Cobb type. He was a fellow who always made his head help out his batting eye. Sam Crawford and Frank Baker were good heavy hitters, uncommonly good but they wouldn't rank with the Frenchman or with Joe Jackson.

 

Babe Ruth is the most dangerous hitter I ever saw, but he is not the best hitter. Like Ty Cobb, Babe has other talents which help out his batting. He is so big and strong that sheer strength works for him just as speed worked for Ty Cobb. Ty would beat out an infield hit by fast footwork. Babe will beat out an infield hit by sheer strength, for he will top a ball and still drive it through the infield for a hit.

 

The public figures a batter altogether by results. His average is what counts. But a pitcher figures a batter by his ability as a batter. Ruth will look worse in one game than Lajoie would look all season. He will sometimes get crossed up and miss a ball by two feet. Lajoie was a well nigh perfect hitter. Ruth, at times, is about as imperfect as anybody you could think of. But he is, with it all, naturally a good hitter and his prodigious strength and knack of driving the ball for long clouts makes him the most dangerous batter in the game.

 

 

Also like this picture of Johnson's grips

 

http://i.imgur.com/GzmsOkq.jpg

[OleMissCub]

Another example of Cardinals gonna Cardinal:

 

The year we traded Lou Brock:

 

(Traded on Jun 15)

Cubs: 52 G, 231 PA, .251/.300/.340, 77 OPS+

Cards: 103 G, 464 PA, .348/.387/.527, 146 OPS+

[Sammy Sofa]

FFS, everybody knows that.

[Little Slide Rooter]

I'm not sure if this belongs here, but could the 2015 Phillies be a historically bad team? As of now, they're at 21-44, putting them on pace for 108-109 losses. The modern day fecal standard is the 40-120 '62 Mets, with the 43-119 '03 Tigers not far behind. After that, there are 8 other teams in what is considered to be modern baseball history (1900 and beyond) with >110 Ls.

 

Looking at the current makeup of this Phillies team, and the fact that their 4 capable players (Hamels, Papelbon, Revere, Harang) could easily be traded within the next few weeks, I'm thinking that they could reach that level.

[OleMissCub]

Cool photo taken of Christy Mathewson pitching in the 1911 World Series with an early high speed camera.

 

http://obscurebaseball.com/2014/12/18/christy-mathewson-was-great-look-at-him-pitch/

 

The only video footage we have of Mathewson throwing makes you wonder "is that how he actually pitched?"

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZSpZTff.gif

 

But apparently not judging by the high speed photo of him actually delivering a pitch.

 

http://i.imgur.com/9M1jYTh.jpg

[jersey cubs fan]

[tweet]

[/tweet]

 

and they are celebrating the 169th anniversary with a vintage game this weekend.

[seanimal]

Cool photo taken of Christy Mathewson pitching in the 1911 World Series with an early high speed camera.

 

http://obscurebaseball.com/2014/12/18/christy-mathewson-was-great-look-at-him-pitch/

 

The only video footage we have of Mathewson throwing makes you wonder "is that how he actually pitched?"

 

http://i.imgur.com/ZSpZTff.gif

 

But apparently not judging by the high speed photo of him actually delivering a pitch.

 

http://i.imgur.com/9M1jYTh.jpg

 

the video doesn't actually seem that far off. he's more upright in the video and doesn't have the follow-through that results from a full delivery, but it's definitely more than just a guy playing catch. my guess is he's warming up prior to the start of a game or between innings. another clue that it's not a live pitch is the position of the shortstop

[Clem Fandango]

My friend has been toying around with Photoshop and took a stab at coloring a black and white photo, he isn't done yet and knows there's still obvious things he needs to fix, but I think he's doing a pretty damn fine job so far on this Satchel Paige photo...

 

http://i.imgur.com/33d5UUg.jpg