1952 All-Star Game. Rickey. Lasorda’s bad day. Granderson. Mathews vs O’Toole.
Mickey Mantle, Allie Reynolds, Dom DiMaggio and Satchel Paige having some fun during the 1952 All-Star Game. Yogi Berra can also be seen in the background. The National League beat the American League with a final score of 3 to 2 during this mid-season classic. The only players from this photo that actually played in the game were DiMaggio and Berra.
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Rickey Henderson in a photo which looks like it is from Spring Training in the early 1990’s. I would LOVE to know the story behind that jar of cash and why Rickey has it.
Oh yeah, after the last post I went looking around online for these batting gloves. It looks like I am not the only person trying to get their hands on these gloves again. Mizuno, if you were smart you would make these again. An entire generation of Baseball fans would thank you.
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May 5th, 1955. I had to do a little research on Baseball Reference to figure out what the date of this photo was in addition to see if the description of Tommy Lasorda throwing 3 wild pitches in the first inning of his first Major League start was correct. Well, it sure as shit is (check the box score HERE) and frankly I got to admit that I feel retroactively sorry for ole’ Tommy for having such a terrible day back in the 1950’s. Wally Moon sending him to the hospital had to add insult to injury. Wait would that be injury to insult instead?
On a side note, on Lasorda’s blog “Tommy Lasorda’s World” there was a recent post about a fight with Billy Martin back in the day during their playing days which is pretty incredible. Read it HERE.
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Curtis Granderson has long been one of my favorite players in Major League Baseball and after finding this photo from last season I got to admit that I like him even more. The “Don’t Think Have Fun” statement on his cap should certainly be kept a the forefront of anyone’s mind when playing Baseball, especially to someone playing their first season with the New York Yankees like Granderson was last year.
I am thinking of writing “D.T.H.F” on my Baseball cap or somewhere on my uniform so I channel my inner Curtis.
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1961. A great photo of a brawl between the Milwaukee Braves and Cincinnati Reds. From what I have read, Braves slugger Eddie Mathews went after Reds pitcher Jim O’Toole which ignited the brawl. I assumed this meant Mathews was hit with a pitch but the fact that the ruckus is going down near the third base line was a little puzzling? Well tonight after some Googling, I found the answer on a Sports Illustrated Vault article from July 17th, 1961:
In the Cincinnati half of the fourth, Pitcher Jim O’Toole singled and tried to come home on Eddie Kasko’s double. Between third and home O’Toole slipped and fell; scrambling back, he tried to knock the ball from the hands of the Braves’ Eddie Mathews. Mathews held the ball just long enough to record the putout, then threw it away and started for O’Toole. Out came both benches.
I have always loved brawls in Baseball and always will. No one really ever gets TOO hurt and it brings a level of unity to a clubhouse that can probably not be matched. In addition, they are just fun to watch! To read the entire SI article, which covers the Reds 1961 season, click HERE.
ninety feet of perfection. 
My favorite brawl happened in the late 70s or early 80s. Cubs pitcher beaned Dodgers right fielder, Reggie Smith. Smith picked himslef up and calmly walked out to the mound — it looked like he was going to talk to Reuschal. When he reached the mound he decked him. Brawl ensued.
Third base has been the site for a number of classic brawls. Brett and Nettles in the ALCS and Knight and Eric Davis in ’86 come to mind. Add to that the fact that Eddie Mathews was not a man to be trifled with. He and Frank Robinson had a similar dustup at third once when Frank was still with the Reds. A couple of old school tough guys, not giving each other an inch.
Oh yes, Brett & Nettles was great. I actually have a photo of that here in the blog which I did a write up on. Those old Royals & Yankees really hated each other. I am going to have to look up Mathews and Robinson’s scrap and see what I can find. Thanks for feedback!
I remember the “Jar of Cash” story vividly as I attended Spring Training that year. Rickey was holding out for a raise in pay, vs his contract that he had inked at the time. His teamates at the time took up a collection in the clubhouse each day, and then presented it to him, to end his holdout.
Brian,
Thanks for clarifying the story, it is much appreciated!