Lasorda’s Rants. Burke in Albuquerque. Bill Murray as Bill Veeck. Rosenburg in SF. Cochrane rules.
Wow this is great. A collection of Tommy Lasorda’s greatest rants compiled into one video. I have heard a couple of these over the years but the interviews included on here which I have not heard are just as incredible. His freak out on the 2nd to last interview has to be one of the greatest Baseball outbursts ever.
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The late Glenn Burke played with the Albuquerque Dukes in 1976 & 1977. I was recently looking up info on the Albuquerque Dukes and discovered that they have not been a team since 2000. That’s really too bad as they were a Minor League main-stay for so many years. I guess it’s kinda cool that Albuquerque eventually got the AAA affiliate of Dodgers back in 2009 but are no longer the Dukes but the Isotopes. This is a reference to the Baseball team on the Simpsons (Springfield Isotopes) which is kinda cool by me.
Also, some of you may find it ironic that I posted a photo of Glen Burke right after Tommy Lasorda as legend goes that Lasorda disliked Burke for being openly homosexual and was in a relationship with his son. Supposedly this lead to Burke being traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1978. As much as I love Lasorda in a Baseball sense, this has always completely bummed me out.
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Yesterday I discovered that a movie of Bill Veeck’s autobiography “Veeck As In Wreck” is going to be turned into a movie. I just ordered this book a few days ago so I decided to do some additional reading up on the book to hold me over until it arrives and while doing so I came across THIS page. According to the information on the page and after looking around online a little, this all seems 100% legit and it looks like it is going to be a Baseball comedy.
Oh yeah, Baseball fan and all around funny guy Bill Murray is starring in the film and is the executive producer. Without a doubt this is going to rule. Maybe, just MAYBE they will tackle Veeck’s friendship with Satchel Paige and in turn inspires a film to be made about Paige’s life.
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1930. A great photo of Harry Rosenberg during his time with the San Francisco Mission Reds. During his time in the PCL he also played with the Sacramento Solons, Portland Beavers, Hollywood Stars and San Francisco Seals. He also spent a cup of coffee with the New York Giants in 1930 but spent the majority of his professional Baseball career in the Minor Leagues and PCL. It was rumored that the Giants signed Rosenberg because his Jewish heritage would draw interest (and the ticket sales) of the Jewish fans in NY.
On a related note, the documentary “Jews and Baseball: An American Love Story” is now available to watch on Netflix Instant view. It’s a really good film and worth watching. Check out the trailer HERE.
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An awesome action shot of Hall of Fame catcher Mickey Cochrane attempting to make a tag at home plate on a base runner. You can’t tell me that this photo doesn’t rule. If you read up on Cochrane (Wiki page HERE) it’s very apparent that he was a hard nosed gritty player who played with a lot of heart. That’s always a perfect recipe for a Catcher and I would have loved to see him play back in the day.
ninety feet of perfection. 