The Curious Case Of Curt Flood. 1939 East-West Game. Lane Field. 1st Black Outfield. The Spaceman.
I really want to watch this soon. If anyone knows of anywhere online to stream this or download it, please let me know!
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A great photo of the East Squad from the 1939 Negro League East-West Game at Comiskey Park in Chicago, Illinois. The first player on the top row is Hall of Famer Buck Leonard and Josh Gibson is fairly easy to spot (top row, 3rd from right). If you click on the photo, it’s a very large scan with lots of details which is very interesting. Also, if you want to read about the game, it’s outcome and the players who partook; click HERE for game 1 & HERE for game 2.
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This last week I went down to San Diego to visit the family, enjoy some sunshine and catch a Padres game. In addition to those things I made it a point to go find the location of old Lane Field, the first home of the PCL San Diego Padres (Thank you Chris Boyd for the directions!). I took some photos of the plaque and the description is pretty interesting with a little bit of humor. I think that those of you who read the blog should be able to appreciate this.
While I have heard the story about the Home Run landing in the train for ages; I have always thought it was Hall of Famer Bobby Doerr who did it during his 1936 season with the Padres. In any case, it’s still a great story regardless of who hit the ball (and whether or not it’s a true story). HERE is a photo of me next to the plaque.
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At one point during the 1951 season, Manager Leo Durocher filled out his lineup card to have Monte Irivin, Willie Mays, and Hank Thompson play the Outfield for the New York Giants. By doing so, he made Baseball history by fielding the 1st all-black Outfield in Major League Baseball.
I’m obviously familiar with Mays & Irvin and their incredible careers but I got to admit that until recently I didn’t know anything about Thompson. While his Wiki page & various Baseball related sites have a lot of great stuff about Thompson’s career, unfortunately I also came across THIS site which discusses his life, career and the sad issues which plagued his short life.
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A great photo of Bill “The Spaceman” Lee from his time as a member of the Montreal Expos during a game at Wrigley Field in Chicago. Bill often says in interviews that the perfect end of his life & Baseball career would be to die catching a ball in the outfield at Wrigley and getting stuck in the ivy where his body would stay until the following spring all the while still clutching the ball. Bill Lee rules.
ninety feet of perfection. 
I’ve been looking all over the place for a torrent or download since the Curt Flood movie aired, but still haven’t found anything.