Violence in Brooklyn. The Babe in Boston. The Griffey Family. Lane Field. Leo The Lip.
Sep 16th, 1940. During a game against the Cincinnati Reds at Ebbets Field, a Brooklyn Dodgers fan named Frank Germano ran out onto the field and attacked Umpire George Magerkurth after making a call in the 10th inning which lead to the Reds winning the game. In the words of the cinematic masterpiece that is Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, all I gotta say is “What a sports nut, huh?”
I recently read about this fight in the book “Benchclearing: Baseball’s Greatest Fights and Riots” by author Spike Vrusho and was stoked to recently come across a photo of the incident. As far as the book goes, it can be a difficult read due to Vrusho’s tendency to hyper-analyze and describe certain incidents with over the top metaphors. In the end it is still a decent book and worth reading because I never knew about many of the brawls that were written about.
.
Such a perfect Baseball photo. Taken between 1914 and 1919, we have Babe Ruth and some of his fellow Boston Red Sox teammates in a dugout. I am not sure who the other guys are besides the Babe but I love the fact that he is not the main focus of this photo. For some reason I am fascinated with his pre-Yankee years.
.
A neat photo of Ken Griffey Sr from his Big Red Machine years of the 1970’s along with Craig sitting behind him and Junior to the right. Many people often forget about Craig as he lived in the shadows of his father and his older brother which is understandable as he never made it to the big leagues. However I got to admit that when I, along with many other kids from my generation got THIS baseball card back in 1992 we all wished they were Junior’s little brother too.
Whether or not him being signed by the Mariners was nothing more than a clever PR move, you gotta give him props as he was able to stick around in the Minor Leagues for 7 seasons. That’s 7 more than myself so he’s A-Ok by me.
.
A great photo from 1954 of legendary Lane Field taken by photographer Ray Hacecky. Lane Field was the home of the PCL San Diego Padres from 1936 to 1957. The photo is from a 1 game playoff between the San Diego Padres and Hollywood Stars which determined the winner of the PCL pennant due to both teams finishing the regular season with the same record. The Padres ended up beating the Stars 7 to 2 and clenched the pennant and advanced to the playoffs to face the Oakland Oaks. If you read the marquee it says “PACIFIC COAST LEAGUE CHAMPIONSHIP GAME. HOLLYWOOD vs SAN DIEGO. TONIGHT 8:35.
What I would give to go back in time and play ball at Lane Field. Even as imperfect as it was with the crazy wind pushing balls out to Right Field, it’s screwy 87 foot First Base line and the termite infested wood; I would still love to experience it. It would be worth braving those aspects of Lane Field just to play in the beautiful sunshine of San Diego right on the waterfront while playing in front of very passionate West Coast Baseball fans of the early 1950’s.
.
Leo “The Lip” Durocher sliding into home plate behind fellow member of the Hall of Fame, Mickey Cochrane. I get the feeling that if I was around during these years Durocher would have been one of my favorite players as he was scrappy as hell and while he may not have have been a huge offensive threat by any means, he still got the job done. It has always been said that he was a great clubhouse guy and also had a great glove at Short Stop.
Oh yeah, he was a member of the 1933 St. Louis Cardinals and it’s rumored he is the one that came up with the name “The Gashouse Gang.” You really can’t get much cooler then that.
ninety feet of perfection. 
Love how the cops just stand there and let the umpire get beat. Today his ass would be tased. lol
Love all the rare shots and writings! Very cool. Please bring more!