Jackie Robinson. Heath Bell. Frank Shellenback. Griffey Jr & Sr. Gehrig & DiMaggio.

•December 12, 2011 • 4 Comments

1946. Jackie Robinson during his time with the Montreal Royals, who were an affiliate of the Brooklyn Dodgers from 1939 to 1960.

On a related note: If you have not heard, there are plans for a Jackie Robinson bio-pic starring Chadwick Boseman as Robinson and Harrison Ford as Branch Rickey. With “MoneyBall” having come out earlier this year and both “Invisible Men” and “Have Glove, Will Travel” going into production soon, it is a good time for Baseball movies. Click HERE for some info on the Jackie movie.

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As a San Diego Padres fan, I must admit that not seeing Heath Bell give Nick Hundley his trademark game ending high-five and chest bump after a save is going to be kind of a bummer. Losing star players is not anything new for small market teams such as San Diego but it’s never an easy pill to swallow. I wish him the greatest of luck in Miami and hope he is able to get a World Series ring before his career is up.

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Frank Shellenback preparing his trademark spitball. Shellenback was in the White Sox minor league system when the spitball was outlawed after the 1919 season. He left Major League affiliated ball to play in the Pacific Coast League where he could legally throw the spitball. He spent 19 years in the PCL while becoming the all-time wins leader with 295. At the end of Shellenback’s years as a player he spent time in the PCL and Majors as a Manager, Coach, and Scout.

2 cool facts about Shellenback: 1) He was the first Manager of the San Diego Padres and therefore the first Manager that Ted Williams had in professional Baseball. 2) In 1943 he was elected Pacific Coast League Hall of Fame.

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2006 World Baseball Classic. Ken Griffey Jr crushed opposing pitching while Ken Griffey Sr was Team USA’s first base coach. Junior was awesome during the tournament as he placed in the top 5 in hits (11), homeruns (3), RBIs (10), total bases (22), batting average (.524), OBP (.583), and slugging (1.048). Junior was voted to the all-tourney team and I think it’s safe to say that Griffey Sr was once again a proud Dad.

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The Iron Horse and Yankee Clipper: Legends.

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Kirby Puckett. Lou Gehrig’s Funeral. Chris Sabo. Joe DiMaggio. 1956 Brooklyn Dodgers.

•December 7, 2011 • 5 Comments

This photo has my childhood written all over it. The 1991 World Series is one of those magical moments from my childhood which validated my growing love for the game of Baseball. I’m quite certain I watched all 7 games of the series but what stands out the most is Kirby Puckett’s performance in Game 6 for obvious reasons.

I don’t think I knew one person who did not love Kirby as he was one of those players in the late 80’s & early 90’s that every little boy seem to idolize.

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June 3rd, 1941. Babe Ruth says goodbye to friend and former teammate Lou Gehrig. Ruth supposedly broke down in tears during the viewing of Gehrig’s body according to “Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig.” This literally had to be moments before his emotions took over.

Lately I have been incredibly fascinated with every aspect of Gehrig’s life due to “Luckiest Man.” This certainly includes his sickness and death. I apologize if this photo may be somewhat disturbing to some but it’s relevance to the history of the game is too strong be ignored and not shared.

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While his great years did not last nearly as long as Kirby Puckett’s, I must say that for a period of time during my childhood, Chris Sabo was one of the coolest ball players around. I had this issue of Sports Illustrated on my wall as a kid because it was the closest thing I could find to a Chris Sabo poster. His goggles, enthusiasm and hard-nosed play was more then enough to impress the hell out of a kid like myself.

Now I could be wrong, but I swear this happened: Who else remembers when the Reds won the ’90 World Series and during celebrations on live television, Sabo dropped some f-bombs and other obscenities? If I remember correctly, his mother was interviewed at some point and she made a point to inform everyone that she “Did not teach her son to speak like that” (or something along those lines?). I know there are some Reds fans who read this blog, please tell me I am not imagining this or mixing it up with someone else!

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Not too much to comment on this photo. It’s just your standard awesome photo of Joe DiMaggio during his years with the San Francisco Seals.

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The Brooklyn Dodgers during Spring Training of 1956, still fresh from their World Series championship from Fall of 1955. Everything about this photo is pretty much perfect in every way possible.

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Congratulations to Ron Santo.

•December 6, 2011 • 2 Comments

Well it finally happened, Ron Santo has been inducted to the Baseball Hall of Fame and I couldn’t be happier as he has ALWAYS been a Hall of Famer in my opinion. While it’s bitter-sweet due to the fact that Ron passed away a year ago (a year and 2 days to be exact) and is not around to be able to appreciate the honor, it’s still a great day for his family and the entire Chicago Cub organization.

I will never understand or entirely agree with the Hall of Fame voting committee. A ball player is either a Hall of Famer or not. There shouldn’t be too much debate regarding the issue and if there is then it shouldn’t take years or even decades to decide (*cough Golden Era Committee cough*). Why some players have to wait so long is unreal, even for someone like myself who understands the voting process more so then the average person. It’s getting very messy on different levels and it’s only going to get messier in the next couple years due to certain issues I will not dive into.

I am aware that I am not offering any suggestions or alternatives here, it’s just some good ole’ complaining about an issue that I know is shared by many people like myself. Back in January of this year, Eric Karabell and the Baseball Today guys released a great Podcast which tackled these questions and frustrations better than I ever could. Since then I have suggested to anyone who listen to check it out. This specific Podcast can be found HERE.

In any case, congratulations to the late Ron Santo. He was truly one of the greats and now that fact will be recognized by the Baseball masses come July 22nd, 2012 when he is inducted into Cooperstown.

(If you are not very familiar with Santo, do yourself a favor and look him up. While doing so, you can check out a memorial post I did for Ron when he passed away. In addition, I suggest you watch the trailer for “This Old Cub” as it gives a quick look into the man and what he went through.)

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Tony Gwynn. Alou Brothers. Honus Wagner. Brooks Robinson. Lou Gehrig.

•December 3, 2011 • 3 Comments

A great photo of my childhood hero, Tony Gwynn from the early to mid 1990’s. What I would give for the Padres to wear those pinstripes again on a regular basis again.

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Felipe Alou and his recently passed away brother Matty Alou during their time together with the San Francisco Giants. Such a great photo, I only wish younger brother Jesus Alou was in too.

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As a follow up to the photo I posted of Honus Wagner in my last post, I present you with a photo of the Flying Dutchman taking batting practice during his senior years as a coach for the Pirates. When I find photos like this it makes me love the game of Baseball even more. So cool.

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Brooks Robinson making one of his many incredible defensive plays during the 1970 World Series. I can watch his highlights from that World Series over and over again and never get sick of them. Click HERE to watch the footage courtesy Ken Burns’ Baseball documentary. It is very possible that his play against Lee May at 1:22 in the video may be my favorite defensive play ever.

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A very young Lou Gehrig from his time at Columbia University. He played with Columbia from 1921-23 and actually attended the school on a football scholarship. He quit during at the end of his sophomore year to sign with the Yankees and the rest was history.

On a related note, I am currently listening to the audio book of “Luckiest Man: “The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig” by Jonathon Eig. The book is written SO well and I have been suggesting to anyone who will listen that they should check it out. Do yourself a favor and do the same if you love the game of Baseball.

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Duke Snider. Griffey Jr & Sr. Honus Wagner. Ford, Mantle, and Martin. Toni Stone.

•November 21, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Duke Snider celebrating during what I assume is Game 7 of the 1955 World Series at Yankee Stadium. I can’t even explain how much I love this photo.

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Ken Griffey Jr. and Sr. during the time they shared as Mariners teammates in the early ’90s.

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Honus Wagner during his 19 year stint as a coach for the Pittsburgh Pirates’ coach. The Flying Dutchman served as a coach for the Pirates from 1933 to 1952. Even in senior years he was still a fan favorite as he was friendly, accessible to fans, and would often still take fielding and batting practice. I think it’s safe to say Wagner loved the game of Baseball.

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Whitey Ford, Mickey Mantle, and Billy Martin: The Original Party Animals.

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Toni Stone during her time with the Indianapolis Clowns. Stone was the first of 3 women to play in the Negro Leagues and during her professional career played for the San Francisco Sea Lions, New Orleans Creoles, New Orleans Black Pelicans, Indianapolis Clowns and Kansas City Monarchs. Even though she played during the same era as the All-American Girls Baseball League, she was not eligible to play due to the league not allowing any non-white players.

A very cool story is that Toni got a hit off of Satchel Paige during her career! Here is a quote from her NLPA page regarding what she claims was the happiest day of her life:

Toni Stone’s most memorable baseball moment came when she played against the lenendary Satchel Paige in 1953 ” He was so good,” she remembered, ” That he’d ask batters where they wanted it, just so they’d have a chance. He’d ask ‘”You want it high? You want it low? You want it right in the middle? Just say. People still couldn’t get a hit against him. So I get up there and he say, “hey, T, how do you like it? And I said, It doesn’t matter just don’t hurt me”. When he wound up–he had these big old feet–all you could see was his shoe. I stood there shaking, but I got a hit. Right out over second base. Happiest moment in my life.

Read up on Toni on her NLPA page and Wiki page, it’s very interesting stuff.

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