Jackie Robinson Day.

•April 15, 2011 • Leave a Comment

It is Jackie Robinson Day. He broke the color barrier with the Brooklyn Dodgers 64 years ago today and to celebrate Jackie all MLB players, coaches, and umpires are wearing #42 as they have traditionally done for the last few years. I have posted a lot about Jackie in 90 feet of perfection (an all Jackie post can be found HERE) since I launched the blog so I am not going to write a lot as everyone knows how great he was. Here’s to you Jackie:

.

When I was a child I absolutely LOVED Jackie Robinson. After learning about him in 2nd grade I became pretty infatuated with anything related to Jackie, the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Negro Leagues. I can say that my interests have not wavered much in regards to those topics in Baseball. Late last year while cleaning out a bunch of stuff from a closet at my Dad’s house, I found this. It is a book report I made in February of 1993 when I was in 7th grade on the book  “Breakthrough to the Big League” by Jackie Robinson & Alfred Duckett.

I’ve never been much of an artist but I remember being very proud of the work I did as I had to draw 7 full pages for the report. I remember my Mom letting me stay up late to work on it and waking me up early to finish it the day it was due. Ahh, memories. Oh yeah, I got an 88/100 score on it.

.

Jackie and The 1945 Kansas City Monarchs:

Front (L to R): Frank Duncan, John Scott, Jackie Robinson, Chico Renfroe, Chester Gray, Herb Souell, Walter Thomas, Sammie Haynes
Back (L to R): Jesse Williams, Jack Matchett, Booker McDaniels, Jim “Lefty” LaMarque, Dozier Hood, Eddie Williams, Lee Moody, Hilton Smith, Ensloe Wylie

Thanks to Aaron Stilley and his AWESOME blog Jackie With The Monarchs for this photo. Seriously check it out.

.

Jackie terrorizing the opposing team on the bath paths as usual. I love how the dirt is kicking up at his feet and determination in his face. I am assuming this is at Wrigley Field in Chicago due to the Ivy on the wall.

.

Jackie Robinson on the May 8th, 1950 cover of Life Magazine. I assume the issue covers the movie “The Jackie Robinson Story” which also came out in 1950. You can watch the movie for free on Youtube, Hulu and even Google Video. It’s also on Netflix Instant if you subscribe. I wouldn’t say it’s the best Baseball movie as its 61 years old but its still fun to see Jackie act in it.

.

A great action shot of Jackie reaching to touch home plate. I am not sure who the Dodgers are playing but from what I can tell it looks like Jackie was tagged out. There are 2 things I like about this photo: The first is  Jackie’s Dodgers hat as it is in mid-air and the other being the fact that it is an action shot at home plate of him NOT stealing home (from what I can tell). Not that I dislike photos of Jackie stealing home, it’s just that there are so many of them out there and I have never seen this photo before until recently.    AJHBKWQNCBJ4 

Posted in Baseball
Tags: , , , , , ,

Rose vs Bochy. Luke Easter. Weaver in SF. Gibson. Billy vs Clint.

•April 14, 2011 • 1 Comment

bochy rose 10.11.80October 11th, 1980. During game 4 of the NLCS, Pete Rose of the Philadelphia Phillies violently laid out Bruce Bochy of the Houston Astros at homeplate. I thought it would be funny to make this little animated gif to capture the hit and the aftermath. If you wanna see video of the hit, you can watch it HERE. The collision comes about 3/4 into it but the entire video is worth watching as it documents the craziness of the series quite well.

While ole’ Boch looks like he got knocked senseless, something tells me his large sized head is capable of taking much more abuse than what Pete Rose’s forearm gave him.

.

Luke Easter played with the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League in both 1949 & 1954. During Easter’s Baseball career he also played in the Negro Leagues with the Homestead Grays and with the Cleveland Indians in the Major Leagues. If you do some research on Easter you will see that he had quite the interesting Baseball career. This career lasted until he was 48 years old as a member of the Rochester Red Wings who were the AAA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles at that time.

To put some perspective on Luke Easter, in The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract Bill James is quoted as saying “If you could clone him and bring him back, you’d have the greatest power hitter in baseball today, if not ever.” From everything I have ever read about him I don’t think I could disagree with that.

.

Buck Weaver was an infielder for the San Francisco Seals in 1911. Does that name sounds familiar? Well it should as Weaver was one of the 8 members of the 1919 Black Sox who were banned for life from Baseball. I had totally forgot that Weaver played on the Seals until recently when I cam across this image.

It may be totally irrelevant to this post but Weaver was played by John Cusack in the movie “Eight Men Out.” I only watch that movie every few years so I always forget who plays who. I’ll definitely remember who plays Weaver now due to the Seals connection.

.

I LOVE this photo. The legendary Josh Gibson of the Homestead Grays on his way to rounding third base in full sprint. The advertisements on the Outfielder walls are awesome and adds to everything that is absolutely perfect about this photo.

.

1952. Yankee legend Billy Martin fighting Clint Courtney of the St. Louis Browns. Both Martin and Courtney LOVED to fight and were both small guys. So basically they were both fire bellied players with Napoleon Complex while on the Baseball field and I love that. Well it turns out this was not the last incident between these dudes. I grabbed this excerpt from Courtney’s WIKI page:

Nicknamed “Scrap Iron”, Courtney was frequently embroiled in fights. Two of his more celebrated brawls involved the Yankees. The first came in 1952, when he spiked Billy Martin and then slugged him when Martin hit Courtney between the eyes. A year later, he touched off a free-for-all by spiking Phil Rizzuto in trying to stretch a single into a double. Then Martin jumped on Courtney in a wild melee that produced a then American League record $850 in fines.The episode cost Courtney $250. Off the field, his temperament was reportedly more genial and affable.

We need more players like this in Baseball these days.

Posted in Baseball
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Yankee Clipper. 2011 Phillies Starting Rotation. Padres PCL Uniforms. The Big Train. Billy & Jackie in Oakland.

•April 5, 2011 • Leave a Comment

While reading up on Joe DiMaggio recently I came across this great photo. I have always loved this image due to it gracing the cover of the May 3rd, 1993 issue of Sports Illustrated (photo HERE). This is actually an issue that I still own from my childhood. Well, I love it even more now that I know what the entire photo consists of. Sports Illustrated cropped out some of the great elements of the photo such as the cameraman, the lack of a batter’s box, and the catcher’s whole body with the Umpire behind him. I have a hunch this photo is from Spring Training however I could be wrong. In any case, everything is great about this photo of the Yankee Clipper.

 

The Philadelphia Phillies starting rotation this season makes me uncomfortable just thinking about it. I can only imagine what National League hitters are going through when going into a series against these dudes toeing the slab. I hate predictions in Baseball but if I were to put money on a NL Cy Young winner this season it would have to go to Halladay again.

I hear a lot of “Greatest Pitching Rotation Ever” being thrown around which I think is a ridiculous claim to make no matter who is suggesting it. With that said I believe this rotation is the best in Baseball in my opinion (San Francisco is right behind Philly if you ask me) and has the POTENTIAL to be one of the top 10 to 20 rotations of all time. On a side note, it’s a little funny that Joe Blanton isn’t included in this photo. Maybe it’s because he could be used as a bargain chip in a mid-season trade if Philly’s offense is weak and needs an upgrade?

 

On June 25th, 2005 the San Diego Padres played the Seattle Mariners in an interleague game in San Diego at PETCO Park. Both teams celebrated the Pacific Coast League by wearing PCL throwback uniforms and I can say they were some of the nicest uniforms I have ever seen during a Big League game. The Padres wore their 1936 PCL Padres uniforms while the Mariners wore the 1938 Seattle Rainiers uniforms. To see a photo of both team’s uniforms in action click HERE and if you subscribe to MLB.TV you can still watch the highlights of the game HERE.

Well, this season marks the 75th anniversary of Padres Baseball in San Diego and they are turning back the clock once again. On June 11th the Padres will be wearing the 1936 uniforms against the Nationals and giving away “PCL Padres Vintage Caps” as promo item for fans. I know where I am going to be on June 11th.

 

Walter Johnson warming up before a game as member of the 1924 World Champion Washington Senators. Something about the Big Train always kind of captivates me in the sense that I really would like to see him pitch in modern day during his peak years. Just to see how he matches up against other top Pitchers of the last 20 years or so would be some seriously cool stuff to witness. A guy can always dream…

 

Billy Martin and Jackie Jensen were teammates on the Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League in 1949 prior to being attained by the New York Yankees. Billy went on to become an incredibly popular Yankee as both a player & Manager. He was recognized as being an all-time great Yankee in 1986 by having his #1 was retired by the team. Jensen on the other hand went on to become a very popular member of the Red Sox and was inducted into the Red Sox Hall of Fame in 2000. I absolutely love this AP photo. Billy Martin and the PCL are Baseball related subjects that set off my nerdy Baseball interests like crazy and them both together in one photo pretty much blows my mind in excitement.

Posted in Baseball
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Boss, “Glory Days.” Teddy & The Babe. Chase vs Yadier. 1942 Colored World Series. Joe.

•April 2, 2011 • 1 Comment

“Who’d you pitch against today?”
“At San Diego today.”
“How’d you do?”
“Nettles got me, bottom of the 9th.”

I have been on a big Bruce Springsteen kick lately and “Glory Days” is one of my favorite songs by the Boss. However, I am not sure if it’s just because there is Baseball in the music video or is it that the song just absolutely rules? I am going to go out on a limb and say it’s a little bit of both A and B. I remember being very young and seeing this video and assuming that Springsteen must be a professional Baseball player in addition to being a musician. This was due to the fact that he was on the television throwing a Baseball. Trust me, it made sense at the time.

Unfortunately the Boss was not also a professional Baseball player and in fact great musicians and Baseball players do not really seem to go hand in hand. Just imagine if we had the Boss on the mound playing in the Major Leagues and playing great music? That’s the world I want to live in. Instead we get a tool like Bronson Arroyo playing some of the worse music I have ever heard. Personally, I’d rather listen to Elijah Dukes and his piss-poor attempts at hip-hop than hearing Arroyo’s music.

 

Well, what do we have here? The Splendid Splinter chatting with Babe Ruth in the 1940’s about the finer aspects of hitting I assume? But then again they very well could be taking part in some good old fashioned Yankees vs Red Sox trash talking. Whatever they were discussing, it had to be interesting and I would put money down that the people sitting to the right of the Babe were eavesdropping harder than they ever had in their lifetime.

 

This photo of Chase Headley sliding head first past St.Louis Catcher Yadier Molina is awesome and left me jumping in the air in excitement while watching the game on Thursday. I couldn’t have been happier with the way Opening Day panned out as my Padres beat the Cardinals in 11 innings in a comeback victory which left me with a smile on my face all day long.

 

A great photo of Game 3 of the 1942 Colored World Series. Willard Brown of the Kansas City Monarchs crosses home plate after hitting a Home Run while being congratulated by teammate Joe Greene. Homestead Grays Catcher Josh Gibson and Umpire Fred McCreary look on. Every time I find a photo like this I get more and more bitter that I will never be able to see a Negro League Baseball game…until I get my hands on that time machine I keep talking about.

 

Joe Adcock of the Milwaukee Braves. There are so many funny, cool, and NSFW things I can say about this photo but I won’t. All I can say is the dude was a stud and this photo captures that perfectly.

Posted in Baseball
Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Play Ball!

•March 31, 2011 • Leave a Comment

Today I watched my last Spring Training game of 2011, got through my fantasy draft somewhat successfully and downloaded the new mlb.tv app for my PS3. So needless to say I am ready for the 2011 Major League Baseball season. Tomorrow afternoon at 1:15 I will be watching my San Diego Padres play the Cardinals and will be as happy as a kid on Christmas morning. I hope everyone who reads 90 feet of perfection has an enjoyable Opening Day 2011 and as an Opening Day present I leave you this incredible video narrated by the late and VERY great Ernie Harwell. We miss you Ernie, wish you were around for 2011. Play Ball!

Thanks to Mike at Old Time Family Baseball for sharing this video via SNY

Posted in Uncategorized
Tags: , , , , , , , ,

« Previous Entries
Next Entries »