Life.com just recently put up 27 rare and never before seen photos from the 1955 World Series between the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. Some of these photos are incredible and I find it hard to believe that some have never been seen by the masses. While a handful of the photos are familiar (ie. Jackie Robinson stealing home), the majority are definitely unpublished. My favorite (posted above) is of Billy Martin of the Yankees sliding into home while Dodgers Catcher Roy Campenella attempts to tag him out. Check out the gallery HERE.
Satchel Paige being followed by children in the streets. Such a great photo.
Aug. 11th, 1952. Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees slides in under Boston Red Sox Catcher Sammy White who is attempting to catch a high throw from Outfielder Dom DiMaggio. The Yankees beat the Red Sox 7-0.
Pittsburgh Pirate’s slugging Right Fielder, Dave Parker smoking in the dugout.
July 12, 1939. Baseball’s Hall of Fame Dedication in Cooperstown, NY:
Top, L-R: Honus Wagner, Pete Alexander, Tris Speaker, Nap Lajoie, George Sisler, Walter Johnson
Bottom, L-R: Eddie Collins, Babe Ruth, Connie Mack, Cy Young
To check out a cool video from this historical day, click HERE.
2 of my favorite things in life are Baseball and cartoons, specifically The Simpsons. In the last 20 some-odd years, there have been some very memorable episodes with Major League Players featured as characters. I just thought I would put together a little list of them and post on here in no particular order. I don’t list every appearance of every player to appear as there are a few little small things I left out (ie. Carl Yastrzemski’s rookie card that Milhouse almost buys, Ron Santo’s biography that Lisa finds at the library) but I think it covers the more memorable ones!
“Homer At Bat” aired February 20, 1992 (3rd Season) and to this day is one of most popular episodes of The Simpsons. It featured Don Mattingly, Jose Canseco, Darryl Strawberry, Roger Clemens, Ken Griffey Jr., Steve Sax, Ozzie Smith, Wade Boggs, and Mike Scioscia. There are so many great quotes, ridiculous scenes, and screen shots I can include from this episode but it would be WAY too much for 1 post but I WILL leave this great collection of clips where Burns harasses Don Mattingly over his “sideburns”:
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Last Season (I cant find the episode info anywhere!?) there was a short snipit of Kirk Gibson of the Dodgers famous homerun off of Oakland Athletics Hall of Fame Closer Dennis Eckersley from the 1988 World Series. I was fortunate to come across an animated gif of the scene online a few days after it aired.
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“Brother’s Little Helper” aired October 3, 1999 (11th Season) and featured St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire. To this day I still quote McGwire’s line “Do you want to know the terrifying truth, or do you want to see me hit some dingers?
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“Bart Has Two Mommies” aired March 19, 2006 (17th season) and featured left handed pitching legend Randy Johnson, then of the New York Yankees. In the episode he intimidates Ned Flanders into buying left-handed items to sell in The Leftorium.
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“MoneyBart” just recently aired on October 10, 2010 (22nd Season) and featured Mike Scioscia as a guest for the 2nd time as he was also in “Homer At Bat“. This time Scioscia appears as a Manager and helps Lisa with some coaching help as she is now managing Bart’s little league team. This ended up being one of my favorite episodes in recent years and what is great is that they actually reference Scioscia’s appearance in “Homer At Bat.” In addition, the title is a take on Michael Lewis’s book “Moneyball.”
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“The Twisted World of Marge Simpson” aired January 19, 1997 (8th Season) and features a scene where New York Yankee legend Whitey Ford is pelted by angry fans with pretzels until he is unconscious. For some reason I find this scene hilarious, check it out HERE. Too bad the clip leaves out the “This is uh….This is a black day for baseball” line from the Announcer which is the icing on the cake for this ridiculous scene.
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“Regarding Margie” aired May 7, 2006 (17th Season) and had a very quick and humorous ode to the 1974 Oakland Athletics as Homer paints “’74 Oakland A’s – Best Team Ever” on his curb. The following dialouge goes down:
Lisa: “Dad, all you had to do was paint one number, now no one is going to be able to find our house!” Homer: “But sweetie, I just wanted to tell the ’74 Oakland A’s how I felt about them.” (The 1974 A’s roll up in a convertible) Sal Bando of the A’s: “Look, that guy remembers us!” Gene Tenace of the A’s: “Hey Sal Bando, give him a ’74 A’s thank you honk!” (Sal Bando honks horn and drives off) Homer: “My work here is done.”
Bill Lee being Bill Lee as a member of the Montreal Expos.
Jose Canseco as a member of the Toronto Blue Jays in 1998.
October 7th, 2001. Hall of Fame Outfielders Rickey Henderson and Tony Gwynn of the San Diego Padres. A famous day in Padres history and Baseball history as it was Gwynn’s last game of his career and Henderson hit his 3000th career hit.
October 7th, 1950. New York Yankees Second baseman Jerry Coleman kissing his bat before game 4 of the World Series. Coleman who was an All-Star in 1950 ended up winning the MVP of the Fall Season Classic with several superb defensive plays, hitting .286 with 3 RBI’s.
George Herman Ruth Jr. makes his final appearance at Yankee stadium on June 13, 1948. This ended up being his last public appearance as he succumbed to cancer a little over 2 months later. The color in this photo really brings Ruth alive in the sense that the majority of the footage you see of him is in black & white. Truthfully, I enjoy this photo more than the famous Pulitzer Prize winning photograph commonly known as “The Babe Bows Out” by Nat Fein which is black and white and taken from behind.
Tommy Lasorda talking about pitching against the New York Yankees and in particular Mickey Mantle. Watch this, Lasorda is a great story teller. I could listen listen to him tell Baseball stories for hours and would not get the least bit bored.
Bob Uecker, long time voice of the Milwaukee Brewers during his playing days as a Catcher for the Milwaukee Braves. Last week Uecker had his 2nd heart surgery since April (The Surgery was deemed a success). I think I speak for all fans of Baseball when I say get better soon and hopefully you will be back in the broadcasting booth again come Spring Training.
The 1984 National League Champion San Diego Padres. From L-R: Terry Kennedy, Graig Nettles, Steve Garvey and Tony Gwynn. During game 4 of the NLCS, Garvey hit a walk-off homerun off of Lee Smith of the Chicago Cubs. The following day the Padres won their first National League pennant and Garvey was named the MVP of the NLCS.
May 2nd, 1939. Lou Gehrig sits and watches his New York Yankee teammates on the field without him for the first time in 2130 games (14 Seasons).
1937 American League All-Stars: Lou Gehrig, Joe Cronin, Bill Dickey, Joe DiMaggio, Charlie Gehringer, Jimmie Foxx, and Hank Greenberg. All 7 of these men went on to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
I recently finally got around to watching the HBO Sports Documentary “Mantle – The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle” DVD and I got to say it was done pretty well. The movie is 5 years old and I have always meant to watch it and I now feel I cheated myself by waiting so long. The film makers did a good job of humanizing Mickey by showing both the negative and positive aspects of his life through many interesting interviews, video footage and photographs. They did a great job of capturing his amazing career as a New York Yankee superstar adored by all as he conquered everything in front of him on a Baseball field. At the same time the documentary captures the injuries that plagued his career and the pain was with him almost every day of his career as he most likely played 17 years with a torn ACL amongst MANY other injuries. The footage of him limping across the base paths and while taking position on the field is saddening and makes you think what could have been done to ease his pain with modern medicine and medical breakthroughs. Also, it would not be a a proper documentary of Mickey if it did not capture his battles with alcoholism which in the long run did him in.
The way the movie captures Mickey’s post-Baseball career and the end of his life is definitely the strongest aspect of “The Definitive Story of Mickey Mantle.” I still remember the Summer before 10th grade when Mickey passed away like it was yesterday. It was as if he recently was giving a new lease on life with his addiction now conquered and a new liver however it was was too little too late. When Mickey died it was truly a sad day for Baseball, my Father’s generation as a whole who grew up looking up to him on the ball field, and in a sense for America
On a different note, one aspect of the documentary that I could have done without was comedians such as Billy Crystal & Richard Lewis being interviewed. With other players such as Whitey Ford, Yogi Berra, and Bill “Moose” Skowron also being interviewed I can’t complain too much. It would have been great to get a interview from the late Billy Martin in there as there has to be some that exist. As I assumed, Bob Costas was interviewed as he developed a friendship with Mickey at the end of his life. Costas hosted Mickey’s last nationally televised interview in addition to delivering Mickey’s eulogy at his funeral. I have always liked Costas and enjoyed his takes on all things Baseball and my opinion still stands.
Mickey Mantle has always been one of my favorite “classic” players ever since as a child I asked my Dad who some of his favorite players were as a kid. I think initially I loved the fact his name was “Mickey” but as soon as I got a little older I soon realized how great of a Baseball player this switch-hitting Center fielder from Oklahoma was and after watching this documentary my appreciation of him as a player still grows.
Buy/Rent/Download/Netflix this film if you love Baseball, you wont regret it. With that said, I leave you with a candid Mickey Mantle interview on David Letterman from 1987. It has no relation to the film, but is still worth checking out!:
July 12, 1939. Baseball’s Hall of Fame Dedication in Cooperstown, NY:
ninety feet of perfection. 
