Charles Lenard Neal was born in Longview Texas on January 30th, 1931. After WWII the Dodger system churned out infield prospects like weeds. Many went to other teams, Chico Carrasquel, Bobby Morgan, Bob Lillis, Chico Fernandez and Billy Hunter to name a few. Robinson, Reese, and Gilliam were impossible to dislodge. But Neal was a keeper. His game was speed. But he was the invisible Dodger, overshadowed by a roster…
Alfred Bluford “Rube” Walker was born on May 16, 1926, in Lenoir North Carolina. He was the son of Alfred and Buelah Walker, the oldest of three boys. He was raised in a typical middle-class family of the era. His father was a semi-pro catcher in his younger days. He would bring string home from his job at the cotton mill to wrap around golf balls until they were as…
Stanley Wilson Williams was born on September 14, 1936, in Enfield New Hampshire. His dad Irving, was a construction worker, and his mom a housewife. The census showed that by 1940 they had moved to Denver. Stan was the baby of the family with older brothers, Irving and Gordon, and an older sister, Doris. He grew up on Denver’s East side. He starred in baseball and football for Denver’s East…
Today’s profile is former Dodger first baseman Norm Larker. Norman Howard John Larker was born on December 27, 1930, in Beaver Meadows Pennsylvania. A small mining community. His father, Lewis Larker, worked in the mines. His mom was Susan Zalaznock. He was of Slovak-German descent. His dad played second base and pitched in the county semi-pro leagues. His brother, Melvin, was a year older than he, and Lewis was born…
This is a series I have been thinking about doing for a while. I want to profile players who played for the Dodgers in both Brooklyn and Los Angeles, who were not huge stars, but players who contributed to the team while they were members. The first spotlight is on third baseman Billy Cox. William Richard Cox was born on August 29, 1919, in Newport Pennsylvania. His father Fred worked…
Located in a small town in New York, the Hall of Fame has been a destination for baseball fans since its opening in 1939. It was established by Stephen Carlton Clark, an heir to the Singer Sewing Machine fortune. Clark’s aim was to bring tourists to a city devastated by the depression and prohibition, which had damaged the local hops industry. Clark constructed the Hall of Fame building and it…
This post was inspired by a couple of things. First, David Ortiz and Minnie Minoso were elected to the Hall of Fame, and a suggestion by one of our readers on my post about Larry Doby. The Dominican, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, have all contributed many players to the big leagues. But Mexico, Panama, and Columbia have also sent players to the majors. By country here are the counts, these…
Another story idea from SpokaneBob. The game had its start at Dodger Stadium in 1967. It was a softball game between celebrities and MLB baseball players. The Managers were Leo Durocher for the Stars and Milton Berle for the big league players. The MLB players included Wills, who was with the Pirates, Brooks Robinson, Clemente, Mays, Frank Howard, Killebrew, McCovey. Jim Garner started for the celebs and after giving up…
Players are sitting, Furillo, Koufax, Pafko, Gilliam, Neal, Erskine, Carey and Babe Herman Second row. Campy, umpire Al Passarella, Ump, Jocko Conlon, Ump, Beans Reardon, Shuba, Wills, Larker, Tracewski, Roseboro, Stengel, Moon, Craig, Demeter, Skowron, Dixie Walker, Roebuck. Back row. Pignatano, Hodges, Ump Pat Orr, Lavagetto, Maglie, Podres, Newcombe, Hermanski, Sherry, Reese, Drysdale, Burright, Essegian, Black, Snider, Branca. Those were the first oldtimers to get together and play a game…
Earlier this year there was a ceremony in Georgia at the birthplace of Jackie Robinson. The plaque showing where his birthplace was had been vandalized. MLB felt it should be replaced and donated 40,000 dollars for a new plaque to be placed there, and in another location near the center of Cairo, Georgia, where he was born. I watched the ceremony on MLB.TV. But that also got me thinking about…