I was watching an old movie, yeah, a baseball movie. It starred James Stewart and June Allison. True story. It was about Monty Stratton. Stratton was a RH pitcher who pitched for the White Sox for parts of five seasons. He had a 36-23 record with a 3.71 ERA and 196 K’s. He won 15 games in 1937 and again in 38. His future with the Sox looked bright. He…
It is August, and the annual let’s get crazy season has started. It never fails this time of year. Fans begin to lose their collective minds. Why? Well, I really have no clue. I just sit back and watch. What amazes me most is that fans who have followed the team and the game for years really have no idea how the roster is set up or how it is…
Mickey Owen was a very good defensive catcher. In his best season, 1941, he made four errors. Three during the regular season and one in the World Series that labeled him a GOAT for the rest of his days. Mickey Owen was born Arnold Malcolm Owen on April 4, 1916, in Nixa, Missouri. Mickey’s parents divorced when he was seven. Because of that, his mom moved to Southern California. While…
What I remember first about Willie McCovey was his size 6’4″. It says 198 in his bio, but he looked heavier and probably was towards the end of his career. The second thing I remember is how he OWNED Don Drysdale. At least it seemed that way. I remember him taking Big D deep many a time. McCovey hit 41 career homers against LA. Most of those off of Big…
Mike Scioscia. Many images come to mind, and moments also. Like when he took Dwight Gooden deep late in game 4 to tie the Mets. Gibby would eventually win the contest with a homer of his own in the 8th. The other would be the number of bone-jarring collisions at home plate he was involved with. To this day, I still think he was the best they had at blocking…
On December 13, 1963, the Chicago Cubs, looking for a RHP, traded Jim Brewer and C Cuno Barragan to the Dodgers for Dick Scott. The trade would be very one-sided in the Dodger’s favor even though Barragan never played a single game in L.A. Scott spent 1964 with the Cubs and was gone. Brewer would go on to be an integral part of the Dodger bullpen for 12 seasons. A…
Joseph Michael Medwick was born on November 24, 1911, in Carteret, New Jersey. He was the 4th child of Joesph and Elizabeth Medwick. He was of Hungarian decent. His parents immigrated to the US in 1893. His obituary stated that he was a four-sport star in high school, track, football, basketball, and baseball. He won all-state honors as a half-back in football and had many offers from colleges to play…
May 1, 1920. In the city of Boston, the police were uneasy in the murky morning mist. Between intermittent showers, they stood with shoulders hunched against the chilly air as they trudged out in extra details, alert to the morning headlines, “Guard against Bolshevik uprisings here. As it turned out, the only battle that day took place at the local ball field as the Bostons, and the Brooklyns battled for…
There once were three brothers pitching in the Dodger system at the same time. Ramon Martinez, his brothers Pedro and Jesus. Pedro and Ramon threw from the right side. Jesus was a southpaw. Two of them made it to the Dodgers. One’s stay was brief. and he was traded. The other pitched well for LA for several seasons. Jesus got a brief call-up in 1996. But did not make it…
Edward Charles Ford was born on October 21,1928 in New York City. He was the only child of Jim and Edna Ford, who lived on 66th St. in Manhattan. When Ford was 5, his family moved to 34th Ave. in Astoria, Queens. An Irish, Italian and Polish neighborhood. His dad worked for Consolidated Edison, and his mother was a bookkeeper for a local A&P store. After he began pitching professionally,…