Mickey Vaughn Hatcher, born March 15, 1955, was one of my favorite players to watch. Mickey genuinely had fun playing the game and it showed. He was born in Cleveland, Ohio but spent part of his life in Mesa, Arizona where he graduated from Mesa High School. He went from Mesa High School to Mesa Community College. He was named All American twice in baseball and football. His #81 was…
Richard Anthony Dick Allen was born on March 8, 1942, in Wampum Pennsylvania. The family actually lived in the small hamlet of Chewton. Wampum is 30 miles northwest of Pittsburgh. Dick was one of 9 children and was raised by his mother, Era, who supported the family by working as a domestic. As a child, Dick would spend hours hitting rocks as he announced every hitter in the Brooklyn Dodgers…
Baseball is a funny game. It is also a very frustrating one and can leave you totally discombobulated. There are more ups and downs than an elevator in a high rise in the Big Apple. Take the previous series the Dodgers played against the Phillies last week. They had so many chances to win the first two games and fell short both times. That clutch hit eluded them for the…
Dodger fans as a whole are an emotional lot. They do tend to go off of the rails when the team slumps. I am guilty of this myself sometimes. But let the team hit a cold streak and the boo birds and naysayers emerge from the depths of one’s psyche, and the bad vibes begin. No player or front office person is immune. The finger-pointing and name-calling begin. The blame…
Game 3 of the 1965 World Series at Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers are down 2 games to none to the powerful Twins. Their vaunted 1-2 punch of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax had lost the first two games by scores of 8-2 and 5-1. Koufax had refused to pitch game one because it fell on Yom Kippur. The flight back to L.A. was tense. Claude Osteen, the Dodgers # 3…
It was said, and I do not remember who exactly said it, that Manny Mota could wake up on a cold December morning, get out of bed, and hit a line drive. He was that kind of hitter. Manuel Rafael Mota Geronimo was born in the Dominican Republic on February 18, 1938. He was the sixth of eight children in a blended family. His mother, Fredesvinda, had four children with…
Donald Lee Demeter, born June 25, 1935 in Oklahoma City. He was a tall, 6’4″ gangly man who played in the majors for 11 years. He was a man who had a deep faith and was a member of the fellowship of Christian Athletes. His father was a painting contractor, and his mother a housewife. When he was about 10, his family moved to Denver. But soon after, his mom…
At the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, there is a statue of Johnny Podres releasing a ball. 60 feet 6 inches away is a statue of Roy Campanella. They commemorate the Brooklyn Dodgers winning their first World Series in 1955 over the Yankees. John Joseph Podres was born on September 30th in Witherbee, NY. His father was Joe Podres. Joe was a miner. His mom, Anna, worked in…
Born Edward Raymond Stankiewicz on Sept. 3rd, 1915, Eddie “The Brat” Stanky was a hard-nosed player, who made up for what baseball skills he lacked with a burning desire to win. His father, Frank, and his mother shortened their name to Stanky while Eddie was a child. They lived in the Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia. A blue-collar section of the city. It was there that he developed his belligerent, enthusiastic,…
George Thomas Shuba was born on December 13, 1924, in Youngstown Ohio. His story is that of a typical average ballplayer. In parts of seven seasons, he appeared in 355 games, hit .259, and never played more than 94 games in any of those years. Nearly a third of his at-bats were as a pinch hitter. He played just long enough to collect an MLB pension, he actually counted down…