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…
Wallace Wade Moon, born 4/3/1930 in Bay Arkansas, was the son of Henry Albert Moon and the former Margie Leona Vernon. He was the second of their three children. Bay is a swampy hamlet by some railroad tracks. Henry was a factory worker who later became mayor of Bay. Henry would read every sports page he could get his hands on. Wally was named after Alabama football coach, Wallace Wade….
Edmundo Amoros Isasi was born on January 30th, 1930 in La Habana, Cuba. He was the youngest of six children born to Guillermo Amoros and Caridi Isasi. Guillermo, who labored in the sugar fields, died when his little boy was only 3. Caridi supported her family by working in a textile mill. Young Edmundo attended school for 8 years, but he too went to work in the mill when he…
Our next subject is RHP Billy Loes. William Loes was born on the 13th of December, 1929 in Long Island City, NY. His parents were James and Filo Loes. He was an only child. His parents were Greek immigrants who had according to Loes, shortened their surname. He was raised in Astoria which was about a half-hour away from Ebbets Field. His family lived in a small apartment, and they…
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…
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…
When the old-timer’s committee announced the results of their meeting and Gil Hodges became the latest Dodger to be enshrined at Cooperstown, I was elated. I had always felt Gil belonged. He was the best first baseman of his era. Although he did not garner enough writer support I felt they had made a mistake. The Veteran’s committee finally got it right. He is not entering alone, but he is…