I sometimes wonder if every photo of Nellie Fox shows him with a chaw of chewing tobacco bulging out of his cheek. Was he born with the chewing tobacco permanently attached inside one cheek? This photograph of Nellie Fox shows that ballplayers were much more accommodating for publicity photographers back in the 1950’s, as Nellie lies on his stomach on a tarpaulin in an empty ballpark. Continue reading
Umpires Make Mistakes: See Baseball History 101
Photo Mike Stobe / Getty Images
Everyone is in an unnecessary uproar over the Dewayne Wise phantom catch of a baseball that disappeared into the crowd at Yankee Stadium on June 26, 2012 during a 6-4 Yankee victory over the Cleveland Indians.
The umpire, Mike DiMuro is human. He made a mistake and admitted it after the game. That was the right thing to do.
Do you want the game to stop every time there is a controversial play? Aren’t the games slow enough?
Mistakes similar to this have been happening since baseball began and have been forgotten unless they affect the pennant race or a World Series game.
One forgotten incident that occurred on August 1, 1920 was whether Joe Jackson of the Chicago White Sox actually caught a baseball Babe Ruth hit into an overflow crowd at Comiskey Park. The aftermath of that play is shown below.
Babe Ruth & Miller Huggins argue with umpire Tom Connolly, Bob Meusel (with bat) listens © blackbetsy.com
Going into the game against the White Sox, Ruth was on a tear, having hit 37 home runs already, shattering his own record of 29 home runs set the previous year. Continue reading
When Baseball Teams Had Their Own Unique Songs
When my Dad and I would drive places at night in the 1970’s, my father would put on the Baltimore radio station, WBAL-AM to hear the Orioles games. At night the radio signals were stronger and you could pick up most of the bigger radio station’s broadcasts within a 400 mile range, so he would listen. I vividly remember the upbeat song that used to be played to start the O’s broadcast. I searched the internet and have had no luck finding “Orioles Baseball” which is what I believe the title was. But I have collected a number of baseball theme songs and thought I would share them.
For every baseball fan who can remember…
(click on link to hear the mp3 of the song)
In the 1970’s when I was listening to the radio, before the start of every ball game, the New York Yankees would have their theme played. The Yankees announcers, Phil Rizutto, Frank Messer and Bill White would eventually talk over the song and it would fade out. At the end of the game they would play the theme again. The Yankees still play a truncated version of the song at the beginning and conclusion of games on the radio, but they rarely play this version with the lyrics.
Musically well constructed and simply the best song ever written for a team with its catchy lyrics. The “Meet The Mets” song still holds up nearly 50 years after the Mets introduction to New York. This version is the original version. (ed note: strangely enough I wrote this article on June 30 and originally scheduled it to be posted on July 5. I moved it up to July 3 after seeing that the writer of the Mets theme song Ruth Roberts passed away Friday, July 1 at age 84.)
If you grew up in Chicago you may remember “Hey, Hey Holy Mackarel” which was the Chicago Cubs song.
Now, if you were a Chicago White Sox fan, the song dear to your heart would be “Let’s Go, Go, Go White Sox.”
In the late 1960’s this is what the Detroit Tigers were playing – “Go Get ‘Um Tigers.” Continue reading
Nicknamed The “Hitless Wonders”: The 1906 Chicago White Sox.
Portrait White Sox catcher Billy Sullivan 1909 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
This dour looking man shared the team lead for the Chicago White Sox in home runs in 1906. His name was Billy Sullivan. He was the team’s catcher. He batted .218.
Billy Sullivan in 1910 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
Billy Sullivan and Joe Sugden in 1901 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
The other slugger to lead the team in home runs was outfielder / playing manager Fielder Jones. He batted .230.
fielder Jones at South Side Park 1905 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
Fielder Jones & Frank Isbell 1907 Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
Fielder Jones Base Hit vs. Cubs Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
Sullivan and Jones each had two home runs. This is the shared record with the 1907 Cubs for fewest amount of home runs for an individual team leader on a modern (post 1903) world championship team. Let’s give the 1907 Cubs some credit they walloped nearly double the number the White Sox did in 1906 by hitting 13 home runs.
The White Sox hit a total of seven home runs in 1906. Count them, seven.
The White Sox batted collectively .230. They did not have one .300 hitter who had more than ten at bats. Pitcher Frank Smith had a higher batting average (.293) than any other regular starter. They did finish in first place with a 93-58 record.
In the 1906 World Series against the crosstown rival Chicago Cubs the Sox hit even lower, batting a collective .198.
1906 World Series West Side Grounds Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
1906 World Series fans Chicago Daily News negatives collection, Courtesy of Chicago History Museum
The Cubs had won a record 116 games, which is still the modern National League record for victories.
Yet the White Sox whipped the heavily favored Cubs four games to two and even managed to score eight runs in each of the last two games!