This news photograph is captioned “Doberman tends bar, operates cash register.” June 10, 1947.
Somehow I don’t think the animal rights groups would allow this today, let alone the department of health. Though I’ll bet he was a good listener. Continue reading
The Most Exciting Play in Baseball Was Accomplished by Rod Carew Seven Times in 1969
Rod Carew’s 2nd steal of home in 1969 – April 19, 3rd inning vs. California Angels. Harmon Killebrew is #3.
It’s a play you hardly see anymore- the pure stealing of home plate. Not part of a double steal or a failed suicide squeeze attempt.
At the urging of Minnesota Twins manager Billy Martin in 1969, second baseman Rod Carew swiped home an astonishing seven times in one season, tying the major league record of Pete Reiser of the Brooklyn Dodgers set back in 1946.
You’d think that Carew must have stolen a lot of bases that year considering his constant stealing of home. Amazingly, Carew stole a total of only 19 bases that year!
Carew, the future Hall of Famer, told the story of how he perfected the steal of home in his 1979 autobiography Carew by Rod Carew with Ira Berkow (Simon and Schuster ,1979) which is excerpted here.
Carew stole home his record tying seventh time on July 16, 1969 in the second inning against the Chicago White Sox in the first game of a double header at the Twins home park, Metropolitan Stadium. The Twins ended up winning the game 9-8. Continue reading
Who is this gentleman? No it is not a sketch from Monty Python, such as a man with a tape recorder up his nose. Continue reading
Jackie Gleason, known as The Great One, was the star of one of the funniest television shows ever, The Honeymooners.
A Reflection on The Late, Great Yankee Stadium With Vintage Photographs
I visited the new Yankee Stadium once in 2009 when it first opened. The feeling was a bit surreal. It was like being in Yankee Stadium, but it wasn’t. The main difference for me was the surrounding neighborhood and looking out past the right-center field bleachers and not seeing the apartment buildings and the Bronx County Court House.
The new Yankee Stadium is a glorified mall.
The old Yankee Stadium that existed from 1923 – 1973 was where the storied history of the Yankees took place. Even after the renovation of Yankee Stadium from 1974-1975 which included taking out the old wooden seats and the removal of the beams that could block your view from many of those seats, the stadium still retained some of the old charm, even though it lost a bit of its character. From 1976 -2008 the Yankees played in the same spot where Lou Gehrig, Babe Ruth, Mickey Mantle, Red Ruffing, Hank Bauer, Whitey Ford Joe DiMaggio and Bill Dickey saw action.
The Yankees of the last 35 years; Thurman Munson, Bobby Murcer, Ron Guidry, Mel Stottlemyre, Paul O’Neill, Don Mattingly and Derek Jeter could look around and seep in the history of this altered palace of baseball, even if there were heavy cosmetic changes to the outside and inside of the stadium itself.
There was no more “Death Valley” Continue reading
Marilyn Monroe would have been 85 on June 1, 2011
An 85-year-old Marilyn would be difficult to imagine. She died at age 36 under mysterious circumstances during the evening of August 4 or early morning August 5, 1962, depending upon what version of her death you are apt to believe.
If she were alive today, I think she might look somewhat like her mother Gladys did at a similar age. Gladys died at the age of 81 in 1984.
The New York Post reported on May 31 that unseen Marilyn photos found at a garage sale in 1980 may soon be put up for sale. If they are, they will fetch a lot of money.
Marilyn was one of the most photographed people of all-time so there are always going to be “new’ photos of her popping up.
Random trivia: Andy Griffith was also born June 1, 1926.
For Marilyn’s birthday here are some photo’s that have not been seen as much as the standard shots you are used to. Forever young.
At The Beverly Wilshire Hotel
Howard Hughes and Marian Marsh December 12, 1934 at the Beverly Wilshire Hotel for the “Mayfair Ball” (click photo to enlarge)
The Mayfair Ball was the largest social gathering in Los Angeles in the 1930’s. The dashing Howard Hughes was a Hollywood producer at the time. Marian Marsh had appeared Continue reading
Jayne Mansfield Has A Press Conference 1957
Rome – November 8, 1957
Jayne Mansfield certainly knew how to get the media’s attention.
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!
Anniversaries of older, tragic events are usually the only time those events play into the public consciousness. Other than that, they are rarely thought about, discussed or even remembered.
This week a vast amount of attention has been devoted by newspapers, PBS, HBO and news stations in New York that are marking the 100th anniversary of The
Triangle Shirtwaist Fire in which 146 people, mostly young immigrant girls, perished.
The details of the March 25th, 1911 conflagration which are summed up best by Cornell University’s Industrial and Labor Relations School web site are heartbreaking. Many of these girls Continue reading