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| May-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: Well, the Gibson shot was game one, while the Thompson homer gave the Jints the pennant after having trailed by 13 games in August. Plus there's the famous tape of Giants' announcer Russ Hodges shouting "The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!" Another great one, though of course not so important, was David Ortiz' 14th-inning single to win game 5 of their 2004 series against the Yankees. A great youtube filmed from the crowd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A9ZU... |
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| May-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: I forgot to add that the Gibson homer was made even more memorable by Jack Buck's call: "I can't believe what I just saw!" |
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May-29-09
 | | Phony Benoni: Gibson's home run casued disbelief. Thomson's caused devastation. It's not unusual for league or division championships to be more exciting than the finals. The opponents are natural rivals, and there are grudges to settle that make victory even sweeter. By the way, if we're talking big moments in post-season play, where do you rank Mazeroski's walk-off home run in 1960? That seventh game was one of the most exciting ever played, but few remember the details. |
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| May-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: Many thanks for the forbearance of the intelligent people here for not ridiculing my mention of Bobby "Thompson." And yes, I had to look up the spelling of "forbearance." |
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| May-29-09 | | Jim Bartle: 1960: I remember the lead swung back and forth wildly, and Yogi Berra hit at least one homer. It was 9-9 and Mazeroski led off the ninth with the homer. Here's an unbelievable photo of fans celebrating: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_vTbufH6bW... |
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| May-30-09 | | Deus Ex Alekhina: Baseball on TV, in books, & in movies: Jim Bouton's "Ball Four" , which was made into a TV show starring......Jim Bouton(??) It should have been called "No Pepper". The Rifleman starring Chuck Connors (actually, the custom-made rifle was the star of the show). Chuck Connors, according to Wiki, played for the Cubs & Dodgers & also the Boston Celtics & was one of the first to break a backboard, & was also drafted by the Bears. Fear Strikes Out, the story of Jimmy Piersall's battle with bi-polar disorder (electro shock therapy supposed to help - what next? a lobotomy?) I think Piersall had an on air meltdown in the 1980s also. The movie probably helped Anthony Perkins to secure the tole of Norman Bates in "Psycho" |
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| May-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: Speaking of TV, is anybody else old enough to remember Dizzy Dean and Peewee Reese announcing the Saturday Game of the Week (sponsored by Falstaff beer)? I was eight or something, and I thought that was the way you were supposed to talk in baseball. Berra and Stengel were straight talkers compared to Dean. I remember Fear Strikes Out, with Perkins climbing up the screen behind home plate. Don't know much about the true story, though. I do remember Piersall ran around the bases backwards after his 100th home run, and got a big fine for his efforts. It was hilarious, but sent droves of English teachers to the funny farm. |
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May-30-09
| | Phony Benoni: Dizzy Dean, of course. Talking about runners who slud into third base. (Take that, spellcheck!) As I recall the Pearsall story, he wanted to celebrate his 100th home run by running the bases in reverse order (third base first). When told that would invalidate the home run, he settled for runing backwards. League officials had no sense of humor in those days either. Apropos of nothing, ever read the story <You could look it up> by James Thurber? Pre-Eddie Gaedel, and totally hilarious. |
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| May-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: I'll look up "You Could Look You Up," and raise you an "Alibi Ike," by Ring Lardner. Absolutely hilarious. A great baseball novel is "You Know Me Al: A Busher's Letters Home," also by Lardner. An absolute classic: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/rl/... Beyond great. |
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| May-30-09 | | Jim Bartle: From the first letter in "You Know Me Al":
"So I went in and after I lobbed a few over I cut loose my fast one. Lord was to bat and he ducked out of the way and then throwed his bat to the bench. Callahan says What's the matter Harry? Lord says I forgot to pay up my life insurance. He says I ain't ready for Walter Johnson's July stuff." This is the book which introduced the concept of the World's serious. |
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| May-31-09 | | A.G. Argent: JB, Oh now you're making me doubt my memory. The Diz and PeeWee games were all Yankee games weren't they? Didn't CBS own the Yanks back then and had them on every Saturday AND Sunday? I do remember that's how I came to love the Yanks of that era, especially every kid's idol, the Mick. That's when I started to really love baseball. My last memory of Diz was in the 70's on a Monday Night Baseball game with, I think Al Michaels in the booth, I forget who else, and they had the Diz in as special guest for the whole game, a coupla innings, I forget. It was an Astro game I remember because it was in the Dome. Well anyway, it was a blowout, the 'Stros were way way down in the latter innings, the guys in the booth were bored, most fans had left, there was a smattering of people up in the center field bleachers and the bored camera crew took a pan of said bleachers and came upon a young couple making-out and the camera lingered a few seconds and Diz, in his inimitable drawl and perfect timing said in response to something Michaels(?) remarked about the kissing kids, "Yes, suh, he kisses her on the strikes and she kisses him on the balls." Dead silence and then a couple attempts at choking back snorts of guffaws. Doubtful it was a slip of the tongue. My man Diz. |
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May-31-09
| | Phony Benoni: I don't recall the CBS Game of the Week broadcasts being all Yankee games, but I don't have strong memories about it. I do remember one game with the Yankees in Detroit. New York scored six runs in the top of the first. The Tigers countered with three in the bottom of the first, and by the end of the third it was 7-6 for the Yankees.
Dean's comment: "Well, this looks like another one of those four-hour games." For once in his life, Diz underestimated: http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/... |
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| May-31-09 | | Jim Bartle: What a game! And where was Kaline? And why only three at-bats for Mantle? As for the Dean-and-Reese games, I was so young I don't remember the teams or much of anything else. Just that they were day games, and those two just chatted their way through the game. |
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May-31-09
| | Phony Benoni: Kaline was still recovering from a broken collarbone suffered earlier in the year. As for Mantle, I'm not sure, but 1962 around the time when his body began to give out on him. He had played both games of a doubleheader the day before, and may have simply needed a rest. So they replaced him with Joe Pepitone, than had Phil Linz pinch hit for Pepitone later. I wonder how often that happened? Terry Fox, the Tigers' closer, wound up pitcing eight shutout innings and batting twice for probably the only time in his career. They wound up using Don Mossi, the next day's starter, as a pinch hitter for him. |
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| May-31-09 | | Jim Bartle: A doubleheader followed by a 22-inning game??
What was the great comment by somebody when it was suggested Kaline become a DH? "We don't have much in Detroit, but we do have one excellent steakhouse and one right fielder. That cannot be taken away from us." |
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May-31-09
| | Phony Benoni: Kaline did become a fulltime DH in 1974, his last year, and had played some 1B the previous two years. A long series of injuries, beginning with the collarbone, wore him down. He exemplified a quiet, undemonstrative, but no-nonsense attitude that seems to play well in Detroit. Think Barry Sanders. Think Chauncey Billups, as was show this year. If Kaline got knocked down by a pitch, he did start yelling or charge the mound. He just picked himself up, set himself in exactly the same stance--and more than likely would drill a hit right over the pitcher's head. He didn't act tough, but you couldn't intimidate him. |
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| May-31-09 | | Jim Bartle: Usually couldn't take third base on him, either. |
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| May-31-09 | | Travis Bickle: Cubs and Dodgers on ESPN Baseball Tonight. I miss Jim, A.G. and your comments on the kibitzer page. What the hell is a kibitzer page for if ya cant talk baseball or anything else that comes to mind?! |
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May-31-09
| | Phony Benoni: <Señor Travis> Oh, whenever we try to talk baseball over there it just gets buried under all the irrelevant chess junk. Besides, the Café doesn't serve hot dogs. |
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| May-31-09 | | Jim Bartle: It occurs to me that Tommy John's arm must really hurt these days, after so many surgeries. |
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| May-31-09 | | A.G. Argent: <TB, JB, PB>, Yeah I know. It seems as though within a few days of our host here, Signore Benoni, suggesting we gather here for diamond banter and Richard Taylor in the Cafe saying something in response to somebody's something "that anything was better than baseball", that that was kinda the final hint to take Phony/David up on his offer. It kinda just gradually happened. And me being the one saying I wouldn't be shooed off. Ah well, just goes to show what gentlemen we are, eh boys. |
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| May-31-09 | | Jim Bartle: Well, just to keep things moving, here's my all-time lineup (major leagues only): Cobb cf
Wagner ss
Ruth rf
Williams lf
Gehrig 1b
Schmidt 3b (or A Rodriguez)
Bench c
Morgan 2b (or Eddie Collins)
Rotation: W. Johnson, Grove, Spahn, Koufax, Mathewson. Closers: Rivera, Ryan (a little experiment there) |
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May-31-09
| | Phony Benoni: With a rotation like that, why would you need a closer? At 2B, I might make an argument for Lajoie or Hornsby (though Cobb said that Hornsby had a weakness going back on pop flies). I think Collins is a bit over rated. I'd take Schmidt at 3B over Rodriguez based on fielding. I don't know if Cobb is a slam dunk case. Great hitter, little power, average fielder with a weak arm (by his own admission). One could really make a case for Willie Mays or Hank Aaron there--especially based on team chemistry. Nobody liked Coob. I don't think even Cobb liked Cobb. And he never won a World Series. Even lost twice to the <Cubs>, for goodness sakes! |
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| Jun-01-09 | | Travis Bickle: <Jim Bartle> Willie Mays in center with Mickey Mantle a close second! Oh and I think you over looked Ryan Sandberg at 2nd. |
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| Jun-01-09 | | Jim Bartle: I am a longtime Giants fan, so I just can't trust my judgment on Mays, who was of course tremendous. (So was Mantle.) I tried to have some respect for all eras of baseball (after 1900, that is), and Cobb's record looks great. Hornsby was of course the best hitter at 2B, but apparently was quite a poor fielder. I do think Morgan is generally overrated as an all-around great player. An interesting idea is who would win between these two teams: --The same lineup, but with a terrible pitching staff? or --The same pitching staff, with a lineup of Laniers and Mendozas? |
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