Yogi Berra had a way with words. Just ask his battery mate of 12 seasons Whitey Ford.
One of the pitcher’s favorite tales to tell was “Yogi Berra and the four-ball story”. Ford delivered it many times.
Like many of the best baseball stories, this one is a mixture of truth and fantasy.
It’s a quick and easy read that’s sure to give you a chuckle.
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Famed historian on American Culture Jacques Barzun said in 1954, “Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball”. For many who love the game, this remains true today. Baseball reflects American culture, our hopes and dreams. Among the eras when baseball and our country’s culture was most intertwined was during the Second World War. Of the more than 16 million Americans who served in World War II, nearly 40% were volunteers. Men chose to serve out of a sense of honor, allegiance and loyalty to the flag and the ideals it represents. They formed “America’s Greatest Generation” – a cohort defined by a shared unselfish sense of the greater good, of duty and honor. Four ballplayers do their part The heroism of Ted Williams and Bob Feller during the War is well-documented. Those two men weren’t alone in their service. This is the story of wartime contributions of a few lesser-known ball players: Lou Brissie, Buddy Lewis, George Earnshaw, and Al Niemiec. These men, like many Americans of the era, felt an undeniable drive to do the right thing. They exemplified the American culture and spirit of their time. Though their stories seem heroic […]
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Connie Mack’s 1929 Philadelphia Athletics were one of the greatest teams in baseball history. With a lineup that included Hall of Famers Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, and Al Simmons, they finished 18 1/2 games ahead of the second-place Yankee team that won 6 of the previous 8 American League pennants. The Athletics pitching staff boasted a pair of aces with the left-right combination of 20-game winner Lefty Grove and 24-game winner George Earnshaw. For good measure, Mack’s #3 starter Rube Walberg had 18 wins of his own. On May 12th Philadelphia moved into a first-place tie with the Yankees and never relinquished the top spot. By the end of the month the A’s were five games up. Their lead swelled to 10 1/2 games on August 1st behind Earnshaw’s 17th win of the season. The margin remained at double digits the rest of the way. As Philadelphia cruised toward the AL pennant, the Cubs did the same in the National League. When Charlie Root shut down the Giants at the Polo Grounds on August 21st, the Cubs’ lead stretched to 10 1/2 games and never diminished. The two teams were on a collision course for the World Series. An aging […]
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Records are meant to be broken. Or are they? In 1988 Orel Hershiser wasn’t so sure. Given the chance to break Major League Baseball’s record for consecutive scoreless innings, he almost opted out. One Cooperstown man betters another A hurler’s job is to keep his opponents from scoring. Moundsmen take great pride in putting up zeroes. One of baseball’s greatest run-preventers, Walter Johnson set the big league record by not allowing a man to cross the plate in 55 2/3 consecutive innings in 1913. The 417-game winner held the mark for the rest of his life. More than a half-century later, along came the Dodgers’ Don Drysdale. An intimidating presence on the hill, the 6’5″ right hander believed that pitchers owned the inside half of the plate. Big D finished first or second in batters hit in 12 of his 14 seasons. In 1968 he surpassed the Big Train, extending the consecutive scoreless innings record by three frames. Twenty years later Drysdale entered his first year as the Dodger color man. That season he witnessed Hershiser’s epic run. Hershiser faces a difficult decision Nicknamed “Bulldog” by skipper Tommy Lasorda, Hershiser had great respect for Drysdale, the franchise’s pitching-rich history, and […]
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The college standout takes an unconventional path to pro ball George Earnshaw took the road less traveled. Throughout his life he made unexpected decisions that always had a way of working out. Living on his own terms he became the right-handed ace of a baseball dynasty and a World War II hero. Earnshaw was a star in football, basketball, and baseball at Swarthmore College and later a member of the school’s athletic Hall of Fame. On the pitcher’s mound the 6’4″, 210-pounder was an especially imposing presence. When he left the school in 1922, baseball scouts tabbed him as the top local prospect. The International League’s Double-A Baltimore Orioles were Earnshaw’s most persistent suitor. When they wouldn’t agree to his demand of $600 per month, Earnshaw took a job with his uncle’s transportation business in Newark, New Jersey. He later joked he was the only holdout in baseball history who had yet to play a professional game. Over the next couple of years, the Orioles reminded Earnshaw of their interest each time they traveled to Newark to play the Bears. When his uncle’s business closed in 1924, Earnshaw finally took the Orioles up on their baseball offer. More than two […]
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Baseball shines the light on the fringe player like no other sport Every sport celebrates its stars. More than any other pastime, baseball provides opportunities for fringe players to become part of the game’s fabric. Howie Bedell is one such man. In his 67-game big league playing career, Bedell had three runs batted in, the last of which links him to one of the most memorable streaks in the history of the game. The story begins with the 1913 performance of perhaps the greatest pitcher of all time, Walter Johnson. One of five in Cooperstown’s inaugural class, Johnson threw 55 2/3 consecutive scoreless innings that year. The majestic run set a record that Johnson held for the rest of his life. Fifty-five years later another Hall of Fame hurler began a streak of his own. On May 14th, 1968 Dodger hurler Don Drysdale beat Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins with a 2-hit blanking of the Chicago Cubs. Four days later he twirled a 5-hit shutout against the Astros. The Dodgers then headed to St. Louis where Drysdale bested Cooperstown’s Bob Gibson 2-0 on May 22nd. His next start came at the Astrodome against the Houston team he shut out eight […]
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The story of how Lloyd Waner tallied his milestone 3,000th hit is now a mere footnote in baseball history.
It’s also a story worth knowing.
In an unlikely turn of events, an angry Paul Waner rejected a scorer’s decision.
Waner demanded a chance to record his memorable knock cleanly – and got his wish.
This is the forgotten tale of how the 7th MLB batter to total 3,000 hits joined baseball’s exclusive club.
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Today the Oakland Athletics sport a white elephant on their uniform. They also use the pale pachyderm in sales and marketing.
What is the link between the A’s and a white elephant?
It all began because of a feud at the dawn of a new century during the inception of the American League.
John McGraw, Ban Johnson, and Connie Mack – Cooperstown men all – were at the center of the battle. What could’ve been a debacle is today an enduring part of baseball history.
America’s National Pastime has a long and glorious history separates it from every other North American sport.
Enjoy the article that links three baseball titans to the present day.
You gotta love baseball!
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Buddy Lewis broke into the big leagues at age 19, was a regular by age 20, and an All Star by age 21.
When the infielder recorded his 1,000th career hit on June 4, 1941 he was just 24 years old.
Only four players in major league history reached the 1,000-hit plateau at a younger age. All are in the Hall of Fame – Ty Cobb, Mel Ott, Al Kaline, and Freddie Lindstrom – are in the Hall of Fame.
The Senators third baseman was one of baseball rising young stars. Lewis was on the path to Cooperstown.
Then everything changed.
Lewis enlisted into the army to fight in World War II. Flying a C-47 that he named “The Old Fox” in honor of Senators owner Clark Griffith, Lewis survived more than 350 missions.
When he returned to the game after a 3 1/2 year absence, he was a different man and a different player.
With all that he saw during the war, baseball took on less significance.
Though he had some success, Lewis was out of baseball by age 34.
Once a man on the path to Cooperstown, Lewis answered the call to serve his country.
This is the story of Senators great and World War II hero Buddy Lewis.
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Tony C finds success early Tony Conigliaro made his big league debut in 1964 at the tender age of 19. The first pitch the Red Sox rookie saw in front of the Fenway faithful he hit over the Green Monster for a homer. During his time as a teenager the Massachusetts native slugged 24 homers – the most by any player before his 20th birthday. Conigliaro followed up that performance by swatting a league-leading 32 homers in ’65. Just 20 years old, the right-hander remains Major League Baseball’s youngest home run champion. Tony C had another fine year in ’66. He finished in the top ten among AL batters in triples, homers, total bases, RBI, and OPS. At 21 years old, Conigliaro was on his way to becoming a superstar. The first half of 1967 was more of the same. Selected as the starting right fielder in the All Star game, Conigliaro had the world on a string. Twelve days after the Mid Summer Classic he hit his 100th career homer – the youngest player in American League history to reach the plateau. Then on August 18th, everything changed. The beaning changes everything In the bottom of the 4th inning […]
Read More >"Whoever wants to know the heart and mind of America had better learn baseball…"
~Jacques Barzun, 1954