Countdown to Christmas - 33 Days

1933 in baseball history.... yawn..... Triple Crown winner takes MVP award.... wake me up..... new strike out record....sigh.... New York wins another World Series..... Gehrig sets record..... come on, give us something new!!

Well how about this for something new: a mid summer game held at Comisky Park, with one team comprised of starters like Pepper Martin, Frankie Frisch, Chuck Klein, Chick Hafey, Bill Terry, Wally Berger, Dick Bartell, Jimmie Wilson, Bill Hallahan and Carl Hubbell in relief, vs the likes of Ben Chapman, Charlie Gehringer, Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, Al Simmons, Jimmy Dykes, Joe Cronin, Rick Ferrell, and Lefty Gomez? And... the AL team didn't even play the league's ultimate triple crown winner that year! Let's call it... the All Star game!! Yep, the first ever, watched by nearly 48,000, won by the AL 4-2!

So what about this triple crown winner that didn't even play that day for the AL? The A's Jimmie Foxx, who ended the season hitting .356 with 48 HR and 163. Not only did he win the Triple Crown but took home the league MVP honors. His cross town rival in Philly, playing for the Phillies, Chuck Klein, also won the Triple Crown, hitting .368 with 28 round trippers and driving in 120. But Klein wasn't so lucky in the MVP voting, as King Carl Hubbell with his amazing 1.66 ERA and 23 wins (10 by shutout) took the MVP honors for the Giants.

Dizzy Dean broke the modern single game strike out record fanning 17 batters in an 8-2 win over the Cubs. The previous mark was held by four other pitchers, but fell short of the all time record of 19 set by Charlie Sweeney of Providence in 1884.

Gehrig played in his 1,308th consecutive game on August 17, topping Everett Scott's previous endurance record. And NY won the World Series.... oh, not THAT NY team.... the Giants make quick work of Washington, 4 games to 1 to take the fall classic, with Carl Hubbell picking up the victories in games one and four. In game four, Hubbell went all 11 innings and picked up the 2-1 decision.

Countdown to Christmas - 34 Days

Fall in northern Virginia, which means it's major leaf blowing, raking and bagging season. Mr. All Things Ed spent yesterday afternoon working in the yard, but cut the effort short and unfinished as Mrs. All Things Ed and I went to see Harry Potter VII(a), then did dinner and came home to watch FSU-MD. I have to finish the other half of my front yard today, as well as get the house together for our daughter and Junior, who are coming home for Thanksgiving break this week. But for my faithful readership of one, I didn't want to put off yet another blog post. A combined 35 and 34 days post. So, on with the countdown!!

The mid 30s, especially '34 and '35, were a dizzying time. No, really, a Dizzying time. Jay Hanna "Dizzy" Dean won 58 games over those two seasons, with 53 complete games (oh, and another 28 in 1936). He boasted that in 1934, he and his brother Paul would win 45 games for the Gashouse Gang. Sure enough, on September 21, Dizzy pitched the front end of a double header, winning a 3 hit complete game shutout for win number 27, and Paul pitched a no hitter in the night cap for his 18th win. Dizzy said "If'n Paul had told me he was gonna pitch a no-hitter, I'd of throwed one too." They each won two more games before the end of the campaign. Dizzy was the NL MVP in 1934, and he and his brother lead the Cardinals to the World Series title, defeating the Tigers four games to three. I remember watching the Game of the Week and hearing Joe Garagiola recall a story about Dizzy. They were working a game, keeping score, and Garagiola looked down at Dean's scorecard and saw "WL", which is not a typical shortcut on a scorecard. Garagiola asked Dean what WL stood for, to which Dean replied "wasn't looking."

The '34 season saw Gehrig win the triple crown, with Lefty Gomez dominating the pitching side, going 26-5 with a 2.33 ERA and 158 K's. But in the All Star game, it was all Carl Hubbell of the Giants, who fanned (in order) Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Jimmie Foxx (to close out the first inning), then Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to lead off the second. He gave up a walk to Bill Dickey, but then stuck out Gomez to close the frame. Negro League ace Satchel Paige tossed a 4-0 no-hitter on July 4th against the Homestead Grays in Pittsburgh, and then drove to Chicago to shut out the Chicago American Giants 1-0 (in twelve innings) giving him two shutouts (in two different cities) on the same day.

In 1935, Ruth was released by the Yankees and signed with the Boston Braves. His final season was short lived, however. His final home run, number 714, came at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh on May 25. But after hitting just .181, he hung up his cleats for good on June 2. Ruth's final season was on par with the rest of the Braves, who finished with a 38-115 record, including an incredible 13-65 on the road. They compiled the most futile record in baseball, not equaled until the 1962 Mets lost 120! (sorry Ed.....)

Just nine days before Ruth's announcement came another milestone in major league baseball, this time in Cincinnati. The first night game was played with the Reds defeating the Phillies 2-1. The owners granted permission for a total of seven night games that season, and only if the Red's opponents agreed.

Just so this doesn't drag on.... here are some other quick highlights. Hank Greenberg won the AL MVP award, the Tigers downed the Cubs to win their first fall classic (after the Tigers had lost series in 1907, 1908, 1909 and 1934), and on August 31,White Sox ace Vern Kennedy tossed the first no-hitter (5-0) ever at Comiskey Park as well as the first no-no since the Senators' Bobby Burke's 5-0 gem on August 8, 1931 against the Red Sox. That drought between no hitters is the longest in modern day history. As a point of reference, there were four no-nos thrown in 2010 alone, not including Armando Galarraga's gem that should have been a perfect game. The most thrown in one season is seven, happening in both 1990 and 1991.

Greenberg accepts the MVP award from Judge Landis

Countdown to Christmas - 35 Days Pt. 1

Not sure if I will have time for a complete blog on 1935 as Harry Potter is this afternoon, then FSU-MD game tonight. Besides, nothing of importance happened in 1935.......

Just......
....legendary player calls it quits....
....let's shed some light on the subject.....
....Braves are an exercise in futility......
....a Hanky gets the MVP.....
....an all animal world series.....
....the first no-no since 1931 (and how many were thrown in 2010 alone??)

OK, so maybe SOME things happened. Stay tuned!

Countdown to Christmas - Day 36 continued

1936 was an exciting year, with high profile rookies, another subway series, and the establishment of a shrine to our new found national pastime.

It was the year of the “Golden Rookies” in the Junior Circuit. On May 3, Joe DiMaggio made his debut in the Yankee pinstripes against the St. Louis Browns, bursting onto the scene with a triple, two singles, three runs scored and a home run as the Bronx Bombers won in a route, 14-5. DiMaggio hit .323 in 1936 with 29 home runs and 125 RBI. He was one of five Yankees to drive in 100 runs that year, with Lou Gehrig (152), Bill Dickey and George Selkirk (107 each) and Tony Lazzeri. And Bill Dickey’s .362 average was a record for a catcher that stood until Joe Mauer hit .365 in 2009.

Bob Feller was an Iowa farm boy playing sand lot baseball, and was signed to a contract for a $1 bonus and an autographed baseball. He made his debut at 17 years old in 1936, and in his first start, he fanned 15 St. Louis Browns hitters. A few weeks later he set an American League record by striking out 17 A’s. At the end of the season, he return to Iowa for his senior year of high school, and returned to play 17 more seasons (taking time out for 4 years of military service) and compiled a record of 266-162 and earned a spot in Cooperstown.

Speaking of Cooperstown, on February 2, Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, Christy Mattewson and Walter Johnson were named charter members of baseball’s new Hall of Fame. While the building itself would not open until 1939, these five were the first five voted in by the BBWA.

Philadelphia’s Chuck Klein joined one of baseball’s select circles when he hit four home runs in a 9-6 victory over Pittsburgh on July 10. Klein became only the second modern era player to hit four dingers in one game (the other was Gehrig) and joined Bobby Lowe (1894) and Ed Delahanty (1896) in the elite four HR club. He ended the season with 25 homers.

In the first all New York subway series since 1923, the Yankees beat the Giants four games to two, outscoring the Giants 43-23.

Carl Hubbell and Lou Gehrig in the 1936 World Series.

Before the season began, the new owners of the Boston Braves polled fans for a new nickname for the team, settling on the “Bees.” The new nickname didn’t take off, and after the 1940 season, they changed back to the Braves.

Future Hall of Famers born in 1936 include Bill Mazerowski, Don Drysdale and Harmon Killebrew.

Countdown to Christmas - 36 Days

Just a preview of tonight's blog post:

A new Yankee makes a splash in his debut
A post 1900 homerun record is tied... by an Athletic
First members of the Hall of Fame are voted in
A subway series
A farm boy makes a stunning pitching debut... then heads back to finish high school
Braves to Bees, but it doesn't last long

Countdown to Christmas 2010 - 37 Days

After a few false starts back in September, the Countdown is back in full swing! Last year's countdown was a tribute to famous jersey numbers, and I tried to incorporate my old baseball cards as best I could. This year's Countdown is more of a history lesson than anything else. But you never know what surprises might be thrown in.

So, with 37 days to Christmas, let's talk about 1937. The season started off with a bang, as Tigers outfielder Gee Walker became the first player in history to hit for the cycle on Opening Day. Walker, who played 15 seasons with the Tigers, White Sox, Senators, Indians and Reds and had a lifetime batting average of .294, propelled the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over Cleveland. Walker ended up hitting .335 in 1937.

Ducky Medwick of the St. Louis Cardinals won the triple crown in the Senior Circuit, and was named the league MVP. Medwick, whose real name was Joe, hit .374 with 154 RBI and tied Mel Ott for the league lead in home runs with 31. Unfortunately for the Cardinals, he was a one man show as the team finished in 4th place, 15 games behind the Giants. Leo “The Lip” Durocher said “He is the meanest roughest guy you could imagine. He just stands up there and whales everything within reach. Doubles, triples, home runs… he sprays them all over every park and if he has a weakness, it is a ball over the plate.”

Napoleon Lajoie, Tris Speaker and Cy Young become the sixth, seventh and eighth members of the Hall of Fame.

The Homestead Grays, led by Josh Gibson, Buck Leonard, and Judy Johnson, won the first of nine straight Negro League championships in 1937. Gibson and Johnson had played for the famed Pittsburgh Crawfords but jumped to the Grays in 1937.

1937 also was the start of the end of the career of one Hall of Fame pitcher, and the promise of a new beginning for an up and coming Hall of Famer. Dizzy Dean pitched the first three innings of the All Star game, and with two out in the third, Earl Averill cracked a low line drive that caught Dean on the front of his foot. Later in the clubhouse, they discovered that Dean’s toe was broken, but he and the Cardinals management put him back on the mound before it had completely healed. The injury caused him to change his delivery, ultimately injuring his arm and ending his glory days at age 26. And on December 6th the Boston Red Sox acquired the contract of an up and coming 19 year old named Ted Williams. Williams began his pro career with his hometown San Diego Padres of the PCL and improved enough at Minneapolis of the American Association to catch the eye of the Red Sox.

Hall of Famers born in 1937 include Brooks Robinson, Juan Marichal and Orlando Cepeda.

Countdown to Christmas - 95 Days

Wow... September 21. Another year older. I share my birthday with 56 current and former major leaguers, including Cecil Fielder, Sam McDowell, Scott Spiezio, Joe Haynes and Tom Brown, who played for 17 seasons from 1882 to 1898 with stops in Baltimore, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Indianapolis, Boston, Louisville, St. Louis, and Washington! So happy birthday to all 56 players that did make, or are making, this wonderful game our national (and my favorite) pastime!

95..... only one significant person comes to mind in baseball when I think of 95, and that's Cal Ripken, Jr. Wait, didn't he wear number 8? Yes, but it was in 1995 that he broke the Iron Man's record for consecutive games. I remember watching many an Oriole game in my basement in the early to mid 90s, and even listening to them on the radio with Jon Miller and Joe Angel, and during the 94 and 95 seasons, Cal would stay after signing autographs for an hour after the game. In 1995 I had a silent auction to raise money for the Leukemia Society and contacted his office. He graciously sent over a couple of autographed items for me to auction off. But it was on Wednesday September 6 of that year that he practically brought me to tears when he played in his 2,131 consecutive game before a nationally televised audience. Won't bore you with all of his stats, you can look them up... or better yet, you can check last year's countdown!! But thanks for the memories, Cal, and for all you do with youth baseball!

Oh, if anyone cares, below is the list of players I share a birthday with. Pictured below is Sam McDowell of the Yankees, from my baseball card collection.

Jeremy Jeffress
Antonio Bastardo
Joaquin Arias
Carlos Rosa
Greg Burke
Billy Sadler
Brian Tallet
Pedro Santana
Doug Davis
Manuel Barrios
Scott Spiezio
Shannon Withem
Ben Shelton
Jason Christiansen
D.J. Dozier
Cecil Fielder
Troy Afenir
Rick Rodriguez
Danny Cox
Frank MacCormack
Art Gardner
Gary Gray
Gary Lance
Aurelio Lopez
Jim Todd
Bill Wilson
Sam McDowell
Jerry Fosnow
Jerry Zimmerman
Billy Muffett
Jim Clark
John McHale
Joe Haynes
Ed Walczak
Max Butcher
Elden Auker
Al Blanche
John Bogart
Del Lundgren
Herschel Bennett
Ad Swigler
Elmer Smith
Gil Britton
Pete Shields
Art Bader
Bris Lord
Frank McManus
George Blackburn
Jim Garry
Joe Daly
Bill Joyce
Jack Horner
Tom Brown
Frank Bishop
Dick Buckley
Al Thake

Countdown to Christmas - 96 Days

96..... true, that's about what I shot on the FRONT 9 at Mangrove Bay in St. Petersburg during the summer of 1979 in my first ever round of golf.... and I'd like to say it's my best total ever for a full 18 but sadly we only started the countdown at 99 days..... In '96 I ran the second annual Disney Marathon in Orland, FL, and at mile 22 choked on a Powerbar and nearly passed out before getting water about a 1/4 mile later. It was my third marathon (and second finish) and had a blast. I'd still like to run Disney again someday.

In '96, Dodger Chan Ho Park became the first South Korean pitcher to win in the majors, throwing four scoreless innings in relief of Ramon Martinez for the 3-1 win. Also in '96, umpire John McSherry died of a massive heart attach after calling time from behind home plate just seven pitches into a Reds-Expos games in Cincinnati. In 1896, Ed Delahanty of the Phillies hit FOUR inside the park homers and had 7 RBIs, but it wasn't enough for the Phils as they lost 9-8 to the Chicago Colts! Delahanty lead the league that year in doubles (44), homeruns (13), RBI (126) and slugging (.631). Delahanty played 16 years in the big leagues, mostly with the Phillies. A lifetime .346 hitter, he died in a tragic accident at Niagara falls during the 1903 season. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1945.

I know you are wondering "but what about number 96?" Well..... Bill Voiselle, who played 9 seasons with the Giants, Braves and Cubs between 1942 and 1950, wore number 96. He appeared in 245 games with a lifetime record of 74-84. His best season was 1944, going 21-16 for the Giants, with a 3.02 ERA. He was named Sporting News Pitcher of the Year that year. In 1947 He went to play for the Braves, and changed his number to 96 to honor his hometown of Ninety Six, South Carolina. Voiselle passed away in 2005 and is buried in Elmwood Cemetary in Ninety Six, SC.

Countdown to Christmas - 97 Days

Short post tonight, with just 97 days to go until Christmas. This pirate was out on the water in a new kayak today in search of treasure. Didn't stumble upon any wenches, though. Guess that will have to wait until Gasparilla in Tampa next February!!

On with the countdown!

Joe Beimel wears number 97 for the Colorado Rockies. Beimel is a relief pitcher who made made his major league debut with the Pirates in 2001 and has also played for the Twins, Rays, Dodgers, and the Nats. He wears number 97 for the year his first child's birth. In 2007 Beimel set a Dodgers record by appearing in 83 games (3rd in the NL that year).

Sorry gang, but after taking 9 months off from the blogging thing, it's tough to get started again. Maybe I'll take a couple months off until we get to the 40s, then it's easier to find good players! Not a slam against Beimel, but.....

I could always bore you with my latest running exploits and what keeps me motivated, but I'll just save that for random facebook posts!

Countdown to Christmas - 98 days

Well, if you thought #99 was a bit of a stretch, try finding a #98 in baseball history! Girly sports like football have Tony "Goose" Siragusa, who played 12 years in the NFL. But baseball numbers, for the most part, are traditionally low. Part of that is based in history. The first team to ever wear numbers on their back on a regular basis was the 1929 Yankees. Prior to that, some teams experimented with wearing numbers on their sleeves. And even then, the numbers the players wore were assigned by where they were in batting order. So Earle Combs wore number 1, Mark Koening wore number 2, Babe wore number 3 and so forth. The rest of the team filled in after the starting 8.

So lets go a little history for today. In '98 we saw a batter hit a grand slam in his first ever major league at bat. While there was no Triple Crown winner that year, the leauge leader in avg. hit .385 and also lead the league in hits with 216. On the mound, the league leader in ERA had an impressive 1.88, and one player actually had 42 complete games and finished the season with a 15-29 record. No, we aren't talking about 1998, we are looking back to 1898!!

In what could be considered a drop off year, Wee Willie Keeler hit .385 that year while playing in 129 games for Baltimore. A drop off year? In the '97 campaign, Keeler hit .424. Starting in 1894, "Hit 'em where they aint" Keeler started a string of 8 consecutive seasons of 200 or more hits, a record matched only by Pete Rose. Also at the dish, Bill Duggleby of the Phillies hit a grand slam in his first ever major league at bat, something not accomplished again until Jeremy Hermida repeated the feat for the Marlins in 2005.

Clark Griffith, who later became the long time owner of the Washington Senators, lead the league with an impressive 1.88 ERA in what was agruably the best season of his storied 20 year professional career as a player. He won 24 games that year for the Chicago Orphans, with 4 shutouts over 325 innings pitched. His 36 complete cames didn't come close to Jack Taylor, though, who had 42 complete games and pitched an amazing 397 innings! Taylor pitched just one more season, and retired with a lifetime record of 120-117.

And in 1898, the commissioner with THE best name ever, Happy Chandler, was born!

And don't worry folks, there actually IS a ball player with #97 that we can read about tomorrow. In the mean time, I want to leave you with the Oscar winning performance of Derek Jeter this week.

Countdown to Christmas - 99 days

Wow.... has it really been since January?? My feable attempt to be an active blogger has failed. So much has happened since January. Most folks know all that has happened so I won't go into them here, but it's been a roller coaster ride to say the least. Lots of highs, and some valleys along the way. But the good news is.... the Countdown is back!

Coming up with a baseball 99 was tough. There are other sports where 99 is a fairly common number. There's the Great One. Also Warran Sapp. There's a song about that many balloons and also that many beers on the wall (probably my normal monthly consumption as well). And my favorite secret agent from Get Smart. But good luck trying to find a good number 99 in baseball. Manny Ramirez wore number 99 while with the Dodgers, and former Phillies star Mitch Williams wore number 99. Both are excellent choices to start the countdown, but not the top choice.

I'm going to back into the 99 today by using a baseball icon's age. Bob Sheppard, long time announcer for the New York Yankees. Bob passed away this summer at the age of 99. "The voice of God" announced more than 4,500 Yankee games in the Bronx over 56 years. Yaz once said, "You're not in the big leagues until Bob Sheppard announces your name." He also announced for the NY Giants. During my first trip to Yankee Stadium in 2003, I remember actually getting goosebumps when I heard him announce "Good afternoon... ladies and gentleman... and welcome... to Yankee Stadium." Sheppard passed away on July 11, 2010. The Yankees' July 16, 2010 home game against the Tampa Bay Rays, the first after Sheppard's death and the first with the new Sheppard uniform patches, was played, in his memory, with an empty PA booth and no public address announcements.

I can't say I heard him often as I have only seen 2 Yankees games in person, but Bob, you are missed.