What's in a name?

So after a few year hiatus, I have decided to resurrect my baseball blog. It’s a silly little blog about mostly baseball, with some random stories about growing up. But rather than focus on WAR, OPS, and DIPS, I’m focusing more on just regular fans going to the games. Nothing wrong with sabermetrics. In fact, I am a proud member of SABR: Society for American Baseball Research. But there are already tons of blogs and websites dedicated to that. But what is it like to walk into a park for the very first time? Who were these stadiums named after? What’s the grub like? What’s the relationship between Tony Packo’s and the Toledo Mud Hens? Maybe a piece on umpiring at rec league games, a thankless job! 

I plan on taking in a number of minor league games this year. Every so often I’ll post a story about how fun minor league games can be. They aren’t lying: real baseball, real close!

With that said, let’s get on with it!

As Jerry Seinfeld once said, “Who are these people?” 

Ever walk into a stadium and wonder who it was named for and what did THEY do that you didn’t do to get a stadium named after them? Some can be pretty obvious, as explained by Eric Idle in in the famous documentary “The Rutles: All You Need is Cash,” when the Rutles played a sold out Che Stadium in New York: “Che Stadium: named after the Cuban Guerilla leader Che Stadium.” If you want to go down a rabbit hole, watch here for a glorious shot of Che Stadium, starting at 4:30

But I digress. In the coming days, weeks, months, we will explore the likes of McKechnie Field, Al Lopez Stadium, Al Lang Field, Jack Russell Stadium, McCarver Stadium, to name a few. Some you know by name, some you wish you had never seen on TV!

McKechnie Field, Bradenton, FL

McKechnie (pronounced Mc-Kecknie) Field is the spring home of the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the season home of the Bradenton Marauders. It’s the oldest of the parks that I mentioned above still standing, built in 1923. True, it’s been renovated a number of times, most recently in 2013, and capacity is listed at just over 8500. However, the night the above photograph was taken (March 18, 2015), a new stadium record of 9018 was announced!

Bill McKechnie was a Pittsburgh native, former Bradenton resident, and a Hall of Fame manager. He was the first NL manager to win pennants with three different teams - the

Pittsburgh Pirates (1925), St. Louis Cardinals (1928) and Cincinnati Reds (1939-40). McKechnie was born on Saturday, August 7, 1886, in Wilkinsburg, Pennsylvania. McKechnie was 21 years old when he broke into the big leagues on September 8, 1907, with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He spent a total of 21 seasons in the bigs as a player/coach/manager. He bounced around for 11 years with the Pirates, Boston Braves, Yankees, Giants, Reds, and wrapped up his playing days with the Pirates. His lifetime batting average was .251, but had a very respectful career fielding percentage of .954 playing primarily third base and second base. Note that the HOF bio has him at .952, but I tend to go with the respected Baseball Almanac stats which have him at .954. He began his managerial career in 1922, and was a big league manager through 1945, then remained on as a coach until 1946. His 1,892 career victories ranked fourth in major league history when he ended his managing career in 1946, and trailed only John McGraw's NL total of 2,669 in league history. He was nicknamed "Deacon" because he sang in his church choir and generally lived a quiet life. He was elected to the HOF in 1962, and passed away in 1965 at age 79 in Bradenton, FL.

McKechnie field was originally named City Park. The field was later renamed Ninth Street Park and then Braves Field. It was named McKechnie Field in 1962.

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