1.
Stolen base
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In baseball, a stolen base occurs when a runner advances to a base to which he is not entitled and the official scorer rules that the advance should be credited to the action of the runner. The umpires determine whether the runner is safe or out at the next base, a stolen base most often occurs when a baserunner advances to the next base while the pitcher is pitching the ball to home plate. Successful base stealers are not only fast but have good baserunning instincts, ned Cuthbert, playing for the Philadelphia Keystones in either 1863 or 1865, was the first player to steal a base in a baseball game, although the term stolen base was not used until 1870. For a time in the 19th century, stolen bases were credited when a baserunner reached an extra base on a hit from another player. For example, if a runner on first base reached third base on a single, in 1887, Hugh Nicol set a still-standing Major League record with 138 stolen bases, many of which would not have counted under modern rules. Modern steal rules were implemented in 1898. Base stealing was popular in the early decades, with speedsters such as Ty Cobb. Wills record was broken in turn by Lou Brock in 1974, base stealing is an important characteristic of the small ball managing style. Such managers emphasize doing the things to advance runners and score runs, often relying on pitching. The Los Angeles Dodgers of the 1960s, led by pitcher Sandy Koufax, the antithesis of this is reliance on power hitting, exemplified by the Baltimore Orioles of the 1970s, which aspired to score most of its runs via home runs. Often the small ball model is associated with the National League, however, some successful recent American League teams, including the 2002 Anaheim Angels, the 2001 Seattle Mariners and the 2005 Chicago White Sox have excelled at small ball. The Kansas City Royals have embodied this style recently, leading the league in stolen bases but finishing last in home runs in 2013 and 2014. Successful teams often combine both styles, with a runner or two complementing hitters with power, such as the 2005 White Sox, who despite playing small ball, still hit 200 home runs. Baseballs Rule 8 specifies the pitching procedure in detail, a runner intending to steal on the pitcher breaks for the next base the moment the pitcher commits to pitch to home plate. The pitcher cannot abort the pitch and try to put the runner out, if the runner breaks too soon, the pitcher may throw to a base rather than pitch, and the runner is usually picked off by being tagged out between the bases. Past this moment, any delay in the runners break makes it likely that the catcher, after receiving the pitch. Before the pitch, the runner takes a lead-off, walking several steps away from the base as a start toward the next base. Even a runner who does not intend to steal takes a lead of a few more steps
2.
St. Louis Cardinals
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The St. Louis Cardinals are an American professional baseball team based in St. Louis, Missouri. The Cardinals compete in Major League Baseball as a club of the National League Central division. Busch Stadium has been their home ballpark since 2006, with origins as one of the early professional baseball clubs in St. Upon the discontinuation of the AA, St. Louis joined the NL in 1892, at time, they were called the Browns. One of the most successful franchises in history, the Cardinals have won 11 World Series championships. Their 19 National League pennants rank third in NL history, in addition, St. Louis has won 13 division titles in the East and Central divisions. While still in the AA, St. Louis won four league championships, the Cardinals have won 105 or more games in four different seasons and won 100 or more a total of nine times. Cardinals players have won 20 league MVPs, four batting Triple Crowns, and three Cy Young Awards. Baseball Hall of Fame inductees include Lou Brock, Dizzy Dean, Bob Gibson, Whitey Herzog, Rogers Hornsby, Joe Medwick, Stan Musial, Branch Rickey, Red Schoendienst, Ozzie Smith, and Bruce Sutter. In 2016, Forbes valued the Cardinals at $1.6 billion, making them the 7th-most valuable franchise in MLB, their revenue the year was $300 million. Since their purchase in 1995, owner William DeWitt, Jr. s investment group has seen enormous growth from the $147 million purchase price, John Mozeliak is the general manager and Mike Matheny is the manager. Professional baseball began in St. Louis with the inception of the Brown Stockings in the National Association in 1875, the NA folded following that season, and the next season, St. Louis joined the National League as a charter member, finishing in third place at 45-19. George Bradley hurled the first no-hitter in Major League history, the NL expelled St. Louis from the league after 1877 due to a game-fixing scandal and the team went bankrupt. Without a league, they continued play as a barnstorming team through 1881. For the 1882 season, Chris von der Ahe purchased the team, reorganized it, and made it a member of the American Association. 1882 is generally considered to be the first year existence of the St. Louis Cardinals, the next season, St. Louis shortened their name to the Browns. Soon thereafter they became the dominant team in the AA, as manager Charlie Comiskey guided St. Louis to four pennants in a row from 1885 to 1888. Pitcher and outfielder Bob Caruthers led the league in ERA and wins in 1885 and he also led the AA in OBP and OPS in 1886 and finished fourth in batting average in 1886 and fifth in 1887
3.
Rogers Hornsby
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Rogers Hornsby, Sr. nicknamed The Rajah, was an American baseball infielder, manager, and coach who played 23 seasons in Major League Baseball. He played for the St. Louis Cardinals, New York Giants, Boston Braves, Chicago Cubs, Hornsby had 2,930 hits and 301 home runs in his career, his career.358 batting average is second only to Ty Cobbs average. He was named the National League s Most Valuable Player twice, born and raised in Texas, Hornsby played for several semi-professional and minor league teams. After that season, he spent one season with the New York Giants and he played with the Cubs for four years and won his second MVP Award before the team released him in 1932. Hornsby re-signed with the Cardinals in 1933, but was released partway through the season and was picked up by the St. Louis Browns and he remained there until his final season in 1937. From 1925 to 1937, Hornsby was intermittently his own manager, after retiring as a player, he managed the Browns in 1952 and the Cincinnati Reds from 1952 to 1953. Hornsby is one of the best hitters of all time and his career batting average of.358 is second only to Ty Cobb, at.367, in MLB history. He also won two Triple Crowns and batted.400 or more three times during his career and he is the only player to hit 40 home runs and bat.400 in the same year. His batting average for the 1924 season was.424, a mark that no player has matched since and he was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1942 and the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. Hornsby married three times, in 1918,1924, and 1957, and had two children, one each of his first two marriages. Known as someone who was difficult to get along with, he was not at all well-liked by his fellow players and he never smoked, drank, or went to the movies, but frequently gambled on horse races during his career. Hornsby was born in Winters, Texas, the last of Ed, when Hornsby was two years old, his father died of unknown causes. Four years later, the surviving Hornsbys moved to Fort Worth, Texas, Hornsby started playing baseball at a very young age, he once said, I cant remember anything that happened before I had a baseball in my hand. He took a job with the Swift and Company meat industry plant as a boy when he was 10 years old. By the age of 15, Hornsby was already playing for several semi-professional teams and he also played baseball for North Side High School until 10th grade, when he dropped out to take a full-time job at Swift and Company. While he was in school, Hornsby also played on the football team. In 1914, Hornsbys older brother Everett, a minor league player for many years. He made the team, but did not play in any games for the Steers, following his dismissal, he signed with the Hugo Scouts of the Class D Texas–Oklahoma League as their shortstop for $75 per month
4.
New York Yankees
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The Essendon Football Club is a professional Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League, the sports premier competition. Formed in 1871 as a club and playing as a senior club since 1878. It is historically associated with Essendon, a suburb in the north-west of Melbourne, dyson Heppell is the current team captain. A founding member club of both the Victorian Football Association, in 1877, and the Victorian Football League, in 1896, the club claims to have over at least one million supporters Australia wide. Essendon has won 16 VFL/AFL premierships which, along with Carlton, is the most of any club in the competition, the club was founded by members of the Royal Agricultural Society, the Melbourne Hunt Club and the Victorian Woolbrokers. The Essendon Football Club is thought to have formed in 1872 at a meeting it the home of a well-known brewery family, the McCrackens, whose Ascot Vale property hosted a team of local junior players. Robert McCracken, the owner of several city hotels, was the founder and first president of the Essendon club and his son, Alex, Alex would later become president of the newly formed VFL. Alexs cousin, Collier, who had played with Melbourne, was the teams first captain. The club played its first recorded match against the Carlton second twenty on 7 June 1873, Essendon played 13 matches in its first season, winning seven, with four draws and losing two. The club was one of the junior members of the Victorian Football Association in 1877. During its early years in the Association, Essendon played its matches at Flemington Hill. In 1878, Essendon played in the first match on what would be considered by modern standards to be a field at Flemington Hill. In 1879 Essendon played Melbourne in one of the earliest night matches recorded when the ball was painted white, in 1883 the team played four matches in Adelaide. In 1891 Essendon won their first VFA premiership, which they repeated in 1892,1893 and 1894, one of the clubs greatest players, Albert Thurgood played for the club during this period. Essendon was undefeated in the 1893 season, at the end of the 1896 season Essendon along with seven other clubs formed the Victorian Football League. Essendons first VFL game was in 1897 was against Geelong at Corio Oval in Geelong, Essendon won its first VFL premiership by winning the 1897 VFL finals series. Essendon again won the premiership in 1901, defeating Collingwood in the Grand Final, the club won successive premierships in 1911 and 1912 over Collingwood and South Melbourne respectively. The nickname first appeared in print in the local North Melbourne Advertiser in 1889 and it was known firstly as Essendon Town and, after 1905, as Essendon
5.
Miller Huggins
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Miller James Huggins was an American professional baseball player and manager. Huggins played second base for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals and he managed the Cardinals and New York Yankees, including the Murderers Row teams of the 1920s that won six American League pennants and three World Series championships. He received a degree in law from the University of Cincinnati, rather than serve as a lawyer, Huggins chose to pursue a professional baseball career. He played semi-professional and minor league baseball from 1898 through 1903, as a player, Huggins was adept at getting on base. Despite fielding successful teams for the Yankees in the 1920s, he continued to make changes in order to maintain his teams superiority in the AL. He was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1964, Huggins was born in Cincinnati, where his father, an Englishman, worked as a grocer. His mother was a native of Cincinnati and he had two brothers and one sister. Huggins attended Woodward High School, Walnut Hills High School, where he studied law and played college baseball for the Cincinnati Bearcats baseball team. A shortstop, he was named captain of the Bearcats in 1900. Seeing him consumed with baseball, his law professors summoned him to justify why they should keep him in the law program, Huggins father, a devout Methodist, objected to his son playing baseball on Sundays. In 1900, he played for Fleischmanns semiprofessional team based in the Catskill Mountains and he was admitted to the bar, but never practiced law. Huggins began his career in minor league baseball with the Mansfield Haymakers of the Class B Interstate League in 1899. He continued his minor league apprenticeship with the St. Paul Saints of the American Association from 1901 through 1903, in 1903, he pulled off the first delayed steal in recorded baseball history. Fleischmann, part-owner of the Cincinnati Reds of the National League, the Reds duly purchased his contract from the Saints before the 1904 season. He made his MLB debut on April 15,1904, and he batted.264 with the Reds that season and improved in the 1906 season, finishing with a.292 batting average and 41 stolen bases, while spending considerable time developing his upper-body strength. Although Huggins hoped to be selected as Ned Hanlons successor as Cincinnatis manager after the 1907 season, in 1908, He played with the Reds in the Cuban-American Major League Clubs Series. Hampered by an ankle and torn ligaments in his shoulder. Before the 1910 season, the Reds traded Huggins, along with Frank Corridon and Rebel Oakes, to the St. Louis Cardinals in return for Fred Beebe and Alan Storke
6.
Bill Dinneen
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Dinneen was the plate umpire for baseballs first All-Star Game. He played for the Washington Senators and Boston Braves, and the Boston Red Sox, Dinneen recorded three wins for the Red Sox over the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first World Series in 1903. Dinneen broke the record for most strikeouts in a World Series with 11, Dinneen was born in Syracuse, New York on April 5,1876. He led the AL in losses in 1902 with 21, and led the league in saves in 1903 and 1907. In his remarkable 1904 season for the Red Sox, as they repeated as AL champions, he started 37 games, completing one of them for a total of 335 2⁄3 innings pitched. On June 12, he won a 16-inning contest by a score of 2–1 over the Browns, the game went into the final inning tied 2–2 before a wild pitch by Chesbro gave a 3–2 victory, and the flag, to Boston. On September 27,1905, Dinneen pitched a 2–0 no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox, Dinneen joined the AL umpiring staff on September 12,1909, just 17 days after his final pitching appearance with the Browns. He umpired in eight World Series, tying the AL record set by Tommy Connolly and he served as crew chief for the 1914,1926 and 1932 Series. He was also selected to work in the first All-Star game in 1933, calling balls, shore retired the runner as well as all 26 batters he faced. Dinneen had his own confrontation with Ruth in the 1922 season, on June 19, the outfielder got into an argument with the umpire, and during the next days game he again insulted the official. Bill Dinneen was one of the greatest pitchers the game ever produced and he is one of the cleanest and most honorable men baseball ever fostered. Your conduct at Cleveland on Monday was reprehensible to a great degree – shocking to every American mother who permits her boy to go to a professional game, the American League cares nothing for Ruth. The individual player means nothing to the organization, when he steps on the ball field he is subject to our control and discipline. You branded Umpire Dinneen as yellow and this is the most remarkable declaration a modern ball player has made. Dinneen stands out in the history of the game as one of the most courageous players we have ever had, if you could match up to his standard you would not be in the trough you occupy today. Coupled with your misconduct on Monday, you doubled the penalty on Tuesday and you are hereby notified of your suspension for five days without salary. It seems the period has arrived when you should allow some intelligence to creep into a mind that has plainly been warped, in addition to the no-hitter he pitched, Dinneen also called balls and strikes for five other no-hitters. He remains the only individual in major league history to pitch a no-hitter and call one as plate umpire
7.
Hank O'Day
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Henry M. Hank ODay, nicknamed The Reverend, was an American right-handed pitcher and later an umpire and manager in Major League Baseball. After a seven-year major league playing career, he worked as a National League umpire for 30 seasons between 1895 and 1927. ODay umpired in ten World Series – second only to Bill Klems total of 18 – including five of the first seven played, and was behind the plate for the first modern World Series game in 1903. His 3,986 total games as an umpire ranked third in league history when he retired. He is largely known for his decision in a pivotal 1908 game. ODay interrupted his umpiring career twice for single seasons as a manager, leading the Cincinnati Reds in 1912 and he remains the only person ever to serve full seasons in the NL as a player, manager and umpire. ODay was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in July 2013, ODay was born in Chicago, the son of railroad engineer James ODay and his wife Margaret, who were immigrants from Ireland and were both deaf. The couple had at least seven children, Daniel, James Jr. Catherine, Henry, Margaret, Mary McNamara, the ODays originally settled in Buffalo, New York, by the mid-1850s, they had moved to Cincinnati, and they relocated to Chicago around 1858. Jackson Street, which remained the residence until the early 20th century. ODay worked as a fitter in Chicago before entering organized baseball. With Toledo, he played alongside Fleet Walker, the first African American to play in the major leagues, ODay made his major league debut on May 2,1884, and served as the teams second pitcher behind Tony Mullane. However, he made only 13 other non-pitching appearances in the field in later years, in 1885, he split playing time with the Pittsburgh Alleghenys of the AA and the Washington Nationals of the Eastern League. ODay had a record of 5–7 for the Alleghenys, his time was limited because he was caring for his sick father. He made only five starts after May 11, and left the team for the last time after his July 6 start, in the meantime, the Chicago White Stockings had opened West Side Park on June 6, less than a mile and a half from the ODay residence. In 15 games with Washington in the Eastern League, he had a record of 13–2, on September 5 of that year, his younger brother Joseph died at age 15 from injuries he had suffered two days earlier after falling from the front car of a roller coaster. At the end of the season, the Nationals folded, and ODay joined a Louisville ball club, ODay spent most of 1886 with the Savannah team in the Southern Association, and during his time there he was considered a favorite among other players. In 39 games with Savannah, ODay won 26 games, lost 11, late in the year, he joined the Washington Nationals, where he posted a 2-2 record in six games. ODay became a starter for the Nationals in 1887
8.
Bill Klem
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William Joseph Klem, born William Joseph Klimm, known as the Old Arbitrator and the father of baseball umpires, was a National League umpire in Major League Baseball from 1905 to 1941. He worked 18 World Series, which is a league record. Klem was posthumously inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1953, Klem was born on February 22,1874 in the Dutchtown area of Rochester, New York. He had changed the spelling of his last name from Klimm to Klem because he thought it had a better sound, Klem pursued a baseball career as a catcher until he sustained an arm injury. He then worked as a bartender and traveled through the Northeast building bridges and he decided to pursue umpiring after reading a newspaper article about major league umpire Silk OLoughlin. His umpiring career began in the Connecticut League in 1902 and that year, Klem had a run-in with league secretary and team manager Jim ORourke after Klem ejected one of the managers players. ORourke threatened that Klem would not umpire another game in the league, but Klem responded, Maybe so and he worked in the New York State League the following year. Klem spent the 1904 season in the American Association before joining the NL in 1905. He worked a record 18 World Series,1908,1909,1911,1912,1913,1914,1915,1917,1918,1920,1922,1924,1926,1929,1931,1932,1934 and 1940. No other umpire has worked in more than ten Series, of the 16 major league teams in existence during his career, all but one—the St. He was also one of the umpires for the first All-Star Game in 1933, Klem holds the MLB record for most career ejections by an umpire with 251. He called balls and strikes in five no-hitters, an NL record later tied by Harry Wendelstedt and he was also the home plate umpire on September 16,1924, when Jim Bottomley of the St. Louis Cardinals had a record 12 runs batted in. Klem had a number of nicknames amongst the players, his favorite was The Old Arbitrator, Klem despised the latter name, and was notorious for ejecting players whom he caught using it. One particular incident involved a player whom Klem ejected after he caught the player drawing a picture of a catfish with his foot in the infield dirt. Klem also dismissed catcher Al López from a game after López pasted a newspaper clipping onto home plate which showed Klem clearly in error calling a play involving López, the catcher had covered the photo with dirt and waited for Klem to brush off home plate. As Klem got older, he began to experience a skin condition that he related to his nerves. He once commented on the toll that umpiring took on him, saying, feel that these verbal and physical public humiliations go in one ear and out the other. They go in one ear and go straight to the system, eating away coordination, self-confidence
9.
George Hildebrand
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George Albert Hildebrand was an American left fielder and umpire in Major League Baseball who played 11 games for the 1902 Brooklyn Superbas and later umpired in the American League from 1913 to 1934. He is often credited as having invented the spitball while playing in the minor leagues and he was the umpire in four World Series, and his 3,331 games as an umpire ranked third in AL history when he retired. Born in San Francisco, California, Hildebrand began his career in 1898. Hildebrand worked much of his career in a team with Brick Owens. There was such heavy criticism of Hildebrands decision to end the game that commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis ordered the game proceeds to be donated to charity. Hildebrand was behind the plate on June 21,1916, when Rube Foster of the Boston Red Sox pitched a 2-0 no-hitter against the New York Yankees. He was also behind the plate on July 10,1932 when Johnny Burnett of the Cleveland Indians collected a record nine hits in an 18-inning game against the Philadelphia Athletics. After retiring from baseball, Hildebrand ran a hotel in Brawley, California and he died of heart failure at age 81 at Reseda Hospital in Reseda, California, and was survived by his wife Sue and son Albert. He was buried in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery, career statistics and player information from Baseball-Reference, or Baseball-Reference Retrosheet BaseballLibrary – profile, career highlights and SABR bibliography
10.
Grover Cleveland Alexander
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Grover Cleveland Alexander, nicknamed Old Pete, was an American Major League Baseball pitcher. He played from 1911 through 1930 for the Philadelphia Phillies, Chicago Cubs and he was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. Alexander was born in Elba, Nebraska, in the first term of President Grover Cleveland and was one of thirteen children and he played semi-professional baseball in his youth, signing his first professional contract at age 20 in 1907 for $50 per month. In 1909 he played for the Galesburg Boosters in the Class D Illinois–Missouri League and his career was almost ended when he was struck by a thrown ball while baserunning. Alexander made his Philadelphia debut during the pre-season 1911 City Series, pitching five innings of no-hit and he made his official Major League debut on April 15. He was joined on the Phillies that year by catcher Bill Killefer, in his rookie year, Alexander led the league with 28 wins,31 complete games,367 innings pitched, and seven shutouts, while finishing second in strikeouts and fourth in ERA. From 1912 to 1921, Alexander led the league in ERA five times, wins five times, innings six times, strikeouts six times, complete games five times, and shutouts five times. He won pitchings Triple Crown in 1915,1916, and 1920, in 1915, he was instrumental in leading the Phillies to their first pennant, and he pitched a record five one-hitters. Along the way Alexander began to have problems with alcohol, a struggle that would plague him the rest of his life, Alexander was drafted and one month before shipping out, he married Amy Marie Arrants on May 31 in a courthouse ceremony in Manhattan, Kansas. Alexander spent most of the 1918 season in France as a sergeant with the 342nd Field Artillery, while he was serving in France, he was exposed to German mustard gas and a shell exploded near him, causing partial hearing loss and triggering the onset of epilepsy. Following his return from the war, Alexander suffered from shock and was plagued with epileptic seizures. In spite of all this, Alexander gave Chicago several successful years, tiring of his increasing drunkenness and insubordination that was often directly related to his epilepsy, the Cubs sold him to the Cardinals in the middle of the 1926 season for the waiver price. Then-Cubs manager, Joe McCarthy stated the reason for the sale was, The Cubs finished last last year and if they finish last again, Id rather it be without. The Cardinals won the National League pennant that year and met the New York Yankees in the World Series, Alexander came to the game in the seventh inning after starter Jesse Haines developed a blister, with the Cardinals ahead 3–2, the bases loaded and two out. Facing Yankee slugger Tony Lazzeri, Alexander struck him out and then held the Yankees scoreless for two innings to preserve the win and give St. Louis the championship. He had one last 20-win season for the Cardinals in 1927 and he left major league baseball after a brief return to the Phillies in 1930, and pitched for the House of David until 1940. Alexander attended game three of the 1950 World Series at Yankee Stadium where he saw the Phillies lose to the Yankees and he died less than a month later, on November 4 in St. Paul, Nebraska, at the age of 63. Alexanders 90 shutouts are a National League record and his 373 wins are tied with Christy Mathewson for first in the National League record book and he is also third all time in wins, tenth in innings pitched, second in shutouts, and eighth in hits allowed
11.
Jim Bottomley
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James Leroy Bottomley was an American professional baseball player. A first baseman, Bottomley played in Major League Baseball from 1922 through 1937 for the St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds and he also served as player-manager for the Browns in 1937. Playing for the Cardinals against Brooklyn at Ebbets Field on September 16,1924, born in Oglesby, Illinois, Bottomley grew up in Nokomis, Illinois. He dropped out of school at the age of 16 to raise money for his family. After playing semi-professional baseball, the Cardinals scouted and signed Bottomley and he won the League Award, given to the most valuable player, in 1928, and was a part of World Series championship teams in 1926 and 1931. He played for the Cardinals through the 1932 season, after which he was traded to the Reds, after playing for Cincinnati for three years, he played two more seasons with the Browns. After finishing his career with the Browns, Bottomley joined the Chicago Cubs organization as a scout. After suffering an attack, Bottomley and his wife retired to raise cattle in Missouri. Bottomley was nicknamed Sunny Jim because of his cheerful disposition, Bottomley was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1974 by the Veterans Committee and to the Cardinals Hall of Fame in 2014. Bottomley was born on April 23,1900, to Elizabeth and John Bottomley in Oglesby and his family later moved to Nokomis, Illinois, where Bottomley enrolled in grade school and Nokomis High School. He dropped out when he was 16 years old in order to support his family financially. Bottomley worked as a miner, truck driver, grocery clerk. His younger brother, Ralph, died in a accident in 1920. Bottomley also played baseball for several local teams to make additional money. A police officer who knew Branch Rickey, the manager of the St. Louis Cardinals, saw Bottomley play. Rickey dispatched scout Charley Barrett to investigate Bottomley, the Cardinals decided to invite Bottomley to a tryout in late 1919, and signed him to a $150-a-month contract. Bottomley began his career in minor league baseball in 1920. That year, Bottomley played for the Mitchell Kernels of the Class-D South Dakota League, posting a.312 batting average in 97 games and he also played six games for the Sioux City Packers of the Class-A Western League
12.
Chick Hafey
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Charles James Chick Hafey was an American player in Major League Baseball. Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals and Cincinnati Reds, Hafey was a strong line-drive hitter who batted for an average on a consistent basis. He was selected by the Veterans Committee for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, in 2014, the Cardinals inducted him into their team hall of fame. Hafey was born on February 12,1903 in Berkeley, California, the St. Louis Cardinals signed Hafey out of high school as a pitcher. However, Cardinals general manager noticed Hafeys hitting abilities and decided that Hafey should become an outfielder, Hafey played in the minor leagues for the Fort Smith Twins of the Western Association in 1923. He moved to the Houston Buffaloes of the Texas League the next year and he split time between the Cardinals and Syracuse Stars in 1925. He spent the 1926 season with the Cardinals, but he played only 78 games, Hafey was the first major success of Rickeys expansive farm system, breaking through in 1927 when he led the National League in slugging. Hafey, however, had suffered multiple beanings in 1926 and he developed sinus trouble and his vision deteriorated, and Hafey began to wear eyeglasses while playing. Although Specs Toporcer was the first baseball player to wear glasses, Hafey was the most prominent, because his vision became so variable, Hafey was obliged to rotate among three different pairs of glasses. In the field, Hafey was known for having a rifle arm and he had a power peak, averaging 27 home runs and 114 RBI from 1928 to 1930. In July 1929, Hafey tied a National League record with ten hits in ten consecutive at-bats, in August 1930, he hit for the cycle. In 1931, Hafey won one of the closest races for a title in history, hitting.349 to beat New Yorks Bill Terry by just.0002. The title was secured by a hit in Hafeys final at-bat of the season. Hafey was fifth in the voting for the 1931 MVP award, when Hafeys Cardinals faced Al Simmons Athletics in the 1931 World Series, it marked just the second time that two reigning batting champions had opposed one another in the Fall Classic. Although the soft-spoken Hafey was overshadowed by some of his raucous Cardinals teammates, Hafeys 1931 and 1932 seasons both began late due to salary disputes. Cardinals general manager Rickey fined Hafey for being late and out of shape in 1931, in 1932, coming off his batting title, Hafey demanded that the previous years fine be added to his 1932 salary. When Rickey refused, Hafey bolted from St. Louis spring training camp, Rickey responded by trading Hafey to the last-place Cincinnati Reds. Hafey was happy to join the Reds, who gave him the raise he had sought and his vision was still erratic, and his persistent sinus condition cost him half of the 1932 season, though he hit.344
13.
Jesse Haines
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Jesse Joseph Haines, nicknamed Pop, was a right-handed pitcher in for the Cincinnati Reds and St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball. After a lengthy stint in minor baseball, he played briefly in 1918. He spent nearly his entire major league career with the Cardinals, Haines pitched on three World Series championship teams. Though he had a kind personality off the field, Haines was known as a fiery competitor during games, after retiring in 1937 with a 210–158 win-loss record, Haines was a coach with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1938. He left baseball after that season and returned to his native Ohio and he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1970. In 2014, he was inducted into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum and he ranks second in franchise history in shutouts. Haines was born in Clayton, Ohio, but he grew up nearby in Phillipsburg, Ohio and his father Elias worked as an auctioneer. Haines wanted to play baseball for the team in Phillipsburg. His parents did not approve of him playing baseball on Sundays, so Haines used to sneak away, hiding his uniform in a corn crib and he left town to play semipro baseball in Dayton in 1912. Soon thereafter, he was signed to play for a league team in Dayton. Spending several seasons in minor baseball, Haines also pitched for teams in Saginaw, Fort Wayne, Springfield, Topeka. He had played briefly in the leagues with the Cincinnati Reds in 1918. Across his minor career, he compiled a 107–61 record and 1.93 ERA over 187 games. Branch Rickey of the St. Louis Cardinals noticed Haines while he was pitching in Kansas City and he convinced a group of the teams stockholders to take out a $10,000 loan for the purchase of Hainess contract. During his minor league days, Haines married Carrie M. Weidner, Haines became a fixture in the Cardinals starting rotation in 1920. Despite a 13–20 record, he pitched 301 2⁄3 innings, the highest output of his career, author Paul Doutrich writes that while Haines was a mild-mannered individual, he had no patience for losing games and became a raging bull when on the mound. Haines threw a no-hitter on July 17,1924 against the Boston Braves, Haines pitched on three World Series championship teams, winning two games in the 1926 World Series. In game seven of series, Haines developed a bleeding blister and had to be removed from the game with the bases loaded in the seventh inning
14.
Billy Southworth
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William Harold Southworth was an American right fielder, center fielder and manager in Major League Baseball. Playing in 1913 and 1915 and from 1918 to 1929, he batted left-handed, Southworth managed in 1929 and from 1940 through 1951. He managed three pennant-winning St. Louis Cardinals teams, winning two World Series, and another pennant with the Boston Braves, the last National League title in Boston baseball history. As manager of the Cardinals, his.642 winning percentage is the second-highest in franchise history, late in life, Southworth served as a scout for the Braves. He endured a great deal of tragedy in his career, first experiencing the stillbirth of his twin babies. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2008, six years later, the Cardinals inducted him into the St. Louis Cardinals Hall of Fame Museum. He also belongs to the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame, Southworth had a son, Billy Southworth, Jr. and a cousin, Bill Southworth, who both played professional baseball. Southworth was born in Harvard, Nebraska, to Orlando and Marriah Southworth and he was raised in Columbus, Ohio. He had four brothers who played baseball. Before he was old enough to play them, Southworth would give his old socks to his brothers so they could create makeshift balls. Southworth decided to play baseball against his fathers wishes, Orlando Southworth had wanted his son to attend college. At the age of 19, he signed a contract with the Portsmouth team in the Ohio State League and he joined the Cleveland Indians in 1913, but only appeared in one game, entering as a replacement on defense. In 1914, Southworth married Lida Brooks and she was a ministers daughter and they had met while Southworth was playing for Portsmouth. The couples son, William Brooks Southworth, was born during Southworths early playing career, Billy Southworth, Jr. later became a professional baseball player for several seasons. The elder Southworth returned to the Cleveland Indians in 1915 and appeared in 60 games and he played for the Birmingham Barons in 1917 and part of 1918, when he made the Pittsburgh Pirates and played in 64 major league games. Southworth played more regularly in 1919, appearing in 121 games, with the exception of two seasons, Southworth played in at least that many games through 1926. In 1926, Southworths offensive production increased and he finished the season with a.320 batting average,16 home runs and 99 RBI and he ran into difficulty with New York manager John McGraw that year, as Southworths independent style became incompatible with McGraws strict leadership. He was traded from the New York Giants to the St. Louis Cardinals in the middle of the season, Southworth suffered a 1927 rib injury that limited his playing time
15.
Earle Combs
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Earle Bryan Combs was an American professional baseball player who played his entire career for the New York Yankees. Combs batted leadoff and played center field on the Yankees fabled 1927 team. He is one of six players on that team who have been inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, Combs led the league in triples three times and was among the top ten in the category in several other seasons. He suffered a skull and other injuries from a crash into an outfield wall in 1934. Nicknamed the Kentucky Colonel, Combs was known as a gentleman on and he remained in baseball as a coach for many years after his retirement as a player. Combs was born in Pebworth, Owsley County, Kentucky, as a child, he played baseball games with tree limbs as bats and with baseballs made out of string and the material of old shoes. He left Pebworth in 1917 to enter Eastern Kentucky State Normal School in Richmond, in those early days, Eastern prepared its students to become teachers. On completion of a program, graduates were often employed in rural one-room schools. They were often responsible for forty or more students, ranging in age six to teen-age in grades one through eight. In his first year at Eastern, he put on a performance in a faculty-student baseball game and was encouraged to join the school team by Dr. Charles Keith. He hit.591 at Eastern during his last season, after graduating from Eastern, Combs went back to his native Owsley County and taught in one-room schoolhouses in both Ida May and Levi. Combs continued to play baseball in his spare time and he played for High Splint in the Pine Mountain League and hit.444. He also played baseball for the Lexington Reos of the Bluegrass League. It was in Lexington that Combs drew the attention of the Louisville Colonels of the American Association, after scouting him, Louisville offered him a contract which provided a salary that exceeded the $37 per month he made as a teacher in Owsley County. His Louisville debut was unsettling, he committed several outfield errors, the last one gave the opposition the two runs they needed to win the game. Distraught afterward, Combs said, As I went after the dropped ball I was tempted to keep right on going, climb the fence and he had married Ruth McCollum, his high school sweetheart, the year before and was concerned about his future. Combs soon found his stride, hitting.344 in 1922 and.380 in 1923 for the Colonels and also earning a reputation for speedy ball-hawking in the outfield, in 1924, the New York Yankees won a spirited bidding war and bought Combs contract for $50,000. This was a large sum at that time, but it bore fruit for the Yankees as Combs proved an immediate success in New York
16.
Lou Gehrig
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Henry Louis Lou or Buster Gehrig was an American baseball first baseman who played 17 seasons in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees, from 1923 through 1939. Gehrig was renowned for his prowess as a hitter and for his durability and he was an All-Star seven consecutive times, a Triple Crown winner once, an American League Most Valuable Player twice, and a member of six World Series champion teams. He had a career.340 batting average.632 slugging average, and he hit 493 home runs and had 1,995 runs batted in. In 1939, he was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame and was the first MLB player to have his number retired by a team. A native of New York City and attendee of Columbia University, the disease forced him to retire at age 36 and was the cause of his death two years later. The pathos of his farewell from baseball was capped off by his iconic 1939 Luckiest Man on the Face of the Earth speech at Yankee Stadium, a monument in Gehrigs honor, originally dedicated by the Yankees in 1941, currently resides in Monument Park at Yankee Stadium. The Lou Gehrig Memorial Award is given annually to the MLB player best exhibiting his integrity, Gehrig was born in 1903 at 309 East 94th Street in the Yorkville neighborhood of Manhattan, he weighed almost 14 pounds at birth. He was the second of four children of German immigrants, Christina Foch and Heinrich Gehrig and his father was a sheet metal worker by trade but frequently unemployed due to alcoholism, and his mother, a maid, was the main breadwinner and disciplinarian in the family. His two sisters died at an age from whooping cough and measles, a brother also died in infancy. From an early age, Gehrig helped his mother with work, doing such as folding laundry. In 1910, he lived with his parents at 2266 Amsterdam Avenue in Washington Heights, in 1920, the family resided on 8th Avenue in Manhattan. His name was anglicized to Henry Louis Gehrig and he was known as Lou so that he would not be confused with his identically named father. Gehrig first garnered attention for his baseball ability while playing in a game at Cubs Park on June 26,1920. His New York School of Commerce team was playing a team from Chicagos Lane Tech High School in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 spectators. With his team leading 8–6 in the top of the inning, Gehrig hit a grand slam completely out of the major league park. Gehrig attended PS132 in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, then went to Commerce High School and he then studied at Columbia University for two years, although he did not graduate. Initially, he went to Columbia on a scholarship, where he was preparing to pursue a degree in engineering. After he played a dozen games for the Hartford Senators in the Eastern League, in 1922, Gehrig returned to collegiate sports as a fullback for the Columbia Lions football program
17.
Waite Hoyt
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He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1969. Hoyt was born in Brooklyn, New York to Addison and Louise Benedum Hoyt, despite being a Dodgers fan, he was signed to a professional contract by New York Giants manager John McGraw when he was but 15. Because of his youth, he was immediately nicknamed The Schoolboy Wonder. After a brief stint with the Giants, McGraw sent Hoyt to the minors for refinement, Hoyt soon returned to the majors, this time with the Boston Red Sox. His performance there attracted the attention of the Yankees, who acquired him in 1920. In his finest years with the Yankees,1927 and 1928, during his 21-year career, he won 10 or more games 12 times,11 of them consecutively. Hoyt pitched for eight years after leaving the Yankees in 1930, Hoyt finished his career with a win-loss record of 237–182 and an ERA of 3.59. By the time he retired in 1938, he had pitched the most victories in World Series history, as a vaudevillian, he appeared with many of the most well-known performers of the day, including Jack Benny, Jimmy Durante, George Burns, and others. He kept in shape during the off-season by playing semi-pro basketball and he added to his repertoire by becoming an accomplished painter and writer. On August 16,1948, Hoyt paid tribute to Babe Ruth and he was well known as the pre-eminent authority on Babe Ruth, who for nearly 10 years was his teammate and in Ruths small inner-circle of friends. A longtime member of Alcoholics Anonymous, during the 1978 Old-Timers Day game, after joining A. A. he remained sober for more than 40 years. After retiring as a player, Hoyt went into broadcasting and he was heard on WMCA in New York City but left that station to begin a nightly quarter-hour program of sports news and commentary on WNEW in New York, beginning October 17,1938. During a stint as the host of Grandstand and Bandstand on WMCA, he tried to audition for the Yankees, the common view at the time was that former players did not have enough of a vocabulary to be successful broadcasters. However, Hoyt was well known for dressing down umpire George Moriarty when he missed a call by saying and you should be a traffic cop so you could stand in the middle of the street with a badge on your chest and insult people with impunity. Dodgers voice Red Barber, however, thought more of Hoyts abilities and hired him as color commentator and host of the pre-, after two years, he became the play-by-play voice of the Cincinnati Reds, a post he held for 24 years. He became as much a celebrity with the Reds as he was while a player and he was well known for calling games exclusively in past tense, which was and still is unusual for sportscasting. Where most baseball announcers would say, Heres the pitch, Hoyt would say, There was the pitch. He told author Curt Smith that he felt using past tense was accurate because as I speak to you, Hoyt shared radio play-by-play duties for the 1953 All-Star Game on the Mutual Network and the second 1960 All-Star Game on NBC
18.
Tony Lazzeri
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Anthony Michael Tony Lazzeri was an American professional baseball second baseman during the 1920s and 1930s, predominantly with the New York Yankees of Major League Baseball. He was part of the famed Murderers Row Yankee batting lineup of the late 1920s, along with Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and he was also the first person to hit two grand slams in one game in 1936 vs Athletics. Lazzeri was born and raised in San Francisco, California and he dropped out of school to work with his father as a boilermaker, but at the age of 18, began to play baseball professionally. After playing in minor league baseball from 1922 through 1925, Lazzeri joined the Yankees in 1926 and he was a member of the original American League All-Star team in 1933. He was nicknamed Poosh Em Up by Italian-speaking fans, from a mistranslation of an Italian phrase meaning to hit it out. Lazzeri is one of only 14 major league players to hit for the natural cycle. Lazzeri was posthumously inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1991, Lazzeri was born on December 6,1903, to Augustine and Julia Lazzeri, who had emigrated from Italy. They lived in the Cow Hollow district of San Francisco, at age 15, Lazzeri was expelled from school. He began to work with his father, earning $4.50 a day, Lazzeri also played semi-professional baseball and trained to become a prizefighter. A friend of Lazzeri convinced Duffy Lewis, who managed the Salt Lake City Bees of the Pacific Coast League, Lazzeri made the team, earning $250 a month as a utility infielder. He batted.192 in 45 games, and was demoted to the Peoria Tractors of the Illinois–Indiana–Iowa League in 1923 to gain more experience, Lazzeri batted.248 with 14 home runs in 135 games for Peoria, before being recalled to Salt Lake City. Starting at shortstop for the Bees in 1924, Lazzeri batted.285 with 16 home runs. However, Lewis gave the starting role to Pinky Pittenger, and sent Lazzeri to the Lincoln Links of the Western League. Returning to Salt Lake City under new manager Oscar Vitt in 1925, Lazzeri batted.355 with 60 home runs and 222 runs batted in, the most RBIs in professional baseball history. That year he became one of what are today four Pacific Coast League hitters to have had a 30 home runs,30 stolen bases season, along with Joc Pederson, Frank Demaree, and Lefty ODoul. Though Salt Lake City had an agreement with the Chicago Cubs. The Cincinnati Reds passed on Lazzeri as well, bill Essick, a scout for the New York Yankees, convinced Ed Barrow, the Yankees general manager, to sign Lazzeri. Barrow agreed after receiving reports from other scouts, including Ed Holly and Paul Krichell
19.
Herb Pennock
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Herbert Jefferis Pennock was an American professional baseball pitcher. He played in Major League Baseball from 1912 through 1933 and he is best known for his time spent with the star-studded New York Yankee teams of the mid to late 1920s and early 1930s. Connie Mack signed Pennock to his Philadelphia Athletics in 1912, after using Pennock sparingly, and questioning his competitive drive, Mack sold Pennock to the Boston Red Sox in 1915. After returning from service in 1919, Pennock became a regular contributor for the Red Sox. After retiring as a player, Pennock served as a coach and farm director for the Red Sox. Pennock was regarded as one of the greatest left-handed pitchers in baseball history, Mack later called his sale of Pennock to the Red Sox his greatest mistake. Pennock died of a hemorrhage in 1948, later that year. Pennock was born on February 10,1894 in Kennett Square and his father, Theodore Pennock, and mother Mary Louise Pennock were of Scotch-Irish and Quaker descent. His ancestors came to the United States with William Penn, Herb was the youngest of four children. Pennock attended Westtown School and Cedarcroft Boarding School, where he played for the baseball team, after struggling as a first baseman, with a weak offensive output and throwing arm that resulted in curved throws, his Cedarcroft coach converted Pennock into a pitcher. While pitching at Cedarcroft, Pennock threw a no-hitter to catcher Earle Mack, Pennock agreed to sign with the Athletics at a later date. Mack signed Pennock in 1912 to play for his team based in Atlantic City. Pennocks father insisted that he sign under an alias in order to protect his collegiate eligibility, Pennock threw a no-hitter against a traveling Negro league baseball team, and Mack promoted him to the Athletics. Mack intended for Pennock to be one of the prospects who would replace star pitchers Eddie Plank, Chief Bender, Pennock made his major league debut with the Athletics during the 1912 season on May 14, allowing one hit in four innings pitched. He was the youngest person to play in the American League that season, former major leaguer Mike Grady, a neighbor of Pennocks in Kennett Square, took Pennock under his wing, while Bender taught Pennock to throw a screwball. Pennock missed most of the 1913 season with an illness, but was able to rejoin the team late in the season, Mack let Bender go after the season, naming Pennock his Opening Day starting pitcher in 1915. On Opening Day, Pennock threw a complete game shutout against the Boston Red Sox. However, as the Athletics struggled, Pennocks nonchalant playing style drew Macks ire, concluding that Pennock lacked ambition, Mack sold Pennock to the Red Sox for the waiver price of $2,500
20.
Babe Ruth
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George Herman Babe Ruth Jr. was an American professional baseball player whose career in Major League Baseball spanned 22 seasons, from 1914 through 1935. Ruth established many MLB batting records, including home runs, runs batted in, bases on balls, slugging percentage, and on-base plus slugging. Ruth is regarded as one of the greatest sports heroes in American culture and is considered by many to be the greatest baseball player of all time, in 1936, Ruth was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame as one of its first five inaugural members. At age seven, Ruth was sent to St, in 1914, Ruth was signed to play minor-league baseball for the Baltimore Orioles but was soon sold to the Red Sox. By 1916, he had built a reputation as a pitcher who sometimes hit long home runs. With regular playing time, he broke the MLB single-season home run record in 1919, after that season, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Ruth to the Yankees amid controversy. The trade fueled Bostons subsequent 86 year championship drought and popularized the Curse of the Bambino superstition, in his 15 years with New York, Ruth helped the Yankees win seven American League championships and four World Series championships. As part of the Yankees vaunted Murderers Row lineup of 1927, Ruth hit 60 home runs and he retired in 1935 after a short stint with the Boston Braves. During his career, Ruth led the AL in home runs during a season twelve times, Ruths legendary power and charismatic personality made him a larger-than-life figure in the Roaring Twenties. During his career, he was the target of press and public attention for his baseball exploits. His often reckless lifestyle was tempered by his willingness to do good by visiting children at hospitals, after his retirement as a player, he was denied a managerial job in baseball, most likely due to poor behavior during parts of his playing career. In his final years, Ruth made many appearances, especially in support of American efforts in World War II. In 1946, he became ill with cancer, and died two years later, George Herman Ruth Jr. was born in 1895 at 216 Emory Street in Pigtown, a working-class section of Baltimore, Maryland, named for its meat-packing plants. Its population included recent immigrants from Ireland, Germany and Italy, Ruths parents, George Herman Ruth, Sr. and Katherine Schamberger, were both of German American ancestry. According to the 1880 census, his parents were born in Maryland, the paternal grandparents of Ruth, Sr. were from Prussia and Hanover. Ruth, Sr. had a series of jobs, including lightning rod salesman and streetcar operator, before becoming a counterman in a combination grocery. George Ruth Jr. was born in the house of his grandfather, Pius Schamberger. Only one of young Georges seven siblings, his younger sister Mamie, many details of Ruths childhood are unknown, including the date of his parents marriage
21.
Westinghouse Broadcasting
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The Westinghouse Broadcasting Company, also known as Group W, was the broadcasting division of Westinghouse Electric Corporation. It owned several radio and television stations across the United States, Westinghouse Broadcasting was formed in the 1920s as Westinghouse Radio Stations, Inc. It was renamed Westinghouse Broadcasting Company in 1954, and adopted the Group W moniker on May 20,1963 and it kept national sales offices in Chicago and Los Angeles. Group W stations are best known for using a distinctive corporate typeface, introduced in 1963, for their logos, similarly styled typefaces had been used on some non-Group W stations as well and several former Group W stations still use it today. The Group W corporate typeface is closely, but not accurately, the font is also used in the video game Damnation. Westinghouse Broadcasting was also known for two long-running television programs, the Mike Douglas Show and PM Magazine. The Westinghouse Electric and Manufacturing Company entered broadcasting with the November 2,1920 sign-on of KDKA radio in Pittsburgh, WBZA in Boston, a station which shared WBZs frequency and simulcasted WBZs programming, signed on in November 1924. Westinghouse initially owned a 20 percent stake in NBC, and as an all of Westinghouses stations became affiliates of NBCs Blue Network when it was launched on January 1,1927. Most of the Blue Networks programming originated at WJZ, which in 1923 had its license moved to New York City, in 1931, Westinghouse switched the call letters of its two Massachusetts stations, with WBZA moving to Springfield and WBZ going to Boston. The two stations had suffered from problems, though the Boston facility was the more powerful of the two. In 1934, KYW was moved from Chicago to Philadelphia following a Federal Communications Commission-dictated frequency realignment, Westinghouses next station was its first purchase, WOWO in Fort Wayne, Indiana joined the group in August 1936. The North American Regional Broadcasting Agreement of 1941 saw all of Westinghouses original stations move to their current dial positions, with WOWOs power increase to 50,000 watts later that year, the Westinghouse stations were now also clear-channel stations. Among them, the four stations nighttime signals blanketed almost all of the half of North America. Despite the assignments which resulted from NARBA, WBZA became a 1, the Westinghouse group survived the government-dictated split of NBCs radio division in 1943. WBZ/WBZA, KDKA and KYW became affiliates of NBCs Red Network while WOWO, Westinghouse expanded to the West Coast in 1944 with its purchase of 5, 000-watt KEX in Portland, Oregon, a station which also shared a frequency with WOWO. Westinghouse would increase KEXs power to 50,000 watts in 1948, later in the 1940s, Westinghouse moved on to develop FM and television stations as the FCC began to issue permits for those services. Westinghouse built FM sister stations for WBZ/WBZA, KDKA, KYW, KEX and WOWO, FM radio was, initially, an unsuccessful venture for Westinghouse, and the company would silence most of its FM stations during the 1950s. Of the early Westinghouse FMs, only the original KDKA-FM and the second WBZ-FM facility proved to be worth keeping, moving back to AM radio, Westinghouse returned to Chicago with its 1956 purchase of WIND
22.
Graham McNamee
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Graham McNamee was an American radio broadcaster, the mediums most recognized national personality in its first international decade. McNamee, was an attorney and legal advisor to President Grover Clevelands cabinet, and his mother, Anne, was a homemaker, born in Washington, D. C. and raised in St. Paul, Minnesota, McNamee had early aspirations of being an opera singer. He studied voice as a youth and sang in churches, and in 1922 gave a concert in Aeolian Hall, New York. In 1922, while serving duty in New York City, he visited the studios of radio station WEAF en route to the courthouse and, on a whim. Someone noticed his voice and asked him to speak through a microphone and he was given an audition and hired as a staff announcer on the spot. Radio broadcasting of sporting events was a new thing in the 1920s, the play-by-play announcements were performed by a rotating group of newspaper writers. Their descriptions were matter-of-fact and boring at best, in 1923, announcer McNamee was assigned to help the sportswriters liven up their broadcasts. He wasnt an expert, but had a knack for conveying what he saw in great detail. He began broadcasting first as a commentator, bringing the sights. McNamee had various on-air responsibilities at WEAF, including baseball color commentary culminating in play-by-play of the 1926 World Series, later that year, McNamee was featured on the cover of Time. With Phillips Carlin, whose voice was so similar that few listeners could tell them apart, in 1923, he described the Harry Greb-Johnny Wilson boxing match and covered many World Series baseball games and the top football games for years. He also covered many major news events outside the world, described the Republican and Democratic National conventions. In the early 1940s his principal activity was as a newsreel commentator, in 1925, at the Radio World Fair, he won a solid gold cup as Americas most popular announcer, receiving 189,470 votes out of 1,161,659 votes cast. He was married to concert and church soprano Josephine Garrett, McNamee continued to broadcast into the 1930s, as an announcer on such programs as Rudy Vallees and Ed Wynns weekly shows. He played straight man on the latter, reacting to Wynns gags, on July 7,1936 he was briefly reunited with Ed Wynn for a brief, ad-libbed spot on an experimental, NBC television broadcast. In the early 1940s, he hosted Behind the Mike for NBC and he opened each broadcast by saying, Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen of the radio audience. He was married twice, the first time, in 1921 and they were divorced in 1932, and he married Anne Lee Sims in 1934. McNamee died on May 9,1942 at St. Lukes Hospital at the age of 53, the cause of death was a brain embolism after he had been hospitalized with a streptococcus infection
23.
Phillips Carlin
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Phillips Carlin was a radio broadcaster and television executive. Carlin started his career with the New York radio station. He teamed up with Graham McNamee to announce the 1926,1927 and 1928 World Series and he later announced The Atwater Kent Hour, The Goodrich Hour and The Palmolive Hour. Afterwards, he served as the Eastern program manager and vice president in charge of programs for NBC, Carlin conceived the idea for Queen for a Day, a prize giveaway television show that served as the forerunner to reality television. Afterwards, he worked as a production representative for advertising agencies. Carlin served in the U. S. Navy during World War I. Phillips Carlin,77, Television Executive
24.
1925 World Series
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In the 1925 World Series, the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the defending champion Washington Senators in seven games. The Senators built up a 3–1 Series lead, after Pittsburgh won the next two games, Johnson again took the mound for Game 7, and carried a 6–4 lead into the bottom of the seventh inning. Peckinpaugh, the Senators regular shortstop and the 1925 American League Most Valuable Player, had a tough Series in the field, playing conditions were of no help. The 1925 Series was postponed due to poor weather, and Game 7 was played in what soon became a steady downpour. In the next days New York Times, James Harrison wrote In a grave of mud was buried Walter Johnsons ambition to join the panel of pitchers who have won three victories in one World Series. A memorable play occurred during the eighth inning of Game 3, the Senators Sam Rice ran after an Earl Smith line drive hit into right center field. Rice made a diving catch into the stands, but did not emerge with the ball for approximately fifteen seconds. The Pirates contested the play, saying a fan probably stuffed the ball into Rices glove, the call stood and Rice parried questions about the incident for the rest of his life—never explicitly saying whether he had or had not really made the catch. His typical answer was always The umpire said I caught it, Rice left a sealed letter at the Hall of Fame to be opened after his death. In it, he had written, At no time did I lose possession of the ball, writer Lamont Buchanan wrote, In 1925, the Senators hopped the Big Train once too often. Earning Bucky the criticism of many fans and American League head Johnson who dispatched an irate wire to the Senators manager, in his telegram, Ban Johnson accused the manager of failing to relieve Walter Johnson for sentimental reasons. Despite the second-guessing, Harris always said, If I had it to do over again and they have lost their last fourteen since. Thursday, October 8,1925, at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Saturday, October 10,1925, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, sunday, October 11,1925, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, D. C. Monday, October 12,1925, at Griffith Stadium in Washington, the World Series, Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903–1989. Archived from the original on 2008
25.
World Series
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The World Series is the annual championship series of Major League Baseball in North America, contested since 1903 between the American League champion team and the National League champion team. The winner of the World Series championship is determined through a playoff. As the series is played in October, during the season in North America. As of 2016, the World Series has been contested 112 times, with the AL winning 64, the 2016 World Series took place between the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago Cubs. Seven games were played, with the Cubs victorious after game seven, the final score was 8–7, the game went into extra innings after a tied score of 6–6. This was the third World Series won by the Cubs, as well as their first title since 1908, in the National League, the St. As of 2016, no team has won consecutive World Series championships since the New York Yankees in 1998,1999, all championships were awarded to the team with the best record at the end of the season, without a postseason series being played. From 1884 to 1890, the National League and the American Association faced each other in a series of games at the end of the season to determine an overall champion. These series were disorganized in comparison to the modern World Series, the number of games played ranged from as few as three in 1884, to a high of fifteen in 1887. Both the 1885 and 1890 Series ended in ties, each team having won three games with one tie game, the series was promoted and referred to as The Championship of the United States, Worlds Championship Series, or Worlds Series for short. In his book Krakatoa, The Day the World Exploded, August 27,1883, Simon Winchester mentions in passing that the World Series was named for the New York World newspaper, but this view is disputed. Until about 1960, some sources treated the 19th-century Series on a basis with the post-19th-century series. After about 1930, however, many authorities list the start of the World Series in 1903, following the collapse of the American Association after the 1891 season, the National League was again the only major league. The league championship was awarded in 1892 by a playoff between half-season champions and this scheme was abandoned after one season. Beginning in 1893—and continuing until divisional play was introduced in 1969—the pennant was awarded to the club in the standings at the end of the season. For four seasons, 1894–1897, the league played the runners-up in the post season championship series called the Temple Cup. A second attempt at this format was the Chronicle-Telegraph Cup series, in 1901, the American League was formed as a second major league. No championship series were played in 1901 or 1902 as the National and these series were arranged by the participating clubs, as the 1880s Worlds Series matches had been
26.
1927 World Series
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In the 1927 World Series, the New York Yankees swept the Pittsburgh Pirates in four games. This was the first sweep of a National League team by an American League team and that year, the Yankees led the American League in runs scored, hits, triples, home runs, base on balls, batting average, slugging average and on-base percentage. It featured legends Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig at their peaks, the team won a then-league record 110 games, finished with a 19-game lead over second place, and are considered by many to be the greatest team in the history of baseball. The 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates, with MVP Paul Waner, led the National League in runs, hits, batting average, the 1927 New York Yankees had perhaps the most feared line-up in the history of baseball. Nicknamed Murderers Row, their batting order boasted the all-time great Babe Ruth at the top of his considerable powers, left fielder Bob Meusel also drove in over 100 runs, with a.337 average. The teams pitching staff was led by another Hall of Famer, Waite Hoyt, who had his best season with a 22–7 record, three more pitchers won 18 or more games, rookie Wilcy Moore, Herb Pennock and Urban Shocker. Rounding out the staff were veteran Dutch Ruether, George Pipgras, not surprisingly, the Yankees ran away with the pennant under the leadership of manager Miller Huggins. They finished with a record of 110–44,19 games in front of the second-place Philadelphia Athletics and they were overwhelming favorites to win the World Series. The 1927 Pittsburgh Pirates were by no means a weak team, the Pirates went 94–60 for manager Donie Bush during the regular season, finishing 1 1⁄2 games ahead of the defending World Champions St. Louis Cardinals. The Pirates also had their share of future Hall of Famers, the teams best hitter was right fielder Paul Big Poison Waner, who hit a league-leading.380 and drove in 131 runs, also a league-leading total. His brother, rookie center fielder Lloyd Little Poison Waner hit.355 and scored a league-leading 133 runs, third baseman Pie Traynor hit.342 and drove in over 100 runs, joining shortstop Glenn Wright who also topped the century mark. Other solid hitters for the Pirates included first baseman Joe Harris, the Pirates pitching was not as dominant. Two veterans of the 1925 World Championship team, Lee Meadows, Carmen Hill had pitched part of six seasons in the majors before 1927, never winning more than three games. In 1927, he put everything together, winning a team-leading 22 games against 11 losses, vic Aldridge went 15–10 as the fourth starter, but his 4.25 ERA was well over the league average. In the bullpen, Johnny Miljus put together a season, posting a 1.90 ERA in 76 innings. AL New York Yankees vs. NL Pittsburgh Pirates The 1927 World Series opened under sunny skies and balmy weather at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday, October 5. The crowd of 41,467 saw Yankee right-hander Waite Hoyt, the Governor of Pennsylvania, John S. Fisher was at Forbes Field, as well as New York City Mayor Jimmy Walker. Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis was seated near the Yankees’ dugout, National League President John A. Heydler was in another field box
27.
Major League Baseball
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Major League Baseball is a professional baseball organization, the oldest of the four major professional sports leagues in the United States and Canada. A total of 30 teams now play in the National League and American League, the NL and AL operated as separate legal entities from 1876 and 1901 respectively. After cooperating but remaining legally separate entities since 1903, the merged into a single organization led by the Commissioner of Baseball in 2000. The organization also oversees Minor League Baseball, which comprises about 240 teams affiliated with the Major League clubs, with the World Baseball Softball Confederation, MLB manages the international World Baseball Classic tournament. Baseballs first professional team was founded in Cincinnati in 1869,30 years after Abner Doubleday supposedly invented the game of baseball, the first few decades of professional baseball were characterized by rivalries between leagues and by players who often jumped from one team or league to another. The period before 1920 in baseball was known as the dead-ball era, Baseball survived a conspiracy to fix the 1919 World Series, which came to be known as the Black Sox Scandal. The sport rose in popularity in the 1920s, and survived potential downturns during the Great Depression, shortly after the war, baseballs color barrier was broken by Jackie Robinson. The 1950s and 1960s were a time of expansion for the AL and NL, then new stadiums, Home runs dominated the game during the 1990s, and media reports began to discuss the use of anabolic steroids among Major League players in the mid-2000s. In 2006, an investigation produced the Mitchell Report, which implicated many players in the use of performance-enhancing substances, today, MLB is composed of thirty teams, twenty-nine in the United States and one in Canada. Baseball broadcasts are aired on television, radio, and the Internet throughout North America, MLB has the highest season attendance of any sports league in the world with more than 73 million spectators in 2015. MLB is governed by the Major League Baseball Constitution and this document has undergone several incarnations since 1875, with the most recent revisions being made in 2012. Under the direction of the Commissioner of Baseball, MLB hires and maintains the sports umpiring crews, and negotiates marketing, labor, MLB maintains a unique, controlling relationship over the sport, including most aspects of Minor League Baseball. This ruling has been weakened only slightly in subsequent years, the weakened ruling granted more stability to the owners of teams and has resulted in values increasing at double-digit rates. There were several challenges to MLBs primacy in the sport between the 1870s and the Federal League in 1916, the last attempt at a new league was the aborted Continental League in 1960. The chief executive of MLB is the commissioner, Rob Manfred, the chief operating officer is Tony Petitti. There are five other executives, president, chief officer, chief legal officer, chief financial officer. The multimedia branch of MLB, which is based in Manhattan, is MLB Advanced Media and this branch oversees MLB. com and each of the 30 teams websites. Its charter states that MLB Advanced Media holds editorial independence from the league, MLB Productions is a similarly structured wing of the league, focusing on video and traditional broadcast media
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National League
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Both leagues currently have 15 teams. The two league champions of 1903 arranged to compete against each other in the inaugural World Series, after the 1904 champions failed to reach a similar agreement, the two leagues formalized the World Series as an arrangement between the leagues. National League teams have won 48 of the 112 World Series contested from 1903 to 2016, the 2016 National League champions are the Chicago Cubs. By 1875, the National Association of Professional Base Ball Players was dangerously weak, additionally, Hulbert had a problem—five of his star players were threatened with expulsion from the NAPBBP because Hulbert had signed them to his club using what were considered questionable means. Hulbert had a vested interest in creating his own league. After recruiting St. Louis privately, four western clubs met in Louisville, Kentucky, Boston Red Stockings, the dominant team in the N. A. Hartford Dark Blues from the N. A. Mutual of New York from the N. A. St. Louis Brown Stockings from the N. A, the only strong club from 1875 excluded in 1876 was a second one in Philadelphia, often called the White Stockings or Phillies. The first game in National League history was played on April 22,1876, at Philadelphias Jefferson Street Grounds, 25th & Jefferson, the new leagues authority was tested after the first season. The National League operated with six clubs during 1877 and 1878, over the next several years, various teams joined and left the struggling league. By 1880, six of the eight members had folded. The two remaining original NL franchises, Boston and Chicago, remain in operation today as the Atlanta Braves, in 1883 the New York Gothams and Philadelphia Phillies began National League play. Both teams remain in the NL today, the Phillies in their original city, the NL encountered its first strong rival organization when the American Association began play in 1882. The A. A. played in cities where the NL did not have teams, offered Sunday games and alcoholic beverages in locales where permitted, the National League and the American Association participated in a version of the World Series seven times during their ten-year coexistence. These contests were less organized than the modern Series, lasting as few as three games and as many as fifteen, with two Series ending in disputed ties, the NL won four times and the A. A. only once, in 1886. Starting with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1887, the National League began to raid the American Association for franchises to replace NL teams that folded and this undercut the stability of the A. A. Other new leagues that rose to compete with the National League were the Union Association, the Union Association was established in 1884 and folded after playing only one season, its league champion St. Louis Maroons joining the NL. The NL suffered many defections of star players to the Players League, the Brooklyn, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and New York franchises of the NL absorbed their Players League counterparts. The labor strife of 1890 hastened the downfall of the American Association, after the 1891 season, the A. A. disbanded and merged with the NL, which became known legally for the next decade as the National League and American Association
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American League
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The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League, is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a league based in the Great Lakes states. It is sometimes called the Junior Circuit because it claimed Major League status for the 1901 season,25 years after the formation of the National League. At the end of season, the American League champion plays in the World Series against the National League champion. Through 2016, American League teams have won 64 of the 112 World Series played since 1903, the 2016 American League champions are the Cleveland Indians. The New York Yankees have won 40 American League titles, the most in the history, followed by the Philadelphia/Kansas City/Oakland Athletics. Originally a minor league known as the Western League, the American League later developed into a major league after the American Association disbanded, in its early history, the Western League struggled until 1894, when Ban Johnson became the president of the league. Johnson led the Western League into major league status and soon became the president of the newly renamed American League, babe Ruth, noted as one of the most prolific hitters in Major League Baseball history, spent the majority of his career in the American League. The American League has one notable difference versus the National League, in 1902, the Milwaukee Brewers moved to St. Louis and were renamed the St. Louis Browns. In 1902, The Cleveland Bluebirds were also renamed the Cleveland Broncos, in 1903, the Broncos were renamed the Cleveland Naps. In 1915, the Naps were renamed the Cleveland Indians, in 1903, the Baltimore Orioles moved to New York and were renamed the New York Highlanders. In 1913, the Highlanders were renamed the New York Yankees, in 1904, the Chicago White Stockings were renamed the Chicago White Sox. In 1908, the Boston Americans were renamed the Boston Red Sox, in 1954, the St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and were renamed as the Baltimore Orioles. In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City and were renamed as the Kansas City Athletics, in 1961, the league expanded and added two teams as the Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators, expanding the league to 10 teams. The original Senators team moved to Minneapolis/St, Paul in 1961 and were renamed as the Minnesota Twins. The Angels team name changed to the California Angels in 1966, then to the Anaheim Angels in 1997, the Kansas City Royals and the Seattle Pilots were added to the American League, expanding the league to 12 teams. In 1970, the Seattle Pilots moved to Milwaukee and were renamed the Milwaukee Brewers, in 1972, the Washington Senators relocated to the Dallas/Fort Worth area and were renamed the Texas Rangers. In 1977, the league expanded to fourteen teams, when the Seattle Mariners, in 1998, the Tampa Bay Rays was added to the American League and at the same time, the Milwaukee Brewers were switched to the National League, leaving the American League with 14 teams
30.
Yankee Stadium (1923)
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Yankee Stadium was a stadium located in the Bronx, a borough of New York City. It was the home ballpark of the New York Yankees, one of the citys Major League Baseball franchises, from 1923 to 1973, the stadium hosted 6,581 Yankees regular season home games during its 85-year history. It was also the home of the New York Giants football team from 1956 through the first part of the 1973–74 football season. It has also known as The Big Ballpark in The Bronx, The Stadium. The stadium was built from 1922 to 1923 for $2.4 million, Yankee Stadium opened for the 1923 MLB season and at the time, it was hailed as a one-of-a-kind facility in the country for its size. Over the course of its history, it one of the most famous venues in the United States, having hosted a variety of events. The stadium went through many alterations and playing surface configurations over the years, the condition of the facility worsened in the 1960s and 1970s, prompting its closing for renovation from 1974 to 1975. The renovation significantly altered the appearance of the venue and reduced the distance of the outfield fences, in 2006, the Yankees began building a new $2.3 billion stadium in public parkland adjacent to the stadium. The price included $1.2 billion in public subsidies, the design includes a replica of the frieze along the roof that was in Yankee Stadium. Monument Park, a Hall of Fame for prominent former Yankees, was relocated to the new stadium, Yankee Stadium closed following the 2008 baseball season and the new stadium opened in 2009, adopting the Yankee Stadium moniker. The original Yankee Stadium was demolished in 2010, two years after it closed, and the 8-acre site was converted into a park called Heritage Field, the new Yankee stadium opened in 2009 and is currently used by the NY Yankees. The Yankees had played at the Polo Grounds in upper Manhattan since 1913, however, relations between the two teams were rocky, with the Giants harboring resentment towards the Yankees. For the 1920 season, the Yankees acquired star slugger Babe Ruth and in his first year with his new team, by the middle of 1920, the Giants had issued an eviction notice to the Yankees, which was soon rescinded. In 1921, the Yankees won their first American League pennant and this exacerbated Giants owner Charles Stonehams resentment of the Yankees and reinforced his insistence that the Yankees find another place to play their home games. The Giants derisively suggested that the Yankees relocate to Queens or some other out-of-the-way place, tillinghast LHommedieu Huston and Jacob Ruppert, the Yankees owners since January 1915, decided to build their own stadium. They did so at considerable financial risk and speculation, Baseball teams typically played in 30, 000-seat facilities, but Huston and Ruppert invoked Ruths name when asked how the Yankees could justify a ballpark with 60,000 seats. The total bill for construction of the stadium was $2.5 million, Huston and Ruppert explored many areas for Yankee Stadium. Of the other sites being considered, the Hebrew Orphan Asylum, consideration was also given to building atop railroad tracks on the West Side of Manhattan and to Long Island City, in Queens
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Sportsman's Park
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Sportsmans Park was the name of several former Major League Baseball ballpark structures in the central United States, in St. Louis, Missouri. All but one of these were located on the piece of land, at the northwest corner of Grand Boulevard and Dodier Street. The physical street address was 2911 North Grand Boulevard, in 1923, the stadium hosted St. Louiss first NFL team, the St. Louis All-Stars. Baseball was played on the Sportsmans Park site as early as 1867, the tract was acquired in 1866 by August Solari, who began staging games there the following year. It was the home of the St. Louis Brown Stockings in the National Association, originally called the Grand Avenue Ball Grounds. Some sources say the field was renamed Sportsmans Park in 1876, the local papers also still used the alternate name Grand Avenue Park until at least 1885. The first grandstand—one of three on the built in 1881. At that time, the diamond and the grandstands were on the southeast corner of the block, the park was leased by the then-major American Association entry, the St. Louis Brown Stockings, or Browns. The Browns were a strong team in the mid-1880s. When the National League absorbed the strongest of the old Association teams in 1892, soon they went looking for a new ballpark, finding a site just a few blocks northwest of the old one, and calling it New Sportsmans Park, which was later renamed Robison Field. They also changed colors from Brown to Cardinal Red, thus acquiring a new nickname. When the American League Browns moved from Milwaukee in 1902, they built a new version of Sportsmans Park and they initially placed the diamond and the main stand at the northwest corner of the block. This Sportsmans Park saw football history made and it became both the practice field and home field for Saint Louis University football teams, coached by the visionary Eddie Cochems, father of the forward pass. These included a 39–0 thrashing of Iowa before a crowd of 12,000, robinson launched an amazingly long pass in the game against the Jayhawks, which was variously reported to have traveled 67 or 87 yards in the air. College Football Hall of Fame coach David M. Nelson called the extraordinary, considering the size, shape and weight of the fat. Sports historian John Sayle Watterson agreed, in his book, College Football, History, Spectacle, Controversy, Watterson described Robinsons long pass as truly a breathtaking achievement. St. Louis finished with an 11–0 record in 1906, outscoring its opponents 407–11, the previous wooden grandstand was retained as left-field bleachers for a while, but was soon replaced with permanent bleachers. The Cardinals came back to their home in mid-1920, as tenants of the Browns, after abandoning the outdated
32.
1921 World Series
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This was the first World Series appearance by the Yankees, who have gone on to play in the Series a record 40 times. The 1921 Series was a closely contested matchup that ended on a play featuring a baserunning miscue. The Series was the last of the experimental series, which the Giants won five games to three. This marked the first time in World Series history that the series occurred at a single site and it happened again the following year in the same place with the same two teams, and in 1944 at St. Louis Sportsmans Park between the Cardinals and the Browns. For New Yorkers, this was the first subway Series in World Series history and it was also the first World Series to be broadcast on radio, with Grantland Rice covering the games live through Pittsburghs KDKA. It was rebroadcast on WBZ in Massachusetts, announcer Tommy Cowan also recreated the games over Westinghouse-owned WJZ in Newark as he listened to phoned-in reports from the stadium. Following the Series, Ruth and Bob Meusel did some postseason barnstorming, both were suspended for a number of games at the start of the 1922 season. Ruth filed an appeal with Commissioner Landis, who upheld their suspensions. Then New York Governor Nathan L. Miller, described as a big baseball fan by the New York Times, the Series drew fans to New York City from across the continent, from as far west as California and Mexico to as far south as Cuba. Hotels were booked up, and both the New York Central and Pennsylvania Railroads made plans to add cars and run their trains in sections if necessary to handle the traffic expected. Harry L. Davis, then the Governor of Ohio, was expected to attend the games as were several other VIPs of the time and this was the fourth World Series for Giants assistant coach Eee-yah. The two were teammates on the old Baltimore Orioles in earlier seasons, several players on both teams didnt start the 1921 season with either the Giants or the Yankees, and several others moved to other teams during the regular season earlier that year. For the Giants, Johnny Rawlings, Irish Meusel, Casey Stengel and Red Causey started the season as Philadelphia Phillies, who finished last in the National League that year. Nonparticipants from either team in the Series included Curtis Walker, Lee King, Johnny Monroe, Rube Benton, Goldie Rapp, Ping Bodie, Tom Sheehan, but when he slid into third, he scraped his elbow severely and the site became infected. After getting outscored 6–0 in the first two games of series and falling behind 4–0 in the top of the third, the Giants tied it with four runs of their own in the bottom half. Later on, an 8 run 7th inning highlighted by Ross Youngs bases loaded triple turned the tide as the Giants got their first win of this series, Ruth was taken out in the eighth after again scraping his elbow sliding into a base. The Yankees announced after the game that the elbow would have to be lanced, Ruth suited up, but stayed on the bench during batting practice. When the game began, however, to surprise, he popped out of the dugout
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1923 World Series
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In the 1923 World Series, the New York Yankees beat the New York Giants in six games. This would be the first of the Yankees 27 World Series championships, the Yankees opened their new stadium in April on a home run by Babe Ruth, setting the tone for the season and this Series, in which Ruth hit three home runs along with drawing eight walks. In Game 2, second baseman, Aaron Ward hit a home run, the Giants one bright spot was Old Casey Stengel, who hit game-winning homers in each of the two Giants victories. In typically eccentric Stengel fashion, one of them was inside-the-park at the cavernous Yankee Stadium, and his shoe came loose during his run around the bases. Stengel was traded after the season, leading him to later in life. A quarter century later, Stengel would take on the role of Yankees manager, in Game 6, The Yankees overcame the 4–1 deficit by staging a five-run rally in the eighth inning to clinch the series. The three consecutive matchups between the Yankees and Giants marked the time, that three straight World Series featured the same two clubs. Babe Ruth had a series, his first great one as a Yankee, batted.368. Neither Lou Gehrig, Bill Terry nor Hack Wilson played in the Series and these future Hall of Famers were each in their first season and had played no more than thirteen games in the regular season. Gehrig had been called up from Hartford to play for the Yankees that year, in that time, however, a team had to have the permission of both the commissioner and the opposing teams manager to make a roster change so late in the season eligible for postseason play. The Yankees gained the permission of Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis who then told them to get John McGraws permission. McGraw and the Yankees had a history of disdain after both teams had shared a stadium and the Giants had won both the 1921 and 1922 World Series from New York. Therefore, he declined permission and Gehrig would not be allowed to participate in the series which otherwise would have been his first World Series, as noted baseball historian John Thorn said, As if the Yankees needed any more reason to hate John McGraw. AL New York Yankees vs. NL New York Giants A ninth-inning inside-the-park homer by Casey Stengel beat the Yankees on their home field, Babe Ruth scored in the first inning on a Bob Meusel double. Yankee center fielder Whitey Witts two-run single in the inning made it 3-0. The Giants fought back with a third, knocking out Yankee starter Waite Hoyt from the game. It was tied at 4-4 in the ninth until Casey came to bat, after trading solo home runs by Aaron Ward and Irish Meusel, a pair of Babe Ruth blasts in the fourth and fifth innings turned out to be the difference. A scoreless pitching duel lasted until the inning, when Casey Stengel struck again
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Shutouts in baseball
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In Major League Baseball, a shutout, also known as a complete-game shutout, refers to the act by which a single pitcher pitches a complete game and does not allow the opposing team to score a run. If two or more pitchers combine to complete this act, no pitcher is awarded a shutout, although the team itself can be said to have shutout the opposing team. The ultimate single achievement among pitchers is a game, which has been accomplished 23 times in over 135 years. By definition, a game is counted as a shutout. The all-time career leader in shutouts is Walter Johnson, who pitched for the Washington Senators from 1907–1927 and he accumulated 110 shutouts, which is 20 more than the second place leader, Pete Alexander. The most shutouts recorded in one season was 16, which was a feat accomplished by both Pete Alexander and George Bradley, complete games themselves have also become rare among starting pitchers. The current leader among active players for career shutouts is Clayton Kershaw, a shutout is officially defined by Major League Baseball rule 10.18, A shutout in baseball statistics is abbreviated as ShO or SHO, not to be confused with strikeout. To achieve a shutout, a pitcher must pitch a game without allowing the other team to score a run. However, there are exceptions and other stipulations to this rule, Jim Creighton of the Excelsior of Brooklyn club is widely regarded to have thrown the first official shutout in history on November 8,1860. For that reason, George Bradley pitched 16 shutouts in 1876, bradleys 16 shutouts in one year were almost half the total number he pitched in his nine-year career as a pitcher. From 1876–1916,10 shutouts or more a season was recorded 19 times, with the increase in power hitting in the live-ball era, as well as the increased utilization of relief pitchers, shutouts and complete games dramatically declined. Since 1917,10 or more shutouts a season has only been achieved 10 times by pitchers with very exceptional seasons. Jim Palmer was the last American League pitcher to achieve this mark with 10 in 1975, in 1968 for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Don Drysdale pitched a Major League record six consecutive shutouts on his way to a total of eight. He can be said to have shutout the opposition for 58⅔ consecutive innings pitched and that scoreless streak would later be broken by Dodgers pitcher Orel Hershiser in 1988, who pitched one more out than Drysdale to record 59 consecutive shutout innings. Ed Reulbach of the Chicago Cubs is the pitcher in Major League Baseball history to have pitched two shutouts on the same day. On September 26,1908, the Cubs played a doubleheader against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Reulbach pitched both games to completion, in which the Dodgers failed to score in both games. Among other records, Walter Johnson has the most Opening Day shutouts with seven, christy Mathewson holds the postseason record with four shutouts, including an unprecedented three during the 1905 World Series. A pitcher who begins the game is recorded as the starting pitcher, however, the replacement pitcher cannot be credited with a game started or complete game
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Home run
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In modern baseball, the feat is typically achieved by hitting the ball over the outfield fence between the foul poles without first touching the ground, resulting in an automatic home run. There is also the home run, increasingly rare in modern baseball. When a home run is scored, the batter is credited with a hit and a run scored. Likewise, the pitcher is recorded as having given up a hit, a batted ball is also a home run if it touches either foul pole or its attached screen before touching the ground, as the foul poles are by definition in fair territory. A batted ball that goes over the wall after touching the ground is not a home run. A fielder is allowed to reach over the wall to attempt to catch the ball as long as his feet are on or over the field during the attempt. If the fielder successfully catches the ball while it is in flight the batter is out, however, since the fielder is not part of the field, a ball that bounces off a fielder and over the wall without touching the ground is still a home run. A home run accomplished in any of the above manners is a home run. This stipulation is in Approved Ruling of Rule 7.10, an inside-the-park home run occurs when a batter hits the ball into play and is able to circle the bases before the fielders can put him out. Unlike with a home run, the batter-runner and all preceding runners are liable to be put out by the defensive team at any time while running the bases. This can only happen if the ball does not leave the ballfield, with outfields much less spacious and more uniformly designed than in the games early days, inside-the-park home runs are now a rarity. They are usually the result of a ball being hit by a very fast runner, either way, this sends the ball into open space in the outfield and thereby allows the batter-runner to circle the bases before the defensive team can put him out. The speed of the runner is crucial as even triples are relatively rare in most modern ballparks, all runs scored on such a play, however, still count. An example of an unexpected bounce occurred during the 2007 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at AT&T Park in San Francisco on July 10,2007, by the time the ball was relayed, Ichiro had already crossed the plate standing up. This was the first inside-the-park home run in All-Star Game history, Home runs are often characterized by the number of runners on base at the time. A home run hit with the bases empty is seldom called a one-run homer, with one runner on base, two runs are scored and thus the home run is often called a two-run homer or two-run shot. Similarly, a home runs with two runners on base is a three-run homer or three-run shot, the term four-run homer is seldom used, instead, it is nearly always called a grand slam. Hitting a grand slam is the best possible result for the turn at bat
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Base on balls
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The base on balls is defined in Section 2.00 of baseballs Official Rules, and further detail is given in 6.08. The term base on balls distinguishes a walk from the manners in which a batter can be awarded first base without liability to be put out. An important difference is that for a hit batter or catchers interference, the ball is dead and no one may advance unless forced, a batter who draws a base on balls is commonly said to have been walked by the pitcher. When the batter is walked, runners advance one base without liability to be put out only if forced to vacate their base to allow the batter to take first base.04. Receiving a base on balls does not count as a hit or an at bat for a batter but does count as a time on base, therefore, a base on balls does not affect a players batting average, but it can increase his on-base percentage. A hit by pitch is not counted statistically as a walk, though the effect is mostly the same, one exception is that on a HBP, the ball is dead. On a HBP, any runners attempting to steal on the play must return to their original base unless forced to the next base anyway. When a walk occurs, the ball is live, any runner not forced to advance may nevertheless attempt to advance at his own risk. Also, because a ball is live when a base on balls occurs, runners on base forced to advance one base may attempt to advance one base. The batter-runner himself may attempt to advance beyond first base, at his own risk, rule 6.08 addresses this matter as well. An attempt to advance an additional base beyond the base awarded might occur when ball four is a ball or a wild pitch. In 1880, the National League changed the rules so that eight balls instead of nine were required for a walk, in 1884, the National League changed the rules so that six balls were required for a walk. In 1887, the National League and American Association agreed to abide by some uniform rule changes, in 1889, the National League and the American Association decreased the number of balls required for a walk to four. In 2017, Major League Baseball approved a change allowing for a batter to be walked intentionally by having the defending bench signal to the Umpire. The move was met some controversy. A subset of the base on balls, a base on balls or intentional walk is when the pitcher deliberately pitches the ball away from the batter in order to issue a base on balls. As with any other walk, an intentional walk entitles the batter to first base without liability to be put out, intentional walks are a strategic defensive maneuver, commonly done to bypass one hitter for one the defensive team believes is less likely to initiate a run-scoring play. Teams also commonly use intentional walks to set up a play or force out situation for the next batter
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Bob Meusel
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Robert William Meusel was an American baseball left and right fielder who played in Major League Baseball for eleven seasons from 1920 through 1930, all but the last for the New York Yankees. Meusel, noted for his strong throwing arm, batted fifth behind Baseball Hall of Famers Babe Ruth. In 1925, he became the second Yankee, after Ruth, to lead the AL in the offensive categories, home runs, runs batted in. Meusel ended his career in 1930 with the Cincinnati Reds and he hit for the cycle three times, and was the second of four major leaguers to accomplish this feat as many as three times during a career. His older brother, Emil Irish Meusel, was an outfielder in the National League during the same period. Meusel was born in San Jose, California, the youngest of Charlie, at an early age he moved to Los Angeles, where he attended Los Angeles High School. Meusel started his career with the Vernon Tigers of the Pacific Coast League in 1917 and he joined the US Navy during World War I and played for the Navy baseball team. He went back to the Tigers for the 1919 season, batting.330 and he also played third base in the minors. On December 14,1921, Meusel married Edith Cowan, with whom he had one daughter, Meusels contract was purchased by the New York Yankees in early 1920. After a productive spring training, Meusel replaced future Hall of Famer Frank Baker at third base and he played his first game on April 14,1920. In his rookie season, Meusel had a.328 batting average with 11 home runs and 83 runs batted in over 119 games and he finished fourth in the league in doubles with 41 while sharing time with Duffy Lewis in left field. In the 1921 season, Meusel started in 149 out of 154 games and he batted.318, finishing second in the league in home runs with 24 and third in the league with 136 runs batted in. He hit for the cycle in a win against the Washington Senators on May 7, in the second game of a September 5 doubleheader, he tied a major league record for outfielders by recording four assists. He broke a record and tied Jack Tobin of the St. Louis Browns for the league lead in outfield assists with 28. Meusels brother, Irish, was acquired by the New York Giants from the Philadelphia Phillies mid-season, the two brothers played against each other in the 1921 World Series, where the Giants faced their tenants. Bob Meusel stole home in Game 3 of the Series and he doubled in Babe Ruth for the winning run in Game 5 for a one-game lead, but the Yankees lost the next three games and the Series. His batting average in eight games was a mere.200. At the same time, Meusel, Bill Piercy, and Ruth signed up to play in a barnstorming tour and it was a violation of baseball rules at the time, and Meusel and Ruth had previously been warned about playing with the tour
38.
Baseball field
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A baseball field, also called a ball field or a baseball diamond, is the field upon which the game of baseball is played. The term is used as a metonym for baseball park.5 inches. Adjacent to each of the two parallel 8. 5-inch sides is a batters box, the point of home plate where the two 12-inch sides meet at right angles is at one corner of a ninety-foot square. The other three corners of the square, in order from home plate, are called first base, second base. Three canvas bags fifteen inches square mark the three bases and these three bags along with home plate form the four points at the corners of the infield. All the bases, including home plate, lie entirely within fair territory, thus, any batted ball that touches those bases must necessarily be in fair territory. Thus, although the points of the bases are 90 feet apart, the lines from home plate to first and third bases extend to the nearest fence, stand or other obstruction and are called the foul lines. The portion of the field between the foul lines is fair territory, the rest is foul territory. The area in the vicinity of the square formed by the bases is called the infield, most baseball fields are enclosed with a fence that marks the outer edge of the outfield. The fence is set at a distance ranging from 300 to 420 feet from home plate. Most professional and college baseball fields have a right and left foul pole and these poles are at the intersection of the foul lines and the respective ends of the outfield fence and, unless otherwise specified within the ground rules, lie in fair territory. Thus, a ball that passes over the outfield wall in flight and touches the foul pole is a fair ball. First base is the first of four bases that must be touched by a player on the team in order to score a run. Unlike when a player reaches second or third base, it is permissible for a batter-runner to overrun first base without being in jeopardy of being put out. After contact is made with the base, the batter-runner may slow down and return to first base at his leisure, the runner cannot be tagged out if he is touching the base with any part of his body. The first baseman is the player responsible for the area near first base. A professional first baseman is often a slow runner and tall, a tall first baseman presents a large target to which other fielders can throw, and his height gives him a larger range in reaching and catching errant throws. Also, a right-handed first baseman must, when setting himself up to receive a throw from an infielder, execute a half-pivot near the base, there are three infield positions that can only effectively be occupied by right-handed players, 2nd base, 3rd base, and shortstop
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Catcher
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Catcher is also a general term for a fielder who catches the ball in cricket. Catcher is a position for a baseball or softball player, when a batter takes his/her turn to hit, the catcher crouches behind home plate, in front of the umpire, and receives the ball from the pitcher. In addition to primary duty, the catcher is also called upon to master many other skills in order to field the position well. The role of the catcher is similar to that of the wicket-keeper in cricket, positioned behind home plate, the catcher can see the whole field, and is therefore in the best position to direct and lead the other players in a defensive play. The catcher typically calls for using hand signals. The calls are based on the mechanics and strengths, as well as the batters tendencies and weaknesses. Foul tips, bouncing balls in the dirt, and contact with runners during plays at the plate are all events to be handled by the catcher and this includes a mask, chest and throat protectors, shin guards, and a heavily padded catchers mitt. The physical and mental demands of being involved on every defensive play can wear catchers down over a long season, because of the strategic defensive importance of catching, if a catcher has exceptional defensive skills, teams are often willing to overlook their relative offensive weaknesses. A knowledgeable catchers ability to work with the pitcher, via selection and location. Many great defensive catchers toiled in relative anonymity, because they did not produce large offensive numbers, notable examples of light-hitting, defensive specialists were, Ray Schalk, Jim Hegan, Jim Sundberg and Brad Ausmus. Schalks career batting average of.253 is the lowest of any player in the Baseball Hall of Fame. That he was selected for enshrinement in 1955 was largely a tribute to his defensive skills. Catchers are often able to play first base and less commonly third base, in the numbering system used to record baseball plays, the catcher is assigned the number 2. In the middle of the century, the game of baseball began to evolve from a sport played by amateurs for recreation into a more serious game played by professionals. One of the most dramatic changes was the transition of the delivery from an underhand motion to an overhanded throw. As the game progressed towards professionals and became serious, pitchers began to attempt to prevent the batter from hitting the ball by throwing faster pitches. With the introduction of the strike in 1858, catchers began inching closer to home plate due to the rules requirement that a strikeout could only be completed by a catch. These developments meant that catchers began to take on a defensive role
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Bob O'Farrell
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Robert Arthur OFarrell was an American professional baseball player and manager. He played in Major League Baseball as a catcher for 21 seasons with the Chicago Cubs, St. Louis Cardinals, OFarrell also played for the Cincinnati Reds, albeit briefly. He was considered as one of the greatest defensive catchers of his generation, OFarrell was born in Waukegan, Illinois where he grew up a Chicago White Sox fan. He signed with the Cubs in 1915 after playing a game for his local semi-professional team. His first manager was former catcher, Roger Bresnahan, who helped OFarrell develop his catching skills, after a season on the bench, OFarrell was sent to Three-I League where he spent two years before returning to the Cubs for the 1918 season. He served as backup catcher working behind Bill Killefer as the Cubs went on to claim the 1918 National League pennant before losing to the Boston Red Sox in the 1918 World Series, OFarrell went hitless in three at bats during the series. In 1920 OFarrell caught the majority of the Cubs games and posting a.248 batting average as and he began the 1921 season as backup catcher until August when, Killefer was named the Cubs new manager. OFarrell had a season in 1922 when he hit for a.322 average along with 4 home runs,60 runs batted in. He also became one of the best defensive catchers in baseball, leading National League catchers in caught, putouts, assists, baserunners caught stealing. He became skillful at framing pitches by moving his catchers mitt towards the zone after having caught a pitch. OFarrell had a better year offensively in 1923, producing career-highs in home runs, runs batted in. In July 1924, OFarrell suffered a fractured skull when a foul ball broke his catchers mask. He had asked a club house attendant to bring him a newer mask however, not wanting to delay the game and he missed most of the season, and lost his job when future Baseball Hall of Fame member, Gabby Hartnett, played well in his absence. The Cubs decided to keep Hartnett as their starting catcher and traded OFarrell to the St. Louis Cardinals at the start of the 1925 season for Mike González and he also led National League catchers in games caught and in putouts. In November, he was voted the winner of the 1926 National League Most Valuable Player Award with 79 out of the possible 80 votes and he was the first catcher to win a Most Valuable Player Award. In December 1926, the Cardinals traded their manager Rogers Hornsby to the New York Giants for Frankie Frisch and he led the Cardinals to a second-place finish, behind the Pittsburgh Pirates even though the Cardinals won three more games than the previous season. He only played in 61 games that season because of a sore arm, the owner of the Cardinals at that time, Sam Breadon was unhappy that the Cardinals didnt win the pennant, and that OFarrell was leaving his pitchers in too long during games. He was given a $5,000 bonus to step down, OFarrell was traded to the New York Giants for George Harper in May 1928
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Tag out
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In baseball, a runner must sometimes advance to the next base because a batter, advancing to first, forces that runner to advance ahead of him to the next base. Two runners are not allowed on one base at one time, so a batter can, in effect, such a runner is spoken of as having been forced to the next base. A defensive play against that runner is called a play and, if successful. In force plays, the way a fielder gets a runner out is by, with the ball in his hand, a batter can also advance to the next base because he chooses to. For example, suppose, with a runner on first, the batter hits a single into the outfield, as the batter runs to first, the runner on first is forced to advance ahead of him to second. However, that runner can then choose to run past second, in this situation, a defensive play against such an unforced runner will be called a tag play and, if successful, a tag out. To get the runner out on a tag play, the fielder must tag him with the ball before the runner gets to the targeted base, tag plays are much more difficult to execute than force plays. Tag plays can also be utilized in other cases when the runner is in jeopardy, runners attempting to advance are sometimes thrown out, which means that a fielder throws the ball to someone covering the base, who then tags the runner before the runner touches the base. A runner who leads off a base too far might be picked off, that is, the pitcher throws to a fielder covering the base, when a runner is tagged out, a farther advanced runner who had been forced to advance no longer has to do so. The result of such a tag is called removing the force, if a defensive player tags the runner with his glove and the baseball is in his other hand, or with his free hand while the baseball is in his glove, then the runner is not out. Attempted tag outs sometimes can instigate fights in baseball, often the infielder will tag the baserunner too hard, or the baserunner will slide into base with enough speed and force to knock over the infielder attempting to tag out. Additionally, the runner may run the infielder over in an attempt to make the drop the ball
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1926 New York Yankees season
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The 1926 New York Yankees season was the teams 24th season in New York, and its 26th season overall. The team finished with a record of 91–63, winning their fourth pennant, New York was managed by Miller Huggins. The Yankees played at Yankee Stadium, in the World Series, they lost in 7 games to the St. Louis Cardinals, with the series ending with Babe Ruth being caught stealing second in the bottom of the 9th inning in game 7. Note, Pos = position, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. = Batting average, HR = Home runs, RBI = Runs batted in Note, G = Games played, AB = At bats, H = Hits, Avg. baseball-almanac. com
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Pennant (sports)
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A pennant is a commemorative flag typically used to show support for a particular athletic team. Pennants have been used in all types of athletic levels, high school, collegiate. Traditionally, pennants were made of felt and fashioned in the colors of a particular team. Often graphics, usually the mascot symbol, as well as the name were displayed on pennants. The images displayed on pennants were either stitched on with contrasting colored felt or had screen-printing, today, vintage pennants with rare images or honoring special victories have become prized collectibles for sporting enthusiasts. While pennants are typically associated with teams, pennants have also been made to honor institutions and vacation spots. In Major League Baseball, a pennant typically refers to such a flag flown specifically by the National League or American League championship team of a given season, the last few weeks of the regular American professional baseball season are known as a pennant race. This is a holdover from the time when the championships were determined by the team with the best record at the end of the regular season. In Australian sports, the flag is used in the same context. The pennant is waved around in the crowd to support to the sport team they are cheering for
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