Fully in the throes of holiday season, many baseball fans
wistfully gaze out windows to scan the snow driven landscape before them.
Although another baseball season is still months away, a generous helping of
the Baseball Historian’s Notes may help bridge the gap.
-Forbe’s Terence
Moore checked in with his thoughts
on how Major League Baseball is failing African Americans. From the continued
anemic numbers of black players to the recent embarrassment of having to ask
for the return of a political
donation from an embattled Mississippian Senatorial candidate espousing
racist ideology, it is not a good look at all for the game. Baseball is truly
at its best played and shared among different people and places. And it cannot
be America’s Game unless it is open and inviting to all that call this country
home.
-The casual observer may gloss over the career of outfielder
Pete Gray.
After all, he appeared in a total of just 77 games (all during the 1945 season
with the St. Louis Browns) and hit just .218 with 13 RBIs. However, he had just
one arm, the result of a childhood accident. A natural right-hander, who had to
play with his left hand, his feats on the diamond (He was a career .308 hitter
with five home runs in parts of six minor league seasons.) showed he was one of
the most talented players the game has ever seen. His glove is now housed at
the Hall of Fame, and one of his admirers is working
to raise the funds to have it properly restored to make sure fans
can continue to see it and learn about this amazing player for generations to
come.
-Check out this clip of
Hall-of-Fame outfielder Ty Cobb
being interviewed in 1955. A highlight is his discussion of an at-bat he once
had against pitcher Rube
Waddell.
-Additionally, here is some brief
footage of legendary pitcher Christy
Mathewson warming up before games. “Big Six” won 373 games during an
epic career that saw him as the biggest star in baseball during his career. He
ended up serving in World War I and ultimately he died in 1925 at the age of 45
because of complications of being exposed to poisonous gas during his service.
-Production from the designated hitter position can vary
league-wide from year to year. Matt Monagan from MLB.com says that the year that has seen the best DH production was
1995. Check out his thoughts
to see why.
-Slugger Jose Bautista
has bashed 344 home runs during a 15-year big league career. He is still
seeking a home for 2019, but in the meantime has received an honor that may
rival his six All Star selections and four top-ten MVP finishes. An
entomologist recently discovered a new species of beetle and named it
(Sicoderus bautistai) after the star. The scientist acknowledged that he
decided to name the weevil after Bautista after seeing him make a widely
celebrated bat flip after
hitting a dramatic home run for the Toronto Blue Jays in the 2015 playoffs.
-Outfielder Cleon Jones
starred for the iconic 1969 World Series-winning New York Mets as part of an
excellent 13-year big league career. Now decades after retiring from playing he
is still a star, but in a much different way. Now 76, he and his wife Angela
(the cousin of Hall-of-Fame outfielder
Billy Williams) have worked diligently to help restore
and maintain Africatown, a small community located on the outskirts
of his hometown of Mobile, Alabama. Founded by freed slaves, it has fallen on
harder times in recent years, which the baseball legend is helping to combat.
-Left-handed pitcher Richard
Sullivan spent six years in the Atlanta Braves minor league system
and independent ball. He was a combined 20-37 with a 4.42 ERA that time.
Although he made it as high as Double-A the 2008 11th-round draft
choice unfortunately never got a shot at the major leagues. He retired
following the 2013 season, but has since found a new career as an up
and coming artist, whose work (including baseball pieces- is drawing
rave reviews for the 31-year-old.
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You can check me out on Facebook or follow me on Twitter @historianandrew
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