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Unexpected Passing of Gil Hodges

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Easter Sunday on April 2, 1972 Baseball was entering day two of the first unionized player strike that would last another 11 days.  However, the strike was not the biggest tragedy that baseball dealt with on this day.  Because the strike canceled their scheduled exhibition game for the day against the Braves a few of the New York Mets coaches, Eddie Yost, Joe Pignatano, Rube Walker and Gil Hodges decided to use the free time to play 27 holes of golf. The New York Mets were in the middle of Spring Training and staying at the Ramada Inn across the street from the Palm Beach Lakes Golf club. After finishing their golf game, the group chatted with former pitcher Jack Sanford who was working at the course.  They walked back to the hotel and as they were separating Pignatano yelled across the parking lot to ask him what time to meet for dinner.  Hodges replied and as he turned back to his room he collapsed.  He was quickly rushed to Good Samaritan Hospital where Doctor James Smith diagno
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Hollywood Stars Wear Shorts

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Branch Rickey and Fred Haney 1950 Hollywood Stars Program In 1976 the Chicago White Sox stepped onto the baseball field wearing shorts.  The players hated the uniforms, and before the second game of that day’s doubleheader the uniforms were retired, never to be seen again.  However, they were not the first baseball team to wear shorts during a game.  On this date, April 1st, in 1950 the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League also took to the field wearing shorts. The uniform was the brainchild of Stars’ Fred Haney who was in his second season as team manager.  Haney had played in the major leagues, as an infielder, from 1922 o 1929 for the Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, and briefly the St. Louis Cardinals.  He had also managed for the St. Louis Browns and would later go on to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates and Milwaukee Braves. He got the idea after reading an article by Los Angeles Times writer Braven Dyer about records in track, golf, and other sports being broken becaus
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Duluth Dukes Bus Accident

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The five Duluth Dukes who passed away in a bus accident. On this date in 1948 The Duluth Dukes team bus collided with a truck traveling the other way resulting in the death of six people. The loss was felt by all levels of the baseball community who tried to help the team come back from the catastrophe. The Dukes were in third place trying to catch the Northern League leaders Grand Forks Chiefs.  They had just finished playing a series of games in Eau Claire, Wisconsin with the Bears and were heading up to St. Cloud, Minnesota to start a series of games with the Rox that night.  Manager George Treadwell was driving the team bus along West Highway 36 near Dale Street in Roseville, Minnesota.  At the same time a truck from the Liquid Carbonic Corporation carrying dry ice was driving East on Highway 36.  The truck driver, James Grelish, hit a bump in the road, possibly a pot hole, and lost control of the truck.  Today Highway 36 is separated by a barrier, but in 1948 it was an open
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Matt Belt - Baseball Fiction Series

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It was mid-summer of 1989 and Fourth of July week was fast approaching.   People were looking forward to back yard cookouts, time at the beach, and fireworks.   But one 20-year-old kid was on a bus ride to what he knew was going to be the start of his future.   The New York Yankees had recently traded their center fielder Rickey Henderson back to the Oakland Athletics, which created an open spot on their roster.   Matt Belt had gotten the call and he was on a four-hour bus ride from Columbus, Ohio where the Yankees Triple A team played, to Detroit to join the Yankees. Matt had flown through the Yankee minor league system like a kamikaze fighter pilot and he played baseball the same way.   He was quick in the outfield always covering more ground than the next guy, but he was also reckless when he played.   If he though he could dive after a ball he would be flying through the air like superman, and if a wall got in his way then the wall better move cause he was
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Home Run Derby Origins

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Tonight eight players will compete in the T-Mobile Home Run Derby as part of the All-Star Game celebrations in Washington, D.C.  The eight players are Jesus Aguilar, Rhys Hoskins, Kyle Schwarber, Bryce Harper, Freddie Freeman, Max Muncy, Javier Baez, and the lone American Leaguer Alex Bregman.  The modern home run derby has been a part of the All-Star game since 1985 when it first appeared in Minnesota at the Metrodome. However, the roots go back even further to 1960 when Mark Scott hosted the Home Run Derby television show every week. Late in 1984 Gatorade had the precursor to the Home Run Derby with a weekly tournament called the Gatorade Super Slam. Let's look at the television show, the Gatorade Super Slam Contest and the first All-Star Game Home Run Derby. Mantle, Scott, and Mays on Home Run Derby in 1960 Home run derbies were experimented with before 1985, but not as part of the All-Star game.  In 1960 Mark Scott hosted a television show by the name of Home Run Derby t
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Tinker to Evers to Chance

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These are the saddest of possible words: "Tinker to Evers to Chance;" Trio of Bear Cubs and fleeter than birds, "Tinker to Evers to Chance." Ruthlessly pricking our gonfalon bubble, Making the Giants hit into a double- Words that are heavy with nothing but trouble; "Tinker to Evers to Chance." -  Franklin P. Adams, New York Mail Newspaper. On this date in 1910 those words were published for the first time.  Shortstop Joe Tinker, second baseman Johnny Evers, and first baseman Frank Chance of the Chicago Cubs have long been considered the best double play trio of their era.  However, their notoriety was largely due to the popularity of the poem, written by Franklin P. Adams.  When it was originally published it appeared in Adams' weekly  "Always in Good Humor" article and was called That Double Play Again, but later became known as Baseball's Sad Lexicon.  When Tinker, Evers, and Chance's careers are looked at in detail, b
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Ray Caldwell's Busy Day

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July 10, 1917 New York Yankees vs. St. Louis Browns Boxscore On this date in 1917, Yankees pitcher, Ray Caldwell had a day to remember on the field and a day to forget off of the field.  The day started with his 10-day suspension being lifted by New York Yankees manager Bill Donovan. He then went out and pitched 9 plus innings of shutout baseball in relief.  He was also arrested, and he found out that he had been offered to the St. Louis Browns in a trade, but they had rejected him. Caldwell was an interesting character whose skills on the mound could be compared to Walter Johnson one day and on the next day his erratic off the field behavior would bring up comparisons to Bugs Raymond or Rube Waddell.  In fact, Caldwell did pick up the nickname Rube.  He had a knack for disappearing from the team without any word and then reappearing a few days later. At the beginning of August in 1916, Caldwell was suspended 15 days and fined $100 by Donovan for breaking training rules. 1 A
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