Header - Baseball by the Letters

Year: 2010

Al Spangler Recalls Leo Durocher, 2 HR Day

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Snapped At Shea Stadium (?)
before Spangler’s
Atlanta blasts!

Outfielder Al Spangler sounded like he could have been a contestant on the TV reality show Survivor. As an original Houston Colt .45 (and a leading hitter), I asked him about the elements. The weather was nothing like in Milwaukee, when he debuted with the Braves. I asked him about the humidity and mosquitoes.

“Not being used to those elements, it was difficult to adjust but something we had to do. Also, we knew that in three years, we would be playing indoors when the Astrodome was completed.”

Thanks to http://www.retrosheet.org/, I discovered a rare fit of power for the contact hitter. Spangler spanked the Braves for two homers and four RBI on June 12, 1969. Did the Cub recall his fireworks display?

“Remember the game and also remember that some of my teammates were passed out in the dugout after the second homer.”

Was that one detail that Cub broadcaster Jack Brickhouse may have missed?

Spangler’s tenure with Chicago may be remarkable, in that he could be one of the few team members who doesn’t recall manager Leo Durocher’s explosive personality. Spangler noted:

“I enjoyed my years with Leo. My one regret was that he was near the end of his career and I would have enjoyed seeing him operate in his early years.”

Pitcher Barney Schultz Mixed It Up With Milwaukee Braves Hitters in 1961

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Schultz endured the “Take your
cap off, in case you get traded”
pose request from Topps

Barney Schultz is a man with honor.

I delighted in the http://www.retrosheet.org/ find of his 1961 relief outing against the Braves. He fanned SIX Milwaukee hitters in 2.1 innings. I envisioned a smirking knuckleballer watching hitters pull their hair out after each strikeout. Over and over, he’d throw the same fluttering butterfly pitch, knowing they’d never touch it — even when they knew what was coming.

Maybe not. Schultz answered:

“No, not all knucklers. I used fastball and curve at times.”

The next year, Schultz recorded a then-record ninth straight relief appearances.

History remembers Schultz most for his 1964 heroics with the St. Louis Cardinals. Schultz recalled the team skipper:

“Johnny Keane was a fine man — a good manager and knew how to get the best out of his players. Yes, he did believe in me. I played for Keane about four years. In the triple A Leagues, he used me mainly as a starter, but a lot as a game saver at times.


Yours in sports,
Barney Schultz

P.S. Excuse my writing. I’m recovering from back surgery and mostly in a prone position.”

To learn more about Schultz, check out this fine SABR biography by John Stahl!

Barney Schultz Shares Knuckleball Secrets

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Once a pitching coach, always a pitching coach?

I asked Barney Schultz about his brief stardom as a 1960s reliever. The aged rookie found his overdue ticket to the bigs in the form of the knuckleball.

I never got to see him pitch. I remember him as the tiny head on the Cardinals Coaches cards in the 1970s. No, I didn’t ask him about Mickey Mantle’s homer in the 1964 World Series. I wanted to know about his best-day knuckler. Did it resemble Hoyt Wilhelm’s? Schultz replied:

“Basically the difference in knuckleballs is about the same. Some sink and flutter. Some flutter more (good movement). It is sometimes called a ‘dancing pitch.’ Some pitchers throw it softer than others.

I threw mine as hard as I could for a knuckler. Some pitchers wanted to learn the pitch but the grip of the ball has to be practiced first.

A good grip can only be learned over time. It is a difficult pitch to learn. Take a ball and grip it with your 2nd and 3rd knuckles and imagine throwing it to a batter and being able to control.

I bent my knuckles and used tips of my fingers to sort of dig into the ball and popped my wrist as you do with a fastball.”

Tomorrow: Schultz recalls his best manager ever, along with a six-strikeout day versus the Braves!

My Choice for Hobby Rookie of Year

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Whether he’s “Detroit Dizzle,” “Urf” or Brian (his Clark Kent-like alter ego), I’ve got another name for him:

Hobby Rookie of the Year

I don’t think I’ve raved enough about the greatness of http://www.sportscollectors.net/. Give them $14.99, and they’ll give you the world of autographs for a year.

As I’ve checked the successes posted by other collectors, one post-er stood out. Someone is having TONS of fun with autographs.

Who is this joyous newcomer? I wrote him. The laid-off steel worker who’s gone back to school to finish his degree responded:

My best friend and I used to collect cards as kids. Around 7th grade, I stopped collecting but my buddy continued. Recently, he told me about collecting autographs ttm and when I took a trip to visit him and his wife over the summer, he showed me this site. I joined in early October and have been addicted ever since. I busted out all of my old cards that I haven’t looked at for over 15 years and began sending out requests.

I simply send off to players I remember as a kid but I also try to send out to any Detroit athletes. My first goal was to get a card signed by a Piston, Red Wing, Tiger, Lion, Spartan, Wolverine, Shock player and a golfer born in Michigan. I am close to finishing that project and I will be moving on to the 68 Tigers team. acquiring every 86 Met is another project I am undertaking, but it is one that will obviously take a good bit of time and money.

Most of my success notes are just me being dumb. The rest of the stuff I write is simply to entertain myself. Instead of saying– “player x didn’t answer my questions,” I will say “urf will have to wait until player x’s truth serum kicks in.” I just try to make the comments informative, yet ridiculous.

I admit that I was never sent an autographed sushi recipe and I never received the wrong answers to my ?s. since a lot of people receive the wrong cards, I thought it would be funny if I claimed that I got the wrong answers to my questions. I understand that I run the risk of confusing people so I try to make sure the important information is clear before I leave some dumb comment.

I have a lot of fun participating in this hobby. It is a great way for me to return to a childlike state of mind that isn’t worried about the war, unemployment, the economy, etc. Believe the hype. Detroit is a mess. The people here are hardworking, generous people who love their sporting teams but the decline of the auto industry is killing us. Most people are involved with the auto industry, whether it be outside suppliers, dealerships, or the big 3’s factory workers/employees.

This hobby helps me to loose the negative vibes and have some fun.”

I wish “Urf” a Happy Hobby New Year. He reminds us that collecting isn’t about price guides and complete sets, but having fun while remembering baseball OUR WAY.

Bob Feller Put Fans, Autographs First

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The autograph compacted over time,
but stayed amazingly legible!

One of Bob Feller’s greatest moments in history shouldn’t be forgotten.

I didn’t retain all the details. The co-stars might like to be forgotten for their questionable roles in the incident. But I know that Feller put his legacy on the line one day for fans in Iowa.

A new museum honoring Iowa high school sports figures was beginning. A museum official traveled to Feller’s Van Meter Museum to tape an interview.

The video crew waited. And waited. Feller wasn’t ready to tape the segment.

He wasn’t done taking care of everyone lined up for an autograph.

According to media reports, the interview producer became upset that Feller wasn’t giving priority to the crew. Feller insisted that the fans should come first, refusing to cut the autograph session short. Obviously, the interviewer hadn’t realized that Feller offered an interaction with each fan, not just a quick scribble.

That angered the interviewer, who stormed out of Van Meter. He reported back to the museum administrator, who told reporters that he’d make Feller “a footnote” in Iowa sports history.

Feller, sometimes gruff and always honest, never backed down. The high school sports staff later made up with Feller, who found a new time to tape the segment. Feller wasn’t concerned about furthering his future reputation. He cared most about being hospitable to his own museum visitors, giving that day’s fans their money’s worth. Beyond statistics, Feller was a man worth meeting, an autograph worth cherishing.