Header - Baseball by the Letters

Coming Soon: A HOFer (?) + Stan Williams!

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Do you mean a REAL Hall of Famer?!?

I heard from a Ford Frick winner, tireless broadcaster Bob Wolff. The writers and announcers have brought such baseball joy to me, I struggle to put an asterisk by their name. Technically, their name gets added to one huge award in Cooperstown. They aren’t enshrined with their own plaque.

Once I read Wolff’s DETAILED memories, I was sure he deserved some kind of HOF recognition. His revelations were jewels I had never found in any published history.

The same goes for pitcher Stan Williams. He returned a two-page letter full of amazing stories. The gritty pitcher is scouting for the Washington Nationals this year, he wrote. Quick, someone write him for an account of Stephen Strasburg. Does he seem glimpses of himself?

What Williams lacks in career stats, he makes up for with jaw-dropping insights. I think book publishers would race to get a memoir out of the former relief ace.

Additionally, I’ll have a great account of two “cups of coffee” from 1950s abbreviated careers, one from the Cincinnati Reds and the other with the Detroit Tigers. There’s no July vacation here. Superb baseball memories are sizzling on the grill.

Exploring Autograph Collecting Graveyards

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All you need is a search engine.

There are many abandoned autograph collecting websites on the ‘net. At least, these are sites that have not been updated in 2010. I’d guess they may never see another addition. If the sites aren’t dead, they’re in critical condition.

What’s happening?

Of course, I know that keeping up a site takes time. Personal problems may ensue.

However, my hunch is that some of these webmasters have dropped the hobby. The cost of stamps, frustrating return rates for current players or players who scribble their names: many possibilities could convince a collector to surrender.

My advice? If you have a hobby website you love, thank the webmaster now. Encourage them to keep sharing their autograph discoveries. Your praise might save the life of the website you love.

Readers: do you know autograph collectors who’ve quit? What drove them out? How can we help others stay?

Enjoying Brooklyn Dodger Joe Landrum’s Humor

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Pitcher Joe Landrum had a lot of laughs in his brief baseball career. With gratitude and grins, he answered questions by mail recently.

“Tom!

You had to come to the park EARLY if you wanted to see me pitch!

[Fellow southerner] Red Barber made it a point to come talk to me and his advice was ‘Don’t let those yankees [not the team] bother you. They love the ‘southern drawl.’

Somebody asked Roy Campanella the same question [what’s it like having him for a batterymate]. His answer was that, so far, I had thrown nothing that had gotten past the plate.

Bill [Joe’s son] was a big improvement over the ‘old model.’ He loved relief pitching and I hated it. Just never did enjoy the game from that standpoint. wish I could have a little more time to get used to the ‘bigs.’

In retrospect, I have come to the conclusion that it was just a big thrill to have played the sport in sandlots, American Legion, college at Clemson [where he earned All-American honors!], GOOD minor league records at all levels, and at least a shot with the Dodgers.

Good health to you,
Joe”

Phillies Coach Billy DeMars Makes Hall of Fame Case For Fellow Shortstop Larry Bowa

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Billy DeMars was a marvel. A talented batting coach long before the advent of videotape and other technological boosts, DeMars had a fan in Pete Rose. They worked together in Philadelphia, Montreal and Cincinnati. DeMars wrote:

“Pete would have been a very good manager. All he needed was more experience.”


DeMars began his 13-year association with the Phillies at the 1968 World Series. He recalled:

“I was at the World Series in Detroit in 1968 and ran into Paul Owens and John Quinn from the Phillies. As I was leaving, I told Paul Owens who I knew that if they ever needed a good person to let me know. A month later, they called and offered me a coaching job. I spent 13 yrs with the Phillies, 3 with Montreal Expos and 3 with Cin Reds.”


During his service with the Phillies, DeMars remembers one crowning glory named Larry Bowa:

“I was very pleased at what I did for Larry Bowa. He only hit one year left-handed in the minors before coming up to the Phillies. He was a very poor hitter and not much power. But we worked hard almost 365 days a year and it turned out he hit about .265 lifetime. Had 2,191 hits, 25 less than Joe DiMaggio. that’s more hits than 6 shortstops in the Hall of Fame, and he had one of the highest fielding averages lifetime of any shortstop that played the game.”

How does DeMars sum up his half century-plus in baseball?

“Baseball was my lifetime, 58 years. Every job has its ups and downs, but I still can’t see me doing anything else. It was a great ride.”

Reds Manager Dave Bristol Recalls Pete Rose, Crosley Field and Nasty Umpires

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Manager Dave Bristol wants to set the record straight.

I quoted Baseball Reference’s bio to him:

He saw the writing on the wall as a player before the 1962 season with the Macon Peaches, when a young hotshot named Pete Rose beat him for the second baseman’s job.

Bristol’s reply?

“I was the manager in Macon. I didn’t compete with Rose. He needed to play and he surely did.

We had so many good players in Cincy in the 1960s. His move to the outfield fit into the scheme of things, much as it did when Sparky moved him to third base.”


Bristol’s first job in Cincinnati cemented his love for the local ballpark:

“I had seen Crosley Field in 1951 when I was there to work out prior to signing with Reds. In 1966, we were rained out opening day, so my first big league coaching third base took place in Philly when we opened the season there. Crosley was my all-time favorite park. Loved it. No park like it today — bank in outfield, 387 in center with high wall.”

Lastly, I gave Bristol the chance to confess his sins. The stunning http://www.retrosheet.org/ documented 23 ejections (four as coach, 19 as manager). Were they mostly balls-and-strikes disputes? Was there one time he could laugh about today? His defiant answer surprised me!

“I should have done more, but it doesn’t help your team when the manager is in the clubhouse.”

Watch out, retired umpires. Bristol hasn’t skippered a team since 1980. However, I’m betting he’s kept a list of the men in blue who wronged his clubs.

I enjoyed writing to Dave Bristol. Sparky Anderson may have operated the Big Red Machine, but I let Bristol know he should be credited for assembling some of the lineup gears that powered the team.