Baseball Discourse

Paul Hensler loves history, baseball and writing and he has been able to turn those passions into a career as an author. Hensler, an adjunct lecturer at Trinity College and Manchester Community College, has written several books on baseball, authored pieces for the Society for American Baseball Research and spoken at several baseball-related symposiums.

I recently interviewed Hensler about his baseball books, including The American League in Transition, 1965-1975: How Competition Thrived When the Yankees Didn't. He has also completed another book about baseball and we talk about that as well. Hensler is making his second appearance on The Baseball Beat. In his first appearance he discussed his book about legendary Connecticut broadcaster and sportscaster Bob Steele. The book is entitled Bob Steele on the Radio: The Life of Connecticut's Beloved Broadcaster.

As always, I get into some of the latest baseball news, including the Cardinals finally playing baseball, Zach Grenke telegraphing pitches and the shockingly, poor play of the Boston Red Sox.

Major League baseball players are blaming the lack of video for their hitting woes. J.D. Martinez is among those complaining that players' access to in-game video has been limited because of Covid-19 and recent cheating scandals. How did the players of yesteryear manage without videos?

When Pat Crawford died  at a nursing home in Morehead City, N.C. 26 years ago, he was the last surviving member of baseball's famous Gashouse Gang, the 1934 St. Louis Cardinals team which one the World Series over the Detroit Tigers in seven games.  He died three days shy of his 92nd birthday on Jan. 25, 1994.

Eleven years before his death, Crawford was living in Kinston, NC, where I was broadcasting the Carolina League games of the Toronto Blue Jays affiliate.  Through the club's owner, Ray Kuhlman, I met up with Crawford in his home.  He graciously gave me a interview, reminiscing about his baseball playing days, including the Cardinals, for whom he played in 1933 and 1934.  Crawford got into two games in that infamous 1934 World Series. The series became renown because it was played closely until the final game, when the Cards annihilated the Tigers, 11-0 in Detroit.  However, the game made headlines because of a hard slide into third  base in the top of the sixth inning by the Cardinals' Joe Medwick. That led to a brief fight between Medwick and Detroit third baseman Marv Owen.  However, when Medwick took his position in left field in the last of the sixth, frustrated Detroit fans pelted him with fruit, vegetables, bottles and cushions.  Commissioner Kennesaw Mountain Landis, in attendance, ordered Medwick removed from the game.  It became the only time in the history of the major leagues that a commissioner ejected a player from a game.

Crawford played 318 games in the big leagues with the New York Giants, Cincinnati Reds and Cardinals.  He had a lifetime .280 average and played first base, second base and third base.  He also played collegiate baseball with Springfield College in Springfield, MA, Ohio State and Davidson College.

I hope you enjoy the interview, as Pat Crawford, whose real name was Clifford Rankin Crawford, takes us back to a different era of Major League Baseball.

The cancellation of the minor league baseball season for 2020 is a major deal, as I explain in my latest podcast.  I also look back at an interview I did with Johnny Bench on Aug. 24, 1979.  I also explain why I delved into my archives to feature this interview on the Baseball Beat. 

As I continue to delve into my cassette tape archives and digitize my collection, I came across an interview I did with Lindsey Nelson, the "Voice of the New York Mets."  I interviewed Nelson in April of 1973.  The Hall of Fame broadcaster was not only an excellent baseball announcer, he was a renowned football announcer too, having called numerous Cotton Bowls and Notre Dame football.  Nelson also broadcast numerous NFL games in his extensive career.  

Nelson, Bob Murphy and Ralph Kiner formed the first New York Mets broadcasting team in 1962.  Nelson was the first to leave the Mets in 1979 to go call the games of the San Francisco Giants.  He wanted to be nearer his daughter who lived in the San Francisco area.  He died in June of 1995.