Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 29, 1867 — Denton True “Cy” Young is born in Gilmore, a tiny village near Newcomerstown, Ohio. Young will earn his nickname for his cyclone-like pitching motion and he will win (and lose) more games than any pitcher in major league history with a 511-316 record and a 2.63 ERA over 22 seasons. Young will win 20 or more games 15 times, and top the 30-win mark five times. He will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America in 1937, with 153 votes on 201 ballots.

Read More about Cy Young - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/cy-young-page/

March 29th Events - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-march-29/

Rube Waddell - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/rube-waddell-page/

SOM Day 4 Replay - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/day-4-2020-strat-o-matic-simulation/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 28, 1913, the St. Louis Browns make an unusual “trade,” sending infielder Clyde “Buzzy” Wares to the Montgomery Rebels a minor league team in exchange for the rental of a stadium. The Montgomery Rebels will allow the Browns to use their stadium during spring training-rent free. he Southern Association Class-A team will return the 26 year-old infielder to St. Louis later in the season. He will debut on September 15, 1913   vs. BOS  and he goes 0-1. Wares will play part of the 1913 and 1914 season in St Louis and hang around in the minors until 1920.

The Browns didn’t tell Wares about the deal until the last minute. When the manager called Buzzy into his office on the last day of spring training, Wares thought it was to tell him he had made the team with his strong play. However, skipper, George Stovall informed Wares that he was staying in Montgomery, telling him “You’re the payment for our grounds rental.” He played over 250 games of Montgomery.  Wares will later rejoin the Cardinals as a coach for the Gas House Gang teams.

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/st-louis-browns-make-an-unusual-trade-sending-infielder-clyde-buzzy-wares-to-a-minor-league-team-in-exchange-for-the-rental-of-a-stadium/

Also on the Show - Dizzy Dean talking about Frankie Frisch 

and the Strat O Matic replay - Day 3 

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 27, 1879 —– Miller Huggins is born in Cincinnati, Ohio. A second baseman adept at getting on base, Huggins will lead the National League in walks four times, score 100 or more runs three times, and regularly collect 30 or more stolen bases and an on-base percentage near .400. He will start as a player-manager with the St. Louis Cardinals before heading to the New York Yankees in 1918. Huggins will lead the Yankees to six American League pennants and three World Series titles, and his “Murderers’ Row” club, which will win 110 games before sweeping the 1927 World Series, will be considered one of the greatest teams in history. Huggins will be selected to the Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1964.

Miller Huggins Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/miller-huggins-is-born-in-cincinnati-ohio/

March 27 - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-march-27/

Stan Musial - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/stan-musial-biography/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

George Sisler never played on a pennant winner and he wasn't a slugger, but in spite of that he earned a reputation as the best first baseman in the first 30 years of the 20th century. The greatest player in St. Louis Browns' history, he twice batted over .400, and his 257 hits in 1920 remain a modern major league record. That same year, the lefty-swinging Sisler hit in 41 consecutive games, an American League record that stood until surpassed by Joe DiMaggio. Sisler, who attended the University of Michigan, where he played for Branch Rickey, was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.

Listen to him talk about Babe Ruth. 

Learn more about Sisler - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/george-sisler-page/

Events on March 24 - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/this-day-in-baseball-march-24/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 21, 1975, Hall of Fame outfielder Joe “Ducky” Medwick dies in Saint Petersburg, Florida at the age of 63. As one of the feared hitters on the famed “Gashouse Gang,” Medwick clubbed 205 home runs and batted .324 over a 17-year career. Medwick gained election to the Hall of Fame in 1968.

Listen to the hall of fame interview conducted on February 2 1968 - https://collection.baseballhall.org/PASTIME/joe-medwick-oral-history-interview-1968-february-08

Check out Ducky Medwicks Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/joe-medwick-page/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 20, 1973 — Roberto Clemente becomes the first Hispanic American to gain election to the Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association of America announces the results of a special ballot, with Clemente receiving 393 of 424 votes. Clemente died in a plane crash on New Year’s Eve. In light of his tragic death, the Hall’s Board of Directors waived the five-year waiting period that is normally required before a player is eligible for election. A twelve-time All-Star, Clemente batted .317 and won a dozen Gold Gloves over an 18-year career, and batted .362 in World Series play. Named National League MVP in 1966, he was voted the outstanding player in the 1971 World Series, when the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the heavily-favored Baltimore Orioles in seven games.

Roberto Clemente sits down with WPXI [then-WIIC]'s Sam Nover in October 1972, less than 3 months before his untimely passing. This is definitely his final at-length interview, and probably his only surviving extended interview that was captured visually. This was re-run by WPXI for the first time in 1989, and again on New Year's Eve 1997 [marking the 25th anniversary of his death], which is the source of this upload.

Check out his Page - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/?s=roberto+clemente

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 19, 1927 --- Don Richard (Richie) Ashburn is born in Tilden, Nebraska. A five-time All-Star, Ashburn will be a solid center fielder and a solid hitter for the Philadelphia Phillies. He will hit over .300 during 9 of his 15 major league seasons, twice capturing the National League batting title and conclude his career with a .308 lifetime average. Following his playing career, he will call Phillies games for more than three decades. Ashburn will be elected to the Hall of Fame by the Special Veterans Committee in 1995.

Check out his interview on the Tops Sports Radio Network!

Visit Ashburn - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/1927-don-richard-richie-ashburn-is-born-in-tilden-nebraska-a-five-time-all-star-ashburn-will-be-a-solid-center-fielder-and-a-solid-hitter-for-the-philade/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

March 17, 1918: A young Babe Ruth, still primarily a pitcher, slugs a pair of home runs during a spring training game at Whittington Park in Hot Springs, Arkansas. The second long ball is thought to be the first 500-plus foot blast in baseball history. The Herculean shot—hit off Brooklyn Robins hurler Norman Plitt—soared far over the fence in deep right-center, coming to rest in the middle of an inhabited pond at the Arkansas Alligator Farm. The Boston Globe reported that "the intrusion" caused quite a "commotion among the Gators.” The epic drive was later measured at 573 feet—the distance from home plate to the pond's center.

Amazingly, Ruth replicated the feat a week later in another spring exhibition versus Brooklyn. In its coverage of the proceedings, The Boston Post wrote: "Before the echo of the crash had died away the horsehide had dropped somewhere in the vicinity of South Hot Springs. . . . The sphere cleared the fence [400 feet away] by about 200 feet and dropped in the pond beside the Alligator Farm, while the spectators yelled with amazement." Edward Martin, writing for The Boston Globe, opined: "Every ball player in the park said [it] was the longest drive they had ever seen. . . . Had Ruth made the drive in Boston, it might have cleared the bleachers in right-center."

"I've never in all my time seen a man use the bat as does the slugging Boston hurler," gushed manager Fielder Jones, who had witnessed several of Babe's colossal clouts. Former Red Sox catcher Les Nunamaker offered similar praise: "He has no weakness . . . and can hit anything coming in the direction of the plate. If a hurler is foolish enough to give him a high one on the inside, it is all off. He will knock it out of the grounds. It is the general belief of the players in camp that Ruth is the best sticker in the league. . . . He just handles that old bat as if it were a toothpick."

Babe's heroics carried over into the regular season. Appearing in 95 games, he hit .300 with 26 doubles and an AL-best 11 home runs—his first of 12 long ball crowns. Though Ruth's 1918 power output seems paltry by modern standards, consider that the junior circuit's single-season record holder at the time was Socks Seybold, who hit 16 big flies in 1902. On the mound, the 23-year-old went 13-7 with a 2.27 ERA in 161 ⅓ innings pitched (2-0, 1.06 ERA in the World Series). Despite Ruth's stellar pitching, it was his mighty war club that captured the public's imagination.

On November 26, 1918, The Associated Press wrote:

"There were many stars in last year's baseball firmament, but there was only one Babe Ruth. Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, Jim Vaughan, Benny Kauff, and other stars received their usual amount of interest, but the fan always returned to the question: Did Babe Ruth make a home run today?"

✍️ Bobby King II

Check out Babe Ruth's Page - 

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/babe-ruth-biography/

☑️Sources: http://www.hotspringsbaseballtrail.com + https://www.baseball-reference.com + https://chroniclingamerica.loc.gov

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 16, 1907 -- After watching Ty Cobb quarrel with a black groundskeeper and with teammate Charlie Schmidt, Tiger manager Hugh Jennings was tired of dealing with Cobb's abrasive behavior and tries to deal him to the Cleveland Naps for outfielder Elmer Flick.

The Naps turned down a trade with the Tigers which would have exchanged Flick for the 21-year-old Cobb. They countered with Bunk Congalton, but the Tigers declined. Flick had been holding out but he signed a few days after the proposed trade. After Cobb was nearly traded away, Jennings attempted to repair the difficult relationships between Cobb and the other Detroit players. "Cobb is too good a hitter to let get away, when a little diplomacy will get the boys together", Jennings said

Flick will go onto hit .302 and lead the league with 17 3 baggers. Cobb will go on to hit .350 and lead the AL in hitting. He will also go on to become one of the top 5 players in Major League Baseball history and still holds the all-time record for career batting average at .367 which I will assume will never be broke.

Both players ended up in Cooperstown, Cobb was part of the initial class and Flick joined him in 1961.

Learn More About Ty Cobb - https://thisdayinbaseball.com/ty-cobb-biography/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts

On March 7, 1902 — Hall of Famer James (Pud) Galvin dies at the age of 45. Galvin won 361 games over a 14-year career, placing him in a tie for sixth on the all-time list for most wins. In 1883 and 1884, Galvin won a combined 92 games. In 1884 his WAR was over 17+ which ranks 3rd highest all-time.

Galvin will be inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1965 and later it will be uncovered he was the first known player to use Performancing Enhancing Drugs. 

On today's show, we have Brian Martin who was on the Nassau Community College show talking about his book on Pud Galvin. 

https://www.iheart.com/podcast/966-beyond-the-game-28826156/episode/brian-martin-interview-and-a-whole-28826512/

https://www.amazon.com/Pud-Galvin-Baseballs-300-Game-Winner-ebook/dp/B01M0BDWTP

NPR 

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5314753

Pud Galvin's Page - 

https://thisdayinbaseball.com/pud-galvin-page/

Mentioned in this episode:

Classic Baseball Broadcasts