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January 21
Daily Rewind - January 21 - The Original Lefty
January 21 Cooperstown Calls:
1947 — A rule change that allows voting only for players who were active after 1921 produces four new Hall of Fame members: catcher Mickey Cochrane, second baseman Frankie Frisch, and pitchers Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell, all former Most Valuable Players and World Series winners.
1953 - Dizzy Dean and outfielder Al Simmons (Todays Podcast is on Dizzy Dean)
1969 — Roy Campanella and Stan Musial.
NL MVP in 1951, 1953, and 1955, Roy Campanella was the second black man approached by Branch Rickey to play major league baseball. He debuted in 1948 and held down the Dodger catching job for a decade, leading the team to five pennants and a World Series title.
Lefty Grove starred for the great Orioles teams of the 1920s, delaying his appearance in the major leagues until he was 25. But he made up for the lost time, winning 300 games and posting an amazing .681 winning percentage. He was the ace of Connie Mack's 1929-1931 American League champion Philadelphia A's, and won 105 games for the Boston Red Sox after he was sold and had arm trouble. An intense competitor who destroyed his share of clubhouses after tough losses, Grove was considered the greatest left-handed pitcher of his time, and one of the best in history.
Irony and dates: April 14, 1925, debuts. Lefty Grove made his debut started the game against the Boston Red Sox, and in the eighth inning, Mickey Cochrane pinch-hit and singled. Cochrane entered the game and caught Grove...
On May 30, 1925, Grove, a rookie, stopped George Sisler's 34-game hitting streak... Ted Williams went 2-for-3 in the final game of the 1941 season to raise his average to .406, In that same game, Grove pitched for the last time, losing 7-1 to the A's.
FactoidFrom July 25, 1930, through September 24, 1931, Lefty Grove was an incredible 46-4. According to researcher Jim Kaplan, this is the best 50-game stretch by any pitcher in baseball history. Grove was the first American League pitcher to lead the league in K's and walks in the same season (1925)
Streak StopperThe New York Yankees posted a somewhat unbelievable feat of playing 308 straight games without being shut out, beginning August 2, 1931. Two years and one day later, Lefty Grove stopped the streak, blanking Ruth, Gehrig, Dickey and the gang, 7-0, on August 4, 1933.
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Best,
Tom
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Trivia:
How is the only player to hit 10 or more homeruns in World Series play “NOT” a New York Yankee?
Willie Mays
David Ortiz
Willie Stargell
Duke Snider
Stan Musial
Frank Robinson
Hint: The answer is below
January 21, 1938, future Hall of Famer Joe DiMaggio begins a contract holdout that will last for nearly three months. After meeting with New York Yankee owner Jacob Ruppert and general manager Ed Barrow, DiMaggio rejects a one-year offer of $25,000. DiMaggio counters by asking for $45,000. The holdout will last until April 20, two days after the start of the season.
January 21, 1947 — A rule change that allows voting only for players who were active after 1921 produces four new Hall of Fame members: catcher Mickey Cochrane, second baseman Frankie Frisch, and pitchers Lefty Grove and Carl Hubbell, all former Most Valuable Players and World Series winners.
January 21, 1953, pitcher Dizzy Dean and outfielder Al Simmons are elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers’ Association of America surprisingly bypasses former New York Yankees great Joe DiMaggio in his first year on the Hall of Fame ballot. DiMaggio will gain an election two years later.
January 21, 1969 — Roy Campanella and Stan Musial are elected by the BBWAA to join the elite group of players enshrined in the Hall of Fame.
Passed away January 21, 1989 . . . Carl Furillo was one of Roger Kahn's famed Boys of Summer. Kahn described him as "The Hard Hat Who Sued Baseball". He sued the Dodgers in 1960 for dropping him while he was hurt. He was awarded $21,000 as a settlement. From then on, Furillo couldn't find a job in baseball. He contended that he had been blackballed. Kahn found him years later, installing Otis elevators at the World Trade Center.Furillo had his best season in 1953, when he hit .344 to win the NL batting title. A volatile and intense competitor, Skoonj (short for scungili, Italian for snail) broke his hand during a September brawl with Leo Durocher and the Giants, and missed most of the rest of the season.The Reading Rifle had a gun for an arm, and read the tricky, 40'-high right field wall in Ebbets Field masterfully. His career highlights include a miraculous catch of Johnny Mize's bid for a home run in Game Five of the 1952 World Series; a game-tying, ninth-inning homer in Game Six of the 1953 WS; and throwing pitcher Mel Queen out at first on a 300' shot hit into the right field gap at Ebbets Field.
January 21, 1993 Passed away . . . Baseball’s premier second baseman during the 1930s, Charlie Gehringer was among the greatest players to ever man the position. A superb all-around player who excelled at every aspect of the game, the Detroit Tiger second-sacker led the American League in numerous statistical categories over the course of his career, including batting average, runs scored, hits, triples, doubles, stolen bases, putouts, and assists. Gehringer helped lead the Tigers to three pennants and one world championship won a Most Valuable Player Award and represented the American League at second base in each of the first six All-Star Games. He did so without much fanfare, and in such a consistent manner that he eventually came to be known as The Mechanical Man.
HIGHLIGHTED GAME OF THE DAY:
Game of the day – July 31, 1936 Boston Red Sox take on the Chicago White Sox listen to LEFTY GROVE take on Ted Lyons both future Hall of Famers!
MILESTONES
Birthday Boys!
Andy Hawkins, bob Reynolds, Danny O’Connell, Dave Smith, Johnny Oates, Lew Fonseca and Sam Mele
Passings.
Curt Motton, Ken Wright, Sam Leslie, Clyde Barnhart, Charlie Gehringer, Carl Furillo and Bobby Bragan
Quote of the day:
"All things considered, Grove is the best lefthander that ever walked on a pitcher's slab. He surpasses everybody I have ever seen. He has more speed than any other lefthander in the game."
Hall of Famer - Connie Mack, 1931
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Trivia Answer: Duke Snider, 11
