March 5
TODAY IN BASEBALL HISTORY
March 5, 1996 — The Veterans Committee elects four new members for the Hall of Fame, and just misses naming a fifth. The group elected includes fiery manager Earl Weaver, who had a .583 winning percentage in 17 seasons managing the Baltimore Orioles; pitcher Jim Bunning, who won 100 games in both leagues, including no-hitters in each circuit, one of them a perfect game; 19th-century manager Ned Hanlon, who won five National League pennants with the Baltimore Orioles (3) and Brooklyn (2), and Bill Foster, the top left-handed pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Nellie Fox receives the necessary 75% of the Committee’s votes, but the rules allow just one modern player elected, and Bunning has more votes.
Second baseman Nellie Fox won the 1959 American League Most Valuable Player Award as he helped the White Sox win their last pennant. He teamed with Luis Aparicio for seven years to form one of the best double play duos in baseball history. Fox was a pesky hitter who six times collected 190 hits or more and six times batted .300 or higher. He retired as the leader in games played, chances and assists by a second baseman. He was one of the hardest batters to strikeout, whiffing just 216 times in more than 9,200 official at-bats.
How he became a White Sox:
On October 29, 1949, the White Sox sent catcher Joe Tipton to the A's for young Jacob Nelson Fox. A's owner/GM/manager Connie Mack signed off on the deal, sending the future Hall of Fame second baseman to Chicago. Tipton was a 27-year old catcher with very little up-side. It's hard to look back on the trade many years later and see why the A's would want Tipton. Even if you concede that Fox hadn't shown any signs of being the player he eventually became, why would anyone take Tipton in a straight trade for a 21-year old second baseman who had just fielded a nifty .982 in 77 games? The A's were left to watch Fox for the next decade-and-a-half as he manned the keystone bag. He was a 12-time All-Star, and won the MVP Award in 1959.
Best Season, 1959
Batted .306 with a .380 OBP and played every game for the pennant-winning Sox. He was named MVP largely based on his defense. Fox had better or equal offensive years, but '59 was his magical season. (Members - Listen to all 6 Games of the 1959 World Series)
Feats:
From May 19 through August 28, 1958, Fox went 98 games without striking out, an American League record.
Injuries and Explanation for Missed Playing Time
Fox set a record for consecutive games at second base, playing 798 straight from August 7, 1956, through September 3, 1960. The record still stands. Fox had played 274 straight games prior to resting on August 5, 1956. Thus, he played in 1,072 of a possible 1,073 games from late 1952 through September, 1960. His 798-game streak stopped in 1960 when he was hospitalized with a stomach virus. Over the next two seasons (1961-1962), he sat out seven games.
Earthling Make Me Sooo Angry!
Few owners in baseball history have been as clever or PR-conscious as Bill Veeck. The man who once sent a midget to the plate, involved his star double play combo in a stunt in 1959. On May 26, Veeck enlisted Eddie Gaedel (the midget who had batted for him earlier) and two other "little people" to emerge from a hovering helicopter in short center field at Comiskey Park in Chicago. The midgets were dressed in silver "Martian" uniforms and carried toy "ray-guns." They quickly apprehended White Sox shortstop Luis Aparicio (height 5'7") and second baseman Nellie Fox (5'7"), offering to "save them from the giants of the earth."
Game-Winner Under the Dome
The first game ever played in the Astrodome (officially known at the time as Harris County Domed Stadium), was an exhibition game between the Astros and the New York Yankees. Mickey Mantle blasted the first home run in the stadium, which was the first indoor venue in baseball history and first to use Astroturf. The Astros won the game in 12 innings when Nellie Fox stroked a single to score the winning run. The final score was 2-1
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Near-Miss for Cooperstown
In January 1985, Fox was named on 295 of the 395 Hall of Fame ballots (74.7%), but the BBWAA and the Hall of Fame committee refused to round the number up to the required 75%. It would be 12 years before the veterans committee would elect Fox.
One Run, No Hits, One Error
On April 23, 1964, Houston starter Ken Johnson did something no other pitcher had ever done. He lost a nine-inning no-hit game, partly because of a Nellie Fox fielding error. In the ninth, with Pete Rose on second, Fox threw wildly, allowing Rose to score the lone run in a 1-0 Cincinnati victory. Joe Nuxhall pitched a four-hitter for the win.
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Game of The Day:
June 21, 1964 Game 1 Philadelphia Phillies vs New York Mets — Jim Bunning was putting together his best season, in which he will win 19 games, setting career highs with 5 shutouts, 219 strikeouts, 41 Starts, 284 IP a career low of 46 BB allowed. Bunning (6-2) was set to start Game 1 of a Fathers Day Double Header at Shea Stadium. The Phillies game in 36-23 and the Mets remained a struggling franchise with 20 wins against 45 loses.
Tracy Stallard (4-8 was starting for the Mets. If Stallard’s name rings a bell he was the Red Sox pitcher who gave up the 61st homerun to Roger Maris.
The game is broadcasted by the New York Mets team of Bob Murphy and Lindsey Nelson and history will be made!
Experience the game just like the 32,0265 fans who were there.
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Todays highlights and Historic Days!
March 5, 1922 -- New York Yankees star Babe Ruth becomes the highest-paid player in history when he signs a three-year contract that will pay him over $50,000 per season.
Listen to Babe Ruth discuss the contract signing
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March 5, 1945 — Bert Shepard, a one-legged veteran of the war, tries out as a pitcher for the Washington Senators. The symbol of wartime baseball, outfielder Pete Gray of the St. Louis Browns, will field and bat with only one arm.
Shepard will make one start in his career pitching 5.1 innings and giving up 3 hits and 1 run. He became a Senators coach the following season. He later went on to be a player/manager in the minors. He was a key participant on the National Amps baseball teams of former servicemen with amputations secondary to war injuries.
March 5, 1947, After acquiring Hall of Famer Hank Greenberg in 1947, the Pittsburgh Pirates made a significant change to Forbes Field. To accommodate Greenberg's powerful hitting, the Pirates altered the left-field dimensions, bringing the fence closer by 30 feet. This section of the ballpark became known as "Greenberg Gardens."
The modification was intended to increase Greenberg's home run potential, capitalizing on his renowned slugging ability. Though Greenberg only played one season with the Pirates before retiring, "Greenberg Gardens" left a lasting mark on Forbes Field, symbolizing the team’s effort to adapt to and celebrate the talents of one of baseball’s greatest power hitters.
Hank Greenberg career was short but full of highlights including 2 World Championships, 2 MVP’s and 4 All Star Games.
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March 5, 1966, United Steelworkers union official Marvin Miller is named the executive director of the Major League Players Association. Under Miller’s guidance, the players union will make major gains such as salary increases, improvements in pension benefits, and the advent of free agency and salary arbitration.
Miller is interviewed here in 1977
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March 5, 1975, JIMMY PIERSALL Interviewed by Leo Cloutier in 1975
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March 5, 1996 — The Veterans Committee elects four new members for the Hall of Fame, and just misses naming a fifth. The group elected includes fiery manager Earl Weaver, who had a .583 winning percentage in 17 seasons managing the Baltimore Orioles; pitcher Jim Bunning, who won 100 games in both leagues, including no-hitters in each circuit, one of them a perfect game; 19th-century manager Ned Hanlon, who won five National League pennants with the Baltimore Orioles (3) and Brooklyn (2), and Bill Foster, the top left-handed pitcher in the Negro Leagues. Nellie Fox receives the necessary 75% of the Committee’s votes, but the rules allow just one modern player elected, and Bunning has more votes.
Earl Weaver was a fiery field general for the Orioles, you can listen to him in 1975, Bob Elson in 1978, 1979 pre World Series, 1996 Hall of Fame Speech
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March 5, Passed away - Pepper Martin, labeled “The Wild Horse of the Osage” by a Rochester sportswriter for his aggressive play, was the personification of the Cardinals’ Gashouse Gang. He played every facet of the game with passion. His bellyflop slides helped him to lead the NL in stolen bases and score more than 120 runs in each of three seasons. He dashed for every batted ball as if it were the seventh game of the World Series. In lopsided games, he would reportedly throw at batters who bunted instead of throwing them out at first. He got along well with manager Frankie Frisch, although his horseplay could exasperate the skipper. In the 1931 World Series, Martin batted .500, with five extra-base hits and five stolen bases. His career World Series batting average of .418 was the highest among players with 50 or more at-bats until David Ortiz and Pablo Sandoval passed him in 2013 and 2014.
Listen to 5 of the 7 games of the 1934 World Series featuring Pepper Martin
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Quote of the Day:
"Nellie Fox is what you'd call a manager's ballplayer. He does his job expertly and he does it every day. He's the type of player you can count on. He's an old pro. A great many times, he is hurting pretty badly from the dumpings he's taken on the field, but he's always ready to play." - Hall of Fame Manager Al Lopez |
TRIVIA
TRIVIA: Which All-Star Game was the first played without an extra-base hit on either side?
Hint: #1 Billy O’Dell, pitching in his home team’s stadium, threw three perfect innings.
IF you think you know the answer and bonus points for how many respond with details and if you are right I will give you a shut out! No Googling!
Answer in tomorrows newsletter
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A Couple of Birthday Boys!
Del Rice : A brainy and gifted defensive catcher, Rice made up for his poor hitting and lack of speed (two stolen bases in 17 years) with his arm, glove, and handling of pitchers. He had some home run power (12 homers in 1947, 11 in 1952), but several batting-stance changes failed to raise his average. Rice was Bob Buhl's "personal catcher" on the Braves in the late 1950s; Buhl regularly beat the Dodgers, Milwaukee's main rivals in several close pennant races. In 1971 he was TSN Minor League Manager of the Year when he led Salt Lake City to the Pacific Coast League pennant, but he couldn 't get the Angels out of fifth place when given a ML club the next year.
Until Jesse Orosco broke his record in 1999, Kent Tekulve was the all-time major league leader in relief appearances with 1,050. He went 10-1 as a set-up man for Goose Gossage in 1977, and took over as the Pirates' closer after Gossage signed with the Yankees that November. He established himself as one of baseball's most successful relievers, ranking among the all-time leaders in games, saves, and relief wins. With his sidearm delivery, the bespectacled, 6'4", rail-thin Tekulve proved baffling to both lefthanders and righthanders. In 1978, he set a Pirates record with 31 saves, which he matched the following year. He led the NL in appearances in both 1978 and 1979, setting a club record with 94 in 1979. That fall, he recorded a World Series-record three saves, striking out 10 Orioles in 9.1 innings.
ANSWER TO YESTERDAY’S TRIVIA
YESTERDAY'S TRIVIA: Who is the only MLB player with a higher career batting average than Lefty O’Doul ?
⚾ YESTERDAY'S ANSWER
Ty Cobb, Joe Jackson and Rogers Hornsby.
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