You know you’re taking notes. Hope you’re doing good, buddy
had success today off the chatterbait! Warm water here we come! I’m not too far from carol stream. Right out in westmont. If I lived that close to Fox I would be on it, man. I didn’t even know there were lakes out in carol stream? With all this lockdown, my spots are getting pressured big time. I might have to hop on fishbrain and scout out your area, sac. Lol
No way we can figure a winner of a four game series with those starters and players, but I think a 2-2 tie is highly probable and we certainly would see one heck of a series. A grand per ticket for four days would not be unreasonable.
Key didn't Mickey also twist his knee in a hole in the outfield at Yankee Stadium chasing a fly ball and after surgery it was never the same?I have always wondered why Ruth did not pitch more but checking his record was a bit of a surprise as how many games he did pitch,94-46 record with 1916 having 23 wins with 170 strikeouts with 1.75 era,9 SOs and 23 complete games,very impressive mark for even the best pitchers in baseball.
Whitey could be on any team that I needed a lefty on but Koufax would not be my other lefty,Spann could work as you see I am also NL.Feller and Ryan 2 guys that could throw over 100 all game,yeh could see it but Nolan is your weak spot with over 300 losses I believe,Marichal would be on my team over Ryan,243-142 record with 2.303 Ks,2.89 era,Nolan did have over 4000 Ks I think but I would take Gibby or Juan with Feller,with 266 wins and 279 complete games along with 2,581Ks.It is amazing how many complete games these guys had,Gigson had 255 CGs.
As far as both you guys hitters any of them work,but those line drives by Arron and Williams with Stan the Man were shots fired at bleachers seats back in the day,all great players for sure,
now I get to talk shit to KEY,Feller was actually never clocked over 100 his official speed is 98.6 but some believed he once threw a ball 107.9 in a demonstration,which does sorta give us a reason to understand why our stat guy with a lot of knowledge Key would make an error in his statement,it was taken as a given that he threw 100 +.
ODB I always read what you 3 post,at least I try to but what you do not know is before you guys were born I had already caught tons of fish,or was on a fishing boat with my GrandFather who was a Fisherman from Silicy,my Great Grandfather bought his family to Calif.from Isso De Femme,an island off Sicily to a town east of SF about 60 miles or so and as a kid I would go fishing with them,they were all family so after the nets were put out I would pull out my pole and fish a bit while we waited to let the fish swim into the open end of box or 3 sided box,lol.So I know a bit about fishing but that does not mean at all that I do not enjoy listening to your Chicago boys fish stories,you guys are the best.
now I get to talk shit to KEY,Feller was actually never clocked over 100 his official speed is 98.6 but some believed he once threw a ball 107.9 in a demonstration,which does sorta give us a reason to understand why our stat guy with a lot of knowledge Key would make an error in his statement,it was taken as a given that he threw 100 +.
With all due respect my friend, back in Feller’s day not EVERY pitch was clocked. The 107.9 was in an exhibition, true, but certainly proof that he could do it, and probably did, quite often. It just did not happen at the various times he was clocked.
Regarding the pitching I chose, that was difficult but let me say this; A good reason for Ford was sheer definition of competitiveness. He could go toe-to-toe with anyone for nine innings and not give an inch. Among all stats the we cherish let us not forget the starters true role is to put his team in a position to win the game, stats be damned. With his 2.75 e.r.a. and huge w/l ratio Ford stands with the best of them. I will grant you though, it was a tough call between him and Lefty Grove, an old timer even Log Cottage and I didn’t get to see.
I love these discussions when they open the opportunity to point out just what a great pitcher Ruth was. If he had never set so many offensive records and dominated the game for fifteen years, we might be remembering him as the greatest lefty that ever pitched. That is a realistic thought.
Ryan was not a difficult choice at all. With 5,714 K’s and seven no hitters he probably established two of most “unlikely to be topped” records in the game. Yes, the w/l record could be better, but look at some of the teams he was stuck on. It is hard to fly like an eagle when you are surrounded by turkeys. Ryan was sheer, unadulterated intimidation, with absolutely no fear of any player or situation. Once upon a time we called that guts. “Here it is kid, if you can hit it, good for you.”
In a discussion once I was asked; Your life on the line, gun to your head, who do you send to the hill? I wound up with a tossup between Ryan and Gibson. The reason being I want that kind of mental attitude out there. Pure meanness, give no quarter, take no quarter.
BTW: Marichal is also one of my all-time favorites, but he can not be substituted for any of my choices because he was a National League career player. Randy Johnson was another possibility, but do you call him National or American? Maybe unfair to Randy, but you have to draw the line somewhere.
Key didn't Mickey also twist his knee in a hole in the outfield at Yankee Stadium chasing a fly ball and after surgery it was never the same?
Yes, and ironically it was an accident that can never happen again. It was NOT a hole. It was a drainage grate in right-center field, and Yankee Stadium was not the only place that could have occurred. MANY stadiums at that time had them for overnight rain drainage. Thank God that condition no longer exists.
Jeg descended from Silicy
We aren't forgetting that one
With all this pitching talk, without looking at any stats, Kevin Brown was one of my favorites of all time. Key talks about guys with no fear, he's one of them. And, you can't name another guy with a nastier splitter than him. Batters said that it sounded like a buzzsaw. No one threw one as hard as him.
Log and sac have posted two more "memory joggers". It is just incredible the old time sh/t we can conjure up when bored by no current action in the game we love. Kudos to the old timers and not-so-old fans participating.
Ever hear the one about Denny McLain and Mickey in '68? It was near the end of the season and the end of MIckey's career and Tigers had it wrapped up. That was McLain's 30 win season and he was untouchable. Well, Bill Freehan was the Tigers catcher, and he swears the story is true. Mickey steps to the plate, and McLain, who is untouchable, pumps a fastball right down the middle. Mickey is so shocked he doesn't swing, but he puts one foot outside the box and stares at McLain. Denny gives him a short nod, pumps another fast one down the middle, and Mickey absolutely puts that ball in orbit. So, after the inning Freehan asks McLain, "What in the hell are you doing?" and Denny replies, "I just wondered what Mickey could do with a pitch if he knew exactly what was coming." True story, Bill Freehan swears by it.
Interestingly, '68 was McLain's 30 win season and Gibson's 1.12 e.r.a. MLB chopped 5 inches off the mound and the game changed forever. We named some great hitters here today; Aaron, Mays, Musial, Williams, Mantle, DiMaggio and Ruth. What would those guys have done if the mound had been 5 inches lower in their day? FFT.
The catcher/ pitcher story I remember most involved Gibson & McCarver. It was early in McCarver’s career and Gibson kept shaking off his signs to the point that Tim called timeout and headed toward the mound. Gibson turned his back to him and walked off the back of the hump. Sensing that McCarver was a couple of feet away, he turned and pointed in his face and stated, “Look, kid, the ONLY thing you know about major league pitching is that you can’t hit it.” McCarver turned and sheepishly headed back behind the plate. Love that story.....
Log, another great Gibson story. He did not allow any batter to dig in at the plate, and all experienced players new it. One time a rookie stepped in and dug himself a nice deep launching pad. So, an inning or two later Gibson comes to bat and says to the other teams catcher, "You tell that rook if he is going to dig himself a hole, just go ahead and dig it six feet deep, and we'll use it to bury him." Catcher mumbles "OK, Bob." Umpire had to take time to hide the fact that he was cracking up at that one.
Juan and Gibson had to be the meanest pitchers in NL,how many on here without Google other than Key remember a pitcher hitting a catcher with a bat,I was watching it on TV and until they showed it again was not sure what had happened as there was a brawl at home plate,Koufax was on the mound and he only pitched for 11 years but won 165 games as he was a bit wild when he came up and the first few years he did not have a lot of innings pitched those years and he made the HOF for winning most of those games in 7 years,plus 2,500 or so Ks.
Reason I mention the wildness is it gave him an adverse feeling of throwing at batters or Pitchers as back then they had to hit so when they threw at someone they knew it was coming back at them,so Marichal at plate, who had no problems throwing at Dodgers, facing Koufax who did, gave Roseboro the catcher the idea to hit Juan on the throw back to pitcher.Hell of a throw as he nicks his ear on the throw back and of course Juan turns back and hits Ole John on the top of his head with the bat which caused the Brawl with 2 teams.
I am missing baseball already,
Just thought of another story: On a very humid and damp evening, Bob Veale’s coke bottle-thick eyeglasses kept fogging up. I remember Pete Rose refusing to get back in the batter’s box unless Veale wiped them clean after every pitch. A big hard throwing lefty with impaired vision was not something Pete was willing to gamble on...(excuse the pun). Didn’t realize that until I had already typed it.
And speaking of pop-bottle bottom glasses, who could ever forget Ryne Duren? 
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