It Ain’t So, Joe, And Sports Statistics Didn’t Stay Objective Despite Your Unjust Banishment

Posted by DanielS on Saturday, 07 May 2016 15:22.

Born: 6 Feb1895, Baltimore, MD
Died:16 Aug 1948, NYC (Age 53)

All time slugging % leader, .690

and, upon retirement -

All time homerun leader, 714

Single season homeruns, 60

Single season slugging %, 847.

Arnold Rothstein

Born: 17 Jan 1882, New York City
Died: 6 Nov 1928, NYC (age 46)

Nationality American

Other names: The Brain, Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, Big Bankroll

Occupation: Racketeer, businessman, crime boss, bootlegger

Religion Jewish

Parent(s) Abraham & Esther Rothstein

We believe you, that it isn’t so, Joe.

Some people don’t understand the great appeal of sports fanship to males in particular. But in the topsy-turvey of modernity in particular, when tribal affinity is disallowed as a barometer and all else seems to be so unfair - a rigged deck that females don’t tend to care about because it is rigged largely in their favor, sports, the historically coherent and statistically objective, verifiable comfort, persists - particularly when your guys, guys that you can identify with as being not very different from you have proven their objective merit despite rigorous competition.

See? We know that the way of life that we produce is fine enough, if not better, though it is sometimes hard to prove our part in an instant or episode - still, we appreciate the capacity for vicarious identity also because we do not normally have the opportunity for the exhilarating display of taking it to them in instantaneous and episodic action. Still, we can even out-manifest them in an instant and episodically, if not vicariously ..it can be proven ..on balance ..sometimes.. on balance…depending on the sport ..and other things.. oops ..its not so reliably objective… can have an anesthetizing, intoxicating effect ..not a comfort conducive to our interests after all.

Never really was. As disingenuously imposed objective criteria, it was counter productive illusion leading to the phenomenon of White fan cuckoldry. Inadvertently, however, Bonds using steroids to shatter Ruth’s slugging marks did a favor by rendering the crowning criteria of sports statistics, for Americans, anyway, the homerun, 60, 714, 755, whatever, so relative, so corrupted as to be unworthy of admiration.

That may seem obvious to the girls out there, but to the young boys who are looking for a reprieve from their shit tests, sports statistics have provided recourse more than vicarious identity, but assertion of heterosexual identity and indication that one is not shirking competitive proofs, even while not actively in the hunt - attending to the serous, manly criteria of purely objective measures nevertheless.

Any sensible boy who looks at baseball stats now should face the facts, that the criteria of measure of who his heterosexual identity is constructed with needs to take into account, or should take into account, his people, including particularly noting difference from the criteria that females may have regarding selection for our fitness or rejection of our non-fitness; and, in turn, rejection of their criteria when it is not adaptive to the fitness of our kind.

Though most of us White boys put a mental asterisk by Hank Aaron’s record breaking 715 (in 1974) and new record setting of 755, to note that he accumulated the number in many more games than Ruth, the record and baseball nevertheless lost much of our identification as blacks started to become emblematic among its leaders.

In different times:

“Say it ain’t so, Joe” was the cry for Joe Jackson to defend himself against unfairly puritanical standards to protect baseball’s criteria.

Country bumpkin, “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, was one of the greatest hitters of the early part of last century. He was banned from baseball by the baseball commissioner for allegedly being part of the “Blacksox scandal”, in which the Chicago White Sox threw the 1919 World Series in a deal with Jewish Mobster Arnold Rothstein.

Though some of his teammates almost assuredly did throw the series, Jackson’s statistics illustrate that he played hard and well - that he was not a part of throwing the series. But such were the times and such was the concern for the integrity of the game, its statistics and objective criteria - that his merely being associated with players who would cheat was enough to get him unjustly banned from baseball.

Crucially, the game maintained integrity as a White criteria until integration started with Saint Jackie Robinson a little after World War II. The game’s integrity predictably degenerated in a myriad of nasty ways after that. Statistical degeneration culminated with Barry Bonds, who, incensed that “White boy” Mark McGwire had used steroids to hit 70 home runs in a season and shatter Babe Ruth’s one time single season record of 60, went onto a steroids program himself; to not only hit 73 in a season, but to break Babe Ruth‘s single season slugging percentage record and the sine qua non, to become the all time home run king, surpassing Ruth’s legendary mark of 714, for an altogether new, steroid enhanced bar at 762.

Conscientious, talented but troubled Croatian, Roger Maras, compared to Mark McRoids

There was some public shaming; but not so much as an asterisk by the roiders statistical record breaking marks. Its worth mentioning since there was large consternation for Roger Maris - first one to break Babe Ruth’s single season record with 61 in 1961 - meeting resistance for recognition as the record bearer by his generation’s baseball commissioner, who suggested that his new single season record should have an asterisk by it because he did it in 162 games while Ruth did it in 154. That’s how concerned American boys and their fathers were about maintaining the game’s objectivity (and how concerned the commissioner was, who also happened to be Babe Ruth’s biographer).

Now Barry Bonds does steroids, a more destructive example to kids and greater detriment to the game’s objectivity even than gambling against one’s own team, let alone merely being on the same team as others who did it, and Bonds doesn’t get so much as the asterisk that Maris was threatened with, let alone banishment from the game - as he should have been and as Shoeless Joe Jackson should not have been - “Say it ain’t so Joe” was the saying in 1919 when Joe Jackson was accused of participating in throwing the world series. Jackson did maintain his innocence, said it wasn’t so; and his world series statistics in 1919 bear that out.

Babe Ruth taking batting tips from Joe Jackson, the man he modeled his hitting style after because he considered him the best.

So much the standard bearer of the game’s style and grace was Joe Jackson, that Babe Ruth, the all time statistical king and most famous baseball player of all, stated that he modeled his swing after Joe Jackson, because he thought he was the best hitter that he’d ever seen.

I believe that it wasn’t so, Joe, that you should have been banned; but that it is so, Barry, that the way you accomplished your record should have little boys forever look upon baseball statistics, let alone salaries, as sham objective metric of worth, no comfort and no measure worth concern for White men.

Ty Cobb, the all time Batting Average leader at .367, was concerned not only for the integrity of the game and its statistics - lamenting that Ruth had made “the home run king and strategy a deuce” - but for its racial hygiene as well: he referred to Ruth as “that nigger” and “nigger lips” (to say nothing of Ruth’s nose). In truth, he liked Ruth and would let him, his nose and lips slide. However, he did correctly want to maintain the game as a criteria to assess baseball skills relative to Whites and their way of life.

Arnold Rothstein
Born January 17, 1882
New York City
Died November 6, 1928 (aged 46)
New York City
Nationality American
Other names The Brain, Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll
Occupation Racketeer, businessman, crime boss, bootlegger
Religion Jewish
Parent(s) Abraham and Esther Rothstein

Arnold Rothstein (January 17, 1882 – November 6, 1928),[2][3] nicknamed “the Brain”, was an American racketeer, businessman and gambler who became a kingpin of the Jewish mob in New York. Rothstein was widely reputed to have organized corruption in professional athletics, including conspiring to fix the 1919 World Series.

According to crime writer Leo Katcher, Rothstein “transformed organized crime from a thuggish activity by hoodlums into a big business, run like a corporation, with himself at the top.”[4] According to Rich Cohen, Rothstein was the person who first realized that Prohibition was a business opportunity, a means to enormous wealth, who “understood the truths of early century capitalism (giving people what they want) and came to dominate them.”[5] His notoriety inspired several fictional characters based on his life, portrayed in contemporary and later short stories, novels, musicals and films.

Rothstein refused to pay a large debt resulting from a fixed poker game and was murdered in 1928. His illegal empire was broken up and distributed among a number of other underworld organizations and led in part to the downfall of Tammany Hall and the rise of reformer Fiorello La Guardia. Ten years after his death, his brother declared Rothstein’s estate was bankrupt.

Contents

1 Early life and education
2 Illegitimate career
3 1919 World Series
4 1921 Travers Stakes
5 Prohibition and organized crime
6 Death
6.1 Break-up of empire
7 In popular culture
8 Associates
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links

Early life and education

Arnold Rothstein was born into a comfortable life in Manhattan, the son of a well-off Jewish businessman, Abraham Rothstein, and his wife Esther. His father was a man of upright character who acquired the nickname “Abe the Just”.[6] Arnold was highly skilled at mathematics but was otherwise uninterested in school.[7] His older brother, on the other hand, studied to become a rabbi.[8]

Rothstein was known to be a difficult child and harboured a deep jealousy over his older brother Harry. Rothstein’s father believed that his son always craved to be the centre of attention would often get frustrated when he was not. His father pointed to an event in 1890 (when Rothstein was eight) to prove this. Rothstein’s mother had gone to visit her mother across state, she took her eldest son Harry and her newborn daughter with her, leaving Rothstein. The night she left, Rothstein’s father found him crying in the bottom of a closet, Rothstein reportedly said: “She hates me and you hate me, but you all love Harry. Nobody loves me”. [9] .

While still a child, Rothstein began to indulge in gambling, but no matter how often his father scolded him for shooting dice, Rothstein would not stop. In a rare interview in 1921, Rothstein was asked how he became a gambler: “I always gambled. I can’t remember when I didn’t. Maybe I gambled just to show my father he couldn’t tell me what to do, but I don’t think so. I think I gambled because I loved the excitement. When I gambled, nothing else mattered.”[10]

Illegitimate career

By 1910, Rothstein at age 28 had moved to the Tenderloin section of Manhattan, where he established an important gambling casino. He also invested in a horse racing track at Havre de Grace, Maryland, where he was reputed to have fixed many of the races that he won. Rothstein had a wide network of informants, very deep pockets from amongst his father’s banking community, and the willingness to pay a premium for good information, regardless of the source. His successes made him a millionaire by age 30.

1919 World Series

There is a great deal of evidence for and against Rothstein being involved in the 1919 World Series fix.[11] In 1919, Rothstein’s agents allegedly paid members of the Chicago White Sox to “throw”, or deliberately lose, the World Series to the Cincinnati Reds. He bet against them and made a significant profit in what was called the “Black Sox Scandal”.[12]

He was summoned to Chicago to testify before a grand jury investigation of the incident; Rothstein said that he was an innocent businessman, intent on clearing his name and his reputation. Prosecutors could find no evidence linking Rothstein to the affair, and he was never indicted. Rothstein testified:

“The whole thing started when (Abe) Attell and some other cheap gamblers decided to frame the Series and make a killing. The world knows I was asked in on the deal and my friends know how I turned it down flat. I don’t doubt that Attell used my name to put it over. That’s been done by smarter men than Abe. But I was not in on it, would not have gone into it under any circumstances and did not bet a cent on the Series after I found out what was under way.”[13]

In another version of the story, Rothstein was first approached by Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, a gambler, who suggested Rothstein help fix the World Series. Rothstein supposedly turned down Sullivan’s proposal but when he received Attell’s offer, Rothstein reconsidered Sullivan’s first offer. He figured that the competition to fix the game made it worth the risk to get involved and still be able to cover his involvement. David Pietrusza’s biography of Rothstein suggested that the gangster worked both ends of the fix with Sullivan and Attell.[14] Michael Alexander concluded that Attell fixed the Series “probably without Arnold Rothstein’s approval”, which “did not prevent Rothstein from betting on the Series with inside knowledge.”[15]

Leo Katcher said that “all the records and minutes of the Grand Jury disappeared. So, too, did the signed confessions of Cicotte, Williams and Jackson… The state, virtually all of its evidence gone, sought to get the players to repeat their confession on the stand. This they refused to do, citing the Fifth Amendment.” Eventually, the judge had no choice but to dismiss the case. Katcher went on, “Thus, on the official record and on the basis of [State Attorney Maclay] Hoyne’s statement, Rothstein was never involved in the fixing of the Series. Also, on the official record, it was never proved that the Series had been fixed.” All eight White Sox players were forever banned from the game of baseball. Despite all his denials, though, Katcher notes that “while Rothstein won the Series, he won a small sum. He always maintained it was less than $100,000. It actually was about $350,000. It could have been much – very much – more. It wasn’t because Rothstein chicken [sic] out. A World Series fix was too good to be true – even if it was true.”[11]

1921 Travers Stakes

Under the pseudonym “Redstone Stable”, Rothstein owned a racehorse named Sporting Blood, which won the 1921 Travers Stakes under suspicious circumstances. Rothstein allegedly conspired with a leading trainer, Sam Hildreth, to drive up the odds on Sporting Blood. Hildreth entered an outstanding three-year-old, Grey Lag, on the morning of the race, causing the odds on Sporting Blood, to rise to 3-1. Rothstein bet $150,000 through bookmakers, allegedly having been informed that the second favorite, Prudery, was off her feed. Just before post time and without explanation, Hildreth scratched Grey Lag from the starting list. Rothstein collected over $500,000 in bets plus the purse, but a conspiracy was never proven.[16]

Prohibition and organized crime

With the advent of Prohibition, Rothstein saw the opportunities for business; he diversified into bootlegging and narcotics. Liquor was brought in by smuggling along the Hudson River, as well as from Canada across the Great Lakes and into upstate New York. Rothstein also purchased holdings in a number of speakeasies.

With his banking support, and high-level political connections, Rothstein soon managed to end-run Tammany Hall to the street gangs. Subsequently, his criminal organization included such underworld notables as Meyer Lansky, Jack “Legs” Diamond, Charles “Lucky” Luciano, and Dutch Schultz, whose combined gangs and double-dealing with their own respective bosses subverted the entire late 19th century form of political gangsterism. Rothstein’s various nicknames were Mr. Big, The Fixer, The Man Uptown, The Big Bankroll and The Brain.

Rothstein frequently mediated differences between the New York gangs and reportedly charged a hefty fee for his services. His favorite “office” was Lindy’s, at Broadway and 49th Street in Manhattan. He often stood on the corner surrounded by his bodyguards and did business on the street. Rothstein made bets and collected debts from those who had lost the previous day.[citation needed] Meanwhile, he exploited his role as mediator with the city’s legitimate business world and soon forced Tammany Hall to recognize him as a necessary ally in its running of the city.

By 1925, Rothstein was one of the most powerful criminals in the country, and had forged a large criminal empire. For a time he was the largest bootlegger in the nation, until the rise and subsequent fall of George Remus. With a reported wealth of over $10 million (of which is worth some $125,145,502 [17]) Rothstein was one of the wealthiest gangsters in US history, and is widely considered to be one of, or the, founding father(s) of organised crime in the United States.”.[18]

Death

On November 4, 1928, Arnold Rothstein was shot and mortally wounded during a business meeting at Manhattan’s Park Central Hotel at Seventh Avenue near 55th Street.[19][20] He died the next day at the Stuyvesant Polyclinic Hospital in Manhattan.[2] The shooting was reportedly linked to debts owed from a 3-day long, high-stakes poker game in October. Rothstein hit a cold streak and ended up owing $320,000 ($4.3 million in 2014 dollars). He claimed the game was fixed and refused to pay his debt. The hit was intended to punish Rothstein for failing to pay his debt.[21] The gambler George “Hump” McManus was arrested for the murder, but later acquitted for lack of evidence.[21]

According to Kevin Cook in the book Titanic Thompson (2010), the poker game was fixed by gambler Titanic Thompson (real name Alvin Clarence Thomas) and his associate, Nate Raymond. Due to some complicated side bets, by the end Rothstein owed $319,000 to Raymond (much of which Raymond was due, by secret agreement, to pass on to Thompson); $30,000 to Thompson; and approximately $200,000 to the other gamblers present. McManus owed Rothstein $51,000. Rothstein stalled for time, saying that he would not be able to pay until after the elections of November 1928, when he expected to win $550,000 for successfully backing Herbert Hoover for President and Franklin D. Roosevelt for Governor. Thompson testified at McManus’s trial, describing him as “a swell loser” who would never have shot Rothstein.[22] According to Cook, Thompson later told some of his acquaintances that the killer had not been McManus, but his “bag-man”, Hyman Biller, who fled to Cuba shortly afterwards.[22]

In his Kill the Dutchman! (1971), a biography of Dutch Schultz, the crime reporter Paul Sann suggests that Schultz murdered Rothstein. He says this was in retaliation for the murder of Schultz’s friend and associate, Joey Noel, by Rothstein’s protégé, Jack “Legs” Diamond.

On his deathbed, Rothstein refused to identify his killer, answering police inquiries with “You stick to your trade. I’ll stick to mine.”[23] and “Me mudder (my mother) did it.”[24] Rothstein was buried at Ridgewood’s Union Field Cemetery.

Break-up of empire

At his death, Prohibition was in full swing, various street gangs were battling for control of the liquor distribution, and the carefully constructed political boss structure of the late 19th century was in total collapse. Frank Erickson, Meyer Lansky, Bugsy Siegel, and other former associates split up Rothstein’s various “enterprises” after his death. With Rothstein’s death, the corrupt and already-weakened Tammany Hall was critically wounded, because it relied on Rothstein to control the street gangs.[25] With Tammany Hall’s fall, reformer Fiorello La Guardia rose in prominence and was elected Mayor of New York City in 1933.

Ten years after his death, Arnold Rothstein’s brother declared Rothstein’s estate bankrupt and Arnold’s wealth disappeared.[2]

In popular culture

Rothstein is referred to as “The Brain” in several of Damon Runyon’s short stories, including a fictional version of his death in “The Brain Goes Home”. (As a newspaper reporter, Runyon came to know Rothstein personally and later covered the trial of his alleged killer.)
In the novel The Great Gatsby, Meyer Wolfsheim is a Jewish friend and mentor of Gatsby’s, described as a gambler who fixed the World Series. Wolfsheim appears only twice in the novel, the second time refusing to attend Gatsby’s funeral. He is a clear allusion to Arnold Rothstein.
Rothstein was portrayed by several actors in films: By Robert Lowery in the 1960, The Rise and Fall of “Legs” Diamond; by David Janssen in the 1961, King of the Roaring 20’s - The Story of Arnold Rothstein (aka The Big Bankroll); by Michael Lerner in the 1988, Eight Men Out, based on the Black Sox Scandal; and by F. Murray Abraham, in the 1991 Mobsters.
In The Godfather Part II, Hyman Roth mentions Rothstein as someone who arranged a sport game result. Even more, Roth was the name that Vito Corleone gave him when he was a young boy (Roth’s real surname being difficult to pronounce), after Hyman spoke of his admiration of the gambler.
In the HBO series Boardwalk Empire, a fictionalized version of Rothstein is portrayed by Michael Stuhlbarg.

Associates

Waxey Gordon – worked as a rum-runner for Rothstein during the first years of Prohibition.
Harry “Nig” Rosen – involved in narcotics with Rothstein during the mid-1920s.
Charles “Lucky” Luciano - Rothstein is viewed to have been a mentor figure to Luciano, supporting him early on in his career as a racketeer and teaching him how to be a full-fledged kingpin. They are both among New York’s most popular gangster kingpins, and both are directly responsible for the modernization and subsequent public obsession with American organized crime.
Meyer Lansky - Along with partner Luciano, he was somewhat mentored by Rothstein during Prohibition. Both Jewish Mafia members, they were instrumental in the rise and glorification of modern American organized crime.
Enoch “Nucky” Johnson - business partners of the bootlegging boom of the Roaring Twenties. A fictionalized version of their relationship in the HBO crime drama Boardwalk Empire (as well as with Lansky and Luciano) was well received.

Comments:

Posted by YKW power, influence in Baseball on Thu, 12 May 2016 18:46 | #

This article is a bit dated (from 2011) but it begins to indicate Jewish power and influence in professional baseball.

Of course the higher positions are more significant - starting from team owners, then to executives, general mangers (who determine the players and their salaries) and particularly lawyers and those who act as player representatives -e.g., Marvin Miller, who was the Executive Director of the Major League Player’s union.

There are probably many significant figures missing from this list: Yankees former General Manager, Brian Cashman may have been Jewish. The Boston Red Sox (last team to integrate) began winning in objective terms with a (definitely) Jewish G.M., Theo Epstein - he’s moved over to the Chicago Cubs.

MLB.com, “Modern Baseball’s Jewish Owners, Executives and Players”, 12 May 2016:

It is a paradox, but it can be explained.

Most Jewish individuals are proud that many baseball owners, executives and players are Jewish, but those same individuals become uncomfortable when that fact is pointed out in the media.

The reason might be related to the bias faced by Jews throughout history, which has resulted in the almost reflexive action that, while one’s Jewishness should not be hidden, it should not be overemphasized.

Baseball’s commissioner, Al “Bud” Selig, the former owner of the Milwaukee Brewers, is Jewish.

Owners Paul Godfrey (Toronto Blue Jays), the Lerner family (Washington Nationals), Jamie McCourt (former owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers), Jerry Reinsdorf (Chicago White Sox), Stuart Sternberg (Tampa Bay Rays), Fred Wilpon (New York Mets) and Lewis Wolff (Oakland A’s) are Jewish.

Seven of the 30 major league teams have Jewish owners.

Some of the most highly respected general managers are Jewish.

Jon Daniels’ Texas Rangers are becoming an American League powerhouse. Theo Epstein will probably have the chance to do for the Chicago Cubs what he accomplished for the Boston Red Sox when he helped put together two World Champion Boston Red Sox teams.

Reuben Amaro Jr. has made the Philadelphia Phillies the team that is expected to win the World Series every season but has done so but once, while Tampa’s general manager Andrew Friedman is Jewish.

Since New York Yankees owner George Steinbrenner passed away, team president Randy Levine has taken up the spear with respect to what constitutes a successful Yankees’ season. According to Levine, success is equated to being the World Champion.

The Yankees and the Mets each have fine pitching coaches. The Yankees Larry Rothschild and the Mets Dan Warthen are both Jewish.

A pretty good team could be made of Jewish players.

Ike Davis at first base, Ian Kinsler at second base, Kevin Youkilis is the third baseman and we can move Danny Valencia to play shortstop.

The outfield consists of Ryan Braun and Sam Fuld, although Braun’s mother is not Jewish. Another Jewish outfielder is needed.

The pitchers are led by Jason Marquis, Scott Feldman and John Grabow.

The only Jewish Hall of Famers are Hank Greenberg and Sandy Koufax. In a few years, they may be joined by Braun, Kinsler and Youkilis.

By the way, Jeff Idelson - Head Of Baseball’s Hall of Fame, is Jewish.

Posted by A-Roid-SteerRod to exit on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 18:12 | #

New York Post, He won the AL MVP in 2005 and 2007, then opted out of his contract during the World Series and signed a new 10-year, $275 million deal to stay with the Yankees.

In 2013, Rodriguez ended up in the middle of the Biogenesis scandal*, and after threatening to sue everyone from the Yankees to MLB and his own union, he eventually was suspended for 162 games.

* Means that he was taking steroids

In fact, he was detected in 2003 prior to his contract with the Yankees, making him the highest paid baseball player.

Posted by SportsCucks pay big to see SteerRod exit on Tue, 09 Aug 2016 18:46 | #

Fortune, “Here’s How Much it Costs to See A-Rod’s Last Game”, 8 August 2016:

Ticket prices skyrocketed immediately after his announcement.

When Alex Rodriguez, one of Major League Baseball’s most divisive figures, announced that he’ll be playing his last game on Friday, ticket prices shot up.

A-Rod made the announcement on Sunday. By that afternoon, the average price of a ticket had gone up by over 600%, from $75.92 to $456.76, CNNMoney reported citing data from TiqIQ. Rodriguez’s team, the fourth-place New York Yankees, will be going up against the fifth-place Tampa Bay Rays at Yankee Stadium, which seats about 54,000.

The most expensive ticket is priced at $17,000 for a seat in the 9th row behind home plate. The least expensive tickets are priced at about $85, which is 431% higher than the cheapest tickets offered prior to his announcement.

A-Roid and Ann Wojcicki

Wiki:

Anne E. Wojcicki (/woʊˈdʒɪtski/ woh-JIT-skee; Polish: [vujˈt͡ʃit͡skʲi]; born July 28, 1973) is an American entrepreneur and the co-founder and chief executive officer of the personal genomics company 23andMe. She was formerly married to Google Co-Founder Sergey Brin.

Early life

Wojcicki, the youngest of three daughters, was born in San Mateo County, California. Her parents are Esther Wojcicki (née Hochman), an educator, and Stanley Wojcicki, a physics professor emeritus at Stanford University. Her mother is Jewish and her father is a Polish American. Her sisters are Susan Wojcicki, CEO of YouTube and a former executive at Google and Janet Wojcicki, anthropologist and epidemiologist at the University of California, San Francisco.

Posted by The Hall Of Fame on steroids on Wed, 04 Jan 2017 05:06 | #

(((Steve Sailer)))‘s extrapolation on New York Times writer (((WALDSTEIN)))‘s suggestion of increased objectivism regarding Baseball Hall of Fame candidacy corresponds to increased openness to inclusion of black athletes even where they enhanced their statistics by steroid use; as well as openness the likes of Moe Berg, the Jewish-American spy (and substandard professional baseball player), tasked with killing Werner Heisenberg if he knew enough to build the bomb for Nazi Germany; in addition, openness generally, to anybody associated with baseball who is somehow interesting and noteworthy - i.e., this is an expression of the ironic hyper-relativistic effect of the relentless pursuit of unaccountable (but nevertheless relatively motivated) objectivism. In this case, they are pursuing the word “fame” - in “Baseball’s Hall of Fame” - to mean not objectively those who had the best statistics (which has largely been the criteria for inclusion in the Baseball Hall of Fame) but rather those who have “fame” in association with baseball for whatever noteworthy reasons.

While the medium term of this argument in the employ of Jewish interests is obnoxious to WN - finding relativising excuses to include blacks and Jews - the hyper-relativising effect can lead to a new criteria - to ask who are the best players, or most noteworthy players in service of White/European interests?

There is already an Irish-American Baseball Hall of Fame, an Italian-American Sports Hall of Fame and a Polish-American Sports Hall of Fame. A White, better, European-American Hall of Fame follows logically, as would eventually fan interest in a new criteria and a new league. Ultimately, awareness would grow among boys of the radically relative racial interests - and the legitimacy of racial nationalist consciousness - new, separatist criteria in the relative interests of the genus (racial national - European) in addition to the enhanced support of the species (national ethnicities) of Whites.

Unz, “Hall of Fame Voters Soften Stance on Stars of Steroids Era”, 2 January 2017:

From the New York Times -

Hall of Fame Voters Soften Stance on Stars of Steroids Era

By DAVID WALDSTEIN JAN. 2, 2017

Bud Selig, the baseball commissioner during the steroids era, was voted into the Hall of Fame last month by the Today’s Game Era Committee.

Barry Bonds and Roger Clemens, two of the most successful players in baseball history, are among the former stars who were essentially blacklisted from the Hall of Fame because of their reputations as doping cheats. But now, because of a sudden and surprising shift of voter sentiment, players who thrived during baseball’s so-called steroids era might be enshrined in Cooperstown after all.

The baseball writers who vote to decide which players are allowed into the Hall of Fame appear to be backing away from their punitive approach to players linked to doping because of what they perceive as hypocrisy.

Bud Selig, who served as commissioner of baseball as the record books were being obliterated by bulked-up players, was recently granted entry into the Hall of Fame by a separate voting body. Selig has been widely criticized for failing to combat the doping scourge soon enough. The former manager Tony La Russa, who was inducted in 2014, benefited from steroids users on some of his successful teams.

No Hall of Fame for American sports carries as much prestige as baseball’s, and no team sport in the country has been as vexed by doping. Baseball officials refused to confront the problem for years, then became more aggressive than other pro leagues in policing the use of illicit drugs. In what would be a dramatic change for the sport and its fans, the penalty phase — for former players, at least — may be over.

Eventually, people will notice that if nonplayer Selig is in the Hall of Fame, statistical writer Bill James deserves to be in the Hall of Fame at least as much. But then they might notice that, like Selig, James went out of his way to not notice the Steroids Era.

Why not demand that Bonds and Clemens come clean about when they were dirty? If, say, Bonds confessed to using PEDs from 1999 onward and apologized, and if that timeline stood up to outside investigation, then I could see, after a period of punishment, electing Bonds to the Hall of Fame based solely on his clean 1986-1998 career.

I suspect (hope?) that both Bonds and Clemens had reached close to 100 Wins Above Replacement, which is well into Hall of Fame First Ballot territory, before they started cheating.

In contrast, there are other players from the Steroids Era whose careers look like that without steroids they wouldn’t have come close to Hall of Fame level accomplishments. They should be kept out permanently.

Similarly, I’d accept the logic of Ted Williams’ argument that Shoeless Joe Jackson’s lifetime ban for being involved in the Black Sox scandal shouldn’t continue to apply past the end of his life, and elect Jackson posthumously, with Pete Rose being similarly eligible for posthumous election.

By the way, I’ve been thinking about a Hall of Interest for interesting players who aren’t in the Hall of Fame, like Rose and Jackson, Bonds and Clemens.

Besides players kept out for scandals, there are players who are just more interesting than many Hall of Famers.

For example, Tommy John is more famous than most Hall of Fame pitchers. He might have been good enough to be elected to the Hall of Fame if he hadn’t missed a season and a half in his prime. But if he hadn’t hurt his arm, he wouldn’t have been the first to get the Tommy John surgery. And he remains the Platonic essence of the sinkerball pitcher in the minds of many baseball fans, the name you use to describe an entire class of pitchers.

Or Moe Berg, the intellectual catcher who was sent by the OSS in 1944 to assassinate Werner Heisenberg, but didn’t pull the trigger because he decided that Heisenberg wasn’t going to get a Bomb built for the Nazis.

Lefty O’Doul, who came up to the big leagues as a young pitcher, hurt his arm, then got back in his 30s as an outfielder and hit .398. Then he became the best known manager in the Pacific Coast League, the most popular sportsman in San Francisco, and was the key American figure in building up baseball in Japan.

Fernando Valenzuela.

Sal “The Barber” Maglie, who only appeared in 13 big league games before age 33.

Steve Dalkowski, the legendary minor league fastballer.

Whoever was the best Cuban player of the Castro era who never came to America.

Charlie O. Finley

Marvin Miller

Rusty Staub

George Steinbrenner

Bill James

Bo Jackson

Dick “Dr. Strangeglove” Stuart

Jim Bouton

Smokey Joe Wood, Herb Score, Mark Fidrych, Dwight Gooden, and Jose Fernandez

Carl Mays and Ray Chapman

Curt Flood

Kirk Gibson

Posted by 6/12/70 Dock Ellis pitches no-hitter on L.S.D. on Wed, 11 Jan 2017 16:50 | #

On 12 June 1970, Dock Ellis, a colored pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates, pitched a no-hitter against the San Diego Padres while under the influence of L.S.D. - documentary “No-No” talks about it as well.

In fact, he said that he never pitched a game in which he was not under the influence of some kind of drug.

He also ran into difficulty with Baseball’s dress code by wearing curlers in his hair.

Posted by Ty Cobb on Wed, 21 Mar 2018 08:58 | #

For all his razzing of Babe Ruth, calling him the “n” word (for his negroid nose) and “n’ lips”, Ty Cobb maintained that Babe Ruth had the biggest heart he’d known.

While the liberal media would play-up Ty Cobb’s racialism, the eminently obnoxious Ken Burns having gone so far as to call him “the black mark” (on baseball) in his schlock documentary, “Baseball”, much less heralded was Cobb’s humanitarian side - which was not a contradiction, but a facet of his relative perspective.

Earlier in his career, famous good guy - baseball great and tragic hero for being stricken young by the disease which was to be named after him - Lou Gehrig was being underpaid by New York Yankees brass. Cobb, a successful businessman outside of his baseball prowess, was called in to help Gerhig negotiate a fair deal. But that wasn’t the half of Cobb’s humanitarian good deeds. He would give money, sometimes anonymously, to fellow ball players who’d fallen on hard times….there were numerous examples of Cobb’s good will and charity in his life that itself got off to a very difficult start.

Posted by Stan Musial on Thu, 22 Mar 2018 18:10 | #

What stands out about Stan “the man” Musial is not simply a great baseball player, though he was that - finished his career statistics first all time in extra-base hits (still second after Aaron as of this writing) to go with a .331 life-time average - but that he was a good person, had a really good disposition for peace times and team play - his camaraderie was evident, so amenable with others ....but his relationship with his wife was amazing - perfect understanding, support, sync and trust that they had for one another.

Stan and his wife

Enos “country” Slaughter and Stan

...and old time acquaintance reflects on Musial’s outstandingly good nature.

Ralph Kiner and Musial

Duke Snider talks with Stan

Musial and Ted Williams

Peers, all-time great baseball players: Ted Williams, Joe Dimaggio, Charlie Gehringer and Musial

Posted by Game of Shadows on Fri, 23 Mar 2018 03:36 | #

Game of Shadows: Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the Steroids Scandal that Rocked Professional Sports is a bestselling non-fiction book published on March 23, 2006 and written by Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams, reporters for the San Francisco Chronicle. When Sports Illustrated released excerpts from the book on March 7, it generated considerable publicity because the book chronicles alleged extensive use of performance-enhancing drugs, including several different types of steroids and growth hormones, by San Francisco Giants outfielder Barry Bonds.

Allegations concerning Barry Bonds

The book is among the most damaging accounts of reported steroid use by Bonds. According to the authors, Bonds began using stanozolol, the same drug for which Ben Johnson tested positive after winning the 100 meters at the 1988 Summer Olympics, starting in the 1999 season. By 2001, the year Bonds broke Mark McGwire’s single-season home run record with 73, he was alleged to be using the following performance-enhancers:

According to the book, Bonds was inspired to use steroids after watching McGwire’s 1998 home run record chase with Sammy Sosa. He began working with Greg Anderson, who would later be hired by the Giants. Anderson reportedly received the substances at issue from BALCO. He also kept meticulous records of Bonds’ program; the authors report that Anderson’s records indicate that Bonds took up to 20 pills a day and learned to inject himself. The book also claimed that the Giants chose not to confront Bonds about his change in physical appearance, fearing that they would alienate their star slugger, or worse from the team’s standpoint, create a drug scandal immediately before the opening of their new stadium.

Bonds sued the authors and publisher of the book over its use of grand jury documents and tried to block the publishers and authors from profiting from such documents.[2]

Posted by Tom Yawkey on Thu, 26 Apr 2018 23:15 | #

NYT,“Yawkey Way, Red Sox Game Day Hub, Will Be Renamed Over Racism Concerns”, 26 April 2018:

Yawkey Way, adjacent to Fenway Park, will revert to being called Jersey Street.

BOSTON — Officials in Boston voted Thursday to rename Yawkey Way, a road adjacent to Fenway Park that was named for a former Red Sox team owner who resisted efforts to integrate baseball in the 50s.

The street will revert to being called Jersey Street, its original name before it was changed in 1977 to honor the owner, Tom Yawkey, who had died the year before.

The Red Sox, under Yawkey, were the last team in baseball to sign a black player, finally calling him up in 1959, 12 years after Jackie Robinson first played for the Brooklyn Dodgers.

The street name came under renewed scrutiny in August, as dozens of Confederate monuments were being removed across the United States. The current team owner, John Henry, led the push to rename the street, telling The Boston Herald he was “haunted” by the team’s racist history.

The Red Sox formally asked the city to rename the street in February, saying that “restoring the Jersey Street name is intended to reinforce that Fenway Park is inclusive and welcoming to all.”

Red Sox Renew Push to Rename Yawkey Way Amid Monument Debate AUG. 18, 2017

‘Racism Is as American as Baseball’ Banner Unfurled at Fenway Park SEPT. 14, 2017

Red Sox Bar Fan From Fenway Park for Using Racial Slur MAY 4, 2017

The narrow, two-block street lined with gift shops and eateries pulsates on game days, and is the meeting point for ballpark tours on days off.

Tom Yawkey, who owned the Red Sox for over 40 years, in 1955. Credit Frank C. Curtin/Associated Press

Many pedestrians walking by Fenway Park on Thursday said they were pleased with the decision by the Public Improvement Commission to change the street’s name.

“It’s difficult because he did a lot for the city,” Joshua Baca, 23, said of Yawkey. “But we just shouldn’t have tolerance for racism.”

Tisha Johnson, 41, agreed. “I’m happy they’re switching it because he represents racism,” she said.

One of her friends, Carol Holley, 32, said she was glad too, but that it probably would do little to diminish what she said were racist attitudes in the city today.

“People will still have the same thoughts,” Ms. Holley said.

Others were not happy about the change. “It’s part of the heritage of Fenway Park, and it’s been here forever,” said Mark Ware, 54. “I don’t really know how racist he was, but the club has improved, the racism is gone now and they have players who are minorities,” he said.

The decision promises to inflame debates about the legacy of Yawkey, who is a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Yawkey Foundations, a major charity in Boston, said Thursday that the campaign to remove the name “has been based on a false narrative about his life and his historic 43-year ownership of the Red Sox.”

Renaming the street, the charity said, “will unfortunately give lasting credence to that narrative and unfairly tarnish his name, despite his unparalleled record of transforming the Red Sox and Fenway Park and supporting the city he loved through his philanthropy.”

In a statement, the Red Sox said the vote was “an important step in our ongoing effort to make Fenway Park a place where everyone feels welcome.”

“We recognize we have a long way to go, but remain committed to building a spirit of diversity, inclusivity, and openness within our front office and our ballpark,” the team said.

No matter what people thought about the name change, virtually no one on Yawkey Way on Thursday seemed to like the name “Jersey Street” or understand what it represented.

At the official Red Sox team store on the street, several people were buying up “Yawkey Way” bumper stickers. Tim Pettit, one of the managers of the store, said the signs “were never a huge seller,” though interest had picked up since talk of the name change began last year.

He said he did not know whether the signs would be discontinued when the current stock runs out. But, he said, “I’m guessing this will be the last run.”

Posted by Eddie Cicotte on Thu, 23 Aug 2018 22:47 | #

Detroit Athlete.com, “The sad story of Detroiter Eddie Cicotte and the Black Sox scandal”, 11 Mar 2012:

By Richard Bak

In the summer of 1923, a baseball team from Bastrop, Louisiana, was tearing up sandlots and cow pastures in every direction. The semipro nine featured a round little pitcher named Moore, who dazzled batters with a virtually untouchable assortment of junk pitches, and an outfielder named Johnson, whose slugging and fielding prowess never failed to astonish. “The team has been cleaning up in Morehouse Parish,” marveled a local newspaper, “and has walloped almost every club it has met in north Louisiana and south Arkansas.”

Before too long, the identities of the team’s stars were revealed. “Johnson” actually was “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, an illiterate country boy generally considered the greatest natural hitter the game has ever seen. “Moore” was Eddie Cicotte, a lifelong Detroiter widely admired as one of the “brainiest” pitchers around. A few years earlier, they had been members of one of the greatest major-league teams ever assembled, enjoying careers that would have put both in the Hall of Fame. Now both were pariahs, banished from organized baseball after confessing to their roles in throwing the 1919 World Series.

The sad, sordid tale of the Chicago “Black Sox” scandal is embedded in American culture, its cast of characters—soulless, double-crossing gamblers; scheming, gullible ballplayers; penurious, vindictive owners—represented in such films as Eight Men Out, Field of Dreams, and The Godfather, and novels like The Natural (also made into a movie) and The Great Gatsby. “Say it ain’t so, Joe,” a boy reportedly pleaded to Jackson when news of the players’ betrayal shook the country. While there has always been some room for doubt about the complicity of Shoeless Joe in the fix that “play[ed] with the faith of fifty million people,” as F. Scott Fitzgerald wrote, there has never been any question of Cicotte’s role as a ringleader. In fact, Cicotte was the first of the eight Black Sox players eventually tossed out of baseball to admit his wrongdoing. Without the guilt-racked pitcher’s confession, it’s very possible the scandal would have remained a noisy but unconfirmed rumor instead of becoming the blackest episode in the long history of the national pastime.

Cicotte paid for his latent honesty for the rest of his days. “I don’t know anyone who ever went through life without making a mistake,” he said in a rare interview a few years before his death. “Everybody who has ever lived has committed sins of their own. I’ve tried to make up for it by living as clean a life as I could. I’m proud of the way I’ve lived and I think my family is, too.”

Family was important to Cicotte, so important that on a train ride in the summer of 1919 it caused the 35-year-old pitching ace to seriously consider selling out his employer, his teammates, and the public. As the Chicago White Sox headed to New York on a road trip, “Somebody made a crack about getting money, if we got into the Series, to throw the Series…and said they would go ahead and go through with it if they got this money,” Cicotte later explained. In New York, he got in touch with a pair of low-level gamblers, Billy Maharg and Bill Burns, tipping them off that “something good was coming up.”

First baseman Chick Gandil, an ex-boxer with established underworld ties, brought Joseph “Sport” Sullivan, a Boston bookmaker banned in Detroit’s ballpark and elsewhere, into the conspiracy. Ultimately, Shoeless Joe Jackson, pitcher Claude “Lefty” Williams, shortstop Charles “Swede” Risberg, outfielder Oscar “Happy” Felsch, and infielder Fred McMullin were swept up in the scheme. Third baseman Buck Weaver knew of their plans but said nothing, a decision that caused him to be later lumped in with the guilty.

The White Sox won the American League pennant in 1919, which put them in a best-of-nine-games playoff against the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. The National League champs were big underdogs, but Cicotte and Gandil let it be known their cabal would roll over for $100,000. New York gangster Arnold Rothstein was to funnel the money through his lieutenant, ex-prizefighter Abe Attell.

Cicotte pitched the opener in Cincinnati. He hit the first batter he faced, a sign that the fix was in. Chicago lost, 9-1. They dropped two of the next three contests, with Cicotte committing two key errors in a 2-0 loss in Game 4. However, gamblers stalled when the players demanded their payouts. Exactly who got paid and how much they received is open to debate, but it appears that as little as $25,000 of the bribe money was actually distributed. Down four games to two and facing elimination, the double-crossed conspirators decided to play to win. Cicotte pitched masterfully to win Game 7, 4-1, but the Reds won the next day to take the Series. Gamblers supposedly had gotten to Lefty Williams, threatening to kill him and his wife if he didn’t lose his third start of the Series.

Cicotte, who once claimed, “There is no good substitute for brains in our profession,” was the only conspirator to demand his share up front. The day before the Series began, he found the money under his pillow. “There was $10,000,” he said. “I counted it. It was my price.”

Edgar Victor Cicotte (pronounced SEE-kot) was born June 19, 1884, in Springwells Township, the youngest of seven children. His father, who descended from one of the city’s old-line French families, was a laborer and died when Eddie was 10 years old. Looking to help his mother make ends meet, the youngster dropped out of school to work in a box factory. In his free time he played sandlot ball and went to Bennett Park (the future site of Tiger Stadium) whenever he could to watch the Tigers play.

The stocky right-handed pitcher broke into organized ball in the Upper Peninsula.The location also allowed him to satisfy his love of the outdoors, especially fishing and hunting. On May 16 in Augusta, Cicotte married Rose Freer, a French-Canadian girl from Detroit.

On September 5, Cicotte notched the first of his 209 big-league wins, beating the White Sox in front of friends and family at Bennett Park. While Cobb would spend 22 summers with the Tigers, Cicotte bounced around the minors for the next three years, experimenting with his knuckleball. He re-emerged in 1908 with the Boston Red Sox. During his five years in Boston, Cicotte was an underachieving pitcher who frequently clashed with management. “He was suspended without pay so much of the time that it was like having no job,” observed one sportswriter.

In July 1912, Cicotte was sold to the White Sox. He initially refused to report, saying he would retire and tend to the little neighborhood café he ran in the off-season. Sportswriters knowingly said he would reconsider when he weighed the difference in earnings. They were right. Thanks to a superior supporting cast and his growing mastery of an arsenal of trick pitches, most of which were perfectly legal at the time, “Knuckles” Cicotte hit his stride in Chicago. In 1917 he developed the “shine ball,” which helped him to a breakout season. “He’d have some transparent paraffin on his trousers or somewhere, or some talcum powder, and every chance he’d get he’d rub the ball there,” catcher Bob O’Farrell told author Lawrence Ritter in The Glory of Their Times. “That would make the ball slide off his fingers and put a real break on it when it came up to the plate. Acted something like a spitter.” Cicotte won a league-high 28 games, including a no-hitter, and posted a 1.53 earned-run average, best in the majors. In the 1917 World Series against the New York Giants, Cicotte’s flutterballs accounted for a 2-1 victory in the opener. The Sox went on to win the Series in six games. Cicotte returned to Detroit a world champion—an underpaid world champion, he complained.

Cicotte was an easygoing sort, popular with players and reporters. When the Red Sox went on the win the 1912 World Series after he was dealt at midseason, his former teammates thought enough of him to present him with an expensive gift. The following year he accompanied the White Sox and New York Giants on an epic six-month barnstorming tour of Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, returning to the States on the Lusitania, the liner doomed to be sunk by a German U-boat in 1915. The globetrotting was a remarkable experience, especially in an era of limited travel, and just one more opportunity afforded him because of his major-league status.

Following a sub-par 1918 season in which he led the league with 19 losses, Cicotte signed a $5,000 contract for 1919. For the second time in three years, he would top all American League hurlers in wins (29) and innings pitched. He wanted to rest his overworked arm for postseason play. Instead he wound up starting two more games in late September, including the pennant-clincher, though he did not receive credit for the victory.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

What impelled Eddie Cicotte and others to throw the 1919 World Series to Cincinnati? In a word, greed, though in their minds it was a justifiable kind of greed.

Cicotte, like many players, felt chronically underpaid. For many years he lived at 2382 Central Avenue, near Vernor. In 1919, the large brick house, which still stands, was bursting with family members. In addition to being the sole support of his pregnant wife and their two young daughters, Rose and Virginia, Cicotte had taken in his wife’s parents, his brother and wife and their young daughter, and Rose’s sister and husband. He owned a garage, co-managed by his brother, and had taken out a $4,000 mortgage on a farm in Livonia Township, near present-day Seven Mile and Merriman roads. As Cicotte later related, he used the tainted money to pay off the mortgage and install new floors in the farmhouse and barn. He also bought livestock and feed.

In the aftermath of the 1919 World Series, there was widespread talk that gamblers had gotten to the Sox, but no proof. Meanwhile, Comiskey doubled Cicotte’s salary to $10,000, making him one of the game’s highest-paid pitchers. Cicotte responded with another fine season. On Sunday, September 26, 1920, he beat the Tigers at Comiskey Park for his 21st win. A poor hitter, he even contributed a pair of singles to the 8-1 victory. It was the last major-league game he would ever play. The following day, a Philadelphia paper published an interview with Billy Maharg, who verified the rumors of a fix. He named Cicotte as the man who had cooked up the plot.

Cicotte went to Comiskey’s office and confessed. “Yeah, we were crooked,” he sobbed.

“Don’t tell me,” Comiskey said. “Tell it to the grand jury.”

Cicotte, Shoeless Joe Jackson, and Lefty Williams quickly signed confessions, all without consulting a lawyer. They described the plot and named the co-conspirators. Cicotte used the opportunity to unburden his troubled soul. “I needed the money,” he said. “I had the wife and kids. The wife and kids don’t know about this. I don’t know what they’ll think.” Cicotte said he experienced pangs of guilt during the opening game of the Series and afterwards played to win. “I wanted to win,” he told the grand jury. “I could have given [the money] back with interest, if they only let me win the game that day.”

The late Gene Carney, considered by many to be the greatest authority on the scandal and its participants, once gave writer Todd Schulz his take on what motivated Cicotte to come clean. “He had the keenest conscience. This really bothered him. He was a Catholic and he talked to his priest and other friends about it. If he doesn’t go to the grand jury this really could have been slipped under the rug. There was no real evidence that anything had happened. But when a player confesses he took money, that ended the cover-up.”

None of the gamblers implicated in the fix were ever found guilty of a crime. Neither, for that matter, were the Black Sox, who stood trial in the summer of 1921 on charges of defrauding the public. During the trial, the confessions of Cicotte and others mysteriously disappeared. The jury deliberated just a short while before declaring all of the defendants not guilty. Cicotte was so happy he jumped up and grabbed the jury foreman. That evening, players and jurors celebrated together at a local restaurant.

The acquitted players, who had been suspended since the last week of the 1920 season, assumed they would be able to resume their careers. But they hadn’t reckoned on Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis, the theatrically thunderous federal jurist hired by owners in late 1920 to clean up the game. Baseball’s first commissioner declared the players banished for life. Anyone in organized ball who had anything to do with them also would be tossed out of the game.

“He was a wonderful man,” Eddie Jr., once reminisced. “He was a family man. I grew up by his side. When I was a little kid he’d say, ‘C’mon Eddie, we’re going fishing today.’ We hunted together and fished together all the time.”

Cicotte worked briefly as a Michigan game warden before landing a job at Ford. Cicotte retired from Ford in 1944. He followed baseball on radio and TV but never attended a game. The feisty Billy Rogell, a shortstop with the Tigers in the 1930s and later a city councilman, was a regular visitor. “One of the nicest guys God put on this earth,” was Rogell’s recollection of Cicotte.

Rose died in 1958, leaving Cicotte a widower after 53 years of marriage. He kept busy by raising strawberries on his little farm and selling them from a roadside stand. He still drove a tractor and helped clear snow from his neighbors’ driveways. In 1965, now a mellow octogenarian, he told a visitor he’d become calloused to being called a crooked ballplayer. “I admit I did wrong,” he said, “but I’ve paid for it for the past 45 years.”

Cicotte was treated for cancer and a heart ailment. He died at Henry Ford Hospital on May 5, 1969. He was 84. Few were on hand for the burial at Parkview Cemetery in Livonia. The flat bronze marker over his grave—not unlike a pitcher’s slab—gives no indication of his major-league career or a hint of the turmoil and shame left behind. Simply listed are his name and the dates of his birth and death. Above it all is a single word: Father

Posted by 1958 Detroit Tigers on Sun, 03 Feb 2019 08:43 | #

1958 Detroit Tigers

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79nQTEOkhgk&t=631s

Posted by Baseball footage (1900 - 1920) on Sun, 14 Apr 2019 14:52 | #

Deadball Era Baseball Game Footage (1900-1920)

It wasn’t all that long ago that older footage could only be viewed at a hyper fast speed - funny and interesting for a few seconds, but too annoying to watch for long. The speed correction is a vast improvement.

Posted by Los Angeles Dodgers L.G.B.T Night on Mon, 20 May 2019 18:25 | #

Though I maintain that a dead ringer of right-wing inability to prioritize correctly is their elevation of the homosexual issue (a naturally recurring phenomenon in a tiny percentage of the population) as a problematic issue, as if it ranks right up there, part and parcel of White genocide, I’ve got to say that even I was taken aback as self fashioned aficionado of issue prioritization:

“The Los Angeles Dodgers Major League Baseball team is featuring L.G.B.T. night Friday, May 31.”

...especially when you ad the “T”, it is eye opening.

Transsexuals are something that Major League Baseball should be concerned to promote?

LGBT Night presented by Blue Shield of California

Come out and celebrate with the Dodgers and LA Pride on Friday, May 31 for the 7th annual LGBT Night presented by Blue Shield of California AND 3rd consecutive, official 2019 LA Pride kickoff party at Dodger Stadium.

This special event ticket package includes your ticket to the game along with an exclusive LGBT Night duffle bag.*

I can see MLB issuing an occasional statement to discourage persecution of queers, but this really seems over the top and an inappropriate context for support of such pride.

Baseball and other sports are an important means for boys to separate from girls to develop and affirm their male identity, adding their personal style to the proof that they are not pussies, proving their identity with assertive aggression and competitive skills.

Posted by Stephen Strasburg on Wed, 30 Oct 2019 04:15 | #

Stephen Strasburg wins game 6

https://www.mlb.com/gameday/nationals-vs-astros/2019/10/29/599376#game_state=final,lock_state=final,game_tab=box,game=599376

If you are going to try to identify with American sportsball, about the only way to do it from a racial standpoint, is to root against or for individual players.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Strasburg

Posted by Steve Dalkowski on Sat, 25 Apr 2020 16:05 | #

Steve Dalkowski, ‘fastest pitcher in baseball history,’ dies at 80

6:30 PM CEST ESPN

Steve Dalkowski, a wild left-hander who was said to have been dubbed “the fastest pitcher in baseball history” by Ted Williams, died this week in New Britain, Connecticut. He was 80.

Dalkowski, who once struck out 24 batters in a minor league game—and walked 18—never made it to the big leagues. Though radar guns were not in use in the late 1950s, when he was working his way through the minors, his fastball was estimated to travel at 100 mph, with Orioles manager Cal Ripken Sr. putting it at 115 mph, and saying Dalkowski threw harder than Sandy Koufax or Nolan Ryan.

Dalkowski, a football and baseball star in New Britain, was signed to a minor league contract by the Orioles in 1957. He had an unusual buggy-whip style, and his pitches were as wild as they were hard.

His first year in the minors, Dalkowski pitched 62 innings, struck out 121 and walked 129. He also had 39 wild pitches and won just one game. He finished his minor league career with a record of 46-80 and an ERA of 5.57. He struck out 1,396 and walked 1,354 in 995 innings.

Writer-director Ron Shelton, who spent five years in the Orioles farm system, heard about Dalkowski’s exploits and based the character Nuke Laloosh in “Bull Durham” on the pitcher.

Shelton says that Ted Williams once faced Dalkowski and called him “fastest ever.” After one pitch, Shelton says, Williams stepped out of the box and said “I never want to face him again.”

Dalkowski struggled with alcoholism all his life. When his career ended in 1965, after he threw out his arm fielding a bunt, Dalkowski became a migrant worker in California.

“He had a record 14 feet long inside the Bakersfield, Calif., police station,” Shelton wrote, “all barroom brawls, nothing serious, the cops said. He rode the trucks out at dawn to pick grapes with the migrant farm workers of Kern County—and finally couldn’t even hold that job.”

Dalkowski returned to his home in Connecticut in the mid ‘90s and spent much of the rest of his life in a care facility, suffering from alcohol-induced dementia.

Steve Dalkowski, inspiration for ‘Bull Durham,’ dead at 80

NY Post 24 April 2020

Steve Dalkowski, a hard-throwing, wild left-hander whose minor league career inspired the creation of Nuke LaLoosh in the movie “Bull Durham,” has died. He was 80.

He died Sunday at the Hospital of Central Connecticut in New Britain. His sister, Patricia Cain, said Friday he had several pre-existing conditions that were complicated when he became infected with the new coronavirus. Dalkowski had been in assisted living for 26 years because of alcoholic dementia.

Dalkowski never reached the major leagues but was said to have thrown well over 100 mph. Long before velocity was tracked with precision, he spawned legends that estimated he approached 110 mph or 115 mph — some said even 125 mph.

“Fastest I ever saw,” then-retired Ted Williams said after facing Dalkowski during batting practice at spring training in 1963, according to a first-person story by director and writer Ron Shelton.

Clyde King, the future big league manager and executive who worked with Dalkowski in the Orioles system, wrote in his 1999 autobiography “A King’s Legacy” that Dalkowski had the best fastball among the thousands of pitchers he saw.

But Dalkowski’s location was lacking.

He averaged 17.6 strikeouts and 18.7 walks per nine innings at Class D Kingsport in 1957, throwing 39 wild pitches in 62 innings as he went 1-8. That Aug. 31, he struck out 24 and walked 17 or 18 — records differ — in an 8-4 loss to Bluefield, hitting four and throwing six wild pitches.

At Class C Stockton in 1960. he struck out 262 and walked 262 in 170 innings. No matter what efforts he tried and the Orioles suggested, Dalkowski never mastered control.

“What if? But it wasn’t in the cards,” his sister said. “Stevie was wild. That was part of his thing.”

Shelton was a minor league infielder with the Orioles from 1967-71 and used the stories he heard about Dalkowski when he wrote and directed the 1988 movie “Bull Durham.”

The ‘Bull Durham’ questions we still have about near-perfect sports movie

Dalkowski signed with the Orioles in 1957 and remained in their minor league system until 1964. He finished with farm teams of the Pittsburgh Pirates and California Angels in 1965.

“They called him ‘Dalko’ and guys liked to hang with him and women wanted to take care of him and if he walked into a room in those days he was probably drunk,” Shelton wrote in his 2009 story, which appeared in the Los Angeles Times and The Sun in Baltimore.

“He had a record 14 feet long inside the Bakersfield, California, police station, all barroom brawls, nothing serious, the cops said. He rode the trucks out at dawn to pick grapes with the migrant farm workers of Kern County — and finally couldn’t even hold that job.”

Dalkowski pitched and played quarterback at New Britain High School, setting a Connecticut high school record with 24 strikeouts in a game.

He was with the Orioles for big league spring training in 1963 when he injured his pitching arm. He never regained his former velocity.

“He was measured for a uniform in the morning and he was pitching against those damn Yankees in the afternoon and hurt his elbow,” his sister said.

Dalkowski’s minor league record was 46-80 with 1,324 strikeouts, 1,236 walks and 145 wild pitches over 956 innings in nine seasons, according to Baseball Reference.

Plagued by dementia, Dalkowski had lived since 1994 at New Britain’s Grandview Rehabilitation and Healthcare Center, previously known as Walnut Hill Care Center.

“He was a piece of work, my brother. Even in the last few years when things are not so great, he still was fun to be around,” Cain said. “He’s going to be sorely missed, by not only myself, but by a lot of other people.”

Dalkowski married Virginia Billingsley in 1975, and his wife died in 1994. In addition to his sister, he is survived by nephews Daniel and David Lee, great niece Amanda Lee and great nephew Nicholas Lee.

Posted by Luke Appling on Tue, 19 May 2020 12:16 | #

Most Unlikely Homerun Ever! 75 Year Old Luke Appling’s Home Run in Old Timers Game in D.C. 1982

Most unlikely home run indeed, since as good a hitter as Luke Appling was, he did not hit home runs - went three years in his prime (1937 - 1939) without one, let alone at age 75, and only averaged three home runs a year throughout his career.

.310 is a great life-time hitting average though, especially for a short-stop. Fielding is the overwhelming priority for that position, so any hitting is a bonus. And how can you not root for a guy named Luke Appling?

Posted by Calvin Griffith on Sat, 20 Jun 2020 07:32 | #

Minnesota Twins remove statue of former owner Calvin Griffith from outside Target Field

June 19, 2020, Minnesota Star Tribune:
The Minnesota Twins announced Friday morning they have removed the statue of former team owner Calvin Griffith from outside of Target Field.

“While we acknowledge the prominent role Calvin Griffith played in our history, we cannot remain silent and continue ignoring the racist comments he made in Waseca in 1978,” the team said in a statement.

“His disparaging words displayed a blatant intolerance and disregard for the Black community that are the antithesis of what the Minnesota Twins stand for and value.”

Never Forget Twins Owner Made Racist Statements in 1978 About Moving Team to Minnesota

12 Up, 29 May 2020

Griffith claimed in 1978 that he moved the Senators to Minnesota and not New Orleans because Minneapolis doesn’t have as many black people. Point blank.

Griffith, after checking to make sure he was in the room with a black person, also expressed his preference for “good, hardworking white people” over minorities, whom Griffith accused of making a “rassling ring” and “putting up such a chant it’ll scare you to death” instead of attending baseball games.

Remembering the team owner who moved his team to get away from black people

...He moved his team to the Minnesota “Twin Cities” area, Mineapolis/Saint Paul, in order to get away from the black pattern (never mind that he gave many a decent contract to black players: e.g., Kirby Puckett, Rod Carew, Tony Oliva, Mudcat Grant, Earl Battey, John Roseboro, Zoilo Versalles, Cesar Tovar, Leo Cardenas, Luis Tiant, Larry Hisle, Dan Ford)... now look at Minneapolis Saint Paul.

James Bowery tells us that a great number of Castro’s Mariel boatlift (emptying Cuban prisons and hospitals of AIDS patients into The U.S.) ended up in the twin cities area….

Posted by 666 Sanctified Temperance & Perpetual Glosolalia on Mon, 31 Aug 2020 01:55 | #

Sometimes to give my mind a rest and diversion from stress, I will take a look at baseball statistics. There’s a contiguity and historical contexting about it that can serve that purpose for me. Craig Biggio, a second baseman for the Houston Astros, was intriguing to me because he was such an ordinary guy from around my parts in New Jersey, who finished his career in 2007 with some statistics ranking among the all time, absolute legends of Major League Baseball. I noticed how Biggio might finish 5th all time in doubles if he could pass George Brett in his final season; and what made that interesting was the four guys in front of him on that list. For anyone who knows baseball: Speaker, Rose, Musial and Cobb - there he is, Biggio in that all time elite company - legends of baseball! - and nobody else. Even the five behind him on the top ten list (when he retired) were legendary (in baseball terms, of course) Baseball Hall of Famers: Brett, Lajoie, Yastrzemski and all-time home run leader, Hank Aaron (until bumped as homerun leader by BarryRoids Bonds)

All time Doubles Leaders

1. Tristram Speaker 792

2. Pete Rose 746
Although Rose finished the game with more hits than anyone, he was denied the Hall of Fame because he was caught gambling (White Sox Scandal and Shoeless Joe Jackson was a gambling issue too. I still say steroids are an even worse transgression).

3. Stan Musial 725

4. Ty Cobb 723

5. Craig Biggio 668

Craig Biggio, normal guy, managed to avoid with the mark of the beast.

6. Albert Pujols 666

“Bat Albert” ..or is it Roidal Albert, just hit number 666, which prompted this comment…

7. George Brett 665

Had hemorrhoids, but “my troubles are all behind me”...

8. Nap Lajoie 657

9. Carl Yastrzemski 646

10. Honus Wagner 640

13. Hank Aaron 624

Now there was “horrifying” possibility that even if Biggio managed to squeak past Brett, he might finish his career with 666 doubles, giving one the willies in regard to his final slot.

Of all things, I happened upon a similar baseball Biggio statistic fetishist, but this guy was rooting for Biggio to finish his career the all time number one for having been hit by a pitch (a dubious distinction, but not bad, its as good as walk and you reach first base sure as a single). Biggio finished his career second in being hit by pitch - or “plunked” as this guy called it, naming his blog “Plunk Biggio.”

I promise I’m trying to go somewhere cultural with this.

The guy also noticed the same thing as me that Biggio might get stuck at 666 doubles.

And he wrote this, which is to me, a dynamite characterization of Appalachia snake handling hillbilly talk:

Plunk Biggio Blog Spot, 31 Aug 2007:

At 8/31/2007 02:26:00 AM, Anonymous cletus j. “bubba” huckabee jr. said…
Now if you ask me, and plenty folk do now and again, the log jam in the ascending plunk count might could be on account of the pending evil milestone our man “Target” is fixin’ to achieve. Contrary to what folk down at the Sanctified Temperance and Perpetual Glosolalia Church of Greater Chesterfield County believe, I ain’t necessarily a religious man. Now, granted, I show up on a regular basis and sit in the Huckabee family pew. But that is on account of me carrying on a tradition that goes back seven generations. A Huckabee male is always present when them church doors open, and as the head Huckabee of Chesterfield County, I feel a moral duty to keep the tradition going. In all my many hours of being perched on that uncomfortable pew, I learned to use my head to concentrate on more enjoyable topics than brimstone, hellfire, pending doom, and moral judgment. Don’t get me wrong, I ain’t again the church… I just like to allow my mind to drift during sermons. Well, the other day my mind drifted to the fact that Target is fixin’ to achieve his 666th double. At the Sanctified Temperance and Perpetual Glosolalia Church of Greater Chesterfield County the number 666 is seen is incredibly and indelibly evil. In fact the minions of Hades can be conjured up through the utilization of that particular number. At least, that’s what Brother Cyril done said. If’in that happens to be the case, then I am wondering if the unexpected diminution of the plunks might be the work of the evil one himself. Right today Target is sitting on 665 doubles and shares the record with George “hemorrhoids and pine tar” Brett which I find kind of creepy in and of itself. In fact, I reckon Brett might be one of the minions. Anywho, if’in Target can reach and pass 666 doubles, then maybe that will release the minions of Hades to go on back down to the depths of earth (or at least over to the American League) and leave Target alone. I know you might commence to think I’m reaching for straws, but with so few games remaining in his career, and so few plunks required to top that no-count, snivln’ weasel Hughie Jennings (who very well might be in league with the devil too) I’m desperate to figure out what went wrong and what we can do to right it.

George Brett, an all time great hitter and third basemen, wasn’t possessed by demons as he approached 666 doubles; no, he freaked out when an umpire called him out and took back a game winning home run on a freak technicality (pine tar too high on his bat).

George Brett was also known to have suffered from hemorrhoids during World Series play. He quipped, “my troubles are all behind me” ... these to incidents are mentioned in the blog post. To note, Brett was from Appalachia, West Virginia himself.

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