The 40s & 50s

[donzblock]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon? (You look at old pictures of Ted Williams, and you realize he was also just a skinny kid.) And you look at Gil and you see honest muscle, real guns. The Brooklyn Dodgers were unenhanced and great. Ted Williams, the old Yankees, and the Brooklyn Dodgers proved that baseball could be steroid-free and still great.

[DODGER DEB]

B-I-N-G-O! YOU hit the "nail right on the head", Professor!

These overpaid whinners of today have NO RESPECT for the GAME, NO LOYALTY to a TEAM, and they will do ANYTHING to enhance their next contract. THAT is all BASEBALL means to them!

Aren't YOU glad WE saw GREAT BASEBALL.......BECAUSE THE PLAYERS WE SAW WERE EXTREMELY TALENTED and SIMPLY GREAT!!

Sadly, it is something the fans today find hard to understand and, as a result, many see the need to "defend" players like Bonds and Giambi, among others.

c.

[shlevine42]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon?

And a cannon it was...right up until the time he died.

Carl was my Coach at Dodger Camp in '86, (just three years before he died), and we spent much time talking and playing catch. He was 64 at the time, and a bit chunkier than in his playing days, but he was burning my hand with his throws. After a session with him, it usually took an hour or two for the sting to subside and the redness to disappear.

Then, the next day, he'd torture me all over again! (But considering the source of my pain, it was a treat.)

He had an easy motion, but the ball still came in hard and flat...like a rocket. Just the way he would rifle it to Jackie or Pee Wee from the base of the right field wall to gun down a batter foolish enough to go for two.

He was blessed with a powerful arm, and I was lucky to have caught a few of his throws.

[JACKIE42]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon? (You look at old pictures of Ted Williams, and you realize he was also just a skinny kid.) And you look at Gil and you see honest muscle, real guns. The Brooklyn Dodgers were unenhanced and great. Ted Williams, the old Yankees, and the Brooklyn Dodgers proved that baseball could be steroid-free and still great.

I would like to believe that the players in the old days would not have used steroids even if they were available, but i wonder. In the old days there were no multi year contracts and only 16 teams, which made the competition much greater then today, do we really think that some of the guys wouldn't do just what a Bonds or Giambi did. Im not talking about the super-stars necessarily, but how about the third- stringer who is told if he takes some steroids in a few short months he could maybe become a first- stringer. When every year most players had to prove themselves worthy of making the team or they were shipped to the minors or worse just dropped no questions asked, the temptation to do drugs may become pretty tempting. Just wondering thats all, i don't have any players in mind. I hope we are not guilty of being holier then thou.

[donzblock]

Maybe we are, but we can only speculate about what those players would have done. The pictures prove they were honest. Add Big Klu to that bunch. That man had muscles on muscles, and he was a terror in Ebbets. I loved watching him at the plate. I also cannot imagine a Klu, a Williams, a Reese, or a Hodges cheating. They had character and great respect for the game.

[JACKIE42]

Imagine a Klu, a Williams, a Reese, or a Hodges cheating. They had character and great respect for the game.[/QUOTE]

Professor, Im not referring to the super-stars, talking about the much less talented.

[donzblock]

Well, then, the much less talented were lucky enough to play in an era where they did not have the opportunity to cheat that the Bondses, the Maguires, the Sosas, the Giambis, and the Dykstras had. We can only speculate about what the much less talented might have done. We know what our modern players have done. And how much more sordid is baseball today? I read an interesting but cynical quote in the Times today about the Yankees and Giambi. The reporter believes that the Yankees are furious with Giambi not because he took steroids but because he stopped taking them.

[DODGER DEB]

Well, then, the much less talented were lucky enough to play in an era where they did not have the opportunity to cheat that the Bondses, the Maguires, the Sosas, the Giambis, and the Dykstras had. We can only speculate about what the much less talented might have done. We know what our modern players have done. And how much more sordid is baseball today? I read an interesting but cynical quote in the Times today about the Yankees and Giambi. The reporter believes that the Yankees are furious with Giambi not because he took steroids but because he stopped taking them.

WHY does THAT NOT surprise me!

WE have always known that to be the pinstripes....WINNING, anyway you can, is the ONLY THING!

c.

[prof93]

I don't think thats very fair Deb. Your bashing the entire history of the Yankees for what Giambi did. Certainly you realize that the Yankess of the 1920's to the begining of the Geroge Era were above such poor values.

[DODGER DEB]

I don't think thats very fair Deb. Your bashing the entire history of the Yankees for what Giambi did. Certainly you realize that the Yankess of the 1920's to the begining of the Geroge Era were above such poor values.

You are right, I wasn't totally fair.

What I should have said was, excluding the Yankees of 1920's through 1946, which were teams that I really have little knowledge of. However, after that, in the years between 1947-1957, and beyond, what I said still applies, IMO.

c.







c.

[tonypug]

Jackie, any idea what year that glove is from?

[JACKIE42]

Jackie, any idea what year that glove is from?

The year was 1949.

[JACKIE42]

Bums Bombard Blackwell
Ebbets Field / May 21, 1952
By James G. Robinson

For most of his career, Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell owned the Dodgers. In his prime, Cincinnati's rail-thin, right-handed sidearmer intimidated Brooklyn's predominantly right-handed, power-laden lineup like no other pitcher in the National League. Brooklyn stars would often take the day off when Blackwell took the mound; even left-hander Duke Snider well remembered the game Blackwell struck him out five times.

Blackwell didn't particularly care for the Bums, either. In 1947, he was just two outs away from tying teammate Johnny Vander Meer's record with a second consecutive no-hitter when Dodger second baseman Eddie Stanky grounded Brooklyn's first hit of the game back through the box. When Jackie Robinson came up later in the inning, Blackwell unleashed his rage with a shower of racial epithets.

On May 21, 1952, the Dodgers got their revenge with the biggest single-inning barrage in modern baseball history.

The Reds' disastrous first inning began, innocently enough, when Blackwell induced a groundout from Brooklyn leadoff man Billy Cox. It ended 59 minutes later when Duke Snider took a called third strike from Reds reliever Frank Smith. In the inning, four Reds pitchers faced 21 Brooklyn batters, allowing ten hits, seven walks and two hit batsmen. It all added up to a new major-league record -- 15 runs in a single stanza.

Blackwell later recalled "the Dodgers were going around those bases like a merry-go-round." He faced just six batters, surrendering two walks, two hits, and a Snider home run before Cincinnati manager Luke Sewell sent him to the showers. "Blackie, it's not your night," said Sewell. "I'm getting the same idea," replied Blackwell.

Right-hander Bud Byerly was called on to stem the tide -- indeed, the end of the inning seemed in sight when Reds catcher Andy Seminick nabbed Andy Pafko trying to steal third base. But Byerly walked Gil Hodges and the carnage continued. Four consecutive singles scored four more Dodger runs and Byerly was history.

Even though it seems logistically improbable, Blackwell's assertion that both he and Byerly were able to shower and return to the team's hotel in time to watch the rest of the first inning remains a part of baseball lore.

The next sacrificial lamb for the Reds was Herm Wehmeier, who promptly walked Snider to load the bases and then plunked Jackie Robinson to score Billy Cox. When Pafko followed with a two-run single that was it for Wehmeier. A frustrated Sewell turned to workhorse Frank Smith, who matched the previous Reds relievers by staring down his first batter and promptly walking the bases loaded. Another free pass to Hodges plated the Dodgers' 11th run, and a bad-hop grounder by Rube Walker scored two more. Dodger starter Chris Van Cuyk followed with his second RBI single of the inning.

The Dodgers had now batted around twice in the inning and Sewell had apparently decided it was best to save the rest of his bullpen for more important contests. Resigned to his fate, Smith hit Cox to load the bases again and walked Pee Wee Reese, scoring Walker. Having plunged his team to unprecedented depths of ineptitude, Smith somehow caught Snider looking with a curve to end the debacle. Perhaps the Duke of Flatbush hoped to pad his RBI totals with another bases-loaded walk.

The autopsy was this: every Dodger had scored, driven in at least one run, and (except for Hodges, who walked twice) had a base hit to their name. And that was with Brooklyn stars Roy Campanella and Carl Furillo sitting on the bench with minor injuries.

Compared to Cincinnati's bumbling hurlers, Dodgers pitcher Chris Van Cuyk looked like Babe Ruth in his pitching prime. Not only did Van Cuyk go the distance, holding the Reds to one run (a Dixie Howell hit a solo shot in the fifth) on five hits -- he also led the Brooklyn attack with four hits in five trips to the plate. But the game would prove to be one of the few highlights in an otherwise uninspiring career; 1952 proved to be the last of Van Cuyk's three seasons in the majors.

The win gave the Dodgers a hold on first they would never relinquish. Charlie Dressen's Bums finished the season 96-57, 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place New York Giants.

[DODGER DEB]

Bums Bombard Blackwell
Ebbets Field / May 21, 1952
By James G. Robinson

For most of his career, Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell owned the Dodgers. In his prime, Cincinnati's rail-thin, right-handed sidearmer intimidated Brooklyn's predominantly right-handed, power-laden lineup like no other pitcher in the National League. Brooklyn stars would often take the day off when Blackwell took the mound; even left-hander Duke Snider well remembered the game Blackwell struck him out five times.

Blackwell didn't particularly care for the Bums, either. In 1947, he was just two outs away from tying teammate Johnny Vander Meer's record with a second consecutive no-hitter when Dodger second baseman Eddie Stanky grounded Brooklyn's first hit of the game back through the box. When Jackie Robinson came up later in the inning, Blackwell unleashed his rage with a shower of racial epithets.

On May 21, 1952, the Dodgers got their revenge with the biggest single-inning barrage in modern baseball history.

The Reds' disastrous first inning began, innocently enough, when Blackwell induced a groundout from Brooklyn leadoff man Billy Cox. It ended 59 minutes later when Duke Snider took a called third strike from Reds reliever Frank Smith. In the inning, four Reds pitchers faced 21 Brooklyn batters, allowing ten hits, seven walks and two hit batsmen. It all added up to a new major-league record -- 15 runs in a single stanza.

Blackwell later recalled "the Dodgers were going around those bases like a merry-go-round." He faced just six batters, surrendering two walks, two hits, and a Snider home run before Cincinnati manager Luke Sewell sent him to the showers. "Blackie, it's not your night," said Sewell. "I'm getting the same idea," replied Blackwell.

Right-hander Bud Byerly was called on to stem the tide -- indeed, the end of the inning seemed in sight when Reds catcher Andy Seminick nabbed Andy Pafko trying to steal third base. But Byerly walked Gil Hodges and the carnage continued. Four consecutive singles scored four more Dodger runs and Byerly was history.

Even though it seems logistically improbable, Blackwell's assertion that both he and Byerly were able to shower and return to the team's hotel in time to watch the rest of the first inning remains a part of baseball lore.

The next sacrificial lamb for the Reds was Herm Wehmeier, who promptly walked Snider to load the bases and then plunked Jackie Robinson to score Billy Cox. When Pafko followed with a two-run single that was it for Wehmeier. A frustrated Sewell turned to workhorse Frank Smith, who matched the previous Reds relievers by staring down his first batter and promptly walking the bases loaded. Another free pass to Hodges plated the Dodgers' 11th run, and a bad-hop grounder by Rube Walker scored two more. Dodger starter Chris Van Cuyk followed with his second RBI single of the inning.

The Dodgers had now batted around twice in the inning and Sewell had apparently decided it was best to save the rest of his bullpen for more important contests. Resigned to his fate, Smith hit Cox to load the bases again and walked Pee Wee Reese, scoring Walker. Having plunged his team to unprecedented depths of ineptitude, Smith somehow caught Snider looking with a curve to end the debacle. Perhaps the Duke of Flatbush hoped to pad his RBI totals with another bases-loaded walk.

The autopsy was this: every Dodger had scored, driven in at least one run, and (except for Hodges, who walked twice) had a base hit to their name. And that was with Brooklyn stars Roy Campanella and Carl Furillo sitting on the bench with minor injuries.

Compared to Cincinnati's bumbling hurlers, Dodgers pitcher Chris Van Cuyk looked like Babe Ruth in his pitching prime. Not only did Van Cuyk go the distance, holding the Reds to one run (a Dixie Howell hit a solo shot in the fifth) on five hits -- he also led the Brooklyn attack with four hits in five trips to the plate. But the game would prove to be one of the few highlights in an otherwise uninspiring career; 1952 proved to be the last of Van Cuyk's three seasons in the majors.

The win gave the Dodgers a hold on first they would never relinquish. Charlie Dressen's Bums finished the season 96-57, 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place New York Giants.

I guess by the end of that game, with the score being gloriously out of sight, Dressen put in all the "utility guys", as WE used to call them!

c.

[tonypug]

I guess by the end of that game, with the score being gloriously out of sight, Dressen put in all the "utility guys", as WE used to call them!

c.

You still have to wonder about Charlie though. Why would he keep PEE WEE in a game like that. In the story Jackie 42 posted, it said Furillo didn't start the game because of a small injury, yet there he was in the game at the end.