Cool baseball related photos

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1980 National League Rookie of the Year, '81 World Series Champion, and '82 All-Star Steve Howe would have turned 66 today. He pitched 13 games for the Twins in 1985.

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Bob Uecker talking to Hank Aaron pregame

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Roberto Clemente making a leaping attempt at the wall.

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Dock Ellis was born on this date in 1945, in Los Angeles, California.
Ellis signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964 and made his MLB debut in 1968.
Throughout his playing career, Ellis achieved remarkable milestones, including pitching a no-hitter on June 12, 1970, while reportedly under the influence of LSD. His best year was 1971 when he was an all-star (& 19 game winner) and helped lead the Pirates to the championship.
Beyond his success with the Pirates, Ellis also contributed significantly to the teams he joined thereafter, including the New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, and New York Mets.
After retiring in 1979, Ellis transitioned into a role that allowed him to use his experiences to help others, becoming a drug counselor focusing on substance abuse. Ellis also continued the work he did as a player in being an outspoken advocate for players' rights and against racial inequality.
Happy birthday to Dock Ellis!

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Ty Cobb giving out hitting lessons to the Milwaukee Brewers. Hank Aaron listens intently.

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Ty Cobb and Shoeless Joe Jackson

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With Hank Aaron sitting on 713 career homers to start the 1974 season, the Atlanta Braves plan to sit their prized outfielder for their first three games at Cincinnati to give Aaron a chance at home to tie and then break Babe Ruth’s hallowed record of 714.

Commissioner and noted buzz kill Bowie Kuhn, though, nixes the plan 50 years ago today as he orders the Braves to play the 40-year-old Aaron in at least two of the three season-opening games at Cincinnati.


Aaron promptly starts the 1974 season on April 4 by tying Ruth’s record as he launches a three-run homer off the Reds' Jack Billingham in the first inning at Riverfront Stadium.

Aaron, though, reaches base on an error, walks and flies out in three other plate appearances that day against Billingham and reliever Roger Nelson before sitting out the series’ second game.

He then goes 0-for-3 against Reds starter Clay Kirby with two strikeouts – both looking – and a groundout in the series’ final game at Cincinnati.

The Braves return April 8 to Atlanta, where Aaron breaks Ruth’s record with a fourth-inning homer off Los Angele Dodgers starter Al Downing.

Kuhn is conspicuously absent from that record-breaker moment in Atlanta, opting instead to send one of his top assistants – Hall of Famer Monte Irvin – to represent the commissioner’s office.

During the 11-minute, in-game celebration after the historic homer, Irvin presents Aaron with a watch – yes, a watch – from the commissioner.

Then, as soon as Irvin begins to mention Kuhn’s name, the sellout crowd of 53,775 in Atlanta sets off a cacophony of boos for a commissioner who is not there to hear them.

“I was smiling, because of the boos he was receiving,” Aaron later says. “I hit 714 in Cincinnati. Somebody should have said, ‘He played, he did the best he could, why not let him hit 715 in Atlanta?’ I think I should have been given that privilege.”