Cool baseball related photos

[jingram058]

I don't think they disliked each other.

[jingram058]

1939 season, after Lou Gehrig took himself out.

[jingram058]

July 4th, 1939.

[jingram058]

An excellent version of their team photo.

[jingram058]

On the Orpheum Circuit. From what I've read, he walked out on stage in civilian clothes, sat down on a stool, and answered questions on pretty much any subject from the 150 or so people who attended, and signed many autographs.

[jingram058]

Some people say he could be difficult. These fans didn't find him so, and I have an official AL ball signed by him at the children's hospital over on the other coast of Florida. Nothing but gracious, easy to talk to. One of my all-time favorites.

[jingram058]

I've heard people say he could be difficult also. For me, nothing could be further from the truth. When I was aboard USS Independence CV-62 in 1992, before we trans-Pac'ed (crossed the Pacific) from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan, our new home port, the ship was visited by several of the "MCI Ambassadors of Baseball", Bert Campaneris, Graig Nettles, Johnny Vander Meer, and Bob Feller. They met with the officers in the wardroom for a while, then came to the aft mess decks, where tables were set up, and you could meet/greet with these fellows. Being old school, I got in line for first, Johnny Vander Meer, who signed a color post card of him in his Reds uniform. Such a nice man. He talked probably 5 minutes with everyone who he met with. Then, Bob Feller, the Van Meter Heater himself. He also spoke at length with all of us swabbies, asking how we liked the Navy, how things were going, etc. He signed and gave me an MCI basebal card with him in his Navy CPO uniform from World War 2 and in his Cleveland Indians uniform. Just another super nice man. Bob Feller didn't join the Navy just to sit comfortably behind the lines playing ball. He was also a Gunner's Mate on board the battleship USS Alabama BB-60, earning 8 battle stars in combat.

[edtiques]

Originally Posted by jingram058

An excellent version of their team photo.

Great photos!!! Thank you for contributing to the thread!

[edtiques]

Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig giving the rodeo a try, 1928.

[edtiques]

My 1912 newspaper covering Walter Johnson’s trip to the Remington Arms Company complex in Bridgeport, Connecticut so that the speed of his fastball could be measured. The result is shown at being 122 feet per second (83MPH). While most baseball fans of today would scoff at such a low number and claim that the talent of yesteryear would struggle to compete with the standards we have now, I’ve taken the time to delve a bit further into this test to see how well it translates to modern methods. The test was performed on October 6, 1912, three days after pitching a complete game shutout to end the season in which he pitched 369 total innings! The test required Johnson to throw a baseball through a small wooden frame 60 feet 6 inches away with trip measuring wires that would start the speed test and a metal plate 15 feet behind the wires that would be struck to end the test. This means, that at the recorded speed, Johnson’s fastball was tested after traveling a total of 75 feet. For the test, Johnson wore dress clothes (including shoes) and would stand on flat ground (no use of cleats or a mound). The apparatus was also set up to measure at shoulder height and the ball had to strike the metal plate behind it, and according to Walter Johnson’s biographer, Johnson had to change from his usual sidearm pitching motion in order for the ball to strike the wires and the plate. The biographer also noted “after some effort and with a consequent loss of speed in an attempt to place the ball accurately” Johnson was able to complete the test as set up. With that being said, today’s speeds are measured 50 feet from home plate, a difference of 25 feet! A physicist measuring speeds of fastballs later corrected the variance and adjusted Johnson’s speed to have been at 93MPH at 50 feet from the plate. Even at the adjustment, no considerations were taken for the other variables and to my knowledge this was the only time his fastball was officially measured. With all of this in mind, it could be said that in playing conditions and modern measuring techniques, Johnson most likely was throwing in the mid 90’s on average, but we can never know for certain!