"Dead-ball" era Characters wanted....tell us of your favorites ?

[mcgwirecom]

George Edward "Rube" Waddell. One of the great characters of that era. Another one of those "what if" players. Just happened to be an awesome southpaw but probably didn't really even care that much about the game. First guy to strike out over 300 batters in a season (349 the record until 1973!) But was a huge pain to his managers. Needed to be watched 24-7 and even during the off season! Was an alcoholic, an actor (bad), engaged in very risky behavior most of the time. Loved to fight fires and had to be restrained from leaving games when the fire brigade went by. I read a good book about him by a guy named Levy. A lot of great stories about him were embellished, but still a lot of true ones! Was gone from baseball at 33. He ended up getting tuberculosis after helping out in a flood. Died at the age of 37. 193 Wins, 143 Losses, 2316 Ks, 2.16 ERA. My grandfather told me he saw him play and that he was the best pitcher he ever saw...

[ethicsprof]

It's well past midnight, but i'm remembering an old story about Ray Chapman,I believe, when he was facing the train speed fastball of Walter Johnson.
He too quickly leaves the batter's box, hustling back to his teammates, when
the umpire yells "you've got another strike left." Ray, not missing a step,
yells back astutely(word choice for you,ted)--"you can have it; i don't want it."
In 1920, Ray dies when hit by Carl Mays fastball.

Not deadball but a great anecdote that i remember from listening to dizzy dean with Pee Wee call the baseball games between falstaffs, when i was a kid.
Asked how great Bill Terry was, Diz simply tells us that Terry hit a ball so hard once that it went through the pitcher's legs and then soared and sailed over the fence for a homerun. Great falstaff methinks.

all the best, ole buddy
barry

[Brian Van Horn]

Nominated for racing a horse around the bases:

[bh3443]

What a great assembly of Donlin's cards and awesome story, Ted!
Barry, nice one on Champan!
Lobert racing a horse? Great one!

A fun thread, Ted. Thanks, my friends for these gems! Keep them coming!

You are all the best friends ever and I love you guys like brothers~~~~
Bill Hedin
Proud member of Net54!

[birdman42]

Germany Schaefer, noted for stealing three bases on consecutive pitches. Of course, one of them was first base.

(And, apparently, for wearing elf shoes.)

Bill

[terjung]

Originally Posted by mcgwirecom

My grandfather told me he saw him play and that he was the best pitcher he ever saw...

Now THAT is what it is all about! Getting a firsthand account about the play of this deadball-era, weird bird had to be incredible. Consider me jealous of that conversation.

Anybody else talk to someone who told firsthand stories of early 20th century players?

[Rob D.]

Originally Posted by terjung

Anybody else talk to someone who told firsthand stories of early 20th century players?

Johnny Neun, who played for the Tigers during the 1925-28 seasons, was a special instructor for the Brewers when I played in their organization in the mid-1980s. Although he didn't reach the majors until after the deadball era, he shared incredible stories. I can remember sitting on the bleachers and chatting with him one-on-one at the end of workouts and thinking, "I'm talking to someone who was a teammate of Ty Cobb."

It was surreal.

[Touch'EmAll]

At St. Mary's, Brother Mathias wanted the kids to learn a marketable skill to later help them through life.

Babe had a tailoring and heming job for which he was paid. Babe used the money to buy candy for all the kids. Even as a kid, Babe was a loveable teddy bear type and very popular. Dude taking his own hard earned money to buy candy for the less priviledged.

I have a 4 year old, and his fondness of candy takes me back to my own youth when my sister and I would walk down to the 7-11, use our allowance to buy candy (and packs of baseball cards).

Story goes even when Babe was all grown up, big and famous, he still tailored his own clothes.

[Jay Wolt]

Here's another character who had a sad life and died young.

(taken from Wikipedia)

Raymond was born in Chicago, Illinois. He started his professional baseball career with the Waterloo Microbes in 1904.[1] After a short stint with the Tigers, Raymond returned to the minors. He developed his spitball sometime in 1906. With the new pitch, he had a big season in 1907, going 35-11 for the South Atlantic League's Charleston Sea Gulls. Raymond pitched a no-hitter that year, as well, and led Charleston to the pennant.[2] The Cardinals purchased him in September, and in 1908, he was the best pitcher on the team. His 2.03 earned run average ranked tenth in the National League, and his 145 strikeouts were fourth-best. During the 1908 season, he gave up fewer hits per game than Christy Mathewson and threw five shutouts, but he was also on the mound eleven times when the Cardinals failed to score.[3]

Raymond was known for his spitball and got his nickname because of his zany antics on the mound. What might have been a promising career was short-circuited by a perpetual addiction to alcohol. The only manager who could keep Raymond in line for any length of time was hard-nosed Giants manager John McGraw. McGraw picked him up in the Roger Bresnahan trade before the 1909 season, and Bugs won 18 games for him that year.[2]

However, Raymond could never stay sober for long. McGraw tried everything - including fining him so there wouldn't be any money left for drinks and hiring a detective to trail Bugs - but nothing worked. In addition, Raymond had a subpar performance on the mound in 1910, going 4-11. He was released him midway through the Giants' 1911 pennant-winning season.[2]

In 1912, after a short stint in an independent league, Raymond got into a number of fights in Chicago and ended up badly beaten. He died of a fractured skull a few weeks later at age 30.[4]

[iggyman]

A little bit more info. on Arthur L. "Bugs" Raymond's death:

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...+raymond&hl=en

Lovely Day...

[Jay Wolt]

Iggy Thanks for the article scan

[iggyman]

A little bit past the T206 era but a little bit before the Goudey era, what about Flint Rhem??? A recent eBay auction brought him to mind. In the thick of a pennant race and on the day he was scheduled to pitch, he actually claimed that he was kidnapped by two Brooklyn Dodger fans and forced to drink booze for 24 hours ??? The great part about this tale, is that he got away with it. Here is the story as per Google archives>>>

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...int+rhem&hl=en


In 1960 he told the truth (or at least blamed it on Gabby Street who was conveniently dead at the time>>>

http://news.google.com/newspapers?id...int+rhem&hl=en

Lovely Day...

[birdman42]

Originally Posted by Jay Wolt

Raymond was born in Chicago, Illinois. He started his professional baseball career with the Waterloo Microbes in 1904.[1]

The Waterloo Microbes? And I thought the Albuquerque Isotopes had a great name. I'd love to hear the story behind the Waterloo team name.

Bill

[albrshbr]

So I'm reading the bio on Dummy Taylor, and guess who his roommate is on the Giants...Mike Donlin.