Vean Gregg
Posted: Wed Dec 14, 2011 10:56 am[img:7874394829]http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51HW8EP7KiL._SL500_AA300_.jpg[/img:7874394829]
[img:7874394829]http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/11400/11491r.jpg[/img:7874394829]
(Vean Gregg at Hilltop Park)
There was some talk about whether the 1911 Vean Gregg card was "worthy" of inclusion in ATG. It's true that Vean Gregg is not a name that has come down to us as one of the Gods of baseball, but some digging around shows that he was well regarded by his peers. Here is one example from a 1948 issue of Baseball Digest. I know that anecdotal evidence should always be taken with a grain of salt....
Jack Graney was talking about southpaw pitchers. Graney, whose own playing career dates back to the days when the Cleveland team was the Naps, and who continues close to the game through broadcasting, was hazy on the matter of records.
"But the greatest left-handed pitcher this club ever had," said Graney, emphatically, "was Vean Gregg."
Gregg had a spectacular but brief career in Cleveland. The records show that in his first year, 1911, he won thwenty-three games against seven defeats. The next two seasons he had identical records, twenty wins and thirteen defeats and he had a ten-and-nine mark in 1914 and later was traded to the Boston Red Sox.
"We played Pittsburgh an exhibition," Jack recalled, "and this Gregg struck out Honus Wagner four times.
"Gregg had one of those curve balls that would reach for the flagpole then zoom down almost to the dirt. He had old Honus three-and-two and gave him that curve. Honus was just starting to move to first on a base on balls when she dropped over the plate. He just gave a jerk with the bat at the last second and misssed.
"As he waddled out to short he passed Larry Lajoie coming in. Honus said, 'That guy has a lot of stuff!' Larry gave him the wink and said, 'You oughta see him some day when he's really good.'"
[img:7874394829]http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/20000/20081r.jpg[/img:7874394829]
Gregg on the right with the Babe, Bill Carrigan, Jack Barry 1916
[img:7874394829]http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/11400/11491r.jpg[/img:7874394829]
(Vean Gregg at Hilltop Park)
There was some talk about whether the 1911 Vean Gregg card was "worthy" of inclusion in ATG. It's true that Vean Gregg is not a name that has come down to us as one of the Gods of baseball, but some digging around shows that he was well regarded by his peers. Here is one example from a 1948 issue of Baseball Digest. I know that anecdotal evidence should always be taken with a grain of salt....
Jack Graney was talking about southpaw pitchers. Graney, whose own playing career dates back to the days when the Cleveland team was the Naps, and who continues close to the game through broadcasting, was hazy on the matter of records.
"But the greatest left-handed pitcher this club ever had," said Graney, emphatically, "was Vean Gregg."
Gregg had a spectacular but brief career in Cleveland. The records show that in his first year, 1911, he won thwenty-three games against seven defeats. The next two seasons he had identical records, twenty wins and thirteen defeats and he had a ten-and-nine mark in 1914 and later was traded to the Boston Red Sox.
"We played Pittsburgh an exhibition," Jack recalled, "and this Gregg struck out Honus Wagner four times.
"Gregg had one of those curve balls that would reach for the flagpole then zoom down almost to the dirt. He had old Honus three-and-two and gave him that curve. Honus was just starting to move to first on a base on balls when she dropped over the plate. He just gave a jerk with the bat at the last second and misssed.
"As he waddled out to short he passed Larry Lajoie coming in. Honus said, 'That guy has a lot of stuff!' Larry gave him the wink and said, 'You oughta see him some day when he's really good.'"
[img:7874394829]http://lcweb2.loc.gov/service/pnp/ggbain/20000/20081r.jpg[/img:7874394829]
Gregg on the right with the Babe, Bill Carrigan, Jack Barry 1916