- Posts: 2122
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2012 4:36 pm
- Location: Myrtle Beach SC by way of Staten Island, NY
Sat Oct 12, 2013 11:00 am
Al Simmons
The story goes that when Aloysius Szymanski came home from the 4th grade one day, he proudly announced to his Polish immigrant father that he was going to be a professional baseball player. His no nonsense father insisted that Al’s future was in the butcher business and he got the strap. After the beating, Al defiantly insisted he was going to play baseball. His father insisted that, under those circumstances, he better be a good one.
Oscar “Heavy”Johnson
Former pitcher Bill "Plunk" Drake said that Johnson was once sleeping on the bench when he was awoken and told to pinch-hit; he grabbed a fungo bat and hit a home run. Despite Johnson's weight, he was described as a "remarkably fast runner for his bulk." He was also described as temperamental and moody, one of the "nasty boys".Johnson finished his career in 1933 with a .337 lifetime batting average.
Hans Lobert
During his career, Lobert was known as one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the game. He once raced a racehorse around the bases before a game, an event that he recounted in The Glory of Their Times.
A 1953 film, Big Leaguer, set at a Giants training camp in Florida, was a fictional story, but starred Edward G. Robinson in the role of Hans Lobert.
Claude Hendrix
According to "Striking Out a Baseball Myth", by Amy Geiszler-Jones, "Hendrix was a right-handed pitcher who "could work the spitball to perfection," according to Wichita newspaper reports, he led the National League with his winning percentage in 1912 and 1918 and played in the 1918 World Series. Hendrix had the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the first game in the ballpark later renamed Wrigley Field.
"Hendrix’s link to one of baseball’s most notorious gambling scandals tainted his legacy in baseball.
"The 1919 World Series, it was discovered in grand jury hearings held in 1920, was thrown by several Chicago White Sox players. Eight players were indicted and then banned from baseball for throwing the series.
"Hendrix, the pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, had been linked to the scandal because it was events surrounding the Aug. 31, 1920, game he was scheduled to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies that led to the hearings. Cubs president Bill Veeck received telephone calls and telegrams saying Detroit gamblers were betting heavily that the Phillies, ranked at the bottom of the league, would beat the Cubs, a top team. The Cubs switched their rotation and went with their better pitcher, Grover Cleveland Alexander, instead but still ended up losing the game.
The story goes that when Aloysius Szymanski came home from the 4th grade one day, he proudly announced to his Polish immigrant father that he was going to be a professional baseball player. His no nonsense father insisted that Al’s future was in the butcher business and he got the strap. After the beating, Al defiantly insisted he was going to play baseball. His father insisted that, under those circumstances, he better be a good one.
Oscar “Heavy”Johnson
Former pitcher Bill "Plunk" Drake said that Johnson was once sleeping on the bench when he was awoken and told to pinch-hit; he grabbed a fungo bat and hit a home run. Despite Johnson's weight, he was described as a "remarkably fast runner for his bulk." He was also described as temperamental and moody, one of the "nasty boys".Johnson finished his career in 1933 with a .337 lifetime batting average.
Hans Lobert
During his career, Lobert was known as one of the fastest, if not the fastest, players in the game. He once raced a racehorse around the bases before a game, an event that he recounted in The Glory of Their Times.
A 1953 film, Big Leaguer, set at a Giants training camp in Florida, was a fictional story, but starred Edward G. Robinson in the role of Hans Lobert.
Claude Hendrix
According to "Striking Out a Baseball Myth", by Amy Geiszler-Jones, "Hendrix was a right-handed pitcher who "could work the spitball to perfection," according to Wichita newspaper reports, he led the National League with his winning percentage in 1912 and 1918 and played in the 1918 World Series. Hendrix had the distinction of being the winning pitcher in the first game in the ballpark later renamed Wrigley Field.
"Hendrix’s link to one of baseball’s most notorious gambling scandals tainted his legacy in baseball.
"The 1919 World Series, it was discovered in grand jury hearings held in 1920, was thrown by several Chicago White Sox players. Eight players were indicted and then banned from baseball for throwing the series.
"Hendrix, the pitcher for the Chicago Cubs, had been linked to the scandal because it was events surrounding the Aug. 31, 1920, game he was scheduled to pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies that led to the hearings. Cubs president Bill Veeck received telephone calls and telegrams saying Detroit gamblers were betting heavily that the Phillies, ranked at the bottom of the league, would beat the Cubs, a top team. The Cubs switched their rotation and went with their better pitcher, Grover Cleveland Alexander, instead but still ended up losing the game.