Misc. Bull$h!t

thanks for the kind words, Pipps and inger. I will always be regretful, but as inger said, I really can't change it now.

You comment on the 1950's Cubs was spot on, I thought. Their big weapon early was Hank Sauer. He was a real fan favorite, and the poor man's answer to Kiner. In the late 40's through 1952, when I saw some games (and listened to WGN, as you say, as well) there was some talent there at Wrigley. A young 1B named Eddie Waitkus was replacing the aging Cavaretta. He got traded to the Phillies. The 3B was Andy Pafko. He got traded to the Dodgers. That says something about the Cub management. They had a decent OF in Peanuts Lowrey, Hal Jeffcoat, and Bill Nicholson even before Pafko moved to the OF and Sauer came along. The SS was Roy Smalley who had a son who later played for the Yankees, I believe. I remember some fuss being made over a young Gene Mauch, but he didn't develop as hoped. The pitching was the weak part. Johnny Schmitz was pretty good, at least in my memory, and a young Russ Meyer. I think Meyer got traded to the Phils as well. He could throw hard. The catchers didn't help much. Rube Walker and Clyde McCullough if I got them right. The bad part was that their home games were all day games, so unless I had skipped school, I only heard the radio feed from the away games. Still, it was something to share with my Uncle, who was a more mellow personality than my Father. Also, I was better behaved, because I had burned the bridge to Pottstown, and had nowhere to go until I could join the Navy. Hope I haven't been out of step in posting some Cub stuff.

I noticed on that chart that every player on it played in the Live Ball Era.  Charlie Gehringer started his career in the mid-20s and he is by far the furthest-back player on that list.  Cano is the only one whose career began after the 1980s.

I understand the issue with more recent players because so many strikeouts means there are simply fewer balls in play, thereby diminishing the opportunities for a twin-killing.  As for the lack of Deadball Era players, I am speculating that the vastly inferior gloves and deplorable field conditions made it tougher to pull off a double play.  There were for sure acknowledged outstanding defensive second basemen in that era -- Eddie Collins, Laughing Larry Doyle, Bid McPhee and Evers himself -- but double plays became much more common with the live ball.  Those beat-up rarely-replaced baseballs from that time also took a tick longer to get to the fielder, giving the runner more of a chance to beat out a grounder or a relay throw.  My speculation anyway, but I think it's reasonable.

Bill James did a study on the dearth of great defensive second basemen in that era, and to boil it down mercilessly he concluded that until about 1930, second base was considered a primary offense position while third base was considered a primary defense position.  He backed his conclusion by noting how many more second basemen than third basemen were winning batting crowns, having 200-hit seasons, scoring runs, hitting home runs and so on.  He noted that this began to change about a decade into the Live Ball Era.  Points to ponder anyway.

Evers himself was generally considered to be an unbearable person, a 125-pound tightly-wound screamer who regularly berated his teammates.  He and the affable Joe Tinker went years without speaking to each other away from the diamond.  His nickname of "The Crab" came from his disposition, not the way he moved on the field.  Frank Chance said that although Evers was a great player, he wished Evers had been an outfielder so he wouldn't have to listen to him.

Another surprise to me on that list was that such solid second basemen as Tommy Herr and Davey Lopes, who played for many years with the same outstanding SS partner -- obviously Ozzie Smith for Herr and Bill Russell for Lopes -- weren't on there.  Things don't always add up the way we might expect. 

I always wondered what kept Russell on that Dodger infield all those years. A so-so bat and what seemed to be ho-hum defense, to me. I never felt Lopes was there for his glove, either.

Here was very sure-handed, but I didn’t think he had the best range… Just how I saw them as a hypercritical youth that then watched every inning I could find on TV…

Billy, I looked up Fletcher Street and I see that it runs mostly through the Lakeview neighborhood, not too far from Wrigley Field.  Houses there are pretty pricey these days, so if you have any inheritance there you might want to look into it.

Charlie Grimm -- "Jolly Cholly" as he was often called -- had a lot of success both as a player and manager.  In fact he is one of only six people to both play and manage in at least 2,000 games (the others are Cap Anson, Fred Clarke, Jimmy Dykes, Joe Torre and Dusty Baker -- Al Lopez just missed with 1,950 games played.)  Grimm batted .290 for his career as a first baseman and was often among the fielding leaders at the position.  He played on some outstanding Cubs teams in the late 20s-early 30s managed by future Yankee skipper Joe McCarthy -- he was in a lineup that included heavy hitters like Rogers Hornsby, Gabby Hartnett, Hack Wilson, Kiki Cuyler and Riggs Stephenson.  He also managed the Cubs to three pennants.  I only remember him as an old man who seemed very jovial and didn't take life too seriously (despite the name Grimm.)  Playing his banjo, singing with the fans, telling stories that may or may not have been literally true.  After he had been retired for awhile, the Cubs brought him back in 1960 -- replacing Bob Scheffing who you mentioned -- but he only lasted for a few weeks when Phil Wrigley decided to have Charlie switch jobs with broadcaster Lou Boudreau.  You probably know that Boudreau later became Denny McLain's father-in-law.  That could not have been easy.

Yeah, those rotating managers -- they called it "The College of Coaches" -- didn't work out.  A guy would manage for a couple of weeks, then get sent to manage in the minors or work as an instructor, and then maybe a month later would be back managing.  A guy named El Tappe had three separate stints in that year, in which the Cubs went 64-90.  Don Zimmer was Captain of that team and he very publicly blasted the whole concept as being idiotic, which didn't sit too well with Mr. Wrigley, who came up with the idea.

I remember Warren Hacker at the end of his career pitching for the Phillies.  He pitched in the second big league game I ever went to in 1957.  I was disappointed because Robin Roberts had been scheduled to pitch.  Hank Sauer was in that game, as was Willie Mays in the final days of the New York Giants.

Sid Gordon was a little before my time, although I did hear stories about how slow he was.  Ernie Lombardi is considered by people who really know their history to be the slowest runner ever to play in the major leagues.  He was still a great hitter, but apparently moved like a tortoise.  Gus Triandos, Dick Stuart, Cecil Fielder, Jim Thome, David Ortiz, Edgar Martinez, any of the Molina brothers -- you used a sun dial to measure their speed.  Elston Howard was no sprint champion either, but not as slow as those guys.

How lucky that you could go to Cubs' games at a time when it was easy to walk up a few minutes before game time and get a good seat.  It's hardly an original thought, but I do think Wrigley Field is the most beautiful or charming of any of the major league stadiums.  At least of the ones I have been to.  That ivy in the OF wasn't put in until Bill Veeck had it planted in 1937.  Hard to imagine the place without it.

That sounds like another George special.  Get the veteran on the downside of his career for some young guy that I don't think will ever do anything! 

Another example of the best trade being the one not made.  I still remember following the 1977 season buying the Street and Smith's guide which featured a picture of Ron Guidry having arrived that season, with big things expected the next season.  Well, we all remember the magical 1978 season of Gator!