BATTER UP!

[LizzieMaine]

Turkey Mike Donlin of the New York Giants in 1906, reminding all onlookers just who won the World's Series in 1905.

After a humdrum baseball career, Turkey Mike headed west and became a frequent bit actor in silent films. The next time you see Buster Keaton's "The General," watch for a just-slightly-fatuous Union Army general gaping with astonishment as the burning bridge collapses under the weight of a train. That's Turkey Mike.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Joe wearing “dual” purpose pants.
View attachment 85408
Can also be converted to a pup tent.

Apparently, aerodynamics weren't a factor in baserunning during the deadball era...beats the hell outta me how he could run fast in those jodhpurs.

Rob

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Rob

 

[ChazfromCali]

And more Finley fun -- meet "Harvey the Rabbit," posing here with Kansas City groundskeeper George Toma.

Harvey lived in a concrete bunker behind home plate, equipped with a hydraulic lift. When the plate umpire needed a new supply of baseballs, he'd press a button embedded in the turf, and Harvey would rise to the surface as the park organist played "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" and blew a slide whistle, while Harvey whirled on his platform with his eyes flashing red. After collecting the baseballs, the ump would press the button again and as the organist played a final crescendo, again with slide whistle accompaniment, Harvey would again spin and flash and sink back into his lair, the turf-covered lid snapping down above him.

When Finley took his circus to Oakland, Harvey went along and was installed at the Coliseum, where he kept up his routine for another three years. Unfortunately, while the A's were on an unsuccessful road trip in 1971, Harvey's lair sprung a leak and filled with water and he -- well -- drowned.

The Oakland grounds crew laid him out in state under the stands so that fans and players could pay their respects to a baseball legend, gone before his time.

Wow. That brings back the memories. I remember seeing Harvey at the Coliseum in 1968 and '69. Finley was quite the....... well, I don't know if I'd call him an innovator but he had a lot of marketing ideas. Orange baseballs, three-ball walks, etc. some of which he tried in Spring Training games. And some (designated pinch runner) actually were instituted by MLB in the regular season. Herb Washington the sprinter was successful even though everyone in the park knew he was going to try to steal 2nd. Later in '71 and '72, I remember the announcers... (oh man, Monte Moore was gawd-awful behind the mic). But I recall them saying all the players hated Finley for being a cheapskate which tended to unite the team in their hatred of him. Heck, they won three World Series in a row..

 

[LizzieMaine]

Finley was one of the most remarkable characters ever to come out of the game -- he was a cheap carnival huckster on the one hand and the greatest judge of baseball talent of his generation on the other. That early '70s A's club, which he put together, for the most part, by shrewd minor league drafting while he was still operating in KC, can stand with the greatest teams of any era.

Finley was basically the whole front office during the time he owned the club -- he did everything from personally scouting and signing prospects to writing the copy for the team yearbook to designing the uniforms, and every aspect of the operation bore his personal stamp. In these days of bland corporate ownership it's hard to imagine there was ever a time where someone like him could exist in the game, but there he was -- hated by Bowie Kuhn, respected by Marvin Miller, and admired most of all by Charles O. Finley himself. We'll never see his like again.

And he didn't just operate in the baseball world --

Notice who gets top billing.

 

[Fading Fast]

Apparently, aerodynamics weren't a factor in baserunning during the deadball era...beats the hell outta me how he could run fast in those jodhpurs.

Rob

But the throwing arms would be equally thwarted aerodynamically, so maybe it all evened out.

Uniforms evolve which is fine and makes sense as clothing technology changes as do trends. What I don't like today is the lack of uniformity where some players wear their pants tucked into their socks and some don't. I like them tucked in (go figure, a FL guy liking the old style), but either way, everyone on the same team should wear them the same way.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Durocher used to have a ruler nailed to the wall in the clubhouse indicating exactly how high pants were to be worn and how much white was to show under the stirrup socks.

I can't stand the longpants look -- it makes everybody that wears it look slow and dumpy. I wasn't a big fan of the skin-tight pants/stirrups-stretched-needle-thin look of the '80s and 90s, but at least it made even a second-string catcher look fast and sleek.

 

[Fading Fast]

Durocher used to have a ruler nailed to the wall in the clubhouse indicating exactly how high pants were to be worn and how much white was to show under the stirrup socks.

I can't stand the longpants look -- it makes everybody that wears it look slow and dumpy. I wasn't a big fan of the skin-tight pants/stirrups-stretched-needle-thin look of the '80s and 90s, but at least it made even a second-string catcher look fast and sleek.

The long-pants look reminds me of the cubicle office worker in the '90s in his wide-leg Docker chinos - not very athletic looking at all.

 

[LizzieMaine]

In the '30s, Carl Hubbell was known as "Longpants" and "Square Britches" because he wore his pants at mid-calf. By the sixties, just about everybody wore their pants at mid-calf.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Durocher used to have a ruler nailed to the wall in the clubhouse indicating exactly how high pants were to be worn and how much white was to show under the stirrup socks.

I can't stand the longpants look -- it makes everybody that wears it look slow and dumpy. I wasn't a big fan of the skin-tight pants/stirrups-stretched-needle-thin look of the '80s and 90s, but at least it made even a second-string catcher look fast and sleek.

Spanky Lavalliere: Speed Merchant

 

[2jakes]

The baggier the better. I wear soft khaki pants and are not athletic looking,
and don’t really give a hoot what others think, I know I can move fast when I have to.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Scorecard from Koufax's Perfect Game Donated to HOF.

Only one hit *in the entire game.* I bet Bob Hendley went home furious that night.

 

[2jakes]

Scorecard from Koufax's Perfect Game Donated to HOF.
My “Roy Hobbs" baseball jersey came with the ’39 Centennial patch.
Cool!

 

[Frunobulax]

View attachment 85464
The baggier the better. I wear soft khaki pants and are not athletic looking,
and don’t really give a hoot what others think, I know I can move fast when I have to.

Like when there are donuts in the break room?

I hated the polyester 70s and 80s uniforms, especially with the pullover tops. The only bad thing about being blessed to have the Big Red Machine to watch when I was younger is looking back at those uniforms. Ugh. Plus, so much happened in the cookie-cutter Riverfront Stadium on the Astroturf. Oh well, life ain't perfect, eh?

 

[2jakes]

Like when there are donuts in the break room?

I hated the polyester 70s and 80s uniforms, especially with the pullover tops. The only bad thing about being blessed to have the Big Red Machine to watch when I was younger is looking back at those uniforms. Ugh. Plus, so much happened in the cookie-cutter Riverfront Stadium on the Astroturf. Oh well, life ain't perfect, eh?

I only wear “cotton” or I don’t wear nothing at all!”



Polo

 

[LizzieMaine]

Ted Williams poses in the new ultra-minimalist Red Sox uniform in 1941. "Splendid Splinter" indeed.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Here's a real rarity -- 16mm Kodachrome footage of a game at Baker Bowl between the Phillies and Braves on May 29, 1935. At 2:20, you'll see fat 40 year old Boston left fielder Babe Ruth swing and miss. He would go one for two in this game, with one RBI, before being pulled for a defensive replacement, as the Braves beat Philadelphia 8 to 6.

This was Ruth's next-to-last game -- after misplaying a fly ball and allowing a run to score in the first inning of the following day's game, Ruth went back to the Braves bench and told manager Bill McKechnie he was done.

That right field wall really was as close as it looks. The right-center power alley was 280 feet from home plate.

 

[Ghostsoldier]

Awesome footage.

Rob

 

[LizzieMaine]

The actual cap Ruth was wearing in that clip. As he was walking off the field after his last game the following day, he spotted a two-year-old boy sitting in the stands with his father. Ruth, after waving the cap to the cheering crowd, handed it to the man and told him to save it for his child. That child auctioned it off for over $36,000 in 2009.

 

[belfastboy]

Apparently, aerodynamics weren't a factor in baserunning during the deadball era...beats the hell outta me how he could run fast in those jodhpurs.

Rob

Hell we wore that crap into the sixties!