Sunday, July 31, 2011
On this day...
In the first inning, facing Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven, Dick Allen smashes a line drive at Twins center fielder Bobby Darwin. Darwin slipped and the ball quickly scooted past him. When Darwin finally got to the ball, Dick Allen was already rounding third, easily making it all the way around the bases for an inside the park home run.
In the fifth inning, Dick Allen crushed a towering shot to left center field. This time Darwin attempted to make a back-handed catch, and again failed to make the play. The ball bounced by him and all the way to the 430 foot fence as Allen rounded the bases again, for his second inside the park home run.
The White Sox won 8-1, and Allen had driven in 5 runs.
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Thursday, July 28, 2011
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Baseball Backs
I found some really great ones, including a 2009 Opening Day Chase Utley design, a groovy 1975 Astros Rainbow Cesar Cedeno design, and a terrifyingly awesome 1979 Pinstriped Pirates Dave Parker design.
Much to my dismay, until yesterday, there were no designs on any team featuring Richard Anthony Allen. I am sure this was just a simple over-site or maybe a generational gap issue. Which gets me to the second best thing about Baseball Backs... Ryan actually takes requests. He was very nice when I asked him to add a couple of Dick Allen designs. Now you can grab a 1964 Phillies Rookie of the Year design, a 1976 Phillies Prodigal Son Returns design, and a 1977 Oakland Wampum design.
Thanks Ryan. Good luck and continued success!
Monday, July 25, 2011
1971 Dodgers road uniform stripe
Yesterday, like I do most every day, I was surfing around the internet with no purpose. I discovered a dozen or so previously unseen by me Dick Allen images on the ever expanding Getty Images database. It is moments like this that inspire me to keep surfing, because you really never know what you will find.
One of the images I found is a great capture of Dick Allen, at bat for the 1971 Los Angeles Dodgers. There really are not that many available images from that single season in LA. Over the years I have grabbed and saved every DA Dodgers picture I could find. With a single exception, every image I have seen was taken with DA wearing the Dodgers home whites. The thing that makes this newly discovered image special to me, is the fact it was taken on the road, and DA is wearing the Dodgers road greys.
I've never been a huge fan of the Dodgers, but I will admit their uniforms have always been one of the best and most enduring in baseball. I was very surprised when I discovered the the 1971 Dodgers wore a vertical shoulder stripe on their road uniforms. I am someone that pays attention to that kind of stuff -- and I honestly never noticed it before.
My curiosity spiked, so I looked it up on the Baseball Hall of Fame uniform database... and sure enough, if you look close enough, the stripe is there. I find it interesting and telling the Dodgers did this only for one season, returning to what appears to be a lighter shade of grey for the 1972 season.
Not willing to let a dead horse just sit there and be dead, I pulled a couple of 1972 baseball cards (images assumed to be made during the 1971 season). How I missed the existence of this stripe, I have no idea.
One last thing... based on this picture (taken on February 28th, 1972) featuring Frank Robinson, Larry Hisle, and Tommy John... the change to the "no stripe" design did not happen until after the 1972 spring training had already started.
Saturday, July 23, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Al Oliver / Phillies
The Phillies are wearing 1984 throwback uniforms tonight against the Padres. In recognition of this team (which finished a perfectly matched 81-81) -- I present to you one of it's little remembered players: Al "Scoop" Oliver.On September 14th, 1968 Al Oliver received some of the best and worst news anyone can get... he was called up to the major leagues on the same day his father died.
In 1969, which would count as his official rookie season Oliver batted .285 for the Pirates with 17 home runs and drove in 70 runs. This was good enough to place him second behind the Dodgers' Ted Sizemore in the 1969 National League Rookie of the Year voting.
Oliver was one of great hitters of my generation. He played in the majors for 18 years and made seven all star teams. He is primarily remembered as a Pittsburgh Pirate. Early in his career was mentored by Hall of Famers Willie Stargell and the great Roberto Clemente.
Traded in December of 1977 in a very complex four team trade between the Pirates, Rangers, Mets, and Braves. Some of the players involved in this trade were Willie Montanez, Tom Grieve, Jon Milner, Jon Matlack and (2011 Hall of Fame inductee) Bert Blyleven. When all the dust was settled, Al was a member of the Texas Rangers. It was in Arlington he started the memorable tradition of wearing the uniform number "0" (which he continued for the rest of his career) and quickly became the best pure hitter in the history of the franchise. On August 17, 1980 with the Rangers playing in Tiger Stadium, he established an American League record with 21 total bases in a doubleheader (four home runs, a double and a triple). I find it ludicrous the Rangers have inducted Rusty Greer and John Wetteland (who also spent four seasons with the team) into the franchise "Hall of Fame" but have somehow forgotten about Al Oliver.
Continuing his unexplained nomadic ways, he began the 1984 season in San Francisco as a Giant. However, In August, the now 37 year old Al Oliver was traded to the Phillies. At the time the Phillies were in 3rd place only 6 games behind the front running Cubs. The move was an interesting turn for a club that had shed the aging wheeze kids trio Pete Rose/Joe Morgan/Tony Perez before the season. Now it appeared they were looking to boost their roster with some veteran leadership hoping for a post-season birth. It never happened, the Phils limped to the finish line as they went 2-12 in their final 14 games and ended up 15.5 games behind the division winning Cubs. For his part, Oliver collected 29 hits in only 28 games in Philadelphia. He was traded to the Dodgers during the off season.
Starting the 1985 season in LA, in July Al Oliver was once again traded to a contending club, the Toronto Blue Jays. With the Jays played well and delivered two game-winning hits in the first four games of the 1985 American League Championship Series against the Royals. However, in the first ALCS with the new seven game format, Kansas City rallied to win the last three games and go to the World Series. Game Seven of this ALCS ended early for the hot Al Oliver when he was removed for right handed pinch hitter Cliff Johnson in the fifth inning. Johnson struck out ending a Blue Jays rally and Al Oliver's great career. No team offered him a contract for the 1986 season.
Al Oliver finished his big league career with an impressive 2,743 hits and a lifetime .303 batting average. During his Hall of Fame induction speech, former Expos teammate and friend Andre Dawson had this to say:
"Al, as a lifetime .300 hitter after 18 seasons, I feel is deserving of induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame. There is no question in my mind had he not been forced out of the game by collusion, had he been given an all out honest attempt to achieve 3,000 hits, he would have done it. He was pushed out of the game when he was still a .300 hitter. I feel he deserves a place in baseball today."
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Monday, July 18, 2011
New Uniform Template
The idea was to take one of my own baseball images and create a photoshop layered template to display different uniforms. The image I selected was taken by me (working as a credentialed photographer) at the 2010 College World Series.
My first couple of attempts at the template were a little rough. Looking back at those versions is a little embarrassing for me now, but throughout the process I got some great feedback, learned a lot and gained more confidence with photoshop. After a couple of weeks away from it, I picked it back up and recently shared my progress with the folks on the CCLSC board.
In the latest version, addition to cleaning up the soft and rough edges, I added pinstripes. Here is the 1972 Chicago White Sox uniform:
If anyone is interested in getting the photoshop files (.PSD format) to make your own baseball uniform concepts, let me know. I will make it available.
Sunday, July 17, 2011
Uniform Redux: Pittsburgh Crawfords
From NegroLeaguebaseball:
The cornerstone of Gus Greenlee's new Negro National League in 1933, the Crawfords fielded some of the strongest lineups in baseball history during the 1930s.
The East team roster of the 1933 East-West All-Star game looked very much like the everyday Crawfords lineup, featuring no fewer than five future Hall-Of-Famers including Satchel Paige, Cool Papa Bell, Josh Gibson, and Judy Johnson.
Owned by Pittsburgh gambling and numbers racketeer Gus Greenlee, the Crawfords was the nest financed team in black baseball during its early years. Revenue generated from his "business" operations allowed Greenlee to sign black baseball's biggest names. It also enabled him to build his own ballpark, Gus Greenlee Field, in Pittsburgh's Hill District.
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Tuesday, July 12, 2011
Monday, July 11, 2011
Roy Halladay - All Star starter
Congrats to Roy Halladay for being named as National League starting pitcher for the All Star Game.
Sunday, July 10, 2011
Familiar Faces / Strange Places: Andre Dawson / Marlins
Today is Andre Dawson's birthday, I am posting this today in honor of "The Hawk".Andre Dawson made his major league debut for the Montreal Expos on September 11th, 1976 in Pittsburgh. He appeared in 24 games that season. In 1977 he became a regular for the Expos and was awarded the National League Rookie of the Year.
He spent 11 knee wrecking seasons on the astroturf in Montreal, making it to three All Star games and winning six gold gloves. He finished second in the MVP voting in 1981 (behind Mike Schmidt) and 1983 (behind Dale Murphy).
After the 1986 season in Montreal he became a free agent and planned on joining a team whose home field had natural grass. However, due to collusion on the part of the Major League Baseball owners, he was unable to attract any offers. Dawson campaigned for the Cubs, but GM Dallas Green stated he wanted to go with Brian Dayett instead. Not to be deterred Dawson and his agent showed up at 1987 Cubs spring training with a signed blank contract. Green initially mocked the stunt, but they reached an agreement on a salary of $500,000, with a $250,000 in incentives if he made the All-Star team, started in the All-Star Game, and won the NL MVP. That season, he did all three. He became the first player to ever win an MVP award while playing for a last place team.
Andre became the heart and soul of the Cubs, and to this day remains as one of the most popular players in Cubs history. When the Chicago Cubs announced the date of the teams first ever night game at Wrigley Field, they choose August 8, 1988 (8/8/88) to honor their superstar wearing #8.
After the 1992 season, Dawson signed with the Boston Red Sox and stayed for 2 seasons. He hit his 400th career HR in Boston off of Cleveland Indians Jose Mesa on April 15th, 1993. Andre played his last two years with the Florida Marlins, where he played sparingly and retired after the 1996 season. His final game was a pinch hitting appearance in the Houston Astrodome.
Dawson finished his career with 2,774 hits, 438 home runs, 314 stolen bases, and 1,591 RBI. He is one of only three members of the 400 HR-300 SB club, along with Barry Bonds and Willie Mays. In 1997, The Expos retired Dawson's #10 (the number had been previously retired for Rusty Staub). In 2010 the Washington Nationals placed Dawson in its "Ring of Honor" at Nationals Park.
Andre Dawson was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2010, his ninth year of eligibility, rising from an initial vote total of 45.3% in 2002 to 77.9% in 2010. The Hall of Fame rejected his request to go into the Hall as a Cub, and his plaque has him in a Montreal Expos cap. He currently works in the Florida Marlins organization with fellow hall-of-famer Tony Perez.
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Obsessing over a plastic batting helmet
High Definition has changed the way we all see baseball. Everything is more clear and crisp. Now, when I watch a major league baseball on television I frequently get annoyed when I get distracted by fans sitting in background talking on their cell phone while they wave frantically to the camera. If you are one of those people, please STOP. No one cares that you are on TV.
However, last night rather than getting annoyed - I couldn't help but smile when I noticed a Phillies fan wearing something special. Here is a screen shot just seconds before Raul ended the game with a walk off HR.
At the end of the blue arrow is a grown man wearing an old school plastic batting helmet. Well done sir!
For as long as I can remember I have loved those old plastic batting helmets. My affection springs from the fact that Dick Allen wore a batting helmet when he played in the field for most of his career. I used to have a great collection of them and wore them in honor of DA when I played baseball with my friends in the neighborhood.
That particular design is not something you see very often. As far as I know, the Phillies never actually wore a hat or helmet with a white front panel. In fact, the only other time I can remember seeing one of these was during the 1980 World Series. It took me about 5 minutes of searching to find a crowd shot of one. This Vet crowd image is from NBC's 1980 Game 6 broadcast.
Below is a photoshop drawing of this rare helmet. Today I began my search on eBay and other sources looking for one. So far, nothing has surfaced. I will keep looking.
However, last night rather than getting annoyed - I couldn't help but smile when I noticed a Phillies fan wearing something special. Here is a screen shot just seconds before Raul ended the game with a walk off HR.
At the end of the blue arrow is a grown man wearing an old school plastic batting helmet. Well done sir!
For as long as I can remember I have loved those old plastic batting helmets. My affection springs from the fact that Dick Allen wore a batting helmet when he played in the field for most of his career. I used to have a great collection of them and wore them in honor of DA when I played baseball with my friends in the neighborhood.
That particular design is not something you see very often. As far as I know, the Phillies never actually wore a hat or helmet with a white front panel. In fact, the only other time I can remember seeing one of these was during the 1980 World Series. It took me about 5 minutes of searching to find a crowd shot of one. This Vet crowd image is from NBC's 1980 Game 6 broadcast.
Below is a photoshop drawing of this rare helmet. Today I began my search on eBay and other sources looking for one. So far, nothing has surfaced. I will keep looking.
Friday, July 8, 2011
Dick Williams 1929-2011
Baseball lost one of it's all-time greats yesterday. Former player and Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams died in Las Vegas from an apparent brain aneurysm. He was 82 years old.
As a player, Dick Williams was good enough to play in over 1000 games in 13 seasons at the major league level. He made three pinch hitting appearances in the 1953 World Series as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1964 he finished his playing career as a member of the Boston Red Sox with a .260 career batting average.
It was as a manager that he became a Hall of Famer. Immediately after retiring as a player, he spent three seasons managing in the Red Sox farm system. In 1967, prior to the start of the season Williams was named the new manager in Boston. The season before taking over the team finished ninth and the franchise had not won a pennant in 21 years. His first season he led the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox to the World Series, where they lost the Cardinals in seven games. Under his command, all-star Carl Yastrzemski was stripped of the title "Captain" because Williams didn't want anyone to question who was in charge. Refreshed and focused after having the heavy yolk of peer leadership removed, Yaz went on to win the last triple crown in baseball history.
In 1972 & 1973 he managed the Oakland A's to the first two of what would be three straight World Championships. These powerful and colorful A's teams included superstars like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman, Sal Bando and Bert Campaneris. He shocked his team and the baseball world after he announced he was quitting the Oakland dynasty immediately following the 1973 World Series. The reason: Williams had had enough of owner Charlie Finely and was angry at the embarrassing attempt to remove second baseman Mike Andrews from the roster with a phantom injury after Andrews had made a pair of errors earlier in the series. The A's went on to win a third straight ring under Alvin Dark in 1974.
George Steinbrenner actually named him as the manager of the 1973 Yankees, but it never happened. Feeling jilted after giving Williams his "best wishes", Charlie Finley filed a suit in federal court to prevent Williams from going to New York. His claim was Williams was still under contract with the Athletics. Finley apparently demanded two Yankee prospects in exchange. The Yankees balked and hired Bill Virdon instead. Finley eventually relented and Williams became manager of the Angels in the middle of the 1974 season and stayed in Anaheim for 3 seasons.
Dick Williams went on to manage the Montreal Expos, where he was unexpectedly fired in the middle of 1981 season. That '81 Expos team went on to deliver the only playoff appearance in franchise history. He also managed the San Diego Padres, where he led the Padres to the 1984 National League pennant and a trip to the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He finished his managerial career with three seasons in Seattle. The 78 wins his 1987 Mariners delivered was the most in the first 14 seasons of the franchise. In 1993, George Steinbrenner was finally able to hire Dick Williams, this time an adviser and scout. He remained with the Yankees for 10 years and undoubtedly had a hand in building the Yankees teams that won three straight World Series titles from 1998-2000.
In his 21 years as a major league manager Williams finished with a .520 winning percentage, four pennants, and two World Series Championships. He is one of two managers in baseball history to lead three different teams to World Series appearances. Dick Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Veteran's Committee as Manager in 2008. His Hall of Fame plaque shows him wearing an A's cap.
In addition to being a great manager, it is my opinion that Dick Williams was blessed to wear some of the most interesting and memorable (and most colorful) uniforms in baseball history.
As a player, Dick Williams was good enough to play in over 1000 games in 13 seasons at the major league level. He made three pinch hitting appearances in the 1953 World Series as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1964 he finished his playing career as a member of the Boston Red Sox with a .260 career batting average.
George Steinbrenner actually named him as the manager of the 1973 Yankees, but it never happened. Feeling jilted after giving Williams his "best wishes", Charlie Finley filed a suit in federal court to prevent Williams from going to New York. His claim was Williams was still under contract with the Athletics. Finley apparently demanded two Yankee prospects in exchange. The Yankees balked and hired Bill Virdon instead. Finley eventually relented and Williams became manager of the Angels in the middle of the 1974 season and stayed in Anaheim for 3 seasons.
In his 21 years as a major league manager Williams finished with a .520 winning percentage, four pennants, and two World Series Championships. He is one of two managers in baseball history to lead three different teams to World Series appearances. Dick Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Veteran's Committee as Manager in 2008. His Hall of Fame plaque shows him wearing an A's cap.
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Wednesday, July 6, 2011
Tuesday, July 5, 2011
Throwing back to nowhere
Getting caught up after the holiday weekend = DAHOF blog-post explosion.
I took my son and his friend to the Texas Rangers/Baltimore Orioles game yesterday. Before the game, as you would expect in Texas on the Fourth of July, It was hot. Really hot. The most comfortable place in and around the stadium was the large air conditioned merchandise store located beyond the center field concourse. Because I spend most of my time at this ballpark in the photo wells making pictures, I had not been inside this team store in several years. It was fun just being a fan and looking at all the branded gear the Rangers sell. I was a little surprised when I saw all the 2010 post season swag being sold at 75% off.
But then I saw this:
At first, I shrugged it off, having seen every major league team sell "Cooperstown Collection" jerseys featuring their all-time superstar players. Then it came to me... Nolan Ryan never actually wore that uniform design during the time he played for the Texas Rangers. Nolan pitched in Arlington from 1989 through 1993 and thanks to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dressed to the Nines database, here are the uniforms he wore:
EDIT: Proving once again the world wide web is the most important invention in my lifetime, almost immediately after posting this, I discovered I can, in fact, get a customized Mario Mendoza old-school Trident era Seattle Mariners jersey. I think I just found the #1 item on my present wish list for Christmas in December. God Bless America.
I took my son and his friend to the Texas Rangers/Baltimore Orioles game yesterday. Before the game, as you would expect in Texas on the Fourth of July, It was hot. Really hot. The most comfortable place in and around the stadium was the large air conditioned merchandise store located beyond the center field concourse. Because I spend most of my time at this ballpark in the photo wells making pictures, I had not been inside this team store in several years. It was fun just being a fan and looking at all the branded gear the Rangers sell. I was a little surprised when I saw all the 2010 post season swag being sold at 75% off.
But then I saw this:
At first, I shrugged it off, having seen every major league team sell "Cooperstown Collection" jerseys featuring their all-time superstar players. Then it came to me... Nolan Ryan never actually wore that uniform design during the time he played for the Texas Rangers. Nolan pitched in Arlington from 1989 through 1993 and thanks to the Baseball Hall of Fame: Dressed to the Nines database, here are the uniforms he wore:
How sad... the Rangers uniform design he wore when he pitched his sixth and seventh no-hitters is available at Mitchell & Ness but it looks nothing like the only "throwback' uniform I could find in the store with his name on the back. This powder-blue/full-button-down uniform design matches the road jersey worn in 1981 and 1982 by Ranger greats like Jim Sundberg and Buddy Bell. It looks great, but Nolan never wore it.
I guess the harsh reality is the Texas Rangers merchandisers and most Rangers fans don't know or want to acknowledge is their beloved Nolan Ryan was wearing an orange tequila sunrise outfit in Houston in 1981 and 1982.
To be honest, despite living in the state and shooting the club a couple of times each year, I am neutral about the whole Rangers franchise. I recognize the quality roster and realize they are the defending American League Champs. I believe Josh Hamilton is a once in a decade type talent and love watching him do his thing. I also have over a decade of experience of enjoying my local minor league team owned by Nolan Ryan, so I greatly respect his abilities as a baseball owner and executive. However, from a merchandise and marketing perspective, vast improvements can be made in Arlington.
In my opinion, there is no reason to sell an expensive jersey under the "throwback" banner that never actually existed to fans that obviously don't know the difference. I am sure would be interest in powder blue Ranger throwbacks with Wills #1, Sundberg #10, Bell #25, or Jenkins #31 on the backs. I know if they offered the Mario Mendoza #41 jersey mocked up below, I would have a tough time walking out of the store without buying one.
In my opinion, there is no reason to sell an expensive jersey under the "throwback" banner that never actually existed to fans that obviously don't know the difference. I am sure would be interest in powder blue Ranger throwbacks with Wills #1, Sundberg #10, Bell #25, or Jenkins #31 on the backs. I know if they offered the Mario Mendoza #41 jersey mocked up below, I would have a tough time walking out of the store without buying one.
EDIT: Proving once again the world wide web is the most important invention in my lifetime, almost immediately after posting this, I discovered I can, in fact, get a customized Mario Mendoza old-school Trident era Seattle Mariners jersey. I think I just found the #1 item on my present wish list for Christmas in December. God Bless America.
