Posts Tagged ‘baseball history’

There have be ambidextrous pitchers in major league baseball history – men that have pitched with both hands. But, did anyone of them do it with regularity?

The first known to do it was Tony Mullane  on July 18, 1882 (4th through the 9th innings). After giving up a home run lefthanded, Mullane was hesitant to do it again. The next known time was July 5, 1892, nearly a decade later.

Larry Corcoran did it on June 16, 1884 in the fourth inning, because of an injury to his right arm.

Elton Chamberlain followed on May 9, 1888 in the 8th and 9th innings, and again on October 1, 1891.

Greg A. Harris was the first to do it in a century when his manager allowed him to switch hands in the ninth inning on September 28, 1995.

So, did anyone pitch with both hands regularly in baseball history? The simply answer is no. Tony Mullane is the only one known to do it multiple times. The last time he did it was July 14, 1893. He did it periodically between the two listed dates – but not regularly or even close to it.

Chamberlain threw lefthanded more than any other pitcher – considering that he used the tactic on pickoff throws.

SOURCE LIST

Petere Morris, A Game of Inches

Frank Chance’s major league debut with Chicago came during a blowout on April 29, 1898. Clark Griffith was pitching a shutout over Louisville that would eventually end in a 16-2 victory.

The story has ocassionally been told that Griffith, who had a supersition about pitching shutouts, intentionally ordered the young Chance to muff a ball, which would lead to a Louisville score and break the shutout.

Actually, Griffith did yell for his first baseman to intentially drop a throw by shortstop Bill Dahlen on a hit by Honus Wagner. The first baseman was Bill Everitt though. Everitt heeded to Griffith’s demand and missed the ball, allowing General Stafford to score from third.

So it was Everitt not Chance that committed the intentially muff. Chance caught that day – the eighth and ninth innings – and did actually misplay a ball but it wasn’t at Griffith’s behest.

The story keeps creeping up about a player in major league baseball history that was rushed onto the field and played in his bathrobe.

The bathrobe reference certainly adds color to the story. Like many such baseball history stories, the facts are stretched a little. On August 30, 1897, Chicago was in New York finishing up a four-game series. As darkness approached, Cap Anson, the batter, sparked an argument with umpire Bob Emslie – trying to delay the game. Anson was immediately ejected.

It was near the end of the game and Chicago didn’t have anyone on the bench to bat in Anson’s place. Emslie declared an out. Compounding Chicago’s frustation, Bill Lange stepped off first base during the argument and was tagged out.

The Colts then took the field with only eight men. Emslie, irate, was ready to declare a forfeit. But just then, pitcher Danny Friend emerged from the clubhouse wrapped in a team ulster (long overcoat) and manned left field. The ulster was needed to cover his street clothes, as he wasn’t in uniform.

With that, Giants’ manager Bill Joyce caused a stir but Emslie let the game proceed. Joyce kept complaining loudly and Emslie finally declared a forfeit to Chicago with two outs in the ninth. The entered score that day is 7-5, the score through eight innings.

Esteban Bellan, the first Latin in professional baseball history, was Cuban, right? Well yes, he was born in Cuba but his mother was Irish.

Ancestry.com, 1870 US Census, New York State, Rensselaer County, Troy Ward 2, page 89 of 106, beginning line 28

Hart Bellan, 50 years old, born in Ireland

Rossa, 21, Cuba

Domingo, 20, Cuba

Stephen, 19, Cuba

I just completed a new full-length of hall of famer Clark Griffith biography, the only man in baseball history to serve 20 years each as a player, manager and executive.

It’ll be available on this site shorty. The research and writing took five years off and on. Embarrassed to say, the off was substantial at times as I shelved for a year and a half at one point.

It includes over 300 pages and here is the Table of Contents:

Chapter Topic Highlights

Preface

Prologue                          One Cold Day, Two Old Men                

Chapter One                   Coons, Possums and Polecats                  

Chapter Two                   Bloomington to the Barbary Coast         

Chapter Three               Old Fox                                               

Chapter Four                 Bucking the System                             

Chapter Five                  The American League                                

Chapter Six                    Big Apple                                                 

Chapter Seven               Back in the National League                   

Chapter Eight                That Baseball Graveyard                             

Chapter Nine                 Senators, Nationals or Nats                         

Chapter Ten                   National Treasure                                      

Chapter Eleven              Gaining Control                                         

Chapter Twelve              Family Man                                               

Chapter Thirteen           Politics of the Game                               

Chapter Fourteen          Riding High in the Nation’s Capital             

Chapter Fifteen              Relief Pitching                                       

Chapter Sixteen             Great Depression                                  

Chapter Seventeen        One Last Pennant                                               

Chapter Eighteen          Farm System                                       

Chapter Nineteen          Fertile Cuban Sandlots                             

Chapter Twenty             Role in Integration                                  

Chapter Twenty-One     Financing on a Shoestring                      

Chapter Twenty-Two     …Last in the American League                        

Chapter Twenty-Three   Statesman                                           

Chapter Twenty-Four    Challenge at the Top                             

Chapter Twenty-Five     Changing of the Guard                            

Appendix                       Chronology of Selected Events                          

Bibliography                                                                                  

Select Index

There is a fallacy in the belief that pitchers were always expected to finish what they started – back in the day. ‘Expected’ by whom? Certainly not in baseball history by captains and managers who were expected to run their own clubs. The expectation that they had – and of them – was to field the best possible nine at all times.

Does this translate into slotting a man – a pitcher – into a position for an entire game regardless of the kind of day he was having? Obviously, not.

The first major league reliever in baseball history took the position on April 25, 1876 – the third day of the National League’s first season. Joe Bordon of Boston was replaced by Jack Manning in the fifth inning after Bordon had ceded five runs. Manager Harry Wright made the change.

At the time, free substitutions weren’t legal – only allowed for injury or sickness – so Bordon and right fielder Manning simply switched responsibilities. Wright’s move paid off; only one additional run was scored by Brooklyn the rest of the game and Boston won 7-6.

The rule allowing substitutions regardless of injury wasn’t in place until 1889. That year, teams were permitted to subsitute any two players for any reason during the course of a game. The first free substitution took place on April 20, 1889 – the fourth day of the season – in an American Association game, Baltimore versus Columbus. Gus Weyhing made his major league debut, replacing Al Mays.

The following men played in the major leagues prior to Jackie Robinson’s debut with the Dodgers and in the Negro leagues, with debut in majors noted:

Fleet Walker  1884
Weldy Walker  1884
Rafael Almeida  1911
Armando Marsans  1911
Mike Gonzalez  1912
Jack Calvo  1913
Alfredo Cabrera  1913
Angel Aragon  1914
Dolf Luque  1914
Jose Rodriquez  1916
Ricardo Torres  1920
Jose Acosta  1920
Pedro Dibut  1924
Mike Herrera  1925
Oscar Estrada  1929
Chico Hernandez  1942
Izzy Leon  1945