Notes #472 — Return to Normalcy

                             NOTES FROM THE SHADOWS OF COOPERSTOWN
                                           Observations from Outside the Lines
                                     By Two Finger Carney (carneya6@adelphia.net)
 

#472                                                                                                                  JANUARY 6, 2009
                                        RETURN TO NORMALCY
 

            Spend enough time researching in the newspapers and magazines of 1919-1920, and the phrase “Return to Normalcy” is drummed into your head. It won the presidential election for Warren Gamaliel Harding some 88 years ago, which demonstrated that candidates’ middle names need not be obstacles, and that change is a promise that usually strikes a chord in America.
 

            It has been hard for me to get “back to normal” here in Notes , for a couple reasons. First, although 2009 marks the twentieth year I’ve been writing baseball ( Notes #1 was mailed out March 12, 1993, about three years and five months later), there is no normal to return to. Up until issue #267 , Notes was a variety show, a kaleidoscope, each issue rarely focusing on a single topic or theme. Then, inexplicably, it became a kind of Black Sox Digest , and posting my research in Notes was a very fortunate thing, as it turned out.
 

            Harding didn’t really return the country to normalcy , the twenties roared in, and especially in baseball, it was a whole new ballgame. What Harding wanted, of course, was to put the first world war in the past. And what I want to do here in Notes is to escape from the fantasyland of APBA simulations, where I have been reporting from, since #459 . And I’ll do that, but not before tacking on one last report.
 

            For those following these simulations, you may be expecting a series played with the top players of all time, the two sides chosen pick-up style by Captains Ruth and Gehrig. But that’s not going to happen, although I will report on who their picks were. Instead, there’s a report on a terrific series that went seven games, that will be hard to top, even if I still had the interest in letting the Bustin’ Babes go at the Larrupin’ Lous. The truth is, I don’t — not right now. (I am thinking of playing some with just those nines , sandlot style — you know, the way we did as kids, don’t keep track of the innings, just play ball and if the score gets lop-sided, start all over, maybe swap a player or two. I can let each gang draft a pitcher, and the 10th men out get to chase down the foul balls.)
 

 

THE NEW SABR RESEARCH COMMITTEE
 

            At their Board meeting last November, the SABR directors approved a proposal to establish a new Research Committee — one devoted to Black Sox research. To me, this is a logical next step in putting together the B-Sox puzzle. Burying the Black Sox was a team project; many of those who helped have stayed in touch, via the Yahoo group organized by Rod Nelson. One of the probable ramifications of this new committee is that Notes may no longer be the place to go for the latest findings — the committee will be publishing its own newsletters. No better time for all those interested — OK, addicted, too — to join SABR and the Yahoo group. Questions or comments, please e-mail me.
 

 

A DEATH IN THE FAMILY  
 

            Our cat Frisky finally gave up his ninth life, shortly after Christmas. Thyroid issues, which, for a cat nearly twenty years old, were diminishing his quality of life and rapidly taking him in the wrong direction. Frisky had an issue of Notes named after him (“One Old Cat”), #140 — it’s in the archive — back in July 1996, when he went missing for eleven days. He and his hefty brother were featured in an essay merging cats with baseball in Notes #260 , May 2002, and I still get good feedback on that. When his brother died, four years ago, I noted it in #343 , “Requiem for a Softpaw.”  So Frisky is not a stranger to longtime Notes readers.
 

            Our cats entered our life here in the Shadows of Cooperstown about ten years after our kids. The kids grew up and went off to college, but the cats stayed behind. They were not pets, they were family, and that is surely how I will miss and remember them. In the days that followed, I’ve realized how different Life After Cats will be. I can walk freely about the house. I can leave food unattended. No litter duty on trash night. On the other hand, there is no one to suspect or blame when things go bump in the night.
 

            The nest, as they say, is finally empty, just me and Barb. No return to normalcy there, either. Just a new world to explore.
 

 

THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES  
 

            Every so often, Santa brings me something that proves to be helpful for my hobby here. This time, it’s one of those Page-A-Day calendars, filled with baseball.
 

            Not every page will be worth noting here. But I’m off to a good start. January 1, the thing served up the Top Ten List of all-time high batting averages. I was surprised to see on the list, someone whom I don’t think of as an all-timer — Lefty O’Doul, whose .3493 ranks him fourth, behind Joe Jackson’s .3558 and Ed Delahanty’s .3459. Total Baseball doesn’t list Lefty, who played just 11 summers, racking up 1,140 hits in 3,264 AB, nice, but his 970 games falls short of TB’s minimum of 1,000. Sometimes you wonder — if Lefty knew about that qualifier, would he have hung on for 30 more games, a month of pinch-hitting?
 

            January 5, I am told that Cesar Tovar leads all American Leaguers in breaking up no-hit attempts. He did it five times. I’m not sure what the definition is here — getting the team’s first hit, sure, but how late in the game, to count?  After all, all but a few games are broken-up no-hitters, and my hunch would be that Pete Rose or Ty Cobb might have gotten the most “first hits of the game.” Anyway, I used to know trivia like this — today, I doubt that I’d have guessed Tovar, although as soon as I read the answer, I reacted, “Of course.”  Cesar did it first in 1967, again (twice) in 1969, once again in 1970, and for the final time on May 31, 1975, against Catfish Hunter. Imagine how you would feel, having your no-hitter going, then realizing that Cesar Tovar is coming to bat. I mean, wouldn’t you instinctively just walk the guy?
 

 

CHOOSING SIDES  
 

            There was a time when small-town America got a close look at two of the game’s greatest. After the season and the World Series ended, there were a number of summers when Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig “barnstormed” around the country. The essential Dickson BB Dictionary says the term was borrowed from the theater and politics, where traveling actors or would-be legislators would perform or speak wherever they could find a venue, even if it was a barn. For ballplayers, barnstorming meant adding to their salary, by playing for or against any team that any town could put together, to draw a crowd.
 

            When it was just Ruth and Gehrig arriving, they played against each other — the Bustin’ Babes versus the Larrupin’ Lous. The eight others on each team might be major or minor leaguers, semi-pros, or amateurs. The idea was to give the crowd a chance to see Babe and Lou clout the ball, probably in an extended batting practice, and sometimes after the game, they would swat another bucketful of souvenirs.
 

            For my last simulated series of 2008, I tossed the bat to Ruth and Gehrig one more time. Hand over hand, and Lou wins. He will choose first, from all of the ballplayers in my Field of Dreams — deadball era stars, Negro league stars, sluggers, you name it. They will each pick 24 men to fill out their rosters, then they will go at it.
 

            Lou picks — Ty Cobb. An obvious choice? Not really, not when Hugh Duffy is available; in 1894, Duffy hit .438, with 50 2Bs, 13 3Bs, 18 HRs. Cobb has the better lifetime average, but may hit a few points below Duffy, while stealing more bases. Babe Ruth signals for Josh Gibson as his first pick; Ruth is building from the center of his lineup.
 

            Gehrig’s next pick is Honus Wagner, another deadballer, who may have the best glove of all time, and Honus can play almost anywhere. Ruth doesn’t want to see Wagner and Lajoie choking off the middle against his team, and he picks Nap next.
 

            Gehrig takes Al Simmons, a slugger with some speed and who can hit a ton. Ruth answers by taking A’s partner, Jimmie Foxx. Gehrig picks George Sisler to hold down his first sack — The Sizzler (1922, .420) is like another Cobb. Ruth answers by taking Mule Suttles — the Mule, with Foxx, Gibson and Ruth himself, gives the Bustin’ Babes a definite edge in the power department.
 

            Gehrig’s next picks raises some eyebrows — Charlie Gehringer, second base. But it’s a good call, solid defense and a hit-and-run man behind his speedsters. Ruth passes up Duffy for Sam Thompson.
 

            Gehrig takes another Deadballer with a big bat and a lot of flexibility, like Wagner — Big Ed Delahanty. Ruth responds by snapping up Tris Speaker, a gold glove with a lot of doubles in his bat. Gehrig takes Mike Schmidt to play third — great power and defense. Ruth’s pick is a bit of a surprise — Cal Ripken will play short. Cal will not hit as many HRs as Ernie Banks, but he is solid in the field and can hit the long ball.
 

            For his 8th and last pick of the first round, Gehrig selects Biz Mackey to be his catcher; he passes up Roger Bresnahan, a great OBA, and the sluggers Hartnett, Campanella and Bench. Ruth picks Pie Traynor, gold in his glove and a pretty good hitter.
 

RUTH’S LINEUP:
 

Lajoie 2B
Speaker CF
Ruth RF/DH
Gibson C
Foxx  1B
Suttles  DH/RF
Thompson  LF
Ripken  SS
Traynor  3B
 

GEHRIG’S LINEUP:
 

Sisler  1B
Gehringer  2B
Cobb  LF
Simmons  RF
Gehrig  DH
Wagner SS
Delahanty CF
Schmidt  3B
Mackey  C
 

 

 

THE SLUGGERS VS. THE MONARCHS  
 

The Sluggers want to challenge the winners of the rematch, under the same conditions — I knew they would.
 

            That note above is from NOTES #470 , where I announced that the Deadball Era champs (AKA the Gray Sox) were going to play the Negro League stars (the Monarchs) again, with the pitching being equalized. They did, and in #471 I reported that the Monarchs emerged triumphant, taking the Gray Sox in six games.
 

            My team of Sluggers (all position players having the potential for 40+ HRs over a season) — see Notes 470 — lost to the Gray Sox in six. They were an awkward bunch to manage, being kind of one-dimensional, not nearly as much fun as the Deadball guys or the Negro Leaguers. But I figured they deserved their shot, so one more time , the Sluggers went at it, this time with the reigning champion Monarchs, pitching equalized.
 

            The result was a pleasant surprise. The series went seven games, to my delight. I’ll abbreviate the game summaries.
 

GAME ONE
 

            The Monarchs won the coin toss and were home team. Satchel Paige took the mound, facing off with Bob Gibson. The Sluggers went up 4-0 (Ruth a 2-run shot), before the Monarchs batted around in the 4th, scoring six runs, four on a slam by Pete Hill. The Sluggers came back with three, to go up 7-6, but the Monarchs continued to pummel the S’s bullpen, scoring five more in the fifth and four in the sixth, winning the opener 16-7 and out-hitting the big guys 18-8. Rain made it an eight-inning game.
 

GAME TWO
 

            After five innings, it looked like more of the same. The Monarchs jumped on Koufax for seven runs in the first three innings and led 7-2. But the Sluggers got good relief pitching this time, four innings by Dizzy Dean and two by Dennis Eckersley, and snuck back into the game. Johnny Bench and Al Simmons had hit solo HRs for their first runs, Ruth connected with one on in the sixth. Bench another solo in the 7th to make it 7-5. Buck Leonard homered in the 8th to stretch the lead to three runs. Back-to-back doubles with two out in the 8th by Ruth and Gehrig made it 8-6. Then in the ninth, Eddie Mathews went deep with one out, Bench walked, and Hank Aaron (batting leadoff) connected to give the Sluggers a 9-8 lead that held up.
 

GAME THREE
 

            Carl Hubbell started for the Sluggers and barely survived a rocky first inning. Josh Gibson homered after an Oscar Charleston double, and a hit and walk followed, but no more scoring. Hubbell then allowed just two hits the rest of the game, fanning eight, including Charleston, Gibson and Buck Leonard in the fifth. His teammates took a while to catch onto Cannonball Redding, going ahead on Foxx’ 6th inning HR, then piling on with two in the 7th (Ruth, with one on) and four in the 8th (Ruth, two on). Ruth had six RBIs and was denied a third HR in the 3rd (wind gusting in).
 

GAME FOUR
 

            Satchel Paige, who was roughed up in all three starts against the Gray Sox, and was not impressive in winning Game One in this series, finally tossed a semi-gem. The Monarchs gave him a 10-0 lead after five innings, and I could see Satch wave off his teammates at that point. Rap Dixon, batting leadoff, had six RBIs and a HR. The Sluggers did get to Paige for a couple runs, but the 14-5 win evened the series.
 

GAME FIVE
 

            This was a curious game. The Monarchs jumped out to a 4-0 lead, saw it shrink to 4-3, then grow to 8-3 and 9-5, then 9-7, and it finally ended with the Monarchs on top by 11-8. Mule Suttles was the offensive star with a pair of HRs and five RBI, and the pitching heroes were Cyclone Williams (six innings, 4 ER, 6 hits) and Willie Foster (3 IP, 1 ER, 1 hit). The Sluggers were in this game, despite getting no offense at all from their 1-5 positions: Aaron, Hornsby, Simmons, Ruth and Gehrig were a collective 1-for-22. Jimmie Foxx had a double, triple, two HRs and 4 RBI, Campanella two doubles and 3 RBI. Strange.
 

GAME SIX
 

            Do-or-die time for the Sluggers, and they sent out Carl Hubbell, who pitched so well in Game Three. He picked up right where he left off, holding the Monarchs scoreless until Josh Gibson connected in the sixth, his solo shot making it 3-1. When Gibson connected again in the 8th, with one on, the score was 4-3, but the Sluggers added an insurance run in their ninth and held on for the 5-3 win. Carl Yastrzemski batted leadoff and got on base four times, three hits and a walk, scored three runs and was tossed out at home trying to score a 4th. The game ended with Monte Irvin, who had pinch-hit a single with two out, being thrown out trying to steal, with Turkey Stearnes at bat.
 

GAME SEVEN
 

            In one of those fluke events, Satchel Paige was ill and unable to pitch in the deciding contest. That gave Rats Henderson the chance to be a hero, and he was, tossing a CG 8-3 win, giving up just eight hits (and no HR). The Monarchs struck early with four in the first (Gibson a 2-run HR off Koufax), then three in the fifth, Mule Suttles’ 2-run double breaking it open.
 

            So the Monarchs remain champions. For now.