Author: Bill Grimes

I'm from Chicago. I worked in broadcast journalism for much of the 1970's and 80's. In 1990 I became a litigation consultant, retiring in 2017. Around 2005 I recall flipping through the sports section of the newspaper coming across "On this day in baseball history Willie Mays hit his 600th home run." I enjoyed the one-liners, but I wanted more. I wanted a story. I took my news reporting skills and started researching and telling baseball stories, one for every day of the year. TodayinBaseball.com is the result.

DEC 9 – DiMaggio autograph seeker

DECEMBER 9, 1987 | WASHINGTON, D.C. • New York Yankee great Joe DiMaggio gave thousands of autographs during and after his Hall of Fame career, but Joltin Joe was an autograph seeker on this date in 1987.

DiMaggio sent a baseball to the White House where President Ronald Reagan and Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev were meeting. DiMaggio had been one of 126 guests at a White House state dinner the night before. He met President Reagan who introduced him to the Soviet leader. DiMaggio made the autograph request, and both Reagan and Gorbachev sounded willing. All he needed was a baseball.

With the help of the President’s daughter, Maureen Reagan, a baseball was in the hands of President Reagan as he and Gorbachev met the next day. She later had the ball with the two world leaders’ autographs shipped to DiMaggio’s San Francisco home.

This was reportedly the only time Joe DiMaggio asked for an autograph. New York Times columnist Joseph Durso quotes DiMaggio as saying, “That day became one of the nicest days of my life, and one of the most meaningful.”

Contributing sources:
Joe Durso, New York Times, May 30, 1988

DEC 8 – Yanks trade HR king

DECEMBER 8, 1966 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK  •  On this date in 1966 Roger Maris, the man who broke Babe Ruth‘s single season home run record less than five years earlier, was traded from the New York Yankees to the St. Louis Cardinals for light-hitting infielder Charley Smith. The Yankees had just endured its first last place finish in 42 years

1966 American League Standings
                             W         L
Baltimore           97        63
Minnesota          89        73
Detroit                88        74
Chicago               83        79
Cleveland           81        81
California           80        82
Kansas City        74        86
Washington       71        88
Boston                 72        90
New York           70        89

General Manager Lee MacPhail was determined to shake things up. He traded starting third-baseman Clete Boyer to the Atlanta Braves ten days earlier.

Roger Maris didn’t tear up the National League for the Cardinals in ’67 (.261, 9 HR’s, 55 RBI), but the team won the World Series with him as its regular right fielder. Maris was a part-time right fielder in ’68 when the Cardinals again got to the World Series, losing to the Detroit Tigers 4 games to 3. Maris retired after the ’68 season.

The Yankees didn’t get to the post-season for ten more years, making the playoffs in 1976, winning the World Series in 1977.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The New York Times, New York, NY, December 9, 1966
Roger Maris stats

DEC 3 – Names can hurt

DECEMBER 3, 2001| HOUSTON, TEXAS • Despite the biggest bankruptcy filing in U-S history Enron Corporation made it known on this date in 2001 that it intended to keep the naming rights to the home of the Houston Astros – Enron Field.

This created a sticky situation for Astros ownership which wanted out of the deal with a company that in the span of a couple months became the poster child for corporate greed.

Despite the bankruptcy, Enron found a way to satisfy its financial obligations to keep its name on the ballpark (wonder how that sat with the 7,500 Enron employees who lost their jobs and pensions).

The Astros soon went to court pleading Enron’s collapse “tarnished the reputation of the Houston Astros.” The court agreed and forced Enron to accept a buyout. By opening day 2002 Enron Field became Astros Field, and by 2003 it was Minute Maid Park, also commonly referred to as the Juice Box.

Contributing sources:
Enron’s collapse, by David Cay Johnstone, New York Times, February 17, 2002
Astros stuck with Enron name, for now, by Darren Rovell ESPN.com
Houston Chronicle, December 4, 2001

MAY 7- Pitcher’s worst nightmare

MAY 7, 1957 | CLEVELAND, OHIO – A pitcher’s worst nightmare happened to a promising 23-year old Cleveland Indians starter on this date in 1957. There was one out in the top of the first when Herb Score was hit in the face by a line drive off the bat of Gil McDougald. Score was in the vulnerable position pitchers always find themselves immediately after releasing the ball. The ball struck him in the right eye, ricocheted over to third baseman Al Smith who threw out McDougald. Score had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. He missed the rest of the season with broken bones in his face and a damaged right eye. His career was never the same. Score was more than promising. He was proven. He won 16 games as a rookie in 1955 and was 20 – 9 in ‘56. Before he got hit in 1957 Score was 2-1 with an ERA of 2.00.

He tried to make a comeback with Cleveland in 1958 but could not find the magic. He was traded to the Chicago White Sox in 1960. He never finished a season with an ERA below 3.00 again. In 1962, Score retired to the Indians broadcast booth where he spent more than 35 years.

Other promising careers have been cut short, or worse, by injuries on the field. They include:

Tony Conigliaro – Boston Red Sox outfielder beaned while batting in 1967. He was just 22 but already had 104 home runs. He missed the rest of ’67 and all of ’68 and was out of baseball at age 30.

Ray Chapman – Cleveland Indian shortstop knocked unconscious by a beaning August 16, 1920. He never regained consciousness and died the next day – believed to be the only modern major league player to die as a result of being hit by a ball.

Baseball has been described as a pastoral, deliberate, non-contact sport marked by long stretches of inactivity. This “inactivity” builds anticipation for the potential of violence; the collision of a play at the plate, bodies flying through the air as a double play is attempted at second, players crashing into walls, railings and each other trying to catch fly balls and line drives, a pitcher throwing the ball as fast as he can at a target inches from a batter protected only by a helmet, a ball being hit – often at far greater speeds – back at an even less protected pitcher barely 50 feet away after he releases the ball.

Baseball is a much more subdued sport than football, basketball or hockey, but the threat of what happened to Herb Score, Tony Conigliaro and Ray Chapman are always possibilities.

Aug 18: Conigliaro Beaned!

AUGUST 18, 1967 | BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – Tony Conigilaro was living his dream – playing for his hometown Boston Red Sox, and playing well. Only 22-years old, he was the youngest American League player to reach the 100-home run mark.

But the dream, and his cheekbone, was shattered the night of August 18, 1967 when he was hit in the face by a fastball from Jack Hamilton of the California Angels.

Teammate and friend Rico Petrocelli was in the on-deck circle when Tony C got drilled and later wrote in his book, Tales from the Impossible Dream Red Sox:

“I always believed there was a spot where Tony couldn’t see the inside pitch. If you threw it to the right spot, he’d hit that ball nine miles. But then there was this blind spot, a little more inside. Sometimes he moved too late to get out of the way, and sometimes he never moved at all.”

Conigliaro was knocked unconscious. He had to be carried off the field on a stretcher. His cheekbone was broken and his left eye severely damaged. For a time it was feared he might not survive. The cheekbone healed but he had a hole in his retina. He missed the remainder of the ’67 season and the entire 1968 season. 

His vision miraculously cleared up and he played again in 1969. He hit 20 home runs and drove in 82, and was named comeback player of the year. He had the best year of his career in 1970 when he hit 36 home runs and drove in 116. He was traded that off-season to, ironically, the California Angels.

Tony C’s eyesight deteriorated again in 1971. He hit just .222 with 4 home runs and 15 RBI. He was increasingly difficult to deal with. According to the Associated Press (AP) his manager, Lefty Phillips, told reporters after a loss that Conigliaro “was ready for the insane asylum. Conigliaro sadly announced his retirement from baseball July 10, 1971, “I have lost my sight and on the edge-of-losing my mind.”

Conigliaro dabbled in sports broadcasting for several years, but then ran into health problems. He had a heart attack while still in his 30’s. He later suffered a stroke.

Anthony Richard Conigliaro died on February 24, 1990. He was 45.

Contributing Sources:
Associated Press (AP), July 11, 1971, Oakland, California
Seeing it Through, by Tony Conigliaro
Tales from the Impossible Dream Red Sox, by Rico Petrocelli https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Conigliaro