Category: January

JAN 7-Tony Conigliaro: Heartbreak kid

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO REVERE, MASSACHUSETTS JANUARY 7, 1945. Tony Conigilaro was born on this date outside Boston. He grew up to realize what most Boston area kids can only dream about — play for the Red Sox.

Conigliaro debuted with his hometown team at age 19. He was the youngest American League player to reach the 100-home run mark. The dream, along with 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 (today’s Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim). 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 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.”

Tony Conigliaro, the heartbreak kid, died of kidney failure 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

JAN 31: Did Giants steal signs?

JANUARY 31, 2001 | The Wall Street Journal came out with a story on this date in 2001 that the comeback by the New York Giants over the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951, culminated by Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run, was aided by espionage. It begs the question, did the Giants steal the 1951 pennant?

Wall Street Journal reporter Joshua Prager, author of The Echoing Green, reported that Giants players Monte Irvin, Sal Yvars and Al Gettel admitted stealing opposing catcher’s signs for about the last ten weeks of the regular season.

An electrician sitting next to the spy activated a buzzer in the Giants bullpen before each pitch; one buzz meant fastball, two buzzes meant curve.

The Giants clubhouse in the old Polo Grounds was in center field. The story goes that manager Leo Durocher had a player peer at the opposing catcher’s signals almost 500 feet away with a telescope through an opening in the clubhouse wall. An electrician sitting next to the spy activated a buzzer in the Giants bullpen before each pitch; one buzz meant fastball, two buzzes meant curve.

Giant utility player Sal Yvars is quoted in Dave Anderson’s book, Pennant Races, as telling Giant batters, “Watch me in the bullpen. I’ll have a baseball in my hand. If I hold on to the ball, it’s a fastball. If I toss the ball in the air, it’s a breaking ball.” The Associated Press quoted Gettel as saying “Every hitter knew what was coming, made a big difference.”

The Giants made a miraculous comeback in 1951 from 13½ games back on August 11th. They tied the Dodgers on the last day of the regular season, forcing a best of three playoff. Each team won a game, bringing the season down to Game 3 at the Polo Grounds on October 3rd. Bobby Thomson’s walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth won game three. It sent the Giants to the World Series and the Dodgers home. But did the Giants steal the 1951 pennant?

Contributing Sources/More information:
Wall Street Journal, Joshua Prager, January 31, 2001
The Echoing Green, by Joshua Prager, Vintage Books, 2001
Historic Baseball, AP, February 2, 2002
New York Times

JAN. 28: CAMPANELLA PARALYZED

THIS STORY TAKES US BACK TO THE EARLY MORNING HOURS OF JANUARY 28, 1958 IN GLEN COVE, NEW YORK –

The sports world woke up to sad news on this date in 1958. Brooklyn Dodgers catcher Roy Campanella had just closed his Harlem liquor store. He was driving to his Long Island home.  His car hit a patch of ice. The vehicle flipped and hit a light pole.

The robust, rock-like catcher’s neck was broken. It wasn’t immediately certain if he would survive.

Campanella pulled through, but he would never walk again. He was paralyzed from the shoulders down. He would regain considerable use of his arms and hands through physical therapy, but he would never play baseball again.

Roy Campanella survived an accident that could have killed him and went on to live a productive life. Still, it’s tempting to imagine what could have been. He probably had a more few productive baseball-playing years in him. He was 36 when the accident happened.

While he only played 10 years, he was one of the greatest catchers of all time:

  • 8-time all-star
  • 3-time MVP
  • 242-home runs
  • 856 RBI
  • .276 life-time batting average

The Philadelphia native remained employed by the now Los Angeles Dodgers, working with young catchers in the organization. He later became assistant to the director of community relations. Roy Campanella died of a heart attack June 26, 1993 at the age of 71.

Contributing Sources:
More on Roy Campanella
United Press International (UPI), January 29, 1958
Associated Press (AP), January 29, 1958
Campanella Obituary

JAN 26: DOUBLEDAY DIES, MYTH LIVES

TODAY’S STORY TAKES US BACK TO MENDHAM, NEW JERSEY JANUARY 26, 1893:

Abner Doubleday died on this date in 1893 several years before a story would surface of which he would be a central character. You know, the story that he invented baseball. That story is certainly fake news, still, I would be remiss not to tell you about Doubleday since the name is so ingrained in the National Pastime.

Abner Doubleday was an extraordinary gentleman, but not for anything having to do with baseball. He could not have been aware of such a story since he died before it surfaced.

Doubleday never claimed, wrote or uttered that he invented baseball.

Doubleday was born near Albany in upstate New York. He spent more than thirty years in the military, achieving the rank of general for the Union in the Civil War. He was second in command at Fort Sumter. He  reportedly ordered the firing of the first shot in defense of the Fort off Charleston Harbor, South Carolina in the battle that started Civil War.

The story goes that Doubleday invented baseball in Cooperstown, NY in 1839. The only evidence to support this is the word of a man named Abner Graves who was described as being of questionable integrity.

On the other hand, there is ample evidence that Doubleday did not invent the game. For example, while Cooperstown was home at one time, he was a cadet at West Point in 1839. If he was drawing up rules for how to play “base-ball” he was doing it while AWOL. Also, Doubleday never claimed, wrote or uttered that he invented baseball.

So how did the story come about? Baseball historian Harold Seymour wrote in Baseball: The Early Years that around the turn of the 19th century A. G. Mills, the fourth president of the National League, “wanted it distinctly understood that patriotism and research had established that the game of baseball was American in its origin,” and not a descendant of the English game rounders. A committee Mills chaired officially “concluded” as much in 1907. This conclusion was almost immediately debunked, but, being a good story, the facts never got in the way.

The story was promulgated to such an extent that a shrine to the game of baseball was built in Cooperstown, NY in the 1930’s – The Baseball Hall of Fame. A ballpark adjacent to the Hall is called Doubleday Field.

General Abner Doubleday accomplished a lot in his life, none of which appeared to have had anything to do with baseball. That story is clearly fake news.

More information:
“Baseball: The Early Years,” by Harold Seymour
MLB Historian John Thorn
The Doubleday Myth, The New York Times

JAN 25: TEAM VALUE$ SOAR

THIS STORY STARTS IN NEW YORK IN 1945 –

These aren’t your father’s Yankees anymore. The New York Yankees were sold for $2.5 million on this date in 1945. If the Yankees were sold today, the asking price would be about 1400 times more than that – $3.7 BILLION, with a “B”.

MLB team values continue to skyrocket. The increases are almost incomprehensible. Even comparing for inflation, they’re way beyond the hikes in costs of everything else.

Here is Forbes Magazine’s comparison of team values in just the 10-year span from 2007 to 2017:

                                                                                            2007              2017
1. New York Yankees         $1.2B             $3.7B
2. Los Angeles Dodgers      $632M             $2.75B 
3. Boston Red Sox           $724M             $2.7B
4. Chicago Cubs             $592M             $2.68B
5. San Francisco Giants     $459M             $2.65B 
6. New York Mets            $736M             $2.0B    
7. St. Louis Cardinals      $460M             $1.8B 
8. LA Angels of Anaheim     $431M             $1.75B
9. Philadelphia Phillies    $457M             $1.65B 
10. Washington Nationals    $447M             $1.6B
11. Texas Rangers           $365M             $1.55B
12. Atlanta Braves          $458M             $1.5B
13. Houston Astros          $442M             $1.45B  
14. Seattle Mariners        $436M             $1.4B
15. Chicago White Sox       $381M             $1.35B
16. Toronto Blue Jays       $344M             $1.3B
17. Pittsburgh Pirates      $274M             $1.25B
18. Detroit Tigers          $357M             $1.2B
19. Baltimore Orioles       $395M             $1.18B 
20. Arizona Diamondbacks    $339M             $1.15B
21. San Diego Padres        $367M             $1.13B
22. Minnesota Twins         $288M             $1.03B 
23. Colorado Rockies        $317M             $1.0B
24. Kansas City Royals      $282M             $950M
25. Miami Marlins           $244M             $940M 
26. Milwaukee Brewers       $287M             $925M
27. Cleveland Indians       $364M             $915M
28. Cincinnati Reds         $307M             $915M 
29. Oakland A's             $292M             $880M 
30. Tampa Bay Rays          $267M             $825M

In 2007 one team (the Yankees) was worth a billion dollars. In 2017, 23 of the 30 teams were worth at least a billion dollars.

Everything costs more today than it did in 1945:

  • The average cost of a new home today ($371,200) is 81 times what it was in 1945 ($4,600).
  • The average cost of a gallon of gas today ($2.43) is 16 times greater than the average gallon in 1945 ($0.15).

But the value of the New York Yankees is 1,460 times greater than it was in 1945. And team values continue to skyrocket.

Contributing Sources:
Forbes Magazine
The New York Times, January 26, 1945
Census Bureau – home prices