Tag: Chicago White Sox

April 7 – The “screen” monster

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US TO LOS ANGELES FOR OPENING DAY, APRIL 7, 1958. It used to be common for football games to be played in baseball ballparks like Wrigley Field. Wrigley was the home of the Chicago Bears from 1921 to 1970. What you rarely saw was baseball played in football venues like the Los Angeles Coliseum Field. What the Dodgers had to do to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on this date in 1958 is why.

Before MLB’s transplanted Brooklyn Dodgers could play the first official major league game west of St. Louis they had to erect a 42-foot screen in left field because the foul pole was only 201 feet away – about the distance normally seen in slow-pitch softball. Straight away left was only about 250 feet.

On the other hand, because the Coliseum is rectangular, straight away right was 440 feet from home. 

There was a distinct advantage playing in the mammoth coliseum. It held a lot of people. Game 5 of the 1959 World Series between the Dodgers and the Chicago White Sox still holds the record for the biggest crowd to watch a major league baseball game – 92,706.

The Dodgers spent four seasons (1958-1961) in, at the time, the home of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams waiting for Dodger Stadium to be completed.

As much as Dodger fans poured into the Coliseum with the screen monster, they liked the new Dodger Stadium more when it opened in 1962. A major league attendance record (at the time) was set with 2,755,184 fans.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE: 
The Coliseum revisited

NOV 28 IN BASEBALL HISTORY: Monty Stratton’s career ends suddenly

NOVEMBER 28, 1936 | DALLAS, TEXAS – The 26-year old ace of the Chicago White Sox had his right leg amputated on this date in 1938. Monty Stratton accidentally shot himself in the leg while hunting the day before. The story appeared to be, ‘Monty Stratton’s career ends suddenly.’ Stratton had other ideas.

According the New York Times, the accident happened while Stratton was hunting for rabbits on the family farm. He slipped and fell, accidentally discharging his shotgun. The pellets ripped into his right leg, striking a major artery. Doctors were forced to remove the leg.

The 6-foot 5-inch Stratton had pitched five seasons for the Sox before the accident. He went 15-5 and 15-9 the previous two seasons. He spent the two seasons after he lost his leg coaching for the White Sox and pitching batting practice. But he was determined to pitch competitively again.

Stratton was fitted for a wooden leg. He got himself back in shape. Though he never pitched in the major leagues again, Stratton pitched in the minor leagues for Sherman and Waco, Texas, going 18-8 and 7-7 in 1946 and 1947.

While Monty Stratton’s career ended suddenly, his inspiring story is depicted in the 1949 film, The Monty Stratton Story  starring James Stewart.

Contributing Sources:
Monty Stratton
Associated Press (AP), The Montreal Gazette, November 29, 1938
Monty Stratton minor leagues stats

MAY 18-Get me to the station on time

*1957 | BALTIMORE, MARYLAND – Dick Williams of the Baltimore Orioles hit a ninth-inning, game-tying solo home run against Chicago White Sox pitcher Paul LaPalme seconds before 10:20 p.m. on this date in 1957. If Williams had done anything else – taken a pitch, hit a foul ball, gotten a single, double or triple, struck out – any of those things, the game would have ended with the White Sox a winner because the Sox led and a curfew was about to put an end to the contest.

Curfews were fairly common in the major leagues into the 1950’s and 60’s. The initial impetus was World War II

The curfew was an agreement by the two teams ahead of time so the White Sox could catch the last train out of Baltimore. With the game now tied, it was suspended and replayed from the beginning at a later date. Baltimore ended up winning the next time.

Curfews were fairly common in the major leagues into the 1950’s and 60’s. The initial impetus was World War II, during which there were curfews to accommodate dim-outs (as in “dim” the lights) to save energy. Games all over the country had curfews putting a limit on how long a night game could last. By the 1970’s curfews were gone, and night games could last as long as it took.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCE:
Koppett’s Concise History of Major League Baseball, by Leonard Koppett, 1998