Tag: Ford Frick

A STORY FROM APRIL 26 IN BASEBALL HISTORY – 1 DOWN, 60 TO GO FOR MARIS

TODAYinBASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO APRIL 26, 1961, IN DETROIT, MICHIGAN – New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris began his historic pursuit of the most famous record in sports – Babe Ruth’s 60 home runs in a season – on this date in 1961. Maris hit a home run off Tiger right-hander Paul Foytack in the 5th inning at Tiger Stadium. It was 1 down and 60 to go for Maris.

Maris didn’t come out of the blocks in a full sprint that memorable season. He hit one, I repeat, one home run in the month of April. Teammate Mickey Mantle already had 7 home runs by the time May rolled around.

Forget about Ruth’s record. If Maris, the shy right-fielder from Hibbing, Minnesota wanted to hit 30 home runs in 1961 he’d have to shift it into gear. He did. Maris hit 50 home runs over a 4 month span that summer. Here’s how his record-breaking 61 home runs were spread out over the season:

April                 1
May                 11
June                15
July                 13
August           11
September     9
October          1

The race to break Ruth’s record was pretty much between Maris and Mantle. Maris eventually broke it on October 1, the 162nd and last game of the season.

This led to a controversial ruling by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick; since Maris didn’t break Ruth’s record by the 154th game of the season, an asterisk would be put next to his name because Ruth set the single season record in a 154-game schedule. There’s no evidence an asterisk ever actually appeared in the “record books,” but people think it did, so Maris’ name was unjustifiably tarnished.

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

APRIL 10: This Bud’s not for you

APRIL 10, 1953 | ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI – Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick was not amused that the St. Louis Cardinals wanted to name their ballpark after a beer. On this date in 1953 the Cardinals got the hint and backed off. The ballpark they bought from the St. Louis Browns the day before was not going to be called Budweiser Stadium. In other words, this Bud’s not for you. Instead it was called Busch Stadium.

The head of the Women’s Christian Temperance Union, an anti-alcohol group, wasn’t impressed by Anheuser-Busch‘s decision. “Busch” wasn’t the name of a beer back in ’53, but it was the name of the family that owned the brewery and the team. So, Temperance Union President Leigh Colvin said, “You could toss up the three B’s. Call it Beer Park, Budweiser Park or Busch Park and they all mean the same thing.”

The Cardinals’ ballpark is still known as Busch Stadium, though it’s on its third incarnation since 1953.

*    *    *

How about a little history quiz. Guess which teams played in these old stadiums?
1. Huntington Avenue Grounds
2. West Side Park
3. Jarry Park
4. Shibe Park
5. Forbes Field
6. Polo Grounds
7. Griffith Stadium

(For answers, see [April 11th story]

MARCH 7: BRING BACK THE SPITTER

TODAY IN BASEBALL TAKES US BACK TO CLEARWATER, FLORIDA MARCH 7, 1955.

Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick believed baseball had tipped in favor of the hitter. So, on this date in 1955 he said if he had his way he would bring back the spitter.

While visiting the Philadelphia Phillies training camp Frick said, “Something positive should be done to help the pitchers.” In advocating the return of the spitball Frick added, “There’s nothing dangerous about it. It was nothing like the screwball they have to throw today, with a twisted elbow and tricky snapping of the wrists. No wonder today’s pitchers can’t go on as long.”

Had the game tipped in favor of the hitter? Runs scored and earned run average (ERA) were up in the 1950’s compared to the 1940’s (during World War II), but runs and ERA’s were down from the 1930’s.

It’s true, throughout the years pitchers have been steadily pitching fewer innings and throwing fewer pitches, but for a variety of reasons, two of the most prominent being the proliferation of the home run, and the increased strategic prominence of the bullpen. Needless to say, the spitball did not come back – legally.

Contributing sources:
Associated Press, Clearwater, Florida, March 8, 1955
Society for American Baseball Research (SABR)
Ford Frick

JAN 30: FAN-VOTE “A JOKE”

TODAY’S STORY TAKES US BACK TO NEW YORK CITY, JANUARY 30, 1958. #Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick saw a lot of red at the 1957 all-star game and he didn’t like it. He called the fan-vote for starting position players “a joke.” Starting with the 1958 midsummer classic, starting lineups would be determined by a vote of players, coaches and managers.

Frick must have thought, ‘Hold on. No Mays, no Musial! No way.' Frick replaced Bell and Crowe with the two future hall-of-famers.

The problem in 1957 was Cincinnati fans stuffed the ballot boxes enough that almost the entire NL all-star team was Redlegs (The Cincinnati Reds was called the Redlegs in the 1950’s and 60’s because of paranoia during the red scare of communism. Anything “red” was considered verboten).

As it turned out, 5 Cincinnati Redlegs were in the starting lineup: Frank Robinson, Don Hoak, Roy McMillan, Ed Bailey and Johnny Temple, except for Robinson, not exactly household names. Gus Bell and George Crowe also appeared to have enough fan support to make the starting lineup.

Frick must have thought, ‘Hold on. No Mays, no Musial! No way.’ Frick replaced Bell and Crowe with the two future hall of famers.

According to MLB.com, players, coaches and managers chose the starters for the all-star team through 1969. The starting lineups, except for starting pitchers, went back to a fan-vote in 1970.

Contributing Sources:
MLB.com all-star game roster rules
Fred DeLuca, International News Service (INS), January 31, 1958
Baseball-almanac
MLB all-star game Wikipedia