He was slowed down some by an injury early in his career. They had drains in the outfield in Yankee Stadium in those days. He stepped in a drain making a play and injured his knee. It was never all the way back to 100% the rest of his career.It is a crisp frosty morning here, we just crawled up over 30°.
I recall that Mickey Mantle was supposed to be the fastest from home plate to first base. My memory may be faulty but I think that was the case. Of course when you hit a homer you don't need to be fast to first.
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And he had bad legs. I thought that was what caused his retirement?
In any event I remember imitating Mantle and Mays when I was playing. I took my training from Hank Aaron though as far as his hitting training. I did a lot of things in Legion ball in Detroit hitting-wise that may still be a record if they kept those records. A decent fielder, average arm but could rocket a baseball from about any swinging angle with a bat. (Used a Dave Kingman 33...) Uncanny hand-eye coordination.... Always bad legs....always. I walk okay now but it has never been much more than being able to walk okay...BUT, I'm thankful!
Oh, May the rest of your days be very comfortable with love and may your evening be enjoyable. God Bless you all...
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Ole Nolan was jacking that jaw!!! I love it! Young punk didn't want any more either...
I still have my copy of that one, UK82. See below. What's it worth? No idea. The condition is pretty good but not pristine. I suspect I should have sold it long ago. But I look at it this way: The most I ever spent on a card was five cents. Mine were either bought at Jake's Grocery in my home town with money from deposits on pop bottles collected, or were given to me by an uncle when he got bored with them. So it's house money whether I sell them or just give them to a kid or grandkid some day.I sold a Nolan Ryan rookie card back in the 90's for 600 bucks. Not sure what it's worth today.
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When you clean out your easy chair.
Like that Ivory bone on the left. I carry that type of knife. I keep the other two types in the door of my vehicles. Have a couple in my desk drawer now. My Dad gave me an old Boker type knife kind of like the below but it was two-bladed (One on each end.) I sent it to my brother a few years ago after thinking about the old thing that my dad was married to that swiped the Double-Barrell shotgun my brother should have inherited.
Dad would never give you a knife. He'd sell it to you for a nickel or dime or quarter (Whatever change you had) but he'd never give you a knife. I do that too for some reason. Just out of respect for my dad I guess...
Anyway thanks for the memory you brought back.
I just got back from the doctor's office. He said he wanted to see me again in FIVE years. I asked him to repeat that and he said FIVE years, that is all the government will allow at your age. I don't know if he was kidding or serious but 5 years it is.
Summer of '93. Saw the replay over at a German friend's apartment. Too cool.
My in-laws (RIP) were good friends with Nolan Ryan and his son, Reid. I'm unsure if they ever asked him about the butt-whooping he laid on Ventura.
That bone knife is a Case and one of my favorite brands for pocket knives. I keep a Bowie knife under the floor mat of my pickup, just in "case".Like that Ivory bone on the left. I carry that type of knife. I keep the other two types in the door of my vehicles. Have a couple in my desk drawer now. My Dad gave me an old Boker type knife kind of like the below but it was two-bladed (One on each end.) I sent it to my brother a few years ago after thinking about the old thing that my dad was married to that swiped the Double-Barrell shotgun my brother should have inherited.
Dad would never give you a knife. He'd sell it to you for a nickel or dime or quarter (Whatever change you had) but he'd never give you a knife. I do that too for some reason. Just out of respect for my dad I guess...
Anyway thanks for the memory you brought back.
Like most boys my age I always carried a pocket knife to school. Every boy had one but I never saw anyone draw it on someone.
Some of the bad people in my life: left to right;
Me, Ymmot, Evansville and Rooster.
Terrible people.
An honor Sir(s)
This photo deserves an award. Totally awesome. Kudos.
During one of my deployments over that way, I saw a flatbed hauling two camels. side-by-side, and kneeling. It's really something how those fascinating creatures kneel on command and then stand with a full load. By the way, stay away from that sweat gland.
On another deployment, we were once on patrol with an interpreter and happened upon a bedouin village. Before we arrived, we saw a few stray camels wandering around about 1/2 mile away. Interpreter warned us to stay away from them. Within the village, a tribal meeting had just concluded and these bedouins started looking for their animals. We watched as each man was able to track his own "loose" camel just from the footprint. Amazing.
Great looking bunch of D's, great to see names with faces!Some of the bad people in my life: left to right;
Me, Ymmot, Evansville and Rooster.
Terrible people.
That is a fine looking group of men. The one on the left looks like the point guard Calipari is looking for. But the fact he is a Kentuckian would mean he would be riding the pine under Calipari.Some of the bad people in my life: left to right;
Me, Ymmot, Evansville and Rooster.
Terrible people.
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Thanks Austin. As you noted from your experience, there is something fascinating and appealing about camels, and about bedouin culture. Perfectly suited for their environment.
They don't make pitchers like him anymore. I don't see anyone ever breaking his no-hitter or strikeout records.
I used to do the same thing with the Atlanta Falcons. They practiced and had camp at Suwanee, Ga up the road from Atlanta. They bought an old Ramada Inn (I think) and updated it...where the players stayed during camp. Right next to I-85. McDonalds was just up the hill from the fields and people would get their Mickey Ds and sit on the hill and watch the team. The parking lot of the hotel would be full of brand new luxury cars from local dealers with salesman making their pitch to the players as they would come and go from the hotel to the fields.
One of my sons played youth football, and on his team was the son of Bobby April who was special teams coach for the Falcons. One time I took my boys to watch camp and we stood there with Bobby and Jerry Glanville. Imagine things are different now.
I would imagine they have more security than the Secret Service around Trump. I fist ran into arrogance from professional athletes during spring training at the Phillies complex in Clearwater. Pete Rose was on the Phillies and his son Pete, Jr. was probably 12 or 13 years old. Pete, Jr was in the outfield with a glove shagging fly balls. He saw a group of fans leaning on a fence and started yelling at them to get away and quit bothering the players.
I didn't see anyone bothering anyone. It was a far cry from my childhood and youth when you could back up a player and if it went over his head he would tell you to run it down and keep the ball. We had foot lockers full of baseballs.
Until last year I carried a Case pocket knife. Then I lost it. I found a replacement in my collection and lost it in one week.
Now I am scared to get another one out.
But the fact is that I lived with a case knife in my pocket.
I read where the only perfect 10 rating of this card was sold back in August for $500,000. 9 ratings can go for several thousand dollars but even these are quite rare. We needed some patio furniture at the time so I sold out. It definitely wasn't in mint condition but still quite good.
Stan Musial was my boyhood hero. Bill James said there was a 10 year period early in Stans career where he was the best player in the league 8 times, a close second the ninth year, and in the Navy during the war the tenth year. Early in his career, there were two wealthy brothers in Mexico who tried to start another major league. Getting Stan was their number one goal. They offered him a signing bonus of I think five times his salary with St Loius, plus a huge salary increase. Quite a few players jumped, including Sal Maglie if anyone recalls him. When the Mexican League folded, those players were banned from MLB for several years. Stan said no because he had given his word to St Louis. His word was more important than money.
Can't play through pain... No way to break records. A mental state not many have "now-a-days"...
I got to see Stan Musial when I was a young boy as he made his last circuit of the National League. It was Crosley Field and I think 1963. My dad wanted me to be able to say I saw him play. He got some sort of significant hit in that game - just a nubber in the infield but I remember them announcing it over the loud speaker. Possibly the NL record? Can’t say for sure.
That was a unique play as it turned out, though it didn't seem so at the time. It was his last hit in his career. The second baseman that was unable to come up with that play was a rookie named Pete Rose. Pete went on to break Stans record many years later.
I prefer the Arnold theory of gravity where Camel's are concerned...
![[laughing]](http://l.yimg.com/j/assets/img/emoticons/classic/laugh.r191677.gif "Laughing [laughing]")
I tell you what. Those dang things are nasty when they spit or, actually, throw up. Buddy of mine got hit once and just missed me. Stinks, too.
many years ago while in Turkey, 7 or 8 of us guys decided to take in a zoo in izmir. Basically the only thing keeping the elephants in their enclosure was a deep trench filled with water. One of the guys started throwing pebbles at one of the elephants. The elephant dipped his trunk in a mud puddle and sprayed the guy down. Didn't hit anyone else, but got him good.
I tell you what. Those dang things are nasty when they spit or, actually, throw up. Buddy of mine got hit once and just missed me. Stinks, too.
Pitching sure has changed over the years. In today's game, it's rare, exceedingly rare, for a pitcher to stay in the game for 9 innings. Most clubs limit their starting pitchers to 100 pitches per game. Once they reach that number, they get replaced with a relief pitcher. A prime example is Blake Snell in game 7 of this past World Series. He was on fire, but when he reached that number he got replaced and they Rays imploded.
I suppose the theory is that, if you throw over a certain number of pitches, your arm risks becoming injured? It does seem like today's pitchers don't last very long and have TONS of injuries.
”Those who actually saw Musial came away dazzled by his consistency, base-running and ability to transform a game with an extra-base hit. More than a quarter-century following The Man’s retirement, legendary Los Angeles Dodgers voice Vin Scully asked and answered during a 1989 broadcast, “How good was Musial? He was good enough to take your breath away.”
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Wow. Thanks for that context Bernie. If Stan’s last hit was his last game in Cincy then it is definitely the one I’m describing. That certainly makes the memory more special.
Have to remember the delays in today's game....all for profit but huge delays. The cool-down, warm-up period does damage too. (Hardly EVER hear about that aspect as it is all about profit.)
In these days of sabermetrics, there are considered to be 12 major offensive categories. No one has ever led all 12 in the same season. In 1948, Stan led in 11 and missed the 12th by one rained out home run. Bill James has gone back through the years and has retroactively awarded his version of Gold Gloves. In his first 2 years in the league, James has Stan rated in the top 3 defensive outfielders in the NL. After that, the Cards got mad at HOF first baseman Johnny Mize and got rid of him, leaving a hole at 1B. Being a team player, Stan agreed to learn a new position. Not many stars would do that. In the article it talks about Joe D being the "greatest living player". In votes taken by the players themselves, Stan was voted the top player in baseball for the decade in both the 40's and the 50's. To be fair, Ted Williams missed several years in both decades and wasn't as well liked as Stan. Ty Cobb once said Stan was the closest thing to a perfect player he had ever seen. One more thing, a Chicago newspaper once ran a poll to determine the Chicago fans favorite player. The poll was one by a rival Cardinal, Stan Musial.
I carried one of these gems for many years while on active duty. Replaced it twice because of breakage.Until last year I carried a Case pocket knife. Then I lost it. I found a replacement in my collection and lost it in one week.
Now I am scared to get another one out.
But the fact is that I lived with a case knife in my pocket.
Switched over to this model soon after retirement because I required the more-pointed needle-nose.
This may have been easier....I carried one of these gems for many years while on active duty. Replaced it twice because of breakage.
With all this talk about Stan the Man, I figured I'd pull one more from my boyhood collection -- and throw in his American League counterpart.
Do any of you guys have any baseball cards of Henry Aaron from back in the day?
I will always consider Henry Aaron to be perhaps the best all-around hitter of that era. All of his home runs, over 300 average, just short of Ty Cobb in base hits, and all round consistency. Plus, he never struck out 100 times in a season and, like I mentioned before, if you take away all of his 755 home runs, he would still have over 3000 hits. It seems like he never gets the credit he deserves when we talk about the good ole days of baseball.
I will always consider Henry Aaron to be perhaps the best all-around hitter of that era. All of his home runs, over 300 average, just short of Ty Cobb in base hits, and all round consistency. Plus, he never struck out 100 times in a season and, like I mentioned before, if you take away all of his 755 home runs, he would still have over 3000 hits. It seems like he never gets the credit he deserves when we talk about the good ole days of baseball.
I'm a fan of "Mora" knives.
I found a few Aarons - some as "League Leader" cards. As you can see by the multiples, 1968 was my peak collecting year.
Owned such a model back in the 80s. Lost it. Nice design. Used often.
Also own(ed) a Gerber Gator. I say "ed" because I just looked and can't locate the knife. Found the sheath.
I've also owned Gerber Guardian and Gerber Mark II knives. Both may sit at my brother's place. Another gem I used quite a bit out in the field was a Gerber hatchet. It was stolen out of my household goods during the mid-90s.
In 1986, my best friend gave me the beauty pictured below. It's currently at my brother's in his gun safe.
Hank learned to hit by using a broom stick and bottle caps. I took that up as young as my memory goes back. I was religious about hitting. I hit a ton in my teens in Legion ball. My two season average was .523. I struck out three times total. Got angry with that same ump calling balls strikes so I want out and got them when he umped behind the plate.
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