Showing posts with label Jackie Robinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jackie Robinson. Show all posts

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Ralph Branca reflects on Jackie Robinson's April 15, 1947 debut

Brooklyn Dodger legend Ralph Branca was in New York City this week for the Sports Angels spring fundraiser, where he is Vice-Chairman of the organization that serves to support local youth sports initiatives. With Thursday's event occurring 63 years to the date of Jackie Robinson's April 15, 1947 major league debut, Branca, who won 21 games for the Dodgers in 1947, gave his recollections of being present for the historical breakthrough.

Ralph Branca with Jackie Robinson (L) and Pee Wee Reese (R).
Courtesy of Walteromalley.com
"That day, if you read the papers, basically, they didn't mention that he was breaking the color barrier," Branca said. "The papers said, Robinson went 0-3, walked, scored a run, and bunted successfully. It never mentioned that it was a great event in the history of the world. I say the world because he helped baseball number one, but also as baseball integrated, the country took a different view of blacks. It took the government seven years to pass a civil rights law, which was to the benefit of everyone, lessening our countries' prejudice. That event was great."

Branca cited the uncertainty surrounding debut as a reason for the media hesitating to label Robinson's debut as groundbreaking. The event was uncharted waters the press was still figuring out how to navigate.

"It was a strange new territory," he said. "People didn't know how to react or behave and the papers themselves didn't note it as a historic event, just as a write up of the game period."

Sunday, February 28, 2010

Jim Waugh, 76, Former Pirates Pitcher, 1933-2010

Jim Waugh, the youngest pitcher to win a game in the history of the Pittsburgh Pirates, passed away February 16, 2010 in Rock Hill, South Carolina. He was 76.

In a professional baseball career that spanned six seasons, Waugh spent parts of two of those seasons in the majors with the Pirates from 1952-53. Immortalized by Topps in their 1953 baseball card set, I had the opportunity to interview Mr. Waugh in July of 2009 after he called me in reply to a letter that I sent to him asking him about his baseball career and for his autograph on the aforementioned card.


Waugh called on July 6, 2009 to tell me that my questions about playing with Puerto Rican center fielder Carlos Bernier had piqued his interest, as he was thinking about Bernier around the time he received my letter. 

"What happened to Carlos Bernier?" Waugh asked. "I've been thinking about Carlos Bernier, particularly with this story about 100 years of Forbes Field."

I had informed him that Bernier had met an early death, hanging himself 20 years prior. After lamenting the fact of Bernier's tragic death, he further described his experiences playing on the Pirates with Bernier.

"He was just there a short time," he said. "He played for Hollywood in '52 and had a real good year. He came to the Pirates in '53 and played quite a bit in the first [part] of the year. I was sent to the minor leagues for the month of June, when I came back, he was gone. ... He played quite a few years in the Coast League. He could play the outfield; he could really run."

As our conversation drifted to the Pirates youth movement when he was in the majors, he explained how he became the youngest pitcher in Pittsburgh history to win a game.

"I just tried to get the ball over the plate," he said. "I was only 18, 19 years old. In my first major league start, it got to a point in the game where I was having trouble with my control. Joe Garagiola [who] was catching came out and said, 'Just throw the ball right down the middle of the plate, don't worry, it won't go there!' I ended up winning the game against the Cubs 4-3 (August 9, 1952), and became the youngest Pittsburgh pitcher to ever win a major league game at 18. Towards the middle of the season in 1953, I did learn to move the ball around and really became a pretty good pitcher after awhile, and then I started having arm trouble, and everything went away."

Waugh cited the help of two veteran pitchers, Murry Dickson and Howie Pollett, in being instrumental in his development. They helped him how to refine his offspeed pitches.

"Murry Dickson, who was our best pitcher, thrived on fly balls to center field," Waugh recalled. "He had pinpoint control. They called him “Heinz” because he had 57 varieties of pitches, which he did! He was something to watch. It really was something. He helped me a lot, always gave me a lot of encouragement. Howie Pollett helped me with my curveball to throw my curveball harder with a sharper break. I had that old high school roundhouse curveball, and he showed me how to throw a good curveball It used to be all in the breaking of your wrist, the wrist snap. Now it is more the fingers, the slider, the cut fastball. You get that spin with your fingers. You get a sharper spin and less break."

Waugh was part of an overhaul at the time when Branch Rickey started to replace higher priced veterans with fresh faces from the farm system. He explained Rickey's reasoning behind the widespread change in personnel.

"I was only 18," he said. "Bobby Del Greco, Tony Bartirome, Ronnie Kline, Lee Walls [were all under 21]. I roomed with Walls in a hotel in Pittsburgh for awhile. Bill Bell and I signed the same day for the Pirates. I was 17 and he was just out of high school; he was 18. This was all Mr. Rickey's idea. The Pirates didn't have much. They had veterans but they were finishing in last place.

"I think he saw what the Phillies did in 1951, with young pitchers Robin Roberts and Curt Simmons and the "Whiz Kids" as they called them. He thought he could do that with Pittsburgh, but I don't know, the pitching just never developed. He relied on me a lot and I had arm trouble. Ronnie Neccai who struck out 27 batters in the minor leagues, he could throw really hard. He had ulcers, he didn't last very long. Bill Bell never came through, he had arm problems. Neccai has a good story on Wikipedia about his career; I believe he wrote a book about it."

As he continued to reminisce about his career in Pittsburgh, we discussed his recollections of facing Jackie Robinson. This question sparked Waugh's memory about one of the better games he pitched and how it was reported by a young Roger Kahn.

"I pitched one of my best games against the Dodgers in 1952," he said. "I started and was leading in the game 2-1, only giving up three hits through the seventh inning. In the sixth [inning], Jackie Robinson came up with a couple guys on, I struck him out. In the eighth, he came up again with a couple of guys on, and I had just struck him out with a really good curveball. I thought, 'Well, I'll just start him off with a curveball, just throw him a curveball for a strike.' Well, he was looking for that curve ball (laughs) and he ripped it past my head, a line drive! It really cost me the game, I ended up losing 3-2. That was my most memorable time against him."

The Dodgers were the perennial front runners in the National League, and with their Hall of Fame lineup, the cellar dwelling Pirates just couldn't measure up to them. In 1953, the Pirates won less than ten percent of their games against the Dodgers.

"[Brooklyn] were mostly right handed hitters, so it was a little easier for a right hander to pitch to them," he said. "In 1953, we only won one game against them, they won 23, we won one! (While still relatively futile, records for that season show it was two wins and 20 losses). I don't know if you ever read Roger Kahn's book Boys of Summer, he talked about Casey Stengel that year in the World Series, talking about the “Brooklyn Pirates.” 'We're playing the Brooklyn Pirates, don't worry about it, they're no better than the Pittsburgh Pirates.' He used that for a motivating speech. Roger Kahn wrote a good story about that. I'll send you a story that Roger Kahn wrote about the game I pitched against the Dodgers. He was only 24, [his] first year following the National League." 

Towards the end of the interview, we discussed his Topps rookie card and how he handled his autograph requests. He put most of his fan mail aside for five years while attending to his wife who was suffering from lung cancer.

"I went about five years when I didn't and wasn't able to answer or reply to a lot of the fan mail," he said. "My wife got lung cancer and we were going through a lot. I just kind of gave up on it. I always enjoy getting the mail. I've caught all of those up. I have a lady who helps me with it so, I enjoy the letters. I enjoyed yours, it was interesting."

Waugh appreciated the support of his fans, who continued to recognize him even after 50 years past him hanging up his cleats. He spoke proudly of a speaking engagement that he had at a SABR meeting.

"I spoke recently to the SABR in Pittsburgh, and a reporter wrote a story about my talk," he said. "It's pretty interesting too. I really enjoyed that. Those guys are really knowledgeable."



Roger Kahn's Herald Tribune Article On Waugh's Game Against Brooklyn

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Book Review: Playing Ball with Legends: The Story and Stories of Don Lund

Playing Ball With LegendsPlaying Ball with Legends: The Story and the Stories of Don Lund
James Robert Irwin
Saint James Books, 2009
456 pages



When one thinks of Don Lund, what image comes to mind? Is it the first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bears? Perhaps one envisions the strapping outfielder for the Dodgers, Browns and Tigers. How about the head coach of the NCAA World Series Champion Michigan Wolverines? Baseball insiders might suggest it is the farm director of the Detroit Tigers.

James Robert Irwin would argue that it may be none of these, but the outstanding character of Lund, which is a constant theme throughout the book. Lund receives glowing praise from former teammates, players, coaches and executives.

While Irwin's work gives fine detail about Lund's playing career, it is the stories in between the lines about the lives he touched along the way and the journey he took to get there that makes the book worth reading.

It is evident that while writing this book that Irwin became great friends with Lund, at times the book reads as if it were not written by a biographer but a true friend with the utmost respect and admiration for the person whose life they're chronicling.

At over 450 pages, "Playing Ball with Legends" will keep you occupied for quite awhile as you read about Lund's 60-year involvement with athletics from the sandlots of Detroit, through the legendary grounds of Ebbets Field, to his retirement from his position as Associate Athletic Director at the University of Michigan.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Howie Schultz, former Brooklyn Dodger and Minneapolis Laker dies at 87

Howie Schultz, pictured second from left with Jackie Robinson two spots to his right, passed away on October 30, 2009 at the age of 87. Schultz was the Dodgers first baseman for four seasons until Robinson arrived in 1947. Schultz played in one game at first base after being displaced by Robinson. He was sold to the Phillies a month later.

"I'm a footnote in history -- the guy who was benched to allow baseball to be integrated," he said in a 2004 interview with the Minneapolis Star Tribune.

Schultz compiled a lifetime batting average of .241 in siz seasons in the Major Leagues with the Dodgers, Phillies and Reds.

Schultz also played professionally in basketball, playing three seasons in the NBA after an All-American career at Hamline University. Schultz was a member of the 1951-52 and 1952-53 NBA Champion Minneapolis Lakers which included four Hall of Famers: George Mikan, Slater Martin, Vern Mikkelsen, and Jim Pollard.

After finishing his basketball career, he taught physical education and coached high school basketball in the St. Paul area as well as at Hamline University. To read a more detailed description of Schultz's career, check out Stew Thornley's SABR Bio of Howie Schultz.


Saturday, October 10, 2009

Don Thompson, 85, former Brooklyn Dodger, 1923-2009

Don ThompsonThe Asheville Citizen-Times reported former Brooklyn Dodgers and Boston Braves outfielder Don Thompson passed away September 28, 2009 in Asheville, North Carolina after an extended illness. Thompson was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox as a pitcher in 1943, and pitched exclusively for four seasons until injuring his arm. During an April 2009 interview with Thompson, he recounted his transformation from a pitcher to an outfielder.

"I started out as a pitcher, but I hurt my arm," Thompson said. "I was in the Red Sox organization at that time with Louisville, and they sent me down to Roanoke. My arm got better but I stayed in the outfield. That’s when St. Louis drafted me (1948). I went to Columbus. I stayed as an outfielder. I didn’t have any desire to pitch."

Even though Thompson was a full-time outfielder, Brooklyn Dodger manager Charlie Dressen would often call on call on him when they were facing a tough lefty.

"Dressen, whenever we had a left handed pitcher pitching against us, he’d want me to throw batting practice to help the guys get ready. I still didn't want to pitch."

Once in the Cardinals organization, Thompson was immediately promoted to the AAA level, and sharpened his skills by playing two years of winter ball in Cuba under the watchful eye of Mike Gonzalez.

"The first year my manager was Mike Gonzalez," he said. "I played for Havana. Mike was an old catcher for St. Louis. I was playing in the International League with Rochester. After the 1949 season, he called me to come to Havana for the Winter. I went to Cuba, played for Havana the first year and then Almendares the second year. It helped me a great deal. I was already in shape going into Spring Training. It was sort of a circus down there. They really played hard and expected a lot out of the players."

Thompson's big break with the Dodgers came during the winter of 1949 when he was traded from the Boston Braves to the Dodgers for the legendary Sam Jethroe.

"I played against him in the International League. He was as fast as everyone said he was."

He entered a crowded Dodgers outfield, but managed to stick with the team for three seasons.

"We had seven left fielders in Brooklyn in Spring Training. I opened the season both years (1951 and 1953) in the starting lineup. I was a left-handed hitter, and Dressen, he was playing right-handed hitters against left-handed pitchers and switching things around. He had a platoon going. I wasn’t much of a hitter, but I was a very good fielder and I had good speed."

His defense played a memorable role in the 1953 World Series when he threw out Billy Martin at the plate in Game 4 after replacing Jackie Robinson in left field. During the aforementioned interview, Thompson clearly recounted how the inning unfolded.
"Clem Labine was pitching, he came in for relief. Martin was on second base with two outs. Mantle hit a line drive over Pee Wee’s head. He was hitting left-handed, so I was playing him a little around towards right. He hit the line drive and of course Martin took off, there being two outs. Anyway, I saw Martin running, [3rd base coach] Frankie Crosetti was waving him home. I looked up and I turned it loose. Billy Cox let it go or it would have hit him right in the head. It was about that high. Campy had him by several feet. Martin bent over and tried to knock Campy down. Campy sidestepped him with the ball in his mitt, hit him under the neck and turned him a flip. That was the last out of the game. I replaced Jackie Robinson both games. He could handle the outfield pretty well, but he wasn’t used to it."

Thompson retired after the 1954 season, but it wasn't before he had another brush with greatness. During most of the 1954 campaign, he played with Montreal. Under his wing was a 19-year-old outfielder from Puerto Rico by the name of Roberto Clemente. Thompson knew that the Dodgers had a gem on their hands as soon as Clemente hit the field.

"He worked out with me in center field to start," he said. "He had a great arm and he could hit; he hit a lot of bad pitches, like Berra, over his head. He was a wild swinger, but I could tell he was going to be a good ballplayer. I think he got a bonus of $25,000 from the Dodgers. They were trying to hide him. He was eligible for the big league draft. They knew that if they didn’t take him on Brooklyn that he would possibly be drafted. I knew he was going to be great. Roberto had a temper at times, but got along with us well."

After the 1954 season, Thompson returned to Asheville and effectively retired from baseball.

"I had an older brother in Asheville who had a Dodge / Plymouth franchise and I went into the automobile business. I stopped playing baseball completely after that."

He later became a real estate agent and one of the founders of Preferred Properties in Asheville. He was inducted into the Brooklyn Dodgers Hall of Fame in 1997.
Don Thompson
Don Thompson avoiding the tag of Ted Kluszewski



Monday, August 24, 2009

Davey Williams, 81, 1927-2009 New York Giants Second Baseman

Former New York Giants second baseman Davey Williams passed away on August 17, 2009 at the age of 81 at his home in Dallas, Texas.


Williams made his debut with the Giants in 1949 and stayed for good after the 1951 season, making the All-Star team in 1953 and appearing in two World Series (1951 and 1954). He had his career ended in 1955 after he suffered a back injury from being run over by Jackie Robinson while covering a bunt.

I had the opportunity to interview Williams in December 2008 and he recounted the events of the collision with Robinson.

"Jackie was a great competitor," Williams said. "He had the right to get even with alot of guys. Jackie told Howard Cosell that I was the only guy he ever hurt intentionally. I got there late, it was my fault. [Sal] Maglie threw at him. The next pitch, Robinson turned to bunt, and instead of covering first and allowing him to go in and cover the ball on that side of the infield, I'm standing out there waiting for the fight to start. Robinson bunts the ball, and Maglie doesn't go over to field the ball, Whitey [Lockman] goes over to field the ball, and now I wake up and have to cover first base. I got there the minute he got there, and I didn't have any momentum going for me at all, and he ran right up the middle. Somehow, I held onto the ball, he didn't knock it out of my hand. I was out too, I didn't play again for 11 days."

He had fond memories of playing with Hall of Famer Ray Dandridge in Minneapolis.

"He had great hands and for the life of me, I don't know why he didn't get a chance to play in the big leagues," he said. "He was impressive."

During the same time he was there with Dandridge, Willie Mays was making his debut in Minneapolis. After briefly playing with Mays, he knew that Mays, "would be a franchise player somewhere." Definitively, Williams described Mays as, "the best player I ever saw."

With the National League up 2-0 in the 7th inning, manager Charlie Dressen inserted Williams into the 1953 All-Star game, replacing Red Schoendienst. Williams told the story of his brief appearance in the contest.

"I caught the last out in the All-Star game off of a pop-up from Yogi Berra," he said. "I always told people if I dropped the ball, we could've padded the score; heck we might still be playing! I got to bat off of Mike Garcia. I went up to hit against him in the 8th inning, and he threw the first pitch, and I thought, 'Whoa! My gosh!' He surprised the heck out of me, he threw a fastball. I hit against him a hundred times before and he really startled me when he threw that first pitch in the All-Star game. It was kinda like he threw it 110 MPH. It wasn't that way in the World Series a year later. I wasn't that surprised [regarding their meeting in the 1954 World Series]. I hit the ball out of the ballpark against him and it was foul by about a foot. I was around by second base and I come back across the mound, and Mike said, 'I must have made that a bit too good.' I said, 'You must have if I hit it that well.'"




Saturday, May 16, 2009

Danny Ozark, 85, Phillies Manager, WWII vet and Dodgers farmhand

Death is never a timely thing, especially when there are questions that are left unanswered. I was left with many when the news broke of Danny Ozark's passing on May 7, 2009. A few months earlier, I had interviewed a spry Ozark on his cell phone for almost an hour about his baseball career and his attempts to ascend through the Brooklyn Dodgers organization in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Ozark, like many others of his era, was whisked away from professional baseball to serve in World War II, only to return to a crowded minor league system that was about to experience the effects of integration.

Danny Ozark / Topps
Ozark entered professional baseball in 1942, starting out as a second baseman for Brooklyn's Class D team in Olean. It was there where he was teammates with a future Brooklyn Dodger, Cal Abrams. Shortly thereafter, he was drafted into the Army.

"I was in the Army, and we landed in Europe on D-Day," Ozark said in 2008. "I received the Purple Heart in St. Laurent, France and got out in 1945. I spent three years in WWII, all of them in Europe. I never saw a baseball during WWII. I wasn't even sure I was going to go back [to baseball]."

Ozark described just what it was like to be there on D-Day.

"Well, it was I guess, the way alot of people ask me, and the best thing I probably said was, 'My underwear was very dirty and I didn't have a chance to change it for two weeks.' We were scared like everyone else, but we were young kids and alot of that stuff didn't bother us. Once you've seen death and people dying slowly, things like that stay in your memory. I can still visualize guys drowning after getting out of LCT's (landing craft tanks), because the water was deeper than they anticipated. Some of the guys that went down with the 60 lb. tanks drowned and we never saw them again." 

He was wounded in combat and later received a Purple Heart for his bravery.

"I received a Purple Heart for shrapnel wounds off of an artillery shell," he said. "The other battle we were in was the Battle of the Bulge. I spent time in Antwerp while the bulge was coming towards us because of the shipping they had in the docks where all of our equipment came in."

Returning from WWII in the winter gave Ozark very little time to prepare himself for spring training.

"When I got home in December 1945, my brother didn't go into the service and I played basketball with him until spring training," he said. "I got my legs in better shape than I had them before, but I never got to throw or anything like living in Buffalo [in the winter]."

Ozark, as well as many others returning from the war found themselves behind the curve entering Florida in February of 1946. They were also walking into history unfolding before their eyes.

"I didn't even pick up a baseball you know. Brooklyn sent me a contract to report to Spring Training in February. They brought us down to Sanford, Florida. That's where Jackie [Robinson] came in, right near Daytona Beach. It was the first time I got to meet him too. We were in spring training together in '46. Heck, the first week we started playing exhibition games. I got a sore arm like everyone else. We couldn't throw the ball, yet they kept pushing us. It took time to get our arms in shape, our bats to hit the ball, and for us catch the ball because we never played baseball [during the war]."

There was immediate competition from the players that lived on the West Coast and those that spent their military service playing baseball.

"Guys in the service, especially in the Navy, some of them played with teams in exhibition games where the war was going on, guys like [Bob] Feller, Virgil Trucks, etc. We had so many guys coming from California where they can play year round. They were so far ahead of us in spring training, fielding, hitting, throwing, as far as baseball was concerned. It took us a whole month to catch up, sometimes longer because so many players in the service came out and reported. Pitchers hurt their arms because they threw too soon. [Branch] Rickey wanted to see how hard you could throw. We didn't have the doctors like they have today where you could mend in a short time and bring it back like it used to be."

At one point during that 1946 spring training, there were over 600 players in camp. Ozark marveled at the talent that was there.

"There were so many guys that could have surely made it," he said. "It wasn't that there was a shortage of talented players, there was a shortage of roster spots for them in the majors."

The problem with having so many players in camp was due to the reserve clause; you weren't free to leave for another team that could use your services.

"We were in there like a bunch of slaves," he recalled. "That was for every major league team. We had farm system, and you couldn't leave them unless they released or traded you. [Brooklyn] wouldn't listen to you. They said, 'Hang on and you'll get your opportunity'."

For Ozark, that opportunity never came. After returning from WWII, the Dodgers converted him from a second baseman to a first baseman. Not only was he behind Robinson at first base [in 1947], when Robinson moved over to second base, he was stuck behind another Dodger mainstay, Gil Hodges. He looked back at what was a hopeless situation.

"Every year, I was stuck behind Gil Hodges. Where could I go?"

He felt like he had at least one supporter in the long time Dodgers executive Fresco Thompson.

"Fresco Thompson did the most for me," he said. "He helped me along quite a bit. He gave me a rule book. He said, 'You read this thing, and as your career goes on this thing will come in as handy as you can imagine.' He admired my family. He liked me and kept visiting me wherever I managed. I felt like I was going to get a shot to going up there [to Brooklyn]."

He did the best he could playing out the string in the Dodgers farm system, experiencing a few brushes when he thought he was going to get called up.

"The closest I thought I was going to get was in 1953. I always played against the big club in exhibitions, but they never took me though if they had an A or B game. Brooklyn needed a third baseman at that time, as they had [Don] Hoak and [Don] Zimmer [in Montreal]. I think finally they picked up Billy Cox and he was struggling too that year. I was hitting really well and Fresco came to the ballpark to watch me. I asked Tommy Holmes, 'Why did you put me at third base? I had no time there.' He said, 'Just to give you a change, we had Clint Weaver at first base, he was left-handed'. I wondered after all of these years if Fresco Thompson was looking at me to play third base." 

A few years later, Ozark thought that opportunity was once again knocking on his door.

"In '55, the same thing happened," he said. "I was sure I was going to go in '55. Hodges was having a tough year and they needed a third baseman and a first baseman. Thompson came again [to see me], but Frank Kellert took my place in '55. I'm almost 100% sure that is what happened."

Ozark batted over .300 in both AA and AAA. He was also among the league leaders in home runs every season. At times he felt like he was getting used to shore up the farm teams of the Dodgers instead of getting a shot at the big league club.

"You take the Kansas City team of the Yankees," he said. "[Lew] Burdette was there. I used to wear those guys out. They had [Moose] Skowron and [Bob] Cerv on their way up. These guys looked at me like, 'What is this guy doing down here?' You could have said, 'I guess I'll never make it,' but I never gave up. I just played to win."

He seemingly played for every farm club in the Dodgers organization, moving around so much that he almost hung it up in 1950.

"They sent me from AAA to Class B [Newport News] and then I went to Elmira [Class A]. It seemed like every time they sent me somewhere, it was a losing proposition. They sent me there to build up the team. We won the pennant in Neport News, I was the most valuable and popular player. In Elmira in 1950, I went back to St Paul, made two-to-three trips out of St. Paul [to Ft. Worth]. We really liked it there [St. Paul]. Our first child was born there in 1949. In 1950, they sent me to Elmira. That was when I was close to saying goodbye. They called me back to St. Paul though, and I kept going."

As we returned to discuss Jackie Robinson and the topic of baseball's integration, Ozark brought up two pioneers in their own rights, Hall of Famer Willard Brown and Clinton "Butch" McCord. Both were alumni of the Negro Leagues, and Brown holds the distinction of being the first African-American to hit a homerun in the American League. While Brown sputtered in his short trial with the St. Louis Browns in 1947, Ozark saw flashes of greatness from the 40 year-old player in the Texas League that Puerto Ricans labeled "Ese Hombre".

"I was in a home run contest with Willard Brown," Ozark recalled. "They gave us 10 swings, he beat me 9-8. He was kind of a hot dog. He could run, but never energized himself. He had a good arm and good power."

He explained how McCord's inspired play in heavily segregated Macon, Georgia mesmerized the fans.

"I had Butch McCord in Macon," he said. "He was a super guy. A good contact hitter, he didn't strike out much. He hit over .300. He became the most popular player on the team and the MVP. He was pretty close to 30 years old when I had him, and wasn't the one the organization was watching to replace Hodges at first base."

Towards the end of our discussion Ozark reflected on his coaching and managerial days in baseball.

"I retired in 1984 from managing after getting 20 years in the pension for being a major league coach and manager. I still worked for the Giants as a scout, reporting to Tom Haller who was the GM at the time. I worked for the Dodgers all my life until '72. I went back with them from '80-'82, coaching in the World Series versus the Yankees which we won in 1981. I was in three World Series with them. As I look back, five of us from the 1955 Fort Worth team, Sparky [Anderson], Dick Williams, Norm Sherry, Maury Wills, and myself all went into managing. Talk about a lineup!"

Ozark, as many others from his generation shook his head about how modern pitchers rarely throw a complete game.

"Alot of guys that are pitchers now can't finish games because the pitching coaches are counting clickers all games. The only person that knows when it is time to come out is the man upstairs. How can you apply the same rule [100 pitches] to each pitcher? We have two different bodies, you live differently, you have different eating habits, take different vitamins, etc. How can you tell whose arm can last longer?"

He cited changes in the height of the pitching mound, as well as increases in strength training as reasons for pitchers being injured more frequently.
 
"Today, guys like Clemens lift 300 lbs. In my day, you couldn't lift a feather. You had to have loose limbs. They can throw harder, yet they are tearing muscles more, due to the extra strength training. The big factor in pitching came when they changed the dimensions of the mound, when they flattened it out. They're using more of their arm instead of their legs and back, going downhill. Who would have thought that someone like Spahn would pitch the way he did for that many years? Now these relievers can't go more than one inning and get hurt. The mound has an effect and the baseball itself. They'll never raise the mound again because people want to see action."


Living in Vero Beach in 2008 gave him the opportunity to visit Dodgertown for the last time before the Dodgers moved to Arizona. The thought of the Dodgers moving signaled an end of an era to Ozark.

"It was sad to see the Dodgers leave Dodgertown, as I spent alot of time there with the organization," he said. "I went to Dodgertown the last year to watch a few games, and to visit Joe Torre, Tommy Lasorda, and Larry Bowa."

Ozark spent over 40 years in baseball as a player, coach, manager and scout. A baseball lifer and World War II veteran, he was a true hero and gentleman in every sense of the word. Some reporters had commented that Ozark was "too nice," when he managed the Phillies in the 1970s, but after speaking with him I couldn't imagine Ozark any other way. We could have kept on going that afternoon, but I felt that I had already occupied enough of his time. Upon ending the interview, Ozark left me with these final words.

"Anytime you need me, you give me a buzz,"  he said.

I wrote him three days before his death to see how he was doing. I can only wonder if he received my letter before he passed.

Rest in peace Danny Ozark. The man upstairs might need some good counsel on when that pitcher needs to come out.

Gold Card Auctions baseball cards

2018 Bowman Draft Baseball

Friday, April 24, 2009

Ralph Branca Reflects On Jackie Robinson's Debut

I recently sat down with Ralph Branca to get his reflections on April 15, 1947, the day that Jackie Robinson made his debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Branca was with Jackie that day, and was a key member of the 1947 Brooklyn Dodgers winning 21 games en route to a World Series appearance. Branca referred to it as, "not only a great moment for baseball, but a great moment for the rest of the world." To hear the rest of the interview, click the play button below.


Ralph Branca with Jackie Robinson (L) and Pee Wee Reese (R).
Courtesy of Walteromalley.com

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Former Brooklyn Dodger Ray Hathaway remembers teammate Jackie Robinson

With Major League Baseball honoring Jackie Robinson today, 92-year-old former Brooklyn Dodger, Ray Hathaway looks back fondly on the time he spent with Robinson during his groundbreaking 1946 season in Montreal. Hathaway had appeared in four games in 1945 with Brooklyn after returning from World War II, and was trying to work his arm back into shape with Montreal.

Robinson impressed him from day one.

"After I saw him play the first game, I knew [he was going to be a star]," Hathaway said. "He fielded well, ran well and hit well. If you were scouting him, and [sitting] amongst the scouts, the question was 'What can't he do?' And if you saw him play, you would ask yourself the same question."

Hathaway thought Robinson wouldn't have to wait until 1947 to make his debut with the Dodgers.

"I thought he was ready," he said. "I thought he would be up [in Brooklyn] before the season was over."

Unfortunately, Hathaway didn't foresee a return to the major leagues. Plagued by a sore arm, he knew his window of opportunity was closing.

"I had already been there and I had arm trouble," he said. "I saw the writing on the wall."

He was about to embark on a 25 year long managing career the next season. At the end of spring training in 1947, he approached Branch Rickey about becoming a manager.

"We went to a game in Cuba," he said, "Mr. Rickey was there. I asked to speak to him. About the fifth inning, he asked, 'What's on your mind?' I told him I would like to manage. He [Rickey] asked, 'How do I know you can manage?' I said, 'You don't and neither do I. All I can promise is that we'll work.'" Rickey's response was one that left Hathaway with little time to mutter his decision, "If you are going to manage a team for me, be on my plane. I'm leaving in the morning for Miami."

Hathaway spent his early seasons as a player/manager for the minor league affiliates of the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"It was challenging [as a player/manager]," he said. "In spite of pitching, you always had to be ahead of the other manager by two innings."

After 1952, Hathaway took himself out of the rotation to focus primarily on running the ballclub.

"The only time I pitched after that [1952]," he said, "was if the pitching staff was getting their butt beat. I tried to save them."

Despite his previous arm troubles, Hathaway had something of a rubber arm, filling in from time to time until 1965 at the age of 48. He managed many legends including, Hall of Famers Dick Williams, Willie Stargell, and Bill Sharman. He has the second highest win total as manger of the Asheville Tourists minor league club, with his record broken only last season. He retired from baseball after managing the Wilson Pennants of the Carolina League in 1973.