New York sports legends help give Sports Angels its wings

April 15th saw the fourth annual Sports Angels Spring Fundraiser take place at the Pig and Whistle on 36th Street. The dinner and auction served to support and raise awareness for Sports Angels' campaign to assist local youth sports organizations. Sports Angels is headed by former Baseball Hall of Fame president Ed Stack, Brooklyn Dodger great Ralph Branca and Joseph Salerno. Bobby Hoffman was honored at the event with the Community Service Award for his dedication to the Manhattan Youth Baseball program.

In attendance were a variety of New York sports legends including Branca, Bud Harrelson, Jeff Nelson, Roberto Clemente Jr., Howard Cross, and Greg Buttle. On the anniversary of Jackie Robinson's 1947 debut, Branca conveyed sentiments that were echoed by many in attendance, tonight was about helping children to play sports.

"I enjoy that we can help others, and that's what we really look forward to," Branca said. "We see some new and old friends and we want to build up an entourage of people that support us to help raise enough money to help the kids."

Stack added that the organization has seen it's greatest impact on the local level.

"We're reaching out to grassroots organizations that need help," Stack said. "They may not need a lot of money, but need uniforms and equipment and we're there to give them help so they can charge ahead."

Nelson, the former Yankee reliever and current XM radio host, saw the event as a chance to use his stature to give back to legions of kids that admire the pro athletes from afar.

"Anytime you deal with kids and sports, and you are an athlete, it's a great opportunity to help," Nelson said. "It's nice that athletes give back. The kids look up to athletes on the field and there are a lot of them here tonight. They're giving back to a good cause; I know it touches all of their hearts."

Clemente Jr. felt that the charitable nature of Sports Angels compelled him to be there. He said he was following his family legacy by supporting the event.

"Anytime you have the opportunity to help an organization like Sports Angels, you have to be present," he said. "It's a natural thing to do [help others]. If you take a look at my life and my parents lives, it's something that we do, since I was a kid. To say no to a kid or an organization that is doing well, I can't say no. It's what we do."

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Roberto Clemente's New Year's Eve humanitarian efforts continue to endure

  by  Eric Beato 

As we begin to celebrate the start of a new decade, let's celebrate the memory of Roberto Clemente. We take a look at how Clemente's efforts have endured in the thirty-seven years since his passing.

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Book Review: Hard-Luck Harvey Haddix and the Greatest Game Ever Lost - Lew Freedman

"Hard-Luck Harvey Haddix and the Greatest Game Ever Lost"
Lew Freedman
McFarland Publishing, 2009
210 pages


This week Mark Buehrle set a Major League record for consecutive outs with 45. His tremendous feat came on heels of pitching a perfect game, followed by almost another six "perfect" innings in the next game. Without fail during the media coverage of Buehrle's streak, Harvey Haddix's flirt with perfection 50 years prior was ushered to the forefront of baseball discussion. Chicago-based sportswriter Lew Freedman recreates the events of May 26, 1959 with his new book, Hard-Luck Harvey Haddix and the Greatest Game Ever Lost, placing the reader in a box seat for all of the action.

Imagine pitching not only nine innings of perfect baseball as Buehrle did, but pitching 12 in an extra inning game, only to lose in the end. To add insult to injury, 30-something years later, a minor rule change strikes your no-hitter from the record books. Such is the story of "Hard-Luck" Harvey Haddix.

Follow Haddix as he battles flu-like symptoms to silence the bats of greats such as Eddie Mathews and Hank Aaron. Freedman keeps the reader on the edge of their seat as the game tightens with each zero placed on the board. Every inning, you receive insider commentary from Haddix's teammates as he records another trifecta. As the game goes along you hope that the Pirates can string together a few of their 12 hits off of Lew Burdette to push a runner across the plate.

You are clued into the mind of Manager Danny Murtaugh, dissecting each move as you approach the later stages of the contest. Will Murtaugh summon ace reliever Roy Face? Will a pinch-hitter appear for Haddix in the late innings? Conspicuously absent from the lineup was the injured Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente, opening the door for Roman Mejias to start. Mejias would later gain infamy on a key play during the early stages of the game. Would the result have been different with the Puerto Rican star in the lineup?

In between the description of the game's events, Freedman delivers insightful profiles of the players on the field for Pittsburgh, allowing the reader to gain a look at lesser known players that contributed that day such as: Bob Skinner, Dick Schofield, Dick Stuart, Rocky Nelson, and Smoky Burgess.

Sadly, no footage of this game exists. The Pirates were on the road and the local TV station KDKA chose to show a speech of vice-president Richard Nixon instead of the game between the Braves and the Pirates. This is why this book excels. With the recently released footage of Don Larsen's perfect game, the mystique of what actually transpired has been diminished. It is no longer a story told by only those who were there to witness it. Freedman's script of Haddix's game and its surroundings only enhance the legend of Haddix's duel with Burdette. If you want an illumination of one baseball's most magical games, Freedman serves up a winner in detailing the greatest game ever lost.

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Herman Franks, 95, MLB Catcher and Manager (1914-2009)

Herman Franks, pictured left with Willie Mays in Santurce, Puerto Rico, died March 30, 2009 at the age of 95 in Salt Lake City, Utah. Franks played for the St. Louis Cardinals, Brooklyn Dodgers, Philadelphia Athletics and New York Giants over parts of 6 seasons from 1939-1949, compiling a .199 batting average in 403 career at-bats. He lost three-and-a-half years of his career due to his Naval service in World War 2. His playing career was overshadowed by his success as a coach and a manager at the major league level.

In Joshua Prager's book, "The Echoing Green", Franks was reportedly involved in relaying stolen signals from a hole in the New York Giants scoreboard to the hitters during the 1951 "Shot Heard 'Round The World" playoff between the Giants and the Dodgers. Franks managed what is arguably known as the best Winter League team ever, the 1954-55 Santurce Crabbers. The team featured an all-star Major League and ex-Negro League lineup including: Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Bob Thurman, Bus Clarkson, Don Zimmer, Ron Samford, George Crowe, Valmy Thomas, Ruben Gomez and "Toothpick" Sam Jones. Franks went on to manage the Giants to four straight second place finishes (1965-68) and the Chicago Cubs to a .497 record (1977-79).

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