Lauren Meyer, the executive producer and director of the upcoming Negro Leagues documentary, "The Other Boys of Summer," sat down with the Baseball Happenings podcast to explain a journey that has been over ten years in the making.
Meyer, an Emmy nominated director, began meeting with players in 2007, traveling all over the United States to interview the last surviving members of the Negro Leagues. She met with stars of the segregated league including Hall of Famer Monte Irvin, Minnie Minoso, John "Mule" Miles, and Mamie "Peanut" Johnson (all of whom are now deceased), to find out how they persisted in the face of social injustice to play the game they love.
Minnie Minoso / The Other Boys of Summer
With the film 98% completed, Meyer launched a Kickstarter campaign on Martin Luther King Jr. Day to raise the necessary funds to license rare footage and music that are critical to the completion of the project. In the first four days, Meyer has raised over $13,000 towards her goal, putting her in a position to finally be able to tell the stories of these players that she grew to love and cherish.
Baseball Happenings Podcast Interview with Lauren Meyer - 1/18/2018
To keep up with "The Other Boys of Summer," you can follow on social media via the following links:
Rodolfo “Rudy” Arias, a member of the famed 1959 Go-Go Chicago White Sox, passed away on Friday January 12, 2018 in Miami, Florida according to a family member. The Cuban native was 86.
The lithe left-handed pitcher played only one season in the major leagues, but what a fine one it was. Signed by the White Sox in 1952, Arias fought injuries while working his way up to the American League pennant winners in 1959.
Rudy Arias Personal Photo
“I signed in 1952 and they sent me to Madisonville, Kentucky,” Arias told me in 2012. “My first year I came to the United States, I won 16 games. The owner of the Havana club came to my town in Santa Clara. They wanted me to go to Havana because Mike Gonzalez wanted to see me [pitch].”
While Arias was eager to make an impression for his spot on Cuba’s legendary Havana professional winter league team, his fortune changed quickly before he could even get on the field in front of Gonzalez. A freak accident while arriving at the ballpark derailed his chance for a spot on the Havana club.
“I broke my arm after I slipped on the concrete [at the ballpark] and they sent me home,” he said.
Despite his injury, Arias returned to the White Sox in 1954 and they promoted him to their minor league team in Waterloo, Iowa. He survived by only using his fastball for the next few years until his arm sufficiently healed to feature his signature curveball.
By 1958, he was knocking on the big league door at Triple-A in Havana. He impressed the White Sox brass when he threw a no-hitter against Rochester.
“The last out was a fly ball to the catcher,” he said. “They gave me $1,000 for that.”
In 1959, Arias got his big break with the White Sox, making their team out of spring training. His left-handed arm gave manager Al Lopez versatility in the late innings out of their bullpen. One of his first introductions to the unwritten rules of major league baseball was when Lopez directed the rookie to drill opposing New York Yankees pitcher Ryne Duren.
“Lopez called me on the phone and said, ‘Rudy, warm up real hard and when Duren comes to hit, hit him in the head,’” Arias recalled. ‘¡O dios mio! He had 20 pitchers and he used me, the small guy! When Duren comes to hit, I threw at his head and he moved. The next pitch, I knew he was going to move back, so I hit him right in the back. He came at me with the bat. I told Duren I didn’t mean to hit him. Kluszewski [ed. note - It was Earl Torgeson] stood right in front of me and told me not to run. He was a big guy!”
Rudy Arias with the author in 2012 / N. Diunte
He fondly recalled the rest of the battles that the White Sox had with the Yankees that season, citing them as their toughest competition en route to the American League pennant. He proudly told how he foiled Mickey Mantle on a bet from teammate Jim Rivera.
“Jim Rivera told me, ‘Rudy, when Mickey Mantle comes up, if you throw him a knuckleball, I will give you a six pack of beer.’ I throw it, Mantle waited and waited, and man he got a pop up to second base.”
Arias was on the roster for the 1959 World Series; however, he did not see any action against the Los Angeles Dodgers. He received a full share for his efforts. Over 50 years later, he marveled at both the spectacle of seeing over 90,000 people at the Coliseum, and the amount of his share if he played in the World Series now.
“I didn’t believe it,” he said. “All around, wow – 93,000 people! There was a lot of noise. It was different pitching there.
“Where’s the money now? Now they get a lot of money for that. They gave me $4,800. I didn’t believe it! That money is different now!”
In the off-season after the World Series, the White Sox traded Arias to the Cincinnati Reds. They sent him to Triple-A in San Diego in 1960. He spent three years in their minor league system and crossed paths with many of the Reds’ future stars including sharing a dugout with Pete Rose in Macon, Georgia.
“They sent me to Macon Georgia and I played with Pete Rose,” Arias said. “He was crazy!”
Arias had one last hurrah in 1961 while pitching for the Mariano team during the final season of the Cuban professional league. He had enough life in his arm to throw an 18-inning gem and lose! On the other side of the hill was a young Luis Tiant.
“Luis Tiant came in the 11th inning,” he said. “I pitched the whole game and lost it in the 18th inning. I do not believe it happened! Nap Reyes the manager, he never came to me and asked, ‘Rudy, how do you feel?’ I was throwing, throwing and throwing and he never told me nothing.”
Struggling with injuries, Arias never returned to his major league form; however, he played in the minor leagues and Mexico until 1967. He settled in Miami working in construction and later as a security guard before retiring.
He passed the family legacy to his son Rudy, who was a minor league catcher and a long-time major league bullpen catcher. One of his highlights included earning a World Series ring in 1996 with the New York Yankees.
In retirement, Arias received fan mail from fans all over the country, which he kept neatly in binders in his home. He marveled how they came from such far off places like Alaska.
“I get a lot of letters now from all over, more than when I played,” he said.
An old adage regarding the famed Playboy magazine was that many of their clientele purchased the magazine, "to read it for the articles." One reader passed along this 1984 Playboy piece from award-winning journalist Thomas Boswell, "The View from the Hill: How to Watch Big League Pitching,"
Boswell gets deep inside Pete Vukovich's mound psyche, the surly 1982 American League Cy Young Award Winner, taking stock of how he dissected a lineup throughout the course of a nine-inning game. The few paragraphs outlining Vuckovich's powerful methodology is a primer for all aspiring pitchers that over thirty years later stands well above the overly scientific pitching philosophies of today.
Wally Backman, the New York Mets second baseman during their 1986 World Series championship, explains in this video what he enjoyed the most about playing in New York City, including his memories of the spirit of his late teammate, Gary Carter.
When it comes to 2017 baseball card releases, Bowman literally saved the best for last. The famed card manufacturer looks to end the year on a high note by closing out the season with 2017 Bowman’s Best Baseball.
The base card design drives the desirability of this release, as the rich colorful backgrounds help the player images jump off the cards, making this Bowman’s most visually appealing set of the year. The 100-card base set, which includes 35 Top Prospect cards, will please those searching for an easy path to completion.
For collectors seeking a greater challenge, Bowman keeps things interesting by favoring its trademark refractor cards. They offer a complete set of base refractors (1 per pack), atomic refractors (1 per master box), as well as numbered colored parallels that vary in scarcity (250 or less). These parallels will further drive collectors 2017 Bowman's Best Baseball just to hunt down "rainbows" of their favorite players.
The insert sets are equally attractive and intriguing. The 1997 Best Cuts insert set pays homage to a classic design, fitting both top-flight minor leaguers as well as retired veterans into the checklist. The Baseball America Dean List’s set gives report card grades to the next wave of prospects, and the Mirror Image inserts pair similar talents on the same card. All of the insert sets have numbered colored parallels, as well as autographed versions (save for the Mirror Image cards).
At a price point of $100 per master box, Bowman delivers value by guaranteeing four autographs. The base autograph set includes established young stars Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger, Kris Bryant, and Mike Trout, as well as upstarts Brendan McKay, Ronald Acuna, and Royce Lewis. For those lucky enough to pull a rarer autograph insert from this set, they could find themselves with one signed by Derek Jeter or Hank Aaron.
Closing Bowman’s release calendar for the year, 2017 Bowman’s Best Baseball provides an attractive mixture of design, diversity, and value that will please collectors looking for a place to spend their newly found holiday riches.
When the Brooklyn Dodgers signed Jackie Robinson in 1945, he was playing shortstop for the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues. His signing worried league veterans, as they questioned his ability to adequately field the position at the major league level.
“All us old fellas didn't think he could make it at short,” Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell told Sports Illustrated in 1973. “He couldn't go to his right too good. He'd give it a backhand and then plant his right leg and throw. He always had to take two extra steps. We was worried. He miss this chance, and who knows when we'd git another chance?”
Jackie Robinson / National Archives
If anyone was qualified to evaluate Robinson’s readiness to play shortstop at an elite level, it was Bell. Regarded as the fastest the Negro Leagues had to offer, Olympian Jesse Owens reportedly refused to race against the fleet-footed outfielder. Even though Bell was in his mid-40s when he faced Robinson in Negro League competition, he could still draw on his legendary speed when necessary. He devised a plan to send a not-so-subtle message that Robinson needed to look for another place on the field if he was going to be their representative to break the color barrier.
“So I made up my mind to try and show him he should try for another spot in the infield,” Bell said. “One night I must've knocked couple hundred ground balls to his right and I beat the throw to first every time. Jackie smiled. He got the message. He played a lot of games in the majors, only one of 'em at short.”
Intrigued by Bell’s mention of Robinson’s lone game in the majors at shortstop, I looked for the story behind his brief return to a position he had not played professionally in eight years. On September 22nd, 1953, Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen gave the Brooklyn fans a treat during the final home game of the season, as he penciled in Robinson at shortstop next to his cleanup spot in the batting order.
Pee Wee Reese, the Dodgers captain and shortstop, stepped aside so Robinson could have a taste of the position he last held with the Monarchs. Ironically, Reese was the catalyst for this move, as it was his dare that provoked Robinson to change positions. In true form, the ever-competitive Robinson didn't hesitate to accept the challenge.
“Jackie Robinson played shortstop yesterday on a dare by Pee Wee Reese,” Dave Anderson wrote in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. “The man-in-motion now has played every infield position this season as well as left field.”
Robinson’s charge at shortstop was witnessed by only the most diehard Brooklyn faithful, as a scant 2,365 fans showed up to Ebbets Field for the game. His appearance passed with little fanfare except for a lone wire photo of Robinson snaring a line drive from the bat of Pittsburgh’s Danny O’Connell.
So was Bell accurate in his assessment of Robinson playing shortstop in the major leagues? Robinson handled five chances without an error, but his clean sheet left out one curious detail. In the first inning, the Pirates lefty-hitting Hal Rice reached safely at first base on a groundball to shortstop. While the news reports made no mention as to where Rice hit the ball, one can wonder if he tried to slap one in between short and third and test Robinson like Bell did in the Negro Leagues almost a decade earlier.
* Note - A tip of the cap to Luke Epplin (@LukeEpplin) for his assistance with the newspaper research.
Baseball card collectors in search of something shiny and new for the holidays have to look no farther than 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball. This set provides fans and collectors a grand opportunity to familiarize themselves with the first official baseball cards of next season’s top prospects.
Each box guarantees three autographs and plenty of chrome cards, both in the form of coveted refractors and serially numbered color variations. Two first-round picks, Minnesota Twins shortstop Royce Lewis (1st overall pick), and Tampa Bay’s two-way player, Brendan McKay, headline the set. While Sports Illustrated cover boy Hunter Greene is noticeably absent, that does not detract from the attention 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball deserves.
The box provided for this review served up a complete base set, which will please collectors looking to get into the depths of each organization’s newest additions to their minor league systems. Putting the base set aside, the chrome cards and color parallels bring the prospects to the forefront and make for attractive additions to any collection.
Bowman has expanded their Chrome Draft autographs to over 75 prospects, which allows collectors a wide assortment of players that they can land in each box. With over a dozen parallel variations of each autographed card, player collectors will be kept busy the entire offseason trying to chase down entire runs of their favorite player’s signature.
Bowman keeps it simple with the chase cards, limiting the hobby boxes to the Defining Moments, MLB Draft History, and Recommended Viewing insert sets. Both the Defining Moments and MLB Draft History sets also have autographed variations, adding to the excitement and potential of scoring a Hall of Fame signature or one from Bowman’s selected group of exclusive young superstars. While the box opened for this review did not yield any of the aforementioned insert autographs, it did provide a rare short print in the form of a Kevin Maitan facsimile signature image variation.
Debuting right in time for the holiday season, 2017 Bowman Draft Baseball makes for a wonderful gift under the Christmas tree that will provide collectors the chance to lose themselves in the 2017 MLB Draft class while they wait for spring training to emerge.
