Baseball is a universe as large as life itself. Therefore, all things in life, whether good or bad, whether tragic or comic, falls within it’s domain.....
Stan Musial is a baseball Hall of Famer, WW2 veteran who served his country and a man throughout his whole life a man of impeccable character. He is my all-time favorite baseball player.
Johnny Bench is the greatest catcher to ever play. PERIOD. He was once photographed holding 7 baseballs in his right hand. We used to have a picture of that in 1970 when i was in first grade. Im a big Reds fan now because of guys like him, Rose, Perez, Foster, Concepcion, Griffey, and Geronimo. That was a great time to be growing up in Cincinnati. Bench always had a flair for the dramatic and hit a home run in the 1972 playoffs against Pittsburgh and his 389th and last homer on Johnny Bench Night at Riverfront Stadium on September 17, 1983.
My dad always talked about Koufax (whom I never saw pitch) and would take me to see Randy Jones pitch for the Padres whenever he could during the 75-77 seasons. RJ was my Koufax growing up.
When I was 7 or 8, I went to a Dodgers home game in LA. Koufax pitched against Juan Marichal(sic). It was a one run game, complete game by both pitchers, and Maury Wills walked, stole second and third, and scored the winning run on a sc fly. Good old boring baseball, which I found spellbinding.
I met Sandy Koufax on Saturday, 25 March 1989. The day before Easter. Vero Beach, Florida during spring training. Got his autograph. He had his road greys on. I no longer have the autograph, However, I do have a photograph to prove it. He was a very nice man.
@@helmuthare 2.57 on the road. Thats from 62-66. He was better than either Marichal or Gibson during that stretch. But they were also amazing. Gibson in 68 was unbelievable.
@@helmuthare You have to look at adjusted ERA, and for his last five seasons, Koufax had an adjusted ERA of 1.67, which is spectacular. Of course, his first six seasons were nothing great, because he couldn’t find home plate with a sewing eye dog. But from 62-66, he really was the best pitcher in baseball. Lifetime, Koufax had an adjusted ERA of 131. If you consider Marichal, his lifetime adjusted ERA was 123 but he reached Koufax levels in 65, 66 and 69. As for Gibson, his lifetime adjusted ERA was 127 but he had a spectacular year in ‘68, with an adjusted ERA of 258 and he got 164 in 1969. Of course, Koufax was retired by then.
Bench changed the fundamentals of the position. His hands were so big that he could catch the ball one-handed, which reduced the damage to his bare hand.
when i got stationed at Marine Corps Air base in Cali. after boot camp, Jan'64, in the Enlisted men's club, a glass of beer was a nickel, and a pitcher of beer was .30 cents...
He was my idol growing up in the 70's. I starting catching at age 10 and continued thru college. Got injured and ended my career. Met Johnny at a golf tournament and had a chance to meet and visit with him. He was kind, funny and genuine. Got home and told my wife, " I can die now".
I played little league/organized baseball starting at the age of 7 in 1969, the year my Amazing Mets won the World Series. I was all about baseball, it was in my blood. I started catching a few years later and when it came time to hand out uniforms, I wanted #5 because of this guy right here. I got to see him play a few times over the years when the Reds would visit Shea Stadium. I was a die hard Mets fan but liked the Big Red Machine along with the Cardinals. This was my golden era of baseball, 60s and 70s. I saw plenty of legends over time. I no longer watch much or was the fan I used to be, but this clip feels like home, my childhood. I love baseball for that.
You should check out our baseball show Backwards K Pod. We’ve amassed over 150 years of baseball history. I’m sure there are many of those yesteryear nuggets available for ya in the catalog. Available on all platforms, wherever you listen to your Pods. Or you can go to diamondsnakejake.podbean.com to hear any of the over 100 baseball stories in our vault of archives. Our mission is to spread the gospel of baseball. It does my heart well to hear this video stirred something inside of you.
He was going to be a great. When he signed with tha Angels he got off to a slow start and was so apologetic about it, even offering to return part of his salary. He gave us long-suffering Angels fans hope. Then, he was gone.
@@kencummings953 yeah, that was a stacked lineup. Baylor, Ford and Grich drove in over 100, in Baylor’ case way over 100, Aikens had 81rbi. Downing 75rbi. Thing is if Lyman hadn’t been killed, they might not have had a need for Dan Ford. So it’s likely that the offense still would’ve been devastating, but without disco Danny. Baylor was the catalyst of that team in every way. He made everybody else better.
