This lecture contains two factual errors I wish to acknowledge. First, Cleveland Stadium seated some 70,000 fans in 1962, which surpassed Dodger Stadium's capacity. Second, the right field fence at Yankee stadium was 296 feet from home plate until the stadium's remodeling in 1976. That is when it was increased to 314 feet.
The 60s was the decade when I was introduced to baseball. As a Tiger fan, 68 was a very special year and Denny McClain and Al Kaline were my heroes. The company my dad worked for had box seats, first row, upper deck, right above first base. Tiger Stadium was one of the last old-time ballparks and it was a great spot to watch a game from. I will never forget my first game in 67, Tigers vs. Red Sox. I remember walking into this darkened runway and then BAM, this explosion of green as the field came into view. It was a sight you had to experience to truly appreciate. Denny going 31 - 6 that year and the team winning it all after being down 3 -1 against the Cardinals are seared into my consciousness. Mickey Lolich beating Bob Gibson in Game 7, how the whole town erupted in ecstasy, just one year after race riots had almost torn the city apart. For a young kid, those summer nights spent listening to Ernie Harwell coming through a transistor radio on the front porch with my friends represent a golden age. I wouldn't trade that part of my childhood for anything. And that is what baseball is all about. James Earl Jones captures this spirit in the speech makes in The Field of Dreams, when he talks about baseball being the constant. I get that players deserve the right to play where they want and shouldn't be locked to a team for life but that was part of the constant as well. We knew Denny, Al, Mickey, Norm, and Willie would be there, season after season, inning after inning. Someone once said if you want to understand America you have to learn baseball. That was true in 1870 and it is true today. Football is America's game, but baseball really is its pastime. This was a good video. Thanks for posting it.
More properly stated, baseball ENLARGED the strike zone after Maris. It can’t be widened because it is as wide as home plate. But, they increased it to the top of the shoulders and bottom of the knees.
McClain won 31, not 30, in '68. (Corrected later in the video.) O'Malley had a choice to play in Wrigley Field (not that one, the one in L.A.), but couldn't resist the seating capacity of the Coliseum, even though the field had to be placed far away from the stands and the distance down the left field line was absurdly short. The Astros originally grew grass on the field in the Astrodome. The problem was that the roof was transparent (to let the grass grow), and fly balls were impossible to see. So, the roof was painted a dark hue. That reduced the sunlight so much that the grass died. Monsanto rushed in to save the day with its newly developed Astroturf, and several decades of awful football and baseball fields (not to mention torn ligaments, ACLs, Achilles tendons, and patellar tendons) ensued. When Ruth and Maris played, the right field foul pole was just 296 feet away, not 314. That later number came after Yankee Stadium was refurbished in the mid-'70s. The right-center distance was short, too, at 350 feet. Regarding Maris' record, no actual asterisk was employed. Some record books carried both Ruth's and Maris' records. In addition to night baseball and no Black players, Maris had to deal with coast-to-coast travel. Also, Maris hit his record right after the American League had expanded, bringing in more pitchers that would not ordinarily be in the majors. The big city teams prevailed because of larger markets--both for attendance and television. In football, Pete Rozelle instituted revenue sharing, which is why the league can tolerate a team in a place like Green Bay, Wisconsin, since the bulk of NFL revenues are from television and are shared equally with the rest of the league. Hold on. Regarding the Koufax/Drysdale holdout, other teams didn't fail to sign them. The Reserve Clause meant that they still belonged to the Dodgers, even if they didn't sign a contract. That was the whole purpose of the Reserve Clause.
I was 10 years old when August Busch bought the St Louis Cardinals in 1953 for $4million. My father explained that baseball teams were owned by rich men because of their love of the game, there was no profit in owning a team. I will always believe the game ended when the Dodgers & Giants abandoned NY.
Mid-twentieth century baseball was so innocent compared to our time. It's true that many baseball owners outside of the major markets did not turn much of a profit. No one in 1950s could have imagined the riches awaiting owners in the age of cable tv and digital streams.
I'm Sorry , BUT , Randy Johnson had a REAL nice 6 to 7 year run that was just as good as Sandys nice run was . And he had other greats [ PITCHERS ] to deal with in that time & it was around the ROIDS time frame to boot ! And the mound was not as high like it was for Koufax & other pitchers was back then . Then they would lower the mound & have never raised it back up again ?
Flood, Marvin Miller, Donald Fehr, and Steinbrenner killed baseball for everyday Americans. IMHO. Can’t even get a ticket to hold in your hand! Ridiculous prices and $16 beer! Hell, I can’t even watch the home team on TV very often unless it’s the playoffs. Then, you have to get MLB Netwerk which is not available on all satellite/cable services. It’s ridiculous.
No, it didn't mean that he gave up one run per nine innings pitched. It means that he gave up slightly more than 1 run per nine, when that run was scored without benefit of any kind of official scoring error influencing the run's ability to score.
Rose was officially recognized for breaking the record with his 4192nd hit. At that time, Cobb's hit total was thought to be 4191. However, further research after the fact revealed that Cobb had a couple of hits counted twice during the controversial 1910 batting race against Nap Lajoie.
