OT: More Baseball Trivia

Doctor Worm

Heisman
Feb 7, 2002
30,766
22,621
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I know the Cardinals had a rookie pitcher in 2000 by the name of Gene Stechschulte. His first MLB appearance was as a pinch hitter and he homered on the first pitch he saw. He may or may not have given up a homer to the first batter he faced; that I do not know.

He came from my mom's tiny hometown in Ohio. Longtime family friends.
 

Source

All-American
Aug 1, 2001
11,228
6,263
0
These five National Baseball Hall of Famers are the only members who have this one thing in common. What is it?

George "Mule" Suttles
Ulysses Franklin "Frank" Grant
Lawrence Peter "Yogi" Berra
John Henry "Pop" Lloyd
Leon "Goose" Goslin

And if you look right here you'll find the answer to the question.


https://stewthornley.net/halloffamegraves.html#New Jersey
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,316
92,216
103
In Pittsburgh our catching instructor/3rd base coach Joe Lonnett was pinch hit for by our pitching coach Harvey Haddix, when they both played for the Phillies.
Joe was a back up catcher, Harvey obviously a full time pitcher.
You can imagine the ball busting I’m sure
 
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GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
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It’s an expression we used often in the big leagues referring to a teammate or opponent who was considered intimidating and physically imposing.
"Cock of the walk"... farm slang.. at one time, most Americans (and most of the people of the world) were farmers in one way or another.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,316
92,216
103
"Cock of the walk"... farm slang.. at one time, most Americans (and most of the people of the world) were farmers in one way or another.
Thank you Good OL, pretty sure everyone here knew what the meaning of “cock strong” was.
Many ball players came from rural parts of the country back in my day and before.
 

GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
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Thank you Good OL, pretty sure everyone here knew what the meaning of “cock strong” was.
Many ball players came from rural parts of the country back in my day and before.
and at one time "gay" meant "happy" and "lighthearted".. at that time "*****" had the double-meaning to mean homosexual but it had become a dirty word.. hate speech.. and "gay" was used instead.

There is always a battle over language going on. The left has weaponized language. Anything you say can be attacked. Recent examples are personal pronouns, gender names, "Dixie", etc etc. Too many examples. Words come down before the statues do.
 
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rudad02

All-American
Nov 7, 2010
8,853
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In Pittsburgh our catching instructor/3rd base coach Joe Lonnett was pinch hit for by our pitching coach Harvey Haddix, when they both played for the Phillies.
Joe was a back up catcher, Harvey obviously a full time pitcher.
You can imagine the ball busting I’m sure
Don Newcombe was often used as a pinch hitter with Brooklyn. Newk could really hit, as you might imagine, because the Dodgers were loaded with good sticks. Podres pinch hit once in a while also. Tommy Byrne pinch hit for the Yanks as well.
 
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Rutgers1976

Senior
Dec 30, 2005
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Zap, with all the crap that Gaylord put on the ball, I remember hearing stories about Ellie Howard nicking or scuffing the ball on his shinguard before returning it to Whitey after a pitch and so forth...why do pitchers/catchers always ask for a new ball after every minor scuff? Wouldn't they want to use the irregularities to their advantage?
 

Colbert17!

Heisman
Aug 30, 2014
17,422
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Zap, with all the crap that Gaylord put on the ball, I remember hearing stories about Ellie Howard nicking or scuffing the ball on his shinguard before returning it to Whitey after a pitch and so forth...why do pitchers/catchers always ask for a new ball after every minor scuff? Wouldn't they want to use the irregularities to their advantage?

It seems like every time the ball touches the dirt the umpires are throwing it out of play. It's not the pitchers asking for a new ball. You'll see now if the catcher digs a ball out of the dirt they won't even bother throwing it back to the mound, but straight to the dugout because they know the ump is going to toss it anyway.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,316
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Zap, with all the crap that Gaylord put on the ball, I remember hearing stories about Ellie Howard nicking or scuffing the ball on his shinguard before returning it to Whitey after a pitch and so forth...why do pitchers/catchers always ask for a new ball after every minor scuff? Wouldn't they want to use the irregularities to their advantage?
Ellie learned that from my dad.
The scuff can’t be random, it has to be in the exact same spot every time to have the ball do what they want.
Mike Scott had the best scuff ball in history for a few seasons with the Astros.
Opposing teams collected balls during the season, his “knick” was in the same spot on every ball he scuffed.
Remember also, pitchers used the scuff when they needed to make a big pitch in an important spot...if Mike Scott or Whitey had a five run lead, the great majority of balls were not scuffed. But two out man on third close game, that ball will be knicked.
 

Ronnie_B

Heisman
Dec 30, 2011
9,938
10,478
113
Bob Gibson swung a mean stick too, 24 career home runs.
 
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Scarletnut

All-Conference
Jul 27, 2001
5,476
4,179
77
Wes Ferrel is all-time HR hitting pitcher at 38, Spahn is 3rd at 35. Surprised that Bob Lemon was 2nd with 37. Other notables are Earl Wilson 33, Drysdale 29, Gibson 24, Bumgarner 18.
 

GoodOl'Rutgers

Heisman
Sep 11, 2006
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if Mike Scott or Whitey had a five run lead, the great majority of balls were not scuffed. But two out man on third close game, that ball will be knicked.

Did you know what his scuffed ball would do? Could you factor that into an at-bat?

BTW.. did we get an answer as to pitcher who won all-star games in both AL and NL? Was it the Big Unit? HAH.. going senile.. was Vida Blue right at the top of the thread.
 
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tomatocan

Junior
Jan 26, 2005
382
297
63
Some one ran onto the field in Wrigley and was trying to burn an American flag. Monday grabbed the flag away from the guy.
If that happened today Monday would probably be sued for infringing on that guy's right to free speech.
Actually, it happened in Dodger Stadium during a game with the Cubs.
 
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zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,316
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Did you know what his scuffed ball would do? Could you factor that into an at-bat?

BTW.. did we get an answer as to pitcher who won all-star games in both AL and NL? Was it the Big Unit? HAH.. going senile.. was Vida Blue right at the top of the thread.
The bottom fell out of it, their is no way to predict or prepare for It.
 

Colbert17!

Heisman
Aug 30, 2014
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Did you know what his scuffed ball would do? Could you factor that into an at-bat?

BTW.. did we get an answer as to pitcher who won all-star games in both AL and NL? Was it the Big Unit? HAH.. going senile.. was Vida Blue right at the top of the thread.

It was Vida Blue.