OT: Question for Zap

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
The hitting with pop has become more of a thing of late. I always expected that SS, C, 2B were the 3 spots back in the day where defense was always more important than hitting.
The adage of you’ll never drive in as many as you let in holds true.
If you’re weak defensively up the middle, no amount of hitting will overcome it.
 
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Ronnie_B

Heisman
Dec 30, 2011
9,940
10,479
113
Massive forearms and wrists, heavy hands and fingers...his pinky was the size of my thumb, with calves the size of a regulation football.
In short he was built like a Gorilla when he was young.
My brothers and I were scared to death of his physicality which he never exerted against us, but we knew it was there
I bet he came out of the womb built like a gorilla, we all know people like that who never go to the gym but are always the strongest person in the room.

He was also an incredible athlete, that's a nice combo.
 
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ru109

All-American
Sep 18, 2011
6,980
5,523
113
Pretty much no one saved and just as importantly preserved their cards.
The Mantle boys were just like us, we played with and threw away millions of dollars worth of cards and game used equipment.
We even played with my dads very rare John F Kennedy baseball in the back yard, it ended up in the sewer after my brother bounced his Dick Raditz curve ball in the dirt with it.

Sound like the scene from the sandlot with the Babe Ruth ball. LOL.
 
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R U Crazy

All-Conference
Feb 11, 2015
3,468
2,229
0
Favorite minor league Bus ride and town:
Carolina League, Asheville NC 1976....friggen awesome town and ball park.
Worst minor league town:
Can’t really think of one, maybe Batavia NY...New York Penn league

How about the Utica Blue Sox (or whatever they were called) in same NY Penn League..
I use to go there on 25 cent beer night.....
 

yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
122,597
38,362
113
Can you give examples of catchers in the past with no pop? Even in the 50s, successful catchers had pop. Keep in mind that catchers tend to be very strong -- they have to be -- and so catchers often hit for power.
Grote, Scioscia, Girardi, Boone a large number of others.
There is a list of maybe 10 catchers that had careers with what you would call above average power from let's say 2000 and earlier.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
How about the Utica Blue Sox (or whatever they were called) in same NY Penn League..
I use to go there on 25 cent beer night.....
Utica was not in the NYP league in my day yet.
Oneonta....great town for an 18 year old kid with colleges all around it
Newark NY
Elmira
Auburn
Niagara Falls, my team
Batavia.
No teams from Pennsylvania...lol
 

AntiG

All-Conference
Jan 27, 2012
4,527
3,581
113
When I went off to college, my parents sold the house and moved to our lake place. She tossed all of the cards in the garbage when they cleaned out the rooms.
my mom did that with all of my old action figures, tossed them all when i went off to college... original transformers, thundercats, voltron, macross, etc - all stuff that collectors now will pay hundreds to thousands for even if they are broken lol
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
When you think of great Italian communities in cities, St Louis never comes to mind.
The Hill district in St. Louis is a National Historic Site!
All Northern Italian, my dad was from Milan.
If you were from Southern Italy, let’s just say you didn’t wonder on to the Hill in the 40s...lol
 
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Retired711

Heisman
Nov 20, 2001
19,971
10,151
58
The Hill district in St. Louis is a National Historic Site!
All Northern Italian, my dad was from Milan.
If you were from Southern Italy, let’s just say you didn’t wonder on to the Hill in the 40s...lol

Yes, north/south antipathy has been a thing in Italy for a long time. Keep in mind that Italy wasn't united as a nation until the mid-19th century, and so Northern and Southern Italy had quite different experiences. For instance, for many centuries Milan was under Austrian rule.
 
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Stem

Junior
Jan 2, 2006
1,018
345
0
Been hearing lately Greenville, SC might be a spot too.
[/Q

Greenville is a very nice area, I'm about 2 hours away. (Charlotte). It does get very hot there. The minor league ballpark is great. Has a mini green monster
 

MoreCowbellRU

All-Conference
Jan 29, 2012
2,199
1,339
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The adage of you’ll never drive in as many as you let in holds true.
If you’re weak defensively up the middle, no amount of hitting will overcome it.
This!!
Like I said in the stamp thread, love the stories abt ur Dad. Keep 'em comin'!
 

mollie24

Sophomore
Dec 21, 2001
5,888
190
63
More of a Yankee thing than a Yogi thing. Back around '63 my father took my brother & I to a Yankee/Red Sox game. My father knew Buddy Popowski, the Red Sox third base coach, who had lived in South Amboy. Prior to the game we met Buddy down near the dugout. He asked, if we'd like to go in to the clubhouse & meet Yaz. Stupid me replied, "thanks, but I'd rather meet Mickey Mantle". That was the end of that. My father wasn't too happy with me.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
More of a Yankee thing than a Yogi thing. Back around '63 my father took my brother & I to a Yankee/Red Sox game. My father knew Buddy Popowski, the Red Sox third base coach, who had lived in South Amboy. Prior to the game we met Buddy down near the dugout. He asked, if we'd like to go in to the clubhouse & meet Yaz. Stupid me replied, "thanks, but I'd rather meet Mickey Mantle". That was the end of that. My father wasn't too happy with me.
In fairness to you, Yaz was well on his way to becoming a great player by 1963, but he wasn’t close to Mantle territory yet
 

mollie24

Sophomore
Dec 21, 2001
5,888
190
63
In fairness to you, Yaz was well on his way to becoming a great player by 1963, but he wasn’t close to Mantle territory yet

Mickey was my 1st hero, followed by Bobby Murcer, & Thurman.
One of my saddest days was being at the stadium the night of Thurman's funeral. Not a dry eye to be seen. Then Bobby thrilled us with a game winning hit.
You must have some great stories. Among ones I'd love to hear are ones about Mickey Rivers, Billy Martin, & your father's thoughts on the Mike Kekich/Fritz Peterson deal.
 

BigWill

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
54,042
32,735
113
?

Did you have to drink lots of Yoo-Hoo ?

Did you like it ?

I like it but liked the Chocolate powder mix better.
Hated the flavored straws.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
?

Did you have to drink lots of Yoo-Hoo ?

Did you like it ?

I like it but liked the Chocolate powder mix better.
Hated the flavored straws.
We drank the Yoo-Hoo of the 60s in bottles.
The mixture was very light brown, not dark like today.
We didn’t just have cases, we had palates.
In the winter we’d be shoveling the basketball court off or building our hockey rink in the back yard, in the summer we’d have our whiffle ball tournaments that lasted all day
 

yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
122,597
38,362
113
We drank the Yoo-Hoo of the 60s in bottles.
The mixture was very light brown, not dark like today.
We didn’t just have cases, we had palates.
In the winter we’d be shoveling the basketball court off or building our hockey rink in the back yard, in the summer we’d have our whiffle ball tournaments that lasted all day
Only had it in the glass bottles as well...never really a fan though.
All day whiffle ball was the best. Usually followed it up with what we called “crush the carrier” though known by so many different names. You see kids now and wonder if they would have survived back then.
doubt many post 90’s kids ever had pissing contests to see whocould go the furthest lol
 

RU85inFla

Heisman
Aug 4, 2003
15,564
10,546
73
Been hearing lately Greenville, SC might be a spot too.
Greenville is a great town. Asheville is also. Greenville a little more conservative. Asheville a little more liberal. Asheville has more breweries per capita than anywhere I’ve ever been. If you like beer, it’s insane. The river is very clean and Sierra Nevada opened their East Coast plant there. That was followed by loads of craft breweries.
 

RAC’emUp

All-Conference
Jul 20, 2011
2,199
2,553
57
Only had it in the glass bottles as well...never really a fan though.
All day whiffle ball was the best. Usually followed it up with what we called “crush the carrier” though known by so many different names. You see kids now and wonder if they would have survived back then.
doubt many post 90’s kids ever had pissing contests to see whocould go the furthest lol
How well to you think the following would go over today: ” Mom I’ll be over at so and so’s house playing “kill the guy with the ball”.
 

Retired711

Heisman
Nov 20, 2001
19,971
10,151
58
How well to you think the following would go over today: ” Mom I’ll be over at so and so’s house playing “kill the guy with the ball”.

But we were careful not to tell our moms that. Mom would tell us "go and play' and when you got back your mother would ask "what did you do?" and you would reply "Nothing!"
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
But we were careful not to tell our moms that. Mom would tell us "go and play' and when you got back your mother would ask "what did you do?" and you would reply "Nothing!"
Who took a bus to the nearest Army/Navy store to buy an Army jacket back in the late 60s
 

yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
122,597
38,362
113
But we were careful not to tell our moms that. Mom would tell us "go and play' and when you got back your mother would ask "what did you do?" and you would reply "Nothing!"
Hell, my mom was the instigator of most of the games...
Crack our heads open playing, blood running down the face, there she was with the hose to wash it off...
 

e5fdny

Heisman
Nov 11, 2002
114,810
54,053
102
Who took a bus to the nearest Army/Navy store to buy an Army jacket back in the late 60s
In the 70's I was put on an Academy bus in Leonardo alone at 11 by my Mom and was allowed to go see the Giants by myself. Sometimes in my Dad's seat (were I knew the older guys he sat with) if he was working or all alone somewhere else in the Stadium.
 
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yesrutgers01

Heisman
Nov 9, 2008
122,597
38,362
113
Plenty of times.
Used to get a bloody head from hitting my head on trees also.
I’ll never forget my brother Tim throwing a rock in the air, don’t have to tell you we’re it landed.
My two worse were from a wiffle ball in a tree and we are throwing rocks up to get the last unbroken one...Neighborhood friend trew this big *** rock up and it is caught in a branch...few throws later someone hit that damn rock instead of the ball and guess who is standing under it.
2nd time was rolling down the hill in our backyard inside our older brothers discarded tires. Mine was stopped by the trailer hitch on our camper at the bottom of the hill- she did have to bring me for stitches on that one but I think the rock was worse. They tell me I was knocked out for a good minute on that one.
 
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NickKnight 1

All-Conference
Mar 22, 2003
8,778
2,052
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Plenty of times.
Used to get a bloody head from hitting my head on trees also.
I’ll never forget my brother Tim throwing a rock in the air, don’t have to tell you we’re it landed.
I remember my brother throwing a rock at a bird,
guess who got hit in the head and went to the hospital to get stitches.
 
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BigWill

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
54,042
32,735
113
My mom used to call it a bloody head.

Mom would give me a Quarter early in the day and not expect to see me again till supper time.

We lived in Spring Lake and I would either take the Coast Cities bus to Asbury to watch a movie or go to the beach. Beach ? I could take my bike, buy a coke and hot dog at the noon fire whistles and come home when the guards went home. Movie ? Bus, movie ticket, and a candy bar total was a quarter.
 

zappaa

Heisman
Jul 27, 2001
75,351
92,288
103
Mom would give me a Quarter early in the day and not expect to see me again till supper time.

We lived in Spring Lake and I would either take the Coast Cities bus to Asbury to watch a movie or go to the beach. Beach ? I could take my bike, buy a coke and hot dog at the noon fire whistles and come home when the guards went home. Movie ? Bus, movie ticket, and a candy bar total was a quarter.
I remember when all my favorite candy went from 5 cents to 6 because of tax.
It screwed up my accounting system
 

BigWill

Heisman
Jul 25, 2001
54,042
32,735
113
If I was feeling flush with extra dough, I would put pennies and nickles on the tracks and wait till they got run over by the coal driven railroad engines.
 

NickKnight 1

All-Conference
Mar 22, 2003
8,778
2,052
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On Sunday night my father would say to me and my brothers. you want to go to the
movies Saturday, you know
what to do. And we did. his shoes got polished every night, garbage out. car washed. lawn mowed. Saturday we each got a quarter. We walked two miles to the Lowes, ate, watched 3 cartoons, a short.
like the 3 stooges. two full
movies. then the fun really
began walking back home.
Climbing people's fences to take short cuts, getting yelled at. running the railroad tracks and try not to die. going thru the woods,
looking for snakes. Going thru factories' garbage looking for cool throw aways. But then running home the last mile before the street lights came on. If we didn't no movie the next week.
 
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