"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same, or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free." - President Ronald Reagan
Willie, Rocky, and the Rose: It was a rough one for the diamond. We lost several baseball players in 2024 whom we grew up following, or collecting their cards.
Willie Mays topped the list. I heard about his death listening to a Rangers game on the….
Willie Mays topped the list. I heard about his death listening to a Rangers game on the radio. For my money, he was the greatest player ever, although I saw him play only in 1972, when he played with the Mets. We were in New York and heard that the Mets were in town, so we did whatever we had to do to get to Shea for one last look at Mays. He was not the guy I had watched on TV, but that number 24 looked great on his jersey. He was my favorite in everything he could do:
Few ballplayers matched the multifaceted brilliance of Mays, who ranks sixth all time with 660 home runs and won 12 Gold Glove Awards for his defense in center field — which he helped turn into the game’s most glamorous position in the 1950s, when he, Mickey Mantle and Duke Snider all played for New York clubs. Mays became the first player to exceed 300 homers and 300 stolen bases in 1969, reflecting his ideal blend of power and speed.
As prodigious a hitter as Mays was — he surpassed 50 home runs 10 years apart, in 1955 and 1965, hit four home runs in a game at Milwaukee on April 30, 1961, and batted .301 lifetime — his signature moment might have been the over-the-shoulder catch he made in the 1954 World Series opener at New York’s Polo Grounds, robbing Cleveland’s Vic Wertz of a potential game-winning hit.
I remember once hearing that Ted Williams said that the All Star Game was created for Willie Mays. I don’t know if Williams actually said that for sure, but I do recall watching Willie hit a leadoff home run in the 1965 All Star Game. They played those games in the afternoon back then, and the players used their regular uniforms instead of all of this fancy colorful stuff. What a player, and one of my favorite cards to collect.
Another player who brought some memories was Rocky Colavito, from when the Indians were Indians and wore that great uniform. He was born Rocco Domenico Colavito in New York City. I assume that he grew up watching Joe DiMaggio. I loved his name in large part because my mother could pronounce Colavito, but I had to remind her that he was Italian, not Cuban. I did not see him play except on TV or reading about him in The Sporting News. He was great:
After finishing his career with 374 homers, 1,159 RBIs and an .848 OPS, Colavito spent several years as an Indians coach and broadcaster. He maintained a powerful presence. Giants broadcaster Duane Kuiper, an Indians second baseman from 1974-81, recalled one Spring Training in Tucson, Ariz., when a truckers’ strike threatened to prevent transport of the ballclub’s equipment and other belongings back to Cleveland in time for Opening Day. Said Kuiper, “Rocky made one phone call. And we got our stuff.”
His 374 career home runs were majestic, or moon shots, sort of similar to Harmon Killebrew. I guess the fans in Cleveland never forgave the Indians for trading him, but that’s the business of baseball sometimes. He looked great in those Indian sleeveless uniforms.
And then let’s recall Pete Rose. I saw him play on TV a lot because the Reds were in the postseason so much. Another great baseball card, especially when he was younger and he wore that crew cut. I loved what he did and how he did it on the field:
A Cincinnati native who became a franchise icon for the Reds, Rose is the club’s all-time leader in games (2,722), plate appearances (12,344), runs (1,741), hits (3,358), singles (2,490), doubles (601) and walks (1,210). Over his 24-year career that spanned from 1963-86 and saw him also play for the Phillies and Expos, Rose collected 4,256 hits.
And then who can forget that crash with Ray Fosse running home in the 1970 All Star Game? What about that fight that he started in the 1973 NLCS against the Mets? I was in my car, and the two big stories of the moment were that V.P. Agnew had resigned and that Rose had crashed into the shortstop. His baseball story did not end well, but that’s another story.
There were others, like Luis Tiant, who was born in Cuba and became a Major League star the year our family came to the U.S. My father told me stories of his father, Luis Sr., who played in the old Negro Leagues.
There was Rico Carty and the big debate over the 1964 Rookie of the Year between Rico and Dick Allen.
There was Fernando Valenzuela and that great game that he pitched against the Yankees and Expos in the 1981 postseason.
And there was Rickey Henderson, who always played for the other team, but I admire his talents.
Great players, all of them. And a reminder of when kids collected baseball cards and I played Strat-o-Matic wth my brother.
The eccentric but very good lefty Bill Lee was born in Burbank, CA, on this day in 1946. As a pitcher, he was a rare left hander who could pitch in Fenway Park. He pitched most of his career with Boston and finished with Montreal: 119 wins, 3.72 ERA and 72 complete games. Lee's pitching style was to kill you with a variety of "junk pitches" that had hitters speaking to themselves on the way back to the dugouts. Off the field, Lee was also "The Spaceman" because of all his famous quotes. He wasn't Yogi Berra but he had a few:
"I would change policy, bring back natural grass and nickel beer. Baseball is the belly-button of our society. Straighten out baseball, and you straighten out the rest of the world."
My biggest memory is game 7 of the 1975 World Series. He threw one of those junk pitches to Tony Perez and it was the 3-run HR that put Cincinnati back in the game. He was fun to watch on and off the field. A baseball character when it was just fun to be a character.
We remember Mary Tyler Moore who was born on this day in 1936. She died in 2017. We remember her as the wonderful Laura Petrie in "The Dick Van Dyke" then Mary Richards in her own show and finally in the drama "Ordinary lives". She was great and a big part of our lives.
It was a lot of fun hearing my late parents tell stories of Cuban baseball. My mother, born in Ciego de Avila, followed La Habana. My father, born in Sagua La Grande, followed Almendares. They spent many nights in their hometowns writing each other letters and listening to the games on radio. I guess that I inherited their passion for “beisbol.”
“On December 29, 1878, the first game is played between two teams of the first professional baseball league in Cuba, later known as the Cuban League. Representing the city of Havana, the Habana club faced off against their greatest rivals, a club from the neighboring suburb of Almendares. Habana, coached by Esteban Bellán, the first Cuban to play professional baseball in the United States, won that inaugural game 21-20.”
The first game eventually turned into the very successful Almendares-Habana rivalry, the Cuban version of the Yankees-Red Sox feud. Eventually, they added teams in Marianao and Cienfuegos. It all started today in 1878!
On this day in 1845, Texas became the 28th state to enter the Union. Texas came in as a "slave state" and eventually fought with the South in The Civil War.
Over time, Texas became the second largest economy in the US and a huge political factor as well. Years ago, James Michener wrote a good novel about Texas.
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We remember Mary Tyler Moore who was born on this day in 1936. She died in 2017.
