According to the description for this video, this song was transferred from a 45 RPM record from the 1960s. Listening to it certainly makes me feel like I’ve stepped back in time. I get this mental image of men in colorful jackets and women in knee-length skirts walking excitedly towards Cleveland Stadium.
If you have a bad day in baseball and start thinking about it, you will have ten more.
~Sammy Sosa
On June 25, 1904, the Concord Marines of the Class B New England League brought their nine-year-old mascot into the game after the ejection of the team’s centerfielder and their second baseman becoming ill. Diggins thus became the youngest professional player in the history of the game. However, the youngster did not have an opportunity to field any balls playing right field, and he struck out in his only at-bat in the contest played at Alumni Field (also known as Spalding Park).
Diggins may not have had the opportunity to impress, but his appearance in the game did earn him a sparsely populated Baseball Reference page.
It’s a stormy morning where I am at, so this just seemed all too appropriate.
On June 23, 1915, Bruno Haas of the Philadelphia Athletics pitched a complete game against the Yankees at Shibe Park. Haas lost the contest 15-7, however, giving up 16 walks over those 9 innings. It is a post-1900 record for a 9-inning game that stands to this day.
Records for most walks in a game are shown below, courtesy of Baseball Almanac.
The strongest thing I put into my body is steak and eggs. I just eat. I’m not a supplement guy. Steroids are not even a thought.
~Jim Thome
On June 17, 1942, Braves right fielder Paul Waner stood on first base during the second game of a double-header against the Cincinnati Reds and gestured at the official scorer not to credit him with a hit. Waner had just reached base on a ground ball in the hole that was knocked down by Reds shortstop Eddie Joost.
Waner had entered the game at Braves Field batting just .263 for the year, but he was nearing a major milestone — his 3,000th career hit. When the ground ball knocked down by Joost was initially scored a hit, Waner grew furious. “No, no. Don’t give me a hit on that. I won’t take it,” he yelled. Waner didn’t want a questionable roller to be his historic 3,000th hit.
Jerry Moore, who was acting as official scorer for the game, relented, and he changed the scoring on the play to an error by Joost. (I haven’t been able to find anything depicting Joost’s reaction to this decision, however.)
Two days later, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Waner laced an RBI single off Rip Sewell, his former teammate on the Pirates. In doing so, he became just the seventh player in major league history to hit the 3,000 mark.
Frank Thomas spent all but 3 years of his MLB career with the Chicago White Sox. He was a five-time All-Star, and he won the AL batting title in 1997 with a .347 average. He was a two-time American League MVP (1993 and 1994), won the Silver Slugger on four occasions (1991, 1993, 1994, and 2000), and his jersey number 35 was retired by the White Sox.
Frank Thomas was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2014.
Just give me 25 guys on the last year of their contracts; I’ll win a pennant every year.
~Sparky Anderson
James Timothy “Mudcat” Grant was born on August 13, 1935 in Lacoochee, Florida. He was one of seven children of James Sr. and Viola Grant.
Grant was signed as an amateur free agent by the Cleveland Indians prior to the 1954 season. After four seasons in the minor leagues, from 1954 to 1957, he made his MLB debut on April 17, 1958, at the age of 22, winning a complete game against the Kansas City Athletics. In June 1964, he was traded to the Minnesota Twins, then in 1965, he went 21–7 for the Twins, helping to lead the team to the 1965 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Unfortunately, the Twins lost the series in seven games.
During the 1965 season, Grant became the first black pitcher in the American League to win 20 games, leading the American League in victories with a 21-7 record, also posting a 3.30 ERA in 270 1/3 innings, and starting 39 games. He started three World Series games, winning two. In Game 6 at Metropolitan Stadium, he gave up only one run in a complete game, and even hit a three-run homer en route to a 5-1 victory.
Grant pitched for seven teams during his 14-year big league career and was with the Twins for four of those seasons. Over the course of that career, he had a 145–119 record in 571 games, while starting in 293 of them and throwing 89 complete games. His resumé also includes 18 shutouts, 53 saves, with 2,442 innings pitched on a 3.63 ERA.
Grant was named to the All-Star team in 1963 and 1965. He received his catfish-inspired nickname when a minor league teammate thought he was from Mississippi.
Mudcat Grant died on June 12, 2021 at the age of 85.
Rest in peace.
