On Opening Day, April 15, 1909, Giants starter Red Ames held the Brooklyn Superbas hitless for nine innings. However, as neither the Giants nor the Superbas had scored, extra innings were required. Ames allowed a hit in the 10th inning, when second baseman Whitey Alpermann doubled to left-center. Ames then went on to allow three runs in the 13th inning as the Giants lost, 3–0.
On February 10, 1971, the New York Yankees announced that Bill White would join Phil Rizzuto and Frank Messer on the WPIX broadcast team, becoming the first black to do play-by-play regularly for a major-league baseball team. White called Yankee games from 1971 to 1988 on both radio and television during that time.
Bob Uecker received the Ford C. Frick award for broadcasting for the Milwaukee Brewers in 2003.
R.I.P.
While the deal had been struck days earlier, on January 5, 1920, the New York Yankees announced the purchase of Babe Ruth from the Boston Red Sox. Ruth would eventually become the first man in baseball history to hit 60 home runs in a season, a number that would last until 1961. Ruth also retired with 714 home runs, a mark that would stand until the great Hank Aaron hit his 715th in 1974. With Ruth leading a team of undeniable stars, the Yankees would win seven American League pennants and four World Series. Red Sox fans, meanwhile, would spend the next century cursing Harry Frazee’s name.
The Boston Rustlers (formerly the Doves) were purchased by New York politician James E. Gaffney and former player, now lawyer, John Montgomery Ward on December 13, 1911. The team would be called the Braves because of Gaffney’s Tammany Hall connections, which used an Indian chief as its symbol.
The Chicago White Sox released veteran pitcher Early Wynn on November 15, 1962. Having finished the 1962 season with 299 career wins, Wynn was determined to sign with another team and earn victory number 300. He managed to join the Cleveland Indians in June 1963 and earned his 300th career win on July 13, 1963.
I discovered this podcast, History That Doesn’t Suck, a couple of months ago, and I really enjoy listening to it. Professor Greg Jackson has a way of talking about history that makes it seem like story time, and he’s quite engaging.
Released last week, the episode below deviates a bit from the podcast’s usual format. This conversation with Negro Leagues Baseball Museum President Bob Kendrick is equally engaging, however, and Kendrick is quite the storyteller himself. In the episode, he talks, of course, about the Negro Leagues, about Jackie Robinson, about the quality of play that could be found in the Negro Leagues, takes a look at the economics, and many other topics surrounding this bit of American history.
The above episode also mentions the podcast’s previous episode: “165: America’s Favorite Pastime: Baseball, the Negro Leagues, and the Great Bambino.” I’m not sure why episode 165 is not uploaded to YouTube, however, I did find it on Spotify, and I believe the podcast is available on other platforms, as well. Or you can just go to the podcast website and listen to episodes here. I definitely encourage you to check it out!
Yankee first baseman Lou Gehrig hit the first home run of his major league career on September 27, 1923. The blast came off Red Sox pitcher Bill Piercy in the top of the first inning with one on. New York went on to defeat Boston, 8-3, at Fenway Park.
William Henry O’Kelleher Jr. (he would later Americanize the name to Keeler) was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 3, 1872. His father, William O’Kelleher Sr., worked as a trolley switch man. Willie Keeler began playing baseball at a young age, and was so good that he was named captain of his high school team as a freshman. His high school career was short-lived, however, as he quit school the following year and went on to play semiprofessional baseball in the New York City area.
After a couple of seasons with the Plainfield Crescent Cities of the Central New Jersey League, Keeler joined the minor league team in Binghamton, New York. He was called up to the New York Giants at the end of the season at the age of 20 years old. Standing only 5-foot-4 and weighing a mere 140 pounds, Keeler was one of the smallest players ever in major league baseball, earning him the nickname “Wee Willie.” Despite his stature, Keeler would establish himself as one of the greatest contact hitters of all time, being notoriously difficult to strike out. His motto at the plate was, “Keep your eye on the ball and hit ‘em where they ain’t.”
Keeler compiled a .341 career batting average, hitting over .300 sixteen times in nineteen seasons, and he hit over .400 once. His best season came in 1897 with the Orioles, when he hit .424 and led the National League with 239 hits in only 129 games. Keeler also started the season with a 44-game hitting streak, beating the previous record of 42. His new mark stood for 44 years before being broken by Joe DiMaggio in 1941.
Keeler twice led his league in batting average and three times in hits. He hit an astounding 206 singles during the 1898 season, a record that stood for more than 100 years. Additionally, Keeler had an on-base percentage of greater than .400 for seven straight seasons, and when Keeler retired in 1910, he was third all-time in hits with 2,932, behind only Cap Anson and Jake Beckley.
Keeler was also a force on the base paths, totaling 495 career stolen bases. Of his 33 career long balls, 30 of them were inside-the-park home runs.
Keeler passed away on January 1, 1923 at the age of 50. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1939.
After second baseman Bobby Lowe broke his ankle, the Chicago Cubs acquired Johnny Evers. The now-famous infield combination of “Tinker to Evers to Chance” first played together on September 13, 1902. The double-play trio would be immortalized in Franklin Pierce Adams’ poem, “Baseball’s Sad Lexicon.”
