Sunday, January 29, 2017

Jackie Robinson Moments By Harvey Frommer

Jackie Robinson Moments

By Harvey Frommer


             
Jack Roosevelt Robinson was born on January 31, 1919 in Cairo, Georgia. He remains for me and so many others one of the most important figures in sports and American history. 
My newest book billed a Harvey Frommer Baseball Classic was just published.  http://www.lyonspress.com/book/9781630761578

While there were a few black players in the 1880s and a few others with African-American blood were described by their teams as "Cuban," "Mexican" or "Indian" in the first part of the 20th century, it was Jackie Robinson who shattered the color barrier post-World War II.
The struggle to break the color line in the Major Leagues included many sorry stories like this one from July 27, 1943. Wire services announced that three Negro National League players would be given tryouts with the Pittsburgh Pirates. But, the three Roy Campanella, Sam Hughes of the Baltimore Elite Giants and Dave Barnhill of the New York Cubans -- never received their tryouts.


                  
                   Farcical Tryouts at Fenway Park
           Each season, the Boston Red Sox had routinely received a waiver from the Boston City Council permitting them to play Sunday baseball. Now Councilman Isadore Muchnick, who represented the Mattapan section of Boston, teamed with African-American journalist Wendell Smith.  They had an offer for Tom Yawkey that they knew he could not refuse. A trade, of sorts.
 For the BoSox to keep the long-held waiver in place, the team would have to allow three black baseball prospects to try out at Fenway Park. Yawkey, as the story was reported later, reluctantly agreed to the tryouts of Jackie Robinson, Marvin Williams and Sam Jethroe. His one condition was that all decisions about them would be the province of his baseball people.
Black ballplayers from the Negro Leagues from time to time had played at Fenway when the Red Sox were on the road. The color barrier was firmly in effect at this time, but owners thought nothing of picking up spare change through this business arrangement. Now they would have chance to break the big club’s color line at Fenway Park, or so was the understanding.
April 16, 1945 began damp and drizzly. At about 10:00 A.M. Muchnick and Smith were in the stands, They watched as the tryout got underway.  Just back from army service in World War II, Jackie Robinson was set to play with the Kansas City Monarchs in the Negro Leagues that season.  Marvin Williams was a member of the Philadelphia Stars. Sam Jethroe was an outfielder for the Cleveland Buckeyes.       
          Red Sox Manager Joe Cronin sat in the stands, according to one account, “stone-faced.'' Eddie Collins, the general manager, reportedly was unable to attend the tryout “because of a previous engagement.” 



Near the end of the one-hour workout, according to Clifford Keane, reporter for the Boston Globe, someone called out, “Get those niggers off the field!”
Boston Red Sox immortal and Coach Hugh Duffy, 78, was one of those who conducted the workouts. Later that year he would be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.  “You boys look like pretty good players,” he was quoted as saying. “I hope you enjoyed the workout.”  Later he remarked: “After one workout, it was not possible to judge their ability."
When the tryout was over, Robinson said:  “It was April, 1945. Nobody was serious about black players in the majors, except maybe for a few politicians.”
According to United Press International, Jethroe and Williams “seemed tense and both their hitting and fielding suffered.” According to the Red Sox front office, the players were not ready for the majors and would not be comfortable playing for the team's Triple-A affiliate in Louisville, Kentucky.
According to Sam Jethroe, the entire experience was “a sham.”  The Red Sox front office would never contact the players.
There was a need for players with the abilities of Jethroe, Robinson and Williams. As the 1945 baseball season began and the war still raged, Major League rosters were stocked with not quite ready for prime time players, a few underage ones and quite a few who were long in the tooth. But the game went on at Fenway Park in 1945 and other big league venues, as it had always gone on, only with white players.
          By April of 1947, there were sixteen blacks in organized baseball, half of them in the Dodger organization. Branch Rickey had signed Dan Bankhead who would pitch ten innings late in the season. John Wright, Roy Parlow, Don Newcombe, and Roy Campanella were in the minor leagues Hank Thompson and Willard J. Brown would join the St. Louis Browns in July.   
The Cleveland Indians had signed Larry Doby in 1947, and he would play in twenty-nine games for them.
          But Jackie Robinson was the main man, the first of the black stars who would change forever the way things were in Major League Baseball. He was history's wall-breaker, history’s messenger.      



The Pee Wee Reese Moment
As the story goes, during Robinson’s rookie season his southern-born teammate Pee Wee Reese stood up for him at a game in Cincinnati after hearing racial slurs. The little shortstop allegedly put his arm around Robinson and said, “You can hate a man for many reasons. Color is not one of them,”

There is a statue of Reese and Robinson outside the playing field of the Brooklyn Cyclones in Coney Island to commemorate that moment in time that probably never took place. Rachel Robinson was opposed to that statue suggesting another moment be found. Her opposition went unheeded. There is no mention in newspapers, and according to Newsweek no mention of it can be unearthed. Ken Burns, creator of the documentary on Robinson, calls the moment “mythology.”

Dr. Harvey Frommer, a professor at Dartmouth College in the MALS program, is in his 4ist year of writing books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, he is the author of 43 sports books including the classics: best-selling “New York City Baseball, 1947-1957″ and best-selling Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,as well as his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium and best-selling Remembering Fenway Park. His highly praised When It Was Just a Game: Remembering the First Super Bowl was published last fall.

A link to purchase autographed copies of Frommer Sports Books is at:   http://frommerbooks.com/

Sunday, January 22, 2017

What I Learned Writing WHEN IT WAS JUST A GAME: REMEMBERING THE FIRST SUPER BOWL By Harvey Frommer

What I Learned Writing

WHEN IT WAS JUST A GAME: REMEMBERING THE FIRST SUPER BOWL

By Harvey Frommer



With the 2017 Super Bowl almost upon us, how it all began is recounted in

chapter and verse in my WHEN IT WAS JUST A GAME: REMEMBERING THE

FIRST SUPER BOWL, an oral history. Below follows just some of the fascinating

things I learned.

Other rivals to the NFL through the decades had sprung up:

American Football League (1926), American Football League (1936–1937),

American Football League (1940–1941), All-America Football Conference

(1946–1949). None of them had the financial muscle and the organizational

skills behind them that Lamar Hunt’s American Football League had.

One of Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s suggestions for the name of the new

game was “The Big One.” That name never caught on. “Pro Bowl,” did not

work. “World Series of Football.” That died quickly. It was deemed too

imitative of baseball’s Fall Classic.

Quarterback Bart Starr of the Packers on Vince Lombardi: “It was a

fabulous experience all of us had playing for him, being coached by him. I

could hardly wait for the next morning to get into the meeting to start that

day off. He made everything so exciting, so challenging. He was a brilliant

teacher and because of it he was a fabulous coach.”

KC player Ed Lothamer said of Kansas City Coach Hank Stram: “There

were times when he had practices and a band playing. If an entertainer or

celebrity was in Kansas City, often they would call Hank, and Hank would

invite them to come over and watch practice. People like Muhammad Ali,

Jim Nabors, Al Hirt, Edie Gorme and Steve Lawrence, all watched us

practice. You never knew who was going to pop up.”

Prior to that first Super Bowl Game on January 15, 1967 the Packers and the

Chiefs had never played against each other. Actually, no NFL team had ever

played against an AFL team—not even an exhibition game.  

The Saturday night before the game even chubby Jackie Gleason, one of the

famed comedians of that era, got into the act by ending his CBS television

urging his huge audience to make sure to tune in the next day to CBS and

watch the world championship football game.

  “It’s gonna be murder!” Gleason bellowed

          There were those who thought “The Great One” went a bit too far, that he

was too much of a shill for his CBS network that carried the NFL broadcasts.

Some celebrities of the time at the game included: famed movie and TV

stars Henry Fonda, Kirk Douglas, June Allyson, Janet Leigh, Chuck

Connors, Danny Thomas, CBS TV anchor Walter Cronkite, comedian and

serious sports fan Bob Hope, late night TV host Johnny Carson.

Two different footballs were used in the game. When the NFL Packers were

on offense, they used the NFL ball and when the AFL Chiefs were on

offense, the AFL ball was used.

Two kick-offs incredibly took place to start the game’s second half because

NBC-TV was in commercial for the first one and a “do over” was allowed.

Commissioner Pete Rozelle’s wish was that the game would one day surpass

baseball’s World Series. It would do much more than that.

With that first game history – The Super Bowl has evolved into the grandest,

grossest, gaudiest annual one-day spectacle in the annals of American sports and

culture. All of this incredibly spun off the game that was played that January day in

1967 at the Los Angeles Coliseum, a game that for a time lacked a name, a venue,

an identity, a game that didn’t even sell out.

Now available: http://frommerbooks.com/when-it- was-just- a-game.html

Dr. Harvey Frommer, a professor at Dartmouth College in the MALS program, is in his 4ist year of writing books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, he is the author of 43 sports books including the classics: best-selling “New York City Baseball, 1947-1957″ and best-selling Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,as well as his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium and best-selling Remembering Fenway Park. His highly praised When It Was Just a Game: Remembering the First Super Bowl was published last fall.

A link to purchase autographed copies of Frommer Sports Books is at:   http://frommerbooks.com/

Wednesday, January 18, 2017

IBWAA SELECTS VLADIMIR GUERRERO AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ IN 2017 HALL OF FAME VOTE

IBWAA SELECTS VLADIMIR GUERRERO AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ IN 2017 HALL OF FAME VOTE
 
Los Angeles – In its eighth annual Hall of Fame election, the IBWAA selected Vladimir Guerrero and Ivan Rodriguez, both with 84.54% of the vote (175 votes). A 75% threshold is required for election.
 
Mike Mussina came up one vote short, finishing in third place with 74.88%, followed by Trevor Hoffman (73.91%), Barry Bonds (73.43%) and Roger Clemens (71.50%). There are 470 members in the IBWAA; 208 voted in this election.
 
Jeff Bagwell (2015), Edgar Martinez (2016) and Tim Raines (2015) did not appear on the 2017 IBWAA Hall of Fame ballot because they have already been honored in previous IBWAA elections.
 
With those exceptions, the IBWAA ballot was identical to the one used by the BBWAA. All voting is done electronically.
 
Per a group decision in January, 2014, the IBWAA allows members to vote for up to 15 players, instead of the previous 10, beginning with the 2015 election. In the 2017 election, 92 members voted for 10 or more candidates. Seventeen members voted for 15 candidates. The average vote per member was 8.94.
 
Complete voting results are as follows:
 
 
Player Name
Votes
Percentage
Iván Rodríguez
175
84.54%
Vladimir Guerrero
175
84.54%
Mike Mussina
155
74.88%
Trevor Hoffman
153
73.91%
Barry Bonds
152
73.43%
Roger Clemens
148
71.50%
Curt Schilling
120
57.97%
Larry Walker
117
56.52%
Manny Ramírez
109
52.66%
Gary Sheffield
91
43.96%
Fred McGriff
85
41.06%
Billy Wagner
84
40.58%
Jeff Kent
80
38.65%
Sammy Sosa
68
32.85%
Lee Smith
65
31.40%
Jorge Posada
32
15.46%
Tim Wakefield
8
3.86%
Jason Varitek
7
3.38%
Matt Stairs
6
2.90%
Magglio Ordóñez
5
2.42%
Edgar Rentería
4
1.93%
Arthur Rhodes
2
0.97%
Derrek Lee
2
0.97%
J.D. Drew
2
0.97%
Pat Burrell
2
0.97%
Casey Blake
1
0.48%
Melvin Mora
1
0.48%
Mike Cameron
1
0.48%
Carlos Guillén
0
0.00%
Freddy Sánchez
0
0.00%
Orlando Cabrera
0
0.00%
 
Ballot tabulations by Brian Wittig & Associates.
 
The IBWAA was established July 4, 2009 to organize and promote the growing online baseball media, and to serve as a digital alternative to the Baseball Writers’ Association of America (BBWAA). Voting for full season awards takes place in September of each year, with selections being announced in November. The IBWAA also holds a Hall of Fame election in December of each year, with results being announced the following January.
 
In 2010, the IBWAA began voting in its own relief pitcher category, establishing the Rollie Fingers American League Relief Pitcher of the Year and the Hoyt Wilhelm National League Relief Pitcher of the Year Awards.
 
Among others, IBWAA members include Jim Bowden and David Schoenfield of ESPN.com; Tim Brown, Yahoo! Sports; Craig Calcaterra, NBC Sports Hardball Talk; Bill Chuck, GammonsDaily.com; Derrick Goold, St. Louis Post-Dispatch; Jon Heyman and Jesse Spector, Today’s Knuckleball; Danny Knobler, Bleacher Report; Kevin Kennedy; Kostya Kennedy, Sports Illustrated; Will Leitch, Sports on Earth; Bruce Markusen, Hardball Times; Ross Newhan; Dayn Perry and Matt Snyder, CBSSports.com; Tom Hoffarth and J.P. Hoornstra Los Angeles Daily News; Pedro Moura, Los Angeles Times; Tracy Ringolsby, MLB.com; Ken Rosenthal, FoxSports.com; Eno Sarris, FanGraphs; and Bill Arnold.
 
Association membership is open to any and all Internet baseball writers, with a $75 lifetime fee. Discounts for groups and scholarships are available. Members must be 18 years of age to apply.

For more information please visit 
www.ibwaa.com.

Contact:
 
Howard Cole
Founding Director, IBWAA
baseballsavvy@aol.com
 

Thursday, January 12, 2017

Yankee Doodle Dandies By Harvey Frommer

Yankee Doodle Dandies
   By Harvey Frommer



We are into January 2017 but come September THE ULTIMATE YANKEE BOOK by yours truly will make its debut. What follows is just a sampling of “ultimate” content. Enjoy. Reactions always welcomed.

Travel by Airplane        
          In 1946, the Yankees became the first team to regularly travel by airplane. The team leased a United Airlines plane nicknamed the "Yankee Mainliner.” Despite the advantages of flying, four players, including Red Ruffing, still chose to take the train.
                                                   
Mascot
The Yankees are one of four teams today lacking a mascot. From 1982 until 1985, the team mascot was Dandy, a pinstriped bird.  That did not work out.

Hideki Matsui
Before becoming a Yankee, Hideki Matsui recorded the second-longest consecutive games played streak in Japanese baseball history - 1,250 straight games.
                                                  
Elaine’s                
          George Steinbrenner liked to dine at Elaine's on Second Avenue in Manhattan. With his team at home, he would often partake of an early supper.

                                                  Mantle’s Locker
Yankee outfielder and future broadcaster Bobby Murcer took over Mickey Mantle's locker after “the Mick” retired in 1968

                              Yogi Berra, Mosts, a Partial List

            Most postseason games - Yogi Berra holds the record for appearing in the most postseason games - 75. In his 19 year career, Berra and the New York Yankees went to the postseason 14 times. Since Berra played during the years before divisional play, all of the games he appeared in were World Series games, meaning he also holds the record for most World Series games appeared in. The great Yankee also holds the record for most World Series at-bats with 259, and is third behind Mickey Mantle and Babe Ruth in World Series homeruns, with 12. 

                                  Yogi Berra, Everywhere!                                  
            Bill Bevens' No-Hitter Broken up By “Cookie” Lavagetto October 3, 1947; Yogi was there as the Yankees catcher.
          Sandy Amoros catch October 4, 1955; Yogi was there as Yankee catcher and smacked the ball that Amoros caught down the left field line.
            Don Larsen' perfect game, October 8, 1956; Yogi was the catcher.
           Bill Mazeroski's home run, October 13, 1960; Yogi was there as the Yankees left fielder.
          Home Run Number 61 by Roger Maris, October 1, 1961; Yogi was there as Yankee left fielder for part of the game.       
    Willie McCovey's line shot to Bobby Richardson, October 16, 1962; Yogi was there as a part time player on the bench.
 Chris Chambliss home run in ALCS, October 14, 1976, Yogi was there as Yankees coach.
Reggie Jackson's three home runs, October 18, 1977; Yogi was there as a Yankee coach.
           The Bucky Dent Home Run, October 2, 1978; Yogi was there as Yankees coach.
                      George Brett battles Goose Gossage, October 10, 1980, Yogi was there as Yankees coach.
            Yogi Berra was there after the Yankees fired Billy Martin on December 16, 1983 and took over as Yankee manager.
            David Cone's Perfect Game, July 19, 1999, Yogi was being honored on "Yogi Berra Day"
On the field, in the dugout, in the clubhouse, throwing out a first ball, Lawrence Peter Berra did his thing during the 2001 World Series.

Dr. Harvey Frommer, a professor at Dartmouth College in the MALS program, is in his 4ist year of writing books. A noted oral historian and sports journalist, he is the author of 43 sports books including the classics: best-selling “New York City Baseball, 1947-1957″ and best-selling Shoeless Joe and Ragtime Baseball,as well as his acclaimed Remembering Yankee Stadium and best-selling Remembering Fenway Park. His highly praised When It Was Just a Game: Remembering the First Super Bowl was published last fall.

A link to purchase autographed copies of Frommer Sports Books is at:   http://frommerbooks.com/

Monday, January 2, 2017

ULTIMATE YANKEES - Advance Praise for Harvey Frommer's New Book

Ultimate Yankees Advance Praise


“Take a tour through the history of the New York Yankees! Name a player, manager, owner, general manager, or broadcaster…they are all here. Harvey Frommer leads us through the decades as easily as touring the greatest cities in the world. And of course, that’s what he’s doing...guiding us through the greatest sports franchise in history, the New York Yankees!"-– Suzyn Waldman … NY Yankees Radio Broadcaster
“Now I remember why I stopped reading....so much stuff...and what can an old
Cardinals' fan say but, 'Damn those Yankees.’ Stan Musial once said,'Baseball records?
The Yankees had 'em all.' Harvey Frommer's book proves it."
-– Dave Kindred, author of "Sound and Fury,"
a dual biography of Muhammad Ali and Howard Cosell
"Yankee fans will want to keep Harvey Frommer's Ultimate Yankee Book right
next to their chair alongside the peanuts and Crackerjacks. Surprising nuggets
of Yankee lore adorn each page and will keep readers returning to its pages over
and over again." -- Glenn Stout, Author The Selling of the Babe &
Series Editor, 
The Best American Sports Writing
"A must read for Yankee fans and Yankee haters alike. No team anywhere has this
kind of history and Harvey Frommer is the perfect tour guide for a stroll down
memory lane." -- Len Berman, Broadcaster/Author
"I thought I knew a lot about the Yankees but I learned something new on almost
every page of this terrific and terrifically fun book."
-- Jonathan Eig, author Luckiest Man: The Life and Death of Lou Gehrig
“This brand new book by America’s Baseball Author is a MUST read!"
-- Seth Swirsky, author of Baseball Letters
"From the very first page it's all there: the big names; the great moments; the
thrill of pinstriped victory. Harvey Frommer has really outdone himself.
This book is a veritable feast to be savored by all Yankee fans."
-- Peter Golenbock, author of The Bronx Zoo, Number 1, Balls, and 7
"It's all here. Everything you ever wanted to know about the most storied sports
franchise in American history. Even Red Sox fans should get in on this so they'll
know all about the enemy."
-- Dan Shaughnessy,
author The Curse of the Bambino Sports columnist/Associate Editor Boston Globe
“Do you want to know about the history of baseball? Then start with the history of
the New York Yankees, and there is no better place to start then The Ultimate
Yankee Book.  I guarantee you this, it’s the most valuable guide to the Bronx
Bombers Baseball Almanac will have in its research library."
-– Sean Holtz Baseball Almanac (www.baseball-almanac.com)
"One of my favorite baseball authors, Harvey Frommer goes beyond the statistics
in his latest work, touching all the bases on nicknames, spring training, and even
retired numbers -- assuming the Yankees have anything left to retire! It's a
reference to treasure not only for fans of the Yanks but for lovers of baseball
history." --Dan Schlossberg, Former AP sportswriter and author of 38 baseball books
"There are many books written about the New York Yankees and their illustrious history.
But now, for the first time, there is the "ultimate" book about the New York Yankees.
If you are looking for the book that covers everything Yankees, then "The Ultimate Yankee
Book" is the choice. No book covers the amount of information that "The Ultimate Yankee
Book" does. This is really the one-stop, has-it-all book that will give any Yankees fan or
baseball historian their entire fill of nothing but Yankees baseball. This is the ultimate read
and the must-have book for any baseball and Yankees literature collection. Grab your copy
today and begin learning about everything you could ever want to know about the
New York Yankees."
-- Bradford H. Turnow, Owner - UltimateYankees.com