Welcome to the Baseball History Podcast: Featuring This Week in Baseball History, baseball dictionary and a tour of baseball cities. I’m your game announcer Bob Wright.
This is game 42 of the 2006 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 1 week of August.
August 1
1945 At the Polo Grounds, Mel Ott hits his historic 500th career home run off Braves’ hurler Johnny Hutchings as the Giants beat Boston, 9-2. Master Melvin is the third major leaguer to accomplish this career milestone.
Melvin Thomas Ott was born March 2, 1909 in Gretna, Louisiana. Ott, nicknamed “Master Melvin”, played his entire career for the New York Giants from 1926 to 1947.
As a 17-year-old “Boy Wonder” in 1926, Mel Ott’s size belied his power. Using an unorthodox batting style in which he lifted his right foot prior to impact, he hit 30 or more home runs in a season eight times and winning or sharing home run honors on six occasions.
The minor leagues in baseball were created to provide an opportunity for young talent to develop before being called up to the majors, but Ott skipped this step. New York Giants manager John McGraw was so worried that minor league managers would tamper with Ott’s perfect swing that he called the young slugger up to the majors straight out of high school at the age of 16. For a few seasons, Ott rode the bench and filled in as needed, but once he got his shot, he took the league by storm.
He played for 22 seasons, in which he compiled a career batting average of .304, 511 home runs, and 1,860 Runs Batted In. He batted over .300 ten times.
Ott, in his career hit 488 doubles and 72 triples, stole 89 bases and had a .414 on base percentage to go along with a .533 slugging average.
He paced the National League in homers six times, but his career high of 42 in 1929 failed to lead the league. On the final day of that season, Philadelphia pitchers walked him intentionally five times to prevent him from tying their teammate Chuck Klein for the home run title.
On six occasions Ott led the league in walks. His career walk total was the highest in the National League until broken by Joe Morgan. Twelve times he walked at least 90 times in a season..
Ott was a solid right fielder who moved to third base in 1937-1938 to help the team. The Giants won three pennants with Ott in the lineup, and garnered a World Series title in 1933. In that Series, Ott homered in the first inning of Game One and in the 10th and final inning of Game Five – giving the Giants the victory. He led all regulars with a .389 average, seven hits, and four Runs Batted In. In his three World Series, Ott hit four home runs and batted .295.
Ott took great advantage of his home ballpark, slugging nearly two-thirds of his longballs in the Polo Grounds.
As a player/manager and manager, Ott posted a .467 percentage in six seasons. His easy-going style prompted Dodger manager Leo Durocher to comment, “Nice guys finish last.” Ironically, it was Durocher who replaced Ott as Giants’ manager in 1948.
Ott is the only man to ever lead his league in home runs while also serving as manager, which he did in 1942.
Tragically, on November 14, 1958, Ott and his wife were seriously injured in a head-on automobile collision. During life-saving surgery, Ott died at the age of 49.
Mel Ott was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1951. His number “4″ was also retired by the Giants.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: C
caught stealing
Tagged out while attempting to steal a base. In the Official Baseball Rules, rule 10.08, provides that a runner shall be charged as “caught stealing” when he:
a) tries to steal a base
b) is picked off a base and tries to advance; any move toward the next base is considered an attempt to advance
c) overslides while stealing.
In 1982 when Rickey Henderson set the all-time single-season steal record of 130, he was also caught stealing a record 42 times.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
The Charleston RiverDogs.
This team is a single A affiliate of the New York Yankees and plays their home games at Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park in Charleston South Carolina.
The City of Charleston’s rich professional baseball history dates back to 1886 when the Seagulls took the field as members of the Southern League. Since then, Charleston has hosted 70 seasons of professional baseball, from the Rebels and Rainbows at College Park on Rutledge Avenue, to the present day RiverDogs at “The Joe” on the scenic banks of the Ashley River.
The Sea Gulls, and in 1919 just the Gulls, played from 1904-1919 in Charleston, but did not field teams during the 1910, 1912, and 1918 seasons.
In 1920 the Charleston entry in the South Atlantic League was named the Palmettos and the following season saw the nickname shortened to Pals. Despite on field success, the Pals left Charleston during the 1923 campaign and became the Macon (GA) Peaches. The city would be without professional baseball for the better part of 17 years.
Baseball returned to Charleston midway through the 1940 season when R.E. Lamonte brought his Class B South Atlantic League franchise to town from Spartanburg and began playing as the Rebels.
The 1949 Rebels, a White Sox farm team, were the first Charleston team to be affiliated with a major league club. The Rebels 1950 outfit was managed by famed “eephus” pitcher Rip Sewell but following a good showing in 1950 the team declined and left town following the 1953 season.
From the 60’s through most of the ‘90’s the city had a team off and on with varied affiliations.
The RiverDogs opened the 1997 season at brand new Joseph P. Riley, Jr. Park on the banks of the scenic Ashley River.
The 2005 season ushered in the Yankees era in Charleston as the RiverDogs became a Class-A affiliate of the New York club. The team ran away with the first half Southern Division crown and set a club record for victories in a season with a record of 80-58.
In 2006 the RiverDogs celebrate their 10th Season of baseball action at “The Joe.”
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. Transcripts of the game can be found at baseballhistorypodcast.blogspot.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Mel Ott,
Baseball Dictionary- Caught Stealing,
Tour- Charleston RiverDogs
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