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 49 of the 2007 baseball season
In the first inning let’s take a look at This Week in Baseball History for the 3 week of July.
July 17,
2004 A third piece of concrete, which apparently fell from the park’s upper deck, is discovered at Wrigley Field by a club employee. Two other chunks have also fallen recently in different sections in the at 90-year-old stadium prompting Mayor Richard Daley to say he would not hesitate to close sections — or all — of the facility to protect fans from potential harm.
Also on that date in
1956 In a 13-6 defeat to the Cubs, Dodgers’ shortstop Pee Wee Reese becomes one of five active players to collect 2000 hits and teammate Junior Gilliam sets a major league record by handling 12 assists at second base.
James William Gilliam was born October 17, 1928 in Nashville, Tennessee. Nicknamed Junior, as the youngest member of the Baltimore Elite Giants, Gilliam and shortstop Pee Wee Butts formed one of the great double play combos in Negro National League history during the 1940s.
He spent his entire major league career playing second and third base for the Brooklyn & Los Angeles Dodgers.
He began playing on a local semi-pro team at age 14 and dropped out of high school in his senior year to pursue his career. Gilliam was named to the Negro National League East All-Star team three straight years from 1948 through 1950.
Finally signed by the Dodgers and sent to Montreal, Gilliam twice led the International League in runs scored with 117 in 1951, and 111 in 1952. He also led in fielding in 1952, convincing the Dodgers to shuttle Jackie Robinson between second base and third base and Gilliam between the infield and outfield to get him into the lineup.
He was named the 1953 National League Rookie of the Year, and was a key member of ten National League championship teams from 1953 to 1978. The Dodgers’ leadoff hitter for most of the 1950s, he scored over 100 runs in each of his first four seasons and led the National League in triples and walks once each.
As the Dodger’s second baseman in 1953, Gilliam set a league rookie record with 100 walks, led the National League with 17 triples, scored a career-high 125 runs, and was named Rookie of the Year. He also switch-hit homers in the 1953 World Series.
He continued to play well during the team’s Brooklyn years, batting .282 in 1954 with a career-high 13 home runs before slipping to a .249 average for the 1955 champions; he scored over 100 runs both years, as well as in 1956.
With the 1956 pennant winners, he batted a career-best .300 and made his first major league All-Star team; he was again second in the National League in walks with 95, behind teammate Duke Snider and steals with 21, behind Willie Mays.
In the Dodgers’ last season in Brooklyn in 1957, he batted .250 but led the National League in putouts and fielding percentage and again finished second behind Mays in stolen bases.
Gilliam became a fan favorite in the Dodgers’ first season in Los Angeles, in 1958, by leading the club in hits, doubles, steals, walks, and fielding. Switched to third base, he homered in the second 1959 All-Star Game.
He retired after 1964 to become Los Angeles’s third base coach, but he came out of retirement in 1965 to hit .280 for the World Champion Dodgers and join first baseman Wes Parker, second baseman Jim Lefebvre, and shortstop Maury Wills in the major leagues’ first switch-hitting infield.
He retired again and then returned once more to help the Dodgers repeat as National League champions in 1966.
He finally retired as a player following the 1966 season with a .265 career batting average, 304 doubles, 71 triples, 1036 walks and 203 stolen bases over 14 seasons.
He continued as coach through the 1978 season, including three more Dodger pennant teams in 1974, 1977 and 1978; they lost the World Series in each year. Gilliam suffered a massive brain hemorrhage at his home on September 15, 1978, and following surgery lapsed into a coma from which he did not recover.
He died in Inglewood, California at age 49, one day after the Dodgers clinched their tenth pennant during his tenure.
His uniform number 19 was retired by the Dodgers two days after his death, prior to Game 1 of the 1978 World Series.
Teammate Jeff Torborg, described Gilliam as the ideal #2 hitter saying; “What a great team player he was. He’d hit behind Maury, take pitch after pitch after pitch. And when Maury got to second, he’d give himself up by hitting the ball to the right side, even with two strikes, which most hitters won’t do.”
Manager Walter Alston said this of Gilliam, “He didn’t hit with power, he had no arm, and he couldn’t run. But he did the little things to win ballgames. He never griped or complained. He was one of the most unselfish ballplayers I know.”
I have a very personal and fond memory of Jim Gilliam. He was one of my favorite players on the Dodgers during their early years in LA. Jim Gilliam hit 65 home runs in his career and I know I saw one of them in person.
My father and I attended a Dodgers game at the LA Coliseum. During one Junior Gilliam at bat, my father shouted, “Come on Gilliam, hit a home run.” Being the “know it all” young teenager and baseball “expert,” I turned to my dad and said, “Gilliam’s not a home run hitter.” Well, you can imagine what Gilliam did next.
So, thanks to Jim Gilliam, I have a wonderful father/son baseball memory.
In this inning we’ll open up the Baseball Dictionary
Under the letter: P
protest n.
This segment was … by a voice mail from …, let’s listen:
1. An official complaint filed with the league president by the manager of a team who claims that an umpire’s decision is a violation or misapplication of the rules. A protest will not be recognized on the field unless the umpires are notified at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch is made or a runner is retired. If a protest is upheld by the league president, whose decision is final, the umpires call is declared invalid and the game may be replayed from the point at which the call was made; the game may not be replayed if the violation did not adversely affect the protesting team’s chance of winning the game. No protest is permitted on judgment decisions by the umpire. (Official Baseball Rules, rule 4.19).
An example of a successful protest occurred in the game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates on June 16, 1986. The game was ended after rain delays of 17 and 22 minutes and the Cardinals, who were winning 4—0, were declared the winners. The Pirates appealed on the basis that the game was called too quickly, citing rule 3.10(c), which states that the umpire-in-chief must wait at least 30 minutes before calling a game. National League president Chub Feeney upheld the protest, ruling that the game had to be completed at a later date.
2. v. To lodge a formal protest.
Official Baseball Rules, rule 4.19
PROTESTING GAMES.
Each league shall adopt rules governing procedure for protesting a game, when a manager claims that an umpire’s decision is in violation of these rules. No protest shall ever be permitted on judgment decisions by the umpire. In all protested games, the decision of the League President shall be final.
Even if it is held that the protested decision violated the rules, no replay of the game will be ordered unless in the opinion of the League President the violation adversely affected the protesting team’s chances of winning the game.
Rule 4.19 Comment: Whenever a manager protests a game because of alleged misapplication of the rules the protest will not be recognized unless the umpires are notified at the time the play under protest occurs and before the next pitch, play or attempted play. A protest arising on a game-ending play may be filed until 12 noon the following day with the league office.
And now for the ninth inning…
Continuing our trip around baseball cities…
For those of you that want to stick around, here’s an
Extra Inning
This email comes from Knick,
I subscribed to this podcast at the beginning of the season, and I must say that as a fan, listening to the history of the game enriches everything that I love about baseball. Thank you, and keep up the good work.
If you would like to a part of Baseball History Podcast, submit your written contribution for the tour segment. I will only be doing the tour when one is sent in by a listener. You can do the segment on any stadium or team; past or present; Minor League, Major League, Negro League or any league outside of the US. Write about 1 page in a conversational tone, send it to me, I will record it, and you will get the credit.
You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com. You can leave a voice mail at: 206-888-6506. If you need more baseball, I invite you to check out Just Baseball at justbaseballpodcast.com. Well, that’s it for today’s game of Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
TWIBH- Jim
Gilliam,
Dictionary- Protest
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