Baseball History Podcast

Theodore Bernard Kluszewski, nicknamed Big Klu, was born September 10, 1924 in Argo,
Illinois. The sleeveless Cincinnati uniforms of the 1950s were made to allow Kluszewski’s bulging muscles room to move, but he was more than a slugger. The former University of Indiana football star hit with marked consistency and awesome power and fielded his position smoothly.

Orel Leonard Hershiser IV was born September 16, 1958 in Buffalo, New York. At his peak in the 1980s, Orel Hershiser was at the top of the National League, the ace of a stacked Los Angeles Dodger rotation. He was a marvel on the mound, one year stringing together 59 consecutive scoreless innings, breaking a 20-year-old record.

David Mark Winfield was born October 3, 1951, in St. Paul, Minnesota — the day Bobby Thomson hit the famous “Shot Heard Round the World” for the New York Giants. A true five-tool athlete who never spent a day in the minor leagues, Dave Winfield played 22 seasons, earning 12 All-Star Game selections. At six-feet, six-inches, he was an imposing figure and a durable strongman with the rare ability to combine power and consistency.

James Edward “Jim” Rice was born March 8, 1953, in Anderson, South Carolina. As a successor to Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski in left field for the Boston Red Sox, Jim Rice emerged as the American League’s most feared slugger in the late 1970s and early 1980s. The rock-solid 6’2″ 200-lb righthander used his quick, compact stroke and immensely strong wrists to send home runs crashing into upper decks or soaring completely over the screen above Fenway Park’s Green Monster.

Charles Herbert Ruffing, nicknamed “Red,” was born May 3, 1905 in Granville, Illinois.

He overcame adversity to achieve pitching stardom. As a youngster he lost four toes on his left foot in a mine accident, which hastened a transition from the outfield to the mound. The injury cut down on his speed, and he later said that the pain never ceased.

James Sherman “Jimmy” Wynn was born on March 12, 1942 in Hamilton, Ohio, just north of Cincinnati. He was a dimininutive 5’9″ and weighed 160 lbs, but excelled at baseball, playing shortstop in high school. After graduating, he briefly attended Central State College before being signed in 1962 by his hometown Reds.

Robin R. Yount was born September 16, 1955 in Danville, Illinois. Brimming with immense natural talent, shortstop Robin Yount was just eighteen years old when he was first called up to the Milwaukee Brewers in 1974, immediately becoming one of the youngest regulars in baseball history.

Maurice Morning “Maury” Wills was born October 2, 1932 in Washington, DC. Not since Babe Ruth in the 1920s had one player changed the game of baseball the way Dodgers shortstop Wills did in the 1960s.

Gary Edmund Carter was born April 8, 1954 in Culver City, California. Nicknamed “The Kid”, for his youthful exuberance and ever-present smile, he was a premier catcher of the 1970s and early 1980s after Johnny Bench retired. Carter was known for his durability, clutch hitting, and skill at handling pitchers and balls in the dirt.