Baseball History Podcast

Zachariah Davis Wheat, nicknamed “Buck”, was born May 23, 1888 in Hamilton, Missouri. From 1909, when he reported to Washington Park after almost three days on a train from Louisiana, until 1926, when his legs gave out at Ebbets Field, Zach Wheat was a fixture in left field for Brooklyn.

James Thomas Bell, Nicknamed Cool Papa was born May 17, 1903 in Starkville, MS. The fastest man ever to play baseball, Cool Papa Bell rode the crest of the publicity from his incredible speed and colorful nickname into the Hall of Fame. The lean racehorse once was clocked circling the bases in an amazing 12 seconds. Cool Papa used his speed and daring to become the foremost base stealer in baseball and to “leg out” extra-base hits, thus off­setting his lack of real power at the plate.

Daniel Joseph Staub, nicknamed “Rusty,” was born April 1, 1944 in New Orleans, Louisiana. Staub began with modest natural skills and honed them to precision through perpetual practice. Baseball was equal parts discipline and sport to Staub, whose broad, curious world view attracted him to the study of history and gourmet cookery.

Joseph Williams, nicknamed Smokey Joe, Cyclone, and Yank was born April 6, 1885, Seguin, TX. During the first half of its existence, Smokey Joe Williams was to black baseball what Sachel Paige was to the latter half. Indeed, Williams made the footprints in which Satchel later walked. Oldtimers who saw him play remember him as Satchel’s equal, if not his superior.