Baseball History Podcast

Richard Charles Wise was born September 13, 1945 in Jackson, Michigan. He grew up in Portland, Oregon and in 1958 led his Rose City Little League team to the Little League World Series. He became one of a handful of major league players to have played in both the Little League and Major League World Series.

Richard Anthony Allen was born March 8, 1942, in Wampum, Pennsylvania. Talented, controversial, charming, and abusive, Allen put in 15 major league seasons, hitting prodigious homers and paying prodigious fines.

Henry Curtis Thompson, nicknamed Hank, was born December 8, 1925 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Thompson was the first black player for both the Browns and the Giants, and when he batted against the Dodgers’ Don Newcombe in 1949, it was the first time in Major League history a black batter faced a black pitcher.

Paul Leo Molitor was born August 22, 1956 in St. Paul, Minnesota. When Paul Molitor first hit the Little League fields in St. Paul, Minn., they said he was too small to succeed. When he regularly hit the disabled list during his 15 years with the Milwaukee Brewers, they said he was too brittle. When he signed with the Minnesota Twins and turned 40, they said he was too old. When he became eligible for election to the Baseball Hall of Fame, his dwindling pool of detractors said he would not make it on the first ballot because he spent much of his career as a designated hitter.

William Earnest “Ernie” Harwell was born January 25, 1918 in Washington, Georgia. Harwell is the long-time voice of the Detroit Tigers. He began his career with the Tigers in 1960 and, with the exception of 1992, when he worked for the California Angels, his voice is synonymous with Motor City baseball. Ernie is known for his low-key delivery and southern accent.