Welcome to Baseball History Podcast, featuring baseball biographies. I’m your announcer Bob Wright.
This is an exhibition game for the month of April in the 2011 baseball season. This game doesn’t have a biography; if that is what you are expecting, then please move on to the next game.
Comments on BHP
The 1st one is from the game about Frank Thomas.
I remember Frank when I was kid growing up the 60′s. I vaguely remember the squabble with Richie Allen
Frank was definitely a big bopper, much better than a Rob Deere or Dave Kingman.
Great job … keep up the good work, It’s the highlight of my week.
By the way … I am having trouble downloading your podcast on my iPad and have to stream it from your website.
Do you think you can fix this? …I would also like to hear a podcast about Ray Schalk sometime. I just finished his bio, which was pretty good…
thanks a lot.
Doug Blunt
Well, first of all Doug, I don’t know how to fix the issue with the iPad. I’m lucky when I can actually post a show. Next time I’m with some of my techie friends all ask if they know how to fix it.
As for Ray Schalk, because of your request, I will be posting a game featuring him in late June.
I’ve been waiting for a Bobby Murcer podcast. Nice work as always.
Kevin G
Brilliant info about Harold Patrick Reiser! He won lots of baseball event. Thanks for sharing about him. 
Ben Green
bobby shantz one of connies last signings,do a podcast on him,he was the best pitcher in game 7 of 1960 world series,stengel made some real bad decisions in that game.
Glen Volz
THANK YOU very much for the Bud Harrelson pod! I grew up a Mets fan and remember watching that fight as a ten year old. My mother cares NOTHING for sports but she still dislikes Pete Rose for ‘beating up little Bud’.
I was happy and sad and mad while listening. I am still a believer but it still hurts to have lost Seaver.
I saw the LI Ducks in ’08 and Bud was coaching 1st, good times!
Brian Hutwagner
Thanks Brian, I’m glad that I could bring back baseball memories even if some weren’t all that good.
eMails
Bob, you’ve probably heard this quote from Bill Klem:
Son, when you pitch a strike, Mr. Hornsby will let you know. To a rookie pitcher who complained that the pitches Rogers Hornsby didn’t swing were called balls.
William J Klem–Umpire
Mike Briggs
Hi Bob…
When I saw this article on Yahoo! this morning, I thought of you, and how you have commented
on the podcast about how much you enjoy watching Coach Horton coaching College Ball. Here
is the link to the story:
http://www.thepostgame.com/blog/style-points/201103/sole-support-oregon-baseball-honors-coach-unique-shoe
but I’ll also include the full text of the item as well.
Courteously,
Penny McKibben
Eugene, Oregon
P.S. When the hometown team leaves their beloved old ballpark (as the Emeralds left Civic Stadium), there is, indeed, crying in baseball. (Despite what Tom Hanks might say!)
Sole Support: Oregon Baseball Honors Coach With Unique Shoe
Monday, March 7 2011 1:20 PM
Written by: John Klima
Honor thy leader by stepping on him?
It won’t work for everyone, but it works for the University of Oregon baseball team — as long as everybody is careful where they walk.
Pitchers Scott McGough and Tyler Anderson are Oregon’s team captains. Because of the university’s relationship with nearby Nike, Oregon athletes are allowed to make stylistic suggestions to the company’s designers. Coach George Horton allocates that special privilege to his captains. When McGough and Anderson met alone with the shoe manufacturers, their playfulness came out.
“Scott and Tyler are pretty witty,” Oregon catcher Jack Marder says.
Witty might be an understatement for the college baseball fashion statement of the year.
“We were brainstorming and thought it would be sweet if we could have Coach Horton’s picture on our cleats,” McGough says. “We thought it would be awesome and a really unique way to honor our coach.”
And so, a shoe was born.
Of course, Horton had no inkling about what his players concocted. At the team’s Christmas party, Nike reps brought a sample of the shoe — the team’s game day baseball cleats. On the bottom of the heel of the shoe is a glossy color photo, about the size of a dime, of the coach wearing his Oregon hat and shades.
The players loved it. When Horton first saw it, he didn’t know what to make of it. When his players explained that they meant it as a measure of respect and that they wanted to take Horton out onto the field with them, the coach lit up.
“He got the joke,” McGough says. “And he got into it. He told us he was going to hear about it from other coaches. And then he told us not to kick his face against a trash can if we get angry and not to hit a bat against his face to knock the dirt out of our cleats.”
In college baseball, many players consider their coaches to be uptight and stiff. Horton is no pushover and has a competitive streak, but his ability to understand his players’ unconventional gesture further endeared him to his team.
“People ask why he’s a player’s coach and I think it’s because he’s adaptable,” Anderson says.
But that doesn’t mean his players walk all over him. Horton rides his players when they don’t perform and isn’t afraid to call out his team when he thinks they are coasting.
In other words, Horton won’t hesitate to plant a picture of his face firmly in his team’s backside when he thinks it’s deserved, but his players think that’s a fair trade. As they say: If the shoe fits.
Horton was a two-time national coach of the year and led Cal State Fullerton to six College World Series appearances and the 2004 championship before he left the comfort of an established program to take on the task of building a program from scratch. Oregon brought back baseball in 2009 after a nearly 30-year absence.
During his career, Horton has helped prepare a slew of future big leaguers, and McGough and Anderson are considered top prospects.
“I came here all the way from Pittsburgh to play for [Horton] and I’ve learned so much,” McGough says. “The way he teaches us to play baseball, to play for each other, is really special to us. He has a way of making everyone believe. We’d basically die for him.”
Horton won’t ask his players to die for him, but McGough says he did have one request:
“He asked us not to step in any dog poop.”
– John Klima is a regular contributor to ThePostGame.com and author of “Willie’s Boys: The 1948 Birmingham Black Barons, The Last Negro League World Series, and the Making of a Baseball Legend.”
Thanks Penny, I really enjoyed reading the article. Thanks for thinking of me when you saw the article. I really appreciate the thoughtfulness of some of the BHP listeners.
Miscellaneous
I’ve been a subscriber to your excellent podcast for a couple of years now, and I just finished a review. It’s for MCU Park, the home of the Brooklyn Cyclones of the New York-Penn League. I’m a big Dodgers fan, but unfortunately, I wasn’t old enough to visit Ebbets Field. I went there in the summer of ’08 and thought you need a review of this great park for your podcast. It looks like I’ll be heading back to NYC with my family in March, and I’m going to try to visit the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery this time.
Keep up the excellent work, I really enjoy your podcast.
Thanks,
Rob Barnes
MCU Park, Brooklyn, NY
In 2001, professional baseball returned to Brooklyn, NY after a 44 year absence, when the Brooklyn Cyclones were born. Fred Wilpon, owner of the New York Mets, and high school classmate of Sandy Koufax, wanted to bring baseball back to the borough of Brooklyn. The Cyclones, named after the famous roller coaster that sits a mere long home run over the left field fence from the park, are a member of the New York-Penn league, a short season Class A league. The park is located about 40 yards off the boardwalk in the west end of Coney Island, and offers views of the famed Cyclone roller coaster, as well as other attractions on the boardwalk. The left field scoreboard features a replica of the Cyclone above the message board.
Just like Dodger fans used to, Cyclone fans can take the train to the game, although the train runs above ground these days. No more trolley dodging for Brooklyn baseball fans! The MTA elevated drops you off two blocks north of the stadium. You’ll walk past the original Nathan’s Famous Hot Dog stand on your way to the park. If you get there early, be sure to check out historic Coney Island amusement park and all the fun it has to offer.
The park itself is typical of many minor league parks of the early 2000’s design. The main grandstand of the park is a one level seating bowl, with sky boxes on the above the bowl behind home plate. Seating mostly offers excellent views of the playing field, and everyone feels close to the action. The grandstands feature a cantilevered roof section that sets it apart from other minor league parks. The light standards, normally non-descript in most parks, feature a big loop around each one, and these all light up in the evenings. The dimensions are 315’ to left, a healthy 412’ to center, and 325’ to right. Typical of many current minor league parks, there is a party deck outside the right center wall, and general admission seats down the right field line. The Lower Bay is visible just past the boardwalk over the right field wall.
The sky boxes feature a homage to four key members of the 1950’s Brooklyn Dodgers dynasty. Carl Erskine, #17, Don Newcombe, #36, Jackie Robinson, #42, and Gil Hodges, #14 all have a prominent position atop the top row of the sky boxes behind home plate. I was there in the summer of 2008 with my family, on Carl Erskine bobblehead day, and saw the unveiling of his sign. I was also able to reconnect with Carl and get his autograph, who I had previously met at a two Los Angeles Dodgers Adult Baseball Camps. The line to meet Carl was stretched completely down the left field concourse. There certainly are still a lot of Brooklyn Dodger fans around!
The food is typical ballpark fair, with the feature item being what else, Nathan’s Famous Hot Dogs, perhaps the best hot dog on the planet. The stadium also includes a beautiful two level gift shop where you can buy anything with the Cyclones logo on it. You can also find a few Brooklyn Dodgers items as well.
If you go, be sure to check out the statue outside the park, behind the home plate entrance. It is an 8’ bronze recreation of the famous event when Pee Wee Reese put his arm around Jackie Robinson’s shoulder in Cincinnati to tell the fans to stop with the racial taunts that occurred during Jackie’s 1947 debut season with the Dodgers. The statue is beautiful and contains encouraging words around the base. The stadium also includes the Brooklyn Baseball Gallery, a museum within the stadium that is a tribute to the history of Brooklyn baseball.
Submitted by Rob Barnes
Thanks Rob, even though I don’t included these in regular BHP games, I still enjoy receiving them sharing them.
Hey Bob,
Love the show! Your show has opened up a whole new world of baseball to me. I love every episode, and every player you have profiled. I love you delivery style and think you do a really great job with everything. I was hoping to request a player for a future segment. Although he retired fairly recently, I think he is one of baseball’s legends. Mike Mussina is one of my all time favorites and I think you would be very interested in researching his career. I am writing a paper for my Baseball History class at York College of Pennsylvania, on what I think is the Oriole’s all time team. Mike Mussina features prominently on my list and I have decided to send to you a copy from his segment of my paper. Hopefully you enjoy, and can made add in such biographical data, and some little interesting facts like you always do.
Mike Mussina (1991 – 2000)
Mike Mussina is one of my favorite players growing up as a kid. At that time I hadn’t really truly understood the importance of starting pitching as a key to success, in not only winning, but dominating games. In 1997 I was an eight year old kid attending one of the first baseball games that I can remember. I know it wasn’t the first because I had had some vague memories of a few other games. I was going to the game with my best friend Chris and his dad. It was June 30, 1997, and Mike Mussina and the Orioles were set to host the Philadelphia Phillies. I knew it at the time that this was the first season that the MLB began interleague play. I also remember that I have always had a soft spot for the Phillies as a kid. I remember when I was little, like real little, and my dad took me to my first ever Major League Baseball game. My first game was at Veterans Stadium, home of the Phillies. I even have proof. On my fridge at home there is a picture of me and my dad at the game. My dad sitting there in some outfit that was probably, slightly fashionable for the early 90s. And on his head was an Orioles hat, one of those one’s with the real ugly green underbrims. I always thought this was weird that my dad had on an Orioles hat at a Phillies game. He had adopted the Orioles as “his team” when he moved to Maryland in the late 80s. His my parents were origninally from Philly and this explains why we went to a Phillies game. Anyways, there I am, in the picture, on the fridge, sitting on my dad’s lap in some cool little kids outfit. I was wearing a little Phillies hat, and if I had to guess I had to be about four or five years old. In the pitching I am on my dad’s lap smiling, and I am staring at the field. I always knew this game was for me.
Now back to Mike Mussina. The Orioles and the Phillies played on that night and after trying to remember the outcome of the night, I simply just can’t remember. Well good thing for retrosheet.
Now I am older, and I have developed a total obsession with the game. I had a dream about being at that game, that Orioles-Phillies game, on that night. When I woke up I had to know the exact details of the game. The only thing that I do remember is that Mike Mussina had won. I remember this because after leaving the game with Chris, and his dad, I remember a ceremony. Mike Mussina was on the field doing an interview, where he was being congratulated on his 100th career victory. I remember over the loudspeaker someone talking about career win number 100 for Mussina. I don’t know how I remember this, but I am very glad I had this dream.
On that night, Monday June 30, 1997, Mike Mussina led the first place Orioles to an 8 – 1 victory. In front of a large crowd of just under 48,000, Oriole’s right Mike Mussina threw an outstanding performance. The Orioles were leading the American League at the time, in a season where they would spend 156 days in first place of the AL East. His 100th victory came almost exactly a month after one his most memorable performances, where his took a no-hitter into the 9th inning against the Indians. He took a perfect game into the bottom of the ninth after retiring 25 consecutive Cleveland batters. Two out away from perfection, Sandy Alomar hit a high fastball into left field for the Indian’s first hit of the night. Mike Mussina threw a one-hitter that night in one of his most dominating performances ever. He is now a member of a club of 10 Oriole pitchers who have had no-hitters broken in the 9th. A month later he threw another gem. Against the Phillies, he scattered six hits and one earned run over eight innings pitched. He struck nine Phillies while walking one one. It was a dominating performance. The Orioles were in first place, it was a sellout crowd on a hot summer night, and Mike Mussina just threw his 100th career vicory.
Mike Mussina was the leader of the Oriole’s pitching staff during their almost yearly playoff runs. In his 10 seasons with the Orioles, Mike Mussina was one of the premier pitchers of his era. During his years in Baltimore, from 1991 -2000 Mike Mussina compiled a win-loss record of 147-81. He ranks 3rd All Time on the Orioles wn list. He is only behind Hall of Famer, Jim Palmer’s 268 victories from 1965 – 1984, and Dave McNally’s 181 victories in 13 seasons for the Birds, from 1962 – 1974. His winning percentage of .645 over 2009.7 innings pitched, is in my opinion the Orioles record. Steve Stone is officially listed as the record holder with a winning percentage of .656, however he only threw 499.3 innings. Throughout Orioles history no one has one a higher percentage of games for the Birds, than “Moose”. I do not know the exact origin of the moniker, I must assume that it came from his last name. By putting the emphasis on the first syllable of his last name Mike Mussina, became “Moose”. He was an accurate pitcher ranking 6th on the Orioles all time walks list, with 2.091 walks per nine innings. This is remarkable for a pitcher who also who dominated games with the strikout. He ranks sixth, all time with a ratio of 6.874 strikeouts per nine. He is seventh among Oriole pitchers in innings pitched over his tenure with the team. He ranks second all time in strikeouts with 1,535, about 700 shy of leader Jim Palmer. He struck out 3.287 batters for ever walk he allowed during his Oriole years. Over his entire career his strikeout to walk ratio of 3.583 will rank him 13th All Time. He allowed 1895 hits over his career which ranks 6th among Orioles. He was a member of five all star teams from 1992-1999. He also won the Gold Glove Award four times as an Oriole from 1996-1999. He never did have a 20 win season as an Oriole, a feat he would later accomplish as a Yankee, but he led the league in 1995 with 19 victories, and the following season he matched that total. His winning percentage of .783 led the American League in 1992, and he always found himself near the top of the leader board for his remaining years as an Oriole. In 2000, his final season with the Orioles, he pitched 237.7 innings, leading every other American League pitcher. His 2,813 career strikeouts sit him in 19th on the All Time strikeout list. He threw four shutouts twice in a season as an Oriole, first in 1992, and then again in 1995, leading the league. He finished in the top five in Cy Young Award voting, six times during his career.
In 2000, when his contract with the Orioles had expired, and with the team beginning what seems like an endless streak of losing seasons, Mike Mussina signed as a free agent with the New York Yankees. It was with the Yankees he would pitch the remainder of his career until his retirement from the game in 2008. It was in his final season that he would finally record a milestone which had long eluded him throughout his entire career. On the final day of the 2008 season, in the final start of his illustrious career, the Yankees took on the hated Red Sox in a day night doubleheader. The Yankees had already been eliminated from playoff contention there seemed to be nothing else to play for. This was not the case for Moose. He came into the game having won 19 games so far during the season. Mike Mussina pitched six scoreless innings of three hit ball to defeat the Red Sox for his 20th victory. This would be the first and only time he would ever win 20 in a season.
Mike Mussina was a baseball legend. In my opinion his career numbers are worthy of earning him a seat in the Hall of Fame. This brings up one question. When, and if, he does get elected, what hat will he wear on his plaque? I will always remember Moose as an Oriole. He played the majority of his career and won more games for the Birds. I will always remember that night in June, when I was eight years old. I didn’t know it then, but at the time, I was witnessing one of the signature milestones, amongst many during Mussina’s outstanding career.
Thanks for the show!
Tim Sargent
Tim, thanks for sharing the story and info about Mike Mussina.
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You can email me at baseballhistory@gmail.com.
Well, that’s it for today’s Baseball History Podcast. I’ll see you later at the ballpark.
