Baseball History Podcast

Jack Houston Rothrock was born March 14, 1905 in Long Beach, CA. He is sometimes listed as John Rothrock but his given name was Jack. Rothrock was a switch-hitting utility player who performed at all nine positions. He was a line drive hitter and aggressive baserunner with little power but good speed.

George Clyde Kell was born August 23, 1922, in Swifton, Arkansas. Easily the best player to emerge during the WWII player shortage, Kell remained the American League’s premier third baseman long after the war had ended, and eventually earned a spot in the Hall of Fame.

William Chester Jacobson, nicknamed “Baby Doll”, was born August 16, 1890 in Cable, Illinois. After three seasons playing for minor league teams, Jacobson’s contract was purchased by the New York Giants in September 1911 for $3,500. Manager John McGraw ranked Jacobson high. He called Jacobson “one of the most determined players I ever saw.”

William Beck Nicholson, nicknamed “Swish”, was born December 11, 1914 in Chestertown, Maryland. Nicholson was the prototypical home run hitter of the early 1940s. His numbers don’t look impressive today, but in that era, 20 homers was a big deal.

Joseph John Hauser, nicknamed “Unser Choe”, was born January 21, 1899 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The lefthanded-hitting Hauser batted .323 as a rookie in 1922. In 1924 he led the A’s with 27 Home Runs and 115 Runs Batted In but the rest of his major league career was undistinguished. However, he went on to make a name for himself in the minor leagues, where he became the first player ever to hit 60 or more home runs twice in a professional career.

dwin Americus Rommel, nicknamed Eddie, was born September 13, 1897 in Baltimore, Maryland.

He is considered to be the “father” of the modern knuckleball. After retiring as a player he went on to have a successful second career as a major league umpire.

John Wesley Coombs, nicknamed “Jack” and “Colby Jack”, was born November 18, 1882 in LeGrand, Iowa. Armed with an above average fastball and a devastating drop curve, Coombs had one of the most dominant pitching seasons in baseball history in 1910, rolling up a 31-9 record to propel the Philadelphia Athletics to the American League pennant.

Edward Trowbridge Collins, Sr., nicknamed “Cocky”, was born May 2, 1887 in Millerton, New York. An aggressive and confident second baseman, Eddie Collins starred in the famous $100,000 infield in Philadelphia. He played 25 seasons in the Major Leagues and for 10 seasons batted over .340, helping him earn membership in the exclusive 3,000-hit club.

Edwin David Joost was born June 5, 1916, in San Francisco, California. In a 17-year big league career, Joost was a two-time All-Star and a member of the 1940 world champion Cincinnati Reds despite being told at age 20 that he would never be a Major League player.

Gordon Stanley Cochrane, nicknamed “Mickey,” was born April 6, 1903 in Bridgewater, Massachusetts. He was also known as “Black Mike”, because of his dark moods and bad temper. Cochrane and teammate Lefty Grove were known to tear up locker rooms after difficult losses.