Dec 2015 Baseball Magazine

Story Sampler

Former Outfielder Billy Sample shares stories from his time in the bigs Appreciating Robin Yount The life and times of Billy Martin

Dynasty Killers: 2001 D-Backs Five Minutes With Dusty Baker

Letter From The Editor Hello and Happy Holidays!

As is always the case, I am excited to share with you, our readers, the December digital issue of Baseball Magazine! So far, the positive feedback on what we’ve done over the past two months has been absolutely amazing. We’re reaching people all over the world, and with our new option to subscribe and get the digital issue to your inbox directly, we’ve added another layer of convenience for you to get your hands on our latest work, as soon as it comes out!

This month’s issue features some short stories from former big league outfielder, broadcaster and now screenwriter, Billy Sample. He’s been kind enough to open up to us and give us some “behind the curtain” tales from when he was drafted through his time in the Bronx while playing for the Yankees. Speaking of the Yankees, Wayne Cavadi returns and takes a look back at the late, great field manager, Billy Martin, and describes how he’ll be remembered more for his personal demons and off-field issues than he ever will for his baseball acumen and genius on it.

J.J. Keller delves into the history of sabermetrics, and how it goes well beyond “Moneyball” and Bill James. Jacob Misener explores the career of arguably one of the most underrated Hall of Fame players of the last 40 years in Robin Yount. I take a look at the brilliance and often-forgotten life of John Montgomery Ward. If you don’t know who that is, don’t worry, you’re not alone! The rest of the staff brings some great work to this issue as well, with Patrick Leary explaining how the 2001 Diamondbacks were several years in the works, and that culminated with the slaying of the ultimate beast: the last dynasty of the New York Yankees.

Christine Sisto brings the third part of her on-going series about the borough of Brooklyn, and how the citizens of that community and the Dodgers, helped to create the regional identity. Matt Mirro also brings a Dodgers flavor to this issue, discussing how Robert Moses was truly the deathknell to the Dodgers remaining in Brooklyn. Other work in this issue includes an examination of the skyrocketing salaries for players in the game by Scott Alfano; a bio piece on the longevity of former big league hurler Jamie Moyer, a personal piece from Eric Gray and how Dusty Baker was kind enough to take some time of his own to make a fan happy, and Associate Editor Dan Hughes compares what is currently going in Atlanta with the Braves, to what the Florida/Miami Marlins have done in the past immediately following successful World Series runs, except the Braves haven’t won a title in 20 years. Finally, David Warren explores the long forgotten early professional baseball history of one of my favorite cities, Las Vegas, Nevada!

It’s a fun-filled issue that covers several eras of our game’s history, and that is what we as a staff aim to do each month with our latest work: we want to expose the reader to the game’s past, and perhaps provide some new perspective on topics that haven’t been discussed or written about in several decades or longer. It is a pleasure each few weeks, to discuss topics with this staff of writers, offer topic ideas, edit their work, and for Dan to format these wonderful pieces into a mosaic of baseball history. I hope you enjoy each piece as much as I’ve enjoyed editing them. From the bottom of my heart, I wish to thank you for taking the time out of your busy holiday and winter schedule, to read our digital publication, to read our daily short pieces and our recently-released web issue, and to continue to support what we are trying to do here at Baseball Magazine. It truly has been a labor of love, and as we head into a new year, we hope you’ll remain on board as we work to share our love of the national pastime, and explore exciting topics that you’ll want to read, share and comment on.

From all of us here, to each of you, please have a safe and happy holiday season, and we’ll see you in 2016!

Best regards,

December

2015 PAGE 4- Brief History of Sabermetrics, Misconceptions and Why Numbers Belong PAGE 6- Robin Yount had a Storied Career PAGE 7- Dynasty Killers: 2001 Arizona Diamondbacks PAGE 8- The Bronx is Burning: The Life and Times of Billy Martin PAGE 10- Cover Story: Former Outfielder Billy Sample shares stories from his time in the Bigs PAGE 11- Robert Moses Killed the Brooklyn Dodgers PAGE 12- Are the Braves Engaged in a Fire Sale of Miami Marlins Proportions?

PAGE 13- Your Baseball Dreams Can Come True at Big League Dreams PAGE 14- He Stood Alone: The Brilliance of John Montgomery Ward PAGE 16- Jaime Moyer: Age and Fastball Velocity Were Mere Numbers PAGE 17- Five Minutes with Dusty Baker PAGE 18- The Rise and Rise of MLB Player Salaries PAGE 19- A Brief History of the Las Vegas Wranglers PAGE 20- Next Year Finally Comes Don’t miss our web-exclusive pieces available from the following links: Open Letter To Hall Voters / Brandon Stenhouse Interview / Last Stand of the 3rd Major League / Real Curse of the Cubs / Final Days of Roberto Clemente / What Recent Winners Have in Common / A Look At Free Agency Highs and Lows / Former MLB Cities A Team Could Call Home Again

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editorbaseballmagazine @gmail.com

Table of Contents

A Brief History of Sabermetrics, the Misconceptions about them and Why Numbers Belong Baseball, perhaps more so than any other sport, is very much known for its long, storied and important history. Not only does it stretch back to the 19th century (long) and hold names known to just about every single person in America -- such as Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Jackie Robinson -- (storied), but many of those households names also made a very close connection to the culture of America at the time.

Some feel Babe Ruth saved baseball with his power, Lou Gehrig was one of the better players of his time, and of course is known for falling victim to ALS, which while certainly unfortunate has had a cultural impact, and Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier is about as well documented as something can be, for good reason.

But there is a part of the game that the general public may not be familiar with. A burgeoning movement that has led to immense changes over the past 30 years -- with its effects growing exponentially more significant the closer to the present you get -- while simultaneously being the source of a major divide in the baseball community resulting in a number of intense debates over its merits and place in the game.

I am, of course, speaking of sabermetrics, or analytics, or whatever title you prefer. The name sabermetrics goes back to 1980 with well known statistician Bill James coining the term, and defining it as “the search for objective knowledge about baseball.”

The name is ultimately unimportant, and the critical thing to know is that the movement is really just

about having more information, information that is, as James said, objective, and based on hard data rather than someone’s assumptions or opinions.

This isn’t to say that it is the end all be all, or that scouting and other more traditional tools are without value. They certainly still have their place, and likely always will. The analytics simply serve to give us even more insight into what exactly is happening on the field.

Bill James seemed to spark the

surge with his first Baseball Abstract in 1982, and from there, the floodgates were open. SABR began publishing the Statistical Analysis Committee newsletter soon after, and from those have arose Baseball Prospectus, Fangraphs, and others in more recent years. And sabermetrics, as with any science or math based methodology, has the ability to continue to improve and expand, building on previous studies.

It seems that, for some, the fact that changes and improvements are made is a sign of weakness (see those who bring up WARP when trying to argue that WAR is simply a fad), as though it has to be right the first time for it to be of value. The opposite is true: adaptability is part 4

By JJ Keller

of what makes analytics so powerful.

Bill James can invent Runs Created, which leads to Base Runs, and Batting Runs, and wOBA and finally to wRC+, likely the single best hitting metric available to the public.

Does this demonstrate that the metrics at any given time are imperfect, and there is a margin of error? Of course, but anyone who claims numbers are perfect is simply wrong. Think of it in the same way that General Relativity -- the widely accepted explanation of gravity -- is a theory, and could very well be incomplete, or even wrong.

So from here, I want to take a look at some common misconceptions regarding the sabermetric movement, and in doing, so try to understand the perspective of the criticism, but also illustrate where said critique goes wrong in the hopes of providing an objective explanation rather than simply increasing tensions with an unproductive argument.

Understand that these corrections do not mean that the methods are perfect, unable to be criticized. It is just that these particular criticisms are not quite valid.

WAR, What is it Good For? This is perhaps the most frequent complaint levied against the sabermetric community, and I just want to say right off the bat, if you think you are being clever by quoting Edwin Starr, you aren’t. It’s been done.

But more to the point, the general issue here seems to be a general lack of understanding. People like to pick apart Wins Above Replacement without even fully understanding

what goes into it, or what it is trying to measure.

These misunderstandings range from the idea that the “replacement” part of WAR is somehow made up and arbitrary, as Bob Ryan tried to claim, to a feeling for some that because it attempts to be all inclusive, there is something inherently wrong with it, because players can’t be boiled down to a single number.

The first of those, regarding the replacement level is, of course, completely false. The value is not pulled out of thin air, it is based on the average production of what one might consider a Quadruple-A player, someone who is readily available in Triple-A, or on the free agent market -- the kind of player a team would call on to replace an injured player, for example, hence the name.

So, is it technically not based on a single real life person? Yes. Does that make it any less useful? No. More information on Replacement level here.

Moving on to WAR’s all-inclusive nature, we see a similar problem, in that there seems to be a lack of understanding regarding the basics of the metric.

Just because it attempts to measure a player’s entire on-field contribution, doesn’t mean it is purporting to be the end-all, be-all. You may run across people who use it in that way, but those people would be wrong.

WAR is just a snapshot of a player’s value, that should be used as a conversation starter, not a conversation ender. It is a tool, and one that has been proven to be accurate.

For a complete analysis, you need to go deeper and look at the intricacies of the player, but there is nothing wrong with getting an idea of what a player contributed to his team overall.

ena like leadership or chemistry.

No one requires that batting average and RBI describe these intangibles, which suggests this argument is more about an unwillingness to accept the movement than it is about actually including the human element.

If we are able to combine the traditional numbers with the intangibles, why can’t the same be done with sabermetrics, if you so choose?

While it is true that plenty of “seamheads” do not buy into many of the old school narratives that tend to float around, that doesn’t mean we don’t accept that players are human, and that there are things that numbers can’t tell us.

For most of us, the argument is not that our current metrics are infallible, and leave nothing to be desired, but rather that they should be used as the starting point, and the crux of most player and team evaluation, filling in the gaps with things like the eye test, and scouting, and intangibles instead of the reverse (starting with the eye test and then treating the numbers as secondary).

These methods absolutely should be questioned. That’s how the metrics, and our understanding of them, continue to advance. Remaining stagnant and simply accepting things as they are is bad science.

The problem is, these questions need to come from a place of knowledge, with the intent of actually making improvements. Simply yelling about what you don’t like while lacking a basic understanding of the methodology doesn’t help anyone.

If you wish to critique the metrics -and you should -- do your research first, and critique with the goal of making them better.

The Human Element All this is to say that new school and old school can and should work This one is true, in some ways. The together. And more often than not, metrics don’t take into account feel- that is what we are seeing in today’s ings, or grit, or other intangibles that game. Every single MLB team has an make up what is often referred to as analytics department in their front the human element. office that they utilize to varying But they shouldn’t be expected to. degrees.

The purpose of data is to measure Some still prefer traditional scoutand describe what happened on the ing, while others prefer the numfield, and that is exactly what they bers, but regardless of their preferdo. It is unreasonable to expect them ence, they manage to consider both to touch on unmeasurable phenom- sides in some manner along the way.

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Take new Mariners GM Jerry Dipoto for example. He had an eightyear major league career before becoming a scout and working his way up through various front offices.

If anything, his background would seem to fit that of an old school scouting type who knows what it is like to be in the clubhouse and what intangibles mean, and went on to hold a position that relies heavily on the eye test.

Those things are probably true, and yet, he is seen as one of the more forward-thinking, analytical GMs in the game right now because he understands that there needs to be a partnership.

He was a member of SABR as a player, and likely picked up on the metrics as he made his way up the front office ladder.

These are the kinds of minds being hired right now, not those who are reluctant to embrace any ideologies that run counter to what they have always believed, or what the game used to be. And I don’t mean to blame this divide solely on the old school folks, because it isn’t their fault alone.

There are plenty of “sabermetricians” who do treat these numbers as the quintessential element, if even just subconsciously, which sends the wrong message and doesn’t aid in bringing the two sides to a point of understanding.

Sabermetrics are a part of the game of baseball, and from this point on, they always will be, and their presence will likely only grow stronger.

There is no use fighting it. Instead, let’s use our energy to bring about harmony between the sides. I don’t expect everyone to agree, nor would I wish for that to happen.

But the best thing for us, and for the game, is that we make use of all the available information, and continue to expand our understanding of the greatest game in the world.

JJ Keller is currently in college on his way to earning a degree in History Education with the hopes of becoming a high school teacher, but writing of all sorts has become a passion over the years.

Follow JJ on Twitter: @KJ_Jeller

Giving Credit Where it’s Due: Robin Yount had a Storied Career In a world of social media where draft picks are hounded and critiqued to death from the day they begin their professional career, it’s hard to imagine a time where such a world didn’t exist.

Alas, as a 24-year-old, I did and will never know what that’s like. And I’m fine with that. That being said, it doesn’t stop me from looking back at what once was, especially for those guys who lived up to expectations and changed their organization for the better.

If you want a prime example of such a player, you needn’t look further than the Milwaukee Brewers’ Robin Yount, a Hall of Famer and a member of the storied 3,000-hit club, who was taken with the third overall pick back in 1973. A threetime All-Star, two-time MVP and threetime Silver Slugger recipient, Yount was the face of Brewers baseball for the better part of two decades.

It wasn’t an immediate rise to stardom for Yount, who put up middle-of-theroad numbers in his first three seasons with Milwaukee, batting .257/.294/.335 from 1974 to 1976, while manning shortstop for the Brewers. In the subsequent three years, he saw his OPS rise to .712 – a climb up from a .629 in his first trio of campaigns.

In 1980, everything changed for Yount and Milwaukee.

The infielder made his first AllStar team that season, smacking a league-leading 49 doubles to go along with 23 homers and 87 RBI. That kicked off the next stage of Yount’s career – a span of four years in which he brought home hardware on a near-annual basis – including receiving MVP votes.

Perhaps more than any other season, 1982 is the most memorable campaign of all in Yount’s 20year stint in the big leagues. He led all American League hitters with 210 hits and 46 two-baggers, won a Gold Glove and helped Milwaukee capture their first pennant.

Despite dropping the Fall Classic in seven games, Yount carried his weight and then some, batting .414 with six runs and six runs batted in. Following the season, the slugging infielder picked up the first of two MVP awards in his career, thanks to his dominant all-around performances, including one of his three 100-plus RBI seasons.

The next two years marked a transition period for Yount, as he shifted from shortstop to the outfield for Milwaukee, setting up what makes him one of the

more valuable players in baseball history.

From 1987 to 1989, Yount regained his former offensive potency after taking a bit of a step backwards during the position change – and, during that time, Milwaukee was, despite his best efforts, a middleof-the-road club. In 1989, Yount hit .318 with an OBP above .380, driving in 103 runs in the process, winning his second MVP award in the process.

To this day, only two other players: Alex Rodriguez and Stan Musial - have won the honors at two different positions, further evidence of just how special a run Yount put together. It would have been all too easy to throw in the towel while the Brewers languished in the middle of the pack year-in and year-out – but that wasn’t the type of man or player Robin Yount was.

That uncompetitive trend was evident in Milwaukee during the Hall of Famer’s entire career. The only season the Brewers won their division was in that aforementioned 1982 campaign, when they went to the World Series. It is largely due to this lack of high-profile contention by the Brewers that Yount remains one of the more under appreciated players in Major League Baseball history.

We’re looking at a guy who hit 250 home runs and swiped 271 bags over the course

By Jacob Misener

paign, Yount singled for his 3,000th hit – and while it wasn’t as memorable as, say, Derek Jeter’s homer for hit number 3,000, it fit him well.

It wasn’t flashy or over-the-top. It was just another base knock – something he’d been doing for well over 15 years at that point.

That’s not to say he didn’t have some ‘pop’ in his bat; the man holds the Brewers’ franchise record for home runs, triples, home runs and doubles, not to mention at-bats, runs, hits, RBI, walks and total bases. But he did the little things right every time he set foot on the field – and that separated him from his competition.

It’s no mistake that Robin Yount is a Hall of Famer. For him it wasn’t about money, accolades or anything more than a love of the game and a desire to win. There’s no better way to honor his body of work than to leave you all with this quote of Yount as he talked about the 1982 campaign and his lone trip to the World Series: “When I’m 50 years old, sitting around with my kids, I’m gonna have a pile of cash over here and 1982 over there. What do you think I’ll want to talk about ... I don’t get goosebumps when I open my pay envelope. But look at me when I start talking about 1982.”

Photo Courtesy: ESPN.com

of 20 years. He was never the guy who put up eye-popping numbers, but he did the little things right year-in and year-out, epitomizing the grinding, gritty players of the 1980s.

Yount averaged more than 140 games per season, despite his all-out style of play – and it was his ability to stay on the field that helped him climb up baseball’s alltime ranking lists. Late in the ‘92 cam6

Jacob Misener is a die-hard Cubs fan who grew up in the Steroid Era, which, believe it or not, he loves to reminisce about often. Favorite players include Randy Johnson and Craig Biggio.

Believes that Wrigley Field is the greatest place on earth.

You can follow Jacob on Twitter: @jacobrmisener

Dynasty Killers: The 2001 Diamondbacks The late nineties, early 2000s New York Yankees were baseball’s last great dynasty.

The Evil Empire won the World Series in 1996, 1998, 1999 and 2000. They boasted legendary talents like Derek Jeter, Mariano Rivera, Roger Clemens and Bernie Williams. They won 114 games in 1998, and were even more unstoppable when they got into the playoffs.

The 2001 Yankees were cut from the same cloth. Bolstered by a 7.1 WAR campaign from Mike Mussina and stellar contributions from usual suspects Clemens, Rivera, Jeter, Williams and Andy Pettitte, the Yanks looked poised to win another championship.

Not even the greatest regular season team of all-time, the 116-win 2001 Seattle Mariners, could stop them, as New York dispatched the M’s in five games in the ALCS. It was going to take a special team to deny the Yankees a fifth title in six years.

That team was the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Incredibly, 2001 was only the fourth season of baseball in Arizona. The franchise started inauspiciously, winning just 65 games in 1998 and finishing dead last in the NL West. That December however, the D-backs made two moves that transformed the future of the franchise.

On Dec. 10, the D-backs signed one of the greatest pitchers of the era, Randy Johnson, to a four-year, $52 million contract.

Johnson, who had been a prized deadline acquisition of the Astros a few months earlier, spurned the more successful Rangers, Angels and Dodgers to go to Arizona.

The second move was trade conducted just a few days after Christmas. Arizona sent 22-year old outfielder Karim Garcia, who had been worth -0.5 WAR in his first full season in the majors, to the Tigers. In return, Detroit sent them Luis Gonzalez.

The two additions buoyed the Diamondbacks to an immediate 100-win season and their first division title in the franchise’s second year. Johnson went 17-9 and won the Cy Young and Gonzalez slashed .336/.403/.549 in a 6 WAR campaign. But the team was taken care of in short order in the NLDS by the wild card-winning Mets.

In 2000, the Diamondbacks struggled, but at the trade deadline, they moved Omar Daal, who had excelled in 1999 but was 2-10 in 2000, Vicente Padilla and two other players to the Phillies for the final piece in their championship puzzle, Curt Schilling.

Regression from Jay Bell and Gonzalez saw the Diamondbacks win just 85 games and miss the playoffs and cost manager Buck Showalter his job. But the pieces were in place for a championship run.

The 2001 D-backs won 92 games and topped the NL West with new manager Bob Brenly at the helm. They added key contributors like

Reggie Sanders, Miguel Bautista and Mark Grace, but their success boiled down to their three stars, Johnson, Schilling and Gonzalez.

Johnson won his third straight Cy Young with a 21-6 record and 2.49 ERA. Not to be outdone, Schilling finished second at 22-6 with a 2.98 ERA. Gonzalez, who set a career-high with 31 homers the year before, hit an astronomical 57 big flies and posted nearly 8 WAR. He would never again break the 30-homer plateau.

Even so, the D-backs were almost derailed in the first round of the playoffs yet again, this time against the Cardinals. Schilling won Game One, but when Woody Williams out-

By Patrick Leary

Finley. The Yanks answered right back in the seventh with a Tino Martinez single scoring Jeter. Clemens and Mike Stanton retired the D-backs in the bottom of the seventh, and in the top of the eighth, Alfonso Soriano took Schilling deep, to put the Yankees up 2-1.

With two outs in the eighth, Johnson entered the game on zero days rest after pitching seven innings the day before. Johnson sent down Chuck Knoblauch, Williams, Martinez and Jorge Posada for 1.1 perfect innings of relief.

Still, the greatest closer of all-time was on the mound for the Yankees, and Rivera had already retired the D-backs in the eighth.

Grace led off with single, and a throwing Photo Courtesy: joejacquez.mlblogs.com

pitched Johnson in Game Two, it was up to the rest of the rotation to keep Arizona alive.

Miguel Batista pitched from behind for most of his Game Three start, but a four-spot in the seventh powered the D-backs to a 2-1 lead.

Albie Lopez was a disaster on the mound in Game Four though, and it was up to Schilling to deliver Arizona its first series win in franchise history. He did that, pitching a complete game, and Tony Womack’s walk-off single sent the D-backs to the NLCS. Arizona dispatched the Braves in five games in that series. Johnson won the opener and the clincher, beating Greg Maddux in Game One and Tom Glavine in Game Five.

The 2001 World Series was ultimately a wild ride, but it started comfortably for the D-backs, who jumped out to a 2-0 lead. Arizona allowed a run in the first inning of Game One, but didn't allow another until Game Three, as Schilling and Johnson cruised to easy wins.

Clemens and Rivera carried the Yankees to a Game Three win, and then Byung-Hyun Kim, Arizona's best reliever in the regular season, blew two consecutive saves to put the D-backs down 3-2. Arizona erupted in Game Six back at home, winning 15-2 behind five Danny Bautista RBIs. That set up a Game Seven for the ages. Schilling started against Clemens, and predictably neither team scored until the sixth, when the red hot Danny Bautista doubled in Steve 7

error on Martinez put runners on first and second with no one out. Bell tried to bunt the runners over, but Rivera nabbed pinch runner David Dellucci at third for the first out.

In perhaps the most miraculous moment of the series, Tony Womack doubled down the line to tie the game and blow the save for Mo. Two batters later, Luis Gonzalez delivered the bloop single, and the dynasty was dead.

It's a crowning moment for a franchise that almost 15 years later, hasn't reached the same heights since. The 2002 team won 98 games, and Johnson won a fourth straight Cy Young, but the Cardinals swept them in the NLDS. The team missed the playoffs in 2003, and by 2005, Johnson was in New York, Schilling had broken the curse in Boston and Gonzalez was in the twilight of his career.

But D-backs fans will have 2001, where the sheer star power of their two aces and a bit of magic from Gonzalez ended the reign of terror of baseball's most decorated franchise.

Patrick Leary graduated from Marquette University, past home of such luminaries as Dwyane Wade, Chris Farley and the dad from “That’s So Raven”, in 2015 with a B.A. in journalism and writes for The Journal Times in Racine, Wisconsin.

You can follow Patrick on Twitter: @patrickkleary

The Bronx is Burning: The Life and Times of Billy Martin I remember it pretty well. I was 14-years old, drifting in and out of sleep in the backseat while my dad drove home from Christmas dinner at my aunt’s house. The news broke in on the radio that Billy Martin — the on-again-offagain manager of the New York Yankees — was killed in a drunk driving accident a few hours north of where we were. It was Christmas Day, 1989.

At the time of Martin’s death, he was a special advisor to his old pal, George Steinbrenner. That wasn’t what he was remembered for, however. He was remembered for his explosive tenure with the New York Yankees, one that saw him hired and fired (or resigned) five times. And man, we’re those firings exciting.

Martin was always scrappy, even as a player when he was second baseman for the New York Yankees who won four World Series over his time as a player in pinstripes.

Twice he fought with St. Louis Browns catcher Clint Courtney, and he broke the jaw of the Cubs Jim Brewer as a member of the Cincinnati Reds in 1960. This one got more attention as Brewer was

By Wayne Cavadi

out two months in the hospital re- in the AL West as a rookie skipper. covering from a broken cheekbone, The Twins would be swept by the while winning $10,000 in a lawsuit Baltimore Orioles that season, and Martin would be fired at season’s for the attack.

He wasn’t simply fiery on the field end. No, it was not for the poor playoff showing, but for fighting… as his off the field exploits were with his own player… outside of a usually what got him in the most trouble. And almost always, it was bar. Granted, Martin knocked out Dave Boswell because he knocked in a bar. out his own teammate Bob AlliMartin’s first run with the Yankees as “ The two of them deserve each other. son, but a player One’s a born liar, the other’s convicted.” there ended was no -- Billy Martin in 1957. doubt His fights on the field were often that brawling followed Billy wherover looked because of what he ever he went. brought to the team on the field, He would manage both the Delike when he batted .500 by registroit Tigers and the Texas Rangers tering a then-record 12 hits in the before his memorable tenures with the Yankees began. Martin was 1953 World Series. But in 1957, fired when he— of course — had alongside two Yankee legends in the Copacabana nightclub in New words with the owner of the RangYork City, the Yankees brass had ers in 1975. He would be hired seen enough. They traded away mere days later by the Yankees.

Martin after the fight a third of the And then came the fireworks. way into that ’57 season, and MarMartin would lead the Yankees to tin would never return as a player. the AL pennant in 1976. But it was merely a precursor of what was to He would get his first break as a Major League skipper for the Min- come. The entire time, tensions were growing between George nesota Twins in 1969. He would lead a team that finished 79-83 the Steinbrenner, Reggie Jackson and year prior to 97-65 first place finish Martin. Three big personalities,

Photo Courtesy: foxsports.com

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and New York was seemingly not big enough for the all of them.

This wasn’t any old time in New York. It was the notorious Bronx Zoo. The combustible Martin, the limelight-stealing Reggie, and one of the most beloved Yankees of all time in Thurman Munson made for an interesting clubhouse to say the least. The Summer of Sam was underway, the Bronx was in hysterics and the fans in Yankee Stadium brought it up a notch.

With the Bronx Zoo in full effect, Martin and Jackson would have a history of on-field run-ins, benching Jackson for not hustling and infamously nearly scrapping with him in the dugout on national television. Despite Jackson’s defiance, he would have a legendary World Series that earned Martin his fifth title in pinstripes and first as a manager.

The following season, it came to a head.

Martin would resign in 1978.

Jackson simply wouldn’t listen or follow Martin’s lead, and Martin wouldn’t allow his superstar to have the upper hand. When Martin got word that The Boss was trying to trade Martin to the White Sox for 1977 Manager of the Year Bob Lemon, Martin had had enough.

Whether he was forced to step down or did it on his own will seemingly always be a mystery, but his time with the Yankees was over once again.

Or so he thought.

A year later, he would be hired back as manager. Reggie was hurt and the captain (our Captain) had been tragically killed that summer.

Yet another fight would get him fired at season’s end, and — in retrospect — this was one of the funnier instances.

Dubbed by some as the Marsh-

mallow Incident, Martin would get into a fight with a marshmallow salesman in a hotel bar in Minnesota.

Steinbrenner wouldn’t have it, and fired Martin again once he got word. Yet again, Martin’s tenure with the Yankees had come to an end.

Or so we thought.

Long before Billy Beane was the general manager who brought Money Ball to Oakland, Martin brought Billy Ball. He would manage the A's for three seasons, and in 1981 he would actually meet the Yankees in the ALCS — where he would be swept.

Martin would come back to the Yankees in 1983. They would go 91-71 that season, finishing third, but that wasn’t what would be remembered. No, Martin made the ’83 season memorable by — what else? — causing controversy.

1983 was the year that Martin protested a game because George Brett’s bat looked a little too fishy.

The Pine Tar Incident would live in infamy, as the Yankees and Royals would replay the game, and Brett’s image charging out of the dugout would forever be etched into baseball lore.

Martin was fired after the season and was out of baseball in 1984.

He would be re-hired by The Boss in 1985. While having the team at 91-54 under his guidance, Martin would strike again. He got into a fight with his own pitcher — the Yankees Ed Whitson — breaking his own arm in the scuffle. It just so happened to be outside a bar. Martin would be fired at the end of the ’85 season.

Don’t worry, he would be back. Martin had one more stint in 1988, splitting the season with Lou Piniella — a player part of the Bronx Zoo that Martin managed — after

Photo Courtesy: newsday.com

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Photo Courtesy: concordmonitor.com

he had been fired. By season’s end, Martin would be out as manager for a last time and named special assistant.

Whether you loved him or hate him, there was no denying that Martin had fire. He was a competitor like no other and wore his heart on his sleeve. He was as honest as they came with his players, and if you crossed him, he let you know.

Martin’s professionalism and antics will certainly always be questioned, but his place in the annals of baseball lore will never be. We could sit here and recite statistics to you or break down his career year-by-year, but Billy Martin will forever be remembered by polarizing moments off the field.

He was Steinbrenner’s most trusted confident and enemy at the same time, he brought fire to the 50s Yankees as a player and manned the ship of one of the craziest eras of Yankees history. Martin did things the only way he ever knew how… his way.

When Martin died on that Christmas evening in 1989, it was believed by many that he preparing to return for a sixth stint as Yankees' skipper. Billy had gone so far as to assemble his coaching staff.

Whether Billy the VII would've been any more successful than his previous turns as manager, we will never know.

Wayne Cavadi is an avid baseball junkie, whose love for the Yankees is only surpassed by his love of the game.

A proud graduate and forever loyal fan of the mighty Delaware Blue Hens Follow Charlie on Twitter: @UofDWayne

Story Sampler: Billy Sample Shares Stories From His Time in the Bigs

Editor's Note: Former big league outfielder, Billy Sample, has run the spectrum of a professional life. From up and coming speedster in the outfield in Texas, to finding himself in the Bronx surrounded by the likes of Rickey Henderson, Dave Winfield, and Don Mattingly, to finishing his career in Atlanta during the hey day of Dale Murphy, Sample moved on to the broadcast booth, calling games for the Braves, Mariners and Angels, before settling into a job with MLB Radio and MLB. com.

Now, Mr. Sample is a celebrated screenwriter, who had his original work, Reunion 108 made into a motion picture. Billy was kind enough to share some of his memories from his big league career with us, for the December issue of Baseball Magazine. Check out Reunion 108, now available for download, by clicking this link! ~B.B. I realized the select nature of major league baseball even before my first professional manager, Joe Klein, who was also the Assistant Farm Director (now Assistant Player Personnel Director) told our gathering of recent draft picks back in 1976 to take a look to our left and right, pick out another person in each direction while including yourself, and that's all that will make it to the major leagues.

Change-up artist, Steve Comer, preceded me to the majors and stylish right-hander, Brian Allard, made a few appearances with the Rangers and Mariners of that era. Joe wasn't telling us as a scare tactic, he was simply letting us know the incredible odds for inclusion in the grand ole game.

I'm not sure of the official odds of difficulty, but someone quoted to me, that only one out of thirteen players who signed a professional contract from those years, would make it to the majors. And oh, by the way, I was the only 10th round draft pick of the 24 teams of the 1976 draft to make it to the big

leagues.

I went a long way to say, that there are some impressive talent, skill, and athleticism in the best of the best, and throw in the figurative 'big hearts' and 'ice water in the veins' nerves too, to make the talent pool even more special.

I remember watching the 1980 National League Championship Series between the Philadelphia Phillies and Houston Astros and thinking, "I'm in the same profession as these players?"

There seemed to be a plethora of clutch play after clutch play throughout the five-game series.

I can appreciate that talent on television, but to see it in person, or better yet, to see it from the dugout is even more jaw-dropping.

Teammate Al Oliver had a day in a Detroit doubleheader in 1980, in which he went six-for-nine, hitting a double, triple and four homers, and one of the hardest balls he hit as I recall, was one of the outs. At that point I went from teammate to a fan who had the perk of not having to pay for his ticket.

Bob Horner had a four-homer day against the Montreal Expos in Atlanta during the 1986 season, and our kangaroo court, had the comfortable temerity

utive pinch-hits in 1981. Bill would be in the tunnel waiting for his turn, upon hearing his name, he'd take a last gulp of coffee, hear a few words of encouragement, step into the batter's box, and hit a game-winning line drive.

Oh, there was much more, I got to see Don Mattingly's MVP season, watch the talents of Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson, Ken Griffey Sr. and the sixtime Gold Glove talents of Jim Sundberg and Buddy Bell, but one of the most amazing feats is one that I cannot quantify ... and it involved one John Milton Rivers.

There are so many Mickey Rivers stories out there, and with good reason, the mold was not recast after the birth of the Miami, Florida native.

One night at Yankee Stadium, as members of the Rangers in the early 1980s, Mickey is in center and I am in left. The distance from home to left-center was 411 ft, thirty-six feet deeper than it is now.

It was really hard to cover the entire outfield, even with tremendous speed among the outfielders, which we had.

Mickey is playing Oscar Gamble to pull, and we're giving him left-center, and sure enough that's where he crushes a deep liner.

I got a good jump, ready to make a highlight film-dive and probably would still come up short, but just as I started to leave my feet, I could see that Mickey was running under the drive with some steps to spare.

I gave him an incredulous "How on earth did you?" look. Before I could speak, he said, "Ah homey, I had him Photo Courtesy: Getty Images shaded that way!" No, homey didn't, I was to fine the former Arizona State slugger, looking between each pitch, so he nor I who never played minor league baseball, a nominal amount, because we did would drift too far apart, Miami homey was well in right-center before the not win the game.

It was obvious to us that if he hit four pitch, and it's not humanly possible to cover that much ground in a short homers in a game, and we didn't win, then he couldn't be counted on to carry amount of time.

Maybe 'humanly' is the operative word the club. ....does Mickey have a bit of an alien Bill 'The Trigger Man' Stein, had an American League-record seven consec- look to you?

10

Robert Moses Killed The Brooklyn Dodgers O'Malley's search for a new ballpark. We know for sure, however, that O'Malley scoured far and wide for ways to produce his stadium, quarreling withy politicians, builders and the like.

O'Malley had been a one time real estate mogul and if he had allowed the city of New York to construct his ballpark, something we are not sure they were willing to do, they would own the majority of the stadium. If you're not familiar with real estate that it called, in technical terms, a "no-no".

Yet, the most fascinating part of this

By Matt Mirro

Queens. It was the perfect coup for Moses, A sports team in his new and ever growing suburban brainchild would put Queens on the proverbial map, just as his work in building the World's Fair had previously done back in 1939/1940.

Because Moses worked for the City of New York, any stadium he designed and built would be funded by New York and therefore majority owned by the city.

O'Malley refused once again. He opposed the notion of moving the Dodgers to the suburbs where he was certain there would be no money to be made. The discussions with Moses were dead. According Photo Courtesy: PBS.org to some accounts, Moses used his influence to stifle any other attempts for O'Malley to build his new park.

O'Malley would soon receive a generous (Low ball!) offer from the City of Los Angeles to build a ballpark in Chavez Ravine where they remain today. Moses was said to have reveled in the site of construction crews tearing apart Ebbets Field.

Moses would eventually get his stadium in Queens. He would utilize the Roman Coliseum design when he put his name on Shea Stadium after the New York Mets came to town as replacements for the departed Dodgers and Giants. The Mets would play there until 2008 when The news was like a dagger through the legend involves one of the most powerful Citi Field would be built. Designed after heart of every Brooklyn resident. The team New Yorkers in history, Robert Moses. the original and long gone Ebbets Field, was part of that borough, a piece of their Moses was the brilliant builder responit houses many tributes to the Dodgers identity. 'Dem Bums, as they were affecsible for much of the city's most famous including the "Jackie Robinson Rotunda" structures. During the Great Depression tionately called, were the lovable losers which stands as a shrine to the man who he served as an important cog in President broke baseball's color barrier while wearto the city's other teams, the Yankees and Franklin Delano Roosevelt's "New Deal" as ing Dodger blue. Today, where Ebbets Giants. Although, the Giants would be he was charged with designing and conmoving as well.

Field once stood, the Barclays Center now For many years, and still today to some structing much of modern day New York. takes center stage in the newly revitalextent, Walter O'Malley was cast as the vilHe is also one of the main figures in get- ized borough. The bright and shiny mega lain who dared to destroy Brooklyn baseting the United Nations headquarters built sports complex houses the Brooklyn Nets in Manhattan. Moses was the mastermind basketball team and the New York Islandball on a whim. He was the most hated behind many of the region's key bridges man in baseball for quite a long time. But ers hockey club. and parkways as well as the father of subO'Malley wanted nothing more than to Robert Moses did a whole lot of good for keep the Dodgers in Brooklyn. urban Queens and Long Island. Every New New York as well as America as a whole.

The team had just won their first World Yorker, and many Americans in general, He put people to work during the worst Series Championship in 1955 and the owe the convenience of modern transit economic era in United States' history and Golden Age of New York Baseball was just systems to the polarizing Master Builder. built new monuments to American inbeginning to end. Brooklyn was a beloved The Borough of Queens was Moses's dustrial might all over the Northeast. His team with devoted fans who were now child and he was determined to make it ambition led to many great things, from consistent contenders. bigger and better anyway possible. He saw massive bridges to extensive parkways.

All O'Malley wanted was a new stadium a prime opportunity to do just that when But, it was that same ambition that killed worthy of their new prestige.

Walter O'Malley's search for a new stadithe Brooklyn Dodgers.

Ebbets Field is still regarded today as um brought him to the Court of Robert one of the best ballparks of all time. But Moses.

Matt Mirro is currently the Lead the Flatbush stadium had hosted the team Moses liked the idea of building a sports American League Writer at Call to the since 1913 and was beginning to fall apart. complex. He had a dream of erecting a Bullpen, an MLB.com affiliate. He is a It had always been too small despite its stadium designed after the Roman Colcertified member of the Internet Basedesigner, former Dodgers' owner Charles iseum of Emperor Titus. Building a new ball Writers Association of America.

Hercules Ebbets, believing it would be too ballpark for the Dodgers was a proposition Follow Matt on Twitter: large. that greatly interested Moses, on one huge @Mirro_The_Ronin There are varying stories regarding condition; The ballpark must be built in

Before the 1958 season it was announced that the Brooklyn Dodgers would be leaving their long time home, Ebbets Field, as it had long been rumored. Ebbets Field was old and decrepit and many knew a change was not only necessary, but imminent.

What fans were not expecting was that their beloved Dodgers would be leaving the borough of Brooklyn altogether. The organization, under the orders of owner Walter O'Malley, would be moving all the way across the country to Los Angeles, California.

11

Are the Atlanta Braves Initiating a Marlins-Type Fire Sale?

By Dan Hughes

The term "fire sale" has become synonymous with the Florida/Miami Marlins. Having bore witness to three major fire sales in the franchise's 23year history, it's easy to see how that could be the case. Despite the fact that the Marlins have won two World Series titles in that span, most people think about the fire sales more than they think about the world titles.

It's not unheard of for a team to do this, but the number of top-tier talented players that have been shed from the Marlins' roster in these three sales is virtually unprecedented.

There appears to be a fire sale in Major League Baseball happening right now. You may not have noticed, because it has been occurring slowly over the past year. The Atlanta Braves the once storied franchise with 14 straight division titles - are slowly but surely going through a fire sale.

It all started in November of 2014, when the Braves quietly and innocently traded Tommy La Stella to the Chicago Cubs. The next day, the Braves traded Jason Heyward and Jordan Walden to the St. Louis Cardinals for Shelby Miller and Tyrell Jenkins. Not a bad trade on paper. But Miller posted a 6-17 record in 2015 despite a 3.02 ERA, while Heyward posted career highs in batting (.293), hits (160) and doubles (33).

A few weeks later, after the calendar turned to December, Braves fans got a little bit of hope, as the club signed Nick Markakis to a four-year deal, leading to speculation that the Braves were still trying to be players in the hunt for the National League.

Two weeks later however, the club traded Justin Upton to the San Diego Padres for a package of players that included Jace Peterson. Not a bad trade, but not one that signaled intentions on competing in 2015.

As 2015 started, the wheeling and dealing continued. Some smaller, some more significant. On January 14th, the Braves traded Evan Gattis to the Houston Astros for a package of players that included right-handed pitcher Mike Foltynewicz.

Then, just before Opening Day, the

Braves traded Melvin Upton, Jr. and closer Craig Kimbrel to the Padres for a package that included center fielder Cameron Maybin. Braves fans had given up on Upton already, but to lose arguably the best closer in the National League - if not all of baseball - essentially sealed the deal for the Braves.

The moves continue even now, as the Braves have traded Gold Glove shortstop Andrelton Simmons and Maybin since the start of November. Rumors continue to swirl even now that they could still trade Foltynewicz and possibly Markakis and even Freddie Freeman--yes, that Freddie Freeman, whose name has come up in trade rumors.

After winning the 1997 World Series,

million. The club also has other promising young stars like Jose Fernandez, Christian Yelich and Justin Bour. While there seems to be nothing brewing on the horizon, one can guess that the club may be looking to shed some of this talent before the payroll reaches unrealistic proportions.

Turning our attention back to the Braves, it's hard to imagine that this is actually the direction they are headed.

The organization has never had a history of selling off major pieces. This is the largest sell off of major talent this team has ever witnessed. So there must be a logical reason behind it.

Pitching.

The team that dominated - the regular season - in the '90's did so with dynamic pitching. Tom Glavine, Kevin Millwood and Steve Avery came up through their system. John Smoltz was traded for while he was still in the minors. Greg Maddux was a free agent signing, but guys like Kent Mercker, John Rocker, Mark Wohlers and Pete Smith all came up through the Braves' system.

Photo courtesy: myajc.com And that, on the surface, is what the Braves appear the Marlins sold off all of their mato be doing again.

Starting with the Jason Heyward jor contracts. Over the course of the trade, the Braves have acquired 23 off-season and first half of the 1998 season, they traded Moises Alou, Kevin pitchers in their various trades dating Brown, Bobby Bonilla, Gary Sheffield, back to November of 2014. Some of those have been traded again, most are Charles Johnson, Jim Eisenreich and prospects who have yet to make it to even Mike Piazza - who they had for the majors. But the plan is seemingly less than a week. in place. Rebuild the farm system with After winning the 2003 World Series, the Marlins went through another arms, getting back to the roots of the plant that bore fruit to 14 straight divisell off, but waited until after the 2005 season. That year, the club lost several sion titles. free agents including A.J. Burnett, Jeff But then again, the Marlins do have Conine, Lenny Harris and Todd Jones. twice as many World titles in the past They then traded Josh Beckett, Mike 25 years as the Braves do. So maybe a Lowell and Guillermo Mota to the fire sale isn't such a bad idea after all.

Boston Red Sox for a package of young players that included Hanley Ramirez Dan Hughes has been writing at (traded in 2012 to the Dodgers) and various outlets since 2003.

Anibal Sanchez (traded in 2012 to the Dan lives in Salem, Oregon with his Tigers). beautiful wife of 17 years, Amy, as well Looking at the history of how this as his three amazing kids. organization has been run, one can see When Dan isn’t writing, he’s coaching his 13-year old son’s team or rooting on the writing on the wall once again in the Braves and Mariners. the near future. The team locked up You can follow Dan on Twitter at Giancarlo Stanton to an mind-boggling @DEgan4Baseball 13-year contract extension worth $325 12

Your Baseball Dreams Can Come True At Big League Dreams You have been waiting for this moment all of your life. It is Game Seven of the World Series, the bases are loaded with two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, and stepping to the plate in your favorite team´s uniform is…… you!

A pipe dream, you say?

Maybe. But it is a dream that can come true at Big League Dreams, headquartered in California.

The organization gives all sports lovers a chance to feel the thrill of playing for their their favorite teams, play in replica ball parks and stadiums, and actually experience the thrill of victory.

Several years ago, two brothers, Rick and Jeff Odekirk, both former baseball players, had a dream, they say, according to Big League Dreams.com.

A dream to build and operate a family recreational facility that would give the average youth or adult player the chance to have the feeling of playing in the "big leagues¨ as they explain through their website Big League Dreams. com. ¨Their dream became a reality when they opened the first Big League Dreams Sports Park in January of 1998 in Cathedral City, CA." Big League Dreams´s replica stadiums in all include: Fenway Park, Wrigley Field, Ebbets Field, Forbes Field, Angel Stadium, D-Back Stadium, The Polo Grounds, Yankee Stadium, Tiger Stadium, Crosley Field, Sportsman´s Park, Dodger Stadium and Rangers Park. Leagues are also available in softball and soccer. ¨If you've ever dreamed of playing in a big league ballpark,¨the Odekirk´s say, ¨Big League Dreams Sports Parks are the place for you. Our playing fields are built as scaleddown replicas of famous ballparks such as Boston's Fenway Park, New York's Yankee Stadium and Chicago's Wrigley Field. All are designed to accommodate youth baseball, youth fast pitch softball, and adult slow pitch softball. Not a baseball or softball fan?

Big League Dreams offers indoor soccer leagues in our 20,000 square-foot indoor pavilion. We also offer special events such as company softball tournaments, company picnics, birthday parties, location shoots, business meetings and even weddings and receptions! You've dreamed about it your whole life!

Now is your chance -- Welcome to the Big Leagues!¨ And according to psychologists and nutritionists, the activities are helping to fight a growing problem affecting our youth. ¨The CDC has recently raised the notion

By Dan Decheneux Photo courtesy: mantecabulletin.com

that should the alarming: if an increase in childhood obesity is not reversed, the consequences may make the current pediatric population be the first generation to not exceed the life span of their parents. Studies have indicated that childhood obesity must be attacked prior to the teen years.

Twenty-percent of obese 4-year-old children will grow up to become obese adults; eighty-percent of obese teens will continue their obesity into adulthood. All of the above reviewed consequences of pediatric obesity are brought forward into the adult years.

Here are two amazing observations: (1) children 6 months to 6 years of age watch an average of two hours of television per day; (2) children 8-18 years of age spend an average of seven and a half hours per day involved with entertainment media activity such as television, computer games, video games, and cell phone calls and texting,¨ according to medicinenet.com.

For everyone involved, the reviews have been consistent. Participants, parents, corporate sponsors, they all agree. The values of teamwork, competition and goal setting provide the participants with a chance to learn many of the most important of life´s lessons, while taking along wonderful memories.

Of course, It also gets them temporarily away from computers, cell phones and video games. Exercise is vital. Never before has getting the blood flowing been more important. Mass advertising campaigns have urged youth to get out and play, even if it is just for an hour a day. Big League Dreams leads the way in turning the rhetoric into reality.

And the tournaments give back to the communities where they are played.¨The advantages of building a Big League Dreams Sports Park to a city, county or special district with 13

recreational facility needs are many,¨ Big League Dreams.com explains. ¨Our public partners incur no maintenance or operations costs once the park is constructed, which saves our public partners an average of more than $500,000 each year in maintenance costs. Additionally, our public partners participate in the revenue generated by Big League Dreams. Big League Dreams has paid over $11,000,000 in revenue sharing to our public partners since our founding.

Taking both maintenance savings and revenue sharing into consideration, our public partners are realizing more than $1 million each year in direct financial benefits along with hotel and sales tax revenue - all while serving more of their families with first class recreation facilities and creating an average of 75 full and part time jobs per park. This partnership truly creates a win-win environment for the city and the community.¨ So what are you going to do? Are you going to just sit there and think about playing in Yankee Stadium, Fenway Park or Wrigley Field? Are you going to wonder forever what could have been? Or, are you going to grab a bat and step up to the plate and get into the game? All that you have to do is check out Big League Dreams.com.

Dan Decheneux is a huge Yankees fan and a freelance writer. He has also covered Notre Dame sports for various other sites. He is a published author with an undergraduate degree in Sports Administration and a Master´s Degree in Communications.

Follow Dan on Twitter @DDechenaux

He Stood Alone: The Brilliance of John Montgomery Ward Unlike many of the nineteenth century ballplayers that he managed and played alongside of, John Montgomery Ward showed promise at the tender age of 13.

It was at that time, he entered Penn State and to play baseball. A fight with an older student, and the accusation of stealing poultry, sent Ward on his way to a professional baseball career before he left his teenage years.

During his first season of professional baseball, pitching for the Providence Grays of the newly-formed National League, the 18year old recorded a 22-13 mark, to go along with a 1.51 ERA. What's amazing, is that during his first few years with the Grays, Ward tossed more than 600 innings each season.

The high-water mark for Ward as a hurler, came in 1879, when he went 47-19, with an ERA of 2.15, while striking out 239 hitters. Ward began to split time as both a pitcher and position player as early as the 1880 season.

Even though Ward began playing both the infield and outfield, he had the distinction of tossing Major League Baseball's second perfect game in history.

After suffering an arm injury while sliding into a base, the 1881 and 1882 seasons became the first in which Ward spent more time in the field as an everyday player than primarily serving as the leader of a pitching staff on the mound.

Ward proved his toughness however, still making an impact on the mound for the Grays, and winning 18 and 19 games, respectively. Ward was far from an overnight sensation with the bat.

After posting an 1879 season in which he batted .286, his average dropped significantly to .228 and .244 over the next two seasons.

Ward didn't

eclipse the .250 mark until 1883, and the .300 mark until 1887.

During the 1882 season, Ward pitched the longest recorded complete game shutout in big league history, tossing 18 scoreless innings in a 1-0 win for the Grays against Detroit.

At the end of that season, Providence sold him to the New York Gothams, who would, two seasons later, rename themselves the Giants.

Another arm injury suffered during the 1884 season ended Ward's pitching career once and for all.

Seven years of pitching in the big leagues, he tallied a career record of 164-103, with an ERA of 2.10, along with 920 strikeouts.

To this day, John Montgomery Ward holds the distinction of having the third-best WHIP in big league history, posting a 1.043. The greatness of Ward continues to amaze historians to this day, as the resulting arm injury that ended his pitching career, opened the door for another opportunity to shine, this time in the outfield.

He taught himself how to throw left-handed so he could remain in the Gothams' lineup. Not only did he transition from part-time pitcher, part-time fielder, to everyday center fielder,

Photo Courtesy: baseballhall.org

14

By Billy Brost

throwing with his left hand, he also took on the duties of managing the squad during the final dozen or so games of the 1884 season.

The following season, when the Gothams became the Giants, Ward moved positions once more, this time, becoming the team's starting shortstop.

While most ball players of the era had little to no formal education, as previously mentioned, Ward was a child prodigy, who was enrolled in college at the age of 13.

Besides moving to a new team, changing positions twice and becoming the manager of said squad, he also completed law school, graduating from Columbia in 1885.

It was his study of law and labor cases while at Columbia, that led him to form the very first organized union in professional sports, which he called the Brotherhood of Professional Base Ball Players.

Ward, along with many other players, felt slighted and controlled by the game's reserve clause, which kept a player tied to his current team on a season-to-season basis, while being unable to negotiate with any other team for a fair market value based upon one's skill.

A team could "reserve" the services of their players each year, and pay a minimal cost for the right to do so.

The players enjoyed initial bargaining rights once the Brotherhood was formed, being able to negotiate with other teams if their owning team asked them to take a pay cut the following season.

After failing to acquire any more negotiating power over the next few years on behalf of the players, Ward led a mass exodus in 1890, and formed the Players' League.

While attendance and fan interest in the new "major league" was strong, owners weren't as financially stable as their National League counterparts, and soon vot-

tour, and off the heels of a pennant-winning season that resulted in a pseudo-World Series victory over the American Association champion St. Louis Browns, the Giants sold Ward to the Washington Senators.

Upon hearing the news, Ward refused to report to Washington D.C., unless he was paid a majority chunk of the proceeds for the sale of his services.

The Senators refused to meet Ward's demands, and pulled out of the deal, leaving Ward in New York. This was one of the events that helped plant the seed for the aforementioned formation of the Players' League.

John Montgomery Ward would spend the final two seasons of his big league career in New York with the Giants, retiring at the end of the 1894 season. After 17 years in the big leagues as both a player and a manager, he won a pair of championship rings in 1888 and 1889.

He initially struggled at the plate when transitioning from star pitcher to every day player, but finished with a career .275 average, more than 2100 hits, more than 1400 runs scored, and 540 career stolen bases. Ward led the league in stolen bases twice, including a season in which he had 111 in 1887.

It would be easy to connect the dots for Ward: had he received 500 at-bats per season as a regular player, he most likely would've gotten to the magical 3000-hit plateau, and would've been the first ever to accomplish the feat. Ward didn't surpass 500 at-bats until his seventh season in the bigs. He also finished with 164 career victories, averaging 20 wins per year during those first seven seasons of his career.

Ward was already past the half-way point to the 300-win milestone, and again, would've been the first to do Photo Courtesy: fromdeeprightfield.com

ed to discontinue play after only one season.

What came of Ward's efforts to improve the plight of his fellow players, was that the owners had more control over the labor on the field than they had before. Several teams from Ward's Players' League, were absorbed into the National League and the American Association.

Unfortunately what led to the owners gaining that extra power, was that Ward's league competed not only against the National League, but against the American Association as well, and the latter was already struggling to stay afloat.

The American Association closed their doors a season after Ward's Players' League, and the remaining owners in the National League gained an "only show in town" advantage.

They dictated stricter terms, and the players of the era would never see fair labor treatment or an increase in negotiating rights.

After serving as a player-manager for the second time in his career during the one-year existence of the Players' League, this time in Brooklyn, Ward remained in Brooklyn after returning to the National League, this time as the field leader of the Grooms (later the Dodgers).

Two years later, Ward requested, and was granted, his sale back to the Giants. It wasn't necessarily a reunion of love for Ward with the Giants however. Some years prior, while travelling overseas on a baseball barnstorming

15

so had he remained strictly a pitcher.

Had Ward averaged his 20 wins per season for the final ten seasons of his career, his career victory total would have ended up at 364.

Easily a Hall of Fame player on both sides of the diamond.

As a field general, Ward sporadically managed over eight seasons while also remaining a player.

During that time, he recorded more than 400 career victories, and finished with a .563 winning percentage.

Pretty solid for part-time work. Once Ward's playing career was over, he easily could've gone into managing full time, but chose to pursue law as his profession.

Ward used his experience as an attorney, to fight labor strife between current players of the day against the owners of teams in the National League.

Ward dabbled in partial team ownership, owning a minority portion of a National League team (Boston Braves) and worked for a Federal League team (Brooklyn), before leaving baseball for good in the second decade of the twentieth century.

John Montgomery Ward, player, manager, labor organizer, and one of the first stars of the professional game, passed away at the age of 65 after suffering from pneumonia at his home in Augusta, Georgia on March 4th, 1925.

After leaving baseball, Ward took up golf, and it became an obsession of his during his golden years. While success in education, baseball and law came quickly for Ward, he wasn't recognized as an immortal of the game until the Veteran's Committee selected him for the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1964--almost 40 years after his death.

While other players lacked the courage, the business savvy, or wherewithal to become a pioneer of professional baseball, Ward indeed stood alone.

Billy Brost resides in Riverton, Wyoming with his wife and two children.

In his spare time, he coaches youth baseball at the Little League and American Legion levels, and serves on his county’s historical preservation commission.

You can follow Billy on Twitter: @Billy_Brost

For Jaime Moyer, Age and Fastball Velocity Were Mere Numbers Longevity in professional sports is a rarity.

Most high school and college athletes never get a chance to see the professional court, field or diamond, but even the ones that do aren’t guaranteed ten years, a pension and millions of dollars to spend.

The National Football League’s Player Association says the average career length is somewhere around 3.3 years. In the NBA, the average career spans close to five seasons, at 4.8. In the NHL that number is 5.5 years and among the primary profession sports in the United States, MLB players have the longest average careers by a narrow margin at 5.6 years.

It’s impressive then, when a player endures and endures and plays on beyond the averages. In MLB, the pension doesn’t kick in until you’ve played 10 full seasons, but there are a few players who play longer than that.

Much, much longer.

The player tied for the most seasons in an MLB career is also one of the greatest pitchers of all-time: strikeout master, no-hit hurling, never-to-be-outdone Nolan Ryan.

His pummeling of Robin Ventura in his early forties is all you need to know of his intensity, drive and perseverance as a man and player.

Scroll down a few spots on the list, and you’ll see a player tied for the fifth-most seasons played all-time, having played 25 MLB seasons for eight different teams. At 49-years old, the ever-consistent Jamie Moyer averaged a 78 MPH velocity on his fastball-- one of the slowest in MLB that season.

But he, that 25-year MLB staple, always found a way to win.

Moyer is actually the oldest pitcher in MLB history to be credited for a win in a regular season game. Old? Yes. A slow fastball? Yes. But for Moyer throughout his MLB career, age and fastball velocity were numbers that didn’t mean all that much.

Moyer grew up in Pennsylvania before playing baseball, basketball and golf at Souderton Area High School in Souderton, Pennsylvania. His 4-year pitching career netted him a scholarship to play baseball at St. Joseph’s University, where he set some impressive records in 1984.

He set the single-season win record with 16, the single-season ERA record with an astounding 1.99 and another record with 90 strikeouts.

After that college season, with a sixth round pick in the MLB First Year Player’s Draft, the Chicago Cubs selected the 6’0”, 170-pound Moyer.

Two years later, on June 16, 1986, the young Jamie Moyer made his MLB debut against the Philadelphia Phillies. So began a 25-year career that defined what it meant to be cool, consistent, and productive.

Moyer is one of only 29 players in history to appear in games in four decades, missing only the 1992 season when he spent the year in the Detroit Tigers’ minor league system.

Moyer spent the most time with the Seattle Mariners, an 11-year stint from 1996-2006, where he was a part of the Mariners’ first occasion of relevancy in the Major Leagues.

Moyer saw his only All-Star appearance in 2003 while pitching for Seattle, but that lone appearance in 25 seasons does nothing to damage his reputation as a consistent and

By Charlie Spencer-Davis

nings every fifth day, without fail.

Moyer was decidedly above average. His strikeouts per nine innings never surpassed 6.1 in a season. His WHIP was its lowest at 1.075 during his age-39 season in 2002.

He logged 4074 innings with more than 17,000 batters faced over the course of his career. To put that into career perspective,

Photo Courtesy: sbnation.com

command-first left-handed pitcher.

Moyer recorded 269 wins over his 25 seasons, with a lifetime 4.25 ERA and 2441 career strikeouts. He holds a number of records tied to his age, and much like Brett Favre’s longevity leading to the most interceptions in NFL history, Moyer yielded the most home runs ever at 522. But his stats are as deceiving as were his age and fastball velocity. He always found a way to win, to outsmart the batter, to kick Father Time to the curb.

Even after his last, lackluster season with the Colorado Rockies in 2012, Moyer consulted Charlie Hough and Tim Wakefield, reportedly planning a comeback as a knuckleball pitcher. At 50 years old.

As Moyer continued defying his age, he had to adapt his pitching repertoire as his velocity dipped. He relied heavily on control, hitting the corners and keeping the hitters off-balance by mixing his pitches.

His arsenal included a sinker, a cut fastball, a slider, a changeup and a curveball. With so much variety, control and the brain between his ears, Moyer was capable of eating innings and giving his teams a chance to win night in and night out.

He never led the league in wins or ERA, finished top-10 in Cy Young voting only three times, and never spent much time as any team’s ‘ace.’ All he did was pitch just well enough. Throw off batters just enough.

In his 25 seasons, Jamie Moyer was the definition of an innings eater-- averaging 208 IP per 162 games played. That afforded his managers a degree of comfort, knowing that Moyer would get them five or six in16

there have been only 18,336 total players to ever play in MLB, with a total of 14,336,234 at-bats between them all (courtesy of baseball-reference.com). That adds up to Jamie Moyer accounting for .1% of all the pitched at-bats to occur in baseball history.

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY is unlikely to induct Jamie Moyer.

He played longer than all but four other players in the history of the game, but his numbers don’t jump of the page like theirs do. He’s the oldest pitcher to ever record a win in a regular season MLB game, but that’s not a get-into-the-Hall-of-Fame-free type of record.

All Jamie Moyer did was pepper the corners with high 70’s fastballs, mix in his off-speed pitches and chew up innings as a left-handed starter. Never a world-beater, but he also never tried to do something he couldn’t or be something he wasn’t out on the diamond.

A staple of consistency for more years than Mike Trout’s been alive, Jamie Moyer has proven that for some, age, velocity and all the statistics in between, are in fact, just numbers.

Charlie Spencer-Davis is a 2015 graduate from Boston College with BAs in International Studies and French. A die-hard Mariners fan born and raised in Seattle, Charlie has spent much of his life writing in his spare time.

Follow Charlie on Twitter: @C14SpencerD

Five Minutes With Dusty Baker Three days before Johnnie B. Baker was named Manager of the Washington Nationals, I had the chance to fulfill a 15year wish.

In spring training of 2000, a photographer took a photo of Dusty with his big arms around my kids, Rachel and David and their friend, Jeremy. For whatever reason, he never sent that photo, but luckily I had one, not straight on, not one in which you can see the faces well, but a photo of them nevertheless. For 15 years I tried unsuccessfully to get him to autograph those photos.

Dusty is a great baseball man. He was a terrific ballplayer. His statistics are a matter of record; anyone can see them on the back of a baseball card or on-line sites, so I won’t go over them in great detail.

In short, he was a three-time All-Star, and in 1981 he won both the National League Gold Glove and Silver Slugger awards. In his 19-year career, he had a batting average of .278, with 242 home runs and 1013 RBI. It was, overall a very fine playing career.

His career did not end when he untied his cleats for the last time in the locker room. Seven years later, he was brought in to manage the San Francisco Giants, thus beginning the Era of Baker.

He was a beloved and great manager. I can tell you that, as a spectator at many of the games he managed with the Giants, the ovation he received was often more thunderous than that accorded to superstars like Barry Bonds and Jeff Kent.

But that is simply the impressions of a fan; far more important is what the players always said about Baker. They loved playing for him; he was the ultimate player’s manager. Many interviews with Giants players of the decade he managed, touched on how much they admired him, loved playing for him and that he was a great communicator.

During a recent interview, F.P. Santangelo said that during plane rides on road trips, Baker would always tell the non-regulars when they could expect to play in the upcoming series. Santangelo indicated how much that meant to those players, how helpful it was to know in advance rather than sitting around wondering when their next chances would come.

Keep in mind the control of the clubhouse that Baker must have exerted in order to make Bonds and Kent, those talented and battling superstars, (mostly) co-exist.

There have been comments made by people, even after the recent hiring, that question whether he is a good manager.

He overuses pitchers. Well, doesn’t every manager do that in this era, when it seems like four relief pitchers are used even in a non-stressful game? He can’t manage a team to a World Series Championship. Well, it is true that he has not done that yet, but he did win three Manager of the Year awards with the Giants, and piloted some impressive seasons with the Chicago Cubs and Cincinnati Reds. Fine, he prematurely gave the game

By Eric Gray

his time would not interfere with others.

When we got up to the table where he was signing, I told him the story, and he graciously signed the book and personalized each of the three pictures. He chatted with all of us and took a photo with Lynn and I, as well as Rachel and her boyfriend Johannes. And it didn’t feel to me like he felt put out; if he did, he hid it well. I thought about asking him to go for a drink, but let’s face it, that would

Photo Courtesy: SF Chronicle

ball to Russ Ortiz late in Game 6 of the 2002 World Series against the Angels, a game, and ultimately a series, that the Giants would lose. But do any of us really believe in the power of superstition?

After all, the Red Sox DID overcome the Curse of the Bambino.

But the basic point of this article is that Dusty Baker is more than just a baseball man, as I discovered a few weeks ago. He was giving a talk about a book he wrote, all the profits of which are going to charity.

The book is titled Kiss The Sky: My Weekend in Monterey at the Best Concert Ever. The book talks about his love of all kinds of music, notably jazz, soul and rock. But this day, I also learned about some of his other ventures. He has a wine-making business. He has a company that deals with solar power. He has a great sense of humor, is very socially aware and concerned, and appears to be simply a very caring, intelligent and wonderful person. He is, to use that often-used but not often-appropriate phrase, a Renaissance Man. So, I came to this talk with three copies of my picture, hoping that I wouldn’t seem too greedy. I bought his book and waited at the end of a long line so that what might be my excessive request of 17

have been one toke over the line (Brewer and Shipley). Dusty talked about his time with Jimi Hendrix. He had lots of times batting behind Hank Aaron, and he noted that he was in the on-deck circle when Aaron hit #715. My minutes with Dusty were not nearly that significant historically, but they meant a whole lot to us personally.

I am a Giants and Mets fan. I go to DC every year to take my son David to see the Nationals beat the Giants mercilessly (at least during the regular season). But, Giants fans that they all are, I would bet some money that Rachel, David and Jeremy will be hanging that photo of them and Dusty Baker, the new Nationals manager, on their bedroom walls.

Eric Gray is from Plainview, New York, and got his BA from SUNY New Paltz. He moved to San Francisco and spent his career with the Department of Labor overseeing job training programs for disadvantaged youth. He has been married for 36 years to Lynn, and their two children, Rachel and David.

They are huge Giants fans.

He can be followed on Twitter, if he ever decides to post something, @ericcgray1

The Rise and Rise of MLB Player Salaries Thirty-two and a half million dollars. That is how much the top salary was in Major League Baseball in 2015. Clayton Kershaw held the honor and a cluster of players were not too far behind. With the influx of media dollars that has come into the sport in the last decade, teams have more money than ever to pay top talent. Of course, this was not always the case.

Baseball salaries had modest beginnings for everyone but the top stars. The average salary in 1920 was $5,000. This is the equivalent of $67,953.71 in 2015.

Keep in mind that this average is bloated from Ty Cobb, Babe Ruth, and Tris Speaker all making $20,000 each that year. Right before the 1920s, is the first time there was a salary boom in baseball. Looking at the top salary in the league, we see that Victor Willis made $1,800 in 1899, Joe McGinnity made $5,000 in 1904, and Ty Cobb made $9,000 in 1910.

The 1920s saw baseball reach new audiences with help from radio. While most team owners were afraid that putting the game on the radio for free would deter fans from coming to the park, some (initially only the Chicago Cubs) saw the radio as a free means of advertising the game.

They learned that they could draw interest in baseball with the right radio station. Soon after, teams began charging for the right to broadcast games.

The 1920s also saw a player completely change the way the world saw and appreciated baseball. Babe Ruth needs no introduction. He hit more home runs than entire teams and was a massive audience draw. As I mentioned earlier, he led the league in 1920 with a $20,000 salary. By 1922 this figure erupted to $52,000 – an amount he would make five years in a row.

Babe Ruth had the highest salary in baseball from 1920 through 1934, topping out at $80,000 per year in 1930 and 1931. In 1930 this

was the equivalent of $1,139,343.71 in 2015 dollars.

Babe Ruth was obviously an anomaly, as 1934 saw the highest salary drop to Lou Gehrig’s $31,000. In fact, the top salary in baseball in 1960 was again $80,000, earned by the legendary Willie Mays.

At this time, his $80,000 was only the equivalent of $642,805.41 – about half a million dollars less in value than when Ruth earned the same dollar value thirty years earlier.

These figures all sound great, but the fact is that the average MLB salary in 1970 was still just $30,000 – equivalent to $183,895.36 today.

By 1970, no one was starving anymore, but teams still basically owned players. Early in baseball, players did not have the strong union they enjoy today.

Contracts were only good for one year and were not guaranteed. So while Babe Ruth was making more than the president, countless players were working in manufacturing and construction each winter to justify their summers playing baseball.

Baseball learned to make additional money off of radio and television rights, but that money seemed to have a difficult time trickling to the players who fans came to see. The “reserve clause” was a huge part of this. The reserve clause began in the late 1800s due to how unstable rosters were when leagues were just trying to get off the ground.

There were no multi-year contracts at the time, so the off-season looked like a complete mess allowing rosters to be gutted. Initially, teams were allowed to protect five players per roster that could not be signed by other teams.

As time went on, five turned into the entire roster.

Teams had the right to re-sign all players at the same salary they played for the previous year. Players were essentially stuck on teams with salaries that did not grow. Players attempted to form a union, but it lasted just one year.

For MLB players, 1975 was a huge year. The reserve clause was broken when it was ruled that it could only be used one time, giving players the right to become free agents.

This is really when player’s salaries began an exponential jump year after year.

Hank Aaron had the highest contract in baseball in 1975 and 1976 at $240,000. By 1977 Mike Schmidt nearly doubled this figure with his $560,000 yearly salary. In 1980 Nolan Ryan became the game’s first million dollar per year player. Dave Winfield upped the top salary just one year later at $1,400,000. By the end of the 1980s, both Orel Hershiser and Frank Viola led baseball making $2,766,667

Photo Courtesy: mlbtraderumors.com

18

By Scott Alfano

per year each.

Bobby Bonilla earned $6,100,000 from the Mets in 1992. Gary Sheffield made $14,936,667 in 1998 and in 2001 Alex Rodriguez blew everyone out of the water with $22,000,000.

Such little salary progress had been made from 1900 – 1960, but free agency finally gave power to the players.

Looking back to average salaries rather than the top earners, the early 1970s saw average player salaries stabilize near $34,000 - $146,000 in today’s money. By 1979, just a couple years into free agency, the average MLB salary was $121,900 - $301,954 today. By 1992 we saw the average MLB salary top $1,000,000 for the first time.

Free agency was not only a massive payday for players. Baseball began to make a lot more money off television revenue by the early 1980s.

In 1975, baseball took in the equivalent of $147 million. By 1984 this figure ballooned to $464 million. In 1990 MLB made $907 million off of television revenue. It is no wonder why there was a strike in 1994. Baseball had never seen this kind of money before and everyone had a very different view of how it should be distributed.

In 2015, the average MLB player salary was north of $4,000,000 for the first time.

This next year will be the final season of the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA). While no outstanding issues are expected to cause a strike, player rights will continue to be fought for by the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA).

The current MLBPA is literally one of the strongest unions in the world. Changing from 162 to 154 games per season and the years needed before reaching free agent status should be leading the topics of conversation.

Baseball had modest beginnings. In the late 1800s, there was a $10 dollar franchise fee for a new team to join the league. That figure is now over $100 million dollars and rightly so.

Between tickets, concession stands, media rights, and countless other revenue streams, baseball has become a yearly multi-billion dollar business. Players are not playing baseball as a hobby, they are making enough money to set up their families for generations and make massive impacts in their communities. It is not unusual to see players donating millions to charity, building schools, and creating foundations to give opportunities to those who need it.

Top salaries have leveled off in the last decade, but the mid-range of salaries has continued to rise.

As television rights continue to give individual teams billions of dollars over the life of each contract, MLB should see salaries start to rise again. It should not be long before baseball sees its first $40 million per year player.

Scott Alfano is a proud native of The Bronx, New York. He received degrees in English and Physics from Union College in New York and his Masters in Business Administration from Rollins College outside of Orlando, Florida.

Currently, Scott works as a Business Analyst for Eagle Roofing Products in Orlando.

Follow Scott on Twitter: @lastchancealfy

The Las Vegas Wranglers: A Brief History of Vegas’ First Minor League Team Las Vegas’s perception usually consists of gambling, tourism, and gangsters. Despite its impact on the development of the American Southwest with the creation of Hoover Dam or the way it has transformed the hospitality industry over the years, the image of the city continues to rest with its infamous phrase “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas.”

However, there is definitely more to Las Vegas than slot machines and strip clubs.

Although it is has never been known for its sports history, it has partaken in some important moments over the years such as the UNLV Running Rebels winning the NCAA Basketball National Championship in 1991 or hosting the NBA All-Star Game back in 2007.

Still, because the city has never had a major sports team of any kind, its importance to the world of sports and baseball is usually overlooked.

In April 1983, Minor League Baseball became a permanent fixture in the Pacific Coast League when the Las Vegas Stars became the Triple-A affiliate for the San Diego Padres.

Over the next 18 years, the Stars produced some incredible talent for the Padres before changing names to the Las Vegas 51’s in 2001 and their affiliation to the Los Angeles Dodgers. After a short stint with both the Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays, the 51’s currently develop talent for the New York Mets organization.

Many people do not realize, is that baseball in Las Vegas goes as far back as the 1930s, but its first attempt at professional baseball rose between 1947-1950. the Las Vegas Wranglers would make headlines in Southern Nevada as part of the Class C Sunset League as an affiliate for the Boston Braves. Yet, because of struggling financing and low attendance, the team was unable to sustain a permanent residency in Las Vegas. The following article will provide a historical overview of the Wrangler team, while highlighting some of the important moments during their short existence.

The idea of professional baseball in Southern Nevada came about after Major League Baseball hosted a series of exhibition and pre-season games in the early 1930s. Playing their games outside of Boulder City and in Henderson, its success brought interest to host a series of spring training games in 1934, which eventually led to the Boston Braves giving the go-ahead to put a team in Las Vegas as part of the Class C Sunset League.

In the 1940s, the Sunset League ranged from Reno, Nevada to Tijuana, Mexico and consisted of twelve teams during its four years of operation. The Las Vegas Wranglers would kick off the inaugural season in 1947, alongside five teams from California: Anaheim, El Centro, Ontario, Porterville, Riverside, Salinas, and San Bernardino. It would also include one from Yuma, Arizona, Mexicali, Mexico, and Reno, Nevada.

With a population of 20,000 people, and the help from local businessmen Bob Peccole and Louis Wiener, professional baseball finally began in Las Vegas at the site of the Dula Community Center. Headed by former Major

Leaguer and player-manager Newell “Newt” Kimball, the Wranglers defeated the El Centro Imperials on the road, 8-2. Five days later in harsh dust and wind, the Wranglers defeated the Reno Silver Sox, 5-2 in front of a home crowd of 2,000.

The Sunset League was a pitcher's nightmare and a hitter's dream. Whether it was a result of the high altitudes and the hot summers, the baseball travelled further creating a hitting paradise, especially for the Las Vegas Wranglers. In 1947, the Wranglers were the highest scoring team in the league putting up 1,261 runs and averaging 9.01 per game in 140 games. Highlighted by its own Murderers’ Row, the team as a whole homered 271 times. Five players combined to hit 150 homers, including rookie Calvin Felix (52), Olin Kelly (33), Ken Myers (33), Roy Godfrey (32), and Dom Castro (28).

In their most memorable game and one for the record books, the Wranglers routed the Ontario Orioles, 35-5 in May 1947.

The Wranglers hit 10 homers in the game: four by Myers and three bases loaded homers in the third inning. Although the five of them would total 101 for the rest of their career, it only reiterates the excitement this brand of baseball brought to Southern Nevada in its opening season. It would be the peak year for the Wranglers offensively, but they would finish in third place 73-67 and seven games behind the Riverside Dons.

When they returned at the start of the 1948 season, the Wranglers would have a new home to play their games. Elks Stadium, which up to that time had been used for football and rodeos, and would dramatically impact the offensive output that the club had put up in the previous year. After hitting 271 homers, the team plunged to 56, ranking fifth out of the six teams in their division. Although the team led the league in triples, the move to the more spacious ballpark heavily impacted the offense.

Even though home run numbers were down in 1948, the Wranglers improved at the end of the season. With new coach Ken Myers, the Wranglers finished with a 78-62 record and three games back from the first place Mexicali Aguilas. Robert Knudson and Jerome Wallerstein led the Wrangler pitching staff, which saw their ERA drop nearly a run and half in 1948. Catcher William Maupin led the team in hitting, batting .314, to go along with 17 homers.

The Wranglers had their most successful season in 1949, capturing their first and only Sunset League title with an 88-39 record, finishing nine games in front of the Mexcali 19

By

David Warren

Aguilas. Even though the Sunset League was still a nightmare for pitchers, hitting production continued to drop all around the league.

For the Wranglers, 34-year old outfielder Pete Hughes stood out, leading the club with a .350 batting average and 24 homers. His batting average was one of three players who batted above .300 for the year, which emphasized the impact Elks Stadium continued to have on the team. In 1950, the team would finish its final season in the Sunset League, in third place, 22 games behind Mexcali.

Despite the quality of baseball and players in the league, the Wranglers and the rest of the Sunset League could never take advantage of the booming postwar economy. League-wide attendance during the 1947 season averaged Photo Courtesy: Frank Wright

only 475 per game. The Wranglers lost money every season it was in existence, but nearly broke even in 1951. It would raise $2,000.00 to stay in the Class D Southwestern League, before folding in 1952.

The poor attendance and inability to make revenue, forced the Las Vegas Wranglers to collapse after the 1952 season, but it would set in motion a push for the city and the community to bring baseball back to Las Vegas.

As the city and the population continued to grow, baseball returned twenty-three years later. The success of the Las Vegas Stars and Las Vegas 51's and the economic boom in the late 1990's has brought invigorated interest in a bringing major sports franchise from either the National Hockey League or National Basketball Association to the city.

It would be a historic moment for the city of Las Vegas, but it is important to note the city holds a strong place for baseball and its history. As pointed out in a 1951 article in the Las Vegas Review Journal, "Baseball is a part of community life. It is an integral and necessary part of the city."

David Warren earned his B.A and M.A from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas in History. His passion for history and baseball has helped gain an even larger appreciation and desire to learn about the early twentieth century years of baseball.

You can follow David on Twitter: @davidwarren25

Brooklyn’s Secular Cathedral: Brooklyn’s Effect on the Mythology of the Dodgers (Part 3) Editor’s Note: This is the third part of a five-part series exclusive to Baseball Magazine by guest contributor Christine Sisto.

Next Year Finally Arrives The Brooklyn Dodgers’ spectacular losses made the team famous around the country and infamous in their borough. Brooklynites, though, worshipped Branch Rickey for taking them this far.

As an article in Harper’s Magazine stated: During the pre-Rickey days Brooklyn sometimes won a pennant or staggered home in second place with ancient castoffs who were prone to ‘September wilt’ but there was no… system to this… and the Brooklyn civic inferiority complex, which demands a perpetual winner, went pretty much unassuaged.

Brooklyn finally had a winning team, because even though the Dodgers had not won a championship, the team was nearly unbeatable.

The Dodgers failed less than any other team in the big leagues, save for the Yankees, during the postwar decade.

Yet their failures were more visible and closely scrutinized than those of any other men. The team was more vulnerable than other teams… [because] the Dodgers were flawed winners.

Brooklynites saw their failure to win a championship as personification of the Brooklyn spirit of perseverance.

Brooklyn-dwellers hated, though, that they constantly lost to the Giants or the Yankees, both representatives of Manhattan. As former borough president Marty Markowitz has said, “To us the Yankees were a Manhattan team, not a Bronx team. I know they were called the Bronx Bombers, but I looked upon them as being elitists from Manhattan.

We were the workers, and they were the elites, the aristocracy.”

The team seemed to be mimicking Brooklyn’s inferiority complex; no matter how well Brooklyn performed, they still could not seem to beat Manhattan.

“Wait ‘til next year” was a rallying cry for Brooklynites to keep pressing forward, to never give up hope, in baseball and in life. An anonymous New York Giants fan wrote in a now famous editorial: I’m from New York which means New York, not out of town in Brooklyn. With me Brooklyn ain’t New York no more than Albany is… All they got in Brook-

lyn is a ball club which is real phony if you ask me… The way they holler and all. They all got swelled heads on them because in a picture William Bendix says I’m from Brooklyn and everyone busts out laughing… Who does the Dodgers beat?

Before 1955, this Giants fan was absolutely correct. Despite Brooklynites

By Christine Sisto

ra’s hit was a sure thing, had run all the way to second. Finally, in the bottom of the ninth, Johnny Podres, who would be named MVP of the World Series, threw out a Yankee at first base, to get the final out and, finally, win the World Series for the Bums in 1955.

The next day the New York World Telegram reported:

Photo Courtesy: cubanbeisbol.com

ranting about being the best, they were not winners, in the literal sense of the word. However, this would all change at the end of the 1955 season.

That championship season, Brooklyn and the Yankees played seven games, with the final game being played in Yankee Stadium. The game would prove to be everything that Brooklynites had been waiting for, especially since the Yankees “were playing like us!” as one Dodgers fan said. In the third inning, a Yankee player, sliding into third base, got hit with a live ball for the third out.

In the sixth inning, with Pee Wee Reese on first, Duke Snider hit a sacrifice bunt and the Yankees pitcher threw to first base—normally a routine play in baseball—but the first basemen dropped the ball, allowing Snider to reach first.

In what was perhaps the most amazing play of the game, and probably in all of Dodgers’ history, Yogi Berra hit a long fly ball to left field in the bottom of the sixth. Sandy Amaros, who was standing almost in center field, ran all the way to the left field wall and even had to reach into the stands, to catch Berra’s drive. Without breaking stride, Amaros then threw the ball to Reese at shortstop, who threw to Gil Hodges at first base, and made the double play by tagging the runner, who, thinking Ber20

For the first time since the creation of man, a Brooklyn team had become the undisputed ruler of baseball. An interminable frustration that threatened to plunge the citizenry into mass neurosis had mercifully come to an end… It was characteristic of Brooklyn’s struggling uphill tradition that when the unattainable was finally attained, it was only through the greatest of perseverance and in the face of the most discouraging odds and in unflinching defiance of the harsh prejudices of fate. In short, Brooklyn did it the hard way.

The World Series championship did not shatter the Brooklyn identity. In fact, the win was very characteristic of Brooklyn. The Dodgers had lost the first two games of the World Series and yet had come back to win the championship, the first team in history to do so.

Like Brooklyn’s immigrants, they had succeeded the hardest way possible.

With persistence, hard-work, and intelligence, provided by Branch Rickey, they had overcome insurmountable odds. “Wait ‘til next year” did not mean “give up;” it meant keep trying. Brooklyn was finally better than Manhattan.

“The 1955 World Series win over the Yankees meant to one representative Brooklyn native that ‘a whole city… now can raise its head, look across the river… and say, ‘We’re number one.’”

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