Dale Mitchell struck out looking for the final out of Don Larsen’s perfect 1956 World Series game. What is so interesting about this fact is not that Larsen had just made history, but rather that anyone could get a strike past Mitchell.
A seemingly unstoppable football and baseball talent was pushed off the field by recurring panic attacks.
Cardinals third baseman Billy Johnson wasn’t going to make it to the big leagues on name recognition alone: He has one of the most generic sounding names in the sport.
Dave Philley’s 1952 Topps card casually ends the biographic text on the back of the card with, “Dave raises cattle during the off-season.” Oh really? It turns out Dave was a genuine Texas cowboy working a ranch with his brother in Paris, Texas.
The original template for starter to reliever conversions, Jerry Staley had some sharp years for the St. Louis Cardinals. Primarily a sinkerball artist, he could induce easy outs without throwing too many pitches. His 1952 Topps baseball card was issued right in the middle of a three-year run in which he nearly averaged 20 wins per season.
Junk ball pitchers are a crafty bunch. They have a goal in mind but lack the firepower to go straight for it, electing instead to attack a batter with off speed pitches incorporating movement. Ed Lopat was one such pitcher, though he didn’t start out that way.
Detroit Tigers pitcher Art Houtteman was having a rough year when he was pictured on his 1952 Topps card.
Figures lie and liars figure. I have a whole lot of baseball statistics in my hand and want to tell you some stories about Monty Kennedy.
