By Marty Appel<\/p>\n
Pete Sheehy, who worked in the New York Yankees clubhouse from 1927 to 1985, saw a lot of\u00a0left-handers come and go during those 58 seasons. And with the wisdom that one acquires observing\u00a0human behavior, he had the science of \u201chandedness\u201d down to a gesture.<\/p>\n
If a player did something odd, or was a little \u201cflaky,\u201d Big Pete would simply flick his left wrist as\u00a0though snapping off a curveball, and write it off to left-handedness. It could be a loony act by a right-hander, but Pete would categorize it as left-handed behavior and everyone around would nod.<\/p>\n
If he didn’t develop that belief during his years with Babe Ruth and Lefty Gomez, perhaps it came\u00a0from tales learned of Rube Waddell, a major league pitcher from 1897-1910. After all, when Pete broke in,\u00a0\u201cPop\u201d Logan ran the clubhouse, and he went back to 19th century baseball. Tales would have been told.<\/p>\n
Waddell died of tuberculosis in 1914 when he was only 37, but what remained of his legacy well\u00a0into the 20th century was his remarkable strikeout record of 343 in one season, 1904. That year, he finished\u00a0more than 100 strikeouts ahead of his nearest competitor, Jack Chesbro, with names like Christy\u00a0Mathewson, Eddie Plank and Cy Young far behind.<\/p>\n
It seemed as though he was playing a different game from everyone else.<\/p>\n
His record attracted particular attention in 1946, when Bob Feller challenged it, and finished with\u00a0348. The assault on the mark led statisticians to revisit Waddell\u2019s box scores, and he was suddenly credited\u00a0with 349.<\/p>\n
The debate over Waddell\u2019s and Feller\u2019s marks continued until 1965 when Sandy Koufax (a non-\u00a0flaky southpaw) fanned 382, passing them both. But Rube\u2019s name was back in the news for modern\u00a0baseball fans, and his feat of leading the league in strikeouts every year from 1902-1907 certainly helped\u00a0propel him in the Hall of Fame in 1947.<\/p>\n
But even the voters of 1947 knew him more for his erratic behavior than for his pitching prowess,\u00a0and even his manager, the still-active Connie Mack, must have felt wonderment over the idea of Rube\u00a0being immortalized for his mound work. For baseball people of the century\u2019s first decade knew him far\u00a0better as the fellow who was often suspended, sometimes jailed (usually over non-support of spouse issues– involving his four wives), unreliable at showing up for games, unnecessary injuries during silly scuffles,\u00a0disputes over salary advances, and generally eccentric behavior.<\/p>\n
His greatest stretch of pitching was surely his Connie Mack years, 1902-07 when he had all those\u00a0big strikeout seasons. He was a lovable rogue, and though Mr. Mack\u2019s patience eventually ran thin, he\u00a0cared for Rube\u2019s well-being long after he had left the Athletics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had our anxious moments with Rube,\u201d noted Mr. Mack in his autobiography, \u201cbut he was\u00a0worth it. When he wandered away from a game we usually found him fishing or playing with the kids.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pete Sheehy never met George Edward Waddell, but suffice it to say, his flick of the wrist gesture\u00a0would have applied.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By Marty Appel Pete Sheehy, who worked in the New York Yankees clubhouse from 1927 to 1985, saw a lot of\u00a0left-handers come and go during those 58 seasons. And with the wisdom that one acquires observing\u00a0human behavior, he had the… Continue Reading