{"id":786,"date":"2014-03-30T19:25:29","date_gmt":"2014-03-30T23:25:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=786"},"modified":"2018-12-20T20:07:00","modified_gmt":"2018-12-21T01:07:00","slug":"national-pastime-museum","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/?page_id=786","title":{"rendered":"National Pastime Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

THE TRAGIC DEATH OF SNUFFY STIRNWEISS<\/a><\/strong>
George \u201cSnuffy\u201d Stirnweiss was a war-time middle infielder with the New York Yankees who won an American League batting championship, and who later died a horrific death in a railroad accident, his train plunging into a river. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BIRTH OF THE CY YOUNG AWARD
<\/a><\/strong>The only problem with the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Award and the Jackie Robinson Award, is that no baseball fans call them the Kenesaw Mountain Landis Award or the Jackie Robinson Award. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RUSTY STAUB LEGACY
<\/strong><\/a>Daniel \u201cRusty\u201d Staub, who died in March 2018, was remarkably unique among the more than 19,200 men who have appeared in a Major League box score. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ON DECK CIRCLE EQUIPMENT<\/a><\/strong>
A little development which took place in an on-deck circle in 1967 was revolutionary for a game steeped in tradition. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THURMAN MUNSON\u2019S ROOKIE YEAR
<\/a><\/strong>The story of Thurman Munson\u2019s rookie season with the New York Yankees – 1970 –   is significant, because not only did it lead to his being the first catcher in American League history to win the Rookie of the Year award (and only Johnny Bench had done it in the National League), but because of what was to come with his career. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

WILLIE MCCOVEY\u2019S DEBUT
<\/strong><\/a>This is a column about the great Willie McCovey\u2019s major league debut, but it is also about the impact that it made when the game\u2019s daily events were so much easier to note and absorb. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MICKEY MANTLE’S LAST SEASON – 1968<\/a><\/strong>
This year marks the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of Mickey Mantle\u2019s final season in the Major Leagues. 1968 was the Year of the Pitcher, and his .237 average, embarrassingly, reflected that.  To Baby Boomers, the idea that a half century has passed since he played the game must seem extraordinary.  After all, if they were standing back in 1968, a half century before would have put us in 1918, Hughie Jennings last year.  Were fans of a certain age talking about Hughie Jennings (a star infielder for the 1890s Baltimore Orioles) the same way we talk about Mantle? more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE MARIS ASTERISK*<\/a><\/strong>
<\/a>It\u2019s the most famous asterisk that never was. In the annals of punctuation mark history, it has its own chapter. In the Hall of Fame for punctuation marks, it has its own wing. In the annals of baseball history, it\u2019s one-word identification for Roger Maris and the 1961 season. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

YANKEES AT SHEA<\/strong><\/a>
When the New York Yankees-Tampa Bay Rays series in September, 2017, was moved to CitiField, home of the Mets (due to Hurricane Irma), the Yankees were the road team, used the visitor\u2019s clubhouse, and saw signage and scoreboard details designed for the \u201chome team\u201d Rays. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CHANNELING MICKEY MANTLE\u2019S FAREWELL SEASON WITH DEREK JETER\u2019S<\/strong><\/a>
Watching Derek Jeter\u2019s final season unfold brings both joy and sadness for this lifelong Yankee observer and one-time club employee. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BOBBY RICHARDSON\u2019S ENDURING WORLD SERIES RECORDS<\/strong><\/a>
More than half a century has passed, and the World Series records of New York Yankees infielder Bobby Richardson continue to hold fast. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

STENGEL A RACIST?<\/strong><\/a>
When I\u2019ve told people in the last year that I am working on a new biography of Casey Stengel, the most frequently asked question about him seems to be, \u201cwas he a racist?\u201d more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TV COVERAGE<\/strong><\/a>
There was a time in baseball when the baseball writers could rightfully claim to be the only ones qualified to vote for the Hall of Fame, largely because they witnessed so many hundreds of games. And you didn\u2019t.. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

INVENTORS WITHOUT WHOM\u2026.TIME TO HONOR? <\/strong><\/a>
Imagine the founding fathers of baseball, seated around a wooden table, drinking a little stout, mapping out a playing field, and getting around to the equipment to be used. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THIS WEEK IN BASEBALL (TWIB)<\/strong><\/a>
Before there was an MLB Network, before there was ESPN\u2019s Baseball Tonight<\/em>, before local stations were able to run highlights from around the Major Leagues, there was the scrappy and much beloved This Week in Baseball<\/em>. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE STRANGE CASE OF SPAHN V. MESSNER, INC.<\/strong><\/a>
Warren Spahn died in 2003 at the age of 82, and his legacy in baseball not only remains strong, but some of his accomplishments may never be matched in our lifetime. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

FRANK SCOTT<\/strong><\/a>
On the list of things we love about baseball, player agents don\u2019t rank very high. But if you had known Frank Scott, it would have been different. He could charm anyone, except for the old Yankees General Manager George Weiss. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BASEBALL BOOKS ON THE \u201cNEW YORK TIMES\u201d BEST SELLERS LIST<\/strong><\/a>
No baseball book hit the New York Times best sellers list in 2015, the first time that happened in 16 years. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PETE ROSE: PART OF THE CONVERSATION<\/strong><\/a>
Pete Rose is as proud of his hit record as you would expect him to be\u2014it defines him\u2014but he also takes enormous pride in a lesser known record: most winning games played in. That\u2019s quite a feat in itself. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

RETIRED NUMBERS<\/strong><\/a>
Ten years after being fired by the New York Yankees (after 10 pennants in 12 years as manager), Casey Stengel was in no mood to accept their Old Timers\u2019 Day invitations. He was still bitter, and he turned down all previous invitations from the team. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ORIGIN OF DH RULE<\/strong><\/a>
On January 11, 1973, about a month before spring training, the American League announced that it would begin using a controversial new rule for the \u201973 season\u2014\u201cthe designated pinch-hitter rule.\u201d more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MANTLE COACHING AT FIRST<\/strong><\/a>
The 1970 New York Yankees were in the midst of their long drought between pennants (1964 to 1976 was the actual span), and despite the emerging stardom of Thurman Munson and Bobby Murcer, the team was challenged at the box office, especially since the retirement of Mickey Mantle, which he announced in spring training of 1969. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

TV COVERAGE<\/strong><\/a>
There was a time in baseball when the baseball writers could rightfully claim to be the only ones qualified to vote for the Hall of Fame, largely because they witnessed so many hundreds of games. And you didn\u2019t. That was because you\u2014those watching at home on TV (\u201cDon\u2019t touch that dial!\u201d) \u2014were seeing double images (ghosting), while walking around the room holding rabbit ears, searching for the best possible picture. It was \u201clow-res TV,\u201d and we were happy to take what they gave us. It was often a hopeless cause, made good only by not realizing better days were coming. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

EARLE COMBS<\/strong><\/a>
What does a guy have to do in front of Yankees fans to get a little respect? Hit .325 lifetime?During the 16 years that Bernie Williams patrolled center field for the New York Yankees (and before him Bobby Murcer, among others), there was frequent talk of that piece of real estate being \u201csacred\u201d in the annals of Yankee Stadium history\u2014hallowed ground, as it were, for its having been manned by Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle, almost continuously from 1936 to 1966. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE CHIPMUNKS<\/strong><\/a>
The death in December 2015 of New York\u2013based sportswriter Phil Pepe\u2013an original \u201cChipmunk\u201d\u2013saddened the city\u2019s baseball community, including his devoted readers, who enjoyed his many years with the New York Daily News and his output of more than four dozen books. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAUL SCHREIBER<\/a><\/strong>
When one-time relief-ace Andrew Bailey took the mound for the New York Yankees this past summer, much was made of it being his first Major League appearance in two years. Well, Paul Schreiber went 22 years between appearances in a Major League box score. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1961 SEASON<\/a><\/strong>
In the 1961 All-Star Game (actually, two all-star games were played), the National League roster included Hank Aaron, Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Frank Robinson, Ernie Banks, Stan Musial, Sandy Koufax, Warren Spahn, Orlando Cepeda, Don Drysdale and Eddie Mathews – 11 future Hall of Famers on the 28-man roster. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

MONTE IRVIN<\/strong><\/a>
The death of Monte Irvin in January, a month shy of his 97th birthday, robbed baseball of one of the finest gentleman to ever play the game, and robbed historians of the go-to source for anything about the Negro Leagues. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

ORIGIN OF DH RULE<\/a><\/strong>
On January 11, 1973, just about a month before spring training, the American League announced that it would begin using a controversial new rule for the \u201973 season \u2013 \u201cthe designated pinch-hitter rule\u201d. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SY BERGER’S BASEBALL CARDS<\/strong><\/a>
When Sy Berger died at his Long Island, New York, home in December 2014 at age 91, the story ran everywhere\u2014from the front page of the New York Times to NBC Nightly News, and even \u201cWeekend Update\u201d on Saturday Night Live. Surely, a lot of people were scratching their heads over this one. \u201cWho in the world was Sy Berger?\u201d more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

HERBERT HOOVER GETS BOOED AT THE WORLD SERIES<\/a><\/strong>
Politicians in modern America know that being introduced at a sports event comes with some risk. Sports fans, especially after a beer or two, are pretty uninhibited about letting their feelings known for elected officials. As fans have discovered, stadium security will not throw them out onto the street if they boo. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BASEBALL FEVER: TOM VILLANTE’S LIFE IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL<\/a><\/strong>
A lot of batboys have \u201cmade good\u201d in life, and no doubt the responsibilities instilled in them during those teen years have been a factor. But Tom Villante, who was the New York Yankees batboy in 1944\u201345, has had a dazzling career, largely in and around baseball, in the years since. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

GAME 7, 1960 WORLD SERIES<\/a><\/strong>
<\/strong>On October 13, 1960, the New York Yankees faced the Pittsburgh Pirates in Game 7 of the World Series at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, a game that would be Casey Stengel\u2019s last as Yankee manager. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE LAST EXPO AND OTHER SURVIVORS<\/a><\/strong>
Willie Mays\u2014the last New York Giants player\u2014in 1973 which was his final season. One of these years, one of these players will appear in his final Major League game and depart with a dubious distinction. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

NO LONGER UNWRITTEN<\/strong><\/a>
There is a fascinating exhibition this year at the National Museum of American Jewish History in Philadelphia. It is called \u201cChasing Dreams,\u201d and although the venue would suggest a Jewish theme, it is in fact an exhibition of how the nation\u2019s immigrant population\u2014Irish, Italian, Latin American, Asian, Jewish, and others\u2014used baseball as a means of assimilating into American culture. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LOU GEHRIG APPRECIATION DAY AT 75<\/strong><\/a>
Seventy-five years ago, July 4, 1939, in what has come to be called the day of \u201cBaseball\u2019s Gettysburg Address,\u201d Lou Gehrig delivered an unscripted yet brilliant farewell to baseball before an overflow holiday doubleheader crowd at Yankee Stadium. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

DAMON RUNYON’S GUYS AND DOLLS<\/strong><\/a>
Sometimes when we write these essays, \u201cTwilight Zone\u201d moments happen. On the day I sat down to write about Damon Runyon, my wife was running in a 5K race at Yankee Stadium to raise money for the Damon Runyon Cancer Fund.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I read an obituary on Runyon from 1946, I noted that the last sentence said he was living at the Hotel Buckingham on 57th Street and Sixth Avenue at the time of his death. I raised my head from the computer keyboard and looked out my window. The Hotel Buckingham. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

KING KELLY: BASEBALL’S FIRST CELEBRITY
<\/a><\/strong>This year marks the 125th anniversary of the first baseball biography (or in this case, autobiography). It was in 1888, at the peak of his fame, that Mike  \u201cKing\u201d Kelly\u2019s \u201cPlay Ball: Stories of the Ball Field\u201d was published. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

CRACKER JACK OLD TIMERS GAMES
<\/a><\/strong>Between 1982 and 1990, an annual old timers game was played, first in Washington, D.C., and then in Buffalo, New York\u2014an event that drew national attention from its very first inning. It was known as the Cracker Jack Old Timers Baseball Classic, and it was the brainchild of former Atlanta Braves Vice President Dick Cecil. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Roger Peckinpaugh
<\/a><\/strong>In 1974 I was writing my first book, Baseball\u2019s Best, with biographies of all the Hall of Famers, and I decided to interview Roger Peckinpaugh, who in 1914 became, and remains, the youngest manager in Major League history. He was 23. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

My First Game: Ebbets Field 1955
<\/a><\/strong>I think most people take their children to their first game at too young an age. I know I did. I took my son to his first game when he wasn\u2019t even three. He loved the ice cream, and when a Seattle Mariners player offered him a baseball, he turned it down. He was too busy with the ice cream. And I\u2019m sure he has little recollection of the afternoon. My own story is similar, but it has some interesting twists. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Red Ruffing
<\/a><\/strong>On Saturday afternoon, August 5, 1939, Red Ruffing went out and did what he usually did when he started a game for the New York Yankees. Pitching off the very flat mound of Yankee Stadium, Ruffing hurled a complete game 6\u20131 victory over Cleveland, allowing seven hits and a walk (the run was unearned). As a batter, he went 2 for 2 with a home run (Joe DiMaggio also homered). The game took one hour and 37 minutes and was played before 13,207 fans. Just another day at the office for Red. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Berra-Dickey
<\/a><\/strong>This is the story of two Yankee catchers and how the legacy of one soared while the other remained in place. In other words, it is the story of how one player can get better after retirement, and the other not, even though neither has had another hit nor thrown out another runner in all these years. We are talking about Bill Dickey and Yogi Berra, both of whom had their uniform No. 8 retired, the only time two players had one number retired.<\/span> more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mexican League Raids and the Last Full-Season Suspensions
<\/a><\/strong>If Alex Rodriguez\u2019s season-long ban holds up in 2014, he will be the first Major Leaguer to miss a full season for disciplinary reasons since Commissioner Happy Chandler banned the Mexican League \u201cjumpers\u201d for five years following their 1946 defections. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bobby Richardson
<\/a><\/strong>Sport Magazine used to run small notices about joining fan clubs, and there it was in 1961, the address to join the Bobby Richardson Fan Club, operating out of New Jersey. Perfect. I was in. Bobby was my guy. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Harry Craft\u2013Baseball Lifer
<\/a><\/strong>It was probably September 9 or 10 in 1959, when the manager of the Kansas City Athletics, Harry Craft, sidled over to Casey Stengel during batting practice at Yankee Stadium for a friendly chat. Harry of course, knew Casey. Everyone knew Casey, and so too did everyone seem to know Harry, one of the best-connected, best-liked men in the game. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ring Lardner
<\/a><\/strong>I was thinking about Ring Lardner when the Mets sent Ike Davis to the minor leagues in June. And we’ll get to that in a moment. One thing I really like about Ring’s life, a century after his fame started to take hold, is that he was really just one of us – a sportswriter! And he wound up being spoken of in the same breath with F. Scott Fitzgerald – a great man of letters, an American original. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Baseball’s Centennial “Greatest Players Ever” Poll
<\/a><\/strong>At the time, it was the cornerstone of baseball’s centennial celebration, a much heralded, fan-driven promotion designed to get everyone involved with the festivities. It was 1969, the centennial of professional baseball, 100 years since the Cincinnati Red Stockings started paying salaries for playing ball. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Derek Jeter: Channeling Mickey Mantle’s Farewell Season
<\/a><\/strong>Watching Derek Jeter\u2019s final season unfold brings both joy and sadness for this lifelong Yankee observer and one-time club employee. The joy is in celebrating the 20 years of memories, and the sadness is, of course, that it is coming to a close. more<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mel Ott & His Enduring Home Run Record
<\/a><\/strong>The tragic death of St. Louis Cardinals rookie Oscar Taveras during the World Series, victim of an auto accident in the Dominican Republic, brings to mind another ballplayer who died a similar death, albeit long after his distinguished career had ended. more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

THE TRAGIC DEATH OF SNUFFY STIRNWEISSGeorge \u201cSnuffy\u201d Stirnweiss was a war-time middle infielder with the New York Yankees who won an American League batting championship, and who later died a horrific death in a railroad accident, his train plunging into… Continue Reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":702,"menu_order":9,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","template":"","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-786","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/P4s5bl-cG","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=786"}],"version-history":[{"count":52,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/786\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3400,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/786\/revisions\/3400"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/702"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.appelpr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}