I kept this story in my pocket for a long time....
In Pittsburgh, September 15th is Roberto Clemente Day.
Every year the whole organization fans out across the city. It's like Christmas. Roberto's family is there, Vera and the boys.
My first year as manager was 2011. We celebrated. We shook hands and moved on.
We didn't win.
19 consecutive losing seasons.
2012 rolls around. Same day, same celebration. We had another losing season, our 20th consecutive.
After the ceremony, Roberto Jr. walked over.
"My mom wants to talk to you."
We went into the dugout. Me, Vera, and her three sons.
She spoke in Spanish. I played four years of winter ball so I understood enough. She wasn't angry, but she was passionate. And I kept hearing Roberto's number come up.
Roberto Jr. translated.
"My mother wants you to know that there cannot be a 21st losing season. That was Roberto's number. It would be a disgrace to his legacy."
She was staring right at me.
Before I could even think about what to say, words came out of my mouth:
"I promise you, Vera. That won't happen."
Roberto Jr. looked at me and said, "You made my mom a promise. I hope you can keep it."
I said, "I hope I can keep it too."
I didn't tell my coaches. I didn't tell the players. I told my wife. That was it.
The next year, 2013, we broke the consecutive seasons losing streak. Ended it at 20.
On Roberto Clemente Day that September, Vera came walking across that field.
And I probably got one of the most meaningful hugs I've ever received in my life.
The players did all the heavy lifting. I just got the hug.
Some promises are worth making before you know if you can keep them.
@Pirates
Travis Bazzana's first MLB home run.
No bat flip. No flamboyance. No showboating. No arrogance. He just puts his head down and rounds the bases.
This is why this kid will go far. His attitude is superb. He was brought-up well, 'down under'. A huge kudos to his amazing parents!
@Super70sSports Bob Seger > Bruce Springsteen and it’s not even a contest. Same with Billy Joel and Bruce. And Tom Petty and Bruce. And Prince and Bruce. And 20 other acts and Bruce. I don’t dislike Springsteen’s catalogue, but after about 10-15 songs, I’ve heard enough.
“Fastest ever in history.
I never want to face him again.”
Ted Williams.
“Steve Dalkowski was the hardest thrower I ever saw.”
Catcher Cal Ripken Sr., 1958.
“His fastball was like nothing I’d ever seen before.
It really rose.
If you told him to aim the ball at home plate, that ball would cross the plate at the batter’s shoulders.
That was because of the tremendous backspin he could put on the ball."
Pat Gillick.
“Steve Dalkowski threw harder than anybody I ever saw, he even threw his slider 95 miles per hour.
One day in the outfield, I said:
‘You can throw a ball through that fence, can’t you?
So he did.
Right through those 1-by-6 boards.
He was just phenomenal.”
Davey Johnson.
In 1958 at the 'Aberdeen Proving Ground, when Dalkowski had pitched night before, AND he was throwing from flat surface rather than mound AND wore sneakers.
ALL his pitches all mid-90s.
During a game at Kingsport on August 31, 1957, Dalkowski struck out 24 Bluefield hitters in a single minor league game, yet lost 8–4.
He had issued 18 walks, hit four batters, threw six wild pitches.
Dalkowski pitched a total of 62 innings in 1957, struck out 121, (averaging 18 strikeouts per game), but won only once because he walked 129, threw 39 wild pitches.
In the Northern League in 1958–1959, threw a one-hitter but lost 9–8 on the strength of 17 walks.
In 1957–1958, Dalkowski either struck out or walked almost three out of every four batters he faced.
In 9 seasons, struck out 1396, walked 1354 in 995 innings.
Struck out more batters, walked more batters per nine-innings than any pitcher in history.
The 1960's Orioles minor leaguer who was said to have thrown 110 mph to 115 mph.
Struck out more batters, walked more batters per nine-innings than any pitcher in history.
Steve "White Lightning" Dalkowski.
"Nuke" LaLoosh is based on tales about Dalkowski.
Today in 1982: Jim Eisenreich, a rookie outfielder for the Twins hitting .309, left the game at Fenway in the middle of an inning.
He suffered from twitching and it became uncontrollable when Boston fans continuously taunted him.
When the team returned to Minnesota, Jim checked into a hospital for treatment. Doctors diagnosed him with Tourette's Syndrome.
He tried several comebacks the next few years, but could never control his symptoms. He retired from baseball in 1984.
Over the next two years, doctors found a way to treat his Tourette’s, and Jim returned to baseball in 1987 with Kansas City. He was named the MVP of the 1989 Royals, a team that featured Bo Jackson and George Brett.
After his comeback, he went on to play 12 more years in the big leagues, and batted over .300 in 5 of those seasons.
He now has a foundation that helps children with Tourette’s Syndrome.
#MLB #baseball #Royals @TouretteAssn
"I signed with Baltimore as a second baseman at age 18 and they gave me a $4,000 bonus at the time.
I wasn’t one of those “Bonus Babies” that got $30,000, that’s for sure.
I had a great glove, but I still had a lot left to learn, but the Orioles believed in me, so that gave me some confidence.
I played at York, Pennsylvania, Class B, and I hit around .330, so I was very happy with that.
Being from Little Rock, Arkansas, I had never played with black players before being in the minors.
Some people asked me back then:
“Do I have any black friends,” and I had to say no.
In Arkansas, they segregated the schools back then.
But, to be honest—I never really thought about it when I played with black players in the minors or with the Orioles.
We all played together just fine without any issues—it was easy.
We had some great instructors with the Orioles and they worked with me all the time to become a better fielder.
My goal was to be aggressive and not wait for the ball.
I was always working to get a jump on the ball by anticipating where it was headed.
I was blessed with decent hand-eye coordination, and seemed to have a sense where the ball was going to be hit, which was helpful.
I never altered my fielding style, which was moving around—I never wanted to be stationary, that’s for sure.
I learned a ton from George Kell.
I admired him when I was a youngster, so playing with him for the Orioles in 1956 was a big deal and a great opportunity for me to learn from one of the best."
Brooks Robinson.
Saturday, August 3, 1968.
The bottom of the 3rd.
Mickey Mantle and Brooks Robinson.
Yankee Stadium.
Bill Maher fires back at Billie Eilish and leftist “kids” who “don’t know what the f*ck” America is about.
“I want to… say something about Western civilization. Kids, you don’t know what the f*ck it is.”
“They think Western means white—and white means bad. First of all, everything bad that white people did, people of color did it, too. The Japanese before World War II and during World War II. And Genghis Khan, and I could go on and on.”
“The left is very down on America, very down on the West. And it’s ironic because the West has also given us everything that makes your life good here. Don’t ask Billie Eilish or Chappell Roan about what the Western values are, because they’ll just say it’s about oppression.”
“But it’s not about oppression. It’s about rule of law. It’s about respect for minorities. It’s about democracy. It’s about scientific inquiry. These are all good things that came from the Western world. I wish that schools would teach that again.”
"I only bit one guy:
Doug Sutherland of the Minnesota Vikings.
He put his fingers through my face mask, and I don't think they were there to stroke my moustache.
So I bite one finger in my life, and I don't even chew on it.
The legend grew from there.
It's almost like I'm worse than Jeffrey Dahmer.
One game, I knocked the crap out of Merlin Olsen.
If you wanted to see it on instant replay, you had to go to the kitchen, because I knocked him so far out of the TV frame.
After the game, Olsen says:
"One of these days, someone's going to break Dobler's neck, and I'm not going to send any flowers."
What happens?
Olsen gets the $500,000 FTD commercial, and I don't get shit.
He goes to the Pro Bowl fourteen times.
He's in the Hall of Fame.
He's probably got more money than God.
When he was doing 'Father Murphy' on NBC, he had a graveyard scene.
One of the tombs said:
"CONRAD DOBLER. GONE, BUT NOT FORGIVEN".
It's been twenty years since I played him, and I'm still on his f****** mind.
And I like that.
Pioneered the chop block and the head slap, both now outlawed.
Conrad Dobler has experienced owner indifference to the price NFL players paid.
When Hall of Fame offensive tackle Dan Dierdorf was being inducted into the Arizona Cardinals’ "Ring of Honor" in 1996, he asked his former linemate to introduce him at the halftime ceremony.
"Dan and I were watching the game from the owner’s box and one of the owner’s kids comes up to us right before the half.
We were both using canes, and the kid says:
‘Do you have to go down there with your canes?’
And I said:
‘Yes, we do, and we’re like this because of the freakin’ game we played!’
I would have kicked his ass if I had two good legs.”
Legend!!!
Dobler and Olsen.
I believe in the power of prayer. Please join me in praying for Maddox. Dear Jesus, please heal him and help his family get through this difficult time 🙏✝️🙏
Last night Maddox Graser had two hits and helped his Wooster High School baseball team win 10 to 0.
He was perfectly fine.
By 8 pm he was throwing up at home. It got worse fast. He was rushed to the hospital in Wooster and then life flighted to the Pediatric ICU at Akron Children’s Hospital this morning.
Maddox is a sophomore. A second baseman. A teammate. A son.
Right now he has no brain activity.
From a baseball field celebrating a win to a pediatric ICU fighting for his life in less than twelve hours. His family never saw this coming. Nobody did.
His mom and dad are sitting in that hospital right now needing every prayer they can get.
If you believe in miracles please stop scrolling right now and say one for Maddox. His family is pleading for them.
Please share this post. The wider this reaches the more people are praying over this young man tonight.
Maddox Graser. Remember that name and lift it up.
"I can't understand how grown men are still into wrestling," Rob Parker said on his Fox Sports show. "We all went to the zoo. We all went to the circus as kids, right? And at some point, Kelvin, you grow out of it. I just cannot get over how these older guys who are sports fans live and die for that stuff, but they have this soft spot for wrestling, and they're walking around with the belts, and they're going to a watch party at a sports bar. I need somebody to explain it to me, because I don't understand it."