A Little Giant emerges

CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - 18-year old Mel Ott hit his first major league home run on this date in 1927. Ott's first was an inside-the-park job which helped his New York Giants beat the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. The 5'9" Gretna, Louisiana native hit 511 career homers, and that was the only that didn't go over the fence.

Mel Ott arrived on the scene just a teen. He broke in with the Giants at age 17, and it wasn't because a lot of stars were off to war. It was 1926, the First World War had been over for several years and World War II wouldn't start for another 15. Ott had many great years, but his greatest was at age 20. Here are some of his 1929 stats, before he was old enough to vote:

Batting average .328
Home runs 42
RBI 151
Runs scored 138

Mel Ott was named to 9 All-Star games during his career. His life came to an abrupt end at 49 when his car was hit head-on in foggy conditions.

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No hype, just talent

COOPERSTOWN, NEW YORK - Three "stars" were inducted into the Hall of Fame on this date in 1987. Jim "Catfish" Hunter, Billy Williams and Ray Dandridge didn't lust for headlines or seek attention, so you know the recognition they got on this date was due to pure talent.

Catfish Hunter was a 20-game winner five times, four with Oakland A's and once with the New York Yankees. He was in the starting rotation for five World Series Champions, usually the ace of the staff; three with the A's and two with the Yankees. The Hertford, North Carolina native finished his career with 224 wins and 166 losses and an earned run average of 3.26. Sadly, James Augustus Hunter was stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease later in life and died at age 53 of injuries suffered in a fall probably caused by his illness.

Billy Williams spent most of career with the Chicago Cubs. He was NL Rookie of the Year in 1961, a 6-time All-Star, set a record for consecutive games played with 1,117 (later broken by Steve Garvey with 1,207). He finished with .290 career batting average and 426 home runs. "Sweet Swingin" Billy Williams had at least 20 home runs for 14 seasons and at least 84 RBI for 13.

Ray Dandridge was a star of the Negro Leagues, so unfortunately much of American didn't see him play. He played for teams in Detroit, Nashville and Newark. He also played in the Mexican League in 1940 with, and against, Major Leaguers. He led the league with a .369 batting average but it was his fielding at 3rd base that sparkled. Monte Irvin, who played against major leaguers and Negro Leaguers said Dandridge was the one of the best 3rd basemen he'd ever seen. Dandridge was finally signed by the New York Giants in 1949 but sent to Triple-A Minneapolis. Despite being named league MVP and leading his team to the championship, Dandridge was never called up to the majors.

• Little known fact: Catfish Hunter hit .350 for the A's in 1971 (before the DH), 36 hits in 103 at bats, 1 HR, 12 RBI.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The disappearance of 20-game winners
The Hall of Fame

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Getting out of Havana

HAVANA, CUBA - Havana used to have minor league baseball of the American variety. What happened on this date in 1959, according to Baseball-Almanac.com, pretty much put an end to that. The catalyst was Cuban rebel leader Fidel Castro, not a bad ballplayer himself in his younger days.

On this night the Havana Sugar Kings, an independent team with a bunch of players from the Cincinnati Reds organization were entertaining the Rochester (NY) Red Wings, a Boston Red Sox affiliate. The game, running late already, went into extra innings. At midnight, a celebration began in the streets commemorating the revolution that brought Castro to power. It spilled into the stands. With the game tied in the 12th shots rang out in the direction of the field as Rochester mounted a rally. Havana shortstop Leo Cardenas was grazed in the shoulder. Rochester third base coach Frank Verdi, was struck in the head. Fortunately he had head-gear on because he'd been in the lineup earlier in the game. Neither was seriously hurt.

After this rather frightening display of fire power, the players and umpires quickly left the field. After things calmed down the league president said the game would be continued later that Sunday afternoon. The Rochester Red Wings wanted no part of that. After one more tense night in a Havana hotel, the team left Cuba for Miami Sunday night. The Havana Sugar Kings played one more season in Cuba, then were relocated to New Jersey.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
BASEBALL-ALMANAC

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 Brett flies off the (ahem) handle

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK - Had you ever seen anyone so angry as George Brett when a home run of his was disallowed? The famous pine tar incident took place at Yankee Stadium on this date in 1983. You knew Yankee manager Billy Martin had to be involved.

Brett's outburst was the culmination of a dramatic moment - two outs, top of the ninth, Kansas City Royals down 4-3 to the New York Yankees. Brett is facing Yankee closer Rich "Goose" Gossage. He hits a 2-run homer to give the Royals the lead. After Brett circles the bases, Billy Martin marches out to home plate to ask the umpires to examine the bat. Turns out the pine tar, what batters use on the bat handle to improve the grip, extended more than the rules allowed (see the updated rule below). Home plate umpire Tim McClelland places the bat on the ground next to home plate. When he sees that the pine tar is spread over more than 20 inches of the bat he signals, "Batter's out!" George Brett charges from the dugout to home plate. If Brett had been a fullback and it was 3rd and 9, he would have gotten the first down.

Brett, his manager, Dick Howser and a couple other players were thrown out of the game. The Royals protested. The game was suspended. A few weeks later, American League President Lee MacPhail, former president of the Yankees, I might add, overruled the umpires. The home run was reinstated. Play was resumed on August 18th with two outs in the 9th, Royals up 5-4, and that's how the game ended.

Years later, Brett said he was so furious that day because a home run off Hall of Famer Goose Gossage was so rare, he couldn't handle it being taken away.

From MLB Official Rules. Note the "Note."
Rule 1.10 (c) The bat handle, for not more than 18 inches from its end, may be covered or treated with any material or substance to improve the grip. Any such material or substance, which extends past the 18 inch limitation, shall cause the bat to be removed from the game. NOTE: If the umpire discovers that the bat does not conform to (c) above until a time during or after which the bat has been used in play, it shall not be grounds for declaring the batter out, or ejected from the game.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
MLB Official rules
July 24, 1983 Royals-Yankees box score

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There was a time

PITTSBURGH, PENNSYLVANIA - The National League won the 1974 major league baseball all-star game on this date, making it twelve of the last thirteen (the other ended in a tie). Write-in first baseman Steve Garvey was named MVP. The Los Angeles Dodger's first baseman's two hits including an RBI and run scored helped the National League continue its winning ways over the American League by winning 7-2.

The NL's dominance over the AL in the 1960's, 70's and early 80's was astounding. From 1963 to 1982 the National League was 19-1. It was tough being an American League fan during those years. Here are the results:

Year--Played in--winner--score
1963 Cleveland - National 5-3
1964 New York (NL) - National 7-4
1965 Minnesota - National 6-5
1966 St. Louis - National 2-1
1967 California (AL) - National 2-1
1968 Houston - National 1-0
1969 Washington, D.C. - National 9-3
1970 Cincinnati - National 5-4
1971 Detroit - American 6-4
1972 Atlanta - National 4-3
1973 Kansas City - National 7-1
1974 Pittsburgh - National 7-2
1975 Milwaukee - National 6-3
1976 Philadelphia - National 7-1
1977 New York (AL) - National 7-6
1978 San Diego - National 7-3
1979 Seattle National - 7-6
1980 Los Angeles (NL) - National 4-2
1981 Cleveland - National 5-4
1982 Montreal - National 4-1

The American League has turned the tables on the NL since the late 80's. From 1988 to 2010 the AL has won 18 to the NL's 4 with one tie.

Choosing the All-Stars has created as much debate over the years as the game itself. As of this writing, starting position players are chosen by the fans. The pitchers and back-ups are chosen by a combination of fans, players, managers and the commissioner's office. The dilemma is keeping the fans involved while not having the teams dominated by the Yankees, Red Sox, Dodgers and Cubs - the most popular big-market teams. The other dilemma is requiring that every team have at least one representative, which means more deserving players are left off the squad.

CONTRIBUTING SOURCES:
The Sporting News, July 13, 2009
All-star game history

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