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AndyJ

So many good pieces on Willie Mays out there - and the golden days of baseball. WaPo's Thos. Boswell here:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2024/06/19/willie-mays-thomas-boswell/

Snippets:

"Hats have flown off other heads, but Willie’s flew the best. Anybody can make a basket catch, then throw the ball back submarine style — but on every catch? Except those on which he was flying level with the ground."

"But in Mays’s prime, from his MVP season in 1954 through his MVP season in ’65, when the most knowledgeable baseball experts on Earth (teenagers) debated such things, it was Willie, the equal to any center fielder ever, who edged out injury-prone Mickey Mantle for the top glamour spot. Mantle changed the game when he came to bat. Mays changed the game whenever he was on the field."

"Wins Above Replacement is a modern stat with imperfections. But, for today, the all-time leaders among everyday players make an interesting top five: 1. Barry Bonds (162.8), who gets a big asterisk from me; 2. Babe Ruth (162.2, not including his pitching); 3. Willie Mays (156.2); 4. Ty Cobb (151.5); and 5. (Henry) Aaron (143.1)."

Mark

My baseball idol as a kid. He seemed to be magical in his skills, approach to the game and a decent human being to boot. Great all around guy.

hank

Ditto what @Mark said. One of the first & finest big league players I can remember watching as a kid. An athletic, fit, talented center fielder with an infectious smile.


In other baseball news …

Baltimore 17 / Yankees 5 in the third set of a 3 game series at Yankee Stadium today. Both top contenders. Interesting series in that 2 Yankees were hit by pitches Tuesday night. I happened to watch the entire game. One sidelined Aaron Judge, their top hitter. He’d checked a swing and was hit on the wrist. Did not look intentional. Later another Yankee was hit on the wrist by what looked like an inside brush-back pitch.

True to form, the Yankees retaliated Wednesday night by throwing at / hitting top Baltimore slugger Gunnar Henderson. Henderson shrugged it off and eventually scored a run. Baltimore won in extra innings.

I have no idea what transpired today except that 17-5 score is pretty striking - especially knowing the caliber of the Yankee team. My heart’s with Baltimore. A college roommate’s grandson is a relief pitcher on the team.

Derf

@hank The brush back pitch, now that brings back some interesting match ups !!

hank

Derf said:

@hank The brush back pitch, now that brings back some interesting match ups !!

@Derf,

Do you mean here or in baseball?

Derf

@hank : I guess that would work both ways !

Mark

I hate to see these tactics being used in sports. If you can't beat them with your skills then go find something else to do with yourself. Hitting a player with a ball is not a skill.

Derf

@Mark : Brush back & throwing at someone are two different things in my book. If you take note of all the pads on players & how close some stand to the plate all comes into play ! Hopefully you were talking of the pitch off the plate by 2 feet. Good to see ump can give the pitcher the boot if he thinks it's intentional.

hank

@Mark is correct. Fastballs frequently come in at 95-101 mph today. However, the problem of intentionally hitting a batter seems a lot less than years ago. The umps won’t put up with much. NY would never admit to throwing at a hitter. I’m just basing that on the consensus among those who follow the sport and watched the game (I didn’t). Also - I remember infielders getting seriously injured at second base when an aggressive baserunner slid in hard to “break up” a double play. Legs were broken. That has now ceased fortunately.

Crash

Bob Gibson is one who'd never let a batter dig-in. Too fast, too accurate with the brush-back pitch. I'd say there's room for the brush-back pitch, but intentional bean-balls are way out of bounds. Batters in more recent years have begun to show up to the plate for their turn at bat wearing body armour, like a turtle. Barry Bonds, for one. And all of his records and great performance numbers are seriously tainted. He and so many others were "juiced." Maguire (St. Louis, correct?) is another. And Roger Clemens... Roger Maris had to wear the asterisk next to his 61st home run for years and years. Those juiced, shameless doinks should have their "amazing" numbers rescinded.

Here's another way to keep a batter from digging-in at the plate: LOL

Derf

Let me add, best brush back I've seen, ball goes by batter on his backside !!!

Crash

Derf said:

Let me add, best brush back I've seen, ball goes by batter on his backside !!!

Yes, that was happening to A-Rod after HIS scandal. Never saw the like before!