Babe Ruth, Baseball Player
Born: 6 February 1895
Birthplace: Baltimore, Maryland
Died: 16 August 1948 (cancer)
Best Known As: New York Yankee hero and "Sultan of Swat"
Name at birth: George Herman Ruth, Jr.
Babe Ruth is the most celebrated player in baseball history . A home run king and fan favorite, Ruth was the first in a line of iconic New York Yankees which included Lou Gehrig, Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle. Ruth began his career as a pitcher but moved to the outfield, where he gained fame as a slugger. After the Boston Red Sox sold him to the Yankees in 1920, Ruth became the most famous athlete in America. Ruth's larger-than-life personality (including a prodigious fondness for food and drink) was a hit with fans , and Ruth is often credited with making baseball the dominant American sport of its time. Ruth retired in 1935; he held the single-season record for home runs (60) until fellow Yankee Roger Maris hit 61 in 1961, and the career record (714) until Hank Aaron passed him in 1974. In 1948, like Gehrig before him, Ruth had an emotional farewell at Yankee Stadium, with the Yankees retiring his uniform number 3. He died of throat cancer two months later.
Friday, December 30, 2005
Sunday, November 27, 2005
Back side of Media picture
Frosty's Highlights
FORREST "FROSTY" KENNEDY
Born: March 20, 1926, Los Angeles
Resides: Covina
Batted: Right, Threw: Right.
Height: 5' 11", Weight: 190 pounds.
Kennedy is one of only 11 men in baseball history to hit
60 home runs in a season, and is also one, of only 11 men to have a documented hitting streak of 40 games or longer. He is a charter member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) Minor League Hall of Fame, and his statistics are on display in the Babe Ruth Wing at the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown, New York.
In 10 minor league seasons (1948 to 1957) , Kennedy averaged .342.
Kennedy hit 60 home runs for Plainview (Texas) of the Class B Southwestern League in 1956, accomplishing this feat in only 144 games. He hit .327 that year, with 184 RBIs and 151 runs scored.
He is also one of the few men in baseball history to hit over .400 twice. He hit .411 for Riverside of the class C sunset League in 1949, and .410 for Plainview when that city fielded a team in the West Texas-New Mexico League in 1953.
Kennedy had a 40-game hitting streak for Plainview in 1953, part of a remarkable stretch which saw him hit safely in 95 of his final 100 games that season.
A standout in football and baseball at El Monte Union High School, Kennedy then served in the U.S. Navy from 1943 to 1945. Following his honorable discharge, he played for several semi-pro baseball teams in the area, and also starred on the 1946 El Monte American Legion Softball team, which won 33 of 35 games. While playing on a semi-pro team in Ontario in 1947, Kennedy was signed to a pro contract by Pittsburgh Pirates scout Babe Merman.
His autobiography, entitled "One Step Away: High Times and Hard Knocks in America's Minor Leagues" will be published in the spring of 1998.
Photo courtesy of SGV Tribune.
Monday, November 21, 2005
FROSTYS' FIRST YEAR
1948 – Riverside Dons Evens Park Sunset Riverside Press and Enterprise
April 28, 1948—DONS TRY TROJANS TONIGHT AT EVANS---With a grapefruit circuit record of two wins and one loss, the Dons will be out tonight to add another victory when they meet the USC “B” squad at Evans Park. Game time is 8:15. The starting line-up will mark the unveiling here of a number of new contenders for regular berths. Don Jameson, husky work-horse of the spring session, will be given a whirl at first base. Two other candidates for the job have already flunked out. Neither Bob Albin, big lefthander from Anaheim, nor Jack Allman, local aspirant, has proved themselves capable at handling the first base chores. Butler and Holmes will be tried at center and right field, respectively, and the promising Forrest Kennedy, brand new father of a future don, will be shifted over to left field. Gene LAN Franco will take the mound at the start.
May 1, 1948—DONS LINE UP AGAINST ANAHEIM IN SUNSET LEAGUE OPENER HERE—only two holdovers from the 1947 Riverside dons lineup will take the field against Anaheim tomorrow, when the dons open defense of their sunset league pennant at Evans Park. Game time is 2:15 p.m. –The other seven starters are wearing don uniforms for the first time. At shortstop is half-pint Bobby Astleford, 20, from San Marcos, Calif., bobby stands only 5 ft. 5 in. and has to be careful in a strong sind. He was rated the outstanding prospect in the San Diego Padres’ 1948 baseball school, and conducts himself like an old-timer on the field. Virgil Criscola, on option to the Dons from Tacoma in the Western International, calls Walla Walla, Wash., his home town. He will start at third base. Morley bockman, leftfielder, is 21 years old ands lives in Long Beach. While at Wilson High in the Beach city he starred in baseball, football and basketball. At the University of Nevada he won two letters in baseball and one in football. Hank Bartolomei, of Ukiah, Calif., is another optionee from Tacoma. Hank was a four=-sport man in high school, spent four years in the air Corps. He is 24, and will start at second base. His all-around play has virtually nailed down the second base job. Big Don Jameson will hold down the centerfield spot when the dons meet the Vals. Don is 24, stands 6 ft. 2in., and weighs a neat 200. In 1942 he played for Lake Charles, La., and Avarices, Ga., then spent three years in service, and played with Thibodaux, La., during 1946 and 1947. He attended high school in Middletown, Ind., and went to Indiana University. Forrest Kennedy will play his first game in organized baseball at right field. He is 22, stands 5 ft. 11 in., weighs 180, and makes Puente his home. He became a father a few days ago and has been celebrating at bat ever since. Despite a peculiar, wide-open stance at the plate, he hits a hard ball. On the mound for the Dons will be Gene LAN Franco, a 22-year-old Orange boy. Gene is a six-foot right hander and has shown a world of stuff during the spring grind.
DONS WALLOP ANAHEIM 11 – 2 IN LEAGUE OPENER, Hank Bartolomei Hits Season’s 1st Homer.
May 3, 1948 Monday (Riverside Daily Press) by Bob Weide, sports editor---The Riverside Dons looked like a top-notch ball club yesterday afternoon at Evans Park as they7 opened defense of their sunset League pennant with an 11-2 victory over the Anaheim Valencias. One thousand customers paid to see the Don’s new suits and new faces and the ceremonies that marked opening day. Two four baggers gave Las Vegas a 7-3 victory over Mexicalli in another opener, the blows accounting for five of the winners runs. A crowd of 1520 saw Reno win its opener against El Centro, 9-6. Bill Rogers accounted for Reno’s homer and Varv Ward duplicated the feat for the losers. The Dons, with only a couple of last year’s veterans in the lineup ,M nevertheless looked like the colorful and hard-hitting team manager George Caster promised would fight to retain the sunset title. Anaheim’s five errors—three were by leftfielder dick Faber—helped the don cause immensely. Hank Bartolomei, rookie second sacker, clouted the first Don four-bagger of the season over the left field fence in the bottom of the third inning. The Valencias scored the game’s first run in the second frame, when Second Baseman john Pena crossed the plate on Kenny White’s error, but the Dons struck back with a vengeance in their half of the period. Forrest Kennedy’s double sent Jerry Waitman and Hank Bartolomei scurrying home and put Don Jameson on third as the Dons began a five-run scoring spree. White walked Jameson home, Shortstop Bobby Astlteford singled Kennedy in, and then Whit scored on a catcher’s error. Riverside tallied four runs in the sixth to gain their final edge. Ton Criscola doubled and was pushed home by a leftfielder’s error and Morley Bockman’s single. Waitman’s two-bagger scored bock man, Bartolomei singled, and three Anaheim errors brought Waitman and Bartolmei in. The Valencias loaded the bases with only one man out in the top of the ninth, and it looked like they would narrow the margin, but Anaheim Pitcher Adrian Burd clouted a grounder to Don third Baseman Criscola, who threw to fist sacker Whitman for a double play that ended the game. Press and Enterprise Business Manager Arthur Culver exhibited trophies the newspapers will award to outstanding Dons each month, and Assistant Mayor E. V. Dales tossed in the first ball.
April 28, 1948—DONS TRY TROJANS TONIGHT AT EVANS---With a grapefruit circuit record of two wins and one loss, the Dons will be out tonight to add another victory when they meet the USC “B” squad at Evans Park. Game time is 8:15. The starting line-up will mark the unveiling here of a number of new contenders for regular berths. Don Jameson, husky work-horse of the spring session, will be given a whirl at first base. Two other candidates for the job have already flunked out. Neither Bob Albin, big lefthander from Anaheim, nor Jack Allman, local aspirant, has proved themselves capable at handling the first base chores. Butler and Holmes will be tried at center and right field, respectively, and the promising Forrest Kennedy, brand new father of a future don, will be shifted over to left field. Gene LAN Franco will take the mound at the start.
May 1, 1948—DONS LINE UP AGAINST ANAHEIM IN SUNSET LEAGUE OPENER HERE—only two holdovers from the 1947 Riverside dons lineup will take the field against Anaheim tomorrow, when the dons open defense of their sunset league pennant at Evans Park. Game time is 2:15 p.m. –The other seven starters are wearing don uniforms for the first time. At shortstop is half-pint Bobby Astleford, 20, from San Marcos, Calif., bobby stands only 5 ft. 5 in. and has to be careful in a strong sind. He was rated the outstanding prospect in the San Diego Padres’ 1948 baseball school, and conducts himself like an old-timer on the field. Virgil Criscola, on option to the Dons from Tacoma in the Western International, calls Walla Walla, Wash., his home town. He will start at third base. Morley bockman, leftfielder, is 21 years old ands lives in Long Beach. While at Wilson High in the Beach city he starred in baseball, football and basketball. At the University of Nevada he won two letters in baseball and one in football. Hank Bartolomei, of Ukiah, Calif., is another optionee from Tacoma. Hank was a four=-sport man in high school, spent four years in the air Corps. He is 24, and will start at second base. His all-around play has virtually nailed down the second base job. Big Don Jameson will hold down the centerfield spot when the dons meet the Vals. Don is 24, stands 6 ft. 2in., and weighs a neat 200. In 1942 he played for Lake Charles, La., and Avarices, Ga., then spent three years in service, and played with Thibodaux, La., during 1946 and 1947. He attended high school in Middletown, Ind., and went to Indiana University. Forrest Kennedy will play his first game in organized baseball at right field. He is 22, stands 5 ft. 11 in., weighs 180, and makes Puente his home. He became a father a few days ago and has been celebrating at bat ever since. Despite a peculiar, wide-open stance at the plate, he hits a hard ball. On the mound for the Dons will be Gene LAN Franco, a 22-year-old Orange boy. Gene is a six-foot right hander and has shown a world of stuff during the spring grind.
DONS WALLOP ANAHEIM 11 – 2 IN LEAGUE OPENER, Hank Bartolomei Hits Season’s 1st Homer.
May 3, 1948 Monday (Riverside Daily Press) by Bob Weide, sports editor---The Riverside Dons looked like a top-notch ball club yesterday afternoon at Evans Park as they7 opened defense of their sunset League pennant with an 11-2 victory over the Anaheim Valencias. One thousand customers paid to see the Don’s new suits and new faces and the ceremonies that marked opening day. Two four baggers gave Las Vegas a 7-3 victory over Mexicalli in another opener, the blows accounting for five of the winners runs. A crowd of 1520 saw Reno win its opener against El Centro, 9-6. Bill Rogers accounted for Reno’s homer and Varv Ward duplicated the feat for the losers. The Dons, with only a couple of last year’s veterans in the lineup ,M nevertheless looked like the colorful and hard-hitting team manager George Caster promised would fight to retain the sunset title. Anaheim’s five errors—three were by leftfielder dick Faber—helped the don cause immensely. Hank Bartolomei, rookie second sacker, clouted the first Don four-bagger of the season over the left field fence in the bottom of the third inning. The Valencias scored the game’s first run in the second frame, when Second Baseman john Pena crossed the plate on Kenny White’s error, but the Dons struck back with a vengeance in their half of the period. Forrest Kennedy’s double sent Jerry Waitman and Hank Bartolomei scurrying home and put Don Jameson on third as the Dons began a five-run scoring spree. White walked Jameson home, Shortstop Bobby Astlteford singled Kennedy in, and then Whit scored on a catcher’s error. Riverside tallied four runs in the sixth to gain their final edge. Ton Criscola doubled and was pushed home by a leftfielder’s error and Morley Bockman’s single. Waitman’s two-bagger scored bock man, Bartolomei singled, and three Anaheim errors brought Waitman and Bartolmei in. The Valencias loaded the bases with only one man out in the top of the ninth, and it looked like they would narrow the margin, but Anaheim Pitcher Adrian Burd clouted a grounder to Don third Baseman Criscola, who threw to fist sacker Whitman for a double play that ended the game. Press and Enterprise Business Manager Arthur Culver exhibited trophies the newspapers will award to outstanding Dons each month, and Assistant Mayor E. V. Dales tossed in the first ball.
Friday, October 21, 2005
A night out at a playoff game
Forrest Kennedy, Robert Kennedy(my brother) and Mike Kennedy(my son) at game 5 of the American Leauge game at Anaheim on 10/16/05 CWS won 6-3 to move on the W.S. It rained for most of the game. Fans started leaving in the 7th inning. Not a good night for Angle fans. My youngest son Jim Kennedy took this picture.
Sunday, September 25, 2005
JOE BAUMAN , 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER
Bauman was a minor league slugger who batted .337 and collected 337 home runs and 1057 RBI in 1019 games. First signed by the Braves, he lost four years to WWII, and held out from 1949-51. He won four HR titles in the nine years he played, but only once played above Class A. After hitting 103 HR for Artesia in 1952-53, he won the Longhorn League (Class C) triple crown by batting .400 with 72 HR and 224 RBI for the Roswell Rockets in 1954. The 72 HR and .916 slugging average he achieved that season are all-time pro records.
JOE BAUMAN, DEAD AT 83
Joe Bauman, 83 succumbed to pneumonia, a complication from an Aug. 11 fall during a ceremony to rename the old Fair Park as Joe Bauman Stadium. His single season Home run record lasted 47 years until barry bonds hit 73 in 2001.
JOE BAUMAN, DEAD AT 83
Joe Bauman, 83 succumbed to pneumonia, a complication from an Aug. 11 fall during a ceremony to rename the old Fair Park as Joe Bauman Stadium. His single season Home run record lasted 47 years until barry bonds hit 73 in 2001.
Friday, September 02, 2005
KEN GUETTLER, 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER
Saturday, September 12, 1998
Texas League mark of 62 likely to stay untouched
By David King
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO -- Ken Guettler, the man who set the Texas League record for home runs with 62 in 1956, might have reached even higher had it not been for some small factors:
-- He suffered through a month-long slump in June, hitting only six the entire month.
-- He struggled at the end of the season, hitting only seven the final four weeks.
-- He had his specially designed glasses pilfered from his locker during a series in Houston, costing him a handful of games there and in San Antonio as he awaited replacements.
Guettler, who died in 1977, played only briefly above the Texas League and never made it to the majors. He hit 330 homers in 15 seasons, but never more than five in a season after his run with the Shreveport Sports in '56.
"I'm not sure what happened to bring on the slide," said Davis Barker, a baseball historian whose specialty is the Texas League. "But it appears to be an almost common thread among many of the post-war minor leaguers who cranked out the 60-plus homer seasons."
He hit three homers for two teams in 1957, five for three teams in '58 and four for two teams in '59.
But his Texas League mark remains unchallenged, probably forever. And it's a mark that he deserved in an era when the ball sailed out of a lot of ballparks.
"Unlike most of the other (records), which took place in smaller parks in light air, Ken's was accomplished in Shreveport's SPAR Park, which was never known as a hitter's park," Barker said.
Hitting in Shreveport probably did hamper his progress, though, since the Sports were not affiliated with a major-league organization in 1956. Also limiting his publicity was the fact that he didn't even lead the minors in homers -- Dick Stuart hit 66 for Lincoln (Neb.) in the Western League in 1956.
Frosty Kennedy hit 60 for Plainview in the Southwestern League that season, including a record 23 in June and 17 more in July.
But beyond his 62 homers, Guettler probably will be most remembered for a midseason incident in Houston, when the Sports were playing the Houston Buffs. The story was retold 10 years later by Clark Nealon in the Houston Post.
"Guettler wore prescription glasses, lens so strong they looked like bubbles," Nealon wrote. "He could get along with less strong glasses off the field, but he was almost harmless as a hitter without his special specs.
"So Guettler was hitting home runs by the bushel about midseason when the Sports checked into Buff Stadium for a big series. Kenny murdered the Buffs a couple of times with homers, then the next morning all the devil broke loose. Guettler's glasses had disappeared, his special glasses.
"(Sports manager Mel) McGaha stormed that the specs had been in Kenny's locker one night, were gone the next when the Sports got to the ballpark. Mel didn't accuse anyone directly, but he wanted everybody around the stadium questioned -- groundskeeper George Myers, crewman Ruey Moore, Manager Harry (The Hat) Walker, even General Manager Art Routzong. All firmly denied any knowledge of the missing specs . . . the impish Walker said: 'I don't know a thing about it, but it was a great idea.' "
Guettler had only one pair, so a replacement set had to be ordered from the factory in Rochester, N.Y. He had to sit out the rest of the series in Houston and at least two games in San Antonio, the next stop on the road trip.
"I still don't know what happened to those glasses and I'd still like to know," McGaha told Nealon. .
Texas League mark of 62 likely to stay untouched
By David King
San Antonio Express-News
SAN ANTONIO -- Ken Guettler, the man who set the Texas League record for home runs with 62 in 1956, might have reached even higher had it not been for some small factors:
-- He suffered through a month-long slump in June, hitting only six the entire month.
-- He struggled at the end of the season, hitting only seven the final four weeks.
-- He had his specially designed glasses pilfered from his locker during a series in Houston, costing him a handful of games there and in San Antonio as he awaited replacements.
Guettler, who died in 1977, played only briefly above the Texas League and never made it to the majors. He hit 330 homers in 15 seasons, but never more than five in a season after his run with the Shreveport Sports in '56.
"I'm not sure what happened to bring on the slide," said Davis Barker, a baseball historian whose specialty is the Texas League. "But it appears to be an almost common thread among many of the post-war minor leaguers who cranked out the 60-plus homer seasons."
He hit three homers for two teams in 1957, five for three teams in '58 and four for two teams in '59.
But his Texas League mark remains unchallenged, probably forever. And it's a mark that he deserved in an era when the ball sailed out of a lot of ballparks.
"Unlike most of the other (records), which took place in smaller parks in light air, Ken's was accomplished in Shreveport's SPAR Park, which was never known as a hitter's park," Barker said.
Hitting in Shreveport probably did hamper his progress, though, since the Sports were not affiliated with a major-league organization in 1956. Also limiting his publicity was the fact that he didn't even lead the minors in homers -- Dick Stuart hit 66 for Lincoln (Neb.) in the Western League in 1956.
Frosty Kennedy hit 60 for Plainview in the Southwestern League that season, including a record 23 in June and 17 more in July.
But beyond his 62 homers, Guettler probably will be most remembered for a midseason incident in Houston, when the Sports were playing the Houston Buffs. The story was retold 10 years later by Clark Nealon in the Houston Post.
"Guettler wore prescription glasses, lens so strong they looked like bubbles," Nealon wrote. "He could get along with less strong glasses off the field, but he was almost harmless as a hitter without his special specs.
"So Guettler was hitting home runs by the bushel about midseason when the Sports checked into Buff Stadium for a big series. Kenny murdered the Buffs a couple of times with homers, then the next morning all the devil broke loose. Guettler's glasses had disappeared, his special glasses.
"(Sports manager Mel) McGaha stormed that the specs had been in Kenny's locker one night, were gone the next when the Sports got to the ballpark. Mel didn't accuse anyone directly, but he wanted everybody around the stadium questioned -- groundskeeper George Myers, crewman Ruey Moore, Manager Harry (The Hat) Walker, even General Manager Art Routzong. All firmly denied any knowledge of the missing specs . . . the impish Walker said: 'I don't know a thing about it, but it was a great idea.' "
Guettler had only one pair, so a replacement set had to be ordered from the factory in Rochester, N.Y. He had to sit out the rest of the series in Houston and at least two games in San Antonio, the next stop on the road trip.
"I still don't know what happened to those glasses and I'd still like to know," McGaha told Nealon. .
Saturday, July 23, 2005
ROGER MARIS- 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER
Roger Maris
Height: 6'0
Weight: 197
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Born: 9/10/34
Hibbing, MN
Career Statistics
- Set Baseball's Single Season Home Run Record (61 in 1961)
- 275 Career Home Runs
- Two-time Most Valuable Player in American League (1960 & 1961)
- Led American League in RBI's (1960 & 1961)
- Gold Glove Award Winner (1960)
- Seven World Series (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968)
- Six World Series Home Runs
New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris, of Fargo, North Dakota, is best known for hitting sixty-one home runs in 1961. His 61 in '61 set a new major league record, breaking Babe Ruth's previous mark of 60 hit in 1927.
Read more at www.rogermaris.com
Height: 6'0
Weight: 197
Bats: Left
Throws: Right
Born: 9/10/34
Hibbing, MN
Career Statistics
- Set Baseball's Single Season Home Run Record (61 in 1961)
- 275 Career Home Runs
- Two-time Most Valuable Player in American League (1960 & 1961)
- Led American League in RBI's (1960 & 1961)
- Gold Glove Award Winner (1960)
- Seven World Series (1960, 1961, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1967, 1968)
- Six World Series Home Runs
New York Yankee outfielder Roger Maris, of Fargo, North Dakota, is best known for hitting sixty-one home runs in 1961. His 61 in '61 set a new major league record, breaking Babe Ruth's previous mark of 60 hit in 1927.
Read more at www.rogermaris.com
Tuesday, July 12, 2005
BOB LENNON- 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER.
Given Name: Robert Albert
NickName(s): Archie
DOB: 9/15/1928
Lennon died on June 14, 2005, at his home. He was 76. His wife, four children and six grandchildren survived. His only surviving sibling, his sister Mary Reynolds, described him as “a gentle, loving man.”
Bob Lennon hit 64 home runs for the Southern Association Nashville Vols in 1954, but his most memorable homer came on April 30, 1957, when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs. "It was what I had dreamed about," he recalled in a 1993 interview. He hit it in Ebbets Field, where he had rooted for the Dodgers as a boy. It was his only major league home run.
Assigned to Daytona Beach of the Class D Florida State League, he played in an exhibition against the Dodgers' AAA Montreal farm club and Jackie Robinson.
Some of his teammates began calling him "Archie" because his Brooklyn accent reminded them of a character on a popular radio comedy, "Duffy's Tavern." The nickname stayed with him throughout his career.
When the season was over, he joined a barnstorming team headlined by the recently retired slugger Jimmie Foxx. He was promised $15 a game, but sometimes got only half that when the crowd was small.
In 1947 he moved up to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the Class B Mid-Atlantic League. After 106 games he hurt his knee - the first of many injuries. "When I look back on it...a lot of things went wrong," he said years later. In his 17-year career, Lennon played as many as 130 games only five times.
The Giants drafted him off the roster of the Newport News, Virginia, Dodgers in the Class B Piedmont League and sent him to Sioux City of the Class A Western League in 1948. In his fourth professional season he was making about $280 a month.
The Sioux City club was playing in Denver on August 16, the day Babe Ruth died. They observed a moment of silence in the ballpark in the Babe's memory. Standing in left field with his cap over his heart, Lennon recalled, "I said, 'Please, lord, let his strength, his home runs... come into my body. The next time up, I hit a home run. I said 'Oh, my god.'"
He moved to Jacksonville of the South Atlantic League in 1949, where he hit just 13 home runs in 553 at-bats. The 1950 season was split between Jacksonville and the Giants' top farm club at Minneapolis in the American Association.
Like many other young ballplayers, Lennon was drafted into the Army when the Korean War began. He missed the 1951 season, but was released before his two-year hitch was up because of back trouble.
In May 1952 he rejoined Minneapolis. He got off to a good start with eight homers and a .295 average in 50 games. But when the Giants called up outfielder Dusty Rhodes from Nashville in July, Lennon was sent down to AA to replace him in the Vols' lineup. With the two teams, he totaled 23 homers in 428 at-bats. He returned to Nashville the following year, hitting 24 homers in 399 at-bats.
In 1954 Vols owner Larry Gilbert changed his batting stance: "I was pretty much a stand-up hitter, with my bat [held high], you know, and I had trouble with the high pitch." Gilbert put him in a deep crouch, "way down with my bat almost right in the catcher's face. I was protected from the high pitch. If I was standing, it would be here [letter-high]. If I was down, I'd be lower and I could come up and hit it good." When he sprang out of the crouch, a letter-high pitch would be waist-high.
He "hit it good" 64 times in 1954. That set a Southern Association record, but did not lead organized baseball.
The same year, Roswell, New Mexico, where a UFO either did or did not land seven years before, was visited by identified flying objects: 72 homers hit by a gas station owner named Joe Bauman for the Rockets of the Class C Longhorn League. Bauman's record for the most home runs in organized ball stood until Barry Bonds hit 73 for the Giants in 2001.
He won the Southern Association Triple Crown and posted an OPS of 1.145. His league-leading totals included 139 runs, 210 hits, 64 homers, 161 RBI, .345 batting average, .734 slugging percentage and 447 total bases. He hit two home runs in a game nine times, three in a game twice and four in a doubleheader, but, in his recollection, no grand slam. He homered once in every 9.5 at-bats. He struck out 97 times in an era when few players fanned 100 times in a season. Despite his dominating performance, he drew only 65 walks.
As he approached Ruth's 60-homer mark, a local television station aired several of the Vols' games. He recalled photographers crowding behind home plate popping flashbulbs every time he batted; they were allowed on the field in those days.
On the season's final day, with his car packed and waiting outside the ballpark, he clubbed three homers in a Labor Day doubleheader. Then he and his wife started driving to New York to join the big club. When he arrived at the Polo Grounds, manager Leo Durocher was annoyed that he hadn't taken a plane.
He was not the rowdy manager's favorite, nor vice versa: "Leo, to me, was a big loudmouth...A lot of the players, they wouldn't say so, but they didn't like him." It probably didn't help their relationship when Durocher introduced the rookie as "Bob Lemon" at a banquet the following spring.
He is buried in Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, New York
READ MORE AT http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1069&pid=8159
NickName(s): Archie
DOB: 9/15/1928
Lennon died on June 14, 2005, at his home. He was 76. His wife, four children and six grandchildren survived. His only surviving sibling, his sister Mary Reynolds, described him as “a gentle, loving man.”
Bob Lennon hit 64 home runs for the Southern Association Nashville Vols in 1954, but his most memorable homer came on April 30, 1957, when he was playing for the Chicago Cubs. "It was what I had dreamed about," he recalled in a 1993 interview. He hit it in Ebbets Field, where he had rooted for the Dodgers as a boy. It was his only major league home run.
Assigned to Daytona Beach of the Class D Florida State League, he played in an exhibition against the Dodgers' AAA Montreal farm club and Jackie Robinson.
Some of his teammates began calling him "Archie" because his Brooklyn accent reminded them of a character on a popular radio comedy, "Duffy's Tavern." The nickname stayed with him throughout his career.
When the season was over, he joined a barnstorming team headlined by the recently retired slugger Jimmie Foxx. He was promised $15 a game, but sometimes got only half that when the crowd was small.
In 1947 he moved up to Johnstown, Pennsylvania, in the Class B Mid-Atlantic League. After 106 games he hurt his knee - the first of many injuries. "When I look back on it...a lot of things went wrong," he said years later. In his 17-year career, Lennon played as many as 130 games only five times.
The Giants drafted him off the roster of the Newport News, Virginia, Dodgers in the Class B Piedmont League and sent him to Sioux City of the Class A Western League in 1948. In his fourth professional season he was making about $280 a month.
The Sioux City club was playing in Denver on August 16, the day Babe Ruth died. They observed a moment of silence in the ballpark in the Babe's memory. Standing in left field with his cap over his heart, Lennon recalled, "I said, 'Please, lord, let his strength, his home runs... come into my body. The next time up, I hit a home run. I said 'Oh, my god.'"
He moved to Jacksonville of the South Atlantic League in 1949, where he hit just 13 home runs in 553 at-bats. The 1950 season was split between Jacksonville and the Giants' top farm club at Minneapolis in the American Association.
Like many other young ballplayers, Lennon was drafted into the Army when the Korean War began. He missed the 1951 season, but was released before his two-year hitch was up because of back trouble.
In May 1952 he rejoined Minneapolis. He got off to a good start with eight homers and a .295 average in 50 games. But when the Giants called up outfielder Dusty Rhodes from Nashville in July, Lennon was sent down to AA to replace him in the Vols' lineup. With the two teams, he totaled 23 homers in 428 at-bats. He returned to Nashville the following year, hitting 24 homers in 399 at-bats.
In 1954 Vols owner Larry Gilbert changed his batting stance: "I was pretty much a stand-up hitter, with my bat [held high], you know, and I had trouble with the high pitch." Gilbert put him in a deep crouch, "way down with my bat almost right in the catcher's face. I was protected from the high pitch. If I was standing, it would be here [letter-high]. If I was down, I'd be lower and I could come up and hit it good." When he sprang out of the crouch, a letter-high pitch would be waist-high.
He "hit it good" 64 times in 1954. That set a Southern Association record, but did not lead organized baseball.
The same year, Roswell, New Mexico, where a UFO either did or did not land seven years before, was visited by identified flying objects: 72 homers hit by a gas station owner named Joe Bauman for the Rockets of the Class C Longhorn League. Bauman's record for the most home runs in organized ball stood until Barry Bonds hit 73 for the Giants in 2001.
He won the Southern Association Triple Crown and posted an OPS of 1.145. His league-leading totals included 139 runs, 210 hits, 64 homers, 161 RBI, .345 batting average, .734 slugging percentage and 447 total bases. He hit two home runs in a game nine times, three in a game twice and four in a doubleheader, but, in his recollection, no grand slam. He homered once in every 9.5 at-bats. He struck out 97 times in an era when few players fanned 100 times in a season. Despite his dominating performance, he drew only 65 walks.
As he approached Ruth's 60-homer mark, a local television station aired several of the Vols' games. He recalled photographers crowding behind home plate popping flashbulbs every time he batted; they were allowed on the field in those days.
On the season's final day, with his car packed and waiting outside the ballpark, he clubbed three homers in a Labor Day doubleheader. Then he and his wife started driving to New York to join the big club. When he arrived at the Polo Grounds, manager Leo Durocher was annoyed that he hadn't taken a plane.
He was not the rowdy manager's favorite, nor vice versa: "Leo, to me, was a big loudmouth...A lot of the players, they wouldn't say so, but they didn't like him." It probably didn't help their relationship when Durocher introduced the rookie as "Bob Lemon" at a banquet the following spring.
He is buried in Calverton National Cemetery in Calverton, New York
READ MORE AT http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&v=l&bid=1069&pid=8159
My family
I posted some pic's, old and new. My grandparents (jans mother and father): Elden and Lou Olson. My mother (married first to Forrest (Frosty) Kennedy and then to Les Briley. My sister La Nona Hoke (Kennedy). My two brothers, Richard and Robert Kennedy. My daughter Rochelle Kennedy. My two sons James and Michael Kennedy.
Frosty also had two sons by his first wife. Bill Kennedy and Dan Kennedy.
Frosty also had two sons by his first wife. Bill Kennedy and Dan Kennedy.
Wednesday, July 06, 2005
TOP HOME RUN RECORDS
"I don't know why people like the home run so much. A home run is over as soon as it starts." - George Foster (22nd Overall Single Season Home Runs Leader)
TOP 10 SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN RECORDS
MAJORS
1 BARRY BONDS 73 2001
2 MARK MCGWIRE 70 1998
3 SAMMY SOSA 66 1998
MARK MCGWIRE 65 1999
SAMMY SOSA 64 2001
SAMMY SOSA 63 1999
4 ROGER MARIS 61 1961
5 BABE RUTH 60 1927
BABE RUTH 59 1921
6 JIMMIE FOXX 58 1932
7 HANK GREENBERG 58 1997
MARK MCGWIRE 58 1997
7 PLAYERS ON LIST
MINORS
1 JOE BAUMAN 72 1954
2 JOE HAUSER 69 1933
3 BOB CRUES 69 1948
4 DICK STUART 66 1956
5 BOB LENNON 64 1954
JOE HAUSER 63 1930
6 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62 1926
7 KEN GUETTLER 62 1956
8 FROSTY KENNEDY 60 1956
9 TONY LAZZERI 60 1925
9 PLAYERS ON LIST
GOING BACK MORE THAN 100 YEARS, THOUSANDS
AND THOUSANDS HAVE PLAYED IN ORGANIZED
BASEBALL, BUT ONLY 14 PLAYERS HAVE HIT
60 OR MORE HOME RUNS IN A SINGLE SEASON.
THE 60 HOMERS CLUB
1 BARRY BONDS 73
2 JOE BAUMAN 72
3 MARK MCGWIRE 70
4 JOE HAUSER 69
5 BOB CRUES 69
6 SAMMY SOSA 66
7 DICK STUART 66
MARK MCGWIRE 65
SAMMY SOSA 64
8 BOB LENNON 64
SAMMY SOSA 63
JOE HAUSER 63
9 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
10 KEN GUETTLER 62
11 ROGER MARIS 61
12 FROSTY KENNEDY 60
13 TONY LAZZERI 60
14 BABE RUTH 60
14 PLAYERS ON LIST
TOP 10 SINGLE SEASON HOME RUN RECORDS
MAJORS
1 BARRY BONDS 73 2001
2 MARK MCGWIRE 70 1998
3 SAMMY SOSA 66 1998
MARK MCGWIRE 65 1999
SAMMY SOSA 64 2001
SAMMY SOSA 63 1999
4 ROGER MARIS 61 1961
5 BABE RUTH 60 1927
BABE RUTH 59 1921
6 JIMMIE FOXX 58 1932
7 HANK GREENBERG 58 1997
MARK MCGWIRE 58 1997
7 PLAYERS ON LIST
MINORS
1 JOE BAUMAN 72 1954
2 JOE HAUSER 69 1933
3 BOB CRUES 69 1948
4 DICK STUART 66 1956
5 BOB LENNON 64 1954
JOE HAUSER 63 1930
6 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62 1926
7 KEN GUETTLER 62 1956
8 FROSTY KENNEDY 60 1956
9 TONY LAZZERI 60 1925
9 PLAYERS ON LIST
GOING BACK MORE THAN 100 YEARS, THOUSANDS
AND THOUSANDS HAVE PLAYED IN ORGANIZED
BASEBALL, BUT ONLY 14 PLAYERS HAVE HIT
60 OR MORE HOME RUNS IN A SINGLE SEASON.
THE 60 HOMERS CLUB
1 BARRY BONDS 73
2 JOE BAUMAN 72
3 MARK MCGWIRE 70
4 JOE HAUSER 69
5 BOB CRUES 69
6 SAMMY SOSA 66
7 DICK STUART 66
MARK MCGWIRE 65
SAMMY SOSA 64
8 BOB LENNON 64
SAMMY SOSA 63
JOE HAUSER 63
9 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
10 KEN GUETTLER 62
11 ROGER MARIS 61
12 FROSTY KENNEDY 60
13 TONY LAZZERI 60
14 BABE RUTH 60
14 PLAYERS ON LIST
Sports Illustrated
From Sports Illustrated; 8/31/1998; Olbermann, Keith
###Keith Olbermann
Forrest (Frosty) Kennedy died three months ago, without so much as a moment of silence at any ballpark in the country. That was a shame, because on Sept. 6, 1956, Kennedy, then a 30-year-old first baseman for the Plainview (Texas) Ponies of the Class B Southwestern League, blasted his 60th home run of the season, against the San Angelo Colts. Kennedy was the last of three sluggers to hit 60 in '56. Dick Stuart of the Lincoln Chiefs of the Class A Western League, who would later destroy major league pitching--both as a batter and as Dr. Strangeglove at first ...
If you can find a copy, it is a great read.
###Keith Olbermann
Forrest (Frosty) Kennedy died three months ago, without so much as a moment of silence at any ballpark in the country. That was a shame, because on Sept. 6, 1956, Kennedy, then a 30-year-old first baseman for the Plainview (Texas) Ponies of the Class B Southwestern League, blasted his 60th home run of the season, against the San Angelo Colts. Kennedy was the last of three sluggers to hit 60 in '56. Dick Stuart of the Lincoln Chiefs of the Class A Western League, who would later destroy major league pitching--both as a batter and as Dr. Strangeglove at first ...
If you can find a copy, it is a great read.
Sunday, June 26, 2005
BOB CRUES- 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER
BOB CRUES -
Given name: ROBERT FULTON CRUES
Played : 1939 - 1949
Borne Dec. 31, 1918 Celina, Texas
Died Dec. 26, 1986
In 1948, Crues went on a rampage through the dusty and windswept ballparks of the Southwest, driving in 254 runs in just 140 games, dwarfing the major league record of 191 RBI set by Hack Wilson with the Cubs in 1930. Playing for the Amarillo Gold Sox of the class C West Texas-New Mexico League, Crues drove in almost two runs per game that summer. Two! The closest anyone ever came to his total was former teammate Joe Bauman who drove in 224 one season. Tony Lazzeri, who set the old record with 222, had to play in 197 games in 1925 to reach that mark at Salt Lake City in the Pacific Coast League. As the 21st century dawned, it seemed possible that Crues' RBI record will be one of the rare ones never to be broken. Bob tied Hauser's record of 69 with two games left in the season. His try for the 70th drew a record crowd of 4,851 for a season-ending Labor Day doubleheader with Lubbock. Ironically, Secory, the umpire who might have cost him a home run in Abilene, was working behind the plate
Before the 1943 season, like most other men his age, the 24-year-old Crues went into the Army. Bob contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized before seeing a day of duty. After the illness he was sent to Texas to play baseball, keeping him in the United States. But he was playing in the outfield, not on the mound.
1949 would be his last big season. He hit .365, 28 homers and drove in 129 runs. He continued to play at San Angelo in the Longhorn League, then at Lubbock, Amarillo, and Borger in the WT-NM again. But his output declined, and in 1953 he retired at age 34, just 11 games into the season. He was hitting only .195, but four of his eight hits were home runs, and he had batted in 12 runs, an average of more than one a game.
In five full seasons and parts of five others, Crues hit 232 home runs and drove in 905 runs.
Given name: ROBERT FULTON CRUES
Played : 1939 - 1949
Borne Dec. 31, 1918 Celina, Texas
Died Dec. 26, 1986
In 1948, Crues went on a rampage through the dusty and windswept ballparks of the Southwest, driving in 254 runs in just 140 games, dwarfing the major league record of 191 RBI set by Hack Wilson with the Cubs in 1930. Playing for the Amarillo Gold Sox of the class C West Texas-New Mexico League, Crues drove in almost two runs per game that summer. Two! The closest anyone ever came to his total was former teammate Joe Bauman who drove in 224 one season. Tony Lazzeri, who set the old record with 222, had to play in 197 games in 1925 to reach that mark at Salt Lake City in the Pacific Coast League. As the 21st century dawned, it seemed possible that Crues' RBI record will be one of the rare ones never to be broken. Bob tied Hauser's record of 69 with two games left in the season. His try for the 70th drew a record crowd of 4,851 for a season-ending Labor Day doubleheader with Lubbock. Ironically, Secory, the umpire who might have cost him a home run in Abilene, was working behind the plate
Before the 1943 season, like most other men his age, the 24-year-old Crues went into the Army. Bob contracted pneumonia and was hospitalized before seeing a day of duty. After the illness he was sent to Texas to play baseball, keeping him in the United States. But he was playing in the outfield, not on the mound.
1949 would be his last big season. He hit .365, 28 homers and drove in 129 runs. He continued to play at San Angelo in the Longhorn League, then at Lubbock, Amarillo, and Borger in the WT-NM again. But his output declined, and in 1953 he retired at age 34, just 11 games into the season. He was hitting only .195, but four of his eight hits were home runs, and he had batted in 12 runs, an average of more than one a game.
In five full seasons and parts of five others, Crues hit 232 home runs and drove in 905 runs.
TONY LAZZERI, 60 HOMERS CLUB MEMBER
TONY LAZZERI
nickname: POOSH
played: 1903 - 1946
MLB ALL-STAR : 1933
HALL of FAME : 1991
Lazzeri was a prominent member of the 1927 Yankees' "Murderers' Row" lineup and the second baseman on five World Championship Yankee clubs. He had seven 100-RBI seasons and four times hit as many as 18 home runs. His excellent glove, driving leadership, and superior baseball instincts made him the hero of Italian-Americans, as their first superstar . He was known as "the quiet man of the Yankees." Though an epileptic, he never had an on-the-field seizure in his 12 Yankee seasons.
Playing for Salt Lake City (Pacific Coast League) in 1925, assisted by the altitude and a 200-game schedule, Lazzeri set since-broken pro baseball records for HR (60) and RBI (222) and a still-standing record for runs (202). The following year, he played 155 games for New York. With two out and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, he struck out against Grover Cleveland Alexander in the Game Seven of the 1926 World Series, won by the Cardinals 3-2. The famous incident damaged Lazzeri's reputation as a clutch hitter. Yet Miller Huggins, his manager, said: "Anyone can strike out, but ballplayers like Lazzeri come along once in a generation."
From 1927 through 1930, and again in 1932, Lazzeri batted .300 or better; his .354 in 1929 put him among the league leaders. On May 24, 1936 he became the first major leaguer to hit two grand slams in one game and set an AL record with 11 RBI.
nickname: POOSH
played: 1903 - 1946
MLB ALL-STAR : 1933
HALL of FAME : 1991
Lazzeri was a prominent member of the 1927 Yankees' "Murderers' Row" lineup and the second baseman on five World Championship Yankee clubs. He had seven 100-RBI seasons and four times hit as many as 18 home runs. His excellent glove, driving leadership, and superior baseball instincts made him the hero of Italian-Americans, as their first superstar . He was known as "the quiet man of the Yankees." Though an epileptic, he never had an on-the-field seizure in his 12 Yankee seasons.
Playing for Salt Lake City (Pacific Coast League) in 1925, assisted by the altitude and a 200-game schedule, Lazzeri set since-broken pro baseball records for HR (60) and RBI (222) and a still-standing record for runs (202). The following year, he played 155 games for New York. With two out and the bases loaded in the seventh inning, he struck out against Grover Cleveland Alexander in the Game Seven of the 1926 World Series, won by the Cardinals 3-2. The famous incident damaged Lazzeri's reputation as a clutch hitter. Yet Miller Huggins, his manager, said: "Anyone can strike out, but ballplayers like Lazzeri come along once in a generation."
From 1927 through 1930, and again in 1932, Lazzeri batted .300 or better; his .354 in 1929 put him among the league leaders. On May 24, 1936 he became the first major leaguer to hit two grand slams in one game and set an AL record with 11 RBI.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
Aug 29, 1954—SOX MANGLE DUKES IN CIRCUS TILT, 14-7---A tied-up ball game in the eighth inning turned into a comedy of errors for Albuquerque and the playoff-bound Amarillo God sox took advantage of them to score an easy 14-7 win over the dukes in their series opener here last night. An “appreciation night” crowd closely estimated at 2,000 watched in humorous approval as Duke Manager Tom Jordan got the riot started, resulting in the removal of five Albuquerque players—including himself. Goff homered to left to bring in De La Torre to put Amarillo aged, 7-5. Then Kempa singled to left and went to second on a wild pitch to Gil Silve. Then, while Jordan and plate umpire Charlie butler were discussing the count on Silva, Kempa stalked easily down to third base and came home ad the two teams argued on the latter call. After a sit-down strike that lasted over 20 minutes, Jordan, Socha, Bartolomel, Joe Pierre and Bob Flores were tossed out and the Dukes blew sky high. The Sox finished the inning by sending 12 batters to the plat to score nine runs and the easy victory. Albuquerque tied the game up in their half of the eighth on a home run by Joe Pierre.
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
*Aug. 12, 1954—BETWEEN YOU AND ME by Harry Gilstrap---I Wish the Gold Sox Management had Given me a couple of days’ notice on “Frosty Kennedy Night,” for I’d like to have run this letter before, rather than after, the event. It’s postmarked Baldwin Park, Calif., reached this desk while I was on vacation, and is self-explanatory: “You may wonder at this letter from Southern California, baseball’s national playground, and who could be interested in the Gold Sox Baseball team.** “Mr. Editor, may I introduce myself—I am Forrest E. Kennnedy,Sr., Frosty’s proud father, and just a few days past I was informed of the latest blessed event to Frosty and Jan, so I now am also a very proud Granddad. I gave the greatest admiration and love for little Frosty’s mother, Mrs. Jan Kennedy, now residing in Amarillo.
WEST COAST FEELS ATTENDANCE SLACK, TOO
“I AM A SUBSCRIBER OF YOUR Amarillo News, the reason being, of course, to follow the baseball destiny of Frosty. This year is the first time during the baseball season that his mother, Mrs. Vivian Kennedy, and myself have not visited him where he was currently playing. We certainly miss this season’s visit to your fair city. “ A few days ago one of your co-workers at the sports desk(Editor’s Note: That was Leon Bert) wrote an article concerning the absence of the paying customers at the ball parks in every section of the U.S.A. I must concur with him in all of his observations. It was a masterful analysis of a sinking condition of baseball attendance in general. His terminology of “characters” in baseball seems to be the missing link.*** “Here on the West Coast, the same condition exists, and maybe the Amarillo News heard of this one, and example: the series between the Los Angeles Angels and the fabulous Hollywood Stars is always a bitter cross-town rivalry, but attendance at Hollywood’s Gilmore Field was not quite up to previous par. Now whether the beef between the teams that day was really meant to be, I do not know, but both teams came at each other with bats a-flying for a few minutes. Local police and management finally parted the belligerents. Of course television and all the newspapers had a field day. From then on during the balance of that series there was “no standing room’ for the fans in Gilmore Field. “Baseball fans—you have just such a “character” playing his very level best for the Gold sox in Amarillo. He is doing everything he can to make the game as entertaining and interesting as on player is capable of doing. He has Babe Ruth traits, you know, leading the league in home runs; a little of Stan Musial, batting average .398, a little likeDiMaggio, a lot of runs batted in; quite a few stolen bases last year, I don’t know what he does with them all. His association with umpires is a little like Durocher’s. He carries a good name brand of chewin” tobaccy, but he never chews away from the park.
Real Proud of This “Character,” Frosty
“A little incident in his sunset League days: His Riverside Dons were in Reno playing the Silver Sox: there were about 25 or 30 fans and his father and mother. Other citizens of Reno were playing other games. Frosty and the field umpire got into a friendly argument and had a few loud words. Well! One of Reno reporters made a headline of it. Next night about 300 fans showed up to see a real ball game. By the, Frosty led the league that year, batting .407 , I have a case full of baseball trophies that he has won in past years. “YES, MR. SPORTS Editor, you have quite a “character” playing for our Gold sox team, and win or lose, hero or goat, his father and mother love that baseball “character,”Frosty.”*** This department gladly goes along with the proud Mr. Kennedy in rating Frosty a baseball “character,” and even will add that he’s one of the great ones of West Texas-New Mexico League history. There’s an old sports saying, “He came to play.” It means that the subject is a competitor to the hilt. It applies admirably to Frosty Kennedy, who arrived in Amarillo about an hour before game time one night in early May, bone-weary after driving 800 miles from Burlington, a., without rest and pulling a house trailer, and insisted on getting into a Gold sox uniform and playing both ends of a double header. He hit a home run in one of ‘em, too. He probably should be playing better ball than this, next season. But unless he is, I sincerely hope he’s back with the Gold sox in 1955.
WEST COAST FEELS ATTENDANCE SLACK, TOO
“I AM A SUBSCRIBER OF YOUR Amarillo News, the reason being, of course, to follow the baseball destiny of Frosty. This year is the first time during the baseball season that his mother, Mrs. Vivian Kennedy, and myself have not visited him where he was currently playing. We certainly miss this season’s visit to your fair city. “ A few days ago one of your co-workers at the sports desk(Editor’s Note: That was Leon Bert) wrote an article concerning the absence of the paying customers at the ball parks in every section of the U.S.A. I must concur with him in all of his observations. It was a masterful analysis of a sinking condition of baseball attendance in general. His terminology of “characters” in baseball seems to be the missing link.*** “Here on the West Coast, the same condition exists, and maybe the Amarillo News heard of this one, and example: the series between the Los Angeles Angels and the fabulous Hollywood Stars is always a bitter cross-town rivalry, but attendance at Hollywood’s Gilmore Field was not quite up to previous par. Now whether the beef between the teams that day was really meant to be, I do not know, but both teams came at each other with bats a-flying for a few minutes. Local police and management finally parted the belligerents. Of course television and all the newspapers had a field day. From then on during the balance of that series there was “no standing room’ for the fans in Gilmore Field. “Baseball fans—you have just such a “character” playing his very level best for the Gold sox in Amarillo. He is doing everything he can to make the game as entertaining and interesting as on player is capable of doing. He has Babe Ruth traits, you know, leading the league in home runs; a little of Stan Musial, batting average .398, a little likeDiMaggio, a lot of runs batted in; quite a few stolen bases last year, I don’t know what he does with them all. His association with umpires is a little like Durocher’s. He carries a good name brand of chewin” tobaccy, but he never chews away from the park.
Real Proud of This “Character,” Frosty
“A little incident in his sunset League days: His Riverside Dons were in Reno playing the Silver Sox: there were about 25 or 30 fans and his father and mother. Other citizens of Reno were playing other games. Frosty and the field umpire got into a friendly argument and had a few loud words. Well! One of Reno reporters made a headline of it. Next night about 300 fans showed up to see a real ball game. By the, Frosty led the league that year, batting .407 , I have a case full of baseball trophies that he has won in past years. “YES, MR. SPORTS Editor, you have quite a “character” playing for our Gold sox team, and win or lose, hero or goat, his father and mother love that baseball “character,”Frosty.”*** This department gladly goes along with the proud Mr. Kennedy in rating Frosty a baseball “character,” and even will add that he’s one of the great ones of West Texas-New Mexico League history. There’s an old sports saying, “He came to play.” It means that the subject is a competitor to the hilt. It applies admirably to Frosty Kennedy, who arrived in Amarillo about an hour before game time one night in early May, bone-weary after driving 800 miles from Burlington, a., without rest and pulling a house trailer, and insisted on getting into a Gold sox uniform and playing both ends of a double header. He hit a home run in one of ‘em, too. He probably should be playing better ball than this, next season. But unless he is, I sincerely hope he’s back with the Gold sox in 1955.
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
*Aug. 11, 1954—MAMA ‘JAN HAS CONNIPITION FIT’ _______ Kempa singles-“Pappy Can’t Score From Second!” ________HEADED FOR THIRD-“He’ll Make It” ________PAPPY SLIPS ROUNDING THIRD—“Oh, No! He’ll Never Make it now.” ______UP AND HEADED HOME—“I Just Can’t Look” _______YOUR SAFE (five photos of Jan Kennedy and son)
GOLD SOX SCITTER BY PLAINVIEW, 1-0—by Harry Gilstrap, Sports Editor—Manager Frank Dempa singled to right field on the three-two pitch with one out in the eighth inning to score Frosty Kennedy, the night’s honoree, from second base and give Len Ruyle and the Gold Sox a 1-0 victory over Plainview last night. It was to have been the first game of a doubleheader. But Kempa and the Ponies’ Jackie Sullivan, who by that time had decided it had been a mistake even to start under such deplorable ground conditions, agreed that a second game inevitably would be an anti-climax and a greater mistake still. Umpire Gene Bothell and Charley Butler, of the same mind, accommodated by calling off the afterpiece, which thus went down the drain altogether, since the clubs aren’t scheduled to meet again this year. Some of the customers made loud sounds of extreme displeasure at the announcement, though how any right-thinking baseball devotee could figure he’d been cheated is beyond understanding. It was, as the score makes option of the gooey muck in which vious, one of the season’s better contests here, almost unbelievably better than could have been expected in particular considerate was played. Gold Sox Field, already muddy as a result of Saturdays and Sunday’s rains, had been drenched again by a later afternoon shower, and the Ponies hadn’t want5ed to play at all. Wonderful to say, however, there was only one error and that, a wide throw by Kempa after his excellent stop an Bill Adelheim in the fourth, quite excusable, It did no harm, incidentally, for Adelheim at once was erased in a double play. Ruyle, posting his 19th victory of the season against 12 losses, which also was his fourth shutout over the Ponies, bad sturdy opposition from veteran Don Tierney, former Gold sox right-hander, who struck out 13, but Len thoroughly deserved his success. He permitted five hits, walked none, and after some difficulty in the first inning allowed no foeman to progress safely as far as third base and only one to reach second. The Sox meantime mounted three strong threats against Rierney, in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, before ending it in the eighth and extra round. It was “Frosty Kennedy night,” the big first baseman, his pretty wife and their baby son receiving gifts from the fans—these, of course, featuring a plentiful supply of eating-tobacco for big Frosty. It would have been nice if he could have won it personally with a homer. Unfortunately from the standpoint of the appropriate, he failed with men on base3 the first three times, once striking out with the bases loaded. But he did turn in the night’s best defensive play, a leaping, one-handed grab of Tom Curley’s drive in the seventh, and eventually had his share of the eighth-inning heroics. He started the lower half of that round by working Tierney for a walk, one of three doled out by Don. Julio de la Torre struck out, swinging. Goose Goff also walked. Then, on the three-two count, Kempa pumped his humpbacked hit between right and center. Kennedy slipped in the mud as he rounded third, almost fell, but recovered and beat Cal Mickelson’s throw, though barely…
GOLD SOX SCITTER BY PLAINVIEW, 1-0—by Harry Gilstrap, Sports Editor—Manager Frank Dempa singled to right field on the three-two pitch with one out in the eighth inning to score Frosty Kennedy, the night’s honoree, from second base and give Len Ruyle and the Gold Sox a 1-0 victory over Plainview last night. It was to have been the first game of a doubleheader. But Kempa and the Ponies’ Jackie Sullivan, who by that time had decided it had been a mistake even to start under such deplorable ground conditions, agreed that a second game inevitably would be an anti-climax and a greater mistake still. Umpire Gene Bothell and Charley Butler, of the same mind, accommodated by calling off the afterpiece, which thus went down the drain altogether, since the clubs aren’t scheduled to meet again this year. Some of the customers made loud sounds of extreme displeasure at the announcement, though how any right-thinking baseball devotee could figure he’d been cheated is beyond understanding. It was, as the score makes option of the gooey muck in which vious, one of the season’s better contests here, almost unbelievably better than could have been expected in particular considerate was played. Gold Sox Field, already muddy as a result of Saturdays and Sunday’s rains, had been drenched again by a later afternoon shower, and the Ponies hadn’t want5ed to play at all. Wonderful to say, however, there was only one error and that, a wide throw by Kempa after his excellent stop an Bill Adelheim in the fourth, quite excusable, It did no harm, incidentally, for Adelheim at once was erased in a double play. Ruyle, posting his 19th victory of the season against 12 losses, which also was his fourth shutout over the Ponies, bad sturdy opposition from veteran Don Tierney, former Gold sox right-hander, who struck out 13, but Len thoroughly deserved his success. He permitted five hits, walked none, and after some difficulty in the first inning allowed no foeman to progress safely as far as third base and only one to reach second. The Sox meantime mounted three strong threats against Rierney, in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, before ending it in the eighth and extra round. It was “Frosty Kennedy night,” the big first baseman, his pretty wife and their baby son receiving gifts from the fans—these, of course, featuring a plentiful supply of eating-tobacco for big Frosty. It would have been nice if he could have won it personally with a homer. Unfortunately from the standpoint of the appropriate, he failed with men on base3 the first three times, once striking out with the bases loaded. But he did turn in the night’s best defensive play, a leaping, one-handed grab of Tom Curley’s drive in the seventh, and eventually had his share of the eighth-inning heroics. He started the lower half of that round by working Tierney for a walk, one of three doled out by Don. Julio de la Torre struck out, swinging. Goose Goff also walked. Then, on the three-two count, Kempa pumped his humpbacked hit between right and center. Kennedy slipped in the mud as he rounded third, almost fell, but recovered and beat Cal Mickelson’s throw, though barely…
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
July 27, 1954—by Dick Collins---SIX WINS IN A TOW DAILY WORKOUTS TO FILL GAP IN GOLD SOX SCHEDULE---Although Amarillo’s gold Sox are scheduled for four days of baseball leisure there’ll be no rest in the camp, beamed Manager Frank Kempa after his boys won their sixth in a row Monday night and as a result jumped back into the first division. The gold Sox, who blasted Plainview’s Ponies 12-5 here last night to sweep the two-game series, get their brief respite because of schedule changes after Borger’s Gassers dropped out of the West Texas-New Mexico league. Preceding lat night’s game, lovely Miss Susanne Norman was named Miss Amarillo Gold Sox of 1954, Seven beauties competed for the title. Miss Norman was sponsored by Fedway. She will now compete against other baseball queens of the six other cities for the title of Miss West Texas-New Mexico league. Frosty Kennedy scored Amarillo’s 10th run in the eighth when he rounded the bases on Bruzga’s single to right. Kennedy blasted a standup double to left to get on. Rucker then struck out, Balclulis was out by a fielder’s choice and sent Bruzga to second. The ponies intentionally walked Dempa to get to Ruyle, but the side arming curve specialist misread the script and blooped a single down the right field line to sore Bruzga and Kempa.
Aug. 2, 1954—Between YOU and ME—by Harry Gilstrap-----Is just one of many isolated bugs—There probably are millions who will agree, including (though with reservations) this observer. It may be hazarded, too, that perhaps we sports writers do not make enough of the characters we do have, that we may tend to formalize our athletes for reader consumption, that the modern trend away from “corn’ in sports writing actually may gave stripped some of the artificial glamour from the graves. OUR DESK MAN may have isolated one of the bugs which are attacking sports prosperity, but only one of several, I suspect, and not the fatal one, at that. As an interesting paradox, it can be pointed out that the biggest two drawing-cards in professional wrestling, for instance, are Lou Thesz and Vern Gagne, both “straight,” while on the other hand Avarill’s Gold Sox admittedly gave a character (it’s a compliment, Frosty) in Frosty Kennedy, but are not prospering at the gate.
Aug. 2, 1954—Between YOU and ME—by Harry Gilstrap-----Is just one of many isolated bugs—There probably are millions who will agree, including (though with reservations) this observer. It may be hazarded, too, that perhaps we sports writers do not make enough of the characters we do have, that we may tend to formalize our athletes for reader consumption, that the modern trend away from “corn’ in sports writing actually may gave stripped some of the artificial glamour from the graves. OUR DESK MAN may have isolated one of the bugs which are attacking sports prosperity, but only one of several, I suspect, and not the fatal one, at that. As an interesting paradox, it can be pointed out that the biggest two drawing-cards in professional wrestling, for instance, are Lou Thesz and Vern Gagne, both “straight,” while on the other hand Avarill’s Gold Sox admittedly gave a character (it’s a compliment, Frosty) in Frosty Kennedy, but are not prospering at the gate.
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
July 26, 1954—GOING UP! G-SOX NEAR FIRST DIVISION AGAIN—by Harry Gilstrap---Don’t let the word get out, but it looks like the Gold Sox might be back in the running. Straddling a five-game winning streak now, they could pull up to a virtual, though not precise, tie for fourth place with Plainview tonight by beating the Ponies again, as they did Sunday afternoon, 8-3. They have reversed form since their recent, woeful 10-game string of defeats which extended through last Tuesday night and dropped them four and one-half games out of the first division. Frank Kempa, their new manager, inherited eight of those losses. The night he took over the sox dropped a doubleheader at Pampa. Next night, however, they whipped the Oilers twice. Then, after a day’s respite for the All-Star contest, they scored Friday and Saturday night victories over powerful, third-place Abilene, followed by yesterday’s well-earned success. Game time will be 8:15 PM the event will be preceded by the second and final section of the 1954 “Miss Gold Sox” contest. The eight pretty candidates, who paraded in bathing suits Saturday, this time will appear in formal attire, entering the park in automobiles. The winner will tour the league with the queens of the other six member cities, contending for the title of “Miss West Texas-New Mexico League.” The fortunate lovely league contest will go to the national meeting of the minors in Houston next December to compete for designation as “Miss Baseball”
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
in the July 24, 1954—ANDERSON FRLIEF JOB GIVES G-SOX 9-4 WIN—Gold Sox win 3rd Straight in Comeback—The Gold Sox took the lead in the fifth on Frosty Kennedy’s solo homer in the fifth, then erupted for four more off Oscar Reguera and Marcus Job in the sixth. It was the third straight Amarillo victory after a string of 10 consecutive defeats. The g-Sox got off to an early lead Friday night, scoring four in the first inning. With one out, Bill Wilhite walked and, after Goose Goff had grounded out, scored on Kennedy’s looping single to right. A single by Johnny Bruzga and a walk to Johnny Rucker filled the bases, and Kennedy strolled in when Charley Balciulis was hit by a pitch. Kennedy’s line-drive homer over left led off the lower half of the sixth to break the tie. Reguera lasted through that round, but with one gone in the sixth, Willhite and Goff doubled in succession and Job came in. Kennedy scratched a double off Ellison’s leg and Bruzga was walked intentionally. Rucker singled to left center to score Kennedy.
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
July 13, 1954--- GOLD SOX AVERAGES
(Does not include Tuesday game)
Player………….AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB PCT.
Kennedy…………… 215 54 82 12 3 23 71 4 .381
Bruzga…………….. 305 58 110 23 2 10 62 1 .361
Goff ……………….. 203 42 68 14 1 5 32 2 .335
Locke………………. 270 48 87 23 1 9 51 1 .322
Rucker……………… 223 46 65 10 6 8 37 14 .291
Brown……………… 213 33 60 9 3 3 23 7 .282
Kempa………………. 300 68 78 13 5 10 38 14 .260
Wilhite…………… 294 62 78 13 3 6 47 5 .265
Balciulis…………… 56 11 15 0 0 4 13 0 .268
July 13, 1954--- GOLD SOX AVERAGES
(Does not include Tuesday game)
Player………….AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB PCT.
Kennedy…………… 215 54 82 12 3 23 71 4 .381
Bruzga…………….. 305 58 110 23 2 10 62 1 .361
Goff ……………….. 203 42 68 14 1 5 32 2 .335
Locke………………. 270 48 87 23 1 9 51 1 .322
Rucker……………… 223 46 65 10 6 8 37 14 .291
Brown……………… 213 33 60 9 3 3 23 7 .282
Kempa………………. 300 68 78 13 5 10 38 14 .260
Wilhite…………… 294 62 78 13 3 6 47 5 .265
Balciulis…………… 56 11 15 0 0 4 13 0 .268
(Does not include Tuesday game)
Player………….AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB PCT.
Kennedy…………… 215 54 82 12 3 23 71 4 .381
Bruzga…………….. 305 58 110 23 2 10 62 1 .361
Goff ……………….. 203 42 68 14 1 5 32 2 .335
Locke………………. 270 48 87 23 1 9 51 1 .322
Rucker……………… 223 46 65 10 6 8 37 14 .291
Brown……………… 213 33 60 9 3 3 23 7 .282
Kempa………………. 300 68 78 13 5 10 38 14 .260
Wilhite…………… 294 62 78 13 3 6 47 5 .265
Balciulis…………… 56 11 15 0 0 4 13 0 .268
July 13, 1954--- GOLD SOX AVERAGES
(Does not include Tuesday game)
Player………….AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB PCT.
Kennedy…………… 215 54 82 12 3 23 71 4 .381
Bruzga…………….. 305 58 110 23 2 10 62 1 .361
Goff ……………….. 203 42 68 14 1 5 32 2 .335
Locke………………. 270 48 87 23 1 9 51 1 .322
Rucker……………… 223 46 65 10 6 8 37 14 .291
Brown……………… 213 33 60 9 3 3 23 7 .282
Kempa………………. 300 68 78 13 5 10 38 14 .260
Wilhite…………… 294 62 78 13 3 6 47 5 .265
Balciulis…………… 56 11 15 0 0 4 13 0 .268
July 13, 1954 thru Aug. 29, 1954
We Will run some of the Amerillo news stories from 7/13/54 thru 8/29/54.
July 13, 1954(Abilene-AP)—FIVE G-SOX ON ALL STARS—The Averill gold Sox, who will host the West Texas-New Mexico League’s annual All-Star game July 22, won a third of the places on the North’s squad. Amarillo placed five men—Len Ruyle, Frosty Kennedy, Eddie Locke, Johnny Bruzga and Johnny Rucker—on the North all-stars, Borger four and Clovis and Albuquerque three each, it was announced today. The South team, which was announced Sunday, is made yup of players from Abilene, Lubbock, Pampa and Plainview. Only unanimous choice on the North squad was Carroll “Red” Dial, pitching ace of the league-leading Clovis Pioneers. The first place club could muster only two other places, with outfielders Pete Trabuco and Lincoln Boyd. The North selections: Pitchers—George Socha, Albuquerque; George Tomecek, Borger; Len Ruyle, Amarillo; Red Dial, Clovis. Catchers—tom Jordon, Albuquerque; Luis Villodas, Borger. First base—Forrest “Frosty” Kennedy, Avarillo. Second base –Bob Westfall, Borger. Third base –John Bruzga, Amarillo. Shortstop—Gil Valentin, Borger. Left field – Eddie Locke, Amarillo. Center field – Pete Trabucco, Clovis. Right Field – Lincoln Boyd, Clovis. Utility infielder – Joe Pierre, Albuquerque. Utility outfielder – Johnny Rucker, Amarillo. The picks were made by the managers of the four North cities and the sports writers and radio broadcasters covering these clubs. The managers will be named by the players on the two squads.
July 13, 1954(Abilene-AP)—FIVE G-SOX ON ALL STARS—The Averill gold Sox, who will host the West Texas-New Mexico League’s annual All-Star game July 22, won a third of the places on the North’s squad. Amarillo placed five men—Len Ruyle, Frosty Kennedy, Eddie Locke, Johnny Bruzga and Johnny Rucker—on the North all-stars, Borger four and Clovis and Albuquerque three each, it was announced today. The South team, which was announced Sunday, is made yup of players from Abilene, Lubbock, Pampa and Plainview. Only unanimous choice on the North squad was Carroll “Red” Dial, pitching ace of the league-leading Clovis Pioneers. The first place club could muster only two other places, with outfielders Pete Trabuco and Lincoln Boyd. The North selections: Pitchers—George Socha, Albuquerque; George Tomecek, Borger; Len Ruyle, Amarillo; Red Dial, Clovis. Catchers—tom Jordon, Albuquerque; Luis Villodas, Borger. First base—Forrest “Frosty” Kennedy, Avarillo. Second base –Bob Westfall, Borger. Third base –John Bruzga, Amarillo. Shortstop—Gil Valentin, Borger. Left field – Eddie Locke, Amarillo. Center field – Pete Trabucco, Clovis. Right Field – Lincoln Boyd, Clovis. Utility infielder – Joe Pierre, Albuquerque. Utility outfielder – Johnny Rucker, Amarillo. The picks were made by the managers of the four North cities and the sports writers and radio broadcasters covering these clubs. The managers will be named by the players on the two squads.
Friday, June 03, 2005
Drivemyway super store.
This is a link to the Drivemyway store. Good shopping!
http://sites.onlinesupplier.com/folder94283/
http://sites.onlinesupplier.com/folder94283/
Sunday, May 22, 2005
The Hokes at 2002 W.S. game 6
# 1 Angles fans. Danny Hoke is the son of Martin and La Nona Hoke. La Nona is the only daughter of Frosty Kennedy. She has one other son, David. Look for Danny to take to playing High School Baseball. All early indications are that he should really excel at it.
Baseball savey grandson
Jim Kenned, highly talented ball player in his school days, my number two son and grandson of Frosty Kennedy. Jim played for Troy High School in Fullerton and was a standout player all four years. He played and had a strong understanding of the catcher position.Jim Kennedy at game 7 2002 W.S. in Anahiem.
Wednesday, May 18, 2005
Then and Now by Jim McConnell, SGVN 1997
The following column ran in the San Gabriel Valley News on Saturday, April 26, 1997. I am running it complete and unedited as it was when first published.
In minors, less often can be more
I believe it was former Governor Jerry Brown who coined the phrase, "Less is more." Then again, maybe it was Linda Ronstadt.
Be that as it may, the motion that less is more is handy for this column. For this column is about minor league baseball. Modern minor league baseball isn't worth a column, but the minor league baseball of 50 years ago, well, now you're talking.
So I went to one of the world's great talkers, Covina's Frosty Kennedy, to get the skinny. Kennedy, 71, is a Hall of Famer.
There is a display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. , dedicated to those who have hit 60 or more home runs in a season. It's been done by 11 men in the history of organized baseball, and Kennedy is one. Babe Ruth and Roger Maris, you know. The other nine, you should.
Kennedy hit his 60 home runs for Plainview, Texas, in the Southwestern League in 1956. The Southwestern League was a Class B league in the old minor league classification system, which ran from AAA down to D.
Now, before you freeze out Frosty with the thought that his accomplishment is merely a popsicle in the chocolate mousse of life, remember that less is more. And listen to the man.
"people knocking the minor leagues. I hear that stuff all the time," said Kennedy. "I even hear it from ex-players. Pete Rose told me that once. I told him, okay, so how many times did you hit 60 home runs in a season?'
"Believe me, I had a much more difficult time hitting my 60 than Ruth or mares. A shorter season, rotten lights at rotten little ballparks, rotten pitchers who couldn't or wouldn't throw me a pitch to hit, freezing weather in he spring, hat as hell in the summer.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you there was anything cheap about my getting 60 home runs. I was there, Charlie."
Kennedy, as you might guess, is not the shy, retiring sort. And that made him a home-town hero in Plainview, Riverside, Pensacola, Lamesa, Yuma and Amarillo, in small towns throughout the south and southwest in days before shopping malls and multiplex theaters, days when the only game in town was the local ball team.
In 10 years in the minors, 1948 to 1975, Kennedy had a .342 batting average. He hit 228 home runs and stole 122 bases. No one in the major leagues has hit .400 wince Ted Williams in 1941. Kennedy hit .410 at Riverside in the Sunset League in 1949 and .410 at Plainview in 1953.
Yet, Kennedy never played an inning in the major leagues. In fact, he never played an inning in Triple-A.
"I had a couple chances to go up, but what was the point?" he says. "I would have made the major league minimum salary, $5,000. Shoot, I was making more than that in the minors. How? Well, back then, if a team wanted to keep you -- and believe me they wanted to keep me because I put fans in the stands -- they could find a way to do it. I'd be listed on the payroll as a groundskeeper or bus driver or something like that, which got me some dough, in addition to my player's contract.
"Another thing to know: If you went out and had a great game, or hit a game-winning home run or something, the fans would give you money. One time, I hit a game-winning home run and the fans stuffed dollar bills in the backstop screen for me and, by the time I had collected 'em all, I had over 200 bucks. That stuff happened all the time.
"Plus which, in the little towns where I played, the people always wanted to buy me dinner, buy me drinks. I made out real well right where I was at."
"Another thing that tees me off: People say Plainview was a small ballpark and the air was thin and the ball carried forther and all that stuff. Oka, maybe it was. So why didn't 10 other guys, or 20 other guys, hit 60 home runs there?. I wasn't the only player who ever played in that ballpark, for cripes sake. But I was the only one to hit 60 home runs. So you figure it out."
To prove his point, Kennedy loaned me a book. It's calle "Minor League Baseball Stars" and was published by the Society for American Baseball Research in 1978. It's out of print, which is a shame, because it makes for fascinating reading.
Virtually every major league record has been bettered at some point, by someone in the minors. Maris' 61 home runs? Heck, Joe Bauman hit 72, in only 138 games, for Roswell, N.M., in the Longhorn League in 1954. Bauman, at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, was the next-best thing to Frank Howard, or Frank Thomas. But, by 1954, he was already 32 years old.
"Hey, I played against Joe, and he was one of the greatest hittes I've ever seen," said Kennedy. "But he was an older guy, and he owned a couple gas stations there in Roswell, so he was happy to stay right where he was."
Turning the paes of "Minor League Baseball Stars" at random is an absolute joy, like discovering your boyhood baseball cards in the attic. Here's Harry Chozen, a native of Pasadena. Chozen played briefly in the majors, but had a long minor league career as a catcher. And he's in the book. it seems that in 1945, while playing for Mobile in the outhern Association, Chozen hit in 49 straight games. That year, he struck out only three times in 88 games. Billy Ahley, are you listening?
Arnold "Jigger" Statz played center field for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League for 18 years. He first played for the Angels in 1920, then spent several years in the majors.Statz returned to L.A. to say in 1929 and played through the 1942 season, when he was 44 years old. To this day, many old-time players regard him as the greatest defensive center fielder they ever saw. In 24 seasons in organized baseball, Statz played in more than 3,500 games and had more than 4,000 hits.
"I saw Statz play when I was a kid," said Kennedy. "He was great. Heck, every kid in Southern California wanted a Jigger Statz model gloveor bat. He was a legend out here. So why would he want to go back to the majors?"
The glory time of the minor leagues ended by 1958, with the major leagues' expansion westward and the demise of the independently owned minor league teams.
Kennedy's final year in pro ball was also 1957, and it was the only year he actually had a major league contract.
"That year, i was property of the Cincinnati Reds," Kennedy said. "They talked about bringing me up and using me as a righ-handed pinch-hitter, but I wasn't interested. I wanted toplay, and play every day.
"I was a king in the minor leagues. Why go up the majors and be just a spear-carrier?"
In minors, less often can be more
I believe it was former Governor Jerry Brown who coined the phrase, "Less is more." Then again, maybe it was Linda Ronstadt.
Be that as it may, the motion that less is more is handy for this column. For this column is about minor league baseball. Modern minor league baseball isn't worth a column, but the minor league baseball of 50 years ago, well, now you're talking.
So I went to one of the world's great talkers, Covina's Frosty Kennedy, to get the skinny. Kennedy, 71, is a Hall of Famer.
There is a display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y. , dedicated to those who have hit 60 or more home runs in a season. It's been done by 11 men in the history of organized baseball, and Kennedy is one. Babe Ruth and Roger Maris, you know. The other nine, you should.
Kennedy hit his 60 home runs for Plainview, Texas, in the Southwestern League in 1956. The Southwestern League was a Class B league in the old minor league classification system, which ran from AAA down to D.
Now, before you freeze out Frosty with the thought that his accomplishment is merely a popsicle in the chocolate mousse of life, remember that less is more. And listen to the man.
"people knocking the minor leagues. I hear that stuff all the time," said Kennedy. "I even hear it from ex-players. Pete Rose told me that once. I told him, okay, so how many times did you hit 60 home runs in a season?'
"Believe me, I had a much more difficult time hitting my 60 than Ruth or mares. A shorter season, rotten lights at rotten little ballparks, rotten pitchers who couldn't or wouldn't throw me a pitch to hit, freezing weather in he spring, hat as hell in the summer.
"Don't let anyone ever tell you there was anything cheap about my getting 60 home runs. I was there, Charlie."
Kennedy, as you might guess, is not the shy, retiring sort. And that made him a home-town hero in Plainview, Riverside, Pensacola, Lamesa, Yuma and Amarillo, in small towns throughout the south and southwest in days before shopping malls and multiplex theaters, days when the only game in town was the local ball team.
In 10 years in the minors, 1948 to 1975, Kennedy had a .342 batting average. He hit 228 home runs and stole 122 bases. No one in the major leagues has hit .400 wince Ted Williams in 1941. Kennedy hit .410 at Riverside in the Sunset League in 1949 and .410 at Plainview in 1953.
Yet, Kennedy never played an inning in the major leagues. In fact, he never played an inning in Triple-A.
"I had a couple chances to go up, but what was the point?" he says. "I would have made the major league minimum salary, $5,000. Shoot, I was making more than that in the minors. How? Well, back then, if a team wanted to keep you -- and believe me they wanted to keep me because I put fans in the stands -- they could find a way to do it. I'd be listed on the payroll as a groundskeeper or bus driver or something like that, which got me some dough, in addition to my player's contract.
"Another thing to know: If you went out and had a great game, or hit a game-winning home run or something, the fans would give you money. One time, I hit a game-winning home run and the fans stuffed dollar bills in the backstop screen for me and, by the time I had collected 'em all, I had over 200 bucks. That stuff happened all the time.
"Plus which, in the little towns where I played, the people always wanted to buy me dinner, buy me drinks. I made out real well right where I was at."
"Another thing that tees me off: People say Plainview was a small ballpark and the air was thin and the ball carried forther and all that stuff. Oka, maybe it was. So why didn't 10 other guys, or 20 other guys, hit 60 home runs there?. I wasn't the only player who ever played in that ballpark, for cripes sake. But I was the only one to hit 60 home runs. So you figure it out."
To prove his point, Kennedy loaned me a book. It's calle "Minor League Baseball Stars" and was published by the Society for American Baseball Research in 1978. It's out of print, which is a shame, because it makes for fascinating reading.
Virtually every major league record has been bettered at some point, by someone in the minors. Maris' 61 home runs? Heck, Joe Bauman hit 72, in only 138 games, for Roswell, N.M., in the Longhorn League in 1954. Bauman, at 6-foot-5 and 235 pounds, was the next-best thing to Frank Howard, or Frank Thomas. But, by 1954, he was already 32 years old.
"Hey, I played against Joe, and he was one of the greatest hittes I've ever seen," said Kennedy. "But he was an older guy, and he owned a couple gas stations there in Roswell, so he was happy to stay right where he was."
Turning the paes of "Minor League Baseball Stars" at random is an absolute joy, like discovering your boyhood baseball cards in the attic. Here's Harry Chozen, a native of Pasadena. Chozen played briefly in the majors, but had a long minor league career as a catcher. And he's in the book. it seems that in 1945, while playing for Mobile in the outhern Association, Chozen hit in 49 straight games. That year, he struck out only three times in 88 games. Billy Ahley, are you listening?
Arnold "Jigger" Statz played center field for the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League for 18 years. He first played for the Angels in 1920, then spent several years in the majors.Statz returned to L.A. to say in 1929 and played through the 1942 season, when he was 44 years old. To this day, many old-time players regard him as the greatest defensive center fielder they ever saw. In 24 seasons in organized baseball, Statz played in more than 3,500 games and had more than 4,000 hits.
"I saw Statz play when I was a kid," said Kennedy. "He was great. Heck, every kid in Southern California wanted a Jigger Statz model gloveor bat. He was a legend out here. So why would he want to go back to the majors?"
The glory time of the minor leagues ended by 1958, with the major leagues' expansion westward and the demise of the independently owned minor league teams.
Kennedy's final year in pro ball was also 1957, and it was the only year he actually had a major league contract.
"That year, i was property of the Cincinnati Reds," Kennedy said. "They talked about bringing me up and using me as a righ-handed pinch-hitter, but I wasn't interested. I wanted toplay, and play every day.
"I was a king in the minor leagues. Why go up the majors and be just a spear-carrier?"
Monday, May 09, 2005
Frosty Facts
This past spring we took a tour of the West Texas-New Mexico League, which was possibly the best hitters' league of all time. There were a couple of regular hitters who spent time in both leagues. I'll bet you have no trouble figuring out which of the following seasons were in the FIL, and which were in the WTNML:
Year --G---- AB---- R---- H---HR-- RBI-- BB-- SO- SB-BA
1951 --129-- 482--- 60-- 148-- 7--- 63---- 35-- 52-- 7- .307
1952 --134-- 548-- 120-- 186-25-- 128--- 36--- 33-- 2- .339
1953 --142-- 549-- 156-- 225- 38- 169--- 98--- 31-- 2- .410
1954 --112-- 435-- 113-- 162--35- 120--- 43--- 48-- 5- .372
The 1953 line belongs to Frosty.
Kennedy went on to have a 60-homer, 184-RBI season for Plainview, Texas of the Southwest League in 1956.
Year --G---- AB---- R---- H---HR-- RBI-- BB-- SO- SB-BA
1951 --129-- 482--- 60-- 148-- 7--- 63---- 35-- 52-- 7- .307
1952 --134-- 548-- 120-- 186-25-- 128--- 36--- 33-- 2- .339
1953 --142-- 549-- 156-- 225- 38- 169--- 98--- 31-- 2- .410
1954 --112-- 435-- 113-- 162--35- 120--- 43--- 48-- 5- .372
The 1953 line belongs to Frosty.
Kennedy went on to have a 60-homer, 184-RBI season for Plainview, Texas of the Southwest League in 1956.
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
MBL IS NOT A TRUE INDICATOR OF A PLAYERS GREATNESS.
Many players of Organized Baseball never played a single game in the MLB but were better than most who did. Why? For most of the last century major league clubs were concentratred primarily in the Northeast and Middle West. Having no desire to leave the sunshine and home surrondings of California and the Southern States to play in the East. Expansion of the Majors to those areas did not come until 1957 in California and 1962 in Texas. Even today, much of the US is without a MBL team, say nothing of Canada, the Caribbean, and Mexico. When MLB did come west, where do you think the players that filled those rosters came from, the Minor Leagues.
Wednesday, April 20, 2005
TEAM AND LEAGUE OF CLUB MEMBERS
HRs--PLAYER------YEAR---TEAM---------LEAGUE
73)BARRY BONDS............2001........SAN FRANCISCO(NATIONAL)
72)JOE BAUMAN..............1952.........ROSWELL(LONGHORN)
70)MARK MCGUIRE........1998.........ST. LOUIS(NATIONAL)
69)JOE HAUSER................1933.........MINNEAPOLIS(AMERICAN ASSOC.)
69)BOB CRUES..................1948.........AMARILLO(W. TEXAS- NEW MEX.)
66)DICK STUART.............1956........LINCOLN(WESTERN)
66*)SAMMY SOSA..............1998........CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
65)MARK MCGUIRE........1999........ST. LOUIS(NATIONAL)
64*)SAMMY SOSA.............2001.......CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
64)BOB LENNON.............1954........NASHVILLE(SOUTHERN ASSOC.)
63*)SAMMY SOSA.............1999.........CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
63)JOE HAUSER...............1930.........BALTIMORE(INTERNATIONAL)
62)MOOSE CLABOUGH..1926........TYLER(EAST TEXAS)
62)KEN GUETTIER.........1956.........SHREVEPORT(TEXAS)
61)ROGER MARIS...........1961..........NEW YORK(AMERICAN)
60)FORREST KENNED....1956.........PLAINVIEW(SOUTHWESTERN)
60)TONY LAZZERI..........1925.........SALT LAKE CITY(PACIFIC COAST)
60)BABE RUTH.................1927.........NEW YORK(AMERICAN)
*Players who hit 60 homers and did not win the home run title.
only player to hit 60 home runs and not win title was Sammy Sosa and
he did it 3 times, talk about bad luck.
73)BARRY BONDS............2001........SAN FRANCISCO(NATIONAL)
72)JOE BAUMAN..............1952.........ROSWELL(LONGHORN)
70)MARK MCGUIRE........1998.........ST. LOUIS(NATIONAL)
69)JOE HAUSER................1933.........MINNEAPOLIS(AMERICAN ASSOC.)
69)BOB CRUES..................1948.........AMARILLO(W. TEXAS- NEW MEX.)
66)DICK STUART.............1956........LINCOLN(WESTERN)
66*)SAMMY SOSA..............1998........CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
65)MARK MCGUIRE........1999........ST. LOUIS(NATIONAL)
64*)SAMMY SOSA.............2001.......CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
64)BOB LENNON.............1954........NASHVILLE(SOUTHERN ASSOC.)
63*)SAMMY SOSA.............1999.........CHICAGO(NATIONAL)
63)JOE HAUSER...............1930.........BALTIMORE(INTERNATIONAL)
62)MOOSE CLABOUGH..1926........TYLER(EAST TEXAS)
62)KEN GUETTIER.........1956.........SHREVEPORT(TEXAS)
61)ROGER MARIS...........1961..........NEW YORK(AMERICAN)
60)FORREST KENNED....1956.........PLAINVIEW(SOUTHWESTERN)
60)TONY LAZZERI..........1925.........SALT LAKE CITY(PACIFIC COAST)
60)BABE RUTH.................1927.........NEW YORK(AMERICAN)
*Players who hit 60 homers and did not win the home run title.
only player to hit 60 home runs and not win title was Sammy Sosa and
he did it 3 times, talk about bad luck.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
PLAYERS WHO JUST MISSED MAKING THE CLUB.
YEAR---PLAYER-------------------HR
1962 ----RAMIRO CABALLERO----59
1932----JIMMIE FOXX-------------58
1938----HANK GREENBURG-------58
1939----TONY ROBELLO-----------58
1947----BUCK FRIERSON-----------58
1947----D.C. "PUD' MILLER---------57
1947----BILL SERENA--------------57
1930----HACK WILSON------------56
1935----GENE LILLIARD-----------56
1954----FRANK GRAVINO---------56
1957----STEVE BILKO--------------56
11 other players hit 55 HRs
1962 ----RAMIRO CABALLERO----59
1932----JIMMIE FOXX-------------58
1938----HANK GREENBURG-------58
1939----TONY ROBELLO-----------58
1947----BUCK FRIERSON-----------58
1947----D.C. "PUD' MILLER---------57
1947----BILL SERENA--------------57
1930----HACK WILSON------------56
1935----GENE LILLIARD-----------56
1954----FRANK GRAVINO---------56
1957----STEVE BILKO--------------56
11 other players hit 55 HRs
YEAR HOME RUN RECORD WAS SET.
YEAR PLAYER RECORD
1920 BABE RUTH 54
1921 BABE RUTH 59
1925 TONY LAZZERI 60
1926 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
1930 JOE HAUSER 63
1933 JOE HAUSER 69
1948 BOB CRUES 69(TIED)
1954 JOE BAUMAN 72
2001 BARRY BONDS 73
ORGANIZED BASEBALL H.R. RECORD, YEAR SET.
1920 BABE RUTH 54
1921 BABE RUTH 59
1925 TONY LAZZERI 60
1926 MOOSE CLABAUGH 62
1930 JOE HAUSER 63
1933 JOE HAUSER 69
1948 BOB CRUES 69(TIED)
1954 JOE BAUMAN 72
2001 BARRY BONDS 73
ORGANIZED BASEBALL H.R. RECORD, YEAR SET.
14 players to have hit 60 home runs in one season.
THE 60 HOMERS CLUB
BARRY BONDS * -- MARKE MCGUIRE * -- JOE HAUSER
JOE BAUMAN -- BOB CRUES -- DICK STUART
SAMMY SOSA * --BOB LENNON -- MOOSE CLABAUGH
KEN GUETTIER -- ROGER MARIS -- FORREST (FROSTY) KENNEDY
TONY LAZZERI -- BABE RUTH
* Not in Hall of Fame, yet!
In all of Organized baseball these are the only 14 players that have hit 60 or more home runs in one season (140 games or more). 11 of these players are in the Hall of Fame. The other three may or maynot be in the Hall of Fame due to the scandal that surounds the use of stariods in getting their records.
BARRY BONDS * -- MARKE MCGUIRE * -- JOE HAUSER
JOE BAUMAN -- BOB CRUES -- DICK STUART
SAMMY SOSA * --BOB LENNON -- MOOSE CLABAUGH
KEN GUETTIER -- ROGER MARIS -- FORREST (FROSTY) KENNEDY
TONY LAZZERI -- BABE RUTH
* Not in Hall of Fame, yet!
In all of Organized baseball these are the only 14 players that have hit 60 or more home runs in one season (140 games or more). 11 of these players are in the Hall of Fame. The other three may or maynot be in the Hall of Fame due to the scandal that surounds the use of stariods in getting their records.
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