Picture of the Day: 42

Posted on April 15, 2013 by danglickman

(This picture was taken by PVSBond, used under a creative commons license)

Picture of the Day: Oscar Stanage

Posted on April 14, 2013 by danglickman

Today’s random find from the Library of Congress Flickr Feed is of Oscar Stanage, who played parts of 14 years in the big leagues, mainly with Detroit.

Picture of the day: Everett Scott (also, a look at some of the weird connections between him, Wally Pipp, and Lou Gehrig)

Posted on April 13, 2013 by danglickman

Cal Ripken broke Lou Gehrig‘s record…. but who had the record before Lou Gehrig?

Well, the answer is this man, Everett Scott. He played in 1,307 straight games from June 20, 1916 to May 6, 1925. It remains the third longest streak in history.

Scott, a shortstop like Ripken, played at various times the Red Sox, Yankees, Senators, Reds and White Sox. When his streak ended on May 6, 1925, he was replaced at short by a man named Pee Wee Wanniger.

A few weeks later, on June 1, Wanniger was pinch-hit for by Lou Gehrig, who had only seen marginal time as a pinch-hitter and a defensive replacement before then, as 1B Wally Pipp had, since Scott’s streak ended, now had the longest active consecutive game streak going. The day after that, June 2, Wally Pipp had a headache. Lou Gehrig started in his place, and went 3-5 with a double in a 8-5 win over Washington.

Gehrig, as I mentioned before, had seen some marginal time before. In fact, his debut had come during his age 19 year in 1923, when, on June 15, he came in as a defensive replacement for Wally Pipp. As he looked across the diamond, standing at short, he would have seen… Everett Scott.

Here’s a picture of Scott from the Library of Congress:

Picture of the day: The Season Begins Here

Posted on March 31, 2013 by danglickman

Tonight, the first game of the season will take place here, at Minute Maid Park in Houston:

This picture, by Barclay C. Nix (as the picture says), is used under a Creative Commons License.

Picture of the day: West Point, 1914

Posted on March 30, 2013 by danglickman

Today, the New York Yankees are playing a game in West Point against the Military Academy team. Almost 100 years ago, Army’s baseball team looked like this (from the Library of Congress Flickr Feed). Check it out and then go below the photo for some info on some of the players in this picture.

In this photo, by the way, are some notables:

The the far left (our left) of the second row, crouching, is Frank Milburn, who would later be a general during WWII and Korea.

Two over from Milburn, third from the left, is Omar Bradley, probably the most notable on the team. Bradley was one of the top Allied generals of WWII in Europe, and second only to Eisenhower in the American chain of command there. Later, as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Bradley was elevated to a 5-star General, the last in American history.

In the very front, looking down, could be Robert Neyland, who would serve in France during WWI and an aide for West Point superintendant Douglas MacArthur but would later become a 4-time National Champion football coach at Tennessee.

Although I’m not sure where he is, Paul A. Hodgson- Dwight Eisenhower’s college roommate and a lifelong friend of his- was also on the team. Eisenhower wasn’t, and considered his failure at making the team one of his biggest disappointments in life.

Picture of the day: Johan in happier days

Posted on March 29, 2013 by danglickman

Johan Santana will almost certainly be placed on the DL and is expected to miss the entirety of the 2013 season after a re-tear in the anterior capsule of his left shoulder was detected in an MRI. Surgery is a true possibility, and the last time he had such surgery (in 2010), he was not able to return to MLB pitching until 2012. Now 34, it is quite possible he has thrown his final pitch in the big leagues.

So now, let us remember back during Johan Santana’s glory days with the Minnesota Twins by looking at this picture: