Tag: Entertainment

Player Spotlight: John “Honest Eddie” Murphy

In an era where old fashioned, blue collared, hardnosed ballplayers were virtually everywhere, one gentleman stands in distinction. He is John “Honest Eddie” Murphy (1891-1969), a veteran of 11 Major League seasons with the Philadelphia Athletics, Chicago White Sox, and Pittsburgh Pirates.

Getting his major league start in late 1912, Murphy would be a part of two of the best clubs in the Deadball Era: Connie Mack’s powerhouse Athletics, and the White Sox, where the nickname “Honest Eddie” was crowned him in the aftermath of the infamous Black Sox scandal of 1919.

Murphy made three World Series appearances in his career. In 1913 as the leadoff man on Mack’s A’s, and again in 1914, which would incidentally be his last season as an every day player. During those two years, Murphy would hit solidly (.295 and .274 respectively,) and score over 100 runs each, putting him among the league leaders. Following the disastrous 1914 World Series in which the A’s were swept by the notorious “Miracle Braves” from Boston, Connie Mack, in disgust, dismantled his pennant-winning club, which landed Murphy in Chicago with the White Sox. Although reunited there with his former A’s teammate and future Hall of Famer Eddie Collins, Murphy would see his playing time diminish rapidly over the next several years, as he struggled to see much action behind outfield thumpers Shoeless Joe Jackson, Happy Felsch, and the right field platoon of Nemo Liebold and John “Shano” Collins. During the infamous 1919 season, Murphy only appeared in 30 games, but hit .486 and was recognized and praised thereafter as one of the “Clean Sox.” Many years later, Murphy said of the scandal, “We might have started the dynasty that was the Yankees’ good fortune, but our best players…sold their honour and souls to the gamblers and a pennant purgutory came upon the White Sox.” (Pomrenke, 156.)

To his credit, Murphy embraced his role as a pinch hitter with the Sox from 1915-1921, hitting over .300 in four of those six years despite an inconsistent number of plate appearances and battling a couple injuries. Retiring from pro ball after 1921 before coming back for a handful of appearances with the Pirates in 1926, Murphy would tally up a strong .287 lifetime batting average and an OBP of .374. By all accounts, Murphy was a scrappy, tough ballplayer who never got the playing time he likely deserved. He was a team guy who flourished in the roles he was given throughout his career, although it’s hard not to wonder what could have been for this man if he was given the chance to play every day after 1914…

Farewell Honest Eddie. Baseball hasn’t forgotten you.

Source(s): Scandal On the South Side: The 1919 Chicago White Sox, Jacob Pomrenke (editor) 2015, a SABR publication

Random Baseball Fact

Here’s a baseball factoid for you that’s in a word, crazy:

If a pitcher threw every inning of all 162 games in a season, for four straight seasons, he’d still have 101 fewer career complete games than Cy Young.

They don’t make ’em like they used to, folks.

 

 

 

Is This Heaven?

“There are only two seasons: Winter and baseball.”

-Bill Veeck

Embark with me on a quick journey to paradise…

Imagine winter’s steely cold veil being rolled back to reveal clear skies of the prettiest electric blue on a warm spring afternoon, with perfectly manicured grass toting gorgeus shades of emerald and shamrock, while the strong and indisputable scents of popcorn, hot dogs, fresh roasted peanuts and ice cold beer tantalize your senses. Classic, peppy organ music and a sometimes overly excited announcer boom from seemingly out of nowhere to direct and dictate the action you’re witnessing. You sit back and become enveloped in a tranquil, yet excited relaxation as you cheer on your heroes in the most graceful chess match ever played, and it becomes infinitely clear why it’s called our national pastime.

That paradise is real.

And in just a few short days, we will see it.

The 2016 baseball season is about to begin.

Old Hoss Tells Us We Are #1

Rad was more than a tremendous pitcher. He was a pioneer. Here is a quick tip of the cap to, and acceptance of, the bird flipped our way by the legendary gent who’s namesake was the inspiration for this blog. Here is the man in all his glory, Old Hoss Radbourn in a Boston team photo on Opening Day, 1886, giving the finger to the cameraman. This is the first known photo to showcase the gesture. Way to go ‘Ol Hoss!

Old Hoss Radbourn, back row, far left, flipping the bird. The first known photo to show the gesture.

Shoeless Joe vs. Field of Dreams

I’ve long maintained that Field of Dreams is not a baseball movie.

It’s really not. It is at it’s core, a story about an Iowa farmer named Ray Kinsella who is long racked by guilt wishing to reconcile his relationship with his deceased father, John, by way of their one mutual love, baseball, as the backdrop. The wonderful novel from which the film is based – Shoeless Joe by W.P. Kinsella, tells a noticeably richer story and like most book to film adaptations, the written version is different than the visual. The changes from book to film, due largely for pacing & budget’s sake, spin a wider and thicker web with many signficant differences. At the risk of sounding overly theoretical and metaphysical, let’s examine the main changes between the novel and film. Which is better – the book or the movie, you ask? Well, that’s entirely up to you. However, if you have not read the book, stop reading now if you wish to avoid spoilers…

Several important characters were in the book but not the film. Most crucially:

Eddie Scissons: An oldtimer who originally owned Ray’s farm. He also claims some fame as the oldest living Chicago Cub (or is he?)

Richard Kinsella: Ray’s identical twin brother. He has a girlfriend named Gypsy and whether by design or by intent, he cannot see the field or the players…

Abner Bluestein: Real estate business partner of Ray’s skeptical brother-in-law Mark.

JD Salinger: The book’s version of Terrence Mann. In real life Salinger threatened to sue if his personage was used in the film, so the fictional character of Mann, brilliantly played by James Earl Jones, was created.

Other important book to film differences:

  • In the book, “the voice” that Ray heard was not a whisper. It was in the form of an old-style PA announcer. (Think Tex Rickards and you’ll get the idea.) This type of voice really puts a spooky charge into the creation of Ray’s leap of faith endeavor.
  • Ray only built one part of the field at a time, not the whole thing like in the movie.
  • The players didn’t disappear into the cornfield. Rather they exited the ballpark through a door in the left field wall. This was historically (at least partially) accurrate as many ballparks in the deadball era didn’t have tunnels through the dugout to the clubhouse. Most parks back then had their clubhouse entrances somewhere in the outfield, and some didn’t even have visitors clubhouses at all.
  • One of the most common questions among fans of the movie is “where do the players go when they disappear?” Well, this question was directly addressed in the book. When Ray asked the players what becomes of them when they leave the field, Sox first baseman Chick Gandil answers “we sleep.” “And wait”, says Happy Felsch. “And dream…oh, how we dream,” adds Shoeless Joe Jackson. Taken literally, this would attest to what Jackson and others alluded to in the film, in that there IS an afterlife and the players are fully conscious of it. Taken figuratively, one can assume the players simply don’t know where they came from, how, or why they are there, which Jackson also hinted at in the film. This whole scene is open for endless debate. (My personal theory is that the Black Sox were in a sort of purgatory, while honest, noble players like Ray’s father, were in heaven—yet all former players got to enjoy their Lazarus-like resurrection to this Edenic field regardless of which afterlife they came from.)
  • When the field is fully built, a semi-transparent mirage of an entire stadium completes the effect, with ghostly players appearing along with the “real” players that first came to Ray’s field, which only Ray and his family can see or talk to. As such, they got to watch entire games and not just practices as were shown for much of the film.

Thus, while not surprising that the novel lays out more detail and enriches the storyline, there is no real wrong answer as to which is better. Both are excellent. Yet the novel, in several ways, delves a bit deeper into the actual baseball angle, with several subtle references and offering tidbits of folklore about the game. While many of these are not present in the film, studying the book gives one that “oh! NOW that makes sense!” feeling when watching the movie.

My advice: Enjoy both the book and film for the full experience of this magical story.

…and go have a catch with someone.

 

 

 

Those Little Moments

“…call it fate, call it luck, call it karma…” says Bill Murray’s Peter Venkman in the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters.

On July 25th, 2015, myself and two fellow diehard Cubs fan friends made the drive from our suburban town of Joliet to Wrigley Field for the Cubs/Phillies game. We didn’t anticipate anything special that day, just a few friends attending a ballgame like we’d all done so many times before. Little did we know that we would witness history.

It was a steamy summer Saturday and we arrived, customarily, well ahead of the 3pm first pitch to visit a few local establishments and take in the electric gameday atmosphere of Wrigleyville. On the way into the ballpark, I casually said to my friend Bill “you know what? I’m gonna do something today I haven’t done since I was about 10 years old.”

“Keep score?” Bill asked, reading my mind.

“Keep score.” I replied.

“Me too, that’s a great idea actually” he says, and we both proceeded to buy scorecards before entering the friendly confines.

We then witnessed Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels hurl a no-hitter against our beloved Cubs, cruising to a 5-0 win. It was about the only time I remember being satisfied with a loss, what with seeing a rare piece of baseball history in person. Now of course, deciding to keep score at the last second had nothing to do with the gem Hamels would toss, but it sure makes for an interesting coincidence. Why we both decided to keep a scorecard on that particular day, not for countless games prior, and not since, is worthy of a head scratch or two.

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Just another slice of the magic of baseball.

Top 10 Nintendo Baseball Games

Figured I’d get the ball rolling on this blog with an updated version of an old post on my other site. Without furtuer adieu: The 10 greatest baseball games to ever grace the old NES:

10. Baseball 

One of the launch titles for the NES in 1985, this game couldn’t be simpler. A feature-less game with a handful of nondescript teams to choose from and no rosters or seasons, but a pretty fun title overall. It hasn’t quite stood the test of time like the others, but this is still a good nostalgic trip.

9. Tecmo Baseball

Everyone knows Tecmo is famous for Tecmo Bowl and Tecmo Super Bowl, (and to some extent,Tecmo World Wrestling), but they made a pretty decent baseball game too. Graphics were above average, aside from the clown shoes the players seemed to wear. The music was a bit annoying but the gameplay itself was decent. This is a fair entry.

8. Major League Baseball

The first NES game to be licensed by MLB and thus feature every team from 1987 was nice to have. Though only jersey numbers, not player names, were present, it could be a little confusing without having an actual roster handy determining who was who. Gameplay wasn’t the greatest, but it was more than serviceable and surely a worthy entry to this list.

7. Little League Baseball

SNK delivers a solid title here. As a little leaguer myself at the time of release, this was a neat game, especially with the featured team from Illinois, my home state. As a kid, it was a pleasant thought to pretend that I was “in” the game. Nothing too fancy here, just a basic, enjoyable game.

6. Baseball Simulator 1,000

Now this game is just a riot. Lots of features, such as season mode, the ability to create players/teams, and of course, the superpowers. Can you imagine a game where the pitcher throws 190mph fastballs? Where the ball explodes when the fielder catches it? What about if the hitter winds up Tazmanian Devil-style before swinging to generate a ton of extra power? Yep, you can do all that and more here. One of the stadiums is even in outer space. Sounds ridiculous, but that was the point of this gem. And it’s a lot of fun to play.

5. Bases Loaded

Good stuff here from Jaleco. Featuring 12 fictional teams & players (we used to pretend they were minor league clubs) this was the first game to have the TV-style viewpoint and the ability to elevate your swing. Another fun twist was that one player on each team could charge the mound and start a brawl when hit by a pitch. Plus, gracing our presence in this game is a character by the name of Paste, arguably the greatest 8-bit pixelated baseball player, ever. A solid game overall.

4. RBI Baseball 3

Tengen comes in at #4 with the first of 3 entries. Following where RBI 2 left off, this game features not only every team and player from the 1990 season, but also every division winner from 1983-1989 for a nice touch. Graphics & gameplay were as smooth as ever. If there was a way to make RBI 2 better, this was it.

3. Baseball Stars

Pure awesomeness here. One of the first NES baseball games with data backup, which allowed you to create entire teams, hire and fire players, and even customize leagues. Hours upon hours were spent winning games and earning money to power up your roster, as everyone wanted to beat the feared American Dreams, a team made up of real-life legends of baseball. (Names were non-definitive as there was no player license for the game.) Gameplay was smooth too, and your outfielders could even climb the fence (and fall over it) to rob home runs. This game kicks ass.

2. RBI Baseball 2

With their second entry in this list, Tengen delivers RBI 2, one of the best baseball sequels ever made. As if having every MLB team and player from ’89 wasn’t enough, the great improvement in graphics, gameplay (you can now jump and dive with your defenders), and even measuring home run distances sure round things off. Oh, and this was also the first game to feature instant replay, which at the time was an amazing thing to behold in a video game.

1. RBI Baseball

It should be no surprise this classic, again from Tengen, comes in at #1. A small & simple game featuring the playoff teams from 1986 plus the 1987 All-Star teams, this one delivers arcade-style fun (the arcade version of this game was tremendous), silly graphics and music, and an overall blast of a game to play. A true classic that is just as fun now as it was nearly 30 years ago.

Honorable Mentions: Legends of the Diamond, Baseball Stars 2, Bases Loaded 2, Bad News Baseball.