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A Winter Baseball Story

Three BaggerThree Bagger1,000+ posts
I recently had a great experience while visiting my son during his college team's Fall World Series that I touched on a little bit in the College Fall BB thread. His DII has a great BB tradition and it all began in 1960 when a former ML star named Dave "Boo" Ferriss got the program really rolling and then proceeded to coach for several decades there.
Boo Ferriss might not be known to the casual fan but in the mid 1940's he was on top of the BB world winning 21 games as a Red Sox rookie in 1945 and following up with 25 more wins as a 24 year old, along with a shutout in the 1946 World Series of the Stan Musial led Cardinals. In 1947, he hurt his arm and for all practical purposes his career was over, although he hung on until early 1950.
Boo Ferriss is now 88 years old but still comes to almost every practice and every home game since he lives just off the college campus. So having read about his exploits and history, I approached him, just telling him my son was on the team and I wanted to say Hello. After telling him where I was from, he immediately knew who my son was as he was totally in touch with the team and still as sharp as a tack.
The whole point of my story though was what happened next. Being the BB history buff I am, I told him I had to ask him one question, " What was it like facing Joe Dimaggio?" Now think about it--how often do you get to meet a man who faced Joe DiMaggio in his prime and was at the same time a teammate of the young Ted Williams. He hooked up in pitching duels with Bob Feller, Allie Reynolds, Hal Newhouser and other stars of the era. One guy he faced several times, Mel Hardin had started pitching in 1928. I thought I had died and gone to heaven just to have the opportunity to talk to this man.
For about 20 minutes, he regaled me with tales of facing Hank Greenberg, " He hit 58 HRs one year you know," he told me in that deep southern drawl of his. Joe DiMaggio--"Joe didn't hit me all that well but there were a couple of other guys on those Yankee teams, King Kong Keller and Tommy Henrich, that wore me out!" By the way, I had to check when I got back home and sure enough in RetroSheet Joltin Joe hit .235 with no HRs against him while the other two guys did well. I did learn that "you couldn't throw Joe DiMaggio a changeup because with that wide stance he was never off balance" All this wasn't something I read, it was coming straight from someone who lived it.
Getting back to the point of my story is that at colleges across the nation, there are probably other Boo Ferriss's that are still alive and love to tell of the days we read about. All the ML players of the 20's are gone and most of the 30's. Guys who were young men in the 1940's like Boo are elderly and rarely found. Its such a pleasure to hear these men's tales and if you get the chance to talk to men like that at your son's school by all means approach these living "baseball time capsules", and most of them enjoy telling about the old days. You might learn things you'll never find in books.
The last thing he said was that he's been involved in baseball for 70 years but he still can see in his mind's eye that most perfect swing of Ted Williams as he hammered another line drive to right.
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S SwampboyHSBBWeb Administrator
quote:
Originally posted by Three Bagger:

Boo Ferriss might not be known to the casual fan but in the mid 1940's he was on top of the BB world winning 21 games as a Red Sox rookie in 1945 and following up with 25 more wins as a 24 year old, along with a shutout in the 1946 World Series of the Stan Musial led Cardinals.


Very cool story, Three Bagger. Thanks for sharing it.

For the record, this Cardinals fan (over whose desk hangs an autographed Musial jersey) will point out that although Ferriss shut out the "Stan Musial led Cardinals," Musial was his usual self that day with a triple, a walk, and a SB. Cards won game 7 on Enos Slaughter's "mad dash." Great stuff.
Coach_MayCoach_May10,000+ posts
Thanks for sharing that story its a great one. I remember when I was a young kid going to the old Durham Athletic Park to watch the Triangle Phillies play. This is the same park the Durham Bulls played in before they switched affiliation. I used to sit right behind home plate and not for the view. There were always several older men who had played in the old Carolina League back in the day. Many had played with and against some of the greats in the game. The stories they would tell were amazing to me. I saw very little of the games I was too busy listening to their stories which were simply awesome.

One night I went to my usual seat and I heard one of the men call out to the guys sitting behind him who was two seats to my left. "Hey Enos remember _______." Yes it was Enos Slaughter who lived in nearby Roxboro, NC. I spent three hours listening to Enos Slaughter and several other old timers talk baseball. During that game I got one of the bull pen catchers to give me an old ball and Enos signed it for me. It is a memory I will never forget.

Later on the Durham Bulls would return to the Old Durham Athletic Park "The DAP" as the folks call it. There was no better place to go watch a baseball game. It is now totally refurbished and they hold some showcase events there and the North Carolina Central Univ baseball team plays its home games there.

The new Park the Bulls plays in is very nice. But there is something special to me about those old minor league parks. And there was nothing better to me than sitting there and listen to these guys talk baseball. Great memories.
ClevelandDadClevelandDadHSBBWeb Administrator
Three Bagger and Coach May - simply great and fantastic stories!

Here in Cleveland we still have the living legend Bob Feller and the guy has simply never lost any of his great memory or his capacity to tell a great story. He loves to tell the story of how when they honored Babe Ruth at Yankee Stadium for his last public appearance, that Babe used Bob's bat as a crutch because he was so weak from cancer. Bob has the signed bat enshrined in his museam in Van Meter Iowa. I love the old timer stories. We must never forget.

The other great thing about Feller, DiMaggio, Williams and others is that they sacrificed their lives in the War effort for all of us and said that there are more important things than baseball.
Last edited by ClevelandDad
Three BaggerThree Bagger1,000+ posts
Coach May, that reminds me of when I was a young teenage outfielder an elderly lifelong Cardinals fan used to come to all our games and whenever I did something good on the field, he would always say," You look just like Enos Slaughter out there!" All the other guys on my team would go" Enos Who?" But I knew he was praising me for being a hustling player when he said that.

CD, that to me is one of the truly classic baseball photos of all time. Imagine how great Bob Feller felt to let the Babe use his bat.

Bob, Thank you very much.
fillsfanfillsfan1,000+ posts
3bagger and Coach May those are very cool stories.

I had a similar experience visiting my son at college earlier this fall. I got down there a few hours early due to a business appointment. I got there just as Friday practice was starting. As I was sitting watching practice from outside the fence in left field, an older gentleman sat down not to far from me. Assuming it was a parent or grandparent of a player I introduced myself. It turns out that he was the retired, long time (40 years) former coach of the team.

I spent 3 hours talking to him about the program, recruiting, and everything baseball. He told me how they built the field using dynamite, themselves, to clear rocks. His recruiting philosophy for a JUCO, and many other stories about the program. What a great way to spend a Friday afternoon. As they started BP he got up and said lets go behind the plate we can see better back there. Although I don't like getting that close to my son's baseball world, who was I to refuse this school icon. Smile

It was obvious by the fact that he was there, and the things he said, that this team is still one of his loves and passions.

The next day, at the game, he came into the stands sat next to me and introduced me to his friend and a former player. Talk about southern hospitality!

Seeing my son for the first time in a month and talking to the coach for hours made for one great weekend. Although my son did give me the bums rush my second night there to go hang out with his new friends.
observer44observer441,000+ posts
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There are some great tales out there...You'll like this one...

A few years ago had the opportunity to meet and talk about baseball to a man who both...struck out Babe Ruth...and homered off Satchell Page...and lived the "Doc Graham what if?" life. (made the 1927 roster of the John McGraw led New York Giants...but got hurt preseason and never played a major league game)...did enough on the Diamond in the pacific Northwest that at age 91 was honored by the Seattle Mariners at the opening of Safeco Field.

Details...

Known to all his friends and family as "Papa Lou," Louis Joseph Almada, Papa Lou was born on September 7, 1907. Son of a Mexican Diplomat, He was a terrific pitcher and power hitter in High School, His statistics in both baseball and football were so impressive that he was voted the Outstanding High School Athlete in the State of California for 1927. In a memorable exhibition staged at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles in 1927, Louie Almada struck out Babe Ruth and it became the rage of the Los Angeles newspapers. Turning down the football scholarships, he signed a $5,000 contract to play baseball for the New York Giants, then managed by the legendary John McGraw, a team which included future Hall of Famers, Mel Ott, Rogers Hornsby, Burleigh Grimes, Bill Terry, Freddie Lindstrom, and Ed Roush. In Spring Training camp at Sarasota, Florida in 1927, he made the major league roster and was labeled "The Caballero from California." Slated to be the first major league player born in Mexico, Lou got hurt as the team barnstormed up the eastern seaboard, and wound up never playing in a game at the Polo Grounds.

Mr. Almada played 11 years in the Pacific Coast league. In the California Winter league in 1931 he crossed paths Satchell Page and managed to homer off Page. Alamada's picture at bat forever adorns the cover of that league's almanac of all the players to have played in the PCL since its founding in 1903. At age 98, he may have been the oldest living PCL player. In 1999, the Seattle Mariners honored Mr. Almada at the opening of their $500 million new ballpark, Safeco Field. At a ceremony before the game, nine "legends" of Seattle baseball, each wearing their retro uniforms, were introduced to the capacity crowd and their faces shown on the Jumbotron in center field. The announcer told the story of Mr. Almada's three years playing for the Seattle Indians between 1929 and 1932: He normally was a .300 plus hitter, but a sportswriter noted that on Thursdays, in the post Depression era, when ladies were let in for half price, he hit over .400. Thus, the sportswriter dubbed him, "Ladies Day Louie," and that is how he was introduced at the Safeco opening ceremony, the oldest of Seattle's legendary players at 91 years of age.

Following the ceremony, a sportswriter asked the 91 year old Mariner honoree how he liked the new ballpark, and he was quoted in the Seattle newspapers as saying, "I think I could hit here, I'd just need someone to run for me."


Cool 44
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BW Bob Williams500+ posts
Three Bagger;
In 1994, when our American High School "All Stars"
played the National teams from Korea and Japan in Goodwill Series XV in Long Beach at Blair Field, I was "angry" at our players performance and our coach's inability to motivate our American players.
We had lost 3 games with one game to go.

Scott Boros the agent was at all the games focus on our Shortstop from Las Vegas. That night at the nearby hotel, I visited with Tommy LaSorda and Rod Dedeaux and mentioned my frustrations. Tommy and Rod said they would meet with the players before the game. The umpires later told me that through the dressing room wall, they could hear the speech.

"We taught those players *Japan] how to play the game and now they are "kicking" your butt".

You all go out their on the field and "kick their butt".

The players [5 future ML players] jumped up and charged onto the field and for 9 innings played a 1-1 game. Japan won with 2 outs in the 9th inning with a little "flare" type hit.

I was proud of our players and of Tommy and Rod.

Our 3,700 fans cheered this great game on September 3, 1994. A "True Story"

Bob
Last edited by Bob Williams
Three BaggerThree Bagger1,000+ posts
Hey everybody,

Wow, I really enjoying the follow up stories you guys are coming up with--exactly what I need when its past World Series time!

fillsfan, that's exactly the kind of experience I'm talking about. That man was a treasure trove of stories I bet!

Observer44, Next to studying the history of the ML's my favorite thing is studying the minor leagues when men actually had long careers especially during the 20's, 30's, 40's & 50's when at times there were as many as 50 LEAGUES in existence. I have so far found over a dozen MINOR LEAGUERS who had over 3000 hits in the minorsand dozens who had over 2000. Your story is now going to cause me to track down Louis Almada. Smile I know there was a long time Pacific Coast League guy named Mel Almada who also played in the Majors in the late 1930's. Wonder if they were kin?

Bob, with your backround in US and foreign amateur baseball, you're ONE of the guys I'm talking about loaded with stories and info I love to hear! Not insinuating anything about your age though! Smile

One more story about why its so important we learn these peoples stories before they leave us.

While I was a youngster into my teens there was a man named Lou Rochelli who was a lector at our church and while I heard he had had a cup of coffee with the Leo Durocher managed Brooklyn Dodgers of 1944, I was always too shy to approach him and ask him to tell me stories of those days. Later when reading Jackie Robinson's autobiography, " I Never Had It Made", early in the book he mentioned that on his first "white" minor league team, the Montreal Royals, one player had been especially helpful, even giving him a glove even though they both played second base. That player was Lou Rochelli, pretty much a career minor leaguer but part of the AA championship Montreal team with Jackie Robinson in his very earliest excursion into "white" baseball. So there was so much more I could have asked him about those historical days. But I still never approached him and sadly several years later he passed away.

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