tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post420008390188967147..comments2024-03-28T09:02:05.176-04:00Comments on Mack's Mets: 2-2-13 – Eric Niesen, Sandy Alderson, WAR, Carl Erskine,Mack Adehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09730548449011685243noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post-89465796311224681852013-02-04T00:36:18.205-05:002013-02-04T00:36:18.205-05:00Right answer. (I know you meant to type Shuba, but...Right answer. (I know you meant to type Shuba, but hit the D next to the S.)<br /><br />I did see Pistol Pete play a few times before he was traded to the Braves. Unfortunately, he was a shadow of his former self, since it was after he did battle with those outfield walls in Ebbets Field. They say, though, that he could have been one of the all time greats if he were a more cautious outfielder, but that just wasn't his game.Herb Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00167007160130775548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post-3607906271960980782013-02-03T16:06:09.066-05:002013-02-03T16:06:09.066-05:00>> Name the three Brooklyn Dodger outfielder...>> Name the three Brooklyn Dodger outfielders whose nicknames were types of guns. >><br /><br />I'm thinkin', you're thinkin':<br />"Pistol Pete" Reiser<br />"The Reading Rifle" (Carl Furillo), and<br />George "Shotgun" Dhuba.<br /><br />Unfortunately never saw Reiser play, what a story he was.Hobiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12583242267777911354noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post-67195252633509789292013-02-02T22:40:14.838-05:002013-02-02T22:40:14.838-05:00Talk of The Boys of Summer sure brings back memori...Talk of The Boys of Summer sure brings back memories. Mack, I attended my first MLB game in mid July of the year you were born. To my dispair, my Bums lost 7-5 as Stan the Man went 2 for 5. But the highlight of the game for me was a Jackie Robinson steal of home.<br /><br />Hobie, although my father was totally disinterested in baseball, he always broke out in peals of laughter when Red Barber announced the lineup, and came to your favorite player, "Billy Cox on third". In Yiddish it means "Billy shits on third base". So, my dad would always say he wanted to go to a game and watch this guy named Billy pull down his uniform pants, squat over third base, and drop a load. His idea of humor.<br /><br />My favorite player was No. 6, Skoonj, Carl Furillo. I loved to watch players try to take a base on Furillo, and see him gun them down. Or see him take a hard hit ball off that high right field fence and gun the runner down at second. Speaking of guns (in these days when guns are a hot topic) reminds me of a trivia question I like. Name the three Brooklyn Dodger outfielders whose nicknames were types of guns.<br /><br />I lived in East New York back then, and would always get to games early, taking the IRT from New Lotts Avenue to Franklin. It is amazong how many ball players took the subway to get to the park. I often walked the 6 blocks from the station to Ebbets Field with one of the ball players, more than once with Joe Black and Dan Bankhead. Once as I walked with a group of friends, I felt a massive hand on my shoulder, and it was Gil Hodges parting the way between my friend and me to get by us.<br /><br />Speaking of Hodges, I have a game used bat of Gil's in my closet. The Dodgers' bat boy in those days, Charlie diGiovanni, lived on my street, Atkins Avenue. At one of the games I attended, Gil cracked his bat on a foul ball. I ran down to the side of the dugout (the ushers were not as protective as they are now) and yelled to Charlie to give me the cracked bat, which he did. I had to fight off the attempts of several other kids to grab the bat from me, but I held on to it for dear life. When I got home, wouldn't you know, I glued the crack, hammered little brads into the handle to hold it together, and then taped the handle from the knob up about 12 inches, and then used the bat in schoolyard games. The bat is not much worse for the wear, showing only a few scuffs. A souvenier that didn't fare quite as well, though was a batting practice home run ball hit by Jackie. I got it autographed by Robinson, but foolish kid that I was, also used it in schoolyard games. It got scuffed so badly, you couldn't make out the name on the ball.<br /><br />One last tidbit I'd like to share, is that, while living in L.A. in the late 70's and early 80's, I coincidentally bumped into Don Newcombe on 3 separate occasions. One of those times, in the Las Vegas airport, I was able to have a fairly long conversation with Newk. He is a very interesting man and a genuinely fine person,Herb Ghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00167007160130775548noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-592615130369356022.post-48492722295781596462013-02-02T08:48:49.430-05:002013-02-02T08:48:49.430-05:00Evidently there were Saturday morning workouts at ...Evidently there were Saturday morning workouts at Ebbets in the ‘40’s. I don’t know if they were open to the public, or my dad knew or bribed someone, but on numerous occasions I was there after a morning at the Prospect Park Zoo. (We lived in the Lefferts-Flatbush area on Lincoln Rd.)<br /><br />We walked down to the rail on the RF end of the Dodger dugout and watched IF practice. (There was probably BP too, but that’s not the image I have from those pre-school days). All of this to include my all-time favorite player in your Boys of Summer reverie; it was Billy Cox and it was because he came over to say “hello” each time and remembered my name <br /><br />Thanks for shaking those cobwebs loose, Mack.<br />Hobiehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12583242267777911354noreply@blogger.com