Title: cal ripken on letterman
Description: top 10 list
Description: top 10 list
scuffball - January 11, 2007 05:19 AM (GMT)
cal ripken and tony gwynn are scheduled to be on letterman apparently tonight (like, now) reading a Top 10 list.
| QUOTE |
| Top 10 good things about being elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame: 10. While traveling the county, I can shower with any team I choose. 9. I can now advertise my garage sales as 'Hall of Fame' garage sales. 8. George Steinbrenner just offered me $20 million to play again. 7. On bobblehead day, guess who gets 2 bobbleheads? 6. At any moment, there's a good chance Bob Costas is boring someone with stories about me. 5. It's nice to be mentioned in the same breath as Arky Vaughan, Burleigh Grimes, and Gabby Hartnett. 4. Free chalupa from Taco Bell if I mention them in my induction speech! 3. Made all those years playing in southern California's lousy climate worth it. 2. I can now admit I broke my streak in 1998 because I had tickets to "Les Mis". 1. Get to be on national television, even if it is this show. |
scuffball - January 11, 2007 06:13 AM (GMT)
| QUOTE |
| Born in Clifty, Arkansas, Vaughan made his major league debut in 1932 with the Pittsburgh Pirates. He quickly built a reputation as a superb hitter, batting .318 in his first year, and knocking in over 90 runs in 1933, 1934 and 1935. Over the following decade, he asserted established himself as one of the finest hitting shortstops to ever play the game, batting over .300 in every season through 1941, and regularly being at or near the top of the league in runs scored, RBI, batting average, stolen bases and walks. ... In 1981, Lawrence Ritter and Donald Honig included him in their book The 100 Greatest Baseball Players of All Time. In his New Historical Baseball Abstract, Bill James has argued that Vaughan is the second best shortstop in the major league history, behind fellow Pirate and mentor, Honus Wagner. |
| QUOTE |
| Burleigh Arland Grimes (August 18, 1893 - December 6, 1985) was an American professional baseball player, and the last pitcher officially permitted to throw the spitball. Nicknamed "Ol' Stubblebeard", Grimes was born in Emerald, Wisconsin. He made his major league debut on September 10, 1916 for the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1920, when the spitball was banned, he was named as one of the 17 established pitchers who would be allowed to continue to throw the pitch. The 26 year old Grimes made the most of this advantage, and over the course of his 19-year career, won 270 games and pitched in four World Series. At the time of his retirement, he was the last of the 17 spitballers left in the league. |
| QUOTE |
| Charles Leo "Gabby" Hartnett (December 20, 1900 - December 20, 1972) was an American Major League Baseball catcher and manager who played nearly his entire career with the Chicago Cubs. He is widely considered to have been the greatest National League catcher in the first half of the 20th century. ... His bat and catcher's mask were the first artifacts sent to the newly constructed Baseball Hall of Fame in 1938. |
osfan58202233 - January 11, 2007 06:52 AM (GMT)
okay, i know it's overkill, but i got excited about this when i recognized the names...
here on the BoP:
http://thebirdsofprey2.com/index.php?showtopic=493&st=27 - Gabby Hartnett
that was my 500th post on BoPII, and it's got a cool photo of the catchers' gear used back then.
and from the old BoP, here's this entire post on Arky Vaughan (done back before i started listing sources):
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[Born] March 9th - Arky Vaughan, 1912
Elected to Hall of Fame by Veterans Committee in 1985.
Among Hall of Fame shortstops, Arky Vaughan's .318 lifetime batting average ranks second only to Honus Wagner's .329 mark. Vaughan batted a league-leading .385 in 1935 - a 20th century record for National League shortstops - and averaged .300 or better every one of his 10 seasons with the Bucs.
Vaughan was a perennial All-Star named to the National League team nine successive years. In 1941 he hit two All-Star home runs. His best years were spent in Pittsburgh, where his mentor, Honus Wagner, roomed with Vaughan while a Pirate coach. Vaughan's 1935 marks, a .385 batting average and .607 slugging average, remain team records. In addition to those league-leading numbers, his performance that year included 19 HR, 99 RBI, 108 runs, and only 18 strikeouts in 499 at-bats plus a league-high 97 walks. Unsurprisingly, he also led in on-base average (.491); from 1934 to 1936 he led in both walks and on-base average. His 1935 season earned him third place in the MVP voting, and he won TSN NL Player of the Year honors, at the time as prestigious as the more recently-introduced MVP award.
Playing in spacious Forbes Field, Vaughan was in double figures in triples in all but one of his first nine seasons, and he led the league three times; he reached the 40-double plateau twice. He led in runs three times and topped 100 runs five times. First-place Brooklyn traded four players after the 1941 season to acquire Vaughan. After an off-year (.277, 82 runs) in 1942 while playing third base, he rebounded in 1943 to lead the NL with a career-high 20 stolen bases (at the age of thirty-one) and with 112 runs. He also had the best of his many excellent strikeout ratios, fanning just 13 times in 610 at-bats plus 60 walks, and hit .305.
here on the BoP:
http://thebirdsofprey2.com/index.php?showtopic=493&st=27 - Gabby Hartnett
that was my 500th post on BoPII, and it's got a cool photo of the catchers' gear used back then.
and from the old BoP, here's this entire post on Arky Vaughan (done back before i started listing sources):
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Born] March 9th - Arky Vaughan, 1912
Elected to Hall of Fame by Veterans Committee in 1985.
Among Hall of Fame shortstops, Arky Vaughan's .318 lifetime batting average ranks second only to Honus Wagner's .329 mark. Vaughan batted a league-leading .385 in 1935 - a 20th century record for National League shortstops - and averaged .300 or better every one of his 10 seasons with the Bucs.
Vaughan was a perennial All-Star named to the National League team nine successive years. In 1941 he hit two All-Star home runs. His best years were spent in Pittsburgh, where his mentor, Honus Wagner, roomed with Vaughan while a Pirate coach. Vaughan's 1935 marks, a .385 batting average and .607 slugging average, remain team records. In addition to those league-leading numbers, his performance that year included 19 HR, 99 RBI, 108 runs, and only 18 strikeouts in 499 at-bats plus a league-high 97 walks. Unsurprisingly, he also led in on-base average (.491); from 1934 to 1936 he led in both walks and on-base average. His 1935 season earned him third place in the MVP voting, and he won TSN NL Player of the Year honors, at the time as prestigious as the more recently-introduced MVP award.
Playing in spacious Forbes Field, Vaughan was in double figures in triples in all but one of his first nine seasons, and he led the league three times; he reached the 40-double plateau twice. He led in runs three times and topped 100 runs five times. First-place Brooklyn traded four players after the 1941 season to acquire Vaughan. After an off-year (.277, 82 runs) in 1942 while playing third base, he rebounded in 1943 to lead the NL with a career-high 20 stolen bases (at the age of thirty-one) and with 112 runs. He also had the best of his many excellent strikeout ratios, fanning just 13 times in 610 at-bats plus 60 walks, and hit .305.
| QUOTE (KL Snow) |
| Bill James rates Arky Vaughan as the second best shortstop in baseball history in his The New Bill James Historical Baseball Abstract. In the explanation, he says, “The selection of Vaughan as the number two shortstop in baseball history was as much a surprise to me as it is to you.” It’s also worth noting that the selection was made in 2000, and most of Alex Rodriguez’s recent work is not noted. A-Rod is ranked 17th, but would probably challenge Vaughan for the #2 spot now, if he doesn’t challenge Honus Wagner for the top spot. As mentioned earlier, however, Vaughan would probably draw more historical notice if he hadn’t played defense on the same dirt as Honus Wagner. |
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cool thing for me was recognizing the names. same thing happened with a painting of Josh Gibson the other day.
that project sure was fun...and seemingly did me some good too. :D
Puma170 - January 11, 2007 03:59 PM (GMT)
It is fun that you still get giddy like a school girl when they mention one of your birthdays...
Nice to see Cal and Tony get a little Letterman spotlight. I am just sorry that I missed it.
PUMA
Nice to see Cal and Tony get a little Letterman spotlight. I am just sorry that I missed it.
PUMA
actorgersh - January 11, 2007 06:14 PM (GMT)