By Hal McCoy

UNSOLICITED OBSERVATIONS from The Man Cave and in this episode it is all baseball all the time, despite temperatures outside as cold as Bob Gibson’s heart.

—OH, LET ME HIT: It’s a Happy Birthday this week to D.H. — and I don’t mean Don Hoak or Dick Howser or Dave Henderson or Daryl Hamilton or Dan Haren.

It is the birth date of baseball’s D. H., the Designated Hitter.

Babe Ruth said this long before anybody ever dreamed up the nightmare that is baseball’s designated hitter.

“The pitcher who can’t get in there in the pinch and win his own game with a healthy wallop isn’t more than earning half his salary in my way of thinking.”

Ruth’s way of thinking was because when he pitched for the Boston Red Sox he was one of the best wallopers in the mound business. And, of course, he could wallop better than anybody, too.

Well, 53 years ago this week, 12 American League owners huddled in a smoke-filled room and voted by 8-4 to permit a position player to bat for the pitcher. . .the designated hitter, the DH.

Thus on Opening Day, 1973, Ron Blomberg of the New York Yankees dug in at home plate to face Boston’s Luis Tiant, MLB’s first DH. He walked on five pitches with the bases loaded, the first DH to ‘drive’ in a run.

The rule was ‘experimental,’ a three-year test. It was thought that if it was successful the National League would follow. The AL adopted it permanently but the NL didn’t give-in for 49 years, finally accepting the DH in 2022.

And Babe Ruth rolled over in his grave.

My opinion remains old school. The DH violates all ten commandments of the dugout. I can describe my feelings in two syllables. . .bull and you know the second syllable.

Never again will we see a pitcher hit two grand slams in one game, as Atlanta’s Tony Cloninger did in 1966 against San Francisco.

Never again will we see a pitcher throw a no-hitter and hit two home runs in the same game, as Philadelphia’s Rick Wise did in 1971 against The Big Red Machine.

Never again will we see a pitcher hit as many home runs in a season as he gave up, as Cleveland’s Wes Ferrell did in 1931 (He hit nine and gave up nine). And in one game he pitched a no-hitter and drove in four runs with a double and a home run.

Never again will we see a pitcher pinch-hit 437 times and get 114 hits during his career as Red Lucas did while playing eight of his 15 years with the Cincinnati Reds.

—PREMATURE EVALUATION: It befuddles me how some folks judge a trade before the traded players ever put on their new team’s uniform. . .and, yes, I’m guilty, too.

This one, though, caught my eye — the Facebook page from somebody called ‘Space Ship 8.4.4,’ Now there’s a baseball page with some flightiness.

Of the Cincinnati Reds trade to acquire second baseman Gavin Lux from the Dodgers for outfielder Mike Sirota and Cincinnati’s Round A Competitive Balance pick, the space guys said:

“The Los Angeles Dodgers emerged as clear winners in the trade. Analysts believe the move strengthens LA’s depth and long-range outlook. (With Mike Sirota?). For the Reds, the trade is seen as a gamble with questions surrounding their ability to maximize the return.”

Who were those analysts — Helen Keller, Ray Charles and Louis Braille?

—GIBBY’S RARE WORDS: Bob Gibson never met a batter he liked, unless that batter played on his team. . .like Stan Musial for five seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.

Gibson said this about Musial: “Stan Musial is the nicest man I ever met in baseball. And to be honest, I can’t relate to that. I never knew nice and baseball went together.”

It is for sure, though, if Musial played for the Cincinnati Reds or the Chicago Cubs, Gibson would have had Musial diving for the dirt at least twice a game.

—THE TONY AWARD: Pete Rose was called ‘The Hit King’ for a reason. . .4,256 hits, a record that won’t be broken.

Think about it. A player would have to get 200 hits every year for 20 years to get to 4,000 and that still leaves him 256 hits short. Players don’t get 200 hits a year any more and they don’t play 20 years.

But also think about this. Rose’s career batting average is .302. Tony Gwynn collected 3,141 hits over his 20-year career and finished with a .338 career average.

For Rose to match Gwynn’s .338 he would have to go 750 for 750. Pete did some amazing things, but 750 for 750? Nah.

—A WET STADIUM: This seems preposterous, but it is true.

In the 1960s, San Diego seriously considered building a floating stadium, anchored in Mission Bay, for the NFL’s San Diego Chargers and MLB’s fledgling San Diego Padres.

Yep, a floating ball park out with the Great White Sharks. Architects said it was feasible and could construct it for $20 million, the going rate in those days for new ballparks on solid ground. Blueprints were drawn. Didn’t anybody worry about the stadium sinking ’20,000 Leagues Under The Sea?’

As time passed, some flaws in the design surfaced and the cost ballooned to $40 million. Thus endeth the ‘Blue Lagoon Baseball Park’ concept. Instead, San Diego/Jack Murphy Stadium was built in Mission Valley, inland from Mission Bay, for $25 million.

—GOOSE GETS GOOSED: It was the 1984 World Series and San Diego Padres closer Goose Gossage was to face Detroit Tigers slugger Kirk Gibson in a crucial spot.

From the dugout, San Diego manager Dick Williams held up four fingers for an intentional walk.

“No, I don’t want to walk him, I don’t,” said Gossage. “If I’ve faced this guy 50 times I’ve struck him out 49 times. I don’t want to walk him.”

Williams came to the mound and said, “You think you can strike this guy out? Then do it.”

Said Gossage, “First pitch, upper deck. I shoulda walked him.”

—RAREST OF THE RARE: The ten rarest things in baseball as provided by my sidekick, Jeff Singleton, in reverse order of rarity:

No-hitter (323), Immaculate inning — nine pitches, nine strikes, three strikeouts (114), Perfect game (24), Four-homer game (18), 10 RBI game (15), Unassisted triple play (15), Two grand slams in one game (13), 20 strikeouts (5), Three hits in one inning (3), Two grand slams in one inning (1), done by Fernando Tatis.

—QUOTES (All baseball):

—From Bob Uecker (And what’s a list of baseball quotes without Bob Uecker?): “I set records that will never be broken and I hope 90% of them never get printed.” And. . .”When I looked at the third base coach, he turned his back on me.”

—From Yogi Berra (And what’s a list of baseball quotes without Yogi Berra?): “If you don’t know where you’re going, you might end up someplace else.”

—From Casey Stengel (And what’s a list of baseball quotes without Casey Stengel?): “The key to being a good manager is to keep the players who hate you away from the one who are undecided.”

—From former Reds second baseman Bret Boone on the size of catcher Joe Oliver’s head: “Which would you rather have, a million dollars of Joe Oliver’s head full of nickels.”

—From Bill Lee (And what’s a list of baseball quotes without Bill ‘Spaceman’ Lee?): “We weren’t playing for money. They gave us Mickey Mouse watches that ran backwards.”

—PLAYLIST NUMBER 137: As Stevie Wonder said, “Music is a world within itself, with a language we all understand.” With that in mind, the first song is for my beautiful wife, Nadine, and if you listen to the words, you’ll understand:

—In Case You Didn’t Know (Brett Young), Born To Be Wild (Steppenwolf), Heart of Gold (Neil Young), Tears On My Pillow (Little Anthony & The Imperials), Another Brick In The Wall (Pink Floyd), Already Gone (The Eagles), I Won’t Back Down (Tom Petty).

She Cried (Jay & The Americans), Big Shot (Billy Joel), Paradise By The Dashboard (Meat Loaf), When A Man Loves A Woman (Percy Sledge), How Long (Ace), Shower The People (James Taylor), Get Closer (Seals & Croft), Gypsy (Fleetwood Mac), Everyday (Buddy Holly).

One Response

  1. Two rarities Singleton could consider – – –
    Back-to-back inside-the-park-home runs (Harrah and Wills in 1977); and two triple plays in a game (Twins @ Fenway in 1990).
    I was fortunate to witness both (an even rarer event!).

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