May Miscellany

by Paul Wysard

Shawn Green's eruption last week included breaking the Major League record for total bases in one game, now 19. The player who held the mark for almost 50 years, and the afternoon he set it, were remembered by me in an article in TDA Magazine several years ago. Let's share it again.

The Day Big Joe Hit Four

It was 45 years ago last July 31st. Six of us, close friends, football teammates, and about to go to college, spent the morning body-surfing. After a lunch of tuna sandwiches and malts at a Dairy Queen, we ended up in a cool corner of Charlie's home.

Four of us began to play Cribbage and Wendell and Charlie continued their exploration of Chess. Baseball was on the radio, recreated off of teletype in those days in Hawaii. Braves vs. Dodgers at Ebbets Field.

"Wow," someone said, "Adcock just hit a second homer in the third inning."

"Good," someone else hooted. "Smash those Bums!"

Minutes went by, the Braves were into a rally, and Adcock was up again. The board games stopped as heads turned toward the radio. Some of us were more into baseball than others, but everyone knew who Adcock was: a tall, rawboned Southerner who was the first of a very few to hit a ball out in centerfield in the old Polo Grounds. He was also known to take offense - and action - when pitchers threw inside.

The big guy then hammered a pitch from Erv Palica off the top of the left field wall for a double. Two innings later, he homered again. This was becoming exciting; several beer cans were opened.

In his final at-bat, he faced young southpaw Johnny Podres, who was to be the star of the World Series the next year. Jim and Rex put dollar bills on a table, betting on another long ball. Springer, who actually resembled Adcock, but who was not a diehard fan, shook his head and mumbled something about the law of averages.  And there it went - far and out - a 4th homerun and 18 total bases. Disbelief was followed by delirium. "We heard it! We were here!."

Big Joe retired a decade later at .277 with 336 round-trippers. The irony of his career was that his best seasons came during very close second place finishes by the Braves. In pennant years of 1957 and 1958 he was limited by injuries - most caused by being hit with pitches. The day after the record outburst, the Dodger staff knocked him down once and plunked him another time.

The irony for us was that it was the last time we were all together. And different lives and one youthful death make it certain we never will be again.

Getting back to Shawn Green, maybe some of you saw Jeff Brantley commenting on ESPN. A pitcher's pitcher, Brantley was clearly grumpy with respect to any staff being cuffed around like that. "I'm not saying throw at his head, but GET HIM OFF THE PLATE! Everything was right down the middle." One can't help but agree. Although Green has accomplished a heckuva run, the big day did look a bit like Sunday softball.

In closing, let me add my tuppence to the response here at TDA to the Rick Reilly column on Fantasy/Rotisserie players. No use arguing, because Reilly will be contrary in any case, but he does fail to make a distinction between the impersonal (mostly national) competition, and groups of friends. We've had a "Keeper" league in Honolulu for 15 years, with several drafts per year, which are as much fun as the actual play. The friendships rremain strong, even as we no longer live as near to each other as earlier. We NEVER root against our favorite team, and since all of those are in the NL, it's a kick to follow and pull for AL players on our rosters. It is also a joy to scout and choose a younger player who over time becomes a star. Our league drives wives nuts, is admittedly a bit like 10-year-olds in a tree house, but we're in our 60s, and as Theodore Roosevelt once said, "It's a chance to be a boy again."

I don't care for soccer or auto racing, but I have no problem with those who do. I love to shuffle stats, but leave horse racing forms to others without complaint. Reilly is just being another Modern American Nanny. Pay no mind.