Dizzy Dean

Young Nationalist ^ | 3-16-05 | Bob Skilnik

[toddlintown]

This time of year, all the indications point to a new beginning. I'm not talking about the crocuses warily emerging from their winter snooze nor the swelling buds of the pussy willow. I'm talking about the opening of Major League Baseball's spring training camps.

In this atmosphere of hope and anticipation, however, lies the stink of steroids, corked bats, and drug abuse. Almost makes me long for the colorful players of days gone by, when players like Jay Hanna “Dizzy” Dean jumped on the nation's stage. Dizzy was a brash fireballer for the St. Louis Cardinals who picked up his nickname while serving in the Army in the late 1920s. The history books are a bit vague on why he was considered “dizzy,” but his malapropisms and blatant avoidance of the rules of grammar were legendary and might have something to do with his handle. He was also considered a bit of a braggart, prone to running off at the mouth when he should have kept quiet.

Sorry if I telegraphed where I'm going with this story, but you can't help but make comparisons between pitcher Jay Hanna Dean and Howard “Dizzy” Dean.

[toddlintown]

3 strikes an' yer out!

[RetiredArmy]

My father told me a story once that Diz was doing radio of a game during WWII. Because of blackouts, they could not tell the particular weather that was in certain areas of the country because that could give the enemy facts they might not know. WWII security stuff. Anyway, the game was suspended. Diz said, "well folks, we can't tell ya why we have had to stop the game, but if you stick your head out your window and comeback with your head soaking wet, you'll know!" My dad said they laughed for days thinking about old Diz and what he said. My dad saw Dean pitch one time. Dad said that Dean and Bob Feller could throw as hard as any two men he ever saw.

[boomop1]

Anther good one from the Diz, "look their is a lovely couple over there he's kissing her on the strikes and she is kissing him on the balls".

[RetiredArmy]

Back then I think must referred to his "balls" as being his "nuts" more than we do now. Now we all say hit in the balls. Back when I was a kid, it was got hit in the nuts.

[sonofatpatcher2]

Seems I recall when Diz and Pee Wee Reese were broadcasting a game when Diz noticed a young couple smooching in the bleachers.

"Ain't that wonderful?" offered Diz. "Look at them kids."

"That's something all right, Diz," replied Pee Wee.

"Yep, he's kissing her on the strikes," continued Diz, "and she's kissing him on the... (You get the drift)"

Still, all in all, I'l take Diz over Howie any day.

[boomop1]

Of course this was said on national TV when he was with Pee-Wee strikes and balls.

[boomop1]

I beat you to it.

[gulfcoast6]

And he was fired from announcing baseball games because he would always say 'and he slud into third', the education bunch said it was sending the wrong message to the youngsters.

[SuziQ]

I used to watch baseball with my Daddy all the time. He just loved Dizzy Dean!

Wasn't he from Wiggins MS?

[RockinRight]

This Dizzy Dean???

< /VERY obscure 80s musical reference >

[toddlintown]

Quotes by Dizzy Dean
"Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss."

"It ain't braggin' if you can back it up."

"I never keep a scorecard or the batting averages. I hate statistics. What I got to know, I keep in my head."

"Anybody who's ever had the privilege of seeing me play knows that I am the greatest pitcher in the world."

"All ballplayers want to wind up their career with the Cubs, Giants or Yankees. They just can't help it."

"I ain't what I used to be, but who the hell is?"

"I won twenty-eight games in 1935 and I couldn't believe my eyes when the Cards send me a contract with a cut in salary. Mr. Rickey said I deserved a cut because I didn't win thirty games."

"It puzzles me how they know what corners are good for filling stations. Just how did they know gas and oil was under there?"

"Let the teachers teach English and I will teach baseball. There is a lot of people in the United States who say 'isn't' and they ain't eating."

"Mr. Rickey, I'll put more people in the park than anybody since Babe Ruth."

"Son, what kind of pitch would you like to miss?"

""Sure I eat what I advertise. Sure I eat Wheaties for breakfast. A good bowl of Wheaties with bourbon can't be beat."

"The doctors x-rayed my head and found nothing."

"The dumber a pitcher is, the better. When he gets smart and tries to experiment with a lot of different pitches, he's in trouble. All I ever had was a fastball, a curve and a change up and I did pretty good."

"The good Lord was good to me. He gave me a strong body, a good right arm and a weak mind."

"He slud into third."

"Well what's wrong with ain't? And as for saying 'Rizzuto slud into second' it just ain't natural. Sounds silly to me. Slud is something more than slid. It means sliding with great effort."

Quotes about Dizzy Dean
"When ole Diz was out there pitching it was more than just another ball game. It was a regular three-ring circus and everybody was wide awake and enjoying being alive." - Pepper Martin

"You were attracted by the graceful rhythm of his pitching motion; the long majestic sweep of his arm as he let the ball fly; the poised alertness after the pitch. That was what counted and you knew it when batter after batter swung ineptly at pitches they couldn't even see." - Editor of the New York Times

"As a ballplayer, (Dizzy) Dean was a natural phenomenon, like the Grand Canyon or the Great Barrier Reef. Nobody ever taught him baseball and he never had to learn. He was just doing what came naturally when a scout named Don Curtis discovered him on a Texas sandlot and gave him his first contract." - Red Smith

http://www.dizzydean.com/index.php

[Doctor Stochastic]

It's time also to acknowledge Modest Mussorgsky's tribute to baseball: Pitchers at an Exhibition Game.

[ohioWfan]

Oooooooooooo.........that was really BAD..

(but it made me laugh..... :o)

[smoothsailing]

Yes, Its Dean, Dean, Dean

Hes a beggar with a bullet through your spleen,

Though at times some bat has flayed you,

By the Texas sun that made you,

Youre a better man than bats, Dizzy Dean

...Grantland Rice

[vetvetdoug]

I watched Dean's funeral procession toward Wiggins in July 1974 that stretched for miles. I was headed toward Keesler AFB from Texas and ran into it at about two in the afternoon. Dean was one of my family's heroes.

[Billthedrill]

"It puzzles me how they know what corners are good for filling stations. Just how did they know gas and oil was under there?"

Whoa - come to think of it, how do they know?

[Zuben Elgenubi]

Loved Dizzy Dean. He'd sing Wabash Cannonball every now and then on the CBS Game of the Week.

[Digger]

The Cardinals had a second baseman with the name of Julian Javier. He would pronounce it JEWLEEAN JAVER rather than HOOLIAN HAHVEEAIR.

[Zuben Elgenubi]

You learn something everyday. I googled "Wabash cannonball" and this is one of the links: Links

[thelastvirgil]

Diz pitched a no-hitter, one Saturday, in the first game of a double-header. In the second game, his brother, Daffy, also pitched a no-hitter. Dizzy was furious, and insisted the manager allow him to pitch the afternoon game the next day. You got it -- ANOTHER no-hitter. What a man, and what a tremendous legend he was.