Good stuff, man. I still have an autographed Bowman card Ken Keltner signed for me. He was a terrific clutch hitter and a fine fielder.
Even in my day, we could walk right up to Willie Mays, Ernie Banks, Henry Aaron, and Don Drysdale. They treated us kids with grace. Frank Robinson gave me his bat. I still have it too.
Mostly I don’t recognize today’s baseball.
Good year to live in the Buckeye state. Reds and Tribe lead their respective leagues. We’ll see if that holds up.
Some modern notes:
Today, Bill Lohrman of the Giants would never have had his “shabby deal” at Crosley Field. (Forget for a moment that it would be Great American Ball Park, a fine facility, and not Crosley.) Sure, he pitched 3-hit ball through eight, but going into the 9th the stopper would warming up in the pen (in Great American its just inside the right field foul pole. You can stand behind bull pen and watch them warm up while you are on your way for a Skyline Chili cheese dog or two). Today, as soon as the first Reds player scored, the manager is out to the mound with the hook; the closer comes in and usually (unless he’s a Cubs closer) the game is over. This was “back in the day” when a starter was thought to be a wimp if he didn’t go nine. Now, we have the “quality start” if you just go seven. Some pitchers, like Rich Harden, are pretty much done after 5 2/3.
I like the modern box scores better than the ones used back in 1940. I like the current format that shows AB, R, H & RBI. I always look for what I call “sixes.” It’s a player who had a combination of runs, hits and RBI’s totaling six in a game. You know that guy had a good day.