- 1869 - RHP James “Coldwater Jim” Hughey was born in Wakeshma, Michigan. A journeyman, he pitched for the Pirates from 1896-97, going 12-18 with a 5.03 ERA. Coldwater (named for his first minor league outpost and eventually where he settled) is the last pitcher to lose 30 games, doing so for a historically terrible 1899 Cleveland Spider club that finished 20-134 (he did lead the club in ERA and wins). Because of poor attendance, the Spiders played only 42 home games, setting an untouchable record of 101 road losses!
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| Coldwater Jim & Family (via Hughey family page) |
- 1917 - C Bill Salkeld was born in Pocatello, Idaho. He began his career as a Pirate, batting .293 from 1945-47 as a spare catcher and pinch hitter. His son Roger was chosen by the Seattle Mariners in the first round of the 1989 MLB Draft, and pitched in 45 games for the Mariners and Cincinnati Reds during the mid-1990s.
- 1922 - OF Al Gionfriddo was born in Dysart, in Cambria County. He played four years (1944-47) as a spare OF’er and pinch hitter for the Bucs, batting .276, but made his mark after being traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. He played in the World Series that year and made a famous fence-kissing catch of a Joe DiMaggio blast to rob Jolting Joe of extra bases. As Red Barber called it on Mutual Radio: "...back goes Gionfriddo! Back- back-back-back-back-back...he makes a one-handed catch against the bullpen! Ohhh-hooo, Doctor!”
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| Al Gionfriddo's 1947 World Series grab (International News photo) |
- 1924 - C Maurice “Toby” Atwell was born in Leesburg, Virginia. A strong defensive guy behind the plate, Atwell was a part-time Bucco catcher from 1953-56, batting .250. His career ended the next season; he had injured his knee in the minors and it never returned to 100%.
- 1967 - RHP Joel Johnston was born in West Chester. He was a Penn State grad and highly touted KC prospect, breaking into Baseball America’s Top 100 (#59). After a poor showing with the Royals, he was traded to the Pirates in 1993 with P Dennis Moeller for José Lind, and he rebounded with a line of 2-4-2/3.38 in 33 games. But he bombed the next year and was released in May 1994.
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| Joel Johnston 1994 Topps series |
- 1966 - The Hall of Fame Special Veterans Committee elected Casey Stengel to the Hall. He broke his hip in 1965, ending his managerial career, and the Committee waived his waiting period to make him immediately eligible for Cooperstown. (The electors needn't worried - he lasted another decade, living to the ripe old age of 85). He was inducted July 25th. The Ol’ Perfessor was a Pirate outfielder from 1918-19; his famous "sparrow under the hat" episode was as a Bucco.
Speaking of "The Dysart Deer", Al Gionfriddo, I grew up near Dysart, PA. Actually dated a girl from there. I don't think there's 500 people in the town today, and there were probably fewer than that back in the day. Looked at Gionfriddo's career stats; he basically played one full season, in 1945, and was a decent on base guy with a little speed but no power. Looks like he probably got overtaken by the return of the big leaguers who had been fighting in the war. Seems to have been an OK hitter for average with a good glove, and never got to play much after his debut season. He did get his moment in the sun in the World Series, though. Wonder what became of him in later years? His obit on Baseball Reference says he died in California.
ReplyDeleteWill, u may be the first Dysartonian I know! As for Al, after baseball he owned a restaurant in Goleta, Calif., and was a high school trainer and athletic equipment manager in Santa Barbara, Calif. according to his obit. He died at 81 playing golf.
ReplyDeleteWellll....I'm not a Dysartonian per se. I grew up in the next hamlet over, Carrolltown. Both places were part of the same school district. Anyway, thanks for filling in the blanks where Gianfriddo is concerned. Quite a journey for him from a place that small to a stage that big, in the World Series.
ReplyDeleteFYI, Dysart is not the only small town in the region that produced a major leaguer. Ebensburg, the county seat in Cambria County, actually had TWO guys make it to The Show within a ten year period. These were Joe Vitko---also a basketballer for St. Francis College/University of PA before going pro in baseball---and Mike Holtz. Vitko only got a cup of coffee because his arm was shot, but nevertheless appeared briefly for the Mets. A third guy from Ebensburg, Glenn Illig, a pitcher who might have been the best of the three before he hurt his arm, ended up playing for some NAIA playoff teams at Point Park College. After he hurt his arm he played third base during the regular season and then turned into a fireballing reliever for the postseason. Couldn't do it for very long, in other words, but he could still crank for an inning or two. Those three guys all came out of a town with a population of about 6,000, and all within a ten year period. Pretty amazing.
Hey, a Carrolltownie is close enough. Great history, especially considering the short baseball season that these guys had to hone their skills. Pity their arms blew out; that's a thread that runs through the entire history of the game, even in this day and age.
ReplyDeleteYes indeed. Of the three, Holtz actually had a pretty good career. He was a lefthanded reliever and a pretty good one for about four seasons for the Angels. He bounced around later on and lasted about 8 years in the bigs.
ReplyDeleteA final PS where Gianfriddo is concerned. According to a couple of articles I just read, he was bitter at Dodgers GM Branch Rickey, whom he claimed reneged on a promise to bring Gianfriddo back to the majors for the 1948 season. This was particularly significant because Gianfriddo would have qualified for a big league pension with just 60 more days of service. He never sniffed the majors again after the 1947 season (and neither did two other players who were very important in the World Series that year). It was a different time and place, that is for sure.
That's a pity, Will. He felt like he was benched in '46 and traded in '47 because he supported a players union; wonder if that stance bit him in Brooklyn? From '48-'51, he played at AAA Montreal. His BA fluctuated, but his OBP went from .392-.430 over those years. Too bad there weren't Sabermetric dudes back in the day.
ReplyDeleteNods, it does indeed look like he was a casualty of the never ending war between owners and players. As you know (and not to take this too far afield from a sports conversation) I am not the biggest union guy in the world, much less where the current players' cartel is concerned. I think the MLBPA has gone far, FAR beyond union status.
ReplyDeleteHowever and for the record: I sure wouldn't want to live in a world that was completely devoid of unions, I'll tell you that. There are too many cautionary tales, and Gionfriddo's is one of them, that point in the opposite direction.
And yes, a .430 OBP in Triple A is really, really good. Not saying that Gianfriddo was a world-beater or even necessarily a starting-caliber player at the big league level, but he was surely more than good enough to have helped any number of teams as a fourth outfielder-off the bench type.
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