The 40s & 50s

[donzblock]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon? (You look at old pictures of Ted Williams, and you realize he was also just a skinny kid.) And you look at Gil and you see honest muscle, real guns. The Brooklyn Dodgers were unenhanced and great. Ted Williams, the old Yankees, and the Brooklyn Dodgers proved that baseball could be steroid-free and still great.

[DODGER DEB]

B-I-N-G-O! YOU hit the "nail right on the head", Professor!

These overpaid whinners of today have NO RESPECT for the GAME, NO LOYALTY to a TEAM, and they will do ANYTHING to enhance their next contract. THAT is all BASEBALL means to them!

Aren't YOU glad WE saw GREAT BASEBALL.......BECAUSE THE PLAYERS WE SAW WERE EXTREMELY TALENTED and SIMPLY GREAT!!

Sadly, it is something the fans today find hard to understand and, as a result, many see the need to "defend" players like Bonds and Giambi, among others.

c.

[shlevine42]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon?

And a cannon it was...right up until the time he died.

Carl was my Coach at Dodger Camp in '86, (just three years before he died), and we spent much time talking and playing catch. He was 64 at the time, and a bit chunkier than in his playing days, but he was burning my hand with his throws. After a session with him, it usually took an hour or two for the sting to subside and the redness to disappear.

Then, the next day, he'd torture me all over again! (But considering the source of my pain, it was a treat.)

He had an easy motion, but the ball still came in hard and flat...like a rocket. Just the way he would rifle it to Jackie or Pee Wee from the base of the right field wall to gun down a batter foolish enough to go for two.

He was blessed with a powerful arm, and I was lucky to have caught a few of his throws.

[JACKIE42]

You look at the pictures of Furillo, and you see a skinny guy who possessed nevertheless great strength. How the hell did that right arm tranform itself into a cannon? (You look at old pictures of Ted Williams, and you realize he was also just a skinny kid.) And you look at Gil and you see honest muscle, real guns. The Brooklyn Dodgers were unenhanced and great. Ted Williams, the old Yankees, and the Brooklyn Dodgers proved that baseball could be steroid-free and still great.

I would like to believe that the players in the old days would not have used steroids even if they were available, but i wonder. In the old days there were no multi year contracts and only 16 teams, which made the competition much greater then today, do we really think that some of the guys wouldn't do just what a Bonds or Giambi did. Im not talking about the super-stars necessarily, but how about the third- stringer who is told if he takes some steroids in a few short months he could maybe become a first- stringer. When every year most players had to prove themselves worthy of making the team or they were shipped to the minors or worse just dropped no questions asked, the temptation to do drugs may become pretty tempting. Just wondering thats all, i don't have any players in mind. I hope we are not guilty of being holier then thou.

[donzblock]

Maybe we are, but we can only speculate about what those players would have done. The pictures prove they were honest. Add Big Klu to that bunch. That man had muscles on muscles, and he was a terror in Ebbets. I loved watching him at the plate. I also cannot imagine a Klu, a Williams, a Reese, or a Hodges cheating. They had character and great respect for the game.

[JACKIE42]

Imagine a Klu, a Williams, a Reese, or a Hodges cheating. They had character and great respect for the game.[/QUOTE]

Professor, Im not referring to the super-stars, talking about the much less talented.

[donzblock]

Well, then, the much less talented were lucky enough to play in an era where they did not have the opportunity to cheat that the Bondses, the Maguires, the Sosas, the Giambis, and the Dykstras had. We can only speculate about what the much less talented might have done. We know what our modern players have done. And how much more sordid is baseball today? I read an interesting but cynical quote in the Times today about the Yankees and Giambi. The reporter believes that the Yankees are furious with Giambi not because he took steroids but because he stopped taking them.

[DODGER DEB]

Well, then, the much less talented were lucky enough to play in an era where they did not have the opportunity to cheat that the Bondses, the Maguires, the Sosas, the Giambis, and the Dykstras had. We can only speculate about what the much less talented might have done. We know what our modern players have done. And how much more sordid is baseball today? I read an interesting but cynical quote in the Times today about the Yankees and Giambi. The reporter believes that the Yankees are furious with Giambi not because he took steroids but because he stopped taking them.


WHY does THAT NOT surprise me!

WE have always known that to be the pinstripes....WINNING, anyway you can, is the ONLY THING!

c.

[prof93]

I don't think thats very fair Deb. Your bashing the entire history of the Yankees for what Giambi did. Certainly you realize that the Yankess of the 1920's to the begining of the Geroge Era were above such poor values.

[DODGER DEB]

I don't think thats very fair Deb. Your bashing the entire history of the Yankees for what Giambi did. Certainly you realize that the Yankess of the 1920's to the begining of the Geroge Era were above such poor values.


You are right, I wasn't totally fair.

What I should have said was, excluding the Yankees of 1920's through 1946, which were teams that I really have little knowledge of. However, after that, in the years between 1947-1957, and beyond, what I said still applies, IMO.

c.







c.

[tonypug]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction27/photographs/33032.jpg
http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction27/photographs/33032b.jpg
http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction27/photographs/33032c.jpg
Jackie, any idea what year that glove is from?

[JACKIE42]

Jackie, any idea what year that glove is from?

The year was 1949.

[JACKIE42]

Bums Bombard Blackwell
Ebbets Field / May 21, 1952
By James G. Robinson

For most of his career, Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell owned the Dodgers. In his prime, Cincinnati's rail-thin, right-handed sidearmer intimidated Brooklyn's predominantly right-handed, power-laden lineup like no other pitcher in the National League. Brooklyn stars would often take the day off when Blackwell took the mound; even left-hander Duke Snider well remembered the game Blackwell struck him out five times.

Blackwell didn't particularly care for the Bums, either. In 1947, he was just two outs away from tying teammate Johnny Vander Meer's record with a second consecutive no-hitter when Dodger second baseman Eddie Stanky grounded Brooklyn's first hit of the game back through the box. When Jackie Robinson came up later in the inning, Blackwell unleashed his rage with a shower of racial epithets.

On May 21, 1952, the Dodgers got their revenge with the biggest single-inning barrage in modern baseball history.

The Reds' disastrous first inning began, innocently enough, when Blackwell induced a groundout from Brooklyn leadoff man Billy Cox. It ended 59 minutes later when Duke Snider took a called third strike from Reds reliever Frank Smith. In the inning, four Reds pitchers faced 21 Brooklyn batters, allowing ten hits, seven walks and two hit batsmen. It all added up to a new major-league record -- 15 runs in a single stanza.

Blackwell later recalled "the Dodgers were going around those bases like a merry-go-round." He faced just six batters, surrendering two walks, two hits, and a Snider home run before Cincinnati manager Luke Sewell sent him to the showers. "Blackie, it's not your night," said Sewell. "I'm getting the same idea," replied Blackwell.

Right-hander Bud Byerly was called on to stem the tide -- indeed, the end of the inning seemed in sight when Reds catcher Andy Seminick nabbed Andy Pafko trying to steal third base. But Byerly walked Gil Hodges and the carnage continued. Four consecutive singles scored four more Dodger runs and Byerly was history.

Even though it seems logistically improbable, Blackwell's assertion that both he and Byerly were able to shower and return to the team's hotel in time to watch the rest of the first inning remains a part of baseball lore.

The next sacrificial lamb for the Reds was Herm Wehmeier, who promptly walked Snider to load the bases and then plunked Jackie Robinson to score Billy Cox. When Pafko followed with a two-run single that was it for Wehmeier. A frustrated Sewell turned to workhorse Frank Smith, who matched the previous Reds relievers by staring down his first batter and promptly walking the bases loaded. Another free pass to Hodges plated the Dodgers' 11th run, and a bad-hop grounder by Rube Walker scored two more. Dodger starter Chris Van Cuyk followed with his second RBI single of the inning.

The Dodgers had now batted around twice in the inning and Sewell had apparently decided it was best to save the rest of his bullpen for more important contests. Resigned to his fate, Smith hit Cox to load the bases again and walked Pee Wee Reese, scoring Walker. Having plunged his team to unprecedented depths of ineptitude, Smith somehow caught Snider looking with a curve to end the debacle. Perhaps the Duke of Flatbush hoped to pad his RBI totals with another bases-loaded walk.

The autopsy was this: every Dodger had scored, driven in at least one run, and (except for Hodges, who walked twice) had a base hit to their name. And that was with Brooklyn stars Roy Campanella and Carl Furillo sitting on the bench with minor injuries.

Compared to Cincinnati's bumbling hurlers, Dodgers pitcher Chris Van Cuyk looked like Babe Ruth in his pitching prime. Not only did Van Cuyk go the distance, holding the Reds to one run (a Dixie Howell hit a solo shot in the fifth) on five hits -- he also led the Brooklyn attack with four hits in five trips to the plate. But the game would prove to be one of the few highlights in an otherwise uninspiring career; 1952 proved to be the last of Van Cuyk's three seasons in the majors.

The win gave the Dodgers a hold on first they would never relinquish. Charlie Dressen's Bums finished the season 96-57, 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place New York Giants.

[DODGER DEB]

Bums Bombard Blackwell
Ebbets Field / May 21, 1952
By James G. Robinson

For most of his career, Ewell "The Whip" Blackwell owned the Dodgers. In his prime, Cincinnati's rail-thin, right-handed sidearmer intimidated Brooklyn's predominantly right-handed, power-laden lineup like no other pitcher in the National League. Brooklyn stars would often take the day off when Blackwell took the mound; even left-hander Duke Snider well remembered the game Blackwell struck him out five times.

Blackwell didn't particularly care for the Bums, either. In 1947, he was just two outs away from tying teammate Johnny Vander Meer's record with a second consecutive no-hitter when Dodger second baseman Eddie Stanky grounded Brooklyn's first hit of the game back through the box. When Jackie Robinson came up later in the inning, Blackwell unleashed his rage with a shower of racial epithets.

On May 21, 1952, the Dodgers got their revenge with the biggest single-inning barrage in modern baseball history.

The Reds' disastrous first inning began, innocently enough, when Blackwell induced a groundout from Brooklyn leadoff man Billy Cox. It ended 59 minutes later when Duke Snider took a called third strike from Reds reliever Frank Smith. In the inning, four Reds pitchers faced 21 Brooklyn batters, allowing ten hits, seven walks and two hit batsmen. It all added up to a new major-league record -- 15 runs in a single stanza.

Blackwell later recalled "the Dodgers were going around those bases like a merry-go-round." He faced just six batters, surrendering two walks, two hits, and a Snider home run before Cincinnati manager Luke Sewell sent him to the showers. "Blackie, it's not your night," said Sewell. "I'm getting the same idea," replied Blackwell.

Right-hander Bud Byerly was called on to stem the tide -- indeed, the end of the inning seemed in sight when Reds catcher Andy Seminick nabbed Andy Pafko trying to steal third base. But Byerly walked Gil Hodges and the carnage continued. Four consecutive singles scored four more Dodger runs and Byerly was history.

Even though it seems logistically improbable, Blackwell's assertion that both he and Byerly were able to shower and return to the team's hotel in time to watch the rest of the first inning remains a part of baseball lore.

The next sacrificial lamb for the Reds was Herm Wehmeier, who promptly walked Snider to load the bases and then plunked Jackie Robinson to score Billy Cox. When Pafko followed with a two-run single that was it for Wehmeier. A frustrated Sewell turned to workhorse Frank Smith, who matched the previous Reds relievers by staring down his first batter and promptly walking the bases loaded. Another free pass to Hodges plated the Dodgers' 11th run, and a bad-hop grounder by Rube Walker scored two more. Dodger starter Chris Van Cuyk followed with his second RBI single of the inning.

The Dodgers had now batted around twice in the inning and Sewell had apparently decided it was best to save the rest of his bullpen for more important contests. Resigned to his fate, Smith hit Cox to load the bases again and walked Pee Wee Reese, scoring Walker. Having plunged his team to unprecedented depths of ineptitude, Smith somehow caught Snider looking with a curve to end the debacle. Perhaps the Duke of Flatbush hoped to pad his RBI totals with another bases-loaded walk.

The autopsy was this: every Dodger had scored, driven in at least one run, and (except for Hodges, who walked twice) had a base hit to their name. And that was with Brooklyn stars Roy Campanella and Carl Furillo sitting on the bench with minor injuries.

Compared to Cincinnati's bumbling hurlers, Dodgers pitcher Chris Van Cuyk looked like Babe Ruth in his pitching prime. Not only did Van Cuyk go the distance, holding the Reds to one run (a Dixie Howell hit a solo shot in the fifth) on five hits -- he also led the Brooklyn attack with four hits in five trips to the plate. But the game would prove to be one of the few highlights in an otherwise uninspiring career; 1952 proved to be the last of Van Cuyk's three seasons in the majors.

The win gave the Dodgers a hold on first they would never relinquish. Charlie Dressen's Bums finished the season 96-57, 4 1/2 games ahead of the second-place New York Giants.



I guess by the end of that game, with the score being gloriously out of sight, Dressen put in all the "utility guys", as WE used to call them!

c.

[tonypug]

I guess by the end of that game, with the score being gloriously out of sight, Dressen put in all the "utility guys", as WE used to call them!

c.
You still have to wonder about Charlie though. Why would he keep PEE WEE in a game like that. In the story Jackie 42 posted, it said Furillo didn't start the game because of a small injury, yet there he was in the game at the end.

[DODGER DEB]

You still have to wonder about Charlie though. Why would he keep PEE WEE in a game like that. In the story Jackie 42 posted, it said Furillo didn't start the game because of a small injury, yet there he was in the game at the end.


THAT was Charley being CHARLEY....some things he did simply didn't have an explanation! On the other hand knowing The Captain as I did, HE was a hard man to convince that HE should come out of a game....THAT was PEE WEE being PEE WEE!

c.

[JACKIE42]

Better known as " The Rifle Man".

[tonypug]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction27/photographs/31620.jpg
Another auction. It wouldn't be so bad, but most of the people who buy these things have no idea how much these items mean to a lot of people.

[DODGER DEB]

http://photos.liveauctioneers.com/houses/robertedwardauctions/650/0498_1_md.jpg


I NEVER saw one of these pins in this color combination.

The ones I have, which are the original ones from the "Let's Keep the Dodgers in BROOKLYN" Committee, are ROYAL BLUE backing with WHITE lettering.

c.

[DODGER DEB]

http://www.seth.com/images/collection_pages/photographs/09.jpg

These Brooklyn Dodger fans brought their musical instruments to a game in 1954. Can you imagine this occurring today? Anyone remember this.....DD?


I certainly do remember it, Jackie!

Fans today do NOT know how much FUN WE had at a ballgame.....this gives a little glimpse.

Thanks.

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Since ALL these GREAT PHOTOS of the 40's and 50's really tell the story of OUR DODGERS, and US, I thought it a good idea to place a "sticky" on this thread (keeping it near the top of the first page), thereby making it easy for anyone who visits OUR Forum to view them.

Of course, Jackie can also add more photos, as he comes across them!

Enjoy!

c.

[dreifort]

Did Jackie know Spanish? lol...he's reading a Spanish newspaper along with Olmo it looks like. or is that Cuban?

[dreifort]

Mrs. Campy (along with Roy & Joe Black...not sure of others - I think antonelli is guy on rear right??):

[Captain Cold Nose]

Did Jackie know Spanish? lol...he's reading a Spanish newspaper along with Olmo it looks like. or is that Cuban?

Looks like a New York newspaper printed in Spanish to me.

[Paulmcall]

A special time in a special place.

[dreifort]

old SPORT magazine, '56 WS Program Cover, Dodger matchbook, arial view of ebbets, right field in ebbets:

[dreifort]

Jackie Robinson, in color:

[dreifort]

jackie in street clothes outside Ebbets:

[dreifort]

Pee Wee with a Schlitz!?! :D

[dreifort]

Is that Rickey in the dress hat?

[DODGER DEB]

Is that Rickey in the dress hat?

That man is NOT Branch Rickey, but OUR Manager, Burt Shotten!

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Mrs. Campy (along with Roy & Joe Black...not sure of others - I think antonelli is guy on rear right??):


Some of the others are Ralph Branca, Charley Dressen and Billy Loes. Not sure of the remaining few, although one looks like Bud Podbielan, and another Bill Antonello. The others could be Ray Moore and Johnny Schmitz.

c.

[dreifort]

Some of the others are Ralph Branca, Charley Dressen and Billy Loes. Not sure of the remaining few, although one looks like Bud Podbielan, and another Bill Antonello. The others could be Ray Moore and Johnny Schmitz.

c.

Branca! that's who the rear right guy is...I knew he looked familar to me.
And yes, that is Billy Loes next to Branca (facing directly at camera).
thanks.

[DODGER DEB]

Branca! that's who the rear right guy is...I knew he looked familar to me.
And yes, that is Billy Loes next to Branca (facing directly at camera).
thanks.


Your quite welcome!

c.

[Markm102000]

No its Pig- latin, can you get more silly?


Jackie,

What a truly outstanding collection of pictures. What memories you brought back.

I'm an old 50s Yankee fan (I've reformed, I now root for the Orioles), so forgive my intrusion on this hallowed shrine you've created.

Actually, you can't help looking at all those Dodger pictures and thinking about all the great Dodger-Yankee matchups, position by position: Reese vs. Rizzuto, Mantle vs. Snider, Ford or Newk?

Anyway, thank you.

[JACKIE42]

Jackie,

What a truly outstanding collection of pictures. What memories you brought back.

I'm an old 50s Yankee fan (I've reformed, I now root for the Orioles), so forgive my intrusion on this hallowed shrine you've created.

Actually, you can't help looking at all those Dodger pictures and thinking about all the great Dodger-Yankee matchups, position by position: Reese vs. Rizzuto, Mantle vs. Snider, Ford or Newk?

Anyway, thank you.

Your welcome, and thank you for the kind words. I hope you have checked out the other things i have done in most of the other forums, you may enjoy them as well.

[dreifort]

:D

lots of drawings....

[dreifort]

Brooklyn catchers of '57

[dreifort]

1955 pitchers:

[dreifort]

happy felton

[dreifort]

Carl Furillo...

[dreifort]

his glove...

[dreifort]

a souvenir

[DODGER DEB]

Carl Furillo...

Now, THAT is one interesting photo....considering how their relationship ended.....would you people agree?

c.

[dreifort]

Now, THAT is one interesting photo....considering how their relationship ended.....would you people agree?

c.

there does seem to be a police officer standing close by? ;)

[tonypug]

It's been a rainy,dreary day here in Tampa Bay, but those pictures brought a smile to my face. Thanks.

[JACKIE42]

It's been a rainy,dreary day here in Tampa Bay, but those pictures brought a smile to my face. Thanks.

Always happy to bring a smile to an original Brooklyn Dodger fan.

[Mike Nealon]

Here is an email sent to me from Bill M. who wants to sell this extremely rare Dodger Lifetime pass.


The "story" of how he got it was told by Red Barber, as follows:

"A Man of Infinite Kindness

by

“The Old Redhead”

Red Barber



Nyack, N.Y. -(AP) June 29,1968



John Martin, 61, who became a well-known host to leading sports figures throughout the United States as manager of the Bear Mountain Inn during 1941 - 1965, died yesterday of a heart attack.

The attack on Pearl Harbor came on the first Sunday in December of 1941. At halftime of the Dodgers-Giants pro football game, Arthur Daley of the New York Times left the press box, came below briefly to where the wives and officials of the teams were sitting and told them of the attack in the Pacific.

My assignment at the Polo Grounds that Sunday was to scout the Giants for their championship game with the Bears the next Sunday. After Daley broke the news I stopped scouting. I went home with the car radio on full force.

As a nation it seemed we were slow getting into an all-out war routine. Three months after Pearl Harbor spring training for baseball came -- and nobody changed anything, or even thought about changing anything. All the clubs went South.

But 1943 was different. The president of the Texas League shut down his league, saying the ballplayers would be more useful in war work. The rest of baseball was frightened the government would close all the leagues.

Judge K.M. Landis realized that the best way of shocking the nation and Uncle Sam into closing down baseball would be to permit the major league teams to train in the South and have the writers send back their sunshine communiqués, accompanied by pictures of athletes and palm trees and bathing beauties. So, the Judge ordered the teams to train in their immediate neighborhoods, in order that "railroad transportation would be saved" for the war effort.

The plan worked and Landis got the "green light" for baseball to continue. He managed a letter from FDR saying baseball was good for morale.

During the years 1943 - 1945 the Brooklyn Dodgers went North for spring training. Branch Rickey was running the club - Larry MacPhail was called into the Army - and Rickey established by far the best "for the duration" set-up of any major league club.

It gets bitterly cold on the plains of West Point where the Military Academy was established back in the year 1802. The winter winds whistle down the Hudson River past Storm King Mountain. But it wasn't cold in the West Point Field House, which is big enough to include a full-sized baseball infield.

The Academy permitted the Dodgers a certain number of hours daily in the field house. The players threw the ball, hit the ball, ran and sweated.

Napoleon said an army moved on its stomach. I don't know about an army, but I do know a baseball club does - especially on steak, milk, potatoes, steak, ice cream and steak.

This is where John Martin comes into the picture. Five miles down the Hudson from West Point was the well-heated Bear Mountain Inn. Martin ran it.

He set a bountiful table. He had a variety but always steak. Where he got them from I never asked him.

It was truly a hardship spring.

John Martin was one of the few genuine men I've ever known. He was intelligent, but was without guile. He took you as you said you were.

John was a vigorous man, always on top of his operation. He saw to it that things went well.

He had the constant warmth of a real liking for people - especially sports people. The list of men from sports who ate well at the Bear Mountain Inn, and never got a check, is very long.

Several times each spring we'd get the word "they" were coming: Herman Hickman who was the line coach at Army for Red Blaik, stout Steve Owen, who was coach of the football Giants, and Coach Lou Little of Columbia. When these three sat down to eat, with the resources of John Martin's kitchen behind them, even the ballplayers gathered in awe.

Finally the war was going better. We knew the next spring - 1946 - we'd leave such rigorous surroundings and be back in Florida. Branch Rickey gave a farewell dinner in honor of Martin.

Marie Martin was there in a pretty dress. The Martin children were there. So were the ballplayers and the writers. The inevitable camp-following free-loaders were also there.

That's when I first heard Ricky tell about talking to his daughters. One of his girls wanted to know what was the single most important qualification a man should have.

Rickey went down a number of assets: wealth, standing, looks, health. Finally he selected "infinite kindness" as the most important.

Rickey turned to John Martin and said he could not say anything better about him, than that he had given to the Dodgers in their need "infinite kindness." Then he gave John an 18-carat solid gold lifetime pass to Ebbets Field - the only one ever in existence.

So John got the reward. The war ended and the teams returned South in the spring.

But for the last ten years the gold pass was no good. How could it be without a ballpark."




I look forward to hearing from you.

[64Cards]

Jackie-thanks for sharing these photos, there just aren't the proper words to do it justice.

If I could get into a baseball time machine, I would love to go to the late 40's and follow Stan, Red, Slaughter and the Cards for a week on a road trip to NY. See them take on Leo & the Giants at the Polo Grounds, then watch them battle the Dodgers at Ebbets. I understand Stan used to tear that place up. I would guess there would also be a few good places in the vicinity where one could have a cold beer and talk baseball.

Maybe catch a fight at the Garden, Dean & Jerry at the Copa. Some manhattans at Toot Shors.

Until they build the time machine, this is the next best thing.

[JACKIE42]

Jackie-thanks for sharing these photos, there just aren't the proper words to do it justice.

If I could get into a baseball time machine, I would love to go to the late 40's and follow Stan, Red, Slaughter and the Cards for a week on a road trip to NY. See them take on Leo & the Giants at the Polo Grounds, then watch them battle the Dodgers at Ebbets. I understand Stan used to tear that place up. I would guess there would also be a few good places in the vicinity where one could have a cold beer and talk baseball.

Maybe catch a fight at the Garden, Dean & Jerry at the Copa. Some manhattans at Toot Shors.

Until they build the time machine, this is the next best thing.

Thank you for kind words, i agree with you. Until they build the time machine, this is the next best thing.

[Mike Nealon]

I suppose some collector would be interested, not this one.


lol, figures you would respond with a comment like that.

[donzblock]

1942 Brooklyn Dodgers of Hall of Fame Manager Leo Durocher and members of the Brooklyn Dodgers team in Havana Cuba. Manager Leo Durocher (Left) interrupts his lecture at Dodgers Camp in Havana to pose with his newcomers. Left to right, Back Row; Pitcher Chester Kehn, Pitcher Emile Lochbaum, Outfielder Tommy Tatum, Pitcher Lester Webber, Catcher Homer Howell, Front Row: Pitcher Ed Albosta, Pitcher Bob Chipman, Catcher Clifford Drapper, Outfielder Jack Granam and Pitcher Edward Head.

It should be pointed out that Leo is addressing the Dodgers in Spanish. Notice how all the players are looking off to the left for the English subtitles.

Also, the guy in the suit standing next to the fellow with the open jacket is obviously Fidel Castro.

[JACKIE42]

It should be pointed out that Leo is addressing the Dodgers in Spanish. Notice how all the players are looking off to the left for the English subtitles.

Also, the guy in the suit standing next to the fellow with the open jacket is obviously Fidel Castro.

SI,SI, SENOR, Donaldo

[dreifort]

More ebbets field art/photos:

[dreifort]

on deck...

[dreifort]

colorized arial photo:

[dreifort]

one great HR hitter the Dodgers lost:

[dreifort]

color Reese & Gilliam:

[dreifort]

Van Mungo:

[dreifort]

another color of Ebbets...

[dreifort]

...........

[dreifort]

Campy goofing off in the OF.

[dreifort]

Jackie taking on Yogi:

[dreifort]

Jorgensen, Reese, Stanky & Robinson (Jackie's first game)

[dreifort]

fans in 1940 booing the Cincinnati Reds

[dreifort]

fans cheering in 1949 during 4th game of WS
(Bud Keehan, Vicki Potochney, and Phil Siles)

[dreifort]

Ralph Branca in b&w

[dreifort]

Branca in color:

[dreifort]

Charlie Neal

[dreifort]

Campy in color

[dreifort]

1956 pitchers
(Newk Billy Loes Erskine Don Bessent Labine & Roger Craig)

[dreifort]

1955 Series, game 4 (sandy amoros & yogi)

[dreifort]

1955 season, Labine gets a victory

[dreifort]

Labine in color:

[dreifort]

Karl Spooner

[dreifort]

Don Newcombe

[dreifort]

Newk going back to team after being suspended in 1955

[dreifort]

1 of many Jackie posed shots:

[dreifort]

joe black in motion

[dreifort]

Pee Wee and "Trigger"

[dreifort]

Brooklyn's big bats

[dreifort]

another jackie

[dreifort]

Junior sliding home in 1954 game against Cincinnati

[dreifort]

start of 1949 WS...Ty Cobb & Newk greet ea other.

[dreifort]

rare photo of Koufax & Campanella together on the field (spring training 1956)

[dreifort]

1956 All-Star game managers

[dreifort]

Reese and Robinson in locker room after game 1, 1952 WS

[dreifort]

yet another pose of Jackie (1953)

[dreifort]

Junior Gilliam (1953)

[dreifort]

Andy Pafko (#48) and Jackie during game

[dreifort]

YMCA basketball youth camp (Jackie and Campy '48)

[dreifort]

Reese getting mobbed by fans during 1955 WS Victory Dinner


now Deb...which girl is you? be honest ;)

[Paulmcall]

Can you guess who this might be at the plate?

[Paulmcall]

He's a pitcher taking his cuts.

[Paulmcall]

If sorry I put it up there. It was from a hand held camera and the photo didn't turn out too well.

[Mike Nealon]

I'm going to guess it's Hal Gregg

[64Cards]

http://www.vintagesportsshoppe.com/pi51.jpg

DATED JULY 24, 1955. BROOKLYN DODGERS MILWAUKEE BRAVES DON ZIMMER TURNING THE DOUBLE PLAY AS JOHNNY LOGAN IS A FORCEOUT VICTIM. FROM EBBETS FIELD.
Looks like a very young gerbil.

[Flatbush Flock]

http://store4.yimg.com/I/national-pastime_1729_67551263
March 3, 1954, Bill Terry in a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform. "Bill Terry who once asked whether the Dodgers were still in the league, put on a Brooklyn uniform and handed out a few batting tips at the Brooklyn Dodger Vero Beach training camp.

After Dressen and his wife stood up to O'Malley in 1953, Terry was one of those named by the press as a potential successor. Of course, by the time this picture was taken, Alston had already been named.

[dreifort]

Durocher clowning it up with Milton Berle in '43

[dreifort]

in '42 with Rickey and Sukeforth

[dreifort]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction29/photographs/37157008.jpg


Music Depreciation Day @ Ebbets Field Aug 14th 1951.

Bring an instrument, get in free.

[dreifort]

............

[dreifort]

. . . . . . . . . . . . .

[dreifort]

...................

[dreifort]

' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' ' '

[dreifort]

April 1944. Exhibition game, Dressen sings along with Sinatra.

[dreifort]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction29/photographs/37157038.jpg

another celebrity in a Dodger uniform :rolleyes: The Rifleman.

[dreifort]

friendly card game in flight from St Louis '49 (Jackie, Olmo & Snider)

[dreifort]

Montreal team in '46. To the right of Jackie is Johnny Wright.

[dreifort]

2 rookies in 1947

[dreifort]

Spring of 1950 Campy, Newk, Bankhead and Robinson

[DODGER DEB]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction29/photographs/37152020.jpg


Just noticed, is THAT an earlier version of a "batting glove" that JACKIE has on?

c.

[DODGER DEB]

http://images.mastronet.com/images/Auction29/photographs/36876.jpg


Nice going, Jackie!

BTW, in this morning's Daily News there is a front page story that says the plans are in place for a "new" Yankee Stadium, a retro one, which will look like the original stadium......the one they got rid of in the mid-70's to go Mod.

Go figure!

c.

[dreifort]

Jackie at home in 1949 with his many awards in just 2 years of pro ball!

[dreifort]

Opening day 1954...Robinson legs one out to firstbase

[dreifort]

Jim Russell, Duke Snider, Bill Antonello, Cal Abrams, Andy Pafko, George Shuba and Dick Williams in 1952.

[DODGER DEB]

Opening day 1954...Robinson legs one out to firstbase

That's Whitey Lockman at the Polo Grounds, making the stretch....but, JACKIE beats it!

c.

[dreifort]

1949 Ebbets Field, rare view of seating and press boxes behind the batters box, Newcombe warming up.

[dreifort]

1946 press shot of a Brooklyn fan listening to a Dodgers game vs St. Louis in fall of '46.

[dreifort]

"This Is Your Life" radio show with host Ralph Edwards.

Casey Stengel with his wife is surprised by current/former teammates and players on show. Starting with back row, clockwise left to right: Billy Martin Zack Wheat, Chuck Dressen, Stengel, his wife, Del Webb and host Edwards.

[donzblock]

What was the story on Connie Desmond? I know when Barber got pissed at O'Malley and left to go to the Yankees, Scully did the 53 WS with Allen and then became the #1 guy on their broadcasts, when considering tenure it should have been Desmonds job. I heard he had a drinking problem, was that it? Or was it just so obvious that Scully was that much better, even early in his career? I've never heard any broadcast clips of Desmond.
Connie Desmond was an excellent announcer. I was very disappointed when he stopped announcing.

[DODGER DEB]

1946 press shot of a Brooklyn fan listening to a Dodgers game vs St. Louis in fall of '46.


THAT looks an awful lot like DICK YOUNG. But, not in 1946!

c.

[dreifort]

1956 - Alston and Erskine with recently signed Japaneese pitcher Bill Nishita.

[dreifort]

1952 opening day at Ebbets
(another view of the press boxes and seating behind home plate)

[tonypug]

http://www.vintagesportsshoppe.com/pi51.jpg
It's hard to believe Zimmer was once that size.

[Bklyn Boy since 1936]

That's the way we used to ride the bus/trolley around BROOKLYN in those good ol' days in my yuut. :D

[dreifort]

that took place in 1956 in Hoboken on Hudson & 11th street (supposedly the location of the first American baseball game at Elysian Fields in 1846).

O & Hoboken mayor John Grogan sponsored the memorial. Alston was in attendence for the ceremony along with O & Grogan.

[tonypug]

http://snideralbum.tripod.com/Baseball/Images/imagesteam/lookslikrain.jpg

1949
Now thats a picture I have never seen. Great stuff.

[dreifort]

...more of Sugar Ray & Robinson:

1957

[dreifort]

with Joe Louis, 1946:

[dreifort]

larger Oct. 1, 1951 photo:

[dreifort]

Sept 1951 - Sugar Ray (recent Middle Weight champ) and Joe Louis visit Yanks locker room

[dreifort]

1954 posing for camera outside his resturant after deciding to make a comeback after leaving boxing in 1952.

[dreifort]

1950 Sport Magazine awards:

Sugar Ray for boxing, Alex Groza for basketball (brother Lou accepting), Tommy Henrich for Athlete of the Year, Robinson for baseball, Mel Patton for track & Otto Graham for football.

[DODGER DEB]

http://hyeeauctions.com/NEWAUCTION30/PHOTUES/211.jpg


BIG KLU hitting a HR off US in the 50's. Note KLU's cut-off uniform shirt sleeves, as WE were discussing not too long ago.

From a past eBay listing.

c.

[tonypug]

http://hyeeauctions.com/NEWAUCTION30/PHOTUES/211.jpg


BIG KLU hitting a HR off US in the 50's. Note KLU's cut-off uniform shirt sleeves, as WE were discussing not too long ago.

From a past eBay listing.

c.
Big Klu was the first to wear a vest uniform.

[jaykay]

http://hyeeauctions.com/NEWAUCTION30/PHOTUES/211.jpg


BIG KLU hitting a HR off US in the 50's. Note KLU's cut-off uniform shirt sleeves, as WE were discussing not too long ago.

From a past eBay listing.

c.

What I take note of most of all in this fine photo is Campanella either a) bowing his head in sorrow, or b) noting whether Kluszewski touches home plate. Given Campy's baseball smarts, I prefer choice b), while acknowledging that the correct answer might be both a) and b). It reminds me of the familiar tableau, immediately following Thomson's home run, of the Dodger players trudging toward the center field clubhouse entrance while Robinson stands amid the mayhem noting whether or not Thomson touches each base.

Now comes the question portion of our exercise (not a quiz, as I don't know the answers - my rule book skills having faded badly over the years):
Presumably the umpires were watching along with Robinson. What would have been the outcome if Thomson, in rounding the bases, had missed first base and had his blunder called to the umpires' attention by Robinson? What if he had touched first, but missed second? Touched first and second, but missed third? Etc. Seriously.

What difference does it make? I think he missed second, and I've always wanted to rewrite history. Doesn't a home run become a home run after you've touched all the bases - not when the ball clears the wall?

I thank in advance any rules maven who will unravel the above. We know that Kluszewski touched them all- or at least home plate (see photo)-, but I'm not so sure about Thomson. ("The Dodgers win the pennant! The Dodgers win the pennant!")

[64Cards]

I'm not sure, but I do remember the Chris Chambliss HR in the 76 ALCS against KC that won the Series, he never touched home because so many fans had run on the field.

[DODGER DEB]

O.K. DD, but only for the next 20 years, then Im finished.


DEAL!!!

c.

[VIBaseball]

Doesn't a home run become a home run after you've touched all the bases - not when the ball clears the wall?

This makes me think of Robin Ventura's "Grand Single" in the 1999 playoffs against the Braves. That ball cleared the wall, but Ventura never rounded the bases thanks to Todd Pratt.

At the time, Elias spokesman Steve Hirdt said, "The game ends in sudden death when the winning run scores. The only exception is on a home run, assuming the player rounds all the bases. He never rounded the bases."

So on this basis, let's say Thomson missed a base and was called out on appeal. As long as he got to first, Hartung and Lockman would have scored, tying the game 4-4. There would have been two out, nobody on, and Willie Mays would have come to the plate.

If I'm missing something, I'll gladly stand corrected.

[DODGER DEB]

Sometime in the early '50's, on May 16, 17, and 18, WE were playing the Chicago Cubs at WRIGLEY FIELD in Chicago. The marquee of Wrigley Field, in this great old photo, says so....


http://i13.ebayimg.com/03/i/03/b4/e5/71_1_b.JPG


This is from a company called PhotoFile and is an eBay listing.

c.

[DODGER DEB]

http://i13.ebayimg.com/03/i/00/96/3d/a3_1.JPG

I know this does not fall into the thread title of "The 40's and 50's", but I thought you might like to see it...

It is the cover of the 1920 World Series Program between OUR BROOKLYN DODGERS and the Cleveland Indians, with Uncle Wilbert Robinson on the cover (notice, he was called the "Man of War" of the 1920 Baseball Season). WE would have a long dry run to OUR next World Series in 1941.

From an eBay listing.

c.

[zman]

http://www.hickoksports.com/images/amoroscatch.jpg

"Walter Alston put me all the way to center field for Jogi berra. They didn't think Yonny Podres had much left, and they figured Jogi was going to pull the ball, so they pulled me over to center field. If I had played straightaway like I should have played, it would have been easy for me to catch the baseball. But everybody say to play all the way to center field. So Berra hits the ball to the corner down the left-field line. Well, I had to do something. I run like a hawk. I run to the wall, and I figure, `I can get it,' and so I catch it, and Pee Wee, he tells me, `Give me the ball, give me the ball,' and Pee Wee is standing on the line down third base, and I throw it to Pee Wee, and we caught McDougald on second base, so he throw to Gil Hodges at first, and they make the double play. We finish the inning, 2-0, we play the ninth, and they don't do nothing in the ninth, so it finish 2-0. We win the championship."

(Bums by Peter Golenbock)

[zman]

http://www.vintagecardtraders.com/virtual/57topps/57topps-201.jpg

Sandy Amoros: "In '54 I started with the Dodgers. They have a good team. They have Furillo and Duke Snider, and they have Don Thompson, he chew tobacco, in left field. So I come over in '54, and I hit pretty good. I hit for .290 something. We finish second. I no play the whole year. But they gave me a full share because I play good the last half."

"Did anyone else speak Spanish on the Dodgers?"

"Yeah. Yo [Joe] Black and Roy Campanyella. I roomed with Campanyella for two years. Yo Black, Campanyella, I never have a problem with these men. The old Brooklyn Dodgers, I never have trouble with any of them. They explain to you everything, help you and everything. They tell me, `I work at the ballpark. I have my yob [job]. You have your yob. When I play with the Brooklyn Dodgers, they show me something....I can't explain. I can explain it in Spanish but not in English."

In Spanish Sandy said, "We were brothers. We got along together. We always had this to help us win, playing together in friendship, united."

http://snideralbum.tripod.com/Baseball/Images/sadu56.jpg


(Bums by Peter Golenbock)

[donzblock]

Seems like a pennant-winning team to me.

[dparrott3]

I just found this site and saw all the pictures. My Mom and Dad just moved and I was helping them sort through things. Lots of team photos some of spring traing in Cuba and some of my Grandfatehers own stuff.

I am Harold Parrott's grandson and I loved to sit and listen to him tell the stories. Now my Dad, Lynn Parrott fills me in on his Dodgers days.

50 years later and still such passion for a team.

Dan Parrott

[DODGER DEB]

I just found this site and saw all the pictures. My Mom and Dad just moved and I was helping them sort through things. Lots of team photos some of spring traing in Cuba and some of my Grandfatehers own stuff.

I am Harold Parrott's grandson and I loved to sit and listen to him tell the stories. Now my Dad, Lynn Parrott fills me in on his Dodgers days.

50 years later and still such passion for a team.

Dan Parrott


Welcome, Dan! It is so nice to have Harold's grandson join US here on OUR very Special Forum....that of OUR BROOKLYN DODGERS!

Your grandfather was always so nice to my sister DEBS, and myself.

Please join in any of OUR discussions, and feel free to go through OUR archives and read some of the past threads where WE discussed everything BROOKLYN DODGERS.

Please take notice that OUR FORUM, is the #1 TEAM FORUM on BBF....considering the fact that WE haven't had an active Team for 48 years will tell you the kind the PASSION and MEMORIES that has sustained US for all these years.

WE still LOVE OUR BROOKLYN DODGERS.....and WE always will!

Again, welcome!

c.

[donzblock]

I just found this site and saw all the pictures. My Mom and Dad just moved and I was helping them sort through things. Lots of team photos some of spring traing in Cuba and some of my Grandfatehers own stuff.

I am Harold Parrott's grandson and I loved to sit and listen to him tell the stories. Now my Dad, Lynn Parrott fills me in on his Dodgers days.

50 years later and still such passion for a team.

Dan Parrott
Hey, Dan: your granddad wrote a terrific book, "The Lords of Baseball." Have you read it? His descriptions of O'Malley are priceless. And he is a wonderful story teller. I just loved that book. Welcome aboard, Dan. I'm sure you have some terrific stories you can relate to us that we would be delighted to read.

[DickZ]

Hi Don and Dan,

As a Boston Red Sox fan who frequently checks this site because there are some great writers here, I don't yet know exactly who Harold Parrott was. However, I was intrigued to see Dan’s message yesterday, and did a brief search through which I found a poem by Harold in a book copyrighted by Don Z. Block. It was entitled “The Ballad of Leo and Sam” and it is patterned after Longfellow’s "Paul Revere’s Ride.”

Now I’m curious as to your connection with Mr. Parrott. Can you expand on it a little for the benefit of those of us who don’t know you?

[DODGER DEB]

Harold did not write a poem; he wrote an excellent book entitled "The Lords of Baseball." In chapters 21 and 22, Harold Parrott describes an incident in which an owner's greed almost killed the Brooklyn Dodgers literally in a train wreck. I wrote a verse version of that incident entitled "The Ballad of Leo and Sam." The poem was copyrighted by the Webmaster. And you are the first one to call attention to the fact that the meter of the poem was patterned after Longfellow's "Paul Revere's Ride."

Dan has already revealed that he is the grandson of Harold Parrott. Harold's official title with the Dodgers was Press Secretary? Or was it Traveling Secretary? Good lord, what was it?


Professor, Harold originally was the Traveling Secretary, but was "bumped up" to the PR/Press office in the mid-50's when Lee Scott was made Traveling Secretary. I don't remember what his exact title was (it might have been Press Secretary because Frank Graham, Jr was the PR guy), but I will check it out and post it.

I agree, Harold's "The Lords of Baseball" was quite a piece of work.

c.

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Harold Parrott was OUR Traveling Secretary and Director of Publicity/PR in 1951.

Starting in 1952, Frank Graham, Jr. became OUR Director of Public Relations, and Lee Scott OUR Traveling Secretary.

Harold Parott was made OUR BUSINESS MANAGER sometime in 1952, and held that job thru 1957.

Arthur "Red" Patterson, who was BUZZIE BAVASI'S right hand as Assistant GM, also handled all the Publicity during the 1957 season. He was the one who made the announcement to the Press in BROOKLYN on that fateful day, October 9, 1957, which changed OUR lives forever.

c.

[tonypug]

After Branch Rickey was bushwacked by O'Malley, the GM position was abolished. Red Patterson started calling himself the assistant GM, when officially there was no GM. Bavasi and Fresco Thompson shared the GM duties.

[donzblock]

Campy was wonderful, and it still kills me to look at that picture.

[zman]

Campy was wonderful, and it still kills me to look at that picture. Sorry to bring up a painful memory, Mr. Donzblock. I was watching an interview with Campy's son, Roy, and it got me to thinkng about his father and the pluck it must have taken to give the world a smile in that situation. Remarkable man.

http://i16.ebayimg.com/01/i/03/c0/16/29_1_b.JPG

[zman]

There are photo's I have, that are more graphic then the one you posted, but for the very reason expressed by Donzblock, I will not post them.

Yes. I'm afraid I exercised poor judgement in posting it. Initially, I thought it was uplifting, the way he was smiling as if to say, "Don't worry, folks. It's going to be all right. I'm going to beat this." Rare courage, when you consider the severity of his hardship. It should have occurred to me that seeing the photo might bring pain to those who knew him best. Sorry for the lapse in judgement, folks. I guess that's why my girlfriend always says of me..."He means well, he's just stupid."

[zman]

http://www.dickperez.com/images/pcg_RoyCampanella_lg.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/19BRO.jpg

[shlevine42]

Campy was wonderful, and it still kills me to look at that picture.

From the day of his accident, it has always been difficult (and painful) to reconcile pictures of a paralyzed, wheel-chair-bound Campanella with the images of the powerful, indestructible player who guarded home plate so fiercely and who regularly boomed game-winning hits all over Ebbets Field.

When I met him at Dodger Fantasy Camp in the Fall of ’86, Roy had been in that wheel chair for almost 28 years, and yet, in all the time I spent with him, he was unfailingly chipper and gracious. And always, always smiling.

He showed up every day of that magical week in full uniform, and took an active part in all our activities, always ready with a word of encouragement or a story to illustrate a bit of baseball strategy.

Erskine, Labine, Podres, Drysdale, Branca, Snider, Furillo and Roe were also at the Camp that year…but it was Number 39 who always drew the biggest crowds…whether on the field, in the dining room or in the lounge at the end of the day.

I had been in awe of Campy as a player. I now marveled at his spirit, his courage, his love of life despite the cruel blow he’d suffered.

For this Dodger fan, spending a week at Camp was a special experience.

Meeting Campy made it unforgettable.

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/21Stengel.jpg

[zman]

http://www.vintagecardtraders.com/virtual/57topps/57topps-045.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/15Campy.jpg

[zman]

http://www.paperpast.com/assets/images/s1x55x.jpg

[zman]

http://walteromalley.com/images/hist_qa/newcombe/1/UKD1551INP_a.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/49Ebbets.jpg

[zman]

http://www.vintagecardtraders.com/virtual/53bowman_color/53bowman_color-014.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/14Snider.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/86Hodges.jpg

[zman]

http://www.davesdougout.com/photos/85Snider.jpg

[DODGER DEB]

A RARE photo from the 1916 World Series...when WE played the Boston Red Sox.....


http://www.patricklyons.com/ebay/1916brooklynwirephoto.jpg


Photo was taken on October 5, 1916 and pictures OUR infield...

JAKE DAUBERT 1B - GEORGE CURSHAW 2B - IVY OLSEN SS - MIKE MOWREY 3B


Photo comes from Culver Service Photo Research is listed on eBay.

c.

[DODGER DEB]

http://www.aaretroleague.com/12bc66a0.png


A THING of BEAUTY is a JOY FOREVER!!

I will NEVER tire of remembering "OUR PRECIOUS MOMENT IN TIME"!

Thanks, Jackie....for posting it....one more time!

c.

[tonypug]

http://www.aaretroleague.com/12bc66a0.png
There is a version of this picture. taken from behind the Dodger dugout, It shows the players rushing from the dugout, led by Robinson and Newcombe. For those two players it had to be real sweet.

[tonypug]

http://www.thedeadballera.com/Photos/BarneyRex_photo.jpg

Rex Barney.
That is one of the strangest swings I have ever seen.

[JACKIE42]

That is one of the strangest swings I have ever seen.

I guess when your a life time .164 hitter it really doesn't matter.

[zman]

http://www.seth.com/images/collection_pages/photographs/09.jpg
I certainly do remember it, Jackie!

Fans today do NOT know how much FUN WE had at a ballgame.....this gives a little glimpse.

Thanks.

c.

Was this from music depreciation night? I always enjoyed the story behind that.

[D6+]

Professor, Harold originally was the Traveling Secretary, but was "bumped up" to the PR/Press office in the mid-50's when Lee Scott was made Traveling Secretary. I don't remember what his exact title was (it might have been Press Secretary because Frank Graham, Jr was the PR guy), but I will check it out and post it.

I agree, Harold's "The Lords of Baseball" was quite a piece of work.

c.

c.


This is a terrific thread. Seeing the photos and reading the messages is the closest thing to going back in time to these glorious times. Nothing in baseball today comes close to what the Brooklyn Dodgers provided.


The recommendations of Harold Parrott's " Lords of Baseball " book that you both gave lead me to ordering the book a few minutes ago.