Total Baseball (1994 Edition)/Total_Baseball_1994_Edition_Creative_Multimedia_1994.iso/dp/0002/00022.txt

Text File | 1994-02-14 | 69KB | 1,057 lines

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$Title{The 100 Greatest Players:  Dickey-Koufax}
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Gershman, Michael}
$Subject{100 Greatest Players hundred best infielders outfielders first second
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Dickey, Bill*0018101.scf
DiMaggio, Joe*0018001.scf
Evers, Johnny*0020301.scf
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Fingers, Rollie*0021101.scf
Fisk, Carlton (1975 World Series H.R.)*0021301.scf
Ford, Whitey*0022001.scf
Foxx, Jimmie*0022501.scf
Frisch, Frankie*0022901.scf
Gehrig, Lou*0023301.scf
Gehringer, Charlie*0023401.scf
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Grove, Lefty*0025601.scf
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Henderson, Rickey*0027101.scf
Hornsby, Rogers*0028101.scf
Hubbell, Carl*0029101.scf
Jackson, Shoeless Joe*0029601.scf
Jackson, Reggie*0029501.scf
Johnson, Walter*0030701.scf
Kaline, Al*0031201.scf
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Total Baseball:  The Players


The 100 Greatest Players:  Dickey-Koufax

Michael Gershman


BILL DICKEY
     Catcher. Born Jun. 6, 1907 Bastrop, Ga. Died Nov. 12, 1993 Little Rock,
Ark. Hit .362 in 1936, highest average for a catcher in this century.
     Bill Dickey was the only Yankee quiet enough to play in the shadow of his
long-time roommate, the painfully shy Lou Gehrig, who had himself played in
Babe Ruth's shadow.
     Yet, with the passage of the years, it becomes clear that while Ruth
started the Yankee mystique with his power and personality, the pinstriped
legacy was passed along by quiet men--Gehrig, Dickey, Joe DiMaggio. An
admiring Dan Daniel once wrote, "Dickey isn't just a catcher. He's a ball
club. He isn't just a player. He's an influence."
     With the Yanks and Reds scoreless in the ninth inning of the 1939 World
Series opener, Charlie Keller tripled and Reds pitcher Paul Derringer walked
Joe DiMaggio intentionally. Tommy Henrich says, "When I saw that--and this is
the absolute gospel truth--I turned around and picked up my glove, because I
knew the game was going to be over right now. And it was." (Dickey singled.)
     One of the few nonpitchers in the Hall of Fame who never led the league
in a single offensive category, he hit .300 or better eleven times--in 1936 a
lofty .362, the highest mark for a backstop in this century--and compiled a
lifetime average of .313. In the course of 6,300 at bats, he struck out only
289 times. As a bonus, Dickey caught 100 games in thirteen straight seasons,
a record later tied by Johnny Bench.
     At his best in October, Dickey hit .438 in the 1932 Classic, went 4-for-4
to open the 1938 edition, knocked in at least one run in every game in 1939,
and finished off the Cardinals in Game Five of the 1943 Series with a two-run
homer in the ninth.
     Signed by Yankee scout Lena Blackburne on the back of an Elks Club card,
Dickey tried to impress manager Miller Huggins with his home run swing.
Huggins told him, "Stop unbuttoning your shirt on every pitch."  With Ruth,
Gehrig, and Lazzeri, the Yankees didn't need power from Dickey. What they
wanted was steadiness. Dickey provided it, leading AL catchers three times
each in assists and fielding and five times in putouts.
     Given the job of turning Yogi Berra into a catcher, he looked up one day
to find Joe Garagiola and Roy Campanella listening. In Yogi's phrase, Dickey
"learned them all his experiences," too.

JOE DIMAGGIO
     Center Field. Born Nov. 25, 1914. Holds major league record for hitting
in most consecutive games (56). Babe Ruth played on seven pennant winners and
four championship teams in his fifteen years as a Yankee; Joe DiMaggio played
on ten pennant winners and nine championship teams in thirteen years.
     At nineteen, he hit in 61 straight games for the San Francisco Seals, a
Pacific Coast League record that still stands. Bought by the Yankees in 1936,
he hit .323 as a rookie, led the league in home runs and runs scored the
following year, and in 1939 led the league in batting and was named MVP for
the first time.
     He won the batting crown again in 1940 and the RBI title in 1941, the
year he hit in 56 straight games, winning the MVP award despite Ted Williams'
mark of .406. A disc jockey wrote a hit song called "Joltin' Joe DiMaggio."
A Cincinnati high school class was asked to name the greatest American of all
time; George Washington finished second to DiMaggio.
     After his return from military service, DiMaggio had a sub-par 1946,
hitting only .290. The next spring, he was almost traded for Williams. (The
deal fell through when Boston also asked for Yogi Berra.)  DiMaggio responded
by winning his third MVP award in 1947 and blasting two home runs in the World
Series.
     On February 7, 1949, DiMaggio became the first $100,000 ballplayer and,
despite serious injuries, helped the Yanks win the pennant. In 1951 he
retired with a .325 career batting average, having played on All-Star teams in
every year of major league service. He was named to the Hall of Fame in 1955.
     Despite serving on the boards of the A's and Orioles, a turbulent
marriage to Marilyn Monroe, commercials for banks and coffeemakers, and an
involvement in signing memorabilia for profit, DiMaggio retains his aura of
heroism. In 1989 former All-Star outfielder Andy Pafko said, "Even today I
look up to him. And he's never disappointed me."

JOHNNY EVERS
     Second Baseman. Born July 21, 1881 Troy, N.Y. Died Mar. 28, 1947
Albany, N.Y. NL MVP 1914. When Johnny Evers joined the Cubs in 1902 he played
both ends of a Labor Day doubleheader; yet his mates thought so little of him
that they refused to let him on the team bus; he had to ride on top instead.
     As things turned out, Evers was a Hall of Fame second baseman and a
winner in every sinew of his 125-pound body. An early incarnation of Eddie
Stanky or Billy Martin, Evers single-mindedly drove himself and his mates to
victory and his opponents to distraction. He was on five pennant winners, and
all four times he played his team won the Series. (A broken leg kept him out
of the 1910 Series, which the Cubs lost.)
     Born in Troy, he was "the Trojan," but that nickname soon gave way to
"the Crab."  Like many other bantam-sized battlers, Evers had a chip on his
shoulder and never ran from a fight. He and shortstop Joe Tinker had a
falling out on September 14, 1905, when Evers took a cab to the park without
waiting for Tinker; although they didn't speak for thirty-three years, they
won three championships together.
     The third championship came in 1908 when Evers batted 1.000 in the rules
department. On September 4, with one out in the bottom of the tenth of a
scoreless tie, the Pirates loaded the bases; John "Chief" Wilson singled, Fred
Clarke scored the winning run, and Warren Gill, the runner on first, started
for the clubhouse. Evers called for the ball, touched second, and told umpire
Hank O'Day the side had been retired because Gill had been "forced."  O'Day
disallowed that protest but, when the same situation arose on September 23,
Evers' alertness caused the controversial "Merkle boner" game to end in a tie
and, eventually, give Chicago its third straight pennant.
     In February 1914, Evers was sold to the Braves. He and Rabbit Maranville
led the Miracle Braves from last place to the pennant, and Evers was named MVP
and shone in the World Series, hitting .438 to lead the Braves to a sweep. He
ended his career in Philadelphia, although he played one game each for the
Braves and White Sox while coaching with them. He, Tinker, and Frank Chance
were reunited in the Hall of Fame in 1946.

WILLIAM "BUCK" EWING
     Catcher. Born Oct. 17, 1859 Hoaglands, Oh. Died Oct. 20, 1906,
Cincinnati, Oh. In the 1919 Reach Guide, sportswriter Francis Richter picked
the three greatest players of all time--Ty Cobb, Honus Wagner, and Buck
Ewing--and said that, in his prime (1884-1890), Ewing was "the greatest player
of the game."  In the 1930 Spalding Guide, editor John Foster said Ewing "was
the greatest all-around player ever connected with the game."
     For one thing, Ewing did play all around literally, all nine positions.
In addition to catching 636 games and leading all catchers in assists three
times and double plays twice, he played 253 at first, 212 at the other infield
slots, and 112 in the outfield. Finally, with the Giants involved in the
pennant race in 1889 and short of pitchers, Ewing even pitched and won two
games.
     A lifetime .303 hitter, Ewing was fast enough to lead the league in
triples in 1884 (20), and strong enough to outhomer it in 1883 (10). One of
the few catchers to bat leadoff and be considered a real threat to run, Ewing
stole 40 or more bases four times in his career. In one famous instance, he
stole second, stole third, announced, "Now I'm stealing home," and made it.
The moment was later immortalized in a famous lithograph.
     But Ewing's greatest fame came as a defensive catcher and strategist.
Mickey Welch, a Hall of Fame pitcher, said Ewing was "the thinking man's
player" and credited him with inventing the pregame clubhouse meeting. It is
said that Ewing also originated the practice of throwing from a crouch, saving
precious fractions of a second to catch larcenous runners.
     In 1888 John Montgomery Ward resigned as team captain, a position closer
to today's manager, and Ewing took over and led the Giants to their first
pennant. For the 1889 season, Ewing was paid $5,000, a princely sum, and hit
.327 as the Giants repeated. When the Players League was founded, Ewing
jumped to be player-manager of the New York team, rejoined the Giants when
the league folded, and later played at Cleveland and Cincinnati, where he
succeeded Charles Comiskey as the Reds' manager.
     Ewing died a wealthy man from real estate investments. In 1936 he tied
Cap Anson for the most "old-timer" votes in the initial selection of men for
the Hall of Fame, and three years later, when the new museum opened, he and
his old rival were immortalized with plaques.

BOB FELLER
     Pitcher. Born Nov. 3, 1918 Van Meter, Ia. Threw three no-hitters and
twelve one-hitters. Bob Feller struck out 17 Athletics in a major league game
in 1936, tying Dizzy Dean's record; then he went back to Van Meter, Iowa, to
finish high school.
     Feller generated statewide publicity at sixteen, and the Indians signed
him to a contract before he completed high school, a violation of baseball
rules. When he attracted attention pitching in Des Moines, the Tigers also
offered him a bonus, and the truth was revealed. Commissioner Landis fined
the Indians $7,500 and ruled that Feller was free to sign with any team. The
bidding might have reached $100,000, an astronomical sum in those days, but
Feller respected his contract and signed with the Indians anyway.
     Without any minor league experience, he faced the Cardinals in an
exhibition game on July 6, 1936, and fanned eight members of the Gashouse Gang
in three innings. "Rapid Robert" won his first big league start, 4-1, striking
out 15 St. Louis Browns.
     On the last day of the 1938 season, 30,000 people came to see Hank
Greenberg try to break Babe Ruth's record of 60 home runs in a season.
Instead, they saw Feller strike out 18 Tigers to set the major league record
(since broken) and win the AL strikeout title, beating out Bobo Newsom. (He
also led in bases on balls.)
     By the time he was twenty-three Feller had won 107 games. He enlisted in
the Navy the day after Pearl Harbor and was sworn in by former heavyweight
champ Gene Tunney. Pitching anti-aircraft shells from the deck of the
battleship Alabama, Feller missed nearly four full seasons but earned six
battle citations as a gun crew chief.
     Returning to baseball at the end of 1945, he had his best season ever in
1946, winning 26 games, striking out a record 348 batters in 371 innings, and
recording 10 shutouts with an ERA of 2.18. In 1948, he two-hit the Braves in
his only World Series game but lost. In 1951, he still had enough stuff to
throw his third no-hitter and lead the league with a record of 22-8.
     By the time he retired, Feller had pitched twelve one-hitters, won 20 or
more games six times and rolled up 2,581 career strikeouts. Satchel Paige
summed up his career this way:  "If anybody threw that ball any harder than
Rapid Robert, then the human eye couldn't follow it."  He was elected to the
Hall of Fame in 1962.

ROLLIE FINGERS
     Pitcher. Born Aug. 25, 1946 Steubenville, Oh. AL Cy Young Award and
MVP, 1981. Established major league record for saves, 341 (since surpassed).
If he hadn't been such a worrywart, Rollie Fingers might have been an average
starter; instead, he fretted himself right into the bullpen and became a Hall
of Fame fireman.
     "I would plan my pitches days in advance of my start and get so wound up
I couldn't sleep the night before my turn," he recalled. After finishing only
four of thirty-five starts, he took immediately to the relief role in 1971 and
finished with 17 saves. In 1972, he led the league with 11 relief wins and 21
saves to help Oakland win the division.
     Fingers pitched in six of the seven games in the 1972 World Series,
earning saves in Games Two and Seven and a win in Game Four. One year later,
he pitched 3-1/3 hitless innings in the Series opener against the Mets,
saved Game Three for Paul Lindblad and Game Six for Catfish Hunter, and
yielded only one unearned run in 3-1/3 innings of relief in the finale.
     In 1974, he led the A's to a third straight world championship. He got
the win in Game One; for a change, Catfish Hunter got the save. The roles
were reversed in Game Three when Fingers saved Hunter. Rollie got a second
save the next day, and was named Series MVP.
     When Fingers and the A's reached a contract impasse, owner Charlie Finley
sold him to Boston, but Commissioner Bowie Kuhn voided the sale. With San
Diego in 1977, Fingers appeared in 78 games and saved 35 (league-leading
figures), and earned National League Fireman of the Year honors.
     Four days after being traded to St. Louis in 1980, he moved again, to
Milwaukee. During the strike-shortened 1981 season, he notched a
league-leading 28 saves and posted a brilliant 1.04 ERA. Fingers won his
fourth Fireman of the Year award, won the Cy Young Award, and was also named
MVP.
     After posting 29 saves in 1982, Fingers missed the World Series and the
entire 1983 season because of tendinitis. He came back to notch 23 saves by
July, 1984, when a herniated disk ended his season and career. He ranks first
in wins plus saves (430) and was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1992.

CARLTON FISK
     Catcher. Born Dec. 26, 1947 Bellows Falls, Vt. Holds major league record
for lifetime home runs by a catcher (351). Holds major league record for games
caught (2,226). During a Yankees-White Sox game in May 1990, Carlton Fisk
blasted Deion Sanders for not running out a pop fly, starting a brawl but
enhancing Fisk's role as Defender of the Game. Moreover, it came at a time
when Fisk, a ten-time All-Star, was trying to push an unknown pitching staff
to a division title.
     That year Fisk, already the oldest regular catcher in baseball history,
hit 18 homers to pass Johnny Bench as baseball's leading home run-hitting
catcher, extended his AL record of games caught, and added to his total as
modern baseball's best base-stealing catcher. Fisk, Bench, and Yogi Berra are
the only three receivers to hit 300 homers and both score and drive in 1,000
runs.
     Carlton Ernest Fisk grew up in Charlestown, New Hampshire on the heavy
side (5'4", 155) and was dubbed "Pudge" by a female relative. A three-sport
MVP in high school, he earned a basketball scholarship to the University of
New Hampshire but signed instead with the Red Sox in 1967.
     Brought up late in 1971 for a look-see, he was the All-Star catcher by
the summer of '72. That fall he became the first AL Rookie of the Year to be
chosen unanimously. In 1975 injuries limited him to only 79 games during the
regular season, but he created one of baseball's enduring moments in the World
Series with a twelfth-inning, body English home run off the Reds' Pat Darcy to
end the now fabled Game Six.
     After the 1980 season, free agent Fisk signed with the White Sox. He had
worn number 27 in Boston but sported number 72 in Chicago, because "it
represents a turnaround in my career."  Following a workmanlike 1982 season,
Fisk slumped in early 1983 and was hitting only .136. Replaced in both halves
of a June 12 doubleheader in Oakland, Fisk jawed with manager Tony LaRussa.
LaRussa said, "He came out fighting, the way a winner reacts to a challenge."
In the next 71 games, Fisk hit 16 homers, drove in 49 runs, raised his average
more than 100 points, and helped Chicago clinch the division.
     An Opening Day abdominal muscle hampered him in 1984. The next year,
however, at age thirty-seven, Fisk had his greatest campaign, knocking in 107
runs and hitting 37 homers.

ED "WHITEY" FORD
     Pitcher. Born Oct. 21, 1928 New York, N.Y. Holds record for World
Series wins (10); AL Cy Young Award, 1961. Whitey Ford won 236 games and lost
only 106 to register a lifetime .690 won-lost percentage, the highest recorded
by any pitcher since 1900. He also broke Babe Ruth's forty-five-year-old
record of 29-2/3 scoreless innings in World Series competition, ending up with
32. Ford also holds the records for most Series wins (10), strikeouts (94),
and innings pitched (146).
     Ford's Series stats are so impressive that his regular season numbers
tend to get buried. He won 20 games only twice in sixteen seasons; however,
from 1953 to 1960, he averaged nearly 16 wins against 7 losses. Casey
Stengel, who manipulated the rotation so Ford faced the toughies (though he
kept him out of Boston's Fenway Park), said, "If you had one game to win and
your life depended on it, you'd want him to pitch it."
     Even though he led the league in wins, innings pitched, and won-lost
percentage and won the Cy Young Award in 1961, Ford's 25-4 record was almost
overshadowed by Roger Maris' quest for home run number 61. He got more
recognition by going 24-7 in 1963 and repeating in all three categories.
     Ford was inducted into the Hall of Fame on August 12, 1974, along with
Mickey Mantle, his partner in the long-running "Mick and Slick" Show. When
writers recalled the spitter Ford used to strike out Willie Mays in the 1964
All-Star Game, Ford said, "Look, they didn't call me Slick for nothing."

JIMMIE FOXX
     First Baseman. Born Oct. 22, 1907 Sudlersville, Md. Died July 21, 1967
Miami, Fla. Holds major league record for most consecutive years with 30 or
more home runs (12). AL MVP 1932, 1933, 1938. Jimmie Foxx hit some of
baseball's most awesome home runs. He homered over the two-tiered left field
stands in Shibe Park, drove a ball out of Comiskey Park some 600 feet from
home plate, broke a seat in the upper deck of left field at Yankee Stadium,
and hit what he considered his longest shot over the left-center field fence
in Sportsman's Park to win Game Five of the 1930 Series. Ted Williams, not
known for admiring other hitters, said of Foxx, "I never saw anyone hit a
baseball harder."
     Nicknamed "The Beast" and "Double X," Foxx won three MVP awards (1932,
1933, 1938), knocked in 100 or more runs in thirteen straight seasons, won
five slugging titles, hit .300 or better thirteen times, and ended his career
with a lifetime batting average of .325, 534 homers, and 1,922 RBIs. He also
set a record by hitting 30 or more home runs in 12 consecutive seasons.
     Appropriately enough this great home run hitter was discovered at age
sixteen by none other than Home Run Baker. He entered Organized Baseball as a
catcher. After several .300-plus seasons as a utility player, Foxx was
installed at first base in 1929 and hit .354 with 33 homers. In 1932 he
mounted the first serious challenge to Babe Ruth's season record of 60 home
runs with 58. (According to writer Fred Lieb, Foxx hit five doubles against
the right field screen in Sportsman's Park, which hadn't been there in 1927
when Ruth hit 60 homers.)  Foxx failed to win the Triple Crown when Dale
Alexander was named batting champ, even though he didn't have 400 at bats.
Nevertheless, the Beast led the league in homers (58), runs scored (151), RBIs
(169), total bases (438) and slugging (.749) and finished second in batting
average (.364) and hits (213) to win his first MVP award.
     In 1933 he repeated as MVP, topped the league with a slugging percentage
of .703, and captured the Triple Crown, hitting 48 homers, driving in 163
runs, and hitting .356. After tying Hank Greenberg for the home run crown in
1935, he was sold to the Red Sox. Foxx responded with another MVP year in
1938, leading the league with 175 RBIs and hitting 50 homers, second only to
Greenberg's 58.
     Foxx entered the pantheon at Cooperstown in 1951.

FRANKIE FRISCH
     Second Baseman. Born Sept. 9, 1898 New York, N.Y. Died Mar. 12, 1973
Wilmington, Del. Holds major league records for most assists (641) and
chances accepted (1,037) in a season, 1927; NL MVP 1931. Frank Frisch, "The
Fordham Flash," had something to prove in 1927.
     Giants manager John McGraw, the man who had taken Frisch from Fordham to
stardom, had traded him to the Cardinals after the 1926 season for Rogers
Hornsby. McGraw had taught Frisch how to switch hit and play the hitters, and
had been a father figure for Frisch, giving the trade a personal twist.
     Frisch spent the winter toughening up and came out charging. He hit
.337, led the league in steals, handled a record 1,059 chances (including a
record 641 assists), made the most double plays, and just missed being named
MVP, finishing second to Paul Waner. Cardinal catcher Bob O'Farrell, the MVP
a year before, said, "The greatest player I ever saw in any one season was
Frankie Frisch in 1927."
     He'd served as captain of the baseball, football and basketball teams at
Fordham and been a second-team All-America halfback when he joined the Giants
in 1919. Frisch led the league in stolen bases in 1921 and hits in 1923, and
the Giants won pennants every year from 1921-1924. He went 4-for-4 in the
1921 Series opener and averaged .363 in his first four Series.
     The Flash also brought the Cardinals to three World Series as a player
and one as a player-manager. The Yanks swept St. Louis in 1928 and the A's
took them in six games in 1930, so 1931 was doubly sweet. Frisch sparked the
Cardinals to a seventh-game win over the A's and was also named MVP. In the
first All-Star Game, in 1933, Frisch singled and hit the first All-Star homer
by an NLer.
     Shortly thereafter, he took over as player-manager of the Gashouse Gang,
riding herd over Pepper Martin, Dizzy Dean, and company. In 1934 he hit .305
(one of thirteen times he hit .300 or better) and led the Redbirds to a
pennant. In Game Seven of the Series, the Tigers intentionally walked Jack
Rothrock to load the bases; Frisch unloaded them with a double and the
Cardinals went on to a rout, 11-0.
     After retiring as a player to devote himself to managing full time,
Frisch never won another pennant with the Cardinals, Pirates, or Cubs;
however, in 1947 he began a third successful career as a Giants broadcaster.
In that same year he was reunited with McGraw in the Hall of Fame.

LOU GEHRIG
     First Base. Born Jun. 19, 1903 New York. Died June 2, 1941 Riverdale,
N.Y. Holds major league records for consecutive games played (2,130) and
grand slams (23); AL MVP 1927, 1936. Playing in Babe Ruth's shadow may have
robbed Lou Gehrig of the spotlight, but, as he himself said, "It's a pretty
big shadow. It gives me lots of room to spread myself."  The year Ruth
retired (1935), Gehrig began a three-year streak of leading the league in
walks, a good measure of the respect pitchers still had for him when he was in
his mid-thirties.
     Gehrig had 200 or more hits in eight seasons, never hit below .300 from
1926 to 1937, and had a career average of .340. He tied Ruth for the RBI lead
in 1928 and led the league outright four times; his 184 ribbies in 1931 is
still the league record. The "Iron Horse" led in homers in 1934 and 1936 and
tied Ruth for the lead in 1931 with 46, when Lyn Lary's baserunning
mistake--passing a runner on the bases--robbed him of his 47th. He also holds
the record for career grand slams (23). On June 3, 1932, he was the first
modern slugger to hit four home runs in a game, an achievement that was
somewhat eclipsed because it happened on the same day as John McGraw's
retirement.
     Although Gehrig originally went to Columbia on a football scholarship,
Giant manager John McGraw persuaded him to play pro baseball under an assumed
name (Lewis) in 1921, making him ineligible for college ball; however,
Gehrig's coach, Andy Coakley, persuaded the faculty to give Lou another
chance. The contract was dissolved, and Gehrig resumed collegiate play.
     In 1934, Ruth's last year as a Yankee, Gehrig won the Triple Crown,
leading the AL in homers (49), RBIs (165), and batting average (.363). He
batted .361 in World Series play, averaging an RBI a game for 34 games with 43
hits, 10 of them homers.
     Suffering from the effects of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, Gehrig took
himself out of the lineup on May 2, 1939, after playing in 2,130 consecutive
games. He entered the Hall of Fame later that year when the Baseball Writers
Association waived the existing rule which required a player to be retired one
year before he could be elected.
     On Lou Gehrig Day at Yankee Stadium, the stoical slugger told a packed
house, "I may have been given a bad break, but with all this I have a lot to
live for. I consider myself the luckiest man on the face of the earth."

CHARLIE GEHRINGER
     Second Baseman. Born May 11, 1903 Fowlerville, Mich. Died Jan. 21, 1993
Bloomfield Hills, Mich. American League MVP 1937. Describing Charlie
Gehringer, Mickey Cochrane said of his teammate, "He says hello on opening day
and goodbye on closing day, and in between he hits .350."
     Gehringer was so quiet that when he was given a "Day," the lefthander was
given a set of righthanded golf clubs and learned to play the game
righthanded. He celebrated the Day by homering on the first pitch thrown to
him, getting three other hits, and stealing home to win the game.
     "The Mechanical Man" had 200 or more hits seven times, bettered .300
fourteen times, and knocked in 100 or more runs seven times. In the field, he
led the AL in fielding six times, putouts three times, and assists a record
seven times. A measure of Gehringer's all-around excellence is the 1929
season, when he led the league in stolen bases, doubles, triples, hits, runs,
games, putouts, and fielding while hitting .339. As for consistency, he hit
.320 lifetime and .320 in twenty World Series games.
     Like Bob Feller, Gehringer played his first baseball on a field carved
out of a family farm. A third baseman at the University of Michigan,
Gehringer was discovered by Tiger great Bobby Veach and, despite his quiet
nature, became a favorite of manager Ty Cobb. Cobb resisted all efforts to
change Gehringer's swing and said that, aside from Eddie Collins, Gehringer
was "the best second baseman I ever saw."  After brief callups in 1924 and
1925, Gehringer became the Tigers' regular second baseman in 1926. In 1933 he
started a string of six straight starts for the AL in the All-Star Game. He
is the midsummer classic's lifetime batting leader with an even .500 average
(10 for 20). This splendid ballplaying machine was equally sparkling in World
Series play, hitting .379, leading all Tiger hitters in a losing effort in
1934. In 1935, however, Detroit's "G-Men"--Hank Greenberg, Gehringer, and
Goose Goslin--became champions, beating the Cubs as Gehringer hit .375 and
handled 39 chances flawlessly. In 1937 Gehringer reached the high-water mark
of his career, hitting .371 and being named MVP. After three more .300-plus
seasons, he played out the string during World War II. Elected to the Hall of
Fame in 1949, he served as the Tigers' general manager from 1951 to 1953 and a
vice president until 1959.

BOB GIBSON
     Pitcher. Born Nov. 9, 1935 Omaha, Neb. Holds major league season record
for lowest ERA in 300 or more innings (1.12), 1968. NL MVP 1968, Cy Young
Award 1968, 1970. Bob Gibson was a winner whether he was using his arm, his
bat, or his glove.
     In a fifteen-year career, he won 251 games, posted 56 shutouts, became
the first major leaguer to strike out 200 or more in nine seasons, and posted
a lifetime ERA of 2.91. He also hit 24 regular season home runs and earned a
Gold Glove every year from 1965 to 1973.
     Gibson suffered from rickets and asthma while growing up in Omaha and
because of a heart murmur needed a doctor's permission to play ball.
Nevertheless, he starred as the switch-hitting catcher-shortstop of a YMCA
team, won a basketball scholarship to Creighton University, played with the
Harlem Globetrotters for a year, joined the Cards for good in 1961, and had
his first big year in 1963, going 18-9.
     In 1964 his 19-12 record helped the Cards win the pennant, and he began
an unprecedented streak of seven straight World Series wins by taking Game
Five and, on two days' rest, Game Seven. On his way to another big year in
1967 (13 wins), Gibson was out when Roberto Clemente's smash fractured his
left leg. Incredibly, after being sidelined for eight weeks, he came back to
win three World Series games against the Red Sox, allowing just three earned
runs and pitching three complete games.
     In 1968 he was even better, posting a record of 22-9 with an ERA of 1.12,
breaking Walter Johnson's 1913 record for the lowest ERA with 300 or more
innings pitched. That year Gibson pitched 13 shutouts, and surrendered just 2
runs during one 95-inning stretch during the regular season to win both the
MVP and Cy Young Awards. Awesome in the 1968 Series, he struck out 17 Tigers,
a World Series record, while winning the opener.
     In 1970 he was 23-7 and took his second Cy Young Award. On July 17,
1974, he became only the second pitcher (Walter Johnson was the first) to
notch 3,000 strikeouts. Shortly before Gibson retired, 55,000 people at Busch
Stadium gave him a ten-minute standing ovation. He was named to the Hall of
Fame in 1981.

JOSH GIBSON
     Catcher. Born Dec. 21, 1911 Buena Vista, Ga. Died Jan. 20, 1947
Pittsburgh, Pa. Josh Gibson may have been the greatest catcher of all time.
Walter Johnson said of him, "He hits the ball a mile. Throws like a rifle.
Bill Dickey isn't as good a catcher."  Roy Campanella, who saw Gibson at his
peak, said, "When I broke in with the Baltimore Elite Giants in 1937 there
were already a thousand legends about him; once you saw him play you knew they
were all true."
     According to a 1967 article in The Sporting News, Gibson hit a ball two
feet from the top of the stadium wall circling the bleachers at Yankee
Stadium, some 580 feet from home plate. His Hall of Fame plaque credits him
with "almost 800 home runs," and various authorities say he hit 69, 75, 84,
and 89 home runs in a season, albeit sometimes against semipro pitching.
Gibson could also hit for average, compiling a .412 mark in 34 at bats against
big league pitching. And, while he wasn't a great handler of pitchers or
catcher of popups, few baserunners tried to steal on him because of his great
arm.
     He was born in Buena Vista, Georgia, and moved to Pittsburgh when he was
twelve. As a youngster he won numerous swimming medals. At maturity, he
stood 6'2" and weighed 210.
     Unable to break into the lineup of Pittsburgh's Homestead Grays, Gibson
organized the semipro Crawford Colored Giants; He was in the stands when the
Grays' regular catcher, Buck Ewing, split a finger in June 1930; he changed
into a uniform and never left the lineup again.
     In 1931 Gus Greenlee founded the Pittsburgh Crawfords, signed Gibson and
Satchel Paige, and wrote ads that promised, "Josh Gibson will hit a home run
and Satchel Paige will strike out the side on nine pitches."  They nearly
always delivered. Gibson also played winter ball extensively and said his
greatest thrill was being chosen MVP of the Puerto Rican League in 1941.
     Pirate owner Bill Benswanger reportedly signed him to a contract in 1943,
but Commissioner Landis vetoed the signing. On January 20, 1947, three months
before Jackie Robinson's major league debut, Gibson died of a stroke. He was
elected to the Hall of Fame in 1972.

HANK GREENBERG
     First Baseman. Born Jan. 1, 1911 New York, N.Y. Died Sept. 4, 1986
Beverly Hills, Cal. AL MVP 1935, 1940. In 1934, the big question in Detroit
was, "Should Hank Greenberg play on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur?"
     With the Tigers involved in a hot pennant race with the Yankees, the
Jewish slugger sought spiritual guidance. After due deliberation, Rabbi Leo
Franklin ruled that Greenberg should play on Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New
Year, a happy occasion; he did and hit a tenth-inning homer to win the game.
However, Rabbi Franklin said the slugger should pray, not play, on Yom Kippur,
the Day of Atonement. Greenberg acquiesced. Poet Edgar Guest commented:

     We shall miss him in the infield and shall miss him at the bat
     But he's true to his religion--and I honor him for that.

     The Tigers won the pennant, and Greenberg homered in the World Series, as
he would in all four Series in which he played. A year later, his 36 homers
and 170 RBIs earned him the MVP award, but he missed the last four games of
the Series with a broken wrist. Greenberg had a null year in 1936--67 at
bats; however, in 1937, he drove in a mind-boggling 183 runs and, in 1938 fell
just short of Babe Ruth's season home run record, with 58.
     After hitting 33 homers and knocking in 112 runs in 1939, he was forced
to take a $10,000 pay cut--if he stayed at first base. Instead he moved to
the outfield, making way for good-hit, no-field Rudy York, and got a $10,000
raise. He was named MVP again in 1940, when the Tigers lost the Series in
seven games to Cincinnati.
     In May 1941 Greenberg was drafted into the Army and returned in July
1945, winning the pennant for the Tigers on the last day of the season with a
grand slam in the bottom of the ninth inning. In 1947 he had a last fling
with the Pirates, hitting 25 homers and knocking in 74 runs in his only NL
season. When he retired that fall, he had led the league in RBIs four times,
won home run honors outright four times and tied for the lead once, and hit
331 career home runs, even though he had lost four and a half seasons to the
war and injury. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1956.

ROBERT "LEFTY" GROVE
     Pitcher. Born Mar. 6, 1900 Lonaconing, Md. Died May 22, 1975 Norwalk,
Oh. AL MVP 1931. In 1931 Lefty Grove was en route to his seventeenth
straight victory, which would have broken the AL record then shared by Walter
Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood. Al Simmons had taken the day off, and the rookie
outfielder subbing for him misjudged a fly ball, leading to an unearned run;
Grove lost, 1-0. He said, "After that game I went in and tore the clubhouse
up. Wrecked the place. Tore those stall lockers off the wall, giving Al
Simmons hell all the while."
     Grove recovered his composure, won another eight straight, was named MVP,
and ended the season 31-4, possibly the single greatest season enjoyed by any
hurler. The dominant pitcher of his era, he was the AL's strikeout leader his
first seven years, led in ERA a record nine times, and went on to compile a
won-lost record of 300-141, a winning percentage of .680. Normalized for
league average and adjusted for home park, his 3.06 ERA is, quite simply, the
best in baseball history.
     He started in Organized Ball with Martinsburg, West Virginia, of the Blue
Ridge League and joined the International League Orioles when Baltimore
bartered for him, paying cash for Martinsburg's new center field fence. Owner
Jack Dunn knew what he had in Grove and delayed his entry to the big leagues
until the southpaw was twenty-five; he sold Grove to Connie Mack's A's for
$100,600--$600 more than the Red Sox had paid for Babe Ruth in 1914.
     Like Sandy Koufax after him, Grove had his troubles initially, winning 10
and losing 12 in 1925, his rookie year; however, the following year his ERA
improved from 4.75 to 2.51, good enough to lead the league for the first time.
By 1927, he was ready for his first 20-win season and tied George Pipgras for
the league lead in wins (24) while losing only 8.
     From 1929 to 1931 Grove was an awesome 79-15, and the A's won pennants
every year as well as the Series the first two. By the time he was sold to
the Red Sox for $125,000 in 1933, he had won 20, 24, 20, 28, 31, 25, and 24
games in seven consecutive seasons. Yet success didn't mellow him; in batting
practice a Boston teammate once hit a ball back through the box; on the next
pitch the batter hit the dust. Grove was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1947.

"SLIDING BILLY" HAMILTON
     Center Fielder. Born Feb. 16, 1866 Newark, N.J. Died Dec. 16, 1940
Worcester, Mass. Holds major league record for runs scored in a season (196),
1894; stole 912 bases, a mark that stood for nine decades. Although he was
nicknamed for his daring, head-first slides, looking at the records, it's
clear that Billy Hamilton should properly have been nicknamed "Scoring Billy."
     Hamilton notched a record 1,690 runs in 1,591 games, making him the most
effective leadoff man of all time. (For comparison, Rickey Henderson had, at
the end of the 1992 season, 1,472 in 1,869 games.)  What's more, Billy could
hit as well as run. He missed hitting .300 only in his first and last
seasons, led the league in hitting twice, and retired with a lifetime average
of .344.
     He was also a part of history's only all-.400 outfield, the Phillies'
1894 edition; Hamilton's puny .404 was dwarfed by the lusty .407 achieved by
both his oversized garden mates, "Big Sam" Thompson and "Big Ed" Delahanty.
(Incredibly, spare outfielder Tuck Turner, in over 300 at bats, hit for .416.)
     Equally oversized is Hamilton's stolen base total. The record credits
him with 912 steals--100-plus each in the years from 1889 to 1891. At the
time, however, if a runner tagged up on a fly ball, went from first to third
on a single, or moved up on a ground ball to the right side, he was credited
with a stolen base. Beginning in 1892, steals were awarded to a runner only
if there were "a possible chance and a palpable attempt made to retire him."
Sliding Billy slid to only 57 and 43 steals the next two years but rebounded
with 98 and 97 in 1894 and 1895 to lead the league. He also topped all NLrs
in bases on balls, runs scored (a record 192 in 1894), and on-base percentage.
In fact, his on-base percentage of .455 over nearly 1600 games is probably a
greater achievement than all the stolen bases; he trails only Ted Williams,
Babe Ruth, and John McGraw in this department.
     Hamilton moved over to the Boston Beaneaters in 1896. He missed 59 games
in 1899 because of injuries and played his last major league season in 1901.
Far from ready to retire, he played ten more years in the Tri-State and New
England Leagues. After becoming a Red Sox scout, he bought a share of the
Eastern League's Worcester team. Sliding Billy was named to the Hall of Fame
in 1961.

CHARLES "GABBY" HARTNETT
     Catcher. Born Dec. 20, 1900 Woonsocket, R.I. Died Dec. 20, 1972 Park
Ridge, Ill. NL MVP 1935. Gabby Hartnett had an active role in three of
baseball's greatest moments. He caught Charlie Root when Babe Ruth "called
his shot" in the 1932 World Series; flashed the signs when Carl Hubbell fanned
Ruth and four other Hall of Fame sluggers in order in the 1934 All-Star Game;
and, hit the "Homer in the Gloamin'" that put the Cubs ahead to stay in the
1938 pennant race.
     The NL Bill Dickey, Hartnett was resilient, reliable, clever at picking
pitches, and blessed with a shotgun for an arm. He caught 100 or more games
twelve times, had a career average of .297, and set the standard for NL
catchers defensively, leading four times in putouts, six times in assists, and
six times in fielding percentage.
     Hartnett was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island to an unusual family; his
mother had seven boys in a row and then seven girls in a row. Signed by the
Cubs in high school, he was silent on his first train trip west to Catalina in
1922, and a reporter promptly dubbed him Gabby. His father had played semipro
ball with Grover Cleveland Alexander, the Cubs' reigning star. Alexander
insisted that Hartnett catch him on Opening Day, and Hartnett called the
pitches for most of his starts thereafter.
     By 1924 Gabby was doing the bulk of the catching, and Bob O'Farrell was
traded to the Cardinals. Joe McCarthy became the Cubs' manager in 1926 and
brought them a pennant winner in 1929 without Hartnett, who due to a dead arm
caught in only one game. Hartnett's mother thought the pain in his arm was
related to his wife's pregnancy; when the baby was born in December, the pain
went away.
     Hartnett came out charging in 1930. He led all the fielding categories,
hit .339, and knocked in a career-high 122 runs; in 1935, he hit .344 and was
named MVP. With the Cubs 5-1/2 games behind Pittsburgh in July 1938, he
became player-manager. On September 28, with darkness falling at Wrigley
Field, Hartnett's homer to left in the bottom of the ninth off Pittsburgh's
Mace Brown gave them a half-game lead they never relinquished. The famous
blow was the highlight of a 21-game winning streak, the greatest stretch drive
in the history of baseball.
     The Cubs faltered the next two years, and Hartnett was released,
eventually catching on as a player-coach with Bill Terry's Giants. He later
managed in the minors and was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1955.

RICKEY HENDERSON
     Left Field. Born Dec. 25, 1958 Chicago. Holds major league records for
stolen bases season (130), 1982, and lifetime (1,095). AL MVP, 1990.
The most powerful leadoff man in history, Rickey Henderson broke Bobby Bonds'
career record for leadoff homers in 1989 and had 63 at the end of the 1993
season. He was named the American League MVP in 1990, broke Lou Brock's record
for career steals on May 1, 1991, and, a year later to the day, became the
first man to steal 1,000 bases.
     None of this surprised long-time Henderson watchers, who became convinced
of his gifts when he played for Modesto of the California League. In 1977
Henderson stole a a record 95 bases, led league outfielders in total chances
(313), hit .345 to be named MVP, and became only the fourth man in
professional baseball to steal seven bases in a single game.
     Brought up to Oakland in 1979, the "Man of Steal" absconded with 33 bases
in 89 games and, a year later, became the first ALr to steal 100 bases in a
season, was second in the AL in walks, third in on-base percentage, and fourth
in runs scored. A year later, during the strike-shortened 1981 season, he led
the league in hits (135), runs (89), and steals (56); he also led the league's
outfielders in putouts and total chances and won a Gold Glove.
     In 1982 Henderson broke Lou Brock's record of 118 steals in a season, set
in 1974, winding up with 130. After the 1984 season he became a Yankee in
exchange for Tim Birtsas, Eric Plunk, Stan Javier, Jay Howell, and Jose Rijo.
Although he missed the first 10 games of the 1985 season with a sprained left
ankle, he hit 24 homers, knocked in 72 runs, batted .314, and led the league
in runs scored (146) for the second time, the highest total since Ted Williams
scored 150 in 1949.
     Henderson led the league in steals every year from 1980 to 1990 except in
1987, when he missed 57 games due to injuries. Traded back to Oakland in June
1989, Henderson helped the A's win the division and starred in the playoffs,
tying Jim Rice's record of 8 runs scored in a single series, stealing a record
8 bases, and being named MVP. He was chosen World Series MVP as well and was
named regular season MVP in 1990 when he hit .325 and hit 28 homers. In
1993 he was traded to the Blue Jays and helped them to their
second straight championship. He has the highest Total Player Rating among
active players and, with many years of optimum performance ahead, is already
among the top twenty players of all time.

ROGERS HORNSBY
     Second Baseman. Born Apr. 27, 1896 Winters, Tex. Died Jan. 5, 1963
Chicago, Ill. Holds modern major league record for highest batting average in
a season (.424), 1924, and NL record for highest batting average, lifetime
(.359). Rogers Hornsby was suspicious, short-tempered, and the greatest
righthanded hitter that ever lived.
     The Rajah hit .300 or better in fourteen full seasons, won the NL batting
title six straight years (1920-1925), is the only righthanded hitter to bat
.400 or better three times and ended his career with a lifetime average of
.358, second only to Ty Cobb. Like Cobb, he was thorny and idiosyncratic,
reserving the right to bet on horses and refusing to read books or see movies
for fear it would hurt his eyesight.
     His career didn't begin auspiciously; Hornsby made 58 errors at shortstop
in the Texas League and was unimpressive in 18 games with the Cardinals in
1915. Manager Miller Huggins told him to put on weight and, 25 pounds
heavier, the Rajah hit .313 to lead the Cardinals in 1916.
     By the mid-1920s he was the dominant player in the NL, winning the Triple
Crown in both 1922 and 1925, when he became the Cardinals player-manager and
was also named MVP for the first time. For the five-year period 1921-1925 his
batting average exceeded .400! In 1926 he slumped to .317 but he gave the
Cardinals their first pennant and helped upset the Yanks in a seven-game
Series.
     Two months after his great triumph, on December 20, 1926, he was traded
to the Giants for Frankie Frisch and Jimmy Ring. Before the trade could go
through, Hornsby had to sell 1,000 shares of St. Louis stock lest a Giants
player own stock in the Cardinals; he nearly tripled his money, finally
settling for $120,000.
     He was traded again to the Braves and then the Cubs. With Chicago in
1929, he hit .380 with 39 homers and 149 RBIs, to win his second MVP award in
his last full year as a player. Hornsby managed the Cubs from the end of 1930
until August 2, 1932, when he was replaced by Charlie Grimm; the Cubs went on
to win the pennant and demonstrated their affection for Hornsby by cutting him
out of the World Series pool.
     The Rajah finished up with the Browns and managed in the minor leagues
for fifteen years before coming back to lead the Browns in 1952 and the Reds
in 1953. He ended his career as a Mets scout and coach. Hornsby was elected
to the Hall of Fame in 1942.

CARL HUBBELL
     Pitcher. Born Jun. 22, 1903 Carthage, Mo. Died Nov. 21, 1988
Scottsdale, Ariz. NL MVP 1933, 1936. Ty Cobb was convinced that Carl
Hubbell's screwball, which Cobb called the "butterfly pitch," would ruin his
arm and forbade Hubbell to throw it--even though the Tigers had paid Oklahoma
City $20,000 for his services. The man who would later be known as the
Giants' "Meal Ticket" languished without his favorite pitch and was eventually
given his outright release.
     Hubbell picked up the scroogie again with Beaumont of the Texas League
and was signed by Dick Kinsella, a part-time Giant scout and bored Illinois
delegate to the 1928 Democratic Convention in Houston. Hubbell won 10 of his
16 decisions that first season, no-hit the Pirates, 11-0, in his sophomore
year, and really hit his stride in 1933. That year King Carl six-hit the
Cardinals, 1-0, over eighteen innings, led the league in innings pitched
(309), wins (23), shutouts (10), and ERA (1.66), and was named MVP.
     In the World Series he beat Joe Cronin's Senators twice, 4-2 and 2-1, and
pitched twenty innings without allowing an earned run as the Giants won in
five games. On July 10, 1934, Hubbell started the second All-Star Game by
giving up a single to Charlie Gehringer and walking Heinie Manush. He then
struck out Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Jimmie Foxx consecutively to end the
first inning and got Al Simmons and Joe Cronin to start the second, one of
baseball's greatest feats.
     Equally commanding during the regular season that year, Hubbell led the
league with a 2.30 ERA and a 21-12 record, the second of five straight 20-game
seasons. In 1936, he went 26-6 and was named MVP again. That July 17, he
started a string of 24 straight victories over two seasons, eventually snapped
by the Dodgers on May 27, 1937; he also won games in both the 1936 and 1937
World Series to post a 1.97 ERA in October.
     In 1938, Hubbell experienced arm trouble and won only 13 games; in four
more years he would never win more than 11, and he finally ended his pitching
career at age 40 with 253 wins and 36 shutouts. Named to the Hall of Fame in
1947, he ran the Giants' farm system, directing player development from 1943
to 1977 and scouting from 1978 to 1985, eventually seeing fellow Hall of
Famers like Willie Mays, Willie McCovey, and Juan Marichal take his place as
the Giants' meal tickets.

"SHOELESS JOE" JACKSON
     Outfielder. Born July 16, 1888 Brandon Mills, S.C. Died Dec. 5, 1951
Greenville, S.C. In ten years as regular, 1911-1920, never hit below .300.
Babe Ruth once said, "I decided to pick out the greatest hitter to watch and
study and Jackson was good enough for me."
     Joseph Jefferson Jackson never learned to read or write, but he could
hit, field, and run. He hit .356 lifetime (third highest behind Cobb and
Rogers Hornsby), and his glove was named "the place triples go to die."  Yet
he remains under a cloud for his part in the Black Sox series of 1919.
     Signed by the A's but assailed by homesickness, Shoeless Joe blossomed in
Cleveland, making the biggest rookie splash in history by hitting .408 in 1911
and finishing second only to Ty Cobb in batting, slugging, hits, doubles, and
total bases. Although his stats were nearly as good in 1912 (.395) and 1913
(.373), Cleveland was a last place club; sold to Chicago in the middle of
1915, Jackson helped the Sox win the pennant in 1917 and the World Series.
     When Sox first baseman Chick Gandil approached Jackson about throwing the
1919 Series, Jackson called owner Charles Comiskey and asked to be benched,
but Comiskey refused to hear him out. While Jackson was the leading hitter
(.375), set a Series record for hits (12), and knocked in 6 runs, pitcher
Lefty Williams gave Jackson $5,000 for his part in the fix, and, to his
eternal discredit, Jackson took it.
     In 1920 Jackson hit .382 but, that September, a Chicago grand jury
investigated the fix; Jackson confessed, denied doing anything to throw the
Series, but admitted taking the money. Although acquitted after their
confessions "disappeared," Jackson and the other Black Sox were barred from
baseball for life by Commissioner Landis. Shoeless Joe sued Comiskey for back
pay and won a judgment for $16,711.04, but it was overturned; the sitting
judge ordered him to jail for perjury and, after a brief stay, he accepted a
small settlement from Comiskey.
     Jackson ran several successful businesses in his home town of Brandon
Mills, South Carolina but never learned to write his name. When the Cleveland
Hall of Fame was started, in 1951, Jackson became the fourth highest
vote-getter even though his name wasn't on the ballot. TV host Ed Sullivan
heard the story and asked Jackson to be on the show; the day before he was
scheduled to appear, Jackson died of a heart attack.

REGGIE JACKSON
     Right Field. Born May 18, 1946 Wyncote, Pa. AL MVP 1973. The only
player to be named MVP in two World Series, Reggie Jackson earned the nickname
"Mr. October" by setting a World Series record for slugging percentage (.755).
     He's also baseball's all-time strikeout king, fanning 2,597 times, once
every four at-bats. In addition to being all-or-nothing on offense, Jackson
was next-to-nothing on defense. He is tied with Burt Shotton for leading the
AL in errors the most times (five). Yet, from 1971 to 1982, Jackson helped
three different clubs win ten division titles, six pennants, and five
championships.
     In 1968 he hit 29 homers, led the league in assists (14) and errors (12),
and struck out 171 times in 553 at bats. In July 1969 he was two weeks ahead
of Roger Maris' pace with 40, then hit only 7 more for the rest of the season
and finished second to Harmon Killebrew. In 1973 he won the first of four
home run crowns.
     Jackson made his 1973 World Series debut memorable with four hits in Game
Two, doubled twice to knock in both runs of Game Six, and hit a home run and
made two spectacular catches to help Oakland win Game Seven; Jackson was voted
MVP of the Series to go along with the MVP award he had won in the regular
season.
     He also homered in the opener of the 1974 Series, doubled in Game Two,
and threw out a key base runner in Game Five. In the fall of 1977, Jackson
fulfilled his destiny and truly became Mr. October. He homered in Games Four
and Five and homered on three consecutive pitches in Game Six. Since he'd hit
a homer on his last swing of Game Five and walked his first time up in Game
Six, Jackson had hit four straight homers in four official at bats off four
different pitchers. He set other Series records for homers in a Series (5),
runs scored (10), and total bases (25).
     After getting his name on a candy bar, Jackson won a third home run crown
in 1980 with the Yankees, a fourth in 1982 with the Angels, and ended his
career with the A's in 1987, retiring with 563 career homers to place sixth on
the all-time list. Jackson was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1993.

WALTER JOHNSON
     Pitcher. Born Nov. 6, 1887 Humboldt, Kan. Died Dec. 10, 1946
Washington, D.C. Holds major league record for lifetime shutouts (110). AL
MVP 1913, 1924. Walter Johnson and the Senators were baseball's odd couple.
From 1907 to 1927, Johnson compiled a record of 417-279 while the Senators won
just two pennants. He lost 27 games by the score of 1-0; in all, he lost 65
games in which his team failed to score.
     Not that he needed much support. On thirty-eight occasions when the
Senators managed only a single run, Johnson held the opposition scoreless. He
pitched seven Opening Day shutouts and wound up with more career whitewashes
(110) than most big league pitchers have career wins.
     Twelve of those shutouts came in 1913, when he was at his peak, finishing
36-7 to win his first MVP award. His 1.14 ERA was a record for fifty-five
years, and he struck out 243 batters in 346 innings. "Barney" (after race
driver Barney Oldfield) led the league in wins, ERA, and strikeouts again in
1918 and 1924, won 20 games or more in ten straight seasons, and had the
lowest lifetime ERA (2.17) among AL pitchers with more than 2,000 innings.
Considering all pitchers in all eras, Johnson ranks first in Total Pitcher
Index.
     A high school sensation, Johnson was ready to sign with the Pirates but
was refused a $9 signing bonus; instead, he agreed to sign with the Senators
on the condition that they pay his way home to Humboldt, Kansas, if he didn't
make it in the big leagues. He made his debut on August 2, 1907, losing a
five-hitter to the Tigers, 3-2. The following year, the "Big Train" arrived,
shutting out the New York Highlanders (Yankees) three times in a four-day
weekend series on four, three, and two hits.
     Seventeen years later, when he should have been washed up, Johnson went
23-7 to win his second MVP award, and the hapless Senators finally reached the
World Series. After losing twice to the Giants, Johnson won his first Series
game by pitching four scoreless innings of relief in Game 7 as Washington beat
the Giants, 4-3, in twelve innings. In the 1925 Series, Johnson won two games
against the Pirates but lost the finale, 9-7, as his mates allowed four
unearned runs.
     When the first election was held for the Hall of Fame, Johnson joined
Cobb, Babe Ruth, Honus Wagner, and Christy Mathewson as charter members, the
"Five Immortals."

AL KALINE
     Right Field. Born Dec. 19, 1934 Baltimore. Won batting championship at
age 20. He was never named MVP, never led the league in home runs or RBIs,
and managed to win only one batting title in twenty-two major league seasons.
Yet, in 1980, Al Kaline became only the tenth player named to the Hall of Fame
in his first year of eligibility.
     Kaline had 100 or more hits eighteen times, hit 20 or more home runs nine
times, hit .300 or better eight times. The first player to win Gold Gloves at
two positions, he won ten in all. In 1971 at age thirty-six, kaline played
the entire season errorless as part of a 242-game streak without a miscue.
     One week after signing with the Tigers on his high school graduation day,
Kaline got into the lineup when Steve Souchock broke his wrist. Soon after,
in a game against the White Sox, Kaline threw runners out at second, third,
and home in successive innings. The next year he became the youngest player
to win the batting title (.340) and was named AL Player of the Year by the
Sporting News.
     He started in the All-Star Game for the first of ten times in 1955 and
played in sixteen summer classics without committing an error, hit .324, and
homered in the 1959 Game and the second Game in 1960. He also won the
slugging championship in 1959 (.530) and was named The Sporting News Player of
the Year a second time in 1963.
     A's pitcher Lew Krausse hit him with a pitch in 1968, breaking his arm;
six weeks later, Kaline returned as a first baseman and played the outfield
during the Series. Down three games to one, the Tigers came back in Game Five
when Kaline singled in the tying and go-ahead runs. In Game Six he singled
twice in the ten-run third inning as the Tigers romped, 13-1. He wound up
leading the eventual World Champions with a .379 average and 8 RBIs.
     In 1974 Kaline needed 139 hits to reach 3,000 and became a full-time DH.
He got his 3,000th, doubling off Dave McNally, and retired with 3,007. While
no Tiger uniform had been retired in deference to Ty Cobb, who didn't wear
numerals, Kaline's number 6 was taken out of circulation in August 1980, after
his election to the Hall of Fame.

TIM KEEFE
     Pitcher. Born Jan. 1, 1857 Cambridge, Mass. Died Apr. 23, 1933
Cambridge, Mass. Posted all-time-low ERA of 0.80 in 1880. The Mets' first
great pitcher wasn't Tom Seaver. It was Tim Keefe, who won 41 games his first
year and 37 in his second for the New York Metropolitans of the American
Association.
     Keefe notched 342 victories in just fourteen years, with a career ERA of
2.62, and established a major league record (since tied) by winning 19
straight games. In the 600 games Keefe pitched, he held the opposition to six
or fewer hits on 235 occasions, more than a third of the time. In his streak
season (1888), he managed this feat twenty-eight times in fifty-one starts,
more than half the time.
     His success depended partly on the changeup, of which he was the
acknowledged pioneer, and partly on keeping meticulous records of opposing
hitters in his own system of notation. (When fellow Giant John Montgomery
Ward organized the Players League in 1890, Keefe was named secretary because
he could take shorthand.)
     Born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he played with a string of semipro and
minor-league New England teams before joining the Troy Haymakers in 1880. He
first attracted national attention by going 41-27 with the Mets in
1883--including both ends of a doubleheader, a one-hitter and a two-hitter.
He enjoyed even greater success with the Giants (42-20 in 1886) and became
known as "Sir Timothy" for his pitching and manner.
     Sir Tim's streak started on June 23, 1888, when he beat the Quakers
(Phillies), 7-6, at the Baker Bowl. He went forty-five days before losing
again, to the White Stockings (Cubs), 4-2, at the Polo Grounds. To cap off a
dream season, Keefe was 4-0 in the World Series, yielding the American
Association St. Louis Browns just 18 hits and 2 earned runs in 35 innings.
     After jumping to the Players League, Keefe ended his playing days with
the Phillies. He umpired in the NL before becoming a real estate mogul. He
was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1964 and was proclaimed Cambridge's
All-Time Greatest Athlete in a 1976 poll conducted by the Cambridge Chronicle.

HARMON KILLEBREW
     First Baseman. Born Jun. 29, 1936 Payette, Ida. Holds AL record for
most lifetime home runs, righthanded batter (573). AL MVP 1969. Harmon
Killebrew averaged a homer every 14.22 at-bats, more frequently than anyone
but Babe Ruth and Ralph Kiner.
     The fact is that Killebrew was better at hitting home runs than Ruth and
Kiner--half the time--and worse than Rabbit Maranville and Nellie Fox the
other half. Baseball has had many streak hitters for average, but Killebrew
was a bonafide streak hitter for power.
     In 1962 the Killer beat Norm Cash for the home run title, 48 to 39; after
a horrendous summer slump, he hit 11 homers in the last eleven games to beat
Cash. In 1963 he pulled the same stunt, missing twenty games with a twisted
knee, then hit seven homers in the last six games to outhomer Dick Stuart, 45
to 42. In all, he hit 573 homers to place fifth on the all-time list. He led
the league in homers five times.
     Killebrew is also the only Washington Senator to be discovered by an
Idaho senator. The Honorable Herman Welker tipped Clark Griffith about
Killebrew in 1954, comparing him to Mickey Mantle. The last time Welker had
boasted about an Idaho boy, it had been Vernon Law, and Griffith hadn't
listened. This time he sent Ossie Bluege to investigate, and Bluege signed
Killebrew the day he first saw him.
     In 1959 the Senators gave Killebrew the third base job; he responded with
five two-homer games from May 1 through May 17 and ended the year with 42 to
tie Rocky Colavito for the league lead. The Senators moved him to first base
for two years, then to the outfield the year after moving to Minnesota. From
1962 through 1964, he led the league with 48, 45, and 49 homers.
     When the Twins won their first pennant in 1965, he missed 48 games with a
dislocated elbow but still hit 25 homers and won a fifth home run crown in
1967 (44). After missing nearly half the 1968 season with injuries, he had a
banner year in 1969, leading the league in homers (49) and RBIs (140) and
helped bring the Twins a Western Division title.
     He hit 41 homers in 1970, his eighth 40-plus year, homered in his third
All-Star Game in 1971 and ended his career in a Kansas City uniform; he was
elected to the Hall of Fame in 1974.

RALPH KINER
     Left Field. Born Oct. 27, 1922 Santa Rita, N.M. Hit home runs at a clip
(home run percentage) faster than anyone except Babe Ruth. Ralph Kiner set a
home run record that even Babe Ruth and Hank Aaron couldn't top by leading or
tying for the league lead in home runs the first seven years of his career.
He is also the only player who hit home runs in three consecutive All-Star
Games (1949-1951), averaged 35 homers a year in his ten-year major league
career, and tied Rogers Hornsby for the then National League record in career
grand slams with 12.
     Never noted for his finesse with either arm or glove, Kiner ushered in
the era of the pure slugger. Kiner had led the NL in 1946 with 23 home runs,
the first rookie to do so since Harry Lumley in 1906; however, he really
blossomed after slugger Hank Greenberg joined the Pirates in 1947. "Hank put
me in a better position in the batter's box, which enabled me to pull outside
pitches, and changed my stance and my whole approach to hitting, getting me
not to swing at bad pitches," Kiner recalls. He hit 51 homers in 1947, 48 of
them after June 1.
     The good-looking Kiner also attracted a new kind of woman fan to baseball
and became linked with movie stars like Elizabeth Taylor. He began doing
personal appearances and became one of the first ballplayers to host his own
local TV show.
     Kiner reached his peak as a long ball hitter in 1949, hitting 54 homers,
four of them grand slams. His mighty blasts attracted fans despite the
Pirates' second-division finishes, and, by 1951, Kiner topped Stan Musial as
the league's highest salaried player, at $90,000. Two years later the romance
was over, and Kiner was traded to the Cubs. He ended his playing career with
Cleveland, retiring at thirty-three when a back sprain held him to just 18
homers in 113 games.
     Adept at putting people in the seats, he learned the business side of
baseball as general manager of the San Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast
League from 1955 to 1960. After a year as the radio voice of the White Sox,
Kiner became part of the expansion Mets' announcing troika, with Lindsey
Nelson and Bob Murphy. Named to the Hall of Fame in 1975, Kiner recently
celebrated his thirtieth anniversary as a Mets announcer.

SANFORD "SANDY" KOUFAX
     Pitcher. Born Dec. 30, 1935 Brooklyn, N.Y. Holds major league record
for most consecutive years leading league in ERA (five). NL MVP 1963 and Cy
Young Award 1963, 1965, 1966. Sandy Koufax was the best pitcher in baseball
for five seasons. From 1962 to 1966, he was 111-34 with 100 complete games,
33 of them shutouts. He led the NL in ERA all five years, in wins and
strikeouts in 1963, 1965, and 1966, and won the Cy Young Award all three
years.
     Born Sanford Braun, he took the name of his stepfather, attorney Irving
Koufax. He went to the University of Cincinnati on a basketball scholarship,
but chose baseball after striking out 51 batters in 32 innings. In 1955 the
nineteen-year old lefty joined the Dodgers and mopped up for three seasons.
The first sign that he might be special came on August 31, 1959, when Koufax
struck out 18 Cubs to tie Bob Feller's record; yet, frustrated with his
progress, he nearly quit in 1960 after going 8-13.
     One day, scout Kenny Meyers and catcher Norm Sherry asked him to throw at
a spot and noticed that Koufax's motion obstructed his vision. Meyers said,
"How can you hit that spot when you can't even see it?"  Sherry persuaded
Koufax to throw more deliberately, and controlling the speed of his delivery
made all the difference between getting behind the hitters and throwing
strikes.
     In 1961, Koufax was 18-13, leading the league with 269 strikeouts. He
blossomed fully in 1963, winning 25 of 30 regular season decisions and taking
the first and last games of the World Series sweep of the Yankees. He also
won the Cy Young Award and was named MVP.
     Adhesions in his pitching arm broke loose in 1964, leading to the
traumatic arthritis which would end his career. After throwing his third
no-hitter in late August, Koufax was forced to stop pitching with a record of
19-5 and an ERA of 1.74. On medical orders, he didn't throw between starts in
1965 and went 26-8, crowning the regular season by pitching a perfect game
against the Cubs on September 9; he shut out Minnesota twice in the World
Series as the Dodgers won in seven games.
     Koufax's final season was 1966, when he won 27 and lost 9 and led the
league in ERA for the fifth year in a row (1.73). In 1972 he became the
youngest player ever elected to the Hall of Fame and was also named Player of
the Decade in the 1960s.