Sports&#x27; Forgotten Heroes – Details, episodes &amp; analysis

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59: Ray Collins-MLB

Episode 59

Tuesday, June 25, 2019 • Duration 01:03:47

So many baseball players have had their careers cut short by injury. Some of those careers might be considered marginal, and others might be considered a tragedy based on the fact that the career was on an upward trajectory and headed for greatness. Ray Collins, who pitched for the Boston Red Sox from 1909 and into the 1915 season had one of those careers. His last full season, 1914, at the age of 27, Collins went 20-13 – this followed a campaign in which he went 19-8. But, 1915, Collins developed shoulder issues, went 4-7 and never pitched in the Majors again. And that’s a shame because Collins was a stalwart on the Boston pitching staff. He was a key ingredient in Boston’s 1912 World Series win over the New York Giants, and was able to hold his own against opposing pitchers the likes of Cy Young and opposing hitters the likes of Ty Cobb. Collins, who hails from Vermont, is also regarded as one of the best ever to suit-up for the University of Vermont. In fact, Collins was enshrined into the University’s Hall of Fame. While pitching for Vermont, Collins also pitched in Class D minor league baseball, something you could do back in the early 1900s, and he was a dominant force. Several major league teams took notice of Collins and wanted to sign him. But, it basically came down to two: the New York Yankees and the Boston Red Sox. Collins decided on the latter, mostly because they played closest to his home state of Vermont. Tom Simon, somewhat of an expert when it comes to baseball players who grew up in Vermont, and a member of SABR, joins the podcast for a wonderful discussion on a career that was cut short by injury, the career of Ray Collins.

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58: Park, Brown & Fleck-PGA

Episode 58

Tuesday, June 11, 2019 • Duration 01:27:57

Three golf champions. Three remarkable championships. Three very unique stories about three guys who had never won before: Mungo Park, 1874 Open Championship; David Brown, 1886 Open Championship; Jack Fleck, 1955 U.S. Open. Each have very unique stories and joining Sports’ Forgotten Heroes to help tell their stories is Connor Lewis from the TalkinGolf History podcast. Connor is one of the foremost golf historians around, created the Society of Golf Historians and is absolutely enthralled with the game and its history. His knowledge is second-to-none and the stories he recalls and relates are absolutely terrific. Mungo Park won the 1874 Open Championship after spending 20-years at sea. David Brown won the 1886 Championship after he had given up the game to become a roofer. More remarkable is the fact that he was actually working on a roof when he was convinced to come down, tee it up, and then went on to capture the Claret Jug. Jack Fleck, who was in Normandy on D-Day, ultimately became a professional golfer, qualified for the 1955 U.S. Open, found himself 9-strokes back after the first round, climbed into contention, tied Ben Hogan on the 72nd hole and beat Hogan in an 18-hole playoff to win! In the episode of SFH, we take a look back at all three championships and talk about the careers of all three golfers.

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57: Hank O'Day-MLB

Tuesday, May 28, 2019 • Duration 01:50:25

Hank O’Day is one of the most unique and important figures in the history of Major League Baseball. He broke into the game as a pitcher in the American Association for Toledo in 1884. He finished his career seven years later with the New York Giants. During his career, on occasion, O’Day stepped out onto the field as an umpire and when his playing days concluded, he turned to umpiring permanently. Well, sort of. In 1912, O’Day stepped back into the dugout as the manager of the Cincinnati Reds and went 75-78. He was let go after that one season. In 1914, the Chicago Cubs hired O’Day to be their manager and he went 78-76 and was again let go after just one season. So, O’Day put his mask back on and went back out on the field as a manager and ultimately spent the better part of three decades calling games. Major League Baseball officials consulted O’Day throughout his career and after his days on the field were over to discuss the rules of the game, what new rules should be instituted, which rules should be tweaked and which rules should be abolished. Sometimes they agreed with Hank and on other occasions they didn’t, which of course, disturbed O’Day greatly. O’Day was also on the field to make one of the most famous calls in baseball history, the call that led to the New York Giants and Chicago Cubs tying 1-1 in the heat of the 1908 pennant race … the famous “Merkle Boner” game. O’Day dedicated his life to the game he loved so much probably to the detriment of enjoying a normal personal life. He was basically a hermit. Dennis Bingham, who umpires games in the Chicago-area, and is a member of SABR, is one of the most foremost authorities on the career of Hank O’Day and he joins Sports’ Forgotten Heroes for an in-depth conversation on one of the most interesting and unique figures in baseball history.

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56: Roy Sievers-MLB

Episode 56

Tuesday, May 14, 2019 • Duration 01:20:29

Roy Sievers was one of the most clutch hitters in baseball history. In fact, Sievers, who won the 1949 American League Rookie of the Year with the St. Louis Browns, hit nearly a quarter of his 318 career homeruns in the eighth inning or later. But, becoming a clutch hitter almost didn’t happen. After winning the ROY in 1949, Sievers fell into a slump and that was followed by a devastating right-shoulder injury that almost cost him his career. In fact, during the four-year stretch of 1950 through 1953, Sievers played in just 247 games and hit just 19 homeruns. But, Browns owner Bill Veeck worked hard with Sievers to help him overcome the injury, and Sievers did just that. After Veeck sold the Browns, the team moved to Baltimore and Sievers was traded to the Washington Senators. Great news for Washington, not so good for the new Baltimore Orioles. Sievers, not only recovered, he became one of the most feared sluggers in baseball. Over the course of the next 10-years, Sievers connected for 275 homeruns including an American League leading and career best 42 in 1957 to go along with 114 RBI. Sievers was named to five all-star teams and three times finished in the top-5 for MVP voting. Greg Wolf, the co-Director of the BioProject for SABR, and a frequent guest on Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, returns to the podcast for a wonderful discussion on Sievers, the Browns, Bill Veeck and more. Wolf, by the way, just finished working on a new book, “Wrigley Field, The Friendly Confines at Clark and Addison” and you can pick up a copy by visiting SABR.org or Amazon.

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55: Seattle Pilots-MLB

Episode 55

Tuesday, April 30, 2019 • Duration 01:35:14

In 1969, Major League Baseball expanded to four cities: San Diego, Montreal, Kansas City and Seattle. Montreal moved to Washington and became the Nationals and Seattle moved as well. Yes, there was a team in Seattle before the Mariners – the Seattle Pilots. The Pilots played in Seattle for just one season – 1969 – and at the end of spring training, 1970, they were officially sold and relocated to Milwaukee. But that one year in Seattle was a most interesting time. The Pilots were/are a study in what not to do when trying to establish a new team in a new city. Ownership of the team was not committed, the Stadium was ancient and not meant to host Major League Baseball, many of Seattle’s politicians and residents did not want a team and, getting back to the stadium, finding a location was utter chaos. The team itself was a typical expansion team going 64-98 in its first season. But they had a few players who people thought they could build around: Tommy Harper, Tommy Davis, Lou Pinella and Mike Hegan. But, before the season started, Pinella was traded to Kansas City where he went on to win Rookie of the Year. That trade of Pinella for John Geinar and Steve Whitaker proved to be one of the most lopsided trades in franchise history, and it was orchestrated by Seattle’s GM Marvin Milkes, who also thought the team was much better that it was and talked about the Pilots finishing as high as third. That was a problem too as he did everything he could to help the team play better ball. Well, that backfired as the Pilots had a revolving door of players and according to Bill Mullins, author of the book, “Becoming Big League, Seattle, the Pilots, and Stadium Politics,” and who is our guest on this episode of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, Seattleites regarded the Pilots as nothing more than a glorified minor league team because of the constant player movement, just like a minor league team. Join Bill Mullins now on Sports’ Forgotten Heroes as we take a look back at the fascinating story of the Seattle Pilots.

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54: Dolf Luque-MLB

Episode 54

Tuesday, April 16, 2019 • Duration 01:06:35

Dolf Luque won 194 games over the course of his 20-year Major League career. In 1923, he put together one of the greatest seasons ever for the Cincinnati Reds going 27-8. Luque, however, never again won 20-games in a season, but remained extraordinarily consistent. In fact, in 1925 he went 16-18 and finished in the top-15 (13th) in MVP voting and in 1933, at the age of 42, he went 8-2 for the New York Giants and finished 25th in MVP voting. In that year’s World Series, pitching in relief, Luque became the first pitcher from a Latin American country to win a World Series game. But like so many, the career of Luque is long forgotten, despite the fact that he is the 5th winningest pitcher in the rich history of the Cincinnati Reds. Even more surprising is the fact that he isn’t even mentioned is one of the most treasured pictorial histories of the Reds. How is this possible? Baseball historian Peter Gordon, a member of the Society for American Baseball Research (SABR) who has also written and researched about a variety of topics on the game, returns to Sports’ Forgotten Heroes for a conversation about Luque. One of the first from Cuba to play Major League Baseball, Luque also salvaged several careers including that of Sal “The Barber” Maglie. Luque, working as a coach in the rival Mexican League when Maglie was trying to work his way back to the Majors, taught Maglie how to pitch inside and that turned Maglie’s career around. Luque, who was inducted into Mexico’s Baseball Hall of Fame, is also a member of the Cuban Baseball Hall of Fame for his career as a player and the fact that he’s the second winningest manager in Cuban baseball history … and he’s also a member of the Reds Hall of Fame.

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