Gary Carter's trophy cabinet includes a World Series ring, three Gold Glove awards, five Silver Slugger awards, the Roberto Clemente…
In this episode, Don Mattingly, one of the greatest players in his day, when asked about his greatest accomplishments, doesn't…
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Harmon Clayton Killebrew had a 22 year major league career, and retired as the career leader in home runs by a right-handed batter (the record has since been broken).
Killebrew became one of the American League's most feared power hitters of the 1960s, belting 40 homers in a season eight times. In 1965 he helped the Twins reach the World Series, where they lost to Don Drysdale's Los Angeles Dodgers. Killebrew had his finest season in 1969, hitting 49 home runs, driving in 140 runs, and winning the MVP Award. Killebrew led the league in home runs six times, in RBI three times, and was named to eleven All Star teams. As a result, he was nicknamed "Killer" – a portmanteau linking the first 5 letters of his last name with his legendary hitting ability.
With exceptional upper-body strength, Killebrew was known not just for home run frequency but also significant "tape measure homer" distance. He hit the longest measured home runs at the ballparks in Minnesota and Baltimore, and was the first of just four batters who cleared the left field roof at Detroit.
Despite his "Killer" nickname and his powerful style of play, Killebrew was in fact a quiet, kind man who was not much given to the partying lifestyle enjoyed by his peers. Asked once what he liked to do for fun, Killebrew replied, "Well, I like to wash dishes, I guess."
Killebrew never hit 50 home runs in a single season, but he did hit 49 homers in a season twice (1964, 1969). He hit the most home runs for any player in the 1960s. For his entire career, he hit 573 home runs (ninth best all time, most by an American League right-hander, and second in the AL only to Babe Ruth, as of 2005) and drove in 1,584 runs. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1984, the first Minnesota Twin to be so honored.
Following his retirement, Killebrew was a television broadcaster for the Twins from 1976 to 1978, the Oakland Athletics from 1979 to 1982, the California Angels in 1983 and back with Minnesota from 1984 to 1988. While with Oakland, he also served as a major- and minor-league hitting instructor. In 1990 he retired from business to pursue endorsement and charity work, especially in the fields of preventive and palliative health care charities and international causes. Killebrew currently resides in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he chairs the Harmon Killebrew Foundation.
This data was drawn from Wikipedia.
This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in October 1987.
Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.
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Donald Howard Sutton (born April 2, 1945) was born in Clio, Alabama, a small town in Barbour County, and on the same date as former Dodger teammate Reggie Smith. Clio is also the birthplace of the late Alabama governor George Wallace. He was born to sharecroppers at the end of World War II, in a tar-paper shack. At the time he was born his father was 18 and his mother was 15. Sutton's father, Howard, gave him the strong work ethic that he had throughout his career. His father tried logging and construction work, and in looking for work, moved the family to Molino, Florida, just north of Pensacola.
A right-handed pitcher, Sutton played for the Sioux Falls Packers as a minor leaguer, and entered the major league at the age of 21. Don Sutton's major league debut was on April 14, 1966, the same day that future 300-game winner Greg Maddux was born. In the majors, he played 23 years for the Los Angeles Dodgers, Houston Astros, Milwaukee Brewers, Oakland Athletics, and California Angels. He won a total of 324 games, 58 of them shutouts and five of them one-hitters, and he is eighth on baseball's all-time strikeout list with 3,574 K's. He also holds the major league record for number of consecutive losses to one team, having lost 13 straight games to the Chicago Cubs.
He was known for doctoring baseballs. His nickname was "Black & Decker"; legend has it that when Sutton met notorious greaseballer Gaylord Perry, Perry handed him a tube of Vaseline, and Sutton responded with a thank-you, then handed him a sheet of sandpaper.
A 4-time All-Star, Sutton was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1998. His candidacy and subsequent election were controversial, with critics pointing out that he had never won a Cy Young Award, had won 20 games only once, and had rarely led his league in any statistical category. However, supporters noted that no pitcher with either 300 victories or 3000 strikeouts had ever failed to be elected to the Hall of Fame, and that his 324 wins were, at the time of his retirement, the most by any right-handed pitcher since the 1920s, and many pitchers with worse records were in the Hall of Fame.
Sutton holds the modern record for most at-bats (1,354) without ever hitting a home run.
Sutton's legacy of consistency and longevity is an amazing feat in itself, in an age before pitching counts would lift pitchers well before nine innings. He was the mainstay of a ball club with a pitching-rich tradition, a career that spanned from the Drysdale-Koufax era (1966) to Fernando Valenzuela (1980). In the final game of the 1980 season, Sutton was called on to complete a game winning save, 4-3, over Houston, forcing a one-game playoff — a poetic conclusion to a brilliant span of 15 years in L.A.
Sutton started his broadcasting career in 1989 with the Atlanta Braves on TBS, a position that he held through 2006. He left TBS after the 2006 season, mainly because the network will broadcast fewer games in future seasons. Sutton is now a color commentator for the Washington Nationals on the MASN network. This data was drawn from Wikipedia.
This episode was originally broadcast as a national radio syndication in May 1987.
Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.
Don Newcombe was lucky to have both Jackie Robinson and Roy Campanella as teammates and mentors when he first came…
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Hall of Famer Roy Campanella reflects on the quality of Jackie Robinson's character and his impact on American history.
This episode originally aired June 21, 1987.
Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.
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Hall of Fame outfielder Duke Snider played in his first Major League game in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was also the first big league game he ever saw. That day was also important in American History, and he tells why.
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Tommy Lasorda has always been known as a great ambassador to Baseball, and the long time manager of the Los Angeles Dodgers. He'll be the first to tell you that he was a quality Major League pitcher who shouldn't have been sent down to the minors in 1955. He remembers the bad choice the Dodgers management made in sending him down and who took his spot in the rotation.
This episode originally aired July 17, 1987.
Smarter Podcasts.com, Delivering Sound Advice.
Don Newcombe is frustrated to watch baseball games today because he thinks that pitchers have lost control of the strike zone.…
Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Edwin "Duke" Snider was a rookie with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947. Not only was it…
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Hall of Fame outfielder Duke Snider played in his first Major League game in 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. It was also the first big league game he ever saw. That day was also important in American History, and he tells why.