OT piece on 50s Baseball

[Michael Peich]

Those of us who love baseball history, and sports history in general, are fortunate to have Frank Fitzpatrick writing for the Philadelphia Inquirer. Frank's unique and interesting take on sports history is always a delight to read. Today he treated his readers to his recollection of meeting Phillies "Whiz Kid" third-baseman, Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones, on Christmas Eve in the late 1950s. His story reminds us that baseball players, especially in the 50s, were not the mega-rich superstars they have become today.

I hope you enjoy Frank's little holiday gift to all of us.

http://mobile.philly.com/beta?wss=/p...s&id=363046981

Warm holiday wishes to all,
Mike

[Fred]

Awesome story!

[KCRfan1]

Wow! Thanks for sharing that great story!!!

[Vintagecatcher]

Thanks for sharing.

Patrick

[Stonepony]

Nice story. Thanks

[pclpads]

Originally Posted by Vintagecatcher

Thanks for sharing.

+1 It was indeed a different time. Not to jump your post, but back in the mid-'50s, my uncle was a home delivery milk man in San Diego. One of his co-workers was Bill Glynn, former 1st baseman for the '54 Indians and a couple of PCL teams.

[Mark70Z]

What a great story and so well written. Really nice to hear about simpler times.

[dlfallen]

Thanks for the story link.

I am fond of "Puddin' Head" Jones because he is an honorary member of my WABORN (Washington-born) collection. The 1951 Bowman cards had Jones' bio printed on the back of Bobby Brown's card (Brown was born in Seattle) Brown's info, of course, was printed on the back of Jones' card. So because the back of "Puddin' Head" Jones's card says "Born: Seattle Wash." he is in the WABORN collection.

[tedzan]

Great story, Mike....thanks for sharing it with us. If it's alright, I'd like to share my "Whiz Kid" story with you.

Growing up in the 1950's, my favorite NL player was Richie Ashburn. In 1990 at a BB card show, I had a nice conversation with Richie Ashburn.
While he was signing this photo for me, I asked him if his 3.0 seconds to 1st base was the fastest of any player in the Major Leagues ?

He responded: "No....Mickey Mantle (batting lefty) and I were clocked by the sports media every season, and we were both tied at 3.0 seconds,
year after year."

Then Richie and I continued talking BB trivia for about 20 minutes. Richie was a real 1st class gentleman.....and, a tremendous guy to talk with.







TED Z
.

[JollyElm]

Man, if my brothers and I were in that car, we would've screamed and yelled until Pops turned the car around and went back!!

Cool story.

[oldjudge]

Great story Mike--thank you for sharing it!

[dclarkraiders]

Originally Posted by tedzan

Great story, Mike....thanks for sharing it with us. If it's alright, I'd like to share my "Whiz Kid" story with you.

Growing up in the 1950's, my favorite NL player was Richie Ashburn. In 1990 at a BB card show, I had a nice conversation with Richie Ashburn.
While he was signing this photo for me, I asked him if his 3.0 seconds to 1st base was the fastest of any player in the Major Leagues ?

He responded: "No....Mickey Mantle (batting lefty) and I were clocked by the sports media every season, and we were both tied at 3.0 seconds,
year after year."

Then Richie and I continued talking BB trivia for about 20 minutes. Richie was a real 1st class gentleman.....and, a tremendous guy to talk with.







TED Z
.

Great story about "Puddin Head" Jones. Also, thanks for sharing the Richie Ashburn story. Richie was such a great person. I am not a Phillies fan but enjoyed listening to Harry and Whitie broadcast Phils games for many seasons.

Duane