Nostalgic
Today MLB celebrates Roberto Clemente as a player and as a humanitarian as part of their annual Hispanic Heritage month. The Roberto Clemente award is given out each year to the baseball player that best represents the humanitarian work he did for not only Puerto Rico but most of the Caribbean and Central America. It is one of the most prestigious awards you can win.
It got me nostalgic for some of my favorite players when I was growing up. Obviously Clemente was one of my favorites. He had an absolute cannon for an arm and was the most exciting slider into bases there was at the time. Pictured above in the middle is one of the best outfielders ever, Frank Robinson. He won the National League MVP and was immediately traded to Baltimore in the off season. He then went on the win the American League MVP award and was the only player to win it in both leagues until Shoei Otani did it with the Angels and Dodgers. He was also the first full time black manager. Above on the right was one of the White Sox players I actually liked growing up, little Luis Aparicio. He, along with his long time second baseman, Nellie Fox, made up one of the most formidable double play combo's in baseball in the 1960's.
Johnny Bench on the left, changed the way catchers caught. He was one of the first to use a catchers glove that actually could be flexed instead of catching with a pillow. He changed the position forever. Another guy that changed the position he played was Brooks Robinson in the middle. His performance in the 1970 world series is still talked about. He made multiple plays on defense that defied reality. Pete Rose on the right made some poor life decisions once he became a manager but as a player he was top dog. He holds the baseball record for most hits in a career and he was an animal on the bases. Also during the 1970 season in the all-star game, an exhibition remember, he knocked catcher Ray Fosse into next Tuesday and effectively ended his career.
Hank Aaron was the all time home run leader until steroids ruined baseball. As far as I'm concerned he still is the leader. I'm pretty sure he hit three hundred of them against the Cubs in his career. Speaking of the beloved, my favorite Cub of all time is Ernie Banks. I've written about meeting him before but he was my favorite even if I hadn't ever met him in person. I tried to move my fingers on the bat to copy him as a kid and couldn't ever hold onto the damn thing. I don't know how he ever hit anything doing that. Go watch some old videos to see for yourself and then go try. The guy on the right was, and still is, my all time favorite baseball player. Oh, he drove me nuts playing against the Cubs where I think he has a .456 lifetime batting average against them. He was the best baseball player ever to play and I will punch you if you don't agree.
As an outfielder, and hitter, I was never a fan of pitchers but I have to say these two were heroes to me. Sandy Koufax on the left was the greatest left handed pitcher to ever play in my lifetime. Every game he pitched meant a no hitter was possible and he tossed enough of them. An injury shortened his career or he would hold most of the pitching records. The guy on the right, Bob Gibson, was the meanest pitcher to ever lace them up. If the players back in the day did what today's players do after getting a hit or homer they would be in the hospital with multiple head fractures. He would glare at anyone that dared to show the slightest excitement about getting a hit off him and then he would drill them the next time they stepped into the batters box.
At an old timers game back in the day, a player that happened to hit a home rum off Gibson ten years earlier when they were still playing and hadn't faced him again afterwards, stepped into the box and Gibson drilled him in the side to make sure he knew that Gibson didn't forget about it. That is how mean he was, but man could he pitch. After he set an ERA record in 1967 baseball lowered the mound because they needed to give batters a chance. That is dominant.
I believe all of these guys except Rose are in the Hall of Fame, and he should be too. It was a glorious time to be a baseball fan, in the 60's and 70's. Players played like their lively hood was on the line, because it was. Many of these guys had offseason jobs to make ends meet until the players went on strike and finally got paid for their efforts.
Sports is about playing a game because you love it. Your goal is to win a championship, period. If you happen to be one of the best all time at it, well that is nice but it is always about the ring. As a fan of any sport you watch the game or event because you want to see something outstanding happen that you can't do yourself and these guys above created many, many, of those moments, even if you weren't a fan of their teams.
Now I will go watch today's players not be able to bunt, hit and run, or throw to the right base all while striking out hundreds of times a season. Sigh.
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