A Trip Down Memory Lane

While the debate continues as to whether Brian Cashman has, or has not, already identified the next Yankee manager, I have another item to occupy some space.

I was among a few volunteers who won the lottery to read this new book, by Kevin Cook.  It features the 1947 World Series ( Yankees vs. Brooklyn Dodgers ), and focuses on six men who played key roles in that classic match-up.  Truth be told, hundreds of baseball characters ( I didn't count, but it was a lot ) make their appearances in this tale revisited.

As a peek back into history, I was right at home with this book and I flew through the pages.  This book, this era, replayed the beginning of my Yankee commitment.  And it filled in so many memories that were fuzzy, or un-noticed, by the 6 year old Yankee wannabe  that I was at the time.

The key names were players I both adored and hated.  The Yankees got my adoration and the Dodgers my un-ending malice.  In 1947, many of the players mentioned were young, but blossomed through the 1940's and 1950's.  The Duke Snyders and Gil Hodges of Hall of Fame mention.  Lawerence Peter Berra, Allie Reynolds, and Joe Page.  And the great Jackie Robinson, who debuted in this World Series, as a first baseman.

The book focuses on four players ( Bill Bevens, Al Gionfriddo, Cookie Lavagetto and Snuffy Sternweiss, and two managers; Bucky Harris and Burt Shotton.  We learn what made each of these characters special, in addition to the brief ( for some )  moments of fame on the highlight reels
(e.g. Gionfriddo's catch; Cookie's hit off Bevens, etc ).

There is great depth provided on many well known baseball characters.  Insights most people never know or knew.  Some people were odious ( I put Lee Mc Phail in that category) ; and others were heroic and noble ( Branch Rickey fits here ).

When I first started collecting Yankee baseball cards , I was always disappointed when I kept getting George  "Snuffy" Sternweiss  ( wanting Mantle and Joe D ).  Now, I again wish my mother hadn't thrown out my tins of cards when I went to college ( don't we all?).  Who knew how good Snuffy was, how solid a person, how great a friend?  And who remembered that he died, tragically, when his commuter train from Red Bank, New Jersey, went off a bridge into the Newark River?

I always thought the Washington Senators came in last all the time, despite having a few good players like Eddie Yost.  But manager Bucky Harris had guided them to two world championships in 1924 and 1925 as a player /manager.  Bucky was a tough kid out of the Pennsylvania coal mines.  Ty Cobb tried to intimidate him on the base paths and couldn't do it.  Ty was just a tough, mean person but, in the end, showed heart for this young man nicknamed " Bucky."

I am tempted to repeat every insight and piece of history from the book.  But I know that is not my role.  I will tell you a few shocks;  Sherman Lollar caught for the Yankees ( I recall him as a .300 hitting all star for the White Sox ) and Charlie Dressen coached third for the Yankees in the '47 series.  I always loathed him as the effective Dodgers' manager.

Needless to say, I couldn't put the book down.  It was my childhood, retraced.  It fit " right in my wheelhouse," as the saying goes.   I "knew" all of these players ( truthfully, I didn't pay attention to managers until Casey arrived), and listened to and ( when we got a TV)  watched the world series's games portrayed in the book.

Every Yankee fan of that era " hated" Cookie and Al Gionfriddo and, mostly, we still do.  They made world class plays at key moments that burned the Yankees ( made the stoic Joe D kick the dirt in frustration ) , and were forever honored and remembered for those plays.  Though, in truth, both were " bit" players in the history of the game.  After learning more about them, I have given up my enmity.  They are good guys.  Baseball players.

This is one of the things that makes baseball great.  One key play at a crucial moment.  That dream we all had in the backyard with a bat in hand, or glove at the ready.  One chance.  Fame and memories forever.

A final word for two other characters;  Bill Bevens.  This was one of the strongest humans on the planet, developed from hard work, as a kid,  in Oregon.  He got screwed out of one world series win and lost the other, after throwing a 1 hitter.  But he was a fine human being. More importantly, I learned that his son played American Legion ball, as did I. Finally, I have isolated my kinship with Yankee greatness!

The other tidbit goes to Dr. Bobby Brown a journeyman third baseman ( I always loved those guys....my position ).  Bobby had an amazing record as a world series pinch hitter and was a graduate of Stanford.  Aside from Lou Gehrig ( Columbia University ), most ballplayers were hardscrabble kids, signed after throwing rocks against bottles on a farm fence.  If I only knew.

I am done now, though I could talk about this book and its insights for hours.  If it fits your time period, and your team loyalty, you will particularly love this book.  If you are a baseball fan, and enjoy the history of the game, you will love this book.

I am sending it to my friend in Virginia.  We grew up as Yankee fans in Yonkers, New York.  He has been my historian from our earliest days ( teachers, classmates and baseball)..  Anytime I can't quite remember something, or someone, I call ( or text ) him and he knows.

This book brought me back to when I was flipping baseball cards, on summer afternoons,  with friends on Cassilis Avenue.  I had lots of extra " Snuffy " Sternweiss cards I could afford to lose.

Now, I want them back.