Great People in Baseball and American History

Great People in Baseball and American History

Some players have become part of America’s history, not just Baseball’s Hall of Fame. There have been some great administrators too that showed by their actions they were interested in more than just the bottom line in their ledger.

Yogi Berra

Yogi Berra is probably second in baseball folklore to Babe Ruth, but many times more interesting. Yogi (Lawrence Peter) got his nickname from a friend who said that he looked like a Hindu holy man (a Yogi).
For my money, he was the greatest baseball player who ever lived, but he’s probably most well-known for the amusing things he has said. Yogi is still alive as of this writing, and is still unintentionally saying funny things.
Here are some Yogi-isms:
“Baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.”
“A nickel ain’t worth a dime any more.”
“It’s like déjà vu all over again.”
“I didn’t really say everything I said.”
“If you can’t imitate him, don’t copy him.”
“You can observe a lot by watching.”
“If you come to a fork in the road, take it.”
“I usually take a two-hour nap, from one o’clock to four.”
“If the people don’t want to come out to the park, nobody’s going to stop them.”
“You’ve got to be very careful if you don’t know where you’re going because you might not get there.”
“If you don’t know where you are going, you will end up somewhere else. ”
“Nobody goes there any more because it’s too crowded.”
“I’m not going to buy my kids an encyclopedia. Let them walk to school like I did.”
“Little League Baseball is a very good thing because it keeps the parents off the streets.”
“I think Little League is wonderful. It keeps the kids out of the house.”
“It gets late early out there.”
“He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.”
“The other teams could make trouble for us if they win.”
“You give 100 percent in the first half of the game, and if that isn’t enough in the second half you give what’s left.”
“You should always go to other people’s funerals, otherwise, they won’t come to yours.”
Yogi’s wife Carman: “Yogi, you are from St. Louis, we live in New Jersey, and you played ball in New York. If you go before I do, where would you like me to have you buried?”
Yogi: “Surprise me.”
“It ain’t the heat, it’s the humility.”
“The towels were so thick there I could hardly close my suitcase.”
When told by the New York mayor’s wife that he looked cool in his new summer suit, he replied, “You don’t look so hot yourself.”
“I always thought that record would stand until it was broken.”
A waitress once asked Yogi how many slices she should cut his pizza. He said, “You better make it four, I don’t think I could eat eight.”
And finally (because this has to end somewhere), “We made too many wrong mistakes.”

Lou Gehrig

Then, there was Lou Gehrig who died of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS which progressively weakens and then destroys the motor neurons (parts of the nervous system that connect the brain with the skeletal muscles and control such actions as walking and talking.) It was a disease without a name at the time and is now referred to as the ‘Lou Gehrig disease’.
Lou Gehrig was born on Friday, June 19 1903, in New York, NY.
He was just a few days from 20 years old when he joined the big league with the New York Yankees on June 15, 1923.

Hank Aaron

Bad Henry and Hammerin' Hank are his nicknames. At this writing, he is still living. He was born February 5, 1934 and made his baseball debut in 1954.

Moses “Fleet” Fleetwood.

Moses “Fleet” Fleetwood played before rules regarding segregation (brought about by powerful Caucasians), were established. He was a great player by any standard, as was Jackie Robinson, but Fleet’s career was cut short because of the prejudice which was prevalent at the time. Fleet was 67 when he died May 11, 1924, in Cleveland.
Tough Question:
If you want to stump a baseball fan, get ready for an argument and ask, “Who was the first Afro American man to play major league baseball?”
The response you will get, most of the time, is Jackie Robinson, but the answer is Moses “Fleet” Fleetwood.
You can win money with trivia like that!

Branch Rickie

Branch Rickie was the promoter for the Brooklyn Dodgers who brought Jackie Robinson’s skills to aid his team and, by doing that, helped to break the color barrier in baseball.
Baseball continues to be a part of the healing racial inequities in American culture as more and more big league players come from ethnic minorities and even from outside the United States. In this way, the game of baseball acts as a Goodwill Ambassador around the World.

Jackie Robinson

Jackie Robinson, was the first black man to play in the modern, post 1900, big leagues. He not only had the baseball talent, but the necessary temperament and courage to do so.
Both he and Branch Rickie, the promoter, risked their lives and got heaps of abuse as they pursued their goals.
This was a major turning point in the social and spiritual growth of America. it would now be almost impossible to go back to an America so racially divided as it was in 1947.
If only for that reason alone, watch a baseball game and enjoy the diversity that is America.

Babe Ruth

Not many Americans over eight haven't heard who Babe Ruth was and/or something about him.
Babe Ruth was a legend. He has been one of the most talked about baseball players for years. In baseball, you do need to know a few of the top players of all time.
One was George Herman Ruth. Everyone called him ‘The Bambino’ or ‘The Sultan Of Swat’
He was a southpaw (left handed). He batted with his bat in his left hand and he threw with his left arm.
His height was 6' 2" and he weighed in at 215 lbs.
He was born February 6, 1895 in Baltimore, MD and he died August 16, 1948 in New York, NY.
He made his baseball debut on July 11, 1914 He played his last game on May 30, 1935.
Babe Ruth was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1936.

Ted Williams

Ted Williams was born on Friday, August 30, 1918 and started with the Boston Red Sox on April 20, 1939. He died on July 5, 2002.

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