Backroads and Ballplayers #39
Stories of the famous and not-so-famous men and women from the days when baseball was "Arkansas' Game." Always free and always short enough to finish in one cup of coffee.
Johnson County Bound, An Invitation, New Residents in Cooperstown, and Torii Makes the Cut.
Preview of Johnson County Historical Society Presentation, Thursday, February 1, 7:00 PM, at the Johnson County Heritage Center, 131 W. Main St, Clarksville, Guests Welcomed
Thursday I return to the Johnson County Historical Society, the location of my first baseball history presentation five years ago. I will never forget the warm reception and the organization’s interest and pride in the baseball heritage of Johnson County.
My expectations were modest in those days. How many Arkansans could possibly share my respect for the “old days” of Arkansas baseball? Since then thousands have bought a book about those Golden Years of our state’s sports history. I have spoken to dozens of groups and heard hundreds of “grandpa stories.”
I do not have the words to thank Arkansas baseball fans for their support. The success of my projects is not a compliment to me personally, but a manifestation of our state’s affection for the game. In a few weeks, Baum-Walker will be filled with folks whose love of the game was handed down from the generation that made baseball “Arkansas’ Game.”
In 2017, Arkansas baseball historian Dr. Mark Weatherton researched the birthplace of major league baseball players born in Arkansas. In a report of his work to the Robinson-Kell Chapter of the Society for American Baseball Research, Weatherton reported that 65 of Arkansas’ 75 counties were the birthplace of a major leaguer. One of the counties that had not produced a big leaguer was Johnson County. Although Johnson County remains among the counties that are not the birthplace of a major league player, the county was the epicenter of the baseball boom in early 20th century Arkansas.
In Backroads and Ballplayers, I told the amazing story of a College of the Ozarks (University of the Ozarks today) pitcher who made the big leagues, before arm problems ended his career. He later made a comeback in a magic season in Little Rock. I wrote about Boss Schmidt, the tough-as-nails catcher from Coal Hill who became Arkansas’ first big-league star. His less publicized brother also reached the major leagues.
This visit, following the publication of my second book, Hard Times and Hardball, my stories are from a time when Johnson County was the place to be in the “town team days.” In addition to the Schmidt brothers, the county was home to three other brother pairs who had remarkable baseball careers. Unlike the miners who hoped baseball would provide a job above ground, the other three sets of baseball brothers were all the sons of doctors who had a choice. Eventually, they all chose a life outside baseball, despite possible major league talent.
When the towns in the River Valley impetuously decided to change their friendly little town-team league to real pro baseball, Johnson County took the lead. The Western Arkansas League opened in 1924 as a minor league and somehow managed to finish the entire season. Although the Clarksville Reds won the pennant on the field, they ultimately lost to a rule violation beyond their control.
I have a new Boss Schmidt story. This time about his days as a celebrity businessman in Fort Smith. I also return to the C of O pitcher whose abbreviated major league career ends with a happy ending to the Chuck Daniel story.
Many more: Judge Kavanaugh, Red Day, Dizzy Dean’s apology, Thorpe Hamilton, and memories of Leroy Douglas.
Three in the Hall and Torii Hangs On…
We have three new Hall of Fame inductees for the July festivities in Cooperstown. As expected, Adrián Beltré received 95.1% of the vote. In some parallel universe, a dozen or so writers did not see Beltré as a Hall of Famer. On the other hand, Todd Helton (79.7%) and Joe Mauer (76.1%) looked like close calls and proved that prognostication was accurate. I actually predicted the three selections in my #37 Backroads and Ballplayers post. I am calling my readers’ attention to my accurate selections, to perhaps make up for the times I have been so wrong!
Personally, I thought Joe Mauer was also a cinch, but he made the cut with only four votes to spare. Below are the complete 2024 results:
Adrián Beltré: 366 votes, 95.1%
Todd Helton: 307 votes, 79.7%
Joe Mauer: 293 votes, 76.1%
——————————————-
Billy Wagner: 284 votes, 73.8%
Gary Sheffield: 246 votes, 63.9%
Andruw Jones: 237 votes, 61.6%
Carlos Beltrán: 220 votes, 57.1%
Alex Rodriguez: 134 votes, 34.8%
Manny Ramirez: 125 votes, 32.5%
Chase Utley: 111 votes, 28.8%
Omar Vizquel: 68 votes, 17.7%
Bobby Abreu: 57 votes, 14.8%
Jimmy Rollins: 57 votes, 14.8%
Andy Pettitte: 52 votes, 13.5%
Mark Buehrle: 32 votes, 8.3%
Francisco Rodriguez: 30 votes, 7.8%
Torii Hunter: 28 votes, 7.3%
David Wright: 24 votes, 6.2%
(Players receiving less than 5% will drop off future ballots)
José Bautista: 6 votes, 1.6%
Victor Martinez: 6 votes, 1.6%
Bartolo Colon: 5 votes, 1.3%
Matt Holliday: 4 votes, 1%
Adrián González: 3 votes, 0.8%
Brandon Phillips: 1 vote, 0.3%
Jose Reyes: 0 votes, 0%
James Shields: 0 votes, 0% - I have to come back to Shields later.
Beltré, Helton, and Mauer will be joined on Hall of Fame Weekend by venerable manager Jim Leyland. Leyland will become the 23rd person to be inducted into the Hall as a manager and the first since 2014, when Joe Torre, Tony LaRussa, and Bobby Cox were enshrined. Although he never played beyond the AA level, he made baseball his career for 60 years. Leyland managed for 22 years in MLB, won 3 pennants, and the 1997 World Series.
Torii Hangs On…
The good news for Arkansans is that our guy Torii Hunter kept his place on the ballot for 2025. I tried my best to persuade my readers that Hunter was a legitimate Hall of Fame candidate in my Backroads and Ballplayers post #9. Most of you, more analytically savvy and less emotionally inclined, seem to feel Hunter is not going to be invited to Cooperstown.
I am still somewhat hopeful since I see no Arkansas-born candidate for the Hall beyond Hunter. Two things make me feel like there are long-shot scenarios in Hunter’s favor. Number one is that he is still on the ballot and the second hopeful outcome is tied to my confidence that Andruw Jones is on the brink of selection.
Jones’ first years on the ballot found his support similar to Hunter’s current position. The longer a player stays on the ballot the closer voters examine his credentials. In Jones’ case, he was “discovered” a year after he barely made the cut. He will be next year’s even-money guy, but if he falls off the ballot, he joins a bevy of current Cooperstown residents who failed with the BBWAA and were rescued later by a veteran’s vote.
In so many ways, Torii Hunter and Andruw Jones are the same guy. They were both stars of Sports Center Play of the Day, spectacular center fielders who were not only eye-test guys, but statistically confirmed gold glove honorees.
Realistically, Jones was better, but they are close enough for a second look. If that look is in the current voting, we will see Hunter make a big jump soon, if it is later, some of his contemporaries on a veteran’s committee may someday recall his stolen homers and line-drive power.
Sometimes it takes a while. About 45 years ago I was a table-holder at a baseball card show in Tulsa. On Sunday morning before the public was allowed in the hall, special guest Enos Slaughter strolled through the vendors telling stories and shaking hands. Susan and I were setting up when he stopped for a chat. “Do you have anything you want me to autograph,” he asked. “No, last night you signed my photo of you scoring from first on a single in the World Series,” I replied. As he walked away he reminded us, “I am not in the Hall of Fame you know, I would ‘preciate any help you can give me.”
Big Game James
Someday James Shields can tell his grandchildren that he was a nominee for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He may have to also have to candidly add that he received zero votes, and was removed by the next year’s election. Despite joining Jose Reyes as the only players on this year’s ballot who did not get at least one vote, James Shields was a really good pitcher and belongs solidly in my friend Fred Worth’s “Hall of Pretty Good.”
Shields pitched more than 2,500 career innings, won 145 games, made an All-Star team, and received two Cy Young votes. He was so essential to the Royals’ 2014 pennant run that he actually finished in the top 20 in the MVP vote, right behind Albert Pujols and just ahead of Corey Seager. “Big Game James” was an inning-eater and a complete-game guy. I read somewhere that among the top shutout pitchers who debuted in 2006 or later, he is second only to Clayton Kershaw.
“My #1 goal was outwork everybody. I was always the first one here; I was always the last one to leave. I didn’t allow anybody to outwork me, If that translated into a winning culture or a different culture and people, and it was contagious, great. My goal was to win for this team and win for this organization and try to be as unselfish as I possibly can.” —James Shields
I will take him! By the way, he made 114 million dollars in the bigs.
An Invitation to the Robinson-Kell Chapter of SABR
While I am writing about baseball history meetings, I would like to invite you to the Robinson-Kell Chapter of SABR for our winter meeting on Saturday, February 3. The meeting features a guest speaker and presentations by members and guests. The meeting time is noon to 4:30 at the Southern Baptist Church of Bryant Arkansas.
The guest speaker will be Chase Hartsell. Chase is a senior majoring in communications with emphases in sports media and multimedia journalism at Ouachita Baptist University. A native of Hot Springs, he is the student director of the Ouachita Sports Digital Network: a student-led sports broadcasting program at OBU. In addition to award-winning sports writing, documentary, and feature reporting work, Hartsell also serves as an announcer and host for multiple Ouachita Tiger athletic teams, Arkadelphia Badger Football, and the Great American Conference.
From his series “Hidden Heroes: An Arkansas Sports Anthology", Chase will present his research on two Arkansas baseball topics:
“Hot Springs’ Hidden Heroes: Jim and Leander Tugerson”
“The Wonder from Waldo: Travis Jackson”.
These presentations will follow the guest speaker, ...........
Mark Williamson: The 1908 Arkansas State League and Side Roads Explored.
Johnny Mullins: Jim King of Elkins, Arkansas
Jim Yeager: Aaron Ward, the Forgotten Man in Arkansas Baseball History
Kent Faught: Evolving Competitive Advantage in MLB.
Guests welcomed.
Information:
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More of my stories in Only in Arkansas
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