Crazy About Sports: Volume I: Great Memories of Special Players, Teams and Events

By James Earl Hester Jr. and William Clark Davis

Crazy About Sports is a collection of sports stories about many colorful players, famous teams and special events during the early and mid stages of sports development in this country ranging from the late 1800s to late 1900s. If you like sports, you are sure to enjoy reading this unique collection of stories authored by James Earl Hester, Jr., and compiled and edited by William Clark Davis.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Dec 29, 2005
• ISBN: 9781467027748

James Earl Hester Jr.

James Earl Hester, Jr. grew up on a farm near Roxboro, North Carolina.  During his boyhood years, he always had a keen interest in sports, especially baseball, and participated whenever possible.  He graduated from Wake Forest University with a degree in Journalism and History.  During and after college, he continued with his baseball activities as a pitcher at Wake Forest and in semi-pro baseball.  What initially appeared to be a promising sports career was unfortunately cut short by problems with his pitching arm.  However, in his new career as a newspaper reporter and free lance writer, his love for sports continued and resulted in many interesting articles being written about famous athletes and sports events. James Earl died in the year 2000 and left over 1,300 unpublished short stories to his family.   More than 180 of these stories were about various sports, especially baseball.  In this book, over 60 of these stories are now published in the first of three volumes for your reading enjoyment.

Book preview

Crazy About Sports

Great Memories of Special Players,

Teams and Events

Volume I

By

James Earl Hester, Jr

Compiled and Edited by

William Clark Davis

Title_Page_Logo.ai

This book is a work of non-fiction. The events and situations are true.

Unless otherwise noted, the author and publisher make no explicit

guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book.

© 2005 James Earl Hester, Jr. and William Clark Davis. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

First published by AuthorHouse 12/22/05

ISBN: 1-4259-0142-5 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4670-2774-8 (ebk)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2005910991

Printed in the United States of America

Bloomington, Indiana

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

INTRODUCTION

SECTION A

CHAPTER A-1

CHAPTER A-2

CHAPTER A-3

CHAPTER A-4

CHAPTER A-5

CHAPTER A-6

CHAPTER A-7

CHAPTER A-8

CHAPTER A-9

CHAPTER A-10

CHAPTER A-11

CHAPTER A-12

CHAPTER A-13

CHAPTER A-14

CHAPTER A-15

CHAPTER A-16

CHAPTER A-17

CHAPTER A-18

CHAPTER A-19

CHAPTER A-20

CHAPTER A-21

CHAPTER A-22

CHAPTER A-23

CHAPTER A-24

CHAPTER A-25

CHAPTER A-26

CHAPTER A-27

CHAPTER A-28

CHAPTER A-29

CHAPTER A-30

CHAPTER A-31

CHAPTER A-32

CHAPTER A-33

CHAPTER A-34

CHAPTER A-35

CHAPTER A-36

CHAPTER A-37

CHAPTER A-38

CHAPTER A-39

CHAPTER A-40

SECTION B

CHAPTER B-1

CHAPTER B-2

CHAPTER B-3

CHAPTER B-4

CHAPTER B-5

SECTION C

CHAPTER C-1

CHAPTER C-2

CHAPTER C-3

CHAPTER C-4

CHAPTER C-5

CHAPTER C-6

CHAPTER C-7

CHAPTER C-8

SECTION D

CHAPTER D-1

CHAPTER D-2

CHAPTER D-3

CHAPTER D-4

CHAPTER D-5

CHAPTER D-6

CHAPTER D-7

CHAPTER D-8

Note: AL = American League, NL = National League, TSN = The Sporting News

Note: AL = American League, NL = National League, TSN = The Sporting News

Note: AL = American League, NL = National League, TSN = The Sporting News

Note: AL = American League, NL = National League, TSN = The Sporting News

Note: NBA = National Basketball Association

Note: PGA = Professional Golfers Association

Note: PGA = Professional Golfers Association

TITLE CROSS REFERENCE

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to thank my wife, Patricia Hester Davis, for all of the love and support she has given me over the years and especially for her moral support and guidance in publishing this book.

I would also like to recognize all of the Hester Family for their help in collecting these sport stories and allowing me the opportunity to organize and format them in publishable form.

Next, I would like to thank Jim Russell, a valued friend and sports enthusiast, for his many helpful review comments and recommendations for this book.

Finally, I must also thank the author himself, James Earl Hester, Jr., for all of his many years of writing and research about his keen interest in sport events, many of which he was personally involved.

William Clark Davis, Editor

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

Crazy About Sports is a collection of sports stories about many colorful players, famous teams and special events during the early and mid stages of sports development in this country ranging from the late 1800’s to late 1900’s. Although most of the stories are about baseball, the book also includes many stories about basketball, football, and other miscellaneous sports such as softball, golf, and boxing. The author, James Earl Hester, Jr., provides interesting insights into the subtleties of the game. He also attempts to explain the interpersonal relationships and pressures between the players, their managers, and the fans. The details in many of these stories were from the author’s own knowledge and personal experience during his early career as a baseball pitcher himself. In fact, several stories have been included that explain the author’s own successes and failures in his pursuit of a career in sports. The reader might notice some repetition between a few of the stories since the author quite often recalled his own personal experiences when relating to certain events. In spite of this, it was decided to include all stories since each is somewhat unique. The author’s subsequent career as a newspaper reporter and editor further enhanced his ability to provide honest and straightforward assessments of the circumstances around each story.

For the readers’ convenience, various awards and honors received by athletes mentioned in at least one of the three volumes of Crazy About Sports are listed in Appendices A through D. Also, a number of interesting sports quotes and expressions recalled by the author over the years are listed in Appendix E. Appendix F is a list of the website references used to verify many of the facts and figures in the stories. Unfortunately, since the author is now deceased, the original references he used in writing the stories are not available today. Finally, two unique cross references are provided in the back of the book. The Athlete Cross Reference to Titles allows the reader to search for an athlete or individual alphabetically and identify the corresponding volumes, chapters and titles where they are mentioned. Likewise, the Title Cross Reference to Chapters allows the reader to search for a title alphabetically and identify the corresponding book volume and chapter.

The number of available sport stories in Crazy About Sports was too many to include in a single book, so this book is the first of three volumes. Also, an attempt has been made to allocate stories evenly to each volume to provide approximately the same number and types of stories on each sport. This ensures that each volume will be just as interesting and rewarding as the other two in the series. Volumes II and III are currently in process and are expected to be published in the very near future.

CRAZY ABOUT SPORTS

VOLUME I

SECTION A - BASEBALL

SECTION A

~ BASEBALL ~

A-1 Baseball Experience Provides Valuable Lesson

CHAPTER A-1

BASEBALL EXPERIENCE

PROVIDES VALUABLE LESSON

Given the opportunity to pitch in a game for the first time, James Earl Hester was able to stretch himself and find his true potential, which carried over into other aspects of his life.

As a future newspaper reporter and magazine writer who was home from college for the summer, I had never done any pitching in our weekly semi-pro baseball games, despite having a strong throwing arm. Furthermore, the thought had never entered my mind. However, during a game we especially wanted to win, the manager had started the same inept pitcher, and as usual, the opposing team was knocking him all over the lot.

Breathing hard from running down so many hits, I stormed in from left field at the end of the inning and sought out the manager. I know I can pitch better than that, I said. Warm up then, he replied. With my heart thumping wildly and my mouth dry as cotton, I finished my warm-up tosses and got ready for my first pitch. The catcher put down one finger for a fastball, and I drew back and cut loose with all I had. To my utter astonishment, the ball seemed to explode before it reached the plate. The batter swung wildly and missed, the crowd gasped, and the catcher picked up the ball and fired it back to me. I had never thrown a ball so hard in my life.

The results that day were almost unbelievable, as batter after batter swung and missed. Furthermore, things were even better the next game with a good catcher when I struck out 16 out of 18 batters and didn’t allow a hit.

Of course, my subsequent pitching performances weren’t always that good, although some of them were. The lessons learned during the first game I ever pitched tended to carry over to every phase of my existence, and I came to realize that most human beings have far more potential than they ever dreamed possible.

I had not intended to put myself in such a spot. However, since I did, I did not hold back, but gave every pitch everything I had, and the results for me were something I could hardly believe.

Before, there had been times when fear of failure had caused me to hold back, perhaps without even realizing it; but no longer would I need an excuse in case I failed.

For the increase in confidence and self-esteem had changed my outlook on life, and from then on, I would go all out on every worthwhile project I attempted. Furthermore, I would not be quite so reluctant in taking on new projects, and later on, as a writer, I would sometimes write about things that other writers tended to shy away from.

My newly found ability as a baseball pitcher was a big help to me in the classroom, as well as future writing. Fear of failure had become less of a factor in my life, and I wasn’t afraid to pull out all the stops in attempting to achieve worthwhile goals.

In most cases, it is impossible to achieve success without going all out. However, in the vast majority of cases, a writer should start off slow and work his way up, building self-confidence with each attainable success as he gradually works his way toward the top; but he should never set impossible goals.

Of course, not everyone can be a good athlete. Not that it really matters, but one should try to learn more about their potential, and try stretching their wings at times. In eliminating their mistakes through hard work, many people tend to look upon failure as a stepping stone to success. Being afraid of failure should never discourage one from seeking their potential.

Being a good athlete tends to make a person more sure of himself as an individual and less afraid to give a full and complete effort in other phases of his existence. Strong competition makes a person dig down deep in every phase of endeavor. One should never allow himself to fail simply because he is afraid to do his best.

In order to succeed at almost anything, a person has to hang in there and do his best; and he can never succeed by denying his weaknesses or by projecting them as belonging to someone else. Success is based on honesty, and is something that has to be earned.

A person doesn’t know what he is capable of doing until he sets out to do it. We all have far more potential than we realize, but more than a half-hearted effort is needed to discover it.

Already a good student at Wake Forest College, which is now a University in Wake Forest, North Carolina, I went on to become an even better student, making ten A’s and two B’s in my last semester. In addition, I made the powerful baseball team as a walk-on pitcher in my junior year, although a sore arm prevented me from pitching an entire inning.

I sold the first two magazine articles I ever wrote my last semester. Furthermore, I was asked by a history professor to become his assistant the year after I graduated.

Later, I spent eight years as a newspaper reporter, during which I received seven job offers from mostly large newspapers. This was due in part, I feel, to the fact that I got along well with people. I also sought to do my level best on every story I wrote, especially the features, even if it meant working overtime without extra pay.

Since I tried extra hard to make my features the best features possible, I feel that they had a lot to do with my receiving so many job offers. I also got a great deal of satisfaction out of writing them. In any line of work, it pays to do the best job possible, for repeat business is what selling is all about, and good work is the stuff of which a writer’s reputation is made.

A-2 Baseball Claims Ancient Origin

CHAPTER A-2

BASEBALL CLAIMS ANCIENT ORIGIN

One of the first formal baseball games was played in New Jersey between the New York Knickerbockers and the New York Nine.

Baseball has long been a popular sport here in America, but it did not spring into existence all at once. Its origin goes back many years, and its most direct ancestors were believed to have been brought to New England as children’s games by the earliest Colonists.

One of the games was cricket, while the other was rounders. Cricket was a stately pastime divided into innings and supervised by umpires while rounders was a children’s stick and ball game, with a following of many Americans.

There is evidence that the Egyptians were engaged in something on the order of baseball, with club and ball, some five thousand years ago. A sort of ball game was also played by the Greeks and Romans, with these games being used in a religious ceremony. In any case, baseball seems to have evolved over a period of time into the game that it is today. There is some question as to the actual origin of American baseball, but the first formal game is believed to have been played in Hoboken, New Jersey on a site called Elysian Fields. The game went only four innings with the New York Knickerbockers being beaten 23-1 by a team called the New York Nine.

Although the game was extremely one-sided, tremendous interest in the sport was created, and by 1858, so many teams were playing, that a meeting was called to organize a league. A total of 25 clubs responded, and the National Association of Baseball Players was set up to represent the first league in history.

A hot rivalry developed right away between teams representing New York and Brooklyn, bitter foes that later became known as the Giants and the Dodgers. Even the sponsors soon realized that money could be made.

The opener was played on Long Island between Brooklyn and New York, with an admission fee of fifty cents being charged. Although all of the players were amateurs, 1,500 patrons attended the game, with New York defeating Brooklyn, 22-18.

The game had now attracted national attention, with baseball having become a popular topic of conversation even among both sides in the Civil War now in progress. The end of the war left the country with a strong thirst for baseball competition.

The National Association of Baseball Players was steadily expanding, and by 1866 it had grown to 100 teams and the following year to 237 teams.

City after city was eager to boast of a club. National tours were arranged, with fans flocking to the playing fields to cheer for their favorites.

In 1869, the Cincinnati Red Stocking opened the gates by becoming the first professional team. The result became the talk of the country. On a cross-country tour, the team won 65 games and tied one. In 1870, the Red Stockings won 26 more games in a row, making the team’s win streak an unbeaten 92 games before Cincinnati lost to Brooklyn 8-7 in eleven innings.

The success of the Red Stockings paved the way for the formation in 1871 of the first professional league, the National Association of Professional Baseball Players. The league had nine charter members, including the Bostons, the Chicago White Stockings, the Washington Olympics, the Philadelphia Athletics, the Troy (New York) Haymakers, the Forest City Club of Rockford Illinois, the Fort Wayne (Indiana) Kekiangas, the Mutuals, and the Forest City Club of Cleveland. In the first professional game on record, Cleveland was defeated by Fort Wayne, with the first championship going to Philadelphia. The league continued to play for five seasons, although its team membership changed each year.

A. G. Spalding, a sporting goods manufacturer, tended to emerge as an outstanding pitcher. He pitched the Boston Red Stockings to four straight pennants, using only control and a tricky change of pace.

Good players continued to be added to the individual teams, with the caliber of play gradually improving. By the turn of the century, the increased interest in baseball, and the country’s increase in population had made the times ripe for another league.

A-3 Big Don Newcombe Frightening Pitcher

CHAPTER A-3

BIG DON NEWCOMBE,

A FRIGHTENING PITCHER

Don Newcombe was an exceptional pitcher and hitter with a mild disposition who allowed alcohol to shorten his career.

At six-feet-four and weighing some 220 pounds, Big Don Newcome had great size for a pitcher. With a mean look on his face, the former pitcher for the Brooklyn Dodgers looked rather frightening to a batter about to step into the batter’s box.

Actually, the one-time great pitcher really had a mild disposition. However, his fastball was overpowering, and his curve ball made it difficult for a batter to remain in the batter’s box.

Newcombe was the only player in history to be named Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player, and Cy Young Winner. His presence on the mound from 1949 through 1956 (minus two years with Uncle Sam) was overpowering.

I saw him pitch one afternoon in the Polo Grounds in New York against the Giants, and it appeared to me that he was intimidating the hitters. I was seated a good distance away: but just looking at him out there was scary to me.

As a rookie in 1949, Newcombe led the National League in shutouts and posted a 17-8 record, and his second year in the league saw him win 19 games. On his last day of the season, he went up against Robin Roberts of the Phillies.

Each hurler was trying to win 20 games, and each team was trying to win the National League pennant. Roberts was the pitcher that wound up winning 20 games and the Phillies was the team that wound up winning the National League pennant. Fair or not, Dodger manager Burt Shotten was blamed for the loss by not pinch-hitting for Cal Abrams, a very slow runner, who ended the season in a close play at the plate.

In addition to his role as a pitcher, Newcombe was also an exceptional hitter for a pitcher. His career batting average was .27l, and he hit a total of 15 home runs.

I forget what he did the day I saw him pitch, but he was an imposing figure both on the mound and at the plate. He looked like a hitter, and it was easy to see why he was about the best hitting pitcher in the league at that time.

Newcome’s best season as a pitcher came in 1956 when he