by David Krell | Jan 13, 2017 | David Krell
In a city resting on a foundation of glamour, Don Sutton provided a terrific contrast. With a workmanlike manner, Sutton reigned over the pitcher’s mound with consistency complemented by endurance. No ego. No nickname. No razzle-dazzle. Sutton began his...
by David Krell | Jan 12, 2017 | David Krell
A guy walks into a bar. It’s an introduction to the classic setup and punch line joke format. It’s also the way that many episodes of Cheers began. An NBC situation comedy set in an eponymous Boston bar modeled after the Bull & Finch Pub, Cheers took...
by David Krell | Jan 11, 2017 | David Krell
At 3:37 p.m. on October 14, 1960, Bill Mazeroski became a blue-collar legend. A stellar second baseman with eight Gold Gloves, Mazeroski played his entire 17-year career in a Pittsburgh Pirates uniform, never more prominent than in the moment he slammed a Ralph Terry...
by David Krell | Jan 10, 2017 | David Krell
Who’s on First? is a comedy bit that is ageless, knowing no boundaries of laughter. Little Leaguers, octogenarians, scholars, and every other demographic have an instinctive response to this legendary piece of humor performed by Bud Abbott and Lou Costello....
by David Krell | Jan 9, 2017 | David Krell
Five years before Ron Shelton turned his script for Bull Durham into his directorial dbut, NBC aired Bay City Blues, which introduced millions of people to the pleasures, idiosyncrasies, and slightly desperate aura surrounding the minor leagues. NBC’s prime...
by David Krell | Jan 8, 2017 | David Krell
Vada Pinson guarded the outfield grass at Cincinnati’s Crosley Field in the 1960s like a sentry guards on outpost—with determination, concentration, and resolve. In his “Counterpoints” editorial for the November 13, 1995 edition of USA Today, Tony...
by David Krell | Jan 7, 2017 | David Krell
When The Stratton Story premiered in 1949, movie audiences without even a tangential interest in baseball became engrossed in the story of a champion whose determination serves as a model of courage. Monty Stratton played a key role on the pitching staff of the...
by David Krell | Jan 6, 2017 | David Krell
One was a lanky outfielder whose presence in the batter’s box automatically elicited cheers from the Fenway Faithful. The other, a mainstay in pinstripes, compiling legendary statistics while riddled by injuries throughout his career. Ted Williams. Mickey...
by David Krell | Jan 5, 2017 | David Krell
Milwaukee inaugurated the Braves ball club to its new home city just a couple of weeks before the 1953 season began. Acclimation from its previous location of Boston did not present a problem, given the enthusiasm showered by Milwaukeeans on their new major league...
by David Krell | Jan 4, 2017 | David Krell
Roy Campanella was born in the same year as the team for which he played before signing with the Brooklyn Dodgers organization. The Elite Giants débuted in 1921 in Nashville, where it stayed for a decade and a half before moving to Washington, D.C. After spending...
