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Show Vlorfd Senes time, by John Peterson In Spring a young mans fancy lightly turns, so they say, to thoughts of love. In Autumn, though, that young man along with almost everyone else will likely have his thoughts turn to baseball. The phenomena of the World Series makes baseball fans out of almost everyone. People who have never seen the inside of a ball park will suddenly become as nutty as a hard-cor- e bleacherite. Folks who dont know a fungo from a mango will be glued to radios and televisions for a week or so. Citizens who would never take a flyer on heads-or-taior get involved in a bingo game at the parish hall will find themselves throwing dollars into the office pool in wild abandon. Its an annual bit of madness, and it probably serves a good psychological purpose. The primitive men had their festivals that served as the last fling of the easy summer days before the hard times of winter. Our playoff probably services about the same purpose. Personally, I love baseball. Not the game itself, so much, as the things that are associated with it. Theres a friendly, personal, feeling at a ballpark. Class and social distinctions are completely done away with when people go through the turnstile. Hot dogs always taste better with a ball game in front of them, and the very best peanuts seem always to be saved for ball park use exclusively. And the statistics ah, those statistics. No other form of human endeavor has ever been as completely documented as baseball. The rise and fall of nations, the births and deaths and comings and goings of kings, emporers and presidents the chronicles that record those events wouldnt even make an appendix to all the baseball records, statistics and trivia that has been kept. The official record books can provide hours and hours of enjoyment. Box scores are works of art, to be studied by lovers of the game as Raphaels and Titians are studied by art critics. Let the media types give you the scoop on the Orioles and Pirates Im going to lay the trivia of the sport on you. Heres a couple of salted peanuts on Americas great national sport: Hitting Aint Everything Most major league managers, if forced to make a choice between their loving families and a powerful hitting lineup, would ask for a little more time to consider. There will be some pretty fair hitters in action this week in the Series, but neither team will have anything near the power that was put on the diamond back in 1930 by the Philadelphia Phillies. According to the record book theres never been a team that could equal them. Its not likely there ever will be. No less than eight men! They scored runs at an average of six per games, and averaged eleven hits ls best-of-seve- n per contest. And they faced some pretty fair pitchers, took, Men Sportstaculor it's an annual bit of madness like Carl Hubble, Dazzy Vance, and Burleigh Grimes. The 1930 Phillies were, in a word, awesome. Youd think that manager Burt Shotten was a pretty lucky man to have that kind of wood come up to the plate every game. But guess what? The 1930 Phillies werent that successful. In fact, they pretty well stunk up the league. They finished in dead last in the National League that year, and were a full 40 games behind the pennant-winnin- g Cardinals. The Strangest Because they combine elements of excellence with great scarcity, no-h- it games are a real imagination grabber. Behind almost every no-h- it performance there is usually an interesting story, but a game played in Boston in 1917 is probably the most strange. A hefty young lefthander started for the Red Sox against the Washington Senators, and promptly walked the first man he faced. He didnt like the on the fourth ball, though, and walked to the plate to plead his case. One word led to another, and pretty soon the umpire exercised the power of the thumb and the pitcher was sent to an early shower. With a man on first and nobody out, veteran Boston pitcher Ernie Shore came out to the mound and took over. He got the next man to hit into a double play, and then went on to mow the Senators down in order for the rest of the game to record a perfect performance. in both leagues. Early Wynn walked 1,775 batters, and when the opposition wasnt being passed to first they seemed to be hitting He allowed 335 home runs during his career. The legendary Ty Cobb set a record that may last forever. No, not his 38 times being thrown out in one season trying to steal, I mean his 271 errors. And Cobb was an outfielder, for heavens sake. And, just to keep things tidy, Ruths strikeout record was broken. He no longer is king of the Whiffs because he was passed up in that department by Micky Mantle who took the long walk back to the bench 1,710 times. Its unlikely that any other player will even have the opportunity to break that one. But like I said, its the long run that counts in baseball. We dont remember these men for the negative. After all, they are all in the Hall of Fame at Cooperstown, and they didnt get there for the statistics Ive given. four-bagger- s. No-Hitt- er How to be a Major Leaguer How about a quiz. Where is the baseball hotbed of the country? ' Shores gem has to be one of the strangest no hit games in the long history of the sport. But the fact that he wasnt the starting pitcher isnt even the most bizarre part. Theres a little footnote that goes along with this particular story that shows how much fun baseball can be even many years after the fact. The starting pitcher, who faced one man and was ejected, stayed with the sport and became, well, quite well known. But not for his pitching. Hes the man who held the major league record for strikeouts for many years Babe Ruth! More Misfits Ruth, of course, is more known for being the home run king than the strikeout champ, and thats another of the good things about baseball. Its a game that, in the long run, rewards positive things rather than negative. There are a lot of players who we consider and rightly so who head up the today to be Greats lists of boo-boo- s. Walter Johnson, for example. He holds American League records for most hit batters (204), most hits allowed (4,920) and most games lost (279). Or how about Cy Young a pitcher so good that the annual award for the brat throwing performance is named after him. Young lost 315 games in his career a major league record. He gave up over 7,000 hits, tops If you said anything but California, go stand in a corner: If you answered Southern California, go to the head of the class. The bottom end of the Golden State roughly from Bakersfield south has served as the training ground for 146 present major leaguers, more by far than any other locality. The entire state lays claim to 202 major leaguers. The criteria were using is not the birthplace, but where they played their high school baseball. To show the dominance of the Golden West, California has produced only two fewer players to the major leagues than the combined total of Ohio, Texas, Michigan, New York, and Pennsylvania (based on rosters). The Deep South and New England, combined, account for 44 players. Southern California has produced 49 piitchers! Not all of the Californians, of course, are household words; but there are some real superstars in the group. Speaking of superstars, the state of Louisiana has just nine prepsters that have graduated into the majors, but how would you like to haver a pitching rotation of Ron Guidry, Vida Blue, and James Rodney Richard? Louisiana, working more on quality than quantity, has also sent Lou Brock, Ralph Garr and Rusty Staub to the Bigs. So you want to be a major leaguer the point is that you have an advantage if you can play your high school baseball in California. Places to avoid are the colder-typ- e states. Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, North Dakota and Vermont dont have any natives in the majors. Utah? There was one Beehive Stater on the list in August. Do you know who? (Like I said, its a quiz. mid-Augu- st Answer next week). SSOB23SS5 SONGILE EKCfiTOG Get your copy sent to you each week in the mail by subscribing to The Roy Sun Chronicle, Clearfield Courier or Ben Lomond Beacon. caj 825-- 1 666 for details. 1 99 Per Year would like to receive Sportsteculer each week tot my home. Please enter my subscription to the following newspaper: Clearfield Courier DBen Lomond Beacon The Su Chronicle j I I Yes, I ! Nama Address. City. Talaphont. Mall to: STAHLE PUBLICATIONS .Stata. 5388 S. 1 900 W. Zlp. Roy, Utah 84067 I J |