Wally’s World Not What It Seemed

Atlanta Author Refutes Widely-Held Belief About Pipp and the Iron Horse

There isn’t a baseball fan alive who doesn’t know the story of Wally Pipp, the first baseman for the New York Yankees prior to the legendary Lou Gehrig. As the story goes Wally called in sick, giving Gehrig the start at first base. The Iron Horse went on to play 2,130 consecutive games—a record which stood until Cal Ripken surpassed the mark on his way to 2,632. The Pipp saga even gave rise to paranoia among every-day workers who feared being "Wally-Pipped" if they became ill and didn’t report.

But here’s the real story. Like many baseball tales, the one about Wally is a bit of a stretch. Since I love baseball lore as much as anyone, I won’t say it’s not true, but if you believe Rob Weintraub, Wally wasn't sidelined by an illness (purported to be a headache), but simply wanted  to give the young Gehrig a start at first base on that fateful June 2, 1925.

About Rob

Rob Weintraub is based in Decatur, outside of Atlanta, and writes for ESPN.com, the Guardian and many other publications. He also writes and produces for ESPN, TBS and other television outlets. The story of Wally Pipp is included in his book The House That Ruth Built: A New Stadium, the First Yankees Championship, and the Redemption of 1923. I met Rob at the Atlanta Press Club’s Author’s Party in December and found that his fascination with baseball history and the Roaring 20s comes through both in person as well as it does in his marvelous book involving the machinations of tempestuous owners and rambunctious players, all centered around the building a new stadium in the Bronx.

It was in that stadium on June 1, 1925 that Wally Pipp saw Gehrig successfully pinch hit.  Pipp told Yankee Manager Miller Huggins to let Gehrig replace him at first base the next day and tell the reporters that he had a “headache or something.” According to Weintraub’s book, a few days later Pipp was beaned in batting practice fueling the legend of the headache.

Wally actually had a very good career, twice leading the Yankees in home runs in 1916 (12) and 1917 (9), when the team rented the Polo Grounds from the Giants. He was also part of the Yankees first “Murderer’s Row” in 1918 which also included the likes of Frank ”Home Run” Baker and Roger Peckinpaugh, who combined for a whopping total of 17 home runs that year.

That Fateful Day

After he retired Pipp remained friends with Gehrig. In an ironic post script to their story, Wally, living in Lansing, Michigan, came to Detroit when the Yankees were playing the Tigers.  According to Weintraub,  Gehrig, over coffee at the Book Cadillac Hotel, admitted he wasn’t feeling well. On that very day, May 2, 1939, the Hall of Famer took himself out of the game ending his remarkable streak. Shortly thereafter he revealed he had ALS (Amyothropic Lateral Sclerosis), the disease now commonly referred to as Lou Gehrig's disease.

Quick takes…Weintraub’s book, which contains many other curious anecdotes and tasty tidbits about everyone from Ruth to John McGraw to Charles Stoneham and Colonel Jake Rupert, is available on-line and in bookstores—published by Little, Brown and Company…While the AL record for consecutive games played is Ripken’s 2,632, the AL record is a measly 1207, held by the Dodgers’ Steve Garvey…Finally, on another baseball note, Milo Hamilton announced he is making his last trip around the bases this year as voice of the Houston Astros radio network…check on my interview with Milo on the American Sportscasters association website… http://www.americansportscastersonline.com/milohamiltonarticle.html

Jeremy’s Career: Will the “Linning” Continue?

A Big Splash Doesn’t Always Guarantee Success

ATLANTA, Georgia --Talent is everywhere. It’s just often overlooked or doesn’t find itself in the right place at the right time. I give you Kelly Clarkson. No American Idol. No Kelly.

Now we have Jeremy Lin. Overlooked by all the NBA scouts (too small, not athletic), he managed to attract the attention of one NBA GM, Donnie Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks. Nelson’s invitation to play in the NBA’s summer league led to interest in Lin by four teams and ultimately a contract with the Golden State Warriors.

Even then he was still under the radar, released at the end of the 2010-2011 season and picked up briefly by Houston following this year’s lockout. After playing a total of just seven minutes in two preseason games with the Rockets, he was again let go, this time to be picked up by the New York Knicks.  But the story doesn’t end there. He was almost cut by New York, playing only 55 minutes in the first 23 games of the Knicks season. On February 4, however, after the Knicks had lost 11 of their previous 13 games, he was given his shot. Since then the Knicks have won seven straight and Lin has been the leading scorer four times with 25, 28, 29 and 27 points.

"Lincredible"

While the Jeremy Lin story is one of the most interesting in sports today the jury is out on whether the young star will continue his “Lincredible” ride.

Many have had such a ride including Curt Warner, Tiger Woods, Tom Brady, Michael Jordan and Ken Griffey, Jr.—all of whom burst on the scene and just kept going.

Others, however, started fast but fizzled, never to be heard from again except in reference to what could have been. Take Dwight “Doc” Gooden. He came on the scene with the New York Mets at age 19 and became the youngest player ever to be selected for the All-Star game. He won 17 games that year—second best ever for a Mets rookie—and struck out 276, breaking Herb Score’s rookie record of 256. He ultimately won 194 games, but more than half those came by the time he was 25. Drugs and arm problems intervened.

The Bird

Mark Fidrych was a sensation as a rookie in 1976 with the Detroit Tigers. He won 19 games, led the league with a 2.34 ERA, was the All-Star starting pitcher and the American League MVP. Fidrych was also an anomaly. His antics on mound, such as kneeling down and manicuring the dirt, were a crowd pleaser. But his behavior may have cost him his career. While kidding with teammates in the bullpen during spring training “The Bird,” as he was known because of his resemblance to Sesame Street’s Big Bird, injured his knee. That led to arm problems, which ended his career two years after it started.

Nowhere is the phenomenon of unrealized expectations truer than in pro football. Just think of the “can’t miss” quarterbacks, who never made it:  Ryan Leaf, Tim Couch and Jeff George, just to name a few.

Being discovered is a big step. But as we’ve seen over and over, it’s just half the battle. The real question is whether this “Lincredible” run will continue or whether “Linning” for Jeremy will be just a passing thing.

Quick take…Jaws will no longer be flapping his on Monday Night Football. Whether it’s the shine of Jon Gruden, the difficulty of having three men in the booth, or the desire to have Ron Jaworski do other things (as ESPN officials suggest), he’s out of one of the most coveted positions in broadcasting. My take is that the Gruden is a powerful personality and the new Golden Boy of ESPN. The network wants him to feel that he’s having a lot more fun and has a lot more potential as a TV star than a head football coach. It also is cumbersome with three calling the game. Jaws was noticeably the third man. Having broadcast many a game, including December’s high school state championship, I have found the three man booth awkward. Working a two man booth with a sideline reporter, as we did at the Dome, is much more effective, since each voice—play-by-play, color analyst and sideline reporter—has its own distinct role. Jaws is a very affable, knowledgeable guy and there is no doubt that he will remain in the forefront at ESPN for many years to come.

Braves Skipper Gives Early Preview of 2012 Season

Gonzalez Can’t Explain Last Year’s Finish; Wants More Pitching

As hard as he tries Fredi Gonzalez still can’t explain last year’s season-ending fizzle that saw the Braves nosed out for an NL wildcard spot on the last day of the season—after holding an 8 ½ game lead over the eventual World Series champion St Louis Cardinals.

Gonzalez spoke at the Atlanta Press Club noon luncheon on Tuesday at Atlanta's 191 Club and said that he and his staff “went over everything that last month” trying to find a solution, but the losses kept coming. He added that the “game is played by human beings and sometimes you just can’t explain what happens.”

Gonzalez was happy about one thing. No one pointed fingers. He had Braves PR director Brad Hainje look at news media clippings for the last month of the season and said he could not find a negative comment coming from the players. “Think of the New York Jets,” he said. “Everybody was blaming each other. That was not the case at all with us.”

On the coming season…

Gonzalez sees Tyler Pastornicky starting at shortstop. The highly touted rookie (a .365 average in 27 games at AAA Gwinnett last year after a solid season in AA) will bat toward the bottom of the lineup to alleviate some of the pressure he’s bound to feel as a first-year man.

The skipper thinks Martin Prado is still the answer in left field despite all the off-season talk of trading for a big bat outfielder. Prado will again back up Chipper Jones at third base. Pastornicky can play third if needed.

The manager said he thought Chipper had an outstanding season last year and expects the same in 2012, barring injury. Right now Chipper is healthy, but Gonzalez cautioned that injuries are part of the game—not just for Jones—but for the entire lineup, and that “the healthiest any team will be is right now before the season starts.”

Gonzalez expects Dan Uggla to get off to a much better start in 2012 (how could he not?). Historically he’s been a slow starter and in 2011 hit under .200 for a good part of the season. After going hitless on July 4, his average dropped to.173, the lowest in the National League. Gonzalez said things got so bad last year that he asked “the powers that be to not post Dan’s batting average on the scoreboard”—a request that was denied. The manager attributes Uggla’s adjusting to his new team in Atlanta as the reason for his exceptionally slow start.

Brian McCann should return to form after struggling in the latter part of 2011. According to Gonzalez, he will continue to be an All-Star and Silver Slugger and his season-ending slump was no different than what his teammates went through in that dreadful last month.

“Jason Heyward needs a bounce-back year,” said Gonzalez. “When you’re hurt,” continued the skipper, “you do things that mess up your swing.” Gonzelez is hoping the Braves two new batting coaches, Greg Walker and assistant Scott Fletcher, will help improve Heyward --and the rest of the offensive attack.

The Braves skipper says he would like more pitching help and has told GM Frank Wren as much. While he hopes Jair Jurrjens and Tommy Hanson will return healthy and Tim Hudson is fully recovered from surgery, he contends that you never have enough arms. Hudson, he adds, should be ready for the opener. Meanwhile Chris Medlen, coming off Tommy John surgery, will work as a starter in spring training so he’s ready if Hudson can’t go. Long term Medlen is ticketed for a relief role.

On more general topics, the manager said he is thoroughly behind the Braves philosophy of building through the farm system. In fact, he adds, “very few teams can afford to spend multi-millions of dollars in the free-agent market.”

He also said he is totally against more intra-league games, which will be a consequence of the new realignment with Houston moving to the American League in 2013.  Said Gonzalez, “interleague games would be played throughout the season, setting up the possibility of a season-ending series whereby an American team, the Yankees, for example, could be playing for the championship in an American League park without their DH.” Not that a whole lot of tears would be shed if that were the case.

Quick take…David Stern held a press conference prior to the Hawks-Indiana game on Wednesday. Nothing ground-breaking, but he did say he has confidence in the Atlanta ownership. On the possibility of another All-Star game in Atlanta, he simply said, “The NBA is open for business.” Whatever that means.

"Awe" and "Shucks" Fit Mannings to a T

ATLANTA, Georgia--LA Times sportswriter Bill Plasche came up with a great line which really defines the Manning brothers. Said Plasche, “If Peyton is awe, then Eli is shucks.” It’s so good and so explains what Peyton and Eli are all about that I couldn’t resist using it here. It also says to me that, no matter what happens Sunday, the debate over who’s the “main Manning,” (thanks again Bill), will always be won by Peyton.

I’ve never met Eli—only know him as you do through the media—but I did spend two years at the University of Tennessee watching Peyton develop into one of the finest quarterbacks of our time…any time. 

The year was 1996 and Peyton was in his junior year at UT. I remember walking on the practice field one sparkling early fall afternoon. It was my first encounter with the future Hall of Famer. Amid the grunts and groans, the sounds of pad against pad, an occasional whistle and the cacophony created by the muffled voices of coaches, trainers and other observers, the gunslinger plied his trade-- dropping back and using his arm to connect with receivers all over the field. He was Chuck Conners. He was the Rifleman.

Two things stood out. While Phillip Fulmer was the head coach and David Cutcliif the offensive coordinator, it was clear that players looked to Peyton as the guy in charge of the offense. Secondly, it was obvious that he was the inspirational leader for the entire team. His college and pro records speak to his skill and his leadership ability. Add the charisma that Add the charisma that has made him one of the most popular product endorsers in the country (while playing in a midsized market) and you have the total package. 

Both Eli and Peyton have amassed incredible records in college and in the pros, but unless Eli outdoes his brother a lot –and I mean by a large margin—history’s nod will go to Peyton. In the end, it’s not about touchdown passes or yards gained. It may not even be about Super Bowl rings. In the end, it’s all about “awe” and “shucks’ and no statistical comparison can replace that. 

Quick Take…Atlanta Falcon owner Arthur Blank was on The Herd with Colin Cowherd on ESPN Radio on Friday morning. He agreed with NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s statement that if the league expands, it would expand by two teams, not just one. Blank said the league would like to be in Los Angeles, but did not comment on another possible city (or two if L.A. obtains an existing franchise). He also said that the NFL would continue to eye international expansion with Europe and South America the most likely locations “when the time is right.” 

Prediction…While everybody loves the Giants I don’t see the New York D stopping Brady. Patriots 31-21.