Eructation (n.): a belch.
"Roger apologized for his eructation at the dinner table, because it was large and distracting."
Eructation (n.): a belch.
"Roger apologized for his eructation at the dinner table, because it was large and distracting."
Fucking Roger.
Thread rated: Excellent, 5 stars
It is a great thread. You'll probably steal it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Glantland
:jvb:Quote:
Originally Posted by Tim Izzo
On this day in history! Here's an article about Jackie Robinson from the June 21, 1947 issue of the Pittsburgh Courier, one of the largest and most influential black newspapers of the early 20th century. The Courier is one of the better sources for researching Robinson, since they embedded a reporter with the Dodgers throughout his rookie season.
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The Sports Beat
By Wendell Smith
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Riding the Rails with the 'Bums'
EN ROUTE TO ST. LOUIS -- Traveling with the Brooklyn Dodgers is both a pleasure and an ordeal. If you yearn for the public eye or the plaudits of the maddening throng, you'll experience both when in the company of such illustrious personalities as the "Beloved Bums," who have as an added attraction this year, Jackie Robinson, the first of his kind in the major leagues. Wherever they congregate as a group there is always a mob of ardent admirers who disdain the laws of privacy and neglect the laws of logic. They hound their heroes as tenaciously as a trained canine and swoop down upon them like some vicious fowl of the jungle.
That's the way it was last Thursday afternoon at Grand Central Station when we fought our way through a fanatical crowd and climbed aboard the "Knickerbocker," the crack flyer that was to carry us from New York to St. Louis. They tugged and pulled and yanked each Dodger as he rushed through the gates and "fled for his life" down the runway to the train. They screamed and yelled. They begged for autographs and pleaded for a handshake. Their enthusiasm created bedlam and lamost[sic] upset the normal operations of the New York Central Railroad.
There are those who take such demonstrations calmly and smoothly. They are guys like Dixie Walker, Pee Wee Reese, Eddie Stanky and other veterans of the game. They've experienced it for years and know by now that the best way to avoid confusion at such times is to keep moving, ignore the "mad men" and display no reaction whatsoever. But there are rookies, like Robinson and Jorgenson and "Duke" Snider who are spell-bound and awed by such hysteria, and by nothing more than sheer inexperience, get "trapped" and "cornered" by the mob.
* * *
Robinson No Longer a 'Rookie'...
This is one of the times when you realize that Jackie and the other first-year men are mere rookies and still "wet behind the ears." And, if you are a rookie newspaperman, as we obviously are--traveling with a major league club for the first time--you find yourself also entangled in this net by virtue of inexperience and explaining to people that you are not a ball player, but a sportswriter going along with the team to St. Louis, or wherever it may be. There are those who believe you and automatically release their "death clutch" on your only suit, and there are others who refuse to believe and charge you with operating under an alias, or "gone high hat." They insist on an autograph and in order to gain your freedom, you scribble your name down on the scrap of paper they push dangerously in the vicinity of your nose. When they see your name, they hunch their shoulders and suddenly pursue someone else. Such experiences are an ordeal and you feel that someone is being cheated, because the autograph hound doesn't recognize your name and probably still feels that you're trying to put something over on him.
And so, on this particular afternoon, after we had finally scrambled aboard the "Knickerbocker," we were a bit exhausted when we recognized Ford Frick, president of the National League. He was sitting in his compartment reading a newspaper. It had been nine years since we had held a conversation with him, probably the most respected official in baseball, including the high commissioner, Happy Chandler. Although we still hadn't regained our composure from the experience in the station, we decided to have a word or two with the man who came within hair's breadth of sitting in Chandler's seat when the election for the top man of baseball was held. Usually when you meet such high dignitaries, you stall for time and develop a series of questions. But this was no time for stalling, so we walked in on him dead cold.
* * *
Greeted by Ford Frick...
Fortunately, he remembered us and his greeting was hospitable, if nothing else.
"Sit down," the president of the National League said. "I remember you. We met in Pittsburgh some time ago." Frick is a tall, gray-haired man and owns a pleasant personality. He was a top-ranking newspaperman before he took over the reins of the National League. Nine years ago we interviewed him in Pittsburgh relative to the possibility of Negroes crashing the major leagues. He said at that time he thought it would happen within a reasonable length of time. It so developed that a reasonable length of time turned out to be approximately nine years.
We asked Frick if his office had received many letters after he put a stop to the alleged St. Louis Cardinal strike plans recently.
"Yes, we did," he said. "I guess we must have received about 500. The letters were sent to us from all over the country, and we only received one protesting the stand we took on that particular issue."
* * *
Praises Stand on Jackie...
We told Frick that the firm and uncompromising stand his office took, when it was learned that the Cardinals planned to stage a strike rather than play against Robinson, was appreciated and hailed by fair-minded people throughout the Nation.
"Well," he said, "that was the only position we could take. We weren't going to let them tell us who could play in the major leagues and who couldn't. We weren't going to let anyone run a player out of baseball just because his skin happened to be of another color."
We asked him to give us his personal opinion of Robinson.
"I don't know him personally," the boss of the National League said, "but all the reports I've received on him have been favorable. He seems to be a young man with a good mind. His conduct has been excellent and you have to admire him for the way he's handled himself under such trying conditions."
We then asked him what he thought of Robinson as a ball player.
"I think he'll make the grade," Frick said. "I don't think he's a finished first baseman yet, but he's coming along. I've seen him play about three times this year and he seems to be improving all the time. You must remember that he's been switched around considerably. When he was with Kansas City in '45 he was a shortstop. When he went to Montreal they made him a second baseman, and then when he came to the Dodgers he had to start all over again at first base. He's been moved around almost too much inside of three years. The fact that he's been able to make such drastic changes in a short period of time indicates that he is apt and versatile."
* * *
Asked About Other Clubs...
We asked Frick if he knew whether any other big league clubs were interested in Negro players.
"Frankly, I don't know," he said. "I haven't heard anything along that line and I don't make a practice of going around asking owners who they are going to sign. If and when another Negro player is signed I'll know about it about the same time as the newspapers. It will come through my office as routine business.
After a brief discussion of the current pennant race we made our exit. We thanked the league president for his time and he in turn assured us that he was glad to have us drop in on him.
We then drifted back to the compartment were were[sic] sharing with Robinson. He was sitting there, looking out of the window. The 'tug of war" he experienced in the railroad station still had its effects on him. He was taking it easy.
"The president of the National League says you're a pretty good guy," we told him. "He says he thinks you're a big leaguer."
The Brooklyn first baseman gave us a faint smile and said softly: "Well, if I'm not a big leaguer, those people who were pulling and tugging on me at the station were wasting their time, weren't they?"
We were forced to agree with him.
Eddie Stanky
Hall of Fame thread
HATE Roger.
LOVE Thread.
Well, shucks. Thanks, guys!
Yeah, I meant to highlight that nameQuote:
Originally Posted by Tim Izzo