Mickey Mantle Throws Trigger Under the Bus

[DOUGHBOYS]

Back in the day, baseball players had an unwritten agreement with the press.
They knew that as long as no major laws were broken that the baseball writers would keep their private lives, private.
It was reported fluff that Babe Ruth enjoyed eating hot dogs while his trips to brothels were omitted.
Rogers Hornsby could stare out a winters window waiting for baseball season but losing most of his money while gambling never made the papers.
Baseball had the reserve clause. Baseball players had Santa Claus in team scribes.

The players and writers maintained this relationship till 1957.
Billy Martin's birthday was to be celebrated at the Copacabana. Mickey Mantle, Whitey Ford and Hank Bauer along with wives were there to help Martin celebrate his birthday. Drinks flowed, conversations got louder, typical nightclub behavior.
Sammy Davis Jr was the entertainer.
He was heckled loudly by a group of bowlers from another table.
(Why is it hard for me to picture bowlers at the Copacabana?)
The heckling turned to racial slurs and other obnoxiousness from the pin knockers.
Sammy Davis Jr. was a friend of the Yankees and they decided to...let's say...intervene on Sammy's behalf.
A fight ensued and one of the bowlers was left with a concussion and broken jaw.

It was the end of the innocence for baseball players. It was a news story that featured star baseball players.
The story was the talk of New York and the Nation.
Back in those days, a suspension for the players was not a thought. Things like this were handled internally.
The 'punishment' for Mantle and Ford was unseen. (Probably, nothing).
The punishment for Bauer was being moved down in the lineup to hitting eighth. (The Horror!)
For Martin, who Yankee owners already thought was a bad influence on Mantle and Ford, it was a true punishment.
Martin was traded to the Yankees 'Farm Club', the Kansas City Athletics.

Talking to the press the next day after the incident, Casey Stengel was asked why Bauer was hitting eighth while Mantle maintained the third spot in the order.
"I'm mad at Mantle too, for being out so late. But I'm not mad enough to take a chance on losing a ball game or possibly the pennant."
Man! I love political incorrectness!

The bowler sued and an overzealous New York District Attorney tried to prosecute.
Although there were 500 witnesses, each seemed to have a different story.
The District Attorney also underestimated the love that America has for its celebrities.
Here is an excerpt from the Grand Jury proceedings....

“Well,” asked a grand juror, “did you see a gentleman lying unconscious on the floor near the Copa entrance?
“Yes I did,” Mantle answered.
“All right. do you have an opinion as to how this could have happened?”
Mantle thought about the question and then, with a serious look on his face, said “I think Roy Rogers rode through the Copa, and Trigger kicked the man in the head”
The Grand Jury broke out laughing, and an hour later the district attorney threw out the case for insufficient evidence.

Later, Jim Bouton wrote 'BALL FOUR'. A tell-all book about a season with the Yankees.
This book relayed the real problem that Mantle had with alcohol among many other 'secrets' of baseball players.
It opened the door for other players to tell about their personal lives.
It also opened the door for the media to change their 'on field only' to telling 'the rest of the story'.

Howard Cosell won acclaim for 'Telling it, like it is'.
Other broadcasters followed suit. Some with limited success, most not.
The 'Jock' broadcasters became a normality in broadcast booths.
Each with different styles. There was Frank Gifford to Don Meredith and Mike Shannon to Tim McCarver.

Soon, baseball teams began owning their broadcasts. Previously paid by radio or tv networks, the broadcasters were now being paid by their teams.
Now, broadcasts are mostly slanted (badly in some cases) towards the home team.
Broadcasts are filled with endless promos for advertisers and the local team events.
The camera has become the star and unbiased announcer for the fan.

I write this history of the media and player relationship with Dennis Eckersley/David Price in mind.
Price was upset that Eckersley said "Yuck" when Eduardo Rodriguez poor stats were shown on air.
(The horror!)
Entering the Red Sox flight later, Price stood up and yelled at Eckersley,
“Here he is — the greatest pitcher who ever lived! This game is easy for him!”
When a stunned Eckersley tried to speak, but Price shot back with, “Get the [expletive] out of here!”
And the players applauded.

Price has shown himself to be thin-skinned in the past. A bad trait for a Major League pitcher, wouldn't you say?
The players who applauded are simply 'backing their guy'.
It is what fraternities do.
I came away from the story thinking a lot less of Price.
I'd even go so far as to give him a 'Yuck'.

Eckersley made the mortal mistake of saying what he was thinking.
He also forgot that, like Mantle and the New York DA, the player has the last words.
Mike Timlin has taken over for Eckersley while Jerry Remy recovers from health woes.
Timlin says complimentary things about the Red Sox in every sentence. How nice!
It is what the owners and players want.
For the fan, the camera is, again, the unbiased star.
For Eckersley, he can go on with his life, knowing he did nothing wrong.
He will also have the comfort in knowing that he can 'yuck it up' with his pals in a club that David Price will never join.
The Hall of Fame.

[Edwards Kings]

I am assuming this was before Roy had Trigger stuffed....good read Dan!

[headhunters]

dan- you better sit down before you read this. sort of on todays theme. the other day mlb posted "the best players from every state". a few- like texas- have a lot of greats. tough choices. many have clear choices. then there is south carolina. THEIR choice= willy randolph. a runner up? Shoe less Joe Jackson. yikes.

[DOUGHBOYS]

dan- you better sit down before you read this. sort of on todays theme. the other day mlb posted "the best players from every state". a few- like texas- have a lot of greats. tough choices. many have clear choices. then there is south carolina. THEIR choice= willy randolph. a runner up? Shoe less Joe Jackson. yikes.

Yikes is right.
Comparing generations of ball players is fruitless. We can only compare each player with the production they had during their own generation.
Could Babe Ruth hit today's pitchers?
We'll never know. All we know is what he did with his generation.
Willie Randolph was a decent player. No great shakes.
Joe Jackson, along with Ty Cobb were thought to be two of the best dead ball hitters EVER.
It's just a case of recency bias. Folks forget about the contributions of players from a century ago.
Most hear the name 'Joe Jackson' and think about the Black Sox. Not Joe Jackson, the hitter.
A stigma that will live on.
And it'll effect 'votes' like this.

I don't think I've ever posted this before and if I have, I'm sorry for repeating myself, but I have a team that has always been close to my heart.
The team of the 'best/would have loved to have seen' team...

C- Josh Gibson
1B- Lou Gehrig
2B- Rogers Hornsby
3B- Jimmy Foxx
SS- Honus Wagner
LF- Joe Jackson
CF- Joe DiMaggio
RF- Babe Ruth
DH- Ted Williams
P- Walter Johnson
P- Cy Young
P- Bob Feller
P- Satchell Paige
P- Christy Mathewson

This 'team' would allow me to gauge each generation before the generations that I've seen.
Plus, I would just love to have seen them play the game

[headhunters]

nice try dan. we all know you saw most of those guys!. About the list-i WISH it was recency bias- but that list had a few old timers that i didn't even know played. joe jackson should be in the hall. never proved he bet on baseball. plus- that whole situation was way different than the pete rose situation.

[DOUGHBOYS]

nice try dan. we all know you saw most of those guys!. About the list-i WISH it was recency bias- but that list had a few old timers that i didn't even know played. joe jackson should be in the hall. never proved he bet on baseball. plus- that whole situation was way different than the pete rose situation.

Like a Preacher to the choir, Mike.
So agree!

[DOUGHBOYS]

One thing off my chest since Joe Jackson was brought up....

Judge Landis rounded up anybody who had ANYTHING to do with the scandal and summarily fired them from baseball.
Joe Jackson hit .375 during the Series. Buck Weaver hit .324
Both denied taking money to their graves. Both asked for re-instatement. Both denied.
As a Judge, Landis lost on appeal, many, many times during his time on the bench. Thought to be too hard on the accused of any wrong doing, it was routine that his sentences were either overturned or sentences shortened on appeal.
As Commisioner, HE handled the appeals.
Jackson and Weaver never had a chance.

Landis, more than Branch Rickey and more than even Jackie Robinson was most responsible for Robinson being the first black player in baseball.
Adamantly against integrating baseball from 1920 till his death in 1944, the use of black players was never a thought for owners.
Upon his death in 1944, it was only then that Branch Rickey saw the opening to integrate the game.
Landis is in the Hall of Fame. Seriously.
There was so much ballyhoo about how he 'cleaned up' baseball that all the negatives from the era were like Jackson and Weaver's careers, summarily dismissed.

Judge Landis goes down in history as a 'good man'. The man who cleaned up baseball.
Jackson and Weaver, an easy Hall of Famer and a very good ball player go down in history as rogues.
In some ways, Judge Landis set baseball back 25 years and is in the Hall of Fame.
Joe Jackson hit .400 and hit .375 in his last World Series and is not allowed in the Hall of Fame.


Years afterwards, each of the players thrown out of baseball by Landis admitted that Jackson was never at their 'meetings' before the series.
They gave his name to the gamblers to increase their 'credibility'.
It didn't matter.
The story had been written on that piece of history.
Jackson is forever a Black Sox.
It's not fair. But, life isn't fair sometimes.

[TOXIC ASSETS]

One of my favorite Doughboys write-ups.

I read Martin's biography and remember reading about that fight at the Copa.
Interesting how the times have changed.
And Kudo's to Eckersley for calling it like he sees it.

[headhunters]

price wishes he could pitch like eck.