When you think of baseball, what comes to your mind? Peanuts? Hot dogs? Shirtless people with their faces and body painted with the team they're rooting for? All of these things may be contenders to baseball, but what about the players? A great baseball player to think of would be Dizzy Dean. In my opinion, he was the best baseball pitcher in history! Jay Hanna Dean, also known as Dizzy, was born on January 16, 1910, in Lucas Arkansas. His parents were Albert Monroe Dean, a tenant farmer and sawmill worker, and Alma Nelson Dean. His Arkansas childhood was definitely not an easy one! His mother died from tuberculosis in 1918, and parental guidance from his father would be scarce due to long work hours. In 1920, the family moved to Yell County, and then later to Oklahoma, first to Purcell in 1924 and then to the Okemah and Spaulding are in 1926. Dean's school attendance became scarce following his mother's death, ceasing totally in 1926 when he joined the Army at age 16. There is some debate as to how Dean acquired the nickname “Dizzy,” though the generally accepted explanation is that is resulted from a 1927 …show more content…
The St. Louis Browns hired him the broadcast for them. In the middle of one of the games, Dean got frustrated and said, “Doggone it, I can pitch better than nine out of ten guys on this staff!” So he ended up pitching four innings allowing no runs, and he hit a single in his only at-bat. As he was rounding first base, he pulled his hamstring. He then ended up saying, “I said I could pitch better than nine out of ten guys on this staff, I can, but I'm done. Talking is my game now, and I'm just glad that muscle I pulled wasn't in my throat.” Dizzy Dean later became a well-known sportscaster. He would always use to sign off by saying, “Don't fail to miss tomorrows game!” He also used to always say, “If you can do it, It ain't
Babe Ruth is still a very well-known person in history today, even almost one-hundred years later. He did not only change the way people viewed negro baseball leagues, but he also gained a large reputation for his ability to play baseball, obviously due to his amazing abilities. Ruth’s ability to play was almost impossibly good, in fact, he was even titled “athlete of the century” for his ability. With that ability and power that he had once he won, he would become a
Cal Ripken, Jr., was the perfect baseball player. He would play when he had the flu and even when he had a sprained ankle.
But a sports writer named Tris Speaker thought that maybe he should have stayed as a pitcher when he joined the Yankees when he said this, “Ruth made a grave mistake when he gave up pitching. Working once a week, he might have lasted a long time and become a great star. After Babe’s first year with the Yankees, he already looked like he was going to be a once-in-a-lifetime talent. He brought so much power to the plate and so much excitement to the game, it was unreal. In his first year with the Yankees, he had a .376 batting average with a insane 54 homeruns, the most ever in a season by a player. That wasn’t the only year he set the homerun record. The next year he hit 59 homeruns, and then he hit 60 homeruns in 1927. In Nine years with the Yankees so far, Ruth as a .355 batting average and an enormous amount of homeruns with 467. Teammates have loved playing with Ruth, including one teammate Lefty Gomez, as he said this, ”No one hit homeruns the way Babe did. They were something special. They were like homing pigeons. The ball would leave the bat, pause briefly, suddenly gain its bearings then take off for the
John Birks, also known as “Dizzy Gillespie” was born October 21,1917. He grew up in Cheraw, South Carolina. Gillespie was the youngest of his nine siblings. Gillespie’s father was a bandleader as well as a bricklayer. His father died when he was only ten years of age. Several years after his father passed away Dizzy Gillespie became a self-taught trombone and trumpet player (“David”). His skills increased so much over time that he later learned how to play the cornet. Gillespie had a special talent for playing these instruments. He was enrolled into the Laurinburg Institute of North Carolina in 1932. The school told him that they wanted him to play for their band. During his time at the school, he practiced his instruments mostly by himself.
One man who made a huge difference in changing our nation, by simply doing something he loved, was Jackie Robinson. Jackie Robinson made a difference by playing professional baseball, widely known as our national pastime. Recognized as the first African American to play the game of baseball, Jackie paved the way for other African Americans to do the same. Where would the game of baseball be today if Jackie Robinson never "broke the color barrier?" Would greats such as Willie Mays or Hank Aaron have been given the chance to play?
Particularly, Jackie Robinson is best known for being the first black baseball player in the Major Leagues. As an experiment, to have baseball a national sport, Jackie Robinson was chosen to be a baseball player. He stood ground as people threatened harm on him. Without the support on him, though, Robinson wouldn’t have made it.
Chester Lauck was born in Alleene, Arkansas, February 2, 1902. (Alleene, Arkansas)(www.mu.net/stemple/page1.htm) His parents were W.J. and Cora Lauck. (Cate, Micheal, 190) Chet moved to Mena in 1911, where he met Norris Goff. They became very good friends. Chet lived on Port Arthur Avenue in Mena. His father owned the sawmill and was the Union Bank president. Chet went to Mena high school. He played baseball, basketball, football, and track. He had two older brothers and one younger sister. He graduated from high school in 1920. After high school, Chet went to the University of Arkansas and got a degree in advertising. He was the co-editor of the University’s humor magazine and was a Razorback cheerleader. After the University of Arkansas, he went to study at Chicago Institute of Fine Arts. (Stucker, Kathryn Moore) In 1926, Chet married Harriet Wood. He had three children: Shirley, Nancy, and Chet Jr.
James Lafayette Dickey, III was born in the town of Atlanta, Georgia on February 2, 1923. His parents were Maibelle and Eugene Dickey. He went to Ed S. Cook Elementary School and North Fulton High School as a kid, both of which are in Atlanta. He was athletic as a child. He played football and track, but his football career led him to a scholarship at the University of Clemson, in Clemson, South Carolina. But, before he went off to college he spent one year at the Darlington School in Rome, Georgia for one year in preparation for a college. He didn’t last longer than a year in Clemson though because he enlisted into the Army Air Corps.
There are many great players that played during this era; however, there can only be one great from 1910 to 1920. Many people know the main stars, but there are other great not as well known players from this era too. There are about eight players that totally overpowered all others in the game at this time. Three pitchers and four fielders dominated over all their competitors. These pitching greats are known as Howard “Smokey Joe” Wood, Ed Walsh, and Walter Johnson. The best fielders of the 1910’s are the household greats Honus Wagner, Babe Ruth, “Shoeless Joe” Jackson, and Ty Cobb. These seven players are listed because of their amazing achievements during this decade and even what some did after.
Throughout the course of American history, there have been copious amounts of famous speeches, spoken by many different people. From political figures to sports players; these people have provided deep thoughts and great insights about who they are and the world we live in today. Being a sports enthusiast, a memorable speech comes to my mind. Lou Gehrig’s “farewell speech”, given on July 4th, 1939, to more than 62,000 fans at New York City’s Yankee Stadium, has become a cornerstone in the history of baseball in America. Lou Gehrig is considered one of the most under-rated sports players of all time. Gehrig played in the same era with greats like Babe Ruth and Joe DiMaggio. In Fact, Gehrig played on the same team and actually batted behind Ruth and DiMaggio. Gehrig’s nickname is the “Iron Horse,” which came about with Gehrig’s amazing consecutive games played streak. Gehrig played in 2,130 consecutive games, which stood as the consecutive games record until just recently broken by Cal Ripken, Jr. Gehrig died in 1941, at the age of 37. Though many famous speeches have been spoken throughout time, Lou Gehrig’s farewell speech has remained one of the most memorable speeches of all time, due to the way he captivated his fans with the use of rhetoric.
Although there was a strong sense of inequality amongst the entire American society during this time, African American have prove to be aides in the process of making the game of baseball better for ht future, along with the mentality of the average American. "The African American teams were constant reminder that segregation and inequality existed." (Segregation in Baseball: Internet) What would baseball be without the greats such as Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, or Ken Griffey Jr.?
of a pitcher Babe was, even though he was one of the best left-handed pitchers
Jackie Robinson, a famous black baseball player, proved to the world that just because you have a different skin color does not mean that you aren’t as good as someone with a different color skin. Jackie was the first black man to ever sign with and play for a team that was a part of the all-white major league baseball organization. He along with Branch Rickey, the manager of the dodgers who signed Robinson, broke the color barrier in baseball and led the way for other talented Negro ball players to get into the majors.
Babe Ruth, although encountering many struggles, is considered to be one of the greatest Major League Baseball players of all time. Ruth was a troubled kid, who subsequently got sent to a private school, Ruth was discovered and signed to play baseball in the Big Leagues, and so the story begins.
Crack! Back, back, back the ball goes. Home run! Who hit it? It was Jackie Robinson, the first black baseball player in the major league. Many people would agree Jackie was one of the best players to ever swing a bat. However, he faced many difficulties on his journey to becoming a professional baseball player. Without Jackie playing in the pros, baseball and civil rights wouldn’t be the way it is today. Baseball may have taken a long time to not be made up of mainly white players. Jackie was a beacon of hope to black people in the fact that they could compete and succeed in a white man’s sport.