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| Duster Mails (1895-1974) |
Sometimes called Duster
the Great, pitcher John Walter Mails won but 32 games in seven big league seasons.
One senses there may be more to his story than can be read in the statistics.
He broke in with
Brooklyn in 1915, losing his only decision. Same thing in 1916. He was
out of the majors until 1920 when he joined pennant-bound Cleveland in
time to win seven games with no losses. He faced his old team, the Dodgers,
in the World Series, pitched 6-2/3 innings of scoreless ball in relief
in a losing cause in Game Two, then pitched a shutout in Game Six.
He went 14-8 in 1921
... and suddenly didn't have it anymore. He had one last shot, with the
St. Louis Cardinals in 1925, when he split 14 decisions and had a 4.60
earned run average, which wasn't good, though it was only slightly higher
than the team ERA. He made just one more appearance in the majors, with
the Cardinals in 1926, walking a batter and giving up two hits in one
inning of relief, though the run that lost the game for him was unearned.
He was called Duster
for his tendency to brush back hitters. And he was Duster the Great in
the minor leagues, winning 226 games in 17 seasons. |
| Candy Maldonado (1960- ) |
Outfielder Maldonado
played for the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Francisco Giants in the 1980s,
putting up unimpressive stats. His full name: Candido Maldonado y Guadarrama.
My fondness for his
name is srictly due to memories of a voice-changing musician-comedian
named Candy Candido who was featured on Jimmy Durante's radio show and
popularlized the line, "I'm feeling mighty low," delivered in
a voice so deep it didn't seem humanly possible. |
| Heinie Manush (1901-1971) |
Henry Emmett Manush was a Hall
of Fame outfielder for the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Browns and Washington
Senators who also made brief stops in Boston, Pittsburgh and Booklyn near
the end of his career.
He had a lifetime
batting average of.330; was the American League batting champ in 1926
(.378); in 1928 had 241 base hits (and another .378 average).
His older brother,
Frank, played 23 games with the Philadelphia Athletics in 1908.
It's difficult to
explain my fondness for the name Heinie Manush; I guess it's because Manush
played in one of the leagues I conducted with my Ethan
Allen All-Star Baseball Game. Or maybe because his name sounds
like one of my wife's favorite foods: baba ghanoush. |
| Rabbit Maranville (1891-1954) |
This tiny (5-foot-4
... 5-foot-5, tops) shortstop-second baseman was one of baseball's most
popular players for 23 seasons. Walter James Vincent Maranville broke in with the Boston Braves in
1912, played for the Miracle Braves that won the 1914 pennant and swept
the favored Philadelphia Athletics in the World Series. He later played
in Pittsburgh, Chicago, Brooklyn and St. Louis, before returning to Boston.
His entire career was in the National League.
He was called Rabbit because he had big ears and he was fast on his feet. He also was a very animated guy who enjoyed practical jokes which he often took to extremes, like the time he convinced a teammate to chase him through New York City's Times Square, yelling, "Stop, thief!"
After the 1914 World Series, he and some of his teammates on the team that was called "The Miracle Braves" did what a lot of baseball players did in those days – they formed a vaudeville act and went on tour during the winter. During a stop in Lewiston, Maine, Maranville demonstrated how he stole second base in the Series and in so doing he slid off the stage and into the orchestra pit, breaking a leg.
Despite his wacky ways, he was named manager of the Chicago Cubs for part of the 1925 season and later managed minor league teams, occasionally
playing until he was nearly 50 years old. As manager of the Cubs he is best remembered for the night he went through a Pullman car, pouring water on the heads of his sleeping players, yelling "No sleeping under Maranville management." He was fired shortly thereafter.
He is credited with originating the basket catch that many years later
was a Willie Mays trademark. Maranville reportedly kept his arms at his
sides until the last second before letting the ball drop into his glove,
about waist high. |
| Firpo Marberry (1898-1976) |
Frederick Marberry is regarded as the
first great relief pitcher, appearing in 45-or-more games in eight different
seasons. He played for the Washington Senators (1923-32) and later the
Detroit Tigers.
Marberry got his nickname
because Senator teammates thought he resembled Argentine heavyweight Luis
Firpo who had attracted attention in 1923 when he fought champion Jack
Dempsey in one of the craziest title fights ever. Firpo knocked Dempsey
down early in the first round, but Dempsey got up and knocked Firpo down
seven times that's right, seven times. Firpo not only got up each
time, but knocked Dempsey down again, this time out of the ring. Sportswriters
helped Dempsey back into the ring, or else Firpo might have become champion.
As it was, Dempsey ended the fight in the second round by knocking Firpo
down for good.
As for Firpo Marberry,
he won 147 games (against 89 losses) in his 14-year major league career.
Most of those decisions were in games he started. His best season was
1929 when he had a 19-12 record. He started 26 games that season, with
23 relief appearances. |
| Cuddles Marshall (1925-2007) |
Clarence Westly Marshall was dubbed Cuddles while he was a 21-year-old rookie with the 1946 New York Yankees. He got stuck with the name because people said he looked like a movie star (he was often compared to Tyrone Power, though no such likeness is apparent in the above photo of the teenaged Marshall) and because he was the youngest player on the team. Hey, what was he going to do ... complain? Marshall certainly didn't look like a Cuddles because he stood six-foot-three and weighed 200 pounds.
His looks were impressive, but his pitching wasn't. He posted a 3-4 record with a 5.33 earned run average. The highlight came May 28 when he started th first night game ever played at Yankee Stadium.
He went back to the minors in 1947 and remained there most of the next season. He won all three of his decisions in 1949, but walked 48 batters in 49 innings, and indication of the control problems that plagued him throughout his short major league career which ended with the St. Louis Browns in 1950. His lifetime won-lost record was 7-7.
He didn't pitch in the 1949 World Series, but his team membership earned him a World Series championship ring. The ring was later stolen by workers in his home, but 20 years later one of his two daughters had it recast. |
| Pepper Martin (1904-1965) |
He was born John Leonard Roosevelt Martin, but his teammate and (later)
manager Frankie Frisch was one of the few people to call him by his first name; everyone
else called him Pepper, a nickname given him by Blake Harper, a minor league
general manager who liked Martin's pep-filled attitude and excitement.
In the fall he played
professional football for the Hominy Indians in Oklahoma's Osage County.
His running style earned him another nickname: The Wild Hoss of the Osage.
Martin spent his entire
playing career with the St. Louis Cardinal organization. He was a lightly
regarded minor leaguer until he became a Cardinal outfielder in 1931,
hitting .300. But it was the '31 World Series that made Pepper Martin
a household name. He had 12 hits, stole five bases, drove in five runs
and led the Cards to victory in seven games over the Philadelphia Athletics.
Martin was one of
baseball's most colorful characters, a fellow who toyed awhile with midget
racing cars. It was said he believed the only way God intended man to
travel was in a pickup truck with a shotgun hung crosswise behind the
driver's head and a brace of bird dogs in the rear.
The Cardinals of the
1930s were known as The Gas House Gang, and Martin was the acknowledged
leader, also organizing a musical group called Pepper Martin's Mudcat
Band comprised of several teammates. |
| Bake McBride (1949- ) |
An outfielder (1973-82)
for the St. Louis Cardinals, Philadelphia Phils and, finally, the Cleveland
Indians, McBride, broke in with five straight .300-plus seasons and finished
his 11-year career with a lifetime .299 average.
He was born Arnold Ray McBride, but he and his nickname were a good fit. Bake
is short for Shake and Bake, which reflected McBride's personality
and playing style. His Afro seemed to explode from his cap, which earned
him a place on everyone's all-hair baseball team. |
| Stoney McGlynn (1872-1941) |
Back in the 1960s there was a TV series about a modern day cowboy called Stony Burke. It starred Jack Lord, who later became famous as Steve McGarrett of "Hawaii Five-O." Many critics loved it, but the show flopped. Maybe they should have called it Stoney McGlynn.
I don't know where the nickname came from. The pitcher was born Ulysses Simpson Grant McGlynn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. His major league career consisted of three seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals (1906-08). His lifetime record was 17-33, with most of those decisions coming in 1907 when he won 14 games and lost 25. He started 39 games that season, completed 33 of them, made six relief appearances and pitched 352 innings. which was a lot of work for a pitcher, but nothing compared to the load he would carry when he returned to the minor leagues in 1909. That season, with the Milwaukee Brewers of the American Association, McGlynn won 27 games, lost 21, appeared in 64 games and pitched 446 innings. He also threw 14 shutouts, which remains the AA record for shutouts in one season.
McGlynn's finest day in the majors came during the 1906 season when he threw a no-hitter in a game that was called after seven innings. Because it did not go the full nine innings, McGlynn's performance was not considered an official no-hitter.
Oh, I'd mentioned that Cuddles Marshall supposedly looked like actor Tyrone Power, but I don't have any photographic evidence. However, as I look at Stoney McGlynn I'm thinking that if his biography were turned into a movie I'd get Kyle MacLachlan to play the title role. |
| Tug McGraw (1944-2004) |
McGraw was one of
baseball's top relief pitchers for the New York Mets (1965-74) and the
Philadelphia Phillies (1975-84). Long after he retired it was revealed
that he had had an affair and fathered a son who went on to become a country
music superstar Tim McGraw.
The pitcher was born Frank Edwin McGraw, but he received his nickname shortly thereafter. It was coined by his mother who said he tugged when she breast-fed him.
McGraw was a fan favorite
in New York and Philadelphia. He is credited with coining the phrase "You
gotta believe" to describe the New York Mets on their way to the
1973 National League championship.
Like Yogi Berra, McGraw
said a lot of things that became popular baseball quotes. Among them:
"I have no trouble with the twelve inches between my elbow and my
palm. It's the seven inches between my ears that's bent." And "Kids
should practice autographing baseballs. This is a skill that's often overlooked
in Little League." |
| Stuffy McInnis (1890-1960) |
McInnis was a first
baseman in what was dubbed "The $100,000 Infield" that remained
intact four years (1911-1914) and helped make the Philadelphia Athletics
the American League pennant winners three times during that period (with
two World Series victories). The other members were Eddie Collins at second
base, Jack Barry at shortstop and Frank "Home Run" Baker at
third base. That's at least $100 million in talent in today's market.
Team owner and manager
Connie Mack was notorious for selling off players who'd become too expensive,
so that infield was broken up in 1915, though McInnis wasn't sold until
1918 when he wound up with the Boston Red Sox. He retired in 1926, returning
the next year for a token appearance with the Philadelphia Phils. He had
a lifetime batting average of .308 with 2,406 hits. As first basemen go,
McInnis was rather small (5-foot-9), and, typical of players in the dead
ball era, rarely hit a home run, having just 20 for his career.
He was born John Phalen McInnis, but I've always seen him referred to by his nickname. |
| Limb McKenry (1888-1956) |
He was born Frank Gordon McKenry in Piney Flats, Tennessee. There's got to be a story behind his nickname. Actually he had two nicknames. The other was "Big Pete." I get the big part – McKenry stood six-feet-four and weighed 205 pounds – but I don't know where the Pete came from.
He pitched a bit for the Cincinnati Reds during the 1915 and 1916 seasons. He won six games, lost six.
Later he moved to California and played semi-pro baseball, occasionally teamed with controversial Hal Chase, a former major league first baseman suspected of fixing games throughout his long major league career which ended when he was suspended after the 1919 season. |
| Cal McLish (1925- ) |
Calvin Coolidge Julius Caesar Tuskahoma McLish is one of
the longest names in major league baseball history, three letters short
of the 44 it takes to complete the given name of another player on my
list, Bruno Betzel.
Frankly, it's that
full McLish name that's interesting, but it takes awhile to commit it
to memory. He was a pitcher who had 15 major league seasons, recording
a modest 92 career wins against the same number of losses. His best season
was with Cleveland in 1959 when he finished with a 19-8 record. |
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Next:

Part 2
|
Ducky Medwick
Heinie Meine
Moxie Meixell
Catfish Metkovich
Cass Michaels
Minnie Minoso
Vinegar Bend Mizell
Fenton Mole
Carlton Moleworth
Bill Mooneyham
Jo-Jo Moore
Bitsy Mott
Van Lingle Mungo |
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