When the Sun Sets at Dodger Stadium

Courtesy of walteromalley.com

When the sun sets at Dodger Stadium, I

am impressed first of all with the

mountains because, at this time of year,

they are fully defined. It makes me think of

some of the great artists who did Western

paintings — Frederic Remington, Charles

Russell, Frank McCarthy, to name a few

— because they must have been inspired by

that.

And then the cloud formations. At sunset,

they turn pink. And as it continues, the

closer you are to sunset, the clouds are still

kind of gold. Farther away in center field

and right field, you’re away from the

sunset and the clouds are turning purple.

So you think of an artist’s palette with

various colors, and it just takes your

breath away.

Down on the field, a ballgame is just

beginning. But the sunset becomes a

major distraction because it’s so

overwhelming it’s hard to take your eyes

off it. And then the palm trees — there’s a

group of palm trees on the hill behind left

field — they are defined against the sky,

and they are turning colors with the

sunset. You can’t see that anywhere else in

a ballpark.”

Vin Scully

Los Angeles Times, August 21, 2003

Courtesy of walteromalley.com

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

WHERE ARE THEY NOW

Bill Hands

Courtesy of BaseballSavvy.com

By Damon Peter Rallis

BaseballSavvy.com

Drive two hours east of New York city, to the rural hamlet of Orient, Long Island. There, you’ll likely need to make a pit stop at the only gas station for miles. If you’re lucky, the tall, skinny man pumping your gas won’t be just any local. He’ll be former Chicago Cubs pitcher, William “Froggy” Hands, Jr.

On any given morning, Bill Hands shows up at his old service station, to work and chat with an array of locals who gather inside a small office, its walls adorned with baseball memorabilia.

They talk about fishing, golf and of course, baseball.

A player on one of Chicago’s most memorable teams, the 1969 Cubs, Bill Hands began his professional baseball career with the 1965 San Francisco Giants. After one season, Hands was traded to the Chicago Cubs, along with Randy Hundley, for Lindy McDaniel and Don Landrum, and by 1968 was an integral part of the Chicago squad.

That year, the 185 lb., 6’2” right-hander posted a solid 16-10 record, with a 2.89 ERA. In 1969, when the Cubs were overtaken by the team that would become known as the “Miracle Mets,” Hands was 20-14, with a glittering 2.49 ERA, 18 complete games, and 300 innings pitched.
“I beat the Pirates for my 20th win in ’69,” Bill remembers. “For me, that was quite an accomplishment. I mean, most pitchers are measured by that [20th victory].”

Actually, there were other wins to measure Bill Hands by; games that he is too modest to mention. Like the game, earlier in 1969, in which Hands out-pitched future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver and the Mets, 1-0. Or the one on August 3, 1972, when Hands had his finest outing, beating the Montreal Expos 3-0.

“I had a no-hitter with two out in the ninth inning, and [Ken Singleton] hit a little ground ball that went off my glove. Well, [Paul] Popovich was playing second, and he said, ‘you should’ve let it go, I had it.’

“But,” Hands recalls, shrugging his shoulders, “it’s a reaction.”

Hands was traded to the Minnesota Twins the next season, and by 1975, his career had ended, in part because of ongoing back ailments and muscle spasms. But Hands, not one to take responsibilities lightly, felt that there was more to life than baseball.

“I worked for an oil company in all my off seasons. After [each season] I went fishing for ten days. But the guys that I played ball with; all they did was go hunting and fishing all the time. I had a family to feed, and we didn’t make the kind of money they make today. I had to go to work.”

That work became Bill’s life, and a decade later he decided to purchase Orient’s only service station, and help his son set up shop as a mechanic. Concerned that they wouldn’t make enough money to put food on the table, he started a retail oil business on the property. Both endeavors proved successful and continue to operate today.

Hands grew up in Rutherford, NJ, but the small tight-knit community of Orient is in his blood, and he considers it his true home.

“I was a summer kid here. I had been coming out here since World War II, until I got out of high school in 1958. Then, when I started playing ball, I always came out here to go bass fishing after the season was over. I bought a piece of property in the mid-Seventies, and built a little summer house.”

Along with the work and a little fishing, Hands plays at least two rounds of golf per week, and while he was famous in the clubhouse for his chess skills, he doesn’t find many worthy opponents these days. And he always makes time to talk baseball.

Hands talks about the effect free agency has had on the game, his distaste for the designated hitter, and the changing role of pitchers.

“They have so many specialists. Where they have a seventh inning guy, an eighth inning guy, a ninth inning guy. We didn’t have anything like that.”

Hands was a New York Giants fan as a youngster, but he doesn’t play favorites anymore. Not really. He just loves the game.

“I root for the Cubs, but they’re hard to root for,” he says. “First of all you don’t get to see them that often [on television in Orient], and they never win. I mean, I’m a Cubs fan. I follow them, but I’m just a baseball fan in general. I like to watch a good ball game.”

When asked if he thinks the Cubs will ever win another World Series, Hands replies: “They’re due. I mean, the Red Sox won one, the White Sox won one; why not the Cubs?”

A modest man, Hands dismisses the various newspaper articles about his life posted on his office walls, the baseball cards that bear his name, and the autographed photos of old teammates.
But when Froggy pauses in front of a picture of him and his son on the field, sporting matching Twins uniforms, he smiles knowingly. “I really like that one.”

Damon Peter Rallis is a baseball fan, a freelance writer, and a dad, from Long Island, NY.

Courtesy of BaseballSavvy.com

Minnie Minoso for the Hall of Fame

It's time to honor baseball's first black Cuban major-leaguer

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

By Cory Franklin, Chicago Tribune
January 27, 2006

Would the White Sox have won the World Series last October without the clutch late-season pitching of Jose Contreras or the phenomenal relief effort of Orlando Hernandez in the Boston playoff? How about Game 4 of the Series when shortstop Juan Uribe went into the stands, made a tumbling catch preserving a 1-0 lead, and ended the game with a great glove-to-hand transfer play? Besides their heroics for the White Sox, what do those three players have in common?

The answer is they are all black Latin players, a group whose style and skill have elevated baseball for two generations--from the unique delivery of Juan Marichal and the cannon arm of Roberto Clemente to the likes of Pedro, El Duque and Vlad today.

The first black Latin major-leaguer, who pioneered the way, was one Saturnino Orestes Armas Minoso Arrieta, a.k.a. Minnie Minoso, coincidentally the first black to play for the Sox. Less heralded than Jackie Robinson, Minoso was every bit the groundbreaker Robinson was. For 15 years Minoso faced not only racial discrimination, but the unique frustrations and difficulties Latin players were forced to endure. Minnie is among the nominees for the Baseball Hall of Fame in a special vote to be held next month. Though Minnie is rarely mentioned in discussions of prospective Hall of Famers, few are more deserving of the honor.

His career goes back as far as the Negro leagues with the New York Cubans until 1949, when Bill Veeck bought his contract for the Cleveland Indians. As it was with Jackie Robinson, racism cost Minnie his most productive years. Minoso didn't begin his major-league career until he was 26. His playing record after that age compares favorably to that of Robinson and most Hall of Fame outfielders. Traded to the White Sox, he won a Gold Glove, drove in 100 or more runs four times and was a phenomenal base runner. At different times he led the league in hits, doubles, triples, total bases and stolen bases. Baseball analyst Bill James believes that if Minoso had been allowed to begin his major-league career at 21, he would be among the 30 greatest players ever.

In 1976, Veeck brought 53-year-old Minnie out of retirement to be the Sox's designated hitter. In his first game, after going hitless against an All-Star pitcher, he publicly apologized to the fans. The next day he atoned and became the oldest player in major-league history to get a hit. In 1980, at 57, he became the oldest player ever to play in the majors. If baseball bigwigs hadn't nixed the idea, Minnie would have made an appearance in 1990 and become the only major-leaguer to play in six decades. Undaunted, at age 80, in 2003 he became the oldest professional baseball player ever by drawing a walk for the minor-league St. Paul Saints. Had the Saints not replaced him with a pinch runner, he'd undoubtedly have stolen second.

A consummate team player, no one hustled more in the field or on the bases than Minnie. He had one of the best senses of humor in baseball, arguing bad calls in a unique hybrid of English and Spanish designed specifically to confuse umpires and players alike. As an Indian, he was the most popular player in Cleveland. With the White Sox, his popularity in Chicago was second only to that of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks.

Minnie remains an ambassador of the game, regularly attending events, chatting up fans and giving autographs. Around 2010, don't be surprised to see him offered a contract to play in his eighth decade. Look for him standing on second, smiling, after hitting a double to left-center.

Someone once said of Ginger Rogers that she did everything Fred Astaire did except she did it backward and in high heels.

Minnie Minoso may not have faced the intense pressure experienced by Jackie Robinson, but he did everything Jackie did while facing the added burdens of a Latino in 1950s America. Despite all that, he maintained a perspective sadly lacking in today's athlete. He once said, "What more could I ask of life? I came from nowhere. I worked in sugar fields as a boy. It was a tough life. I had one pair of pants. But I always had a smile on my face. My mother and father ... taught me to be a good citizen, a good human being and to love life."

Never mind Pete Rose--the real travesty will be if Minnie Minoso doesn't get into the Hall of Fame.

Cory Franklin lives in Wilmette.

Courtesy of the Chicago Tribune

CLU Honors Sparky

Courtesy of the L.A. Daily News

Hall of Fame manager has field named in his honor
By Kevin Connelly, Staff Writer
L.A. Daily News
Inside SOCAL

THOUSAND OAKS - Four-time manager of the year Sparky Anderson skipped, jumped and hopped his way to the pitcher's mound Saturday afternoon at California Lutheran University's inauguration of George 'Sparky' Anderson Field.

With a standing-room-only crowd looking on, Anderson - the fourth winningest manager in major league history - laughed as he short-hopped home plate with the ceremonial first pitch at CLU's annual alumni game.

Anderson, a longtime Thousand Oaks resident, then satisfied countless autograph requests and joked with coaches, players, umpires and fans. He equated CLU baseball to his experiences in the major leagues.

"It's all the same to me," Anderson said. "It's still 60 feet from the pitchers mound to home and 90 feet from home to first. I've been on plenty of baseball fields in the major leagues and some of them don't look as good as this (field)."

"What I miss about coaching is the players," said Anderson, who won championships with Cincinnati's `Big Red Machine' in 1975 and 1976 and another with the Detroit Tigers in 1984. "It's so much fun to be a part of that. I remember having players who thought they were con-men, but I'm the biggest con-man there is."

In attendance was Ernie Harwell, broadcaster for the Detroit Tigers from 1960-91 and 1993-2002. Harwell, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame and winner of broadcasting's Ford Frick Award in 1981, covered the Anderson-coached Tigers from 1979-91 and 1993-95.

"Sparky is one of the great managers of all time," Harwell said. "(But) too much emphasis is placed on the major leagues. Real baseball happens in places like this, where (the game) can take place in its purest form."

Anderson was born Feb. 22, 1934 in Bridgewater, S.D. He made his major league debut in 1959 as the starting second baseman for the Philadelphia Phillies, hitting .218. He never played another season.

Anderson began his coaching career in 1964 with a Triple-A team in Toronto, winning four International League pennants from 1964-68. After one year as a coach for the San Diego Padres, Anderson was named manager of the Reds in 1970. He managed the next 35 years with the Reds and Tigers, finishing 2194-1834 (.545) overall.

Anderson retired in 1995 and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2000.

Courtesy of the L.A. Daily News

Injury Slows Kapler Down - A Little

Courtesy of L.A. Daily News

Ramona Shelburne, Columnist - L.A. Daily News
Inside SOCAL
January 28, 2006

To the crowd at the Skydome that day last September, it looked like Boston's Tony Graffanino had hit a home run to left-center field. So why was Red Sox baserunner Gabe Kapler lying in pain on the ground at second base?

"I thought it was going to be a double, so I was pushing hard around the bases," Kapler explained. "But just as I'm rounding second base, I see it clear the fence. That's when I felt my Achilles' pop."

Boston was permitted to insert pinch-runner Alejandro Machado to complete Kapler's trip around the bases, since Graffanino never passed Kapler.

The play made highlight reels across the country for all the wrong reasons. In that one moment, Kapler's baseball career flashed before his eyes.

Of course, if you're going to suffer a serious injury like that, you might as well do it at full speed, hustling around the bases. That play, despite the unfortunate result, is the quintessential Kapler - hard-nosed, all-out, consequences be damned.

It's how the former standout at Taft [High School] of Woodland Hills always has been, on and off the field. Kapler's wife Lisa says he is up every morning by 6:30 and working business deals by 7.

He's a workout nut, a perfectionist at everything. A zealous multi-tasker.

A regular offseason for Kapler is barely a downshift in intensity from the baseball season. This winter has been no exception. Only this year, his energy has been poured into different things.
"I can't make this injury heal any faster than it's going to heal," he said. "It's forced me to slow down, to let my body rest. But it's blessed me with the opportunity to spend more time with my family and to throw myself into other things, like my foundation."

Kapler and his wife started the Gabe Kapler Foundation in 2004. It is a non-profit dedicated to stopping domestic violence and empowering victims of abuse. The cause is close to their hearts. Lisa was a victim of domestic violence in high school, before she met Gabe.

"He's working around the clock," Lisa Kapler said. "It's a full-time job, what he's doing for the foundation. Every time you see him he's on the computer or on the phone, doing something to fundraise for the foundation."

He also is involved in a custom baseball equipment company, called NV Baseball, along with friends and former baseball players Sam Voita (Granada Hills/Tampa Bay Devil Rays) and John Novak (El Camino Real/Texas Rangers).

Tonight, Kapler will be among 15 athletes being inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame at the West Valley Jewish Community Center in Woodland Hills.

"I looked at the injury as the biggest challenge of my career," Kapler said. "I've never had an injury like this. But it's turned this offseason into the best offseason of my career."

Kapler said he's able to hit and throw, but not run at full speed. Barring any setbacks, he expects to be back to top form by late April or early May and has every intention of returning to the Red Sox this season.

The Achilles' injury and his renaissance offseason are just the latest in a line of learning experiences for Kapler.

He lived his lifelong dream of winning a World Series, in 2004 with the Red Sox, then spent the beginning of the following season playing for the Tomiuri Giants in Tokyo, Japan.

The Giants offered a reported one-year, $3 million contract and Kapler and his wife seemed enthused about the idea of playing in another country and traveling with their two young sons, Chase, 6, and Dane, 4.

But soon after he arrived in Japan, Kapler realized how much he had left behind in Boston. At night, he often would go online to check in on the Red Sox.

"I'd follow them over the Internet and it would just break my heart not to be there," he said. "I missed the ring ceremony and I knew all my teammates were there, enjoying the moment of being world champions one more time."

And it didn't help that he struggled to get his bat going against Japanese pitching. In July, he was granted his release and re-signed with the Red Sox.

"At the time, I felt like (playing in Japan) was the right decision for me and my family. But in hindsight, it probably wasn't," Kapler said. "But I wouldn't trade the experience we had in Japan for anything. We learned so much. Japan is an amazing country. It's impeccably clean. I always felt very safe. ... and it was very empowering for my wife. She was able to conquer the Tokyo subway system with two young kids, where the signs are all in Japanese."

But in the end, Kapler missed Boston too much. Especially, Boston in the afterglow of winning its first World Series since 1918.

"Gabe loves the Red Sox more than anything and the fact that we had left Japan and got to come back to Boston was really a miracle," Lisa Kapler said. "The organization and the guys on his team are just his best friends. We knew how lucky we were to find an organization like the Red Sox."

In 2004, Kapler was in right field in the ninth inning of Game 4 as Boston completed its sweep of the Cardinals. He caught the first out of the ninth, a flyball by Scott Rolen.

As soon as he was back in Boston after returning from Japan, all of the joy from that World Series run returned.

"That ball went up and I remember, literally, not having a drop of moisture in my mouth," he said.

When Kapler relives these moments, his voice quickens and fills with emotion.

"I was really trying to savor every moment. To be totally present. ... It was the most magical experience of my baseball career by far," he said. "Nothing even touches the intensity or the nerves. ... Even if the Red Sox win the World Series again, I don't think anything will ever match the intensity of that 2004 team."

Except, of course, the intensity that Kapler brings to everything he does.

Staff Writer Ramona Shelburne's column appears on Saturdays.
She can be reached at (818) 713-3617 or ramona.shelburne@dailynews.com.

A SELECT GROUP
Taft of Woodland Hills product Gabe Kapler is one of 17 people being inducted into the Southern California Jewish Sports Hall of Fame tonight at the West Valley Jewish Community Center.

Here is the complete list:
Robert M. Barnes, DPM - Sports Medicine
David Bluthenthal - Basketball
Cindy Bortz-Gould - Skating
Nick Bravin - Fencing
Harold Hal Charnofsky - Baseball
Stan Charnofsky - Baseball
Thelma Tiby Eisen - Baseball
Max Gold - Handball
Gabe Kapler - Baseball
Merton Isaacman - Lawn Bowling
Jim Rome - Media
Donald Sterling - Basketball
Brian Teacher - Tennis
Rachel Wacholder - Volleyball
Lawrence B. Wein - Football
Joel Rubenstein - Pillar of Achievement
Vicki Wolf - Pillar of Achievement Award

For more information on the Gabe Kapler Foundation, please visit www.thekaplerfoundation.org
GABE KAPLER FILE
School: Taft '93, Moorpark College '95
Teams: Texas Rangers, Detroit Tigers, Boston Red Sox, Yomiuri Giants (Japan)
Position: OF
Bats/Throws: R/R
Notable: .271 lifetime batting average, 62 home runs, 290 RBI, 67 steals.
As a member of the World Champion Red Sox of 2004, Kapler batted .272 with six home runs and 33 RBI in 136 games.