LET'S PLAY TWO
A Pensacola Pelicans Fan Site

2008 was a good season for the Pelicans.  Granted, they didn't make the playoffs but the team provided much in the way of skilled play, hustle and fan friendliness.  Our personal "Boys Of Summer" hit with power, stole bases and pitched courageously.  The future is bright!  Next season starts in May.  Games are played at Spooner Field on the UWF campus—a great facility.


There is a timelessness to baseball.  The basic game remains much as it was over 100 years ago.  There is no time limit to a baseball game.  The positions remain the same.  You still need to make 27 outs to complete a game.  The umpires are always wrong and the home team is always the best.



Bases are still 90 feet apart and "home" base is still called a plate.
The pitcher still begins 60 feet 6 inches from home plate.
Nine innings still make a regulation game.
Home plate is still 17 inches wide.
Home to 2nd is still 121 feet.


The original configuration of a "ball diamond" has changed little since the 1800s.



The addition of lights made baseball available to working people.




Left...Evan Conley of the Pelicans displays the timeless
form to field a grounder—you play the ball,
you don't let the ball play you.




Cesar Aranguren reaches first in a classic situation
where runner and ball arrive together.





Left...Dallas Christison slides head first into second like runners
have done fearlessly since the first game was played.





Josh Morgan displays the one handed catch.  One area where the game has
changed has to do with gloves.  In the 1800s gloves were optional. 
Today, the flexible fielder's glove is a great improvement. 
A good fielder still looks the ball all the
way into his glove.




The first baseman needs the agility of a ballet dancer





Ulysses Roque appears to have a curve ball grip.  There was once
a debate about whether a ball actually curved—some
claimed it was an optical illusion.




Left...Chris Reynolds, the catcher and the umpire all  follow the
flight of the ball.  Great hitters are still the stars and
catchers are still the unsung heroes.


Since the beginning, young men have strained their arms.


Dane DeValk
Daniel Smith
Jack Joffrion (an infielder)



The game has seen its changes. 

Today, the pitcher throws from a 10 inch high mound.  For a time, the mound was even higher.  Originally there was no mound.  Groundskeepers have been known to give the home team an advantage.  If your team was based on pitching, they would raise the mound as high as they could get away with.  If your team had power hitters, the groundskeepers would pack the ground tightly so that hard grounders got to the outfield quickly.  Teams coming to town with great base stealers would find the ground so soft between first and second they couldn't get traction to run.  Teams with good bunters have even been known to "bank" the dirt along the base paths to help keep bunts from rolling foul.

The equipment has evolved.  Many bats are made out of maple today.  Many hitters believe it is a superior wood.

Some feel the maple bat is prone to shattering and is therefore, quite dangerous.  This shattered bat was impaled on the infield in a Pelican game.  It is believed that metal bats would prove far more dangerous to pitchers and infielders.

There are rumors that baseballs are sometimes juiced—meaning that they are manufactured to travel further when hit.  The first rumors of this sort started about the same time as weight training became more commonplace.  One thing about the ball has certainly helped hitters.  Today, a team will go through dozens and dozens of baseballs in a game.  Batters will see a bright ball each pitch and not the scuffed and dirty ball that was used until it was hit out of the playing field.  Lowering the mound has also shifted the advantage more toward the hitter.

Catchers equipment has come a long way since the  "tools of ignorance" of my day.  Today, the masks, shin guards and chest protectors offer superior protection with little weight. 

Today's glove is so flexible it allows for one handed catching—the other hand can be kept out of danger.  Back "in the day" our catcher's glove was called a mitt and it was as stiff as second base.  You caught two handed and risked broken and stoved fingers.  There were more collisions at the plate because you had  to tag with both hands or the ball would be easily dislodged from the inflexible glove. Today, catchers use the swipe tag and can often avoid collisions.  Some catchers now wear devices that rest their knees from the destructive deep knee bend posture.

The game has had its problems.  Certainly, the color barrier that kept people like Josh Gibson and Satchel Paige out of the Major Leagues was deplorable.  Gambling has been a problem.  The Black Sox scandal of 1919 saw a World Series fixed.  It may also have seen Shoeless Joe Jackson falsely accused and barred from the game he loved.  Pete Rose has more hits than  anyone in the history of the game.  He also bet on games in direct violation of baseball's most sacred rule.  Baseball survives.  Walter Camp once reported that in the late 1800s many games were fixed. 

We've had cheaters but they have become part of the lore of baseball rather than threats to a great game.  Ty Cobb allegedly sharpened his spikes to intimidate those who would try to tag him on a steal attempt.  Numerous pitchers have used the spit ball—a catch all phrase to include all foreign substances and even intentional nicks and cuts to a ball. Players have "corked" their bats—drilling out wood and replacing it with everything from super balls to actual cork.  Teams have been caught planting a coach in an outfield scoreboard where he could use binoculars to help steal and report catcher's signs.  Today, the steroid issue has called some performances into question.  This too shall pass.  The game is bigger than any of these problems.

So you see, having professional baseball in town is more than a chance to watch an occasional ball game.  It's bigger than that.  It's our link to the past and to our future.  Take a kid to a ball game and tell him or her about Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth.  Tell them about Willie Mays and Ted Williams and how they interrupted their careers to serve during the Korean War.  Tell them about Sandy Koufax and his decision not to accept the honor of starting the first game of the '65 World Series because it conflicted with his religious observance.  Tell the story of the 1951 Miracle Of Coogan's Bluff.  And tell them about Bill Veeck and Eddie Gaedel.  The list is endless.  What about "Three Finger" Brown and how he overcame a terrible injury to win over 230 games?

Minor league baseball has even more stories.  Remember that almost every single Major Leaguer played in the minors—some for many years.  Many thousands more played minor league ball without seeing the Majors.  There are stories.  The man who arguably threw faster than anyone in history, Steve Dalkowski, once pitched for Pensacola.  Some believe he threw faster than 105 MPH. Some believe he threw 110 MPH. In 1959, he pitched 25 innings and struck out 43!  Unfortunately, he walked 80 and had a few wild pitches and hit batters.  His ERA was 12.96.  It was a typical record for this legendary figure.  In an earlier year, he once struck out 24 batters in a nine inning game.  He lost 8-4 because he walked 18, hit 4 and had a half dozen wild pitches.

Baseball in Pensacola?  Yes, it's about the
Pelicans, but it's about so much more!

PERSONAL THOUGHTS
MY OWN FIELD OF DREAMS
THE GREAT AMERICAN PASTIME

1912
His name was Bill Stockland. It was almost 100 years ago.  He's standing, 2nd from the left.  They say he could throw hard all day long.  There weren't relief pitchers in this obscure semi pro league in Wisconsin.  He went 17-1 and was paid mostly in beer and adulation.  It's said that he preferred the beer over the cheers.  A lowly paid section hand, I believe his status as a star athlete helped him win the daughter of the wealthiest man in town.  He later went back to work on a section crew for the Soo Line Railroad.  He and the pretty girl from the "good" side of the tracks would eventually become my grandparents  years later.


1961
Almost 50 years after my grandfather's exploits, I became addicted to his game.  Yes, we won the game and the championship in some obscure high school league in a midwestern state.  We were small fish in a very small pond but it was BASEBALL!  The guy standing, without the hat in the center of the photo, was one of the leading hitters thanks to a collection of "Texas League" bloop singles and "Seeing Eye" ground ball hits.  Barely 15, he exhibited blinding foot speed that could be clocked from first to third with an egg timer or a sun dial. 

A catcher, his  throw to second had a pronounced "hop" on it—usually several hops. It was sometimes mistaken for a ground ball.  They say he could throw weakly and wildly all day long.  He may have invented the passed ball. There was talk of naming it after him.  He thought the announcer's call of  "E-2" was a compliment.  But it was BASEBALL and he has to believe his grandfather would have been proud.

Baseball?  It IS your grandfather's game!
We're merely holding it for our grandchildren.

                                                       HALL OF FAME

Many of us have our own baseball hall of fame somewhere in the recesses of our memories and in our hearts.  Mine, of course, includes my grandfather.  He never pitched higher than some obscure semi pro leagues on the edge of the prairie in some little town in Wisconsin.  He heads the Hope Wing of my hall of fame.


There is a monument to the late (2005) Frank Smith.  He pitched 7 years in the Majors for Cincinnati and St. Louis—two places that were hot as Hell, but more humid, in the summertime.   He went 35-33,  mostly as a reliever in the days before relievers got glory and big bucks.  He had a good fastball and 44 saves.  He was also the coach of a lonely little kid who was as amazed as anyone when he'd somehow get a hit.  "I wasn't much, but I was all I had." I was good enough for him.  He took some of us to a baseball game.  Box seats, upper deck.  The guard welcomed us without  tickets.  We were big shots...Frank Smith and us. 

Clair Bee and Chip Hilton were my mentors—in several sports, but mainly baseball.  Chip didn't really exist except in Clair Bee's sports novels—and our minds.  Chip didn't always win the championship, but he always came out on top.  He taught us that character really does count.  And without character, none of this really matters anyway.  That was heady stuff for a kid to learn.

Are sports valuable?  You tell me.


                                             
A good omen—spring training light show.  Even the weather is on our side this year. The Pelican's Spring Training practice is open to the public.  The Pelicans are all about family and fan friendliness.  There are contests, zany events and great promotions in American Association regular season games.  However, between the lines, they are serious about baseball.  This is authentic professional baseball!

Pelican Baseball
It's The Real Deal


THE SWEETEST SCIENCE

Boxing has been called "The Sweet Science."  Fair enough.  If you saw Ali in his prime, you'll agree with the term.  There have been some great fighters.  I can't think of another sport where a man would be honored to be called "Sugar" and fans would appreciate what was meant.  It is a sweet science, indeed.

However, baseball is the king of scientific sports.  No other sport relies so much on the laws of physics.  No sport relies so much on the imparting of spin and rotation on a thrown object.  No other sport is based on the mystery of somehow hitting a round, rapidly spinning, object with another round object.  Golfers hit a stationary round ball with a flat faced club head—the modern club heads being almost the size of a human head.  The basketball player flips a round object into a basket twice the diameter of the ball!  He can even jump and jam the ball through the iron ring.  Most football players never get to touch the ball in their sport on most plays.  Only one soccer player on a team ever gets to touch the ball with his hands.  You'd have to go to Jai Alai to find a ball in a sport traveling at baseball speeds or beyond. 

The danger in tennis is limited to tripping as you jump the net to congratulate your opponent.  No golfer has to deal with a defender or chin music. (You may insert your own "Gotcha" joke here.) Bull fighters are more butcher than athlete.  Just as in a butcher shop, only the clumsy ones get hurt.  Football players are rugged but more and more rules are changed to tone down the physical nature of play.  Wide receivers and quarterbacks may soon be wearing dresses and only be allowed to be touched with padded gloves.  Baseball is a sport that combines daring and finesse.  Players collide at high speed and slide with spikes flying.  You'll need a helmet if you come to the plate after 2 or 3 teammates have hit homeruns.  Fielders still fearlessly challenge walls in pursuit of an out.  And when the opportunity arises, the same players display grace and coordination the equal of any athlete in any sport.

SOME SPRING TRAINING PHOTOS
It Is A Very Complicated Game At Top Levels Of Play


Pitchers spend hours on fielding bunts and covering bases.


It looks like an error.  Actually, a very slick fielder is flipping
the ball with his glove to speed up a double play attempt!


Even an experienced pro practices concentration.


Another slick play—flipping the ball with the glove!


The skill and depth of this year's pitching staff is exciting!


The Science Of Baseball
Manager Talmadge Nunnari is a baseball man.  He and his coach are clocking speeds with a radar gun.  The manager is scrutinizing the deliveries to pick out the slight nuances that may reveal a pitcher tipping off his pitch.  It's hard to hit a 90 MPH fastball.  When you get a change-up or curve when you're thinking fastball—you're going to look bad.  Your chances of getting a hit jump quite a bit if you know what pitch is coming.  Pitchers try to disguise their grip and catchers try to make sure they aren't predictable with the pitches they call for.



MORE INFORMATION

PENSACOLA PELICANS

PELICAN TRAINING ACADEMY

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION

ABOUT PENSACOLA






















Copyright  © Bill Stockland 2008
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

The "Let's Play Two" quote is from Ernie Banks.  He was so
enthusiastic  he'd say the phrase when he took the field for a game.

The baseball card is from The Baseball Almanac
http://www.baseball-almanac.com

EMail Bill Stockland at: billstockland@cox.net 

This site is provided by private citizens
who support the Pensacola Pelicans
baseball team in the American Association.
We are not connected with the Pelican Organization.