This Day in New York Yankees History 5/15: Ty Cobb Beats Up a Cripple

On this day in 1961 the George Steinbrenner owned Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League hired John McLendon Jr. as their head coach. McLendon would be the first African American to be named to a top leadership position in any major professional sport. McLendon was well respected in the college ranks as a coach but would leave the job midway through the 1961-1962 ABL season due to interference from the front office. Interference from the front office on a George Steinbrenner run team? Say it isn’t so.


Also on this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggio began his 56 game hitting streak, spoiler alert, with a hit against the White Sox Edgar Smith. DiMaggio would collect at least one hit in every single game until July 17. The streak would be ended in Cleveland with the help of a couple outstanding defensive plays at third base by Ken Keltner.


Finally on this day in 1912 Ty Cobb grew tired of listening to heckling by Yankee fans and jumped into the stands near the Tigers dugout at Hilltop Park and pummeled a handicapped fan. Otto Blotz was the man who could not defend himself against the "Georgia Peach" as he only had one hand. Class act right there.

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/15: Ty Cobb Beats Up a Cripple

On this day in 1961 the George Steinbrenner owned Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League hired John McLendon Jr. as their head coach. McLendon would be the first African American to be named to a top leadership position in any major professional sport. McLendon was well respected in the college ranks as a coach but would leave the job midway through the 1961-1962 ABL season due to interference from the front office. Interference from the front office on a George Steinbrenner run team? Say it isn’t so.


Also on this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggio began his 56 game hitting streak, spoiler alert, with a hit against the White Sox Edgar Smith. DiMaggio would collect at least one hit in every single game until July 17. The streak would be ended in Cleveland with the help of a couple outstanding defensive plays at third base by Ken Keltner.


Finally on this day in 1912 Ty Cobb grew tired of listening to heckling by Yankee fans and jumped into the stands near the Tigers dugout at Hilltop Park and pummeled a handicapped fan. Otto Blotz was the man who could not defend himself against the "Georgia Peach" as he only had one hand. Class act right there.

MLB the Last Time the Kansas City Royals Won the World Series

The last time the Kansas City Royals won the World Series was the 1985 season, the year I was born, and boy have things changed since then. Before the 2015 version of the Kansas City Royals face off with the latest edition of the New York Mets let's take a look at what the state of Major League Baseball looked like the last time the Kansas City Royals won the World Series in 1985.

Kansas City won the American League West Division over the California Angels by just one game to reach the postseason and faced off with the mega-team of the American League in the Toronto Blue Jays with 99 victories. Meanwhile the St. Louis Cardinals led Major League Baseball in victories in 1985 with 101 victories winning the National League East Division by three games over the New York Mets.

For the first time ever the ALCS and NLCS were a best-of-seven series and the Kansas City Royals took on the Toronto Blue Jays while the St. Louis Cardinals and the Los Angeles Dodgers faced off in the National League. Kansas City defeated Toronto in seven games to reach the World Series while it took St. Louis just six games to send the Dodgers home for the long winter.

It took seven games but Brett Saberhagen and the Kansas City Royals took care of business on the road to win the 1985 World Series. Kansas City was on top of the baseball world.

The 1985 season was generally business as usual but Pete Rose did break Ty Cobb's all-time Major League hits record with his 4,192nd hit of his career. On September 11, 1985 Rose became the hit king while Don Mattingly of the Yankees and Willie McGee of the Cardinals won the AL and NL MVP awards. Meanwhile Bret Saberhagen of the Royals and Dwight Gooden of the Mets won their respective Cy Young Awards in 1985 while Ozzie Guillen of the White Sox and Vince Coleman of the Cardinals won the Rookies of the Year awards in the league.

A lot has changed since the 1985 season and a lot has changed since either the Kansas City Royals or the New York Mets won a World Series but, sticking with the common thread of this article, that is about to change. Tune in tonight as the 2015 World Series kicks off inside Kauffman Stadium.

Alex Rodriguez Didn't Taint The 3,000 Hit Club

When Alex Rodriguez hit a home run in the top of the 1^st inning off Detroit’s Justin Verlander there was a mixed bag of reactions. Many were happy for Alex and for his accomplishment but some, including Zack Hample who caught the 3,000^th hit, were not so happy about the milestone. There were many opinions thrown out there that ranged from the mindset that he would have reached the plateau anyway without PED’s to that he is a lying, cheating scumbag that has ruined the legacy that is the 3,000 hit club. While 28 players have reached the milestone before Alex you cannot say with a straight face that all 28 of them didn’t do their own part in tarnishing the legacy themselves.

Pete Rose leads Major League Baseball history with 4,256 hits in his career and will join the likes of Rafael Palmeiro, who failed a steroids test, and Rodriguez in the all-exclusive “I hit 3,000 hits but I’m not going to the Hall of Fame” club. Rose was banned from the sport for betting on games while he was a manager of the Cincinnati Reds and new evidence suggests he may have been betting on games heavily while he was still playing in 1986. Palmeiro finished with 3,020 hits in his career but will be more remembered for him wagging his finger at a Congressional committee stating that he never used steroids, period. Less than five months later the positive test hit the news and my collection of his baseball cards were worthless.

Ty Cobb finished his career with 4,189 hits after bragging that he killed a drifter in 1912. Cobb also once jumped into the seats to beat up a disabled heckler that we once covered in our “This Day in New York Yankees History” blog. Cobb also confessed that games were fixed in 1919 by the Chicago White Sox when Tris Speaker, who finished with 3,514 hits, was also involved. Speaking of illegal activities Eddie Murray, who finished with 3,255 hits in his career, was hit with insider trading charges back in 2012 by the SEC who reported that Murray had received roughly $235,314 in illegal profits.

Not everyone is going to be Derek Jeter. Some are going to lie, some are going to cheat and some are going to steal. Alex was not the first to give the 3,000 hit club a black eye and he probably won’t be the last so stop acting like he’s the anti-Christ. Thank you. 

This Day in New York Yankees History 5/15: Ty Cobb Beats Up a Cripple

On this day in 1961 the George Steinbrenner owned Cleveland Pipers of the American Basketball League hired John McLendon Jr. as their head coach. McLendon would be the first African American to be named to a top leadership position in any major professional sport. McLendon was well respected in the college ranks as a coach but would leave the job midway through the 1961-1962 ABL season due to interference from the front office. Interference from the front office on a George Steinbrenner run team? Say it isn’t so.

Also on this day in 1941 Joe DiMaggio began his 56 game hitting streak, spoiler alert, with a hit against the White Sox Edgar Smith. DiMaggio would collect at least one hit in every single game until July 17. The streak would be ended in Cleveland with the help of a couple outstanding defensive plays at third base by Ken Keltner.

Finally on this day in 1912 Ty Cobb grew tired of listening to heckling by Yankee fans and jumped into the stands near the Tigers dugout at Hilltop Park and pummeled a handicapped fan. Otto Blotz was the man who could not defend himself against the "Georgia Peach" as he only had one hand. Class act right there.

Can't Predict Baseball: Ty Cobb Beats Up A Cripple

On this day in 1912 Ty Cobb grew tired of listening to heckling by Yankee fans and jumped into the stands near the Tigers dugout at Hilltop Park and pummeled a handicapped fan. Otto Blotz was the man who could not defend himself against the "Georgia Peach" as he only had one hand. Class act right there.

On this day in 2005 the White Sox did not have the lead in a game when they are beaten by the Baltimore Orioles 6-2. This is the first time this season the White Sox did not have a lead in a game establishing a new major league record with 37 straight games to start a season and tied the 1934 New York Yankees and the 1942 St. Louis Cardinals for the third longest span in major league history.

Congratulations To Ichiro Suzuki On 4000 Hits

Congratulations go to Ichiro Suzuki on his 4,000th hit as a professional baseball player including his time in Japan. While some may say that this is watered down, that Ichiro is "no Ty Cobb or Pete Rose," the Japanese League stats should not count, etc. it is a pretty big deal nonetheless. Counting T-ball and little league stats some players still would not even sniff 3,000 hits so this is an impressive milestone for both the Yankees and Ichiro. Congrats to Itchy and here's to 300 or so more so he can reach the 3,000 hit plateau in the major leagues.