On the Road is a weekday feature spotlighting reader photo submissions.
From the exotic to the familiar, whether you’re traveling or in your own backyard, we would love to see the world through your eyes.
Captain C
We continue with our visit to the Hall of Fame, spanning the last part of Friday and the first part of Saturday, and covering the ’40s thru the ’60s in baseball.
This is the strike zone chart made by (I believe, if not, it was for him) Ted Williams, showing his average in every spot in the strike zone. Williams, of course, was one of the greatest hitters of all time, and also a skilled fighter pilot who lost 5 years to World War II and the Korean War, including time as John Glenn’s wingman.
The Dodgers had mostly earned their nickname “Da Bums” up until the ’40s, but with Branch Rickey coming onboard as General Manager, and Jackie Robinson (finally!) breaking the color barrier in 1947, they became perennial contenders, winning 6 pennants in the 10 seasons of his career through 1956. Each time, they faced the Yankees, and finally broke through and won their first (and only in Brooklyn) series in 1955. In 1958, they moved to Los Angeles, breaking millions of hearts, including my mother’s.
The 1946 Boudreau shift again the lefty Ted Williams, who still apparently managed to get hits through it.
The Yankees were of course the Dodgers’ great rivals during the late ’40s and ’50s, From 1947-64, a span of 18 seasons, they won 15 pennants and 10 World Series (the Series were won in the 16 seasons from 1947-62, which meant they won nearly twice as many as the rest of the Major Leagues combined in those years). Of those series, 7 were against the Dodgers, 5 of which they won. This was the second half of the Yankees’ long dynasty, stretching from 1920 (when they acquired the Babe) through 1964, their last pennant with Mantle et al.
Yankee paraphernalia, including Maris (9) and Mantle (7) jerseys.
Willie Mays’ bat and other gear. The Say Hey kid was possibly the most talented player ever to play the game, an excellent hitter, runner, and fielder who never lost his enthusiasm for playing the game he loved.
Juan Marichal and Willie McCovey, two other Hall of Famers of the great Giants’ ’60s teams (their first full decade in San Francisco) which never quite made it over the top and won a title.
Uniforms &c. from the great Dodgers and Orioles teams of the mid-late ’60s.
Old Dan and Little Ann
What I beautiful place. I haven’t been in about 20 years. And before that, I hadn’t been in about 20 years. I need to take my little one. Thanks for sharing. Go Yankees! Go baseball!
p.a
Even as a Yankee fan I have to admit the (LA) Dodgers home whites are among the best unis in all sports.
When the Mets were formed they chose Dodger blue & Giants orange as their colors to honor those lost franchises.
JML
I need to go to Cooperstown. Never made the trip. But I did just pay for my baseball tickets for next season (I’m part of a ticket pool)
Citizen Dave
Thanks for these different pics to the usual landscapes. Went there with my parents around 1976, I guess. A little bit after my baseball interest peaked. Glad to see an Orioles jersey. Was beginning to think that all they had was Yankees/Dodgers.
Agree on the beauty of the home Dodgers jersey. Not my observation, but the red number just makes it.
Trivia Man
When i moved to the greater NYC area i was dreading the Yankees fans. Im a California yankees hater from way back and my experience with their fans was that they were smug and abrasive assholes. Band wagon jumpers! Its like rooting for the House in Vegas!
Turns out i didnt mind them. They just seemed like fans of a hometown team. But im still suspicious of their fans who aren’t from NYC.
Great trivia on Mets colors!
Captain C
@Old Dan and Little Ann: They’ve done a great job with it over the years. Dame N and I are looking forward to our return visit this spring.
Captain C
@Citizen Dave:
For that particular stretch of years (’47-’66) it’s easy to think there were only three teams in baseball, as every year in that span except for 1948 saw at least one of the Yankees, Dodgers, and Giants in the World Series, and nine of them saw the Yankees vs. either the Dodgers or Giants (’47, ’49, ’51-’53, ’55-’56, ’62-’63). This was probably one of the (several) reasons baseball started to decline in popularity relative to other sports around then.
Captain C
@Trivia Man: NYC-area Yankee fans can be obnoxious, but aren’t always. Non-NYC area Yankee fans tend to be similar to non-Dallas area Cowboys fans in their chance of and level of obnoxiousness. Funnily enough, these two teams have won a combined one total title (Yanks ’09) since 2000.