Babe Ruth Caught the 1918 Flu—Twice

(Slate) ... The stories of Ruth’s home runs overshadowed a curious development on the team. During their time in Hot Springs, two of his teammates, George Whiteman and Sam Agnew, fell ill with “the grippe,” and several other players soon became sick. “The reign of the grippe and sore throats continues,” noted Boston Globe reporter Edward Martin. That same day, Henry Daily of the Boston American reported, “A perfect epidemic has run through the entire city, and almost everyone complains.” Continued

Hack Wilson

(Wikipedia) Lewis Robert "Hack" Wilson (April 26, 1900 – November 23, 1948) was an American center fielder in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1934. He is best known for his record-setting 191-RBI season of 1930. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. Continued

 

Secretariat

 

(Wikipedia) Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989) was an American thoroughbred racehorse. Secretariat won the 1973 Triple Crown, becoming the first Triple Crown winner in 25 years, and set still-standing track records in two of the three races in the Series, the Kentucky Derby (1:59 2/5), and the Belmont Stakes (2:24). Like the famous Man o' War, Secretariat was a large chestnut colt and was given the same nickname, "Big Red." Continued

Raymond Berry

(Wikipedia) - Raymond Emmett Berry (born February 27, 1933 in Corpus Christi, Texas) was an American football wide receiver. He played for the Baltimore Colts during their two NFL championship wins. He later had a career in coaching, highlighted by his trip to Super Bowl XX as head coach of the New England Patriots. He is a member of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Continued

Barney Ewell

(Wikipedia) Harold Norwood "Barney" Ewell (February 25, 1918 – April 4, 1996) was an American athlete, winner of one gold and two silver medals at the 1948 Summer Olympics.
Born into poverty in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Barney Ewell was one of the world's leading sprinters of the 1940s. Mr. Ewell attended John Piersol McCaskey High School in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Continued

Photo: USA Track & Field

Rare 1865 Baseball Card to Be Auctioned in Maine

 

BIDDEFORD, Maine (AP) Six-figure bids are expected when a rare 148-year-old baseball card discovered at a rural Maine yard sale is auctioned.
Saco River Auction Co. in Biddeford is holding an auction Wednesday that includes a card depicting the Brooklyn Atlantics amateur baseball club. Continued

So, how'd all this raven stuff get started anyway?

Many Marylanders associate the Baltimore Ravens name with Edgar Allen Poe, but that's not the real story, or at least, not the whole story.
 

It all started back in the 19th century when the colorful Gilmor (no "e") family made a fortune in the Baltimore shipping industry. Like all good antebellum Southerners, Robert Gilmor was a Sir Walter Scott fan; so much so, that he built his house to look just like "Abbotsford," Scott's estate across the Atlantic. Having a Scottish house he decided to give it a Scottish name: Glen Ellen. (Ellen after his wife, and Glen being Scottish for, uh, glen.) Many years later the family donated their estate to build a reservoir which they named, in Scottish fashion, "Loch Raven," after a portion of the estate called Ravensrock. Then came Loch Raven Boulevard, Glen Arm, Waverley, etc., and the rest is history.
Of course the fact that Poe died in Baltimore, while on one of the great all time benders in literary history, only added to Baltimore's association with the doleful crow.
Are there any actual ravens in Maryland? I've never seen one, but according to the Maryland DNR, you can find them in the western portions of the state.

 

Earl Weaver R.I.P.

BALTIMORE (AP) - Earl Weaver always was up for an argument, especially with an umpire. At the slightest provocation, the Earl of Baltimore would spin his hat back, point his finger squarely at an ump's chest and then fire away. The Hall of Fame manager would even tangle with his own players, if necessary.
All this from a 5-foot-6 pepperpot who hated to be doubted. Although reviled by some, Weaver was beloved in Baltimore and remained an Oriole to the end. Continued

Super Bowl III

(Wikipedia) Super Bowl III was the third AFL-NFL Championship Game in professional American football, but the first to officially bear the name "Super Bowl" (The two previous AFL-NFL Championship Games came to be known, retroactively, as "Super Bowls"). The game, played on January 12, 1969, at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, is regarded as one of the greatest upsets in American sports history. The heavy underdog American Football League (AFL) champion New York Jets defeated the National Football League (NFL) champion Baltimore Colts by a score of 16–7. This was the first Super Bowl victory for the AFL. Continued

Ross Grimsley

(Wikipedia) Ross Albert Grimsley II (born January 7, 1950 in Topeka, Kansas) is a former left-handed pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Cincinnati Reds (1971-73), Baltimore Orioles (1974-77 and 1982), Montreal Expos (1978-80) and Cleveland Indians (1980). His father, Ross Sr., pitched for the 1951 Chicago White Sox.
Grimsley helped the Reds win the 1972 National League Pennant and the 1973 NL Western Division, and the Orioles win the 1974 American League Eastern Division. Continued
 

Photo courtesy of Baseball Almanac

Walter Johnson Dies

(LoC) On December 10, 1946, baseball great Walter Johnson died at the age of fifty-nine. Nicknamed "The Big Train," Johnson pitched his way to fame during twenty-one seasons with the Washington Senators. His fastball is considered to be among the best in baseball history.
Johnson joined the Senators in 1907. After a tentative first season, the former high school star found his ground eventually scoring more shutout victories (110) than any other major league pitcher. Johnson's 1913 record for pitching fifty-six consecutive scoreless innings stood for over fifty years until Don Drysdale bested it in 1968. His strikeout record (3,508) held until 1983. In all-time wins, Johnson is second only to Cy Young.
Honored in 1913 and in 1924 as the American League's Most Valuable Player, Johnson retired from play after the 1927 season after breaking his leg--being struck by a line drive during spring training. Two years later, he took over as manager of the Senators, a position that he held until 1932. Continued 

Firpo Marberry

(Wikipedia) Frederick "Firpo" Marberry (November 30, 1898 – June 30, 1976) was an American right-handed starting and relief pitcher in Major League Baseball from 1923 to 1936, most notably with the Washington Senators. The sport's first prominent reliever, he has been retroactively credited as having been the first pitcher to record 20 saves in a season, the first to earn 100 career saves, the first to make 50 relief appearances in a season or 300 in a career, and the only pitcher to lead the major leagues in saves five times. Continued

Photo: Yankees catcher Wally Schang slides safely into 3rd base in second game. Senators 3rd baseman is Ossie Bluege and pitcher backing up play is Firpo Marberry. Senators won 2nd game 7-2 of the 1924 World Series. (Library of Congress).

 

Lee MacPhail, Executive Who Led American League, Dies at 95

(NYTimes) Lee MacPhail, a former president of the American League, a general manager of the Yankees and the Baltimore Orioles, and the oldest member of the Baseball Hall of Fame, died on Thursday night at his home in Delray Beach, Fla. He was 95. Continued

Bucky Harris

(Wikipedia) Stanley Raymond "Bucky" Harris (November 8, 1896 – November 8, 1977) was a Major League Baseball player, manager and executive. In 1975, the Veterans Committee elected Harris, as a manager, to the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Harris was born in Port Jervis, New York and raised mostly in Pittston, Pennsylvania. Harris was discovered by baseball promoter Joe Engel, who led the Chattanooga Lookouts at Engel Stadium. In 1919, at the age of 22, he came up to the Washington Senators, where his initial performance was unimpressive. Harris' batting average was a meager .214, and he participated in only eight games in his first season.
Despite this poor showing, club owner Clark Griffith made him Washington's regular second baseman in 1920, and before long, Harris was batting .300, while distinguishing himself as a tough competitor. The young player stood up even to the ferocious Ty Cobb, who threatened Harris when he tagged Cobb in their first encounter. Continued

 

Seabiscuit vs. War Admiral in "the match of the century"

(Wikipedia) On November 1, 1938, Seabiscuit met War Admiral in what was dubbed the "Match of the Century." The event itself, run over 1 and 3/16 miles (1.91 km), was one of the most anticipated sporting events in U.S. history. The Pimlico Race Course, from the grandstands to the infield, was jammed solid with fans. Trains were run from all over the country to bring fans to the race, and the estimated 40,000 at the track were joined by some 40 million listening on the radio. War Admiral was the prohibitive favorite (1-4 with most bookmakers) and a near unanimous selection of the writers and tipsters, excluding the California faithful. Continued

Photo by Arthur Siegel (FSA/OWI/LoC).

Goose Goslin

(Wikipedia) - Leon Allen Goslin (October 16, 1900 – May 15, 1971), better known as Goose Goslin, was a left fielder in Major League Baseball known for his powerful left-handed swing and dependable clutch hitting.
... The 20-year-old Goslin was called up to the major leagues to play for the Washington Senators for the last two weeks of the 1921 season. He had a promising .351 on base percentage in 14 games in 1921 and became a starter for the Senators in 1922.
Goslin played 93 games in 1922 and became a fixture for the Senators in left field until 1930. Continued

Jim Palmer

(Wikipedia) James Alvin "Jim" Palmer (born October 15, 1945) is an American retired right-handed pitcher who played all of his 19 years in Major League Baseball (MLB) with the Baltimore Orioles (1965–1967, 1969–1984) and was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1990. The winningest pitcher in the majors during the 1970s with 186, he won at least twenty games in each of eight seasons and received three Cy Young Awards and four Gold Gloves during the decade. His 268 career victories are currently an Orioles record. A six-time American League (AL) All-Star, he was also one of the rare pitchers who never allowed a grand slam in any major league contest. Continued

Rube Waddell

(Wikipedia) ... Waddell was odd and unpredictable, including a bad habit of leaving the dugout in the middle of games to follow passing fire trucks to fires, and performed as an alligator wrestler in the offseason. He was also easily distracted by opposing team fans who used to hold up puppies and shiny objects, which seemed to put Waddell in a trance on the mound. Continued

Moe Drabowsky

(Wikipedia) Myron Walter Drabowsky (July 21, 1935 – June 10, 2006) was a Polish-American right-handed relief pitcher in Major League Baseball who played for the Chicago Cubs (1956-1960), Milwaukee Braves (1961), Cincinnati Reds (1962), Kansas City Athletics (1962-1965), Baltimore Orioles (1966-1968, 1970), Kansas City Royals (1969-70), St. Louis Cardinals (1971-72) and Chicago White Sox (1972).
... the Orioles signed him for the 1966 season.
Now pitching out of the bullpen, Drabowsky won six with no losses and seven saves, and struck out 96 in 98 innings pitched. In the opening game of the 1966 World Series opener against the Los Angeles Dodgers, Drabowsky entered the game in the third inning and set a still-standing one-game World Series record for relievers by striking out 11 batters, including tying Hod Eller's record of six consecutive strikeouts in the 1919 World Series. He walked Jim Gilliam with two out in that third inning to force in Lou Johnson for a run that, although it cut the Orioles' lead to 4-2, would be the last run the Dodgers scored in the series, as the Orioles would sweep the Dodgers 4-0, their next three wins coming on shutouts from Jim Palmer, Wally Bunker and the starter Drabowsky had relieved in Game 1, Dave McNally. Continued

Baltimore Terrapins

(Wikipedia) The Baltimore Terrapins were one of the least successful teams in the short-lived Federal League of professional baseball from 1914 to 1915, but their brief existence led to litigation that led to an important legal precedent in baseball. The team played its home games at Terrapin Park. Continued