On This day in 1973 -- The First Black Manager in Baseball -- Sorry Frank Robinson

I remember watching when Frank Robinson became the first black manager in Major League history. I loved was the idea that he was a player-manager.  I've never liked seeing the grandfatherly manager wearing a uniform in the dugout.

It was great to see Robinson play and manage for two years.  He didn't put his name in the lineup much, playing only 85 games in two seasons.

While Robinson was the first black hired to be manager, Ernie Banks served as manager of the Cubs on this day in 1973 when Whitey Lockman was ejected in the 11th inning on a called third strike.  Banks, who retired as a player in 1971, was the Cub coach given the job of managing the team after the ejection.

The Cubs won that game in 12 innings, so I guess Banks gets the win as manager?

Amazingly, 10 players for the Cubs that day appeared on a Kellogg's card at some point.  The Padres only had two Kellogg's stars in the game.  Four other 1973 Cubs appeared on Kellogg's cards at some point for some team.  I guess a future post will determine if any team had more players than the 14 Cubs, a team that didn't win anything.    

I wonder if any lineups during this time had no players who appeared in a Kellogg's set?  I doubt I'll be able to analyze that but I might as well put it on the list for a future post.

Oldest Player on a Kellogg's Baseball Card - and Appreciation for Jamie Moyer's Age

The oldest player from the 1972 All-Time Greats set was Cy Young who was born in 1867.

The oldest player in a regular Kellogg's set was born in 1931.  Unlike a recent post where Bobby Bonds was second to Willie Mays, this time Mays ranks second.  Ernie Banks was born in January of 1931 and Mays was born a few months later in May.

Banks will probably be a regular on this blog because (a) he was Mr. Cub, (b) he kept active in baseball until his death this year, (c) he had a few Kellogg's cards and (d) he was a Cub.  

On this day in 2010 47-year-old Jamie Moyer became the oldest player to throw a shutout.  The comment about pitching to Babe Ruth was also a nod to his MLB career which went from 1986 to 2012.

Another post will talk about the youngest players to show up from 1970 - 1983 on Kellogg's cards.  And I thought only women lied about their age.  Stay tuned.

Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #5 - 100 Years Old, No Not Me! Baseball Cards Changed Forever Because of This Day

I asked the athletes that I coach what happened 100 years ago today and my favorite responses were -
(a) I graduated college
(b) I became old enough to vote
(c) I got drafted into WWI

Did I mention that none of this kids are getting good grades?

Baseball history changed with this monumental event.  Babe Ruth hit his first home run.  He was a Boston Red Sox pitcher at that time.  I didn't have the time or energy to look up the box score, but I would have to guess that the historic home run was given up by Jamie Moyer.

1972 All-Time Greats Babe Ruth #13

1972 Cereal Box rating -- 10     comment --   what could be better?
2015 Rating                    -- 10    comment --    have you seen the movie The Sandlot?

As I mentioned before, I'm not sure these were in cereal boxes, but I will keep the theme the same.

Another Larry Hisle Post Already? Baseball History and Pinch Runners Today

Happy birthday to Larry Hisle who manages to get another post already.  Here is the earlier post.  His two posts equal his number of Kellogg's cards.  Since neither post is related to his cards, he will certainly appear at least two more times.  There will also be a post about his high school at some point.

Hisle stole 128 bases in 1,197 career games.

Charles Finley released Herb Washington on this day 40 years ago.  As a track fan, I loved the 1975 Topps card that listed his position as pinch runner.  He won an national championship in the 60-yard dash in 1974.

Washington stole 31 bases and scored 33 runs in his career.  He played in 105 games without ever batting, pitching or even playing the field.  If he even owned a glove that would be quite a unique collectible - and never certified as "game used".

My favorite pinch runner was Matt Alexander who began his career with the Cubs.  He was traded to Oakland a week before the A's decided to cut Herb Washington.  Alexander at least played in the field a bit, logging 420 innings during 374 career games.  He stole 103 bases and had only 168 at-bats in nine MLB seasons.

Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #4 - Is It Nice to Have the Rings at Least?

I was surprised to find out that Ellie Rodriguez was a two-time all-star.  Of course one of those years was 1972 which got him into this set.

1973 Ellie Rodriguez #2

1973 Cereal Box rating -- 1    comment -- an A.L. catcher that is certainly not a star. 
2015 Rating                    -- 1    comment -- a two-time All-Star, but a common.  

I'm sure it was disappointing to Rodriguez, his family and his friends that in both All-Star games he didn't get into the game.  Being a catcher didn't help his cause since there wouldn't be others who could easily fill in as catcher if all catchers had already played.  A new rule allows a team to re-insert a player if a position player is injured.  This would have allowed teams to play all catchers during the game.

Looking at players who were stuck on the bench at an All Star Game is another idea for a future post.

Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #3 - Second on a List to Willie Mays Must be a Good Thing

Bobby Bonds hit is 300th home run on this day in 1979.  He was the second player in baseball history to surpass 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases.  Willie Mays accomplished this in 1961.

1973 Bobby Bonds #8

1973 Cereal Box rating -- 6    comment -- good player; certainly can trade him if he's a double
2015 Rating                    -- 3    comment -- fans only want Hall of Famers, so he's a common

Bonds is now known more as the father of Barry Bonds.  Incidentally, Willie Mays is the god-father to Barry Bonds as Bobby and Willie Mays were long-time teammates.

Bobby and his son are currently the leading father-son combo in many statistics including home runs and RBIs.

Kellogg's Cereal Box Dream #2 - What Didn't Happen on this Day in 1939?

For the past few weeks you've been reading about my useless knowledge of Kellogg's baseball cards.  Doing this makes me feel like the luckiest man on the face of the earth.

I've been in over 25 ballparks and I've felt nothing but kindness from fans from different teams.  It is the highlight of this hobby to be able to communicate with readers like you about cards.

Of course I'm lucky.  

So, I close by saying that I might be a poor writer, but I've got more room for improvement than most writers.  I should bench myself from writing this blog for the good of the readers, but I will try to learn how to write.

1972 All-Time Greats Lou Gehrig #14

1972 Cereal Box rating -- 8     comment -- great card; great player 
2015 Rating                    -- 10    comment -- now one of my favorite cards and players

Okay, the speech above is poorly done, but on this day in 1939 the big news of the day was what didn't happen.  Lou Gehrig didn't play on that day, ending a streak where he played in 2,130 straight games.

I love old baseball tickets.  It would be great to see a ticket from this game or the game a few months later when Gehrig delivered his famous speech.

I just saw "The Pride of the Yankees" again last week.  I find it difficult to stop watching this movie so I ended up staying up way too late.  If you haven't seen it find the time to do so.

The cards on the left are from the 1970 Rold Gold Pretzels set and the cards on the right are from the 1972 Kellogg's All-Time Greats set.  The difference can be seen on the last line on the back.  The year is shown on this line.  

These cards seemed to only be found in Kellogg's Pop Tarts.  Mom never bought Pop Tarts for us.  I am trying to get these cards in their original packaging.  It will be a challenge to get both sets.