Dave Sisler 1956-1962 Major Leaguer

Dave Sisler played for 4 team during his career in the Majors. He played from 1956-1959 with the Boston Red Sox. During 1959 he went to the Tigers and stayed there until the end of 1960. He spent 1960 with Washington, and 1962 with the Reds.

Dave answered some questions for me in a letter this month. He says that his favorite team is the Cardinals. His favorite former player is Stan Musial.

Dave is a second generation Major Leaguer. His dad George Sisler played for the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, and Boston Braves. He spent a few season also managing the Browns (1924-1926).

I asked Dave if it was exciting playing for the Washington team as his dad had also played for them. He said, "No."

"I remember that they were so cheap that they painted the ground green rather than grow new grass."

Buddy Hicks 1956 Tigers

Buddy Hicks played in 26 games for the 1956 Detroit Tigers. He took the time to type out a very kind note to me. "If you haven't already done the math I am approaching my 83rd birthday and I have the tremors in my hands which makes it difficult for me to write."

Concerning Kentucky, Buddy brings up his playing time with Senator Jim Bunning.

"I played with a fellow from your home state by the name of Jim Bunning while at Buffalo in the International League. I drove in the winning runs in his last three victories before he was called up to the Tigers, and he said that he was going to take me with him, which of course never happened. If I'm not mistaking I think he is still the only pitcher to win over 100 games in both Major Leagues."

"The teams that I played for in order were Trenton, N.J. Newport News Va. Spokane, Wa. St. Paul, Minn. Hollywood, Ca. Baltimore, Md. Atlanta, Ga. Buffalo, N.Y. Detroit, Mi. and CHarleston, W.V. I also managed Yakima, Wa. Austin, Tx. West Palm Beach, Fla., Savannah, Ga., Lexington, and Burlington, N.C. Ended my career in 1969 when my wife took ill and needed me at home."

Mr. Hicks says that he still follows the Major Leagues.

Frank Saucier 1951 St. Louis Browns

Frank Saucier recently sent me some great articles relating to his career. Frank has been on the receiving end of many honors. His college baseball field is now named after him. He lead all of pro baseball in batting average in 1949 and in 1950, he was named Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year!

Oddly, his biggest notoriety related to Bill Veeck's putting midget Eddie Gaedel in to pinch hit in a game. Gaedel pinch hit for Saucier.

Frank sent a great article from the St. Louis Globe Democrat about the last Browns home game on September 26, 1953. The team was in financial trouble, and only had a couple dozen baseballs. To conserve baseballs, batting and fielding practice was skipped. Umpires allowed balls that should have been discarded to remain in play. Fans were asked to throw foul balls back.

Frank was also a part of the U.S. Navy's V-12 program during World War II. In this program, at age 18 he was one of the youngest officers to ever be commissioned by the U.S. Navy! He ended up serving in the Philippines, Japan and China.

While he was really getting his baseball career going and established, the Navy called him back in 1952 because of the Korean War.

After that, Frank went on to be the owner, president and CEO of his own company, and then he worked as a financial consultant! What a great success story! Frank did a lot in baseball, the military, and private business! Thanks for the info Frank, and thanks for your service to our country!

Joe Mather- Cardinals

I sent a couple of VERY amateur photos I took to Joe Mather this season. I mentioned back in April that I went to one of the exhibition games in Memphis putting the ML Cardinals against their AAA team the Redbirds. I sent Jo Jo a couple of pics from that game.

Joey was kind enough to sign my pictures, adding commentary to them, and he answered some questions. You can tell Mr. Mather is a truly funny guy.

He says that his favorite park is Wrigley and his favorite sports team is the Pittsburgh Steelers (good choice). Phoenix Arizona is his favorite sports city.

He says that Autozone park is nice, but Busch Stadium is beautiful!

Joey's humor shows in his note, as he says that he has started an autograph collection too, and then he tries jokingly to talk me in to sending him my autograph collection.

Memphis and St. Louis are lucky to have Joey around!

Jake Striker- 59 Indians & 60 White Sox

Jake Striker mentions that winning his only game in the Majors in Cleveland was great, as he was always a fan of Cleveland. "Bob Feller has always been my favorite player."

"As for a connection with a team close to you, I was with Louisville a short time in 1962." He mentions that Phil Niekro was a teammate.

I checked Jake's stats on baseball-reference.com, and he also spent some time in Chattanooga, Knoxville, and Indianapolis, 3 other great, close baseball towns.

Daryl Spencer 1952-1963 Major Leaguer

Daryl Spencer played for the New York and San Francisco Giants, the Cardinals, Dodgers, and Reds. He also spent 1951 playing in Nashville while in the minors. Daryl gets a lot of credit for influencing baseball and how it is played in Japan.

Daryl sent me a great, honest note about his playing days, and his thoughts on the game today.

Showing a great sense of humor, Daryl notes, "I'm not a great fan of today's baseball. My first problem is that I live close to Kansas City, so I do follow the Royals some."

Concerning his time in the minors and relating it to today's game, he says, "I played on a class D team in Pauls Valley, Oklahoma that made fewer bad plays." He goes on to say, "Players don't bunt, hit behind runners and make many more mental errors than we did. I played 4 years in the minors, about average in the 50's, and learned how the game is supposed to be played. Realize, there were only 16 Major League teams then, and if you make mistakes like they do today, you'd be back in the Minor Leagues."

"I followed the Yankees mainly when Don Zimmer (a former teammate) was a coach for them. I used to go to KC when NY was there and sat on the bench during pre-game workouts. I got to know the players and thus I follow them. Of course Zimmer is long gone, but the only present day players that I know are the Yankees."

I asked him about his favorite player now, and Daryl said, "I guess Derek Jeter is my favorite player."

I also mentioned his time with the Hankyu Braves. Concerning his time in Japan, Daryl wrote, "I was an icon in Japan. Hit 36 & 38 HR's in my first 2 years there."

Don Taussig- 1958, 1961, & 1962 Major Leaguer

Don Taussig, who played for the Cards, Giants, and the original Colt .45s team sent a brief note about a book has has put out.

"Baseball: The Balanced Hand Method Of Hitting" is his book, and he suggests Amazon as a good place to pick it up.

"It is an instructional book concerning the proper use of the hands in swinging a bat. For teaching purposes I discuss my hitting experiences during the period 1957-1961".

Nick Testa 1958 New York Giants

Nick Testa is one of those interesting players in the game who had about half a sip of coffee at the Major League level, but stuck around the game for some time. On April 23rd of 1958, he caught one inning for the Giants and did not get an at bat. That is his career in the Majors.

He did hang around baseball, coaching, helping out in the minors, and even playing in Japan.

Nick let me know that his favorite players were Joe DiMaggio and Don Mattingly. He thinks the best athlete and player was Dave Winfield. Best all around was Willie Mays and Mickey Mantle.

As for managers and coaches, Nick is fond of Joe Torre and Jeff Torborg.

I was excited to hear what Nick thought, because he has been around baseball for so long.

Paul Pettit 1951-1953 Pirates

Paul Pettit, who had a very interesting career during the 50s sent me a great note.

In 1950 he received a $100,000 signing bonus. He pitched for the first part of his career (including his 2 seasons in the Majors). In 1954 he switched to the outfield and first base because of arm problems.

I am personally very fascinated with guys who switch positions like this. Paul says that one of his most gratifying experiences was "being able to have a rewarding career with both pitching and playing as an everyday player."

Mr. Pettit says that baseball gave him many opportunities to travel. "From Canada to Managua, Nicaragua; Cuba, Mexico, and most of the major cities in the United States."

He says that baseball is still a big part of his life. All of his four sons played, and 2 had professional careers.

The player he respects the most is Stan Musial. He says he is partial to Alex Rodriguez and he hopes Alex will break the career home run record.

Paul tells me that he played for the Indianapolis Indians in 1951 for one month. He did say that he stopped by the Louisville Bat Company in Louisville and "was very proud to find my name up in front with all the players to ever sign a Louisville Bat Contract."

Bobo Osborne 1957-1962 Detroit Tigers

Larry Osborne played mostly at first base for parts of several seasons in Detroit from 1957-1962. He played the 1963 season with the Senators.

Obviously he played away from Kentucky, but he did send a note to let me know he did spend a short amount of time in Louisville playing high school baseball back in 1951.

"While in high school playing in a Stan Musial League National Championship Tourney. Finished second against a Detroit team consisting of several players who later became teammates in professional baseball."

Bud Lively 1947-1949 Reds

Bud Lively let me know that His favorite team in the Majors is his former team, the Reds. His favorite team in the Minors is the Huntsville Stars.

Like several other players who played before the 60's, Mr. Lively says that his current favorite player is Jeter. His favorite former player is Stan Musial.

Bud mentions that his old home park, Crosley Field, was his favorite. He mentions that there are many stories from the park of flooding problems in the old days.

Nellie King 1954-1957 Pirates

The Pittsburgh legend Nellie King was kind enough to answer some questions for me recently. For those of you that know me, it is always exciting getting a note from one of the great Pirates.

I asked Nellie about his favorite baseball card, and he responded, "The 1st one I got paid for!". 1954

His favorite teams are the Pirates, New Iberia (LA) Pelicans, and Denver Bears. The Pelicans and Bears were former Pirate affiliates.

Mr. King's favorite current player is Derek Jeter. His favorite former player is also a former teammate of his, Roberto Clemente. Clemente is my all time favorite too, and I can't imagine how exciting it must have been to play on the same team with him!

I will have to check out Nellie's new book. He lets me know that it is available online. Here is a link:

http://www.authorhouse.com/Bookstore/ItemDetail.aspx?bookid=59118

Also, Nellie's kind daughter sent a note to let me know that Nellie has his own blog too! Check it out:

http://happinessislikeacurdog.blogspot.com

Rudy Regalado 1954-1956 Indians

"I played triple A baseball for the Indianapolis Indians in the American Association & we played the Louisville Colonels in Louisville. I enjoyed Louisville. They had great pizza!"

Rudy tells me that he follows his former team, the Cleveland Indians, in addition to the Los Angeles Angels. He likes Adrian Gonzales of the San Diego Padres.

Rudy proudly notes that he played in every game of the 1954 World Series. He came in to play in the 8th inning of the 4th and final game.

I notice I have a lot in common with Rudy. He has a connection to two of my all time favorite teams (the Indians in Cleveland and in Indianapolis, and he loves pizza in Louisville). He mentions something else that I agree with. He says that he admired a former teammate, Bob Feller. While living in Cleveland, I got to meet Rapid Robert my self twice. Bob is full of integrity. Last time I saw him (about 3 years ago) he was in great shape and he looked ready to take on any hot headed hitter.

Bluegrass Stallion's Basketball

I don't want to duplicate myself, but I have written a bit about the new professional basketball team in Lexington on my other blog:
Kentuckytravels.blogspot.com
I do hope Lexington gets out to support this team!
Their web site is:
http://bluegrassstallions.com/

Lloyd Hittle 1949 & 1950 Washington Senators

Bernice Hittle, a relative of Lloyd, responded on his behalf to a letter I wrote him.

Bernice says that Lloyd appreciated hearing from baseball fans. He turns 85 in February and is almost completely deaf.

He has no favorite teams today, but his all time favorite player is Ted Williams. Ms. Hittle notes that Lloyd feels no one could hold a candle to him today.

Lloyd started with the Stockton Ports in 1946 after he returned from the service.

He doesn't remember a whole lot about playing for the Senators, but he does recall his two strike outs against the White Sox.

Thanks to Bernice and Lloyd Hittle for this response. It gives me goose bumps knowing that Bernice and 85 year old Lloyd took the time to write me about Lloyd's career which started OVER 60 years ago.

Tony Roig 1953, 1956, & 1957 Senators

Tony Roig wrote saying that he played for Louisville in 1956.

"I really enjoyed my year there. Red Marion was our manager."

In 1962 he played for Indianapolis and they won the pennant, but they lost to Louisville in the playoffs.

He finished his playing career after playing 6 years in Japan at the age of 40. He then spent some time scouting for Milwaukee and the Angels. He spent 14 years as a scout for the Phillies. For Philadelphia, he spent some time as a hitting instructor.

Gordon Massa 1957-1958 Chicago Cubs

Gordy played a fist full of games for the Cubs between 1957 and 1958. He sent me a note recently about his playing days.

He says that he still follows the Cubs, and his hometown team, the Reds.

"I played my first Major League game against the Reds in my home town. It was very exciting for me. I caught and went two for five."

He also played for teams in Des Moines, Burlington, San Antonio, Fort Worth, Houston, and Amarillo.

Mr. Massa mentions that he played 1st base for Edler Hi in Cincy. His senior year, they played a Louisville team at the old Louisville baseball field.

Future football greats Paul Hornung and Sherrill Sipes played.

Bill Renna 1953-1959 MLBer

Bill Renna, who played with the 53 Yankees, 54 Philadelphia A's, 55-56 Kansas City A's, and the 58-59 Red Sox sent a great note about his career, adding a Louisville link.

"In '52 when I was with the K.C. Blues- we played Louisville KY @ Louisville. Pinky Higgins was the Mgr. of the Louisville team. He later became the Mgr. of the Boston Red Sox. I had some good games against them in that season- especially in Louisville.
I think that had a lot to do with their purchase of me from the S.F. Seals in '57. Pinky and I got along very well. Louisville was a very nice park. I liked it."

Thanks for the note Bill!

Glen Mickens 1953 Brooklyn Dodgers‏

Right handed pitcher Glen Mickens sent me a great note recently. He took the time to give me some great stories about his career.


He says that baseball has been his life since he was 15 years old, and he is still involved coaching kids in Kauai, and coaching a UCLA alumni team.


"Though I only had a cup of coffee with Brooklyn in 1953 it was the thrill of my life to have played with all those great and future Hall of Famers. Particularly it was great playing with my idol Jackie Robinson." Glen goes on to say that he still cheers for the Dodgers, since he played for them and their minor league system.


Glen says that he roomed with Drysdale at Montreal, and he also played with Roberto Clemente (a personal favorite of mine!). Other players that he played with at this time were Tommy Lasorda and Sparky Anderson.


Mr. Mickens played in Japan, appearing in 3 All Star games. "I was the 1st American to be credited with a win in one of those games." He says that he was treated well while playing there, and he will always have fond memories of his time playing in Japan.


Concerning baseball cards, he says that he signed with Topps while with the Dodgers, but he has never seen a card from them.


Mr. Mickens says that he coached for 25 years at UCLA, and had 31 of his players make it to the Majors, including Chris Chambliss, Eric Karros, Todd Zeile, Don Slaught, and Tim Leary.


Thanks for taking the time to get back to me Glenn!

Ed Mayer 1957-1958 Chicago Cubs

I received a great response and a lot of fun information recently from former Cubs left handed pitcher Eddie Mayer. Mr. Mayer said that he will be 78 this month. He said that he is amazed that he still gets letters about his baseball career.

He does mention that he has checked out my blog, and he noticed that I just wrote about his former teammate, Gene Fodge.

Ed says that he still loves the Cubs. He says that he and his wife travel once a year to see a game at Wrigley. Ed talks very fondly of another former teammate, Ernie Banks, mentioning that he is truly a nice guy.

Ed says that he sometimes follows his first team in 1952, San Jose (now a Giants farm team). Eddie mentions that this team won the pennant in 1953 while he was on it.

I asked him about his favorite players. Ed says that Tim Lincecum is his current favorite, and his favorite former player is Ernie Banks. Mr. Mayer mentions that the 58 Cubs had a lot of talent, including Bobby Thomson, Alvin Dark, Dale Long, Walt Moryn, etc.

I asked a lot about the minors, and Ed mentioned that he played for San Jose, Greensboro, Montgomery, Rochester, Omaha, Fort Worth, Portland, and Havana!

He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and was a teacher for 25 years after baseball.

Eddie sent me a great article from his time with the Omaha Cardinals detailing a big win he had over the Louisville Colonels. Looking over the box score from the game, Mayer pitched 9, gave up 1 unearned run, allowed 5 hits, 1 walk, and struck out 8. He also sent some articles relating to playing against another favorite team of mine, the Indianapolis Indians. I love reading articles from decades ago about games in the minors! I will try to put a scan of the articles up. He also sent some great reads relating to his having the 2nd best ERA in the National League in 1958. Ed also sent a great article about his closing a game on May 30th of 1958 for the Cubs, giving him his last Major League victory over LA and Sandy Koufax!

Kentucky Horsemen Football

For anyone that follows the Horsemen in Lexington, I have read that they have folded. I actually heard this several days ago, and just hoped it was a nasty rumor. I hoped that they might come back a few days later and announce that they were actually still functioning (like they did a couple of years ago, saying that they were no more, but then announcing a week or two later that they would actually be back in a new league).

Well, it looks like they could not swing the fees that the new Arena 1 League required. I am very sad to hear about this, they really put on a good show at Rupp, and I loved going to the games.

Their web site still appears current, though it hasn't been updated lately. I know the Lexington area will have a new pro basketball team and that's great, but I will really miss the Horsemen. I think they stuck around a lot longer than anyone expected.

Jimmy Stanley- Frontier League

Jimmy Stanley played for a couple of teams in the Frontier League this year, including spending the first part of the season with the Florence Freedom. Being a fellow Lexingtonian, Jimmy let me know a little bit about his very young, pro baseball career.

"It's always been my dream to play pro baseball and I thank God for giving me this chance" Jimmy said. He seems very happy about his opportunity.

He said that his favorite park to play in has been the one in Southern Illinois (Home of the Miners). He was impressed with their huge crowds and amazing facility. His favorite pro team is the Reds. He mentions that he is a huge Griffey fan.

Los Angeles is his favorite sports city, but he bases that mostly on a friends description.

I asked him about the new artificial turf at Champion Window Field. He said that he was a little skeptical of it at first but started to like it after a while. He said that it was different pitching on the turf mound and it did not feel natural.

Jimmy also talked about playing in the 2005 Kentucky State Championship with Lexington Christian Academy. He got to pitch the final game.

Jimmy gives his parents a lot of credit for their support, and he was glad that his pro career started a short drive from home.

I asked Jimmy about being traded from the Florence Freedom to the Kalamazoo Kings. He did say that he was bummed about it at first, but he felt that everything happens for a reason. He said that he is enjoying the area, and he is glad that he got to meet the guys on the team.

Brian Shubsda Newark Bears

I sent a note to former Citadel Catcher Brian Shubsda. Brian sent a very nice note back about himself. I got to see Brian with the Newark Bears this last season.

Concerning his teammates on this exciting Bears team, Brian says, "it is very humbling to be in a clubhouse like ours, with names like Carl Everett, Armando Benitez, and Ramiro Mendoza". He says that he enjoys playing at their park in Newark.

Brian very kindly says that he was glad he could respond to my request for info. He says that getting letters and pictures in the mail is fun.

He also mentions that his best friend, Todd Frazier was with the Louisville Bats this year! That is his Kentucky connection!

Gene Fodge 1958 Chicago Cubs

Gene Fodge was kind enough to send a note about his pro baseball career.

Gene says that his favorite former player, and his favorite baseball card was Ernie Banks. His favorite team was his former one, the Cubs. His favorite player these days is Derrek Lee.

Gene played in 1957 for the legendary Memphis Chicks.

Lucas Holko

I just thought I would take a second to put up a couple of links. As a fan of baseball at the lower levels, and as someone who goes to a lot of games, I am aware of the dangers of foul balls.

I have seen a few close calls. Most fans that attend games regularly have seen someone take an injury from a flying ball. I once saw a third base coach politely but firmly advise a mother holding a very small baby to think about setting in a different area.

I personally like getting a seat near 1st or 3rd. I hate having the net in front of me.

I have some personal close call stories myself. My wife and I changed seats at a game in Augusta New Jersey several years ago. As the game went on, we decided to set on the opposite side of the field for some different photo angles. After setting down, and getting comfortable in our new area, a foul ball smacked the seat we had been setting in, putting a dent in it. If we had still been setting there, we would have been hit. The ball went from the hitter's bat to smacking the seat in a fraction of a second. There would have been absolutely no time to react. We also were inches from a Gary Matthews Jr. foul ball a couple of years ago at Spring Training.

Things happen though. Anyone at a game is taking a chance (pretty much a small chance generally). The chances of really getting injured from a foul ball are small. In fact, I personally don't worry about such things.

Which brings me to Lucas Holko. On September 2nd, Lucas was at one of my all time favorite parks watching a team I have seen many times- the Mahoning Valley Scrappers. I have mentioned them before. Great park and a great team. The Scrappers play right behind a mall in a pretty rural area. 4 year old Lucas was setting in his dad's lap at the time when he was hit with a foul ball. Lucas is being treated at Akron Children's Hospital.

Anyway, please take a moment to read about Lucas. Here is an article on the Scrapper's web site:

http://web.minorleaguebaseball.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20090910&content_id=6896738&vkey=news_milb&fext=.jsp

Here is a link to the Holko family's website with updates on Lucas:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/lucasholko

The family has put some exciting updates about his progress on the site. Please take a moment to check it out. I don't know what else to say about this, but I think it is sweet when a family goes out to a ball game together. The Holkos were out enjoying a game together when this fluke accident occurred.