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Friday, December 23, 2011

Primer Dugout (and link of the day) 12-23-2011

New York Times, December 23, 1911:

“These Cubans,” said Mr. McGraw last night, “are only fair ball players. They are as fast as lightning on the bases and they can throw to beat the band. They have picked up all the knacks of fielding, but they cannot bat.

“Not only that, but they do not play what we call brainy baseball. Very little attention is given to brainwork on the diamond. They perform the manual part of the game very well, but the keen, crafty headwork we see in the game here is missing.”

Hey Reggie White, what about Japanese players?

Jefferson Manship (Dan Lee) Posted: December 23, 2011 at 08:01 AM | 13 comment(s) Login to Bookmark
Tags: dugout, history, international

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1. Jefferson Manship (Dan Lee) Posted: December 23, 2011 at 08:06 AM (#4022516)

Surprisingly good offensive Birthday Team:
C: Victor Martinez
1B: Mike Grady
2B: Ken Hubbs
3B: Fritz Maisel
SS: Hanley Ramirez
LF: Danny Taylor
CF: Dave May
RF: Doc Gessler

SP: Jerry Koosman
SP: Sam Leever
SP: Tommy Thomas
SP: Frank Owen
SP: Tim Leary
RP: Brad Lidge

Manager: Jerry Manuel

Most likely to be mistaken for an exotic dancer: Bunny Fabrique
Most likely to be mistaken for a disease: Frank Eufemia
Most likely to attack his general manager: Shawn Chacon
Most likely to (allegedly) pass bad checks: Shawn Chacon

In real life, Uncle Vic would probably play first base and Grady would catch, but I put Grady at first because he played a larger percentage of his games there than Martinez.

2. KJOK Posted: December 23, 2011 at 08:24 AM (#4022519)

Cubans couldn't bat? This guy did pretty good the prior season:
Carlos Moran

3. Jefferson Manship (Dan Lee) Posted: December 23, 2011 at 09:10 AM (#4022524)

Not to mention that Rafael Almeida had just hit .313 for Cincinnati in 1911.

Reading TFA, I get the impression that McGraw didn't get along terribly well with many of the people he met in Cuba - he had just been arrested there, after all - and that his impression of the ballplayers there was affected by his negative feelings. Clearly guys like Torriente, Mendez, Muñoz, Padron, and Moran could play for anybody.

4. Downtown Bookie

Posted: December 23, 2011 at 12:09 PM (#4022542)

I get the impression that McGraw didn't get along terribly well with many of the people he met ~~in Cuba~~....

That's the impression I get about McGraw.

DB

5. Steve Parris, Je t'aime Posted: December 23, 2011 at 03:00 PM (#4022592)

Never saw him stereotype.

6. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 23, 2011 at 03:06 PM (#4022596)

Cubs sign P Manny Corpas. Good gamble. When he's healthy he can be a pretty decent closer.

7. RoyalsRetro (AG#1F) Posted: December 23, 2011 at 03:43 PM (#4022619)

Cubs send LHP Sean Marshall to the Reds for LHP Travis Wood, OF Dave Sappelt, and IF Ronald Torreyes. John Sickels ranked Sappelt and Torreyes each C+ prospects a year ago.

8. ChuckO Posted: December 23, 2011 at 04:25 PM (#4022643)

McGraw's description of Cuban ball players sounds like the typical racist stereotype of the time. He's basically saying the Cubans are great athletes, but aren't all that smart.

9. The Long Arm of Rudy Law Posted: December 23, 2011 at 04:40 PM (#4022652)

The Cubans probably talked about how the Irish managers were quick-tempered drunks.

10. TerpNats Posted: December 23, 2011 at 07:22 PM (#4022756)

IIRC, the Reds had a few Cubans on their roster in that era -- in some ways, they were the Senators before the Senators.

Unfortunately, Cincinnati chili wasn't invented until the '20s; it's interesting to ponder how culinary history might have changed if Skyline-style chili had been exported to Havana. Perhaps instead of Cuban-Chinese cuisine, we might have Cuban-Midwestern.

11. Der-K: at 10% emotional investment Posted: December 24, 2011 at 12:34 AM (#4022856)

Yorvit slaps an ump.

12. Der-K: at 10% emotional investment Posted: December 24, 2011 at 05:28 AM (#4022919)

bump?

13. puck Posted: December 24, 2011 at 05:36 AM (#4022922)

That's just the fiery leadership Yorvit's known for.

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