December 22 - Connie Mack - This Day in Baseball - The Daily Rewind

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December 22nd Show Notes

Born on December 22, 1862 in East Brookfield, MA, Player, manager, scout, general manager, owner — Cornelius MacGillicuddy (Connie Mack) — did it all. For more than half a century, he owned and managed the Philadelphia A’s — nearly their entire existence. He built two dynasties that won a total of five World Series titles.

Mack was often described as the “grand old gentleman of the game,” but he wasn’t above stretching the rules to gain a competitive advantage. He was rumored to have kept frozen baseballs handy to insert into the game when his pitchers were on the mound. He also employed a special coach who stationed himself in center field at Shibe Park to steal signs from opposing teams.

Connie Mack pieced together a tremendous baseball team in the first decade of the 20th century, built in large part, around his famous “$100,000 Infield.” At the time, Mack claimed that even that lofty dollar-amount would not pry the four star players away from him. In 1911, John “Stuffy” McInnis was switched to first base to replace the aging Harry Davis, a fine player. McInnis, who earned his nickname because he had the “right stuff” as a young ballplayer in Boston, joined Eddie Collins, Jack Barry, and Frank Baker to form the greatest infield of the era.

His A’s from 1929-1931, had a team second to none, which featured Jimmie Foxx, Mickey Cochrane, Al Simmons, Lefty Grove, George Earnshaw, Rube Walberg, and Jack Quinn.

Mack holds the all-time record for most games managed (7,755), most games won (3,731), and most games lost (3,814). His record of 50 years managing one team, and 53 years overall will most likely never be broken.

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December 22, 1944 – Future Hall of Famer Steve Carlton is born in Miami, Florida. Rivaling Tom Seaver as the finest pitcher of the 1970s, Steve Carlton won the National League Cy Young Award in 1972 and 1977 before capturing another two trophies during the early portion of the ensuing decade. One of the greatest left-handed hurlers in the history of the game, Carlton trails only Warren Spahn in victories for a southpaw, with 329.

He also ranks fourth on the all-time strikeout list with a total of 4,136. The first pitcher to win four Cy Young Awards, Lefty, as he came to be known, surpassed 20 victories on six separate occasions, winning at least 16 games another four times. Over an 18-year stretch beginning in 1967, he failed to post at least 13 victories just once. During that same period, he also finished with an earned run average under 3.00 eight times, struck out more than 200 batters eight times, and threw at least 250 innings 13 times. Carlton remains the last National League pitcher to compile as many as 25 victories in a season, as well as the last pitcher from any team to throw more than 300 innings in a season.

December 22, 1980 — The Boston Red Sox mail Fred Lynn and Carlton Fisk their new contracts two days after the Basic Agreement’s December 20 deadline. Boston’s blunder makes their All-Stars eligible for free agency. Fisk will land in Chicago after a legal battle and complete a Hall of Fame career over the next decade plus. Lynn will end up traded to California with Rick Burleson, and play 11 more seasons. However, he will never have the impact he did in Boston.

This was a dark era in Boston, similar to recent times as they let a Hall of Fame player slip away, as well as trading away the soul of the team. It took several years for them to become competitive again, when Roger Clemens would arrive in the summer of 1984.

December 22, 1999 — In an interview in Sports Illustrated magazine, Atlanta Braves P John Rocker offends virtually every race and ethnic group in a hateful outburst. Community leaders, media, management, coaches, and teammates alike call for action to be taken against the lefthander, who had 38 saves for Atlanta this past season.

In a story published in the December 27, 1999 issue of Sports Illustrated, Rocker made a number of allegations stemming from his experiences in New York City and answered a question about whether he would ever play for the New York Yankees or the New York Mets.

I’d retire first. It’s the most hectic, nerve-wracking city. Imagine having to take the 7 Train to the ballpark looking like you’re riding through Beirut-next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids. It’s depressing… The biggest thing I don’t like about New York are the foreigners. You can walk an entire block in Times Square and not hear anybody speaking English. Asians and Koreans and Vietnamese and Indians and Russians and Spanish people and everything up there. How the hell did they get in this country?

During the interview, he also spoke of his opinion of the New York Mets and their fans:

Nowhere else in the country do people spit at you, throw bottles at you, throw quarters at you, throw batteries at you and say, “Hey, I did your mother last night—she’s a whore.” I talked about what degenerates they were and they proved me right.

The interview was conducted while driving to a speaking engagement in Atlanta. The reporter, Jeff Pearlman, wrote that during the interview session, Rocker spat on a Georgia State Route 400 toll machine and mocked Asian women. Also, Rocker referred to Curaçaoan teammate Randall Simon as a “fat monkey”.

Although Rocker later apologized after speaking with Braves legend and Hall of Famer Hank Aaron and former Atlanta mayor and congressman Andrew Young, he continued to make controversial remarks. For his comments, Commissioner Bud Selig suspended Rocker without pay for the remainder of spring training and the first 28 games of the 2000 season, which on appeal was reduced to 14 games (without a spring-training suspension).

December 22, 1953 –Jack Dunn III officially turns over the name “Orioles” to the St. Louis Browns, who recently were acquired in November 1953 by a syndicate of Baltimore business and civic interests led by attorney and civic activist Clarence Miles and Mayor Thomas D'Alesandro Jr.

His family had successfully operated the International League Orioles franchise for years in Baltimore, Maryland. The original Orioles, an AL charter member franchise eventually moved to New York in 1903 to eventually become the Highlanders, and then the Yankees.

The move to Baltimore was ushered in with the arrival of Brooks Robinson in 1955. They experienced their greatest success from 1966 to 1983, when they made six World Series appearances, winning three of them (1966, 1970, 1983). This era of the club featured many future Hall of Famers who would later be inducted representing the Orioles, such as third baseman Brooks Robinson, outfielder Frank Robinson, starting pitcher Jim Palmer, first baseman Eddie Murray, shortstop Cal Ripken Jr., and manager Earl Weaver.