122 Dave Bancroft - MLB

Sports' Forgotten Heroes

The greatest players to have ever appeared in a Major League Baseball game are honored and immortalized in Cooperstown, New York at the Baseball Hall of Fame. Players like Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Ty Cobb and Christy Mathewson. Ted William and Joe DiMaggio. Mickey Mantle and Stan Musial. Of course there's Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Tom Seaver and more recently Ken Griffey, Jr. and Mariano Rivera. But there are dozens upon dozens more who have been enshrined and whose stories we know so little about. Names very few of us recognize. Guys like Dan Brouthers, Deacon White, Bid McPhee and George Davis. Guys who had great careers, but guys whom we know so little about - not matter how deserving of a plaque they are. Another of those names is Dave Bancroft. He made his debut with the Philadelphia Phillies in 1915 and led them to a World Series appearance. A career .279 hitter, Bancroft enjoyed his best years with the New York Giants for whom he hit .310 and played shortstop on a team that went to three straight World Series and twice came out on top, beating the New York Yankees in 1921 and 1922. Bancroft was a "beauty" at shortstop. In fact, his game might most be compared to that of a more recent defensive "wiz" - Ozzie Smith. On this episode of Sports' Forgotten Heroes, author Tom Alesia joins for a wonderful conversation about one of baseball's most obscure Hall of Famers - Dave Bancroft. Tom's new book, "Beauty At Short" is a terrific retrospective on a career so many know so little about. Tom and I talk about Dave's early struggles at the plate, his defensive genius in the field, his desire to manage, his days as a playing-manager with the Boston Braves, his days as a Manager in the All America Girls Baseball Association and Dave's life off the field.