Pop Flies, The Official Publication of the St. Louis Browns Fan Club

The Spring 2010 issue of Pop Flies, the official publication is in the mail. This issue features the following articles.

• Browns 2010 Luncheon Set for July 16
• Sievers Gets Jack Buck Award
• Almost a Brownie - Ty Cobb and the STL Browns
• Browns Trivia

• Browns Interesting Draft Picks
• Browns Digital Museum (http://stlbrownsmuseum.blogspot.com/)
• The Fans Remember
• The Browns First, Last and Only Events
• Browns Memorabilia Targeting STL Sports Hall of Fame
• Johnny Berardino Mattinee Idol
• STL Browns All-Stars
• Two Browns Have Restaurants Names for Them
• Sportsman's Park: Then & Now
• Small Town Boys from Farmington Make the Big Leagues
• Baseball's First Lady (book) Now Available

The Hidden Ball Trick

The trick is exactly what its name suggests. It’s a deceptive play in which the runner on base is fooled as to the location of the ball, and is then tagged out by a nearby defender. Most often, this involves one of the basemen making a fake throw back to the pitcher who, for the play to be legal, must be positioned off of the mound.

According to multiple sources, there have been fewer than 300 successful instances of the Hidden Ball Trick in the recorded history of the Major Leagues. Considering that the game has been around for over a century, with each team playing more than 100 games, it’s an astonishingly low number.

One of the earliest known practitioners of the trick was Bill Coughlin, a third baseman who played for the Washington Senators and Detroit Tigers in a career which spanned nine years (1899-1908). While there is no way to verify his claim, Coughlin was said to have been responsible for seven successful executions of the Hidden Ball Trick. His most high-profile exhibition came in Game Two of the 1907 World Series, when he caught Jimmy Slagle of the Chicago Cubs. It is the only recorded instance of the trick in World Series History.

George Sisler Selected for St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame

ST. LOUIS — A list of 16 individuals, headed by NHL Hall of Famer Brett Hull and former NFL Most Valuable Player Marshall Faulk, as well as several special achievement winners will be inducted as the second class of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

The group will be honored at an Enshrinement dinner to be held November 16, 17 or 18 (pending the St. Louis Blues schedule) at the Millennium Hotel, announced Greg Marecek, founder and president of the St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.

“This group is outstanding and many of them could have been included in the first class,” Marecek said. “Once again, we are bringing to the sports fans of St. Louis an array of great stars."

To qualify for the St. Louis Shrine, nominees needed to have been born or simply played in St. Louis either as amateurs or professionals, from the high school ranks to the professional leagues. Some 100 ballots were distributed to former athletes and members of the media.

The individual members of the second class are:

• • Brett Hull, former member of the St. Louis Blues and member of the NHL Hall of Fame.

• • Senator Bill Bradley, former Crystal City High School standout, three-time All-America player at Princeton University and a member of the two-time NBA champion New York Knicks.

• • Jim Hart, former quarterback for the St. Louis football Cardinals

• • Joe Garagiola, former player and broadcaster for the baseball Cardinals and a member of the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame.

• • Dick Vermeil, coach of the St. Louis Rams Super Bowl championship team.

• • Cliff Hagan, a member of the St. Louis Hawks 1958 NBA championship team and a member of the NBA Hall of Fame.

• • Dizzy Dean, former Cardinals’ pitching great and member of the Major Leagues' Baseball Hall of Fame.

• • Al MacInnis, former player for the St. Louis Blues and member of the NHL Hall of Fame.

• • Hale Irwin, winner of three U.S. Open golf championships, 20 total PGA tour titles and 45 Senior/Champions PGA tour trophies.

• • Bob Broeg, former sports editor of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and a member of the writer’s wing of the MLB Hall of Fame.

• • Marshall Faulk, the MVP of the St. Louis Rams Super Bowl championship team and winner of the 2000 NFL Most Valuable Player award.

• • Pat McBride, a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, who earned five caps with the U.S. National Team and former coach of the MISL St. Louis Steamers.

• • George Sisler, who played for the St. Louis Browns and became a member of the MLB Hall of Fame who twice batted over .400 for the Browns. (pictured left)

• • Don Carter, voted Bowler of the Century by Bowler’s Journal Magazine, and was bowling’s first million-dollar man.

• • Earl “Butch” Buchholz, one of the game’s top tennis players during the late 1950s and early 1960s and a member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame.

• • Ted Simmons, former catcher for the St. Louis Cardinals, who ranks among the top-hitting catchers of all time.

In addition, Special Achievement Awards will be given to:

• • Hall of Fame Award of Champions: Lindenwood University (team championships) and Washington University (for NCAA Division III women’s basketball champions)

• • The St. Louis Award for Past Champions: Budweiser's 1950's Bowling Team

• • The President's Choice Award: The Rawlings Sporting Goods Co.

• • The Star of the Game Award: Cardinal Jack Clark for his game winning 1985 home run to win the NL pennant

• • Community Service and Humanitarian Award: Cardinals Care

• • The Hall of Fame Heart of Gold Award: Monsignor Louis Meyer for distinguished service to the CYC

• • The Metro Legend Award: Ray Cliffe football coach of Cleveland High School and the St. Louis Officials Association

All living honorees and special achievement award winners have committed to attending the November dinner.

Tickets for the dinner may be purchased for $150 per person or $1,250 per table of ten. Ticket orders are now being accepted, with check or money order made out to the “St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame.” To order tickets, send a check or money order to St. Louis Sports Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 190833, St. Louis, Mo. 63119, or call Kathy at 618-292-5528.

Tickets may also be purchased, by credit card, on-line at the Hall of Fame website: http://www.stlouissportshalloffame.com/.