How the Browns Helped the Orioles Acquire Frank Robinson

Bob Turley and Don Larsen were Brownies  ....

... and two hot right-handed pitching prospects as ever there was.  But the Orioles traded them to the Yankees for Willie Miranda, in 1955

(who, by the way, was an ex-Brown traded away to the Yankees by Bill Veeck)

Willy Miranda (his preferred spelling) was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1960 for Jim Gentile

... who was traded in 1963 to the Kansas City Athletics for Norm Siebern (another left-handed-hitting first baseman)

… who was traded to the California Angels December 2, 1965 for Dick Simpson….

yes, THIS Dick Simpson:

and a week later, the Orioles dangled him before the eyes of Cincinnati Reds general manager Bill DeWitt Sr.,  who found the 1965 Angels Rookie Star too good to resist, so he promptly traded

for him (plus Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun).  "Surely a young Dick Simpson will eventually make up for that hole in the outfield," Dewitt must have thought.   

And just like that, F. Robby was a Brownie, er.... Oriole. (Frank doesn't look very happy about the trade. The Reds recently won a pennant, but the Orioles haven't won one since since 1944.  And then they weren't even the Orioles, but rather the Browns.  But Frank will be happy with the trade soon enough.  It sucks to have a receding hairline. General managers think you are old.  And shaved heads to hide it won't be in style for another 40 years yet.)

So to Review, 

 += .

And that is how the Browns helped the Orioles acquire Frank Robinson, Hall of Famer.



[Another Brownie connection, this one quite real: Jim Russo -- the scout who'd been trying to get the Orioles to make the deal for Robinson since 1961 -- was the last employee of the Browns still with the club.  ~Ed.]

Eddie Gaedel's bat, used in MLB's most famous stunt, readies for sale at Heritage Auctions

Consigned by Gaedel's nephew, Chicago-area resident Bob Gaedele; Used by "little person" Gaedel on Aug. 19, 1951, as MLB owner and showman Bill Veeck's St. Louis Browns played the Detroit Tigers; Gaedel batted once, with the number 1/8 on his jersey, walking on four pitches; Offered for the first time ever at auction.

 

 

 

 

It is, to this day, likely the most famous stunt in Major League Baseball history: On Aug. 19, 1951, as the anemic St. Louis Browns limped toward the fall of another failed season against the Detroit Tigers, owner Bill Veeck — a Hall of Fame owner and the greatest showman in the history of the game — sent 3' 7" tall Eddie Gaedel to the plate, with the number "1/8" on his jersey and to the hysterical laughter of fans.

It was the bottom of the first inning of the second game of a doubleheader and Gaedel took four straight balls and headed to first base and into baseball history.

On Aug. 1, as part of Heritage Auctions' Platinum Night Sports Auction in Rosemont, IL, taking place in conjunction with The National Sports Collector's Convention, the bat that sat perched atop Gaedel's shoulder for those four pitches will appear for the very first time at auction. It is expected to bring $100,000+.

"Veeck was behind some of the most famous, and infamous, ballpark stunts in the history of America's pastime," said Chris Ivy, Director of Sports at Heritage Auctions, "including Cleveland Municpal Stadium's disastrous 10 cent beer night in 1974. It was his 1951 stunt with Gaedel as the smallest batter in league history, however, that he is most remembered for."

The bat has been consigned to auction by Gaedel's nephew, Bob Gaedele, a Chicago-area resident who was given the bat by his father when he was around 10 years old. Bob's father, Eddie's younger brother, received the bat from Eddie after the game.

Read the rest of the story at: http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=63956#.UfFA-I0o7oo

Mystery Hat Uncovered

See the second article below for an explanation on the mystery St. Louis Browns cap.

Bill Irvin, Jr. writes . . .

This hat appears to be a hat designed/used by the original St. Louis Browns Fan Club, organzied in the 1950's by a columnist for the Chicago Tribune and comprised of a number of Chicagoans.

 I own a couple of press photos depicting "members" wearing the hat--one from 1956 in which members "serenade" Bill Veeck (he also was wearing the hat for the occasion), and one at Sportsman's Park in the 1960's in which club members, wearing the hat, have their picture taken with exBrownies wearing reproduction 1940's style uniforms.

Bill Rogers writes . . .

While we don't know the exact designation of the letter "B", we assume it's for Baltimore.
(Click on photos to enlarge)

I am thinking this style cap was adopted by the fan club as their official hat.

Jim Brosnan writes in the 1964 Atlantic Magazine . . .

The most unusual, and without a doubt jolliest, fan club of baseball history is devoted to an extinct organization, a team with no live ballplayers. The St. Louis Brown's Fan Club was created on the day the team disbanded.

Bill Veeck, the man who put the team out of business, once said: "I found out the Brown fans were a myth. You heard about 'em, but you never saw 'em." As owner of the Browns, Veeck had searched river bottom and wheatland in and around St. Louis for customer-fans. Unfortunately for him they were in Chicago, where they paid the White Sox a nominal fee for bleacher tickets. There they cheered for the Browns, who epitomized the all-American underdog.

"They needed us," says Bill Leonard, a charter member of the S.L.B.F.C. and a columnist for the Chicago Tribune. "They didn't have anything else."

On the last weekend of the 1953 baseball season the S.L.B.F.C. traveled to St. Louis to see the final games played by the Browns.

"They lost," wrote Leonard. "We were unsurprised and undaunted."

Today the S.L.B.F.C. carries on its motto: "To perpetuate the proud name of the St. Louis Browns, file progress reports on the reincarnation of the Browns, drink toasts in nut-brown ale, and maintain jolly times."

As fans, they're out of this world.

Veeck Gets Trophy For Firing Manager

St. Louis Browns pitcher Ned Garver presents a silver trophy on behalf of his teammates to Bill Veeck, center, Browns' president, in dressing room at Fenway Park, Boston, Ma. , a few hours after Veeck fired Rogers Hornsby as manager of the club. The trophy bears the inscription, "To Bill Veeck for the greatest play since the Emancipation Proclamation. June 10, 1952. From the Players of the St. Louis Browns."

This Date in Baseball - August 24

Aug. 24
1940: Outfielder Ted Williams pitched the last two innings for the Boston Red Sox against Detroit at Fenway Park. He allowed one run and three hits but struck out Rudy York on three pitches. The Tigers, behind Tommy Bridges, won 12-1.

1951: St. Louis Browns owner Bill Veeck gave more than 1,000 fans behind his dugout YES and NO placards, allowing them to have a part in the strategy of the game. The fans flashed the cards when asked by the coaches what the Browns should do, and it worked as St. Louis beat the Philadelphia Athletics 5-3.