J.D., John, Rick, hey, let me back in this little clutch here.
<Herb Score, who had two great years before getting hit in the face with a line drive.> By none other than Gil McDougal, SS of the hated Yankees (I was a Dodgers fan). I remember having impassioned debates that summer, maybe of 1957 or 1958, as to whether McDougal felt remorse for what happened, as it was clear at the time that the career of a potential Hall of Famer had been destroyed. Score never had a chance as McDougal crushed a line drive right at Score's face, fracturing his cheekbone and orbital (? bone that protects the eye socket) bones. (I think Tony C suffered a similar injury.) He tried to make a comeback a couple of years later but was never close to the same pitcher. Karl Spooner of the Dodgers was another pheenom of the time, and shoulder injuries KO'd his once promising career.
Rick: Charlie Neal--the guy who reminds me of him physically, and who plays the same position Neal did, is Soriano--very lean, lithe bodies but terrifically strong. Neal never had the talent of Soriano but prompted the same "where does he get his power from?" questions owing to his physique. Pretty good second baseman, playing next to Pee Wee for a while. Sportswriters of the time predicted Neal would hit 40 homeruns a year. He never did reach that level.
<the mid-fifties, baseball was my life. If women existed then, they escaped my attention-:)> That about sums it up for me, except that my life extended into the early '60's, but by then, the Dodgers' move West began to take its toll.
Chamberlain was an animal--but for Russell, he kind of rendered everyone else in the paint invisible, kind of like Shaq. It's one of the reasons why I have, and for a good number of years, have had zero interest in the pro game.
Nate Thurmond. Now, who was the decent center who attended Prairie View A & M before turning pro?
quid
Those were the days.... |
