Colorful McGowan Brought Flare and Fairness to the Game

Enthusiastic Bill McGowan came close to being an exception to the old adage that says fans don't pay to see the umpire.

On this date in 1992, the umpire was elected to the Hall of Fame by the veterans committee.

With his flamboyant hand gestures and vibrant demeanor, McGowan served 30 seasons as an arbiter in the American League, from 1925-1954.

His accuracy and attention to detail quickly earned him accolades upon his promotion to the big leagues. He garnered the nickname "Number One," in reference to his stature among umpires. The Delaware-native once went 16 seasons without missing an inning, a stretch of more than 2,400 consecutive games.

Ted Williams called him the fairest umpire he ever saw, and credited McGowan, in part, with helping him focus on his run for a .400 batting average in 1941. McGowan was working home plate on the last day of the '41 season and took the opportunity to give a piece of advice to Williams.

"Just as I stepped in, he called time and slowly walked around the plate, bent over and began dusting it off," Williams recalled in his biography My Turn At Bat. "Without looking up, he said, 'To hit .400 a batter has got to be loose. He has got to be loose.' " Williams pounded out six hits that day to finish at .406.

McGowan umpired in eight World Series and five All-Star Games, and his umpiring school helped produce several major league umpires. He died on December 9, 1954, long before his Hall of Fame induction. His son, Bill Jr., accepted the honor in his place and beamed with pride.

"As you can plainly see, I'm proud of this guy," Bill Jr. said as he pointed to his father's plaque. "As I talk to many of these Hall of Famers this weekend and listen to them tell me how great he was, how good he was, it makes me burst."

Oh, What A Night!

When the April 18, 1981, Triple-A game between the Rochester Red Wings and the Pawtucket Red Sox began 30 minutes late after an electrical problem affected the lights, it appeared that both teams would be in for a long evening.

Eight hours, seven minutes, 33 innings, and two months later, the game finally concluded at McCoy Stadium in Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

2005 Hall of Fame electee Wade Boggs was among the players on the field that night. He played third base for Pawtucket throughout all 32 innings. At 4:07 a.m., the game was halted after International League president, Harold Cooper, called the stadium to inform the umpires of a rule prohibiting the start of a new inning after 12:50am. The rule, of course, had been omitted from the umpires’ handbooks.

Extra innings began after Pawtucket tied the game 1-1 on a sacrifice fly in the bottom of the 9th. Boggs later saved a run for Pawtucket in the 11th when he stopped a liner off the bat of Cal Ripken Jr. and recorded the out at second base. The game remained tied at one until the top of the 21st, when Rochester scored on a double by Mike Hart. Boggs drove in Pawtucket’s second, and final, run of the night in the bottom of the 21st, tying the game, 2-2. Boggs went 4-for-12 that evening. After 32 innings, the clubs combined for 213 total at-bats and over 13 dozen balls used. A total of 49 runners had been left on base.

The game resumed over two months later, on June 23. That night it only took only 18 minutes to declare a winner. The Pawtucket Red Sox loaded the bases in the bottom of the 33rd and scored on Dave Koza’s single to left field, defeating Rochester, 3-2, in 33 innings. Once finished, the game lasted three innings longer than any other recorded professional game and six innings longer than any major league game.

Happy Birthday, Don Sutton!

Don Sutton was a major leaguer at the tender age of 21 and never looked back. His philosophy from the get-go was to be prepared, stay healthy and stick to a plan. That mantra translated into a Hall of Fame career for the likeable pitcher, who is now known for his work as a commentator on Braves telecasts. Sutton turned 60 on Saturday.

"I decided I wanted to play baseball at a young age," Sutton told Sports Collector's Digest in 1991. "All those steps from Little League, Pony League, Colt League, Connie Mack, High School and Junior College really weren't amateur ball. It was pro ball that they weren't paying me for yet, because it was part of a plan I wanted to use to get better, so I could pitch in the big leagues. So, I felt like when I got to the major leagues at 21, I was in my 10th year of pro ball."

Sutton stayed healthy, never once missing a turn in the rotation. And he stuck to his pitching plan. When he signed his first professional contract with the Dodgers in 1965, he had four pitches: a fastball, two curve balls and a slider. "I believed in throwing strikes, changing speeds and throwing my curve ball when behind in the count. I always felt like I could put the ball where I wanted to." When he retired 23 years and 324 major league wins later, his philosophy had not changed.

A four-time All-Star, as a rookie, the right-handed Sutton was placed in the Dodgers rotation with future Hall of Famers Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Incredibly, Sutton reached double figures in wins in 21 of his 23 seasons and struck out more than 100 batters in each of his first 21 campaigns. He pitched in four World Series and posted five career one-hit games. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1998.

Rick Ferrell's "High Adventure" with the 1944 Senators

How difficult (and dangerous) is it to catch a knuckleball pitcher? Multiply the answer times four and you get an idea of how hard it was for future Hall of Fame receiver Rick Ferrell in 1944.

"It will be a high adventure," Ferrell said at the prospect of catching four knuckleballers in the Washington Senators' rotation. "Yes, there is an element of danger in catching a knuckleball pitcher, but that's part of the job in Washington this season. But if we can win the pennant, I'll catch knucklers every day and night, every pitch, while my hands last."

With many of the hardest throwing hurlers away in the military during World War II, the 1944 Senators boasted one of the more talented pitching staffs in the American League. A veteran ballclub, the Nats were expected to contend for the pennant. The staff was led by Dutch Leonard, John Niggeling, and Roger Wolff - all right-handed masters of the fluttering knuckler. Also on the staff were lefty starter Mickey Haefner and southpaw reliever Bill Lefebvre, both of whom relied almost exclusively on the knuckleball.

The 38-year old Ferrell was familiar with Leonard, having caught the knuckleball specialist in an earlier stint with Washington. Leonard parlayed his success with the pitch, which is actually thrown with the fingertips, into a 20-year career that included 191 victories. Amazingly, Leonard was so precise with his knuckleball that he led the AL in fewest walks per nine innings twice and frequently finished among league leaders in that stingy category.

After finishing second in 1943, the Senators slid into the basement in 1944, though their knuckleballers could hardly be blamed for their poor finish. Three of the four knuckleballing starters had fine seasons: Leonard sported a 3.06 ERA, Haefner fashioned a 3.04 ERA, and Niggeling came in at 2.32. Only Wolff struggled, posting a 4.99 ERA with 15 losses. The Nats' weakness was their defense - the club committed a league-high 218 errors. The following season, with Ferrell and the four knuckleball starters in their same roles, the Senators fought for the pennant until the final day of the season, finishing second to Detroit, 1 1/2 games out.

A Star(gell) is Born

When Wilver Dornel Stargell was born on March 6, 1940, in Earlsboro, Oklahoma, the Pittsburgh Pirates were in the midst of a 32-year pennant drought. Willie's debut with the Bucs on September 16, 1962, would begin to change that trend. Through the next 21 years, Stargell lit up Steel City baseball with gusto, disco, and postseason baseball.

A slugging outfielder and first baseman, Stargell's titanic clouts were his calling card as he belted a league-best and career-high 48 home runs in 1971. The free-swinging lefty still holds the all-time Pirates records in home runs (475) and RBI (1,540).

"Pops," as he was affectionately known to teammates, proved just how valuable he could be in 1979. Not only did he win the regular season MVP award by racking up 32 home runs and 82 RBI in only 126 games, he also captured the NL Playoff and World Series MVP titles en route to collecting his second championship ring.

As a rookie in the Pirates clubhouse, he learned the art of the elder statesman role under the tutelage of Roberto Clemente. "Pops" eventually became a clubhouse pillar, guiding his crew through both the good times (six division titles from 1970-1979) and the bad (Clemente's tragic death in December 1972). He led by quiet example, though his unconventional methods of unity, such as the gold cloth "Stargell Stars" awarded for key plays, and playing Sister Sledge's "We Are Family," drew most of the media attention.

Stargell's legacy reached beyond the diamond. He devoted much of his time to community work, campaigning and fundraising for the fight against sickle-cell anemia, a disease that is more likely to affect members of the African-American population.

Stargell hung up his spikes after the 1982 season and continued his community work until his death on April 9, 2001. But "Pops'" legacy will always live on, as the Pirates retired Stargell's number 8, and honored him with a bronze statue at the left field entrance of PNC Park.

Eppa Rixey, (1891-1963)

Eppa Rixey did not have long to enjoy his membership in baseball's most exclusive club. On February 28, 1963, only a month after being informed that he had been elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee, the tall southpaw hurler died of a sudden heart attack at the age of 71.

Rixey, who never pitched a day in the minor leagues, spent 21 seasons in the majors (1912-1917, 1919-1933) with the Philadelphia Phillies and Cincinnati Reds. His 266 victories established the mark for most by a National League lefthander until Warren Spahn surpassed him in 1959.

"I'm very glad Spahn broke it," Rixey quipped at the time. "If he hadn't broken it, no one would have known I'd set it."

When called with the news that he had been elected him into the Hall of Fame, Rixey expressed first disbelief, then great surprise and satisfaction. "You sure scraped the bottom of the cracker barrel," he joked.

Still going strong late in his career, Rixey expressed amazement that his opponents had yet to figure him out.

"How dumb can the hitters in this league get?" asked Rixey. "I've been doing this for 15 years. When they're batting with the count two balls and no strikes, or three and one, they're always looking for the fastball. And they never get it."

Rixey was discovered while playing ball at the University of Virginia, where he was planning on becoming a chemist.

"If I had my life to live over again, I would do exactly as I have done," he recalled. "I would welcome an opportunity to play big league baseball. The old game has bestowed upon me a far wider reputation than I would ever have gained by holding test tubes over Bunsen burners in a chemical laboratory."

For Rixey, his decision to forgo the lab coat for the baseball uniform was a winning formula.

Fingers Retires the Handlebar

On February 21, 1986, one of baseball's most successful relievers announced he was closing the door for the final time.

Rollie Fingers' decision was not due to a lack of skill or ability, and it was not because he lost interest in the game. Rather, his retirement was based on his trademark facial hair. Fingers was known not only for his outstanding arm, but for sporting a handlebar mustache, inspired by teammate Reggie Jackson with Oakland in 1972. After Jackson arrived at spring training with a mustache and was not reprimanded, Fingers and two of his teammates decided to copy Jackson's look and grow mustaches of their own. A's manager, Dick Williams, soon forced them to shave. Despite Williams' protest, A's owner, Charley Finley liked the look, so he offered $300 to any player who grew a mustache. Fingers opted for the handlebar just to be different.

After 17 major league seasons, Fingers was released by the Brewers following the 1985 season, when Milwaukee finished near the bottom of the American League East. The Cincinnati Reds showed interest in signing the 39-year-old relief specialist, but Fingers posed a daunting question to Reds' General Manager Bill Bergesch.

"What's your policy on facial hair?" asked Fingers. The answer ended his career. Bergesch told Fingers that the Reds had a strict policy against facial hair. Fingers, staying true to his trademark, refused to shave his mustache and with that, lost his last major league offer.

The decision clearly did not affect his legacy. In 1992, Fingers was inducted into the Hall of Fame. Today, after 19 years of retirement, Fingers continues to wear his famous handlebar mustache.

'Freak' Deliveries Banned

On February 9, 1920, the Joint Rules Committee of Major League Baseball announced the ban of "freak deliveries," adding a new hurdle for pitchers attempting to record an out. The new rule, which outlawed spit, sandpaper, resin, talcum powder, and other "foreign substances," contributed to the changing balance of power between pitchers and hitters as the Dead Ball Era came to a close.

"Doctoring" the ball, a practice of pitchers to alter the baseball by applying a substance or misshaping, was an accepted practice throughout the first two decades of the 20th century. Despite the 1920 rule change, 17 pitchers remained exempt from the ban until the end of their careers. These "grandfathered spitball pitchers" continued in their ways for the next decade, until 1934, when the end of the legal spitball ended with the retirement of Burleigh Grimes.

The ruling has experienced continued controversy over the last 85 years. While freak deliveries were banned in 1920, some pitchers continued to have success throwing the spitball and using other substances illegally throughout the 20th century. While far from common in the 1950s, freak deliveries were present throughout the sport as hurlers became more adept at concealing the pitches.

A Trio of Hall of Fame Birthdays

Jackie Robinson, Ernie Banks and Nolan Ryan all share more than just successful baseball careers and election into the National Baseball Hall of Fame. January 31 marks the birth date of each of these three baseball greats, whose careers spanned five decades of the game.

Robinson, born in Cairo, Georgia in 1919, was an all-around stellar athlete, lettering in four sports at UCLA. His entry into Major League Baseball came in 1947, as the first African American to break baseball's color barrier. Robinson went on to an outstanding career and was named the National League MVP in 1949 with 37 steals and 124 RBI. He was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1962.

Born this day in 1931, Ernie Banks, a Dallas native, made his major league debut in 1953. The eternally hopeful Banks captivated fans with his sweet swing and his signature salutation, "Let's Play Two!" An 11-time All-Star and the first National Leaguer to earn consecutive MVP awards, Banks ended his major league career in 1971. He was elected into the Hall of Fame in 1977.

One year after Banks' retirement, Refugio, Texas native, Lynn Nolan Ryan became a major league All-Star for the first time. Ryan, born in 1947, began his career with the New York Mets, but became a national sensation after joining the California Angels in 1972. A fierce competitor on the mound, Ryan pitched at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour and is best remembered for his seven no-hitters and 12 one-hitters. He also would pitch for the Astros and Rangers before retiring after the 1993 season. He was elected to the Hall of Fame 1999.