Don't worry. I do have hobbies other than baseball. Normally I would get through the off season with the football season but since the Titans and Vikings were finished after week 4 that didn't help this year. Then there's the basketball season. As a Celtics fan that takes care of that. Finally, I have the hockey season and as a Penguins fan it is a nice distraction.
The off season does give me one benefit. I get to focus on some of my other interests and in this instance I get to combine two of my greatest interests into one. Those of you who know me know that I have a passion for history. This article combines two of my historical passions: baseball history and Disney history.
It will be broken up into two articles:
Part 1: Important dates in Disney history: this will tell you what was happening in baseball during the important moments of Disney history,
Part 2: Walt Disney's influence in baseball (focusing specifically on his impact on the Angels franchise).
I think even non baseball fans and non Disney fans will find something interesting in these articles, but for those of you choosing to opt out now, check back in two weeks for some more cool articles.
Important dates in Disney history:
6/24/1893:
The National League was in the middle of their seventh season and contained twelve teams. The standings were deadlocked at the top with the Boston Beaneaters tied with the Philadelphia Phillies. They were both one game ahead of the Brooklyn Grooms. On June 24, the Boston Beaneaters, eventual National League Champions, won a game from the Baltimore Orioles, 4-2. On that same day, Roy O. Disney was born in Chicago, IL.
12/5/1901:
December in 1901, as it is today, was dead center in the baseball offseason. Very little happened in those months. There was no free agency or off season training programs. There were no contract negotiations between owner and player but the American League was preparing for their second season. Kip Selbach, eight year veteran outfielder and Giants star, decided on December 4th that he could get more money if he jumped to the Baltimore Orioles of the new American League. The next day Walter Elias Disney was born.
6/8/1917:
The Disney's are most often associated with Marcelline, MO, however, they spent a great deal of time in Chicago. There is no indication of Walt being a fan of either the Cubs or White Sox but both teams were excellent as Walt was becoming a young adult. On 6/8/1917 the White Sox took on the lowly Washington Senators. The Sox had gone 16-3-1 over their last 20 games but had lost the last two games. On June 8th they started another winning streak, pounding the Senators 11-3. The offense was led by a few names that would be notorious just a few years from now. Buck Weaver was 3-5 and scored 3 times. Joe Jackson was 3-5 with a double and two runs. Happy Felsch was 3-5 with a run. Chick Gandil was 2-4 with a run and Swede Risberg was 1-4 with a run. On that day, as the White Sox were demolishing the Senators, Walt Disney graduated from High School.
January 1920:
The month of January 1920 set in motion a major shift in two separate industries that were well beyond anything anyone could imagine. At the time of each event no one could have predicted the ramifications each would continue to have even up to the present day. In the world of baseball everything changed on January 3, 1920 and although it was a big deal at the time no one could have imagined the major shift in balance that started when the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The Red Sox, the class of the American League for the first two decades, would not win another World Series for 86 years. The Yankees, the underachieving, overpaid joke of the first two decades, would start off on the path to becoming the most successful sports franchise ever. While the Yankees took an unknown step towards domination, Walt Disney had recently started working at a company called Pesman-Rubin Commercial Art Studios. In January 1920 he met the man who would be as important in creating the Disney domination as anyone: a young artist named Ub Iwerks. Ub and Walt would start "Iwerks-Disney Commercial Artists". The venture would only last a month but the friendship and partnership would last (on and off) for decades.
July 1923:
The growth of the Walt Disney legend and the Yankee legend follow eerily similar paths which I was not aware of until I started writing this article. When Babe Ruth was sold to the Yankees in 1920 he began an assault on the record books that brought him personal accolades but his Yankees were still seen as the losers. They had fallen to third in a close race in 1920, lost the World Series to the Giants in 1921 and fell again to the Giants in the 1922 World Series. While the Yankees were struggling to reach the top, Walt Disney was finding similar challenges. He had formed "Laugh-O-Grams" with Ub Iwerks and although the content was good for the time, the public was not very accepting of animation as an industry. Silent movies were still the big business but other than Felix the Cat, animation had not caught the public's attention. While the Yankees went 23-8 in July and took control of the American League (they built a 14 game lead by July 30), Walt was struggling. Unable to pay his bills (he couldn't even go to meet clients because he had taken his shoes in for repairs and couldn't afford to pay to get them back), in July of 1923 Walt made a decision that would ultimately lead to his success. He just didn't know it yet. Walt declared bankruptcy, hopped a train west and moved to Hollywood. Walt's uncle lived in the area and his brother Roy was at a veteran's convalescent hospital in Westwood, CA. Walt found ways to work his way onto the lots at Paramount and would walk back and forth in front of the Charlie Chaplin Studios (now Jim Henson Studios) hoping to get a glimpse of Chaplin. All the while he still held dreams of succeeding in animation.
10/16/1923:
The papers in New York on October 16, 1923 carried the news of a the big eighth inning from the day before. Ruth had hit a Home Run in the first to put the Yankees ahead 1-0 but the Giants had methodically taken a 4-1 lead, one run at a time. The Giants held that lead into the top of the 8th. Art Nehf had dominated the Yankees through seven innings and got Aaron Ward to pop out to first to start the 8th. Back to back singles by Wally Schang and Everett Scott and a walk by pinch hitter Fred Hoffman loaded the bases with one out. Bullet Joe Bush pinch hit for Whitey Witt and drew a walk to force in a run. Art Nehf's day was over but the Yankees' day was just beginning. Joe Dugan walked to force in a second run and keep the bases loaded and cut the lead to 4-3. Stepping to the plate, ready to break the game wide open was Babe Ruth. He struck out swinging for the second out. The Giants' sigh of relief came one batter too early because Bob Meusel singled on the second pitch of the at bat. The single should have only scored two but when Center Fielder Billy Cunningham threw wild, a third run scored giving the Yankees their 6-4 margin of victory and their first of 27 (so far) World Championships.
Walt and Roy Disney probably didn't take the time to read the headlines in the Los Angeles Times. October 16 was a big day for them. While trying to find a way to break into the business Walt and Roy had been trying to sell a project Walt had started before he left to come west. The series is now known as "the Alice Comedies", a series of animation and live action combinations featuring a little girl named Alice who journeys to Wonderland, a cartoon world, with her cartoon cat, Julius. (Julius has been brought back into the Disney universe in the revamped Disney California Adventure. You can find his name on the window of Julius Katz & Sons Appliances on Buena Vista Street.) On October 16, 1923 Roy and Walt officially signed an agreement with Margaret J. Winkler to distribute their Alice cartoons. Margaret Winkler would soon marry a man named Charles Mintz, from Pottstown, PA, who would play a large part in the Disney legend.
9/5/1927:
The 1927 Yankees are still considered by many as the greatest team of all time. Known as Murderers Row the team relentlessly victimized American League pitching. On Monday, September 5, 1927 the Yankees played a double header against the Red Sox. Everyone was there to see how many Home Runs Babe Ruth would hit. In Game One Ruth went 1-7 with 2 walks, a double, a stolen base, got caught stealing once and struck out twice. Lou Gehrig hit his 44th Home Run of the year, the Yankees scored 11 runs and lost in 18 innings. That alone was news. Having already played enough innings to make up the double header, they still had to actually play Game 2. Fading daylight (this was before stadiums had lights installed for night baseball), they could only fit the minimum 5 innings to make the game official. Ruth and Gehrig both went hitless but the Yankees won 5-0 giving Urban Shocker his 15th win of the year.
Walt and Roy again had little time to follow the antics of the Yankees. They were likely nervous, waiting for critics reviews. Premiering that day in theatres was the first "Oswald the Lucky Rabbit" Cartoon, "Trolley Troubles". The first produced Oswald short, "Poor Papa" did not meet the approval of either Charles Mintz or Universal Studios executives. The "Poor Papa" short was shelved for nearly a year, by which point Oswald was a legitimate hit.
11/18/1928:
The offseason between 1928 and 1929 was relatively uneventful. The biggest transaction taking place on November 7, 1928 saw the lowly Boston Braves trade future Hall of Famer Rogers Hornsby to the Chicago Cubs for five Cubs players. The Cubs had finished six games behind the National League Champion Pittsburgh Pirates. The trade was viewed as a hit or miss proposition. None of the five Cubs players who were sent to the Braves had much chance of impacting the struggling organization but the great "Rajah" could be an organization changer. It had only been a few years since Hornsby had led the St. Louis Cardinals to their first ever World Series victory over the New York Yankees. He had so angered the management in the process that they immediately traded their MVP to John McGraw and the Giants in exchange for the Giants' own unhappy star, Frankie Frisch. Hornsby would spend one year in New York where he managed to infuriate McGraw more than he had infuriated the Cardinals' owners the year before. He was sent to the Braves after one season as a Giant and won the 1928 batting title, his seventh and final. 1929 would see Hornsby and the Cubs become National League Champions, only to have the Philadelphia Athletics crush their hopes. The trade helped change the landscape of the National League. Just a week and a half later Walt Disney would do the same.
On November 18, as Hornsby was settling into the idea of being a Cub, Walt and Roy Disney were again nervous. They knew that the product they had was something the public hadn't seen before but whether the public would accept it was a different question. Just slightly over a year since Al Jolson had starred in the first feature length film, The Jazz Singer and had become a sensation,Walt Disney would create his own sensation. although he wasn't sure it would get that far yet. When Charles Mintz originally took Oswald to Universal he did so with Walt's blessing, although he didn't need it. The contract said that although the Disney Brothers Studios were producing the cartoons, Mintz actually owned the rights of the character. Mintz didn't need to include Walt in the negotiations at all and what was worse, Mintz had gotten almost all of Walt's artists to go with Mintz to Universal. Only one artist stayed faithful to Walt, Ub Iwerks. While Walt was forced to produce Oswald cartoons to satisfy his contract with Universal and Mintz, he secretly had Iwerks developing a new character. It was a character that looked amazingly like Oswald but it wasn't a rabbit. It was a Mouse. He created three short subject animated films. The first was "Plane Crazy" followed by The "Gallopin' Gaucho". Neither did particularly well. Then on November 18 everything changed when Walt debuted "Steamboat Willie", the first synchronized sound cartoon in the United States. It was an instant hit and launched the Disney dynasty.
At the time no one knew the Disney dynasty was being cemented. Meanwhile, half way across the country in Louisville, KY, unbeknownst to anyone, a baseball dynasty that would last for another 80 years was born. On November 18, 1928 David Russell "Gus" Bell was born. Gus would play for 15 years in the major leagues for the Pirates, Reds, Mets and Milwaukee Braves. Although he was not a Hall of Fame player, his legacy lived on when Gus's son Buddy Bell (five time All Star, six time Gold Glove winner) played 18 years in the major leagues for the Indians, Rangers, Reds and Astros. Buddy's son Mike continued the legacy by playing for the Reds in the 2000 season. Also continuing the legacy was Buddy's son, Mike's brother and Gus's grandson, David. David played 12 years in the major leagues with the Indians, Cardinals, Mariners, Giants, Phillies and Brewers. David played on the Giants' 2002 World Series team. That team was beaten by the Disney owned Angels.
5/29/1941:
Joe DiMaggio made 1941 his own personal attack on the American League season. On May 29 people had not started to pay strict attention to his exploits yet. After all, he had gotten off to a "slow start". Over the previous 13 games Joe had started to find his groove. On May 29th the Yankees were scheduled to take on the Washington Senators but the weather was threatening to stop the game. As the rains fell the Senators jumped out to a 1-0 lead. Joe had flown out to center field to end the first but as he led off the fourth inning DiMaggio singled, making this the 14th consecutive game in which he got a hit, that is if they could reach the fifth inning to make it an official game. The Yankees took a 2-1 lead in the fifth, only to have Washington tie the score in the bottom of the inning. Then the skies really opened up. As the Yankees poured on the offense in the sixth, the skies poured on the field and the umpires called the game. The rains washed away five runs in the top of the 6th by the Yankees and the game was officially declared a tie. The Yankees and Senators were sent home after an hour and three minute delay.
10/27/1954:
The offseason of 1954 was an odd time. To start off with, the Indians had beaten the Yankees to end New York's 1949-1953 run of AL Championships. The Indians' win showed that things were not going to stick to the status quo and that things were about to change. The baseball industry, dominated by the Yankees, could not just continue as it was and neither could the entertainment industry. On 10/27, Walt Disney stepped in front of the cameras to debut the Disneyland Television show. He had been told by his movie contemporaries that he was crazy. Movies and TV did not mix. If someone could see movies on TV and find entertainment in the comfort of their own home they would stop going to the theatres. His contemporaries begged him to not hit the airwaves. Disney, sensing the opportunity to cross promote, debuted on TV just a few days before Halloween 1954. The visionary as always, Walt used the TV show to sell his movies and his future theme park (already in progress). It was a drastic step. One that many in his industry found less than acceptable.
During that same offseason, on November 17 (on the eve of Mickey Mouse's 26th birthday), the Yankees embraced the feeling of change and made a move that many found less than acceptable. The Yankees celebrated the dawn of 26 A.M. (the year of our mouse) by making a gigantic trade with the brand new Baltimore Orioles (the extinct St.Louis Browns). It was the best of trades. It was the worst of trades. They received Don Larsen, Bob Turley, and Billy Hunter (along with players to be named later). Two years later Larsen (nicknamed "Googly Bird") would provide the greatest of great World Series moment when he pitched a perfect game. Bob Turley would be part of a great moment himself. In fact, Turley would be part of the great moment that was created by one of the people he was traded for. In exchange for Billy Hunter, Larsen, Turley and the players to be named later, the Orioles received Harry Byrd, Willy Miranda, Jim Miranda, Gene Woodling, Gus Triandos and a minor league Catcher named Hal Smith. Smith would play for the Orioles in 1955 and parts of 1956. He would then be sent to the Kansas City Athletics for the end of 1956 through the 1959 season. To start the 1960 season he was shipped to Pittsburgh. As a journeyman, veteran Catcher, he was an afterthought in Pittsburgh. That was until he stepped to the plate in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. The Yankees had clobbered the Pirates so far in this series, almost embarrassed them, though the Pirates had embarrassed the Yankees already by still being alive in the series. Starting Game 7 for the Yankees was Turley, sitting on the bench for Pittsburgh was Hal Smith. Turley lasted only one inning and gave up two runs. Entering the top of the 8th the Yankees led 7-4 and Smith replaced Smoky Burgess for defensive purposes. It looked as though Turley and the Yankees would win. As the bottom of the 8th started, the Yankees looked to have the game in hand. Three straight singles, a bad hop that nearly killed Tony Kubek (literally), a sac bunt, and a fly out left the bases loaded but two out. A ground ball single by Roberto Clemente extended the inning and then Hal Smith got his revenge for being traded. He ripped a three run Home Run that tied the game, setting up Bill Mazeroski's legendary home run.
7/17/1955:
On Sunday, July 17, 1955, ABC cameras were rolling in Anaheim, CA as Art Linkletter and Ronald Reagan hosted a very special event. The heat was intense. The asphalt, newly poured, had not quite solidified yet so women's heels were sinking into the ground. The event had been planned for a specified amount of attendees but counterfeit tickets led to overflow crowds and shortages of water. The live broadcast was a mess. There were repeated false starts with missed cues. Incorrect cuts to unprepared parts of the park showed Reagan or Linkletter staring off into space (or in Linkletter's case, kissing a dancer). Tomorrowland was essentially still in the future and although it was introduced on the broadcast there was little there. The reviews from the press were harsh. For Disney it came to be known as Black Sunday. It could have been a disastrous confirmation of what Roy and several friends had been telling Walt from day one: this theme park was a bad idea.
On the other side of the country the Dodgers were finishing up a double header as Walt stepped to the microphone for his famous dedication of Disneyland. The Dodgers had a rookie pitcher making his Major League debut on the pitchers mound for the first game. Facing the Reds, the rookie pitcher started off pretty shaky. He started by getting the lead off hitter to pop up a bunt for the first out. That was quickly followed by a triple and a single back to the pitcher. One run in and only one out. The pitcher settled down and got the next two batters. He got some support in the bottom of the first. Duke Snider launched a Home Run and that was followed immediately by a Carl Furillo Home Run. The Dodgers went on to win the game and the rookie pitcher, who pitched a complete game shut out, was on his way to a successful career long past his playing days. Roger Craig would play for 12 years (including going 10-24 for the terrible 1962 Mets) but there was more to his career. Roger Craig became a pitching genius. Credited with teaching many of the great 1980's pitchers what he called the "split finger fast ball", previously known as a fork ball. Roger Craig was the pitching coach for Sparky Anderson's Detroit Tigers from 1980-1984. Later as manager of the San Francisco Giants, he led them to two division titles and the 1989 World Series. Craig's career may be over but his legacy lives on every time someone throws a cut fastball.
10/3/1955:
On the afternoon of 10/3/1955, Whitey Ford faced off against Karl Spooner at Yankee Stadium in a game that had the potential to end the Yankee dynasty of the 1950's. The Dodgers sent Jim Gilliam to the plate to lead off the game and he lined out to Elston Howard in left field. Pee Wee Reese followed and struck out looking. Duke Snider did the same. Then the Yankees, fighting to keep their domination in tact, made sure they kept their season alive early. In the bottom of the first the Yankees scored five runs before Spooner got two outs and was removed from the game. The Yankees went on to win 5-1 and force Game 7.
Kids everywhere couldn't be happier that the game was decided early. For weeks they had anticipated 10/3. They had seen advertisements for a new show that was different from anything they'd seen before. If this game had gone extra innings or ran long, who knew how much of their show they would miss. When the game was over children around the country sat down in front of the big console T.V. and watched as the Mickey Mouse March played through the speakers and Doreen, Darlene, Bobby and Annette introduced themselves for the very first time. The Mickey Mouse Club debuted at 5:00 P.M.
9/24/1961:
The week of 9/24/1961 was a big week for Major League Baseball but it wouldn't become apparent, in some cases, for two decades. On September 22, in Jacksonville, FL, Vince Coleman was born. Coleman would play 13 years in the majors. Coleman won the Rookie of the Year award in 1985. He led the league in Stolen Bases six straight years and helped the Cardinals reach two World Series (1985 and 1987). On the same day in San Diego, Bob Geren was born. Geren would play parts of five years in the majors with the Yankees and the Padres. Geren would go on to manage five years in Oakland. Also on September 22 Donn Clendenon played his first Major League game for the Pirates. Clendenon would come in second in the Rookie of the Year voting in 1962 but his biggest moment came in the 1969 World Series when he helped the Miracle Mets win the World Series. On September 26th, in Lancaster, CA, Steve Buechele was born. Buechele would go on to play 1334 games over 11 years in the majors for the Rangers, Pirates and Cubs. On the same day the Buechele family welcomed the birth of their son, Bill Freehan was making his Major League Baseball debut. Freehan would play 15 years, all with the Tigers. He was an 11 time All Star, a five time Gold Glove winner and a World Series Champion. The same day that Freehan made his debut for the Tigers, Boog Powell first put on a uniform for the Baltimore Orioles. Powell would play 17 years in the Major Leagues and would greatly contribute to the Orioles dynasty of the 1960's and 1970's
On September 24, as Major League Baseball's future was being formed, Walt Disney was making history. Walt's Sunday night television show on ABC had dipped in ratings since it debuted in 1954. When ABC made it clear that they were not concerned with dumping more money into a show that was sagging in the ratings, Walt made a switch to NBC. NBC was willing to do something ABC was not. It was obvious that Disney productions looked better in color. NBC was willing to spend the money to produce a color show, while ABC was not. On September 24, Walt Disney premiered his Wonderful World of Color on NBC.
12/15/1966:
The baseball world was quite confused on 12/15. The Yankees had now gone two years without reaching the World Series and had gone four years since winning the World Series. Yankee fans were definitely not used to this. The team had been bought by CBS and was heading into a tumultuous time. The confusion had come from the decision to trade Roger Maris. The trade had been made on 12/8 but the shock had yet to wear off. Maris had not only been traded, he had been traded for a man who would end up with only 8 career Home Runs more than Maris had accumulated in the magical 1961 season. Yankees fans had no idea how bad the coming era would get but it was only beginning. Maris would play two years in St.Louis and would make big contributions to the 1967 and 1968 Cardinals World Series teams.
While the baseball world was continuing to process the shift in the baseball landscape, Walt Disney was lying in a hospital bed. He had gone into the hospital in November for an operation to repair an old polo injury and during preparation a tumor had been found in his lung. He was told he had six months to live. Just a few weeks later he was back in the hospital. As his brother visited him Walt was envisioning the new Florida based theme park and mapping it out in his head, envisioning a map of the park on the ceiling tiles. The workaholic was working right up to the end. Apparently planning a future project he had written the name of one of his favorite young actors, Kurt Russell. It was the last thing written by Walt Disney who passed away at 9:30 A.M. in St. Joseph's Hospital in Burbank, California. As the Yankee dynasty searched for new leadership and new direction, the Disney dynasty mourned the passing of their leader.
TRIVIA QUESTION:
In this article I mentioned that Tony Kubek was literally almost killed by a ground ball during Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. What happened on this ground ball?
Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:
Congratulations to Hope on Last Week's Trivia Question.
On June 4, 1986 Barry Bonds and the Pirates faced off against the Atlanta Braves. Few, if any, gave much importance to the game. It was still early in the season but neither team had much chance at the playoffs (fast forward five years and the teams would be meeting again with more at stake). Bonds did well in the first few innings. He struck out looking to lead off the game but in the second he hit a two run single. In the top of the 4th Bonds had another RBI single. Two batters later, Braves starter Joe Johnson was out of the game. His replacement was Craig McMurtry. With two out and the bases empty in the 5th Bonds stepped up to face McMurtry and launched his first career Home Run.
While few were interested in the game on June 4, 1986, everyone was watching every moment on August 7, 2007. In the bottom of the second Bonds connected to deep right-center but the ball stayed in the park and Bonds ended up with a double. He singled on an 0-1 pitch in his second at bat and scored when the next batter, Benji Molina, launched a Home Run. The score was tied with one out in the fifth as Bonds stepped to the plate. The first two pitches were out of the zone and Bonds watched the 0-2 pitch for a called strike. He was used to watching the ball since pitchers were terrified to give him anything close to the plate. He fouled of the fourth pitch then watched ball three to bring the count full. The sixth pitch of the at bat came in and it was fouled back. On the 7th pitch of the at bat, Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals delivered a pitch to the plate that quickly flew in the opposite direction to set the all time record. Home Run #756.
On September 5, 2007 the Giants were well out of the playoff race. The Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies were the teams near the top of the division. The Rockies were starting a magical run that would end with them in the World Series. In the top of the first, with one out, Bonds stepped in to face Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, on a 1-2 count, Bonds launched a two run Home Run to left field in Colorado. The Giants would win 5-3 and Bonds would never again launch a Home Run.
Congratulations to Hope on Last Week's Trivia Question.
On June 4, 1986 Barry Bonds and the Pirates faced off against the Atlanta Braves. Few, if any, gave much importance to the game. It was still early in the season but neither team had much chance at the playoffs (fast forward five years and the teams would be meeting again with more at stake). Bonds did well in the first few innings. He struck out looking to lead off the game but in the second he hit a two run single. In the top of the 4th Bonds had another RBI single. Two batters later, Braves starter Joe Johnson was out of the game. His replacement was Craig McMurtry. With two out and the bases empty in the 5th Bonds stepped up to face McMurtry and launched his first career Home Run.
While few were interested in the game on June 4, 1986, everyone was watching every moment on August 7, 2007. In the bottom of the second Bonds connected to deep right-center but the ball stayed in the park and Bonds ended up with a double. He singled on an 0-1 pitch in his second at bat and scored when the next batter, Benji Molina, launched a Home Run. The score was tied with one out in the fifth as Bonds stepped to the plate. The first two pitches were out of the zone and Bonds watched the 0-2 pitch for a called strike. He was used to watching the ball since pitchers were terrified to give him anything close to the plate. He fouled of the fourth pitch then watched ball three to bring the count full. The sixth pitch of the at bat came in and it was fouled back. On the 7th pitch of the at bat, Mike Bacsik of the Washington Nationals delivered a pitch to the plate that quickly flew in the opposite direction to set the all time record. Home Run #756.
On September 5, 2007 the Giants were well out of the playoff race. The Diamondbacks, Padres and Rockies were the teams near the top of the division. The Rockies were starting a magical run that would end with them in the World Series. In the top of the first, with one out, Bonds stepped in to face Ubaldo Jimenez of the Rockies. On the fifth pitch of the at bat, on a 1-2 count, Bonds launched a two run Home Run to left field in Colorado. The Giants would win 5-3 and Bonds would never again launch a Home Run.
