The Legend of Steve Dalkowski

[Snutchy]

This is from the back cover of my book, "Beating About the Bushes"

The '60's were the beginning and end of the age of innocence in many facets of life. Professional baseball players still played for the love of the game and not money. Today's average major league player makes more in one game than the average yearly wage in 1960. No one had an agent since there was no free agency and no bargaining power. BEATING ABOUT THE BUSHES contains amusing, informative and controversial elements providing the reader an understanding for what every player faced. The Club was the plantation owner, you were the slave, and there was no hope for escape.

Followed the link from Amazon and ordered an autographed copy. I can't wait!

[Frobby]

The Club was the plantation owner, you were the slave, and there was no hope for escape.

Well, there was always the option of not playing baseball....so analogizing it to slavery seems a bit much. But I get the point.

[oldpro56]

I am very happy this forum is going forward and will continue to post. My book has 83,000 words and I've only provided a couple of thousand here. The analogy to slavery from the back cover of my book should be taken in the context (as Frobby acknowledged) of one's very short lifetime trying to live out a dream. The option of quitting is the ultimate death and the moment you make this decision is devastating. All professional ball players from this era view this in the same way. I have had many notes and letters from those who have purchased the book, praising me for using this language. Since joining the forum recently and with the permission from Tony to promote my book, I am receiving more orders than any other single marketing effort I have used. I spend about a hour a day reading postings from many threads and come away with a sense of how deep and passionate the posters are about the Orioles. This has restored my pride about being someone who had the opportunity to live within the O's family. Thanks to Tony and Weams for their postings. This may sound trivial, but my family pushed me along the way to maintain this pride and put the stories out there for others to enjoy. Here's another small portion from a segment. Remember, unless you buy the book, you'll have to piece the segments together.-Tim

NOBODY CAN TAKE THIS MEMORY AWAY

A major league camp was everything a small boy with dreams could imagine. Even though I had come up through the ranks and knew the names, there was a shock when I realized my locker was just a few stalls away from Frank Robinson. It almost matched the meeting with Lefty Grove but this time I was at the same level and could tell Frank to ?go **** in your hat? and be accepted. THIS is big league status.

A few weeks into camp I was sitting in the lobby of the McAllister Hotel by myself enjoying being who I was and why I was there. The elevator opened and out stepped Frank. ?Hey rook, whatcha doing tonight?? Since I was the only ?rook?, he must be talking to me. ?Nothing going on Frank?.

My immediate thought for his friendliness was because I pitched batting practice to Robinson his first day in camp, serving perfect medium fastballs up in the strike zone. He nailed six over the fence prompting the Miami-Herald reporter to file a story about how ready Robinson was for the upcoming season based on his timing.

?Motton and Blair are coming down and we?re going to a movie. Want to come?? I had played with both in previous seasons and considered them to be friends so the invitation was easy to accept. I answered, ?Sure Frank?.

What I didn?t expect was being led by this Hall of Famer to a sleazy movie theatre to see a typical, for the time, scratchy porno movie. Without a doubt, this was the most difficult aspect of spring training to handle besides being demoted. What do you say the next day to the media when their questions are directed toward the obvious.

?How do you feel about your first major league camp and how are the veterans treating you?? My answer would have played out strangely in the Baltimore area if I gave an accurate description of my afternoon with Frank Robinson. ?Pitching batting practice to this star was great but we really bonded at the porno theatre?.

[Tony-OH]

Tim we're happy to help out. I'm enjoying your book and will look into getting an autograph copy. Maybe I can trade you for an autographed copy of my book.

[oldpro56]

Tony-This would be great. You take the lead in the logistics for doing this.

[Snutchy]

Tony-This would be great. You take the lead in the logistics for doing this.

Tim, I just found your minor league stats and I noticed that you played in Appleton and Rochester. My two most favorite cities.

I'm curious as to what you think about Appleton? I absolutely loved my time spent there. I spent a week there in June of 2009 at the Pierce Manufacturing Plant doing inspections on the 2 engines and 2 ladder trucks that my fire department purchased.

Appleton is by far, the most clean city I have ever been to. Not a single cigarette butt or McDonalds bag on the ground. It's very charming.

They sure love their beef up there. We ate at George's Steakhouse(you may be familiar because it was open during your time) and it was absolutely amazing. I had a Filet Mignon that was grilled, then coated with bleu cheese and then DEEP FRIED. Sounds gross but it was the best meal that I've ever had. I would move to Appleton just for the food.

[weams]

Tony-This would be great. You take the lead in the logistics for doing this.

You won't be sorry Tim. Tony is too modest, but it is the War Diaries of a true Hero.

[oldpro56]

Look at what was in my mailbox this morning! I've gone international.

Good morning Tim, I am a Dutch Orioles fan, yea it takes all kind and me too would like to order a autographed copy of your book.

Have a great day!

Bill Teixeira

[weams]

Look at what was in my mailbox this morning! I've gone international.

Good morning Tim, I am a Dutch Orioles fan, yea it takes all kind and me too would like to order a autographed copy of your book.

Have a great day!

Bill Teixeira

The Orioles really don't understand the power of the OriolesHangout do they?

[oldpro56]

Just had a flashback to my one contact with Dan Duquette. In the early 80's I was instructing a local pitcher who had a lot of potential (subsequently drafted by Toronto). His high school catcher was one of the best defensive catchers I had ever seen. I followed this catcher through his career at Coastal Carolina and called the Brewers before the '86 draft. Duquette had been hired by Harry Dalton because they were both graduates of Amherst college. Duquette seemed disintrested in talking to me and finally dismissed me by saying the player wasn't a prospect and the Brewers weren't interested. The player Kirt Manwaring-13 years in the major leagues and winner of a Gold Glove.

[oldpro56]

I'm glad to hear that Appleton is still the same as when I played there. It ranks number 1 out of all the cities I've lived in. I would have settled there were it not for the winters. I spent the winter of '65 there and it got -30. My room was in a house owned by a wonderful family who attended every one of our home games. Unfortunately, my room was a converted sun porch with no heat. The first thing I had to upon awakening was to unthaw my eyes because sometimes the eyelids were slightly frozen. The next winter I stayed in California. As far as George's Steakhouse, Filet Mignon was certainly not in my budget. We won the pennant in '64 and I could have run for mayor or maybe Dog Warden.

[oldpro56]

I just finished reading “The Ripken Way” written by Cal, Sr. with a great into from Jr. It brought back many memories and I learned some new things about this great family. Cal Sr. was Jr's best man at his wedding. Since this thread is about Dalkowski, I thought everyone would like to read what Rip wrote about Steve.

THE DALKOWSKI EXPRESS

The hardest-throwing pitcher I ever saw was a left-hander named Steve Dalkowski, who played in the Orioles minor-league system in the late 1950's and early '60's. Ted Williams once said that of all the pitchers he ever saw-including Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller, and Sandy Koufax-Dalkowski was the fastest. I agree. There's no question in my mind.

If you were to take the radar gun that's used today and put it on Steve, I think it would've shown him to be throwing the ball somewhere in the neighborhood of 115 miles an hour. He was five-foot-ten, about 165 pounds, and his ball was light as a feather, because he threw all with the wrist. He wasn't wild inside or outside, he was just wild high: When his pitch was coming in, if it didn't look at first like it was going to hit your shin guards or hit home plate, then the ball would end up sailing over your head. His fastball would rise two feet-that's why if you were catching him you had to put your glove on the ground. If he was throwing it at the glove, you'd catch it belt high. If he aimed it belt-high, it was over your head.

He threw the ball right out of the point of his shoulder, which was quite conducive to the ball going high. Paul Richards, who was the Orioles manager and a former big-league catcher, told him, “You've got to get your arm up. You can't throw from down there and be able to get the ball consistently over the plate.” Well, Dalkowski then hurt his arm in '63 and he was never the same pitcher after that. He did develop a slider and he did some more pitching, but the velocity just wasn't there. After he hurt is arm he had better control, but he couldn't throw as hard.

Steve's release point was at shoulder-level. His fingers wouldn't be up above his head, or even up at the level of his head, like with most pitchers. That's the way he had always thrown. But in order to get the ball down in the strike zone you need to raise your arm higher. That's what Richards wanted him to do, but those muscles in his arm weren't used to being up there. As a result, he hurt the arm.

I don't think he would've been able to go to the big leagues with the type of delivery he had. That's why Richards changed him. But we'll never know how good he would've been. He once struck out Roger Maris on three pitches in an exhibition game. He once pitched an inning of an exhibition game in Baltimore against Cincinnati. Birdie Tebbetts was the Reds manager at that time, and he told his hitters, “You go up to home plate, but don't get in that batter's box close, because I don't want you hurt.” But Steve could usually throw the ball over the plate-the problem was that it would be a head higher or more.

In a high school game in New Britain, Connecticut, Steve struck out twenty-seven batters in one game, and 313 in 154 innings for a season. (He also walked 180). The Orioles signed him in 1957 for $16,000 bonus, plus a car.

In one game at Aberdeen, South Dakota, he struck out eighteen and walked twenty-one. In a game in Wilson, North Carolina, in the Carolina League, Richards put a limit on him of 120 pitches. Steve left the game in the second innings. We were getting beat 11-0 and the bases were still loaded. He either walked them or he struck them out. In another game in Kingsport, Tennessee, he struck out twenty-four, walked seventeen, hit four batters, threw six wild pitches in a row, and lost 9-8.

As hard as Steve threw, if he'd have gotten to the big leagues he would've been a legend in his own time. I'm not too sure that he wasn't a legend in his own time anyhow. There are certainly plenty of stories about him. He supposedly broke one batter's arm with a fastball, and tore off another hitter's earlobe.

I caught Steve in the Carolina League, and I caught him in Pensacola, Florida. Steve didn't have good eyes, so as the catcher you'd put your hand on the right side of your leg to signal for a fastball, and your hand in the middle for a curveball. It was rare that you got the opportunity to call for a curveball with Steve, because he was never ahead in the count.

But one night in a game in Pensacola, we finally got ahead of the hitter, two strikes and no balls. So I gave Dalkowski the curveball sign, which he didn't see, and instead he threw a fastball to his right-handed hitter. Some people said that the ball went off my glove, but didn't even touch my glove, because I had the glove down on the ground. When Steve threw the fastball, it went over my right shoulder without me even touching it, hit the umpire in the mask, and broke it in three places. It sent the umpire to the hospital with a concussion.

That's the type of fastball Steve had-you weren't going to look for a curveball and come close to catching his fastball, particularly when your mind-set was to make him get the ball down, which meant you were going down very low with your target.

[Snutchy]

I just finished reading ?The Ripken Way? written by Cal, Sr. with a great into from Jr. It brought back many memories and I learned some new things about this great family. Cal Sr. was Jr's best man at his wedding. Since this thread is about Dalkowski, I thought everyone would like to read what Rip wrote about Steve.

That was an awesome story. I'm glad that you have the same thoughts about Appleton. As far as George's goes, Filet Mignon is definitely not in my budget, but I wasn't paying for my meals. They were paid for by Pierce. Pierce is so big in that town that every restaurant has a separate Pierce menu. Not a single item on those menus have a price on them, and I'm glad because I would have felt terrible.

Also, my wife called and I just received my book in the mail from you. Thank you for sending it out so fast. I was for sure that I wouldn't get it until Saturday. Looks like I have something to do tonight!

[oldpro56]

I'm sorry, but the more I post on this thread with what I consider to be a bit more informative than others, there appears to be a diminishing interest.

[weams]

I just finished reading “The Ripken Way” written by Cal, Sr. with a great into from Jr. It brought back many memories and I learned some new things about this great family. Cal Sr. was Jr's best man at his wedding. Since this thread is about Dalkowski, I thought everyone would like to read what Rip wrote about Steve.

THE DALKOWSKI EXPRESS

The hardest-throwing pitcher I ever saw was a left-hander named Steve Dalkowski, who played in the Orioles minor-league system in the late 1950's and early '60's. Ted Williams once said that of all the pitchers he ever saw-including Nolan Ryan, Bob Feller, and Sandy Koufax-Dalkowski was the fastest. I agree. There's no question in my mind.

If you were to take the radar gun that's used today and put it on Steve, I think it would've shown him to be throwing the ball somewhere in the neighborhood of 115 miles an hour. He was five-foot-ten, about 165 pounds, and his ball was light as a feather, because he threw all with the wrist. He wasn't wild inside or outside, he was just wild high: When his pitch was coming in, if it didn't look at first like it was going to hit your shin guards or hit home plate, then the ball would end up sailing over your head. His fastball would rise two feet-that's why if you were catching him you had to put your glove on the ground. If he was throwing it at the glove, you'd catch it belt high. If he aimed it belt-high, it was over your head.

He threw the ball right out of the point of his shoulder, which was quite conducive to the ball going high. Paul Richards, who was the Orioles manager and a former big-league catcher, told him, “You've got to get your arm up. You can't throw from down there and be able to get the ball consistently over the plate.” Well, Dalkowski then hurt his arm in '63 and he was never the same pitcher after that. He did develop a slider and he did some more pitching, but the velocity just wasn't there. After he hurt is arm he had better control, but he couldn't throw as hard.

Steve's release point was at shoulder-level. His fingers wouldn't be up above his head, or even up at the level of his head, like with most pitchers. That's the way he had always thrown. But in order to get the ball down in the strike zone you need to raise your arm higher. That's what Richards wanted him to do, but those muscles in his arm weren't used to being up there. As a result, he hurt the arm.

I don't think he would've been able to go to the big leagues with the type of delivery he had. That's why Richards changed him. But we'll never know how good he would've been. He once struck out Roger Maris on three pitches in an exhibition game. He once pitched an inning of an exhibition game in Baltimore against Cincinnati. Birdie Tebbetts was the Reds manager at that time, and he told his hitters, “You go up to home plate, but don't get in that batter's box close, because I don't want you hurt.” But Steve could usually throw the ball over the plate-the problem was that it would be a head higher or more.

In a high school game in New Britain, Connecticut, Steve struck out twenty-seven batters in one game, and 313 in 154 innings for a season. (He also walked 180). The Orioles signed him in 1957 for $16,000 bonus, plus a car.

In one game at Aberdeen, South Dakota, he struck out eighteen and walked twenty-one. In a game in Wilson, North Carolina, in the Carolina League, Richards put a limit on him of 120 pitches. Steve left the game in the second innings. We were getting beat 11-0 and the bases were still loaded. He either walked them or he struck them out. In another game in Kingsport, Tennessee, he struck out twenty-four, walked seventeen, hit four batters, threw six wild pitches in a row, and lost 9-8.

As hard as Steve threw, if he'd have gotten to the big leagues he would've been a legend in his own time. I'm not too sure that he wasn't a legend in his own time anyhow. There are certainly plenty of stories about him. He supposedly broke one batter's arm with a fastball, and tore off another hitter's earlobe.

I caught Steve in the Carolina League, and I caught him in Pensacola, Florida. Steve didn't have good eyes, so as the catcher you'd put your hand on the right side of your leg to signal for a fastball, and your hand in the middle for a curveball. It was rare that you got the opportunity to call for a curveball with Steve, because he was never ahead in the count.

But one night in a game in Pensacola, we finally got ahead of the hitter, two strikes and no balls. So I gave Dalkowski the curveball sign, which he didn't see, and instead he threw a fastball to his right-handed hitter. Some people said that the ball went off my glove, but didn't even touch my glove, because I had the glove down on the ground. When Steve threw the fastball, it went over my right shoulder without me even touching it, hit the umpire in the mask, and broke it in three places. It sent the umpire to the hospital with a concussion.

That's the type of fastball Steve had-you weren't going to look for a curveball and come close to catching his fastball, particularly when your mind-set was to make him get the ball down, which meant you were going down very low with your target.

Always time for a Rip Sr. Story. You are the gift that keeps on giving here Tim.