The "What's Going on in this Baseball Picture" Thread

[weams]

Yep, I'm just sitting here in my comfy chair fighting the man.

A shame he could not play the game at it's highest level. Unlike Kim. He's a good one.

[DrungoHazewood]

Nolan Ryan pitching to Cal at Memorial Stadium. Bottom of the 1st, runner on 2nd, can't tell if there's a runner on 1st. Has to be 1989 or later since we're wearing all black helmets. I'm going to say it is August 5, 1989, Devereaux on 2nd and Bradley on 1st, and they pull off a double steal the pitch after this one.

Clues:

Catcher's number appears to be single digits so I am guessing Chad Kreuter, #7.

Runner on 2nd appears to be African American.

I believe there are no outs based on the scoreboard, and the SS and 2B seem to be at double play depth, so guessing there indeed is a runner on 1st, plus Cal typically batted 3rd at that point in his career if I remember correctly.

http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BAL/BAL198908050.shtml' rel="external nofollow">

Giddyup.

That was Ryan's second start in Baltimore in '89. Both losses. The first was May 29th, and I drove to the game with two friends in my parents' station wagon a day or two before high school graduation.

[DrungoHazewood]

Next one:

[25 Nuggets]

You were right the first time, it's Heath.

Confirmed! Drungo wins again.

[25 Nuggets]

Next one:

Judging by the uniform and the play apparently happening at 3B I say the player on the left is Frank "Home Run" Baker.

The one on the right kind of looks like Sam Crawford but I can't quite make out the cap logo (would be a "D" for Detroit).

[DrungoHazewood]

Judging by the uniform and the play apparently happening at 3B I say the player on the left is Frank "Home Run" Baker.

The one on the right kind of looks like Sam Crawford but I can't quite make out the cap logo (would be a "D" for Detroit).

Yes on Home Run Baker, yes on the "D" on the other player's cap, no on Sam Crawford.

One thing I find interesting about this is the peg used to hold the base in place. How many times a runner overslid and had a gash 18" up his leg before they started brainstorming and came up with the modern post under the bag? And wouldn't the base have moved around a lot? If I were a fielder I'd use my foot and make it 90' 6" between bases.

[25 Nuggets]

Yes on Home Run Baker, yes on the "D" on the other player's cap, no on Sam Crawford.

Gotta be Ty Cobb then. But I can't figure out the play. Could be from 1909 when the As and Tigers finished 1-2. Or 1911.

[25 Nuggets]

here's a lob toss for the next one:

[weams]

here's a lob toss for the next one:

Did Ken Griffey Jr. break his wrist seconds later essentially ending the highlight portion of his career?

[weams]

Gotta be Ty Cobb then. But I can't figure out the play. Could be from 1909 when the As and Tigers finished 1-2. Or 1911.

It's gotta be Cobb.

[DrungoHazewood]

Gotta be Ty Cobb then. But I can't figure out the play. Could be from 1909 when the As and Tigers finished 1-2. Or 1911.

It's gotta be Cobb.

Yep, it's Cobb. The play is described here in Baker's SABR bio:

Baker's outstanding rookie campaign was a major factor in the Athletics' surge in the standings. Winning 27 more games than they had in 1908, the Mackmen finished in second place, just 3? games behind the Detroit Tigers. In late August, the upstart A's had actually enjoyed a 1? game lead in the standings, before dropping three straight at Detroit's Bennett Park. It was in the first game of this pivotal series that Baker was involved in one of the most controversial plays of the era, when Detroit superstar Ty Cobb spiked him in the forearm as Baker was attempting to tag Cobb out at third base. Frank had the wound wrapped and was able to stay in the game, but the play infuriated Mack, who went so far as to call Cobb the dirtiest player in baseball history. But a few days later, a photograph of the play taken by William Kuenzel of the Detroit News showed Baker reaching across the bag to tag Cobb, who was sliding away from the third baseman. The photograph vindicated Cobb, and led the Detroit Free Press to declare that Baker was a "soft-fleshed darling" for complaining about the play.

I don't quite see the photo vindicating Cobb. His foot is pretty high up, not the most obvious place if your primary intention was avoiding the tag.

[DrungoHazewood]

Did Ken Griffey Jr. break his wrist seconds later essentially ending the highlight portion of his career?

Wasn't that May 26th 1995, with the ball off the bat of the Orioles' Kevin Bass?

[weams]

Wasn't that May 26th 1995, with the ball off the bat of the Orioles' Kevin Bass?

Relatively certain.

[TGO]

Relatively certain.

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[DrungoHazewood]

Let's jack up the difficulty a bit. Try not to cheat by looking at the url.