Header - Baseball by the Letters

Barney Schultz Shares Knuckleball Secrets

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Once a pitching coach, always a pitching coach?

I asked Barney Schultz about his brief stardom as a 1960s reliever. The aged rookie found his overdue ticket to the bigs in the form of the knuckleball.

I never got to see him pitch. I remember him as the tiny head on the Cardinals Coaches cards in the 1970s. No, I didn’t ask him about Mickey Mantle’s homer in the 1964 World Series. I wanted to know about his best-day knuckler. Did it resemble Hoyt Wilhelm’s? Schultz replied:

“Basically the difference in knuckleballs is about the same. Some sink and flutter. Some flutter more (good movement). It is sometimes called a ‘dancing pitch.’ Some pitchers throw it softer than others.

I threw mine as hard as I could for a knuckler. Some pitchers wanted to learn the pitch but the grip of the ball has to be practiced first.

A good grip can only be learned over time. It is a difficult pitch to learn. Take a ball and grip it with your 2nd and 3rd knuckles and imagine throwing it to a batter and being able to control.

I bent my knuckles and used tips of my fingers to sort of dig into the ball and popped my wrist as you do with a fastball.”

Tomorrow: Schultz recalls his best manager ever, along with a six-strikeout day versus the Braves!

My Choice for Hobby Rookie of Year

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Whether he’s “Detroit Dizzle,” “Urf” or Brian (his Clark Kent-like alter ego), I’ve got another name for him:

Hobby Rookie of the Year

I don’t think I’ve raved enough about the greatness of http://www.sportscollectors.net/. Give them $14.99, and they’ll give you the world of autographs for a year.

As I’ve checked the successes posted by other collectors, one post-er stood out. Someone is having TONS of fun with autographs.

Who is this joyous newcomer? I wrote him. The laid-off steel worker who’s gone back to school to finish his degree responded:

My best friend and I used to collect cards as kids. Around 7th grade, I stopped collecting but my buddy continued. Recently, he told me about collecting autographs ttm and when I took a trip to visit him and his wife over the summer, he showed me this site. I joined in early October and have been addicted ever since. I busted out all of my old cards that I haven’t looked at for over 15 years and began sending out requests.

I simply send off to players I remember as a kid but I also try to send out to any Detroit athletes. My first goal was to get a card signed by a Piston, Red Wing, Tiger, Lion, Spartan, Wolverine, Shock player and a golfer born in Michigan. I am close to finishing that project and I will be moving on to the 68 Tigers team. acquiring every 86 Met is another project I am undertaking, but it is one that will obviously take a good bit of time and money.

Most of my success notes are just me being dumb. The rest of the stuff I write is simply to entertain myself. Instead of saying– “player x didn’t answer my questions,” I will say “urf will have to wait until player x’s truth serum kicks in.” I just try to make the comments informative, yet ridiculous.

I admit that I was never sent an autographed sushi recipe and I never received the wrong answers to my ?s. since a lot of people receive the wrong cards, I thought it would be funny if I claimed that I got the wrong answers to my questions. I understand that I run the risk of confusing people so I try to make sure the important information is clear before I leave some dumb comment.

I have a lot of fun participating in this hobby. It is a great way for me to return to a childlike state of mind that isn’t worried about the war, unemployment, the economy, etc. Believe the hype. Detroit is a mess. The people here are hardworking, generous people who love their sporting teams but the decline of the auto industry is killing us. Most people are involved with the auto industry, whether it be outside suppliers, dealerships, or the big 3’s factory workers/employees.

This hobby helps me to loose the negative vibes and have some fun.”

I wish “Urf” a Happy Hobby New Year. He reminds us that collecting isn’t about price guides and complete sets, but having fun while remembering baseball OUR WAY.

Bob Feller Put Fans, Autographs First

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The autograph compacted over time,
but stayed amazingly legible!

One of Bob Feller’s greatest moments in history shouldn’t be forgotten.

I didn’t retain all the details. The co-stars might like to be forgotten for their questionable roles in the incident. But I know that Feller put his legacy on the line one day for fans in Iowa.

A new museum honoring Iowa high school sports figures was beginning. A museum official traveled to Feller’s Van Meter Museum to tape an interview.

The video crew waited. And waited. Feller wasn’t ready to tape the segment.

He wasn’t done taking care of everyone lined up for an autograph.

According to media reports, the interview producer became upset that Feller wasn’t giving priority to the crew. Feller insisted that the fans should come first, refusing to cut the autograph session short. Obviously, the interviewer hadn’t realized that Feller offered an interaction with each fan, not just a quick scribble.

That angered the interviewer, who stormed out of Van Meter. He reported back to the museum administrator, who told reporters that he’d make Feller “a footnote” in Iowa sports history.

Feller, sometimes gruff and always honest, never backed down. The high school sports staff later made up with Feller, who found a new time to tape the segment. Feller wasn’t concerned about furthering his future reputation. He cared most about being hospitable to his own museum visitors, giving that day’s fans their money’s worth. Beyond statistics, Feller was a man worth meeting, an autograph worth cherishing.

When an Oriole Tamed the 1956 Yankees

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The sloping sig remains the same!

He didn’t do it in front of a home crowd. Maybe, it wouldn’t have been as much fun.

Don Ferrarese pitched the game of his life May 12, 1956. The Baltimore lefty sparkled in front of a Yankee Stadium crowd, handcuffing the Yanks on two hits.

Imagine hurling a no-hitter for eight innings against the Bronx Bombers. Ferrarese started the ninth by surrendering an infield single to Andy Carey (a college teammate), a sky-high chopper off the plate fielded by the pitcher. A broken-bat single over third base by Hank Bauer followed.

Ferrarese picked up the play-by-play, writing:

“The most intense moment was the ninth inning. After the first hit and the second broken-bat hit, Mickey Mantle came up with two outs. I said, ‘Oh, my God.’

He flied out for the final out.”

A 1-0 win, his first in the major leagues. Ferrarese was being followed on national TV, as was another nearby hurler. Across town, Carl Erskine was no-hitting the Giants.

(Thanks for the memory, www.retrosheet.org!)

Pitcher Don Ferrarese’s Nickname Revealed

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Matching autographs!

Don Ferrarese didn’t seem microscopic by 1950s baseball standards. He stood 5-foot-9, weighing 170.

Ferrarese revealed how “Midget” became his short-lived nickname, writing:

“My teammate Woodie Held nicknamed me.


He saw me standing on the mound from the dugout and said that ‘Ferrarese looks like a midget out there.’ It stuck only for that one year (1959).”

The infielder died in 2009. Held held a unique perspective of his roomie.
Held measured 5-foot-10 and 167 pounds. Maybe, the nickname was issued in self-defense?
Tomorrow: Ferrarese recalls foiling the 1956 Yankees!