The Sabermetric Soapbox: A Day With Some Legends

Former ballplayers telling tales is a fantastic break from the usual musings from atop the Soapbox.

Who were the Denver Bears?

A few months back I found myself asking that question. Since I was still 9 when the Rockies first took the field for Major League Baseball games, the extent of my knowledge on the subject went as far as being aware there was a AAA team in Denver prior to the new franchise being awarded. I thankfully had been given an extra nugget of information to work off of that came with the impetus of the question: they were affiliated at one point with the Bronx Bombers. A search engine query helped me dig up some more information courtesy of that “almighty” source, Wikipedia.

What caused the question was the Rocky Mountain SABR chapter announcing plans for a reunion of former Yankees who spent time with the Denver Bears when the team first arrived in the Mile High City, back in 1955. Even in a short three years as the Yankees’ AAA affiliate, players such as Johnny Blanchard, Herb Plews, and Woodie Held would grace the field at altitude before descending upon the Major Leagues. Those three, along with Norm Siebern, Ryne Duren, Ralph Terry, and Don Larsen rounded out a panel of former players who were the centerpiece of the chapter fundraiser.

Listening to their tales through moderated Q&A and standing in the autograph line later on, I couldn’t help but enjoy the tales of yesteryear. Some of the noted remarks by this author were:

• Blanchard on Casey Stengel: “I’m not sure if he ever knew my name!” He would go on to explain Stengel’s name for him was “you,” as in “Hey, you!”
• Plews on the difference between Washington and the Yankees: “There was no comparison between the managers the Yankees had in the minors and the Senators’ manager in the bigs.” As he put it, the Yankees simply had superior baseball minds and teachers throughout the organization at that time.
• Ralph Terry was playing golf in Portugal with an Englishman after his player career was over. The Englishman provided the foursome with a bottle of port, which was seemingly opened up on every other hole. Upon finding out Terry’s profession, he mentioned how he had only ever seen one game of “rounders.” He was in Pittsburgh during the 1960 World Series, and the businessmen he was with took him to Game 7. The Englishman remembered the pandemonium after Mazeroski’s homer, but also felt sorry for “the bloke” who threw that pitch, as he didn’t remember any of the players’ names. After Terry kindly informed him he was the “bloke,” the Englishman had to celebrate the coincidence: “MORE PORT!”

After hearing these guys as well as a presented pictorial history of those first three years in Denver, I have more of an answer. But a new question was brought up in some SABRen discussions later: “Will the current players be as much of a joy to do something like this with?”

As with all things history, time will tell.

And now, to return to the stat world for next week.