{"id":25480,"date":"2021-06-04T12:30:53","date_gmt":"2021-06-04T16:30:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/?p=25480"},"modified":"2022-08-01T07:42:43","modified_gmt":"2022-08-01T11:42:43","slug":"baseball-memories-and-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2021\/06\/baseball-memories-and-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Baseball, Memories, and Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>My last <a style=\"font-style: italic;\" href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2021\/05\/thoughts-large-75\/\">Thoughts at Large<\/a> post included the casually-made claim that I could name 700 major-league baseball players.\u00a0 In my original draft of the post, that number was 800-900; after further consideration, I lowered it to 750, then finally 700.\u00a0 I figured:\u00a0 I had followed baseball for 60 years as an on-and-off fan of the up-and-down Pittsburgh Pirates &#8212; surely I could name 700 of the 15,000 or so players who have taken the field in the last century.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I must admit that I am more of a Pirates fan than a baseball enthusiast per se.\u00a0 When the Pirates aren&#8217;t competitive (which for 25 years now has generally been the rule), I\u00a0don&#8217;t pay much attention to them, the other teams, or the league&#8217;s star players.\u00a0 So, any list of players that I could come up with would necessarily be heavily weighted toward the Pirates teams that made the post-season, along with the notable same-league opponents from those competitive years.<\/p>\n<p>Armed with this understanding, I decided I owed it to my readers to put my claim to the test and see if I could actually name 700 major-league ball players.\u00a0 I would be relying on memories from several sources:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Radio and TV broadcasts of Pirates games in the 60s and 70s, with play-by-play provided by Bob Prince, Jim Woods and Nellie King.\u00a0 These include the games our family listened to on our Sunday drives as well as the late-night West Coast games that I managed to pull in on my bedside transistor radio.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Topps baseball cards.\u00a0 I didn&#8217;t have an allowance when I was a kid, so a five-pack of baseball cards (plus gum!) seemed like a luxury.\u00a0 But when I did plunk down my dime, I only wanted Pirates cards.\u00a0 The real obscure cards (like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-almanac.com\/players\/cards.php?p=leekge01\">Gene Leek<\/a>) got attached to my bicycle frame with clothespins, to clack against the spokes.\u00a0 Even so, I made sure to study the stats on all the cards.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ws-ency.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-25658\" style=\"margin: -4px 30px -4px; width: 140px;\" src=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ws-ency-199x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"140\" height=\"211\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ws-ency-199x300.png 199w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ws-ency-424x640.png 424w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ws-ency.png 640w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 140px) 100vw, 140px\" \/><\/a><em>The World Series Encyclopedia (1903-1960)<\/em>.\u00a0 I&#8217;m not sure how I came into possession of this book; I suppose that my dad picked it up at a used-book emporium in Youngstown or Pittsburgh.\u00a0 In any event, when I was 10 or so I consumed this paperback cover-to-cover, learning about Deacon Phillippe (who pitched in five games for the Pirates in the 1903 World Series) and the unassisted triple-play by Cleveland infielder Bill Wambsganss [<em>sic<\/em>] in the 1920 World Series.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Pirates YearBooks.\u00a0 Back when rosters were more stable than they are today, teams dared to publish glossy-page booklets at the beginning of the season, with photos and stats of the players a fan could expect to see that year.\u00a0 I pored over all of these too.\u00a0 Years later, at a card and memorabilia show, I would get <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=65Og0gUKfvc\">Bill Mazeroski<\/a> to autograph my <a href=\"https:\/\/www.sportspaper.info\/baseball\/mlb\/seasons\/1961\/pittsburgh-pirates-yearbook_1961.html\">1961 YearBook<\/a>, which recounted the Pirates 1960 World Series victory.<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\">Pirates box scores and the National League batting leader lists in the newspaper.\u00a0 I\u00a0read these daily when I was a kid.\u00a0 I always wanted a Pirate to lead the league in average or RBIs or home runs, even if the team itself wasn&#8217;t winning, to justify my irrationally unwavering support.\u00a0 (Still do, sorta.)<\/li>\n<li style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"><a href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-25679 size-medium\" style=\"margin-top: 12px; margin-right: 12px; margin-left: 12px;\" title=\"I believe this photo was taken well before the 18th inning.\" src=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"August 6, 1989\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989-300x225.jpg 300w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989-768x576.jpg 768w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989-640x480.jpg 640w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/Pirates1989.jpg 900w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>Sunday, August 6, 1989, when three generations of the Collins clan went to the Camera Day game at Three Rivers Stadium.\u00a0 We got to go onto the field before the game and take pictures of various Pirates players circulating among the fans.\u00a0 The game itself lasted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1989\/08\/07\/sports\/pirates-long-ball-wins-a-long-game.html\">18 innings<\/a>, had a 45-minute rain delay, and was ultimately won when Pirates 3B Jeff King hit a leadoff homer.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So that&#8217;s primarily where my player memories came from as I got to work on my listing.\u00a0 To keep my self-challenge on the up and up, I sequestered myself from baseball news while I searched my memory for names.<\/p>\n<p>I made a few ground rules for my search.\u00a0 (Incidentally, the term <em>ground rule<\/em> originated with baseball and only later came to be used more generally.)\u00a0 First, I decided that both first and last names were required.\u00a0 Otherwise, I could just say &#8220;Williams&#8221; or &#8220;Jones&#8221; and easily pick up 30 or 40 players.\u00a0 No, a memory needed to be a memory.\u00a0 So I did not add Dave Abernathy to my list, being that his first name is actually <em>Ted<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p>That said, I gave myself leeway on spelling.\u00a0 For example, I took credit for remembering Doug Granville (his name is <em>Glanville<\/em>) and I added Yadier Molina to my list even though I\u00a0botched the spelling of <em>Yadier<\/em>.\u00a0 On the other hand, I denied myself Paul Molitor because I remembered his name as <em>Monitor<\/em>.\u00a0 That seemed to cross a line.<\/p>\n<p>I also decided that I would not add managers or coaches to the list unless I was positive that they also had major-league playing careers.\u00a0 That means I did not add <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/alstowa01.shtml\">Walter Alston<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/a\/andersp01.shtml\">Sparky Anderson<\/a> or <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/h\/hutchfr01.shtml\">Fred Hutchinson<\/a> to the list, even though I was <em>reasonably<\/em> sure they were also players.\u00a0 (After-the-Factoids:\u00a0 It turns out that Alston had exactly one at-bat in a major-league game.\u00a0 Anderson played just one season in the majors.\u00a0 Hutchinson pitched in 242 major-league games over 10 seasons.\u00a0 The three men managed at the MLB level for a combined 60 seasons.)<\/p>\n<h3><strong><em>Ball Players Named Bob for $600, LeVar<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n<p>I started out by listing all the 1960s Pirates I knew from the YearBook that I memorized (and Mazeroski autographed).\u00a0 I proceeded to the Pirates who played in the team&#8217;s other post-season years, and then the stray Pirates from the team&#8217;s many and long interregna.<\/p>\n<p>As my recall of Pirate player names began to run dry, I turned my focus to the rest of the player-universe.\u00a0 I started out rummaging my memory team-by-team, but I found that the more productive way to recall players was by first names.\u00a0 Though that approach wouldn&#8217;t work so well to unearth a Yadier Molina, say, it did deliver quite a few Bobs and Bobbys (5.8% of my list) as well as Jims (4.5%) and Daves (2.8%).<\/p>\n<p>Some player names came to mind by indirect association: P Zane Smith (Pirates) led me to 3B Dick Gray (Cardinals) via the novelist Zane Grey; P Woodie Fryman (Pirates) brought to mind SS Bud Harrelson (Mets) via the actor Woody Harrelson.<\/p>\n<p>But my free-associations weren&#8217;t always spot-on.\u00a0 For instance, I was convinced the Pirates had a pitcher named John, or Bob, Kibler &#8212; I wasn&#8217;t sure which.\u00a0 When I checked, I found that John Kibler was an umpire in the 1971 World Series (won by the Pirates) and that the Pirates never had a pitcher named Kibler.\u00a0 It came to me that it must have been <em>Kipper&#8230; <\/em>and yes, there he was on the roster (1985 to 1991), so I added Bob Kipper to my list.<\/p>\n<p>I was astounded by some of the names I did recall.\u00a0 For instance, in what recess of my brain did I stash the name of Rawly Eastwick, the Reds relief pitcher from the mid 1970s?\u00a0 Or Frank Bork, who pitched 42 innings for the 1964 Pirates in his only MLB season?<\/p>\n<p>I was 11 when Bork was on the roster &#8212; his name was buried in my neurons for 57 years.\u00a0 Frank Bork is now 81.\u00a0 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.buffalorising.com\/2017\/10\/buffalo-native-frank-bork-among-500-retirees-without-a-mlb-pension\/\">He does not get a full MLB pension<\/a> due to his short service time.\u00a0 (Sorry about that, Frank&#8230; but take heart, at least <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailylocal.com\/sports\/first-baseball-game-memories-rekindled\/article_449c8327-e6ca-52cf-8cfe-feba94a4acdf.html\">you have been remembered<\/a>.)<\/p>\n<p>Then there were the players whose last names I knew but whose first names escaped me. The pitcher (First Name) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/b\/burnea.01.shtml\">Burnette<\/a> made me think of country-western star <a href=\"http:\/\/www.smileyburnette.org\/Smiley\/history.html\">Smiley<\/a>.\u00a0 And the outfielder (First Name) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.baseball-reference.com\/players\/g\/garrra01.shtml\">Garr<\/a> steered my thoughts to comedic actress <a href=\"https:\/\/themoth.org\/storytellers\/teri-garr\">Teri<\/a>.\u00a0 (The first names were A.J. and Ralph, respectively.)\u00a0 Which brings me to <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ichiro_Suzuki\">Ichiro<\/a>, whose other name I\u00a0not only failed to recall, I wasn&#8217;t sure which of his names it was.\u00a0 (He is Ichiro Suzuki.)<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright wp-image-25718 size-medium\" style=\"margin-top: -6px;\" src=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2-300x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2-300x300.png 300w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2.png 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>So, how did I fare overall?\u00a0 The figure (<a href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/ball-recall2.png\">right<\/a>) tells the story.\u00a0 I was able to list about 220 names the first day, but I soon fell victim to the law of diminishing returns.\u00a0 I could only recall half that number the second day, with each successive name taking me longer and longer to retrieve.\u00a0 I realized that I was not going to reach 700 players in one week, and maybe not even in one month, so I agreed with myself to stop the effort at 400 names.\u00a0\u00a0 While I&#8217;m sure my brain contains the names of many more players, there has to be some time and energy limit on recalling them.<\/p>\n<p>Curious readers may <a href=\"http:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-content\/uploads\/400-MLB-Players.pdf\">click here<\/a> to see the 400 ballplayers I could name.\u00a0 The list indicates which players ever played for Pittsburgh (41% of them) and the players who are deceased (44% of them).\u00a0 If you want to try this challenge yourself &#8212; and I can&#8217;t fathom why any of you would &#8212; then I&#8217;d suggest you hold off checking my list until you&#8217;ve finished your own.\u00a0 Otherwise you would be getting a substantial head start.<\/p>\n<p>Some of my fellow baseball fans will scan my list and say, &#8220;How could you not remember (Player X)?&#8221;\u00a0 Yes, I am sure that if I picked up a sports page from the 60s or 70s right now, I would see dozens of <em>familiar<\/em> baseball names that I was somehow unable to extract from my memory banks on demand.\u00a0 This serves to illustrate the difference between <a href=\"https:\/\/cosmosmagazine.com\/biology\/brain-research-shines-light-on-how-long-term-memories-are-made\/\">storing<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.verywellmind.com\/memory-retrieval-2795007\">retrieving<\/a> memories, and how some things can feel familiar when re-encountered without being memorable.\u00a0 The cover of the <em>World Series Encyclopedia<\/em> (pictured above) is a good example of that.\u00a0 The only thing I had remembered about it was the green background, but once I saw the cover illustrations (which I retrieved via Google, the world&#8217;s memory bank), it all came back to me.<\/p>\n<p>There you have it.\u00a0 Although I failed my 700 baseball player challenge (and <em>mea culpa<\/em> for my inflated claim), the attempt was at least engaging, and it gave me an excuse to raid my old-photos drawer.\u00a0 Now, if only my blog posts were as memorable as Frank Bork.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>My last Thoughts at Large post included the casually-made claim that I could name 700 major-league baseball players.\u00a0 In my original draft of the post, that number was 800-900; after further consideration, I lowered it to 750, then finally 700.\u00a0 &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/2021\/06\/baseball-memories-and-memory\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25480","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-interests"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25480","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25480"}],"version-history":[{"count":139,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25480\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25766,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25480\/revisions\/25766"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25480"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25480"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chcollins.com\/100Billion\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25480"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}