vin, at the reagan foundation

vinnie's indians stories

from tonight's broadcast -- actually,...just from the first three innings

vin scully went over the various names the cleveland baseball team has been called -- spiders, blues, forest cities, then, finally, in 1901, they were a charter member of the new american league, and they were called the indians, and they've been called that, ever since

hey, wait a minute, i said -- what about the naps

then he added, there was another name -- it was a sarcastic name -- there was a great second baseman, named napoleon lajoie -- he was player-manager for the team -- well, people started calling 'em the naps, because they 'folded' -- like a napkin

the next inning, he continued -- speaking of that sarcastic name, one of my favorite lines is from frank robinson, who said that a pennant-fever in cleveland usually turns out to be a forty-eight-hour virus

the season after the indians won their last championship, they were eliminated -- bill veeck wasn't going to take that, lying down -- so he organized a funeral ceremony -- they played the funeral dirge -- he called out all the players, coaches, fans -- they went out to the flag-pole and brought down the championship flag -- they folded it, put it into a casket -- pine, i think -- they brought out a hearse -- put the casket in the hearse -- veeck rode atop the hearse, like he was leading a funeral procession,...with everybody following the hearse -- they went out to center-field -- it was a big center-field -- maybe this was beyond the fence -- and they buried the flag

then there's one of my favorite indians stories -- the best baseball player i've ever seen...played with the indians -- his name was jackie price -- he only played in seven games

i saw him in 1946 -- in yankee stadium -- i think it was bob feller against...i forgot the name of the yankees pitcher -- a pretty famous one

jackie price would stand on his head and play catch

then they brought out this rig -- and jackie price was hung, upside down, from the rig -- his head was three feet above home plate -- they gave him a bat -- and then they threw pitches to him -- he hit ropes, all over the place

he went out to the mound -- he had two balls, and he threw them both -- one pitch was a fastball; the other, a curve

then they brought out a jeep -- jackie price drove the jeep in the outfield -- a guy working with him...hit balls from home plate -- jackie patrolled the outfield, in the jeep -- he would drive around, and catch the ball -- with one hand on the steering wheel, driving the jeep, and, with the other hand, he caught the ball

i'm not making this up -- i swear to you

he continued, the next inning -- one more thing about jackie price, and then i'll shut up

jackie price never wore a belt -- instead, he wore a snake

one time on the train with the indians, he let the snake loose -- they asked who did it -- price said, boudreau

too bad i couldn't hear vinnie, when the indians pulled off a...7-2-4 triple-play in the fourth -- with two replay challenges -- maybe, after the cleveland broadcast

windups, vinnie, gibbie & gaylord

on today's broadcast, vin scully was talking about pitchers' windups -- how, when you compare the pitchers today, with pitchers from, say, the 1950s, you see how the windup...has almost disappeared -- you look at the way greinke pitches, the way joe kelly pitches -- almost no windup -- while...in the days of...i think he said...don drysdale, don newcombe, they almost looked like they were gonna fly away, they wound up so much

then he talked about bob gibson's numbers...in that amazing 1968 season, when the mound was...almost pointed -- 1.12 e.r.a., 13 shutouts, 304 innings, 28 complete games

well, you might say, that was when the mound was higher two years later, though -- even after the mound was lowered again, and his team finished under .500,...he finished that year, 23 and 7

well, vinnie was broadcasting a game, and gibson was in the booth with him -- it was a league-championship game -- gaylord perry was pitching, and chris speier came to the mound -- scully asked gibson, what would a rookie shortstop have to say to a veteran like gaylord perry -- gibson answered, absolutely nothing

then vinnie asked gibson,...and what if, when you were pitching, a rookie shortstop came to you -- what would you say to him

gibson: i wouldn't allow it

here's the story i always remember...about bob gibson -- gibson said, i own the outside part of the plate -- that's mine -- i'd knock down my own grandmother,...if she's leaning over the plate too much