Word: catcher
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Carlton Fisk, Boston's star-crossed catcher, is back again-and a great hometown favorite because of his New Hampshire background (sometimes the hometown is no favorite of his-the other day he gave the finger to booing fans, but who can blame him? The press can and did, actually). Fisk was Rookie of the Year in 1972, but a groin injury, a viciously torn cartilage and a broken arm have kept him in the game sporadically until a few weeks ago. Since then he's been terrific, but every time a runner comes hustling home with spikes high...
...base runners sass the Duke relentlessly, and so does his apoplectic catcher, "Beanie" Maligima (Lou Crincuolo). The manager (Mitchell Jason) tries to psych the Duke back to his earlier form, but to no avail. A home run ball zooms over his head like a tracer bullet and murders him on the spot...
Died. Clint ("Scrap Iron") Courtney, 48, pugnacious American League catcher of the 1950s and early 1960s; of an apparent heart attack; in Rochester, while on the road with the minor-league Richmond Braves, which he had managed since 1973. For more than a decade, Courtney played with six clubs, compiling a record of near-flawless fielding and clutch hitting. A relentless belligerence earned him his nickname and triggered some of baseball's most violent brouhahas, notably a game-stopping 1953 free-for-all at Busch Stadium that began when Courtney, then playing for the old St. Louis Browns, spiked...
When California Angels Righthander Nolan Ryan pitches, curious things happen. Batters edge back from the plate, opposing managers bench their red-hot hitters, Angel outfielders let fly balls drop in for base hits, and the Angel catcher stuffs a half-inch-thick pad of foam rubber into his glove. The reason: Ryan throws so hard he rewrites the basic customs of the game. Batters inch back because they are scared, managers yank top hitters because they can't connect on high fastballs, Ryan's own outfielders are lulled to sleep by the preponderance of infield outs his pitches...
Milt Holt came in to relieve, and produced a clutch strikeout. The game wasn't quite over, however to the ball popped out of catcher Dan Williams's glove and the batter took off for first...