Thursday, July 18, 1974
THE MICHIGAN DAILY
Page Eleven
Thursday, July 18, 1974 THE MICHIGAN DAILY Page Eleven
Dizzy
By DAN BORUS
Forty years ago, a baseball
team from St. Louis staged a
remarkable September drive
and nipped the slumping New
York Giants at the wire for the
National League crown after
having trailed the Giants by as
much as eight games with two
weeks to play.
One week later, that same
team kayoed the favored De-
troit Tigers in the World Series
as two brothers - Dizzy and
Paul Dean - won two games
apiece.
DIZZY DEAN DIED early
yesterday morning in Reno, at
the age of 64, from heart failure.
His death, like the end of his
career, came far too soon. But
his life, and the legend it cre-
ated, are more important, and
worth remembering.
Though it captured only that
one championship, the Gas-
house Gang, and the pitcher
who fashioned its style with his
active mouth and strong right
arm, came to he remembered
for more than those record book
accomplishments.
Christened in the dark days
of hard times, bank failures and
bread lines, the Gashouse Gang
played without regard to safety,
cleanliness, or manners. Never
assuming it had a game won,
and never accepting a game as
hopelessly lost, that collection
of rag-tag hustlers and scrap-
pers was an inspiration to an
economically and emotionally
ravaged nation.
But the man they came to see
was Ole Diz. Whenever Dean
pitched, attendance peaked.
Polo Grounds officials were
forced to turn away 15,000 fans
from a Sunday doubleheader in
early September of 1934 when
the fabled "Me and Paul"
pitched both ends for the Red-
birds.
DEAN WAS A MAN loved as
much for his legend and his
style as his pitching. While in
the courserofhis seven year ca-
reer, he racked up some re-
markable records - among
them the honor of being the
last National League pitcher to
win 30 games in one season-
it was the epic proportions of
his legends which guaranteed
his popularity.
Like any true epic hero, Dean
was of uncertain origins. De-
pending upon when you asked
him, Dean hailed from Holden,
Oklahoma, Lucas, Arkansas, or
Bond, Mississippi. ("Them
weren't lies," he told his biog-
rapher and semi-official watch-
dog, J. Roy Stockton of the St.
Louis Post Dispatch, "them
were scoops").
In the style of epic heros,
bean was capable of super-hu-
man feats. In the minors he
sent all his fielders to the dug-
oat and proceeded to whiff the
side. Once he strolled over to
the Boston Brave clubhouse and
calmly informed the Braves that
he was going to throw only
fastballs. He did and all they
got were three scratch hits.
Dean: Baseball's folk hero
A RAW ROOKIE up for his
first look in the bigs, he de-
liberately walked the bases
loaded in an exhibition against
the then World Championship
Philadelphia A's and then
struck out in order the A's Mur-
derer's Row, Al Simmons, Jim-
my Foxx, and Mickey Cochrane.
Perhaps most astounding of
all was his 1934 performance.
In addition to those thirty vic-
tories, Dean pitched in nineteen
games in the month of Septem-
ber, won eight, lost none, and
had an earned run average of
1.05.
The Dean epic grew on the
strength of his public inno-
cence. He, like the Cardinals,
the first championship team to
have a majority of its members
from the South and the West,
was a country boy in the big
city, an innocent in a hostile en-
vironment.
CELEBRATING in the streets
of St. Joseph after having once
again stomped the opposition,
Dean noticed an automobile
racing opposite his. The sheriff
of that small Missouri town
stuck his head out of the car
and yelled to the hanoy pitcher.
"Hey, this is a one-way street."
Replied Dean, "How many
ways do you think I'm going?"
In later years, Dean seemed
nmost a hick, a trifle too cute,
too colorful, and too forced. His
old manager, Frankie Frisch,
felt that some of the stories
were exaggerated by Cardinal
General Manager Branch Ric-
key with an eye on the gate.
Dean, in a Liberty Magazine ar-
ticle, claimed as much.
CERTAINLY DEAN was not
'"rt financi-Ily by his image
,s -s , r-s'lt of his country-
+s s eded for beyond the
IS. 40 he took home in his best
-l'ving year.
lut his inotence and his
svmholism to an entire gener-
-tion wis 'erv real indeed. His
death most likely ntrks the de-
mnise of a trle American myth,
the s-'ccess of to country boy in
1h- big city. To times of ind'ts-
trialication nd rapid urban
growth, his story is not likely to
he repeted either on the play-
ing fields or in story.
ml
v
MONDAY. JULY 22 7:30 pm TUES. JULY 23 & WED. JULY 24 TUS UY2,7:1 y
.. #~nda Ronstad_
SAT. JULY 27 & SUN. JULY 28 TUESDAY, JULY30 730m TICKETS AVAILABLE AT
8 pm 730 Sundayl) $6p )4so(paptin). S4.so Ilawn} Pine Knab Music Theatre Fisher theatre Y x O3.
17 _pa__l_(o$,(5lawlnlie am - B pm daity) (Mon-Sat., 9am - 8 pm)
COCRT,, CNC imingham, Nortliand
RT " N C! " tN E Mihiga & Sae / Tel-TweleMapl / SvnGand
CCsE odwad &OGand Blvd. /P otiacMall / Universal Mail
Ci~~oodard & Jono / Wetbrn / Eastland / Wonderlaind
r ~~~Maia check s, maony ordertoname ofconcert), PineKnob MusicTheatr,,
PS Bo, P1033,Bireminghams, 48012,Enclose a stamped self-addressad, zip-codned
HE f ~envelope. Make chacks payable to Pinaesnb Music Theatren
...a AR FUTHER NFORM ION CALL2(13) 6647-7790
Tickets for entire season now available at all
box of fices. To order by mail, use coupon JOHN DENVER JOHN DENVER JOHN DENVER JOHN DENVER
below. *Denotes Unreserved Lawn SoVID 0%%" Sov oV ow ol OV000
4 5 6 7 8 9 10
The
Festvalof Muic
CHET ATKINS.SJUTY & E. STEA, JIND7AFIC BLOOD, SWEATJY T AJY :ITCET E
JLONDIMITCHELLARSTORBE SA NTA NA
BOOTS RANDOLPH BROTHERSANOCE
($6. $4 : d($6,d$4y) . ($6,($4pl) ($6, $41 r($7.r$5'
730 p.m. 8p.m. 730 pm. 730 p 1m. B p.m.
11 12 13 14 15 16 17
EDDIE KENDRICKS THREE DOG THREE DOG ARLO LOGGINS & 501t 5th
& the Ohio Players NIGHT NIGHT GUTNRIE MESSINA DIMENSION DIMENSION
($1. $51l ($7, $51 ($7, $5*} ($6, $4'l ($6, $4'l ($7, $5*)l ($. $5'1
7:30 p.m. 7:30 pm. 1.30 pta. 8:00 P.m. 8ROD P.M. 8:00 p.M. 8:00 P.M.
18 19 20 21 22 23 24
LAWRENCE WELKERIL ' OE F T TWOGENERATIONS
& BOF BRUBECK FGHA GEORGE CARLIN TODD RUOGREN
ANNOUNCEDCECCBRUBECK
($7. $51) ($6. $41i ($6, $4*) ($6, $4*} ($6.50, $4.501l ($6, $41
200 p-rn- & 8E30 p-rr8&30 p.m. 730 p.m. 8d00pr&n- /800 p.M. /. p.
25 26 27 28 29 30 31
THE SPINNERS
A CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO CHICAGO T ETR
JOSE FELICIANO r U v ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED
1:30 p.m. SoL,,4Op.M. e13Q,,,op.. 9f.stl p m. 9e'..xttp.m.
SEPT 1 2 3 4 5' 6 7
TO BE THE THE ELLA FITZGERALD ELLA FITZGERALD ELLA FITZGERALD ELLA FITZGERALD
ANNOUNCED BEACH BOYS BEACH BOYS HENRY MANCINI HENRY MANCINI & HENRY MANCINI & HENRY MANCINI
($7, $5*) ($7, $5*) ($7, $5') ($7, $5*) ($7, $5*) ($7,$51
730 p.m. 7:30 p.m. 8:30 p.m. 830 p.m. 830 p.m. 830 p.m.
ELLA 8 TONY ORIAND014
FITZGERALD TO BE TO BE TO BE TO BE TO BE I& DAWN
& HENRY MANCINI ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED ANNOUNCED ($6, $4*): 00 p.m.
($7, $5*) 730 p.m.
15
EISLEY BROTHERS For information call-(313) 47-7790
($7, $517 :30 p..
Please enclose a check or money order made payable to PINE KNOB MUSIC
ITHEATRE, along with a self-addressed, stamped, zip-coded envelope for the safe RETURN COUPON TO: I
return of your tickets. (No orders filled without this envelope.) PINE KNOB MUSIC THEATRE I
PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY. BOX P1033
NAME BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN 480121
ADDRESS for further information call I
CITY HOME PHONE( 6
STATE, ZIPOFFICE PHONE(33________
..'../w. No. 0.0. &A noFor Office Uae
i
i
II
I
f
" Name of Attraction(s) Rate Price oTckt Rsrvdr
2. ____ $ - _ A____
-- total Amunt Endi
Lawn
Bob Gibson of the St. Louis
Cardinals last night became
the second major league pitch.
er in history to record 3,000
career strikeouts.
losed: $
-- --- --- ---- -- -- -- _ r r~r
-- -- -- - -- -