Mortality

 The dean of the (dwindling) population of card bloggers, Night Owl, has been musing recently on topics that derive from the advance of time and our position in that flow. He and I are of the same generational cohort.  My 60th birthday approaches rapidly, but I cannot really wrap my mind around it. I am healthy, active, and at the peak of my professional career (which is a source of great satisfaction.) I don't feel 60 and I don't expect I will in a few short weeks when that number becomes reality.

But there are events that give me pause to consider the advance of time.  Today brought one of those events: the death of Bernie Parent.

It has been a while since I followed hockey.  But, following it was part of my childhood, and it was mostly driven by collecting NHL stickers that were given away at my local Loblaws grocery store in 1974 and 1975. Bernie Parent was 80 years old. I struggle more that he was that old than I do with my own age. I suppose it may have something to do with having moved my mother into assisted living recently and seeing the recent decline in her health. Anyways, before this post becomes even more maudlin, I'll sign off.

What I am listening to: Landslide by Fleetwood Mac

1961 Fleer Autograph Project - Part 50

It's been a minute since I posted. So, without any extraneous commentary, let see who our next subject is in my continuing series about my signed 1961 Fleer set: 

Hall of Fame member Waite Hoyt.

Let's learn a little about "Schoolboy" Hoyt:

1. Born in Brooklyn in 1899, poor grades initially kept him out of scholastic baseball but not the amateur newspaper leagues where he gained a reputation as a hard thrower. Eventually getting his grades in order, where he continued to burnish that reputation.
2. While his first professional tryout was with the hometown Brooklyn Tip-Tops of the Federal League and he tossed batting practice the National League Robins, his first professional contract came in 1915 with the NY Giants. At the tender age of 15, he was the youngest player ever to sign a pro contract.
3. He started his pro career with the Lebanon team in the Penn State League, which folded before the season completed.
4. He made his major league debut on July 24, 1918 when he pitched the 9th inning against St Louis, striking out two of the three batters he faced, and popping out for the first out in the bottom half of the inning.  Sometime subsequent, John McGraw demoted him to Newark of the International League.  Hoyt refused to report and chose instead to play semi-pro ball in an industrial league in Baltimore. Despite the Giants machinations, Waite had no intent of returning to the minors and, eventually signed with the Boston Red Sox, with who (whom?) he pitched for the next two seasons.
5. He debuted with the BoSox on July 31, 1919 pitching a 12-inning complete game victory against Detroit, giving up 10 hits but only one run and holding Ty Cobb to a triple in 5 at bats.
6. Pitching ineffectually over the next two season, he was traded to the Yankees after the 1920 season, rejoining Boston teammate Babe Ruth. It was with the Yankees that Hoyt enjoyed the most success of a 21-year career that saw him suit up for 7 different major league teams.
7. When asked about his success, Hoyt quipped "The secret was to get a job with the Yankees and joyride along on their home runs.”
8. There is actually a lot of truth to that. Other than 1927, Hoyt never led the Yankees staff in wins and was generally a steady, if not spectacular pitcher.
9. He was pretty good in the post season, putting up a 6-4 record with a 1.83 ERA across 6 World Series with the Yankees and one with the Philadelphia Athletics.
10. As a 21-year-old, in the 1921 World Series between the Yankees and his former team the John McGraw led Giants, Waite threw 3 complete game (earned run) shutouts. His record was 2-1 in a series that the Bombers lost three games to five.
11. During his time with the Yankees, Hoyt was a prolific drinker and ladies' man whose proclivities were likely overshadowed by his larger-than-life teammate, Babe Ruth
12. In the off-season, he had experiences in both vaudeville and his fathers-in-law's mortuary business. This earned him the nickname as the "The Merry Mortician."
    
13. After the death of Miller Huggins, Hoyt clashed with new manager Bob Shawkey and was traded to Detroit. For the remainder of his career, he bounced around to 5 teams occasionally flashing brilliance but mainly putting in workmanlike performance. Through this time, he lost discipline resulting in weight gain, alcohol abuse, and divorce.
14. He ended his career back home in Brooklyn with the Dodgers in parts of the 1937 and 1938 seasons.
15. With a background in vaudeville, he launched a post playing days career in radio. First with a pregame show for the Yankees and, in 1942, as the play-by-play announcer for the Cincinnati Reds.
16. While is drinking continued early in his announcing career. However, in 1945, after a bender he checked into a rehab program and became a vocal advocate of Alcoholics Anonymous.
17. He retired from broadcasting in 1964, was elected to Cooperstown in 1969, and remained living in Cincy until his death in 1985.

What I am listening to: The Thrill is Gone (Live) by BB King and Gary Moore