Hunter Pence
San Francisco Giants
Short Pants
Many of you already know how much I hate the fact that baseball players today, and some since Ted Williams, prefer to wear their uniform pants all the way down around the ankles. All those “Bagwellians” (my term for them) who do so are out of line with the intent, spirit, and design of baseball uniforms by their effective burial, in many cases, of unique uniform sock design. (See the socks of the St. Louis Cardinals whenever possible for a good example of this judgment. Just as good – bu with less heritage behind them – the bright orange socks of the new Houston Astros game wardrobe.
The reason we bring this up this morning is because of our attention to Giants right fielder in the current NLCS competition. Hunter has been one of our favorites for honoring the spirit of the uniform socks since his days in Houston as an Astro – and for a surplus of reasons that include the fact he’s tall – and tall guys, like Ted Williams, often behave as though they think that too much sock exposure makes them look silly. Pence seems to understand that the sight of uniform socks do not make a tall man silly – that only the man can make himself look silly in uniform by his inexplicably goofy way of throwing a baseball or expressing an opinion. Hunter Pence seems to validate that point almost every time he takes the field. And no matter what he has done, until now, it has seemed OK by me.
Even now, I may be blowing a new concern out of proportion because I’ve only seen what I hope is a mere apparition in Hunter Pence’s new uniform style in the current Giants-Cardinals series and that’s this: When Hunter Pence now stands in to hit against the Cardinals, he seems to have moved his pants up on both legs from – just below the knees – to just above the knees!!!
Hunter! – If that’s what you are doing, you’ve gone too far! Wearing the lower elasticized hem of your uniform pants just above the knees was never the intent of their uniform design!
Please, readers, pay sharp attention to how Pence wears his pants today in the game at San Francisco and let us know what you think! – Is he or isn’t he – now wearing them above the knees?
If he is (wearing is pants too high), he’s found another way to pass himself off as one of baseball’s silliest, quirkiest, sufficiently talented, and most likeable players in the big leagues!
Of course, I could be wrong. In one of those minor ironies of everyday life, I’m going in for my annual eye exam in about one hour from this keyboard sizzler topic.
Happy Tuesday, everybody. – I’ll be “seeing” you!
Eddie Gaedel
Sportsman’s Park
August 19, 1951
Short Players
Back in early September, yours truly was duly honored by the Eddie Gaedel Society, Spokane Chapter No. 1, as their first draft choice for membership into the organization dedicated to the honorable memory of MLB’s most vertically challenged player in history, Eddie Gaedel of the St. Louis Browns. As most of you, or all of you, probably already know, Gaedel was the midget player that club owner Bill Veeck sent to the plate on August 19, 1951 to face Bob Cain of the Detroit Tigers as a pinch hitter for the lead off batter at Sportsman’s Park in St. Louis. Gaedel drew a four-pitch walk and then retired forever.
A column on Eddie Gaedel that I wrote here for The Pecan Park Eagle some time ago came to the attention of the Gaedel Society’s president, Tom Keefe, who also liked the song parody I had written back in 1999 to commemorate the bravest little man in the history of the game. It is repeated here, with a couple of minor editorial improvements for descriptive performance sake:
The Ballad of Eddie Gaedel
(Sung to the melody and chorus tunes of “Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer”)
By Bill McCurdy, 1999
Bill Veeck, the Brownie owner,
Wore some very shiny clothes!
And if you saw his sport shirt,
You would even say, “It glows!”
All of the other owners,
Used to laugh and call him names!
They wouldn’t let poor Bill Veeck,
Join in any owner games!
(Chorus) Then one humid August day,
Bill Veeck had to – fidget!
Got an idea that stirred his soul,
He decided to sign a – midget!
His name was Eddie Gae-del,
He was only three feet tall!
He never played much baseball,
He was always just too small!
(Chorus) Then one day in Sportsman’s Park,
Eddie – went to bat!
Took four balls and walked to first,
Then retired – just like that!
Oh, how the purists hated,
Adding little Eddie’s name,
To the big book of records,
“Gaedel” bore a blush of shame!
Now when you look up records,
Look up Eddie’s O.B.P.!
It reads a cool One Thousand,
Safe for all eternity!
Hail, Eddie!
In short form, President Keefe liked the “Ballad of Eddie Gaedel” enough to hopefully adopt it as the organization’s anthem. The Gaedel Society plans to so sing it as a whole group chorus group number at their annual meeting in Spokane, Washington at O’Dougherty’s Irish Pub next summer. I’ve been told that the song sounds even better after both the singers and the audience have downed a few beers.
At any rate, I’ve now received my membership card and official society tee shirt and am looking forward to helping commemorate Gaedel as the most unique of all the former old St. Louis Browns.
Yesterday, I was also pleased to learn from President Keefe that St. Louis Cardinals owner Bill Dewitt, whose family was involved with the Browns during the Gaedel game, has also accepted his own invitation into the society as a second “out of Spokane’ member. We could be building a forceful wave for the memory of Eddie Gaedel on every beach and shore wherever baseball is played.
Houston, Baseball, & Other Musings.
The Pecan Park Eagle 