Ebbets Field Archives - All Mississippi Baseball

all in a day

On this date in 1934, at old Comiskey Park in Chicago, Starkville native and Hall of Famer Cool Papa Bell scored the only run in the East-West Game, the Negro Leagues’ All-Star classic. Bell drew a walk to lead off the eighth inning against Alcorn State alum and Hall of Famer Bill Foster, stole second and ultimately scored on a two-out hit by Jud Wilson. Bell, one of the fastest players in the history of the game, was with the Pittsburgh Crawfords at the time, Foster with the Chicago American Giants. … On this date in 1939, at Ebbets Field in Brookyln, Columbus native and broadcasting Hall of Famer Red Barber was at the mic for the first televised major league game. Playing outfield for Cincinnati that day, in both games of a twinbill, was Ellisville native Harry Craft, who was hitless on the day. The Reds won the opener, the Dodgers took Game 2. … On this date in 1946, at Boston’s Fenway Park, Shaw native Boo Ferriss, a rookie with the Red Sox, won his 20th game, beating the Philadelphia A’s 4-3 in 10 innings. Ferriss also doubled in the game-winning run in the bottom of the 10th, boosting his average to .260. … On this date in 1984, at Anaheim Stadium in California, Jackson native Chet Lemon hit the only grand slam of his career, helping Detroit beat California 12-6. Lemon, who won a World Series ring with the ’84 Tigers, belted 215 homers over a 16-year MLB career. … On this date in 2021, at Yankee Stadium in New York, Amory native Mitch Moreland played the final game of his MLB career, going 0-for-3 for Oakland. Moreland went on the injured list with a wrist injury a couple days later. He finished his 12-year career with 186 homers, a World Series ring, an All-Star Game appearance and a Gold Glove.

totally random

Culley Rikard is among that passel of Mississippians whose big league career was brief and relatively obscure. The Oxford native and Olive Branch High alum played in 153 games over parts of three seasons, breaking in with Pittsburgh in 1941, a year noteworthy for DiMaggio’s 56 and Williams’ .406 but not so much for Rikard. He had just 20 at-bats. He got a few more ABs in 1942, spent three years in military service and returned to the majors with the Pirates in 1947, a year noteworthy for the debuts of Robinson and Doby but not really for Rikard. He batted .287 and scored 57 runs as the occasional leadoff batter for a really bad Pirates club. That was his final fling in the big leagues. But the tale of Culley Rikard would not be complete without recounting the incident of June 5, 1947, which mostly involves another player and takes up a significant portion of Rikard’s Wikipedia entry. Rikard hit a fly ball that was caught by Pete Reiser in center field at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn. Reiser, famous for crashing into walls, did so on this occasion, knocking himself unconscious and actually receiving last rites before recovering in a hospital. P.S. Kudos to Brandon Woodruff, the ex-Mississippi State standout who received a $10.8 million contract from Milwaukee as the sides avoided arbitration. Woodruff, who has become one of the National League’s best pitchers, went 13-4 with 3.05 ERA in 2022 and is 41-25 career for the Brewers.