The Ol' Redhead

 Walter “Red” Barber was a sportscaster for the Cincinnati Reds, Brooklyn Dodgers, and New York Yankees from 1934 until 1966.  Barber was born on February 17, 1908 in Columbus, Mississippi.  He and his family moved to Florida in 1918 and at 21 he became a student at the University of Florida to major in education.  He began his career in broadcast after being at the right place at the right time.  A professor was slated to appear on the university radio station and was not present just minutes before he was scheduled.  Barber was working as a janitor at the time and was asked to fill in.  After that brief moment of being on the air, Barber decided he wanted to do it full time.  Be began covering Florida football games; a job he would hold for 4 years. 

He began broadcasting for the Reds in 1934.  He held that position for five seasons before following Larry MacPhail to Brooklyn to work for the Dodgers.  MacPhail is the one that hired Barber for the Reds job.  He became president of the Dodgers in 1939 and Barber followed.  Red Barber was one of the first to be told of Jackie Robinson’s arrival in Major League Baseball.  Barber was from the south and lived with racial segregation all of his life.  He told Branch Rickey that he wasn’t sure he could call the games with Robinson on the field.  He made the attempt anyway and quickly came around to support Robinson and the other black players.  

Barber brought Vin Scully into the booth in 1950.  Scully was a replacement for Ernie Harwell after he went to the Giants.  The move proved to be a historic one, as Scully is still calling Dodger games to this day.

During his Dodger years, Barber also announced World Series games as well as professional and college football games.  For World Series games he would team with another broadcast legend in Mel Allen.  Barber left the Dodgers after a monetary dispute with a sponsor.  There was no support from Dodgers owner Walter O’Malley on the matter.  So not long after the incident Barber left.  He was hired by the Yankees before the 1954 season.  He stayed on with them until 1966 when he was told his contract would not be renewed.  This is due in large part to what happened on September 22 of that year.

The Yankees were in last place for the first time since 1912 and nobody was showing up to the games.  On September 22^nd the paid attendance was 413.  Barber asked the TV cameras to pan the stands of the 65,000-seat stadium.  Then he proceeded to comment on the abysmal crowd that showed up to the game.  A week later he was told by team president Mike Burke that he would not be coming back.

Barber retired from broadcasting after his time with the Yankees.  In 1973 he was inducted into the National Sportscasters and Sportswriters Association Hall of Fame.  In 1978, he and Mel Allen became the first recipients of the Ford C. Frick Award.  He received several other prestigious awards including induction in the Florida Sports Hall of Fame and a posthumous induction into the Radio Hall of Fame in 1995. 

 

Barber died in Tallahassee, Florida on October, 22 1992.  He was 84 years old.

Unhittable

 John Samuel Vander Meer was born in Midland Park, New Jersey on November 2, 1914.  He is famous for being the only pitcher in baseball history to record two consecutive no-hitters. 

Vander Meer was signed as an amateur by the Brooklyn Dodgers before the 1933 season.  In 1934 the Boston Braves purchased him from Brooklyn.  Coincidentally, these are the two teams he would throw the consecutive no-hitters against.  The Cincinnati Reds purchased Vander Meer from Boston in 1935 and he would make his Major League Debut on April 22, 1937.  He was a four-time All-Star.  He started and won the 1938 game which was played at Crosley Field.

His consecutive no-hitters were also thrown in 1938.  The first was against the Boston Braves at Crosley Field on June, 11.  He no-hit the Dodgers four days later in the first night game at Ebbets Field.  Vander Meer lead the National League in strikeouts three consecutive seasons from 1941-43.  Only two other National League Pitchers have accomplished this.  Warren Spahn did it from 1949-52 and Randy Johnson accomplished it from 1999-2002.  In his 13-year career, Johnny Vander Meer had a 119-121 record with 1,294 strikeouts and a 3.44 ERA.  He was also part of the 1940 World Champion Reds.

After being released by the Indians midway through the 1951 season Vander Meer's Major League career came to a close.  He pitched in the Texas League in 1952 and pitched another no-hitter.  This time it was against Beaumont.

He was among the first class to be inducted into the Cincinnati Reds Hall of Fame in 1958.  Johnny Vander Meer died on October, 6, 1997 in Tampa Florida.  He was 82.

The Story of this Blog

I have never formally written anything other than a few papers in college.  But I wanted to get my words out there to discuss the players that some may have forgotten.  In addition to that, I feel I will learn so much along the way when I am researching for these stories.  I will show off some of my work as I am an artist above all else.  I will also share personal baseball stories to go along with some of the bio information on players.  I would like to focus on players and managers that are no longer in the game.  But every now and then I will comment on other things.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I will enjoy writing it.  Thank you so much for taking the time to read.  But more importantly than that, Go Braves!