*********** We love baseball******************

by FlyingHighNow 54 Replies latest social entertainment

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    My Uncle, Ed Wright, played for the Braves whilst they were still in Boston MA. He spent a season or so pitching for the "A's" while they were still in 'Philly.

    Edw. Henderson Wright (Dyersburg Tn)

    Hill

  • FlyingHighNow
    FlyingHighNow

    Very cool about Uncle Ed. What position did he play?

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    Ed Wright

    From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

    Jump to: navigation, search
    For other uses, see Ed Wright (disambiguation).

    Henderson Edward Wright (May 15, 1919 - November 19, 1995) was a pitcher in Major League Baseball who played between 1945 and 1952 for the Boston Braves (1945-48) and Philadelphia Athletics (1952). Listed at 6' 1", 180 lb., Wright batted and threw right-handed. He was born in Dyersburg, Tennessee.

    In a five-season career, Wright posted a 25-16 record with 93 strikeouts and a 4.00 ERA in 101 appearances, including 39 starts, 16 complete games, three shutouts, one save, and 398? innings of work.

    Wright died in his homeland of Dyersburg, Tennessee at age 76.

    [edit] Highlights

    [edit] External links

  • Peppermint
    Peppermint

    We don't get any coverage about it over here in the UK (Maybe some stuff in the middle of the night) but I think it looks like a good game. Just out of interest how long does the average game last?

  • FlyingHighNow
    FlyingHighNow

    Thank you for the info, Hill, did you get any of his pitching talent? I can't get over the skill and talent it takes to be a major league pitcher. It's mind blowing to think they can throw fast balls over 100 mph.

    We don't get any coverage about it over here in the UK (Maybe some stuff in the middle of the night) but I think it looks like a good game. Just out of interest how long does the average game last?

    A major league game with 9 innings can go on up to three or more hours. The length depends on many factors. And if the game is tied at the end of 9th inning, the game goes into extra innings. This can be a lot of fun when you are actually at the game. I never want to go home. Watch my first link in my first post for the clip from the movie The Natural. It might give you a little taste of the magic of baseball.

    Here's the clip again:

    http://youtube.com/watch?v=pGH_mtib9fo

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    Uncle Ed married into the family. I was a catcher.( I was a bad JW kid... I slipped around playing ball while the other kids in my hall drank) He did teach us how to call a game, set a defense and a lot about strategy.

    Ed taught me how to throw a change and a better curve ball. I never had the mental part of pitching down... that is a lot of pressure. I learned enough about pitching from him that I turned into a half-assed pitching coach myself.

    Ed retired from baseball in '53 or 54.. bought a gas station in Dyersburg and ran it until he died. He was a great dad, good guitar player and would rather hunt quail than breath. The guys who worked for him... a couple worked for him at that Esso station for over 20 years...Ed was a good man. All of his kids (4) graduated college.

    West Tennessee had a string of wooden ball parks... Dyersburg, Union City, down to Memphis, etc. Back in the 30's, Ed broke in to baseball playing in the industrial leauges that played in those little towns. He broke into the minors with the old Memphis Chicks if I remember the story right. His Major record is short... he played and made most of his baseball money in Cuba... playing in winter leauges. He hurt an ankle that never healed right... He told me that he could have stayed around as a first baseman or outfeilder (he could hit too) but was getting tired of being away from home so much.

    Ed ran for county sherrif and lost by a slim margin in the '50's Ed survived polio in the 20's... he had one leg just a bit shorter than the other. He was funny as hell..never profane and had a million stories.

    He was president of the town little leauge for years. Ed did some scouting for the Cardinals too. He "discovered" Jim Hickman (CUBS..back in the 60's) playing ball in Henning, Tn.

    I miss that guy...I think he may have been the favorite uncle of all of us kids.

    Hill

  • Peppermint
    Peppermint

    "A major league game with 9 innings can go on up to three or more hours. The length depends on many factors. And if the game is tied at the end of 9th inning, the game goes into extra innings. This can be a lot of fun when you are actually at the game. I never want to go home."

    Interesting, I liked the clip. Have you guys heard anything about Twenty20 Cricket yet? You know how our game of Cricket goes on for about 5 days and because of this is a bit of a cumbersome beast to export and commercialize. Well Twenty20 Cricket is an alternative to this and is proving very popular (Not with the purists though) It also is about 3 hours long so is obviously designed along the commercial lines of baseball. A multi million pound league has just been established in India with plans for world domination I'm sure.

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twenty20

  • FlyingHighNow
    FlyingHighNow

    Hill, your uncle sounds a lot like my dream guy. I haven't met him yet. Thank you for sharing the personal. I am just naturally high on baseball right now, which is great because the stress I've been under, and with this new very pressured job, I need the relief. Esso. Ah, remember Esso that changed to EnCo and then to EXXON. And the rumor was that Esso was a dirty word in some other language. Didn't they have a tiger for a mascot for a while?

    Peppermint, I hadn't heard of the 20/20 cricket. I had always heard that American Baseball was tied to cricket. Cricket reminds me of tennis and baseball mixed. Here there is a whole romance and atmosphere that comes with baseball. There's the summer weather, the music played on organ at the games and then the rock songs they play at the games. Then there's the foods they serve. Just so much to it. Want to see a good baseball movie inspired by a true league? Get A League of Their Own. When American baseball players all went to fight in WWII, they formed a women's hard ball league. Women usually play soft ball. Softballs are bigger, softer (though not THAT soft), pitched underhand and more slowly. There are different rules. You don't slide or steal bases and the foul and strike rules are a little different. Women just didn't play hard ball. A smaller, much harder ball that can kill you if it hits you in the head the right way. But in that league, they played hard ball like the men did. Amazing.

  • hillbilly
    hillbilly

    did you move back up north? the Whitecaps are in GR? or did I miss something?

    Hill

  • Peppermint
    Peppermint

    "Here there is a whole romance and atmosphere that comes with baseball"

    I don't think the rock music would go down too well not with traditional cricket anyway but Baseball obviously evokes similar feelings as Cricket does over here. If I ever get to America I think I will have take in a live game.

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