There is nothing better then vintage fan-made photo snapshots. As I've written many times before, there is no better perspective than the photos made by fans at a game. This week a Tennessee dealer pulled out a photo album find of one fans view of the game at Wrigley Field, circa 1941. Below are a group of the Dodger players.
Here is Hall of Famer Joe Ducky Medwick. He only spent 5 seasons with the Brooklyn squad after a spectacular 9 seasons with the Cardinals. The auction description has a great biography on him so I'll repost some of it here.
Here is Hall of Famer Joe Ducky Medwick. He only spent 5 seasons with the Brooklyn squad after a spectacular 9 seasons with the Cardinals. The auction description has a great biography on him so I'll repost some of it here.
Fans nicknamed him "Ducky" and "Ducky Wucky" because of his waddle, but his build led to the nickname of "Muscles," which meant that none of his teammates dared to use the name "Ducky" to his face. His hard-charging style of play got him pulled out of the seventh game of the 1934 World Series by Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis, when Detroit Tigers fans started pelting him with garbage after he slid hard into third on a triple. Medwick helped lead the Dodgers to a pennant in 1941, but had lost much of his dominance after being nearly killed by a beanball thrown at him by a former Cardinal teammate 6 days after his 1940 trade. He eventually returned to finish his career with the Cardinals in 1947 and 1948. During a USO tour by a number of players in 1944, Medwick was among several individuals given an audience by Pope Pius XII. Upon being asked by the Pope what his vocation was, Medwick replied, "Your Holiness, I'm Joe Medwick. I, too, used to be a Cardinal."
(Auction Link)Below is Dixie Walker. He spent 9 of his 18 Major League seasons with the Dodgers where he enjoyed his greatest on field success. He was an All-Star 4 times and batted .311 with the Boys in Blue.
Whitlow Wyatt poses before warming up.
After his discharge from the military in 1946, Owen expected to return to Brooklyn, but he failed to reach an agreement with the Dodgers and signed a contract to be a player-manager in the Mexican League. There were others several big leaguers that fled to Mexico, attracted by good salaries. In retaliation for the defections, Commissioner Happy Chandler sought a lifetime suspension for them, but his penalty was later reduced to three years.
Leo Durocher.
