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tribute to Earl Battey


cwsox

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I was hoping someone else would have posted something before me - and I tried to write something and didn't do a good as job as what I am linking -

 

the link comes from WSI and with apologies to Daver for borrowing but with appreciation to our friends (and not rivals) at WSI for having this:

 

 

Earl Battey remembered - WSI article

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that's why some of us older Sox fans don't get as worked up about JR as some younger folks.

 

Veeck - Traitor Veeck - traded away Battey and other future stars for old players and CASH to operate the club. He sold us out year in year out. So many young stars he sold away for money to pay the light bills.

 

Battey would have been one of the greatest catchers we ever had.

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You are absolutely right about Earl Battey and Bill Veeck. I'm not old enough to have seen Battey play, but my dad did and we talked about it yesterday.

 

And he brought up the exact same thing about Bill Veeck that you did. I fail to see why people made this guy out to be a saint-like figure. He was a good businessman and a good Barnum and Bailey promoter but that's it.

 

He traded off guys like Norm Cash and John Callison in addition to Battey, and he made a killing BOTH times when he sold the Sox. The people who are old enough also remember he was the guy who carpetbagged the St. Louis Browns to Baltimore. It wasn't so much the Browns would've made a long-term go of it in St. Louis, it was how Veeck did it ... behind the scenes crap, playing one city against the other, and so on. That's the mark of a good businessman, perhaps, but Veeck had a carefully cultivated image as "friend to the common fan" when what he did best was cry poor to the press and then make tons of money for himself.

 

Veeck had very little to do with that '59 team other than happen to be the owner when they won the pennant. The real credit for that team goes to Frank Lane.

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The White Sox have made some bad trades in their day, no doubt about it.

 

Earl Battey to Minnesota, Norm Cash to Cleveland, Johhny Callison to Philly, Wells and Fogg to Pittsburgh, Shammy Sosa to the Flubs, etc.

 

Let's hope the trend has died and been buried.

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Unfortunately for Battey, when he came up the Sox had an All Star caliber catcher Sherm Lollar, who was also slower than a tired turtle, but that's another story. In any case by 59 Lollar was winding down a nice career and Battey, whose style was similar to Lollar, plus he could run a little, was ready to step in. Battey was one of the mainstays of the Twins 65 pennant winning team, along with Don Mincher the first baseman traded with him. The Sox got Roy Sievers a power hitting first baseman that Veeck was crazy about. He did give the Sox a couple of decent seasons before fading out. Veeck went for the short term fix after the 59 pennant. Earl Battey, Don Mincher, Norm Cash, Johnny Callison and Johnny Romano were good players traded for veterans who were at the end of the line. Johnny Callison for Gene Freese was the worst trade. The White Sox actually had a pretty good farm system back then and Callison was their showcase player. He had a nice career with the Phillies, winning the All Star MVP in 64 I believe. The Cubs got him late in his career. Battey was from LA, which at that time was a major supplier of African American talent to the ML. He ranks in the all time top 20 for fielding percentage and chances per game at the catching position.

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  • 3 weeks later...
And he brought up the exact same thing about Bill Veeck that you did. I fail to see why people made this guy out to be a saint-like figure. He was a good businessman and a good Barnum and Bailey promoter but that's it.

 

Judging from pictures and interviews, he had old-school charm about him and a keen mind, tho.

 

How did he accumulate his wealth?

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