Boys and Their Balls - Part 19b

Baseball (Recent)

Yesterday we saw some vintage baseball players.  Today we'll look at some more recent major league players.  As a transition from "vintage" to "recent", here's a photo of Steve Yeager of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the shower.  It's hard to date the photo, since he played for the Dodgers from 1972 to 1985.

The ESPN body issues are always good for some revealing (though not frontal) shots.  Above is Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals in 2015.

A 2017 ESPN shot of Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs.

I like this 2013 ESPN shot of Matt Harvey of the New York Mets because it's not just a baseball pose; it tells a story.  It looks like he's about to get locked out of his hotel room when the door closes behind him.

This is a 2016 ESPN photo of Jake Arrieta, pitcher for the Chicago Cubs.  But I found a more revealing view of him.

This was said to be a selfie of Jake Arrieta, but it's not him.  It may be MMA fighter Will Jones.

We'll wrap up with a candid shot of Andy Dirks of the Detroit Tigers, 2011-2013.

Boys and Their Balls - Part 19a

Baseball (Vintage)

Baseball is the all-American game, and it has been for a long time.  Here's a GIF of a pitcher made from Eadweard Muybridge's stop-action photographs in his book Animal Locomotion, 1887.

Here's a batter, also from Muybridge's 1887 book.

Behind the batter crouches the catcher.  I think he's missing a piece of protective equipment.

The baseball itself has a rubber or cork center and is covered in white leather.

Physique photographer Dave Martin liked to photograph Stanford University students.  This is Stanford athlete Cliff Harris with a baseball bat in 1968.

I have a number of photos of professional baseball players.  This is the legendary Mel Ott (left) with an unidentified teammate.  Ott played for the New York Giants from 1926 to 1947.  In those days the New York Giants were a baseball team, not football, before they became the San Francisco Giants.

Joe DiMaggio, considered one of the greatest baseball players of all time, with another unidentified player.  DiMaggio played for the New York Yankees from 1936 to 1951.  He was briefly married to Marilyn Monroe, and even after they divorced he was devoted to her.  After her death he had red roses put on her grave every week for 20 years.

Stan Musial, another baseball great, played for the St. Louis Cardinals from 1941 to 1963.  He's not naked in this 1952 photo by LIFE photographer Francis Miller, but the VPL (visible penis line) in his underwear doesn't leave much to the imagination.

Del Crandall, at center, was a catcher for the Milwaukee Braves from 1953 to 1963.

Hal Newhouser played for the Cleveland Indians in 1954-1955.  Earlier, playing for the Detroit Tigers, he was the dominating pitcher of the WWII era.

Mickey Mantle was the star hitter of the New York Yankees in the 1950s and early 1960s.

We end with this letter from Mickey in 1973 (click to see a larger copy).  Yankees management sent him a form letter asking what was his outstanding experience at Yankee Stadium.  Mickey responded:

I got a blow job under the right field bleachers by the Yankee bull pen.  It was about the third or fourth inning.  I had a pulled groin and couldn't fuck at the time.  She was a very nice girl and asked me what to do with the cum after I came in her mouth.  I said don't ask me, I'm no cock sucker.

Signed, Mickey Mantle, the All-American Boy

*        *        * 

Tomorrow we'll look at some more recent baseball players. 

Vintage Athletes - Part 16

1955 World Series

The 1955 World Series pitted the New York Yankees against the Brooklyn Dodgers.  Above, a typical locker room scene after a game.  Yankees pitcher Don Larsen is being interviewed at right while the naked player at center is ignored by the crowd.

(Photo by LIFE photographer George Silk)

A celebration in the Dodgers locker room.  The Dodgers won the World Series for their first time ever.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Grey Villet)

Dodgers pitcher Karl Spooner heading to or from the showers.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Grey Villet)

I don't know who the player is who's receiving manly kisses from his teammates, but he must have helped them to their sweet victory.

(Photo by LIFE photographer Grey Villet)

Dodgers pitcher Johnny Podres, right, pitched a shutout in the 7th game, clinching the series for the Dodgers.  He was awarded the first MVP in World Series history.  Even his foes congratulated him.  Here, Yankees catcher Yogi Berra (left) is giving Podres what the caption called a "congratulatory pat."  To me, it looks a little friendlier than just a pat, more like Yogi is about to pull Johnny in for a congratulatory smooch.

(Photo from New York Daily News)

Vintage Athletes - Part 13

Daffy Dean

The April 5, 1937 issue of LIFE magazine had a article about the St. Louis Cardinals in Florida for spring training, titled "The Gashouse Gang Warms Up for the Baseball Season," with photos by LIFE photographer Peter Stackpole.

The article featured Cardinals pitcher Dizzy Dean, but Stackpole also got some photos of his brother, Daffy Dean (real name Paul), who also played for the Cardinals, in the shower.

And here's the photo as published in the magazine.

This shot of Daffy Dean in the shower didn't make it into the magazine.  Life had no problem with rear nudity, but they didn't publish frontal nudity.  All the photos are in the LIFE photo archive, available online.

This photo was also published in the article, captioned "Pepper Martin, spark plug of the Gashouse Gang, shows off his physique in the locker room to his admiring teammates."  It was a more innocent era, when athletes could admire a teammate's body without someone accusing them of being gay.

Vintage Athletes - Part 11

1945 World Series

In October, 1945, when the Detroit Tigers played the Chicago Cubs for the World Series, World War II had just ended, but many of the best major league players were still in military service.  When asked which team would win the series, one commentator said "I don't think either one of them can win it."

These photos are from the LIFE photo archive.  None of them were published in the magazine.

Congratulating a player in the Cubs locker room.  Note they're both smoking, something that was common then but unthinkable for pro athletes today.  Photo by Myron Davis.

Detroit won the series 4-3.  This is the Tigers locker room after the final game.  Reporters are clustered around slugger Hank Greenberg, who had been discharged from military service early and was clearly the star of the series, hitting two home runs for the Tigers, scoring seven runs and driving in another seven.  In the background, you can see some other players naked.  Players didn't worry about being naked around reporters, or even photographers.  Photo by Frank Scherschel.

And in this classic Frank Scherschel photo, we see Hank Greenberg, casually naked, swigging a beer to celebrate the World Series win as reporters interview him.

It's such a striking image, I couldn't resist colorizing Hank in the photo, just for fun.  The guy at the bottom is looking out as if to say to me, "Really?  You colorized it?"

Poem of the Day - Part 11

 Casey at the Bat

Americans have loved baseball for a long time.  Casey at the Bat is a poem written by Ernest Thayer in 1888.

At the same time, Eadweard Muybridge was making his pioneering stop-motion photographs of people and animals (the movie camera hadn't been invented yet).  He took over 100,000 such photos at the University of Pennsylvania, and since they were intended for serious study of the body in motion, almost all the models were nude.  I made this gif from photos from his book Animal Locomotion, published in 1887.

The outlook wasn’t brilliant for the Mudville nine that day;

The score stood four to two with but one inning more to play.

And then when Cooney died at first, and Barrows did the same,

A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game.

A straggling few got up to go in deep despair. The rest

Clung to that hope which springs eternal in the human breast;

They thought if only Casey could but get a whack at that—

We’d put up even money now with Casey at the bat.

But Flynn preceded Casey, as did also Jimmy Blake,

And the former was a lulu and the latter was a cake;

So upon that stricken multitude grim melancholy sat,

For there seemed but little chance of Casey’s getting to the bat.

But Flynn let drive a single, to the wonderment of all,

And Blake, the much despised, tore the cover off the ball;

And when the dust had lifted, and men saw what had occurred,

There was Jimmy safe at second and Flynn a-hugging third.

Then from 5,000 throats and more there rose a lusty yell;

It rumbled through the valley, it rattled in the dell;

It knocked upon the mountain and recoiled upon the flat,

For Casey, mighty Casey, was advancing to the bat.

There was ease in Casey’s manner as he stepped into his place;

There was pride in Casey’s bearing and a smile on Casey’s face.

And when, responding to the cheers, he lightly doffed his hat,

No stranger in the crowd could doubt ’twas Casey at the bat.

Ten thousand eyes were on him as he rubbed his hands with dirt;

Five thousand tongues applauded when he wiped them on his shirt.

Then while the writhing pitcher ground the ball into his hip,

Defiance gleamed in Casey’s eye, a sneer curled Casey’s lip.

And now the leather-covered sphere came hurtling through the air,

And Casey stood a-watching it in haughty grandeur there.

Close by the sturdy batsman the ball unheeded sped—

“That ain’t my style,” said Casey. “Strike one,” the umpire said.

From the benches, black with people, there went up a muffled roar,

Like the beating of the storm-waves on a stern and distant shore.

“Kill him! Kill the umpire!” shouted some one on the stand;

And it’s likely they’d have killed him had not Casey raised his hand.

With a smile of Christian charity great Casey’s visage shone;

He stilled the rising tumult; he bade the game go on;

He signaled to the pitcher, and once more the spheroid flew;

But Casey still ignored it, and the umpire said, “Strike two.”

“Fraud!” cried the maddened thousands, and echo answered fraud;

But one scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed.

They saw his face grow stern and cold, they saw his muscles strain,

And they knew that Casey wouldn’t let that ball go by again.

The sneer is gone from Casey’s lip, his teeth are clinched in hate;

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go,

And now the air is shattered by the force of Casey’s blow.

Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright;

The band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light,

And somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout;

But there is no joy in Mudville—mighty Casey has struck out.

Vintage Athletes - Part 7

 Baltimore Orioles, 1960

LIFE photographer Hank Walker took these shots in the Baltimore Orioles locker room.  None of these photos appeared in the magazine.

A player is climbing up on a chair to adjust the TV.  No remote controls in those days.

Another player is interested, as well as a guy in a suit.  Players, staff, visitors and the press mingled pretty freely in the locker rooms.

Now a whole bunch of players are interested.  You can barely make out the word "Senators" on the guy's chest on the TV, and the Orioles had just played the Washington Senators.  Perhaps the TV show is a news broadcast about the game.  Nobody seems to be in a hurry to get dressed; they're comfortable standing around naked while they watch.

In another part of the locker room, pitcher Milt Pappas (right) is talking to another player smoking a cigarette, something that was common for athletes back then but almost unthinkable now.  Photographer Hank Walker may not have intended to take a frontal view of Pappas, but to be honest, you have to look pretty hard to see it.

Vintage Athletes - Part 4

Brooklyn Dodgers

These photos are part of a set in the LIFE magazine photo archive taken by John Dominis on May 23, 1955.  Those were the days when athletes weren't ashamed to be naked in the locker room, and they just ignored the photographers.  None of these photos were published in the magazine.

Left to right: Clem Labine, Carl Furillo, and Pee Wee Reese shaving.

A slightly different angle gives us a view of Clem Labine in the mirror.

The subject of this photo is the Dodgers' eccentric property manager John Griffin.  But we can't help noticing someone in the background.

Another shot of John Griffin in the foreground.  We're still concentrating on the background.

Likewise, the subject here is the group in the foreground, but we can't help noticing George Shuba in the background toweling dry.

George Shuba again (locker #8) and Frank Kellert (locker #12).  Players were not highly paid in those days, and facilities were primitive.  Here the lockers were just some shelves and boxes.

We close with a view of Dodgers left fielder Sandy Amoros.

Vintage Athletes - Part 3

 Boston Red Sox

LIFE photographer George Silk took these photos in the Boston Red Sox locker room in 1956.  None were published in the magazine.

This is a classic "background shot."  The photographer is concentrating on the subject of interest, in this case the celery-chewing player, but the photo also captures a player naked in the background.

This angle eliminates the other player in the background, but now we get a peekaboo view of the celery-chewer himself, who is not wearing any pants.

These photos of a Red Sox player getting a rubdown have been widely reproduced on the Internet, but I have never seen the naked player identified.  Any baseball fans out there who know who this is in the 1956 Red Sox roster?  (UPDATE: ROCB identified him as Joe Albanese.  Albanese separated his shoulder during spring training and never got to play for the Red Sox.  Later, they traded him to the Washington Senators.)

Continuing the rubdown, they are totally ignoring George Silk, who is photographing every move.

A bit lower.  Ahh, that's nice.

"Look into my eyes.  You are growing sleepy..."