TRUE TO ONE'S RELIGION - May 2002

I remember Al Worthington well from his tenure with the Minnesota Twins. I was really pleased to have him return the two cards that I sent his way signed, but more pleased with the treasure trove of extra goodies that he sent along with the cards. He sent my son and I a couple nice photos of him back when he was pitching for the NY Giants, a sheet of religous testimony, and a xeroxed copy of an article that appeared in the Saturday Evening Post in 1964. I'm a Free Thinker myself, and usually dismissive of religous testimony, etc. that I get in the mail or on the doorstep. They are entitled to their beliefs, but I really don't think that there is a hell that I am destined for if I don't believe as they do. Too many religons use the threat of eternal punishment as a club in order to coerce you to believe as they do. I'll get off my soap box, though. After reading Al Worthington's article, I have to respect his beliefs because he put his career on the line for them. Not many people have the courage of their convictions to do that no matter what they believe.

Al came up in the big leagues in 1953 with the NY Giants and threw shutouts in his first 2 games. In 1958, his best year, he won 11 games mostly coming out of the bullpen. In 1959, with the Giants leading the League and about to play an important series with the second place Dodgers, Worthington asked for a meeting with Bill Rigney, the Giant's manager. "I was close to crying when I went into talk to him," Worthington said, "but I felt sick when I heard what was going on."

Worthington had heard that the Giants had placed a spy in the outfield bleachers. The spy, using binoculars, could see the signs that the visiting team's catcher was motioning his pitcher. The spy would then signal the Giant's bench, and from there a signal would be given to the batter alerting him as to what pitch would be coming. Worthington told Rigney that he believed that sign stealing was cheating and that it went against the grain of his beliefs as a practicing Christian. He told Rigney that he felt it was hypocritical for him to be going to church and speaking about living a life in the spirit of Christ, when his team was gaining an unfair advantage on the field due to dishonest practices. Worthington told Rigney that if the sign stealing didn't stop, that he would feel obligated to leave the team. According to Worthington, Rigney agreed to put a stop to the use of binoculars to steal signals from the grandstands. A few days later the first place Giants dropped 3 straight games to the Dodgers and blew the National League Penant. "We weren't using kind of spy system," Rigney said later. "In fact, the way things turned out, maybe we should have."

Maybe it is because of the kind of flap he raised but shortly afterwards Worthington was traded to the Boston Red Sox. After a short stay with them, he went to Minneapolis, then a Minor League team, and then in 1960 joined the White Sox in September. There he ran into the same situation and confronted Chicago's Manager Al Lopez about it. Lopez would not deny that the Club was stealing signs. Worthington left the team.

In 1961 the White Sox told him to report to San Diego and in 2 years he toiled in the Minors. In 1963 the Reds, desperate for pitching, decided to take a gamble on him. Appearing in relief in 50 games, he finished with a fine ERA of 3.00. At the end of the season, at a team party, the Reds team demonstrated a sense of humor by giving him a pair of binoculars for his Christmas present! Al went on to pitch for the Minnesota Twins from 1964 to 1969 and then served as their pitching coach from 1972 through 1973. In 1974 he signed on at Liberty University as their baseball coach and stayed with them until 1989, retiring as their Athletic Director. Did his career suffer because of his beliefs? Probably. Still you have to respect the man for putting his beliefs ahead of his baseball career.

TWO UNIQUE MIDWEST LEAGUE GAMES.

In the past couple weeks I've witnessed a couple very unique ballgames. The first one was in Peoria. Tyler Johnson, the Chiefs Pitcher, was taking a no-hitter into the eighth inning, when with 2 outs, he walked a batter. The next batter hit a groundball between second and first that hit the runner who had walked as he was running to second base. End of inning. End of no-hitter too. In a rule that makes sense with 0 or 1 out but makes absolutely no sense with 2 outs, the runner was ruled out by being hit with the batted ball, but the batter was credited with a hit, even though he wasn't half way to first base when the baserunner was hit. Strange rule, and yes, that was the only "hit" given up by Peoria that night. What an unfair way to loose a no-hit bid.

Last night I saw an ugly game in the Quad Cities. Peoria had traveled north to play the River Bandits. Peoria jumped out to a quick lead, and in the course of their scoring binge, Chris Duncan of Peoria went hard into the Quad Cities' catcher, Joe Mauer, at a play at the plate. The River Bandits evidentally took umbrage at this, because the next time Duncan batted he was thrown at, but not hit. During Duncan's next at-bat he was plunked in the back. The umpire immediately ejected the pitcher as well as Quad City Manager Jeff Carter, and it looked like the situation had been handled effectively. Evidentally words were exchange at this time though, and somebody's mother was mentioned, because in the next instant both benches cleared and we had a hell-of-a brawl. Chris Duncan was downed and hit in the face with somebodies helmet that they were using as a weapon, and Quad Cities' Brent Tamburrino was knocked down and attacked by 3 Peoria players. By the time this fracas was brought to a halt, someone from the area of the River Bandits dugout had hurled a baseball at the Peoria dugout. The ball bounced off of the roof of the dugout and hit a fan in her forehead, knocking her unconscious and sending her to the hospital. She had been sitting in the handicapped section accompanying her wheelchaired bound husband. Not a good night for baseball in the Quad Cities. To top it off, this was a kids night. The many youngsters at the ballpark got some valuable lessons about sportsmanship. No doubt, given the fact that a fan was injured, the League will come down hard on the guilty parties. There were 8 players suspended after the melee, and no doubt there will be further guilty parties identified once video tapes of the game are studied.

FINISHING UP

My spring training has slowed to a trickle. I've gotten 131 of 219 requests back, just a shade under 60%. Last year I finished at about 70%.

Hopefully a few more will trickle in. A possible idea for my next column has sprouted up. Maybe you all out there can help me with it. CARDS PLAYERS WON'T SIGN. Examples are the Dennis Tankersley card that I mentioned last article and Kieth Comstock's (Cedar Rapid's pitching coach in the MWL) 2 error cards. Have you guys out there any other cards that we had best not hand the player pictured?

I'm having alot of fun with this years season and a lot of good experiences writing to ballplayers. Hopefully you all out there are doing as well.

Anyway, until next month, have fun with the hobby. I sure do.

~ Rich Hanson