- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Brooklyn
- Team: Robins
- League: National League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Charles Dillon Stengel (1890-1975) played and managed over half a century, seeing the game go from the Dead Ball Era to “Can’t anybody here play this game?” Casey broke in with Brooklyn in 1912, then the Pirates, Phillies, Giants and Braves, compiling a respectable .284 BA with 60 HRs. Stengel won the Giants’ two Series victories in ’23 with home runs. But it was not as a player that Casey entered the Hall of Fame. He managed his way to Cooperstown riding 1905 lifetime wins at the helm of the New York clubs and Boston from ’34-’65. He played for one world-title team and managed 7 more. The venerable and voluble manager became a fount of baseball wisdom and humor, endearing him to generations of fans.
- Only man to wear the uniforms of the 4 NY clubs
- Came out of retirement to helm the hapless Mets through their painful early years, giving the Old Perfessor “new ways to lose I never knew existed before.”
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1966
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Tristram E. Speaker (1888-1958) enjoyed a long and storied career as perhaps the greatest all-around center fielder in the game. Led the Red Sox to two titles and, upon moving to Cleveland over a salary dispute, led the Indians to a championship in 1920. He still holds MLB records for doubles and outfield assists.
- Career batting average: .345
- Also still holds MLB record for unassisted double plays by an outfielder
- Speaker’s glove came to be known as “the place where triples go to die”
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1937
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Chicago
- Team: White Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Raymond William Schalk (1892-1970) was too boyish and too small for the cop at Comiskey Park to believe he could be a ballplayer. But what Schalk lacked in physical stature he more than made up in energy, determination and innate talent. He redefined the role of the ML catcher, starring for the White Sox from 1912 through 1928 en route to the Hall of Fame. Along the way, Schalk proved that catchers can steal bases, they can make double-plays, they can back-up at every base. And Schalk didn’t merely field his position better than the others of his era, he had a gift for working with pitchers. He caught four no-hitters including a 1922 perfect game. And he knew something was wrong when his best mates wouldn’t throw what he called for in the ’19 Series. Absolved of any complicity, Schalk went on to be player-manager of the team.
- Still holds records at his position, including 11 straight years catching over 100 games
- Only Yogi Berra and Carlton Fisk caught more shut-outs
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1955
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: New York
- Team: Lincoln Giants
- League: Independent
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
Louis Santop (Loftin) (1890-1942) was a prodigious HR slugger & indomitable catcher in the Negro Leagues. He averaged .406 lifetime, caught two of the hardest throwing pitchers of all-time (Smokey Joe Williams & Dick Redding) and endured behind the plate for an astonishing 15 seasons despite the privations and rigor of black baseball in America in his day. A jovial giant, Top was a fan favorite & sure-fire draw with his ability to throw a ball over outfield fences before games & hit it even further during games.
- It is told the Newark park had an ad promising a suit to players who hit the 440’ centerfield fence. The sign was removed after Santop hit it three times in one game
- Played for great Negro League teams including the NY Lincoln Giants and the Hilldale Club
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 2006
- Series: Diamond Heads '15
- City: Boston
- Team: Red Sox
- League: American League
- Hall: National Baseball Hall of Fame
George Herman Ruth, Jr. (1895-1948) is the Colossus of modern baseball. As pitcher and hitter, Ruth dominated his times as no other athlete, leading his teams to 10 World Series’ appearances and 7 titles in 22 years, winning all three World Series games he pitched with a .87 ERA and belting 15 home runs with a .326 average and 1.214 OPS across his 41 World Series’ games. He rewrote the record book, including most prodigious clouts ever: 575’ in Detroit and the longest HR out of Forbes Field in its 60 year history (his last ML hit). A complex man and player, not all Ruth’s achievements covered him in glory: only man to end a Series by being caught stealing (’23); ejected after walking first batter, giving way to Ernie Shore who allowed no others to reach base; refusing to play the “sun field” after one dropped fly. But oh the hitting! It took Mickey Mantle 18 years at the Stadium to match Ruth’s HRs in 12.
- The Babe was Gargantua incarnate: crude, ferocious, primitive and bigger than life. And also forever young, with a magnificent heart and generous spirit. The Icon of the Age
- Elected to Hall of Fame: 1936
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