Al Lopez interview
Date1988 February 22
DescriptionTwo audio cassettes featuring an interview with Al Lopez conducted by Rod Roberts on the behalf of the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum on February 22, 1988 in Tampa, Florida.
Object numberHF-1994-0001-009
Interviewer
Roberts, Rod
Interviewee
López, Al, 1908-2005
Subject
López, Al, 1908-2005
Classificationsaudio/visual materials
Collection NumberBA RMA 001 Rod Roberts oral history collection
Library Call NumberCTA 819
Library Call NumberCTA 820
Dimensions2 audio cassettes
TrannscriptionCassette 1 Side One -- Track 1 - Born in Tampa, Aug. 20, 1908 in the Ybor City section, father used to work in the cigar business; a lot of Cubans, Italians, Spanish in the neighborhood; father came over in 1906 from Cuba; his father was from Asturias, Spain; his mother was from a neighboring province; they met in Madrid and married, then went to Cuba; his mother had two sisters who immigrated and his father had one sister who immigrated; his family had seven boys and two girls, he was the seventh son; and his father was a seventh son (00:00:00 to 00:02:42) Track 2 - His older brother was a catcher and that's what got him interested in baseball; he wanted to be just as good or better than his brother; started playing ball in sandlots, the local barbers had leagues and they would play each other; then played junior high baseball; in 1925, signed a professional contract in 1925 with the Tampa Smokers (00:02:42 to 00:04:03) Track 3 - Always a catcher, pitched and played a little shortstop; they didn't have money for masks, chest protectors or shin guards, and the other kids wouldn't catch, he caught one time in St. Louis without a chest protector because it was so hot (00:04:03 to 00:04:35) Track 4 - He became regular catcher for Tampa Smokers by 1926, that fall, the Class B Jacksonville club drafted him for $1000-$1500; he played for Jacksonville, and they had a pitcher, Ben Cantwell, who was having a fantastic year, so all the scouts came to look at Cantwell, he got picked up by the Giants for $25,000; and the scout for Brooklyn, Nap Rucker, wrote back that he liked the catcher better than the pitcher, and that catcher was Lopez; and Brooklyn bought him in the fall of '27; Cantwell did pretty well and was traded to Boston and had a few good years (00:04:35 to 00:06:22) Track 5 - He went up to Brooklyn in the fall of '28, played the last two days of the season (phone rings); went up against Burleigh Grimes, spitball pitcher, that he'd never seen that before (00:06:22 to 00:06:59) Track 6 - On manger Wilbert Robinson, great, nice man, fatherly figure, treated everyone like a personal friend, he was fun with a good sense of humor (00:06:59 to 00:07:34) Track 7 - On Dave Bancroft, shortstop, nickname Beauty, a really good shortstop, but not in the Hall of Fame (00:07:34 to 00:07:57) Track 8 - On Babe Herman, personal friend and a great hitter, put into a clown situation, they switched him from first to outfield when Del Bissonette came up, but then he became a great outfielder, like Dixie Walker, hit .390-some one year and .380 another year (00:07:57 to 00:09:06) Track 9 - On Max Carey, manager and coach, he was a studious guy, had a lot of theories; different from Robinson; Carey wanted a running club, he made a bad trade, trading Herman, Ernie Lombardi and Wally Gilbert to Cincinnati and they got Tony Cuccinello, Joe Stripp and Clyde Sukeforth; a better deal for Cincinnati (00:09:06 to 00:10:42) Track 10 - On Bill Doke, one of the few spitball pitchers left after they passed the no-spitball rule; he quit one year and tried to come back the following year but never did too well; the Bill Doke gloves were a great glove, 90% of the market was Bill Doke gloves (00:10:42 to 00:12:02) Track 11 - On Rube Bressler, good ballplayer, a pitcher who hurt his arm and moved to outfield, threw left-handed and hit right-handed, a funny stance at the plate, gave 100%; Johnny Cooney also hit that way (00:12:02 to 00:12:40) Track 12 - On Jigger Statz, a guy who was a great center fielder, played every ball game, 154 ball games, hit .287 or .290 and they sent him down to the Minors because he didn't hit well enough, but he was up at bat 600-sometimes (00:12:40 to 00:13:15) Track 13 - On Dazzy Vance, an outstanding pitcher, an easy-going guy, could have done better with a temperament like Burleigh Grimes; Vance had a great fastball that moved up, similar to Lefty Grove, Waite Hoyt, Dizzy Dean, a great curveball; hard to say if he was as fast as (Bob) Feller; Van Mungo was as fast as anybody; Feller had a lot of deception, and was wild as could be; caught for Walter Johnson, and he could throw really hard, had a nickel curveball like a slider; Johnson told him to be ready, he was going to really go after Ike Boone and Jack Fournier, and he struck them both out twice; never swore, a fine gentleman with a great work ethic, got in shape and stayed in shape, used to train on Plant Field, a fairground, on the half-mile horse trotter track; after a workout, he would go around the track five times; all the old-timers worked out hard, they threw a lot, best way to keep your arm in shape, Feller, Johnson all of them worked hard, didn't baby themselves; Joe Page, a relief pitcher for the Yankees, he was a wild pitcher, and (Casey) Stengel put him in the bullpen and developed very good control (00:13:15 to 00:18:11) Track 14 - On helping pitchers develop control, not moving your head, controlling delivery; great teachers were Ray Berres on delivery and Mel Harder on the curveball, toughest thing to teach in baseball; George Uhle, Bob Lemon, Bob Feller all had great curveball; Rex Barney could throw really hard, a nice man, he had some problems with confidence (interviewer talks about kid from Cooperstown) Lopez talks about a kid down in St. Petersburg that he went to check out; kids having problems with confidence (00:18:11 to 00:21:56.5) Track 15 - On Johnny Gooch, a likeable guy, treated him well as a rookie, Glenn Wright also was very nice to him as a kid; most players were decent to rookies; one guy told him to write to Draper and Maynard Sporting Goods Co., to get a new catcher's glove; one of the catchers on the club had six brand new ones in his locker, but said Lopez needed to get his own glove; they had to buy their shoes; he signed a deal with Spaulding and used to get equipment; Yogi Berra did the same thing (00:21:56.5 to 00:24:34) Track 16 - On Whitey Clarke, personal friend, great left-hander, could only win 16-17 games a year; hurt his arm and was traded from Brooklyn to New York, came back and won 20 games, a great curveball, not exceptionally fast, a really nice man (00:24:34 to 00:25:16) Track 17 - On Brooklyn being in first place in '30 until last two weeks of season, tied with the Giants for 3/5; St. Louis won it, close to the Cubs; Rube Bressler got hurt with a broken finger from a line drive; brought Ike Boone up from the Minor Leagues, a good hitter. .390 the Coast League but he got into a slump; outfielder Johnny Fredrick hurt his hamstring and they had to have infielder Eddie Moore play center field (00:25:16 to 00:26:25) Track 18 - On Dolf Luque, great pitcher, learned a lot catching for him, smartest pitcher he ever caught, he and Danny MacFayden had great control (00:26:25 to 00:26:55) Track 19 - On Bobo Newsom, a rookie from Carolina, 4-5 guys came up together, Van Mungo, (?) Jones, Phil Gallivan; they were big guys and could throw hard; Newsom became a great pitcher, great worker like Walter Johnson (00:26:55 to 00:28:12) Track 20 - On player conditioning, modern players being in better condition, but not for baseball; start playing a ball game the first day in training camp (00:28:12 to 00:29:20) Track 21 - On Sloppy Thurston, personal friend, great guy (interviewer changes tapes) roomed with him, also roomed with Babe Herman; Thurston a neat dresser, and he got the nickname Sloppy because one day when he was a kid he spilled milk on his uniform; a good pitcher, had some good years for the White Sox, wound up in the Coast League, and he was a good hitter and played first base and pinch hit for the club; Brooklyn drafted him; he had a screwball pitch (tape runs out but a small piece of CTA-821 with the missing piece has been pasted on) (00:29:20 to 00:30:25) Side Two -- Track 1 - On sliders, a natural fastball, (George) Blaeholder and (Johnny) Babich both had a slider; Babich beat the Yankees five times in one year when he was with the Philadelphia Athletics; Wait Hoyt used to call it a nickel curve and started experimenting with it; Ray Benge also used to throw a high one; slider is a good pitch if you have control; Bill Lohrman for the Giants used to throw it a lot, Max Butcher from Pittsburgh used to throw it, not as hard on your arm as a curveball (00:00:00 to 00:02:10) Track 2 - On cut fastball, kind of like a slider- screwball (00:02:10 to 00:02:37) Track 3 - On catching spitball pitchers, Jack Quinn, Bill Doak, Fred Mitchell with the Giants, a left-handed spitball pitcher, Burleigh Grimes, also Red Faber with the White Sox, Stan Coveleski; no problems catching spitballs; Jack Quinn used to try to break the ball into a right hand hitter which crossed him up (00:02:37 to 00:03:51) Track 4 - On knuckleball pitchers; (Dazzy) Vance had a great knuckleball; caught Dutch Leonard when he first came up; caught Ira Hutchinson, relief pitcher for the Boston Braves, he threw every day, one day Paul Waner was the hitter and got to 3-2, with bases loaded and they talked about what he should pitch, Hutchinson threw the knuckleball and got the third strike, he became a strictly knuckleball pitcher (00:03:51 to 00:05:41) Track 5 - On Lefty O'Doul, great hitter, one of the smartest hitters; could hit anywhere he wanted, had been a pitcher when he was younger but hurt his arm; played for the Phillies, Brooklyn, Giants (00:05:41 to 00:06:35) Track 6 - On Fresco Thompson, smart fellow, educated, did a great job for the Dodgers (00:06:35 to 00:06:56) Track 7 - Van Mungo, mean, could throw as hard as anybody, a lot of pitchers threw at people those days, and they didn't wear helmets, no one complained, they just wanted to brush you back, guys like Pat Malone, Charlie Root, (?) Bush, Van Mungo, Jess Haines, Burleigh Grimes, they were nice guys but on the mound, they were terrors; they weren't trying to hit you in the head, because they could have if they wanted to; Lopez almost got into a fight in St. Louis who hit him in the ribs on purpose (00:06:56 to 00:09:02) Track 8 - On Ernie Lombardi being slow, he always stole and anytime he bunted, he was safe, he was a better catcher than people gave him credit for; a big guy, he knew how to handle pitchers (00:09:02 to 00:09:51) Track 9 - On Pea Ridge Day, from Pea Ridge, AR, a country boy, champion hog caller of baseball; used to play the Yankees with (Babe) Ruth, (Lou) Gehrig and (Bob?) Meusel, and they had a heck of a club, playing in Ebbets Field and they put in Day to pitch, (Earle) Combs was the first hitter and hit fly ball to left field, Mark Koenig was the second hitter and Day struck him out with a screwball, fans were all yipping, Day put his glove and ball on the mound, filled his chest with air and let out a yip that they used to call hogs with, and Ruth was the next hitter, and he kept laughing, Day gets Ruth 2-2 and Day threw a fastball and Ruth hit a line drive out of the exit sign (00:09:51 to 00:11:51) Track 10 - On playing with George Kelly and Joe Judge in Brooklyn, Kelly had a great arm, a good worker, (John) McGraw had him as the cutoff man because he had a great arm; one time at Cooperstown, they were sitting at the banquet table next to Joe Sewell and Ernie Banks, nice guys, and Kelly was next to Banks and talked about Sewell only striking out three times one year at over 600 times at bank, Kelly spoke up and said he didn't see anything wrong with striking out, but from a manager's standpoint, strikeouts are bad; they've gone way out of proportion, bats are too small, heavier guys should switch to heavier bats; on Sewell's record, being a running back at Alabama (00:11:51 to 00:14:35) Track 11 - On Hack Wilson, being on his way out; what hurt Wilson was changing the ball, in 1930 they had a good ball, the year that (Bill) Terry hit .401, the next year they changed the ball and made it less lively and that hurt Wilson; hurt Terry as well, he went down to .344-6, tied with (Chick) Hafey for the year; Terry still had a good year; Lopez went from .309 down to .275 and they tried to cut him $3,000, but he caught 144 games; but that ball really hurt Wilson, he hit everything to right or right center, small feet and ankles, had to tape his ankles )00:14:35 to 00:16:29) Track 12 - On Dick Siebert, he was a college boy, came up with Max Carey, he wound up coaching for Minnesota (00:16:29 to 00:17:20) Track 13 - On Paul Richards, came up with Mungo and a bunch of guys, he was one of four catchers, just a rookie; sent him back to the Minors, to Hartford, wound up with the Giants as second string catcher to (Frank) Mancuso (00:17:20 to 00:17:57) Track 14 - On Lu Blue, Boom-Boom Beck, nice guy, a lot of guts, hurt his arm, had won 28-30 games in Southern League, they brought him up, but he didn't pan out; nickname came from the ball coming off the wall at Baker Bowl in Philadelphia, first double-decker in baseball, made out of wood, seating capacity of 6-7,000, built in 1903-4; had a swimming pool in the clubhouse in center field; Lopez was catching and made a mistake, they had a 5-0 lead in 5th or 6th inning and they started hitting the ball off the wall, Wilson was playing right field, and Stengel hollered at him to bring in (Ray) Lucas from the bullpen, and Beck was angry and squeezing the ball, and he threw the ball at the right field wall where Wilson was leaning up against the wall, and Wilson threw the ball to second base thinking it was a hit, thought Beck was trying to show him up; a writer from NY named (?) Kenny had been playing pinochle with Beck and (Len) Koenecke, and Koenecke won the game, and Kenny got mad at Beck and came up with the nickname Boom-Boom (00:17:57 to 00:21:31) Track 15 - On understanding Casey Stengel, a lot of people thought he was putting it on, and he wasn't, just had so many things he wanted to say and he loved to talk; one time in an exhibition game in Indianapolis, and owner Frank McKinney, chairman of the Democratic National Committee and friends with Harry Truman, had invited a lot of friends from Washington D.C., cabinet members, etc., to introduce them to Joe DiMaggio and Casey Stengel, Ralph Kiner came in; Stengel was talking to one of the cabinet members and the man asked Lopez if he knew what he was talking about; he always jumped around with subjects (00:21:31 to 00:23:30) Track 16 - On Stengel and Frenchy Bordagaray, not a bad ballplayer, a fun guy; Jimmy Piersall also a fun guy but had some problems, Lopez talked to him about not messing around, but the next time he saw him, Piersall got mad and threw the ball at the scoreboard, and Bill Veeck nearly had him thrown in jail (00:23:30 to 00:24:49) Track 17 - On playing with Al Simmons in Boston, a great ballplayer, great hitter, kind of a loner, they got to be good friends and drove all the way out to the Coast; he came to Cleveland as a coach when Lopez was there but they had to let him go because of a drinking problem; Simmons said Ty Cobb helped him learn hitting, Cobb and Ted Williams had theories and systems for hitting (00:24:49 to 00:26:07) Track 18 - On Hank Majeski, good friend, nice man, gave 110%, did a great job for Cleveland when they won the pennant (00:26:07 to 00:26:55) Track 19 - On Frankie Frisch, kept things in turmoil as a manager in Pittsburgh; Lopez played for five managers, played for Stengel twice, in Brooklyn and in Boston, and all the managers that he played for are in the Hall of Fame, Wilbert Robinson, Max Carey, Stengel, (Bill) McKechnie, Frisch and (Lou) Boudreau one year, all very different and picked something up from all of them; Frisch could make you mad at times; one time at the Polo Grounds, playing the Giants and Rip Sewell was pitching to the second baseman (changing tapes, interrupts story in the middle, story continues and stands alone on CTA-820, Side 1) (00:26:55 to 00:28:50) Cassette 2 Side One -- Track 1 - Story picks up from CTA-819 Side 2) Rip Sewell pitching at the Polo Grounds, they were up two runs in the 9th inning, they were 3-2 with bases loaded, the Giants second baseman was the hitter and hit a pop fly to right center, the center fielder, right fielder and second baseman all went for the ball and it dropped right tin between them and all the runners scored; so Lopez knew there would be trouble in the clubhouse and (Frankie) Frisch was raving and threatening people with a bat; he got disgusted and went home to New Rochelle and the players didn't know if they should show up at the clubhouse the next day; next day Frisch was whistling and happy, never said a word about the incident; Frisch got into an argument with John McGraw one time and McGraw traded Frisch and Jimmy Ring to St. Louis for Rogers Hornsby, and then traded Hornsby to Boston for (Shanty?) Hogan and (Larry?) Benton; Hornsby was a hard man to get along with, one of the greatest hitters, but a real loner, didn't get along with people, didn't get along with Hack Wilson, (Gabby?) Hartnett (00:00:00 to 00:04:00) Track 2 - On Arky Vaughan in Pittsburgh, roomed with Lopez, good player, good hitter, should have played outfield because he had good speed, OK at shortstop, no (Luis) Aparicio or (Ozzie?) Smith, but he was good; had retired by the time he died, he drowned during a hunting accident; saw his daughter at Vaughan's induction ceremony in Cooperstown and she said he might not have drowned if he hadn't panicked (00:04:00 to 00:05:23) Track 3 - On the Waner brothers in Pittsburgh, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Paul was a great hitter, great athlete, pound for pound one of the best hitters, good friends and roommates with Lloyd Waner (interviewer talks about interviewing Lloyd Waner in a nursing home) Honus Wagner thought the world of Lloyd Waner, a nice old man, he was an honorary coach; Paul Waner drank a bit, could have been a better ballplayer; the year Gabby Hartnett hit the home run to beat Pittsburgh, Pie Traynor was the manager and asked Paul to tone down the drinking, and Paul said he would quit altogether to see if they could win the pennant, he went from .320 down to .280, so Traynor told him he'd better go back to drinking; (Mickey) Mantle says he would have been a better ballplayer if he had stopped drinking (00:05:23 to 00:08:08) Track 4 - On Preacher Roe saying Lopez helped him a lot, and he really appreciated it (00:08:08 to 00:08:33) Track 5 - On Babe Dahlgren; Ralph Kiner being a center fielder and a great hitter, but something happened to his feet (00:08:33 to 00:09:18) Track 6 - On being out of baseball in '46, doing PR for the club, working on a deal with Baltimore; went to Washington to scout the Yankees one time; went to Duluth, MN for the opening day of the Rookie League, with Ray Berres; he was on the advisory board, but didn't do much (00:09:18 to 00:10:20) Track 7 - On managing for Cleveland, played there one year; when he went to Indianapolis, Frank McKinney, owner of the club and Pittsburgh, was friendly with (Hank) Greenberg, and he had three good years in Indianapolis; Greenberg wanted to get rid of (Lou) Boudreau because he had a high salary and didn't want to play as much anymore, so Greenberg was looking for a manager and he went to McKinney and asked if he could approach Lopez, he had another year left in Indianapolis, but he went to Cleveland and signed a contract to manage; a good ball club, great pitching staff, (Bob) Feller, (Mike) Garcia, (Early) Wynn, (Bob) Lemon, Art Houttleman (00:10:20 to 00:12:26) Track 8 - On Luke Easter, Greenberg thought Easter was going to be the black Babe Ruth, he had a lot of power, but wasn't that serious about baseball, he never lived up to expectations (00:12:26 to 00:13:07) Track 9 - On Ray Boone, nice guy, not a good shortstop, but he already had Al Rosen at third, he went to Detroit and became a good player at third; he was originally a catcher, and should have kept him at catcher; Al Rosen played to win, even when he was hurt (00:13:07 to 00:13:46) Track 10 - On Larry Doby, he could have been a superstar, but he was too tense, he fought himself all the time, needed to relax (00:13:46 to 00:14:22) Track 11 - On Dale Mitchell, a good hitter but he couldn't throw, just so-so in the outfield, could have been a much better ballplayer, too easy-going, he could hit and he could run, but never stole a base, never learned how to slide; Tris Speaker wanted to make him a center fielder (00:14:22 to 00:15:08) Track 12. Intv: On having a good club in Cleveland, Mitchell and Doby outfielders, had (Wally) Westlake and Bob Kennedy, first base Easter, second base (Bobby) Avila, shortstop finally got (George) Strickland, Rosen at third and (Jim) Hegan at catcher; Hegan could have been better if he had more battle in him, he was timid, had a good arm, could catch foul balls, not a good hitter, Birdie Tebbetts tried to help to help him with hitting (00:15:08 to 00:16:40) Track 13 - Harry Simpson was a disappointment, traded (Minnie) Minoso off because of Simpson, Del Baker was manager for San Diego that year and said Simpson was going to be a great player, they traded for Lou Brissie from Philadelphia, but Minoso did better in Chicago, a good player; Brissie wanted to have fun, didn't concentrate on baseball; they used to talk baseball all the time, sitting around the hotel; traveled Pullmans instead of planes, and talked baseball; (Tony) Cuccinello and Lopez used to sit and figure out plays and talk baseball; when he was almost through, his last year with Cleveland, he caught 50 games but Hegan caught the rest, and Lopez was tired and hot and sweaty, and all the other players were rushing to get dressed and get out of the clubhouse instead of talking baseball (00:16:40 to 00:19:29) Track 14 - On speaking Spanish until 3rd grade, speaking Spanish at home, learned English in school, helped him deal with Hispanic baseball players; Minoso took it in stride; there were good players in Mexico; one left-handed pitcher that they looked at, Dolf Luque recommended him, and he got in an argument with an umpire and was shipped out of the country and never came back; he might have been a good pitcher in the Major Leagues; the Hispanic players have to realize they are lucky to be here; a friend of his was with the White Sox and he is still made at Jimmy Dykes because he never got one time at bat to get his name in the lineup, a really big deal to have your name in the lineup in the Major Leagues; on a possible strike in Pittsburgh, there was an umpire pension fund, but none for the ballplayers, they wanted a pension and minimum salary, $5-6,000, a standard salary for Triple A ballplayers was $450 a month under Branch Rickey (00:19:29 to 00:25:00) Track 15 - On Sam Chapman, nice man but going downhill by the time he got to Cleveland; Barney McCosky, a good pinch hitter but then he quit, stood at the plate like Charlie Gehringer (00:25:00 to 00:26:02) Track 16 - Johnny Vander Meer, wild as a March hare, could throw bullets, a big raw-boned kid, 19-20 when he came to Brooklyn from New Jersey; he ended up with Nashville and Cincinnati got him, he did a good job; didn't help much in Cleveland, he was pretty much done, same as Sal Magli, was almost done; Magli was a control pitcher, he wasn't that fast, had a curveball and a slider, he was a smart pitcher; they finally sold him to Brooklyn, and he went and pitched a no-hitter; same with Vander Meer, no way to break into the lineup ; not sure why Greenberg would do things like that; one year, Herb Score was having a great year in the Minors and Greenberg wanted to bring him up in the middle of the pennant race, Lopez told him to wait until the following year, and they did (00:26:02 to 00:28:37) Track 17 - On Mike Garcia, he didn't last because he lost his speed, he depended on his fastball and he lost it (changing tapes) nice guy, they had a benefit for him in Cleveland and Lopez went up to it, they sold 500 pictures and sold them as a benefit (00:28:37 to 00:29:48) Track 18 - On Early Wynn, he was a tiger, pitched great ball in Cleveland and Chicago, he was a savior in ‘59 (tape runs out, missing piece of this story has been pasted in from CTA-822) (00:29:48 to 00:30:10) Side Two -- Track 1 - On racking up a lot of wins in Cleveland, but still behind the Yankees every year, the big writers from NY, Frankie Graham, Red Smith and a writer for the NY Times would come out and ask how they were going to make up the games, and Lopez said they would catch them (00:00:00 to 00:01:16) Track 2 - On John Beradino, now on TV every day, he was a good utility man, always satisfied; had another utility man in Chicago, Sam Esposito would spell (Luis) Aparicio or (Jimmie) Foxx, and he would go out there and do a good job for them; Beradino was the same way, give you a 100% (00:01:16 to 00:02:24) Track 3 - (Contains profanity) - On Pete Reiser coming to spring training for a little while, finally gave up, a great player, a fast runner, really tried hard, a timid boy, kept running into walls, today's padded walls might have helped him (00:02:24 to 00:03:18) Track 4 - (Contains profanity) 1954, got some missing pieces for the club, including Vic Wertz, made a big difference, an outfielder but slow, could use him as a pinch hitter, fit into the club perfectly, won the pennant in '54, even with a lot of people hurt, they went to Boston and he needed someone in there to hit, Lopez asked Wertz if he could play first base, and he knocked in 20 runs in three games, Bill Glynn filled in for him; Wertz helped with the bat (00:03:18 to 00:05:28) Track 5 - On Ray Narleski, Lopez playing with his father Bill Narleski in Jacksonville, FL in 1927; Bill was sold to the Red Sox and they sent him to Mobile in the Southern League, Ray could throw bullets (00:05:28 to 00:06:51) Track 6 - On World Series, only had one bad ball game, pitched (Bob) Lemon with two day's rest, people wondered why he didn't pitch (Bob) Feller, but he was the 5th pitcher that year, Houtteman was ahead of Feller; that was the World Series with the great catch, it hurt them that one game; they had plays that just went against them, the Giants played great ball and didn't make a mistake; happens to other clubs as well, the Athletics/Braves World Series, for example; (Jim) Hegan hit a ball with three men on in the Polo Grounds, and Monte Irvin was playing left field, and he said the ball was in the stands and it came right out and he caught it (00:06:51 to 00:09:01) Track 7 - On Ferris Fain, a good ballplayer but cocky, too bad that he had problems; Lopez had to send him home at the end of the season; got into big trouble in Washington, he could have been a great player (00:09:01 to 00:10:51) Track 8 - On Herb Score, a great prospect (phone rings and Lopez answers) Score would have been great, he had a great fastball, great curve and was getting good control, a shame he got hit (00:10:51 to 00:12:11) Track 9 - On Rocky Colavito, just had him for a little while, he was a good battler, a great strong arm; Cal McLish could throw with both hands, so could Paul Richards; (interview talks about Edd Roush switching from right- to left-handed play) (00:12:11 to 00:13:42) Track 10 - On Smoky Burgess, a great pinch hitter, a fair catcher, he just wanted to hit, would leave his glove in the clubhouse; having a real good pinch hitter was important (00:13:42 to 00:14:43) Track 11 - On Dave DeBusschere, could have been a great pitcher, but he wanted to play basketball, owed it to a man who sponsored him through school (00:14:43 to 00:15:45) Track 12 - (Contains profanity) On greatest defensive play, has to be in a clutch, seen a lot of good ones, Terry Moore from St. Louis made one on Lopez that he thought was impossible, he hit a blooper to center field with bases loaded, and he came in at a dead run and dove after the ball, couldn't turn his glove over to catch the ball so he stuck his bare hand out and caught it and held onto it; Willie Mays famous catch was a great play, but not his greatest play; Joe DiMaggio made everything look so easy, one of the greatest of all time; asked Joe Cronin one time who was the greatest player he played against and he said Babe Ruth "the big guy" but the big Dago in NY was close to him; Ruth was a great outfielder, great hitter, and a great pitcher, the greatest player baseball ever had, put people in the ballpark, started the big salaries; Ted Williams was a great hitter, knew he could hit; Lopez had a left-handed pitcher named Frank Baumann, and he was a timid kid, looked like he was going to be slaughtered, said Williams kind of scared him, and Lopez told him to take the same approach to pitching, same like Ryne Duren used to be (00:15:45 to 00:21:02) Track 13 - On greatest players, catchers (Bill) Dickey, (Mickey) Cochrane and (Gabby) Hartnett; Hartnett was the best thrower of the three; Cochrane was a battler; Dickey was a great hitter; they were all three great; Bill Terry was fantastic at first base; (Lou) Gehrig was a great ballplayer, Ruth was great in right field; DiMaggio in center field was great; didn't see much of (Ty) Cobb; Speaker was great but DiMaggio was probably better; left field probably Chick Hafey, good hitter, great arm, good speed; didn't see that much of (Al) Simmons, but he was a good player; at second base, (Rogers) Hornsby or (Frankie) Frisch, probably take Hornsby on account of the hitting, at third base, Pie Traynor, and at shortstop, Glenn Wright, at his prime, a great shortstop with a great arm, and hit fourth for Pittsburgh when they won the pennant, he drove in more than 100 runs; Wright hurt his shoulder and had to have an operation, which back then was rare (phone rings, interviewer talks about Carl Hubbell and Lefty Gomez and Leo Durocher and picking all-star teams) (00:21:02 to 00:26:05) Track 14 - On having one son, who played a little pro ball, got as high as Double AA but he quit when he had children; graduated from University of Florida and then went to law school; has three grandchildren, two boys and a girl; wanted his son and grandson to be a ballplayer, but his grandson played football instead (wrapping up; last part of this tape is from some other interview, but is not identified and it is mostly Roberts taking pictures, so it has been deleted) (00:26:05 to 00:29:00)" Cassette 2 content of the interview includes: Side One -- Track 1 - Story picks up from CTA-819 Side 2) Rip Sewell pitching at the Polo Grounds, they were up two runs in the 9th inning, they were 3-2 with bases loaded, the Giants second baseman was the hitter and hit a pop fly to right center, the center fielder, right fielder and second baseman all went for the ball and it dropped right tin between them and all the runners scored; so Lopez knew there would be trouble in the clubhouse and (Frankie) Frisch was raving and threatening people with a bat; he got disgusted and went home to New Rochelle and the players didn't know if they should show up at the clubhouse the next day; next day Frisch was whistling and happy, never said a word about the incident; Frisch got into an argument with John McGraw one time and McGraw traded Frisch and Jimmy Ring to St. Louis for Rogers Hornsby, and then traded Hornsby to Boston for (Shanty?) Hogan and (Larry?) Benton; Hornsby was a hard man to get along with, one of the greatest hitters, but a real loner, didn't get along with people, didn't get along with Hack Wilson, (Gabby?) Hartnett (00:00:00 to 00:04:00) Track 2 - On Arky Vaughan in Pittsburgh, roomed with Lopez, good player, good hitter, should have played outfield because he had good speed, OK at shortstop, no (Luis) Aparicio or (Ozzie?) Smith, but he was good; had retired by the time he died, he drowned during a hunting accident; saw his daughter at Vaughan's induction ceremony in Cooperstown and she said he might not have drowned if he hadn't panicked (00:04:00 to 00:05:23) Track 3 - On the Waner brothers in Pittsburgh, Paul and Lloyd Waner, Paul was a great hitter, great athlete, pound for pound one of the best hitters, good friends and roommates with Lloyd Waner (interviewer talks about interviewing Lloyd Waner in a nursing home) Honus Wagner thought the world of Lloyd Waner, a nice old man, he was an honorary coach; Paul Waner drank a bit, could have been a better ballplayer; the year Gabby Hartnett hit the home run to beat Pittsburgh, Pie Traynor was the manager and asked Paul to tone down the drinking, and Paul said he would quit altogether to see if they could win the pennant, he went from .320 down to .280, so Traynor told him he'd better go back to drinking; (Mickey) Mantle says he would have been a better ballplayer if he had stopped drinking (00:05:23 to 00:08:08) Track 4 - On Preacher Roe saying Lopez helped him a lot, and he really appreciated it (00:08:08 to 00:08:33) Track 5 - On Babe Dahlgren; Ralph Kiner being a center fielder and a great hitter, but something happened to his feet (00:08:33 to 00:09:18) Track 6 - On being out of baseball in '46, doing PR for the club, working on a deal with Baltimore; went to Washington to scout the Yankees one time; went to Duluth, MN for the opening day of the Rookie League, with Ray Berres; he was on the advisory board, but didn't do much (00:09:18 to 00:10:20) Track 7 - On managing for Cleveland, played there one year; when he went to Indianapolis, Frank McKinney, owner of the club and Pittsburgh, was friendly with (Hank) Greenberg, and he had three good years in Indianapolis; Greenberg wanted to get rid of (Lou) Boudreau because he had a high salary and didn't want to play as much anymore, so Greenberg was looking for a manager and he went to McKinney and asked if he could approach Lopez, he had another year left in Indianapolis, but he went to Cleveland and signed a contract to manage; a good ball club, great pitching staff, (Bob) Feller, (Mike) Garcia, (Early) Wynn, (Bob) Lemon, Art Houttleman (00:10:20 to 00:12:26) Track 8 - On Luke Easter, Greenberg thought Easter was going to be the black Babe Ruth, he had a lot of power, but wasn't that serious about baseball, he never lived up to expectations (00:12:26 to 00:13:07) Track 9 - On Ray Boone, nice guy, not a good shortstop, but he already had Al Rosen at third, he went to Detroit and became a good player at third; he was originally a catcher, and should have kept him at catcher; Al Rosen played to win, even when he was hurt (00:13:07 to 00:13:46) Track 10 - On Larry Doby, he could have been a superstar, but he was too tense, he fought himself all the time, needed to relax (00:13:46 to 00:14:22) Track 11 - On Dale Mitchell, a good hitter but he couldn't throw, just so-so in the outfield, could have been a much better ballplayer, too easy-going, he could hit and he could run, but never stole a base, never learned how to slide; Tris Speaker wanted to make him a center fielder (00:14:22 to 00:15:08) Track 12. Intv: On having a good club in Cleveland, Mitchell and Doby outfielders, had (Wally) Westlake and Bob Kennedy, first base Easter, second base (Bobby) Avila, shortstop finally got (George) Strickland, Rosen at third and (Jim) Hegan at catcher; Hegan could have been better if he had more battle in him, he was timid, had a good arm, could catch foul balls, not a good hitter, Birdie Tebbetts tried to help to help him with hitting (00:15:08 to 00:16:40) Track 13 - Harry Simpson was a disappointment, traded (Minnie) Minoso off because of Simpson, Del Baker was manager for San Diego that year and said Simpson was going to be a great player, they traded for Lou Brissie from Philadelphia, but Minoso did better in Chicago, a good player; Brissie wanted to have fun, didn't concentrate on baseball; they used to talk baseball all the time, sitting around the hotel; traveled Pullmans instead of planes, and talked baseball; (Tony) Cuccinello and Lopez used to sit and figure out plays and talk baseball; when he was almost through, his last year with Cleveland, he caught 50 games but Hegan caught the rest, and Lopez was tired and hot and sweaty, and all the other players were rushing to get dressed and get out of the clubhouse instead of talking baseball (00:16:40 to 00:19:29) Track 14 - On speaking Spanish until 3rd grade, speaking Spanish at home, learned English in school, helped him deal with Hispanic baseball players; Minoso took it in stride; there were good players in Mexico; one left-handed pitcher that they looked at, Dolf Luque recommended him, and he got in an argument with an umpire and was shipped out of the country and never came back; he might have been a good pitcher in the Major Leagues; the Hispanic players have to realize they are lucky to be here; a friend of his was with the White Sox and he is still made at Jimmy Dykes because he never got one time at bat to get his name in the lineup, a really big deal to have your name in the lineup in the Major Leagues; on a possible strike in Pittsburgh, there was an umpire pension fund, but none for the ballplayers, they wanted a pension and minimum salary, $5-6,000, a standard salary for Triple A ballplayers was $450 a month under Branch Rickey (00:19:29 to 00:25:00) Track 15 - On Sam Chapman, nice man but going downhill by the time he got to Cleveland; Barney McCosky, a good pinch hitter but then he quit, stood at the plate like Charlie Gehringer (00:25:00 to 00:26:02) Track 16 - Johnny Vander Meer, wild as a March hare, could throw bullets, a big raw-boned kid, 19-20 when he came to Brooklyn from New Jersey; he ended up with Nashville and Cincinnati got him, he did a good job; didn't help much in Cleveland, he was pretty much done, same as Sal Magli, was almost done; Magli was a control pitcher, he wasn't that fast, had a curveball and a slider, he was a smart pitcher; they finally sold him to Brooklyn, and he went and pitched a no-hitter; same with Vander Meer, no way to break into the lineup ; not sure why Greenberg would do things like that; one year, Herb Score was having a great year in the Minors and Greenberg wanted to bring him up in the middle of the pennant race, Lopez told him to wait until the following year, and they did (00:26:02 to 00:28:37) Track 17 - On Mike Garcia, he didn't last because he lost his speed, he depended on his fastball and he lost it (changing tapes) nice guy, they had a benefit for him in Cleveland and Lopez went up to it, they sold 500 pictures and sold them as a benefit (00:28:37 to 00:29:48) Track 18 - On Early Wynn, he was a tiger, pitched great ball in Cleveland and Chicago, he was a savior in ‘59 (tape runs out, missing piece of this story has been pasted in from CTA-822) (00:29:48 to 00:30:10) Side Two -- Track 1 - On racking up a lot of wins in Cleveland, but still behind the Yankees every year, the big writers from NY, Frankie Graham, Red Smith and a writer for the NY Times would come out and ask how they were going to make up the games, and Lopez said they would catch them (00:00:00 to 00:01:16) Track 2 - On John Beradino, now on TV every day, he was a good utility man, always satisfied; had another utility man in Chicago, Sam Esposito would spell (Luis) Aparicio or (Jimmie) Foxx, and he would go out there and do a good job for them; Beradino was the same way, give you a 100% (00:01:16 to 00:02:24) Track 3 - (Contains profanity) - On Pete Reiser coming to spring training for a little while, finally gave up, a great player, a fast runner, really tried hard, a timid boy, kept running into walls, today's padded walls might have helped him (00:02:24 to 00:03:18) Track 4 - (Contains profanity) 1954, got some missing pieces for the club, including Vic Wertz, made a big difference, an outfielder but slow, could use him as a pinch hitter, fit into the club perfectly, won the pennant in '54, even with a lot of people hurt, they went to Boston and he needed someone in there to hit, Lopez asked Wertz if he could play first base, and he knocked in 20 runs in three games, Bill Glynn filled in for him; Wertz helped with the bat (00:03:18 to 00:05:28) Track 5 - On Ray Narleski, Lopez playing with his father Bill Narleski in Jacksonville, FL in 1927; Bill was sold to the Red Sox and they sent him to Mobile in the Southern League, Ray could throw bullets (00:05:28 to 00:06:51) Track 6 - On World Series, only had one bad ball game, pitched (Bob) Lemon with two day's rest, people wondered why he didn't pitch (Bob) Feller, but he was the 5th pitcher that year, Houtteman was ahead of Feller; that was the World Series with the great catch, it hurt them that one game; they had plays that just went against them, the Giants played great ball and didn't make a mistake; happens to other clubs as well, the Athletics/Braves World Series, for example; (Jim) Hegan hit a ball with three men on in the Polo Grounds, and Monte Irvin was playing left field, and he said the ball was in the stands and it came right out and he caught it (00:06:51 to 00:09:01) Track 7 - On Ferris Fain, a good ballplayer but cocky, too bad that he had problems; Lopez had to send him home at the end of the season; got into big trouble in Washington, he could have been a great player (00:09:01 to 00:10:51) Track 8 - On Herb Score, a great prospect (phone rings and Lopez answers) Score would have been great, he had a great fastball, great curve and was getting good control, a shame he got hit (00:10:51 to 00:12:11) Track 9 - On Rocky Colavito, just had him for a little while, he was a good battler, a great strong arm; Cal McLish could throw with both hands, so could Paul Richards; (interview talks about Edd Roush switching from right- to left-handed play) (00:12:11 to 00:13:42) Track 10 - On Smoky Burgess, a great pinch hitter, a fair catcher, he just wanted to hit, would leave his glove in the clubhouse; having a real good pinch hitter was important (00:13:42 to 00:14:43) Track 11 - On Dave DeBusschere, could have been a great pitcher, but he wanted to play basketball, owed it to a man who sponsored him through school (00:14:43 to 00:15:45) Track 12 - (Contains profanity) On greatest defensive play, has to be in a clutch, seen a lot of good ones, Terry Moore from St. Louis made one on Lopez that he thought was impossible, he hit a blooper to center field with bases loaded, and he came in at a dead run and dove after the ball, couldn't turn his glove over to catch the ball so he stuck his bare hand out and caught it and held onto it; Willie Mays famous catch was a great play, but not his greatest play; Joe DiMaggio made everything look so easy, one of the greatest of all time; asked Joe Cronin one time who was the greatest player he played against and he said Babe Ruth the big guy but the big Dago in NY was close to him; Ruth was a great outfielder, great hitter, and a great pitcher, the greatest player baseball ever had, put people in the ballpark, started the big salaries; Ted Williams was a great hitter, knew he could hit; Lopez had a left-handed pitcher named Frank Baumann, and he was a timid kid, looked like he was going to be slaughtered, said Williams kind of scared him, and Lopez told him to take the same approach to pitching, same like Ryne Duren used to be (00:15:45 to 00:21:02) Track 13 - On greatest players, catchers (Bill) Dickey, (Mickey) Cochrane and (Gabby) Hartnett; Hartnett was the best thrower of the three; Cochrane was a battler; Dickey was a great hitter; they were all three great; Bill Terry was fantastic at first base; (Lou) Gehrig was a great ballplayer, Ruth was great in right field; DiMaggio in center field was great; didn't see much of (Ty) Cobb; Speaker was great but DiMaggio was probably better; left field probably Chick Hafey, good hitter, great arm, good speed; didn't see that much of (Al) Simmons, but he was a good player; at second base, (Rogers) Hornsby or (Frankie) Frisch, probably take Hornsby on account of the hitting, at third base, Pie Traynor, and at shortstop, Glenn Wright, at his prime, a great shortstop with a great arm, and hit fourth for Pittsburgh when they won the pennant, he drove in more than 100 runs; Wright hurt his shoulder and had to have an operation, which back then was rare (phone rings, interviewer talks about Carl Hubbell and Lefty Gomez and Leo Durocher and picking all-star teams) (00:21:02 to 00:26:05) Track 14 - On having one son, who played a little pro ball, got as high as Double AA but he quit when he had children; graduated from University of Florida and then went to law school; has three grandchildren, two boys and a girl; wanted his son and grandson to be a ballplayer, but his grandson played football instead (wrapping up; last part of this tape is from some other interview, but is not identified and it is mostly Roberts taking pictures, so it has been deleted) (00:26:05 to 00:29:00)Public Access NotePlease note that not all works are on view at all times - their availability is subject to change per the discretion of the Museum staff. 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