I remember Frank Thomas was third baseman and Marv was at first. Ground ball to Thomas...he bobbled it so bad someone yelled "Get a stick and kill it!" Another soft ground ball to Thomas at third, no chance to get runner at second so he throws it to Marv. The ball hits Marv's glove right in the center - and bounces out. During the warm ups for the next inning, Marv throws a practice ground ball to Thomas - the crowd cheers as he catches it...he throws it to Marv who stretches from the bag and proudly grabs the throw. Crowd goes nuts! He bows in appreciation.
the thing was that Marv looked just like Mickey Mantle when Mick batted left-handed. Marv's practice swings were just like Mick's. Marv had a mighty swing just like Mick's - but he never hit the ball.
It's kind of amusing how we as fans think. If you have a friend who played baseball in college, and you're describing that friend to someone else, you say, "He was a pretty good baseball player back in the day." But here we have a guy who played 7 MLB seasons and was a semi-regular in a few of them and we say, "He sucked." Of course saying players like Throneberry or Bob Uecker sucked (I'm guilty of it, too) makes for better stories, but we should always keep perspective. They were both better than 99.9% of anyone who has ever tried it.
Throneberry and Uecker both said it first, so fans saw it as permission to join in. Just playing into the hand of self depreciating humor. All the articles on this topic were probably written by guys whose high school batting average was lower than Marv's average in the show, like me.
The Polo Grounds. That rectangular monstrosity. Do a story on the only four players to homer to center field--Lou Brock and Hank Aaron on consecutive days. It was 482 feet to the cut out in deepest center. People forget that Babe Ruth and the Yankees played there until Yankee Stadium opened in 1923.
Was there Karma involved for the 1969 miracle Mets? Maybe him being traded from Baltimore to the Mets had something to do with it.Lol! Sounds good anyway .
Marvelous Marv remains and always will be a Mets legend for all his ineptness and as you said…the fans loved him for it. Great story!😀
I remember Frank Thomas was third baseman and Marv was at first. Ground ball to Thomas...he bobbled it so bad someone yelled "Get a stick and kill it!" Another soft ground ball to Thomas at third, no chance to get runner at second so he throws it to Marv. The ball hits Marv's glove right in the center - and bounces out. During the warm ups for the next inning, Marv throws a practice ground ball to Thomas - the crowd cheers as he catches it...he throws it to Marv who stretches from the bag and proudly grabs the throw. Crowd goes nuts! He bows in appreciation.
2:04 Jim Gentile sighting 👀
Good eye!
the thing was that Marv looked just like Mickey Mantle when Mick batted left-handed. Marv's practice swings were just like Mick's. Marv had a mighty swing just like Mick's - but he never hit the ball.
I totally agree! Wish I had made that connection while putting this together.
It's kind of amusing how we as fans think. If you have a friend who played baseball in college, and you're describing that friend to someone else, you say, "He was a pretty good baseball player back in the day." But here we have a guy who played 7 MLB seasons and was a semi-regular in a few of them and we say, "He sucked." Of course saying players like Throneberry or Bob Uecker sucked (I'm guilty of it, too) makes for better stories, but we should always keep perspective. They were both better than 99.9% of anyone who has ever tried it.
Throneberry and Uecker both said it first, so fans saw it as permission to join in. Just playing into the hand of self depreciating humor. All the articles on this topic were probably written by guys whose high school batting average was lower than Marv's average in the show, like me.
Was that Billy Martin saying "I never argue"?
Very entertaining ( and informative) as usual!
Love the content. Keep up the great work. 👍
Terrific video. Very humorous I might get to do a commercial?
HatBilly making a Mets video, must be my lucky day!
I figured I had a few of you guys on here! Fascinating team.
The Polo Grounds. That rectangular monstrosity. Do a story on the only four players to homer to center field--Lou Brock and Hank Aaron on consecutive days. It was 482 feet to the cut out in deepest center. People forget that Babe Ruth and the Yankees played there until Yankee Stadium opened in 1923.
Great vid. Denver Bears legend.
Was there Karma involved for the 1969 miracle Mets? Maybe him being traded from Baltimore to the Mets had something to do with it.Lol! Sounds good anyway .