Rick Vaughn’s book "Tampa Spring Training Tales,"brings the past to life & opens up a wealth of enjoyable stories including the Chicago Cubs, Tampa Smokers, Reds, White Sox & Red Sox @ historic Plant & Al Lopez Fields
Ted Williams, Wade Boggs, Jackie Robinson, Pete Rose and Al Lopez are just a few of the people we discuss this week on Florida BaseballBiz with Rick.
- “Chubby” Cubs owner is enamored with Tampa
- 100th years of Spring Training
- Tampa Mayor McKay was also Publisher
- Wrigley moves Cubs from Tampa to out West
- 1952 – Yankees celebrated their 50th anniversary at Columbia restaurant
- 1955 World Series winners receive their awards in Tampa
- Reds extraordinary long-lasting relationship with Tampa Bay
- Big Red Machine first gathers in Tampa
- Al Lopez Field tore down as interest in Major League team rises
- Yankees Core Four
- Wade Boggs discovers he is going to the show from Johnny Bench
- 100 Major Leaguers came through Plant Field & Al Lopez Field
- 1940 All-Star game in Tampa for Finnish Relief Fundwith Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Jimmy Foxx, Hank Greenberg and Bob Feller
- Segregation of players by color – they could not stay at the same hotels
- Cardinals bought Outrigger motel in St. Pete so they could house all players at 1 location
- Tampa Bay Hotel proximity to Plant Field
- Babe Ruth’s longest Home Run, 587 feet, hit at Plant Field on April 4, 1919
- Ted Williams spits at fans first in Tampa
- Tim Kurkjian of ESPN – good friend and sounding board
- Frank Howard & Ted Willams story
- Tampa Smokers, St. Pete Saints and a bull fight
- Baseball as a unifier amongst the many cultures in Ybor / Tampa
- 1963 – Pete Rose – Rookie Year – Charlie Hustle emerges
- JFK at Al Lopez Field
- Charitable work with Metropolitan Mission, Clearwater Youth & the Homeless Empowerment Program.
- Rick also keeps score for Florida Complex League
Special Thanks to the Tampa Baseball Museum for background information on Tampa Baseball Spring Training - discover more at https://www.tampabaseballmuseum.org
Notes generated in part by DeScript
#RaysUp