Baseball’s great for providing examples of how to overcome adversity and succeed – some are well-known like Jackie Robinson and Pete Gray – but I’ve always drawn my inspiration from a now-forgotten ballplayer named Eddie Kazak. […]
Category: Polish Ball Players
Johnny Pomorski: Chesty’s Last Stand
Johnny Pomorski’s career started out with high expectations. Yet, as so often happens, things just didn’t work out as they were supposed to. But at the age of 42, Johnny was handed one last chance to shine… […]
Stan Musial: Stan The Sailor Man
The Brooklyn fans didn’t know who the guy was, but it seemed that every time “that man” came to the plate, he tore Dodger pitching apart. Eventually, as more and more singles, doubles and homers flew off the end of his bat, “that man” evolved into a more reverent “The Man” – the name Stan Musial was forever known by. […]
Bobo Revolinsky: The Miracle 1937 Salisbury Indians
Everyone loves a good story about miraculous underdogs and winning despite the odds – but there is no more incredible comeback story than than of the 1937 Salisbury Indians – when guys named Blackie, Jorge and Bobo came together to overcome an 0-26 record and win the pennant. […]
Jack Kloza: Home Runs, Mosquitos, Hats and the Rockford Peaches
Like so many of the players I write about, I found Jack Kloza while searching for something else. And, like so many of the outsiders I write about, what at first just seemed like a marginal career highlighted by a brief cup of coffee in the majors, turned out to be a very interesting tale on so many levels. I was drawn to this fella because the grainy 1936 newspaper article I found showed a guy who looked remarkably like a young Charles Bronson. […]