No Crying in Baseball — Baseball Bench Coach

In the 1992 baseball film “A League of Their Own”, manager Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) chastised player Evelyn Gardner (Bitty Schram) with the famous line, “There’s no crying in baseball”. The movie was a fictional account of the All-American Girls Professional League comprised of primarily Midwestern teams between 1943 and 1954. The classic scene triggers a look at the Women’s League history, toughness in baseball, and some current MLB topics.

Let’s turn a couple history pages about the Women’s League. P.K. Wrigley, then owner of the Chicago Cubs, founded the League during World War II. Originally the League’s rules were more akin to women’s professional softball but as years went by, the ball became smaller and the pitchers began to throw overhand, more closely resembling baseball. The four original teams, playing a 108-game schedule, included the Rockford Peaches, South Bend Blue Sox, Racine Belles, and the Kenosha Comets. The height of the League was in 1948 when there were 10 teams overall, attracting about 910,000 fans to the ballparks.

Initial tryouts for the League in 1943 were held at Wrigley Field. Indeed, the League’s first All-Star Game was played at Wrigley on July 1, 1943, featuring the Wisconsin teams’ all-stars vs. the all-stars from the Illinois and Indiana teams. That game had some added historical importance since some have proclaimed it the first night game at Wrigley. Three banks of temporary, portable lights were placed behind home plate, first base, and third base, to illuminate the playing field. Of course the first night game in MLB play at Wrigley was not until 45 years later in August 1988.

So what does “no crying in baseball” mean? It’s just an expression to “toughen up”. Baseball does have a history of toughness. One of the greatest ever, Ty Cobb, was despised by many players at the time because of his gritty play and his spikes high sliding into the bases. Interestingly, the player that broke Cobb’s all-time hit record, Pete Rose, had a similar reputation of all-out play. Nicknamed “Charlie Hustle”, Rose is often thought of as the one who bulldozed Cleveland Indians catcher, Ray Fosse, at the plate to win the 1970 All-Star Game. Rose’s base running skill though is better remembered by his going from first to third on singles to the outfield, landing safely into third with a belly flop. Playing the game with great determination today is Javier Baez of the Cubs, whose baseball savvy, especially on the base paths, is amazing.

Pitchers can be tough too. This past week, Max Scherzer, 3-time Cy Young winner now with the Nationals, pitched the day after he broke his nose and blackened his eye during batting practice. Somehow seeing Mad Max with the toughness look might have added to the hitting woes of the Phillies as Scherzer pitched seven shutout innings. In the confrontation with a batter, a pitcher, like Scherzer, has the ultimate toughness advantage, being able to hurl a 95 mph baseball toward the plate. As a way of saying “you’re too close to the plate” or “a little fear in you will help me get you out on a curve ball away”, the pitcher turns to a high, inside pitch as a brush back. Bob Gibson of the St. Louis Cardinals is just one of the former great pitchers who made the pitch famous.

From the batter’s perspective, I have always marveled at players who would get hit by a pitch to start a rally (also known as “taking one for the team”). Ron Hunt, a second baseman who played 12 MLB seasons (1963-1974), mostly for the Giants, was the ultimate tough guy batter. His motto was: “Some people give their bodies to science; I give mine to baseball.” He led the National League in getting hit by pitches in each of his final seven MLB seasons. Incredibly, in 1971, Hunt was hit by a pitch 50 times! Derek Dietrich of the Reds is the modern day Hunt, setting a single game record with 3 HBPs in a June 22 game against the Brewers. While Dietrich leads the NL in HBPs (15), he also is among the league leaders in HRs (18).

No crying in baseball can also mean perseverance. Lucas Giolito of the White Sox, whose first-half pitching performance (a current record of 10-2) will most certainly land him in the All-Star Game, has rebounded from a woeful 2018. The differential between his 2018 ERA of 6.14 and current 2019 ERA of 2.74 might be the largest ever year-to-year for a starting pitcher when this season is completed . Giolito experienced a little war of toughness words recently with Luke Voit of the Yankees. Voit hit a home run off Giolito in the first inning, and was greeted in his next at-bat with a little Giolito chin music. After the game, Voit was quoted as saying, “It’s a bunch of BS.” Giolito did not back down, and stated: “That’s how I pitch. If you don’t like it, then that’s your problem.” In other words, “there’s no crying in baseball.”

Another tough guy confrontation on the field is between an umpire and a player, which frankly is getting out of hand. Manny Machado of the Padres this past week was called out on strikes in a game by plate umpire Bill Welke. Machado clearly verbally abused Welke and did throw his bat toward the backstop, both clear no-nos and cause for ejection. Welke also contended that Machado brushed him. When MLB suspended Machado for only one game, the Major League Baseball Umpire Association took umbrage and compared the incident to “workplace violence”. The Umpire Association even took to Twitter and asked, “Is this truly what MLB wants to teach our youth?” Obviously, the Umpire Association went too far in its reaction. MLB promptly responded with its own contentious statement and rebuked the workplace violence analogy. That’s way too much crying here on both sides of the table!

Does crying in baseball have a softer touch? Yes, and let’s leave on that note. White Sox catcher Zach Collins was called up from the minors this week for his first game, a weeknight game at Wrigley against the Cubs. Upon hearing the news of his son’s call-up, Collins’ Dad apparently “cried like a baby”. Everyone can agree that the joy of tears does indeed have its place in baseball.

Until next week,

Your Baseball Bench Coach