Also read:
HALL
OF FAME MANAGERS
JULY2010: THE BASEBALL GURU ARTICLE
FROM
ONEMOREINNING
“SCRAPIRON”
and
April 28, 1953
He
was the first catcher to wear glasses, had a ferocious, biting, competitive
temper, looked like a fireplug, and much too often got into trouble. His
name was
CLINT
COURTNEY
and what kept him in the big leagues was his defensive abilities and certainly
not his hitting.
He first
came up with the New York Yankees but quickly wore out his welcome. They
found him to be a derisive detriment on the club.
He was dealt to the St Louis Browns and spent most of his career
with them. Throughout his time in the Major Leagues there was no love lost
between him and
On
this day he displayed his nickname, “SCRAPIRON” to the
fullest.
In the
top of the tenth inning of a 6-6 tie between the
YANKEES and
“Scrapiron” was furious and took it out on Phil Rizzuto
when he slid into second in the bottom of the tenth. Rizzuto’s leg was
was cut badly by Courtney’s spikes and immediately Allie Reynolds, Gil
McDougald, and Joe Collins jumped on Courtney and pummeled the hell out of
him. The umpire John Stephens ended up with a separated shoulder in his attempt
to break things up.
Courtney
crawled out from the pile, began to look for his glasses only to see Bob
Cerv smash them with his foot. In interviewing Cerv a few years back for
One More Inning he told me that he hated Courtney while they were both with
When all
was said and done the fines handed out for that day ($800 in total) were
the highest ever for a brawl. Courtney’s fine was $250:00. Billy Martin
was fined $450:00 and he never threw a punch!
The next
day, Courtney saw Allie Reynolds in front of him and gave him a curious
compliment, “Hey Allie, you really hit me pretty good
yesterday….
nice going.”
