From nationalpastime.com:
May 27, 1960 "Orioles catcher Clint Courtney becomes the first backstop to use the big knuckleball glove, an innovation of manager Paul Richards. The larger mitt, which has a 45-inch circumference, helps as knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm goes the distance in Baltimore's 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium in a game that doesn't feature a wild pitch or a passed ball."
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MAY 27 – Size matters
https://todayinbaseball.com/oversized-mitt/
Excerpts from the todayinbaseball.com article:
"*1960 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – It’s been said, ‘catching a knuckle-ball is like trying to catch a butterfly with a fly swatter.’ It’s one of the biggest challenges a catcher faces. The Baltimore Orioles tried to do something about it on this date in 1960."
"On this date in 1960, Baltimore manager Paul Richards. had an idea. He came up with an oversized catcher’s mitt for catcher Clint Courtney."
"It worked. Courtney had no passed balls on this date – there had been 11 in Wilhelm’s previous 28 innings – and Wilhelm pitched his first complete game of the season beating the New York Yankees 3-2."
"The oversized mitt led to a rule change a few years later. Beginning with the 1965 season catcher’s mitts were limited to 38 inches in circumference and 15 ? inches from top to bottom."
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Clint Courtney
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clint-courtney/
Excerpts from the sabr.org article:
"Scrap Iron: the punchy, evocative nickname fit Phil Garner well in the 1970s and ’80s — but it fit catcher Clint Courtney even better a generation before. The punchy part was one reason. Journalist Bob Addie wrote in 1959, “Clint put his aggressive temperament to work several times and was involved in some notable fisticuffs during his early career.” Yet that was just one aspect of The Toy Bulldog’s toughness. Author John Daniel described him as “a man composed, according to my father, solely of bruises, knitted bones, and sheer grit.”
"On Sunday, June 15, 1975, Richmond arrived in Rochester for a series. That night Scraps was playing table tennis and talking baseball with several of his players at the team hotel, the Colony East Motor Inn. Team trainer Sam Ayoub said, “Courtney had played just one game of Ping Pong and he decided to rest for a while.” Courtney began talking with player Al Gallagher and “then he just keeled over and hit the floor,” Ayoub said. Stricken by a heart attack, Clint was pronounced dead on arrival at Genesee Hospital early on Monday morning. He was 48."
"In Courtney’s...obituary...sportswriter Milton Richman gave a more fully rounded picture of his friend: “Clint Courtney was only tough on the outside. Inside, he was a soft, compassionate human being, more outspoken than he should’ve been at times perhaps, but with uncommon understanding and honest concern for others which always transcended the rough exterior he chose to show the world.”
===========================================================================
Clint Courtney Stats
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/pla...hp?p=courtcl01
Excerpts from the www.baseball-almanac.com article:
"Clint Courtney was a ballplayer whose prime years took place in the 1950’s playing for various teams from 1951 until his retirement in 1961. Twice Clint Courtney hit .300 while he played for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators. He began his career with the Yankees before quickly being traded to the St. Louis Browns, and continued on to the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles (for three stints), Senators and Athletics. Born in Hall Summit, Louisiana to a poor family, Courtney played baseball and basketball while graduating high school simultaneously. After serving time in World War II in Korea, the Philippines and Japan, he played four years in the minors before his call-up to the Yankees in 1951."
"Courtney had a minor league reputation as a tough bespeckled man who was ready to brawl any time. After his initial limited season, NY Yankees GM George Weiss traded him to the St. Louis Browns because he didn’t like his difficult reputation. Clint ended up winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 1952, hitting .286 with 5 homeruns and 50 RBI in 116 games."
"After joining the first year of the second-generation Baltimore Orioles, he hit the first homerun in Memorial Stadium history on his way to another solid season hitting .270 with 4 homers and 37 RBI."
===========================================================================
Clint Courtney vs. Billy Martin
https://coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpre...-billy-martin/
Excerpts from the coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpress.com article:
"Courtney and Martin first got into it in 1952 when Courtney was a catcher for the St. Louis Browns. In the second inning of a game on July 12, Courtney slid spikes high into Martin at second base to break up a potential double play. Yankee players were also upset with a spikes high slide by Courtney at Yogi Berra in the sixth inning. The Yankees had enough, and Martin had his revenge in the eighth inning Courtney attempted a delayed steal of second base. Martin received the ball before Courtney reached the base, and proceeded to plant the ball between the catcher’s eyes."
"After the ensuing brawl, Courtney claimed that it was the fact that his glasses broke that caused him to react in anger. He charged at the Yankee second baseman, who promptly threw his glove away and landed two rights to Courtney’s jaw. Benches cleared into what was described as a “quite interesting” brawl by reporter Dan Daniel. Three umpires hit the dirt in the melee. Despite the fact that by all accounts Martin was the only participant who landed a punch, Courtney was the only player ejected from the game. He was later suspended for three games and fined $100."
"Courtney’s words as quoted in The Sporting News: “I’m sorry it happened – particularly sorry it was Rizzuto I ran into instead of that —– —— Martin.”
"Rather than being “interesting” like the first brawl, this one got particularly nasty. Umpire Bill Summers (one of the umpires involved in round one) said it was the most fist-swinging he had seen in his 20 years. It was reported that there were separate brawls all over the field. Courtney accused the Yankees of teaming up, with a few holding him while others got their shots in. When it was all over, a total of six players were punished with fines totaling $850, including $250 for Courtney, who, according to AL president Will Harridge, violated “all rules of sportsmanship."
May 27, 1960 "Orioles catcher Clint Courtney becomes the first backstop to use the big knuckleball glove, an innovation of manager Paul Richards. The larger mitt, which has a 45-inch circumference, helps as knuckleballer Hoyt Wilhelm goes the distance in Baltimore's 3-2 victory at Yankee Stadium in a game that doesn't feature a wild pitch or a passed ball."
===========================================================================
MAY 27 – Size matters
https://todayinbaseball.com/oversized-mitt/
Excerpts from the todayinbaseball.com article:
"*1960 | NEW YORK, NEW YORK – It’s been said, ‘catching a knuckle-ball is like trying to catch a butterfly with a fly swatter.’ It’s one of the biggest challenges a catcher faces. The Baltimore Orioles tried to do something about it on this date in 1960."
"On this date in 1960, Baltimore manager Paul Richards. had an idea. He came up with an oversized catcher’s mitt for catcher Clint Courtney."
"It worked. Courtney had no passed balls on this date – there had been 11 in Wilhelm’s previous 28 innings – and Wilhelm pitched his first complete game of the season beating the New York Yankees 3-2."
"The oversized mitt led to a rule change a few years later. Beginning with the 1965 season catcher’s mitts were limited to 38 inches in circumference and 15 ? inches from top to bottom."
===========================================================================
Clint Courtney
https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/clint-courtney/
Excerpts from the sabr.org article:
"Scrap Iron: the punchy, evocative nickname fit Phil Garner well in the 1970s and ’80s — but it fit catcher Clint Courtney even better a generation before. The punchy part was one reason. Journalist Bob Addie wrote in 1959, “Clint put his aggressive temperament to work several times and was involved in some notable fisticuffs during his early career.” Yet that was just one aspect of The Toy Bulldog’s toughness. Author John Daniel described him as “a man composed, according to my father, solely of bruises, knitted bones, and sheer grit.”
"On Sunday, June 15, 1975, Richmond arrived in Rochester for a series. That night Scraps was playing table tennis and talking baseball with several of his players at the team hotel, the Colony East Motor Inn. Team trainer Sam Ayoub said, “Courtney had played just one game of Ping Pong and he decided to rest for a while.” Courtney began talking with player Al Gallagher and “then he just keeled over and hit the floor,” Ayoub said. Stricken by a heart attack, Clint was pronounced dead on arrival at Genesee Hospital early on Monday morning. He was 48."
"In Courtney’s...obituary...sportswriter Milton Richman gave a more fully rounded picture of his friend: “Clint Courtney was only tough on the outside. Inside, he was a soft, compassionate human being, more outspoken than he should’ve been at times perhaps, but with uncommon understanding and honest concern for others which always transcended the rough exterior he chose to show the world.”
===========================================================================
Clint Courtney Stats
https://www.baseball-almanac.com/pla...hp?p=courtcl01
Excerpts from the www.baseball-almanac.com article:
"Clint Courtney was a ballplayer whose prime years took place in the 1950’s playing for various teams from 1951 until his retirement in 1961. Twice Clint Courtney hit .300 while he played for the Chicago White Sox and Washington Senators. He began his career with the Yankees before quickly being traded to the St. Louis Browns, and continued on to the Chicago White Sox, Baltimore Orioles (for three stints), Senators and Athletics. Born in Hall Summit, Louisiana to a poor family, Courtney played baseball and basketball while graduating high school simultaneously. After serving time in World War II in Korea, the Philippines and Japan, he played four years in the minors before his call-up to the Yankees in 1951."
"Courtney had a minor league reputation as a tough bespeckled man who was ready to brawl any time. After his initial limited season, NY Yankees GM George Weiss traded him to the St. Louis Browns because he didn’t like his difficult reputation. Clint ended up winning the American League Rookie of the Year in 1952, hitting .286 with 5 homeruns and 50 RBI in 116 games."
"After joining the first year of the second-generation Baltimore Orioles, he hit the first homerun in Memorial Stadium history on his way to another solid season hitting .270 with 4 homers and 37 RBI."
===========================================================================
Clint Courtney vs. Billy Martin
https://coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpre...-billy-martin/
Excerpts from the coffeyvillewhirlwind.wordpress.com article:
"Courtney and Martin first got into it in 1952 when Courtney was a catcher for the St. Louis Browns. In the second inning of a game on July 12, Courtney slid spikes high into Martin at second base to break up a potential double play. Yankee players were also upset with a spikes high slide by Courtney at Yogi Berra in the sixth inning. The Yankees had enough, and Martin had his revenge in the eighth inning Courtney attempted a delayed steal of second base. Martin received the ball before Courtney reached the base, and proceeded to plant the ball between the catcher’s eyes."
"After the ensuing brawl, Courtney claimed that it was the fact that his glasses broke that caused him to react in anger. He charged at the Yankee second baseman, who promptly threw his glove away and landed two rights to Courtney’s jaw. Benches cleared into what was described as a “quite interesting” brawl by reporter Dan Daniel. Three umpires hit the dirt in the melee. Despite the fact that by all accounts Martin was the only participant who landed a punch, Courtney was the only player ejected from the game. He was later suspended for three games and fined $100."
"Courtney’s words as quoted in The Sporting News: “I’m sorry it happened – particularly sorry it was Rizzuto I ran into instead of that —– —— Martin.”
"Rather than being “interesting” like the first brawl, this one got particularly nasty. Umpire Bill Summers (one of the umpires involved in round one) said it was the most fist-swinging he had seen in his 20 years. It was reported that there were separate brawls all over the field. Courtney accused the Yankees of teaming up, with a few holding him while others got their shots in. When it was all over, a total of six players were punished with fines totaling $850, including $250 for Courtney, who, according to AL president Will Harridge, violated “all rules of sportsmanship."
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