The Montgomery Baseball Blog: Montgomery's Gets Major League Team, Redus for ASHOF, Biscuits Notes

Once ya fall behind its tough to catch up! So I will just drop this here with a ton of unlabeled pics and random info as I come up with it.

New playoff format in the league just announced. The two teams with the best records face off at the end of the season. Not the top team in each division, mind you, if the two best records are in the same division those two teams would face off. Weird? Sure it is but thats kinda par for the course this year.

New Biscuit hurler Chris Muller was a little dismayed to find that his Biscuits bio personal info section was largely populated by info on his brother - a prospect player with the Braves. It also failed to mention his awesome show beard and (self proclaimed) "fantastic ass". No pics yet but yeah, beard and ass both appear god-given.

FEWER BLOCKED SEATS BUT STILL SOME LIMITED ACCESS

The Biscuits have cleared the tarps from the home bullpen but still have the visitor pen roped off. That the seats are open didn't deter an usher from trying to keep people from sitting there.

Also roped off is the area behind home plate near the home dugout where I and other photographers enjoy taking pictures from. I was originally told there were no press passes being given but have since seen multiple pass-bearing photogs wandering the park.

After shooting pics for the Biscuits, the Southern League and MiLB I am not quite sure what the issue is with allowing photo access in the usual areas considering most everything else is back to normal.

Also I haven't heard back about my offer for pics for the team baseball card set, so I guess thats out too.

Sorry kids, I tried.

NEW TOGS NOT EMBRACED

Widely bashed are the Biscuits new Thursday uniforms, having been described as "beer league" and "softball team" in design. That they are worn on Thirsty Thursday should have made it a good match but it just hasn't caught on yet.

One player didn't mince words and told me they wouldn't mind if there was a fire in the clubhouse with the Thursday jerseys being the only thing destroyed.

A few fans have warmed to them but with "The Gump" emblazoned on the chest it will be a while before they are fully embraced.

I understand we even wear them on the road, giving fans in other cities a chance to gawk at the horizontal striped raiment.

TRIVIA QUESTION

What year did Montgomery field a full-season major league team? ... see answer below....

FORE!

Asking around I quickly learned the best golfer on the Biscuits is Easton McGee and there was no hesitation from anyone asked, it was a no-doubter.

He's got the height for basketball and probably dominates the ping-pong table as well.

Pro tip: Don't put money on a golf game against Easton!

REDUS FOR HALL OF FAME

The Alabama Sports Hall Of Fame should include Gary Redus.

Why Redus isn't there already is a glaring omission.

With over 300 career stolen bases and three trips to the postseason, Redus credentials are on par or better than some other ASHOF members.

Many of the ASHOF members have short ties to Alabama, like Luis Gonzalez who spent one season at South Alabama University.

Redus is an Alabama native and continues to reside here. Oh, also Redus has the highest professional batting average in an single season with his .462 rookie campaign in Billings. Thats about 110 points higher than Honus Wagner's best season.

Gary Redus already has his bat enshrined in Cooperstown for that amazing .462 mark - every other Alabamian exhibited in the MLB HOF is in the Alabama Sports Hall Of Fame.

Lets fix that.

TRIVIA ANSWER

If you said 1932, you are correct!

With the inclusion of Negro Leagues as Major Leagues, Montgomery moves into the big leagues for one season in its history.

The Montgomery Gray Sox of 1932 were part of the Negro Southern League and while they finished just 23-25-1 officially, the Gray Sox were one of the biggest drawing teams in the area, far outpacing the local white teams in attendance. Overshadowed by the longevity of the Black Barons, the Gray Sox are an important link to the great teams of the past and now are finally recognized as the Major League team they truly were.

You can be sure I have a breakdown of the '32 GraySox coming up in a couple weeks!

UMP SHOW

This year the Biscuits have seen just two umpire crews at their home games and the current crew has been at every Montgomery home series save one.

And they have been really bad. So bad that on one play, a triple, when the throw came in to third base all three umpires were there to make the call. All three standing at third base?

I am told they won't be covering any more of the Biscuit home games for the rest of the regular season.

With umpires checking for "stickum" after each inning, pitchers have abandoned the long-standing use of assorted tacky stuff. The same stuff that is completely legal for hitters.

GOOD NEWS

The bar has blood orange beer back in stock. Well, I thought it was good news!

FAUSTINO BRINGS RINGS

Faustino Carrera is happy to see the new playoffs announced as it gives him a chance to go for his FOURTH consecutive championship.

And I am all for it. As long as he does it here and not in Durham.

MIKEY KNOWS SOME HISTORY

One of the new Biscuits hurlers, Mikey York, has an instant connection to his new team - his dad played for the Pirates with Gary Redus in 1990. When I mentioned it to Gary Redus he replied "How do you know that stuff?".

Mikey York knew about it too, he also mentioned that back during the '94 strike his dad, also named Mike York, was asked to cross the picket line but refused to pitch as a scab. While talking with York he easily named Kevin Millar as one of the '94 line-crossers who stuck in MLB and that let me know Mikey York was up on his baseball history.

No pic of York yet, sorry! I'll make up for it next time!

TODAYS #BULLPEN LIFE

THIS WEEK IN MONTGOMERY BASEBALL HISTORY

JULY 1 1969

Rebels 1b George Kalafatis homers four times as the Rebels defeat the Birmingham A's 13-0 at Paterson Field, the first time the feat had been accomplished by a Montgomery player.

JULY 2 1907

Montgomery scores ten runs and ten hits off SP Kaiser Wilhelm and RP Rip Ragan of Birmingham

Your 1907 Montgomery Senators

JULY 4 1920

Shortstop Red Cunningham

Montgomery, AL
"Grey Sox Win Opener From Atlanta Team - Mason Lets Visitors Down With Three Widely Scattered Hits Sunday

In a slow long drawn out game, the Montgomery Grey Sox yesterday captured the opening game of a series with the Atlanta Crackers, at Southette Park. Mason pitching for the Grey Sox was practically unhitable, holding the Atlanta team to three widely-scattered hits and shutting them out.

The two teams play a double header today. Besides the pitching of Mason, the other features of the game were the timely hitting of Shortstop Cunningham and Catcher Williams of the Grey Sox and the fielding of the First Baseman Cunningham of the same team.

The Grey Sox team is composed of the best negro base ball players in the South, and put up a splendid article of base ball. An overflowing crowd witnessed the game."

JULY 6 1904

Southern League umpire Pfenninger is mobbed at a game in Birmingham.

JULY 6 1906

Montgomery pitcher Will Breitenstein shuts out Nashville on two hits.

JULY 6 1920

Montgomery, AL
"Montgomery Wins Fourth Straight - Atlanta Proves Easy for Local Colored Team; Birmingham Comes Next - The Montgomery Grey Sox of the Southern Colored League won their fourth straight victory over Atlanta yesterday, 6 to 5.

Gray Sox Myers

The features of the game was the hitting and the pitching of Myles (actually Myers) for the locals. The visitors scored on him in the second, but after this inning he held them in check until the ninth when the visitors staged a rally and scored three runs, but the locals scored in their half of the ninth and won the game. The Grey Sox are still tied with the Knoxville Giants for first place in the league standing and if Knoxville lost yesterday the locals will take first position. The Knoxville team is rated as the fastest team in the league but they are having a hard time in keeping the lead. The Giants went down to defeat before the Birmingham Black Barons Saturday, but won a double header from them yesterday.

The Grey Sox will have two days off and then they will meet the Birmingham Black Barons for games Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, all of these games to start at 4 o'clock. The Birmingham aggregation is composed of Cubans, eleven of whom do not speak the English language, and the general report is that they are a fast, hard hitting bunch of players."

JULY 7 1906 (?)

Satchel Paige birthday, year uncertain. 118 wins 2.70 career ERA credited, the legendary Paige was the finest hurler in baseball for decades.

A commemorative day should be held in his honor by MLB annually and all teams retire his number 0.