Sports' Forgotten Heroes

Archie Moore is the only boxer in history to face Rocky Marciano, Floyd Patterson AND Muhammed Ali. An absolutely terrific boxer, Moore captured the light heavyweight championship by unanimous decision at the age of 39 over Joey Maxim. Moore held the title for 10-years before he was stripped of the belt for failure to fight as a light heavyweight towards the of his 10-year reign because he wanted to win the heavyweight championship. Unfortunately, that dream never became a reality. But, what Moore did over the course of his career is absolutely incredible. His career lasted 28 years! He won 199 times and that included a record 149 knockouts. Later in life, Archie found himself on the big screen as Jim in Huckleberry Finn and the on TV in such iconic shows as Adam-12, Emergency and the Batman TV series. He certainly led a full life, but because he never won the heavyweight belt, his notoriety does not match that of the champions we know best: Joe Louis, Marciano, Patterson, Ali, George Foreman, Joe Frazier, Mi

Joe “The Jet” Perry was once the NFL’s all-time leading rusher, and until 2011 was the all-time leading rusher in the history of the San Francisco 49’ers. But never winning a championship and playing the shadow of the great Jim Brown has certainly affected the legacy of Joe Perry. Perry said no to a larger offer to play for the Los Angeles Rams of the NFL in 1948 and instead signed for nearly less than half what the Rams were officering to play in the All America Football Conference (AAFC) and the Niners. In his second year with the team, he led the AAFC in rushing. The AAFC folded after the 1949 season and San Francisco joined the NFL. The crossover to the NFL didn’t slow Perry down and he became the first running back in NFL history to gain 1,000-yards or more in back-to-back seasons when he rushed for 1,018 yards in 1953 and 1,049 yards in 1954. Perry had to share the backfield with other such stars as Hugh McElhenny and John Henry Johnson – and that certainly played an effect on Perry’s career totals. Sti

A star at Cal-Berkley, Joe Kapp led the Bears to a Rose Bowl victory and was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the 18th round of the 1959 NFL Draft. However, Washington and Kapp squabbled over terms, and Kapp decided to take his game north to the Canadian Football League and the Calgary Stampeders. After spending two years with Calgary, Kapp was traded to the British Columbia Lions (in 1961) and led them to a Grey Cup Championship in 1964. But winning in Canada wasn’t enough for Kapp. A native of New Mexico, he wanted to play in the U.S. and after the 1966 season made his intentions known. Somehow, some way, Jim Finks, the General Manager of the Minnesota Vikings engineered an incredible trade, and tricky transaction that involved trading players, waiving players and four teams: the Vikings, the expansion New Orleans Saints, the CFL’s BC Lions and Toronto Argonauts. But the move paid off for the Vikings and in just three years, Kapp led Minnesota to an NFL Championship. But … his career in Minnesota was s

Duke Slater is not a common name amongst football fans, but it should be. While he played in the NFL prior to what we know it as now, Slater was still one of the greatest to ever play the game, particularly as a lineman. In fact, when the great Red Grange was asked to name the greatest players of all time (up until that point), Grange did not name himself as one of the greats. In fact, he named 13 players, 12 of whom wound up in the Hall of Fame. The only one who didn’t was Duke Slater. Somewhat a victim of circumstance, all of the voters said Slater should be in, but they always voted for other players and ultimately Slater fell by the wayside. Perhaps, one day he will be enshrined. And why not, it would take some teams as many as 3 or 4 players to block Slater. He started 96 of a possible 99 games. He played every second of 90 of those games. Every second! That’s offense, defense and special teams. In a college game against Notre Dame, a photo of Slater, who played for Iowa, was taken that showed him holdin

On July 12, 1910, New York Evening Mail reporter Franklin Pierce Adams filed his article after a game between the Chicago Cubs and New York Giants. Little did he or anyone know it would become one of the most famous pieces of work to ever be written about baseball, a little poem in which he proclaimed, “These are the saddest possible words, Tinker to Evers to Chance”. Those three, Tinker, Evers and Chance just might be the most famous double-play combination in MLB history and on this edition of Sports’ Forgotten Heroes we take a look back at who these the Hall of Fame baseball players were. Sure, many know the names Tinker and Evers and Chance, but very few know their first names or anything else about them with the exception that Adams wrote about them. Who were they? Just how good were they? How good was the team they played for, the Chicago Cubs? Hint, they put together the greatest stretch of baseball ever recorded. Author David Rapp who wrote the book, “Tinker to Evers to Chance,” and author Dennis Snel

Bob Allison was one of the best players for the Minnesota Twins during the 1960s. The Twins moved to Minnesota from Washington, D.C. for the 1961 season. However, before getting to Minnesota, Allison won the Rookie of the Year for Washington (known as the Senators) in 1959 by clubbing 30 Home Runs and knocking in 85 and batting .261. After the team moved to Minnesota is when Allison did most of his damage and, in fact, during the stretch of 1961 through 1964, Allison averaged 29 Home Runs a year. But, playing in the shadow of the great Harmon Killebrew and alongside such stars as Tony Oliva, Jim Kaat and Rod Carew certainly affected Bob Allison's popularity - especially outside of Minnesota. But inside the game, everyone knew who Bob Allison was, and he was not an easy out for opposing pitchers. He also possessed speed and that helped him track down fly balls others couldn't get to. In fact, Minnesota Twins fans voted Bob Allison the team's greatest left fielder during its first 25 years of existence. Joining

Not only is Lefty O’Doul one of baseball’s forgotten heroes, he is actually one of America’s forgotten heroes as well. In fact, General Douglas MacArthur said what O’Doul did after World War II to help ease tensions between the U.S. and Japan was one of the greatest acts of diplomacy in the history of the U.S. O’Doul is one of the greatest hitters in the history of baseball as his .349 career batting average can attest to as it’s the 4th highest ever, his 1929 season is one of the greatest ever – a .398 average and an NL record 254 hits. But O’Doul wanted to make it as a pitcher and he wasted away on the bench of the New York Yankees and later the Boston Red Sox while trying to figure out how to get Major League hitters out. In the minors with the San Francisco Seals of the PCL, he met with great success as a pitcher. But it just didn’t translate to the majors. Finally, O’Doul took the advice of the Salt Lake City Bees, a team he played for in the mid 1920s and focused solely on hitting. When he finally got c

Sal “The Barber” Maglie enjoyed a terrific career going 119-62 over 10 years. But from 1950 through 1954 he was as dominant as anyone in the game. Given the nickname “The Barber” because of how he approached hitters and his game-day stubble, Maglie blossomed at the age of 33 after having spent time in the Mexican League and learning under the tutelage of former Major League pitcher Dolf Luque. Maglie, who was a star for the New York Giants, is the last player to play for the Giants, Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Yankees. He also played in three of the most famous games in baseball history: the 1951 playoff in which Bobby Thomson hit the famous “shot heard ‘round the world”; the 1954 World Series game in which Willie Mays made his famous catch; and he was the opposing pitcher to Don Larsen in Larsen’s perfect game in the 1956 World Series. Peter Gordon, a longtime member of SABR, joins the podcast to talk about the terrific career of Sal “The Barber” Maglie. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forg

Kiki Cuyler was elected to the baseball Hall of Fame in 1968, but so few can recall his career – and what a career it was! Cuyler, whose birth name is Hazen Shirley Cuyler, made it to the big leagues for good in 1924 and hit .354 for the Pittsburgh Pirates. In 1925, Cuyler upped his average to .357 and set two records that still stand today for Pittburgh, most runs scored in a season with 144, and 369 total bases. But, after just four years a World Series Championship in 1925 and a second trip to the World Series in 1927 (although he didn’t play), Cuyler had worn out his welcome with the Pirates for a myriad of reasons. So, the Pirates shipped him to the Chicago Cubs whom Cuyler helped lead to World Series appearances in 1929 and 1931. Although the Cubs came up empty-handed, it wasn’t for a lack of Cuyler’s contribution to the team. In fact, in 1929, Cuyler hit .360 for the Cubs and for his career with Chicago, hit .325. Yet, again, despite leading the Cubs to two World Series appearances and leading the Pira

Lyman Bostock was a Major League Baseball player on the rise. During the first 3 ½ years of his career with the Minnesota Twins and California Angels, Lyman hit .311 with a high of .336 in 1977. He had just signed a free agent contract with the Angels, a team that was on the rise and hoping to win a championship with Bostock at the center of things. But it wasn’t to be. In a horrible case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time, Bostock was tragically gunned down after a night out with family and friends in his hometown of Gary, Indiana while the Angels were in Chicago for a series against the White Sox. As one could imagine, the baseball world was left in shock. The real tragedy, however, just might have been the fact that Bostock was not only lost to baseball, his family and the Angels, but the charities he supported would no longer benefit from his life. Author K. Adam Powell who penned the book, ““Lyman Bostock, The Inspiring Life and Tragic Death of A Ballplayer,” joins the podcast for a terrific l

Ralph Guldahl joined the PGA TOUR in 1931, walked away from the game in 1934, rejoined the TOUR in 1935, and retired from the game for good in 1940. But in between, he was absolutely phenomenal. During his time on TOUR he won 16 tournaments including three Majors – the 1937 and 1938 U.S. Open and the 1939 Masters. He also won the Western Open in 1936, 1937 and 1938 when the Western was thought of as a Major too. In all, Ralph won 16 times on the TOUR and was named to three Ryder Cup teams. The great Sam Snead once said of Ralph, “If Guldahl gave someone a blood transfusion, the patient would freeze to death,” … that’s how cool and even-keeled Ralph was on the golf course. Tony Parker, golf historian from the World Golf Hall of Fame and Museum joins the podcast to talk about the forgotten career of Ralph Guldahl. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter ©2018 Sports' Forgotten Heroes

One of the most flamboyant soccer players to ever play here in the U.S. was Giorgio Chinaglia. He was a star on a team filled with some of the world’s best, the New York Cosmos. He played with Pele, Beckenbauer, Alberto and so many others. And while he might not have been as skilled as them, the one thing he did better than anyone was score goals. In fact, he was, for lack of a better term, a goal-scoring machine. In 213 games in the NASL, America’s premier soccer league before the MLS, Chinaglia scored 193 goals. He led the Cosmos to four championships in five appearances. He once scored seven (7) goals in one game. And, while New Yorker’s loved him, many opponents – and their fans – despised him. He was a star in a city filled with stars at a time when the likes of Reggie Jackson ruled the roost. Before he came to New York, his career in Italy and elsewhere was anything but rosy. Kartik Krishnaiyer from World Soccer Talk returns to SFH to take a look back at one of the most polarizing players in the history

Dolph Schayes played in the NBA for 15 years, and when he retired he was the league’s all-time leading scorer and all-time leading rebounder. Yet, many basketball fans don’t recall Schayes at all, or mistake him for his son, Danny, who spent 20-years in the NBA. Why do so many not recall Dolph? Perhaps it’s because he spent 14 of his 15 years playing for a team that no longer exists, the Syracuse Nationals. And, Syracuse was good. In fact, the Nats made the playoffs every year Dolph was there and won the NBA Championship in 1954-55. But, putting fannies in the seats was always an issue for this team and after the 1962-63 season they moved t Philadelphia and became the 76’ers. That first year in Philly was not easy and Dolph actually served as the team’s player/coach. After an unsuccessful first season, Dolph retired as a player to solely concentrate on coaching, and while he won 129 games and lost just 111, after three years he was let go. Dolph resurfaced years later as the coach of the Buffalo Braves (now t

The story of Gottfried von Cramm is truly remarkable. While most have probably never heard of him, von Cramm was once the No. 1 ranked tennis player in the world. A German, von Cramm played during the time Adolf Hitler was rising to power; and while most Germans knew what Hitler was about and was about to do, the rest of the world had no idea. On this episode of SFH we take a look back at the career and life of Gottfried von Cramm and concentrate on one match in particular, a 1938 Davis Cup Final match between he and Don Budge that was played on center-court at Wimbledon just two weeks after the Wimbledon Championships. The pressure on von Cramm was enormous. Not only was he German, but he was Jewish and homosexual. If he won, all would be ok. A loss, however, and he would have to face the gestapo and possibly Hitler himself – and who knows what would happen after that encounter. Marshall Jon Fisher returns to SFH for this podcast. Author of the book, “A Terrible Splendor,” Fisher talks about the match, those

Urban Shocker was regarded by many as the best pitcher of his time. In fact, Babe Ruth said he was the best pitcher he faced. Other pitchers said that Urban was the best. Writers of the day, such as Damon Runyon, and others called Urban the best too. He started his career with the New York Yankees was traded to the St. Louis Browns and then several years later, the Yankees reacquired him. He was the one player of whom the Yankees said they made a mistake in trading. Over the course of his career he won 187 games. Yet, so few have ever heard of Urban Shocker. He played from 1916 through 1928 – and it was towards the end of the 1928 season in which Shocker succumbed to mitral valve failure, a condition he was able to hide from his teammates and his wife. He struggled with this condition for the last half of his career, and despite it, he was still baffling hitters with a variety of pitches. Steve Steinberg, author of “Urban Shocker, Silent Hero of Baseball’s Golden Age,” joins SFH to talk about Urban, how revol

Roberto DeVicenzo won 231 golf tournaments around the world, and that includes the 1967 British Open. But it was his signing of an incorrect scorecard after the 4th round of the 1968 Masters for which he is most remembered. That “little” gaffe cost DeVicenzo an opportunity to win a second straight major, and one of golf’s most cherished tournaments. Instead of squaring off against Bob Goalby in an 18-hole playoff for the Green Jacket, DeVicenzo could only say, “What a stupid I am.” Golf historian and former host of Golf Talk Live, Peter Kessler, is our special guest as we recall the events of that day, what happened, how it affected DeVicenzo, Goalby and the man who wrote down the wrong score, Tommie Aaron … and we also examine the forgotten career of Roberto DeVicenzo. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter ©2018 Sports' Forgotten Heroes  

Gene Conley did something no other athlete before him or who played after him ever accomplished – win a championship in two of the major four sports we follow (MLB, NFL, NBA, NHL). Not Deion Sanders, not Bo Jackson, no one. Conley won the World Series with the Milwaukee Braves in 1957 and came off the bench to help the Boston Celtics win NBA championships in 1959, 1960 and 1961. On this edition of the Sports’ Forgotten Heroes, John Husman, team historian of the Toledo Mud Hens (a team that Conley played for prior to being called up to the Braves), a member of SABR and a long-time friend of Conley’s joins the podcast to talk about his old friend and his great career. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter ©2018 Sports' Forgotten Heroes

Vic Hadfield was the first man to score 50 goals in a season for the New York Rangers. Named captain of a team that included the likes of Jean Ratelle, Brad park and Rod Gilbert, some say Hadfield just might have also been the heart and soul of the team. When Hadfield was placed on the No. 1 line to protect Ratelle and Gilbert the Rangers took off, and that line was quickly nicknamed the “GAG Line” as in a goal-a-game … and sometimes the “TAG Line” because it would go on streaks of two-goals-a-game. The author of the book, “We Did Everything But Win,” George Grimm joins host Warren Rogan for a look back at the career of Vic Hadfield. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter ©2018 Sports' Forgotten Heroes  

Dave DeBusschere was, simply stated, remarkable. A world class two-sport star who was raised just outside of Detroit, DeBusschere was a stud pitcher and an even better basketball player. Taken by the Detroit Pistons in the NBA’s territorial draft, he was also selected by the Chicago White Sox … and he played professionally for both teams. On the hardwood, DeBusschere quickly established himself as one of the NBA’s premier forwards. For the White Sox, however, he bounced back-and-forth between the minors and the majors. The Pistons, though, knew he was something special and to convince him to forego his career as a Major League pitcher, Detroit named DeBusschere player/coach when he was just 24-years old! Bill Pruden, who has written several biographies for SABR (Society for American Baseball Research) including a bio on DeBusschere is this week’s guest as we look back on a simply remarkable career. Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter

One of just four former Green Bay Packers to be immortalized with a statue, Johnny “Blood” McNally is also a member of the inaugural class of the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Along with such legends as Bronko Nagurski, Ernie Nevers, Jim Thorpe, Sammy Baugh, George Halas, Tim Mara and Don Hutson, Johnny was inducted into the Hall in 1963. One of the toughest players to tackle, Johnny still holds the record for most touchdowns caught in one season by a halfback. Ralph Hickok, who wrote the book, “Vagabond Halfback, The Saga of Johnny Blood McNally,” after spending three years on the road with Johnny to write this biography, shares great stories with us about Johnny, including how he got the name “Blood”.   Links: Sports' Forgotten Heroes website Sports' Forgotten Heroes Patreon Page Sports' Forgotten Heroes twitter ©2018 Sports' Forgotten Heroes