The Legend of Ray Caldwell- When men were Men!

My nephew Marc Solis is a tortured but fanatical soul of all things Cleveland. Forget that fact that there has been one championship team from Cleveland in about 190 years. He gears up every year for the Cleveland Browns, Cavaliers and Indians with the insatiable hope that this could be the year to break the latest curse or streak on the city’s sports team. He recently brought to my attention the legend of Ray Caldwell, a Cleveland Indians pitcher from the early 1900’s who played for the Indians. I read his post and doubted it as nothing more than a legend but after researching, the kid was right! Ray Caldwell was stuck by lightning in his first major league start while on the mound. Unlike today’s baseball pitchers who leave the game over a blister, stiffness in their leg or a head cold, Ray Caldwell stood up, shook it off and finished the game. That was not a misprint: the guy was struck by lightning and after a brief delay, continued pitching!!

There was once a time when men were MEN. You played with pain, discomfort or a blister on your pinky. Today, these pitchers are so babied by teams I almost wonder if they drink their Gatorade out of a Sippy cup to make sure they don’t spill some on their nice white uniform. Last week a pitcher for the Angels had a no hitter going late in the game but despite that, the analytical age manager pulled him for a relief pitcher. Last night the same thing happened for the Tampa Devil Rays. Pitcher Ryne Stanek had a PERFECT game going but was pulled in the 9th inning for some analytical reason and his replacement gave up 2 hits and a run. In what world does a pitcher who has been PERFECT get pulled? Quite frankly, if I was the pitcher I would have refused to leave the game and told my manager to go pound sand. The number of pitchers used in today’s baseball games has basically ensured that nobody in today’s modern game will ever reach the 300 win plateau that was always rarified air.

My NY Mets are once again on the trash heap (I know, between my Knicks, Jets and Mets I should not be knocking Cleveland) and the major reason is a manager who takes perhaps the best pitching staff in baseball out of games too early. Game after game they “manage pitch counts” for fear of causing an injury or over using him. Uhmm, RAY CALDWELL GOT STURCK BY LIGHTNING AND DIDN’T LEAVE THE GAME!!!! The Mets have blown 30 late game leads because the manager continues to take out a starting pitcher that is cruising along with a lead and insert relief pitchers that get lit up. The complete baby treatment has gotten out of control with some teams. Injuries are part of all sports and trying to prevent it by not having them play their sport is like trying to avoid a car accident by never driving in your life. We have these phenomenal athletes that dwarf the pitchers athletically of yesteryear, but refuse to pitch more than a few innings every 5 days. In 1973 White Sox pitcher Wilber Wood (24-20 in ’73) once started both games of a doubleheader, the last pitcher to do so. Unfortunately he lost both games. There was once a time when pitchers didn’t even have rest between games and many of them would pitch and then play another position the next day. A quick look at the all time career wins list is very sobering. There are literally no active players with any chance to break the 300 victories window due to being pulled after a few innings. Years ago pitchers were pulled because they were tired or losing control. Today they are pulled strictly for pitch count after a few flawless innings for fear of injury. All I can say is RAY CALDWELL GOT STRUCK BY FRICKEN LIGHTNING AND DIDN’T COME OUT OF THE GAME!!!!!! I’m sorry, but if that didn’t warrant being pulled from the game, don’t tell me a pitcher with a no hitter can’t keep pitching. Thank you Ray for reminding us of a time when men were MEN!

-BSB