Results tagged ‘ Cedar Rapids Indians ’
This date in Kernels alumni history – September 27, 1946 – Pat Seerey
On September 27, 1946, Pat Seerey (Cedar Rapids Raiders – 1942) went 2-4 at the plate with a pair of HR and 4 RBI as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 9-8 at Briggs Stadium.
Pat Seerey is one of only 16 major league players to hit four home runs in a game (July 18, 1948). Seerey went 4-6 at the plate with 4 HR, 7 RBI and a walk as the Chicago White Sox defeated the Philadelphia Athletics 12-11. Rocky Colavito (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1952) is also among the 16 players to accomplish the feat.
Pat Seerey hit .224 with 86 HR and 261 RBI during his seven year MLB career playing for the Cleveland Indians and the Chicago White Sox.
Pat Seerey was a member of the 1942 Cedar Rapids Raiders team that finished with a mark of 74-43 and won the Three-I League Championship under manager Ollie Marquardt. The Raiders defeated Evansville in the 1st round of the playoffs and then took down Madison in the Championship series. Seerey hit .302 with 33 HR in 117 games for Cedar Rapids that season.
This date in Kernels alumni history – September 24, 1955 – Rocky Colavito
On September 24, 1955, Rocky Colavito (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1952) went 4-4 with a pair of doubles and scored two runs as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 7-0 at Briggs Stadium during his rookie season. It was the first of the 17 times where Colavito would collect four or more hits in a game during his career.
Colavito hit .266 in his 14 year career playing for the Indians, Tigers, Athletics, White Sox, Dodgers and Yankees. Hitting all but three of his 374 career home runs in the AL, he ranked behind only Jimmie Foxx (524) and Harmon Killebrew (then at 397) among the league’s right-handed hitters when he retired. Colavito finished his career with 1159 RBI.
Rocky Colavito was part of the 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians team that finished in 8th with a record of 53-71 under manager Jimmy Bloodworth. Colavito hit .170 with 8 HR in 94 at bats for the Cedar Rapids Indians.
This date in Kernels alumni history – September 18, 1954 – Ray Narleski
On September 18, 1954, Ray Narleski (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1950) worked 2 1/3 scoreless innings of relief to earn the 12th save of his rookie season as the Cleveland Indians defeated the Detroit Tigers 3-2 at Briggs Stadium. Narleski struck out two batters while allowing one hit.
Ray Narleski posted a 43-33 mark with a 3.60 ERA during his six year MLB career playing for the Cleveland Indians and Detroit Tigers. The two-time all-star led the American League with 19 saves and 60 appearance in 1955 while recording a 9-1 mark. Narleski finished his career with 58 saves and 17 complete games.
Ray Narleski was a member of the 1950 Cedar Rapids Indians squad that posted a 59-67 record under manager Billy Jurges. Narleski was 9-5 with a 3.57 ERA in 17 games playing in Cedar Rapids.
This date in Kernels alumni history – September 18, 1958 – Bud Daley
On September 18, 1958, Bud Daley (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1952) pitched a complete game to lead the Kansas City Athletics to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox at Municipal Stadium. Daley struck out four while allowing one run on five hits and a walk in the game.
Bud Daley was 60-64 with an ERA of 4.03 during his ten year career with the Indians, Athletics and Yankees. He tallied 25 complete games during the 1959 and 1960 seasons for the Athletics including three shutouts.
Daley was 14-9 with a 3.09 ERA for the 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians. He struck out 198 batters in 227 innings of work that season as the Indians finished 53-71.
This Date in Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball – June 16, 1954 – Art Pennington HR, CR 10, Peoria 9
This full article was written by Gus Schrader and was published in the June 17, 1954 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It contained coverage of a Three-I League game against the Peoria Chiefs held on June 16, 1954. The 1954 Cedar Rapids Indians featured three players who played in Major League baseball either before or after their time in Cedar Rapids (Bob Anderson, Dick Drott and Al Unser). Art Pennington, a long-time resident of Cedar Rapids, also played for the 1953 and 1954 squads. Pennington hit .345 with 16 HR to win the Three-I League batting title in 1954. He had played for the Chicago American Giants and the Birmingham Black Barons in the Negro Leagues between 1941-45.
Special to the Gazette, Peoria, Ill.
5 C.R. Homers for 3rd in Row!
Nothing like Woodruff field in Peoria to accomplish miracles for the Cedar Rapids Indians. Cedar Rapids clubbed out five home runs for the third time in four games here this season as the Indians defeated Peoria, 10-9, in a 10-inning thriller Wednesday night. It was the first time this season that Cedar Rapids has won as many as three games in a row.
The thing that crushed a crowd of 1,320 was that Peoria blew a 7-0 lead in the game. The Chiefs earned this edge in the second inning at the expense of the Indians top pitcher Len McClure. Big Ed Funai checked the Peoria sluggers the rest of the way until the 10th, while his mates were busy chopping homers off two Peoria pitchers.
In the 10th, Art Pennington drilled his ninth homer of the year over the 370-foot centerfield fence with no one aboard. Then, after Earl Birnel walked, Benny Kozub smashed the Indians fifth homer over the high screen on the 285-foot right field fence.
That was Kozub’s first homer for the Indians in the parts of two seasons he has played for Cedar Rapids. Turned out the Indians needed Kozub’s homer too, as Funai finally weakened in the last of the tenth and Peoria scored two runs off him before Ray Coombs rushed in to bring about the final out.
The teams will go at it again tonight at 8 in the second game of the series. Elio Scarpa, Peoria’s leading pitcher, looked like a cinch to grab his eighth victory of the season as his mates presented hime with a seven-run margin in a big second inning uprising against McClure.
A Cedar Rapids outfield error combined with singles by Bob Rand, Gene Faszholz, Jim McClung, Scarpa, Mike Trapani and a grand slam homer over the left field fence by Bob Kosis supplied the punch. Funai came in to pitch to Rand on his second appearance in the inning and that was the end of the Peoria scoring until the 10th inning.
Scarpa ran into home run trouble in the third when Funai belted the ball over the right field fence with one on and Bill Beery dumped one in the same sector. The ejection of catcher Percy Hough after a dispute with umpire Dick Gustavo and an injury to Emil Borgini in that inning brought Don Lauters in to catch, sent Art Pennington to right field and put ailing John Kreuter on first.
Funai quieted the Peoria bats with just four blows through the ninth and his cohorts tied the score in the seventh when Kreuter and Funai singled ahead of Beery’s second home run blast. In the 10th then, Pennington batting right handed against southpaw John Balay, hammered the ball over the center field fence with one out. Balay walked Earl Birnel and Kozub gave Bill Prince’s outfit the payoff runs with a four base punch to right.
Th Chiefs gave it a try in their half of the frame as Bob Vogel singled for Balay to lead off. Sam Goody bunted for a base hit but it turned out to be only a sacrifice. Tucker dragged the ball past the pitcher for a hit and Trapani’s hard shot to Olczak in left scored Vogel from third. Bob Shawver’s single drove Tucker across after the Peoria outfielder swiped second.
Coombs then replaced Funai and ended the game by making Kosis pop to Ray Bellino at short. Funai had good stuff until the 10th, striking out eight and walking five. Balay gave up not a hit after taking over in the seventh until the 10th when Pennington connected for his homer.
Gus Mancuso, former Cardinals catcher and now an ivory hunter for the Redbirds, viewed Wednesday night’s contest as the start of quite a tour which will take him to five of six of the Cardinal farms in the higher classifications.
Averaging 4 Homers a Game at Peoria
Man, those Cedar Rapids Indians love that Peoria baseball park more than Art Pennington loves southern fried chicken! If you’re in a mood for devouring some simple statistics, look at what the Indians have done in their four games at Peoria so far.
In four games, they have clubbed 61 hits, scored 51 runs and poled 16 home runs. Cedar Rapids has won three of the games there by scores of 18-12, 18-10 and 10-9 while Peoria won the other game 8-5. If the Indians could stay at Peoria all season they would win the pennant at that rate and break every known hitting record.
Art Pennington has blasted four homers in four games there. Johnny Olczak, Bill Beery and Ray Bellino have hit two each and Earl Birnel, West Westfall, Percy Hough, Don Lauters, Ed Funai and Ben Kozub each one.
The remarkable thing about Wednesday night’s 10-9 win at Peoria was the way the Indians came back from a 7-0 deficit with a patched up crippled up lineup. When the Indians left home, Manager Bill Prince said he intended to rest first baseman John Kreuter for several days to allow his severe charlie horse a chance to heal.
But then Percy Hough got himself kicked out by umpire Dick Gustavo and Prince had to use Emil Borgini, the catcher who has been on the shelf with a convalescent eye and a pulled side muscle. Borgini discovered he couldn’t swing it, and that brought about an emergency situation.
Don Lauters solved it by taking up the tools of ignorance and catching the rest of the way without so much as a passed ball. Although, Lauters hadn’t caught previously this season, it wasn’t exactly new. He played all nine positions last year for Albuquerque.
So the limping Kreuter went to first base , sending Pennington back to right field. And that’s the shape the Indians were in when they came in on a wing and a prayer with that 10-inning victory, their third in a row.
The failure of Borgini to make it means the Indians need catching reinforcement badly. Some have been hoping that Jim Fanning might be sent here from the Beaumont club, but the 1953 Indians star apparently is going too well for such a change.
The Cubs have signed a highly regarded right handed pitcher named Richard Drott of Cincinnati, and he is to be sent here on option from the Beaumont club. The kid got quite a bonus for signing.
Transcribed from the digital archives of the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
This Date in Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball – June 11, 1952 – Rocky Colavito’s Final C.R. HR
This full article was written by Gus Schrader and was published in the June 12, 1952 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It contained coverage of a Three-I League game against the Davenport Tigers held on June 11, 1952. The 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians featured six players who played in Major League baseball either before or after their time in Cedar Rapids (Orie Arntzen, Jimmy Bloodworth, Rocky Colavito, Bud Daley, Billy Harrell and Dolan Nichols). Al Smith, a long-time member of the Cedar Rapids baseball board of directors, also played for the 1952 squad. Colavito’s HR in this game was his last he would hit in Cedar Rapids.
3 Points from 3rd, C.R. Hits Road
The rich are getting poorer and the poor are getting richer in the Three-I League. The top two clubs were dealt the old equalizer again Wednesday night, Evansville dropping a 7-0 loss at Burlington and Cedar Rapids giving away another chunk of charity to slowly reviving Davenport, 10-5.
Cedar Rapids now is in a virtual tie with Keokuk for second place, leading the Kernels by three percentage points. Evansville, which maintained its three-game lead over the Indians, has managed only three hits each of the last two nights.
But recent games have been especially hard on the Indians. Playing at home in eight games, they won only three and lost five against three second division foes. It was a golden chance to gain on Evansville which now returns home for 10 games.
What makes it worse for the Indians, the sweet pitching and fielding that carried them to the top of the league early in the campaign have suddenly soured. The hitting has improved but not enough to top foes who are collecting 14, 12 and 10 runs a game. The Indians pitchers have had trouble getting the side out, but the blame is not all theirs. In the 12-6 and 10-5 losses of the last two nights, 15 of the 22 Davenport runs have been unearned.
The Indians took the bus Thursday with their agile first baseman, Al Smith, crippled up with an injury to the Achilles tendon in his left foot. Smith was hurt when he stamped down on the first base bag in the fifth inning. he refused to leave the game until the inning was over and the foot started to swell.
It was the same type of injury that benched Smith part of last season. He left Thursday morning on the long (13 days) road trip, but it was certain Smith would miss at least several games.
Wednesday night the Indians gave Davenport six undeserved tallies and bowed to Ewell Utley’s seven-hit pitching despite solid home runs by Rocky Colavito and Mickey Finn. Charlie Bradshaw started and looked like a long lost relative to the Tigers. He gave up 10 hits before manager Jimmy Bloodworth brought in Wally Harr during Davenport’s five-run seventh. Harr got only one man out before Daley came in to finish up.
To the Indians offense goes the credit of catching the Tigers for a 4-4 tie after trailing by 4-1. They did this in the sixth, mainly on doubles by Maley Truss and Finn and shortstop Charlie Moore’s boot. But the enjoyment was short lived for the 1,457 fans. Davenport went out ahead, 9-4, and added another tally in the eighth, also unearned on a low throw to third by Bob Wortman, the catcher who was filling in for the injured Smith.
Colavito hit his eighth homer of the year (he now has five other hits) in the fifth with no one aboard. It left the park by way of the 340-foot spot in left field. Finn’s fifth circuit wallop also was a solo trip. He poled his over the deepest part of the outfield fence, more than 370 feet from home plate in center field.
Bud Stone homered for the Tigers and it also was a one-run blow, leading off the sixth inning. It traveled 350 feet. Keith Jones continued to steal hits from the Indians in center field. He went back to the 370-foot mark to haul down one of Truss’ drives in the fourth, but Truss poked a double over Jones’ reach in the same spot two innings later.
Finn’s two wallops in four trips hiked his average to .275, the highest point of the campaign.
The total adult paid admissions for the first 21 Indian home openings is 41,355, an average of 1,969. That does not include 1,831 ladies and others admitted for the 30-cent ticket, nor the Knotholer”s and other free admissions. The Indians have been rained out six times at home, with one game made up in a doubleheader.
Transcribed from the digital archives of the Cedar Rapids Public Library.
This Date in Cedar Rapids Professional Baseball – June 3, 1952 – Burlington 1, Cedar Rapids 0
This full article was written by Gus Schrader and was published in the June 4, 1952 edition of the Cedar Rapids Gazette. It contained coverage of a Three-I League game against the Burlington Flints held on June 3, 1952. The 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians featured six players who played in Major League baseball either before or after their time in Cedar Rapids (Orie Arntzen, Jimmy Bloodworth, Rocky Colavito, Bud Daley, Billy Harrell and Dolan Nichols). Al Smith, a long-time member of the Cedar Rapids baseball board of directors, also played for the 1952 squad. Chuck Harmon of the Burlington Flints is mentioned in the article. He went on to become the first African American to appear in a MLB game for the Cincinnati Reds on April 17, 1954.
Three Games Behind, Indians Use Daley Tonight
Weather permitting, the Cedar Rapids Indians will lead with their ace tonight in an attempt to pull back within hailing distance of the Three-I League lead. Bud Daley, whose southpaw hooks have earned him a 6-2 record will face Burlington’s Dick Schoonover (2-2) in the second game of a projected nine-game home stand.
The Indian mound staff is a little worse for recent wear, although you wouldn’t have known it by the fine pitching job provided Tuesday night by Jackie Bowes and Wally Harr. Daley will be pitching despite a heavy cold and the fact he hurled 4 2/3 innings of fine relief ball Monday night at Burlington.
It was the lack of clutch hitting that permitted Burlington to take a 1-0 win Monday night, although outhit by the Indians, 6 to 3. The Indians even bunched two of their hits in one inning on two different occasions, but couldn’t score off Ed James, Flints right-hander who hurled for Tulsa in the Texas League earlier this year.
Perhaps the Indians can receive inspiration tonight from a band of real Indians. Ten original Americans from the Tama Indians settlement will stage a war dance around home plate at 7:30 tonight, so maybe the Cedar Rapids Tribe will be encouragedto more war-like gestures with the baseball bat after the game starts.
As it was Monday night, about the most damage they could do with the offerings of James was a lusty foul ball by Al Smith that scored a loud direct hit on a light bulb above the grandstand.
In fact, James had the Indians popping up all night as he hung up his fifth straight win since entering the league. He even pinned the horsecollar on manager Jimmy Bloodworth, the Three-I’s top batter, in four trips.The final time was the most painful for 1,652 Indian fans. Bloodworth came to bat in the ninth with two out, the tying run at third and the winning run at first. But the best he could do against James’ careful chucking was a lazy fly ball to left field.
James fanned six and walked only one in getting the shutout. Mickey Finn, continuing the solid hitting he demonstrated Monday night at Burlington, got two singles and Jim Fishback raised his bat average to .330 with two others.
Bowes pitched well enough to win almost any game. The Flints put the barb into him for their only run in the fourth. Chuck Harmon, the professional basketball player who holds down third base for Burlington, led off with a double down the left field line. With one out, Hy Prosk poked a single down the middle for the game’s only RBI.
Aside from that, the only hit off Bowes was Cotton Chafin’s single in the sixth. Chafin was rubbed out trying to steal, as was Hal Treinen, who walked in the ninth. Bowes fanned six and walked two. Harr hurled the ninth without incident after Rocky Colavito had batted for Bowes in the eighth.
The game was played without error, and it was a quickie; an hour and 53 minutes. James faces only 27 Indians in the first eight innings – three over the minimum – and Bowes pitched to only 28 Flints in the same span.
Cy Slapnicka, long-time Cleveland scout, was a spectator at the game, watching the first home appearance of the outfielder he recently signed for the Indians – Bob Diers of Nebraska U.
Diers didn’t show a great deal, as he fanned twice and hit into a double play in three trips before being lifted for a pinch hitter. Slap expressed confidence that Diers would come along better after he had the feel of things.
“Bob has been cramming for exams the last couple of weeks so he could graduate,” said Slap, “and he hasn’t been playing ball. Give him a couple of weeks and he’ll come around in good shape. This boy is big, powerful and fast. He’s bound to make the grade.”
Burlington (1) AB H O A
Chafin, LF 4 1 4 0
Harmon, 3B 4 1 2 2
Treinen, CF 2 0 2 0
Prosk, 2B 3 1 2 2
Dotterer, C 2 0 7 1
Raehse, 1B 3 0 7 0
Lucas, RF 3 0 2 0
Peterson, SS 3 0 1 0
James, P 3 0 0 0
Totals 29 3 27 7
Cedar Rapids (0) AB H O A
Harris, SS 4 1 1 3
Smith, 1B 3 1 5 1
Diers, RF 3 0 2 0
Wortman, PH 1 0 0 0
Finn, LF 4 2 3 0
Bloodworth, 3B 4 0 1 0
Truss, LF 3 0 1 0
Fishback, 2B 3 2 6 1
Radley, C 3 0 8 2
Bowes, P 2 0 0 0
Colavito, PH 1 0 0 0
Harr, P 0 0 0 0
Totals 31 6 27 7
Transcribed from the digital archives of the Cedar Rapids Public Library
Josh Hamilton joins Pat Seerey (1942) and Rocky Colavito (1952) and 13 others with 4 HR in a single game.
Josh Hamilton hit his fourth HR of the game off former Cedar Rapids Kernels Darren O’Day (2006) tonight to join 15 other players in the history of baseball who have slugged four HR in a single game including two who played minor league baseball here in Cedar Rapids, Pat Seerey (1942) and Rocky Colavito (1952).
Pat Seerey was a member of the 1942 Cedar Rapids Raiders team that finished with a mark of 74-43 and won the Three-I League Championship under manager Ollie Marquardt. The Raiders defeated Evansville in the 1st round of the playoffs and then took down Madison in the Championship series. Seerey hit .302 with 33 HR in 117 games for Cedar Rapids that season.
Rocky Colavito was part of the 1952 Cedar Rapids Indians team that finished in 8th with a record of 53-71 under manager Jimmy Bloodworth. Colavito hit .170 with 8 HR in 94 at bats for the Cedar Rapids Indians.
Players with four HR in a game
Bobby Lowe 5/30/1894
Ed Delahanty 7/13/1896
Lou Gehrig 6/3/1932
Chuck Klein 7/10/1936
Pat Seerey 7/18/1948
Gil Hodges 8/31/1950
Joe Adcock 7/31/1954
Rocky Colavito 6/10/1959
Willie Mays 4/30/1961
Mike Schmidt 4/17/1976
Bob Horner 7/6/1986
Mark Whiten 9/7/1993
Mike Cameron 5/2/2002
Shawn Green 5/23/2002
Carlos Delgado 9/25/2003
Josh Hamilton 5/8/2012
This date in Kernels alumni history – December 1, 1956 – Rocky Colavito
On December 1, 1956, Rocky Colavito (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1952) finished second in the American League Rookie of the Year voting to Luis Aparicio of the Chicago White Sox. Colavito finished the year hitting .276 with 21 HR and 65 RBI.
Chris Sabo (Cedar Rapids Reds – 1983) is the only former Cedar Rapids Alumni to win the National League Rookie of the Year award – 1988. Rocky Colavito (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1952) (American League 1956), Ron Hunt (Cedar Rapids Braves 1960-61) (National League 1963) and Mark Trumbo (Cedar Rapids Kernels – 2007-07) (American League (2011) are the only Rookie of the Year runner-ups in Cedar Rapids professional baseball alumni history.
Rookie of the Year Finishes by Cedar Rapids Alumni
Rocky Colavito 2nd AL 1956 Cedar Rapids Indians (1952)
Dick Drott 3rd NL 1957 Cedar Rapids Raiders (1954)
Ron Hunt 2nd NL 1963 Cedar Rapids Braves (1960-61)
Hector Cruz 3rd NL 1976 Cedar Rapids Cardinals (1970-72)
Chili Davis 4th NL 1982 Cedar Rapids Giants (1978)
Chris Sabo 1st NL 1988 Cedar Rapids Reds (1983)
Reggie Sanders 4th NL 1992 Cedar Rapids Reds (1990)
Bill Risley 4th AL 1994 Cedar Rapids Reds (1989-90)
Jason Dickson 3rd AL 1997 Cedar Rapids Kernels (1995)
Bengie Molina 4th AL 2000 Cedar Rapids Kernels (1994-95)
John Lackey 4th AL 2002 Cedar Rapids Kernels (2000)
Mark Trumbo 2nd AL 2011 Cedar Rapids Kernels (2006-07)
Jordan Walden 7th AL 2011 Cedar Rapids Kernels (2008)
This date in Kernels alumni history – November 28, 1956 – Kerby Farrell
On November 28, 1956, Kerby Farrell (Cedar Rapids Indians – 1951) was selected to replace Al Lopez as the Cleveland Indians manager. The Indians went 76-77 in 1957 in a season plagued by injuries. Farrell managed 22 seasons in the minors and was named the Sporting News minor league manager of the year three times, more than any other manager in history. He served as a scout for the Twins following his managing career and was a volunteer coach at Vanderbilt in 1975.
Kerby Farrell hit .262 with 55 RBI during his two season MLB career playing for the Boston Braves and the Chicago White Sox.
Kerby Farrell was the Cedar Rapids Indians player manager in 1951. He hit .286 while appearing in 19 games including three appearances on the mound where he went 1-0 with a 3.27 ERA. The Indians finished the year 64-66.
Seth Dohrn
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