Rob Ferrett takes a look at Hanukkah in American culture, heasr one guest’s case for why we shouldn’t shop on Thanksgiving, and looks at the life of Wausau baseball legend Johnny Schmitz.
Featured in this Show
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Tracing Wisconsin Baseball Star’s Unlucky Career
Johnny Schmitz just might have been the unluckiest Major League Baseball player in the history of the game.
While posting a solid career, the Wisconsin native missed out on playing in the World Series four different times.
“He was a good pitcher on bad teams,” said Jerald Podair, professor of American studies at Lawrence University.
Schmitz was born in Wausau in 1920, and made his debut in the major leagues at the age of 18, an unusual feat at the time. Also unusual was the fact that he batted right-handed, but pitched with his left hand. And his unusually large feet earned him a nickname that would stick with him for decades to come.
“He took a photograph when he was young, with his spikes up in the air,” Podair said. “And someone said, ‘My God, you’ve got these huge feet, they’re like bear tracks.’ So his nickname was Bear Tracks throughout his Major League career.”
Due to military service, Schmitz missed three baseball seasons in the 1940s, but remained on the Chicago Cubs roster. And that’s when his baseball luck started to go downhill.
In 1945, the Cubs went to the World Series, a year before Schmitz returned to the team. That would be the last pennant the Cubs would win, a fact that’s not lost on most Cubs fans.
After years of playing for subpar Cubs teams, Schmitz was traded to the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1951, who at the time of the trade, were in first place. Then, the Dodgers managed to blow a 13-and-a-half game lead in the pennant race and found themselves in a playoff with the New York Giants.
“And they lose on Bobby’s Thompson’s famous home run,” Podair said.
The following year, Schmitz was sold to the New York Yankees. That team would go on to win the World Series that year. However, in September, Schmitz was traded from the Yankees to the Reds, just missing out on the World Series.
However, there was hope; in the offseason that year, he was reacquired by the Yankees. And again, that Yankees team would go on to win the World Series. But again, without Schmitz. He was put on waivers and claimed by the Washington Senators. “
A team as far from the World Series as you can possibly be,” Podair said.
Schmitz played a few more seasons for mediocre teams before retiring and coming back to Wausau, where he remained until his death in 2011. Podair said Wausau was a place that definitely seemed to suit his personality.
“By all reports, he was very typical of Wisconsin,” Podair said. “He was a very modest man, an unassuming man. He played briefly in New York for the Dodgers and the Yankees, but he not a New York kind of personality.”
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Hanukkah in America
The first day of Hanukkah starts this year on Thanksgiving. Will you incorporate the two holidays? Hanukkah in America a History is a cultural look at the history of the holiday in America and we’ll be speaking with the author this segment. Join the conversation with your own cultural traditions.
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The Case Against Shopping On Thanksgiving
Many stores will be opening their doors this evening, getting a jump on the holiday shopping season. The president of the Work and Families Institute makes the case for not shopping on Thanksgiving.
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Wausau Baseball Legend Appears in Norman Rockwell Painting
In 1938, Johnny Schmitz hit the major leagues at the age of 18 and had some great years pitching for the Cubs. We’ll learn about Schmitz’ rather unusual career trajectory and how he came to be immortalized in an iconic American painting.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Chris Malina Producer
- KP Whaley Producer
- Diane Ashton Guest
- Ellen Galinsky Guest
- Jerald Podair Guest
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