In Baseball Lore, These Guys Might Just Go Toe-to-Toe

Angel pitcher Chuck Finley doesn’t look much like Dizzy Dean, has probably never said, “He slud into third,” and does not have a brother called Daffy.

But where have we heard this story before?

It was reported Wednesday that Finley threw off the mound and experienced no pain in his big left toe.

Finley, an 18-game winner last season, had surgery on the toe last December and aggravated it when he stumbled over first base in the Freeway Series.

Finley was put on the disabled list.

Gulp.

In the 1937 All-Star game, Dean, the great St. Louis Cardinal pitcher, was struck on the right big toe by Earl Averill’s line drive.

The rest is history. Dean came back too soon, changed his pitching motion to take the stress off his foot and was never the same pitcher.

Dean was 26 at the time of his injury.

Finley is 29.

Add Dean: There was some question whether Dean would show up for the 1937 All-Star game in Washington. Dean flew into town at the last minute, claiming he wanted to avoid the hot train ride from St. Louis.

Had Dean stayed home, some estimate he would have won 350 to 400 games in the big leagues. He won 120 games from 1932 to 1936 but only 30 more until his career ended in 1941.

Dean was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1953 with the fewest victories--150--of any pitcher inducted.

Last add Dean: In 1947, he came out of the broadcast booth, pitched four scoreless innings for the St. Louis Browns and got a hit in his only at-bat.

If the shoe fits . . . : Gerry Dulac writes in the Pittsburgh Press that a man approached former hockey star Gordie Howe in the 1970s and proudly displayed a pair of hockey skates he claimed had once been worn by Howe.

Looking at the skates, Howe noticed they were size 8 1/2.

Howe wore size 9 1/2.

“I felt so sorry for the guy,” Howe said.

Trivia time: What was Dizzy Dean’s real name?

Wake-up call: The Ohio Glory of pro football’s World League considered adopting the bald eagle as a mascot, but reconsidered when the World Bird Sanctuary of St. Louis objected.

An eagle did make an appearance at an early-season Glory news conference with handler Walter Crawford. The bird was perched near Coach Bill Belichick of the Cleveland Browns, a guest at the event.

When the eagle unexpectedly flapped his wings, Belichick almost fell off his chair.

“I thought he was stuffed,” Belichick said.

Trivia answer: Jay Hanna is listed in “The Baseball Encyclopedia,” although Dean also said it was Jerome Herman. Dean also claimed at various times to being born in Lucas, Ark.; Holdenville, Okla., and Bond, Miss.

Quotebook: Dizzy Dean, after brother Paul followed his three-hit shutout with a no-hitter in the second game of a 1934 doubleheader: “Shucks, if I’d knowed Paul was going to do that, I’da done it, too.”