Pat McGlothin at Smokies Park

Tuesday evening the Tennessee Smokies hosted the Pensacola Blue Wahoos.  The Smokies also honored Pat McGlothin.  Pat pitched for the Dodgers in 1949 and 1950.  His only catcher was Roy Campanella.  He was a team mate of  Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, and Jackie Robinson.  He faced Ted Williams seven times in one wartime military game, striking him out five times.  Ted never got got a hit.  Pat threw three no-hitters in his professional career.  He also managed the Smokies in 1954.  And he's a nice guy.

A few months ago several members of the East Tennessee SABR Chapter had lunch with Pat and interviewed him.  We wanted to support Pat so we met up at the ball park.

Ed and his son Will joined Diamond and Slugger, the Smokies' mascots.  Ed is a world class magician, focusing on close-up magic.  He recently won second place in the International Brotherhood of Magician's Gold Cups Close-up Contest.  He also has a fantastic collection of Negro League memorabilia.

Will Ripley, Diamond, Slugger, Ed Ripley

Joe Gallagher, sporting the Manhattan cap, was involved in the Mets broadcasting for many years.  George Aubrey, sporting the Moxie cap, is my father.  He is a SABR member, but resides in Arizona.

Joe Gallagher, Diamond, Slugger, George Aubrey

George watching Pat sign

Pat signed for about an hour and a half.  He was very gracious with his time, posing for photos, listening to people tell their stories, laughing along with them.

Ezra "Pat" McGlothin

Before the game started Adam Kline, the Smokies Director of Media Relations, gave us a tour of the press box where we met Mick Gillispie, Director of Broadcasting.  Both great baseball guys.  Thanks.
I'm not a fan of the Blue Wahoo's uniform numbers.

In the fourth inning, the sky started to turn dark and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees.  My dad and I decided it was best to leave.  They pulled the tarp out not long after we hit the concourse.

We actually made it out to the parking lot when I decided to call my dad back inside for a "put your head in the hole" photo.

I made arrangements to get another interview with Pat.  All in all a good night.

Play at the Plate

Oh, you were expecting Brian?  Nope.

Maybe this?

Nope. What you get is this:

1989 Sports Impressions
The Sports Superstars Collector Plate Series
Orel Hershiser by Joseph Catalano

I found this little (just over 4" wide) gem on Listia.  I had to pay for the shipping, but it is a nice addition to my collection.  The seller tossed in quite a few Hershiser cards.  It was a nice gesture, but I have all of them.  Anyone collect him?  Anyone?

I came across the "Two Sides" photos in the June 11, 1942 issue of The Sporting News.  You know what else I found there?  Well, besides a paragraph about Pat McGlothin tossing his first no-hitter.  And technically that story was in the next issue.  First, the no-no article because I'm doing a bit of research on Pat.  And yes, they spelled his name wrong.  No L in McGlothin.

The Sporting News - June 18, 1942 (page 12)

Now, for the next 'find'.  More stylized drop capital letters.  I first came across these last year.  This is what they look like in their natural environment.

The Sporting News - June 11, 1942

The elusive V and Y.

And then there were three.  Q, X, and Z are still out there.

Ezra "Pat" McGlothin cards

Here are some of the images of Pat McGlothin cards.

1950 Big League Stars (V362)
Pat McGlothin (card # 10)
image from ebay

The Big League Stars card is 3-1/4" x 2-5/8" and feature International League players.

1952 Parkhurst
Ezra McGlothin (card # 53)
image from ebay

The Parkhurst cards are small.  Just 2" x 2-1/2".  They were issued by Frostade in Canada, featuring players from three International League teams.

1952 Victoria
Pat Mc Clothin (card # 135)
image from CubaCollectibles.com

The Victoria cards were issued during the 1952-53 Cuba Winter Season.  They are only 2-1/8" x 3-1/8".

My Lunch with Ezra

Who? Ezra McGlothin. You might know him as Pat McGlothin. Or you might not.

Pat was a pitcher in the Dodgers' organization in the late 1940s and early 1950s. A few SABR members got together for lunch with Pat at his house. I was fortunate to be there.

Although I had a digital audio recorder, I failed to have it start recording.  Don't ask and yes, I'm kicking myself for not verifying that it was actually running.

Pat spent about an hour answering our questions and telling stories.  He played in the majors for 8 games, 7 of them in 1949 and 1 in 1950.

He has a large collection of signed baseballs. You can see Ted Williams' auto on the one that he's holding.

I made a postcard sized card for him to sign. He was very gracious.

While we were there he opened his mail and signed a card that someone had sent him. Placed it back in the self stamped return envelope. He said that he was amazed that people still wanted his autograph, especially since he hadn't played professional ball in almost 50 years.

He only has four cards that I'm aware of.

• 1950 Big League Stars - # 10 (Pat McGlothin)
• 1952 Parkhurst - # 53 (Ezra McGlothin)
• 1952 Victoria - # 135 (Pat Mc Clothin)
• 1990 Target Dodgers - # 1027 (Pat McGlothlin)

I asked him if any of the first three card companies had contacted him before issuing the cards.  He said no, that there was no contract, no money.  They just put the cards out.

He faced Ted Williams in a Naval base game in September of 1944.  Pat struck out Ted five times in a 19 inning game.  In that game Pat also had 3 RBI and 1 Run.  Wearing a wool uniform.  In Corpus Christi, Texas.

When I asked him what the highlight of his professional career was, he thought and said that his three no-hitters.  Asking his about his biggest disappointment was, he said that the time that it took for his arm to heal after elbow surgery.  They removed some bone chips and his arm got tired very easily after that.  He went on to play and manage the Knoxville Smokies in 1954, his last year in professional baseball.

You can see Pat's record at Baseball-Reference.com.  The local NBC affiliate ran a story on Pat last year.  Here's the video link.

Thanks, Pat, for the day.  And the autograph.  And sharing your memories today.