LeRoy Pennysaver & News

LE ROY PENNYSAVER & NEWS - AUGUST 22, 2021 by Lynne Belluscio Many of you know that I am a baseball fan, and this past week I was glued to the television on Thursday night to watch the Yankees and the White Sox play on the Field of Dreams field in Dyersville, Iowa. It was a great game - - it was a wonderful game, although my Yankee loving grandson might take exception. I would have to admit that watching this game is right up there with a couple of other baseball memories, like playing Town Ball on the old Rochester Red Wings field on Norton Street, or having the opportunity to hold Babe Ruth’s bat at the Baseball Hall of Fame a couple of years ago. The Baseball Hall of Fame is a sacred place for me. I think I was ten when my family visited the BHF and my dad snapped a picture of me standing on the mound at Doubleday Field. That would have been in 1954 - - the same year that Rabbit Maranville was inducted into the Hall of Fame. I had not yet become smitten with the National Pastime and certainly had no idea who was Rabbit Maranville. It would be some forty years later, after taking the job at the LeRoy Historical Society that I learned about Walter James Maranville. Not many people in LeRoy know that Rabbit Maranville is Tom McGinnis’ grandfather. He played shortstop and had a 24 year career from 1912 to 1936 which included playing in Boston, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Brooklyn and St. Louis. He played more games at shortstop than any other National League player and made 2605 hits in 23 years and was a member of the Boston Braves “Miracle Team” that won the pennant and then won the World Series in four games against the Athletics. But he was most famous for his crazy antics, which he wrote about in a book, “Run, Rabbit, Run – The Hilarious and Mostly True Tales of Rabbit Maranville.” I recently purchased a copy for our files at the Historical Society and have enjoyed reading through the “mostly true tales.” In 1927, he was sent to Rochester, where he announced that “The national consumption of alcohol beverages took a sharp downswing, after May 24. That’s the day I quit drinking.” In 1934, he was 42, and was ready for another season, but he broke his leg in spring training, sliding into home and he was out for the season. Humorist Will Rogers called it “America’s greatest crisis.” This was the third time he had broken the leg and it didn’t set well this time, but never the less, he went on to be player manager in Elmira and then manager in Montreal, Albany and Springfield. Rabbit was known for his crazy antics. He wrote about skipping to first base and waving a handkerchief to the stands. Another time, at a game in Philadelphia, there was a big fight between the first base umpire and the manager. Rabbit ran up to the umpire and told him his face was all scratched up. “Wait a minute and I’ll get some Mercurochrome for you.” (In reality, the umpire didn’t have a scratch on his face.) “I painted Bob’s face until he looked like a zebra. The next day when Bob came on the field, he came right over to me, and what he called me I dare not print.” Harold Seymour wrote about a time at Ebbets Field when Rabbit snuck up behind an umpire who was arguing with one of Rabbit’s teammates. He dropped down on all fours behind the umpire and motioned to the player to shove the umpire. The umpire tumbled head over heels to the delight of all the fans in the park. Seymour also describes Rabbit’s famous “basket catch” in which he centered himself carefully under a high fly ball and caught the ball low at his belt line using what was known as a “pancake” glove, which was common in those early days. Although most of the statistics that got him into the Hall of Fame have been surpassed since his induction in 1954, it has been suggested that he should be honored for his other accomplishments: “Played more pranks than any other major league player. Funny-story total unsurpassed by anyone. Brought unlimited laughs to fans and teammates for 23 seasons. Member of that elite group of human beings who make the world a better place for their having been in it.” Run, Rabbit, Run