The number$ are utterly in$ane. When i was a kid, pre-LA Dodgers, watching the LA Angels of the PCL, including my first sports hero Steve Bilko, I had no idea they even got paid! No, they didnt get paid much, but it really wasnt until Koufax and Drysdale got a hundred grand a year that i realized it wasnt "just a game."
He first played in 1945! And he was on the Dodgers a couple years, briefly. Never knew that. Around the time my dad died, probably pretty tuned out around then. He hit 55 & 56 HRs in back to back years with the PCL Angels. I think the PCL then played seven-game series. Monday off, then a game a day till a Sunday doubleheader, as i recall anyway. A Sunday doubleheader with the hated Hollywood Stars, heaven! I used to clear things out and swing the bat in front of the TV. Actually hit it once, luckily only the wood frame. Quite a dent though. I was like, "What dent?"
So that’s where the idea for long series idea came from. They’re playing six-game series in the minors now, I assume to cut down on travel. But hey, I’d spend a week in Tacoma any old time.
The number$ are utterly in$ane. When i was a kid, pre-LA Dodgers, watching the LA Angels of the PCL, including my first sports hero Steve Bilko, I had no idea they even got paid! No, they didnt get paid much, but it really wasnt until Koufax and Drysdale got a hundred grand a year that i realized it wasnt "just a game."
I don’t know why the price of this book is so high, but I have a copy in a box someplace.
https://www.amazon.com/Bilko-Athletic-Club-Angeles-Angels/dp/0810892898/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?crid=1JVCQY629I3L8&keywords=The+Bilko+Athletic+Club%3A+The+Story+of+the+1956+Los+Angeles+Angels&qid=1670482622&sprefix=the+bilko+athletic+club+the+story+of+the+1956+los+angeles+angels+%2Caps%2C141&sr=8-1
i remember him just being happy, relaxed, havin fun, and knocking the hell outa that ball
Incredible statistics.
https://www.baseball-reference.com/register/player.fcgi?id=bilko-001ste
He first played in 1945! And he was on the Dodgers a couple years, briefly. Never knew that. Around the time my dad died, probably pretty tuned out around then. He hit 55 & 56 HRs in back to back years with the PCL Angels. I think the PCL then played seven-game series. Monday off, then a game a day till a Sunday doubleheader, as i recall anyway. A Sunday doubleheader with the hated Hollywood Stars, heaven! I used to clear things out and swing the bat in front of the TV. Actually hit it once, luckily only the wood frame. Quite a dent though. I was like, "What dent?"
So that’s where the idea for long series idea came from. They’re playing six-game series in the minors now, I assume to cut down on travel. But hey, I’d spend a week in Tacoma any old time.
Well said, Richard. I would’ve loved to seen Bilko and the various PCL teams play.