So you've got guys like Mr. Murder who actually have smiles and are probably pleasant, then you have a guy like Early "Gus" Wynn whose nickname hides the fact that, according to Mickey Mantle, "That s.o.b. is so mean he would #$%#ing knock you down in the dugout." Seriously, check out the Early Wynn quotes over at Baseball Almanac. It's all about drilling batters, hating batters, and winning at all costs.
That's the kind of pitcher you wanting pitching for you, NOT against you, so I've been on the lookout for a Wynn card fir a while. In the Fargo $3.99 box I caught this '55 Bowman from the Doris Pederson collection:
Not sure what the heck pose that is, but Wynn doesn't strike me as the type to do what anyone tells him to anyway. The best part, however, is the back:
Early is giving advice to Little Leaguers!?! This is obviously pot-boiler stuff, but I can just imagine what a REAL Little League clinic with Wynn would have been like.
"If he hit off you last time you brush him back. If it was a double you hit him in the ribs, a homer in the head. Baseball's a living boys, and if you wanna earn yours you gotta roll up your sleeves and get dirty like everybody else."That, of course, with an Alabama lilt.
Have a good one everybody and good night Pumpsie Green, wherever you are!
I never realized that Early Wynn was that hardcore. You're right that his name doesn't really conjure up images of a scary person.
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