Jay Hook
- Thread starter BigNUFan51
- Start date
Well, he didn't die as far as I know, and he wasn't named BIG commissioner, so yeah, I am stumped as well. Though he was featured on Mets Rewind the other day...
Was a very good outside shooter and would have flourished in today's 3 point game.
I had a takedown against my buddy,Joe Girardi, while we were at Northwestern. True. He managed the Yankees
Seven-plus seasons with Reds and Mets, 29-62 overall. Was 8-19 in 1962, the Mets' first year.
He also was threw the first pitch for the Mets franchise. This is a great Northwestern athlete who is not talked about.
I was a seven year old fan of Jay Hook when he came to the Reds. I don't think he ever had the luxury of playing for very good teams except for the 1961 Reds.
What about Jay? He was a mentor when I in Tech undergrad. He was from industry but came in and shared his life experiences with students who were interested and thought they could get something from his wealth of wisdom. Inspiring guy.
And what do you have in store for us next week on the next edition of Semi-Celebrity Alumni Profiles?
He was a member of the American Rocket Society. Because, Northwestern athlete.
And this:
Like many players, Hook occasionally found himself the target of Stengel’s sense of humor. In the foreword to the anthology Why a Curveball Curves: The Incredible Science of Sports, Robert Lipsyte, author and Mets beat writer for The New York Times in 1962, recalled how Hook was the rare man who not only knew how to throw a curveball, but could also explain in scientific terms, thanks to his education, exactly why a curveball curves. Stengel didn’t miss a chance to tweak his young charge, telling Lipsyte, “If Hook could only do what he knows.”
And this:
Like many players, Hook occasionally found himself the target of Stengel’s sense of humor. In the foreword to the anthology Why a Curveball Curves: The Incredible Science of Sports, Robert Lipsyte, author and Mets beat writer for The New York Times in 1962, recalled how Hook was the rare man who not only knew how to throw a curveball, but could also explain in scientific terms, thanks to his education, exactly why a curveball curves. Stengel didn’t miss a chance to tweak his young charge, telling Lipsyte, “If Hook could only do what he knows.”
He was a Northwestern alum. Played MLB baseball in the 50s and 60s. Gave up a HR to Pete Rose.
George Steinbrenner
The ‘61 Reds had some talent by my now feeble memory. Frank Robinson, Vada Pinson, Johnny Templeton, Jim O’Toole, Ed Bailey, Wally Post.
One correction. It was Johnny "Temple" and he was no longer with the Reds in 1961, having been traded, along with my all time favorite Red , Ted Kluszewski. (Klu played football and baseball for Indiana U. Broke my young heart when the Reds traded Kluszewski.) The '61 Reds were managed by Fred Hutchinson ,who died of cancer a few years later at the age of 45. and is the namesake of the renowned cancer center in Seattle.
Thanks! My brain’s wayback machine misfired both on the name and the year he left the Reds. I could have sworn he was on the ‘61 team, but a quick check of the record shows you are right on both counts. The Reds were a surprise that year. The Braves were still pretty loaded from their ‘57-58 pennant winners who tied with the Dodgers in the regular season in ‘59, and the Pirates were coming off the Mazeroski miracle in ‘60. If memory serves, they were under .500 in ‘60 and then won the pennant in ‘61.