Legend of Baseball : Honus Wagner

Johannes Peter "Honus" Wagner ( February 24, 1874 – December 6, 1955 ), nicknamed "The Flying Dutchman" due to his superb speed and German heritage ("Dutch" in this instance being an alteration of "Deutsch"), was an American Major League Baseball shortstop. He played in the National League from 1897 to 1917, almost entirely for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Wagner won eight batting titles, tied for the most in NL history with Tony Gwynn. He also led the league in slugging six times, and in stolen bases five times.

In 1936, the Baseball Hall of Fame inducted Wagner as one of the first five members. He received the second-highest vote total, behind Ty Cobb and tied with Babe Ruth.

Although Cobb is frequently cited as the greatest player of the dead-ball era, some contemporaries regarded Wagner as the better all-around player, and most baseball historians consider Wagner to be the greatest shortstop ever. Cobb himself called Wagner "maybe the greatest star ever to take the diamond

The T206 Honus Wagner baseball card is one of the rarest and most expensive baseball cards in the world.[citation needed] There are 57 known copies and there are many other cards that only have 1 or 2 known examples depicting Wagner.[clarification needed][20] The card was designed and issued by the American Tobacco Company (ATC) from 1909 to 1911 as part of its T206 series. Wagner refused to allow production of his baseball card to continue. The ATC ended production of the Wagner card and a total of only 57 to 200 cards were ever distributed to the public. In 1933, the card was first listed at a price value of US $50 in Jefferson Burdick's The American Card Catalog, making it the most expensive baseball card in the world at the time.

When the Baseball Hall of Fame held its first election in 1936, Wagner tied for second in the voting with Babe Ruth, trailing Cobb. A 1942 Sporting News poll of 100 former players and managers confirmed this opinion, with Wagner finishing 43 votes behind Cobb and six ahead of Ruth. In 1969, on the 100th anniversary of professional baseball, a vote was taken to honor the greatest players ever, and Wagner was selected as the all-time shortstop. In 1999, 82 years after his last game and 44 years since his death, Wagner was voted Number 13 on The Sporting News' list of the 100 Greatest Players, where he was again the highest-ranking shortstop. That same year, he was selected to the Major League Baseball All-Century Team by the oversight committee, after losing out in the popular vote to Cal Ripken, Jr. and Ernie Banks.

Christy Mathewson asserted that Wagner was the only player he faced that didn't have a weakness. Mathewson felt the only way to keep Wagner from hitting was to not pitch to him.

"A stirring march and two step," titled "Husky Hans", and "respectfully dedicated to Hans Wagner, Three time Champion Batsman of The National League" was written by William J. Hartz in 1904.

Bill James says that Wagner is easily the greatest shortstop of all time, noting that the difference between Wagner and the second greatest shortstop, in James's estimation Arky Vaughan, is roughly the same as the gulf between Vaughan and the 20th greatest shortstop.

Ashadhi Ekadashi

Wish you All, Happy "Ashadi Ekadashi"
Shayani Ekadashi (lit. "sleeping eleventh") or Maha-ekadashi (lit. "The great eleventh") or Prathama-ekadashi (lit. "The first eleventh") or Padma Ekadashi is the eleventh lunar day (Ekadashi) of the bright fortnight (Shukla paksha) of the Hindu month of Ashadha (June - July). Thus it is also known as Ashadhi Ekadashi or Ashadhi. This holy day is of special significance to Vaishnavas, followers of Hindu preserver god Vishnu. On this day idols of Vishnu and Lakshmi are worshipped, the entire night is spent singing prayers, and devotees keep fast and take vows on this day, to be observed during the entire chaturmas, the holy four month period of rainy season. These may include, giving up a food item or fasting on every Ekadashi day

Vithhal & Rukhminee :


Santa Dnyaneshwar & Santa Tukaram


Ringan:


Dive Ghat : Mauli Palakhi


Mauli Palkhi


Mauli Palakhi :


Mauli Palakhi :


Santa Tukaram Maharaj Palakhi :

This day, a huge yatra or religious procession of pilgrims culminates at Pandharpur, a town in south Maharashtra, situated on the banks of the Bhima River. Pandharpur is main center of worship of the deity Vithoba, a local form of Vishnu. Thousands of pilgrims come to Pandharpur on this day from different parts of Maharashtra. Some of them carry Palkhis (palanquins) with the images of the saints of Maharashtra. Dnyaneshwar's image is carried from Alandi, Tukaram's from Dehu, Eknath's from Paithan, Nivruttinath's from Trimbakeshwar, Muktabai's from Muktainagar, and Sopan's from Sasvad. These pilgrims are referred to as Warkaris. They sing Abhangas (chanting hymns) of Saint Tukaram and Saint Dnyaneshwar, dedicated to Vithoba.

Legend of Baseball : Satchel Paige

Leroy Robert "Satchel" Paige (July 7, 1906 – June 8, 1982) was an American baseball player whose pitching in the Negro leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1971, the first player to be inducted from the Negro leagues.
Paige was a right-handed pitcher and was the oldest rookie to play Major League Baseball at the age of 42. He played with the St. Louis Browns until age 47, and represented them in the Major League All-Star Game in 1952 and 1953. Paige began his professional career in 1926 with the Chattanooga White Sox of the Negro Southern League, and played his last professional game on June 21, 1966, for the Peninsula Grays of the Carolina League

Satchel was born Leroy Robert Page to John Page, a gardener, and Lula Page (née Coleman), a domestic worker, in a section of Mobile, Alabama, known as Down the Bay. Lula and her children changed the spelling of their name from Page to Paige in the mid-1920s, just before the start of Satchel's baseball career. Lula said, "Page looked too much like a page in a book," whereas Satchel explained, "My folks started out by spelling their name 'Page' and later stuck in the 'i' to make themselves sound more high-tone." The introduction of the new spelling coincided with the death of Satchel's father, and may have suggested a desire for a new start.

According to Paige, his nickname originated from childhood work toting bags at the train station. He said he wasn't making enough money at a dime a bag, so he used a pole and rope to build a contraption that allowed him to cart up to four bags at once. Another kid supposedly yelled, "You look like a walking satchel tree."A different story was told by boyhood friend and neighbor, Wilber Hines, who said he gave Paige the nickname after he was caught trying to steal a bag.
Two weeks before his twelfth birthday, Paige was arrested for shoplifting. Because this incident followed several earlier incidents of theft and truancy, he was committed to the Industrial School for Negro Children in Mount Meigs, Alabama, the state reform school, until the age of eighteen. During the more than five years he spent at the school, he developed his pitching skills under the guidance of Edward Byrd. Byrd taught Paige to kick his front foot high and to swing his arm around so it looked like his hand was in the batter's face when he released the ball. Paige was released from the reform school in December 1923, six months early.

After his release, Paige played for several Mobile semi-pro teams. He joined the semi-pro Mobile Tigers where his brother Wilson was already pitching. He also pitched for a semi-pro team named the Down the Bay Boys, and he recalled that he once got into a jam in the ninth inning of a 1–0 ballgame when his teammates made three consecutive errors, loading the bases for the other team with two outs. Angry, Paige said he stomped around the mound, kicking up dirt. The fans started booing him, so he decided that “somebody was going to have to be showed up for that.” He called in his outfielders and had them sit down in the infield. With the fans and his own teammates howling, Paige struck out the final batter, winning the game.

Legend of Baseball : Pie Traynor

Harold Joseph "Pie" Traynor (November 11, 1898 - March 16, 1972) was an American professional baseball player. He played his entire Major League Baseball career as a third baseman with the Pittsburgh Pirates (1920–37). He batted and threw right-handed.Following the Second World War, Traynor was often cited as the greatest third baseman in major league baseball history. He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1948


Traynor was born in Framingham, Massachusetts to parents who had emigrated from Canada. He received his nickname as a child in Somerville, Massachusetts because he frequented a grocery store and often asked for pie. The store owner called him "Pie Face", which was later shortened to Pie by his friends. Traynor began his playing career in 1920 as a shortstop for the Portsmouth Truckers of the Virginia League. He was asked by a Boston Braves scout to work out with the team at Braves Field but, the scout forgot to tell the Braves manager George Stallings.Stallings proceeded to run Traynor off the field, telling him not to return.Traynor made his major league debut with the Pittsburgh Pirates at the age of 21 on September 15, 1920, appearing in 17 games that season. He appeared in 10 games for the Pirates in 1921, but spent the majority of the season playing for the Birmingham Barons. He posted a .336 batting average in 131 games for the Barons, but his defense was still a problem as he committed 64 errors as a shortstop.

Traynor became the Pirates regular third baseman in 1922, hitting for a .282 batting average with 81 runs batted in.[1] Following the advice of Rogers Hornsby, he began using a heavier bat and blossomed into one of the National League's best hitters in 1923 when, he hit above .300 for the first time with a .338 batting average along with 12 home runs and 101 runs batted in.With tutoring provided by team-mate Rabbit Maranville, his defense also began to improve, leading National League third basemen in putouts and assists. In 1925, Traynor posted a .320 average with six home runs, 106 runs batted in and led the league in fielding percentage as the Pirates won the National League pennant by eight and a half games over the New York Giants.In the 1925 World Series, he hit .347 including a home run off future Hall of Fame pitcher Walter Johnson as the Pirates defeated the Washington Senators in a seven-game series. Traynor ended the season eighth in Most Valuable Player Award balloting. His 41 double plays in 1925, set a National League record for third basemen that stood for 25 years.

The Pirates won the pennant again in 1927 with Traynor hitting .342 with five home runs and 106 runs batted in, but they would lose to the New York Yankees in the 1927 World Series. In November of that year, members of the Baseball Writers Association of America selected him as the third baseman for the 1927 all-star major league team. Traynor hit .337 and produced a career-high 124 runs batted in during the 1928 season despite hitting only 3 home runs and, finished in sixth place in the National League Most Valuable Player Award balloting. He continued to be a cornerstone for the Pirates, posting a .356 batting average in 1929, followed by a career-high .366 average in 1930. In 1933 Major League Baseball held its inaugural All-Star Game and, Traynor was selected as a reserve player for the National League team.Traynor's last full season was in 1934 when he hit over .300 for the ninth time in ten seasons, and was named as the starting third baseman for the National League in the 1934 All-Star Game. During the 1934 season, his throwing arm was injured in a play at home plate and his defense began to suffer as a result. Traynor played his final game on August 14, 1937

In a 17 year major league career, Traynor played in 1941 games, accumulating 2,416 hits in 7,559 at bats for a .320 career batting average along with 58 home runs, 1,273 runs batted in and an on base percentage of .362. He retired with a .946 fielding percentage. Traynor was not a home run hitter - he reached a high of 12 in 1923 - but had high numbers of doubles and triples, hitting 371 doubles and 164 triples lifetime and leading the league in triples in 1923, with 19. He hit over .300 ten times and, had over 100 runs batted in (RBI) in a season seven times. Among major league third basemen, his seven seasons with more than 100 runs batted in is second only to the nine seasons by Mike Schmidt.Chipper Jones is the only other third baseman in history to match Traynor's five consecutive seasons with more than 100 runs batted in.[6] He had 208 hits in 1923, and was the last Pirate infielder with 200 or more hits until shortstop Jack Wilson, who had 201 hits in 2004. He struck out only 278 times in his career.

Traynor was considered the best fielding third baseman of his era, leading the National League in fielding percentage once, assists and double plays three times and putouts seven times. His 2,289 putouts ranks him fifth all-time among third basemen. His 1,863 games played at third base was a major league record that would stand until 1960 when it was surpassed by Eddie Yost. Traynor is also the only Major League Baseball player ever to steal home plate in an All-Star Game. Traynor finished in the top ten in voting for the National League's Most Valuable Player Award six times during his career.