{"id":463,"date":"2007-06-18T17:09:48","date_gmt":"2007-06-18T17:09:48","guid":{"rendered":"\/yorktownsquare\/2007\/06\/18\/baseballs-methuselah-played-fo\/"},"modified":"2015-01-05T11:21:41","modified_gmt":"2015-01-05T16:21:41","slug":"baseballs-methuselah-played-fo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/yorkblog.com\/yorktownsquare\/baseballs-methuselah-played-fo\/","title":{"rendered":"Lefty George, baseball’s Methuselah, played for York White Roses"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"george\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Thomas E. “Lefty” George is captured in this 1955 cartoon, appearing in Jim Hubley’s book “Off The Record.” Brooks Robinson was in York County for a cup of tea before going to the O’s, but George captivated local fans with his antics for years. (Graphic courtesy of Jim Hubley collection). Also of interest:\u00a0Among recent celebrity visitors, Brooks Robinson topped them all<\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Brooks Robinson was to become the most famous player ever to take the field for the York White Roses.
\nBut Lefty George, who played into the 1950s, was the best-known during his playing days in York.
\nWriting about George in a column that originally ran in 1986, former York Daily Record sports editor Jim Hubley wrote about the eccentric lefthander: …<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Warren (Ham) Hamilton, long-time friend and an avid baseball buff, called with a sort of request.
\n\u201cJim, do you realize that Lefty George\u2019s 100th birthday anniversary is on August. 13?\u201d
\n\u201cNo, Ham,\u201d I flippantly shot back, \u201cI didn\u2019t realize that. What do you want me to do, send Lefty a card?\u201d
\nLefty died more than three decades ago, but Ham was kind enough to ignore my unnecessary and unfunny remark. He said, \u201cI thought it would be nice if you wrote something about the man who certainly was among the most prominent and popular Yorkers of all time.\u201d
\nHam had a point. During our two-century history, York has given birth to, played host to, and adopted many individuals who developed as the result of their eccentricities, into what we know as characters, lovable, successful characters.
\nSuch individuals leave the world richer for their presence. Lefty George was such a person, and his field of endeavor was playing the game of baseball.
\nLike many other successful York characters, including Mahlon Haines, the Shoe Wizard, and weightlifter Bob Hoffman, Lefty George was not a native Yorker. But like the others, Lefty found York to his liking, married a York girl, and lived the better part of his life here.
\nAs his nickname would indicate, Thomas E. George was a left-handed pitcher, good enough to play in the major leagues. his greatest asset as a pitcher was his unusual and somewhat comical, deceptive motion to first base.
\nA tall, thin six-footer, Lefty would dazzle runners with that motion, which looked like a human piece of dough twisting itself into a pretzel. Before the runner could discern what it was all about, he had been picked off.
\nLefty\u2019s long career also stamped him as different from the average ballplayer: it lasted more than four decades, during which Lefty was pitching somewhere, either in professional or strong amateur leagues. He gained world-wide recognition when he pitched for the York White Roses at the age of 57 and was the starting pitcher in the New York-Pennsylvania League\u2019s All-Star game that season of 1943.
\nEarlier he had his chances in the major leagues, with four different teams, in two different leagues, in four different seasons. He never had a winning record. But in the minors, he was a sensation and had four 20-game victory years, twice won 19, had five no-hitters.
\nSober-minded major league executives impressed with Lefty\u2019s pitching talents, however, could not tolerate his other irrepressible characteristic \u2014 he was a clown.
\nWhen he took the game seriously, he could pitch, but he never could resist the temptation to have some fun. In the less tolerant minor leagues, Lefty was a crowd-pleaser. He was ahead of his time.
\nIn 1986 Lefty would have had baseball, theatrical, and book-publishing agents bombarding him with lucrative contracts.
\nDuring the mid-1920s, Lefty led the York White Roses in that era when professional baseball enjoyed its finest years here. He made York his home during the off-season and was idolized by young and old alike. His popularity spread to rival towns n the NY-PA League, and fans fondly called him \u201cGrandpaw.\u201d He was over 40, far past the normal age of a professional ballplayer.
\nOne day, in Williamsport, he retaliated. He was hauled to the mound in a wheelchair, sporting a long, white artificial beard. Lefty dispatched the wheelchair to the sidelines and, much to the delight of the crowd, pitched three scoreless innings wearing the beard.
\nFrequently Lefty would conceal cheap, ten-cent baseballs on his person before taking the mound. Unseen, he would switch the regulation ball for the \u201cRocket\u201d and deliver the latter to the stunned batter.
\nAs were most ballplayers during those years, Lefty was a tobacco chewer. One time, in a tight pinch with a runner on third, Lefty paused to grab a chaw of plug tobacco. The alert runner noticed Lefty had his hands full and darted for home. Instinctively, Lefty threw to the catcher. The throw beat the runner but the latter was safe.
\nLefty had thrown the tobacco instead of the ball.
\nWith little doubt, Lefty George stamped himself as one of York\u2019s better known and beloved citizens.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Also of interest:<\/strong>
\nCheck out these stories and photos about the York Revolution and other York-related professional sports and sports stars.
\n<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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