Did I mention this was 88 years ago?

The Lou Gehrig tributes by MLB this weekend made me go back to the New York Times archives to see how the events were reported at the time.  Sure enough, there was a story about plans to honor Gehrig including a reunion of the 1927 New York Yankees.

select.nytimes.com/mem/archive/pdf?res=F...

The 27' Yankees are regarded as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, teams of all time.  But over time they've become Ruth, Gehrig and twenty-two anonymous players.  By the time Gehrig made his famous speech, most of the supporting cast was already fading from memory.

Which is why New York Times writer John Kieran took the time to write an article featuring some of the lesser known Yankees from the 1920's like third baseman Joe Dugan, backup catcher Benny Bengough, and the talented (but not well known) Bob Meusel.

Meusel was a .300 hitter with power who occupied the #5 spot behind Ruth and Gehrig in 1927.  He was good enough to actually bat cleanup ahead of Gehrig in the 1926 World Series loss to the Cardinals. 

In the course of recounting Meusel's accomplishments at the plate and in the field, Kieran recounted this story:

"With the Yankees in those old days was a pitcher who was a bit boastful of his prowess as a strong man, an all around athlete, and a two gun guy from the wild Southwest.  He carried a gun in his suitcase, too.  One night in a Pullman scuffle this desparado declared himself mightily incensed and began to threaten some of the scufflers with the gun.  Bob Meusel stepped in, grabbed the gun slapped the alleged desparado across the face and promised to chase him off the club if he ever showed a gun again while he was with the Yankees."

Kieran named no names, so there the story sat.  Curiosity wouldn't let it stay there.

Who was the armed Yankee pitcher?  We know he was an "all around athlete" and from the Southwest.  How many pitchers could there be from the Southwest on the Yankees during the time Meusel played with them?

Just one.

Rip Collins real name was Harry Warren Collins.  He got the name "Rip" after a brand of whisky.  The big right hander played one season with Meusel (1921).  That was the year Ruth hit 59 home runs (then a record) and took the Yankees to the World Series for the first time.

Collins had been a college football player for Texas A&M.  He was well known for punting 23 times against Texas in 1915 for an average of 55 yards a kick.  Thirteen of the punts were fumbled and one of the fumbles lead to the only touchdown of the game, scored by Collins himself.  The Aggies upset Texas 13-0, which indeed would have made Collins the "all around athlete" of the story.

Not surprisingly, Collins disappears from Yankee history the next season.  The RedSox, Tigers, and Browns stuck with him long enough for Collins to post a 108-82 record but he never lived up to his potential.

What does a "desparado" do after baseball?  In Collins case law enforcement.  He found more productive uses for his fondness for fire arms and became a sheriff back in Texas.

What if this happened today instead of 1921?

For one thing, we would be blogging about it for months to come.  The authorities would have suspended Collins.  The New York Times would have used to incident to editorialize on gun control.  ESPN would post hourly updates, with grim faced reporters expressing shock and outrage.

Collins would have been filmed leaving Yankee Stadium behind a cordon of security and a team of lawyers.  Meusel would decline comment (which he apparently did in the best of times).  And the Babe?  Ruth would appeared on camera with his cigars chastizing reporters for making a big deal over nothing.

That was then, this is now.  The Yankees are a corporation, Steve McNair is shot dead by an automatic weapon, and the Iranians are working on getting nukes.

Makes you miss 1921.