University of Georgia Athletics
Talking Baseball At Cobb Museum
July 30, 2017 | Baseball, The Frierson Files
By John Frierson
UGAAA Staff Writer
ROYSTON, Ga. — Scott Stricklin was in his element Saturday at the Ty Cobb Museum, talking baseball with folks that like to talk baseball and surrounded by displays celebrating one of the game's most important players.
As the museum, located in the legendary Cobb's hometown, celebrated its 19th anniversary, Georgia baseball's Ike Cousins head coach participated in a lengthy discussion with Athens resident and two-time Major League all-star in the 1950s, Ransom Jackson, and 2004 all-star Jake Westbrook, from nearby Danielsville.
Moderating the discussion and sharing his own memories of Cobb and baseball past and present was Georgia's own legendary writer and historian, Loran Smith. In 1962, Smith said, "shaking like a leaf" he called Cobb to see about interviewing him. "Come on up," was the response. The interview was one of the special moments of his career, Smith said.
Multiple eras of baseball were represented during Saturday's discussion, with Stricklin representing both his playing days (drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1993) and his nearly two decades as a collegiate coach. Stricklin was a good catcher who reached as high as AAA in the minors.
Stricklin, from Ohio, grew up a diehard Cincinnati Reds fan during the Big Red Machine era. One of the big changes in Major League Baseball over the years, he said, has been the high turnover rate of rosters, which often makes it harder for fans to truly connect with a team. He didn't have that problem when he was young.
"When I grew up, from five or six years old to 12 or 13, the Reds' lineup was the same lineup. ... I knew every player," he said.
Westbrook got a taste of the business side of the game early, when he was "traded three times before I was 22 years old."
Westbrook reached the majors with the New York Yankees in 2000 and then pitched for the Cleveland Indians for nine seasons. He closed out his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013, after helping the Cardinals win the 2011 World Series (he wore the big ring on his right hand Saturday).
Smith, the Georgia track team MVP in 1959, grew up on a farm in middle Georgia and gobbled up every bit of sports information he could find. Jackson, from Little Rock, Ark., said he didn't know that much about sports growing up. He was a gifted athlete but he'd never played football before his first game at TCU, after serving in World War II. He eventually played in two Cotton Bowls, one for TCU and the next year for Texas.
Jackson, a third baseball that hit .261 over 10 MLB seasons and played in the 1956 World Series for the Brooklyn Dodgers, said he'd never heard of Wrigley Field before a baseball scout told him to go to Chicago for a tryout. "I had no idea," he said.
Westbrook's father, Cauthen Westbrook (1968-71), played football, basketball and baseball for Georgia initially, before focusing on baseball and basketball. (Westbrook's grandfather and great grandfather were also Georgia athletes.) Westbrook said he grew up wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, and had signed with the Dogs, but there was no turning downing the chance to go pro out of Madison County High School after the right-handed pitcher was the 21st overall pick in the 1996 Major League Baseball draft.
Jackson, who broke into the Majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1950 and was later a teammate of Jackie Robinson's with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, said his first contract was a two-year deal that paid him $6,000 a year. Smith then commented that Westbrook probably received more than that in per diem money.
"That's another way times have changed," Westbrook said, smiling, of the huge salaries players now earn. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Westbrook earned more than $60 million in his 13-year career.
Westbrook won 105 games in his career and had a very effective sinker. Asked by Smith how he'd handle pitching against Cobb (who hit .367 in his career), Westbrook said: "I'd probably throw sinker away. ... He'd be a tough out, I know that."
While Westbrook had a very successful pro career coming straight from high school, most players aren't so lucky. Stricklin said part of recruiting players to Georgia is the "insurance policy" that an education provides.
"We talk to our players and their parents about coming to college and getting an education and getting an insurance policy for when you fail at baseball, because at some point they're going to tell you you can't play anymore," he said. "You hope it's when you're 40, but usually it's when you're 24 or 25. That's when it usually happens; when that happens, do you have your education, do you have your insurance policy?
"To get to play at the University of Georgia, to get to play at Foley Field, in the SEC, to have that experience, it's a life-changing experience. And then you can still go play professional baseball, so you can have the best of both worlds."
Georgia presently has four former players in the Major Leagues. Pitcher Justin Grimm helped the Cubs win the World Series last year, while the Dodgers have a trio in star pitcher Alex Wood (12-1 this season), receiver Josh Fields (5-0 this season) and recent call-up Kyle Farmer, a four-year starter at shortstop for Georgia before converting to catcher.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
UGAAA Staff Writer
ROYSTON, Ga. — Scott Stricklin was in his element Saturday at the Ty Cobb Museum, talking baseball with folks that like to talk baseball and surrounded by displays celebrating one of the game's most important players.
As the museum, located in the legendary Cobb's hometown, celebrated its 19th anniversary, Georgia baseball's Ike Cousins head coach participated in a lengthy discussion with Athens resident and two-time Major League all-star in the 1950s, Ransom Jackson, and 2004 all-star Jake Westbrook, from nearby Danielsville.
Moderating the discussion and sharing his own memories of Cobb and baseball past and present was Georgia's own legendary writer and historian, Loran Smith. In 1962, Smith said, "shaking like a leaf" he called Cobb to see about interviewing him. "Come on up," was the response. The interview was one of the special moments of his career, Smith said.
Multiple eras of baseball were represented during Saturday's discussion, with Stricklin representing both his playing days (drafted by the Minnesota Twins in 1993) and his nearly two decades as a collegiate coach. Stricklin was a good catcher who reached as high as AAA in the minors.
Stricklin, from Ohio, grew up a diehard Cincinnati Reds fan during the Big Red Machine era. One of the big changes in Major League Baseball over the years, he said, has been the high turnover rate of rosters, which often makes it harder for fans to truly connect with a team. He didn't have that problem when he was young.
"When I grew up, from five or six years old to 12 or 13, the Reds' lineup was the same lineup. ... I knew every player," he said.
Westbrook got a taste of the business side of the game early, when he was "traded three times before I was 22 years old."
Westbrook reached the majors with the New York Yankees in 2000 and then pitched for the Cleveland Indians for nine seasons. He closed out his career with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2013, after helping the Cardinals win the 2011 World Series (he wore the big ring on his right hand Saturday).
Smith, the Georgia track team MVP in 1959, grew up on a farm in middle Georgia and gobbled up every bit of sports information he could find. Jackson, from Little Rock, Ark., said he didn't know that much about sports growing up. He was a gifted athlete but he'd never played football before his first game at TCU, after serving in World War II. He eventually played in two Cotton Bowls, one for TCU and the next year for Texas.
Jackson, a third baseball that hit .261 over 10 MLB seasons and played in the 1956 World Series for the Brooklyn Dodgers, said he'd never heard of Wrigley Field before a baseball scout told him to go to Chicago for a tryout. "I had no idea," he said.
Westbrook's father, Cauthen Westbrook (1968-71), played football, basketball and baseball for Georgia initially, before focusing on baseball and basketball. (Westbrook's grandfather and great grandfather were also Georgia athletes.) Westbrook said he grew up wanting to follow in his father's footsteps, and had signed with the Dogs, but there was no turning downing the chance to go pro out of Madison County High School after the right-handed pitcher was the 21st overall pick in the 1996 Major League Baseball draft.
Jackson, who broke into the Majors with the Chicago Cubs in 1950 and was later a teammate of Jackie Robinson's with the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, said his first contract was a two-year deal that paid him $6,000 a year. Smith then commented that Westbrook probably received more than that in per diem money.
"That's another way times have changed," Westbrook said, smiling, of the huge salaries players now earn. According to Baseball-Reference.com, Westbrook earned more than $60 million in his 13-year career.
Westbrook won 105 games in his career and had a very effective sinker. Asked by Smith how he'd handle pitching against Cobb (who hit .367 in his career), Westbrook said: "I'd probably throw sinker away. ... He'd be a tough out, I know that."
While Westbrook had a very successful pro career coming straight from high school, most players aren't so lucky. Stricklin said part of recruiting players to Georgia is the "insurance policy" that an education provides.
"We talk to our players and their parents about coming to college and getting an education and getting an insurance policy for when you fail at baseball, because at some point they're going to tell you you can't play anymore," he said. "You hope it's when you're 40, but usually it's when you're 24 or 25. That's when it usually happens; when that happens, do you have your education, do you have your insurance policy?
"To get to play at the University of Georgia, to get to play at Foley Field, in the SEC, to have that experience, it's a life-changing experience. And then you can still go play professional baseball, so you can have the best of both worlds."
Georgia presently has four former players in the Major Leagues. Pitcher Justin Grimm helped the Cubs win the World Series last year, while the Dodgers have a trio in star pitcher Alex Wood (12-1 this season), receiver Josh Fields (5-0 this season) and recent call-up Kyle Farmer, a four-year starter at shortstop for Georgia before converting to catcher.
John Frierson is the staff writer for the UGA Athletic Association and curator of the ITA Men's Tennis Hall of Fame. You can find his work at: Frierson Files. He's also on Twitter: @FriersonFiles and @ITAHallofFame.
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