Welcome
Whenitwasagame.net themes and content are dedicated to the remembrance, celebration and preservation of our baseball heritage.
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Unnatural
disaster
threatens
baseball
We the fans, the true “owners” of baseball, must hold the commissioner, the team owners, the players and their union accountable.
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Power surge
The '50s was the decade of power and the numbers put up by the untainted athletes were impressive.
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Your stories
Send us your stories and memories from when baseball was a game and not a business.
INSIDE:
CLUBHOUSE
CRONICLES
Jimmy Palermo, during a historic 7-day span in May, 1939, saw the meteoric rise of Williams and tragic decline of Gehrig.
THE GAME'S
GOLDEN ERA
An exclusive WIWAG ongoing feature.
MEMORIES
The field seemed vast to a 7-year old who had looked forward to this day for two months.
BREAKING THE COLOR LINE
The year marks the 60th anniversary of the first major league tryout for black players.
SPECIAL COLOR
LINE TIMELINE
Bud Fowler is the first know black players on an integrated team.
BOOMING BATS
of the '50s
Qualify as Grade A10.
AMERICA'S ORIGINAL
SPORTS BAR
First sports bar featured 12-inch Farnsworth TV.
BASEBALL
HISTORIANS
Two unsuspecting vintage baseball fans rediscover a "National Treasure."
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 RAY'S CHOICE of lumber was the popular U1 model Louisville Slugger personalized with his signature stamp on the barrel.    |
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THIS BAT, brought over to the Original Sports Bar from Busch Stadium in mid-August of 1955, was used by the hard-hitting Redleg third-baseman, Ray Jablonski. "Jabbo" was traded in the off season by the Cardinals to Cincinnati after an All-Star 1954 season with St. Louis in which he had a career high 181 hits, a .296 average and 104 RBIs. By June of 1955, new Cardinal manager, Harry “The Hat” Walker was trying to get “Jabbo” back to shore up the Cardinal offense which ended the year 6th in the National League in batting average, HRs and runs.
RAY JABLONSKI ALL-STAR: 1954 'Jabbo' weilded a potent bat for St. Louis in the mid-1950s Jablonski has his best year at the plate in 1954, hitting .296 with 181 hits and 104 RBIs. MAJOR LEAGUE ALL-STAR
 RAY JABLONSKI was a member of the Card's "Polish Falcons."
RAY JABLONSKI WEB LINKS
Ray Jablonski began his Major League baseball
career at the age of 26 on April 14, 1953 with the St. Louis Cardinals.
He played for eight seasons for the Cardinals, Reds, Cubs, Giants
and A's — and ended his big league playing career in 1960. He debuted as the Cards' regular third baseman
in 1953, hitting 21 home runs and collecting 112 RBIs. He developed
an exuberant following, with a large section of Sportsman's Park
frequently yelling, "Go-Go Jabbo!"  RAY JABLONSKI: Did you know...
...Jablonski was traded by the St. Louis Cardinals in Dec. 1954 with Gerry Staley to the Cincinnati Redlegs for Frank Smith. 
RAY JABLONSKI ended his career with a .268 lifetime average.
JABLONSKI played for eight seasons for the Cardinals, Reds, Cubs, Giants and A's. |
