Literary birthday greetings: Pops, a Lefty, and the face of wartime baseball

March 6, 2011

Willie Stargell, the heart and soul of the Pittsburgh Prates “family,” was born this date in 1940. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1988

Lefty Grove was born this date in 1900. He was inducted into the Hall in 1947.

Also born on March 6: Pete Gray, the one-armed player outfielder who served as the symbol of the less-than-stellar WWII era quality of play.

Grey was also the subject of one of the worst baseball movies of all time, A Winner Never Quits, a 1986 made-for-TV affair starring Keith Carradine as bitter Pete; Mare Winningham as the good woman who loves him; Dennis Weaver and Fionna Flanagan as his Slavic parents (with terrible accents); and the unfortunately-named Huckleberry Fox as the little boy who teaches him “life lessons.”

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Tagged as: Lefty Grove, Pete Gray, Willie Stargell

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