These were the nicknames given to Paul and Lloyd Waner, brothers who played together for the Pittsburgh Pirates for many years during the 1930s. Funny, but Paul, who was an inch shorter than Lloyd, was the “Big” one, presumably in deference to his being the senior brother by three years.
Why do I bring this up? Because I was just watching Arsenic and Old Lace, starring Cary Grant, Raymond Massey, et al. The opening scene begins with the words, “This is a Halloween tale of Brooklyn, where anything can happen — and it usually does.” The next screen notes, “On this particular day at 3 p.m., this was happening.”
From a 2010 examination of A&OL on AndrewsIdeas.com:
[The film] begins with a sequence in Ebbets Field in Brooklyn during a Dodgers game. The game quickly erupts into a fistfight between players and umpires, the sort of scene that is far too outrageous to happen with any kind of regularity in normal life, but which is presented in the film as another day in the life in Brooklyn (read: America).
The scene of approximately 30-seconds in which the Dodgers are facing what I have to assume is the New York Yankees, so it would obviously have to be a World Series meeting. The home plate umpire rings up a batter wearing number 43 on a called third strike with a 3-2 count (since the batter seems to be heading towards first base). Said player turns around, silently removes the umpires mask… and slugs him, precipitating the melee between the two ball clubs as well as fans from the stands, not to mention a concessionaire or two.
The movie was released on September 23, 1944, so the fall classic depicted could not have been any later than 1941, since the Yankees faced the St. Louis Cardinals in both ’42 and ’43.
One problem: there was no #43 on the Brooklyn roster that year.
And we’ll overlook the fact that the World Series in those years were usually over well before Halloween. In 1941, the five-game affair was over on October 6.
But it’s a fun classic movie anyway.
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