"I went to three Royals games this year, but when I go there I come home and I dream about it for two weeks. And my dream is crazy. It's that I am going to pitch, but I can't find my hat or my glove and that I lost one of my shoes. I never throw a ball in a dream. I went to see a shrink about it, and that dream was defined to mean that I left the game before I was mentally prepared. I left because of an injury, rather than for a lack of ability. It's a dream of frustration." -Lew Krausse I was saddened to hear of Lew Krausse dying last week, and it gave me the initiative to look into the ol' cigar box to retrieve a creased and beat-up autographed 1969 baseball card of the legendary twirler. Lew had played and retired long before I was born, but I had read about and enjoyed his exploits in the various books published about Charlie Finley's Kansas City/Oakland A's. In another random and very odd twist, I was invited by an unnamed source in the Athletics organization (send me more free stuff!) to watch his Livestream funeral service (Feb. 24) on Vimeo. I'm not sure if I'll partake in that quite yet, but it would be nice to honor the man in his final send-off.
Here are some facts about the pitcher:
-Lew was one of the first "bonus babies" in pro sports, signing at that time for a record $125,000 bonus by A's owner, Charley Finley.
- pitched a 3 hit shutout against the LA Angels in his ML debut at the age of 18. (!!!)
- A legendary drinker who would give Wade Boggs and Mickey Mantle a run for their money, Lew shot off a handgun from the window of his hotel room in KC and kicked down a hotel room door in Anaheim.
- Starting pitcher for the Oakland A's in their inaugural game in 1969, and also did the same for the first Milwaukee Brewers game in history.
For anyone interested, you can watch Lew pitch 3 innings of relief against the Red Sox in 1969 on Youtube. (relieving Jim Nash and earning the save. Reggie Jackson also hits a homer in this game.)
And In an added bonus, Lew also singles off the Green Monster with Yaz taking the carom and holding the runner. Link:A's/Red Sox 6/15/1969.
