THE BEST: “Pitcher Jim Owens and football star Stew Barber are
two athletes the Bradford area can be proud of, but neither can lay
claim to being ‘Bradford’s greatest athlete of all time,’ as was
suggested recently in RTS.”
Paul Reichart of Dillsburg adds: “That title can only belong to
George Edward ‘Rube’ Waddell, who was born in Bradford in 1876 and
became one of the greatest players in baseball history – and a
member of the Hall of Fame in 1946.”
Paul, a former Bradford resident and, in fact, former managing
editor of The Era, makes a convincing case:
“Waddell was undeniably wacko. He was an alcoholic who was
famous for his odd behavior – like leaving the dugout in the middle
of games to chase after fire trucks or losing his concentration on
the mound when fans held up puppies or shiny objects to distract
him.
“But baseball superhero Walter Johnson admitted years after
Waddell’s death that no one could hold a candle to Rube.
” ‘I suppose if there is any subject that I am qualified to
discuss it is pitching,’ Johnson said. ‘Rube Waddell had more sheer
pitching ability than any man I ever saw.’
“Indeed, he was an awesome talent. During the prime of his
career with the Philadelphia A’s, Waddell had four consecutive
20-win seasons. In total, he won 193 games. One year he even took
pitching’s triple crown – leading the league in wins, strikeouts
and earned run average.
“I think the most staggering statistics are his number of
shutouts (50) and career earned run average (2.16).
“Sadly, Waddell’s life was short. In 1913 he contracted
tuberculosis and died the next spring at a sanitarium near his
sister’s home in Texas. He was only 37 years old.”
We have more nominations for “Bradford’s best” coming soon.
Popular subject for RTS readers.
WEEK’S RUN: There has been a lot of buzz around the Golden
Globe-winning film, “Slumdog Millionaire,” which has also been
nominated for 10 Academy awards. And you have a chance to see it in
Bradford as part of the Independent Film Series. The film starts at
the Bradford Main Street Moviehouse on Friday (Feb. 20) for a
week’s run. Because of the popularity of this film, Dipson decided
to run it for a week instead of the usual one night.
