If he were alive today, Dizzy Dean would be celebrating his 99th birthday. I was reading Irv Kupcinet's book, "Kup's Chicago," (from 1962) and he has a great story in there about his run-in with Dizzy Dean...When Dean was with the Cardinals training in Tampa (before he came to the Cubs in ’38), Dizzy and his wife ran into Jack Miley, a writer for the NY Daily News who had been making fun of them in his column. In the lobby of the Tampa Terrace Hotel, Dizzy’s wife said: “There’s that fat sonuvabitch. Give him his lumps.”
Kup just happened to be standing next to Miley, when they were surrounded by the entire Cardinals team, still in uniform—heading back to their rooms. Miley and Dizzy started calling each other vile names. A teammate of Dizzy’s got so mad, he hit Miley in the face with his spikes, which he had been carrying in his hand so it wouldn’t ruin the lobby carpeting. This led to an all-out brawl. Miley got a 2-inch gash in his forehead, Kup got a black eye, and the potted plants, tables, and lamps got busted up.
That was Dizzy Dean.
I've written about his days with the Cubs a few times. You can check those out here and here.
P.S. Do you think that #22 is a cursed number for Cubs pitchers?
