Wilbur Huckle Revisited

[G-Fafif]

I seem to recall Tom Seaver's Jacksonville roommate (or his ghostlike presence) coming up a while back. Keith Olbermann is on the case here[/url:3rmierkv]. He mentions a non-playing callup and someone with the program to prove it. No number cited there or on MBTN.

What the Huck?

[metirish]

] Murphy was credited with a single, presumably because, given how he plays the outfield, Dukes' glove is considered part of the field of play, and not an actual piece of equipment.

Oh that's cruel...


That's an interesting blog , bookmarked it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I've got a "Wilber Huckle for President" pin. I wonder how Wilber made out?

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, that allows me to make my first update to my Wilbur Huckle page in six months.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Huckle

All that snarking, though, Olberman. I mean, shut the hell up.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I skimmed through my copy of Jones, Cleon with Ed Hershey, Cleon, Coward-McCann (New York), 1970 (1st Ed. - Hardcover) for any Wilber Huckle references, being that Huckle and Jones were both, supposedly called up in September of 1963. There were none. But I was reminded that Cleon roomed with Paul Blair in St. Petersburg during Blair's only Spring with the Mets; that Casey Stengel was the most knowledgeable baseball man that Cleon ever met, and that Cleon thought the Otis-Foy trade would help both teams. There's also a full page B&W pose of Cleon wearing a Mets #12 home 1965 uniform, and a picture of Cleon and his wife Angela in a supermarket, shopping for hamhocks. Cleon loves hamhocks.

Here's Angela's recipe for hamhocks, as it appears in the Appendix to Cleon, pg. 189 -- a recipe that I would recommend for inclusion should the Mets and Stop -n- Shop ever collaborate on a Turn Back the Clock Mets Cookbook:

Cleon's Special Soul Food Dinner
by Angela Jones

="Angela Jones"]The way the schedule breaks, with all the night games and road trips, Cleon and I don't get too much of a chance to entertain in New York. But when we do have people over for dinner, Cleon is very partial to a few dishes that he has enjoyed all his life.... Recipe for Hamhocks and Greens/Hamhocks and Butterbeans Eight smoked hamhocks Package of Lima Beans Fresh collard greens Sugar Salt Pepper Whole garlic Small onion Vinegar Boil six of the hamhocks in a three-quart saucepan for two hours, adding water if necessary. Add the lima beans, four to six sections of a clove of garlic, half a diced onion, and sugar, salt and pepper to taste. Reduce flame and simmer for two more hours. Serve hot. Boil the other two hamhocks in a smaller saucepan for three hours. Roll up the greens, slice them into bite-size portions, and add them to the hamhocks with sugar, salt, a dash of pepper, a touch of vinegar, and afew bits of the onion. Reduce flame until there is just enough heat to keep hamhocks and greens warm until serving.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'm calling bullshit on Keith Olbermann. He's a guy who is capable of doing real baseball research (he's a sabr guy and all) so I don't know why he'd grant admission to the Sharman Society based on what a friend told him about a scorecard.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Wham.

http://mbtn.net/huckleberry-found

[Guest Edgy DC]

That's some sleuthin'.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilbur_Huckle

Darryl Strawberry and a Met pitcher (Ownbey? Bittiger?) similarly came up at the end of 1982 as a courtesy. They were dressed but not added to the roster.

[Met Hunter]

There are two Wilbur Huckles that have telephone listings in the Texas phone directories. Wouldn't it have been easier for Olbermann to call Wilbur to find out what happened that year?

[batmagadanleadoff]

="John Cougar Lunchbucket":3sq2fm4u]Wham.[/quote:3sq2fm4u] Yeah, but what was Huckle's number?

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 01 2009 07:48 AM

I'll have to hear from Keith's buddy before I can say for sure. He doesn;t appear on a roster I have from September of 1963. The 1964 spring training roster lists him as 35, which would have been available in 63 too. Interestingly the Mets then issued several organization invites numbers in the 30s: 32 Lloyd Flodin 34 Cleon Jones 35 Wilbur Huckle Those guys in the Samuels Era get issued numbers in the 60s.

batmagadanleadoff May 04 2009 08:14 AM

From Jerry Grote's Facebook page: Jerry Grote wroteon February 20, 2009 at 9:47pm Gary Balbaugh (San Antonio, TX) wrote at 9:53pm Did you play with Wilbur Huckle? He ran for president. He is my wife's cousin. Played with and against Wilbur in high school in San Antonio. He went to Harlandale and I was at MacArthur. We played on one all-star team together but can't remember which one or which year. Jerry

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 04 2009 08:21 AM

I guess Huckle is Gary Balbaugh's wife's cousin, not Grote's. It would be more fun the other way around.

Edgy DC May 12 2009 08:21 AM

Have you heard back from Keith on your counterpoint?

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 12 2009 08:24 AM

Nope.

Edgy DC May 20 2009 02:52 PM

Edgy DC May 20 2009 02:54 PM

The Make-Your-Own-Indy-Album generator picked up the Wilbur wikipedia entry. http://worldsareforming.blogs.com/worldsareforming/2008/01/wilbur-huckle-h.html

John Cougar Lunchbucket May 21 2009 06:59 PM

[url:10z752kb]http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/05/meet_wilbur_huckle_again.html[/url:10z752kb] I tellya, I get no respect at all.

Edgy DC May 21 2009 10:22 PM

More like that he feels no need to give any.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I'll have to hear from Keith's buddy before I can say for sure. He doesn;t appear on a roster I have from September of 1963.

The 1964 spring training roster lists him as 35, which would have been available in 63 too.

Interestingly the Mets then issued several organization invites numbers in the 30s:

32 Lloyd Flodin
34 Cleon Jones
35 Wilbur Huckle

Those guys in the Samuels Era get issued numbers in the 60s.

[batmagadanleadoff]

From Jerry Grote's Facebook page:

Jerry Grote wroteon February 20, 2009 at 9:47pm
Gary Balbaugh (San Antonio, TX) wrote
at 9:53pm
Did you play with Wilbur Huckle? He ran for president.
He is my wife's cousin.

Played with and against Wilbur in high school in San Antonio. He went to Harlandale and I was at MacArthur. We played on one all-star team together but can't remember which one or which year. Jerry

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

I guess Huckle is Gary Balbaugh's wife's cousin, not Grote's. It would be more fun the other way around.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Have you heard back from Keith on your counterpoint?

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Nope.

[Guest Edgy DC]

[Guest Edgy DC]

The Make-Your-Own-Indy-Album generator picked up the Wilbur wikipedia entry.

http://worldsareforming.blogs.com/worldsareforming/2008/01/wilbur-huckle-h.html

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

[url:10z752kb]http://keitholbermann.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/05/meet_wilbur_huckle_again.html[/url:10z752kb]

I tellya, I get no respect at all.

[Guest Edgy DC]

More like that he feels no need to give any.