Baseball trivia Question of the Day, or thereabouts

[nygsem]

Doc Ellis
Doc Medich

And wasn't Willie Randolph part of that trade?  That's going back to a section of my memory that's forever fuzzy.   

[retrojint]

Ah a gem of a response by nygsem.   Yes, George "Doc"Medich  for Dock Ellis and Willie Randoph. Great deal for the Yankees. Let's see: After the ignominious reign of Horace Clarke at 2B for the Yankees, there were three short-term bridges to Willie. They moved Stick Michael from SS to 2B, installing Jim Mason at SS. Then they traded for a guy who  had played in the Pirates' chain.  I think his name was Gonzalez. Next was a decent patch-Sandy Alomar Sr. who is known primarily for supplying the game with a future HOFer in  his son Roberto. Sandy  Jr. was a pretty  fair player in his own right. Then Willie who excelled in the job for many years. As for the cryptic comment about your "fuzzy"memory, nygsem,might you be alluding to your college years? If so,we copy. 

[retrojint]

8-29-11: Right-handed pitcher for the Chisox in the 70s. He pitched with long hair stuffed under his hat and "Toys in the Attic" between his ears. Name the player.

[dasher]

Referencing the Yankee - Pirate trade, the Yankees acquired a third player as part of that trade,
Who knows, he may even be the long haired Chisox pitcher of the 70's. -  pretty good hitter for a pitcher also. Part of the family genes I guess.

[retrojint]

Dasher: That's Ken Brett beloved (& late) brother of George. I had a summer job working in a factory in Syracuse in 75. One of the guys I worked with had been a Red Sox minor league pitcher. He roomed with Ken somewhere. Can't remember if it was in spring training or during a season. Anyway he had a couple of good stories about him. Good pitcher. Good hitter. Short stint with the Yankees. Not the White Sox pitcher, who was right-handed.

[Webster29]

Steve:  when you said "toys in the attic" between his years makes me think of a knuckleballer as most of them are a bit on the strange side, or so it seems so I thought of Wilbur Wood but he was a lefty.  They did have a bit of an odd ball with longish hair and a fu manchu for a couple of seasons.  Was it Pete Vuckovich (Clu Haywood of Major League)??

[nygsem]

College in the mid 70's Retro, yes.   

Really, the only Chisox pitchers from back then that I can remember are Wilber Wood, a lefty, so he's out, and Goose Gossage, who I think pitched for Chicago around that time.  But he never gave me the impression he was over the rainbow. I'm drawing a blank.

[bighitterdalama]

Bart "Toys in the Attic" Johnson. So named, I believe, because, once a major leaguer, he played for a stretch in the NBA.
 
Big Hitter

[retrojint]

Mr. Da Lama: Correct but I don't get your very eclectic NBA allusion on Claire BarTth (Bart) "Toys in the Attic" Johnson. He was so nicknamed because he was whippier than a crap house rat, is what we were led to believe. If he left for the NBA I never knew that. He did kind of disappear all of a sudden.
 
Red: Good fastball. Opposite end of the Wood spectrum. 
 
Gem: Got it. Things got fuzzy during the college era.

[retrojint]

Bravo, Hermoso and Pagan. Ballplayers with wings. How so?

[dasher]

Hearing Bart Johnson's name , I would like to ask an addendum question. To the best of my knowledge this player of the 50's and early 60's (depending on  the sport) is the only player to have won national championships in two of the four major professional sports. This player was baseball and basketball. Who is he and what teams did we win the champioships with?

[bighitterdalama]

Steve,
 
Bart Johnson was great basketball talent. On the (then required) freshman team at BYU (circa 1968),he averaged 28 ppg. He opted for baseball but, once he became a blossoming star for the Chisox, he tried out during the 1973 off-season for the NBA Seattle Supersonics. I thought that this was where the "Toys in the Attic" momiker had its beginning: once he established baseball career, he tried to backtrack to an earlier life in basketball. And he was indeed a flaky lad.
 
http://1972topps.blogspot.com/2009/07/126-bart-johnson.html
 
Dale,
 
Dave Debusschere come to mind. Knicks in the NBA and (I thought) Tigers in baseball. But I don't think he was on the Tigers in '68. I will have to check.
 
Brian

[dasher]

Brian,
I was not thinking dave debusschere, but I've been proven wrong by you in the past!
Assuming Dave may be correct, who is the one I'm thinking of.
Dale

[bighitterdalama]

Dale,
 
Its not Debusschere. he had a brief stint for the Chisox and less than a cup of coffee for the Indians, all in the early '60s. Perhaps my mistaken memory of the Tigers resulted from the fact that Double D was  traded from the Detroit Pistons to the Knicks (for center Walt Bellamy).
 
I can only come up with two other players who you might be thinking of. One was a fantastic college basketball player (Player of the Year as a Senior) who played briefly in the NBA. He then went on to have a near HOF baseball career. This player did not win a basketball championship in either college or the pros, but he was an integral part of two World Series champions (different teams, same opponent). The second player was on the LOSING end of both one NBA championship and two World Series. He was a moderately talented but never outstanding player in either sport.
 
Brian

[dasher]

Brian,
Nope to both.
The real deal I am thinking of also was the winning pitcher in a midsummer classic Allstar game.