Of all the looks the Mighty Whities have perpetrated over the years, this was the worst. And to model this happenin' gear, we bring youan obscure guy. Sports Illustrated had a history in the 1970s of putting a hot rookie on the cover their magazine. In 1979 they chose this guy, Harry Chappas. Harry Chappas was one of the smallest men to ever play in the major leagues. He was 5-3, 150. He made his major league debut in September of 1978, straight off the roster of my beloved Appleton Foxes, the White Sox A-ball farm team. Chappas had a fantastic year in A ball on a very good Foxes team (among others who played in Appleton that season were two pitchers who had decent major league careers, Britt Burns and LaMarr Hoyt). He was a dynamic middle infielder with some power and great speed. He stole a lot of bases in Appleton and hit for a very high average. But the thing was, that was A ball. What worked against the Quad Cities Angels didn't necessarily work against the California Angels. Once Harry got to the big leagues, he was overmatched and he didn't last long - he didn't even stick long enough to be around for the Disco Demolition. But he did make the cover of SI. That's more than most people can say.
1 comment:
Ahhhhh...the 1970's Foxes. Bob Flynn, the red haired trainer beleived to have fathered Carrot Top. Garv and Fred Holtz and Greg Mielke were the batboys. Ray Stark. Purple Guy. Bud and Odie Koehnke. Hit it through the hole and win a TV. If a player hit a triple, they won a free fish fry from Schrieter's Coach Lamp Inn. Free entrance on Sunday with the cchurch bulletin. Lamar Johnson hitting the Kamps household on Spencer. That stadium should still be standing. It reminds me of a Grapefruit League stadium from the '40's.
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