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| Gomez Channeling Pineda? |
The Pennsylvania Historical & Museum Commission today released
a rare film of
President Franklin Delano Roosevelt walking with braces and being helped up a ramp by aides at the 1937 All-Star Game in Washington, DC. The video was shot by one of the players (
Jimmie DeShong) and was released by his family. FDR and the Secret Service did their best to suppress images of the president attempting to walk on legs weakened by polio. But
another interesting scene shows up in the film: Yankee pitcher
Lefty Gomez is seen apparently applying some sort of foreign substance on his pitching hand before the game—and looking pretty guilty about it. Imagine, a Yankee pitcher smearing stuff to gain an advantage! Of course, it
could be completely innocent—but what do
you think? By the way, Gomez started and
won the game—going three innings and giving up just one hit. Uh-huh.
