A man's life, file by file

Yesterday I was going through some clips that I had downloaded a few months ago ... all of them  with names like "ProQuest_90614334.pdf." All of them old New York Times and L.A. Times articles that related either to Johnny Sain or Jim Bouton. This wasn't an idle exercise -- I have to rename the files so they're useful for future research.

Many of the articles are about key points in Sain's career, and they're often terribly brief and offer little or no information beyond the facts. No analysis. No quotes.

But when you look at the renamed files in a list, something begins to emerge, something that looks like a fairly typical career of a lifelong baseball man:

Sain wins 1942 exhibition
Feller vs. Sain 1948 World Series
Yanks buy Sain Aug. 1951
Sain retires 1953
Sain returns to Yankees 1954
A's release Sain 1955
A's sign Sain as pitching coach
Sain resigns A's
Sain signs with Yankees
Sain breaks jaw
Yankees fire Sain Oct. 1963
Sain signs with Twins
Sain and Kaat 1965
Twins fire Sain
Kaat criticizes Twins on Sain
Tigers hire Sain and Naragon
McLain and Sain
Lolich and Sain
Tigers fire Sain Aug. 1969
Angels hire Sain 1970
White Sox hire Sain
Wilbur Wood and Sain
Chuck Tanner on Sain
Braves hire Sain

And the stories that are even more interesting when you learn the details:
Sain elected alderman
Sain gadget 1965
Sain on 3-inning pitchers 1966
Sain on pitchers hitting
Sain and controversy

Nothing here that'll rewrite baseball history, but within these files are some surprises. Johnny Sain was a man ahead of his time. And his story must be told ...