Raymond Massey (left, holding Orangey) and Jan Sterling
August 30, 1951: The film Rhubarb premieres, directed by Arthur Lubin, and based on the 1946 novel of the same title by H. Allen Smith.
Lonely, eccentric millionaire Thaddeus J. Banner (played by Gene Lockhart), who owns the Brooklyn Loons baseball team, takes a dog-chasing stray cat ("played" by a cat named Orangey) into his home. He names the cat Rhubarb, which is baseball slang for an argument or fight.
When Banner dies, it is discovered that he had named Rhubarb as his sole beneficiary, so the cat inherits ownership of the team. Team publicist Eric Yeager (Ray Milland) is named Rhubarb's guardian, so, technically, he "owns the team." Yeager's fiancée, Polly Sickles (Jan Sterling), daughter of the team's manager, Len Sickles (William Frawley), is terribly allergic to Rhubarb, causing many problems. Banner's spoiled, greedy and unhappy daughter Myra (Elsie Holmes) files a lawsuit, contesting the will.
When the team's players discover that they are owned by a cat, they stage a protest, until Yeager persuades them that Rhubarb brings them luck. Brooklyn begins winning, and will play the powerful New York team for the championship. But a bookmaker, who stands to lose a large sum if Brooklyn, wins kidnaps the cat. The team fares poorly during the search for Rhubarb, but he escapes his captors, and races to the ballpark to save the day.
Making only his 2nd film appearance, without a spoken line, as one of the Brooklyn players is 20-year-old Leonard Nimoy. No word on whether he thought anything about the story was logical.
Life soon imitated art: In real life that year, the National League Pennant came down to Brooklyn vs. New York. But not that much: Brooklyn lost in the end.
In 1969, Hal Higdon published the children's novel The Horse That Played Center Field. This time, the animal in question doesn't own the team, he plays, but he still brings the team luck. The team's name is the New York Goats, and they win the Pennant. In the World Series, they play the Bronx Bombers (one of the real-life nicknames of the New York Yankees), and take a three games to none lead, before the horse is kidnapped, leading to the Bombers tying the Series and sending it to a Game 7, requiring a rescue. It was turned into an animated film in 1980.
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August 30, 1951 was a Thursday. Actor Timothy Bottoms was born. This was also the day that the film David and Bathsheba premiered, and the New York Yankees traded Lew Burdette to the Boston Braves for Johnny Sain. I have separate entries for those events.
These baseball games were played:
* The New York Giants lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates, 10-9 at the Polo Grounds. I guess the buzzer system was working that day, but couldn't overcome the poor pitching of George Spencer, Sheldon Jones, Dave Koslo and Larry Jansen, the last of whom gave up a 9th-inning home run to Ralph Kiner. Rookie Willie Mays hit 2 home runs.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Cincinnati Reds, 3-1 at Ebbets Field. Preacher Roe outpitched Ewell Blackwell. Jackie Robinson went 0-for-2, but also drew 2 walks and stole a base. Duke Snider went 1-for-3 with a walk.
The Giants only lost 5 more games over the course of the regular season, and on only 3 of those days -- September 8, 11 and 20 -- did the Dodgers also win.
* The Boston Braves beat the Chicago Cubs, 16-2 at Braves Field in Boston. Earl Torgeson went 2-for-6 with a home run and 4 RBIs.
* The St. Louis Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies, 6-3 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. Stan Musial went 1-for-4.
* The Philadelphia Athletics beat the Cleveland Indians, 6-2 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Morrie Martin, in what had to be the career highlight for the lifetime 38-34 pitcher, outpitched Bob Feller.
* The Boston Red Sox beat the Detroit Tigers, 10-4 at Briggs Stadium (later renamed Tiger Stadium) in Detroit. Ted Williams went 0-for-4, but did draw 2 walks.
* And the New York Yankees, the Chicago White Sox, the St. Louis Browns and the Washington Senators were not scheduled.
