# Help Me With This Baseball Anecdote **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [April 25, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684 "2011-04-25T17:48:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/1 "2011-04-25T17:48:52Z")
Watching _The King’s Speech_ this past weekend reminded me of an amusing baseball story I read about in one of the _Baseball Hall of Shame_ books. Apparently the King of England (given the time frame, it would have to be either George V, Edward VII, or George VI) was visiting the US and taking in a baseball game. Being a monarch and all, he was given a VIP tour and somehow wound up in one of the dugouts, where he was introduced to the team’s manager. The team’s manager (Connie Mack? Leo Durocher?) was a man known for neither eloquence of speech nor refined manners. On being introduced to the visiting monarch, said manager responded by saying “How ya doin’, King?” Can anyone fill me in on the particulars of this event? ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/2 "2011-04-25T18:04:45Z")
Hm… dunno about the quote. [Here](http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:King_George_V_Attends_Baseball_Game.jpg) is a picture of George V at a baseball game in England. The manager of one of the teams was John McGraw. It was either in 1920 (according to [this](http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/newsstand/discussion/the_king_of_england_watches_a_baseball_game_1920_film_video/)) or 1914 according to the Wiki. ---
**Author:** ![Jas09](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d07c76/32.png) [@Jas09](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jas09)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/3 "2011-04-25T18:06:20Z")
To add, [this book](http://books.google.com/books?id=HBuuVAG6NxIC&lpg=PA177&ots=dd-1mu3-Gn&dq=george%20V%20john%20mcgraw&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q=george%20V%20john%20mcgraw&f=false) has it as 1914 (Feb 26 to be exact). ---
**Author:** ![colonial](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/34f0e0/32.png) [@colonial](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colonial)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/4 "2011-04-25T18:09:12Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#): > > Watching _The King’s Speech_ this past weekend reminded me of an amusing baseball story I read about in one of the _Baseball Hall of Shame_ books. Apparently the King of England (given the time frame, it would have to be either George V, Edward VII, or George VI) was visiting the US and taking in a baseball game. Being a monarch and all, he was given a VIP tour and somehow wound up in one of the dugouts, where he was introduced to the team’s manager. > > The team’s manager (Connie Mack? Leo Durocher?) was a man known for neither eloquence of speech nor refined manners. On being introduced to the visiting monarch, said manager responded by saying “How ya doin’, King?” > > Can anyone fill me in on the particulars of this event? This anecdote may be anecdotal- I have heard a suspiciously similiar story re Jim Thorpe. After his decisive gold medal performance at the 1912 Stockholm Olympics Thorpe was introduced to the King of Sweden. The King congratulated Thorpe, saying something to the effect that Thorpe was surely the best athlete of all time. Thrope is supposed to have replied: “Thanks, King”. Getting back to the baseball anecdote, it sounds like something wiseacre Durocher might have said. George VI was in North America in May-June 1939, and one of his stops was the World’s Fair in NYC, where Durocher was managing the Dodgers. Alas 30 minutes or so googling has failed to turn up any connection. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2011, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/5 "2011-04-25T18:51:54Z")
Yes, it seems to me that the OP is recalling the story about Jim Thorpe (who played baseball among other sports) and the [King of Sweden:](http://www.jimthorpefilm.com/photo/pages/26.html) > [@](#): > > For the decathlon, in addition to his medal, Thorpe was given a thirty-pound gold and jewel-encrusted chalice in the shape of a Viking ship and a bust of the king. His voice shaking with emotion, King Gustav grasped Thorpe firmly by the hand and said, “Sir, you are the greatest athlete in the world.” Thorpe’s simply replied, “Thanks, King.” However, there is an anecdote about Casey Stengel and the King of England, when Stengel was on a world tour with the Giants. According to Stengel’s account, he went up to the king, stuck out his hand, and said [“You are deeply honored, Your Majesty.”](http://books.google.com/books?id=Ii4DAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA56&lpg=PA56&dq=casey+stengel+king+of+england&source=bl&ots=u8Gzk8X5qy&sig=0fSYGn_3i2ltAu-IJvlupnivGsA&hl=en&ei=CMK1Ta2tC-Hr0gHcvdiaCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBcQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=casey%20stengel%20king%20of%20england&f=false) ---
**Author:** ![Jim\_s\_Son](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e19adc/32.png) [@Jim\_s\_Son](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jim_s_Son)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 9:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/6 "2011-04-26T09:59:50Z")
I can’t find a cite but if it was a baseball player, it could have been Arlie Latham, known in his day as “The Freshest Man in Baseball” and lived in England for seventeen years. During World War I he tried to teach the British baseball and said King George V had a “fair middling arm” but couldn’t break him of his habits from playing cricket.[http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&bid=842&pid=0](http://bioproj.sabr.org/bioproj.cfm?a=v&bid=842&pid=0) ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2011, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/help-me-with-this-baseball-anecdote/579684/7 "2011-04-26T10:56:13Z")
Legendary Australian fast bowler Dennis Lillee was twice introduced to the Queen. As part of her meeting the Australian side in 1977 he asked for an autograph. He had a pen and paper with him. She declined but sent him an autographed photo a few weeks later. [At about 1:16](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGsbX--JF8U) When he was introduced in 1981 at Buckingham Palace to receive his MBE Lillee stuck out his hand to shake with her and said, “G’day, how ya go’in?”