Talk:Clint Courtney/GA1

GA Review

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Reviewer: GhostRiver (talk · contribs) 13:50, 8 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I can take a look at this article later today! — Ghost River 13:50, 8 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Good Article review progress box

Criteria: 1a. prose () 1b. MoS () 2a. ref layout () 2b. cites WP:RS () 2c. no WP:OR () 2d. no WP:CV ()

3a. broadness () 3b. focus () 4. neutral () 5. stable () 6a. free or tagged images () 6b. pics relevant ()

Note: this represents where the article stands relative to the Good Article criteria. Criteria marked are unassessed

Infobox and lede

"American catcher in Major League Baseball who played for" → "American professional baseball catcher who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for"
"living there and in Arkansas as he grew up" → "growing up there and in Arkansas"
"in World War II" → "during World War II" to reduce repetition of "in"
Delink catcher in the second paragraph
"before getting traded" → "before he was traded"

Early life

"Clint had a sister Fleta and, after his father remarried to Gladys Woods, stepsisters Cecil and Jo." → "Courtney had a sister named Fleta, as well as two stepsisters, Cecil and Jo, from his father's remarriage to Gladys Woods."
"eighth grade; then, they moved" → "eighth grade, at which point they moved"
"during World War II" → "to serve in World War II"
"To better accomplish the position change, he taught himself to throw with his right arm even though he was a natural left-hander. This made it easier for him to throw to first base." → "To better accomplish the position change, the left-handed Courtney taught himself to throw right-handed, which would make it easier to make a play to first base."

Early minor league career

Link "Scout" to Scout (sport)
"who was also from Louisiana" → "another Louisiana native"
"swore to go after" → "swore to target"
"serving as the team's manager as well as a player. His .371 average led the winter league." → "leading the league with a .371 average while also serving as the team's manager"
"knocking Johnny Logan's front teeth out." → "Knocking out Johnny Logan's front teeth."

Major league career

1951

In the subhead, "MLB Debut" → "MLB debut"
"starting at catcher in the second" → "starting behind the plate for the second"
Softball and hockey actually contributed to my preference for contact lenses over glasses; a few too many pairs got smashed by balls, pucks, and sticks
Should it be specified that he was the first catcher to wear eyeglasses on the field? There may have been some who wore them in their personal lives and took them off or wore hard contacts in games
- Yes, definitely should have had that in there! Thanks for catching it. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:18, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

1952

Close paraphrasing from source with "Courtney was racing sportswriter Milton Richman in a railway yard when he tripped and fell,". Suggest "Courtney tripped and fell during a foot race against sportswriter Milton Richman in a railway yard"
"receiving tons of cuts from broken glass and rocks." → "and the broken glass and rocks in the yard resulted in a number of cuts"
WL exhibition game
"putting the Browns up for good with a two-run blast" → "a go-ahead, two-run blast"
Close paraphrasing with "When Courtney slid into second base again"; suggest "When Courtney attempted the play again"
"Martin hit Courtney with the hand holding the baseball. Getting up, Courtney tried to hit Martin back, and Martin began showering him with punches." → "Martin hit him with the hand that had been holding the baseball. Courtney got up and tried to retaliate, which resulted in a shower of punches from Martin."
Huh, today I learned that you can in fact get an RBI if you walk in a run
- Always tempted to call it an RBBI Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:21, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
The "However" feels out of place when listing Courtney's accolades; even though he didn't win Rookie of the Year, runner-up is pretty impressive, so showing that he did win something isn't a departure from the prior sentences

1953-1954

"Courtney sought a $4,500 raise for 1953, which would bring his salary to $12,000."
"To retaliate in the bottom of the inning, Courtney spiked" → "When the Browns were up to bat that inning, Courtney retaliated by spiking"
"Soda bottles were thrown onto the field by the fans," → "Fans threw soda bottles onto the field" (active voice)
"suffered a dislocated shoulder" → "dislocated his shoulder" (close paraphrasing from the source)
"He was involved" → "Courtney was involved", as AL president Will Harridge was the subject of the previous sentence
"the Browns hit three successive home runs during the first inning of an 8–6 victory over the Yankees. Courtney started the feat, followed by Dick Kryhoski and Jim Dyck. This was an MLB record at the time." → "the Browns set an MLB record with three successive home runs during the first inning of an 8–6 victory over the Yankees. Courtney started the feat, followed by Dick Kryhoski and Jim Dyck."
- Only problem here is, I don't think they were the first to do it. I just know that four successive home runs hadn't happened yet. Couldn't find a list of all the three-home-run-in-a-row games. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:25, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Switch up the order of the end of this section so that it goes 17-player trade, Brideweser/Chakales/et al., then how the Yankees got two new catchers and didn't need Courtney
- It's actually two different trades, so I think it should stay the way it is. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:27, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

1955-1959

Since Lollar hasn't been mentioned since 1951, maybe mention when he joined the Sox
- He was actually traded to the Sox, so I just changed the 1951 mention to include that. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:31, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Delink Bob Chakales, mentioned and linked earlier
Combine first two paragraphs into one
""insubordination."" → ""insubordination"." per MOS:LQ
In both 1956 and 1957, the number of games Courtney played are mentioned both at the top and at the end of the paragraph
"diagnosed his condition as" → "instead diagnosed him with"
WL hairline fracture
"It was the mumps which finally got to him, keeping him out until mid-May." → "His bad luck came to a head when a bout of the mumps kept Courtney off the field until mid-May."

1960-1961

"The knuckleball was one of baseball's least predictable pitches, which made it difficult to hit, but catchers often gave up" → "The unpredictable nature of a knuckleball made it notoriously difficult not just to hit but to catch, and catchers often allowed"
In the sentence beginning "The glove, nicknamed "Big Bertha"," add "for comparison" either before or after "most gloves", and have the "there were no official measurements for gloves at the time" turned into a note.
"wear the big mitt" → "wear the oversized mitt"
If this is factually true, "Still, the mitt was legal until the end of 1964," → "The mitt remained in use until the end of 1964". If it was legal but nobody used the Big Mitt, then ignore
- It might be factually true, but I don't think I could tell from the sources, so I'll probably just leave it the way it is. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:37, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
Link "struggled to throw the ball from home plate back to the pitcher" to Yips
- Also, throwback (throw forward?) to Jarrod Saltalamacchia having the same issue decades later
  - Glad they recovered, unlike Steve Blass and Rick Ankiel (the latter of which I guess managed to turn into an outfielder, but never became the pitcher he might have been). Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:38, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]
"also promised" → "also made a promise"

Career statistics and playing style

Something about the verb "firing" feels insufficient to describe the force he used to throw; I like "burning", from the source
Move the Richards quote to the first paragraph, maybe right after his caught stealing percentage, both so that it's not hanging out there on its own and to give some qualitative corollary to the quantitative statistics

Later minor league career

"Richards became the general manager of the expansion Houston Colt .45's in 1962" → "MLB expanded into two new franchises for the 1962 season, with Richards becoming the general manager of the Houston Colt .45's"
"Class B Carolina League. Durham manager Lou Fitzgerald wanted a veteran around to help the team's catchers." → "Class B Carolina League, where manager Lou Fitzgerald wanted a veteran around to help the team's catchers."
"San Antonio. He served" → "San Antonio, serving"

Coaching career

"After the season, he was fired along with Richards and the rest of the coaching staff." → "After the season, the entire Astros coaching staff was fired, including Courtney and Richards."
"to managed" → "to manage"
"He figured that soon, he would be managing an MLB team." → "Nevertheless, Courtney figured that his dreams of managing a major league team would soon be realized."

Death

"While Richmond was on a road trip to play the Rochester Red Wings on June 15, 1975, Courtney and some of his players were playing ping pong and discussing baseball when the manager suffered a fatal heart attack, dying at age 48." → "On June 15, 1975, while on a road trip with Richmond to play the Rochester Red Wings, Courtney was playing ping pong and discussing baseball with some of his players when he suffered a heart attack. The attack proved fatal, and Courtney died at the age of 48."
Any way to know what happened to Richmond manager-wise for the remainder of that season?
- Now I know what Bob Lemon was doing before the Yankees hired him! Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 20:13, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Personal life

Capitalize and link Thoroughbred

References

Is there a title or author for [10]? (Milwaukee Journal, June 26, 1951)
- None provided on SABR, where I got it from. I checked Newspapers.com to see if I could find the article but was unsuccessful. Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 13:12, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

General comments

All three photos are public domain and relevant to the article
No stability concerns in the revision history
Earwig score is fairly high – mostly direct quotes, some close paraphrasing noted above

Whoof, ok, looks like a lot, but mostly minor wording things from a very long article. As always, let me know if you have questions! — Ghost River 21:02, 8 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

GhostRiver Changes addressed, thanks for the review! Let me know if anything more is needed! Sanfranciscogiants17 (talk) 20:13, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good now – passing! — Ghost River 21:48, 10 October 2021 (UTC)[reply]