Call them, maybe? 15 great pictures of baseball men talking on phones

Major League Baseball announced this week that managers will now be able to use cell phones to call their bullpens, a story that sent us into the archives in search of an appropriate picture. We eventually settled on a picture of Lou Piniella chatting away on his cell, but we also found a lot of great old pictures of baseball men using all sorts of phones throughout the years.

The best one, without a doubt, was the above shot of Billy Martin talking on the phone during the 1976 season. You don't need too much of an imagination to feel like you're there in the bowels of old Yankee Stadium as George Steinbrenner chews Martin out after a tough loss. It's just a great photo of a moment frozen in time. Tells you everything you need to know.

At any rate, here are 15 more pictures of baseball characters getting on the horn:

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Old-timey manager Connie Mack uses an old-timey telephone. Can we get a replica of this phone for Jim Leyland the next time the Tigers host a turn-back-the-clock day?

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"Yes, operator. Please get me the number for a Lucky Luciano: Lou Gehrig briefly worked for the New York City parole commission after his premature retirement from baseball.

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"Look ma, no tonsils!": Joe DiMaggio underwent what is arguably the most talked-about tonsillectomy in human history at the start of the 1937 season when owner Jacob Ruppert thought they were affecting his sore throwing arm.

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Branch Rickey enjoys a fine cigar with some fine conversation.

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You can imagine why Pete Rose is placing this phone call.

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You don't want to imagine why Tommy Lasorda is placing this one.

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Yogi Berra puts his old adage to work and hears a lot just by listening.

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"How are they biting back home?" Ted Williams in his managing days

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"Don't worry about the call length, I have unlimited Prime Time minutes."

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"Hello, Zack Morris?"

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"Steve Phillips? There's no one here by that name."

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Dontrelle Willis, a Sprint flip phone and a Marlins championship t-shirt: Yes, this might be the most 2003 picture of all time.

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Delmon Young will go to any lengths to get good reception.

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What the Feds wouldn't have done to look at the call history of this phone.

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Finally, go back to the Connie Mack picture, then compare it to this one of Bryce Harper. It almost looks like they were taken on different planets, yet they still involve the same grand old game. What a sport. What a world.

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