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fwclipper51
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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 24, 2024 22:25:58 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 24, 2024 22:25:58 GMT -5

Yankees Long-time MLB Coach Art Fletcher (1925-1945)

This article was written by Peter M. Gordon, Edited by Clipper

1915 Giants Player Photo

Art Fletcher was the leader of one of the Deadball Era’s finest infields: Merkle at 1st, Doyle at 2nd, Fletcher at short, and Herzog at 3rd. “If there be one among the gamesters of baseball who is gamer than the rest, that man be Fletcher,” wrote sportswriter Frank Graham. In the early teens, the New York Giants were hated all over the circuit, but no Giant other than John McGraw drew as much ire as the feisty shortstop. “There was fighting everywhere they went,” wrote Graham,“ and Fletcher always was in the thick of it. He would fight enemy players, umpires and fans. He was fined and suspended frequently.” Fletcher’s feistiness made him as popular at the Polo Grounds, as he was unpopular on the road. Beginning in 1913, a lady with a large hat invariably sat in the front row of the centerfield bleachers. When the Giants took the field at the start of each game, she would shout, “Come on, Artie!” Fletch would wave his glove at her, all the fans would applaud, and then the visiting leadoff hitter would step to the plate.

Arthur Fletcher was born on January 5,1885, in Collinsville, Illinois, just across the Mississippi River from St. Louis. A skinny, lantern-jawed youngster who was Collinsville’s best ballplayer, Art would travel over an hour by trolley to play in more competitive games than he could find in his hometown. His parents opposed his dream of playing professional baseball, however, so he did attend a business college in St. Louis, graduating with a degree in stenography. In 1906, Art played shortstop for Staunton, Illinois, performing well enough to receive an offer from Dallas of the Texas League for 1907. But his father pressured him to keep his full-time job at Ingersoll-Rand, the company that manufactured the drills that were digging the Panama Canal, so he remained at home and played for the Collinsville Reds. In March 1908, Art would arrange a 2-week vacation from work, so he could attend spring training with Dallas. Because business was slow due to an economic downturn, his boss told him that he could take the summer off and return in October, if he made the club.

That very spring, the New York Giants played a series of exhibition games against Dallas. Fletcher refused to act awed by the major leaguers (including their pugnacious Manager, John McGraw) and sassed them back as roughly as they sass him. He slid into them, spikes high, and when their pitchers threw at him, he continued to crowd the plate and socked the ball even harder. Fletcher’s fearless attitude and play so impressed McGraw that he bought an option on his contract for $1,500. Years later Art admitted, “I was a pretty fresh busher.” McGraw reportedly said of him, “That’s my kind of ball player.” After batting .273 with 35 stolen bases in 147 games as the Dallas shortstop, the 24-year-old Fletcher joined the Giants as part of an influx of rookies in the spring of 1909, serving as utility infielder during his 1st 2 years with the club. He was so self-conscious about his jutting chin that he had a collar sewn on his uniform that he wore turned up.

McGraw saw something perhaps a mirror image of himself in the brash, brainy youngster. At the start of the 1911 season, he had benched his veteran 3rd sacker, Art Devlin, in favor of Fletcher. In mid-May the Giants traded their regular shortstop, Al Bridwell back to the Boston Nationals for Buck Herzog. McGraw installed Herzog at 3rd base and gave Fletcher the regular job at shortstop. Initially the fans couldn’t believe that a former utility man was replacing the popular Bridwell and they razzed Art unmercifully. He would soon won them over with his sterling defensive play and offensive skills that were far superior to Bridwell’s. The gritty right-handed hitter finished 5th in the National League in batting average (.319) and on-base percentage (.400), and began a 10-year streak of ranking among the league leaders in times hit by pitch (except for 1915, he led the NL in that category each year from 1913 to 1918). He was also a notorious free-swinger; his 30 bases on balls in 1911 were a career high, and in 1915, he drew only 6 walks despite a career-high 562 at-bats.

Though he never batted .300 again, Fletcher frequently finished just below that mark, compiling a .277 batting average over the course of his 13-year career. He also fielded brilliantly, drawing comparisons to Wagner, Tinker, and Doolan. With Art as their shortstop, the Giants won 3 pennants in a row 1911, 1912, 1913 and an additional 1in 1917, the year that McGraw named him team captain. Fletcher didn’t distinguish himself in the Fall Classic, batting just .191 and committing a dozen errors in his 25 World Series games. Some of his miscues were extremely costly. In Game 3 of the 1911 World Series, Art’s error in the top of the 11th inning that helped the Philadelphia Athletics score twice and hand Christy Mathewson his 1st World Series defeat, 3-2. The following year, Fletch committed 3 errors early in Game 2 to give the Boston Red Sox a 4-2 lead. The game eventually ended in a 6-6 draw.

Phillies Photo

On June 8,1920, McGraw would send the 35-year-old Fletcher (along with Pitcher Bill Hubbell and $100,000) to the Philadelphia Phillies for 29-year-old Dave “Beauty” Bancroft, the NL’s best shortstop. Fletch would hit .296 in 102 games for the Phillies, but the team was hopeless. When his brother and his father both had passed away in the spring of 1921, Art went back to Collinsville and sat out the entire 1921 season. He would return in 1922, he would hit .280 in 110 games, despite his 1-year sabbatical. In 1 game that season Art thought that Umpire Bill Klem was favoring the Giants. “Why don’t you put on a New York uniform?” he remarked. That earned him an ejection, and a few minutes later a banner was hung from the centerfield clubhouse with the words “Catfish Klem.” Klem hated that nickname, and he halted the game until the sign came down. Fletcher always received the blame for that sign, but years later he admitted that he didn’t create it; he merely encouraged a teammate to do it. Regardless, the league would fine Art $50 and suspended him for 3 days.

After the 1922 season, Fletcher gave up playing full-time and accepted the job as Phillies Manager. His fiery leadership improved the team’s record in each of his 1st 3 years, but never enough to please an old Giants who was accustomed to finishing in the 1st division. In a desperate attempt to hold down scoring at the Baker Bowl bandbox, Art had ordered the groundskeeper to keep the baseballs for the next day’s game in a freezer overnight so they wouldn’t travel as far; he felt badly when Phillies outfielder Cy Williams missed tying Rogers Hornsby‘s NL home-run record of 41 by 1 homer in 1923.

The next year, Fletcher brought the 7th-place Phillies to New York for a 1-end series with the Giants, who were locked in a pennant race with Brooklyn. Phillies shortstop Heinie Sand told Art that Giants Outfielder Jimmy O’Connell had offered him $500 “not to bear down.” Fletcher would expose the bribe attempt and O’Connell and Giants Coach Cozy Dolan were both banned from MLB baseball. In 1925, the Phillies had tied for 6th place, their best finish since 1918; but the following year they regressed to last place. Tired of losing and realizing that he might ruin his health, if he continued in his fighting ways, Art had decided to resign as the Phillies Manager.

Yankees Photo

The next year, Miller Huggins, an old National League friend had persuaded Fletcher to take a coaching job with the New York Yankees. Art loved coaching for a winning team and soon became famous for turning down several managerial offers to remain with the Yankees. When Huggins died in September of 1929, he did manage the Bronx Bombers for 11 games at the end of the 1929 season. Bob Shawkey would take over the team in 1930. In 1931, he was replaced by former Cubs Manager Joe McCarthy, reporters would speculate that Fletcher would be fired because he and McCarthy had feuded in 1926, when they both managed in the NL. But McCarthy recognized Art’s value and the 3rd-base Coach and master heckler would remain with the Yankees, until heart problems would force him to retire in 1945.

Fletcher’s more than $75,000 in World Series and 1st-division checks enabled him and his wife, Irene, to live in extreme comfort in Collinsville, where they returned after every season. When Art Fletcher died in Los Angeles of a heart attack on February 6,1950, it was reported that he had cashed more Series checks than anyone in the history of baseball.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 16:44:57 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

fwclipper51
Ruthian Legend

Posts: 1,108

Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 24, 2024 23:50:07 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 24, 2024 23:50:07 GMT -5

Former Yankees OF Jackie Jensen (1950-1952)

This article was written by Mark Armour, Edited by Clipper

1948 Oakland Oaks Photo; OF Jackie Jensen and INF Billy Martin

Jackie Jensen, the blond rugged Californian who attained great heights on both the football gridiron and baseball diamond, also waged a complex struggle with anxiety that he seemed to have conquered only at the very end of his life, a life that ended too early. A member of the College Football Hall of Fame and an American League Most Valuable Player, Jensen is today most famous for his midcareer decision to leave baseball because he could not bear to fly in an airplane.

Jack Eugene Jensen was born on March 9, 1927 in San Francisco to Wilfred and Alice (Delany) Jensen. Wilfred owned a meat-cutting business and worked briefly as a patrolman, but he and Alice divorced, when Jackie was 5 years old. Alice, an Arkansas native, worked at various jobs in San Francisco to support Jackie and his 2 older brothers. Alice and the boys moved several times during Jackie’s childhood, mainly in Oakland. Wilfred was the 2nd of Alice’s 4 husbands.

Jack would enter Oakland High School in 1941 and became an immediate sensation. Besides starring in baseball and football, he also wrote for the school paper, became class president, and was the idol of all the other kids in the school. In the spring of 1942 guidance counselor Ralph Kerchum, taken by the possibility of greatness in his student, recorded an interview with Jack and made a 78-rpm record for posterity. The questions were not probing “What’s your favorite sport?” “Baseball.” “What’s your next favorite?” “Football.” but indicate the effect Jensen had on adults as a teenager. Kerchum became something of a surrogate father to Jensen, and remained a close friend for the rest of Jensen’s life.

Jack had graduated from high school in January, 1945, and had enlisted in the Navy, as both his brothers had done. He enrolled in radio school hoping to work on a communications ship, but he was still in school, when the war ended in August. He was then stationed at a base in Idaho, mostly playing football and working as a lifeguard. He stayed in the Navy until his discharge in the summer of 1946. That fall, he would enter the University of California on the GI Bill.

The well-built (5-feet-11, 190 pounds) Jensen’s athletic reputation, built in high school in neighboring Oakland as well as in the service, made his college football debut much anticipated. The 1st time he touched the ball, a punt return against Wisconsin, he ran 56 yards for a touchdown. By the end of his freshman year, he was considered the finest back in the Pacific Coast Conference (today called the Pac-10). He was selected to play in the East-West Shrine game. In his sophomore season, the Golden Bears finished 9-1, with Jensen the fullback and best defensive back.

The following season, 1948, Jensen was a consensus All-American, rushing for more than 1,000 yards and leading the team to an undefeated season. Jensen was injured early in the 2nd half of the Rose Bowl game and his Bears were defeated by Northwestern.

Jensen also starred on the baseball team at Cal. In 1947, he was the team’s ace pitcher, hit .385 and helped his team win the inaugural College World Series. In the regional final, he outpitched future football Hall of Famer Bobby Layne of Texas, then helped his team win the final series against a Yale team that included future President George H.W. Bush. Jensen was academically ineligible in his sophomore year, but he came back to help the team to a 31-17 record in 1949, earning All-American honors as he had in football.

By this time Jensen was one of the more famous athletes on the West Coast, both for his sporting exploits, he was universally called The Golden Boy and his relationship with diving champion Zoe Ann Olsen. Jensen and Olsen, both attended Oakland High School, though she was 3 years behind him. When they began dating in 1946, Jensen was a freshman at Cal and Olsen was 15 years old and still in high school. Olsen was a Golden Girl in her own right, and won the silver medal in springboard diving in the 1948 Summer Olympics in London. The 2 were blond, attractive athletic heroes and the press could not get enough of their story.

After his junior year at Cal, in the spring of 1949, Jensen disappointed many Cal loyalists by forgoing his senior year, instead signing a contract to play for the AA Oakland Oaks baseball club of the Pacific Coast League. Jensen had been scouted by several major-league teams, including the New York Yankees, who reportedly offered him a $75,000 bonus. The Oaks matched the bid and Jack decided that the Oaks offered a higher level of competition than the lower minor-league berth the Yankees had suggested he would get. Jensen hit .261 in his 1st professional season, after which he was sold (along with Billy Martin and others) to the Yankees.

On October 16, 1949, Jackie and Zoe Ann were married in Oakland in front of 1,500 people and surrounded by dozens of reporters and television cameras. The couple was escorted to the ceremony by motorcycle escort. Jack was 22, and Zoe Ann was 18, an Olympic star and recent high-school graduate. Their marriage would remain the subject of magazine stories even as they privately struggled to live as one famous couple. Jack would pursued his career, while Zoe Ann mainly stayed home and raised a family.

1952 Topps Baseball Card
In New York, Jensen was spoken of as the heir to Joe DiMaggio in center field. In his rookie season of 1950, Jensen was used as a pinch-hitter and 5th outfielder for the Yankees, playing behind DiMaggio, Gene Woodling, Hank Bauer and Cliff Mapes. He came to bat just 78 times, hitting .171 with just a single HR (off the Senators’ Al Sima on September 11th). The Yankees had won the American League pennant, and Jensen had a single pinch-running appearance in their 4-game sweep of the Philadelphia Phillies in the World Series. The following season, he would hit much better, .298 (50-for-168) with 8 HRs in 56 games, but he was demoted to AAA Kansas City Blues (American Association) on July 31st. His frustration with the move led him to speak with the San Francisco 49ers football team about a possible career switch. He hit well enough in the American Association; .263 with 9 HRs in 42 games, but he had been passed on the Yankees’ depth chart by the 19-year-old rookie OF Mickey Mantle. He was recalled in September 1951, but he was left off the Yankees World Series roster.

Nonetheless, a productive spring would put Jensen in center field to start the 1952 AL season for the Yankees, with DiMaggio retired now and Mantle in right field. However, after a 2-for-19 start, on May 3, 1952, Jensen was abruptly traded to the Washington Senators in a 6-player deal with the Yankees getting OF Irv Noren. Yankees Manager Casey Stengel, later called this the worst trade the Yankees made during his tenure with the club. George Weiss would list Jackie and Lou Burdette was 2 young players, that he had regret trading away during his tenure as Yankees General Manager.

Bucky Harris, Washington’s Manager, put Jensen in right field and hit him 3rd in the batting order the rest of the season. Jensen responded with a breakout season, by hitting .286 with 10 HRs and 80 RBIs with Washington. He was hitting .314 at the All-Star break and his former Manager, Stengel, chose him as a reserve outfielder with the American League All-Stars. He entered the game in right field in the 5th, but the game ended after 5 innings due to rain. In a Sport article in December, Clark Griffith, the 82-year-old Senators owner, teased the Yankees after the season, calling them “our number 1 farm club.” Meanwhile, Zoe Ann Jensen answered calls to return to diving and trained enough to earn a Bronze Medal at the Olympic games that summer in Helsinki, Finland. After the 1952 Olympics, Jensen would signed a few endorsement deals that officially ended her amateur career. The Jensens’ 1st child, daughter Jan, had been born in 1950.

For a man who had had so much athletic success, Jensen often struggled with self-doubt or general dissatisfaction with his chosen career, and the family sacrifices he had to make. In 1953, Jensen had another fine year, .266 with 10 HRs, but still considered retiring in the offseason. “I decided to protect my family,” he later told Boston sportswriter Al Hirshberg. “That is, to get out of baseball and into a job with a future.” At the close of the season, he went to Japan with a group of all-stars and it was the flight to Tokyo that others later recalled as the start of his problems with flying. In December, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for Outfielder Tommy Umphlett and 18-game-winner Mickey McDermott. The Jensens had just had their 2nd child, son Jon, and Jack was still not sure he was going to play again.

Red Sox Player Photo

Red Sox General Manager Joe Cronin pressed the case. “I didn’t agree with Jack that he wasn’t good enough,” Cronin said. “In New York, he was lost in a crowd of outfielders. In Washington, the heat and the big park killed him.” In fact, Jensen had hit just 4 HRs at home in his 2 seasons with the Senators, against 16 HRs on the road. Cronin told Jensen that Fenway Park was made for him, and that the Red Sox would give him a raise. After speaking with Zoe Ann, Jack would agree to join the Red Sox.

Jensen was joining an outfield that already included left fielder Ted Williams and right fielder Jimmy Piersall. In fact, Piersall was widely considered the best defensive right fielder in the game and Manager Lou Boudreau did not want to move him. Jensen played mostly center field in 1954, though occasionally Piersall played there in road games. Beginning in 1955, Piersall became the full-time center fielder and Jensen returned to his regular right-field post. The Red Sox outfield was considered the best in baseball for the 5 years, the 3 played together.

After hitting .386 in April 1954, Jack would slumped badly in May, hitting .157, while grounding into 9 double plays and he began to hear boos at Fenway Park. He would turn his season around, though, batting .276 with 25 HRs and 117 RBIs (3rd in the league). He also stole a league-leading 22 bases, while unfortunately setting an MLB record by grounding into 32 double plays. Nonetheless, at the end of the season, Jensen was named the Red Sox’ Most Valuable Player by the Boston writers.

Though Jensen played at this high level for the next 5 years, he did come in for his share of booing by the Boston fans. In 1958 Al Hirshberg wrote a story for Sport asking the question, “What Do They Want From Jackie Jensen?” Like Vern Stephens a few years earlier, Jensen was a big right-handed hitter who hit long HRs and fielded his position well, but did not seem to meet the fans’ very high expectations. By the mid-1950s, Red Sox fans had grown tired of a series of mediocre teams, and many particularly loud rooters began to take their frustration out on some of the players, notably Jensen.

After the 1954 AL season, the Jensens bought a home in Crystal Bay, Nevada, on Lake Tahoe. Both Jack and Zoe Ann were avid skiers and golfers, both also enjoyed the local nightlife at the casinos. The Jensens still owned a home in Oakland, and Jack co-owned a restaurant, the Bow and Bell, in Oakland’s famed Jack London Square. The next offseason, Jensen began hosting the Jackie Jensen Pro-Am golf tournament in Danville, California.

Jack would returned to his natural right field in 1955, and celebrated by having a nearly identical season to what he had the year before with 26 HRs, a league-leading 116 RBIs with a .275 batting average. In August, Jensen was signed to play himself in a movie about his life, mainly his days as a youngster resisting temptations and keeping focused on his goals. Jack’s own role was small, he appeared at the end of the film in 1 scene, while other actors played younger versions of him. The film debuted in early 1956 and was played mostly in high schools around the country.

In 1956, Jensen hit a career-high .315 with 20 HRs, a league-leading 11 triples and 97 RBIs. By this time the Jensens’ marriage was struggling, as Zoe Ann began to resent how much of her life, she had given up to stay home and raise children while Jack went off and achieved additional fame. For his part, Jack stewed over all of the time away from his family, grew increasingly jealous of Zoe Ann’s male friends, and began entertaining thoughts of retiring. The public remained unaware of all of this, and the “Golden Couple” was often featured in magazines skiing or lounging by the pool with their children. Jensen’s fear of flying remained a problem and may have been the reason the Red Sox had him remain in San Francisco in March 1957 to train with the Seals (the Red Sox Pacific Coast League affiliate) rather than endure the long train ride to Sarasota and then to Boston. Once the season started, Jensen had yet another excellent season, clubbing 23 HRs to go along with 103 RBIs and a .281 average.

Jensen had his best baseball season in 1958. He would slug a career-high 35 HRs, drove in a league-leading 122 runs and hit .286. He would started his 1st All-Star Game, hitting 3rd and playing the entire game in right field (he was hitless in 4 at-bats). Though the Red Sox finished 3rd behind the Yankees and the Chicago White Sox, after the season Jensen was named the league’s Most Valuable Player, receiving 9 of 24 1st-place votes to beat out Yankees Pitcher Bob Turley and the Indians OF Rocky Colavito. He was featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated in June, under the headline “Wheel Horse of the Red Sox,” but much of the story focused on Jensen’s frustrations with the life of a ballplayer. “In baseball you get to the point where you don’t think you have a family,” said Jensen. “It just looks like I’m not built for this life like some ballplayers. You are always away from home and you’re lonesome, and as soon as I can, I intend to get out.”

In the April 1959 issue of the Saturday Evening Post, Jensen was more explicit, in an article entitled, “My Ambition Is To Quit.” One photo accompanying the story showed Jack kissing Zoe Ann as he held a suitcase, departing for another long stay away, as his 2 children looked on unhappily. The caption read: “I spend less than half my time with the people I love most.” He also addressed his fear of flying, which he said he could handle only with tranquilizers and sleeping pills. In fact, Jensen often drove from city to city rather than fly with the team, something more manageable before the league expanded to the West Coast. For Jensen, flying had become not only terrifying but also humiliating—his medication made him appear drunk and more than once he had to be helped on and off a plane, while onlookers gazed.

In 1959, Jensen would led the league in RBIs for the 3rd time with 112, to go along with 28 HRs and a .277 average. He also won his 1st Gold Glove Award, the award had only begun in 1957, and he might have won others had it been around earlier in his career. In the Red Sox’ next-to-last game, he finished 4-for-6 including a game-ending HR in the 11th inning to beat the Senators. He had received permission to skip the team’s final game, instead boarding a train for the Coast. Although rumors of his retirement swirled all season, Jensen waited until January 1960, before officially announcing that he was through. He was 32, and seemingly still at the top of his game.

Most reporters, then and later, blamed Jack’s fear of flying for his retirement, but his difficult marriage played an equally large part. Both Jensens reiterated that Zoe Ann did not want him to quit, it was solely Jack’s decision to be home with his family. After a year off minding his restaurant and considering other investment options, Jensen would return to the Red Sox for the 1961 season. His flying dilemma had grown worse because the American League had a new team in Los Angeles that season, necessitating the addition of 3 long round-trip plane rides to the old schedule.

At the end of April, hitting just .130, Jensen left the team in Detroit and took a train to Reno. Zoe Ann reportedly burst into tears ,when she saw her husband’s defeated face. The 2drove to Las Vegas to see a noted nightclub hypnotist, a last resort. After several days of treatment, Jensen would join the Red Sox in Los Angeles and hit his 1st HR of the year on his return. Over the next 4 months (May through August) he would hit .287 with 12 HRs, not terribly below his previous standards, but he faded in September. His off-field struggles continued failing to show at Boston’s Logan Airport for a flight to Cleveland, he instead drove the 650 miles himself and got to the game on time. With the Red Sox scheduled to make a trip to Los Angeles in August, Jensen told the Red Sox he could not go and instead joined the team in Kansas City, their next stop.

And then it was over. “Everybody was hoping it would work because he was such a nice person and a good team player,” recounted teammate Ike Delock to writer George Martin years later. “But in spring training he wasn’t as fast; he’d lost that little half-step, couldn’t throw as well, couldn’t hit nearly as well.” He made it through the season, but finished with just 13 HRs and 66 RBIs, well off the numbers he had posted annually for so many years. After the season, he would retire again, this time for good. At the end, Jensen could claim a .279 career batting average with 199 HRs and 929 RBIs in 1,438 major-league games.

Jensen’s retirement years were not always smooth. He had invested heavily in real estate and a golf course, but lost much of his money. He took a job working for Harrah’s Casino in Lake Tahoe, setting up tournaments and boat races and befriending famous entertainers and politicians. He also had several national endorsement contracts, including Gillette and Camel cigarettes and briefly sold cars in San Jose. Despite his vows to spend more time with his family, their expensive lifestyle required Jack to travel a great deal to earn a living and he was at home little more than he had been. Jack and Zoe Ann finally were divorced in 1963, Zoe Ann claiming excessive cruelty, including violence. She later claimed he hit her when he felt jealous of her friendships and that she lost respect for him when he retired from baseball. Despite this, they soon remarried, then divorced again, after a couple of years. The 2 divorces wiped out Jensen financially and also required that he work hard to pay alimony and child support for 3 children.

In 1967, Jack had landed a radio show at KTVN in Reno, and began dating the producer, a well-traveled and well-schooled divorcee from Virginia named Katherine Cortesi. In February of 1968, Jack and Katherine were married and he began exploring new worlds he had not known. The 2 spent most of their time not going to public functions or athletic events, but escaping to Nevada’s deserts and collecting Indian relics and studying the history of the region. Jensen went back to school and would finished his degree in speech, with a minor in history.

Jack’s highest-profile job in his retirement years was as a color commentator for ABC’s college football coverage, working alongside Keith Jackson. In 1968, Jack would become Head Baseball Coach at the University of Nevada-Reno, which, combined with his ABC job, earned him enough to get by. In March 1969, at a baseball practice, the 42-year-old Jensen suffered a serious heart attack that left him bedridden for 10 days. The suspected causes: extreme tension and his 2-to-3-pack-a-day cigarette habit. When he had recovered, the couple would sail to Italy to stay at Katherine’s aunt’s estate, the 1st extended period of relaxation; Jack had had in many years. When he returned to the states, he learned he had lost his job with ABC.

Jensen had worked briefly with the state of Nevada as a Deputy Director in the Office of Economic Opportunity. In 1974, he would returned to his roots, becoming Head Baseball Coach at the University of California. He held the Cal job for 4 years, leading the team to a 109-95 overall record. Jack loved the opportunity to return to Berkeley and loved working with the players, but he was frustrated by the administrative side of the job, the focus on making a profit and the independent, free-thinking nature of the student-athletes.

Jensen’s contract was not renewed after the 1977 season. He and Katherine would moved to Fork Union, Virginia, to be nearer to her mother. The couple bought an old farmhouse and 95 acres of a former tobacco plantation. They invested the money from selling their California condo, along with timber sales, into establishing a Christmas tree farm. The farm was a long-term commitment, preparing fields and planting trees that would not be usable for several years. Jack also took a job at the local Fork Union Military Academy, working in the admissions office and with the baseball team. In contrast to Berkeley, Jensen loved the discipline and comportment of the students at the academy. Jensen, also ran a local baseball camp, and traveled (occasionally by airplane) to events and Old-Timers games.

On July 14,1982, Jensen had suffered a heart attack at home and died en route to the hospital in Charlottesville. He was only 55 years old and thought to be in fine physical condition, he had had regular physicals and his work on the farm had kept him in top shape. A great and storied athlete, Jensen had spent most of his glory years anxious and worried about his life, but he appeared to have finally found happiness and contentment on a small farm in Virginia. He was survived by his wife and 3 adult children.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 16:54:18 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

fwclipper51
Ruthian Legend

Posts: 1,108

Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 25, 2024 16:10:34 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 25, 2024 16:10:34 GMT -5

Former Indians and Yankees INF Joe Sewell

This article was written by Bill Johnson, Edited by Clipper

Indians Player photo

Opportunity from horrifying tragedy: That was what the death of Cleveland Indians shortstop Ray Chapman presented to 21-year-old Joseph Wheeler Sewell in the late summer of 1920. Chapman, a stellar shortstop for the contending Indians, died on August 17th after being struck in the head by a pitched baseball by Yankees Pitcher Carl Mays. Cleveland had replaced him with 2nd year shortstop Harry Lunte. On September 6th, when Lunte pulled a leg muscle that left him unable to play, the Indians had purchased Sewell’s contract from the New Orleans Pelicans of the Class A Southern Association. Sewell’s professional experience at the time amounted to 346 at-bats, yet out of necessity, he was inserted into the middle of the infield of a team that was competing for the American League pennant.

Sewell would make his MLB player debut on September 10,1920, against the New York Yankees, going 0-2 at the plate. His arrival was expected to stabilize the infield, despite his 15 errors in 22 games, 10 hits in his 1st 24 opportunities provided and unanticipated offensive bonus. The team had capped Sewell’s 1st MLB season with World Series win over the Brooklyn Dodgers. Cleveland’s double play tandem of Bill Wambsganss and Sewell was set for the next 3 years. It proved to be the opening foray of what would become a Hall of Fame career for the shortstop.

Joe Sewell was born on October 9,1898, in Titus, Alabama, to Dr. Wesley “Jabez” and Susan (Hannon) Sewell. One of 3 future MLB players in the family, along with his brothers Luke Sewell and Tommy Sewell, as well as cousin Rip Sewell, Joe Sewell grew up 30 miles north of Montgomery, playing baseball as a respite from his studies. Dr. Sewell wanted his sons to join the family business as physicians, but the boys had other ideas.

Joe starred in baseball at Wetumpka High School, and after graduating in 1916,he would enroll at the University of Alabama, where he planned to prepare for medical school. He also played on both the football and baseball varsity squads. He would join the Pi Kappa Phi fraternity. By his senior year, Sewell was sufficiently accomplished and popular to be elected class president, but it was on the athletic fields that he found his true calling. Sewell had started for 3 years at 2nd base for the Crimson Tide and was joined in the infield by future MLB Outfielder Riggs Stephenson at shortstop. The 2 would play together for Cleveland from 1921-1923. The 1918 Alabama team actually had 5 future MLB players, with Dan Boone, Francis Pratt and Rollie “Lena” Stiles rounding out the roster and Joe’s brother Luke would join them in 1919.

With all that talent, it was inevitable that the Tide should prosper. The 1918 team had posted a 13-4 record, while the 1919 edition improved to 16-2 and the 1920 squad went 14-1 (winning the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Association title for 4 consecutive years). Sewell did his part, despite his short stature at 5’5” and only 155 pounds, by setting every hitting and fielding record possible at the university. Upon graduation in 1920, Sewell had signed his 1st professional contract with New Orleans. Now playing for pay, Sewell relied on his 1 innate and practiced skill, he could always make contact at the plate. He was later quoted: “When I was a boy, I’d walk around with a pocket full of rocks or a Coca-Cola top and I can’t remember not being able to hit them with a broom stick handle.”

When Ray Chapman was killed by Yankees starter Carl Mays’ errant pitch, and after replacement shortstop Lunte pulled a muscle in his left thigh, the Indians had little choice but to purchase Sewell’s contract from the Pelicans. Joe had hit a respectable .289 in Class A. He had committed only 27 errors in 435 chances, but Cleveland claimed him only because they were out of alternatives. “I’ve often wondered what my life would have been like if a ball hadn’t gotten away from Carl Mays,” Sewell said decades later. “… Because the moment that ball left Carl Mays’ hand, my life began to change.”

Joe would disembark from the train in Cleveland with a brand-new suit of clothes, hastily purchased on a layover in Cincinnati, and little else. He would make his way to the ballpark and proceeded to take a spot on the dugout bench for the next 2 games. Watching an MLB game for the 1st time, he saw several players make spectacular catches and throws, and thought, “I don’t think you belong here, Joe.” When Manager Tris Speaker put him in the lineup, Sewell asked him, “Are you sure?” The rookie’s 1st hit was a triple down the left-field line. “When I got to 3rd I stood there and said to myself, ‘Shucks, this ain’t so tough after all.’”

Sewell was a left-handed batter, but he threw right-handed and was so new to the professional game that he did not even own a decent bat. On the day Sewell had made his debut, September 10,1920, his new teammate George Burns gave him a black 40-ounce bat to use. Sewell never broke that bat. Joe would care for it to the point of coddling what he called “Black Betsy” for the rest of his MLB playing career. The bat is still displayed at the Alabama Sports Hall of Fame Museum in Birmingham.

Sewell would play in the final 22 regular season games for Cleveland and his 23 hits would give him a .329 batting average in his 1st MLB month. Because he had been added to the Indians’ roster after September 1st, he normally would not have been eligible to play in the World Series, but Brooklyn Manager Wilbert Robinson accepted Cleveland’s request to waive that rule due to the circumstances of former shortstop Ray Chapman’s death.

After Cleveland’s world championship, Sewell would return to the University of Alabama to continue his pre-medical education and engage in some amateur theater with the University’s Black Fryars, but in 1921, he went back to Cleveland and baseball, when his younger brother Luke and good friend Riggs Stephenson had joined the Tribe. On December 31,1921, Sewell had married Alabama sweetheart Willie Veal. Their marriage would last for 63 years, until Willie had passed away in 1984 and produced 3 children: Joe Jr., James and Mary Sue.

Luke and Joe Sewell Baseball Card

For the next 10 years, he built a record that eventually ushered him into Cooperstown. Between September 13,1922 and April 30,1930, Sewell never missed a game for Cleveland. By the time his streak ended at 1,103 consecutive games, it was 2nd only to that of shortstop Everett Scott, and as of 2011 is still the 7th longest in MLB history. Such stable longevity was only possible because Sewell’s bat forced his managers to pencil him into the daily lineup. Belying his physical stature, Sewel would hit .318 in 1921 and excepting his .299 mark in 1922, kept his batting average above .300 mark until 1930. In addition to his ability to put the ball in play and get on base, he would lead the Indians in runs batted in for 3 seasons. In the field, he was no liability, leading American League shortstops in putouts and assists 4 times.

His most remarkable gift, though, was in making contact with a pitched baseball. After striking out 13 times in 1924, he would whiff only 33 times in total from 1925 to 1930, while playing every game of every season. The mighty mite with the 40-ounce bat simply refused to miss anything thrown his way, especially during 1 remarkable span of 115 consecutive games without a strikeout. He said the secret to making contact was simple: Keep your eye on the ball—“and it sure isn’t much of a secret, is it?” Sewell, like Ted Williams, insisted he could see his bat hit the ball.

Yankees Baseball card

In 1930, despite only 3 strikeouts all season, his batting average had dipped to .289, the Indians would release him on January 20,1931. The 32-year-old Sewell was out of work for a total of 4 days. On January 24th, the New York Yankees had signed the veteran infielder to play 3rd base. They had assigned him to room with star 1st baseman Lou Gehrig. Sewell would play well in yankees pinstripes, batting .302 in 130 games for the 1931 Yankees, but he would drop to .272 and .273 for the next 2 seasons, which was about average for that era. Still, he refused to give in to pitchers. In 1932, Sewell had struck out only 3 times, a rate of 167.7 at-bats per strikeout, still the MLB record. On September 24,1933, Sewell played his final MLB game. Four months later, the Yankees would release him.

Sewell’s success, in retrospect, was improbable at best. The son of a doctor, he grew up in a family in which the expectation was that he would become a physician himself. He was undersized and spent only part of 1 season developing his skills in the minor leagues, yet his durability and batting eye were better than that of almost every other player in the history of the game. His MLB career batting average was .312, and he would use his 2,226 hits (of which only 49 were HRs) to drive in 1,055 runs; while he scored 1,141 times. His MLB career mark of 1 strikeout per 63 at-bats remains an almost unassailable MLB record as of 2011.

Sewell was on the field for 2 of the most memorable moments in the annals of the game. On October 10,1920, the 22-year-old Sewell was playing shortstop when Cleveland 2nd baseman Bill Wambsganss recorded the only unassisted triple play ever in World Series play. Twelve years later, now batting for the New York Yankees, Sewell was in the lineup with Babe Ruth, when the Bambino hit his “called shot” off of Chicago Cubs starter Charlie Root in Game 3 of the 1932 World Series. Whether Ruth called his shot is still debated, but Sewell declared, “I don’t care what anybody says, he did it.”

After Sewell’s MLB playing career had ended at age 35, his life was just getting started. Always considered a quiet and compassionate person, he would return to Alabama often during the Great Depression, usually bringing bats and balls and baseball gloves to the children of Elmore County. Joe even tried coaching, accepting a position with the Yankees for the 1934 and 1935 seasons, but he would leave the game to set up a hardware store in Alabama.

In 1952, Cleveland had hired Sewell as a Regional Scout and in 1954. They would promote him to Southeast Scouting Supervisor (a position in which he signed, among others, Pitcher Jim “Mudcat” Grant). Joe also worked as a spokesman for a dairy manufacturer in Alabama. In 1962, he would leave the Indians organization, but the next season, he was back in the game as a MLB Scout for the New York Mets. The following year, 1964, brought Sewell home to stay.

Sewell’s alma mater, the University of Alabama, had established itself as a college football dynasty in the early 1960s under Coach Paul “Bear” Bryant. The Crimson Tide baseball program, however, had waned, finishing just a game over .500 in 1963. In 1964, Joe would replace 25-year coach Tilden “Happy” Campbell as head coach, and for the next 6 seasons guided Alabama baseball teams to a 106-79, record, including a 24-14 mark in 1968 that won the Southeastern Conference championship. In 1970, Sewell stepped down from head coaching, when he reached the mandatory retirement age.

Joe Sewell was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Veterans Committee in 1977 and 1 year later the University of Alabama rechristened its baseball stadium Sewell-Thomas Stadium in honor of Joe’s accomplishments. Today the field is simply called “The Joe.” His wife, Willie, had passed away a few years later. Joe remained near his children and grand-children in Alabama, available to writers whenever they sought him.

On March 6,1990, Joe Sewell had passed away at the age of 91 in Mobile, Alabama. He is buried at Tuscaloosa Memorial Park in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. In 2004, his native Elmore County would established a scholarship, the Joe Sewell Memorial Award, for local high school seniors, who exhibit moral character, Christian values, leadership, academic and athletic excellence. Twenty years after his death, the name of Joe Sewell is still associated with excellence and character.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 16:57:00 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 25, 2024 22:31:00 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 25, 2024 22:31:00 GMT -5

Former Yankees Reserve Catcher Arndt Jorgens
(1929-1940)
This article was written by Warren Corbett, Edited by Clipper

Yankees player photo

Joe DiMaggio put his name on a book titled Lucky to Be a Yankee. His teammate Arndt Jorgens seconded the emotion. In 10 years as a backup catcher behind Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, Jorgens cashed 5 World Series checks totaling around $30,000 without appearing in a single World Series game.

As the Yankees’ 2nd- or 3rd-string catcher, he started as many as 50 games in only 1 season. Sportswriters poked fun at his supposedly soft life. New York Daily News columnist Jimmy Powers gibed, “10-1 the guy has more splinters in his fanny than Pinocchio.” The same paper ran his picture with the caption, “A rare photo, he’s working.”

His main duties included warming up pitchers, cheerleading from the bench, and occasionally relieving Dickey in the late innings or in the 2nd game of a doubleheader. “Jorgens was just a fair hitter, a grand receiver and a remarkable guy who stuck around the Yanks for several years as insurance,” Dan Daniel wrote. He stuck around because his “enthusiasm and pep” made him a favorite of manager Joe McCarthy. His top salary of $7,500 was a not-so-small fortune during the Depression, when up to 1-4th of workers had no job. It’s equivalent to about $137,000 in 2020 dollars, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

“When other players yell at me, ‘You lucky stiff,’” Jorgens said, “I can’t do anything else but smile back.”

Arndt Ludvig Jørgensen was born on May 18,1905, in Åmot, Modum kommune, Norway, a postcard village in a landscape of forests, lakes, and river valleys whose beauty enchanted some of the nation’s leading painters. Baseball-reference.com lists him as the last of 3 Norwegian-born major leaguers.

Soon after Arndt’s birth, his father, Andreas Jørgensen, left his family and his job as a railroad fireman to emigrate and join his own mother in Rockford, Illinois. Andreas’s wife, Helma (Larsen), a cook, followed with their son 2 years later, in 1907. The family moved to Chicago, where Andreas worked with a brother in a furniture-making business. The Jørgensens shortened their last name, and the parents anglicized their given names to Andrew and Helen. Arndt was called “Art” on several baseball cards, but there’s no evidence that he used that name. He eventually became an American citizen.
In Illinois, the family grew to include another son and a daughter. Befitting a Norwegian, the father was an avid skier, but his sons preferred the American game, baseball. Arndt’s brother, Orville, a pitcher 3 years younger, followed him to the majors, fashioning a 3-year career at the opposite end of the standings with the Philadelphia Phillies.

Arndt had discovered the game, when he was about 6 and couldn’t remember playing any position except catcher. He became a star for Lane Technical High School in Chicago. When he was a freshman in 1920, the team played a highly publicized game against the New York City champions from Commerce High led by “the ‘Babe Ruth’ of the high schools,” Louis Gherig (as some newspapers spelled it). Jorgens didn’t appear in the game, but he saw Gehrig wallop a towering 9th-inning grand slam HR out of Cubs Park, the future Wrigley Field.

With Jorgens catching, Lane Tech won an unofficial national prep championship in 1923. After graduation, he was working with his father and uncle in the furniture factory when major leaguers Johnny Mostil and Freddie Lindstrom saw him playing for the semipro Rogers Park team and recommended him to the Rock Island, Illinois, club of the Class-D Mississippi Valley League. Jorgens was not yet 21. It took him several months to persuade his father to sign a contract for him.

After hitting .302 for Rock Island in 1926, Jorgens would jump up to Class-A ball at Oklahoma City. In his 2nd season there, he batted .335, and Scout Eddie Herr bought him for the Yankees. “I think I’ve sent [manager Miller] Huggins a real coming catcher,” Herr said. “He’s a little fellow, like [Ray] Schalk and [Muddy] Ruel, but he’s built of iron. … He hits the ball, too; he’s a sweet right-handed hitter.”

Jorgens stood 5-foot-9 and weighed around 160 pounds, when he reported to the Yankees for spring training in 1929. Writer Will Wedge called him “a redhead, or almost.” Towering over him was another rookie catcher, Bill Dickey, at 6-foot-1. Although the Murderers Row lineup powered by Ruth and Gehrig had won 3 straight pennants, catching was their weakest spot. Dickey would claimed the regular job, while Jorgens would earned a place on the roster with 2 spring training HRs.

On Opening Day, the Yankees took the field with a new look: numbers on the backs of their uniforms. The numbers were assigned according to batting-order positions; that’s how Ruth became No. 3 and Gehrig 4. Pitchers and substitutes got double digits. Jorgens wore 32, the highest on the team, illustrating his precarious status. After a month, he was sent down to AA Jersey City, where he stayed until a September recall. It was the same story in 1930, but in his 2 brief trials with the big club, he lived up to his billing as a sweet hitter, by batting .324 and .367.

1937 Baseball Card

Jorgens stuck with the Yankees in 1931 and stuck to the bench permanently. For the next decade, Dickey caught more than 100 games every year. Six other catchers wore pinstripes, from rookies to decorated veterans, but none could push Jorgens off the roster In 1932, he would hit the 1st 2 HRs of his MLB playing career. The 1st, on June 1st at Philadelphia's Shibe Park off the Athletics’ lefty Rube Walberg, gave the Yankees a lead, but they lost the game.

On July 4th, Dickey had slugged Washington outfielder Carl Reynolds after a collision at the plate. The punch broke Reynolds’s jaw and cost the Yankees catcher a 30-day suspension. Presented with his 1st opportunity for extensive playing time, Jorgens failed to take advantage. He would hit only .169 with a .446 OPS in 26 games, while Dickey was sidelined, though he did collect his 2nd HR on July 11th against the St. Louis Browns
In a career with few highlights, Jorgens enjoyed his most memorable day at the plate on June 10,1933. In the 2nd game of a doubleheader, he had delivered a 1st-inning grand slam HR off of the Athletics’ right-hander Sugar Cain to extend New York’s led to 5-0. When he came up in the 6th, the A’s had tied the score. This time he touched Cain for a 2-run HR shot into Shibe Park’s upper deck in left field, but the Yankees blew the lead and lost. Those were the last HRs of Jorgen’s MLB playing career.

Another injury, a foul tip that broke a bone in Dickey’s throwing hand in 1934, gave Jorgens another chance to play every day, but he flopped again: a .479 OPS while filling in for 35 games. He appeared in a MLB career-high 58 games that year. His strong arm was the key to a wild finish at Comiskey Park on September 6th, when the Yankees’ Red Ruffing took a 5-2 lead over the White Sox into the bottom of the 9th. Consecutive singles by Luke Appling, Jimmy Dykes, and Marty Hopkins made it 5-3 and brought the potential winning run to the plate with 2 men on. After McCarthy called in Johnny Murphy to save the game, Jorgens would pick Jimmy Dykes off 2nd for the 1st out. As Murphy threw strike 3 past pinch-hitter Charlie Uhlir, Jorgens would cut down Hopkins trying to steal 2nd for a double play to end the game. Thanks to his catcher, Murphy was credited with getting 3 outs, while facing 1 batter.

Art Jorgens Card
In 1936, Jorgens would drop down to 3rd string with Joe Glenn taking over as the primary backup for the next 3 years. Glenn, born Joseph Guzenski, was a refugee from the Pennsylvania coal country, who had come up through the Yankees farm system. He proved to be a much better hitter, but he never got into a World Series game, either. With Glenn’s emergence, Jorgens was occasionally mentioned as trade bait, but no other team was interested. He was now past 30, his batting average usually wallowed in the low .200s and he hadn’t hit a HR since 1933.

He held on to his roster spot even as his playing time dwindled “because McCarthy loved his attitude,” said outfielder Tommy Henrich, who joined the club in 1937. Jorgens was a pleasant fellow and a family man. He had married a Chicago-area woman, Madelyn Schultz, and they had a daughter, Barbara. He was popular with teammates; before Gehrig married, he sometimes went to dinner with the Jorgens couple and danced with Madelyn. Yankees Club President Ed Barrow described Jorgens as “one of the nicest men ever to play for the Yankees.”

He also had a hard edge. Henrich said the benchwarmer served as an enforcer of McCarthy’s winning code. “His position as a 3rd-stringer didn’t make any difference, either,” Henrich recalled. “He’d yell at us 1st-stringers anyhow. He saw me clowning in the dugout before a game in my rookie year and he let me have it. ‘C’mon Tom, bear down!’ And I did.”

Glenn was traded after the 1938 season to make way for a minor-league phenom, 23-year-old Buddy Rosar. Rosar had won the International League batting title, hitting .387 for the Newark Bears and looked like the heir apparent to Dickey, who was now 32. While the Yankees had won 4 straight World Series championships from 1936 through 1939, Jorgens all but disappeared. He got into 31 games in 1936, then 13, then 9, and only 3 in 1939. His biggest game was one that didn’t count: the 1st Hall of Fame game on opening day of the museum in Cooperstown, New York on June 12,1939.

The majors took that Monday off and each of the 16 teams sent 2 players for an exhibition in the remote hamlet where baseball was allegedly born 100 years earlier. Some teams sent their stars, Grove, Greenberg, Gehringer, Hubbell, Ott, and Dizzy Dean were there, among others. The Yankees’ McCarthy had dispatched his regular left fielder, George Selkirk and Jorgens. It may have been the manager’s reward for 1 of his favorites, or McCarthy may have just sent his most expendable man to the meaningless casual game.

In the 5th inning, Jorgens was behind the plate when the newly enshrined Babe Ruth thrilled the crowd by stepping up as a pinch hitter. With the spectators clamoring for a long ball, the 44-year-old Ruth lifted a meek pop foul. As Jorgens settled under it, fans yelled “Drop it! Drop it!” But Jorgens was a Yankee, not a clown. He squeezed the ball in his mitt to retire his former teammate and disappoint the crowd.

Jorgens appeared in his 1st official game of 1939 season in Boston on May 30th, when he pinch-ran for Joe DiMaggio, who had a sore leg. He caught the final inning of a game in June. By August 2nd, he hadn’t played for 6 weeks. With the Yankees trailing Detroit at the Stadium in the Bronx, Jorgens had replaced Dickey in the top of the 9th, catching Spud Chandler. It was his 307th, and his last, MLB appearance. He didn’t come to bat all year. But he still had collected his 5th World Series check.

He stayed on the roster for the entire 1940 season without playing a single inning. At 35, he had announced his retirement in November. “I’ll miss the Yanks, the fans and the Stadium,” he wrote to Yankees President Barrow. “But I want to get into business and here’s my chance.”

His life after baseball was busier and more successful. He went to work for his father-in-law, Louis F. Schultz, in the family-owned Schultz Bros. variety-store chain based in Chicago. Jorgens rose to be president of the company in the 1960s, when Schultz Bros. was at its peak with more than 70 stores in 5 Midwestern states. After he retired, the stores, downtown fixtures in many small communities, were crushed by Walmart and Schultz Bros. was liquidated in bankruptcy.

Jorgens would died of a heart attack at 74 on March 1,1980, at his home in Wilmette, Illinois. “I certainly am not the game’s greatest catcher, or the greatest hitter,” he said near the end of his MLB baseball career, “so perhaps I am the luckiest ballplayer.”

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:08:16 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 26, 2024 20:59:09 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 26, 2024 20:59:09 GMT -5

The Newark Bears (1931-1950)

This article was written by Randolph Linthurst
This article was published in 1977 Baseball Research Journal
Edited by Clipper

Ruppert Stadium, Newark, NJ
Beer baron and New York Yankees Team Owner Jacob Ruppert had purchased the AA Newark International League club on November 12,1931. Over the next 7 years some of the best young baseball talent ever assembled would perform at Ruppert Stadium in Newark, N. J. The AA Bears from 1932 to 1938 had finished 1st 5 times in the International League they had won over 100 games during 4 seasons and twice figured in thrilling Junior World Series.

Many baseball historians consider the 1937 Bears the greatest minor league club ever assembled. However, another almost equally outstanding team was the 1932 aggregation, managed by Al Mamaux, a former MLB pitcher, as well as gifted tenor singer and performer on the vaudeville circuit. An advantage that the 1932 club had over the 1937 team was that it possessed a better balance of promising players and seasoned veterans.

Former major leaguers of interest, who played for Newark in 1932 included switch hitting 1st baseman Johnny Neun, who later managed the Yankees and Cincinnati; 33-yearold Catcher Charlie Hargreaves, once the favorite batterymate of Burleigh Grimes in Brooklyn and Pittsburgh; and Don Brennan, a usually overweight pitcher called the “Mortician”, who had a spectacular season, winning 26 games.

A pair of future greats, OF Dixie Walker, who later became the “Pride of Flatbush” for Dodgers and Red Rolfe, a young shortstop out of Exeter and Dartmouth, who later was a fixture in the Yankee infield, were 2 of the more promising prospects on the club. Big 6-7, 230-pound Jim Weaver, OF George Selkirk, the man who replaced Babe Ruth in the Yankee outfield and Andy Cohen, 1-time Giants Jewish hope, were also on the team at the season’s outset.

In the early weeks of the 1932 IL season, Newark, Baltimore Orioles (with HR slugger Buzz Arlett), Buffalo Bisons, Billy Southworth’s Rochester Red Wings club and the Montreal Royals would battle for the IL lead.

Ruppert and his Yankees Farm Director, George Weiss would send a steady stream of new players to the Bears, including Forrest (Woody) Jensen, a future Pirate; former Fordham ace Johnny Murphy and Pete Jablonowski, a piano player and curve ball pitcher, who would later change his name to Appleton. Marvin Owen, the best defensive infielder in the league, was acquired from Toronto Maple Leafs and 2nd baseman Jack Saltzgaver, a $75,000 bonus baby, came over from the Yankees to bat cleanup.

By the 1st week in July, the Bears would move into 1st place to stay and won the IL pennant by 15½ games. The team batting average was .305 with Walker winning the league bat title. In the 1932 Junior World Series against Donie Bush’s Minneapolis Millers club, the Bears had trailed 2 games to 1 as the series moved to the Millers’ cozy Nicollet Park. The Bears would then bounced back to win 3 straight games as Owen hit a towering HR to win the final contest, by the score of 8-7.

In 1933, the Bears would finish 1st again, winning 102 games with a club that featured Red Rolfe, Myril (Duke) Hoag, Hargreaves, Johnny Neun, minor league great George Puccinelli, Jim Weaver (25-1 1), Jimmy DeShong (16-10), Pete Jablonowski and Johnny Murphy.

Lanky Bob Shawkey, former Yankee Pitcher and Manager, took over as Team Manager from Al Mamaux in 1934; they would won the International League pennant with some good pitching. Dale Alexander, American League batting champ in 1932, played 1st base and ball-playing dentist Dr. Eddie Farrell was at 3rd. Also on this club were Ernie Koy, Joe Glenn, George Selkirk,Johnny Neun, Jesse Hill, who also was a regular on the 1932 team; Pitchers Vito Tamulis, Walt (Jumbo) Brown, the biggest man in baseball, who then weighed some 275 pounds.

The great 1937 team was managed by Oscar Vitt, won the league championship with a 109-43 record. Of the 17 regular players, 16 would made it into the big leagues, including 9 players the next year. Oscar Vitt would become the Manager of the Cleveland Indians. The Bears’ infield would featured flashy George McQuinn, who would make it big with the St. Louis Browns and Yankees at 1st base; Joe Gordon, who became a standout with the Yankees at 2nd; Babe Dahlgren, who is remembered as the man who replaced Lou Gehrig in May of 1939, was at 3rd and Nolen Richardson, a superb fielding shortstop.

The Bears Outfielders included Charlie Keller, who was right off the University of Maryland campus, who led the league in batting; future Chicago Cubs player Jim Gleeson, a switch-hitter and OF Bob (Suitcase) Seeds, who went from the Bears to the Giants. The Catchers were Willard Hershberger, who would take his own life in 1940 in a Boston hotel room, while as a member of the Cincinnati Reds and Warren (Buddy) Rosar, who would play for over a 12 years in the MLB. The bulk of the Bears pitching staff consisted of youngsters with little pro experience. The most successful were hard-throwing Atley Donald (19-2), Joe Beggs (21-4), Steve “Smokey” Sundra (15-4) and Vito Tamulis (18-6), who had hurled for the 1934 team.

Opening the season in Ruppert Stadium, the Bears would win their 1st 5 games. The Toronto Maple Leafs also got off to a good start and the 2 teams took turns sharing the IL lead until May 16th, when Newark would move ahead to stay. By June 10th, Newark had a 35-11 record with a 7½ game lead. The Bear’s lead was increased as Donald won his 1st 14 decisions and 7 teammates were hitting over the .300 mark. At the conclusion of league play, Newark had finished in 1st place by a 25½ game margin.

Newark then would swept through the post-season IL playoffs in 8 straight games and moved into the Junior World Series against the American Association champion, the Columbus Redbirds team, pride of the far-flung St. Louis Cardinals farm system. Columbus was loaded with such future MLB talent as Enos Slaughter, Dick Siebert, Johnny Rizzo, Max Macon, Morton Cooper and Max Lanier.

The series would open in Newark and the Red Birds won the 1st 3 games, setting the stage for an unbelievable comeback. The series, then would move to Columbus, Joe Beggs got the Bears back on the winning track with an 8-1 win. In the 5th game, Donald had pitched a 3-hitter, winning, the game by the score of 1-0. Spud Chandler, who had been sent to Newark by the Yankees to nurse a sore arm, had his fastball humming in Game 6 as the Bears rapped out 14 hits to score a 14-1 triumph.In the finale, Gleeson would hit a 400-foot HR and Phil Page allowed only 3 hits after relieving Joe Beggs in the 4th inning, to highlight a 10-4 victory. A story book season had come to an end.

The 1938 Newark Bears Team was managed by Johnny Neun, would dominate the International League to such an extent that a Buffalo newspaper refused to publish the Bears’ record in the standing of teams and labeled their contests merely exhibitions. Some of the players on this club were Gleeson, Seeds and Keller, outfielders on the 1937 team; 1st baseman Les Scarsella, Infielders: Pinky May and Mickey Witek, Catcher Buddy Rosar, who won the IL batting title; OF Mike Chartak and Pitchers Atley Donald, Marius Russo, Red Haley, Nick Strincevich and Lee Stine.

This club possessed unusual hitting ability and had a team batting: average of .303. It would have probably been rated right up there with the 1937 and 1932 teams, if it hadn’t been upset in the Junior World Series by the Kansas City Blues, another Yankees AA farm club.

On May 6th, Seeds, showing awesome power, hit 4 consecutive HRs in 4 consecutive innings. One was with the bases loaded. The next day, Seeds would slam 3 more HRs. In the 2 games, Suitcase Bob had gone to bat officially 10 times and hit 7 HRs, 2 singles, scored 8 times and had 17 RBIs. Outfielder Bob Seeds was sold to the New York Giants in late June, after amassing 96 RBIs and 75 runs scored in 59 games. By July 1st, the Bears had a 47-19 record and 10½ game lead. The team would coast to an 104-48 record in 1938, 18 games ahead of the pack.

When Jacob Ruppert had died in January,1939 and the greatness of the Newark clubs passed on with him. The AA Kansas City Blues (American Association) had became more prominent team in the Yankees minor league system. Following the 1950 IL season, the franchise was sold by the Yankees to the Chicago Cubs, then was it was moved to Springfield, Mass. One wonders how the Bears of the 1930’s, with all that stockpiled talent that couldn’t break into the Yankees lineup, would fare in the big leagues today. A couple of baseball writers during their era consider the Bears to be the 9th team in the AL, with their players could have easily beat the lowly A's, Senators and the Browns.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:11:15 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 27, 2024 17:40:55 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 27, 2024 17:40:55 GMT -5

Former Yankees 1B George McQuinn (1947-1948)

Written by C. Paul Rogers III, Edited by Clipper

1947 Yankees Spring TrainingCamp Photo

It was a long journey for George McQuinn to the 1947 New York Yankees, where he became a key figure in their run to the pennant. In addition to his normal stellar play at 1st base, McQuinn batted .304 and drove in 80 runs, a significant upgrade from Nick Etten, a .232 hitter for the 3rd-place Yankees in 1946. In late May McQuinn was batting a league-leading .392, and by the All-Star break he was still among the league leaders at .328. For his efforts, the fans chose McQuinn as the American League’s starting 1st baseman in the All-Star Game. One sportswriter described his success as “the story book story behind the Yankees’ surprising success … in 1947.”

McQuinn’s contribution was perhaps equal parts unexpected and gratifying. It was unexpected, because he had hit only .225 in 1946 for the cellar-dwelling Philadelphia Athletics, who released him after the season. It looked as though at the age of 36, without a job and with a bad back, his MBL playing career might be at an end. One article even referred to McQuinn as “the man nobody wanted.” New Yankees Manager Bucky Harris, however, was an old fan of McQuinn’s and the New Yorkers had a need at 1st base, so on January 25,1947, the Yankees signed him as a free agent, setting the stage for his surprising landmark season.

George Hartley McQuinn was born on May 29, 1910, in Arlington, Virginia, a suburb of Washington, DC. His parents were William McQuinn, an electrician and Ada (Hartley) McQuinn, who was born in England but she had emigrated in 1899. The pair had 7 children, 5 boys and 2 girls. George, the 3rd son, began playing baseball at the age of 7. When he was 12, he bought a George Sisler model 1st baseman’s glove, but McQuinn patterned himself after Joe Judge, the slick-fielding 1st baseman of the hometown Washington Senators.

McQuinn had starred in basketball and baseball at Washington-Lee High School. He was a left-handed pitcher as well as batter, but his high-school coach began playing him at 1st base full-time. McQuinn had an offer to play baseball at the College of William and Mary, but he decided instead to try for a career in professional baseball.

In 1930, he was working as an elevator operator for the Chamber of Commerce in Washington and playing for a semipro team in Northern Virginia. After a tryout arranged by his semipro manager, the New Haven (Connecticut) Profs of the Class A Eastern League would sign McQuinn to his 1st professional contract. Playing time was limited, however, and the league was a fast one for a 19-year-old. McQuinn could manage only 2 hits in 19 at-bats and in May New Haven would release him.

Fortunately for McQuinn, he had made an impression on Joe Benes, one of the veteran infielders for the Profs. Benes would recommend him to Yankees Scout Gene McCann, who would sign McQuinn to a contract with the Wheeling (West Virginia) Stogies, the Yankees’ farm club in the Class C Middle Atlantic League. McQuinn’s .288 batting average for the Stogies, would earned him a promotion for 1931 to the Scranton Miners of the Class B New York-Penn League, where he hit a strong .316 and drove in 101 runs, while hitting just 5 HRs.

In 1932, McQuinn batted a combined .334 with 100 RBIs while splitting the season between the Albany (New York) Senators of the Eastern League and, after the league folded on July 17, the Binghamton (New York) Triplets of the New York-Penn League. That performance earned him a spring-training invitation in 1933 with the International League Newark Bears, the Yankees’ top farm club. The Bears, however, had the veteran Johnny Neun at 1st base so they shipped McQuinn to the rival Toronto Maple Leafs. Despite an excellent start with the Leafs, he was sent back to Binghamton, where he batted a league-leading .357, drove in 102 runs, and won the league’s Most Valuable Player award.

McQuinn had played a full season with Toronto Maple Leafs in 1934, hitting .331 in 138 games, before fracturing an ankle sliding into 3rd base in the Junior World Series. By now some writers were wondering if the Yankees would consider trading Lou Gehrig to make room for McQuinn at 1st base. Yankees Farm Director George Weiss sent the Patient Scot, as the press sometimes called McQuinn, to Newark in 1935, where he would hit .288 in 563 at-bats, subpar for him because of a sore shoulder. Defensively, he had broke a 22-year-old International League record for 1st basemen by fielding .997 for the year.

McQuinn had yet to be invited to a MLB Yankees’ spring training camp, but he continued to attract attention from other organizations. Before the 1936 season, the Cincinnati Reds, looking to replace Jim Bottomley at 1st base, had purchased McQuinn conditionally, meaning they could return him to the Yankees up until June 1st. McQuinn, still just 25 years old, finally got his MLB player chance and it was a flop. The Reds, under Manager Charlie Dressen, immediately tried to get him to pull the ball rather than hit to all fields as was his custom. He was unable to adjust, and in 134 at-bats, he would hit only .201 with no HRs, prompting the Reds to send him back to the Yankees on June 1st.

McQuinn would returned to the Toronto Maple Leafs and hit a reaffirming .329 in 410 at-bats. While there, he met Kathleen Baxter, originally from Belfast, Northern Ireland, on a blind date at the ballpark. They were married after the 1937 season and eventually had 2 daughters, Virginia and Victoria. Kathleen knew little about baseball. The 1st time she saw a game in which it rained, she was perplexed about why the team had removed the tarpaulin when the rain stopped. After the game, she asked George to explain why he had to play on a muddy field when it would have been so much cleaner to play on the canvas.

St. Louis Browns Card

With Lou Gehrig still going strong for the Yankees, McQuinn found himself back with Newark in 1937. Playing for what is widely regarded as the best minor-league team ever, he batted .330 and stroked 21 HRs, as the Bears won the pennant by 25½ games, finishing with a 109-43 record. McQuinn later recalled that his friends used to kid him, saying, “Doesn’t Gehrig ever have the mumps, whooping cough or measles? Why don’t you send him a letter telling him he better take a vacation or else?”

Under the rules then in place, McQuinn became eligible to be drafted by another major-league team after the 1937 season, when the Yankees failed to place him on their big-league roster. As a result, the St. Louis Browns had selected McQuinn with the 1st pick in the MLB Rule 5 Player Draft and installed him at 1st base to begin the 1938 season.

McQuinn soon discovered that the Yankees had made the St. Louis Browns pay more than the $7,500 draft price for him, in violation of the MLB player draft rules. McQuinn wrote Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis a letter of complaint and then he showed up at his office in Chicago. Landis told McQuinn to go ahead and report to the Browns, but he promised to investigate and get back to him. But McQuinn never did hear back from the Commissioner, which rankled him for many years.

McQuinn made sure he did not flub his 2nd chance at the big leagues. On Opening Day, he had clubbed a single, double and triple against one of the best pitchers in the league, Cleveland’s Johnny Allen. Typically, a slow starter, he hovered around the .270 mark for the 1st 2 months of the season, before improving to .300. Then, on July 24th, he had 4 hits in 4 at-bats against the Washington Senators, beginning a torrid 34-game hitting streak during which he batted .386 (56-for-145). For the season, he was runner-up to Mel Almada on the 7th-place Browns with a .324 batting average, while slugging 12 HRs and driving in 82 runs, 2nd in both categories to Harlond Clift.

Manager Gabby Street had scouted McQuinn at Newark and quickly lauded him as the best defensive 1st baseman in the league since George Sisler, and better than Jim Bottomley or Rip Collins of the Cardinals.

The 1939 season brought more of the same as McQuinn, who led the Browns with a .316 average, while playing in all 154 games. He had improved his HR and RBIs totals to 20 and 94 respectively for the last-place Browns. For his efforts, McQuinn was named to his 1st All-Star team, although he did not appear in the game.

After the season the Yankees sought to trade for McQuinn, who had been blocked in the minor leagues by Gehrig for all those years, to replace the ill Gehrig at 1st base. Yankees General Manager Ed Barrow reportedly had offered the Browns $75,000 plus Babe Dalhgren and other players for McQuinn. The American League, however, had instituted a bizarre rule barring trades with the pennant winner, which ended up quashing the deal. Yankees General Manager Ed Barrow later lamented that the failure to land McQuinn had cost the Yankees their 5th straight pennant in 1940.

Thus, McQuinn found himself back with St. Louis in 1940. He slipped to a .279 average for the improved 6-place Browns, but made his second All-Star team, although he again did not appear in the game. McQuinn, who was particularly adept at turning the 3-6-3 double play, also led American League 1st basemen in fielding average.

Although only 5-feet-11, McQuinn quickly became known as the best fielding 1st baseman in the league and was often compared to George Sisler, Joe Kuhel and Hal Chase. Veteran catcher Frank Mancuso called him the best 1st baseman that he had ever seen. As a result, the Rawlings Sporting Goods Company marketed a George McQuinn model 1st baseman’s glove. Years later, it was reported that President George H.W. Bush, another slick-fielding 1st baseman from his days at Yale, kept his old 1st baseman’s “claw” glove in his desk drawer in the Oval Office at the White House. It was a George McQuinn model.

McQuinn would improved his batting average to .297 in 1941 with 18 HRs and 80 RBIs, for the 2nd consecutive year, McQuinn led American League 1st basemen in fielding percentage. After the season, he was to be included in what would have been a blockbuster trade with the National League champion Brooklyn Dodgers. The deal would have sent McQuinn and 3rd baseman Harlond Clift to the Dodgers for reigning National League MVP Dolph Camilli, Cookie Lavagetto, and cash. McQuinn and Clift, however, could not clear American League waivers, so the deal did not happen.

A back ailment that was becoming chronic would hampered McQuinn in 1942 and 1943; his batting average had slipped to .262 in 1942 and .243 in 1943. It had gotten to the point that he needed to wear a brace in order to play. With World War II in full swing, McQuinn was ordered to take an Army pre-induction physical in June of 1943, but he was rejected because of his back problems.

The St. Louis Browns were a veteran team and would lead the league in 4-Fs, medical discharges and family related deferments. While other teams were losing key players to the service, the Browns were relatively unaffected. They would opened the 1944 season with 18 4-Fs and 13 were with the team for the long haul. As a result, the 1944 Browns, playing in a weakened American League, won their 1st American League title in a thrilling pennant race that went down to the last day of the season. The Browns entered that day tied for 1st place with the Detroit Tigers, who were playing the Washington Senators in Detroit. The Browns were hosting the New York Yankees and learned in the 4th inning that the Tigers had lost. Although the Yankees got off to a 2-0 lead, the Browns came back to win 5-2 behind the stellar pitching of Sig Jakucki. With a runner on 2nd and 2 out in the 9th the Yankees’ 3rd baseman Oscar Grimes hit a towering foul ball about 10 feet outside of 1st base. McQuinn squeezed the ball for the final out and was immediately mobbed by fans and players spilling onto the field. McQuinn held on to the ball that ended the game as if it were made of gold. In the clubhouse winning pitcher Jakucki approached McQuinn and said, “Look pal, that ball means a lot to me. How about giving it to me?”

McQuinn replied, “Well, let’s be neighborly about this thing. I’ll give you half of it.” Browns’ Team Owner Don Barnes overheard the exchange and asked for a saw. Jakucki and McQuinn then spent 10 minutes trying to saw the ball in 2, but failed to make any headway. Finally, batboy Bobby Scanlon flipped a coin to decide the winner. McQuinn won the flip and got the now thoroughly chewed up baseball.

The 34-year-old McQuinn hit only .250 for the season but his 11 HRs were 2nd on the team and he again led the league’s 1st basemen in fielding average. He also made his 4th All-Star team, this time as the starting 1st baseman. He would played the entire game, singling in the 1st inning off of Bucky Walters to go 1-for-4, as the Americans went down to defeat, 7-1.

The Browns would face the St. Louis Cardinals, who had breezed to the National League pennant, in the only “All-St. Louis” World Series. In the 4th inning of the 1st game, with a man on, McQuinn blasted a towering drive off Mort Cooper onto the right-field roof to lead the Browns to a 2–1 victory. Then, in Game 2, McQuinn was involved in a play that is often considered the turning point in the entire Series. With the score tied 2-2, he led off the top of the 11th with a double off the screen in right field. Mark Christman attempted to sacrifice McQuinn to 3rd by pushing a bunt toward 3rd base, but Cardinals Pitcher Blix Donnelly pounced off the mound and threw to Whitey Kurowski at 3rd. Kurowski made a great stab of the ball and tagged McQuinn out by an eyelash. Observers were surprised that Donnelly had even elected to throw to 3rd. Gene Moore, the next batter, lofted a long outfield fly that would have easily scored McQuinn, but was instead just the 2nd out of the inning. The Cardinals quickly scored the winning run in the bottom of the inning to tie the series at 1 apiece.

The Browns would win Game Three 6-2 and might well have been up 3 games to 0, but for Donnelly’s play at 3rd in Game 2. But they hit only .183 and they would lose Games 4, 5, and 6 to lose the Series 4 games to 2. McQuinn was the 1 bright spot, batting .438 with 7 hits, 7 walks, and 5 of the team’s 9 RBIs. His HR in Game 1 was the only 1 HR the Browns hit in the 1944 World Series.

McQuinn was again called for a pre-induction physical in early 1945, but he was rejected under a new edict that ballplayers not fit for combat should not be drafted. McQuinn would improved his batting average to .277 in 483 at-bats as the Browns finished a respectable 3rd, 6 games behind the pennant-winning Detroit Tigers.

Shortly after the season, the Browns had swapped McQuinn to the Philadelphia A’s for 1st baseman Dick Siebert. The deal hit a snag when Siebert could not agree to terms with the Browns and he had retired from baseball, but Commissioner Happy Chandler ruled that the A’s could keep McQuinn nonetheless. The last-place A’s may have regretted the commissioner’s decision as McQuinn had his worst year in baseball in 1946, hitting only .225 with 3 HRs and just 35 RBIs. He struggled through some long slumps and incurred the ire of the Athletics fans. At one point, after striking out 4 times and popping up 3 times in a doubleheader, McQuinn decided to quit the game, but Kathleen talked him out of it, telling him he’d had too many good seasons not to be able to endure a bad one.

The Athletics would give McQuinn his unconditional release on January 9,1947. Connie Mack, the venerable Manager of the Athletics, was heard to remark that McQuinn had “played baseball 1 year too long.”

That set the stage for McQuinn to sign with the Yankees,17 years after he first became a Yankee farmhand. McQuinn did not accompany the team on its spring tour through Latin America in 1947, instead joining them, when they returned to St. Petersburg, Florida. By that time the Yankees’ lineup looked set, with Tommy Henrich at 1st base and Yogi Berra in right field. Charley Keller, however, pulled a muscle in early April, sending Henrich temporarily to left field and giving McQuinn an opening at 1st base. He began hitting well immediately, even against left-handers and soon took over the 1st-base position, with Henrich occupying right field and Berra in the catcher’s spot.

Early in the season McQuinn asked Yankees Traveling Secretary Arthur Patterson if he could room alone on the road. His chronic back pain made it hard for him to sleep at night, and he worried that his tossing and turning would disturb his roommate. He also found that being able to sprawl out in a double bed helped him sleep better. With his back responding, the 37-year-old McQuinn got off to a great start and by early June was leading the league with a .354 average. Only a few months after being released by the worst team in baseball, McQuinn was named as a starter for the American League All-Star team. He played the entire game at 1st base, going hitless in 4 at-bats.

Throughout his MLB playing career, McQuinn had a reputation for having a dry sense of humor but being quiet and not very talkative. His Browns teammate Don Gutteridge recalled that McQuinn would say hello when he arrived for spring training and goodbye when he left in the fall. Bobby Brown remembered that his nickname on the Yankees was Si, short for silent. Brown recalled McQuinn as a great teammate and a very nice man. His typical postgame ritual on the road was to smoke an after-dinner cigar in the hotel lobby while watching the people go by and then head to bed at 10 o’clock.

McQuinn tailed off late in the year to a final .304 average – 2nd highest on the team – with 13 HRs and 80 RBIs. Unlike 1944, however, he would struggle in the World Series, hitting only .130 in 23 at-bats as the Yankees defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers in 7 games.

Although he would turn 38 in May 1948, the Yankees wanted McQuinn back and after a brief holdout, he signed for the 1948 season. He got off to another exceptional start, with an average of .340 on May 31st, and was again named the All-Star Game starter at 1st base for the American League, his 6th All-Star team. He played the entire game and was 1 of 3 players, along with Richie Ashburn and Stan Musial, with 2 hits as the American League won, 5-2. He also set an All-Star Game record with 14 putouts and tied a mark with 14 total chances. But he wore down over the long season and ended the campaign hitting .248 in 94 games as the Yankees finished 3rd in a tight, 3-team AL pennant race.

The Yankees had released McQuinn after the 1948 AL season had ended; he would retire to Arlington, Virginia, to run a sporting-goods store bearing his name. He was lured back to baseball in 1950 by the Boston Braves organization with an offer to manage the Quebec Braves in the Class C Canadian-American League. The team finished 1st with a 97-40 record, won the semifinals 4 games to 1, and swept the finals in 4 games against the Amsterdam (New York) Rugmakers. Along the way, McQuinn would put himself into 74 games and hit .318 in 242 at-bats.

The Braves would switch to the Provincial League, also Class C, in 1951 as McQuinn again managed the team, this time to a 4th-place finish. Although he was now 41 years old, he was still a playing manager, hitting .301 in 136 at-bats. McQuinn was back managing Quebec in 1952 and guided the Braves to a 2nd-place finish, while appearing as a pinch-hitter 12 times, the final at-bats of his playing career. McQuinn continued to manage Quebec through the 1954 season with remarkable success. In his 5 years leading the Braves, the club would finished 1st twice, 2nd once, 3rd once and 4th once and won the league playoffs 4 times.

The Braves organization would promote McQuinn to manage the Atlanta Crackers in the Double-A Southern Association for 1955. With the club’s record at 49-49 on July 16th, McQuinn stepped down as manager. However, his magic touch returned in 1956. On July 1 of that year, he took over the managerial reins of the Boise Braves in the Class C Pioneer League and led them to the pennant. McQuinn would return to Boise for 1957 but the team finished 7th. In 1958, he moved up to manage the Topeka Hawks in the Class A Western League, where the team also finished 7th in an 8th-team circuit.

Now 48, McQuinn wanted to spend his summers closer to his Arlington home so he became a scout for the Washington Senators, concentrating on Virginia and West Virginia. He later scouted for the Montreal Expos before retiring from baseball in 1971 after 42 years in the game. He published a detailed guide to playing baseball in 1972 and delighted in giving it to any youngster, who had expressed an interest.

In an interview late in life, McQuinn lamented that Lou Gehrig probably cost him 4 years of his big-league career. He had expressed some bitterness that the Yankees had never taken him to spring training, despite his outstanding years in the minor leagues. McQuinn also had little use for Commissioner Landis, who refused to do anything when the Yankees violated baseball rules in sending him to the Browns in 1937.

But with the exception of his appeal to Landis, McQuinn was never one to make waves. During his minor-league career, his name was twice butchered by the teams he was playing for. In Scranton, the public-address announcer called him Mike McQuinn and later in Newark, an error led him to be listed on the roster as Jack. He never corrected either mistake and for the rest of his life was known as Mike to those who had known him in Scranton and Jack to those from Newark.

McQuinn’s MLB playing career had spanned 12 years with 4 teams. He would end with a lifetime batting average of .276 with 1,588 hits in 1,550 MLB games. Although it was not as uncommon then as it is now, he walked more times (712) than he struck out (634). He is most remembered as a stalwart of some mediocre St. Louis Browns clubs in the late 1930s and early 1940s and as the star of the 1944 World Series. But he had a major impact on the 1947 Yankees’ run to the pennant after Yankees Manager Bucky Harris plucked him off the scrap heap. His former Manager of the A’s Connie Mack had been wrong that he was no longer a everyday player, when he released him in the fall of 1946.

George McQuinn would pass away on December 24,1978, in Alexandria, Virginia, of complications from a stroke. He was 68 years old.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:20:59 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 27, 2024 20:46:03 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 27, 2024 20:46:03 GMT -5

Yankees Reserve Outfielder Roger Repoz (1965-1966)
This article was written by Thomas Van Hyning; Edited by Clipper

Yankees photo

Roger Repoz’s most productive pro baseball seasons were in Japan, but his fondest pro baseball memories were “putting on the pinstripes and playing with all those great Yankee stars.” He hit 313 HRs with 1,002 RBIs in the major leagues, the minors, Japan, and Puerto Rico from 1960 through 1977. As a pitcher and 1st baseman for Western Washington University, Repoz was the Most Valuable Player in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics tournament in 1959. From 1967 to 1970, while with the Kansas City Athletics and the California Angels, he set a major-league record for nonpitchers of 347 games and 894 at-bats without hitting into a double play. The 6-foot-3 Repoz played at 195 pounds.

Roger Allen Repoz was born in Bellingham, Washington, a city 17 miles south of the U.S.-Canadian border and 50 miles southeast of Vancouver, British Columbia, on August 3,1940. He was 1 of 2 children born to John and Joyce Repoz. John, of Yugoslavian descent, was a mill worker. Repoz’s only sibling was a sister, Linda. Roger would enjoyed fishing, hunting and playing Little League baseball during his childhood; his favorite players growing up were Mickey Mantle and Jackie Robinson. After graduating from Bellingham High School in 1958, he would enroll at Western Washington University in Bellingham. Playing 1st base and pitching for the WWU Vikings, who played in the regional Evergreen Conference, he had an 11-2 won-lost record with a 0.90 earned-run average in 1959. In the NAIA (National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics) national tournament in Alpine, Texas, the Vikings went 2-2, with Repoz winning both games and capturing the tournament’s MVP award.

Former MLB catcher Mickey Owen, scouting for the Chicago Cubs, was impressed by 2 players he saw in the tournament, Repoz and Lou Brock. “I wanted to sign both of them but (the Cubs) told me to recommend and sign 1,” he told the author in an interview. “So we went with Brock, whose team (Southern University) won the championship.” Repoz drew attention from scouts again in 1960, and he was signed by Yankees Scout Eddie Taylor after the Vikings’ 1960 season ended.

The 19-year-old Repoz joined the Modesto Reds of the Class C California League in midseason. After batting .240 in 14 games, he was assigned to the St. Petersburg Saints of the Class D Florida State League, where he would hit .230 in 41 games. Back at Modesto in 1961, Repoz would hit.287 with 5 HRsns, 59 RBIs, and 16 steals. That earned him a promotion in 1962 to the Augusta (Georgia) Yankees of the Class A South Atlantic League. His batting average fell to .225; back at Augusta in 1963, he batted only .221, but hit 20 HRs and had 72 RBIs. (He also struck out a leading-leading 166 times.)

At Columbus of the Southern League in 1964, Repoz would hit a team-best 23 HRs and he would cut his strikeouts to 120. He would earned a September call-up to the Yankees. Repoz told the author his 1st impression of Yankee Stadium was “like being in a canyon, the façade hung out over the field.” He made his MLB player debut on September 11th, as a pinch-hitter; Minnesota’s Jim Perry would strike him out.

The next season, Repoz had played in 75 games for the AAA Toledo Mud Hens (IL) and hit a team-leading 14 HRs. He was hitting .287 with 38 RBIs and a .522 slugging percentage, when the Yankees called him up at the end of June to replace an injured Roger Maris and pick up the slack while Mickey Mantle, also injured, was limited to pinch-hitting duty. In his 2nd game, on July 1st, Repoz got his 1st MLB hit a HR, the next day, off of the Red Sox’ Dave Morehead in Boston. A 3rd HR came off of Joe Sparma in Detroit on July 5th, then a 4th blast off of Dave Boswell at Minnesota on July 9th. On the 10th, he was 4-for-5 against the Twins’ Mudcat Grant. Repoz would end 1965 AL season with a .220 batting average and 12 HRs.

The Yankees would send Repoz to Puerto Rico to play for the 1965-1966 Ponce Lions, managed by former Yankees hurler Luis Arroyo. “It was a vacation, no pressure,” he said, and the quality of play “was much better” than AAA Toledo, with a lot of major leaguers and top prospects. In the playoffs, 2nd-place Ponce toppled 3rd-place Caguas in the semifinals before losing in the finals to the Mayagez Indians, featuring Detroit prospects.

Kansas City A's Photo

In 1966, with Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris both back in action, Repoz would get limited playing time (37 games) with the Yankees, but he was hitting .349 when on June 10th, he was traded along with pitchers Bill Stafford and Gil Blanco to the Kansas City Athletics for pitcher Fred Talbot and catcher Billy Bryan. “(Manager) Ralph Houk said they needed Fred. I wished it had never happened,” Repoz told the author. “I loved New York.” Repoz would hit .216 for the A’s, but he led the club in HRs with 11. Kansas City Manager Alvin Dark would played Rogerz regularly against both lefties and righties.

He returned to Ponce for winter ball and played in all 72 Ponce regular-season games, including a tie-breaker win over Santurce for the pennant. He had played in the league all-star game and was voted by the media to the final League All-Star Team.

The 1967 season started splendidly for Repoz, when he scored the winning run in the A’s 4-3 Opening Day win over Cleveland on April 11th. He would homer off of Baltimore’s John Miller 4 days later and then slammed his 2nd HR off of Detroit’s Denny McLain on April 16th. Manager Alvin Dark would platooned Repoz more often; used him as a pinch-hitter; gave more playing time to Rick Monday and Jim Gosger and kept Mike Hershberger in right field. Repoz told the author: “Dark was a good manager (but) a strange man.” Dark employed Allan Lewis, a designated pinch-runner and would not hesitate to pinch-hit for a starting pitcher early in the game. Repoz was traded to California on June 15th for pitcher Jack Sanford and outfielder Jackie Warner. The Athletics had just promoted Reggie Jackson, who was inserted into the lineup on June 9th. Repoz opined to the author that his days in Kansas City were numbered after Jackson’s promotion, since the A’s would not carry that many left-handed-hitting outfielders, Rick Monday, Jim Gosger, Jackson and himself. Repoz grounded into a double play in his final A’s at-bat, on June 6th.

California Angels photo
The Angels were a contender in July and August with good pitching, the slugging of Don Mincher, the all-around play of team captain Jim Fregosi, who said to the author of Repoz, “What a great guy and a very talented hitter and player. (He) had great tools.” In his 1st game, on June 27th, Repoz hit a fly ball to center off of Washington’s Joe Coleman that began an MLB record streak of 347 games, 1,018 plate appearances, and 894 at-bats without grounding into a double play. He would not do so until May 24,1970, a span of almost 3 seasons.

Repoz’s 1st hit as an Angel was a HR off of Boston’s Jim Lonborg on July 5th. The Angels were in the fight for the pennant (won by the Red Sox) and Repoz wound up hitting .250 with 5 HRs and 20 RBIs for the Angels. After the season, he would put in his final campaign in Puerto Rico with Ponce.

Repoz had his worst season in 1969, hitting just .164, with 8 HRs and 19 RBIs. He lost playing time to Jay Johnstone. California’s 1970 edition was the best MLB team Repoz played on except for the 1964 Yankees. On May 19th, he homered and doubled off of Chicago’s Joel Horlen and later doubled off of Wilbur Wood in a 3-0 road win. On the 24th at Minnesota, he hit a 2-run HR off of Dave Boswell in the 1st inning. Then his remarkable streak ended in the 7th inning when his grounder to 2nd baseman Rod Carew with a runner on 1st was turned into a 4-6-3 double play.

Roger Repoz would turned 30 on August 3,1970 and played a final full major-league season with the 1971 Angels. The team would finished in 4th place in the AL West. Repoz would slump to .199 with 13 HRs and 41 RBIs in 113 games. In 1972, he spent most of the early season with AAA Salt Lake City (PCL) and had only 3 at-bats with the Angels, when he was traded in June to Baltimore for INF Jerry DaVanon. The Orioles would send Repoz to AAA Rochester (IL); where he would hit .251 in 74 games, but he would lead the team with 13 HRs.

Baltimore “had no plans for Roger” and asked him if “he was interested in going to Japan” in 1973. Repoz and Don Buford of the Orioles went to play for Taiheyo Club Lions of the Nippon Professional Baseball Pacific League. “It wasn’t easy,” Repoz told the author. “The deck is stacked and most (American) guys couldn’t take it. It’s their way or the highway.” Repoz’s 1st season in Japan was similar to his 1965 rookie season with the Yankees: 12 HRs, .220 batting average, .312 on-base percentage, and .430 slugging average. Taiheyo finished 4th in the 6-team league. Repoz made a lot more money (roughly $36,000 per season) playing in Japan from 1973 to 1977, than he did in the MLB. He “was in the best shape ever” after preseason training, with a coach for running, fielding, hitting, and exercise. Repoz complimented his hosts: “They paid for everything; I had an apartment year-round; the lifestyle was good; they treated you like a star.”

After his 1st season with Taiheyo, Repoz’s contract was picked up by the Yakult Swallows of the Japanese Central League and he would played for the Swallows until 1977. Playing in Jingu Stadium, the Swallows’ home field, was “like playing sandlot ball in an all-sand infield,” he said. Repoz said he never drove a car in Japan, taking taxis exclusively.

The 1975 season was special for Repoz; he was the only Gaijin (foreigner) named to the Central League’s Best 9 team. That season, Repoz would hit .292 with 27 HRs and 70 RBIs. He followed this with another impressive one in 1976, hitting .274, 36 HRs, 81 RBIs. That year Repoz, teammate Charlie Manuel, and Clyde Wright of the Yomiuri Giants were involved in an altercation with members of the East German men’s Olympic hockey team at a Tokyo disco. Repoz said it was strictly verbal, denying reports that a fight took place.

In 1977, Roger would hit .263 with 22 HRs. He was released by the Swallows after the season had ended. Then he would move back to Fullerton, California, where he embarked on a 26-year career in carpet mill manufacturing. Repoz was inducted into the Western Washington University Hall of Fame in 1978, and considered it a “great honor to share it with (my) dad.” His sons, Craig and Jeff, played in the minors. Craig had played in the Mets’ and Padres’ farm systems from 1985 to 1990 and Jeff had played in the Phillies’ system in 1989-1990. Repoz and his wife, Roberta, still lived in Fullerton as of 2013. Repoz had attended a reunion of Yankees minor leaguers in 2010. He also has played in 3 Angels Old-Timer games. Roger Repoz maintains that his highlight in pro baseball was “putting on the pinstripes and playing with all those great [Yankee] stars.”

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:28:19 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 28, 2024 15:38:15 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 28, 2024 15:38:15 GMT -5

Yankees Catchers During the Miller Huggins Era (1918-1929)

This article was written by Cort Vitty
This article was published in Spring 2013 Baseball Research Journal
Edited by Clipper

Yankees Manager Miller Huggins Colorized Photo

Until the emergence of Hall of Famer Bill Dickey, Miller Huggins and the New York Yankees deftly utilized a patchwork of mostly journeyman catchers on very successful teams. His managing accomplishments would ultimately earn him Hall of Fame honors in 1964.

Yankees Team Owners Jacob Ruppert and Til Huston realized early in their partnership that New York wouldn’t tolerate anything less than a championship team. Ruppert had a championship in mind when he hired Miller Huggins to manage the club in 1918. According to Ruppert: “Huggins had vision. Getting him was the 1st and most important step we took toward making the Yankees champions. Huggins had constructive ideas and far-seeing judgment. He planned on a big scale.” Jacob Ruppert, “The Ten Million Dollar Toy,” (The Saturday Evening Post, March 28,1931.) Huggins understood the importance of fielding a high-quality team and recommended improving the talent pool via key acquisitions and signings

Upon assuming the managerial reins, Huggins had inherited 2 starting receivers, Les Nunamaker, who was traded to St. Louis Browns before spring training began and James Harrison Hannah (1889–1982). Although “Truck” certainly fit Hannah’s 6-foot-1, 190-pound bulk, the nickname was actually derived from his offseason job as a deliveryman. The North Dakota native came to New York from the Pacific Coast League, where he had established himself as a fine defensive catcher. Adept at the art of chatter, Truck’s booming voice, laced with sarcasm, both distracted opposing hitters and entertained fans. A light bat (.235 overall with the Yankees) shortened his stay in New York and ultimately hastened his return to the West Coast after the 1920 AL season. Hannah’s minor-league career, encompassing over 2,275 games in more than 20 seasons, earned him PCL Hall of Fame honors. As a somewhat spry 51-year-old minor-league manager, he’d again don “the tools” with the Memphis Chicks in 1940, by catching both ends of a doubleheader, after injuries had sidelined his regular receivers. Two seasons of Hannah’s career are still missing from the Minor League Statistics database.

St. Louis native Herold “Muddy” Ruel was purchased in 1918 to back up Nunamaker, but he spent most of the year in the army. The polar opposite of “Truck” in size, 24-year-old Muddy packed a strong arm, good defensive skills and a decent bat into his 5-foot-9, 150-pound frame. To Huggins, “a good catcher [is] the carburetor, the lead dog, the pulse taker, the traffic cop and sometimes a lot of unprintable things, but no team gets very far without one.” (The Kingsport (Tenn.) Times, May 20,1940.) Huggins liked Ruel’s potential and considered him a candidate to ultimately become the regular backstop. But the skipper knew a more experienced backstop would be needed to pursue that initial pennant. On December 15, 1920, Ruel was shuttled to the Boston Red Sox as part of a larger deal that brought veteran Wally Schang to the Yankees. Ruel (1896–1963) would later move from Boston to Washington, and admirably handle the catching duties for the Nats’ 1924–1925 pennant-winning seasons. Along the way, he earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the smartest catchers in the league.

Wally Schang (1889–1965) may have been a farm boy from New York State, but he was a city slicker behind the plate. His acquisition placed a premier catcher onto the Yankees roster, with a resume that included World Championships on the 1913 Philadelphia Athletics and 1918 Boston Red Sox. At 5-foot-10 and 180 pounds, the strong-armed Schang was one of the finest defensive catchers in the game. A formidable switch-hitter, he was instrumental in helping the Yankees win their 1st American League flag in 1921. Schang more than adequately filled the starting role when the Yanks repeated as league champs in 1922 and ultimately won their 1st World Series in 1923. “The catcher is the jockey,” Schang remarked. “The pitcher is the horse. … A good horse will lose with a bad rider. The catcher must not let the pitcher lose his courage, confidence or control.” (Harvey Frommer, Five O’Clock Lightning, Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007.)

The team would fall to 2nd place in 1924, then spiraled out of control to a dismal 7th place in 1925. Huggins thought rebuilding was in order and started housecleaning on a wholesale level. By then Schang was 36 years old, Huggins felt age, injuries and possibly diminished eyesight had caught up with Wally. On the same day (June 2nd) that Lou Gehrig famously replaced Wally Pipp at 1st base, Benny Bengough had replaced Wally Schang as the regular catcher.

Bernard Oliver Bengough was born on July 27, 1898, in Niagara Falls, NY. He stood 5-foot-7 and went from studying for the priesthood to warming the pines for the Buffalo Bisons of the International League. His mother proactively contacted Manager Patsy Donovan and belittled the skipper for not playing her son. Taking the advice of Mrs. Bengough, Donovan penciled Benny in and the young backstop hit well enough to secure the regular spot. Promoted to the Yankees in 1923, Benny quickly demonstrated a strong throwing arm and fine defensive skills. He further impressed Huggins with aggressive leadership, skillfully taking charge and directing veteran pitchers Herb Pennock, Waite Hoyt and Joe Bush.

Benny hit a workmanlike .258 in 1925 as the regular receiver. Schang would assumed the back-up role, he was subsequently was dealt to the St. Louis Browns prior to the 1926 season. Regrettably, the move proved to be a rare mistake on the part of Huggins. Schang would outhit his Yankees replacements in each of the next 3 seasons, posting averages of .330, .318 and .286. (Harry Grayson, “He Played the Game.” The Bismarck Tribune, June 28,1943.)

The Yankees would supplement their receiving corps with 5-foot-9, 178-pound Pat Collins from the St. Louis Browns. Tharon Patrick Collins was born in Sweet Springs, Missouri, on September 13,1896. He had debuted professionally in 1917 with the Joplin Miners of the Western League, later earning a promotion to the major league St. Louis Browns, where he primarily served as a backup to veteran Catcher Hank Severeid. The Browns would waive Collins to the AA St. Paul Saints in 1925, where he would hit .316 in 132 games. He was traded to the Yankees on August 30, 1925 in exchange for $25,000 and INF Pee Wee Wanninger. If the Yankees had noticed and claimed Collins off the waiver list, he would’ve been available at the bargain price of $4,000. (Lyle Spatz, Yankees Coming, Yankees Going (Jefferson, NC: McFarland, 1999).) Once in the fold, Collins was considered a suitable backup for Bengough, who by now was one of the finest defensive catchers in the league.

The 1926 club sported a rebuilt look, including talented rookies Tony Lazzeri and Mark Koenig. During spring training, Bengough’s playing time was limited by a sore arm, providing Collins the opportunity to take on more duties. The increased workload eventually took its toll on Pat, who developed a sore elbow during the season. Bengough improved, but with essentially 2 lame-arm catchers and the club surprisingly in the thick of a pennant race, Huggins scurried to find experienced help. Learning from his earlier mistake, Huggins studied the waiver list and found durable veteran Hank Severeid (1891–1968) available from Washington. An Iowa native, the 6-foot, 175-pound Severeid had been one of the top offensive and defensive catchers in the American League during his tenure with the St. Louis Browns. An “old-school” style catcher, Hank was adept at guiding pitchers through difficult situations. Plucked off the waiver list on July 22,1926, Severeid would immediately shouldered the majority of the catching duties, making every start until August 11th. After that Bengough returned to the lineup on August 29th and Severied, Bengough, and Collins would split the catching duties.

The plan worked until disaster struck on September 18th, via a pitch served up by Cleveland right-hander George Uhle. Uhle developed a trick pitch seldom seen in the 1920s, today it’s called a slider. This unorthodox offering resulted in a league-leading 13 hit batsmen in 1926. The pitch would break Benny’s right wrist. Bengough would describe the incident: “I put my arm up to protect myself. [The ball] hit my arm and poked the bone right through and hit my forehead.” (The Emporia (Kansas) Daily Gazette, September 9, 1925.) Benny was lost for the balance of the 1926 season; he was hitting .381 at the time and would never be the same ballplayer. For the balance of the season, Severeid would share catching duties with a still-not-100% Collins. Although going 25–29 down the stretch, the Yankees hung on to capture the 1926 AL flag. New York ultimately lost the World Series to the St. Louis Cardinals, with Severeid catching all 7 games.

As the fall of 1926 turned to winter, Huggins knew he had a major problem behind the plate. An exhaustive search for help culminated on January 13,1927, when the Yankees acquired Catcher John Grabowski and left-handed hitting utility infielder Ray Morehart from the Chicago White Sox for 2nd baseman Aaron Ward. To make room for Grabowski, the Yankees had released Severeid, ending his MLB playing career. Hank’s lifetime .289 mark ranks him high among catchers of the era.

Speculation about the 1927 season started before spring training. Even though the Yankees were defending American League champs, scribes seriously doubted the club had enough depth to repeat. Although the team would be led by 6 future Hall of Famers (Ruth, Gehrig, Lazzeri, Combs, Hoyt and Pennock), the Yankees weren’t considered shoo-in contenders. Early predictions had Philadelphia, Washington, and Cleveland vying for the flag. “In a preseason poll of 42 baseball experts, only 9 picked the Yankees to repeat as American League Champions.” (Fred Gluckstein, The ’27 Yankees, Bloomington, Indiana: Xlibris Corp, 2005.)

Some cited the team’s “lack of depth” as the weakness. As Harvey Frommer writes, “A chess master, Huggins always found depth.” In light of Bengough’s sore arm, Huggins decided that he would have to catch Pat Collins 1 day and Grabowski the next, rotating them as much as possible throughout the season. Neither ever worked 2 days in a row except for illness, injury or doubleheaders. The 3 right-handed hitters deftly handled the catching chores and combined to hit a respectable .271 with 7 HRs and 71 RBIs.

Yankee Catchers: 1927-1928: Pat Collins, Benny Bengough, Johnny Grabowski

The Yankees won on Opening Day, with the 5-foot-10, 185-pound Johnny Grabowski behind the plate. John was born in Ware, Massachusetts, on January 7,1900. He had started his pro career in the Western League with the St. Joseph Saints in 1922, hitting .289 in 100 games. Switching to the AA Minneapolis Millers of the American Association, the strong-armed Grabowski would hit .316 in 1923 and .319 in 1924. Obtained by the Chicago White Sox, he would settle in as Ray Schalk’s backup before the trade to New York. Huggins commented that Grabowski, “has been a lifesaver to this team, what with Benny Bengough’s arm not being so good and Pat Collins continuing to harbor the delusion he can’t throw to 2nd. He handles his pitchers well. He has a good arm and an accurate throw. The Yankees got something valuable when they got him.” (Harvey Frommer, "Five O’Clock Lightning," Hoboken, NJ: Wiley, 2007).

The 1927 Yankees went on to dominate the league, finishing a full 19 games ahead of the 2nd-place Philadelphia A’s, before sweeping the Pirates in the Series. Using the same formula that proved successful during the season, Huggins opened the World Series with Collins, used Bengough in the 2nd game, switched to Grabowski in the 3rd, and repeated Collins in the 4th and final contest. All 3 catchers wore the collar in the 1st 3 games; Collins went 3-for-3 in the final, providing the only offense from the receiving corps.

A mere 2 days after New York had swept the Pirates to win the 1927 World Series, speculation started: “For any number of good reasons the Yankees of 1927 should be ranked with the great teams of all time. “ John Mosedale, (The Greatest of All: The 1927 New York Yankees (New York: Warner, 1975). After all, the club had jumped into 1st place on Opening Day and held the lead all season, finishing with a 110-44 record, with a .714 winning percentage to secure the AL flag by 19 games.

The 1927 trio of catchers were retained for 1928. This time, Grabowski saw most of the action, followed by Bengough and Collins. As reported in the New York American: “Grabowski thrives on more work behind the plate. Collins works better when not asked to do all the work.” Collins had a strong, but erratic throwing arm; he also had difficulty fielding pop-ups behind the plate. John Kiernan, (“Sports of the Times,” The New York Times, October 10, 1927.) His hitting tailed off significantly, posting a season average of only .221. The Yankees again capped the flag, finishing 2 and a half games ahead of the hard-charging Philadelphia A’s. Bengough would catch all 4 games as the Yankees swept the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.

Collins was the 1st of the 1927-1928 triumvirate to depart New York. Pat became expendable when the highly touted Bill Dickey moved up to the parent club late in 1928, allowing the sale of Pat to the Boston Braves. Ultimately, Collins would drift back to the minor leagues before retiring in 1932. He succumbed to heart failure in Kansas City, Missouri, on May 20,1960 at the age of 63.

Yankees Catcher Bill Dickey

In the case of Louisiana native Bill Dickey (1907–1993), luck was better than hard work when it came to making him a Yankee. Playing for Jackson in the Cotton States League, it was generally assumed he was the property of the White Sox, since Chicago had a working agreement with the club. After a little detective work, the Yankees had discovered the Jackson Senators had owned Dickey’s contract outright; the team waived their rights and he was quickly purchased by New York.

In 1929, the highly-touted Dickey stepped right into the starting slot, catching 127 games and hitting a solid .324. Early on, Huggins influenced the talented youngster by advising Dickey to “stop unbuttoning your shirt on every pitch.” He told him, “We pay a player here for hitting HRs and that’s Babe Ruth, so choke up and drill the ball, that way you’ll be around here longer.” John Mosedale, (The Greatest of All: The 1927 New York Yankees (New York: Warner, 1975). Huggins knew talent and in Dickey, he saw the makings of a 1st-rate receiver to complement the star-studded lineup that had won 3 consecutive pennants and 2 World Series.

Huggins desperately wanted to win a 4th consecutive American League flag, but despite the addition of Dickey, the 1929 club didn’t have the spark. Although he tried hard to motivate the team, the Bombers were in a tailspin and motivation by Huggins failed to ignite the club. The mounting stress took its toll on the diminutive manager. Huggins was run-down, didn’t eat properly, or get sufficient rest. A growing sore on his left cheek caused concern. His deteriorating condition led to a hospital stay, where it was determined he was suffering from Erysipelas Sepsis, a form of blood poisoning “Bill Dickey,” Joseph Wancho, (SABR BioProject.) On September 25,1929, the players were at Fenway Park in the midst of a game against the Red Sox, when they had received the news about the untimely passing of their manager. Though they rallied for a win in extra innings that day, the disheartened club would ultimately finish in 2nd place, a full 18 games behind an extremely talented Philadelphia Athletics team.

Dickey’s emergence made Johnny Grabowski expendable; he was shipped to the American Association AA St. Paul Saints in 1930. Mark Gallagher, (The Yankee Encyclopedia, New York: Leisure Press, 1982). He would return to the AL as a backup with the Detroit Tigers in 1931, before being sent to the AA Montreal Royals (IL) for 1932 and 1933 seasons. Upon retiring as an active player, Grabowski became a minor league umpire in the Canadian-American League in 1936, Eastern League 1938–1939, and the IL 1940–1941. After baseball, Johnny would work as a toolmaker in Schenectady, NY. Sadly, he had passed away on May 23,1946, at the age of 46, after suffering burns in a fire that destroyed his family residence. (The New York Times, May 24,1946.)

Benny Bengough was relegated to backing up Bill Dickey, until he left the Yankees after the 1930 AL season. Moving on to the St. Louis Browns, he eventually became a minor-league player-manager, before embarking on a long MLB coaching career with the Browns, Nationals, Red Sox and the Phillies. Benny would leave the Washington coaching staff in 1943, picking up offseason work at a war plant in Indiana and ironically being replaced by George Uhle.

As a member of the Philadelphia Phillies public relations staff, Benny addressed a B’nai B’rith chapter in suburban Philadelphia on Sunday morning December 22,1968. After the presentation, he walked across the street and attended Mass at Blessed Virgin Mary Catholic Church. After Mass, Benny collapsed on the church steps and died of a heart attack; he was 70 years old. (The New York Times, December 23,1968.)

Bill Dickey bridged the end of the Huggins era to become an integral part of the 1932 championship team. He continued as the mainstay behind the plate during the 1936-1939 dynasty managed by Joe McCarthy. Offensively and defensively, Dickey would prove to be the most dominant catcher in the league right up until WWII. A big man at 6-foot-1, Dickey led league catchers 4 years in fielding average, while guiding pitchers with his extensive knowledge of opposing hitters. Dickey would also help build a future Yankees dynasty by assuming the responsibility of teaching a young Lawrence Peter Berra the necessary skills to become a formidable major-league catcher. A lifetime .313 hitter, Dickey was elected to the Hall of Fame in 1954.

Under the leadership of Huggins, the Yankees blossomed into a championship team. As a testament to his memory, a monument honoring the late Yankees skipper was placed in center field and dedicated on May 30,1932. Miller Huggins became the 1st in a long line of Yankees greats honored in what became Monument Park. (Mark Gallagher, The Yankee Encyclopedia, New York: Leisure Press,1982).

Throughout the Huggins era, Col. Ruppert kept his word and provided his Manager with high caliber players at nearly every position. The notable exception was staffing behind the plate, where Huggins deftly utilized a patchwork of mostly journeyman catchers on very successful teams. His accomplishments ultimately would earned him Hall of Fame honors in 1964.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:33:47 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 28, 2024 18:05:00 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 28, 2024 18:05:00 GMT -5

From the Top 100 Minor League Teams of All Time Series:
TEAM #12: 1939 KANSAS CITY BLUES (107-47)

By Bill Weiss & Marshall Wright, Baseball Historians, Edited by Clipper

1939 Kansas City Blues Team Photo

In the late 1930s, the mighty New York Yankees bestowed their largess on 2 top minor league clubs. In the east, the Newark Bears used the relationship to collect a cluster of Top 100 champions. Further west, the Kansas City Blues displayed a fine champion of their own in the last year of the decade. The star of this club was none other than the brother of the Yankees’ top slugger.

Kansas City, a charter member of the American Association in 1902, had to wait until the war-shortened campaign of 1918 for its 1st league championship. Five years later, the Blues would win a 2nd pennant and added a 3rd flag in 1929, both times with Top 100 teams. In 1930, Kansas City had dropped to 5th place, as the Great Depression began to take its economic toll, attendance plummeted from a league-leading 281,000 all the way to 113,000. The Blues would rise to 2nd place in 1931, but their attendance did not improve. The installation of lights for night games did not help much. The 1932 team would finish in 6th place and ticket sales were off another 25%. George Muehlebach, who had owned the team since 1916, finally gave up and sold the Blues to a group that included movie star Joe E. Brown, Des Moines (Western League) Club officials E. Lee Keyser, sometimes called the father of night baseball and Bill Rodgers, and former MLB great Tris Speaker. Keyser became club president, Rodgers, the Business Manager and Speaker would be the field manager. Things continued to get worse. Kansas City would finish last, attendance fell to an all-time low of 53,000 and Speaker would step down in mid-season. He was succeeded by Nick Allen, who had led the AA St. Paul Saints of the (American Association) to the 1924 Junior World Series Championship. The team was sold again, this time to Johnny Kling, a resident of Kansas City, KS, who was the star catcher of the great Chicago Cubs teams of 1906-1910. Keyser would stayed on as Business Manager. The 1934 Manager was Roger Peckinpaugh, who had piloted the Cleveland Indians from 1928-1933. Kansas City still came in last, but attendance went up a little bit. In 1935, Kling and Keyser brought back popular Dutch Zwilling, skipper of the great 1929 Blues team, as Manager. Kansas City would finished in a tie for 3rd place and attendance doubled over the previous year. The Blues came in 3rd in 1936 and attendance rose to 219,000, 2nd in the league. In 1937, Kansas City would become an affiliate of the New York Yankees and during the summer, Kling would sell the Blues to Yankees Team Owner Col. Jacob Ruppert. Muehlebach Field would become known as Ruppert Stadium. In 1938, Bill Meyer was installed as Manager, the Blues would finish 2nd, won the playoff, they would defeated another Yankee-owned team, the AA Newark Bears (Top team No. 16) in the Junior World Series and led the American Association in attendance (257,913). The stage was set for 1939 season.

1939 Kansas City Blues Team Logo

Kansas City had lost the opening game of the season in Indianapolis. Four of the next 5 games were rained out and the Blues lost the 5th. At the end of the 1st road trip Kansas City was 4-4 in 6th place. The home opener, April 25th, was a huge success. Before a near-capacity crowd of 14,502 at Ruppert Stadium, Kansas City would defeated Louisville 8-2. Center fielder Vince DiMaggio homered on the 1st pitch he saw. The Blues were in 3rd place for the next 2 weeks, but then they won 6 of 7 games and were 1st by May 15th, overtaking Minneapolis Millers. For the next 3-½ months the pennant race was a nip-and-tuck battle between the Blues and Millers. Kansas City was in 1st place more often than not, but never by more than 1 or 2 games. Minneapolis won 10 straight in late July, but then Kansas City took 12 of 14 games. On August 28th the Blues led by 3 games, then began to pull away. Over the final 2 weeks of the season, Kansas City won 14 and lost only 2, including 3 of 4 at Ruppert Stadium, they would finish 8 games in front. Their final record was 107-47 with a WP .695, the most wins by an American Association team in a 154-game schedule.

Minneapolis Millers fell just 1 short of the 100-victory mark, finishing at 99-55,with WP .643, good enough to win the pennant most years. Both teams were eliminated in the 1st round of the playoffs, Kansas City falling to 3rd-place Indianapolis and Minneapolis losing to 4th-place Louisville, both by 4-games-to-1 margins. In the regular season the Blues wound up 25 games ahead of the Indians. Louisville just barely made the top 4, edging out defending champion St. Paul in the final days of the season. The Colonels played under .500 ball, 75-78, .490, trailing Kansas City by 31-½ games. Louisville went on to beat Indianapolis, also 4 games to 1, then they would win the Junior World Series from Rochester, the International League representative, 4 games to 3.

By virtue of being in 1st place at mid-season, Kansas City got to host the American Association All-Star Game on July 19th with the Blues playing a team of stars from the 7 other clubs. The game had attracted 16,521 fans, the best ever for the event up to that time, but the All-Stars scored 7 runs in the 2nd inning and pounded 4 pitchers for 20 hits and a 19-7 victory. Kansas City would lead the league in attendance, 269,865, not including the All-Star Game or an exhibition game with the Yankees that produced an overflow crowd of 23,000.

Kansas City Pilot Bill Meyer was one of a handful of managers to win The Sporting News Manager of the Year Award in both the Minors and the Majors, in 1939 with Kansas City and in 1948 with Pittsburgh. He would break into pro ball in 1910 at the age of 18 with his hometown Knoxville, TN, team in the Southeastern League. After playing for Des Moines (Western) and Winona (Northern), he make his MLB player debut in September 1913 with the Chicago White Sox, going 1-for-1 in his only appearance. Meyer had caught for Lincoln (Western), Winona and Davenport (Three I) in 1914-1915 before returning to the majors with the Athletics in 1916-1917. He was released to Louisville in 1918. He would remained with the Colonels for 11 years as a player and then manager. He had played for Joe McCarthy at Louisville and when McCarthy was appointed manager of the Chicago Cubs after the 1925 season, Meyer would succeeded him at the helm of the Colonels. In his 1st year, 1926, Louisville won the American Association pennant, but they had lost the Junior World Series to Toronto Maple Leafs (IL), one of the Top 100 teams. He would stay at Louisville for 2 more years, finishing in the 2nd division both times. In 1932, Meyer would join the Yankees organization as Manager of Springfield, MA, in the Eastern League. When the league folded in July with Springfield in 1st place, New York would transfer him to Binghamton (NYPL). Under Meyer, the Triplets won the pennant in 1933, won the 1st half in 1934 and took the 2nd half and the playoffs in 1935. He would manage the Oakland Oaks (PCL) in 1936-1937, before arriving in Kansas City in 1938. He would lead the Blues again in 1940-1941, then he had managed AA Newark Bears (IL) from 1942-1945 and he would return to AAA Kansas City in 1946-1947. Only twice in 10 years, did his team finish below 2nd place

In The Sporting News, Knoxville writer Tom Siler said, “Meyer was probably the only man to turn his back on a chance to manage the Yankees. Joe McCarthy had quit during the 1946 season. Yankees President Larry MacPhail finished out that season with Bill Dickey, then Johnny Neun as Manager. In October, MacPhail had approached Meyer, knowing that at least half of the Yankee stars had served part of their apprenticeships under the stocky Dutchman. Meyer demurred. ‘I had a mild heart attack in Kansas City,’ Bill later explained. ‘I missed a month of the season. So, I felt I wasn’t up to it; fact is, I didn’t even intend to manage in the minors in 1947. My idea was to sit out the season and see how I felt.’ So MacPhail would hire Bucky Harris as Yankees pilot, giving him a 2-year deal. Meanwhile, Meyer’s health would improve and he returned to the Kansas City job.” The Blues again won the pennant and Pittsburgh came knocking at his door. This time, Meyer would accept their offer.

Siler continued, “Taking over a club that had finished in a tie for last place (in 1947), Meyer manipulated his lineup so skillfully that the Pirates were in the 1948 race for the pennant until the last 2 weeks of the campaign. They would finish 4th, 8-½ games behind Boston and Meyer was rewarded with a contract for 3 years. However, his magic faded when veterans, who had reached their peak in 1948 started downhill. A youth movement was inaugurated, the club would finish 6th in 1949, 8th in 1950 and 7th in 1951. Meyer’s contract was renewed by Branch Rickey, who became GM of the Bucs after the 1950 season, but the skipper’s resignation was accepted at the end of the 1-year pact.” In 1952, Meyer was saddled with one of the worst aggregations of alleged major league players ever foisted on a Manager. The Pirates had a 42-112 record, .273 WP and wound up 54-½ games behind Brooklyn.

Siler related one of Meyer’s favorite anecdotes about that team. It happened in a game in St. Louis. “We had one of our bonus kids on 1st base with none out. I gave the sign to steal sign to our 3rd base coach and he relayed it to the runner, but the boy didn’t move. I repeated the sign twice and still no results. Finally, Red Schoendienst, the Cardinals’ 2nd baseman, called time and walked over to our man and said, ‘They’ve given you the steal sign 3 times now. Are you going to stay on 1st all day?’”

After 1952, Meyer would remained with the Pittsburgh organization for 3 years as a consultant and scout. His health began to fail and he passed away in April, 1957. In The Sporting News, veteran Pittsburgh writer Les Biederman said, “Meyer was one of the best-liked men ever to come into baseball. He was popular with everybody--players, managers, coaches, owners, umpires, writers and fans. He was a great handler of men and his players respected him.” Over 19 years as a minor league manager, Meyer’s record was 1,605-1,325, WP .548.

The 1939 Blues finished 2nd in team batting (.286) to Minneapolis (.296). They led in only 1 offensive category, stolen bases with 154. Their main strengths were defensive. Kansas City finished a fraction of a point behind Louisville in team fielding with .972, but the Blues led in double plays (182) by a wide margin, 31 more than the Millers and their catchers were charged with only 5 passed balls. No complete team pitching statistics were compiled, but Kansas City was stingiest in opponents runs scored, 554, an average of only 3.6 per game, 100 fewer than 2nd ranked Minneapolis. The 3 lowest, and 4 of the 5 best, ERAs belonged to Kansas City pitchers.

The talk of the league was the rookie double play combination of 21-year-old shortstop Phil Rizzuto and 19-year-old 2nd baseman Jerry Priddy. Priddy would hit .333-24-107, led the American Association in doubles (44), was 2nd in hits (193), total bases (339) and triples (15), 3rd in batting and 4th in RBIs. He led the 2nd basemen in putouts (372), assists (456) and double plays (126). Rizzuto had batted .316-5-64 and was 2nd in stolen bases (33), 2 behind Pee Wee Reese of Louisville. He led the shortstops in double plays (109).

Fiero Francis Rizzuto, the 5’6” Scooter, was born in Brooklyn, the son of a streetcar conductor. The Biographical Encyclopedia of Baseball says that he tried out for both the Giants and Dodgers when he was 16. Giants’ Manager Bill Terry sent him home. Dodgers pilot Casey Stengel, later his skipper with the Yankees, told him to “Go get a shoe box.” The Yankees would sign Rizzuto in 1937, when he was 19. They would send him to Bassett, VA in the Class D Bi-State League. Next, he moved up to Norfolk in the Class B Piedmont League in 1938, where he would 1st hooked up with Priddy. In 1941, Rizzuto took over as the Yankee shortstop, replacing the aging Frank Crosetti. He would hit .307 in his rookie year and except for 3 years in the Navy (1943-44-45) was the regular shortstop until 1954. His best season was 1950, the only other year he hit over .300. He batted .324-7-66 and led American League shortstops in fielding (.982) and putouts (301). He was named The Sporting News Major League Player of the Year. Phil was voted the American League’s Most Valuable Player. From September 17, 1949 to June 8,1950, he had played 58 games, handling 289 chances, without an error. From 1949-1952 Rizzuto was named by the Baseball Writers Association as the shortstop on The Sporting News Major League All-Star Team. He began to slow down in 1953 and in 1954, he would only hit .195 in 127 games. By the next season, he had lost the starting shortstop job to Billy Hunter. Phil’s last year as a player was 1956. On September 2,1956, Old Timers Day at Yankee Stadium, he was released. During his MLB career Rizzuto played in 1,661 games, batted .273 and had a .968 fielding average. He had played in 9 World Series, batting .246 in 52 games and was in 4 MLB All-Star Games (1950-53), hitting .222 (2-for-9).

“The Biographical Encyclopedia” says “it seems that Rizzuto’s 2 most important attributes - his glove and his leadership - are difficult strengths to evaluate. Opponent Ted Williams said that Rizzuto made the difference in the sensational Yankees-Red Sox late-season pennant races. Joe DiMaggio said that ‘Rizzuto holds the team together.’” It took a long time for Phil to make the Baseball Hall of Fame. The Baseball Writers Association declined to elect him for 15 years. After being passed over by the Veterans Committee for 11 years, Rizzuto was chosen in 1994.

Rizzuto was short, dark and from Brooklyn, while his teammate Jerry Priddy was almost 6 feet tall, blond and from Los Angeles. When he was 17, he was signed by legendary Yankees MLB Scout Vinegar Bill Essick and was sent to Rogers, AR in the Class D Arkansas-Missouri League. He would hit .336 in his 1st year, 1937, and then hit .323 for Norfolk (Piedmont) in 1938, both times leading the league’s 2nd basemen in fielding. After his 2 stellar seasons with Kansas City, he moved up to New York along with Rizzuto. However, Priddy had the misfortune to arrive at a time when the outstanding Joe Gordon had the Yankees 2nd base job locked up. Priddy was a utility infielder for the Yankees in 1941-1942. He was traded to Washington in January 1943. He was in the Army Air Corps in 1944-1945 and returned to the Senators in 1946. Priddy was traded to the St. Louis Browns in December 1947 and to Detroit 2 years later. He had played 386 consecutive games, when he suffered a broken leg sliding into home plate July 6, 1952 and was out the rest of the year. In 1953, his last MLB season, he got into only 65 games. In 1,296 major league games, Priddy would hit .265-61-541. He had led American League 2nd basemen in putouts 4 times and in assists and double plays 3 times each. In 1954, Priddy was Player-Manager at AAA Seattle (PCL), the Rainiers finishing 5th in the Pacific Coast League. He played 2 more years in the PCL before retiring. A few years later, he tried a career as a professional golfer.

Rizzuto and Priddy were half of an all-rookie starting infield, rare for an AA championship team. At 1st base was 23-year-old left-handed hitting Johnny Sturm, who had batted .309-7-59 in 131 games. On May 8th against Milwaukee, he went 6-for-6, with 4 singles and 2 doubles; in an 11-3 win over the Brewers. He was the Yankees regular 1st baseman in 1941, his only year in the majors. He had batted only .239-3-36 in 124 games, but he would hit .296 in the World Series as the Yankees beat the Dodgers in 5 games. He was in the service for the next 4 years and never regained his pre-war form. He would play and managed in the Yankees organization for several years.

Third baseman Billy Hitchcock, 23, was in his 1st year of pro ball, was signed by the Yankees, after graduating from Auburn University. He was with the Blues for 3 years, then he was acquired by Detroit. He would make his MLB player debut in 1942. Hitchcock was in the service in 1943-1944-1945, then he played 8 seasons in the American League with Detroit, Washington, St. Louis, Boston and Philadelphia. He was a MLB Coach for Detroit from 1955-1960. Hitchcock would manage AAA Vancouver (PCL) in 1961. He would manage the Baltimore Orioles in 1962-1963, finishing 7th in 1962 and 4th in 1963. He was a Field Coordinator for the Orioles in 1964, then he was an MLB Scout for Milwaukee in 1965, and an MLB coach for Atlanta the 1st 3-½ months of 1966. He was appointed Braves Manager on August 9, 1966, replacing Bobby Bragan. Under Hitchcock, the Braves would finish the season with a 33-18 record, ending in 7th place. He would pilot Atlanta all of 1967, the Braves coming in 7th again. His MLB Managerial record was 274-261, .512. From 1972-1980, Hitchcock was President of the Class AA Southern League. At the 1980, Winter Meetings, Billy Hitchcock was honored as the “King of Baseball.” His older brother, Jimmy Hitchcock, also an infielder, played briefly for the National League Boston Bees.

Lending experience to the rookie infielders was 33-year-old Jack Saltzgaver, a veteran of 14 years in pro ball. Saltzgaver was a member of another Top 100 team, the 1932 Newark Bears, coming down from the Yankees, where he had started the season. He had played for New York from 1934-1937, then he would join Kansas City in 1938 for 7 seasons. He would manage the Blues in 1944. He would hit .348, but his wartime team finished in the cellar. In 1945, at the age of 39, he played for Pittsburgh, batting .325 in 52 games. In the MLB, he had batted .260-10-82 in 278 games. In the minors, he would hit .304 with 2,194 hits in 2,036 games.

The biggest bat in the Kansas City lineup belonged to center fielder Vince DiMaggio, the eldest of the 3 baseball playing brothers. He had hit .290 in 154 games, led the American Association in HRs (46), total bases (346) and RBIs (136) and was 4th in runs (122). The 46 HRs were a team record and an especially impressive total because he played half his games in one of the most spacious parks in baseball. The distance down each foul line was 350 feet and it was 450 feet to dead center, no cheap HRs there. Vince was a good all-round player. He stole 21 bases, 6th in the league, led outfielders in fielding (.993) and double plays (10), and tied for the lead in assists (17). He also led the league in striking out, 123 times, 34 more than the runner-up. One of Vince’s HRs made a distinct impression on a fan. As described in The Sporting News, “Listening to a broadcast of the game with Kansas City, June 6, while driving past the Louisville ballpark, James C. Wilson heard the announcer say that Vince DiMaggio had hit a HR the left field wall. Wilson poked his head out the car window to see if he could spot the drive. Just then the ball landed on his automobile.”

When Vince was 19, he was signed by his hometown San Francisco Seals and broke in with Tucson (Arizona-Texas) in 1932, hitting a HR in his 1st time at bat. After batting .347-25-81 in 94 games, he was recalled by the Seals and hit .270-6-31 in 59 games. Late in the season he brought his younger brother, Joe, to Seals Stadium for a tryout. Vince would start the 1933 PCL season with San Francisco, but was released early in the season and was signed by Hollywood. The Stars franchise was moved to San Diego in 1936. DiMaggio had a good season, batting .293-19-102 with 14 triples, leading outfielders in assists (31), and was purchased by the National League Boston Bees. In 2 years with the Bees, he had batted .256-13-69 and .228-14-61, leading the league in strikeouts both years and setting what was then a MLB record by fanning 134 times in 1938. DiMaggio was dispatched to Kansas City in the deal that brought shortstop Eddie Miller to Boston. Meyer worked long and hard with Vince to eliminate a pronounced hitch in his swing and to get him to lay off the high, tight pitches that contributed to his problems. In the 1st 3rd of the season, DiMaggio would hit .342 and slugging 24 HRs, but his average had dropped 50 points by the end of the year. Still, he did well enough that Cincinnati had purchased him and he reported to the Reds after the playoffs. Cincinnati would trade Vince to Pittsburgh and he remained with the Pirates until he was traded to the Phillies during spring training of 1945. He had some productive years with Pirates, especially in 1941, when he hit .267-21-100. He had played in 2 MLBe All-Star Games, going 3-for-3 with a triple and a HR in the 1943 contest. Still, the strikeouts persisted, ranging from 83 to 126 from 1940-1945. Then he was acquired by the Giants shortly after the start of the 1946 season, but after going 0-for-25 with New York, he was released to AAA San Francisco Seals (PCL). He would finish the year with the Seals, next, he would play for the Oakland Oaks in 1947.

In 1948, DiMaggio was appointed Manager of the Stockton Ports in the California League. He batted .283 with 100 RBIs in 127 games and led the league in HRs (30). The Ports finished 4th but reached the finals of the playoffs before bowing to Santa Barbara, 4 games to 3. In 1949, he signed to manage Pittsburg, CA, in the Class D Far West League. The Diamonds won the pennant in 1949 and finished 5th in 1950. Vince hit .367-37-117 in 1949 and .353-26-129 in 1950. In 1951 Pittsburg became 1of the few 1st-place clubs to fold during the season. The Diamonds were 29-18, but they were drawing fewer than 200 fans a game and the team disbanded June 14th. He would finished the season playing for Tacoma (Western International), then he would retire from baseball. Vince was far more emotional than brothers Joe or Dom. Once, while managing Pittsburg and playing center field, he called “time” to protest a decision, came racing in, but ran right past the bewildered umpire and into the team’s office. He had phoned Far West League President Jerry Donovan, an old Seals teammate, at his home to complain about the umpire’s call. Donovan told him, in no uncertain terms, to get back on the field or the game would be forfeited. DiMaggio also attracted attention at Pittsburg because his young daughter not only served as the team’s “batgirl,” but regularly took infield practice at 2nd base.

Another outfielder was 22-year-old, left-handed hitting Arthur Beauregard (Bud) Metheny, also a rookie up from Norfolk. Metheny would hit .315-10-57. He was a wartime Yankee, playing for New York in 1943-1944-1945, while batting .247-31-156 in 376 games. He was back in the minors after the war, playing another 5 years before retiring. Metheny was the Baseball Coach at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, VA from 1948-1980 and their Basketball Coach from 1948-1965. The Bud Metheny Baseball Complex at Old Dominion is named in his honor. His teams posted a 423-363, .538 record, winning 7 conference and 5 regional championships. He was named NCAA College Division Eastern Regional Coach of the Year in 1963-1964 and National Coach of the Year in 1964. Metheny was elected to the College Baseball Coaches Baseball Hall of Fame in 1983. His basketball teams had posted 16 winning seasons in 18 years. He also served as the university’s Athletic Director from 1963-1970.

Catching was in the hands of 33-year-old veteran Johnny Riddle and 22-year-old rookie Clyde McCullough. Riddle came out of the University of Georgia in 1927, he received his 1st shot at the MLB in 1930 with the White Sox. Over the next 18 years, he played all or parts of 7 seasons in the MLB with Washington, the Boston Bees, Cincinnati and Pittsburgh, batting .238 in 98 games. He spent most of his career in the American Association, 12 years with Indianapolis and 3 with Kansas City. Riddle was playing manager at Birmingham (Southern) for 3 years, 1942-1943-1944. He was an MLB Coach for Pittsburgh, 1948-1950; St. Louis Cardinals, 1952-1955; Milwaukee, 1956-1957; Cincinnati, 1958 and Philadelphia in 1959. His younger brother, Elmer Riddle had pitched for Cincinnati, 1939-1945 and 1947, and Pittsburgh, 1948-1949. The 2 formed a brother battery at times with the Reds.

McCullough, a native of Nashville, TN, broke into pro ball in 1935 with Lafayette (Evangeline). He was purchased by the Cubs after the 1939 season and sent to Buffalo for 1940, where he hit .324-27-89 in 145 games and had caught 117 consecutive games. He became the Cubs’ no.1 catcher in 1941. McCullough would hit only 9 HRs that year, but hit 1 in each of the 8 National League parks! He was in the Navy in 1944-1945. He was discharged in time to make 1 pinch-hitting appearance for the Cubs in the 1945 World Series. He is the only player ever to be in a World Series without playing in a regular season game. McCullough was traded to Pittsburgh in December 1948 and traded back to Chicago in December, 1952. His MLB playing career ended, when he was released by the Cubs in July, 1956. His 15-year MLB batting average was .252 in 1098 games. He had played for Miami (International) in 1957, then he would manage Reading (Eastern) and Asheville (South Atlantic) in 1958-1959. He was an MLB coach for Washington/Minnesota in 1960-1961. In 1963, he began a long association with the New York Mets organization, managing in the minors for 9 years. McCullough was named Manager of the Year in the New York-Penn League in 1964-1965-1966 and the Carolina League in 1967. In 1969, he would lead Tidewater Tides to the International League championship. He was named The Sporting News Minor League Manager of the Year. He would scout for Montreal in 1972, then he would return to the Mets as a minor league instructor from 1973-1976. He would subsequently join the San Diego organization and during spring training 1982, he was named MLB bullpen coach. McCullough was traveling with the Padres in San Francisco September 18,1982, when he suffered a fatal heart attack.

Kansas City did not have a 20-game winner, but Blues pitchers had the 3 lowest ERAs in the league, and 4 of the top 5. Kansas City had no left-handed pitchers during the season. Marv Breuer (17-6, 2.28) led in ERA, Tom Reis (17-4, 2.30 ERA) was 2nd and led the league in percentage (.810), and Johnny Babich (17-6, 2.5 ERA) was 3rd. Breuer and Babich tied with Max Lanier of Columbus for the shutout lead with 4. Al Piechota (16-7, 2.88) was 5th in ERA. Breuer, 25, was a civil engineer, a graduate of the Missouri School of Mines in his hometown of Rolla. He had been in the Yankees organization since 1934. In 1937 with Oakland Oaks, he had started the season with a 0-12 record, with a 4.02 ERA, still the PCL record for consecutive losses. In June, the Yankees would mercifully transfer him to Newark Bears and then to Kansas City where he went 5-7, with a 3.46 ERA. On August 21,1939 at Louisville, Breuer pitched a 2-0 1-hit shutout and had a no-hitter until 2 were out in the 9th inning. Only 1 batter, Vince Sherlock, had reached 1st base, on an error by Saltzgaver in the 4th. Colonels center fielder Chet Morgan, hitless in 28 trips to the plate, hit a high bounder in front of the plate which came down too late for Riddle to throw him out at 1st base. Breuer then would retire pinch-hitter Fred Sington to end the game. Breuerwould moved up to the Yankees in 1940 and pitched 3 full seasons for them with a 25-25 record with a 3.91 ERA. He relieved in 1 game each in the 1941 and 1942 World Series.

Babich, 26, from Richmond, CA, was signed originally by San Francisco Seals (PCL) in 1931. He was a teammate of DiMaggio with the Seals and Tucson in 1932. After going 10-3, 2.03 ERA for Mission (PCL) in the early part of 1934, he was purchased by Brooklyn and finished the season there with a 7-11 record with 4.20 ERA. He pitched for the Dodgers again in 1935, then was traded to Boston in January 1936. He was injured almost all of the ’36 season, then went back to the PCL. He had a 19-17, 3.27 season with Hollywood in 1938 and was purchased by the Yankees. In October 1939, Babich was drafted by the Philadelphia Athletics. He had a good year for the A’s in 1940 (14-13, 3.73 ERA), a last place team that won only 54 games. Five of his victories were over the Yankees. He was hurt again in 1941, dropping to 2-7 record, 6.12 ERA, and was back in the Yankee organization in 1942 at Newark. His MLB career record was 30-48, with a 4.93 ERA. He would pitch in the PCL for Seattle and Oakland the next 3 years and was a coach for the Oaks in 1946. In 1947, Babich had managed the Stockton Ports in the California League, another Top 100 team, then he retired from baseball.

Reis, 25, from Fort Thomas , KY, had been signed by Cleveland in 1933. In 1937, he had a 19-9 record, 2.97 ERA for Wilkes-Barre (NYP). On September 18th, he pitched a no-hit, no-run game against Binghamton in the playoffs, retiring the last 26 batters in order. He was acquired by the Phillies and pitched 8 games for Philadelphia and Boston in 1938 (0-1, 12.2 ERA), his only MLB experience. He would finish the year with Milwaukee. The 1939 season was his 1st year in the Yankees organization. He would pitch for Newark and Kansas City in 1940 and for the Blues in 1941-1942-1943 before going into the service. After the war, Reis pitched 1 year for Kansas City, then 7 seasons with Oakland, Seattle, Oklahoma City (Texas) and Tulsa (Texas). Piechota, a 25-year-old Chicagoan, broke in with Davenport (Mississippi Valley) in 1933 (a Top 100 team). He was purchased by New York after the 1935 season. The 1939 seson was his 3rd year with Kansas City. At the end of the season, he was purchased by the Boston Bees. He went 2-5, with a 5.75 ERA for them in 1940, his only full MLB season. In 1941 he was with Boston for 1 inning, Hollywood, Toronto, Toronto and Hartford. Piechota would spend the next 5 years in the service, then he would pitch 5 more years in the minors, 3 with Little Rock (Southern).

Tiny Bonham 1939 Blues Player Photo

The Kansas City pitcher who had the greatest major league success was 26-year-old right-hander Ernie (Tiny) Bonham, who was 10-9 with a 3.18 ERA for the Blues with 3 shutouts. Bonham, from Ione, CA, a tiny town about 35 miles northeast of Stockton, was 22 when he broke into pro ball with Akron (Middle Atlantic) in 1936. In 1937, he was 17-16, 3.66 ERA for Oakland Oaks and he joined Kansas City from Newark in the middle of the 1938 season. In 1940, he went 10-4, with a 2.32 ERA for the Blues and was called up by New York on August 1st. He had a 9-3 record with a 1.91 ERA the last 2 months of the season and he walked only 13 batters in 99 innings. In Game 5 of the 1941 World Series, he pitched a 3-1 4-hitter against Brooklyn to clinch the championship. His best year with the Yankees was 1942. He had a 21-5 record with a 2.27 ERA, led the American League in won-lost percentage (.808) and shutouts (6), tied for the lead in complete games (6) and was 2nd in ERA. He walked only 24 batters in 226 innings, a league-best ratio of .98 a game. Bonham was named by the Baseball Writers Association to The Sporting News Major League All-Star Team. He was selected for the Major League All-Star Game in 1942-1943, but he did not pitch. He pitched in 3 World Series, 1941-1942-1943 with a record of 1-2, with a 2.89 ERA in 4 starts. Bonham was traded to Pittsburgh in October 1946. He was still with the Pirates, when he died suddenly September 15,1949, following stomach surgery. Bonham was a favorite of Bill Meyer’s, for whom he pitched at Kansas City and Pittsburgh. His MLB pitching record was 103-72 with a 3.06 ERA.

The Blues had another player of note, Johnny Lindell, a 22-year-old right-hander from Arcadia, CA, who had an 8-5 record with a 4.40 ERA. He was signed by the Yankees in 1936, he went 17-8, with a 4.03 ERA with Joplin (Western Association) in his rookie year. He also showed an ability to hit, by batting .325 with 23 RBIs in 42 games. Two years later, he went 9-8, 3.42 ERA for the Oakland Oaks (PCL) and hit .368-4-27 in 60 games. In 1940, Lindell improved to 18-7, 2.70 for AA Kansas City, tying for the American Association lead in wins. He started the 1941 season with New York. After 1 game, he was optioned to AAA Newark Bears (IL), where he had a sensational year. He won 23 and lost only 4 for the Top 100 champion, led the International League in ERA (2.05) and won-lost percentage (.852), was 2nd in wins and was named The Sporting News Minor League Player of the Year. He would move up to the Yankees in 1942 and was 2-1, with a 3.74 ERA in 23 games in relief. Joe McCarthy liked Johnny’s batting skills and with a shortage of outfielders because of the war, inserted him in the starting lineup and ultimately had him batting cleanup. Lindell had his best year in 1943, batting .300-18-103. He tied for the league lead in triples (16) and led American League outfielders in putouts (468). He would remain with the Yankees until 1950. In the 1947 World Series, he hit .500 (9-for-18) with 7 RBIs in 6 games as the Yankees edged the Dodgers, 4 games to 3. On May 15,1950, he was claimed on waivers by the Cardinals. He batted only .186 for St. Louis and the Cards sent him to AAA Columbus (American Association). Lindell wanted to play in the PCL, so the Cardinals obliged him by trading him to Hollywood. In his book “Hollywood Stars,” Dick Beverage writes, “Lindell was obviously past his prime as an everyday player, but Manager Fred Haney thought that he might be effective as a pitcher. Lindell had developed a knuckleball, pitching on the sidelines in recent years. Although, he had not pitched in 8 years, Haney would used him in 2 games late in the year, he was pleased by what he saw (no earned runs in 7 innings). The conversion of the ex-Yankee began in earnest during the spring. When the season started, Lindell was one of the starters. He succeeded beyond anyone’s wildest expectations.” In 1951, he went 12-9 with a 3.03 ERA. The next season, Lindell improved to 24-9 with a 2.52 ERA, led the PCL in wins, percentage (.727), complete games (26) and strikeouts (190 in 282 innings). That earned him another shot at the majors, with Pittsburgh. After posting a 6-14 record, with a 4.66 ERA with the Pirates and Phillies in 1953, he would retire at the age of 37. Lindell’s MLB record as a batter was .273-72-404 in 854 games.

In its last 15 years in the league, Kansas City had won its share of regular season titles (1940, 1942, 1947) and the playoff championships (1952, 1953). In 1955, the Philadelphia Athletics had moved west, displacing the Blues, knocking the city out of the minor leagues for good. The Blues franchise would be moved by the Yankees to Denver, Co., becoming the Bears in 1956. The 1939 Kansas City Blues were 1 of the best teams ever to grace the long-lived American Association. In 95 years of league history, only 1 other team collected a better winning percentage than Kansas City’s .695 mark in 1939.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:39:00 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 29, 2024 18:46:41 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 29, 2024 18:46:41 GMT -5

Remembering Earl—Not George—Toolson: The Plaintiff Who Took the New York Yankees to the US Supreme Court

This article was written by Ed Edmonds, Edited by Clipper

This article was published in The National Pastime: Baseball in the Big Apple (New York, 2017)

1949 Oakland Oaks Baseball card

On November 9,1953, the United States Supreme Court issued a 1 paragraph opinion in Toolson v. New York Yankees, Inc The decision affirmed 3 lower federal court decisions that turned aside lawsuits challenging the Court’s 1922 ruling regarding the application of the nation’s antitrust laws to Organized Baseball. The concluding sentence succinctly declared that “without re-examination of the underlying issues, the judgments below are affirmed on the authority of Federal Baseball Club of Baltimore v. National League of Professional Baseball Clubs … so far as that decision determines that Congress had no intention of including the business of baseball within the scope of the federal antitrust laws.” Although the majority opinion was challenged by a much lengthier and strenuously argued dissent by Justices Harold H. Burton and Stanley Reed, the Toolson decision reinforced baseball’s exemption from antitrust challenge.

Nearly 2 decades later in Flood v. Kuhn, the Court revisited the question again, ultimately determining that “with its reserve system enjoying exemption from the federal antitrust laws, baseball is, in a very distinct sense, an exception and an anomaly. Federal Baseball and Toolson have become an aberration confined to baseball. … Accordingly, we adhere once again to Federal Baseball and Toolson and to their application to professional baseball.” The decisions in all 3 cases are frequently criticized, but they are still legally important. In the past few years, the reach of baseball’s antitrust exemption was a critical factor in 2 cases reaching conflicting conclusions in cases dealing with broadcast blackout restrictions and franchise relocation.

The life and baseball career of the plaintiff at the heart of the 1953 Toolson case is largely unknown. In fact, he is almost always identified as George Toolson, his given first and last names, or his complete name, George Earl Toolson, used in the legal documents surrounding the case. Because George Earl Toolson’s father was also named George, the son was known by family and teammates by his middle name Earl. This article will address the life of the very real man behind one of baseball’s major legal challenges against its business practices. Rather than focus on the federal court decisions, this article will review Earl’s early years in Burley, Idaho, his college years at Willamette, his military service during World War II, his minor league career and the reasons behind his decision to file a lawsuit against the New York Yankees.

EARL’S EARLY LIFE

Earl Toolson was born in Burley, Idaho, on September 30,1922, the 2nd son of George H. and Ella Matthews Toolson. Burley is primarily located on the southern side of the Snake River in Cassia County in the south-central part of the state adjacent to the path of the Oregon Trail. The town was founded in 1905, just 15 years after Idaho gained statehood, incorporated in 1909 and named for Oregon Short Line Railroad Company passenger agent David E. Burley.

Earl’s parents were married in Salt Lake City on February 24,1920. George, Earl’s father, was a dentist. The family 1st lived on Miller Avenue, where Earl’s older brother Tom was born on January 27,1921. Earl’s sister Margaret arrived in 1925 and William (“Bill”) followed a little over 2 years later. The burgeoning family moved to Conant Avenue, and Earl’s youngest brother James Richard (“Dick”) was born in 1934. George displayed an early interest in baseball, helping to organize games and teams in the young city. He later managed American Legion teams that included Tom and Earl. Earl’s prowess emerged at an early age; as a 15-year-old, he had pitched for the Burley team in the Northwest Regional Legion Junior Baseball Championship on August 13, 1938. Unfortunately, he was “erratic” on the mound and his team’s 6 errors contributed to a 14-2 loss to the Post office Pharmacy team from Portland, Oregon. The following year, Earl would pitch and led his Burley team to a 16-15 victory over Twin Falls to take the Idaho south-central district championship by striking out 18 batters and batting 3-for-4 with a 3-run HR. During the summer of 1940, Earl would also pitch for the Idaho Falls Tigers in the Idaho semi-pro tourney. Earl had starred in baseball, basketball and track at Burley High School.

WILLIAMETTE UNIVERSITY

After graduating from high school, Earl had enrolled at Willamette University in Salem, Oregon, where he starred in both baseball and basketball for the Bearcats. He also participated in track and earned letters in all 3 sports. As a freshman, Earl started Willamette’s initial game of the 1941 baseball season, a 10–0 victory over the Greys, a team comprised of inmates at the state penitentiary. Described as “the widely heralded Idaho youngster,” Toolson hurled “smoothly despite nervousness, striking out six, walking 3 and allowing, but 2 hits.” On April 12,1941, “Big” Earl tossed a 6–0 shutout, scattering 9 hits, while striking out 11 batters to defeat the University of Oregon Ducks. Earl, a right-handed pitcher, was often described as big. He was variously listed during his career at either 6 feet or 6-foot-1 and weighing 195-208 pounds (with an excellent curve ball).
Earl had pitched the 1st game of the Northwest Conference championship series against Whitman College on May 22,1941. Despite Toolson recording 11 strikeouts, Whitman defeated Willamette 8-3 at the Blues diamond in Walla Walla, Washington. Whitman relied on 6 errors in the 1st 2 games to capture the championship. Earl led the Silverton Red Sox, semi-pro team to the Oregon state championship during the summer of 1941. During the 1942 Willamette season, Toolson had dropped a “well pitched ball game” to the Oregon State Beavers 4-3, when the Corvallis nine scored twice in the 9th to earn a come-from-behind triumph. The Oregon Ducks prevailed over Toolson in the 2nd game of a doubleheader on April 4th, pushing across 3 unearned runs in the 8th inning for a 5-2 win. The following year, the Bearcats would avenge their 1941 loss to Whitman by capturing the Northwest Conference title on May 23rd by winning the 1st game 6–0, while Earl lost the 2nd game, 2-1, a 7-inning decision to the Blues despite giving up only 2 hits with fellow pitchers Bill Hanauska and Jack Richards, Earl formed Willamette Coach Spec Keene’s “The Big Three.” In 1942, all 3 hurlers would be signed to minor league deals.

1942

Soon after the completion of Willamette’s season, Earl had signed with Boston Red Sox MLB Scout Ernie Johnson for a $2,500 signing bonus. He was assigned to Boston’s Greensboro, North Carolina, franchise to begin his minor league pitching career. The B-level Greensboro Red Sox won the Piedmont League crown during the playoffs after finishing the year functionally tied for 1st place, mere percentage points ahead of the Portsmouth Cubs with a 78–53 record. Hall of Famer Heinie Manush was the Red Sox Manager. Earl had posted a 2-5 record with a 4.86 ERA in 11 games. In 63 innings, Toolson had surrendered 58 hits and 46 runs with 34 of those runs earned. Earl would display a career-long issue by issuing 48 walks for the Red Sox. In an era before WHIP was an acknowledged statistic, Earl had checked in at 1.683 for the season. In the fall, Earl returned to Willamette, where he noted in an interview with Statesman Journal columnist Al Lightner that many of his appearances were in relief because Manush “didn’t want to take any chances with the rookies” while the team battled Portsmouth for the league crown.

1943

In 1943, Earl was promoted to the AA American Association Louisville Colonels. He appeared in the Colonels’ May 5th Opening Day 7-4 loss to Columbus, entering the game in the 4th inning with Louisville trailing, 5-3. Louisville Courier-Journal writer Tommy Fitzgerald described Earl as “a boy from Idaho who can throw the potato” and noted that in 3 2/3 innings, the young hurler surrendered only 1 hit to Emil Verban. Four days later, he had won a complete game 1-0 shutout against the Toledo Mud Hens, when Columbus scored in the bottom of the 9th inning. Fitzgerald noted, “Toolson’s control was perfect. He didn’t issue a walk and turned back 6 batters on strikes.”

On May 15th, Toolson’s control deserted him as he issued 3 walks, threw 2 wild pitches, and balked once in a 5–2 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers. In his next outing against the Kansas City Blues on May 20th, Earl, “a rookie whose previous efforts had merited the plaudits of the mob, didn’t have his stuff and was rapped rather vigorously” for 4 runs and 6 hits in 1 2/3 innings. Four days later, Toolson was tagged with another loss, when 3 of the 4 batters that he walked scored in a 4-2 Minneapolis victory. Earl’s next starting assignment was on June 12th, “for 5 innings, [he] had the Millers feeding from the palm of his pitching hand. He shut them out with only 2 hits.” However, in the 6th inning a 2-run, pinch-hit HR by Joe Vosmik would produce a 5-1 Minneapolis win.
A few days later, Toolson would suffer a knee injury, and he would not return to action until July. Earl was ineffective in his relief efforts in August and September. For the season, Earl had appeared in 24 games winning 3 of his 8 decisions with a 5.33 ERA.

1944-1945: MILITARY SERVICE

After the 1943 season, Earl was granted a medical discharge from the Marines, where he had served in the reserves. He would subsequently join the Army Air Corps, where he arrived for enlistment on February 14,1944, on crutches due to knee surgery; he was assigned to Williams Field in Higley, Arizona. While serving as a cadet, his athletic prowess was recognized, he had served most of his military time as a physical training (PT) instructor, while playing basketball and baseball for the Williams Field team. While serving in the military, Toolson would marry Pasadena native Lucile Chisholm on March 17,1945. Earl would spent many years working off-seasons in the Hollywood film industry. Toolson would complete his military service on November 2,1945.

1946

Earl would return to the Louisville Colonels for the 1946 season; he helped his team capture the American Association pennant. The Colonels had moved up to the AAA level, and Earl won 5 and lost 3, while posting a 3.88 ERA in 58 innings. After being used infrequently early in the season, Toolson would notch his 1st win on May 17th,
an 3-hit, 5-walk, 6–5 complete game effort over the Milwaukee Brewers. In early July, the hurler was sidelined by a cyst on his hip that ultimately required surgery. He would returned to the mound on August 23rd, picking up the loss in an 8-6 Toledo victory.

1947

In 1947, Toolson posted some of the top numbers of his career with 11 wins against 6 losses, with a 3.19 ERA and 125 hits in 127 innings. Toolson’s ERA ranked 8th amongst American Association pitchers, who had logged 45 or more innings. Prior to the season, Earl was fearful that he would not be able to pitch because of the pain in his left leg and hip near the area; where the cyst had been removed. Although Earl did not pitch during the month of March, Colonels Manager Harry Leibold still felt that Toolson would be able to contribute to the team’s efforts and named him as 1 of the 12 pitchers for his staff coming out of spring training.

On May 5th, Earl had entered a 5-5 game against Minneapolis and won the game despite loading the bases with walks, including 2 intentional passes. Jim Gleeson’s “brisk grounder” went through the Miller shortstop’s legs to tally the winning run in the 9th. On May 12th, Toolson surrendered a bases-loaded single in the 10th inning of a wild 12-11 loss to Kansas City. On May 25th, Toolson was granted a win in a 1–0 victory over Toledo, when he relieved “hard luck” Jim Wilson, who suffered a broken leg when struck by a blast off of his left shin, putting Wilson “out of commission for possibly 2 months.” In the 2nd game of a May 30th, Memorial Day doubleheader in Indianapolis, Toolson was locked in a scoreless pitching duel with Indians starter Ken Gables before the home team erupted for 4 7th-inning runs, paving the way to a 4-0 loss for Earl and his Colonels teammates. On June 23rd, Earl, pitching “probably his best ball of the season” against the Columbus Red Birds, threw 8 strong innings before giving way to Al Widmar in a 2-1, 14-inning Columbus win.

Earl surrendered 2 runs in the 1st inning against Kansas City on July 18th, but he settled down to strike out 10 Blues batters before running into trouble in the bottom of the 9th after his teammates scored 4 times in the top half of the inning. Reliever Clem Dreisewerd locked down the 6-4 win, but only after the 2 runners, that he inherited from Toolson scored to narrow the Colonel lead. On July 24th, “Toolson turned the Brewers into complete submission” with a 6-1 complete game victory, and he “would have had a shutout but for Chuck Koney’s error in the 9th.” On August 3rd, Earl would captured a 4–2, 7-inning win against Milwaukee in the 2nd game of a doubleheader, when he was aided by a 6th inning, 3-run rally. One week later, Earl pushed his season log to 9–5 with “distinctive 7-hit ball” in a 4-2, complete-game win over the Minneapolis Millers in the 2nd game of a doubleheader. During the playoffs on September 11th the Colonels shortstop Billy Goodman unleashed 2 throwing errors that propelled the Minneapolis Millers to a 13-8 win that hung a loss on Earl. At the end of the 1947 season, Toolson’s record demonstrated his persistent battle with wildness; his 67 walks pushed his season WHIP to 1.512. The Colonels would finish the season in 2nd place.

1948

The Louisville Colonels had dropped to last place in the American Association in 1948, and Earl’s career took a step backwards as well. He won only 4 of his 14 decisions despite turning in a career high with 140 innings pitched. However, he would allow 160 hits, 64 walks, along with a 5.21 ERA. During spring training camp, Earl would pitch in a 12-6 exhibition game loss to the Kansas City Blues in Bradenton, Florida, on April 6th with Baseball Commissioner Happy Chandler was in attendance. Tommy Fitzgerald had quipped in the Louisville Courier-Journal, that the executive “refused to nullify the victory on the ground the conduct of the Blues was detrimental to baseball in Louisville.”

On April 27th, “Toolson’s lack of control got the Colonels off to a disadvantage. Three passes and a couple of singles that spotted the home team [Minneapolis Millers] a pair of runs.” In 3 innings, Earl was responsible for 5 Miller runs in a 9-5 loss; Bill Elbert relieved him. On May 4th, “Toolson gave a reasonably good account of himself for 5 periods and then weakened in the 6th for 3 extra base wallops and as many runs” in a 6-4 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers.

Earl would picked up 1 of his 4 wins in relief against the Saint Paul Saints on August 1st. The Colonels scored 7 runs in the 7th and 8th innings to pull out an 8-4 decision. On August 8th, Earl nearly caused a bench-clearing brawl in the 2nd game of a doubleheader with Kansas City. Blues outfielder Bill Sinton, a former Louisville player, broke the Colonels Catcher Russ Rolandson’s nose in a collision at home plate, while tying the score at 3-3 in the 7th inning. When Toolson’s 1st pitch to Sinton in the 8th was inside, the Kansas City player headed “toward the mound with bat in hand.” Earl ultimately lost a 5-4, 8-inning decision.
The Colonels spent much of the year trading players in search of a winning formula. Earl and fellow pitcher Bill Elbert had been strong contributors in 1947 only to slip badly during the 1948 campaign. Although they lasted the entire 1948 season with the Colonels, that situation was remedied in early October when the pair was traded to Kansas City Blues, the New York Yankees farm team in the American Association for pitcher Bob Alexander and “an unstipulated amount of cash.”

1949 Oakland Oaks Team Photo

1949

In mid-April 1949, before Earl could pitch a single game for the Blues, the Yankees had engineered a swap from Kansas City to their other Triple-A affiliate, the Newark Bears (IL). Toolson had started 11 of his 12 games for the woeful Bears, a club destined to finish the IL season in last place. He would win 1/2 of his 10 decisions with a 4.74 ERA. On July 22nd, the Yankees attempting to bolster their big-league relief corps, had shipped Earl and cash to the AAA Oakland Oaks of the Pacific Coast League for 38-year-old veteran hurler Ralph Buxton. On July 24th, Earl would pitch in his 1st game for the Oaks against the San Francisco Seals, giving up 2 hits and 1 earned run in 3 innings of relief in a 5-2 Oaks loss. Emmons Byrne, a writer for the Oakland Tribune, wrote that the Oaks “did introduce an effective new pitcher in the 6th, when Earl Toolson, who reported 2 days ago from Newark, A right hander, he’s big and he’s strong. His curve ball certainly baffled the Seals.”

Earl Toolson had notched his 1st PCL victory on July 29th in a 6-3 Oaks win over Seattle, helping himself at the plate with 2 RBIs. However, Earl soon became ineffective due to a recurrence of his hip ailment and a sore back. The Oaks had placed him on the disabled list in August and the Yankees were later forced to assign Pitcher Ernie Groth as additional compensation for Buxton’s acquisition.

1950

On February 8,1950, The Statesman (Salem, OR) reported that General Manager Bill Mulligan of the Portland Beavers had purchased Earl’s contract from the Oakland Oaks on a 30-day conditional basis. Toolson would never pitch for the Beavers. As he recovered from his injuries, the Yankees had decided in May to outright his contract to the Class-A Binghamton Triplets in the Eastern League. When Earl would refuse the assignment, he was placed on the ineligible list. While his status was being considered, he was actually allowed to accept a conditional assignment from Binghamton to the AAA San Francisco Seals (PCL), where Seals Manager Lefty O’Doul, “needing pitching help,” took a chance that Earl’s “sore arm has been cured.” Unfortunately, Earl pitched very ineffectively in 3 games for the Seals, giving up 10 earned runs,15 hits and 7 walks in 6 innings. After the season ended, the Seals had returned Toolson’s contract to Binghamton.

1951

After the 1950 season, Earl had sought advice from boyhood friend Howard Parke, now an attorney in Santa Barbara, California. Working with Parke’s colleagues Gene Harris and Harry Ross, the group decided to file a lawsuit in the Southern District Court of California on May 1,1951, challenging the continued viability of the Supreme Court’s 1922 Federal Baseball decision. On November 6th, Judge Ben Harrison rendered his opinion based upon his determination that “the simple issue of this case is whether the game of baseball is ‘trade or commerce’ within the meaning of the Anti-Trust Acts, and whether the structure known as ‘Organized Baseball’ is engaged in such trade or commerce.”

Laying out a traditional view of the role of a federal court judge, Harrison turned aside Toolson’s claim:

Plaintiff seeks to have this court disregard an adjudication made 30 years ago by the Supreme Court. I am bound by the decision of the Supreme Court. It is not my function to disregard such a decision because it is old. If the Supreme Court was in error in its former opinion or changed conditions warrant a different approach, it should be the court to correct the error. The case was appealed to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals. On December 12,1952, that court affirmed Judge Harrison’s decision in a 1 sentence per curiam opinion. Toolson’s legal team would appealed their case to the United States Supreme Court.

MOTIVATION FOR THE LAWSUIT

On February 19, 1970, during the Curt Flood litigation, Rube Samuelsen, the long-time Pasadena Star-News sports writer and editor, had published an article based on an interview between Earl and Eddie West. Toolson, at that time the President of Mortgage Correspondent, Inc., provided 1 answer to his motivation in bringing his lawsuit: “I had suffered a spinal injury, a ruptured disc, much like Charley Keller’s. It was a baseball injury, no question of that. The Yankees had refused to assume any responsibility for my injury. They wanted me to go to Binghampton (sic), a minor league affiliate and work my way back to the big club. I refused. They put me on their suspended list. For that matter I’m still on it.” During a 2007 interview with Earl’s brother Bill and his son Pete, they noted that Earl was also upset that they wanted to cut his salary due to his demotion from Triple-A to an A-level team. Earl had felt that the Yankees should honor the salary in his contract.

Earl was first stricken with cancer in 1982. He had his kidney removed. He died on November 27,1987. Orange County Register writer Keith Sharon noted that “for the most part, Toolson was far removed from his baseball past. He would spend much of his time in pain. Mrs. Toolson said "her husband had underwent 17 surgeries since his playing days.”

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:47:34 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Posts: 1,108

Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Jan 30, 2024 14:31:30 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Jan 30, 2024 14:31:30 GMT -5

Stowe snags win without a pitch
Left-hander left behind by Yankees, found quick way to net a 'W'

Hal Stowe Yankees Player Photo

Hal Stowe pitched 1 Major League inning for the Yankees on Sept. 30,1960. (Clemson University)
By Kevin Czerwinski, Edited by Clipper
May 11, 2007

Topps Baseball card

Minor League Baseball is known for its rich history dating back more than 100 years. While much has been written about the best teams and top players, who have graced the Minors, there remain many stories either untold or largely forgotten. Each week, MiLB.com will attempt to fill that gap and explore these historical oddities in our new feature, "Cracked Bats."

It certainly seemed as if Hal Stowe would have accomplished more than he did in his abbreviated baseball career. After all, he had some impressive credentials coming out Clemson in the late 1950s. Stowe's path to stardom, however, short circuited in the Bronx, leaving him as not much more than a bystander in what would ultimately be considered the end of the great Yankees mid-century dynasty. Rather than laying claim to being part of the Mantle and Maris years in New York, Stowe eventually found fame well, notoriety anyway far from the bright lights and big city.

It was in Charlotte during the summer of 1964, when the left-hander grabbed headlines across the country, giving the baseball world something to talk about. By then, Stowe had been jettisoned by the Yankees and was finishing up his career with Minnesota's Double-A affiliate in the newly named Southern League. But when he won a game on July 11th without ever throwing a pitch, it made for some unusual media fodder, giving Stowe his 15 minutes of fame. Charlotte was a pedestrian team in 1964, finishing in 4th place, 8 games back in the 8-team Southern League. Asheville was simply dreadful and would finish in the cellar, 28 games behind 1st-place Lynchburg. But on this night, the Tourists had rallied for 4 runs in the top of the 9th to tie the score at 5-5 in Clark Griffith Park.

Asheville's Roberto Herrera had singled in the tying run off of George Miller to cap the rally and was on 1st base when Charlotte Manager Al Evans decided to bring in Stowe. The veteran wasted little time in squashing the rally. "I came in with 2 outs and a man on 1st base, took a stretch, he took a lead off the bag and I picked him off," Stowe said. "We came up, someone drove in a run and we won the game. It had to be the easiest game I ever won. I had never heard of that happening before and haven't since."

It was small consolation for a hurler who fully expected to have 15 years, not minutes, when he had left Clemson in 1959 after leading the Tigers to consecutive College World Series appearances. He was 24-13 with a 2.32 ERA in 3 seasons with Clemson and left such a mark that the institution now presents the Harold Stowe MVP award annually to its top pitcher.

"The 2 Yankees scouts that signed me were their top-notch, big-dog scouts," Stowe, 70, said. "They were after me for about a week. It was between them, the Phillies and the Red Sox. I took the advice of a close family friend, who was kind of an agent even though we didn't have agents then and signed with New York.
"The Yankees would send me to Greensboro and I stayed there about a week, before I went to Fargo, N.D. I didn't lose a game there and the Yankees brought me up at the end of the season, but I didn't get into any games. I went to the fall rookie league that year, and Spring Training in 1960 with the Yankees, before they sent me back to Amarillo [of the Texas League]."

Stowe made the most of his time in the Texas League, by going 15-3 with a 3.43 ERA. At 1 point, he had won 12 consecutive games, earning a promotion to the big leagues. He even pitched an inning with the Yankees that August, impressing Manager Casey Stengel. But it would turn out to be the only inning Stowe would pitch in the big leagues, ultimately leading him down the path to that Saturday night in Charlotte.

"At that time, I felt as if I were a big-league pitcher," Stowe said. "And Casey thought so, too."
The problem was that Ralph Houk didn't share Stengel's feelings. And when Houk took over as New York skipper in 1961, it signaled what would be the end of Stowe's career with the Yankees. This despite the fact that he was given the Most Outstanding Young Pitcher Award that spring after allowing only 3 runs and 4 hits in 17 innings.

"I guess I wasn't his type of pitcher," Stowe said. "I had no idea why. A lot of people asked me that question, but I never knew why. That's 50 years behind us now. I made a lot of good friends with the Yankees and they paid me a good bonus. I wish I could have had more of an opportunity with them, but the good Lord didn't wish it."
Stowe would break camp with the Yankees in 1961 and stayed with the team until mid-May, though he never pitched an inning. He was eventually sent to AAA Richmond Virginians (International League) and he was finally released by the Yankees following the 1963 AL season.

Minnesota, looking to add some pitching, had offered Stowe a contract for 1964, but they wanted him to pitch in AAA Vancouver (PCL). Stowe, a North Carolina native, had no intention of heading across the continent. By that point, he was gearing up for life after baseball. But when the Twins told him he could pitch for their AA affiliate in Charlotte, he would agreed and thus was pointed toward his unusual effort against the Tourists.

Stowe won 8 games for the Hornets, ending his pro career close to home. By that time, he was married with children and decided to take a public relations job. Nine years later, he would take over the family restaurant in Gastonia, N.C. and that's where he's been ever since. He's planning on celebrating his 50th wedding anniversary this year with a trip to New York, where he hopes to catch the Mets-Yankees Subway Series in June.

He has some memorabilia in his playroom at home: signed Yankees pictures and a plaque from The Sporting News commemorating what he did on that July night against Asheville.
"My wife has the article hanging there on the wall," Stowe said. "I walk past it all the time, but this is probably the 1st time it's come to mind in 40 years."

Kevin Czerwinski is a reporter for MiLB.com.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:51:04 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Posts: 1,108

Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Feb 1, 2024 17:41:07 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 1, 2024 17:41:07 GMT -5

Former Yankees Pitcher Bill Short (1959-1960)

This article was written by Bill Nowlin, Edited by Clipper

1960 Topps Baseball Card

In his 6 MLB seasons, left-hander Bill Short had pitched for 3 American League teams and 3 National League teams. “I chose baseball as a career,” he wrote, because he’d loved to watch games on television. “Being a typical youngster, I had a ballplayer or two which were my idols. My real idol was Ted Williams, and any ballplayer affiliated with the Boston Red Sox. I used to worship the Red Sox and did so until I signed with the Yankees, now I’m a full-fledged Yankee in every sense of the word.”

William Ross Short was born on November 27, 1937, in Kingston, New York, a city on the Hudson River about 90 miles north of New York City and 60 miles south of Albany. He had attended elementary school in nearby Port Ewen, and Newburgh Free Academy (in Newburgh, New York) for high school. The Newburgh Free Academy yearbook of 1955 depicts him with the phrase “always a smile” and assigns him 2 nicknames: “Diamond Bill” and “Joe Sportsman.”

Short was not tall, standing 5-foot-9 and listed at 170 pounds.

Short wrote, “Paul Krichell, the MLB Scout of the Yankees, signed me after I had finished high school, but before I signed, I had to go to Watertown, NY to play a year of semi-pro.” He had completed 1 year at Orange County Community College.

Short worked his way up the ladder of minor-league ball. His 1st season was a partial one, after graduating high school in 1955, pitching for the Bristol Twins in the Class-D Appy League in the twin cities that spanned the Tennessee/Virginia border. In 13 appearances, he was 2-3.

In 1956, he was advanced to Class C and started 23 games for the Monroe (Louisiana) Sports in the Evangeline League. He was 9-11 with a 3.40 ERA. He would split the 1957 season between the Class-B Peoria Chiefs and the Class-A Binghamton Triplets. All but 4 innings over 3 games had been with Peoria, where he was 7-5 (3.22), having lowered his earned run average for the 3rd consecutive year, while each time pitching at a higher level.

His father, Al Short, had been a former semipro catcher. “All through Billy’s career in the minors, the elder Short would phone his son each night and tell him how to pitch to certain batters.” Al Short was employed as a social worker. Bill’s mother was a homemaker, looking after Bill, his 2 younger brothers, and his younger sister.

In 1958, Short was 7-6 with a 3.34 ERA in a full season for Binghamton. He had married Dorothy M. Luczyeki in January 1959, then he had something of a breakout season, joining the New York Yankees in spring training and pitching the full year at Triple A for the Richmond Virginians (International League). He would work 178 innings, started 26 of his 27 games and was 17-6 with an ERA of 2.48. He had struck out 133 batters and walked 62 with a WHIP of 1.146. There had even been some talk in the press of Short becoming a new Whitey Ford, to whom he bore something of a resemblance. He was named an All-Star and also the International League MVP.

Control was his forte and his catcher (and roommate), Darrell Johnson, said, “A catcher can give a pitcher corner-of-the-plate targets with his glove, but the pitcher has to hit the spot. I’ve never seen a young left-hander with the control Short has.”

Bill Short Yankees Photo

Short was able to work in United States Army service from October 1959 to April 1960. He came out of Fort Sam Houston and joined the New York Yankees, winning his MLB pitching debut game on April 23rd against the visiting Baltimore Orioles. He had worked 6 1/3 innings. The 1st 5 were scoreless, with the Yankees scoring 3 runs. Short gave up 2 singles to the 1st 2 batters in the 6th, and then saw 1 run score on a double play. In the top of the 7th, a one-out walk and a single put runners on 1st and 3rd. Yankees Manager Casey Stengel called on Closer Ryne Duren to relieve Short. A sacrifice fly scored another Orioles run, but Duren closed out the game, not without some difficulty and preserved the win for Short. The Associated Press called him “New York’s prized rookie pitching prospect.”

Six days later, Short would face the Orioles again, in Baltimore, and thrown 8 innings of 2-run ball, but he lost the game, 2-1, in part due to 6 walks he issued. Then he pitched a complete-game 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers. “He looks and acts like a big-leaguer already,” said Casey Stengel. Pitching tutor Eddie Lopat added, “He knows what he’s doing.”

In late May and early June, however, he had suffered a strained elbow and was thrown for 3 losses in a row. He was sent down to Richmond, where he was 3-1. Recalled to New York in time to start the 1st game of a doubleheader on July 31st, he worked 3 more starts, winning 1 and losing 1 before being returned to AAA Richmond once again. Over his stints in Richmond, he was 6-2 (2.28). By season’s end, he was 3-5 (4.79) with the big-league club. He did not take part in the 1960 World Series against the Pirates.

In 1961, he would joined the Yankees for advance spring training, but it was back to AAA Richmond for the full season. He was placed on the disabled list with a sore elbow even before the season began, then he had an operation to remove bone chips and bone spurs and was not activated until late July. He only got into 13 games, 8 of them starts. He was 1-1 with a 3.21 ERA,

Short made it back to the majors in 1962, but this time he was pitching for Baltimore Orioles. He’d been selected by the Orioles and taken from the Yankees organization in the MLB Rule 5 player draft on November 21,1961. He was in the Orioles system for the next 4 ½ years. In 1962, his only MLB action was 4 innings in 5 early-season appearances, with no decisions and a 15.75 ERA that indicated he might benefit from further development in the minors. Baltimore’s Triple-A club was the Rochester Red Wings and he spent 4 seasons there.

In 1962, Short would only work 65 innings with a 3-4 record with a 4.29 ERA, with arm issues (and apparently confidence issues) at play. But the next 3 seasons would see him healthy, they were full ones, with Short working mostly as a starter: 1963 (13-8, 3.38 ERA), 1964 (8-11, 3.39 ERA) and 1965 (13-4, 2.92 ERA).

A strong start in 1966, again with the AAA Red Wings, for whom he was 8-5 with a 2.78 ERA, resulted in Short being called up by the Orioles. One of the losses came on May 10th, when he threw a 1-hitter (a leadoff HR by Mike Hegan on Short’s 2nd pitch), but he lost the game by the score of 1-0. In his 1st MLB start since 1962, on July 1st, he threw a 6-hit shutout against the Minnesota Twins. After 6 starts, he had a 2.87 ERA, despite a 2-3 record and the Boston Red Sox would purchase his contract from the Orioles on August 15th for the $20,000 waiver price. He’d finally had made the team that he had cheered for as a kid.

For the Red Sox, he would work only in relief, 8 1/3 innings spread over 10 appearances with a 4.32 ERA with no decisions. On October 17th, the Red Sox would sell his contract outright to the AAA Columbus farm club of the Pittsburgh Pirates and Short would move to the National League. Short’s 1967 season started much as had 1966, with the MLB club out of spring training. He worked in 6 games in relief, 3 in April and 3 in May, accumulating a total of 2 1/3 innings. This time he had no decisions and a 3.86 ERA. He was optioned to AAA Columbus on May 10th, he would spend the rest of the season there, going 14-9 (3.28 ERA). On October 2nd, the last-place Mets took a flyer on hi, they had purchased him from the Pirates.

Bill Short Mets Photo

Short had contemplated retiring, considering a job as Director of Physical Education for the Norwich, New York, YMCA. “A good job, good money,” he said, “I would have been happy there.” But he was offered a better salary by the Mets, with a guarantee that he’d earn the same salary even if they had him pitch in Triple A.

Bill Short was 1 of 18 pitchers in spring training competing for 10 slots on the Mets. He made the team and spent the full 1968 season with the Mets, (the most time he’d spent with any 1 MLB team). Short took part in 1 notable game in his 2nd appearance: on April 15th, he closed out the 12th inning and started the 13th inning in a scoreless game against the Astros that ran 23 innings until the Astros won it on an error in the bottom of the 24th. Short would appear in 34 games, but only for a total of 29 2/3 innings. He had no decisions, but he had earned 1 save and 8 holds. His ERA for the year was 4.85. After the season, the Mets had released him outright to their AAA Jacksonville farm club.

On December 2nd, he was drafted in the MLB Rule 5 player draft again, this time he was selected by the Cincinnati Reds.
He would spend most of 1969 playing with Indianapolis, the Reds’ Triple-A affiliate, save for 4 games in the 1st 13 days of June, when he came up to Cincinnati. They were his last 4 games in the MLB. He had only faced 11 batters, over 2 1/3 innings, but he gave up 4 earned runs. All 4 games in which he was used were losses, none attributed to him. He would return to AAA Indianapolis. There, he was 12-7 with a 3.86 ERA. Thus ended his pro baseball playing career. In January of 1970, he was named minor-league pitching instructor by the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Bill Short would serve with the Pirates for a few years, and then he left the game. The Shorts would settled in Florida. According to his wife Dorothy in a January 2018 interview, in his retirement, Bill “just sort of puttered around here and there.”

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 17:56:15 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Feb 1, 2024 18:08:01 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 1, 2024 18:08:01 GMT -5

Yankees Former Reserve OF Ken Hunt (1959-1960)

This article was written by Terry Bohn, Edited by Clipper

1960 Topps Baseball Card

Right-handed-hitting outfielder Ken Hunt and one-time major-league single-season HR leader Roger Maris were boyhood friends, while growing up in Grand Forks, North Dakota. After the Maris family moved to nearby Fargo, the 2 all-around athletes were high-school sports rivals. During Hunt’s senior year in football, his team lost 1 game, a 7-6 setback to Fargo Shanley High School, on a late 70-yard touchdown run by all-state halfback Roger Maris. The 2 men remained lifelong friends and later roomed together, when both were with the 1960 New York Yankees.

Ken Hunt’s baseball career was a dichotomy of extremes. In what should have been the prime of his career, a freak injury, one that he probably could easily have recovered from with modern treatment and rehabilitation, effectively ended his MLB playing career. But on the other hand, he was also fortunate enough to be in the right place (Wrigley Field in Los Angeles) at the right time (1961 expansion year) and responded with 1 excellent season among an abbreviated injury-filled career.

Kenneth Lawrence Hunt was born on July 13,1934, in Grand Forks. His parents were Percy L. and Marie (Geatz) Hunt. He had an older brother, Robert, and a younger sister, Janice. His father was employed by the railroad, working as a fireman. In 1948, as a 14-yearold, Hunt began playing for the Grand Forks American Legion and St. James High School baseball teams. He also played semipro ball as a teenager with a team in neighboring Reynolds, North Dakota.

After graduating from high school in 1952 at the age of 17, Hunt was signed by New York Yankees MLB Scout Joe McDermott. He was paid a $10,000 bonus. Ken was assigned to Olean in the Class D Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (PONY) League. In 30 games, he would tore up league pitching by hitting .500 (29-for-58) and was promoted to the Joplin Miners in the Class C Western Association for the balance of the 1952 season.

Hunt would spend the 1953 season with the Yankees’ other Class C affiliate, Boise of the Pioneer League, and batted .269 with 16 HRs in 130 games. He would continue his rapid ascent through the Yankees’ farm system by moving up to the Quincy Gems in the Class B Three-I League in 1954. Hunt would continue to hit for both average .320 and power 16 HRs and 22 doubles. Ken was named to the league’s postseason all-star team, joining other future major leaguers on their way up, including Earl Battey, Luis Aparicio and his friend Roger Maris, who was playing for rival Keokuk in the Indians organization.

Ken Hunt was drafted into the US Army in 1955, but he would continue to play baseball. He was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, he would play on the post team during the summer of 1956. He was named to the 5th Army All-Star team. In 1956, he was assigned to Fort Crowder, Missouri, where he played baseball for the base team. He did not serve overseas.

Throughout most of Hunt’s career, he had played winter ball. During the 1956-1957 offseason, he played with Kola Roman in the Colombian League. Other winters, he played with Gavilanes in Venezuela, Azucareros in Panama and San Juan in Puerto Rico. During the 1961-1962 offseason, Hunt was among a group of major-league players, who went to Japan to conduct baseball clinics for American servicemen.

Hunt went to spring training with the Yankees in St. Petersburg, Florida, in 1957, he began the season in Triple-A with Richmond of the International League. He had struggled at the plate and was sent back to Double-A, finishing the season with the New Orleans Pelicans in the Southern Association. Hunt spend the entire 1958 season in New Orleans, batting .282 with 29 HRs and 27 doubles.

Again in 1959, Hunt had attended spring training with the Yankees but he didn’t make the club. Despite his potential and his success in the minor leagues, Hunt had a difficult time breaking into the Yankees outfield. In addition to Mickey Mantle, Hank Bauer and Norm Siebern, Manager Casey Stengel liked to use his catchers, Yogi Berra, Elston Howard and Johnny Blanchard, in the outfield often to keep their bats in the lineup. Hunt was optioned to Triple-A San Diego (Pacific Coast League). After struggling in 26 games with the Padres, he was sent to Shreveport of the Southern Association. In his 1st game, Hunt slugged a grand slam HR and had 3 doubles in 6 at-bats. Despite missing a week in mid-June in order to attend his father’s funeral, he had another strong season, batting .322 with 21 HRs. Hunt was called up by New York and made his major league player debut on September 10th, as a late-inning defensive replacement against the Kansas City Athletics at Yankee Stadium.

In 1960, Hunt finally made the Yankees out of spring training, but in mid-May, he was optioned to AAA Richmond. On June 5th, he set an International League record with 7 consecutive hits in a doubleheader against the Montreal Royals. Hunt had batted .272 and continued to hit for power, slugging 23 HRs. He had earned a September call-up by the Yankees and overall would hit .273 in 25 games for New York that season.

After the 1960 season, Hunt got a job at a radio station in East Grand Forks, Minnesota. The American League was expanding, with new teams in Los Angeles and Washington and he was left unprotected by New York. While reading the news at the station on December 14th, he saw on the wire service that he had been the 40th selection in the draft by the Los Angeles Angels. He knew that he would now have the opportunity to be a regular player on a major-league team.

Hunt was a big, powerful (he was listed as 6-feet-1 and 205 pounds) all-around athlete with great speed and a strong throwing arm. One report said that he had perhaps the strongest outfield throwing arm in the majors. The Angels were excited about the potential of their new acquisition. General Manager Fred Haney said, “He can do everything. He’s fast, covers a lot of ground in center field, has a good arm, and hits with power.”

Hunt got off to a slow start in spring training with the Angels, but he quickly won the center-field job. His emergence allowed the Angels to trade another outfielder, Bob Cerv (whom they had also obtained from the Yankees in the expansion draft), for pitching help. Tommy Lasorda, then a Dodgers MLB Scout, who knew Hunt, said, “They’ll be surprised at his power once he really gets going.”

Ken Hunt Angels Player Photo

In their inaugural 1961 season, the Angels had played in cozy Wrigley Field. With its location near Hollywood, the former PCL Minor League ballpark had served as a backdrop for many movies and television shows, including "Pride of the Yankees" and TV’s Home Run Derby show. Dimensions had favored pull hitters and the 340-foot left-field line and 345-foot left-center alley made an inviting target for right-handed pull hitters like Hunt. During the 1961 season, he had hit 17 of his 25 HRs at home.

The Angels never expected to contend, but they did surprisingly well for an expansion team, finishing 70-91 and ending up in 8th place in the 10-team American League, 38½ games behind the powerhouse 1961 Yankees. Inserted as the Angels’ regular center fielder, Hunt did well in what technically was his rookie season. In 149 games, he had hit .255 with 25 HRs and 84 RBIs. He had smacked 29 doubles and scored 70 runs. He would hold the Angels’ record for most HRs by a rookie until it was broken by Tim Salmon in 1993.

One of Hunt’s personal highlights that season was a HR off the Yankees’ Ralph Terry in the 9th inning to break up Terry’s shutout bid at Yankee Stadium on June 11th. Earlier in the game, Roger Maris had fell into the right-field stands catching a long drive by Hunt. In early August, he was being mentioned as one of the favorites for the American League Rookie of the Year award. But he had faded at the end of the 1961 season and received no votes for the award, which was won by Boston Red Sox pitcher Don Schwall.

The only disappointing aspects of the season for Hunt were his fielding (a league-high 14 outfield errors) and strikeouts (120), the 2nd highest total in the American League. Hunt said, “I should have hit 40 HRs. I started over-swinging when I had 19 HRs with almost half the season to go. And my fielding went sour.”

By June of 1961, several other teams in baseball were inquiring about the possibility of obtaining Hunt and 2 of his fellow outfielders, Leon Wagner and Lee Thomas, in trades. General Manager Haney let it be known that his young stars were off-limits, saying “Thomas is only 25 and Hunt 26. They haven’t even begun to reach their full potential yet and I assure you they’re going to be around a long time. I can also assure you they’re going to be with our ballclub.” Little did he know what the next year held for Hunt, and how wrong his prediction would be.

Despite the Angels’ move to a less hitter-friendly park in Chavez Ravine in 1962, Hunt seemed poised for another strong season. During the offseason, the Angels had hired Joe Gordon as a Hitting Instructor and he planned to work with Hunt to cut down on his swing, especially with 2 strikes and hit the ball more to the opposite field. It was thought this approach might cost Hunt some HRs, but would also raise his batting average and cut down on his strikeouts.

Those plans went out the window that spring. Trying to cut down a baserunner in an early April exhibition game against the Angels’ Dallas-Fort Worth farm team, Hunt tore muscles in his right shoulder. The injury limited him to pinch-running and a few pinch-hitting appearances early in the season. On May 4th, he was called on to pinch-hit against the Baltimore Orioles. In an attempt to stretch his sore shoulder muscles in the on-deck circle, Hunt flexed his bat behind his neck in what was described as the “Rocky Colavito manner” and separated his right shoulder.

He was placed on the disabled list and returned to Grand Forks to recuperate. One report said Hunt had also fractured his collarbone, and another said he had developed an aneurysm in his shoulder that required surgery. In July, it was reported that Hunt’s shoulder was slowly responding to treatment, but that it was feared he would not return at all that season. He finally returned to the lineup in September, but he got into only 13 games altogether that year.

Many years later, a Los Angeles sportswriter wrote about what he called the “Angel Jinx,” detailing a long list of the team’s players whose careers ended or were curtailed prematurely due to unusual circumstances. The writer, Jeff Mays, claimed that the jinx, or curse, started with Hunt’s shoulder injury in 1962 and continued over the years to include the murder of Lyman Bostock in 1978 and Donnie Moore’s suicide in 1989.

One bright spot for Hunt in 1962: He would meet and married Patty Lilley, a single mother with an 8-yearold son, Patrick. Patty and the boy’s father had divorced shortly after he was born. Hunt’s stepson was better known by the name he took as a childhood actor, Butch Patrick, and is best remembered for his role as Eddie Munster in the 1960s television show "The Munsters."

With Hunt’s shoulder still not 10 %, Angels Manager Bill Rigney had considered moving him to 1st base in 1963. He would open the season with the Angels, but he got little playing time and on May 25th, Ken was optioned by the club to Triple-A Hawaii Islanders (PCL). Possibly frustrated by his injury, Hunt was upset with the move and threatened to quit before returning to the minors. “I had 10 years in the minors, and that’s enough,” he said, “This club didn’t give me a chance this year.” He changed his mind, reported to AAA Hawaii and would hit .263 in 55 games, before being recalled by Los Angeles in July. He continued to struggle at the plate and the Angels had sold him to the Washington Senators for $25,000 on September 12th. Hunt impressed in a few games at the end of the season and Senators Manager Gil Hodges promised him a fair shot at a regular job the next spring. But in 1964, Hun would hit just .135 in 51 games for the Senators and .206 in a few games for Washington’s Triple-A affiliate in Toronto.

Hunt decided not to play baseball in 1965, and he returned to Los Angeles. He became a member of the Screen Actors Guild and appeared as an extra in a couple of movies. Early in the year, he had appeared in an episode of The Munsters filmed in Wrigley Field titled “Herman the Rookie.” He played a baseball catcher, who was fearful of Eddie’s TV father, Herman Munster. Leo Durocher also appeared in the episode.

In 1966, Durocher became manager of the Chicago Cubs and had obtained Hunt in a trade with Washington on April 2nd. Hunt was assigned to AAA Tacoma Cubs in the Pacific Coast League, but after batting only .235 with just 8 HRs, he had decided to retire from baseball. He returned to Southern California and found steady work in the aerospace industry. He and Patty were now divorced, but he kept in close contact with his stepson. While working at an aerospace plant, he met Sherry Conklin and they married on October 18, 1969. They had 3 children and together they opened a neighborhood bar near the company, where they both worked.

In 1984, the City of Fargo inaugurated a golf tournament to raise money for Shanley High School and to honor its local hero, Roger Maris. Along with Maris, other players who participated in the event were Hunt, Mickey Mantle, Bill Skowron, Whitey Ford, and Bob Allison. Each year the number of celebrities who participated grew. When it was learned that Maris had cancer, the money raised from the tournament went toward the MeritCare Roger Maris Cancer Center in Fargo. Hunt always looked forward to being a part of this tournament, even after Maris had died.

In 1997, the Hunts were planning to return to Fargo for his 14th consecutive appearance at the Maris tournament. On June 8th, Hunt decided to watch his old team, now the Anaheim Angels, on television. He was particularly interested in following a fellow North Dakotan, the Angels outfielder Darin Erstad. When his wife, Sherry, returned home later that evening, she had found Ken dead from a heart attack. He was 62 years old.

He was survived by Sherry; their 3 children (a daughter, Kerry, and 2 sons, Steve and Chris) and 2 grandchildren. He was also survived by his brother, Bob and sister, Janice. In a sense, Hunt and his friend Roger Maris are still roommates. When the charity golf tournament began on June 28th, he was buried just a few feet from Maris’s grave at Holy Cross Cemetery in Fargo, ND.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 18:03:12 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Feb 1, 2024 19:05:02 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 1, 2024 19:05:02 GMT -5

Former Yankees Reserve INF/OF Deron Johnson
(1960-1961)
This article was written by John Vorperian, Edited By Clipper

1960 ToppsBaseball Card

Deron Roger Johnson, labeled the “next Mickey Mantle,” spent 16 seasons as a MLB slugger. His finest year was not as a Bronx Bomber, but as a Cincinnati Red. A dual football and baseball interscholastic sports star, the San Diego native excelled on the gridiron. Johnson played end, linebacker, kicker and punter for San Diego High School. In 1955, he had scored 15 touchdowns for the Cavers as the team captured the Southern California championship. His high-school football coach, Duane Maley, said Johnson was “the top player I have ever coached, the easiest kid to coach you’ve ever met. If he has a bad habit, it’s escaped me.” He was indeed, as the San Diego Union wrote, a “coach’s dream.” Johnson’s baseball coach, Les Cassie, said the All-American end was among the top athletes ever to come out of San Diego High School.

Pursued by several colleges, Johnson was offered numerous football scholarships, including one from Notre Dame, but Johnson turned down the Fighting Irish and the other schools. Upon graduation from high school in 1956, having been also sought by the Yankees, Braves, Red Sox, Indians, and Pirates, Johnson would sign with New York Yankees MLB Scout Gordon “Deacon” Jones to a Class-D contract for $1,000 a month.

Deron Johnson avoided being a Bonus Baby, who by the MLB rules at the time was someone who signed a contract for more than $4,000 and had to be kept on the MLB roster for 2 years. Brent P. Kelley in his book “They Too Wore Pinstripes” showed that New York skipper Casey Stengel simply did not play 1954’s Frank Leja or 1955 signee INF Tommy Carroll. So, by mid-1956, the Yankees front office opted out of the Bonus Baby game. Kelley wrote that Johnson had decided he would rather be in the minor leagues playing every day. The Kearney club of the Class-D Nebraska State League played only 63 games over 2 months. Thus, the net deal “was essentially the major-league minimum ($6,000 a year)” and with a good season Johnson could be given a raise. Johnson figured correctly.

At Kearney, the 17-year-old outfielder led the league in total bases (167), runs scored (70), RBIs (78), and HRs (24). He was named to the circuit’s all-star team. He also tied for the league lead in double plays by outfielders with 4. The next year, the young phenom was promoted to Class-A Binghamton. Again, he made the all-star team and led the Eastern League with 279 total bases, 103 runs scored and 26 HRs. In 1958, Johnson would move up to Triple-A Richmond (International League), where he clubbed 27 doubles, 5 triples and 27 HRs and he was selected as an IL all-star. In addition to the outfield, the Californian was called upon to handle 3rd base. The year also brought the 1st of military duties that would occasionally interrupt his ballplaying career. In 1958 and 1959 Johnson had served in the US Army for 6 months under the Reserve Training Program. On the field, his 1959 and 1960 seasons were spent with AAA Richmond, hitting 25 and 27 HRs respectively.

Called up to the New York Yankees in September 1960, Deron Johnson would make his MLB player debut on the 20th. The 22-year-old pinch-hit in the 9th inning of a 1-1 tie game between New York and Washington Senators with Bill Skowron on 2nd base. Facing Senators southpaw Hal Woodeshick, Johnson would advance Skowron to 3rd with a fly to center. The Yankees won the game by the score of 2-1 in the 11th.

Overall, Johnson would donned the yankees pinstripes for 19 games in 1960 and 1961. The Big Apple sports media had tagged him as a replacement for Mickey Mantle. But that never came about. On June 14,1961, Johnson joined numerous other would-be Bombers in being sucked into the NY-KC trade pipeline. The Athletics got Johnson and veteran right-handed pitcher Art Ditmar for lefty hurler Bud Daley.

At Kansas City in 1961, Johnson had batted .216 with 8 HRs and 42 RBIs in 83 games. In October, he was recalled to active Army duty and would served until August 1962. The remainder of the 1962 season, he had batted a paltry .105 in 17 games. That October, he would wed Lucille DeMaria. They had 3 children, 2 sons, Deron Jr. and Dominick, and a daughter, Dena.

In April 1963, Kansas City Athletics had sold Johnson to the Cincinnati Reds, who would assign him to their San Diego Padres AAA team in the Pacific Coast League.

1965 Reds Baseball Card

At San Diego, 1963 was a honeymoon of a year. Johnson had returned to his native California and was golden. He would topped the Pacific Coast League with 33 HRs, tied for 5th with 91 RBIs, and was picked as the 1st baseman on the PCL all-star team. His performance pushed him onto the Reds’ 1964 MLB roster, where he remained for 4 seasons. Johnson later said of his full major-league season, 1964, “That was my 1st year. That was a hell of a pennant race. There was 5 teams right there: us, the Cardinals, the Phillies, the Braves and the Giants. There was so many damned teams there, if you won 1 day you’d go from 4th to 1st. It was really fun. Once we were tied for 1st. Every day you go you know it means something.” Cincinnati did not capture the NL flag. In 477 at-bats, as their starting 1st baseman, Johnson would hit .273 with 24 doubles, 4 triples, 21 HRs and 79 RBIs.

Johnson was moved to 3rd base and had a banner year in 1965. He would lead the league with 130 RBIs, despite typically batting 5th or 6th in the order. He shared top rank in sacrifice flies with 10 and batted a career high .287 with 30 doubles, 7 triples and 32 HRs. Johnson made The Sporting News and Associated Press all-star teams as a 3rd baseman, and came in 4th for the NL MVP Award. Johnson told Brent Kelley, “I had a good year. I was on a good ballclub. We had some good hitters. We had Pete Rose and Vada Pinson. I had Frank Robinson hitting in front of me. I had a hell of a year, really.”

After a .257 season in 1966, Johnson would fall to .224 in 1967 with 13 HRs, 53 RBIs and 104 strikeouts. After the season, the Reds would dealt him on October 10th to the Atlanta Braves for Outfielder Mack Jones, Pitcher Jay Ritchie and 1st Baseman Jim Beauchamp. Johnson would hit .208 with 8 HRs and 33 RBIs with Atlanta in 127 games and lasted just a season. On December 3,1968, the Braves would sell him to the Philadelphia Phillies in a cash deal.

1969 Phillies Player Photo

The move to Philadelphia would revived the slugger in Johnson. From 1969 to 1973, he would clubbed 88 HRs, had 304 RBIs and hit 82 doubles despite playing in only 12 games in 1973, before being traded to Oakland. His most productive year was 1971; when Johnson had batted .265, garnered 95 RBIs and hit 34 HRs. He homered 22 times at home, breaking Del Ennis’s 1950 Philadelphia record. Further proof of Johnson’s long-ball skill was evident on July 10th and 11th, 1971, as he belted 4 consecutive HRs against the Montreal Expos, 3 of them coming on the 11th.

On May 2,1973, after nearly a decade of playing in the National League, Johnson would find himself back in the American League, as the Phillies had traded him to the Oakland A’s for minor-league 3rd baseman-outfielder Jack Bastable. Johnson would clocked 19 HRs and had 81 RBIs for Charlie Finley’s Oakland Athletics. The switch got him a World Series ring as the A’s bested the New York Mets in the 1973 fall classic. Johnson entered baseball history as the 1st player to hit 20 HRs in a season divided between both leagues.

Johnson was 1-for-10 as the A’s DH in the ALCS against the Orioles. He would pinch hit in the 1st 5 games of the Series, collecting a double in Game 2 and a single in Game 4 and he would play 1st base in Games 6 and 7, while adding another single.

Sportscaster Curt Gowdy called Game 2 one of the “longest and one of the weirdest games in World Series history as blinding sunshine turned every fly ball into an adventure.” Johnson’s extra-base hit would provide a prime example.

In the top of 9th inning, the Mets called upon 42-year-old Willie Mays to pinch run for Rusty Staub. New York kept him in the game at center field. In the bottom of the 9th, Johnson batted for the starter, Blue Moon Odom. Johnson socked a fly ball to center which Mays lost in the sun and then fell down while chasing after the ball. Although the A’s had a 6-4 lead after 7 innings, they would lose the 2nd game, 10-7.

Deron Johnson was on the A’s disabled list for 15 days in April 1974. On June 24th, he was released on waivers to the Milwaukee Brewers. (The Brewers laterwould assigned hurler Bill Parsons to complete the transaction.) On September 7,1974, the Brewers had sold Johnson to the Boston Red Sox for the stretch drive. He would hit .120 with 2 RBIs. The Red Sox released him after the season.

On April 5, 1975, as a free agent, the 36-year-old veteran signed with the White Sox. Chicago GM Roland Hemond said the Red Sox did not need Johnson because Tony Conigliaro had a successful spring comeback and they did not want to stand in the way of Johnson.

In 148 games for the White Sox in 1975, Johnson hit a team-leading 18 HRs and drove in 72 runs. On September 21st, after Jim Rice had been hit by a pitch that broke his left hand, the Red Sox had acquired Johnson from Chicago for cash and a player to be named later (catcher Chuck Erickson). Johnson’s Red Sox role was to play 1st base and serve as designated hitter. He was 6-for-10 in the 3 games in which he had appeared. The Red Sox went to the World Series, but Johnson had joined the team too late to be eligible for the World Series roster. He would play sparingly in 1976, then he was released on June 4th, after which he would retired as a active player.

In all or part of 16 MLB seasons, Johnson had played in 1,765 games and batted .244 with 245 HRs, 1,447 hits, and 923 RBIs.

A Poway, California, resident, Johnson owned a construction company in nearby San Diego and operated a 40-acre cattle ranch. Nevertheless, he still maintained his contact with baseball. In 1978, he would return to the Pacific Coast League and piloted Salt Lake City to a 72-65 2nd-place finish. The club lost in the playoff semifinals to Albuquerque. In 1979 Johnson became a hitting coach for the California Angels. In addition to the Halos (1979-1980 and 1989-1991), Johnson would coached for the Mets (1981), Phillies (1982-1984), Mariners (1985-1986) and the White Sox (1987).

In June 1991, Johnson was diagnosed with lung cancer. After a long fight with the illness, he would succumbed on April 23,1992. He was survived by his wife Lucy Ann, his 2 sons Deron Jr. and Dominick, and a daughter, Dena. He is buried at Dearborn Memorial Park, Poway, California. Over his 28-year baseball life, he had told Hall of Fame researchers, his greatest thrills were having played in the 1973 World Series for the Athletics and hitting 4 HRs in a row for the Phillies in 1971.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 18:08:25 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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Clipper's Player Remembrance Megathread Feb 4, 2024 19:01:29 GMT -5

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Post by fwclipper51 on Feb 4, 2024 19:01:29 GMT -5

Yankees Pitcher and MLB Coach Eddie Lopat (1948-1955)

This article was written by Zita Carno, Edited by Clipper

Yankees Starters Raschi,Reynolds,Lopat

Eddie Lopat, “The Junkman,” teamed with fireballers Vic Raschi and Allie Reynolds to form the Big 3 starting pitchers on the New York Yankees’ 5 straight World Championship clubs from 1949 through 1953.

He was born Edmund Walter Lopatynski on June 21, 1918, the 1st of 7 children. The family lived on the Lower East Side of Manhattan in New York City, later moving uptown to be closer to the shoe-repair shop owned and operated by father John. Lopat went to DeWitt Clinton High School. The school did not have a baseball team, so he played with outside teams. His usual position was 1st base. From an early age, he had been a Yankee fan, having grown up with the Bombers of 1927 and beyond, and quite often he and some schoolmates played hooky to go to a ball game. He dreamed of playing for the Yankees 1 day.

While working summers as an usher at Radio City Music Hall, he attended a tryout held by the New York Giants. He was told he wouldn’t do; he couldn’t make the throw to 2nd base. He went to a Dodger tryout and they signed him to a minor league contract in 1936. The 1st thing he did was shorten his name to Lopat so it would fit better into a box score, the way Cornelius McGillicuddy had become Connie Mack.

The scout who used the phrase “good field, no hit” might have been describing Eddie Lopat. After 2 false starts, he was with Greensburg in the Penn State Association, but his .229 batting average got him packed off to Jeanerette, Louisiana, in the Evangeline League.

Warming up with a Catcher before a game, he put a little something on the ball. His Manager, Carlos Moore, noticed this and told him to throw a curve. Lopat did. Moore told him that with the right coaching, he would become one of the best pitchers in the league. Exit the 1st baseman, enter the lefthanded pitcher. In his 1st mound appearance, in relief, he had allowed just 2 hits in 6 2/3 innings.

Still, he bounced around the minors for 7 years: from Jeanerette to Kilgore, to Shreveport, to Longview, back to Shreveport. In 1939, he had started experimenting with a screwball, which would later become his best pitch. And in 1940, he had found love; he married Mary Elizabeth Howell, known as Libby. When he was ready to pack it in and return to New York, when she had persuaded him to give it 1 more year.

In midseason of 1942, he would join Little Rock of the Southern Association, a higher-level minor league and for the 1st time he began to feel that he was getting someplace. He made his winter home in Little Rock and went into business there. He won his share of games, going 19-10 with an ERA of 3.05 in 1943. The league president, Billy Evans, a former American League umpire and General Manager, talked him up to Managers and Scouts, but the scouts were not interested; Lopat was small for a pitcher at 5’10” and did not have an overpowering fastball. Evans finally caught the attention of the Chicago White Sox, who agreed to take Lopat on a 30-day trial basis.

It was 1944, big-league teams were desperate to replace players, who had gone into military service. It is not known how Lopat had escaped the war draft. He may have been exempt for medical reasons; he had suffered from time to time with ulcers and other gastrointestinal ailments that would later require surgery.

In his MLB Pitching debut on April 30,1944, he would lose to the St. Louis Browns, as the Browns charged toward their only American League pennant. In his next start, May 4th, he would beat the Cleveland Indians 2-1 and went on to establish himself as an MLB pitcher. He also established his mastery over the Indians; he had compiled a 40-13 career record against the team, the Yankees often had to beat to win the pennant.

Over the next 4 seasons, Lopat won 50 and lost 49 for a White Sox club that never had a winning record. He developed a simple and direct philosophy of pitching: “Get the ball over the plate and make them hit it.”
In 1946, future Hall of Fame pitcher Ted Lyons returned from the war and Lopat sought his advice. Lyons had showed him the slow curve and the short-arm and long-arm deliveries, which gave Lopat twice as many pitches and generally put the finishing touches on a pitcher who had already achieved some success.

Eddie Lopat Yankees Photo

The New York Yankees had been watching Ed Lopat. On February 24,1948, they acquired him in return for 3 players: All Star Catcher Aaron Robinson and Pitchers Bill Wight and Fred Bradley. Tom Meany, in "The Magnificent Yankees," quotes General Manager George Weiss:

“We won the pennant and the World Series last fall, and I think maybe we could repeat this year without help but it is good for a ball club to make changes. Yogi Berra is coming along now and we can afford to give up Robinson. It peps up the whole ball club to know that we have another starting pitcher and haven’t hurt ourselves any in making the trade.”

Weiss went on: “Did you notice his record with the White Sox for the last 4 years? He averaged about 1 walk every 4 innings. Any pitcher who can get the ball over the plate can win for us.”

The Yankees did not win the pennant that year, but Lopat compiled an 17-11 record with a 3.65 ERA. He continued to experiment on the mound, often getting to the ballpark earlier than anyone else so he could work on old deliveries and new ones, refining this pitch, figuring out new wrinkles on that pitch, adding still another delivery to his constantly expanding repertoire.

He and Libby bought a home in nearby Hillsdale, New Jersey and set about raising 2 children, John and Melissa. He recalled one day when his son came home from school unhappy. There had been an intramural ball game and when Johnny was asked how he did at the plate, he replied with some bitterness, “I never got to bat.” He explained, “The teacher made up the lineups and the 1st one in the batting order hit 1st every inning!” For someone batting 7th this was a catastrophe.

For his teammates, Lopat was an extra pitching coach. He worked closely with Coach Jim Turner; Turner would handle the mechanics, while Lopat concentrated on the mental aspects of the art and science of pitching. Lopat showed Allie Reynolds how to slow down his delivery and change speeds. He pinpointed a problem for rookie Whitey Ford. Ford was getting racked up, and 1st baseman Tommy Henrich told him, “You know, that 1st base coach is calling every pitch you’re throwing.” The next day, Lopat and Turner took Ford to the bullpen and had him throw from the stretch and Lopat immediately spotted the problem: Ford had his glove hand in 1 position for the fastball and in another when he was going to throw a curve. The problem was quickly solved.

Lopat was known by a number of names -“the Junkman,” the “cute little lefthander.” To Ted Williams, he was “that bleeping Lopat.” Yankee Broadcaster Mel Allen called him “Steady Eddie.”

Eddie Lopat 1952 Topps baseball Card

There were differing views of his pitching motion. Some said he looked like a robot or a wind-up doll in need of some WD-40. Others described his delivery as smooth, easy, stylish. Most used the same word to characterize it: deceptive. Williams, when asked to name the 5 toughest pitchers he had faced, placed Eddie Lopat at the head of the list.

A cartoon in a June 1954 issue of The Sporting News depicts Eddie with the caption, “The Junkman gives them a little of this and a little of that, but nothing good and very little they will wrap up and bring home,” and a frustrated batter complaining “Ya could stand up here for a week and not see anything ya want!”

Lopat once told Allie Reynolds, “Take 4 pitches, the fast ball, the curve, the slider and the screwball. Now throw these at different speeds and you have 12 pitches. Next, throw each of these 12 pitches with a long-armed or short-armed motion, and you have 24 pitches.” He neglected to mention what you would have if you threw them with different arm angles, overhand, 3-quarters and sidearm: 72 pitches. And he kept adding new ones. In 1953, he unveiled the “slip pitch,” a variation on the palm ball taught by White Sox Manager Paul Richards. And what was that pitch? “Get a knuckleball grip,” the lefthander explained, “and throw the slider with it.”

In 1949, under new Manager Casey Stengel, the Yankees began their historic run of 5 straight World Series championships. Lopat had won 15 games in 1949, then 18 in 1950, then 21 in 1951.

In 1952, he was shelved by arm trouble. Diagnosed with tendinitis in his shoulder, he underwent what was considered a radical treatment, a series of 10 X-rays. When he came off the disabled list, he would win 5 of his next 7 starts. He would finish the season with a 10-5 record and a 2.53 ERA, the lowest of his MLB pitching career to that point. But he was approaching his 35th birthday and never again made as many as 25 starts in a season.

The next year, he would lower his ERA to 2.42, best in the league and also led with a winning percentage of .800 on 16 wins against 4 losses. In 1954, he would manage a 12-4 record, but his ERA swelled up to 3.55.
He won 4 and lost 8 in the 1st half of the 1955 season. Shortly after he had turned 37, the Yankees would trade him to the Orioles for Pitcher Jim McDonald.

During the Yankees’ 5-year championship run, Lopat won 80 games, plus 4 more in 7 World Series starts, to 92 victories for Raschi and 83 for Reynolds. He later told writer Peter Golenbock in Dynasty, “We had an esprit de corps on that ball club. There wasn’t one jealous bone on that whole ball club… Also, the older players used to reprimand the younger ones for lack of hustle. If they didn’t put out, we’d say, ‘you’re playing on this club and you’d better put out, because that’s the way we play ball here.’”

When Lopat had arrived in Baltimore, Manager Paul Richards, who prided himself on his ability to teach pitching, showed the veteran a grip and a motion and said, “If you do this, I think it will help you.” Lopat said, “This? Oh, I’ve got that here, here, here and here” and demonstrated 4 different spins and release points. And then he rubbed it in with, “What do you think I’ve been getting you out with all these years?”

He would pitch 10 times for the 1955 Orioles, posting a 3-4 record, then he would retire.

He busied himself with off-season barnstorming and the baseball academy he ran in Florida and took time to be with his family. He also stayed in touch with his Yankee family: he and Libby had cemented a bond with Vic and Sally Raschi and Allie and Earlene Reynolds, friendships that would last the rest of their lives.

In 1956, the Yankees had hired him to manage their Triple-A Richmond club (International League). He ran the team for 3 years, including the 1st year as playing-manager, when he went 11-6 with a 2.85 ERA. In 1960, the Yankees made him their MLB pitching Coach, replacing the fired Jim Turner. Lopat left the Yankees after the 1960 World Series loss, when Ralph Houk would replace Stengel as Manager. Houk had Eddie’s former pitching teammate, Johnny Sain make over as the Yankees Pitching Coach. In mid-1961, his longtime teammate Hank Bauer would become Manager of the struggling Kansas City Athletics. He would promptly hire a new Pitching Coach, Eddie Lopat and kept him through the 1962 season. But Bauer couldn’t lift the A’s out of 9th place and Lopat would succeed him as Manager in 1963. The team fared little better, with a 90-124 record under Lopat and by mid-1964, he spilled out of Owner Charlie Finley‘s revolving door. He would stay with the Athletics as an MLB Scout until they moved to Oakland in 1968.

He never would leave the game. Lopat had scouted for the new Kansas City Royals, the Yankees, the Montreal Expos and the Major League Scouting Bureau. He had formed a friendship with MLB Commissioner Fay Vincent, even though he confessed that he had taught the whole Kansas City pitching staff to throw the spitball.

In 1990, he was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. After treatment he was well enough to visit Vincent, who was hospitalized. Lopat told him “You don’t want to hear about my problems. I don’t want to hear about yours. Let’s talk baseball.” And they did, for hours. In his memoir, The Last Commissioner, Vincent said it was one of the best times of his life.

But the cancer had returned. In June 1992, he had visited his son John in Darien, Connecticut, and on the 15th, 6 days short of his 74th birthday, he had passed away quietly. The 1st-person Libby called was Sally Raschi, herself a widow and within an hour several of the other members of the Yankee dynasty had called.

Fay Vincent recalled:

“A lot of the old great Yankees, the Yankees of my youth, attended his funeral. Tommy Henrich, of course, was there. Henrich showed up for funerals, even if it meant flying across the country to do so. That’s what the old-school gents do. He’s still Old Reliable. George Steinbrenner was there. Yogi was there. I was there. I was a reader. I read from St. Paul’s 1st letter to the Corinthians. All about love. Later, my old friend Frank Slocum said, ‘It took Eddie Lopat to get Yogi, Steinbrenner and Fay into the same church at the same time.’ Slocum had it right. Eddie could get anybody together. His enthusiasm was infectious. I miss him.”

Eddie Lopat is buried in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Greenwich, Connecticut.

Epilogue

Eddie Lopat was “the Junkman,” “Steady Eddie,” “that bleeping Lopat.” And to me he was the most incredible pitching coach anyone could ever hope to work with.

I first met Eddie in 1951. I was in my senior year in high school and playing sandlot baseball; I was a pretty good pitcher but I felt I needed a pitch I could go to when I needed a strikeout. For me, that pitch could well be the slider, and I wanted to ask one of the Yankee pitchers about it. I got my chance when I went to a game at Yankee Stadium to see Yanks and the Indians battle for 1st place.

The Yankees won, 2-1, in the bottom of the 9th on a spectacular suicide squeeze by Phil Rizzuto that scored Joe DiMaggio from 3rd, and the losing pitcher, Bob Lemon, was so furious that he threw his glove and the ball into the backstop screen and stormed off the mound cursing everything and everybody, including himself. It was Lopat’s 20th win of the season. a nice way to win 20, I thought and it occurred to me at that moment that he was the one I should ask. So, I waited outside the players’ entrance along with a huge mob, unsure how to phrase my question, not knowing what to expect, and when he came out a half hour or so later. I fell into step beside him. The only thing I could think of to say at that time was “Excuse me, Mr. Lopat, could I ask you something?”

He couldn’t have been more encouraging. He stopped in his tracks and said, in a calm, matter-of-fact way, “Go ahead, I’m listening.” I took a deep breath and told him that I just wanted to ask him something about the slider. He said nothing but motioned to me to follow him out of the way of the crowd. And then he took a few minutes to show me how to throw it. “Throw it like a curve,” he said, “but roll your wrist, don’t snap it.” As he spoke, he showed me the off-center grip he used and the wrist action, slow motion at 1st and then at the normal speed one would use when throwing the pitch. And then he opened a door and invited me to step inside: “Go ahead, try it.” He watched and made a couple of comments, and that was it.

A year later, I ran into him again. I had gone to the ballpark and was heading for Gate 4, where I usually went in to get to my favorite seat, when I heard someone call to me. It was Eddie Lopat, who had been talking to somebody and had seen me. I went over to where he was standing, and his 1st words were “How’s that slider coming along?” Thus began a series of conversations about pitching over the next 3 years, interspersed with demonstrations of one thing and another, and I found that if I had a question or a pitching problem I couldn’t handle, I could talk to him. He gave me a great deal of advice and assistance, and at 1 point when I needed it, he gave me a powerful psychological shot in the arm. I’ll never forget one thing he said to me 1 day when we were talking about pitching repertoire: “The most important pitch you can have in your repertoire is the noodle.” I knew immediately what he meant.

He was the kind who would take the time to share his knowledge and expertise with anyone who was interested, who really wanted to know, much the same way the great Ted Williams was about hitting. I certainly became a better and more effective pitcher because of him. Steady Eddie, wherever you are, thank you.

Last Edit: Sept 1, 2024 18:15:36 GMT -5 by fwclipper51

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