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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 10:34:09 GMT -5
"(Mickey) Mantle's greatness was built on power and pain. He exuded the first and endured the second." - Roy Fitzgerald in the Boston Globe…
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 10:36:13 GMT -5
There is no sound in baseball akin to the sound of (Mickey) Mantle hitting a home run, the crunchy sound of an axe biting into a tree, yet magnified a hundred times in the vast, cavernous, echo making hollows of a ball field." - Arnold Hano in Baseball Stars of 1958…
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Post by pippsheadache on Mar 26, 2023 13:34:38 GMT -5
William “Moose” Skowron “Moose could flat-out hit ... for average, and he had real power. People used to look at our lineup and concentrate on the guys in the middle of the order. Moose might have been batting sixth or seventh, but he made our lineup deep and more dangerous. You didn't want to give him too much around the plate. He was like Yogi Berra, he could hit bad pitches out and beat you." - Mantle, Mickey… Moose Skowron was always somewhere around .300 while he was with the Yankees -- he wound up hitting .294 during his time with the Yanks, and his 129 OPS+ as a Yankee is higher than such stalwarts as Don Mattingly, Bill Dickey (both 127) Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Yogi Berra (all 125) and Tony Lazzeri (121.) Not saying he was a better hitter than all or any of them -- his decline phase was spent elsewhere -- but it does point out how potent he was with the bat. Skowron had plenty of pop, but his HR numbers suffered as a right-handed hitter playing in the old Yankee Stadium with its Death Valley. In his nine seasons in The Bronx, Moose hit 60 HRs at home and 102 on the road. Just a solid player all around, and very popular with his teammates. A proverbial good-natured lug. Bob Turley called him "the nicest, most gullible man I've ever met." He took dance lessons at the Arthur Murray studio to improve his footwork around the bag at first and made himself into a decent defensive player. In an era when you didn't assume most of your roster would spend some time on the DL, Skowron did get injured often, usually with pulled muscles. But he hit better than .300 five times for the Yanks, and was a six-time All Star. Like Billy Martin, it seemed as if Skowron could only play well for the Yankees, although he did have a few moments with the White Sox. It was upsetting to Yankee fans when he was traded to the Dodgers for pitcher Stan Williams after the 1962 season. Joe Pepitone was coming along and Moose was moving out of his prime. When the Yanks met the Dodgers in the World Series the next year, Skowron had an outstanding series (after a terrible season), hitting .385. I remember he got a huge ovation at Yankee Stadium when he hit a home run in Game Two. He spent many years as the White Sox community relations rep after his retirement. Both fans and teammates called him Moose. If memory serves, Bob Sheppard announced him as Moose. But on his baseball cards, I can only remember one year -- 1958 -- where he was called Moose. To Topps, he was Bill. |
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 13:49:51 GMT -5
William “Moose” Skowron “Moose could flat-out hit ... for average, and he had real power. People used to look at our lineup and concentrate on the guys in the middle of the order. Moose might have been batting sixth or seventh, but he made our lineup deep and more dangerous. You didn't want to give him too much around the plate. He was like Yogi Berra, he could hit bad pitches out and beat you." - Mantle, Mickey… Moose Skowron was always somewhere around .300 while he was with the Yankees -- he wound up hitting .294 during his time with the Yanks, and his 129 OPS+ as a Yankee is higher than such stalwarts as Don Mattingly, Bill Dickey (both 127) Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Yogi Berra (all 125) and Tony Lazzeri (121.) Not saying he was a better hitter than all or any of them -- his decline phase was spent elsewhere -- but it does point out how potent he was with the bat. Skowron had plenty of pop, but his HR numbers suffered as a right-handed hitter playing in the old Yankee Stadium with its Death Valley. In his nine seasons in The Bronx, Moose hit 60 HRs at home and 102 on the road. Just a solid player all around, and very popular with his teammates. A proverbial good-natured lug. Bob Turley called him "the nicest, most gullible man I've ever met." He took dance lessons at the Arthur Murray studio to improve his footwork around the bag at first and made himself into a decent defensive player. In an era when you didn't assume most of your roster would spend some time on the DL, Skowron did get injured often, usually with pulled muscles. But he hit better than .300 five times for the Yanks, and was a six-time All Star. Like Billy Martin, it seemed as if Skowron could only play well for the Yankees, although he did have a few moments with the White Sox. It was upsetting to Yankee fans when he was traded to the Dodgers for pitcher Stan Williams after the 1962 season. Joe Pepitone was coming along and Moose was moving out of his prime. When the Yanks met the Dodgers in the World Series the next year, Skowron had an outstanding series (after a terrible season), hitting .385. I remember he got a huge ovation at Yankee Stadium when he hit a home run in Game Two. He spent many years as the White Sox community relations rep after his retirement. Both fans and teammates called him Moose. If memory serves, Bob Sheppard announced him as Moose. But on his baseball cards, I can only remember one year -- 1958 -- where he was called Moose. To Topps, he was Bill. Nice insight into the man that Skowron was. Perhaps his kind personality gained him the respect of being called “Bill” moreso than “Moose”. I noticed that websites that mentioned or featured Skowron often noted that William’s nickname was “Bill”. I thought it strange that Moose seemed almost avoided… |
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Post by pippsheadache on Mar 26, 2023 13:57:24 GMT -5
Thanks pipps! The 61 team was my first as a fan. I was only 5, I don't remember him being on the team. I would recite the Yankee line up in bed at night before I went to sleep, but don't remember his name being in it. I used to get up in the morning and grab the The St. Petersburg Times to look to see if Mantle or Maris had hit home runs. If they played a night game, I'd have to wait for our afternoon paper, a rag called The Bradenton Herald, to see the whole box score and story. I remember watching the WS for the first time and how happy I was when they beat the Reds. You were quite precocious to be knowing the lineup at age five! Jwild is the only other person I can recall from this board who remembers baseball from age five. If I was reading the paper at that age, it was probably to keep up with "Moon Mullins" or "Alley Oop." But remembering Earl Torgeson being with the 61 Yanks is like remembering Angel Berroa being with the 2009 Yanks, or Mike Figga being with the 1998 Yanks or Mickey Klutts being with the 1978 Yanks. Only the most hardcore can do it. How lucky that you can recall the 61 Series. The Yanks were so far superior to the Reds, even with Mantle barely playing because of his hip abcess and both Mick and Yogi sitting out the final Game Five with injuries. They plugged in Blanchard and Lopez and rolled along as if nothing happened. That was the series where Whitey Ford broke The Babe's record for consecutive scoreless innings with 32 -- he threw his third straight shutout (!) in Game One and then five scoreless in Game Four before being removed with an ankle injury. I liked Game Three at Crosley Field . It was on a Saturday, so I could watch the whole thing (no night games in those days.) I remember Dummy Hoy, who was 99 years old, throwing out the first pitch. He had pitched for the Reds in the 1890s -- I couldn't believe I was seeing him on TV -- and Roger Maris hit a game-winning HR in the ninth. What a year it was. |
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Post by pippsheadache on Mar 26, 2023 14:05:09 GMT -5
Moose Skowron was always somewhere around .300 while he was with the Yankees -- he wound up hitting .294 during his time with the Yanks, and his 129 OPS+ as a Yankee is higher than such stalwarts as Don Mattingly, Bill Dickey (both 127) Bernie Williams, Paul O'Neill, Yogi Berra (all 125) and Tony Lazzeri (121.) Not saying he was a better hitter than all or any of them -- his decline phase was spent elsewhere -- but it does point out how potent he was with the bat. Skowron had plenty of pop, but his HR numbers suffered as a right-handed hitter playing in the old Yankee Stadium with its Death Valley. In his nine seasons in The Bronx, Moose hit 60 HRs at home and 102 on the road. Just a solid player all around, and very popular with his teammates. A proverbial good-natured lug. Bob Turley called him "the nicest, most gullible man I've ever met." He took dance lessons at the Arthur Murray studio to improve his footwork around the bag at first and made himself into a decent defensive player. In an era when you didn't assume most of your roster would spend some time on the DL, Skowron did get injured often, usually with pulled muscles. But he hit better than .300 five times for the Yanks, and was a six-time All Star. Like Billy Martin, it seemed as if Skowron could only play well for the Yankees, although he did have a few moments with the White Sox. It was upsetting to Yankee fans when he was traded to the Dodgers for pitcher Stan Williams after the 1962 season. Joe Pepitone was coming along and Moose was moving out of his prime. When the Yanks met the Dodgers in the World Series the next year, Skowron had an outstanding series (after a terrible season), hitting .385. I remember he got a huge ovation at Yankee Stadium when he hit a home run in Game Two. He spent many years as the White Sox community relations rep after his retirement. Both fans and teammates called him Moose. If memory serves, Bob Sheppard announced him as Moose. But on his baseball cards, I can only remember one year -- 1958 -- where he was called Moose. To Topps, he was Bill. Nice insight into the man that Skowron was. Perhaps his kind personality gained him the respect of being called “Bill” moreso than “Moose”. I noticed that websites that mentioned or featured Skowron often noted that William’s nickname was “Bill”. I thought it strange that Moose seemed almost avoided… I don't think he minded being called Moose. His teammates loved him and always called him that. Tony Kubek (with a guy named Terry Pluto) had a book almost forty years ago called "Sixty-One" that has a few gems in it. One involved Skowron. When Skowron, who was a neighbor of Kubek's, learned that Tony's wife was pregnant, he insisted that Kubek call him when the time came because he had already had two sons and knew the ropes. Kubek was a bit reluctant, but when at 3 AM one night when the time was coming, he did call Moose. Skowron came to the house and sat with the Kubeks until Mrs. K said it was time. According to Kubek, Moose went into complete panic mode and got on the phone to call some FBI guy he knew because the FBI would know what to do. Tony said he and his wife had to calm Moose down before heading to the hospital. He said it was typical of Skowron to always want to help, even when he really could not. |
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 14:07:51 GMT -5
Thanks pipps! The 61 team was my first as a fan. I was only 5, I don't remember him being on the team. I would recite the Yankee line up in bed at night before I went to sleep, but don't remember his name being in it. I used to get up in the morning and grab the The St. Petersburg Times to look to see if Mantle or Maris had hit home runs. If they played a night game, I'd have to wait for our afternoon paper, a rag called The Bradenton Herald, to see the whole box score and story. I remember watching the WS for the first time and how happy I was when they beat the Reds. You were quite precocious to be knowing the lineup at age five! Jwild is the only other person I can recall from this board who remembers baseball from age five. If I was reading the paper at that age, it was probably to keep up with "Moon Mullins" or "Alley Oop." But remembering Earl Torgeson being with the 61 Yanks is like remembering Angel Berroa being with the 2009 Yanks, or Mike Figga being with the 1998 Yanks or Mickey Klutts being with the 1978 Yanks. Only the most hardcore can do it. How lucky that you can recall the 61 Series. The Yanks were so far superior to the Reds, even with Mantle barely playing because of his hip abcess and both Mick and Yogi sitting out the final Game Five with injuries. They plugged in Blanchard and Lopez and rolled along as if nothing happened. That was the series where Whitey Ford broke The Babe's record for consecutive scoreless innings with 32 -- he threw his third straight shutout (!) in Game One and then five scoreless in Game Four before being removed with an ankle injury. I liked Game Three at Crosley Field . It was on a Saturday, so I could watch the whole thing (no night games in those days.) I remember Dummy Hoy, who was 99 years old, throwing out the first pitch. He had pitched for the Reds in the 1890s -- I couldn't believe I was seeing him on TV -- and Roger Maris hit a game-winning HR in the ninth. What a year it was. Precocious would have been if he could recite the Yankees line up while tending bar at age 5. THAT, is precocious… 🤓 |
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 14:13:40 GMT -5
Nice insight into the man that Skowron was. Perhaps his kind personality gained him the respect of being called “Bill” moreso than “Moose”. I noticed that websites that mentioned or featured Skowron often noted that William’s nickname was “Bill”. I thought it strange that Moose seemed almost avoided… I don't think he minded being called Moose. His teammates loved him and always called him that. Tony Kubek (with a guy named Terry Pluto) had a book almost forty years ago called "Sixty-One" that has a few gems in it. One involved Skowron. When Skowron, who was a neighbor of Kubek's, learned that Tony's wife was pregnant, he insisted that Kubek call him when the time came because he had already had two sons and knew the ropes. Kubek was a bit reluctant, but when at 3 AM one night when the time was coming, he did call Moose. Skowron came to the house and sat with the Kubeks until Mrs. K said it was time. According to Kubek, Moose went into complete panic mode and got on the phone to call some FBI guy he knew because the FBI would know what to do. Tony said he and his wife had to calm Moose down before heading to the hospital. He said it was typical of Skowron to always want to help, even when he really could not. Lol. Imagine a full SWAT team arriving to assist with the delivery. My brother recently found out in a routine visit to his doctor that he needed to see a cardiologist. It wasn’t an order to go immediately, just to see a cardiologist for some tests. He panicked over the order, and didn’t want to drive there. His wife also panicked and refused to drive him. He’s been in the local fire company for over 50 years, and winds up calling an ambulance to take him to the cardiologist for routine tests. Incredible… |
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Post by rizzuto on Mar 26, 2023 14:54:18 GMT -5
Nice insight into the man that Skowron was. Perhaps his kind personality gained him the respect of being called “Bill” moreso than “Moose”. I noticed that websites that mentioned or featured Skowron often noted that William’s nickname was “Bill”. I thought it strange that Moose seemed almost avoided… I don't think he minded being called Moose. His teammates loved him and always called him that. Tony Kubek (with a guy named Terry Pluto) had a book almost forty years ago called "Sixty-One" that has a few gems in it. One involved Skowron. When Skowron, who was a neighbor of Kubek's, learned that Tony's wife was pregnant, he insisted that Kubek call him when the time came because he had already had two sons and knew the ropes. Kubek was a bit reluctant, but when at 3 AM one night when the time was coming, he did call Moose. Skowron came to the house and sat with the Kubeks until Mrs. K said it was time. According to Kubek, Moose went into complete panic mode and got on the phone to call some FBI guy he knew because the FBI would know what to do. Tony said he and his wife had to calm Moose down before heading to the hospital. He said it was typical of Skowron to always want to help, even when he really could not.  |
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Post by BillyBones on Mar 26, 2023 15:01:03 GMT -5
Mickey Mantle was not just incredibly strong, but he was also incredibly fast. In 1958, The Mick hit an inside the park home run on May 9, 1958, another on May 20, 1958, and a third on June 5, 1958. Not one Yankee player since Mantle, has hit three inside the park home runs in the same season… The thing I noticed about Mickey's running, besides the obvious speed, was that his head did not bob up and down. Watch him on a triple and you will see an almost level head. Maybe it's just me, but it looks almost unusual to not have more vertical movement. What a tremendous physical talent. The only one comparable is Bo Jackson, in my view. |
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 17:18:12 GMT -5
Mickey Mantle was not just incredibly strong, but he was also incredibly fast. In 1958, The Mick hit an inside the park home run on May 9, 1958, another on May 20, 1958, and a third on June 5, 1958. Not one Yankee player since Mantle, has hit three inside the park home runs in the same season… The thing I noticed about Mickey's running, besides the obvious speed, was that his head did not bob up and down. Watch him on a triple and you will see an almost level head. Maybe it's just me, but it looks almost unusual to not have more vertical movement. What a tremendous physical talent. The only one comparable is Bo Jackson, in my view. I remarked that same trait to my nephew once when I attended one of his games. He was never a MLB prospect, but he could play some ball… |
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Post by inger on Mar 26, 2023 18:50:03 GMT -5
“When he (Roger Maris) hit it (home run #61 in 1961), he came into the dugout and they were all applauding. I mean, this is something that's only happened once in baseball, right? And the people were all applauding. They wanted him to come back out. He wouldn't come out, so the players had to push him back out. They forced him to come out and take a bow. That's the kind of guy he was. He was great, and I really liked him." - Mickey Mantle in The Ultimate Yankee Book…
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Post by inger on Mar 27, 2023 11:13:18 GMT -5
1 - Roger Maris played 127 games in right field in 1960, committed only three errors, and won a Gold Glove Award. Only one other New York Yankees outfielder had ever won a Gold Glove.
Anyone know who one the first outfield GG with NY?
Norm Siebern, in 1958, playing LF…
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Post by inger on Mar 27, 2023 11:18:09 GMT -5
In 1965 Maris developed hand problems. He couldn't check his powerful swing, which left him vulnerable to a high rate of strikeouts. So he instead became a slap hitter, a role he played on the 1967 world champion St. Louis Cardinals. Had Maris had access to today's huge advances in sports medicine, it's likely he could have enjoyed a longer career as a slugger.
I had always wondered what had sapped Maris’ power…
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Post by inger on Mar 27, 2023 11:21:02 GMT -5
"Yogi (Berra) had the fastest bat I ever saw. He could hit a ball late - that was already past him - and take it out of the park." - Hector Lopez…
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