1959 Yankee of the Past: Lou Berberet

"Lou swapped his Senators flannels for a Red Sox uniform last season. Although he didn't see much action, Lou can be depended upon to furnish defensive strength for Boston.

Lou attended Santa Clara University before making baseball his career."

-1959 Topps No. 96

BERBERET FINDS A PLATE TO CALL HOME

Three-Club Discard Catches On As A Tiger Catcher

"They laughed when Lou Berberet missed two pop flies in a row.

But the stocky Tiger catcher did some laughing of his own after that.

After rebuffs from other American League clubs, it appeared this spring that 'Lulu' had finally found a home behind the plate at Detroit's Briggs Stadium. He could be the answer to the Tigers' long search for a backstop with strong left-handed power, although it is too early for a verdict.

'Winning catcher: Berberet' became a happy slogan around the clubhouse during the Tigers' happy revival under manager Jimmie Dykes.

Some 23 times in the Tigers' first 30 games this year the roly-poly Berberet was their starting catcher. This was no mean feat for the newcomer. The man he had to beat out of a regular job was Bob (Red) Wilson, who just happened to have the best season of his career in 1958.

How did he do it? The answer is simple, according to Dykes.

'He's calling the right pitches and he's swinging a hot bat,' offered the genial Tiger skipper as Berberet caught eight of the Tigers' first nine victories this spring.

'Forget about those pop flies he dropped. That's liable to happen to anyone, especially with the sun and wind the way they were that day. I told Lou the same thing. Sure, he's a slow runner and you can't do anything about that. But he's a pretty good receiver and I like the way he hits that ball.'

So did Dykes' predecessor, Bill Norman. 'Berberet can win the job with his bat,' Norman said in spring training and Lou must have been listening. He didn't get started under Norman, but once Dykes took over his bat began to sing.

More important, Berberet started finding the home run range at Briggs Stadium with three upper-deck blasts in five days.

This didn't exactly surprise Lou. 'This is my park,' he said with a wave toward the right field stands with their 325-foot target on the foul line. 'I've wanted to play here regularly ever since I got to the American League.'

Berberet, who belonged to the Yankees, Senators and Red Sox before the Tigers acquired him last December, feels he never had a real chance before this year. 'I guess 15 or 18 games in a row was the most I ever played at one time,' he explains. 'That was at Washington in 1956- when both the other catchers were hurt.'

A former Santa Clara football player who finds his blocking skill handy in baseball, Lou discovered Yogi Berra in his way when he tried to graduate from the Yankee farm system in 1954 and 1955. He wasn't alone. Gus Triandos and Hal Smith were in the same predicament, and all three were traded off by the Yankees.

Berberet went to the Senators in a package deal for Maury McDermott. Although playing in nearly 100 games each season, he was overshadowed in Washington by Clint Courtney and after two years was passed along to the Boston Red Sox.

There he found Sammy White fading behind the plate. 'But when I got a chance to beat him out of the job, I ran into a lot of tough luck,' Berberet explains. 'I was hitting the ball well, but all line drives were right at someone.'

Then came his trade to Detroit last December and what Lou calls 'the best break of my life.'

It appears the Tigers also got the better of the swap. Pitcher Herb Moford, the man they gave up to get Berberet, was shipped to the minor leagues in May."

-Hal Middlesworth, Detroit Free Press (Baseball Digest, July 1959)

1959 Yankee of the Past: Rip Coleman

"Rip depends on his whizzing fastball and his baseball maturity to win him a regular berth on the Kansas City mound corps.

Originally a Yankee, Rip was traded to the A's and suffered a rough 1957 season. He averaged 126 strikeouts in six minor league seasons."

-1959 Topps No. 51

1959 Yankee Prospect of the Past: Art Ceccarelli

"Art prepped for the majors last year by hurling for Vancouver. The Pacific Coast League is a hitter's league, but Art was touched for only nine homers in 166 innings. That shows that he can make the batters hit what he wants to throw and can nick the corners of the plate.

He started 22 games and relieved in 13 others last year. One of Art's two shutouts was a 3-hitter.

Art was a football, basketball and baseball star in high school."

-1959 Topps No. 226

1959 Yankee Prospect of the Past: Hal W. Smith

CATCHER AT THIRD BASE

Unmasked Hal Smith Proves Slick Infielder For A's

"In any group of baseball athletes, the catcher is usually recognizable on sight, even when unburdened by any of the apparatus of his trade, which has sometimes been called the tools of ignorance. Mostly, the catchers are of wide girth and thick of neck and they toe out like Yogi Berra and Clint Courtney and are pushovers for television panelists who guess people's lines.

The whole catching profession has a new hero this year, though, one of their own, who is giving them lift and tone and proving that catchers can be like some other people and play third base, for example. He is Hal Smith of the Kansas City Athletics, who waved a wand, or something, over himself and has emerged as a very slick member of the A's infield.

When the A's are on the field, it is impossible to tell by looking that the fellow making all the plays at third base and who is, in fact, their No. 1 third baseman, is their old warhorse catcher, Smith. The clues are faint because Smith happens to be tall and shapely and nimble and altogether implausible as a catcher.

Harry Craft, the manager of the A's, said it all began with Smith last season when, for a while, the third base situation became unsatisfactory. 'I got the hunch when I saw Smith fooling around at third base in practice.'

The A's manager said, 'You know what happens in practice on every ball club in practice. The outfielders want to come in and show off. The pitchers and catchers usually go to first base and fool around and try to act like Hal Chase and George Sisler.

'Well, pretty soon we saw Smith out there on third, and this is a revelation. He's playing third with a catcher's mitt and making one-hand pickups and everything. This is so incredible that we threw him a finger glove and now in practice he begins to play third base better than anybody we ever had there. For a club that has three catchers and no third baseman, my next decision was easy.'

Smith finished up playing 12 games at third base last season and nobody played it better, Craft said. That was nice for the A's because Smith also swings a good bat and two years ago was their leading hitter with a .303 average and last season he still had a neat .273. Also, it permitted Hector Lopez to get off third base, where he didn't belong, and back to second base, where he did.

Smith personally liked the whole idea of his transformation into an infielder after a ten-year career in the majors and minors. The arm that used to throw out base stealers is now the best in the A's infield and Smith said, 'Another thing is I am blessed with a strong chest that balls can bounce off of if I misplay 'em with my glove.'

The Yankees used to own Smith, which is another thing in his favor. They gave him a small bonus ten years ago and Yankee scouts are the most particular operatives. On account of Yogi Berra, there was no room for Smith on the Yankees. But before he became the regular catcher for the A's, he was the regular catcher for the Orioles, too, proving that the Yankees do not waste their money.

The hard hit ball problem isn't his problem, Smith said. 'A third baseman's hands don't have to be any quicker than a catcher's, you know,' he said. 'Actually a catcher's hands have to be quicker. The thing that could bother me most about playing third is the bunt. But when you've been a catcher, you learn more about the bunting intentions of these guys who have little giveaways in their actions, so maybe I have the edge there.' "

-Shirley Povich, Washington Post (Baseball Digest, June 1959)

"Hal, a catcher by trade, was converted into a third sacker last year and in 43 games played well at the 'hot corner.' He also boasted of a 20-game hitting streak last season.

Hal is one of eight Smiths who played in the majors last year."

-1959 Topps No. 227

1959 Yankee Prospect of the Past: Vic Power

"Vic was the No. 5 batter in the American League last season. He played 52 games with the A's and hit .302. Coming to Cleveland, he saw action in 93 contests and posted a neat .317 mark. He hit 12 of his 16 home runs for the Tribe. Vic hit in 22 straight games last year."

-1959 Topps No. 229

1959 Yankee of the Past: Willy Miranda

"What Willy doesn't show at the plate, he more than makes up for in the field. He's one of the quickest, surest shortstops in the business. He led American League shortstops in double plays (155) in 1955."

-1959 Topps No. 540

1959 Yankee of the Past: Billy Martin

"Billy has played his best when the chips were down in World Series games. He holds a fine .333 mark in five Fall Classics. In  the 1953 Series he hit .500, getting 12 hits, which matched an all-time record, and drove in eight runs."

-1959 Topps No. 295