PORTERFIELD'S OUT TO RESCUE HIS RESCUER
"The Law of Compensation is working these days for Bucky Harris who is being befriended by the pitcher for whom he went down the line in 1948, at the cost of his job as manager of the Yankees.
Bob Porterfield, central in L'Affaire Porterfield that led to the firing of Harris by the Yankees six years ago, now is the biggest force working toward saving Harris' job as manager of the Senators. It's a warming story of a pitcher's gratitude to his manager.
The Yankees never did give specific reasons for the discharge of Harris at the end of the 1948 season, unless it was his failure to win two pennants in a row. He missed the second one by a two-and-one-half-game margin in a year when Joe DiMaggio was hurt and Harris' Yankee lineup otherwise was so wounded he had to wind up his club with bailing-wire.
But it was rather well understood that General Manager George Weiss was taking a dark view of Harris, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, Harris had been the favorite of Larry MacPhail of an older Yankee regime, and latterly Weiss was viewing Harris as the source of his troubles with the New York baseball-writing press which was solidly on the manager's side in the Porterfield case.
The Yankees, in midseason, were suffering from a pitching shortage and Harris on a trip to the Yanks' Newark spotted Porterfield as the fellow who could give them a lift. He asked Weiss to bring up the big right-hander immediately, and Weiss refused. The New York writers fried the general manager.
Eventually, Porterfield was brought up, but too late. He won five games, lost three for the Yankees, but they couldn't get home. Weiss was exceedingly uncomfortable in the continued sharpness of the press section and was unforgiving toward Harris. At the end of the season, Harris was out.
Two years later, Porterfield was no longer with the Yankees, either. Dogged by injuries and a chronic sore arm, he was moved down to Kansas City. In 1950 he won two games only, one for the Yanks, one for Kansas City. Meanwhile, Harris was back in Washington. The Yankees offered him Porterfield along with Fred Sanford, Tom Ferrick and $50,000 for pitcher Bob Kuzava.
Before Harris made the trade, he called Porterfield by long-distance for some assurance on the condition of his arm. 'It's good, and I'll pitch my head off for you, Bucky,' said Porterfield. Harris told the Yankees it was a deal.
Porterfield has, in fact, been pitching his head off for Harris ever since. The high point was last year when he led all the league's pitchers with his 22 victories and nine shutouts. This season Porterfield is indicating he'll repeat that distinction, despite the low-caliber Washington club.
Nothing less than a first-division finish may save Harris' job with the Senators. He's on the tag-end of his two-year contract and the front office is thinking he's expendable. Porterfield is the best thing he has going for him, and Big Bob is geared to give an immense try at rescuing the man who rescued him from the minors.
There is no other pitching stalwart in the league to compare with Porterfield. This season he has stopped Washington losing streaks of six-straight, five-straight and four-straight. Without him the Senators would have completely hopeless. When he is working, there is more than a reasonable certainty they are going to win a ball game.
Harris was talking the other night about some of the Washington pitchers he had managed- Walter Johnson, Al Crowder, Fred Marberry, Earl Whitehill and a dozen other good ones. 'I won't rate 'em all down the line,' he said, 'but this much you can quote me on. After Johnson, slip in the name of Bob Porterfield and you'll have 'em one-two in my most honest opinion.' "
-Shirley Povich, Washington Post and Times-Herald (Baseball Digest, August 1954)
"Bob is a great pitcher who has often worked in very tough luck. However, Lady Luck more than smiled on him in 1953 as she matched his skill. He won the most games in the American League, 22; he had the most complete games, 24; and he turned in the most shutouts, nine. He lost 10 and his earned run average of 3.35 was tenth best in the league.
Bob began in baseball as the property of the New York Yankees. He was a paratrooper during World War II."
-1954 Bowman No. 24
"Bob had an excellent season for the Washington Senators in 1953. His 22 wins were the most in the league, he had the most complete games with 24 and he was responsible for the most shutouts, whitewashing the opposition nine times. Bob lost 10 games, and his earned run average was 3.35.
Hard luck dogged Bob during the earlier stages of his career in the form of injuries, but he has now achieved the promise he showed."
1954 Red Man No. AL-18
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