PITCH TO THEIR STRIDES!
Here's Griffith's Advice To His Hurlers
"If the rear shoulder of a batter facing a Washing pitcher drops, you can be reasonably sure he's going to get a high pitch.
It's an order, suh- and a written one!
And it comes from the top- from Clark Griffith, president of the Washington ball club himself.
Quite dissatisfied with the way some of his highly-touted pitchers performed last year, the 85-year-old Griffith, himself one of the great hurlers of the game 60 years ago, recently dictated a three-page set of instructions to be mailed to each of the members of his pitching staff, telling them just what to do in almost any circumstance that might arise.
'One bad pitch can cost us a game,' Griffith says. 'Maybe, somewhere in those instructions, a pitcher might find a tip that will turn a defeat into a win. If so, I've accomplished something.'
He analyzes all the reasons behind all the advice he gives, too. For instance: 'If the batter's rear shoulder drops, pitch high,' Griff advises, 'since the dropping of the rear shoulder will cause the bat to swing with an upward motion and all balls will be hit in the air as flies.
'If the batter takes too long a stride, pitch high,' Griff's letter continues. 'The ball will look like a strike as it comes towards the batsman, but it will be above his shoulders after he takes his stride. There is only one place a high-pitched ball can be hit by such a batsman- into the air. A slow ball or slow curve is also effective against the batsman who takes too long a step.
'If the batter takes too short a stride and carries his bat in a high position, pitch low,' Griff cautions. 'Such a stride does not give a batsman sufficient arm movement to reach and meet such a pitched ball squarely.'
If the batter's front foot pulls away from a straight line toward the pitcher, he is to be pitched low and to the outside, the theory being that a batter with this characteristic will be too far away from the line of the flight of the oncoming pitch to hit it effectively.
'If the batter appears anxious, take plenty of time,' Griffith continues. 'With a man on base in scoring position, pitch curve balls, low. A low curve is hard to hit into the air for a long fly. Have some particular pitch in reserve for this situation.'
The Washington pitchers are now under written instructions to try to get the first pitch, whether a fast one or a curve ball, over the plate for a strike. Mr. Griffith doesn't believe in toying around with a batter to the extent of letting him start off with the upper hand.
He's also informed his pitchers that 'it is best to throw the ball at some particular part of the catcher's anatomy rather than at a mental object quite apart from the catcher.'
And he also doesn't want his pitchers to try to deliver a curve ball with a big crook in the arm at the elbow. 'It should be almost as fully extended as in pitching a fast ball.'
Here are some more decrees in Griffith's advice to his hurling staff:
'Be sure and mix up the time between each delivery. It is a mistake to take the same length of time between deliveries.
'All the necessary pitching motions are these: With the feet in proper position and the elbows resting on the hips, the hands are brought up in the front of the body belt-high. The ball is well-covered by the glove and the weight is on the pivot foot. With the body pivoting, the pitching arm drops vertically the lowest point of the arm swing, then ascends to the highest point assumed in order to obtain the natural delivery. The pitcher's hand should remain stationary until the pivot movement of the body starts.'
Mr. Griffith also makes known these philosophies of his:
'Control is the greatest of all pitching assets.
'If the batter is anxious, take plenty of time.
'If the batter appears ready to bunt in order to advance base runners, pitch high. Low balls are easier to bunt.
'Watch base runners out of the corner of your eye and also keep your eye on the plate without bobbing your head.
'A fast ball properly controlled is far more effective than the random pitching of either fast or curve balls.
'Remember a change in the position of the pivot foot will often help a pitch to achieve control.'
Mr. Griffith's memorandum to his pitchers also tells them how to go about practicing in order to be able to best follow through on these instructions. 'Practice pitching a fast, straight ball directly over the plate, belt-high. When this can be done satisfactorily, practice pitching over the plate, high or low. When the pitcher is satisfied with this part of his control, it is time to practice inside and outside ball pitching.'
However, there is an indication in this 'manifesto' of Griffith's that he realizes that there is a human equation involved in these credos and that, the truth of the business is, their issuance may not necessarily ensure a pennant overnight. For he not only set down that, 'To be a good pitcher, it takes a good constitution, condition, muscular strength, reserve energy, an alert mind, rhythm and much courage,' but, with what may be the touch of a sigh, he adds, 'Pitching is the most difficult position in the game.' "
-Harold Helfer, Baseball Digest, January-February 1955
HOW TO BUILD VICTORIES WITH BRICK
"Clark Griffith was a very good pitcher, also a very tricky one. He probably will not reveal any of his legerdemain to the members of his Washington staff, for he became one of the staunchest foes of trick pitching when the spitball and other freak deliveries were outlawed, like the reformed drunkard who becomes the most aggressive and unyielding of prohibitionists after being divorced from the bottle.
'There wasn't a trick in the book that Old Griff didn't know,' recalls Eddie Cicotte, 'and he added a number of his own invention.
'Old Griff had a brick embedded in the rear of the pitching box and he would step back and pretend to be rubbing the ball in the dirt, but what he actually did was rub it over the rough surface of the brick and get the cover fuzzy. In his home park he pitched the fuzziest ball seen in the big leagues.
'He didn't get the nickname 'The Old Fox' without good reason.'
Apparently what the Washington pitchers needed last year was a rough brick planted in the edge of the pitcher's box."
-H.G. Salsinger in the Detroit News (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
Monday, June 29, 2020
Friday, June 26, 2020
1955 Yankee of the Past: Allie Reynolds
A MOMENT THAT'S REYNOLD'S MONUMENT
It Was Only An Incident - But It Told A Lot
"It was only an incident in the fine pitching career of Allie Reynolds, although a very important incident at the time in that it concerned his no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, Sept. 28,1951.
Yet somehow it overshadows the feats of this great competitor, in that it gave, in a few fleeting seconds, a glimpse of the unselfishness and solicitude hidden behind a stern, and some times awesome, exterior.
Maybe you recall the dark drama of the final inning of that epic game. We do, as we watched it unfold, along with some 39,000 other alternately hushed and raucous witnesses.
Two men were out, with Dom DiMaggio, who had walked, on first base when Ted Williams stepped up to the plate. Ted Williams, the most feared batter in the game, and long overdue, swishing his bat menacingly and every move the picture of determination, and eagerness.
Reynolds might have walked him. It would have put two men on base, but from a selfish standpoint it would have enhanced his chances of completing the no-hitter.
He chose to pitch to him, boldly. He cut the plate with a strike which Ted took. Then another, and the Boston slugger got a piece of the ball. It shot straight into the air, a towering shot which looked like an easy out.
Yogi Berra yanked off his mask and stood ready. Suddenly he began to circle and weave as a capricious breeze caught the ball and played tricks with it.
Yogi made a desperate, diving stab at it at the last moment, falling prone as the ball hit his glove and bounded away.
Reynolds had rushed from the mound as if to help Yogi make the catch, and his momentum carried him to, and over, the stocky receiver. He rushed back and bent over the catcher, made some remark.
We asked Berra later what Reynolds had said. 'He just asked me if I was all right,' he answered. 'He was afraid he'd stepped on me with his spikes.'
That is the incident we'll remember whenever we think of Reynolds. A lesser man might have blown his top, cursing the catcher for missing the ball. After all, the out would have made Allie the second major league pitcher in history to turn in two no-hitters during a season. As it turned out, Williams fouled out on the next pitch, with Berra making a much more difficult catch near the Yankee dugout.
Reynold's action shows the kind of man the Yankees are losing with the retirement of the big Oklahoman; a man who puts the welfare of others above his own quest for a cherished goal.
Plagued at various times by a miscellaneous assortment of injuries that included a torn leg muscle, an injured hip, a twisted knee, bone chips in his pitching elbow, a lacerated finger and a pulled back muscle, Reynolds now comes to the end of the road because of a back injury caused by a bus accident. That leaves the Yankees with only stolid Eddie Lopat of the 'big three' so important to the club's five straight pennant drives and five straight World Series triumphs.
Vic Raschi went to the St. Louis Cardinals last spring. Gene Woodling is gone. Joe DiMaggio is gone. Phil Rizzuto faded badly last year. Johnny Mize has retired.
And now the Big Chief, and with him goes one more link to the glory days."
-Whitney Martin, Associated Press (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
It Was Only An Incident - But It Told A Lot
"It was only an incident in the fine pitching career of Allie Reynolds, although a very important incident at the time in that it concerned his no-hitter against the Boston Red Sox, Sept. 28,1951.
Yet somehow it overshadows the feats of this great competitor, in that it gave, in a few fleeting seconds, a glimpse of the unselfishness and solicitude hidden behind a stern, and some times awesome, exterior.
Maybe you recall the dark drama of the final inning of that epic game. We do, as we watched it unfold, along with some 39,000 other alternately hushed and raucous witnesses.
Two men were out, with Dom DiMaggio, who had walked, on first base when Ted Williams stepped up to the plate. Ted Williams, the most feared batter in the game, and long overdue, swishing his bat menacingly and every move the picture of determination, and eagerness.
Reynolds might have walked him. It would have put two men on base, but from a selfish standpoint it would have enhanced his chances of completing the no-hitter.
He chose to pitch to him, boldly. He cut the plate with a strike which Ted took. Then another, and the Boston slugger got a piece of the ball. It shot straight into the air, a towering shot which looked like an easy out.
Yogi Berra yanked off his mask and stood ready. Suddenly he began to circle and weave as a capricious breeze caught the ball and played tricks with it.
Yogi made a desperate, diving stab at it at the last moment, falling prone as the ball hit his glove and bounded away.
Reynolds had rushed from the mound as if to help Yogi make the catch, and his momentum carried him to, and over, the stocky receiver. He rushed back and bent over the catcher, made some remark.
We asked Berra later what Reynolds had said. 'He just asked me if I was all right,' he answered. 'He was afraid he'd stepped on me with his spikes.'
That is the incident we'll remember whenever we think of Reynolds. A lesser man might have blown his top, cursing the catcher for missing the ball. After all, the out would have made Allie the second major league pitcher in history to turn in two no-hitters during a season. As it turned out, Williams fouled out on the next pitch, with Berra making a much more difficult catch near the Yankee dugout.
Reynold's action shows the kind of man the Yankees are losing with the retirement of the big Oklahoman; a man who puts the welfare of others above his own quest for a cherished goal.
Plagued at various times by a miscellaneous assortment of injuries that included a torn leg muscle, an injured hip, a twisted knee, bone chips in his pitching elbow, a lacerated finger and a pulled back muscle, Reynolds now comes to the end of the road because of a back injury caused by a bus accident. That leaves the Yankees with only stolid Eddie Lopat of the 'big three' so important to the club's five straight pennant drives and five straight World Series triumphs.
Vic Raschi went to the St. Louis Cardinals last spring. Gene Woodling is gone. Joe DiMaggio is gone. Phil Rizzuto faded badly last year. Johnny Mize has retired.
And now the Big Chief, and with him goes one more link to the glory days."
-Whitney Martin, Associated Press (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
Tuesday, June 23, 2020
1955 Yankee of the Past: Lefty Gomez
REVERSE ENGLISH
"At the World Series, Lefty Gomez was regaling his audience with some of his managerial experiences. 'I managed Caracas in the Winter League,' the Senor said, 'but I couldn't speak a word of Spanish and no one on the team understood English. Still, we finished third. After that, I piloted Havana in the Cuba loop and, although some of the fellows managed to get the drift of my English, practically all of them understood only Spanish. Again we finished third.
George Weiss, according to Gomez, thought Lefty had managerial makings and installed him as boss of the Yanks' Binghamton farm. 'Everybody understood English on the team,' Gomez went on, 'but we finished last. So, you see, the better they understood me, the worse off they were.' "
-Max Kase in the New York Journal-American (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
LOADED QUESTION
"Known as a screwball in his playing days, Lefty Gomez always was quick with the wisecrack. He was telling of the time Manager Joe McCarthy came out to talk with him one day when the opposition had the bases full.
'Lefty,' began McCarthy, 'I just want you to know that the bases are full.'
Gomez stared back at him and said, 'Did you think I thought they were extra infielders.' "
-Bob Addie in the Washington Post and Times Herald (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
WITH A BANJO ON HIS KNEE
"A long-time friend of Lefty Gomez, Claude Engberg, tells this one on the former Yankee mound ace:
'A few years ago we were driving from Great Falls to Idaho Falls. Lefty and I were listening to the Game of the Day on the air. Gomez turned to me and said, 'Imagine that! Three years ago I had that Luis Aloma with me in South America and he didn't know how to stand on the mound. He didn't know anything and now he's pitching in Yankee Stadium before a capacity crowd in the most crucial game of the season to date.'
'We drove on for a while,' Engberg continued, 'and the station started to fade a little and another station with a musical program came in, too, so we were hearing both stations equally clear. All of a sudden Gomez turned to me and said, 'Imagine that! I never heard anything like that in my life.'
'I couldn't see anything unusual, the game going along nicely with no excitement, so I said I didn't see anything out of the ordinary,' Engberg added.
' 'Why you durned fool!' Gomez exploded. 'Imagine that! Three years ago he couldn't stand on the rubber and now he's pitching in Yankee Stadium before a record crowd and shutting out the Yankees with one hand and playing a banjo with another.' ' "
-John Mooney in the Salt Lake Tribune (Baseball Digest, September 1955)
"At the World Series, Lefty Gomez was regaling his audience with some of his managerial experiences. 'I managed Caracas in the Winter League,' the Senor said, 'but I couldn't speak a word of Spanish and no one on the team understood English. Still, we finished third. After that, I piloted Havana in the Cuba loop and, although some of the fellows managed to get the drift of my English, practically all of them understood only Spanish. Again we finished third.
George Weiss, according to Gomez, thought Lefty had managerial makings and installed him as boss of the Yanks' Binghamton farm. 'Everybody understood English on the team,' Gomez went on, 'but we finished last. So, you see, the better they understood me, the worse off they were.' "
-Max Kase in the New York Journal-American (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
LOADED QUESTION
"Known as a screwball in his playing days, Lefty Gomez always was quick with the wisecrack. He was telling of the time Manager Joe McCarthy came out to talk with him one day when the opposition had the bases full.
'Lefty,' began McCarthy, 'I just want you to know that the bases are full.'
Gomez stared back at him and said, 'Did you think I thought they were extra infielders.' "
-Bob Addie in the Washington Post and Times Herald (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
WITH A BANJO ON HIS KNEE
"A long-time friend of Lefty Gomez, Claude Engberg, tells this one on the former Yankee mound ace:
'A few years ago we were driving from Great Falls to Idaho Falls. Lefty and I were listening to the Game of the Day on the air. Gomez turned to me and said, 'Imagine that! Three years ago I had that Luis Aloma with me in South America and he didn't know how to stand on the mound. He didn't know anything and now he's pitching in Yankee Stadium before a capacity crowd in the most crucial game of the season to date.'
'We drove on for a while,' Engberg continued, 'and the station started to fade a little and another station with a musical program came in, too, so we were hearing both stations equally clear. All of a sudden Gomez turned to me and said, 'Imagine that! I never heard anything like that in my life.'
'I couldn't see anything unusual, the game going along nicely with no excitement, so I said I didn't see anything out of the ordinary,' Engberg added.
' 'Why you durned fool!' Gomez exploded. 'Imagine that! Three years ago he couldn't stand on the rubber and now he's pitching in Yankee Stadium before a record crowd and shutting out the Yankees with one hand and playing a banjo with another.' ' "
-John Mooney in the Salt Lake Tribune (Baseball Digest, September 1955)
Friday, June 19, 2020
1955 Yankee of the Past: Babe Ruth
"In Babe Ruth's only introduction to tennis participation, his patience wore thin in trying to control racquet against ball. Finally in disgust, he flung his racquet aside and grumbled, 'There just ain't no sense to a game where you have to keep the ball inside the park ... ' "
-Bruce Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
HE GOT HIM TO HIT INTO THE GROUND ALL RIGHT
"Waite Hoyt, the ex-Yankee pitcher who now broadcasts the Cincinnati Redlegs' games, was talking about Babe Ruth's last home runs. The Babe was with the Braves in Pittsburgh that day (May 25, 1935) and the Pirates asked Hoyt how to pitch to the big guy. 'How do I know?' he said. 'I never pitched to him. But maybe I'd try him high and outside or low and outside and pray.'
'Nuts, I don't think he's as tough as you guys make him out to be,' Guy Bush said. 'I'd throw my sinker and he'd hit it into the ground.'
Bush was in the bullpen in the early innings that day when Babe blasted one into the stands. Eventually, Bush was called in to pitch and the Babe hit two more out of sight before the day was over. Those were the last homers he ever hit.
'You got him to hit it into the ground, all right,' Hoyt told Bush later, 'only the ground he hit was 500 feet from home plate.' "
-Sid Friedlander in the New York Post (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
HOW WILL WE KNOW WHEN THE BABE'S RECORD IS BROKEN?
Changing Park Conditions Make Home Run Comparisons Difficult
"In Kansas City next season the foul lines will be 312 feet long. There are shorter home run distances in the American League- but not many. The slugger who can pull the ball to either field should enjoy himself in the circuit's newest city.
If he can't pull the ball, he'll be unhappy. Except at those 312-foot marks, the garden is expansive. The center field wall is 460 feet from the plate.
But I'm not interested in surveying. I'm just wondering what will happen in the unlikely event that a major league batter ever hits 61 home runs in a single season. Will we have to say he broke Babe Ruth's record?
I don't see how we can, and have the statement mean much. Since Ruth drove 60 pitches beyond the boundaries in 1927, three clubs in the American League and two in the National have changed parks. Most of the others have redesigned their perimeters, usually to the advantage of the musclemen.
You couldn't well compare the talent of two musicians if one played a Stradivarius and the other plucked a ukulele. Similarly, you can't sensibly compare home run totals achieved under different conditions.
In some instances, the hitters have a tougher time today than they had in 1927. Ruth himself lifted four of those 60 homers over the fence at Cleveland's old League Park. He refused to try for distance in Cleveland Stadium.
That was long before Bill Veeck installed the inside fence, but even today, a man who hits long, high flies toward right field doesn't do as well as he would have done in League Park.
A right-handed slugger at the Stadium, on the other hand, has a target much more inviting than his predecessor had at League Park. But in Baltimore the distances are more depressing than they were while that franchise stayed in St. Louis.
Probably we're speculating about something which will never happen. Some mighty maulers have challenged Ruth's record in the last 27 years, but only two men- Hank Greenberg and Jimmie Foxx- have come interestingly close to breaking it. Each hit 58.
Considering the fact that more parks, then as now, favored left-handed hitters; that most pitchers, then as now, were right-handers, and that Ruth's home stadium was built to order for his specialty, I'd guess that both Greenberg and Foxx packed more power than the Babe. That opinion and a dime will get them the proverbial cup of coffee. Ruth holds the record.
But isn't it remarkable, with all of baseball gone slug-nutty for more than a quarter of a century, so few hitters have come close to duplicating the Bambino's mark?
'We haven't as many big men in the game today,' is Greenberg's explanation. 'I mean big men physically. Fellows of the build of Rudy York and Hack Wilson, as well as Foxx and myself.'
That could be at least part of the answer. Al Rosen, after leading the league in homers in 1953, told me he had no ambition to repeat the performance.
'What would be the point?' he asked. 'I've proven I can hit 43 home runs in one season. What if I hit 50? I'd still be ten short of the record. The fellow who breaks Ruth's record will have to be a bigger, stronger man than I am.'
Others believe the widespread popularity of the pitch known as the 'slider' has reversed the trend toward lofty home run totals. When it doesn't break right, the slider is an easy pitch to kill. But oftener than not, it is impossible to get good wood on this delivery.
To return to Ruth, how many of those homers did he hit in Yankee Stadium? Only 24. He hit eight in Boston, seven in St. Louis, five each in Philadelphia and Washington, four each in Cleveland and Detroit and three in Chicago."
-Ed McAuley, Cleveland News (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
RUTH'S TWO-FOOT DOUBLE
"Johnny Pohlmeyer, a Red Sox scout, was recalling a Babe Ruth pop fly. 'I saw him hit one right in this park- and for two bases. Charley Berry was catching and the ball landed two feet in front of the plate for a double. Nobody hit pop flies the murderous height Ruth did. Berry started for the dugout, then swung back towards third base, then towards first. Finally, the ball landed two feet in front of home plate and there was Ruth, laughing like mad, and standing on second base.' "
-Gerry Hern in the Boston Post (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
THE BABE'S SHIRT TALE
"Once Babe Ruth became baseball's greatest home run hitter, he just about made his own rules. It wasn't that way, however, when he was a young and relatively slender pitcher for the Red Sox.
Mike McNally, farm chief of the Cleveland Indians and a great friend of the Babe's in their playing days, tells one about a clash Ruth had with the volcanic Bill Carrigan.
The Red Sox manager called his players together one day for a discussion of their habits off the field.
'On this club we hit the hay at midnight,' he roared. 'Most of you have been telling me the truth, but you are one of those who lied!' He was pointing at Ruth as he said that.
'You told me you went to your room at a quarter to 12, but one of my coaches saw you come in at 4:30 in the morning,' he continued.
The guilty Babe shifted his weight nervously and matched stares with Carrigan.
'I ain't lying,' he finally protested. 'I did so go to my room at a quarter to 12. I needed a clean shirt. Nobody asked me what time I went out again!' "
-Frank Gibbons in the Cleveland Press (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
RUTH'S RECORD HOMER WAS UNSCREENED
N.L.: Sluggers To Get Old Target In St. Louis
"Long before the Cardinals decided this winter to haul down the 25-foot screen in front of the right field pavilion at Busch Stadium, a mild controversy had been going on about one aspect of it.
Was the screen there when Babe Ruth hit his record number of 60 home runs in one season, 1927?
It has been mentioned before, but it is worth repeating for the sake of the record that the screen was not there in 1927. It was put up prior to the 1930 season.
But that still left an argument unsettled.
Did the absence of the screen help Ruth to his record that year?
Many people have snorted at the idea, as several have done these past weeks, when the argument, freshly fueled by the removal of the screen, flamed again.
'Ruth never needed any help in hitting his homers,' one man said. 'He could bunt the ball into that part of the pavilion. Any time he hit one it was really tagged. The only place they needed a screen was in front of those plate glass windows on the other side of Grand Avenue. He used to break them regularly.
'I think I saw every game the Browns and Yanks played that year in St. Louis,' he went on, 'and I can't ever remember the Babe hitting one into the pavilion.'
It is worthy of note that this gentleman was a brave man indeed. The Yankees won 21 out of 22 games from the Browns that year, including all 11 in St. Louis. But, sad to relate, the man might have been brave but his memory was a little faulty.
The Babe needed the absence of a screen for just one of his homers.
That, however, was just enough to give him an all-time record of 60 homers in a season.
The home run in question was not the sixtieth of the year.
It was the seventh of that season, the first one he hit that year in St. Louis and it happened on May 10.
Milt Gaston was the Browns' hurler at the moment. The Babe whacked it in the first inning with Earle Combs and Mark Koenig on base to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead and an early boost to an 8-7 victory. The story on the game reported as 'a line drive shot dead to right field into the pavilion.'
For the others he hit in St. Louis that season, the Babe needed no help. All were tremendous blasts and more typical Ruthian homers hit tremendously high and far.
Gaston was his real patsy among Browns' hurlers. In addition to four he slugged in St. Louis, Ruth whacked five more against the Browns in Yankee Stadium. Gaston served up four of the nine home run pitches thrown to Ruth by Browns' hurlers that season. Ernie Nevers threw two and Ernie Wingard, Tom Zachary and Walter Stewart one.
Zachary it was who delivered the most important home run pitch of all. The Browns sold him to the Senators in midseason and he was the pitcher who was on the mound for Washington on September 30 in Yankee Stadium when Ruth connected for number 60, breaking his own record of 59 he had hung up in 1921.
So just in case you've been wondering whether the absence of that screen helped Ruth to his home run record in 1927, the answer is 'not much- but just enough.' "
-Robert L. Burnes, condensed from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
-Bruce Lee in the San Francisco Chronicle (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
HE GOT HIM TO HIT INTO THE GROUND ALL RIGHT
"Waite Hoyt, the ex-Yankee pitcher who now broadcasts the Cincinnati Redlegs' games, was talking about Babe Ruth's last home runs. The Babe was with the Braves in Pittsburgh that day (May 25, 1935) and the Pirates asked Hoyt how to pitch to the big guy. 'How do I know?' he said. 'I never pitched to him. But maybe I'd try him high and outside or low and outside and pray.'
'Nuts, I don't think he's as tough as you guys make him out to be,' Guy Bush said. 'I'd throw my sinker and he'd hit it into the ground.'
Bush was in the bullpen in the early innings that day when Babe blasted one into the stands. Eventually, Bush was called in to pitch and the Babe hit two more out of sight before the day was over. Those were the last homers he ever hit.
'You got him to hit it into the ground, all right,' Hoyt told Bush later, 'only the ground he hit was 500 feet from home plate.' "
-Sid Friedlander in the New York Post (Baseball Digest, November 1954)
HOW WILL WE KNOW WHEN THE BABE'S RECORD IS BROKEN?
Changing Park Conditions Make Home Run Comparisons Difficult
"In Kansas City next season the foul lines will be 312 feet long. There are shorter home run distances in the American League- but not many. The slugger who can pull the ball to either field should enjoy himself in the circuit's newest city.
If he can't pull the ball, he'll be unhappy. Except at those 312-foot marks, the garden is expansive. The center field wall is 460 feet from the plate.
But I'm not interested in surveying. I'm just wondering what will happen in the unlikely event that a major league batter ever hits 61 home runs in a single season. Will we have to say he broke Babe Ruth's record?
I don't see how we can, and have the statement mean much. Since Ruth drove 60 pitches beyond the boundaries in 1927, three clubs in the American League and two in the National have changed parks. Most of the others have redesigned their perimeters, usually to the advantage of the musclemen.
You couldn't well compare the talent of two musicians if one played a Stradivarius and the other plucked a ukulele. Similarly, you can't sensibly compare home run totals achieved under different conditions.
In some instances, the hitters have a tougher time today than they had in 1927. Ruth himself lifted four of those 60 homers over the fence at Cleveland's old League Park. He refused to try for distance in Cleveland Stadium.
That was long before Bill Veeck installed the inside fence, but even today, a man who hits long, high flies toward right field doesn't do as well as he would have done in League Park.
A right-handed slugger at the Stadium, on the other hand, has a target much more inviting than his predecessor had at League Park. But in Baltimore the distances are more depressing than they were while that franchise stayed in St. Louis.
Probably we're speculating about something which will never happen. Some mighty maulers have challenged Ruth's record in the last 27 years, but only two men- Hank Greenberg and Jimmie Foxx- have come interestingly close to breaking it. Each hit 58.
Considering the fact that more parks, then as now, favored left-handed hitters; that most pitchers, then as now, were right-handers, and that Ruth's home stadium was built to order for his specialty, I'd guess that both Greenberg and Foxx packed more power than the Babe. That opinion and a dime will get them the proverbial cup of coffee. Ruth holds the record.
But isn't it remarkable, with all of baseball gone slug-nutty for more than a quarter of a century, so few hitters have come close to duplicating the Bambino's mark?
'We haven't as many big men in the game today,' is Greenberg's explanation. 'I mean big men physically. Fellows of the build of Rudy York and Hack Wilson, as well as Foxx and myself.'
That could be at least part of the answer. Al Rosen, after leading the league in homers in 1953, told me he had no ambition to repeat the performance.
'What would be the point?' he asked. 'I've proven I can hit 43 home runs in one season. What if I hit 50? I'd still be ten short of the record. The fellow who breaks Ruth's record will have to be a bigger, stronger man than I am.'
Others believe the widespread popularity of the pitch known as the 'slider' has reversed the trend toward lofty home run totals. When it doesn't break right, the slider is an easy pitch to kill. But oftener than not, it is impossible to get good wood on this delivery.
To return to Ruth, how many of those homers did he hit in Yankee Stadium? Only 24. He hit eight in Boston, seven in St. Louis, five each in Philadelphia and Washington, four each in Cleveland and Detroit and three in Chicago."
-Ed McAuley, Cleveland News (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
RUTH'S TWO-FOOT DOUBLE
"Johnny Pohlmeyer, a Red Sox scout, was recalling a Babe Ruth pop fly. 'I saw him hit one right in this park- and for two bases. Charley Berry was catching and the ball landed two feet in front of the plate for a double. Nobody hit pop flies the murderous height Ruth did. Berry started for the dugout, then swung back towards third base, then towards first. Finally, the ball landed two feet in front of home plate and there was Ruth, laughing like mad, and standing on second base.' "
-Gerry Hern in the Boston Post (Baseball Digest, March 1955)
THE BABE'S SHIRT TALE
"Once Babe Ruth became baseball's greatest home run hitter, he just about made his own rules. It wasn't that way, however, when he was a young and relatively slender pitcher for the Red Sox.
Mike McNally, farm chief of the Cleveland Indians and a great friend of the Babe's in their playing days, tells one about a clash Ruth had with the volcanic Bill Carrigan.
The Red Sox manager called his players together one day for a discussion of their habits off the field.
'On this club we hit the hay at midnight,' he roared. 'Most of you have been telling me the truth, but you are one of those who lied!' He was pointing at Ruth as he said that.
'You told me you went to your room at a quarter to 12, but one of my coaches saw you come in at 4:30 in the morning,' he continued.
The guilty Babe shifted his weight nervously and matched stares with Carrigan.
'I ain't lying,' he finally protested. 'I did so go to my room at a quarter to 12. I needed a clean shirt. Nobody asked me what time I went out again!' "
-Frank Gibbons in the Cleveland Press (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
RUTH'S RECORD HOMER WAS UNSCREENED
N.L.: Sluggers To Get Old Target In St. Louis
"Long before the Cardinals decided this winter to haul down the 25-foot screen in front of the right field pavilion at Busch Stadium, a mild controversy had been going on about one aspect of it.
Was the screen there when Babe Ruth hit his record number of 60 home runs in one season, 1927?
It has been mentioned before, but it is worth repeating for the sake of the record that the screen was not there in 1927. It was put up prior to the 1930 season.
But that still left an argument unsettled.
Did the absence of the screen help Ruth to his record that year?
Many people have snorted at the idea, as several have done these past weeks, when the argument, freshly fueled by the removal of the screen, flamed again.
'Ruth never needed any help in hitting his homers,' one man said. 'He could bunt the ball into that part of the pavilion. Any time he hit one it was really tagged. The only place they needed a screen was in front of those plate glass windows on the other side of Grand Avenue. He used to break them regularly.
'I think I saw every game the Browns and Yanks played that year in St. Louis,' he went on, 'and I can't ever remember the Babe hitting one into the pavilion.'
It is worthy of note that this gentleman was a brave man indeed. The Yankees won 21 out of 22 games from the Browns that year, including all 11 in St. Louis. But, sad to relate, the man might have been brave but his memory was a little faulty.
The Babe needed the absence of a screen for just one of his homers.
That, however, was just enough to give him an all-time record of 60 homers in a season.
The home run in question was not the sixtieth of the year.
It was the seventh of that season, the first one he hit that year in St. Louis and it happened on May 10.
Milt Gaston was the Browns' hurler at the moment. The Babe whacked it in the first inning with Earle Combs and Mark Koenig on base to give the Yankees a 3-0 lead and an early boost to an 8-7 victory. The story on the game reported as 'a line drive shot dead to right field into the pavilion.'
For the others he hit in St. Louis that season, the Babe needed no help. All were tremendous blasts and more typical Ruthian homers hit tremendously high and far.
Gaston was his real patsy among Browns' hurlers. In addition to four he slugged in St. Louis, Ruth whacked five more against the Browns in Yankee Stadium. Gaston served up four of the nine home run pitches thrown to Ruth by Browns' hurlers that season. Ernie Nevers threw two and Ernie Wingard, Tom Zachary and Walter Stewart one.
Zachary it was who delivered the most important home run pitch of all. The Browns sold him to the Senators in midseason and he was the pitcher who was on the mound for Washington on September 30 in Yankee Stadium when Ruth connected for number 60, breaking his own record of 59 he had hung up in 1921.
So just in case you've been wondering whether the absence of that screen helped Ruth to his home run record in 1927, the answer is 'not much- but just enough.' "
-Robert L. Burnes, condensed from the St. Louis Globe-Democrat (Baseball Digest, April 1955)
Tuesday, June 16, 2020
1954 Yankees of the Past Alumni Team
Former Yankees on 1954 Spring Training Rosters
MGR - Chuck Dressen (Brooklyn Dodgers)
CH - Bucky Harris (Washington Senators)
CH - Rollie Hemsley (Philadelphia Athletics)
CH - Paul Schreiber (Boston Red Sox)
C - Sherm Lollar (Chicago White Sox)
C - Clint Courtney (Baltimore Orioles)
C - Jim Robertson (Philadelphia Athletics)
1B - Dick Kryhoski (Baltimore Orioles)
1B - Don Bollweg (Philadelphia Athletics)
2B - Pete Suder (Philadelphia Athletics)
3B - Jim Dyck (Baltimore Orioles)
SS - Jerry Snyder (Washington Senators)
SS - Vic Power (Philadelphia Athletics) (3B)
LF - Jim Greengrass (Cincinnati Reds)
CF - Jim Delsing (Detroit Tigers)
RF - Hank Sauer (Chicago Cubs)
OF - Jackie Jensen (Boston Red Sox)
PH - Steve Souchock (Detroit Tigers) (1B) (retroactive designated hitter)
P - Bob Porterfield (Washington Senators)
P - Lew Burdette (Milwaukee Braves)
P - Ruben Gomez (New York Giants)
P - Frank Shea (Washington Senators)
P - Bob Keegan (Chicago White Sox)
P - Duane Pillette (Baltimore Orioles)
RP - Ellis Kinder (Boston Red Sox)
RP - Karl Drews (Philadelphia Phillies)
RP - Dave Jolly (Milwaukee Braves)
RP - Johnny Schmidtz (Washington Senators)
RP - Don Johnson (Chicago White Sox)
MGR - Chuck Dressen (Brooklyn Dodgers)
CH - Bucky Harris (Washington Senators)
CH - Rollie Hemsley (Philadelphia Athletics)
CH - Paul Schreiber (Boston Red Sox)
C - Sherm Lollar (Chicago White Sox)
C - Clint Courtney (Baltimore Orioles)
C - Jim Robertson (Philadelphia Athletics)
1B - Dick Kryhoski (Baltimore Orioles)
1B - Don Bollweg (Philadelphia Athletics)
2B - Pete Suder (Philadelphia Athletics)
3B - Jim Dyck (Baltimore Orioles)
SS - Jerry Snyder (Washington Senators)
SS - Vic Power (Philadelphia Athletics) (3B)
LF - Jim Greengrass (Cincinnati Reds)
CF - Jim Delsing (Detroit Tigers)
RF - Hank Sauer (Chicago Cubs)
OF - Jackie Jensen (Boston Red Sox)
PH - Steve Souchock (Detroit Tigers) (1B) (retroactive designated hitter)
P - Bob Porterfield (Washington Senators)
P - Lew Burdette (Milwaukee Braves)
P - Ruben Gomez (New York Giants)
P - Frank Shea (Washington Senators)
P - Bob Keegan (Chicago White Sox)
P - Duane Pillette (Baltimore Orioles)
RP - Ellis Kinder (Boston Red Sox)
RP - Karl Drews (Philadelphia Phillies)
RP - Dave Jolly (Milwaukee Braves)
RP - Johnny Schmidtz (Washington Senators)
RP - Don Johnson (Chicago White Sox)
Thursday, June 11, 2020
1954 Yankee of the Past: Steve Souchock
"Big Steve has spent most of his career as a first baseman, but seems to be strictly an outfielder now- although that could change. He was in 89 games for the 1953 edition of the Detroit Tigers and hit .302, had 84 hits and drove in 46 runs.
He's been in pro ball since 1939. Steve began in the Yankee organization and came up through their chain to the parent club in 1946. This was after he left military service. He was in 47 games that year and hit .302.
His nickname is 'Bud.' "
-1954 Bowman No. 103
He's been in pro ball since 1939. Steve began in the Yankee organization and came up through their chain to the parent club in 1946. This was after he left military service. He was in 47 games that year and hit .302.
His nickname is 'Bud.' "
-1954 Bowman No. 103
1954 Yankee Prospect of the Past: Jerry Snyder
"Jerry hit .333 in 29 games for the Senators in 1953. Previously he was in the Yankee organization.
He starred in baseball and basketball in high school, then played Legion ball and for Oklahoma State University before signing with Joplin in 1947. He moved from there to Quincy of the Three-I League and was named to the league's All-Star team.
In 1949 Jerry was on the Texas League All-Star team. In 1951 with Beaumont, he led all Texas League third basemen defensively."
-1954 Bowman No. 216
He starred in baseball and basketball in high school, then played Legion ball and for Oklahoma State University before signing with Joplin in 1947. He moved from there to Quincy of the Three-I League and was named to the league's All-Star team.
In 1949 Jerry was on the Texas League All-Star team. In 1951 with Beaumont, he led all Texas League third basemen defensively."
-1954 Bowman No. 216
1954 Yankee of the Past: Frank Shea
"Spec did a fine job for the Senators in 1953. He appeared in 23 games, winning 12 and losing 7. He's been quite a mainstay of the Washington staff since they obtained him from the Yankees.
He began in baseball in 1940 and played in the Yankee organization until he came to the parent club in 1947. His 14-5 record that year was good for a .737 percentage, best in the league.
The Yanks sent him to Newark in when he had trouble winning in '49. He spent 1950 with Kansas City, then back to New York in '51."
-1954 Bowman No. 104
He began in baseball in 1940 and played in the Yankee organization until he came to the parent club in 1947. His 14-5 record that year was good for a .737 percentage, best in the league.
The Yanks sent him to Newark in when he had trouble winning in '49. He spent 1950 with Kansas City, then back to New York in '51."
-1954 Bowman No. 104
Sunday, June 7, 2020
1954 Yankee of the Past: Paul Schreiber
"Paul, starting his eighth season as a Red Sox coach, had a promising career until stricken with arm trouble. He fanned more than 120 in each of his first three minor league seasons. He had a great career ahead as a regular starting pitcher with Brooklyn when something snapped in his arm in 1924.
Back in the minors, Paul won 14 games each for York and Scranton before retiring. He left the coaching lines for a brief pitching stint in 1945.
Paul is known as the best batting practice pitcher in pro ball. He's so good at it, the Red Sox hired him away from the Yankees."
-1954 Topps No. 217
Back in the minors, Paul won 14 games each for York and Scranton before retiring. He left the coaching lines for a brief pitching stint in 1945.
Paul is known as the best batting practice pitcher in pro ball. He's so good at it, the Red Sox hired him away from the Yankees."
-1954 Topps No. 217
1954 Yankee of the Past: Johnny Schmidtz
"The Senators are the fifth team Johnny has pitched for in the past three years. Before joining Washington last season, he hurled three games for the Yankees without a decision.
Johnny's major league career began with the Cubs in 1941, and in '46 he led the National League with 135 strikeouts. In '48, his best year, he won 18 games.
When Johnny was a Cub, he consistently beat the Dodgers. Brooklyn couldn't beat him, so they bought him. Since 1952, Johnny hasn't given the Brooks any trouble at all- he's been in the American League."
-1954 Topps No. 33
Johnny's major league career began with the Cubs in 1941, and in '46 he led the National League with 135 strikeouts. In '48, his best year, he won 18 games.
When Johnny was a Cub, he consistently beat the Dodgers. Brooklyn couldn't beat him, so they bought him. Since 1952, Johnny hasn't given the Brooks any trouble at all- he's been in the American League."
-1954 Topps No. 33
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