DIVIDEND ON THE SLAUGHTER DEAL
Virdon, Ex-Yank, Promising I.L. Bat King
"The emotional upheaval caused in St. Louis last spring by the trading of Enos (Country) Slaughter to the New York Yankees was accentuated by Cardinal fans' insistence that 'we got nothing in return for Country.'
At the moment it appeared their bleating was well founded. The trio of Yankee farmhands turned over to St. Louis offered no immediate hero to take the place of Mr. Hustle in the Cardinals' lineup.
Looking to the future, however, the deal may yet go down as one of George Weiss' few talent shuffling errors because of Outfielder Bill Virdon, who was packaged along with Infielder Emil Tellinger and Pitcher Mel Wright.
Virdon, a rifle-armed 23-year-old, carried a good-field, no-hit tag through four years in the Yankee chain.
This past season, with the Cards' Rochester farm in the International League, Virdon blossomed into a pitchers' scourge because of his consistent- and distance- clubbing.
The lad from the hamlet of West Plains, Mo. (pop. 5,000), led the Triple A circuit in batting, except for a few days in mid-August, with an average that hovered around the .350 mark most of the season and wound up at .333. His power also was evident with 22 home runs.
Just what brought about this overnight change? The square-jawed, crew-topped Virdon answered in a word.
'Glasses,' he said, pointing to the shatterproof lenses.
Virdon had been wearing glasses for reading purposes for some time when Kansas City Manager Harry Craft spotted him absorbed in a newspaper in a hotel lobby in 1953. Virdon's unhealthy .240 average had been a source of much concern for Craft for some time.
'Why don't you try wearing glasses on the field?' Craft asked. Being without a logical argument against the move, Virdon agreed to try. But before the effect of the cheaters could be felt, he was shipped to Birmingham in the Southern Association.
'The glasses did make a big difference,' Virdon asserted. 'I knew my right eye was a bit weaker but I didn't realize what a difference this weakness made in my judgment of distance until I got the specs.' His .317 average for the last half of the season with Birmingham bears out Virdon's contention.
Harry (The Hat) Walker, one-time National League batting champion and Virdon's manager at Rochester, already has reported to the St. Louis brass it has a 'can't miss' player in the quiet Missourian.
'Measuring Virdon's talents department by department you're bound to come to the conclusion that he's without any defects that might keep him from going on to great things,' he commenced.
'He has power, can pull the ball, has a good eye, and keeps a good book on pitchers who fooled him before.'
A right-handed thrower, Virdon swings from the left side of the plate in a rhythmic, effortless motion.
'As a defensive player, he's got talent, too,' Walker continued. 'He has a great arm, covers as much or more ground than any outfielder in the league and can bring down those balls hit over his head.'
Walker, who has fed Ray Jablonski, Rip Repulski, and Wally Moon to the Cards in his three years with Rochester, thinks Virdon is endowed with the best all-around equipment.
'Mind you, Jabbo, Ripper, and Wally were outstanding with us. I'd love to have all three of them on any club I ever manage ... but this Virdon is the type that comes along just every so often.
'I know that right now he could step into most any outfield in the majors ... Brooklyn, the Phillies, the Cubs ... a lot of them.'
Virdon, himself, feels that because of the Cards' present outfield strength, he may be used as trading material before the 1955 campaign. The Cards certainly would command a big return for his services.
Despite his youth and rugged appearance, Virdon has had handicaps other than faulty eyesight to overcome. He broke his right ankle in a football game following the 1952 season, and broke the kneecap of the same leg in the second to last game of the 1953 campaign at Birmingham.
'The leg hadn't healed completely when I reported to the Yankee training camp last spring and that certainly didn't help my cause with New York,' he stated.
He batted 16 times in exhibition games for the Yankees without a hit before he was shipped to Kansas City's roster. Then came the Slaughter deal- and his orders to report to Rochester.
'When I joined Rochester I still didn't have the full mobility of my right leg but it has come along nicely since,' he injected. 'If I can keep that right leg healthy, I'll be okay I guess,' a wide smile punctuating the remark.
While baseball has always has been his first love, Virdon was a four-letter man in high school. He ran the 100 and 220-yard dashes; played quarterback on the football team, and performed as a forward on the basketball quintet. His 10.2 time in the 100 and 23 seconds in the 220 attest to his speed while his football prowess brought a scholarship offer from the University of Missouri.
Like fellow Missourian Mickey Mantle, whom he resembles in build with a farm-hardened, muscular five-foot-ten, 175-pound frame, Virdon started his career as a shortstop.
'It was just while I was playing amateur ball in West Plains,' he confessed. 'I had switched to the outfield by the time the Yankees signed me for the Independence, Kansas, club in 1950.
'The Yankees didn't do the changing like they did with Mantle.'
But chances they'll soon join Slaughter in weeping over the deal that allowed William (Bill) Virdon to get away."
-Jack Horrigan (Baseball Digest, November-December 1954)
"Bespectacled Bill Virdon, whose .333 for Rochester beat Elston Howard (.330) for the International League batting crown, is an outstanding candidate for a St. Louis outfield berth. He also hit 22 homers and drove in 98 runs."
-Herbert Simons, Baseball Digest, March 1955
"In 1954 with Rochester, Bill won the International League's batting championship with a .333 mark. He had the second most total bases in the league with 284 and second most triples with 11, and tied for the runner-up spot in hits 168. He had 22 home runs, 28 doubles and he batted in 98 runs. The Cards acquired Bill from the Yankees in the Enos Slaughter deal.
Bill began in 1950. He's fast and has a great arm."
-1955 Bowman No. 296
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