MERKLE WAS STAR 16 YEARS AFTER IMMORTAL BONER
"Fred Merkle died because of trouble with his heart. The exact reason is easy:
It was broken.
Many years ago when the Minneapolis Millers trained at Daytona, Beach, Fla., Mike Kelley went to see him at his home in neighboring Ormond Beach.
Mike came upon a broken 'old' man, though Merkle then was just 50. He was plaintive, not bitter, about his misfortune.
'If they would only leave me alone,' he said. Everywhere I go, I'm pointed out as 'There's Fred Merkle, who failed to touch second.' Or, 'There's the guy that pulled the boner that cost the Giants the pennant.' ' (On first base at the time, Merkle failed to run out a 'winning single' in the ninth inning of a late-season game against the Cubs, leaving the game deadlocked 1-1 and forcing a playoff for the pennant which the Giants lost.) For many years, Fred was a virtual hermit.
And yet there is something glorious in Fred Merkle's history. I don't suppose 10 per cent of the fans realize Merkle committed that boner of failing to touch second base when he was only in his second year of big league ball. He had played just 33 games.
Know how many more seasons he had? Just SIXTEEN!
That was 1908 and Merkle finished in 1926 with some in between years out of the majors. He played with the Giants for 11 more years, had seasons with the Cubs, Dodgers and Yankees. Twice he hit over .300, usually was around .290. He was one of the great right-handed first basemen, being shadowed only by the splendid George Kelly.
He was an excellent base runner. He was adept at the bunt and hitting behind the runner and all the things John McGraw craved and ordered.
Yet he died, in his own mind, a social outcast. This was bitter and cruel. Wasn't it only last year that an American Leaguer, with the winning run going over the plate, was called out for not advancing from first to second? That name can't be remembered. And it has happened 50, 100 other times.
Yet Fred Merkle's failure cost a pennant. He is a truly hard luck legend."
-Halsey Hall, Minneapolis Star (Baseball Digest, May 1956)
No comments:
Post a Comment