Players I Love More Than I Should: Outfield: Carl Furillo

More than 18,000 players have appeared in Major League Baseball games since the start of the league.  Some players have short careers that last one at bat or one appearance in the field.  Others have 20+ year careers.  As I read more and more about baseball history there are certain players I find myself enjoying reading about more than others.  It is obviously illogical since many of them retired, or in some cases passed away, long before I was even born.  I have no first hand experience in watching some of them play but for whatever reason their personalities and perseverance strikes me above and beyond the other players I read about.  Over the next few weeks I will be giving you short biographical histories*of some of these players.  Some of them will be Hall of Fame players.  Some of them will be players only casual fans may know.  Regardless, I chose one player from each position for this series to explore.  This week we will explore one of the outfielders I chose for the series: Carl Furillo.

If you are just joining the blog don't miss the other players in the Players I Love More Than I Should series: Yogi Berra, Hank Greenberg, Joe Morgan, Cal Ripken, Frank "Home Run" Baker,  Frank Robinson and Larry Herndon.

Humble Beginnings:

The 1920's in the Reading, Pennsylvania area were not tremendous.  Although most of the country was running high on the "Roaring 20's" attitude of anything goes, the hub of the railroad was struggling.  With the creation of the automobile, the need for railroad transportation decreased.  As the automobile increased in popularity, the uses for the vehicle increased.  The railroad started to slowly suffer.  As the country went into prohibition, the city was kept from running dry by racketeer Tony Moran.  Moran kept the underground going with gambling, black market whiskey and women.  According to the Berks County Historical Society's website, Moran kept gambling dens and speakeasies at 529 Cherry Street as well as 529 Penn Street.  He must have had deep pockets because the Historical Society tells us that many speak easies were shut down but Moran never had a raid, despite being known city wide.

Five miles east of the city, in the suburb of Stony Creek Mills on March 8, 1922 Carl Furillo was born.  Baseball in the Reading area was a big deal.  The first minor league team started in Reading in 1919 as the Reading Coal Barons in the International League and finished 8th with a 51-93 record.  The team remained in the International League but continuously changed names.  They were called the Marines (1919), Aces (1921-1922), Keystones (1923-1932), Red Sox (1932-1935) and then minor league baseball disappeared from Reading for a few years.  Furillo's older brother Nick played on the Stony Creek baseball team while Carl, the adoring younger brother, was the bat boy.  By 1940 Furillo had shown that he was clearly the best player in the city and he was able to hook on with the Pocomoke City Chicks in Maryland.  Furillo hit .319 and played with future Dodgers team mate Gene Hermanski.

He also played for the Reading Chicks that year where he played all of 6 games and hit .320 (8-25 with no extra base hits).  The Dodgers bought into the rights of the Reading organization and in 1941 renamed the team the Reading Brooks.  The legend says that they only bought the team because of the air conditioned bus and Carl Furillo.  Furillo's team mate on the 1941 team would loom large in the history, although not as a player.  Al Campanis played 108 games for the team.  He would go on to spend decades in baseball front offices, including the Dodgers.   Furillo continued to impress as he hit .313 with 23 doubles, 16 triples and 10 Home Runs.  It was enough to get him promoted to the Dodgers' Montreal Royals team.  The Royals team would be filled with players moving up to the majors though only Stan Rojek and Alex Kampouris would have more than a cup of coffee.

Furillo planned to move up to the majors for the next year but instead he moved out to Europe. He was enlisted in the army, saw significant combat, was injured in combat but refused to accept the purple heart.  After three years with the military Furillo returned a much matured young man, ready to finish what he was so close to starting before he had left.

Breaking In:

Furillo went to spring training in 1946 and picked up where he left off.  Although he immediately took a dislike to his manager.  After an argument over salary and Durocher's misperception of Furillo's drinking habits the two got off on the wrong foot and never got back on track.  Furillo would play 117 games and hit only .286 for the year.  It was his defense that caught every one's attention.  Furillo played all three outfield positions and got attention for the strength of  his arm.  He fired the ball like a bullet from a rifle earning him the nickname "the Reading Rifle".  He even received a vote for MVP.  The team finished the regular season tied for first with the St. Louis Cardinals and had a two game playoff.  Furillo started the first game in Centerfield.  Furillo went 0-4 (though he did reach on an error in the second) as Joe Garagiola, Stan Musial and fellow Reading, PA native Whitey Kurowski took game 1 4-2.Game 2 went little better.  In the bottom of the 9th, trailing 8-1, the Dodgers made a late push to extend the season.  Furillo singled with a runner on 3rd and came around to score.  It was too little too late as the Dodgers lost 8-4.

The team would be drastically different the following year.  1947 would be the year of Jackie Robinson and would start with great turmoil.  A number of players signed a petition, led by Dixie Walker and Kirby Higbe, asking the team not to bring Jackie to the Brooklyn team.  Higbe swore to the day he died that Furillo was one of the signers.  Just as adamant was Furillo who swore he never signed it. "We went to Havana for spring training, and one day when I was at the ball field, and I don't remember who it was anymore, whether it was Bragan or Dixie Howell, he said to me 'Furillo, what would you do if he came after your job?' And I wasn't thinking.  I just said 'I'd cut his legs off."  And the remark got in the papers, and before you know it, I was the guy in the middle."...I had made it and it was too late.  You couldn't retract it.  But I got along good with Jackie.  And I told Jackie about it. I said 'I'm sorry but I didn't mean it the way they put it."   Even more infuriating for Carl was the way he was portrayed in the Jackie Robinson Story film released. Although his name was not used, he felt that the Italian outfielder who protested against Jackie playing with the Dodgers was representative of him. The incident led to a new attitude from Furillo.  He became a loner in the Dodgers locker room.  He rarely associated with the other players.  "I didn't associate with any of them.  I lived in Flushing, and the rest of them lived in Brooklyn.  When the game was over, they went their way, and I went mine."  The Dodgers reached the World Series and Furillo had a great series.  He hit .353 with 2 doubles and 3 RBI.  It wasn't enough.  The Dodgers fell to the Yankees 4 games to 2.

The Dodgers fell off in 1948 but Furillo continued to improve. What did not improve was his relationship with Durocher.  His playing time diminished and when Durocher moved on to the Giants no one was happier than Furillo.

Bums:

The Dodgers were building something special.  They already had players like Furillo, Reese and Robinson. They added to this Campanella, Hodges, and Duke Snider to build a National League powerhouse.  Year in and year out the Dodgers were on the top of the league and year in and year out they were losing to the Yankees in the World Series.  Furillo was a big part of that success.  He worked perfectly with Snider in Centerfield to patrol the outfield.  Local merchant Abe Stark had an advertisement in right field for years.  It was a target for opposing hitters.  The ad said "Hit sign, win suit".  Eventually Abe Stark gave Furillo a suit because his defense in the outfield had prevented Stark from ever having to give a hitter a suit.  He was a quiet, often sullen personality in the club house.  He got along fine with his team mates when he was in the locker room and on the field but he rarely socialized with them after the games.  He became known as "Skoonj" around the locker room because his favorite food was Scungili.

Photo of Carl Furillo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Campanella, Robinson, Snider and Reese would all make the Hall of Fame.  Hodges would become remembered forever for battling a terrible slump in the 1952 World Series and being the manager who led the Mets to respectability.  Branca would be remembered for giving up the Home Run to Bobby Thompson.  Even Cal Abrams, Sandy Amoros, Cookie Lavagetto and Al Gionfriddo would gain more notoriety.  With all of this Furillo somehow became the forgotten Dodger.  Every year he would hit near or above .300.  He won the 1953 batting title at .344.Every year he would work like a machine to keep the legendary Brooklyn teams in the pennant race.  Every year they would lose to the Yankees.  The Yankees-Dodgers October match up became an annual tradition

1947, 1949, 1952, 1953.   Every season the Yankees would win.  Furillo performed well most post seasons.   In 1947 the Dodgers lost in six games.  Furillo hit .353, scored 2, drove in 3 and walked three times.  1949 and 1952 were down series for him.  He  hit .125 and .174.  1953 was a six game battle and Furillo did everything he could to get past the now Mantle led Yankees.  Furillo had 8 hits (including 2 doubles and a Home Run), scored four runs, drove in four and had a .333 average for the series.

It seemed it would never change.  The 1955 series started as expected.  The Yankees won the first two games of the series.  The Dodgers came back and won the next three.  Furillo's offense and defense helped the Dodgers take a lead in the series.  The Yankees tied it up with a win in Game 6 and everyone expected 1955 to end the same way the other years did.  Furillo did not have a hit in the final game but his ground ball in the 4th moved Campanella to third where he scored easily on Gil Hodges's single.  In the 6th with Reese on second and Snider on first the Yankees chose to intentionally walk Furillo to load the bases.  By Furillo getting on base and moving Reese to third, the Dodgers were able to score the second and final run of the game giving them a 2-0 win and the first World Series Championship in the team's history.

If the Yankees-Dodgers match ups were tradition, the  Giants-Dodgers matchups were vicious.  "We hated them.  We just hated the uniforms." Furillo said.  "I hated Halloween.  There was too much orange and black." Duke Snider would say.  The hatred that many of the players had for Durocher (Jackie and Furillo mainly among them) and the bitterness Durocher had towards the Dodgers led to many an ugly scene.  Not the least of witch was the ugly brawl on the Game of the Week.  Furillo approached the plate and heard Durocher's voice from the Giants bench.  "Stick it in his ear."  The next pitch hit Carl on the wrist.  As he trotted down to first he looked into the Giants dugout.  By at least one account Durocher flipped off Furillo.  Others said Durocher motioned for Furillo to come and get him.  Whatever it was Furillo tore into the enemy dugout with fists flying.  In the chaos that followed Furillo had Durocher in a headlock and was apparently ready to kill.  It was said that Leo was turning purple.  As the story goes, Furillo's hand was stepped on in the skirmish and he broke his finger.  Furillo tells it differently.  According to Carl no one stepped on his finger.  Leo personally bent it backwards until it broke.

In 1958, after decades of fighting for the same city, the Dodgers and Giants decided to move west and fight over the same coastline.  Many of the Dodgers moved with the team including Snider, Reese, Hodges and Furillo.  The first year, playing in the bizarre dimensions of the Los Angeles Coliseum, Furillo performed admirably but the adjustment was difficult.  Koufax and Drysdale were still learning and Erskine and Newcombe were struggling with health issues.  The odd shape of the outfield led to greatly diminished power numbers for everyone (Snider hit only 15) but Furillo hit 18 Home Runs and led the team with 83 RBI.  It was not a successful season for the Dodgers but Furillo's performance earned him one MVP vote.  Jim Gilliam (4 votes) was the only other Dodger to receive votes.

The Downfall
The 1959 season was the first successful season for the Dodgers in Los Angeles.  It was a disaster for Furillo.  He had seen limited action when he entered the game on June 29.  He had only 58 at bats, 19 hits, 2 doubles and no Home Runs.  On June 29th Carl entered the game as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the ninth.  The Dodgers trailed by a run and had runners on 2nd and 3rd.  Furillo hit a sacrifice fly to score the tying run, sending the game into extra innings.  In the bottom of the 11th Carl came to the plate with a runner on first.  He singled to right field and as he ran down the line he felt a pain in the back of his leg.  He had torn a calf muscle.  Furillo missed a month of the season but returned in time for the Dodgers to help the Dodgers in the final push for a pennant.  As the season ended the Dodgers tied with the Braves and had a best of three playoff to advance to the World Series.  The Dodgers won Game 1 but Furillo stayed on the bench.  With the Braves' star Lew Burdette on the mound for Game 2, runners on first and third with no out, and the Dodgers down a run, Furillo hit a sac fly to tie the game and send it into the 10th.  In the bottom of the 11th Furillo singled with a runner on first but was stranded there.  The Braves went in order in the top of the 12th riveting up the pressure exponentially.  Wally Moon and Stan Williams went down quickly in the Dodgers half of the 12th and it looked like the Braves might possibly stay alive for one more chance at bat.  If they could do so they would have Eddie Matthews and Hank Aaron coming up.  Instead, Gil Hodges walked and Joe Pignatano singled.  Furillo stepped in hoping to send the Dodgers to the World Series.  The Braves hoped the 38 year old would end the inning and extend their year.  He took the first pitch for a called strike.  He watched the second pitch for a ball.  On pitch three he fouled the ball off.  On the fourth pitch Furillo grounded the ball to shortstop and Braves fans breathed a sigh of relief, until the throw went wild and Hodges scored to send the Dodgers to the World Series.

The Dodgers faced the Go Go White Sox in the 1959 World Series.  The Sox ran away with the first game of the series with an 11-0 win.  The Dodgers tied it up in Game 2, although Carl had little to do with either game.    Game 3 went into the bottom of the 7th scoreless.  With two out and the bases loaded in the 7th Furillo pinch hit for Don Demeter.  His two run single gave the Dodgers the lead in the game and eventually the series as they won 3-1.  It was his only hit in 4 at bats in the series and it tipped the scale to the Dodgers as they won their first West Coast World Series.  It was not the best performance of the series as Chuck Essegian pinch hit two Home Runs and Larry Sherry won 2 games and saved 2 more.  It was the performance of the professional who knew his role in the team's success and did what was needed to win.

As the 1950's ended and the 1960's began the Dodgers had to find a way to transition the aging players to the younger products of the strong farm system.  Norm Larker replaced Gil Hodges at first base.  Maury Wills starred where Pee Wee Rees had formerly led.  In the outfield Ron Fairly, Willie Davis, Tommy Davis and Wally Moon started to push Furillo and Snider to the sidelines.  Although Snider still got significant playing time, the outfield was too crowded.  Furillo played in 8 games but by May 7 he was out of the rotation.  On May 17th he was released.

According to the Dodgers they offered  Furillo a chance to play in the minors or a few options to coach.  According Furillo he was never offered a job, only a minor league option.  Furillo asked to be allowed to find another team that was willing to take a chance.  This was refused.  Nearly a decade before Curt Flood, Furillo decided to fight the reserve clause.  He wrote a letter to Senator Estes Kefauver, known as a politician who fought for fair business practices and against monopolies.  Ultimately the appeal to Kefauver went nowhere.  Not until the end of the 1960's would another serious challenge be made to the reserve clause.  Furillo's claim for the rest of his life was that he had been blacklisted because of his attempt to challenge the reserve clause.

Furillo retired with 1910 hits, 324 doubles, 56 triples, 192 Home Runs, 895 Runs and 1085 RBI. His final career  average was .299.  His numbers are not amazingly eye popping.  They don't bring immediate comparisons to Ruth, Aaron, DiMaggio and Frank Robinson.  They do, however, compare nicely with some other Hall of Fame Players.  He should certainly have received more consideration for the Hall of Fame than he has.  Along with Furillo, Gil Hodges has been locked out of the Hall of Fame, though Hodges's reputation through the years has been much more protected.  Few teams have ever had the run of success that the 1940's-1950's Dodgers teams had.  The teams are heavily represented in the Hall of Fame with Snider, Campanella, Robinson and Reese.  The legend around the contributions of Branca, Erskine, Podres, Abrams, Gionfriddo and Amoros has grown over he years.  The one who has been lost in the shuffle is Carl Furillo.

*This is not intended as a full biography and due to space I have done my best to summarize the life of the players in this series.  For further information on Carl Furillo please check out

Videos:
Ken Burns Baseball
42
Dodger Blue: The Championship Years
The Official World Series Film Collection


Websites:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/
http://www.baseball-almanac.com/
http://sabr.org/

Books:
The Boys of Summer by Roger Khan
Jackie Robinson: A Biography by Ronald Rampersad
The Last Good Season: Brooklyn, the Dodgers and Their Final Pennant Race Together by Michael Shapiro
Summer of '49 by David Halberstam
Bums: An Oral History of the Brooklyn Dodgers by Peter Golenbock
I Never Had It Made by Jackie Robinson
Perfect: Don Laren's Miraculous World Series Game and the Men Who Made It Happen by Lew Paper
Forever Blue: The Story of Walter O'Malley, Baseball's Most Controversial Owner, and the Dodgers of Brooklyn and Los Angeles by Michael D'Antonio
Carl Furillo: The Forgotten Dodger by Bill Ninfo
A Tale of Three Cities: The 1962 Baseball Season in New York, Los Angeles and San Francisco by Steven Travers
Duke of Flatbush by Duke Snider
Baseball in Reading by Charles J. Adams III
Brooklyn Dodgers: The Last Great Pennant Drive,1957 by John R. Nordell, Jr
Bums No More: The Championshio Season of 1955 by Stewart Wolpin
The Perfect Yankee: The Incredible Story of the Greatest Miracle in Baseball History by Don Larsen with Mark Shaw

TRIVIA QUESTION:

Carl Furillo earned the nickname "Reading Rifle" based on his home town of Reading, PA and his strong, accurate throwing arm.  How many career Outfield assists did Furillo have?

Answer to Last Week's Question:

Larry Herndon played in three Post Season Series, a total of 10 games, and won two of them.  Herndon played in 2 games of the 1984 ALCS against the Royals and went 1-5 with a Home Run.  He played in all five games of the 1984 World Series against the Padres and went 5-15.  Herndon also played in three of the five games in the 1987 ALCS against the Twins and went 3-9.  This brings his total hits/at bats in the post season to 9-29 for a .333 career post season average.

Rivalries: Jackie vs. Leo

Don't forget to check out the other articles in our rivalry series:  Christy Mathewson vs Three Finger Brown, Ty Cobb vs Babe Ruth, and Joe DiMaggio vs Ted Williams.

"Listen up!"  The words were angry, vicious and worst of all at this time of the morning, loud.

It was late.  Half of those present were pulled out of bed.  Some of them may have just snuck into bed.  None of them had experienced anything like this spring training.  First of all, it was in Havana.  What the hell were a bunch of white guys, many of them southerners, doing in Cuba? Then of course there was Jackie Robinson.  What the hell was an African American from California  doing in Cuba with all these white southerners?

"Listen up!"  He said it again but the first one was probably enough.  When the Lip told you to listen you listened.  "I hear some of you guys got a problem with Robinson."  Leo knew exactly who the players were who had the problem.  "I don't care if the guy is yellow, or black or has stripes like a f***ing zebra.  I'm the manager of this team and I say he plays."

Photo of Jackie Robinson and Leo Durocher Courtesy of Washington Post

The problem became this: when the 1947 season opened and Jackie Robinson jogged out to first base for the Brooklyn Dodgers, Leo Durocher was sitting at home, suspended by the commissioner for his involvement with less than savory characters and his association with a married woman.  So in the end, he had no say over who played for 1947. 

While Leo sat out for the season, Burt Shotton and Jackie Robinson took the Dodgers to their first pennant since 1941, Durocher's third year as manager.  He had been through a lot since then.  The Dodgers had fought with the Cardinals for first place.  The Cardinals were Leo's former team, Branch Rickey's former team and Pete Reiser's former team.  Durocher had seen Pete Reiser, the natural, the leader, the one man that had more talent (it was whispered) than even DiMaggio.  Reiser ran himself into a wall, literally, and fractured his skull.  The doctors told him to stay out or risk his life.  Durocher needed him in uniform for moral support but promised not to use him.  He couldn't keep the promise and Reiser's health was forever ruined.  Durocher saw many of his stars, Reiser, Reese and more, shipped off to war and miss the prime of their careers.

Photo of Pete Reiser Courtesy of ESPN

Durocher saw the same talent, or more, in Jack.  He couldn't wait to see what he could do.  He saw what Jackie could do, lead the team like few had done before, but Jack did it for Shotton and the Dodgers reached the World Series.  Durocher would need to wait for 1948 to get the advantages out of Jack's talent.  But if the Dodgers front office thought Jack's success the year before would mean immediate acceptance they were wrong.

The Dodgers bus pulled up to a Florida stadium in Spring Training 1948, overflowing with a record crowd to see the Dodgers.  Dodger Pitcher Rex Barney told the story of a big security officer stopping Jack at the entrance and questioning Jack's intelligence and literacy.  Durocher immediately spoke up.  "He can't go in there?  He can't go in that entrance?  Then we are not going in there.  Do you know what that means?"  In Barney's story the security guard relented knowing the overflow crowd would likely riot.  It was a rare moment of camaraderie between Jackie and Leo.

Photo of Leo Durocher Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Like most award winning players, especially one as spectacular as Robinson, everyone wanted a piece of him.  Four off season months and lots of rubber chicken dinner speaking engagements later, Jack appeared at Spring Training twenty pounds above his 1947 playing weight.  Durocher was appalled.  Robinson wasn't the only over weight star.  Pete Reiser and Jack were forced to run for hours in rubber sweat suits to work off the excess fat.  While they were running laps in tropical heat Durocher was yelling at them "C'mon fatso!  Get moving."  It was humiliating for the players and Jackie resented it.

The difference between Shotton and Durocher was night and day.  Shotton had told the Dodgers that he would stay out of their way and that they could win despite him.  Durocher drove them relentlessly and let them know who was boss.  The pressure on Shotton was non existent.  If he had lost it would have been what everyone expected.  For Durocher the pressure was ever-present.  He was terrified that if the Dodgers struggled he would be blamed and fired.  The season was a disaster.  The team struggled.  Robinson struggled.  As the pressure mounted Durocher took it personally.

On Sunday, June 11, the Dodgers lost 3-2 to the Giants and fell to 35-37.  It was Durocher's last game as a Dodger manager.  On July 15, the Giants split a double header, bringing their record to 37-38.  Their manager, Giant legend Mel Ott, was fired and replaced with none other than Leo.  If the Dodger's Giants rivalry had been dormant for a few years it was about to erupt.

Photo of Jackie Robinson Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Durocher's style of managing caused quite a bit of resentment to the remaining Dodgers.  Two players in particular, Jackie and Carl Furillo, hated Leo.  Leo was from the old school.  The school that thought if you can distract your opponent they won't focus on the job.  Durocher would stand in the coaching box and mimic a person with a swollen head and point to Jack. 

After a tight pitch from Sal the barber, Jackie bunted the next pitch foul down the first base line and ran straight through Maglie.  Durocher yelled to Jackie.  "That's bush league Robinson."  Jack yelled back "You should know.  You taught me to do it."

Durocher was a master taunter but Jackie could give it right back.  Russ Meyer, a former Giant who was traded to the Dodgers said "He (Jackie) hated Durocher with a goddamn passion.  He used to taunt him." According to Meyer Robinson yelled taunts like "Hey Leo, who you gonna marry next?  Is Laraine taking good care of you?"

The funny thing about rivalries is that once the years go by the anger usually fades.  At the end of their careers both had won World Series.  Both ended in the Hall of Fame and both were remembered as successful.

Jackie himself reflected on the rivalry with clarity.  He remembered the spring training from hell in his auto biography.  "To get me in shape, Leo put me through some furious physical paces.  They were humiliating because rookies, reporters and teammates were all onlookers.  Leo also kept after me verbally, and as the world knows, he is a magnificent tongue lasher.  At the time I thought he was being too excessive, but later I realized he was only doing what was necessary, and even though his comments hurt, I could not forget that Durocher had done all he could the previous year to help ease my way into the majors...I think that Leo felt I had not given him my best effort and was working harder for Shotton.  That wasn't true but on the playing field Leo and I got into a number of hassles that were picked up by the press.  Leo and I were alike in so many ways, and that could have been part of our problem.  But no matter how many verbal insults were exchanged, I believe we never lost the respect we had for each other's abilities."

TRIVIA QUESTION:

Current Dodger Manager Don Mattingly has asked for a three year contract as a reward for his success.  It has been a long time Dodger organization policy to only give Dodgers' managers a one year contract (this dates back to long before the move from Brooklyn).  In fact, legendary Dodger manager Tommy Lasorda never had a contract longer than one year.  Mattingly's demand for a three year contract is eerily similar to the demand of Brooklyn manager Charlie Dressen back in 1953.  Dressen had led the Dodgers to a three game playoff against the Giants in 1951, followed by back to back National League Championships in 1952 and 1953.  Dressen wrote a letter to Walter O'Malley demanding a three year contract.  O'Malley did not deal well with demands from others so he replaced Dressen.  Who replaced Dressen as Dodgers manager?


Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:
In games 1 & 2 of the 1951 World Series the Yankees started a young outfielder in his first full year in the Major Leagues.  The right fielder went 0-3, with 2 walks in Game 1.  In Game 2 the young player went 1-2 with a run and strikeout.  He only played part of the second game.  In the top of the 5th inning, Willie Mays led off the Giants' 5th inning with a fly ball to right-center field.  Joe DiMaggio moved over to track down the fly ball, invading the right field territory.  The young right fielder had started to track the ball himself but when he saw DiMaggio tracking it he attempted to move into a back up position.  When he changed his course Mickey Mantle caught his spike on an exposed drain pipe and severely damaged his knee causing pain for the rest of his life.

14 Players You May Not Know from the 1950's but Should

Saying the 1950's were dominated by the New York teams would be putting it mildly.  New York owned the 1950's.  At least one of the three New York teams (Yankees, Dodgers and Giants) appeared in all but the 1959 World Series and that was because the Dodgers and Giants had moved to the west coast by then.  They were so dominant that the three New York teams won 16 (17 if you count the Dodgers 1959 pennant in LA) of the twenty league pennants (AL and NL combined) in the decade.  New York players also won 11 MVP awards, six rookies of the year and two of the four Cy Young Awards given out in the decade.

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Although New York was the center of the baseball universe in the decade, it was not the only place baseball was played.  The Yankees may have won the American League almost every year of the decade but Al Lopez broke the Yankees stranglehold twice, amazingly, with two different teams.  Lopez was the manager of the decade without a doubt.  Casey Stengel constantly won with the Yankees big salaries (for that time period), strong scouting system and ability to trade strong young talent for players that filled needed holes.  Lopez had to build the team with his own judge of talent.  He worked with Hank Greenberg in both Cleveland and Chicago to build consistently strong teams.  Although the Yankees always seemed to finish far ahead, Lopez's teams often finished a distant second or third but far above the 4th-8th place teams. 

The 1950's were a decade of change and movement.  After having stayed relatively the same for decades teams started to migrate.  Cities were no longer able to support two major teams.  The Boston Braves moved to Milwaukee, the Washington Senators moved to Minnesota to become the Twins.  The Philadelphia Athletics became the Kansas City Athletics, the St.Louis Browns moved to Baltimore and became the Orioles and, most painful of all, the Dodgers left Brooklyn and the Giants left New York City.

It was the first full decade of baseball without segregation (on the field).  After the success of Jackie Robinson nearly every team signed an African American player, raiding the Negro Leagues for the stars and driving the league out of business.  Satchel Paige, Henry Aaron, Willie Mays, Monte Irvin, Ernie Banks, Frank Robinson, Don Newcombe, Roy Campanella.   These were the young players (although Paige was not so young) that infused the game with an energy and would carry it into the future.  Nearly every team was quick to follow the Dodgers and recognize the talent that was available in the Negro Leagues. Only the Phillies, Red Sox and Yankees failed to react to the new landscape and two of the three suffered for it during the decade (the Yankees would suffer for their slow movement in the late 1960's through the early 1970's).  The Phillies felt that their 1950's Whiz Kids team would be successful for the entire decade but their failure to consider scouting African American players kept them from being a competitive team the rest of the decade and by 1958 they were the worst National League team.  The Red Sox suffered a similar fate.  When Jackie Robinson entered the league the Red Sox usually were competing for a top spot (always coming up just short) but as the other teams began to accept the changes, and the Red Sox ignored them, they fell back into the middle of the pack and were only helped into the upper division by the habitually terrible teams of the Athletics and St. Louis Browns.

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

The saddest story of the fall of the Negro Leagues were the players who never had a chance to play in the Major Leagues once the color barrier was broken, not because of talent but because of age.  No player is represented better in this category than Buck O'Neil.  O'Neil played and managed in the Negro leagues and coached briefly for the Cubs after the Negro Leagues shut down but by the time Jackie Robinson had broken the color barrier O'Neil was too old to play and no team would dream about giving an African American a manager job (that was nearly thirty years away).  O'Neil loved the game, lived the game.  Seeing the love of the game in the smile of Dave Henderson, Hal McRae, or Chipper Jones seems almost gloomy compared to the love of the game that radiates from one word out of the mouth of Buck O'Neil.  There are hundreds of players who we can lament not having the chance to play in the Major Leagues but one of the biggest disappointments is that Buck O'Neil never got to manage in the Majors, let alone play.  Buck's knowledge of the game, passion for the game and ability to teach the game, might have ranked him with some of the greatest managers of all time. O'Neil was a gracious man.  His passion for the game came through in every word he spoke.  He had the right to be bitter.  Bitter that he was born too soon to get the opportunity to play.  Bitter that others had the opportunities that he didn't.  Bitter that others got the recognition he deserved.  He wasn't.  No better example exists than this: a few years before he passed away the Veteran's Committee of the Hall of Fame nominated a number of Negro League players to be inducted into the Hall of Fame.  Embarrassingly, unbelievably, O'Neill was not among them.  Not as a player.  Not as a manager. Not as a special ambassador of the game.   Unfortunately most of them had passed away or were not able to speak at the induction due to age.  To represent these players O'Neil was asked to speak on their behalf.  He could have spent the whole time saying what everyone else with a brain was saying: that he should have been included in the Hall of Fame.  Instead he said how happy he was to be able to speak for these players and how wonderful it was that these men were being recognized.  If you ever question that baseball is the national past time look up an interview with Buck O'Neil.  It will restore your faith in the game.

Photo Courtesy of inductbuck.blogspot.com

Although the names of Jackie Robinson,Willie Mays, Mickey Mantle,Yogi Berra, Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Eddie Mathews and Henry Aaron will be the names that are remembered thirty, forty or fifty years from now (or more), every decade has tremendously talented, successful players who make wonderful contributions to the success of their teams, organizations and the league as a whole. Unfortunately many of the players who fall into this category will be forgotten, overlooked and generally ignored. Here are 14 players* from the decade you may not remember but you definitely should:



Catcher:
Sherm Lollar

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  Cleveland Indians (1946), New York Yankees (1947-1948), St. Louis Browns (1949-1951) and Chicago White Sox (1952-1963)
All Star Appearances:  1950, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1958, 1959 and 1960
MVP Voting: 1950 (27th), 1955 (11th), 1956 (16th), 1957 (22nd) , 1958 (9th) and 1959 (9th)
Many people consider the Catcher to be the most important position on the field.  He is involved in every pitch of every game.  He calls every pitch and is usually the manager's representative on the field.  Very few players had more to do with the success of their team in the 1950's than Sherm Lollar.  The White Sox may have only cracked the Yankee dynasty once in the decade but they were consistently fighting the Indians for second place.  Lollar's best season coincided with the "Go-Go" White Sox's 1959 World Series appearance.  Lollar set career highs in home runs (22) and RBI (84) and although the Sox lost to the Dodgers in the World Series he hit one home run and drove in 5.  Lollar's biggest contribution was behind the plate and in the clubhouse.  Al Lopez trusted him completely and depended on him to run the team on the field.


Firstbase:
Joe Adcock

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Cincinnati Reds (1950-1952), Milwaukee Braves (1953-1962), Cleveland Indians (1963), Los Angeles/California Angels (1964-1966)
All Star Appearances: 1960
MVP Voting:  1954 (8th), 1956 (11th), 1958 (22nd) and 1960 (19th)
Although the decade was dominated by the three New York teams the Milwaukee Braves had some tremendous success.  They nearly made the World Series in 1956 but fell apart down the stretch and were overtaken by the Dodgers who won the pennant by one game.  The Braves had one of the great one-two pitching punches in history with Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette.  Their offense was extremely powerful with two of the greatest hitters in the history of the game:  Henry Aaron and Eddie Mathews.  It was easy for Joe Adcock to get lost in the big names.  Adcock was a truly powerful bat and even hit a ball clear out of Ebbett's Field, estimated as the longest ball hit in (or out of) Ebbett's Field.  Considering Duke Snider and Gil Hodges played there on a regular basis, it is a pretty impressive shot.  The Braves made the World Series two years in a row (1957 and 1958), both 7 game classics against the Yankees.  Playing in Milwaukee in a decade dominated by New York teams made it even more difficult to get attention.  Adcock could have made a name for himself while the world was watching the World Series but he didn't have eye popping numbers in the two World Series.  He had only 7 hits combined over the two series and had 0 extra base hits but Joe Adcock was a big reason for the Braves success.

Chuck "The Rifleman" Connors

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers (1949) and Chicago Cubs (1951)
All Star Appearances:  None.
MVP Voting: None.
Kevin Joseph Aloysius Connors played a total of 67 career games.  One of them for the Brooklyn Dodgers and 66 for the Cubs and hit just 2 home runs and .238.  All games were played at first base and he made 8 career errors.  It was a brief, unsuccessful career.  Connors did gain a lot of success after leaving the diamond by getting in front of a camera.  Connors became an actor and gained a lot of attention playing his signature character, "The Rifleman".  The show ran for five years on ABC debuting in 1958.  The show featured many big name guest stars including Buddy Hackett, Sammy Davis, Jr and Don Drysdale. CBS is currently considering a remake of the show but no cast or debut date has been announced.

Secondbase:
Nellie Fox

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

Career Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics (1947-1949), Chicago White Sox (1950-1963), Houston Colt .45's/Astros (1964-1965)
All Star Appearances:  1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961 and 1963
MVP Voting:  1951 (17th), 1952 (7th), 1954 (9th), 1955 (7th), 1956 (14th), 1957 (4th), 1958 (8th), 1959 (1st), 1960 (18th) and 1963 (26th)
If Sherm Lollar was the field general of the White Sox in the 1950's Nellie Fox was the generals assistant.  He was the face of the White Sox during a dark period for the team and although he was considered one of the best in the game he played for a very poor team that made it difficult for anyone outside of Chicago to recognize his contributions.  In that sense he is very much like Tony Gwynn and Robin Yount.  Fox came up in the Philadelphia Athletics organization but was never recognized by Connie Mack as the talent he was.  There is a story that is usually told that when Mack waived Fox, Clark Griffith of the Washington Senators wanted to claim Fox's contract from Philadelphia but was cautioned by Connie Mack not to waste his $10,000 as Fox had no talent (it is usually explained that Mack was senile by this point but these stories are not always reliable).  Fox was then traded to Chicago for a Catcher named Joe Tipton who played a total of 417 career games.  Fox went on to a Hall of Fame career.  Similar to Yount and Gwynn, Fox did get a brief shot at the World Series.  He won the MVP in 1959 as the "Go-Go White Sox" dethroned the Yankee dynasty.  Fox was never a big power hitter but he had 34 doubles, scored 84 and drove in 70.  Along with Lollar, Fox was a clubhouse leader and was trusted heavily by Al Lopez.  Similar to Yount in 1982 Fox had a great Series and had the "Go-Go Sox" won the World Series he likely would have been considered for the MVP of the series.  Fox hit .375 with three doubles and four runs.  When he retired from the game Fox held several all time White Sox records.  He made the Hall of Fame but never quite got the nation wide recognition he deserved.


Red Schoendienst

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  St. Louis Cardinals (1945-1956), New York Giants (1956-1957), Milwaukee Braves (1957-1960) and St. Louis Cardinals (1961-1963)
All Star Appearances:  1946, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1955 and 1957
MVP Voting: 1946 (26th), 1949 (10th), 1952 (10th), 1953 (4th), 1954 (13th) and 1957 (3rd).
Red Schoendienst played on three of the greatest teams in the history of the game (1946 Cardinals, 1957 and 1958 Braves) but each time he was overshadowed by the bigger names.  He played with names that are the most identifiable in the history of the game: Hank Aaron, Eddie Matthews, Warren Spahn, Stan Musial, Willie Mays, Willie McCovey.  Schoendienst was always overshadowed but always a strong presence in the lineup.  Similar to George Kell (keep reading you'll get to it) he made ten all star games in 15 years but unlike Kell he won the World Series twice and lost a third in seven games.  Schoendienst had his best series the year his Braves lost in seven games, hitting .300 with 9 hits and 3 doubles.  After retirement (and long after his entrance into the Hall of Fame) Schoendienst remained a legend in St. Louis.  He became a coach for the Cardinals as part of the legendary 1980's World Series teams.  Similar to Don Zimmer in the 1990's with the Yankees, seeing Schoendienst on the bench often brought a chuckle of the silly old man sitting on the bench.  Yet his comical appearance covered a brilliant baseball mind.

Shortstop:
Alvin "The Swamp Fox" Dark

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Boston Braves (1946 and 1948-1949), New York Giants (1950-1956), St. Louis Cardinals (1956-1958), Chicago Cubs (1958-1959), Philadelphia Phillies (1960) and Milwaukee Braves (1960).
All Star Appearances: 1951, 1952 and 1954.
MVP Voting:  1948 (3rd), 1949 (25th), 1951 (12th), 1952 (12th), 1954 (5th) and 1957 (17th)
Every team needs a player with a Napoleon complex.  Someone who is not afraid to show his temper.  Someone who will fight back, if not for an insult done to him, then at least for an insult done to a teammate.  In hockey they're called the enforcers.  In baseball they're called "red asses". The A's in the 1970's had Bert Campaneris.  The Royals of the late 1970's and 1980's had George Brett.  The Giants in the 1950's had Al Dark.  Dark was never afraid to mix it up with the big guys, especially the Dodgers, though at 5'11" and 185 pounds Gil Hodges probably used bats bigger than Dark.  Anytime something went bad between the Dodgers and Giants you could bet Alvin Dark was at the start of it.  Although he was best known as a Giant, Dark was also a big contributor to the 1948 National League Champion Boston Braves.  Dark was the rookie of the year that year but fell flat in the World Series hitting only .148 as they lost to the Indians in 6 games.  He got his revenge in 1954 against the Indians.  The Indians were a heavy favorite in the Series but the Giants shocked everyone.  Dark had 7 hits and a .412 average to help lead the Giants to their last World Series victory in New York.

Thirdbase:
George Kell

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Philadelphia Athletics (1943-1946), Detroit Tigers (1946-1952), Boston Red Sox (1952-1954), Chicago White Sox (1954-1956) and Baltimore Orioles (1956-1957).
All Star Appearances:  1947, 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954, 1956 and 1957
MVP Voting:  1944 (22nd) , 1946 (16th), 1947 (5th), 1948 (16th), 1949 (8th), 1950 (4th), 1951 (15th) and 1953 (26th)
George Kell played for 15 years and appeared in close to 1800 career games.  He was an all star ten times, won a batting title and ended his career with 385 doubles and a .306 batting average.  Yet if you were to tell someone that George Kell is a Hall of Fame member the immediate response would probably be "Who the hell is George Kell?"  In 15 years he played in 0 postseason games and he rarely played on teams that finished closer than 15 games behind the first place team. Unlike Nellie Fox, who toiled in obscurity and finally got a shot at the World Series late in his career, Kell was the invisible superstar for his entire career, and his Hall of Fame status as well.

Al Rosen

April 18, 1955 Sports Illustrated Cover Photo Courtesy of Headline Sports

Career Teams:  Cleveland Indians (1947-1956)
All Star Appearances:  1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955
MVP Voting:  1950 (17th), 1952 (10th), 1953 (1st) and 1954 (15th)
Star players of the Jewish faith in the early years of the game were few and far between.  There was Hank Greenberg then Al Rosen then Sandy Koufax.  The anti-Semitic stereotype of the day was that Jewish boys had no interest in sports.  Rosen once told the story of a high school football coach who questioned why he wanted to play the sport because he couldn't believe his people would want to play a contact sport.  When he was younger Rosen said he was glad his name was "ambiguously" Jewish so that it didn't draw attention to his religion.  As he got older he said he wished his name was more Jewish, like Rosenberg, so that no one would doubt it.  Regardless of his religion, Rosen was a great ballplayer. He won an MVP in 1953 leading the league with 115 runs, 43 home runs and 145 RBI.  He had a short playing career (only 10 years) but he went on to become a great executive for the Yankees and helped George Steinbrenner build the Yankees World Series teams in late 1970's.


Outfield:
Larry Doby

Photo Courtesy of Huffington Post

Career Teams:  Cleveland Indians (1947-1955), Chicago White Sox (1956-1957), Cleveland Indians (1958), Detroit Tigers (1959) and Chicago White Sox (1959).
All Star Appearances:  1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953, 1954 and 1955
MVP Voting:  1948 (29th), 1950 (8th), 1952 (12th) and 1954 (2nd)
Everyone remembers the first person to accomplish a major feat but it is rare the second person to do it is recognized.  Jackie Robinson will forever be remembered for breaking the color barrier in the Major Leagues but few remember Larry Doby was the first African American to play in the American League.  Doby debuted in July 1947, just a few months after Robinson.  He didn't have the success of Robinson, but he also didn't have the support from his ownership that Robinson had and didn't have the talent that Robinson had (but no one had Robinson's talent). Doby had a very good career playing for the Indians and White Sox both under the management of Al Lopez.  Whereas Robinson gained a reputation for being a team player who got along with his teammates, Doby had a reputation for having a bit of a sour reputation and was not always liked in the clubhouse.  Doby's greatest season was the Indians' greatest season.  Doby led the league in home runs and RBI in 1954 as he finished 2nd in the MVP voting.  When the Indians slumped in the World Series Doby only hit .125.  Doby is often considered a failure because he didn't achieve the numbers that Robinson did but it is unfair to compare the two. 

Carl "The Reading Rifle" Furillo

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams: Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1946-1960)
All Star Appearances:  1952 and 1953
MVP Voting:  1946 (36th), 1949 (6th), 1950 (30th), 1951 (19th), 1953 (9th), 1955 (21st), 1956 (21st)  and 1958 (23rd).
The Dodgers clubhouse in the 1950's was a fun place to be.  Duke Snider, Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Gil Hodges, Carl Erskine, Roy Campanella.  You can almost picture each one of them with a big smile on their face.  Who wouldn't smile when you got a World Series bonus check almost every year.  Apparently Carl Furillo didn't smile much.  In the histories of the Brooklyn Dodgers Furillo is alternately portrayed as dumb, angry and racist.  He denied all of these.  When the Dodgers announced they were signing Jackie Robinson several players decided to pass a petition that they would give to the Dodgers management expressing their disapproval.  Furillo swore to the day he died that he didn't sign it, though some claimed he did.  In the "Jackie Robinson Story" movie there was a character that Furillo felt was meant to portray him.  The character was portrayed as one of the players who fought against having Robinson join the team.  Furillo was furious and claimed that he had not done anything to hinder Robinson.  Regardless of the personality, Furillo was one of the great defensive players in the game.  No one played right field like Carl.  A local merchant named Abe Stark advertised on the right field wall with a sign that said "Hit Sign, Win Suit".  Stark never had to give away a single suit because Furillo patrolled rightfield so well.  Furillo should likely be in the Hall of Fame but is hurt by the fact that so many of his teammates have already been elected.

Cal Abrams

Photo Courtesy of Baseball Prospectus

Career Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers (1949-1952), Cincinnati Reds (1952), Pittsburgh Pirates (1953-1954), Baltimore Orioles (1954-1955) and Chicago White Sox (1956).
All Star Appearances:  None.
MVP Voting:  1954 (26th)
Visit Brooklyn in the 1960's and there are two names you never want to mention:  Walter O'Malley and Cal Abrams.  It would be like mentioning General Sherman in Atlanta, mentioning Scott Norwood in Buffalo or mentioning Bucky Dent in Boston.  Just a whisper of these names would probably spark some cursing, some angry looks and probably a spit just for good measure.  So what did Cal Abrams do to garner such hatred?  He took about three or four (or none depending on where you were sitting) extra steps and cost the Dodgers the 1950 pennant.  Philadelphia's "Whiz Kids" had shocked everyone by sticking with the Dodgers and Giants in the National League.  The Phillies led the Dodgers by two games with two games left to play in the season.  The last two games of the season were head to head in Brooklyn.  The Dodgers took game 1 cutting the lead to one game.  If the Dodgers won the last game of the regular season there would be a three game playoff to decide the National League pennant, lose and the Phillies would play the Yankees in the World Series.  The game was tied 1-1 in the bottom of the 9th when Cal Abrams led off the inning with a walk.  Pee Wee Reese sent him to second with a single.  2 on, 0 out and Duke Snider at bat.  Snider lined a single to center.  Abrams was moving on contact, it was clear it would fall.  Richie Ashburn, the Phillies centerfielder, did not have a great arm.  The third base coach didn't hesitate, he waved Abrams home.  Abrams hit the third base bag and made a wide turn.  He went about four steps wide as he headed home.  Ashburn fielded the ball on one hop and fired home on the fly.  Abrams was out at the plate.  The Dodgers failed to score, even with Reese on third and Snider on second with only one out and Robinson, Hodges and Furillo due up.  The game went to the top of the 10th tied when Dick Sisler hit a three run Home Run to give the Phils a 3 run lead and the National League pennant.  The reaction to Abrams was immediate and angry.  Cal played another season and a half in Brooklyn but he was forever blamed for the loss of the 1950 pennant just like Ralph Branca would be blamed for the 1951 loss.

Pitcher:
Johnny Podres

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Career Teams:  Brooklyn Dodgers (1953-1966), Detroit Tigers (1966-1967) and San Diego Padres (1969)
All Star Appearances:  1958, 1960 and 1962
MVP Voting:  1961 (14th)
The Dodgers pitching staff in the 1950's had some names that are still remembered today:  Carl Erskine, Don Newcomb, Ralph Branca.  Very few remember Johnny Podres, yet he won the most important game in Brooklyn's history.  He was in only his third year as a major league pitcher and he was known more for his nightlife reputation than his pitching reputation.  Podres was given the job of doing what Newcombe and Erskine had never done before:  beat the Yankees in a Game 7 of the World Series.  The Dodgers had lost to the Yankees in the World Series in 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953.  Each time they lost it seemed there was a cruel new way for it to happen.  This year would be even more cruel because they would lose without even having their best out there.  Podres had already won Game 3 but pitching when your team is 2 games down and 5 games left  is different than an all or nothing game.  Podres showed no signs of nerves.  He easily got the first 5 batters, then, after giving up a ground rule double to Moose Skowron he closed out the 2nd inning.  He had to work out of trouble a few times.  With 2 outs in the third he walked Rizzuto (nothing angers a pitcher more than a 2 out walk) and gave up a single to Billy Martin.  Gil McDougald hit a ground ball toward third and it looked like Rizzuto would score the first run.  He slid into third base and as he slid the ball hit Rizzuto.  He was out.  Inning over.  Still scoreless.  He gave up a leadoff double to Berra in the fourth but got the next three batters.  The biggest threat was in the 6th.  Berra hit a ball that looked like it would be a game tying base hit but Sandy Amoros made one of the great catches in World Series history then doubled off Billy Martin to end the threat.  With two on and one out in the 8th he worked his magic again.  In the 9th the Dodgers led by two and needed just three outs to win their first ever World Series.  Podres got Skowron on a ground ball, Bob Cerv on a fly ball and Elston Howard on a ground ball to Pee Wee Reese.  The Dodgers were finally World Champs and Johnny Podres was the World Series MVP.

Bob Lemon

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  Cleveland Indians (1946-1958)
All Star Appearances:  1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952, 1953 and 1954
MVP Voting:  1948 (5th), 1949 (9th), 1950 (5th), 1952 (8th), 1953 (16th), 1954 (5th) and 1956 (10th)
The 1954 Indians are legendary.  They did only one thing wrong all year.  They got upset in the World Series.  The greatest team in history  is rarely recognized as one of the best because the New York Giants swept them out of the post season.  Similar to the undefeated Patriots team who were upset by the Giants in the Super Bowl the Indians are now designated as "a very good team" but are not always spoken of with the great teams.  The Indians won 111 games.  21% of those games (23 wins overall, tied with Early Wynn for the most in the league) were won by  Bob Lemon.  Lemon was what would be called a "work horse" pitcher.  He routinely led the league in innings pitched and complete games.  The heavy work load may have had a lot to do with his short career.  He pitched only 13 years in the majors (only 9 as a full time starting pitcher) and won 207 games.  Lemon later became a manager and managed the 1978 Yankees (a team that his Cleveland teammate Al Rosen helped to build) to an unbelievable come from behind World Series Championship.


Early Wynn

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Washington Senators (1939-1948), Cleveland Indians (1949-1957), Chicago White Sox (1958-1962) and Cleveland Indians (1963)
All Star Appearances:  1947, 1955, 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960
MVP Voting:  1943 (18th), 1947 (23rd), 1951 (16th), 1952 (5th), 1954 (6th), 1955 (20th), 1956 (13th) and 1959 (3rd)
Cy Young Voting:  1959 (1st)
Bob Lemon was one of the best pitchers of the American League during the 1950's.  Early Wynn was even better.  Al Lopez loved to have certain players with him wherever he went.  Early Wynn was player number one.  In both years where Lopez was able to get past the Yankees Early Wynn was his ace.  He won 23 for the 1954 Indians and 22 for the 1959 White Sox.  Wynn was also known for having a short fuse.  Umpires who gave Wynn a small strike zone were playing with fire.  One night when Wynn was positive he was being removed from the game (Lopez was coming out for his second visit of the inning) and was unhappy with the calls he was receiving ripped into the  umpire.  When the umpire told Wynn he was out of the game Wynn yelled back at him:  "What the hell do you think Lopez is coming out here for?  To bring me a sandwich?"

* Author's Note:  Just as you have seen over the last few weeks, and as may be seen in the next few weeks as we move through this series of articles, I did my best to keep this to one player per position. The summary of the decade is very short and is clearly missing some key information such as the Dodgers-Giants-Yankees rivalry, details on the move of the Dodgers and Giants as well as many other key points of the decade.  Because this was more about forgotten players than the decade as a broad point I have left these topics out and will likely cover many of them in the weeks to come. This is not a comprehensive list of players who fall into this category from this era, it is simply my choice of players who best represented their position and have become forgotten.  Your list is probably different.  Email me yours or leave a comment.

"...if you were the last batter in a perfect game or no hitter?"

He threw the last pitch of the 8th inning. He let it go, followed through and felt the sweat fly off his hand as the ball twisted towards the plate.  Watching Joe Collins, the big Yankee first baseman, swing through the pitch he heard the "tick" of the foul tip and the "smack" of the ball hitting Campanella's glove. Sal Maglie walked off the mound toward the visitors dugout.  He had done his job and it was a hell of a job.  8 innings pitched, 5 hits allowed, only 2 runs allowed, 2 walks, 5 strikeouts.  Giving up only 2 runs to the powerful Yankees with the reigning World Champs backing him should have been enough to win, now he trusted they would do their job.

Maglie may have reflected on the oddity of being in this position. It had been an odd season, truly surreal. It started in Spring Training when he was told he wasn't good enough to be a starter for the Cleveland Indians. He did his best to convince them he was good but try being sharp when you only  pitch once a month.  He begged Hank Greenberg, the General Manager, to play him, trade him release him, anything.  Just give him a chance.  So he got his chance.  An exhibition  game against a minor league team.  Fortunately for Maglie he pitched great and fortunately for Greenberg, the Dodgers saw the performance.  Looking for one last pitcher to help shore up the staff, the Dodgers took a chance and bought Maglie's contract.  There was only one problem:  Maglie hated the Dodgers with a passion and the feeling was mutual.  Maglie pitching for the Dodgers would be today's equivalent of Jeter wearing red socks, a grey jersey and Boston written on the chest or Chipper Jones pulling on a red pin striped Phillies' uniform. 

Photo Courtesy of:  Bleacher Report

Once, while pitching for the Giants, Maglie threw a fastball at Carl "the Reading Rifle" Furillo's head.  The next thing you know Furillo's in the Giant's dugout with Leo Durocher in a headlock.  Durocher's turning purple, Giants players are telling Furillo to stop and the umpire's begging Furillo to kill Durocher.  Total chaos and it all happened on the "Game of the Week" for the world to see. The Dodgers players nicknamed Maglie "the Barber" because he would pitch so close to your chin that he would give you a trim.  The professional "do your job" culture that dominated the Brooklyn Dodgers of that era kept Furillo from killing Maglie when he walked into the Dodgers clubhouse and the 13-5 record he posted after arriving didn't hurt.

He wouldn't have questioned that his day was done as he left the mound.  That's the thing about being a pitcher late in the game.  If your spot in the order is due to bat the announcers refuse to even acknowledge you as an option.  They'll say "the pitcher's spot is due up third" and you know late in the game your manager won't allow a .129 hitter to come to the plate when someone who is actually allowed to take batting practice can take your place.  He had done his job and now his teammates had to do theirs.

This series was a crossroads moment in baseball history.  It put the final stamp of historical interpretation on the era of to franchises.  Since 1941 these two teams had met repeatedly in the World Series. In 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952 and 1953 it was always close, usually went six or seven games and provided some of the greatest World Series memories in history.  This series would stamp the Dodgers as "lucky" to have finally gotten the 1955 win or stamp them as the new dynasty, defeating the aging, beaten, crumbling Yankees.

The top of the 9th started with Furillo, a consistent .300 hitter, flying out to right field.  Campanella grounded to second for the second out and then came "the pitcher's spot".  There was really no thought to the process.  As unpredictable and random as this game can be this was inevitable and well planned out.  There was one choice that made sense.  The Dodgers needed a pinch hitter.  A right handed batter was needed to face Don Larsen, the left handed pitcher.  Preferably someone who had faced the pitcher before and knew his pitch pattern and his motion.

By about the 5th or 6th inning Dale Mitchell likely would have been thinking his name would come up if things kept going the way they were going.  Sitting on the bench leaves a lot of time for thinking and observing and "what if...?" 

The "what if" was here.  Top of the ninth, 2 out the team is down 2-0, Game 5 of the 1956 World Series and, oh yeah, Don Larsen is pitching a perfect game.  Mitchell likely thought "Don Larsen, of all people, is pitching a perfect game.  For God's sake, they call him 'Googly Bird', and somehow not a single Brooklyn Dodger had reached base.  If Pee Wee Reese, Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Carl Furillo, Gil Hodges and Roy Campanella can't get a hit off this guy, what do they expect me to do?"

Mitchell was a professional.  He was in his tenth major league season and had told the Indians at the beginning of this year that it would be his last.  It had been a great career:  he had been on the Indians World Series champs team of 1948, had made great contributions to the 1954 juggernaut Indians that were shocked by the Giants, had made two All Star Games and had received MVP votes in 4 different seasons.  Mitchell was a professional, a good one, and he knew what was coming.  Go up there and start a rally.

Photo Courtesy of: Bleacher Report





Dale Mitchell struck out looking...and argued to the day he died that the pitch was high and outside.  Replays are difficult to tell but he was probably right.

This morning my friend asked me "if you were the last batter and the opposing pitcher is pitching a no hitter or perfect game, would you give up and let the guy have a no hitter, would you try to get a hit, or would you lay down a bunt and try to sneak a hit in there?"  Basically, "If you were Dale Mitchell...?"

A no hitter or perfect game is a rare and amazing thing, but only if the pitcher earns it.  Dale Mitchell may have struck out looking to give Don Larsen a perfect game but he didn't "GIVE" it to him.  Mitchell's at bat was a 5 pitch struggle that ended on a questionable strike call.  He didn't think "this guy is going to pitch a perfect game in the World Series" he thought "if I find a way to get on base I have the most powerful lineup in the world behind me and this guy will have forgotten about the 26 guys in a row he retired."  I am also fairly certain that Sal Maglie wasn't thinking "I hope this guy gets it."  He was thinking "if we can just get one guy on base we are still in this thing."

I'm not a pitcher so I can't say for sure but I doubt any pitcher would want to be given the last three outs of a no hitter.  They would want to earn that achievement.  In 1988 Dave Stieb, a pitcher for the Blue Jays took a no hitter into the 9th inning and with 2 strikes on the last batter gave up a hit.  Devastating.  It gets worse.  One start later the same thing happened.  It gets worse.  In 1989 it happened again.  Finally in September of 1990 Stieb got a no hitter.  Imagine how great it must have felt for him to finally get that accomplishment and have earned it as opposed to having someone give it to him.

Photo Courtesy of: Sports Net

As a batter your job is to go from a batter to a base runner and help your team win the game.  If you are lucky you will get four or five chances a game to make that happen and you can't give those chances up.  Pitchers are creatures of habit and rely on a rhythm to be effective.  If a pitcher is getting into a rhythm your best bet is to step out of the box as he is getting set to throw, take as much time as you can in between pitches and bunt.  Make him come off the mound and force him to get out of rhythm.  If you want a chance to win your best bet is to get him out of his rhythm early, by the third or fourth inning.  If you're being no hit early in the game lay down a bunt.  Rafael Furcal of the Cardinals is the best at this right now.

I can't tell you how many times I've watched a game where a pitcher is rolling along through the lineup and hitter after hitter is up there hacking at the first pitch popping up or grounding out.  No one steps out of the box and makes the pitcher think a little.  No one takes a pitch and makes the pitcher work to get you out.  These situations in the 4th, 5th or 6th innings are where the pitchers really earn the no hitter or perfect game.

"If I were the last batter in a no hit game..." I'd fight to get a solid hit but I'd be screwed because my team didn't get the pitcher out of rhythm earlier in the game.