Kuzul

Mickey Mantle matured on Aug. 14, 1960. The New York Yankees were embroiled in a tense pennant race with the defending American League champion Chicago White Sox and the upstart young Baltimore Orioles.

The Washington Senators were in Yankee Stadium for a doubleheader. The Yankees were in first place, but when the games had been completed, they were a third-place team.

Washington won the first game when pitcher Camilo Pascual hit a grand slam off Yankees starter Bullet Bob Turley. The nightcap was one of the most significant in Yankees history, but not because the Yankees lost.

Left-hander Jack Kralick started for the Senators against the Yankees pitcher whose claim to fame was that his last name needed one more vowel. Eli Grba held Washington scoreless until the fifth inning, when Hal Naragon’s force-out grounder scored Reno Bertoia from third with the game’s first run.

The bottom of the sixth changed the rest of Mickey Mantle’s career.

Leadoff hitter Clete Boyer singled to left off Kralick. Roger Maris singled to right off the tough lefty, moving Boyer to third with the potential tying run and bringing up Hector Lopez.

Hector, who had the pejorative nickname “What a Pair of Hands,” hit a hard ground ball to shortstop Jose Valdivielso, who flipped to second baseman Billy Gardner to force Maris. When the ball was hit, it appeared that the Senators would turn an easy double play, but Roger slid hard into second, taking out Gardner to prevent the twin killing.

Maris paid a price for his hustle. He hurt his ribs sliding into Gardner’s right knee and had to be taken out of the game.

Mickey Mantle was the batter with Lopez at first and one out. Kralick peered in to get the signal, checked Lopez and delivered. Mickey hit a hard ground ball to third. Bertoia fielded the ball cleanly and fired to second baseman Gardner for the force out, and Billy relayed to first to double up Mantle, who had stopped running hard halfway to first.

Manager Casey Stengel replaced Mantle.

“I took him out because he didn’t run and I’m tired of seeing him not run. If he can’t run, he should tell me.”

Before the games, Mantle had said that he “was not hurting.”

Mickey Mantle never again failed to run out a ground ball. The stark contrast between Roger Maris getting banged up when he hustled to break up a double play and Mickey not hustling to produce a double play was graphic.

Mickey realized that he had been wrong. He had as much natural ability as almost anyone who ever played the game, but he had disrespected that ability. He no longer would do so.

The next day, against the Orioles, Mickey demonstrated that he was, indeed, the Yankees’ leader.

References

By LOUIS EFFRAT. (1960, August 15). BOMBERS SUFFER 5-4, 6-3 SETBACKS: Senators Win in 15th After Grand Slam by Pascual Decides First Game. New York Times (1923-Current file), p. 27. Retrieved December 21, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 119110659).

Retrosheet

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The New York Yankees rarely allow emotions to interfere with winning.

After the Cleveland Indians won the 1954 pennant to snap the Yankees’ record streak of five consecutive pennants and World Championships, general manager George Weiss, referred to by baseball writers as “Lonesome George,” stole Bob Turley and Don Larsen from the Baltimore Orioles.

The Yankees won four consecutive pennants from 1955-58.

Nineteen fifty-nine was a different story. The team got off to a slow start, and  the Chicago White Sox, nicknamed the Go-Go Sox, started to go from the get-go and won the pennant. The Yankees finished third, 15 games behind.

After pitching his perfect game in the 1956 World Series against the Brooklyn Dodgers, Larsen had a decent but nondescript 1957 season, going 10-4 and pitching to a 97 ERA+. He was 9-6 in 1958 with a 116 ERA+, but won only six games in 1959.

Not winning the pennant was unacceptable. The Yankees went to their cousins in Kansas City for help for two reasons.

The first was that no other American League team would trade with the Yankees, and the second was that the A’s had a fine young outfielder named Roger Maris, who was Al Kaline’s equal on defense, and who, as a left-handed pull hitter, could take advantage of the short right field porch in Yankee Stadium.

“I know we’ll take a lot more ribbing but it simply got down to where we couldn’t close a deal with any other club.”

George Weiss sent gritty Hank Bauer, whose best days were behind him; young outfielder-first baseman Norm Siebern, who was in the dog house after losing some fly balls in the sun in the 1958 World Series; left-handed hitting first baseman Marv Throneberry, whose batting stance uncannily resembled that of Mickey Mantle and Don Larsen, the only man to have ever pitched a perfect game in the World Series, to the A’s.

In return, the Yankees received left-handed hitting first baseman Kent Hadley, shortstop Joe DeMaestri and Maris.

The trade was the 15th between the perennial World Champions and Kansas City since Arnold Johnson, a good friend of Yankees owners Dan Topping and Del Webb, had moved the team from Philadelphia.

There was no place for emotion, as George Weiss confirmed.

“I hated to see so fine a competitor as Bauer go and we’ll always feel indebted to Larsen for his perfect game performance. However, in Maris we have a young outfielder who should develop into a fine player at the stadium.”

The Yankees and Weiss were, of course, right. That is the nature of life, and baseball, in many ways, reflects life.

Larsen, who had suffered arm problems, could no longer help the Yankees win. Bauer, who had been with the team since 1948, batted only .238 with nine home runs in 1959. Maris would bring youth and power to put the Yankees back on top. It was a no-brainer.

What have you done for me lately?

References:

By JOHN DREBINGER. (1959, December 12). Yanks Trade Bauer, Larsen and Get Maris in 7-Player Deal With Athletics :SIEBERN WILL JOIN KANSAS CITY CLUB Throneberry Also Traded as Yanks Obtain DeMaestri and Hadley of A’s. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 27. Retrieved December 20, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 80566518).

Baseball Reference

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Today’s New York Yankees’ primary method of improving involves signing other team’s former players for large sums of money, but that wasn’t always how the past and future World Champions operated.

The 1954 Yankees won 103 games but finished eight games behind the record-setting Cleveland Indians, which was unacceptable. Yankees general manager George Weiss and his counterpart with the Baltimore Orioles, the brilliant Paul Richards, pulled off the biggest trade in baseball history.

The Yankees sent nine players to the Orioles and received eight players in return, but the key for the Yankees was obtaining right-handers Bob Turley and Don Larsen.

Yes, there was 25-year-old Whitey Ford and 24-year-old Rookie of the Year Bob Grim, but Allie Reynolds was retiring, and Eddie Lopat (36), Johnny Sam (36), Tommy Byrne (34) and Jim Konstanty (37) were no youngsters.

When the Indians became the only team other than the Yankees to win the pennant since 1948, the rest of the American League cheered. While the Yankees were not in real trouble for the 1955, season, they could not match the Tribe’s great starting pitching.

Most of the other teams refused to trade with the Yankees.

Weiss approached Chicago White Sox general manager “Trader” Frank Lane. Weiss was interested in Sox starters Sandy Consuegra, Bob Keegan and Billy Pierce, as well as shortstop Chico Carrasquel, but Lane rebuffed Weiss.

The Orioles were another story. The 1954 season had been the Orioles’ first in Baltimore. Paul Richards desperately wanted to improve the team, which had finished obscene 57 games out of first place.

The Birds’ general manager had his eye on two young catchers, Gus Triandos and Hal Smith, that the Yankees might be willing to trade. Weiss insisted that Turley and Larsen be included in the trade. Richards agreed.

It might be surprising that the Yankees wanted Larsen, who had won only three games in 1954, while losing 21, but Weiss and the Yankees saw potential in Larsen that statistics not only cannot reveal, but refute.

Would Brian Cashman, the Yankees’ current general manager, trade for a pitcher who had been 3-21 with an 82 ERA+? Not likely, despite Cashman assuring everyone that A.J. Burnett, who was 10-15 with an 81 ERA+ last season, will have a solid 2011 season. Of course, Larsen was 24 and A.J. is 34.

In essence, the Yankees received Turley, Larsen and shortstop Billy Hunter for Triandos, Smith, outfielder Gene Woodling, disappointing right-hander Harry Byrd, and shortstop Willie Miranda.

The trade cannot be evaluated on the basis of a single season.

Turley and Larsen helped lead the Yankees to the 1955 pennant. In 1956, Larsen hurled the only perfect game in World Series history, and in 1958, Turley led the Yankees to their fourth consecutive pennant by winning 21 games.

But there was an ironic twist.

Gus Triandos won the regular catching job, which allowed the Orioles to trade Hal Smith to the Kansas City A’s in 1956. In December 1959, Kansas City sent Smith to the Pittsburgh Pirates, who were on their way to becoming a force in the National League.

The following season, the Pirates won the pennant. The Yankees won the American League pennant.

In the seventh game of the World Series, the Pirates were trailing, 7-4 in the eighth inning. They scored twice to narrow the deficit to a run, and had two men on with two men out. Hal Smith was the batter.

Facing Jim Coates, Smith hit a home run to give the Buccos a two run lead. It was one of the most significant hits in World Series history, and without it, Bill Mazeroski would not be in the Hall of Fame.

References

By JOHN DREBINGER. (1954, November 19). Yanks Confirm Acquisition of Turley, Larsen and Hunter in 16-Man Deal :3 FORMER ORIOLES BOLSTER BOMBERS Yankees Count on Stronger Staff of Pitchers in Bid to Recapture Pennant. New York Times (1923-Current file),28. Retrieved December 19, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 84437733).

Baseball’s Biggest Trade

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It happened on Sept. 18, 1954, but it really happened before then.

The New York Yankees would go on to win 103 games, which would be the most the perennial World Champions would ever win under their greatest manager of all time, Casey Stengel, but the Cleveland Indians would be American League Champions.

On Sept. 12, the Yankees were in Cleveland to face the Tribe in a doubleheader before a record crowd of 86,563 paying customers. Yes, the Indians were a force during the early and mid-1950s.

The Indians were World Champions in 1948, but from 1949-1953, the Yankees won five consecutive pennants and followed each pennant by winning the World Series.

Nineteen fifty four was different. The best the Yankees could produce would not be good enough.

The Indians led the Yankees by six a half games. The Yankees had to sweep in order to keep their slim pennant hopes alive. They sent Whitey Ford to the mound to face Bob Lemon.

Whitey struggled through six innings, allowed five hits and four walks, but the Indians could score only one run which the Yankees matched. Stengel pinch-hit for Ford in the seventh inning, but the Yankees didn’t score. Allie Reynolds lost the game in relief.

The second game proved that Cleveland really was the better team. Early Wynn held the Yankees to three lonely hits on his way to a 3-2 win. The Yankees jumped off to a 2-0 lead in the first, but they couldn’t score again.

Mickey Mantle struck out six times in the twin bill. The last was his 100th of the season, which was an ignominious achievement in those days. It is still an ignominious achievement today, but it is not recognized as such.

Less than a week later, the Indians beat the Detroit Tigers to clinch their first pennant since 1948. The paid attendance was 6,913.

Early Wynn beat former teammate Steve Gromek, but needed help from ace relief pitcher Ray Narleski.

Gromek outdueled Wynn until Dale Mitchell belted a pinch-hit two run homer in the seventh to put the Tribe up by a run. Before the inning was over, catcher Jim Hegan hit a home run for a 3-1 lead, but Wynn had problems with the Tigers.

Bill Tuttle, one of the greatest defensive center fielders who is hardly remembered today, led off the bottom of the seventh with a ringing single to center field. After catcher Frank House struck out, pinch-hitter Bob Nieman singled to right field, sending Tuttle to second.

Wynn got the dangerous Harvey Kuenn on a fly ball to center fielder Larry Doby for the second out, but then the Indians’ big right-hander walked the offensively challenged Freddie “Scrap Iron” Hatfield to load the bases.

When Wynn walked Jim Delsing to force in run, Narleski came in to face Ray Boone.

Boone grounded out to third.

The Indians had snapped the Yankees’ streak of pennants. They went on to win a record 111 games, a mark that stood until the 1998 Yankees won 114 games, but the Tribe’s winning percentage was .721 compared the Yankees’ .704.

The 1954 Yankees were an outstanding team in a weak league. After the Indians and Yankees, the Chicago White Sox won 94 games, for a .610 percentage, but the fourth place BoSox won only 69 times to finish 42 games behind the Tribe.

The Baltimore Orioles, in their first season since moving from the great city of St. Louis, managed only 54 wins, and the once-great Philadelphia Athletics, in what turned out to be their last season in Philly, were 51-103, finishing 60 games out of first place.

References:

By LOUIS EFFRAT Special to The New York Times.. (1954, September 13). Indians Sink Yanks Twice Before Record 86,563; Magic Number Is Three :LEMON, WYNN HURL 4-1, 3-2 TRIUMPHS They Help Indians Lift Lead to 8 1/2 Games Over Yanks — Berra Wastes Homer. New York Times (1923-Current file),27. Retrieved December 18, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 93409424).

By The United Press.. (1954, September 19). TRIBE TOPS TIGERS :Mitchell, Hegan Homers in 3-Run Seventh Win, 3-2, and End Race INDIANS WIN FLAG WITH 3-2 TRIUMPH. New York Times (1923-Current file),S1. Retrieved December 18, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 92606757).

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Reggie Jackson is the career leader in batters’ strikeouts with 2,597. Over a 162 game season, Reggie averaged 149 strikeouts, 32 home runs, a .262 batting average and a .490 slugging average.

Reggie is, of course, a Hall of Famer.

Jim Thome, who will be in the Hall of Fame, is second to Reggie in lifetime strikeouts with 2,395. There is a slight chance that Thome may eclipse Reggie’s strikeout mark.

Over a 162-game season, Thome averages 162 strikeouts, 40 home runs, has a .278 batting average and has slugged .559. Thome averages a strikeout a game.

Mark Reynolds, who batted .198 in 2010 with the Arizona Diamondbacks, makes Jackson and Thome look like Nellie Fox. Reynolds struck out 211 times, which, incredibly, was 12 fewer than his 2009 total.

Over a 162-game season, Reynolds averages 221 strikeouts. That, folks, is 1.36 times a game. If 26-year-old Mark plays as long as Reggie Jackson, he will rack up about 4,500 strikeouts.

The Baltimore Orioles recently acquired the services of Mark Reynolds in the hope that he will add power to their lineup. Playing in home run friendly Camden Yards, some “experts” give Mark a chance of hitting 50 home runs.

He may do that, but he will be involved in many critical situations where, if he fails to make contact, he will kill a rally. Reynolds is a home run hitter who can be described by the Frank Sinatra classic, “All or Nothing at All.”

Mark Reynolds is a player with great power who is a threat to hit a home run every time he steps to the plate, but he hits a home run about 35 times a season, which means he hits a home run once every 4.6 games. He is a disaster area when he doesn’t hit the ball out of the park.

Now for a fascinating comparison.

Joe Sewell, who played for the Cleveland Indians and New York Yankees from 1920-1933, struck out 114 times in his career, averaging 10 strikeouts over a 162 game season.

Mark Reynolds strikes out 211 times more than Joe Sewel did during an average season. Keeping things simple, Sewell put the ball in play approximately 200 times more per season.

Those 200 contacts instead of strikeouts produced fly balls that scored runners, ground balla that advanced runners, (there are no records with respect to how many times Sewell grounded into a double play) and base hits.

Sewell batted .312 during his career, compared to Mark’s .242. Simple arithmetic reveals that 200 multiplied by .312 equals 62.

Sewell was a singles hitter, so third baseman Joe Sewell would give his team 62 safeties, while Reynolds would produce 62 strikeouts based on Sewell making contact 200 more times.

Reynolds averages 276 total bases a season. Sewell averaged 251 total bases a season, which might be surprising.

A modern statistic produces even more of a surprise. Mark Reynolds has an OPS (on base plus slugging) of .817. Joe Sewell had an .804 OPS.

Don’t underestimate the damage that striking out can do. Joe Sewell averaged only four home runs a season. Don’t overestimate the value of a home run.

When the lead off batter of an inning strikes out, a strikeout is just another out. With two outs, a strikeout is usually just another out, but it is not just another out other times.

Most great sluggers strike out often, Reggie Jackson, Jim Thome, Mike Schmidt and Willie Sewell were strikeout artists, but they rank among the greatest hitters of all time. However, there are limits.

Whatever those limits, averaging 221 a season exceeds them.

You decide if Mark Reynolds’ great power home runs are more productive than his strikeouts are counter productive. I’ll take Joe Sewell.

Reference:

Baseball Reference

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Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, there was a left-handed pitcher named Walter William Pierce. His friends called him “Billy.”

At the age of 31, Billy had pitched for 11 seasons. He averaged 16 wins, 13 defeats, a 3.14 ERA and a 126 ERA+ over a 162-game season, but in those days, a season was 154 games.

Twenty-one-year-old Billy worked only 55.1 innings for the 1948 Detroit Tigers, with a horrible 6.34 ERA. The Tigers had seen enough and traded him to the Chicago White Sox. It was one of the best trades the Sox ever made.

In his first season with the Pale Hose, Billy won only seven games but lost 15. Of greater significance, as modern statistics have demonstrated, was the fact that in 171.2 innings, Billy allowed only 145 hits. The potential was there.

Billy won 18 games in 1953 but became a really big winner with back-to-back 20-win seasons in 1956 and 1957.

Today, there is a left-handed pitcher named Cliff Lee. His friends call him Cliff.

At the age of 31, Cliff has pitched for 10 seasons. Just like Billy Pierce, Cliff has averaged 16 wins over a 162-game season. He has averaged 10 defeats, or three less than Billy, but Cliff has averaged an ERA of 3.87, compared to Billy’s 3.14, and an ERA+ of 111 compared to Billy’s 126.

Billy averaged 239 innings over a 162-game season, while Cliff averages 219 innings.

Since Billy pitched for the White Sox most of his career, he didn’t have many opportunities to pitch in the World Series, but in 1959, the Go-Go Sox won the pennant. Facing the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series, Billy worked in relief, appearing in three games and allowing only two hits in four innings.

In 1962, Billy was a member of the pennant-winning San Francisco Giants. Billy started two games against the New York Yankees in the World Series. He was 1-1, allowing the World Champions only eight hits in 15 innings. He had a 2.40 ERA.

In his two World Series, Billy was 1-1 with a 1.89 ERA.

Cliff Lee appeared in the 2009 World Series with the Philadelphia Phillies. Cliff baffled the New York Yankees, as he won the only two games the Yankees lost to the Phils. Cliff’s ERA was 2.81, as he allowed 13 hits in 16 innings.

In 2010, Cliff faced the San Francisco Giants as a Texas Ranger. He started two games, lost two games and pitched to an ERA of 6.94 as the Giants became world champions for the first time since 1954.

In his two World Series, Cliff is 2-2 with a 4.55 ERA.

Billy Pierce’s highest salary was $41,000.

In 2010, Cliff Lee’s salary was $9 million, and the free agent will probably receive a minimum of $20 million a season for a minimum of five seasons.

Pierce’s $41,000 salary in 1958 would be worth about $310,000 today. The major league minimum is $400,000. Why isn’t Marvin Miller in the Hall of Fame?

Lee’s anticipated $20 million today would have the equivalent of $2.6 million in 1958.

At the age of 31, Billy Pierce and Cliff Lee had comparable careers. Cliff Lee is a solid pitcher, but if he had played in 1958, he would not have been in the same class as Warren Spahn, Whitey Ford, Robin Roberts (right-hander) or Jim Bunning (right-hander).

As Jimmy Jones used to sing,

“Timing a tick a tick a tick a
Good timing a tick a tick a tick a tick a
Timing is the thing
It’s true good timing brought me to you.”

References

Chicago Land

Good Timing

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At the conclusion of play on May 1, 1954, the New York Giants were in fifth place with an 8-7 record, but in the closely bunched National League, the future World Champions were but a single game out of the top spot.

The Giants traveled from Chicago, where they had split a two game series with the Cubs to St. Louis, to face the Cardinals in a Sunday twin bill. It would turn out to be a doubleheader that would go down in baseball history.

Stan Musial drew a walk off Giants’ starter, lefty Johnny Antonelli, in the first inning and then proceeded to hit home runs off Antonelli in the third and fifth innings.

Facing right-hander Jim Hearn in the sixth inning, Stan the Man singled. In the eighth inning, Musial ended a perfect day with a three-run blast off Hearn to break a 6-6 tie and lead the Cards to a 10-6 win.

The second game was another slug fest. The Cardinals jumped off the 3-0 first inning lead, but the Giants had an eight run fourth inning and managed to hang on for a much-needed 9-7 win.

Musial hit two more home runs in the second game loss to give him a record five home runs in a doubleheader, a record that was tied by the San Diego Padres on Aug. 1. 1972 against the Atlanta Braves.

Musial batted in nine runs with his five round-trippers, while Colbert had 13 RBIs.

Musial went on to hit 35 home runs in 1954, with a .330 batting average, 126 RBIs, and a .428 on base average. He led the league with 120 runs scored, and slugged .607. As the great Red Barber might ask Phil Rizzuto, “Think Musial was a good ball player?”

In 1972, Nate Colbert hit two home runs in the opener against the Braves at the launching pad in Atlanta, and followed that up with three more in the nightcap, He finished the 1972 season with 38 home runs despite playing his home games in Jack Murphy stadium, which was a pitcher’s park.

There is little chance that a modern player will hit five home runs in a doubleheader, primarily since there are virtually no regularly scheduled twin bills, but that may change.

It was recently announced that the Oakland A’s have scheduled a single admission doubleheader against the Los Angeles Angels on July 16. It will be the A’s first old-fashioned double dip since 1995.

The last regularly scheduled doubleheader was on June 7. 1996, when Oakland visited the Minnesota Twins on June 7, 1996.

There will probably be more single-admission doubleheaders starting in 2012, when the playoffs are expanded to include two more wild card teams, since time will be needed for another round of playoff games and there will be less time for the regular season.

Some negatives also produce positives.

References:

By JOHN DREBINGERSpecial to The New York Times.. (1954, May 3). ST. LOUIS SLUGGER PACES 10-6 VICTORY :Musial Belts 3 Homers, Then Adds 2 for Twin-Bill Mark as Giants Triumph, 9-7. New York Times (1923-Current file),28. Retrieved December 2, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 92826845).

Oakland Schedules Single Admission Doubleheader

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The New York Yankees front office was faced with some problems following the team’s outstanding 1937 season in which they won the pennant by 13 games and defeated the New York Giants in the World Series.

Joe DiMaggio received $15,000 in 1937 and intimated that $25,000 would not be sufficient in 1938. Of course, the reality of the situation was that Joe had only two choices—play for the Yankees or don’t play.  Joe didn’t have the option of becoming a free agent.

There was much more.

Lou Gehrig, Bill Dickey, Lefty Gomez and Red Ruffing became holdouts.  Ruffing, the right-handed ace of the pitching staff, didn’t sign until May.  Interestingly, he had his best season in 1937, going 20-7 with a 2.98 ERA.

Gehrig signed for $36,000 once he realized that the Yankees were willing to let him miss the beginning of the season and risk ending his endurance streak of consecutive games played. The streak was more important to Gehrig than money, which was not true for the Yankees.

How do the Steinbrenner brothers, Randy Levine, and Brian Cashman feel about losing Derek Jeter?  The names have changed (Ed Barrow, George Weiss, Mike Burke, George Steinbrenner, and Mr. Steinbrenner’s sons), but with the possible exception of Mr. Steinbrenner, the philosophy remains the same.  

Derek Jeter has been compared to the greatest of the Yankees.  Ruth, Gehrig, DiMaggio, and Mantle all experienced the power of ownership.  

It must be stated that the Yankees’ offer of $15 million a year for three years to Jeter is fair, which makes the Jeter case different from those of the others.  The Yankees are willing to let Jeter walk, just as the Yankees were willing to let Gehrig’s consecutive games played streak end.

Is Jeter willing to walk?

In the middle of January, 1937, during the week that the Yankees were going to mail contracts to players, DiMaggio visited New York to see his friend, boxer Jim Braddock, fight Tommy Farr.  Joe told reporters that he hoped to talk to the Yankees and settle the salary matter quickly.

“While I naturally have an idea what I’m worth, I don’t think it’s up to me to say anything about that now. I’d rather wait until the club made its offer.”

A day later, Yankees general manager Ed Barrow announced that he would not meet with players before contracts had been mailed, but the day after they had been mailed, Barrow invited DiMaggio to a conference that owner Colonel Ruppert would attend.

It was believed that DiMaggio was offered $15,000, which was the salary he had earned the previous season and would be a starting point for negotiations.

Baseball players didn’t have agents in DiMaggio’s era, but they sometimes had help in negotiations. Joe was a good friend not only of Jim Braddock—he was a good friend of Braddock’s manager, Joe Gould.

It was rumored that Gould coached DiMaggio in setting his demands and that $30,000 would be DiMaggio’s rock bottom price. Gould, of course, vehemently denied any involvement is DiMaggio’s financial affairs.

After making him wait for 45 minutes, Ruppert appeared at the conference and offered Joe $25,000, which he immediately refused.

When spring training opened on February 28, DiMaggio was in San Francisco, awaiting developments on his salary. He was still asking for $40,000 but insiders indicated that he would settle for $30,000. Ruppert was adamant that DiMaggio accept $25,000.

On March 12, DiMaggio was quoted as saying, “I suppose it will wind up with the ballplayer signing the contract, as he usually does.” Ruppert responded by calling DiMaggio “…an ungrateful young man who is very unfair to his teammates.”

On April 7, Ruppert cut off negotiations, telling DiMaggio to either take or leave the $25,000 offer. Myril Hoag was announced as the Yankees’ center fielder.

On April 18, the St. Louis Browns offered the Yankees $150,000 for DiMaggio, which the Yankees refused. On April 21, DiMaggio signed for $25,000, less the money he lost for not reporting on time.

Ruppert said, “I hope the young man has learned his lesson.”  What an arrogant statement.

DiMaggio said that he hoped to have such a great season that “there won’t be any chance of an argument over salary next year.”

References:

 Dawson, James P. “Many Holdouts Left Behind as Yanks Start for Florida.” New York Times. 27 February 1938, p. 72.

 Drebinger, John. “Holdout War Brewing for Yanks as DiMaggio Ponders His Worth. New York Times. 7 January 1938, p. 22.

 Drebinger, John. “DiMaggio Wants Big Increase but Withholds Demands Until Yanks Make Offer.” New York Times. 18 January 1938, p.17

 Drebinger, John. “Ruppert’s Conference With DiMaggio On Star’s Contract Ends in Stalemate.” New York Times. 22 January 1938, p.9.

 Effratt, Louis. “Ruppert Assails DiMaggio’s Stand.” New York Times. 14 March 1938, p. 20.

 “DiMaggio Awaits Yankee Contract; Conference Expected Later if Terms to be Sent This Week Fail to Please Him.” New York Times. 19 January 1938, p. 17.

    * “End of Yankee Holdout Suggested by DiMaggio.” New York Times. 12 March 1938, p. 23.
 “Ruppert Unmoved by DiMaggio Stand” New York Times. 8 April 1938, p. 23.

 Browns Bid for DiMaggio but Yankees Refuse $150,000 for Hold Out.” New York Times. 19 April 1938, p. 25.

 * “DiMaggio Agrees to $25,000 Terms; Ruppert Wins Salary Battle; Pay Star When Joe Shows He is Ready to Play.” New York Times. 21 April 1938, p.23.

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The New York Yankees won the 1936 World Series in five games over their cross-town rivals, the New York Giants.

Joe DiMaggio had a good Series, batting .346 with three doubles and three RBIs. He received a warm reception when he returned to his home in San Francisco and was surprised when he was taken to city hall in the mayor’s car and was carried on the shoulders of admirers into the mayor’s office.

Joe was extremely quiet, although he did say that he would have a better season in 1937 because he had become more familiar with American League pitchers.

In the middle of October, the Baseball Writers’ Association of America announced the MVP results.

Lou Gehrig won the award, getting four of the eight first-place votes and a total of 73 points. It was Gehrig’s second MVP award. He had won it in 1927, the season that Babe Ruth set the single-season home run record, when the league decided the MVP winner.

DiMaggio finished with 26 votes, thanks to his .323 batting average, .576 slugging average, 29 home runs and 125 RBI.

In 1936, baseball rules required teams to send player contracts out no later than February 25. In late January, the Yankees mailed their contracts. The New York Times asked a question that is unbelievable today, at least to everyone but Derek Jeter.

“Principal interest in the speculation surrounding the documents centered about the question of rises or reductions for Lou Gehrig, Lefty Vernon Gomez, Charley (Red) Ruffing, jovial Pat Malone, and the spectacular Joe DiMaggio.”

“Gehrig is expected to do as well or better than last year while DiMaggio, a major league standout in his first year, can look forward to more than the $8,000 he collected for 1936”

Lou Gehrig was the MVP and Joe DiMaggio was the majors’ top rookie, yet the possibility of a pay cut for Gehrig was not considered a ridiculous possibility. Baseball teams sent players’ contract offers for either the same salary they made the previous season or a contract that contained a pay cut.

Both Gehrig and DiMaggio rejected the Yankees’ first offer.

In February, DiMaggio was offered $15,000 and Gehrig, who was asking for $50,000, was offered $31,000.

“Yankees’ owner Colonel Jacob Ruppert said that ‘somebody has to take a stand on this salary business and I’m taking it. No player is worth more than $31,000.'”

“Connie Mack once said that $25,000 was too big a salary, and I’m going him $6,000 better. The players, including Joe DiMaggio and the other Yankee holdouts have my ultimatum—take the contracts offered or leave them.”

DiMaggio, who was one of the first rookies in history to hold out, finally signed just before the opening of spring training for what was believed to be $17,500, despite Yankees manager Joe McCarthy’s statement that DiMaggio signed at the Yankees’ terms.

Gehrig finally signed for $36,000 and a $750 signing bonus, which made him baseball’s highest paid player.

References

* Dawson, James P. “DiMaggio Agrees to Ruppert Terms; Report Is That He Will Get $17,000 or More for Work in Yankee Outfield.” New York Times. 13 March 1937

* Dawson, James P. “Slight Concession Puts Gehrig in Line; Yankee Star Will Get $750 Bonus on Signing $36,000 Contract.” New York Times. 19 March 1937, p. 29.

* “DiMaggio Gets Welcome; Yankee Slugger Warmly Greeted by San Francisco Admirers.” New York Times. 14 October 1936, p. 35.

* “Second ‘Most Valuable’ Player Award Bolsters Gehrig’s All-Time Star Rating; Gehrig Ties Mark for Player Prize.” New York Times. 17 October 1936, p. 13.

* “Yankee Stars Hope for Word of Pay Increases; Contracts Mailed to Yankee Squad.” New York Times. 21 January 1937, p. 28.

* “Yanks Renew Effort to Satisfy DiMaggio; New Contract Reported at $15,000.” New York Times. 13 February 1937, p. 17.

* “Ruppert Unmoved by Holdout Pleas; Offer of $31,000 to Gehrig is Final; Colonel Says DiMaggio Received Substantial Rise, With This Year’s Record Doubtful.” New York Times. 25 February 1937, p. 27.

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After defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers on opening day, the New York Giants lost three of their next four games. Their only win came against the Dodgers at Ebbets Field in Brooklyn’s home opener.

On April 20, Johnny Antonelli, who had lost his first start as a Giant to the Philadelphia Phillies and Murray Dickson, 2-0 in a rain-shortened game, made his second start against the hapless Pittsburgh Pirates. The Pirates had won the series opener, 7-5, before a crowd of only 6,865 fans at the Polo Grounds.

Antonelli struggled a little as his old bugaboo, the base on balls, returned. Johnny walked six Pirates over the first three innings and was fortunate that the offensively challenged team from Pittsburgh could score only two runs.

Then in the fourth inning, with two outs and the bases clear, Leo Durocher and the Giants received a terrible scare.

Pirates’ first baseman Bob Skinner, a left-handed batter with great potential, hit a wicked line drive back to the box that struck Antonelli in the chest, just under his heart. It took Antonelli a full five minutes before he could catch his breath.

Johnny stayed in the game and retired Gail Henley to end the inning. Giants’ physician Anthony Palermo examined the left-hander and told Durocher that Johnny was only bruised.

Following the scary incident, Antonelli found his groove. He shut out the Buccos on four hits the rest of the way as the Giants managed to score four runs for a 6-2 win they needed badly.

As a cautionary measure, the Giants sent Antonelli for X-rays, which turned out to be negative. The injury produced no long-term effects.

Antonelli made his next start in the nightcap of a twin bill against the Phillies and Murray Dickson at the Polo Grounds.

Marv Grissom had shut out the Phillies in the opener of the three-game series, and when the game scheduled for the following day was rained out, a doubleheader was scheduled.

Sal Maglie shut out the Phillies in the opener, and Antonelli did even better in the second game.

The Giants’ southpaw allowed only three singles and three walks in a 5-0 complete game victory. It was the first time since 1950—when Jim Hearn, Larry Jansen, and Maglie shut out the Pirates—that the Giants’ pitching staff had hurled three consecutive shutouts.

It is highly unlikely that any pitching staff in 2011 will have three consecutive complete game whitewashes. Only a few pitchers, such as Roy Halladay, Adam Wainright, Cliff Lee, Carl Pavano (yes, you read that correctly) and Felix Hernandez pitch a few complete games.

Some of today’s teams may have three consecutive shutouts, but they will be combined shutouts.

Following the doubleheader sweep of the Phillies, the Giants were going on a Western swing that wouldn’t bring them back home until May 11. Road trips in the 1950s were quite different from today.

References

By JOHN DREBINGER. (1954, April 21). THREE RUNS IN 8TH SEAL 6-2 VICTORY :Rally Helps Giants to Square Pirates’ Series — Antonelli Bruised by Line Drive. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 37. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 84117250).

By JOSEPH M. SHEEHAN. (1954, April 26). NEW YORK TAKES TWIN BILL, 3-0, 5-0 :Extends Streak of Shutouts to 3 as Maglie Yields 5 Hits and Antonelli 3. New York Times (1923-Current file),28. Retrieved November 24, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2007). (Document ID: 83752734).

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