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1958, Hello California!

The 1958 baseball season began with the excitement of Major League baseball on the West Coast. The Los Angeles Dodgers began playing in the cavernous Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, which had to be reconfigured for baseball. The most notable reconfiguration involved a screened fence that was forty-two feet high, placed atop the left field fence that was just 241 feet from home plate. The Dodger’s old stadium, Ebbets Field in Brooklyn, had a ‘short porch’ in right field, at 297 feet to the foul pole.

Originally, to prevent a massive home run outbreak Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick decided that there should be two screens built, one at the fence, and one in the stands, a bit farther away, 333 feet from the plate. The plan was for a batted ball to clear both screens to be considered a home run, and a ball landing between the two screens would be a ground-rule double. But the construction of the second screen would not be plausible or possible, due to California’s earthquake safety law.

The Dodgers were the first team to host a game in California, facing their nomadic partner San Francisco Giants on Opening Day. They set the record for the largest Opening Day attendance with 78,762, since broken by the Colorado Rockies.

The San Francisco Giants, formerly of the Polo Grounds in New York, settled nicely into Seals Stadium, which had been the longtime home of the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League.

The excitement of the relocation was good for business, as the two fresh teams increased their attendance. The Dodgers drew 800,000 more fans, and the Giants drew 600,000 more. The Giants nearly doubled their attendance, in fact.

In New York where the Yankees were the only home team, their attendance dropped. Unusual for a defending League Champion, who were on their way to another Championship. Part of this can be attributed by the unprecedented move by WOR-TV who bought the rights to televise the Philadelphia Phillies games throughout the New York City area.

The Yankees, incidentally, were on their way to their fourth consecutive pennant, and ninth in the previous ten seasons.

And the Milwaukee Braves, defending World Champions, and leaders in attendance the previous five season, led the league in attendance once more, as they made another run at the National League pennant, but their numbers began to decline in 1958, seeing 300,000 less than in 1957.

Attendance dropped in many of the cities. Baltimore, Cleveland, Cincinnati and Detroit all took losses at the gate. But the Cubs, Pirates and Washington all showed increases.

But California was the place to be, even if the two newly relocated teams struggled. The Dodgers would rebound, and win the National League Championship in 1959, and the Giants the same in 1962.

While the West Coast was certainly deserving of the attention it was getting, there was a star blossoming on the East Coast.

Red Sox outfielder Jackie Jensen, who would win the AL Most Valuable Player Award, was just hitting his prime. The thirty-one-year-old would lead the American League in Runs Batted In, with 122. It was his fourth 100 RBI season in five years, and he would do it again in 1959.

Jensen was the first player to play in the College World Series (with Cal in 1947), the Rose Bowl (with Cal in 1948) and the World Series (with the Yankees). In the 1947 College World Series, the inaugural tournament, California bested Yale, a team which featured future President George H.W. Bush.

While Jensen was a pitcher in college, he was signed by the Oakland Oaks as an outfielder. With the aging Joe DiMaggio in centerfield, the Yankees purchased Jensen and teammate Billy Martin from the Oaks in 1950, with the hopes that Jensen could give “The Yankee Clipper” some rest during the season. He played in 45 games in 1950, and a few more than that in 1951. (56 to be precise)

In 1951, Joe D.’s heir apparent was ready. Mickey Mantle debuted that season, and got off to a rough start, but did manage to make a name for himself. Jensen became expendable, and as such, was traded to Washington in a six-player deal early in the season. He became an All-Star for the Senators in his first season there, hitting a combined .280.

He spent one more season in Washington and was traded to the Red Sox before the 1954 season. He averaged 24 homers and 105 runs batted in with a .282 batting average during his time in Boston.

But there was an issue. Two, actually.

He wasn’t thrilled about his having to leave his family for extended periods. The California native would spend seven months of the year away from his family. He toyed with not reporting to Boston after his trade there, but Red Sox general manager Joe Cronin convinced Jensen to report, using a $1,000 raise to entice him further.

His other issue, which was being exacerbated by Major League Baseball’s growth was his extreme fear of flying. Those two factors led to Jensen’s unexpected retirement from baseball after the 1959 season, at thirty-two years old. He was 28/112/.277 in his final season, and it was apparent that he still had a couple of good years left.

The retirement lasted for one season. With the help of Red Sox owner Thomas Yawkey, and counseling sessions and even hypno-therapy, Jensen returned to the field in 1961. The same year that the Los Angeles Angels team was added to the league, necessitating even more air travel for the league.

He retired for good after the 1961 season, at age thirty-four.

But there was till plenty of baseball in 1958. Pitching was a little more dominant across both leagues, holding an overall 7.2% advantage, and the American Leaguers with a 4.2% advantage over the National League pitchers.

The team pitching rankings were:

American League	National League
Yankees	Braves
Orioles	Pirates
White Sox	Reds

And in hitting, our top three in each league were:

Yankees	Giants
Red Sox	Reds
Indians	Cubs

Which puts our overall ‘Power Rankings’ as:

Braves	NL Champions
Yankees	World Series Champions
Pirates	2^nd in NL
Giants	3^rd in NL
Reds	4^th in NL

There were other items of note that occurred during the 1958 season.

St. Louis Cardinals legendary Stan Musial became the eighth player to reach the three-thousand hit plateau, and the first to do so since Paul Waner in 1942. Hank Aaron would be the next to reach it in 1972, followed by Willie Mays a month after that. Musial is still currently ranked fourth on the All-Time hits list, with 3,630.

Musial would be the third to it a double for that milestone hit.

Phillies center-fielder Richie Ashburn become just the second National League player to win a batting title for a last place team. (Larry Doyle was the first in 1915) Ashburn also drove in 33 runs, the lowest total for a batting title winner.

Pirates outfielder Bob Skinner became the fifth player to hit a homer onto the right field roof at Forbes Park. The previous being Babe Ruth, Ted Beard, Mickey Mantle and Wally Moon.

Pirates first-baseman Dale Long, a left-handed thrower, became the first lefty catcher since 1902. There are many reasons why there are very few lefty catchers, but the one that is most prominent, and makes the most sense to me is that a throw from a lefty from the plate to second base will have a natural tail to the third base side of second. On a steal attempt, you would want that throw to drift towards the first base side.

White Sox second-baseman Nellie Fox established a record of playing in ninety-eight straight games without striking out.

Reds outfielder Vada Pinson became just the second National Leaguer to hit a Grand Slam home run as a teenager. (Phil Cavaretta was the first in 1939) No other National Leaguer has accomplished this since.

On the other end of that spectrum, Indians slugger Mickey Vernon became the first American Leaguer to hit a Grand Slam as a forty-year old, and the second player in history to do so. Honus Wagner was the first in 1915.

Cleveland infielder Vic Power, who started the season with the Athletics, became the first American Leaguer to steal home twice in the same game. He stole three bases all season.

Out in Los Angeles, center-fielder Duke Snider and third-baseman Don Zimmer were engaging in pre-game shenanigans. Snider got into a contest with Zimmer to see who could throw a baseball over the rim of the Los Angeles Coliseum. Not an easy feat, as the rim was 106 feet high, and seventy-nine rows up.

Side bets were made, and the contest began, with Snider unloading a massive thrown which fell a few feet short, approximately the 76^th row. Snider reared back and let loose again, but heard a pop, as he injured his elbow.

After letting manager Waster Alston know that he couldn’t play because hi arm was hurt, and the sheepishly admitting how and why his arm hurt, Alston gave him he day off, and relieved him of that day’s pay, approximately $300. Zimmer, who wasn’t hurt, was also fined for his role in the incident.

Snider was back in the lineup for the next game.

In Detroit, notorious chewing tobacco user Harvey Keunn, made a bet with the Tiger’s trainer that he could give up the chaw easily. A line drive hitter, Kuenn averaged .314 for his first eight years with the Tigers. So, going to the plate with out a wad of tobacco, he went hitless in eight straight at-bats.

He went back to the chaw, and finished the season with a .319 average, and continued to chew for the rest of his career.

Kuenn was famously traded by the Tigers after the 1959 season, when he won the American League batting title. He was traded to the Cleveland Indians in exchange for Rocky Colavito, who had won the American League home run title.

We all know of Mr. Cub, Ernie Banks. His infectious enthusiasm for the game, and desire to ‘play two’ will be what he is known for. But before that, he was a great player as well. He remains the only National League shortstop to lead the league in homers. He is the only shortstop with back-to-back Most Valuable Player Awards, the first of which was won in 1958. And he was the second NL Most Valuable Player winner to play on a losing team. The other winner, Phil Cavaretta, also played for the Cubs.

Jimmy Dykes said, “Without him (Banks) the Cubs would finish in Albuquerque”.

Down On the farm, St. Petersburg Saints third-baseman George Banks hit two bases loaded triples in the same inning, in the Saints’ 25-10 win over the Gainesville G-Men. Banks also homered with a runner on board earlier in the game, giving him eight runs batted in for the day.

The Douglas Copper Kings, of the Class C Arizona-Mexico League, hit nine homers in a game against the Chihuahua Dorados, one by each player in the lineup. The crowd of 614 people watched the 22-8 rout.

Vancouver Mounties pitcher, and future big-league pitching coach and manager George Bamberger, pitched 68 and 2/3^rd innings without issuing a walk. The Major League record is 68 innings, set by Christy Mathewson in 1913.

And twenty-one-year-old outfielder Jim McAnany, of the Colorado Springs Sky Sox, hit .400 to lead the Western League in hitting. McAnany would make it to the big leagues with the White Sox and later the Cubs, where he finished with a .253 average in 93 career games.

On to the season’s top performers, beginning with the American League hitters, our initial top ten ranking is:

Player	Team	HR	RBI	AVG	RCG
Mickey Mantle	Yankees	42	97	.304	1.21
Ted Williams	Red Sox	26	85	.328	1.05
Bob Cerv	Athletics	38	104	.305	1.03
Rocky Colavito	Indians	41	113	.303	1.06
Jackie Jensen	Red Sox	35	122	.286	1.10
Yogi Berra	Yankees	22	90	.266	1.05
Elston Howard	Yankees	11	66	.314	0.97
Vic Power	Athletics/Indians	16	80	.312	1.12
Roy Sievers	Senators	39	108	.295	1.04
Sherm Lollar	White Sox	20	84	.273	0.92

And looking at their performance against their team’s average performance, our list is:

Bob Nieman	Orioles	16	60	.325	0.95
Roy Sievers	Above
Bob Cerv	Above
Gus Triandos	Orioles	30	79	.245	0.79
Ted Williams	Above
Gene Woodling	Orioles	15	65	.276	0.80
Rocky Colavito	Above
Mickey Mantle	Above
Sherm Lollar	Above
Jackie Jensen	Above

That will bring our overall top ten American League offensive performers to this:

Mickey Mantle	5^th in MVP
Bob Cerv	3^rd in MVP
Ted Williams	7^th in MVP
Rocky Colavito	3^rd in MVP
Roy Sievers	6^th in MVP
Bob Nieman	No votes
Jackie Jensen	AL MVP
Yogi Berra	18^th in MVP
Vic Power	15^th in MVP
Sherm Lollar	9^th in MVP

Looking at the National League, where it was a little clearer cut as to the Most Valuable Player, our initial list is:

Ernie Banks	Cubs	47	129	.313	1.31
Willie Mays	Giants	29	96	.347	1.24
Henry Aaron	Braves	30	95	.326	1.14
Harry Anderson	Phillies	23	97	.301	1.10
Ken Boyer	Cardinals	23	90	.307	1.12
Frank Thomas	Pirates	35	109	.281	1.09
Orlando Cepeda	Giants	28	96	.312	1.05
Bob Skinner	Pirates	13	70	.321	1.04
Carl Furillo	Dodgers	18	83	.290	0.98
Frank Robinson	Reds	31	83	.269	0.96

Against their team averages, we get this list:

Ernie Banks	Above
Ken Boyer	Above
Willie Mays	Above
Henry Aaron	Above
Frank Thomas	Above
Bob Skinner	Above
Stan Musial	Cardinals	17	62	.337	0.81
Joe Cunningham	Cardinals	12	57	.312	0.81
Carl Furillo	Above
Orlando Cepeda	Above

That brings our final rankings to this for National League hitters:

Ernie Banks	NL MVP
Willie Mays	2^nd in MVP
Henry Aaron	3^rd in MVP
Ken Boyer	13^th in MVP
Harry Anderson	18^th in MVP
Frank Thomas	4^th in MVP
Bob Skinner	15^th in MVP
Orlando Cepeda	NL Rookie of the Year, 9^th in MVP
Carl Furillo	23^rd in MVP
Stan Musial	12^th in MVP

Moving over to the pitchers, we’ll examine the American League first again. Our initial top ten list is:

Pitcher	Team	W-L	ERA	Sv
Whitey Ford	Yankees	14-7	2.01	1
Bob Turley	Yankees	21-7	2.97	1
Dick Hyde	Senators	10-3	1.75	19
Billy Pierce	White Sox	17-11	2.68	2
Ryne Duren	Yankees	6-4	2.02	19
Arnie Portocarrero	Orioles	15-11	3.25	2
Dick Donovan	White Sox	15-14	3.01	0
Frank Lary	Tigers	16-15	2.90	1
Jack Harshman	Orioles	12-15	2.89	4
Cal McLish	Indians	16-8	2.99	1

Then compared to their teams, we get:

Dick Hyde	Above
Billy Pierce	Above
Camilo Pascual	Senators	8-12	3.15	0
Whitey Ford	Above
Cal McLish	Above
Bob Turley	Above
Frank Lary	Above
Ike DeLock	Red Sox	14-8	3.38	2
Arnie Portocarrero	Above
Dick Donovan	above

That brings our top ten AL pitching performances to this:

Whitey Ford	No votes
Bob Turley	Cy Young Award Winner, 2^nd in MVP
Dick Hyde	12^th in MVP
Billy Pierce	No votes
Ryne Duren	2^nd in Rooke of the Year, 22^nd in MVP
Arnie Portocarrero	No votes
Dick Donovan	25^th in MVP (tied)
Frank Lary	23^rd in MVP
Jack Harshman	24^th in MVP
Cal McLish	14^th in MVP

One of the rare time that the initial top ten matches the final top ten.

Yankee pitcher Bob Turley won the Cy Young Award, which was given to one pitcher each year. He was the first American League pitcher to win.

Now over to the National League pitchers, their initial top ten list is as follows:

Warren Spahn	Braves	22-11	3.07	1
Lew Burdette	Braves	20-10	2.91	0
Carlton Willey	Braves	9-7	2.70	0
Robin Roberts	Phillies	17-14	3.24	0
Bob Friend	Pirates	22-14	3.68	0
Sam Jones	Cardinals	14-13	2.88	0
Johnny Antonelli	Giants	16-13	3.28	3
Bob Purkey	Reds	17-11	3.60	0
Ron Kline	Pirates	13-16	3.53	0
Bob Rush	Braves	10-6	3.42	0

Against their teams, we get:

Robin Roberts	Above
Sam Jones	Above
Warren Spahn	Above
Johnny Antonelli	Above
Dick Brosnan	Cubs/Cardinals	11-8	3.35	7
Bill Henry	Cubs	54	2.88	6
Bob Purkey	Above
Don Elston	Cubs	9-8	2.88	11
Ray Semproch	Phillies	13-11	3.92	0
Johnny Podres	Dodgers	13-15	3.72	1

Bringing our National League top pitchers to:

Warren Spahn	2^nd in Cy Young, 5^th in MVP
Lew Burdette	3^rd in Cy Young, 11^th in MVP
Carlton Willey	No votes
Robin Roberts	No votes
Bob Friend	4^th in Cy Young, 6^th in MVP
Sam Jones	No votes
Johnny Antonelli	No votes
Bob Purkey	10^th in MVP (tie)
Ron Kline	No votes
Bob Rush	No votes