THE Mike Piazza  homer

   

     Posting this on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the attacks on our soil, where thousands of innocents were killed. And many thousands more in the wake of the attack.
     Without getting political, Shea Stadium was home to the first professional sporting event held in New York after 9/11. It was a tribute, and a testament to the heroes, those that were still with us and those who perished. It was a tribute to the innocent victims. It was a testament to New York, the spirit of New Yorkers, and the resilience to refuse defeat.
     It was a game that featured remembrances, requiems and eulogies. Many, many tears. It was a somber game, quiet without a lot of drama.
     Then Mike Piazza came to the plate, the Mets a run down. Steve Karsay, who grew up in College Point, Queens, the same subway stop as Shea, on the mound for the Braves. A low fastball that caught a corner of the plate...
     What happened next, as the ball sailed to the left of the batters-eye, and over the fence was spine-tingling, goose-bump rendering and tear inducing, all at once. It was a homer that gave the Mets the lead, but did much more than that.
     It was very odd, but it seemed like the blast also brought a sense of relief. Like a giant exhalation...it revitalized the crowd, and gave the fans in attendance a reason to cheer. A reason to smile. A reason to be happy.

     In my humble opinion, this home run, one of Piazza's 427 homers ranks as probably one of the top three home runs of all time. It is, in my mind, the most important homer.

     By far.

Mike Piazza' homer after 9/11

1959…More than perfect, less than perfect, Go Go’s and scandals…

                The 1959 baseball season had some very big highlights, and some lowlights as well.

                The Los Angeles Dodgers were the ultimate winners of a very tight pennant race and had to win a best of three playoff series over the Braves to keep Milwaukee from its third straight pennant, and to bring the West Coast its first taste of post-season baseball. (They won it in two games)

                The pitching rich Dodgers faced the equally pitching rich Chicago White Sox in the Fall Classic. The “Go-Go Sox” won the pennant by five games over Cleveland. The Sox combined to steal one hundred thirteen bases, forty-five more than the runner-up Boston Red Sox.

                From 1949 through 1960, the Yankees won the American League pennant in every season but two. 1954 and 1959. Manager Casey Stengel won ten of twelve pennants. Al Lopez, manager of the 1959 White Sox also managed the 1954 Cleveland Indians, the only other manager to win an AL pennant during that time period.

                The Sox destroyed the Dodgers in the first game of the Series, winning 11-0. The Dodgers rallied back to take the second game, by a 4-3 score. The Dodgers won the first two World Series games played in California, taking a three-games to one advantage, but the Sox won the elimination game, 1-0, to send the Series back to Chicago. The Dodgers won the sixth and final game by a score of 9-3.

                Interesting to note that both teams hit for a .261 average in the Fall Classic, and the Dodgers 3.23 Earned Run Average was just a shade better than the Sox’ 3.46. So, all in all, both teams were evenly matched.

                This was the first World Series in which there were no complete games.

                But the power rankings tell a slightly different story. On paper, the top five overall teams were:

White Sox	American League Champions
Giants	3rd in National League
Braves	2nd in National League
Dodgers	World Series Champions
Reds	5th in National League (tied with Cubs)

                The further breakdown of team performances, beginning with pitching, were:

National League	American League
Giants	White Sox
Braves	Indians
Dodgers	Orioles

                And then in offense:

Reds	Red Sox
Dodgers	Indians
Braves	Tigers

                There was a small gambling scandal in the major leagues, and a bigger one in the minors.

                In Philadelphia, Panamanian born pitcher Humberto Robinson was approached by a known gambler named Harold Friedman. Friedman was alleged to have offered Robinson $1,500 to purposely lose a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Robinson, a quiet man, never accepted or even acknowledged the offer, but did mention in in secret to a teammate, who insisted that Robinson inform manager Eddie Sawyer of the offer, but he never did.

                During the game in question, the teammate told Sawyer about the incident. Sawyer didn’t act on that information initially, because Robinson was pitching very well, limiting the Reds to just three hits, hitting a double and scoring the first run of the game himself. He earned the win.

                When word got out, Humberto received congratulations and adulations from around the game, including one from Commissioner Ford Frick, for his actions on reporting the bribe attempt.

                Friedman was later indicted and ultimately sentenced to a two to five-year sentence for ‘bribery of an athletic contest’.

                Friedman was also implicated by a young woman, whose name I won’t divulge, who alleged that Friedman introduced her to three ‘very prominent’ baseball players (who were never named) for the purposes of prostitution. Or that Friedman was charged with several vice counts.

                The more serious scandal happened in the minor leagues and involved players on the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association.

                An allegation was made against players Waldo Gonzalez and Jesse Levan. Gonzalez was alleged to be tipping pitches and signals to players and coaches of the Mobile Bears, while Levan was acting as the liaison between the players and the gamblers. Both players were suspended immediately pending a further investigation.

                For his part in not reporting a bribery attempt, the National Association of Baseball President Charles Hurth suspended Gonzalez for a year.

                As for Jesse Levan, the investigation uncovered a strange scheme that he was also involved in. It had to do with foul balls, where gamblers in the stands would make wagers with patrons as to the next ball being hit foul or not. Somehow, one party was tipping the other party as to which ball would or should be foul. I know it sounds confusing, and implausible, but this was what the investigation turned up.

                For his part in that scheme, Jesse Levan and former American League catcher Joe Tipton each were barred for life from ever working for any professional baseball team, in any capacity. (Tipton was a part of the Chattanooga team in 1957, and was found to have been offered money in exchange for information and/or performance issues that may affect the outcome of the games)

                While we’re talking about the minors, outfielder Frank Howard, of the Victoria Rosebuds of the Texas League, hit a home run in 3 straight innings against the Austin Senators. That, combined with hitting .356 with 22 homers and 79 RBI in 63 games, earned him a brief call-up to Los Angeles, and then reassignment to the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League.

                Howard was named to The Sporting News Triple-A All-Star Team at the season’s end. The Sporting News also named an All-Star team for the AA-A class players, as well as the B-C-D class players too. I only bring this up because for the B-C-D class players, the All-Star team second baseman was Carl Yastrzemski of the Raleigh Capitals.

                Back to the major leagues.

                The Yankee’s collapse was shocking. On May 20^th, after a loss to the Detroit Tigers, the Bronx Bombers fell into last place for the first time since May 23^rd, 1940. They were able to rally to a third-place finish.

                Mediocre pitching, an early season slump, and age contributed to their shortcomings.

                Mickey Mantle did steal twenty-one bases, which is the most stolen bases in a season by a player managed by Casey Stengel.

                Dodgers ace Don Drysdale homered on opening day and remains the only pitcher to have homered on opening day more than once in a career.

                The Chicago White Sox scored eleven runs in an inning against the Kansas City A’s. With the help of ten (yes, ten) walks, three errors and one hit batsman, the Sox needed just one hit that inning.

                Second baseman Nellie Fox went on a streak from July 27, 1954 and June 25, 1959 where he collected more hit by pitch than he did strikeouts.

                In Cleveland, slugger Rocky Colavito homered for times in a game, becoming the eighth player to accomplish the feat. Bobby Lowe (1894), Ed Delahanty (1898), Lou Gehrig (1932), Chuck Klein (1936), Pat Seery (1948), Gil Hodges (1950) and Joe Adcock (1954) preceded him.

                Tito Francona batted .363 but fell one at bat short of the requirement to qualify for the batting title. Harvey Kuenn eon the title with a .353 average. Under modern rues, a phantom hitless at-bat would have been added to Francona’s totals, and he would have won the title.

                In Boston, the Red Sox were the last team to break the color barrier, with switch-hitting infielder Elijah “Pumpsie” Green appeared in fifty games for Boston.

Detroit ace Jim Bunning became just the fifth American League pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches. He joined Rube Waddell, Sloppy Thurston, Lefty Grove (who did it twice) and Billy Hoeft.

Al Kaline became the third youngest player to reach one thousand career hits. Only Ty Cobb and Mel Ott were younger.

Washington Senator slugger Harmon Killebrew became the first American Leaguer to reach an inglorious 30/30 club. That is thirty home runs and thirty errors.

Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks, on his way to a repeat Most Valuable Player award, became the first shortstop to lead the National league in home runs, and the only NL shortstop to win consecutive home run titles.

The San Francisco Giants had their second consecutive Rookie of the Year winner with Willie McCovey. Orlando Cepeda had won the previous season.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman George “Sparky” Anderson collected 119 total bases, for a slugging percentage of .249. His 119 total bases remain the record for the lowest by a player with 500 or more at-bats.

Milwaukee’s Henry Aaron reached four hundred total bases, the most by a player in the decade. He led the league in total bases five of the previous six seasons.

He hit three home runs in a game against the San Francisco Giants, the only time that the one-time home run king hit three homers in a game.

Perfection as achieved, then lost in Pittsburgh. Twice.

We know that Harvey Haddix pitched twelve perfect innings in Milwaukee against the Braves. Then in the bottom of the thirteenth, Felix Mantilla reached on an error by Bucs third-baseman Don Hoak. After Eddie Mathews sacrificed Mantilla to second, the Pirates intentionally walked Henry Aaron and Haddix pitched to slugger Joe Adcock.

Adcock hit the ball over the fence for what should have been a home run, but Aaron, seeing Mantilla cross the plate for the win, stopped running. Adcock passed Aaron, and was technically called out, even though the game was over. The official scoring credits Adcock with a double.

While his twelve straight perfect innings remain the single game record, because he did not win the game, Haddix is not credited with a perfect game.

His teammate Elroy Face accumulated seventeen straight wins, which if you go back to the previous season, stretches to nineteen, before losing a decision to the Dodgers in the opener of a September 11^th doubleheader. He would win once more to finish with a record of 18-1, with ten saves.

He still holds the record for the highest winning percentage in a season (fifteen or more decisions) at .947.

On to the season analysis, starting with the National league pitchers. Our initial list of top ten performers is:

Pitcher	Team	W-L	ERA	Svs
Roger Craig	Dodgers	11-5	2.06	1
Vernon Law	Pirates	18-9	2.98	1
Warren Spahn	Braves	21-15	2.96	0
Gene Conley	Phillies	12-7	3.00	1
Bob Buhl	Braves	15-9	2.86	0
Sam Jones	Giants	21-10	2.83	5
Johnny Antonelli	Giants	19-10	3.10	1
Elroy Face	Pirates	18-1	2.70	10
Don Newcombe	Reds	13-8	3.16	1
Jack Sanford	Giants	15-12	3.16	1

Then comparing to their teams, we get this next list

Gene Conley	Above
Jim Owens	Phillies	12-12	3.21	1
Vernon Law	Above
Don Newcombe	Above
Roger Craig	Above
Elroy Face	Above
Larry Jackson	Cardinals	14-13	3.30	0
Warren Spahn	Above
Harvey Haddix	Pirates	12-12	3.13
Robin Roberts	Phillies	15-7	4.27	0

That brings our top NL pitchers of 1959 to this surprising list. Including their post-season rankings.:

Gene Conley	22nd in MVP
Vern Law	19th in MVP (tied)
Roger Craig	13th in MVP
Warren Spahn	19th in MVP
Don Newcombe	No votes
Bob Buhl	No votes
Sam Jones	5th in MVP, 2nd in Cy Young
Elroy Face	7th in MVP
Johnny Antonelli	No votes
Jim Owens	No votes

Over to the American League, where their hurlers averaged out to a 3.6% statistical advantage, we get this initial list:

Hoyt Wilhelm	Orioles	15-11	2.19	6
Camilo Pascual	Senators	17-10	2.64	0
Early Wynn	White Sox	22-10	3.17	0
Bob Shaw	White Sox	18-6	2.69	3
Jerry Walker	Orioles	11-10	2.92	4
Milt Pappas	Orioles	15-9	3.27	3
Don Mossi	Tigers	17-9	3.36	0
Whitey Ford	Yankees	16-10	3.04	2
Ryne Duren	Yankees	3-6	1.88	14
Frank Lary	Tigers	17-10	3.55	0

                Then, against their team performances, we get this list:

Camilo Pascual	Above
Bud Daley	A’s	16-13	3.16	1
Hoyt Wilhelm	Above
Don Mossi	Above
Frank Lary	Above
Ike DeLock	Red Sox	11-6	2.95	0
Jerry Walker	Above
Milt Pappas	Above
Whitey Ford	Above
Ryne Duren	Above

                And that brings us to this, also surprising, list of top AL pitchers:

Camilo Pascual	19th in MVP
Hoyt Wilhelm	No votes
Early Wynn	Cy Young Award, 3rd in MVP
Don Mossi	No votes
Frank Lary	No votes
Bud Daley	22nd in MVP
Jerry Walker	No votes
Whitey Ford	No votes
Ryne Duren	No votes

                Bear in mind that there was only one Cy Young Award given at this time, and it was awarded to Early Wynn. Only three pitchers earned votes: Wynn, Sam Jones and Bob Shaw.

                Now, on to the offensive side, where the hitters across both leagues seemed to stagnate somewhat. Ted Williams and Stan Musial each endured their worst seasons in their lengthy careers. The offense of both leagues was statistically 3.4% lower than the pitching, and the National league hitters averaged 1.5% higher than the American League.

                Starting with the national League, our initial top ten list is:

Player	Team	HR	RBI	AVG	RCG
Henry Aaron	Braves	39	123	.355	1.30
Frank Robinson	Reds	36	125	.311	1.35
Willie Mays	Giants	34	104	.314	1.29
Eddie Mathews	Braves	46	114	.306	1.26
Ernie Banks	Cubs	45	143	.304	1.26
Vada Pinson	Reds	20	84	.316	1.27
Orlando Cepeda	Giants	27	105	.317	1.13
Duke Snider	Dodgers	23	88	.308	0.98
Charlie Neal	Dodgers	19	83	.287	1.11
Wally Moon	Dodgers	19	74	.302	1.02

               

                Then, compared to their team’s averages, we get this list:

Ernie Banks	Above
Henry Aaron	Above
Willie Mays	Above
Eddie Mathews	Above
Frank Robinson	Above
Ed Bouchee	Phillies	15	74	.285	0.99
Wally Post	Phillies	22	94	.254	1.02
Ken Boyer	Cardinals	28	94	.309	1.02
Orlando Cepeda	Above
Dick Stuart	Pirates	27	78	.297	0.97

                That brings our final ranking of top National League offensive players to this:

Henry Aaron	3rd in MVP
Ernie Banks	NL MVP
Willie Mays	6th in MVP
Frank Robinson	9th in MVP
Eddie Mathews	2nd in MVP
Vada Pinson	15th in MVP
Orlando Cepeda	19th in MVP (tied)
Ken Boyer	10th in MVP
Dick Stuart	No votes
Duke Snider	22nd in MVP (tied)

                Over to the American League, the initial top ten list is as follows:

Jackie Jensen	Red Sox	28	112	.277	1.25
Harvey Kuenn	Tigers	9	71	.353	1.16
Al Kaline	Tigers	27	94	.327	1.12
Tito Francona	Indians	20	79	.363	1.04
Minnie Minoso	Indians	21	92	.302	1.10
Mickey Mantle	Yankees	31	75	.285	1.03
Harmon Killebrew	Senators	42	105	.242	1.05
Eddie Yost	Tigers	21	60	.278	1.04
Rocky Colavito	Indians	42	111	.257	1.03
Sherm Lollar	White Sox	22	84	.265	0.87
Nellie Fox	White Sox	2	70	.306	0.97

                Nellie Fox was the American League MVP for 1959, but didn’t make the top ten in any of my rankings…

                Comparing the players to their team’s offensive output, we get this list:

Harmon Killebrew	Above
Gene Woodling	Orioles	14	77	.300	0.90
Jim Lemon	Senators	33	100	.279	0.95
Bob Nieman	Orioles	21	60	.292	0.75
Gus Triandos	Orioles	25	73	.216	0.72
Harvey Kuenn	Above
Al Kaline	Above
Jackie Jensen	Above
Bob Allison	Senators	30	85	.261	0.92
Mickey Mantle	above

               

                This brings us to our top ten (eleven) American League offensive player for 1959:

Jackie Jensen	10th in MVP
Harvey Kuenn	8th in MVP
Al Kaline	6th in MVP
Harmon Killebrew	15th in MVP
Tito Francona	5th in MVP
Mickey Mantle	17th in MVP
Minnie Minoso	12th in MVP
Eddie Yost	No votes
Gene Woodling	16th in MVP
Jim Lemon	25th in MVP
Nellie Fox	AL MVP

                With all this data, and with pitchers having the overall advantage over the hitters, my top five players in each league are still the hitters

National League

Henry Aaron

NL Player of the Year

Ernie Banks

Willie Mays

Frank Robinson

Eddie Mathews

Gene Conley

NL Pitcher of the Year

American League

Jackie Jensen

AL Player of the Year

Harvey Kuenn

Al Kaline

Harmon Killebrew

Tito Francona

Camilo Pascual

AL Pitcher of the Year