Baseball Digest - September/October 2021 by SOMOSTUDIO - ส้มโอสตูดิโอ

CONT FOR LOVE OF THE GAME SINCE 1942

ON THE COVER Shohei Ohtani

September/October 2021 — Volume 80, No. 5

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Michael Owens/Getty Images

FEATURES

Jacob deGrom Christian Petersen/Getty Images

With Ohtani, Every Game is Sho-Time! By Jeff Fletcher The Angels’ Once-in-a-Lifetime Two-Way Weapon Is Doing Things that No One Alive Has Ever Seen

When it Comes to deGrom, There’s No deBate By Anthony McCarron The Mets’ Two-Time Cy Young Award Winner is Making the Case as the Best Pitcher of His Generation

Leveling the Field By Sean McAdam As Black Player Participation Dwindles, MLB Looks for Solutions to Make the Game More Accessible

Make Way for Tim Anderson’s South Side Swagger By Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig White Sox’ All-Star Shortstop Energizes the Game with New-School Approach, Old-School Commitment

Heart of a Champion By Jim Lachimia Seven Years after a Life-Saving Transplant, Beloved Pirates Closer Kent Tekulve is Still Standing Strong

A Monumental Loss By Rick Cerrone Fifty Years Ago, the Washington Senators Lost a Two-Run, Ninth-Inning Lead and Their Final Game Ever —Without a Pitch Being Thrown

6 10 12 14 56 60 62 65 4

One Game, One Pitcher, 27 Strikeouts By Dom Amore Nearly 70 Years Ago, “Rocket Ron” Necciai Forged an Incredible Baseball Moment and a Lifetime Bond with His Catcher

DEPARTMENTS

Just What the Doctor Ordered!

First Pitch By Rick Cerrone

The Fans Speak Out Baseball Quick Quiz

By Howie Karpin

Q&A with Bobby Valentine Baseball’s Face of Recovery After 9/11 Opens Up to Baseball Digest

The Game I’ll Never Forget By Luis Gonzalez As told to Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig

So You Think You Know Baseball? By Rich Marazzi

Archives

By Melvin Durslag The Sad Saga of Sandy Koufax — From August 1960

Crossword Challenge By Larry Humber September/October 2021

Jayne Kamin-Oncea/Getty Images

With his unprecedented performance as an All-Star slugger and pitcher, the Angels’ Shohei Ohtani puts eyes back on Major League Baseball as it rebounds from a global pandemic that kept fans away from ballparks for an entire season.

ENTS

September/October 2021

FIRST PITCH

Name Changer

A Simple Act of Kindness by Derek Jeter Put the Light Back in a Little Girl’s Spirit and Even Changed Her Name By Rick Cerrone • Editor in Chief s Derek Jeter is formally inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, I am reminded that, having worked with him as the Yankees’ Senior Director of Media Relations for the first 11 seasons of his remarkable career, I’ve often been asked, “What was Jeter like?” My stock answer is, “Well, he really had no use for me.” “Excuse me?” is the inevitable response. “You didn’t get along with him?” “We got along great,” I always answer. But unlike most players, Derek really didn’t need the help of a media relations person. He knew his responsibilities from Day 1, carrying

Mascali Family

himself like a veteran years before he would be named captain. In those 11 years, I never saw him do or say the wrong thing. And remember, this was while playing in New York, perhaps the easiest market for a young player to stumble. Derek never did. To my constant amazement, he always found a way to, as Walt Disney believed, “plus” every experience—especially with fans. With them, he always did more than what was expected of him. With Jeter’s induction coming on the 20th anniversary of 9/11, there is no better example of this than his kindness to a little girl who had lost her father on that horrific day.

One of Kate Mascali’s enduring memories of her dad, Joe, is their trips to Yankee Stadium to see their favorite team, the New York Yankees, and her favorite player, Derek Jeter, the longtime team captain. Photo Edges Studiocasper/Getty Images

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Two separate phone calls came to the Yankees early in the 2002 season. Ed Amberger and Lou Maschi reached out to me on behalf of nineyear-old Katie Mascali. Ed was her uncle and Lou was a longtime family friend, and they both wanted to know if they could bring the Mascalis family to a game at Yankee Stadium and have Katie meet some of the players, especially her favorite, Derek Jeter. Katie was the youngest of three children of Joe and Lori Mascali of Staten Island, and like far too many families, theirs was devastated on 9/11. Joe was a member of the FDNY’s Rescue 5, and with 10 other members of that company, he lost his life that morning. And Katie, both men explained, was taking the loss of her dad particularly hard. So, the wheels were set in motion. Derek, of course, was on board and we set the date for their visit to batting practice and the game. When the day arrived, I went into the Yankees clubhouse to remind Derek, but when he saw me approaching, he simply said, “Kate’s day today, right?” Both Ed and Lou knew that the family’s visit would include Katie meeting Derek, but her mom and older siblings, Jen and Chris, expected nothing more than watching BP and the game. “We were so happy that we were going to go early and actually be able to see them at batting practice,” recalled Lori. “That was just a special thing in itself.” When I situated the family in the seats adjacent to the Yankees

Kate’s first visit to Yankee Stadium after her father’s death on 9/11 included a surprise call from Derek Jeter to join him and his teammates on the field for pregame stretching exercises.

Publisher Emeritus Norman Jacobs Publisher David Fagley Editor in Chief Rick Cerrone Editor Thom Henninger Production and Business Manager Kimberly Conzett Circulation Manager Richard Kent

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“When we first got there, just seeing him, I was stunned. Then, when he called me out onto the field, I was speechless.” — Kate Mascali

dugout, I walked over to Derek, who was lying on the grass doing pre-batting-practice stretching exercises with the rest of his teammates. I leaned over him to discreetly let him know that the little girl he was going to meet was sitting next to the dugout, wearing a blue jacket and a Yankees cap. And that there was no rush, but the family’s there whenever he’s finished getting ready for the game. Now, what was expected of him

was the usual “meet and greet.” He’d go over, shake some hands, pose for a few pictures and sign some autographs. But no sooner had I turned to walk back to the stands I heard Derek shout, “Hey, Kate! Get out here! You’re late!” And with that, Katie’s family lifted her over the rail and she ran out to meet Derek on the field. He extended his hand, gave her a big smile and then said, “Well, get down here with me, Kate. It’s time to stretch.”

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Printed in the USA September/October 2021

FIRST PITCH

Austin Collins

Katie got down on the ground and Derek gave her one of those big rubber bands the players were using for their exercises. And as they were stretching, I could hear him calling over some of his teammates. “Kate, this is Mariano Rivera. And this is Jorge Posada. And Andy Pettitte. And Bernie Williams.” “When we first got there, just seeing him, I was stunned,” recalled Katie. “Then, when he called me out onto the field, I was speechless. Whereas a lot of people were always expressing how sorry they were for us, he just made me feel special in a way that he wasn’t making me feel pitied. He just called me out and made me feel like I was a part of the team and that really made me feel so special.” But wait, there’s more. “We always called her ‘Katie,’ and when he called out to her that day, he called her ‘Kate,’” Lori said. “Well, from that day, we couldn’t call her ‘Katie.’ We had to call her ‘Kate,’ because that’s what Derek called her. And I felt like this bigger-than-life person who was so special to her dad, here he was talking to her and calling her ‘Kate’ and making her feel as if she were one of the Yankees. To a little nine-year-old, that’s tremendous.” Added Kate: “My name is Katelyn and I was always Katie to my family, and when he called me Kate, that was it. I only wanted to be referred to as Kate from that point on.” Why? “Because he called me that.” Before the Mascali family departed the field, Derek took Kate into the dugout, sat her down and asked, “Do you come to many games?” “Not this season, but my dad used to take me,” Kate responded. “Well, whenever you come to a game, I want to know that you’re here. Just let Mr. Cerrone know and I’ll say hello whenever I can. But let me know that you’re here, OK?” In the ensuing seasons, I’d get calls Photo Edge Tolga Tezcan/Getty Images

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where he could spend a few minutes with her. And they continued these brief gettogethers for years, even when Kate went off to college. I think he just wanted to make sure his new friend was doing OK and to continue to give her any encouragement he could. “Going through what we had gone through, your spirit is broken,” Lori said. “Katie had a lot of love around her and a lot of support, but I always felt that Derek brought the light back into her spirit. That was something that was tremendous, and I don’t think he realized what he did because he was just so humble, and it was so genuine the way he did it.” And this gesture on Derek’s part, I’m convinced, had a huge impact on Kate’s life after her world was turned upside down a month before her ninth birthday. “To be completely honest, I Now 29 and having earned a doctorate in Physical Therapy, Kate don’t really remember much and her fiancé, Andre Jabban, will tie the knot next June. from that time,” she said. “My memories of that time are very hazy. But I do remember that going to the stadium that day was the first happy thing that was happening for me. We used to go to games with my dad all the time growing up, and going to the game for the first time after losing him was extremely emotional because the last time we had been there was with him. “What Derek did really gave me such a happy moment and happy experiences after 9/11. That gave me the reassurance that there was still going to be happy times for us.” Kate, who’ll turn 29 in October, earned a Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Quinnipiac University, and next June she and her fiancée, Andre Jabban, will be married. Her life might’ve been different if Derek Jeter didn’t understand, as he always from Kate—my new friend as well— has, the impact his words and deeds and she’d say, “Please tell Derek that could have on others. He’s always I’ll be at the game tonight.” And said and done the right things, all the more often than not, he’d make BD way to Cooperstown. sure I got her down near the dugout

“ What Derek did really gave me such a happy moment and happy experiences after 9/11. That gave me the reassurance that there was still going to be happy times for us.” — Kate Mascali

THE FANS SPEAK OUT PUTTING BAT ON THE BALL Chicago White Sox shortstop Tim Anderson had a breakout season in 2019 when he won the American League batting crown with a .335 average and slugged .508, with 32 doubles and 18 homers. He drew just 15 walks in 123 games, generating a .357 OBP that was just 22 points higher than his batting average. Would that be the smallest difference between batting average and OBP for a batting champion? Allan Goldberg Evanston, IL Yes, according to the Elias Sports Bureau, the 22-point difference between Tim Anderson’s batting average and OBP is the smallest for a batting champion dating to 1900. For more than a century, Hal Chase, who won the NL batting title with the Cincinnati Reds in 1916, held that distinction.

PLAYER Tim Anderson, CWS Hal Chase, Cin Dee Gordon, Mia

BA .335 .339 .333

OBP .357 .363 .359

DIFF .022 .024 .026

Source: Elias Sports Bureau

Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

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Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images

YOUNG BREWER TRIO In the 2021 season’s first half, three Milwaukee Brewers pitchers—Brandon Woodruff (2.06 ERA), Corbin Burnes (2.36 ERA) and Freddy Peralta (2.39 ERA)—made at least 15 starts and posted sub-2.50 ERAs. Have three teammates ever done this before? Bruce Schreiber Madison, WI According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Brewers became the sixth team since 1933, the year of the first All-Star Game, to have three pitchers reach the break with at least 15 starts and a sub-2.50 ERA. The last team to do it was the 1985 St. Louis Cardinals. The trio of Joaquín Andújar (20 GS, 2.37 ERA), Danny Cox (19 GS, 2.36 ERA) and John Tudor (19 GS, 2.27 ERA) anchored the rotation on a Cardinals club that advanced to the 1985 World Series.

Brandon Woodruff

Corbin Burnes September/October 2021

Freddy Peralta

HAL CHASE

DEE GORDON

BOBO, BUD AND BUMPUS What pitcher, who threw at least one no-hitter (post 1950), had the shortest major-league career? What others came close in terms of big-league tenure? Gerald A. Lunde North Branch, MN Since 1950, the two shortest major-league careers by pitchers who tossed no-hitters— according to the Elias Sports Bureau—are 22 games by Bobo Holloman and 27 games by Bud Smith. Holloman pitched his only season in the majors for BOBO HOLLOMAN the St. Louis Browns at age 30 in 1953. He worked a no-no against the Philadelphia Athletics in his first of only 10 bigleague starts on May 6, 1953. Arm troubles soon ended his career. A shoulder ailment limited Smith’s big-league career to the 2001 and 2002 seasons. As a 21-year-old rookie for the St. Louis Cardinals, on September 3, 2001, he tossed a nohitter against the San Diego Padres. The shortest career of all belongs to Bumpus Jones, who pitched just eight games in 1892 and 1893, with his majorleague debut the highlight of his career. In his only appearance in 1892, he threw a no-hitter for the Cincinnati Red Stockings against the Pittsburgh Pirates.

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

YEAR 2019 1916 2015

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Smallest Difference in BA and OBP for a Batting Champion

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G Fiume/Getty Images

TIM ANDERSON

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BOB FRIEND

Rhona Wise/AFP via Getty Images

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ANOTHER HALL “CANDIDATE” I enjoyed the article (“Hall Pass”) on coaches who should be in the Hall of Fame in the July-August issue. Speaking of pitching coaches, how about Ray Miller? He served under managers Earl Weaver and Joe Altobelli, and coached Orioles teams that won the 1979 American League championship and the 1983 World Series title. Miller was the pitching coach for 20-game winners Jim Palmer, Mike Boddicker, Mike Flanagan, Steve Stone and Scott McGregor during that time. Fred Spitzzeri Bloomington, IN

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ART MAHAFFEY

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MEMORABLE PHILLIES TWIN BILL Your recent article on classic doubleheaders (“Five Head-Turning Doubleheaders”) in the May-June issue brought to mind one that two friends and I attended in August 1964 at Connie Mack Stadium between the Phillies and the Pirates. The first game was a pitchers’ duel between the Phillies’ Art Mahaffey and the Pirates’ Bob Friend. Mahaffey took a no-hitter into the seventh inning but was constantly pitching out of trouble due to walks. The game ended when the Phillies’ Frank Thomas (the first one, not “The Big Hurt”) broke up the scoreless game with a two-run homer in the ninth. The second game was a showcase for Johnny Callison. He tied the game at 1-1 with a home run to the left-field roof, an impressive shot for a left-handed hitter. Then in the eighth, he gave the Phillies a 31 lead with the only two-run sacrifice fly I’ve ever seen. Pirates center fielder Manny Mota was running away from the infield when he caught the ball. For good measure, Callison threw out Bill Mazeroski, who represented the tying run, at third base in the top of the ninth. The Phillies won, 3-2. I would like to know how accurate my

memories of that night are. Incidentally, those same two friends and I still try to get together for a Phillies game every year. Dave Harris Middletown, NJ You provided an accurate account of the Phillies-Pirates doubleheader on Thursday, August 20, 1964. In Game 1, Art Mahaffey was working a no-no until Bill Mazeroski stroked a one-out single in the seventh. Mahaffey had walked three batters by then, and two other Pirates had reached on Phillies errors. But he worked nine scoreless and Frank Thomas ended it with his one-out blast in the ninth. In Game 2, Johnny Callison hit his sixthinning moonshot off the Pirates’ Don Schwall, and both pitcher Rick Wise and leadoff man Tony González scored on Callison’s deep fly to center in the eighth. The Pirates tallied a run in the ninth to pull within one at 3-2, but Callison soon spurred two quick outs by catching Jerry Lynch’s fly ball to right field and throwing out Mazeroski trying to move to third. The Pirates might have tied the score, as Bill Virdon followed with a single, but reliever Ed Roebuck fanned Bob Bailey to end it.

NEVER DONE I wanted to ask if a major leaguer has ever hit a “HomeRun Cycle” in a single game? That is, has there been a player who has hit a solo homer, a tworun homer, three-run homer MARK WHITEN and grand slam, all in one game? Has anyone come close? Chris Stewart Oak Ridges, ONT According to the Elias Sports Bureau, no one has ever hit a solo, two-run, three-run and grand-slam homer in a single SCOOTER GENNETT game. In fact, only two players who have hit four home runs in a game have connected on a grand slam. The first was Mark Whiten, who stroked a solo shot, a pair of three-run homers and a slam—good for 12 RBIs—for the St. Louis Cardinals on September 7, 1993. Next was Scooter Gennett, who drilled a pair of tworun shots, a solo blast and a slam—good for 10 RBIs—for the Cincinnati Reds on June 6, 2017. BASEBALL DIGEST WELCOMES LETTERS FROM READERS. Full name, city and state or province must be included. Mail to: The Fans Speak Out, Baseball Digest, 390 N. Orange Ave., Ste 2300, Orlando, FL 32801-1684 or email to: letters@baseballdigest.com September/October 2021

BASEBALL QUICK QUIZ

Last Licks SCORING

10 of 10 ï Hall of Famer 8 or 9 ï MVP

6 or 7 ï All-Star 5 or less ï Rookie

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Hall of Fame pitcher Warren Spahn played with three teams during his 21-year career, which ended in 1965. For what team did Spahn last pitch and record the last of his 363 victories? Class of 2020 Hall of Fame inductee Derek Jeter had a walk-off hit in his last game at Yankee Stadium on September 25, 2014, three days before the final game of his career at Fenway Park. In his final at-bat, the Yankees’ captain singled and drove in a run. What former league MVP scored the run?

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On September 28, 1960, Hall of Famer Ted Williams hit a home run in the final at-bat of his career at Fenway Park. The Baltimore Orioles pitcher who gave up Williams’ 521st home run would also surrender another historic home run a year later. Name him.

4 Roberto Clemente became the 11th member of the 3,000-hit club on September 30, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium, in his penultimate regular-season appearance for the Pirates.

Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente got the 3000th and final hit of his career on September 30, 1972, at Three Rivers Stadium. The Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder doubled in the fourth inning off of New York Mets pitcher Jon Matlack. Clemente would appear in one more game after that. Name the opponent.

Hall of Famer Whitey Ford gave up one run in one inning against the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium in the final game of his 16-year career with the New York Yankees, on May 21, 1967. Name the future Hall of Famer who drove in the final run off of the “Chairman of the Board.”

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Pitching for the Atlanta Braves, Hall of Fame closer Bruce Sutter recorded his 300th career save against the San Diego Padres in his final major-league game on September 9, 1988, at Jack Murphy Stadium. What future Hall of Famer struck out to end the game and Sutter’s career?

Recurring shoulder issues forced Whitey Ford to leave his 438th career start after just one inning. A week later he announced his retirement after 16 seasons with the Yankees.

On September 30, 1962, New York Mets catcher Joe Pignatano hit into a triple play in the final at-bat of his career at Chicago’s Wrigley Field. A future Hall of Famer—also playing his final game— was on base at the time. Name him.

8 9

Who is the only position player who not only pitched in his final major-league game, but also hit a home run in his final career at-bat?

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Hall of Famer Orlando Cepeda made his final career appearance as a member of the Kansas City Royals. On September 19, 1974, Cepeda drove in a run with a pinch-hit single in his final career at-bat against the Oakland A’s and what Hall of Fame pitcher?

10 Bruce Sutter recorded 40 saves in his three seasons with the Atlanta Braves (1986-88). He secured his 300th and final save for the Braves in the final appearance of his career.

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Pete Rose appeared as a pinch-hitter in his final game on August 17, 1986, against the San Diego Padres. Who was the Hall of Fame pitcher who struck Rose out in his final career at-bat? Answers on page 66

Q&A Baseball Digest: Your 2001 New York Mets had spent Monday, September 10, in Pittsburgh, having flown there after taking three of four from the Marlins in Florida. Looking back some 20 years later, what do you remember most about that Tuesday morning? Bobby Valentine: I just remember waking up, going down to work out in the gym in the hotel in downtown Pittsburgh, grabbing a cup of coffee and, looking at CNN in my room, seeing that a plane had flown into the first (north) tower. I was very confused as everyone was, had no idea what was happening until the second plane was seen. Then, I looked out the window and I saw all these black SUVs down by the building across the street. They were blocking off all the entrances and exits of the building, which turned out to be the FBI office in downtown Pittsburgh. And I said, “Whoa. We might have a situation here.” So, I called (traveling secretary) Charlie Samuels and (PR Director) Jay Horwitz and said, “I think we need to get out of Dodge.”

WITH

Bobby Valentine Luckily, we had our buses on standby and we took those buses out to the suburbs to a Holiday Inn about an hour outside of town. And we just watched some more news. As it turned out, I think we made the right move, as there were, of course, multiple targets. We thought that could have been one of them. BD: With all flights grounded in the country, you weren’t able to fly back to New York. What did you do? BV: We gathered later in the evening and decided that, since we weren’t going to be able to fly back home, we might as well just load up and bus it back to New York. Our cars were all at Shea Stadium, and every-

one wanted to get home to their families and some sense of security. So we did bus it back, and as we passed the Meadowlands on the Jersey side of the Hudson, everyone looked to the right where, normally, you could see the skyline of lower Manhattan. But none of the buildings were visible. They were all covered by black smoke at that time and everyone took a deep breath. It became very silent. There was a lot of crying. I teared up. It was just a very, very emotional ride from there to Shea Stadium for the next 40 minutes. BD: In those first two days, were you concerned about anyone you knew personally—friends or family? BV: I made phone calls from Pittsburgh. You know, my father-inlaw, Ralph Branca, was supposed to dedicate a statue for Jackie Robinson in downtown Manhattan that morning. So he was down there that morning and we were in search of him. It turned out that he walked over the Brooklyn Bridge and flagged down a cab to take him back to Westchester. And I had a dear friend, Chris

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

Then-Mets skipper Bobby Valentine (left), active in response to the 9/11 attacks in 2001, and Mike Piazza were at Shea Stadium when baseball returned to New York.

September/October 2021

Baseball’s Face of the Recovery After 9/11 Opens Up to Baseball Digest

Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The David Cone Foundation Gala

September/October 2021

Matt Campbell/AFP via Getty Images

Valentine and coach Dave Engle stand for the national anthem at Shea Stadium on September 21, 2001, an emotional night when the Mets and Atlanta Braves played the first game in New York following the terrorist attacks.

Quackenbush, whose office at (investment banking firm) SandlerO’Neill was up there on, I think, the 92nd floor, and the only thing that everybody was wondering was, “Did he stop for coffee or did he go in early?” And, I guess, history shows that he went in early as he always did. And we lost him that day. (Chris, whose family had traveled to the AllStar Game in Seattle with Valentine earlier that summer, was one of three managing partners of Sandler-O’Neill & Partners. He was among 68 of the firm’s 171 employees who lost their lives on 9/11.) BD: Your involvement with the rescue and recovery effort—first at Shea Stadium and then at Ground Zero— was almost immediate. How did that come about? BV: On the drive home from Shea Stadium, I was listening to (all-news) WCBS radio and they mentioned the “rescue” and “recovery” efforts. They were looking for places to stage this 16

September/October 2021

“ I even forced some smiles at times and held back the tears just thinking that maybe the camera might have been on me, and when the national anthem was playing, I wanted it to be seen that I was standing strong.” and Shea Stadium was mentioned as one of them. As I got home to Connecticut and checked in and found that all the family and most all of our friends were safe, I made a Uturn and went back to Shea Stadium to see what the staging area might look like.

BD: With what must have been massive grief over what these horrific attacks wrought, including the loss of a close friend, was your effort to help in any way therapeutic for you? BV: At the time it was because there was great hope that we were doing something extraordinary (for a rescue effort), you know, filling these police cars up with Visine, T-shirts, sweatshirts, jeans, goggles. I mean, you name it. Things were being dropped off at Shea Stadium by vendors, and also by individuals from all around the East Coast. There was that hope that we were trying to do important things in trying to rescue. As the week went on, the effort seemed to be futile. That got very disappointing. BD: But you must have felt that what you were doing was still important. BV: The people that were on the front lines, I mean when I went down there the second day, everyone was just covered with soot and their eyes were shut closed with this black film. The clothes were filthy dirty. On every corner, we were providing hundreds of T-shirts and jeans—everything you could imagine. A lot of the rescue workers were actually being hosed off by the fire trucks and that’s basically how they were getting their showers. Then they’d put on fresh clothing and gloves and go back in to try to move the rubble. It was very reminiscent of what happened in Miami (on June 23) with the collapse of the condominium. It was just impossible to imagine trying to move these millions of tons of concrete and steel. It was an amazing effort. BD: Twenty years later, is there anything in particular that jumps out about those days, weeks being so involved with the recovery effort—at the Shea Stadium staging area and at Ground Zero? BV: The silver lining for me was the smiles that we received either down at Ground Zero or at fire houses. And at the staging areas where people were waiting to see if any of their loved ones were found—or even, as the week went on, if their remains had been found. You know, I walked through with my therapy dogs (Skippy and Captain) and they put

New York Mets

Following the attacks on 9/11, Shea Stadium became a staging area, used to collect clothing and supplies for first responders and rescue workers who assisted at Ground Zero.

“Things were being dropped off at Shea Stadium by vendors, and also by individuals from all around the East Coast. There was that hope that we were trying to do important things in trying to rescue.”

Theo Wargo/WireImage

smiles on people’s faces for days on end. The people that I met during that time, many of them are still close to me. For some families that lost loved ones, I kind of became a surrogate something or other—father, uncle, something like that. And that’s been the silver lining—the friendships that were made. BD: You’ve said that, during that time, you would never be seen shedding a tear because you didn’t want these terrorists seeing you cry. Is that true? BV: The message that we got from the commander in chief before that

Valentine was active in supporting Shea Stadium as a staging area. A sign taped to a stadium wall provided a list of the numerous items collected to assist recovery efforts.

On the night the Mets returned to action against the Braves at Shea Stadium, Mike Piazza (left) donned a Port Authority Police cap and Valentine wore a New York Police Department cap, to honor 9/11 first responders.

September 21 game at Shea (the first game in New York after 9/11) was that baseball needs to be played and to remember that the bad guys are watching. And so I had this vision of the games being transmitted over to where whoever it was at the time that was considered the bad guys. And I wasn’t going to let them see that they broke my spirit. My spirit was going to be alive and well. I even forced some smiles at times and held back the tears just thinking that maybe the camera might have been on me, and when the national anthem was playing, I wanted it to be seen that I was standing strong. BD: President George W. Bush, who was the Texas Rangers’ managing general partner when you managed there, was and is a dear friend of yours. Do you remember any conversations you may have had with the president in the aftermath of 9/11? BV: He was thrown into an unbelievable situation and I was there to stand by his commands. In the first year of a presidency, you’re behind by 12 runs in the first inning. It was so unprecedented of a situation and all of our conversations were about dealing with families and friends, rather than any political situation. BD: Almost 10 years later—on May 2, 2011—you were in Philadelphia as part of the broadcast team for ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball telecast of the Mets-Phillies game at Citizens Bank Park. You’re alongside Dan Shulman and Orel Hershiser in the booth and the last thing on your mind, one would think, was Osama Bin Laden. September/October 2021

September/October 2021

recovery process. I wanted to make sure that every autograph was signed, that every hand was shaken. So if someone was in need of something that we had to give, we were always ready to support.

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

But that certainly changed. What are your memories of that historic night? BV: There were some rumblings in the crowd and even chants of “USA! USA!” And we heard the chants. I looked at my phone and I got a text from (friend) Bob Stiskin and another one from another friend of mine, Matt Conroy, who had lost his dad and one of them said, “We got the SOB!” The other one was a little more profane, if you will. So I pushed the cough button and told the director down in the truck that Bin Laden had been killed. But he didn’t want us to go on the air with it until it was confirmed. He had seen one report, but he needed to get a second one. And then the cheers got so loud and the moment became so emotional that Dan and I kind of nodded to each other and he went on the air to say, “It has been reported that Bin Laden has been killed.” And, yup, I said something like, “Oh happy day.” BD: For you, did finally finding and killing Bin Laden bring any closure? BV: It wasn’t so much for me, but for the people who were in the healing process, and many of them still were in that healing process. I think that it was a step forward, that it did bring tears of joy at times, just the idea of searching for the mastermind for 10 years and finally finding him. BD: When the games resumed on September 17—with a three-game series with the Pirates moved from New York to Pittsburgh—the Mets won five straight and eight of nine to pull within 3.0 games of the division leader (they had trailed by as many as 13.5 games in August). You said at the time that, after 9/11, the Mets weren’t playing for a pennant. What, then, were you playing for? BV: We had people in the stands every day who were looking for us to bring them some joy. And there was a fabulous foundation started called Tuesday’s Children, where, every Tuesday at home, we would bring in children who lost loved ones during 9/11. I knew that the people in uniform—all of our first responders— were so instrumental in the recovery process. But the other people in uniform—those who were in sports uniforms—were also important in the

“ There were some rumblings in the crowd and even chants of “USA! USA!” And we heard the chants.” BD: Did you have any doubts before the game was restarted that the season would actually continue? BV: I did wonder during the week whether we’d ever play again that year. But not long after I got the message that George W. thought that it was imperative. He wanted to reverse the trend and not make it seem like we were running and hiding, but to show that we were going to stand tall. Once I got that message, I thought it was absolutely imperative, not only

for us to play but for us to play in New York. BD: You’ve spent the last eight years as Director of Athletics at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. And this year you took a leave of absence to run for mayor of your hometown of Stamford. What led you to the decision to do that? BV: Stamford has been my hometown. My grandparents came here 111 years ago, settled and never moved. My family has always been here. I’ve seen this city grow from a little town to a big city. And, over the years, I’ve learned how to be a leader, to understand how to transition things and to change perception. Coming out of 9/11 isn’t much different than coming out of this pandemic. I feel that I have the experience and the leadership qualities for a city like Stamford, which could take the lead for cities coming out and recovering in their small-business worlds and in their self-belief of being social again. It’s the exact thing that I’ve been preparing for all of my life. And it’s just time to give back to a community that has given me so much all of my life. It’s supported my childhood, my schooling, my education, my businesses that I started and that were supported by the community. They were always there for me, and I think this is a time that they need me and I’m stepping up. BD: You’re also involved in producer/director Ross Greenburg’s updated feature-lenghth version of the 2004 documentary Nine Innings From Ground Zero. What’s the most important thing that reliving 9/11, some 20 years later, has brought back to you? BV: My thoughts are, one, I hope it never happens again. And, two, I hope that the involvement that all the (sports) people in uniform had in helping the healing process is something we can all learn from and use the stage we have when we are in uniform to help people in need. I’ve hoped for years that baseball, football, all the sports and all the other people in our communities who are in uniform—first responders and all of the caregivers—are recognized properly for things that they do in an BD extraordinary way.

Joe DiMaggio: “a sports hero…a legend… a mysterious and perennial American icon.”

The Odes of DiMaggio Myth, Sports, and Manhood in Contemporary America

Michael P. Riccards

PREFACE BY DR. ROCK POSITANO AND JOHN POSITANO Authors of Dinner with DiMaggio

Baseball Digest

Now available in a revised paperback edition from Amazon

January/February 2010

With Ohtani, Every Game is

Sho-Time!

The Angels’ Once-in-a-Lifetime Two-Way Weapon Is Doing Things that No One Alive Has Ever Seen Rob Tringali/MLB Photos via Getty Images

September/October 2021

By Jeff Fletcher aseball’s best players were lined up, each sitting at his own table, with umbrellas protecting them from the scorching sun on a midsummer afternoon in Denver. Gathered for the All-Star Game, the players held their customary media availability, each sitting for about an hour as a couple hundred reporters circulated among them. You could have walked down the row of tables and eavesdropped on the interviews and made perfect sense of it as you moved from one conversation to the next, because the topic was mostly the same. Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels.

Shohei Ohtani heads to the bullpen prior to the 2021 All-Star Game at Coors Field in Denver. The first player ever selected as both a hitter and pitcher, Ohtani batted leadoff for the AL, worked a 1-2-3 first inning and earned the “W” in a 5-2 AL win, the day after drilling six homers of at least 500 feet in the Home Run Derby.

September/October 2021

ARM AND HAMMER

ne hundred years before Shohei Ohtani’s rookie season, Babe Ruth served as a two-way player for two seasons with the Boston Red Sox. Here’s a breakdown of Ruth’s offensive numbers as a starting pitcher and in all other appearances. In 1918, Ruth was a better hitter on the days he took the mound. He didn’t qualify for the batting title that season, but still led the major leagues in homers and would have topped all hitters in slugging. In 1919, Ruth was a better hitter on the days he played the outfield, setting the trend for a prolific career as one of the best hitters to ever play the game.

1918 As Starting Pitcher All Other Appearances Total

1919 As Starting Pitcher All Other Appearances Total George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

“The guy is hitting balls farther than anyone in the league, throwing it harder than anyone in the league, running faster than anyone in the league,” marveled Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Max Muncy. “He's a freak of nature. It's really fun to watch.” St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado: “There’s nobody doing what he’s doing. He’s an incredible talent. He rakes. He’s got a two-something ERA. He’s doing stuff that I haven't seen in our lifetime. Not since Babe Ruth.” Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner: “I think it’s probably a once-ina-lifetime guy we’re seeing right now. A generational player that people are going to talk about for a long time.” Atlanta Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman: “It’s absolutely incredible what he’s doing.” It would be easy to become numb to the comments, which were endless throughout the two days when the best in the sport converged on Denver. Even commissioner Rob Manfred felt obligated to chime in, albeit with admittedly nothing left to add. “I literally can’t say another word that hasn’t been said or written about what Shohei Ohtani is doing,” Manfred said. “It just kind of speaks for itself. It is an unbelievable performance.” 22

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G 19 76 95

AB 61 256 317

H 21 74 95

XBH 13 35 48

HR 2 9 11

G 15 115 130

AB 53 379 432

H 14 125 139

XBH HR BA SLG 8 3 .264 .566 67 26 .330 .670 75 29 .322 .657 Source: Elias Sports Bureau

In an era in which fans tend to not be so easily awed with the Next Big Thing, Ohtani has captivated the sport with unprecedented feats. While New York Mets ace Jacob deGrom performed at an almost unfathomable level on the

“He’s a legendary figure. It’s a huge honor to be compared to somebody like that. All I can do is try my best and see how my season and career end up.” —Shohei Ohtani mound, not even deGrom could match what Ohtani was doing on the other side of the country. Although it’s difficult to comprehend how Ohtani has done it, it’s easy to understand why the word “incredible” comes up so often when his peers talk

BA .344 .289 .300

SLG .656 .531 .555

George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images

about him. No one alive has ever done what he’s doing. Babe Ruth’s name is often conjured when looking for a comp for Ohtani, but even that’s imperfect. Ruth was originally a pitcher who hit so well that he eventually began playing the outfield between starts. But that lasted for just two seasons, in 1918 and 1919— more than 100 years ago. When he got to the Yankees in 1920, he all but abandoned pitching, preferring to focus on hitting and playing the outfield. “He’s a legendary figure,” Ohtani said when Ruth’s name came up. “It’s a huge honor to be compared to somebody like that. All I can do is try my best and see how my season and career end up.” The impossibility of being a productive hitter and pitcher was a notion that persisted for a century, and even Ohtani only made a modest dent in it with two months of success as a twoway player in 2018, his first year in the majors. Ohtani had a 3.10 ERA and 61 strikeouts in 49.1 innings through his first nine starts in 2018, while also hitting .289 with a .907 OPS. But in June he injured his ulnar collateral ligament, which led to Tommy John surgery and what turned out to be 34 months of

Nick Wosika/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

unrealized expectations on the mound. Although he finished his rookie year with a .925 OPS and 22 homers, his offense also declined after that. His OPS dropped to .848 in 2019—when he only served as DH—and it cratered to .657 in the shortened 2020 season. Ohtani referred to his own 2020 performance as “pathetic” in an interview in Japan after the season, which is why he underwent a transformation over the winter. He re-evaluated every part of his routine, from the way he worked out in the gym to what he did on the baseball field to what he ate, according to agent Nez Balelo. “This was Shohei really wanting to own his career, to own his offseason and do something different,” Balelo said. “So that’s what we did.” Ohtani had been rehabbing from surgeries in the winters prior to the 2019 and 2020 season. He wouldn’t use the procedures as an excuse, but admitted that “I wasn’t fully healthy, so I wasn’t able to do what I really wanted to do, and it was really frustrating.” Last winter he was healthy, so he could finally do the gym workouts he wanted. As a result, he was stronger than ever when he arrived at spring training. Ohtani also went to Driveline, the

In his best offensive season yet, Ohtani began August with a major-league-leading 37 home runs and 82 RBIs in 98 games, both career highs. He is likely to set personal highs and rank among AL leaders in several hitting categories.

high-tech baseball training center in Seattle, which has become a popular destination for major leaguers and minor leaguers seeking to take their performance to the next level. At Driveline, Ohtani worked on refining his mechanics at the plate and on the mound.

Finally, Ohtani ramped up the intensity of his baseball workouts, including facing live pitching at home in Japan over the winter. “He turned it up,” Balelo said. “It became more intense and he really embraced it.” The results were clear early in spring

Injuries had limited Ohtani to 12 starts in his first three seasons with the Angels, but he’s taking a regular turn and has emerged as an elite pitcher in a breakout 2021 season.

“Are you kidding me? (He) can hit a ball 900 feet and throw 99 off the mound. Who else can do that? There's nobody else doing that at the big-league level.” —CC Sabathia

Norm Hall/Getty Images

September/October 2021

“I think he's out there playing and he feels free about it,” Maddon said. “And we all know what that feels like. We feel freedom to express ourselves. And not the awful feeling of being held back. That, to me, is one of the most awful feelings we could attempt to impart on somebody else. So I think he feels a freedom about his play. And you're seeing that on a nightly basis.” At the start of the season, Ohtani’s performance was one of impressive individual moments, but without con-

In Ohtani’s first 25 games of the season, he struck out in 25 percent of his plate appearances and walked in just four percent. Over his next 59, the strikeouts rose slightly, to 30 percent, but the walks more than tripled, to 14 percent. Maddon said the improved strike zone discipline was also the main reason that he went on a home-run binge in the month leading up to the All-Star Game. Ohtani hit 16 homers in a 21-game span just before the break, taking a major-league-leading 33

Douglas P. DeFelice/Getty Images

training. Ohtani was driving balls out of the ballpark in all directions, including hitting a couple blasts over the batter’s eye at Tempe Diablo Stadium. He also was pitching without any hint of the physical problems that hampered him for the previous three years, evident by hitting 100 mph on the radar gun in the Cactus League. Angels manager Joe Maddon, who hadn’t really gotten to see this version of Ohtani in 2020, was impressed. He and general manager Perry Minasian

Ohtani was named the AL Player of the Month for both June and July, a stretch in which he hit 22 homers, slugged .777 and went 4-0 (3.30 ERA) in eight starts.

also agreed to have a discussion about removing some of the restrictions the Angels had placed on Ohtani when he was a two-way player in 2018. As well intentioned as they were, the forced off days didn’t help him stay healthy or perform, so the Angels unleashed him. Months later, Maddon was convinced that one of the reasons Ohtani was performing so well was that he was free of those limitations. The Angels used Ohtani just about every day through the first half of the season. 24

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sistency. He’d hit a 450-foot homer, but he was barely walking and striking out too much. He would throw a 100-mph pitch, but then he would walk too many hitters. As amazing as it was that he could even do those things, there were still skeptics because he wasn’t always transferring the immense talent into effective performance. Ohtani, though, has demonstrated tools that go beyond his visible power, speed and arm. His work ethic and baseball intellect helped him refine his game almost on the fly.

homers to Denver. On the mound, Ohtani had a 2.41 ERA through his first four games, but that also included him walking 9.2 hitters per nine innings. He was able to survive that by striking out 14.5 hitters per nine innings. All of that also led to Ohtani’s pitch count getting out of control. Over his next nine starts, though, Ohtani cut the walk rate to 3.0 and the strikeout rate to 10.5. His velocity went down slightly, but that was by design, as it enabled him to pitch more efficiently, and therefore deeper into games.

Dustin Bradford/Getty Images

The confluence of those on the East Coast were asleep. adjustments, Ohtani’s physical In the Home Run Derby, he changes over the winter and got knocked out in the first his tremendous talent meant round, but not before hitting that—three years later—he six balls 500 feet or more, could finally live up to the hype reaching the top deck at Coors that he brought from Japan. Field. A day later he became “Seeing what I’ve seen in the the first player ever to play in past, it doesn’t surprise me one an All-Star Game after being bit,” said Minasian, who had elected as a pitcher and hitter, watched Ohtani in Japan. “He’s starting on the mound and at DH. They had to adjust the extremely talented. Once you rules to allow him to do so— get yourself healthy, and you normally, you can’t have the know you belong here, and DH for the game if your pitcher there's some confidence and hits—but it was a no-brainer things start going well, when for Major League Baseball to you're that talented with that make whatever tweaks were kind of makeup, the sky's the necessary to put its main limit.” attraction in the spotlight. Former star pitcher CC “You don’t have to be a Sabathia has been sufficiently Though he was eliminated from the 2021 Home Run Derby in the first golfer to appreciate Tiger impressed as well with what round by Washington’s Juan Soto (above), Ohtani donated his winnings Woods,” Maddon said. “You Ohtani has done this season. of $150,000 to as many as 30 members of the Angels’ support staff. don’t have to be a basketball "I keep saying this, and peoplayer to appreciate Michael Jordan. ple always laugh when I say it: He is the everything, he’s the best player.” You don’t have to be a football fan to best baseball player I've ever seen in my Ohtani’s rare talent was well known appreciate Tom Brady. Come watch life,” Sabathia said on his podcast. “Are to everyone in baseball before the seaShohei play. It’s unique. You’re not you kidding me? (He) can hit a ball 900 son began, and the way he parlayed going to see this again in a while.” BD feet and throw 99 off the mound. Who that into outstanding performance else can do that? Who else is doing that, made him a focal point throughout the bro? There's nobody else doing that at sport. At the All-Star Game, though, he Jeff Fletcher has covered the Los Angeles the big-league level.” truly began to transcend all of that. For Angels for the Orange County Register Red Sox manager Álex Cora agreed the first time in his career, Ohtani was since 2013. Prior to that, he spent 11 that Ohtani’s combination of skills on the national stage with everyone years in the San Francisco area covering puts him in a class by himself: “He’s watching, not just tucked away in the Giants and A’s, and two years as a just a different breed. It’s something national baseball writer. Angels games happening when many

“Come watch Shohei play. It’s unique. You’re not going to see this again in a while.”

Ohtani and his teammates celebrate in the Angels dugout after the designated hitter stroked a solo homer off Mariners left-hander Marco Gonzales in the third inning of a 7-3 Angels loss on July 9 at T-Mobile Park in Seattle.

different. This is something MLB hasn’t seen since Babe Ruth. He should be in the conversation. The things that he’s done, the way he has dominated the game. He’s probably the best player in the game right now because he’s able to do both at a high level. He’s not the best hitter. He’s not the best pitcher. But if you combine

Abbie Parr/Getty Images

—Joe Maddon

September/October 2021

In the midst of a stunning four-year stretch, Jacob deGrom has Hall of Famers Fergie Jenkins, Dennis Eckersley and Tom Glavine raving about stuff that has so much movement on high-velocity pitches. Adam Hunger/Getty Images

September/October 2021

When it Comes to Jacob deGrom,

There’s No deBate The Mets’ Two-Time Cy Young Award Winner is Making the Case as the Best Pitcher of His Generation By Anthony McCarron ennis Eckersley is a Hall of Famer, a pitcher who soared first as a starter and then as one of the greatest closers in baseball history. He knows what it feels like to flummox big-league batters. But as he’s watched Jacob deGrom over the past few years, Eckersley has wondered if perhaps there’s a higher level out there, one that very few pitchers ever reach. “Boom, boom, boom,” Eckersley said, describing the way deGrom overwhelms hitters. He chuckled in amazement while discussing deGrom’s wicked slider, which deGrom can throw around 92 miles per hour. “How do you make a ball move like that,” Eckersley said, “when it’s going that fast? “I’m in awe of him, I really am. I get off on watching someone dominate like that. I never came close to dominating like him. I couldn’t imagine what that feels like, to just blow people away.” But the Hall of Famer is reminded that he once threw a no-hitter and had a 20-win season. And enjoyed some of the most remarkable campaigns in baseball history as a closer, including one that ended with a video-game ERA of 0.61. “Come on, man,” Eckersley replied. “This is another ballgame.” deGrom, the ace of the New York Mets and the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, already owns two National

September/October 2021

“If you’re not going out to see deGrom, then shame on you. I don’t know what you’re doing.”

Jim McIsaac/Getty Images

—Tom Glavine

deGrom won his first of consecutive Cy Young awards in 2018, when he posted a league-best 1.70 ERA. In 2021, he was positioned to challenge Bob Gibson’s 1.12 modern-era ERA record, set in 1968, until arm issues sidelined him.

League Cy Young awards. He became the early favorite to win his third in a 2021 season in which he pushed his craft to new levels, all at an age (33) when many pitchers find themselves learning to cope with eroding velocity. Instead, deGrom’s fastball, which can hit 102 mph, is helping fuel one of the greatest four-year runs ever. At the All-Star break, his heater was averaging 99.2 mph, hardest of any starting pitcher. When he came up in 2014 and was NL Rookie of the Year, he averaged 94.5 mph, according to FanGraphs. Over the same span, the swing-and-miss rate on his unholy slider has skyrocketed, too. 28

September/October 2021

Each of his starts, it seems, comes packed with “Wow!” moments, plus a baseball history lesson starring a boldface name such as Bob Gibson. deGrom is one of the biggest stories of 2021, along with Shohei Ohtani, the multiposition marvel, and young stars such as Fernando Tatís Jr. Unfortunately for deGrom and the Mets, his health has been a big story, too. He was put on the 10-day Injured List after the All-Star break and then experienced a setback in late July, just as he was ramping up for a rotation return. An MRI of his elbow showed inflammation, but no structural dam-

age, and the Mets were hoping he could come back sometime in September. It was the second trip to the IL in 2021 for deGrom and the fifth time he’s battled some sort of ailment, some of which either caused him to leave a start early or skip one. deGrom said some of those were related to swinging the bat. Some in the game wonder whether deGrom’s increased velocity is wearing on him as he ages. “He’s gotten hurt, I guess,” Eckersley said. “Can you sustain this?” As Howie Rose, the radio play-byplay voice of the Mets on WCBS, put it, deGrom “may be at a crossroads that no one’s ever been at before with more (pitching) stuff and his body.” deGrom had a 0.50 ERA through his first 12 starts, the lowest by any pitcher since 1913, when ERA was first recorded in both leagues, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. He finished the first half with a 1.08 ERA, but he’ll lack the innings to threaten Gibson’s modern ERA mark of 1.12 in 1968. Hall of Famer Fergie Jenkins pitched against Gibson in 1968 and beat him once. He also dropped a 1-0 decision to Gibson, one of five 1-0 losses Jenkins took in the Year of the Pitcher, which saw seven 20-game winners and seven pitchers with a sub-2.00 ERA. “I got Bob once,” Jenkins said, laughing. “Certain guys come along and are the dominant individual in baseball,” Jenkins added. “It’s proven now that deGrom is one of those. He just throws the ball right by people, outclasses them. “He’s proving that pitching is still the dominant part of the game. He’s one of those guys who can survive with one run. When I pitched, guys like (Tom) Seaver or (Don) Sutton, (Don) Drysdale, (Sandy) Koufax, myself, we could get one run and keep winning.” Could deGrom break Gibson’s ERA record? “If that happens, they may change the rules so pitchers throw from second base,” Jenkins said. deGrom’s been so terrific that he might even thrive then. It took until July 1—his 14th start of the season—for deGrom to allow more than two earned runs in a game. In that same outing, against the Atlanta Braves, he struck out 14, and from the second inning on retired 18 consecutive batters. At one point, he struck out eight in a row, the

fourth time in his career he’s had a streak of eight straight. That’s the most such streaks in MLB history. Earlier in the season, deGrom had a run in which he retired 37 consecutive batters in the first inning of games. It’s the longest streak in 90 years, according to ESPN Stats and Info. On July 7, he reached 1,500 strikeouts faster than all but one pitcher, doing it in 198 games, one more than Yu Darvish. “It’s surprising whenever somebody squares up a ball against him,” Mets manager Luis Rojas said. He’s no Ohtani—who is?—but deGrom has been an offensive force this year, too, in his own way. Through his first 12 starts, he had more RBIs (six) than earned runs allowed (four). At the All-Star break, he was batting .364. “Who is more impressive right now between Jake and Ohtani? It’s a legit argument,” said deGrom’s former teammate, Jerry Blevins. “If I had to choose which one is on my team, I’m taking deGrom. I know if there’s a seventh game of the World Series, what he does is more valuable. All respect to Ohtani—he’s doing things for the first time since Babe Ruth. “That’s what makes it so much fun. Baseball is in great hands moving forward. Those two are at the forefront and you’ve got guys like Fernando

Tatís Jr., (Ronald) Acuña Jr. and (Juan) Soto, too. It’s a great time to be a fan.” Through it all, deGrom has kept a low-key persona, which suits him, say those who know him. He does not court the spotlight even as his talent thrusts him into it every five days. He warms

“Who is more impressive right now between Jake and Ohtani? It’s a legit argument. If I had to choose which one is on my team, I’m taking deGrom.” —Jerry Blevins Former Teammate

up to the Lynyrd Skynyrd song, “Simple Man,” an apt choice. His former manager, Terry Collins, said, “There’s no doubt in my mind that when he goes home for the winter, he’s just Jacob deGrom, neighbor. He’s

Mike Stobe/Getty Images

deGrom also has contributed at the plate in 2021. Through his first 12 starts, he had more RBIs (6) than earned runs allowed (4). In a 3-2 win over San Diego on June 11, he drove in two runs. At the All-Star break, he was batting .364.

a genuinely good guy.” “He’s a humble guy from Florida,” said Omar Minaya, the Mets GM when deGrom was drafted out of Stetson in 2010. “He’s easygoing. When he’s on that mound, though? Woo, watch out. Just stand back and enjoy.” “Jake is just himself,” added Blevins. “There’s so much image-building sometimes. Jake is the antithesis of that. He’s a really good teammate to have around. I think he’s self-aware enough to know how good he is right now. But he’s a private person. Still, he lets young guys and teammates ask him questions to see how he does it. “He’s opened up a lot to allow some of the knowledge he’s gained. Not everybody is willing to do that.” deGrom says his goal is evenness. “I have a set routine that I stay with and try to stay consistent in between and take it out on the field,” he said. “It’s a pretty boring answer, but honestly, that’s how I take the mound. It’s one pitch at a time and once the ball leaves your hand, it’s out of your control. “Dwelling on something that already happened and getting angry out there doesn’t seem to help me.” What does? “Staying level and making the pitch I need to make at the time.” “We want guys to be bigger than life, don’t we? But maybe that’s what it takes for him to be as good as he is— controlling his emotions,” said Eckersley, who is a television analyst on Red Sox games for NESN. “I love his demeanor. He punches out the side and it’s ‘ho hum.’” deGrom has been terrific his entire career and enjoyed a big national moment in the 2015 MLB All-Star Game in Cincinnati, striking out the side in the sixth inning on 10 pitches. That same year, he fanned 13 in his first career postseason start, a win over the Dodgers. But he really arrived in 2018, when he jumped from very good to very great. He had a 1.70 ERA and won the NL Cy Young Award and then won the award again in ’19. He was only 10-9 in 2018 and 11-8 in 2019, and the Mets, oddly, were only 14-18 in his starts in both years. So when he was 7-2 in his first 12 starts in 2021, someone asked him about perhaps having a shot at 20 wins or at least September/October 2021

Todd Kirkland/Getty Images

What was shaping up as one of the great seasons by a pitcher has been sidetracked by forearm inflammation. deGrom was sidelined for most of July and wasn’t likely to start throwing again until the middle of August.

the high teens. He gave a typical deGrom answer, saying, “I just focus on what I can control—go out there and give these guys a chance to win a baseball game.” “He’s got such a steely resolve that it’s understandable that he’ll answer that way, because it falls in line with who he is and it keeps the noise out,” said Rose. “That music, ‘Simple Man,’ is perfect for him. “He’s able to simplify something that we all seem to want to complicate. With all the questions of mechanics, at-bats, analytics, he’s able to stay narrowly focused on the one thing that he has to do to earn his living, and that’s pitch successfully. “Not everybody can just operate in that vacuum. There are distractions out there. Some fall prey to them. He’s basically able to pitch with headphones on and they’re noise-canceling.” Earlier this season, Rose used Twitter to urge fans to savor every deGrom start. He did it, he said, because of “the feeling that we’re watching something that might not come down the pike in a while. These guys don’t pop up with any regularity. It’s freakish. It’s historic. And it’s highly entertaining.” As Tom Glavine, another Hall of Famer, put it: “If you’re not going out to see deGrom, then shame on you. I don’t know what you’re doing.” There is a regular buzz in the stands at Citi Field on the nights deGrom works. Sometimes, fans seem disappointed 30

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when an opponent makes contact, even if it’s an easy fly ball for a key out. deGrom has gotten them accustomed to strikeouts. After all, he had four starts with at least 14 strikeouts in the first half of 2021, and he eventually will obliterate Tom Seaver’s club record of 60 doubledigit strikeout games. (He has 53 in his

“Certain guys come along and are the dominant individual in baseball. It’s proven now that deGrom is one of those. He just throws the ball right by people, outclasses them.” —Fergie Jenkins career.) Even with all those Ks, he still threw more than 100 pitches in a game only once in the first half of ’21. When deGrom came to bat against the Cubs on June 16, some fans stood for his entire at-bat. He singled and, at the end of the inning, he got a standing ovation as he came off the field. Glavine, a member of the Atlanta

Braves broadcast team, has watched deGrom closely in recent years. He marveled at how deGrom allowed three runs in the first inning against Atlanta on July 1 and then simply overpowered Braves hitters. “He was somewhat of a mortal, for a little while,” Glavine said. “First and foremost, it’s the stuff that makes him so good,” Glavine added. “I heard (Braves skipper) Brian Snitker describe it as, ‘He plays catch at 100 miles an hour.’ He really does. He throws it right where he wants to and that’s the essence of playing catch, right? Doing it at 100 is a different story. “Freddie Freeman says every pitch deGrom throws now is a competitive pitch. I’m not sure that was true four years ago. He threw some clunkers, like we all do. But now, very seldom does he miss. Maybe one or two are stinkers, but he doesn’t miss in the middle. The rest are where he wants. “Secondly, his command is really good. In my day, there were guys who had command, but not this kind of stuff. You see the two worlds marry and he’s doing some pretty historic things.” Glavine, a longtime teammate of a pitcher who won four consecutive Cy Young awards—Greg Maddux—agrees with the idea that deGrom’s recent run is “in the conversation for the greatest four-year runs,” alongside pitchers such as Maddux, Sandy Koufax, Randy Johnson and others. But Glavine added that “cross-era comparisons” can be tricky. “While what Jacob is doing is phenomenal, the numbers will pale in some instances,” Glavine said. “You’ll never see the innings or the complete games. He’s in the neighborhood in strikeouts, but some of those guys were asked to throw 300 innings. But his stats are just stupid, like his ERA. His walks to strikeouts? Ridiculous, similar to Maddux. Statistically, it’s sometimes hard to match up the eras, but if you use the eye test, is he dominating his era? “You bet he is.” “It’s almost apples and oranges,” Rose added. “Pitchers today are trained and utilized so differently than they were. Now, there’s no expectation of a complete game. Wow, seven innings? That’s outstanding. Unfortunately, I think it becomes a little, almost, irresponsible to measure an achievement today in comparison with generations ago.”

Sarah Stier/Getty Images

One stat that perhaps offers at least a window into comparison is ERA Plus (ERA+), which measures pitchers while adjusting for ballpark and league factors, such as the average ERA overall. An ERA+ of 100 is league average. In Gibson’s famous 1968 season, he had an ERA+ of 258. In Pedro Martínez’ marvelous 2000 season, he set the modern mark for ERA+ at 291. In the first half of 2021, deGrom’s ERA+ was 363. deGrom is only in his eighth MLB season, so he’s got to clock two more to even be eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame. He’ll never reach 300 wins—he had 77 at midseason—but his recent dominance has created buzz about his candidacy. deGrom, in a rare moment, pulled back the curtain on his internal confidence last spring. He acknowledged to ESPN that he wants to pitch into his 40s and that he wants to be an “inner-circle” Hall of Famer. “He probably needs a couple more” seasons like the last few, Eckersley noted. “But he’s had unheard-of dominance in this period and I’m all for it. I love to watch this.” Blevins believes there’s more to come

deGrom is a monster on the mound, but teammates know him as a humble man who does not court the spotlight and prefers a low-key presence as a Met.

from deGrom, who spent much of his college career as a shortstop and perhaps doesn’t have the same wear and tear on his arm that some pitchers his age do. He wasn’t in the majors until he was nearly 26. deGrom is a “freak athlete,” Blevins said, who, in different circumstances, could be competing for gold at the Tokyo Olympics, perhaps throwing the javelin. When deGrom throws a football, “he throws that thing like Michael Vick or John Elway. He’s good at anything he does. “There’s no telling when he’ll be done at getting better as a pitcher,” Blevins added. “He’s not afraid to try things to get better. It’s fun to see someone at their peak still advancing. It’s like when Kobe (Bryant) or Michael (Jordan) added a move or two in the offseason. “He can still hone his craft. This is BD baseball at its best.”

Anthony McCarron covered baseball for the New York Daily News from 2000-16, including five years as the paper’s Yankees beat writer. A member of the BBWAA since 1999, he is currently a freelance writer who regularly contributes to SNY’s website and television programming.

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Leveling the Field

As Black Player Participation Dwindles, MLB Looks for Solutions to Make the Game More Accessible

By Sean McAdam od Carew, Dave Parker, Ken Singleton, Mickey Rivers, Ron LeFlore, Garry Templeton, George Foster, Jim Rice, Lyman Bostock and Ken Griffey. If you are a baseball fan, say, 50 years or older, you remember the names as though it were yesterday. They are among the heroes of your childhood, some of the names you searched for each morning in the box scores. You watched them play—on NBC’s Game of the Week maybe, or in the All-Star Game, or in the fall in the World Series—and perhaps were fortunate enough to collect their autographs. They remain in our mind’s eye, when we feel the game’s nostalgic pull, or sort through yellowed baseball card collections. Most are thankfully still with us, populating team reunions and anniversary cele-

KEN GRIFFEY KEN SINGLETON

ROD CAREW

JIM RICE GEORGE FOSTER 32

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brations. The best of them help fill the stage in Cooperstown every summer. Forty-four years ago, the 10 players listed above—all of them Black—comprised Major League Baseball’s Top 10 in batting average for the 1977 season. Expand that list to the Top 25 finishers and the number jumps to 16. Sadly, such a diverse list would be unfathomable today. When MLB held its annual Jackie Robinson Day celebration in April, honoring the Hall of Famer who integrated the game in 1947, a number of teams had not a single African American player on their rosters; several others had just one. At the 91st All-Star Game in Denver earlier this summer, the original National League roster featured exactly one Black player—Mookie Betts of the

Los Angeles Dodgers. (Betts later pulled out of the game.) Then again, Betts is accustomed to being the outlier: he was also the only Black player to take part in the 2020 World Series last October. “That,’’ said former major-league outfielder Ellis Burks, “is a problem.’’ To be clear, the fact that Major League Baseball went from having 19 percent of its players being Black in 1986—the peak of African American participation in the game—to just 7.6 percent at the start of the current season is not the result of any overt racism or discriminatory policies put in place by Major League Baseball. Indeed, many of the same teams which lack any African American players boast of an otherwise diverse roster. In almost every available metric, the game has never been more diverse,

with players born in nearly every corner of the world, from the Far East, to Central Asia, to the Caribbean. Any list of the game’s top players would include an array of Latino stars: including—but hardly limited to— Fernando Tatís Jr., Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ronald Acuña Jr., Juan Soto and Rafael Devers. And the game’s most captivating attraction, a modern-day Babe Ruth, is Shohei Ohtani, a Japanese-born double-threat. But there’s no escaping the fact that participation by African American players is at an all-time low. In some ways, the game is barely more racially integrated than it was in the years immediately following Robinson’s historic debut. “I think about that all the time,’’ said Burks, “and how we can fix it.”

Forty-four years ago, in 1977, each of the players who comprised Major League Baseball’s top 10 in batting average was Black, as were 16 of the top 25 hitters. Rod Carew, Louis Reqeuna/MLB via Getty Images; Ken Griffey, Focus on Sport/Getty Images; Ken Singleton, Owen C. Shaw/Getty Images; Lyman Bostock, Focus on Sport/Getty Images; Mickey Rivers, Focus on Sport/Getty Images; Dave Parker, Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images; Jim Rice, Focus on Sport/Getty Images; George Foster, Rich Pilling/MLB Photos via Getty Images; Ron LeFlore, Focus on Sport/Getty Images; Garry Templeton, Focus on Sport/Getty Images

LYMAN BOSTOCK

MICKEY RIVERS

DAVE PARKER

RON LeFLORE GARRY TEMPLETON September/October 2021

Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images

So, what happened? How did we get aspects with the African American tem, which is far different and longer here? community. We’re a game with a wonthan that of both football and basket“I think if we could really pick apart derful history and that’s an amazing ball. Whereas players heading to the everything that got us here,’’ lamented thing. But the weight of the history has NFL and NBA sign contracts and can Chaim Bloom, chief baseball officer of an impact and creates an environment expect to contribute and play immedithe Boston Red Sox, “we might not be where underrepresented groups might ately, baseball asks even its top draft in this situation in the first place.’’ feel like they have to force their way in picks to continue their apprenticeships Experts cite a number of factors, rather than the way being paved for for at least a few seasons in the minor leagues, enduring long bus rides and many of which extend far beyond them and being truly welcoming. staying in budget hotels, economically MLB’s purview. “That’s something that, even though buoyed only by their original signing While football and basketball scholI don’t think in recent decades has bonuses. arships are plentiful and often cover evolved through any conscious disIn a society where instant gratificamost players in a particular athletic crimination, I think it requires contion has become the norm, baseball program, baseball, in most cases, is not scious attention to change.’’ asks more of its youngest aspiring stars a revenue-producing sport and conseThough it’s unlikely the result of any quently is limited to 11.3 scholarintentional campaign, the game ships per school. itself has—even stylistically— That often results in partial scholbecome more homogenous. arships shared among teammates, Whereas 40 years ago, baseball with individual players and their was faster—more stolen bases, more families forced to make up the difhit-and-runs, more action—the ference. Even for those attending game in 2021 revolves around “three public universities, that can mean true outcomes’’—walks, strikeouts tuition bills that run in the tens of and home runs. Athleticism has thousands annually. been sacrificed for power and brute In the Black community, both strength. rural and urban, where poverty “When your game doesn’t look rates are higher and economic like your country looks, you lose opportunities more limited, that something,’’ said one baseball execoften results in players choosing utive who asked to not be named. another sport to pursue. Faced with “That’s what makes the country the prospect of a full ride to play great. There’s tremendous diversity football or incurring debt via loans in just about every regard, and that to pursue a baseball career, the shows up in sports—different skills, choice is too often obvious. different approaches, different Meanwhile, those that don’t have backgrounds. multi-sport options at the college “Now, even every batting stance level sometimes see their baseball looks the same—everyone’s trying playing days come to an end upon Between 2012 and 2021, 55 Black players have been selected in to catch the ball out front and hit it the first round of MLB’s First-Year Player Draft. Tim Anderson graduation from high school. at a certain angle as hard as they was taken 17th overall by the White Sox in 2013. In either scenario, baseball loses. can. There’s a seeming lack of diversity of approach as well.’’ and offers the smallest rewards—at Further, at the youth level, the sport To its credit, Major League Baseball least initially. Is it any wonder the has become more costly. In addition to has undertaken a bevy of initiatives to sport loses some of its top prospects to the rising cost of equipment (including attract more Black players to the game. other sports? bats, gloves and cleats), there are fees In 2015, MLB hired former Los Of course, the sharp decline of Black associated with participating in travel Angeles Angels general manager Tony players in itself makes it harder to ball and showcase events—where Reagins, who is Black, to serve as Chief attract the same. Baseball’s lack of scouts most often congregate and playBaseball Development Officer to racial diversity, in the end, results in an ers are often first put on teams’ radar. improve its outreach to communities of unfortunate cycle. Because young Gone are the days of playing for the color. He is decidedly bullish on the Black players don’t see themselves replocal American Legion team, or even rec progress being made. resented on the field, it’s harder for center or church-run programs in the “We’ve already started to see an them to imagine being on that same summer, close to home. Now, the best uptick in very talented young African field one day. players play the game at private, elite American players taking part in the “I think people will gravitate to academies and are expected to barngame,” said Reagins. “I’m encouraged. places where they feel they belong,’’ storm to tournaments, with the player I don’t view this as a negative. I know said Bloom, “and to sports where they and his family responsible for considerwe have to build a foundation and get feel they have the best opportunity. On able travel, food and lodging expenses. more kids playing in general, and some level, and not with any malintent, Finally, at the end of the pathway to specifically African American players. I think we’ve fallen short in those stardom, there’s baseball’s feeder sys34

September/October 2021

Lisa Blumenfeld/Getty Images

But we’re building that foundation. I’m much progress still to be made. to devote all or a portion of their payseeing it with my own eyes.’’ But if one imagines the feeder system check from Jackie Robinson Day to Reagins has helped introduce a mulas a funnel, with the number of particihelp fund it. titude of clinics and tournaments to pants narrowing as they get closer to The fundraising and contributions provide opportunities for Black high contributing in the major leagues, there are essential to fulfilling the goals of the school players, with instruction providare, at the very least, more Black playAlliance, through mentoring, provided by retired players and present-day ers entering the system. ing equipment, instruction and increased opportunity. stars. Between 2012-2020, 51 Black players But a less-obvious element is mesOn the afternoon that Reagins spoke —many of them graduates from the with Baseball Digest, he was attendmany MLB-led programs—or, 17.6 ing the Breakthrough Series, held percent, were chosen in the first each June in Vero Beach, Florida. round of the First-Year Player Draft. The event, jointly run by MLB and In the most recent draft this July, USA Baseball, hosts high school four of the first 16 players chosen in sophomores and juniors and exposthe first round were Black. es them to various levels of developMore needs to be done, naturally. ment, including seminars, mentorSome would like MLB to help fund ships, and instruction. The series— NCAA Division 1 scholarships, erasprovided at no cost to the attening a hurdle for Black players who dees—is attended by scouts, providcan’t afford to self-fund their coling a platform for aspiring pro playlege educations. Philanthropy and ers to get noticed. inclusion aside, surely that would Long before Reagins’ arrival, MLB qualify as MLB investing in itself. had invested in the RBI program For an industry with revenues of (Reviving Baseball in Inner Cities), nearly $12 billion annually pre-pandesigned to promote and grow the demic, surely that’s a worthwhile game in underserved urban comendeavor. munities. Today, the RBI program Increasing Black participation on can boast of sending a long list of the field could help MLB in its marFormer Angels GM Tony Reagins, receiving a Negro Leagues graduates onto stardom in the big keting efforts as well. More Black Baseball Museum award from owner Arte Moreno in 2009, leagues, including CC Sabathia, players would likely boost ticket heads MLB’s effort to improve its outreach to people of color. Jimmy Rollins, Justin Upton, Carl and merchandise sales in commuCrawford, Dominic Smith and Jackie nities of color. Bradley Jr. Already, there’s reason for optimism, In recent years, a host of other initiaeven allowing for the fact that all the tives have begun, including the Hank seeding that’s already been done will, Aaron Invitational and Dream Series, in all likelihood, take a while to yield both of which have proven enormously tangible results. successful in funneling African “The timetable is not as important as Americans into the player pipeline. creating the opportunity. Every year, According to MLB, 95 percent of all there’s more (African American) players alumni from its diversity development in the pipeline,’’ boasted Reagins. “So programs who have graduated high the chances of those players being able school are now playing the game at to matriculate through the system, have —Tony Reagins an opportunity to go to college and either the college or professional levels. saging. The Player Alliance wants to More recently, MLB has partnered impact their communities in other figuratively place a “Welcome’’ sign at with the Players Alliance—made up of ways, is really important. And if they are the sport’s entranceway. former and active players intent on able to become good citizens, or maybe “Ideally, we want to make sure that working toward making the sport more even play pro ball, then those are wins.’’ the game of baseball is available to inclusive and increasing Black particiWhether MLB will ever again feature 16 Black players among its top 25 hitters them,’’ Granderson said, “and for those pation—by providing a $150-million is probably unanswerable. who aren’t familiar with it, make sure contribution over the next decade. “But we can strive,’’ said Reagins, it’s introduced. Seeing players like ourIt’s one of the largest investments “and at the very least, we can provide selves on the field, we can have young MLB has made and the contributions BD opportunity.’’ kids say, ‘Hey, you know what—you will help fund a variety of initiatives. look like me. I can possibly do that.’ It’s Curtis Granderson, now retired after always great to see individuals that look a 16-year career in the game, serves as Sean McAdam has covered the Boston like you. It makes it more attainable.’’ the president of the Player Alliance. Red Sox and Major League Baseball for 33 As the 7.6 percent of Black players at The non-profit organization was able to years. He currently covers the Red Sox for the big-league level indicates, there is get more than 500 players in the game BostonSportsJournal.com.

“I know we have to build a foundation and get more kids playing in general, and specifically African American players. But we’re building that foundation. I’m seeing it with my own eyes.’’

September/October 2021

Make Way for Tim Anderson’s

South Side Swagger

White Sox’ All-Star Shortstop Energizes the Game with New-School Approach, Old-School Commitment Ron Vesely/Getty Images

September/October 2021

By Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig s Major League Baseball works to bolster its fan base by creating a more exciting product, players such as Tim Anderson seem the best remedy. Even if the old guard within the game’s rankand-file still may need convincing. Simply put, the 28-year-old Chicago White Sox shortstop and leadoff man— who in 2019 led the majors in hitting at .335—can put fans in the stands and keep them there. With Anderson prone to an occasional bat flip in celebration of a long ball, the crowd invariably focuses on the field instead of the clock. Unfortunately, opponents sometimes flip out at Anderson’s antics, though his intent is not to flip them off. “I never really understood how much he enjoys what he does until I got here,” said veteran White Sox starting pitcher Dallas Keuchel, who faced Anderson for three seasons while pitching for the Houston Astros. Added Keuchel, the American League’s 2015 Cy Young Award winner who joined the Sox as a free agent before the 2020 season: “He’s the sparkplug, as advertised. You also don’t understand how good an athlete he is until you come over here.” Anderson’s manager, Tony La Russa, already is enshrined in Cooperstown. The crusty Hall of Fame skipper resurfaced this year at age 76, after a nineyear dugout absence, to guide the team with which he began his managerial career in 1979. Nonetheless, La Russa has readily acknowledged that Anderson and his merry band of teammates—who also have a more buttoned-down, statesmanlike leader in veteran slugger José Abreu—are the stars of the show. “I won’t change my style, the way I play, for Tony,” Anderson announced after La Russa’s hiring. “I will continue to be me.” More often than not, that’s cool with La Russa, who already has likened Anderson’s commitment to Michael Jordan’s. But this Odd Couple hasn’t agreed on everything, notably whether swinging

Chicago White Sox leadoff hitter Tim Anderson, who won the American League batting title in 2019 with a .335 average, brings an upbeat outlook and swagger to a young, rejuvenated White Sox club. September/October 2021

Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

Anderson’s celebratory nature and the occasional bat flip have caught the attention of opponents, but teammates see a player who works hard at the game in an old-school way and enjoys playing immensely and openly shows it.

on 3-and-0 is fair game during the final stages of a blowout victory. The manager expressed disapproval when Yermín Mercedes, an ebullient 28-year-old White Sox rookie, eschewed etiquette, not to mention a take sign, by blasting a 47-mph offering from a position player for a long homer—the final tally in a 16-4 rout of the AL Central rival Minnesota Twins. Anderson, as you probably guessed, stood up for Mercedes. Regardless, the unusual new-school/old-school combo seems to agree with the White Sox. “He definitely fits in,” Anderson said of La Russa. “Everybody gets along. I think he’s done a great job. We’ve played some good baseball, and he’s definitely managed it well, keeping us in a good spot to be successful.” Meanwhile, so what if Anderson’s enthusiasm sometimes causes him to fling his lumber? “I would agree (that it’s just an expression of joyful vibes), but nobody else will,” Anderson said with a laugh. “For the most part, I just try to play my 38

September/October 2021

game—play the way I enjoy the game— and try to give the fans a show.” Anderson’s selection as the cover player for the popular video game R.B.I. Baseball 21 seems proof that MLB likes what it sees. Still, the Kansas City Royals famously lost it during a 2019

“For the most part, I just try to play my game—play the way I enjoy the game— and try to give the fans a show.” game in which Anderson celebrated his 50th career homer with a bat flipjavelin throw toward the White Sox dugout. Anderson got plunked with a pitch his next time up, a bench-clearing incident ensued, and debates about decorum erupted. “When you’re competing against

guys and facing really, really good players, there’s a mutual respect, but there’s also a hatred because most of the time you can’t get the guy out,” explained Keuchel. “And most of the time the scouting reports on the elite-level players don’t help because they can adjust on the fly. I didn’t like facing him very much as a visiting player, but now it’s the pitchers on other teams who are in that boat.” Well-traveled outfielder Billy Hamilton, who became Anderson’s teammate in this the shortstop’s sixth major-league season, believes baseball needs more Tim Andersons. “Everything he brings to the game, from the offensive side to the defensive side, to courage, to helping his teammates by being a team player, makes him one of those guys every kid should want to be like when they grow up,” said Hamilton, who has played for six teams. “He’s a guy who plays the game the right way, gives you all he’s got, and is a great teammate, a great player.” And speaking of great ones . . . “I hate to do this to him,” said La Russa, “but he has that commitment and extra gear I saw Michael Jordan have when I watched him practice (in the ’80s). I haven’t seen one day yet where he isn't the ‘Let's go and make something happen’ person. He’s the same every stinking wonderful day. He brings a commitment to the practices and everything he does.” Hoping for a second consecutive postseason appearance—which would be a club record—long-suffering White Sox faithful can’t get enough of Anderson, whose major adjustment at the plate was to adopt a more upright stance. His 2019 batting title represented 95-point improvement over the previous year—one in which he hit only .240 yet enjoyed a breakthrough 20-20 season (20 homers, 26 stolen bases, which remain career highs). Anderson followed up his hitting crown by averaging .322 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, earning his first Silver Slugger Award. He also led the AL with 45 runs scored, despite playing in only 49 of 60 games because of an Injured List stint due to a groin strain. He has continued to dwell in the .300 neighborhood this season, thankful to be playing again in front of fans instead of empty seats.

“It was definitely a test,” he said of COVID-19 conditions. “I’m not saying it’s easy when you’ve got people in the ballpark, but (playing without them) definitely required a lot more focus.” Taking pitches is a taste Anderson has been reluctant to acquire. He drew just 15 walks in all of 2019 while accumulating 10 during the abbreviated 2020 campaign. Even so, he posted a strong .357 OBP both years. Defensively, Anderson remains a work in progress, making the spectacular play look routine while sometimes making the mundane appear difficult. Yet, after leading big-league shortstops in errors three years in a row with totals of 20 or more, Anderson reduced his miscue count to six in his 49-game

Ron Vesely/Getty Images

“Everybody gets along. I think he’s done a great job. We’ve played some good baseball, and he’s definitely managed it well, keeping us in a good spot to be successful.”

Hall of Fame White Sox manager Tony La Russa (left) and Anderson come from markedly different eras of the game, causing an occasional bump in the road, but the contending White Sox are among the AL’s best teams.

2020. In 2021, he had committed just five errors in 88 games as the first-place White Sox began play in August. “You only get one life to live, and this is not a live-or-die situation. This is baseball,” Anderson said of his funloving approach to the game. Baseball helped him cope after his best friend, Branden Moss, became a gun-violence fatality, shot in the back in May 2017 while trying to help an assault victim in Anderson’s hometown of Tuscaloosa, Alabama.

Ron Vesely/Getty Images

Anderson has become more consistent defensively. He had worked 31 straight errorless games through the end of July—the longest streak of his career. He began August having committed just five errors in 88 games.

“At the same time, this is my job,” Anderson added, “and I come to the ballpark every day trying to get better so I can keep my job. I keep trying to make my game grow, because for some reason people ain’t sold on me.” Perhaps that is changing as he did receive his first All-Star selection this season as a reserve. Alas, never underestimate an athlete with a chip on his shoulder. This spring, Anderson said the White Sox were “way more athletic” than the defending division champion Twins and added, “We have a pretty good shot of whupping up on them,” a prophecy that gained credence as Chicago won 12 of the first 16 meetings this season against a disappointing Minnesota club. Anderson’s reputation for smacktalking and bat-flipping belies the fact he also is a traditionalist, a throwback to when players truly embraced their teams and the cities in which they played. Anderson, wife Bria and their two young daughters live year-round in the Chicago area, where they are active in community outreach. (Honoring Moss’ memory was key in Anderson’s decision to start his League of Leaders, a charity focused on helping at-risk youth in Chicago and Tuscaloosa.) Furthermore, the Andersons reside in Chicago’s south suburbs, a key distinction because that’s Sox territory as September/October 2021

September/October 2021

Planning to transfer to the University of Alabama-Birmingham, he instead signed with the White Sox when they drafted him and offered a signing bonus of more than $2 million. Anderson was just a quiet kid coming off three-and-and-half years in the minors when the Sox brought him up in

saying, “Tony is like the dad, we’re like his kids. We’re like the bad kids that don’t listen. ... It’s OK to disagree (with) each other, but we’re all definitely pulling from the same string.” Said Keuchel: “He’s himself at all times, no matter the situation or who he’s around. I respect that and what he brings. I’ve always got his back. He’s going to take us to where we want to go, and hopefully as a pitching staff we can replicate what he’s bringing to the field.” Anderson just shrugs when hearing such praise. “It’s not hard to be a good teammate,” he said. “I just try to keep everybody in a good mood, whether it’s saying something funny, or saying something crazy or saying whatever, really. There’s always something to be said, whether it’s a little smile, a laugh or a joke, just to keep us going. We’re playing a game that involves struggles, so we have to stay positive and in the right mindset.” For Anderson, that sense of maturity and perspective is born of real-life experiences. Not only was he forced to spend his formative years without his father (they nonetheless became close and remain so), but less than a year into his bigleague career, tragedy took his best pal Moss. “I can’t get wrapped up in a bad game here, a bad week there,” Anderson said. “You’ve got to keep pushing and stay in a positive frame of mind. I’ve got a whole lot of things outside of this to keep me happy as well. I’ve got two kids I’ve got to live for.” And they hope to live happily ever after in Chicago, where Anderson wants to add World Series championships to those the White Sox captured in 1906, 1917 and 2005. “Hopefully I can stay right here where everything started,” he said. “I definitely think about it, I talk about it, I’m excited about it. This is where I BD really want to be.” Ron Vesely/Getty Images

opposed to the North Side, where most fans champion the Cubs. “That definitely could happen. Anything’s possible,” Anderson said when asked if the Sox someday might overtake the Cubs in popularity. The chances certainly would improve if Anderson—bound to the White Sox through 2024 and age 31—fulfills his dream of becoming a Sox for life. That could involve the club renegotiating the remainder of the six-year contract Anderson signed in the spring of 2017. By the end of the 2022 season, the deal will have paid Anderson an aggregate $24 million, with club option years for 2023 and 2024 potentially bringing the total to $50.5 million. That’s hardly small change, especially for a kid who grew up under challenging circumstances—his father, Tim Sr., was incarcerated for the first 15 years of Tim Jr.’s life. Moreover, inking Anderson to that pact when he was just 23 and relatively unproven actually seemed risky for the White Sox. He’d logged just 99 games in the majors, hitting .283 with nine homers and 30 RBIs during his rookie season in 2016. “I can understand wanting to get him signed early,” said Keuchel. “He’s the whole package.” Yet, based on 2021 salaries, Anderson ($7.25 million) ranks just 15th among major-league shortstops. “I definitely want to be here until I’m done,” said Anderson, whom the Sox made the 17th overall pick in the 2013 First-Year Player Draft. “I definitely hope that can happen. I want to be right here where my feet are until I’m done.” Despite Anderson’s euphoria over achieving his major-league dream, he has kept himself grounded. A star basketball player in high school who surmised he was too short for the NBA, the 6-foot-1, 185-pounder saw injuries suffered on the court keep him from playing baseball until his junior year. His only scholarship offer was from East Central (Mississippi) Community College. As a sophomore, he led the nation’s junior-college players with a .495 average.

“I just try to keep everybody in a good mood, whether it’s saying something funny, or saying something crazy or saying whatever, really.” early June 2016, supplanting veteran Jimmy Rollins, who’d been a placeholder at short. “I had to observe and watch my surroundings first, before I could jump out there,” Anderson recalled about his reticence. “I had to see what was going on. I eventually was able to grow into who I am today, where I talk to everybody.” Ultimately, he knows just the right thing to say, as when he finally defused the Mercedes-La Russa controversy by

BBWAA veterans Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig have covered baseball in Chicago since 1983, when Tony La Russa was 38 years old and in the sixth season of his initial White Sox managerial term.

ent Tekulve is 74 years old and seven years removed from undergoing successful heart transplant surgery. The former relief ace, who was a World Series hero for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1979, doesn’t move around as quickly or easily as he once did. However, he attributes that to getting older rather than the effects of the heart transplant.

“I get tired easier these days, but it’s more related to the fact that I’ve got arthritis, I’ve got back issues, I’ve got bad knees. I have all of the stuff that everybody else gets just because they’re getting older,” Tekulve said. “Those are the kinds of issues that I have. As far as the heart itself goes, there have been no issues whatsoever. “The heart is such an important

thing, and then you’ve taken one out and put a whole new one in and your body hasn’t rejected it, yet I have all the normal aches and pains. But I realize my heart is probably half as old as the rest of my body. Therefore, it should be the last thing I have to worry about— because it’s the youngest. It’s the youngest part of an old, very achy, very creaky body.”

Kent Tekulve, who closed out three World Series games, including Game 7, for the 1979 Pirates, underwent a heart transplant in 2014 and still calls Pittsburgh home, four decades after the team’s last championship season.

Dave Arrigo

September/October 2021

Tekulve is a memorable figure in baseball history because he was 6foot-4, skinny, wore big eyeglasses and threw submarine-style from the mound. And, oh yeah, he was really good. After going 10-1 in 72 games for Pittsburgh as a setup man for Rich Gossage in 1977, Tekulve took over as the Pirates’ closer in 1978, when “Goose” joined the New York Yankees as a free agent. In 1979, Tekulve went 10-8, registered 31 saves and appeared in a career-high 94 games during the regular season. He then saved three

games in the World Series as Pittsburgh defeated the Baltimore Orioles, four games to three. Tekulve was on the mound when Pat Kelly flied out to Omar Moreno in center field for the final out of Game 7 at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. The 4-1 victory, in which Willie Stargell stroked a two-run homer, lifted Pittsburgh to its fifth—and last—World Series title. During his 16-year major-league career, Tekulve appeared in 1,050 games—722 for Pittsburgh (1974-1985), 291 with the Philadelphia Phillies (1985-

1988), and 37 for the Cincinnati Reds (1989). He led the National League in appearances four times, including in 1987, when he saw action in 90 games for the Phillies at age 40. That year, “Teke” was the setup man for Steve Bedrosian, who saved 40 games and captured the Cy Young Award. Tekulve, who still makes his home in Pittsburgh, amassed a total of 184 saves in his career, and pitched more than 100 innings out of the bullpen in seven different seasons. At the time of his retirement following the 1989

A BASEBALL LIFE

Heart of a Champion

Seven Years after a Life-Saving Transplant, Beloved Pirates Closer Kent Tekulve is Still Standing Strong By Jim Lachimia September/October 2021

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In 1979, the sidearming Tekulve won 10 games, saved 31 and posted a 2.75 ERA in an MLB-leading 94 games. He added three saves against the Orioles in the World Series.

season, he had made more appearances (1,050) than any other pitcher in MLB history without making a start. Twenty years ago, right around the time the baseball season was getting underway and the Pirates were christening a brand-new PNC Park, Tekulve suffered his first heart attack. The setback caused him to miss the memorial service in Pittsburgh for Stargell, his dear friend and fellow 1979 World Series hero, who had passed away on April 9, 2001. “That was a totally-my-fault heart attack,” Tekulve recalled. “It was what I was eating—all the wrong stuff—and all of the bad habits that I had. At the time, I had been smoking for years. My lifestyle took me to where I was when I was 54 and had that heart attack. It wasn’t like, ‘Oh woe is me.’ Because I knew I did it myself.” Following the heart attack, doctors performed separate procedures to unblock two of Tekulve’s arteries. However, he had started down the path toward a heart transplant. “When you have a heart attack, the heart becomes damaged. It’s not as strong as it used to be,” Tekulve said. “Even when they open up the blockage, it’s still not the same. Over time, it just continues to lose strength.” Through that experience, Tekulve became familiar with the term “ejection fraction.” That’s the percentage of blood your heart pumps out every time it beats. Your heart fills up with blood 44

September/October 2021

The late Rennie Stennett applauds as Tekulve waves to the crowd during a ceremony honoring the 1979 World Series champions on July 20, 2019, at PNC Park in Pittsburgh.

and then it beats (contracts) and squeezes the blood out. Typically, with a healthy human being, 65 percent is about the right number. “After the heart attack, I was at about 45 percent, and then over the next 12 years that slowly diminished,” Tekulve said. In December of 2013, when he had another heart attack and his ejection fraction had dropped to an incredibly life-threatening five percent, a pump known as an LVAD (left ventricular assist device) was installed in his chest on Christmas Eve. “My heart was only squeezing out five percent of the blood at that point,” he said. “That’s not a heartbeat, that’s a twitch. That’s all it was. When I went to the hospital, the room was split 50-50 whether or not I was going to survive having the pump put in, in order to keep me alive long enough to find a heart and transplant it.” Tekulve and Dr. Stephen Bailey of Pittsburgh’s Allegheny General Hospital developed a friendship and enjoyed razzing each other, even during serious times. In fact, Dr. Bailey once told Tekulve: “You have as useless a heart as any 66-year-old I’ve ever seen. Literally, the only thing it’s good for is to hang the pump on. It’s doing nothing.” What does Tekulve remember most about the period when he was on the waiting list for a donor heart? Well, lots. “When you’re waiting, you’re just

kind of in no-man’s land,” he said. “The waiting list to get a heart is not like a waiting list where it’s just 1-2-3-4-5 and 6 and when 1-2-3-4 and 5 are done, you’re next. It doesn’t work that way. “So, during that period, you really don’t know if there is, or if there will be, a light at the end of the tunnel. At first, I worried about it. I thought about it a lot. Then I came to the conclusion, ‘You know what? I have no control over this. Whether they find it. Whether they don’t. Whether there’s a match. The only thing I can do is do whatever I can to give the doctors the best opportunity to do a successful transplant. Do whatever I can to give them the best of what I’ve got—which isn’t very good.’ “That becomes your focus. I hated eating salads. But make sure you’re eating a salad. Make sure you’re doing all the things you need to do. You’re a diabetic. Make sure you’re watching your sugars. During that time, I was controlling all those things to the best of my ability. It was the only thing I could do. I couldn’t make it come any faster. I couldn’t make it match. So, I’m going to put this body, as bad as it is, in the best shape possible to give them more time to find a heart. And, if they do find a heart, be in as good of shape as I can be to give them the best chance of doing the transplant successfully.” Eight months after Tekulve went on the waiting list to receive a new heart, a donor was found and Dr. Bailey performed the transplant surgery on

that, your chest could split wide open, and that new heart could shoot out and be laying on the ground in front of you. So, there’s no underhand throwing. You’re going to have to throw like a normal human being. Do you know how to do that?’

On October 1, 2014, at PNC Park, Tekulve did indeed throw out the ceremonial first pitch—overhand and gingerly—prior to the Pirates-Giants National League Wild Card Game. He received a thunderous ovation from the 40,629 fans on hand, who, as it turned out, had little else to cheer about that evening. San Francisco blanked Pittsburgh, 8-0, behind Madison Bumgarner, and went on to win the World Series. “When Teke went to the mound less than a month after receiving his heart transplant, the crowd—which had already been at full throttle— took it to another level,” recalled Coonelly, the Pirates president from 2007-19. “Everyone in the entire stadium was standing, and when he threw that first pitch, PNC Park went crazy. Then he pulled a rally towel out of his pocket and started waving it to the crowd. It was a very special moment and a great opportunity for Pirates fans to show Teke how much he meant to them.” Tekulve remains active with the Pirates as president of their alumni association, and he’s still frequently recognized when he’s out and about in Pittsburgh. “I’m very grateful for the gift that was given to me, the gift that saved my life,” he said. “I’m also touched by the number of people that cared—genuinely cared—about the story of my heart transplant. “There was the group that’s the diehard Pirates fans in Pittsburgh and Western Pennsylvania. I knew who they were. But there was another whole group of people that weren’t big fans, and the story affected them, too. “You came to realize that many people liked you and cared about you, and it wasn’t just because you used to save games and the Pirates usually won when you pitched. It wasn’t just because you were a baseball player. It was because you were one of them. To me, that was off the charts. I didn’t see that coming, but I’ll remember it for BD the rest of my life.”

Joe Sargent/MLB via Getty Images

September 5, 2014, at Allegheny General Hospital, located just a few blocks from PNC Park. Tekulve swears he could feel the difference his new heart made immediately after he came out of anesthesia. “As soon as they put that heart into you, you realize that pump was doing a good job, but it’s a different type of a good job than a real heart will do,” he said. “Immediately, you could feel the difference. It felt so good. It was a different feeling than you expected. After having the pump, you expected it (new heart) to be like the pump, only permanent. In fact, some people say, ‘The pump is fine. We don’t need to go and do the transplant. I’ll just hang out with this pump for the rest of my life.’ So, I had that in the back of my mind, but then this was totally different. This was so much better.” Remarkably, seven days after undergoing the transplant, Tekulve was well enough to leave the hospital and return home with his wife, Linda. “There were restrictions and I had to be careful—like the whole neighborhood couldn’t show up at once— but it was exciting to get to go home after only seven days,” he said. “It made me feel good because I knew they wouldn’t have let me go if I wasn’t in good enough shape to handle it.” A week or so after Tekulve returned home, he received a phone call from then-Pirates president Frank Coonelly, who offered him a chance to throw out the ceremonial first pitch before the National League Wild Card Game, if he was feeling up to the task. Tekulve checked with Dr. Srinivas Murali, the head of Allegheny General’s cardiovascular department, hoping to get his blessing, but believing it was a longshot. “I was fully expecting to get for an answer, ‘Are you freaking nuts?’” Tekulve said with a chuckle. “But Dr. Murali said, ‘Well, be careful, but you’re strong enough that I think we can do it. There will be some restrictions, but I think it’s doable.’ “He said: ‘My biggest concern is those stitches running right down your chest. So, one of the restrictions is you’re not going to be able to throw like you used to (submarine style). If you do

“When Teke went to the mound less than a month after receiving his heart transplant, the crowd— which had already been at full throttle—took it to another level.” —Frank Coonelly Pirates President 2007-19

“I was in shock that he told me I could do it. To that point, it hadn’t entered my mind that I would be functional enough to walk out on the field less than a month after having this heart transplant and be able to do it.”

Jim Lachimia is a former Media Relations Director for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Kansas City Royals. He is now in his 21st season as Editor of Pirates First Pitch, the team’s official game-day magazine. September/October 2021

A Monumental Loss and immediately upheld his forfeit call, which would be recorded as a oe Grzenda of the Washington 9-0 Yankees win. It would give the Senators stood impatiently on Yankees their 82nd victory of the the mound at RFK Stadium in season and the club’s first back-toback winning seasons in seven the season finale, having retired the years. first two New York Yankees batters It was hollow victory, however, and in the top of the ninth inning. stances of the victory that Yankees was so noted in the Yankees radio “C’mon, let’s go! Get in there!” he President Michael Burke, who had booth. shouted to Horace Clarke as the traveled to Washington that day sim“I suppose you’ll have to give the Yankees’ last hope approached the ply to bid personal farewells to his Yankees a win,” said White to close batter’s box. players and take in the season finale, the broadcast, “but they probably But the 34-year-old left-hander’s adamantly protested the umpires’ didn’t want it this way. They end the attempt to close out a 7-5 Washington decision. season on a positive note, at victory on September 30, 1971, in least officially, on a positive the 10,851st—and last—game in note.” the combined history of two On the Senators telecast, playSenators franchises, was in vain. by-play announcer Ron Menchine Before Grzenda could deliver a said, “It’s a strange way to lose a pitch to Clarke, hundreds of fans ballgame, and it’s a strange way to from an emotionally charged wind up Major League Baseball in crowd stormed the field for a the nation’s capital.” second time. The wild finish to the Furious at Senators owner Bob game—and to the history of Short for his decision to move American League baseball in the the team to Arlington, Texas, for nation’s capital—was in marked the start of the 1972 season, they contrast to the atmosphere of stole the bases, dug up the pitchthe early innings. ing rubber and even scaled the Though the crowd of 14,460 chain-link outfield fence to fans was minuscule by today’s remove team identifications and standards, it was the team’s sevnumber panels from the scoreenth-largest home crowd of the board. season and doubled the total In the Yankees radio booth, attendance of the first two Bill White, the former player and games of the series. first-year broadcaster, immediOnly nine days earlier, ately sensed the inevitable. Senators fans were shocked to “There’s no way this game will learn that AL owners had be finished,” White told listeners. approved Short’s plan to relocate And he was right. the franchise to Texas, but their The umpires quickly declared a early mood was more nostalgic forfeit, awarding the Yankees the On September 30, 1971, lefty Joe Grzenda was one out from a than bitter. unlikeliest of victories. A losing save in the last game ever played by the Washington Senators. But hundreds of fans from the crowd of 14,460 had other ideas. Describing the atmosphere in team had not been handed a win the next day’s Washington Post, by forfeit in the major leagues legendary columnist Shirley Povich since 1942, and 50 seasons later, it has “The Yankees will not accept a fornoted that many of those in attenyet to happen again. According to the feit if we are permitted a choice,” dance “challenged any belief that Elias Sports Bureau, it remains the only Burke told reporters after the game. victory in the 119-year history of the But American League President Angry at owner Bob Short for his decision to move Yankees without a winning pitcher. Joe Cronin would not entertain the franchise to Texas, fans hung banners, captured in an image of Washington starter Dick Bosman. So unsettling were the circumBurke’s gesture of sportsmanship

By Rick Cerrone

Joshua Foster

September/October 2021

Bettmann/Getty Images

Atlanta Braves

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

Fifty Years Ago, the Washington Senators Lost a Two-Run, Ninth-Inning Lead and Their Final Game Ever— Without a Pitch Being Thrown

September/October 2021

John McDonnell/The Washington Post via Getty Images

With the owner opting to remain at his home in Minneapolis, the fans initially displayed their animosity for him through hastily crafted banners, which popped up throughout the park to huge ovations. In the outfield, a homemade sign was briefly hung beneath an empty section of seats. It proclaimed the vacant real estate to be the “Bob Short Fan Club.” And, when two lengthy vertical banners—one reading “Short” and the other “Stinks”—were unfurled from the upper deck in left field as Torres, the Yankees’ rookie outfielder, came to bat to lead off the third inning, the crowd gave it a standing ovation. “The banner is getting a bigger ovation than Frank Howard got,” said Messer. Before Bosman could deliver a second pitch to Torres, the banner—like all the others—was removed to a chorus of boos by the park’s security detail, which was bolstered by an

Grzenda took the baseball that he never got to throw to Horace Clarke in the Senators final game in 1971, tucked it in a manila envelope and stuffed it in a drawer at home. It would remain untouched for 33 years.

September/October 2021

they’re not happy about losing a ball club, but the wonderful warmth and respect with which they’ve greeted the club, I think, is part of the whole positive and constructive chemistry of baseball.” Added White: “It’s good that people aren’t vindictive here tonight.” The lone member of the Senators franchise who did not escape the wrath of the crowd was Short, the

So beloved was Frank Howard, the face of the Senators franchise, that Yankees president Michael Burke, sitting in on New York’s radio broadcast, cheered the slugger’s home run leading off the bottom of the sixth inning.

“He told me, ‘You better get out of here because this thing’s going to erupt.’” —Frank Howard team’s owner who had opted to move his club south after he was unable to gain relief from what he contended was the most restrictive lease in the league. But there was no sympathy for the beleaguered owner and the fans’ warm greetings for the players were matched in intensity by the anger they directed at Short.

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they had come to a death-bed scene,” and suggested they came “to give a last cheer for remembered heroes or to wipe away some tears in public.” The fans gave enthusiastic receptions to each Washington player when their names were announced— “even .190 hitters heard hearty farewells,” Povich noted—with the longest and loudest ovations reserved for Frank Howard. The Senators’ most-popular player and one of the most prolific sluggers of the era was given a 40-second standing ovation when he came to bat in the first inning. And as the game progressed, the crowd’s demeanor remained unchanged despite three Yankees home runs off of Senators starter Dick Bosman—by Bobby Murcer, Roy White and Rusty Torres—that put the Senators in a 5-1 hole by the middle of the fifth inning. Even the three Yankees announcers—Phil Rizzuto, Frank Messer and White—and Burke, the team president who joined the broadcast in the fourth inning, were surprised and impressed by the behavior of the crowd. “That’s the pleasant surprise to me tonight,” Burke said as the Senators batted in the bottom of the fifth. “I thought there might be a lot of booing, a lot of unhappiness. I’m sure

Marvin Joseph/The The Washington Post via Getty Images

forfeit if the field could not be additional 50 police officers. cleared, order was eventually “I don’t think I’d ever seen restored and the game resumed such anger directed at a perafter a six-minute delay. son,” recalled White, now 87. Through the first five innings, After the Yankees were retired, the Senators put two Yankees starter Mike Kekich had limited the Senators to just runners on base in the bottom of the eighth on errors by shortstop an unearned run on four hits. So, when Howard led off the Gene Michael and third baseman Ron Hansen—the Yankees’ bottom of the sixth inning with a home run, even the president fourth and fifth errors of the game. An RBI single by pinchof the Yankees—his team with a comfortable four-run lead—got hitter Tom McCraw and a sacrifice fly by Elliott Maddox gave caught up in the moment. the Senators a 7-5 lead and furWhen Howard responded to ther emboldened the crowd. another lengthy standing ovaWhen a handful of fans ran tion by stepping out of the onto the field after the Senators dugout, launching his batting were retired, a PA announcehelmet into the stands and ment was made that “unless the blowing kisses to the crowd, field is cleared, this game must Burke was ecstatic. be forfeited.” “That a boy, Frank,” Burke In the Senators dugout, mansaid. “That a boy. I’m glad I was ager Ted Williams sensed that here to see this.” the fans would not be contained It was so fitting for Howard to for long and removed his star hit a home run on this day that The program and scorecard for the 10,851st game in the history of player from the game. there was talk that Kekich had two Washington Senators franchises also became a keepsake of the last game in which a losing team was awarded a win via forfeit. “He told me, ‘You better get actually grooved the pitch. out of here,’” Howard recalled in “I wouldn’t say it was 2011, “‘because this thing’s going to grooved,” Howard, who turned 85 the radio booths. erupt.’” on August 8, would tell Yankees “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this The fans complied just long Magazine 40 years later, “but it was a before,” Burke said on the Yankees enough for Grzenda, the Senators’ two-ball no-strike pitch, so I knew I broadcast, “when the field has been new pitcher, to quickly retire the first was going to get a fastball. And it was two batters. He got pinch-hitter right down Broadway. “But even if he did lay it in there,” Felipe Alou to ground out to short and then fielded Murcer’s comehe added, “you still had to hit it.” With the Howard home run, the backer himself. The manager had warned Grzenda to stall with two momentum of the game shifted. Back-to-back singles by Dick Billings outs so that players in the bullpens could reach the dugouts. But, as soon and Jeff Burroughs chased Kekich, and with Jack Aker on the mound, as he retrieved the ball from first baseman McCraw after the second the Senators scored three more runs to tie the game, 5-5. out, the veteran pitcher yelled to Clarke to get into the box. Still, the crowd remained wellbehaved until dozens of fans ran onto But Grzenda’s attempt to close out a last victory for the Washington the field and prevented Thurman Senators was in vain. Instead, chaos Munson from leading off the top of followed. the eighth inning. The fans again poured onto the “As if in sudden awareness that the field and this time they wouldn’t end of Major League Baseball in leave. Washington was only one inning “It was a wild scene,” recalled 77away,” wrote Povich in the Post, “the Yankees President year-old Roy White, who witnessed mood hardened.” the mayhem from the dugout after a And, with firecrackers now explodstripped of all players in the middle 2-for-3 night with a homer. “I think I ing in the stands and the crowd of a game. Have you?” “No, sir,” Rizzuto responded. just watched for a second or two chanting “We Want Short,” the Though both Burke and color combefore heading to the clubhouse. Senators players retreated to their mentator Tony Roberts (on Senators They were everywhere.” dugout. It was an uncommon scene, TV) would raise the possibility of a At the top of a steep staircase that even for veteran baseball observers in

“I’m not sure I’ve ever seen this before, when the field has been stripped of all players in the middle of a game. Have you?”

—Michael Burke

September/October 2021

Shawn Thew-Pool/Getty Images

With MLB returning to Washington in 2005, the Nationals invited Grzenda (right) to return to RFK Stadium and present the ball he never got to throw 34 years earlier to President George W. Bush for the ceremonial first pitch.

good season that year, but if it was a game that would have put the Yankees in first place, he probably would have said the same thing.” In the Senators clubhouse, Grzenda was still clutching the baseball he never got to throw to Clarke. Before leaving RFK Stadium for the last time, he decided to tuck the ball into a manila envelope and take it with him. Thirty-three years later—in October of 2004—a writer for the Washington Post visited Grzenda,

then 67, at his home in the northern foothills of the Pocono Mountains in Pennsylvania. It had recently been announced that the Montreal Expos would be shifted to Washington in 2005, and Grzenda’s unique place in baseball history was again being spotlighted. During the interview, Grzenda excused himself, went to his bedroom and removed the envelope from a dresser drawer. “That’s it,” Grzenda told the Post’s William Gildea. “It’s been in that drawer for 33 years.” And when the Nationals played their first home game at RFK Stadium in Washington the next April, Grzenda, who would pass away in 2019 at age 82, returned to the ballpark where he never got to throw his final pitch. This time, he handed the ball to President George W. Bush, who then used it for the ceremonial first pitch. Behind him, hanging from the upper deck in center field, were three long vertical banners which read: BD “Short … Still … Stinks.” Paul J. Richards/AFP via Getty Images

led from the dugout to the clubhouse was Mickey Morabito, a first-year front-office employee for the Yankees—and later their Director of Public Relations—who was invited to travel to Washington and serve as the team’s bat boy for the series. When the fans rushed the field, his orders from legendary clubhouse manager Pete Sheehy were simple and direct: “Save the Yankees’ equipment!” “Here I am, this 17-year-old kid on his first trip with the Yankees and all I remember is Pete telling me to throw the bats and helmets down the stairs,” Morabito, the traveling secretary for the Oakland A’s since 1980, recalled. “‘Don’t take the time to carry them down,’ he told me. ‘Just throw them.’ “Pete just didn’t want these rowdy fans to steal the Yankees’ bats or helmets or other equipment. It was kind of scary, but kind of exciting.” It took only three minutes for the umpiring crew of Jim Odom, Jake O’Donnell, Jim Honochick and Lou DiMuro to survey the bedlam and declare a forfeit—one that the Yankees president would resist in vain. “Knowing Mike, he looked at the history and he did not want the Yankees to win that way,” Bill White said. “The Yankees didn’t have a very

Four years after his historic toss before Game 3 of the 2001 World Series at Yankee Stadium, President Bush revived the decades-old tradition of presidents throwing ceremonial first pitches at home openers in Washington.

September/October 2021

Rick Cerrone, Editor-in-Chief of Baseball Digest, first joined the BBWAA in 1982. That was before he began a 22-year career in MLB, where he would serve as Vice President of Public Relations for the Pittsburgh Pirates (1987-93) and Senior Director of Media Relations for the New York Yankees (1996-2006). He rejoined the BBWAA in 2018.

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ONE GAME. ONE PITCHER. NINE INNINGS. 27 STRIKEOUTS! Nearly 70 Years Ago, “Rocket Ron” Necciai Forged an Incredible Baseball Moment and a Lifetime Bond with his Catcher By Dom Amore n May 13, 1952, roommates what’s eating you and not what you’re Ron Necciai and Harry Dunlop eating. I was kind of a nervous guy, woke up in their second-floor always on edge.” room and Necciai was worried, feeling Necciai, 89, and Dunlop, 88, a familiar pain in his stomach. He became friends for life after sharing couldn’t finish the cheese sandwich a moment in a tiny, small-town ballhe’d ordered at Jack Trayer’s diner the park neither imagined would keep night before and hadn’t slept well. them posing for pictures, signing “He was a worrier,” said autographs—and doing interDunlop, his catcher. “He views—nearly 70 years worried about everylater. thing. His stomach Necciai threw a nodid give him an hitter for the Bristol awful lot of trouble, Twins that night, and a lot of times striking out 27 we’d be eating batters, vaulting before ballgames himself into the and I’d say, ‘Hey national spotlight Ron, you don’t and making the want to be eating twin towns—both that; it might flare up called Bristol—that on you.’ And I know, straddled the Virginiaduring the game, he was Tennessee line the cenhaving the flare-ups.” ter of the baseball uniMilo Stewart/National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum Perhaps it’s for the best verse for a time. that Ron Necciai didn’t fully grasp the “I didn’t even realize what had haphistory he was making as he mowed pened after the game,” Necciai said. down the Welch Miners that night. His “Harry and [manager] George Detore ulcers might have flared up far worse. came up and said, ‘Do you realize what “Back in those days,” Necciai said, you did?’ I’d walked a guy, hit a guy. It “they used to say you got ulcers from wasn’t like it was 27 in a row. They said,

Joshua Foster

September/October 2021

Dave Arrigo

The walls in a room of Ron Necciai’s home in suburban Pittsburgh are dotted with memorabilia from his unequaled pitching performance, but the game ball—signed by his Bristol teammates—is on display at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown.

‘You struck out 27 guys.’ And I remember, I said, ‘So what? They’ve been playing this game 100 years, somebody’s done it before.’ But nobody did.” Nor has anyone since, and the way both major- and minor-league pitchers are handled today, there’s just about zero chance anyone ever will again. Necciai’s feat, in the Class-D Appalachian League, was even more

amazing when one learns that three days earlier, between starts, he came out of the bullpen, got out of a basesloaded, no-out jam at Johnson City (Tennessee) and pitched the final four innings, striking out 11. That adds up to 13 innings pitched, no hits allowed, 39 batters retired, 38 by strikeout, in a 72-hour span. “We didn’t have radar guns,” said Dunlop, who remained in baseball for more than 50 years, 26 as a majorleague coach. “But as long as I was in baseball and all the pitchers I saw, he threw as hard as anybody I ever caught

and was ever associated with. He was that kind of dominating guy.” Necciai (pronounced NETCH-eye), a rail-thin, 6-foot-5 right-hander, played mostly at first base for the baseball team at Monongahela (Pennsylvania) High. The hometown team, the Pirates, tipped off by a local barber, signed Necciai for $150 a month with no bonus in 1950. At Salisbury, North Carolina, his first minor-league stop, he was converted to pitching full time by Detore, who became a father figure to Necciai, who had lost his father to pneumonia. In 1952, when Detore managed

Bristol, Necciai asked the Pirates, now run by Branch Rickey, to be assigned there. “He was very patient, spent an awful lot of time with me,” Necciai said, “showing me different things to do. Absolutely, I loved him.” Dunlop, too, adored Detore, who spent 58 years in baseball, and carried much of what he learned from him through his own minor- and majorleague coaching career. In April of 1952, Necciai struck out 20 in one game and 19 in another, earning the nickname “Rocket Ron” from the September/October 2021

The Sporting News

local newspaper. A crowd of 1,183 settled into Shaw Shelton with a pitch in the fourth The state line runs right down Stadium, the Bristol Herald-Courier inning, when he had already struck out Bristol’s Main Street—Virginia to the reported, and among the spectators 11 batters. north, Tennessee to the south—which was Frank Rickey, who was looking “That breaking ball,” Dunlop rememgave the team its nickname. Shaw over the Pirates prospects for his brothbered, “he would throw it and it was Stadium, which sat 3,500 in its like Bruce Sutter’s split-finger fastcovered grandstand and bleachers ball. They’d be swinging and I’d be blocking the ball in the dirt.” down the left-field line, was on the The first time anybody realized Virginia side. something unusual was happenOnly one player on the ’52 Twins ing? “Around the fifth inning,” had a car, Dunlop recalled. Six rentDunlop remembered, “the fans ed three second-story rooms from started calling out numbers.” an elderly couple whose children During the game, Detore had the had left the nest. Necciai, 19, and bat boy fetch two pills and a glass of Dunlop, 18, already close friends, milk for Necciai, the best they shared a room and would walk could do to treat his screaming about a mile across town to the ballulcers. park for home games. Ganung walked in the seventh, This was small-town baseball in then nothing but strikeouts—a 1952. When the battery mates got to total of 23 through eight innings. the ballpark on May 13, Detore went In the ninth, pinch-hitter Frank over the hitters and Necciai found a Whitehead put a ball in play, but comfort zone in his detailed Dunlop lost the foul pop in the instructions. The Sporting News ran a story on Necciai’s feat and the hardnot-too-bright lights and dropped “I was a thrower, not a pitcher,” throwing teen’s budding career. He joined the Pirates that year, it for an error. Whitehead then Necciai said. “Always deep into making nine starts in what was his only big-league season. struck out. Bobby Hammond counts. I threw the same stuff I was struck out swinging on a curve in the trying to throw every time out there. I er, Branch, and posed for a picture with dirt, but the ball got away from threw a fastball and I threw an overDetore and pitcher Bill Bell, just Dunlop and he reached safely. That hand curve. I have long elbow joints assigned to Bristol. Bell and Necciai gave Necciai the chance to fan four in and I don’t twist my wrists the way a lot were the only players on either roster one inning and reach 27, and he did of pitchers can, so the curveball went that season to ever make the major exactly that, fanning Bob Kendrick to straight down.” leagues. finish a 7-0 win. As always, Necciai trusted his catchBut it was Necciai who gave Rickey With no way of knowing, then or er implicitly to call the game. something to write home to his brother “Most catchers are always moving about. He struck out the first four around before the pitcher throws the Miners batters before Bob Ganung ball,” Necciai said, “back and forth. grounded out to short. In the third Harry got back there and was very inning, Joe Giel reached base when quiet, very easy to pitch to for a kid who Twins shortstop Don Deveau bobbled was easily distracted, like I was.” his ground ball. Necciai hit Mickey The border town of Bristol, split between Tennessee and Virginia, drew national attention when Necciai recorded 27 strikeouts for the Bristol Twins in a 7-0 no-hit victory in an Appalachian League game on May 13, 1952. He drew the attention of the Pirates and joined them in August.

“They said, ‘You struck out 27 guys.’ And I remember, I said, ‘So what? They’ve been playing this game 100 years, somebody’s done it before.’ But nobody did.” 54

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National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum

bered, “and it was strange. He was from Donora, which was about three miles away from where I lived. In St. Louis, he sent their clubhouse man over to get me and I went over and we sat down and chatted quite a while. He was very encouraging.” Necciai finished 1-6 with a 7.08 ERA in 12 appearances (nine starts), but he was just 20 years old and surely had a bright future, if the baseball gods allowed. They did not. Despite his ulcers, he was drafted into the military, where he was provided no special meals. “I ended up in an army hospital,” Necciai said, “and they said, ‘You’re gonna die in here, boy, so you might as well go home and die.’ So they sent me home.” When he returned to baseball, his shoulder gave out after 10 minorleague games in 1955. “Finally, at Johns Hopkins, they had a guru by the name of [Dr. George] Bennett they sent all the pitchers to,” Necciai said, “and his last quote to me was, ‘Son, go home and buy a gas station, you’re never going to pitch again.’ And that was the end. It took a little time, but you’ve got to get over it and get on with the rest of your life. Funny thing, after I left baseball, I never had stomach problems again. Not like that.” Necciai went on to a 40-year career in the sporting goods business, retiring comfortably. He still occasionally runs across someone who recognizes his name and knows all about the feat forever connected with it. This summer, Necciai was elected to the Appalachian League Hall of Fame, with the likes of Joe Mauer, Orlando Cepeda and Jimmy Rollins. “The surprising thing is, there’s been more interest in the last year or so,” Necciai said. “I’m getting lots and lots of mail from all over. In fact, my wife and I were laughing last night. In the last week I got mail from Germany and Poland: cards, letters, things to sign. There’s still interest in that game.” BD

Ron Necciai

now, Dunlop guesses that Necciai threw close to 200 pitches. The game took two hours, 13 minutes. After the game, the players stopped, as usual, at Jack Trayer’s, where they were allowed to run a tab until their next paltry paychecks—to listen to the local radio station’s recreation of the game. “When we won, it was great,” Dunlop said. “You’d go in there to eat and if you had a good night, you really felt good. Of course, we were getting bothered by a lot of people because everybody was excited, but we loved it.” The next morning, calls and requests for interviews started coming to Bristol from all over the country. “Neither one of us realized it had never been done before,” Dunlop said, “so the next morning, we’re getting all these calls from news services and they’re asking all these questions and Ron said, ‘I guess we did something last night, Harry.’ I said, ‘You did it.’ He said, ‘No, we did it,’ and he’s always said that. He tells everybody, ‘I couldn’t have done it if Harry wasn’t there.’ That’s how close we were and still are.” When Necciai pitched next, on May 21, some 5,235 fans overwhelmed the little ballpark. Sportswriters all over Tennessee and Virginia came to cover the encore, and so did Branch Rickey Jr., his father’s farm director, who came to reevaluate the pitcher he’d considered an underachiever in spring training. Ron’s mother was brought down as a surprise, and the community and teammates had offered a slew of gifts on “Ron Necciai Appreciation Night.” He gave each of his teammates a pencil inscribed, “We did it on May 13—Ron.” Necciai thanked the fans in a pregame speech, then showed his appreciation with a two-hitter and 24 more strikeouts—giving him 101 in 42.2 innings. He had allowed 10 hits and 20 walks, and posted a 0.42 ERA. “This is Ron’s last game in the Appalachian League,” Rickey Jr. told reporters after the game. “It is amazing how much he has improved since I saw him this spring.” Necciai and Dunlop both went up to the Class-B Carolina League, where

Already a six-year veteran, Joe Garagiola (left) was behind the plate for six of Necciai’s nine big-league starts in 1952. Clyde McCullough caught the other three.

“Joe Garagiola said I was so nervous I was going to throw my pitches to second base instead of home, and it was no joke.” Necciai was 7-9 despite a 1.57 ERA for Burlington-Graham. On August 10, he was called up to debut for the Pirates against the Chicago Cubs in the first game of a doubleheader at Forbes Field. “It was a sad day, trying to throw strikes,” Necciai recalled. “It felt like the people in the stands had bats. [Catcher] Joe Garagiola said I was so nervous I was going to throw my pitches to second base instead of home, and it was no joke.” He allowed 11 hits, seven runs, walked five and struck out three in a 95 loss. The next day, Necciai pitched three scoreless, hitless innings of relief against Cincinnati, striking out five. He got his one and only big-league win with eight solid innings against the Boston Braves at Forbes Field on August 24. “I got Stan Musial out when I pitched against the Cardinals,” Necciai remem-

Dom Amore, five-time Connecticut sportswriter of the year, has covered baseball for the Hartford Courant and been a BBWAA member since 1997. He is the author of A Franchise on the Rise: The First Twenty Years of the New York Yankees, which published in 2018. September/October 2021

THE GAME I’LL NEVER FORGET BY

LUIS GONZALEZ As told to Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig s the 20-year anniversary approaches, Luis Gonzalez still has trouble wrapping his head around it all. His sense of disbelief goes beyond his ninth-inning walk-off hit against the greatest closer of all time—a bloop of a blow that decided one of the greatest World Series ever. For Gonzalez, more unforgettable than the game itself was the backdrop against which it was played—that of 9/11, the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks on America that claimed nearly 3,000 lives. More than seven weeks later—on Sunday night, November 4—Gonzalez and the Arizona Diamondbacks played host to the New York Yankees in the seventh and deciding game of the World Series. Gonzalez had hit a career-best 57 home runs during the regular season. But the knock that made him famous was a bases-loaded flare to short center, over a drawn-in infield. It broke a 2-all tie and gave Arizona a 3-2 victory before 49,589 fans in Phoenix at what then was known as Bank One Ballpark. The victim was Yankees closer Mariano Rivera, the only unanimous first-ballot Hall of Famer in history. And what proved to be Rivera’s only loss in 96 postseason appearances denied the Yankees a fourth consecutive championship. Meanwhile, the D-backs, a fourth-year franchise, captured a World Series faster than any new club in history. Thus ended the season of 9/11, one of the darkest days in United States annals. Amid the tragedy, as well as security concerns, Major League Baseball observed a six-day hiatus— the delay resulting in the first World Series to conclude in November. On September 11, the D-backs, who actually led the National League West from August 11 on, held a mod-

est one-and-a-half game lead over the San Francisco Giants. Gonzalez, their left fielder, was enjoying the best season of his 19-year career. The left-handed-hitting veteran would

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Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images

conclude 2001 with a .325 batting average and 142 RBIs while threatening the 60-homer mark. (Lifetime, he would finish with numbers of .283, 354 homers and 1,439 RBIs.)

In the ninth inning of Game 7 of the 2001 World Series, Luis Gonzalez blooped a single into center field off Yankees closer Mariano Rivera to clinch the Arizona Diamondbacks’ first World Series championship.

At that point, we were more concerned about our families and the magnitude of what happened. You had to wonder: Are we going to war? There were a lot of anxious times, not just in New York, but all over. Baseball was secondary to what was going on in the world. When play resumed (September 17), we were happy to come back. I think it helped bring a lot of people together. Sports seems to aid the healing process. It can take people’s minds off their issues and their problems. For a few hours, they can come to an event and share the experience with

“Soon as it left my bat, I knew it would fall in ( over Jeter ) because of where the infield was playing. I can’t explain the excitement.”

Mike Nelson/AFP via Getty Images

At the close of his best MLB season, Gonzalez celebrates his World Series clincher. It stuck Rivera (above) with his only playoff loss and gave Arizona the title in just the franchise’s fourth year.

We were playing the New York Yankees, in the city where planes crashed into the Towers. We were actually going back to the scene. It was a huge reality check, such a moving moment for us. Curt (Schilling) gave a speech at the command center that

was unbelievable. A few guys didn’t go, not sure if they could handle it (21 of Arizona’s 25 players reportedly attended). But we understood. We didn’t pressure anyone. It was each player’s choice. President George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch of Game 3 before an emotional crowd of 55,820 in Yankee Stadium. The home team responded by winning 2-1 behind 39-year-old starter Roger Clemens and Rivera. The Yankees proceeded to take the next two games in extra innings—4-3 in 10, then 3-2 in 12. In each contest,

At Yankee Stadium for Game 3 of the 2001 World Series, (from left) Arizona’s Reggie Sanders, Matt Williams, Steve Finley and Gonzalez stand for the singing of “God Bless of America” during the seventh-inning stretch.

Al Bello/ALLSPORT

strangers, cheering heroes and booing villains. It was great to have the game back, and we knew, especially when we got to the World Series, that we were a huge part of the healing process for a lot of people. That’s why, after Games 1 and 2 (which the D-backs won at home in Phoenix, 9-1 behind Curt Schilling and 4-0 behind Randy Johnson), we decided to go to Ground Zero before Game 3 in New York. We wanted to thank all the first responders and let all the people there know how important they were to us. We were playing in the biggest games of our careers, including a lot of older players who’d never been to the World Series. But we didn’t lose perspective on what was happening. We wanted to pay respect to the people who had perished, lost their lives. We didn’t want people to think, “These guys are athletes and they’re just playing the game, not understanding the spectrum of what was going on.”

Timothy A. Clary/AFP via Getty Images

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third in the Series and fifth of that postseason for Johnson, who was Series co-MVP with Schilling.) After Soriano’s homer, I think Gracie (Mark Grace) was first to say, “Guys, we’ve got to believe we can do this.” There was no negativity. We understood the task, facing the best reliever in the game, but we still were saying, “Let’s find a way. We’ve come too far to go out like this.”

Grace led off with a single, and David Dellucci pinch ran. Damian Miller laid down a bunt that Rivera fielded, but the pitcher’s throw to second base was wide right. The error put runners at first and second. Jay Bell, hitting for Johnson, also bunted. Rivera nailed Dellucci at third, and Arizona seemingly got a break when third baseman Brosius held the ball instead of throwing to

“I still pinch myself every day and say, ‘Man, I can’t believe that happened to me.’ ”

Al Bello/ALLSPORT

Arizona closer Byung-Hyun Kim was one out away from victory but couldn’t hold two-run leads. He surrendered tying homers to Tino Martinez in Game 4 and Scott Brosius in Game 5. The ultimate heartbreak was Derek Jeter’s twoout, 10th-inning homer off Kim to win Game 4. We felt we dominated the whole Series (holding New York to a .183 batting average), but the Yankees got some big home runs late. They were a great team and knew how to win, as they proved in Games 3, 4 and 5. Sometimes, looking back, with the way they won those games in the city, it’s as if it was meant to be. Maybe easy for me to say, because we ended up winning the Series. But with the heroics that occurred in those games, it was pretty special for that city. When the Series returned to Focus on Sport via Getty Images Arizona, the Yankees’ magic dissipated in a New York minute, the Dbacks winning 15-2 behind Johnson in Game 6. That set up a Game 7 matchup between Clemens, working on four days’ rest, and Schilling, pitching on three days’ rest for the second time in the Series. Arizona took a 1-0 lead in the sixth on Steve Finley’s leadoff single followed by Danny Bautista’s RBI double. But the Yankees quickly tied it in the top of the seventh. Martinez’ one-out RBI single was one of three hits off Schilling that inning. Nevertheless, the veteran righthander averted further damage, and Bob Brenly, the Diamondbacks’ first-year manager, surprisingly let Schilling bat to lead off the bottom of the inning. The move appeared more suspect when Yankees rookie Alfonso Soriano opened the top of the eighth with a tie-breaking homer on an 0-2 splitter from Schilling. Intent on escaping the inning trailing only 2-1, Brenly eventually summoned Johnson, who’d worked seven innings the previous day, to record the final out. The 38-year-old left-hander, bound for the third of four consecutive Cy Young awards, came back out to pitch a perfect ninth and set the stage for his team’s final dramatics. (The Game 7 victory was the

Yankees manager Joe Torre entrusted Rivera, who would finish a 19-year career with a major-leaguerecord 652 saves, to pitch the final two innings. Indeed, 19 of Rivera’s 24 postseason saves had covered more than one inning. In the bottom of the eighth, he made Gonzalez one of his three strikeout victims. So, entering the bottom of the ninth, Gonzalez, due to bat sixth and 0-for-4 in the game, seemed an unlikely hero. I looked up at the scoreboard where it showed the lineup. I played out different scenarios in my head. Is there a chance for me to get up again? You play out all the possibilities because whatever happens, you want to be prepared.

first to attempt a double play. With runners at first and second, Diamondbacks shortstop Tony Womack doubled to right on a 2-2 pitch, tying the score and dealing Rivera his first postseason blown save since 1997. With Bell perched at third and Womack on second, and both the infield and outfield playing in, second baseman Craig Counsell was next up. After playing out all those scenarios, lo and behold, I’m on deck with Counsell coming up. I thought, “OK, they’re going to pitch to Craig because of the year I had offensively.” They were going to take their chances with Counsell, even though he was MVP of

that inning, we knew we had the right guys coming up in grinding at-bat guys like Gracie, Tony Womack and Counsell. I honestly believe the game will come back to the way it used to be, where people get tired of all the strikeouts and say, “We need to find those players who put the ball in play.”

Jed Jacobsohn/ALLSPORT

the League Championship Series. Then (with the count 0-1) Mariano threw a cutter up and in that caught Counsell in the hand. Suddenly, it’s my turn (with bases loaded). I’d played this scenario in my mind from the time I was a little kid. I grew up in a baseball hotbed in Tampa, Florida, which had produced so many great major-league players. We’d played stick ball and cork ball and Wiffle Ball, and then Little League and everything else. You always dream of Game 7 of the World Series, bottom of the ninth. I thought, “Oh, my God, here I am, 34, a fullblown adult, having the opportunity to do something millions have played out in their minds on their back yards.” In my mind, walking to the plate, for me it’s that one shot at a hole-in-one, which, incidentally, is something I still haven’t had playing golf. You don’t know if you’re ever going to get a chance at this again. I was in shock. Both pitches he threw me were cutters. Having been a strikeout victim in the eighth, I told myself I don’t want to fall behind on this guy because he’s aggressive in the zone and has a fantastic cutter. I fouled the first pitch off. People always ask, “Why was the infield in? They should have been playing back.” If they play back and I get jammed and hit a grounder—I did get jammed but ended up hitting it in the air—there’s no chance to turn a double play and then the run scores and we win. I think they played it the right way and got what they wanted; they just didn’t get the right result. I got the ball in the air. If I hit it on the ground and send a weak ground ball to (shortstop) Jeter or the second baseman, they can possibly go home to first (for a DP). Soon as it left my bat, I knew it would fall in (over Jeter) because of where the infield was playing. I can’t explain the excitement. Amid his whopping regular-season home-run output (26 more than his next-best total), it was ironic that a bloop hit elevated Gonzalez to legend. Then again, perhaps it was fitting. I prided myself in making contact. Only once did I strike out 100 times, and that (101) was my rookie year. From Little League on I was brought up to believe you’ve got to put the ball in play and make things happen. In

Gonzalez hoists the World Series trophy following Arizona’s 3-2 Game 7 win over the Yankees on November 4, 2001, at Bank One Ballpark.

Gonzalez played eight years in Arizona before the Diamondbacks let him depart through free agency after the 2006 season, at age 39. He completed his career by playing one season each with the Los

Angeles Dodgers and Florida Marlins. He and his family, however, have firm roots in the Phoenix community. Gonzalez, who turned 54 on September 3, has been a special assistant to the Diamondbacks’ president since 2009, and in 2010 became the franchise’s first player to have his jersey number (20) retired. My life changed as far as being known as the guy who got the gamewinning hit, but I don’t think it’s ever changed me. I’ve always appreciated what I have and the people around me. I didn’t have a lot of money growing up, so I’ve always been more about giving than receiving, and I’ve tried to instill that in my kids (triplets—two girls and a boy who plays in the Giants’ organization). My kids (born in 1998) were little when it happened, so it was a while before they understood everyone asking their dad for autographs and taking pictures. I’m a huge sports fan myself—football, hockey, basketball, golf, you name it. You sit on your couch and wonder, when something special happens, what would that feel like? I still pinch myself every day and say, “Man, I can’t believe BD that happened to me.” For almost 40 years, BBWAA members Bruce Levine and Joel Bierig have blanketed the major-league scene from their base in Chicago, where Luis Gonzalez was a Cub from 1995-96.

ON FACEBOOK & TWITTER facebook.com/BaseballDigest @BaseballDigest September/October 2021

SO YOU THINK YOU KNOW BASEBALL? ormer New York Yankees and Minnesota Twins radio announcer John Gordon’s signature home-run call was, “Touch ’em all,” in reference to touching all the bases. Unfortunately, some didn’t get the message. Being called out for missing a base on a home run is a rarity at any level of baseball. According to data provided by Retrosheet.com, prior to the 2021 season, the last home run in the major leagues to be lost due to a player failing to touch a base occurred on June 17, 1983, when the Seattle Mariners’ Al Cowens missed second base while attempting an inside-thepark homer in a 3-1 loss to the Kansas City Royals. On June 8 of this season, two players in organized baseball hit home runs and were called out on appeal and, ironically, both were sons of former major-league players. The Los Angeles Dodgers and

Touch ’em All A Batter Who Hits a Ball Out of the Playing Field and Misses a Base Puts Multiple Rules in Play By Rich Marazzi Pittsburgh Pirates were in the bottom of the first inning at PNC Park when Ke'Bryan Hayes, one of the Pirates’ top prospects and the son of former third baseman Charlie Hayes, hit an opposite-field shot down the right-field line that cleared the Clemente wall for an apparent home run. But Hayes, keeping his eyes on the ball, stepped around first base instead of on it. The Dodgers caught the running gaffe, and before Walker Buehler

“One-Base-Beyond” Rule If a runner fails to touch a base, umpires must be aware of multiple rules, not just the missed base rule. When a batter hits a home run that leaves the playing field or a book rule double, the ball lands in dead-ball territory. Normally the batter circles the bases thinking he is on a free ride, immune from being called out.

Justin K. Aller/Getty Images

threw a pitch to the next batter, he stepped off the rubber and appealed that Hayes missed first base. Plate umpire Jeremie Rehak rejected the appeal because he saw no violation. Rehak had the responsibility of watching Hayes touching first base, because first-base ump Adam Beck had followed the flight of the ball down the line. The Dodgers challenged Rehak’s ruling and the replay official in New York overturned the “no call.” Hayes was declared out for failing to touch first base. Score it a 1-3 putout.

Focused on the ball clearing the right-field wall at PNC Park, PIttsburgh Pirates rookie Ke’Bryan Hayes missed first base on an apparent home run on June 8.

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Not true. Runners still have the obligation to touch each base. An alert defensive team will be ready to appeal the missed base if a runner fails to touch one. Also, a rules-savvy defensive team will observe if the runner touches one base beyond his missed base while the ball is in dead-ball territory. If a runner misses a base while the ball remains in play, he can return to touch the base at any time, unless a following runner has scored. But while the ball is in dead-ball territory, no runner may return to touch a missed base or to one he has left too soon after he has advanced to and touched a base beyond the missed base. If he does, he can be called out on appeal. Once Hayes touched second base while the ball was out of play, he lost his right to return to first, his missed base. The governing rule is 5.09 (c) (2), which umpires refer to as the “one-base-beyond” rule. But if Hayes returned to touch first base, the umpires would not be allowed to stop him. The onus would be on the Dodgers to make the appeal once play resumed. Let’s say Hayes, aware that he missed first base, returned to first after touching second base. He then touched second, third and home in that order. The umpires cannot prohibit him from doing so, but after he came across the plate and a new ball was put in play, the Dodgers would have to make the appeal that Hayes failed to touch first base after he violated the one-base-beyond rule. If the umpires incorrectly denied the appeal because Hayes returned and touched first base, the Dodgers could ask for a rules check regarding the one-base-beyond rule with the replay official. If a pitch is thrown to the next batter, the Dodgers would lose the right to appeal and the run would score. Missing a base can create a variety of issues. Let’s say there were runners on first and second and two outs when Hayes failed to touch first base and was out on appeal. In that situation no runs would score because the inning ended with the batter-runner

With direction from coach Dave McKay, Mark McGwire returned to touch first base after hitting his record-setting 62nd home run in 1998. By touching second base first, he could have been out on appeal.

making the third out before touching first base. In another play, let’s say there were runners on first and second and two outs when Hayes homered and missed second base and was called out. In that scenario, Hayes would get credit for a single but the runners on first and second would score, provided they touched all the bases because that would be considered a “time play,” meaning the runners scored before the third out appeal was made, which did not result in a force out. The other top prospect who missed a base while circling the bases for a homer on June 8 was Bobby Witt Jr., the son of former pitcher Bobby Witt. Witt hit an apparent 430-foot homer, his second of the game and 11th of the season for Kansas City’s DoubleA affiliate, Northwest Arkansas, against the Frisco RoughRiders. But plate umpire Chris Presley-Murphy ruled that he did not touch home plate when appealed. Witt was credited with a triple. Home plate celebrations following a home run have been the cause of luckless players missing the plate.

During the 1981 season, Rick Stuart of the Appalachian League’s Johnson City Cardinals hit what would have been the only homer of his professional career over the left-field fence. As his teammates gathered around home plate to congratulate him, he failed to touch the plate and was called out on appeal and credited with a triple. Stuart is the son of former major leaguer Dick Stuart, a.k.a. “Dr. Strangeglove,” in reference to his fielding problems. By the way, when Mark McGwire hit his 62nd home run in 1998, breaking Roger Maris’ single-season record, he missed first base and had to retreat a few steps to touch it. If he had reached second base, he would have lost his right to return to first base and could have been called out on appeal because of the obscure one-base-beyond rule. The lesson learned here is to BD “touch ’em all.” Rich Marazzi is a rules consultant for the Cardinals, D’backs, Orioles, Padres, Phillies, Pirates, Rays, Red Sox, Royals, Tigers, Twins and Yankees, as well as for Bally Sports, ESPN, the YES Network and NBC Sports Chicago. September/October 2021

The Sad Saga of Sandy Koufax He can’t win even when he strikes out 15 By Melvin Durslag From the August 1960 Issue

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1-0. Then he lost three more. The inability of Sandy to crash the winner’s circle much this year was especially painful, considering the major war he had to wage against the Dodgers before he could persuade them to let him start in the first place. After St. Louis knocked him out of the box in the opening inning of his first start, the management made it plain that he was now an inhabitant of the bullpen. Sandy got mad. It was his feeling that the Dodgers were writing him off prematurely. At the Los Angeles Coliseum one night, I interrupted a raucous argument between Koufax and general manager Buzzie Bavasi. They stopped the moment I approached. “How are you, Sandy?” I inquired.

“How the hell can you pitch when you can’t get the side out?” —Buzzie Bavasi “Not bad considering everything,” he snapped. When I left, the two went back to arguing. Sandy was cussing. “You’re still getting paid,” said Bavasi. “It’s not so serious.” “But I want to pitch!” roared Koufax, suppressing some strong emotions. “How the hell can you pitch,” said Bavasi, “when you can’t get the side out?” Sandy is a sensitive kid who comes from a fine family in Brooklyn. His father is a lawyer. Consumed with pride, Sandy was determined to show the Dodgers that their trust in him as a starting pitcher wasn’t misplaced. A funny thing about Koufax’ Five years after he joined the eventual world champion Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955, Sandy Koufax still wasn’t a rotation mainstay.

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