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5/22/2008
Billy-Ball Daily
Bill Chuck (Billy-Ball his own self)
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The only spin here is on my screwball
Thursday, May 22, 2008
Top of the 1st
M IS FOR MICKEY
I apologize to no one when I answer the question, “Who was your favorite player growing up?” My answer is almost reflexive at this point; I loved Mickey Mantle. I named my cat after him, I treasured his baseball cards, and I even had knee surgeries like him (okay, that was either coincidence or I really took my devotion a step too far).
I am filled with memories of The Mick, sadly too many of them seeing him in pain, as described in Mantle’s medical report of the Yankees' team physician, Sidney Gaynor:
"1951, right knee cartilage operation; 1952, right knee again; 1954, knee cyst removed; 1955, pulled groin muscle; 1956, left knee sprained; 1957, right shoulder injury; 1959, broken finger; 1961, hip abscess; 1962, left knee injury; 1963, broken metatarsal bone left foot; 1965, right shoulder surgery, right elbow and left knee injuries." And that’s merely a sample.
But still you can’t help but think of his production on the field and his prodigious homers. By today’s standards Mick was small. Standing up straight, Mantle was just about 5’11” and yet, his blasts created the term "tape-measure home run." This is true. After his enormous homer of on April 17, 1953 off of Chuck Stobbs at Griffith Stadium in Washington, Yankees traveling secretary Red Patterson (predecessor to George Costanza) took a tape measure and found that the homer went 565 feet. Okay we know this is a bit of an exaggeration, but it was struck.
As Harvey Frommer points out in his definitive chronology, “A Yankee Century & Beyond,” Yankee publicity director Arthur Patterson then obtained the ball from a ten-year old, who retrieved the ball from the backyard of a house across a major thoroughfare and four houses up a bisecting street, in exchange for a dollar and three autographed baseballs. With trades like that Patterson should have been a GM.
But the home run I like to think about was hit on May 22, 1963. It will be forever remembered as the ball that almost went out of Yankee Stadium. The great Negro Leagues star Josh Gibson did clear the Stadium, but no major leaguer ever has.
The Stadium was different back then, with magnificent ornamental facades hanging from the third deck. I remember I knew that word on the SATs because of Yankee Stadium. I even knew how to pronounce it while George Vescey of the New York Times wrote that Mantle pronounced it "fa-KARD."
On that day, the Yankees held, and blew, a 7-0 lead against the Kansas City Athletics. Coming on to pitch the 9th for the A’s was reliever Bill Fischer who was 6-0 at the time and he was still on the mound as the Yankees came to the plate in the 11th inning of the 7-7 game.
Mantle wanted to end this game and Fischer and his catcher, Haywood Sullivan, knew it. Mick, using a borrowed bat from Dale Long, swung and badly missed the first pitch, a slow curve. The A’s then made a serious mistake, the bench razzed him.
If that was a serious mistake, then Fischer ,on a 2-2 count, threw what could only be labeled as a “fatal mistake;” the righty threw a fastball. Mick may have made the most perfect swing, with the most perfect timing, of his career.
The ball exploded off of Mantle’s bat. "That was the only homer I ever hit that the bat actually bent in my hands‚" Mantle later told Dale Long. A’s Manager Eddie Lopat said, "I'm a pitcher. I know the sound. I just turned my back."
The ball was still rising as it hit the façade 108 feet in the air and 367 feet from home plate. The ball hit the façade so hard that it bounced back to the A’s second baseman, Jerry Lumpe. As Randall Swearingen writes in “A Great Teammate: The Legend of Mickey Mantle,” “it was the first and only time that Mickey stood at home plate watching the flight of the ball.” Then, as Mantle always did, he put his head down and circled the bases.
Fans and teammates alike were in awe. Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson was quoted as saying, “That would have taken four of my best shots.” Mantle’s buddy, Whitey Ford said, “I hit ‘em that hard, only they don’t go that far.” The A’s first baseman, and former Mantle teammate, Norm Siebern summed it up, “He ought to have a league of his own. He’s too much for everybody else.”
Newspapers printed pictures of the homer, showing the trajectory, and bringing in physicists to estimate the distance the ball woud have traveled had it not hit the decorative facing. Does the Pythagorean Theorem strike a familiar note? ("In a right triangle, the square of the hypotenuse is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides") Estimates ranged from 620 feet to 734 feet. Whatever, we just have to believe Mantle when he said he never hit a ball harder.
We also have to agree with Bill Fischer who told Joe Posnanski of the Kansas City Star this past spring, “Of course if Mickey Mantle was playing at Yankee Stadium today, with the bleeping fences in, with center field at 400 feet, he’d hit 800 bleeping homers.”
As we count down the final days of Yankee Stadium, memories of Mantle come more to the surface and that’s good because we can truly treasure what he brought to the game. I wonder what Mick would think of the new ballpark, here’s a Richard Sandomir of the Times quote from Mantle after the Yankee Stadium remodeling, "I still think the ball park's beautiful, but it don't have the aroma it used to. Those old monuments were great out there. We were once playing the Red Sox, and I hit a ball right over the monuments and over the fence for a home run. The next time -- Jimmy Piersall was playing center -- I came up, nobody could find him. He was playing me behind the monuments."
Not a bad decision by Piersall.
Top of the 2nd
M IS FOR MARLINS
Brandon Webb is not going undefeated this season. After nine wins in nine starts to open the season, the most since Andy Hawkins won his first 10 starts for the San Diego Padres in 1985, the Marlins beat him and the Diamondbacks, 3-1. Florida's Ricky Nolasco, who had not pitched more than six innings in a start this season, outpitched Webb going seven innings, allowing one run.
Since the start of the weekend series against the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field, the Diamondbacks are hitting .177 (26 for 147) and have scored just 13 runs. In that stretch, they are 6 for 34 (.176) with runners in scoring position.
Top of the 3rd
M IS FOR MACABRE
Last night the Cardinals Albert Pujols lined an 0-2 pitch off the bridge of Padres pitcher Chris Young's nose for a single and, two plays later, slammed into catcher Josh Bard's left foot with a clean slide, scoring a go-ahead run but causing a high ankle sprain that sent St. Louis toward an 11-3 victory.
The sickening sound and sight of the ball smacking into Young's face hushed the crowd at Petco Park with the Padres ahead by two runs in the 3rd inning. Gushing blood, a scene so graphic that Channel 4 San Diego deemed it “too gruesome” to warrant a replay, Young dropped to the ground after the ball ricocheted toward third base. Pujols, after reaching first base, rushed toward Young and grabbed the top of his helmet in obvious anguish. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez consoled Pujols, and the two prayed as trainer Todd Hutcheson worked on Young.
“He was bleeding all over the place,” said a despondent Pujols. “I would rather have hit into a double play.”
Then, Pujols took out Bard, who crumpled to the dirt in pain and will go on the disabled list. Appearing stunned, Pujols looked on from the dugout as Bard writhed on the ground. Pujols said afterward he was still reeling from seeing Young bleed profusely.
“After that I couldn't concentrate,” Pujols said. “I was flashing back. I'm still thinking about that. Then the thing with Josh – . . . tough night. How many times is that going to happen in one inning? It did bother me.”
This all came one day after the Padres put pitcher Jake Peavy on the DL because of an elbow injury.
Top of the 4th
M IS FOR MISERABLE
The Mariners’ Jarrod Washburn gave up seven runs and eight hits in the 3rd inning as the Detroit Tigers topped Seattle, 9-4 win.
The Mariners are 5-14 in May. The starters are 3-12 with a 7.27 ERA this month, and the Mariners haven't had back-to-back wins from their starters since April 16-17. The M’s are now 11 games under .500 at 18-29, the worst record in the American League.
Top of the 5th
M IS FOR METSRABLE
The Mets lost their third consecutive game to the Atlanta Braves, 11-4. Their record is 22-22, they are three and a half games behind the Florida Marlins in the National League East, and they have scored only seven runs in three games against the Braves.
On top of that, in his pregame meeting with the news media, Randolph apologized for his remarks to a newspaper that criticism of his managing of the team had a racial tone.
“I want to apologize to Met ownership and SNY and my team for the unnecessary distraction that I created, and I caused, the last couple days,” he said.
“I shouldn’t have said what I said. It was a mistake; there are no excuses for that.”
Top of the 6th
BILLY-BALL-SITE-OF-THE-DAY
Take a look at The Mick’s 10 longest homers, including a scientific explanation of the estimate of the blast described above: http://www.themick.com/10homers.html
Top of the 7th
PROBABLE PITCHERS
AL
Seattle Mariners at Detroit Tigers, 1:05 pm
(R) Miguel Batista (3-5) vs. (R) Jeremy Bonderman (2-4)
Texas Rangers at Minnesota Twins, 1:10 pm
(R) Vicente Padilla (6-2) vs. (R) Livan Hernandez (6-2)
Kansas City Royals at Boston Red Sox, 1:35 pm
(R) Brian Bannister (4-5) vs. (R) Daisuke Matsuzaka (7-0)
Baltimore Orioles at New York Yankees, 7:05 pm
(L) Brian Burres (4-4) vs. (R) Ian Kennedy (0-3)
LA Angels of Anaheim at Toronto Blue Jays, 7:07 pm
(R) Ervin Santana (6-1) vs. (R) A.J. Burnett (4-4)
Cleveland Indians at Chicago White Sox, 8:11 pm
(L) Aaron Laffey (2-2) vs. (L) Mark Buehrle (2-5)
NL
Milwaukee Brewers at Pittsburgh Pirates, 7:05 pm
(R) Dave Bush (1-4) vs. (L) Tom Gorzelanny (3-4)
New York Mets at Atlanta Braves, 7:10 pm
(L) Johan Santana (5-2) vs. (R) Tim Hudson (6-3)
Arizona Diamondbacks at Florida Marlins, 7:10 pm
(R) Dan Haren (5-2) vs. (L) Andrew Miller (3-3)
Philadelphia Phillies at Houston Astros, 8:05 pm
(R) Kyle Kendrick (3-2) vs. (R) Roy Oswalt (4-4)
Cincinnati Reds at San Diego Padres, 10:05 pm
(R) Aaron Harang (2-5) vs. (L) Randy Wolf (2-4)
Top of the 8th
DID YOU KNOW?
Thank you for all the great feedback on yesterday’s Commencement speech. One of my Alma Mater’s, NYU, took place at Yankee Stadium, and school officials included a little baseball trivia in the program. It noted that when Barry B*nds won back-to-back MVPs in 1991-92, he became the 10th player to accomplish the double.
Prior to B*nds the back-to-backers were:
Pitcher Hal Newhouser ('44, '45
Catcher Yogi Berra ('54, '55
First baseman Jimmie Foxx ('32, '33)
Second baseman Joe Morgan ('75, '76)
Shortstop Ernie Banks ('58, '59)
Third baseman Mike Schmidt ('80, '81)
Outfielders Roger Maris ('60, '61), Dale Murphy ('82, '83) and Mickey Mantle ('56, '57).
As Mel Allen used to say, “How about that?”
Top of the 9th
THE BIZARRO VAMPIRE
The Kansas City Royals have looked pitiful in losing the first three games of a four game set at Fenway and today they face Dice-K who is looking to go 7-0. But in their favor they have Brian Bannister on the mound who seems to love the daylight. Bannister is 4-0 in his four daytime starts with an 0.62 ERA after allowing just three runs in 29 innings pitched. Contrast that with his numbers in night games: 0-5 in five starts with an 8.13 ERA.
“To me,” he said, “it’s not a big deal. I don’t pitch any differently. I don’t change anything.”
Clearly something a Bizarro Vampire would say.
Bottom of the 9th
THERE’S ONLY 25 DAYS UNTIL FATHER’S DAY
Show Dad where his memories rank among the greatest baseball moments of all time
Walkoffs, Last Licks, and Final Outs: Baseball's Grand (and not-so-grand) Finales
By Bill Chuck and Jim Kaplan, Foreword by Jon Miller
This Father's Day, relive some of the most memorable finales in baseball history with dear 'ol Dad by flipping through the pages of Walkoffs, Last Licks, and Final Outs. This book is the definitive collection of baseball's grand—and not-so-grand—final acts, including:
The greatest postseason finishes of all-time
The last moments of the most distinguished old stadiums
Heroic (and not-so-heroic) endings to Hall of Fame careers
Boxscores and linescores for some of the greatest games ever played
A slew of career statistics, ballpark data, and photographs
$14.95, 213 pages, paperback.
Plus, buy just one copy and receive The Bill James Daily Match-ups for your favorite team delivered FREE to your email inbox every day between now and the All-Star break—a $30 value!
To take advantage of this optional special offer, mention the "Father's Day Special" when calling (800) 397-2282 or enter the name of your favorite team under "Additional Comments" when checking out online. One team per book.
http://www.actasports.com/detail.html?&id=3427
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Information provided in Billy-Ball has been gathered from A.P. reports, espn.com, sportsline.com, mlb.com and numerous other e-sources. Opinions expressed in Billy-Ball are obviously solely the opinions of the author of Billy-Ball and do not reflect those of source material no matter how off the wall they may be.
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