The Pecan Park Eagle

Mike Mulvihill: An Old School Champion

October 7, 2013

Mike Mulvihill
Football & Baseball
Oklahoma State
St. Thomas
St. Anne’s
1950s

Mike Mulvihill is a both a friend and fellow 1956 graduate of St. Thomas High School. He was an old school good guy and terrific athlete then, and a guy today who has long deserved induction into our St. Thomas Hall of Honor for Athletics. And we are hoping to get him there when the next ballot comes up in January 2015. In our earlier parochial school days, Mike attended St. Anne’s Catholic School, located at the corner of Shepherd and Westheimer. My school was St. Christopher’s, off the Gulf Freeway at Broadway in the East End. Back in those days, St. Anne’s was our local version of the New York Yankees. Those guys rolled over just about everybody.

This morning, I found the following report on the St. Anne’s upcoming championship game against St. Patrick’s of Galveston in 1950 and just had to do this article. Mike Mulvihill, who went on to further championship experience with the Town House Buffs in baseball, state Catholic school championship glory in both baseball and football for St. Thomas, and a national championship major moment in baseball as a pitcher for Oklahoma State University in 1959, where he also played Division I football. In this November 23rd article from the Galveston Daily News, Mike Mulvihill was also prominently mentioned as the St. Anne’s leader in the upcoming 1950 championship game scheduled for Sunday, November 26, 1950.

My problem today is – I could not find a report on the outcome of this reported game through my computer research sources, even though my dime is firmly put down on the idea that the Galveston boys weren’t going to be able to do anything we other Houston schools couldn’t do to stop Mulvihill and Company from the big prize. I still don’t know the final outcome, but, as I just wrote, I would not lay a late dead man’s vote against St. Anne’s. Mike was one of those guys who could either run around or over a defender, depending on the kind of threat an opponent posed.

Mike, or anyone else, if you know who won the big game described here, please post your information below as a comment story with scoring specifics, if you have them.

Thanks!

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St. Patrick’s Greenies (of Galveston) will meet St. Anne’s of Houston here (in Galveston) Sunday afternoon (11/26/1950) in a game matching the Parochial champions of the two cities.

St. Anne’s thumped St. Christopher’s 41-0 Sunday afternoon (11/19/1950) to annex the Houston title for the third year in a row. St. Patrick’s won the local (Galveston) championship last month.

The game will mark the renewal of the inner-city rivalry which began in 1948 when St. Mary’s Rams journeyed to Houston a suffered a 7-0 setback at the hands of St. Anne’s. No game was played in 1949.

Both teams will enter the game with undefeated records. The Greenies won three league games against one tie and also took a 21-7 decision from St. Mary’s of Houston. St. Anne’s has won eight straight games without a loss, averaging about 30 points per game and allowing but 7 points all season. St. Patrick’s scored 103 points against 45 for the opposition.

Roy Garrett has paced the Greenie attack during the year, racking up 42 points to tie for high scoring honors in the Galveston loop. Raymond Valdez, St. Patrick’s quarterback, has twp touchdowns to his credit, to rank second to Garrett.

St. Anne’s will be led by Mike Mulvihill, who starred in Sunday’s game against St. Christopher’s. Rounding out the (St. Anne’s) backfield will be Jim Byman, Jim Rughstrom, and Bill Allen.

Knights of Columbus officials announced that the game will be played Sunday at 3 p.m. Sunday at Public School Stadium. Admission Prices will be 50 cents for adults and 25 for children.

~ Galveston Daily News, November 23, 1950, Page 9.

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Tags: Mike Mulvihill of St. Thomas
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »

The Only “Rain Out” in Astrodome History

October 6, 2013

Three Astros Who Were There for the 1976 Astrodome Rainout: Centerfilder Cesar Cedeno, General Manager Tal Smith, and Third Baseman Enos Cabell. (Photo by Bill McCurdy, 2007.)

Three Astros Who Were There for the 1976 Astrodome Rainout: (L>R) Centerfilder Cesar Cedeno, General Manager Tal Smith, and Third Baseman Enos Cabell. (Photo by Bill McCurdy, 2007.)

Seems like yesterday, but it was now long ago, way back on Tuesday, June 15,1976. Unrelenting hard rain came up in the Houston summer afternoon and just flooded the streets around town, generating special traffic problems in the area four miles south of downtown and the even nearer Texas Medical Center located just north of the Astrodome. Cars were flooding out and the rains were still falling as darkness descended. Fans, Astrodome employees, and game officials were not gong to be able to reach the ballpark safely, if at all, for the scheduled evening game between the Houston Astros and the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates, even though the players were already there. They arrived prior to the deluge that was about to descend, but nobody wanted to play a game in front of the only twenty or so hard-core fans who somehow managed to reach the Astrodome in spite of all the weather obstacles. We think they may have all been U.S. mail men.

The game had to be cancelled due to rain, the first and only time that ever happened for reasons weather in the history of the Astrodome, and here’s how the Associated Press handled the story on Wednesday, June 16, 1976:

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Astros and Pirates at their exclusive Astrodome infield dining room on the evening of July 15, 1976.

Astros Dine at Dome Rain In

Houston (AP) – There used to be a baseball saying that went like this: You win some, you lose some, and some are rained out – except in the Astrodome.

They can’t say that any more.

Torrential rains – more than seven inches – flooded streets around the Astrodome Tuesday night – forcing postponement of the scheduled game between the Houston Astros and the Pittsburgh Pirates.

It was the first postponement of a sporting event because of weather in the Astrodome’s 11-year history and only the second postponement for any reason.

The Astros and Pirates were on hand when the deluge flooded the streets and freeway around the Astrodome, preventing fans, employees, and even umpires from arriving at the stadium.

Since the players had nothing better to do after the game was called, the participated in a sitdown dinner on the infield.

“It wasn’t exactly a rain-out – it was a rain-in,” an Astrodome spokesman said. “We were bone dry inside. The Pirates and Astros put up banquet tables on the infield and sat down to dinner.”

Astros General Manager Tal Smith said the primary reason for the postponement was the safety of fans and employees.

“We could have played the game,” Smith said. “But if we had announced it was on, we would have become stranded. We just felt it best to postpone it.”

Smith said the umpires scheduled to work the game tried to drive to the stadium, but their car stalled in high water. They had to wade back to their hotel.

An Astrodome official said, “Probably less than 20 fans made it – just a handful of real diehards.”

He said those who did were treated to a dinner at the Astrodome cafeteria.

Players, who were seated up and ready to play when the game was postponed, arrived three or four hours before game time, thereby avoiding much of the water build up.

It was the second time a game has not been played on schedule in the Astrodome, but the first weather postponed event.

An April 7, 1968, exhibition game between the Astros and Minnesota Twins was cancelled because of a day of mourning for the Rev. Martin Luther King, who was assassinated three days earlier.

Because of it’s all weather features, Monday night games in the Astrodome are usually designated the television back up games.

Tuesday’s postponement came a little more than a year after a five-inch downpour delayed the start of a game between the Astros and the Chicago Cubs (on) June 9, 1975. That game was delayed 54 minutes because players as well as fans were late arriving.

Astrodome officials said Tuesday’s postponed game will be rescheduled at a later date in August.

~ Associated Press, Freeport Brazosport Facts, Wednesday, June 16, 1976, Page 6

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Tags: only rain check game in Astrodome history
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1963: Colts End Season with Big Win

October 5, 2013

The 1963 Houston Colt .45's said goodbye to the season with an explosive rookie lineup.

Two days earlier, 9/27/63, the 1963 Houston Colt .45’s put a late cap on the season with an all rookie lineup, but they still lost to the Mets, 10-3.

The 1963 Houston Colt .45’s ended their season at Colt Stadium on Sunday, September 29th, with a 13-4 bashing of the New York Mets. Two days earlier, on Friday, September 27, 1963, Manager Harry Craft had sent out an all rookie lineup, the one featured above in the photo, but they were soundly beaten by the old Metros, 10-3, in a game that will be talked about forever among diehard Houston fans.

Here’s how the Baytown Sun reported this last 9/29/63 game mauling win and the only amazing day in the one-game career of young Mr. John Paciorek. A subsequent injury would keep Paciorek from every playing a second game in the major leagues, leaving him with among the rare few who finish with a 1.000 batting average for their entire career:

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Trounce Mets 13-4 —

COLTS END SEASON WITH A BANG

Houston (AP) – New York Mets pitchers generously contributed 12 hits and 11 walks and the Houston Colts galloped to a 13-4 win in their baseball season finale.

Only twice all year had the Colts produced as many as nine runs. While it lasted, it was quite a party.

Manager Harry Craft was thumbed out. Rookie John Paciorek won the unofficial major league batting title with an average of 1.000. And Jim Umbricht completed a storybook year by picking up an easy victory in relief.

Eight rookies started for Houston. Bob Aspromonte, 24, was the lone oldtimer in the lineup.

(John) Paciorek, an 18-year-old strong boy from Michigan, played his first major league game in right field. He had a perfect day with three singles, two walks, four runs scored, three runs batted in and an average of 1.000.

Catcher John Bateman also knocked home three runs with a triple and a single. His three-bagger found two on in the second.

Four pitchers saw service on each side.

Chris Zachary started for the Colts and yielded in turn to (Jim) Umbricht, Turk Farrell, and Dizzy Jackson (Dickson, not Jackson).

Umbricht worked only two-thirds of an inning, but he was the pitcher of record as Houston rallied for five runs and a 7-4 lead in the last of the fourth.

~ The Baytown Sun, Monday, September 30, 1963, Page 6.

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Baseball Almanac Box ScoresNew York Mets 4, Houston Colt .45s 13

Game played on Sunday, September 29, 1963 at Colt Stadium

New York Mets	ab	r	h	rbi
Kranepool rf	5	0	1	1
Carmel cf	3	0	0	0
Hunt 2b	3	0	2	0
Harkness 1b	3	1	1	0
Hickman 3b	4	1	1	0
Schreiber 3b	0	0	0	0
Hicks lf	4	0	0	0
Coleman c	2	1	1	1
Cannizzaro c	2	0	0	0
Moran ss	2	0	0	0
Fernandez ph,ss	2	0	0	0
Bearnarth p	2	1	2	2
Bauta p	0	0	0	0
Stallard p	0	0	0	0
Thomas ph	1	0	0	0
Powell p	0	0	0	0
Smith ph	1	0	1	0
Totals	34	4	9	4

Houston Colt .45s	ab	r	h	rbi
Vaughan ss	2	0	0	0
Runnels ph	0	0	0	1
Farrell p	2	0	0	0
Dickson p	1	0	0	0
Morgan 2b	2	1	0	0
Wynn lf	3	0	1	2
Staub 1b	4	1	1	1
Aspromonte 3b	4	3	2	1
Murrell cf	5	1	1	0
Paciorek rf	3	4	3	3
Bateman c	3	2	2	3
Adlesh ph,c	1	0	0	0
Zachary p	1	0	0	0
Umbricht p	0	0	0	0
Spangler ph	1	0	1	0
Lillis ss	2	1	2	2
Totals	34	13	13	13

New York	0	0	1		3	0	0		0	0	0	–	4	9	2
Houston	0	2	0		5	4	1		1	0	x	–	13	13	2

New York Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO

Bearnarth L (3-8)	3.0	6	7	7	3	5
Bauta	1.1	4	3	3	1	1
Stallard	0.2	1	1	1	3	1
Powell	3.0	2	2	2	4	1
Totals	8.0	13	13	13	11	8

Houston Colt .45s	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Zachary	3.1	5	4	4	1	3
Umbricht W (4-3)	0.2	1	0	0	0	1
Farrell	3.0	2	0	0	1	1
Dickson SV (2)	2.0	1	0	0	0	0
Totals	9.0	9	4	4	2	5
E–Carmel (6), Hicks (3), Wynn (8), Bateman (23). DP–New York 2, Houston 2. 2B–New York Hunt (28,off Farrell). 3B–New York Bearnarth (1,off Zachary), Houston Bateman (6,off Bearnarth); Aspromonte (5,off Bauta). HBP–Hunt (13,by Zachary). Team LOB–6. SF–Runnels (4,off Bauta). Team–9. SB–Coleman (5,2nd base off Umbricht/Bateman). WP–Powell (9). HBP–Zachary (3,Hunt). U-HP–Paul Pryor, 1B–Frank Secory, 2B–Frank Walsh, 3B–Ken Burkhart. T–2:28. A–3,899.

Game played on Sunday, September 29, 1963 at Colt Stadium

Baseball Almanac Box Score |

Tags: 1963 Houston Colts Rookie Game
Posted in Uncategorized | 5 Comments »

Gilbert vs. Gipson, A 1968 Clash of Champions

October 4, 2013

UT Star Running Back Chris Gilbet and Coach Darrell Royal, 1968.

Way back on Saturday night, September 21, 1968, at Memorial Stadium in Austin, a titanic challenge battle took place between the visiting University of Houston Cougars of Coach Bill Yeoman and the home town Texas Longhorns of Coach Darrell Royal. It was the UH Veer offense versus the UT Wishbone in college football for the first time with a lot riding on the outcome. As per usual, UH had everything to gain, but not much to lose but the opportunity from a defeat. For UT, however, it was their often served sip of not much to gain from victory, but everything to lose from defeat. Every fan from UH or UT at the stadium that night had a lot riding emotionally on that outcome. And your humble reporter from The Pecan Park Eagle was there among those Cougar fans who had driven over from Houston as a UH alum – and seven years before I also added my UT degree. I was totally partisan for UH and still am today. Can’t help it. It’s in my blood.

What nobody counted on was what happened. – The game ended in a 20-20 tie and, as was the rule back then, there was no protocol for an overtime playoff to sudden victory for one team over the other. Everybody just had to go home with that not-so-great “kissing your sister” sensation that Bear Bryant used to ascribe to feelings generated by games that end in ties.

Tie outcome aside, the game had been a mighty showcase battle between two great running backs from UH and UT. Senior fullback Paul Gipson of Jacksonville, Texas and UT Senior halfback Chris Gilbert of Spring Branch High School in Houston both lived up to their advance game billing.

Chris Gilbert had finesse and speed. – Paul Gipson had power and speed.

Here’s how Associated Press sports writer Murray Chass described the star running back face-off a couple of days later:

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Texas U. Star Runs for 195 Yards

SIMPSON, GILBERT, GIPSON PRAISED

By MURRAY CHASS, Associated Press Sports Writer

O.J. Simpson of Southern California was a first team All-American halfback last year. Chris Gilbert of Texas and Paul Gipson of Houston only made the second team.

On college football’s first big Saturday, Simpson scored four touchdowns and rambled for 236 yards on 39 carries as second-ranked Southern California defeated Minnesota, 29-20.

O.J., however, did not overshadow the play of Gilbert and Gipson in what some people called the championship game of the Southwest. Both had a lot to do with the 20-20 tie that resulted from the clash between the nation’s Number 4 team, Texas and the Number 11 team, Houston.

Star Performances

Chris Gilbert lived up to his pre-season tout on the night of 9/21/1968.

Gilbert ran for 195 yards on 21 carries; Gipson gained 173 yards on 28 tries. Simpson’s average was six yards per carry, the same as Gipson’s. Gilbert finished with a nine-yard average.

Included in Gilbert’s gains were touchdown runs of 57 and 8 yards. Gipson scored all three of Houston’s touchdowns on runs of one, 66, and 5 yards.

Paul Gipson, above, going down hard in an earlier UH win over Florida State. – In the UT game, did Paul Gipson lose the call on his late game goal line run and dive that would’ve given UH the win? As one who sat directly on that goal line from the lower stands, I will swear forever that I saw Paul’s head, shoulders and the ball break the TD plane before UT pushed him back for an official “stop”. But that’s just how things go sometimes.

There was one time (late in the 4th quarter), however, when Texas stopped Gipson (at the goal plane) and that (“stop”) meant the difference between a tie and a Houston victory. The Cougars had the ball at the Texas two with a fourth down and the Longhorns stopped Gipson at the (goal) line.

~ excerpt from the Murray Chass article, as it appeared in the Lubbock (TX) Avalanche Journal, Monday, September 23, 1968, Page 47

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When we asked the referee after the game about how many inches Gipson had missed on his dramatic 44th quarter failed TD dive for a UH victory, the ref just flashed us the above hand signal to denote the difference maker.

When we asked the referee after the game about how many inches Gipson had missed on his dramatic 4th quarter failed TD dive for a UH victory, the ref just flashed us the above hand signal to denote the failed distance.

Tags: 1968: ut-uh Battle to 20-20 Tie, Chris Gilbert, Paul Gipson
Posted in Uncategorized | 13 Comments »

April 15, 1968: Astros 1 – Mets 0 (24 Innings)

October 3, 2013

Astros baserunner 4/13/1968:Astros runner Norm Miller sleepwalked home in the bottom of the 24th on a Mets muff in the field to give Houston a record 1-0 longest night game in history win over New York.

4/15/1968: Astros runner Norm Miller sleepwalked home in the bottom of the 24th inning on a Mets muff in the field to give Houston a record 1-0 “longest night game in history” win over New York.

Once Upon a Time, the 1968 Houston Astros preferred to get all their sleepwalking done in one game rather than spread it out over the whole year like the 2013 Astros club has done.

The time and place was Monday, April 15, 1968 as the Houston Astros entertained the New York Mets in a night game at the Astrodome.

And what a night it would be. The Mets and Astros would post nothing but goose eggs for 21.5 innings before the homies finally pushed across the only crooked run number in the game, with a little help from a somnolent New York defense in the wee small hours of the next day. Here’s how the Associated Press wrote up that historic marathon:

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Astros Win Longest Night Game Ever, 1-0

Aspro’s Grounder, Weiss’ Error Ends in Astro Win

Win Keeps Astros on Top in NL

HOUSTON (AP) – The Judge was ready for bed, a coach had only one chew of tobacco left and the bats weighed more than the trees from which they were hewed.

It was at this critical point in the 24th inning that Houston’s Bob Aspromonte stroked one of Les Rohr’s pitches toward Al Weiss near second base and the New York Mets’ shortstop muffed to let in the only run in the Astros 1-0 win earlier today.

The error ended the longest night game in major league history and cut short by two innings of equalling the longest baseball game ever played.

Fired Aspro

“The bat felt like eight and a half pounds,” Aspromonte said. “That was the longest week I ever played I’ve just won three of five ball games for this club, do you realize that?”

The victory was the fifth in six games for the National League leaders since the season started last Wednesday.

About 3,000 persons of a game opening crowd of 24,219 was still around in the huge Astrodome when the finish came.

One of those was Judge Roy Hofheinz, president of the Astros.

When the home half of the 22nd inning started, the $2 million dollar scoreboard flashed: “The Judge says he’s ready to go to bed. … Let’s score a run.”

Miller Singles.

Two innings later (24th) Norm Miller led off with a single and advance to second on a balk. Rohr, the eighth Mets pitcher, gave Jim Wynn and intentional pass. Rusty Staub was thrown out, the runners advancing. The John Bateman was intentionally walked to fill the bases.

At that point Aspromonte hit the grounder that Weiss bobbled.

“No it didn’t take a bad hop,” Weiss said. “I just blew it. It went right between my legs,”

The longest night game previously played was Washington’s 22 inning 6-5 victory over Chicago on June 12, 1967. The longest National League night game was played September 1, 1967 when San Francisco defeated Cincinnati 1-0 in 21 innings.

The Astros-Mets game also broke the record time consumed for a National League night game, requiring six hours and six minutes to complete.

3 Packages

“That was a three-package of tobacco game,” said Astros coach Buddy Hancken, “and I just got one chew left.”

Staub said: “After about the 17th inning, everything got funny.”

The longest game in innings ever played took seven hours and twenty-three minutes when the Giants beat the Mets 8-6 on May 31, 1967.

The 24-inning affair overshadowed two-hit pitching by the Mets’ Tom Seaver, who retired 22 in a row at one stretch in his 10-inning stint.

“My arm was still lively in the 10th, but there was no use in straining it,” Seaver said. “That’s the longest game I ever played in. I’m sorry we had to lose it.”

Don WIlson, first of five Astros pitchers scattered five singles before leaving in the ninth.

The eight New York pitchers fell one short of the record number ever used in a game.

Both teams got eleven hits. The victory went to Wade Blasingame.

~ The Port Arthur News, Tuesday, April 16, 1968, Page 14.

Baseball Almanac Box ScoresNew York Mets 0, Houston Astros 1

Game played on Monday, April 15, 1968 at Astrodome

New York Mets	ab	h
Weis ss	9	1
Boswell 2b	10	1
Agee cf	10	0
Swoboda rf	10	0
Shamsky lf	4	2
Jones pr,lf	6	1
Kranepool 1b	8	2
Buchek 3b	2	0
Charles 3b	6	1
Grote c	7	2
Seaver p	3	1
Taylor p	0	0
Linz ph	1	0
Koonce p	0	0
Short p	0	0
Selma p	0	0
Bosch ph	1	0
Jackson p	0	0
Harrelson ph	1	0
Frisella p	1	0
Cardwell ph	0	0
Rohr p	0	0
Totals	79	11

Houston Astros	ab	r	h	rbi
Davis cf	10	0	1	0
Miller rf	8	1	1	0
Wynn lf	8	0	1	0
Staub 1b	9	0	2	0
King c	9	0	1	0
Bateman ph	0	0	0	0
Aspromonte 3b	9	0	0	1
Gotay 2b	9	0	2	0
Torres ss	8	0	3	0
Wilson p	2	0	0	0
Thomas ph	1	0	0	0
Buzhardt p	0	0	0	0
Rader ph	1	0	0	0
Coombs p	0	0	0	0
Murrell ph	1	0	0	0
Ray p	2	0	0	0
Blasingame p	2	0	0	0
Totals	79	1	11	1

New York	0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0	–	0	11	1
Houston	0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	0		0	0	1	–	1	11	1

New York Mets	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO

Seaver	10.0	2	0	0	0	3
Taylor	1.0	1	0	0	0	1
Koonce	0.1	1	0	0	0	0
Short	1.0	1	0	0	2	1
Selma	0.2	0	0	0	0	0
Jackson	3.0	1	0	0	0	4
Frisella	5.0	4	0	0	1	4
Rohr L (0-1)	2.1	1	1	1	4	2
Totals	23.1	11	1	1	7	15

Houston Astros	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO
Wilson	9.0	5	0	0	3	5
Buzhardt	2.0	0	0	0	0	1
Coombs	2.0	3	0	0	0	2
Ray	7.0	2	0	0	1	11
Blasingame W (1-0)	4.0	1	0	0	1	1
Totals	24.0	11	0	0	5	20
E–Weis (1), Wilson (1). DP–New York 1, Houston 1. 2B–New York Charles (1,off Ray), Houston King (1,off Seaver). SH–Buchek (1,off Wilson); Grote (1,off Ray); Kranepool (2,off Ray); Cardwell (1,off Blasingame); Miller (1,off Koonce). IBB–Grote (2,by Wilson); Charles (1,by Ray); Wynn 2 (2,by Short,by Rohr); Aspromonte (3,by Rohr); Bateman (1,by Rohr). Team LOB–16. Team–16. SB–Charles (2,2nd base off Ray/King); Jones (1,3rd base off Ray/King). CS–Gotay (1,2nd base by Frisella/Grote); Miller (1,2nd base by Frisella/Grote). WP–Seaver (1), Rohr (1), Wilson (2). BK–Rohr (1). IBB–Short (1,Wynn); Rohr 3 (3,Aspromonte,Wynn,Bateman); Wilson (1,Grote); Ray (1,Charles). U-HP–Ed Sudol, 1B–Lee Weyer, 2B–Bill Williams, 3B–Tom Gorman. T–6:06. A–14,219.

Game played on Monday, April 15, 1968 at Astrodome

Baseball Almanac Box Score |

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Tags: 1968: Atros defeats Mets 1-0 in 24 innings
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »

Thomson’s Shot: How It Played in “Peoria”

October 2, 2013

The MLB playoff season never fails to remind me of Bobby Thomson’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” from the Polo Grounds on October 3, 1951. As the baseball world now long remembers, Thomson’s three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth that day gave the destiny-driven New York Giants a 5-4 comeback victory over their hated rival club, the Brooklyn Dodgers, a team they had trailed by 13.5 games in August, propelling Leo Durocher’s boys immediately into the World Series they would then lose to the New York Yankees, but not before carving themselves into baseball history as, perhaps, the games greatest iconic legend.

We also well know how Giants radio broadcaster Russ Hodges called the Thomson moment and himself into mythology with his “The Giants Win The Pennant” exclamations times six or seven recitations, but less is known of how that action played out in all the Peorias of this country’s hinterlands the following day. Here’s how the Ironwood (Michigan) Daily Globe handled this major quake in baseball history on October 4, 1951:

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“THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT! ~ THE GIANTS WIN THE PENNANT!” ~ Russ Hodges. (Model in Storage with a Private Protective Service.)

Giant Miracle Men Win National Flag

Thomson Homer Climaxes Drive of Durocher Club

By Jack Hand

New York -(AP)- The Incredible New York Giants Miracle Men of ’51 charge into the World Series today in the familiar but becoming role of 8 to 5 underdogs to the seasoned New York Yankees.

Floating on a pink cloud all their own after the greatest comeback in baseball history, the Giants were to face the stern reality of Allie (double no-hit) Reynolds (17-8) in the Yankee Stadium (World Series) opener at 12 noon, CST.

To meet this challenge of the well-fed Yanks, accustomed to World Series hullabaloo, Manager Leo Durocher has named Dave Koslo (10-9), a journeyman southpaw who hasn’t started in two weeks. It’s another amble by take-a-chance Leo in a series of inspired managerial moves.

SOUTHPAW JINX?

Noting that left-handers gave the Yanks fits all season – and Yogi Berra in particular – Leo reached for the only lefty starter available on his arm-weary staff. Koslo spends at least half his time in the bullpen, except when his “cousins” from St. Louis are in town.

No matter what Leo does, the Yanks who watched the Giants clinch yesterday’s dramatic 5-4 clincher from Brooklyn will not take his club lightly. The records show the Giants often are down – but never out.

Bobby Thomson’s three-run homer into the lower left field seats in the ninth inning was one of the most dramatic blows ever struck. It rescued the Giants from the brink of disaster and wrenched a pennant from the grip of the desperate Dodgers. In dollars and cents it probably meant about $200,000 to the winning athletes in World Series money.

MISERABLE START

To appreciate the full drama of the occasion, you must know the background. How the Giants flopped in a miserable 11-game losing streak in April. How they were given up for dead August 11, trailing the Brooklyn master race by 13 1/2 games. How they clawed back, game by game, until they tied Brooklyn and forced the second National League playoff (in history).

Winning the first playoff game, 3-1, losing the second, 10-0, they were backed up against the wall in the (bottom of) the ninth inning of the final game.

After pulling up to tie in the seventh (1-1), they saw their hard work go down the drain in the eighth when Sal Maglie wild-pitched one run home (1-2) and the Dodgers hammered home two more with their bats (1-4).

DARK STARTS RALLY

Trailing 4-1 n the ninth with big Don Newcombe firing a four-hitter, Al Dark stirred a faint hope with a single off Gil Hodges’ glove. When Don Mueller singled, the Polo Grounds settlement of 34,320 began to stir. But Monte Irvin fouled to Hodges for out No. 1.

Whitey Lockman set the joint jumping with a double off the left field wall to score Dark, narrowing the gap to 4-2. Sliding into third on the hit, Mueller twisted his ankle and was carried from the field. On the way he (Mueller) passed Ralph Branca, striding in to replace the weary Newcombe.

(Clint Hartung replaced Mueller as the runner at third. Bobby Thomson was now the batter for the Giants. Ralph Branca was now pitching for Brooklyn. Willie Mays was in the on-deck circle with one out. The Dodgers still led by 4-2.)

Thomson, the goat on some (earlier) bonehead base running and inadequate fielding, looked at a called strike. The next pitch was a high fastball and the Scot from Staten Island slammed a sinking liner that just cleared the high green wall in front of the lower left field seats. (Giants won, 5-4.)

Ralph Branca, the guy who threw the most famous HR ball in baseball history.
(Model in Storage with a Private Protective Service)

WILD VICTORY

A hoarse roar echoed off Coogan’s Bluff as Thomson rounded the bases with a wide grin. Wild-eyed Giants pounded his back and climbed on his shoulders as they loosened the pent up emotion of weeks of back-bending strain.

The old Polo Grounds which saw the great John McGraw’s teams of years ago never saw any wilder victory celebration than it did yesterday afternoon. Thousands grouped on the center-field grass and raised volleys of cheers toward the clubhouse windows.

They yelled for Thomson. They yelled for Durocher. They yelled for anybody. It didn’t make any difference. No pennant had flown from the Polo Grounds flagpole since 1937 and they were making the most of it.

~ excerpt from an (AP) article by Jack Hand, as it appeared in the October 4, 1951 edition of the Ironwood (Michigan) Daily Globe.

******************************************************************************

Tags: The Shot Heard Round the World
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Random Notebook Thoughts, 10/01/13

October 1, 2013

One of the Original 80 metal Buffalo Medallions from Buff Stadium in Houston (1928-1961)

Notebook Observations …

1) Stan Musial played his last game in the big leagues 50 years ago last Sunday on September 29, 1963.

2) Tampa Bay defeated Texas last night by a 5-2 count in a special one-game extension of the regular season to determine which club moves forward as the second wild card in the American League playoffs.

3) Evan Longoria in the Texas game was the 7th time he has homered in his club’s last regular season game, pulling him into a one-homer lead over the great Stan Musial in this arcane record category.

4) The Rangers‘ loss to the Rays assures their fans that their club will not disappoint them again in the World Series for the third year in a row.

5) The 2013 performance of the San Francisco Giants is proof that the World Champs in two of the previous three years (2012 and 2010) were not put together as a dynasty, but as a patchwork short-term peak champion that was capable of winning two World Series in three years and then going to seed.

6) Hopefully, the disastrous 2013 record of the Houston Astros has proven to club ownership and management that they can ill afford to let everything go to hell for a fourth year in a row. 2013 wasn’t merely a crash, but a total implosion of hope, awareness, contact, and caring among fans for the fortunes of their club. It was practically impossible to build any affinity for a roster that changed almost daily. All a fan could know for sure was that the new player coming in was going to be another minor leaguer coming in to try and prove himself. Most fans could not even follow the team because of the most screwed-up, greed-driven television plan in club history – and most of those who could get the games stopped watching sometime during the summer, leaving the team with a TV audience of an optimistic 900 fans per game by season’s end. Signing Lance Berkman and a few legitimate lower cost free agents could have been enough to avoid a third straight 100 plus losses season in 2013, but the Astros chose to gut every cost they could find and cast their fates to the widely whispered plan for returning to contention by 2015. That 15-game asteroid-weighted losing streak that took the boys to the finish line this year more truly suggests that the club will be lucky enough, George Springer notwithstanding,, to be even on a clear road to mediocrity by 2015.

7) There used to be a guy named Jackie Price who could do amazing things with a baseball. He made his living at ballparks showing off these skills and even made a motion picture short subject feature which played the whole country showing off his entire amazing routine. Friend Mike McCroskey saw Price in that movie at the late August showing of old baseball films in August at the Museum of Fine Arts, but neither of us could remember his name at the time we discussed it the other day. It finally bubbled up from the ooze of my ancient memories yesterday. (The ooze is always the first place I look for the answer needed for most ancient questions. Then I go to Google, if that fails – and also to check on my memory. I just went there for confirmation – where I learned that Price had been a seven game big leaguer, once upon a time, and to be reminded that he was known in his act as “The Clown Prince of Baseball”.

I saw Jackie Price perform at Buff Stadium once. He shagged fly balls in the outfield while also driving a jeep to catch up with the fungoed baseballs. He caught a fastball pitcher while his back was turned to the mound and he was bent over looking for the ball between his legs. He pitched three baseballs simultaneously through three separately hanging rubber tires from about 60 feet, six inches away. He did all kinds of amazing and dangerous things as the crowd “ooohed” and “awwwed”.

It was a simpler time. And our minds were more simply entertained.

8) Many times, when I start feeling a little disconnected from all the sweet spots of my happy times as a kid and young man in Houston, I think of the eighty metal buffalo medallions that once rimmed the high exterior grandstand walls at old Buff Stadium. They were there before and after my earliest of times. And a few have survived to this day. They are each permeated with the vibrations of all the organ music that ever played in the old park. They were there for all the peak up and down moments of my baseball kid fan seasons with the Houston Buffs. And when I think of them again today, I am no longer alone and disconnected from the heart of my early sandlot baseball joy. I am home.

9) Have a great Tuesday, everybody!

Tags: random thoughts
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Mariano Rivera in Quiet Classy Act in Houston

September 30, 2013

L-R: Jeff Luhnow, Reif Ryan, Mariano Rivera, Opie Otterstad, Roger Clemens and Milo Hamilton celebrate the end of Mario's great career

L-R: Jeff Luhnow, Reid Ryan, Mariano Rivera, Opie Otterstad, Roger Clemens and Milo Hamilton celebrate and honor the end of Mario’s great career

Sunday, September 29, 2013 saw the merciful end of a log baseball season for Houston Astro fans as the club shut it down with a live 15-game losing streak they will take with them into the 2014 season. It took 14 innings for a 1-1 ties between the Astros and the New York Yankees to melt down into a 5-1 Houston loss, but the guys managed to get it there in keeping with the way their abilities and luck have been playing out all season. As you undoubtedly know by now (and that’s a prefacing statement that begs the question of why I’m telling you again here), the Astros finished their first season in the American League with a record of 51 wins and 111 defeats, the worst team mark in the major leagues for 2013. May it now all rest in peace with a dose of team leadership resolve, one way or another, to put a major league team on the field in 2014 and to succeed in getting the Astros games viewable by audience that is larger than the 900 fans who were reportedly still watching the team via Comcast late in this 2013 season.

Astros playing record aside, a couple of great things did happen at Minute Maid Park Sunday. One you probably know about. The other, I think not – unless you happen to be Mariano Rivera and his family, Mike McCroskey and his daughter, Meghan McCroskey, or a lady from Beaumont named Thompson and her little son, Elijah Thompson. It is a story that plays out in serendipity, on heavenly wings and a background of harps, about the hunger of a young kid for a souvenir from his hero, and through the heart of a champion who was just retiring from baseball today as the greatest closing reliever in the history of the game.

Serendipity lives.

Mariano Rivera Honored Pre-Game by Astros. Mike McCroskey and daughter Meghan McCroskey had gone early to the game to be there for the pre-game honoring of Mariano Rivera. They have four season seats on the ground level rail, just beyond the visitors’ dugout on the third base side. The “problem” was, the people who were to go with them to this last game of the season cancelled out at the last-minute, leaving the McCroskeys with two tickets to two empty seats. That was OK with both Mike and Meghan. As devout fans, they were prepared to ride it out with two empties beside them.

It was all right, that is, until they arrived to find themselves surrounded by Yankee fans and under some potential pressure from the thought of having to encounter a couple of obnoxious Yankee fan prime section seat busters at some point. In fact, a little Yankee fan boy with a sign was already in one of the four McCroskey seats when Mike and Meghan arrived. His mother was sitting in a seat behind them. Rather than wait for a pot luck discussion with less pleasant Yankee fan invaders, Mike took the initiative of inviting the boy and his mother to both join him and Meghan in those two extra seats they owned. The invitees were a Mrs. Thompson and her son Elijah, who turned eight years old today, Monday, September 30, 1913. The father was in the ballpark too, but he apparently was sitting some thirty rows back and there was no more field-side room.

The Thompsons were Yankee fans, as reported. but they were from Beaumont, Mike’s birthplace, and that made their presence OK. Little Elijah Thompson carried with him a sign that read: “Please sign a ball for me, Mario! I’m turning 8 tomorrow!”

Unfortunately for little Elijah and all other autograph hopefuls. that wasn’t going to happen. After being greeted at home plate by Astros President Reid Ryan and Milo Hamilton, former Yankee teammate Roger Clemens and manager Joe Torre, Mariano was presented with a beautiful original oil painting of his career by artist Opie Otterstad before he graciously spoke to the Houston crowd, asking for their forgiveness and understanding as to why he was not playing in Houston or signing autographs en masse on this special day. Rivera basically wanted that moment in Yankee Stadium when Jeter and Pettitte came out to remove him from his last mound stint to be his final memory of active play. He was also simply too exhausted to sign for the thousands he would have to please in Houston this day and was just too emotionally spent to start. Four or five people still got to him for autographs before his eturn to the Yankee clubhouse.

Old and New Yankee Stadiums were the places that Mario Rivera wanted to remember as the beginning and end of his baseball career.

The Houston fans took Mariano Rivera’s Yankee Stadium “last memory wishes” in stride and understanding. That is, most of them did.

The two Rivera sons came by to greet the MMP crowd.

Later, when no Yankee players of note came down the line to sign for people on the rail prior to the game, Little Elijah Thompson was still holding up his birthday signing appeal card when two teenage boys in black Yankee tee shirts came by the rail, talking with fans. It turns out that they were the sons of Mariano Rivera and they had been attracted into brief conversation with Elijah because of his sign. After no more than a minute, they went away, finally disappearing into the Yankee dugout. About the third inning of the game, one of the attendants came out of the Yankee dugout and approached young Elijah Thompson from the field side of the seating rail.

Little Elijah Thompson (back turned) gets ready to receive the surprise of his young lifetime from Mariano Rivera.

Little Elijah Thompson (back turned) gets ready to receive the surprise gift of his young lifetime from Mariano Rivera.

“This is for you,” the attendant said, as he handed to Elijah a brand new official MLB ball with an autograph on the sweet spot that read “Mariano Rivera.”

The last autographed ball signed by Mariano Rivera during the total period of his playing career went to Elijah Thompson of Beaumont, TX, one day prior to his 8th birthday.

This was not just any autographed ball. – This was the only and last baseball signed by Mariano Rivera on the the last day of the last game in his team career. Mariano the Man with THE BIG HEART, absolutely did the right thing.

Never underestimate the heart of a champion.

Happy 8th Birthday, Elijah Thompson, wherever you are. Hope you keep that ball safe forever.

And thank you, Michael and Meghan McCroskey, for being the turning wheels on seredipity – and the archangels that made little Elijah Thompson’s 8th birthday one for the ages.

Footnote on Serendipity: This whole chain of events unfolded yesterday, September 29th, which also happens to be the annual Feast Day of St. Michael the Archangel – and we had no idea of that additional spine-chilling detail until Tom Hunter left his comment below. Even that cartoon of Mike McCroskey as “Saint Michael” came before this writer even knew that yesterday was actually St. Michael’s Feast Day.

What’s it all mean? Who knows for sure. It was either an incredible collision of connecting serial coincidences in movement – or else – there was an apparently powerful run of spiritual forces going on in behalf of us all yesterday.

Believe it or not? As always, that decision is up to each of us, but you can put me down on the believer side.

Happy 8th Birthday again, Elijah Thompson. Your story was a gift to the world about love, and heart, and the the spiritual gift to the giver that only comes from unconditional giving.

Tags: Mariano Rivera's Last Career Era Autograph
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Goodbye and Good Luck to Andy Pettitte

September 29, 2013

Andy Pettitte flashes his homecoming retirement smile.

Andy Pettitte flashes his homecoming smile.

Given a choice about how I care to spend some precious Sunday morning time writing a column today, I felt I had to pick between the Astros determined drive to end their worst ever season with a 15-game losing streak or just use the time and space to say goodbye to one of my favorite people in baseball, the great Andy Pettitte.

It was a no-brainer on my passion scale. I chose the latter

The famous Pettitte
Peekaboo Look

By taking out the Astros, 2-1, yesterday at Minute Maid Park, Andy Pettitte finished his season at 11-11, thus assuring himself of never having completed any of his 18 big league seasons with a losing record. It was also his first complete game since 2006.

Andy’s game also endowed Chris Carter with a couple of minor spots in the great lefty’s career record book. If Andy hereafter actually stays retired, Carter’s single to left in the bottom of the 9th will forever stand as the last relatively rare hit that any big leaguer ever recorded against the Yankee stud-lefty. Carter’s earlier RBI credit for the only Astros’ run Saturday also should hold as the last time anybody knocked in a run against Any Pettitte in an official big league game.

I was privileged to have met Andy Pettitte in the reception room of the Houston Baseball DInner back in 1996, but, in spite of his modest kindness toward this older fan, I doubt he would remember it all. I was just one of the many who clamored for the opportunity that night to greet and get an autograph from the then 24-year old pitching phenomenon.

How little we knew that long ago night just how great he was going to be over time. His record 19 playoff wins is a record too, among his many others, that’s likely to last for a very long time.

Everything on the field about the man’s pitching career, short of not reaching the magic 300-win total, says Hall of Fame candidate for sure, in my eyes. I also like the way his immediate honesty to one-time personal use of HGH for quick injury recovery set him apart from most others who faced public and congressional scrutiny as a result of the steroid use investigations. It seems that the pathway to resolution works faster with forthrightness and honesty.

I love what I know of the man’s character, family life, and value system and I thank him for all he did as a decent and talented man to make watching baseball the greatest game in the world.

Andy finished his career with an overall record of 256 wins against 153 losses and E.R.A. of 3.85. For additional statistical information about his entire career, please move your search from there to Baseball Refeence.com:

http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/p/pettian01.shtml

Next, here’s a link to basic information about Andy Pettitte. It’s not everything, but it’s a good place to examine the man’s core accomplishments:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Pettitte

Good Luck and Godspeed to you and your family, Andy Pettitte – and thanks again for some great baseball memories.

Tags: Andy Petttitte Retires
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If “The Producers” Had Been About Baseball

September 28, 2013

The Producers
Max and Leo

Max Bialystock was the owner of a mediocre major league baseball club called the Houston Asteroids. “No matter how you talk them up to be in the spring,” Max used to say. “they always come crashing to earth by the Fourth of July. The only thing we’ve got right in twenty years is the name. They are asteroids all the way – and their reality is gravity. It gets them every time. I don’t know how much longer we can keep getting the fans to buy into this crap we pull every year. And now, worse than ever, we face going into spring with no prospects coming up and a bunch of over-paid and over-weight veterans who are almost too fat to walk over and pick up their paychecks, let alone pick up a bat with hits in it! – Mother of Mercy, what do we do now?”

Leo Bloom was the new President of the Asteroids, hired by Bialystock to work some kind of miracle for his beleaguered owner/boss. He heard his boss make that desperate statement and immediately felt the strong need to say something that would come across as both consoling and wise. “Well, Max, as I see it,” Leo said, “you’ve given Houston your very best for two decades – and now that effort has become a horse that’s finally brought you to a fork in the road.”

Max: “Fork in the road? Don’t serve me up a salad, Leo. What are you talking about?”

Leo: “You have to make a decision between one of two new courses because you now understand that you can’t keep doing what you have been doing. Nobody is going to buy the same old crapola for another season.”

Max: “And what are my choices?”

Leo: “Number One, you can sell the team. Find some rube who wants to be a major league baseball club owner and sell him or his group the club for about a gazillion dollars more than you paid for it.”

Max: “That sounds pretty good, but what else do you see?”

Leo: “Or you can do what it takes to put a winning ball club on the field, one that possesses the anti-gravity spine of talent that won’t allow them to fall to earth by mid-summer. You have the capital to do it, if you also have the will to let me run the show and pick the people who can get us there. And don’t be scared. Remember that there are always three gradient levels that define the phrase “winning team”: (1) Too good to lose. – This level’s almost unattainable. Only the Yankee Dynasty teams have come close to meeting the standards for perfection; (2) Playoff Competitive. – You build a club that can make it to the playoffs every year and hopefully crash the World Series once or twice a decade; (3) Fragrantly Competitive. – Now you’re talking. These are the clubs that smell like winners to the fans, even though they really aren’t. These clubs are the ones that hang close to August 31st every year, even though they have by then revealed a talent hole somewhere on the field that will keep them out of the playoffs. The challenge here is to do some personnel changes each off-season that are intended to look like improvement, even though they are mostly nothing more than a change of faces.

Max: “Those ‘keep the club’ alternatives all sound too expensive to me, Leo – and I’ve been doing this club ownership thing too long to run another sham on the fans. If I’m going to run a good sham again, I’d rather do it on a buyer for the club.

Leo: “I understand, Max, but wait a minute. I think I may have hit upon the fact that your mismanagement of things has kicked open a rare third alternative to sell or rebuild.”

Max: “What do you mean, Leo?”

Leo: (musing to himself) “Heh, heh, heh, amazing. I’ve been looking over your books for the past three years and it’s absolutely amazing, Max. But under the right circumstances, a producer/club owner could make more money with a bad club/flop than he could with a winning-hit operation.”

Max: (eyes open in wild excitement) “Tell me more, Leo! I’m all ears.”

Leo: “It’s simple. You’ve been getting people to the ball park, but you’ve been paying too many over-the-hill bozos way too much money. Here’s what you do: (1) unload the fat cats on the payroll; (2) tell the fans we are going to rebuild the team from the ground up, starting with the farm system; (3) only hire or promote minimum wage guys for the roster next year; (4) tell the fans that they we need their patient support for the next 4-5 years while the club is being totally rebuilt; (4) sell the hell out of advance season tickets, offering small discounts for multiple year purchases. – Forget the discount. Tell them that multiple season ticket buyers will be protecting themselves from future surcharges for new seating licenses; (5) make sure the local TV screw-up never gets fixed. Make people come to the ball park if they want to see our losers play. Lay off all the unnecessary people at the ballpark and put some seat watchers out there to record which seats are being sold and never used. (6) Take all the purchased seat locations that are never used and sell them again. There’s no point in letting a sale go to waste on a purchaser who never shows up to use what he or she bought. (7) Go this route and the Asteroids will make more money with a guaranteed low payroll loser than they ever made with a team that was designed to only look like a winner.”

Max: (dancing merrily in a circle around Bloom) “Leo, You’ve just convinced me – and you’ve just earned yourself a 5% stock option in the club, as well. Now let’s do lunch and then call a media conference to reveal our rebuilding plans to the world.”

Tags: Producers Baseball Parody
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