The Name Game - NY Yankees 1950s Edition
Mar 19, 2019 09:11:50 #
[quote=pendennis]Had Mantle not been injured in the 61 season, he might well have taken the crown from Maris.
However, both were tremendous hitters. I always hated the fact that Maris' record was listed with an asterisk for all those years.
A lot of folks don't know just how fast Mantle could get to first. I believe he was about .2 second faster from the left hand side of the plate (3.1 seconds). For someone to hit with such power, and run with such speed, is nearly unheard of today.
The other thing about Mantle, is that he could hit a high inside pitch out of the ballpark. Probably a skill Babe Ruth had, too.
However, both were tremendous hitters. I always hated the fact that Maris' record was listed with an asterisk for all those years.
A lot of folks don't know just how fast Mantle could get to first. I believe he was about .2 second faster from the left hand side of the plate (3.1 seconds). For someone to hit with such power, and run with such speed, is nearly unheard of today.
The other thing about Mantle, is that he could hit a high inside pitch out of the ballpark. Probably a skill Babe Ruth had, too.
Mar 19, 2019 09:35:54 #
Sunnely:
No apology necessary....I can appreciate your enthusiasm!
As for the ‘27 Yanks vs the ‘50s, that’s a tough one and it’s always hard to compare teams from different eras. I guess the 27 team had more power but I think the 50s teams had more speed and better defenses. How’s that for a “non-answer”?
No apology necessary....I can appreciate your enthusiasm!
As for the ‘27 Yanks vs the ‘50s, that’s a tough one and it’s always hard to compare teams from different eras. I guess the 27 team had more power but I think the 50s teams had more speed and better defenses. How’s that for a “non-answer”?
Mar 19, 2019 09:37:45 #
FrankR wrote:
I’ve been a Yankee fan all my life, my diapers had pinstripes, so I recognized them all. A minor technicality: If this is meant to be Yankees of the Fifties, the right fielder should be Hank Bauer, one hell of a ballplayer and a Marine Raider. The right fielder pictured didn’t play for the Yankees in the Fifties. By the way, subway is still the best way to get to a game. Not for a ten year old on their own however.
Good catch about Bauer. I also remember Andy Carey being part of those teams.
Mar 19, 2019 11:04:36 #
I grew up in the Bronx. As a 5th grade crossing guard my Public School (70) took us to a Yankee game when they let the crowd go out on the field at the end. I was amazed how long the grass was in Center! I was so happy to walk on the grass where my hero’s walked! Fast forward to my 65th birthday at the Old House That Ruth Built, and our daughter arranged to have my special day mentioned on the scoreboard......a real thrill!
Also remember sneaking a pre-transistor, tube-type portable radio to school to keep up on the World Series.
Also remember sneaking a pre-transistor, tube-type portable radio to school to keep up on the World Series.
Mar 19, 2019 11:46:44 #
Sunnely
Loc: Wisconsin
[quote=pendennis]Had Mantle not been injured in the 61 season, he might well have taken the crown from Maris.
Yep! But what a rivalry for the HR King in '61 between the "M&M" boys (Mantle&Maris).
Some of the media fabricated that a rift developed between Mantle and Maris, obviously good for selling newspapers and gaining TV share. But, it wasn't true. (The early years' version of "fake news.") An excerpt from "The M&M Boys: Summer of 1961," https://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/maris-mantle-home-run-race-1961/
"Mantle and Maris, along with Bob Cerv, a Yankee friend of Maris’s, lived together in a Queens apartment for most of the 1961 season. Maris and Cerv had in effect, rescued Mantle from his more freewheeling lifestyle and Times Square hangovers, when he lived downtown at the St. Moritz hotel. Sure, Mantle and Maris were competitors in the home run race, but they were also friends despite significant lifestyle differences. And as a pair of New York Yankees hitting home runs, they were very good for the business of baseball, and not only in New York."
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Yep! But what a rivalry for the HR King in '61 between the "M&M" boys (Mantle&Maris).
Some of the media fabricated that a rift developed between Mantle and Maris, obviously good for selling newspapers and gaining TV share. But, it wasn't true. (The early years' version of "fake news.") An excerpt from "The M&M Boys: Summer of 1961," https://www.pophistorydig.com/topics/maris-mantle-home-run-race-1961/
"Mantle and Maris, along with Bob Cerv, a Yankee friend of Maris’s, lived together in a Queens apartment for most of the 1961 season. Maris and Cerv had in effect, rescued Mantle from his more freewheeling lifestyle and Times Square hangovers, when he lived downtown at the St. Moritz hotel. Sure, Mantle and Maris were competitors in the home run race, but they were also friends despite significant lifestyle differences. And as a pair of New York Yankees hitting home runs, they were very good for the business of baseball, and not only in New York."
.
Final Score without the asterisk (Defying the Frick rule)
Mar 19, 2019 18:49:43 #
sgt hop
Loc: baltimore md,now in salisbury md
fuminous wrote:
Great Bobbyjohn! Brought back some memories... and can't help but get nostalgic and so listened to Tom Waits' for the complete experience...
... that we toast to the old days and Dimagio too
and old Drysdale and Mantle, Whitey Ford and to you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5ecdHpxTU
Thanks!
... that we toast to the old days and Dimagio too
and old Drysdale and Mantle, Whitey Ford and to you...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1j5ecdHpxTU
Thanks!
seems like in the old days they looked like baseball players....only see some of the players with the old type uniforms...rest look like softball players(nothing against softball) the new one could use a haircut and shave also....
Mar 19, 2019 19:15:20 #
[quote=Sunnely][quote=pendennis]Had Mantle not been injured in the 61 season, he might well have taken the crown from Maris.
Yep! But what a rivalry for the HR King in '61 between the "M&M" boys (Mantle&Maris).
Some of the media fabricated that a rift developed between Mantle and Maris, obviously good for selling newspapers and gaining TV share. But, it wasn't true. (The early years' version of "fake news.") An excerpt from "The M&M Boys: Summer of 1961,"
As a kid, I loved “The Mick” and was thrilled when I got number 7 on my uniform. Unfortunately his story is a sad one. I read “The Last Boy” by Jane Leavy and it brought tears to my eyes.
Yep! But what a rivalry for the HR King in '61 between the "M&M" boys (Mantle&Maris).
Some of the media fabricated that a rift developed between Mantle and Maris, obviously good for selling newspapers and gaining TV share. But, it wasn't true. (The early years' version of "fake news.") An excerpt from "The M&M Boys: Summer of 1961,"
As a kid, I loved “The Mick” and was thrilled when I got number 7 on my uniform. Unfortunately his story is a sad one. I read “The Last Boy” by Jane Leavy and it brought tears to my eyes.
Mar 19, 2019 22:15:33 #
I have it in my head that I saw Orlando Cepeda ejected from a game in the Houston Astrodome, summer of 1969. It’s a little fuzzy…. I do remember the guy selling cups of beer to any and everybody and how taut were his muscles from hauling that big, sloshy tray. That's when I discovered I don’t much care for beer- which is an awkward discovery for an eighteen year old with a wide open future of gin, whiskey and wine…
… and had a discussion with Sue Kidd (1950 through 1954 -All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and a relation by marriage) on the subject.
… and had a discussion with Sue Kidd (1950 through 1954 -All-American Girls Professional Baseball League and a relation by marriage) on the subject.
Mar 20, 2019 06:45:14 #
fuminous wrote:
I have it in my head that I saw Orlando Cepeda eje... (show quote)
Interesting comment🤔
Mar 20, 2019 09:23:42 #
FrankR
Loc: NYC
Dannj wrote:
Good catch about Bauer. I also remember Andy Carey being part of those teams.
Yes he was, started in the early Fifties if I’m not mistaken.
Mar 20, 2019 09:45:25 #
Mar 20, 2019 10:02:56 #
Linda S. wrote:
Where's Gil Mac or McDougal? My Dad took us to most home games growing up. We lived in Southern CT. I hated sitting through double-headers. Wish I knew where my Mickey Mantle bat went to!
McDougal certainly was part of that era. A solid player who might most be remembered, unfortunately, for the line drive that almost killed Herb Score of the Indians.
Mar 20, 2019 10:10:39 #
FrankR wrote:
Yes he was, started in the early Fifties if I’m not mistaken.
I remember this infield:
3B....Carey
SS...Rizutto/Kubek
2B...Gil McDougal/Jerry Coleman
1B...Skowron
Mar 20, 2019 17:45:19 #
NY Yankees 1950s - OFFICIAL Answer Key
- likely redundant since Sunnely posted correct answers at the very top of this thread...
1 Whitey Ford (Pitcher)
2 Yogi Berra (Catcher) Quote: "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical."
3 Bill (Moose) Skowron (1st Base)
4 Bobby Richardson (2nd Base)
5 Tony Kubek (3rd Base)
6 Phil Rizzuto (Shortstop)
7 Casey Stengel (Manager)
8 Mickey Mantle (Center Field)
9 Roger Maris (Right Field)
- likely redundant since Sunnely posted correct answers at the very top of this thread...
1 Whitey Ford (Pitcher)
2 Yogi Berra (Catcher) Quote: "Baseball is 90% mental and the other half is physical."
3 Bill (Moose) Skowron (1st Base)
4 Bobby Richardson (2nd Base)
5 Tony Kubek (3rd Base)
6 Phil Rizzuto (Shortstop)
7 Casey Stengel (Manager)
8 Mickey Mantle (Center Field)
9 Roger Maris (Right Field)
Mar 20, 2019 17:55:43 #
pendennis wrote:
Had Mantle not been injured in the 61 season, he m... (show quote)
Despite all the homer heroics by Mantle and Maris, my Tigers were neck and neck with those Damn Yankees in '61 until a four game series late in the season which the Yanks swept. The Tigers won 101 games that season but the Yankees 108. The most memorable play from that series was a fake by Yogi. Men on first on third and the guy on first goes to steal second. Yogi fakes the throw to second, pulls the man off third and picks him off.
When I was eight, I wrote Yogi a letter, telling him how I hit left handed but threw right handed like he did, and was a catcher. I got a photo post card back from him that was signed. I still have it. A few years ago he and Don Larsen were at a show in Arlington, TX and I got both their autographs on a ball for my son. It was good talking to, perhaps, the greatest catcher for a few minutes.
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