The Greatest Players From Each Franchise (Part III--AL West)

TEXAS RANGERS

Ivan Rodriguez
Rodriguez--also known as "Pudge" or "I-Rod"--gave thirteen of his best seasons to the Rangers between 1991 and 2002. During that span, he made ten consecutive All-Star appearances and won the same number of Gold Gloves. He retired with thirteen Gold Glove Awards altogether--more than any catcher in history. His offense improved as time wore on and he reached the peak of his career in '99 with 35 homers, 113 RBIs and a .332 batting average--numbers good enough to capture MVP honors. After his departure from Texas in 2003, he led two other clubs to World Series appearances. He was named MVP of the 2003 NLCS and compiled a .313 postseason batting average during the Marlins championship run that year. Behind the plate, he had an accurate arm and quick release. He led the league in caught stealing percentage nine times. His is the all-time leader in putouts among catchers.


HOUSTON ASTROS

Craig Biggio
It would be just as easy to name Jeff Bagwell the top Astros player of all time, but I chose Biggio because he gave twenty seasons to the club as opposed to Bagwell's fifteen. Biggio started his career as a catcher and spent a fair amount of time in the outfield before making the switch to second base in 1992. The position suited him well as he led the NL in assists six times and putouts on five occasions. He captured four Gold Gloves. One of Biggio's most useful talents was getting on base. He drew 60 or more walks ten times and led the league in hit-by-pitch during five seasons. He wore an over-sized elbow guard and had a tendency to lean out over the plate. Only one other player was plunked more times than Biggio--Hall of Famer Hughie Jennings. Biggio had excellent speed, stealing more than 400 bases during his career. He led the league in 1994. His 3060 base hits secured him a place in the Hall of Fame. He was elected in 2015.


CALIFORNIA ANGELS

Chuck Finley
Had Nolan Ryan remained in an Angels uniform a bit longer, he would likely have broken every franchise pitching record. But in examining the team data, the player who really stands out is left-hander Chuck Finley. During his fourteen years with the club, Finley set franchise records for wins and innings pitched. He ranks second behind Ryan in strikeouts. Highly durable, Finley made 30 or more starts eleven times during his career. He led the AL with 13 complete games during the '93 slate. The Angels weren't particularly good during many of Finley's seasons, but he was a model of consistency almost every year. He had several good pitches in his arsenal, including a fastball, forkball and curve. An unusual claim to fame, he struck out four batters in an inning three times. Throughout his career, he maintained a sense of humor about himself. After being named Player of the Week one year, he quipped: "That just shows you how this league has gone to hell." 


SEATTLE MARINERS

Ken Griffey Jr.
Though Ichiro Suzuki and Edgar Martinez put up impressive stats over the years, Griffey Jr. was a better player all around. With more power than Ichiro and more versatility than Martinez, Griffey led the league in homers four times and captured ten straight Gold Gloves. He got started in the majors at the age of nineteen and demonstrated so much poise, he was nicknamed "The Natural." He retired with 630 career homers--placing him sixth on the all time list. He accomplished this presumably without the aid of steroids. He holds the record for most homers in a season by a center fielder (56--tied with Hack Wilson). He captured more than ninety percent of the Hall of Fame vote in 2016.  


OAKLAND A'S

The A's have resided in three different cities over the years, spending more than fifty seasons in Philadelphia and close to fifty more in Oakland after a brief layover in Kansas City. During the Philadelphia years, pitcher Eddie Plank was arguably the most valuable asset to the club. The first left-hander to win 300 games, "Gettysburg Eddie" was a workhorse for manager Connie Mack, averaging 20 wins per year between 1901 and 1914. He accrued a stellar 2.39 ERA in that span while leading the AL in shutouts twice. Plank was even better in the postseason, allowing just 8 earned runs in 6 World Series starts. A victim of poor run support, he won just two of those starts in spite of a miserly 1.32 ERA.   

During the Oakland era, nobody carried the club like Rickey Henderson. The greatest leadoff man in history, Henderson is the all time leader in runs scored and stolen bases. He ranks second in bases on balls. Though he remained in the game long after his prime, he still manged to retire with an on-base percentage above .400. Henderson had some power for a leadoff man, cracking 297 career homers. He holds the record for most homers leading off a game with 81. Imminently aware of his abilities, he often bragged about his on-field accomplishments while referring to himself in the third person. In a story he vehemently denied, he allegedly left a message on the answering machine of Padres' GM Kevin Towers saying: "This is Rickey calling on behalf of Rickey. Rickey wants to play ball."  

The Greatest Players From Each Franchise (Part II--AL Central)

CLEVELAND INDIANS

Napoleon Lajoie
In examining the body of evidence, most of the players who had the greatest impact in Cleveland are figures from the dim and distant past. Lajoie played so long ago that the proper pronunciation of his name (Lah-zhuh-way) has been largely forgotten. He got his start with the Phillies in the nineteenth century and, seduced by a more lucrative contract offer, defected to the American League during its inaugural campaign. He led the league in nearly a dozen offensive categories before a dispute of ownership sent him to Cleveland. Between 1902 and 1913, Lajoie won four batting titles and exceeded the .350 mark at the plate on six occasions. His .426 average in 1901 has not been surpassed since. He was so successful in Cleveland that the team was actually renamed after him. They were known as the Naps until 1915. Defensively, Lajoie was among the best in the majors. His quick reflexes, exceptional speed and sure hands drew lavish praise from contemporaries. "He plays so naturally and easily that it looks like lack of effort," Connie Mack once observed. Lajoie was the first second baseman elected to the Hall of Fame in 1937.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX

Nellie Fox
Fox was somewhat diminutive in stature, bu his value to the club was immense. "I hate to play a single game without him," said manager Marty Marion. "It's like trying to run an auto without spark plugs." A spirited team leader, Fox was a pest to opposing teams. "That little feller, he ain't so big, but he's all fire," griped Yankee manager Casey Stengel. "He's caused me more grief than any other player on the White Sox." From 1951-1961, Fox was a member of the All-Star team every year. An exceptional defensive second baseman, he captured three Gold Gloves. He reached the pinnacle of his career in 1959, when he led the Sox to their first World Series appearance in four decades. He hit .375 in a losing cause and was later named AL MVP. Surprisingly, he was eliminated from the primary Hall of Fame ballot in 1984, gaining entry via the Veterans Committee.

MINNESOTA TWINS

Kirby Puckett
Puckett's career was somewhat brief--cut short by glaucoma that left him essentially blind in one eye. But during his twelve seasons in the majors, he accomplished a lot. A lifetime .318 hitter, he gathered more than 200 hits on five occasions. He proved his worth defensively by capturing six Gold Gloves in center field. His tireless efforts propelled the Twins to a pair of World Series titles--the only championships in post-Senators history. Puckett's warm, engaging personality made him immensely popular among fans. GM Andy MacPhail contended that "If he had been playing in New York or Los Angeles, they would be building statues to him."

KANSAS CITY ROYALS

George Brett
Though a host of great players have passed through Kansas City since the team was established in 1969, the club's greatest period of success coincided with the career of George Brett. Sabermetricians have come up with a statistic known as Wins Above Replacement, in which a complex and mysterious formula is used to determine how much better a player is than another player who would typically replace him (Don't worry--most normal fans don't understand it either). Brett's WAR score is nearly twice as much as the next worthy Kansas City hero. From 1974-1990, he was arguably the best third baseman in the league. He made thirteen consecutive All-Star appearances while claiming an MVP Award and a Gold Glove. In 1980, he flirted with the .400 mark into early-September before finishing the season at .390. He still holds the all time records for most consecutive games with 3 or more hits (6) and most decades with a batting title (3--He won it in 1976, 1980 and 1990). He retired with 3,154 hits--among the top twenty totals of all time. Throughout his career he was the face of the franchise. "He was always the guy," said Royals broadcaster Denny Mathews. "He was so mentally tough, he accepted being the guy." Brett remained "the guy" even after his retirement when he aspired to the position of team VP.

DETROIT TIGERS

Ty Cobb
While Miguel Cabrera has assembled an impressive batch of statistics over the past several years, there is little doubt who the greatest player in Tigers history is. Among the fiercest competitors of all time, Cobb captured twelve batting titles in a thirteen-year span. He exceeded the .400 mark at the plate during three seasons and retired with the highest batting average of all time at .366. He is the current holder of multiple records including most seasons with 10 or more triples (17) and most games with 5 or more hits (14). When teammates failed to drive him in, he often stole his way around the bases--sometimes announcing his intentions to opponents beforehand. He stole home 54 times during his career. With a menacing persona, he made plenty of enemies over the years, but he had his share of advocates as well. Tris Speaker once said; "The Babe was a great ballplayer, sure, but Cobb was even greater. Babe could knock your brains out, but Cobb would drive you crazy." Describing his life experience to a writer, Cobb once said: "I had to fight all my life to survive. They were all against me. But I beat the bastards and left them in the ditch." 

The Greatest Players From Each Franchise (Part I--AL East)

TORONTO BLUE JAYS

Carlos Delgado
Delgado began his minor league career as a catcher at the age of seventeen. He was an early-October call-up in 1993, when the Blue Jays won the last World Series in franchise history (to date). The 'Jays failed to return to the playoffs for the next two decades, but it was no fault of Delgado's. From 1996-2004, the hard-hitting first baseman was a consistent run producer, averaging more than 30 homers and 100 RBIs per year. He led the league in the latter category during the 2003 campaign, finishing second in MVP voting. On September 25 of that year, he belted four homers in a single game. In 2001, he recorded a pair of three-homer games. Delgado had strong political opinions and was not shy about expressing them. He was opposed to the U.S. occupation of Iraq and refused to stand for the National Anthem or singing of "God Bless America" during the seventh inning stretch. When he was traded to the Mets in 2006, the New York brass forced him to put an end to his personal protest. He has contributed to multiple humanitarian causes in his native Puerto Rico.

BALTIMORE ORIOLES

Cal Ripken Jr.
Ripken's name is synonymous with consistency. He earned the nickname "Iron Man" for his amazing streak of 2,632 consecutive games played. The streak began on May 30, 1982 and continued until Sept. 19, 1998. During that span, Ripken suffered two ankle injuries and a severe knee strain (sustained during an on-field brawl) but kept on playing. Both of his children were born on days off, keeping the streak alive. Articulate and affable, he served as a sports envoy for the U.S. State Department in 2007. He was sent to Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou to train Chinese youths. They couldn't have asked for a more qualified teacher. From 1982-1997, Ripken drove-in 80 or more runs for the Orioles on fourteen occasons. He collected at least 20 homers in ten consecutive seasons. An eight-time Silver Slugger Award recipient, he was named AL MVP in '83 and '91. He captured Rookie of the Year honors in 1982. The accolades kept coming after his retirment as he collected 98.5% of the Hall of Fame ballot--the third highest total in history. Nowadays, Ripken has a line of children's books along with multiple instructional books and videos.


NEW YORK YANKEES

Babe Ruth
Ruth was in a class all by himself. In fact, the term "Ruthian" is still used to describe extraordinary feats of power at the plate. Though his all time home run record has been broken twice, the Babe was light years ahead of his time. When he retired in 1935, the closest runner-up (Lou Gehrig) was more than 300 homers behind. Ruth still holds the record for career slugging percentage (.690) along with several other more obscure marks. Immensely popular with the masses, Ruth was a major drawing card for the Yankees and Braves for twenty-two years. He received more than a dozen nicknames, including "The Sultan of Swat," "The Behemoth of Bust" and "The Prince of Powders." His teammates called him "Jidge"--slang for "George." Ruth was famous for his frequent salary disputes and when he asked for more money than President Hoover on one occasion, he justified his actions by telling reporters: "I had a better year than he did." Named AL MVP in 1923, Ruth led the league in assorted statistical categories more than sixty times.

BOSTON RED SOX

Ted Williams 
Whenever discussions surface regarding the greatest players in Red Sox history, two names inevitably come to light: Ted Williams and Carl Yastrzemski. In many cases, it comes down to a popularity contest with the more personable "Yaz" getting the nod. True, Williams was volatile and prickly with press members and fans at times. Also true, he placed far more emphasis on the offensive side of the game. But in terms of sheer numbers, no one comes close to matching Williams' value to the club. In a career interrupted by long stints in the military, "Teddy Ballgame" still managed to finish among the top twenty of all time in runs scored, home runs and RBIs. He holds the all time record for on-base percentage at .482. Williams received two MVP Awards in his career and undoubtedly would have gotten more if he had not consistently alienated members of the press. He was runner-up four times. In 1941, when Joe DiMaggio compiled his 56-game hitting streak and claimed the honor, Williams won a batting title and led the league in seven other major offensive categories, including homers and walks. His .406 batting average that year has not been surpassed since. "A man has to have goals and that was one of mine," Williams once told a journalist, "to have people say 'there goes Ted Williams--the greatest hitter who ever lived.'" A convincing case can be made on his behalf. Though he expended little effort on honing his defensive skills, he managed to post the highest fielding percentage among players at his position (left field) twice. He finished in the top three on six other occasions.

TAMPA BAY RAYS

Evan Longoria
The Rays are a relatively young franchise and don't have an extensive body of lore yet. But few fans would disagree that Evan Longoria is the cream of the Tampa Bay crop. A first round draft pick in 2006, Longoria found his way to the majors within two years of making his pro debut. He burst upon the scene in 2008, collecting 27 homers ad 85 RBIs in 122 games--numbers strong enough to earn him Rookie of the Year honors. Since then, he has made two All-Star appearances, captured a pair of Gold Gloves at third base and won a Silver Slugger Award. His efforts have helped the Rays to four postseason bids, including a successful pennant run in 2008. In thirty postseason games, Longoria has 9 homers and 21 RBIs. In 2008, he homered in four consecutive ALCS games. He is entering the 2016 season as the all time franchise leader in homers, slugging percentage, doubles and RBIs--among other categories. 


 

Cooperstown Class of 2016--Who Will Get in?

Evaluating the Hall of Fame ballot has become an annual tradition for me. Though last year's results were somewhat surprising (in regard to the number of inductees) I don't believe that this year's voting will produce any unexpected results.

Front runners from the 2015 ballot include Mike Piazza, Jeff Bagwell and Tim Raines. The best offensive catcher in history, Piazza came up a few percentage points shy of induction last year. He has been steadily gaining support. Bagwell is indisputably the greatest first baseman the Astros ever produced. Entering his sixth year on the ballot, he has been holding steady in the fiftieth percentile. Tim Raines is another player who has been gaining steam over the past few years, peaking at 55% of the vote in 2015. With 808 lifetime steals (fifth on the all-time list) and an 84.7% success rate, he will certainly get a fair share of support this year. 

On an interesting side note, this will be Alan Trammel's last appearance on the primary ballot. A six-time All-Star and four-time Gold-Glover, Trammel helped the Tigers to a World Series victory in 1984 and was MVP of the Series. Unfortunately, he played in an era dominated by high profile shortstops and was overshadowed by the likes of Cal Ripken Jr., Roberto Alomar and Ozzie Smith. Trammel was a great player in his own right, but he is not in the same class as those other guys.

First-timers on the ballot this year include Ken Griffey Jr. and Trevor Hoffman. Griffey hit 630 homers, drove-in more than 1,800 runs and captured ten consecutive Gold Gloves in center field. Hoffman was the all-time saves leader from 2006 until 2011, when his record was eclipsed by Mariano Rivera. He still ranks #2 in that category.

Who Will Make It?
Griffey and Hoffman will be popular choices among voters. Piazza will remain on the cusp. Raines and Bagwell will both lose a little support.  

Who Will Be Eliminated on the First Try?
Though Jim Edmonds, Jason Kendall, Garrett Anderson and Billy Wagner were all excellent players in their prime, none of them had Hall of Fame caliber careers. Edmonds and Wagner may get enough support to appear on future ballots. First-timers who will be eliminated include Troy Glaus, Mike Hampton, Luis Castillo, Randy Winn, David Eckstein and Brad Ausmus.  

The Weakest Bats in History (Part II--Active Players)

Completing my survey of guys most likely to keep the ball inside the park, here's a list of active players with virtually no power.  

Meunori Kawasaki
A good defensive infielder and energetic presence on the diamond, Kawasaki is popular among fans in Toronto. During his eleven seasons in the Japanese Pacific League, he averaged one homer per every 190 at-bats. Since signing with the Mariners in 2012, he has managed just 1 long ball in 612 plate appearances--among the lowest ratios in the majors. 

Ben Revere
Drafted in 2007 by the Twins, outfielder Ben Revere has worn three different major league uniforms. He led the National League in hits during the 2014 campaign and has maintained a .300 batting average for three straight seasons. But members of Revere's fan club shouldn't hold their breath waiting for him to hit one out. He has just 4 career homers in 2,497 at-bats. He went homerless in his first 384 major league games.

Brock Holt
Holt can play every position on the diamond except for pitcher and catcher. What the versatile Red Sox utility man can't do is hit for power. The left field foul pole at Fenway Park is a little over 300 feet from home plate. Even so, the lefty-swinging Holt went deep just twice in 509 plate appearances during the 2015 slate. 

Alcides Escobar
An All-Star, Gold-Glover and World Series champ, Escobar hasn't gained any acclaim for his power hitting ability over the past several years. He gathered just 3 homers in 662 plate appearances during the 2015 slate. In Game 1 of the World Series, he surprised everyone by going deep off of Mets right-hander Matt Harvey. To date, he has 2 postseason homers in 31 games.

Micheal Bourn
The thirty-two year old Bourn is a veteran of ten major league seasons. Though he reached a high of 9 long balls in 2012, he is currently riding a streak of more than 650 consecutive plate appearances without a homer. Known more for his base stealing ability (he has led the league three times in that category), Bourn's last circuit blast came in July of 2014. 

Eric Sogard
The slick fielding Sogard posted the highest range factor among AL second baseman in 2015. He also posted some of the weakest power numbers in the majors, generating just 16 extra-base hits in 401 plate appearances. The light-hitting infielder has gone deep just twice in the past two seasons. 

Cesar Herenandez
Promoted to the Phillies in 2013, Hernandez gradually emerged as the club's top second baseman. He didn't earn that distinction as a result of his ability to knock down fences. In 227 career games, Hernandez has hit just 2 homers. After going deep in game #43 of his career, he waited another 100 games to duplicate the feat.  

Delino DeShields
DeShields' father spent thirteen seasons in the majors, slamming 80 homers for five different clubs. Though it's way too early to tell whether the younger DeShields will surpass that number, he got off to a rather slow start in his 2015 rookie debut, managing just 2 long balls in 121 games. Those two homers were fewest among any Rangers player with at least 100 plate appearances. 

Brandon Barnes
Apparently, the air in Colorado doesn't affect Barnes the way it affects his teammates. Appearing most often in left field, Barnes hit just 2 homers in 106 games during the 2015 campaign. It was the lowest output among Rockies regulars.    


     

The Weakest Bats in History (Part I--Inactive Players)

In baseball, every player has his role. While some are built to swing for the fences, others are severely lacking in the power department. Just for fun, I decided to compile a list of the least powerful hitters who are no longer active. I excluded pitchers and Deadball Era players for obvious reasons. I limited my search to players with lifetime batting averages significantly above the Mendoza Line. Here's what I came up with:   

Tommy Thevenow
Primarily a shortstop, Thevenow spent significant portions of time at second and third base. He played his entire career during baseball's offensive Renaissance of the 1920s and '30s. While many of his peers were breaking down fences at an impressive rate, Thevenow gathered just 2 homers in more than 4,000 at-bats. This included a drought that spanned twelve consecutive seasons.

Frank Taveras
A speedy shortstop, Taveras stole 40 or more bases for the Pirates every year from 1976-'79. He led the league in that category during the '77 slate. With guys like Willie Stargell and Dave Parker behind him in the lineup, Taveras didn't need to swing for the seats. He ended up going deep just twice in his career though he came to the plate more than 4,300 times. His first career homer--a grand slam off of Doug Capilla of the Reds in '77--came after he had logged 1,594 at-bats. No player with at least 1 career homer has ever waited so long.   

Tom Oliver
Oliver was an excellent defensive center fielder who spent four years in the majors (all with the Red Sox) from 1930-1933. Described as an opposite field slap-hitter, he stood directly facing the pitcher with one foot behind the other--a rather unusual way to hit. When he failed to generate a homer in 1,931 at-bats, he was banished to the minors for good.  His minor league career spanned more than twenty seasons. 

Mike Tresh
A righty-swinging catcher, Tresh spent most of his career with the White Sox during the 1930s/'40s. He was the club's most often used catcher for nine straight seasons. Behind the plate, he had a strong arm, finishing among the top five in assists and caught stealing percentage multiple times. Though he fashioned a serviceable .249 lifetime batting average, he had virtually no power--generating just 89 extra-base hits in over 3,500 plate appearances. Only two of those extra-base hits were homers, giving him an average of 1 per every 1,584 at-bats.

Emil Verban
 Nicknamed "Dutch," Verban played second base for the Cardinals, Phillies and Cubs from 1944 through 1950. He was named to three All-Star teams. A lifetime .272 hitter, he ended up with just 1 homer in 2,911 at-bats. Despite his glaring lack of power, he inspired a group of loyal Cubs fans to form the "Emil Verban Memorial Society" in 1975. Notable members included former President Ronald Reagan and two Supreme Court justices.

Duane Kuiper
Kuiper was a decent second baseman for the Indians and Giants from 1974-1985. He fashioned a .271 batting average over the course of his career. Typically appearing at the top of the order, he managed just 1 home run in 3,259 at-bats. The rare blast, which came off of Chicago's Steve Stone in August of 1977, ended a streak of 357 consecutive games without a long ball. He went homerless in 699 more games after that.

Jerry Remy
Not only was Remy pretty handy with a glove, but he could hit for average as well. While wearing a Red Sox uniform between 1978 and 1983, he topped the .300 mark twice and never fell below .275. Despite playing a majority of his home games at hitter-friendly Fenway Park, Remy logged 2,226 consecutive at-bats without a homer--among the longest power outages in history.

Larry Bowa
Bowa was nicknamed "Gnat" for his diminutive stature and bothersome nature. First baseman John Kruk, who played for Bowa when he managed the Padres in '87/'88, referred to him as an "asshole" and a "dickhead." Despite that denouncement, Bowa was among the premier defensive shortstops in the National League during the 1970s, capturing a pair of Gold Gloves while appearing on five All-Star rosters. He was also among the least powerful hitters in history. Including his minor league career, Bowa managed just 22 home runs in more than 11,000 plate appearances.    

 
 

Underdog Stories: The 1955 Dodgers

I'm not sure if anyone else was underwhelmed by this year's World Series, but I thought it was a real clunker. Though I agree that both teams were overdue for championships, the feel-good story I wanted to see was the Chicago Cubs finally rising to glory after more than a hundred years of futility. Baseball can be a frustrating and anti-climactic sport at times--as evidenced by the Mets epic October collapse this year.

I would like to wind up my latest set of blogs with an excerpt from my upcoming book, which is due out next spring. It carries the title of Baseball's Dynasties and the Players Who Built Them. This particular excerpt deals with my favorite underdog story--the 1955 Brooklyn Dodgers.

...Beginning in 1947, the Dodgers captured six pennants in a ten-year span. They came remarkably close on two other occasions. In 1950, they spent most of June in first place, ultimately finishing two games behind the Phillies. The following year, they remained on top for a total of 147 days, but couldn’t hold off the rampaging Giants, who posted a 54-23 record in the second half while winning eight of the last ten head-to-head matchups. On the final day of the season, the two teams were locked in a first place tie. A rare three-game playoff format was employed to determine the pennant winner.

The Giants took the first game at Brooklyn thanks to a pair of solo homers by Monte Irvin and Bobby Thomson. But the Dodgers came storming back in Game 2 at the Polo Grounds, battering three different New York hurlers for a 10-0 victory. The third contest contained one of the most epic moments in playoff history.

Brooklyn led 4-1 in the ninth inning of Game 3 when starter Don Newcombe ran out of gas. With one out, two men on and a run already in, manager Chuck Dressen made an unfortunate decision, bringing in right-hander Ralph Branca to face third baseman Bobby Thomson. Branca had coughed up a homer to Thomson in Game 1, but Dressen apparently figured that lightning couldn’t strike twice. He was wrong. Thomson hit his famous “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” as radio announcer Russ Hodges immortalized the moment by manically repeating the phrase: “The Giants Win the Pennant!” In some newspapers, the Giants victory took up more space than a Russian atomic bomb test. Years later, several Giants players admitted that manager Leo Durocher had set up a sign-stealing operation at the Polo Grounds to inform New York hitters what pitches were coming.

The Dodgers recovered from the trauma, capturing back-to-back pennants in ‘52 and ‘53. Again, the Yankees robbed them of glory both times. The ’53 Series was the eighth consecutive postseason loss for Brooklyn. After the final pitch had been thrown, Roy Campanella (the eternal optimist) commented disconsolately: “It was a wonderful season, but it ended in a heap of nothing.” Asked by reporters what the Dodgers needed to do to beat the Yankees, Pee Wee Reese admitted: “I don’t know what the answer is. I’ve been trying to find it for twelve years now.”

The solution finally arrived in 1955, when the Dodgers ran away with the pennant and met the Bombers for the sixth time in World Series play. After dropping the first two games at Yankee Stadium, Walter Alston’s resilient crew bounced back with three straight wins at home. But the Yankees would not go quietly. A five-run explosion in the first inning of Game 6 was all they would need with staff ace Whitey Ford on the mound. Ford scattered 4 hits and struck out 8 in a 5-1 victory. Southpaw Johnny Podres, who had posted a substandard 9-10 record during the regular season, became the unlikely Series hero for Brooklyn in Game 7, picking up his second win with a complete game shutout. “Just give me one run,” he had asked his teammates before clinching the Series for Brooklyn.

It was the first championship in franchise history and, though the game was played at Yankee Stadium, a large throng of fans swarmed onto the field to celebrate. An Associated Press writer described the scene in the Brooklyn locker room as follows: “There was shouting and back pounding, cheering and embracing, and it was spontaneous, genuine and totally unabashed.”  In Flatbush, church bells rang, factory whistles blew and thousands of people danced in the streets. Banners and bunting flew from windows and effigies of Yankee players hung from lampposts. The Dodgers held a celebration dinner at the Bossert Hotel.  Jackie Robinson offered the following words to the cheering crowd outside: “The whole team knows it was the fans that made it for us. It was your support that made this great day possible. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”