In the summer of 1941, rarely a day went by when
DiMaggio did not receive top billing in the sports pages. But for a few days in late-June, a
little-known pitcher from the Philadelphia A’s stole Joltin’ Joe’s thunder.
His
name was Johnny Babich and he had an axe to grind. A right-handed flamethrower
from Albion, California, he had played with the Kansas City Blues (a New York
affiliate) in 1939, compiling a handsome 17-6 record with a 2.55 ERA. After a
tryout with the Yankees, he was left unsigned. It was something he never
forgot.
The
journeyman hurler had an issue with DiMaggio as well. Both men had played in
the Pacific Coast League during the 1933 slate. They had faced each other in
the midst of Joe’s record-setting 61-game hitting streak. In the eighth inning
of a scoreless tie, DiMaggio had drilled a fastball off the left field wall, driving
in the only run of the game and making Babich a loser.
Babich
was confident and boastful—like Dizzy Dean without the talent to back it up. He
carried a lifetime earned run average of 5.57 entering the 1940 campaign. Yet
somehow he managed to dominate the Yankees that season, winning five of six
decisions against them. The losses to Babich had a huge impact on the pennant
race as the Bombers ultimately finished two games out of first place. With his
reputation as a “Yankee Killer” secured, Babich got carried away with himself during
DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak.
Hall
of Famer Phil Rizzuto remembered the incident well. “Babich was another Sal
Maglie,” he told biographer Maury Allen. “He would knock his mother down. He
really threw hard and could intimidate a hitter. He announced in the papers
three or four days before we played the A’s that he would personally stop the
streak. He was going to get Joe out the first time and then walk him the next
three times.”
The
media really played up the story and, according to Rizzuto, DiMaggio was quite
upset when he read what Babich had said. The anticipated showdown took place on
June 28 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia with close to 14,000 fans in attendance—well
above average for the A’s that season. In the first inning, Joe D. came to the
plate with a pair of runners aboard. He worked the count to 3-1 before popping
out to shortstop Al Brancato. Phase I of Babich’s plan was complete. Now all he
had to do was keep the ball out of the strike zone in DiMaggio’s next few at-bats.
The
Yankee icon returned to the plate as a lead-off hitter in the third inning. By
then, the Bombers had built a 3-0 lead. Babich’s first two offerings were way
outside, but DiMaggio lunged for the second one, driving it straight through
the pitcher’s legs. One writer remarked, “If Joe had hit the ball a few inches
higher, Babich would have been a hurling soprano.” Fueled by all the hype,
DiMaggio was not content to settle for a mere single. He went tearing around
first base without hesitation and slid safely into second. “The whole bench
stood up and cheered Joe and laughed at Babich and called him some pretty good
names,” Rizzuto recalled. DiMaggio later remarked that the hurler appeared
mortified.
After
absorbing a 7-4 loss on June 28, Babich logged another dreadful outing against
the Yankees a week later, allowing six earned runs in one inning of work.
DiMaggio tagged him for a single, extending the hitting streak even further. It
would prove to be Babich’s last season in the big leagues as he posted a 2-7
record with a stratospheric 6.09 ERA. He continued pitching in the minors
through the 1945 campaign and later spent two seasons as a manager, leading the
Stockton Ports of the California League to a championship in 1947.
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