Baseball teams draw more fans to their ballparks today than they did when I was growing up in the 1950s. The fabulous ’50s only had eight teams each in the American and National League. And us kids could name most of the rosters for each team – helped out, of course, from our baseball card collection.
It was a great time in America with great heroes on the big brown television with the small screen that showed black and white moving pictures. My favorite program was The Lone Ranger starring Clayton Moore, who played the masked man who brought bad guys to justice every week with his faithful Indian companion Tonto. There were numerous other good guys with white hats riding the range and I knew the names of all of their horses, too.
Kids knew owners of the baseball teams as several owners named their stadiums after themselves. In my hometown Detroit, the Tigers owned by Walter Briggs, played in Briggs Stadium (renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961). One of the topics of conversation seven decades ago with my friends was, which player was the best center fielder in baseball.
We were jealous of our cousins in New York as they had three teams and they played in storied stadiums. The Brooklyn Dodgers played in Ebbets Field, named after one of the original franchise owners Charlie Ebbets. The Dodgers center fielder, Duke Snider, was revered as The Duke of Flatbush, and Brooklyn fans thought he was a better center fielder than their crosstown New York teams had Mickey Mantle of the Yankees and Willie Mays of the Giants.
Snider hit 40 or more home runs five years in a row in the 1950s and recorded more homers and runs batted in (RBI) than any other player during that decade. He batted .300 or better seven times in his career, retired with a .295 lifetime average, and totaled 407 home runs in 7,161 career at bats.
The Duke hit the last home run in Ebbets Field history in 1957 and moved to Los Angeles with the Dodgers, getting a couple of television gigs in Hollywood. He appeared with Robert Young on Father Knows Best and Rifleman with Chuck Connors, who played with Snider on the Brooklyn Dodgers for a short time in the early ’50s. “Chuck killed me with his long rifle halfway through the show,” Snider recalled.
A much better hitter than actor, many say The Duke was the best hitter in the history of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Snider played 16 of his 18-years with the Dodgers and had a Dodgers career average of .300 with 389 homers in that period, an average of more than 24 homers per season.
Babe Herman spent seven of his 13-year major league career with Brooklyn where he had his best years. His career Dodgers average was .339 with 112 homers, an average of 16 a year. Herman had some impressive seasons with Brooklyn, but I’ll go with The Duke over The Babe.
Mickey Mantle began his big-league career with the Yankees in 1951 at 19 and batted .267 with 13 homers in 341 at-bats. Snider was 24 that season and already a star. Mantle would hit 536 career homers with a ,298 average in 18 years with the Yanks. Mantle batted over .300 ten times and hit 40 or more home runs four times. Two of those times he hit over 50, 52 in 1956 and 54 in 1961. He was 37 when he retired in 1968, while Snider retired in 1964 at 38.
Willie Mays was brought up to the majors in 1951 and turned 20 in May and batted .274 and hit 20 home in 464 at-bats. Mays only played in 34 games the following season as the army ordered him to change uniforms. He missed the ’53 season and returned in 1954 and led the league with a .345 average and hit 41 homers. In 1955 Mays blasted 51 home runs and batted .319. When his 23-year big league career ended in 1973 Mays was 42 and posted a lifetime average of .301 with 660 home runs.
If Mays would have played the entire 1953 season and 1954 instead of serving in the army, he might have collected more career home runs than the 714 Babe Ruth had. Many feel Mays was the best all-around player of all-time. I’ll agree as he was second to none in making over the shoulder catches and covering more territory. It was in Chicago’s Wrigley Field 60 years ago in 1964 that I saw how valuable Mays was. Mays was hitless in the game, going 0-for-4, but was responsible for the Giants defeating the Cubs 2-to-1.
With the score tied at one in the bottom of the ninth, the Cubs had a runner at second who took off as a grounder whistled past him and headed to center field. Mays was galloping in towards the infield, scooped up the ball barehanded, and threw a bullet catching a surprised runner several feet from the plate. The Giants scored a run in the tenth and went on to win.
Willie Mays was a winner even when he didn’t get a hit. He was 93 when he died in June.
