The Times and Troubles Facing Baseball in 1951

Third in a four-part series

By Glenn Guzzo

Now that we know what to expect of the 1951 pennant races and their stars, gamers replaying Strat-O-Matic’s next historic season will want to know more about the baseball environment that existed then.

Despite rousing 1950 pennant races in both leagues that renewed enthusiasm in places like Philadelphia and Detroit, baseball worried throughout 1951 about the effect of war on Major League rosters and the effect of a tug-of-war between attendance at the ballpark and virtual attendance at televised home games. Owners also were becoming convinced they needed a new commissioner to replace A. B. “Happy” Chandler.

As it turned out, baseball had plenty of cause for worry.

The Korean War

Major League rosters were enriched with the return of its superstars after World War II in 1946 and the gradual infusion of black stars beginning with Jackie Robinson’s debut in 1947.

But the Korean War that began in 1950 wreaked havoc with rosters. Today, players routinely are identified by their free-agent status. In 1951, every budding young star was identified by his draft status.

The draft claimed young Whitey Ford, whose 9-1 record in 1950 was essential to the Yankees’ pennant. It claimed 19-game winner Art Houttemann – without their leading pitcher, Detroit plummeted from 95 wins in 1950 to 73 in ’51. The draft claimed Curt Simmons, who, as a 21-year-old rookie left-hander in 1950, won 17 games and was crucial to the Phillies’ first pennant in 35 years. The Braves lost promising youngsters Del Crandall, a catcher, and Johnny Antonelli, a pitcher. The Dodgers did without young right-hander Billy Loes. None of these players appeared in the Majors in 1951.

Despite hitting .383 in the minor leagues in 1950, playing guard on an amateur basketball team and being described as “a blur on the bases,” 19-year-old Mickey Mantle held a prized 4-F draft status, making him ineligible for the draft because of ostromyelitis in his left ankle, the consequence of a high school football injury. As Mantle gained fame for his athletic gifts and his rapid advancement to the Yankees, his draft status was challenged repeatedly, but the 4-F stuck.

When 21-year-old lefty Chuck Stobbs won his first three starts for the Red Sox, his draft board summoned him for a review of his 4-F status. His asthma kept him 4-F. The Tigers were not so lucky. Already without Houtteman, they lost 21-year-old right-hander Ray Herbert, who started the season 4-0 with a 1.38 ERA, then was inducted into the military May 16. He did not return to the Tigers until 1953.

Roster changes

Gamers accustomed to today’s stable 25-man rosters might be unnerved by the volatile rosters of 1951. Rosters were supposed to be 28 to open the season, trimmed to 25 by mid-May. But the rules permitted teams to exceed the limits if the extras were returning military men.

Other roster restrictions were tougher than today’s standards, however. Players placed the disabled list in August or later could not be replaced on the roster. So teams often played short-handed, and sometimes did not bother to make the disabled-list designation for injured players.

Significantly, trades between the American and National leagues were not permitted at any time, unless all teams in the player’s league passed on the opportunity to pick up the player on waivers instead. That’s why, in the sporting press of 1951, trade rumors about such stars as Ted Williams – or any other worthwhile player – never even mentioned the possibility of the man changing leagues.

(Don’t) Take Me Out to the Ballgame

In Chicago, where new Manager Paul Richards and rookies Minnie Minoso and Jim Busby introduced the “go-go” style of small ball that made the White Sox contenders again, attendance jumped dramatically, by 548,000. The White Sox were a mere 39-38 at home, but early-season success that put the Sox ahead of the American League on July 1 kept the Chicago fans hopeful.

That was the exception, however. Most teams lost attendance and attendance overall slumped by a noteworthy 7 percent. Throughout the season, owners blamed televised home games, particularly night games. They vowed to reduce the number of TV games and night games. A 20 percent gate decline at minor-league games was attributed to Major League games on TV and Major League “game-of-the-day” broadcasts on radio.

In what nostalgic fans now refer to as the Golden Years, attendance was no match for the super-saturated media sport we know today. From Aug. 12-27, the Giants won 16 straight, pulling with five games of the Dodgers. Finally, the Giants had made it a real pennant race. The next day at home in the Polo Grounds, attendance was a mere 8,803 – and many of those fans booed the Giants as they finally lost, 2-0 to the last-place Pirates.

In contrast to the flashy entertainment spectacles at today’s ballparks, in 1951 Major League teams relied on such attractions as celebration days in honor of veteran players to induce extra attendance. The players need not be recent record-setters or award-winner. Instead, baseball’s equivalent of awarding a 10-year watch consisted of holding a “day” for a 10-year regular such as Hank Bauer or Sam Mele, with the honoree accepting gifts from teammates, fans and sometimes even the team.

Owner/promoter Bill Veeck, who took over the lowly St. Louis Browns in mid-season, relied on more sensational gimmicks, such as midget pinch-hitter Eddie Gaedel. But gimmicks alone weren’t enough. As the season wound down on Sept. 27, the Browns were 48 games out of first. In St. Louis that day, the Browns and season-long under-achieving Tigers attracted a “crowd” of only 560 paid attendance.

Say What?

The Sporting News commonly used phrasing that we would find curious today. But for all those Strat-O-Matic players who like to announce their games, we offer this public service.

A hitless batter would be “3 for 0,” rather than “0 for 3.”

Outfielders were “gardeners.” A home run was as often described as a “boundary belt,” a “four-master,” a “circuit clout.” When a pitcher shut out an opponent he was said to have “calcimined” them – apparently calcimine as in white wash as in shutout.

Writers seemed to prefer calling the teams anything but by their real nicknames:

Boston Braves: on rare occasion, the Redskins

Brooklyn Dodgers: the Flock or Flatbushers or Brooks

Chicago Cubs: the Bruins

Cincinnati Redlegs: the Rhinelanders

New York Giants: the Jints

Philadelphia Phillies: the Quakers more often than the Whiz Kids

Pittsburgh Pirates: the Corsairs or Buccos

St. Louis Cardinals: the Red Birds

Boston Red Sox: the Millionaires or Carmine Hose or Bosox

Chicago White Sox: the Pale Hose or Chisox

Cleveland Indians: the Tribe or the Wahoos

Detroit Tigers: the Bengals

New York Yankees: the Bombers

Philadelphia Athletics: the Macks

St. Louis Browns: the Brownies

Washington Senators: the Nationals

Their players collectively were referred to by their managers’ names with “men” appended (e.g. the Sewellmen or the Dykesmen) or else as their managers’ “pets” (e.g. Leo’s pets or Dressen’s pets).

In a sport still getting used to the idea of integration in its fifth season of Jackie Robinson’s career with the Dodgers, racial sensitivity was in its infancy.

Consider this Sporting News headline:

Negro Stars, plus Jap Ace, Slated as New Brownies

On second reference, Willie Mays and other blacks often were referred to as “the Negro” or “the Negro outfielder,” etc. This could reach absurd limits, as when Satchel Paige was described as “the Veteran Negro” (presumably he’d been a Negro for some time).

Star pitcher Allie Reynolds often was identified simply as Wahoo on second reference, as in “Wahoo said …”

In the World Series, readers were told that Phil Rizzuto “poked his homer, one of the real Chinese variety, into the lower right field stands near the 257-foot foul line.”

Names and Dates

Replayers may want to make special notations for these dates in 1951:

Rookie managers debuted at the start of the season in several cities:

Chicago White Sox: Paul Richards

Cleveland Indians: Al Lopez

Philadelphia Athletics: Jimmie Dykes

St. Louis Cardinals: Marty Marion

Two mid-season managerial changes occurred in the National League.

After a 28-31 start that featured frequent lineup changes (unusual for the day), Billy Southworth was judged to be too erratic for the Boston Braves. He was replaced by player-friendly Tommy Holmes, who immediately settled on a stable lineup that included LF CF Sam Jethroe and RF Willard Marshall.

Gentler Phil Cavarretta replaced Frankie Frisch as manager of the Cubs on July 21. Frisch, criticized for his coaching at third base that had caused numerous base-running atrocities, had melted down emotionally. He had been ejected four times in the previous 10 games, including three straight against Brooklyn. As bad as the last-place Cubs were under Frisch (35-45), they were worse under Cavaretta (27-47).

Lineup stability also played a significant role in the Giants’ dramatic turn-around from early-season disappointment to pennant contender. Manager Leo Durocher had tinkered extensively to try to find a winning formula. The changes that mattered didn’t happen until late May.

First, sure-handed, but weak-throwing Whitey Lockman transferred from LF to 1B on May 21, moving clumsy-handed, but strong-throwing Monte Irvin to RF, where he platooned with Don Mueller.

Then phenom Willie Mays was promoted from minor-league Minneapolis to take over CF on May 25. That shifted fine-fielding, slump-hitting Bobby Thomson to LF and sometimes to the bench.

Al Corwin’s promotion July 18 gave a boost to the pitching staff.

A hugely significant move occurred two days later. Thomson, considered perhaps second only to Mays as the NL’s top defensive outfielder, moved to 3B permanently, making room for both Irvin and Mueller in the outfield. Thomson fielded well, sometimes brilliantly, at third and Lockman proved to be a natural at 1B while Mays entranced all with his brilliance in CF. The changes also rejuvenated Mueller, a lefty hitter who had not played well when platooning, but who was fearless against all pitching when playing regularly.

Finally, on Aug. 12, Eddie Stanky returned as the everyday 2B. Benched for rest and problems with his play, Stanky started every game for the rest of the season. The Giants began their 16-game win streak that day.

Some dates are significant more for their trivia value.

Future TV “Rifleman” Chuck Connors (Kevin Connors) was called up by the Cubs on July 2.

Satchel Paige started in his debut for the Browns on July 18. Only 7,848 paid customers turned out in St. Louis to watch Paige lose 7-1 to Washington while giving up 11 hits and four walks in 8 innings.

Eddie Gaedel’s only plate appearance occurred Aug. 19 in St. Louis.

On Sept. 13, the Cardinals played a day-night doubleheader in St. Louis vs. the Giants (the Cards beat Sal Maglie, 6-4) and the Braves (the Cards lost to Warren Spahn, 2-0), in the first three-team doubleheader since 1899.

The legendary Bill Klem, who last umpired in 1940, died on Sept. 16.

September marked other significant beginnings and endings. Ford Frick replaced Chandler as commissioner. These were the final regular-season playing days for Joe DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr and Charlie Keller.

Milestones: Power Hitting, Power Pitching

The thirteen 20-game winners in1951 were the most in a season since the lively-ball era began in 1920. Nine of them resided on four teams – Cleveland (Bob Feller, Early Wynn and Mike Garcia), the New York Yankees (Eddie Lopat and Vic Raschi each won 21), the New York Giants (Sal Maglie and Larry Jansen each won 23) and Brooklyn (Preacher Roe, who was 22-2, and Don Newcombe).

Newcombe, who won 20 games, had 18 complete games – and won them all.

Meanwhile, Yankees pitchers threw a club-record 24 shutouts.

The four no-hitters in 1951 were the most in a season since 1917. And there were 13 one-hitters.

Rookie lefthander Chet Nichols led the National League in earned-run average.

However, a season most remembered for a home run required such pitching heroics to defy power surges from likely and unlikely sources.

The National League’s seven 30-homer men tied a league record set the year before. Brooklyn’s Gil Hodges started hitting homers so frequently, so soon, that he invited talk of challenging Babe Ruth’s record of 60. But Hodges stalled after the All-Star break and five-time defending NL homer champ Ralph Kiner caught Hodges in August. When Hodges hit his 35^th and 36^th HRs in 13-1 victory over Cincinnati Aug. 29, it tied him with Kiner and set a Brooklyn record for homers in a season, surpassing Babe Herman’s old mark set in 1930.

In the end, however, Kiner’s 42 homers – two more than Hodges – gave the Pittsburgh slugger his sixth straight home-run crown, a status shared only by Ruth.

Elsewhere, the homers were hit by some with new-found power.

While Bobby Thomson was achieving a personal best in homers, so were the likes of Earl Torgeson, whose 24 homers were more than he’d ever hit, even in the minors. Dale Mitchell’s 11^th home run on Sept. 22 equaled his entire pre-1951 Major-League output (in four seasons, he had never hit more than 4).

Del Wilber, who had never homered until 1951, his fifth part-time season, hit three in one game vs. Reds lefty Ken Raffensberger Aug. 27 and ended up with his career high (8). Another catcher little-known for power, Joe Garagiola, hit enough homers (11 overall, 9 for the Pirates) to achieve the second-best season mark ever for a Pittsburgh catcher.

Singles-hitting middle-infielder Bobby Avila also hit three homers in a game. Eddie Stanky, who never hit more than eight homers in a season, hit 14 in 1951, nearly half his career total of 29.

The power was most extreme and most unexpected during the best three weeks of Clyde Vollmer’s career in July 1951.

The journeyman outfielder, now playing right field for the Red Sox in a lineup (Ted Williams, Dom DiMaggio, Bobby Doerr, Vern Stephens, etc.) requiring opposing pitchers to pay more attention elsewhere, began a career-best 16-game hitting streak on July 4.

His three homers in a 13-10 win on July 26 gave him 12 since July 6. In that 19-game span, he drove in 33 runs. Two days later, he drove in the tying run in the 15^th inning, then hit a walk-off grand slam in the 16^th.

Next in the final Part 4:

Cloudy Crystal Balls, Humor and Oddities of a Season Like No Other