Header - Baseball by the Letters

Billy Moran Was Saved By (L.A.) Angels!

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Can your signature stay the same
for 50 years? Moran has an
all-star autograph!

Infielder Billy Moran impressed me. When I asked about three moments in his career, he recapped the whole career. And why not? Telling the whole story lets someone fully comprehend how high the highs (or how low the lows) really were.

Moran replied:

“My life in baseball had many ups and downs.

Cleveland never really gave me a chance to play regularly. I almost quit pro baseball twice. Once in 1961 when Cleveland did sell my contract to the Toronto Maple Leafs (AAA). I began the ’61 season with Toronto and made the All-Star team at shortstop. Toronto sold my contract to the expansion Angels in June, 1961.

My good break!

I played 160 games for the Los Angeles Angels in 1962 and had my greatest year. I was the first AL’er to hit a home run in Chavez Ravine. I was the first Angel to get a hit in an All-Star game! I had 186 hits, that was the most hits in a season by an Angel for 15 years! Someone tied me with 186 hits and that was the most for 10 years longer!

In 1963, I led the American League for second basemen in putouts and assists.

I was traded back to Cleveland in 1964. I did not play very much. I would have quit at the end of 1964, but I needed 13 days to get my vesting in the pension plan.

I was with Cleveland in 1965 and only had 25 AB’s for the year.

Billy Moran
ALAS – 1962″

Yes, it was only an abbreviation. He was an all-star. But his four letters make a real word with a real meaning.

Alas, Billy Moran, 1962 came and went so quickly.

Tomorrow: Run, you 1958 Yankees! Ted Bowsfield is coming!!!

Yankee Bobby Brown, the real ‘Doc’ Graham?

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Before there was a Field of Dreams and a “Doc” Graham, there was Bobby Brown.

DOCTOR Bobby Brown.

The character who gave up baseball to serve others? The real-life Yankee did such a thing.

He walked away from the game to continue his medical career, with “if only…” being a regular refrain from Yankees fans. In an eloquent response, Brown wrote:

“I only played two months after being discharged from the Army — May and June. I retired June 30, 1954, to begin my residency in internal medicine. When I returned to the Yankees, I had not really played any baseball for two years. I was just starting to get my hitting stroke when I retired.”

He left with credentials any player would be proud of:

Five-Time World Champion
Yogi Berra’s roommate

More than a teammate, Brown knew the man behind the myth. I asked him what the smartest thing was that Yogi ever said or did, on the field or off. What reporter would bother quoting Berra sounding un-Yogi-like?
Brown noted:

“Yogi’s brain has always worked extremely well. When you study his statements, they always make good sense.”

Lastly, I wondered if Brown knew what a potent bat he wielded in his abbreviated career. I found that future Hall of Famer Early Wynn was haunted by Brown: 12 hits (2 homers) and seven walks. I thought Brown was entitled to a bit of bragging. Nothing doing!

“I was unaware that I hit very well against Early Wynn. He was a tough pitcher and it was always a struggle when he pitched against us.”

Enjoy these well-chosen words about Brown from some devout Yankees fans at Bronx Baseball Daily!

Tomorrow: Billy Moran documents the “many ups and downs” of his career.

White Sox Pitcher Howie Judson Defied Fate

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“A courageous man, Judson pitched his final seasons knowing he might be going blind from a retina infection.”


— The Ballplayers

Imagine thinking that every game might be your last. Consider that the other team knows you may be distracted, far from your best physical or emotional self.

Howie Judson pitched with such a burden. The famed reference book noted that he was a “highly respected hurler,” even though he never had a winning season. Others might say that his will to compete gave him a winning career, no matter what the stats claim.

“I kept it quiet for a number of years, but finally it got out, so it got in the papers.”

Although his debut came more than 60 years ago, Judson recalled the anticipation of that first game with the 1948 White Sox:

“I was told about five days early. I could hardly wait for the time to pass.”

How did it go? Let the stunning http://www.retrosheet.org/ share Judson’s premiere game details!

Judson saluted one batterymate during his career:

“The best catcher I ever pitched to was Hobie Landrith with the Reds. He was very shifty behind the plate and had a good arm.”

Tomorrow: a fresh look at Yogi Berra, from Yankee roommate Bobby Brown!

Experiencing Chuck Estrada’s Brushback Pitch

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I saw the same glare UP CLOSE!

“What do you guys do with all this s—?!?”

— Chuck Estrada

Years ago at a Tacoma PCL game, pitching coach Chuck Estrada growled this question to a group of adult collectors.

A couple just giggled. I just pulled back. One squeaked, “Collect it?”

One eyebrow arched. Estrada smirked. He stomped past.

Writing or in person, the WHY needs to be there in your “pitch” for an autograph. If you can’t say why you want that precise person, save your energy and stamps.

How Long Can We Keep Classic Ballparks Alive?

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Fading from view, all too fast!

“The Stadium was cool. But my memories of the players that I had read about are/were more clear.”

— Senators pitcher Carl Bouldin

In the first-year replies I’ve shared in “Baseball By The Letters,” I’ve loved player memories about the ballparks I never visited.

However, I’m beginning to understand the many half-answers I receive.

J.W. Porter remembered how close the fans in Tiger Stadium were. Pitcher Al Grunwald (who passed away in January) said he felt like he could reach out and touch the Green Monster from the pitcher’s mound.

Those are exceptions. So often, most players are like Bouldin. They’re so happy to be a major leaguer that the “where” of their career is almost a riddle. Stat-oriented players sometimes stop at quoting outfield dimensions to me. Of course, if you’re a pitcher afraid of gopher balls or a pinch-hitter hoping to tie a game, you may be fixated on how far that right field wall is (or isn’t).

I won’t give up yet. The list of people still here to tell you about playing in Ebbets Field, the Polo Grounds or Crosley Field dwindles yearly. I realize that each question is like swinging for the fences in the bottom of the ninth. We’re supposed to take time to smell the roses along the way, says the song. I think too many players were so busy trying to keep their jobs. They never realized that their place of employment would become a baseball shrine that future generations could only dream about.