Around the National League
1950 Whiz Kids
The 1950s was a decade of inconsistency in the National League. The Dodgers stood out with five pennants, but also had a seventh-place finish. The Phillies, who showed so much hope in 1950 with the Whiz Kids of Robin Roberts, Richie Ashburn, “Puddin Head” Jones, and Jim Konstanty, turned into the worst team by 1959. The Pirates and Cubs were consistently bad. Many great ballplayers were on the field. The Dodgers were loaded with Roy Campanella, Pee Wee Reese, Duke Snider, Jackie Robinson, Don Newcombe and Gil Hodges to name a few. Willie Mays made his debut with the Giants in 1951, the year of the “shot heard around the world”. Hank Aaron joined Eddie Mathews in 1954 with the transplanted Milwaukee Braves. The Braves hit their high point in 1957 beating the awesome Yanks in a seven game World Series behind the pitching of Warren Spahn and Lew Burdette. The Cardinals had Stan ”The Man” Musial, the Cubs had Mister Baseball “let’s play two” Ernie Banks. Ralph Kiner hit home runs for the Pirates. The NL great pitchers of the decade included Robin Roberts, Warren Spahn, and Don Newcombe. Pitchers Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale came along later in the decade as did outfielders Frank Robinson and Roberto Clemente and first baseman Orlando Cepeda. Eight out of the league’s ten MVP Awards went to Black players- Roy Campanella (3), Ernie Banks (2), Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, and Don Newcombe. New Yorkers were shocked and angry in 1957 when the Dodgers and Giants announced their moves to the West Coast.
Around the American League
1950 New York Yankees
There is no doubt as to the best American League team of the fifties. The Yankees, with Casey Stengel at the helm, created a true dynasty in winning 8 of the 10 pennants – most quite easily. Their decade started with four offensive Hall of Famers – Joe Dimaggio, Yogi Berra, Phil Rizzuto and Johnny Mize. When Dimaggio and Mize dropped out, along came two other Hall of Fame players to keep the ball rolling, Mickey Mantle and Whitey Ford. Between Yogi Berra and Mantle, they won 5 MVP awards in the 10-year period. The only resistance the Yanks encountered came from Cleveland who had their own array of stars – third baseman Al Rosen, first baseman Luke Easter, outfielder Larry Doby, and an incredible staff of pitchers that included “Rapid” Bob Feller, Early Wynn, Mike Garcia and Bob Lemon. Their 1954 pennant winning team set the record for wins in a 154 game schedule, 111, before being swept in the World Series by the Giants. The White Sox made some noise in the second half of the decade and were rewarded with the pennant trophy in 1959. They were spearheaded by two Hall of Fame infielders, second baseman Nellie Fox and shortstop Luis Aparicio, in addition to outfielder Minnie Minoso and pitcher Billy Pierce. The Red Sox played well only when Ted Williams was not away in military service or injured. Williams signed an unheard of $135,000 contract in 1958. The Tigers needed more than the arrival of nineteen-year-old Al Kaline. The Senators had little to offer outside of the debut of Harmon Killebrew at the end of the decade. They became known as ‘ first in war, first in peace and last in the American League.” The St Louis Browns were even worse, except they did have owner and general manager Bill Veeck to put on entertaining events in attempts to bring in fans. For pure entertainment nothing topped Veeck when in 1951 he put in 3 ft 7 inch Eddie Gaedel as a pinch hitter to draw a walk. Of course, it worked, but it drew the wrath of Commissioner Ford Frick, who declared it a disgrace and outlawed such gimmicks in the future. The Brown's 1954 move to Baltimore and a new name did little to change the team’s futile play. However, they did add third baseman Brooks Robinson to the roster in 1958. The A’s were as lousy in Kansas City as they were in Philadelphia. The American League lagged behind the NL in adding black players. It took the Yankees until 1955 to sign catcher/outfielder Elston Howard. At the end of the decade, the Boston Red Sox were the only major league team not to have a black player on their roster. The highlight of individual performances was the Perfect Game of the 1956 World Series when Yankee pitcher Don Larsen faced the minimum 27 batters in the Yankees 2-0 Game 5 victory over the Dodgers.
Next week: The Greatest Pennant Races of the 1950s.