Baseball and America
The 1950s were the Camelot era of baseball. The sport owned the spotlight as the NFL and NBA were still in their growing years and was truly our national pastime. It started with the Phillies Whiz Kids and their surprising rise to the top in 1950. In 1951, Giant’s announcer Russ Hodges was heard across the USA yelling, “The Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant, the Giants win the pennant:” when Giant’s outfielder Bobby Thompson cracked a walk-off home run to defeat their rival Dodgers. There was sadness as Joltin Joe retired, but excitement when Mays and Mantle came aboard. The Brooklyn “Boys of Summer” came together and finally won a World Series against the Yanks in 1955. A year later, the Yanks got revenge with the help of Don Larsen’s World Series perfect game. Baseball made its first franchise move since 1902 when the Browns left St Louis for Baltimore in 1955. The Philadelphia A’s followed, moving to Kansas City and a year later, the Braves bolted from Boston to Milwaukee. A tragedy occurred in 1957 when Cleveland pitcher Herb Score took a line in the face off the bat of the Yankee’s Gil McDougal. New stars were starting to shine: Frank Robinson in Cincinnati, Brooks Robinson in Baltimore, and Harmon Killebrew in Washington. Over in Milwaukee, Hank Aaron and Eddie Mathews joined Warren Spahn and brought two pennants and a World Series to the beer capital of America. The biggest jolt of the decade came in 1957 when the Dodgers and Giants announced they were leaving New York to find California gold. It was a preview of the changes coming in the 1960s.
As good as it seemed, baseball was not immune from the happenings around it. Next week, we will discuss the civil rights movement, labor unrest, the Cold War, and how baseball responded to them.
Next Week: America and Baseball