Ron Gerrard - A Game of Moments: Baseball Greats Remember Highlights of Their Careers

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Jefferson, North Carolina

All photographs are by the author.

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

BRITISH LIBRARY CATALOGUING DATA ARE AVAILABLE

e-ISBN: 978-1-4766-3205-6

2018 Ron Gerrard. All rights reserved

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Front cover: 1957 Braves and World Series reunion. From left, Johnny Logan, Eddie Mathews and Lew Burdette (photograph by the author).

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers
Box 611, Jefferson, North Carolina 28640
www.mcfarlandpub.com

To Margie E. Gerrard for her love,
support, patience and encouragement,
and Robert, my canine companion while serving
in Phu Bai, Viet Nam. I thank you for leading me home.

I wish to thank Rocky Van Blaricom II for valuable assistance rendered during the creation of this book. He is the person responsible for helping me stay afloat with his Computer literacy which encompasses applications, workflows and anything else remotely compatible with a computer or smartphone. When I would ask something stupid, which I can assure you happened on numerous occasions, he would never embarrass me but simply tilt his head in a quizzical fashion and mutter: Dude.

I also wish to thank Robert X. Modica, who was and is to me, the Iron Man of acting coaches, for shining his light on my life. I may have disagreed with him on more than one occasion during an acting exercise in his studio but in the end he was always right. You are with me every day.

A heartfelt thank you to the McFarland team for their guidance and keen eyes. Your kindness will always be appreciated. So many times in life we encounter closed doors. You opened one for me.

I wish to thank The Church of the Blessed Sacrament in Valley Stream, New York, for putting me in the starting lineup after I was cut by every other denomination of Church League teams on Long Island. Your kindness kept my young dream alive and taught me to believe and be a grinder long after baseball.

I extend my gratitude to the Cleveland Indians and Pittsburgh Pirates organizations for their kindness and assistance through the many seasons I arrived early and left late from their ballparks.

Finally I thank all the subjects, players, managers, and broadcasters who were gracious and kind enough to give of their time. Each of these gentlemen is an inspiration. They struggled and despite hardships put it all on the line, making it possible to live their dream and in a number of instances forged change in our society. At times the journey directed them on another path but they returned like the champions and competitors they are. The game is better, we who appreciate it are better because of you, and I extend my heartfelt gratitude and respect. It is my hope that through these interviews, their exploits on and off the diamond will inspire others.

My introduction to baseball came through a photograph of Joe DiMaggio taken by my father at Yankee Stadium on June 6, 1940. My father would later become a professional photographer, but this day he was as enthusiastic about baseball as he was about photography. As he explained to me years later, the Yankee Clipper was walking towards the dugout prior to the game versus the White Sox when my dad asked if he could take a photo, and the Yankee Clipper obliged. It was a special moment as a great player stopped and posed unassumingly. The film was developed and printed at home in my dads bathroom, which also served as his studio. It was a black and white photo, two and a half inches by three inches. Years later it would be displayed in our breakfast nook, where I would stare at it and imagine that I, too, would play the game like Joltin Joe. The baseball gods must have been looking down and smiling at my father that afternoon as he later would retrieve a foul ball hit by Frank Crosetti, which he gifted to me and which I still have. The only blemish is a scuff mark I was responsible for when, against his instructions, I threw a pop-up to myself in our driveway only to have it carom off the web of my glove and hit the pavement. Even at that early age, I suspected I would end up chasing far more dreams than I would fly balls. So much for me being another Joe DiMaggio.

As a sports reporter and producer of radio broadcasts, I have been fortunate enough to speak with many former major league players. When you break the game down its easy to see how a player with a single at-bat or a spectacular defensive play can suddenly place himself in select company, and that is what I have done with A Game of Moments. A Game of Moments features many of baseballs great or pivotal moments, told by the players who were center stage, performing and defining our national pastime. The interviews serve as first-hand testaments of clutch hits, home runs and defensive plays in an era that will never come again. The interviews are illuminating and related by men who were gracious and happy to express themselves years after leaving the diamond. The majority of interviews took place in Pittsburgh and Cleveland, with several others conducted in Baltimore and Toronto. The years when I spoke to the subjects ran primarily from 1988 to 1992, with the exception of Rollie Fingers and Steve Garvey which were conducted in 2007. Exact years when known are posted on each interview. Most conversations were taped on the field at the ballpark or in the dugout at Old Timers Day games. Hank Aaron and Bob Gibson were recorded in studio. Cecil Travis, Babe Dahlgren, Tommy Henrich, Gates Brown and Tommy Davis were recorded via telephone.

Through these former players we are afforded the opportunity to hear about Bobby Thomsons Shot Heard Round the World, Mickey Owens dropped third strike, Johnny Vander Meers back-to-back no-hit games, and Al Gionfriddos amazing catch to rob Joe DiMaggio in the 1947 fall classic. Chris Chambliss and Bucky Dent recount their dramatic playoff home runs, while Bill Mazeroski reveals his thoughts as he watched his dramatic Game 7 walk-off home run clear the left field wall of Forbes Field and propel the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates to a stunning 1960 World Series victory over the powerful New York Yankees. The Hammer, Hank Aaron, speaks candidly about the elation and pain that followed his breaking of Babe Ruths all-time home record, and big game pitcher Bob Gibson looks back at 1968, the year of the pitcher, and his 1.12 ERA. Through the pages of A Game of Moments, we hear from Larry Doby, the first African American to break the color line in the American League. Former Negro League players Leon Day, Buck ONeil, Monte Irvin, Wilmer Fields and Joe Black speak about their experiences and some of their teammates who, because of racism, were forced to play in the shadows. Bobby Avila, the first Latin player to win a batting title in the Major Leagues, expresses the pride he felt after his achievement when there were few Latin players competing in the Major Leagues. A Game of Moments examines the effect that World War II and the Korean War had on players who felt it their obligation to enter and serve their country, the aftermath when they returned up to four years later, and how it affected their careers. You will read about famous and not so famous moments that are woven into the fabric of Major League Baseball and will better understand that statistics alone will never overtake heart as the true pathway to greatness.