All We Are is Dusty in the Wind

James Lamar “Dusty” Rhodes, hero of the 1954 World Series, has died at the age of 82. Rhodes spent his largely non-descript 7-season career with the New York Giants, notable chiefly as a rarity in the post-integration period: a Southerner befriending black players Monte Irvin and Willie Mays. Facing the 111-win juggernaut Cleveland Indians in the World Series, the Giants were heavy underdogs in the 1954 series, but in Game 1 – already notable for Mays’ grab of Vic Wertz long fly to center – Rhodes hit the game winning 3-run sayonara shot in the 10^th. In Game 2, Rhodes broke a 1-1 tie with a 5^th inning pinch single, then added a homer in a 3-1 win. In Game 3, Giants manager Leo Durocher made the unheard of move of pinch-hitting Rhodes in the 3^rd inning of a 1-0 game, but Rhodes came through again with a 2-run single. As the Giants won Game 4 7-4 to complete the sweep – the Giants’ last World Series title – Rhodes nursed a hangover, his record complete at 4-for-6 with 2 HR and 7 RBI.