The Corpse Smelled ‘Round the World

Ralph Branca, who made Bobby Thomson a household name, has died at the age of 90. Coming into Oct 3, 1951, Branca was a 3-time All-Star, a former 20-game winner and a major part of why the Brooklyn Dodgers had built a 13 ½ game lead in the NL in August over the New York Giants. The Giants had gotten insanely hot – possibly thanks in part to back up catcher Sal Yvars stealing signs from the bullpen – and the Dodgers had faded down the stretch, forcing a 3-game playoff for the NL pennant. After the teams had split the first two games, the Dodgers had taken a 4-1 lead in the top of the 8^th of Game 3. Two singles, a double and poor defensive positioning had led to a run scoring and brought the winning run to the plate in the form of Thomson. Despite the fact that Thomson had hit a game-winning HR off Branca in the first game of the playoff, Dodgers’ manager Charlie Dressen figured lightning wouldn’t strike twice and brought Branca back. You may recall broadcaster Russ Hodges’ exclamation “The Giants win the pennant! The Giants win the pennant!” if you are trying to remember what happened next. Yvars later said that he had told Thomson what pitch was coming for the fateful HR, which Thomson denied, while admitting he had gotten the signs for his first 3 at-bats that day. A back injury in spring training in 1952 significantly limited Branca’s effectiveness, and he was out of baseball at the age of 30, playing in an Old Timers Game at Yankee Stadium in 1956 when his velocity caught the Dodgers’ attention and they brought him back for one final inning. Other career highlights include being one of the few Dodgers to stand alongside Jackie Robinson as he broke the color barrier on Opening Day 1947; becoming the first player in major league history to be ejected from a World Series game in which he wasn’t playing for bench jockeying the home plate umpire in Game 7 of the 1952 World Series; running the Baseball Assistance Team, a non-profit organization that provides financial aid to baseball players in need, for more than 17 years; and not stopping his daughter from marrying one of the biggest jackasses in baseball history: Bobby Valentine. 

The Duke of Flatline

Duke Snider, the biggest thing to come out of Compton until Easy-E, has died at the age of 84. The third best center fielder in New York in the 1950s, providing the convenient rhyme with Dubuque, Snider was accustomed to being the other guy, having made his major league debut in the same game where Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier. He lacked the cache of Mantle and the athleticism of Mays, but Snider was the only one of the three to hit 40 HRs in 5 straight seasons and led all major leaguers with 326 HRs and 1,031 RBI in the 1950s while leading the Brooklyn Dodgers to 6 pennants in 11 seasons. Snider was the only player to hit 4 HRs in a World Series twice, including the lone championship for Brooklyn in 1955. He also was the last living player who was on the field when the Dodgers finally overcame the New York Yankees and hit the last homer in Ebbets Field before the team left in 1957. While the West Coast welcomed major league baseball, LA Coliseum, with its 440-foot right center field fence – 100 feet deeper than the Brooklyn bandbox – was less inviting and Snider’s production dropped, though he did pick up a second World Series ring in 1959. With the second-year New York Mets stockpiling ex-Dodgers, Giants and Yankees to offer daily Old-Timers Games to bring in fans, in 1963 Snider was back on the East Coast, notching his 400th HR and 2,000 hit, but losing 111 games in the process. Snider closed out his career with an unproductive season with the San Francisco Giants, then managed in the Dodgers and San Diego Padres minor league systems and served as a broadcaster for the Padres and Montreal Expos.

Wait ‘Til the Next Life

Gene Hermanski, former Brooklyn Dodger spring training legend, has died at the age of 90. Hermanski is often lauded as one of the most welcoming of the Dodgers when Jackie Robinson broke the color line in 1947, putting an arm around the rookie when most teammates ignored him, and for suggesting that all the Dodgers wear number 42 to confuse snipers who might take a shot at him. Given Robinson’s more obvious distinguishing characteristic, the GHI leaves it to readers to determine if Hermanski was trying to break the tension with gallows humor or was a stone cold moron.

Wait ‘Til Next Lifetime

Johnny Podres, hero of the Brooklyn Dodgers lone World Series championship, has died at the age of 75. Entering the World Series with a 9-10 record, Podres wouldn’t have been your first bet to carry a team to a World Series title, but with the Dodgers down 2-0 to the Yankees and anticipating another offseason of waiting ‘til next year, Podres delivered an 8-3 win in Game 3. Then in Game 7, mixed up fastballs and change-ups to win 2-0 on a 8-hitter and Brooklyn erupted. The karmic scale was balanced when Podres endured 5 losing seasons in his 6 years as pitching coach for the Philadelphia Phillies, though he was a member of the 1993 NL Champions’ coaching staff, which has lost 3 members in 11 months (John Vukovich, Mel Roberts).

E-2, Mick-ay?

Mickey Owen, a former catcher with the Brooklyn Dodgers whose All-Star seasons were overshadowed by one fateful inning, has died at the age of 89. Game 4 of the 1941 World Series. 9th inning. Two Out. Dodgers lead 4-3 and are one strike from evening the series. Ace reliever Hugh Casey let loose a curve that appeared to strike out Yankees batter Tommy Henrich. Owen was fooled and despite having set an NL record for consecutive chances without an error, couldn’t hold the pitch, and Henrich reached safely. Faster than you can say Rich Gedman, the Yankees had rallied for a 7-4 win, taking a 3-1 lead in the series, which they won the next night, leading to the oft-repeated headline, “Wait ‘til Next Year.” Although better known for his defense, strong arm and leadership, Owen made history the following season as the first player to pinch-hit a homer in an All-Star Game. After World War II, Owen was one of about a dozen players who challenged the indentured servitude endured by major league baseball players at the time by signing to play in the Mexican League and was blackballed from the majors until 1949. After his career ended, Owen founded the well-regarded Mickey Owen Baseball School in Miller, Mo., and served as sheriff of Greene County in Missouri and ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.