A four home run day for Mays

On April 30, 1961; Willie Mays hit four home runs leading the San Francisco Giants to a 14 – 4 victory over the Milwaukee Braves.  He is one of 16 Major League players who have accomplished the feat of hitting four home runs in one game.  Also, Mays is one of four Hall of Fame players, the others being Ed Delahanty (1896), Lou Gehrig (1932), Chuck Klein (1936), and Mike Schmidt (1976); and one of four African-American/Latin American players to do it.  Mark Whiten (1993), Mike Cameron (2002), and Carlos Delgado (2002) being the others.

On that spring Sunday afternoon at County Stadium in Milwaukee with 13,114 baseball fans in attendance, the Braves pitched their 1957 World Series hero Lew Burdette against the Giants.  Mays hit a first inning solo home run to give San Francisco a 1 – 0 lead which was quickly erased by Henry Aaron’s three run homer when the Braves batted.  But Burdette could not hold the Giants giving up a two run homer to Mays and two solo homers (Orlando Cepeda, and Jose Pagan) before exiting in the fourth inning losing 5 – 3.  The Braves’ relief pitchers were ponded for eight runs by the Giants.  Mays hit a three run home run in the sixth inning off Seth Morehead and another two run homer in the eighth inning off Don McMahon,   His only at bat in which he did not hit a homer was in the fifth inning; he flied out to centerfield against Moe Drabowsky.   The only other Braves score was Henry Aaron’s second home run of the game in the sixth inning.

The Giants were in first place that day, but finished the year in third.  Mays ended the year second in the National League with 40 home runs, second to teammate Orlando Cepeda who led with 46.

What highlight of Willie Mays’ career is your favorite?

The Negro League baseball history fact for today

Born in Palatka, Florida on this date in 1884; John Henry “Pop” Lloyd spent 26 years (1906 -1932) in Negro League baseball as a player and manager.  A player who excelled in all phases of the game; hitting for average and power, running with speed, fielding, and throwing; Lloyd is considered the best shortstop in Negro League baseball history, In his prime (1900 – 1920), Lloyd played for some of the best blackteams of the early 20^th Century such as the Cuban X Giants, Chicago American Giants, Philadelphia Stars, and New York Lincoln Giants.  While still hitting over .300 in the later stages of his career, he played until he was 48 years old, Lloyd was given the nickname “Pop’ by the young players who came to him for advice. He was induced into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1977.   

The Negro League baseball history fact for today

Andrew (Andy) Lewis Cooper was born on this date in Waco, Texas; 1898.  Whereas many of the best hurlers in Negro League baseball had nicknames to describe the power and speed of their pitches, “Smokey”, Bullet”, “Cannonball”,  “Strong Armed”, etc.; Cooper was different.  Nicknamed “Lefty”, he threw with his left hand, Cooper used a variety of pitches (curve ball, change up, screwball) at different speeds to get batters out.   From 1920 – 1927, Cooper was the pitching ace of the Detroit Stars.  Traded to the Kansas City Monarchs in 1927, he helped them win the 1929 Negro National League pennant.   Later, with Cooper as the team’s manager, the Monarch’s won four straight Negro American League pennants (1937 – 1940).  Andy Cooper was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.

The Negro League baseball history fact for today

Charles (Chuck) Harmon was born on this date in Washington, Indiana; 1924.  A College All-American basketball player at the University of Toledo in 1943, Harmon played in only five Negro League baseball games in 1947 before being signed by the St. Louis Browns.  He hit over .300 for at least three years, but the Browns kept him in the minor leagues until he was traded to the Cincinnati Reds in 1952.  Harmon and Puerto Rican born Nino Escalera became the first black ballplayers to dawn a Reds uniform in a Major League game on April 17, 1954.  In his four year Major League career as a utility player, Harmon hit .238 with seven home runs in 289 games.

The Negro League baseball history fact for today

Ted Page was born on this date in Glasgow, Kentucky; 1903.  A speedy outfielder whose base stealing drove opponents crazy, Page played with two of the best teams in Negro League baseball history during his 15 year baseball career.  In 1931, he played with the Homestead Grays; a team that included Hall of Famers “Smokey” Joe Williams, Oscar Charleston, Judy Johnson, and Jud Wilson.  The next year, Pittsburgh Crawfords’ owner Gus Greenlee added Page and the other star Grays to his team which already had Hall of Famers Satchel Paige and Josh Gibson.  A lifetime .300 hitter, Ted Page was a tough, aggressive player who was not afraid to fight opponents. 

Two 1939 debuts

Two players destined for the National Baseball Hall of Fame made their debuts in 1939; although their paths to Cooperstown took different routes.

On April 20, 1939 at Yankee Stadium, Ted Williams got one hit in four at bats in his first Major League game as a Boston Red Sox.  Williams hit a double off of New York pitcher Red Ruffing.  The Yankees won the game 2 – 0.   Other Red Sox players in the field that day destined for the Hall of Fame were Jimmie Foxx, Joe Cronin, and Bobby Doerr; who like Williams was 20 years old.  Future Hall of Fame members Bill Dickey, Joe Gordon, Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig were in the Yankees’ line up.  Williams had better days swinging the bat that year.  He hit 31 home runs, drove in 145 runs, and batted .327.  He went on to have  a 22 season Hall of Fame career, despite it being interrupted twice by military service (1943 – 1945, 1952).

Also in 1939, Monte Irvin hit .365 in his first season in Negro League baseball with the Newark Eagles.  Irvin played seven year with the Eagles, having as teammates in 1939 Willie Wells, “Mules” Suttles, and Ray Dandridge; all currently in the Hall of Fame.  When he left baseball for military service in 1943, many considered Irvin the best player in Negro League baseball.  Irvin returned to the Eagles in 1946 and helped them capture the Negro League World Series Championship.  When African Americans finally broke through baseball’s color barrier to get into the Major Leagues, Irvin was past his prime years as a player.  However, he still had seven solid years in the big leagues; seven years with the New York Giants (1949 – 1955) and one with the Chicago Cubs (1956).

Williams was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1966, Irvin in 1973.    

The Negro League baseball history fact for today

In the annals of Negro League baseball there are many stories about the home run power of George “Mule” Suttles.  During his 19 year Negro League career, few players could hit a baseball further than the “Mule”, not even the great Josh Gibson some say.  One story told is of Suttles hitting a 600 foot home run while playing in the Cuban Winter League.  It is said the ball carried out of the stadium and over the heads of Cuban soldiers on horseback doing crowd control duty behind the outfield fences.  Another version of the blast had it landing in the ocean.  Suttles was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 2006.