“Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1953”

"Take Me Out to the Ball Game in 1953"

Every summer when I was growing up in Montgomery, AL, my father, who worked for the L & N Railroad, would apply for railroad passes for all the family to travel on.  In the summer of 1953, he applied for free passes that would take us to the Big Apple, New York, New York. That was a dream trip I will always remember. I was 16 years old and loved every aspect of baseball and every minute detail and trivia which went with the game. I knew the players on the majors as well as the members of our local Montgomery Rebels team. 

My father surprised me, when after a few days of sightseeing New York City, by asking me if I would like to go to a Yankee baseball game. He had already secured the tickets and were to go to Yankee Stadium the next day. I could hardly sleep the night before thinking about the game. The New York Yankees were at the pinnacle of success. I could name almost all the players, their batting average, and the jersey number they wore.  When the Yankees played a game over radio I kept a box score.

So after breakfast the next morning, my father and I caught a subway train to Yankee Stadium. That morning before we left our hotel, I read the sports' page of the New York Times. They had a big story on the game. The Yankees and the Chicago White Sox were tied for the leadership of the American League. Casey Stengel, the colorful manager of the Yankees, had selected Whitey Ford, a 24 year old left hand pitcher to pitch for the home team.  And Paul Richards, manager of the visiting Chicago White Sox, had countered with his best pitcher, Billy Pierce, a 26 year old lefty, who at season end had 186 strike outs that season; Whitey Ford only struck out 110 by the end of the season. What a thrill to see the two top pitchers of that era pitching in the same game.    We arrived in time to see the teams run out on the field to take their warm ups. I remember distinctly thinking when I saw the teams run out on the field even though both had the same win-loss records the "blue pinstripe team" looked much more confident. The Yankees had won the last four consecutive World Series. 

What a collection of outstanding baseball players the Yankees had: Mickey Mantle, Number 7, was every boy's icon. Mickey was only 21 years of age that year. What he could do was sometimes beyond belief. He roamed the center field and caught balls in center, left, and right. The Yankees really did not need the other two outfielders. He switch hit, He beat out bunts when the other team knew that he was going to bunt, and that day he was going to show the baseball world something that very few players have ever done, especially in Yankee Stadium. 

Yogi Berra was a dream catcher. He was an excellent defensive catcher, as well as hit the long ball, (27 home runs in 1953). Yogi beat Mick in the RBI race too: Yogi had 108, and Mick had 92. The infield for the Yankees had Billy Martin, Phil Rizzuto, and Hank Bauer. They don't get any better than that. On the other hand, Chicago had two great baseball All Stars in Minnie Minoso and Nellie Fox.    The game rocked along to the fifth inning. Both Whitey Ford and Billy Pierce were mowing the players down with their speed and their finesse. But up came Number 7, Mickey Mantle. Everyone in the stands stood up and started chanting "Mickey-Mickey". Mick switched to the left side of the plate. The infield all started easing toward the plate. Everyone thought he was going to lay down a bunt and try to beat it out... but they were wrong! Mickey hit the ball on the fly to deep center field up against the fence. The center fielder ran for the ball. The ball bounced off the fence and veered toward right field. The right fielder came to try to help but the center fielder, picked the ball up, and immediately threw to the cut off man, the shortstop. But, in the meantime, Mickey had rounded second and was nearly to third base. I thought the manager at third tried to hold Mickey up, but by that time he was running so fast it was impossible to stop him. Mickey's style of running reminded me of an antelope who only occasionally touched the ground very lightly, Mickey scored with a perfect slide at home. Safe with no error on the play! So I had witnessed an inside the park home run from one of baseball's greatest players. 

This great performance is what young kids dream about doing someday when they are playing baseball. Mickey Mantle's dream came true when they beat the White Sox that day in August of 1953. The Yankees went on to win their fifth consecutive World Series that year against the Brooklyn Dodgers. What a team, what a game major league baseball was in 1953.

RawbeezeitzMajor Leaguer

302 days ago

Score 1

That's pretty cool, seeing Mickey Mantle hit an inside the parker, and that's an excellent description of him running.

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RomiezzoLegend

302 days ago

Score 0

That's quite a story. Reading an article by someone who actually witnessed The Commerce Comet hit an inside the parker.

AWESOME!

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