Wally Moon, 1954 National League Rookie of the Year, dies at 87

Wally Moon's soaring drives over the Los Angeles Coliseum's left field fence were affectionately nicknamed "Moon Shots" for the way he lofted balls into flight over the screen. Sadly, his final "Moon Shot" touched down Friday February 9th, 2018 when he passed away in Bryan, Texas. He was 87.

Wally Moon 1961 Sport Magazine / Author's Collection

Revered not only for his famous moniker, but his trademark unibrow, Moon immediately made a splash during his Major League debut with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1954 when he homered during his first at-bat. He continued to sizzle during his rookie campaign, batting .304 with 12 home runs and 76 RBIs, besting Hall of Famers Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron for the National League Rookie of the Year Award.

During Moon’s 12-year MLB career, he spent the first five with the St. Louis Cardinals and after an injury played down year in 1958, the Cardinals traded Moon to the Los Angeles Dodgers. Presented with a fresh start and a new environment, a healthy Moon changed his hitting approach to aim for the short Los Angeles Coliseum wall, earning him blasts their aforementioned nickname.



The change of scenery paid off immediately for both Moon and the Dodgers, as he was selected for the 1959 All-Star team and finished fourth in the MVP, both honors coming while helping to lead the Dodgers to World Series victory. He spent the next six seasons with the Dodgers, long enough to claim another World Series ring during the 1965 season, his final major league campaign.

The three-time All-Star finished his career with a lifetime .289 batting average with 142 home runs and 661 RBIs. Once away from the major league spotlight, Moon couldn’t stay away from baseball. He spent ten years as the head coach at John Brown University in Arkansas, save for a one year break as the hitting coach with the San Diego Padres in 1969.

Moon finally returned to the professional ranks in 1987 when he was given a minor league managing job in the New York Yankees organization. One of the upstarts on his 1988 Prince William club was a fresh-faced 19-year-old Puerto Rican center fielder, Bernie Williams. After the Yankees let Moon go, he settled in with the Baltimore Orioles as a minor league manager and hitting instructor from 1990-1995.

In retirement, Moon wrote his autobiography, “Moon Shots: Reflections on a Baseball Life,” in 2010 with Tim Gregg.

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2018 Topps Baseball Seres 1 Review - How Topps breathes life into the baseball season

Topps has proved annually that the true signal of the start of the baseball season is now when pitchers and catchers sport, but when their flagship baseball card set is released. With 2018 Topps Baseball Series One's January 31st arrival, Topps has rescued fans and collectors from staring out their windows to wait for the game to start.

2018 Topps / Topps

The fresh borderless designs coupled with the sparkling player names and team logos, push the action images to the forefront to breathe much needed life to the start of the 2018 season. To kick off the excitement of their inaugural 2018 release, Topps allowed fans to vote for the hallowed first card in the set. Their choice was none other than the 2017 American League Rookie of the Year, New York Yankees power-hitting phenom Aaron Judge.

2018 Topps Base Set Cards / Topps

As collectors rip away at packs of 2018 Topps Baseball, they will find an assortment of rookie cards of impact upstarts from last season including Rhys Hoskins, Rafael Devers, Amed Rosario, and Clint Frazier, all of whom have now received the official stamp of approval on their traditional debut issue. Other highlights of the base set include World Series Highlights and team Combo Cards. Parallel issues include the popular Rainbow Foil, Gold (#/2018) versions, and short printed image variations.

Digging into the inserts, collectors will have their hands full working on a master set, as many of the sets contain at least 50 cards. Topps honors the 35th anniversary of the 1983 Topps set with a 100-card subset, book ended by 1983’s top rookies, Hall of Famers Ryne Sandberg and Wade Boggs. Topps runs down season highlights with its 100-card Topps Salute set, celebrating the milestones of the 2017, while also promoting the rookies they expect to impact 2018.

Each box also yields an interesting Home Run Challenge card where collectors can reveal a code on the back of the card that allows them to choose a date when they think the player on the front will hit a home run. If they guess correctly, they will win a parallel card of that player, as well as be automatically entered into a drawing for a trip for two to the 2019 Home Run Derby.

2018 Topps Home Run Challenge Card / Topps

While most that are cracking open a box of Topps’ premier product are doing so to explore the new release and go through the tradition of building a complete set, an added bonus is the guaranteed hit of a relic, patch, or autographed card. This box served up a Major League Material Black Relic of Albert Pujols numbered to 99.

Albert Pujols Relic / Topps

One strong memory as a kid was rushing to the store to get some of the new Topps release when it dropped, burrowing through packs to see who made the cut and admire the design. It became an annual event that helped the sorrows of winter pass more smoothly. Fast forward the time machine to 2018, Topps hasn’t changed the script, but has added a variety of inserts to keep collectors excited and created a layout to capture their attention.

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Terry Leach delivers for austim awareness at Darryl Strawberry's Douglaston Community Day

Terry Leach’s unmistakable sidearm delivery proved to be an effective weapon for Davey Johnson’s bullpen in the 1980s. Whether it was getting the Mets out of tough jams or filling in for an injured starter, Leach often delivered in tight situations. He returned to Queens this weekend bringing the same kind of aid he did to the Mets pitching staff to the Douglaston Community Day at Strawberry’s Sports Grill.

Terry Leach (r.) with teammate Barry Lyons at Douglaston Community Day in 2011 / N. Diunte

Leach, displaying his southern charm, was prideful when discussing his involvement the day’s efforts to fundraise for autism awareness.

“It’s a great thing coming to help any charity," Leach said. "Autism is a big deal and something that needs to be worked on a lot more. It’s fun coming back to New York. When I was here I was a much younger man. [Now] I can come and sit back and appreciate it a little bit more.”

Even though Leach spent the majority of the 1986 season in the minor leagues, looking back he saw the development of that championship team building from prior years.

“I was younger then,"he said. "Actually I was the oldest one on the team, but I was younger in my eyes. That team was good because they built up from within basically. They added a few key parts and it came together just right. One of the best teams ever.”

Leach developed a special chemistry with catcher Gary Carter, who is currently battling brain cancer. He described how Carter made it easy for him to just go out there and pitch.

“Gary was very good," he said. "He and I thought a lot alike. I very seldom had to shake him off. He knew what the hitters were or were not hitting. I just kind of followed his lead and he lead me some good places every once in awhile.”

Now 57 years old, the Stuart, Florida resident has transitioned from baseball to a new career, interior design.

“I work in West Palm Beach with my company," he said. "We work with interior designers, building houses in Palm Beach. We do their installations. We hang the art, the mirrors; we make the places look really good.”


Terry Leach at Douglaston Community Day from Dee on Vimeo.

* Note - This article was originally published for Examiner.com on August 24, 2011.

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Oscar Gamble, Yankees legend known for his powerful bat and Afro, dies at 68

Oscar Gamble, the former New York Yankees outfielder who was best known for his legendary Afro, passed away Wednesday January 31, 2018 in Birmingham, Alabama according to his agent Andrew Levy. He was 68.

He was the player on the Yankees known for big hair. But those who knew him best will remember his big heart. R.I.P. Oscar Gamble. @Yankees @MLB pic.twitter.com/QMYVDLob2i

— Andrew Levy (@ALevyNYC) January 31, 2018

Gamble's spectacular hair, which could barely fit underneath his baseball cap, was immortalized on his 1976 Topps Update baseball card. His 'fro is on glorious display in an otherwise horribly airbrushed Yankees uniform.

Oscar Gamble 1976 Topps / Topps

Getting past his hair and digging into the stats on the back of his baseball card, one will find that Gamble amassed 200 home runs over 17 seasons, while appearing in two World Series for the Yankees (1976, 1981).

In retirement, Gamble was a fixture at Old-Timers' Games and other alumni baseball reunions, including the Joe DiMaggio Legends Game in Fort Lauderdale, where Gamble was a fixture for many years. I covered the DiMaggio Legends Game in 2012, where I was able to get these photos of Gamble prior to the game.

Oscar Gamble (r.) with charity game participant / N. Diunte

Oscar Gamble taking batting practice at the 2012 Joe DiMaggio Legends Game / N. Diunte

Oscar Gamble (r.) waiting for Paul Blair (l.) and Ed Kranepool to exchange lineup cards / N. Diunte

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Julio Navarro, pitched 22 seasons in Puerto Rico, dies at 82

Julio Navarro, one of Puerto Rico’s most celebrated pitchers, passed away Wednesday January 24th, 2018 in Miami, Florida due to Alzheimer’s complications. He was 82.

Julio Navarro 1960 Topps / Topps

Navarro was born in Vieques, but he spent the majority of his childhood in St. Croix. After developing his talents in high school, another standout from the Virgin Islands helped to position Navarro for a tryout in front of Santurce’s team owner Pedrin Zorilla.

“Al Gerard took me to Santurce,” Navarro told me via telephone in 2011. “My father moved to the Island and I was five years old. It helped me a lot. They had the Catholic school nuns and I learned how to speak English. When they played those exhibitions on the Island, those Puerto Rican teams would play. That’s when the Islands were developing well. When I pitched against Puerto Rico, Gerard told the owner that I was from Puerto Rico. He told them that I was from Vieques, but that my father moved there for work.”

Fortunately for Navarro, Zorilla doubled as a scout for the New York Giants and helped him along with Orlando Cepeda and Jose Pagan, to sign professional contracts in 1955. Almost immediately he became the de-facto spokesperson for his fellow Spanish speaking teammates because of his upbringing in the Virgin Islands.

“I was lucky, because of the few Puerto Ricans, unless they were from New York, I spoke English,” he said. “I knew what I was going on and I learned so quickly because I knew the language. In spring training, we had a lot of good prospects and they only knew Spanish, I had to keep them from trouble and intervene. They lived in a segregated area.”

While Navarro was buoyed by his ability to speak English, it didn’t help him on the mound. He flopped around multiple Class D teams in 1955 due to arm troubles, going 1-10 in the process. Despite his poor record, the Giants recognized his potential and brought him back for the 1956 season. He rewarded the parent club by winning an astounding 24 games on the mound. While he was only 20 years old, Navarro thought his successful season warranted a major league look.

“I won 24 games that year in Cocoa, and you know where I went after that, Class A!” he said. “If you win 24 games anywhere, you [should] go to the big leagues. … They had good players from A-ball that had experience playing. It was different then, those guys could play A or AA ball at any time, so many, that people don’t know about or didn’t know them.”

As the Giants moved to San Francisco, Navarro continued to inch closer to the major leagues. By 1959 he was at AAA, but his career stalled there. When it became clear that he was trapped in the Giants deep farm system with no clear path to their rotation, the Los Angeles Angels swooped in during the 1962 season to open a new door. He was relieved when the Angels called.

“After six years, I was in AAA ball and I was only 26,” he said. “They had a rule after six years they had to let me go or sell me to somebody. That’s when the Angels bought me.”

Navarro specialized as a reliever for the Angels, pitching 71 games out of the bullpen in three seasons until he was traded to the Detroit Tigers in April 1964. He found a supporter in Tigers manager Chuck Dressen.

“Charlie Dressen was a good man and got along with the colored guys,” he said. “He said to the Latins and Cubans, 'When you play with me, don’t worry!' When Dressen died, they got rid of us!”

While Navarro fell out of favor with the new regime in Detroit, that didn’t deter him from carrying on. The amazingly durable hurler pitched 22 seasons in the Puerto Rican Winter League, using the lessons that came from the old Negro League veterans he started with back in 1956.

“Those guys were great, I learned a lot from them, I’ll tell you,” Navarro said via telephone in 2011. “Each club had about nine imports. Most of them were colored guys from the states. Bill Greason, Sam Jones, and George Crowe were there. It was fantastic. … In those days, in Puerto Rico, you could have a team that could play in the big leagues that could beat the Yankees and anybody.”

One harsh reality the Negro League players taught him how to manage was the Jim Crow Laws in the United States. Some of his fellow Puerto Rican counterparts weren’t so fortunate and their careers were cut short by how they responded to their teammates’ taunts.

“I met a lot of white guys at that time that were good,” he said. “You don’t bother them and they don’t bother you. That’s what happened to [Carlos] Bernier. He had a white girlfriend, they tell him this and that because he had a white girl and they told him that shit and he beat the shit out of them. They were thinking he was going to be in the big leagues for ten years.”

Navarro threw his final major league pitch with the Atlanta Braves in 1970; however, he continued to play in the minor leagues, Mexico, and Puerto Rico until 1977. He then turned his attention to his son Jamie.

Jamie followed his lead on the mound, playing for 20 professional seasons, 12 in the major leagues. The elder Navarro credited his son’s longevity due to his father reinforcing flawless mechanics.

“Jamie very seldom had a sore arm in the big leagues,” he said. “I worked a lot with him on the mechanics.”

Navarro’s teaching extended beyond his own family, offering help to all comes from children up to the major leaguers in Puerto Rico. One of his last pupils was Javier Vasquez. After a disappointing 2010 season with the Yankees, Navarro met with him during the off-season to help him turn things around. The result? Vasquez lowered his ERA by almost two runs and ended his final major league season with a winning record.

“Javier last year had problems with the Yankees," he said. "Everybody knew what Javier was throwing. He didn’t have a good fastball anymore, but he still had that curveball. I went to a meeting in Ponce and he was receiving an award. I told him, ‘You don’t throw 95-98, you're now about 91-92. Throw at that speed, but throw it with movement. You are throwing at that speed and it doesn’t move. You ever see [Roy] Halladay with the Phillies? He doesn’t throw that hard, but everything is moving and is low. He throws strikes until he gets you. When the 9th inning comes around, you are strong. Mix it a little. Throw it like a sinker / slider.’ He asked me how to do it. You work a little and use your coconut head. You have to think!”

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