Carl Erskine talks sign stealing and the 1951 Giants and Dodgers rivalry

Carl Erskine was one ill-placed curveball from possibly changing the fate of the 1951 playoff between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the New York Giants.

When manager Charlie Dressen checked with his coach Clyde Sukeforth on the status of both Erskine and Ralph Branca to relieve a tiring Don Newcombe, Sukeforth replied, “He [Erskine] just bounced his curveball.” A few pitches later, Bobby Thomson stepped up to the plate and blasted the infamous home run off of Ralph Branca that became widely known as “The Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”


This is Part 5 of a series of interviews with Brooklyn Dodger great Carl Erskine about his experiences playing with the storied franchise. Erskine appeared recently in New York on behalf of the Bob Feller Museum and was kind enough to grant us access to produce this series of vignettes regarding his career.

Much speculation has developed as to whether the Giants were using a sign-stealing system that gave Thomson advanced knowledge of Branca’s inside fastball. Author Joshua Prager drew an admission from the late Giants third-string catcher Sal Yvars in his book, The Echoing Green, that the Giants were indeed relaying pitch information to their hitters. Thomson, however, until the day he died, vehemently denied that he had any knowledge of Branca’s offerings.



Erskine, who has often discussed his recollections of that fateful October day in 1951, didn’t seem to have ill feelings about the issue of sign-stealing 60 years later.

“Well, if you go to that year, ’51, there is no rule that I know of about using a telescope or a set of binoculars to steal signs,” he said. “It’s always assumed that ethically you steal them on the field, second base, or if the catcher is a little sloppy so that the first base can see, or some mannerism that the catcher does every time he calls a curveball his elbow goes out. Other than the ethics involved of mechanically stealing, baseball didn’t have any rule against it.”

That’s not to say that Erskine didn’t have his suspicions about it taking place across the league.

“We used to think Chicago, with that scoreboard in Wrigley Field, where they used to hang the numbers, there are big openings,” he said. “Those guys probably stole signs from the scoreboard; nobody ever checked it.”

Special thanks also goes to the promoters of JP Sports' East Coast National Show for accommodating us during Mr. Erskine's appearance.

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Carl Erskine explains how Roy Campanella helped to stabilize the Brooklyn Dodgers pitching staff

Carl Erskine and Roy Campanella were battery mates for Campanella’s entire ten-year career with the Brooklyn Dodgers. If anyone should know a thing or two about how Campanella handled the pitching staff, it’s Erskine.

Roy Campanella and Carl Erskine

This is Part 4 of a series of interviews with Brooklyn Dodger great Carl Erskine about his experiences playing with the storied franchise. Erskine appeared recently in New York on behalf of the Bob Feller Museum and was kind enough to grant us access to produce this series of vignettes regarding his career.

Campanella wasn’t exactly a rookie when he joined the Dodgers; he had been playing nine years in the Negro Leagues, learning from Hall of Famer Raleigh “Biz” Mackey. For those familiar with Campanella's lineage, it was of little surprise then that Campanella skillfully handled his pitching staff.

“What Campy did more than anything else with the pitching staff, was how he made you pace yourself,” Erskine said. “Pitchers are always overanxious, especially if you have a bad pitch or you throw a home run or something.  You want the ball back, you want to go again; he wouldn’t let you do that, he made you stay within yourself.” Although Campanella should have worn a sign saying, “Thou Shalt Not Steal”, because he threw out 51% of would-be base stealers during his career, it was his mental approach to the game that set him apart from other receivers at the time.

“His savvy ... that’s something you can’t describe; he just had a feel for the game,” Erskine said.

Erskine described how Campanella's "feel" helped to mold on one of the mainstays of Brooklyn’s rotation, Don Newcombe.

“Campy … was great at the mind game,” he said. “What to throw, when to throw it. … He was an easy personality. He helped [Don] Newcombe a lot because Newk was a little volatile and he was one of the early blacks. He had to face a lot of the indignities, same as Jackie [Robinson] did. He wasn’t handling that as well as Jackie probably, so Campy was a real soothing influence on Newcombe.” Campanella’s ability to handle the pitchers was so esteemed, that the coaching staff gave Campanella wide latitude with his charges.

“The manager would basically say to the pitching staff … ‘If you shake Campy off, you better have a good reason,” he said. “He’s been around, he knows what to do; you kinda follow Roy.’ So Roy used to say to the young pitchers. ‘Now you young pitchers, you just throw what ‘Ol Campy calls and I’ll make you a winner!’" Sometimes, Campanella would lead them down a path that was not always victorious. Erskine took the opportunity to remind him that the loss went next to his name, not the catcher after a loss. “So I’d lose a game and I’d bring him a box score,” Erskine said. “His locker was right next to mine. I’d say, 'Hey Campy, look at this! It says Erskine losing pitcher. Shouldn’t that say Campanella, losing catcher?'"

Campanella gave a quick-witted reply.

“Well you would always shake me off!”

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Bernie Williams placed among Latino baseball legends

The Latino Baseball Hall of Fame (Salon de Fama del Beisbol Latino), located in La Romana, Dominican Republic, announced its Class of 2012 selections at the MLB offices Thursday. Leading the class of 2012 was the much revered New York Yankees outfielder Bernie Williams. The Puerto Rican centerfielder was among a panel that included Latino Baseball Hall of Famers Felipe Alou, Minnie Miñoso and Tony Perez.

Minnie Minoso, Felipe Alou, Tony Perez, and Bernie Williams / N. Diunte

While much of the attention centered on the announcement of Williams’ selection, the San Juan native humbly deferred to the legends seated to his left. The first person he mentioned in his impromptu speech was Miñoso who is potentially a candidate for the Hall of Fame in Cooperstown with the introduction of the “Golden Era” ballot, which reviews the candidacy of players between the years of 1947-1972. Williams expressed fond memories of hearing the praises of the “Cuban Comet” in his household as a youngster.

“Everybody in my family knew about the great feats of Minnie Miñoso," Williams said. "When they talked about great baseball players in my household, they would say, ‘Minnie Miñoso es [un] tremendo pelotero.’ I always grew up listening about him even though I never saw him play, but I saw him through the eyes of my family."

Starting as a 16-year-old playing for Caguas in the Puerto Rican Winter League, Williams beamed with pride while speaking about his first manager who also happened to be fellow panel member, Felipe Alou.

“Felipe, he was my first manager," he said. "As a 16 year old, I remember taking off after high school going to Criollo de Caguas. It was my first team and he was my first manager. It was just a great experience and he was like a father figure to me.”

Alou has been a driving force in the formation of the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame. Enshrined in their first class, Alou is promoting the heritage of Latinos in baseball through the museum.

“This is probably my last baby in my career," he said. "I think this is big for many reasons; big because of all of the great players that are becoming and have become and will become part of this project. There are so many great Latin players who are really short in Cooperstown.”

Alou hopes to enlighten the younger players and the rest of world about the great players of the past. The Latin influence in baseball is one he feels that needs to be both preserved and celebrated.

“The Latinos, there are not a whole lot of history that today’s player know," he said. "We know, those of us that are here, that it took over 100 years to get all of these Latino players in the Hall of Fame. We would like for the Latino players and also the American people to know some of those players of Cooperstown quality, so they know where we all came from and where they came from and where we are going.”

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Carl Erskine explains how he composed his curveball in Cuba

On the verge of his 21st birthday, fresh off his first full season in professional ball, Carl Erskine found himself in a place that was in stark contrast from his hometown of Anderson, Indiana.

In the winter of 1947, Erskine was sent to Cuba to play with the Cienfuegos team at the urges of Branch Rickey. Erskine would quickly be introduced to a different climate that had nothing to do with the weather.

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Joe Caffie Indians outfielder who started in the Negro Leagues, dies at 80

Joe Caffie, the Cleveland Indians an outfielder who started with the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro Leagues in 1950, passed away at his home in Warren, Ohio, on August 1st, 2011. He was 80.

"I have seen a lot of fast ones, but Caffie is the fastest, and that includes guys like Sam Jethroe," the legendary Luke Easter said in Moffi & Kronstadt’s Crossing the Line.

Caffie had his start as an outfielder with the Cleveland Buckeyes of the Negro Leagues in 1950, before being signed by the Indians in 1951. He died at his home in Warren, Ohio, on August 1st, 2011. He was 80.

Speed was his trademark, which was evident when he led Class-C Duluth with 18 triples and a .342 batting average in 1952. He led the league in six batting categories en route to winning the MVP award for the Northern League, which earned him a promotion to AAA Indianapolis.

Caffie continued to perform well at the AAA level, swiping bases, legging out extra-base hits and covering much ground in the outfield. Finally, Caffie was brought up to the Cleveland Indians in September, 1956. He hit .342 in 12 games and played without making an error on defense.

Unfortunately for Caffie, he did not make the club out of spring training in 1957. With the emergence of young stars Roger Maris and Rocky Colavito, as well as the veteran presence of Al Smith and Gene Woodling, manager Kerby Farrell could not find a spot for Caffie in the crowded Indians outfield.

Determined to find his way back to the major leagues, Caffie batted .330 for AAA Buffalo, making the International League All-Star team. When the Tribe optioned catcher Dick Brown in early August, Caffie was summoned from Buffalo. Only a few weeks later against the New York Yankees, Caffie would have what was his best game in his major league career, going 4-5, while swatting his first major league home run. He finished the season with three round-trippers in only 89 at-bats.

He spent the next three seasons at the AAA level, never receiving the call to return to the majors. He ended his playing career in 1961 with Charlotte. He returned to Warren, where he worked as a laborer at Thomas Steel for 37 years before retiring.

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