Monday, January 2, 2017

Daryl Spencer, hit first major league home run on the West Coast, dies at 88

Daryl Spencer, a major league veteran of ten seasons and a baseball pioneer in Japan, passed away in his hometown of Wichita, Kansas on Monday January 2, 2017. He was 88.

Spencer broke into the major leagues with the New York Giants in 1952 after swatting over 20 home runs in three of his first four minor league seasons. The 24-year-old Spencer continued his power hitting as he manned all three infield positions for the Giants in 1953 while slamming 20 home runs. Just as Spencer’s talents were progressing, he was drafted for military service before the start of the 1954 season.

Daryl Spencer / 2013 BBM
His military tour cost him an opportunity to be a part of the Giants 1954 World Series Championship. His efforts the previous season didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates, as they voted him a share of the World Series earnings.

"Even thought I didn’t play, they voted me a $2,000 World Series share,” he said to SABR member Bob Rives. “That doesn’t seem like much now, but each player only got about $5,000.”

Spencer returned in 1956 and remained a fixture in the Giants lineup as they moved to San Francisco. He gained notoriety when he hit the first home run in West Coast major league history, blasting a shot off of Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Don Drysdale in the fourth inning of the first game of the 1958 season.

He played with the Giants through the end of the 1959 season when they traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals that offseason. He spent another four years in the majors, seeing action with the Dodgers and Cincinnati Reds until he was released by Cincinnati on his 35th birthday in 1963.

“Some birthday present, huh?” he asked Rives.

His release opened the door for another opportunity that came from an unlikely place, Japan. The Hankyu Braves offered Spencer a contract for the 1964 season. What he encountered in Japan was a league far behind the caliber he was used to in the major leagues.

“I went over in 1964, it's changed a lot now,” he told me during a 2008 phone interview. “The managers didn't know what they were doing. I've seen better little league coaches than the managers over there. The pitchers would pitch nine innings and the next day they would be in the bullpen pitching relief, and they would be worn out. Five years, most of the good pitchers would be worn out because they pitched them so much.”

Spencer felt that if he was able to apply the strategies that he learned until the tutelage of the likes of teammates Alvin Dark and Bill Rigney, that he would have made a run at the championship annually in Japan.

“If I would have managed the first couple years, we would have breezed in every year,” he said. “Percentage baseball in Japan when I first went was so ridiculous and it took me about almost two-thirds of the season to get to the pitcher.

“I was getting all their signs; I knew their signs and I couldn't get them to pitch out. I knew, when they were stealing, they would pitch inside and the guy would hit the ball to right field. One time I got them to pitch out, the catcher spoke a little English. One time I was playing second base and gave him a sign and we threw the guy out by ten feet. He said, 'Oh that's a good play!' They knew nothing.”

Spencer hit 74 home runs in his first two seasons in Japan in the supposed twilight of his career. He was at a point where his knowledge matched his physical abilities and the combination of the two in Japan allowed him to excel.

“I did real well over there,” he said. “I read most of the pitchers and I hit a lot of home runs. I got so frustrated. It got to the point there would be a runner on first with two outs and I might hit a home run, and the first thing I know, the guys steals and he gets thrown out and now I'm leading off the next inning. It took me about two weeks with an interpreter to tell them, 'When I am batting, I don't want anyone to steal.' They weren't smart. Playing major league baseball and going there was like playing little league, stealing their signs and everything.”

He brought an aggressive style to Japan that went against cultural customs. While major league baseball players were famous for their take out slides, those actions weren’t part of the game in Japan, that is until Spencer broke tradition.

“They never broke up a double play before I went to Japan,” he said. “I'm famous for breaking up the first double play; we won 1-0 because of it. The next night one of our guys slid in and knocked out a second baseman and that changed the whole style of play.”

Spencer took a hiatus from playing after the 1968 season after he hit 142 home runs in five years, well outpacing his production during the decade he spent in the major leagues. He returned as a coach in 1971, fifty pounds over his playing weight. As Spencer began to work out the players, his weight started to melt off and he mulled a return to the diamond.

“I was hitting a lot ground balls to players and the first thing you know I was down to playing weight,” he said. “One day I took batting practice and I hit six of seven out of the park and they signed me to a player contract. I was 43, 44 at the time, but I was so much better than they were, I didn't feel like I was 43. I was in pretty good shape and I was reading the pitchers; it was no challenge at all. I could have stayed a few more years.”

He spent two seasons as a player-coach, mostly as a first baseman. He finally called it quits in 1972, some 23 years after he broke into professional baseball. He returned home to work with the Coors Brewing Company.

“I came back to Wichita and got involved with Coors,” he said. “They have the NBC tournament here and I ran the Coors team here for a few years and we won a few state championships. It was mostly college kids and a few guys that played pro ball. I did that for five years and kind of semi-retired.”

Looking back on his career in 2008, Spencer was proud that the records he set over 50 years ago still persisted.

“I hit the first home run on the West Coast,” he said. “[Willie] Mays and I are the only two players that hit two home runs each in back to back games. For not being such a great player, I have a couple of records.”

Classic Minnie Minoso one hour interview from 1993

In this 1993 interview with Minnie Minoso, Tom Weinberg talks with the Cuban great for an hour at the site of the Old Comiskey Park about his lengthy career in baseball. A relaxed Minoso speaks with his trademark candor that made him a fan favorite during his then six-decade involvement in the game.

Friday, December 30, 2016

Lou Gehrig's last All-Star hurrah

Buddy Lewis was a ripe 21-year-old in his fourth major league season when he earned the starting nod as the third baseman in the 1938 All-Star Game.The 1938 midsummer classic serves as a historical footnote for not only being the first All-Star Game in which neither team hit a home run, but also the last All-Star contest that featured Lou Gehrig.
Buddy Lewis 1938 All-Star / Baseball-Almanac.com

As manager Joe McCarthy penciled in Lewis batting eighth at the hot corner, and placed Jimmie Foxx in the cleanup spot at first base, he had the dilemma of how to get Gehrig in the game. When Lewis' second turn at bat came in the fifth inning, McCarthy sent the Iron Horse up as a pinch hitter. Foxx moved to third base and Gehrig as the first baseman finished the game 1-3.

Lewis passed away in 2011 at the age of 94, undoubtedly the last major leaguer to have the honor of Lou Gehrig pinch hitting for him. In a 2008 letter, Lewis spoke with candor about bowing out gracefully to Gehrig in the contest.

"Everybody liked Lou," Lewis wrote in 2008. "They strengthened the lineup when he came in."

Thursday, December 29, 2016

How Dell Curry almost shifted the family legacy from the hardwood to the mound

Tuesday, December 27, 2016

Billy Martin's World Series heroics was fueled by a desire to surpass Robinson

For deep rooted baseball fans, while many are celebrating joyous occasions with their families, the tragic death of Billy Martin on December 25, 1989 is an annual reminder of how one's mortality does not escape the holiday season.

One of the fiercest competitors baseball has ever seen, his fiery temperament resonated with his teammates. Speaking with his New York Yankees teammate Bob Cerv in 2008, he recalled how much Martin was motivated to outperform Jackie Robinson when their clubs met in the World Series.

Jackie Robinson and Billy Martin Baseball Card / Upper Deck

"The only thing I remember Billy Martin would say was, 'I'm gonna do better than him,'" Cerv recalled. "And he did in the World Series."

Below are Martin's and Robinson's totals from the four World Series in which they faced off. If there was an MVP award in 1953, Martin would have certainly won it. Is it mere coincidence that Martin's best World Series performance came when Robinson also had his, or was Martin hellbent on proving that he was the premier second baseman in the city?

Billy Martin World Series Stats vs. Brooklyn Dodgers

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1952 ❍ 24 NYY AL WS BRO W 7 26 23 2 5 0 0 1 4 0 1 2 2 .217 .308 .348 .656 8 0 1 0 1
1953 ❍ 25 NYY AL WS BRO W 6 25 24 5 12 1 2 2 8 1 2 1 2 .500 .520 .958 1.478 23 1 0 0 0
1955 27 NYY AL WS BRO L 7 26 25 2 8 1 1 0 4 0 2 1 5 .320 .346 .440 .786 11 1 0 0 0 0
1956 ❍ 28 NYY AL WS BRO W 7 28 27 5 8 0 0 2 3 0 0 1 6 .296 .321 .519 .840 14 2 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/27/2016.

Jackie Robinson World Series Stats vs. New York Yankees

Year Age Tm Lg Series Opp Rslt G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS TB GDP HBP SH SF IBB
1952 33 BRO NL WS NYY L 7 30 23 4 4 0 0 1 2 2 0 7 5 .174 .367 .304 .671 7 0 0 0 2
1953 34 BRO NL WS NYY L 6 26 25 3 8 2 0 0 2 1 0 1 0 .320 .346 .400 .746 10 1 0 0 0
1955 ❍ 36 BRO NL WS NYY W 6 24 22 5 4 1 1 0 1 1 0 2 1 .182 .250 .318 .568 7 2 0 0 0 0
1956 37 BRO NL WS NYY L 7 29 24 5 6 1 0 1 2 0 0 5 2 .250 .379 .417 .796 10 2 0 0 0 0
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 12/27/2016.