BW - EP138—010: Baseball Memories From Radio History—Westward Ho!

Breaking Walls: The Podcast on the History of American Network Radio Broadcasting

In 1954, it took a historic season to dethrone the Yankees who were five-time defending world champions. Although they won one-hundred three games, the Cleveland Indians won a then-American League record one-hundred eleven. The Indians were led by Center Fielder Larry Doby, the first African-American player in the AL, Third Basemen Al Rosen, and slugger Vic Wertz. Their pitching staff was anchored by Early Wynn, Bob Lemon and Bob Feller. In the National League, the pennant winners were the underdog New York Giants, who won ninety-seven games, once again beating out the Brooklyn Dodgers. The Giants drew 1.15 million fans to the Polo Grounds, second in the National League. Built in a hollow overlooking Coogan’s Bluff near the western shore of the Harlem River in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan, a Polo Grounds ballpark had been on this site since 1890. The quirky park was shaped like a bathtub. It was only two-hundred-eighty feet from home plate down the left field line, and only two-hundred-sixty feet down the right. Center field however was over four-hundred-eighty feet away. But, the surrounding neighborhood was changing and Giants owner Horace Stonham began to wonder if he could draw more fans elsewhere. In the eighth inning of game one, the score was tied at two. Cleveland’s Al Rosen and Larry Doby had both reached base on Giants pitcher Sal Maglie. Vic Wertz came up to bat. Wertz hit a ball to deep center field, where Giants superstar Willy Mays was playing. Mays ran straight backwards and caught the ball over his shoulder with his back to the field. Later nicknamed “the catch,” it changed the entire complexion of the series. The Giants would go on to sweep the Indians to claim the 1954 World Series title. It would be their last World Championship in New York. Baseball’s economic model was changing. As great as the Yankees were, their dominance over the game created a league problem. The G.I. Bill was bringing families to the suburbs in the 1950s — and most of these families were white — radio and TV were embedding deeper into local markets. Major League cities were struggling to support two teams. After the 1952 season, the National League’s Boston Braves, unable to compete with the Red Sox, moved to Milwaukee and won the World Series in five years. The AL St. Louis Browns moved to Baltimore after the 1953 season and became the Orioles, where they won 6 American League pennants in their first thirty years. The next year the Philadelphia Athletics moved to Kansas City, where they would remain until moving again, to Oakland, in 1968. Oakland won three consecutive championships in the 1970s. Although fans of every other team loved to hate the Yankees, the franchise was a lightning rod for celebrities and other heroes. Throughout the years Mel Allen had many interesting guests in the booth, like noted Pirates fan Bing Crosby. The team the Yankees often defeated in the World Series? The Brooklyn Dodgers, who lost to the Yankees in 1941, 1947, 1949, 1952, and 1953. In 1955 the tide finally turned and the Bums from Brooklyn became World Champions. Later, retired Hall of Fame player and then broadcaster Frankie Frisch was inside the Brooklyn Dodgers clubhouse speaking to the victorious team. Two years later, owner Walter O’Malley was in a dispute with New York City Park’s Commissioner Robert Moses. Ebbets Field, open since 1913 was falling apart. The success of the Dodgers, and the population explosion in Brooklyn had made Ebbets Field too small. The 1957 seating capacity was a tiny thirty-two thousand. Yankee Stadium could seat nearly double. O’Malley wanted to build a stadium at the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in Brooklyn. Robert Moses wanted the team moved to Flushing Meadows–Corona Park in Queens.