The Barber's Place in History

From 1947 to 1958 the three New York teams took 18 of the 24 possible pennants. Truly it was an era of New York dominance. Coming from those years we had many black-and-white newsreel memories. Three of these have embedded themselves deeper into the lore of the game than any others: Bobby Thomson's home run in 1951, Willie Mays' catch in 1954 and Don Larsen's perfect game in 1956. Strangely enough, there is a common bond between all three of these games. In each, pitcher Sal Maglie took the mound. While he had no victories and one loss in these three games, he is an integral part of this bit of history.

Sal Maglie got off to a slow start. He first played minor league ball in 1938, at the age of 21. The next several years saw him climb the ladder in the minors, but he spent several years away from baseball during World War II, working in a defense-related position. At the age of 28 he made it to the New York Giants in 1945. The next year saw Sal jump to the Mexican Leagues. For this he was blacklisted and not allowed to return to the Majors until 1950. When he returned at the age of 33 he was ready to play. After a solid 1950 he had a league leading 23-6 record in 1951. He lead the Giants to the National League pennant that year. In 1952 he went 18-8, but then slipped below .500 in the following year. 1954 saw a 14-6 season, but being old and worn, the Giants would release him in 1955. He was picked up by Cleveland, who would later trade him to the Dodgers. With the Dodgers he would have one last taste of glory, going 13-5 with a no-hitter in 1956. However, he was now approaching 40, and no team would make him part of their long-term plans. He was traded from the Dodgers to the Yankees, and then finally to St. Louis. He spent 7 years in the Majors, but always seemed to be where the excitement was.

1951 saw perhaps the greatest pennant race baseball has ever seen. On August 11 the Giants were 13.5 games behind their arch-rivals the Dodgers. The Giants went on a tremendous tear, winning 37 of 44, and ended the season in a dead heat. A three game play-off was declared by the National League. After splitting the first two games, the entire season came down to one final day. The Giants would send 23-6 Sal Maglie on the mound to face Dodger Don Newcombe, at 20-9. Maglie at the age of 34 was 5-1 against the Dodgers that year. Newcombe, a tender 25, was 5-2 versus the Giants. Neither would be involved in the eventual decision.

Maglie got off to a rocky start. After getting striking out Carl Furillo to lead off the game, Sal would walk Pee Wee Reese, and then on four pitches, Duke Snider. This brought Jackie Robinson to the plate. Jackie responded with a ringing single to left to plate the first run of the game. Pafko came to the plate and hit into a force play. Gil Hodges was induced into a pop-up. Sal Maglie had survived the first inning. For the next six innings he would bear down and blank the Dodgers.

Meanwhile Newcombe was also pitching a good game. Eventual hero Bobby Thomson started the day as a goat. In the second, with a man on first, Thomson hit a ball down the line. Thinking that hit hit was sure extra-bases, Thomson cruised into second base - only to find teammate Whitey Lockman standing on the bag. Thomson was tagged out by Robinson to put the damper on a possible rally. The Giants had another rally squelched in the fifth. Thomson hit a one-out double to left. However Newcombe was able to strike out rookie Willie Mays, and after walking the catcher, struck out Sal Maglie. It is interesting to note here that the two legendary figures from this game, Thomson and Mays, were the six and seven hitters in the Giants lineup.

The Giants were finally able to break through against Newcombe in the bottom of the seventh. Future Hall-of-Famer Monte Irvin led off with a double. When Whitey Lockman then tried to bunt Irvin to third, the Dodgers mis-played the ball, and the Giants had men at the corners. Then Bobby Thomson strode to the plate. After fighting back from 0-2, Thomson was able to lift a sacrifice fly to center to tie the game. Newcombe then settled down and retired the Giants.

While he was granted new life, Sal Maglie fell apart. He faced the top of the Dodgers order in the eighth. Once again he was able to retire Furillo, but then the Dodgers started hitting him. Reese and Snider singled, and were at the corners when Robinson came to bat. Maglie lost control and threw a ball past his catcher, the go- ahead runner crossing the plate. Durocher came to the mound and told Maglie to put Robinson on. Pafko then hit a hard ball to Thomson, but he was handcuffed. When the dust settled, the Dodgers had another run and men at the corners. Maglie struck out Gil Hodges, but Billy Cox was able to lace a hit to left for the Dodger's fourth run of the game. Maglie took care of Walker, but now was behind 4-1.

The Shot Heard 'Round the World

In the bottom of the eighth, Henry Thompson pinch hit and grounded out for Maglie. Sal was done for the day. History goes on to tell us that in the bottom of the ninth Newcombe would tire, giving up a run. The Dodgers would go to their bullpen and bring in Ralph Branca. With the score 4-2 and two men on base Bobby Thomson would hit "The Shot Heard 'Round the World," to give the Giants the 1951 National League title.

After spending 1952 and 1953 in the army, Willie Mays would return to the Giants. They responded by finishing with 97 wins, tops in the National League. They came into the World Series as tremendous underdogs, for in 1954 the Cleveland Indians had rolled to 111 wins, best in American League history. Game 1 would see Sal Maglie face twenty-three-game winner Bob Lemon.

As he did in 1951, Maglie had a troubled first inning. He missed badly with his first three pitches to Cleveland lead-off batter Al Smith. He hit with the fourth pitch, but it was Smith that he hit. AL batting champ Bobby Avila then stroked a single to right. Smith took advantage of some poor fielding to take third on the play. Maglie was then able to retire Larry Doby on a grounder and Al Rosen on a pop-up. Then Vic Wertz came to the plate. Wertz hit a liner to deep right-center. Mays and Mueller went back on the ball, but by the time Mays had returned the ball to the infield, Wertz was standing on third and the Indians had a 2-0 lead. This was troubling enough for the Giants to get Liddle up in the pen. Maglie was able to induce a fly to right by Philley to end the inning.

The Giants were able to put some runs on the board in the third inning. With no outs Whitey Lockman singled to right, and took third when Alvin Dark singled to center. Lockman scored when Mueller forced Dark at second. Mays drew a walk and then Thomson singled to right to score Meuller. Lemon was able to strike out Irvin, and then got a grounder out of Williams to retire the side. After three, the score sat even at 2-2.

The Catch

Maglie had been cruising. Outside several scattered hits, the Indians weren't able to do much on their own. However, just like in 1951, Sal Maglie faltered in the eighth. He gave up a lead-off walk to Larry Doby, and then Al Rosen lined a single past Dark. That was enough for the Giants. Sal was sent to the showers and Liddle was brought in to pitch. Liddle's first opponent was Vic Wertz. He hit a long fly ball that seemed destined for extra bases, but Willie Mays then completed perhaps the most famous defensive play in World Series history. He started running to the deep centerfield wall in the Polo Grounds. 450 feet from the plate Willie made an over-the-shoulder catch, twirled, and threw a frozen rope back to the infield. Neither runner was able to advance on the play. On that day the Giants would win in the bottom of the tenth on a three-run pinch homer by Dusty Rhodes. The events of this game would spark the Giants into a four-game sweep of the mighty Indians.

By 1956 Sal Maglie had found himself with the Brooklyn Dodgers instead of the New York Giants. On the other hand, he was back in the World Series. In game 5 he was to face the Yankee's Don Larsen. Maglie was having a great season, having tossed a no- hitter earlier in the year and winning the first game of the World Series. On this day however, he would have to beat perfection itself.

The game started out as one of the most incredible pitcher's duels of all time. For the first three innings not a single man reached base for either team. After Don Larsen retired the Dodgers in the top half of the fourth, Maglie was on his way to matching the feat. With two outs he had the misfortune of throwing a curve to Mickey Mantle that broke over the heart of the plate. Mantle put it into the short porch in right field of Yankee Stadium. The 1-0 lead would be all that the Yankees would need that day.

From this point on Maglie would be sharp but not invincible. In the fifth he surrendered a lead-off walk to Enos Slaughter. Billy Martin attempted to sacrifice him to second, but instead forced him. Gil McDonald then scorched a line drive that hit Pee Wee Reese. Reese was able to snare the ball before it hit the ground. Martin had been going to second, and was doubled off of first to end the inning.

In the sixth the Yankees would score again. Andy Carey got the second hit of the game to lead off the inning. Larsen then sacrificed Carey to second, and Hank Bauer then plated the runner with a single. Joe Collins followed with a single that sent Bauer to third, and it looked as if the Yankees were on the verge of breaking the game open. Mantle came to the plate and grounded down to Hodges at first. Hodges stepped on first to retire Mantle, and then threw home in an attempt to nail Bauer. Bauer saw the play coming and tried to return to third, but was out in the run-down.

In the seventh Billy Martin got the fifth and last hit off of Maglie. Maglie worked his way out of the inning, and then in a show of defiance, struck out the side in the eighth. That would the last the baseball world would see of Maglie that day. In the top of the ninth Dale Mitchell was sent to the plate to bat for Maglie. Mitchell looked at a called strike three to end Don Larsen's perfect game. Sal Maglie had given up only five hits and two walks, but had run into a man at the top of his game.

In the grand balance of things, Sal Maglie pitched very well in each of his three games. While he ran into trouble in the eighth inning in 1951 and 1954, he had been able to keep the Giants in both of those games. It is because of that fact that were able to win the pennant in 1951 and the World Series in 1954. In 1956 he pitched a whale of a game, Pee Wee Reese was quoted as saying he didn't think that either pitcher would give up a hit, but was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.