JOE ADCOCK

Joe Adcock stood 6-foot-4 and weighed around 255 in his cleats. What he did in the shadows of Eddie Mathews and Henry Aaron in Milwaukee was to create some mega-might fables with his bat and otherwise go unheralded as a real star of the '50s. Unheralded is a truism when you speak of "Big Joe." He kept surveying crews busy trying to locate his missles of over 450 feet. Besides Luke Easter, Adcock is the only other player to hit a ball into the Polo Grounds centerfield bleachers. Luke did it in the Negro Leagues. But Joe's biggest clout was a titantic blast that went out over the double-decked left-field stands at Ebbets Field! No one ever did that before or after.

Joe hit 336 lifetime homers and it would be interesting to know how many of those weren 't 400 + footers.

Joe finished his career in 1966 with the California Angels, hitting .273 with 18 home runs at age 39. Adcock had the similar lean, sinewy strength as Hodges and in the same quiet way, won the respect and admiration of countless fans. He was a bonafide '50s star. He was unfortunately plagued by an injury jinx that struck both in '55 and in '57.

Joe holds a unique batting record that will likely never be touched. On July 13,1954, the lean, hard Adcock hit four home runs and a double in a nine inning game as the Braves beat the Dodgers 15-7. Joe had seven RBI, but set the record for total bases in the game with 18! The double missed being a homer by one-and-a-half feet.

Editor's Note: Amazingly, Shawn Green managed to break Adcock's record. Read about Green's day and Paul Wysard's memory of Adcock's feat.