#TBT On this day in 1954, Willie Mays, made one of the most, if not the most,...
Posted by Buster Posey Fan Zone on
#TBT On this day in 1954, Willie Mays, made one of the most, if not the most, famous catches in MLB history! Many of you younger fans probably think of "The Catch" as the Joe Montana to Dwight Clark 49ers catch, but we long time Giants fans know that the real Catch was the one Mays made to win the first game of the New York Giants vs. the Cleveland Indians World Series in 1954. The Giants went on to sweep the Tribe and win their first World Championship since 1933!
The NY Giants home field, the Polo Grounds, was bigger than most MLB fields, so their outfielders were always at a big disadvantage. The score was tied, 2-2 in the top of the 8th. Giants starting pitcher Sal Maglie walked Indians batter Larry Doby and then gave up a single to Al Rosen, which put runners on first and second. Giants manager Leo Durocher summoned LH relief pitcher Don Liddle to replace Maglie and pitch to Cleveland's Wertz. (I'm skipping some exciting stuff here because I don't think people read long posts, but look up "Willie Mays, The Catch" on Wikipedia for the whole story!
Due to The Catch, the Giants went in to extra innings, and won 5-2 in the 10th after a 3 run walk-off homer! Reliever Liddle was replaced by Marv Grissom, to whom Mays supposedly said "Well, I got my man!" One of the other relievers in the pen said Willie always punched his glove when he knew he was going to make a catch, and he punched it that game and I knew he had it! Are there any of you long timers out there who saw this game? If so, say Hey!
Tonight, Johnny Baseball takes the hill for the rubber match vs. the Rockies at 7:15 on CSNBA. Enough torture, let's just win this one! GO GIANTS!
