folks- i've been lucky enough to see some clips of some really great catches.
there was:
willie mays outrunning the ball, let me say that twice; outrunning the ball, in that over-the-head catch off vic wertz in the first game of the '54 world series in the polo grounds' cavernous center field.
[ to my eye, it's still the greatest catch ever because of the situation and what it did: mays had been playing in because there were runners on first and second and nobody out in the eighth inning with the score tied at 2. he wanted to be ready to throw home. but wertz hit reliever don liddle's fourth pitch, not a floater, either, but an arcing line drive, about 465 feet from home plate. mays turned and, in two steps, was in full sprint toward the cinderblock centerfield wall, which was 475 feet from home. the ball went directly over mays' head, the hardest catch for any outfielder to make, and mays not only caught it as his feet crunched warning track but he spun on that track and made throw of about 235 feet to the cutoff man, keeping both runners from scoring. the giants went on to win in the 10th and take the series.]
ok, whew: other great catches, all of which are on youtube, include:
the angels' jim edmonds making a blind (as in he couldn't see the ball at the end), diving, over-the-head grab, flying toward the centerfield wall, against the royals in '97;
the mets' endy chavez rising high above the left field fence to rob the cards' scott rolen of a two-run homer and get a double play in the bargain at shea stadium in the 2006 nlcs;
now, that said, last night i saw on youtube what has to be the greatest catch i ever saw after mays' grab.
and it was made by a girl.
take a look and see if you agree.
it's at www.youtube.com/watch?v=4SqJz0NgnnE
-mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Wednesday 26th of February 2014 03:19:39 AM
-- Edited by mikehart on Wednesday 26th of February 2014 03:20:32 AM
Yeah Pete, and at the time I met Skip on his way off the field, and told him that the catch reminded me of Willie Mays' catch. To which Skip calmly replied, "Yeah but my man Willie was a lot younger when he made his catch!"
The same umpire in the photo said to me in a game last year that he's, "umpired over 1,500 games at Doubleday and covered high-schoolers to professionals and it's still the best catch [he's] ever seen."
And I'm upset that since Mike Hart PLAYED in this game that he didn't even give me recognition. I weep.
whoops! it appears i was punked. or as we said in the '40s, had.
mike clary found an urban legends website that claims the girl's leap was a fake, designed as part of a gatorade ad. here's what david emery, the website's writer, says:
"Turns out that amazing YouTube video of a ball girl kung-fu climbing the outfield wall to catch a high-flying foul was staged as a marketing gimmick for Gatorade. Is anyone surprised? The spot was conceived by Chicago ad agency Element 79 and directed by Baker Smith. "It's certainly an amazing fabrication of an amazing play," writes Bob Garfield of Advertising Age. "The ball girl is a stuntwoman who was lifted by cables as she planted her feet against the wall, a sequence cut into actual game footage and enhanced with a bit of CGI and a perfectly natural-sounding announcer track."
my first reaction? too bad, i wish the catch were real.
then, i thought, well, it was fun to watch, anyway; and it raises the imaginative bar of what someone, man or woman, might do one day. you gotta imagine it before you can do it. (in james hirsch's fine recent biography, willie mays tells hirsch that none of his catches ever surprised him. when hirsch asked why, mays said, "because i saw them all before i did them." it seems the night before games, mays would go over the lineup he was facing, consider the giants' pitcher they'd bat against, and then try to imagine where the opposing hitters might hit the ball.)
i also liked the fact that the posting sparked some good talk from us about great local plays. if guys want to contribute more "great catch stories" here, so much the better. we should celebrate ourselves.
so, john, i remember that video when it was on sports center (the park is also a half-mile from my house), and, you're right, it was a terrific catch and a great piece of sportsmanship by the hitter.
and pete and mike, i wish we had video of skip's catch, or his catches. i remember seeing him make two really pretty catches in deep center (neither, fortunately, or not, were my hits), both running away from home, one to his left, one to his right, and in both cases, i thought he wasn't going to get to the ball. he not only caught them, but he did it smoothly, gliding, just reaching up and taking the ball out of the air.
wouldn't it be great if we could have cameras on poles at our games, constantly running, and feeding images to the internet? maybe one day.
actually, rob, i could use a camera to recall your catch at cooperstown. or i wish you'd described it. i think i remember you, diving for a foul ball and catching that, stretched out, sliding on gravel and grass and guys shouting from everywhere. yes? do i remember it right? if not, don't weep. you can tell me this summer, when i expect i'll see more fine catches from you.
and so, now, my list of great catches caught on film goes: willie mays, endy chavez and jim edmonds. plus torii hunter's sweet steal of barry bonds' homer in the all-star game.
-mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Thursday 27th of February 2014 12:56:13 AM
I remember one time in my backyard in the summertime me and my seven brothers and sisters were hungry and mom only had a six pack of hotdogs for all of us. Not wanting to single anyone out, mom cooked them wieners,gathered those meat puppies in her loving hands, and told us all to get ready. Taking the last swig out of her now empty gin bottle, she tossed those tubes of smashed pig testes out over the lawn. You can imagine the diving catches made on that day. Mommy said those catches were the best ever.
Best catch I ever made was when i was 11yrs.old, standing on the mound at colonie l.l. first pitch I threw in the 2nd. Inning.this 12 yr. Old kid by the name of ted poleto hit one back at me that hit me in the upper left thigh. It sounded like rocky punching a side of beef,and looked like it too.luckily,I was riding high and to the right,or my
Thats a 2 point deduction by the marx bros Comedy judgement squad for not using the rimshot sound effect.
P.s.-hey mike, remember them? P.s.s.-mike, if you remember back in the forties when the phrase"you been had" was popular, that would make you...........
Love you like the brother I never wanted Pete
-- Edited by pkw1217 on Thursday 27th of February 2014 11:40:44 AM
While the Wertz catch seems to be the trademark moment of his brilliant career, Mays claims it's not his best.
If you never saw Mays play, consider this from the autobiography of Willie Mays writen by John Saccoman of the Society of American Baseball research:
One of the many outstanding defensive plays of his rookie season came at Pittsburgh. Rocky Nelson hit a shot to deepest center field, and Mays tracked it down looking over his shoulder, but the ball hooked away from his glove. He caught the ball barehanded on the dead run. The Pirates general manager, Branch Rickey, called it the finest catch I have ever seen.27
Others would say that a double play he initiated against the Dodgers with a spectacular catch of Carl Furillos slicing line drive and a whirling throw to nab Billy Cox at the plate preserving a tie, was the best. Dodgers manager Chuck Dressen said, Id like to see him do it again. (Where was ESPN?)
Mays recalled a catch he made in Trenton in 1950. He said that Lou Heyman of Wilmington hit a ball 405 feet to dead center and he caught it barehanded, bounced off the wall, and threw a strike to home plate - on the fly!
Said Saccoman: "Many contemporary players and writers agree with Leo Durochers assessment of Willie Mays as the best all-around player in baseball history. Mike Lupica, longtime columnist for the New York Daily News, quoted the late Boston columnist George Frazier on the combination and star power of an athlete such as Mays. That guy has some Willie Mays in him, the same way you used to say this singer or that had some Elvis in him.2 Former teammate and manager Bill Rigney said about Mays, All I can say is that he is the greatest player I ever saw, bar none.3 In baseballs never-ending attempts to somehow order its gods, Mays is the only contender whose proponents rarely use statistics to make their case. It is as if Mayss 660 home runs and 3,283 hits somehow sell the man short, that his wonderful playing record is almost beside the point. With Mays it is not merely what he did but how he did it. He scored more than 2,000 runs, nearly all of them, it would seem, after losing his cap flying around third base. He is credited with more than 7,000 outfield putouts, many exciting, some spectacular, a few breathtaking. How do you measure that? An artist and a genius, for most of his 22 seasons in the big leagues, you simply could not keep your eyes off Willie Mays.''
In a game against the Pirates in New York, Mays his two home runs, then went home and hit another home run playing stick ball with a bunch of 14-15-year-old neighborhood kids. His stickball prowess is legendary.
Mays led the NL in stolen bases 4 years in a row. In 1954, Mays led the NL in hittiing (.345), HRs (41) and triples (13) and drove in 110 runs.
In 1955, Mays had 51 home runs, 127 RBIs, hit .319 and became the 7th player in baseball history to hit more than 50 homers in a season. He also led the NL in triples and slugging percentage and was second in stolen bases with 24 in 28 attempts, a success rate of better than 85 percent. Mays also led the NL in outfield assists that year with 23, and in OF double plays with 8.
In 1956, MLB began the Golden Glove awards. Mays won it for his play in CF 12 straight years.
Since I'm old enough to have seen Mays in his prime, I have never seen a player since who can hold a candle to his overall game. But the one moment I will never forget and remains vivid to this day is a nationally televised weekend game in August 1962 between Dodgers and Giants. Giants ace Juan Marichal was in the batters box when Dodgers' catcher John Roseboro whistled a return pitch from Sandy Koufax that narrowly missed Marichal's ear. It was a message Roseboro sent to Marichal for knocking down two Dodgers in the first three innings. Marichal retaliated, clubbing Roseboro with the bat. Both benches emptied. Mays rushed to Roseboro and cradled his bloody head till the trainers arrived. After the air had cleared, the batter for the ejected Marichal made the second out. Koufax, shaken from the incident walked the next two batters. Mays then blasted a 3-run homer and the Giants won 4-3.
In what many baseball analysts call the greatest pitching matchup ever, starting pitchers Warren Spahn and Juan Marichal went toe-to-toe for 15 innings without giving up a run. Mays homered in the 16th to end the game. Mays is also one of the few who have hit 4 HRs in a game. He was on-deck when the last out was made denying him a chance for 5.
For me, the greatest outfield ever is Mays, Aaron and Clemente. I'm sure others have different viewpoints.
To appredciate Mays' accomplishments, you have to read his autobiography. Hopefully one day a movie will be made about his life. Thanx for allowing me to ramble and relive those great memories. The reason I'm a Giants fan? That was the first Little League team I played on. Then I saw Mays! Go Giants!
well said, jimmy. thanks for the heads up about saccoman's book.
to my eye (and i was there) the three best players of all time are babe ruth,willie mays and mickey mantle. after that, fans can fight over numbers 4 to 4,000.
as for the outfield, hard to say: if you're talking about great fielders or great arms or guys who can do both and hit. i'm assuming it's the latter. if so, if we're looking at the whole picture, i'd have to choose those same three guys: mays, mantle and ruth.
mantle's stats, especially while playing with taped legs, are simply amazing. i'm a huge clemente fan, so i was surprised to see that in 12 offensive categories, mantle leads clemente in seven, including stolen bases (153-83) and caught stealing (38-46). both men played 18 years; mantle started in '51; clemente in '55.
mantle's big edge, over lots of players, comes in on base percentage (.577) and ops (.977). clemente's figures were .359 and .834. willie mays' were .384 and .941. aaron's were .374 and .928. ruth's opb was good, at .474, but his ops was off the charts at 1.164.
ruth was actually a very good outfielder with a mays-like arm after he left pitching. but increasingly he grew his pot and slowe leigh montville's fairly recent, and very good ruth biography explains that: ruth's trainers told him not to run, or workout much, during the season. running, they said, was bad for his legs. given ruth's gargantuan appetite, and lack of exercise (other than playing baseball all day and partying all night) it's amazing he played as long as he did.
now if you're talking sentiment, or feeling (especially feelings developed as a kid), and you don't rely solely on facts, then there's no argument. any outfielders who lift you out of your seats with great plays and fine hitting can patrol your mind and heart's "best all time outfield." and they should.
-mike
-- Edited by mikehart on Wednesday 5th of March 2014 01:56:45 AM
-- Edited by mikehart on Wednesday 5th of March 2014 01:57:30 AM
I KNOW you didn't see Ruth play, that's why I explained my perspective from who I actually saw play.
But in that era, I favor NL players because of their dominance in what was then fiercely competitive all-star games and World Series play. Mantle with healthy legs would have been up there. But I also don't look at just stats. Mays, in my heart, actually controlled the outcome of games more than any one single player ever.
Aaron was the original silent assassin. He did many of the same things as Mays, but without the flare. Aaron never hit 50 HRs in a season, so for him to break Ruth's record for career HRs says he is probably the most consistent player of his time - all while hitting over .300 and stealing a whole lotta bases. With all due respect to Roger Maris, Jesse Barfield, Dave Parker, Dwight Evans, Larry Walker ... Aaron, Clemente and Mays arguably had the best arms of any OFers ever. And they were all clutch players. jk
