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Hoodwinked: How Ed Meador outwitted NFL Cardinals

Posted in Football, Games, Opponents on September 18, 2023| 11 Comments »

Ed Meador was good at duping the St. Louis football Cardinals. He did that at least a couple of times.

A defensive back for the Los Angeles Rams, Meador successfully pulled off a fake field goal attempt versus the Cardinals. He also tricked their quarterback, Jim Hart, into throwing passes to Jackie Smith that got intercepted.

As the old saying goes, “Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.”

The Cardinals weren’t alone, though, in getting outmaneuvered by Meador. In his 12 seasons with the Rams (1959-70), Meador totaled 46 interceptions (returning five for touchdowns), 22 fumble recoveries and 10 blocked kicks.

Ram tough

As a college player, Meador was a standout running back and defensive back for the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys. He was taken by the Rams (whose general manager was Pete Rozelle) in the seventh round of the 1959 NFL draft.

Placed with the defensive unit at Rams training camp in 1959, Meador impressed and won a starting cornerback spot as a rookie. “He has all the essentials to become an outstanding defensive back,” Rams head coach Sid Gillman told the Los Angeles Times. “He has speed and tremendous reactions. He has more poise than any rookie I’ve ever encountered.”

Defensive backs coach Jack Faulkner said to the newspaper, “I’ve never coached any first-year man with greater potential.”

After five seasons (1959-63) as a cornerback, Meador was moved to free safety in 1964 and stayed there the rest of his career. Los Angeles Times columnist Jim Murray noted, “As free safety, he goes where the ball does. With eyesight better than normal, and the speed of a startled doe, he is the surest tackler in the NFL.”

Meador said the toughest player to tackle was Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers. “I’d much rather tackle a big man who’s trying to run over me. They don’t have the lateral movement,” Meador said to the Los Angeles Times. “Sayers is the best runner in football because when you try to get hold of him, he’s suddenly five yards away from you. The trick is to keep your eye on his belt buckle. His shoes may be going one way and his hat may be going the other, but he can’t get too far away from his belt.”

Right move

Because of his sure hands, Meador also was the holder on field goal and extra point attempts.

On Dec. 5, 1965, the Rams led the Cardinals, 20-3, in the fourth quarter when, on fourth down at the St. Louis 11-yard line, they set up for a Bruce Gossett field goal try. Instead, after the ball was snapped and Gossett went into his kicking motion, Meador got up and “scampered around right end with the ball, beating several Cardinals defenders to the corner of the end zone” for a touchdown, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Rams head coach Harland Svare told the newspaper, “We have had that play for three years, but it didn’t work until today. When you’re ahead, you can afford to do things like this.”

The Rams won, 27-3, marking the first time since 1962 versus the Green Bay Packers that the Cardinals failed to score a touchdown in a game. Game stats

Doing the unexpected

In the 1968 season opener, the Rams harassed Cardinals quarterback Jim Hart and won, 24-13. Hart had six passes knocked down, three by defensive end Lamar Lundy, was sacked five times and intercepted three times.

Meador made two of the interceptions. His 20-yard return with the first set up a Rams touchdown. The second prevented a Cardinals field goal attempt. Both picks came on Hart passes to tight end Jackie Smith, who was running hook patterns. “We had him covered inside and out,” Meador told the Los Angeles Times.

The coverage was not what Hart was expecting. Because Rams strong safety Ron Smith was new to the position, head coach George Allen had Meador, the free safety, help out in covering Jackie Smith.

As the Los Angeles Times explained, “Hart was keying on the tight safety (Ron Smith) on each occasion. He did not see Meador on either play. NFL quarterbacks are not in the habit of watching out for free safeties when they throw to the tight safety’s man. Meador skillfully took advantage of this fact to run for the ball the instant Hart unlimbered.”

George Allen said to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, “He’s the best free safety in pro football.” Game stats

Meador was one of three safeties selected to the NFL’s all-decade team for the 1960s. The other two, Larry Wilson of the Cardinals and Willie Wood of the Packers, were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Meador also was named to the Pro Bowl six times _ 1960 and each year from 1964 to 1968. He played in 159 consecutive games for the Rams before sitting out one because of an injury.

Columnist Sid Ziff wrote, “Watching Meador, you wonder how anybody can be that good all the time. He never has an off night.” Video highlights

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Browns produced gem for final win in St. Louis

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Pitchers on September 13, 2023| 6 Comments »

(Updated July 3, 2024)

The last home win in St. Louis for the Browns featured two pitchers _ one on the way up; the other on the way down _ who played prominent roles in 1950s baseball lore.

Ralph Branca of the Detroit Tigers and Bob Turley of the Browns engaged in a classic duel at St. Louis on Sept. 5, 1953. Each went the distance in a game the Browns won, 1-0, in 12 innings.

Branca, the Brooklyn Dodgers reject, nearly held the Browns hitless the first nine innings. Turley, a rookie, overpowered the Tigers with a fastball that was perhaps the best in the American League.

As Bob Burnes of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat noted, “This was one of the year’s best ballgames anyplace.”

Witnessed before a mere 1,960 spectators on a Saturday night, it turned out to be the last time the Browns won at home. Three weeks later, the franchise was moved to Baltimore and renamed the Orioles.

Something to prove

Branca was 18 when he debuted with the Dodgers in 1944. He earned 21 wins for them in 1947 and came close to pitching two no-hitters against the St. Louis Cardinals that season.

His good work got obscured by the pennant-clinching home run he gave up to Bobby Thomson of the New York Giants at the Polo Grounds in 1951. 

The next time Branca pitched at the Polo Grounds, he allowed six runs, including a Hank Thompson grand slam, in one inning of work on July 5, 1953. Boxscore

A week later, with his ERA for the season at 9.82, the Dodgers placed Branca on waivers. Every team in the National League, including the Cardinals, declined to claim him. The American League Tigers decided to take a chance.

“I see no reason why he can’t be a big winner for us,” Tigers manager Fred Hutchinson said to the Associated Press. “He’s an intelligent, levelheaded fellow who seems to have all the equipment of a good pitcher.”

In his Tigers debut, against the Browns at Detroit, Branca gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, Johnny Groth. Before the inning was over, Vic Wertz also connected against Branca for a two-run homer. Branca settled down after that and held the Browns scoreless for four innings but was the losing pitcher. Boxscore

Branca got a complete-game win in his next start versus the Athletics. “When the result was announced over the Ebbets Field loudspeaker (in Brooklyn), the jammed stands cheered long and loud,” the New York Daily News reported. Boxscore

Two months later, as he approached his start against the Browns at St. Louis, Branca was 3-4 with a 4.63 ERA with the Tigers.

Local prospect

Bob Turley went to Central High School in East St. Louis, Ill. “He had been a good sandlot pitcher but he wasn’t sensational,” the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted.

Browns chief scout Jack Fournier, a former Cardinals first baseman, thought otherwise. In the book “We Played the Game,” Turley said, “Fournier had discovered me pitching in a municipal league in East St. Louis in 1948 and asked me to take the nickel bus ride across the river to try out at Sportsman’s Park.”

The Browns signed Turley, 17, on the night he graduated from high school and sent him to the Belleville (Ill.) Stags, their Class D farm club. “Belleville wasn’t pitching him at first, so we almost had to fire the manager in order to get them to let Turley pitch,” Browns general manager Bill DeWitt Sr. recalled to the Post-Dispatch.

Turley was 23-5 for the Class C Aberdeen (S.D.) Pheasants in 1949 and 20-8 for the Class AA San Antonio Missions in 1951. San Antonio manager Jo-Jo White, a former big-league outfielder, told the Post-Dispatch, “Turley has everything _ a good fastball, two of the meanest curves I’ve ever seen, the strength to pitch all day, and nerve.”

Turley, 21, got called up to the Browns in September 1951 and made one appearance, a start at home against the White Sox, and lost on a Saturday afternoon before 1,014 fans. “Almost everybody in the stands was my family,” Turley told author Danny Peary. “I got the loss but it was still a real thrill.” Boxscore

A month later, Turley began a two-year hitch in the Army. When he rejoined the Browns in August 1953, he and Harry Brecheen became road roommates. Turley was 22. Brecheen, the former Cardinals pitcher who joined the Browns for his final season, was 38.

In the book “We Played the Game,” Turley recalled, “When I was 11, a team I was on played a three-inning game in Sportsman’s Park before the Cardinals’ game. Our manager gave each of us baseballs for autographing and I asked Harry to sign my ball. He was pitching that day and said he didn’t have time. When we roomed together, you bet your life I reminded him of that day.

“I liked Harry. He was a funny guy with a dry sense of humor and a lot of common sense. He taught me pitching fundamentals, which was important because in those days there weren’t pitching coaches to help us develop.”

On Aug. 31, 1953, Turley, 22, relieved starter Satchel Paige, 47, in the sixth inning against the Washington Senators. Turley hit a home run against Sonny Dixon, but gave up the winning run and took the loss. Boxscore

Turley’s next appearance came in the start versus Ralph Branca and the Tigers.

Pair of aces

It was evident from the start of the game that both Branca and Turley were sharp.

Branca retired the first 12 batters he faced before Vic Wertz opened the fifth with a walk. The first hit he allowed came in the sixth, an infield single by Johnny Groth off the glove of second baseman Fred Hatfield. Branca told The Sporting News, “Hatfield could have thrown out Groth if he had come up with the ball.”

Groth’s single was the Browns’ only hit against Branca in the first nine innings.

Turley was tough, too, striking out 10 Tigers in the first six innings.

Both pitchers took shutouts into the 12th. In the bottom half of the inning, Dick Kokos ended the drama with a home run onto the pavilion roof in right.

Turley allowed three hits, walked four and struck out 14. Branca gave up four hits, walked one and fanned eight. Boxscore

Different paths

The next day, the Tigers won, 5-2, at St. Louis. Then the Browns embarked on a 14-game road trip and went 6-8. They returned to St. Louis to close out the season with a three-game series against the White Sox. The Browns lost all three. The finale, played on Sept. 27, 1953, before 3,174 customers, went 11 innings. Boxscore

Two days later, American League owners approved the move of the Browns from St. Louis to Baltimore after club owner Bill Veeck agreed to sell his controlling interest to a group led by attorney Clarence Miles for $2.5 million.

Branca and Turley took different career paths in 1954. Branca had a 5.76 ERA in 17 games when the Tigers released him in July. After brief stints with the Yankees and Dodgers, he was done pitching at 30 in 1956.

Turley emerged as a force in the American League with the 1954 Orioles. Though he walked more batters (181) than any pitcher in the league, Turley also struck out the most (185) and had 14 wins for a team that totaled 54.

“He’ll be the next to strike out 300 in a season,” Cleveland Indians fireballer Bob Feller predicted to the Post-Dispatch.

Yankees manager Casey Stengel told the newspaper, “He’s the fastest in our league, I’ll guarantee that. Maybe he’s the fastest in baseball. Turley has a great future. He could be a 30-game winner when he reaches his peak.”

After the 1954 season, Turley, along with pitcher Don Larsen, was traded to the Yankees. He told author Danny Peary it was “the greatest day of my life” because it gave him a chance to pitch for a contender.

In his autobiography “The Mick,” Yankees slugger Mickey Mantle said Turley had a knack for determining when an opposing pitcher was going to throw a fastball. Turley would tip off Mantle and other Yankees batters. “Bob would signal me with a piercing whistle if he saw one coming,” Mantle said.

Also, “Turley could throw hard,” Mantle said. “When he was right, nobody threw harder. He was also very smart businesswise. Wherever we went, I’d find him unfolding The Wall Street Journal and reading it from front to back.”

In 1958, Turley (21-7, 2.97 ERA) won the Cy Young Award and was named most valuable player of the World Series. In Game 5 against the Braves, he pitched a five-hit shutout and struck out 10, including Hank Aaron twice. In the decisive Game 7, he relieved Larsen in the third, held the Braves to a run in 6.2 innings and got the win. Boxscore

Turley pitched in five World Series for the Yankees and won four times.

He and Branca finished with somewhat similar records in the big leagues. Branca: 88-68, 3.79 ERA. Turley: 101-85, 3.69.

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Ben Wilson got rewarded for perseverance, professionalism

Posted in Football, Games, Opponents on September 8, 2023| 8 Comments »

One measure of a winner is the ability to come through under pressure. Fullback Ben Wilson passed the test multiple times.

He did it in college for the University of Southern California (USC), helping the Trojans win a national championship with big performances against UCLA and Notre Dame, and then in the Rose Bowl versus Wisconsin.

He did it in the pros, too, winning a job with the Green Bay Packers after being pushed aside by the Los Angeles Rams, helping Vince Lombardi’s team win a third consecutive NFL title.

Wilson also contributed to wins for the Rams and Packers against the St. Louis Cardinals in ways that went beyond the game statistics.

Known as Big Ben long before Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger got the nickname, Wilson valued education and understood the importance of preparing for a life outside of sports.

Big bruiser

Leaving his hometown of Houston, Wilson became a pre-med student at USC and played three years of varsity football as a fullback for head coach John McKay. Years later, reflecting on his senior season, Wilson told the Los Angeles Times, “Do you know I weighed 250 pounds in 1962? I was bigger than most college linemen and I overpowered them.”

UCLA linebacker Ronnie Hull told the newspaper, “He’s big as a house and as fleet as a deer.”

Wilson got off to a cautious start his senior season. He had undergone surgery in May 1962 to remove a bone chip in his right knee, an operation identical to one he had two years earlier on the other knee, according to the Los Angeles Times. He got better as the season progressed.

On Nov. 24, 1962, USC ran its record to 9-0 with a 14-3 triumph versus UCLA. Wilson scored the Trojans’ first touchdown and he set up the second, rumbling eight yards to UCLA’s 1-yard line before quarterback Pete Beathard carried for the score. Wilson, who averaged 4.6 yards on 10 carries, was awarded the game ball.

The next week, USC faced Notre Dame in the regular-season finale. In Wilson’s sophomore and junior seasons, Notre Dame had held USC scoreless and won handily both times.

It was a different story on Dec. 1, 1962. Playing before 81,676 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, USC prevailed, 25-0, and finished its regular-season schedule at 10-0. Wilson averaged 4.5 yards on 16 carries, rushed for two touchdowns and received a standing ovation.

Notre Dame’s Frank Budka fractured his right leg trying to bring down Wilson on one of his runs.

“We’ve faced some good fullbacks, but he’s the best by far,” Notre Dame quarterback Daryle Lamonica told the Los Angeles Times.

Wilson said to the newspaper, “This was my best game as a Trojan.”

For the second consecutive week, Wilson was awarded the game ball, but he gave it to tackle and co-captain Marv Marinovich. “I didn’t want to be selfish,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times.

On Jan. 1, 1963, with his father, mother, three sisters and a cousin from Houston in attendance, Wilson carried 17 times and scored a touchdown in USC’s 42-37 triumph against Wisconsin in the Rose Bowl at Pasadena, Calif. The Associated Press declared the 11-0 Trojans the national college football champions.

Different drill

Asked his plans for pro football after being drafted by the Rams, Wilson told the Los Angeles Times, “It all depends on whether the deal is enough. I’ve always wanted to be a doctor, but then I got interested in dentistry. The more I think about it, the more I like it. If I am accepted in dental school, and the pro deal isn’t good enough for me to set something aside, it would be useless to play.”

The Rams signed him to a two-year, no-cut contract at $20,000 a year and a $20,000 bonus spread over two years, the Los Angeles Times reported. “This gives me a chance to go to dental school,” Wilson told the newspaper.

As a rookie, Wilson was the Rams’ second-leading rusher in 1963, but after the season he told them he was leaving football and would enroll in the USC school of dentistry in the fall of 1964.

“I couldn’t find any school program where I could play football and continue my dental studies the rest of the year,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times. “I eventually want a position where I’m economically secure and at the same time getting personal satisfaction out of doing something for my fellow man. I’ve been accepted at USC and _ who knows? _ if I waited a few more years I might not be able to get in.”

The Rams tried to convince Wilson to stick with them, but when training camp opened he hadn’t changed his mind. “This idea of being a dentist is one I have nurtured for years,” he told the Los Angeles Times. “More than that, I feel like I want to do more for humanity than just entertain it.”

In August 1964, Wilson and Rams owner Dan Reeves found a solution. The University of Tennessee agreed to allow Wilson to play pro football and go to its dentistry school the rest of the year. Dean of admissions Eugene Tragesser told United Press International that Wilson had been accepted as the first black student at the University of Tennessee dental school and was expected to enroll in January 1965.

The Rams offered to pay the $7,500 annual tuition fee, the Los Angeles Evening Citizen News reported.

Wilson rejoined the Rams at training camp in late August 1964. “I’ve never seen a more intense worker,” Rams head coach Harland Svare said to the Los Angeles Times. “He’s got great desire, and he’s a great team man.”

(According to the Los Angeles newspaper, Wilson eventually had second thoughts about dentistry and chose to seek a master’s degree in business at USC.)

No longer wanted

Wilson was the Rams’ leading rusher in 1964. A year later, they went with a backfield by committee. In a 27-3 rout of the Cardinals on Dec. 5, 1965, the Rams used Dick Bass and Willie Brown “to soften up the Cardinals and then polished them off with the bull backs, Ben Wilson and Les Josephson,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

After George Allen replaced Harland Svare as head coach in 1966, Wilson reported to training camp about 15 pounds lighter at 219.

“I carried too much weight to move like an NFL back should,” Wilson said to the Los Angeles Times. “I was like a runaway locomotive once I got up a full head of steam. I was just too heavy to cut effectively. So I just moved in a straight line.”

In an August 1966 exhibition versus the Dallas Cowboys, Wilson rushed for 88 yards on 20 carries, but just before the regular season began he was placed on waivers. “It was quite a shock,” he told The Sporting News.

When Wilson went unclaimed, the Rams put him on their reserve list, or taxi squad, and he spent the entire 1966 season there without appearing in a game.

Wilson told the Green Bay Press-Gazette, “To be put on waivers is a humiliating thing at best _ very humiliating. When you are unable to make a connection with any club, it’s not the most ego-building thing that could happen to you.”

Playing to win

In July 1967, Wilson, 28, got a chance to extend his playing career when the Packers acquired him from the Rams for a draft choice. Jim Taylor, the fullback who led the Packers in rushing for seven consecutive seasons (1960-67), was sent to the New Orleans Saints. A second-year pro, Jim Grabowski, replaced him and the Packers wanted Wilson to be his backup.

Asked at training camp by the Green Bay Press-Gazette what it was like being coached by Vince Lombardi, Wilson replied, “He’s very tough, but he’s fair, and he’s dedicated to winning. I don’t think I’d want it any other way.”

Seeking their third straight NFL championship, the Packers entered the 1967 season with Grabowski and halfback Elijah Pitts as the starters, and Wilson and Donny Anderson as the reserves.

On Oct. 1, in the Packers’ romp over the Atlanta Falcons, Wilson got to play more than usual and did well, rushing for 82 yards and a touchdown.

Mostly, though, he served as a blocker on kickoff returns. In the seventh game of the season, Lombardi inserted rookie Travis Williams as the kick returner and he ran back three for 151 yards, including a touchdown, against the Cardinals. Game stats

Williams went on to return four kickoffs for touchdowns with the 1967 Packers. “They were wedge returns,” Lombardi told The Sporting News.

The blockers forming the wedge for Williams were, from left to right, linebacker Tommy Crutcher, guard Gale Gillingham, tackle Forrest Gregg and Wilson.

Job well done

In the Packers’ eighth game of the 1967 season, against the Baltimore Colts, both Jim Grabowski (knee) and Elijah Pitts (Achilles tendon) were injured. Wilson and Donny Anderson replaced them as the starting running backs.

The next week, facing the Cleveland Browns, Wilson had his first 100-yard rushing game as a pro. He followed that with 110 total yards (80 rushing and 30 receiving) versus the San Francisco 49ers and scored two touchdowns against the Minnesota Vikings.

Soon after, Wilson suffered foot and rib injuries. With Grabowski still sidelined, the Packers turned to a third-string fullback, Chuck Mercein.

Mercein was the fullback in the Packers’ playoff wins against the Rams and Cowboys (in the game dubbed the Ice Bowl).

Next up for the Packers was Super Bowl II in Miami against the Oakland Raiders. (The Raiders quarterback was the same Daryle Lamonica who started for Notre Dame in the game Wilson carried USC to victory.)

About 10 minutes before kickoff at the Super Bowl, Wilson was surprised to learn that he, not Mercein, would be the starting fullback.

He told the Green Bay Press-Gazette, “Coach Lombardi came over and said, ‘How do you feel?’ I said, ‘I feel fine.’ He looked at me kind of funny and walked away. A few minutes later, he came back and again asked me, ‘How do you feel?’ “

When Wilson assured the coach he felt fine, Lombardi said, “If you feel good, then we’ll start you.”

Though he sat out part of the fourth quarter after losing a contact lens, Wilson was the Packers’ leading rusher in the game, with 62 yards on 17 carries, and the Packers prevailed, 33-14.

Moving on

The Super Bowl turned out to be Wilson’s final game.

In March 1968, he had an operation to remove cartilage from his left knee, but there were complications and the knee did not respond.

Wilson reported to training camp (Phil Bengtson had replaced Lombardi as head coach) but told the Green Bay newspaper the knee had undergone “a fantastic amount of atrophy.”

The Packers took him off the roster before the start of the 1968 season.

Wilson went on to own five McDonald’s restaurants in Houston. According to his obituary, he enjoyed singing, fishing, crossword puzzles, card games, was extremely outgoing and never met a stranger.

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Maxie Baughan excelled as quarterback of NFL defenses

Posted in Football, Games, Opponents on September 4, 2023| 8 Comments »

Whether as a player or as a coach, Maxie Baughan was good at sizing up situations and calling the shots.

An outside linebacker who played in the NFL primarily from 1960 to 1970 with the Philadelphia Eagles and Los Angeles Rams, Baughan was the captain of the defense and chose the alignment for each play during a game.

Described by the New York Times as “one of the most fearsome linebackers of the 1960s,” Baughan was named to the Pro Bowl in nine of his first 10 seasons in the NFL. He knocked heads with the St. Louis Cardinals multiple times.

Baughan went on to have a long coaching career as an assistant in the NFL and as head coach in college at Cornell.

Ramblin’ Wreck

Baughan attended high school in Bessemer, Ala., a major steelmaking center. Recalling his boyhood days, Baughan told Gannett News Service, “I was going into the mills since as long as I can remember. I knew the first time I went in I didn’t want to work in there the rest of my life.”

(According to The Birmingham News, Baughan’s father, an electrician, died when he fell from a ladder at a coal mine near Birmingham in June 1961. He was 52. Baughan Sr. suffered a heart attack, fell onto high-voltage wires and was electrocuted, the Binghamton [N.Y.] Press and Sun-Bulletin reported.)

Maxie Baughan played football at Georgia Tech and excelled as a linebacker and center. “He’s one of the most consistently great football players I have coached,” head coach Bobby Dodd told the Philadelphia Inquirer.

(Baughan was quite a baseball fan, too. While at Georgia Tech, “I used to go all the time to old Ponce de Leon Park in Atlanta to see the [minor-league] Crackers and I loved it,” he said to The Montogmery [Ala.] Advertiser.)

Baughan graduated from Georgia Tech with a degree in industrial engineering.

As a youth, Baughan earned the Boy Scouts of America’s highest rank, the Eagle Scout Award. As a professional football player, Baughan became a Philadelphia Eagle. The team selected him in the second round of the 1960 NFL draft.

The Natural

The 1960 Eagles were a tough, talented group featuring Chuck Bednarik, Tom Brookshier, Tommy McDonald, Pete Retzlaff, Joe Robb and Norm Van Brocklin. Though a rookie, Baughan fit right in.

A brawl broke out on the field in a 1960 exhibition game between the Eagles and San Francisco 49ers. Hugh McElhenny, the 49ers running back who was nicknamed “The King” and who was destined for election to the Pro Football Hall of Fame, “was dropkicking the back of the head” of Eagles defensive tackle Ed Khayat, the Philadelphia Daily News reported.

According to the newspaper, Baughan came to Khayat’s rescue, “driving McElhenny clear across the field, pumping the heels of his hands into the veteran’s chest and finally lifting his helmet to deliver the fist de grace.”

Baughan said to the Daily News, “When I saw him kick Ed in the head, I just had to go after him.”

The rookie’s action earned him the respect of his teammates. His play as a linebacker earned him a spot as a starter. “He’s quick as a cat,” Eagles assistant coach Nick Skorich told the Daily News. “He uses his hands beautifully. He has good play sense, and he’s a hard, sharp tackler.”

Baughan looked the part, too. The Sporting News described him as “pug-nosed, weather-beaten.” Sandy Grady of the Philadelphia Bulletin put it this way: “A face that was forged in a furnace … pugnacity, intelligence and violence written on it.”

The first time he faced the St. Louis Cardinals, on Oct. 9, 1960, Baughan made 10 tackles, including seven unassisted, and broke up a pass, United Press International reported. Game stats

“He’s one of the hardest tacklers on the team, a quick thinker, fast, alert and as gung-ho as they come,” The Sporting News noted. “He took over on the starting unit as if the position had been made for him.”

The Eagles won the 1960 NFL championship, in part because of a defense that limited Vince Lombardi’s Green Bay Packers to 13 points in the title game.

L.A. story

In 1965, the Eagles opened the season against the Cardinals. With the score tied 20-20 at halftime, Baughan, captain of the defense, convinced head coach Joe Kuharich to call off the blitzes against quarterback Charley Johnson.

“We couldn’t blitz too much against them,” Baughan said to the Philadelphia Daily News. “Heck, they invented the blitz. They can pick it right up.”

Instead, with Baughan calling the defensive signals, the Eagles faked the blitz, then realigned their formation at the last instance. The jitter-bugging defense “completely confounded” Johnson, according to the Daily News. The Eagles limited the Cardinals to seven points in the second half and won, 34-27. Game stats

As the season progressed, the relationship between Baughan and Kuharich got rocky. “Near the end, the two of them were getting along like Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor in ‘Virginia Woolf,’ ” the Philadelphia Inquirer noted.

After the season, amid reports Baughan wanted to be traded, Los Angeles Rams head coach George Allen called Kuharich “31 times in as many days,” trying to make a deal for the linebacker, The Sporting News reported.

In April 1966, Kuharich relented. The Eagles dealt Baughan to the Rams for defensive tackle Frank Molden, linebacker Fred Brown and a draft choice. “Maxie Baughan is the best right side linebacker in the game,” Allen told The Sporting News.

The 1966 Rams defense featured the Fearsome Foursome front line of Deacon Jones, Merlin Olsen, Rosey Grier and Lamar Lundy. Joining Baughan as the linebackers were Bill George (a future Pro Football Hall of Famer) in the middle and Jack Pardee on the left side. Another standout, Eddie Meador, was the safety.

Amid all that talent, Allen chose Baughan to be the defensive captain and entrusted him to call the plays. “As the Rams’ defensive signal caller, Baughan was responsible for some 250 different defenses and 180 audible signals,” The Sporting News reported.

Baughan told the publication, “I would say that I audibilize about 85 percent of the time. A lot of things enter into my decision, like down and distance, the hash marks, field position, the particular formation.”

The Los Angeles Times noted, “His vast knowledge of Allen’s intricate defense and execution of the many audibles from a variety of formations has made the Rams one of pro football’s most effective defensive units. Equally important is the fact Maxie is a leader and serves as an inspiration to the team.”

Baughan thrived playing for Allen. He told the Ithaca (N.Y.) Journal, “I probably learned more about football from George Allen than anyone else.”

The Sporting News called Baughan “the brains of the Rams defense” and dubbed him “The Battering Ram.” 

Eventually, the battering took its toll. Baughan underwent knee surgeries after the 1967, 1968 and 1969 seasons. He suffered a concussion in a 1969 game against the Atlanta Falcons and was unconscious for almost 15 minutes, The Sporting News reported. The cumulative pain became unbearable.

“I’m allergic to some medicine, including pain killers,” Baughan told The Sporting News. “I can’t even take an aspirin. It started back in 1962 when I was with Philadelphia. I took a muscle relaxer and had a violent reaction. The Eagles’ trainer literally saved my life.”

Coaching carousel

The Rams fired Allen after the 1970 season and Baughan retired from playing. When Allen became head coach of the Washington Redskins in 1971, Baughan assisted him. That began a long second career as a coach.

Baughan was defensive coordinator at Georgia Tech for two years (1972-73). In 1974, he left to become defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, but before the season began he quit and rejoined Allen with the Redskins as a player-coach.

After stints as defensive coordinator of the Baltimore Colts (1975-79) and Detroit Lions (1980-82), Baughan became head coach at Cornell. He was recommended for the job by former Colts running back Tom Matte, who became a friend of Baughan when he was with Baltimore. Matte had connections to an influential almnus at Cornell.

Replacing Bob Blackman, who retired, Baughan coached six seasons (1983-88) at Cornell. The Ivy League program had losing records his first three seasons, then finished 8-2, 5-5 and 7-2-1 the last three seasons.

In April 1989, the Ithaca Journal reported a rift between Baughan and assistant coach Peter Noyes stemmed from a romantic relationship between Baughan and Noyes’ wife. Citing “personal tensions” for his decision, Baughan resigned.

He went on to be linebackers coach for the Minnesota Vikings (1990-91), Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1992-95) and Baltimore Ravens (1996-98). Among the linebackers he coached were standouts Derrick Brooks of the Buccaneers and Ray Lewis of the Ravens.

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A prominent home run for Willie Mays vs. Cardinals

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents, Records on August 16, 2023| 8 Comments »

Willie Mays was the first right-handed batter to hit 400 home runs in the National League. The milestone homer came against a familiar foe, Curt Simmons of the Cardinals, and was witnessed by another 400-homer hitter, Stan Musial.

On Aug. 27, 1963, at Candlestick Park in San Francisco, Mays capped a two-month hot streak with his 400th career home run for the Giants.

At the time, nine others had achieved the feat: Babe Ruth (714), Jimmie Foxx (534), Ted Williams (521), Mel Ott (511), Lou Gehrig (493), Stan Musial (472), Eddie Mathews (419), Mickey Mantle (415) and Duke Snider (403).

(Musial, Mathews, Mantle and Snider still were active. Musial would finish with 475, Mathews 512, Mantle 536 and Snider 407.)

The only right-handed batter in the 400-homer group besides Mays was Foxx. (Of his 534 home runs, Foxx hit 524 as an American Leaguer and 10 as a National Leaguer.) All the others, except Mantle (a switch-hitter), batted from the left side.

Mays, 32, was considered the best bet to break the National League career home run mark of 511 held by Mel Ott.

On a roll

After leading the National League in home runs (49) and total bases (382) and powering the Giants to a pennant in 1962, Mays got baseball’s highest salary in 1963 _ $105,000.

He had a substandard start to the season, hitting .233 in April and .257 in May. At the urging of the Giants, Mays got his eyes examined “and was told they were fine,” according to his biographer James S. Hirsch.

He found a groove after the all-star break and nearly was unstoppable. Mays hit .322 in July, .387 in August and .378 in September.

From July 28 through Aug. 27, Mays hit safely in 27 of 28 games. In that stretch, he raised his 1963 season batting average from .274 to .308.

His only hitless game in that period came on Aug. 13 when Jim Maloney of the Reds shut out the Giants on a two-hitter.

(The game was noteworthy for another reason. It was the first time Mays played a position other than center field in the majors. In the eighth inning, after Norm Larker batted for shortstop Ernie Bowman, manager Al Dark put Larker at first base, moved Orlando Cepeda from first to left, Harvey Kuenn from left to right, Felipe Alou from right to center and Mays from center to shortstop. Mays had no fielding chances in his one inning at short, but he told the Associated Press, “Man, that’s too close to the plate.” Boxscore)

Numbers game

On Aug. 25, 1963, facing the Reds’ Joe Nuxhall at Candlestick Park, Mays hit his 399th home run. Later , with Joey Jay pitching, Mays drove a pitch to deep left. “If Frank Robinson hadn’t caught the ball a scant foot from the top railing, Willie would have had his 400th major-league homer,” The Sporting News reported.

The next day, Aug. 26, the Cardinals opened a series at San Francisco. Mays got two singles, but no home run, against Ernie Broglio. Curt Simmons provided another opportunity on Aug. 27.

Mays had a history of success against Simmons. In 1961, for instance, Mays had a .692 on-base percentage versus the Cardinals left-hander, reaching base nine times (six hits, two walks, one hit by pitch) in 13 plate appearances. For his career, Mays finished with a .423 on-base percentage (39 hits, 22 walks, two hit by pitches) versus Simmons.

In the Aug. 27 game, with the Giants ahead, 3-0, Mays led off the third inning and lined a 2-and-1 pitch from Simmons the opposite way to right. The ball carried over the outstretched glove of George Altman, struck a railing and went over the fence for home run No. 400.

Orlando Cepeda followed with another homer against Simmons, who then was lifted for Barney Schultz. The first batter he faced, Felipe Alou, hit the Giants’ third consecutive home run of the inning. Boxscore

“I stay in good shape and I think I can hit a lot more,” Mays said to United Press International. “I may be able to reach the 500 mark.”

Stan Musial, stationed in left field when Mays hit his 400th homer, told The Sporting News, “He has an excellent chance to beat Mel Ott’s National League mark of 511 before he decides to call it quits.”

Asked about Musial, who had declared two weeks earlier that he would retire after the 1963 season, Mays said to Si Burick of the Dayton Daily News, “Nicest man I ever knew. When I was a kid coming up, I never thought a star on another team would help you, but he talked to me a lot about hitting. He even let me use his lighter bat a couple times when I was in a slump.”

(The kindness shown by Musial was paid forward by Mays. A week after Mays’ 400th home run, Cardinals pitcher Bob Gibson hit a 400-foot homer against the Pirates’ Don Schwall with a bat Mays had given him, The Sporting News reported. At 34 ounces, it was two ounces heavier than Gibson’s bat. Boxscore)

Join the club

On the same day Mays hit his 400th home run, Hank Aaron of the Braves slugged his 333rd (against Don Nottebart of the Houston Colt .45s). Three years later, on April 20, 1966, Aaron achieved home run No. 400 versus the Phillies’ Bo Belinsky.

Aaron went on to hit 755 home runs and Mays finished with 660.

In his book, “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron said, “I considered Mays a rival, certainly, but a friendly rival. At the same time, I would never accept the position as second best (to him). I’ve never seen a better all-around ballplayer than Willie Mays, but I will say this: Willie was not as good a hitter as I was. No way.”

In August 2023, 60 years after Mays became the 10th player to reach 400 career home runs, the total number of players achieving the feat had risen to 58.

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Mike Ivie was poison to Cardinals pitching staffs

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents on August 11, 2023| 14 Comments »

A right-handed batter with power, Mike Ivie couldn’t cope with the expectations and pressures of professional baseball.

When he felt overwhelmed, he walked out on his team. He did that multiple times in stints with the Padres, Giants and Astros.

He kept getting chances to return because, when he was focused rather than fearful, he hammered the ball. The Cardinals encountered that side of him a lot.

A .269 hitter in 11 seasons in the majors, Ivie batted .316 against the Cardinals in his career.

Head game

A standout high school athlete in Atlanta, Ivie, 17, was taken by the Padres with the No. 1 overall pick in the 1970 amateur baseball draft. Projected to be a catcher, “He’s got better hands than Johnny Bench,” Padres scout Leon Hamilton said to the Tri-City Herald of Pasco, Washington.

Ivie told the newspaper, “I don’t anticipate any problems making the adjustment to pro ball.”

In September 1971, after his second season with a Class A farm team, Ivie, 19, got called up to the Padres. He caught 39 innings for them and hit .471.

All eyes were on Ivie when he came to spring training in 1972. The Padres expected him to compete for their starting catcher spot. Instead, Ivie unraveled. “He couldn’t throw the ball back to the pitcher in batting practice without hitting the protective screen,” the Miami Herald reported.

In his first intrasquad game, he double- and triple-pumped before returning the ball to the pitcher, Sports Illustrated reported.

Frustrated, Ivie quit, went home, and said he didn’t want to be a catcher. “I’ve developed a mental block about catching,” Ivie told The Sporting News.

He sat out all of spring training. When the 1972 season started, he reported to the Padres’ Class AA affiliate in Alexandria, Louisiana, and was put at first base. Playing for manager Duke Snider, Ivie hit .291 with 24 home runs. When the Padres offered to promote him to the majors during the season, he declined because they wanted him to be a catcher, The Sporting News reported.

Blue in Hawaii

When Ivie came to spring training in 1973, he did an about-face, telling the Padres he wanted to compete for the starting catching job. Visits to a psychiatrist during the winter helped him change his mind about catching, Ivie told The Sporting News. “The psychology sessions convinced me my problem was fear of failure in baseball,” Ivie said.

He was having a good spring until he injured both hands. Damaged blood vessels in his left hand caused Ivie to lose feeling in a finger. That put an end to the catching plans.

The Padres assigned Ivie to Class AAA Hawaii in 1973 and put him back at first base. In June, he told manager Roy Hartsfield he couldn’t cope with the travel, quit and sat out the rest of the season.

He came back in 1974 and played the season in the minors. Ivie, 22, finally stuck with the Padres in 1975, sharing first base with Willie McCovey and playing some third base, too.

Cardinals nemesis

From 1976-79, Ivie pounded Cardinals pitching.

In 29 plate appearances versus the 1976 Cardinals, Ivie had 12 hits and four walks _ a .552 on-base percentage. Two of those hits were home runs against John Curtis and Pete Falcone. (Ivie batted .450 versus Falcone for his career.)

The next year, Ivie posted a .438 on-base percentage (17 hits, four walks) in 48 plate appearances versus the Cardinals. One of those hits won a game highlighted by a record-setting Lou Brock achievement.

On Aug. 29, 1977, at San Diego, Brock’s second stolen base of the game broke Ty Cobb’s major-league career record. In the eighth, with the Cardinals ahead, 3-2, Ivie spoiled their fun, hitting a two-run home run against Al Hrabosky, and the Padres won, 4-3. Boxscore

“I fouled off the first fastball he threw me and decided right then he was probably going to challenge me all the way, so I was looking for fastballs,” Ivie told the Associated Press. “If he had thrown me a breaking pitch after that, I probably would have screwed myself to the ground swinging at it.”

As the St. Louis Post-Dispatch noted, “Ivie would like to make a career of hitting against the Cardinals.”

For certain, he didn’t want to make a career of playing for the Padres. He wanted to be traded, preferably to the Braves, so he could be at home in Georgia. “He has a wealth of talent,” Braves manager Bobby Cox said to The Sporting News. “I hope we can get him.”

Instead, the Padres dealt him to the Giants.

Bench strength

Filling in for Willie McCovey at first base and Terry Whitfield in left, Ivie hit .308 overall and .387 as a pinch-hitter for the 1978 Giants. He clubbed four pinch-hit homers., including the only walkoff of his big-league career, against the Cardinals.

On July 25, 1978, at San Francisco, the Cardinals led, 2-1, when Larry Herndon singled against Bob Forsch with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Ivie, batting for shortstop Roger Metzger, followed with a two-run home run to left, giving the Giants a 3-2 victory Boxscore

“When you are a little kid, you play the dream game,” Ivie said to the Sacramento Bee. “You pretend you’re in a real game and you pretend you just hit a home run. You dream of the day you can do it for real. Now that I’ve done it, now that I’m living my dream, I can’t believe this is happening to me. I just feel numb all over.”

Asked to explain his pinch-hitting success. Ivie said to the San Francisco Examiner, “It’s more of a mental thing than a physical one. I drink a lot of coffee, smoke a lot of cigarettes, try to keep my hands warm and wait for the opportunity to be called upon.”

Ivie told the Post-Dispatch he shared tips with Cardinals pinch-hitter Roger Freed. “Freed and I talk a lot about what size bats to use in certain pinch-hitting situations,” Ivie said. “I’ve been studying pinch-hitters, especially guys like (the Phillies’) Tim McCarver, who seems to get good wood on the ball every time he bats. I watch Tim like a hawk.”

Down and out

Ivie had his best season in 1979 with the Giants. Sharing first base with Willie McCovey, he had 27 home runs and 89 RBI in 402 at-bats.

On June 7, 1979, at St. Louis, the score was tied at 9-9 with two outs in the ninth when Ivie slugged a Mark Littell fastball 420 feet to center for a three-run home run. The Giants won, 12-10. Boxscore

The good times didn’t last.

In December 1979, Ivie sliced a tendon in a finger while cleaning a hunting knife and underwent surgery. He had a poor spring training and a shaky start to the 1980 season, hitting no home runs in April and batting .209 in May.

The Giants were going to trade him to the Phillies, who planned to flip him to the Astros in exchange for pitcher Joaquin Andujar, but the deal got canceled when Ivie landed on the disabled list in late May 1980. Giants general manager Spec Richardson told The Sporting News that Ivie was experiencing “mental exhaustion.” Ivie called it “depression.”

When his stint on the disabled list ended, Ivie, 27, appeared in one game, then quit. “I was right at the point of a nervous breakdown,” he told Sports Illustrated.

About a month later, in July 1980, he changed his mind and returned to the club. “The guys can handle Mike’s return, but I just don’t know if he can,” outfielder Jack Clark told The Sporting News. “I think Mike is really sick.”

Troubled times

In April 1981, the Giants dealt Ivie to the Astros. A month later, he was found weeping in the locker room. Again, he quit and sought treatment for what he called “problems of anxiety,” The Sporting News reported.

“He was afraid to fail and he was afraid to succeed,” Astros owner John McMullen told the New York Times.

In June, big-league players went on strike. When play resumed in August, Ivie was with the Astros for a road trip that began in San Francisco. After one day there, he quit again.

“It goes back to when I was a kid in the Little League and was supposed to get six hits every five times I went to bat,” Ivie told Joe Durso of the New York Times in September 1981. “It’s professional pressure, I guess. When I was a kid, I was pretty near the best. Then, after I got to the big leagues, I found that I wasn’t the best player in the world. After a couple of seasons, it started getting to me. Now I go to the doctor, the psychiatrist, three times a week.”

Released by the Astros in April 1982, Ivie was signed by the Tigers.

Asked about Ivie’s history, Tigers manager Sparky Anderson said to Ira Berkow of the New York Times, “If he says he’s scared, or fears failure, let me tell you, he’s not a special case. This is a tough business, and all of us are scared to various degrees. I’ve seen guys so scared, they’re shaking. I’ve gone to guys in pressure situations to pinch-hit, and they said they couldn’t. I’ve had guys come to me and ask me to take them out of ballgames. I’ve seen a pitcher’s hand swell up when he was told he’s going to pitch a big game the next day.”

Ivie hit .232 with 14 home runs as a designated hitter for the 1982 Tigers. He was 30 when he played his last game in the majors for Detroit in May 1983.

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