30 Day Baseball Card Challenge

Monday, September 29, 2014

The Other Guy

Today is the 60th anniversary of one of the most famous plays in baseball history.

"Say Hey" Authenticated

Just one look at the photo and 99% of baseball fans can name the player who made the The Catch.  But what about the other guy involved in the play?

No.  I'm not talking about any of Willie's teammates.  I'm talking about the guy who hit the ball to The Say Hey Kid.


Back in July, I took a trip down memory lane and reviewed parts of the January 1993 issue of Beckett Baseball.  One of the things I forgot to mention was this cool comic strip highlighting the famous play.



That's where I read about Vic Wertz and his epic day at the plate.  

1954 Bowman #21

Did you know that Wertz went 4 for 5 that day and fell a home run short of hitting for the cycle?  Actually he had a pretty amazing series altogether.  Even though the Indians were swept by the New York Giants in four games, Wertz batted .500 for the series.  In fact, he represented 30.7% of his team's hits for the series.

Before the comic strip, I had no idea who Mr. Wertz was.  But thanks to a twenty-one year old Beckett Baseball, I now know the name of The Other Guy involved in The Catch.


Happy Monday and sayonara!

7 comments:

Nick said...

I doubt I'd know who Vic Wertz was had he not hit the ball that Mays caught. I've started up a little player collection of his over the past few years because of his involvement in the famous play.

Mark Hoyle said...

I have some Wertz cards. He did a stint with the Bosox

Johnnys Trading Spot said...

Nice post. I like the "little" stories.

BobWalkthePlank said...

That is a fun PC idea of "other guys" in famous plays.

Eric Bracke said...

Love the Vic Wertz!

Fuji said...

Very cool. You always have some of the coolest PC around.

Fuji said...

That's a great idea. I already have my next one lined up. It involves the one and only... Mickey Mantle.