Things I did not know, or did not fully appreciate, about the 1954 World Series.
-- Vic Wertz (the hitter whom Mays robbed) had one hell of a game. Tripled in 2 runs in the first to give Cleveland a 2-0 lead, hit 2 singles his next 2 trips to the plate, flew out to Mays in the 8th, and then doubled in the 10th before being removed by a pinch runner.
-- Cleveland had ample opportunities to win the game. They left a ton of men on base, including 7 in the final 3 innings. Maglie, Liddle, and Grissom pretty much pitched out of trouble all game.
-- Although there were several pinch hitters used in the game, not one of them was for a pitcher. In fact, both pitchers (starter Lemon for Cleveland and reliever Grissom for NY) batted for themselves in the 9th inning of a tie game. Lemon I can perhaps understand...he had come up as an outfielder and was a very good hitting pitcher. Hard to understand why Durocher let Grissom hit for himself in the 9th; he had good relievers (like Wilhelm) still available, and had Dusty Rhodes on the bench.
-- Rhodes of course was the hero of the series, starting with his GW PH 3-run homer in the 10th inning of game 1. He pinch hit in games 1, 2, and 3 and went 4-6, 7 RBI, 2 HR. In all 3 games, he pinch hit for the same person...not a pitcher...but HOF outfielder Monte Irvin. In game 2 he pinch hit for Irvin in the 5th inning and hit an RBI single. He later homered in the 7th. In game 3 he pinch hit for Irvin
in the 3rd inning and hit a 2-run single.
-- Rhodes HR in game 1 was, in all fairness, about as cheap a HR as you'll ever see in MLB history. You can see the video here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWd9VU8n1U8. It was a pop up to right field that barely cleared the wall, didn't even go 300 feet. If you listen to the radio broadcast, the announcer doesn't even sound excited at first...it must have looked like a routine fly ball when it came off the bat, which of course it was. Watching the video it is hard to believe how close the right field wall was in the Polo Grounds. Bobby Avila ran out to RF when the ball was hit - not to take a relay throw, at least to my eyes - it looks like he was ready to play the carom off the wall. He can't be more than 20 feet from Indians RF Dave Pope when the ball clears the fence.