Is it a faulty memory, a curse of the aging fan,
or am I right? The answer lies in the history
books or a Google search (or Duck Duck Go,
if you want to avoid the ads, I guess). As I
recall, from the years I was initiated into the
society of baseball fans and lovers, my deep
pocket Yankees of ’49 to ’54 used their potent
money magnet to draw older but still relevant
players from the Senior Circuit almost every year
to ironically turn on their own and help those
Bombers from the Bronx bring home the Crown
(except for 1954, when they went 103 and 51
but finished freakin’ second!). Johnny Mize (’49) brought
his potent clutch hitting from the New York Giants.
Enos Slaughter (’54) brought his energy and spark from
the Cardinals. Ewell Blackwell (’52) brought his whip-
like sidearm slinger from the Reds. Johnny Hopp (’50)
brought steadiness from the Pirates and Johnny
Sain (51) — sans Spahn and rain — brought his right arm
from the Boston — not Milwaukee or Atlanta —
Braves. They used to joke that the A’s were the
Yanks’ minor league team because they traded so
much talent to the pinstripes (and there’s some truth
to that) but don’t discount the NL connection. All those
refugees from the other league, as colorful as they were,
looked sharp in black and white, uniform of Champions
in those golden years . . . if you, like me, were a Yankee fan.
THE POETRY OF THE GAME