Mookie Vs. Shohei

Today is the birthday of Wally Moon, born in Bay Arkansas, 1930.

Moon grew up in a tiny hamlet of just 400, picking cotton and playing baseball with his brother using a crushed milk can. Without enough boys in his high school to field a baseball team, he played American Legion ball — and did well enough to catch the attention of a scout for the Pirates who offered him a $1,000 bonus to sign with the team. His father, Henry, negotiated with the scout to instead help secure a scholarship to send his son to Texas A&M to finish his education — making Moon the first in his family, and from his high school, to ever go to college.

600 miles away from his home, Moon was thrown into a new world. The student body of 8,000 dwarfed his hometown. And they had things he’d never seen before — football games, and indoor plumbing. He thrived on the baseball field, and in class. By his junior year, he was offered $18,000 to sign with the Tigers. His father, serving as a kind of agent, urged him to refuse — and instead sign with a team that needed his left hand bat and fielding. So Moon signed with the St. Louis Cardinals for $6,000 and played in their minor league system part time as he finished his undergraduate degree, and went on to get his Masters.

By 1954, Moon had finished his Masters and had grown sick of playing in the minor league system. Instead of reporting to his team’s training camp that spring, he showed up uninvited in St. Petersburg Florida to play with the Cardinals. He would play in the major leagues, or he’d quit. Manager Eddie Stanky gave him playing time, and Moon made the most of it. He said, “I gambled on everything. If I hit a single I’d go for two. If I had two, I’d go for three. I tried to catch everything I had the slightest chance for in the outfield. I ran every place.”

Before opening day, the Cardinals traded their outfield Enos Slaughter to make room for Moon. In his first at bat, the crowd chanted “We Want Eno”. He hit a home run. That year he’d be voted rookie of the year, beating out Hank Aaron.

Four years later he was traded to the Dodgers, and in their first year in Los Angeles, made pivotal hits — dubbed ‘Moon Shots’ by Vin Scully — and plays in the outfield to win the pennant, and the World Series title against the White Sox.

But by the mid-1960s, Moon had become an injured part-time player — spending more time on the bench than on the field. When asked if it bothered him, he said, “You have to admit, it still beats picking cotton.”

MLB News

Mookie Vs. Shohei, Padres & Sox Paper Extensions, and We’re Still in the Torpedo News Cycle

• The Red Sox Paper Some Deals – After news broke about the Sox extending Garrett Crochet’s contract, more contract news hit the wire. 22-year old Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has agreed to an eight-year, $60 million contract with the Sox. It’s a great deal for the Boston franchise, and a hell of a get, Chris Klemmer argues, for Campbell himself.

• Merrill Signs Extension With the Padres — The Sox aren’t the only team locking down exciting young players. The Padres made an agreement with 21-year old Jackson Merrill for a nine-year, $135 million extension.

• Torpedo Bats For Thee, Not For Me — Aaron Judge is immune to the Torpedo Bat frenzy sweeping the league. With four home runs already on the season, it’s not much of a surprise. In fact, what’s more surprising is that everyone is losing it over a the bats to begin with.

• Shohei Vs. Bets — With the Dodgers on a tear to start the season, writers have no other option than just stirring things up for the sake of it. Ken Rosenthal posed the question to the Dodgers; Who is a better athlete, Shohei or Betts? “Oh God”, said Tyler Glasnow. Let us introduce last night’s walk-off homer into evidence.

• A Lot to Shoulder – “There may be no single player whose own arm health is more important to the health of the sport.” That's what insiders are saying of Skenes, the power pitcher that fans excited, and insiders hand-wringing.

• Heart Warming – Speaking of Skenes, someone caught a video of him playing catch with a kid in the stands. Yet another “how can you not be romantic about baseball” moment.

On This Day

Eckersley To Oakland

• 1987 — The Cubs traded Dennis Eckersley to the Athletics for a package of three prospects. In Oakland, Eckersley reinvented himself as a dominant closer, racking up 320 saves, winning a World Series, and building the Hall of Fame résumé that would define the second act of his career.