Damn Yankees by Edward Drobinski - HTML preview

Damn Yankees

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win 50 of their final 72 games the year before to look good after crawling through the spring. Manager Leo Durocher wondered how long he could be allowed to endure getting off on the wrong foot. He’d been fired at Brooklyn three years earlier for a slow start there.

As the Giants struggled to distance themselves from the basement, Durocher furiously lobbied the front office to bring up a solid gold prospect ordained as a five tool player; one who excelled in all aspects of the game, and was hitting a spectacular .477 in 35 games for the Minneapolis Millers, the Giants’ chief farm

club. Finally in late May, Durocher got his wish. The Giants ran an ad in Minneapolis newspapers apologizing to local fans for taking away their beloved star, Willie Howard Mays.

The 20 year old Mays was a man of lightweight disposition and heavyweight talent. When he first began turning heads on ballfields in his home state of Alabama, a Giants scout adamantly told his superiors back home; “Don’t ask any questions. You’ve got to get this boy.” But once promoted to the majors, Mays was initially not the lifesaver the Giants were counting on. He managed just one hit in his first 26 at bats, and a defeated Mays asked Durocher to be sent back to Minnesota. Durocher

convinced Mays otherwise as only Durocher could, chewing him out with a dose of tough love. It apparently worked. Mays stayed and