GOTW: Vic Power, First Twin To Steal Home, July 19, 1962

It happened 54 years ago this week, July 19, 1962 (Baseball Ref Box) that Vic Power became the first Twins player to steal home. With Harmon Killebrew batting, Power streaked down the third base line to score in the 5th inning during the Twins 8-0 rout of the Cleveland Indians at Met Stadium.

Here you see Tribe catcher Johnny Romano's futile effort to apply the tag, while home plate ump Nestor Chylak is all set for action. I guess I could be upset that my Dad didn't take me to this one-yes, I was an infant at the time, granted - - but it's the principle of the thing.

Hurt feelings aside, here’s your play-by-play context, courtesy of Baseball Reference:

Jim Kaat had grounded out, first baseman Tito Francona to pitcher Bill Dailey covering. Bill Tuttle followed with a single to left. Then, Power stroked an opposite field double to rightfield, Tuttle reaching third; Rich Rollins moved both baserunners ahead with a sac fly to center, making the score 5-0 for the Twins; and, then, with Killebrew at the plate, the thief Power broke for home. He clearly touched home plate ahead of catcher Romano’s tag, as the above photo demonstrates. Sweet revenge upon his old team! Vic had had a stormy, "on-again/off-again" relationship with the Indians management dating back several years, receiving fines and reprimands that were often a result of his passionate, instinctive nature. Not your 1950s "company man" that team owners expected, especially from a Latino black man.

Vic Power batting in a June, 1963 game. Again, Harmon Killebrew is on-deck (right, by inscription).Six summers would pass before another Twins player - Rod Carew in 1969 - Would create similar excitement on the bases at Metropolitan Stadium. And then, again, with Harmon Killebrew still batting in the three hole(photo), for a nice piece of ironic, synchronized history.

Vic Power actually had quite a history of doing this (see BBRef table below), perhaps THE most exciting play in baseball. He stole home TWICE for the Cleveland Indians, for example, on August 14, 1958 (Google News Archive links) in a regular season game (BBRef Box), and then again in a spring training game on March 22, 1960*, again as an Indian. It would also be the last steal of home for Power in his career. In twelve years, he stole 45 bases - and 8 of them were steals of home...a full 17%!! By comparison, the all-time leader of steals of home, Ty Cobb did this 54 times, 6% of his lifetime 897.

* - scroll above headline to see Power photo

CAREER STEALS OF HOME FOR VIC POWER!
                           

Rk	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
3	1959-04-18	CLE	KCA	W 13-4	5	4	3	3	1	1	1
12	1962-07-19	MIN	CLE	W 8-0	4	3	2	1	0	0	1
20	1961-05-19	CLE	NYY	W 9-7	5	4	2	3	0	1	1
Rk	Date	Tm	Opp	Rslt	PA	AB	R	H	HR	RBI	SB
33	1959-05-03 (1)	CLE	WSH	W 5-0	4	3	1	1	0	1	1
34	1959-04-25	CLE	CHW	L 6-8	5	5	2	3	0	1	2
36	1958-08-14	CLE	DET	W 10-9	6	6	3	3	0	1	2
39	1957-07-28 (1)	KCA	WSH	W 6-2	4	4	1	1	0	1	1

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: 

Generated 7/22/2016.
Only 1 of his steals in 1959-04-25 game was a steal of home.

Regarding his baserunning instincts, his manager from his Cleveland days, Joe Gordon offered: “Vic isn’t particularly fast, but he’s got baseball instinct. He bluffed the pitchers beautifully – rushing up the line, pausing long enough to make them relax and then, poof – streaking all the way in (Cleveland Press, August 5, 1958).” This was an interesting dimension (I would call it a "Negro League style") that the charismatic Puerto Rican brought to the young, conventional Twins.

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SEE This Classic Minnesota Twins! Vic Power Post From 2013!

TRADING FOR VIC POWER - APRIL 6, 2015 - Originally published 4/2/13 In-season trades are rare occurrences for the Minnesota Twins. And even rarer are those that actually impacted the fortunes positively for the home nine.

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As I think about it, Vic Power has been the focal point of at least 3 of my blog posts, an inordinately large number for a player who was a Twin for parts of only three seasons. I submit two reasons for that level of fascination with him:

*He was unique for his time (nearly became the first dark-skinned player on the Yankees!),* in that he was a multi-dimensional player in an era when first basemen were sloth-like creatures who were expected to hit the ball out of the park and field with little range. In contrast, Power, besides being a consistent offensive contributor, ran the bases well, and played his position quite unconventionally, like Adrian Beltre plays third today. That and the fact that he was a charismatic extrovert (see his obit!) in a time when players were rather drone-like.

*That honor would go to the relatively taciturn Elston Howard

*He also intrigues me for having visited my hometown sometime during that 1962-64 period, and greeting kids and other Twins fans at our local movie theatre. This affair was attended by my oldest brother (again, cue my personal envy, bitterness), who recalls it being an occasion to encourage clean living, participation in sports, besides being an autograph-signing session. As a dark-skinned man, I am certain he stood out in what was then an all-white community, perhaps prompting surprise or disappointment for some who may have come out to see if the basestealer would hock some movie candy from the lobby on his way out.

As far as that visit by Power and his teammates to the theatre...do I sense a future blog post sequel coming....?

"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal

Jack Kralick & The First Twins No-Hitter, August 26, 1962

This post is the companion piece to "1962 Camera Day." It is one of my more enjoyable posts personally, and I hope you can take something away from it as well!

* * *

Here is my favorite photo from the whole endeavor: a picture and a piece from The Sporting News, detailing Jack Kralick's 1-0 no-hitter versus the Kansas City Athletics:

 

The entire Sporting News Story of "Jittery" Jack's gem can be found in PDF form here in page one and here in page 2. Make sure you read the bottom of page one, to view the description of the Allison catch to save the no-hitter. Below is his line as seen at BBReference:

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Jack Kralick, W (10-8)	9	0	0	0	1	3	0	4.02	28	89			0.736	1.22	4.6
Team Totals	9	0	0	0	1	3	0	0.00	28	89			0.736	1.22	4.6

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/4/2013.

Some box scores (see the August 26, 1962 near-perfect game link) flow so well that they give you a good sense of the game's rhythm. Dare I say it - this game is very eye-catching in print (or on the screen, as it were) - not as pretty as say, 1960's pin up favorites Mamie Van Doren or Brigitte Bardot, but still damn pretty in the numeric, aesthetic sense. You might not believe me, especially if you clinked on the last two links, but I'm thinking ground ball hound Tommy John when I view the innings that must have flown by frustratingly quick for the Athletics batters. We all get our kicks in different manners.

The economy and effectiveness of Jack Kralick's performance are apparent - a very worthy and signature performance for the Minnesota Twins first no-hitter in Minnesota. The time of game was a 1:57, and as Kralick and Kansas City starter Bill Fischer were tossing so many 1-2-3 innings, it had to be a challenge for the stations broadcasting the contest to fit in their ads and promos. Damn!! Not enough time to advert the Thunderbird Motel, right across the parking lot on Cedar Avenue!! 

Playing into the rapid pace of this game was the fact that the K.C. batters were actually swinging away, typical of 1960's hitters - this was over  thirty years before money ball, after all. In their average lineup in '62, only Norm Siebern demonstrated above-average plate discipline, earning 110 walks; the next-highest total, 54, belonged to Ed Charles (who would go on to achieve cult hero status with the Amazin' Mets in 1969.

It was Charles who nearly ended the no-hit bid in the fourth inning,with his opposite-field drive that forced Bob Allison to reach above the right field fence in front of the bullpen (description, PDF page one above). There went the one, serious threat.

Besides Allison, also important to Kralick's success was having, quite possibly, the best defensive first baseman in modern baseball history backing him, Vic Power. As opposed to shortstop Zoilo Versalles, who was credited with handling the baseball ONCE, on a fourth inning 6-3 groundout by Bobby Del Greco (just preceding Charles's threatening flyball), Power was involved in plays resulting in 17 of the 27 outs in the ballgame. This was spectacularly achieving the goal the Twins management had in mind to stabilize the Twins infield by trading for Power (discussed in the post "A Maestro At First: Trading For Vic Power, April 2, 1962"). See the chart below for the full rundown:

[BELOW] Plays involving Twins first baseman Power,
 inning play occurred, fielder designated on 
play (pitcher 1, catcher 2, etc.)

Groundout-unassisted	third out-1st inn
Groundout: 1-3	second out-2nd inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-2nd inn
Groundout: 5-3	first out-3rd inn
Groundout: 4-3	third out-3rd inn
Groundout: 6-3	first out-4th inn
Groundout:3-1	third out-4th inn
Groundout: 4-3	second out-5th inn
Groundout: 3-1	third out-5th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	second out-6th inn
Groundout: 5-3	first out-7th inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-7th inn
Groundout: 4-3	first out-8th inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-8th inn
Groundout: 4-3	first out-9th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	second out-9th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	third out-9th inn

                                                                          

It was obvious to both Battey and Kralick that he didn't have control of his curveball early in the contest, as seen in the Winona Daily News PDF. My pet theory is that Kralick focused much better, bereft of his "yellow hammer," so that he was even more on point spotting his sinking fastball and slider. Of course, none of this would have meant anything without Lenny Green's sacrifice fly, driving home Bernie Allen in the 7th inning.

As noted in the previous post "'62 Twins Camera Day," Kralick had been absent from the fan photo-taking activities, pregame. In keeping with his "lone wolf" persona...

This game somewhat parallels the Francisco Liriano no-hitter on May 3, 2011:  the same score, & each were thought to be either sub-par or VERY sub-par in their performance of late prior to their classics. 

Hope you enjoyed this look at the first great pitching performance in Minnesota Twins history!!

As the great broadcaster ended his post-game shows, I also say:

"So long, everybody!"

The 1st Camera Day, 1962: Day Of The Jack Kralick No-Hitter

By sheer coincidence, the Twins 1962 Camera Day landed on the very day (8/26/62, BBref Box) the franchise's first Minnesota no-hitter (post link!) was pitched, by Jack Kralick. Through the goodness of Twin Cities blogger Michael Haas (@digitalHaas, Alright Hamilton!), we have this beautiful set of photos from that historic day. They were shot by his grandfather, who attended the game that day along with Michael's mother and grandmother. We also get a sampling of Michael's thoughts at the end of this post, lending context to the photos. 1962 Twins team members Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versalles, Vic Power, Don Mincher, Dick Stigman, Ruben Gomez, Rich Rollins, Johnny Goryl, Hal Naragon, Marty Martinez, Coach Floyd Baker, and Manager Sam Mele are all present in this collection.

What is so great to me is how relatively shiny and new Metropolitan Stadium was - it was only in it's seventh season of existence, and its second as home to the Twins. The right field view is beautiful, encompassing the scoreboard, crowd, and bullpen areas. Especially nice is the Rollins / Valdivielso photo, with the first base foul territory and upper deck mezzanine in the background.

          [ NOTE: HELPS TO SINGLE CLICK PHOTO, ENLARGE FOR DETAIL! ]

My first inclination before posting these photos was to couple them with archival newspaper reports of the famous game by Kralick. After some thought, however, I felt they deserved a post of their own.  A separate blog entry will follow this week, concentrating on the original "Black Jack's" efforts.

[below: player with Rich Rollins (R) is Ruben Gomez, and not Jose Valdivielso as noted. To correct)

Ironically, Jack Kralick was nowhere to be found on the field for interested fans. The Sporting News Sept. 8, 1962 edition gave this explanation (see PDF of TSN page for extra context from that game) :

My Questions For Michael Haas: Behind The 1962 Camera Day Photos

ClassicTwins: I've always wanted to know about that blog title: "Alright Hamilton." How did that come about? How would you summarize the blog?

Michael: Oh, it's just a line from the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High," uttered by Sean Penn's character. I didn't put much thought into the title, obviously. Actually, we were a pretty legitimate blog in the pre-Twitter days. Myself and a few others tried to document the Twins fan experience and random off-topic things. You can see the archives at alright-hamilton.blogspot.com. The alright-Hamilton.tumbler.com is where I post random media very sporadically. I wish I could get back into the writing daily, but I just lost the momentum. Someday.

ClassicTwins: I get that "momentum" thing. Tell me about the photos, Michael. What’s the history behind them?

Michael: My Aunt digitized these old slides and gave some framed prints to my Mom for Christmas. My Grandpa was likely the photographer. My mom, 12 years old, is visible in the Athletics’ dugout on the left, and that’s my Grandma in the blue dress.

ClassicTwins: Very cool, a piece of family history with your grandparents and mom at the game, the photos literally a snap shot of a small part of their lives at the time. Could you give any information regarding the type of Twins or baseball fans they were – avid, casual, or otherwise? Did they make regular outings during the summers to Met Stadium to see the Twins? Do you know if they had any favorites among the players or coaching staff?

Michael: I would describe my grandparents as casual fans. I don’t remember them having much to say about the Twins while I was growing up in the 90’s. However, they must have been pretty close with the team because my Grandpa worked as an usher at Met Stadium. I’d guess my mom was the big fan of the family. I think she has a Bob Allison autographed picture around somewhere. And I know she still has her ticket stubs from games 1 and 2 of the 1965 World Series she saw as a 15 year old. I have no idea why she didn’t go to 6 and 7.

ClassicTwins: Bob Allison – perhaps the “Mr. Photogenic” of all the Twins ‘60’s guys. Does the photo set give you any particular feelings, i.e. “I wish I could have seen Earl Battey play in person,” or “Did the Twins REALLY have Harmon play left field a lot when they had Vic Power around to play first?” Or anything at all that you wonder about from that period in Twins history?

Michael: Well, the things that strike me most is the ballpark and the uniforms. I had no idea the Athletics had changed their primary colors to orange and black during their brief stay in Kansas City. It’s also interesting to see the way Metropolitan Stadium evolved over the years as they added seating. What’s most amazing to me is the fan access to the players and the field. Can you imagine what it would be like, as a 12-year-old, to stand on tobacco juice and sunflower seed shells in the dugout with the players? It would be fun to know what was going through their heads.

ClassicTwins: Great observation! I like word-pictures! So, how would you rate yourself as a fan? What was your favorite player growing up as a kid? Or now?

Michael: I’m a big Twins fan, but I’m a reasonable one. I don’t let their stinky performance affect my mental health, or anything like that. I grew up in the era of the ‘M’ hat and Kirby Puckett. I don’t actually remember either World Series title, but in every picture of me as a kid, I’m wearing a “World Series Champ” hat.

ClassicTwins Are there any particular games you’ve attended that stand out in memory?

Michael: The best two games in recent memory that I’ve attended were game 163 in 2009 and the Jim Thome walk-off bomb against Thornton and the White Sox in 2010. Every fan remembers those two games.

ClassicTwins: What do you think about Target Field (what a dump, right?)?

Michael: I like Target Field a lot. We’re four years in and it still feels brand new. In fact, I’m still learning about the best views, best seats for the money, and most excellent and secret parking spots. The only thing I dislike about modern stadiums is the separation between seating areas. They put a moat in Target Field to close off the padded seats from the regulars, and they place almost all the memorabilia in exclusive seating areas. But that’s the nature of the modern sports palace - - gotta make sure the corporations feel special.

ClassicTwins: I have no doubt many Twins fans share that idea! I loved my single visit to the Legends Club area, swanky, but I wish it would be easier to just glide through there, in particular, and see the fantastic museum-like exhibits. Great stuff, Michael! Anything else pertinent you’d like to add about “1962 Camera Day At The Met”?

Michael: That’s really all I got. But it sounds like you’ve done further research on the game and roster than I, so anything you want to add about that era would be really cool. You could just add my twitter handle I guess. Thanks a bunch. I really think the Twins have a cool circle of fans on the internet, and you’re one of them.

ClassicTwins: You show yourself a man of great judgment. 

10-4 on that handle: @digitalhaas.

Thanks again, Michael and Win! Twins! (okay, that IS how the song is properly titled!).

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What a great thing it was, having our Mr. Haas's permission to go ahead with these gems!
As the great Twins announcer finished every broadcast, I also say:
"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal