Hall of Fame memories
Giants Past and Present author Dan Fost meets Giants Hall of Famer Monte Irvin at AT&T Park.
The men were old, but their star power burned brightly. A room full of journalists, often cynical, was nothing but reverent. Lined up at the table at the front of the room, flanking San Francisco Giants’ managing general partner Bill Neukom, were six of the greatest players ever to don the orange and black: Gaylord Perry, Orlando Cepeda and Juan Marichal on Neukom’s right, and Monte Irvin, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey on Neukom’s left.
The center of attention was Irvin, who at long last was getting an honor that had been bestowed on the other five Hall of Famers: His number 20 would be retired, never to be worn by another Giant again, enshrined on the ballpark’s balcony between Carl Hubbell’s 11 and Mays’s 24.
Perry put the honor in some perspective: “It is harder to get your number retired,” he told Irvin, “than it is to make the Hall of Fame.”
Irvin himself seemed to acknowledge as much when he said, in his on-field remarks, “I thank the Giants, but I say to them, ‘Why did it take you so long?’”
As he said that, I stood with Bob Tobener and his son Dave, whose Golden Gate Giants is one of the best blogs on the team. Bob had been writing to the Giants for years, asking them to retire Irvin’s number, but had consistently been rebuffed by former managing general partner Peter Magowan. Before Irvin was ushered onto the field, he paused for a photo opportunity with Tobener, expressing gratitude for his advocacy and asking him to keep in touch.
I had my own moment with Irvin, after the ceremony. I went up to the suite where he sat with Perry and Marichal, watching the game, and gave each of them a book. (Perry had me sign his — what a thrill!) Irvin, who is 91 years old and in a wheelchair, lived up to his reputation as a class act and one of the most gracious men in baseball. I told him I was born in East Orange, NJ, as he lived in Orange; it turns out he first lived in Bloomfield, where I grew up.
In the press conference, Willie Mays told about his rookie year of 1951, and what an influence Monte Irvin was for him. Irvin said Giants manager Leo Durocher assigned Mays to be Irvin’s roommate, and told Irvin to look after him.
“In my time, you had to have some kind of guidance,” Mays said. “Monte was like my brother. I couldn’t go anywhere without him, especially on the road. You have to understand things like where to go, how to dress. Monte would take me to his house in Orange, NJ, to get me out of the city. His wife Dee would cook me greens and cornbread, and he’d say, ‘You come from the South, you need Southern food.’”
“I didn’t understand life in New York until I met Monte,” Mays said. “He protected me dearly.”
Irvin modestly deflected questions about his own pioneering role in integrating baseball. “Jackie Robinson was really the pioneer,” he said. “He was the real hero. I was so happy that he was successful. It made it so easy for the rest of us.”
Of course, it wasn’t really that easy.
“He went through a lot of the same stuff that Jackie went through,” Willie McCovey said. “A lot of us went through a lot of the same stuff, but it just wasn’t as bad as what Jackie had to face.”
Irvin, in fact, almost was the pioneer that Robinson came to be. As one of the few survivors of the Negro Leagues, Irvin recalled, “I couldn’t aspire to be a major leaguer, because that door was closed. He ticked off the names of others who “would have been superstars in the majors if they had been given the chance,” men like Martin Dihigo and Josh Gibson.
According to a Web site hosted by the state of New Jersey in honor of its famous long-time resident, Irvin was signed by the Negro Leagues’ Newark Eagles in 1939:
Monte wasted no time establishing his dominance in the Negro Leagues. He was one of the rare five-tool players, able to run, throw, field, hit, and hit for power exceptionally well. He was widely considered the game’s greatest all-around star. Monte had all-star seasons in the outfield as well as at shortstop and third base.
In 1940, Monte batted .422. He followed up that amazing year with an MVP season in 1941, hitting .386 and belting a league-leading 41 home runs.
Monte continued his success as MVP in the Winter Leagues in Cuba. In 1942, he left the Eagles to join the Mexican League. While there, he dominated each of the Triple Crown categories and was also named MVP.
Irvin was then drafted, and served three years in World War II. In 1945, upon his return, Dodger general manager Branch Rickey signed him to a contract. But two things kept him from breaking the color barrier. One, Rickey wouldn’t recognize Irvin’s contract with the Eagles, and Eagles owner Effa Manley — the only woman in the Hall of Fame — refused to let him out of it. And two, Irvin felt rusty after his Army service, and wasn’t ready to play.
“I had been in the Army for three years and was not feeling that well,” he said. “I wanted to regain the old feeling, so I went to Puerto Rico to play. Larry Doby and I went together to the Cuban Winter League.”
In Puerto Rico, a baseball-playing father took his young son Orlando Cepeda to see Irvin play. “It was the first game I ever saw,” Cepeda said. He went just to see Irvin and Leon Day, but Irvin had hurt his arm and was out of the lineup. He pinch-hit, however, and “he hit a double with one arm!” Cepeda said. “It was incredible! Right Monte? Monte was everybody’s idol in Puerto Rico. After I saw him play, I said, ‘I want to be a baseball player.’”
While Irvin played, Robinson integrated baseball.
“When the Dodgers signed Jackie, we knew it was the demise of the Negro Leagues,” he said. While the players all hoped for their shot at the big show, they also mourned the loss of their way of life.
Soon enough, fabled scout Alex Pompez signed Irvin and Hank Thompson to contracts for the Giants, and they were assigned to the farm team in Jersey City, NJ. Irvin said Giants owner Horace Stoneham paid Effa Manley $5,000 for the rights. “After getting the chance, I slowly regained my form and started to play very good baseball,” Irvin said.
Irvin was 30 when he and Thompson debuted for the Giants on the same day in 1949. Although his best years were behind him, he still tore up the National League in 1951, leading the Giants to an amazing comeback that culminated in Bobby Thomson’s home run and the National League pennant. Mays remembered Irvin stealing home in the World Series; Giants announcer Jon Miller, who emceed the ceremony honoring Irvin on the field, said it was the first straight steal of home in 30 years.
Miller noted Irvin’s .394 lifetime World Series batting average, and said, “The man knew how to rise to the occasion.”
He was voted into the Hall of Fame in 1973.
The ceremony was great: Mays spoke, the Giants played a documentary about Irvin, and a video tribute from Commissioner Bud Selig; the “Junior Giants” unveiled his number, right next to his outfield mate Mays; and Irvin himself made a charming speech. (The event was only marred, for me, by Red Sox fans who jabbered through it; I think they couldn’t stand the notion that Willie Mays was not only a better all-around player than Ted Williams, but that he also had the World Series ring that Teddy Ballgame never achieved.)
“It’s a pleasure to be here,” Irvin said, “although at my stage of life, it’s a pleasure to be anywhere.”
While he had so many great moments in baseball, he said, he had few disappointments. “One of the disappointments,” he said, “was I never had the chance to play here in San Francisco.”
No matter. San Francisco knows greatness. The fans cheered as if he were one of their own.
The book goes local!
A new venue is now selling “Giants Past and Present”: Diamond Sports, a baseball card and memorabilia shop in my hometown of San Rafael. I spend many happy hours there with my son, and we always come away with some treasure.
Now they are carrying the book, with every copy signed, and the book will also be at their sister store in Concord.
Diamond Sports is at 1144 4th St., San Rafael, and at 1280 Diamond Way, Concord.
In addition, I was excited to see that the book is now in three Marin County libraries — San Rafael, Corte Madera and Mill Valley — and that it’s not only checked out in all three, but holds have been placed on its return in two of them! I hope everyone is enjoying the book!
Taking it to the A’s
The Giants and A’s have a long history – one that predates their moves to the Bay Area. The New York Giants and Philadelphia A’s met several times in the first decade of the World Series, with the Giants taking the 1905 classic behind Christy Mathewson’s amazing three shutouts. Alas, the A’s roared back to beat the Giants in the Series in 1911 and 1913 (and the Giants fell to the Red Sox in 1912 as well).
Before they ever even met in a World Series, Giant manager John McGraw referred to Connie Mack’s A’s as a bunch of “white elephants,” part of McGraw’s contempt for the American League that had cast him out. Mack showed McGraw, however, adopting the elephant as the team mascot – the forerunner of Oakland’s friendly fuzzy pachyderm Stomper.
Of course, the A’s moved to Kansas City in 1955, the Giants moved to San Francisco in 1958, and the A’s moved to Oakland in 1968, bringing the rivalry to California. The move worked for the A’s, who roared to three straight Series wins in 1972-1974, and with one more coming at the expense of the Giants in the earthquake-marred 1989 Bay Bridge World Series.
The two teams have been fairly competitive in the 20th century, with both of them seemingly in sync through playoff runs and rebuilding years. They appear fairly evenly matched now; the A’s swept the Giants in Oakland in interleague play in May, and the Giants returned the favor, sweeping the A’s in San Francisco in June.
And now – did I bury the lead? – the rivalry takes on a new dimension, when I bring my “Giants Past and Present” book tour into A’s territory, and read and tell stories at Oakland’s Laurel Bookstore, 4100 MacArthur Blvd., at 7 pm Thursday, June 24.
I hope to see you there!
Paging the Panda: Giant nicknames now on YouTube
Does baseball still give its players good nicknames? From my chapter on Nicknames in “Giants Past and Present”:
Baseball players used to need nicknames like they needed gloves and bats. Getting a nickname was almost a rite of passage.
From the first Gothams team—featuring Dasher Troy, Buck Ewing, Tip O’Neill, and Smiling Mickey Welch—the Giants have featured some of baseball’s most evocative nicknames.
Fortunately, the Giants have kept the tradition alive, all the way through today, with stars like The Freak and The Panda. I had some fun discussing the tradition in this video, now on my YouTube channel:
Borders by the Ballpark
Today is a big baseball day for me. At noon, my son Harry’s Cubs play for the Mill Valley City Championship. From 3:30 to 6 pm, I’ll be signing books at the Borders by AT&T Park. And then at 6:05, I’ll hustle across the street for the Giants-A’s game tonight.
It was great to see the Giants beat the A’s last night. Tim Lincecum appears to have gotten his groove back, and the misery of the A’s three game sweep of the Giants in Oakland last month is gone.
Borders Mission Bay store, at 200 King Street, San Francisco, has always seemed to me the ideal place to sell baseball books. Hundreds of fans stream by on their way to the ballgame. Stop in and say hello this afternoon!