Wilson Just Couldn’t Hack Any More Hits

Hack Wilson and Casey Stengel, two of baseball’s giants, were together with Brooklyn in 1934, but it was the wrong time for both.

In his book “Stengel,” Robert W. Creamer tells of Stengel’s problem in removing pitcher Walter Beck, who was getting shelled in Philadelphia:

“In right field for the Dodgers was Hack Wilson, who after several years of starring and drinking with the Chicago Cubs had been traded to Brooklyn, where after one good season he concentrated mostly on drinking.

“If he had been asked, Wilson would have agreed with Stengel’s evaluation of Beck’s pitching. Hack was exhausted from chasing baseballs hit by the Phils off the tin fence behind, and as Casey talked to his pitcher, Wilson leaned over with his hands on his knees, his head down, his eyes closed. On the mound Beck argued with Stengel.

“Give me the ball,” said Stengel.

“No,” said Beck, who turned and flung the ball into right field, over Wilson’s head against the tin wall. The startled Wilson, his head still down, thought it was another base hit and leaped into action. He raced back, fielded the ball off the wall, and turned and threw a perfect strike to second base.”

Beck was known as Boom Boom Beck after that. Wilson was soon gone to Philadelphia.

Trivia time: What was Hack Wilson’s first name?

Add Stengel: After the 1955 loss to the Dodgers in the World Series, a tearful Billy Martin told Howard Cosell, “A man like that shouldn’t have to lose.”

Writes Creamer: “Defeat to Martin was destructive, a form of death, and he must have thought Stengel somehow had been destroyed, or at least badly damaged. What Billy never did understand was that Stengel was never destroyed by defeat.

“He wanted to win just as badly as Billy did but was as used to adversity. He had lost before. He knew how to ride the trouble, like a smart boxer, to keep his poise, until things cleared up and we was able to fight again.”

Just asking: From Bruce Keidan of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “We take it for granted that human athletes get bigger, stronger and faster with each passing generation. So why not race horses? Why doesn’t selective breeding of thoroughbreds produce a quantum-leap colt or a Flo Jo filly, capable of running faster than, say, Secretariat?”

Drop me a line if you know the answer. I’ll pass it along.

Trivia answer: Lewis.

Quotebook: Pittsburgh center fielder Andy Van Slyke after making two errors in one inning in a game: “I’d rather have my wisdom teeth pulled than play a 5 o’clock game.”