Header - Baseball by the Letters

Month: March 2010

Ralph “Putsy” Caballero, Proud “Whiz Kid”

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Ralph “Putsy” Caballero became the National League’s youngest third baseman ever when he debuted with the 1944 Phillies at age 16. Through 1952, he provided Philadelphia with utility infielder skills and one winning personality. Teammates marveled at his card-playing ability. In retirement, Caballero joked he may have won more money at cards than he made in baseball.

Caballero’s major league challenges pale to what he faced in 2005. The Louisiana resident lost his home and memorabilia from his Philadelphia days to Hurricane Katrina. He salvaged a Phillies uniform and autographed team picture from his 1950 “Whiz Kids” teammates. The World Series ring seems to have remained on his finger since 1950.

The baseball memories may have been the secret to his success. He wrote:

“Richie Ashburn was my teammate.

My home run (in 1951, the only one in 322 career games) was a thrill. Off George Spencer, the Giants ace relief pitcher.

(Our) batboys were 12 years old then. Not much older than me.

P.S. – I named my first son after Richie Ashburn”

Ralph "Putsy" Caballero, Proud "Whiz Kid"

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Ralph “Putsy” Caballero became the National League’s youngest third baseman ever when he debuted with the 1944 Phillies at age 16. Through 1952, he provided Philadelphia with utility infielder skills and one winning personality. Teammates marveled at his card-playing ability. In retirement, Caballero joked he may have won more money at cards than he made in baseball.

Caballero’s major league challenges pale to what he faced in 2005. The Louisiana resident lost his home and memorabilia from his Philadelphia days to Hurricane Katrina. He salvaged a Phillies uniform and autographed team picture from his 1950 “Whiz Kids” teammates. The World Series ring seems to have remained on his finger since 1950.

The baseball memories may have been the secret to his success. He wrote:

“Richie Ashburn was my teammate.

My home run (in 1951, the only one in 322 career games) was a thrill. Off George Spencer, the Giants ace relief pitcher.

(Our) batboys were 12 years old then. Not much older than me.

P.S. – I named my first son after Richie Ashburn”

Minnesota misses slugger Dan Dobbek

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Once touted as the second coming of slugger Bob Allison, Dan Dobbek’s stock rose and fell quickly.

The product of Western Michigan University, he’s remembered for being a grinning member of “The Sporting News Rookie Stars of 1959” subset in that year’s Topps set. Sure enough, he uncorked 23 home runs for the Chattanooga Lookouts, earning a September debut with the Washington Senators.

Before the 1960 season, manager Cookie Lavagetto told reporters, “He is a very extraordinary rookie. He is the best fielding outfielder on the club.”

Dobbek managed 10 home runs in 110 games. He remembered one game especially, writing:

“In 1960 against K.C., I had 2 home runs the last time at bat in the first game of a doubleheader and another one the first time up in the second game. I got walked the next three times.”

When the Senators morphed into the Minnesota Twins in 1961, Dobbek greeted Metropolitan Stadium fans with a May 19 grand slam. His third-inning grand salami before home fans became the first in Twins history.

Facing the Athletics in Kansas City, Dobbek’s career faced a crossroads.

“My career ended because I ran into a concrete wall in K.C. catching a fly ball,” he added without prompting.

Just four homers and a .168 average in 72 games of part-time action foreshadowed Dobbek’s decline. Swapped to Cincinnati in the off-season for catcher Jerry Zimmerman, Dobbek would appear with the Reds only on baseball cards. He’d be out of baseball in two years.

Fred Kipp: An Overlooked Dodger

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No wonder Fred Kipp is a member of the Kansas Baseball Hall of Fame.

Signed in 1953, the left-hander won 15 games and a Tri-State ERA title his first year as a pro. Kipp missed most of 1954-55 in the Army, only to distinguish himself with a team-leading 20 wins for the 1956 Montreal Royals. His teammates included Sparky Anderson and Dick Williams, who watched Kipp snatch league Rookie of the Year honors.

After a one-game debut with the 1957 Brooklyn Dodgers, Kipp joined the team in Los Angeles. His season in the sun came in 1958, going 6-6 in 40 appearances.

Kipp had mixed feelings about the team’s Los Angeles home, the made-for-football Coliseum.

How did he feel in the “ballpark” with a left field screen just 250 feet away begging for home runs?

“I didn’t get to pitch a lot (there), due to being left-handed,” Kipp wrote. Still, his assessment of manager Walter Alston took only two words:

“Good man.”

Ironically, Kipp relished swinging the bat in Los Angeles and elsewhere. His 9-for-36 offense wasn’t typical for any pitcher.

“The first time up in the Coliseum,” Kipp remembered, “I hit one off the screen in short left-center.”

After a partial season with the 1959 Dodgers, Kipp’s big-league days ended with an abbreviated stay with the 1960 Yankees. Without the interruption for military service, without being buried in the talent-deep Dodgers farm system, the Kansas lefty’s fortunes may have been far different.

Nelson Chittum’s Three-Year Adventure

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Pitcher Nelson Chittum packed a fair share of history into a three-year career.

His first pro season produced a 23-7 record and California League Rookie of the Year status in 1956. Chittum debuted with St. Louis in August, 1958.

When asked about Stan Musial, Chittum wrote:

“Stan was a great player and a very outgoing person.”

Chittum didn’t add about Musial’s penchant for forgiveness. Chittum earlier told the fantastic website www.baseball-reference.com that, upon failing to cover first base on a bunt, Musial told the young hurler, “Don’t worry about it, kid.”

Swapped to Boston in the off-season, Chittum paid immediate dividends: a 3-0 record and 1.19 ERA.

From being a teammate of a St. Louis superstar, Chittum became another supporting cast member for Ted Williams.

“Ted was also a great player and really an outgoing person only to other ballplayers,” Chittum noted. “He did not like sports writers.”
Chittum was in uniform July 21, when teammate “Pumpsie” Green ended the last chapter of baseball’s segregation. Boston became the last club to use African-American talent.

The color barrier came down after former manager Pinky Higgins vowed he’d field an all-white lineup as long as he had anything to say about it. Higgins was replaced less than a month before Green’s debut.

“I did not know how Higgins felt,” Chittum added. “Pumpsie was a really nice person.”

Three history makers in three years. Chittum remembers and appreciates them all.