August 9, 1951: Corning A’s win big for special guest Connie Mack

A full-page ad in the August 6, 1951, issue of the Corning (New York) Evening Leader promoted an event “Important to All Local Baseball Enthusiasts.”1

Hall of Famer Connie Mack, legendary president of the Philadelphia A’s and recently retired after 50 seasons as their manager,2 was coming to the small city in New York’s Southern Tier on August 9 to attend a luncheon and a baseball game involving the A’s local farm team. “Better get your tickets to the game and the luncheon without delay,” the ad counseled.

The 88-year-old’s day of honor included a visit to a local Veterans Administration hospital, the luncheon, and a tour of the city’s biggest employer, the Corning Glass Works.3 He was resoundingly welcomed at all stops. But the Corning A’s of the Class D Pennsylvania-Ontario-New York (PONY) League saved the best greeting for last, scoring a win that night with the “Grand Old Man” in attendance.

The arrival of the PONY League for the 1951 season marked Corning’s debut in affiliated professional baseball, as the city took over a franchise formerly allotted to Lockport, New York.4 The only previous pro teams in the city of about 18,000 residents5 had been the 1904 White Ponies and 1905 Glassblowers of the independent Southern Tier League.6

Unfortunately, the “Crystal City”7 had tied its fortunes to a franchise that was fast being left behind. The A’s seemed stuck in a spiral where poor on-field performance led to low attendance, which meant less money for players or organizational improvements, which meant more losses on the field. “We had no money to plug holes, no bench strength,” recalled Jimmie Dykes, Mack’s replacement as the A’s manager and a key member of World Series-winning Philadelphia teams in 1929 and 1930.8

By the early 1950s, most successful big-league owners made their fortunes in other industries and invested their profits in their teams. Majority ownership in the A’s lay with Mack’s sons, Roy and Earle; their only business was baseball, and their pockets were comparatively shallow.9 Smart teams built strong minor-league organizations to develop talent. The Macks lacked the money and foresight to do the same: According to Baseball-Reference, the A’s did not have a dedicated minor-league affiliate of their own above the Class A level in 1951.10 Progressive teams, starting with the Brooklyn Dodgers, had begun to integrate; the A’s were several years behind the leaders, and their efforts here would largely wait until the team had left Philadelphia.11

The rot was visible at every level when “The Tall Tactician” came to Corning in the company of Arthur Ehlers, who held the dual titles of Athletics general manager and minor-league director. As of August 9, the parent club in Philly had a 41-67 record, 26½ games out of first. The team’s highest-ranking affiliates – Class A teams in Savannah, Georgia, and Lincoln, Nebraska – had records of 54-58 and 47-64, respectively.12 And the Corning team, under the leadership of former A’s infielder Irv Hall, sat in last place in the PONY League with a 34-63 record, 27 games behind first-place Jamestown.13 Corning had dropped a doubleheader to Wellsville the night before Mack’s visit.14

Only one player on Hall’s team went on to the major leagues, and then for the briefest of moments. Catcher Eric MacKenzie pinch-hit and played a single inning in the field for the Kansas City A’s on April 23, 1955, a day on which the Chicago White Sox embarrassed the A’s, 29-6. MacKenzie, 18 years old in 1951, was not in Corning’s lineup on the night Mack came to town, though he played the day before. Corning’s offensive leaders included left fielder Steve Sobocan, who hit .311 for the season, and first baseman Robert Yeakel, who led the team with seven home runs in his only recorded pro season.

In a symbolic matchup, Mack and Ehlers watched their Corning farmhands play the Bradford (Pennsylvania) Phillies – a farm club of the Athletics’ Philadelphia National League rivals. The major-league Phils were on the rise in 1951: They’d won the pennant the season before and were handily outdrawing the A’s at the ballpark they shared, Shibe Park.15 The Phillies’ Bradford affiliate held fourth place in the eight-team PONY League with a 46-48 record, 13 games out of first.

Three 1951 Bradford players later reached the major leagues, and one – 19-year-old rookie pitcher Jack Meyer – started against Corning.16 Meyer, a native Philadelphian, had won the Phillies’ “Mr. Fastball” competition for high-school players in 1949, outpacing other contestants with an 85-MPH pitch. He brought a 5-0 record into the game and closed the season with a 6-2 record and a 5.01 ERA in 16 games. Meyer reached the Phillies in 1955 and spent parts of seven seasons with them, but off-field carousing and injury brought an early end to his promising career.17

On the Corning side, the privilege of pitching in front of Mack and Ehlers went to righty Herman Osburn, a 22-year-old in his second season in professional baseball. Available news stories say nothing about Osburn’s personal background or pitching style, though a preseason story tabbed him as one of three prospective pitchers who “have all shown a nice assortment of stuff” and had “good control.”18 Osburn compiled a 7-14 record and 3.84 ERA in 27 games in 1951, including 22 starts, and had shut out the Bradford team earlier in the season.19 In a four-season minor-league career, he peaked at Class B and compiled an 18-29 record.

The Corning newspaper reported that 1,388 fans packed Memorial Stadium for the game. The newspaper was kind enough not to point out that the parent Philadelphia club had already drawn smaller crowds to three games at Shibe Park that season.20 Mack received a rousing cheer when he entered the ballpark in an open car. Ehlers and PONY League President Vincent McNamara delivered brief remarks praising Mack. The old man accepted a plaque, signed a few autographs, threw out the ceremonial first pitch, and settled into a box seat to watch the action.21

Bradford began to assemble a rally in the top of the second inning. First baseman John Davenport, the team’s playing manager, drew a walk and moved to second on right fielder Bill Newman’s infield hit. The threat died quickly. Osburn got center fielder John Miller to hit a deep fly to his opposite number, Dick Kirk, and a relay to first caught Newman off base for a double play.22

Corning hit back hard in the bottom half, starting with a double to right-center field by third baseman Bob Poprocky. Right fielder Tom Davis singled Poprocky to third and took second on the throw in. Kirk singled into center field to score both runs, then ended up on third base as Miller misplayed the ball. Sobocan’s groundout scored Kirk. Singles by catcher Pat Capachione, shortstop Red Werner, and second baseman Clarence “Shot” Williford delivered another run and gave Corning a 4-0 lead.

One imagines that the Corning fans must have been delighted at this outburst of success with a distinguished guest in the house. The A’s didn’t stop there. In the third inning, right fielder Davis laced a triple and scored on Kirk’s fly ball for a 5-0 Corning lead.23

The Phillies threatened in the fifth, as catcher Marv Jones hit a double to center field and moved to third on a single to left field by shortstop Fred Stephens. Osburn got pitcher Meyer and second baseman Eddie Trojanowski24 to pop up, ending the rally.25

Offense was hard to come by from that point on. Osburn held Bradford hitless the rest of the way, finishing with a three-hit shutout. Meyer didn’t allow another hit until the eighth, when first baseman Yeakel drove a triple into left-center field. He scored when third baseman Paul Farrell couldn’t control the throw in, bringing the score to its final tally of 6-0, Corning. Osburn walked three and struck out four, while Meyer walked two and struck out five.

One local paper described the game as “the best PONY League baseball game the locals have played here all season.”26 Indeed, that might have been as good as it got in Corning in 1951 as the team finished in last place with a 45-81 record, 33½ games back. Bradford finished fifth at 64-62, 14½ games behind. Connie Mack lived long enough to see Shibe Park renamed in his honor in 1953 – but also to see his sons sell the team the following year. The A’s moved to Kansas City for the 1955 season, and Mack died in Philadelphia on February 8, 1956, at age 93.

Corning stayed with the A’s in 1952, then fielded an unaffiliated PONY League team in 1953. The Boston Red Sox took over the team from 1954 to 1960, after which Corning left the league. The city made one final foray into professional baseball in 1968 and 1969, when it hosted an affiliate of the expansion Kansas City Royals in the renamed New York-Penn League.27 Corning has been absent from professional baseball ever since.

Acknowledgments

This story was fact-checked by Mike Huber and copy-edited by Len Levin. The author thanks John Fredland and Russ Walsh for their review and suggestions.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the specific sources cited in the Notes, the author used the Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org websites for general player, team and season data. Doug Skipper’s SABR Biography Project article on Connie Mack also was a primary source.

Unless otherwise noted, game action, attendance, and other details are taken from “Corning A’s Blank Bradford, 6-0,” Corning (New York) Evening Leader, August 10, 1951: 9.

Neither Baseball-Reference nor Retrosheet provides box scores of minor league games, but the August 10, 1951, edition of the Corning Evening Leader published a box score.

The author thanks FultonHistory.com for making many of the cited newspapers available online.

Image of 1940 Play Ball card #132 downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Advertisement, Corning (New York) Evening Leader, August 6, 1951: 5.

2 Mack retired in mid-October 1950, shortly after the conclusion of that year’s baseball season. One year prior to the Corning event, on August 9, 1950, he’d been in the dugout at Shibe Park as his A’s held off the Washington Senators, 7-6, in 11 innings.

3 “1400 Fans Greet Connie Mack at Stadium,” Corning Evening Leader, August 10, 1951: 8. Corning Glass Works changed its name to Corning Incorporated in 1989.

4 “Corning Granted Lockport’s Franchise in PONY Baseball League,” Elmira (New York) Advertiser, November 16, 1950: 10.

5 According to US Census records accessed online January 19, 2022, Corning had 17,684 residents in 1950. https://www2.census.gov/prod2/decennial/documents/23761117v1ch08.pdf

6 As of January 2022, Corning was the listed birthplace of only three former major leaguers. Greg Keagle pitched in 46 games with the Detroit Tigers between 1996 and 1998. Glenn Spencer pitched in 139 games with the Pittsburgh Pirates and New York Giants between 1928 and 1933. And Bill Moore pitched in a single game with Detroit on April 15, 1925. Called in to relieve, he walked three straight batters and was replaced, giving him a career ERA of infinity.

7 Corning was also known as the Glass City.

8 Robert D. Warrington, “Departure Without Dignity: The Athletics Leave Philadelphia,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2010. Accessed online January 19, 2022.

9 The Athletics also never sold outfield fence signs or beer, two well-established sources of profit for other teams. Norman Macht, “Connie Mack’s Income,” SABR Baseball Research Journal, Fall 2015. Accessed online January 19, 2022.

10 The A’s had had a working agreement with a Triple-A team in Buffalo, New York, in 1950, but The Sporting News reported in February 1951 that the team had allowed it to lapse. Art Morrow, “Only Five of 38 A’s New to Club; Few Draft Tagged,” The Sporting News, February 28, 1951. The A’s connected with a Triple-A team in Ottawa, Ontario, for 1952, but fielded a team at the Double-A level for only two seasons between 1942 and 1956.

11 The A’s first Black player, pitcher Bob Trice, debuted in September 1953. First baseman Vic Power and outfielder Joe Taylor joined him the following season. The 1951 Corning team employed at least two Black players. Infielder Clarence “Shot” Williford was a native Philadelphian signed by Black A’s scout and Hall of Famer Judy Johnson. “Who’s Who with Corning A’s,” Corning Evening Leader, May 4, 1951: 8. Also, pitcher Marion Scott pitched in 11 games with Corning; he is identified as a “Negro hurler” in “Corning A’s Arrive from Easton,” Corning Evening Leader, May 1, 1951: 8.

12 South Atlantic League standings (Savannah) as printed in the Alabama Journal (Montgomery, Alabama), August 9, 1951: 12A. Western League standings (Lincoln) as printed in the Lincoln (Nebraska) Journal-Star, August 9, 1951: 11.

13 PONY League standings as printed in the Elmira (New York) Advertiser, August 9, 1951: 11. The first-place Jamestown team was affiliated with the Detroit Tigers.

14 “Connie Mack at Stadium Tonight,” Corning Evening Leader, August 9, 1951: 8.

15 The 1951 Phillies drew 937,658 fans for an average of 12,177 per home game. The 1951 A’s drew 465,469 fans, for an average of 5,892 per home game.

16 The other two were pitcher Jim Owens and infielder Lee Tate. Owens later became a carousing partner of Meyer’s in Philadelphia as part of a hard-partying group of Phillies nicknamed “The Dalton Gang.”

17 Russ Walsh, “Jack Meyer,” SABR Biography Project. Accessed online January 19, 2022.

18 Bill Perry, “Hall Likes Hurling of Stinsa,” Corning Evening Leader, April 21, 1951: 2.

19 “Corning A’s Blank Bradford, 6-0,” Corning Evening Leader, August 10, 1951: 9.

20 The A’s drew 1,064 fans on May 24 against the Chicago White Sox; 1,346 on June 21 against the Detroit Tigers; and 1,314 on June 23 against the St. Louis Browns. They also drew between 1,400 and 1,450 fans for three games in late September.

21 “Connie Mack Feted at Corning Program,” Elmira (New York) Star-Gazette, August 10, 1951: 9.

22 “Connie Mack Watches Corning Beat Phillies,” Bradford (Pennsylvania) Era, August 10, 1951: 16.

23 The Corning newspaper said the triple went to center field; the Bradford newspaper reported it as being hit to left field.

24 Baseball-Reference lists this player under the name of Beech Trojanowski, giving his full name as Edward A. Trojanowski. In 1951 game coverage he is Eddie or Ed Trojanowski.

25 “Connie Mack Watches Corning Beat Phillies.” Also, “Corning A’s Blank Bradford, 6-0.”

26 “Connie Mack Feted at Corning Program.”

27 The Corning Royals began play in 1968, one season earlier than their parent club.