Lee Walls

Lee Walls was a teenage athletic hero in Pasadena, California. He starred in football, baseball, and basketball but chose baseball as a career.  He signed his first professional contract at age 18 and spent 15 seasons in Organized Baseball, 10 in the major leagues (1952; 1956-64). Primarily a corner outfielder, Walls was one of the few major league players to wear glasses (earning him the nickname “Captain Midnight,” after a fictitious war hero of radio, TV and comics). He was a one-time All-Star who became one of the best pinch-hitters in the majors.1

Walls went on to become a coach and minor league manager. Before that, he was also an agent for major league players, finding film and television roles for clients.

***

Ray Lee Walls Jr. was born on January 6, 1933, in San Diego, California, the second child of Ray Lee Walls Sr. and his wife, Julia (née Austin).2 His father worked for Consolidated Aircraft Corporation in San Diego, then moved the family to Pasadena when Lee and his older sister, Raylene, were in elementary school.3

Walls played in the Rose Bowl twice. On October 30, 1947, he led John Marshall Junior High to the city Class A football championship, returning the opening kickoff for a touchdown.4 Three weeks earlier, 23,000 fans saw Walls score the winning touchdown in the 13th annual Football Carnival, where crosstown rivals paired up and played one quarter each.5 As captain of the 1948 Marshall baseball team, Walls pitched the Tigers to the Class A junior high baseball title. A week later, his perfect game won the Pasadena junior high baseball championship.6

In the fall of 1948, Walls enrolled in Pasadena City College (PCC), where students could complete their last two years of high school and their first two years of college.7 Walls played fullback and halfback for the PCC Bullpups (the nickname for the high school athletes), earning all-league and all-star honors.8 As a senior All-Coast League guard, Walls led the Bullpups to their fourth consecutive city basketball championship, earning second-team All-California Interscholastic Federation (CIF) Southern California honors.9

In 1949, Walls pitched and played outfield for the Western States Conference champions.10 He became the first Bullpup since Dick Williams in 1947 to earn All-CIF first-team honors. The Helms Foundation named Walls an All-Southern California first-team outfielder.11

As a senior, Walls made the All-Coast League team at shortstop – also getting votes as a second baseman and outfielder – and received a second All-CIF first-team award as an All-Southern California outfielder.12 After graduation, Walls pitched the Pasadena Black Cats to the American Legion playoffs and played semipro baseball.13

Sportswriters predicted that Walls would play college football for the University of Southern California or Cal-Berkeley.14 Instead, Walls continued at PCC to play basketball, scoring 31 points in his debut, leading the team in scoring. The state champion Bulldogs baseball team tabbed Walls for third base.15

On February 18, 1951, Walls signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates for an estimated $12,000. He reported to the Pirates’ minor league camp on February 28.16 Assigned to the Class C Modesto Reds, Walls won the California League’s Most Valuable Player award with a .342 batting average, 23 doubles, 16 triples, 14 home runs, 109 runs batted in, 28 stolen bases, 100 runs scored, a .521 slugging percentage and a .402 OPS. He was called up by the Pirates on September 18 but did not play.17

Walls made the 1952 roster but went 0-for-6 as a pinch hitter with four strikeouts and was demoted to the Class B Waco (Texas) Pirates of the Big State League. He returned to Pittsburgh in August to get his first major league hit and first home run, staying with the team for the rest of the season and getting into 32 games.

In 1953, Walls joined the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League (PCL), managed by Bobby Bragan. “I knew I didn’t belong up there yet,” said Walls of his Pittsburgh experience. “I’m still young yet and naturally hope to get back in the big leagues.”18 Walls played 500 games for Hollywood over three seasons. When he opened 1954 with a .412 average in 18 games, Hollywood president Bob Cobb said, “You couldn’t buy Walls for $100,000.” Branch Rickey, the Pittsburgh Pirates president and general manager, advised Cobb to package right fielder Walls and center fielder Tom Saffell for a $400,000 sale. On September 25, Rickey bought Walls’ contract from Hollywood. On October 14, Rickey obtained Saffell for cash and pitchers George O’Donnell and catcher Bill Hall.19

After playing winter ball for Tigres de Marianao in the Cuban League, Walls was optioned to the Stars in 1955. He hit 24 home runs and drove in 99 runs. In three games at Gilmore Field against Sacramento spanning June 30-July 2, Walls hit four home runs. His first-inning home run on July 1 was his third in three consecutive at-bats. On July 28-29, he homered in each game.20 Walls missed the PCL playoffs in September to undergo surgery for a double hernia that forced him to wear a truss during the season.21

That June, Walls’ first wife, Jo Anne (née Spear) won a divorce from him in an Indio, California, court. The couple had married on September 24, 1954, in Las Vegas and separated in March. She claimed Walls had said he did not love her and “screamed” that she should leave him. The judge would not grant lifetime alimony for such a brief marriage. Walls did not contest the divorce.22

During the next two offseasons, Walls worked at the Doll House restaurant in Palm Springs as a maître d’, learning the business firsthand. There he met his second wife, 1955 Miss Palm Springs, Joanna Droste, a second-grade teacher at St. Theresa’s Catholic school, who took the job instead of competing in the Miss California contest.23 “Every year they have a rodeo down there,” Lee Walls recalled. “Town goes wild. One day when I was at the restaurant a group of girls came in selling rodeo buttons. One girl came up and tried to sell me a button. It turned out she was Miss Palm Springs. I bought a button and asked her for a date. I married her a year later.”24

In her 2010 memoir, On My Angel’s Wings, Joanna Walls recalled Lee telling his baseball buddies on the scene, “I am going to marry her.” His pals responded, “YEH RIGHT.”25 Droste had been a host at the Doll House and had entertained Army and Air Force personnel for the United Service Organization (USO), having her own agent and publicist. She had done pediatric and private duty nursing and would eventually spend 30 years in the nursing field. Joanna received Walls’ date request while on horseback as the leader of the mile-long Rodeo parade.26 The couple became engaged on Valentine’s Day, 1956 and married in a civil ceremony on June 13, 1956. On December 1, 1956, they exchanged vows at a religious ceremony at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Brentwood. Walls’ best man was Preston Ward, a former Pirate teammate. Saffell was the usher.27  The couple’s baseball life soon shifted into high gear; they moved 18 times in the next five years,28

Walls’ 1956 rookie season was a pleasant surprise. He had a .336 average at the end of May as the regular right fielder for Bragan, who’d become the Pirates’ manager. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette columnist Al Abrams wrote “the bespectacled fly chaser has been murdering big league pitching so far.” Bragan added, “What people don’t know is that Walls played all last season with a double hernia. The guy has guts and ability.”29 “They told me when I was in Hollywood that I’d never make the major leagues until I hit a lot of home runs,” Walls said. “But I’m back to just trying to meet the ball solid, now that I have a chance up here.”30

Walls batted .274 with a variety of long hits: 20 doubles and 11 triples (both career highs), as well as 11 home runs. He played in 143 games, starting 66 times in left field and 48 times in right, instead of Hall of Famer Roberto Clemente. “(Center fielder Bill) Virdon and I would get all over Clemente,” Bragan recalled. “If a tough righthander was going to face us, Clemente would all of a sudden have a headache or a bad back. I challenged him one day, I said, ‘You don’t want to play tonight because (Don) Drysdale’s pitching and he might knock you on your ass.’” Walls, however, was not immune to Bragan’s criticisms, once being fined $50 for missing a base.31

In December, the Chicago Cubs showed interest in trading for Walls, but it didn’t happen – for a while. 32 In January, the Pittsburgh baseball writers voted Walls the Pirates’ top rookie.33 After working at Don the Beachcomber’s Palm Springs restaurant, Walls ended a holdout on February 28 and signed his 1957 contract. On May 1, the Pirates traded the slumping duo of Walls and Dale Long to the Cubs for Gene Baker and Dee Fondy. Walls was happy to join Chicago but had regrets about leaving Pittsburgh. “I made a lot of friends those seven years,” he said. “I was with Bobby Bragan so long I didn’t think I’d ever leave him. But I did. That’s baseball.”34

Walls started slowly and failed to hit a home run in May. In June, the Cubs sent him to an eye specialist, who prescribed phenobarbital to treat an optical nerve twitch. In two weeks, Walls raised his average 26 points. “I’m nearsighted,” Walls told Sports Illustrated writer Walter Bingham. “Can’t see a thing without my glasses, as they say. But with them on, my vision is 20-15. I wear another kind when I play. They fit more securely around my eyes. Non-breakable lenses.”35

On July 2, Walls and the fans really had something to see. He became the first major league player in three years to hit for the cycle, driving in four runs. On July 19, Walls homered twice at Ebbets Field. But he finished ’57 with only six home runs and a .237 batting average.

As the result of a conversation before an exhibition game in 1958, Ted Williams convinced Walls — and other players — that working with weights helped strengthen a player’s hands and wrists. Walls exercised with 30-pound barbells over the winter.36 On April 24 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, he hit three home runs over the infamous left field screen, 40 feet high and 250 feet from home plate. He set a team record, since equaled, of eight home runs in April. Walls also led the National League in being hit by pitches (eight).37

Walls’ onslaught touched off a storm among the baseball press. An Associated Press poll of nearly 200 writers, editors, and columnists showed that more than 60 percent favored not recognizing any National Leaguers who broke Babe Ruth‘s single season record of 60 home runs, or Hack Wilson’s NL mark of 56. A few proposed that a footnote be added to a new record, saying it was set with the aid of the short left-field fence. Others said only Dodgers should be denied any new record because they played 77 home games in the “lopsided” ballpark.38 Walls had his own answer. “Those home runs were all well-hit,” he said. “They would have been home runs anywhere. I wouldn’t kid you. Ask (Dodger manager) Walter Alston. He said so.”39 Walls’ teammate Ernie Banks kept the records safe, blasting 47 home runs to lead both leagues as the National League’s Most Valuable Player.

Walls made the NL All-Star team, hit 24 home runs, and batted .304. On September 9, his season ended when he fractured a finger sliding into second base.40 In the offseason, Walls sold for the Chicago Porcelain Products Company.41

The 1959 season started Walls’ career on a downslide. After four spring training games, Walls came down with the flu. “When I recovered, they had plans for a kid rookie (George) Altman and I didn’t get another chance.”42 Walls became a platoon player and pinch-hitter. Writers called him “the biggest disappointment among the regulars.”43

Back in the Palm Springs desert for another off-season in the winter of 1959, Walls played golf with Dean Martin and actor/comedian Bob Hope. Joanna became close friends with Hope’s wife, Dolores, who encouraged the Wallses to adopt (the Hopes had five adopted children). In January 1960, they adopted a three-month old daughter, Joy Leigh. At the christening, Dolores Hope was the baby’s godmother. The Wallses later adopted a daughter, Andrea, and a son, Jonathan.44

On December 6, 1959, the Cubs had traded Walls, Bill Henry and Lou Jackson to Cincinnati for Frank Thomas. “I would hit 20 home runs for Cincinnati if I played regularly,” Walls stated.45 However, he mostly platooned with Tony González in right field. On June 15, the Reds traded both players to the Philadelphia Phillies for Wally Post, Harry Anderson and minor leaguer Fred Hopke. In July, Walls – who’d become a utility infielder-outfielder – took over as player representative from Robin Roberts.46 On August 26, Walls beat the Cubs at Wrigley Field with a disputed three-run inside-the-park home run. Umpire Tom Gorman ruled that the ball hit the left field foul pole at field level, bounced on the turf and landed in the Cubs’ bullpen. The left fielder – none other than Altman – claimed that it hit the side wall, then the foul pole.47

Walls played a full season with the Phillies in 1961, when the team lost a record 23 games in a row. During that stretch, Walls started 22 games and batted .340. Yet he recalled years later, “It was the lowest point of my career.”48 On October 10, the expansion New York Mets drafted Walls with the seventh pick in the expansion draft and paid the Phillies $125,000.  On December 15, the Mets sent him and $100,000 to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Charlie Neal.49 Dodgers skipper Walter Alston said of Walls, “He wouldn’t have to play another inning for me and he’d be of value to this team.”50 The trade also reunited Walls with his high school friend and now roommate Don Drysdale.51

Walls became the best pinch-hitter in baseball in 1962, with a.481 average on 13 pinch hits in 27 at-bats, the second-highest in major league history (minimum 30 pinch-hit appearances).52 When Alston scanned the bench for a pinch-hitter, “Walls always was looking me right in the eye,” the manager said.53 Walls’ three-run pinch double in Game Two of the National League playoff against the San Francisco Giants gave the Dodgers a 6-5 lead. He scored a seventh run, spiking catcher Tom Haller, who dropped the throw to home plate.54 Los Angeles won, 8-7, but lost the decisive Game Three when Walls flied to Willie Mays for the final out.

The Dodgers thought Walls could be the team’s third (emergency) catcher in 1963.  “Walls is good enough to give the protection we need in case of injury to either (Doug) Camilli or (John) Roseboro,” coach Pete Reiser said. Walls had warmed up pitchers between innings the previous season and caught batting practice during exhibition games in Arizona.55

Walls never caught – or played in the World Series – for the World Champion Dodgers but had 39 pinch-hit at-bats. On May 5, 1963, he hit a game-winning homer over the clock at Forbes Field.56 He was also a defensive replacement in the outfield. Walls and roommate Wally Moon attended player meetings that summer concerning insurance and medical benefits for non-active players. Another hot topic was the first-year Bonus Rule that forced teams to put a bonus player on the major league roster, potentially costing a veteran a roster spot.57

In 1964, Walls played just six innings in the outfield. He pinch-hit 28 times with five hits, bringing his career total to 45; his career average in this demanding role was a capable .251.58 In his final major league game, Walls caught the ninth inning of a Dodger victory.

Walls remained active in player/management relations and golfed in the annual Pro-Am-Celebrity Golf Tournament at Indian Wells, serving as director in 1964. He had started the Baseball Celebrity Golf Tournament in 1961 with the help of actor/singer Desi Arnaz. Frank Sinatra changed it to Sinatra’s Celebrity Tournament in 1965.59

In February 1965, Walls left Palm Springs to join the Hankyu Braves of Japan’s Pacific League. He played one season and hit 14 home runs with 48 RBIs and a .239 average. After returning to the United States, Walls played in the Pro-Am Division of the Bing Crosby Golf Tournament at Pebble Beach, California.60

In mid-1966, Walls joined National Artists Corporation as an agent for professional baseball players and sports talent for films and television.61 Former teammates Drysdale, Jim Lefebvre, and Al Ferrara were among his more than 20 clients. Lefebvre played a police patrolman and Ferrara a teenage nightclub bouncer in “Riot on Sunset Strip.” They also played supporting roles on TV’s Batman and Gilligan’s Island.62 Walls represented Cleveland’s fireballing southpaw Sam McDowell, saying he would be the next Sandy Koufax.63 Other endeavors included organizing a celebrity baseball team that traveled to Hawaii and played local teams all over the country during the 1974 season. Walls also participated in a Dodger Old-Timers game (as a member of the opposing team) in 1975.64

By then, Lee and Joanna Walls had been living apart for several years; the entire family eventually split up. Lee stayed in baseball and moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. Joanna moved with the children to New Orleans, Dallas, and then to her home state of Michigan. When she lost her job in theater management, social services took charge and the social workers told the children that their mother didn’t want or love them. She did not reunite with the younger ones until years later. Joanna returned to California alone and eventually resettled in Palm Springs, where she worked various jobs, owned a clothing store, and finally returned to nursing, providing hospital and private care to senior citizens.65

Walls returned to the majors in 1979, thanks to his former Cincinnati teammate Billy Martin. When Martin took over as the Oakland Athletics’ manager, he hired Walls as first base coach.66 Walls stayed for all four years of Martin’s tenure in Oakland, then followed Billy as the fiery skipper was rehired by the Yankees in 1983. Owner George Steinbrenner approved of Walls’ shaved head.  “That’s my kind of haircut,” the Boss said.67  Walls, who served as outfield coach, impressed the Yankee brass with his enthusiasm, dedication, and hard work.68

Soon, however, players resented him, calling him “The Echo” for repeating everything Martin yelled from the dugout. Martin was said to have “rarely, if ever, communicated with his coaches, other than Lee Walls, who fell out of favor for his ‘constant self-promoting.’” The Yankees fired him after the season.69

On January 21, 1985, Walls got his long-awaited managing job with the Nashville Sounds, then the Detroit Tigers’ Class AAA affiliate, at the request of Detroit’s World Series champion manager George “Sparky” Anderson. Walls arrived at the announcement press conference in a dapper suit and cowboy boots. He promised to teach the players basic skills and rely on his experience with managers like Gene Mauch, Billy Martin, and Bobby Bragan, as well as former Pirates president and general manager Branch Rickey.  “My job is to develop them mentally and physically, keep them working harder, and prepare them for major league careers.”70

Nashville, home of the Grand Ole Opry, suited Walls because he was a fan of country singers Eddy Arnold and Dolly Parton. (“It’s great to come here and see what color hair she’s really got.”) Conway Twitty was another favorite and one of the team owners.71

Three months later, Walls was rushed to St. Thomas Hospital in Nashville for surgery to stop internal bleeding in his stomach. Walls complained of dizziness and heat problems and coughed up blood before a home game on April 18. After surgery on April 21, doctors found that a ruptured vein caused internal bleeding.72 While they expected a full recovery, Sounds team physician Dr. Brant Lipscomb said Walls would be out at least a month.73

Walls’ absence affected his players. Designated hitter Ron Johnson said,  “A game doesn’t mean a hill of beans compared to a life-threatening situation.”74 A team official attended the Sounds’ game at Indianapolis and talked to the team to boost morale.75 Gordy MacKenzie became interim manager.76 Walls missed the rest of the season.

The next summer, having recovered, Walls played in a Dodgers’ Old-Timers game and got a run-scoring single. In 1988, he worked with the California Angels on the task of converting second baseman Johnny Ray into a left fielder.77  That June, his daughter Joy Leigh – who had moved to Salinas, California, after college – died in Monterey of accidental asphyxiation at age 28.78

In March 1993, Walls underwent a liver transplant performed at the UCLA Medical Center in Westwood. He died that October 11 of complications traced to a fungus discovered too late. Joanna said goodbye to him the night before.79 The family held a memorial service on December 1, 1993, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Catholic Church in Palm Springs. His remains were cremated. Survivors were his wife, Joanna, and children Jonathan, Andrea, and Sean. The family asked that donations be made to the UCLA Medical Center Liver Transplant Foundation.80

Just three months earlier, Walls and Drysdale had completed a television documentary called Baseball’s Greatest Hitters scheduled for release that November. Drysdale died on July 3 while Walls was hospitalized in Scottsdale, Arizona. The program never aired.81

Ray Lee Walls, Jr. might not have been a star, but no matter the situation, he kept coming, with a passion to win, a “terrific team man.”82 He may be remembered more for his glasses, but his entire package deserves a good look.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Rory Costello and David Bilmes and checked for accuracy by members of SABR’s fact-checking team.

Photo credit: Lee Walls, Trading Card Database.

Sources

In addition to the sources below, the author used Baseball Reference.com and Weiss Baseball Questionnaires, 1945-2005, as research tools.

Notes

1 Paul Votano, Stand Up and Deliver: A History of Pinch-Hitting, Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company, 2003: 119; Jack Herson, “Roamin’ Around,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, April 30, 1956: 26.

2 Federal U. S. Census Records, 1940. Walls’ mother died on February 26, 1948, when Lee was 15 years old. “Obituaries,” Pasadena Star-News, February 27, 1948: 21.

3 Federal U. S. Census Records, 1940.

4 Samu Masumota & Kenneth Pierce, “Marshall ‘A’ Champion; Tigers Nod Lions,” Pasadena Star-News, October 31, 1947: 21.

5 Keith Lyon, “Marshall’s Walls Scores Before 23,000 in ‘Circus’,” Pasadena Star-News, October 12, 1947: 42.

6“Walls’ No-hitter Halts Bears, 8-3,” Pasadena Star-News, March 19, 1948: 20; “Tigers Sew Ball Title,” Pasadena Star-News, April 9, 1948: 20; Wilbur Wilson, “Undefeated Marshall Clinches Ball Title,” Pasadena Star-News, April 16, 1948: 18.

7 Shaveneau Glick, “Down in Front,” Pasadena Star-News, August 31, 1948: 14; Carl G. Winter, History of the Junior College Movement in California, Bureau of Junior Colleges: 13.

8 “Five Vets Boost Pups,” Pasadena-Star News, September 5, 1949: 19; Manny Pineda, “Sportingly Yours,” Pasadena Star-News, October 5, 1949: 25.

9 Bill Gossett, “Salvage Detail,” February 18, 1950: 11.; Manny Pineda, “Sportingly Yours,” March 8, 1950: 27. Bill Gossett, “Five Valley Preps on All-CIF,” Pasadena Star-News, March 14, 1950: 19.

10 Bill Gossett, “Hoover Trips Bullpup Nine,,” Pasadena Independent, March 9, 1949: 16; “Cowan Hurls 5-4 Win; Walls Strikes Out 13,” Pasadena Independent, March 31, 1949: 31; “Bullpups Beat Compton, 5-3,” Pasadena Independent, April 3, 1949: 43; Walls Hurls Bullpup Win,” Pasadena Star-News, April 9, 1949: 10.

11 Manny Pineda, “Bullpups’ Lee Walls on All-C.I.F. Team,” Pasadena Star-News, June 10, 1949: 19; “Pasadena’s Lee Walls Among Large Number of Preps Honored by Helms,” June 19, 1949: 42; Photo, “All-Southern Californian,” Pasadena Star-News, June 27, 1949: 14; “Honor P.C.C. Lettermen,” Pasadena Star-News, June 14, 1949: 18.

12 “Lee Walls Named to All-Loop Nine,” Pasadena Star-News, May 27, 1950: 10; “Lee Walls Repeats On All-C.I.F. Nine,”Pasadena Star-News, June 7, 1950: 25.

13 “Black Cats Bow Out of Playoffs,” Pasadena Star-News, July 17, 1950: 22; “Walls Paces Rosabell,” Pasadena Star-News, July 24, 1950: 11; “Rosabell Nabs 3rd Straight,” Pasadena Star-News, October 30, 1950: 23.

14 Shaveneau Glick, “Down in Front,” Pasadena-Star News, July 27, 1950: 39.

15 “Walls Cages 31 Points in Debut,” Pasadena Star-News, November 28, 1950: 26; “Eight Lettermen Nucleus for C. C. in Defense of State Baseball Crown,” Pasadena Star-News, February 4, 1951: 44.

16 “Pirates Sign Up Lee Walls,” Pasadena Star-News, February 22, 1951: 24.

17 “Walls Leaves to Join Pittsburgh Pirates,”Pasadena-Star News, September 18, 1951: 16.

18 “Walls ‘Likes’ PCL,” Los Angeles Evening Citizen News, April 28, 1953: 4.

19 “Bucs Buy Walls and Two Others,” Pittsburgh Press, September 26, 1954:65; “Pirates Buy Coast Stars,” Pittsburgh Sun-Telegraph, October 14, 1954: 36.

20 Al Wolf, “Stars Pull Triple Play, Defeat Sacs Again, 6-2.” Los Angeles Times, July 2, 1955: 41; Al Wolf, “Sizzling Stars Collect Sixth Straight Win,” Los Angeles Times, July 3, 1955: 32; “Pacific Coast League – Hollywood,” The Sporting News, August 10, 1955: 26.

21 Frank Finch, “Hollywood High on Walls, Classy Garden Ornament,” The Sporting News, May 5, 1954:30; “Reports B. R. Put $400,000 Package Tag on Twink Pair,” The Sporting News, July 14, 1954: 38; “Cuban League,” The Sporting News, September 29, 1954: 42.

22 “Wife Divorces Lee Walls, Hollywood Star Fielder,” Los Angeles Times, June 10, 1955:27; “Pacific Coast League (Hollywood).” The Sporting News, May 11, 1955: 28; The Sporting News, June 22, 1955: 20.

23 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 62-63.

24 Walter Bingham, “The Nearsighted Cowpoke,” Sports Illustrated, June 2, 1958: 42. Walls told the Christian Science Monitor in 1956 that he was in a “TV cowboy series” while in Hollywood. Sports Illustrated’s Walter Bingham wrote that Walls was in Tales of the Texas Rangers, which ran from 1955 to 1959, as a character named Chet. This author reviewed 16 shows on a 4-DVD set (YourRadioShows.com) but Walls’ name did not appear in the credits or on the Cast & Crew list. (http://m.imdb.com) The American Film Institute (AFI) could not find a credit for Walls. If he was in the show, the film may be lost or unavailable.

25 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 67.

26 Joanna Walls, 61, 68-69.

27 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 70; “Miss Droste Will Wed Lee Walls,” The Desert Sun, June 11, 1956: 7; “Miss Droste Is Bride to Ball Player,” December 5, 1956: 6.

28 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 71.

29 Al Abrams, “Sidelights on Sports,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, June 4, 1956: 22.

30 (From the Christian Science Monitor), “Pirates’ Sensational Lee Walls Doubles As Maitre d’ in Village.” The Desert Sun, July 26, 1956: 10.

31 Bobby Bragan (as told to Jeff Guinn, You Can’t Hit the Ball with the Bat on Your Shoulder – The Baseball Life and Times of Bobby Bragan, The Summit Group, Fort Worth, Texas, 1992: 209; Bragan, 210.

32 Jack Hernon, “Pirates May Lend Lee Walls to Chicago for Gene Baker,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 21,1956: 14; “Brown Denies Card Offer for Walls,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, December 15, 1956: 12.

33 “Walls Given Rookie Award,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 4, 1957: 14; Jack Hernon, “Lee Walls Signs Pirate Contract,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, March 1, 1957: 20.

34 Al Abrams, “Pirate Fans Don’t Like What They See,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, May 8, 1957: 25.

35 Oscar Ruhl, “From the Ruhl Book,” The Sporting News, September 11, 1957: 16.

36 Walter Bingham, “The Nearsighted Cowpoke,” Sports Illustrated, June 2, 1958: 42.

37 Lee Walls Baseball Stats. Baseball-Almanac.com. Lee Walls Stats, Height, Weight, Research & History | Baseball Almanac (accessed September 25, 2026).

38 “Writers Vote Against New Homer Record,” Chicago Tribune, April 30, 1958: 42.

39 Walter Bingham, “The Nearsighted Cowpoke,” Sports Illustrated, June 2, 1958: 42.

40 Richard Dozer, “Banks hits 45th Homer; Walls Injured,” Chicago Tribune, September 10, 1958: 61.

41 Herb Lyon, “Tower Ticker,” Chicago Tribune, October 6, 1958: 40.

42 Bill Ford, “’Outcast’ Lee Walls Seeks ‘Home’ In Reds’ Infield,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 4, 1960: 41.

43 Edward Prell, “Cubs List 3 As Trade Bait Possibilities,” Chicago Tribune, June 2, 1959: 48.

44 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 71-72.

45 Bill Ford, “’Outcast’ Lee Walls Seeks ‘Home’ In Reds’ Infield,” Cincinnati Enquirer, March 4, 1960: 41.

46 Baseball Notebook, “Roberts Gives ‘Someone Else Chance’ to Pitch for Players,” Philadelphia Daily News, July 13, 1960: 53.

47 George Kiseda, “Foul or Fair, Phil Homrt Beats Cubs,” Cincinnati Enquirer, August 27, 1960: 3.

48 Larry Woody, “Walls Brings Steady Hand to Triple-A Sounds,” The Tennessean, April 10, 1985: 72.

49 “Expensive Premium Performers,” The Sporting News, January 10, 1962: 12; “Casey Tabbed Neal Long Ago,” Philadelphia Daily News, December 16, 1961: 34.

50 “Casey Tabbed Neal Long Ago,” Philadelphia Daily News, December 16, 1961: 34. “Dodgers,” The Sporting News, April 11, 1962: 26.

51 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 88-89.

52 “Dodgers,” Independent Press-Telegram (Long Beach, CA), April 27, 1974: 22.

53 Bob Hunter, “Dodgers Building Walls as Buttress for Mitt Miseries,” The Sporting News, November 17, 1962: 4.

54 “Here’s How Yanks, Giants Sliced Juicy Series Melon,” The Sporting News, November 3, 1962: 10.

55 Bob Hunter, “Dodgers Building Walls as Buttress for Mitt Miseries,” The Sporting News, November 17, 1962: 4.

56 Frank Finch, “Walls’ Pinch Clout wins for Dodgers,” Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1963: 47.

57 “Dodgers Explode,” Los Angeles Times, July 5, 1963: 32.

58 “Lee Walls – Player Register,” The Baseball Encyclopedia – The Complete and Official Record of Major League Baseball, Fourth Edition, Macmillan Publishing Co., Collier Macmillan Publishers, London. 1979: 1483.

59 Bernie Conway, “It’s Just Like Batting Practice,” The Desert Sun, October 29, 1964: 8; Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 89.

60 “Crosby Scores,” Los Angeles Times, January 22, 1966: 24; Paul Zimmerman, “Bing Looks Back on ‘Clambake,’ ” Los Angeles Times, January 23, 1966: C2.

61 “Johnson Gives Sandy No. 16,” Los Angeles Times, July 15, 1966: 49.

62 “Action Line,” Independent (Long Beach, CA), June 10, 1967: 1.

63 Murray Olderman, “Between you and me,” The Chico-Enterprise-Record, February 1, 1967: 8A; Sid Ziff, “Colossal Hook” (A Successor to Sandy Koufax), Los Angeles Times, March 23, 1967: 51.

64 Syll Lockart, “whispers . . .around the Marina,” The Argonaut, (Marina Del Ray, CA), April 25, 1974: 23.

65 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 167, 177-181, 197, 213, 225-227.

66 “Miscellany – Transactions (Baseball),” New York Daily News, February 13, 1979: 62.

67 Bill Madden, “To keep vets at Columbus, Yanks must bid kids adieu,” New York Daily News, March 6, 1983: 214.

68 “Phil Pepe.” New York Daily News, June 26, 1983: 69.

69 Bill Madden, “Boss wrestles with decision on Billy’s fate,” New York Daily News, October 27, 1983: 131; Bill Madden, “Yankees rehire Ellis as pitching coach,” New York Daily News, December 29, 1983: 119.

70 Tom Wood, “Walls to Manage Sounds,” The Tennessean, January 22, 1985: 32.

71 Wood, “Walls to Manage Sounds.”

72 Larry Woody, “Walls ‘Serious’ After Surgery,” The Tennessean, April 22, 1985: 15.

73 Larry Woody, “Walls’ Condition Listed as Critical,” The Tennessean, April 20, 1985: 17.

74 Larry Woody, “Walls ‘Serious’ After Surgery,” The Tennessean, April 22, 1985: 15.

75 Woody, “Walls ‘Serious’ After Surgery,”15.

76 Larry Woody, “New Manager Joins Sounds Today,” The Tennessean, April 26, 1985: 11.

77 “Scoreboard (Major League Baseball),”The Tennessean, July 14, 1986: 47; “Baseball (Angels),” The Sporting News, March 7, 1988: 19.

78 Joy Leigh Walls, Obituary and Memorial Service. Ancestry.com; Joy Leigh Walls (1960-1988) – Find a Grave Memorial; Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 210-213.

79 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 264-265.

80 “Obituaries – Lee Walls, 60, former pro baseball player,” The Desert Sun, November 28, 1993: 4.

81 Joanna Walls, On My Angel’s Wings, 2010: 263.

82 Bob Hunter, “Dodger Foldup Dims Luster of Glittering Feats,” The Sporting News, October 13, 1962: 11.