Al Luplow

To many who saw Al Luplow dive over the right-center field fence at Fenway Park on June 27, 1963 to glove a potential game-winning home run, it was the greatest catch they’d ever seen. An outfielder with the Cleveland Indians, Luplow was instinctively doing something he’d done as a Michigan State running back — launching himself towards pay dirt.

A three-sport athlete in high school who shined brightest on the gridiron, Luplow scored a touchdown the first time he carried the ball as a member of the Spartans varsity. Plucked off the East Lansing campus as a sophomore to play professional baseball, his departure prompted school officials to join a decades-long chorus calling for restrictions on when college ballplayers could be signed, limits Organized Baseball adopted not long after.

A left-handed hitter with occasional pop, Luplow had 34 doubles and 33 homers in nearly 1,400 plate appearances for three teams over a career that spanned seven seasons (1961-67). His power was never more evident than when he homered twice in a game off Juan Marichal while with the New York Mets. Let go by New York, Luplow was picked up by the Pittsburgh Pirates, where he proved unable to break into a star-studded outfield that included Roberto Clemente and Willie Stargell. Facing a demotion to the minor leagues before the 1968 season he elected to leave baseball behind.

Alvin David Luplow Jr. was born on March 13, 1939, in Saginaw, Michigan, the first child of Alvin Edward and June Luplow (née Eisenhauer). A sugar plant laborer when Alvin Jr. was born, Alvin Sr. became a union official during World War II. After shifting into the automotive parts industry, he was chosen head of a UAW-AFL local.1 Living in the Saginaw community of Zilwaukee, the Luplow family grew by 1950 to include three more boys: Douglas, Donald and Gregory.

As a youngster, Alvin’s exploits graced the pages of the Saginaw News. Between June 1951 and the following July, he earned mention for fanning 15 batters pitching for the Zilwaukee Hot Shots, quarterbacking his school’s football team, tying for first in the high jump and being part of a winning relay race during a playground field day, winning a penny hunt and competing against much older boys in a horseshoe tournament.2

At Saginaw St. Andrew’s high school, Luplow played baseball, basketball and football, where he was described by one sportswriter as a “touchdown terror.”3 As a senior halfback, he won the Michigan high school scoring title, with 27 touchdowns (and three extra points) on 1,200 yards rushing, earned first-team All-State honors and was named the top footballer in the Wolverine State by United Press International.4

Enrolled at nearby Michigan State University in the fall of 1957, Luplow was a halfback on the freshman football team. As a sophomore, he scored a touchdown the first time he touched the ball in a varsity game, “charging into the end zone” from four yards out in a victory over the University of California.5 Days later, head coach Duffy Daugherty installed Luplow as the starting left halfback. Below Luplow on the depth chart was Herb Adderly, a future NFL Hall of Famer as a defensive back.6 On the year, Luplow ran 64 times for 236 yards (3.7 yards/carry), and caught 5 passes for 52 yards, as the Spartans went 3-5-1.

Football brought Luplow acclaim as a collegian but baseball was the sport he loved best.7 In the summer after his freshman year, he led a Saginaw summer team to a league championship, hitting .342 and leading the circuit in runs and stolen bases.8 In the spring of 1959, he hit over .400 (and .545 in Big Ten play) manning center field for MSU’s baseball team under head coach John Kobs, playing behind future major-league hurlers Ron Perranoski and Dick Radatz.9

On May 14, 1959, sports pages across the US featured an Associated Press story announcing Wilt Chamberlain had signed a contract with the Philadelphia Warriors worth $30,000 or more, making him the highest paid player in the history of the National Basketball Association. Alongside that story in the Saginaw News was more surprising news; Luplow had signed a bonus contract with the Cleveland Indians, valued at $35,000 or more.10 Unreported at that time was how Luplow had turned down larger offers to sign with Cleveland’s farm director, Hoot Evers, a former Detroit Tigers outfielder who he knew to be a good friend of Coach Kobs.11

MSU coaches were outraged. “Those birds (the Indians) must have wanted the boy awfully bad to take him before our season was over,” Kobs grumbled, suggesting the pros were destroying the college game.12 Daugherty said “There is something sorely wrong with baseball or any professional sport that encourages a boy to quit on his teammates.”13 Their lament was nothing new — since at least the mid-1920s, collegiate athletic associations had pressed Organized Baseball to bar the signing of undergraduates.14 A year-and-a-half after Luplow’s signing, major league owners finally agreed to a rule prohibiting clubs from signing college players under the age of 21 during the school year.15

The first stop for Luplow as a professional was with the Batavia (New York) Indians of the Class-D New York-Penn League, where his first hit was a home run.16 The everyday center fielder, Luplow hit 11 home runs in 71 games, with a .302 batting average and a team-high .506 slugging percentage, earning both selection as an All-Star and team MVP.17 Promoted the following spring to Reading (Pennsylvania) in the Class-A Eastern League, Luplow was unfazed by playing a new position, left field. He brimmed with confidence and a preference for offense. “I love to bat,” he told a local reporter. “Boy, that’s all I look forward to.”18 Luplow hit well enough to be picked as a reserve on the league’s mid-year All-Star team.19 Impressive stats, – 51 RBIs, .294 batting average (fifth best in the league), .835 OPS, 52 walks versus only 17 strikeouts and a fielding percentage of .968 – earned him an August promotion to the Double-A Mobile (Alabama) Bears of the Southern Association.20

Disbanded at the end of the 1961 season, the Southern Association was on a downward trajectory in 1960, with attendance dwindling from boycotts over the league’s policy of not allowing Black ballplayers.21 Against the Association’s all-white competition, Luplow collected 25 RBIs in 131 at-bats (a rate of 115 per 600) but posted a pedestrian .260 batting average with as many errors on defense as he did with Reading (5), in fewer than half as many chances. Nonetheless, he was called-up to the Indians on September 12.22 Luplow didn’t appear in any games during the rest of the season, but he saw former Dodger great Don Newcombe throw his final major-league pitch while wearing a Cleveland uniform.23

After a stint in the Florida Winter Instructional League,24 Luplow joined Salt Lake City of the Pacific Coast League, the Indians’ Triple-A farm team. Among the league’s top five hitters in June, he was the starting left fielder in the circuit’s All-Star game against league-leading Seattle.25 Luplow’s third-inning double off Jay Ritchie tied the score in a game won by the All-Stars. A few weeks later, Luplow hit an 11th-inning homer off his MSU teammate Radatz to give the Bees a 5-4 win.26

Luplow’s Salt Lake success made him a top prospect in the Cleveland organization. Along with 18-year-old southpaw Sam McDowell, outfielder Tommie Agee and infielder Tony Martinez, he was identified by Bob Dolgan of the Cleveland Plain Dealer as a player who “may some day lead the team down the road to cash and glory.”27 Luplow also had the admiration of Indians General Manager Gabe Paul, who said of the former footballer “[h]e’s tough and he’ll run through a brick wall.”28 One habit Luplow developed while in Salt Lake was less commendable. He took to stuffing one cheek full of chewing tobacco, giving him what one Oregon newspaper called an ugliness-inducing “gumboil.”29 Luplow finished the 1961 season hitting .302 for last-place Salt Lake, with 91 RBIs, league-leading figures for total bases (281) and triples (16), and was selected the first-team left fielder on the PCL’s year-end All-Star team, a group filled with future major-leaguers.30

The Tribe rewarded Luplow by once again calling him up for the final weeks of the season. On September 16, manager Jimmy Dykes started Luplow in right field against Cuban righty Pedro Ramos in a home game with the Minnesota Twins. The first Indian to debut as a cleanup hitter since his Batavia manager, Paul O’Dea, did it in 1944, Luplow went 0-for-4. He notched his first outfield assist well before his first base hit, gunning down Kansas City’s Wayne Causey at home plate nearly two weeks before singling off Art Fowler in the season finale at Los Angeles’ Wrigley Field. The hit ended a 0-for-17 start to Luplow’s major-league career.

Following its disappointing fifth-place finish, Cleveland replaced Dykes with his 35-year-old former first base coach, Mel McGaha. A two-way college football player at the University of Arkansas, McGaha valued Luplow’s toughness, referring to him at the end of spring training as “the hard-nosed king [though he probably meant to say kid] who came to play.”31

A solid spring training by Luplow so impressed the Cleveland brain trust they felt comfortable trading away power-hitting first baseman Vic Power and moving Tito Francona to first, leaving left field open for Luplow.32 McGaha ultimately decided to platoon all three outfield positions to start the 1962 campaign, with Luplow starting almost exclusively against righties; 60 times in left field and 21 in right.33

Cleveland got off to a strong start, challenging the reigning World Series champion New York Yankees for first place, with Luplow making significant contributions. His two RBIs off Boston’s Bill Monbouquette at Cleveland Stadium on April 17, one coming on his first career home run, helped Dick Donovan win the second of eight straight decisions. In his next appearance, Luplow had three hits in a doubleheader sweep at Yankee Stadium that snapped Cleveland’s 19-game losing streak in the House That Ruth Built. On June 15, his two-run home run off New York’s Ralph Terry kicked off a four-game sweep in Cleveland that put the Tribe in first place.  

Luplow’s combination of speed and tenacity in going after fly balls grabbed the attention of many. The Sporting News labeled him Cleveland’s “fastest player afoot,” (along with fellow-outfielder Ty Cline), and a “Pete Reiser type, challenging fences with abandon.”34 Paul called the muscular Luplow “about the toughest kid I ever saw in my life,” “one of the most exciting rookies to come up in recent years,” and compared his hustle to that of Enos Slaughter.35 Yankees manager Raph Houk claimed he “liked [Luplow’s] looks from the first time I saw him,” and Detroit Tigers manager Bob Scheffing called him “a scrapper.”36 The Cleveland Plain Dealer waxed poetic:37

An old-style, hard-nosed, battling sort
Is Rook Al Luplow (Loop for short).
You see few of his kind these days.
Too bad; that Spartan spirit pays.

Luplow ran into Cleveland Stadium fences so often in 1962 that before the next season padding was added over the brick walls that ran along each foul line.38 “It’s a funny thing about walls,” he shared with Indians beat reporter Hal Lebovitz. “I say to myself, ‘Be careful.’ But once the ball goes near them and you have a chance to catch it, you forget about the wall.”39

Entering play on July 5, Luplow was Cleveland’s top hitter, batting .310, as the team sat tied with the Los Angeles Angels for first, with New York a half-game back. A pulled thigh muscle that day cost Luplow the next 16 games.40 The Indians went 4-12 without him and fell to fourth-place, seven games behind the Yankees. They never recovered, finishing the season in fifth place.

Both Paul and McGaha felt Luplow’s absence was a factor in the collapse. “We’re not saying Luplow is a Mantle,” said Paul, referring to the face of the Yankee franchise, “[b]ut he is an inspiration-type player.”41 The press, on the other hand, attributed the Indians’ sudden collapse to McGaha mismanaging an overworked pitch staff.42 Luplow’s bat cooled after he returned to action, and a separated shoulder he suffered on a “tumbling, diving” catch of a ball hit by Kansas City’s John Wojcik ended his season ten games early.43 He finished the year hitting .277, with 14 home runs and 45 RBIs.

The capstone to Luplow’s rookie campaign came when he was named to the Topps All-Star Rookie team,44 an honor his 1963 Topps baseball card would prominently display. In October, Luplow married his high school sweetheart, the former Marlene Michalski, passing under an arch of baseball bats as they left the Saginaw church where they were wed.45 The couple had three children; a son Brett in 1963, a daughter Cindy in 1965 and a second daughter, Leann, in 1970.46

A six-month stint in the US Army followed for Luplow, a commitment he’d deferred from the previous off-season. Stationed at Fort Knox, he was released in time for spring training, where he set about proving himself to a new manager.47 Paul had fired McGaha in the waning days of the 1962 season, and persuaded Birdie Tebbetts to leave his position as Milwaukee Braves skipper to manage the Indians.48

Competition for outfield jobs in training camp was stiff. Cleveland had acquired Joe Adcock, a Tebbetts favorite, from Milwaukee, allowing Francona to return to left field, a position he preferred over first base.49  After rookie Vic Davalillo won the center field job, Luplow was left to battle for playing time in right field with another lefty, Willie Kirkland. A June injury to Davalillo put Kirkland back in center, where he witnessed up-close the play that defined Luplow’s career.

On June 27, 1963, the Indians were playing a night game at Fenway Park, hoping to stave off a five-game series sweep by the Red Sox. With Cleveland up 6-3 with one out in the eighth and runners on the corners, Boston third baseman (and future manager) Dick Williams came to bat as the potential go-ahead run. He tomahawked a high, outside fastball the other way from submariner Ted Abernathy, belting it to deep right center field. Luplow, playing right field, raced toward the five-foot-high wall that fronted the Red Sox bullpen. Just before reaching the barrier, he catapulted over it, stabbing the ball backhanded. He rolled in mid-air to protect himself on landing, then popped up holding the ball. Boston’s runner on third tagged and scored but Luplow had saved the game.50

The front page of the next day’s Boston Globe hailed Luplow’s defensive gem. “The best catch of a ball over a fence I have ever seen at Fenway Park,” wrote sportswriter Harold Kaese, who’d covered major-league baseball in Boston since the 1930s.51 He rated it better than Willie Mays’ miraculous over-the-shoulder grab at the Polo Grounds in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series, calling  Luplow’s play “more reckless, more acrobatic.”52 Boston first baseman Dick Stuart told sportswriter Will McDonough “If Willie Mays or Jimmy Piersall had made that catch, it would go down as the greatest in history. But Al Luplow made the catch, and who’s Al Luplow – just another ball player.”53 Broadcaster Curt Gowdy, who worked the game for Boston, called Luplow’s catch the greatest he’d ever seen. In subsequent years, he often mentioned it when describing brilliant outfield grabs.54

In the second division for much of the season, Cleveland proved unable to bring fans into the ballpark in 1963, drawing under 563,000, their lowest attendance since World War II. Injuries robbed Luplow of playing time, first to his wrist after hitting a wall in mid-May, then to a series of pulled leg muscles.55 While struggling with fuzzy vision in June he learned he needed eyeglasses, which he started wearing during games, switching to contact lenses a few years later.56 Playing about as often as he did in 1962 (100 games versus 97), Luplow’s batting average dropped to .234, with significantly less power; he had only 15 extra-base hits in 333 plate appearances.

A drop in weight backed by a workout regimen custom-designed (by a University of Illinois specialist) to strengthen his hamstrings gave Luplow confidence he could prevent muscle pulls headed into the 1964 season, but it didn’t matter.57 One of seven outfielders vying for Cleveland’s right field job,58 Luplow survived but was relegated to pinch-hitting. Friction with George Strickland, who served as interim manager for several months after Tebbetts was felled by a heart attack, didn’t help.59 Hitting .091 through May 29 (1-for-11), Luplow was sent down to Triple-A Portland (Oregon). He hit .257, over 77 games as the Beavers’ right fielder, with 12 home runs, but his heart wasn’t in it. Called up to Cleveland in mid-September he was little-used as the Indians stumbled to a sixth-place finish.

When Cleveland acquired Kansas City A’s right fielder Rocky Colavito during the off-season, Luplow saw the writing on the wall. “Let’s face it. I have no future with the Indians,” he told The Sporting News. “I wish they would give me a break and trade me.” 60 Rumors had Luplow headed to the New York Mets before Opening Day, but out of minor league options, with no other team offering Cleveland what they wanted in exchange for him, he went nowhere. Appearing in 53 games, almost exclusively as a pinch hitter/runner, Luplow hit a microscopic .133 (6-for-45). Not once did the recovered Tebbetts put him in a starting lineup.

Luplow finally became a New York Met in November 1965, acquired for $30,000 and a Triple-A player to be named later that never was.61 Impressed by how well Luplow had performed three years earlier against the Yankees, Mets coach Yogi Berra had lobbied to get him.62

New York’s first-year manager Wes Westrum used Luplow as a utility outfielder behind a starting trio of Cleon Jones, Jim Hickman and Ron Swoboda early in the season. He played every day in right field for a dozen games in June, and was one of three left-handed-hitting right fielders thereafter.63 A frequent late-inning defensive replacement, Luplow was considered by Westrum to be the best center fielder the Mets had ever had.64 “He comes charging in for ground balls as well as anybody in the league,” said Westrum, “[is] particularly surehanded on shoe-top catches,” “and is also more willing than [regular center fielder] Cleon Jones to bang into a fence to make a catch if it’s necessary.”65

Westrum credited Luplow, and other “old pros” brought on for the season, like 1964 NL MVP Ken Boyer and two-time All-Star Roy McMillan, for bringing a winning mindset to the team, calling them “hard losers.”66 New York escaped the NL cellar in 1966 for the first time in franchise history, finishing ninth with a club-record 66 wins. Luplow appeared in 111 games, the most of his major-league career. He hit .251 and slugged .347, both above team average for the Mets, who were last in the NL in both categories.

A more successful hitter on the road (.269/.326/.417) than at New York’s Shea Stadium (.233/.335/.270), Luplow had three milestone games at other ballparks, one leading to a team record. He collected a career-high four RBIs in the nightcap of a July 4 doubleheader at Philadelphia’s Connie Mack Stadium, hit a pair of home runs off Marichal at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on September 17 to help deny the Dominican Dandy his 18th career win against the Mets without a loss, and had the only four-hit game of his career, on August 10 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. By collecting hits in his first two at-bats the day after his four-hit night, Luplow set a team record with hits in six consecutive plate appearances.67

With the addition of longtime Dodger Tommy Davis to New York’s outfield corps in the off-season, Luplow returned to a utility role to start the 1967 season. A late-inning defensive replacement for Davis at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on April 25, Luplow’s 10th-inning single off southpaw Bob Hendley brought home rookie hurler Tom Seaver with the winning run in Seaver’s first complete game victory. Batting .321 at the end of April, Luplow’s average was down to .234 by the first of June (with only three extra-base hits, all home runs,68 in 102 plate appearances), as the Mets fell into the cellar. A 1-for-18 skid landed Luplow on waivers, with the Pittsburgh Pirates claiming him.69

Luplow joined a Pirates team fighting to stay within sight of the first-place St. Louis Cardinals, With Pittsburgh boasting an outfield of Stargell in left, Matty Alou in center, Clemente in right and Manny Mota in reserve, Luplow’s playing opportunities were largely limited to pinch hitting. He did enjoy three weeks as a starting corner outfielder in midsummer while Stargell recovered from a bruised hip and Clemente nursed an injured Achilles tendon.70 During that time, while patrolling right field at Forbes Field in the opener of an August 17 doubleheader with the Mets, Luplow misplayed a ball hit by Bud Harrelson into an inside-the-park home run, the first four-bagger of the light-hitting shortstop’s career.71 Umpire Ken Burkhart had ruled Harrelson’s bloop into the right field corner fair, but Luplow assumed it had landed foul. By the time he went after the ball, it was too late.

Luplow’s anemic slashline of .184/.232/.223 after coming over from New York led the Pirate brass to move him to the roster of their Triple-A Columbus affiliate during the off-season.72 He was invited to the Pirates training camp in Fort Meyers, Florida, but when reassigned to Columbus in mid-April he refused to report, feeling he didn’t belong in the minors.73  Pittsburgh wouldn’t release Luplow, but let him contact other major-league teams in hopes of securing a position elsewhere. “I think I can hook on with an expansion team next year,” Luplow told reporters, “but I can help someone this season, too. If some team were to ask me to report to a Triple-A team with the understanding that I would get recalled in about a month, I’d go.”74

The 29-year-old Luplow returned home to Saginaw, played golf and worked as a salesman for a local industrial supply company as he waited for an offer that never came.75 He did have the consolation of having qualified for a major league pension during the 1967 season; a measure of long-term security for his family that he’d coveted.76

His playing days over, Luplow became a realtor in 1972,77 a position he held for about a decade. He also began coaching youth baseball. One of his charges was his son Brett, who developed into an All-State catcher at Saginaw’s St. Stephen/Peter and Paul High School and went on to play for Western Michigan University.78 Briefly in the bar business, by the mid-1990s Luplow was a semi-retired real estate appraiser.79

When Saginaw County established a Sports Hall of Fame in 2002, Luplow was one of the 11 members of its first class. The group included three other former major leaguers: Ted Petosky, a football All-American before playing the infield for the Cincinnati Reds, pitcher Bob Buhl, an All-Star pitcher with the Milwaukee Braves, and Curt Young who both pitched and coached pitchers for the Oakland A’s.80

The Luplow name returned to baseball prominence on July 28, 2017, when Al’s great nephew, 23-year-old Jordan Thomas Luplow, made his major league debut, playing right field for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Five months later, on December 28, Al Luplow died of natural causes at the age of 78, survived by his wife Marlene, their three children and eight grandchildren.81 His remains were cremated.82

In a Saginaw News obituary, Luplow was described by those who knew him as “an impressive athlete and an impressive person,” “just someone you wanted to be around.” “He was God to every little boy who grew up in Zilwaukee.” 83 In noting Luplow’s passing a few days later, the Cleveland Plain Dealer compared his diving catch at Fenway Park in 1963, with a similar one made by the Indians’ Austin Jackson in August 2017, one that was judged the best defensive play of the season just past.84 Included with the article was a photograph of Luplow as an Indian, on one knee in the batter’s box after taking a ferocious cut.85 The image exemplified how the former college running back played the game – giving it everything he had.

Acknowledgments

This biography was reviewed by Gregory H. Wolf and David Bilmes and fact-checked by Dan Schoenholz.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted his SABR biography of Mel McGaha, FamilySearch.com, Sports-Reference.com, Baseball-Reference.com, Retrosheet.org, Statscrew.com, Baseball-Almanac.com and stathead.com.

Notes

1 “Candidates Nominated by Wilcox-Rich Union,” Saginaw News, February 19, 1944: 5; “Luplow Chosen by Eaton Local,” Saginaw News, August 8, 1948: 20. Luplow’s father continued to occupy leadership positions in local unions into the 1970s. Dennis Casteele, “Al Luplow Heads AIW Local 433,” Saginaw News, February 21, 1970: 20.  

2 “Pitcher-Slugger Stands Out in Knothole Baseball Play,” Saginaw News, June 19, 1951: 17; “Knothole Touch-Football Leaders Retain Positions,” Saginaw News, October 28, 1951: 47; “Melon Eating Contest Planned at Zilwaukee,” Saginaw News, July 27, 1952: 24; “Zilwaukee Play Events Varied,” Saginaw News, July 20, 1952: 4; “Jinx Antidote,” Saginaw News, July 14, 1951: 3.

3 “St. Andrew Trounces Maroons,” Saginaw News, May 25, 1956: 29; “St. Andrew, Big Rapids to Clash in Class B Final,” Saginaw News, March 8, 1957: 28; “St. Andrews Eyes Win No. 5,” Saginaw News, October 11, 1956: 47.

4 “Luplow All-Stater,” Saginaw News, November 28, 1956: 33; Saginaw Prep Top Scorer,” Detroit Times, November 18, 1956: 3-4; “Luplow Named Top Player on UP All-State Eleven,” Saginaw News, November 30, 1956: 36. 

5 Emmons Byrne, “Bears Given 32-12 Loss by Spartans,” Oakland Tribune, September 28, 1958: 53.

6 “Big Ten Teams Taper Off for Weekend Grid Games,” Eureka (California) Humboldt Standard, October 2, 1958: 19; “Mich. State Roster,” Detroit Times, October 4, 1958: 1.

7 In an American League questionnaire Luplow completed years later, he closed by writing “Baseball to me is the greatest game around. Nothing means as much to me as baseball.” American League questionnaire, undated, Al Luplow player file, A. Bartlett Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

8 Fred Garrett, “Brown Wins Batting Crown,” Saginaw News, August 24, 1958: 40.

9 “Tribe Gets Al Luplow, MSU Star,” Grand Rapids (Michigan) Press, May 14, 1959: 35; George Alderton, “Michigan State Outhits Detroit, But Loses, 7-5,” Lansing State Journal, April 19, 1959: 43; Joe Mooshill, “Minnesota Nine Eyes Title Again,” Lansing State Journal, April 19, 1959: 43; Career summary, dated 1967, Al Luplow player file, A. Bartlett Giamatti Research Center at the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Head coach of the Spartans program from 1925 to 1963, Kobs sent more than 20 ballplayers on to major league careers, including, in addition to Luplow, Perranoski and Radatz, Hall of Famer Robin Roberts, NL Cy Young Award winner Mike Marshall, original Met Hobie Landrith, Jack Kralick, author of the Minnesota Twins first no-hitter, and Dodger-killer Larry Jaster.

10 Louis E. Chiesi, “Luplow Signs for Bonus with Cleveland Indians,” Saginaw News, May 14, 1959: 45. A report published three years later described the bonus as “estimated between $40,000 and $50,000.” “Luplow Hits Two Homers,” Saginaw News, March 29, 1962: 37.

11 George Ege, “Al Luplow ‘Loves to Bat;’ Turned Down Grid Career,” Reading Eagle, May 15, 1960: 30.

12 Pete Waldmeir, “MSU Coaches Blast Indians,” Detroit News, May 15, 1959: 63.

13 “MSU Coaches Blast Indians.” In venting his frustrations to the press, Daugherty also revealed that Luplow had turned down a bonus-less contract of $4,000 the previous fall. A 1965 article in the Cleveland Plain Dealer suggested that other team was the Milwaukee Braves. Russell Schneider, “Look Out, Regulars, if Luplow Gets In!”, Cleveland Plain Dealer, April 25, 1965: 54.

14 See, for example “Ask Landis to Stop Organized Ball from Signing Collegians,” Memphis Commercial Appeal, January 5, 1926: 15.

15 “Majors Approve Rule on Signing Collegians,” Philadelphia Inquirer, December 8, 1960: 50; Hal Lebovitz, “Farm Chief Evers Signals Scouts for Wigwam Pow-Wow,” The Sporting News, February 8, 1961: 6.

16 Career summary, dated 1967.

17 A contemporary summary of Luplow’s first year published in The Sporting News cites differing year-end statistics (12 homers in 64 games, with a .310 batting average). The author has elected to rely on statistics found on Luplow’s Baseball-Reference.com page. Hal Lebovitz, “Prized Papooses Help Lane Drape Tinsel on Tepee,” The Sporting News, October 28, 1959: 15; American League questionnaire, undated.

18 “Al Luplow ‘Loves to Bat;’ Turned Down Grid Career.”

19 “Pitching Picks Up in Air for EL All-Star Contest,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Union, July 21, 1960: 28.

20 Alex Laggis, “Spartans Still Boiling at Indiana Decision,” Grand Rapids Press, August 7, 1960: 31.

21 David Hill, “Minor League History: Southern Association Disbands,” Call to the Pen website, January 24, 2017, https://calltothepen.com/2017/01/24/minor-league-history-southern-association-disbands/

22 “Indians Recall Four Players,” Springfield Union, September 13, 1960: 29.

23 Acquired from the Cincinnati Reds in late-July, Newcombe’s final appearance came in relief during Cleveland’s October 1 triumph over the Chicago White Sox at Comiskey Park.

24 “White Sox Slip Past Indians, 3-2,” Sarasota Herald-Tribune, October 22, 1960: 7.

25 “Coast Averages,” The Sporting News, June 21, 1961: 23; Hy Zimmerman, “Stars Trim Seattle with Late Splurge,” The Sporting News, July 19, 1961: 19. 

26 “Luplow’s Hit Beats Rainiers,” Spokane Spokesman-Review, August 5, 1961: 8.

27 Bob Dolgan, “M’Dowell, Luplow, Agee Bolster ’62 Tribe Outlook,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, August 22, 1961: 39.

28 “M’Dowell, Luplow, Agee Bolster ’62 Tribe Outlook,”

29 L.H. Gregory, “Greg’s Gossip,” Portland Oregonian, July 20, 1961: 29.

30 “Bernier Boomed at .351 Pace for PCL Bat Crown,” The Sporting News, November 29, 1961: 49; “PCL Pilots Tab Oliver,” Portland Oregonian, September 7, 1961: 31. Among Luplow’s All-Star teammates were Ed Charles, Chuck Hiller, Denis Menke and future Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry.

31 “Gabe Paul Says Tribe is Pointing to Future,” Canton (Ohio) Repository, April 10, 1962: 21.

32 “If he hadn’t impressed us as much as he did,” said McGaha soon after the trade, referring to Luplow, “we may never have sent Vic Power to Minnesota.” “Sports Quotes,” Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Argus-Leader, April 23, 1962: 12.

33 After leaving Cleveland, Luplow recalled having never started against a southpaw during his four seasons there. He did, once, against Hank Aguirre of the Detroit Tigers on August 23, 1962. Barney Kremenko, “Ol’ Perfessor Recites Parable of ’14 Braves for Mets’ Benefit,” The Sporting News, March 19, 1966: 26.

34 “Quick Rundown on Junior Loop Luminaries,” The Sporting News, April 18, 1962: 10; Hal Lebovitz, “Injuns Hand Regular Job to Essegian,” The Sporting News, May 16, 1962: 17.

35 Hank Kozloski, “Scouting is Heart of Major Leagues,” Lorain (Ohio) Journal, April 18, 1962: 14; “Injuns Hand Regular Job to Essegian.”

36 Chuck Heaton, “Luplow Draws Praise,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 16, 1962: 29; Hal Lebovitz, “Perry’s New Pitch Helps Stitch Patch on Wigwam Mound,” The Sporting News, June 16, 1962: 7.

37 James E. Doyle, “The Sport Trail,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, June 13, 1962: 33.

38 Hal Lebovitz, “Fred Will Relieve Vet Adcock at First Base,” The Sporting News, December 29, 1962: 31.

39 Hal Lebovitz, “Luplow Switches from KP to RF,” Erie (Pennsylvania) Times, March 25, 1963: 19.

40 “Luplow Makes Return, But Tribe Still Loses,” Wooster (Massachusetts) Record, July 26, 1962: 14.

41 Hal Lebovitz, “Rumble in Lumber Seen as Sign Tribe’s Slumber About Over,” The Sporting News, August 11, 1962: 19.

42 Larry DeFillipo, Mel McGaha,” SABR Biography Project, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/mel-mcgaha/

43 “Fear Luplow Has Shoulder Separation,” Sandusky (Ohio) Register, September 19, 1962: 16.

44 Hal Lebovitz, “Bond’s Hot Bat Menaces Twins,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, September 25, 1962: 33.

45 “A Baseball Salute to Bridegroom Al Luplow,” Saginaw News, October 7, 1962: 39.

46 Another Al?”, Saginaw News, September 15, 1963: D-1.

47 “Luplow Joins Tribe,” Bay City (Michigan) Times, March 18, 1963: 12.

48 Milton Richman, “Birdie Tebbetts Takes Over as Manager of Indian Club,” Mansfield (Ohio) News-Journal, October 6, 1962: 6. Paul had given Tebbetts his first major league managing job in Cincinnati nine years earlier and so, as he told reporters, Tebbetts felt an obligation to help Paul right the ship in Cleveland

49 Dave Kempton, “Tebbetts Counting on 3 Rookies in ’63,” Chillicothe (Ohio) Gazette, February 6, 1963: 19.

50 Jay Feldman, “He Leaped a Wall to Catch the Ball, But Here’s the Catch: Who Saw It?”, Sports Illustrated vault website, October 14, 1985, https://vault.si.com/vault/1985/10/14/he-leaped-a-wall-to-catch-the-ball-but-heres-the-catch-who-saw-it

51 Harold Kaese, “Luplow’s Catch Greatest,” Boston Globe, June 28, 1963: 1. The story appeared alongside coverage of President John F. Kennedy’s visit to Ireland – the world’s then-most-renowned Bay Stater visiting his ancestral home.

52 “Luplow’s Catch Greatest.”

53 Will McDonough, “’Greatest if Mays or Piersall Did It,” Boston Globe, June 28, 1963: 41.

54 Hugh Bernreuter, “’The Catch ‘ lives in Luplow’s memory as career highlight,” Saginaw News, August 7, 1990: A3; Bob Dolgan, “Luplow’s catch ranks with best,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, July 10, 2001: D1.

55 Robert Dolgan, “Batting Around,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, May 13, 1963: 30; Hal Lebovitz, “Fragile Luplow, Howser Will Get Muscle Tuneups,” The Sporting News, September 21, 1963: 12.

56 Luplow’s glasses prompted A’s catcher Doc Edwards to greet him at the plate one day as “Captain Video.” “Tough Schedule for Tribe,” Willoughby (Ohio) News-Herald, July 2, 1963: 10; Hal Lebovitz, “Wing-Foot Vic Quickens Injun Pace,” The Sporting News, August 24, 1963: 13; Russell Schneider, “Greenies Crowding Tribe’s Hill Vets,” The Sporting News, March 27, 1965: 9.

57 Russell Schneider, “Azcue Out to Prove He’s for Real; Luplow Eyes ’62 Class,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, February 4, 1964: 29; Joe Hart, “Buhl, Luplow Arizona-Bound,” Saginaw News, February 23, 1964: 37.

58 Regis McAuley, “Luplow Must Learn to Quit Challenging Walls,” The Sporting News, April 4, 1964: 27. The list included Francona, recovering from a hernia operation, Agee, Chico Salmon, Al Smith, Wally Post, Paul Dicken and Bob Chance.

59 Joe Hart, “Mets Giving Luplow a Chance,” Saginaw News, June 19, 1966: 49.

60 Russell Schneider, “Bitter Lulow Invites Tribe to Swap Him,” The Sporting News, February 20, 1965: 21.

61 “Mets Buy Luplow From Cleveland,” Oakland Tribune, November 29, 1965: 44; “Yanks, Phils Swing Inter-League Trade,” Shreveport Times, November 30, 1965: 25.

62 Dick Young, “Break Even,” New York Daily News, November 30, 1965: 58.

63 The other two were Larry Elliott and Johnny Lewis.

64 Barney Kremenko, “Hiller’s New Niche: Man of Distinction on the Met Bench,” The Sporting News, May 14, 1966: 20.

65 “Hiller’s New Niche: Man of Distinction on the Met Bench.”; Jack Lang, “Schedule Maker Flubbed on Braves’ Shea Booking,” (Jersey City) Jersey Journal, September 3, 1966: 10.  Prior to the 1968 season, the Mets acquired Luplow’s former Indians teammate Tommie Agee and shifted Jones to left field, the position he manned when he caught Davey Johnson’s fly ball for the last out of the 1969 World Series.

66 Barney Kremenko, “Westrum Rates Al Luplow High in Mets’ Plans,” The Sporting News, October 8, 1966: 38; Barney Kremenko, “’Togetherness’ Aids Amazin’ Mets’ Push,” The Sporting News, August 13, 1966: 17.

67 “Al Lupow,” Saginaw News, August 12, 1966: 27. Luplow’s record appears to have been broken in the second game of a September 8, 1972 doubleheader when John Milner recorded his seven hit in consecutive plate appearances. Contemporary game accounts make no mention of Milner breaking Luplow’s mark. See, for example, “Mets, Cardinals Split Twin Bill,” Troy (New York) Record, September 9, 1972: 16.

68 Each of Luplow’s three home runs  came off All-Star caliber starting pitchers. The first, on April 22, was off five-time All-Star and legendary Mets-killer Larry Jackson (he was 21-2 lifetime versus New York), the next was on May 10, was off Milt Pappas, the American League’s starting pitcher in the 1965 All-Star Game, and the last was on May 19 off future Hall of Famer Bob Gibson.

69 Dick Young, “Pirates Pluck Mets’ Luplow; Stahl Back,” New York Daily News, June 22, 1967: 23C. Puzzled that the Mets would let go one of their “prized left-handers,” Sportswriter Jack Lang speculated Luplow was sent to Pittsburgh as a favor from Mets GM Bing Devine to the Bucs skipper at that time, Harry Walker. Jack Lang, “Need a Rest? Not T. Davis, Met Ironman,” The Sporting News, July 8, 1967: 19.

70 After first injuring his right hip crashing into the right field fence at Forbes Field on July 18, Stargell told Pittsburgh manager Danny Murtaugh that he “was through playing right field.” Moved back to left in the next game, he reinjured the leg making a spectacular catch while once again crashing into a Forbes Field fence. Dan Hafner, “Dodger Win in 9th, 4-3,” Los Angeles Times, July 25, 1967: 27; “Bucs Snap McCormick’s String at 8,” Allentown (Pennsylvania) Morning Call, July 20, 1967: 43; Bill Heufelder, “Bucs ‘Hurt’ Reds with 4-3 Comeback Win,” Pittsburgh Press, August 15, 1967: 36.

71 Joe Trimble, “Harrelson ‘Insider’ Lead Mets in 1st, 6-5,” New York Daily News, August 18, 1967: 67. Harrelson hit only 7 home runs over a 16-year major-league career that included over 5,500 plate appearances.

72 “Pirates Switch Players to Farm,” Boston Record American, November 2, 1967: 3.

73 “Luplow Determined to Avoid Minors,” Pittsburgh Press, April 13, 1968: 7.

74 “Luplow Determined to Avoid Minors.”

75 “Luplow Seeking a ‘Home’,” Chicago Sun-Times, April 17, 1968: 105; “Al Luplow Joins Local Supply Firm,” Bay City (Michigan) Times, July 8, 1968: 13.

76 Joe Hart, “Buhl, Luplow Reap Benefits,” Saginaw News, March 2, 1969: F2; Joe Hart, “Al Luplow’s Goal – 86 Days More,” Saginaw News, February 19, 1967: F1.

77 “Al Luplow,” Saginaw News, March 12, 1972: 68.

78 Mike Thompson, “All-State picks top C-D crop,” Saginaw News, June 26, 1981: C3.

79 Jim Buckley, “Can Brett emulate father Al?”, Saginaw County Weekly, April 26, 1983: 2; Hugh Bernreuter, “Former player is disillusioned,” Saginaw News, February 8, 1995: D1.

80 Hugh Bernreuter, “Hall honor humbles Luplow,” Saginaw News, February 26, 2002: C1. Other inductees included Bill Watson, the first Black U.S. decathlon champion denied a chance at Olympic glory by World War II, Kid Lavigne, boxing’s first recognized World lightweight champion, five-time NFL Pro Bowl cornerback Terry McDaniel and longtime University of Nebraska head football coach, Bob Devaney.

81 Hugh Bernreuter, “Saginaw Hall of Famer Luplow dies,” Saginaw News, December 31, 2017: 12.

82 “Saginaw Hall of Famer Luplow dies.”

83 “Saginaw Hall of Famer Luplow dies.”

84 Paul Hoynes, “Before Jackson’s Fenway leap, Luplow cleared bullpen wall in 1963,” Cleveland Plain Dealer, January 2, 2018: B2. Jackson’s play was judged the defensive play of the year as part of the 2017 Esurance MLB Awards.

85 “Before Jackson’s Fenway leap, Luplow cleared bullpen wall in 1963.”