August 5, 1954: Stan Musial powers Cardinals to win over Dodgers with two home runs

“I’m expected to do it here anyway.” — Stan Musial, August 5, 19541 

Stan Musial had many great games at Ebbets Field, and this one was one of the greatest. He had two homers and a sacrifice fly as the Cardinals, hitting safely in every inning, defeated the Dodgers 13-4 to snap a four-game slump.

The attendance was 10,026 as the Cardinals and Dodgers played the finale of a three-game series at the Dodgers’ ballpark. Pitching for the Cardinals was Brooks Lawrence, who originally signed with Bill Veeck’s Cleveland Indians in 1949 and began his career at Zanesville in the Class-D Ohio-Indiana League, breaking the color line in that circuit. He joined the Cardinals in 1954. When he made his debut on June 24, he became the third Black man to play for the Cardinals. He came into the August 5 game with an 8-3 record.

Starting for the Dodgers was Preacher Roe. The 38-year-old lefty came into the game with a 3-3 record in what was to be his last big-league season. He had not lost to the Cardinals at Ebbets Field since July 25, 1950. In the interim, he had made 12 starts with seven wins and five no-decisions in Flatbush. 

Brooklyn took the early lead as a one-out walk to Pee Wee Reese was followed by Duke Snider’s 27th home run of the season, a 457-foot blast. The lead held until the Cardinals attacked in the third inning. Alex Grammas led off with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Lawrence. Rip Repulski singled Grammas home, and a single by rookie Wally Moon set the table for “The Man.” Musial’s three-run homer off Roe gave the Cardinals a 4-2 lead and they had plenty left in the tank. Roe, however, had seen his last batter. Manager Walter Alston called on Erv Palica to cool the Cardinals down.

“There was no luck in that glove. He could’ve kept it as far as I was concerned.” — Preacher Roe2

As Roe departed, he hurled his glove into the stands and once he got to the dugout, he tossed his jacket to the dugout roof.3 An unidentified soldier quickly returned the jacket. The glove was retrieved by a youngster, Jimmy Reed from Babylon, Long Island, who was attending the game with his father, Don. When the father, after some prodding, returned the glove, the Dodgers gave Jimmy a new mitt, autographed by Roe.4

Sportswriter Roger Kahn, after noting that “it was inspiring to see Stan the Superman in form,” speculated, “Perhaps Roe should have thrown his glove directly to Stan. It would have saved a lot of trouble and there’s a chance Musial’s weakness may be a high inside glove.”5 

Palica had been around for a while. He first appeared in New York, at the Polo Grounds, in the Esquire’s All-American Boys Baseball Game in 1944.6 He signed with Brooklyn in 1945 and appeared in a couple of games as a pinch-runner before being sent to the minors. He made his pitching debut in the National League in 1947. His best season was 1950, when he went 13-8. The Cardinals continued their assault. Red Schoendienst doubled and scored on a single by Bill Sarni, giving St. Louis five third-inning runs and a lead that they would not relinquish.

After Lawrence held the Dodgers scoreless in the bottom of the third, the Cardinals resumed their hit parade in the fourth, and once again Musial was at the center of things. With one out, Lawrence and Repulski singled and, after Palica retired Moon, up stepped the pride of Donora, Pennsylvania. Two on and two out quickly became an 8-2 Cardinals advantage as Musial hit his second three-run homer in as many innings. The home run was his 30th of the season and gave him 100 RBIs for the campaign. He was the first player in the league to reach that threshold in 1954.7 Palica retired Ray Jablonski to end the inning. After Lawrence pitched a scoreless fourth, the Dodgers brought in an untried rookie to pitch the top of the fifth.

“This is what Bob Milliken was sent down for?” – Dick Young, New York Daily News8

Bob Milliken is little remembered seven decades later, but he went 13-6 in two seasons for the Dodgers before being sent to St. Paul in early August of 1954. His replacement, brought up from Montreal, entered the game for the Dodgers in the top of the fifth and, in his first major-league inning, Thomas Charles Lasorda, after allowing singles to Schoendienst and Sarni, struck out Joe Cunningham and induced Grammas to hit into an inning-ending double play. Lawrence got the side in order in the fifth, getting Lasorda to fly out to center field after registering his fourth strikeout of the game (Rube Walker). Junior Gilliam grounded out to end the inning.

The Cardinals next scored in the sixth inning. Lasorda returned to the mound for Brooklyn. Lawrence led off with a walk and scored on Moon’s one-out double. Moon advanced to third on the throw home, and Musial came to bat for the fourth time. And for the third time, he delivered. His sacrifice fly scored Moon with the Cardinals’ 10th run.

Hopelessly behind, 10-2, the Dodgers had a modest rally in the sixth inning against Lawrence. With one out, Snider singled and Gil Hodges walked. A double by Sandy Amoros scored Snider, and Jackie Robinson brought Hodges home with a fly ball to Moon in center field. That was it for the Dodgers scoring.

The Cardinals added a run as Lasorda yielded a homer to Sarni leading off the seventh. There was no further scoring against Lasorda, who pitched three innings and allowed three runs in his debut before leaving for a pinch-hitter, Johnny Podres, in the seventh inning. Podres, after striking out, returned to the dugout. The Dodgers were not about to waste his arm on this Thursday afternoon.

Ben Wade finished the game for the Dodgers. The Cardinals just kept churning out the hits and scored their last two runs in the eighth inning. After Moon grounded out, Musial came up for the fifth time. Wade walked him on four pitches. Jablonski doubled, his third hit of the game, advancing Musial to third. Jablonski was given the rest of the game off as Harvey Haddix ran for him. A fielder’s choice scored Musial, and Haddix came home on a single by Cunningham.

The complete-game win, his fourth, took Lawrence’s record to 9-3. His ERA stood at 3.17. For the season, he wound up at 15-6 but received no Rookie of the Year consideration. That honor went to teammate Moon, who had contributed to the win on August 5 with two hits, including an RBI double.

The quartet of Dodger pitchers – Roe, Palica, Lasorda, and Wade – had collectively yielded 21 hits, and none of the pitchers figured in the Dodger plans. After the season Roe was sent to Baltimore in a trade but chose to retire. Palica was also traded to Baltimore and spent two years with the Orioles. Lasorda appeared in a total of eight games with the Dodgers, without a win, before being sold to Kansas City prior to the 1956 season. He later managed the Dodgers for more than 20 seasons, winning the World Series in 1981 and 1988. Wade, after finishing the game, was placed on waivers and immediately claimed by the Cardinals.

The Dodgers remained five games behind the Giants, who would go on to win the NL pennant. The Giants lost to the Chicago Cubs, 6-4, on this day at the Polo Grounds. The Cardinals, with the win, pulled into a fourth-place tie with Philadelphia, but they were still below .500 (51-53) and 16½ games out of first place.

For Musial, it was just another day at one of his favorite stops. His 2-for-4 afternoon lifted his batting average for the season at Ebbets Field to .417. His overall batting average stood at .343. His two homers gave him 30 for the season, and his seven RBIs put him at 101. It was his seventh season with 100 or more RBIs. By the end of his career, Musial had recorded 100 or more RBIs in a season 10 times, eclipsing the NL mark of nine that had been set by Mel Ott.9 Musial wound up with 37 career homers at Ebbets Field, his second favorite road ballpark for homers behind the Polo Grounds (49). His third-inning homer off Roe gave him 12 off the lefty, his second favorite pitching target in the National League (behind Warren Spahn’s 17). Yes, just another day.

Milton Richman in his article for the United Press made the assertion that “Stan (The Man) Musial is bound to slow down sometime.”10 By the time Musial played his last game in New York in 1963, Ebbets Field had been torn down.

Musial did come to the plate for a sixth time on August 5. (That’s what happens when you bat third and your team gets 21 hits.) With runners at first and second and one out, Musial hit into a double play – Nobody’s Perfect!

Sources

In addition to the sources shown in the Notes, the author used Retrosheet.org and Baseball-Reference.com.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/BRO/BRO195408050.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1954/B08050BRO1954.htm

Photo credit: Stan Musial, SABR-Rucker Archive.

Notes

1 Jack Rice, “Musial Hits 2 Homers, Cards Ride Over Bums, 13-4,” St. Louis Globe-Democrat, August 6, 1954: 2B.

2 Dave Anderson, “Roe Nears End of Long Flock Trail,” Brooklyn Eagle, August 6, 1954: 11.

3 Roscoe McGowen, “Cards Trounce Brooks by 13-4 as Musial Paces 21-Hit Attack,” New York Times, August 6, 1954: 12.

4 Bob Broeg, “Musial Cracks Two Homers, Cards Wallop Dodgers,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, August 5, 1954: 14C.

5 Roger Kahn, “Cardinals Belt 21 Hits, Jar Dodgers’ Roe, 13-4,” New York Herald Tribune, August 6, 1954: 15.

6 Alan Cohen, “The Boys of the Polo Grounds: Youth Baseball, 1944-1958,” in Stew Thornley, ed., The Polo Grounds: Essays and Memories of New York City’s Historic Ballpark, 1880-1963 (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland and Company, 2019), 115.

7 Milton Richman (United Press), “Stan’s Bound to Slow Down, but Vital Question Is When,” Austin (Texas) American Statesman, August 6, 1954: 18.

8 Dick Young, “Cardinals Wham Dodgers, 13-4,” New York Daily News, August 6, 1954: 46.

9 The record has since been broken by Hank Aaron (11) and Barry Bonds (12).

10 “Stan’s Bound to Slow Down, But Vital Question Is When.”