May 30-31, 1949: Greenville pitcher Tommy Lasorda loses control, then finds it, in Sally League games

Each team in the Class A South Atlantic League, aka the Sally League, was affiliated with a major-league club in 1949. For the Greenville (South Carolina) Spinners, it was the Brooklyn Dodgers. For the Macon (Georgia) Peaches, it was the Chicago Cubs.

After getting drafted by the Dodgers organization from the Philadelphia Phillies’ organization in November 1948, 21-year-old pitcher Tommy “Lefty” Lasorda was assigned to Brooklyn’s Greenville affiliate for the 1949 season. He had made headlines in 1948 when he pitched a 15-inning game for Schenectady, New York (an affiliate of the Phillies), and struck out 25 batters.1 The southpaw was “crafty,”2 with a good fastball and a “12-6”3 overhand curve.4 But he struggled with his control. In 192 innings pitched for Schenectady, he walked 153 batters.

The Spinners and Peaches played a series of four night games at Macon’s Luther Williams Field beginning on Memorial Day, Monday, May 30, 1949. The teams entered the series with nearly identical records: 22-19 for Greenville and 23-19 for Macon. Lasorda pitched in relief in the first two games of the series.

Clay Bryant, a former major-league pitcher, managed the Spinners. He picked Ray Moore, a 22-year-old right-hander, to start the series opener. For the Peaches, the starting pitcher was its manager, Don Osborn, a 40-year-old right-hander. A crowd of 1,867 attended. The umpires were Charlie Harris and Ed Boell.

Osborn was ineffective, allowing six runs on 12 hits in 4⅓ innings. The Greenville attack featured doubles by center fielder Maynard DeWitt, third baseman Fred Postolese, and left fielder Fred Leonard. Moore, after allowing one run in four innings, departed with a blister on his pitching hand. In the fifth inning, Macon left fielder Dick Sinovic launched a solo home run off Moore’s replacement, Stewart Mackie. In the seventh inning, Greenville right fielder Guy Prater slugged a solo home run off Osborn’s replacement, George Starrette.

With a 7-2 lead, the Spinners were comfortably in front as the Peaches came to bat in the eighth inning. Surely, the Greenville pitchers could close out this game. But they could not get the ball over the plate.

Earl York led off with a single. Mackie walked the next three batters, forcing in a run. Tom Lakos replaced him and walked the first batter, forcing in another run. Ralph Rowe’s sacrifice fly brought in a third run. The score was now 7-5.

The wildness continued. Lakos walked the first two batters in the ninth. A run scored when first baseman Ben Taylor fielded a bunt and threw errantly to third base. Clinging to a 7-6 lead, the Spinners turned to Lasorda to close out the game. But Lasorda, too, could not find the plate. He walked the first batter to load the bases. And he walked the next two batters to force in the tying and winning runs.

It was a debacle. The final score was Macon 8, Greenville 7. In two innings the Peaches had scored six runs on one hit and nine walks. The Greenville pitchers walked 16 batters in the game. Jim Brosnan, who had worked the ninth inning for Macon, was the winning pitcher. Lakos was charged with the loss.

Looking to rebound, Greenville chose Mike Lemish, a 22-year-old right-hander, to start the second game of the series, on Tuesday, May 31. Bert Flammini, a 21-year-old southpaw, was Macon’s choice.

In the first inning, Jim Reggio singled off Lemish and Sinovic reached on an error by shortstop Don Hoak. York’s single drove in Reggio with the first run of the game.

In the top of the second, Flammini surrendered a double to Taylor and walked catcher Ray Dabek. Leonard singled to center field, scoring Taylor, and Dabek came home on Mike Sichko’s single, which was fielded by Rowe in right field. Rowe’s fine throw nabbed Leonard as he tried to reach third base. The Peaches had men on base in the bottom half but did not score. Ray Cash led off with a single but was picked off second base by Dabek.

Lemish allowed a solo home run by Rowe in the third inning and a two-run homer by pitcher Flammini5 in the fourth, and Macon led, 4-2. Hoak led off the top of the fifth with a bunt single, and Ted Bartz, pinch-hitting for Lemish, singled to center field. Consecutive infield outs permitted Hoak to tally, and a single by Postolese sent Bartz home with the tying run. Lasorda replaced Lemish on the mound in the bottom of the fifth.

Greenville went ahead in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Sichko grounded to Reggio, the second baseman, who threw wildly to first base, allowing him to reach second. Hoak’s single drove him in with the go-ahead run.

After Lasorda’s failure the night before, there were concerns about his control. Now, in the bottom of the sixth, he walked Cash. With a full count on Bob Ludwig, Cash broke for second. Ludwig fouled out to catcher Dabek, who threw to first in time to double up Cash.

That was the only walk issued by Lasorda on this night. He finished the game in impressive fashion. In five innings, he allowed no runs and two hits. He fanned eight batters, including six in a row as he struck out the side in the eighth and ninth innings.

The final score was Greenville 5, Macon 4. Lasorda was the winning pitcher. The loser was Flammini, who went the distance for the Peaches.

It was “a complete reversal of form” for Lasorda, noted the Macon News; “his curve ball was breaking sharply and his control was excellent.”6 It was “a brilliant job of relief hurling,” said the Greenville News.7

The teams split the two remaining games of the series. The Peaches went on to win the pennant, while the Spinners finished 14 games back in third place. In the finals of the postseason playoffs, the Peaches defeated the Spinners, four games to one.8

In 1949 Lasorda compiled a 7-7 record and 2.93 ERA in 178 innings pitched for Greenville. He spent the next five seasons with the Montreal Royals before making his major-league debut with the Dodgers in 1954. His major-league pitching career was brief: 58⅓ innings pitched from 1954 to 1956.

Lasorda’s calling was as a manager. From 1965 to 1972, he led several minor-league affiliates in the Dodgers organization. And he famously managed the Dodgers from 1976 to 1996, winning the World Series in 1981 and 1988. He was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1997.

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Laura Peebles and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information. He also reviewed game coverage in the May 31 and June 1, 1949, issues of the Greenville News, Macon News, and Macon Telegraph.

Image: Tommy Lasorda baseball card from the 1952 Parkhurst Frostade set.

Notes

1 Jack Hugerich, “LaSorda Singles in 15th to Give Jays Victory over Amsterdam,” Schenectady (New York) Gazette, June 1, 1948: 14.

2 “Kinston Eagles Sign Several New Players,” Raleigh (North Carolina) News and Observer, April 18, 1948: II-1.

3 The “12” and “6” represent the numbers on the face of a clock as a description of the ball’s trajectory.

4 Nick Diunte, “Remembering Tommy Lasorda: How the Hall of Fame Manager Broke into Baseball with a Stellar Curveball,” at Forbes.com, January 8, 2021, accessed August 2023.

5 Bert Flammini’s home run was his first hit of the 1949 season and netted him $22.50 from the fans. It was the only home run of his eight-year minor-league career.

6 “Spins Trim Macon in Second Contest,” Macon (Georgia) News, June 1, 1949: 15.

7 “Spinners Trim Macon, 5 to 4,” Greenville (South Carolina) News, June 1, 1949: 13.

8 “Peaches Win Playoff Series,” Macon (Georgia) Telegraph, September 30, 1949: 10.