May 7, 1956: Giants bullpen implosion spoils Bill White’s stellar major-league debut

New York Giants manager Bill Rigney had a simple message for rookie Bill White, who had been called up from the Triple-A Minneapolis Millers hours earlier. “I’ll play you if your glove arrives,” Rigney told him as the 8 P.M. start time approached.1 White learned of his promotion on a midnight phone call to his hotel room in Indianapolis, where his team wrapped up a road trip the previous afternoon.2 His equipment was already headed back to Minneapolis.3

White’s glove was quickly rerouted and delivered to the visitors’ clubhouse at Busch Stadium in St. Louis about 15 minutes before game time,4 allowing Rigney to pencil the first baseman into the starting lineup. White calmly went out and slammed a home run in his first major-league plate appearance on his way to a 3-for-4 performance. He also chipped in with solid defense, including an outstanding catch of a popup in foul territory. But his debut was overshadowed by a Giants bullpen collapse, and the St. Louis Cardinals rallied to win 6-3.

A missing glove was not going to upset White. He had been dealing with far more serious adversity throughout his professional baseball career, which began in 1953 with the Carolina League’s Danville (Virginia) Leafs. As the only Black player in the league, White was regularly subjected to racist taunts from opposition fans, along with the indignity of being unable to join his teammates in segregated restaurants and hotels.5 (During White’s rookie season with the Giants, Black players were still not allowed to stay at the same hotel as their White teammates in four National League cities, including St. Louis.6) Although he was one of the youngest players in the Class-B circuit, the 19-year-old slugger recorded a 20-20 season (20 homers, 20 stolen bases) and hit .298.7

The left-handed-swinging White climbed steadily through the minor-league levels and his Triple-A stint lasted just 20 games.8 After posting a slash line of .292/.422/.514 and stealing six bases with Minneapolis, White was called up by the Giants to replace a slumping Gail Harris.9

The May 7 contest between the Cardinals and Giants was the rubber match of a three-game series.10 The surprising Cardinals had gotten off to a 10-6 start in the season, positioning them just a half-game out of first place. The Giants, who had fallen to 80-74 the previous season after winning the 1954 World Series, came into the game tied for fourth place with an 8-8 record.

Southpaw Windy McCall (1-0, 1.69 ERA) got his first start of the season for the Giants, likely because of his success against the Cardinals in 1955. Although only 6 of his 42 appearances had been as a starter that season, three of those starts resulted in complete-game victories over St. Louis.11 The Cardinals countered with knuckleballer Ben Flowers.12 The 28-year-old righty was 1-1 with an 8.10 ERA.

The teams exchanged single runs in the first inning. The Giants opened the scoring on Don Mueller’s sacrifice fly.13 The Cardinals got that run back on singles by Red Schoendienst and Stan Musial and an RBI double by Ken Boyer.14

White’s first major-league plate appearance came leading off the second. With a 2-and-2 count, Flowers spun a curveball that nicked the outside corner and White turned to walk back to the dugout – until home-plate umpire Lee Ballanfant called it a ball.15 White stepped back into the box expecting Flowers to challenge him with a fastball. He did, and White crushed the ball into the pavilion seats in right-center field, giving the Giants a 2-1 lead.16

The round-tripper made White the 28th NL or AL player since 1901 to homer in his first major-league at-bat.17 He became the fifth Giants player to turn the trick, along with two of his new teammates, left fielder Whitey Lockman and reliever Hoyt Wilhelm.18

Continuing his impressive major-league debut, in the bottom of the second, White made an outstanding catch of Flowers’ popup in foul territory near the right-field boxes.19 The Giants then extended their lead to 3-1 in the third on a walk to Lockman, Mueller’s single, and an error by third baseman Boyer.

White’s second plate appearance came leading off the fourth. He smacked another long drive to right field and the ball hit about a foot below the top of the 25-foot pavilion screen that extended above the 11½-foot wall.20 Balls off the screen were ruled in play,21 so he pulled into second base with a double. Had the ball cleared the screen,22 White would have become just the second NL or AL player to homer in his first two plate appearances in the majors.23 But just after his double, White was thrown out at third on a failed steal attempt.

The Giants held a 3-1 lead until the bottom of the sixth, when the Cardinals sent 10 men to the plate. St. Louis loaded the bases with nobody out on a walk sandwiched between a pair of bunt singles that capitalized on the bad knees of Giants third baseman Foster Castleman.24 Rigney gave McCall the hook and Wilhelm came in from the bullpen.

Wilhelm walked pinch-hitter Joe Frazier on four pitches, forcing in a run. Rigney and his catcher, Wes Westrum, were furious at the call on the second pitch to Frazier,25 which led to Ballanfant ejecting the Giants manager for arguing balls and strikes.

Solly Hemus pinch-hit for Lindy McDaniel, who had relieved Flowers and pitched a one-two-three top of the sixth. Hemus – who was no stranger to getting hit by pitches – took one for the team and the game was tied, 3-3.26

Much to Ballanfant’s chagrin, Rigney, who claimed he didn’t know he had been tossed, emerged from the dugout to make another pitching change.27 An enraged Ballanfant made sure the message was received before Marv Grissom replaced Wilhelm on the mound. One out later, Schoendienst drove in the go-ahead run with his third single of the game. After Grissom wild-pitched a run home, Musial was walked intentionally to reload the bases. A sixth run scored on Boyer’s sacrifice fly.

Reliever Gordon Jones retired the Giants in order in the seventh and eighth before walking Willie Mays to open the ninth. One out later, White singled for his third hit of the game, bringing the potential tying run to the plate. Lefty Jackie Collum took over on the hill, and he induced pinch-hitter Bobby Hofman to hit into a game-ending 5-4-3 double play.

The win moved the Cardinals into a tie for first place. They stayed in the NL race until July, when a 6-15 skid to open the month torpedoed their pennant hopes. St. Louis finished in fourth place with a 76-78-2 record, 17 games behind the pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers.

White had a successful rookie campaign, playing in every inning for the remainder of the season.28 He hit .256 with 22 homers and 15 stolen bases in 508 at-bats.29 His contributions helped the Giants – despite having the worst offense in the major leagues − hang around the outskirts of the pennant race until early June. New York finished in sixth place with a 67-87 mark, and White was named to the Rookie All-Star team by The Sporting News.30

While playing winter ball in Puerto Rico, White was told to report for military service in his hometown of Warren, Ohio.31 He was inducted in December and missed almost two full seasons in the big leagues while on duty in the Army.32

When White returned to the majors at the end of July 1958, Orlando Cepeda was well on his way to winning the NL Rookie of the Year Award and the Giants had another promising first baseman, Willie McCovey, in Triple A. To solve the logjam at first base, the Giants traded White, along with Ray Jablonski, to the Cardinals for Sam Jones and Don Choate in March 1959.

White’s career blossomed with the Cardinals – the team he homered against in his first major-league at-bat − and he went on to post seven seasons with at least 20 home runs and four seasons with more than 100 RBIs. White helped lead St. Louis to the 1964 World Series championship, finishing in third place in NL MVP voting. He represented the Cardinals in the All-Star Game in five seasons.

White was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies after the 1965 season, although he returned to the Cardinals in 1969 for the final year of his career.33 During his peak five seasons (1962-66), he amassed 26.4 Baseball-Reference Wins Above Replacement (bWAR), the most for a first baseman in the major leagues.34 He finished his career with a .286 batting average, an adjusted on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS+) of 117, and seven Gold Glove Awards in 13 big-league seasons.35

White had more success after his playing days ended. He joined the New York Yankees broadcast crew in 1971, making him the first Black play-by-play announcer in the AL or NL.36 He was a beloved Yankees broadcaster for 18 seasons.37 White continued his trailblazing ways when he became the first Black president of the NL or AL in February 1989. During his five-year tenure as NL president, he was the highest-ranking Black executive in professional sports in the United States.38

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com, Stathead.com, and Retrosheet.org. The author also reviewed Warren Corbett’s SABR biography of Bill White. Unless otherwise noted, all play-by-play information for this game was taken from the article “Cards’ 5 in 6th Rip Giants, 6-3,” on page 58 of the May 8, 1956, edition of the New York Daily News.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/SLN/SLN195605070.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1956/B05070SLN1956.htm

Photo credit: Bill White, Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Associated Press, “White Stays Relaxed but Gives Cards Fits,” Binghamton (New York) Press, May 8, 1956: 19.

2 The New York Times reported that White received the good news at midnight. The New York Post reported White getting the phone call “a little after midnight.” In the 2011 book Uppity: My Life in Baseball, White recalled the call coming in at 3 A.M. John Drebinger, “Five in Sixth Win for St. Louis, 6-3,” New York Times, May 8, 1956: 37; Arch Murray, “Giants Won’t Forget White’s Debut,” New York Post, May 8, 1956; Bill White and Gordon Dillow, Uppity: My Life in Baseball (New York: Grand Central Publishing, 2011), 44.

3 Associated Press, “White Stays Relaxed but Gives Cards Fits.”

4 Jim McCulley, “Cards’ 5 in 6th Rip Giants, 6-3,” New York Daily News, May 8, 1956: 58.

5 White and Dillow, 3-5.

6 The other three NL cities with segregated hotels in 1956 were Philadelphia, Cincinnati, and Chicago. White and Dillow, 51.

7 White hit 20 homers with 84 RBIs and 21 stolen bases in 533 at-bats in the Carolina League in 1953.

8 White played for the Sioux City (Iowa) Soos in the Class-A Western League in 1954 and the Dallas Eagles in the Double-A Texas League in 1955.

9 Harris had made his big-league debut in June 1955. He hit .232 in 79 games with the Giants that season. In spring training in 1956, Harris won the starting first base job over White. Harris hit .132 in his first 12 regular-season games and was demoted to Minneapolis when White was called up. Harris remained in Minneapolis for the duration of the 1956 campaign. Associated Press, “White Stays Relaxed but Gives Cards Fits.”

10 The Giants and Cardinals split a doubleheader on Sunday, May 6.

11 McCall went 4-0 with a 1.83 ERA in 44⅓ innings pitched against the Cardinals in 1955.

12 McCulley, “Cards’ 5 in 6th Rip Giants, 6-3.”

13 The first batter in the game, Whitey Lockman, doubled. After Al Dark singled, Mueller drove in Lockman with a sacrifice fly.

14 Schoendienst’s single extended his hitting streak to 15 games.

15 White and Dillow, 45.

16 Both the New York Times and the New York Post reported the home run as being hit to right-center field. The only source that the author could find identifying the pitch as a fastball was White’s 2011 book Uppity: My Life in Baseball.

17 Ed Eagle, “Players with Home Run in First At-Bat,” MLB.com, September 1, 2023, https://www.mlb.com/news/home-run-in-first-at-bat-c265623820, accessed January 26, 2024.

18 As of May 1956, the four other Giants to homer in their first career plate appearance were Buddy Kerr on September 8, 1943, Whitey Lockman on July 5, 1945, Les Layton on May 21, 1948, and Hoyt Wilhelm on April 23, 1952. The next Giants player to perform the feat after White was pitcher John Montefusco on September 3, 1974.

19 McCulley, “Cards’ 5 in 6th Rip Giants, 6-3”; Associated Press, “White Stays Relaxed but Gives Cards Fits.”

20 Neal Russo, “Bunt Singles Set Up Five-Run Inning for 6-3 Edge Over Giants,” St. Louis Post-Dispatch, May 8, 1956: 4B.

21 Ron Selter, “Sportsman’s Park’s Right-Field Pavilion and Screen,” Baseball Research Journal (2003), https://sabr.org/journal/article/sportsmans-parks-right-field-pavilion-and-screen/, accessed January 25, 2024.

22 The Cardinals removed the screen for the 1955 season but reinstalled it a year later. Selter, “Sportsman’s Park’s Right-Field Pavilion and Screen.”

23 The first NL or AL player to homer in his first two plate appearances in the majors was Bob Nieman of the St. Louis Browns on September 14, 1951. As of the end of the 2023 season, the only other player to turn the trick was Keith McDonald of the St. Louis Cardinals on July 4 and July 6, 2000.

24 Castleman began his professional career as a shortstop, but three knee surgeries had significantly limited his range. Chris Rainey, “Foster Castleman,” SABR BioProject, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/foster-castleman/, accessed January 27, 2024; McCulley, “Cards’ 5 in 6th Rip Giants, 6-3.”

25 Charles Feeney, “Rig Thumbed Out; Giants Move on to Cincinnati,” Staten Island (New York) Advance, May 8, 1956: 18.

26 Hemus led the NL in hit-by-pitches in 1952, ’53, and ’58. He was second in the league with eight HBPs in ’56. One week after this game, Hemus was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for Bobby Morgan.

27 Feeney, “Rig Thumbed Out; Giants Move on to Cincinnati.”

28 White played three innings in the outfield in 1956. He played first base in all other innings.

29 White believed that his batting average suffered in his rookie season because the Giants tried to convert him from a pull hitter to a spray hitter. White and Dillow, 49.

30 United Press, “Cardinals Dominate All-Rookie Team,” Cincinnati Enquirer, November 26, 1956: 48.

31 United Press, “Giant Rookie Called by Army,” Camden (New Jersey) Courier-Post, November 16, 1956: 20.

32 Associated Press, “Giants’ Bill White to Be Inducted Dec. 3,” Richmond (Virginia) Times-Dispatch, November 15, 1956: 25; International News Service, “Dodgers Send Robinson to Giants,” Arizona Republic (Phoenix), December 14, 1956: 2.

33 On October 27, 1965, the Cardinals traded White with Dick Groat and Bob Uecker to the Phillies for Alex Johnson, Pat Corrales, and Art Mahaffey. The Phillies returned White to St. Louis on April 3, 1969, in a trade for Jerry Buchek and Jim Hutto.

34 Willie McCovey was next with 20.0 bWAR from 1962 to 1966.

35 An OPS+ of 117 means that White’s career OPS of .806 was 17 percent above average after adjusting for park effects.

36 Bill Ladson, “A Diverse Life in Baseball: White Has Done It All,” MLB.com, January 31, 2017, https://www.mlb.com/news/bill-white-thankful-for-his-life-in-baseball-c214862220, accessed January 27, 2024.

37 For his entire 18 years in the Yankees broadcast booth, White was paired with future Hall of Famer Phil Rizzuto. White spent most of that time working with play-by-play commentator Frank Messer.

38 Associated Press, “Leonard Coleman Chosen National League President,” Odessa (Texas) American, March 2, 1994: 1D.