Despite his two home runs and seven RBIs and .667 batting average, Dusty Rhodes did not have enough plate appearances (Or reach seven hits plus walks) to qualify for the lead in two categories in 1954.
It's odd, because when I think of the 1954 World Series, there are three things that stand out:
1) Willie Mays great catch off Vic Wertz in game one
2) Dusty Rhodes' great clutch hitting
3) Wertz himself leading both teams in hitting, .500
4) Bob Feller did not make an appearance (Despite going 13-3 in the regular season)
So how about our boy's heroics? His two dingers and seven runs driven in was enough to top everyone. And while his .667 average was from a small sample size, it's pretty obvious those were clutch situations.
Dusty's New York Giants were up against a Cleveland Indians team that had plenty of pitching in Early Wynn, Bob Lemon, Mike Garcia, Art Houtteman and of course Bob Feller. My father vividly remembers this team. Wynn and Lemon won 23 games each in 1954, with Garcia not far behind with 19. Houtteman is the forgotten man despite going 15-7 with 3.35 earned run average.
The first game was at the Polo Grounds, so at least the Giants would have home field advantage. However, via a two-run triple by Vic Wertz in the top of the first, it was quickly 2-0 Cleveland. New York tied it in the bottom of the third via a Don Mueller groundout and Hank Thompson single.
As we all know, it was Willie Mays' catch off Vic Wertz in the top of the eighth that kept the score tied. The Giants got Hank Thompson to third in the bottom of the frame, but Wes Westrum was out on a liner to centre.
It seemed like both teams wanted to end this game quickly. Two quick outs in the top of the ninth meant the Giants seemed safe. But the Indians evidentially didn't want this thing going extras. Monte Irvin made an error on Bobby Avila's fly to left. Avila made it to second. Larry Doby, the first black player to play in the American League, was then put on intentionally. Al Rosen hit another fly to Irvin, where the left fielder made sure to catch.
But New York was retired 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth, as Bob Lemon was pitching an amazing game. Cleveland started out the top of the tenth, looking to take the lead. The right man was up. Vic Wertz was 3-4. He made it 4-5 with a double. Sam Dente bunted him to third. Dave Pope was purposely passed by Marv Grissom. But Grissom was clutch. First, he fanned pinch hitter Bill Glynn. Then Marv got Bob Lemon out on a liner to first.
Don Mueller led of the tenth for the home team. Things didn't get off to a promising start for the Giants. Bob Lemon fanned him. The immortal Willie Mays was next, and coaxed a walk from Lemon. With Hank Thompson up, Willie made a break for second, and made it! Winning run in scoring position. Thompson was walked intentionally.
Monte Irvin was next, but instead Dusty Rhodes would bat. Rhodes ended the game with a three-run home run to right. That's three RBIs with one swing of the bat.
So the final score was 5-2 for New York, but it was close all the way. So was the second contest. Making a big difference, again, was Dusty Rhodes.
Cleveland again wasted no time in taking the lead. Al Smith was the first batter of the game, and hit a home run. A shaken Johnny Antonelli looked liked he was headed for an early shower as the Indians loaded the bases on two more hits and a walk. But George Strickland popped out to first to end that.
Down went New York 1-2-3 in the first four innings. Something had to be done. Willie Mays started the bottom of the fifth with a walk. And then Hank Thompson got the first Giant hit off Early Wynn with a single.
And the man of the hour again was Dusty Rhodes. Again, batting for Monte Irvin, Rhodes came through. His single tied the game and moved Thompson to third (Dusty Rhodes himself pulled up to second when the throw was to third). A strikeout and walk followed. Johnny Antonelli helped out his own cause by grounding out. No one knew it at the time, but New York was ahead for good.
In the top of the seventh, Dusty Rhodes made it 3-1 for the home team with a solo home run off Early Wynn. It seemed like, with the exception of Rhodes, Wynn pitched well. That was the last run of the ballgame. Despite a fine effort by Bob Lemon in the first contest and Early Wynn here in the second one, New York had two wins.
The World Series shifted to Cleveland for gams three, four and (If necessary) five. The Giants seemed to want nothing to do with a game five at Municipal Stadium. They stormed out of the gate in the third contest. Our boy would make an early appearance.
The bases were loaded in the top of the third. Willie Mays drove in a run in the top of the first with a single. But here was a chance to blow the game wide open for New York. Dusty Rhodes was called on again. Again, batting for Monte Irvin, he singled. Don Mueller and Willie Mays scored. Before the inning ended, the Giants crossed home again.
Two innings later, Dusty Rhodes batted again. The fifth inning had started with Willie Mays flying out. But Hank Thompson followed with a two-bagger. Art Houtteman, pitching in relief of Mike Garcia, did the smart thing and walked Dusty Rhodes intentionally.
The move appeared to work as Davey Williams forced Rhodes at second. Two away, runners on the corners. But then light-hitting Wes Westrum singled, and it was 5-0 for the visitors.
Willie Mays made it 6-0 in the sixth with an RBI single off Ray Narleski. That would be the final run the Giants would score. Narleski had a nice 1-2-3 seventh which included a strikeout of Dusty Rhodes. But, the Indians were still down six runs.
Vic Wertz hit one where Willie Mays and the rest of the Giants couldn't catch it in the bottom of the inning. But it was only a solo shot. The next inning, Cleveland looked like they might make a game of this after all. They scored another run and got runners on second and third. Hoyt Wilhelm came in for New York. This, sadly, was his only World Series he'd ever play in.
But in any event, Wilhelm put out the fire. There was still the top of the ninth for New York to add to their lead. It appeared as if Dusty Rhodes would have an opportunity for more RBIs.
Don Mueller singled. Willie Mays picked up his third hit of the game with a single. Two on, no outs. But then, Hank Thompson ruined the situation for Dusty Rhodes. He hit a liner that resulted in a double play. Don Mueller was still on third. But now, the situation was tougher than it could of been for Dusty Rhodes.
As it turns out, this was Rhodes' last plate appearance in the 1954 World Series. And he'd never get back to the postseason. Sadly, Dusty's postseason ended on a wimper as Don Mossi fanned him.
But I guess a bigger wimper would be by Cleveland. Hoyt Wilhelm got them in order in the bottom of the ninth, putting New York up 3-0 in the Fall Classic. The fourth game, in case you were wondering, was an interesting contest.
Cleveland hit their backs to the wall, of course. Were they tight? Well, yes. New York started out even better in this fourth contest than they had the previous one. It was 7-0 after 4 1/2 innings.
But Hank Majeski had some pinch-hitting heroics of his own for Cleveland in the bottom of the fifth. His three-run home run make it 7-3.
I'm rather surprised that Dusty Rhodes was not called upon at any time in this game. Rudy Regalado got into the sub act in the bottom of the seventh. Another clutch pinch hit by Cleveland and it was 7-4. It seemed ironic that Vic Wertz scored the run. Despite being robbed by Willie Mays in game one, New York could do nothing to stop him.
So Hoyt Wilhelm was again needed to get the Giants out of this mess. Wilhelm got pinch hitter Dave Pope to hit it back to him and and end that. The Indians had left runners on the corners. They were not going down without a fight.
Hoyt Wilhelm would end up batting for himself in the top of the eight. Now, if I'm manager Leo Durocher, I think now would be a good time to use Dusty Rhodes. Davey Williams is on second with one away. The momentum of this game is now clearly Cleveland. Mike Garcia fanned Wilhelm. Whitey Lockman flied out to Wally Westlake in right.
So, it was still a three-run game. In the bottom of the frame, Hoyt Wilhelm came undone, but wasn't all his fault. Bobby Avila struck out, but the pitch could not be handled by catcher Wes Westrum. Larry Doby hit one to Willie Mays in centre field for the first out. Then Al Rosen singled. Tying run at the dish, one away.
Hoyt Wilhelm was done for the day, but Johnny Antonelli was in to save the day. He fanned the dangerous Vic Wertz. Wally Westlake was called out on strikes.
The game finished without any more drama, although Antonelli walked Sam Dente to start the last of the ninth. The 1954 World Series concluded with Dale Mitchell popping out to third basemen Hank Thompson.
This World Series certainly had some interesting subplots. Willie Mays was the big star. He had the catch, he hit .286, scored four runs and knocked in three. Missing from his play in this Fall Classic was a home run. Although he'd already appeared in the World Series three years earlier, and would again in 1962 and 1973, the four-bagger was one thing Mays did not accomplish in the October Classic.
Dale Mitchell, who was the last out of 1954 World Series, was the famous last out in game five of the Fall Classic two years later. Dale (Batting for Sal Maglie, ironically) fanned against Don Larsen, as the Brooklyn Dodgers (Mitchell's team) were retired 1-2-3 in all nine innings. The only perfect game ever in the World Series. Although Dale would appear in game seven, which Brooklyn lost 9-0, he became the answer to a great trivia question. Mitchell's appearance in the final game of 1956 was also his last game.
What about Dusty Rhodes? Although he'd had a great season in 1954, and followed that up by hitting .305 the next season, Dusty was not around much longer. The Giants were on the move to San Francisco in 1958, and while Rhodes was with the organization, he did not make a single appearance with the Giants that year.
Instead, Dusty was with the Phoenix Giants ("AAA" ball) of the Pacific Coast League. Rhodes probably should have seen some time with the parent club. All Rhodes did in 1958 was hit .269 with 25 home runs and 100 RBI.
1959 was Dusty's swan song at the major league level. But his pinch-hitting exploits of five years ago were a thing of the distant past. He hit just .188 that season. Although he hung on in the Giants organization until 1962 (The year New York dropped a tough seven-game Fall Classic to the New York Yankees), the team had moved on from Dusty Rhodes. He went out with a big of a whimper with the Tacoma Giants of the Pacific Coast League, hitting just .215 with 11 home runs and 33 RBI.
References
Corbett, Warren. “Dusty Rhodes.” Society for American Baseball Research, SABR, 9 Apr. 2020, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/dusty-rhodes/. 16 May 2022.
Enders, Eric. 100 Years of the World Series. Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. New York, 2005.
Morissey, Scott. 114 World Series in 1 Book. Updated ed., Pandamonium Publishing House, 2020.
Neft, David S., and Richard M. Cohen. The World Series: Complete Play-By-Play of Every Game, 1903-1989, St. Martin's Press, New York, 1990.
Nemec, et al. The Baseball Chronicle: Year-By-Year History of Major League Baseball. Publications International, Ltd., 2008.
Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. https://www.baseball-reference.com/. 16 May 2022.
YouTube, Google, https://www.youtube.com/. 16 May 2022.
