a double. McDougald continued to hit well when given the chance, but Stengel played him only sporadically. McDougald remained convinced that he was destined for a return to the minor leagues if Johnson remained on the team, and, as the May 15 trading deadline approached, there was no indication that Stengel was planning to get rid of Johnson. “Well,” Gil told Lucille on the evening of May 14, “it looks like we’re heading back to San Francisco, because I’m quitting if he thinks I’m going to Kansas City.”
Convinced that his intuition was correct, McDougald showed up at the Yankee clubhouse early on the morning of May 15 and began to pack up his things. He did not want to discuss his decision with any of his teammates and hoped to be gone before any of them showed up. But Pete Sheehy, the Yankees’ longtime clubhouse manager, was there, and he was surprised to see Gil packing everything up. “What’re you doing?” he asked the Yankee rookie. “I’m cleaning out my locker, Pete. I’m on the way home.” “Oh, no,” Sheehy responded. “What for? Billy Johnson’s been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. You’re staying.”
From that point forward, McDougald was the Yankees’ regular third baseman, and he fulfilled Hornsby’s predictions, hitting .306 (tops among Yankee players) and slamming fourteen home runs (one more than fellow rookie Mickey Mantle). The Yankees won their third straight pennant, and McDougald found himself starting at third base in every game of the World Series against the New York Giants.
It was a World Series that McDougald would long remember. In the third inning of the fifth game at the Polo Grounds, Yogi Berra was on third base and Joe DiMaggio was on second. The next batter was former Cardinal and Giant slugger Johnny Mize, who was now playing first base for the Yankees. Giant manager Leo Durocher was familiar with Mize’s power from his days in the National League (where Mize once hit fifty-one home runs in a season) and decided that it would be better to pitch to McDougald, who was scheduled to follow Mize. So Durocher ordered the Giants’ pitcher to give Mize an intentional pass to first base (meaning that the bases were now loaded with three players who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame).
McDougald was prepared to avenge the slight. But as he approached the batter’s box, Stengel called him back to the dugout. McDougald assumed that Stengel was going to lift him for a pinch hitter, and the rookie third baseman was not happy. “I’m ready to bop him over the head if takes me out,” he later recalled. But McDougald’s assumption proved to be incorrect. Stengel only had a request. “Hit one out, Mac,” was all he said. McDougald returned to the batter’s box and proceeded to hit a home run over the left-field wall—thus becoming only the third player in almost fifty years of World Series play to hit a grand slam. (There was one other time when Stengel made a similar request of McDougald. The Yankees were behind 1-0 in a spring training game in St. Petersburg, Florida, against the St. Louis Cardinals. “Don’t you have anybody who can hit?” Cardinal owner Auggie Busch playfully teased the Yankee manager. Stengel called over McDougald, who was the next hitter, and said, “Go on and hit one out.” McDougald then blasted a home run over the left-field wall. “See, Mr. Busch,” Stengel remarked as McDougald returned to the dugout. “It’s no problem if we want to hit.”)
The Yankee victory in the 1951 World Series was capped by McDougald’s selection by the sportswriters as the American League Rookie of the Year. And so, when talk turned to Joe DiMaggio’s retirement at the end of the 1951 season and who would replace him as the Yankees’ “money player,” Connie Mack—the longtime owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics—had a quick response: “Why, Gil McDougald, of course.”
With endorsements like that, McDougald was able to
Convinced that his intuition was correct, McDougald showed up at the Yankee clubhouse early on the morning of May 15 and began to pack up his things. He did not want to discuss his decision with any of his teammates and hoped to be gone before any of them showed up. But Pete Sheehy, the Yankees’ longtime clubhouse manager, was there, and he was surprised to see Gil packing everything up. “What’re you doing?” he asked the Yankee rookie. “I’m cleaning out my locker, Pete. I’m on the way home.” “Oh, no,” Sheehy responded. “What for? Billy Johnson’s been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals. You’re staying.”
From that point forward, McDougald was the Yankees’ regular third baseman, and he fulfilled Hornsby’s predictions, hitting .306 (tops among Yankee players) and slamming fourteen home runs (one more than fellow rookie Mickey Mantle). The Yankees won their third straight pennant, and McDougald found himself starting at third base in every game of the World Series against the New York Giants.
It was a World Series that McDougald would long remember. In the third inning of the fifth game at the Polo Grounds, Yogi Berra was on third base and Joe DiMaggio was on second. The next batter was former Cardinal and Giant slugger Johnny Mize, who was now playing first base for the Yankees. Giant manager Leo Durocher was familiar with Mize’s power from his days in the National League (where Mize once hit fifty-one home runs in a season) and decided that it would be better to pitch to McDougald, who was scheduled to follow Mize. So Durocher ordered the Giants’ pitcher to give Mize an intentional pass to first base (meaning that the bases were now loaded with three players who would later be inducted into the Hall of Fame).
McDougald was prepared to avenge the slight. But as he approached the batter’s box, Stengel called him back to the dugout. McDougald assumed that Stengel was going to lift him for a pinch hitter, and the rookie third baseman was not happy. “I’m ready to bop him over the head if takes me out,” he later recalled. But McDougald’s assumption proved to be incorrect. Stengel only had a request. “Hit one out, Mac,” was all he said. McDougald returned to the batter’s box and proceeded to hit a home run over the left-field wall—thus becoming only the third player in almost fifty years of World Series play to hit a grand slam. (There was one other time when Stengel made a similar request of McDougald. The Yankees were behind 1-0 in a spring training game in St. Petersburg, Florida, against the St. Louis Cardinals. “Don’t you have anybody who can hit?” Cardinal owner Auggie Busch playfully teased the Yankee manager. Stengel called over McDougald, who was the next hitter, and said, “Go on and hit one out.” McDougald then blasted a home run over the left-field wall. “See, Mr. Busch,” Stengel remarked as McDougald returned to the dugout. “It’s no problem if we want to hit.”)
The Yankee victory in the 1951 World Series was capped by McDougald’s selection by the sportswriters as the American League Rookie of the Year. And so, when talk turned to Joe DiMaggio’s retirement at the end of the 1951 season and who would replace him as the Yankees’ “money player,” Connie Mack—the longtime owner and manager of the Philadelphia Athletics—had a quick response: “Why, Gil McDougald, of course.”
With endorsements like that, McDougald was able to
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