Before Mariano Rivera the Yankees had Johnny Murphy

[Michaels07]

The first great Relief pitcher in Yankee history.I saw him pitch on a number of occasions.He came to the Yanks as a starter for the first two years and the rest of career was to trudge in from the Bull pen to put out the fire.He pitched for the Yanks for 12 yrs, spent 1 year with the Red Sox in 47, his last year in the bigs.He also had the distinction of being the first Yankee player rep
His career record was 93 Wins 53 Losses a 637 pct.He had 107 career saves104 with the Bombers.He led the majors in saves for 4 seasons.He had set records then of 12 wins in relief in 1937 & 43. His best overall season was in 1941, when he had 15 saves and 1.98 era and an 8-3 record.He was a curveballing Right Hander and when he came in you could chalk up another Yankee victory
One of the Yankee star pitchers was Lefty Gomez and when one of the writers asked lefty how many games he would win before the season started, Gomez replied "ask Murphy"
Murph name came to mind with Gehrig posting "This day in baseball"He died Jan 14 1970.

[Buzah!]

Didn't Firpo Marberry have a great year for the 27 Yanks? Joe Page was a great RP, too.

[kgblues]

Good post Michaels07! Great stuff.
In the words of Johnny Carson" I did not know that"

[Sixty one]

Michaels07

Great post on Johnny Murphy! I don't remember him except for reading about his career. However, I do remember Joe Page in the late 40's and wonder what you remember about him. If I'm not mistaken didn't Casey eventually get rid of him because of his drinking and the fact that he wasn't always reliable?

[Nome]

Page was a great relief pitcher. If I am not mistaken, and I very well could be, he wore 33.

I still his distinctive entrance from the bullpen jumping over the short fence and slowly jogging to the mound. When Joe was on, he was brilliant. He seemed to be most effective in odd numbered years, 1947, 1949, 1951, and 1953.

Starting with Murphy, the Yankees seemed to have a history of great relief pitchers. Rags, Louie Arroyo, Duran, Kuzava, Goose, Sparky; I know I'll forget many.

Andy

[Michaels07]

Joe Page`s last year with the Yankees was 1950, when he went 3-7.with 13 saves. The following year 51 he was no longer with the Yankees He tried for a comeback in 1954 with the Pirates and had no record & was let go
Page was a character out of the coal country of P.A. The Yankees purchased his contract from the Newark Bears in 1944 and he threw a 5 hitter in beating the tribe .He was a starter in his early career and he hit the town with the Yankee Clipper, he liked the broads & the booze.
He had a good fastball & a decent curve.He developed into a star reliever succeeding Johnny Murphy.In those days they didn`t keep save stats so baseball historians had to go over the old box scores to come up with a save record His first three years with the Bombers he struggled as a starter, his problem was his lack of control.
In 1947 Bucky Harris was thinking of demoting Page to the Minors.
It`s just so happenned i was at the game when Joe Page found himself & turned into a Star reliever. I am not sure but i think the Yanks were playing the Tigers.Page was in in relief , he walked the bases full.the next batter he threw three balls, the count was 3&0. He then proceeded to throw a called Strike and blew two fastballs past Rudy York.One out & the same sequence was repeated 3 balls & 0 strikes and again a swinging strike Three.The next hitter, again 3 & 0 he`s one pitch away of returning to the minors two strikes and an out to second and he was on to becoming a Yankee Legend
His career record was 57 wins & 49 losses with 76 saves all with the Bombers.His ML saves of 27 in 1949 stood until broken by Louie Arroyo in 1961.In the 1949 WS he won game 3 and saved the final.

[Nome]

I, once again, stand corrected, Michaels.

I do remember Joe "Fireman" Page. How can I not? I first started following the Yankees in 1948 and he sure had a few GREAT years for us.

Take care my friend.

Andy

[Nome]

How memory deceives. The "fireman", born and lived out his life in PA's coal country, came up to the Yankees in 1944 as a starter. He started and relieved through 1946 and then became almost exclusively a relief pitcher.

His best years were:
1945 with a 6-3 recoord in 20 games with a 2.82 ERA ;
1947 with a 14-8 record in 56 games with a 2.48 ERA and 17 saves and;
1949 with a 13-8 record in 60 games with a 2.59 ERAand 27 saves.

Since Joe's career records for his 7 years were a record of 57-49 with a 3.53 ERA and 76 saves it is easy to see how his good years were odd years and even years were bad.

And that was in a time when pitchers completed more games and saves were stingely awarded.

I made another mistake with Joe's number. Of course it was 11. Bill Dickey wore 33 during that time.

Joe was one of my early hero's.

Andy

[Michaels07]

How about that.Oct 1 1949 the Yankees are at it with our mortal enemies.The final two games of the season. The crowd is huge 69,551 at Yankee Stadium. The Yanks are trailing 4-0.Joe Page comes in relief and is nearly untouchable in 5 innings.Yanks win 5-4 on a Johnny Lindell HR.The Yankees once again hold sway over the Red Sox

[Buzah!]

Johnny Lindell, Hollywood Star Legend, and true Yankee.

[Nome]

I do remember that game. Lindell, Bauer, Keller and Henrich all seemed to come through in the clutch. Jerry Coleman, Joe Collins, Yogi, Scooter, Mize, Bobby Brown were all on that team. Charlie Silvera and The Major, Ralph Houk were understudies to Yogi.

Who started that game? Was it the "Big Chief"?

Andy

[Sixty one]

I can't say I remember watching or listening to that game I seem to recall that it was that game or that series when the Yanks honored Joe DiMag with a day for him. Am I right, Michaels07 or Andy? By the way, Jerry Coleman was mentioned and I want you to know that a few years later he became my favorite Yank for awhile because I played 2nd base in the little league!

[Michaels07]

With two games left and a one game lead, all the injured Yanks just had to play.DiMag had a viral infection,Henrich cracked ribs, Yogi a fractured thumb.In that first game the Super Chief Started, but he could not control his fastball.He walked three straight batters, a wild pitch and gave up 3 singles and 2 runs in three innings. In came Joe Page, who walked in two more runs. the Yanks tied the game 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth.Johnny Lindell came up in the bottom of the eight, he hadn`t hit a homer since July and had only 5 for the year and poled one down the left field foul line for a 5-4 victory.
The season came down to one game. little Phil hit a high fly down the left field line in the first inning,Ted Williams lost it in the sun and it went for a triple.He scored on a grounder by Henrich.It was 1-0 Yanks going into the bottom of the eight,when Old Reliable homered and Jerry Coleman got one of his patented hits a bloop double just over the first basemans head with the bases loaded to put the Yanks up 5-0.
Vic Raschi, still on the mound, three outs from the pennant and he ran into trouble.Bobby Doerr hit a triple past an exhausted, hurting Joe Di Maggio and the Red Sox had three Runs.Dimaggio removed himself from the game.With two outs and the tying run at third, Yogi went to the mound to speak to Vic, who was pissed to say the least According to Yogi, Raschi said "give me the goddamn ball and get the___________
out of here'.Henrich caught a foul pop and the Yankees Win The Pennant.

[Gehrig]

You guys have GOT to come to the forumers game and I have GOT to hang out with you guys !!!

Warning ... I may just have to do a mind meld and absorb all of your memories...

[Sixty one]

Michaels07

Do you agree with me that the Yankee win in 1949 against first the Red Sox and then the Dodgers in the WS, and then winning the pennant and WS for the next four years (1949-1953), compares favorably with the Yanks dynasty from 1996 to the present?
By the way, am I right about the Yanks giving DiMag a big day during that Red Sox series?

[Nome]

Sixty-one,

While I love today's team and it's success, no professional sports team could ever have a dynasty to compare to the Yankees of 1947-1965. No one.

Look at the records.
1947 League and WS Champs
1948 3rd in AL
1949 League and WS Champions
1959 ditto
1951 ditto
1952 ditto
1953 ditto
1954 second in AL to Cleveland
1955 AL Champs losing to Brooklyn
1956 AL and WS Champions
1958 ditto
1959 third in AL. The year of the go-go sox
1960 First in the AL. Damn that Bill Mazeroski
1961 AL and WS Champs
1962 Ditto (ain't it getting monotonous? Hell no!)
1963 AL Champs but embarrasingly swept be "Dem Bums"
1964 AL Champs but done in by the Cards.

Then we had 12 years of doldrums.

Those were the days.

Andy

[Sixty one]

Andy

You're right as usual. Those years were truly remarkable and I believe you are right that no other team in any professional sport will ever be able to duplicate or surpass it! I guess I was just thinking of those five years and the excitement that they generated and how that compared to these recent years and the excitement that this group has created. I grew up with those teams and remember that in my neighborhood there were constant arguments over which team was better...Yanks or Dodgers! There was a time in the 50's that I knew the whole 25 man roster of all three NY teams, that's how closely I followed them. I couldn't do that today except for the pinstripers!

[Michaels07]

I had forgotten about Joe Di Maggio day on Oct 1 1949.His mother & little Joe was at the ball park.
"I`d like to thank the good lord for making me a Yankee"
I`d like to apologize to the people in the Bleachers , for
having my back turned to them"
Joe who never chokes up when the chips are down in the 9th inning admitted.
"this is one of the few times i have choked up.Many years
ago Lefty O`Doul said, Joe , don`t let the Big Town scare
you, New York is the most generous town in the world"

"This day proves that New York is the friendliest town in the
world. I have played for three managers and all taught me
something.If we don`t win I will say to McCarthy."If we did
not win. I`m glad you did" " The Red Sox are a grand team
and a grand bunch of guys, and that does not include that
guy out in center, who spends so much time annoying me"
Brother Dom walked to his side. "as Joe said he wanted to thank Mgr Casey Stengel and the other Yankees. "the gamest, Fightingest guys who ever lived".
The quote`s are from my favorite Yankee writer of the day the great
Dan Daniel of the World Telegram & Sun.

[Nome]

sixty-one,

I remember getting together with my Uncles on Sunday in Newark at family outings and we would get into fights. Dad and I were Yankee fans. Uncle Al and Joe were Giant fans and Uncle John was a Dodger fan. Now I really don't know if Uncle John really liked the Dodgers or if he just liked fights.

Man that was a group. My Dad missed the service in WWII because of age and the kids he had, but Joe and Al served in Europe and as they told it they won the war by themselves. You could believe it by the number of German souvenoirs they brought home. John was in the Pacific and I have a number of pictures of him with his arm around Hawaiian girls wearing Hula skirts. Man he had a rough job, but as they say, someone had to do it.

Those Sundays were great and you can bet no one ever won an argument with me over the Yankees.

Andy

[Michaels07]

Yes, after WW11, the Yankee`s started to build another dynasty. they had ownership that was dedicated to winning and they built a farm system and the talent just came a coming. No Free agent, you needed good scouts and a few bucks. You could sign a kid Max $5 grand.
At the height of the farm system era the Yankees had over 20 teams. Branch Rickey of the Cards came up with the idea of a farm system.In the heart of the depression over 30 thousand guys were playing minor league ball.

[Nome]

Damn Michaels,

For an old man (just kidding), you sure got a great memory (not kidding).

One thing about those times was that there are not the multitude of diversions then as now. A boy was sports crazy then and it was baseball all year around, football in the fall and basketball almost all year around. Males were dedicated to the game. Today there are too many things to keep the interest of American males. Only a small portion of their energies are spent on baseball. Not so with poorer economies. That's why so many ball players are coming out of the Carribean islands.

Andy

[Michaels07]

When i was a kid i lived for baseball, i played basketball & football in the winter.I was city Kid, the Bronx and Astoria Queens My father always played softball when i was growing up and as i got older i played on his Tavern team . But baseball, really became almost an obsession. I didn`t work in the summer but played baseball every day.The PAL YMCA, KIWANIS & INTERCOUNTY leagues.I had the desire to play minor league ball but my aspirations ended with the advent of the Korean War, I enlisted in the Air Force.My Manager in Baseball was a scout for The Boston Braves. My God mother was going to get me a tryout with the Dodgers she knew a scout. We had a guy from the Red Sox attend our games.One of my friends signed with the Indians as a pitcher, two with the Braves one with a Yankee farm team class B Piedmont.
We were known as the Aztec`s of Astoria, an outgrowth of the 34th ave Boy`s S.A.C. Our most famous graduate went on to pitch for the Yankees in 1950 and is now in the Hall of Fame.

[Sixty one]

Michaels07 and Andy

These are great stories your both telling. I think the younger posters out there have no idea what it was like growing up at a time that baseball ruled in the summer, basketball in the winter and of course, football in the fall. Andy, your story about your dad and your uncles was something I could fully relate to. My dad wasn't in WWII because he worked in a defense plant in NJ and had two kids, but my uncles' Pete, Joe and Tony were all in it. My uncle Pete didn't want to see the war end because he was stationed in India and won alot of money playing cards with other GI's. However, they were all avid Yankee fans and idolized Joe Di because of his Italian ancestry and that's where my family originally came from. Growing up in the 40's and 50's were great, I think, because the pressures of today didn't exist and kids could concentrate on the sports I mentioned and seldom got involved in illegal activities. THOSE TRULY WERE THE BEST OF TIMES!

[nicky_d]

Originally posted by Sixty one
Michaels07

Do you agree with me that the Yankee win in 1949 against first the Red Sox and then the Dodgers in the WS, and then winning the pennant and WS for the next four years (1949-1953), compares favorably with the Yanks dynasty from 1996 to the present?

Since I was a bit too young to follow and appreciate that dynasty (I was born in '48), it's hard to say. Today you have multiple layers of playoffs, so just getting to the Series is an accomplishment. I'd love to hear what all you "veterans" have to say about it, though.....

[Nome]

Michaels and sixty-one,

My friends and I played baseball EVERY day from April 1st through at least October 1st. We threw balls at times the rest of the year, and fooled around with Football, basketball and bowling.

We played all kinds of ball - hardball, softball, stoop ball, hand ball, sewer ball, spaldeen - you name it we played it.

I broke a few windows in my time. We played before Little League.

We even played ball in a local Cemetary where they had flat plaques on the ground instead of headstones. We used the plaques as bases.

Unfortunately I was better with the books than with athletics. At age 10 (1948) my dream was that I would eventually play CF in Yankee Stadium with my friend Lou Duffy in RF and Rick Phibbs in LF. I really and truly believed at age 10 that it would eventually happen. All our games and practices were aimed at that outcome. It simply couldn't happen. We had the desire but not the talent.

How can one ever forget those wonderful years.

Andy