The Sultan of Sawatski

Carl Sawatski

In March of 1956, aging Connie Mack Stadium got a facelift in the form of a huge new electronic scoreboard. The new edifice was positioned in right-center field, 405 feet from home plate. It cost $175,000, was 64 feet high (79 feet if you included the Longines clock on top) and 75 feet wide and was clearly visible wherever you sat in the stadium.  The new scoreboard was nearly a carbon copy of the scoreboard at Yankee Stadium in New York City; in fact, it was built by the same company, All American Scoreboards in Pardeeville, Wisconsin.* The Phillies reported their scoreboard was the "biggest in baseball." It certainly would prove to be a daunting barrier for major league sluggers. The behemoth was dubbed "The Ballantine Beer Scoreboard" because of the large beer advertisement at the top.

In its first two years of existence, while many smacked drives off the scoreboard, no one managed to hit one over it. Finally, on May 25, 1959, in a game against the Milwaukee Braves, a stocky backup catcher for the Phillies named Carl Sawatski got hold of a Bob Buhl fastball and launched it on a high arc up and over the formidable barrier. I saw Dick Allen hit a ball over the roof in left center at Connie Mack Stadium; I saw Greg Luzinski hit a ball off the Liberty Bell in Veterans Stadium; I saw Ryan Howard hit a ball onto Ashburn Alley at Citizens Bank Park, but I have never seen as majestic a home run as that one hit by Sawatski. The flight of that ball is burned in my memory.

Carl Sawatski was born in the town of Shickshinny, in the coal regions of Pennsylvania, about 130 miles north of Philadelphia. The family moved to North Jersey, where Carl played baseball for Pompton Lakes High School and American Legion teams. A fine hitter, Sawatski signed with the Phillies and began to work his way through the minor leagues as an outfielder. Always stocky of build and always battling his weight, Carl decided the best way to get to the major leagues was as a catcher. Despite displaying prodigious power (he led four different minor leagues in home runs), he was dropped by the Phillies and Boston Braves, He finally found his way to the major leagues with the Chicago Cubs, making his debut in 1948. 

Sawatski's career was interrupted by military service in 1951 and 52, after which he served as a backup catcher for the Cubs, Chicago White Sox, and Milwaukee Braves for five seasons. In June 1958, he was dealt to the Phillies for another backup catcher, Joe Lonnett. The Phillies wanted a left-handed bat to complement regular catcher Stan Lopata.

Despite reporting to the Phillies out of shape and overweight, Sawatski's bat made an immediate impact with his new team. Platooning with Lopata, Sawatski went four-for-four including a home run to support Curt Simmons in a 5-1 win over Milwaukee on July 4. Two days later he went three-for-five as Ray Semproch beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-1. A week later he had four more hits, including one of the five triples he hit in his career, in a Phillies loss to the San Francisco Giants.

In 1959 Lopata was traded away and Sawatski found himself platooning with light hitting Valmy Thomas. Sawatski had a fine offensive season, hitting .293 with nine home runs and 43 RBIs in 74 games, including, of course, that blast off Buhl over the Ballantine Beer scoreboard. He also had a pinch-hit home run in the ninth inning to win a game on July 24. Defense was an issue though. In a September 7th game in Cincinnati, he lost track of a pitch that bounced off his foot as two runners raced around to score. Despite being a part time player, Sawatski managed to be among the league leaders in errors, passed balls, and stolen bases against.

The 1959 Phillies were a bad team and despite his success in Philadelphia, Sawatski demanded to be traded, threatening to retire if he wasn't. General Manager John Quinn obliged the big catcher by trading him to the St. Louis Cardinals where Sawatski enjoyed four more productive seasons as a backup catcher and pinch hitter. 

Carl Sawatski was a career long backup catcher with a good bat, below average defensive ability, who was an always pleasing presence in the dugout and locker room. His career spanned baseball eras. When he first came up to the big leagues in 1948, he backed up the Cubs' veteran Mickey Owen, who caught his first game in 1938. He finished his career in 1963 as the backup to the Cardinals' Tim McCarver, who caught his last game in 1980. After his playing days, Sawatski became a successful minor league general manager and in 1976 was named president of the Texas League, a position he held until his death, from leukemia, in 1991.

* Many readers have no doubt heard the story that the scoreboard was actually purchased second hand from the Yankees and moved to Philadelphia. This story, while ubiquitous, is apocryphal. The Yankees did not get a new scoreboard until 1959 and the Yankee Stadium scoreboard differed in significant ways to the one built in Connie Mack Stadium.

Read more on Carl Sawatski and his career in his SABR biography by Gregory H. Wolf here.

Marching to the Front: The Doubleheader Victory that Put the "Whiz Kids" on the Road to the Pennant

Bubba Church                             Robin Roberts

The 1950 Philadelphia Phillies did not sneak up on any of the other teams in the National League. They had made it known they were a young and improving team in 1949, when the Edie Sawyer led club finished 81-73, in third place. There was still plenty of work to be done to reach the top, however. That third-place finish was 16.5 games behind the pennant winning Brooklyn Dodgers and 15.5 behind the second-place St. Louis Cardinals. In 1950 the Dodgers, Cardinals, New York Giants and Boston Braves all figured to challenge the Phillies for the pennant. 

The spring and summer saw the Phillies jockeying back and forth with the Cardinals for the top spot. No one team could get more than a one or two game lead on the other. On July 24, the Phillies lost, 2-1 to the lowly Pittsburgh Pirates, while the Cardinals had an off day. The teams were again tied at the top of the standings. On July 25, the Phillies were scheduled to play the sixth-place Chicago Cubs in a doubleheader at Shibe Park. The Phillies sweep of that twin-bill, before 32,736 fans, put them into the lead in the National League. A lead that they never relinquished. 

Rookie Bubba Church pitched game one for the Phillies. Bubba had recently been given a regular spot in the rotation after serving as a long reliever/spot starter for the team. Church's best pitch was a sharp breaking curveball. When Church was controlling the breaking pitch, he could be very hard to hit. He was on this day. Church's mound opponent was also a rookie, Johnny Klippstein, a hard thrower, who also had bouts of wildness.

The Phillies lineup was Sawyer's go to lineup for much of the season and would be familiar to anyone who followed the Whiz Kids:

Eddie Waitkus - 1B
Richie Ashburn - CF
Dick Sisler - LF
Del Ennis - RF
Willie Jones - 3B
Granny Hamner - SS
Andy Seminick - C
Mike Goliat - 2B
Bubba Church - P

The Cubs lineup featured former Phillies Emil Verban at second base and Ron Northey in right field. Future Phillies utility man Roy Smalley was the shortstop. The Cubs main offensive threat was slugging first baseman Hank Sauer. 

Church's task was made easier when the Phillies staked him to a four-run lead in the bottom of the first. Waitkus led off the with a walk and Ashburn singled him up a base. Sisler doubled off the right field wall, scoring Waitkus and the speedy Ashburn. Ennis flew out and Jones grounded out, but Hamner singled to score Sisler and then came all the way around to score himself, when Sauer cut off the throw home and threw wildly into centerfield attempting to catch Hamner moving up to second. 

The Phillies increased their lead in the third, when Sisler banged another double and then scored on an Ennis single. In the fourth, Waitkus singled and, after two out, Ennis stroked his 18th homerun of the season, an upper deck shot to left, to make the score, 7-0. Meanwhile Church was in complete control. He allowed just three harmless singles and did not walk a batter. He recorded two strikeouts. No Cub baserunner advanced to second base. When Roy Smalley grounded out to end the game after one-hour and forty-one minutes, the Phillies had a .5 game lead on the Cards.

The Phillies sent their ace, Robin Roberts, to the mound in the nightcap. The Cubs countered with their own ace, Bob Rush. The Phillies lineup was otherwise unchanged for the second game. The Cubs lineup had just one change, Rube Walker did the catching in this one, relieving Mickey Owen.

There would be no runs for Roberts, or Rush for that matter, to work with in this one. The Phillies got base runners on in every inning but one. Ashburn had three hits, including a double, Hamner slugged a triple to dead center, and even the weak hitting Roberts had two singles. The Cubs threw two runners out at the plate and only a great stab and throw by third baseman Bill Serena of a Seminick smash kept the Phillies off the board after Hamner's triple in the eighth. The Cubs had plenty of runners, too, as Roberts gave up six hits and two walls. Still neither team could dent the plate and the score stood 0-0 going into the ninth. 

Roberts worked around a one out Andy Pafko single in the ninth, getting Northey to lineout to Ashburn and then striking out Serena. The Phillies came up with a chance to win it in the bottom of the inning. 

After Goliat grounded out to third, Sawyer allowed Roberts to hit for himself. Robbie worked out a walk. Cubs' manager, Frankie Frisch, objected vociferously to the called fourth ball, and home plate umpire Augie Donatelli tossed him from the game. Sawyer sent Putsy Caballero in to run for Roberts. Waitkus then grounded out to first, but Caballero was able to move up on the play. Ashburn sent everyone in the crowd home happy when he bounced a single over second, bringing Caballero around with the only run of the game. 

In his autobiography Throwing Hard Easy, Roberts recounts this story of the aftermath of the doubleheader win. 

After the game, Bubba [Church] approached me in the locker room. "I can't believe you did that to me," he protested.

"What do you mean Bubba?" I asked.

He said, "I pitch a three-hit shutout and I can already see the headlines tomorrow, and then you come along and pitch a shutout and win 1-0 in the second game. I don't think that's fair." Of course, Bubba was kidding. At least I think he was.

The walk off victory temporarily gave the Phillies a one game lead in the pennant race. The Cardinals cut that lead back to .5 by beating the Dodgers later that night, but after this doubleheader victory, the Phillies never relinquished first place again. Things got a little tense when a seven-game lead had been reduced to one game on September 30, but as all Phillies fans know the Phillies clinched the pennant with a 10-inning nailbiter against Brooklyn on October 1. 

Teenagers on the Hill for the Phils

One of the stories to watch in Phillies' spring training this year will be if 19-year-old pitching phenom, Andrew Painter, makes the opening day roster. From all reports, Painter, who finished the season at Double-A Reading last year is nearly ready. Painter turns 20 on April 10. If he takes the mound for the Phillies before then, he will be the first teenager to pitch in a game for the Phillies since Mark Davis in 1980. Teams are understandably reluctant to bring their young pitchers along too quickly. The history of baseball is full of stories of young phenoms thrown to the wolves at a young age only to never reach their full potential. Think David Clyde. According to Matt Gelb, writing in The Athletic, only three teenagers, Todd Van Poppel, Felix Hernandez, and Julio Urias have started major league games since 1990.

The speculation about Painter spurred me to look back at the Phillies history of teenage pitchers. The picture is decidedly mixed. On the plus side twirlers like Curt Simmons, Rick Wise, and Larry Christensen became very good major league pitchers. On the minus side were phenoms like Charlie Bicknell, Tom Qualters, or Dave Bennett, who no doubt would have benefited with more seasoning before being thrown to the wolves. Here is a look at some of the teens who have toiled on the mound for the Phillies over the last 75 years.

Curt Simmons - Simmons was the most sought-after high school pitcher in the country when the Phillies signed him for a reported $65,000 bonus the day after he graduated from Whitehall High School near his home in tiny Egypt, Pennsylvania in June 1947. After 18 terrific starts for the Wimington Blue Rocks, Curt was called up to the big club to make his major league debut against the New York Giants on the last day of the season, September 28. He was 18-years and 132-days-old. Curt shut down the mighty Johnny Mize and the Giants on five hits, 3-1. You can read about that game here. The next two years, Curt struggled as the Phillies tinkered with his unique pitching motion and he struggled with his control. Finally, Simmons went back to his old motion and came fully into his own in the pennant winning season of 1950. In late August that year Curt was called up to military service because of the Korean War and missed out on the World Series. He missed all of 1951 while in the service and then returned to be a solid pitcher for the Phillies for many years. Injuries (including an unfortunate encounter with a lawn mower) and arm miseries limited Curt's effectiveness. After being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1960, Curt reinvented himself as a soft-tosser and had several fine seasons for the Cards, including helping knock the Phillies out of the pennant in 1964 and pitching very well in the World Series himself. He won 193 games in his career.

Charlie Bicknell - Bicknell was signed out of Seton Hall University at about the same time as Simmons was signed. Bicknell got a more modest $20,000 bonus. After spending 1947 with the Wilmington Blue Rocks, the highly touted Bicknell made his major league debut on April 22, 1948, at age 19-270 days. The Phillies wanted Bicknell to spend more time in the minors, but Major League rules for "bonus babies" required he stay on the big-league roster for 1948. In his debut, Bicknell pitched one scoreless inning of relief in a blowout loss to the Boston Braves, walking one. He was used almost exclusively in relief and in mop-up roles throughout 1948. In his one start, against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Forbes Field, he walked the first two batters, allowed an RBI single to Ralph Kiner, and was pulled from the game without retiring a batter. Bicknell also spent the entire 1949 season with the Phillies, appearing in just 13 games and pitching to a 7.62 ERA. The Phillies waived Bicknell after the 1949 season and the Boston Braves picked him up. Charlie spent the next seven years bouncing around the minor leagues, eventually becoming a decent AAA level pitcher. He never pitched in the major leagues again. 

Tom Qualters - It is hard to imagine that a player could have been handled more poorly by a team than was pitcher Tom Qualters. Signed in June 1953 for a $40,000 bonus out of McKeesport High School in Pittsburgh, Qualters, as was required by the ever changing "bonus baby" rules, was brought straight to the big leagues. Unfortunately for him, he took the roster spot of veteran utility man Jackie Mayo, who was very popular with his Phillies teammates. Qualters was dubbed "Money Bags" by his resentful teammates and was given a pretty much permanent and isolated seat in the bullpen. He pitched in only one game for the Phillies that year, making his debut at the age of 18-165 days on September 13 against the St. Louis Cardinals. The first batter he faced, Steve Bilko, homered. Altogether he gave up four hits and six runs, while recording one out before he was mercifully pulled by manager Steve O'Neill. Qualters spent the next three seasons in the minor leagues, was called up to the Phillies for six games in 1957 and was sold to the Chicago White Sox in 1958. In 26 games with the Sox, he was decent as a middle reliever posting a 4.16 ERA. Qualters finished his career with four more years in the minor leagues.

Dave Bennett - Dave was the younger, bigger, harder-throwing brother of Phillies pitcher Dennis Bennett. The 6'5", 195 lb. Bennett was a highly sought after prospect out of Yreka Union High School in California. The Phillies signed him in May 1963 for $70,000. After pitching fairly well in the minors in 1963 and early 1964, he was called up to the Phillies in June to be an extra pitcher as the Phillies faced a spate of doubleheaders. He made his Major League debut on June 12, 1964, at the age of 18-218 days, against the New York Mets in a game started by his brother. The Phillies trailed 11-3 when he entered in the ninth. Joe Christopher led off against Bennett with a triple. Bennett then got Ron Taylor to pop out and got his only Major League strikeout when he whiffed Charlie Smith. He then unleashed a wild pitch to score Christopher, before retiring Chris Cannizaro. Dave Bennett never pitched in the Major Leagues again. Arm problems slowed his progress. Eventually, the Phillies removed him from their 40-man roster. Bennett spent 10 more seasons in the minors with some success.

Rick Wise - Wise was signed for the modest bonus of $12,000 dollars out of Madison High School in Portland, Oregon, when he graduated in 1963. This small bonus was still enough to label Wise a "bonus baby" and he was required to remain on the Phillies roster in 1964 after spending one summer in the Minor Leagues at Bakersfield. Wise was used sparingly by manager Gene Mauch as the Phillies fought for a pennant they would not win, but he was surprisingly effective. Wise made his debut on April 18 at the age of 18-218 days, pitching three innings of one-run relief against the Chicago Cubs. Wise started and won the second game of the doubleheader against the New York Mets on Father's Day, after Jim Bunning pitched his perfect game. He ended the year with a 5-3 record and respectable 4.04 ERA. After spending 1965 in the Minor Leagues, Rick eventually established himself as the ace of the Phillies staff. Traded to the St. Louis Cardinals in 1972, he enjoyed a long productive Major League career with several teams, retiring with 188 career victories.

Larry Christensen - LC, as he was known, was the Phillies first round selection (3rd overall) in the June 1972 draft. The Marysville, Washington native began his career with Pulaski in the Appalachian Rookie League and then made the Phillies Major League roster out of spring training in 1973. Christensen made his Major League debut on April 13 at the age of 19-154 days. He dominated the New York Mets with a complete game five-hitter, winning, 7-1. That would be the only game he won in 1973 and by June he was back in the minors, but the Phillies had gotten a taste of the kind of pitcher Larry Christensen could be. LC eventually became a key complement to Steve Carlton on the great teams of the late 1970 and early 1980s. Arm miseries eventually curtailed his career. He finished with 83 victories in his 11 years with the Phillies.

Mark Davis - Davis was the first overall pick in the January draft secondary phase in 1979. After a great season at Double-A Reading in 1980, Davis was a September callup for the pennant contending Phillies. Davis made his Major League debut on September 12 at the age of 19-329 days. He set the St. Louis Cardinals down allowing just a walk over two innings. Davis struggled in a brief stint with the 1981 team and the Phillies seemed to lose interest in him. In December of 1982, the Phillies traded Davis and Mike Krukow to the San Francisco Giants for Al Holland and Joe Morgan. Davis eventually emerged as a top line reliever for the San Diego Padres. He won the Cy Young Award in 1989, leading the league with 44 saves. Davis returned to the Phillies for a brief and ineffective cameo in 1993.

I can't end this report on Phillies teenaged pitchers without a mention of the immortal Hilly Flitcraft. Hilly was a Quaker dairy farmer from Woodstown, New Jersey. After starring in several sports in high school, the 6' 2" 180 lb. Hilly enrolled in the New Jersey Agricultural School that was a part of Rutgers University. During the summer break from college in 1942, Hilly was playing on the Salen County team with Woody Litwhiler, who was the brother of Phillies outfielder, Danny Litwhiler. Danny got Flitcraft a tryout with the Phillies. After the two-week tryout the Phillies signed Hilly to a contract for $250 a month. Hilly made his major league debut on August 31 in Cincinnati against the Reds. He had just turned 19 ten days prior. Entering in the seventh inning, with the Phillies down 7-1, Hilly pitched a perfect inning getting three groundouts. Flitcraft's next two outings did not go as well, and he ended his Major League career with an 8.10 ERA in 3 and 1/3 innings. He did record one major league strikeout. Hilly resurfaced with the Wilmington Blue Rocks in 1945 and posted a fine 15-4 record, but a back injury suffered on his dairy farm brought an end to his career.

Maybe a spring game in 2023 will bring the next Phillies' teenage sensation to the mound. If it does, we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that the Phillies brass has not brought him to the big-leagues too soon.

The Shamokin Giant Killer: Harry Coveleski

By the time he was 14, Harry Coveleski. like most of the other young men in the coal region town of Shamokin, PA had followed his father into the mines. Harry got the nickname "Donkey Boy" because he was in charge of the mules who pulled the trucks loaded with coal out of the mines. But Harry, like his younger brother Stan, was lucky enough to ride his talented pitching arm out of the mines and into professional baseball. Stan, a righthander, became one of the best pitchers in the American League and eventually was elected to the Hall of Fame. Harry, a lefthander, had a decent career, that began with a flash of brilliance that earned him a new nickname, "The Giant Killer." 

A St. Louis Cardinals' scout first spotted Harry pitching for a local club in 1907. The scout got Harry signed to play with the Kane (PA) Mountaineers. After two months, when the Kane team disbanded, Harry went to play with his older brother John on a Wildwood, NJ team, where a Phillies' scout signed him for $250 a month. He pitched in four games for the Phillies in 1907 and then spent most of 1908 twirling for the Lancaster (PA) Red Roses of the Tri-State League. After a fine season with Lancaster, Harry was called up to the Phillies for the last two weeks of the season. Harry pitched well in his first two games with the big club, losing to St. Louis 1-0 on a ninth inning error, and beating Cincinnati, 1-0, in a rain shortened three-hitter.

The Phillies were now set to face the pennant contending New York Giants in a home and home series comprising eight games. The Giants were in contention for the pennant. The Phillies were a first division team that year, but were in fourth place, out of the pennant race. After the Phillies lost the first two games at the Polo Grounds, the Giants were tied with the Pittsburgh Pirates just one-half game behind the league leading Chicago Cubs. Phillies manager Bill Murray called a meeting of the pitchers to plan the next few games, when first-baseman Kitty Bransfield stuck his nose into the meeting and said, "Why not give the Polack kid a chance?" And so, 22-year-old Harry got to pitch his first game against the Giants. 

On September 29, Coveleski shut out the Giants on seven hits, winning, 7-0. He was supported by a 12-hit barrage by the Phillies against Giants' pitchers Doc Crandell and Luther "Dummy" Taylor. Bransfield, second baseman Otto Knabe, left fielder Sherry Magee, and center fielder Fred Osborn all hit doubles. Covaleski contributed a triple and scored a run. He was aided by three double plays turned by the Phils. 

Two days later, Covaleski was on the hill again, this time at the Baker Bowl in the second game of a doubleheader. The Phillies had dropped the two games played since Coveleski's shutout. The Giants were now tied for first place in the National League. Harry beat them again, 6-2 on just four hits. Coveleski was a little wild, walking five, but a two-run double by outfielder Mike Donlin was all the Giants could muster. Bransfield, Magee, and right fielder John Titus were the hitting stars for the Phillies. Years later, interviewed while tending his bar in his hometown, Coveleski recalled, "And how [Giants manager John] McGraw worked me in that game. When he tells me to take out my citizenship papers, I get mad, for I'm born right here in Shamokin." 

After just one day's rest, Coveleski took the mound against the Giants on October 3. His mound opponent was Christy Mathewson, the greatest pitcher in the game at the time. "Matty" came into the game with a record of 37-9, and an ERA below 1.50. He was a tired pitcher, though and the Phillies got to him for three runs in the fifth and sixth. In the meantime, Coveleski was masterful. He gave up an unearned run in the first inning, when Magee bobbled a single to left. After that Coveleski blanked the Giants until the ninth. In the ninth, Osborne dropped a Buck Herzog fly ball and Titus allowed a Moose McCormick single to go straight through his legs, scoring one run and sending McCormick around to third with no one out. With the score now 3-2, Coveleski showed his mettle. Donlin popped up for the first out. Cy Seymour tapped a grounder to Otto Knabe at second. Knabe caught McCormick in a run down between third and home for the second out. Coveleski then finished with a flourish by striking out Art Devlin. 

Walking off the field, Coveleski almost came to blows with the cantankerous McGraw, who had been riding him form the bench all game. "When we leave the field, I walk right up alongside McGraw and say, 'So I'm a hunk, am I?', but before we tangle Bransfield steps in and we go to the showers."

Coveleski's heroics knocked the Giants out of the pennant. Although McGraw's team wrapped up the season by winning three of four from Boston, they finished one game behind the pennant winning Cubs. For his exploits the sportswriters of the day dubbed Coveleski, "The Giant Killer."

A combination of wildness and arm miseries meant that Harry was unable to duplicate his 1908 success in subsequent seasons with the Phillies. By 1910 he was back in the minor leagues. He eventually regained his form at Chattanooga in the Southern Association and returned to the major leagues in 1914 with the Detroit Tigers. From 1914-1916, Harry Coveleski was one of the top pitchers in the major leagues, going 65-36 during that stretch. Eventually, the arm problems returned, and he ended his career in 1919 with Little Rock in the Southern Association. 

After his playing days, Coveleski returned to Shamokin, where he eventually opened a bar called "The Giant Killer." From his place behind the bar, Covaleski held court on all manner of baseball topics. Asked about controversial Dodger manager, Leo Durocher, he compared the feisty Leo to his old nemesis, "Durocher's another smartie like John McGraw, he thinks he can win by out-talkin' the other fellow."

Harry Coveleski died in Shamokin on August 4, 1950 at the age of 64.

Harry Coveleski behind his bar, "The Giant Killer" in 1947.

For more on Harry Coveleski's career, read his SABR biography by John Heiselman here.