Taking Command for One Day: Jim Command's Grand Slam for the Record Books

Jim "Igor" Command

On June 18, 1954, the Phillies recalled utility man Jim "Igor" Command from their minor league affiliate in Syracuse, NY. Shortstop prospect Mickey Micelotta* was sent down to Syracuse for "more seasoning" according to the Phillies' brass. The twenty-five-year-old Command was already a seven-year veteran of the Phillies minor leagues, with stops at Salina, Terre Haute, Wilmington, Schenectady, Baltimore, Spokane, and Syracuse along the way. He hit .321 for Single-A Spokane in 1953. The left-handed hitting Command was signed as a free agent out of Grand Rapids (Michigan) High School in 1947. 

Command made his major league debut on June 20th, striking out as a pinch hitter in a game the Phillies lost, 15-6 to the Cincinnati Reds. Through July 9, Command had made just two appearances, both as a pinch hitter in games where the Phillies were far behind. On July 10, Phillies regular third baseman, Willie Jones, tripped over first base while trying to run out a ground ball and injured his leg. Command ran for him and then took over at third base. Two more at bats produced no hits.

With Jones temporarily on the shelf, Command got his first Major League start on July 11 at Ebbett's Field in Brooklyn in the first game of a doubleheader against the Dodgers. Carl Erskine was on the mound for the Dodgers. Command was batting eighth. In three at bats against Erskine, Command had struck out, grounded out, and walked. As the eighth inning began, the Phillies trailed, 7-1. Shortstop Ted Kazanski led off the inning with a home run. Richie Ashburn walked, and catcher Smoky Burgess singled. The inning looked about to die when left fielder Danny Schell flew out and second baseman Granny Hamner struck out, but right fielder Del Ennis singled home Ashburn. Burgess and Ennis moved up on a wild pitch and Erskine walked first baseman Earl Torgeson. 

With the bases loaded, Jim Command and his .000 batting average walked to the plate. Dodger manager Walter Alston went to the mound to confer with Erskine. He asked Erskine what he knew about this rookie hitter. Erskine said, "Nothing." Alston replied, "Screw it! Just pitch to him." Command took a rip at an Erskine fastball and deposited into the left field stands for a game tying home run. It was the first time a player had hit a grand slam for his first major league hit since 1898, when "Frosty Bill" Duggleby achieved the feat. Duggleby was a pitcher for the Philadelphia Phillies. Many players have achieved this feat since, including another Phillie, Chase Utley, who connected on April 24, 2003.**

Unfortunately for Command and the Phillies, relievers Jim Konstanty and Stu Miller conspired to cough up the lead in bottom of the inning and the Phillies lost the game, 8-7. 

Command wasn't finished though. Perhaps as reward for his first game heroics, or perhaps because Jones was still limping around the clubhouse, Command got the start at third in Game 2. This game turned out to be a tight pitcher's duel between the Phillies Herman Wehmeier and the Dodgers Don Newcombe. The Phillies struck first in the fifth inning when Hamner doubled and Command doubled him home. The Phillies eventually won the game, 3-1 as Robin Roberts came in to get the save by pitching out of a bases loaded jam in the eighth and closing out the Dodgers in the ninth. 

The line score for Command on the day: 6 AB  2 H  1 R  5 RBI.

After the All-Star break, Command was again in the starting lineup for another doubleheader, this time against the Cincinnati Reds in Cincinnati. In game one he had two more hits and knocked in the only Phillies run as Curt Simmons fell to the Reds Dick Fowler, 2-1. Those two hits would be Jim Command's final two major league hits. He was sent back to Syracuse on July 31 so that the Phillies could recall pitcher Thornton Kipper. Command was a September callup in 1955 but failed to hit in five pinch hitting appearances.

Jim Command was no quitter though. He made himself into a catcher and hung on in the minor leagues for five more seasons as a backup catcher with several organizations, eventually finishing up back with the Phillies Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo, NY in 1959. After his playing days, Command had a long and distinguished career as a scout for the Detroit Tigers. 

Fifty-five years later, Jim Command's son, Tim, ran into Carl Erskine at a luncheon in Anderson, Indiana where Erskine lived. "When we parted ways,' said Tim, "He gave me an autographed baseball that said, 'To Tim, I did survive the grand slam your dad hit off me in 1954.'" Later Tim and Carl encountered each other in the parking lot. "As he was getting into his car, with a wink and a chuckle he said, 'Tell your Dad I took a little off that pitch."

Told the story later, Jim Command said, "If I hit that pitch, he probably did."

The native of Grand Rapids, Michigan was inducted into the Grand Rapids sports Hall of Fame in 1996 at the same ceremony as former University of Michigan football player and President of the United States, Gerald Ford. 

Command died August 10, 2014 at the age of 85. Carl Erskine is 96-years-old and still living in Anderson, IN.

*Mickey Micelotta was touted for a while as the next great thing at shortstop for the Phillies. He never fulfilled that promise, however. He played just 17 games in the Major Leagues with the Phillies, mostly as a pinch runner. He had a long minor league career.

** Chase Utley's first Major League Hit is a Grand Slam.