Home Run Derby 1960: a different perspective.

Mickey Mantle, Mark Scott, Willie Mays

Babe Ruth will always be the Home Run King.  In 1960 Mickey Mantle was the active Home Run King.

Home Run Derby (TV series)

a 1960 television show that was held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles pitting the top sluggers of Major League Baseball against each other in nine-inning home run contests. The show was produced and hosted by actor/broadcaster Mark Scott ...

The series aired in syndication from January 9 to July 2, 1960 ...

While one player was taking his turn at bat, the other player would be at the host's booth and would have a brief conversation, typically unrehearsed "small talk" ...

Some players wore golf gloves during the show - a noticeable addition because the batting glove was still years away from being a normal part of a player's gear...

Nineteen players ... including nine future Hall of Famers, participated ...

The pitcher for the show was former Major Leaguer Tom Saffell and the catcher was minor leaguer John Van Ornum.[3] Art Passarella, a Major League umpire who would go on to a TV acting career, served as the plate umpire. There were also umpires in the outfield to help judge fly balls that were close calls...

Hank Aaron won the most money during the show's run, winning $13,500...

Eddie Mathews and Duke Snider were the only left-handed batters to compete. Switch-hitter Mantle batted right-handed in the contests. Mantle hit 372 homers left-handed in his career and only 164 right-handed, but chose to bat exclusively right-handed for this series, commenting in the first episode that his longest home runs had come right-handed.
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Note: Tom Saffell had been an outfielder, not a pitcher.  Born in 1921 he would have been 38 years old.  He hit six HR in 565 AB for Pittsburgh; zero HR in 37 AB for the Kansas City Athletics.  Announcer Scott mentions batting practice (BP) pitchers (plural), so I'm guessing if Saffell was a BP pitcher, there were others.  There is no mention of his pitching on the show in his SABR bio.

wikipedia also lists the outcome of the 26 shows.  Mantle won the first three, then lost but returned to win the final contest.

The program was filmed between the 1959 and 1960 seasons.  We should consider where the participants were in their careers at that time and why they may have been chosen.

At least 350 career HR through 1959:

Rk	Player	HR	From	To	Age	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos	Tm
1	Babe Ruth	714	1914	1935	19-40	2503	10622	8399	2174	2873	506	136	2220	2062		1330	43	113		2	123	117	.342	.474	.690	1.164	971/8H3	BOS-NYY-BSN
2	Jimmie Foxx	534	1925	1945	17-37	2317	9676	8134	1751	2646	458	125	1922	1452		1311	13	71		69	87	73	.325	.428	.609	1.038	*35H2/7916	PHA-BOS-TOT-CHC-PHI
3	Mel Ott	511	1926	1947	17-38	2730	11348	9456	1859	2876	488	72	1860	1708		896	64	109		82	89		.304	.414	.533	.947	*95H8/74	NYG
4	Lou Gehrig	493	1923	1939	20-36	2164	9663	8001	1888	2721	534	163	1992	1508		790	45	106		2	102	100	.340	.447	.632	1.080	*3/H976	NYY
5	Ted Williams	492	1939	1959	20-40	2179	9398	7396	1742	2556	510	71	1767	1946	79	668	36	5	18	190	23	16	.346	.483	.633	1.116	*79H/1	BOS
6	Stan Musial	412	1941	1959	20-38	2528	11026	9499	1763	3203	658	169	1678	1407	90	538	45	35	33	215	72	30	.337	.424	.572	.996	3978/H1	STL
7	Ralph Kiner	369	1946	1955	23-32	1472	6256	5205	971	1451	216	39	1015	1011	1	749	24	9	7	126	22	2	.279	.398	.548	.946	*7/83H	PIT-TOT-CHC-CLE
8	Joe DiMaggio	361	1936	1951	21-36	1736	7673	6821	1390	2214	389	131	1537	790		369	46	14		130	30	9	.325	.398	.579	.977	*8/79H3	NYY
9	Johnny Mize	359	1936	1953	23-40	1883	7370	6443	1118	2011	367	83	1337	856		524	52	20		99	28	1	.312	.397	.562	.959	*3H/9	STL-NYG-TOT-NYY
10	Duke Snider	354	1947	1959	20-32	1657	6886	6014	1098	1825	311	71	1149	782	74	994	16	49	25	144	95	48	.303	.384	.555	.939	*8/9H7	BRO-LAD

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/5/2014.

Neither Ted Williams nor Stan Musial participated.  Williams was born August 30, 1918 in San Diego, CA, so he was 41 years old and coming off his worst season: OPS+ 114 down from 179 in 1958; 10 HR in 272 AB.

Sunday, October 14, 2012  Ted Williams was dropped to sixth in the batting order.

Ted Williams, who would turn 41 August 30, was dropped from third in the Boston lineup to sixth on of all days July 4, 1959...

Thursday, July 30, 1959 at Cleveland Stadium (attendance: 10,244) Williams batted cleanup...

For the rest of the 1959 season Williams batted third or fourth when he started.
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Still, Williams was the active leader in career HR and only one HR behind Gehrig and almost sure to be the fourth player to reach 500 HR.  Was Williams living in San Diego that off season?  Was he invited?

Musial was sixth in career HR, second among active players.  Was he invited?

Among the participants here are the career leaders:
Duke Snider 354
Gil Hodges 345
Eddie Mathews 299
Mickey Mantle 280
Willie Mays 250
Ernie Banks 228
Jackie Jensen 186
Hank Aaron 179
Wally Post 152.

Jensen was afraid of flying, which contributed to his retiring after the 1959 season at the age of 32; he had led the AL in RBI for the third time and won his first Gold Glove award.  He announced it in January 1960.  It's not clear when he filmed his episodes of Home Run Derby but I'm guessing before his retirement announcement.  He tried a comeback in 1961 but the addition of the Angels in Los Angeles and that long flight only made matters worse.  He retired after the 1961 season.

Snider hit at least 40 HR 1953-1957, leading the National League (NL) with his career high 43 in 1956.  But in LA in 1958 and 1959: only 15 and 23.

Hodges hit 40 way back in 1951, then 42 in 1954 but then was over 27 only in 1956 with 32.  In LA: 22, 25.

1955-1959 at least 40 HR:

Rk	Player	HR	Year	Age	Tm	Lg	G	PA	AB	R	H	2B	3B	RBI	BB	IBB	SO	HBP	SH	SF	GDP	SB	CS	BA	OBP	SLG	OPS	Pos
1	Mickey Mantle	52	1956	24	NYY	AL	150	652	533	132	188	22	5	130	112	6	99	2	1	4	4	10	1	.353	.464	.705	1.169	*8/H
2	Willie Mays	51	1955	24	NYG	NL	152	670	580	123	185	18	13	127	79	13	60	4	0	7	12	24	4	.319	.400	.659	1.059	*8
3	Ernie Banks	47	1958	27	CHC	NL	154	682	617	119	193	23	11	129	52	12	87	4	1	8	14	4	4	.313	.366	.614	.980	*6
4	Ted Kluszewski	47	1955	30	CIN	NL	153	686	612	116	192	25	0	113	66	25	40	4	0	4	10	1	1	.314	.382	.585	.967	*3
5	Eddie Mathews	46	1959	27	MLN	NL	148	682	594	118	182	16	8	114	80	2	71	3	3	2	6	2	1	.306	.390	.593	.983	*5
6	Ernie Banks	45	1959	28	CHC	NL	155	671	589	97	179	25	6	143	64	20	72	7	2	9	18	2	4	.304	.374	.596	.970	*6/H
7	Hank Aaron	44	1957	23	MLN	NL	151	675	615	118	198	27	6	132	57	15	58	0	0	3	13	1	1	.322	.378	.600	.978	*98/H
8	Ernie Banks	44	1955	24	CHC	NL	154	646	596	98	176	29	9	117	45	6	72	2	0	3	16	9	3	.295	.345	.596	.941	*6
9	Ernie Banks	43	1957	26	CHC	NL	156	673	594	113	169	34	6	102	70	11	85	3	2	5	12	8	4	.285	.360	.579	.939	*65
10	Duke Snider	43	1956	29	BRO	NL	151	652	542	112	158	33	2	101	99	26	101	1	6	4	16	3	3	.292	.399	.598	.997	*8/H
11	Rocky Colavito	42	1959	25	CLE	AL	154	664	588	90	151	24	0	111	71	8	86	2	0	3	13	3	3	.257	.337	.512	.849	*9
12	Harmon Killebrew	42	1959	23	WSH	AL	153	648	546	98	132	20	2	105	90	1	116	7	0	4	12	3	2	.242	.354	.516	.870	*5/7
13	Mickey Mantle	42	1958	26	NYY	AL	150	654	519	127	158	21	1	97	129	13	120	2	2	2	11	18	3	.304	.443	.592	1.035	*8
14	Roy Sievers	42	1957	30	WSH	AL	152	657	572	99	172	23	5	114	76	11	55	7	0	2	9	1	1	.301	.388	.579	.967	*73/H
15	Duke Snider	42	1955	28	BRO	NL	148	653	538	126	166	34	6	136	104	19	87	1	4	6	9	9	7	.309	.418	.628	1.046	*8/H
16	Rocky Colavito	41	1958	24	CLE	AL	143	578	489	80	148	26	3	113	84	6	89	2	0	3	16	0	2	.303	.405	.620	1.024	*93/H17
17	Eddie Mathews	41	1955	23	MLN	NL	141	616	499	108	144	23	5	101	109	20	98	1	1	6	5	3	4	.289	.413	.601	1.014	*5/H
18	Duke Snider	40	1957	30	BRO	NL	139	592	508	91	139	25	7	92	77	12	104	1	3	3	17	3	4	.274	.368	.587	.955	*8/H
19	Wally Post	40	1955	25	CIN	NL	154	668	601	116	186	33	3	109	60	5	102	2	2	3	15	7	4	.309	.372	.574	.946	*9

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Play Index Tool Used
Generated 2/5/2014.

19 times by 11 players; multiple times:
Banks 47, 45, 44, 43
Snider 43, 42, 40 (plus twice previously)
Mantle 52, 42
Mathews 46 in 1959, 41 (plus 47 in 1953)
Colavito 42, 41

The only ones not to participate: Sievers and Kluszewski.  Roy Sievers had 215 HR through 1959 and had led the American League (AL) with 42 in 1957.  It seems odd that a recent HR champion would not be included.  Was Sievers invited?  Kluszewski 1953-1956: 40, 49, 47, 35.  But then only 6, 4, 4.  He was 34 and pretty much off the radar.

Mantle and Mays were the only participants to have already hit 50 HR.  Subsequently, they were also the only ones to hit 50 after 1959.  Maybe that's why Mays was selected to play Mantle in the first program instead of Banks.  Or maybe it was just because Mays was a bigger name than Banks and more dynamic.

The 19 participants included league leaders in HR going back to 1953 except for Sievers, Kluszewski Larry Doby and Al Rosen who had retired after the 1956 season.  Doby had led the AL with 32 HR in 1952 and 1954 but hit none in 113 AB in 1959, his final season.

1959 (NL AL)	Eddie Mathews+ *  (MLN)	46		Rocky Colavito   (CLE) Harmon Killebrew+   (WSH)	42
1958 (NL AL)	Ernie Banks+   (CHC)	47		Mickey Mantle+ #  (NYY)	42
1957 (NL AL)	Hank Aaron+   (MLN)	44		Roy Sievers   (WSH)	42
1956 (NL AL)	Duke Snider+ *  (BRO)	43		Mickey Mantle+ #  (NYY)	52
1955 (NL AL)	Willie Mays+   (NYG)	51		Mickey Mantle+ #  (NYY)	37
1954 (NL AL)	Ted Kluszewski *  (CIN)	49		Larry Doby+ *  (CLE)	32
1953 (NL AL)	Eddie Mathews+ *  (MLN)	47		Al Rosen   (CLE)	43

The only leaders multiple times: Mantle 3, Mathews 2.

In 1960 Mantle would lead for the fourth and final time with 40 and Banks would reach 40 for the fifth and final time and lead for the second and final time with 41.  In 1962 Banks switched from SS to 1B and hit 37 HR.  In 1961 Mantle finished second with 54 HR, losing the HR race to teammate Roger Maris who hit 61.  Maris hit 28 HR in 1958, 19 in 1959.  He was not yet a big time HR hitter.

But neither were many of the other participants.  And most would never become HR hitters.

MVP:
Mantle 1956, 1957
Banks 1958, 1959
Mays 1954
Aaron 1957
Jensen 1958

Mantle (1962) and Mays (1965) would be MVP again.  Ken Boyer would eventually be MVP in 1964.  Frank Robinson was MVP in each league: NL 1961, AL 1966.

Here are the 19 with their derby records sorted by 1959 HR:

nameFirst	nameLast	wins	losses	age	height	weight	yearID	HR	AB	AB/HR
Eddie	Mathews	0	1	28	73	190	1959	46	594	12.9130434782609
Ernie	Banks	1	2	28	73	180	1959	45	589	13.0888888888889
Harmon	Killebrew	2	2	23	72	195	1959	42	546	13
Rocky	Colavito	0	2	26	75	190	1959	42	588	14
Hank	Aaron	6	1	25	72	180	1959	39	629	16.1282051282051
Frank	Robinson	1	1	24	73	183	1959	36	540	15
Willie	Mays	3	2	28	70	170	1959	34	575	16.9117647058824
Jim	Lemon	0	2	31	76	200	1959	33	531	16.0909090909091
Mickey	Mantle	4	1	28	71	195	1959	31	541	17.4516129032258
Bob	Allison	1	2	25	75	205	1959	30	570	19
Jackie	Jensen	2	2	32	71	190	1959	28	535	19.1071428571429
Ken	Boyer	1	1	28	73	190	1959	28	563	20.1071428571429
Dick	Stuart	2	1	27	76	212	1959	27	397	14.7037037037037
Al	Kaline	0	1	25	73	175	1959	27	511	18.9259259259259
Gus	Triandos	0	1	29	75	205	1959	25	393	15.72
Gil	Hodges	1	1	35	73	200	1959	25	413	16.52
Duke	Snider	0	1	33	72	179	1959	23	370	16.0869565217391
Wally	Post	1	1	30	73	190	1959	22	468	21.2727272727273
Bob	Cerv	1	1	33	72	200	1959	20	463	23.15

Only four with at least 40 HR.  Even the great Mantle was in the middle with 31.

Mantle and Mays were the stars of their leagues.  Banks had been NL MVP the two previous seasons.  Bob Cerv (1958) had hit 38 HR previously.  Jim Lemon would hit 38 in 1960, third behind Mantle and Maris but they did not know that before the season.  Jensen had hit 35 in 1958.  Snider and Hodges were over the hill but had name recognition from their Brooklyn days.

Wally Post: 1955 40, 1956 36; the 22 HR in 1959 were his most since.  Bob Allison was a 24 year old Rookie of the Year in 1959 and his 30 HR seemed promising.  He dropped to 15 in 1960 but rebounded with a peak of 35 in 1963 and 256 career.  Boyer's 28 was his high so far; He hit 32 in 1960.  Dick Stuart went on to hit 35 in 1961, 42 in 1963 and 33 in 1964.

Gus Triandos was the only catcher.  In 1958 he hit 30 HR to tie the AL catcher's record set twice previously by Yogi Berra.  Max for Triandos after 1959 was 17.

Finally, there is Hall of Fame outfielder Al Kaline, youngest player to lead in batting average: 20 in 1955.  Kaline hit 399 HR but his season high was 29 in 1962.

The program probably should have had a different format.  Maybe eight players in a tournament rather than sudden death every week.  Obviously, they quickly used up their top stars and had to resort to players who were not real HR hitters.

Career HR numbers of the 19 participants sorted by HR:

FirstOfnameFirst	FirstOfnameLast	SumOfAB	SumOfHR	MaxOfHR	AB/HRcareer	FirstOfHR	FirstOfAB/HR	MinOfyearID	MaxOfyearID
Hank	Aaron	12364	755	47	16.3761589403974	39	16.1282051282051	1954	1976
Willie	Mays	10881	660	52	16.4863636363636	34	16.9117647058824	1951	1973
Frank	Robinson	10006	586	49	17.0750853242321	36	15	1956	1976
Harmon	Killebrew	8147	573	49	14.21815008726	42	13	1954	1975
Mickey	Mantle	8102	536	54	15.115671641791	31	17.4516129032258	1951	1968
Ernie	Banks	9421	512	47	18.400390625	45	13.0888888888889	1953	1971
Eddie	Mathews	8537	512	47	16.673828125	46	12.9130434782609	1952	1968
Duke	Snider	7161	407	43	17.5945945945946	23	16.0869565217391	1947	1964
Al	Kaline	10116	399	29	25.3533834586466	27	18.9259259259259	1953	1974
Rocky	Colavito	6503	374	45	17.3877005347594	42	14	1955	1968
Gil	Hodges	7030	370	42	19	25	16.52	1943	1963
Ken	Boyer	7455	282	32	26.436170212766	28	20.1071428571429	1955	1969
Bob	Allison	5032	256	35	19.65625	30	19	1958	1970
Dick	Stuart	3997	228	42	17.530701754386	27	14.7037037037037	1958	1969
Wally	Post	4007	210	40	19.0809523809524	22	21.2727272727273	1949	1964
Jackie	Jensen	5236	199	35	26.3115577889447	28	19.1071428571429	1950	1961
Gus	Triandos	3907	167	30	23.3952095808383	25	15.72	1953	1965
Jim	Lemon	3445	164	38	21.0060975609756	33	16.0909090909091	1950	1963
Bob	Cerv	2261	105	38	21.5333333333333	20	23.15	1951	1962

7 of the 19 had 500 career HR

8 season high at least 45

Kaline only one with season high less than 30: 29

Cerv hit 38 of 105 HR in 1958: 36%

four had more than 10,000 AB: Aaron. Mays, Kaline, Robinson

four fewer than 4,000 AB: Cerv, Lemon, Triandos, Stuart

I think limiting it to eight participants would have been a big improvement:
Mantle, Mays, Banks, Aaron, Mathews, Robinson, Colavito, Killebrew.  Colavito is the only non-Hall of Famer but he was a young slugger on the rise.  It eliminates two Hall of Famers: Snider, a slugger helped by his home park in Brooklyn, and Kaline, who was not really a HR hitter.

Among the rest are two MVP: Boyer and Jensen.  Neither was a HR hitter, nor strong MVP.

It's a nostalgic fix for those of us who grew up watching them to view an episode on youtube occasionally.  The simplicity and quiet of it adds to its charm.  However, the shows get pretty dull pretty quickly.  And matches that lack any of the eight mentioned above are intolerable.

Examples:
14. Stuart beats Post
15. Stuart beats Triandos
18. Allison beats Cerv

Notice that they are later shows.  Even some without Mantle, Mays, Aaron can seem sluggish:
5. Boyer beats Killebrew
16. Robinson beats Stuart
24. Jensen beats Colavito

It's still better than the long, noisy and visually messy HR derby exhibited the day before the All Star game by the Major Baseball League (MBL) of commissioner Allen Huber "Bud" Selig.  I stopped watching that years ago.

Note: After batting righty against righty batting practice pitchers on the TV show, Mantle had his best season for hitting homers batting righty.  Further ...

Friday, May 17, 2013  Mickey Mantle: 64 HR in Twilight Zone Squared.

Batting only righty but not in Yankee Stadium: 64 home runs (HR) in 1960 in 154 games.  Wow.   Mickey Mantle might have already broken the Babe Ruth HR record of 60, which would have deprived teammate Roger Maris of the record in 1961 when Maris hit 61 HR in 162 games.
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