Category: Sherm Lollar (Page 1 of 9)
Chicago White Sox Catcher
Continued from Post #2623
As Yogi Berra famously quipped, “baseball is 90 percent mental. The other half is physical.” Sherm Lollar, on the other hand, was not known for his quotes or sense of humor. “A contemporary article called Lollar “a Charley Gehringer type,” adding, ‘He appears a colorless, dispassionate individual, on and off the field, but he gets his job done effectively. If Lollar hits as well as Gehringer did, no one will care if he doesn’t say a word all season.” Charlie Gehringer, not to be confused with Gehrig, was nicknamed ‘The Mechanical Man,’ who played for the Detroit Tigers from 1924-1942, won the American League batting title in 1939 with a .371 average to earn the AL MVP, was a 6x All-Star, stolen base leader in 1929, and World Series champion in 1939. Yet, like Lollar was not quite good enough for the Hall of Fame.
The significance of a great catcher can’t be emphasized enough, this is why I find it hard to believe that there are relatively few in the “Hall of Fame.” Others feel this way, as well, take for example this article by Leigh Allan, written on Jul 21, 2023:
“There’s always a catch (-er, that is) And as he goes, so goes the team (usually, anyway).”
“It’s not a rule that in order to have sustained success a team has to have a really good catcher. Sure does help though.”
“The White Sox provide a good example. During the amazing 17-year stretch of winning records from 1951 to 1967, they had Sherm Lollar behind the plate most of the time, from 1952-63. Lollar was a veteran when the Sox got him, but he stepped it up to Gold Glove levels when manager Paul Richards told him to depart from his natural quietness and become a vocal team leader.”
“Of course, being the White Sox, having a great catcher didn’t always work (witness the so-so records with Carlton Fisk), but the rah-rah bit did. A.J. Pierzynski had a solid defensive year in 2005, but it’s the vocal part we all remember helping the Sox to a World Series win — their first trip to the Series since 1959, when Lollar helped the way.”
“The reason Lollar only had one World Series trip was the dominance of the Yankees at that time, a team that had a number of Hall-of-Famers, a key among them Yogi Berra. And the Yankees most often were facing the Dodgers — Brooklyn variety — and the terrific Roy Campanella.”
“Come forward to the ’70s and there was the Big Red Machine with Johnny Bench, perhaps the greatest catcher of them all, leading the way. On the American League side, the A’s dominated, with Ray Fosse calling the pitches.”
“If you prefer more recent impact, there was early Yadier Molina getting two championships with the Cardinals, the San Francisco string of ring collecting from 2010-14 with Buster Posey, and even the Royals consecutive World Series appearances with Salvador Pérez. And it sure helped the Phillies to have J.R. Realmuto last year.”
“Great catching doesn’t necessarily lead to championships — if it did, Iván Rodríguez would have a ring on each finger. Including thumbs. But even Rick Hahn (Senior VP/GM of the White Sox) can recognize the importance of catchers, hence the $73 million contract for Yasmani Grandal (that played out OK for a little while, but then knees and age took their toll and the contract no longer seems like such a good idea).
“Great shortstopping is the next-most important aspect, with the catchers named above playing with Luis Aparicio, Phil Rizzuto, Pee Wee Reese, Barry Larkin, Bert Campaneris, Brandon Crawford (or Sox buddy Juan Uribe), and Alcides Escobar (OK, not an all-time great, but an All-Star and Gold Glove winner in 2015). But their catchers led the way.”
“(Yeah, yeah — when the White Sox had Fisk behind the plate, they mostly had an outstanding Ozzie Guillén at short, to no avail. But that’s just the Sox.) WHY ALL THIS BORING HISTORY BLATHER, OLD TIMER?”
“Funny you should ask, you young whippersnappers. It’s because unless Hahn is nuts, the White Sox are about to be trading veterans for prospects. A lot has been guessed about which veterans will go, but less about which prospects to seek, of which the most important to look at are catchers.”
“Grandal has become a liability behind the plate, and will be a free agent anyway. (In fact, he moved on to the Pittsburg Pirates for the 2024 season). Seby Zavala has improved but will always be below-average defensively, besides which the Sox don’t hit well enough to carry the hole in his bat, as Houston can do with Martin Maldonado. And Carlos Pérez hasn’t been on any top prospect lists for a reason.”
“The problem is finding good catching prospects, which are so rare that teams tend to hold on to them desperately. However, there is a possible solution. PRAY TELL, WHAT SOLUTION?”
“There are actually two teams who each have two slots among the Top 10 catchers on MLB.com prospect lists.”
“One is the Angels, but they aren’t likely to be big buyers by the trade deadline. It’s the other one that’s interesting — and a perfect fit for the White Sox.”
“The Dodgers already have the marvelous Will Smith behind the plate, with team control to 2026, but they have also have the top-rated catching prospect in Diego Cartaya and the No. 8, Dalton Rushing. Cartaya is in that top spot despite struggling at the plate in Tulsa this season, so obviously scouts really like what they see.”
“Further, the Dodgers are a natural landing spot for L.A. native Lucas Giolito, their bullpen has been awful, and losing Gavin Lux to injury for the season after Trea Turner left in free agency has left big holes in the middle infield. The White Sox just happen to have what they need. SO LET’S MAKE A DEAL, RIGHT?”
The article ends with a mock conversation between General Managers that leads nowhere, but the information in the story is valuable. It caught my eye because Sherm Lollar was the main point. I am also including a favorable story from essayist Peter Smith, another big fan of Sherm Lollar titled Growing Up Sherm Lollar Was My Joe Mauer:
“White Sox catcher Sherm Lollar made the All-Star team in 1958. Smith still has his baseball card.” (I have all of his baseball cards in my collection):
“I am holding my 1958 Sherman Lollar Sport Magazine All-Star baseball card. ‘Sherm Lollar, Catcher, American League.’ He’s wearing an uncomfortable smile-as if he doesn’t think himself worthy of being an All-Star. Or maybe someone left the cold cuts from the clubhouse lunch table out a little too long and they turned on him.”
“If I hold the card just right and squint through my reading glasses hard enough, I can still see the halo around Sherm’s head where I used to worship him.”
“Nine All-Star selections. Three gold gloves. To me, he was Joe Mauer long before there was a Mauer — a lion in an unexpanded American League, and a simpler time.”
“I turn the card over and read from the back.”
“Sherm’s great strength lies in his ability to handle pitchers,” some overworked, down at the heels public relations man wrote on the back of the card. “His experience of the hitter’s weakness is invaluable to members of the Sox staff.”
“Alas poor Lollar had a well known hitter’s weakness all his own. He was slow afoot and tended to ground into inning ending, rally killing double plays.”
“Even Joe Mauer goofs up and hits into a double play now and then.”
“I see Mauer ground one to start a double play and I flash back to Lollar running to first as hard as he can, still out by fifteen feet.”
“‘It’s his knee tendons,’ my father would say sadly. He’d shake his head, ‘All those years catching.’
“It may have been Lollar’s lack of speed that cemented the bond between us. I, too, was a lead-footed catcher. I, too hit into far too many double plays.”
“‘It’s my knee tendons,’ I took to telling my Little League coaches. I’d shake my head. ‘All these years catching…'”
“Tonight, when Joe Mauer takes the All-Star field, I’ll be in my groove on the sofa. And Sherm Lollar’s 1958 Sport Magazine All-Star card will be propped up at the base of the lamp on the end table.”
“‘Do a couple of old catchers and their knee tendons proud, Joe,” Sherm and I will be thinking. ‘Swing for the fences. And no double plays.'”
From https://www.mprnews.org/story/2010/07/12/growing-up-sherm-lollar-was-my-joe-mauer
Joe Mauer was a catcher with the Minnesota Twins from 2004 to 2018. He was a 6x All-Star, AL MVP in 2009, 3x Gold Glove winner, 5x Silver Slugger winner, 3x AL batting champion and retired with a .306 lifetime average. He was just inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2024 on the very first ballot. Mauer was superior to Sherm Lollar in nearly every category, including a fielding percentage of .995 at catcher and .996 at first base. Like Berra, he was also able to stay with the same team. Mauer played 15-years in the Majors, while Berra and Lollar caught for 3 additional years. Certainly, Mauer got the benefit of better, lighter equipment, as well as superior technology than Berra or Lollar.
For a complete list of Hall of Fame catchers see Post #2513.
I have compiled nearly 300 Sherm Lollar-related items, plus some duplicates in my extensive collection, including baseball cards, press photos, articles, clippings, pins, advertisements, signed balls, game programs, scorecards, endorsed gloves, catching equipment, a rare game-worn #10 jersey from 1955, cups, ticket stubs, playing cards, a cancer foundation medallion, and even game pieces from Trivial Pursuit, Cadaco, and APBA Baseball. These items are in notebooks and displayed on the walls of my office. I have about $5,500 dollars invested through the years and will continue to scour E-bay and other sources. A glossy picture of Berra and Lollar together is one of my favorites. I’m in the process of looking for a museum in Chicago, Fayetteville, Arkansas, or Pittsburg, Kansas that may be interested.
Sherm Lollar would have never put himself out there like Yogi Berra. The iconic picture of the 1956 World Series and Don Larsen’s unmatched perfect game, shows Yogi leaping into Larsen’s arms following Dale Mitchell’s called third strike to end the game. Sherm was simply too big and too reserved to ever leap into someone’s arms.
I’ve reached the end of this series, but plan on researching other sources, and adding to what is already on-line. I may even consider, with some professional editing, publishing it in book form.
Happy 100th Sherm!
Continued from Post #2622
It was, indeed, “déjà vu all over again,” in the 1963 battle for supremacy between the White Sox and the Yankees! The Yanks won the regular season series 10-8, won 104 games to again claim the American League pennant, and went on to play the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series. The White Sox, on the other hand, finished second, ten-and-a-half games back at 94-68. They did “Go” 18-9 in the month of September, making a last-ditch rally, after a 14-13 July and 17-13 August, but it was obviously not enough. The Minnesota Twins finished second, just ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.
Dave DeBusschere appeared in 24-games before he decided that basketball was more his thing and not baseball. He finished his two-year career in a White Sox uniform with a 3-4 record. There were more changes in the Sox roster in May when Dom Zanni was traded to the Cincinnati Reds for Jim Brosnan, and Sammy Esposito was released by the team. Nellie Fox and Juan Pizzaro were reserves in the All-Star game.
Sherm Lollar played in only 35-games in 1963 with no home runs and a meager .233 average to end his playing career, having never fully recovered from the thumb injury. September 7, 1963, was his final game. I have a ticket stub in my collection but did not attend. He came in to catch in the top of the 10th for J.C. Martin, and didn’t get to hit until the 11th inning in a 2-2 game. His last swing was a pop-out to the catcher, Jerry Zimmerman. The Twins went on to win it 4-2 in the top of the 12th on a Rich Rollins single.
For the first time ever, the Yankees were swept in a World Series. The Dodgers ended Berra’s catching career on a similar sour note as Lollar’s. Yogi, too, was 0-1 in his final game, with it being his sole at bat in the Series. Also, like Lollar, it was his 18th season as a player, but all with the Yankees, while Lollar played for four different teams: the Indians, Yankees, Browns, and White Sox.
Berra spent 1964 as the Yankees manager, when Ralph Houk, moved up to general manager. It was the same old story for the White Sox, who lagged one game behind in the final standings. Doubts about his managerial skills plagued Yogi throughout a difficult season with many veterans missing games due to injury. There was the “Harmonica Incident,” where after a White Sox sweep appeared to take the Yankees out of pennant contention, he clashed with one of his players on the team bus. The team rallied behind Berra afterwards to win the pennant. However, the Cardinals won the Series, and the incident may have been the reason why Berra was replaced by the winning Red Birds manager, Johnny Keane, at the end of the season.
Lollar became the bullpen coach of the Baltimore Orioles in 1964 and remained in that position until 1967, winning a second World Series ring in 1966, eleven fewer than Yogi. Berra joined the New York Mets in 1965 as coach (and briefly as a player again), and stayed for the next decade, serving the last four years as their manager. As a side note, in 1962 before Berra joined the crosstown Mets, they had posted a 40–120 record, the “second-most” losses by a post-1900 MLB team only because the 2024 Chicago White Sox just surpassed that dubious mark. Yogi’s hire added some credibility to the Mets’ organization that had frankly become a joke. The punch line came in 1966, when team executives famously bypassed future Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson in the amateur draft, instead selecting Steve Chilcott, who never played in the majors.
Sherm Lollar next became the bullpen coach of the 1968-1969 Oakland Athletics, guiding Catfish Hunter’s perfect game. Meanwhile, his Oriole pitchers from the previous year went on to play Berra’s “Amazing Mets” in the 1969 World Series. Suddenly, the Mets were no longer a laughingstock, and Coach Berra won another World Series ring, the only one not associated with the Yankees.
Yogi returned to the Yankees in 1976, under manager Billy Martin. Berra stayed for eight seasons as coach and then managed the Bronx Bombers for what turned out to be barely just over a year. Coach Berra’s Yankee’s, now in the American League East division, had returned to the Bronx after a two-year absence for stadium renovations. They were once again uncharacteristically swept by Cincinnati 4-0 in the World Series, just as the Dodgers had done to them in 1963. It marked their first postseason appearance since 1964.
1977 was George Steinbrenner’s first year of ownership and the newly renovated Yankee Stadium hosted the All-Star game. His first major move was to sign Reggie Jackson to a five-year contract. The team finished in first place in the American League East with a record of 100–62 (.617), 2½ games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles to successfully defend their division title. In the best-of-five League Championship Series (ALCS), they beat the Kansas City Royals in five games. In the World Series, the Yankees defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in six games to celebrate the 75th season of the team and the 21st title. Coach Yogi Berra claimed more World Series hardware for his fingers and toes.
More of the same, in 1978, as Coach Berra’s Yankees compiled a record of 100–63, finishing one game ahead of the Boston Red Sox to win their third American League East title, but it took a one-game playoff. They went on win the World Series in a rematch with the Los Angeles Dodgers, despite all the controversy. Reggie Jackson had been suspended in a mid-season showdown with Billy Martin, which resulted in Martin resigning a week later. Dick Howser became manager for one game before Bob Lemon took over the team in July. Yogi ultimately received his 13th World Series championship ring.
This story has taken a twist from the now deceased Sherm Lollar to being more about Yogi’s tumultuous Yankees. Not happy with the slow start to the 1979 season, Steinbrenner fired Manager Lemon and brought Martin back. This move did not sit well with Jackson or team president, Al Rosen, who also resigned. The year was also tragically marked by the death of starting catcher, Thurman Munson, on August 2. As a result, the Yankees’ three-year domination of the AL East came to an abrupt halt. The team finished with a record of 89–71, finishing fourth, 13.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles.
In continuing to compare Berra and Lollar’s parallel careers, Sherm managed the Oakland Athletic minor league Iowa Oaks from 1970-72. While in Des Moines, Iowa, once again according to John McMurray’s article: “Lollar barely escaped serious injury. While he sat in his car at a red light after a game in 1970, a nearby building suddenly collapsed. ‘I was just sitting there listening to the radio when – wham! It was like the sky falling,’ Lollar related. ‘What made it worse was that I had no idea what was happening. I couldn’t see a thing because of the dust and debris.” Fortunately, Lollar was unhurt.
His next stop was to manage the Tucson Toros, another A’s affiliate, from 1973 to 1974, winning a division title during the 1973 season. I bought a 50-cent copy of a Toros’ program from 1973 at E-bay prices that included an article titled “Lollar Wins First Pennant at Tuscon:”
“Under Lollar’s guidance, the Toros took five of seven games from the Salt Lake Angels to wrap up the Eastern Division title. The victory brough Tucson its first championship team in two decades. Sherm said last spring that he felt the Oakland A’s could provide the Toros with the type of talent that would make Tucson a pennant contender…and he was right!”
“During informal moments Lollar like to relate two bits of trivia about his major league career. First, he was a teammate of the only midget to play in the majors while a member of the St. Louis Browns (Eddie Gaedel, brought in by owner Bill Veeck as a publicity stunt). Secondly, he was involved in the first pinch-hit home run recorded in a World Series...in 1947. Yogi Berra clouted the first four-bagger as a pinch hitter…for none other than Sherm Lollar.”
McMurray went on to write: “Lollar retired from the Toros after the 1974 season because of a dispute with Charley Finley, the owner of the Oakland A’s. He had done advance scouting for the A’s for the post-season, starting in 1971. In 1974, John Claiborne, Finley’s director of minor-league operations, told Lollar that Finley wanted to pay $500 less for the advance scouting than he had paid in previous seasons. Lollar refused. ‘He’s going to be mad, Sherm,’ said Claiborne, ‘and you might not be managing next year.’ Lollar stuck to his guns. ‘It was the principle of the thing,’ he told a reporter later. ‘I never did have any direct contact with Finley about it. But … I decided I had been playing ball 30 years and you’ve got to quit sometime, so I figured it was a good time.'”
“Sherm and his wife, Constance, reside in Springfield, Mo., during the off-season. They have two sons attending college in the South. Sherm spends a considerable amount of his time in the winter supervising activities at his 32-lane bowling establishment in Springfield.”
Sherm had met Connie in 1946, just after his debut with the Cleveland Indians. They married in 1949.
The Toros team was in Hawaii in the spring of 1973, so Lollar was unable to attend a White Sox All-Star reunion. He died after a long battle with cancer four years later on September 24, 1977, at the far too young age of 53. He is buried in Rivermonte Memorial Gardens in Springfield. Sherm Lollar’ final honor was being named to the Chicago White Sox All-Century Team. Yogi Berra continued to coach and manage, as the Bronx Bombers rolled on!
The 1980 Yankees were swept in the ALCS by the Kansas City Royals. Once again, Dick Howser was in charge, but this time for the whole season rather than just a day, with Billy Martin out of the picture, as the Steinbrenner see-saw rocked back and forth. The team finished with a record of 103–59, finishing in first place in the American League East, 3-games ahead of the Baltimore Orioles.
The 1981 team finished in first place for the first half of the season with a 34–22 record but finished fifth in the second half with a 25–26 record, for an overall record of 59–48. The season was suspended for 50 days due to the infamous 1981 players strike and the league chose as its playoff teams, the division winners from the first and second halves of the season, respectively. In the Series, it was the Dodgers in six over the Yankees.
1982 was the first losing season for the Yankees since 1973 at 79-83. Bob Lemon was back to share the managerial duties with Gene Michael. Once again, no Billy Martin, who continued to manage the Oakland Athletics since 1980. He returned to Steinbrenner and the Yankees in 1983 to deliver a winning season, but short of any titles, before Yogi took over in 1984 for another disappointing third place finish.
Temperamental Yankees owner George Steinbrenner had Berra fired sixteen games into the 1985 season, electing not to do it himself, following a sweep by the Chicago White Sox. Yogi was then replaced by Billy Martin in the revolving door that started with those two in 1983 when Berra replaced Martin as manager. It had been swinging for years during the Steinbrenner regime. Berra, in bitter retaliation, vowed never to return to Yankee Stadium. Steinbrenner publicly apologized ten-years later. Meanwhile, Berra joined the Houston Astros as bench coach in 1985, where he made it to the NLCS in 1986. He remained in that position for three more years, retiring after the 1989 season.
Yogi Berra had lasted in baseball 15-years longer than Sherm Lollar and lived 38-years more, reaching the golden age of 90. When all was said and done with his decades of involvement in New York baseball, Berra had appeared as a player, coach or manager in 13 of 15 World Series that New York baseball teams won from 1947 through 1981. Overall, he played or coached in 21 World Series.
While other great catchers like Sherm Lollar, Elston Howard, and Thurmon Munson never did get nods from the Hall of Fame, Yogi Berra was elected in 1972 on his second ballot. That same year, his No. 8 was retired in 1972 by the Yankees, jointly honoring both Berra and Bill Dickey, his predecessor as the Yankees’ star catcher. Sherm also played for Bill Dickey on that 1947 team that earned both he and Berra their first World Series rings.
Continued from Post #2621
One of the big buzzes prior to the 1962 season was the signing of 6’6″ Dave DeBusschere as an amateur free agent. As we all now know, he eventually went on to become a star in the NBA. However, on April 22nd, he did make his Major League baseball debut in a game against the Kansas City Athletics, pitching one inning while giving up a walk. He ultimately appeared in 12 games and threw 18-innings.
Juan Pizzaro was on the mound to open the 1962 season, supplanting Early Wynn for that honor. Minnie Miñoso had been traded to the St. Louis Cardinals for two-time All-Star, Joe Cunningham, who hit a respectable .295 with 8 homers and 70 RBIs, while Roy Sievers moved on to the Philadelphia Phillies for Charley Smith and John Buzhardt, who respectively hit just above or well below the “Mendoza Line” for offensive futility. Andy Carey was traded to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Ramón Conde and Jim Koranda. Conde played in 14-games but went hitless in sixteen attempts, while Koranda was immediately sent to the minors. It was essentially the same “old” White Sox, but no Landis on opening day, with Aparicio and Fox leading off, followed by Cunningham, Robinson, and Smith. Mike Hershberger and Charley Smith were the next two “strangers” in the lineup, but once again steady Sherm was batting 8th.
However, some things never change. The Yankees won 96 games to again claim the American League pennant, with a five-game edge over the second place Minnesota Twins. The White Sox finished fifth at 85-77, 11-games back from their “Damn Yankees,” who also took their season series 12-10. At least, the Sox were 42-39 away from Comiskey, winning on the road unlike last year.
Sherm Lollar hit .268 with 26 RBIs in 84 appearances. However, once again, only 2 home runs. He fractured his thumb on June 20th when hit by a pitch from Ted Sadowski on June 20th. He didn’t return to play until July 25th. The Sox were sadly powerless, with just 92 as a team. Floyd Robinson only had 11 in the clean-up spot, while Al Smith hit 16 and Jim Landis 15. There was little “Go-Go” left.
At the end of the 1962 season, there was little fascination over Sherman Lollar, and articles about him had all but disappeared. The thumb was still bothering him and his confidence waning. There was only Yogi Berra yet to fuss over in the 59th edition of the World Series that was delayed a day to allow the three-game playoff between the Giants and Dodgers to determine the National League pennant. Another day of rest for the Yankees. Sherm was probably off cleaning his rifle, while contemplating retirement. His body was telling him on last year!
The tie-breaker series was necessary once both teams finished the season with identical win–loss records of 101–61. The Dodgers won a coin flip late in the season, which gave them home field advantage. The Giants had won their first NL pennant since 1954 and first since moving from New York in 1958. This World Series, which was closely matched in every aspect, is also remembered for its then-record length of 13 days, caused by rainouts in both cities. Also, never before had two teams traveled so far to play each other for the Championship.
Yogi Berra had found a way to once again be a key player in the New York Yankees’ 1962 World Series victory over the San Francisco Giants. He had lost his starting position to Elston Howard in 1960, and only got into 86 games, similar to Lollar’s playing time that year. In Game 2, Berra came in as a last-minute replacement for Elson, who was unable to play. Yogi batted twice and drew a walk each time, although the Giants won 2-0 on Willie McCovey’s home run at Candlestick Park to tie the series at 1-1.
Whitey Ford had won Game 1 for the Yankees but would lose 5-2 in Game 6 while Roger Maris homered. The only run in Game 7 came in the fifth inning when Tony Kubek grounded into a double play. There was drama in the bottom of the ninth when pinch-hitter, Matty Alou led off with a bunt hit. He would have been out if not for a dropped foul ball. After the next two batters struck out, Willie Mays hit a double into the right-field corner, but Maris played it smartly and held Alou at third. McCovey hit a bullet to Bobby Richardson who held on for the final out. Ralph Terry grabbed the victory and the MVP Award.
The 1963 stage was now set for the final playing season of two great catchers, Yogi Berra and Sherm Lollar. Both would go on to manage in the future, but Berra had one more ring to claim, and Lollar still had something to prove. By mid-January, Luis Aparicio and Al Smith were traded to the Baltimore Orioles for Hoyt Wilhelm, Ron Hansen, Dave Nicholson, and Pete Ward. That left only teammates Jim Landis and Nellie Fox from the 1959 team on the White Sox roster.
My first mitt purchase was endorsed by Jim Landis, since I was primarily relegated to right field, where I could do less damage, when I first played Little League ball. A Sherm Lollar catcher’s mitt wouldn’t have done me much good. I used that glove for many years, after it gathered dust, before I got involved in media league softball. It was obviously too big for me when first used, but I grew into it, playing catch with my dad and the neighbor kids.
A new, bigger mitt was probably a factor in Sherm’s final season, with the acquisition of knuckleballer Wilhelm, known as “Old Sarge,” although J.C. Martin would take over the starting role and Ray Herbert would take the mound on opening day.
Continued from Post #2620
The 1961 Chicago White Sox season was the team’s 61st season in the major leagues, and its 62nd season overall. They finished with a record of 86–76, good enough for fourth place in the American League, 23 games behind the first-place New York Yankees. Their pitching staff surrendered 13 of Roger Maris’s 61 home runs that year, the most of any team. Juan Pizzaro was a bright spot with 14-wins, but the team finished 86-76.
The team lost Earl Averill, Jr. and Jim McAnany to the Los Angeles Angels in the 1960 expansion draft on December 14th, as two new teams joined the American League. The Washington Senators (later to become the Texas Rangers) were the second addition. The Yankees were dominant, winning 109 regular season games, and were chased by the Detroit Tigers with 101 victories. The Baltimore Orioles finished third and the White Sox fourth, 23 games behind New York, after a dismal 33-48 road record.
The Yankees were rebounding after the 1959 season that belonged to Sherm Lollar and the White Sox. Yogi’s team took 12 of 16 games from the Sox in 1961. The Bronx Bombers had finished on top of the American League two years in a row but had unfinished business to attend to in the World Series, the crack of Mazeroski’s lethal bat still a bitter memory. Berra was back to spewing his seemingly unknowing witticisms known as “Yogi-isms,” further endearing his fans. “It ain’t over ’til it’s over; It’s déjà vu all over again; The future ain’t what it used to be; and You can observe a lot by watching,” are four prime examples. Sherm, on the other hand, was never flashy or outspoken.
Yogi was piling on the honors that would someday include fifteen All-Star seasons with eighteen showings, ten World Series championships in fourteen appearances, and three A.L. MVP Awards. He played in more than a hundred games each year for fourteen years, received MVP votes in 15 consecutive seasons, led the star-studded Yankees in RBIs for seven consecutive years, and caught Don Larsen’s historic perfect game in the 1956 Series. He was definitely an impossible challenge for Sherm Lollar to keep up with.
A big factor in the Tiger’s 1961 success was Norm Cash, who admittedly swung an illegal cork bat and debuted with the Sox in June of 1958. He smashed a career-high 41 homers in 1961, led the Tigers to win twelve of eighteen games over his former Chicago teammates, and followed in 1962 with 39 more dingers. He only delivered 18 for the Sox in 1960, before he came into his own. The other big loss was catcher Earl Battey, who went to the Washington Senators in 1960 and then on to the Minnesota Twins in 1961-62, while taking over Sherm Lollar’s Gold Glove domination, with three straight of his own. Aging was becoming a factor in the White Sox roster.
Sherm Lollar drifted towards the bottom of the opening day line-up in the traditional 8 spot. Roy Sievers hit clean-up, as Luis, Nellie, and Minnie filled the slots above him. J.C. Martin, Al Smith and Jim Landis followed, just before Sherm and Early Wynn filled the card.
The “Go-Go-Sox” picked up Wes Covington off waivers, traded him along with Stan Johnson, Bob Shaw and Gerry Staley to Kansas City for Ray Herbert, Don Larsen, Andy Carey, and Al Pilarcik, released Joe Ginsberg, and purchased the contract of Warren Hacker from the Phillies. A lot of names that didn’t add up to much production, although Herbert would show vast improvement in 1962.
Sherm Lollar hit a remarkable .282 in 116 games, showing what a little rest can effectively generate. However, he was no longer a power threat, hitting only 7 home runs with 41 RBIs. Part of his “Go” was gone.
Yogi was still going strong, battling against the Cincinnati Reds in the World Series. He caught four of the five games, hit .273 with a home run, and drew 5 walks in 11 plate appearances. Berra would play in two more World Series and coach in another two before his illustrious career was over. Ralph Houk won his first title as the Yankee skipper. They would continue to haunt the White Sox every October, after eliminating them in September. Sherm was off, as usual this time of year, hunting, fishing, and spending time with his family.
To be continued…
Continued from Post #2618
“Whether or not his team succeeds in beating out the Yankees for the pennant, Sherman Lollar never will make American League followers forget Yogi Berra. But it’s time that he emerged from Berra’s shadow. There’s room in the spotlight for both of them.” Perhaps “Red” Gleason’s 1957 words in the 1957 Saturday Evening Post were a premonition?
The 1959 New York Yankees finished in third place in the American League with an uncharacteristic record of 79-75, 15-games behind the Chicago White Sox, who finished 94-60. It was maybe the only time that Sherm Lollar stood on a higher pedestal than Yogi Berra, even though Yogi was only 5’7″ while Sherm was 6’1″. Yogi played in 131-games that season and averaged .284 with 19 home runs and 69 RBIs. Sherm, on the other hand, hit .265 with 22 home runs, 84 RBIs, and another Gold Glove. Was the tide starting to turn?
His pitching staff had the lowest ERA in the league at 3.29 with 761 strike outs. Early Wynn won the Cy Young Award. Al Lopez was the Associated Press AL Manager of the Year. Everything went right for the White Sox that year except the outcome of the World Series. At least, Berra didn’t take that from him.
“His pitchers believe in him, Southpaw Jack Harshman who is Lollar’s roommate on the road says, ‘Sherm is a very intelligent catcher. I very rarely shake him off. It’s very important to have a catcher that understands what you are trying to do out there on the mound.’ Dick Donavan, another of the Sox hurling stars says, ‘I’d call Sherman the best catcher I’ve ever pitched to.’ Donavan was there for the 1959 World Series, after winning 9 regular season games but losing ten. Jack Harshman joined Paul Richards in Baltimore in 1958. Their comments were also borrowed from the 1957 Saturday Evening Post article by “Red” Gleason.
Sherm Lollar is mentioned in another The Sporting News article dated September 9, 1959, following the World Series loss to the Dodgers. The author is Bob Burnes under multiple headlines, “Blanket Finish for A.L. in MVP Voting: Morning Line on High-Noon Nominees: ChiSox Have 4 in Running for Top Prize; Cunningham, Banks Leaders in N.L. Race.” They add one more headline as the story continues on Page 6: “ChiSox, Tribe Heroes Offer Real Puzzle to MVP Voters.” As we all supposedly know, the Pennant winner doesn’t necessarily get the prize, so the three Cleveland players, Woodie Held, Rocky Colavito, and Tito Francona are decidedly in the mix, along with other deserving stars.
Lollar’s facial illustration is featured on the cover along with the other 11 finalists for the MVP Award. Three other White Sox candidates are in the running, including Luis Aparicio, Nellie Fox, and Early Wynn.
“The White Sox, leading the league, have no one to match any of (the candidates) in fire power. Chicago is last in both leagues in home runs.”
Lollar Clutch Crasher
They do have Sherm Lollar, finally coming into his own. He has hit 20 homers, five of them coming in clutch situations in the last two weeks. Regarded as one of the great receivers, Lollar has branched out, playing first base at times, so that John Romano could be used back of the plate to get more power in the lineup.”
Yogi Berra has won the A.L. MVP Award three times, 1951, 1954, and 1955, but he’s not on the ballet for 1959, while Sherm Lollar is at least being considered. Knowing Lollar’s humble nature, he would probably prefer that one of his teammates take the spotlight.
And the winner is….Nellie Fox, adding to the White Sox dominance of major awards this year! As a bonus, Ernie Banks, for the second year in a row, took the N.L. prize – a Windy City sweep in 1959!
To wrap-up the treasure booty from this unforgettable season, the November 18, 1959, issue of The Sporting News, in an article by Oscar Kahan, named Sherm Lollar as a Gold Glove winner, for the third straight year. Teammates Nellie Fox and Luis Aparicio accepted their trophies for second base and shortstop, while once again no Yogi Berra, who has never won the award.
“In addition to Kaline, this also was the third year of fielding supremacy at their positions for Malzone, Lollar, and Shantz, while Power, Fox, Aparicio, and Minoso were winners for the second time.”
“Lollar, continuing his domination of the league’s catchers, won mask-and-mitt honors with 69 votes to 46 for Sammy White of the Red Sox, 31 for Gus Triandos of the Orioles, and 25 for Yogi Berra of the Yankees. It is interesting to note that Berra led the league’s receivers in fielding in all three years of the Golden Glove Awards, yet failed to best out Lollar for the trophies.”
“Steady Sherm handled fewer putouts and assists than Berra the past season and also made more errors, but the loop’s players voted him the top honor in obvious recognition of his leadership behind the plate for Chicago’s pennant winners.”
About the Authors:
“Robert Liston “The Benchwarmer” Burnes was a sportswriter for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat for over 50 years. After attending St. Louis University, he started writing for the St. Louis Globe-Democrat in 1936, then became sports editor in 1943, a position he held until the newspaper closed in 1986. During this time he was best known for his column, ‘The Benchwarmer.'”
Oscar Kahan rose to become assistant managing editor at The Sporting News before his passing at age 71 in 1980. He joined the paper in 1948, after working at the St. Louis Star-Times and the Associated Press bureaus in New York and Kansas City.
Bill, or more formally William “Red” Gleason, is a longtime Chicago Sun-Times columnist and proud South Sider, who worked for more than 60 years in Chicago journalism and helped launch the genre of talk sports broadcasting by helping to create a Sunday afternoon radio show called “The Sports Writers.” By 1985, the show expanded to become a nationally syndicated television program.
He was also an unabashed White Sox fan who retired in 2001 and passed in 2010 at the age of 87.
To be continued…
Continued from Post #2617
The Sporting News continued their coverage of the White Sox and Sherm Lollar with the fragile. aging February 25,1959 edition, also in my collection of magazines. The cover story written by Jerry Holtzman is titled, Veeck Sees Bonanza in White Sox Gate. The illustration shows him hovering over a pile of coins under the heading: Hi-Yo Silver! Burrhead’s Back on Big Time Trail. Two boxes inserted on Page 1 tell the tale in ALL CAPS:
BILL VEECK TURNED DOWN OFFER OF $200,000 FOR HIS OPTION ON DOROTHY RIGNEY’S 54 PER CENT OF WHITE SOX. OPTION COST HIM 100 BUCKS. INSTEAD HE PAID $2,700,000 WITH DOWN PAYMENT OF $1,750,000 TO BE MADE WITHIN 45 DAYS OF EXERCIZING OPTION.
BILL HAS ALWAYS BEEN FAST WITH A BUCK AND BOXCAR NUMBERS DO NOT FAZE HIM. HE BOUGHT THE INDIANS IN ’46 FOR LESS THAN TWO MILLION DOLLARS AND SOLD THEM THREE YEARS LATER FOR $2,200,000. IN ’51 HIS SYNDICATE PURCHASED THE ST. LOUIS BROWNS FOR TWO MILLION AND PEDDLED THEM TO BALTIMORE INTERESTS TWO YEARS LATER FOR $2,475,000! ? NEXT STOP —LOS ANGELES—WHERE THERE ARE ACRES OF BUCKS!
Bill Veeck can grab the pre-season headlines with his negotiations, for all I care. My main interest in this particular tabloid is once again Page 3, where Sherm Lollar is the focus, and the Sox face great expectations. His half-page Illustration is surrounded by message-carrying cartoon characters under the bold headline: Lollar Gets Stronger as ChiSox Pillar. Just below those words, in slightly smaller letters it reads: Best Season in ’58 Brings Boost in Pay for Star Backup, and in the box under that: Solid Man as Socker…and Rugged Receiver. As always, there’s a lot to take in with The Sporting News feature article lead-ins:
Sherm Lollar SOFT-SPOKEN, HARD HITTING RECEIVER…Drawing of Sherm in a SOX hat.
LAST SEASON WITH MINOSO AND DOBY GONE, LOLLAR HAD TO ASSUME THE LONG-BALL BURDEN …HAD HIS BEST SEASON IN 13-YEAR BIG LEAGUE CAREER…An animated character swings three bats labeled Minoso, Doby, and Lollar.
SHERM MORE THAN COMPENSATES FOR THE LACK OF A RIFLE ARM WITH AN UNCANNY KNACK FOR HOLDING RUNNERS ON BASE…A baserunner is chained to the base.
THE QUIET LOLLAR MAY NOT SAY MUCH…BUT WHENEVER HE DOES EVERYBODY LISTENS… A group of cartoon players gather around a catcher.
ONCE TRADED TO YANKS IN 1946…HE GOT INTO 33 GAMES IN TWO SEASONS…THEY HAD ANOTHER YOUNG CATCHER NAME OF YOGI BERRA!! The cartoon caption of a catcher commenting to his teammate reads: SOME GUY BY THE NAME OF BERRA IS CATCHING TODAY.
I’m doing my best to describe the action on the busy page. The article itself is written by Jerry Holtzman. The surprising header reads, “Veteran Now Ranked No. 1 A.L. Catcher” Certainly not according to Yankee fans, I might add.
“Quiet, Yet Take Charge Guy Behind Plate. He’s Viewed as Managerial Prospect.”
Manager Al Lopez was trying to decide between Billy Goodman, Ron Jackson, Earl Torgeson, and Ray Boone, as to who would likely cover first base for the ’59 season, because if they were to overtake the Yankees, they have to be solid at that key position. Finally, Lopez conceded, “We always have Sherm Lollar. I’ll shift him there.”
Looking back to the 1958 season, Holtzman reported, “He led the club in RBIs and homers with a .273 clutch average. He was the team’s only consistent power threat and was consistent throughout. For example, he smashed 20 homers – ten in the first half and ten in the second: he drove in 84 runs – 43 in the first half and 41 in the second.”
Lollar graciously thanked Vice-President Charles Comiskey about his pay raise offer in a note but asked “if he might want to raise the ante even more. “After all,” Sherman wrote, this was the best season of my career.” Lollar apparently made a counter, but Comiskey in a phone call replied, “you’re right. You had a great year, but your salary estimate is too conservative.”
“Comiskey mentioned a figure higher than Lollar had dared to ask – boosting him into the $35,000 -$40,000-a-year bracket.”
“It used to be that Yogi Berra of the Yankees was automatically considered to be the American League’s No.1 catcher. But it isn’t that way anymore. Lollar is the top man and this was particularly apparent last year when Gus Triandos was chosen as the A.L.’s starting catcher in the All-Star Game. Lollar fans sent up a howl and even the players ordinarily placid in these matters, agreed they were right.”
Statistically, according to baseball-refernce.com, Triandos of Baltimore batted .245 with 79 RBIs and 30 home runs in 1958. Berra hit .266 with 90 RBIs and 22 HR. Lollar finished with a .273 batting average, 84 RBIs and 20 homers. Any one of these three catchers could have been named to the All-Star team, but somehow Triandos got the call. 1957 and 1958 were the peak of his career, but Berra and Lollar continued to be successful.
As Lopez pointed out, “Triandos may swing a slightly heavier bat but he still isn’t the catcher Lollar is today. Maybe in time he’ll be as valuable. But right now Lollar is the best all-round catcher in the league, maybe even in the majors.”
“Lollar always seems a bit surprised when Lopez rates him so highly, particularly as a defensive catcher. For as Sherman admits, ‘I don’t have the real strong arm and I’m not as good as Yogi getting balls hit in front of the plate and I know that Jim Hegan has always been the best for foul flies. But I’ll say this – I have always been consistent.'”
Lopez goes on with the compliments: “Lollar more than compensates for the lack of a rifle arm with an uncanny knack of holding runners on base. He may not be as graceful as Hegan, but no one can recall when he last dropped or misjudged a foul fly. Furthermore, he handles all pitchers equally well, including Dick Donavan, Gerry Staley, and Early Wynn, all of whom are essentially low-ballers with a tough assortment of breaking stuff.” Lopez also feels that Lollar has outstanding managerial potential and “could fit in equally well as a front office executive.”
Jerry Holtzman also included three smaller articles in his two-page spread on Lollar:
Hunting, Fishing Kept Sherm in Shape During Off Season
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – Sherman Lollar of the White Sox isn’t among the current breed of ballplayers who work the year ’round. He does not have an off-season, gray flannel suit job, such as selling insurance or working as a public relations or promotion man for a big corporation.
Indeed, he spends all his time with his wife, the former Connie Maggard, and their two sons, Pete, 7, and Kevin, 6. Lollar is an ardent hunter and fisherman and also coached a sixth-grade basketball in the Park District program here.
Receiver 16 Years, Lollar Never Had Broken Finger
CHICAGO, Ill. – Though Sherman Lollar has been a catcher in the minors and majors for more than 16 years, he has never had a broken finger. However, he has suffered several minor bone chips and in 1957 was out for two months with a broken wrist.
“I have a theory about that,” Lollar explained. I’m convinced that most finger and hand injuries suffered by catchers come in the pre-game practice. There is a tendency to have your mind on other things at that time.”
“But once a game starts, a catcher must be so engrossed and alert that it’s very seldom he will suffer any injury by a pitched ball. At least that has been my experience. “
Lollar says he disagrees with the opinion that the easiest and fastest way for a boy to crash into the big leagues is by becoming a catcher. The reasoning behind this is because there are comparatively fewer catchers and less competition.”
“A youngster has to like catching,” Lollar explained, “and not just use the position as a means for rapid advancement. There is more work to catching than any other position and I would never advise a boy to become a catcher unless he actually preferred it to all other positions.”
Sherman, Legion Grad of Year, Recalls His Thrills in Junior Ball By JERRY HOLTZMAN Photo of Sherman Lollar
CHICAGO, Ill.
It has been almost two decades since Sherman Lollar, named the American Legion Graduate Player for 1938, participated in the Junior baseball program, but the veteran White Sox catcher says he remembers many Legion games just as vividly as some of his major league contests.
Lollar played for three seasons – 1938-39-40 – with the Lynn-Shelton Post No. 27 team in Fayetteville, Ark. Fayetteville then a town of about 9,000, had four Legion teams which played a round robin schedule.
“One of the things I’ll never forget was that we played about 30 games a season and about half of them were against “town” teams. We didn’t have enough competition among ourselves so we played the grown-ups just about every Sunday.”
“But I don’t suppose Fayetteville was any different in this respect from most of the other small town Legion programs. We just didn’t have enough fellows to form a big enough league to keep us busy, so we were forced to challenge the grown-ups.”
Lollar said that one of his biggest thrills while playing Legion ball came in May 1940, on the Sunday before the opening of the Class D Arkansas-Missouri League season.
Fayetteville in those days had a team in the Arkansas-Missouri League and agreed to play an exhibition against the Lynn-Shelton nine. “We were just kids,” Lollar recalled. “I was sixteen years old then, but in the second or third inning, I don’t remember which, I homered off the Fayetteville pitcher. It was the only run of the game but it actually didn’t count since we were rained out in the fourth inning.”
I can almost hear Sherm reluctantly telling this story in a slow, southern drawl, although I never got to meet him, and certainly never spoke with him. I did see him play at Comiskey Park with my dad, but I was far too shy to approach or ask for an autograph. Fortunately, I’ve been able to collect a few through the years. I have signed photos, note cards, baseball cards and a ball with his authenticated signature. Just a personal sidenote as the Holtzman article continues…
Legion Ball Opened Path to Career
“Hitting that homer was something I can never forget but I’ll say that that wasn’t necessarily my biggest thrill in Legion ball. When I look back now, it was a thrill every time we had a game. I remember waking up in the morning and if the sky was cloudy I’d be sweating it out until the sun came out.”
“Playing Legion ball was a great experience for me. I know if it wasn’t for the Legion program I never would have had a chance to go into Organized Ball. In those days we didn’t have any Little League or Pony League or Babe Ruth League.”
Lollar said that his Legion coach was Rube Marshall, who he described as “one of the most dedicated men he had ever met. He was a great baseball man,” Lollar explained, “but he was even more than that. He was dedicated to helping boys. I can never forget Rube Marshall.”
When told he had been named as the American Legion’s Graduate Player of the Year, Lollar said it was a tremendous honor. “We never won any state championships on our Legion team,” said Lollar, “but we had plenty of fun. I’m very thankful that I was chosen for this honor, especially when you consider that just about all the big leaguers today played Legion ball.”
About the Author:
Jerome Holtzman’s fascination with sports manifested itself in the printed form.
Jerry or more formally Jerome Holtzman has covered baseball with the Chicago Sun-Times for 22-years and with the Chicago Tribune for well over 40 years. Holtzman was also a weekly contributor to the Sporting News for 30- years, both as a columnist and correspondent.
“His book, “No Cheering in the Press Box” is a highly-praised collection of interviews with some of America’s greatest sports writers.”
“He is credited with inventing the save for relief pitchers in 1959, deriving a formula that evolved into the official statistic in 1966. In 1999, Holtzman was named official historian for Major League Baseball.
Holtzman passed away on July 19, 2008, but lived to see the White Sox win the 2005 World Series.
Continued from Post #2616
Writer, “Red” Gleason, uncovered a few more gems about Sherm Lollar in his 1957 Saturday Evening Post article. I was equally intrigued with the ads in the copy that I bought for the collection many years ago from a Portland memorabilia dealer, where 15 cents sold for 3 bucks. In total, there are more than a dozen such publications from the ’50s and ’60s that I own with stories about Sherm. The purpose of this series is to combine all this information into a single source – this blog – johnstonwrites.com. Maybe it will find its way into book form? The Yogi Berra comparisons are frequent references:
“When Lollar arrived in the Yankee camp in the spring of 1947 he must have wondered why they had bothered to deal for him. Catchers on the premises included the incumbent regular, Aaron Robinson, who had hit .297 in the previous season, and Gus Niarhos, Charlie Silvera, Ken Silvestri, and Ralph Houk. There was also a twenty-one-year-old long-ball hitter who was being tried both as a catcher and an outfielder, but he didn’t seem very adapt to either. His name was Berra.”
“Berra and Houk remained with the Yankees as Robinson’s understudies. Sherman was sent down to Newark, being brought back near the end of the season when the Yankees thought his bat might be needed in the World Series.”
He responded with that previously mentioned 3-hit performance, only to be pulled from the line-up for pinch-hitter Yogi, who answered with a home run. At least, Sherm earned a ring, while Berra got his first of ten.
“In 1948 Sherman remained with New York, but played in only twenty-two games. His right hand got ripped open before the season started by a foul tip off the bat of the Braves’ Bob Elliott in an exhibition game. Berra, still a convertible catcher-outfielder played in 125 games. Yogi’s .305 batting average that year didn’t merely submerge Lollar; it washed him right out of the Yankee organization.”
First stop was the St. Louis Browns and then the Chicago White Sox, both teams owned by Bill Veeck, as in wreck, the title of his autobiography I have also read. I’m sure that Sherm felt like he had been in a horrible wreck, but it also opened the door to improvement, although it took several years in a back-up role to get there.
“Sherman credits two former White Sox managers, Paul Richards and Marty Marion, with helping him rise from mediocrity. ‘Richards made him a better receiver and a better ballplayer,’ he explains, while Marion bolstered his confidence.'”
“When I was having that terrible year in 1952,” Lollar says, “Richards called me into his office late in the season. He told me that my natural style of catching lacked appeal, that I would have to be more of a holler guy. Paul said he understood my problems because he had been the same kind of catcher that I was. I feel like I’ve always hustled in baseball, but until Paul talked to me I probably had a misconception of what ‘hustle’ meant. I hustled to first base on a batted ball, and I hustled when the ball was around me. Richards made me see that something more was expected.”
“Paul told me to show a little more animation. He wanted me to be a little more agile in receiving and to show more zip in returning the ball to the pitcher. He recommended that I run to and from the catcher’s box between innings, in stead of just strolling out there.”
“Lollar’s peculiar catching style – he works with his left knee on the ground – was suggested by Richards, one of baseball’s most original thinkers. Richards explained recently, ‘This moved him up – closer to the plate – and down – closer to the ground.'”
“Asked if he considered Lollar superior to Berra in any department of play, the Baltimore manager replied, ‘As a handler of pitchers, I’d say yes. And that’s no reflection on Berra. In the last year and a half I was with the White Sox, I’d sit in the dugout hoping a pitcher would throw a certain pitch, and ninety-nine times out of hundred, Lollar would call the pitch I had in mind. Lessons in baseball are bred from necessity, and I think Lollar, through necessity, has learned more about helping pitchers, because his pitchers have needed more help than Berra’s have.”
“Of Marty Marion, Lollar says, ‘I got a real good break when Marty took over the club late in ’54 after Richards decided to take the Baltimore job. Paul had been platooning three of us that season – Matt Batts, Carl Sawatski and me. But when Marty became manager he told me that I would catch the rest of the ball games that season and all the ball games the next season. That winter we got Clint Courtney in a trade, and I figured Marty might change his plans for ’55. But he stayed right with me, and I ended up having a good year.”
“Veteran Sox pitcher Bob Keegan agrees that Marion did a lot to build up Lollar’s self-confidence, especially by the practice of describing Sherm as a ‘manager on the field.’ Today there can be no question about Sherm’s belief in himself, and he has become the acknowledged leader of the team.”
Later that year, on August, 20, 1957, Lollar caught Keegan’s no hitter against the Washington Senators, a thrill for both of them. It was three-days before Sherm’s 33rd birthday. Keegan was an All-Star in 1954, but was sent down to his hometown Rochester Red Wings in the early weeks of 1958 and retired in 1959 after 15-years of professional baseball. He missed his chance to join Sherm in the World Series. Yogi Berra may have watched on TV like I did.
To be continued….
Continued from Post #2615
After the 1959 AL Pennant, the White Sox were favored by many to return to the World Series. As Roy Terrell pointed out in the April 11, 1960, edition of Sports Illustrated:
“The White Sox, a gang of quick artists a year ago, are equally quick and artistic and noticeably more muscular. Minnie Minoso has returned, Ted Kluszewski will be available from the beginning, Gene Freese will drive in runs, Billy Pierce no longer has an aching back. Now Roy Sievers, the big slugger from the Senators, has joined the act too. Added to the defensive genius of Sherm Lollar, Fox, Aparicio, and Landis and the pitching skill of Early Wynn and Bob Shaw, this should be enough again to make the Sox again the strongest ball club in the American League.”
The 1960 Major League Baseball Annual displayed a picture of Sherm with these author comments:
“Loudest noise in the Sox ’59 lineup was made by silent, SHERMAN LOLLAR, the workmanlike catcher. Sherm was high in home runs (22) and RBIs (84) as he registered a not-too-flashy .265 average. Sherm’s booming bat won many late-inning battles, and his smart receiving made the mound staff a bit more effective. Sherm, born in Durham, Ark., started in ’46 as an Indians and went to the Yankees in ’47. There were three seasons past with the old St. Louis Browns before the Pale Hose traded for him in ’52. Sherm’s best of 14 seasons was ’56 when he hit .293.”
The June 15, 1957, Saturday Evening Post – 15 cents, had a really interesting multi-page article on Lollar written by William (Red) Gleason. It starts with a dugout photo of Sherm with mask and glove in hand followed by a candid admission by Sherm. ” I wouldn’t be as good a hitter as Yogi if I were hitting in a phone booth. I’m a great admirer of his.” The title of Red’s piece was: “Is Lollar Better Than Berra?” Just underneath an explanation in bold print follows: “Some experts believe that the White Sox star has been overshadowed by Yogi Berra so long that he’s probably the most underestimated catcher in baseball.”
The body of the article reads:
“It is the fate of some illustrious men to spend a career in the shadow of a contemporary. Adlai Stevenson had his Dwight Eisenhower. Lou Gehrig had his Babe Ruth. Bob Hope had his Bing Crosby. And Sherman Lollar had his Yogi Berra.”
“Sherman Lollar, a reflective 32-year-old, whose father was one of very few Republicans in Fayetteville, Arkansas, understands from experience the frustrating thoughts that must occasionally nag at those other men. If it weren’t for Berra of the New York Yankees, Lollar of the Chicago White Sox would be the number one catcher in the American League.”
“Last season was the best Lollar has had with the bat since he came to the Major Leagues with Cleveland in 1946. Sherman hit .293, drove in 75 runs, and hit 11 homers, a most respectable set of figures. Berra, however, hit .298, drove in 105 runs, and hit 30 homers.”
“This is the way it is always been for Lollar when fans speak of American League catchers. The discussion usually begins and ends with Berra. Yogi’s domination of the League’s Mask, Chest Protector, and Shin Guard Society has been so complete that Lollar’s accomplishments are overlooked.”
“Only his closest friends seem aware that Lollar has been named to four American League All-Star teams. Here again, Berra has shunted the Chicago catcher into a dark corner of the dugout. Three times – 1950, ’54, and ’55 – Lollar went to play the All-Star game just for the trip. He didn’t play. Last year, at Washington, Casey Stengel finally gave Sherman an opportunity. He responded with one hit in two tries against the National League team.”
“Almost nobody remembers that he played in a World Series and compiled a .750 batting average. To be sure, White Sox players are seldom thought of in connection with the Series – the team hasn’t been in one since 1919. However, Lollar sneaked in, back in 1947, with the organization that has made the World Series a hobby, the Yankees. Lollar got into only two games and batted only four times, but he made three hits.”
I refer to a Chicago Baseball Museum web article by John McMurray who quotes sportswriter Dan Daniel, known as “the dean of American baseball writers”: “In Game Three, a secondary standout was Sherman Lollar, who started the game as a surprise entry. [Manager Bucky] Harris benched Berra in favor of the right-handed Lollar against the southpaw [Joe] Hatten. Lollar got a single which became a run in the third, and in the fourth drove in a run with a double.”
Dan Daniel followed up in August 1948, observing, “Sherman Lollar, right-handed hitting catcher, is another who has possibly had his last big opportunity with the Bombers. Now that Yogi Berra is available again, Gus Niarhos will handle all the receiving duties against left-handed pitching.” Berra stayed with the Yankees, while Lollar eventually moved on again to the St. Louis Browns. There was no place for him behind the plate with the Yankees, who justifiably soon favored Berra.
Lollar struggled for years to find a starting role, while Berra found a permanent home in Yankee Stadium. Before the two met, according to writer Bill Roeder in this same McMurray article, “The Cleveland complaint was that Lollar displayed insufficient dash and spirit. He had the ability all right, but no inclination to exploit it. Within a month, he was homesick for Baltimore, and [Cleveland manager Lou] Boudreau sent him back. Now Sherman belongs to the Yankees, and they hope he will react favorably to the fresh start.” This is when the Berra roadblock began.
“Berra earns something like $58,000 a year, and is one of the best-known athletes of our time. Lollar, whose pay is around $20,000 is little publicized. Yet there are insiders who rate Lollar as a better catcher than the Yankees’ Yogi man. They will readily concede that Lollar does not compare with Berra as a hitter. They won’t argue with the record book. Going into this season, Berra’s lifetime achievements include a ,294 batting average, 1,003 runs batted in, and 238 runs. Lollar’s figures were a .264 average, 451 RBIs, and 86 homers. But the Lollar adherents maintain that while Yogi has the edge at the plate, Sherman is clearly superior behind it.”
“Billy Pierce, the White Sox’ great left-handed pitcher, says of his battery mate, ‘sure Yogi hits better, but Sherm is better defensively. He helps us pitchers on every pitch, in every game.'”
“Chuck Comiskey, co-owner and vice president of the White Sox is another who believes that Lollar is a better receiver than Berra. ‘You have to rate Berra first for all around ability because of his power,’ Comiskey says, ‘but on defense, you would have to take Lollar. For catching ability, I would rank Lollar first, Jim Hagen of Cleveland second, and Berra third.”
The last point – the size of Comiskey Park’s playing field – often is raised by Lollar’s advocates. They argue that Berra has a decided advantage in playing seventy-seven games in Yankee Stadium, a park tailored for left-handed pull hitters like Yogi, while Lollar, who swings from the right side, plays half the schedule in a vast enclosure that is a pitcher’s paradise.”
The extensive Sports Illustrated article continues in great detail, but I’ve chose to include some pertinent excerpts. Manager Al Lopez mentions that “our pitchers have great confidence in Lollar.” Lopez was a catcher himself, overshadowed in a similar manner by legends like Gabby Hartnett and Ernie Lombardi.
“One of Lollar’s greatest boosters is Ray Schalk, the old White Sox catcher, who is a member of the baseball Hall of Fame, currently coaching baseball at Purdue, declares ‘Lollar does everything well that you can do back there. And when you talk about his batting average, don’t forget that he is playing in a ballpark that was built by a real baseball man, the first Charles Comiskey. You don’t think Berra or Campanella or any of those guys would’ve hit .300 very often playing at Comiskey Park, do you? I sure don’t”
I certainly don’t want to take away from Ray Schalk’s Hall of Fame credibility, just add to Sherm’s case. Lollar had better overall stats. They both played for 18-years and were separated statistically by only 10 games – 1,752 for Lollar and 1,762 for Schalk. Schalk averaged .253, while Lollar was at .262. Schalk only had 11 homers but 177 stolen bases. Lollar was painfully slow with only 20 stolen bases, but he had 155 home runs. Both were good glove men, with Lollar’s .992 slightly better than Schalk’s .981. A classic case of speed vs. power, but speed apparently got Schalk in the Hall of Fame. Just for the record, Berra had 30 career stolen bases. Also, Lollar may have been slower, but his career on-base percentage was higher than Berra’s (.357 versus .348).
“Berra is celebrated for malapropisms. Loller is seldom quoted. An unobtrusive workman, he is obscured on his own club by crowd-pleasers such as Nellie Fox, Minnie Minoso, Jim Rivera, and Luis Aparicio. The Sox catcher has been described as one of those guys who say ‘hello’ in the spring and ‘goodbye’ in the fall. Obviously, nobody is that quiet or uncomplicated. John Sherman Lollar – to give his full name – is not a baseball recluse. It doesn’t take long to discover that he is intelligent. His teammates elected him their player representative after Ferris Fain was traded late in 1954. In this capacity, Sherman has represented the Sox in player negotiations with the club owners on such matters as the baseball pension plan.
History might be different if Lollar and Yogi Berra had initially competed at a different ballpark than Yankee Stadium. In parts of two seasons with New York, Lollar saw action in only 33 games. Berra played 18 seasons with the Yankees and played in 2,052 games, all with the same team. He spent the next year as their manager, then joined the New York Mets in 1965 as coach, playing in another 68 games for a grand total of 2,120. He was at bat in 7,555 games, compared with Lollar’s 5,351 trips to the plate in 1,752 games. These stats from baseball-almanac.com.
What if it had gone head-to-head at Comiskey Park, instead? And what happened to the high expectations for the 1960 White Sox team?
To be continued…
