Sports

Xavier Breath

(5,003 posts) Sun Sep 29, 2024, 10:42 AM Sep 29

70th Anniversary of "The Catch"

I didn't see this in Baseball or anywhere else, so I thought I'd start a discussion.

On September 29, 1954,Willie Mays of the New York Giants made a running, over-the-shoulder catch of a ball hit by Vic Wirtz of the Cleveland Indians in Game 1 of the 1954 World Series; "The Catch" would become one of the most famous plays in baseball history.

It was such a big deal that all these years later it was the highlight in our midwestern newspaper's Today in History section. I was 12+ years away from being born, but I'm sure someone here saw it happen live, if not in person.

6 replies

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Highlight:

70th Anniversary of "The Catch" (Original Post) Xavier Breath Sep 29 OP

It's on the main page of Wikipedia too. mahatmakanejeeves Sep 29 #1

Good morning. Xavier Breath Sep 29 #2

Jack Brickhouse SomedayKindaLove Sep 29 #3

Back then, there was maybe one game on TV on Saturday. No TV games during week, etc. So, few people saw it live. Silent Type Sep 29 #4

It wasn't much better in the 70s. Xavier Breath Sep 29 #5

Wertz was the only man pitcher Don Liddle faced. rsdsharp Sep 29 #6

mahatmakanejeeves

(60,915 posts)

1. It's on the main page of Wikipedia too.

Reply to Xavier Breath (Original post)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 10:48 AM

Sep 29

And good morning.

Xavier Breath

(5,003 posts)

2. Good morning.

Reply to mahatmakanejeeves (Reply #1)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 10:58 AM

Sep 29

I grew up seeing that B&W white footage so many times.

I should have included this in the OP:

SomedayKindaLove

(1,102 posts)

3. Jack Brickhouse

Reply to Xavier Breath (Reply #2)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 11:06 AM

Sep 29

With the call.

Silent Type

(6,652 posts)

4. Back then, there was maybe one game on TV on Saturday. No TV games during week, etc. So, few people saw it live.

Reply to Xavier Breath (Original post)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 11:07 AM

Sep 29

Plus, lots of folks didn't have TVs. If they did, the screen was smaller than a compact computer screen.

But, there were lots of radio broadcasts and the announcers were great.

But that catch is iconic as almost anything in sports.

Xavier Breath

(5,003 posts)

5. It wasn't much better in the 70s.

Reply to Silent Type (Reply #4)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 12:52 PM

Sep 29

NBC had the Saturday game of the week, and sometimes they might have a double-header, but not always. Then there was ABC's Monday night baseball, the only other option. The Reds were never shown on local tv unless Riverfront was sold out, which rarely happened. At least today there's a myriad of choices when it comes to watching live sports, if it is a bit spendy.

rsdsharp

(10,115 posts)

6. Wertz was the only man pitcher Don Liddle faced.

Reply to Xavier Breath (Original post)

Sun Sep 29, 2024, 05:42 PM

Sep 29

When Durocher came to the mound to take him out he said, “Well, I got my man.”

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