There are several ways to answer the baseball trivia question, “who is Al Downing?”
Most people will tell you without hesitation, “he’s the guy who gave up Henry Aaron’s 715th home run.” And those people would be absolutely correct.
Other correct answers: “He was the first African-American pitcher in the history of the New York Yankees,” and, “he was the first African-American pitcher to lead the American League in strikeouts,” and, “he was the National League leader in shutouts in 1971, when he won 20 games for the Dodgers.”
When this card arrived in a wax pack 50 years ago, Hammerin’ Hank was still chasing the Babe. Al wouldn’t enter the book of ignominious history for another year. So, it was those last few answers that mattered most to me. That 20-win season was still fresh in my as yet unblemished mind. See? He even won Comeback Player of the Year after that season.
As for the Yankees stuff, there was the back of his card, of course. But look at it. Where does it mention that he led the league in strikeouts, or that he’d broken an important racial barrier on the best-known franchise in sports? That’s right, nowhere (which, as Col. Bruce Hampton would remind us, is now here).
Thankfully, in the days before the internet and instant information and baseballreference.com (and, before I’d gotten my hands on a cherished Baseball Encyclopedia), there was Dad. He knew about Downing’s other accomplishments and filled in the gaps that the Topps hadn’t addressed.
In fairness to the card company, Al’s strikeout accomplishments are mentioned in previous years on the back of his card – I saw it on the internet. I also saw this: On the back of Al’s 1975 card, he’s called Alphonso Eugene Downing. As the sighted population can see, he’s known as Alphonso Erwin Downing on the back of his 1973 card. It’s Erwin. I wonder if the 1975 card is worth a few cents more because of the fucked-up middle name. Doubtful.
So, Alphonso Erwin Downing, in addition to having a fine career (123-107 record, 3.22 earned run average, a couple of World Series), landed in eclectic company the night of April 8, 1974 – pitchers who gave up the most famous home runs in history. Most of them were, like Downing, pretty darn good.
Dennis Eckersley, one of the best relief pitchers in history (and a good starter before that), gave up Kirk Gibson’s one-legged special in the 1988 World Series. Charlie Root, the Cubs hurler who was victimized by Babe Ruth’s “called shot,” won 200 games in his career. Ralph Terry (Bill Mazeroski crushed him to end the 1960 Series), Mitch Williams (ditto Joe Carter in 1993), and Ralph Branca, for goodness sakes (the Shot Heard Round the World). None of these guys were stiffs. Neither was Steve Trachsel (Mark McGwire’s 62nd) or Tracy Stallard (Roger Maris’ 61st).
Fact is, no one who ever gave up a big-league home run can rightfully be called a stiff by a guy whose highest level of baseball was a men’s league team 30 years ago. Making it to the show is impressive enough by itself. But Downing has got to be placed above Mike Bacsik (Barry Bonds’ anti-climactic 756th home run) in the pantheon of picked-on pitchers, if not for his superior career numbers, then for the moment he’ll always be remembered for.
As the 1974 season began, Aaron was completing a torturous chase of the Babe. He’d been reminded every step of the way by a minority of abusive, barely literate assholes with access to stamps that he was a black man in America. In what should have been a joyous time in Henry’s life, he was worried for his family’s safety, because he had the gall to be exceptional.
That April night as Downing took the mound, Aaron was eagerly hoping to pass Ruth once and for all and put the whole thing behind him. Downing walked him in the second inning, and later drove in the Dodgers’ first run with a single. They led the Braves 3-1 in the bottom of the fourth when Henry came to the plate with Darrel Evans on first. Aaron hit Downing’s 1-0 pitch over the left-centerfield fence to tie the game and pass the Babe.
Downing applauded as Henry circled the bases.
The next day, Aaron had a face-to-face meeting with Downing and told him not to feel bad about giving up the record homer. “You have been a good pitcher your entire career and you don’t have to walk around with your head down,” the Hammer told Al.
Aaron had done this kind of thing before, years earlier, when Downing was a rookie and breaking barriers in the American League. Henry, who played in the National League, was close to Elston Howard, the talented catcher who had been the Yankees first black ballplayer. Howard put Aaron in touch with Downing, who recalled the Hammer saying, “I know this is your first year in the big leagues. If you need any advice, call me and I’ll be glad to help you out. I never forgot that.”
Years after the home run, when both Aaron and Downing had retired, they were both at a reunion of that night. One of the writers quipped, “Hey, Al, Henry really wore you out, didn’t he?” Before Al could respond, the Hammer piped in with words that sum up Downing better than anything else: “Wait a minute. No, no, no. Al was a darn good pitcher. He was not a guy you took lightly when you went up there. You knew he was going to battle you. He was a great adversary.”
Check out these great stories, which I used as sources for this blog post: This one by Bill Ladson of MLB.com; and this Q & A with Downing from The New York Times.
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Johnny Mize P.S.: The Big Cat was not an easy man to strike out — he holds the record as the only player to hit more than 50 home runs in a season while striking out fewer than 50 times (1947, 51 homers, 42 strikeouts). Ironically, though, he was the victim of one of the most historic strikeouts in World Series history when Brooklyn’s Carl Erskine fanned him for his 14th strikeout in Game Three of the 1953 World Series. Erskine’s single-game strikeout record was broken 10 years later by another Dodger, Sandy Koufax. You can dive into more of this stuff next year when Big Cat: The Life and Times of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize is published by University of Nebraska Press.
JerryGrilloWriter.com 