This Spirit of 73 story links Toby Harrah to Col. Bruce Hampton through Johnny Mize, a game of six degrees of separation that manages to include the two people I’ve written books about.
Look at Toby on this 1973 baseball card, full of youthful spirit and mischief, early in his excellent career, his palindrome name in bold red, matching the letters of his Rangers uniform.
Toby was a strong-armed shortstop with a powerful bat who was good enough to make Major League Baseball’s Prime Nine Team of the 70s. For people who don’t waste their late-night hours trolling YouTube for old baseball documentaries, Prime Nine was a fun 30-minute countdown show on the MLB Network.
Each episode was dedicated to a different position or topic – nine top first basemen, nine best relief pitchers, nine could-have-beens, nine best pennant races or curveballs, nine players on teams of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and so on, always with the promise that each list is “guaranteed to start – not end – arguments.” Toby Harrah was selected as the shortstop for the all-70s team (over fellas like Dave Concepcion, Bert Campaneris, and Mark Belanger). He was a good choice, even if he was primarily a third baseman from the middle of the 1976 season until his career ended 10 years later.
According to Frederick Bush’s excellent SABR biography of Harrah, Toby was the last player to play both games of a doubleheader at shortstop without handling a single chance, was part of only the second duo in big league history to hit back-to-back inside-the-park homers, and one of three players to hit a record three grand slams in a game.
Plus, as an added bonus, Toby was a clown prince who once sprinkled itching powder on Gaylord Perry before the fidgety spit-baller took the mound.
But, back to the six degrees game. It’s actually less than six degrees, and I’ve succeeded in shamelessly including both Johnny Mize (my book, Big Cat: The Life of Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Mize, is coming out next spring from University of Nebraska Press) and Col. Bruce Hampton (you can get one of these here from University of Georgia Press).
Here’s how it all comes together:
In 1973, Toby Harrah started playing for Billy Martin, hired as the Rangers’ third manager that miserable season. He would play two more seasons under Martin. Years later, near the end of his career, Toby played a season with the New York Yankees, where he was managed by Yogi Berra.
Pick one – Martin or Berra. That’s Toby’s connection to Johnny Mize, who played with both Billy and Yogi (back when the Big Cat was a New York Yankee, 1949-1953).
The next connection is Johnny Mize to Virgil Trucks. Johnny and Virgil played ball together in the Navy while serving in the Pacific during World War II. And they were later linked in a historic moment for “Fire” Trucks, who was with the Detroit Tigers when he threw two no-hitters in 1952. In the second one, against the Yankees, Virgil retired pinch hitter Mize in the eighth inning on a weak fly ball to third base.
That was a weird season for Trucks, who posted the worst won-loss record of his great career – five wins and 19 losses. Yet, two of his wins were no-hitters! And the second one was almost taken away from him before it was in the books. The official scorekeeper that day initially ruled a misplay by Detroit shortstop Johnny Pesky an error. Then he reversed himself and gave the batter, Phil Rizzuto, a hit. The press box erupted in a chorus of objections. The scorekeeper changed his mind after calling Pesky down in the dugout. The shortstop said it was an error all the way, and Trucks had his no-hitter.
Check out this interview with Virgil on the excellent website thisgreatgame.com. Near the end, he mentions the connection to Col. Bruce Hampton. Because, in addition to being a fine pitcher for 17 seasons in the big leagues, Virgil was also an elder cousin to guitarist extraordinaire Derek Trucks. One day at lunch in 2013, Bruce sat down at our table in the IHOP and moaned, “I’m bummed out today. Virgil Trucks is dead.”
Bruce knew that Derek and his little brother, Duane, were related to Virgil. Derek and Duane were like Bruce’s children. They also played music with Bruce, completing the link between Toby Harrah and the Colonel: Toby to Billy/Yogi to Big Cat Mize to Virgil Trucks to Derek/Duane Trucks to Bruce.
It’s exactly the kind of Zambi symmetry the Colonel would have appreciated, and he probably already worked out some form of it in his remarkable and fertile head. Just replace Toby with anyone else who played ball for Billy or Yogi.
Anyway, Toby Harrah was a hell of an infielder.
JerryGrilloWriter.com 