1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:07,000 This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history. 2 00:00:07,000 --> 00:00:13,000 This is Joe Edgecock. In a few moments I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill. 3 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:27,000 This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's great power hitters. 4 00:00:27,000 --> 00:00:32,000 In a sports event our special guest Joe Edgecock considers his greatest sports thrill. 5 00:00:32,000 --> 00:00:35,000 And Joe himself is here to tell us all about it. 6 00:00:35,000 --> 00:00:41,000 But first, here is Bill Reddick with a message of interest from your United States Air Force. 7 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:45,000 Experience is the great teacher in sports and in many other fields too. 8 00:00:45,000 --> 00:00:53,000 Right now if you have service experience gained in any of the armed forces, opportunity is knocking on your front door. 9 00:00:53,000 --> 00:00:57,000 The U.S. Air Force needs skilled veterans in many technical categories. 10 00:00:57,000 --> 00:01:00,000 And they offer you valuable incentives and guarantees. 11 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:08,000 If your skill can fit a current Air Force shortage, you will receive a grade based on your ability and military background. 12 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:16,000 If you do not have such a skill, you may qualify for the finest of technical training, putting you out front in this jet age. 13 00:01:16,000 --> 00:01:24,000 An Air Force career means job security, a guaranteed annual wage, big re-enlistment bonuses, regular pay increases, 14 00:01:24,000 --> 00:01:29,000 plus tax-free quarters, rations, clothing, and survivor benefits. 15 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,000 Your local Air Force recruiter has a new personalized prior service booklet that gives you all the facts. 16 00:01:34,000 --> 00:01:41,000 Call or visit him right away. Find out why today and tomorrow you're better off in the U.S. Air Force. 17 00:01:41,000 --> 00:01:43,000 Now back to Harry Wismer. 18 00:01:43,000 --> 00:01:50,000 Charlie Grimm's last official act before resigning as manager of the Milwaukee Braves June the 16th, 1956, 19 00:01:50,000 --> 00:01:55,000 was to name Joe Adcock as the first baseman for the doubleheader with the Dodgers the following day. 20 00:01:55,000 --> 00:01:58,000 Adcock had been warming the bench most of the time up to then. 21 00:01:58,000 --> 00:02:01,000 Ebbets Field had always been his favorite part. 22 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:05,000 What Adcock did in that doubleheader will never be forgotten, either by Fred Haney, 23 00:02:05,000 --> 00:02:09,000 Charlie's successor, or the capacity crowd at Ebbets Field. 24 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:14,000 The big guy hit three home runs plus a single in seven times at bat. 25 00:02:14,000 --> 00:02:21,000 His second homer in the opener was the first ever to clear the double deck roof in left field at Ebbets Field. 26 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:32,000 The roof is 83 feet high and 351 feet away from home plate, so it seems safe to assume Adcock's drive went 550 feet. 27 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:38,000 Joe Adcock's tremendous Ebbets Field home run gave him the dual distinction unapproached by any other player. 28 00:02:38,000 --> 00:02:43,000 In addition to being the only player ever to hit a ball over the double deck left field bleachers at Ebbets Field, 29 00:02:43,000 --> 00:02:51,000 Adcock is the only one ever to slam a ball into the center field bleachers at the polo grounds in a regular league game. 30 00:02:51,000 --> 00:02:56,000 He accomplished that feat on April 29, 1953. 31 00:02:56,000 --> 00:02:59,000 Joe Adcock came to the majors back in 1950. 32 00:02:59,000 --> 00:03:06,000 A big, slow-moving, mild-mannered southern gentleman, he was far from being the most graceful-looking man on the field. 33 00:03:06,000 --> 00:03:13,000 Since joining the Braves in 1953, the handsome first baseman's fielding improvement has been something to see. 34 00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:16,000 In 1953, he committed 13 errors. 35 00:03:16,000 --> 00:03:21,000 In 1954 and 55, his combined total was only 14. 36 00:03:21,000 --> 00:03:27,000 His hitting, except for his offseason in 55, has picked up even more impressively. 37 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:34,000 Whereas he used to hit an occasional long one, such as the record-breaker at the polo grounds, he now makes a habit of hitting those long balls. 38 00:03:34,000 --> 00:03:43,000 Against the Dodgers in 1954, in a four-game series at Ebbets Field, Joe Adcock staged an awesome one-man display of hitting power, 39 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:47,000 the likes of which has never been seen in Brooklyn before or since. 40 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,000 In the first game of that series, Joe hit a single, double, and home run. 41 00:03:51,000 --> 00:03:53,000 The next day, he really struck his stride. 42 00:03:53,000 --> 00:03:58,000 He went to the plate five times, slamming out four home runs and a double. 43 00:03:58,000 --> 00:04:03,000 His 18 total bases in a single game set a new major league record. 44 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:08,000 Only four other players since 1900 hit four homers in one game. 45 00:04:08,000 --> 00:04:13,000 The list includes Lou Gehrig, Chuck Klein, Pat Ciri, and Gil Hodges. 46 00:04:13,000 --> 00:04:22,000 None of them, however, added a fifth extra base hit, as Joe Adcock did, and none of them hit their homers off four different pitchers, as Adcock did. 47 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:30,000 It was the first time in the history of the National League that any player had socked five extra base hits in one game. 48 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:38,000 Joe Adcock's lusty hitting is taken for granted now, but at first base he also has comported himself like a big leaguer. 49 00:04:38,000 --> 00:04:46,000 That's a remarkable thing in view of the fact he didn't play his first game of baseball until he entered Louisiana State University in 1944. 50 00:04:46,000 --> 00:04:51,000 Working on his father's farm in Cushatta, Louisiana, there was no time for baseball. 51 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:56,000 In high school at Cushatta, they had a basketball team, and Joe went up for it. 52 00:04:56,000 --> 00:05:03,000 It was so good that he won a basketball scholarship to LSU, and in his freshman year was the varsity center. 53 00:05:03,000 --> 00:05:09,000 Up to that time, Adcock had never played a real game of baseball, worn a pair of spikes, or even had a glove. 54 00:05:09,000 --> 00:05:13,000 The basketball coach, Red Swanson, also handled the baseball team. 55 00:05:13,000 --> 00:05:18,000 In the spring of Joe's freshman year, Swanson asked him if he wanted to play baseball. 56 00:05:18,000 --> 00:05:21,000 No replied Adcock, I don't know how. 57 00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:23,000 Swanson told him to come out anyway. 58 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:30,000 LSU, with Adcock on first, won the Southeastern Conference title in 1946, Joe's senior year. 59 00:05:30,000 --> 00:05:37,000 The Cincinnati Red Legs signed him and sent him to Columbia in the South Atlantic League, where he started his professional baseball apprenticeship. 60 00:05:37,000 --> 00:05:41,000 He developed as a first baseman, and in 1950 the Reds brought him up. 61 00:05:41,000 --> 00:05:49,000 With Ted Kleszewski established as the regular first baseman, Joe had no chance at first, so manager Luke Sewell switched him to the outfield. 62 00:05:49,000 --> 00:05:58,000 Adcock realized he'd never make the grade in the pasture, so after Rogers Hornsby succeeded Sewell, Adcock asked to be traded if he couldn't play first base. 63 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:02,000 Why don't you talk to General Manager Gabe Paul about it, Hornsby replied. 64 00:06:02,000 --> 00:06:03,000 Adcock did. 65 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:10,000 Gabe agreed with Adcock's premise and told him if he could make a deal for him that would benefit the Reds, he would do so. 66 00:06:10,000 --> 00:06:14,000 The Braves then in Boston expressed an interest in getting the first baseman. 67 00:06:14,000 --> 00:06:19,000 The Reds wanted an infielder in return, and the Braves didn't have one to suit Paul. 68 00:06:19,000 --> 00:06:24,000 Lou Perini and John Quinn, the Braves president and general manager, contacted every club in the league. 69 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:28,000 Then they set in motion a trade that was as complex as any in recent years. 70 00:06:28,000 --> 00:06:35,000 They found out that the Dodgers were willing to let infielder Rocky Bridges go if they could get a pitcher in return. 71 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:43,000 Then the Braves discovered the Phillies were willing to trade for Earl Targison, so they sent Targison to Philadelphia for pitcher Russ Meyer. 72 00:06:43,000 --> 00:06:49,000 Forthwith, they shipped Meyer to Brooklyn for Bridges, and Bridges moved right on to Cincinnati for Adcock. 73 00:06:49,000 --> 00:06:56,000 Everybody was happy, especially the Braves, but the happiest of them all was Joe Adcock. 74 00:06:56,000 --> 00:06:59,000 He was finally going to play first base. 75 00:06:59,000 --> 00:07:08,000 It was on Milwaukee's first trip to the East in the 1953 season that Joe Adcock slammed his historic homer into the center field bleachers at the Polo Grounds. 76 00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:14,000 They've been playing ball at the Polo Grounds as it is presently laid out for more than three decades. 77 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:23,000 Since 1923, the year the present bleachers were erected, giving the park the deepest center field point in baseball a whopping 483 feet. 78 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:32,000 In those 30 years, the great hitters of the National League had their chance to reach the bleachers, which jut out around the flagpole at the most distant center field point. 79 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:40,000 Not one of them, not Bill Terry, nor Hank Lieber, nor Hack Wilson, nor Mel Ott, nor Johnny Mize, nor Stan Musial, ever reached the bleachers. 80 00:07:40,000 --> 00:07:46,000 But in 1953, Joe Adcock did. He was hitting against Jim Hearn. 81 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:53,000 The count was two balls and one strike when Jim came in with a high fastball, which Joe Adcock caught on the meat part of his back. 82 00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:59,000 The ball started to rise, and Bobby Thompson, then with New York and center field, drifted back. 83 00:07:59,000 --> 00:08:04,000 He went all the way to the four-foot wall in front of the open stand to the left of the clubhouse exit stairs. 84 00:08:04,000 --> 00:08:15,000 Then he watched the ball sail over his head, clear the wall and the five-foot wire fence atop the wall, and with something to spare, land ten rolls up in the stands. 85 00:08:15,000 --> 00:08:21,000 Press box guesses measured the drive anywhere from 475 to 500 feet. 86 00:08:21,000 --> 00:08:26,000 Joe Adcock laughs off his record distance blows, saying he is really not that kind of a hitter. 87 00:08:26,000 --> 00:08:34,000 But around Milwaukee, they disagree with him. They think Joe Adcock is one of the top stars of the National League. 88 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:43,000 Now, before you meet our special guest, Joe Adcock in person, in an interview from Milwaukee County Stadium, and hear about his greatest sports thrill, 89 00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:49,000 here is a message of interest to all young men who want to go places faster. 90 00:08:49,000 --> 00:08:53,000 Everybody has his own favorite players in the world of sport. 91 00:08:53,000 --> 00:09:01,000 And while we're on the subject of favorites, there's a group of young men in blue uniforms who are always mighty popular wherever they go. 92 00:09:01,000 --> 00:09:08,000 Yes, the world looks up to young Americans who serve on our first defense team, the United States Air Force. 93 00:09:08,000 --> 00:09:18,000 Through valuable Air Force training, Airmen acquire skills that prepare them not only for key jobs in this very important service, but also for a rewarding personal future. 94 00:09:18,000 --> 00:09:25,000 With more than 400 specialties available, a qualified Airman is sure to pick a field in which he can move ahead fast. 95 00:09:25,000 --> 00:09:33,000 That's why so many forward-looking high school graduates today are enlisting in the all-volunteer U.S. Air Force. 96 00:09:33,000 --> 00:09:38,000 The recruiter in your community will discuss Air Force opportunities with you without obligation. 97 00:09:38,000 --> 00:09:46,000 So call or visit him soon, and be sure to ask for the free booklet, Pocket Guide to Air Force Opportunities. 98 00:09:46,000 --> 00:09:49,000 And now back to Harry Wismer. 99 00:09:49,000 --> 00:09:53,000 Joe Adcock, what was your greatest sports thrill? 100 00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:57,000 To be honest, Willie, that's a hard question because I've had many thrills in baseball. 101 00:09:57,000 --> 00:10:06,000 But July the 31st, 1954, when I hit the four home runs and a double at Ebbets Field, I believe tops all of my sports thrill. 102 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,000 Joe, how did you get started as a ballplayer? 103 00:10:09,000 --> 00:10:16,000 Well, Harry, I come from a very small town, Cachata, Louisiana, and in 1944 when I finished high school, 104 00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:22,000 the population of my hometown was not over 500 people and there were only five boys in my graduating class. 105 00:10:22,000 --> 00:10:26,000 Therefore, we did not have any baseball, but we did have a real good basketball team, 106 00:10:26,000 --> 00:10:32,000 and all five of the boys were given scholarships at Louisiana State University, basketball scholarships, that is. 107 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:37,000 And that's where I became interested in baseball and first got my start in baseball. 108 00:10:37,000 --> 00:10:42,000 Joe, you've been hit by pitch balls a great deal for a power hitter. How do you come for that? 109 00:10:42,000 --> 00:10:51,000 Well, Harry, I might add that being a big fellow like I am, I might not be as agile and I might not move as quick as another fellow. 110 00:10:51,000 --> 00:10:58,000 I might stand a little too close to that plate. I know I stand in a spread stance, a wide stance that is, 111 00:10:58,000 --> 00:11:03,000 and I'd say that my reflex is not quite as good maybe as the other fellow. 112 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:10,000 Joe, is there any particular reason for your being able to hit Brooklyn Dodger pitching so well, so consistently? 113 00:11:10,000 --> 00:11:15,000 Well, that's another good question too because they have real good pitching in my books now. 114 00:11:15,000 --> 00:11:22,000 Why I hit them so well, I really don't know, but at Ebbets Field it's a real small ballpark and the ball seems to carry it real well. 115 00:11:22,000 --> 00:11:31,000 In other words, the long flat ball there is a home run or up against a fence somewhere where the long flat ball in Milwaukee and Apollo Grounds, 116 00:11:31,000 --> 00:11:35,000 St. Louis, especially in center field is a big out. 117 00:11:35,000 --> 00:11:42,000 So therefore when you go in there and you know you hit the ball real good, will you have a chance of that ball bouncing off the wall or going into the seats? 118 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:47,000 You've played both first base and the outfield. Do you personally have a preference? 119 00:11:47,000 --> 00:11:54,000 Yes, I do. I came into the major leagues as a first baseman playing three years as first base in the minor leagues. 120 00:11:54,000 --> 00:12:00,000 When I came to Cincinnati in 1950, they had a big guy there by the name of Ted Krasinski who I'm sure you know real well 121 00:12:00,000 --> 00:12:03,000 and is one of the better first baseman, better ball players in the National League. 122 00:12:03,000 --> 00:12:06,000 They had one room for both of us to play first base at the same time. 123 00:12:06,000 --> 00:12:12,000 So they made an outfielder out of me and I played the outfield there three years, but still my heart was at first base. 124 00:12:12,000 --> 00:12:18,000 You seem to be in the ballgame more at first base than you are in the outfield and a lot of action around there, which I like. 125 00:12:18,000 --> 00:12:20,000 And really you've got something to look forward to. 126 00:12:20,000 --> 00:12:25,000 In other words, you handle the ball most of the time and all the put outs you do and you're right in the ballgame. 127 00:12:25,000 --> 00:12:27,000 It gives you something to really play for. 128 00:12:27,000 --> 00:12:33,000 It keeps you on your toes and outfield, you know, you might stay out there the whole ballgame when you've got a real good pitcher like we did have there. 129 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:38,000 You're a black one. I know he pitched one ballgame one day and I only had one chance all the ballgame. 130 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:42,000 So you're not in the ballgame at all. First base, you're right in the middle of the ballgame. 131 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:47,000 Joe, you hold many long ball hitting records and have also tied some home run marks. 132 00:12:47,000 --> 00:12:51,000 Is there one record you share in baseball that you'd like to forget? 133 00:12:51,000 --> 00:12:55,000 Harry, as you know, everyone's got a few records that they'd like to forget in this game. 134 00:12:55,000 --> 00:13:01,000 It's no question in my mind that I do have one that's hitting into three double plays at Pittsburgh one night. 135 00:13:01,000 --> 00:13:03,000 Sure, I'd like to forget that. 136 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:07,000 Joe, is there one thing you'd like to accomplish in baseball before you retire? 137 00:13:07,000 --> 00:13:12,000 Yes, it is. I'm sure that every ballplayer that plays in the major leagues would like to play in one World Series. 138 00:13:12,000 --> 00:13:16,000 I've never played in one yet and that's my ambition in baseball at the present time. 139 00:13:16,000 --> 00:13:28,000 Thank you very much, Joe Adcock, one of baseball's outstanding players. 140 00:13:28,000 --> 00:13:34,000 Greatest Sports Thrills with Pop Personalities in the World of Sports is narrated by Harry Wismer, 141 00:13:34,000 --> 00:13:42,000 directed by Gene Kirby, written by Arthur Susskind Jr. and presented by the United States Air Force in cooperation with this station. 142 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:46,000 This is Bill Reddick speaking. The preceding was transcribed.