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This is Bob Serve of the Kansas City Athletics. In a few moments, I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill.
This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding players.
And an event our special guest Bob Serve considers his greatest sports thrill.
And Bob himself is here to tell us all about it.
But first, here is Bill Redick with the message of interest from your United States Air Force.
In a thrilling ninth inning rally, it may be difficult to pick out the most important baseball player on the field.
However, in the expanding age of space, there's no question about who the most important men will be.
The most important men in this new era will be Air Force trained specialists, or the space age will be run by technicians.
Right now, today, you still have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
If you join the Air Force and are qualified for training, you'll be instructed by the finest technical experts available.
Perhaps your field will be electronics, jet mechanics, guided missile systems, or radar.
In any case, Air Force training will stick with you and make you a valuable man anywhere.
So see your local recruiter now for the full story on your future in the United States Air Force, where the age of space is reality.
Now, back to Harry Wismer.
Bob Serve is over 30, and by the usual baseball standards, is a veteran whose best years have to be considered behind him.
But by his own standards, Bob Serve is just beginning his career in the majors.
The records show that Bob Serve has been around on and off ever since 1951.
But the records tell only a small part of the story of this husky Nebraskan who won a reprieve from a life sentence on the New York Yankee bench,
and in one solid season, established himself as one of the top power hitters in the American League.
In 1958, the Yankees won the World Series.
Ted Williams took the batting title.
Jackie Jensen was the most valuable player, and Bob Turley walked away with the pitching honors.
But Bob Serve, at the seventh place Kansas City Athletics, undoubtedly had the most remarkable season of anybody in the junior circuit.
Serve, a promising non-entity for years, who couldn't get anywhere when he was in good health,
went from mediocrity to stardom in a season of injuries that would have all but disabled a less hardy man.
In 1958, Bob Serve played in 141 ball games in spite of a broken jaw, a broken toe, a bruised hand, a sprained knee, and a badly dented arm muscle.
He not only played, but he was the Athletics' outstanding star and one of the big guys in the American League.
He was in the batting race until the last ten days of the season and ended up with a respectable 3.05 average.
His 38 homers put him in fourth place, only four behind Mickey Mantle, who led the league.
He was also fourth in runs batted in with 104.
At one point, Bob Serve led the league in all three major batting departments.
He was so far ahead in home runs and RBIs at the time he broke his jaw in May, that it appeared he wouldn't be caught by anyone.
If he hadn't been hurt so often, Bob might have gone all the way.
Even in the best of health, Bob Serve didn't figure to be that good.
The Yankee cast off had been commuting between New York and their Kansas City farm when it was in the American Association for years.
The Yankees expecting him to develop into a stick out any minute weren't quite sure what to do with him.
They were reluctant to turn him loose because he was a powerful right-handed slugger who seemed to lack only experience.
When he still didn't develop, they let him go right after the 1956 World Series.
Bob Serve went to Kansas City, which for a Yankee was like going to Siberia.
The shift seemed to mark the end of the line for Serve.
He started off as if it were.
His 1957 season at Kansas City was pretty dreadful.
He reported there 20 pounds overweight, and the only thing he could reduce during the year was his batting average.
When the season ended, he was ready to quit. So were the Athletics.
Then came the transformation. No one is quite sure how it happened.
Even Bob Serve doesn't know. He cut his weight down and reported in shape, but he had always been in shape with the Yankees.
Perhaps he had a little more determination.
He might have figured this was his last chance, but that wasn't anything new either.
The year before had looked like his last chance too.
The only thing that's sure is that he caught fire all of a sudden, and once he got going, he didn't stop.
Bob Serve was the hottest thing in baseball during the first month of the 1958 season.
Right up to the time, he broke his jaw.
At that point, after 23 games, he had 11 homers, 30 runs batted in, and an average of 344.
Bob Serve broke his jaw trying to score from second base in the seventh inning of a night game against the Detroit Tigers in Kansas City.
As he neared the plate, he saw that the Tigers catcher Red Wilson was waiting for him with the ball.
Serve decided to try to knock it out of Wilson's hands by crashing into him.
He smashed his jaw against Wilson's bony shoulder, and he could feel something give.
He was not only stunned, but his jaw throbbed with pain.
The first thing he said when he saw manager Harry Kraft on the Athletics bench was, I think my jaw's busted.
He was right. It was broken in two places.
One week after the accident, Serve returned to action.
Bob lost weight, and his hitting fell off, but he became an inspiration to the whole team.
He became a take-charge guy without being able to talk.
During the month he played with his jaw wired, he smacked six homers, and batted in 21 runs.
By the time the braces were removed, he was still leading the league in homers and RBIs and had a batting average of.308.
Bob Serve started in left field in the 1958 All-Star game at Baltimore.
He had never been on the All-Star squad before.
He was not quite up to par since he hadn't completely recovered from his injuries.
He failed to distinguish himself, but at least he was among those present.
Happy Kansas City fans held a day for Bob Serve on July 22, 1958.
He was presented with an endless collection of gifts.
The affair was also characterized by the most distinguished gathering of notables ever to honor a ballplayer outside of New York or Washington,
including a former president of the United States, three governors, and six mayors.
Bob Serve was born in Weston, Nebraska, a small town about 30 miles from Lincoln, on May 5, 1926.
He went into the service after graduating from high school in 1943, and when he came out two and a half years later, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska.
Bob Serve played ball all through college, starting as a catcher, but shifting to the outfield his sophomore year.
After he graduated in the spring of 1950, Bob signed a contract with the New York Yankees for a $6,000 bonus
and joined the Kansas City Blues in the American Association.
The next six years were not the happiest ones for Bob Serve, as he battled for a regular job with the parent Yankees.
But to no avail, he was a two-platoon ballplayer, being used chiefly as a pinch hitter.
On August 25, 1956, Bob Serve's career underwent a drastic change, although he was unaware of it at the time.
It was on this date that the Yankees purchased anal slaughter from the Kansas City Athletics.
The A's were to get a player for slaughter at the end of the season. That player turned out to be Bob Serve.
When Serve had his bad year for the A's in 1957, many baseball men said that Bob had sat too many years on the Yankee bench,
and that his best days were behind him.
It was at this point that Bob Serve decided to try to do something to ensure his success in baseball.
First, he went on a diet and trimmed off 18 pounds. He worked hard all winter and got into the best shape of his career.
The rest is diamond history. The 1958 season saw him finish fourth in the voting for the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.
While Bob Serve at the Kansas City Athletics has shown brittle bones, there never has been any doubt about his heart.
He has been one of the gamest ever to play Major League Baseball.
Now, before you meet our special guest Bob Serve in person and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
here is a message of interest to all young men with an eye on the future.
Psychologists tell us that young people don't like to be left out of events in which their friends take part.
This is true of adults, too, and why not? When exciting things take place, everyone just naturally wants to be part of them.
Consider the dramatic advances now occurring in the space age.
Consider, too, the important role the Air Force is playing in this new age and will continue to play.
The fact is, the Air Force is the only service that has most of its men working on aircraft, missiles, and rockets, or in allied fields.
This means that for top space age training, the Air Force is way ahead.
And that's why so many forward-thinking young men are joining this great outfit.
They want the finest technical training, 30-day annual paid vacations, plus a full social life.
If you're interested in valuable training and a promising future, see your local Air Force recruiter.
He'll tell you all about the many Air Force opportunities now available.
And now, back to Harry Wismer.
Bob Serve, what was your greatest sports thrill?
I've had many great sports thrills. I guess I'd have to go back to 1955.
I was playing in the World Series at Edbitts Field. I was sitting on the bench in about the middle of the fifth or sixth inning.
I get a call from Case, go up my bat, and go up and take a couple pitches.
And I think it counts two strikes, one ball.
And then I hit the next pitch and up into the left field.
Bleachers at Edbitts Field.
And as I run around the field, I guess that would be my greatest thrill, hitting a home run, pinch home run in the World Series.
And I think at the time, I was the fifth one to do it.
Do you recall your first appearance at the plate in a Major League uniform?
Yes, I recall. It was back in 1951.
I was playing with Yankees. We were playing against Detroit Tigers.
And I think they were down seven to five and a couple men on.
And I pinched hit in the last of the ninth inning.
And I run the count to three, two, and I struck out. Dizzy Trout struck me out.
Bob, having come up with the Yankees, have you ever regretted being traded away by them?
No, I don't think I will ever regret being traded from the Yankees.
I was a wonderful organization.
But when I left the Yankees, it was giving me my chance to play.
And being with Kansas City, that's what I did. I got to play.
What are your feelings about the Yankee uniform doing something for a ballplayer?
I've heard that many times. They say, Don, a New York Yankee uniform, and they play better.
No, I don't say that. I will say one thing.
The Yankees train their men to be good ballplayers.
If you notice, they hardly ever trade for catchers, infielders, or outfielders.
They usually trade for pitching. Other than that, they're always real strong.
Bob, would you rather play every day in a second division ball club
or ride the bench as a member of the New York Yankees?
Well, that's easy to answer there. I would rather be on a second division club
and play every day. This way, someday, who knows?
I might be playing for the New York Yankees again.
Bob, when you injured your jaw in the 1958 season,
what was the toughest thing for you to do once the game got underway?
The toughest thing for me when my jaw was broken was, if I had to run any distance,
I had a real hard time breathing. My teeth were wired together,
and I had to breathe between my teeth. That was the toughest.
What did you do when protesting your call by the umpire?
Well, I could mumble at them, I guess. I don't think they could understand me.
I'd give them some glaring looks. That was about all.
Bob, how do you feel about the system of two platooning ballplayers?
Well, I see where there was always one manager that always platoon,
but I, after sitting around watching on the bench in New York,
I could always see his purpose. It seemed like he platooned the men early.
It wasn't really platooning. He was just giving men a rest
before they got too tired to do the team any good.
Bob, as a power hitter, how do you feel about the pitcher who brushes you back from the plate?
Well, I always say it's the pitcher's privilege.
They have to stop it some way. I mean, some Pia pitchers are a little rougher than the others,
but really it's a compliment to the hitter. If they're knocking you back, they respect you.
Thank you very much, Bob Serve, of the Kansas City Athletics, one of baseball's outstanding players.
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