Posted on 11/29/2010 8:28:42 PM PST by EveningStar
Gil McDougald, the Yankees’ versatile All-Star infielder who played on five World Series championship teams but was remembered as well for a single at-bat resulting in one of baseball’s most frightening moments, died Sunday at his home in Wall Township, N.J. He was 82.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
ping
From the Wikipedia article:
“On May 7, 1957, McDougald, batting against Herb Score of the Cleveland Indians, hit a line drive that hit Score in the eye. It caused Score to miss the rest of the 1957 and much of the 1958 season, and Score was never again the outstanding pitcher he had been up to that event. McDougald reportedly vowed at the time of the incident to retire if Score was blinded.”
I had never heard of this, though I had heard McDougald’s name. Thanks for the ping.
RIP.
I do know about this because I’m an old fart. McDougald, a fine player, was indeed haunted by the Herb Score experience. He very much wanted Score to recover. Sadly, Score never did.
I was just a kid, and they used to show Yankee games
on TV in New York City ,where I lived at the time...can you believe it?? ...free..
anyway, I still remember that play. I remember the ball
coming off the bat and hitting Score, and Score went down
very quickly. I knew Herb Score was a good
pitcher, and I thought he would make it back...but he never
did. It was a real tragedy.
I had forgotten that McDougald was the batter. And don’t recall that he made that pledge. Those were some Glory Days of Baseball.
Herb Score would have been one of the greatest pitchers of all time. My grandfather saw him pitch and he was a kid making dominant line ups like the New Yorks and Chicagos of that time look silly on the way to being a 20 plus game winner.
With that said.. McDougald had a broken heart over what happened and it is a shame. He was all class.
Thanks for the hustle and the character, Gil. Rest in peace.
When I was 7 or 8, back in the 60s, I got one of those books that they sold to kids for 50 cents or so through the Weekly Reader. It was called “Winners Never Quit” and it profiled about 10 sports stars who had overcome adversity. Score was one of the ones in the book. It talked about his effort to come back to play baseball, although it didn’t mention his diminished success.
McDougald was a favorite of my dad, a lifelong Yankees fan. RIP, Gil.
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