Posted on 03/20/2009 1:24:00 PM PDT by Mike Fieschko
PHOENIX -- Whitey Lockman, who doubled ahead of Bobby Thomson's "Shot Heard Round The World" that clinched the 1951 NL pennant, died Tuesday at the Mayo Clinic Hospital. He was 82.
Lockman told the New York Daily News last week that he was fighting pulmonary fibrosis.
Lockman's wife, Linda, told the Daily News on Thursday night that her husband's death was "very, very sudden."
Lockman was an outfielder and first baseman and played with the Giants from 1945 to 1958. His career, which ended in 1960, also included stints with the Cardinals, Orioles and Reds. He was a career .279 hitter with 114 home runs and was an All-Star in 1952.
"He died with a lot of dignity, and we're gonna get through this," Linda Lockman told the Daily News. "We just miss him so much."
He is perhaps remembered most for his role in the New York Giants' comeback against the Brooklyn Dodgers in Game 3 of their NL pennant tiebreaker playoff in 1951. New York, which trailed Brooklyn by 13 games before play on Aug. 12, forced the best-of-3 playoff and were tied at a game apiece going into the finale at the Polo Grounds.
Brooklyn led 4-1 in the ninth when singles by Alvin Dark and Don Mueller off Dodgers starter Don Newcombe put runners at the corners. After Monte Irvin fouled out, Lockman hit an RBI double just inside the left-field line that left two on for Thomson.
Ralph Branca relieved, and Thomson followed with a three-run homer to left, which became known as "The Shot Heard Round the World."
(Excerpt) Read more at sports.espn.go.com ...
Brooklyn leads it 4-2...Hartung down the line at third not taking any chances...Lockman with not too big of a lead at second, but he'll be runnin' like the wind if Thomson hits one... Branca throws ...
followed by the 1951 World Series.
THE GIANTS LOSE THE SERIES....THE GIANTS LOSE THE SERIES....THE GIANTS LOSE THE SERIES....THE GIANTS LOSE THE SERIES....THE GIANTS LOSE THE SERIES....
“He was a career .279 hitter with 114 home runs and was an All-Star in 1952.”
Today, those stats would earn him $2.5 million a year. Rest in peace.
RIP.
Whitey Lockman played first base in the first major league game I ever attended. Jansen and New York beat Spahn and Boston 4-1. (Click on the link above for Hodges call. I LOVE it!)
ML/NJ
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