R.I.P. Johnny Podres

[hudsonharden]

http://www.kmph.com/Global/story.asp?S=7619055&nav=menu612_4

Thoughts go out to his family and friends...

http://johnnypodres.com/db2/00128/johnnypodres.com/_uimages/web16.jpg

[Mattingly]

I just heard about this on the radio. He was the 1955 WS MVP.

My sincerest condolences are with his Beloved Family and Trusted Friends. R-I-P. :(

http://johnnypodres.com/db2/00128/johnnypodres.com/_uimages/web1.jpg

http://johnnypodres.com/db2/00128/johnnypodres.com/_uimages/9781600080333_L.jpg

https://www.gfg.com/cardimg/124/27690.jpg

Lefty Podres, who won Brooklyn only Series, dies at 75 (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=3195497)
GLENS FALLS, N.Y. -- Johnny Podres, who pitched the Brooklyn Dodgers to their only World Series title in 1955, died Sunday at the age of 75.

A spokesman for Glens Falls Hospital confirmed Podres' death but said he didn't know any details.

The left-hander pitched in four All-Star Games and was the first Most Valuable Player in World Series history. He became a hero to every baseball fan in Brooklyn when the Dodgers ended decades of frustration by beating the Yankees to win the World Series.

It was the first time a team had won a best-of-seven World Series after losing the first two games, and it was Brooklyn's only World Series victory. The Dodgers moved to Los Angeles after the 1957 season.

The Dodgers lost the first two games of at Yankee Stadium, then the Dodgers won the third 8-3 at Ebbets Field. Podres, going the distance on his 23rd birthday, scattered seven hits.

In the climactic seventh game, at Yankee Stadium, Podres shut out New York 2-0 on eight hits, relying on his fastball and a deceptive changeup.

Unlikely World Series Heroes (http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/10/21/unlikely.heroes/content.1.html)

http://i.a.cnn.net/si/multimedia/photo_gallery/2005/10/21/unlikely.heroes/Podres%20.jpg
Johnny Podres
Dodgers, 1955

Podres became a Brooklyn legend when he pitched the Dodgers to their first World Series title. Podres went 9-10 in the regular season before beating the crosstown Yankees in Game 3 and 7, the latter a 2-0 shutout at Yankee Stadium.

Text: Lonny Krasnow/SI.com
Photo: AP

http://www.brooklynpaper.com/assets/photos/30/18/30_18clonestickets_i.jpg
The Brooklyn Paper / Tom Callan
Johnny Podres greeted fans at
Keyspan Park on Sunday.

A nod to the Pod (http://www.brooklynpaper.com/stories/30/18/30_18clonestickets.html)
May 5, 2007

After shutting out the New York Yankees in Game Seven of the 1955 World Series — the clincher of the Brooklyn Dodgers’ first and only world’s championship — Johnny Podres was more popular in Brooklyn than the Cyclone, Coney Island, egg creams, and Nathan’s combined.

Two years later, the Dodgers’ owner took his team, with young pitchers like Podres and Sandy Koufax, to Los Angeles.

The Dodgers never came back, but Podres, 74, visits Brooklyn periodically, and he made his latest incursion on Sunday, greeting fans who were waiting on line at Keyspan Park to purchase individual game tickets for the Cyclones’ seventh season.

And the first fan on line was Wayne Armstrong, a gruntled postal worker from Brighton Beach.

“I’ve been a fan since the first season,” said Armstrong, who arrived on line on the sidewalk along Surf Avenue at 4 pm Saturday, 17 hours before the tickets finally went on sale.

“It got a little chilly at night,” added Armstrong, who brought a folding chair and a sleeping bag with him.

“I have Rudy [Giuliani] blood in me,” he said, admitting his allegiance to the Yankees, both Bronx and Staten Island variety.

Also on line early was Sea Gate resident Sy Golde, who grew up in Coney Island.

“I was a Giants fan, and I was surrounded by Dodger fans who gave me plenty of abuse,” said Golde as he waited to buy tickets for his sons and his grandchildren, all from New Jersey.

“Everyone thought I was crazy to root for the Giants, and I got lots of abuse from the Dodger fans, but it was all in fun.”

Johnny Podres also remembered fun.

“When I came up to the Dodgers, I was only 20 years old, and I stayed at the Bossert Hotel, just down the street from the Dodgers’ offices on Montague Street,” said Podres.

“I would go out to Coney Island all the time. I made sure I got on that first seat on the Cyclone. That was almost as big a thrill as beating the Yankees in the World Series.”

They also took advantage of their talents (while also benefitting from the era’s lack of celebrity culture).

“Tommy Lasorda and I came over [to Coney Island] one time to throw baseballs at those things [dolls on sticks],” said the left-hander.

“We knocked down so many that they found out we were Dodger pitchers, and they wouldn’t let us play any more. [But by then], we’d won so many of those stuffed animals that we took them to Ebbets Field and sold ’em at the ballpark.”

Fifty years after the Brooklyn Dodgers’ last season, baseball enthusiasm in the borough is stronger than ever, albeit in a minor (league) key.

But on a day when Johnny Podres returned to Brooklyn, when hundreds of people lined up for Class A baseball tickets, when the mood was overjoyed that the Cyclones’ original manager, Edgar Alfonzo, is back as skipper, could anyone be blamed for dreaming of a 2007 New York–Penn League championship?

Link (http://www.skiltech.com/phillies-minors/batavia98.html) (scroll down, please)
http://www.skiltech.com/phillies-minors/images/hilespods.jpg
Because Batavia lives near the bottom of the player development chain, the Phillies brass often come to visit. The week I was there, pitching/coaching legend Johnny Podres was in residence. Few of the guys on Batavia's roster really knew who Pods was, but one - Cary Hiles - asked me if I'd take a picture of him with Podres as a gift for his father.

[Los Bravos]

I'm very sorry to hear this.

In addition to being a fine pitcher during his time, he was an excellent pitching coach, by all accounts willing to teach a changeup to pretty much anyone who asked. He turned more than a few underachievers into solid Major Leaguers. I honestly feel that Schilling owes the later, successful part his career to him.

[metrotheme]

I met Podres at the above referenced Cyclones ticket launch promotion in 2007. He signed a few items for me (including a ball w/ 1955 WS MVP) and took a picture. A very nice man who seemed happy to be interacting with the fans. I met him 10 years prior and he hadn't lost a step. RIP to another Dodger great.

[DODGER DEB]

My thanks to hudsonharden and Mattingly for initially posting this very sad news.

Here is Bill Madden of the NY Daily News this morning, on Johnny's passing....

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/01/14/2008-01-14_johnny_podres_dead_at_75.html

This is a very very sad day for all BROOKLYN DODGER FANS. They seem to be coming more and more, and closer and closer together now...and that is very hard to take.

Even after a few heart attacks and open heart surgery, he just wouldn't stop with those damn cigarettes. Those of us who knew him were forever in his face about stopping the smoking, which his doctors warned him would kill him. He was so addicted that he couldn't stop.....he just kept saying that he was "cutting down".

WE will always be forever grateful to JOHNNY for giving US 1955 and OUR World Championship. HE made US so, so proud! HE will always be OUR HERO!

Love ya, Point!

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Here is the NY Times, on JOHNNY's passing.....

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/14/sports/14podresx.html?ex=1200978000&en=0dd6971f3db162ad&ei=5070

c.

[DODGER DEB]

What makes JOHNNY's passing ever sadder is the fact that his 96 year old Mom passed away just a few weeks ago.

I am sure this weighed on him.

c.

[Mattingly]

Very nice hearing about your very loving care for Johnny Podres, Dodger Deb. You truly treated him like the very special person that he obviously was.

I guess the sad news just awoke me as I had the radio on, but we can all be one in wishing condolences to a baseball star who sadly is no longer amongst us. May he and his memories forever be cherished and held to the heart.

BTW, was "Point" his nickname?

R-I-P :(

[AutographCollector]

Such sad news. A respected ball player, and a fan favorite. RIP Mr Podres. :(

[KHenry14]

Obviously, a terrible loss for his family and the greater Brooklyn Dodger community.

On the baseball side of things, his game 7 performance in 1955 was truly one of the greatest games every pitched. The pressure that he was under must have been enormous, yet he didn't let it bother him one bit. I mean he knew about all the close calls, he knew how much the guys behind him had suffered, and he knew that he was facing a great team, yet it didn't bother him at all. Remarkable is the only word that comes to mind.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

That is very sad news. I just got home from work and read it.

Can someone tell me how many memebers of the 1955 championship team are left now?

I am with you guys and the family with my thoughts.

[Ralph Zig Tyko]

Johnny Podres was not only a tremendous pitcher, but later in his career one of the most respected pitching coaches in the game.
RIP

[Spirit of '55]

Friends:

My condolences first of all to Johnny's family and then to the extended Brooklyn Dodger family that is us. I'm truly saddened.

My family and I were watching Johnny pitch Game 7 yesterday afternoon, courtesy of THE BROOKLYN DODGERS---AN AMERICAN TREASURE. What a moment in time. It's somehow comforting to think that we were honoring John's life, even though we didn't yet know he had passed. He gave so much to Brooklyn.

He will be missed.

:homeplate:

[Todd Anderson]

How sad. Time marches on, leaving us with fewer and fewer of the greats. I get heartsick every time I read about the passing of players like Johnny Podres. What a gift he and the other immortal Dodgers left behind—tremendous memories!

[D6+]

My thoughts and prayers go out to the family, friends, and former teammates of Johnny Podres.

[kramer_47]

I'm very saddened by the passing of another of our great heroes of the 1950's Brooklyn Dodgers. I had the privilege of meeting Johnny at his first autograph show in Brooklyn in 1988 and a few times after that in Phillies spring training. It is ashame that he ended being a coach for the Phillies and not the Dodgers. Cal Abrams told me the reason Johnny wasn't at least a spring traing coach for the Dodgers, back in the late 1980's they only offered Johnny $60 a week plus room and board to coach for them in spring training.
Johnny just couldn't afford to do it for that little money, a few years later he wounded up being the pitching coach on the Phillies and they went to the World Series in 1993 with Johnny as pitching coach. He had health problems over the years and when he retired he became one of their spring training coaches until about 2-3 years ago when left baseball completely.

[DODGER DEB]

Very nice hearing about your very loving care for Johnny Podres, Dodger Deb. You truly treated him like the very special person that he obviously was.

I guess the sad news just awoke me as I had the radio on, but we can all be one in wishing condolences to a baseball star who sadly is no longer amongst us. May he and his memories forever be cherished and held to the heart.

BTW, was "Point" his nickname?

R-I-P :(

Indeed it was, Matt.

Someone on OUR team made the observation that his head came to point, and jokingly started to call him that...and it stuck!

c.

[Spirit of '55]

Friends:

Does anyone know of contact info for Johnny's family to send condolences directly?

:homeplate:

[AutographCollector]

Can someone tell me how many memebers of the 1955 championship team are left now?
Only nine players remain with us from the 1955 WS club.

Bob Borkowski
Roger Craig
Carl Erskine
Tommy Lasorda
Billy Loes
Don Newcombe
Ed Roebuck
George "Shotgun" Shuba
Don Zimmer

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Only nine players remain with us from the 1955 WS club.

Bob Borkowski
Roger Craig
Carl Erskine
Tommy Lasorda
Billy Loes
Don Newcombe
Ed Roebuck
George "Shotgun" Shuba
Don Zimmer

Thank you AutographCollector.

[crzblue]

Originally Posted by AutographCollector
Only nine players remain with us from the 1955 WS club.

Bob Borkowski
Roger Craig
Carl Erskine
Tommy Lasorda
Billy Loes
Don Newcombe
Ed Roebuck
George "Shotgun" Shuba
Don Zimmer

Duke Snider still with us. He was coaching and talking to the Dodger minor leaguers at Dodger Stadium last week.

R.I.P. Johnny Podres.

[Iron Jaw]

Duke Snider still with us. He was coaching and talking to the Dodger minor leaguers at Dodger Stadium last week.

R.I.P. Johnny Podres.

As is Sandy Koufax - he pitched in 12 games as a rookie that season.

[Iron Jaw]

I remember when Johnny Podres attempted a comeback with the Padres in 1969. He opened the season in the starting rotation, but was unable to complete the season because of injuries. In all, he pitched in 17 games, nine starts with one CG, was 5-6 (pretty good for that team) and had a 4.31 ERA.

[DODGER DEB]

Only nine players remain with us from the 1955 WS club.

Bob Borkowski
Roger Craig
Carl Erskine
Tommy Lasorda
Billy Loes
Don Newcombe
Ed Roebuck
George "Shotgun" Shuba
Don Zimmer

Let's keep the record straight. LaSorda was NOT a member of OUR 1955 World Championship team! But, of course, Duke Snider and Sandy Koufax were!

c.

[AutographCollector]

Let's keep the record straight. LaSorda was NOT a member of OUR 1955 World Championship team! But, of course, Duke Snider and Sandy Koufax were!

c.

I got the info from sportscollectors.net. Complain over there if it is wrong.

[Spirit of '55]

Friends:

Every statistics site I visited furnishes stats and DOES list Lasorda as a 1955 Brooklyn Dodger. He was not a member of any official lineup, though, and he was sent back down to the Minors in very short order that year. Basically a guy who came up and went back down pronto.

Lest we forget, the New Kid, Sandy Koufax wasn't in the team picture that year, but he's considered a teammate. Emotions aside, I think we need to count El Gordo in, even though his Dodger days were spent primarily with the Left Coast Imposters. Sorry, but fair is fair.

Does anyone know of any more One Inning Wunderkinden who played either that year or any other? :homeplate:

[zahavasdad]

On May 5, 1955 Tom Lasorda pitched 3 Wild Pitches in one inning and was demoted to let Sandy Koufax on the Roster.

He was a member if the 1955 Dodgers in Physical Presence not just spirit

[Spirit of '55]

Friends:

Wild or not, they were pitches. Elsewhere, I see Lasorda described as a "fringe" player. That's okay. Just as long as those fringes are colored Brooklyn Dodger Blue. :homeplate:

[zahavasdad]

I stand slightly corrected, Lasorda Pitched 4 Games in 1955 and started one with an ERA of 13.50. No decisions.

He pitched 4 innings and gave up 6 runs

[EveningStar]

I did not become a baseball fan and Dodger fan until 1962, so I missed the Dodgers' glory years in Brooklyn. Of course being a Dodger fan, I did read about those years.

Podres was still a fine pitcher when he was in LA. In fact, he was the pitcher in the very first major league game I ever attended (1963). He pitched a 7 hit shutout against the Pirates. Here is the box score:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196307230.shtml

He also had a fine game against the Yankees in the series that year:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/NYA/NYA196310030.shtml

Johnny was a clutch pitcher. Also, he had one of the best change-ups around and probably the best on the Dodger squad.

During his LA years, he also struck out 8 consecutive batters in a game - tying the then modern MLB mark:
http://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/LAN/LAN196207021.shtml

[DODGER DEB]

Friends:

Every statistics site I visited furnishes stats and DOES list Lasorda as a 1955 Brooklyn Dodger. He was not a member of any official lineup, though, and he was sent back down to the Minors in very short order that year. Basically a guy who came up and went back down pronto.

Lest we forget, the New Kid, Sandy Koufax wasn't in the team picture that year, but he's considered a teammate. Emotions aside, I think we need to count El Gordo in, even though his Dodger days were spent primarily with the Left Coast Imposters. Sorry, but fair is fair.

Does anyone know of any more One Inning Wunderkinden who played either that year or any other? :homeplate:

I do not want to get into this discussion about LaSorda's very limited time as a BROOKLYN DODGER.....at least not on this thread about JOHNNY's passing. Just let me add, that I did not say he wasn't very briefly on OUR Team in 1955, I said he wasn't on OUR World Championship Team....which he was NOT!

Let's keep this thread only about OUR HERO, JOHNNY PODRES!

Thanks.

c.

[The Real McCoy]

Actually, LaSorda's meager MLB record, as a player, included four games with the '55 Dodgers: four innings pitched with an ERA of 13.50. It is a classic example of being ON a team but never OF that team.

Mr. LaSorda's baseball association is, appropriately, with that lamentable organization on the West Coast and that's as it should be. They truly deserve each other.

Further, any mention of LaSorda on this particular thread is, to me, a violation of resprect and good taste bordering of the sacrilegious and any and all such references, including this one, should be, forthwith, stricken.

[DODGER DEB]

Actually, LaSorda's meager MLB record, as a player, included four games with the '55 Dodgers: four innings pitched with an ERA of 13.50. It is a classic example of being ON a team but never OF that team.

Mr. LaSorda's baseball association is, appropriately, with that lamentable organization on the West Coast and that's as it should be. They truly deserve each other.

Further, any mention of LaSorda on this particular thread is, to me, a violation of resprect and good taste bordering of the sacrilegious and any and all such references, including this one, should be, forthwith, stricken.


Exactly! Thank you, Judge McCoy, for stating the obvious!

c.

[metfan13]

Let's keep the record straight. LaSorda was NOT a member of OUR 1955 World Championship team! But, of course, Duke Snider and Sandy Koufax were!

c.

True, but he is one of 12 living members of the 1955 Dodgers.

[zahavasdad]

Not trying to hijack this thread but

Why is Lasorda NOT a member of the 1955 Dodgers but Koufax is?

[DODGER DEB]

True, but he is one of 12 living members of the 1955 Dodgers.

Can I ask, once again, that EVERYONE honor my request to keep this thread on topic, that of JOHNNY PODRES' passing.

If you want to discuss anything else, you are welcome to start a NEW thread on that subject.

Once again, I would appreciate the cooperation all members.

Thanks.

c.

[metfan13]

Not trying to hijack this thread but

Why is Lasorda NOT a member of the 1955 Dodgers but Koufax is?

Maybe move this to another thread? It might have to do with who was on the post season roster? But I guess we're not to discuss it here.

[DODGER DEB]

Maybe move this to another thread? It might have to do with who was on the post season roster? But I guess we're not to discuss it here.

Thank you!

c.

[DODGER DEB]

This link is from an Albany, NY TV station. Included in the link is a video clip from OUR MOMENT IN TIME.....Tuesday, October 4, 1955 at 3:43PM. For those of you who were not there, this is what it looked like.

It was truly JOHNNY PODRES at his best! OUR HERO!!!!

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/?SecID=1&ArID=229531

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, sitting there is Yankee Stadium that wonderful day!

c.

[Spirit of '55]

Friends (& c.):

In baseball, there are KVETCHERS and then there are PITCHERS . . .

Properly speaking, the name of La Gorda should NEVER have appeared in this thread honoring our Johnny "Just Give Me One Run" Podres, an historic member of a truly historic team.

Mea culpa.

:homeplate:

P.S.: Does anyone know where Johnny was assigned during his time in the Navy?

[DODGER DEB]

USA Today had this....

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/baseball/2008-01-14-podres-obit_N.htm

c.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

This link is from an Albany, NY TV station. Included in the link is a video clip from OUR MOMENT IN TIME.....Tuesday, October 4, 1955 at 3:43PM. For those of you who were not there, this is what it looked like.

It was truly JOHNNY PODRES at his best! OUR HERO!!!!

http://www.capitalnews9.com/content/top_stories/?SecID=1&ArID=229531

I hope you enjoy it as much as I did, sitting there is Yankee Stadium that wonderful day!

c.

Nice to see these historic shots. Am I the only one that could not hear the sound?

BTW. Nice commercial in front. Typical Dutch name: DeNooyer (De Nooijer).:happy:

[Spirit of '55]

Friends:

YouTube has a fine video of Dodger highlights from the '55 Series, including, of course, Johnny.

They also have highlights of the '52 Series as seen by a Yankee fan who says something tasteless like, "The Yanks beat the Dodgers . . . Grinding their face in the dirt."

Er, not quite. That would be a SWEEP, not a SEVEN GAME Series, kid.

Just to set the record straight. :gt:

:homeplate:

[shlevine42]

I’ve never been star-struck by celebrities. Well, almost never.

The only time I was at a loss for words was when I found myself seated next to a white-haired Jackie Robinson at a Chock-Full O’Nuts counter in New York in the early 60s.

I was older and more mature when I first met Johnny Podres.

It was 1986, and the hero of the '55 Series was my coach at Dodger Fantasy Camp in Vero Beach. I found him to be funny, irreverent and very real. He was also very approachable, perhaps because I was one of the few Brooklyn fans at the camp (the others were from LA). He was also quite profane, but in a charming, non-offensive way…quite unlike the vicious and crude Lasorda, who seemed to delight in insulting everyone.

John was 54 that year, and seemed to be in good shape. But all week long, he was constantly sneaking off for a cigarette.

I saw him next almost 20 years later at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in Manhattan, where some members of this Forum had gathered to discuss plans for a 50th Anniversary celebration of our World Series victory. Again, Johnny was charming and funny, (and still smoking!). I remember thinking that what we have here is a 23-year-old child trapped in the body of a 60-year-old man.

The last time I saw him was in November of 2005, at the dedication of the Robinson/Reese statue at Keyspan Park in Coney Island. He looked somewhat drawn and tired, and was not the Podres I had come to know. I remember being impressed that Johnny, who lived in upstate New York, had managed to come all the way to Brooklyn for the ceremony; I think he was the only former Dodger to do so.

Roy Campanella once said that in order to play baseball, you had to have a little boy in you.

Johnny Podres seemed to be the eternal little boy, and it’s altogether fitting that at 3:43 pm on the afternoon of October 4th, 1955, he experienced the kind of delirious excitement that little boys dream of.

It’s nice to know that the man who gave Brooklyn its most joyous moment carried that memory with him to the end.

[Old Sweater]

RIP Johnny.

[DODGER DEB]

I’ve never been star-struck by celebrities. Well, almost never.

The only time I was at a loss for words was when I found myself seated next to a white-haired Jackie Robinson at a Chock-Full O’Nuts counter in New York in the early 60s.

I was older and more mature when I first met Johnny Podres.

It was 1986, and the hero of the '55 Series was my coach at Dodger Fantasy Camp in Vero Beach. I found him to be funny, irreverent and very real. He was also very approachable, perhaps because I was one of the few Brooklyn fans at the camp (the others were from LA). He was also quite profane, but in a charming, non-offensive way…quite unlike the vicious and crude Lasorda, who seemed to delight in insulting everyone.

John was 54 that year, and seemed to be in good shape. But all week long, he was constantly sneaking off for a cigarette.

I saw him next about 9 years later at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in Manhattan, where some members of this Forum had gathered to discuss plans for a 50th Anniversary celebration of our World Series victory. Again, Johnny was charming and funny, (and still smoking!). I remember thinking that what we have here is a 23-year-old child trapped in the body of a 60-year-old man.

The last time I saw him was in November of 2005, at the dedication of the Robinson/Reese statue at Keyspan Park in Coney Island. He looked somewhat drawn and tired, and was not the Podres I had come to know. I remember being impressed that Johnny, who lived in upstate New York, had managed to come all the way to Brooklyn for the ceremony; I think he was the only former Dodger to do so.

Roy Campanella once said that in order to play baseball, you had to have a little boy in you.

Johnny Podres seemed to be the eternal little boy, and it’s altogether fitting that at 3:43 pm on the afternoon of October 4th, 1955, he experienced the kind of delirious excitement that little boys dream of.

It’s nice to know that the man who gave Brooklyn its most joyous moment carried that memory with him to the end.

As always, shlevine, your style and expression "say it all".

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Johnny's wake will be held today from 4-8PM in Queensbury, NY.

The funeral will be on Thursday at 12 Noon in Port Henry, a small town near Witherbee, NY, where Johnny was born.

c.

[Mattingly]

I’ve never been star-struck by celebrities. Well, almost never.

The only time I was at a loss for words was when I found myself seated next to a white-haired Jackie Robinson at a Chock-Full O’Nuts counter in New York in the early 60s.

I was older and more mature when I first met Johnny Podres.

It was 1986, and the hero of the '55 Series was my coach at Dodger Fantasy Camp in Vero Beach. I found him to be funny, irreverent and very real. He was also very approachable, perhaps because I was one of the few Brooklyn fans at the camp (the others were from LA). He was also quite profane, but in a charming, non-offensive way…quite unlike the vicious and crude Lasorda, who seemed to delight in insulting everyone.

John was 54 that year, and seemed to be in good shape. But all week long, he was constantly sneaking off for a cigarette.

I saw him next almost 20 years later at Mickey Mantle’s restaurant in Manhattan, where some members of this Forum had gathered to discuss plans for a 50th Anniversary celebration of our World Series victory. Again, Johnny was charming and funny, (and still smoking!). I remember thinking that what we have here is a 23-year-old child trapped in the body of a 60-year-old man.

The last time I saw him was in November of 2005, at the dedication of the Robinson/Reese statue at Keyspan Park in Coney Island. He looked somewhat drawn and tired, and was not the Podres I had come to know. I remember being impressed that Johnny, who lived in upstate New York, had managed to come all the way to Brooklyn for the ceremony; I think he was the only former Dodger to do so.

Roy Campanella once said that in order to play baseball, you had to have a little boy in you.

Johnny Podres seemed to be the eternal little boy, and it’s altogether fitting that at 3:43 pm on the afternoon of October 4th, 1955, he experienced the kind of delirious excitement that little boys dream of.

It’s nice to know that the man who gave Brooklyn its most joyous moment carried that memory with him to the end.
I echo the wise and kind words of Dodger Deb. Those are very wonderful words to hear from your life experience following baseball. I cannot remember as many quality words about looking back at the illustrous and celebrated players from the past in such an enlightening manner.

Thank you once again for your written artistry on baseball's wonderful past and the men who made those memorable moments possible. :)

[DODGER DEB]

This, from the Post-Star, in his hometown area......


Johnny Podres stood on top of the world

By KEN TINGLEY
tingley@poststar.com
Monday, January 14, 2008 6:29 PM EST


GLENS FALLS — There are so few of us who ever get to dance with the gods — even just for a few minutes — but Johnny Podres was that exception.

Podres, who died Sunday evening at Glens Falls Hospital, delivered "next year" for long-suffering Brooklyn Dodgers fans when he shut out the mighty New York Yankees in a historic Game 7 in 1955.

At the age of 23, his place in history was secure.

He won two World Series games that year and was named Sports Illustrated’s first-ever Sportsman of the Year. His Game 7 victory was worthy of five minutes of commentary on Ken Burns’ acclaimed documentary, "Baseball."

Although he would play 15 years in the big leagues and win 148 games, it never would get any better than that October day in the Bronx when Podres stood on top of the world.

Not bad for small-time boy from Witherbee who made it out of the mines and all the way to a five-decade career in Major League Baseball before retiring in Queensbury.

"He said, ‘I would not change one moment of my life,’ " said his wife of 41 years, Joan Podres. "He was a gem out of Mineville."

Podres had been in declining health for the past two months. He had survived four heart bypasses over the past 20 years and his legs began failing him.

It was a combination of a failing heart and failing kidneys that led doctors to recommend dialysis two weeks ago to go along with repeated blood transfusions.

Over the weekend, his leg became infected, and antibiotics failed to improve the condition. Joan Podres took John to the hospital on Saturday evening, where his condition continued to deteriorate. Doctors recommended amputating his leg to save his life, and surgery was performed on Sunday.

"His heart finally gave out," said his son, John Podres Jr.

John Podres Sr. died at 6:30 p.m. Sunday. He was 75 and is survived by his wife, Joan, sons John Jr. and Joseph and two brothers, Tom and Walter.

While Podres made his living for most of his life in Major League Baseball, he never strayed far from his roots in the North County.

Gruff, raw, old school and baseball savvy, they don’t make them like Podres anymore.

He grew up in the mine towns outside Port Henry and made it to the big leagues when there were just eight teams in each league.

Podres often lamented how much that historic Game 7 victory against the Yankees would have been worth in today’s dollars. How many millions he might have been able to sign for after that win.

Still, he had a good playing career, finishing with a 148-116 record.

When he was done with his career, he passed on his knowledge to the next generation as pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox, Minnesota Twins and Philadelphia Phillies, where he helped developed star major leaguers such as Frank Viola and Curt Schilling, the Boston Red Sox ace right-hander.

"Outside of the Lord, my wife and my father, there was no person who impacted my life more than Johnny Podres," Schilling wrote Monday on his blog, 38 pitches.com. "A true man’s man if there ever was one. As I enter the final year of my major league career and baseball life I can only hope that when it’s all over the body of work will be something Johnny would be proud of."

In 1996, Philadelphia baseball writer Jason Stark called him "the true pitching magician for the age."

That was the year he retired from baseball for good after doctor’s orders forced him to the bench. He would have rather been in uniform.

He loved horse racing and often could be found at Saratoga or OTB.

He regularly communicated with his old Brooklyn teammates Don Zimmer and Al Ferrara.

But nothing in his life would ever measure up to that afternoon in Yankees Stadium on Oct. 4, 1955, when baseball’s world championship came down to a one-game World Series showdown between the New York Yankees and the Brooklyn Dodgers.

"Pitch as hard as you can as long as you can," his Hall of Fame manager Walter Alston told him that day.

It had been a frustrating year for Podres. He had been injured for most of the summer and had won 9 games and lost 10.

"How do you win the seventh game of the World Series?" Podres replied to a question over breakfast in Montreal in 1995. "Maybe you get lucky."

Maybe you also have a great fastball and a change-up that no one — not Phil Rizzuto, not Yogi Berra, not Billy Martin — could figure out.

While warming up in the bullpen that day, Podres told The Post-Star, catcher Dixie Howell told him, "Your fastball is alive today. It’s hopping. Make sure you use it."

In the stands that day was Podres’ father, Joseph, and his uncles, Steve Podres and Tony Glebus, who had all driven down from Witherbee for the game.

The Dodgers got one run in the fourth and another in the sixth, and Podres kept getting out of jams.

Late in the game, Alston made a key defensive move. He shifted left fielder Jim Gilliam to second base and inserted Sandy Amoros into left field.

Podres walked Martin to lead off the sixth, then Gil McDougald had a bunt single to bring up the dangerous Berra with one out.

Berra sliced a long fly ball down the left field line. Amoros chased it into the corner, where he stuck out his glove to make the catch. He fired in to Pee Wee Reese, who relayed the ball to Gil Hodges at first base for the double play to end the threat and set the stage for Podres.

It wasn’t long before Podres was jumping into the arms of catcher Roy Campanella, and the Dodgers were celebrating their only World Championship in Brooklyn.

Podres, who usually went home right after the season, stayed in Brooklyn for the next couple of months.

He was introduced in the audience of the Ed Sullivan show, appeared as a guest on the TV show "What’s My Line," did an appearance on the "Steve Allen Show" and appeared with Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider on the "Today" show, hosted by Dave Garroway.

"What a great life that was that winter," Podres told The Post-Star in 1995. "I was a big deal."

It took a long time for Podres to understand the true significance of that game to Brooklyn fans.

"I never even thought about it, that this was special," Podres said in 1995. "I won the game. I didn’t even know how special it was. I had a Brooklyn Dodgers uniform on that day and I was the pitcher and I won it on a great catch.

"It’s 40 years ago, and they still talk about in Brooklyn. Even though the Brooklyn Dodgers are gone, there are still people over in Brooklyn who keep the Brooklyn Dodgers alive. It’s amazing."

On Monday morning, writer Bill Madden reported on Podres’ death on the New York Daily News Web site. Immediately after the story was a posting from a fan:

"May god bless Johnny Podres, who brought joy to every Brooklynite that day when those bums won for the first and only time. Thank you, Johnny Podres, for helping to bring a World Championship to the garden spot of the world — Brooklyn, U.S.A. Thank you."

c.

[DODGER DEB]

Friends (& c.):

In baseball, there are KVETCHERS and then there are PITCHERS . . .

Properly speaking, the name of La Gorda should NEVER have appeared in this thread honoring our Johnny "Just Give Me One Run" Podres, an historic member of a truly historic team.

Mea culpa.

:homeplate:

P.S.: Does anyone know where Johnny was assigned during his time in the Navy?

To answer your question, Spirit of "55"..... JOHNNY was drafted after the 1955 World Series and spent most of his time, in 1956, in the US NAVY at the Bainbridge Naval Training Station, in Maryland. He aggravated his bad back in boot camp and spent some time in the hospital there, after which they told him to go relax at the beach. When he was feeling better they asked him to play baseball, which he did; first for Bainbridge, and then for the Norfolk Naval Base team. BTW, he won 14 games for navy teams, and lost but one.

c.

[Mattingly]

[/B]

To answer your question, Spirit of "55"..... JOHNNY was drafted after the 1955 World Series and spent most of his time, in 1956, in the US NAVY at the Bainbridge Naval Training Station, in Maryland. He aggravated his bad back in boot camp and spent some time in the hospital there, after which they told him to go relax at the beach. When he was feeling better they asked him to play baseball, which he did; first for Bainbridge, and then for the Norfolk Naval Base team. BTW, he won 14 games for navy teams, and lost but one.

c.
I'm astounded (and incredibly jealous). How in the world did you get that information? Can you please let me in on your secrets? :D

[DODGER DEB]

Yesterday, at Port Henry NY! Saying farewell to OUR HERO....

http://www.poststar.com/articles/2008/01/18/news/local/13264880.prt

Standing ovation......:applaud::applaud::applaud::applaud:

c.

[Mattingly]

That was a very nice sendoff to Podres. He obviously cared very deeply about his pitchers as a coach, he was there for them and told them basically never to give up.

I'm still curious about how he'd affected Schilling, since I'd only known Clemens to have helped Schilling when he'd given the younger pitcher some advice on working out to keep himself in shape.

When many people can't say a bad thing about you and you're quite well-known, I believe that says something about the qualify of life that Johnny Podres had lived.

May he forever rest very peacefully in the hearts and soul of fans in Brooklyn, Philly and elsewhere.

R-I-P :(

[DODGER DEB]

That was a very nice sendoff to Podres. He obviously cared very deeply about his pitchers as a coach, he was there for them and told them basically never to give up.

I'm still curious about how he'd affected Schilling, since I'd only known Clemens to have helped Schilling when he'd given the younger pitcher some advice on working out to keep himself in shape.

When many people can't say a bad thing about you and you're quite well-known, I believe that says something about the qualify of life that Johnny Podres had lived.

May he forever rest very peacefully in the hearts and soul of fans in Brooklyn, Philly and elsewhere.

R-I-P :(

Perhaps this piece from the Times Union will shed a more light on Curt Schilling's praise, feelings and respect for JOHNNY......

http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=655220&Category=SPORTS&LinkFrom=RSS&TextPage=1

c.

[jC...]

I grew up in the little town he is from. Unfortunatly I couldn't make it to the funeral. What a great guy he was. The last time a saw him was about 5 or 6 years ago and I passed him about 9:00pm on a Monday night on the way home from bowling. Well I took a detour to the local bar and he was about 5 minutes behind me. He had a couple and watched Monday Night Football and talked for a bit. My family has alot of memorobilia from him that we cherish...old practice jerseys and balls stuff like that. One more little story. When I was in high school my senior year about 10 years ago we did a coin drop to pay for the lights at our football field. Here came his Green Cadillac and dropped $100 into our bucket. R.I.P. John.

[BayRidgeBrooklyn]

I believe that right now Johnny Podres is laughing it up with his Brooklyn teamates.

I also believe that Johnny might wish to tell each of you wonderful people the glorious news that he didn't die, he merely changed addresses.

And so will you.

[donzblock]

I believe that right now Johnny Podres is laughing it up with his Brooklyn teamates.

I also believe that Johnny might wish to tell each of you wonderful people the glorious news that he didn't die, he merely changed addresses.

And so will you.
Nope. This type of address change precludes laughing. No matter how I view Johnny's death, it is not glorious. It is terribly sad, it leaves a permanent emptiness, and Johnny will never be wishing anybody anything any more.

[DODGER DEB]

This is a terrific interview that Bill Gallo did with JOHNNY on February 20, 1997.

It was JOHNNY to his core.....

Johnny on the Spot

By Bill Gallo
Published: February 20, 1997

He doesn't remember much from that night at the Bossert Hotel, except that someone kept refilling his glass with champagne, and he could see from the windows that the whole length of Montague Street was clogged with delirious people. "We had to take turns going outside and waving to them," he remembers. "People were clapping us on the back and shouting. There was one old guy there who kept telling me over and over that he had been waiting for this since 1916. But a lot of it was a blur."

Two or three weeks later, when the blur was starting to pass, it dawned on him what had really happened. "I was deer hunting in the Adirondacks, walking in the woods by myself, when it was like a light came on. It was real quiet. I suddenly stopped, right there in the rustling leaves, and I said to myself: 'Podres, you beat the Yankees in the World Series.'"

That was 41 years ago. On the afternoon of October 4, 1955, John Joseph Podres, the son of an upstate New York iron miner, pitched a complete-game, 2-0 shutout against the mighty New York Yankees that gave the beleaguered Brooklyn Dodgers their first and only world championship. It was a seventh game remembered years afterward, in the saloons of Brooklyn and on the back porches of the Bronx, for Sandy Amoros's spectacular sixth-inning catch of a slicing Yogi Berra liner down the left field line that saved the day and the Series for the Dodgers.

Podres says he can still see the ball dropping miraculously into Amoros's glove ("Junior Gilliam probably wouldn't have caught it, because he was a righty, and he'd have had to backhand it"), can see Amoros's relay peg to the infield and shortstop Pee Wee Reese's throw to first base, doubling off Gil McDougald. But Podres has another memory, just as vivid. In that one, as late-afternoon shadows spread over the infield at Yankee Stadium, Elston Howard swings at Podres's tantalizing change-up and grounds the ball to Reese. Pee Wee scoops it, zips the ball over to Gil Hodges at first base, and the game is over. A change-up. It is the only time in nine innings that Podres has shaken off a sign from catcher Roy Campanella.

Four days after his 23rd birthday, Johnny Podres had finally fulfilled Brooklyn's long-held dream. Because he also prevailed 8-3 in game three and had given up just one earned run into two complete-game wins against the Yanks, he won the Series MVP award and the new Corvette. His father hugged him and cried in the Dodgers clubhouse. "That wasn't an easy thing for a man like him to do," Podres remembers. October 4, 1955. The young left-hander was immediately summoned to be a guest on the Steve Allen Show. Then he joined his teammates amid the happy throngs at the Bossert Hotel, his named emblazoned in legend.

John Podres is 64 now. The famous blue eyes still sparkle, and at 190 pounds, he's barely an ounce over his playing weight in the later stages of his fifteen-year big-league career. "I don't have any double chins," he calls out to a fan. "You have the double chin?"

Podres spent last Saturday afternoon in the stuffy upper room of a Veterans of Foreign Wars hall on West Colfax Avenue, signing baseballs and old eight-by-ten glossies and caps and shirts. The occasion was something called Superstar Collectors Show No. 28, presented by an outfit called Joy Enterprises--and between 1 and 4 p.m., the old lefty put his signature to maybe 200 items ("Johnny Podres, '55 WS MVP"--in bright-blue ink) and made small talk with fans and collectors.

"I don't do this very often," he explained later, "but it's amazing what some of the people remember, what they make you remember. And once in a while somebody will bring up a picture you haven't seen before."

In one of those, the young Johnny Podres has just thrown a pitch. Twenty-one years old, five-foot-eleven, 170 pounds, he is a rather startling addition to a 1953 Brooklyn pitching staff that already includes Don Newcombe, Carl Erskine, Clem Labine and Billy Loes. In the picture, he stands splay-legged in billowing white flannels, left hand crossed over his body in the direction of his right knee, with his leather-gloved right hand laid palm outward across the small of his back. Beneath the big white "B" on his cap, we see a raw, intense, big-eyed face bisected by a broad, powerful nose. There isn't a crease of age or apparent worry around the eyes, or a line of worry in the brow.

On Saturday afternoon Johnny Podres stared at the old photo for a startled moment, as if it were the image of an old friend he'd half forgotten, someone he once knew long ago. He autographed it with a flourish of blue ink and started to hand it back to its silver-haired owner. Before the photo was gone forever, though, Podres stole once last glance at the face.

"I was a Dodger fan all my life," he said later. "I listened to games on the radio in upstate New York. Place called Witherbee, although people called it Mineville. I used to hear Red Barber and Connie Desmond and those guys. I remember when Dolph Camilli used to play first base and he used to get those two-out hits. I loved it. I loved it. A two-out hit to win a game for the Dodgers. He was my idol. Like most boys up there, I might have wound up working in the mines, like my father. Almost everybody did, right out of school. But I could pitch, and I worked out with the Phillies when I was in high school. They said I was too small. So then I went to Brooklyn and worked out there. I threw for about fifteen minutes on the side, and they brought me up to see Mr. Rickey."

That would be Branch Rickey, the baseball visionary who assembled Brooklyn's grandest teams. "The one thing I remember about Mr. Rickey," Podres went on, "was when I was leaving that room, the office, I heard him tell the scout: 'Don't let that boy get away.'" He didn't. Instead, he fulfilled his dream of pitching for the Dodgers. After tearing up class D ball down in Kentucky at age nineteen and putting in a great 1952 season in then-minor-league Montreal, Podres was catapulted onto the Brooklyn pitching staff in 1953. That year he went 9-4 for the Dodgers, with a 4.23 earned run average. But when the 21-year-old was thrown into the heat of his first World Series game, against the hated Yankees, he came apart. The first batter he faced, Gene Woodling, hit a home run off him. His last batter, two innings later, hit a shot back to the box that ripped the Rawlings clean off his right hand. Instead of picking up the ball, rattled young Johnny first went for his glove. The runner was safe, and Podres's first World Series appearance was history.

Two seasons later, he almost didn't pitch at all in the Series.
"I didn't have a good year in 1955," he said. "I was 9-10 that year, because I had a lot of injuries. Then I hurt myself in September when the ground crew ran the batting cage into my ribs. For a while there, I couldn't even breathe. I was out for three more weeks before [manager Walt] Alston pitched me in Pittsburgh. I threw four innings and struck out about six guys, so they decided to keep me on the roster instead of bringing Kenny Lehman up from Montreal."

The rest, of course, is Brooklyn Dodger ecstasy. A player who came within a bruised rib or two of watching the 1955 World Series on a seventeen-inch black-and-white Philco instead pitched two complete game victories over the Yankees. The first one, game three at Ebbets Field, lifted the Dodgers out of an 0-2 Series hole. The seventh-game win gave them the title.

Was Johnny Podres nervous in the late innings of the historic game?
"Well, between innings, in the seventh, eighth and ninth, I was going downstairs to have a puff on a cigarette," he remembered. "I asked somebody to let me know when there were two outs so I could get ready to go back in. I remember coming out in the eighth inning and striking out Hank Bauer. I was in a jam there. And I remember Yankee Stadium. It seemed like everybody was standing on their feet, and I said to myself: 'I can't let this one get away from me now.' Just think of Brooklyn. All those years. All those Series. They'd never beaten the Yankees. Now we did it. The best thing was that Pee Wee got the last out."

Podres got the win.

"That was supposed to be, right?" Podres asks himself now. "I mean, with the year I'd had, I guess somebody must've been looking out for me--what do you think?"

Absolutely, John. Somebody besides the intense young man staring out of an old baseball photograph. Somebody who just knew when to change up and when to throw heat. Somebody who got Sandy Amoros to the left field line in time and saw to it that the champagne glasses remained full and who got the Brooklyn Dodgers, every last man, home safe from the Bossert Hotel, more than four decades past.


...and aren't WE glad he was OURS!

c.

[LeoD]

Nope. This type of address change precludes laughing. No matter how I view Johnny's death, it is not glorious. It is terribly sad, it leaves a permanent emptiness, and Johnny will never be wishing anybody anything any more.

At last, the voice of reason.

[Mattingly]

Perhaps this piece from the Times Union will shed a more light on Curt Schilling's praise, feelings and respect for JOHNNY......

http://www.timesunion.com/ASPStories/Story.asp?StoryID=655220&Category=SPORTS&LinkFrom=RSS&TextPage=1

c.
Another excellent find from you, Dodger Deb!

Schilling's quote on the 2nd page of that link re Johnny Podres is very informative and excellent.
"Outside of the Lord, my wife and my father, there was no person who impacted my life more than Johnny Podres," Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling, who was on that Phillies staff, wrote on his Web site.

"He made me realize the only limits in my life were self-imposed."

In a 1995 interview with the Philadelphia Inquirer, Schilling credited Podres with teaching him the four-seam fastball.

"The postseason success I've been blessed to enjoy," Schilling wrote, "I've always known to be a direct result of who and what he was."

[Mattingly]

Nope. This type of address change precludes laughing. No matter how I view Johnny's death, it is not glorious. It is terribly sad, it leaves a permanent emptiness, and Johnny will never be wishing anybody anything any more.
Also agreed. I'll admit that I unfortunately hadn't known of him before his sad passing, but seeing the words here brings meaning to his life as well as his importance to many in this Brooklyn forum.

[DODGER DEB]

Also agreed. I'll admit that I unfortunately hadn't known of him before his sad passing, but seeing the words here brings meaning to his life as well as his importance to many in this Brooklyn forum.

Am I reading you correctly, Matt, you never heard of JOHNNY PODRES before this week, considering what he did to your Yankees in the 1955 world series.

Being a Yankee fan, I can't believe you never read the history of your participation in the 1955 World Series?

c.

[Yankeebiscuitfan]

Wow, Matt! Never heard of Johnny Podres? :faint::dismay: Even a Dutch chease head like me has heard of him.:D

But on the other hand; not everybody is a baseball and baseball history nut like me.

[Mattingly]

Am I reading you correctly, Matt, you never heard of JOHNNY PODRES before this week, considering what he did to your Yankees in the 1955 world series.

Being a Yankee fan, I can't believe you never read the history of your participation in the 1955 World Series?

c.
Yes, you are reading me correctly. Everyone has sad admissions, and that is one of them. I should've spent much more time doing research on the teams, and while I've looked into the staff of many teams, it's been mostly the players I've seen mentioned that I've looked into. Robinson, Newk, Koufax, Pee Wee, etc, I'm well familiar with.

The last time something like this happened, it was in jazz where the legendary Miles Davis passed on, and I happened upon where his life had been celebrated. Since then, I've become a huge fan of his.

I'll have to now do some research into his life, and I'm finding some interesting bits here, that make me value him greatly, despite not knowing about him in the past.

If I find out more about him, perhaps you all can somehow forgive me for not having known about him in the past, as I definitely should have known more about him.

[Mattingly]

Wow, Matt! Never heard of Johnny Podres? :faint::dismay: Even a Dutch chease head like me has heard of him.:D

But on the other hand; not everybody is a baseball and baseball history nut like me.
Unfortunately, his name is one which skipped under the radar. Hopefully, nobody feels that I'm disrespecting this forum for his omission under my radar. I'll just try to learn more about him as I go on. This thread will be kept open, whether it's to ask questions or find out more about whatever I've found out about him.

[DODGER DEB]

Yes, you are reading me correctly. Everyone has sad admissions, and that is one of them. I should've spent much more time doing research on the teams, and while I've looked into the staff of many teams, it's been mostly the players I've seen mentioned that I've looked into. Robinson, Newk, Koufax, Pee Wee, etc, I'm well familiar with.

The last time something like this happened, it was in jazz where the legendary Miles Davis passed on, and I happened upon where his life had been celebrated. Since then, I've become a huge fan of his.

I'll have to now do some research into his life, and I'm finding some interesting bits here, that make me value him greatly, despite not knowing about him in the past.

If I find out more about him, perhaps you all can somehow forgive me for not having known about him in the past, as I definitely should have known more about him.

It has nothing to do with "forgiving you", Matt. NYC was upside down from September 30, 1955 thru October 4th, 1955, and for several weeks after the WS was over. The Yankees had won the first two games at the Stadium, and then WE came home to OUR Ebbets Field, on Friday September 30th (which was Johnny's 23rd birthday) and he got the start. No team, up to that point, had lost the first two and went on to win the WS. WE had one unbelievable weekend, winning all three games. I was at all three of those games, and I still get goose bumps when I think of all the thrills OUR guys gave US. By Sunday night, WE truly believed "This was NEXT YEAR"! It was back to the Stadium for the sixth game on Monday, which WE lost. THEN, it was Tuesday, October 4th, and WE had OUR magic back; WE sent JOHNNY PODRES to the mound against Tommy Brynes. Sitting there at the Stadium, I can tell you, with each pitch my heart was in my mouth, but, JOHNNY came through for US, as he said he would. At 3:43PM HE gave US, what would be OUR ONE MOMENT IN TIME, and WE were forever grateful to him. WE won that game 2-0, and all of NYC went completly nuts! "Never a man had done in the past, what JOHNNY PODRES did at last..ALL BROOKLYN was happy, WE went wild with joy.....JOHN JOSEPH PODRES...that's OUR BOY!"

You should get a copy of JOHNNY's book, the one you posted here early on, and read it. It really is a terrific read, about a player who didn't have a pretentious bone in his body....what you saw, is what you got!

c.

[donzblock]

Unfortunately, his name is one which skipped under the radar. Hopefully, nobody feels that I'm disrespecting this forum for his omission under my radar. I'll just try to learn more about him as I go on. This thread will be kept open, whether it's to ask questions or find out more about whatever I've found out about him.
The words "This thread will be kept open" imply that someone was going to close it. The dependent clause that follows these words suggests that this thread is being kept open so that Mattingly or other posters can "find out more about whatever" Mattingly has "found out about him [Podres]."

Words are supposed to make sense. Perhaps Mattingly would be kind enough to translate what he has written.

[Mattingly]

The words "This thread will be kept open" imply that someone was going to close it. The dependent clause that follows these words suggests that this thread is being kept open so that Mattingly or other posters can "find out more about whatever" Mattingly has "found out about him [Podres]."

Words are supposed to make sense. Perhaps Mattingly would be kind enough to translate what he has written.
Perhaps I should've clarified, as I can see why you would wonder what I'd meant.

I'm not suggesting anything that others were expected to find out. For this, said other individuals would have to make their own voices heard.

As to my own thoughts, I only meant that I would try finding out more about Johnny Podres, and if I hadn't been able to find something out, ask the forumers here for their assistance in whatever they'd known about Johnny Podres.

I'm not obligating anyone in particular. Everyone who chooses to contribute will contribute based upon their own level of interest in whatever I'd posted.

That's as simple as I can make it. Any further questions, Prof Donz (presuming you find it OK that I refer to you as such)?

[donzblock]

So in writing, Mattingly, that "this thread will be kept open," you meant?

[Mattingly]

It has nothing to do with "forgiving you", Matt. NYC was upside down from September 30, 1955 thru October 4th, 1955, and for several weeks after the WS was over. The Yankees had won the first two games at the Stadium, and then WE came home to OUR Ebbets Field, on Friday September 30th (which was Johnny's 23rd birthday) and he got the start. No team, up to that point, had lost the first two and went on to win the WS. WE had one unbelievable weekend, winning all three games. I was at all three of those games, and I still get goose bumps when I think of all the thrills OUR guys gave US. By Sunday night, WE truly believed "This was NEXT YEAR"! It was back to the Stadium for the sixth game on Monday, which WE lost. THEN, it was Tuesday, October 4th, and WE had OUR magic back; WE sent JOHNNY PODRES to the mound against Tommy Brynes. Sitting there at the Stadium, I can tell you, with each pitch my heart was in my mouth, but, JOHNNY came through for US, as he said he would. At 3:43PM HE gave US, what would be OUR ONE MOMENT IN TIME, and WE were forever grateful to him. WE won that game 2-0, and all of NYC went completly nuts! "Never a man had done in the past, what JOHNNY PODRES did at last..ALL BROOKLYN was happy, WE went wild with joy.....JOHN JOSEPH PODRES...that's OUR BOY!"

You should get a copy of JOHNNY's book, the one you posted here early on, and read it. It really is a terrific read, about a player who didn't have a pretentious bone in his body....what you saw, is what you got!

c.
That's definitely an exciting moment you've so described. I keep seeing "3:43pm" starting with yourself. I'm wondering, did someone just take a photo of a clock at the park and note it?

As to the moment you've described, including the feeling that it would be "next year", I can relate, but not to your extent of historical knowledge over many more years. I definitely appreciate once again the information you've given me.

I could've pretended that I knew more about Johnny Podres, which would've been popular, but decided to "come clean" and say that he unfortunately wasn't on my radar.

I'll simply have to start reading more about Johnny Podres. I may start with online research, since I'm not much of a book reader. Could be lack of patience or something, but whatever stories I read about him, I'll try posting here.

Thanks for your understanding. :)

[Mattingly]

So in writing, Mattingly, that "this thread will be kept open," you meant?
Dodger Deb is the Mod here, and I don't have any powers to decide whether this thread remains open or not. I should've chosen different words, but what I'd meant was that I'll try to keep posting into this thread.

I'm glad that you've returned to BBF. That's as much information as I can give you. That I'll contribute to this thread.

[donzblock]

I could've pretended that I knew more about Johnny Podres, which would've been popular, but decided to "come clean" and say that he unfortunately wasn't on my radar.
Perhaps you've been using the wrong tools. Radar saved the RAF in WWII, but there is no indication that the British knew anything about Johnny Podres either. Neither did the Germans, but they didn't have radar.

[Mattingly]

Perhaps you've been using the wrong tools. Radar saved the RAF in WWII, but there is no indication that the British knew anything about Johnny Podres either. Neither did the Germans, but they didn't have radar.
I'm not too sure what you're referring to. Are you saying that since I'm in the USA, I should've known more about Johnny Podres? If not, then can you please elaborate?

[donzblock]

I'm not too sure what you're referring to. Are you saying that since I'm in the USA, I should've known more about Johnny Podres? If not, then can you please elaborate?
I never heard of Spec Shea. Who was Allie Reynolds? Gene Woodling? Hank Bauer? Joe Collins? Eddie Lopat? Vic Rashi? Huh?

[Mattingly]

I never heard of Spec Shea. Who was Allie Reynolds? Gene Woodling? Hank Bauer? Joe Collins? Eddie Lopat? Vic Rashi? Huh?
So in other words, you're upset that I mentioned not being aware of Johnny Podres?

I don't believe that I'd meant any insult to anyone here in the thread or this forum in my admission. Do you consider that admission of mine to be an insult?

[DODGER DEB]

I never heard of Spec Shea. Who was Allie Reynolds? Gene Woodling? Hank Bauer? Joe Collins? Eddie Lopat? Vic Rashi? Huh?

The more I think about it, Professor, do you think that Yankee fans just "blanked 1955 out" of their memories, much the way they ignore 1954? In doing so, they would never have to remember JOHNNY at all, and what he did to them!

I think it is definitely a possibility.

c.

[donzblock]

The more I think about it, Professor, do you think that Yankee fans just "blanked 1955 out" of their memories, much the way they ignore 1954? In doing so, they would never have to remember JOHNNY at all, and what he did to them!

I think it is definitely a possibility.

c.
That does make sense, and Jaykay's brother-in-law, the master psychologist, confirmed that Mattingly's blackout is understandable, given the enormous shock his nervous system experienced in 1955. (Incidentally, I am now deeper in debt.)

[DODGER DEB]

That does make sense, and Jaykay's brother-in-law, the master psychologist, confirmed that Mattingly's blackout is understandable, given the enormous shock his nervous system experienced in 1955. (Incidentally, I am now deeper in debt.)

Since it concerns "1955", that consultation should have been a "free-be".

c.

[Mattingly]

The more I think about it, Professor, do you think that Yankee fans just "blanked 1955 out" of their memories, much the way they ignore 1954? In doing so, they would never have to remember JOHNNY at all, and what he did to them!

I think it is definitely a possibility.

c.
Had it been a person who's more entrenched in baseball history, I believe that this not knowing of Johnny Podres would've been more unforgiveable. With myself, I guess that I'd gotten the headlines, but not read the inside story.

In my case, names like Jackie Robinson, Pee Wee Reese, Campy, Newk, Koufax were the headlines. Not to diminish the greatness of Johnny Podres in any way whatsoever, but I just hadn't read up about him. That would be entirely my fault, and I do hope that people here aren't really upset with me on this, as I'd meant him no harm.

Otherwise, I believe that I've treated Johnny Podres as a very quality human being. I was simply being honest that I hadn't known about him before.

I'd even put down some "Yankee Killer" thing in post #2 here, which I felt was the anti-Yankee in me, in that's what he'd done to our boys. No shock, just my lack of delving into Brooklyn's thick and rich baseball history as well as I should've.

Hopefully, all is forgiven and understood, and I'll try my best to learn as much about Johnny Podres life and career via this thread. I just hope that everyone here is with me, as most of us are very familiar with me, and me with most of you all. :)

[Mattingly]

That does make sense, and Jaykay's brother-in-law, the master psychologist, confirmed that Mattingly's blackout is understandable, given the enormous shock his nervous system experienced in 1955. (Incidentally, I am now deeper in debt.)
If I may call you Prof Donz (or if not, then I'll just stick to "Donz"), I wasn't yet born in 1955. Not all of us are as fortunate as yourself, Dodger Deb, shlevine42, LeoD and many others here who had experienced that moment. 1960 against the Pirates was another infamous moment in Yankee history, and my birth had followed that one also.

Looking back, I guess that my nervous system could understandably have been shocked? The Curse of Brooklyn? Perhaps. I'll let you fine folks in this forum decide. :)

[donzblock]

If I may call you Prof Donz (or if not, then I'll just stick to "Donz"), I wasn't yet born in 1955. Not all of us are as fortunate as yourself, Dodger Deb, shlevine42, LeoD and many others here who had experienced that moment. 1960 against the Pirates was another infamous moment in Yankee history, and my birth had followed that one also.

Looking back, I guess that my nervous system could understandably have been shocked? The Curse of Brooklyn? Perhaps. I'll let you fine folks in this forum decide. :)

So great was the shock of 1955 that it postponed the birth of Mattingly for several years. That year was truly a watershed, a paradigm shift.

[Mattingly]

So great was the shock of 1955 that it postponed the birth of Mattingly for several years. That year was truly a watershed, a paradigm shift.
Yes, it was indeed a shock, Professor. It was a hugest shock of them all! :D

I'm glad that we're once again under peaceful terms. It makes me much happier. I won't forget to find out more about Johnny Podres. I at least owe the gentleman that much for all he's done for kind folks such as yourself, Dodger Deb, shlevine42, LeoD, jay-kay, etc. :)

[DODGER DEB]

In a special piece today in the NY Daily News, Benjamin Pomerance tells of his memorable meeting with OUR HERO, JOHNNY PODRES.

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/baseball/2008/02/03/2008-02-03_my_memorable_meeting_with_dodger_hero_jo.html

Enjoy it!

c.

[shlevine42]

I think young Pomerance has a journalism career ahead of him.

He captured the real Podres beautifully.

[DODGER DEB]

I think young Pomerance has a journalism career ahead of him.

He captured the real Podres beautifully.

Indeed he did, shlevine!

c.

[LeoD]

Johnny Podres, the Dodgers World Series hero now in Uncle Sam's Navy was given leave for the opening of the baseball season at Ebbets Field today. He's shown left, as he exchanged caps with Roy Campanella before game time. April 17, 1956

[penncentralpete]

Johnny pitching to Bob Cerv....

[penncentralpete]

the jersey Johnny wore on the big day (don't ask me why it's ripped) on display at the "Glory Days" exhibit:

[DODGER DEB]

Johnny pitching to Bob Cerv....

That would have been Friday, September 30, 1955, Johnny's 23rd Birthday.

c.

[VIBaseball]

This past weekend I went to Schnack, a nice little Brooklyn burger place on Union St., over the other side of the expressway on the border with Red Hook.

Inside is a large blowup of Johnny's 1956 Topps Card. I smiled.

[jC...]

the jersey Johnny wore on the big day (don't ask me why it's ripped) on display at the "Glory Days" exhibit:



From what my family says its because his kids were playing with it LoL! My mom has one of John's practice jersey's. Basically a plain white jersey with "PODRES" written on the back with black marker.