Books and articles about Bill Skowron

As a joke, Skowron's grandfather called him Mussolini, but his family shortened the nickname to Moose. A kicker for Purdue, he signed to play baseball in 1951, and joined the Yankees in 1954. A powerful opposite-field hitter, he topped the .300 mark five times with New York and was TSN all-star first baseman in 1960. He once lamented, "I hit over .300 three straight years for the Yankees and they wouldn't give me a raise."

SHOPPING » Look for Bill Skowron books at BN.com » Look for Bill Skowron books at Amazon.com Your purchases keep BaseballLibrary.com online. Thank you!

RELATED LINKS » 1956: October's Revenge Book Excerpts » 1960: The Last Pure Season by Kerry Keene Greatest Teams » 1961 Yankees Submissions » Major League Leaders Who Weren't: 1961's Unbalanced Schedule by Fred Worth Around the Web » Moose Skowron from mlb.com (12/12/01) » Bill Skowron from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

Making up for the disappointment of making the final out of the 1957 WS when Milwaukee won, he became a hero of the 1958 World Series versus the Braves. He drove in what proved to be the winning run in Game Six, and hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning of the final game to give New York a 6-2 victory as they came back from a 3-games-to-1 deficit. When Skowron homered in the 14th inning on April 22, 1959, the Yankees and Senators set the AL record for the longest game to end 1-0 on a home run. After playing in his seventh WS with New York in 1962, Skowron was traded to the Dodgers, for whom he hit just .203 while platooned in 1963. But, facing his former team in the 1963 WS, he went 5-for-13, including a HR, as the Dodgers swept the Yankees. (RTM)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » September 5, 1950: Purdue Athletic Director Red Mackey criticizes the Yankees for signing his 19-year-old star P/SS Bill Skowron, who was also expected to be the starting right halfback on the Boilermakers’ football squad. » September 21, 1956: 1B Bill Skowron has 5 hits, but the Yankees strand a record 20 base runners in losing to the Red Sox in Boston, 13-9. Mickey Mantle sends a 480-foot HR into the CF bleachers that lands a foot from the top. His 3 hits raise his average to .352, 4 points behind Ted Williams. » July 14, 1957: Bill Skowron of the Yanks hits an ML-record second pinch-hit grand slam of the season, off Jim Wilson of the White Sox, in the second game of a doubleheader. Skowron's hit comes in the ninth as the Yanks score six runs to win 6-4. The White Sox take the first game 3-1. » April 22, 1959: Whitey Ford pitches 14 innings against the Senators striking out 15. The Yankees finally win it in the 14th on a Moose Skowron solo homer 1–0, the longest contest ending 1–0 on a four-bagger. » May 31, 1959: At Washington, the Yankees beat the Senators, 3–0, on Bob Turley's two-hitter. Moose Skowron accounts for the scoring with a three-run homer. Mickey Mantle almost homers, but his 438-foot drive is caught by CF Bob Allison. » July 25, 1959: Against Detroit, Yankee first baseman Moose Skowron reaching for a wide throw collides with Tiger runner Coot Veale. Skowron's arm is broken in two places and he is out for the rest of the season. Marv Throneberry will fill in at 1B. The Yanks win, 9–8, when Berra hits a home run in the 9th with Mickey Mantle on. Prior to the Yogi home run, Richardson and Brickell hit their first ML homers for NY. Berra's home run erases five Yankee errors, three by 3B Lopez. » July 19, 1960: The Yankees outslug the Indians, 13–11, behind the slugging of Bill Skowron. Skowron's follows a Berra blast with his 2nd homer in the 8th but Cleveland answers with two in the bottom of the 8th for an 11–8 lead. Moose then hits a bases-loaded double in the 9th to win it. Roger Maris hits his 30th home run and Piersall homers for the Tribe. » August 25, 1960: Boston's Vic Wertz's 2nd career slam, off Don Newcombe, as a pinch hitter ties the record set by Bill Skowron in 1957. Ted Williams hits his 516th home run in a 10–7 Boston win over Cleveland. » September 4, 1960: After 30 straight scoreless inning, the Yankees finally score but the Orioles extend their win streak to seven by topping New York again, 6–2. With two outs in the 7th, Yankee 1B Moose Skowron singles to break up Chuck Estrada's no-hitter, but Wilhelm, in relief, preserves the win. » May 30, 1961: Roger Maris, Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron each belt two home runs, tying the major-league record for most players (one club) with multiple home runs in a 9-inning game. Berra adds a homer as New York wins at Fenway Park 12–3. » June 26, 1961: At LA's Wrigley Field, Angel reliever Art Fowler, who has allowed just one hit in his last 12 innings, serves up a 9th inning home run to Bill Skowron as New York wins 8–6. Mickey Mantle adds an earlier homer, off Ken McBride, and Ford wins his 13th. » August 20, 1961: At Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, both Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris homer in the twinbill sweep. Mantle's first inning three run homer, and Maris ' 9th in the 3rd inning to make it easy for Ralph Terry. In the nitecap, Bill Skowron hits his 21st in the 2nd inning and the Yanks win 5–2. In the 6th, after Bell allows a single and then hits Gardner and Maris, Mantle collects his 101st walk to force home a run. » September 1, 1961: The American League's biggest crowd of the year, 65,566, sees Whitey Ford and Don Mossi duel at Yankee Stadium as a weekend battle for first place begins. Two-out, 9th-inning hits by Elston Howard, Yogi Berra, and Bill Skowron give New York a 1–0 win over the Tigers. » September 6, 1961: Roger Maris connects for #54, off Tom Cheney of the Senators, as the Yankees win, 8–0, behind Whitey Ford's 5-hitter. Ford is now 23–3. John Blanchard hits a pair of homers, each time following a walk to Mickey Mantle, and Moose Skowron and Bob Hale also homer. » September 10, 1961: The Yankees sweep the Indians, 7–6 and 9–3 , their 12th win in a row at home and the Indians 20th loss in a row at Yankee Stadium. Mickey Mantle gets number 53 in the nitecap, while Roger Maris, homerless, stays at 56. The official scorecard credits Mantle with two runs scored: it will be discovered in 1995 that one of the runs should go to Bill Skowron. In the 2nd game, Clete Boyer sends a Jim Perry pitch into the LF corner that hits the lower deck of the grand stand and bounces back into play. While home plate ump Joe Linsalata calls it a home run, the other two umps agree with Tribe CF Jimmy Piersall who contends the ball is in play. Boyer's home run trot is interrupted at 3B with a tag out. Piersall's contribution in Game One is fighting with a fan who climbed onto the field. » September 15, 1961: The Yankees set a new American League record for most homers in a season (222), as they split a doubleheader in Detroit, winning 11–1 and losing 4–2. Circuit blows by Bill Skowron and Yogi Berra in the opener help Whitey Ford win his 24th and increase New York's homer total to 222. This breaks the old mark set by the 1947 Giants and tied by the 1956 Reds. Norm Cash and Steve Boros homer in the nitecap to back Ron Kline's 7-hitter. » October 4, 1961: Whitey Ford's 3rd straight World Series shutout, with home runs by Elston Howard and Bill Skowron, gives New York a 2–0 win in the opener against Cincinnati at Yankee Stadium. » August 19, 1962: Gino Cimoli, Wayne Causey, and Billy Bryan of the Athletics hit consecutive home runs in the 7th inning, but Elston Howard has two home runs and eight RBIs; Bill Skowron, a home run and four RBIs; Mickey Mantle, a grand slam and seven RBIs, and Skowron four RBIs as the Yankees rout the A's, 21–7. Mantle adds two stolen bases before Jack Reed takes over CF and has two at bats. » November 26, 1962: The Yankees say good-bye to Moose Skowron, trading him to the Dodgers for P Stan Williams. Williams wins nine for the Yanks, but Moose is little help to the Dodgers. » August 8, 1963: In the 5th inning, Frank Howard and Moose Skowron pinch-hit back-to-back home runs for the Dodgers, only the 2nd time this has ever occurred. Cub pitchers Bob Buhl and Don Elston are the victims. But the Cubs hold on to win 5–4 at Wrigley. » October 3, 1963: In game 2, Johnny Podres scatters seven hits, Tommy Davis ties a World Series record with two triples, Willie Davis drives in two runs, Moose Skowron homers, and Los Angeles beats Al Downing 4–1 to go two up. » June 15, 1964: The White Sox send 1B Joe Cunningham and a player to be named later to Washington for 1B Bill Skowron and pitcher Carl Bouldin. The player named later is P Frank Kreutzer, who is shipped on July 28. » May 16, 1970: At Fenway Park, Carl Yastrzemski belts a Dean Chance pitch out of the park to the right of the flagpole. Only Jimmie Foxx (twice) and Bill Skowron have done it. Ray Culp is the 6–2 winner over Cleveland. » July 18, 1975: In a 9–3 win over the Kansas City Royals, Boston's Jim Rice clouts a tremendous homer over the CF wall at Fenway, to the right of the flag pole, just the 6th player to accomplish this feat. Owner Tom Yawkey calls it the longest shot he's ever seen at Fenway. The others: Detroit's Hank Greenberg, May 22, 1937; Boston's Jimmie Foxx, August 12, 1937; Yankees Bill Skowron, April 20, 1957; Boston's Carl Yastrzemski, May 16, 1970; Brewers Bob Mitchell, September 29, 1973.