Books and articles about Vic Wertz

Though Wertz had a successful 17-year major league career, it is for one long out with Cleveland that he is best remembered: Wertz hit the drive in the 1954 World Series opener that Willie Mays, racing to the deepest part of the Polo Grounds, caught over his shoulder.

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RELATED LINKS Photos » Photo: Willie Mays' catch of Vic Wertz's drive (1954) Book Excerpts » "Wertz had sent [a shot] well in excess of 400 feet that was nothing more than a long fly out": Stew Thornley » New York Giants: A Baseball Album: "The Catch" Greatest Teams » 1954 Indians Around the Web » Vic Wertz from baseball-reference.com Jump directly to Library content from any website!

A powerful lefthanded hitter, Wertz drove in 133 runs for Detroit in 1949 and 123 in 1950. He once smashed seven home runs over a five-game span. Capable at two positions, he moved from the outfield to first base when he joined the Indians in 1954. Though he missed part of the 1955 season when stricken with a non-paralytic form of polio, he bounced back in 1956, hit four doubles to tie a ML record in a September 26 game, and finished the season with a career-high 32 HR. A 1958 leg injury caused him to miss most of the season, and by 1961 he was back with Detroit. He led the AL with 17 pinch hits in 1962. (JK)

FROM THE BASEBALL CHRONOLOGY » May 19, 1950: The Tigers send 14 batters to the plate and score 10 runs in the 5th to beat the Athletics, 14–8. George Kell and Vic Wertz each have two hits in the frame. Tigers ace Virgil Trucks, a 19-game winner in 1949, hurts his arm and is lost for the season. Fred Hutchinson relieves Trucks in the 3rd and picks up the win. » June 2, 1950: The Tiger's George Kell hits for the cycle in the 16–5 second-game sweep of a Detroit doubleheader with the A's. The Tigers cop the opener, 8–2, behind the pitching of Ted Gray and the home runs of Vic Wertz and Hoot Evers. Wertz has five RBI in the opener, and two more in game 2. » June 23, 1950: Eleven home runs—a ML record—drive in all the runs scored in a 10–9 Tiger win over the Yankees before 51,000 Detroit fans. Detroit has four home runs in the 4th inning as Dizzy Trout, Gerry Priddy, Vic Wertz, and Hoot Evers connect. Pitcher Dizzy Trout's home run, off Tommy Byrne, is his 2nd lifetime grand slam. Hoot Evers hits another home run, an inside-the-park 2-run game winner in the 9th off Joe Page to win it. For New York, Hank Bauer connects for two homers, including one in the 4th inning. Joe DiMaggio, Jerry Coleman, Yogi Berra, and pinch hitter Tommy Henrich also belt round trippers. It is the first time that nine different players connect for homers in a game. » May 29, 1951: Indians hurler Bob Lemon one-hits the Tigers 2–1. The only Bengal hit is Vic Wertz's home run. » May 15, 1952: After pitching four no-hitters in the minors, 33-year-old Virgil "Fire" Trucks of Detroit pitches his first in the ML, a 1–0 blanking of the Senators. Vic Wertz's dramatic two-out home run in the 9th off Bob Porterfield wins the game at Briggs Stadium. » August 14, 1952: The St. Louis Browns send Ned Garver to the Tigers for slugger Vic Wertz in a deal involving six other players. » September 29, 1954: In Game 1 of the WS, Willie Mays of the Giants makes one of the greatest catches in history when he races back to deep CF in the Polo Grounds to make an over-the-head catch of Indian Vic Wertz's 462-foot drive in the 8th with the score tied at 2-2. Wertz drove in the 2 runs in the first with a triple. In the 10th, Dusty Rhodes hits a pinch-hit, 3-run, 260-foot HR off Bob Lemon to give the Giants a 5-2 victory. » May 18, 1955: Cleveland scores 11 runs in the 5th to whip the Red Sox 19–0, and give Herb Score an easy win over Willard Nixon. Vic Wertz's grand slam is the big blow in the inning. It is the worst shutout pasting ever by Boston and the most runs ever in a shutout for the Tribe. » August 26, 1955: Vic Wertz of the Indians is diagnosed as having non-paralytic polio and is lost for the season. He will return next year. » September 26, 1956: Vic Wertz of the Indians hits 4 doubles and a single in an 8-4 win against the Athletics. » December 2, 1958: The Red Sox box up Jimmy Piersall to Cleveland for 1B Vic Wertz and OF Gary Geiger. » August 14, 1959: The Red Sox 1B Vic Wertz hits a pinch-hit grand slam off Ryne Duren of the Yanks to pace the 11–6 Boston win. Pete Runnels of the Red Sox walks twice in one inning to tie a ML record. » May 10, 1960: Grand slams by Red Sox teammates Vic Wertz and Rip Repulski at Fenway Park give Boston a 9–7 win over Chicago. The National League-vet Repulski's 8th-inning shot off Don Ferrarese comes on his first AL at bat. » July 9, 1960: Jim Coates suffers his first loss after nine straight wins, and 14 straight over two seasons, as the Red Sox beat the Yankees 6–5. The Sox are lead by Vic Wertz, who slugs a home run, double and single to drive in four runs. Coates' major-league record is 17–2. » July 22, 1960: At Fenway the Red Sox down the Indians 6–4. Vic Wertz has a 3-run homer and four RBIs. Ted Williams also homers and, in the 7th inning, steals 2B. Williams sets a major-league record as the only player to steal bases in four consecutive decades: he'll be match by Rickey Henderson in 2000. Jimmy Piersall homers twice, both off winner Ike Delock. » 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 28, 1960: At Fenway, in his final ML plate appearance, against Baltimore's Jack Fisher (12-11), Ted Williams picks out a 1-1 pitch and drives it 450 feet into the right-CF seats behind the Boston bullpen. It is Williams' 521st and last home run, putting him 3rd on the all-time list. Williams stays in the dugout, ignoring the crowd's cheers, but when he trots out to LF in the 9th, he is replaced immediately by Carroll Hardy. The Splendid Splinter retires as a standing crowd roars. The Sox rally for two runs in the 9th, featuring a double by Vic Wertz, to give the 7th-place Red Sox a 5–4 victory. » June 1, 1961: Veteran Vic Wertz hits his first triple in six years as he leads the Red Sox to a 7–5 win over Bob Turley and the Yankees. Since June 14, 1955, Wertz has played in 596 games and collected 537 hits, but no 3-baggers. » September 8, 1961: The Yanks rout the Indians 9–1 as Mickey Mantle hits #52, off Gary Bell. The Yanks win for their 9th straight while Detroit loses their 8th in a row to drop 10 game in back. The Tigers purchase vet Vic Wertz from the Red Sox to shore up the offense. » September 13, 1991: Toronto OF Joe Carter drives in a run in the Blue Jays' 7-6 victory over the A's, becoming the 1st player in history to reach the 100 plateau in three consecutive seasons with three different teams. Nine players (Dick Allen, Orlando Cepeda, Rocky Colavito, Goose Goslin, Rogers Hornsby, Reggie Jackson, Lee May, Al Simmons, and Vic Wertz) have collected 100 RBI with three teams, but none consecutively.