I was nine years old and had been a baseball fan for just a year or so when Steve Bilko joined the Angels. He was a big, heavy first baseman, who held the bat in a sort of awkward position, then "hitched" it back into hitting position as the pitch was on its way, somewhat similar to the way some players now lift their front foot and put it back down - a timing mechanism. He had played a full season with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1953, hitting 21 homers, knocking in 84 runs and drawing 70 walks, but this was not very good production for a full-time first sacker. The next season he was traded to the Chicago Cubs and only got into a total of 55 games. The Angels were owned by the Cubs and played in Wrigley Field LA, which even had ivy on its LF wall, just like the major-league park in Chicago. Later, when the expansion major-league Angels were created, they played their first season in Wrigley Field, which was also used for the TV show "Home Run Derby." The stadium had, if I recall correctly, a normal CF, about 400 feet, but was quite short in the power alleys, thereby being a great park in which to hit homers. Bilko took full advantage of it, blasting 37 in his first season. But that was nothing! The next year he hit 55, batted .360, won the PCL Triple Crown and led the Angels to the PCL title by something like 15 games. I attended a few games at Wrigley Field, and also some at Gilmore Field in Hollywood, home of the much-belothed cross-town rivals, the Hollywood Stars, owned by Pittsburgh and managed by player-manager Bobby Bragan, who later managed the Pirates. I finally got to see Bilko hit a homer, two in fact, when hit put one over the CF fence, then hit LF foul poll his next time up. What a thrill! I also witnessed a near riot one day, when a player named Gale Wade charged into the stands after the game was over. A lot of people started fighting, and my brother and I got the Hell out of there.
In 1957, Bilko and the Angels did not do so well overall, although Steve hit 56 homers. This year was under a cloud, as the Brooklyn Dodgers were moving to LA, having, I believe, purchased the Angels from the Cubs, and the Angels were to move to Spokane, WA. I hated the Dodgers with a passion for many years after that.
After those fantastic seasons, Bilko got another shot at the majors, with Cincinnati. He was traded to the Dodgers that season and only played in 78 games. In 1960 he played 78 games for Detroit, batting just .207. When the Angels were created, Bilko was taken in the draft, so he returned to Wrigley Field. Not coincidentally, he had his best major-league success that year, batting .279, slugging .544 and getting on base at a .398 clip. The ballpark helped him, of course, but even considering that his production was quite good.
The next season the Angels moved to Dodger Stadium, a stadium notoriously unfriendly to hitters, but Bilko's production was still quite good, although he got into only 64 games.
That was the end of his major-league career. Sadly, he died in 1978 at the age of 49. I will always remember him.
» Alan Shank - longtime baseball fan, author of "Al's Baseball Tidbits", which can be read on: http://www.baseballthinkfactory.org/files/primer/tidbits/gm.cgi
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Posted June 18, 2004.
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