One of the Good Guys

Herb Score - Indianapolis Indian

A few weeks ago, I was presented with the opportunity to attend a baseball game with some friends. That's a no brainer for me, I love baseball and it was a great group of friends, so I went. It turned out to be a 16 inning pitchers' duel which ultimately became the longest game in the history of Victory Field. Indianapolis is truly blessed to have such a beautiful minor league ballpark and I'm ashamed, as much as I love baseball, that I don't take advantage of Victory Field more often. It is very good baseball and always a lot of fun. If you were at Victory Field that night and stayed into the later innings, you may have even caught some video of Ol' Simmons dancing up on the big screen out beyond right center field. Dancing in the aisles between innings provides wonderful stimulation for the circulation in your legs should you happen to sit through extra innings.

Over the years I watched a few games in the old Bush Stadium and even saw NBA great Dave DeBusschere pitch there one evening against the Hawaii Islanders. Old Major League ballplayers like Roger Maris, Ken Griffey, Randy Johnson, Bernie Carbo and Herb Score all wore Indianapolis uniforms at one time during their careers.

Bush Stadium was named for Owen J. 'Donie' Bush, who played and managed for several years in the Major Leagues and later came back to Indianapolis and purchased the ballclub. That old park was built in 1931 and was rich with history, but it had become run down and needed to be replaced. They couldn't have built a better replacement than Victory Field.

In 1954, the Indians had an excellent team that played for but lost the American Association Championship. One of my all time favorites, Rocco Colavito hit 38 home runs for the Indians that year and the young southpaw Herb Score won 22 games, struck out 330 batters and was named the American Association's Most Valuable Player. It is hard to believe nowadays that a young pitcher could win that many games and strike out so many batters and yet not receive a call up from the parent team in the Major Leagues. There was a good reason for this in 1954. During this time the parent team for the Indianapolis ballclub was the Cleveland Indians and in 1954, they won the American League Pennant by winning 111 games during the regular season. They had a 5 man rotation that consisted of 3 future Hall of Fame pitchers, Early Wynn, Bob Lemon and Bob Feller, plus the fourth and fifth starters were a combined 34-15. They really didn't have any requirement for young Herb Score in 1954. However, in 1955, as a 21 year old, Herb Score got his call up and set the American League on fire by leading the league in strikeouts and winning 16 games. Herb was named the Rookie of the Year in 1955 and followed that with a 20 win season and another strikeout crown in 1956. He had a blazing fastball and a wicked curve which caused many around the league to label him the best they had ever seen.

In 1955 the Indians lost the AL Pennant to the New York Yankees. Starting at 2nd Base for the Yankees was the winner of the 1951 Rookie of the Year Award, Gil McDougald. Gil hit .306 his rookie year and became the first rookie to hit a grand slam in the World Series. Early in the year, during batting practice prior to a home game, McDougald was fielding grounders behind a screen at 2nd Base when he reached for a ball beyond the screen and a line drive off of the bat of Bob Cerv struck him in the left ear. The ball hit his head with such force that it fractured his skull and damaged his inner ear. Within a short period of time he had lost his hearing completely in that ear. Several years later he lost the hearing in his other ear as well and by 1970 he was totally deaf. For 16 years he lived in a silent world until a Yankee fan, who happened to be an ear specialist, read about his story and called him. Shortly after their meeting, Gil McDougald received a cochlear implant and could finally hear again.

In May of 1957, Gil McDougald came to bat against Herb Score in the first inning and drove a fastball right back through the pitcher's mound. Herb Score did not have a chance; the ball struck him square in the right eye and sent him sprawling to the ground in agony. The force of the blow shattered several bones, cut his face, and created severe hemorrhaging around the eye. Herb lay in a hospital for three weeks, but he eventually regained his eyesight and was able to resume his career. Unfortunately, the Herb Score prior to the incident never resurfaced again, he was never quite the same. The incident also adversely affected Gil McDougald's baseball career, as well. Maybe it was because of his previous injury from the Bob Cerv line drive that eventually destroyed his hearing or maybe it was simply because Gil McDougald was such a real nice guy. "It was cemented in my mind," he said. "It made me realize the game was not that important. Herb was one of the good guys. I told my wife that as soon as I could establish myself in business I'd walk away, and I did." Although Gil was still a good ballplayer (he knocked in the winning run the following year during the 1958 All Star game), in 1960, at the relatively young age of 32, he retired and just walked away.

After Herb Score's career ended he became an announcer for the Cleveland Indians ballclub and broadcast their play by play for 33 years. Herb passed away last November at the age of 75 and this summer the Cleveland players wore a patch on their uniforms to honor his memory. Whenever I walk into Victory Field and see his picture up there next to Donie Bush, I always wonder about how great of a pitcher he could have been.