SPUD MURRAY (Batting Practice Pitcher)
THE PITCHER WHO SERVED UP 350 HOMERS TO MARIS
Spud Murray Finds Being A Patsy Pays
"If Robin Roberts is anxious about the transition from the Phils to the Yankees, a fellow tradesman named Spud Murray can soothe his fears. Ol' Spud made the leap from the Phils to Yankee Stadium, and look at his fame and glory now- he's the gopher ball king of the universe.
'Yep, I had a pretty good pitching year,' Spud was saying at his Media, Pa., home recently. 'Guess I gave up 2,000 home runs.'
Even in his most generous summer, Roberts never served that many gopher pitches. Spud Murray takes pride in his benevolence, of course. He's the batting practice thrower for the Yankees. When the ball flies out of the park, he watches it cheerfully.
'I did pretty good against Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris,' Spud says with pride. 'I figure they hit 350 homers each off me. Shucks, if they'd let me pitch to Maris every game, he would have broken Ruth's record a half-dozen times.'
Spud is a long, loose-gaited, easy talking redhead who pitched nine years in such minor league citadels as Wilkes-Barre, Reading, Tulsa, Chattanooga, Montgomery and Charlotte. Then his arm went on the frazzle. Mayo Smith, who managed him in the Southlands, needed a practice pitcher for the Phils in 1958. Spud proved to be such a dandy server, Roy Hamey took him to the Yankees.
'It's sorta different with the Yankees,' admits Spud. 'They're all business hitting against me. No goofing around. And boy, that Yogi Berra and John Blanchard hit as many homers off me as Maris and Mantle. The B & B Boys are rough.'
One reason Mr. Murray admires the Yankees is that green stuff which seems to float around the Pinstriped set like fallout. The club gave him a three-quarter share ($5,541) of the World Series pie. Then there were such extra tidbits as a $150 appearance on the 'I've Got A Secret' TV show.
'Yeah, they guessed who I was,' says Spud. 'Harry Morgan must be a baseball fan. I went to the show with Tony Kubek and Morgan recognized him. I wore my Yankee uniform and Morgan began wondering, 'Who's No. 55?' Finally, Bill Cullen got my secret- that I gave up over 300 homers each to Maris and Mantle.'
Like all pitchers, Spud has his favorite ball parks. 'That Los Angeles is real nice,' he says. 'Short fences. Ball really jumps out.'
Spud was probably the best-paid pitcher last year among guys who didn't win a game. But he admits his line of employment has its dangers. Its No. 1 jeopardy weighs 220 pounds and is named Moose Skowron.
'You've got a low screen you drop under when you figure the hitter might drill one at your head,' explains Spud. 'But Skowron- he never knows. He hits those 100-mile-an-hour shots through the middle.'
The secret of such colleagues as Warren Spahn and Whitey Ford is two-fold: keep the ball moving to different spots and continuously change speeds. Spud Murray is horrified by such fickle pitching. 'My job is to make the ball come in there straight as a string, always at the same speed. The batter's working on his timing. When he gets good wood on the ball, I'm happy.'
Some hitters- Richie Ashburn and Yogi Berra are sticklers on it- want a diet of curve balls. Some, like Tony Kubek and Bobby Richardson, work on stroking to the opposite field. Sometimes, Ralph Houk will ask Spud to work on a weak spot of a guy like Maris. But home runs are Spud's specialty. He is one of the few pitchers in existence who enjoys the sight of a vanishing Spalding.
Spud has his glorious moment, too. Not strikeouts- ugh. Long, long home runs. The three he enjoyed most were Elston Howard's blast over the left-field wall in St. Petersburg, Fla. (first ever); Howard's boomer into the upper deck in Yankee Stadium's left-center seats, and Mantle's rap into the right-center light towers in Detroit. 'Gee, I didn't think any man alive was that strong,' sighs Spud.
'Did you ever react instinctively, Spud, and think of knocking the next hitter after a home run?'
'Did you ever,' answered Spud, 'see Ralph Houk when he's upset?'
Right now, Spud is carpentering and hunting in Pennsylvania's Delaware County, toughening himself for the coming season. It's no holiday in the summer, pitching 25 minutes a day, throwing 120-125 pitches, which would be an ordinary game stint. Spud Murray, the world's most generous pitcher, whose name will never make the record books, can't wait.
'Maybe next season, I'll give up 2,500 homers,' says Spud. 'If my stuff's working, I can do it.' "
-Sandy Grady, Philadelphia Bulletin (Baseball Digest, February 1962)
"A man you see pitching batting practice EVERY day, but who never appears in a game, is Spud Murray, the official Yankee batting practice pitcher, the man with the 'rubber' arm. He wears uniform No. 55. His excellent control gives the hitters the full opportunity to get their batting practice cuts."
-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook
"When you watch batting practice, you'll notice the tall figure wearing No. 55. He's Spud Murray, the batting practice pitcher."
-Official Souvenir Program of the 1962 World Series (Yankee Stadium)
JOE SOARES AND DON SEGER (Trainers)
"The Yankees pay as much attention to the physical well-being of their players and the youngsters being developed in the farm system as they do to any other detail in the vast operation of a championship ball club. Head trainer Joe Soares has been with the Yankees for three seasons, while trainer Don Seger joined the Bombers this spring. Both received their early training with Yankee farm clubs."
-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook
"Both Joe Soares and Don Seger have been in the Yankee organization for several years, though Soares became head trainer this season and Seger joined the staff this past spring."
-Official Souvenir Program of the 1962 World Series (Yankee Stadium)
PETE SHEEHY AND PETE PREVITE (Clubhouse Men)
"Two men spend more time at Yankee Stadium than any of the players, but the fans never see them. They are the long-time Yankee clubhouse chiefs- Pete (Big Pete) Sheehy and Pete (Little Pete) Previte. Sheehy has been a Yankee since 1927, Previte since 1942."
-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook
"Pete Sheehy and Pete Previte are both longtime Yanks. Unsung and seldom seen, these two clubhouse custodians do yeoman work all year.
-Official Souvenir Program of the 1962 World Series (Yankee Stadium)
BRUCE HENRY (Traveling Secretary)
"Bruce Henry, Yankee road secretary, attends to all the details of travel, hotel accommodations, feeding, bus, cab transportation, etc. for the World Champions.
He spent many years as a minor league business manager before moving up to the Yankees."
-The New York Yankees Official 1962 Yearbook
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