January 9, 1960: "Home Run Derby" Premieres

Left to right: Mickey Mantle, Mark Scott, Willie Mays

January 9, 1960: Home Run Derby premieres on syndicated television, distributed by Ziv Television Programs. The half-hour black & white program became a classic of baseball fan viewing.

Like so many TV series before and since, it was filmed in Los Angeles for convenience of weather for outdoor filming. In this case, at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, formerly home of the Los Angeles Angels of the Pacific Coast League.

Chicago Cubs owner William Wrigley had built it in 1925 as a copy of Cubs Park in Chicago, and renamed his home park Wrigley Field the next season. So the Los Angeles version had the name "Wrigley Field" first. The PCL Angels left after the 1957 season, when the Brooklyn Dodgers moved to Los Angeles. The field distances, as with its Chicago counterpart, were nearly symmetrical, giving no advantage to a lefthanded or a righthanded hitter.

Home Run Derby was hosted by Mark Scott. Born in 1915 in Chicago, as Samuel Marks Solomon, he had broadcast for the Cincinnati Reds, and for the PCL's other Los Angeles team, the Hollywood Stars. Still on the West Coast, he was hired to host the show.

The rules of Home Run Derby were simple. Players would take turns batting, and would either hit the ball over the fence, or be out. As Scott put it, at least once a show, "It's a home run or nothing on Home Run Derby." The pitcher was never named, but he was instructed to put the ball over the plate.

To enforce the rules, the show hired former American League umpire turned actor Art Passarella. If a pitch was a ball, he would allow it. But if it went over the plate, and the batter did not swing, he called it a strike, and it was one strike, you're out.

The players took turns over 9 "innings," with breaks for commercials after every 3 innings. While one player batted, the other would sit down with Scott for a mini-interview, discussing the player at bat, or perhaps some other aspect of the game.

The player with the most home runs at the end of the show received a check for $2,000 (about $19,775 in 2022 money). and was invited back to face a new opponent the next week. The runner-up received $1,000. If a batter hit 3 straight home runs, he got a bonus of $500. A 4th would garner another $500; and a 5th, and any more beyond that, $1,000. Given the fact that the reserve clause was still in effect, and many players still needed off-season jobs because even the biggest stars weren't paid all that much by cheap ownership, this prize money was a big deal.

Not surprisingly, the premiere episode featured the 2 biggest stars in baseball at the time: Mickey Mantle of the New York Yankees and Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants. Mays took an 8-2 lead after 4 innings, but Mantle, for whom the game seemed to be designed, won it, 9-8. Although a switch-hitter, Mantle always insisted he had more power from the right side, and batted righthanded in every appearance on the show.

This was during New York's National League interregnum. Mays was the only former New York Giant to appear. Former Brooklyn Dodgers Duke Snider and Gil Hodges appeared. Mays, Snider and Hodges would all later play for the New York Mets. Gus Triandos represented the Baltimore Orioles, and Bob Cerv the Kansas City Athletics, and both of those would later play for the Yankees.

Every team then in the major leagues contributed at least 1 player, with 1 exception: Oddly, the defending American League Champions, the Chicago White Sox. Granted, they were known for their "Go-Go" style of scratch hitting and baserunning, but they did have former Reds slugger Ted Kluszewski to provide some pop. He had hit 3 home runs in the 1959 World Series, which the ChiSox lost to the Dodgers of Snider and Hodges.

Roger Maris had just been traded from the Athletics to the Yankees, and was not yet a big enough star to appear on the show. Hank Aaron of the Milwaukee Braves was, and was the National League's returning batting champion. Approaching his 24th birthday during filming, he then seemed more likely to bat .400 like Ted Williams (who did not appear on the show) than to challenge Babe Ruth's career record of 714 home runs. Nevertheless, Aaron turned out to be the show's leading money-winner: $13,500 (about $133,000 in 2022 money).

Aaron was the only player to face one of his own teammates on the show, Eddie Mathews. Mathews and Snider turned out to be the only lefthanded hitters who participated.

Following the success of this show, Mark Scott began to develop a golf-themed TV show titled Back Nine. But it would never happen: He suffered a heart attack and died on July 13, 1960, just 6 months after Home Run Derby premiered. He was only 45 years old. There would never be a 2nd season.

Art Passarella continued as an actor, including a famous scene in That Touch of Mink where he threw Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris and Yogi Berra out of a game at Yankee Stadium, and argues with Doris Day. He lived until 1981.

Los Angeles' Wrigley Field would host the American League's expansion version of the Los Angeles Angels in 1961. They would then share Dodger Stadium for 4 seasons, until Anaheim Stadium (now Angel Stadium of Anaheim) opened in 1966. That same year, the Western version of Wrigley Field was torn down.

As of January 9, 2022, Willie Mays and Rocky Colavito, with the Cleveland Indians at the time of the show's filming, were the last 2 surviving participants. (UPDATE: Mays died on June 18, 2024, and Colavito, the last survivor, died on December 10, 2024.)

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January 9, 1960 was a Saturday. Baseball and football were out of season. There were 3 games played in the NBA:

* The Philadelphia Warriors beat the Syracuse Nationals, 119-112 at the Philadelphia Civic Center. It was just another day at the office for Wilt Chamberlain, as he scored 48 points and grabbed 37 rebounds. But in 1962, the Warriors moved across the country to San Francisco. After 1 more season, the Nationals took their place, as the Philadelphia 76ers.

* The Boston Celtics beat the Detroit Pistons, 126-103 at the Olympia Stadium in Detroit.

* And the Minneapolis Lakers beat the Cincinnati Royals, 121-91 at the Minneapolis Armory. After this season, the Lakers moved to Los Angeles.

And the NHL's entire "Original Six" were in action:

* The New York Rangers played the Detroit Red Wings to a tie, 3-3 at the old Madison Square Garden.

* The Montreal Canadiens beat the Chicago Black Hawks, 2-1 at the Montreal Forum.

* And the Boston Bruins beat the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-2 at Maple Leaf Gardens in Toronto.