May 13, 1952: The Bristol Twins, of Bristol, Virginia -- so named because it's adjacent to Bristol, Tennessee -- defeat the Welch Miners, of Welch, West Virginia, 7-0 at Shaw Stadium. This was in the Appalachian League, in Class D, equivalent to today's "Rookie Leagues," the lowest level of baseball's minor leagues.
Ron Necciai (pronounced "Neh-CHIGH") pitched a no-hitter, and struck out 27 batters. It is not a perfect game: He walked a batter, hit another, another reached on an error, and another reached on a 3rd-strike passed ball.
He had already struck out 20 in his professional debut. In his next game after the 27, he struck out 24. That's 65 strikeouts in 3 games. Clearly, at the age of 19, he was already too good for Class D.
But the Twins' parent club, the Pittsburgh Pirates, en route to the worst season in their history, were desperate. They promoted him to Class B, and then, on August 10, to the major leagues.
The Pirates retired his Number 21. Not for him, but for a player who started wearing in it in 1955: Roberto Clemente. Necciai made 9 major league appearances, going 1-6 with a 7.08 ERA. Clearly, he wasn't ready for the majors.
He was then drafted into the Korean War. But he'd already had ulcers, and got a medical discharge. He never regained his Spring 1952 form, and was just 23 when he threw his last professional pitch. He became a successful sporting goods salesman in the Pittsburgh area, where he was from. As of May 13, 2022, he is still alive, approaching his 90th birthday.
The 1952 Pirates finished 42-112, 54 1/2 games behind the Pennant-winning Brooklyn Dodgers. Despite having Branch Rickey as general manager, and Bing Crosby as a part-owner, it was the most losses of any National League team between the 1935 Boston Braves and the 1962 New York Mets.
From April 19 to May 6, they went 1-17. From May 13 to 22, they went 0-8. They were 20 1/2 games out of 1st place by Memorial Day, and 31 1/2 games out by the 4th of July. From July 12 to 23, they went 2-11. And from September 3 to 28, they closed the season by going 3-17. On the last play of the game, they won 6 times, but lost 11.
Their pitching was especially bad, losing 4 in which they scored 7 runs, and 7 in which they scored at least 6. In 43 games, they gave up at least 7 runs, going 1-42. Murry Dickson had a 3.57 ERA, but went just 14-21. No other Pirate pitcher had more than 7 wins.
The same night Necciai had his 27 strikeouts, the Pirates lost to the Boston Braves, 3-1 at Braves Field in Boston. Vern Bickford outpitched Howie Pollet, one of several players that Rickey had signed for the St. Louis Cardinals, and had now brought to the Pirates.
For the Braves, a rookie named Eddie Mathews hit his 7th career home run. For the Pirates, Ralph Kiner, the National League's leading slugger the last few years, went 0-for-3. Mathews would retire with 512 career home runs, while a back injury would force Kiner out 3 years later, at the age of 33, with 369.
That year, making the film The Road to Bali, Crosby's character was asked by one played by Dorothy Lamour, "Do you still have pirates in America?" And Bing said, "Yes, but they're usually in the basement." The film's other star, Bob Hope, was a minority owner of the Cleveland Indians. (Hope grew up in Cleveland. Crosby was from Spokane, Washington, but was a friend of Dan Galbreath, the majority owner of the Pirates.)
Necciai was part of a youth movement, mocked as "Rickey's Rinky Dinks" and "Operation Peach Fuzz." Also part of it was a 20-year-old outfielder from Queens, who had starred at St. John's University, and got into 81 games for the Pirates' other Class D team, the Brunswick Pirates in the Georgia-Florida League. But he was hit in the head with a pitch, missed the rest of the season, and decided to give up baseball, and go back to St. John's for law school. His name was Mario Cuomo.
Once, as Governor of New York, Cuomo and Mickey Mantle attended a sports awards banquet. Mantle mentioned that, when he was signed by the New York Yankees in 1949, he got a bonus of $1,100, while Cuomo's singing bonus 3 years later was $2,000. That got a big laugh. But Cuomo was able to spend his bonus money on an engagement ring, and he and his wife Matilda were married for 60 years.
The next season, Rickey traded Kiner. In hindsight, given his later injury, it may have been for the best. At the time, Kiner was making $90,000 for the season, Rickey was famously cheap, and the team wasn't going anywhere. Phil Wrigley, owner of the Chicago Cubs, was filthy rich, so Rickey traded Kiner to the Cubs, telling him, "We finished 8th with you, and we can finish 8th without you." They did.
Joe Garagiola, who had been the backup catcher on a World Series winner, the 1946 St. Louis Cardinals (a team built by Rickey, who by then was building the Dodgers)), was the starting catcher on the 1952 Pirates. Along with his Cardinal teammate Stan Musial, and his St. Louis neighbor Yogi Berra, stories about the '52 Pirates helped build his broadcasting career. He said, "In an 8-team league, we should have finished 9th."
In 1955, health problems forced Rickey to step aside from full-time baseball activity. But he had already signed the prospects that would make the Pirates World Champions in 1960, including Clemente, Bill Mazeroski, Dick Groat, Dick Stuart and Vernon Law.
The Bristol Twins played from 1940 to 1955, winning Appalachian League Pennants in 1942 and 1950. In that 1952 season, they reached the Playoffs, but lost in the 1st round. Previously, from 1921 to 1925, the city was home to the Bristol State Liners.
In 1969, DeVault Memorial Stadium was built. From then to 1994, again in the Appalachian League, the city was home to the Bristol Tigers, Pennant winners in 1972, 1974, 1977 and 1985; from the 1995 to 2013, to the Bristol White Sox, Pennant winners in 1998 and 2002; and from 2014 to 2020, to the Bristol Pirates, who won no Pennants.
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May 13, 1952 was a Tuesday. John Kasich, Congressman and Governor of Ohio who ran for President in 2016, was born on this day.
These other baseball games were played:
* The New York Yankees lost to the Cleveland Indians, 10-6 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Steve Gromek was the winning pitcher, while Yankee starter Bill Miller didn't get out of the 3rd inning. (Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat were both injured at the time, Allie Reynolds had pitched just 2 days earlier, and Whitey Ford was serving in the Korean War.)
Larry Doby, Dale Mitchell and Ray Boone (father of Bob, grandfather of Bret and Aaron) hit home runs for the Tribe. Gil McDougald hit a home run. Yogi Berra went 1-for-3 with 2 walks and an RBI. Mickey Mantle did not start, but replaced an injury Bobby Brown at 3rd base, and went 2-for-2. It was the only game he ever played at 3rd base, and he ended up making 2 errors, although no runs scored as a result. (He played 1,742 games in center field, 147 in right field, 129 in left field, 262 at 1st base, 7 at shortstop, and 1 at 2nd base.)
* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Reds, 7-4 at the Polo Grounds. Larry Jansen went the distance for the win. Willie Mays, Bobby Thomson and Bob Elliott hit home runs.
* The Brooklyn Dodgers beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 14-8 at Ebbets Field. Ben Wade was the winning pitcher, in relief of Preacher Roe. Wade and Gil Hodges both hit home runs. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-4 with 2 walks. Roy Campanella went 3-for-5 with a walk, a stolen base, and 3 RBIs. Duke Snider went 2-for-4 with a walk and 3 RBIs. Stan Musial went 3-for-5 with 2 home runs and 4 RBIs.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs, 6-0 at Shibe Park in Philadelphia.
* The Washington Senators beat the Detroit Tigers, 4-3 at Briggs Stadium (later Tiger Stadium) in Detroit.
* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 5-0 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Billy Pierce pitched a 7-hit shutout. Minnie Miñoso went 2-for-4 with a home run and 4 RBIs. Ted Williams was unavailable, serving in the Korean War.
* And the Philadelphia Athletics beat the St. Louis Browns, 5-1 at Sportsman's Park in St. Louis.
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