May 2, 1954: A doubleheader is split at the 1st ballpark in St. Louis to be named Busch Stadium, which, until the year before, had been the last of many to be named Sportsman's Park. The St. Louis Cardinals won the opener, 10-6. The New York Giants won the nightcap, 9-7.
The 1st game was tied 6-6 going to the bottom of the 8th, but the Cards scored 4 runs to win it. Stan Musial, the greatest player in Cardinal history, hit a home run. It was his 3rd of the game. Home runs were also hit for the Cardinals by Wally Moon, then a rookie, and Tom Alston, who had recently become the team's 1st black player; and by Whitey Lockman and Wes Westrum for the Giants.
The Giants scored 8 runs in the top of the 4th in the 2nd game, and hung on as a St. Louis comeback fell short. Musial hit 2 more home runs. It made him the 1st player in major league history to hit 5 home runs in 1 day. By this point, 7 players had hit 4 home runs in 1 game, but none had hit 5 over a span of 2 games, regardless of whether it was a single-day doubleheader or over 2 days.
Also hitting home runs in this game were the Cardinals' Ray Jablonski and the Giants' Bobby Hofman. Hofman was from St. Louis, growing up on "The Hill," as a Jewish kid in a mostly Italian neighborhood on the North Side, not that far from Sportsman's Park.
There were 2 other kids in his neighborhood, both born within a year of him, and also catchers (although Hofman was mainly a utility infielder), who made the major leagues. One was Joe Garagiola. The other, who grew up across the street from Joe, was Lawrence Peter Berra.
One day, the 3 boys went to a movie together. It was set in India, and one of the characters was a wise man, a yogi. The next day, they were playing ball in a park, and there was no dugout, not even a bench. So they all sat on the ground. Larry Berra sat with his arms folded and his legs crossed, and Bobby thought he looked like the character in the movie, saying, "You look like a yogi!" So he was "Yogi Berra" from then on, though he did initially sign autographs as "Larry Berra."
(Broadcaster Bob Costas once asked him what his wife, Carmen, called him. He said, "She calls me Yogi. If she calls me Lawrence, I know I'm in trouble.")
Younger than those 3 players, but also from that neighborhood, was an 8-year-old black kid who attended the game. His name was Nathan Colbert Jr. On August 1, 1972, the San Diego Padres swept a doubleheader from the Atlanta Braves at what would eventually be named Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. Nate Colbert, then a 1st baseman for the Padres, went 7-for-9, became the 2nd man to hit 5 home runs in a doubleheader, and had 13 RBIs.
In contrast, in the 1954 doubleheader: Overall, in the 1st game, Stan the Man went 4-for-4 with 3 homers, a walk, and 6 RBIs. In the 2nd game, he went 2-for-4 with 2 homers, a walk, and 3 RBIs. Totals: 6-for-8, 5 home runs, 2 walks, and 9 RBIs.
Musial finished his career with 475 home runs, more than any player in National League play before him, except for Mel Ott. As for the budding Giants star who would one day surpass Musial, and surpass Ott, before being himself surpassed by a 1954 rookie named Hank Aaron? Willie Mays went 0-for-3 with a walk in the 1st game, and 1-for-4 with 3 RBIs in the 2nd, for a total of 1-for-7 with a walk and 3 RBIs.
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May 2, 1954 was a Sunday. These other games were played that day:
* A doubleheader was split at Yankee Stadium. The New York Yankees won the opener, 12-4. The Detroit Tigers were leading the nightcap, 4-0, after 5 innings when the game was called due to rain. Mickey Mantle went 2-for-5 with a walk and 2 RBIs, and Al Kaline went 0-for-3 with 3 walks.
* A doubleheader was split at Connie Mack Stadium in Philadelphia. The Chicago White Sox won the 1st game, 4-0. Don Johnson (not the actor) pitched a 2-hit shutout. The Philadelphia Athletics won the 2nd game, 2-1.
* The Cleveland Indians swept a doubleheader from the Washington Senators, 6-4 and 6-3 at Griffith Stadium in Washington. Wally Westlake won the 2nd game with a bases-loaded triple in the top of the 10th inning.
* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Cincinnati Redlegs, 4-3 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati. This was the 2nd of 9 season in which the Reds called themselves the Redlegs, because of the Red Scare.
* A doubleheader was split at Wrigley Field in Chicago. The Chicago Cubs won the 1st game, 5-3. The Pittsburgh Pirates were leading the 2nd game, 18-10, when the game was called due to darkness in the 8th inning.
Ernie Banks, still a rookie, hadn't yet started saying, "It's a beautiful day for baseball, so let's play two!" But he was lucky they did: Despite winning the 1st game, he went 0-for-4; while, despite losing the 2nd game, he went 3-for-5 with a home run and 3 RBIs. Hank Sauer hit 2 home runs in the 2nd game.
* The Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox were rained out at Fenway Park in Boston. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on June 10. The Orioles swept, 5-1 and 9-0. Ted Williams did not play in either game. Duane Pillette pitched a 5-hit shutout in the 2nd game.
* And the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Milwaukee Braves were rained out at Milwaukee County Stadium. The game was made up as part of a doubleheader on July 15. The Braves swept, 2-0 and 9-8. In the 1st game, Bob Buhl pitched a 3-hit shutout, outpitching Bob Milliken. Both runs came on a 7th-inning home run by Eddie Mathews. Jackie Robinson went 1-for-3 with a walk, then was benched for the 2nd game.
Mathews homered in the 2nd game, too. Billy Loes gave the Dodgers a good start, entering the bottom of the 8th with a 7-2 lead, but faltered. The Dodgers went into the bottom of the 9th up 8-3, but Jim Hughes allowed walk, single, sacrifice bunt, walk, foul popup and 2-RBI single. Rookie manager Walter Alston replaced him with Erv Palica, who allowed a 2-RBI double to former Dodger Andy Pakfo, a single to Johnny Logan, and a game-winning single to Charlie White.
Over the 2 games, Duke Snider went 2-for-8 with a walk and 2 RBIs, and Hank Aaron went 0-for-9. As I said earlier, he was a rookie. He got better.
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