August 31, 1955: Nashua vs. Swaps

August 31, 1955: A rare match race between horse racing champions is held at Washington Park in Chicago.

Swaps, a horse known as the California Comet, won the 1955 Kentucky Derby in 2 minutes, 1 and 4/5ths seconds, just 2/5ths shy of the race record, since broken by Secretariat in 1973. He was ridden by Willie Shoemaker, who retired as the jockey with the most races won in a career. But an injured hoof prevented Swaps from running in the last 2 legs of the Triple Crown, the Preakness Stakes and the Belmont Stakes.

Nashua was bred and trained in Maryland, and ridden by the other great jockey of the 1950s, Eddie Arcaro. The leading 2-year-old racer the year before, Nashua was the favorite to win the Kentucky Derby, but finished 2nd to Swaps. Nashua won the Preakness Stakes, by only 1 length, but in a track record, also broken by Secretariat 18 years later. Nashua won the Belmont Stakes by 9 lengths, and certainly looked like the best thoroughbred horse in the country.

But some racing observers still thought Swaps was the better horse. He recovered from his injury to set several track records on the West Coast. So a deal was reached for a match race. The prize money: $110,000, winner-take-all. (About $1.21 million in 2022 money.)

The day before the race, Swaps was in a practice run on the track, which was wet, and he re-injured his foot. As a result, Nashua, having broken fast from the gate, led wire to wire. Having won the match race, Nashua was awarded the Eclipse Award for horse of the year.

Swaps was rested for the remainder of the year -- which is probably what should have happened before the match race. It should have been called off as soon as his handlers knew he was hurt. But the money was too good. I guess we'll never know for sure.

The rest he did get did him a lot of good. He won several races in 1956, and was named Horse of the Year. But an even worse injury near the end of the racing season nearly led to his death, and forced his retirement. He sired Chateaugay, who won the Kentucky Derby and the Belmont Stakes in 1963. He died in 1972.

Nashua also retired after the 1956 racing season, having become only the 2nd horse ever to earn $1 million. (The 1st was 1948 Triple Crown winner Citation.) At stud, his daughters were more successful than his sons. His descendants include 1997 Kentucky Derby winner Fusaichi Pegasus. He died in 1982.

Both horses were named to the United States Racing Hall of Fame. In 1999, The Blood-Horse magazine named its Top 100 Racehorses of the 20th Century, and ranked Swaps 20th and Nashua 24th -- in spite of Nashua's win in their match race.

*

August 31, 1955 was a Wednesday. Olympic Gold Medalist hurdler Edwin Moses was born on this day.

These baseball games were played:

* The New York Yankees beat the Kansas City Athletics, 11-6 at Kansas City Municipal Stadium. Mickey Mantle, Gil McDougald and Irv Noren hit home runs in support of Tommy Byrne.

* The New York Giants beat the Cincinnati Redlegs, 5-0 at the Polo Grounds. (The Reds were known as the Redlegs from 1954 to 1958, because of stupid McCarthyism.) Ruben Gomez pitched a 7-hit shutout. Willie Mays went 1-for-4.

* The Brooklyn Dodgers lost to the Milwaukee Braves, 13-8 at Ebbets Field. The Braves knocked Carl Erskine out of the box in the 5th inning, including a single by Hank Aaron and a home run by George Crowe. A 19-year-old rookie from Brooklyn named Sandy Koufax pitched the 6th inning, and allowed 4 runs.

Jackie Robinson did not appear in this game. Don Newcombe did, but as a pinch-hitter, not a pitcher. He ended that season with 20 wins against 5 losses, 7 home runs, and a World Series ring. (Take note, Shohei Ohtani.) But, on this occasion, he struck out. Sandy Amoros hit a home run, and Pee Wee Reese and Duke Snider each had 3 hits, but Dem Bums still lost.

* The Philadelphia Phillies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates, 13-2 at Connie Mack Stadium, in Philadelphia. The Phils got home runs from Stan Lopata and Jim Greengrass; and 3 RBIs each from Greengrass, Granny Hamner and Willie "Puddin' Head" Jones, in support of Murry Dickson. Richie Ashburn went 2-for-3 with 2 walks. Ernie Banks went 0-for-4.

* The Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals, 4-3 at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh. Stan Musial was in the starting lineup, batting 5th and playing right field, but did not get into the game: Pete Whisenant was sent to pinch-hit for him in the 1st inning, and played right field the rest of the way. I can find no explanation, as Baseball-Reference.com shows that Musial played in every single game that season. (I guess being listed in the starting lineup counts with them, even if the player was replaced before coming to bat or taking the field.)

Pirate rookie Roberto Clemente did not enter this game, either. Johnny O'Brien, along with his brother Eddie 1 of 10 sets of twins to have played in the major leagues, did play, and he singled home the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning.

(In 2022, there is 1 set of twins in the major leagues, identical, and both pitchers: Taylor Rogers of the Milwaukee Brewers, and Tyler Rogers of the San Francisco Giants. Oddly, Taylor throws lefthanded, and Tyler is righthanded.)

* The Cleveland Indians beat the Baltimore Orioles, 5-1 at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. Herb Score, soon to be named the American League Rookie of the Year, went the distance, striking out 13 -- but also walking 7, and allowing 3 hits. Brooks Robinson would make his major league debut for the Orioles on September 17.

* The Detroit Tigers beat the Washington Senators, 7-4 at Briggs Stadium in Detroit. (It was renamed Tiger Stadium in 1961.) Al Kaline, on his way to becoming the youngest batting champion in AL history (breaking the record of an earlier Tiger, Ty Cobb), went 0-for-3, but had an RBI on a sacrifice fly.

* The Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox, 4-2 at Comiskey Park in Chicago. Ted Williams went 0-for-4.