[ADiRN #3] #20, Wally Moon
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You are searching for a MEAps [Monk-E Arms pillbottle special]. Bring your own pencil. And you won't need to reach the moon, but you might need a step stool if you can't reach high.
Wally Moon was assigned #20 by the Cardinals in the Spring of 1954. They had told him to report to the minor league spring camp, but purposely went straight to the major league camp, insisting that he would make the team or quit baseball. By the end of camp, the Cardinals sent Enos Slaughter to make room on the roster for Moon. A wise decision, as Moon hit .304, scoring 106 runs and swiping 18 bags. Unaware of this bright future, the fans let the management know they disagreed during Moon's first at bat, chanting, "We want Slaughter!" - until he hit a homerun against the rival Cubs right then and there. At the end of the season, he beat out Ernie Banks and Hank Aaron for Rookie of the Year honors in a landslide. 2 years later Moon came in 27th in MVP honors (won by Brooklyn's Don Newcombe.) The following year he made the All-Star team.
After hitting only .238 in 1958 (previously never lower than .295), the Cardinals traded him to the Dodgers, assigned #7. At that time, the team played at the LA Colliseum, and Moon was concerned about the layout of the field. The Right Field wall was 440 feet away, making it tough for a left-handed batter like Moon (though he threw right-handed.) The Left Field wall was only 251 feet away, but the screen protecting the seats went up 42 feet (think of Boston's Green Monster, only a screen instead of a solid wall.) Stan Musial helped Moon adjust his batting to hit to left field. Moon hit 19 homers that season, and became known for his "Moon shots" over the left field screen. With a .302 average and leading the league in triples with 11, he made the All Star team again and came in 4th in MVP voting (ironically behind Ernie Banks, Hank Aaron, and Eddie Matthews.) This helped propel the Dodgers to beat the Chicago White Sox in the 1959 World Series, catching the final out. He earned a Gold Glove (and so did Banks and Aaron) in 1960. In 1961, Moon led the NL with a .434 on base percentage and came in 13th in MVP voting. He had 2 at bats in the 1965 World Series, when the Dodgers beat the Minnesota Twins, and then retired after the season.
Rip Repulski was a teammate of Wally Moon on both teams, and Daryl Spencer on the Dodgers. Repulski wore #8 as a Cardinal and #20 as a Dodger. Spencer wore #20 for both the Cardinals and Dodgers. #20 has been retired by both teams - Lou Brock for the Cardinals and Don Sutton for the Dodgers.
About this series - I grew up bleeding blue (and I don't mean for the St. Louis hockey club, though I do that now too.) And so seeing the "Go Crazy, folks! Go crazy!" homerun is one of my least favorite things since it was against my Dodgers. Ever since I arrived in Southern Illinois in 2000, I've gone to Dodger games at Busch Stadium. But I have come to appreciate the Cardinals. They have a well-run organization from top to bottom, and I respect Redbird Nation fans as very knowledgeable about the game. So much so that after the Dodgers, the Cardinals have become my second favorite team. This series of caches [ADiRN, A Dodger in Redbird Nation] is dedicated to those who have been both Dodgers and Cardinals.
Additional Hints
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