PHOTOS
Gar Kearney
Editor's note: This article originally appeared in the July/August 2008 edition of Good Times magazine.
Fifty-seven years have passed since the Boston Red Sox left Scranton, but there remain many fans with long memories.
Most of all they remember the youngsters who toed the rubber, scampered around the infield and roamed the outfield at Brooks Field, Athletic Park and Scranton-Dunmore Stadium and finally made it to the big time at Fenway Park.
Mickey Harris, Tex Hughson, Mel Parnell, Maury McDermott, Sam Mele, Frank Malzone and, of course, Jimmy Piersall are but a few. The list goes on and on.
When the Red Sox ended their affiliation with Scranton in 1951 they took with them a group of players who were to be Bosox stalwarts for years to come.
Ike DeLock, who had a 20-4 with Scranton in '51, went on to pitch in 316 games for Boston in the decade from 1952 to 1962, compiling an 82-70 record.
Catcher Sammy White became the Red Sox's first-string catcher and was behind the plate in 981 games for Boston from 1951 until 1959, handling some of the team’s all-time great hurlers. He was named to the American League All-Star Team in 1953 but didn't get in the game because Yogi Berra did all the catching. White ended his career in 1962 with the Phillies with a lifetime batting average of .262.
Third baseman Frank Malzone went into the army for two years after the 1951 season and then to Triple A before getting his chance with the Red Sox in 1957. He was an eight-time All-Star and won three straight Gold Gloves from 1957-59. After 11 seasons with the Red Sox, he finished up with the Angels in 1966.
Outfielder Faye Throneberry patrolled the Fenway outfield from 1952 until 1957 with two years out for Korean War service in the Army. After playing one game with the Bosox in '57, he was dealt to the Washington Senators where he played until being traded to the Los Angeles Angels in 1960, his final season. Overall he played in 521 games and batted .236.
Dick Gernert of Reading took over first base at Fenway when Walt Dropo was dealt to Detroit in early June 1952 and stayed until 1959. After that he put in tours with the Cubs, Tigers, Reds and Houston for 241 more games and finished with an average of 254.
Shortstop Milt Bolling logged 285 games with Boston from 1952 until 1957, batting 231. He was traded to the Senators in 1957 who dealt him a year later to Detroit. All told he played in 400 games and finished with a .241 average.
Outfielder Bob DePietro went to Boston, too, but his stint at Fenway was brief, only four games.
Pitcher George Susce Jr. didn't reach Fenway until 1955. He lasted until 1958 when he was traded to the Tigers and spent the rest of his career there, retiring in 1959 after 117 games and a 22-17 record.
Knuckleball Ben Flowers made 33 pitching appearances for the Bosox in 1951 and 1953, but figured in only five decisions, four of them losses. His only win was a shutout when he beat Don Larsen and the St. Louis Browns. He later played briefly for the Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals and Phillies.
The '51 Scranton team was good, but five years earlier -in 1946 - the locals, managed by Elmer Yotter, were the best in the minor leagues, finishing with a 96-43 record. Sam Mele won the Eastern League batting crown and Mel Parnell the ERA title. Both would become regulars with the Red Sox, but the league MVP, Scranton pitcher Tommy Fine, who had a 23-3 record, didn't fare as well. He would win only one game in the majors.
Parnell, a southpaw, finished the 1946 season in Scranton with a 13-4 record in 21 games. He started 18 games, completing 14 with five shutouts. More notably, he allowed only 20 earned runs in his 138 innings of work, resulting in a microscopic 1.30 ERA.
He spent his entire 10-year major league career with the Red Sox, compiling a 123-75 record, including a no-hitter against the White Sox on July 14, 1956. He was the starting pitcher for the American League in the 1949 All-Star Game and was selected again in 1951. A torn muscle in his pitching arm forced him to end his career early.
Mele, an outfielder and sometimes first baseman who led the Eastern League in batting (.342) and triples (18) in 1946, broke into the Red Sox lineup on April 15, 1947, beginning a 10-year major league playing career during which he was often plagued by injuries.
He is best remembered, however, as the manager of the Minnesota Twins from June 1961 to June 1967. His 1965 team won the American League pennant with a 102-60 record, seven games in front of second place Chicago, the best mark for any team in Minnesota franchise history. The '65 Twins lost a hard-fought World Series to Los Angeles, 4 games to 3. The Sporting News named Mele major league manager of the Year.
Maury McDermott, another lefty in the '46 rotation, had a 16-6 record that year with Scranton but his lack of control prevented him from landing a steady spot on the Red Sox roster for another three years. On July 14, at the age of 17, he threw a no-hitter against the Albany Senators, making him possibly the youngest pitcher to throw a no-hit game in the high minors.
The next season, McDermott was sent to Triple A Louisville where he had control troubles and was shipped back to Scranton where he ended up going 12-4 with four shutouts. During the Eastern League playoffs that year that he pitched his second no-hitter, but lost 1-0.
Playing at home against the Utica Blue Sox, McDermott walked Richie Ashburn in the ninth inning. Ashburn took second on a fielder's choice and reached third on a sacrifice fly. With two outs, the catcher called for a curve, but McDermott missed the sign and unleashed a fastball. The catcher couldn't handle the ball and Ashburn scored the only run of the game to give Utica the victory and McDermott the no-hit loss.
McDermott made it onto the Boston roster at the start of the '48 season, but only lasted two months before being sent back to Scranton for more seasoning. While here he hurled his third no-hitter and was called back up after the Eastern League season ended.
He started the 1949 season with Louisville and set a record for the most strikeouts - 93 - over a five-game period. Boston, which was already 11 games out of first place, brought up McDermott to help its ailing pitching staff. He won five and lost four, striking out 50 in 80 innings.
He stayed with the Red Sox through 1953 when was traded to the Senators. After that he pitched for the Yankees, the A's, the Tigers and the Cardinals before retiring in 1961. In his 12 years in the majors he pitched in 291 games winning 69 and losing 69.
Shortstop Merrill Combs stayed with the Bosox for three years then moved on to the Senators and Indians. In five major league seasons he hit .202. After retiring as a player, Combs was a major league scout for many years.
Infielder Sam Dente reached the majors in 1947 and played a year with the Red Sox before moving to the St. Louis Browns, Washington Senators, White Sox and Indians. In a nine-season career, Dente was a .252 hitter in 745 games.
Al Widmar, who had a 10-5 record with the '46 Scranton team, pitched in two games for the Red Sox in 1947 before being traded to the Browns in an eight-player deal. He stayed in St. Louis through 1951 when he was traded to the White Sox. In a five-year career he had a 13-30 record. After his active career ended, he became a minor league manager and a pitching coach for several MLB clubs.
A young outfielder from Waterbury, Conn., Jimmy Piersall, came to Scranton in 1948 to begin what would be one of the most colorful careers in baseball. That year he drove in 90 runs, making him the Eastern League RBI leader. He played his first game at Boston in September 1950 at the age of 20 but by the time the next season started he was at Triple A Birmingham, where he became the toast of the town and was on his way back to Boston.
Although he was a natural centerfielder, Manager Lou Boudreau was convinced Piersall could be a great shortstop and switched him to that position. He made the transition during spring training and opened the 1952 season at short. But, he couldn't cope with the change and by late June was back in Birmingham. It was obvious he was a changed person. Three weeks later‚ he entered a psychiatric hospital, where he stayed six weeks for treatment as a manic-depressive. Most said Piersall would never play again, but he did.
His comeback with Boston on June 10, 1953 was marked by a 6-for-6 performance. He became the team's regular centerfielder in 1954 and won two Gold Gloves. After the 1958 season, he was traded to the Indians and subsequently went to the Senators, Mets and finally to the Angels, where he ended his career in 1967. In his 17 years in the majors he played in 1,734 games and had a lifetime average of .272.
During his seasons Scranton, Piersall and Maury McDermott lived on Green Street in Dunmore and often attended Sunday Masses at nearby St. Mary of Mount Carmel Church.
There were stars from earlier Scranton teams who made the majors, too.
Johnny Vander Meer, who hurled for the Miners in 1934 (11-8) and 1935 (6-1) when they were at Brooks Field, will be forever remembered for pitching back-to-back no-hit, no-run games for the Cincinnati Reds, the first on July 11, 1938 against the then Boston Bees, winning 3-0, and four days later at the first night game at Brooklyn's Ebbets Field when he handcuffed the Dodgers for a 6-0 win.
Mickey Harris, who was one of the stars of the 1939 team (17-4) that played the last full year at Athletic Park, pitched for the Red Sox from 1940 until 1949 when he was traded to the Washington Senators where he stayed through 1952 before being dealt to the Cleveland Indians for the latter part of that season. His lifetime major league record was 59-71.
Tex Hughson, a tall, lanky right-hander, was another '39 Scranton star who made it to Fenway. He pitched at Louisville in 1940 and began an eight-year career in Boston the following year. His lifetime major league record, all with the Bosox, was 96-54.
First baseman Tony Lupien, another member of the 1939 team that won the first of five Eastern League championships, also made it to Boston. He played 10 games there in 1940 and was the regular first baseman in 1942 and '43. He was with the Phillies in '44 and '45 and - after a stint in the Navy - ended his major league career with the White Sox in 1948.
Almost every one of the teams whose players had "Scranton" emblazoned across the front of their jerseys in the years the Red Sox sent prospects here had least one player who made it to Fenway. Scranton was a good place to begin a baseball career.