Let’s Help Right An Historic Wrong! Should Ernie Lombardi Still Be Considered The “Goat” Of The 1939 World Series?

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Let’s Help Right An Historic Wrong! Should Ernie Lombardi Still Be Considered The “Goat” Of The 1939 World Series?

“Ernie Lombardi must have been an incredibly fun player to watch. To begin with, he was probably the slowest man ever to play in the majors. And one of the most savage line-drive hitters ever as well.” –Edward Thoma, “Baseball Outsider”

My post yesterday on Hank Gowdy and the 1924 World Series and how postseason errors can become magnified got me thinking about other so-called World Series “goats.” The Ernie Lombardi “Snooze” from the 1939 World Series certainly falls into this category, but was it fair to call Ernie, one of the most underappreciated greats in baseball history, a “goat?” Maybe “scapegoat” is a better term…

The featured photo above is from “Ernie Lombardi Day.” I selected it to show what a physical giant of a man Ernie Lombardi was (he was listed at 6’3″, 230 lbs). Not sure of the date, but was it’s between 1943 and 1947, Ernie’s years with the Giants. He was also known as a “gentle giant” and this made him hugely popular among fans

The 1939 World Series was played at Crosley Field between the Reds and the Yankees. The 1939 Yankees are recognized as one of the greatest teams ever. After three games, they had a three-games-to-none lead. In the fourth game, the Reds were ahead 4-2 entering the ninth with their ace, 27-game winner Bucky Walters, on the mound. The Yankees scored twice in the ninth inning (one of the runs unearned), sending the game to extra innings.

 Frank Crossetti walked to start the 10^th. After a sacrifice bunt, the Yankees’ burly right fielder, Charlie “King Kong” Keller grounded to shortstop Billy Myers, who booted it for an error, putting runners on first and third. Dangerous Joe DiMaggio, the American League batting champion with a .381 average, then strolled to the plate. What followed was one of the most chaotic plays in World Series history!

DiMaggio singled to right driving in Crossetti from third, as Reds’ outfielder Ival Goodman fumbled the ball and hurried a throw to relay man Frank McCormick. Keller hustled around the bases and beat the throw home and barreled into catcher Ernie Lombardi hitting him in the groin, knocking him to the ground. Unfortunately for the Reds, Lombardi had failed to wear his protective cup. Ernie was in pain and momentarily dazed. DiMaggio, immediately sizing up the situation, raced around the bases and scored while the ball was just a few feet away from the immobile Lombardi. Three runs had scored on a single! The press had a field day with the play and immortalized it “Lombardi’s Big Snooze,” and that’s how it’s remembered in baseball lore even to this day. 

 According to baseball historian Bill James “Lombardi was the Bill Buckner of the 1930s, even more innocent than Buckner, and Buckner has plenty of people who should be holding up their hands to share his disgrace. Lombardi’s selection as the Series goat was absurd. Yankees were already ahead three games to none and that DiMaggio’s run merely made the final score 7-4.”

 Surely Ernie Lombardi deserves a better fate than to be remembered for this one unfortunate play. As happened with Hank Gowdy, the play greatly tarnished the reputation of one of baseball’s greatest hitting catchers. The fact that Lombardi was so slow is a testament to just how great of a hitter he actually was. He hit over .300 for ten seasons and finished his 17-year major league career (1931-47), with a remarkable .306 batting average, 190 home runs, and 998 RBIs, despite infielders playing nearly on the outfield grass every time he came to the plate. Only two other catchers in the Hall of Fame have a higher lifetime average than Lombardi. He won two batting titles (only catcher Joe Mauer has won more), and threw out an astonishing 47% of potential base stealers! He was the American League MVP for 1938, and was selected to eight All-Star teams. Ernie was a member of two pennant winners (1939-’60), and the 1940 World Series champion Reds.

Ernie Lombardi is included in Lawrence Ritter’s book “100 Greatest Baseball Players of All TIme.”  He was overlooked by the Hall of Fame until nine years after his death, and died a broken man in 1977, bitter over his snub by the Hall.

-Gary Livacari

Photo Credits: All from Google search

 Information: Excerpts edited from article: “Baseball Outsider,” by Edward Thoma http://fpbaseballoutsider.blogspot.com/2010/02/catcher-project-ernie-lombardi.html

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