Latest / Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History / 1956 • Baseball Clip • Bob Cerv Interview - Radio

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1956 • Baseball Clip • Bob Cerv Interview - Radio · Retro Sports Radio: Classic Games from History

• 0:00
  This is Retro Sports Radio. Visit RetroSeasons.com for more sports history.
• 0:07
  This is Bob Serve of the Kansas City Athletics. In a few moments, I'll tell you about my greatest sports thrill.
• 0:15
  This is Harry Wismer. What you're about to hear is a transcribed story of one of baseball's outstanding players.
• 0:33
  And an event our special guest Bob Serve considers his greatest sports thrill.
• 0:38
  And Bob himself is here to tell us all about it.
• 0:41
  But first, here is Bill Redick with the message of interest from your United States Air Force.
• 0:47
  In a thrilling ninth inning rally, it may be difficult to pick out the most important baseball player on the field.
• 0:53
  However, in the expanding age of space, there's no question about who the most important men will be.
• 1:00
  The most important men in this new era will be Air Force trained specialists, or the space age will be run by technicians.
• 1:09
  Right now, today, you still have the opportunity to get in on the ground floor.
• 1:14
  If you join the Air Force and are qualified for training, you'll be instructed by the finest technical experts available.
• 1:21
  Perhaps your field will be electronics, jet mechanics, guided missile systems, or radar.
• 1:28
  In any case, Air Force training will stick with you and make you a valuable man anywhere.
• 1:35
  So see your local recruiter now for the full story on your future in the United States Air Force, where the age of space is reality.
• 1:46
  Now, back to Harry Wismer.
• 1:48
  Bob Serve is over 30, and by the usual baseball standards, is a veteran whose best years have to be considered behind him.
• 1:56
  But by his own standards, Bob Serve is just beginning his career in the majors.
• 2:01
  The records show that Bob Serve has been around on and off ever since 1951.
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  But the records tell only a small part of the story of this husky Nebraskan who won a reprieve from a life sentence on the New York Yankee bench,
• 2:15
  and in one solid season, established himself as one of the top power hitters in the American League.
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  In 1958, the Yankees won the World Series.
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  Ted Williams took the batting title.
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  Jackie Jensen was the most valuable player, and Bob Turley walked away with the pitching honors.
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  But Bob Serve, at the seventh place Kansas City Athletics, undoubtedly had the most remarkable season of anybody in the junior circuit.
• 2:40
  Serve, a promising non-entity for years, who couldn't get anywhere when he was in good health,
• 2:46
  went from mediocrity to stardom in a season of injuries that would have all but disabled a less hardy man.
• 2:53
  In 1958, Bob Serve played in 141 ball games in spite of a broken jaw, a broken toe, a bruised hand, a sprained knee, and a badly dented arm muscle.
• 3:06
  He not only played, but he was the Athletics' outstanding star and one of the big guys in the American League.
• 3:12
  He was in the batting race until the last ten days of the season and ended up with a respectable 3.05 average.
• 3:19
  His 38 homers put him in fourth place, only four behind Mickey Mantle, who led the league.
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  He was also fourth in runs batted in with 104.
• 3:30
  At one point, Bob Serve led the league in all three major batting departments.
• 3:34
  He was so far ahead in home runs and RBIs at the time he broke his jaw in May, that it appeared he wouldn't be caught by anyone.
• 3:42
  If he hadn't been hurt so often, Bob might have gone all the way.
• 3:47
  Even in the best of health, Bob Serve didn't figure to be that good.
• 3:51
  The Yankee cast off had been commuting between New York and their Kansas City farm when it was in the American Association for years.
• 3:59
  The Yankees expecting him to develop into a stick out any minute weren't quite sure what to do with him.
• 4:05
  They were reluctant to turn him loose because he was a powerful right-handed slugger who seemed to lack only experience.
• 4:13
  When he still didn't develop, they let him go right after the 1956 World Series.
• 4:18
  Bob Serve went to Kansas City, which for a Yankee was like going to Siberia.
• 4:23
  The shift seemed to mark the end of the line for Serve.
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  He started off as if it were.
• 4:28
  His 1957 season at Kansas City was pretty dreadful.
• 4:32
  He reported there 20 pounds overweight, and the only thing he could reduce during the year was his batting average.
• 4:39
  When the season ended, he was ready to quit. So were the Athletics.
• 4:43
  Then came the transformation. No one is quite sure how it happened.
• 4:48
  Even Bob Serve doesn't know. He cut his weight down and reported in shape, but he had always been in shape with the Yankees.
• 4:55
  Perhaps he had a little more determination.
• 4:57
  He might have figured this was his last chance, but that wasn't anything new either.
• 5:02
  The year before had looked like his last chance too.
• 5:05
  The only thing that's sure is that he caught fire all of a sudden, and once he got going, he didn't stop.
• 5:12
  Bob Serve was the hottest thing in baseball during the first month of the 1958 season.
• 5:17
  Right up to the time, he broke his jaw.
• 5:19
  At that point, after 23 games, he had 11 homers, 30 runs batted in, and an average of 344.
• 5:27
  Bob Serve broke his jaw trying to score from second base in the seventh inning of a night game against the Detroit Tigers in Kansas City.
• 5:34
  As he neared the plate, he saw that the Tigers catcher Red Wilson was waiting for him with the ball.
• 5:39
  Serve decided to try to knock it out of Wilson's hands by crashing into him.
• 5:44
  He smashed his jaw against Wilson's bony shoulder, and he could feel something give.
• 5:50
  He was not only stunned, but his jaw throbbed with pain.
• 5:54
  The first thing he said when he saw manager Harry Kraft on the Athletics bench was, I think my jaw's busted.
• 6:01
  He was right. It was broken in two places.
• 6:05
  One week after the accident, Serve returned to action.
• 6:09
  Bob lost weight, and his hitting fell off, but he became an inspiration to the whole team.
• 6:14
  He became a take-charge guy without being able to talk.
• 6:18
  During the month he played with his jaw wired, he smacked six homers, and batted in 21 runs.
• 6:23
  By the time the braces were removed, he was still leading the league in homers and RBIs and had a batting average of.308.
• 6:31
  Bob Serve started in left field in the 1958 All-Star game at Baltimore.
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  He had never been on the All-Star squad before.
• 6:39
  He was not quite up to par since he hadn't completely recovered from his injuries.
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  He failed to distinguish himself, but at least he was among those present.
• 6:49
  Happy Kansas City fans held a day for Bob Serve on July 22, 1958.
• 6:55
  He was presented with an endless collection of gifts.
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  The affair was also characterized by the most distinguished gathering of notables ever to honor a ballplayer outside of New York or Washington,
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  including a former president of the United States, three governors, and six mayors.
• 7:12
  Bob Serve was born in Weston, Nebraska, a small town about 30 miles from Lincoln, on May 5, 1926.
• 7:20
  He went into the service after graduating from high school in 1943, and when he came out two and a half years later, he enrolled at the University of Nebraska.
• 7:29
  Bob Serve played ball all through college, starting as a catcher, but shifting to the outfield his sophomore year.
• 7:36
  After he graduated in the spring of 1950, Bob signed a contract with the New York Yankees for a $6,000 bonus
• 7:43
  and joined the Kansas City Blues in the American Association.
• 7:48
  The next six years were not the happiest ones for Bob Serve, as he battled for a regular job with the parent Yankees.
• 7:55
  But to no avail, he was a two-platoon ballplayer, being used chiefly as a pinch hitter.
• 8:02
  On August 25, 1956, Bob Serve's career underwent a drastic change, although he was unaware of it at the time.
• 8:10
  It was on this date that the Yankees purchased anal slaughter from the Kansas City Athletics.
• 8:15
  The A's were to get a player for slaughter at the end of the season. That player turned out to be Bob Serve.
• 8:21
  When Serve had his bad year for the A's in 1957, many baseball men said that Bob had sat too many years on the Yankee bench,
• 8:29
  and that his best days were behind him.
• 8:32
  It was at this point that Bob Serve decided to try to do something to ensure his success in baseball.
• 8:38
  First, he went on a diet and trimmed off 18 pounds. He worked hard all winter and got into the best shape of his career.
• 8:46
  The rest is diamond history. The 1958 season saw him finish fourth in the voting for the American League's Most Valuable Player Award.
• 8:56
  While Bob Serve at the Kansas City Athletics has shown brittle bones, there never has been any doubt about his heart.
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  He has been one of the gamest ever to play Major League Baseball.
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  Now, before you meet our special guest Bob Serve in person and hear about his greatest sports thrill,
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  here is a message of interest to all young men with an eye on the future.
• 9:20
  Psychologists tell us that young people don't like to be left out of events in which their friends take part.
• 9:26
  This is true of adults, too, and why not? When exciting things take place, everyone just naturally wants to be part of them.
• 9:33
  Consider the dramatic advances now occurring in the space age.
• 9:37
  Consider, too, the important role the Air Force is playing in this new age and will continue to play.
• 9:43
  The fact is, the Air Force is the only service that has most of its men working on aircraft, missiles, and rockets, or in allied fields.
• 9:52
  This means that for top space age training, the Air Force is way ahead.
• 9:57
  And that's why so many forward-thinking young men are joining this great outfit.
• 10:01
  They want the finest technical training, 30-day annual paid vacations, plus a full social life.
• 10:08
  If you're interested in valuable training and a promising future, see your local Air Force recruiter.
• 10:14
  He'll tell you all about the many Air Force opportunities now available.
• 10:19
  And now, back to Harry Wismer.
• 10:22
  Bob Serve, what was your greatest sports thrill?
• 10:25
  I've had many great sports thrills. I guess I'd have to go back to 1955.
• 10:33
  I was playing in the World Series at Edbitts Field. I was sitting on the bench in about the middle of the fifth or sixth inning.
• 10:41
  I get a call from Case, go up my bat, and go up and take a couple pitches.
• 10:47
  And I think it counts two strikes, one ball.
• 10:49
  And then I hit the next pitch and up into the left field.
• 10:53
  Bleachers at Edbitts Field.
• 10:56
  And as I run around the field, I guess that would be my greatest thrill, hitting a home run, pinch home run in the World Series.
• 11:02
  And I think at the time, I was the fifth one to do it.
• 11:05
  Do you recall your first appearance at the plate in a Major League uniform?
• 11:10
  Yes, I recall. It was back in 1951.
• 11:14
  I was playing with Yankees. We were playing against Detroit Tigers.
• 11:18
  And I think they were down seven to five and a couple men on.
• 11:22
  And I pinched hit in the last of the ninth inning.
• 11:25
  And I run the count to three, two, and I struck out. Dizzy Trout struck me out.
• 11:30
  Bob, having come up with the Yankees, have you ever regretted being traded away by them?
• 11:35
  No, I don't think I will ever regret being traded from the Yankees.
• 11:40
  I was a wonderful organization.
• 11:42
  But when I left the Yankees, it was giving me my chance to play.
• 11:46
  And being with Kansas City, that's what I did. I got to play.
• 11:50
  What are your feelings about the Yankee uniform doing something for a ballplayer?
• 11:55
  I've heard that many times. They say, Don, a New York Yankee uniform, and they play better.
• 12:02
  No, I don't say that. I will say one thing.
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  The Yankees train their men to be good ballplayers.
• 12:08
  If you notice, they hardly ever trade for catchers, infielders, or outfielders.
• 12:13
  They usually trade for pitching. Other than that, they're always real strong.
• 12:18
  Bob, would you rather play every day in a second division ball club
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  or ride the bench as a member of the New York Yankees?
• 12:25
  Well, that's easy to answer there. I would rather be on a second division club
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  and play every day. This way, someday, who knows?
• 12:33
  I might be playing for the New York Yankees again.
• 12:36
  Bob, when you injured your jaw in the 1958 season,
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  what was the toughest thing for you to do once the game got underway?
• 12:44
  The toughest thing for me when my jaw was broken was, if I had to run any distance,
• 12:51
  I had a real hard time breathing. My teeth were wired together,
• 12:56
  and I had to breathe between my teeth. That was the toughest.
• 13:00
  What did you do when protesting your call by the umpire?
• 13:03
  Well, I could mumble at them, I guess. I don't think they could understand me.
• 13:08
  I'd give them some glaring looks. That was about all.
• 13:12
  Bob, how do you feel about the system of two platooning ballplayers?
• 13:16
  Well, I see where there was always one manager that always platoon,
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  but I, after sitting around watching on the bench in New York,
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  I could always see his purpose. It seemed like he platooned the men early.
• 13:31
  It wasn't really platooning. He was just giving men a rest
• 13:34
  before they got too tired to do the team any good.
• 13:37
  Bob, as a power hitter, how do you feel about the pitcher who brushes you back from the plate?
• 13:43
  Well, I always say it's the pitcher's privilege.
• 13:47
  They have to stop it some way. I mean, some Pia pitchers are a little rougher than the others,
• 13:52
  but really it's a compliment to the hitter. If they're knocking you back, they respect you.
• 13:57
  Thank you very much, Bob Serve, of the Kansas City Athletics, one of baseball's outstanding players.
• 14:03
  Music