Don Liddle: 1954 World Champion NY Giants Pitcher Who Was Saved By Willie Mays' Catch (1954-1956)

Don Eugene Liddle was born on May 25, 1925, in Mount Carmel, Illinois.

Military Service: In 1943 after graduating high school, Liddle went into the Navy to serve his country during World War II. 

In 1947 the left-handed pitcher was signed by the Boston Braves, spending seven years in the minor leagues. The five-foot ten, 160 lb. pitcher was known as "Little Liddle".

MLB Career: Don was already 27 years old when he debuted in the big leagues, mopping up a 10-9 loss to the Reds in Cincinnati on April 17th, 1953. By this time the Braves had moved from Boston to Milwaukee.

On May 10th, Liddle earned his first MLB win, pitching a complete game one run two hitter, over the Chicago Cubs. On May 25th he earned his second win, giving up just a run in that complete game as well. Liddle ended up 7-6 with two saves, while posting a 3.08 ERA for the 1953 second place Braves who won 92 games. 

New York Giants Career: During the winter of 1954 he was traded along with along with Johnny Antonelli, Billy Klaus, Ebba St. Claire & $50,000 to the New York Giants in exchange for Bobby Thomson & Sam Calderone.

1954 Giants Championship Season: Liddle had his best season in the Giants 1954 Championship season. After starting out the year at 0-2 making just four appearances thru April & May, he would go 9-2 the rest of the way, including a 5-1 stretch from August through September.

On June 13th he won his Giants first game, getting a start at Wrigley Field allowing two runs in 5.2 innings. On June 24th he pitched a complete game four hitter against his old Milwaukee Braves team mates to even out his record at 2-2. 

Although he walked ten batters, Liddle earned the win in the first game of a July 4th doubleheader in Pittsburgh. On July 15th, he shutout the Cardinals in St. Louis on a five hit 4-0 win. That same week, he pitched into the 9th inning, with a five-hit shutout in Cincinnati, but the Giants lost the game in the 11th inning.

On August 4th he earned a seven-inning relief win at the Polo Grounds when Hank Thomson hit a walk off single off Johnny Klippstein scoring Whitey Lockman.

On August 20th, Liddle tossed a three-hit shutout, at the Polo Grounds to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates.  Liddle closed out his regular season on September 24th, with a five-hit shutout in Philadelphia, beating the Phillies to earn his ninth win. 

Liddle appeared in 33 games, making 19 starts, going 9-4 with three shutouts & four complete games, while posting a 3.06 ERA. He struck out 4 7 walked 55 batters in 126.2 innings of work.

1954 World Series: In Game #1 of the 1954 World Series at the Polo Grounds, Liddle relieved Sal Maglie in the 8th inning with two Cleveland Indians on base. Giants' manager Leo Durocher wanted Liddle to specifically pitch to Cleveland’s slugger Vic Wertz.

Wertz then bashed a long fly ball way back to deep center field, somewhere around 450 feet deep. Giants centerfielder Willie Mays went back, ran down the long fly ball & caught it over his shoulder, making the most famous catch in baseball history.

Liddle was off the hook and throughout time was the forgotten man, as to who actually threw the pitch that leaded to “The Catch” by Mays. 

Manager Leo Durocher came out & changed pitchers like he had originally intended to do. When the new pitcher Marv Grissom came to the mound to replace him, Liddle turned to Grissom saying "well, I got my man".

In Game #4, Don Liddle got the start at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium. He went into the 7th inning, allowing four runs while striking out two batters.

He got the victory anyway as the Giants bats exploded to complete the four-game sweep over Cleveland, beating Bob Lemon, 7-4.

After the Championship: In 1955, Liddle returned to have another quality year. He started out the year, with an eighth inning victory against the Pittsburgh Pirates. 

By the end of May he was 1-2 & had an ERA of 6.04 & his usual problems with control continued. After missing three weeks of action in June, he returned & was mostly used in relief. 

 In July, he won four straight games in relief besting his record to 5-2. After taking a loss in relief, at Wrigley Field, he went on to win five of his next six games to end the season.

On the year he was 10-4 with a save & a 4.23 ERA. He stuck out 56 batters walked 61 in 106 innings in 33 games.

1956: Liddle dropped to 2-4 by mid-June. He was then traded, along with Alvin Dark, Ray Katt and Whitey Lockman to the St. Louis Cardinals for Dick Littlefield, Jackie Brandt, Red Schoendienst and Bill Sarni.

He played with St. Louis for the remainder of the year, finishing his career at age 31 at the end of the 1956 season. 

Career Stats: In his four year career he was 28-18, with four saves, 13 complete games, three shut outs, 198 strike outs, 203 walks and a 3.75 ERA in 117 games pitched.

Retirement: After leaving baseball, Liddle worked at the local Elks Club, owned a service station & then sold insurance. 

Don then went to work at a Snap-On Tools factory for 22 years. He was a supervisor there for 18 of those years.

Honors: Liddle helped his community's construction of a new ballpark for its youth baseball program. The ballpark was then named for him in his Honor.

Family: In 1948 Don married Margaret Ruth Thompson. They had four children & ten grandchildren. His wife Margaret passed away in 1996.

Passing: In 2000, Don passed away in Mount Carmel, Illinois from lung cancer.