Dusty Rhodes: 1954 New York Giants World Series Hero & The League's Top Pinch Hitter (1952 - 1957)

James Lamar Rhodes was born May 13, 1927, in the cotton fields of Matthews, Alabama. He was one of eight children to his parents Walter & Annie Rhodes.

The six-foot left hand hitting Rhodes began playing pro ball in 1947. Rhodes hit well but had trouble catching fly balls. The Chicago Cubs bought his contract & he would play in the minor leagues there for five seasons.

Rhodes was known as a carefree, young man who liked the night life. He liked to drink & he loved the ladies. His partying caused him to miss many curfews, getting him in trouble with his managers. A team mate once said, "Dusty was a midnight man in a 9 o'clock town."

By 1952 he hit .347 at AAA Nashville & the New York Giants bought his contract. The Giants were the reigning, NL Champs but that season Willie Mays had been drafted into the Army, Monte Irvin broke his ankle & the Giants were in need of some outfield help. 

MLB Debut: On July 13th, Rhodes made his MLB debut, going 1-4 with his first career hit in a win at Cincinnati. He hit safely in his first five games & on July 15th, had a three-hit game in a 6-3 win at St. Louis.

HRs In Three Straight Games: From July 22nd to August 2nd, Rhodes hit eight HRs with 15
RBIs at the Polo Grounds, taking full advantage of the short right field wall. By the end of July, he was batting .295. From July 31st- August 2nd, he hit HRs in three straight games while driving in nine runs.

Grand Slam: On July 31st, he hit his first career grand slam, coming off the Cubs Paul Minor in an 11-8 loss to Chicago at the Polo Grounds. He ended the month batting .295.

In the next two games at home, he hit HRs off Pirate pitchers Harry Fisher & Murray Dickson, both in Giants wins.

Sporting News All Star Rookie: In his first season he finished up batting .250 with 10 HRs 8 doubles 36 RBIs a .340 on base % & a .817 OPS. The Sporting News named him to their All-Star Rookie team. In the outfield he played 56 games, making nine errors posting a .917 fielding %.

In 1953 Rhodes was used more as a pinch hitter & filling in for Monte Irvin when he was injured. From August 16th to September 12th, Rhodes filled in for Irvin in 29 games hitting 11 HRs with 25 RBIs, posting a .924 OPS.

On August 16th he followed a Whitey Lockman HR with a HR of his own putting New York ahead 3-2 for good against the Philadelphia Phillies.

Multi- Three HR- Five RBI Game: On August 26th at the Polo Grounds, in a 13-4 win over Cardinals at the Polo Grounds, Rhodes hit HRs in three straight at bats off three different Carinal pitchers & drove in five runs. 

From August 30th to September 2nd, Dusty closed hit HRs in four straight games with eight RBIs.

That year, with Willie Mays still serving his military duty the Giants finished a disappointing fifth. Rhodes played in 76 games batting .233 with 11 HRs & 30 RBIs.

Barnstorming Tour of Japan: That winter the Giants went on a tour of Japan to play exhibition games, where Rhodes was one of the team's best hitters against the Japanese pitchers. His sister was living in Japan, as she was married to a Navy member stationed there. After visiting her one night, Manager Leo Durocher saw Rhodes drunk in the hotel lobby. 

Although Rhodes could hit, he was never known as a good fielder. With those two things irking Durocher, he asked Giants owner Horace Stoneman to trade Rhodes. But Stoneman also a known drinker didn't want to part with a player who could put a few away with him. Luckily no trade materialized.

1954 Giants Championship Season:  With Willie Mays back in the lineup he hit .345 with 41 HRs & 110 RBIs. Minte Irvin, Al Dark & Hank Thompson all hit 19 or more HRs & Don Mueller batted .342. 

The Giants had traded away the popular Bobby Thompson in exchange for pitcher Johnny Antonelli who led the staff with 21 victories. In the bullpen Marv Grissom & Hoyt Wilhelm combined for 22 wins, 24 saves & a 222 ERA. The Giants took over first place in June & went on to win the pennant.

NL's Best Pinch Hitter: Dusty Rhodes would be used mostly as a pinch hitter early on & embraced the role. Durocher noted, many players hide on the bench when a manager is looking for a pinch hitter late in the game, because of the pressure. But Rhodes wanted to get the call & would pint to himself to be chosen. He changed his approach from being a dead pull hitter to hitting more base hits all around the field, taking advice from teammate Don Mueller.

Quotes- Dusty Rhodes: " Last year I went for the homers, that means more strike outs & nobody wants a pinch hitter who fans".

That season, whenever he was called upon, he seemed to get a hit. By July 4th, he was 11-23 as a pinch hitter, hitting .423 in that role. He became one of the best pinch hitters in the game, no matter if the pitcher was a right hander or left hander. Rhodes just wanted to hit regardless of the matchup or situation. 

On June 1st Rhodes came into a tied game against the Brooklyn Dodgers as a pinch hitter with the bases loaded. He singled scoring what would be the game winning runs. 

On June 20th, at the Polo Grounds, he came to bat in the bottom of the 6th inning after the Giants had just tied the game. Rhodes hit the go-ahead eventual game winning HR off Cardinal pitcher Cot Deal. 

Walk Off Hit: On June 29th Rhodes came up as a pinch hitter in the bottom of the 13th inning with the bases loaded & the Giants down 3-2 to the Brooklyn Dodgers. He hit the walk off RBI single off Billy Loes scoring Willie Mays & Don Mueller for the 3-3 win.

From July 4th to July 5th, he hit HRs in three straight games, including one in each end of a double header with the Phillies. In July he had five multi- hit games, with three- three hit games. After his first 35 games Rhodes was batting a whopping .488.

Multi- Three HR Game & Cardinal Killer: On Wednesday July 28th, he had his second career three HR game, this also coming against the Cardinals in a 10-0 Giants blow out at the Polo Grounds. The HRs came off Tom Poholsky, Royce Lint & Al Brazel. 

A month later he would have four straight multi- RBI games against the Cards in St. Louis. In an August 29th double header, Rhodes had a four hit, muti two HR game with two doubles in a 7-4 win over the Cardinals in St Louis. In the first game of the twin bill, he hit two triples. 

The next night, with the Giants ahead 2-1 in the 9th inning, Cardinal manager Eddie Stanky chose to walk Hank Thompson to load the bases & face Rhodes. He singled to center driving in two runs & tipped his hat to Stanky when he reached first base. The next night, he had two hits driving in two more runs including the go ahead run in the 5th inning. In 15 games with St. Louis that season, he hit .528 with 7 HRs & 15 RBIs, by far hitting them better than any other opponent.

Multi- Five RBI Game: On August 18th, Rhodes had a season high five RBI game, hitting a three run HR off the Phillies Herm Wehmeier & two run HR off Ron Mrozinski in the Giants 6-2 won at the Polo Grounds.

From August 26th to September 4th, Rhodes had seven multi- RBI games in a nine-game span. From August 29th to September 1st, he collected muti- RBIs driving in two runs in five straight games.

On September 13th he drove in the only run of a Johnny Antonelli five hit 1-0 shut out over who else but the St. Louis Cardinals. 

Dusty finished his incredible season batting .341 with 15 HRs 7 doubles 31 runs scored & 50 RBIs. He posted a .410 on base % & 1.105 OPS.  in 82 games played. Rhodes batted .326 as a pinch hitter.

1954 World Series: In the 1954 World Series the Giants (97-57) swept a favored Cleveland Indians team that won 111 games (111-43-2). The Indians Big Three pitchers Bob Lemon, Early Wynn & Mike Garcia had three of the league's top four ERAs.

Dusty Rhodes became a New York hero & World Series legend. Rhodes almost single-handedly led the New York Giants to a sweep of the mighty Cleveland Indians.

In Game #1 at the Polo Grounds, Willie Mays made his famous 8th inning heroic catch, off Vic Wertz's fly ball to deep center field saving two runs in the 2-2 tie. It has become known as the greatest catch in baseball history.  

But also, on that day Dusty Rhodes became the hitting hero. In the 10th inning with the score still tied 2-2, Willie Mays drew a one out walk and stole second base. 

Then New York's Hank Thompson, drew an intentional walk. Dusty Rhodes came to bat as a pinch hitter, facing Cleveland pitcher Bob Lemon. Rhodes blasted the game winning walk off HR into the right field stands barley over the short 257-foot mark. 

Bob Lemon tossed his glove in frustration.

Quotes- Dusty Rhodes: "Lemon's glove went further than my HR. A HR is a HR".

World Series Trivia: It was the first extra inning walk off HR in World Series history.

In Game #2, the next day Rhodes had an encore performance. In the 5th inning Giants Manager Leo Durocher called Rhodes to bat as a pinch hitter for Monte Irvin once again.

This time with Mays on second base & Thompson on first base. Cleveland Pitcher, Early Wynn known for his knockdown pitches, threw at Rhodes sending him to the ground. Then with a 1-2 count, Rhodes delivered blooping a single into center field to tie up the game. Hank Thompson would score on Giants' pitcher Johnny Antonelli’s ground out to put New York ahead. 

Rhodes remained in the game, then later he led off the 7th inning. After another knock down pitch from Early Wynn, Rhodes hit a HR to the short porch in right field sealing the 3-1 win to an ecstatic Polo Grounds crowd. 

Quotes- Dusty Rhodes: " I guess that was a cheap one too".

The Giants left New York with two games to none lead over the mighty Cleveland team.

In Game #3 at Cleveland's Municipal Stadium, Rhodes once again was called on by manager Leo Durocher to pinch hit for Monte Irvin, this time as early as the 3rd inning.

With the bases loaded Rhodes pinch hit & singled off the Indians pitcher, Mike Garcia scoring two runs making it 3-0. The Giants went on to beat Cleveland 6-2, taking a commanding 3-0 Series lead. 

After Game #3, Sportswriter Red Smith wrote that it might not be necessary to play the fourth game: "There's talk of calling it off in order that James Lamar “Dusty” Rhodes may give an exhibition of walking on water."

In Game #4 he did not play in the 7-4 World Series clincher.

Overall, in the Giants 1954 World Series sweep, Rhodes hit .667 (going 4-for-6) with a pair of HRs,
seven RBIs, two runs scored & a walk. Rhodes set his name in stone in New York Giants & NL History. 

He was a hero in his hometowns of Montgomery & Rock Hill Alabama where parades were thrown in his honor. A local businessman sent a private plane to pick up Dusty & his family, he was even presented with a new car. It was said that week later he got into an accident with the car. 

His story goes, that a local preacher told him alcohol & gasoline don't mix, to which he responded, 'hell reverend, I don't drink gasoline". Dusty enjoyed an off season of partying as a World Champion, which eventually led to a divorce.

After the Championship: In 1955 Rhodes enjoyed his last good season, hitting .305 with a career high .389 on base %, playing in 96 games. He hit six HRs with five doubles & 30 RBIs posting an .838 OPS.

Grand Slam HR: On July 27th, he hit his second career grand slam, it came at Wrigley Fielf off the Cubs Howie Pollet in a 9-8 Giants loss. That season, he had seven multi-RBI games, with this four RBI game being his season high.

On August 5th, he collected four hits in a 12-9 win at Cincinnati where he drove in three runs. On September 1st, he had his only multi- HR game of the year hitting two in a loss to the Reds at the Polo Grounds. That year the Giants finished third as the Dodgers won their only Championship in Brooklyn.

In 1956 the Giants were taken over by Bill Rigney as manager & fell to sixth place. Most of the players from the championship season were gone. Rhodes & Rigney didn't get along that well, as Rigney saw him as Durocher's boy.  Rhodes himself later said, after Leo Durocher left the Giants, baseball wasn’t much fun anymore.

Rhodes played in a career high 111 games and played in 64 games in left field. 

At the plate he struggled batting just .217 with 8 HRs & 33 RBIs. His defense improved, making just four errors in 96 chances with six assists & a .958 fielding %. 

1957 was the last year for the Giants in New York, playing at the Polo Grounds. With poor attendance & a sixth place finish, the Dodgers convinced Horace Stoneman to move west to bring the teams rivalries to California. Rhodes was now 30 years old & hit a dismal .205 in 92 games (190 at bats). 

Last Giants Out in NY: On Sept. 29, 1957Dusty Rhodes went down in history again, this time as the final batter, making the last out in the history of the New York Giants, at the Polo Grounds.

In 1958, Rhodes did not play in the team's first year at San Francisco as he was demoted to AAA Phoenix. He loved it there he later said, as he hit 25 HRs & led the league with 100 RBIs.

In 1959 he returned to the Giants as a pinch hitter, batting .188 in 48 at bats before calling it quits. 

Rhodes went on to play in the Pacific Coast League thru the 1962 season playing with AAA Tacoma & Phoenix. He hit .253 with 78 HRs & 289 RBIs.

Career Stats: In his seven-year career he hit .253 with 296 hits 54 HRs 44 doubles 10 triples 146 runs scored & 207 RBIs. He struck out 196 times with 131 walks a .328 on base % & .773 OPS. 

Leo Durocher- In his autobiography, "Nice Guys Finish Last": "Dusty was the kind of buffoon who kept a club confident and happy. And boy could he hit. Between him and Willie Mays, there was nothing but laughter in our clubhouse."

Retirement: After his baseball days he worked as a Pinkerton Security guard at the 1964 World’s Fair. 

Rhodes then served as a captain on friends' tugboat for 25 years, pulling out of Staten Island, NY. 

At the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Rhodes who is of Greek heritage, coached for the Grecian baseball team.

In 2007 he coached for the University of North Florida’s baseball team, the Ospreys.

Family: Dusty was married three times. He & his first wife Mae had two children. 

After they divorced, he married Mildred (Mimi) in 1958. They had two children together as well.

In 1980 he married a third time to Gloria (Turco) who owned a tavern in New York City. Together they retire in Boca Raton, Florida.

Passing: In June 2009, Rhodes passed away at age 82 in Las Vegas, Nevada. He had been battling a variety of illnesses, including diabetes and emphysema at the time.

Quotes- Willie Mays: "He was a fabulous hitter and a great friend. He stayed at my house & I've never had a greater friend."