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January 03, 2007

"Vinegar" Bill Essick

A good story on a man many Yankees fans probably don't know about...from the Register-Mail.com -

New York Yankees general manager Ed Barrow hired Essick to be a scout in the Yankees organization. Bill Weiss and Marshall Wright wrote that in 1920, "Essick had recommended Vernon outfielder Bob Meusel to the Yankees. New York purchased Meusel, who became one of their best players for many years." Barrow had not forgotten that recommendation and as a result, one of his first moves in rebuilding a Yankees team that finished seventh the previous year was to hire Essick. "Vinegar Bill" spent the next 25 years as the West Coast baseball scout for the New York Yankees.

As a scout, Essick looked for a good throwing arm, baseball savvy, and most importantly, speed.

"A kid who isn't fast is a dead loss because you can't teach speed to a guy," Essick told Collier's Weekly.

Essick found all those elements and more when he saw an 18-year-old center fielder named Joe DiMaggio play his rookie season with the San Francisco Seals of the Pacific Coast League in 1933.

Needless to say, the major league scouts were drooling over DiMaggio's potential. A bidding war began for DiMaggio's services, and Seals owner Charley Graham was asking nearly $100,000, a massive sum during the Great Depression. But one spring evening in May 1934, a freak accident brought the screams from bidders down to less than a dull roar.

Sportswriter Red Smith recounted the event in his Nov. 9, 1981 article in the New York Times.

"Joe had a dinner date at his sister's house and he was late. When his taxi pulled up he started to jump out, and his left knee popped like a pistol. He had to be helped into the house and on to a hospital, where he stayed for several weeks."

DiMaggio had suffered torn cartilage in his knee. New York Times writer Dave Anderson wrote that "the original diagnosis was strained tendons," so DiMaggio continued to play for the next two days, making the injury worse. DiMaggio was then fitted for an aluminum splint, which he was forced to wear for three weeks. When he got out of the hospital, only one scout was waiting for him - Bill Essick of the New York Yankees.

DiMaggio had fallen so far out of good standing with major league scouts that his minor league team couldn't even give him away. The Chicago Cubs turned down a no-risk tryout. Essick kept track of DiMaggio during the 1934 season and was convinced that he had returned to his 1933 form. DiMaggio hit .341 in 1934 but missed several games after he slipped in the dugout and his leg collapsed again.

Essick's efforts were tireless.

Red Smith wrote that Essick placed a call to George Weiss, director of the Yankees' new farm system.

"Don't give up on DiMaggio," Essick said. "Everybody out here thinks I'm crazy but I think he's all right. Let me watch him a couple of weeks more." Weiss responded by saying, "If it had been anybody else but Essick, I would have called him off but I had complete faith in Bill."

Imagine the numbers Joe D. would have put up playing half his games at Wrigley.

Posted by Steve Lombardi at January 3, 2007 01:25 PM

Comments

Posted by: Paul at January 3, 2007 11:36 PM

Posted by: Steve Lombardi at January 4, 2007 09:38 AM