Sandy Amoros makes the catch

January 30, 1930 Sandy Amoros is born in Matanzas, CubaAt 20 he made the 1950 Central American and Caribbean Games, Amorós led Cuba to a Gold Medal with 6 home runs in 7 games. He then turned to America to turn pro, first playing for the New York Cubans in the Negro Leagues in 1950 and in the Dominican Republic during the summer of 1951, he will finally debut for the Brooklyn Dodgers August 22, 1952.He was a good hitter with a keen eye, not quite a regular he did play in over 100 games in both 1955 & 1956 & 1957 and posted a 902 OPS in 1956. He hit a career high in hrs in 1956, 16 and from 1954-1957 in Brooklyn he had some nice spilts including a 369 career OBP. LA wasn’t as kind to Sandy. The defining moment of Amorós' career with the Brooklyn Dodgers was one of the memorable events in World Series history. It was the sixth inning of the decisive Game 7 of the 1955 World Series. The Dodgers had never won a World Series and were now trying to hold a 2–0 lead against their perennial rivals, the New York Yankees. The left-handed Amorós came into the game that inning as a defensive replacement, as the right-handed throwing Jim Gilliam moved from left field to second base in place of Don Zimmer. The first two batters in the inning reached base and Yogi Berra came to the plate. Berra, notorious for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone, hit an opposite-field shot toward the left field corner that looked to be a sure double, as the Brooklyn outfield had just shifted to the right. Amorós seemingly came out of nowhere, extended his gloved right hand to catch the ball and immediately skidded to a halt to avoid crashing into the fence near Yankee Stadium's 301 distance marker in the left field corner. He then threw to the relay man, shortstop Pee Wee Reese, who in turn threw to first baseman Gil Hodges, doubling Gil McDougald off first; Hank Bauer grounded out to end the inning.According to winning pitcher Johnny Podres: “As great a catch as Amoros made, his relay to Pee Wee [Reese] (to double up Gil McDougald) was even better.” When a reporter asked Amoros if he thought he would make the catch, he said, “I dunno. I just run like hell.”Mentioned in this episode:Classic Baseball BroadcastsClassic Baseball BroadcastsMentioned in this episode:New CBB Podcast Intro Post Roll March 26