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FatJack · 04-04-2017, 07:46 PM

The smiling man in the minor league Mets jersey is none other than 17 year major league veteran and inaugural winner of the American League Rookie of the Year Award, Roy Sievers. Sievers passed away on Monday (April 3, 2017) at the age of 90.

St. Louis born and raised, Ray lived just 3 blocks from Sportsman's Park, home to both the Cardinals and Browns. In high school, Roy excelled in both baseball and basketball, getting his nickname--"Squirrel"--from the latter, for his fierceness around the cage. He was offered a college scholarship to play basketball, but baseball was his true love. Both the Cards and Browns scouted him and he chose the Browns because the Cardinal organization was deep in talent and he feared being caught behind others and stalled in the minors. The Browns, on the other hand, seemed to be an organization where a talented prospect would ride the fast track to the major leagues. He wasn't wrong.

Signing in 1945, Roy's career had to be put on hold while he served a military hitch. He was ready to go in 1947 and was disappointed to be farmed out after a great spring. Playing outfield and third base in Hannibal, Mo., Roy hit .317 and topped the league with 34 home runs. In the off season, the press was filled with the 40s version of Bryce Harper like hype as Roy was talked about as the "greatest player ever" to come out of St. Louis. But, after another great spring, Roy was in the minors again to start 1948. He started slow (something that would become a normal occurrence in his career), missed a month of the season, but turned it on late in the season to finish third in homers in the Three-I league with 19. The Browns, meanwhile, were suffering through a severe power shortage in 1948. So the plate was well set for Roy coming into 1949.

Roy debuted with the Browns as a pinch hitter on April 21 and struck out. He soon broke into the starting lineup and hit his first home run on May 14. For the rest of the season, he made all the people who had hyped his talents look very bright, indeed. He hit .306, led all rookies with 16 home runs, and finished 6th in the league with 91 runs batter in. What's more, he played the outfield with the grace of a gazelle. Roy was rewarded with the first ever Baseball Writers' American League Rookie of the Year Award, easily beating out Alex Kellner, Jerry Coleman and Mike Garcia.

Roy struggled through the 1950 season with a sophomore slump for the ages. His average was below .200 as late as July. With a stronger finish, he managed a .238 average and 10 home runs. He opened 1951 in a prolonged slump and found himself back in the minor leagues in mid-June. On August 1, playing for San Antonio, Roy suffered a season ending and career threatening shoulder injury. In the spring of 1952, he injured the shoulder again on a throw from the outfield. Experimental surgery was performed and Sievers missed most of the season, returning for 11 games in September.

In the spring of 1953, it looked as though Roy's career might be over. He'd hit just one home run in the previous 2 years, and the shoulder, still sore, made a return to the outfield unlikely. Bill Veeck wasn't ready to give up on Roy just yet and worked with him every day to turn him into a first baseman. (Stories like this always remind me of the scene from "Moneyball", "We want you at first base. It's not that hard. Tell him, Wash." "It's incredibly hard.") It kept Roy in the game. Though he, again, started slow, he hit over .300 in the second half to finish at .270. But the power wasn't there like it had been.

In the off-season, the Browns were sold to interests looking to move the team to Baltimore. Their philosophy was to tear down the club and build it from scratch with an emphasis on youth (whereas the usual model of a moving team is to draw fans in with names they know). So Roy was traded to the Washington Senators...possibly the only team as inept as the Browns. The Browns/Orioles figured he was done--couldn't throw and couldn't hit. They couldn't have been farther off the mark.

Washington figured to put Roy back in the outfield, coaching him to use his speed (he still had speed) to offset any weakness in his arm. And Roy learned to toss the ball in sidearm to relieve some of the stress on his shoulder. He, once again, opened the season in a slump, but he finished the year with a club record 24 home runs and 102 RBIs. He broke his own club record in 1955, with 25 home runs and 106 RBIs. He broke it again in 1956, hitting 29 home runs and earning his first trip to the All Star game. And, in 1957, Roy hit .301 and led the league with 42 home runs, 114 RBIs and 331 total bases. It was the first time a player on a last place team had led the league in homers and RBIs. Roy made the All Star squad again and finished third in MVP voting. Asked how he'd made it all the way back following the shoulder injury that nearly ended his career, Roy's answer was simply that the Senators had played him every day.

In 1958, Roy got a part (as Tab Hunter's baseball double) in the movie version of "Damn Yankees". On the field, there was a disappointing drop off. He only hit .295 and only blasted 39 home runs, with 108 RBIs, and he failed to make the All Star team.

Nagging injuries slowed Roy further in 1959. He hit .242 with just 21 homers and 49 RBIs. With Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison pushing for playing time, Roy was traded to the White Sox, where he was reunited with Bill Veeck, who figured Roy as a power hitting first baseman. Manager Al Lopez preferred Ted Kluszewski and Roy opened the season on the bench. Klu was injured in June and Roy took over. It didn't take long for him to find his groove. He had a 21 game hitting streak in June and July. In July alone, he hit 12 home runs, drove in 30 and batted over .400. The White Sox were a game and a half up in first place by the end of July. They eventually cooled off, but it was the first time Roy had played on a club with a winning record. And Lopez would long maintain that the Sox would have won the pennant had be played Sievers every day from the start of the season.

Roy nearly duplicated his stat line in 1961--27 home runs, 92 RBIs and a .295 average--and was selected to the All Star team for the fifth and final time. But, unlike 1960, the Sox were never in contention. Veeck sold off his interest in the team and Roy was traded to the Phillies for Charley Smith and John Buzhardt. Starting the season in a slump again, due in part to changing leagues, Roy nonetheless finished the season with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs. It was his 9th consecutive season with more than 20 home runs. It was also his last as he managed just 19 in 1963. One of the 19--surrendered by the Mets' Roger Craig in mid-June--was Roy's 300th round tripper. He was just the 18th player in the major leagues to hit 300 home runs.

Nagging injuries again kept Roy from enjoying a hot start for the Phils in 1964. In July, he was sold to the expansion Washington Senators, where he was used as a pinch hitter. In 1965, Roy would get just 21 at bats before the Senators released him. And there seemed to be no interest in a 38 year old pinch hitter after that.

Roy coached for the Reds in 1966 and managed in the Mets system in '67 and '68 (winning a title with Williamsport in 1967, but faring less well with Memphis in 1968). After two more years as a minor league manager for the A's, Roy left the game, minor league money being insufficient for raising a family. He settled, with his wife and 3 children, in St. Louis, working for a freight company for the next 18 years before retiring.

There is no shortage of images of Sievers.

From the Vault, my list almost certainly being incomplete:
BA 959 (WSH)
BA 960-961 (PHL)
BA 968 (PHL)
BA 969-971 (WSH)
BA 972 (CHA)
BA 973-974 (PHL)
BA 975 (WSH)
BC 636 (WSH)
BE 416 (PHL)
BW 797 (CHA)
HP 874 (WSH)
HP 923 (WSH)
HP 929 (capless)

Elsewhere on OOTP, you'll find a fine batch of Browns images posred by tnfoto here, an equally impressive assortment of Senators images from tnfoto here, and a uniform variety pack from Basenall-Birthdays here. Braves70, in the mix, provided a Chicago image here and a Phillies image here (both from the Vault, but I'm not sure whether they're on my Vault list above). Fellow Mets fan Amazin69 posted a Vault image I know is not on my list showing Roy in his season coaching the Reds, here.

On to the attached images. Some gorgeous color Gettys--one with Washington (1957) and one with Philly, An autographed White Sox image from eBay seller tmdcards. A beauty of a B&W Browns image from some wierd "wallpaper" site. And, let's see, I can do one more. Ummmmmm....... A pretty, if not overly large autographed Reds image from Mainline Autographs via eBay. By the way, I don't think any of these are scarce and you can even find autographed prints of the Gettys in multiple eBay listings. As far as the Browns go, though all the images appear to be B&W, there are an awful lot of colorizations that turn up in a standard google search. Me, I've got to go check my Mets yearbooks and see if Roy turns up in any of the spring team shots as a "special instructor" or spring training coach. Peace.

04-04-2017, 07:46 PM	#20
FatJack All Star Reserve Join Date: Sep 2013 Posts: 847	Roy Sievers (1926 - 2017) The smiling man in the minor league Mets jersey is none other than 17 year major league veteran and inaugural winner of the American League Rookie of the Year Award, Roy Sievers. Sievers passed away on Monday (April 3, 2017) at the age of 90. St. Louis born and raised, Ray lived just 3 blocks from Sportsman's Park, home to both the Cardinals and Browns. In high school, Roy excelled in both baseball and basketball, getting his nickname--"Squirrel"--from the latter, for his fierceness around the cage. He was offered a college scholarship to play basketball, but baseball was his true love. Both the Cards and Browns scouted him and he chose the Browns because the Cardinal organization was deep in talent and he feared being caught behind others and stalled in the minors. The Browns, on the other hand, seemed to be an organization where a talented prospect would ride the fast track to the major leagues. He wasn't wrong. Signing in 1945, Roy's career had to be put on hold while he served a military hitch. He was ready to go in 1947 and was disappointed to be farmed out after a great spring. Playing outfield and third base in Hannibal, Mo., Roy hit .317 and topped the league with 34 home runs. In the off season, the press was filled with the 40s version of Bryce Harper like hype as Roy was talked about as the "greatest player ever" to come out of St. Louis. But, after another great spring, Roy was in the minors again to start 1948. He started slow (something that would become a normal occurrence in his career), missed a month of the season, but turned it on late in the season to finish third in homers in the Three-I league with 19. The Browns, meanwhile, were suffering through a severe power shortage in 1948. So the plate was well set for Roy coming into 1949. Roy debuted with the Browns as a pinch hitter on April 21 and struck out. He soon broke into the starting lineup and hit his first home run on May 14. For the rest of the season, he made all the people who had hyped his talents look very bright, indeed. He hit .306, led all rookies with 16 home runs, and finished 6th in the league with 91 runs batter in. What's more, he played the outfield with the grace of a gazelle. Roy was rewarded with the first ever Baseball Writers' American League Rookie of the Year Award, easily beating out Alex Kellner, Jerry Coleman and Mike Garcia. Roy struggled through the 1950 season with a sophomore slump for the ages. His average was below .200 as late as July. With a stronger finish, he managed a .238 average and 10 home runs. He opened 1951 in a prolonged slump and found himself back in the minor leagues in mid-June. On August 1, playing for San Antonio, Roy suffered a season ending and career threatening shoulder injury. In the spring of 1952, he injured the shoulder again on a throw from the outfield. Experimental surgery was performed and Sievers missed most of the season, returning for 11 games in September. In the spring of 1953, it looked as though Roy's career might be over. He'd hit just one home run in the previous 2 years, and the shoulder, still sore, made a return to the outfield unlikely. Bill Veeck wasn't ready to give up on Roy just yet and worked with him every day to turn him into a first baseman. (Stories like this always remind me of the scene from "Moneyball", "We want you at first base. It's not that hard. Tell him, Wash." "It's incredibly hard.") It kept Roy in the game. Though he, again, started slow, he hit over .300 in the second half to finish at .270. But the power wasn't there like it had been. In the off-season, the Browns were sold to interests looking to move the team to Baltimore. Their philosophy was to tear down the club and build it from scratch with an emphasis on youth (whereas the usual model of a moving team is to draw fans in with names they know). So Roy was traded to the Washington Senators...possibly the only team as inept as the Browns. The Browns/Orioles figured he was done--couldn't throw and couldn't hit. They couldn't have been farther off the mark. Washington figured to put Roy back in the outfield, coaching him to use his speed (he still had speed) to offset any weakness in his arm. And Roy learned to toss the ball in sidearm to relieve some of the stress on his shoulder. He, once again, opened the season in a slump, but he finished the year with a club record 24 home runs and 102 RBIs. He broke his own club record in 1955, with 25 home runs and 106 RBIs. He broke it again in 1956, hitting 29 home runs and earning his first trip to the All Star game. And, in 1957, Roy hit .301 and led the league with 42 home runs, 114 RBIs and 331 total bases. It was the first time a player on a last place team had led the league in homers and RBIs. Roy made the All Star squad again and finished third in MVP voting. Asked how he'd made it all the way back following the shoulder injury that nearly ended his career, Roy's answer was simply that the Senators had played him every day. In 1958, Roy got a part (as Tab Hunter's baseball double) in the movie version of "Damn Yankees". On the field, there was a disappointing drop off. He only hit .295 and only blasted 39 home runs, with 108 RBIs, and he failed to make the All Star team. Nagging injuries slowed Roy further in 1959. He hit .242 with just 21 homers and 49 RBIs. With Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison pushing for playing time, Roy was traded to the White Sox, where he was reunited with Bill Veeck, who figured Roy as a power hitting first baseman. Manager Al Lopez preferred Ted Kluszewski and Roy opened the season on the bench. Klu was injured in June and Roy took over. It didn't take long for him to find his groove. He had a 21 game hitting streak in June and July. In July alone, he hit 12 home runs, drove in 30 and batted over .400. The White Sox were a game and a half up in first place by the end of July. They eventually cooled off, but it was the first time Roy had played on a club with a winning record. And Lopez would long maintain that the Sox would have won the pennant had be played Sievers every day from the start of the season. Roy nearly duplicated his stat line in 1961--27 home runs, 92 RBIs and a .295 average--and was selected to the All Star team for the fifth and final time. But, unlike 1960, the Sox were never in contention. Veeck sold off his interest in the team and Roy was traded to the Phillies for Charley Smith and John Buzhardt. Starting the season in a slump again, due in part to changing leagues, Roy nonetheless finished the season with 21 home runs and 80 RBIs. It was his 9th consecutive season with more than 20 home runs. It was also his last as he managed just 19 in 1963. One of the 19--surrendered by the Mets' Roger Craig in mid-June--was Roy's 300th round tripper. He was just the 18th player in the major leagues to hit 300 home runs. Nagging injuries again kept Roy from enjoying a hot start for the Phils in 1964. In July, he was sold to the expansion Washington Senators, where he was used as a pinch hitter. In 1965, Roy would get just 21 at bats before the Senators released him. And there seemed to be no interest in a 38 year old pinch hitter after that. Roy coached for the Reds in 1966 and managed in the Mets system in '67 and '68 (winning a title with Williamsport in 1967, but faring less well with Memphis in 1968). After two more years as a minor league manager for the A's, Roy left the game, minor league money being insufficient for raising a family. He settled, with his wife and 3 children, in St. Louis, working for a freight company for the next 18 years before retiring. There is no shortage of images of Sievers. From the Vault, my list almost certainly being incomplete: BA 959 (WSH) BA 960-961 (PHL) BA 968 (PHL) BA 969-971 (WSH) BA 972 (CHA) BA 973-974 (PHL) BA 975 (WSH) BC 636 (WSH) BE 416 (PHL) BW 797 (CHA) HP 874 (WSH) HP 923 (WSH) HP 929 (capless) Elsewhere on OOTP, you'll find a fine batch of Browns images posred by tnfoto here, an equally impressive assortment of Senators images from tnfoto here, and a uniform variety pack from Basenall-Birthdays here. Braves70, in the mix, provided a Chicago image here and a Phillies image here (both from the Vault, but I'm not sure whether they're on my Vault list above). Fellow Mets fan Amazin69 posted a Vault image I know is not on my list showing Roy in his season coaching the Reds, here. On to the attached images. Some gorgeous color Gettys--one with Washington (1957) and one with Philly, An autographed White Sox image from eBay seller tmdcards. A beauty of a B&W Browns image from some wierd "wallpaper" site. And, let's see, I can do one more. Ummmmmm....... A pretty, if not overly large autographed Reds image from Mainline Autographs via eBay. By the way, I don't think any of these are scarce and you can even find autographed prints of the Gettys in multiple eBay listings. As far as the Browns go, though all the images appear to be B&W, there are an awful lot of colorizations that turn up in a standard google search. Me, I've got to go check my Mets yearbooks and see if Roy turns up in any of the spring team shots as a "special instructor" or spring training coach. Peace. Attached Images Last edited by FatJack; 04-04-2017 at 08:00 PM.