A Very Special Throwback Thursday

60 years ago this month. the Giants and Dodgers played their final home games in New York. Baseball traditions that began in the 1800s, ended as Big Apple fans felt the pain of abandonment, while the national pastime became truly national with California's two leading cities, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
Dennis recently loaned me some vintage programs and yearbooks from his collection -- this one holding the most sentimental value. It's from 1955 -- the year after the Giants' stunning World Series sweep of the Indians.
Look carefully at the cover, there are three autographs... One of them was manager Leo Durocher; the others are from outfielders Dusty Rhodes and Bill Taylor.
The team was again built around the remarkable Willie Mays, who hit 51 home runs that season. Don Meuller remained an effective batter, and hit over. 300. Rhodes, the pinch hitting star of the '54 Series, was a valuable fourth outfieder and also on the good side of .300. Johnny Antonelli and Sal Maglie were half the starting rotation and Hoyt Wilhelm, the star reliever. A pretty good crew at first glance. But this version of the Giants never clicked. They lost on opening day and by the time they climbed over .500, the Bums from Brooklyn had run away from the rest of the National League. The Giants finished in 3rd place at 80-74, 18-1/2 games behind their crosstown rivals who went onto win their first World Series in October.
Disagreements with owner Horace Stoneham led to Leo's surprise resignation after the season -- a story in Sports Illustrated claimed he was "retiring" -- and he soon traded his uniform for the suit and tie of a broadcasting position with NBC. Two years later, the Giants played their final game in the Polo Grounds before heading west.
So, let's unfreeze this moment in time, with Leo the skipper of the defending World Champs, who called the oval field on the banks of the Harlem River their home.