On This Date in 1945...
Those were two names (and faces) always seen in Yankee Yearbooks when we grew up. Under their ownership, with George Weiss and Casey Stengel and later Roy Hamey and Ralph Houk running day-to-day operations, the Yankees enjoyed their most successful era ever: between 1949 and '64, they won the pennant 14 of 16 years, with 8 World Series titles. Add on another championship in 1947 (with Bucky Harris in the dugout) and it clearly spells Dynasty.
Yet, while Colonel Ruppert is in the Hall of Fame and George Steinbrenner -- who restored the sparkle to the franchise after CBS' corporate indifference succeeded Topping and Webb -- should be, this ownership is not honored. You never hear of Topping as a Hall of Fame candidate.
Could the issue be that neither were "baseball men?" Delegating power to capable administrators is always wise, but Topping and Webb also at least share the blame for the Yankees failure to integrate -- it's never really been pinned down whether T&W or Weiss were responsible for that.
Then there was the odd business friendship with Arnold Johnson, another money man, who took over the A's from the Mack family, moved it to Kansas City and turned it into a de facto Yankee farm team. Those massive, generally one sided deals that landed the Yankees such key players as Roger Maris, Clete Boyer, Ralph Terry and Hector Lopez would not have passed muster with Bowie Kuhn as commissioner. Johnson, a food vending magnate (American Canteen Co.), had a long business relationship with Topping, including heading the syndicate that for a time held the mortgage on Yankee Stadium, as Topping and Webb drew some cash from the business. You wonder if that may have influenced the flurry of Bronx-friendly deals over Johnson's six-year A's ownership that ended with his death in March 1960 -- just after Maris made his Spring Training debut for the Yankees.
Then there was some benign neglect. Years before baseball copied basketball and football and instituted a common draft for prospects, the Yankees seemed to de-emphasize scouting and signing young talent. Instead of finding the next Yogi Berra, Whitey Ford and Mickey Mantle, the Yankees became too reliant on filling out their roster via trades. After Joe Pepitione, Mel Stottlemyre and Fritz Peterson, who came out of the Yankee farm system during the mid '60s and made a long-term impact? It took until the end of the decade for Roy White and Bobby Murcer to blossom -- and that was after the franchise hit rock bottom.
And the stadium fell into disrepair. Sure, competing with what looked like a World's Fair exhibit in Shea Stadium was a challenge; but a more capable team from 1965 on, and a brighter and cleaner ballpark, perhaps with better parking and railroad access (which didn't come along until the new Stadium in 2009) would have helped.
So Yankee fans, the minority of whom even remember Topping and Webb, probably don't have the fondest of memories for the tandem that took over in the Bronx on this date in 1945.
(My image of Yankee Stadium is from the May 19th, 2002 game against the Twins.)
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