Baseball Pants
The year 1954 provided much excitement in baseball from six National Leaguers hitting 40 or more home runs to new baseball pants throughout the league. Baseball pants were taking a new direction from the suspender-holding pants previously worn to the ones more similar to the baseball pants worn today. The 1954 season belonged to Willie Mays, back from two years in the Army and bursting into the league with the splendor and excitement that he was going to maintain for the better part of the next two decades. The delighted New York press tabbed him Willie the Wonder and the Amazing Mays. There was nothing this 23-year-old ball playing marvel couldn’t do on a ball field and do better than anyone else. He did it with a fervor and an enthusiasm that were infectious.
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The baseball pants style that was popular in 1953 was worn by Mays and he was blazing his way to an MVP season. Mays, in addition to his 41 one-way tickets, led the league with a .345 batting average, led in triples and slugging, and drove in 110 runs; all this in addition to covering the vast Polo Grounds center field with speed, skill, and a style that bordered on theatrical. With Mays back, it was another Dodger-Giant footrace to the finish, and this time Leo Durocher’s club outraced the Dodgers under freshman skipper Walter Alston, winning by five games. The Giants were still fielding some of the veterans of their 1951 team. Next to Mays, the Giants’ most crucial new addition was left-hander Johnny Antonelli, who was obtained from the Braves in a swap for 1951 hero Bobby Thomson. It was a bad trade for the Braves, as Thomson broke an ankle in spring training and was out for most of the year. The injury, however, opened up a spot in the outfield for a 20-year-old rookie just up from Jacksonville named Hank Aaron.
Baggy Baseball Pants
Brooklyn’s shot at the baseball pants new design and at a third straight pennant was sent astray by a year-long hand injury suffered by Roy Campanella. Unable to grip the bat with his normal strength, the two-time MVP saw his batting average drop to .207. Campanella was picked up by Hodges and Snider, who in addition to their 40-home run seasons, drove in 130 runs apiece. This was the season full of excitement and full of the new style of baseball pants.
