James Walter "Buster" Maynard (March 25, 1913 – September 7, 1977) was an American
professional baseball
Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world.
Mod ...
player
Player may refer to:
Role or adjective
* Player (game), a participant in a game or sport
** Gamer, a player in video and tabletop games
** Athlete, a player in sports
** Player character, a character in a video game or role playing game who is ...
whose 14-year career included 224
games
A game is a structured form of play, usually undertaken for entertainment or fun, and sometimes used as an educational tool. Many games are also considered to be work (such as professional players of spectator sports or games) or art (such ...
in
Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), ...
for the
New York Giants
The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...
during all or portions of four seasons between and . The
outfielder
An outfielder is a person playing in one of the three defensive positions in baseball or softball, farthest from the batter. These defenders are the left fielder, the center fielder, and the right fielder. As an outfielder, their duty is to cat ...
and
third baseman
A third baseman, abbreviated 3B, is the player in baseball or softball whose responsibility is to defend the area nearest to third base — the third of four bases a baserunner must touch in succession to score a run. In the scoring system us ...
, a native of
Henderson, North Carolina
Henderson is a city and the county seat of Vance County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 15,060 at the 2020 census.
History
The city was named in honor of former North Carolina Supreme Court Chief Justice Leonard Henderson, w ...
, threw and batted right-handed, stood tall and weighed . He was a
United States Army
The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...
veteran of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
who spent all of the 1944 and 1945 seasons in military service.
Baseball career
Maynard's career began in 1937 in the low minors. In 1940, at age 27, he had a stellar year for the
Richmond Colts
The Richmond Colts were a minor league baseball team based in Richmond, Virginia that existed on-and-off from 1894 to 1953. They played in the Virginia League in 1894, and in another Virginia League in 1900, and another Virginia League from 1906 ...
of the Class B
Piedmont League
The Piedmont League was a minor league baseball league that operated from 1920 through 1955. The league operated principally in the Piedmont plateau region in the eastern United States.
Teams
The following teams were members of the Piedmon ...
, clubbing 30
home runs
In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...
and hitting .337. His success earned Maynard a late-season call-up from the Colts' parent team, the New York Giants. His first taste of the majors lasted for seven games and was bookended by two notable games. In his MLB début, Maynard led off and played
center field
A center fielder, abbreviated CF, is the outfielder in baseball who plays defense in center field – the Baseball positions, baseball and softball fielding position between Left fielder, left field and Right fielder, right field. In the numberi ...
for the Giants in their game against the
Chicago Cubs
The Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago. The Cubs compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as part of the National League (NL) Central division. The club plays its home games at Wrigley Field, which is located ...
at the
Polo Grounds
The Polo Grounds was the name of three stadiums in Upper Manhattan, New York City, used mainly for professional baseball and American football from 1880 through 1963. The original Polo Grounds, opened in 1876 and demolished in 1889, was built fo ...
. He singled in his first MLB
at bat
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
against the Cubs' Vern Olsen, then came around to score the Giants' first
run
Run(s) or RUN may refer to:
Places
* Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia
* Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant
People
* Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...
of the game. After grounding out in his second at bat, Maynard came to the plate for a third time against Olsen in the fourth inning; this time, he slammed a
triple
Triple is used in several contexts to mean "threefold" or a " treble":
Sports
* Triple (baseball), a three-base hit
* A basketball three-point field goal
* A figure skating jump with three rotations
* In bowling terms, three strikes in a row
* ...
and was thrown out at home plate for trying to stretch his hit into an
inside-the-park home run
In baseball, an inside-the-park home run is a play where a batter hits a home run without hitting the ball out of the field of play. It is also known as an "inside-the-parker", "in-the-park home run", or "in-the-park homer".
Discussion
To score a ...
. Then, in Maynard's final 1940 appearance, he collected four
hits
Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media Music
* ''H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block
* ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998
* ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014 - a British compilation album se ...
in four
at bats
In baseball, an at bat (AB) or time at bat is a batter's turn batting against a pitcher. An at bat is different from a plate appearance. A batter is credited with a plate appearance regardless of what happens during their turn at bat, but a batt ...
, including another triple, and scored three runs against the
Boston Bees
The Atlanta Braves, a current Major League Baseball franchise, originated in Boston, Massachusetts. This article details the history of the Boston Braves, from 1871 to 1952, after which they moved to Milwaukee, and then to Atlanta.
During it ...
in a 14–0 Giant rout.
Retrosheet
Retrosheet is a nonprofit organization whose website features box scores of Major League Baseball (MLB) games from 1906 to the present, and play-by-play narratives for almost every contest since the 1930s. It also includes scores from every major ...
br>box score: 1940-09-29 /ref>
Maynard batted .276 during that initial stint with the Giants, but he spent 1941 and the first month of with minor-league
Jersey City
Jersey City is the second-most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, after Newark.1946 Giants as a pinch runner and backup outfielder. He was sent back to Jersey City and finished his pro career in the minor leagues in 1952 at age 39. As a big leaguer, he batted .221 with 136 career hits (14 doubles, five triples and 14 home runs). He died in
Durham, North Carolina
Durham ( ) is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the county seat of Durham County, North Carolina, Durham County. Small portions of the city limits extend into Orange County, North Carolina, Orange County and Wake County, North Carol ...
, at age 64 in 1977.
Subject of Lasorda anecdote
Years after he left baseball, however, Maynard would be remembered in a story often told by
Tommy Lasorda
Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Nati ...
, the
Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is a history museum and hall of fame in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests. It serves as the central point of the history of baseball in the United States and displays baseball-r ...
manager
Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business.
Management includes the activities o ...
of the
Los Angeles Dodgers
The Los Angeles Dodgers are an American professional baseball team based in Los Angeles. The Dodgers compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Established in 1883 in the city of Brooklyn ...
, to his players at spring training.
Lasorda recalled that, as a teenager in the early 1940s, he had attended his first major league game at
Shibe Park
Shibe Park, known later as Connie Mack Stadium, was a ballpark located in Philadelphia. It was the home of the Philadelphia Athletics of the American League (AL) and the Philadelphia Phillies of the National League (NL). When it opened April 12, 1 ...
in
Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, a contest between the
Phillies
The Philadelphia Phillies are an American professional baseball team based in Philadelphia. They compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. Since 2004, the team's home stadium has been Citizen ...
and Maynard's Giants. As the game ended, the young Lasorda and his friends gathered in the runway between the teams' dugouts and their clubhouses in search of autographs from the big-league players. When Lasorda asked a Giant player to sign his scorecard, he was shoved out of the way.
Roger Angell
Roger Angell (September 19, 1920 – May 20, 2022) was an American essayist known for his writing on sports, especially baseball. The only writer ever elected into both the American Academy of Arts and Letters and the Baseball Writers' Associa ...
, Hall of Fame baseball writer and former fiction editor of ''
The New Yorker
''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...
,'' described what happened next:
"'I couldn't believe it,' asorda said.'Here was the first big-league player I'd ever seen up close — the first one I ever dared speak to — and what he did was shove me up against the wall ... I watched the guy as he went away toward the clubhouse and I noticed the number on his back — you know, like taking the number of a hit-and-run car. Later on, I looked at my program and got his name. It was Buster Maynard, who was an outfielder for the Giants then. I never forgot it.'"Angell, Roger, ''Five Seasons: A Baseball Companion.'' /ref>
By 1949, Lasorda was 21 and a left-handed pitcher in the
Brooklyn Dodgers
The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association (19th century), American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the ...
' minor-league system. One day, as he was on the mound for the
Greenville Spinners
The Greenville Spinners was a primary name of the minor league baseball teams located in Greenville, South Carolina between 1907 and 1962. Greenville teams played as members of the South Carolina League in 1907, Carolina Association (1908–1912 ...
in the Class A
Sally League
The South Atlantic League, often informally called the Sally League, is a Minor League Baseball league with teams predominantly in states along the Atlantic coast of the United States from New York to Georgia. A Class A league for most of its h ...
against the
Augusta Tigers
The Augusta Tigers was the primary moniker of the minor league baseball teams in Augusta, Georgia. Beginning in 1884, Augusta has hosted numerous teams in various leagues.
History
The Augusta Yankees were a South Atlantic League minor league ba ...
, he heard the public address announcer introduce the rival batter he was about to face: Buster Maynard, then a 36-year-old minor league veteran. Angell writes: "Lasorda was transfixed. 'I looked in,' he
aid
In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another.
Ai ...
'and it was the same man!'" Lasorda proceeded to throw three
brushback pitch
In baseball, a brushback pitch is a pitch–usually a fastball–thrown high and inside the strike zone to intimidate the batter away from the plate on subsequent pitches. It differs from the beanball in that the intent is not to hit the batter ...
es at Maynard; after the third, Maynard charged the mound and a full-scale brawl nearly ensued. After the game, as Lasorda was getting into his street clothes in his team's clubhouse, there was a knock at the door. It was Maynard, who (according to Angell) wore a "peaceable but puzzled expression."
"'Listen, kid,' he said to Lasorda, 'did I ever meet you before?' 'Not exactly,' Tom said. 'Did I bat against you someplace, maybe?' 'Nope.' 'Well, why were you tryin' to take my head off out there?' Lasorda spread his hands wide. 'You didn't give me your autograph,' he said."
During his 20 years as manager of the Dodgers, Lasorda regularly told that story to his young players, advising them, "Always give an autograph when somebody asks you ... You can never tell. In baseball, anything can happen."