Strength Down The Middle

On the Evening of September 22, 1959, Gerry Staley was called out of the Chicago bullpen before a crowd of 54,293 hostile fans in Cleveland's cavernous Municipal Stadium. Chicago had a slim two-run lead, but the bases were loaded with Indians and only one was out in the bottom of the ninth inning. Staley, with ice-water running through his veins, placed his first pitch, a hard sinker, low in the strike zone on the outside corner of the plate. Cleveland's free-swinging, left-handed Vic Power swung and slashed a hard ground ball to Chicago shortstop Luis Aparicio. Aparicio glided to his left, gloved the ball, stepped on second and rifled the ball to Kluszewski at first. One pitch, two outs and the Chicago dugout erupted in spontaneous celebration. The 4-2, down-to-the-wire triumph brought the Chicago White Sox its first American League pennant in forty years.