Sal ” The Barber” Maglie

Sal Maglie was a Dodger for a short period of time. But he was one of those pitchers batters hated to face. Picture a shorter Italian version of Don Drysdale. He would put you on your backside just as quickly as Big D.

Salvatore Anthony Maglie was born in Niagara Falls New York on April 26, 1917. His father, Guiseppe, came from a prominent family in Italy and had a high school education. But his lack of knowledge of the English language meant he could only hold jobs as a common laborer.

His mother, Maria, was a peasant woman and never attended a day of school. But she was a woman with a determined nature, striking good looks and unusual height. Traits her son inherited.

His passion for baseball angered his parents, and he had to sneak out of the house to play. In his youth, he was such a poor pitcher that his teams rarely let him take the mound. His high school did not have a baseball team, so he went out for basketball and became one of the team’s stars.

Niagara University offered him a basketball scholarship, but he turned it down, maintaining a stubborn allegiance to baseball, and pitching in particular.

He seemed destined to join his schoolmates in life as a factory worker. He held a job at Union Carbide, one of several chemical companies in Niagara at the time. He pitched on the company team and also for local semi-pro teams.

He had a tryout with the Rochester Red Wings in 1937, but after three pitches, whoever was running it said next and he was done.

The next year, he joined the Niagara Cataracts, a team that lasted just one year. But he caught the eye of Steve O’Neill, manager of the Buffalo Bisons. O’Neill, a former MLB catcher, saw promise in the young pitcher and asked him to join his team.

He spent almost three seasons with the Bisons, each one worse than the one before. He asked to be sent down, so O’Neill sent him to Class-D Jamestown, of the Pony League. The next year, 1941, he moved up to Class-A Elmira, and there he hit his stride, winning 20 with a 2.67 ERA.

1941 was a busy year for Sal as he and his longtime girlfriend, Kay Pieleggi, eloped in March. Their families hastened them to a proper Catholic wedding two-months later.

In early 1942, Maglie failed his pre-induction physical due to a chronic sinus condition. With the manpower shortage due to the war, the Giants thought enough of Maglie to pluck him from his team and put him in Jersey City. He resigned after the season and spent the next two years in Niagara Falls working in a defense plant.

Still short on manpower, the Giants brought him up in 1945. He spent 2 months in the majors, posted a 5-4 record, but tossed three shutouts.

He was 28 years old now and hoped he would be part of the Giants rotation in 1946. But other events intervened.

Dolph Luque suggested that he join the Cuban winter league and pitch for Cienfuegos, the team Luque managed. As a former MLB player with a reputation as a headhunter, Maglie underwent a tough demanding apprenticeship with Luque that would transform him from a marginal wartime hurler, to one of the top pitchers of his time.

But the big buzz among players in 1946, was the news that two Mexican brothers, who were very wealthy, were offering American players fabulous sums to jump their contracts and play in the Mexican League. The two brothers were Jorge and Bernardo Pasquel.

Resentful of what he considered dismissive behavior by Giants manager Mel Ott during spring training and already familiar with the Pasquels from contact in Cuba, Maglie took the gamble and jumped.

Maglie pitched in the new league for two years, 46-47. Commissioner Happy Chandler banned all of the ” jumpers” for five years.

During his two seasons with the Puebla Parrots, Maglie’s manager was Luque. Pitching under sometimes harsh conditions, Maglie took on some of the characteristics of his manager. He became a grim determined pitcher who would not crumble under pressure.

He left the crumbling league after the 47 season and joined a barnstorming team led by fellow jumper, Max Lanier. They barely made expense money and disbanded after the season.

Resigned to the fact that he might have to find another career, he went home to Niagara, purchased a home and a gas station with money he had saved and prepared to be a gas jockey for the rest of his life.

Out of nowhere, he was invited to pitch in 49 in the Provincial League in Quebec. Maglie had an outstanding season there and led the Drummondville Cubs to the championship. He also learned that Chandler had lifted the ban and he could return to the Giants.

He began the 50 season in the pen, rarely seeing action and constantly worrying about being sent down or released. He had a couple of bad starts. But finally, on the 21st of July, he pitched an 11-inning complete game, beating the Cardinals 4-2. That game turned his career around.

Over the rest of the year Maglie was brilliant. He finished with an 18-4 record and at one time threw four consecutive shutouts and recorded 45 consecutive scoreless innings.

In 1951 he had his best season winning 23 during the Giants pennant drive. He pitched 8 innings in game 3 against the Dodgers and left trailing 4-1. Larry Jansen would get the win when Thompson hit his homerun off of Branca.

Maglie lost his only start in the series, giving up four runs in five innings as the Giants lost the series in six games.

Over his next three seasons, he started experiencing back pain, which limited his effectiveness. He did win 18 in 52, but was only 8-9 in 53. He was 36 so most thought his career was close to being over. He rebounded in 54 and contributed 14 wins to the Giants pennant run.

He did not get the win in his game one start. He pitched into the 8th inning when he allowed two base runners. He was replaced so lefty Don Liddle could face slugger Vic Wertz. The ensuing play resulted in Willie Mays’ great catch. It saved the Giants from losing and Maglie too. But the Giants won the game in the 10th inning, so Maglie did not get the win.

He was 9-5 at the end of July when the Giants sold him to the Indians. He was seldom used and convinced that his career might be over. But an off-field issue convinced him to try and continue his career.

Childless over 15 years of marriage, he and his wife adopted a son. The boy became the reason for keeping his career going.

Early in the 1956 season, the Indians sold Maglie to his longtime enemies, the Dodgers. It had to be one of the greatest bargains in baseball history. GM Buzzie Bavasi out-bargained the Indians Hank Greenberg and got Maglie for 100 dollars.

Dodger fans were stunned. They were horrified to see their one time rival in Dodger blue. More than once his on field tactics had resulted in brawls. But they soon warmed to him as he won key games and helped the Dodgers win their final pennant in Brooklyn.

One of those late season games was a no-hitter against the Phillies. He also won the game that clinched a tie for the pennant.

In game one of the Series, he beat Whitey Ford 6-3 for what would be his only win in a World Series. He was on the mound for game six when Larsen pitched his perfect game. He finished 56 with a 13-5 record for Brooklyn. He was 39 years old.

He was 6-6 when late in the 57 season, the Dodgers sent him to the Yankees, and he became the last player to have played for all three New York teams. He was 2-0 with the Yanks, finishing with an 8-6 mark and a 2.69 ERA.

In 1958, he started the season with the Yankees then was sold to the Cardinals where he finished his major league career with a 3-7 mark.

Over a 10-year major league career he won 119 games, lost 62 and posted a career ERA of 3.15. Maglie was not a big strikeout pitcher, he was in today’s terms, a finesse guy who would not hesitate to knock a batter down. A headhunter.

In 1960 Sal became the pitching coach for the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox of the early 60’s were pitching poor, so Maglie had a tough job trying to build a winning pitching staff.

But he had some successes. Bill Monbouquette set a team record with 17 strikeouts. He credited Maglie with his improvement. He and Maglie consistently talked strategy. Move his feet, get him off of the plate, don’t be afraid to pitch inside.

In 1962, a feat rarely achieved by a second division team was performed by the Sox and two of their pitchers threw no-hitters. Earl Wilson and Monbouquette. Both credited Maglie.

He also that year helped Dick Radatz become a force out of the bullpen. He taught the huge Radatz how to use his lower body to get more velocity out of his fastball.

But when the Sox changed managers in 63, his contract was not renewed. Pesky wanted his own coaching staff. The loss of his job could not have come at a worse time.

In early 63 they had adopted another boy. They had barely settled down with the new son when Kay had a recurrence of cancer where she had surgery in 1958. This time it was inoperable.

He remained at home with his ailing wife. He supported his family with speaking engagements, money from business ventures and his small baseball pension.

Boston invited him back for the 65 season, but he could not accept because he had taken a job with the New York State Athletic Commission.

But when the job was still open in 1966, the lure of baseball was too much and he went back. In the winter of 66, the Red Sox announced the signing of Dick Williams to be their manager.

The Red Sox storybook 67 season was a nightmare for Maglie. In February, his wife Kay died, leaving him a widower at 49 with two small children.

He did not get along with Williams. Williams had wanted to hire his own pitching coach but could not because Maglie had a two-year deal.

The one bright spot was the development of Jim Lonborg as the team’s ace. Lonborg gave all of the credit for his growth as a pitcher to Maglie. The day after their World Series loss, Williams fired him.

A few weeks later, Sal unloaded to a sympathetic reporter stating that Williams gave him the biggest disappointment of his baseball life. He was referring to his firing and the way it was carried out.

He didn’t have the guts to do it man to man. He had someone else do it. Maglie and Williams had different ideas. Williams was very organized and he wanted charts. Maglie never gave him those, they were in his head.

Sal benefited from baseball expansion and took a job with the brand new Seattle Pilots. He worked in their minor league system for a year, and when they came into existence in 1969, he became their pitching coach.

The Pilots were not successful and declared bankruptcy after one season, they were moved to Milwaukee and became the Brewers.

Maglie struggled trying to find out what to do the rest of his life after baseball being a huge part of it for so many years. In 1970, he had his last job in baseball as the general manager of the Niagara Falls Pirates.

He then worked as a salesman for a wholesale liquor company. He later became the membership chairman for the Niagara Falls Convention Bureau before retiring in 1979 at the age of 62.

He remarried in 1971. A satisfying union shadowed by the emotional problems his oldest son experienced in the wake of Kay’s passing. Sal Jr.’s suffered a long downward spiral involving alcohol and drugs adding to his father’s anguish.

Sal did get some pleasure playing golf and being with his friends. He did go to card shows and some oldtimers games.

He enjoyed relatively good health until 1982 when he suffered a brain aneurysm and nearly died. He had a remarkable recovery, but after Sal Jr. died in 1985, his health and mental health went downhill fast. He was placed in a nursing home in 1987 and passed away on December 28th, 1992 at the age of 75.

There were numerous obituaries in the papers, but Bill Madden on the New York Daily News summed up his career best. He said Maglie would never be in the Hall of Fame unless there was a Hall of Fame for pitchers you wanted on the mound in a game you had to win.

That sums up Sal the Barber quite well.