Remembering Ross Moschitto's One Rip
ALSO: SALUTING THE WRITERS WHOSE WORK MADE THE FIRST HtP ANNUAL
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Pregame Pepper
Did you know…
Free agent Teoscar Hernández is one of nine players to hit at least 25 homers in each of the five full seasons since 2019. The others are: Juan Soto, Aaron Judge, Pete Alonso, Yordan Alvarez, Kyle Schwarber, Manny Machado, Rafael Devers and Matt Olson . . .
No pitcher has posted a better ERA over the past half-decade than Max Fried, whose 2.81 ERA since 2020 leads all big league pitchers during that span . . .
During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the lanky lefty went 7-0 with a 2.25 ERA over 11 starts. He's put up a 3.25 ERA or better in each of the four seasons since, including a 2.48 ERA in 2022 when he finished second in Cy Young Award voting . . .
Anxious to get Aaron Judge out of center field, the Yankees could fill the void with versatile Jazz Chisholm, Jr. or re-sign slick-fielding Harrison Bader. Signing Alex Bregman to play third base could follow . . .
Dodgers reliever Brusdar Graterol underwent shoulder surgery that will keep him sidelined for at least half the 2025 season . . .
Eckhartz Press has announced that Last Comiskey has received the 2024 Book of the Year prize from the Chicago Writers Association. The book features a foreword by former White Sox player and manager Ozzie Guillen.
Leading Off
Ross Moschitto’s Homer
By Paul Semendinger
June 18, 1965 was not a noteworthy day in baseball history. No great records were set that day. Nothing of historical significance occurred.
But it was a great, memorable, and noteworthy day for one player. In fact, for that player, that game represented the high-water mark for his career.
In 1965, Ross Moschitto, a 20-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder, was a member of the New York Yankees. On June 18, he appeared in his 36th major-league game. None of this seems especially significant, and in the grand scheme of baseball history, it wasn't. But it was a significant day for Ross.
Across his first 31 big-league games, where he was used sparingly, and mostly as a fill-in late in games, Ross Moschitto had gone 0-for-9. His first major-league hit was elusive, but on June 12, 1965, in a game the Yankees lost 13-3 to the California Angels, Moschitto went 2-for 2 with two singles. This raised his career batting average from .000 to .182 (2-for-11).
Moschitto then appeared in games on June 13, 15, and 17, but never came to bat as he was used in those games as a defensive replacement, often giving Mickey Mantle a few innings off late in the game.
On June 18, the Yankees were ahead of the Minnesota Twins 7-2 after six innings. There seemed little reason to keep Mantle in the game so Moschitto was sent in to play center field for the seventh inning. He played that defensive inning without any balls coming his way.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and Elston Howard at second base, Ross Moschitto came up against Jim Perry and homered. That homer was Moschitto's third consecutive hit (over many games). It raised his lifetime batting average to .250 (3-for-12). It seemed, maybe, just maybe, that he had arrived.
Unfortunately, he hadn't.
Over the rest of the month, Moschitto had six more at bats. He failed to get any hits.
In July of that year, Moschitto managed one hit all month. A single.
In August, he struck another single for his only hit that month.
In September, he went hitless.
For the 1965 season, Ross Moschitto batted just .185 (5-for-27). Remarkably, he appeared in 96 games that year, but accumulated only 27 at-bats!
Ross Moschitto did not play professional baseball in 1966 due to military obligations, but he made it back to the Yankees, briefly, in 1967, appearing in 14 games. He went 1-for-9. His one hit that year, the sixth and last of his career, was a single.
For his career, Moschitto was 6-for-36 (.167). For his career, he had just one extra-base hit... the home run hit at Yankee Stadium on a day when it just might have seemed that his big-league dreams weren't just coming true, but the possibility of excellence was possibly within reach.
It wasn't to be.
Postscript: Moschitto played the 1968 and 1969 seasons in the minor leagues to conclude his professional baseball career. In 110 major league games, he had only 39 at bats. Ross Moschitto also never started a game in the major leagues.
Paul Semendinger, Ed.D., is a retired principal, an adjunct college professor, the Editor-in-Chief of Start Spreading the News (a Yankees site since 2017), and the author of a host of books including From Compton to the Bronx (with Roy White), The Least Among Them, Scattering the Ashes, 365.2: A Runner's Journey, and more!
Cleaning Up
Kudos to IBWAA Writers Whose Works Made First Annual Book
By Dan Schlossberg
Congratulations to the IBWAA members whose stories appear in Here’s the Pitch 2025, the first of a planned annual publication that will address the next baseball season three months before pitchers and catchers report.
Each writer whose bylined work made the final cut may choose either $100 or 10 free books from ACTA Publications.
In alphabetical order, the familiar bylines are Paul Banks, Benjamin Chase, Richard Cuicchi, Dan Epstein, Dan Freedman, Jeff Kallman, Mark Kolier, Ray Kuhn, Paul Jackson, W.J. Johnson, Elizabeth Muratore, Bill Pruden, Paul Semendinger, Andrew Sharp, Paul White, and this columnist, who had the pleasure and responsibility of editing the first annual.
Conceived by ACTA publisher Greg Pierce, the 216-page paperback features a foreword by Hall of Famer Jim Kaat (Class of 2022), a cover photo of Marcell Ozuna, and inside-cover color portraits of Freddie Freeman, Steven Kwan, Anthony Santander, Zack Wheeler, Elly De La Cruz, Aaron Judge, William Contreras, and Bobby Witt, Jr.
ACTA previously published The Bill James Handbook for 34 straight seasons, with a Walkoff Edition produced in 2023. All those books, as well as Here’s the Pitch 2025, were published months before any other baseball annuals – or even fantasy publications – hit the stands.
Writers included in the book are invited to contact Greg Pierce directly to let him know their snail mail addresses and their choice of remuneration: book or cash.
For further information, contact ACTA Publications: gfapierce@actapublications.com or 800-397-2282.
Timeless Trivia: Notes on Gold Glove Awards
With his fifth Gold Glove this year, San Francisco’s Matt Chapman is on target to overtake Nolan Arenado as the best-fielding third baseman in the National League . . .
Cleveland’s sterling defense was a big factor in its AL Central victory, with outfielder Steven Kwan and second baseman Andres Gimenez both winning their third Gold Gloves . . .
Jim Kaat had a record 16 Gold Gloves as a pitcher until Greg Maddux passed him with 18 . . .
Braves pitchers have dominated the fielding award, with Chris Sale winning this year and Mike Hampton taking one in the middle of the Maddux monopoly . . .
Officially known as the Rawlings Gold Glove, the award was established in 1957. The five outfielders who won 10 in a row are Hall of Famers Ken Griffey, Jr., Willie Mays, and Roberto Clemente, likely 2025 Hall of Fame inductee Ichiro Suzuki, and Cooperstown contender Andruw Jones.
Know Your Editors
HERE’S THE PITCH is published daily except Sundays and holidays. Benjamin Chase [gopherben@gmail.com] handles Monday and Tuesday editions, Elizabeth Muratore [nymfan97@gmail.com] does Wednesday and Thursday, and Dan Schlossberg [ballauthor@gmail.com] edits the weekend editions on Friday and Saturday. Readers are encouraged to contribute comments, articles, and letters to the editor. HTP reserves the right to edit for brevity, clarity, and good taste.