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INSIDE:

CLUBHOUSE
CRONICLES
Jimmy Palermo, during a historic 7-day span in May, 1939, saw the meteoric rise of Williams and tragic decline of Gehrig.

THE GAME'S
GOLDEN ERA
An exclusive WIWAG ongoing feature.

MEMORIES
 The field seemed vast to a 7-year old who had looked forward to this day for two months.

BREAKING THE COLOR LINE
The year marks the 60th anniversary of the first major league tryout for black players.
SPECIAL COLOR
LINE TIMELINE
Bud Fowler is the first know black players on an integrated team.

BOOMING BATS
of the '50s
Qualify as Grade A10.

AMERICA'S ORIGINAL
SPORTS BAR
 First sports bar featured 12-inch Farnsworth TV.

BASEBALL
HISTORIANS
Two unsuspecting vintage baseball fans rediscover a "National Treasure." 		>> Home page                                                                         >> Contact us

MOON'S choice of a bat may well have been influenced by his famous teammate, Stan Musial, in that this is a model M(for Musial)159 Louisville Slugger with Wally's signature stamped on the barrel.

WALLY MOON used this bat during his rookie year with the Carinals in 1954. He started fast and ended his rookie season having ousted popular Cardinal Hall of Famer, Enos Slaughter from the line-up. Moon hit .304 with 193 hits, 12 homers and 76 RBIs — and won the 1954 Sporting News Rookie of the Year Award.

WALLY MOON

ALL-STAR: 1957 and 1959

NATIONAL LEAGUE ROOKIE OF THE YEAR: 1954

Moon played for Cards, Dodgers

An excellent defensive outfielder, he won a Gold Glove in 1960

MAJOR LEAGUE ALL-STAR

WALLY MOON homered in his first major league at-bat as a Cardinal in 1954 en route to batting .304 and winning the Rookie of the Year award.
WALLY MOON WEB LINKS
>BASEBALL-REFERENCE.COM
>BASEBALL-LIBRARY.COM
>BASEBALL-ALMANAC.COM

Wally Moon began his Major League career on April 13, 1954 with the St. Louis Cardinals. He played 12 seasons for the Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers — and ended his big league playing career in 1965.

Moon homered in his first major league at-bat as a Cardinal in 1954 en route to batting .304 and winning the Rookie of the Year award over Hank Aaron. He peaked with 24 home runs in 1957, but was traded to the Dodgers after a .238 showing in 1958.

"Moon shots" were what they called the home runs that the left handed Moon golfed over the 42-foot wall a mere 250 feet down the Los Angeles Coliseum's left field line with his inside-out swing. Though he didn't hit many of them, the newly arrived Moon hit them early in 1959, and his ingenuity seemed to capture the spirit of the ragtag bunch that took the Dodgers from seventh place in 1958 to the World Championship in 1959.


MOON is congratulated by Red Schoendienst in April 1954 after his first career home run.

Moon played 12 seasons in the outfield and at first base with the Cards and Dodgers, ending with a .289 lifetime average and 1,399 hits. He was a member of the National League all-star team in 1957 and 1959.

A fine defensive outfielder, he won a Gold Glove in 1960.

WALLY MOON: Did you know...

...Moon attended Texas A&M University.


...Moon was signed by the St. Louis Cardinals before the 1950 season as an amateur free agent.

...Moon was traded in Dec. 1958 by the St. Louis Cardinals with Phil Paine to the Los Angeles Dodgers for Gino Cimoli.

...Moon was released by the Los Angeles Dodgers in Oct. 1965.

...Moon scored the last run ever in the Los Angeles Coliseum.

...Moon was born April 3, 1930 in Bay, Arkansas.

WALLY MOON played 12 seasons in the outfield and at first base with the Cards and Dodgers.

 

 

BIG GUNS: Moon, far right, at the 1959 all-star game with, left to right, Stan Musial, Hank Aaron and Wille Mays.


SPORTS ILLUSTRATED featured Wally on the cover on April 22, 1957.

WALLY MOON cracks his first career home run at Busch Stadium in April 1954. The Cardinal rookie outfielder stepped into Enos Slaughter's shoes in a big way when he swung in the first inning of the opening game against the Chicago Cubs. The catcher is Clyde Mccullough of the Cubs, the umpire Jocko Conlan.