Shea, Piersall Set the Bar High

When you talk baseball in Naugatuck, two names come quickly to mind: Frank “Spec” Shea, whose fast balls and faster quips made him a New York Yankee favorite in the late 1940s, and Jim Piersall, the Waterbury-born outfielder who made dozens of acrobatic catches for the Boston Red Sox in the 1950s.

Before looking back at these two men, though, let’s stay in the present and examine the two Waterbury-area players who are active in the major leagues this season – the Southington-bred Carl Pavano of the Minnesota Twins and Bristol native Chris Denorfia of the San Diego Padres.

Pavano, 35, has redeemed himself the past two years, winning a team-high 17 games (versus 11 losses) for the Twins’ 2010 AL Central Division champions on the heels of a 14-12 season split between Cleveland and Minnesota.

Prior to that, the oft-injured right-hander won a total of nine games over four years with the Yankees. His paycheck for this four-year period: $38 million. Little wonder Yankee fans were calling him “American Idle” and worse. Pavano turned in a fine 18-8 record with the Florida Marlins in 2003.

Denorfia, a 30-year-old outfielder, seems to have found a home in San Diego after bouncing around the Cincinnati Reds farm system, playing sporadically with the Reds (2005-06) and the Oakland A’s (2008-09) and not at all in 2007 because of an elbow injury that required Tommy John surgery. Promoted to the Padres from Triple-A Portland in May last season, he went on to appear in 99 games, batting .271 with nine home runs and performing well at all three outfield positions.

Shea, who died in July of 2002, produced one of the truly fine rookie seasons as a starting pitcher on the Yankees’ 1947 World Championship team, winning 14 games against just five losses and nailing down a pair of well-pitched victories in the club’s seven-game series triumph over the Brooklyn Dodgers. He even became the first rookie pitcher to receive credit for a victory in the All-Star Game.

“Everything I touched turned to gold that year,” he once said. “Getting credit for the win in the All-Star Game. Two victories in the World Series. How fortunate I was. It was a year you dream about. The only thing I feel bad about was I hurt my arm that year. I had no problem winning in the big leagues.”

With fifth-place Washington Senators teams, the man who became known as the “Naugatuck Nugget” rebounded from arm miseries to produce solid seasons of 11-7 (1952) and 12-7 (1953). He concluded his career in 1955 with a creditable 55-46 record, then spent many years as Naugatuck’s supervisor of parks and recreation.

Piersall, 81, was a defensive marvel; the esteemed Casey Stengel once called him the greatest natural defensive outfielder he ever saw. A lifetime fielding percentage of .990 is remarkable for an outfielder, especially for one who attempted to catch any ball within reach.

If you followed baseball in the 1950s and early ‘60s, you knew Piersall from his leaping catches but also from his clashes with opposing players, umpires and fans, and his backward trot around the bases to mark his 100^th career home run (with the Mets in 1963). Across 17 seasons (1950, ’52-67), Jim batted .272 and hit 104 homers with five clubs and was named to two American League All-Star teams.

His comeback from a mental breakdown provided the impetus for his autobiography, Fear Strikes Out, written with the late Al Hirshberg, and a biopic with the same name in 1957, starring the miscast Anthony Perkins as Piersall and Karl Malden as his overbearing father.

Piersall has disowned the film. “I didn’t climb no screen,” he wailed. “My father wasn’t as tough as they made him out to be.”

Waterbury was also the birthplace of Roger Connor, a power-hitting first baseman of the 19^th century and one of only two Connecticut natives elected as a player to the Baseball Hall of Fame. (Bridgeport’s Orator Jim O’Rourke is the other.)

When he concluded his 18-year career in 1897, Connor departed as the game’s all-time home run king (138) as well as its career leader in triples (233). None other than Babe Ruth surpassed his homer record in 1921.

Connor with a lifetime .317 hitter with the New York Giants and four other teams. He became just the sixth player to hit three homers in a game (May 9, 1888) and he, like Piersall, once collected six hits in a game.  He was selected to the Hall of Fame, posthumously, in 1976.

Three men of far more recent vintage, outfielder Darren Bragg and pitchers Dave Wallace and Ron Diorio, also were born in the Brass City.

Bragg, 41, carved out an 11-year career (1994-2004) in the majors, playing with no fewer than nine clubs. He was at his best with the Red Sox in 1998, batting a sound .279 and ranking second among American League outfielders with a .996 fielding percentage. In 941 games, Bragg had a .255 lifetime average and 46 homers. Today, he operates The Hit Club in Thomaston.

Messrs. Wallace and Diorio, longtime friends and teammates at Sacred Heart High School and New Haven College, reached the majors just weeks apart in 1973 with the Philadelphia Phillies. Even more remarkable is the fact that when Diorio made his debut on Aug. 9 in San Diego, the man he relieved was none other than Wallace.

“That’s something for Ripley’s Believe It or Not,” Diorio has said. “It’s gotta be.”

The 6-foot-6 Diorio became Manager Danny Ozark’s most reliable relief pitcher for the final two months of the 1973 season, making 23 appearances, finishing 11 games and logging one save. His 2.37 earned run average was the lowest on the staff.

Unfortunately, the side-arming right-hander was deemed expendable after two relief assignments in 1974, and he spent the remainder of his 10-year career in the minors.

Wallace logged seven appearances with the Phillies in 1973 and ’74, and six with the Toronto Blue Jays in ’78. He spent the bulk of his 10-year playing career in the minors.

But the stocky right-hander elected to remain in the game, and he has distinguished himself as a pitching coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers (he helped to develop Pedro Martinez, Orel Hershiser and many others), the Mets, Red Sox and Houston Astros, and as a front office executive with the Dodgers and Mets.

Two major league umpires and a man considered by many baseball purists to be the game’s last true commissioner also claim Waterbury as their birthplace. After a lengthy minor league apprenticeship, Terry Tata umpired in the National League for 27 seasons (1973-99), officiating in four World Series and three All-Star games. His late stepfather, the diminutive, colorful Augie Guglielmo, was an NL umpire for one year (1952) and the senior arbiter in the Triple-A International League from 1953 through '66.

Fay Vincent, who succeeded the late Bart Giamatti as baseball commissioner in 1989 and was ousted by the owners three years later, was born in Waterbury and raised in New Haven.

Although Massachusetts claims Rico Brogna as a native son, Watertown was the community in which he grew up to become one of the high school’s greatest three-sport athletes and a first-rate major league first baseman.

Brogna, who will turn 41 on April 18, was among those who suffered most when Major League Baseball went on strike on Aug. 12, 1994. Called up by the Mets from Triple-A Norfolk, Va., on June 20, he was hitting a robust .351, with seven homers, after 39 games when the National League season came to a screeching halt.

He held down first base for the Mets the next year (22 homers, 76 RBI, .289) and then, after an injury-plagued 1996, was traded to the Phillies, with whom he enjoyed three productive seasons. He had back-to-back years of 104 and 102 RBI, and reached a peak with 24 homers in 1999.

A form of spinal arthritis, which was diagnosed in 1991, contributed to Brogna's premature retirement from the playing ranks at age 31. He concluded with 106 home runs and a .269 career average,

Here are some other notable major leaguers who were born and raised in Naugatuck and the Waterbury area:

John Caneira, Naugatuck: The second Naugatuck High pitcher to reach the major leagues, Caneira was, at 24, a promising member of the California Angels staff in the final month of the 1977 season. He won two of four decisions, highlighted by a 6-1 victory over the power-hitting Chicago White Sox on Sept. 10 in which he allowed just one run in seven innings. But a rotator cuff injury ended his career a year later. Caneira developed his skills under the tutelage of his high school coach, the late Ray Legenza, and was the pitching star of the Garnet’s 1970 state championship team.

Brad Ausmus, Cheshire: Three Gold Glove awards (2001-02, ’06) and a lifetime .994 fielding percentage attest to Ausmus’ catching skills with the Houston Astros and four other clubs from 1993 until his retirement at the end of last season. Across 1,971 games, he was a career .251 hitter with 80 home runs. The Astros’ regular catcher in the 2006 World Series, he went 4-for-16 at bat. Ausmus was an American League All-Star with the Detroit Tigers in 1999.

Rob Dibble, Southington: Probably the greatest relief pitcher to come out of Connecticut, the hard-throwing Dibble averaged better than a strikeout an inning and accumulated 88 saves over a six-year span (1988-93) with the Cincinnati Reds. In the 1990 National League Championship Series, he shared the MVP Award with fellow reliever Randy Myers after striking out 10 and allowing nary a hit or run in four appearances against the Barry Bonds-Bobby Bonilla Pirates. Dibble also was the winning pitcher in the World Series’ second game that fall, pitching two scoreless innings in the Reds’ 5-4, 10-inning victory over Oakland. He retired after the 1995 season with a 27-25 record, 89 saves and 2.98 earned run average.

Johnny Moore, Waterbury: Moore, who grew up in the Waterville section of the city, was an authoritative hitter in the National League (1928-37, ’45), compiling a .307 lifetime average with the Chicago Cubs, Cincinnati Reds and Philadelphia Phillies. Consistent at the plate, he produced averages of .330, .323, .328 and .319 from 1934-37. On July 22, 1936, he walloped three home runs in a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates. In the 1932 World Series, Moore was playing center field for the Cubs when Babe Ruth launched his “Called Shot” home run in the third game.

Tom Shopay, Bristol: Small in stature (5-foot-9, 160 pounds), Shopay parlayed desire with versatility and spent portions of seven seasons with the Yankees (1967, ’69) and Baltimore Orioles (1971-72, ’75-77). Primarily an outfielder, he became the Orioles’ third-string catcher when the need existed in 1975-76. “You’ve got to be a low-ball catcher,” needled Joe Garagiola, the catcher-turned-broadcaster, at an Orioles batting practice one day. Shopay merely smiled. He made five appearances as a pinch-hitter in the 1971 World Series against the Pirates.

Tim Murnane, Naugatuck: The first of four Naugatuck natives to reach the major leagues, Murnane joined the Boston Red Caps in 1876 during Year One of the National League. He played first base, outfield and second base during his four seasons, hitting .246. In 1884, he was the player-manager of the Boston Reds in the newly formed Union Association. Murnane gained greater fame as a sportswriter and baseball editor of the Boston Globe, receiving, posthumously, the J.G. Taylor Spink Award for “meritorious contributions to baseball writing” in 1978.  

Don Harrison, a Patch columnist, is the author of "Connecticut Baseball: The Best of the Nutmeg State," published by The History Press in 2008 and now in its second printing. During his tenure as sports editor of the "Waterbury Republican," he was a two-time selection as Connecticut Sportswriter of the Year.