Necciai’s Heat

N
ecciai could never understand how he got to be 6-foot-5 inches. He was actually 6-foot-3 when he stepped on the Shaw Stadium mound at 7:45 p.m. on Tuesday, May 13, 1952. When the papers mentioned his name it was always the 6-foot-5 Necciai. To the batter standing 60 feet, 6 inches away at home plate, perhaps he did appear to be 6-5 as he uncoiled his tall and slender frame into his windup with his right arm cutting loose a 90-plus mile per hour fastball on a sometimes unpredictable and wayward course.

The Welch hitters were well aware of Necciai’s reputation as a hard-throwing, sometimes erratic right-hander who in three games had 50 strikeouts in just 22 innings. The fans flocked to Shaw Stadium much like the Romans packing the Coliseum to watch the lion devour the gladiator. The Bristol fans knew these ballplayers from Welch would be no match for their newly anointed hero. Jack Martin on his pre-game radio show was speculating the number of strikeouts Necciai might chalk up. Could he top 20? Very possible Martin was saying on the air. Jim Carson and Richard Snapp sat in the pressbox chatting before the game exchanging their own ideas of what Necciai might accomplish on the mound. He’d be surprised if Necciai didn’t get at least 15 strikeouts Carson said. Snapp felt another 20-strikeout outing might be too much to expect, even for Necciai. Carson and Snapp both agreed that, despite striking out 15 times the night before, Welch was a very good hitting team.

As Necciai pawed at the dirt on the mound with his spikes, the Bristol defense was in place. The only change in the lineup from opening day was in center field where Robert Lipstas was penciled in instead of Gelsinger who had been called into active duty by the United States Army. Filiatrault was at first, Burch at second, DeVeau at short and Novotniak at third. Left to center were Chrisley, Lipstas and Greenhill. Dunlop was behind the plate.

The night was damp and chilly at Shaw. The temperature at game time was in the mid-50s but began to drop as the sun disappeared behind the mountains. Amid all the chatter drifting from the stands, Necciai had no trouble hearing Detore’s booming voice resonating from the dugout reminding him to think out there on the mound. Think and get the ball across the plate. Control, control, control.

Necciai didn’t know any of the players by name on the Welch team but he did recognize a few of the players by their stances from the week before when Bristol was playing in Welch. Thanks to Detore, Necciai had come a long way. A year ago Necciai wouldn’t have recognized Babe Ruth at the plate.

Welch leadoff hitter Sam Germano, a stocky shortstop who struck out just 11 times in 102 at bats while playing in the Border League in 1951, stepped to the plate. Necciai had turned to face the outfield trying to collect his thoughts before unleashing the first pitch. Facing Necciai were the bare planks of the outfield fence with a 402 sign hanging in the deepest part of Shaw. On both sides of the bare fence were outfield advertising promoting everything from Terry’s potato chips to Home Furniture Store to Sterling Hardware.

Necciai turned around again to face the plate, stood tall and straight directing his attention to Dunlop. Dunlop, squatting behind the plate, placed a closed right fist between his legs and pointed his index finger to the ground. Necciai nodded and gripped the ball with his long fingers over the red seams. A fastball was in order and everyone in the park knew it. Germano swung and missed. The next two pitches to Germano were carbon copies and so too was Germano’s futile swings. In the press box Snapp marked a K in the square beside Germano’s name with a No. 2 lead pencil. Mickey Shafton, whose last name came out Shelton in the newspaper report but was recorded correctly as Shafton in the official scorebook, planted his feet inside the batter’s box, hitting from the left side. Exactly what happened on each pitch was not recorded but the end result was thanks to Snapp and his sharpened pencil - Shafton struck out.

Bill Hammond, the third Welch batter, was one strike away from following in the path of Germano and Shafton. Necciai’s two-strike pitch was low and in front of the plate. Hammond swung at the pitch but the ball bounced past Dunlop. Hammond, who had average speed, took off for first base as Dunlop sprang from his crouch from behind the plate. Dunlop retrieved the ball and fired to Filiatrault at first base to retire Hammond by two steps. Three batters and three strikeouts. Not a good start Crosswhite must have thought from the third base coaching box but it was still early in the game. Necciai was throwing hard but once his guys got use to the lights they had the ability to catch up to Necciai’s speedy pitches.

Necciai returned to the Bristol dugout, his stomach not feeling well at all. On this chilly night, Necciai pulled on a jacket as the bottom of the first inning would turn out to be a long wait. Welch starter John Cramer, a left-hander, walked the first three Twins - Lipstas, Filiatrault and Chrisley - to load the bases. After retiring Dunlop on a pop up to Germano at shortstop, Cramer issued a base-on-balls to Novotniak forcing in Lipstas from third. Crosswhite had seen enough of Cramer. The Welch manager strutted to the mound and sent Cramer to the dugout, bringing in right-hander Wes Moore from the bullpen.