NEW YORK - 1954: The New York Giants pose for their 1954 team photo at the Polo Grounds in New York ... [+]
Ron Samford, an infielder on the 1954 New York Giants World Series championship team, died January 14, 2021, in Dallas. He was 90.
Samford signed with the Giants in 1948 and worked his way through their farm system, finally breaking camp with them in 1954. Manger Leo Durocher used him sparingly during the first six weeks, as veterans Al Dark, Hank Thompson and Davey Williams left little room to convince the manager otherwise. The Giants dispatched him to the minor leagues, and he did not return for the rest of their World Series run.
Even though Samford did not play in the 1954 World Series, he did team with Mays that winter in Puerto Rico to form the greatest baseball team whose existence escapes most fans.
Giants third-base coach Herman Franks managed the Santurce Crabbers for the 1954-55 winter league season. Looking to boost the team after a last place finish the previous year, Franks used his Giants connection to recruit Samford along with Mays to reinforce the club.
Samford joined a lineup that included Negro League standouts Bus Clarkson, George Crowe and Bob Thurman, future major league manager Don Zimmer, as well as pitchers Ruben Gómez, Sam Jones and Bill Greason. Flanking Mays in the outfield was a young Brooklyn Dodgers prospect named Roberto Clemente.
Playing second base in a lineup that featured two future Hall of Famers and major league talent across the board, Samford’s Santurce team dominated. Nicknamed "El Escuadrón del Pánico" (The Panic Squad), they finished with a 47-25 record, easily advancing to the Caribbean Series. Speaking with Samford in 2008, he marveled at his team’s potency.
“Bus [Clarkson] led our club in RBIs that winter,” Sanford said. “With guys like Mays and Clemente, this should tell you how good a hitter he was. We had two Hall of Fame players in Willie Mays and Roberto Clemente. We were strong up the middle. With a couple more pitchers, I feel we could have won a pennant in the National League.”
Advancing to the Caribbean Series in Venezuela, Samford was unshy about Santurce’s superiority. Don Zimmer recalled being with his double play partner when they met Almendares’ (Cuba) manager Bobby Bragan in a Venezuelan bar. Samford laid the challenge right on the table.
“I remember going to Caracas, and Bobby Bragan was managing the Cuban team,” Zimmer said in 2011. “He said to me, ‘They said you got a good team, huh? You’ll wind up second.’ Ronnie Samford was in a bar that night with us having a beer. I didn’t want to say nothing to Bragan, but Ronnie said, ‘You couldn’t beat us.’”
He was correct; the Cuban team could not win. Santurce beat Cuba in their two meetings, with Zimmer homering in both contests. Zimmer won the MVP award and Santurce convincingly took the 1955 Caribbean Series with a 5-1 record.
Samford ultimately played parts of three more seasons in the majors with the Detroit Tigers and Washington Senators between 1955-1959; however, being a part of that championship season in Puerto Rico was a deeply cherished career highlight.
“Santurce fans called me the ‘White Sea’ and Jim Gilliam the ‘Black Sea’ because we covered so much ground,” he told author Tom Van Hyning in Puerto Rico’s Winter League. “They put money in two five-gallon buckets during the game. After the game, I walked to my apartment across the street with two buckets full of nickels and dimes. Oh God, I get to thinking about it … those good times.”
