One of the first Los Angeles Dodgers stars, Wally Moon passes away
by Cary Osborne
Wally Moon, an All-Star outfielder for the Dodgers in 1959 whose “Moonshot” home runs at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum became legend, passed away on Friday. He was 87 years old.
Moon spent the first five seasons of his Major League career with the St. Louis Cardinals, beginning in 1954 when he was named the National League Rookie of the Year. The Dodgers acquired the Arkansas native and Texas A&M Hall of Famer in a trade after the 1958 season.
He became an instant star for a Dodger team in its second season in Los Angeles. The left-handed hitting Moon learned to adjust to the awkward outfield dimensions of the Coliseum and hit home runs over the left-field screen that stood 40 feet high, some 250 feet away from home plate.
“I knew I could hit the ball to left field, and I said well at least I can hit singles onto the screen out there,” Moon began in an interview on his Moonshots. “And then I had the good fortune of having Carl Erskine and Clem Labine — both pitchers who would give me lots of extra hitting practice. I began to not only pepper that screen, I began to get where I could loft it over there by developing an inside-out golf swing — shall we say a banana slice. But you had to get under it a little bit, so I began to be successful there. I hit a few home runs and all of a sudden Vin Scully started calling them ‘Moonshots,’ and the people in the stands started yelling for a Moonshot.”
Moon was an All-Star for the second time in his career in 1959 (he made the National League All-Star team in 1957 with St. Louis). He batted .302/.394/.495 with 19 home runs and 74 RBI and he shared the Major League lead for triples with teammate Charlie Neal with 11.
He is one of four Dodgers all time with a batting average of at least .300 and at least 15 home runs, 25 doubles, 10 triples and 15 stolen bases in a single season. The others are Babe Herman, Jackie Robinson and Duke Snider. Moon finished fourth that season in the NL MVP balloting.
Moon helped lead the Dodgers to the 1959 World Series championship. He was 6-for-23 in the World Series against the Chicago White Sox, hitting a home run in the series-clinching Game 6.
Moon played seven seasons with the Dodgers, finishing his Major League career with them in 1965. He won a Gold Glove for his play in left field in 1960. In 1961 he led the NL in on-base percentage at .434 and had a career-high .940 OPS.
Moon batted .289/.371/.445 with 142 home runs in 12 Major League seasons.
On his 87th birthday — April 3, 2017 — Moon, along with Tommy Lasorda, threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Opening Day.
