by Paul Semendinger
November 16, 2024
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NOTE - This article appeared in the IBWAA's daily newsletter Here's The Pitch.
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June 18, 1965 was not a noteworthy day in baseball history. No great records were set that day. Nothing of historical significance occurred.
But it was a great, memorable, and noteworthy day for one player. In fact, for that player, that game represented the high-water mark for his career.
In 1965, Ross Moschitto, a 20-year-old right-handed hitting outfielder, was a member of the New York Yankees. On June 18, he appeared in his 36th major-league game. None of this seems especially significant, and in the grand scheme of baseball history, it wasn't. But it was a significant day for Ross.
Across his first 31 big-league games, where he was used sparingly, and mostly as a fill-in late in games, Ross Moschitto had gone 0-for-9. His first major-league hit was elusive, but on June 12, 1965, in a game the Yankees lost 13-3 to the California Angels, Moschitto went 2-for 2 with two singles. This raised his career batting average from .000 to .182 (2-for-11).
Moschitto then appeared in games on June 13, 15, and 17, but never came to bat as he was used in those games as a defensive replacement, often giving Mickey Mantle a few innings off late in the game.
On June 18, the Yankees were ahead of the Minnesota Twins 7-2 after six innings. There seemed little reason to keep Mantle in the game so Moschitto was sent in to play center field for the seventh inning. He played that defensive inning without any balls coming his way.
In the bottom of the seventh, with one out and Elston Howard at second base, Ross Moschitto came up against Jim Perry and homered. That homer was Moschitto's third consecutive hit (over many games). It raised his lifetime batting average to .250 (3-for-12). It seemed, maybe, just maybe, that he had arrived.
Unfortunately, he hadn't.
Over the rest of the month, Moschitto had six more at bats. He failed to get any hits.
In July of that year, Moschitto managed one hit all month. A single.
In August, he struck another single for his only hit that month.
In September, he went hitless.
For the 1965 season, Ross Moschitto batted just .185 (5-for-27). Remarkably, he appeared in 96 games that year, but accumulated only 27 at-bats!
Ross Moschitto did not play professional baseball in 1966 due to military obligations, but he made it back to the Yankees, briefly, in 1967, appearing in 14 games. He went 1-for-9. His one hit that year, the sixth and last of his career, was a single.
For his career, Moschitto was 6-for-36 (.167). For his career, he had just one extra-base hit... the home run hit at Yankee Stadium on a day when it just might have seemed that his big-league dreams weren't just coming true, but the possibility of excellence was possibly within reach.
It wasn't to be.
Postscript: Moschitto played the 1968 and 1969 seasons in the minor leagues to conclude his professional baseball career. In 110 Major League games, he had only 39 at bats. Ross Moschitto also never started a game in the major leagues.
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Paul Semendinger, Ed.D., is a retired principal, an adjunct college professor, the Editor-in-Chief of Start Spreading the News (a Yankees site since 2017), and the author of a host of books including From Compton to the Bronx (with Roy White), The Least Among Them, Scattering the Ashes, 365.2: A Runner's Journey, and more!
