Jan. 20, 1964 - How does a baseball star feel when he skids from the Yankees and Dodgers to the lowly Washington Senators? Moose Skowron (pictured right last month) knows. “It was a shock at first, of course,” he says, “but I can’t really kick.” “Baseball has been mighty good to me,” says the 200-pound first baseman who went to Purdue on a football scholarship and left after his sophomore year with a $25,000 bonus check from the Yankees. “Look at it this way — men like Ted Williams and Stan Musial were baseball’s biggest stars for years. But how many times did they get to play in a World Series? You can name them on the fingers of one hand. But look at me. I’ve spent exactly 10 years in the majors, and I’ve played in eight World Series. There are very few men with this kind of record, so you know how lucky I’ve been. Then there’s another thing. When the Yankees decided to trade me, they could have sent me to a second division club in either league. But they made a deal with the Dodgers. I think I’m the only player in baseball history to move from a World Series-winning club in one league to another World Series winner in the other league in consecutive seasons. That shows how lucky I’ve been.” Skowron estimates his share of World Series swag at $75,000.
“There are two big reasons I’ll give Washington the best I have. George Selkirk, general manager of the Senators, managed me at Kansas City in 1952, which was my first year in Triple A ball. And I had my best season ever. Then there’s Gil Hodges. I’ve always respected Gil as a man and as a player. When I was with the Yankees, we used to play the Dodgers a lot in spring training. When the exhibition season ended, Gil always took time to look me up and say, ‘I want to with you the best of luck, and I hope that you have a big season.’ Duke Snider was the same way to me. I hope I have at least four or five more years in the game. I’m only 33, and I like baseball, and I’m in good health.”
