Not-so-magic Royals moments, '80 Series: K.C. can't cash in vs. Carlton

Steve Carlton was a mass of facial contortions as he bore down to repeatedly turn back Kansas City Royals threats in Game 2 of the 1980 World Series at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

Steve Carlton's steely-eyed determination made a major difference in the Philadelphia Phillies' triumph over the Kansas City Royals in the 1980 World Series. Carlton repeatedly left Royals stranded on base as he gutted out a 6-4 victory in Game 2. Then he slammed the door on K.C. in a 4-1 clinching win in Game 6.

By Phil Ellenbecker

  Mike Schmidt was named the Most Valuable Player of the 1980 World Series, and it's hard to argue with that.

  Schmidt, who would also be named the National League MVP for 1980, batted .381 with two homers and seven RBIs, including the Series-clinching runs in a 4-1 Game 6 victory, to help the Philadelphia Phillies defeat the Kansas City Royals 4-2 for the Phillies’ first Fall Classic title in the franchise’s 97-year history.

  But while Schmidt had a great Series, it didn't stand out too much from what others on either team accomplished. For the Phillies, Bob Boone hit. 412 and Larry Bowa hit .375 while turning a record seven double plays at shortstop. If the Royals would have won, Willie Aikens (.400, four homers, eight RBIs) and Amos Otis (.478, eight RBIs) would have been most worthy MVP candidates, while Schmidt's all-time great counterpart at third base George Brett and Hal McRae each hit .375.

  From this partial observer's standpoint, as someone who'd followed the Royals since their first season, the most valuable Phillie, the one who made the difference in a pretty evenly matched Series -- the man who was Public Enemy No. 1 to this Royals fan -- was the man they call "Lefty" -- Hall of Fame southpaw Steve Carlton.

  Carlton, who won the NL Cy Young Award this year with a 24-9 record and 2.34 ERA,  went 2-0 with a 2.40 ERA and 17 strikeouts over 15 innings in the Series, including seven Ks in seven innings in the Phillies' Game 6 win.

  But what was especially impressive, what truly made him a difference maker, was his performance in Game 2. No, it wasn't a dominating performance, far from it. But it was the kind of performance the great ones summon when they don't have their best stuff, when the opposing team has them on the ropes. You can't win 'em all, but the great ones win the ones they're not supposed to.

  The Royals had Carlton on the ropes all night Wednesday, Oct. 15. They got to him for four runs, three earned, and 10 hits in eight innings. He walked six batters.

  He bent a lot, but the Royals couldn't completely break him, and his resilience, with the help of 10 strikeouts, got the Phillies through to a 6-4 victory at Philly's Veterans Stadium that gave them a 2-0 lead in the Series.

  I can still clearly see the TV close-ups of Carlton on the mound, straining and grimacing, but never flinching, as the Royals constantly threatened. And I'm convinced that if they could have gotten to him a bit more and won the game, they would have won the Series. Beating the Phillies' ace southpaw could have been a huge psychological advantage for the Royals.

  But the Royals couldn't capitalize when they had a chance, and the next time they faced him, with a title on the line, they had no chance.

  How gritty was Carlton on this night? The Royals left 11 men on base, including six in scoring position in six separate innings. And another time they had a runner on second thrown out attempting to go to third on a sacrifice fly for the third out of the inning.

  Four times with runners in scoring position, Carlton got a strikeout. Two other times he coaxed double plays. Four runs for the Royals, but they were so close to a few more.

  Let's take a closer look at how "Lefty" negotiated this mine field:

• With runners at first and second base and two out in the first inning, a fielder's choice grounder by Amos Otis got Carlton out of the inning.
• Again with runners at first and second and two out in the second, Carlton struck out Willie Wilson.
• Again with runners at first and second in the third, this time with one out, Otis grounded to shortstop Larry Bowa, who went to Manny Trillo at second, who went to Pete Rose at first for the double play.
• The Royals only got one on in this fourth, and the Bowa-to Trillo-to Rose combo struck again to end the inning with a double play off the bat of Jose Cardenal.
• Yet again in the fifth, first and second, two out, and Carlton fanned cleanup hitter McRae.
• The Royals finally broke through with a run in the sixth off Trillo's error, cutting the Phillies' lead to 2-1. But with -- guess what? -- runners at first and second and one out, Carlton dialed up another 6-4-3 double play, Frank White doing the dubious honor for the Royals this time.
• A two-run double by Otis moved the Royals ahead in the seventh, and John Wathan's sacrifice fly to center with one out made it 4-2. But when Otis tried to advance from second on Wathan's fly out, center fielder Garry Maddox threw him out at third with the help of Rose's relay.
• And here we go again, first and second, two out in the eighth, and U.L. Washington whiffs.

Larry Bowa batted .375 and turned a record seven double plays at shortstop to help the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Kansas City Royals in six games in the 1980 World Series. He turned three double plays to help Steve Carlton escape numerous jams in a 4-2 victory in Game 2.

  And then the Phillies made the Royals pay by scoring four runs off K.C. closer Dan Quisenberry to go up by the final margin.

  Ron Reed relieved Carlton in ninth, and after he struck out pinch hitter Darryl Porter, McRae singled to bring the tying run to the plate. Otis hit into a fielder's choice and Wathan struck out, and that was the ballgame.

  You can pin the blame for this one on Quisenberry's failure to protect the two-run lead. Quiz -- who would win the first of five Rolaids AL Fireman of the Year awards this season, with 33 saves the first of five league-leading seasons -- retired the Phillies in order when he took over for starter Larry Gura starting the seventh. But after walking the leadoff batter in the eighth he was rocked for four hits, including doubles by pinch hitter Del Unser and Schmidt. That led to four runs, and ultimate doom.

  You can also point to Otis, who although he drove in half the Royals' runs also left five men on base, grounded into a double play and got thrown out for the third out of an inning.

  And you can also point to the absence from the bottom of the sixth on of all-time clutch performer and 1980 AL MVP Brett. He had to sit out because of pain from a case of hemorrhoids.

Steve Carlton, the 1980 NL Cy Young Award winner, and George Brett, the 1980 AL MVP, square off in Game 2 of that year's World Series. Brett had to leave the game in the sixth inning because of pain from a case of hemorrhoids.

  But when all was said and done, you can't ignore the repeated escape acts of Lefty. He was a difference maker, most definitely.

  The opportunities were few and far between when the Royals faced Carlton again in Game 6. He retired K.C. 1-2-3 in three of his first seven innings, got out of another in three batters with the help of a double play started by Bowa, and faced only four batters in the three others with the help of another Bowa-started DP.

  When the Royals got their first two runners on in the eighth, Phillies manager Dallas Green brought in Tug McGraw, who got out of bases-loaded jams in both the eighth and ninth to close out the 4-1 win and the Series.

  So in the end, missed chances again for the Royals. They left 54 men on base in the Series to 41 for Philly, including 11 precious ones against Lefty in Game 2.

  Carlton, who finished his 24-year career with a 329-244 record, 3.22 ERA and 4,413 strikeouts (fourth all time), used to plunge his pitching fist to the bottom of a 5-gallon bucket of rice to develop the necessary hand strength to throw his tight slider. That helped him win four Cy Young Awards.

  On that Wednesday night in Philadelphia, whenever they threatened, the Royals were so much rice pudding in the hands of Carlton.

Sources:

Play-by-play: https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1980/B10150PHI1980.htm  

Series summary:  https://www.royalsreview.com/2019/8/7/20731942/a-look-back-at-the-1980-world-series  
Additional background came from various sources on the Retrosheet and Society for American Baseball Research's Biography Project and Games Project websites, as well as baseballreference.com. 

   

'44 Series opener: 2 hits enough as Browns, Galehouse stun Cards

Surprise starter Denny Galehouse pitched the St. Louis Browns to a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in the opening game of the 1944 World Series.  Galehouse, who'd gone 9-10 during the regular season, carried the worst season winning percentage to ever start a World Series opener.

By Phil Ellenbecker

  When it comes to surprise Game 1 starters in the World Series, and surprise performances, Howard Ehmke's in 1929 is probably the first one that comes to mind. Ehmke, on the way into the sunset of his baseball career, set a Series record with 13 strikeouts in that's year's opener, leading the Philadelphia Athletics to a 3-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on the way to a world title.   
  Ehmke, who at 7-2 during the regular season had the seventh-most wins on the A's, pitched and lost one more game in the 1929 Series, and was then out of the big leagues after only 10 innings in 1930.    But ranking right up there on the surprise scale has to be the outing of Denny Galehouse for the St. Louis Browns in 1944. Galehouse, with a 9-10 record and 3.12 ERA, had the fifth-most wins for the Browns, a surprise themselves after winning their first and only American League pennant that year, clinching on the final day of the season. Jack Hand of The Associated Press had picked them in the preseason to finish last.  
  Galehouse wasn't even with the team at the beginning of the year, not seeing action until May 15. According to John Heidenry and Brett Teipel in "The Boys Who Were Left Behind," excerpted in the World Series anthology "Glory in the Fall," he'd decided to retire and keep working at his wartime aircraft job in Akron, Ohio, before the Browns persuaded him to come back after he did his own spring training. And then they released him after he fared poorly.  
  But by the end of the year he was again with the big club and finished strong. He allowed only two earned runs over his final 23 innings of the regular season, including a shutout of the perennial power New York Yankees on Sept. 30, the next-to-last day of the regular season.  
  So manager Luke Sewell followed a hunch and went with Galehouse when the first and only all-St. Louis Fall Classic between the Browns and reigning NL power Cardinals -- or the Trolley Car Series as it was called -- opened at both team's home field, Sportsman's Park, on Wednesday, Oct. 4. Sewell opted for Galehouse over 19-game winner Nels Potter and 17-game winner Jack Kramer.  
  "No doubt everyone had to wonder just what Sewell was thinking when he nominated this part-time, home-conditioned, lackluster pitcher as the man who would face the formidable Cardinals in Game 1," Heidenry and Teipel wrote.  
  The Cardinals had won their third straight pennant, by 14 1/2 games over Pittsburgh. They'd been only the second team ever -- since the 1929-31 Philadelphia Athletics -- to have three straight 100-win seasons.  
  Galehouse would be matched against the Cardinals' Mort Cooper, a premier pitcher of the time who won the 1942 NL MVP award and was named to The Sporting News' Major League All-Star Team from '42 through '44. This year he'd gone 22-7 with a 2.46 ERA  and seven shutouts, tying him with Detroit’s Dizzy Trout for most in the majors. He'd been 2-1 in four starts over the past two World Series, including their only win in a 4-1 loss to the Yankees the year before and only loss in a 4-1 triumph over the Yankes in '42.  
  Galehouse, meanwhile, carried the worst season winning percentage to ever start a World Series opener.  
  But the "lackluster pitcher," in his first World Series appearance, was up to the challenge, and he certainly had to be, because Cooper and reliever Blix Donnelly allowed the Browns only two hits.  But one of those was a two-run homer by George McQuinn, and that was enough to give the Browns a 2-1 victory.  
  
  Galehouse allowed seven hits and one earned run while walking four and striking out five.  Cooper pitched seven innings and allowed two hits, including McQuinn's fourth-inning homer, while walking three and fanning four. Donnelly,  a 30-year-old rookie who had a 2.12 ERA in 27 games during the regular season, finished up with two perfect innings, striking out two.  
  After leaving four runners in scoring position, including two at third base, in the first eight innings, the Cardinals finally broke through in the bottom of the ninth to pull within 2-1. Marty Marion, who went 2-for-4 in the game, doubled leading off, his line shot to center going off the glove of a diving Mike Kreevich. He advanced to third on Augie Bergamo's ground out to second and scored on pinch hitter Ken O'Dea's towering sacrifice fly to Kreevich in deep center.  
  That brought up the top of the order and Johnny Hopp, and Galehouse got another fly out to Kreevich in center to seal the win.

George McQuinn's two-run homer in the fourth inning made the difference as the St. Louis Browns beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 in Game 1 of the 1944 World Series. McQuinn's homer was the Browns' second and last hit of the game.

  McQuinn's big fly with Gene Moore aboard, with two out in the fourth inning, had been the game's only scoring until the ninth.  
  McQuinn, a seven-time All-Star in a 12-year major league career that included a .278 batting average and 135 homers, was as likely a candidate as any for Browns' hitting heroes honors. He'd been second on the team in homers, behind Vern Stephens with 20, clubbing 11 round trippers to go with 72 RBIs and a .250 average in 1944. He'd hit 20 homers in 1938 and 18 in 1941.  
  But he'd also hit just .167 over his final 50 at-bats of the regular season. No matter. The left-handed hitter was ready and waiting on a low, outside fastball from Cooper and parked a 1-0 pitch over the right-field pavilion.  
  And that was it as far as any Browns offense. Cooper and Donnelly didn't allow a single runner into scoring position before or after McQuinn's homer. Moore's single before McQuinn came through was their only other hit.  
  Galehouse, meanwhile, kept fending off Cardinal advances.  
  With runners at first and third in the second, on a double down the third-base line by Marion and single by Emil Verban with two out, Galehouse got Cooper to strike out looking. Browns second baseman Don Gutteridge saved a run by snatching Verban's hit up the middle and holding Marion to third.
  The Cardinals eked out another threat starting off the third when Hopp got a single barely past McQuinn at first and Ray Sanders sent a line single off the glove of the charging, leaping right fielder Moore. That brought up No. 3 hitter and Cardinals legend Stan Musial, who'd led the league in slugging average and was runner-up in batting average this year.        
  But rather than have him swing away with none out, Cardinals manager Billy Southworth had "The Man" bunt, and it was a beauty, as Musial almost beat it out and Galehouse could only go to first for the out as Hopp and Sanders advanced. But after an intentional walk to Walker Cooper (catcher and Mort's brother) that loaded the bases, and with Bob Muncrief warming up in the bullpen, Galehouse squeezed out of the jam with a strikeout of Whitey Kurowski on three pitches and Danny Litwhiler's fielder's choice grounder.  
  Galehouse settled down the next three innings, but in the seventh Bergano walked and took second  on a ground out by Debs Garms, who pinch hit for Mort Cooper. Again, Galehouse bore down and left Bergano stranded on a fly out by Hopp and line out by Sanders.  
  Meanwhile, Mort Cooper had allowed no hits and two walks in his first three innings before the Browns' bats woke up, just enough to get them what they needed to win. Chet Laab sent Musial to the wall in right leading off for the first out of the fourth and Stephens popped out. But Moore then broke up the no-hitter by sneaking a single into right. And then the mighty McQuinn delivered. 
  Gutteridge made what Sewell called the  “smartest play of the game” to help Galehouse avoid further trouble in the fifth. After Sanders walked with one out, Musial hit a pop fly back of Gutteridge. Rather can catch it, Gutteridge let it drop, went to shortstop Stephens for the force at second, and Stephens relayed to McQuinn for an inning-ending double play.  
  And so the Browns set a record for winning a Series game with the fewest hits -- two. And Cooper became the first Series pitcher to lose a two-hitter.  
  Galehouse, as he'd done in the regular season, finished strong. He threw 20 pitches in the ninth inning, and 17 were strikes. Of the Cardinals' seven hits, five had come in the first three innings.  
  Of the Cardinals' missed opportunities, their failure to cash in with runners at first and second, none out and Musial at the plate in the third loomed large in the postgame discussion. St. Louis Star-Times sports editor Sid Mercer, as quoted in an article for the Society for American Baseball Research's Games Project,  was emphatic in his opinion.  
  After it was all over, and the fans walked slowly from the park, and the press box gathered to review the stunning defeat of the National League champions, one managerial flaw was noted in Southworth’s strategy," Mercer wrote. “Two on, none down, and the Cardinals’ leading batter at the plate. Would you play the old army game of bunting for a sacrifice, or call out some inside stuff like the hit-and-run or let Stan Musial swing with full power and no strings attached? Southworth played it safety-first for the bunt and the sacrifice, and with Musial the batter, it is repeated.  “And this is the story of how two hits won over seven hits – how the Browns, baseball’s Cinderella ball club, captured the first game from their National League rivals.”  The Browns, after dropping Game 2 in 11 innings, 3-2, regained the Series edge with a 6-2 Game 3 victory. The Cardinals' city superiority asserted itself over the next three games, however, as they regained the world title by winning 5-1, 2-0 and 3-1.  Game 5 featured a rematch between Cooper and Galehouse, Cooper prevailing on the strength of solo homers by Sanders and Danny Litwhiler. Galehouse, with a six-hitter, allowed one fewer hit than he had in the opener. Cooper allowed seven hits, five more than in Game 1, but two fewer runs.  Galehouse ended up with a 1-1 record with a 1.50 ERA in two completes games in the Series, which might serve as the highlight of a 15-year career in which he went 109-118, 3.97.

This one backfired 

  Galehouse wasn't through being called upon as an unexpected starter in a key postseason game.  When the Boston Red Sox tied the Cleveland Indians for the 1948 AL pennant, bringing on a one-game winner-take-all tiebreaker playoff, BoSox manager Joe McCarthy called on Galehouse to start the game Oct 5.
  As in 1942, it had been a rather pedestrian season for him, 8-8 with a 4.00 ERA, like in 1944 fifth-most wins on the team. Galehouse had pitched just twice in the past three weeks, posting an 8.10 ERA in 6 2/3 innings of work. 
  Ace left-hander Mel Parnell had been the presumed starter, but according to an article by Gorden Edes at medium.com, McCarthy went with Galehouse because there was a strong wind blowing out to left field that day and into the "Green Monster" at Boston's Fenway Park, and he didn’t want to go with a lefty.
  The decision blew up in McCarthy's face, as the Indians cuffed Galehouse for four runs in three innings on their way to an 8-3 victory. That earned them a trip to the Series for the first time since 1920 and also their first world title since that year. And 1948 stands as the last year the Indians won the Series.  
   “I thought of Denny Galehouse as nothing but a relief pitcher,’’ Red Sox catcher Matt Batt said. “When McCarthy picked him to start that game, the whole club was upset about it. The whole 25 ballplayers.’’  
  The playoff loss served as a death knell for Galehouse's career. He pitched only two innings in two games next year, and was out of the big leagues after being released.  
  But Galehouse certainly came up big as a big-time gamble on Oct. 4, 1944.

Sources:

1944 World Series Game 1 play-by-play:  https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1944/B10040SLN1944.htm, "Glory in the Fall," 2010, Sterling, and https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-4-1944-galehouse-browns-surprise-cardinals-opener-trolley-world-series1948 AL playoffs play-by-play:  https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1948/B10040BOS1948.htm and https://sabr.org/gamesproj/game/october-4-1948-rookie-bearden-wins-20th-boudreau-homers-twice-indians-win-pennant-al Galehouse biography: https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/7c6e717a1948 AL playoff: https://medium.com/@gewrite/red-october-oct-5-1948-the-curious-tale-of-denny-galehouse-c5eeb224b56b
Additional background came from various sources on the Retrosheet and Society for American Baseball Research's Biography Project and Games Project websites, as well as baseballreference.com. 

"Welcome Back Willie," 4-13-54: Mays wins it in return

Willia Mays follows through on an at-bat in the 1951 World Series in his first year in the major leagues. After missing most of the next two seasons because of military obligations, Mays returned on April 13, 1954, and his tie-breaking homer in the sixth inning lifted the New York Giants to a 4-3 victory over the Brooklyn Dodgers. (AP file photo)

Roy Campanella swatted home runs in his first two at-bats of the 1954 season for Brooklyn. But he was later upstaged by Willie Mays as the New York Giants defeated the Dodgers 4-3.

By Phil Ellenbecker
  When the Brooklyn Dodgers and New York Giants hooked up in a season opener at the Polo Grounds on April 13, 1954, besides pitting two long, bitter intercity rivals, the game matched the National League pennant winners from the past three years.
  But the big occasion was probably the return to the diamond of Willie Mays, the Giants' rookie sensation from 1951 who'd missed most of the past two seasons because of military service.
  And "The Say Hey Kid" didn't disappoint the 32,397 home faithful on hand. His homer leading off the bottom of the sixth inning proved to be the difference in the Giants' 4-3 victory.
  Mays was seeing his first regular-season action since May 28, 1952, at which time he was called away by Uncle Sam. His homer was his first since May 27 of that year.
  After grounding out his first two times up to the plate against Carl Erskine, Mays greeted the right-hander with a round tripper starting the sixth.
  The relievers took over the game from there. Marv Grissom, who'd come on for Giants starter Sal Maglie after "The Barber" had walked the first two batters in the sixth, held the Dodgers to one hit the rest of the way in picking up the save. Clem Labine held the Giants hitless after taking the hill to start the eighth.
  Mays' sixth-inning blast made the difference in a game where homers supplied most of the scoring. And Mays supplanted Roy Campanella, the 1953 National League MVP, as the homer hero.
  The Dodgers' catcher started his year by belting leadoff homers in both the second and fourth, the latter tying the score at 2-2. Campy's fourth-inning blast answered a two-run homer by the Giants' Alvin Dark with Davey Williams aboard in the bottom of the third.
  The Giants regained the lead at 3-2 when Hank Thompson homered with two out in the fifth.
  Duke Snider didn't reach the seats leading off the sixth for the Dodgers, but he did pull into second with a double and advanced to third on a single by Jackie Robinson. Gil Hodges' sacrifice fly to Mays in center tied the score, setting the stage for Mays' decisive blow in the bottom half of the inning.
  Maglie picked up the win, allowing seven hits and three runs, all earned, with four walks and five strikeouts over his 6 1/3 innings. He also helped himself with a leadoff single in the second. Williams forced him at second, but Dark followed with his homer.
  Maglie's single was the Giants' only non-homer as they made the most of four hits.
  Erskine took the loss after giving up four hits and four runs, all earned, with three walks and two strikeouts.
  Mays' "Welcome Back Willie" moment was the springboard to his emergence as a star. He'd earned National League Rookie of the Year honors by hitting .274 with 20 homers and 68 RBIs in 1951. He'd hit .236-4-23 in his abbreviated 34-game 1952 season.
  He busted out with a league-leading average of .345 in '54 to go with 41 homers and 110 RBIs. He also led the league in triples (13) and slugging average (667) and earned NL MVP honors.
  Mays' performance was infectious, as the Giants went on to reclaim the pennant with a 97-57 record, five games ahead of Brooklyn, after sinking to fifth place the year before at 70-84. They'd finished second at 92-62 in '52, upon winning the '51 pennant.
  Mays' teammate Don Mueller, who'd gone 0-for-4 on opening day, gave him a run for the batting title along with the Dodgers' Snider. Mueller finished second at .342, Snider at .341.

Sal Maglie, shown on his 1954 Redman baseball card, was the winning pitcher when the New York Giants defeated the Brooklyn Dodgers 4-3 in a 1954 season opener at the Polo Grounds on April 13.

  Maglie, who'd averaged 20 wins a year from 1950 to 1952, re-emerged with a 14-6 season with a 3.26 ERA after sinking to 8-9, 4.15 in a '53 season plagued by back problems. Johnny Antonelli, picked up from the Braves, led the Giants' staff with a 21-7, 2.30 campaign. And Grissom (10-7, 2.35 ERA, 17 saves) combined with Hoyt Wilhelm (12-4, 2.10 ERA, seven saves) for a rock-solid bullpen.
  The Dodgers, meanwhile, slid to 92-62 after back-to-back pennant years that ended with heartbreak and World Series losses to the New York Yankees. Brooklyn went 96-57 in 1952 and 105-49 in '53, which stood as the franchise record until the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers won 106 in eight more games.
  Erskine, coming off a 20-6, 3.54 season and a World Series record 14 strikeouts in Game 3, wasn't quite as sharp at 18-15, 4.15 ERA. The Dodgers did regain the pitching services of  Don Newcombe, who averaged 19 wins a year from 1949 to '51 but missed all of '52 and '53 because of military service. But he showed some rust coming in at 9-8, 4.55.
  Perhaps most felt was an off year from Campanella. His strong opening-game showing belied what was already proving to be a tough season. He'd injured his left wrist and hand in spring training, required surgery in May, and eventually played only 111 games, batting .207 with 19 homers and 51 RBIs. The average and RBIs were career lows. He'd hit .312-41-142 the year before. But as an indication of how valuable he was, the Dodgers had a .623 winning percentage in 1954 in games he started at catcher compared with .542 when he didn't.
  Likewise, the Giants' success paralleled having Mays along, in 1954 and in 1951 -- they were 18-18 before he was called up in May '51, 80-41 with him through winning a tiebreaker playoff for the pennant over Brooklyn. And they seemed lost without him. At the time he left in 1952, the Giants were in first place, with a 2½-game lead over the Dodgers. They then lost eight of 10 and were never a factor in the pennant race. When he came back in spring of '54 ...
  "What a difference Mays makes," Giants manager Leo Durocher said. "Just look around. Everyone's hustling. Everyone's alive. You can thank Willie. He's great. Just great."
  Everybody was jumping on the bandwagon.
  "When Mays showed up at the Giants’ camp in Phoenix on March 1, the consensus among New York writers seemed to be, 'Here comes the pennant,' despite the Dodgers’ 105 wins in 1953," John Saccoman wrote for the Society of American Baseball Research's Biography Project. "Newsweek predicted in its April 5 issue that Mays could mean the difference between 'the second division and the pennant in 1954.'"
  That's exactly what happened, and the Mays karma continued into the 1954 postseason. Many think the tide of the World Series turned in the eighth inning of Game 1, when Mays made "The Catch," robbing Vic Wertz of extra bases and keeping the go-ahead runs from scoring in a game eventually won by the Giants 5-2 in 10 innings. New York went on to sweep the Cleveland Indians, who'd won 111 games that year.
  At that point in time, in the 155 regular-season games for which Mays had been on the major-league roster, the Giants’ record was 107-48, a .690 winning percentage. "Whether or not it was a coincidence, writers and teammates clearly associated Mays with winning," Saccoman wrote.
  It couldn't last. The teams Mays played on after 1954 couldn't quite attain the consistent level of success they'd had his first two full seasons, although he did appear back in the World Series in 1962 after the Giants had moved to San Francisco. And the Giants did place second in five straight years at the end of the 1960s. They did win an NL West Division title in 1971. And Mays made one last trip to the World Series, in 1973 after he'd returned to New York with the Mets. Mays Magic again?
  The fact of the matter was, when the Giants did win it was largely because of Mays -- he won two MVP awards and deserved more --  and when they didn't it was no through fault of his own. After missing most of 1952 and '53 when he was in the Army, he was consistently in the lineup, playing at least 148 games each season through 1968, and never less than 100 until 1972.
  (Regarding Mays and MVP awards: He won in 1954 and 1965, was runner-up in the voting two years, third in two others and fourth two others. But in an article by Cliff Corcoran for Sports on Earth, he said that Mays deserved to win the award seven other years besides '54 and '65, which would have given him two more than the record number won by his godson Barry Bonds.)
  Mays kept finding ways to top himself. Although the team faltered in 1955, Mays didn't. He amped up his power numbers to 51 homers and 127 RBIs, which were his career highs until he drove in 141 runs in 1962 and hit 52 homers in 1965. In 1956 he started a string of four straight seasons in which he led the league in stolen bases. As late as 1971 he led the NL in on-base percentage. He won 12 straight Gold Gloves.
  He kept going and going, and we could go on and on in citing his achievements.
  Bottom line: Mays had a magnetic effect on his team like perhaps no one else in baseball history, and his return in the 1954 opener was just one of many examples of that. Durocher, his biggest booster and first manager, perhaps summed it up best in his autobiography "Nice Guys Finish Last" when he wrote:
  "If somebody came up and hit .450, stole 100 bases, and performed a miracle in the field every day, I'd still look you right in the eye and tell you that Willie was better. He could do the five things you have to do to be a superstar: hit, hit with power, run, throw and field. And he had the other magic ingredient that turns a superstar into a super Superstar. Charisma. He lit up a room when he came in. He was a joy to be around."

Sources:

Play-by-play: https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1954/B04130NY11954.htmhttps://bleacherreport.com/articles/514176-willie-mays-returns-to-the-new-york-giants
Mays biography:  https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/64f5dfa2
Mays in MVP voting: http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/228838158/willie-mays-history-national-league-mlb-awards
Additional background came from various sources on the Retrosheet and Society for American Baseball Research's Biography Project and Games Project websites, as well as baseballreference.com.