Johnny Lindell

John Harlan Lindell
(Lindy)

• Bats Right, Throws Right
• Height 6' 4½", Weight 217 lb.
• School University of Southern California
• High School Monrovia-Arcadia-Duarte High School
• Debut April 18, 1941
• Final Game May 9, 1954
• Born August 30, 1916 in Greeley, CO USA
• Died August 27, 1985 in Newport Beach, CA USA

BR page

Biographical Information

Johnny Lindell was a pitcher turned outfielder turned pitcher for 18 years (1936-1953), 12 in the Major Leagues (1941-1950 and 1953-1954) and ten in the minors (1936-1941 and 1950-1952), losing half a season to the military.

Lindell was born on August 30, 1916, in Greeley, CO. He attended the University of Southern California (USC) for six months. He was signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent in 1936 by scout Bill Essick for a bonus of $150. He married Esther Kent on June 12, 1938. He was 24 years old when he broke into the big leagues with the Yankees on April 18, 1941. He entered the U.S. Army on June 8, 1945 and was discharged on March 22, 1946. He played his last game in the major leagues on May 9, 1954 at age 37 for the Philadelphia Phillies.

Lindell made the transition from a pitcher to an outfielder in the major leagues, then battled back to the majors again as a pitcher near the end of his career. After signing with the Yankees while at USC, he posted outstanding minor league pitching marks, including 23-4 with the Newark Bears in 1941, being named Minor League Player of the Year by The Sporting News that season. He made a single early-season appearance in the Bronx that season, then was called up to the majors to stay in 1942, spending the entire year on the Yankees' staff. He threw a knuckleball and curve, but Yankee manager Joe McCarthy did not believe he had a major league fastball and switched him to the outfield in 1943. He had always been a good hitter; in fact, his major league debut in 1941 had come as a pinch-hitter and not as a pitcher. In his best season, 1944, he hit .300 with 18 home runs and 103 RBI. After World War II ended, he was used mostly as a reserve. All told, he played on three pennant winners, in 1943, 1947 and 1949.

Sold to the St. Louis Cardinals in May of 1950, he managed only a .186 batting average. At the end of the season, he was sold again, this time to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League, where manager Fred Haney put him back on the pitching mound. In 1952 he posted a 24-9 pitching record, batted fourth, and occasionally played the outfield. He was easily the league MVP. At age 36 he returned to the majors, pitching for the Pittsburgh Pirates and Philadelphia Phillies in 1953 for a combined 6-17 mark. No one since has gone longer (1942-1953) between wins in the majors. He had trouble putting his knuckleball over (his 139 bases on balls led the National League) and hitters sat on his fastball. (BC)

He played for the Joplin Miners in the Western Association (1936); the Binghamton Triplets in the New York-Pennsylvania League (1937); the Newark Bears in the International League (1938); the Oakland Oaks in the PCL (1938), the Kansas City Blues in the American Association (1939-1940); Newark again in 1941; the New York Yankees (1941-1950); the St. Louis Cardinals (1950); the Columbus Red Birds in the American Association (1950); the Hollywood Stars in the PCL (1950-1952); the Pittsburgh Pirates (1953) and the Philadelphia Phillies (1953-1954)

His hobbies were hunting, fishing and golf. He died three days short of his 70th birthday from lung cancer in Hoag Memorial Hospital in Newport Beach, CA and was cremated. He was survived by his wife, Esther, and two children.

Notable Achievements

• 1941 Minor League Player of the Year, Newark Bears, International League
• 1952 MVP Pacific Coast League, Hollywood Stars
• AL All-Star (1943)
• AL Total Bases Leader (1944)
• 2-time AL Triples Leader (1943-1944)
• 100 RBI Seasons: 1 (1944)
• Won three World Series with the New York Yankees (1943, 1947 & 1949)

Career Highlights

• Tied for lead in most wins in the American Association, 1940 (18)
• Led International League in Winning Percentage (.852) and Earned Run Average (2.05), 1941
• Led American League in extra-base hits, 1944 (67)
• Led National League in walks allowed, 1953 (139)
• Led National League in wild pitches, 1953 (11)
• Led Pacific Coast League in Wins (24), Winning Percentage (.724), strikeouts (190) and walks (108), 1952

Chronology

• Before 1936 Season:
  • Signed by the New York Yankees as an amateur free agent.
• 1940:
  • On March 19th, in an exhibition game, the Kansas City Blues humiliate the Washington Senators, 22–5. The Blues collect 23 hits for 46 bases. Frenchy Bordagaray starts the scoring with a home run in the 1st; Jack Saltzgaver is 3-for-3 with three triples and five RBIs. Another familiar name, Johnny Lindell, yields three hits in three innings for the Blues.
• 1944:
  • On April 18th, Hank Borowy of the Yankees shuts out the Boston Red Sox 3-0, as Lindell hits the first home run of 1944.
  • On August 17th, Lindell hits four straight doubles to share a major-league mark.
  • On November 23rd, Lindell is part of one of five groups totaling 23 players, managers, umpires and writers who visit war theaters as part of the USO program.
• 1947:
  • On May 13th, the Yankees pound the St. Louis Browns, 9–1, with Charlie Keller, Joe DiMaggio and Lindell combining for consecutive homers off starter Fred Sanford in the 6th inning.
• 1948:
  • On May 20th at Comiskey Park, Joe DiMaggio hits for the cycle and adds another homer to drive in six runs, as the Yankees coast, 13–2. Lindell adds a homer to back Vic Raschi's pitching over Orval Grove.
• 1949:
  • On May 5th, before the start of a series with the Yankees, the Chicago White Sox abandon their trick left field fence. The five-foot chicken wire fence, erected to cut the distance by 20 feet, resulted in 11 home runs in eight games, but opponents hit seven of them. The American League will subsequently rule that fences cannot be moved more than once a season. The Yanks still win, 7–5, to go 13–3. Tommy Henrich has the only homer, while Lindell, Yankee left fielder, twice makes catches that would have cleared the wire fence. Allie Reynolds, with help from Joe Page, is the winner.
  • On October 1st, the Red Sox need to win just one of the final two games against New York to clinch the title. Before a crowd of 69,551 at Yankee Stadium, New York overcomes a 4-0 deficit, as Joe Page is nearly untouchable in five innings of relief. Lindell's home run wins it, 5-4.
• 1950:
  • On May 15th, the Yankees sell Lindell to the St. Louis Cardinals.
  • On July 30th, Lindell is traded by the Cardinals to the Brooklyn Dodgers for Glen Moulder.
• Before 1951 Season:
  • Lindell is returned to the Hollywood Stars of the Pacific Coast League by the Brooklyn Dodgers after expiration of a minor league working agreement. He becomes a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates when Hollywood concludes a working agreement with the Bucs.
• 1953:
  • On May 3rd Lindell pitches the Pirates to their fifth straight win, beating the Cardinals, 6–2. Lindell drives in the 4th run with a double to beat Harvey Haddix and earn his first win since 1942.
  • On August 31st, he is purchased by the Phillies from the Pirates.
• 1954:
  • On May 14th he is released by the Phillies, ending a remarkable career.

Records Held

• Tied MLB record by hitting four doubles in a game, August 17, 1944
• Tied with Pepper Martin for highest batting average in a seven-game World Series, 1947 (.500) although he played in only six games due to a broken rib

Sources

Principal sources for Johnny Lindell include newspaper obituaries (OB), government records (VA,CM,CW), Sporting Life (SL), Baseball Digest, The Sporting News (TSN), The Sports Encyclopedia:Baseball 2006 by David Neft & Richard Cohen (N&C), old Who's Who in Baseballs (1944-1950) (WW), old Baseball Registers (44-50;1953) (BR), TSN's Daguerreotypes (none) (DAG), The Historical Register, The Baseball Necrology by Bill Lee (BN), Pat Doyle's Professional Ballplayer DataBase(PD), The Baseball Library (BL); various Encyclopediae including The Official Encyclopedia of Baseball by Turkin & Thompson (T&T), MacMillan Baseball Encyclopedia (Mac), Total Baseball (TB), The Bill James Historical Abstract (BJ) and The Encyclopedia of Minor League Baseball (LJ); Retrosheet (RS), The Baseball Chronology (BC), Baseball Page (BP), The Baseball Almanac (BA), Baseball Cube (B3) and obituaries at deadballera.com (DBE) as well as research by Reed Howard (RH), Pat Doyle (PD) and Frank Hamilton (FH).

Related Sites

• Johnny Lindell at the SABR Bio Project