Jimmy Wynn: former Dodger has many memories of his 15 years in the majors, including his grand slam in 1974 to help L.A. win N.L. West Division - The Game I'll Never Forget

Baseball Digest, March, 2003 by Al Doyle

IT'S HARD TO PICK ONE OR TWO games out of a 15-year career. There were a lot of memorable moments and hits, not to mention meeting a lot of great people.

I grew up in Cincinnati, and the Reds signed me out of high school. The Houston Colt .45s drafted me from the Reds' minor league system after I had a good season at Tampa in 1962.

My first major league game was at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, and Roberto Clemente almost killed me!

Not many people know this, but I came up as a shortstop. Clemente hit a screaming line drive, and I got my glove up just as the ball hit the left field wall.

I was one heck of a high school shortstop, but the majors were another story. After that, I told the coaches and manager to get me out of the infield.

I remember the first time I faced Don Drysdale at old Colt Stadium. I was swinging the bat like I usually do--hard--and the other guys said "He's not gonna like that. Drysdale will knock you down, man."

Guess what happened? I went 3-for-4 with two doubles and two RBI against Drysdale, and we won the game. He came up to me the next day and said "You're going to be a good player." He never did knock me down. We had a mutual respect for each other.

People have forgotten about the old Colt .45s. I have a lot of fond memories of that time--even with the giant mosquitoes. They were thick all over the stadium.

The heat and humidity were something else. Everyone knows how cheerful Ernie Banks is, and he came up to me before a Sunday noon doubleheader at dolt Stadium and said "Great day to play two, Cannon."

Ernie never made it to the second game. He passed out from the heat in the third inning of the first game, and they carried him out.

When we moved to the Astrodome, the ceiling was the same color as the ball. That made it hard on the outfielders.

Our first regular season game in the Dome was against the Giants. It was scoreless late in the game when Jim Ray Hart hit a high fly ball. I was in center, and I ran in. The shortstop went out to shallow left, since we thought the ball was hit there.

That ball took one hop and bounced off the center field wall. We lost, 2-0, because of the way the roof was designed. It was painted dark by the time we came back from our first road trip.

The Astrodome had deep fences, and it was a pitcher's park. I'm sure I lost some home runs there, but it was the Astrodome that made us and Houston famous.

I stole 43 bases in 47 attempts in 1965. When I received my contract for 1966, there was a note from Spec Richardson, who was the general manager. The note said, "We love your running, but we want you to concentrate on power." Not being able to run as much changed my whole game. It took something away from me.

I hit 37 homers in 1967, which was my career high. Hank Aaron was tied with me, but he hit two homers at the end of the season to lead the league.

Hank told the reporters in Atlanta that the home run title should have gone to me, because I hit 37 playing in the Astrodome. That's the kind of thing Hank would do.

I did have some big homers in Houston. There was one off a Phil Niekro knuckleball that landed in the yellow seats in the upper deck. That knuckler probably came in around 54 miles an hour. I have the seat where the ball landed.

I hit three homers in a game against the Giants in the Astrodome. The first two were hit off Bob Bolin, and the third homer came off Bill Henry, who was a left-handed relief pitcher.

There was one other homer that comes to mind. I hit one off the Budweiser eagle logo in St. Louis. That one probably went about 460 feet, but they didn't measure home runs in those days. When a player hits one today, it's measured even if the ball clears the fence by just a few feet.

We weren't in many pennant races in Houston, and I always admired the Dodgers. To me, they were a first-class organization.

On December 23, 1973, Spec Richardson called and told me that Astros were trying to work out a trade. Since I was the player rep, the team had to get my permission if they wanted to trade me. I had no idea that a trade was coming.

Spec said the Cubs and Dodgers were interested in me and asked which team I preferred. I knew I'd hit a lot of home runs in Wrigley Field, but I always wanted to play for the Dodgers, and it was a chance to be with a winning team.

I went from a good team to a great team. Everything I had thought and heard about the Dodger organization turned out to be true. The O'Malleys were the best owners I ever played for. They were a real baseball family and had great baseball knowledge.

The Reds came to Dodger Stadium in mid-September during the 1974 season for a three-game series. They were three and a half games behind us, and Cincinnati won the first two games to cut our lead to a game and a half in the standings.

The third game of the series was played on September 15 with Don Sutton pitching for us against left-hander Fred Norman for the Reds.

Cincinnati took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth on a two-out hit by Norman. The Reds then had the bases loaded with Johnny Bench at the plate, but Sutton threw a called third strike past Bench and we survived the inning with only one run coming home.