[FatJack]

Gordon Massa (aka "Moose" and "Duke"--a couple of "major league" nicknames right there), who played a handful of games for the Cubs in 1957 and 1958, passed away Saturday (July 16, 2016). He was 80 years old. Gordon is remembered in Cincinnati as one of the finest athletes ever to play for Elder High School. He excelled in three sports. He captained the football team, playing both Center and Linebacker, and was All-City and All-State. He was All-City in basketball as a Senior and, on the diamond, where Gordon played First Base, mostly, he helped lead the Elder Panthers to the State Championship in 1952.

"Moose" took his game to Holy Cross, playing football and baseball and making the basketball team as a walk-on in his Senior year. The Crusaders baseball squad was 42-11 during his three years on the team and made the NCAA tournament in 1955.

Gordon was drafted in the later rounds by the Giants in football, with Vince Lombardi (then a line coach for New York) calling him personally after the draft and then traveling to meet him personally. The Cubs signed him in June, though, and, by September, he was a major leaguer. His debut came on September 24 against the Reds in Cincinnati--his home town. He started at catcher and went 2 for 4 with an RBI. He had 7 hits in 6 games (four starts) that year, finishing up his first cup of coffee with a .467 average. Another late season call-up getting his first taste of The Show, Jim Woods pinch-ran for Gordy twice. Never taking the field or getting an at bat with Chicago, those were the only two appearances the future Phillie had with the Cubs. In Gordon's second call up the following year, he only appeared as a pinch hitter in two games, striking out both times, dropping his major league career average to .412.

Gordon hung on in the Cubs system through 1963 without getting another shot in the majors. As he had played both ways on the gridiron, Gordon also pitched in 24 games in the minors. Almost half of those games came with San Antonio in 1961, where he picked up his only pitching decisions--one win and one loss. His ERA that year was 3.86. Overall, Gordon hit .257 in the minors with 20 home runs.

After leaving the game, Gordon worked as a salesman for Ashland Chemical. He started the athletic program at Immaculate Heart of Mary, where he also coached. Gordon has been inducted into three Hall of Fames--the Price Hill Baseball Old Timers Hall of Fame, Buddy Larosa’s Hall of Fame and the Holy Cross Athletic Hall of Fame.

Although his major league career was brief, Gordon was involved in one rather odd but "landmark" event at Wrigley Field. He was the bullpen catcher in a 1957 game when the pitcher warming up, Bob Rush, let go a wild pitch that the 6'3" receiver could not jump high enough to stop. The ball hit a fan--David Maytnier--in the head. Maytnier sued. Though lawsuits from fans hit by a baseball had been filed before, no fan had ever prevailed. The legal principle is known as "assumed risk". In other words, if you attend a baseball game, you have to assume that the possibility exists that you could be hit with an errant baseball. They even print it on the tickets. But, in this case, the judge found the Cubs and Rush to be liable. The judge held that Maytnier could not be expected to watch the game and the bullpen simultaneously. He was aware he could get hit by a ball from the game and agreed to that risk when he bought his ticket. But, as he was unaware that there was a simultaneous threat from the bullpen while he watched the game, he could not and did not assume that additional risk. Fun stuff.

Two images of Mr. Massa. The home uni is one that John cleaned-up over at Baseball-Birthdays. The road uni is from a recently completed auction on eBay (on the latter, I cropped and grey-scaled).