Did You Know Wally Moon Bested Both Hank Aaron & Ernie Banks for 1954 NL Rookie of the Year?

Former St. Louis Cardinals and Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Wally Moon has passed away at the age of 87.

After a distinguished collegiate career, Moon signed with the St. Louis Cardinals in 1950. Prior to the 1954 season, Moon was told by the Cardinals to report to minor league camp. Moon made the brash move of reporting to big league camp and demanding he be given the chance to make the big league roster or retire. The Cardinals took Moon up on his offer and he had a such a good spring training he was named the starting right fielder replacing the popular Enos Slaughter who was then traded to the New York Yankees.

This was not a popular move in St. Louis as Slaughter had played his entire 13-year MLB career with the Cardinals. But Moon quickly won over fans by hitting a home run in his very first big league at bat. Moon hit .304 with 12 HR and 76 RBI along with 18 stolen bases. Those numbers earned him the 1954 NL Rookie of the Year easily beating out future Hall of Famers Hank Aaron and Ernie Banks.

Moon would make his first NL All-Star Team in 1957. That year he would hit a career high 24 home runs. However, Moon's numbers slipped in 1958 when he mustered only 7 home runs along with a 57 point drop in his batting average to .238. The Cardinals would trade Moon to the Los Angeles Dodgers for outfielder Gino Cimoli prior to the 1959 season.

This trade proved to be over the moon for the Dodgers. Moon would have the best year of his career in 1959 leading the NL in triples which was good enough to finish fourth in NL MVP balloting and earning the first of three World Series rings with the Dodgers over the next seven years. Although Cimoli drove in 72 runs for the Cardinals in 1959, he was shipped off to Pittsburgh the following year.

While Moon did not have the Hall of Fame career of Aaron or Banks, he won more World Series rings than both of them combined. In 12 big league seasons, Moon hit .289 with 142 HR and 661 RBI. If you've ever heard the term "Moon Shot" in baseball you can thank Moon. Although 142 HR wasn't Aaron like, he tended to hit his home runs long distances. Those home runs made Moon the favorite player of Dodgers fans like Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame. In fact, Cranston named his production company Moon Shot Productions in honor of his favorite player.

Moon was profiled by his alma mater during last year's World Series between the Dodgers and Astros. Their timing couldn't have been better. R.I.P.