Endy Chavez’s catch reminds Bob Shvodian of another famous post-season grab. He writes:

I stood up all night (Sat) at Yankee Stadium bleachers as a 16 yr old to see game 6 of the 1947 WS and was right at the bullpen area where little Al Gionfriddo made his great catch. R. B. Cramer, in his Joe DiMag book, describes Gionfriddo as doing the “Dardennella” dance circling around and blindly sticking his glove at the fence to pluck the ball out of the air. That comes from the phoney recreation film made the next day. Old Dodger Bobby Bragan talks about being just inside the bullpen fence, yet I have a Gionfriddo autographed (located him at a golf course in Solvang, CA) picture of Gionfriddo at the fence and Bragan is nowhere in sight. For me, Gionfriddo’s catch was much more difficult than Mays’ catch, as Willie had the reputation (as per writer Dick Young) of making most plays look more difficult. A WashDC writer says Gionfriddo was out of position, yet I have Red Barber’s tape of the catch and Barber states: “Outfield around to left and deep” which is exactly how one played DiMag, if you knew what you were doing. Poor Gionfriddo never played another big league game and didn’t get in enough time to qualify for the ballplayer’s pension.