Interview with Salvatore A. "Sal" Maglie, May 25, 1981

Interview Summary

Salvatore "Sal" Maglie, from New York, was a Major League baseball pitcher. He also played in the Mexican League, for which he was banned for several years from playing in the Major Leagues. In this interview, he talks about his early career in baseball, his activities in World War II, the beginnings of his Major League career with the Giants, his reasons for defecting to the Mexican League, the typical salaries for baseball players in the 1940s and 1950s, playing for the Pericos de Puebla-- a Mexican League team, the baseball parks in Mexico, and learning to speak Spanish while he was there. Other topics include his 1956 season, his routine and travel arrangements in Mexico, how air resistance and higher altitudes affect pitching and hitting, some of the Mexican League and Major League players he played with, Danny Gardella's suit against baseball, Commissioner Chandler's suspension of the Mexican League players, and his (Maglie's) return to the Giants.

Interview Keyword

Albert Benjamin "Happy" Chandler Baseball Baseball Commissioner Mexican League Sal Maglie

Interview LC Subject

Baseball Baseball--United States Chandler, Happy, 1898-1991 Maglie, Sal, 1917- Maglie, Sal, 1917- --Interviews

Interview Rights

All rights to the interviews, including but not restricted to legal title, copyrights and literary property rights, have been transferred to the University of Kentucky Libraries.

Interview Usage

Interviews may be reproduced with permission from Louie B. Nunn Center for Oral History, Special Collections, University of Kentucky Libraries.