By Jim Dunne

The knee injury to star end Don McGraw in the fourth game of the 1949 season made it impossible for him to play football again. Indirectly, it also cost him a promising career in professional baseball. In the Norwich Sun of August 26, 1949 (a month before the Y Giants began their season) it was announced that McGraw had been asked to report to the spring training camp of the New York Giants, the National League baseball team (which was moved to San Francisco after the 1957 season), for further assignment to a minor league team. In addition to captaining the NHS baseball team, Don had played three seasons of semi-pro baseball for the Norwich Bluejays of the Midstate League, and had hit at a .370 clip, leading the league in home runs and runs-batted-in, and playing at first base and the outfield. Despite this record, he probably would not have come to the attention of New York Giants personnel director Mel Ott if his name weren’t McGraw.

In 1940, Don’s father, John Arthur McGraw, was transferred to Norwich from Truxton to manage the Sheffield plant at Woods Corners. He was always called Art, so that he would not be confused with his first cousin, John J. McGraw, who also grew up in Truxton. In 1902, John J., after an illustrious playing career with the old Baltimore Orioles, became the manager of the New York (baseball) Giants, a position he held for the next 30 years, leading the Giants to 10 pennants and 3 World Series titles. He still ranks second all-time with 2,840 wins. Notorious for his dictatorial and abusive manner, John J. McGraw was known as “Little Napoleon.” He stood 5’ 7” and would fight with anyone. He was a great manager, however, and was famous for his ability to recognize talent. A story that survives about him is that he once fined one of his players $100 for missing a bunt sign ... and then hitting a home run. John J. McGraw was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1937, a member of the second group who were inducted when it opened in 1939.

Although 1949 was 17 years after John J. McGraw last managed (he died in 1934), his name was still magic in New York, and when Mel Ott heard about his cousin Don, and that he stood 6’ 4” instead of 5’ 7”, the baseball Giants were definitely interested. In fact, Don’s older brother Jack was also a great baseball player, and had a tryout with the Giants in 1942, but was drafted into the Army before his career could begin. Don went to Florida with the NY Giants in the spring of 1950, and impressed the staff with his hitting and throwing. However, his difficulty with running, as a result of that knee injury the previous fall, caused the Giants to decide that they could not take a chance on him.

In retrospect, it is easy to say that he never should have played football after he heard about his baseball opportunity, but one must remember that he was 20 years old, had never had a serious injury, and was part of an exciting and successful football team. Within a year, he had enlisted in the Army, and served more than two years in Korea.

The Norwich Y Giants moved into the sixth game of the season with the Vestal Veterans. Bill Crawley, who had been expected to rejoin the team a couple of weeks before and who would have been a candidate to fill the hole left by McGraw, was not there. The other end position opposite the veteran Harold Barnes was plugged by Nick Sylstra, who sometimes moved over from the tackle position, and relative newcomer George Echentile. It was not long before Echentile demonstrated that, while he did not have McGraw’s height or charisma, he could compensate with desire and determination, playing on both sides of the ball. In the Vestal game, he starred on defense, along with Don Barnes, Mike Rotundo, and Bob Conron. Offensively, the addition of Buddy Seaman (3 touchdowns) to the backfield which already had two great runners, Richie Barnes and Jim Kelly (2 touchdowns), made the running game much more difficult to defend. Norwich rebounded from the Endicott loss to obliterate Vestal, 34–0.

On October 30th, the Y Giants traveled to Little Falls for a return game with the team they had defeated at home 21–0. At halftime, Little Falls led 12–7, and it appeared that Norwich missed their absent stars, McGraw and Kelly, more than the opponents missed one of the Mueller brothers, whose career had been ended with a broken shoulder. (A collection taken up at halftime resulted in a thank-you note from Mueller to the Norwich Sun for the contributions from Norwich fans.) Norwich roared back after the break, and with John Ebovicz, Bob and Don Crittenden sharing the signal-calling duties, pulled the game out, 21–12. Thanks to the line-backing of Fred Mirabito and Bob Conron, and the line play of Ed Weed and Loren VanSteinburg (1940 NHS grad who had joined the squad for the previous game), Little Falls failed to make a first down in the second half.

The 8th game of the 1949 season should have been a close contest, but because the Rochester Browns arrived an hour late on an extremely cold day, with several players missing due to travel mishaps, it was a disappointment for which the Y Giants management apologized for several weeks after. Their concern was a good example of how seriously the team took their obligation to the Norwich fans, who had supported them so faithfully for three years. Norwich prevailed 33–0, and added insult to injury by imposing fines on the Rochester team for their late arrival, although not to the extent that they were entitled by the contract. Touchdowns were scored by Richie Barnes (2), Burt Palmatier, Harry Thompson, and Bud Seaman. John Kelly returned to the lineup, and the brothers provided the heavy lifting. A collection was taken up at halftime for a Norwich boy, Don Ryan, who had suffered a broken neck and subsequent paralysis as a result of a swimming hole accident. Over $200 was collected, and the Giants added to it the amount that they had fined the Rochester team.