Sean Kirst spoke with the family of Vic Wertz, the Cleveland player who hit the ball on which Willie Mays made his famous World Series catch. (May require a subscription.)

For Mays to make such a celestial catch, you needed someone who could hit this Valhalla of a ball.

To Terry Wertz and his daughter Rachel, who both had such a keen sense of loss this week, that is what binds Willie Mays and Vic Wertz.

BuffaloNews.com

Wertz played minor league baseball in Buffalo, where he was ready to quit after struggling:

Upon returning in 1946, Wertz batted .301, with 19 home runs and 91 runs batted in. Brian Frank – a baseball historian and founder of the Herd Chronicles – found some newspaper clippings that underline how crucial that season was for Wertz.

According to an early season account by Cy Kritzer of The Buffalo Evening News, Wertz changed his batting stance and prospered as a hitter after a “former major leaguer … passed on the tip” about Wertz’s form to Bisons manager Gabby Hartnett, now in baseball’s Hall of Fame.

It was career-saving advice. Wertz later told Kritzer he had been so frustrated he was ready to give up the game.

The other side of the out is interesting, too.