Van Lingle Mungo (June 8, 1911 – February 12, 1985) was an American professional

baseball Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each, taking turns batting and fielding. The game occurs over the course of several plays, with each play generally beginning when a player on the fielding t ...

player. He played in

Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...

as a right-handed

pitcher In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throws ("pitches") the baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter, who attempts to either make contact with the pitched ball or dr ...

from to for the

Brooklyn Dodgers The Brooklyn Dodgers were a Major League Baseball team founded in 1884 as a member of the American Association before joining the National League in 1890. They remained in Brooklyn until 1957, after which the club moved to Los Angeles, Californi ...

and the

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisio ...

. The five-time All-Star was the National League strikeout leader in . Mungo was a colorful personality known for his off-field antics as well as his erratic

fastball The fastball is the most common type of pitch thrown by pitchers in baseball and softball. " Power pitchers," such as former American major leaguers Nolan Ryan and Roger Clemens, rely on speed to prevent the ball from being hit, and have thr ...

Career

Mungo was born in Pageland, South Carolina and began his professional baseball career with the

Charlotte Hornets The Charlotte Hornets are an American professional basketball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Hornets compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Southeast Division, and pla ...

when he was 18 years old. A succession of managers over the years, including

Casey Stengel Charles Dillon "Casey" Stengel (; July 30, 1890 – September 29, 1975) was an American Major League Baseball right fielder and manager, best known as the manager of the championship New York Yankees of the 1950s and later, the expansion New Y ...

, was convinced that the hard-throwing right-hander would be a surefire star for years to come. These lofty expectations can be attributed in part to a phenomenal debut performance in which he shut out the Boston Braves over 9 innings, striking out 12; but he was never able to live up to his perceived potential. While he finished his career with two 18-win seasons, one of them also included 19 losses. Mungo's teammates contended that he could have easily won more games, had he not tried to strike out every batter; Mungo countered that he wouldn't have tried to strike everyone out if he had more confidence in his teammates' fielding abilities. Mungo averaged 16 wins per season from 1932 through 1936, led the

National League The National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League (NL), is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball (MLB) in the United States and Canada, and the world's oldest extant professional team s ...

in strikeouts with 238 in 1936. He was named to the All-Star team in 1934, 1936, and 1937. Though his strikeout counts were impressive, he also led the league in walks several times. Following an arm injury in 1937, he won only 13 games over the next six seasons. After a spring training injury in 1943, he was released by the Dodgers and played his final season with the Giants. He completed his major league career with a 120–115 won–lost record over 2113

innings pitched In baseball, innings pitched (IP) are the number of innings a pitcher has completed, measured by the number of batters and baserunners that are put out while the pitcher is on the pitching mound in a game. Three outs made is equal to one inning ...

and a 3.47

earned run average In baseball statistics, earned run average (ERA) is the average of earned runs allowed by a pitcher per nine innings pitched (i.e. the traditional length of a game). It is determined by dividing the number of earned runs allowed by the numb ...

. Mungo was an above average hitting pitcher in his major league career. He posted a .221

batting average Batting average is a statistic in cricket, baseball, and softball that measures the performance of batters. The development of the baseball statistic was influenced by the cricket statistic. Cricket In cricket, a player's batting average is ...

(174-for-787) with 56 runs, 24

doubles Men's doubles, Women's doubles or Mixed doubles are sports having two players per side, including; * Beach volleyball * Doubles badminton * Doubles curling * Footvolley * Doubles pickleball * Doubles squash * Doubles table tennis * Doubles te ...

, 4 triples, 74 RBI and 29

bases on balls A base on balls (BB), also known as a walk, occurs in baseball when a batter receives four pitches that the umpire calls '' balls'', and is in turn awarded first base without the possibility of being called out. The base on balls is defined in Sec ...

. He did not hit any

home runs In baseball, a home run (abbreviated HR) is scored when the ball is hit in such a way that the batter is able to circle the bases and reach home plate safely in one play without any errors being committed by the defensive team. A home run i ...

. He was used as a

pinch-hitter In baseball, a pinch hitter is a substitute batter. Batters can be substituted at any time while the ball is dead (not in active play); the manager may use any player who has not yet entered the game as a substitute. Unlike basketball, America ...

25 times. Defensively, he recorded a .960

fielding percentage In baseball statistics, fielding percentage, also known as fielding average, is a measure that reflects the percentage of times a defensive player properly handles a batted or thrown ball. It is calculated by the sum of putouts and assists, di ...

which was about the league average at his position.

Character

Stories and anecdotes about Mungo tend to emphasize his reputation for combativeness, including episodes of drinking and fighting. "Mungo and I got along just fine", reported Casey Stengel, his manager on the Dodgers. "I just tell him I won't stand for no nonsense, and then I duck." The most widely told story concerns a visit to

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

where, supposedly, Mungo was caught in a compromising position with a married woman by her husband. Mungo punched the husband in the eye, leading him to attack Mungo with a

butcher knife A butcher knife or butcher's knife is a knife designed and used primarily for the butchering or dressing of animal carcasses. Use Today, the butcher knife is used throughout the world in the meat processing trade. The heftier blade works well f ...

or machete, requiring Dodgers executive Babe Hamberger to smuggle Mungo in a laundry cart to a seaplane waiting off a wharf in order to escape the country."Van Lingle Mungo by David Frishberg"
baseball-almanac.com. Retrieved September 6, 2012. Van Mungo wasn't just a pistol off the field; on the field he was bent towards conflict with his teammates and managers. There are several stories of run-ins and conflict with his teammates and managers. Once while he was protecting a small margin of victory, outfielder Tom Winsett botched a routine fly-ball that cost Mungo a victory. Mungo retreated to the dugout and clubhouse to destroy what he could destroy and throw into the field of play what he could not destroy. Mungo sent his wife a telegram stating the following: ¨Pack up your bags and come to Brooklyn, honey. If Winsett can play in the big leagues, it's a cinch you can, too." It is also true that Van Lingle Mungo probably paid more in fines than any player of his era, amassing a grand total (in his own estimation) of over $15,000.

Song

Mungo returned to the public eye in 1969 because of the use of his prosodic name as the title of a

novelty song A novelty song is a type of song built upon some form of novel concept, such as a gimmick, a piece of humor, or a sample of popular culture. Novelty songs partially overlap with comedy songs, which are more explicitly based on humor, and wit ...

Dave Frishberg David Lee Frishberg (March 23, 1933 – November 17, 2021) was an American jazz pianist, vocalist, composer, and lyricist. His songs have been performed by Blossom Dearie, Rosemary Clooney, Shirley Horn, Anita O'Day, Michael Feinstein, Irene Kr ...

. The song lyrics consist entirely of the names of baseball players of the 1940s. Mungo is one of only five players mentioned more than once and his name functions as a kind of

refrain A refrain (from Vulgar Latin ''refringere'', "to repeat", and later from Old French ''refraindre'') is the line or lines that are repeated in music or in poetry — the "chorus" of a song. Poetic fixed forms that feature refrains include the v ...

. According to Frishberg, ''

The Dick Cavett Show ''The Dick Cavett Show'' was the title of several talk shows hosted by Dick Cavett on various television networks, including: * ABC daytime, (March 4, 1968–January 24, 1969) originally titled ''This Morning'' * ABC prime time, Tuesdays, We ...

'' arranged to have him sing the song to Mungo in person, and Mungo asked him backstage if there would ever be any financial remuneration for the use of his name in the song. Frishberg told him no, but maybe Mungo could make some money if he wrote a song called "Dave Frishberg". Ironically, today Mungo is remembered primarily because of the song.

Baseball legacy

Van Lingle Mungo may also be remembered as one of the unfortunate baseball pitchers in history who never played on a team with equal talent to his and thus never was able to attain a win–loss record equal to his talent level. More famous for his managerial career, former pitcher

Tommy Lasorda Thomas Charles Lasorda (September 22, 1927 – January 7, 2021) was an American professional baseball pitcher and manager. He managed the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1976 through 1996. He was inducted into the Natio ...

was given the nickname "Mungo" because of his "lightning fastball" and his ability to strike out batters.

Retirement

Mungo returned to his hometown of Pageland, South Carolina after retiring in 1945, and lived there until his death from a heart attack in 1985. He purchased and operated a movie house called the Ball Theatre, and had a balcony built to accommodate people of color, who had previously been denied access to the facility.Cohen, A. (May 25, 2014). ''The Van Lingle Mungo Story''
wordpress.com archive
Retrieved June 29, 2015.

References

External links

Biography and career highlights
''Baseball Library''

Historic Baseball
Lyrics to Dave Frishberg's song "Van Lingle Mungo"
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mungo, Van 1911 births 1985 deaths Baseball players from South Carolina Brooklyn Dodgers coaches Brooklyn Dodgers players Brooklyn Robins players Charlotte Hornets (baseball) players Hartford Senators players Major League Baseball pitchers Minneapolis Millers (baseball) players Minor league baseball managers Montreal Royals players National League All-Stars National League strikeout champions New York Giants (NL) players People from Pageland, South Carolina Winston-Salem Twins players