Amoros, Dodger Hero of ‘55, Dies at 62 : Baseball: His running catch led to double play that preserved the victory in Game 7 as Brooklyn won its only World Series.

MIAMI —  Sandy Amoros, whose catch for the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1955 is considered one of the best in World Series history, died Saturday at 62.

Amoros, nearly destitute and in failing health for the last several years, died of pneumonia at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami, his attorney Rafael Sanchez said.

Amoros, who lost a leg because of diabetes and battled circulatory problems that ravaged his body, had been living with his daughter, Eloisa, and four grandchildren in Miami’s Little Havana neighborhood until he was hospitalized earlier this month.

Amoros made a running catch of a fly ball hit by Yogi Berra during the sixth inning of the seventh game at Yankee Stadium on Oct. 4, 1955. The catch started a double play that preserved a 2-0 lead and the Dodgers held on for their only title in nine World Series appearances before they moved to Los Angeles for the 1958 season.

Brooklyn Dodger fans, former teammates and Berra had been helping raise money for Amoros’ medical expenses. The Brooklyn Borough president declared June 20 to be Sandy Amoros Day.

Former Dodger pitcher Don Newcombe was among the first to learn of his former teammate’s death.

“I’m going to miss him,” Newcombe said.

“I’m sorry to see Sandy go,” said Dodger Manager Tom Lasorda, who pitched in four games for the 1955 Dodgers and also was Amoros’ teammate on teams in Cuba and Montreal. “He was a very lovable guy, a likable guy. I have a lot of wonderful memories about Sandy.”

Newcombe said Amoros never bragged about his World Series catch.

“Other people made a big deal of it. He just did what he was trained to do, and he did it right. Sandy never talked too much, anyhow. He just enjoyed being around,” Newcombe said.

The left-handed-hitting Amoros did not start in Game 7 because left-hander Tommy Byrne started for the Yankees. Amoros entered for the sixth inning, during which the Yankees got two runners on ahead of Berra.

Berra, a pull hitter, sliced a drive into the short left-field corner. Amoros, playing Berra toward left-center, barely was able to make the catch in fair territory near the foul pole.

After making a catch a right-handed player probably could not have made, Amoros wheeled and threw to shortstop Pee Wee Reese behind third base along the left field line. Reese threw to first baseman Gil Hodges to double up Gil McDougald, who had rounded second.

“Yeah, people tell me they saw the catch, they talk about it and how it made the whole series,” Amoros said in 1989. “I still receive a lot of letters. People want to talk about Game 7 of the 1955 World Series.”

Born Edmundo Isasi Amoros on Jan. 30, 1930 in Havana, Amoros played for seven seasons in the majors. He played in 65 games for the Detroit Tigers in 1960 after playing for the Dodgers in Brooklyn and Los Angeles.

The 5-foot-7, 170-pound Amoros had a .255 lifetime batting average with 43 homers. His best season was 1956, during which he hit 16 home runs and drove in 58 runs in 292 at-bats.

In addition to 1955, Amoros appeared in the World Series in 1952 and 1956. He batted a combined .161 with one homer in Series play.

Amoros was among those whose feats were chronicled in Roger Kahn’s book “The Boys of Summer.” Only three of the starting eight players from the 1955 team--center fielder Duke Snider, catcher Roy Campanella and shortstop Reese--are alive. The others were Amoros, Hodges, third baseman Jackie Robinson, second baseman Jim Gilliam and outfielder Carl Furillo.

Funeral arrangements were incomplete.