A kiss for good luck
Clete Boyer is mired in a dreadful slump 54 years ago today as he steps up to the plate in the fourth inning of the Atlanta Braves’ game against the Chicago Cubs at Fulton County Stadium.
Boyer is facing Cubs starter Ken Holtzman, who already has retired Boyer once on a weak pop-up to catcher Randy Hundley in the second inning.
That out in the second extends Boyer’s skid to a mere one hit over his previous 20 at-bats.
Then, comes Boyer’s savior in the form of a relatively unknown – at least at the time – stripper named Morganna Roberts.
With Boyer getting ready to hit in the fourth and teammate Orlando Cepeda on second base following a one-out double, the 22-year-old Morganna runs onto the field, dashes to home plate and promptly plants a kiss on Boyer’s cheek in front of a Sunday afternoon crowd of 33,142.
After watching security usher away his adoring fan, Boyer then singles to right field. The hit drives home Cepeda, gives Atlanta a 1-0 lead and, along with the unexpected kiss, renews Boyer’s confidence.
Boyer follows with another hit in his next at-bat off Holtzman, a one-out single to left field in the sixth, and then picks up a third straight hit off Holtzman with yet another single to left in the eighth.
The Cubs win the game 8-4, but more hits follow for Boyer. A total of 10 in his next 23 at-bats to lift Boyer’s season batting average to a respectable .255.
As for Morganna, she quickly becomes known as “The Kissing Bandit” and racks up nearly 40 kiss-and-tells on unsuspecting players before she finally retires after the 1999 season.
By her own estimate, she is busted 19 times by the police.
Beside Boyer, Morganna ends up kissing an All-Star team worth of players, including Hall of Famers Nolan Ryan, George Brett and Cal Ripken Jr., as well as Frank Howard, Don Mattingly, Steve Garvey, Fred Lynn and Pete Rose.
And never, ever on the lips.
She has standards, you know.
“I always kiss them on the cheek,” Morganna once tells the Orlando Sentinel. “It’s more sanitary than the lips, and that way theirs wives don’t get upset.
“Besides, who wants tobacco stains all over your teeth?”