The Time We Met Vern Law

Alison and I love baseball, so when we were in upstate New York and I saw a flyer for a Mormon baseball night it caught my eye. Unfortunately, the event was taking place in upstate New York a few weeks after we were leaving, so we couldn’t attend. The guest of honor was legendary Pirates pitcher Vern Law. At the time I didn’t know much about Vern Law, but Alison mentioned that she thought he lived in Utah. This got me thinking and I decided I needed to learn more about Vern Law.

Vern Law was a pitcher for the Pittsburgh Pirates and in 1960 he had a phenomenal season. He was the undisputed ace of the staff and led the Pirates to the National League pennant. He pitched in the 1960 All-Star games and won the Cy Young award. Vern also helped his team win the World Series against one of the greatest Yankee lineups including Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra. As much as I hate to admit it, Vern Law completely shut down my favorite team. Yogi Berra even said, “In baseball, you never know. But I know Vern Law was a darn good pitcher. This is the honest truth why Pittsburgh beat us in that ’60 Series.”

During my research, I found out that Vern Law lives in Provo. I also talked with Blake about Vern and he recommended the book Kiss it Good-Bye: The Mystery, the Mormon, and the Moral of the 1960 Pittsburgh Pirates by John Moody. I read the book and decided that it was time to meet Vern Law. I debated just showing up at his house, but I didn’t think this would be the best idea. Instead, I looked up his phone number and called. I tried calling a couple of times and I got their answering machine. Then a few hours later I got a call from Vanita Law. I told her who I was and she handed the phone to Vern. Vern was such a friendly guy. He listened to what I had to say and told me I could come over on Wednesday night.

Wednesday night Alison and I drove down to Provo. We didn’t really know what to expect. When we got to the Law home Vanita answered the door. She saw our book and baseball and knew we were there for an autograph. She immediately invited us in and sat with us in the front room while Vern finished up on a phone call. Vanita was so sweet she told us about her family while we waited.

Once Vern finished up he came in. I introduced Alison and myself. When I introduced Alison, Vern told me, “You did good.” He was so nice to us. He took my book and started writing on the front cover. When he autographs a book he likes to write a page-long note. Signing books is not his favorite thing to do. Vern told us that he actually didn’t even want the book to be written. It only came to be because the author was so persistent. In fact, Vern even tried to dissuade John by giving him a Book of Mormon and telling him to talk to him after he had read it. John read it, so Vern helped him complete the book. He also told John next time they were by water Vern was going to try to get him baptized. He also told us about a time that the Steve Young Foundation had him sign six cases of books. He wrote an entire page in each of those books.

While Vern was signing our book he told us about what it was like to be a Mormon and play in the Major Leagues. He talked a lot about how important it was to be an example of his faith. For example, he avoided going into a bar even if there was a restaurant in the back or carrying around a cup of water at a party because he didn’t want anyone to think he was drinking. With his example, he earned the respect of his teammates. He told us quite a bit about his third baseman Don Hoak. Don was a little rough around the edges – he liked to drink, smoke, and run around. He had a colorful vocabulary, but he was always respectful around Vern and they became good friends.  In fact, Vern was coming back from an injury, and Don told him that his wife started crying in the middle of the night because she felt like they should pray for Vern Law to have a successful outing. Vern said that he thought Don’s wife just wanted him to start praying. It sounds like Vern had many good friends on that team and he mentioned that some of them even joined the church.

We asked about his family life during his career and he said that while he was playing, having family at the games was considered taboo. He said the only time his wife traveled with him was to see the ’60 World Series in New York.  When his youngest son was born, Vern was pitching the second game of a doubleheader in Houston.  He said he was only there for the birth of one of his six children. 

After Vern signed the book and baseball we talked for a few minutes and then we got ready to go. We were walking out the door when Vern stopped us and said there was one more thing he wanted to give us. He went into the back of his house and came back with a signed card. On the front it was signed with a picture of Vern in his Pittsburgh uniform and on the back, it talked about his family and his faith. Since he invited us back into his home I decided to ask if I could get a picture with him. He said sure and invited us downstairs. He asked, “Would you like to see a Cy Young award?” We of course said yes.

He took us into his basement and showed us all his memorabilia. He had a pile of baseballs from all his favorite Hall of Fame Baseball players. He mentioned there are a few Hall of Fame signatures he wouldn’t cross the street to get, and that there are a few that won’t even sign for him. He then pulled out some bats and he let Alison and I hold the bat he used in the All-Star games and the bat he used in the World Series. It was really cool to think that he batted .333 in the 60’ series with that bat. He also showed us his Cy Young award. It is made of solid silver and weighs over 30 pounds. Vern told us that once he asked a silversmith to recover the award, but the silversmith said it was so special he wouldn’t touch it. In the picture, his Cy Young award is right above me. The walls of his basement were covered in memorabilia.  He had jerseys signed by Pete Rose and Dale Murphy and a bat signed by Hank Aaron. Vern took the time to show us each item and share with us many of his stories. When we were ready to leave Vern apologized for taking so much of our time. We told him we were glad to be able to spend so much time with him and hear so many stories. The pleasure was truly ours.