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Tuesday, June 9, 2020

The Worst Hitters of the 1960s

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TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Sammy Otis, of New York, who correctly answered the trivia question about the "other" strikeout king in the top five in 1963. It was indeed Jim Maloney. This week a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week again is a Starbucks Gift Card. 
 
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TRIVIA QUESTION:  In 1968 who managed the St. Louis Cardinals?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:
Jim Maloney was a strikeout pitcher in 1963 who may have been overshadowed by the other big name pitchers; Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Bob Gibson and Juan Marichal. Maloney of the Reds had 265 and was second to Koufax with 306.

When it came to "All Field and No Hit" in the 1960s a number of players stand out, but the shortstops of the era who we'll focus on were among the worst of the worst when it came to hitting.
 (DENNY MCCLAIN K'S SHORTSTOP DAL MAXVILL IN 1968 SERIES)

The ultimate on the list has to be Ray Oyler. The Tiger shortstop had a career batting average of .175 over six seasons and only once rose to the Mendoza Line. In 1967 he batted .207 with a homer and 29 RBI. It was his most productive season in many ways since he played in 148 games for Detroit and batted over 400 times. Both career highs. 

Probably the low point came when the Tigers played in the 1968 World Series, Tiger field boss Mayo Smith chose to move Mickey Stanley (arguably the best defensive centerfielder in the AL) to the shortstop position, benching Oyler. It also served to get aging Al Kaline into the line-up along with Jim Northrup and Willie Horton.
Oyler made one appearance at the plate in the Series as he was called on to lay down a sacrifice bunt. While the team did get to the World Series with Oyler used most often as the starting shortstop, he batted only .135 on the season. Oyler passed away at age 43 in 1981 and was known by team mates for his drinking issues which many said contributed to his lack of skills.

Number two on the list has to be Dal Maxvill. Maxvill was a wizard with the glove and played on some pretty good hitting teams, so to say he was pretty much the fifth card in a poker hand which held Four Aces, was pretty accurate. In 1965 and 1969 he had his worst seasons. He batted .135 and .175 with St. Louis. 
Maxvill's lifetime .217 average with six homers left him with four seasons under .200 and two more at .200 and .201. The 1968 season, the year the Cardinals faced Oyler's Tigers, was his best, batting .253. If Oyler had actually played in the Series it would have been the showcase of the two worst hitting shortstops of the 1960s.

Third on the list is Bobby Wine. The 1962 season, his first real season in the Bigs, Wine had his best year at the plate. His .244 average would never come close to being achieved again. With a lifetime .215 BA, he hit below the .200 mark twice and on two other occasions batted at .200. His lifetime 30 homers, mostly with the Phillies, showed he did have some pop but on defense, like those above, he really did shine.

Fourth on the list is Ed Brinkman, who until Ted Williams took over as his manager in Washington, was right in with the other three. His lifetime average of .225 belies his early seasons before Williams when he failed to hit .200 or better in five different seasons. Three times he batted in the .180's. After Williams he twice hit .260 or better and some thought Williams should have gotten Manager of the Year just for improving Brinkman. 
Brinkman was known as a solid defensive shortstop although his Error totals might lead one to believe otherwise. He played in more games than the others over a 15 year career, eight seasons playing more than 150 games.

Not to be outdone, the strangest case of a shortstop came with Zoilo Versalles. In 1965 he had his MVP Season, leading the Twins to the World Series. He led or tied for the AL lead in several categories including hitting 45 doubles, 12 triples and scoring 126 runs, while driving out 19 homers. He batted .273. The following season he fell of drastically to .249, followed by .200 and after getting traded to the Dodgers couldn't get off the snide hitting a lowly .196. He never recovered and was out of baseball a couple seasons later at age 31.


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2 comments:

  1. Well no wonder Brinkman couldn't hit. Look at his baseball card. His hands are backwards. Hell, I coulda taught him *that*

    ReplyDelete
  2. Um, he has finished his swing, weakly but correctly.

    ReplyDelete