Dodgers On the Ropes in 1965 Series

 

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel ! 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to  Sam Chasen, of Denver, CO, who correctly identifiedthe three pitchers who won in double figures for the 1966 Mets, each winning 11. They were Bob Shaw, Jack Fisher and Dennis Ribant. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER.

===============================================================
TRIVIA QUESTION: The Dodgers of the 1960s were well known for picking up aging sluggers down the stretch to pinch hit and to give the team a lift. In 1966 what aging first baseman did the club pick up down the stretch?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: The 1966 Mets had three pitchers each win 11 games. They were Bob Shaw, Jack Fisher and Dennis Ribant. 

Since this week celebrates the 2020 Dodgers World Series Win in Game Six, we'll be taking a look at the matching World Series games of 1965. The Dodgers didn't win Game Six but more importantly they won Game 7 and the 1965 World Series.

                                                   1965 (Game Six)
                                           Los Angeles at Minnesota 
                                                Twins 5, Dodgers 2

It was a game the AL Champion Minnesota Twins had to win to force a seventh and final game at home against the Los Angeles Dodgers. They knew, even if they won they would be facing the most dominant pitcher in the last five years in Sandy Koufax in the deciding game. They went with their ace, Jim "Mudcat" Grant. 

Grant had a break out year and his best in the big leagues. He paced the Twins with 21 wins and only seven losses, pitching six shut-outs along the way. He walked only 61 batters in 270 innings and despite giving up a league leading 34 homers, completed 14 of his 39 starts. Grant bested Don Drysdale in game one throwing a complete game in an 8-2 win. This time he would square off against lefty Claude Osteen.

The Twins started the scoring when after Earl Battey reached on an error on a ground ball to second, Bobby Allison smashed a homer deep to left. Grant didn't allow a base runner through four, until Ron Fairly singled in the top of the fifth. Los Angeles threatened in the sixth when singles by Dick Tracewski and Maury Wills put runners at first and second. Grant got Jim Gilliam and Willie Davis to end the inning. 

The game was pretty much put out of reach however, by Grant himself. In the bottom of the inning with one out Allison walked and stole second. After Don Mincher struck out, manager Walter Alston chose to intentionally walk the light hitting Frank Quilici to get to the Mudcat. Bad mistake for which Grant made them pay. Grant smashed a deep drive over the left centerfield fench which Willie Davis could not reach and the Twins had a 5-0 lead.

Farily led off the seventh with a solo shot of his own, but that was it. Grant would retire the next 10 of 12 batters he faced and the Twins would face Koufax in Game Seven. Sandy was even more masterful than Grant, tossing a three hit shutout, striking out 10 Twins in the process.

Lou Johnson's two run homer in the fourth knocked Jim Kaat out. It was Sweet Lou's second homer of the series. He only hit 12 during the regular season. Koufax was named MVP winning two games but the Mudcat wasn't far behind. Both pitchers finished 2-1 but Koufax won Game 7 in grand fashion. He would go on to have one more great year before retiring early, and Grant would fall to 13-13 the following year, never again winning in double figures.

Late in his career, Grant became a fine relief pitcher, starting with his only year as a Dodger in 1968 at age 32.   

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.

                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
Use PayPal to brillpro@prodigy.net or contact us at the same email for other payment. 

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. 

The Most Important Mets Gave Ever

 

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel ! 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to  Alan Beatty, of Bound Brook, NJ, who correctly identified Jimmie Hall as the other player along with Don Mincher and Pete Cimino whom the Angels got from Minnesota for ace pitcher Dean Chance. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER.

===============================================================
TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1966 Mets had three pitchers who were the only pitchers on the club to post double digit wins. Each won 11 games. Who were they?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: The Angels received outfielder Jimmie Hall in the trade along with Don Mincher and Pete Cimino, which sent Dean Chance to Minnesota.

Most people don't think of Ken Boyer as a New York Met, preferring his career with the St. Louis Cardinals, but he was a Met and also played with more teams including the White Sox and the Dodgers. However, it was as a Met where he made history. Few people remember it, but it was Boyer who drove in the winning run in a non essential game in 1966.

It was a Tuesday night at Shea Stadium and the 14-thousand-plus fans in attendance would probably not even remember this one. The game had one significant factor; a Mets win assured they would NOT end up in last place for the first time in franchise history. The club was destined to finish near the cellar. In fact, the Mets had never finished out of the cellar in their history. They wouldn't the following year either.

In the four previous seasons  the club had lost 120, 111, 109 and 112 games. In 1967 they again would lose 101. But in 1966 for the first time they would lose in double digits. The number nine grew large in New York and for the first time since the Dodgers and Giants fled the Big Apple, New Yorkers had a National League team which was not last in the standings. 

The game on September 6th, would assure it. Reds ace Jim Maloney was facing off against Mets youngster, Dennis Ribant. Maloney was looking for his 15th win, Ribant hoping for his 11th. It was the latter's night. 

Ribant made it through the first retiring the side in order. When the home town boys came to bat Maloney was wild. He walked lead off hitter Bud Harrelson who promptly stole second. Ron Hunt, as was customary with the second sacker, was hit by a pitch. He would go on to record 11 times being hit by the pitch that year, and would get hit 243 times in his bruised body career. 

So with runners at first and second Maloney, K'd Johnny Lewis but walked Al Luplow. Ken Boyer came to bat. The aging Boyer's best days were behind him but he was still hanging on at age 35. Maloney uncorked a wild pitch scoring Harrelson and everyone else moved up ninety feet. Boyer then drove a single to left scoring both Luplow and Hunt and the Mets led 3-0. 

The Reds would score two in the seventh; one on a Deron Johnson homer, but for the rest of the game it was all Ribant. The young righty went the distance giving up six hits while walking one and striking out three. Maloney took the loss. In six innings he walked seven, uncorked a wild one and hit a batter. All that came to unravel him in the three-run inning.

The bottom line is that was win no. 60 for the Mets. The Cubs would only win 59. While Wes Westrum's team would go on to win 66 for New York, the key was finishing out of last place. And they did. 

The win was Ribant's last for the Mets. They shipped him off to Pittsburgh after the season for Don Cardwell in a four player deal.  Maloney would remain one of the aces of the Reds staff through the decade and Boyer would move onto the White Sox midway through the 1967 season before getting his release and ultimately finishing up with Los Angeles. 

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.

                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
Use PayPal to brillpro@prodigy.net or contact us at the same email for other payment. 

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. 

The Angels Search for a First Baseman

 

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel ! 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan of Berkley, Michigan who correctly identified John Wyatt and Tommie Reynolds as the two non-Latino African Americans who played for the Kansas City A's and took the field in Satchel Paige's last game. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER SO WE CAN SEND YOUR GIFT IF YOU WIN.

===============================================================
TRIVIA QUESTION: When Don Mincher was traded to the Angels from Minnesota for Dean Chance the Halo's got two other players; pitcher Pete Cimino and another slugger. Who was the third player in the trade?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Appearing in Satchel Paige's last game were two other Kansas City A's who were African-American, non-Latino players. Tommie Reynolds played the outfield and John Wyatt came on in relief.

In the mid-1960's the Los Angeles Angels were desperately searching for their first baseman of the future. In 1965 they were sort of content to hang on through the season with a pair of 37 year old aging veterans while the search continued. Joe Adcock and Vic Power were at the end of their careers. Both had long track records and good ones, but the Angels were a team hoping to make a move and with developing youngsters and a solid pitching staff the club wanted to improve and develop. All three players came with impeccable credentials. All three would fail miserably with time out for a hot streak or two. 

Costen Shockley, one of the cooler names in MLB, was a school boy wonderkid who at 6'2", 200 pounds came to the Angels via a trade with the Phillies. The deal sent playboy Bo Belinksy (a player who had more fun, than wins at the major league level) to Philadelphia for the left handed slugging Shockley.

In the minors Shockley batted .360, .335 and in 1964 smashed 36 minor league home runs. The Phils thought he was ready. He started seven games but hit only .207 with one home run and was shipped back to the minors. At the end of the season he was sent to the AL.

In 1965 he started 30 of the 40 games he played but again failed to hit, batting only .187. He came to the plate 107 times registering 20 hits. The Angels wanted the youngster to go back to the minors for more seasoning and were sticking with Adcock and Power. Shockley refused and instead retired from the game. He went back home to Delaware, worked in construction, coached youth baseball and raised his family. 

His 28 MLB hits included two doubles, three homers and 19 RBI. It wasn't enough to get him to stick in the bigs, but it was enough to get him inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1998. 

Before Shockley the Angels tried a player who was seven years older; Charles Henry Dees. Dees came out of Alabama and was also a left-handed thrower and batter like Shockley. At 6'1" he was much lighter at 173 pounds. He came out of the Negro Leagues were he played in 1957 before signing with San Francisco.

Another stalwart in the minors, he had three .300 plus seasons and led the Texas League in 1962, batting .348 with 23 homers and 115 RBI. A TL All-star he was sold to the Angels. The Giants already had Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda competing for time at first base and there was no room for Dees. 

The Big Club called him up early in the 1963 season and on May 26th in his first at bat he smacked a double off the A's Orlando Pena, picking up an RBI when Billy Moran came around to score. Over the next 20 games it looked like the Angels found their first sacker. He hit .382 and became the starter at first. It didn't last long. He fell into a long slump and by the end of July was back in the minor leagues. He was hitting .281 when they sent him back down.

He was back up again in September and again went on a hot streak. He had six games with at least two hits and four times had three-hit games. He would finish his rookie campaign .307 in just over 200 at bats.

The 1964 season however was a complete turnaround. Starting less than a handful of games and used as a pinch-hitter the first couple of months he had only a pair of hits, batting .077. He was sent on loan to the Houston organization. He ended up back in the Angels system where he had his biggest success and took off again. He hit .377 at El Paso of the TL, and got another chance to return to the big leagues. After 12 games and a .156 BA he was sent back down where his career ended in 1966.

From the time Moose Stubing signed as an 18 year old first baseman back in the mid 1950's, it was clear he could hit. By the time the Angels called him up in 1967, he had slugged 192 minor league homers with a lifetime BA of .283. In 1964 in the friendly confines of the ballpark in El Paso, he slugged 35 homers, drove in 120 and batted .316. The Angels were salivating over the prospects of the 26 year old. By 1967 he was ready, or so it seemed.

The 1967 season was a big one for the Halo's who were in contention right down to the wire. However, by now they had found their slugging first baseman; Don Mincher. Mincher would hit 25 homers during the season but they hoped Stubing would provide some insurance down the stretch.

The Moose came to bat five times and struck out four, failing to register a hit. His major league career was over at age 29. At least as a player. Years later he was offered a chance to manage in the Angels system and was named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year in 1982 and won the championship in 1984. In 1988 he got the chance to manage the big club when Cookie Rojas was fired. He managed the final eight games of the season, losing all eight. Stubing became a scout for the Angels and later the Nationals. He died January 19, 2018.

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.

                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
Use PayPal to brillpro@prodigy.net or contact us at the same email for other payment. 

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column.