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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.
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
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