TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Peter Nowell of La Mesa, CA, who correctly identified Tommie Sisk as the pitcher who recorded the first Save in MLB's San Diego Padres history. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: By answering the TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY you are automatically 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 if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.
Just a note
to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you
will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with
Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of
several sports.
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: While Tim McCarver led the 1966 Cardinals with 13 triples followed by Lou Brock with 12, nearly every position player on the team had at least one triple. Two bench players did not have a triple that season and one regular player did not. Name the regular player who did not have a triple for the Cardinals in 1966.
ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Tommie Sisk recorded the first ever Save in a MLB Padres uniform.
It's hard to imagine a catcher leading the league in triples but in 1966 the Cardinals Tim McCarver did exactly that. He gathered 13 of them! In fact, he's the only catcher to ever solely lead the league, either league, in triples in the history of modern baseball dating back to 1900. In 1972 Carlton Fisk tied for the league lead in the AL with Joe Rudi. No catcher besides McCarver led the majors in triples.
Despite McCarver's efforts the club finished 6th in the National League, well out of contention. The following year however, they rebounded, McCarver again shined and they won the pennant and the World Series.
The fact McCarver hit 13 triples in 1966 was a real phenomenon. Busch Stadium was moderately big but it wasn't like Forbes Field or Yankee Stadium with "triple alleys." It was only 386 to the power alleys and 414 to center. Interestingly enough, seven of the 13 triples were on the road. Of the 13 he hit one off of Sandy Koufax in what was the last and best year of Sandy's career. It came at Dodger Stadium. His last was on September first at home, and he hit two in the spacious Astrodome, but none in Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.
The rest of McCarver's career was involved in controversy on and off the field. Comments he made as a broadcaster infuriated several players and some fans. He was also involved in the Curt Flood trade to the Phillies which touched off the battle over the "reserve" clause.
Despite his 1966 prowess with the league leading 13 triples, he never came close to double digits again in the three bagger department. The most he ever hit aside from 1966 was seven. His career total was 57 over 21 years or 2.71 per year. Subtract the 1966 season and you get 2.0 per year. To say it was a phenomenal season for the Cardinal catcher, would be an understatement.