Stargell Makes History at Shea Stadium

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Alan Drooz of San Diego, CA, who correctly answered four times in the 1960s Cincinnati Reds players led the league in most hits. Twice by Pete Rose and twice for Vada Pinson. 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.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:   In addition to hitting seven homers over the roof at Forbes Field, Willie Stargell was the first, and the only two timer to hit homers completely out of Dodger Stadium. Name the two pitchers who gave up those homers? 
 
ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column:  Four times in the 1960s Cincinnati Reds players led the league in most hits. Twice by Pete Rose and twice for Vada Pinson. 

When it comes to monumental moments few players get the chance to achieve them and when it's a major player who ends up with a history of monumental moments, it becomes what baseball is all about. One of those moments occurred on April 17, 1964. It was Opening Day, the first of many Opening Days at Shea Stadium, New York. While the seasonal Opening Day took place a few days earlier, the first home-stand ever at Shea was against the Pirates on the 17th of April.

The game pitted the hapless Amazin's (before they were the Amazin' Mets) against a really good Pittsburgh team in transition. The likes of Clemente, Mazeroski and Virdon were still there but many of the players from the 1960 World Series team had moved on. The big guy on the scene however was future Hall of Famer and beloved player Willie Stargell.

The first inning saw the Bucs and the Mets go down in order. Bob Friend (little more than a year away from being a Met) was on the mound for Pittsburgh facing Jack Fisher. Everyone was waiting for that very first hit at the new yard. Would it be a Met, as most of the 50,312 fans in attendance hoped it would be? Or, would it be spoiled by some visiting Pirate. 

The faithful didn't have to wait long. Leading off the top of the second inning was Stargell. Pinwheeling his bat facing the right-handed Fisher, Stargell blasted a shot deeeep to right field, some 350 feet away and history was made. The Bucs led 1-0 and it was a Pirate who went into the record books. Bob Bailey added a single in the inning to rub it in. It wasn't until Tim Harkness singled in the third a Met got a hit.

The New Yorkers would push across their first run when Ron Hunt doubled in the fourth and rode home on a single by future Bucco Jesse Gonder. In the fifth Stargell would double in another run off Fisher who lasted into the seventh before giving way to Ed Bauta. The game ended 4-3 with Friend going the distance, pitching a 7-hitter for his first win of the season. The Mets were 0-4. They would win their first game two days later.

For Stargell on the day he would go four-for-five, score two and drive in two. Known for his big hits you can follow his career at this link, and as the only man to hit home runs over the right field roof at Forbes Field more than once (he did it 7 times) "big" is a word too small for Wilver Stargell.

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.   

1965 Reds Blow It Down the Stretch

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Dennis Cimpl of Wauwatosa, WI, who correctly answered Ron Kline led the AL in Saves in 1965 with 29. 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:   In the 1960s how many times did a Cincinnati player lead the National League in hits? 
 
ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column:  Ron Kline led the AL in Saves in 1965 with 29.

Before they were the Big Red Machine the Cincinnati Reds of 1965 were just about the most awesome hitting team in the Majors. Look at it this way; they had two players reach 200 hits, every player in the starting line-up hit home runs in double figures, three guys scored 100 or more runs and two drove in well over 100, four of them hit 30+ doubles and three had at least 10 triples. Now that is awesome.

The 1965 Reds battled the entire season spending 17 days in First. If they hadn't hit the skids down the stretch, losing seven of their last eight, they might have ended up in the World Series. It was not to be. The buzz saw was the West Coast. Losing to Houston first, then three to Los Angeles and then a big win against the Giants before dropping the final three. 

In seven losses they just stopped hitting. The Reds pushed across just 10 runs in the losses, but they scored 17 in the lone win against San Francisco. If they'd just have spread out those runs the pennant loomed. Sammy Ellis won that one but the rest of the hurlers were on the mark despite the losses. Maloney, Jay, McCool and Nuxhall were all solid. The hits just stopped.

Aside from the 17-2 win, the club hit only three home runs in those seven losses, all three were solo shots in the same game the reds lost 5-3. In the 17 run game they belted four in a 21 hit barrage. It seemed as if they could only put it all together for one game.

When the dust settled on the 1965 season Vada Pinson had 204 hits, Pete Rose 209 and along with Gordie Coleman all of them hit .300 or better. Deron Johnson led the club with 130 RBI along with 32 home runs, while Frank Robinson in his final season in Cincinnati led the club with 33 homers while driving in 113 and scoring 109. Tommy Harper took the team lead in Runs Scored with 126 and stole 35 bases.

Finishing in fourth place with a respectable 89-73 record the Reds sported a pair of 20-game winners in Maloney 20 and Ellis 22. Billy McCool had 21 Saves. At the end of the year Robinson was traded to Baltimore and Johnson moved from third to Left to make room for rookie Tommy Helms. The club would finish in seventh place in 1966. 

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 End of a Yankee Era 1965 Opening Day

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Randall Bounds of Springfield, IL, who correctly answered that Sandy Alomar Sr. hit all 13 of his home runs in the American League. 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:   Pedro Ramos went on to lead the 1965 Yankees in Saves with 18, but which pitcher led the American League in Saves in 1965 and how many? 
 
ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column:  All 13 of the home runs hit by Sandy Alomar Sr., in his career were hit in the American League.

Often in sports one thing leads to another and if the first thing is negative, then the next thing usually is too. Such was the case of Opening Day in 1965 for the New York Yankees. The Bombers lost the 1964 World Series in seven games to the Cardinals. It was the beginning of the Yankee slide which would not be resurrected for more than a decade. That loss led directly to the first game of the 1965 season. It was in all places; Minnesota where 15,000 fans would come out to see the team which would eventually end up in the World Series in October, 1965. 

(NY Yankees in better days than Opening Day, 1965)
 

The game pitted Jim Bouton for New York against Jim Kaat for the Twins. It was a marathon. The aging Yankees still had the names; Mantle (who started in Left Field), Elston Howard, Roger Maris, Tom Tresh (CF), Clete Boyer, Tony Kubek, Joe Pepitone, Bobby Richardson and an outfielder named Art Lopez. Pay attention to that name. He played a significant role in this game.

Aside from Howard's solo homer in the fifth, the game was uneventful when it came to the offensive side of the ledger. Mantle had one hit, as did Richardson and Tresh. Howard added a second hit. Kaat was keeping the Yanks at bay. Bouton went five innings and gave up four runs, two earned. He didn't help himself though with a pair of Wild Pitches.

He was relieved by Hal Reniff and then Pete Mikkelson and finally Pedro Ramos.  It is key to note here that with one out in the ninth, Mantle singled and was replaced by Lopez as a pinch runner, who would then take over in Left for Mickey. Howard grounded out sending Lopez to second. With two out Pepitone lifted a pop fly to third where Cesar Tovar couldn't make the play. Lopez running with two outs came around to score, and it was tied 4-4. Into extra innings they went.

Neither team scored in the 10th and New York failed in the 11th. The bottom of the inning was where the rubber met the road. Bobby Allison led off with a flyball to left which Lopez misplayed and Allison ended up on third base with nobody out. Manager Johnny Keane gave the order to Ramos to intentionally walk both Rich Reese and Sandy Valdespino to load the bases. They were hoping for a force play at the plate with the infield drawn in.

Ramos went two better. He got Zoilo Versalles to pop out to short left and he struck out Jerry Kindall.  Then came time for Tovar  to redeem himself and he did with a single up the middle to bring home Allison with the winning run, 5-4. 

The game was sloppy, a combined eight errors and three Yankee Wild Pitches. New York went on to lose five of the next eight games and finished in 6th place in the AL, 25 games back of Minnesota who won 101 more games and would take the Dodgers to seven games before losing the 1965 World Series. The 1965 season was the only one where Lopez appeared in the big leagues. In 38 games he came to bat 51 times and hit .143. He made just ONE error in his career.

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.