Followers

Monday, February 27, 2023

Oh for the Mound of 1968 - Guest Column

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan of Madison Heights, MI, who correctly identified Bobby Knoop of the Angels as the 1966 AL leader in Triples. 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.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column:  The Angels Bobby Knoop led the 1966 AL in Triples.

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

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:  
Who was the pitcher who had the highest ERA among qualifiers in  his league one year and hit a World Series home run in another year, during the 1960s?

This week we present a series of Guest Columns. If you wish to submit a column for review to be published here in Baseball in the 1960s, just send your thoughts to brillpro@gmail.com.

 The Effects of the Lowered Mound by Aaron Wolen of Fishers, IN. 

In the aftermath of 1968 commonly referred to as the Year of the Pitcher, when MLB scoring levels hit an all-time low during the Live Ball Era, MLB over-reacted by lowering the pitching
mound from fifteen inches to ten. The best aspect of that change was the mandate
that all mounds had to have the same height and slope starting in 1969.

The results that season were mixed. Twenty-four "qualified" pitchers had an ERA
lower than 3.00. Clearly that was a very talented group. The most improved
pitchers were Dick Bosman, who led the AL with his 2.19 ERA after struggling
previously; and Rick Wise, whose unsightly 4.54 ERA was the worst in MLB in
1968, checked in with 3.23 in 1969. Joe Coleman and Catfish Hunter individually had nearly identical pitching statistics in 1968 and 1969. Young veterans Fritz Peterson, Rudy May, Ken Holtzman, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer had their best years after 1968.

On the flip side, Don Drysdale incurred a shoulder injury and retired. Larry Jaster, a junk-ball left-hander, Joe Sparma, a hard-throwing righty, and Camilo Pascual, right-handed curveball and high fastball specialist developed command issues they could not resolve, and fell by
the wayside shortly thereafter. 

Jim Hardin, George Brunet and Tony Cloninger declined rapidly, and were soon gone. Joel Horlen and Bob Veale began a gradual decline. In another contrast in style, Horlen, a skinny junk-ball right-hander, had a lifetime ERA of 2.66 through 1968, and 4.08 thereafter; Veale, a beefy (pun intended) hard-throwing lefty, went from 2.76 through 1968, to 3.88 the remainder
of his career; both were gone in the early 1970s.

Stan Bahnsen, Steve Blass and Luis Tiant saw their ERAs double from 1968 to
1969, and then made noteworthy adjustments. Bahnsen's ERA in April was 6.23,
and through the rest of the 1969 season it was 3.52, the level at which he stayed
most of his long career. The curve and high fastballs which served him well
in 1968 were ineffective in 1969, so he relied on sliders and low fastballs going
forward. Blass's ERA was 4.46 in 1969, but he improved yearly through 1972.

Tiant's adjustment was more complicated. His ERA was 7.51 through May 15th,
and 2.89 the remainder of 1969, but his overall numbers were ugly. He led the
league in losses, home run pitches and walks that year. Then he struggled two
more years before bouncing back to his 1968 level. He led the AL in
ERA in 1968 and 1972, and led in shutouts in 1968 and 1974. He transitioned
from being a hard thrower in 1968 to being a finesse pitcher in 1972.

It is difficult to determine how much of an effect the mound height had on scoring
in 1969, considering there was also expansion that year, and expansion increases
offense.

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.
                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or at my own website www.bobbrillbooks.com. Please take a look at the sports books, the western novel series or the "Tattoo Murder," which is a crime book set in Ventura, CA.

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 books after reading this column.
 



Monday, February 20, 2023

Tim McCarver; Wheels Behind the Plate - RIP

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Jack Glover of Dearborn, MI, who correctly identified Orlando Cepeda as the first baseman who was replaced by Willie McCovey . 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.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column:  The first baseman who was replaced by Willie McCovey was Orlando Cepeda, although if you said Bill White who was traded in 1959 to make way for McCovey you also got credit.

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

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:   Who led the American League in Triples in 1966?
 

This past week longtime St. Louis Cardinal and former broadcaster Tim McCarver passed away at age 81. Here is a look back at a previous column on the speedy catcher who was a controversial announcer.

 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.

The 1966 season was an interesting one for the Cardinal catcher. He had been the regular at the position for the past two seasons. He played in more games this season than any other with 150, coming off his lowest of the 1960s the previous year at 113. It was his career high. He made the All-star team for the first time, he had the most hits (149) in his career, and his most at bats (543).

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. 

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.
                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or at my own website www.bobbrillbooks.com. Please take a look at the sports books, the western novel series or the "Tattoo Murder," which is a crime book set in Ventura, CA.

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 books after reading this column.
 


Tuesday, February 14, 2023

The Best of the 1960s

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Alan Drooz of San Diego, CA, who identified the answer we were looking for; Archibald Moonlight Graham was the player mentioned in "Field of Dreams" and to the surprise of many was a real life player as depicted in the film. 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.  Please enter via brillpro@gmail.com and please put your mailing address in with the answer so we can send you the gift card in the mail.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Archibald Moonlight Graham.

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

NOTE; At the top right 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. 

===============================================================
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who was the slugger the Giants could not find a place for when Willie McCovey became their no. 1 first baseman and who ended up traded within the National League?

 Baseball is the place where arguments are too many and answers too few but its is probably one of the most fun things about the sport for fans. For instance, if we asked who were the best five non-pitchers of the 1960s you wouldn't need to think about it too much because there would be a consensus of  at least two-or-three but maybe not.

You would think Willie Mays, Hank Aaron and Frank Robinson would be on the list. What about Willie Stargell, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Clemente, Joe Torre, Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito or Harmon Killebrew. Well, let's break it down.

Mays and Robinson had some great years in the 1950s as did Mickey Mantle so much of their stats are not included in the 1960s. In breaking down the players Home Runs, RBI and BA were key but for players who performed greatly but were not HR hitters we substituted Run Scored for RBI and times they had 200 hits was thrown in.

Henry Aaron stands out at the top of the list. 375 homers and 1107 RBI with seven times batting .300 or better. Harmon Killebrew and Mays and Robinson would be in the next three. Probably the strongest right handed hitter in baseball, Killebrew smacked 393 homers and drove in 1013 while never batting .300. Mays hit 350 and drove in 1003 while crossing the .300 barrier four times and Robinson  belted 316, drove in 1011 and six times hit the key BA mark.

Willie McCovey makes a case for top five while hitting 300 dingers and only once hitting .300 he did drive in 821. If Killebrew was the strongest RH hitter, McCovey makes a case along with Willie Stargell for being the strongest from the left side of the plate. Mantle continued to suffer injuries and lack of playing time in the 1960s but still managed to hit 256 homers, 668 RBI and four times in nine seasons batted .300.

Of the non-homer group Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose and Lou Brock led the parade. Rose hit .300 five times, four times he had at least 200 hits and scored 679 runs. He did all of that in seven seasons. Brock played seven years scored 767 runs and twice batted .300 while getting 200 hits on two occasions. Clemente was amazing when you figure he hit .300 in nine of 10 seasons, scored 916 runs, drove in 862, and four times had 200 hits. He could easily be in the top five.

There are certainly others in the mix and we've surely left someone out, so add yours to the list.

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.
                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or at my own website www.bobbrillbooks.com. Please take a look at the sports books, the western novel series or the "Tattoo Murder," which is a crime book set in Ventura, CA.

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 books after reading this column.