Baseball in the 1960's: March 2023

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

The Debut of the Bench

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Jack Edwards of Oakland, CA, who correctly stated there were six players named Robinson who played in the majors in the 1960s. 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: Six players performed in the big leagues during the 1960s who were named Robinson.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the player who pinch-hit for Johnny Bench in Bench's debut game in the major leagues?

Umpire Doug Harvey didn't know what to expect on August 28, 1967, but he made history. He was behind the plate when future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench made his major league debut. For nine innings Harvey got to watch what the baseball world would learn over the next 17 seasons; Johnny Bench was one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Bench would call what was probably a pretty good game for a nervous rookie and he caught three pitchers of varying degree. It wasn't Gerry Arrigo's day certainly facing the Philadelphia Phillies that Monday evening at Crosley Field. A typical August night before 9500 fans the Phils would beat the Reds behind Dick Ellsworth. For Bench's part, whether it was Arrigo or the rookie, can't be known. The young catcher handled 31 year old Don Nottebart and 34 year old Ted Abernathy very well.

Arrigo went five-plus innings giving up 3 ER and walking six. Not a great line score. Philadelphia sluggers Bill White, Johnny Callison and Gene Oliver did most of the damage As for the other two relievers, 2 1/3 perfect innings. Bench was settled in by then.

At the plate, it was not a good start. Batting seventh in his first game, Bench was hit-less in three at bats. His first appearance he popped out, then Ellsworth became the first pitcher to strike out the HOFer, and Turn Farrell did the same a few innings later. A fourth AB brought about a pinch-hitter who also got out.

While the first game in his career was a 3-2 loss, the next night he called a 1-0 shutout for Gary Nolan and two other pitchers. He went hit-less again in three AB, again a popfly and a pair of K's. It wasn't until the following game where he made his hitting mark. Again calling a win, 2-1 for Milt Pappas, he had a sacrifice fly for his first RBI off Chris Short. It was followed by another strikeout and then in the bottom of the seventh he rolled through a ground ball single to left off the left-handed Short.

Bench continued to struggle at the plate batting less than .150 until September 20th when he cracked his first home run. On a three hit day, his first, the Braves Jim Britton gave up the gopher ball. There would be 388 more in his career although 1967 was probably his worst season, batting .163 in 26 games and striking out 25-percent of the time. But there was no doubt about his defense. Catching almost every game after coming on, the club went 16-14 with five shutouts.

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Sunday, March 19, 2023

The Other "F. Robby" Makes an Impact

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Mickey Bauchan of Flint, MI who correctly identified the Detroit Tigers as the team Rocky Colavito pitched against in 1958. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Rocky Colavito pitched against the Detroit Tigers in a game in 1958 .

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: How many players named "Robinson" played in the major leagues in the 1960s?

If ever there was a turning point in a season it came for the 1962 Baltimore Orioles at the hands of F. Robby, and we don't mean Frank Robinson. It was Floyd Robinson, the slick fielding outfielder who patrolled the outfield for the Chicago White Sox. And it came on June 1, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. And it came at the expense of one of the games best relievers.

The Orioles only finished with less than 80 wins twice during the 1960s. It happened in 1962 and again in 1967 with the collapse of the World Champion Orioles who had both Brooks and Frank to lead the team. The 1962 version was not a bad club. They had power with Jim Gentile's 33 homers leading the way, Brooks hit 23 and batted .303 while Russ Snyder hit .305 with Jerry Adair, Boog Powell and Jackie Brandt all hitting double figures in homers.

The pitching was fairly solid with a young Steve Barber, Milt Pappas, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dick Hall and an aging but competent Robin Roberts. They were better than the 77 wins they recorded but the end really began on the first day of June.

The O's had never been less than 5.5 games back of first and actually spent a few days in April tied for at the top of the AL. The didn't have long losing or winning streaks. Still they were pretty consistent. Then on June 1, 1962 they faced Ray Herbert and the White Sox. Pappas took the mound for the Birds.

The game was uneventful with both starters going eight innings and heading into the ninth with Chicago holding a 2-1 lead. Hall pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning but Herbert who was still in the game was tiring. After giving up a single to Gentile he was replaced by Frank Baumann. Charlie Lau sacrificed and Turk Lown came on to pitch. Two singles later the game was tied and it was Wilhelm, manager Billy Hitchcock called on as they went into extra innings. Lown stuck around.

A scoreless White Sox 10th led to trouble for Lown in the bottom of the inning. After striking out Johnny Temple, Russ Snyder doubled. An intentional walk to Brooks Robinson brought up Wilhelm. A wild pitch put runners on second and third before Lown K'd his opposite number and Lau to end the inning by striking out the side.

The top of the 11th was when F. Robby of the American League made his play. He worked Wilhelm for a walk and then promptly stole second. After Bob Farley popped out, Charlie Smith laced a single to bring Robinson home. With Sammy Esposito at the plate Smith was thrown out trying to steal. Good thing for the O's because Esposito followed with a single and a Wilhelm knuckler got away from Lau sending pinch runner Luis Aparicio to second. The key to the inning was Smith getting thrown out as Cam Carreon struck out.

The O's went quietly in the 11th and the Sox had a 3-2 win and the O's were now six games back. Little more than week later they were 8 back and 7th in the 10 team AL. While they would get better for a couple weeks and actually move up in the standings by July 27th they were back to double digits behind the leader, 10 games off the pace. They would eventually finish the season at 77-85, 19 games back of the first place Yankees, losing their final four in a row.

Hitchcock would bring his team back in 1963 by almost identically reversing the teams 1962 record and finishing in fourth place. The O's had basically the exact same lineup as the previous year but Steve Barber turned into a 20 game winner and both Roberts and Pappas had outstanding seasons. 1963 also marked the year Wilhelm joined Robinson as a member of the White Sox in a trade which involved players who played in the above storied game.

Monday, March 6, 2023

The Rock & The Stick Pitch Mixed

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan, of Madison Heights, MIC, who correctly identified Mickey Lolich as the World Series home run hitting pitcher who had a ridiculously high ERA the seasons before. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The answer to last weeks trivia question is Mickey Lolich.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Against what team did Indians outfielder Rocky Colavito pitch in 1958?

Every once in a while fans are treated (well treated may be a little strong) to a fielder who gets to pitch in the big leagues. A blow out game, too many double headers, an overworked relief staff can all be contributing factors. However, in late August, 1968 Yankee fans saw double. Both outfielder Rocky Colavito and shortstop Gene Michael pitched in back to back games.

For Yankee manager Ralph Houk, the excuse was too many double headers. From August 23-30, New York would play five double headers, or 13 games in about a week! That would screw up any pitching staff. So when things got out of hand, or so Houk thought, on the 25th of August The Rock was called on to pitch.

When starter Steve Barber couldn't get out of the fourth inning trailing 5-0 to the Tigers, Colavito came in with runners on first and second and one out. Facing the heart of the Tiger's order, he got HOFer Al Kaline to ground out and Willie Horton to fly out to end the rally. Over the next two innings he allowed just a walk and a hit but no runs.

In the sixth the roof caved in on the Tigers' Pat Dobson. The Yanks scored five runs including one by Colavito who had a hit in the inning. Since the club had scored one in the 4th, they now led the Tigers 6-5. Dooley Womack and Lindy McDaniel came in to shut them down. Colavito walked away with a win. 6-5.

The next day Michael the light hitting shortstop who would later become the club's GM, was called on as well. Houk was hoping for similar results but it wasn't to be. Trailing 5-1 to the Angels, Houk decided Al Downing had had enough. It started well as Michael (nicknamed "the Stick" because he was so thin) had a 1-2-3 inning striking out pitch Jim McGlothlin in the process.

The eighth inning was not so kind. An error, a hit batter, a pair of doubles and two singles later, five runs had scored and it was 10-1 Angels. He mercifully got out of it and pitched a scoreless ninth striking out Rich Riechardt in the process. In the big inning McGlothlin got revenge banging one of those doubles. Michael did go 1-1 in the game himself to raise his BA to .194. Colavito played the outfield.

That was the end of Michael's pitching career. Colavito had actually pitched once before in 1958. He tossed three scoreless, hitless innings to close out a game for the Indians. So in two appearances spread over 10 years Colavito never gave up a run in almost six innings. Before he signed with the Pirates, Michael was offered an NBA contract but turned it down. He said as a player it was his biggest mistake.

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