WORLD SERIES; Dodgers vs. Orioles - Game TWO 1966 - Koufax Last Game

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was the Yankees between 1927-1950 swept the World Series six times, the first against Pittsburgh with the 1927 Yankees, known as the Greatest Team of All-Time.  The Prize: 15 points toward the person's total.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  Sandy Koufax set the major league record for strikeouts in a season in the 1900s. Who broke it in the modern era? TOTAL 10 POINTS. 

It was probably the poorest performance by a team in the history of the World Series, definitely the worst of the 1960s. More importantly, it was the very last game of the illustrious career of Hall of Fame Great; Sandy Koufax.

In the regular season Koufax had his best ever season. He pitched 323 innings, striking out 317 batters while posting a 1.73 ERA and a 27-9 record. His WHIP was an unheard of 0.985. Less than one hit or walk per inning pitched. Amazing. Because of arthritis in his arm, he would retire after the Series.

The Dodgers had already lost Game One to the Frank Robinson led O's 5-2. Those two runs would be all that the Dodgers would score in the entire Series. In Game Two, Koufax would give up four runs, but only one earned. It was a contest where the Dodgers made six errors, and it was yes, that infamous game when Willie Davis made three errors himself. 

Meanwhile Jim Palmer was shutting out the weak hitting Los Angeles on just four hits. Palmer went the distance. The loss was insurmountable. The Orioles would post consecutive 1-0 shutouts in games 3 & 4. The Dodgers combined Series BA was .142 with just 17 hits in 120 AB. Frank Robinson, who won the Triple Crown in 1966, was the Series MVP. As the Dodgers did in sweeping the Yankees in 1963, the O's used just four pitchers in the Series. 

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              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.  

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.

Game One Dodgers & Yankees

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question Mike Cuellar pitched for the Reds, Cardinals, Astros, Orioles and the Angels.  The Prize: 35 points toward the person's total.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  Going Backward from 1950, how many times did the Yankees sweep the World Series and against whom did they do it the first time? TOTAL 15 POINTS. 

It had been seven years since the Dodgers and Yankees last played in the World Series but 1963 was a new era of Dodger baseball. Long gone were the Brooklynites for the most part. The Jackie Robinson's, the Gil Hodges and the Roy Campanella's. Three of those holdovers WERE this World Series. Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Johnny Podres.

In1963, it would be something the Dodgers had never done to the Yankees, but the New Yorkers had done before. It was a four-game sweep and all the winning pitchers got their start in Brooklyn.

In Game 1, Koufax went the distance in limiting New York to six hits, 5-2. Game 2, had Podres (the hero of the 1955 World Series), down the Yanks 4-1. Don Drysdale shutout New York on 3 hits in Game 3, and drew a pair of walks himself in the days when pitchers did bat. He also struck out nine Yankees. It was all rapped up in Game 4 as Koufax again allowed only six NY hits. One of them was Mickey Mantle's only homer of the Series and the lone run. Koufax didn't walk a batter and struck out eight.

The series was such a dismal performance for the Yankees. Mantle and Tom Tresh hit the only homers for the losers, who collected just 22 hits and batted an anemic .171. Their only other extra base hits were a pair of doubles by Hector Lopez and another by Bobby Richardson.

The Dodgers on the other hand only hit .214 but did rack up eight extra base hits including three home runs. Frank Howard, John Roseboro and former Yankee Bill Skowron all went yard for Los Angeles. It was pitching which made the difference. Five of the seven Yankee hurlers had ERAs under 3.00. The Dodgers used only four pitchers in the entire series.

Probably the most interesting fact of the series was Dodger reliever, Ron Perranoski, was the only relief pitcher used by Walter Alston and he tossed just 2/3 of an inning to get a Save. He came in relief of Podres.

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              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.  

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.

 

The First Divisional Playoff Game

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question Jerry Grote, Ivan Murrel and Nellie Fox were all members of the 1964 Houston Colt 45's.  The Prize: 25 points toward the person's total.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  WITHOUT LOOKING IT UP, Name the five teams Mike Cuellar pitched for in the major leagues? TOTAL 35 POINTS. 

We are currently in the midst of the major league baseball playoffs. This all started in 1969, the last year of the decade of the 1960s. And the very first such game took place in Baltimore on October 4, 1969 and what a game it was.

The 109-win Orioles hosted the Western Division winning Twins (97-65). It would be the Twins Jim Perry (20-6) against Mike Cuellar (23-11) of the O's. Both pitchers would toss eight strong innings with each giving up three runs, although only two were earned runs off the Oriole's ace. That came on an uncharacteristic error by slugger Frank Robinson who would also hit a home run in the game.

Boog Powell belted a homer in the game too, and Brooks Robinson had four hits. Mark Belanger and Paul Blair would drive in runs while the Twins RBI came from Bobby Allison and Tony Oliva. 

The game went 12 innings. with Ron Perranoski on the mound for the Twins and Dick Hall on in relief for the O's. It was Small Ball, the kind of baseball you will not see in 2024, which did it. Belanger led off with a single and was sacrificed to second by Andy Etchebarren. Belanger took third on a ground out to the pitcher. It was then Paul Blair laid down a beautiful bunt beating it out for a single and scoring Belanger with the winning run, 4-3. 

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              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.  

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.