The First Shall be Last and the Last Shall be First

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was the 1941 Pirates but Pirates was good enough. The Prize: 50 points toward the person's total. NOTE: This is the Final Trivia question of 2024.

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:  This is the very last trivia question of the year, so we are going into the deep unknown. There are five correct answers, and you will get 50 points for each correct one. In my Little League, Babe Ruth and Colt League youth years I played for 5 (five) different teams. There are 10 listed below. Pick the five you think I played for and submit. 50 points for each correct one. TOTAL 250 POSSIBLE POINTS. 

Here are the 10: White Sox, Indians, Mike's Lunch, Cubs, Beckman Motors, Pirates, Dodgers, Cardinals, San Fernando Hardware, Phillies.

In sports it's often what is first is last and what is last is first. Take Opening Day, 1960. The Reds usually play the first if not one of the first games on the schedule. The game with the Phillies that day, April 12, was started by two veterans. Jim Brosnan took the hill for the Reds and Robin Roberts for the Phils. 

Roberts went 4.1 innings, gave up eight runs and took the loss. Brosnan didn't fare much better. He went 1.2 innings and gave up four earned runs. Brosnan gave way to Chris Short who went on to have a marvelous career. Brosnan left on behalf of Brooks Lawrence who went a third of an inning getting Ed Bouchee to fly out. He was relieved by Jim O'Toole, soon to be a solid starter for Cincinnati. He went six and Bill Henry picked up the Save.

What Lawrence did not know, was that after a decent career in the big leagues, this was his last win. He did pitch in six more games before it was over, but he didn't lose, and this one-third of an inning produced his 69th win versus 62 losses. He was 35 and the Reds released him in July. He only pitched seven innings, giving up 12 runs, nine earned.

In his career he won in double figures three times, with his best season 1956 when he went 19-10 in an all-star year in which he earned some votes for MVP. The following year he won 16 games. As a rookie in 1954 he went 15-6 with St. Louis. His career ERA was 4.25 with a WHIP of 1.36. He died in 2000.

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 Streaking K-C Royals

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was Bullet Rogan. The Prize: 50 points toward the person's total. NOTE: ONLY TWO MORE COLUMNS LEFT THIS YEAR AND TWO MORE TRIVIA CONTESTS.

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:  These sluggers all played for the same team in one season during their careers. Which team was it? The players were Arky Vaughn, Bob Elliott, Ripper Collins, Billy Cox, Vince DiMaggio. TOTAL 25 POINTS. 

The 1969 Kansas City Royals were not a bad expansion team and it did not take them as long as others to be good. They only won 69 games that first season but they did win their last four in a row.

The club beat the White Sox 10-3 to start that streak. Ed Kirkpatrick slammed a pair of homers in getting four hits and driving in three, while Bob Oliver added another dinger. Mike Hedlund went 4 2/3 before giving way to Moe Drabowsky who picked up the win. Fred Rath took the loss. He only pitched in eight games and never did win one over two seasons.

Next up for a three game set were the Angels. The Royals Kirkpatrick again was "the" man. He had four more hits, two more homers and drove in six runs. Those were blasts no. 13 and no. 14. Dick Drago won his 11th, Tom Murphy took the loss.

The next day Kirkpatrick hit a double (no.49) and drove in two as the Royals shutout the Angels 6-0. It was a game shortened to five innings due to rain. Bill Butler got the win. 

The final game of the season was a masterpiece by Kansas City's Wally Bunker. Bunker went the distance giving up two runs on six hits and didn't walk a batter to finish the season 12-11. Kirkpatrick had the day off.

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.

Denis Menke - An Enigma

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was Riggs Stephenson. The Prize: 150 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:  He pitched for 12 seasons in the Negro Leagues and threw more wild pitches than home runs allowed. The most this HOFer ever allowed was four homers in a season and he did that several times. Who was he? TOTAL 50 POINTS. 

When it comes to steady players in the 1960s the word enigma comes to mind when discussing shortstop Denis Menke. Menke was pretty much a starting shortstop for the Braves, the Astros, and later in his career as a member of the Big Red Machine. He had flashes of real positives at the plate mixed in with some downers. He held his job despite probably being one of the worst fielding shortstops in the NL.

Menke came up with the Milwaukee Braves in 1962 as a 21 year old with some pop in his bat. In 1963 he became a starter with modest success, but in 1964 he became a start shortstop. By today's standards he'd likely get a 6-year contract worth $150 million. In reality back then he was making about $20,000 a year. That was far less than minimum wage today (Today at $15 an hour an employee makes about $31,000). When he signed with the Braves he was given a $175,000 bonus. That would be $1.6 million today.

In his breakout 1964 season he smacked 20 homers, batted .283 and drove in 65 Runs.  He rivaled many of the start shortstops of the era, and was well ahead of many as there were light hitters such as Roy McMillan, Hal Lanier and Al Weis around at the time. Where he did not shine is in the field. In 1964 he committed 25 errors at short and fielded a lowly .964. It became his trademark.

Weighted against a modern day statistic; Total Fielding Runs Above Average, Menke was horrible at -25. It makes a purist wonder how could they keep him on the field. He was moved around to second and third base occasionally but a natural shortstop, the era was a victim of him. He played, he hit and drove in runs but often gave up more than he drove in.

Menke was sent to Houston in a deal with Denny Lemaster which brought shortstop Sonny Jackson to Atlanta. He was later moved to Cincinnati in the massive and lopsided Joe Morgan deal. He would play behind Dave Concepcion there. He made the All-Star Team in 1969 and received a few votes for MVP despite making 24 errors and the following year made 28 errors but batted .304. It was his only .300 plus season. His lifetime BA was .250 with 101 homers over 13 seasons.

Menke would go on to coach in the minors and the majors with several teams. He died in 2020 at the age of 80.  

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.