We will still provide a trivia question each week and we hope you participate even though there is no prize at the end.
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who hit the last home run in Milwaukee for the Milwaukee Braves before the team moved to Atlanta?.
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.
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I love your articles. Denis Menke. Another name from the golden past when baseball was at its peak. I hate the current iteration of what used to be my favorite sport. Pitchers almost never complete games. Batters swing from the heels most of the time and strike out at a ridiculous rate. There used to be only a few pitchers in all of MLB who could throw 95+ mph. Today, every team has several. I'm convinced that PEDs are rampant and that MLB itself is actively involved in covering it up because they know how much the McGwire-Sosa scandal hurt their product.
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