The Toughest Debut - Culver vs Red Sox 1966

 

TRIVIA WINNER: There were two sets of triple brothers in the big leagues in the 1970's. The Allens; Richie, Hank and Ron, and the Cruz brothers who played for St. Louis; Jose, Hector and Tommy.  Son, Jose Cruz Junior would later play in the Bigs.  

We will still provide a trivia question each week and we hope you participate even though there is no prize at the end. 

NOTE: First of all thank you to those who "follow" the column and if you would hit the "follow" button if you not done that, it would be appreciated. I do this column for free and I am NOT asking for money. We had a sponsor years ago and if you know of a company who would like to sponsor the column, please have them reach out to me at my email which is brillpro@prodigy.net, or provide theirs to me and I'll follow up. Thanx.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  There were two players who played in the game cited below which had either a father or a sibling who also played in the big leagues. Who were they?

You couldn't blame anyone for asking George Culver how he drew the team which would win the pennant in just one year later, and the team's best pitcher. It was Culver's debut with Cleveland on September 7, 1966, facing future Cy Young winner, Jim Lonborg and future Triple Crown winning MVP Carl Yastryzemski. For Culver's sake there were only 4300 fans in Boston that day and likely many were his relatives.

Culver drew the start against Lonborg. George walked the first big league batter he faced; Jose Tartabull. He got Joe Foy to pop out and he got Yaz. But Tony Conigliaro would not be denied and he drove a Culver pitch for a double and Tartabull raced around to score. George Scott was a victim and at the end of his first inning, Culver was down 1-0. It got much better and the it didn't.

The Indians tied it in the first and it remained 1-1 until the sixth. Up until then he'd been effective. He did give up a single and a walk to the Yaz the 1967 MVP but he also struck him out. In his first big league at bat, Lonborg K'd Culver. In the sixth however, the roof caved in.

A lead off walk followed by a single, and a sacrifice attempt loaded the bases. Then a single by Tartabull (his nemesis on the day, 2/4 2 runs and an RBI) drove home three and Culver was gone, relieved by Tom Kelley. Another run scored and was charged to Culver. Before the dust had settled the Sox won it 5-4. Culver took the loss giving up five earned runs in five innings plus, eight hits, three walks and four K's. 

While this was a miserable debut, it was his first. His next two outings weren't much better but he was learning. He would finish the 1966 season 0-2 in nine innings. He won his first game in 1967 when he went 7-3. He became a solid starter in 1968 and was 11-16. 

===========================================================

I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these 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. The newest book is an international thriller called ":05 Seconds to Die."

Use PayPal to brillpro@prodigy.net or contact us at the same email for other payment.