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Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chicago. Show all posts

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Jim Bunning = 4 X 19

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Nils Westholm, of Springfield, IL, who correctly identified Buzzie Bavasi as the General Manager of the San Diego Padres in 1969 when the team came into existence. The Prize this week: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.
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TRIVIA QUESTION: The Pittsburgh Pirates sent two future All-Stars to the Phillies in what turned  out to be an ill-fated trade for Jim Bunning. Who were those two players? 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Buzzie Bavasi was the GM of the new San Diego Padres in 1969 and his son Peter was the Scouting Director on a team loaded with former Dodger players and execs
.

Few pitchers in baseball history can make the claims Jim Bunning could. The future US Senator from Kentucky and baseball Hall of Famer was one of the most dominant pitchers of the 1960s. He never 20 twenty games during the decade; he did that in 1957 (20-8). He did however have four years out of five where he came as close as a pitcher can ever come; four times in five years he won 19 games. The saddest mark coming in the final stretch of 1964 (see final paragraph below).
                                (Jim Bunning's Perfect Game Final Out - K)
Bunning was an amazing pillar of consistency. From 1960-69 he only failed to win in double figures once which turned out to be the worst season of his career. It was the year the Pirates, looking to bolster a sagging starting staff to back it's Lumber Company powerhouse, acquired Bunning for four players. Bunning left them cold with injuries and was 4-14 in his only full year in Pittsburgh. The Bucs shipped him off to the Dodgers in mid-1969 where he ended with a 13-10 record.

In the 1960's he averaged 259 innings a season, 15 wins, with an ERA mostly in the 2.60 range and strong WHIP. In 1962 he was 19-10 with the Tigers. Two  years later the Phillies acquired Bunning and from 1964-1966 he was one of the top right-handers in the big leagues. In those three years he was 57-31 and his WHIP was an amazing 1.03 (approximate), winning 19 games each season.
Bunning struck out 739 batters and walked only 163, in 889 innings. He was an intimidator, leading the league four times in Hit Batsman. He plunked 45 in those three years. It wasn't as if Bunning was wild. He was calculated, pitching inside. He had amazing control while at the same time leading the league in hitting batters was pretty much "I own the plate, don't even try it." The fact he is 13th All Time in hitting batters while striking out nearly three times as many batters as he walked, showed how hitters respected Bunning, or were forced to.

Known for throwing no-hitters in each league, Bunning was dominant pretty much through all of his career. The seven time all-star spent 17 seasons in the big leagues. He finished with 224 wins and 184 losses. A total of 51 of those losses came in his final four seasons as he was playing out the string and hanging on. He still managed to 32 games during that stretch. So if you were to discount those final four years he'd have finished 192-133, or 59 wins over the .500 mark.
                                                    (REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine)
Did we forget to mention he was an outstanding fielding pitcher who four times led his league in fielding his position? In a key modern day statistic, eight times he finished in the top 10 at his position in WAR (Wins Above Replacement) and is 196th overall in the category. On top of that he served six terms in the United States Congress and Two terms in the US Senate. Bunning, who died in 2017, is the only member of the Baseball Hall of Fame to serve in the Senate.

Unfortunately, he never got a taste of the post season. The year he came closest was the 1964 Phillies collapse. In that stretch, Bunning won no. 18 but the Phils dropped the next 10 games (three losses going to Bunning) before Bunning won his 19th on the final day of the season and the Cardinals captured the NL title.
 
TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. 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 random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
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 book after reading this column. 
 

Tuesday, July 7, 2020

Johnny Podres of the San Diego Padres



FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Alan Beatty, of Bound Brook, NJ, who correctly identified Pete Ward as the 1964 White Sox home run leader with 23. The Prize this week: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.
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TRIVIA QUESTION: The 1969 Padres were loaded with Dodger history including both players and executives. Who was the General Manager of the expansion Padres? 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:
Pete Ward hit 23 home runs in 1964 to lead the Chicago White Sox in long balls.

If ever there was a pitcher whose career was more storied than successful, it was the pitching saga of Johnny Podres. When Podres stepped onto the mound on June 21st, 1969, he reached back for one last time, looking back on 15 years of Major League Baseball. It was not as a member of the historical Boys of Summer; the Brooklyn Dodgers of 1955. It was not as a member of the 1959 and 1963 World Series Los Angeles Dodgers. This time it was as a member of the pitching staff of the new San Diego Padres.

The Padres were brought into existence with the Montreal Expos in the final year of the decade and were loaded with the usual cast offs and young wannabees any expansion team is given. MLB has never been kind to expansion cities. The general feeling was "they got a team, what more do they want?' It was true.
Podres had been released by the Detroit Tigers two seasons earlier, sat out 1968 and for whatever reason was signed by San Diego in March, 1969. Maybe it was his Dodger roots (only a two hour drive from the new Padres playing field), maybe it was the nostalgia of seeing a player on the 1955 Brooklyn championship team, or maybe it was an opportunity to give a young pitching staff the expertise of a guy who'd been there and done that. Podres did go on to become the Padres pitching coach.

For whatever reason, Johnny Podres was going to the mound for one last time in a meaningless game with the Houston Astros. Pretty much every game the Padres played in 1969 was meaningless, and not much more could be said for the Astros. Houston would finish 81-81 and in fifth place in the six team NL West. The Padres would finish last in nearly every category including attendance (512,000) as they only won 52 games.
With Houston leading 4-0 manager Preston Gomez called on Podres to pitch the bottom of the eighth inning. He got Johnny Edwards and Curt Blefary easily which brought up opposing pitcher Tom Griffin. Whether he had to reach back on Griffin or whether he just faced down another pitcher, Podres struck out his opposite number and his career came to an end.

The Padres went down 1-2-3 in the ninth and that was that. At age 36 the career of John Joseph Podres was over. It was his 17th game pitched since the club signed him as a free agent exactly three months earlier. He'd started 9 games, completed one, tossed 64 innings while giving up 66 hits. He finished the season with a 4.31 ERA, striking out 17 batters.

It was Griffin's rookie season and striking out was a regular thing, 35 times in 62 AB's, and while Edwards and Blefary would go onto play into the 1970s, both were past their peak.


Podres, who was named World Series MVP in 1955 and pitched in both the '59 and '63 Series could look back on some nice accomplishments. He was named Sportsman of the Year by Sports Illustrated and Sport Magazine gave him a Corvette for his 1955 Brooklyn Series. Overall, he would compile a 148-116 record with 1435 K's and a 3.68 ERA with 24 Shutouts. His best season might have been 1961 when he went 18-5 despite not pitching his best. In 1957 he tossed six shutouts and led the league in ERA at 2.66. After retiring from the Padres, Podres would go onto be a pitching coach for 23 seasons. He passed away at 75 in 2008.

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. 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 random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
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 book after reading this column. 


Tuesday, June 30, 2020

The Ever So Close White Sox



FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Prof. Herm Card of Syracuse, NY, who correctly answered the trivia question about the batter following Mickey Mantle in his last at bat; Roy White. This week a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week: Starbucks Gift Card.

I'd like to point out we've been getting increasing numbers of entries from all over the country including Sparks, NV, Louisville, KY, McKinney, TX, Berkley, MI, Grand Prairie, TX, Punta Gorda, FL, Vero Beach, FL, Los Angeles and more.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.
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TRIVIA QUESTION: Who led the Chicago White Sox in home runs in 1964? 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:
Mickey Mantle's last at bat, the subject of last week's column was a pop out. The batter to follow him was Roy White.

Oh what a helpless feeling and a lonely spot in a small corner of the world it can be when whatever you do, no matter how much you win, the baseball gods are against you. Such was one moment in time in 1964 when the red hot Chicago White Sox did everything they could but halfway across the country, one itsy, bitsy, 5-run inning, put the final nail in the coffin of the Chisox pennant hopes.

With some of the best pitching of all time, not just the AL of 1964, the White Sox were on fire. Beginning on September 22, the Sox began their run. They would peel off nine straight wins including back to back shutouts of the Kansas City A's on the final two days of the season. It did not matter.

The Yankees held a 2.5 game lead when the Sox began their run. New York would win 11 in a row until losing to Washington on September 27th. Two more wins followed by consecutive losses which gave Chicago some hope.

The Sox were led by three of the best starting pitchers in baseball and two workhorse relievers. Starters; Gary Peters (20-8, 2.50 ERA, 1.17 Whip), Juan Pizarro (19-9, 2.56 ERA, 1.03 Whip) and Joel Horlen (13-9. 1.88 ERA, .093 Whip). Relievers; Hoyt Wilhelm (12-9, 131 innings, 1.99 ERA, .094 Whip) and Bob Locker (125 innings, .094 Whip). This club did not hit much but they led the AL in most pitching departments.
The key game was the next to the last game of the season. While the Sox were shutting out KC, the Yankees were at home against Cleveland. If New York wins the season is over. If they lose to the Indians the Sox will be one game out with one to play. The Sox were not about to lose. What happened in NY mattered.

With the score tied in the bottom of the 8th at 3-3, New York came to bat against Lee Stange who had pitched a marvelous game. It looked like the eighth was going to be more of the same after lead off hitter Tom Tresh got out. A Clete Boyer single followed by a Johnny Blanchard fly out made the crowd of less than 15,000 at Yankee Stadium somewhat nervous.
Light hitting Phil Linz singled to left sending Boyer to third, bringing the crowd to it's feet. An infield single to Short by Bobby Richardson brought Boyer home with the go-ahead run, 4-3. A walk to Roger Maris loaded the bases bringing on Don McMahon who walked Mickey Mantle to bring in another run, and a two-run single by Elston Howard which made it 7-3 New York. Dick Donovan replaced McMahon and Joe Pepitone added another RBI single to make it 8-3 before Tresh, who led off the inning made the final out.

The Indians went weakly in the ninth and that put the cap on the Sox season. It didn't matter what Chicago did on the final day of the season, the Yankees had won the pennant. For good measure, the Sox fourth starter, John Buzhardt pitched a two-hit shutout and the Sox ended up a game back of New York which lost 2-1 to Sam McDowell in game 162.

The White Sox would win the same number of games in 1965 (95) but would finish in third behind the Minnesota Twins. Al Lopez managed both clubs.

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. 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 random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book "Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"  for $15 Shipping Included 
 
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 book after reading this column. 

Wednesday, March 6, 2019

The New Stadiums of the 1960's


TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the cost of Dodgers Stadium when it was built?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:When the 1967 Angels acquired Don Mincher they also picked up 1B/OF Len Gabrielson for insurance. He only played in a few games before being shipped across town to the Dodgers for the Super Minor Leaguer of the Century, Johnny Werhas. Werhas played half of his major league career in 1967 for the Angels, finishing with a lifetime record of 198 AB's, two homers and .173 BA in 89 career games. Gabrielson would have a couple of his best years with the Dodgers before finally retiring after the 1970 season.


In case you were counting there were a total of 11 new Major League Baseball Stadiums making their debuts in the 1960's. It seems pretty remarkable when you consider until 1960, there were only 16 big league teams in existence. Granted, of the 11, five were built directly for their new expansion teams, three were built as those expansion teams grew older and more profitable, and three were built for teams who moved from other cities. Only one, Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis was for a long term existing team.
                                                                (Busch Memorial)
New stadiums needed to be constructed for expansion teams. Colt Stadium was the place debuting for the Houston Colt .45's while Jarry Park became the new home of the Montreal Expos. The expansion San Diego Padres played their home games in Jack Murphy Stadium.
                                                                   (Dodgers Stadium 1962)
When the Braves fled Milwaukee for Atlanta the new park was Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium. The Giants saw the opening of "the Stick" which was Candlestick in San Francisco a couple of seasons after leaving New York. Dodgers Stadium broke ground in 1959 after the team moved from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The club occupied the new ballpark starting in 1962.

It would be a couple seasons before the expansion Mets moved into newly constructed Shea Stadium and then came the ninth Wonder of the World; The Houston Astrodome in 1965 for the Astro's who changed their name from the Colt .45's. 


                                                                  (Shea Stadium 1964)
The situation with Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (RFK) in Washington and Texas Arlington is a little convoluted. The original Senators moved to Minnesota, so the new Senators, an expansion team, moved into the new DC Stadium (later named RFK after Kennedy's assassination). They stayed there until they moved from Washington to become the Texas Rangers in Arlington. While the Rangers did not come into existence until the 1970's, the stadium was actually built in the 1960's, so we must include it in the list. The new Washington Nationals would eventually play at RFK decades later. 

There were a lot of firsts. The biggest of which was the first indoor domed stadium; the Astrodome. It was the kind of stadium the Dodgers Walter O'Malley wanted to build in Brooklyn and which would have kept the Dodgers in New York. When he couldn't get it, it sealed the deal to moved to Los Angeles. 
                                                                     (Houston Astrodome)
The Astrodome truly was a wonder. It opened the door to something new; synthetic turf or Astoturf due to the lack of sunlight.  But you could play without the mosquitoes which plagued Colt Stadium, and you could actually play in rain and cold weather. Below is a list of stadiums opened in the 1960s.

Arlington
Atlanta Fulton County
Colt 1962
Astrodome
Jarry Park 
Shea 1964
Busch Memorial 1966
Jack Murphy 1967
Candlestick 1960
RFK 1961
Dodgers Stadium 1962
 

"SPECIAL OFFER"
You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book
"Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"
for $15 Shipping Included 
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 book after reading this column. It has been appreciated. You can click on the link above (my childhood photo) to see how to purchase this book; "Tales of My Baseball Youth; a child of the 60's."

Also: Please check out our new Western Short Film. https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/iron-gun-western-feature-film/#/


Please share this blog with your friends and colleagues and leave a comment at the bottom of the blog if you have one. Thank YOU VERY MUCH!! Please pick up a copy of my book "Tales of My Baseball Youth; A Child of the 60's" at www.bobbrillbooks.com, or on Amazon.