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Tuesday, November 26, 2019

The White Sox in the NBA



TRIVIA QUESTION: In all five major league baseball players also played in the NBA during the 1960s. Aside from DeBusschere and Nash, who were the other three?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  While three players took part in almost every game during the Washington Senators 1968 season and all made more than 600 plate appearances, only one approached 700. Centerfielder Del Unser, who mostly batted lead-off far and away outpaced Frank Howard (663) and Ken McMullen (626) with 690 walk ups to the plate. While Unser did lead the team with a paltry 11 stolen bases, he only batted .230 with an on-base percentage of .282. Hardly good enough to lead off for anybody but the hapless Senators. 

THIS WEEK WE CHOSE TO PUBLISH A "BEST OF" COLUMN FROM 2017. HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL OF YOU WHO TAKE THE TIME TO READ THIS WEEKLY COLUMN! Back again next week with a "Fresh" Column.

A reader of this column wrote in and asked if we could do a column on two Chicago White Sox players who also played in the 1960's NBA. So here goes.

To say Dave DeBusschere was a better basketball player than a baseball player is saying a lot but in reality the New York Knicks forward might have had a really great career in both if he'd had stuck with it. DeBusschere's pitching career with the Sox only lasted two seasons but one of them would have gotten him a multi-year, multi-million dollar contract today.



In 1962 the 21-year old righty pitched well out of the bullpen for Chicago. Recording 18 innings in relief his ERA settled in at 2.00 over 12 games in which he finished nine of them. He only allowed five hits but that might be attributed to the fact hitters could not settle in against the 6'6" future NBA star. He walked 23 batters in 18 innings and proved wild enough to keep hitters off balance.

The following year the Sox decided he should be a starter and he proved himself there as well. Appearing in 24 games he started 10 of them and completed just one. He picked up a save in relief and tossed a shutout on his way to a record of 3-4. The highlight had to be the shutout.




On the evening of August 13th with the Sox sailing 17 games over .500, DeBusschere got the call against the lowly Indians and Jim "Mudcat" Grant. Big Dave was never really in trouble on his way to a six-hitter except in the fourth. He gave up three singles in the inning but the lack of speed in the form of Johnny Romano, Tito Francona and Al Luplow probably kept the Tribe from scoring. The Indians only managed one walk while DeBusschere struck out three.

The Sox would go onto win 94 games and finish in second place in the American League but DeBusschere was done. Perhaps it was the long dual season. After being drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 1962 as the fourth overall pick, he couldn't pass up playing in the NBA (80 games) and when that season ended joining the baseball White Sox. In 1963 he chose to only play 15 games for Detroit and a full seasons for the Sox. Either way, after the 1963 season the right handed pitcher hung up his cleats and donned his sneakers for good.

While he actually had a Topps baseball card in 1965, he had been gone for a couple of seasons.  His NBA career put him in the Hall of Fame. He averaged 16 points a game and made the All-Star team eight times. Interestingly enough, he was under the basket and fell to the floor when Jerry West fired off his 55 foot shot as time ran out to tie a playoff game with Knicks.


The other White Sox NBA player was Cotton Nash. Nash had a less than exciting 1967 season with the Sox before moving onto the Twins for his final two years. The first baseman failed to get a hit in three at bats for Chicago before being traded to Pittsburgh for Ed Hobaugh. The trade was voided and the Twins got involved a couple months later.

Earlier in the decade Nash spent the 1964-65 season playing basketball, first with the Lakers and then the Warriors. He only averaged 3.0 points per game before moving onto a very short career in the ABA with the Kentucky Colonels where he averaged 8.5 in one season. He played in the ABA after his baseball career ended, trying a comeback at age 25.



His baseball claim to fame might be on September 10, 1967, when in the ninth inning of Joel Horlen's no-hitter he came in defensively for Ken Boyer at first base and recorded all three outs. The White Sox may be the only team in history to have two NBA players grace the confines of White Sox Park. 

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, November 19, 2019

The "BIGGEST" Trade of the 1960s

TRIVIA QUESTION: While Frank Howard and Ken McMullen both had more than 600 plate appearances during the 1968 campaign for the Senators, they did not lead the team. Who did with 690?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There were three players on the 1960 Chicago Cubs who hit at least 10 home runs during the season. Ernie Banks led the club with 41, while George Altman had 13. The third player to smack homers in double digits was Frank Thomas who hit 21, and would go on to hit 27 the following season and 34 more with the first year New York Mets.

There were some pretty momentous trades in the 1960s. Frank Robinson to the Orioles for Milt Pappas, Lou Brock to the Cardinals for Ernie Broglio, Dean Chance to the Twins in the Don Mincher deal and Matty Alou to the Pirates for Joe Gibbon. Probably none bigger however (literally) than the trade which sent 6'7" Frank Howard to the Senators in the Dodgers major trade in 1964.


On December 4, 1964, Howard was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a player to be named later, Ken McMullen, Phil Ortega and Pete Richert to the Washington Senators for John Kennedy, Claude Osteen and $100,000. The Dodgers sent Dick Nen (December 15, 1964) to the Washington Senators to complete the trade. 

How big was this deal? Osteen became the missing cog in the rotation, eventually taking over for Johnny Podres who was a holdover from the Brooklyn Days. Osteen was an immediate hit. Despite his 15-15 record, he helped the club make it to the World Series by working 287 innings with a 2.79 ERA. He teamed with Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale to make a formidable 3-legged rotation boasting the best in baseball at the time. He would go on to pitch a 5-hit shutout in Game 3 of the Series which the Dodgers won in seven games. He would twice win 17 games before the decade ended and in 1969 was a 20-game winner with 7 Shutouts. 


Kennedy never could hit but he proved a valuable late inning replacement defensively on both the 1965-66 pennant winners. A liability on defense for a time in Washington, his wizardry and only 12 errors in two seasons in Los Angeles gave an assurance to manager Walter Alston in the late going. 

While Washington never made the Series, Howard (the Washington Monument) was not the only player to emerge as a solid player for the Senators from the trade. He was the biggest certainly. The slugger would clobber American League pitching with 44, 48, 44 homers from 1968-1970. Four times he drove in 100+ runs and never failed to homer in double figures until his final two seasons midway through his 30's. Drafted by the Philadelphia Warriors of the NBA he signed with the Dodgers and was named 1960 NL Rookie of the Year.

Ortega won 39 games in five seasons and was a work horse before retiring in 1969. McMullen was an immediate hit in Washington. He had solid seasons hitting double figures in home runs and batting for a respectable average during his five-plus seasons in the nation's capitol. In 1969 he hit 19 homers and .272 with 87 RBI for his best season. 
Richert immediately won 15 and 14 games as a starter his first two seasons as a Senator but really had his best success as a specialty reliever later in his career. In 1968 he became a bullpen pitcher and closer with 51 saves over seven seasons. In 1970 he registered 13 Saves, 1.98 ERA and 66 strikeouts in 54 innings. He finished his 13 year career with a respectable 3.19 ERA and an 80-73 record.

Dick Nen was a good defensive player with an occasional hitting stroke. He made only 16 errors in six seasons mainly at first base. His best season in Washington was his first with a .260 BA, six homers and 31 RBI in 69 games. His career ended with the 60s. His bigger claim to fame may be as the father of former reliever Robb Nen. His only hit as a Dodger was a memorable home run off Bob Gibson over the roof to tie a game and help the Dodgers move closer to the pennant in 1963.

To boot the Dodgers got a hundred grand in the deal, which they may have used when Drysdale and Koufax held out for a hundred grand apiece. Only Mr. O'Malley knows where that money went.

 
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.

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.   


Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Cubs Double Duo

TRIVIA QUESTION: During the 1960 season only three Chicago Cubs hit at least 10 home runs. Ernie Banks had 41, George Altman 13 and a third player belted 21. Who was that player?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There were two brothers who played over a two year period for different expansion teams in the 1960s; Bob and Ken Aspromonte. Ken, who came up with Boston in 1957 played for the expansion Angels in 1961, and Bob, who came up as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1956 went on to play with Houston's Colt 45's in 1962. Ken was actually taken in the expansion draft by Washington and then traded to Los Angeles. Bob was drafted by Houston from the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

From 1965 to 1973 the Chicago Cubs were blessed with one of longest running double play combinations of the modern era. While the duo of Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley were setting records in Pittsburgh in the 1960s, the pair of Don Kessinger at short and Glenn Beckert at second were turning them over game after game. They also put up numbers at the plate to drive the Cubbies for years.

While Beckert debuted in 1965, Kessinger came up a year earlier for a cup of coffee. Neither one of them hit their first year together for much of an average, but it was obvious the Cubs were planning their infield around this pair. With Ron Santo at third and Ernie Banks at first, they were just about the most solid and consistent infield in the big leagues.


Kessinger's .201 and Beckert's .239 that 1965 season were not spectacular but the following seasons were different. Starting in 1966 the light hitting Kessinger would average about .250 while his counterpart would be up around .285, occasionally crossing the .290 mark. It was in the field however where they did the most damage.

Beckert twice would cross the 100 mark in double plays turned from 1966-1968 with two other seasons registering 89 each. Kessinger would reach 101 and 97 with a few other seasons right around 70. They were not anywhere near perfect. Kessinger's errors were pretty consistent with one season (1966) reaching 35. Between them they averaged about 50 errors per season. Today that would drive their market value down to someplace around "we're moving you to left field" to give some kid a chance. This was the 1960's however, and with Banks and Santo anchoring the corners, the Kessinger-Beckert duo stuck around a long time.


Beckert won a Gold Glove and appeared in four All-star Games. Kessinger appeared in six All-star games and won two Gold Glove Awards. He was also named the recipient of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. In 1968 and 1969 Kessinger led the NL in double plays at Short, while in 1968 Beckert was second in the category to Cookie Rojas of the Phillies. 

Between them they played the most games at their positions during the time period, than most others, and together it seemed like they were one name; Kessinger/Beckert. In 1968 Beckert led the NL in runs scored. In 1969 Kessinger led the league in games played at Short, double plays, put-outs, assists, errors and fielding percentage! Now that is an accomplishment.


Kessinger would retire after 16 seasons, spending his last few years with the Cardinals and the White Sox, while Beckert would call it a career after 11 seasons. The final two were with the Padres. While neither will make the Hall of Fame, there is no denying their impact on the late 1960s Chicago Cubs, helping the club to a second place finish and a pair of third place finishes from 1967-1969. 

"NEW SPECIAL OFFER"



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.

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.