The Cubs Bet on the Brothers Niekro; 1967

We wish to welcome our sponsor; Huggins and Scott Auctions, one of the premier sports trading card and memorabilia auctions house in the U-S. 

Now with MONTHLY Auctions!

TRIVIA QUESTION: While the Niekro brothers hold the record for the most wins by pitching brothers in the major leagues with 539 wins, which MLB Niekro hit the most home runs in his big league career?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In 1963 and 1964 the Red Sox Bill Monboquette led the league in one specific, and dubious category. Both years he gave up 258 hits to opposing batters. The first year he threw 266 innings followed by 234. In 1963 he was 20-10 while the following season he finished 13-14.

 The 1967 season was a real turnaround for the Chicago Cubs, transforming from 59-103 and a tenth place finish in the National League in 1966, to being right in the thick of things in 1967, before finishing third at 87-74, 14 games back of the Cardinals. The key game sending the Cubs toward destruction in 1967, was the battle of knuckle-balling brothers; Joe and Phil Niekro.

The Cubs went into a July 4th holiday double header in Atlanta, atop the NL and tied with the St. Louis Cardinals at 46-29. They had won seven in a row and 14 of 15 and were flying high. The previous night they belted the Braves 12-6. The Braves were 6.5 games back in fourth place. The first game of the twin bill would feature future Hall of Fame pitcher, Phil Niekro of the Braves against his brother Joe of the Cubs.

Each team featured some of the greatest sluggers of all time. The Cubs had Ernie Banks, Ron Santo and Billy Williams, while Atlanta sported Hank Aaron, Mack Jones, Fellipe Alou and Rico Carty. Phil Niekro set the Cubs down in order in the first but Joe suffered the hard luck fate of the brother duo in the bottom half of the inning.

Alou led off with a double and went to third when a ground ball by Mack Jones was mishandled by shortstop Paul Popovich and with the first of his two errors, Popovich allowed Jones to take second. Following an intentional walk to Aaron, Carty singled home two runs, giving the Braves the lead.

The Cubs scored solo runs in the second and third but with the scored tied at two in the bottom of the third, the roof caved in on Joe. Jones belted the first of his two homers on the day (no. 9 on the season) and two outs later Carty also hit his ninth. That was enough for manager Leo Durocher. He let Niekro finish the inning but that was it.

The Braves would roll on to win it 8-3 with Phil Niekro going the distance, pitching a 4-hitter and striking out seven Cubbies. It would be a game which the Cubs would like to forget. They lost the second game of the double header as well, 4-2. Chicago would begin the July Slide, losing seven of the their next eight and falling four games back of first. 

They would go on another winning streak, picking up nine wins in 11 games, but the damage had been done. In August another seven game losing streak sealed the deal. They tried to stay in contention and actually did spend two more days in first. However, on August 5th they lost again to Phil Niekro, 2-1 with ace Fergie Jenkins taking the loss. It dumped the second place Cubs 8 games back of the Cardinals. When the season came to a close, they ended up in third place, 14 games out of first.

In the 1967 season Joe Niekro went 2-3 against the Braves, Phil was 2-0 against the Cubs, including his win over brother Joe on July 4th.

"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. 

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.     
 

The Ultimate One Time Match-Up

We wish to welcome our sponsor; Huggins and Scott Auctions, one of the premier sports trading card and memorabilia auctions house in the U-S. 

Now with MONTHLY Auctions!

TRIVIA QUESTION: In 1963 and 1964 Bill Monbouquette led the American League in one dubious category, with the exact same statistic each year. What was that league leading stat?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Roberto Clemente made his major league regular season game debut April 17, 1955 against the team he originally sighed with; The Brooklyn Dodgers. He went 1-4. The previous game the right-fielder was Roman Mejias, but the regular right fielder in 1954 was Sid Gordon. Gordon moved to third base to make room for Clemente in 1955. It was his final season. Clemente went on a seven game hitting streak and the Bucs were 2-10 when he finally went hitless .

The names Carroll Hardy and Ron Taylor don't strike fear into many people who follow the game of baseball, nor would they ring a bell. Both were journeymen players who spent a combined 19 years in the big leagues. Taylor would finish 45-43 pitching for five teams over 11 years. Hardy would hit .225 with 17 homers while playing for four teams in eight years. But on April 11, 1962 they would clash with perhaps the best they could offer and only one would come out a winner.

It was only the second day of the new season when the Cleveland Indians invaded Boston's Fenway Park to take on the Red Sox. The Indians won the opener 4-0 with ace Dick Donovan going the distance and Hardy picking up two hits in the game. It was only a premonition of things to come. While only 14,000 fans attended Opening Day in Boston, just 2,466 showed up on day two. It was a Wednesday but a paltry showing nonetheless by Red Sox faithful, hardly a nation on this day.

Maybe it was the match-up. Rookie Ron Taylor got the start for the Indians, facing the consistent Bill Monbouquette.  Monbo, a model of consistency, would win 85 games over a stretch of six seasons. Taylor was in for only one of eight games he would pitch for the Indians this season before moving on to the NL.

The game started out hard with Monbo hitting Ty Cline to lead off the game. A strikeout and a double play ended the inning but it was the only "hit" the Indians would get until the sixth when Taylor himself led off with a single. From the mound, Taylor was matching his Boston counterpart pitch-for-pitch. Three harmless singles was all the Sox could muster through six.

The Indians went up and down in the seventh and in the bottom of the inning it looked like Taylor might be faltering. A one out double to Carl Yastrzemski might lead to a score. A fly out and a ground ball left Yaz stranded. The bottom of the eighth was a little shakier for Taylor. A lead off double to Hardy (his first hit of the game) put the seventh man in the order into scoring position. But Taylor struck out Eddie Bressoud and Monbouquette before walking Pete Runnells and getting Chuck Schilling to fly out.

Still, in the ninth and tenth Monbo was masterful allowing only a single and in the bottom of the 10th Hardy singled but was left stranded as his teammates could do nothing with Taylor. Then came the 11th. The Indians were trying to end it right there. A single and three flyball outs however, kept them away from the plate.

The bottom of the 11th saw a pair of Red Sox hits almost lead to a run. Runnels singled but was wiped out by a double play ball. Gary Geiger singled and with Yaz at the plate he was thrown out trying to steal. Too bad because Yaz would lead off the bottom of the 12th with a triple.

The 12th had to do it for the Sox. Monbouquette gave up a single and walk in the top of the inning and he was showing signs of tiring. How much longer was this game to go was anybody's guess? The triple by Yaz gave the few Red Sox fans still in their seats at Fenway, some hope it was going to end.

Taylor was ordered to intentionally walk both Frank Malzone and Russ Nixon to set up a force play at the plate. It gave Hardy a chance to come through and come through he did. Hardy took Taylor deep for a game winning Grand Slam Home Run, Red Sox 4-Indians 0. The pitching was fantastic all the way until that point, with Taylor taking the loss despite giving up 10 hits and three walks. Monbouquette deserved the win certainly, giving up only 4 hits, facing only 43 batters in 12 innings for the shutout win. 

Taylor would pitch only 33 innings that season, or just 21 more, finishing 2-2. After the season he was traded to St. Louis in the deal which brought slugger Fred Whitfield to the Tribe. Hardy, who went 3-for-4 in the game nearly hitting for the cycle with a single, double and homer, driving in all four runs, would finish the season (his only one as a regular in MLB) batting .215 with eight homers and 36 RBI. 

At the same time Taylor was being sent to the NL, Hardy was also on the move, traded to Houston for Dick Williams who would later manage the Sox. Hardy's career ended with Minnesota in 1967. Taylor pitched until 1972 closing it out with the Padres. He had his greatest success as the Mets closer in the late 1960's including the Miracle 1969 season when he was 9-4 with 13 Saves.

"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.    

Roberto Clemente's Best

We wish to welcome our sponsor; Huggins and Scott Auctions, one of the premier sports trading card and memorabilia auctions house in the U-S. 

Now with MONTHLY Auctions!

TRIVIA QUESTION:   When Roberto Clemente broke in with the Pirates in the 1955 season, who did he replace in right field from the 1954 season?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  The three players mentioned in last week's column who became successful major league managers were Whitey Herzog, Yogi Berra and Dick Williams.

It is hard to imagine winning the National League MVP Award and NOT having that particular season be your best. It is arguable when it comes to Roberto Clemente. He won the NL MVP in 1966 leading the Pirates almost to the pennant in what was a "breakout" season for the future Hall of Famer. However, the 1966 season compares favorably to his years in 1961 and 1967.

Clemente was never a home run slugger, preferring to gap the alley's with triples and singles and average more than 200 hits per season. He hit averages above .350 three times in his career. He batted over. 300 in 13 of his 18 seasons, but only cracked the 20 home run mark three times. 

In 1966, he realized the Pirates needed him to drive in more runs with home runs and batting in front of Willie Stargell and Donn Clendenon, it was a natural thing for him to up the slugger totals. So he did. Clemente chose to hit more home runs and in the MVP season he banged 29 of them and drove in a career high 119 while still batting .317. The Pirates didn't win the NL Pennant but were not out of it until the final weekend.

But was it really his best season? He followed it up in 1967 when the rest of the sluggers on the Bucs struggled, by hitting 23 home runs and driving in 110. This time he won the batting title by upping his average to .357, another career high. Pittsburgh faltered in 1967 and Roberto finished third in the MVP voting, losing out to Orlando Cepeda and right behind Tim McCarver of the pennant winning Cardinals. 

 

 Even the 1967 season, while likely his overall best, could be compared to the 1961 season. The Pirates were coming off a World Series victory over the Yankees and were expected to compete again. They did not. They fell to just over .500 at 79-75, finishing in sixth place, 18 games behind the Reds. 

Clemente had a banner year. Following up on a .314 year with 16 home runs, he cranked it up when home runs were not as frequent as they are today. His 23 dingers (second on the team behind Dick Stuart's 35) and .351 batting average (to lead the NL) began to set the Puerto Rican star apart. Before the decade was over, he would win three more batting titles and hit heights of .345, .352 and .357. His only down year was the year of the Pitcher in 1968 and he still hit .291, finishing 10th in batting in the National League. It was the same year the American League winner batted only .301. 

In 1968, using a modern day statistic, he was number one in the NL in WAR, or Wins Above Replacement, at 8.1. He was well ahead of McCovey, Aaron and Mays. In 1967 he was second in WAR behind Ron Santo with 8.9, in 1966 he was third behind Mays and Santo at 8.2. In 1961 he was seventh at 6.2. 

 

It should be noted too, his outfield assists were amazing during this time. In his MVP season he recorded 17 followed by 18. In 1961 long before the amazing reputation about his arm, players chose to try and run on him more often. In 1961 he recorded 27 assists from right field. Now that is amazing. 

"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. 

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.