The Rose Machine 1968-1969

TRIVIA QUESTION: The all-time hits leader in major league baseball, what was the result in the very first plate appearance Pete Rose made in the the big leagues in 1963? Get a bonus point if you can name the pitcher he faced.  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  Mike Cuellar came to the big leagues in 1959, became a star with Houston in 1966 and was sent onto the Orioles. While with the O's he went on to win 20 or more games, four times in his career. His best was in 1970 when he finished 24-8. Overall he won 185 and lost 130.

 If a player comes to bat 550 times in a season it's a lot. If he comes to bat 600 times in a season, it is pretty amazing. When a player reaches more than 650 it's pretty dog gone awesome. When you consider the player also reached more than 700 plate appearances three times in his first seven years in the big leagues, it is a number unheard of by modern standards. Throw in the fact the player averaged less than 57 walks over the same stretch, you would put that player in the elite of the elite status. Such a player was the Pete Rose of the 1960's.

No matter where you stand on Rose; HOF or no HOF, criminal or one of the all time greats, there is no denying especially in his early career, he was among the best ever.  Take 1965 for instance. It was far from his best year at the time.

He came to the plate a league leading 757 times in 162 games at age 24. He smacked 209 hits to lead the NL and also led in official ABs with 670 while batting .312. He scored 117 runs and drove in 81 more while hitting 35 doubles, 11 triples and 11 homers. So with only 11 dingers it means he accounted for 181 runs in 162 games.

Perhaps his best two seasons were 1968 and 1969. He won the batting title both seasons but it doesn't tell the entire story. He came to the plate 692 and 731 times, official AB's were 626 and 627. Combined for the two seasons he scored 214 runs, including 120 in 1969 to lead the NL. Then there is this; 428 hits, 75 doubles, 17 triples and 26 home runs. He drove in 131 while drawing 144 walks. 

His league leading BA's were .335 and .348. His all important On Base Percentages were .391 and .428, while slugging .470 and .512. His OPS were .861 and .940. 

Putting those two seasons (1968-1969) in perspective with today's stats. He finished 5th and 4th in WAR (Wins Above Replacement). In 1968 he was fifth at 5.7 behind only McCovey, Wynn, Felipe Alou and Willie Mays. The following season he was fourth at 7.1 behind McCovey, Wynn and Aaron. Consider this; Rose is 40th all time in WAR.
 
So considering Runs he drove in and Runs he scored, minus the home runs which would account for both; Pete Rose accounted for 319 runs over two seasons all by himself, or 160 runs per year. It is a pretty amazing stat especially when you consider he batted in the Lead Off position nearly all the time.  

Pretty dog gone awesome.

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1969 Royals Pitchers-What Happened?

TRIVIA QUESTION: Mike Cuellar came to the big leagues in 1959 but after one short season didn't get back there until 1964. It wasn't until 1966 that he became a star. How many times did this lefty win 20 games or more in a season? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:When  the New York Mets opened the club's first season it was a sign of things to come. They lost to the Cardinals 11-4 in their very first game. They went on to lose 9 in a row and 12 of 13 and finished with the worst ever 120 games lost. The Colt .45's on the other hand went the opposite way - to start. The Colts beat the Cubs 11-2 and won their first three games. They ended up 64-96 on the season. The Mets would be the first of the two to end up in the World Series however, taking the 1969 title. It took Houston into the next century to get there.

 When a young team has a starting pitching staff averaging 24.2 years old, you wonder what kind of future it has. The 1969 Kansas City Royals laid the groundwork for greatness, even though it didn't really work out that way.

Wally Bunker, Dick Drago, Bill Butler, Jim Rooker and Roger Nelson looked like the second coming with the end of the decade. It was these pitchers who were ushering the Royals into the 70's and between them they won 43 games and none were over 3.90 in the ERA department. Pretty impressive for a team which won only 69 games and finished fourth in the AL West. 

Four of these starters averaged 200 innings with only Rooker well below at 158. Young arms maybe used up too quickly, but they showed promise. Backed by a few veteran relievers such as Moe Drabowsky (33) and Dave Wichersham (33), they didn't get much support from their hitters. The club only hit 98 home runs and had a team BA of .240. They finished 9th in runs scored and 8th in hits. 

In the field they were not much better finishing 10th in fielding percentage and in errors with 157. Ellie Rodriguez was the veteran catcher at age 23 and future star Buck Martinez was a 20 year old backstop. He would also make his mark as a manager after his playing days were over. These starting pitchers were not getting a lot of help from experience at this point.

In the end the five went onto careers which looked like this;

Bunker who had won 19 games as a 19 year old with Baltimore in 1964 would pitch only two more seasons, win four more games and be out of baseball in 1971 at the age of 26 with a 60-52 lifetime record.

  (Great at a youngster, Wally Bunker's career didn't quite go to greatness)  
Drago would pitch until 1981 and while winning 17 was the highlight of his career in 1971, he would post 108 wins and 117 losses. 

Butler would have a short career, missing two seasons and while he won 9 games in 1969, he would only win another 14 in his career which ended in the mid 1970's with 24 wins and 35 losses. 

Nelson would spend another five years in the big leagues finishing his career with a 29-32 record with his best being in 1972 with an 11-6 season.

Rooker made the most of his career, even getting into the World Series with Pittsburgh. Six times he would win in double figures, twice knocking out 15 win seasons and finishing 103-109 with an impressive 3.46 ERA in 1810 innings pitched for a 13 year career which ended in 1980. He pitched an inning in the 1979 Series. Rooker appeared in four post season games. 

Rooker's claim to fame in the 1969 season actually came as a hitter, where he smacked four homers in 57 AB while hitting .281. He later became a Pirates broadcaster.

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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.  


 

Opening Day; Bad April 9, 1962

TRIVIA QUESTION: 1962 Saw the debut of the two expansion teams; The Mets and The Colt .45's (later the Astros). How did those two teams fare on opening day 1962. The Mets played the Cardinals, Houston took on the Cubs?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: When the Dodgers gave up on Stan Williams at the end of the 1962 season and blown playoff series, they sent him to the Yankees in a trade. They got Bill "Moose" Skowron in return. Skowron played one season for the Dodgers hitting .203 with four homers, before moving on to the Senators, the White Sox and the Angels. Williams revived his career pitching for five other teams before bring his career to a close. He twice on in double figures including a 10-1 season with the Twins.


Some days it just doesn't pay to get out of bed. Such was the day for Joey Jay and Bob Miller of the Cincinnati Reds on April 9, 1962. It was Opening Day and the 28, 506 fans who showed up at Crosley Field on a beautiful spring day, deserved better.

Spring was in the air and the Reds were playing their first regular season game after losing the World Series to the Yankees almost six months previous. They were coming off a 93 win season and the Phillies had lost 107, finishing in last place in the National League, 46 games back of the Reds.

Jay had a 21 win 1961 season and Miller was pitching for the first time in the big leagues since 1956, due to spending the previous fours years in the military. It was a common occurrence in those days.  Miller had shown some promise before that. This season was the beginning of the end for the 6'1" lefty.

The game started nice enough. After a scoreless first, catcher Clay Dalrymple took Jay deep to right for this first homer of the season. He would hit 10 more on the year. Phillie starter Art Mahaffey was keeping the powerful Reds in check. A Gordy Coleman single was about all the Reds could muster early on.

Then came the third, and four of the first five Philadelphia batters got singles to drive in two more making it 3-0 with runners on first and second and Jay was done. Manager Fred Hutchinson brought in lefty Miller to face lefty hitting Dalrymple who promptly singled to make it 4-0. Ruben Amaro and Mahaffey both got hits followed by a SAC Fly and when the dust settled it was 6-0 Phils. Most of those runs charged to Jay.

Miller would start the fourth by hitting Tony Gonzalez who was thrown out trying to steal. A walk to Roy Sievers set up a two run jack by Don Demeter making it 9-1. Despite a Cincinnati rally in the fourth the damage had been done. When the dust cleared the Opening Day crowd left early with their NL Champions going down to defeat to the lowly Phils 12-4. 

Mahaffey went the distance giving up nine hits and four runs. Jay, the first of five Reds hurlers went 2.1 innings and gave up five earned runs, Miller 1.2 innings and four earned runs. Miller also hit two batters including Frank Robinson.

Jay would go on to win 21 games again in a season which saw the Reds improve to 98 wins but finish third. The Phillies would really improve, winning 81 games and finishing in seventh place.

Bob Miller would pitch in 6 games, toss 5 innings and record a 21.94 ERA for the Reds before being shipped off May 7, with Cliff Cook to the fledgling New York Mets for Don Zimmer. Miller would toss 20 innings for New York and register a 7.08 ERA while splitting four decisions. He was out of baseball the following season at age 27. His best season was 1954 with a 2.45 ERA in just under 70 innings. 

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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.