Dick McAuliffe - the Spark Plug of 68

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was that in my youth baseball days I played for the following five teams; Cubs, Cardiinals, Indians, White Sox and Beckman Motors. The others were real teams but I never got to play for them. Kudos to those of you who read my book and learned of at least two of the teams I played for and of course the book cover above shows me in a White Sox uniform. No one got more than three and the annual winner of the $50 Starbucks Gift Card for garnering the most points is Tim Fealy of Punta Gorda, Florida, who finished with 915 points. Congrats to Tim. Runners up and in contention were Ken Levansoure 835, Dave Rolfes 755, and Scott Hitchcox 760. We start all over again this week with the contest ending June 30, 2025. The Prize: 50 points toward the person's total. 

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through June 2025 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after June's final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  This is the first new question of 2025. At age 32, this father and son played for the same NL franchise (although in different decades) and played a combined 93 games between them for that franchise during their age 32 year. Who were they? TOTAL 50 POINTS. 

The 1968 Detroit Tigers were a pretty amazing bunch. Of the top seven players who received MVP votes that season, four of them were Tigers. While 31 game winner Denny McClain got 20 First Place votes to walk away with the prize, Bill Freehan, his catcher was second and both Willie Horton and Dick McAuliffe were there as well. In the top 25 were Norm Cash, Mickey Stanley and Jim Northrup. Surprisingly, Mr. Tiger, Al Kaline did not receive the votes.

McAuliffe, the second sacker only hit .249 but was the lead-off catalyst for much of the season. The open stance was extreme but he played in 151 games and led the league in Runs Scored with 95. His 50 Extra Base Hits were key including 16 home runs. He was a force to be reckoned with.

In the second game of the season he homered off the Red Sox Jose Santiago. 

More importantly for the Tigers, McAuliffe, who batted at the top or second in the order he had an amazing statistic and a powerful one. In 570 AB's he did not hit into a double play, not one. He always kept the inning going and when you are followed by the likes of Kaline, Cash, Freehan, Northrup and Horton, staying on base and not giving up a second out meant runs, runs and more runs.

He would have better years but none as important. Take 1966 for instance. He hit .274 with 23 homers and 83 runs scored. His WAR was an amazing 6.0, the best of his career. On that 1968 club however there were five players with a WAR above 5 and McAuliffe was one of them. McLain was off the charts at 7.4 and Freehan was right behind him at 6.9. 

McAuliffe died in 2016 at the age of 76. He still lives in the hearts of Tiger fans.

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or 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.

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 books after reading this column.  

Just a note to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of several sports.

The First Shall be Last and the Last Shall be First

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was the 1941 Pirates but Pirates was good enough. The Prize: 50 points toward the person's total. NOTE: This is the Final Trivia question of 2024.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  This is the very last trivia question of the year, so we are going into the deep unknown. There are five correct answers, and you will get 50 points for each correct one. In my Little League, Babe Ruth and Colt League youth years I played for 5 (five) different teams. There are 10 listed below. Pick the five you think I played for and submit. 50 points for each correct one. TOTAL 250 POSSIBLE POINTS. 

Here are the 10: White Sox, Indians, Mike's Lunch, Cubs, Beckman Motors, Pirates, Dodgers, Cardinals, San Fernando Hardware, Phillies.

In sports it's often what is first is last and what is last is first. Take Opening Day, 1960. The Reds usually play the first if not one of the first games on the schedule. The game with the Phillies that day, April 12, was started by two veterans. Jim Brosnan took the hill for the Reds and Robin Roberts for the Phils. 

Roberts went 4.1 innings, gave up eight runs and took the loss. Brosnan didn't fare much better. He went 1.2 innings and gave up four earned runs. Brosnan gave way to Chris Short who went on to have a marvelous career. Brosnan left on behalf of Brooks Lawrence who went a third of an inning getting Ed Bouchee to fly out. He was relieved by Jim O'Toole, soon to be a solid starter for Cincinnati. He went six and Bill Henry picked up the Save.

What Lawrence did not know, was that after a decent career in the big leagues, this was his last win. He did pitch in six more games before it was over, but he didn't lose, and this one-third of an inning produced his 69th win versus 62 losses. He was 35 and the Reds released him in July. He only pitched seven innings, giving up 12 runs, nine earned.

In his career he won in double figures three times, with his best season 1956 when he went 19-10 in an all-star year in which he earned some votes for MVP. The following year he won 16 games. As a rookie in 1954 he went 15-6 with St. Louis. His career ERA was 4.25 with a WHIP of 1.36. He died in 2000.

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or 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.

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 books after reading this column.  

Just a note to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of several sports.

The Streaking K-C Royals

 

TRIVIA WINNER: The answer to last weeks question was Bullet Rogan. The Prize: 50 points toward the person's total. NOTE: ONLY TWO MORE COLUMNS LEFT THIS YEAR AND TWO MORE TRIVIA CONTESTS.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: You will still be required to enter the drawing as usual. However,  through the end of 2024 you will get points depending on the complexity of the questions. Enter each week and correct answers will get those points-one guess per person per week. The reader with the most points after the years final column will get a $50 Starbucks Gift Card. Ties will be placed into a drawing. Questions will be worth anywhere from 10-25 points depending on degree of difficulty. Questions will be more difficult as the year goes on, so you are never really out of the mix. Tell your friends and sports fans who like trivia. We will keep track of your points. - YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION:  These sluggers all played for the same team in one season during their careers. Which team was it? The players were Arky Vaughn, Bob Elliott, Ripper Collins, Billy Cox, Vince DiMaggio. TOTAL 25 POINTS. 

The 1969 Kansas City Royals were not a bad expansion team and it did not take them as long as others to be good. They only won 69 games that first season but they did win their last four in a row.

The club beat the White Sox 10-3 to start that streak. Ed Kirkpatrick slammed a pair of homers in getting four hits and driving in three, while Bob Oliver added another dinger. Mike Hedlund went 4 2/3 before giving way to Moe Drabowsky who picked up the win. Fred Rath took the loss. He only pitched in eight games and never did win one over two seasons.

Next up for a three game set were the Angels. The Royals Kirkpatrick again was "the" man. He had four more hits, two more homers and drove in six runs. Those were blasts no. 13 and no. 14. Dick Drago won his 11th, Tom Murphy took the loss.

The next day Kirkpatrick hit a double (no.49) and drove in two as the Royals shutout the Angels 6-0. It was a game shortened to five innings due to rain. Bill Butler got the win. 

The final game of the season was a masterpiece by Kansas City's Wally Bunker. Bunker went the distance giving up two runs on six hits and didn't walk a batter to finish the season 12-11. Kirkpatrick had the day off.

TRIVIA CONTEST; 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 the end of the calendar year based on the total points acquired via weekly contests.

                              brillpro@gmail.com 
 ==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or 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.

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 books after reading this column.  

Just a note to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of several sports.