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Thursday, December 21, 2017

Hoops; There They Were

TRIVIA QUESTION:   What 1950's Dodger player also played pro basketball before going onto a more prominent career out of sports? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
In 1935, for the third time in his career, Babe Ruth changed teams. When the Yankees released the Bambino, he was signed the very same day by the Boston Braves of the National League. He went on to have his worst season ever and was released not long after. For only the third time in his illustrious career did he hit under .300, and the only time under .200 finishing .181. He had 13 hits in 72 at bats. And just like the Babe he was, six of those 13 hits sailed over a fence for a home run. The last three came on May 25, at Forbes Field against the Pirates. Even at age 40 the Babe could still muster a three homer game.  

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 relieve 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, 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.

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.

Monday, December 18, 2017

The No Home Run Guy

TRIVIA QUESTION:   While Henry Aaron at one point was the greatest home run hitter in major league history, which other player who hit 700 home runs played for the same franchise? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
In1964 the San Francisco Giants had an abundance of outfielders and decided to trade Matty Alou to Pittsburgh. The one guy they decided to keep for another year was Orlando Cepeda. The following year when they sent Cepeda to St. Louis, he won the MVP award. They trade Alou and he wins the NL batting crown, they trade Cepeda and he wins the NL MVP.  

Few position players who reach the major leagues and stay for "a career" ever go through that entire career without hitting a home run. Woody Woodward was that guy; almost. When Woodward broke into the big leagues in 1963 with the "then" Milwaukee Braves no one figured him to break Babe Ruth's records or even challenge teammate Henry Aaron. He was known as a decent field-no hit infielder in a group of lesser fielding players who were on the team rotating around the second sack.

Mike de la Hoz, Frank Bolling, Denis Menke, Sandy Alomar and Roy McMillan. None of them would drive fear into opposing pitchers and none of them, save McMillan possibly, would hold out hope for a gold glove. Woodward himself would fit right in. Between them in 1964 they would smack 24 home runs. Twenty of them by Menke. The 1960's Braves could hit with the likes of Aaron, Joe Torre, Felipe Alou, Eddie Mathews and at times players such as Rico Carty, Mack Jones and Gene Oliver. Hitting was not their problem and even the pitching was at times outstanding.

On the mound they had stalwarts such as Tony Clonigar, Denny Lemaster, Wade Blasingame and an aging Warren Spahn. These Braves were good but what they lacked was that strong middle infield duo to back the pitching and get on base ahead of the hitters. They traded for players, they worked the farm system and really nothing much happened.

Woodward himself was a sort of strange case. He was adequate in the field. As a hitter he was serviceable. Dependable probably is more the word Braves fans might use to describe him. The interesting thing about Woodward though was his lack of power. He spent the 1960's without a home run.

In 1964 he batted 123 times without a dinger. Forgivable since he really was a rookie getting his feet wet. The following season he played in 112 games and came to the plate 280 times. Still no homers. In 1966 he became  a regular, playing in 144 games and reaching his lifetime best 516 plate appearances. Of his 26 extra base hits that season, none left the park. The following year, 1967 at age 24, it was pretty much the same scenario. Limited to 80 games in 1968 the Braves sent him to Cincinnati who needed an infielder and thought Woodward would be their guy. No home runs there either. When 1969 rolled around he would close out the decade playing in 644 games and still never leaving the park.

WoodyWoodward has spent nearly the entire decade of the 1969's, seven seasons and 1825 plate appearances without ever hitting a home run. Today, in the days of launch levels and "lift" he may not even make the major league club; any major league club.

Then on July 10, 1970 after nearly 2000 trips to the plate,  he would hit his first and only home run. Ironically it came as a two run shot off Ron Reed of the Atlanta Braves, the team which he played for until two years earlier. Woodward would say afterwards "If I hit one home run for every seven seasons, it will take me 4,998 seasons to catch babe Ruth."

 In a nine year career Woodward would play in 880 games and hit .236 with the lone home run. His slugging percentage would come down to .287.

While Woodward was never the Babe Ruth of anything he did end up being a pretty good general manager. Early in his GM career he didn't last long with the Yankees or the Phillies, but as head of the Seattle Mariners he took the team to the playoffs in 1995 and 1997. During that time he drafted Alex Rodriguez, Jason Varitek, Bret Boone and Derek Lowe. He also acquired Randy Johnson from Montreal. He also traded away David Ortiz who became of the greatest clutch home run hitters in baseball. Then again, Woody Woodward never did know much about home runs.


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.
 



















Saturday, December 16, 2017

When Christmas 1965 Came Early

RIVIA QUESTION:   When the Giants traded Matty Alou to Pittsburgh it was because they had an abundance of outfielders. Which of those outfielders was counted on in 1966, but did not make a difference and was traded the following year to another NL city where he became the NL MVP? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
In his nine year major league career, slugging first baseman, Jim Gentile would play in six home cities, although he only played for five clubs. He spent time with the Indians, The Orioles, the Kansas City A's, the Houston Astros and both the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers.

 In 1965 the Pittsburgh Pirates were at a crossroads. It was a club in transition. It had a solid core but an aging core. Several key players were on the cusp while several more were in their prime and a few longtime Buc stalwarts were over the hill or ready to move on and out. On December 1, 1965, the Pirates made one of the best trades in their history  They acquired outfielder Matty Alou from the Giants for reliever Joe Gibbon and catcher Ossie Virgil.

Alou was the middle brother of the major league playing Alou's. Felipe, the slugger was the oldest, Jesus the potential star was the youngest and in the middle was the fastest of the trio, Mateo. All three were good defensively and it goes without saying Felipe was the guy no one wanted to give up. The Giants had a crowded outfield and needed a left-handed arm in the bullpen. 

The Pirates needed to replace the aging Bill Virdon in center-field with a swift outfielder who could cover lots of ground in spacious Forbes Field. They needed someone too who could back up Willie Stargell and Bob Bailey in left. Roberto Clemente was a fixture in right so having a center-fielder who could really go get it was essential. The problem was, while earlier in his career Matty showed some signs of a consistently good average, he'd only hit .231 in 1964 and .264 the year before that. Virdon was hitting higher for an average but still was not the lead off man the Bucs always sought.

Pittsburgh needed a guy who could get on base ahead of Clemente, Stargell, Donn Clendenon and Bailey. Could the 5'9" 160 pound Alou be that guy? New manager Harry "the Hat" Walker thought so. Walker was a solid hitter in his day and even won a batting title, but more importantly he knew how to teach hitting. He figured by using the extra hard infield in front of home plate at Forbes Field, Alou should be able to bounce his way to at least .290. With some bunt singles and his speed from the left side of the plate, there could easily be another 15 or 20 hits in the season.


No one ever dreamed what Alou really did accomplish. In the first three games little Matty had five hits in 15 at bats. By the time the end of the season rolled around he would hit .342, 111 points above his previous season's average and would take the National League batting title. He was the driving force behind a pirates club which dominated the NL hitting stats. Walker was right. By bouncing the ball off the hard turf and spraying the ball around using an oversized bat, Alou became a master hitter.

Gene Alley and Clendenon both hit .299 (Clendenon also banged 28 homers), Clemente won the MVP with a .329 average and 29 homers, Stargell hit a a .315 clip and led the team in home runs with 33, Bill Mazeroski had one of his best hitting seasons at .262 but added 16 dingers and Bailey and Jose Pagan combined for 17 home runs and an even 100 RBI. The team batting average was an amazing .279 with 158 home runs in 1966. If the pitching had not faltered so badly, they would have had more than their 92 wins and a third place finish behind the Dodgers.

Alou would go on to hit ,338, .332, .331 and .297 in the following four years. He missed out on his second batting title when he ended in a virtual tie with Pete Rose at .332 and lost by a the fourth number to the right of the decimal point. One more bunt single and he'd have had a second NL batting crown. After batting .297 he was traded to St. Louis where he had three more seasons above .300 but his defensive skills were fading and eventually played with several teams including the Yankees, A's and Padres before finishing his 15 year career in 1974. Based on his work with Harry Walker and his years in Pittsburgh, Alou concluded with a .307 lifetime average and he got to the World Series twice. In the 1972 ALCS he batted .381 for Oakland.


Gibbon had a couple of good seasons with the Giants before coming back to Pittsburgh in 1969 and having perhaps his best year, recording a 1.93 ERA in 51 innings. Virgil hit .213 for the Giants in 1966 and was out of baseball. He did come back in 1969 for one game with San Francisco. Virdon, the NL Rookie of the Year in 1955, was released by the Pirates before the 1966 season despite hitting .279 and retired. He did come back for a few games with the Pirates in 1968 but went onto a good managing career with the Yankees, Pittsburgh and Houston before calling it a career. 

In the end when it came to career batting average, Matty bested his brothers, finishing at .307 to .305 for Jesus, although Felipe finished with 206 home runs and a near .290 average.

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. 
 


Wednesday, December 13, 2017

The O's Slugger Hits Two Grand Slams

TRIVIA QUESTION:   How many home cities did Jim Gentile play in during his nine year major league career ? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
It was Masanori Murakami, the first Japanese born player to pitch in the major leagues who save the game when Juan Marichal was ejected for hitting Johnny Roseboro with a bat. Murakami went on to a limited but brilliant career in MLB, and was known for his strikeout ratio.

 Jim Gentile spent nine seasons in the big leagues and had a lot of big games, but none bigger than against the Twins on May 9, 1961. It was one of those games the Baltimore Orioles slugger would remember for the rest of his life. It put him into the conversation for the best in the league and the MVP award.

He was batting clean-up that day, behind all-star Brooks Robinson. The Twins sent Pedro Ramos to the mound against Chuck Estrada. It was early in the season but neither team was playing impressive baseball. The Twins were at .500 and the O's were just two games over.  

The game had a great start for Baltimore. The 4514 fans at the game were frustrated right off the bat. Whitey Herzog opened with a walk and Jackie Brandt followed with a double. Robinson walked to load the bases, bringing up the slugging Gentile. Gentile, who would finish with 46 homers that year, sent a Ramos pitch to deep center and over the wall at Metropolitan Stadium to clear the bases. The Grand Slam gave the O's an instant 4-0 lead.

The Twins failed to score in the bottom of the inning but the top of the second it was more of the same for the O's including more Gentile. Marv Breeding opened with a flyout but then Ramos did the unthinkable. He gave up a single to the opposing pitcher, Estrada which was followed by a walk to Herzog. That was enough for Ramos who was replaced by Paul Geil.

Brandt then hit a ground ball back to Geil which could have been a double play, but the pitcher made an errant throw and Estrada scored to make it 5-0. Robinson walked again, again bringing up Gentile with the bases load. For the second straight inning Gentile blasted the ball into the seats. This time to right for his second straight grand slam and a 9-0 O's lead.

The rest of the game was pretty much uneventful. Gentile would draw a walk and go down on a strikeout in two subsequent at bats, but in the eighth he came up with a runner on third. A sac fly gave the slugging first sacker nine RBI on the day and the Orioles defeated Minnesota 13-5. It was a day the left handed hitting Gentile would never forget. Two grand slams in consecutive innings and a sacrifice fly to boot. 

He'd finish the season with 46 homers, a league leading 141 RBI, a .302 batting average and a .646 slugging percentage. He would finish third in the MVP voting behind Roger Maris who hit 61 home runs and Mickey Mantle who belted 54.  His outstanding defensive skills helped him be involved in 129 double plays which was good for second in the American League.

With 179 homers in his career, 1961 was far and away his best season. The Orioles that season would finish third despite winning 95 games. They closed the season 14 games behind New York as the Yankees went on to have the second greatest Yankee team of all time.  

But on this day, Jim Gentile ruled the baseball world. 
 
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. 
 


Sunday, December 10, 2017

Now Batting; Juan Marichal

TRIVIA QUESTION:   Which pitcher got the Save in the game highlighted in the article below? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
Jim Maloney was 12-5 in 1969 for the Cincinnati Reds but never won another game in the big leagues. He was 0-1 in 1970 and ended up losing all three of his decisions with the Angels the following year. He twice won 20 games for Cincinnati peaking with 23 in 1963. He had a record of 134-84 in a 12 year career. He retired at age 31.

To say Juan Marichal was an enigma is an understatement. In the 10 years of the 1960's he started and completed 197 games for the San Francisco Giants. Six times he won 20 or more games including 26 in 1968 and 25 in 1963. Three times he pitched over 300 innings and twice more hit marks of 299 and 295. From 1963-1969 his ERA never exceeded 2.76 and twice it was in the 2.1 range (2.13 and 2.10). 

Five times the man with the most varied pitches in his arsenal, completed at least 20 games and pitched 30 complete games in 1968. Five times he issued less than 50 walks and six times he struck out over 200 batters. Amazingly his WHIP was under 1.0 four times during the stretch. He never lost more than 13 and in 1965 he tossed 10 shutouts. He would throw at any angle and at any speed.

Yet, despite all of this he is best remembered for the time he went off the warpath and smacked the Dodger's Johnny Roseboro over the head with a bat, while standing in the batters box. 

It was a Sunday afternoon on August 22, 1965 and my father and my God Father and I were on our way to the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles to see wrestling. My father was a major fan of "wrastlin'" and the Olympic Auditorium was the place to be for that sort of thing.  We were listening to the Dodger game on the radio and were appalled and shocked at what we heard as we pulled into the parking lot.

Up in the Bay Area, the Giants were hosting the Dodgers with Sandy Koufax facing Marichal. Two of the best pitchers of the era and of all-time as it would turn out, in a game both teams wanted to win as they battled it out in the closing days of the 1965 NL pennant race. 

The game started off tense. Maury Wills laid down a bunt single and the second time around, Marichal decked him. Koufax returned the favor by sending Willie Mays to the ground with a high fastball. When Marichal decked Ron Fairly, umpire Shag Crawford warned both teams. An ejection was coming the next time a pitch was too tight. 

What happened next is documented by both players. It was such an important game for both teams, both sides were making sure their pitcher would not be the one ejected for throwing at a hitter. They were not. It was Marichal and it came as a hitter.

In the third inning Koufax sent a pitch inside. Roseboro dropped the ball on purpose to get a good angle on Marichal who was at the plate. He positioned himself and whipped a throw back to Koufax which came dangerously close to Marichal's face. The Giant's ace said it actually did clip his nose.

Juan confronted Johnny and the two had heated words. Roseboro moved closer. The it got ugly. Marichal clubbed Roseboro over the head with his bat. Roseboro went down and both benches emptied. A bloodied Roseboro went after Marichal and kept the pounding up until Mays came out and restrained him, bringing some peace to the party. Marichal, bat in hand, was tackled by the umpire.

"I was afraid he was going to hit me with his mask, so I hit him with my bat," Marichal said in an apology a day later.

No one was in a forgiving mood.  Bat versus mask. Hmmm. Doesn't seem like a match. 

Roseboro got 14 stitches, Marichal was fined $1750 and was suspended for 10 games. Roseboro did sue and the case was eventually settled for $7500. 

As for the game itself, a visibly shaken Koufax gave up four runs to the Giants, including homers by Mays and Cap Peterson. The final was 4-3 but Marichal was not the recipient of the win. Ron Herbal was. The Dodgers would go on to win the pennant and the World Series over the Twins.

Believe it or not the two men later became friends. When Roseboro died in 2002 at age 69, Marichal was one of the pallbearers and a speaker at the funeral. Marichal actually spent his last season at age 37, with the Dodgers in 1975.
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. 
 

Saturday, December 2, 2017

The Day Big Red Became a Machine

TRIVIA QUESTION:   The Big Red Machine was not known for its pitching. Which Reds long time starting pitcher and twice a 20 game winner, continued to pitch for one more season although his career was pretty much over after the 1969 season? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
On July 3, 1966 Tony Cloninger, batting ninth for the Atlanta Braves, twice came to bat with the bases loaded. On both occasions he hit grand slam home runs. The first off the Giants Bob Priddy and the second off Ray Sadecki. He would end up 3 for 5 with 9 RBI.  He picked up his ninth win in going the distance to win 17-3. He would finish the season 14-11 and led the league in walks issued with 116.

May 20th, 1969 was a famous day in Cincinnati because it can reasonably be considered the day the Reds officially became The Big Red Machine. In 1968 they started to build the future and the future was the arrival of Johnny Bench behind the plate. However, the Reds needed pitching and acquired Jim Merritt from the Twins in the off season to solidify what was a pretty shaky starting staff.

On Tuesday night on the 20th of May, 1969, though the Reds really began what became a mini-dynasty and the hitting prowess to rival the best batting clubs in MLB history. They were mired 8.5 games back of first place when they took the field at home to begin a quick two game set with the Phillies. Only 4191 fans packed tiny Crosley Field. Interestingly enough, 4191 was the same number of hits Ty Cobb had in his career. A number a few years later (as a Phillie) the most famous Reds player of all time, and who started at second base in this game would eclipse. Pete Rose would eventually surpass Cobb's 4191 to become baseball's all-time hits leader.

It should be noted that today Cobb is credited with 4189 hits, but back then before a change was made it was 4191. 

The fans would be treated to a 1:42 minute game this night with Tony Cloninger taking the mound against Rick Wise. It was a magic game for Tony C., facing only 27 batters in allowing a pair of singles and a walk in picking up his second win in seven decisions. A real masterpiece for the former Brave's ace.

Rose would single and score a run, Bench and Alex Johnson added a pair of hits and Tony Perez hit one of his 37 homers on the year. When the dust settled Wise had given up four runs, three earned and the Reds pulled off a 4-0 win. 

The win was the kick off for a nine game winning streak with victories over Montreal, Pittsburgh and St. Louis. Cloninger and Merritt each won two games during the streak and Clay Carroll won four more in relief. George Culver picked up the other win. Bench would rack up 16 hits and belt four homers during the nine game streak. 

When the streak was over they had picked up five games in the standings and were now only 3.5 games back of division leading Atlanta. They would go on to finish third on the year but Manager Dave Bristol had built his team into a contender. Turning the corner into the 70's the Big Red Machine had arrived.


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.  

Sunday, November 26, 2017

The Milwaukee Braves Final Home Game

TRIVIA QUESTION:   Braves pitcher Tony Clonigar became better know for a hitting feat than his pitching. What was that feat and when was it accomplished?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: 
The first player to break the American League color barrier was Larry Doby with Cleveland in 1947. 

September 22, 1965 saw what was pretty much a meaningless game for the two teams involved, but not for the fans. While the Milwaukee Braves were headed for a fifth place finish and the Los Angeles Dodgers were on their way to the National League pennant, for the fans, it was the end of an era.

All 12,577 faithful turned out to see the great Sandy Koufax square off against Wade Blasingame in a battle of lefty aces. Blasingame would win 16 games in 1965, Koufax would win 26. They didn't get to see much of the two pitchers. The Braves scored five runs off of an unusually shaky Koufax and Blasingame gave up six runs in 4.2 innings to the lackluster hitting Dodgers.

However, none of that mattered to the fans who were there to see the Braves last game ever as the home team in Milwaukee. The team was moving to Atlanta for the 1966 season after moving to Milwaukee from Boston in 1953. While in Milwaukee they won two NL pennants and one World Series title.  Their fortunes would be better in Atlanta. In Boston they did win two World Series and three pennants dating back to 1876 when they were the Boston Beaneaters. Milwaukee was their shortest stay by far.
It was an interesting game which featured no less than six Hall of Famers, four of them on the Braves. Hank Aaron, Eddie Mathews, Phil Niekro and Joe Torre were the Braves while Koufax and Don Drysdale were the Dodgers. Drysdale did not pitch in the game, but he did pinch-hit. He was recognized as one of the best hitting pitchers in the history of the game although he grounded out.

It was an ominous start for the Braves who saw the Dodgers open up a 1-0 lead in the first.  In the second, singles by Torre, Gene Oliver and Mathews loaded the bases for light hitting Frank Bolling. Bolling belted a Koufax pitch for a grand slam to give the Braves a 4-1 lead, stunning the Dodger left-hander.

It must have really shaken the usually unshakable Sandy because he gave up a solo shot to Mack Jones to lead off the third followed by a single by Aaron, and manager Walt Alston had seen enough. Howie Reed came in to relieve Koufax. After Torre hit into a double play, Oliver hit one to left Lou Johnson could not handle and the not-so-speedy Oliver rounded the bases for an inside-the-park home run. The Braves led 6-1.

In the fourth, rookie second sacker Jimmy Lefebvre homered with a man aboard to cut the lead to 6-3. In the fifth the roof caved in on Blasingame. Perhaps he was tired after hitting a double himself the inning prior and remaining at second base for what seemed like an eternity. He was stranded there and walked to the mound to take on Los Angeles in the fifth.

It was typical of the Dodgers to score low in 1965 and this time they put it all together in Dodger fashion. Three walks, a pair of stolen bases and two singles combined for three runs and it was all tied. Blasingame left with two out, giving way to Billy O'Dell.

Dodger relief ace, Ron Perranoski came in to pitch the fifth. Usually reserved for the eighth or even the ninth, Alston called on his closer to give rest to a beleaguered bullpen. All Perranoski did was pitch six (YES SIX) scoreless innings, giving up three hits and walking four.

Over the last two of those innings he faced a very young Phil Niekro. Niekro pitched two scoreless as well and they went into the 11th tied at six. Chi-Chi Olivo couldn't hold Los Angeles. After Drysdale grounded out, Maury Wills laid down a beautiful bunt and legged it out. He stole second. Jim Gilliam was intentionally walked and Olivo gave way to Dick Kelley. Kelley quickly got Willie Davis to fly out but Lou Johnson singled up the middle to score Wills and the Dodgers led 7-6.

The Braves had a chance in the bottom of the inning. Bob Miller came in to save it. With one out Jones hit an infield single bringing Aaron to the plate. He hit a sharp drive to center and the quick Davis grabbed it and doubled up Jones at first to end the game.

It was the last time the Milwaukee faithful would see the Braves in County Stadium and it was fitting the great Henry Aaron would be the guy who would turn out the lights. Eleven days later the Braves would close out the season, again against the Dodgers but this time in Los Angeles. It was another loss, 3-0 with Milwaukee getting only three hits. Aaron did not play and the final recorded out by a Milwaukee Braves player was by Mike de la Hoz.

It also pretty much marked the end of the line for slugger Frank Thomas. He went 1-4 for the Braves in that final game and was released at the beginning of the 1966 season. Signed by the Cubs he appeared in five games as a pinch-hitter, going 0-5 with a strikeout. He was released in June and retired. He hit 286 homers with a lifetime .266 batting average for eight NL teams including the Milwaukee Braves twice. A fitting end.

Milwaukee would be without a team until 1970 when the Seattle Pilots, nearly bankrupt after one season, shuttered the stadium in the great northwest and headed off to the Midwest where they became the Milwaukee Brewers. Braves players who continued a few years of stardom in Atlanta of course were Aaron, Niekro, Torre, Jones, Felipe Alou, Tony Clonigar, Denny Lemaster and many more.

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.