The Best of the Fourth

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  What was Gene Mauch's record in the post season?

 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In 1969 the Atlanta Braves lost in the playoffs to the eventual World Series winners; The Amazin' New York Mets.  

July 4th, 1964 could not have been more memorable for the Philadelphia Phillies. They were sailing along with a half game lead atop the National League standings and their best pitcher was on the mound. To say Jim Bunning was brilliant is an understatement. Bunning may have been at his best on holidays, as just a few days earlier he tossed a perfect game on Father's Day against the Mets. It was a marvelous day, and on this holiday it was hard to imagine for Phillie fans the things which were to come.

The game started evenly enough against the second place Giants. In the top of the first at San Francisco, rookie Richie Allen doubled to score Johnny Callison from first after the strong armed Phillie's outfielder managed a two out walk. The Phils were off and running against Jack Sanford, or so they thought.  

In the bottom of the first, Giant third sacker, Jim Ray Hart singled to left. Batting second in the order was the aging former Dodger and Met, Duke Snider. Snider took Bunning deep to right field for his fourth homer of the year and no. 407 in his career. It would be his last home run in the big leagues. With Hart scoring ahead of him, the Giants now led 2-1.

And that was all the scoring until the Phils pushed over a run in the sixth when, with Billy Pierce on in relief of Sanford, Allen drew a two out walk. Wes Covington singled to right. Snider came up with the ball and with Allen running on contact, the "Duke" attempted to throw him out. The throw was wild and Allen came around to score the tying run on Snider's error. Clay Dalrymple followed with a single which likely would have plated Allen, so the run was earned. Future Hall of Famer, Gaylord Perry came in to relieve Pierce.

Bunning was masterful but Perry matched him pitch-for-pitch. Not a man reached base until the 10th inning when Bunning himself singled up the middle with one out. Perry got Tony Gonzalez to bounce into a double play to end the threat. 

In the bottom of the 10th the Giants threatened. With two out Jose Pagan singled but didn't get anywhere before Bunning retired the side. In the 11th the tide turned.

Leading off the 11th, little known John Herrnstein, having his best season and who started at first base before moving to left field later in the game, opened it up with a single to right. After Callison popped out, Allen again did the damage. Rookie of the Year for 1964, the slugging third baseman drilled a Perry pitch deep to right-center field for a triple scoring Herrnstein with the go-ahead run. Wes Covington put the game out of reach by blasting his 8th homer of the year deep to right field as the next batter up. The Phillies led 5-2 and the game was over. It left manager Gene Mauch with a big smile on his face.

Jack Baldschun took over for Bunning in the bottom of the inning and the Giants went down in order. He struck out Hart and Snider and got Willie Mays to fly out to center. Bunning was incredible as he was all year. He was 9-2 with the win, giving up only six hits, walking one and striking out nine. Just over 30,000 people saw the Giants fall in Candlestick that day. The win moved Philadelphia to 1.5 games up over the Giants in the NL. The Cardinals were still 10 games back and were yet to make their move.

The Phils would beat the Giants the following day and the Reds the day after that. Then they fell into a short tailspin losing six of their next seven. However, it was nothing like what would happen just a few short months later.

On September 21st, leading the NL by 6.5 games with only 12 left in the season, they lost the first of three to Cincinnati followed by nine straight losses. On the 27th they fell to the Braves 14-8 and dropped out of first place for good. Losing the next three to the Cardinals in St. Louis assured one of the greatest collapses in MLB History. They won the final two games, but by then the Cards had clinched and the Phillie slide was in the books. 

Snider hung them up at the end of the season, Allen would go on to a strong career finishing his 15 years with a .292 lifetime average, 351 homrs and twice led the AL in homers with the White Sox. Bunning, the future US Senator from Kentucky, went to the Hall of Fame with a 224-184 record, a lifetime 3.27 ERA and having pitched no-hitters in both leagues. Amazingly the great pitcher only won 20 games once (20 wins in 1957) but came close several times, winning 19 in four different seasons, including 19-8 in 1964 including the Perfecto. He never pitched in the post season. 

Manager Mauch won 92 games that season and finished in second place. In 26 seasons he won 1902 games but lost 2037, having never won a World Series. He deserved better, but he will always be remembered for the Phillies collapse of 1964.

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. It has been appreciated. 

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 Braves Make a Run

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who did the Atlanta Braves lose to in the National League Playoffs in 1969?

 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: When Early Wynn retired as a member of the Chicago White Sox in 1964, Hoyt Wilhelm became the oldest White Sox player at age 41. Wilhelm joined the Sox in 1963.  

 If you can say anything about the Braves of the 1960's, it was the team was consistent. Only once from 1960-1968 did they fail to win 80-plus games, and that year (1967) they won 77. And they were almost always floating around the middle of the pack. From 1962 to 1968 they never finished higher than fifth. Then with the arrival of Divisional Play in 1969 they catapulted to the top and took the National League West (despite being in Atlanta), before losing in the divisional round. They jumped from 81-81 to win 93 games in 1969. It didn't last long. The decade of the 70's saw the Braves return to mediocrity finishing over .500 only twice and mostly mired in bottom half of the division.  

Why then did all of a sudden this team emerge to become something different? A key move may have been the arrival of Orlando Cepeda. Just two  years removed from his MVP season with the Cardinals, the former Giant slugger was traded to the Braves for future Hall of Famer, Joe Torre. Torre, with the Braves from the start, was a catcher with diminishing skills behind the plate which did impact his skills alongside the plate. 

The Braves needed a first baseman to replace Deron Johnson and Cepeda was available. It was a great trade for both teams. Torre went on to become a batting champion with the Cards and Cepeda slugged 22 homers in the Braves run to the Division title. Teaming with Henry Aaron who blasted 44 homers again and Rico Carty's .342 season, Atlanta would put some huge games together. Carty made the All-Star team despite not being on the ballot. Gillette, the sponsor, left him off and in a Gillette commercial a spokesman said "Congratulations Rico on getting all those write in votes," to which Carty responded "Thank you Gillette for making it all necessary."

Lum Harris managed a strong bench and worked his magic. He maneuvered the likes of Tony Gonzalez (.294), Bob Tillman (12 homers) and Tito Francona (.295), who along with starters Sonny Jackson, Felix Milan, Clete Boyer and Felipe Alou, gave the Braves a formidable offense. 

The club was third in the league in homers, hits and batting average while finishing fifth in runs scored. Of course weakened pitching due to expansion helped those numbers along but then, all the non-expansion teams had the same advantage. Perhaps one of the keys to the Braves success at the plate was their lack of strike outs. Not a man on the club struck out 100 times. Boyer led them with 87 in 144 games. Five of the starters K'd less than 40 times and Aaron only whiffed 47 times. The teams 665 K's was the lowest in the league. 

When it came to pitching, HOF knuckle-baller Phil Niekro spent the first of three seasons with knuckle-baller Hoyt Wilhelm, and he won 23 games with a 2.56 ERA. He completed 21 of his 35 starts. He even Saved one game. He tossed four Shutouts and "Finished" four games which means he relieved five times that season. 

Ron Reed won 18, Pat Jarvis and George Stone picked up 13 wins each. Aging Milt Pappas contributed six more and the emergence of Cecil Upshaw was key. The Braves' closer saved 27 games while pitching in 62 and posting a 2.91 ERA in 105 relief innings. Paul Doyle pitched in nearly 40 games with a 2.08 ERA and while Wilhelm at 46 was limited, he did contribute. In 12 innings his ERA was 0.73.

It was also a year future stars were getting their starts. A 20 year old Dusty Baker, 23 year old Ralph Garr and 22 year old Darrell Evans were playing a role in the teams success as well. 

You could say they owed their success to a hot start and a lack of a losing streak. They won 9 of their first 11 and by May 22nd, they were 25-11. At the All Star Break they were 56-42 but only up by a game. Their longest losing streak was five games and they clinched it by winning 10 straight before losing the last game of the regular season. By then it did not matter, they won the West by going 20-6 in September.

Another key was they were 40-14 against three teams in their division, Houston, Cincinnati and San Diego while they were even with both the Dodgers and Giants at 9-9.  They only teams they played under .500 were the Cubs and the Mets. It was an amazingly consistent year for the Atlanta Braves as they were never under .500 during the season.

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. It has been appreciated. 

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 Ageless White Sox

 

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

TRIVIA QUESTION:  When Early Wynn retired, who became the oldest Chicago White Sox player in 1964?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: While his managing career covered five different franchises, Casey Stengel also played for five different franchises. He broke in with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1912, moved to Pittsburgh in 1918, then went to Philadelphia to play for the Phillies in 1920. A year later he was playing for the Giants and finished as a player in 1924 and 1925 with the Boston Braves.

 The 1959 Chicago Sox won the American League pennant. When the decade of the 60's began, they still won more than they lost but they began a downward spiral and finished third in the AL despite drawing the most fans; 1.6 million. With basically the same team they finished in fourth the following season and saw attendance drop off as well. What Sox fans were sensing was true; the team was getting old and not just "old," but really old.

The average age of the 1960 White Sox player was 30.8 which was phenomenal by modern day standards. What's even more shocking was the fact the average age of the pitching staff was over 32 years old!  Ten of the 17 pitchers Chicago employed in 1960 were older than 30. The starting staff was led by 40 year old Early Wynn and 33 year old Billy Pierce. Gerry Staley had a good year winning 13 with an ERA of 2.42 but was 39 and Turk Lown was 36. 

Among the hitters, six of the top nine players were over 30 with the youngest over 30 players being Al Smith and Nellie Fox, who were both 32. Minnie Minoso was 34, Sherm Lollar and Ted Kluszewski were both 35.  Four bench players were past 30 with Jim Rivera leading the elder statesmen at 38. The youngest player on the team was 22 year old Cam Cameron. Lefty Gary Peters, a future star, was still far from making the grade at 23. 

Even with those baseball seniors the club was still competitive but it wasn't getting much younger. By the end of 1961 the average age dropped from 30.8 to 30.3 and the pitching staff was still over 30. Wynn 41, and Staley now 40 were still around but the club added 35 year old Hal McLish to the starting rotation coming over from the Reds. 

By the time 1962 rolled around it was evident the White Sox were in a youth movement. The average age dropped to 29.1. It was the first time since 1958 it was under 30. Staley was gone but Wynn was around at 42 and would pitch another season before retiring at 43 with 300 wins in his career.  The following season the age dropped to 27 and the Sox were back in business, finishing second with 94 wins.

Rarely does a team get to the point where the club passes the age of 30 and even more rare it stays there for years. There were only eight teams competing for players when the decade turned into the turbulent "60's and it seemed somewhat easier for older, more experienced players to hang around. 

 

It is hard to imagine in today's world a pitching staff more than 32 years old. In 2017 the Sox average age was 26 and the pitching staff was just over 24. Much of the credit must go to there being quite a difference in the Little League and youth baseball systems, with huge development in the college ranks today versus nearly 60 years ago. 

Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. It has been appreciated. 

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 Mighty Casey Bows Out

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

TRIVIA QUESTION:  How many teams did Casey Stengel play for?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Pitcher Mike McCormick hit seven home runs during his major league career, including two in 1966 when playing for the Washington Senators. His average was just .156 for a career.

 Saturday July 24, 1965 was a the start of a rather strange weekend in the world. For the first time American pilots fought off Surface to Air Missiles in Viet Nam, an Archbishop was named president of Turkey and Sunday Bob Dylan would shock the music world by going "electric" at the Newport Folk Festival. It was also when Casey Stengel managed his last game. He broke a hip, which basically ended the 74 year old manager's life in baseball.

In New York it was the end of an era, sadly for baseball fans all over. It was The Old Professor's last time as manager of the Mets. He gave way to his hand picked replacement; Wes Westrum. The Mighty Casey had ushered out some of the greatest teams of all time in the 1950's and 1960 Yankees, crossed town and ushered in the worst team in baseball history, the hapless New York Mets.

For Stengel it was another year of Mets frustration. From July 7th to July 20th, the Mets lost 10 straight games. They were 29-63 and mired in their traditional last place in the National League. Then something happened. They faced Pittsburgh and Al Jackson outdueled Don Cardwell pitching a two-hit shutout to beat the Bucs 1-0. The following day they beat the Phillies 3-2 with Jack Fischer going the distance, winning in 10 innings when John Stephenson singled to drive home Ed Kranepool with the game winner.

Could the Amazin's be turning it around? Nope. Jim Bunning two hit them and Casey was forced to retire a month earlier than planned due to the hip. Under Westrum's guidance the Mets responded with an 8-1 win over Philadelphia but the euphoria was short lived. The Mets lost the next four and 16 of 18 (including the teams longest losing streak of 11 in a row that season) on their way to a 51-111 finish. Again mired in last place. 

Over 25 years as a manager, Stengel won 1905 games and lost 1842, including 404 with the Mets. He won 10 pennants and seven World Series. Aside from the Yankees and the Mets he managed the Brooklyn Dodgers, the Boston Bees and the Boston Braves. He broke into the big leagues in 1912 as an outfielder with the Dodgers and batted .316, would bat .368 in 1922 for the Giants and finished his career with a respectable lifetime BA of .284. He was a player for 14 seasons. 

Stengel, the Hall of Famer, died in 1975 at age 85. He will forever be remembered as the Pride of New York, whether he argued with an umpire or sat frustrated in the dugout, losing 120 games with the 1962 Mets or for "Stengelese." Say WHAT?! 


Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column. It has been appreciated. 

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.