Padres Pray for Hits

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!

"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 

for a limited time only (through December 31st)

Use PayPal to brillpro@prodigy.net or contact us at the same email for other payment. 

TRIVIA QUESTION:   Ollie Brown ended up with a decent major league career including his best season in 1970 with 34 home runs and a .292 BA. For what MLB team did Brown play before San Diego?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: When the Angels lost Don Mincher to the Pilots in the 1969 Expansion Draft, their search began again for a new first baseman. While 21-year old Jim Spencer eventually won the job, the man who started at first base on Opening Day in 1969 was aging veteran Dick Stuart (Dr. Strange-glove), who incidentally was playing opposite the man he replaced as the Halo's opened the season against Seattle.

Expansion teams aren't supposed to be contenders right away. Most won't offer a polished pitching staff but most will hit, at least to some degree. Then there were the players of the expansion San Diego Padres. 

The year was 1969 and the new San Diego team was far from it's days of Tony Gwynn and Dave Winfield. Gwynn would toy with .400 at one point and offer a lifetime BA of .338. Winfield, before leaving for Free Agency, would hit 154 home runs and lead the NL in RBI with 118 in 1979.  

But that was later and 1969 was now. By the time the 1969 season had come to a close 10 Padres came to the plate and closed the season with a BA of under .200. Included was the team's starting shortstop, Tommy Dean, at .176 in 101 games (308 plate appearances). Few were far better. Starting catcher Chris Cannizzaro stuck it out at .220 while starting second sacker, Jose Arcia batted .215.

On the positive side, powerful Nate Colbert led the team in homers with 24, batting .255 while striking out 123 times (no big deal today but back then over 100 K's was a setback). Downtown Ollie Brown led the hitters at .254, adding 20 dingers, and Ed Spiezio and former Dodger Al Ferrara had double figure home run totals with 27 between them. The basic starting lineup rounded out with Cito Gaston's .230 mark.  

The Padres finished last (12th place) in nearly every hitting category in 1969 including runs, hits, doubles, walks, strikeouts, BA (.225) and every important other percentage statistic including on-base and slugging figures. They were dismal. They finished 52-110, 41 games out of first place. Only eight times did they beat an opponent by five runs or more, but lost by five runs or more 30 times!

Perhaps their season can be summed up this way. Twice they lost to opposing teams 19-0 and twice more 10-0. There were other double digit scoring losses but those embarrassments were the top of the heap for the 1969 Friars. 

The pitching wasn't much better overall but the starters were not bad. Despite losing 20 of 27 decisions 21-year old Clay Kirby finished with a 3.80 ERA. In fact, the four main starters were all under 4.00 in the ERA department. Only one pitcher who pitched any kind of innings however finished with a winning record. Reliever Jack Baldschun was 7-2. 

Of all the players on that inaugural team for San Diego, probably the only offensive player who went on to a strong big league career was Colbert. He hit 173 home runs during his MLB life. On the mound it was Joe Niekro who won 221 games in his career while losing 204. His brother Phil won 318 giving them a combined record of 540-478, which in itself is pretty amazing. 


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 Angels; Search for First Base

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 the California Angels lost first sacker Don Mincher to the Seattle Pilots in the expansion draft, 21-year old Jim Spencer became the regular first baseman for the Halo's in the 1969 season. He didn't do it right away. Rather, he had to take over for another slugging first sacker who opened the 1969 season for the Angels Opening Day against Seattle. Who was he?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Ken McMullen did some slugging of his own during his career with key home runs, but he was no match for the two sluggers he was involved in trades with, who between them belted 968 dingers. For his part McMullen homered 156 times in his career.  In 1964 he went to the Washington Senators in a trade along with Frank Howard (382 HR) and in 1972 he was sent by the Angels to the Dodgers in a deal involving Frank Robinson (586 HR).

In the mid-1960's the Los Angeles Angels were desperately searching for their first baseman of the future. In 1965 they were sort of content to hang on through the season with a pair of 37 year old aging veterans while the search continued. Joe Adcock and Vic Power were at the end of their careers. Both had long track records and good ones, but the Angels were a team hoping to make a move and with developing youngsters and a solid pitching staff the club wanted to improve and develop. All three came with impeccable credentials. All three would fail miserably with time out for a hot streak or two. 

Costen Shockley, one of the cooler names in MLB, was a school boy wonderkid who at 6'2", 200 pounds came to the Angels via a trade with the Phillies. The deal sent playboy Bo Belinksy (a player who had more fun, than wins at the major league level) to Philadelphia for the left handed slugging Shockley.

In the minors Shockley batted .360, .335 and in 1964 smashed 36 minor league home runs. The Phils thought he was ready. He started seven games but hit only .207 with one home run and was shipped back to the minors. At the end of the season he was sent to the AL.

In 1965 he started 30 of the 40 games he played but again failed to hit, batting only .187. He came to the plate 107 times registering 20 hits. The Angels wanted the youngster to go back to the minors for more seasoning and were sticking with Adcock and Power. Shockley refused and instead retired from the game. He went back home to Delaware, worked in construction, coached youth baseball and raised his family. 

His 28 MLB hits included two doubles, three homers and 19 RBI. It wasn't enough to get him to stick in the bigs, but it was enough to get him inducted into the Delaware Sports Museum and Hall of Fame in 1998. 

Before Shockley the Angels tried a player who was seven years older; Charles Henry Dees. Dees came out of Alabama and was also a left-handed thrower and batter like Shockley. At 6'1" he was much lighter at 173 pounds. He came out of the Negro Leagues were he played in 1957 before signing with San Francisco.

Another stalwart in the minors, he had three .300 plus seasons and led the Texas League in 1962, batting .348 with 23 homers and 115 RBI. A TL All-star he was sold to the Angels. The Giants already had Willie McCovey and Orlando Cepeda competing for time at first base and there was no room for Dees. 


The Big Club called him up early in the 1963 season and on May 26th in his first at bat he smacked a double off the A's Orlando Pena, picking up an RBI when Billy Moran came around to score. Over the next 20 games it looked like the Angels found their first sacker. He hit .382 and became the starter at first. It didn't last long. He fell into a long slump and by the end of July was back in the minor leagues. He was hitting .281 when they sent him back down.

He was back up again in September and again went on a hot streak. He had six games with at least two hits and four times had three-hit games. He would finish his rookie campaign .307 in just over 200 at bats.

The 1964 season however was a complete turnaround. Starting less than a handful of games and used as a pinch-hitter the first couple of months he had only a pair of hits, batting .077. He was sent on loan to the Houston organization. He ended up back in the Angels system where he had his biggest success and took off again. He hit .377 at El Paso of the TL, and got another chance to return to the big leagues. After 12 games and a .156 BA he was sent back down where his career ended in 1966.

From the time Moose Stubing signed as an 18 year old first baseman back in the mid 1950's, it was clear he could hit. By the time the Angels called him up in 1967, he had slugged 192 minor league homers with a lifetime BA of .283. In 1964 in the friendly confines of the ballpark in El Paso, he slugged 35 homers, drove in 120 and batted .316. The Angels were salivating over the prospects of the 26 year old. By 1967 he was ready, or so it seemed.

The 1967 season was a big one for the Halo's who were in contention right down to the wire. However, by now they had found their slugging first baseman; Don Mincher. You can see Mincher's career in the video below. Mincher would hit 25 homers during the season but they hoped Stubing would provide some insurance down the stretch.

The Moose came to bat five times and struck out four, failing to register a hit. His major league career was over at age 29. At least as a player. Years later he was offered a chance to manage in the Angels system and was named Pacific Coast League Manager of the Year in 1982 and won the championship in 1984. In 1988 he got the chance to manage the big club when Cookie Rojas was fired. He managed the final eight games of the season, losing all eight.

Stubing became a scout for the Angels and later the Nationals. He died January 19, 2018. Don Mincher's career is seen in the video below.

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.  

Don not Wade Gives Way to Pete Rose

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:   Ken McMullen was traded twice in huge transactions involving two of the most powerful home run hitters of the era. Who were those two sluggers?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: When Nolan Ryan made his Mets debut in 1966 the first hit he allowed in his few inning pitched was to pitcher Pat Jarvis. The first home he allowed was to the Atlanta Braves Joe Torre. Torre would go onto become a batting champ, a great manager and one of MLB's most important executives. 

In baseball the term "journeyman" can be defined in many different ways. Maybe it's a player who plays for lots of teams and just hangs on. Maybe it's a guy who is the player brought in to fill a hole while the club develops a young player. Maybe it's a player who is very valuable in the clubhouse and on the field with versatility. Perhaps it's a player named Don Blasingame.

Don Blasingame was a pretty good second baseman during his time and it looked like he may have been getting ready to settle in after the 1962 season with the Cincinnati Reds. However, the Reds had other plans for that position; a kid name Pete Rose was about to make his MLB debut. It spelled the end of the line for Blasingame in Cincinnati. 

            (at 1:33 of the above video "Don Blasingame leads off the series and loses his bat!)

This wasn't the first time Blasingame would be moved because of a young kid coming up with high expectations, nor would it be the last. As a solid player in St. Louis, he was coming off one of his best seasons hitting .289. The Cards had an up and coming youngster at second whom they picked up in a trade with Pittsburgh. Julian Javier would enjoy a really nice career with the Cardinals for several seasons and was a defensive wiz. Blasingame was expendable and was quickly dealt to the Giants.

He only logged three games with the Giants before being dealt again, this time to the Reds. Joey Amalfitano was locked in at second base and was two years younger than the 29 year old Blasingame. The Giants simply didn't need him and it seems the Reds needed a stop gap player until Rose arrived.

When the Reds shipped him to the Senators he replaced Chuck Cottier and stayed at second base until the 1966 season when the Senators drafted 25 year old Bob Saverine from the Houston Astros and he replaced Blasingame who was now 34 and coming to the end of his career. Saverine turned out to be a bust. He hit .239 in parts of six seasons with several clubs.

It ended when after 68 games played with Washington he was sold to Kansas City in August, played 12 more games and was released in September.  The A's had light hitting Dick Green at second and perhaps were looking for a little insurance. Of course with Charley O. Finley running things you never knew what was going to happen. 

Blasingame's less than illustrious career seemed to chug along well until there was somebody waiting in the wings management felt was just a step better and a shade younger. It should be noted at this point, when he himself became a regular in St. Louis it was at the expense of future Hall of Fame second sacker, Red Schoendienst. Schoendienst was promptly traded to the Giants before going on to a career with the Braves.

Blasingame finished his career .251, 21 homers and 308 RBI and played in one World Series (1961). In his final appearance he got a pinch hit single off Minnie Rojas of the Angels on August 27th, 1966. He did not figure in the scoring. He ended his career the way he started it back on September 20, 1955 when as a lead off hitter for the Cardinals he got a first inning single off Sam Jones of the Cubs. He scored when Solly Hemus followed with a home run. The game ended 2-0.


His major milestone was in a statistic few people think about but it's important. He hit into fewer double plays (one in every 123 at-bats) than anyone in major league history except Don Buford.

There isn't much else to say about Don Blasingame except for these two points; He was not related to the Braves pitcher Wade Blasingame but he was the son-in-law of Walker Cooper. And the other point is probably only significant to this writer; the very first baseball glove I had when I started playing Little League was a "Don Blasingame" Signature Model. Now that is cool. 

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.