The Ultimate One Time Match-Up

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TRIVIA QUESTION: In 1963 and 1964 Bill Monbouquette led the American League in one dubious category, with the exact same statistic each year. What was that league leading stat?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Roberto Clemente made his major league regular season game debut April 17, 1955 against the team he originally sighed with; The Brooklyn Dodgers. He went 1-4. The previous game the right-fielder was Roman Mejias, but the regular right fielder in 1954 was Sid Gordon. Gordon moved to third base to make room for Clemente in 1955. It was his final season. Clemente went on a seven game hitting streak and the Bucs were 2-10 when he finally went hitless .

The names Carroll Hardy and Ron Taylor don't strike fear into many people who follow the game of baseball, nor would they ring a bell. Both were journeymen players who spent a combined 19 years in the big leagues. Taylor would finish 45-43 pitching for five teams over 11 years. Hardy would hit .225 with 17 homers while playing for four teams in eight years. But on April 11, 1962 they would clash with perhaps the best they could offer and only one would come out a winner.

It was only the second day of the new season when the Cleveland Indians invaded Boston's Fenway Park to take on the Red Sox. The Indians won the opener 4-0 with ace Dick Donovan going the distance and Hardy picking up two hits in the game. It was only a premonition of things to come. While only 14,000 fans attended Opening Day in Boston, just 2,466 showed up on day two. It was a Wednesday but a paltry showing nonetheless by Red Sox faithful, hardly a nation on this day.

Maybe it was the match-up. Rookie Ron Taylor got the start for the Indians, facing the consistent Bill Monbouquette.  Monbo, a model of consistency, would win 85 games over a stretch of six seasons. Taylor was in for only one of eight games he would pitch for the Indians this season before moving on to the NL.

The game started out hard with Monbo hitting Ty Cline to lead off the game. A strikeout and a double play ended the inning but it was the only "hit" the Indians would get until the sixth when Taylor himself led off with a single. From the mound, Taylor was matching his Boston counterpart pitch-for-pitch. Three harmless singles was all the Sox could muster through six.

The Indians went up and down in the seventh and in the bottom of the inning it looked like Taylor might be faltering. A one out double to Carl Yastrzemski might lead to a score. A fly out and a ground ball left Yaz stranded. The bottom of the eighth was a little shakier for Taylor. A lead off double to Hardy (his first hit of the game) put the seventh man in the order into scoring position. But Taylor struck out Eddie Bressoud and Monbouquette before walking Pete Runnells and getting Chuck Schilling to fly out.

Still, in the ninth and tenth Monbo was masterful allowing only a single and in the bottom of the 10th Hardy singled but was left stranded as his teammates could do nothing with Taylor. Then came the 11th. The Indians were trying to end it right there. A single and three flyball outs however, kept them away from the plate.

The bottom of the 11th saw a pair of Red Sox hits almost lead to a run. Runnels singled but was wiped out by a double play ball. Gary Geiger singled and with Yaz at the plate he was thrown out trying to steal. Too bad because Yaz would lead off the bottom of the 12th with a triple.

The 12th had to do it for the Sox. Monbouquette gave up a single and walk in the top of the inning and he was showing signs of tiring. How much longer was this game to go was anybody's guess? The triple by Yaz gave the few Red Sox fans still in their seats at Fenway, some hope it was going to end.

Taylor was ordered to intentionally walk both Frank Malzone and Russ Nixon to set up a force play at the plate. It gave Hardy a chance to come through and come through he did. Hardy took Taylor deep for a game winning Grand Slam Home Run, Red Sox 4-Indians 0. The pitching was fantastic all the way until that point, with Taylor taking the loss despite giving up 10 hits and three walks. Monbouquette deserved the win certainly, giving up only 4 hits, facing only 43 batters in 12 innings for the shutout win. 

Taylor would pitch only 33 innings that season, or just 21 more, finishing 2-2. After the season he was traded to St. Louis in the deal which brought slugger Fred Whitfield to the Tribe. Hardy, who went 3-for-4 in the game nearly hitting for the cycle with a single, double and homer, driving in all four runs, would finish the season (his only one as a regular in MLB) batting .215 with eight homers and 36 RBI. 

At the same time Taylor was being sent to the NL, Hardy was also on the move, traded to Houston for Dick Williams who would later manage the Sox. Hardy's career ended with Minnesota in 1967. Taylor pitched until 1972 closing it out with the Padres. He had his greatest success as the Mets closer in the late 1960's including the Miracle 1969 season when he was 9-4 with 13 Saves.

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Roberto Clemente's Best

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TRIVIA QUESTION:   When Roberto Clemente broke in with the Pirates in the 1955 season, who did he replace in right field from the 1954 season?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  The three players mentioned in last week's column who became successful major league managers were Whitey Herzog, Yogi Berra and Dick Williams.

It is hard to imagine winning the National League MVP Award and NOT having that particular season be your best. It is arguable when it comes to Roberto Clemente. He won the NL MVP in 1966 leading the Pirates almost to the pennant in what was a "breakout" season for the future Hall of Famer. However, the 1966 season compares favorably to his years in 1961 and 1967.

Clemente was never a home run slugger, preferring to gap the alley's with triples and singles and average more than 200 hits per season. He hit averages above .350 three times in his career. He batted over. 300 in 13 of his 18 seasons, but only cracked the 20 home run mark three times. 

In 1966, he realized the Pirates needed him to drive in more runs with home runs and batting in front of Willie Stargell and Donn Clendenon, it was a natural thing for him to up the slugger totals. So he did. Clemente chose to hit more home runs and in the MVP season he banged 29 of them and drove in a career high 119 while still batting .317. The Pirates didn't win the NL Pennant but were not out of it until the final weekend.

But was it really his best season? He followed it up in 1967 when the rest of the sluggers on the Bucs struggled, by hitting 23 home runs and driving in 110. This time he won the batting title by upping his average to .357, another career high. Pittsburgh faltered in 1967 and Roberto finished third in the MVP voting, losing out to Orlando Cepeda and right behind Tim McCarver of the pennant winning Cardinals. 

 

 Even the 1967 season, while likely his overall best, could be compared to the 1961 season. The Pirates were coming off a World Series victory over the Yankees and were expected to compete again. They did not. They fell to just over .500 at 79-75, finishing in sixth place, 18 games behind the Reds. 

Clemente had a banner year. Following up on a .314 year with 16 home runs, he cranked it up when home runs were not as frequent as they are today. His 23 dingers (second on the team behind Dick Stuart's 35) and .351 batting average (to lead the NL) began to set the Puerto Rican star apart. Before the decade was over, he would win three more batting titles and hit heights of .345, .352 and .357. His only down year was the year of the Pitcher in 1968 and he still hit .291, finishing 10th in batting in the National League. It was the same year the American League winner batted only .301. 

In 1968, using a modern day statistic, he was number one in the NL in WAR, or Wins Above Replacement, at 8.1. He was well ahead of McCovey, Aaron and Mays. In 1967 he was second in WAR behind Ron Santo with 8.9, in 1966 he was third behind Mays and Santo at 8.2. In 1961 he was seventh at 6.2. 

 

It should be noted too, his outfield assists were amazing during this time. In his MVP season he recorded 17 followed by 18. In 1961 long before the amazing reputation about his arm, players chose to try and run on him more often. In 1961 he recorded 27 assists from right field. Now that is amazing. 

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There are NO Ties in Baseball! Well, Yes there Are.

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TRIVIA QUESTION:   No fewer than three of the players in the game told about below became successful Major League Managers. Who were they?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: The pitcher with the most career home runs in the big leagues is American Leaguer, Wes Ferrell, who not only won 20 games or more in six different seasons (25 twice), he smashed 38 homers in his 15 year career. In 1931, while pitching for the Cleveland Indians he won 22 games, belted 9 homers and batted .319. In his career he hit .280.   

 The 1960 New York Yankees were known for scoring runs in bunches. With the likes of Maris, Mantle and the rest, they produced big time. Over the course of the season they scored in double figures 13 times and in the World Series in each of their three wins over Pittsburgh, they scored in double digits. However, it was in a mid-summer rainstorm the Yankees proved no match for mother nature; and the Kansas City Athletics.

Rain was in the forecast from the start on the night of June 15, 1960 at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. And with a 28 mile per hour wind blowing and a light rain falling off and one and more promised, it is a wonder why the umpiring crew and home plate ump Joe Paparella chose to let this game go on. But go on it did.

Yankee ace Ralph Terry squared off against Dick Hall. Terry was his masterful self toiling more than eight innings and giving up four runs, only one earned. That coming on a Jerry Lumpe solo shot in the fourth. The unearned runs scored when relievers couldn't hold men on base after Manager Casey Stengel replaced Terry with one out in the eight.

The Yanks had scored on power as usual. In the first Yogi Berra blasted a two run shot and after Bill Skowron drove home a run with a single in the eighth,  Clete Boyer took Marty Kutyna deep in the ninth. New York had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth when Terry gave way to Bobby Shantz with the bases loaded.

Norm Siebern hit a Sac Fly to drive in a run and Dick Williams drew a walk to load them up again. Shantz then walked Harry Chiti sending Russ Snyder home making it 4-3. Johnny James came in to relieve and couldn't find the plate either, walking Danny Kravitz in his final year in the big leagues, to bring home Whitey Herzog to tie the game at four-all. Andy Carey struck out to end the threat and with no one scoring in the ninth and the rain coming down, the game entered extra innings.

With only 14, 418 people in attendance few were left at this point. Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th, but come the 12th, New York broke out. Ken Johnson started the inning by walking lead-off man Kent Hadley. Mantle came up to pinch hit and drew a walk pushing pinch runner Gil McDougald to second base. When Tony Kubek tried to sacrafice them over and beat out the bunt for a single it looked like curtains for the A's.

Yogi Berra hit into a force play driving in the go ahead run making it 5-4 and Maris finished it off with a single, plating two more, before Skowron hit into an inning ending double play. Still New York had gone ahead 7-4 and the rain kept coming. The umpires looked to calling it but the A's had a final at bat. 

Ryne Duren took the mound for the Yanks and gave up a one out walk to Ken Hamlin. Pete Daley hammered a shot over the outfield wall and the A's were in business down a run 7-6. Duke Maas was brought into face Bill Tuttle and got him on a nearly game tying out to deep right. Lumpe singled to left and advanced to second when Berra's throw was off line.

The A's had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the bottom of the 12th in a game which had by now run 3:24 and with few fans in the stands, were probably wondering "what is the point?" as the rains came down. It was a wet and tired Russ Snyder who worked Maas at this point and he didn't disappoint, smacking a triple to drive in Lumpe. The A's could win it with a hit or an error.

Herzog drew a walk and Siebern was intentionally walked before Williams flied out to end the game. It was 7-7 and the umps had had enough. The game was called a tie and that was that. The Yankees would win the pennant by eight games so the tie did not matter. 

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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.