1962 Giants; Well Rounded Powerhouse

TRIVIA QUESTION: After the 1962 playoff loss, Williams was known as the GOAT (not the Greatest of All Time), and was shipped off after the season to the New York Yankees. Who did the Dodgers get in return for Williams?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In 1962, when Dodger Stadium opened, the final cost to build the latest "new" ballpark was $23 million.

If there was ever a team which showcased the essence of power, hitting, pitching and overall depth and balance it was the 1962 San Francisco Giants. They won 103 games and finished tied with their arch rivals; the Los Angeles Dodgers at the end of the regular season. This was a club which hit 204 home runs led by Willie Mays (49), Orlando Cepeda (35), Felipe Alou (25) and Willie McCovey (20). Four players hit .300 or better and another five batted higher than .290. Mays drove in 141, Cepeda 114. On the mound Jack Sanford won 24 games, Billy O'Dell 19, Juan Marichal 18 and another 16 for Billy Pierce. Only Pierce threw less than 260 innings, which is an amazing statistic by today's standards.

 It really came down to game no. 162. The Giants beat the Astros, 2-1 to win game no. 101. The Dodgers squared off with the Cardinals and if they had won the final game, would have finished with 102 wins and won the pennant. Alas, while Johnny Podres allowed only five Cardinal hits, one of them was Gene Oliver's 14th homer of the year. Curt Simmons meanwhile allowed only five hits and the Dodgers couldn't get a man past second base. The Oliver homer held up and the Dodgers fell to St. Louis 1-0. Thus the Giants and Dodgers ended up in a tie and a best of three game playoff was scheduled.

The two clubs split the first two games and it came down to the final game of the season (no. 165)  with the Giants winning 6-4 in Los Angeles, with Don Larson getting the win over Ed Roebuck.

                                (Game One with a bunch of home runs and a Giants victory.)
It is remembered as boiling down to one of the most frustrating innings in a history of frustration between the two. For Dodger manager Walt Alston it was all pretty much beyond his control as performers must perform, and they did not as Dodgers but they did as Giants.

The game was scoreless until the third when San Francisco scored two runs on three Dodger errors. Starter Podres must have been fit to be tied as he himself got the trouble going with an error.

The Dodgers battled Giant ace Juan Marichal into the eighth, with a home run by Tommy Davis being the only long ball of the contest. The Dodgers forged ahead, getting one run on a Giant error, and into the ninth Los Angeles led 4-2. The Giants used every bit of their depth and Dodger ineptitude going into the sporadic ninth inning.

Matty Alou led off the inning with a single and one out later Willie McCovey drew a walk. A walk to Felipe Alou loaded the bases and Alston decided to leave Roebuck in to face Willie Mays who promptly singled in a run making it 4-3. Stan Williams replaced Roebuck with the bases loaded. The game before Williams had a blown save but ended up picking up the win in a Dodger comeback. In this game he faced Orlando Cepeda who flied out to tie the game with a Sac Fly.

                                   (Williams years later still regretting the walk to Davneport)
Then came the infamous play. Williams uncorked a wild pitch to Ed Baily sending Mays to second and into scoring position, placing runners at 2nd and 3rd.  An intentional walk to Baily set up the killer. Williams then "unintentionally" walked Jim Davenport to bring the go-ahead run across, 5-4. Jose Pagan hit a ground ball to Larry Burright who muffed it for the final error putting icing on the cake 6-4. The Dodgers went quietly in the bottom of the inning, giving San Francisco 103 wins and the pennant. They lost 4-3 to the Yankees in the World Series.

Williams would go on and win 59 more games in his career including an amazing 10-1 (1.99 ERA) for the Twins in 1970, adding 15 Saves. He finished 109-94.

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The New Stadiums of the 1960's

TRIVIA QUESTION: What was the cost of Dodgers Stadium when it was built?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:When the 1967 Angels acquired Don Mincher they also picked up 1B/OF Len Gabrielson for insurance. He only played in a few games before being shipped across town to the Dodgers for the Super Minor Leaguer of the Century, Johnny Werhas. Werhas played half of his major league career in 1967 for the Angels, finishing with a lifetime record of 198 AB's, two homers and .173 BA in 89 career games. Gabrielson would have a couple of his best years with the Dodgers before finally retiring after the 1970 season.


In case you were counting there were a total of 11 new Major League Baseball Stadiums making their debuts in the 1960's. It seems pretty remarkable when you consider until 1960, there were only 16 big league teams in existence. Granted, of the 11, five were built directly for their new expansion teams, three were built as those expansion teams grew older and more profitable, and three were built for teams who moved from other cities. Only one, Busch Memorial Stadium in St. Louis was for a long term existing team.

                                                                (Busch Memorial)
New stadiums needed to be constructed for expansion teams. Colt Stadium was the place debuting for the Houston Colt .45's while Jarry Park became the new home of the Montreal Expos. The expansion San Diego Padres played their home games in Jack Murphy Stadium.

                                                                   (Dodgers Stadium 1962)
When the Braves fled Milwaukee for Atlanta the new park was Atlanta's Fulton County Stadium. The Giants saw the opening of "the Stick" which was Candlestick in San Francisco a couple of seasons after leaving New York. Dodgers Stadium broke ground in 1959 after the team moved from Ebbets Field in Brooklyn to the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. The club occupied the new ballpark starting in 1962.

It would be a couple seasons before the expansion Mets moved into newly constructed Shea Stadium and then came the ninth Wonder of the World; The Houston Astrodome in 1965 for the Astro's who changed their name from the Colt .45's. 

                                                                  (Shea Stadium 1964)
The situation with Robert F. Kennedy Stadium (RFK) in Washington and Texas Arlington is a little convoluted. The original Senators moved to Minnesota, so the new Senators, an expansion team, moved into the new DC Stadium (later named RFK after Kennedy's assassination). They stayed there until they moved from Washington to become the Texas Rangers in Arlington. While the Rangers did not come into existence until the 1970's, the stadium was actually built in the 1960's, so we must include it in the list. The new Washington Nationals would eventually play at RFK decades later. 

There were a lot of firsts. The biggest of which was the first indoor domed stadium; the Astrodome. It was the kind of stadium the Dodgers Walter O'Malley wanted to build in Brooklyn and which would have kept the Dodgers in New York. When he couldn't get it, it sealed the deal to moved to Los Angeles. 

                                                                     (Houston Astrodome)
The Astrodome truly was a wonder. It opened the door to something new; synthetic turf or Astoturf due to the lack of sunlight.  But you could play without the mosquitoes which plagued Colt Stadium, and you could actually play in rain and cold weather. Below is a list of stadiums opened in the 1960s.

Arlington
Atlanta Fulton County
Colt 1962
Astrodome
Jarry Park 
Shea 1964
Busch Memorial 1966
Jack Murphy 1967
Candlestick 1960
RFK 1961
Dodgers Stadium 1962
 

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The Super Duck

                                                   (TEASE: Check out the two videos below.)

TRIVIA QUESTION:  When the 1967 Angels traded Norm Siebern to the Giants the picked up a guy they thought could help out around the outfield and back up Don Mincher at first. Turns out he played a handful of games before being shipped to the Dodgers for another super minor league player. Who were those two players involved in the Dodgers/Angels swap?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  When the Angels released Joe Adcock at the end of the 1966 season, and traded the Twins for Don Mincher, it essentially ended the career of the "other" Angels first baseman; Norm Siebern. Siebern, the lefty hitter, got more playing time than Adcock the right handed slugger in 1966. Siebern batted 336 times in 1966 while Adock batted 231 times.  Mincher's arrival opened the door for younger players and Siebern was shipped off to San Francisco.

 If ever there was a super utility player in the 1960's, it was Dick Schofield, better known as Ducky, or just the Duck. He arrived in Pittsburgh from the Cardinals and before his 1960's career was over, he'd play for six different teams, while in his overall career; seven teams. He had three seperate stints with the club which originally signed him; the St. Louis Cardinals.

Schofield's best season was 1960 when he filled in late in the season for MVP Dick Groat as the Bucs went onto win the National League Pennant. He hit .333 in just over 100 at bats. He matched it in the World Series, going one-for-three against the Yankees as Groat returned to start for the Pirates. 

As a fielder during that memorable season he was adequate in 23 games at shortstop, committing six errors. However, teamed with all-star Bill Mazeroski he did participate in 16 double plays. The Duck fielded flawlessly at the other infield positions when he filled in.

In his only three seasons as a regular, 1963-1965, he batted .246 twice and .209 in the other lackluster year in which he spent most of it with the Giants, after having been traded for Jose Pagan in a swap of shortstops. Pagan would move to third base in Pittsburgh, Schofield remained mostly at short. He did continue to shift around the infield and actually in 1969 played a few games in the outfield. 

San Francisco would sell him to the Yankees who traded him to the Dodgers for Thad Tillotson and after his release the Cardinals picked him up once again. In the same year St. Louis sent him to the Red Sox for Gary Waslewski before going back to the Cardinals for Jim Campbell. He finished out his career with Milwaukee.

Perhaps his greatest achievement in baseball, aside from his longevity and ability to be the Super Utility Player, was his linage. His son, Dick had a good major league career also as a shortstop, and his grandson Jayson Werth did as well. One of the now many three generation baseball families.


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"Tales of My Baseball Youth - a child of the sixties"

for $15 Shipping Included 

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 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.