Lots of Hart

TRIVIA QUESTION: Jim Hart, Willie Mays and Willie McCovey were the most feared middle three of the NL line-ups during the stretch of 1965-1967, with a total of 302 homers. Which team finished second behind the Giants using the same three players in all three years?   

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:   While the 1962 Detroit Tigers led the American League in home runs with 209, they just barely outpaced the San Francisco Giants who led the NL with 204.

One of the more feared hitters in the middle 1960's, Jim Ray Hart, was the third cog in the San Francisco Giants wheel behind Willie Mays and Willie McCovey. He was the model of consistency for four years, derailed only by his defensive play which eventually moved him off the position where he nearly became rookie of the year; Third Base.

 When Hart arrived on the scene in 1964, so did Dick Allen. Allen also played third base. Hart tied Rico Carty for second place behind Allen who was also know for his defensive lapses. In fact, if truth be told, all three of these players could hit, none could field above average at best.

Hart's consistency looked like this from 1964-1967:

Games played 153, 160, 156, 158
ABats 625, 649, 636, 665,
HR 31, 23, 33, 29
RBI 81, 96, 93, 99
BA .286, 299, .285, 289

His other stats for those years, Hits, Runs, OPS, OBP, Slugging, nearly everything was within a few points of exactness.

However, in one month in particular he was amazing. In July, 1967 his numbers read: .355, 13 HR, 30 RBI. The Giants were only 14-15 in July, however.

On July 7th he single handedly beat the Dodgers and Bill Singer with a two-run homer, 2-1. The next day, against the hated Dodgers, Hart banged two homers and drove in five runs in an 8-4 win. One of the blasts came off Don Drysdale. Five days later he was a one-man wrecking crew blasting two more homers and driving in three in a 5-4 win over the Astros. The following day he belted another.

A few days later in a 3-2 loss to the Cubs he hit no. 18 on the season. Number 19 came against Steve Blass of the Pirates in a loss. On the 22nd he cracked home run no. 20 on the year as they lost to the Cubs. Then he hit two off Fergie Jenkins in a 5-2 win, Hart driving in three of the five, with nos. 21 & 22. No. 23 was offered up by Joe Niekro, no. 24 was Jack Fisher's turn as Hart drove in three runs in a 5-4 Giants win over the Mets. And that was it. Hart garnered only 4 more hits the rest of the month.

Hart was far from adequate at third base and starting in 1968 began stints in the outfield. Jim Davenport was a much better defender and a key cog in the Giants arsenal as well.

Hart's career numbers after the 1968 season never again achieved what he did over the four year mid-60's span. His MLB career ended in the mid 1970's after a closing session with the Yankees, followed by a brief showing in the Mexican League.

After baseball he worked at Safeway Markets as a ware houseman in northern California, retired in 2006 and passed away in 2016. He compiled 170 homers and a lifetime .278 BA. He also had 134 errors at third base in 13 seasons for a .929 fielding average. He was a four time all-star.  

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Tiger Power

TRIVIA QUESTION: While the Tigers led the AL in homers with 209 in 1962, which NL team led the senior circuit in home runs that season with 204?   

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:   When Bill Virdon took over as manager of the Pittsburgh Pirates he replaced long time Bucs' manager and his old friend, Danny Murtaugh.
 

In today's world as it was in the 1960's, it was pretty rare for a team's entire starting line-up to register at least 10 homers in a season - each player banging homers in double figures. The 1962 Detroit Tigers played in a band box stadium, so if any team could, it would be this one. And they did.

A lot of the names in the Tigers' starting nine would not go down as historic; Jake Wood, Dick Brown and Steve Boros as well as Chico Fernandez would have careers, but would never be mistaken for Hall of Famers. Some others would. Al Kaline, Rocky Colavito and Norm Cash could all have reached the Hall with a little luck. As it was, Kaline is the only one who did make the roster in Cooperstown. 

When you look at the dingers this team hit, it is pretty amazing. It was a standout line-up led by Colavito's 39, Cash with 37, Kaline 29, Fernandez knocked 20 while Boros and Billy Bruton had 16 each. Brown and Dick McAuliffe both hit 12. 

The Tigers 209 home runs led the American League. The pitching staff gave up 169 which was bad enough for 8th in the 10 team league. Jim Bunning, Don Mossi and Phil Regan all gave up more than 20, with Mossi and Regan giving up a combined 47 in 350 innings. Bunning at least pitched 258 innings to give up his 28 homers.

Blame a lot of it on Tiger Stadium. At 325' to right and 340' to left with power alleys in the 370' range and 440' to center, it was known as a hitters ball park. It was a true landmark in Michigan and despite it's flaws was a place Detroit fans would flock to, having great memories.

Still the Tigers finished 4th in the AL with a winning 85-76 record and a .255 team batting average (excluding pitchers hitting).  Few would remember the Tiger's manager that year was Bob Scheffing. His greatest success was in leading the 1961 Tigers to a second place finish with 101 wins. He was fired 60 games into the 1963 season, ending his managing career. As a player he was a .263 lifetime hitter.
                                                         "NEW SPECIAL OFFER"
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You can get a signed paper back copy of the above book

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

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

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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 Curious Case for Lead Off

TRIVIA QUESTION:  Who was the manager Bill Virdon replaced when he took over the reigns of the Pittsburgh Pirates the first time?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: While we don't see MLB double headers anymore, it's been a long times since we saw a Triple Header. The first one was played in 1890 between the Brooklyn Bridegrooms and the Pittsburgh Alleghenys. Brooklyn won all three, 10-9, 3-2 and 8-4.  


If ever there was a more curious case for a lead off man in the big leagues there were few more curious than the 1960's lead off hitter for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bill Virdon came to Pittsburgh after being Rookie of the Year in St. Louis and in 1956 had his best season, batting .334. However, what happened when the 1960's rolled around remains a big question mark.

Virdon was a key player in the Pirates World Series victory in 1960. He was an outstanding center fielder on a team where he was flanked by the even more outstanding Roberto Clemente on one side, and the average Bob Skinner on the other. His defense kept him in the line up because as a hitter, and certainly as a lead off hitter, he was sub par.

 (Pirates announcer Bob Prince interviews Pirate players including Virdon)
In the Series he made a game saving catch in Game 4 and other outstanding plays during the series on defense. On offense it was his sharp ground ball which hit Tony Kubek in the throat and opened a big inning for the Bucs.

Until 1965 he never hit over .269 and never had an On-Base Percentage higher than .313. He didn't hit for extra bases, averaging 20 doubles, five triples and six homers from 1961-1965. As a lead off  hitter he was 16-30 in base stealing, actually leading the league with 13 caught steals in 1962.

He eclipsed 80 Runs Scored only twice and was under 60 Runs the other three years. His best hitting year as far as average (a key benchmark in the 1960s) since his breakout 1956, was his last year 1965 (it took him 10 years to achieve achieve better than .269 to finish at .279).

At 34 he came to the end of the road in 1965. It's when the Pirates made perhaps the biggest trade in franchise history sending lefty reliever Joe Gibbon to the Giants for outfield Matty Alou. Alou assumed Virdon's lead off position and his position as the new center fielder.  He quickly established himself as the key to solving the Bucs inconsistent hitting.

Alou led the league in 1966 (his first year with Pittsburgh) with a .342 average, and a .373 OBP. In his first four years in Pittsburgh he would hit .342, .338, .332, and .331 getting edged out by Pete Rose for a second batting title by .003 points. In 1969 he led the NL with 231 hits. 

Virdon came back in 1968 to play in six games going 1-for-3 at the plate, but he did excel as a manager with both Pittsburgh and New York, with stops in Houston and Montreal along the way.  He twice won more than 90 games on his way to 995 wins and .519 winning percentage. Twice he led his teams to first place in their divisions.
 

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Thank you to those of you who purchased my book after reading this column.

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.