Death on the Diamond - Houston

TRIVIA QUESTION: Aside from the players named in this column, three other players died while active players in the 1960's. Who were they? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  Pitcher Jack Fisher, who lost 24 games for the Mets in 1965 and who had only one winning season in the big leagues (1960 when he was 12-11) gave up two very significant home runs in his career. He gave up a dinger every 10 innings in his career and in 400 games allowed 193 of them. On September 28, 1960 in the bottom of the 8th, he gave up a home to Ted Williams. It was Teddy Baseball's last at bat ever. In traditional fashion, Fisher took the loss. Almost a year to the day later (Sept. 26), Fisher faced Roger Maris. In the third he gave up a homer to Maris, no. 60 which tied Babe Ruth for the most homers in a season and to then the only other player to reach 60 in a season .

Sad as it seems, the Houston Colt .45's seemed to be snake bit when it came to players who took to the field for the club in the 1960's and died while still active. Walt Bond, Jim Umbricht and Jay Dahl all left the diamond too soon, and all were active at the time of their death.

Bond was just 29 and had been released by Houston. He died as a Minnesota Twin from Leukemia, Umbricht was still pitching for the Astro's when cancer took his life at 33, while the 19 year old Dahl was killed in a car crash, trying to return to the big leagues with Houston.

Bond's career showed signs of brilliance but the blood disease took its toll. A rookie for the Cleveland Indians in 1960 his debut was less than spectacular. He batted .221 in 40 games, was used much less the following season but in 1962 was called up at the tail end of the year. He hit six home runs in just 54 AB and batted .380. 

1963 saw him in the US Army where he was diagnosed with the disease. His contract was sold to the Colt .45's as it seemed the disease was actually in remission. It was in 1964 he had his best season. His 20 homers and .254 BA with 85 RBI seemed to set him on his way. The following year his average improved to .263 but his power fell off to just seven dingers. It prompted teammates to wonder if the disease was back. 

He continued to slump in 1966 and was sent to the minors where he starred again. Aware of his ailment the Astros and Twins made a deal. His contract was sold to Minnesota and after only 10 games and a .310 BA he was released. He caught on with a minor league club but soon was in the hospital again and he died in September in Houston.

Umbricht came to the Pirates in 1959 and pitched only 50 non-de script innings before being selected by Houston in the 1961 expansion draft with the 35th pick. He had his best season (1962) right off the bat as a reliever with a 4-0 record and 2.01 ERA in 34 games. He Saved two.  

(Umbricht's 1964 Topps card was updated to mention his death.)
In the off season he was diagnosed with malignant melanoma in his right leg. His comeback in 1963 after surgery was the stuff dreams were made of. At age 32, often pitching in excruciating pain,  he was 4-3 in 76 innings with a 2.61 ERA. His health went down hill soon and he died in a Houston hospital in April, 1964. His ashes were spread over the construction site of the Houston Astrodome. His number 32 was retired by the club and the team wore black armbands during the 1964 season.

Dahl's case was even more tragic if that can be said of anyone's death. He was just 19. Drafted right out of high school, Dahl dominated in a quick minor league stint with a 5-1 record. His only loss was a one-hitter. Perhaps for publicity and to draw in the fans, perhaps because he was such an outstanding prospect, the Colt .45's brought up the 17 year old right away and gave him his first and only big league start. It was against the Mets on September 27, 1963. 

Dahl was part of an all-rookie line up for Houston that night. It was the first time, after the very first season of major league baseball, this was done. The starting line-up consisted of Sonny Jackson, Joe Morgan, Jim Wynn, Rusty Staub, Aaron Pointer, Brock Davis, Glenn Vaughan, Jerry Grote and Dahl. Vaughan by the way was the only player in the starting line-up aside from Dahl, who only played this one major league season, playing in just eight other games.

The young pitcher never made it out of the third inning. After a scoreless first, he gave up three runs in the second and four more in the third before being removed with two out. In all, his entire major league career was that game in which he went 2.2 innings, gave up seven runs (five earned), seven hits and a wild pitch. 

Back problems caused him to sit out the 1964 season but he was back pitching for Salisbury in 1965. He was 5-0 and seemingly back on his way to the big leagues. He had just pitched his team into first place. Later that night, June 20, 1965 he was celebrating with two friends after seeing a movie. Teammate Gary Allen Marshall was driving his GTO with Dahl and a 20-year old female companion apparently at a high rate of speed. The car hit some sand on the roadway and skidded out of control, hitting a tree.

Dahl and the woman were both killed, Marshall survived but was blinded. He would go into the ministry later in his life and died at age 62. In his only minor league season he was 3-4 in 52 innings.

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Spahn's 23 Wins at Age 42

TRIVIA QUESTION: Based on last week's column, in addition to being a 20 game loser, Jack Fisher gave up two very significant home runs in his career. Which were they?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: While Tom Seaver was the first New York Met to ever win 20 games, it was left up to teammate Jerry Koosman to become the second Met to reach the 20 win milestone, going 21-10 in 1976. Before you jump on the bandstand and call for my head, yes Tom "Terrific" did win 20 or more four times before Koosman did it once.

By the time 1960 rolled around, Warren Spahn had already won 20 or more games in a season nine times. He was 39 years old when the 1960 season began and no one could have foreseen the Braves hurler would add three more 20 win seasons to his total. No one in their right mind would expect him to match his single season record of 23 wins at the age of 42, in 1963.

The '63 season was a rather strange one for the Milwaukee Braves. The starting pitching was not bad but not spectacular, aside from Spahn. Spahn completed 22 of his 33 starts for 259 innings on his way to a 23-7 record. Overworked Denny Lemaster registered a 3.04 ERA but pitched 31 of his 46 games as a starter. His 11-14 record showed his overwork. The bullpen was a mess. 

   (Spahn's 300th win)
On the offensive side of the ledger, the usual suspects performed as usual. Hank Aaron had 44 homers again to match his uniform number, Eddie Mathews hit 23 and drew nearly as many walks (124) as hits (144).

After Aaron's .319, Joe Torre clocked in at .293 and Lee Maye hit .271, but the rest of the squad was mainly under .250.  No one on the bench batted better than .236 and most were not good defenders.

So how in the world did the ace of the staff, 42-year old Warren Spahn win 23 of his teams 84 wins. The Braves finished 84-78 in sixth place.

The Braves could score runs in bunches and while there were a couple close games early on, Spahn was 4-1 by the end of April. Included was a 4-hit shutout of the Phillies. In May he was 3-2. June saw him pick up a 4-0 record with a pair of three-hit shutouts. Again he blanked the Phillies and then shutout the Dodgers, besting Don Drysdale 1-0.

July was a little sloppy for Milwaukee but the ace still managed a 2-2 record with another shutout, this time against the Astros. He was unstoppable in August taking it to a 5-0 record. September was magnificent with a 5-2 record. There was a 3-hitter to shutout the Cubs and then on the final day of the season, with nothing hanging in the balance, he bested the Cubs and Bob Buhl just eight days after blanking the Cubs and Larry Jackson. This time it was a three hitter 2-0 in 1:38. 

He was pitching like he was double parked and ready to head on home. He did in grand fashion. Two years later he retired, having won only 13 more games, the final season with the Mets and Giants. He was 44 years old, and finished with 363-245 record. His 3.09 ERA was strong and his 363 wins is good enough for 6th all time, and of course Cooperstown.


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PItchers Who Lose 20 Games Are Good

Just a side note: this is column No. 100 in our weekly efforts "baseball in the 1960s," and we thank you for your support as loyal readers! - Bob Brill

TRIVIA QUESTION: Tom Seaver was the first Met to win 20 games. Who was the second?   

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:   While Jim Mudcat Grant was the first American League pitcher to win 20 games, the first to do it in the National League was the Dodgers Don Newcombe.

It's been said "you have to be a pretty good pitcher to lose 20 games in a season." If that were the case then both Al Jackson and Roger Craig should be put into the Hall of Fame. The statement, attributed to some baseball expert, basically means if you are good enough to be such a big part of the pitching staff that you lose 20, there must be a whole lot of guys worse than you on that staff.

It's not that Craig and Jackson were so good, or even so bad for that matter, it's just they both played for the lowly New York Mets early on. During the 1960's they each lost 20 games not once, but twice. 

Jackson, the lefty, was 8-20 in both 1962 and 1965. Craig, the Brooklyn Dodger holdover was 10-24 in the inaugural 1962 season and 5-22 in 1963.  A total of 16 times a pitcher lost at least 20 in the 60's. Craig's 24 topped the list along with Jack Fisher who lost 24 in 1965. Yes, Fisher too played for the Mets. Six times a Mets' pitcher lost 20 during the era. The other was Tracy Stallard's 20 (10-20) losses in 1964. Stallard, of course, was best known for giving up Roger Maris' 61st homer in 1961.

It is difficult even now to imagine how bad New York was and for how long. It wasn't until the 1969 break out year when the Mets finally moved into the first division, people began to look at the club in a different light. 

October 2, 1966 was a monumental day in Met-dom. The club would finish for the very first time NOT in last place. In typical Mets fashion however, they lost a double header to Houston on that final day of the season to do it. Their 66-95 record placed them 28.5 games behind the Dodgers, and the Cubs would be the only club behind them at 59-103. The Cubs got the dubious distinction of being the first club to ever in history finish lower than the Mets.

Craig, for his part had a career in Brooklyn and Los Angeles, winning 49 games for the Dodgers before moving to the expansion Mets. He would win 15 with New York and another 10 before calling it a career with other teams. He'd close it out 74-98 with a respectable 3.83 ERA. Take away his NYM losses and he'd have a 74-54 record.  

Jackson, who was a big winner in the minor leagues before being called up by the Pirates for a brief pre-Mets stint, had his best season with the Cardinals. After moving to St. Louis, the 1966 season saw him at 13-15 with a 2.51 ERA. Pitching mostly out of the bullpen the following year he was 9-4 but ended back with the Mets for the 1968 season. 

After making only one appearance for the Mets in the 1969 season, he was sold to Cincinnati in June, therefore missing the chance to play in the World Series with New York. It would have been a fitting opportunity for Jackson, who was there at the beginning and was obviously one of the best pitchers those early New York teams had. It wasn't to be. He finished 67-99 with a 3.98 ERA. For a pitcher known for losses, he at least failed to reach 100 losses. 

In fact, all four of those 20 game Mets' losers were not around with the club in 1969. 

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