Cook-ing Up A Big Red Storm

TRIVIA QUESTION:  In the game mentioned below, Cliff Cook started at third base because the regular third baseman, Eddie Kasko started at second base. Kasko, in replacing the regular second baseman just a few games earlier, was taking over for one of the most controversial managers ever to lead a team in baseball. Who was that second baseman who later managed many teams successfully?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  While Walter Alston won World Series titles in 1963 and 1965, his prowess began in 1955 when he managed the Boys of Summer taking Brooklyn to its long awaited first championship. His other World Series title was over the 1959 Go-Go Chicago White Sox. He won four World Series and three other NL pennants; 1956, 1966, 1974. He took over the Dodgers in 1954 and gave way to Tommy Lasorda with four games left in the 1976 season. He managed the club to 88 wins in his final season and passed away in 1984.

 The 1960 Reds were a strange team. They would finish in sixth place but over the course of the season they were involved in 17 games where either Cincinnati or it's opponent scored at least 10 runs. The Reds were on the winning side of 8 of those 17 games. None however were more bizarre than on Sunday August 7th against the St. Louis Cardinals. It was the first game of a double header.

It was a day little known Cliff Cook, a lifetime .201 hitter, would have a career day. The game started off harmless enough. The Reds sent seven game winner Jay Hook to the mound against the Cardinals Larry Jackson. Jackson was gunning for his 14th win. The Cardinals would strike first.

Stan Musial drew a walk leading off the bottom of the second and Walt Moryn took Hook deep to right for his sixth homer of the year. The Cardinals had staked Jackson to a 2-0 lead. It wasn't to last long. 

In the top of the third three straight hits including doubles by Vada Pinson and Wally Post, plus a fly ball by Gordy Coleman led to a pair of runs to tie the game. Cook singled in Post to put the Reds ahead of the Redbirds and before the dust settled both Leo Cardenas and Eddie Kasko got hits and drove in runs as the Reds batted around. Ron Kline relieved Jackson to end the inning but the Reds had scored seven to take a 7-2 lead.

Post doubled again the fourth, Ed Baily drove in a run and Cook hit a sacrifice fly to drive in another. The Cards scored a run in the bottom of the fourth on an RBI single by Kline who was destined to take the brunt of the Reds assault in game one.

Two innings later Post hit his third double of the game and Cook drove him in with a double of his own as the Reds upped their lead to 13-3. The eighth inning saw Cook slap a single for his fourth hit. He was forced out at second but singles by Frank Robinson, Roy McMillan and a walk to Harry Anderson loaded the bases for Jerry Lynch. Lynch promptly took Kline deep for a grand Slam and an 18-3 Reds lead. 

The Birds would score one in the ninth to make it 18-4 but not before Cook got the chance for a sixth plate appearance to which he promptly singled for his fifth hit of the game. 

For Cook, mainly a third baseman, the game constituted five of his 80 lifetime hits and 4 of his career 35 RBI. He'd finish the game 5-for-5, two runs scored and four RBI. The 1960 season was his most productive, batting 161 times. He was traded to the Mets in 1962 along with Bob Miller for Don Zimmer. He was out of baseball after the 1963 season after batting just .142. 

For Kline, a journeyman pitcher who started and relieved over 18 years for nine different clubs,  the game was a disaster. In five-plus innings, he gave up 11 hits, 11 runs, nine earned. At least he was spared the loos, suffered by Jackson. 

In the night cap, the Cards found revenge with a 4-2 win. Kline mercifully had the night off. Cook went 0-for-3 and was lifted for pinch-hitter Lynch in his fourth at bat. Interestingly enough, it was in the ninth when manager Fred Hutchinson sent three consecutive pinch-hitters to the plate with only limited success (Frank Robinson drew a walk).

The Reds would finish in 6th place in 1960, 67-87 and 28 games back of pennant winning Pittsburgh.

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Walter Alston, Dean Among Managers

TRIVIA QUESTION:  How many World Series titles did Walter Alston's clubs win during his career?  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  While first sacker Jim Gentile made his main mark with the Baltimore Orioles, it was the Brooklyn Dodgers who signed him originally. After a season in Los Angeles he was traded to the O's. 

No one could ever deny having great pitchers such as Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale made the basis of a winning team, but it takes a great manager to make that base into a formidable unit lasting more than a decade. While Walter Alston's teams won 2040 regular season games during his 23 year stint managing the Dodgers, 878 of those came in the decade of the 1960's.

Aside from finishing in 8th place twice at the end of the decade (after Koufax retired) and one 7th place finish, Alston won three pennants and finished in second place twice from 1960-69. His two World Series titles speak volumes as well. 


He didn't have the hitters Ralph Houk of the Yankees had. Houk also had the likes of Whitey Ford and other substantial pitchers. Alston stressed speed, pitching and defense along with a history of making the right moves at the right time.

In a game against Pittsburgh for instance in 1965, with the game scoreless in the 10th, he let pitcher Koufax lead off the bottom of the inning! Koufax drew a walk from Don Cardwell and came around to score the winning run. His mastery of using Maury Wills, whose On Base Percentage never reached higher than .355, to lead off and terrorize pitchers with his base stealing prowess, was masterful. Wills led the league in steals six times in the 1960s.

Dodger baseball in the mid 1960's basically consisted of the following. Wills walked, he stole second, Jim Gilliam sacrificed him to third and Willie Davis hit a sacrifice fly to bring Wills home. Koufax pitches a shutout and the Dodgers win 1-0. 

Alston was at his best in the middle years considering he won both pennants in 1965 and 1966. The 1965 team, which went on to beat the Twins in the World Series, finished in 7th place in NL hitting at .245 and a paltry 78 home runs. The 1966 team fared much better with 108 dingers and a .256 team BA. Still 8th in the league in homers, they were crushed by the O's in the Series 4-0.

During the 60's the club for the most part hung around the middle to bottom of the pack as a hitting team. Early on they did get strong years from Tommie Davis, Frank Howard and some others but pitching and defense is what held the Alston clubs together. The 1967 season was probably the Skipper's most frustrating. 

After losing Koufax, who retired after the 1966 season, due to arthritis, Drysdale remained strong despite his 13-16 record. Hitting was non existent as the club only smacked 82 home runs and finished 10th in team batting at .236, even lower the following year. In the year of the pitcher (1968) they only hit 67 homers with a .230 BA.

It was change which permeated 1967. The club traded Wills to Pittsburgh and Gene Michael took his place batting .202, while the newly acquired Bob Baily didn't deliver (.227), Koufax was gone, Gilliam retired and Ron Hunt arrived. Ron Fairly declined to hit .220, Wes Parker had an off season and while the pitching held up, only 23-year old Bill Singer had a winning record among the starters, 12-8. The team leader in home runs was part-time outfielder, Al Ferrara who belted 16 in only 122 games. He also lead the squad in batting .277.

Alston would manage through the 1976 season, winning one more pennant in 1974. By the way he spent his entire career as a manager on a one year contract, year to year. 

"NEW SPECIAL OFFER"
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

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 

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

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1961 O's, Gentile but Hard Luck

TRIVIA QUESTION:  First baseman Jim Gentile became a star player only after he was traded from the team which originally signed him. Name the team he signed with, and which sent him to Baltimore.  

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  While the three teams battling it out for the National League pennant in 1964 had numerous 19-game winners on their pitching staff, only the Cardinals Ray Sadecki won 20. He finished the season 20-11 with a 3.68 ERA.

It must be tough if you are a fan when your teams wins 95 games and is not even close to winning the pennant. Imagine being Jim Gentile in 1961 and having the season of your life, only to see your very good club finish out of the money, way out of the money. Such were the 1961 Baltimore Orioles. Diamond Jim did get some "respect" a number of years later!

The reason the 95 win Orioles were destined to finish in third place, 14 games out of first, were two fold. The Yankees won 109 and the Tigers won 101. If the O's felt bad, how about Detroit. They had 101 wins and were still eight game back at the end. 

The Orioles started off slowly but recovered nicely by mid season. At the half way point they were 44-36 and already seven games out of first. It didn't help the club began the season losing five of their first six. The second half is where the club stood out. They won 51 games after the midway point including streaks of 9-of-11, 14-0f-17, along with several five game win streaks and no substantial losing runs.

Good pitching and a solid offense led by Gentile kept them in it all the way. Gentile had a career year, blasting 46 home runs, driving in 141 (see video above, originally 140 RBI) to lead the league with Roger Maris, while batting .302. He scored 96 in 148 games. The 27 year old first sacker seemed headed for greatness.   He would never again achieve such lofty heights, however. A 19-year old Boog Powell would push him from the bench. 

Gentile did hit 85 home runs over the next three seasons but never again batted over .251. He was out of baseball in 1966 finishing with 179 home runs, one fourth of which came in the 1961 season. His lifetime BA of .260 and his 549 RBI were reflective of the fact 25-percent of his ribbies came in the "61 season, as well.

Jackie Brandt, Whitey Herzog and Brooks Robinson all had good seasons at the plate, surrounded by a cast of average players who bounced around the big leagues. Ron Hansen, Gus Triandos and Dick Williams were among them. Interestingly enough, two of the better managers to lead clubs in the big leagues were on this team in Williams and Herzog.  

On the pitching side, the staff was led by four pitchers who would not see their 24th birthday in the 1961 season. Steve Barber was the ace with 18 wins (23 years),  Jack Fisher (22), Milt Pappas (22), Chuck Estrada (23) and the old man of the staff at 36 years old was Hal Brown. They all won in double figures capping 66 wins between them.

The bullpen saw the aging Hoyt Wilhelm with 18 saves. Three "relievers" pitched over 100 innings but only Wilhelm did it all in relief. Billy Hoeft and Dick Hall did start 25 games between them. Wes Stock did a good job with his 5-0 record and three saves. Hoeft was marvelous, recording a 2.02 ERA, seven wins and three saves. His 1.16 WHIP would standout in any time frame. Hoeft won 20 games as a starter for Detroit a handful of years earlier.

In fact, Pappas, Brown, Stock, Wilhelm, Hoeft and Hall were all at 1.18 or below when it came to WHIP. It was a strong staff and a good solid team, and while it lacked the name power of the Yankees and Tigers, the 1961 Baltimore Orioles were a solid club which deserved better. 

It is interesting to note, Paul Richards led them to 89 wins and second place, finishing behind the Yankees in 1960. He was replaced by Lum Harris with 27 games to go on the teams way to finishing third despite improving by 6 wins in 1961. Richards left the team on September first to take over as GM of the new Houston Colt .45's. The 1962 season saw the Orioles, under Billy Hitchock fall to 77 wins and a 7th place finish of the 10 teams. 


"NEW SPECIAL OFFER"
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book "Beating the Slump; An athlete's guide to a better career." See it on Amazon for only $5.99. That is for the Paperback, you can also order Kindle on that link. You can also order paperback copies directly from me via the email below for my other books.

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 

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.

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.