Wild Night at the Stick 50 Years Ago

TRIVIA QUESTION:  Dodger-Giants series usually feature players who ended up playing for both teams in their career. In the game below there were four position players who achieved that status; Len Gabrielson, Tom Haller and Ron Hunt were three of them. Who was the fourth? 

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  The player the 1960 Reds would replace at second base while trying out Eddie Kasko with Cliff Cook at third, was none other than controversial Yankee skipper, Billy Martin. From 1957-1961 when he retired as a player, Martin ended up playing for seven different teams. Almost as many times as he was hired and fired by the Yankees as manager. A total of 26 players were involved in those transactions. 

A funny thing happened this week 50 years ago in major league baseball, specifically on July 17th. The Dodgers and Giants did battle; nothing new. They went crazy at Candlestick; not unusual. They scored 27 runs between them? Wow! Even more impressive, Maury Wills and Ron Hunt had 9 RBI between them for opposing teams.

 When the dust settled before less than 14,000 fans that Thursday afternoon, both teams would have 52 wins on the year, with the Dodgers a full game ahead in the loss column. The game started simply enough with Joe Moeller facing Ron Herbal. Neither would make it out of the fourth inning. Moeller gave up nine, while Herbal offered up four and his replacement, Ray Sadecki chipped in with another six. 

Everyone should have figured this was going to be an unusual day when Wills led off the game with a home run. He would triple in the second inning with men on and the Dodgers led 4-2.  In the bottom of the second a pair of singles and two doubles (one by Hunt with men on) gave the Giants a 5-4 lead.

In the fourth the roof caved in on Moeller. With two out he gave up a single to the pitcher; Sadecki. Teddy Sizemore booted a Dave Marshall ground ball and Hunt doubled in another run followed by Bobby Bonds smash over the wall. It was his 19th. Number 20 would come two innings later. No matter what Moeller was leaving losing 9-4.  Al McBean came on to end Moeller's day. 

This was far from over. Things settled down until the sixth when the Dodgers scored on a Ken Boyer double to make it 9-6. In the bottom of the inning Bonds popped his 20th off John Purdin and the Giants surged 11-6. 

The seventh saw the Boys in Blue come roaring back. Eight consecutive men reached base with a pair of Don Mason errors (2b, one fielding, one throwing) and a wild pitch mixed in, with a Wes Parker home run and the local fans were left stunned. It started 11-6 Giants and when the inning came to a close it was 13-11 Dodgers! Also included in the inning was Wills second triple, again with men on base.

Jim Brewer was now on to relieve for Los Angeles and Ron Bryant took over for San Francisco. The Dodgers were ahead and Brewer was looking for a Save, for now. Then with two out and two on in the bottom of the seventh, Bob Burda, who had come in for Willie McCovey blasted a deep drive to right for three runs and a 14-13 Giant lead.

And that was that. Aside from a lone single and a hit batter in the eighth, Bryant dominated in shutting down the Dodgers over the last two innings. He struck out both Bill Russell and Tom Haller looking. 

Only 10 of the 27 runs were scored off the five homers in the game. Wills had 4 RBI, Hunt 5 and Bonds had 5. Brewer took the loss and Bryant got the win. The two clubs likely used up all their hits that day, because the following night in just 2:35 minutes the Dodgers beat the Giants 3-2 behind Bill Singer.

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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.

"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. 

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

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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.     

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. 

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.