1969 Mets Utility Keys

TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the only Mets pitcher to hit a home run during the regular season in 1969?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There have only been three tie games in the World Series in the modern era (starting in 1903) and the New York Giants played in two of them. In 1907 the Cubs and Tigers played a tie game in a series won by Chicago 4-0-1. In 1912 the Red Sox beat the Giants in eight games including the tie while in 1922 the Giants were victorious over the Yankees in five games 4-0-1.  

The thing which made the 1969 World Series so interesting, aside from the fact the METS had finally won something, were the players who were key in the clutch. While the Mets played through the regular season with mostly home grown talent, in the World Series it was a handful of cast offs who made the difference.

The regular season Mets won 100 games with mostly players brought up through the system. They may not have been spectacular players but they led the way. Jerry Grote was acquired from Houston and kept the pitching staff in stride all season long from behind the plate. Tommy Agee was picked up from the White Sox (who got him from Cleveland) and he led the club in homers with 26 and batted .271.

Of the 109 homers the club hit, 69 were by guys the team acquired via trade or waivers. Agee led the team in RBI with 76 and as a whole the team batted a lowly .242, good for seventh in the National League. Art Shamsky did hit .300 in a limited role, playing in 100 games.

When it came to the World Series some of the keys were Donn Clendenon (acquired from Montreal after being left unprotected in the expansion draft by Pittsburgh), Ed Charles the former KC A's third baseman, Al Weis who was an all around utility player with the White Sox, Shamsky who once hit four consecutive home runs with the Reds, J.C. Martin of the White Sox and Don Cardwell who pitched for several teams before joining the Mets.

Of those cast offs who led the Mets to the Series win over the Baltimore Orioles, there is no doubt Weis and Clendenon were the biggest contributors. Weis, a career .219 hitter, stroked .455 with a homer and three RBI on five hits. Clendenon, who once hit 28 homers in Pittsburgh, had five hits while batting .357. But what hits he had, including a double and three home runs while driving in four and scoring four.

It was Weis and Clendenon who personally beat the O's in Game Two as the Mets edged Baltimore 2-1. Clendenon had a solo homer and Weis drove in the winning run with a single to back the pitching of Jerry Koosman. Clendenon's two run blast and a solo shot by Weis provided the difference in the Mets Game Five Series clincher, 5-3.

While it was a total team effort (who can forget Ron Swoboda's diving catch) with the Mets pitching being superb, there is no denying Donn and Al were to become folklore heroes. Clendenon would close out his career in 1972 with the Cardinals. He hit 159 homers and had a .274 BA lifetime. His biggest problem was his strikeout ratio. Five times he struck out over 100 times (this was huge in the 1960s), twice leading the league.

Weis retired after the 1971 season. His lifetime .219 batting average coupled with only seven homers during the regular season over a 10 year career, wasn't much to write home about. He came to the Mets in the Tommy Agee trade.

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The First Modern Playoffs 50 Years Ago

TRIVIA QUESTION: In the modern era (beginning in 1903), there were only three tie games in the World Series. One team was involved in two of them. Which team was it?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  Luis Aparicio began his big league career with the Chicago White Sox, played with the Orioles as a key asset in the mid-1960's including the World Championship year, before moving back to the White Sox. He finished his career playing three years in a Boston Red Sox uniform.  

It may be hard to believe but until 1969 baseball pennants were decided by the two best records in the National and American Leagues. In 1969 baseball expanded and the first playoffs were established 50 years ago! It was October 4th, 1969 when the first divisional playoffs began. The Twins faced the Orioles in Baltimore and the Mets took on the Braves in Atlanta.

(Hank Aaron hits two run homer in Game Three of the 1969 Playoffs)

In the NL series it was Mets ace Tom Seaver against Braves ace knuckle-baller Phil Niekro. Two future Hall of Fame pitchers squared off and while both pitched all but an inning or two, neither was really effective. Seaver gave up five earned runs in seven innings, Niekro gave up nine but only four earned in eight innings. 

The first run of the game was scored in the second when the Mets Art Shamsky singled, Ken Boswell drew a walk and Jerry Grote singled home Shamsky. Boswell scored on a passed ball and the Mets led 2-0. The Braves played it close for a while but despite solo homers by Hank Aaron and Tony Gonzalez, the Mets won it 9-5. 

The big inning came in the eighth with the scored tied at four. The Mets scored five runs, four earned (an Orlando Cepeda error) to put the game away as only the Mets could do. New York went on to sweep the three game series and face the Orioles in the World Series.

The AL series was all about the power of the O's. Jim Perry opened against Mike Cuellar and Perry was brilliant except for one pitch; the gopher ball, three of them. He gave up solo homers to Frank Robinson, Boog Powell and of all people light hitting, Mark Belanger. For their part the Twins were playing pretty much the same game. Tony Oliva's homer provided two of the Minnesota runs. The other came when Oliva doubled, took third on an error and scored an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by Bobby Allison.

With the Twins leading 3-2 in the ninth Powell led off the bottom of the inning with a dinger to tie it, 3-3. The game almost ended in regulation. Brooks Robinson singled and went to second on an error. Another error put runners at first and second. A ground ball later put Robinson on third with two out. Believe it or not he was out trying to steal home.

The Twins loaded the bases in the 12th but veteran Dick Hall struck out Leo Cardenas and got Johnny Roseboro to fly out. The bottom of the 12th saw Belanger single off Ron Perranoski. Andy Etchebarren bunted him to second and one out later Paul Blair laid down a bunt, beat it out for a single and Belanger came around to score the winning run, 4-3.

The Orioles would go on to face the Mets in the Series only to lose to the Amazin's in the first National League World Championship for New York in more than a decade.

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1967 Orioles - Top to Drop

TRIVIA QUESTION: One of the key players in the Orioles 1966 run to the World Series, would finish his career with three seasons playing for the next team to win the AL pennant; the Boston Red Sox. Who was that player?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  While Frank Robinson's 1966 Triple Crown year gave him 49 home runs to lead the AL, he was followed by Harmon Killebrew with 39, and teammate Boog Powell who hit 34.

While the 1966 Baltimore Orioles were a barn burner led by Frank Robinson's Triple Crown season, the 1967 season was a super flop. No one could have expected Robinson to repeat but his .311 average coupled with 30 homers and 94 RBI was nothing to sneeze at. The rest of the team, especially the pitching, simply fell apart. 

 The Orioles went from on top of the world to sixth place the next year. They went from 34 games over .500 to nine games under .500. What happened?

Only one pitcher, Tom Phoebus won in double figures. His 14 wins at least doubled everyone on the staff except Jim Hardin who was a major bright spot. Hardin, a 23 year old rookie, led the starters with a 2.27 ERA in 111 innings while going 8-3. Aside from the continued dominance of Moe Drabowsky as the closer (1.60 ERA in 95 innings) the rest of the staff was pretty much a disaster. Injuries didn't help.

Jim Palmer (a 15 game winner in 1966), Dave McNally, Wally Bunker and Steve Barber combined for 48 wins in the championship season. They had 17 in 1967. The bullpen remained fairly solid but overworked. Palmer only pitched 49 innings due to arm problems and was actually sent to the minors and then had surgery before restarting his Hall of Fame career.

At the plate, Boog Powell went from 34 homers to 13, Russ Snyder went from .306 to .236, Luis Aparicio dropped 40 points and stole fewer bases because of it, while Curt Blefary, Paul Blair and Andy Etchebarren all were very close to the previous season's marks. Brooks Robinson was almost exactly the same at .269 and hitting 23 and 22 home runs. His teammates didn't help. In 1966 he drove in 100 but only 77 the following season. 

The bench did under perform but the club made only a handful more errors and gave up only three fewer earned runs than the previous season.  Perhaps the best explanation after the injury and pitching woes were the Red Sox. It was Yaz's time to take over the Triple Crown and Boston finished 15+ games ahead of the Orioles and went on to face the Cardinals in the World Series.

Hardin by the way would win 18 games the following season and win 17 more the rest of his career, never again matching his first two seasons.  

"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.