Seattle Losers in 20 Innings

TRIVIA QUESTION: Only three Seattle Pilots hit homers in double figures. Who were they?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  The 1969 Mets were full of home grown players including a powerful and future star pitching staff of Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman and Nolan Ryan. Only one pitcher hit a home run for the Mets in 1969's regular season and that was former Cardinal, Phillie and Pirate, Don Cardwell who retired after the 1970 season. Cardwell was no stranger at the plate. In his 14 seasons he hit 15 home runs including five during the 1960 season.

 It wasn't bad enough the Pilots spent only one horrendous year in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee to become the Brewers, but on July 27, 1969 they endured one of the most unlikely finishes a team could handle. Twenty innings of baseball, probably the best baseball this team ever played, only to lose after almost six hours in front of less than 10-thousand fans. Sick Stadium was a ghost town long before it ended.

    (This video is a condensed version of the game.)
 
When Ray Culp took the mound for the Red Sox against Marty Pattin that summer day on the northwest grass field, few figured it would be a marathon. The Pilots had just beaten the Sox the night before 8-5 with Jim Bouton getting his second win and Bobby Locker his 9th save. The day game following was a getaway game for Boston.

The game was scoreless until the seventh with Pattin matching Culp pitch for pitch. Reggie Smith's 21st homer of the season to right field off Pattin made it 1-0. It didn't take the Pilot's long to tie it up. In the eighth Tommy Harper doubled and scored on a single by Steve Hovley. For Harper this was one of his better games. 

The Pilots lead off man would add a single in the 12th for his second hit. But let's not get ahead of ourselves here. Culp would toss 10 strong innings, giving up only 6 hits and two walks along with the lone run. Relieved in the 11th, a string of pitchers followed. Seven more Red Sox pitchers would hold the Pilots scoreless until Jim Lonborg broke the string in the 19th.

For the Pilots, Pattin went eight innings giving up only four hits and walking one before giving way to six other Seattle pitchers including Bouton and Locker, who both pitched just hours earlier. Steve Barber gave up a double to Carl Yastrzemski with a man on to put the Red Sox ahead 2-1. In the bottom of the inning however, it was Lonborg's turn to give in. Jim Pagliaroni singled to drive in Hovley to tie it at two runs each.

Locker was called on to pitch the 20th and maybe he was overworked after pitching the night before. He opened the 20th inning by committing the cardinal sin. He gave up a single to the opposing pitcher, Lonborg. A failed bunt put Rico Petrocelli on first and Joe Lahoud came to bat. Lahoud blasted a homer giving the Red Sox a 4-2 lead. 

It wasn't over yet, by a long stretch. After George Scott singled Garry Roggenburk was called in to relieve Locker. Just 30 days earlier the Pilots had purchased Roggenburk from the Red Sox and here he was in an epic battle with his ex-team. He promptly uncorked a wild pitch. One out later Russ Gibson singled home Scott and it was a 5-2 game. 

When Seattle came to bat in the bottom of the 20th there were not more than a handful of fans left but they were treated to a mini-show. Lonborg struck out Gordy Lund and pitcher Gene Brabender pinch hit for Roggenburk. He struck out too. Harper came up and blasted his 6th homer of the year pulling the Pilots to within two runs. When John Donaldson walked it looked like this game might be headed for more innings. Up came Hovley again and this time Lonborg got him to ground out to third, preserving the Red Sox 20-inning 5-3 win.

Locker took the loss. Harper had three hits in nine at bats. Of the eight runs, half were scored on homers.

Roggenburk actually played five seasons in the big leagues but this was his last. He was 6-9 lifetime with a 3.64 ERA. Hovley's career also lasted five seasons but this was his first. The Seattle Rookie would hit .278 in 1969 with three of his lifetime eight homers coming that year. He'd end up with Kansas City and a lifetime .258 BA. 

Harper was much more successful albeit with several teams equally over 15 seasons. His good seasons included the Reds, the Red Sox and the Pilots/Brewers. The speedy Harper led the AL in steals with 73 in 1969 and Runs Scored with the Reds in 1965 with 126. He later would be atop the stolen base leaders with the Sox. His lifetime BA was .257 and he retired with 408 stolen bases. Culp spent 11 years as a big league pitcher with two 17-win seasons (1969-1970) and retired with a record of 122-101, adding 22 shutouts.
 

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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.     

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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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.     

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.

"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.