Cubs Double Duo

TRIVIA QUESTION: During the 1960 season only three Chicago Cubs hit at least 10 home runs. Ernie Banks had 41, George Altman 13 and a third player belted 21. Who was that player?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There were two brothers who played over a two year period for different expansion teams in the 1960s; Bob and Ken Aspromonte. Ken, who came up with Boston in 1957 played for the expansion Angels in 1961, and Bob, who came up as a Brooklyn Dodger in 1956 went on to play with Houston's Colt 45's in 1962. Ken was actually taken in the expansion draft by Washington and then traded to Los Angeles. Bob was drafted by Houston from the Los Angeles Dodgers. 

From 1965 to 1973 the Chicago Cubs were blessed with one of longest running double play combinations of the modern era. While the duo of Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley were setting records in Pittsburgh in the 1960s, the pair of Don Kessinger at short and Glenn Beckert at second were turning them over game after game. They also put up numbers at the plate to drive the Cubbies for years.

While Beckert debuted in 1965, Kessinger came up a year earlier for a cup of coffee. Neither one of them hit their first year together for much of an average, but it was obvious the Cubs were planning their infield around this pair. With Ron Santo at third and Ernie Banks at first, they were just about the most solid and consistent infield in the big leagues.

Kessinger's .201 and Beckert's .239 that 1965 season were not spectacular but the following seasons were different. Starting in 1966 the light hitting Kessinger would average about .250 while his counterpart would be up around .285, occasionally crossing the .290 mark. It was in the field however where they did the most damage.

Beckert twice would cross the 100 mark in double plays turned from 1966-1968 with two other seasons registering 89 each. Kessinger would reach 101 and 97 with a few other seasons right around 70. They were not anywhere near perfect. Kessinger's errors were pretty consistent with one season (1966) reaching 35. Between them they averaged about 50 errors per season. Today that would drive their market value down to someplace around "we're moving you to left field" to give some kid a chance. This was the 1960's however, and with Banks and Santo anchoring the corners, the Kessinger-Beckert duo stuck around a long time.

Beckert won a Gold Glove and appeared in four All-star Games. Kessinger appeared in six All-star games and won two Gold Glove Awards. He was also named the recipient of the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award. In 1968 and 1969 Kessinger led the NL in double plays at Short, while in 1968 Beckert was second in the category to Cookie Rojas of the Phillies. 

Between them they played the most games at their positions during the time period, than most others, and together it seemed like they were one name; Kessinger/Beckert. In 1968 Beckert led the NL in runs scored. In 1969 Kessinger led the league in games played at Short, double plays, put-outs, assists, errors and fielding percentage! Now that is an accomplishment.

Kessinger would retire after 16 seasons, spending his last few years with the Cardinals and the White Sox, while Beckert would call it a career after 11 seasons. The final two were with the Padres. While neither will make the Hall of Fame, there is no denying their impact on the late 1960s Chicago Cubs, helping the club to a second place finish and a pair of third place finishes from 1967-1969. 

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Expansion Vs. Free Agency - the 1960s

TRIVIA QUESTION: Which two brothers played for expansion teams over a two year span,  during the 1960s?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There were two teams in the 1960s which had three World Series appearances. They were the Dodgers and the Orioles. The New York Yankees led all Series teams with five.

Today when it comes to the wholesale movement of players we talk about "free agency." In the 1960s the wholesale movement of players only happened during "expansion." There was no Free Agency as players were tied to their clubs via the Reserve Clause. Expansion happened twice during the 1960s and it wasn't the best players who switched teams as today, but it was the has been and the young players the established clubs had given up on.

Names which were prominent who made those expansion clubs were the likes of Maury Wills, Jim Bouton, Don Mincher, Richie Ashburn, Gil Hodges, Hal Smith, Bobby Shantz, Frank Thomas, Clem Labine, Dick Donovan, Mudcat Grant, Roy Face, Donn Clendenon, Ron Fairly, Manny Mota, Rusty Staub, Bob Baily, Albie Pearson, Ted Kluszewski, Ryne Duran, Leon Wagner, Tommie Davis and Jim Fregosi. 

While some of those players would go on to have a few good years, three players arguably, stand out. Two were at the beginning of a career, the other the tail end but who saw his career extended beyond belief. 

 Jim Fregosi, selected in the 1961 draft by the Los Angeles Angels was a 19 year old shortstop with promise. Few figured he'd play for 18 big league seasons, make several all star teams, and become a Gold Glove winner in leading the Angels to their best play in the 1960s. His lifetime .265 BA and 151 home runs were not as important as his leadership as a young player on a team of veterans. They should have figured he would become a good manager and he did, winning two pennants. 

Ron Fairly was the Dodgers clean-up hitter for much of the mid-1960s. He was a steady defensive player who did enough damage with his bat during the Koufax/Drysdale era and was one of the most feared hitters on a weak hitting team. For Fairly, who came up in 1958, also as a 19 year old kid, few would have suspected him of sticking around for 21 seasons, having his best years with the expansion Montreal Expos. 

Fairly was an instant hit, along with Rusty Staub in Canada. In his initial season in 1969, Fairly only played in 70 games with barely 250 at bats. But he found the stroke to hit 12 homers and drive in 39 while batting .289. For six consecutive seasons he homered in double figures while driving in an average of 64 runs a season. He finished with 215 homers, a .265 BA and over 1000 RBI. Fairly passed away recently during the Washington Nationals (formerly the Expos) World Series run.

The third member of the trio was pitcher Dean Chance, a 20 year old when the Angels traded for him after he was selected by Washington in the expansion draft. In 1962, his second season in the big leagues, Chance showed he was there to stay. A 14-10 record with a 2.96 ERA in 206 innings, he helped the Angels to a third place finish in only the club's second season. 

Chance would go on to win 20 games twice, and in 1964 led all pitchers in most categories including the ERA title at 1.65, while going 20-9. He had 15 complete games, 11 shutouts and 278 innings either leading or tying for the league lead in those categories. In 1967 he led Minnesota with a 20-14 record, completing 18 of 39 starts and pitching 283 innings, all league leader stats. His 128-115 record with a lifetime ERA of 2.92 is among the best of his era.

Others who had true post expansion careers were Staub (who played for three of the expansion teams), Bailey (113 homers over six straight seasons), Dave Giusti (recorded 145 Saves) and Mike Marshall (led his league in Saves three times and had 188 career Saves).

Expansion gave a lot of players who would not have gone on to play any longer, the chance to extend their careers by a year or two, or in some cases even more. When you look over the rosters of those expansion teams, it is fun to imagine what having some of those players in their prime on the same team, would have been like.
 
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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.    

The World Series Which Should Have Been

TRIVIA QUESTION: While the Yankees had the most World Series appearances in the 1960's with five, which teams had the second most (hint; there were two of them)?
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN:  There were two teams which had the "least" number of wins and were still favored going into the World Series in the 1960s; both American League clubs. The 1960 New York Yankees entered the series heavy favorites with 97 wins in a 154 game season. The 1966 Orioles also had 97 wins but in a 162 game season. The Yankees lost to Pittsburgh, the O's swept the Dodgers.

As the World Series wraps for 2019, one can only wonder what the 1967 World Series would have been if not for one pitch. A pitch which hit Boston Red Sox slugger Tony Conigliaro in the face. It did not bring Tony C.'s career to a complete end, but it ended the dreams which could have been, not only for the player but for the Boston Faithful.

Conigliaro was having a fantastic year on a fantastic club, batting behind the ultimate player in Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz would go on to win the Triple Crown batting in front of Conigliaro. Conigliaro was on the rise, he had slugged 20 homers in just 95 games while driving in 67, and batting .287. 

Then on August 18th, the Red Sox were facing the Angels and Jack Hamilton. Conigliaro was hit by a pitch on his left cheekbone and was carried off the field on a stretcher. He sustained a linear fracture of the left cheekbone and a dislocated jaw with severe damage to his left retina. The batting helmet he was wearing did not have the protective ear-flap which has since become standard.  

The Sox were 10 games over .500 at the time after winning the game 3-2. Perhaps spurred on by the loss of their young slugger, the club went on a winning streak. They went on to win six in a row and 12 of the next 15 games. They led by 1.5 games and played outstanding baseball the rest of the season. So did the Minnesota Twins who faced the Sox on the final day of the season needing a win. Boston, behind Cy Young Winner Jim Lonborg beat the Twins and 20-game winner Dean Chance 5-3 to clinch the pennant.

They would face the powerful Cardinals in the World Series.  With Tony C., out, manager Dick Williams was forced to play Hawk Harrelson and Jose Tartabull in right field. In four games Harrelson had one hit in 13 at bats driving in one run and batting .077. Tartabull had only two hits in 13 at bats, scored one run and batted .154. They combined to go 0-fror-5 in Game 7. Certainly one would assume Conigilaro would have done somewhat, if not much better. Red Sox dreams would have to wait for nearly 40 more years.

Conigiliaro would not live to see a Red Sox championship. He died in 1990 at the age of 45. After sitting out the 1968 season he came back in 1969 and 1970 with two really solid seasons. He was named Comeback Player of the Year for his efforts in 1969 smacking 20 home runs and followed it up with 36. A year later with the Angels and back to Boston for the final season, he retired in 1975 at the age of 30.

Hamilton was traded to the Indians after the season and then to the White Sox, and retired after the 1969 season, also at the age of 30. He died in 2018. Neither one of them ever played in the post season. 

                                                          "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.