Houston; We Have a "Break-Even" Season

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Fealy, a Reds fan, who correctly answered the trivia question about Pirate losing pitchers in 1966. Only Bob Purkey and Luke Walker had losing records for the 1966 club, both at 0-1, combined 0-2. This week a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week again is a Starbucks Gift Card. 
 
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN.

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  In 1947 Harry Walker won a batting title while playing for two different teams in the same year. What were those teams?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In 1966 the Pittsburgh Pirates had only two pitchers on the roster with losing records. Bob Purkey and Luke Walker were both 0-1 on the season or a combined 0-2.

It took them until the end of the decade, or seven seasons of losing at least 90 games a year, but the 1969 Houston Astros finally broke the spell and had their first "non-losing" season. Led by super hitter's instructor, Harry 'the Hat' Walker, the club would produce only one .300 hitter, barely reaching the 100 homer mark, and not one regular batting better than .269. However, the starting pitching was solid and they had one aging relief pitcher who put together an impressive Save record along with a young strikeout king in the bullpen.

The team wasn't going anywhere in the first year of divisional play but if not for a September slide they might have finished over .500 for the first time, finishing 5th out of six clubs. They lost 8 of the last 12 down the stretch. They cemented a .500 season with a 5-4 loss to the Dodgers on the final day of the season before less than 10,000 fans in Los Angeles. 

With the score tied 4-4 in the ninth, Fred Gladding gave up a pair of singles and with men on first and third, Walker called on former Dodger, Jack Billingham who promptly wild pitched across the winning run, 5-4. The season was over and an 81-81 record had been achieved. 
                                                  
Only part timer Marty Martinez bettered .300 with a .308 BA in 78 games. Denis Menke, believe it or not, led the regulars with a .269 average tied with Jim Wynn. Wynn did crank out 33 home runs or one-third of the club's total production of 104. Menke hit 10 homers, while Joe Morgan added 15 with 49 steals. The entire team registered 101 stolen bases.  This was really an unusual team when it came to batting. Pitcher Tom Griffin's two homers were more than any non-regular in the line-up.
                                                           
Pitching carried this team certainly, led by Larry Dierker's 20-13 record and 2.33 ERA at the age of 22. Don Wilson was 16-12, Griffin 11-10 while Denny Lemaster was a hard luck 13-17 with a 3.16 ERA. Jim Ray's bullpen action was good, striking out 115 batters in 115 innings and was 8-2. Gladding at 33 didn't have the impressive ERA but he did Save 29 games to lead the league with a career personal best. The team's 153 errors on defense were good for 7th in the league with Menke and Doug Rader committing 53 between them. 

For the first seven years of it's existence the club lost an average of 94 games. They would not better the record of the 1969 season until 1972 when they had their first winning season. 

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
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. 
 

1965; When Christmas Came Early in Pittsburgh ++ TRIVIA PRIZES

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Rich Klein of Grand Prairie, TX, who correctly answered the trivia question about record breaking double play combo's in the 1960s. He correctly stated it was Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley who broke the record set for DP's three years earlier by Ken Hubbs and Andre Rodgers. This week a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week again is a Starbucks Gift Card. 
 
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. 

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  In 1966 the Pittsburgh Pirates only had two pitchers of the 14 who played for them that year with "losing" records. Bob Purkey and Luke Walker. What was their combined record?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In 1966 Bill Mazeroski and Gene Alley broke the record set for DP's three years earlier by Ken Hubbs and Andre Rodgers. Rodgers was involved in 100 in 1963, and Alley was involved in 128. In 1965 they became teammates in Pittsburgh, which is appropriate for this week's column.

 In 1965 the Pittsburgh Pirates were at a crossroads. It was a club in transition. It had a solid core but an aging core. Several key players were on the cusp while several more were in their prime and a few longtime Buc stalwarts were over the hill or ready to move on and out. On December 1, 1965, the Pirates made one of the best trades in their history  They acquired outfielder Matty Alou from the Giants for reliever Joe Gibbon and catcher Ossie Virgil.

Alou was the middle brother of the major league playing Alou's. Felipe, the slugger was the oldest, Jesus the potential star was the youngest and in the middle was the fastest of the trio, Mateo. All three were good defensively and it goes without saying Felipe was the guy no one wanted to give up. The Giants had a crowded outfield and needed a left-handed arm in the bullpen. 

The Pirates needed to replace the aging Bill Virdon in center-field with a swift outfielder who could cover lots of ground in spacious Forbes Field. They needed someone too who could back up Willie Stargell and Bob Bailey in left. Roberto Clemente was a fixture in right so having a center-fielder who could really go get it was essential. The problem was, while earlier in his career Matty showed some signs of a consistently good average, he'd only hit .231 in 1964 and .264 the year before that. Virdon was hitting higher for an average but still was not the lead off man the Bucs always sought.

Pittsburgh needed a guy who could get on base ahead of Clemente, Stargell, Donn Clendenon and Bailey. Could the 5'9" 160 pound Alou be that guy? New manager Harry "the Hat" Walker thought so. Walker was a solid hitter in his day and even won a batting title, but more importantly he knew how to teach hitting. He figured by using the extra hard infield in front of home plate at Forbes Field, Alou should be able to bounce his way to at least .290. With some bunt singles and his speed from the left side of the plate, there could easily be another 15 or 20 hits in the season.

                                          (Spacious Forbes Field)
No one ever dreamed what Alou really did accomplish. In the first three games little Matty had five hits in 15 at bats. By the time the end of the season rolled around he would hit .342, 111 points above his previous season's average and would take the National League batting title. He was the driving force behind a pirates club which dominated the NL hitting stats. Walker was right. By bouncing the ball off the hard turf and spraying the ball around using an oversized bat, Alou became a master hitter.

Gene Alley and Clendenon both hit .299 (Clendenon also banged 28 homers), Clemente won the MVP with a .317 average and 29 homers, Stargell hit at a .315 clip and led the team in home runs with 33, Bill Mazeroski had one of his best hitting seasons at .262 but added 16 dingers and Bailey and Jose Pagan combined for 17 home runs and an even 100 RBI. The team batting average was an amazing .279 with 158 home runs in 1966. If the pitching had not faltered so badly, they would have had more than their 92 wins and a third place finish behind the Dodgers and Giants.

Alou would go on to hit ,338, .332, .331 and .297 in the following four years. He missed out on his second batting title when he ended in a virtual tie with Pete Rose at .332 and lost by a the fourth number to the right of the decimal point. One more bunt single and he'd have had a second NL batting crown. After batting .297 he was traded to St. Louis where he had three more seasons above .300. However, his defensive skills were fading and he eventually played with several teams including the Yankees, A's and Padres before finishing his 15 year career in 1974. Based on his work with Harry Walker and his years in Pittsburgh, Alou concluded with a .280 lifetime average and he got to the World Series twice. In the 1972 ALCS he batted .381 for Oakland.

Gibbon had a couple of good seasons with the Giants before coming back to Pittsburgh in 1969 and having perhaps his best year, recording a 1.93 ERA in 51 innings. Virgil hit .213 for the Giants in 1966 and was out of baseball. He did come back in 1969 for one game with San Francisco. Virdon, the NL Rookie of the Year in 1955, was released by the Pirates before the 1966 season despite hitting .279, and retired. He did come back for a few games with the Pirates in 1968 but went onto a good managing career with the Yankees, Pittsburgh and Houston before calling it a career. 

In the end when it came to career batting average, Matty bested his brothers, finishing at .307 to .280 for Jesus, although Felipe finished with 206 home runs and a near .290 average. 

TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
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. 
  

Andre Rodgers 1st in the Bahamas and 1st at Short +++ TRIVIA PRIZE

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to  Mark Hutchinson of Greendale, WI, who correctly answered the trivia question about who Joe Nuxhall played for, aside from the Cincinnati Reds in his career. He played for the Angels and the Kansas City A's. This week a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week again is a Starbucks Gift Card. 
 
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN. 

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  In 1963 Andre Rodgers and Ken Hubbs set the NL record for double plays. Three years later the record would be broken. Which double play combo at short and second broke the record set by Hubbs and Rodgers?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In his 16 year career in the big leagues, aside from the Reds, Joe Nuxhall played for the Angels and the A's of Kansas City. 

It's not often a journeyman player makes a huge impact, but such is the case of shortstop Andre Rodgers. Rogers was born, raised and died in the Bahamas. Nassau was home and his final resting place. As the first Bahamian player to go to the big leagues he had to overcome being a great Cricket player. He did. 

His acceptance into the majors started kids playing baseball in the Bahamas and it paved the way for players such as Ed Armbrister among others to go north. Baseball became more popular than Cricket because of Rodgers. Rodgers big league career began in 1957 when he played in New York with the Giants and traveled with them to San Francisco.

By 1961 he'd played out his time with the Giants and the Cubs needed a shortstop with Ernie Banks moving to first. However, not before Rodgers made a non-playing stop in Milwaukee. On Halloween, 1960 the Giants sent him to Milwaukee for Alvin Dark (who ended up as the Giants manager), but before the season started in 1961, he was shipped to the Cubs in a four player deal which brought Moe Drabowsky to the Braves.

Rodgers best had been .250 in a part time role. In 1962 he became the Cubbies starter at Short and immediately performed. He had his best season at the plate, hitting .278 in over 400 at bats. In 138 games he also hit eight triples.

The following season he fell off drastically with more playing time, hitting .229 in 150 games but also teamed with Ken Hubbs at second to set the league doubleplay record for the time. He rebounded a bit in 1964 raising his average to .239, cranking out 12 home runs which doubled his previous high. It would be his high water mark.

With Don Kessinger waiting in the wings and ready for prime time, the Cubs dealt their 30 year old shortstop to Pittsburgh for Roberto Pena. The Bucs would need to shore up the infield due to an injury to Bill Mazeroski. Gene Alley was blossoming at short but played second in Maz's absence, opening the door for Rodgers to fill in at his natural position. Bob Baily was locked in at third when he wasn't playing the outfield. Rodgers played one game at second, and ended up filling in around the horn.

On the year he played in 75 games and has his best average over all at .287. He would help the Bucs compete for the pennant in 1965 and in 1966 before calling it a career after 1967. His 11-year career BA was .249.  He went on to play one year in Japan in 1969.


TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
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. 
 

Hoping for Hutch; 1964 Reds + TRIVIA + TRIVIA

SPECIAL NOTE: You may see a Trivia Video at the top of the column occasionally. It is my YouTube Channel Daily Trivia Contest which I invite you to view and even subscribe and Like. The regular column is still here and will continue to be. The Mobile Version is a little different but the column is there as well. Thanx!

FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !
 
TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan of Berkley, MI, who correctly answered the trivia question about who the Yankees got in trade for Clete Boyer. It was Chi-Chi Olivo and Bill Robinson. He was then was selected in a random drawing. This week is a new week and a new Trivia Contest. The Prize this week again is a Starbucks Gift Card. 
 
NEW TRIVIA CONTEST:  IF YOU ANSWER THE TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY YOU WILL BE ENTERED INTO A WEEKLY DRAWING FOR A Starbucks Gift Card.  YOU MUST ENTER VIA THE EMAIL AT THE END OF THIS COLUMN, SO PLEASE READ ON. With the shelter in place orders its been difficult to get out to Starbucks and get the Gift Card but I will send them very soon.

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TRIVIA QUESTION:  Joe Nuxhall, until then the youngest player ever to play in the big leagues spent almost his entire 16 year career with the Reds. What other two teams did he play for?  
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: In the trade which sent Clete Boyer to Atlanta the Yankees got two players in return;  Chi-Chi Olivo and Bill Robinson.

The Cincinnati Reds in the 1960s were known as good hitters and decent pitchers but in the 1964 season when they almost won the pennant it was pitching which carried them.  While Frank Robinson led the club with 29 homers, he was the only regular over .300 with a .306 BA. Vada Pinson had 23 and Deron Johnson 21, but the team only batted .249, scoring 660 runs and finishing in the middle to bottom of the pack in almost every statistical category. That is except two; pitching and speed. They were second in stolen bases with 90, and on the mound they were first in fewest runs allowed and second in ERA with an amazing 3.07. Even more amazing was the WHIP, which we barely noticed back then. The walks and hits per inning pitched was a major 1.17!

It was a team Fred Hutchinson helped build and it was the last team the beloved manager would call his. Hutchinson had been diagnosed with cancer before the season started. The players knew it was probably his last hurrah.

While Tommy Harper with 24 and Robinson with 23 led the team in steals, the rest were spread around. They had team speed with Pinson who scored 99 runs, Pete Rose and super utility guy Chico Ruiz. Rose in his second NL season batted only .269.

The starting pitching was strong. Jim O'Toole (17-7 2.66) and Jim Maloney (15-10 2.71) both pumped out over 200 innings. Bob Purkey and Joey Jay each won 11 with ERA's under 3.40. 

However, it was the bullpen which made this team shine. Future starter Sammy Ellis tossed 122 innings and only started five of his 52 games. He went 10-3 with a 2.57 ERA. Toss in Billy McCool 2.42 and Ryne Duren 2.89 and you would have had a formidable pen leaving it at that. That does not account for the one wild card. In 36 games Bill Henry only tossed 52 innings but what innings they were. He only allowed 31 hits and finished with a 0.87 ERA and 0.82 WHIP!

The club was 60-49 when Dick Sisler took over for Fred Hutchinson and took the Reds down the stretch with a 32-21 record. They would finish just one game behind the Cardinals in the year of the Phillies collapse.  Sisler took over when Hutchinson was forced to step down due to a battle with cancer. The beloved Hutch would pass away in November of the same year.

From September 16-27 the Reds were on fire while the Phillies were collapsing. Cincinnati won 12 of 13, capped off by a double header win over the Mets. With five games left they controlled their own destiny, and were in first place by a game. 

Then it happened. The Pirates Bob Friend beat them 2-0 on an 11-hit shutout with Bucs second sacker Bill Mazeroski driving in both runs. They were still tied for first. The following day it was a 16-inning affair with Pittsburgh with Donn Clendenon doubling followed by a single by Jerry May to drive in the games only run 1-0. Maloney and Bob Veale battled it out into the 12th inning before giving way to relievers. 

The loss left them a game back with three left.   It was a 5-4 Reds win the next day but Cincinnati could not pull off anything in the final two, losing a pair to the Phillies who needed the wins. It was 4-3 and then a 10-0 embarrassing loss to Jim Bunning in the final game. It was over. The team was hoping to win it for Hutch but it wasn't to be. The Cardinals would take it and go on to beat the Yankees in the World Series.


TRIVIA CONTEST; After reading this column you can enter the weekly trivia contest for a chance to win a Starbucks Gift Card. Enter via the following email. Send 1) your answer to the trivia question at the top of the column, 2) your name, address and email so where we know where to send the card if you win 3) any comment you have on the column. One winner will be selected at random each week based on correct answers with the odds being based on the number of correct entries.  Please cut and paste or enter the following email into your email system.
                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com  
 ==========================================================
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.