The Decade of the Giants

 

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 TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Fealy of Punta Gorda Fl who correctly identified Gene Oliver as the player traded for Bob Uecker by the Braves to Philadelphia. The Prize: 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. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER SO WE CAN SEND YOUR GIFT IF YOU WIN.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: The Giants of the 1960s only won fewer than 85 games once. What was the year? 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: The Atlanta Braves traded journeyman catcher/first baseman/outfielder and slugger Gene Oliver to the Phillies for Bob Uecker.

The San Francisco Giants were without a doubt, one of the most successful teams in the 1960's. In the 10 years of the decade they won 902 games or more than 90 wins per season, topping out with 103 in 1962. They lost the World Series to the Yankees in seven games. Despite their aforementioned success, it would be the club's only World Series appearance in the decade.

The team was always known for its sluggers. Willie Mays blasted 350 home runs in the 1960's while Willie McCovey hit 300 more. In the mid-1960's Jim Ray Hart came on the scene and added extra power twice hitting over 30 homers, while during the entire run the club had solid defensive players such as Jim Davenport and Hal Lanier.

Pitching really stood out however, led by the incredible Juan Marichal. Aside from a few social miscues Marichal was as dominant as his Los Angeles counterpart, Sandy Koufax. During the decade of the 1960's three times pitched 300 innings (299.2 in one of them), he won 191 games including 26 in 1968. He won 20 six times and 25 twice. His record in those three best years was 72-24 for an incredible .750 winning percentage.

There was Hall of Famer Gaylord Perry too. He won in double figures multiple times including a 21 win season. He pitched over 300 innings in a season in 1969 and twice tossed more than 290. Bobby Bolin had a career with the Giants. Tom Haller held up the catching duties and was strong behind the plate. 

There were other key players such as the Alou brothers who played in the same outfield for the Giants. Perhaps the Giants were too good and had too many good players. They shipped Felipe Alou off to Milwaukee/Atlanta where he enjoyed an all-star career. They sent Matty to Pittsburgh where he won the batting title in his first year there hitting .342. Jay was eventually moved to Houston.

 

Orlando Cepeda slugged his way around the bigs but couldn't play the outfield and wasn't going to move McCovey off first base. He was dealt to St. Louis where he won the MVP Award in leading the Cardinals to World Series twice.  

Still they finished second five straight years to close out the '60's.  In 1962 they put it all together though. Cepeda blasted 34 homers, McCovey had 44 and Mays hit 38 while Felipe Alou added 20. Mays and Cepeda both hit over .300 while utility man Harvey Kuenn whacked .290. Marichal won 25, Jack Sanford 16 and Billy O'Dell 14 while a bullpen by committee shared 30 saves among 10 pitchers. Bolin and Billy Pierce shared the honors for the most with seven each.

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

UECKER For the Hall - OOPS he's already there!

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 TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Rich Klein of Plano, TX who correctly identified Daryl Patterson and Pat Dobson as the two players who led the Detroit Tigers in Saves in their 1968 Championship Season. The Prize this week: 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. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER SO WE CAN SEND YOUR GIFT IF YOU WIN.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: When the Braves traded for Bob Uecker during the 1967 season, which player did they send to Philadelphia for the future Hall of Fame broadcaster?. 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Daryl Patterson and Pat Dobson were the two Detroit pitchers who led the Tigers in Saves in 1968.

Bob Uecker would never make the Hall of Fame for his playing days, he never managed and he certainly wasn't an executive contributor. For his "contributions," the elevation and the "fun" of baseball he certainly should be. Besides that, the lifetime part time, .200 hitting catcher who holds the dubious distinction of being in the Top 10 all time for Passed Balls in a season despite only playing 76 games, Bob Uecker homered off of Hall of Famer, Sandy Koufax.

In his later days as a broadcaster (which is why he is in the Hall), comedian, and ambassador as Mr. Baseball, Uecker often joked the homer he hit off Koufax that day could have kept the Dodger Ace out of the Hall of Fame. Not likely, but as one of the 14 home runs Uke hit in his career, it was an important one, if only for a day.

It was a beautiful and balmy July 24th evening game in 1965 when the St. Louis Cardinals invaded Dodger Stadium. The Cards were a .500 club, the Dodgers were a game up in first place in the National League. L-A's best pitcher was on the mound facing Ray Sadecki in a battle of lefties. The house was nearly full with a pair shy of 49,000 fans in attendance. It was Dodger baseball at its best. 

A pair of sacrifice flies by Lou Johnson and Ron Fairly gave the Dodgers a 2-0 lead into the fifth. With two out in the fifth, Uecker approached the plate as he always did knowing he was unlikely going to get a hit. Add the blazing Koufax on the mound and Uke figured a third out was a sure bet. He couldn't have even felt bad if the Dodgers walked off the field (ala Satchel Paige) and let Koufax do it all on his own. That didn't happen, but what did happen was pure magic.

Uecker found a pitch to his liking, or maybe Koufax let one slip (nah, for fun's sake we'll let Uecker play Super Man here). Uecker took Sandy deep to left and outta here for a home run. As Uecker rounded the bases he was probably in more shock than anyone of the 48,998 fans in the park. The score was now 2-1. 

Curt Flood would later hit a sac fly to tie it up and after nine it was still tied 2-2. Don Drysdale pinch hit for Koufax and Ron Perranoski came in to pitch the 10th. A muffed fly ball by centerfielder Willie Davis brought home the unearned run and the Cards went on to win 3-2 in 10 innings. 

As it figured Uecker's home run was the only hit which drove in a run in the entire game. Three sacrifice fly balls and an error on another fly ball confirmed the other runs scored. A moment of "greatness" for Uecker? Sure why not. Although the year before he did get two hits off Koufax in a game, so maybe he had Sandy's number. Nah. 

That milestone for Passed Balls? In 1967 he caught 59 games for Atlanta and allowed 10 Passed Balls. It can be argued he was the catcher for Phil Niekro and his knuckleball. He often joked the best way to catch a knuckleball was to wait until it stopped rolling and pick it up. That season he was traded to the Braves by Philadelphia and finished the season with 76 games played and a league leading 27 Passed Balls!

For the record Uecker hit .200 lifetime, 14 homers, 74 RBI with his best season being 1966 with Philadelphia. He only hit .208 but drove in 30 runs (almost half his lifetime total and whacked 7 of his 14 career homers. And he fielded one of his best seasons .985 allowing only four Passed Balls. Unfortunatley he only threw out 12 of 44 base runners for a miserable 27%. It wasn't his worst in that category either.

 And YES -- He still belongs in the Hall and it is a show of the best of humanity that he IS in Baseball's Shrine.

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. 
 

Bizarre Boxscore Saves Face

                     FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !

  TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Joe Smagala of Russellton, Pa, who correctly identified Dick Nen as the player to be named later in the trade which sent Frank Howard to Washington for Claude Osteen. The Prize this week: 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. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER SO WE CAN SEND YOUR GIFT IF YOU WIN.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: While Roy Face was brought on to help the 1968 Detroit Tigers bullpen, he only pitched one inning for them. Two Tiger pitchers led the team with 7 Saves each. Name one of them. 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Dick Nen was the player to be named later in the trade between Los Angeles and the Senators which, among other players, swapped Claude Osteen for Frank Howard.

 When generations of the future look back upon the box score of a little heralded game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and the Atlanta Braves on August 31, 1968, they will little understand the magnitude of it's bizarre-ness. The box score will show two appearances by the Pirates best pitcher that season, Steve Blass. It was sandwiched around the final appearance ever for long time ace reliever, Roy Face.

Face was a local favorite dating back to his 1959 season when he was 18-1 in relief. A record for winning percentage which still stands today. At .947 The Baron of the Bullpen set a record which may never be broken. His other records have been but he still is up in the all time greats in many relief categories. When he retired after 17 seasons only Cy Young and Hoyt Wilhelm had pitched in more games. Many have surpassed him since the era of the reliever became apparent.

But on this day, it was strange. It was the last day of the transaction deadline for MLB. The Pirates were going nowhere in September (20 games back of first) and Detroit was going to win the AL Pennant. The game was in Pittsburgh with only 4671 fans in the ballpark. They were the lucky ones. They were to see something rarely seen during that time period.

Then manager Larry Shepard decided to give the fans a treat, one last look at "little Elroy," as some called him as a term of endearment. Blass started the game and got Felipe Alou to ground out to third baseman, Maury Wills. Shepard came to the mound and brought in Face to pitch for the 802nd time in a Pirates uniform and an NL Record at the time. Blass moved to left field replacing Carl Taylor. Face induced Felix Millan to ground out to shortstop Freddie Patek for the second out. 

Shepard again came to the mound, removed Face and brought Blass back to the mound. Left field would now be occupied by Manny Mota. Blass promptly gave up a double to Hank Aaron but the Braves didn't get much more. Led by a potent Bucs line-up, Blass went the distance giving up five hits for his 13th win. Patek drove in three runs, Chris Cannizzaro had three hits and the Bucs went on to score an 8-0 win. Blass could not get credit for the Shutout because Face pitched to one batter. (SEE BOX SCORE BELOW)

After the game it was announced Elroy Face had been sold to Detroit where he would pitch a total of one scoreless inning that season. He moved to Montreal for the 1969 season, his last, with a 4-2 record. That one day box score read; Blass .1 inning, Face .1 inning, Blass 8.1 innings. Rather unique and a real treat for the Pittsburgh faithful who watched Face give his all in the 1960 World Series.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Steve Blass, W (13-5)	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.26	1	77			0.214	0.51	3.2
Roy Face	0.1	0	0	0	0	0	0	2.60	1		0	0	0.013	0.58	0.1
Steve Blass, W (13-5)	8.1	5	0	0	2	5	0	2.26	30	77			0.214	0.51	3.2
Team Totals	9	5	0	0	2	5	0	0.00	32	154	0	0	0.441	0.51	6.6

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. 
 

22 Shutouts the Wrong Way

                   FOR MORE GENERAL TRIVIA CHECK OUT MY YouTube Channel !

  TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Philip Engel, of Plymouth, MN, who correctly identified Frank Quilici as the man who replaced Bill Rigney as the Twins field manager during the 1972 season. The Prize this week: 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. DON'T FORGET TO PUT YOUR MAILING ADDRESS IN WITH THE ANSWER SO WE CAN SEND YOUR GIFT IF YOU WIN.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: When the Dodgers and Senators made the Osteen/Howard trade in December 1964, who was the player the Senators received as the Player to be Named later? 
 
ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Frank Quilici, the light hitting former Twins infielder of the 1960's was the man who replaced Bill Rigney as manager during the 1972 season.

 The 1964 season started off on the wrong foot for the Washington Senators with a 4-0 loss to the Los Angeles Angels. By the end of the season on October 4th, there would be 21 more shutout losses. When it all ended the hapless, Gil Hodges led Senators would finish 37 games out of first place with the right to "look up to see down." While the 22 Shutouts in a season was far from the record of 33, it was an embarrassing year for Washington.

In that first game ace Claude Osteen (who later that year would end up in Los Angeles with the Dodgers) pitched a really good game. He tossed seven strong innings giving up just three runs. His counterpart on the mound however, Ken McBride pitched the game of a lifetime. McBride went 6.1 innings of magnificent baseball before giving way to Julio Navarro. McBride gave up one lone hit - to Osteen. It was a double to center in the third. He did walk five batters but was never in trouble until the seventh.

In the seventh inning with one out, McBride lost his control. He walked Don Lock, Ken Retzer and John Kennedy in succession. Bill Rigney had seen enough and brought in Navarro who struck out Dick Phillips and got Don Blasingame to ground out, ending the inning. That was pretty much it and the Angels went on to record their opening day win in the nations capitol before 40,000 fans.

What followed was an horrendous season for the national team. In June they lost 20 of 25 at one point, dropping 10 more games off the pace approaching 20 games back of the league leaders. No one expected the Senators to compete in 1964. They would lose at least 100 games in a season four years running. However, this was the final year of that run. Finishing 62-100. The next year they would only lose 92. 

Lock led the team in 1964 with 28 homers but hit only .241 and he struck out 137 times. Only two players bettered .270 with Bill Skowron (.271) and Chuck Hinton (.274) besting the mark. Osteen's 15 wins (15-13) were pretty remarkable when you consider the team only won 62. With starters Buster Narum, Bennie Daniels and Dave Stenhouse in the rotation this team was not going far.  Ron Kline Saved 14 to lead the bullpen.

By the end of the season ownership had had enough and sent their best pitching packing to Hodges former team. The Dodgers received Osteen, Kennedy, $100,000 and a player to be named later for Frank Howard, Ken McMullen, Phil Ortega and Pete Richert. Those players formed the foundation of a Senators team for most of the rest of the decade

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.