Baseball in the 1960's

Tuesday, February 9, 2021

It's Spring 1962 & Hope is Eternal

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Mike Mescall, of New Castle, PA, who correctly stated that Carroll Hardy as the two sport player with the San Francisco 49er's and an MLB career with several teams. 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: How many of the players mentioned in the written article below (not counting the video) went on to become Major League Managers, and name them?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Carroll Hardy played a season with the SF 49er's and had an eight year MLB career with several teams.

You know what baseball fans say after the Super Bowl is over? "Pitchers and Catchers are just weeks away." Well, today it may be just days away but in the 1960s hope sprang eternal as the new fallen snow in New York said bye-bye to the players headed for the palm trees of Florida and Arizona. The Video below may tell you more than you want to know but in 1962, there was a lot of hope in the National League air.

No, as the announcer in the video said the "Giants had not won the pennant yet in San Francisco," but after starting the seasons with a five game winning streak, by May 8, 1962, they were 21-6. It was the year of the Giants who won 103 games, including that wild playoff series with the Dodgers and the pennant clincher 6-4 on October 3rd in game 165.

The Dodgers saw Maury Wills win the MVP Award while stealing 104 bases. Tommy Davis hit .346 to lead the NL in BA and drove in 153 to also take top honors in that category, Willie Mays 49 homers led the Senior Circuit. Don Drysdale led all pitchers in Starts, Strikeouts and Innings Pitched. as well as Wins with 25. Pittsburgh's Roy Face Saved 28 to top the relievers. The Cy Young Award went to Drysdale of course in what was to be his best season (if you can overlook that shutout string a few years later). He finished 5th in the MVP voting back when a pitcher could win both. Ken Hubbs was named Rookie of the Year for Chicago but only played a short time, as he was killed in a plane crash after the 1963 season.

Houston would debut with 64 wins and finish in 8th place of the 10 team league. That was because the Cubs were so bad and the Mets were basically the Mets. Houston opened the season winning their first three games, against Chicago. Pittsburgh castoff Roman Mejias led the Colt 45's with 24 homers, BA .286 and 76 RBI. It was his only good year and his only full time season. He was out of baseball after a short stint with Boston a couple of seasons later. Turk Farrell lost 20 games with a superb 3.02 ERA.

The Mets? Well, what can you say? Gil Hodges hit 9 homers in 54 games in his last full season, Roger Craig and Al Jackson lost 44 games between them (both lost at least 20) and Jay Hook lost 19. The club lost 120 games.

And then there were the Cubs. If it wasn't for the Mets, the 103 game losers would have finished in last place. Three managers and Ernie Banks 37 home runs could not right this ship.

But as we saw in the above video; it's Spring and Hope springs eternal, unless your club is basically mathematically eliminated by May 1st. And there is a big LOL on that one.

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Tuesday, February 2, 2021

The Two-Sport Players of the 1960s

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Alan Drooz of San Diego, CA, who correctly stated that Hank Aaron had 21 Sacrifice Bunts during his career. . The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: Name the San Francisco 49er's player who despite just one season in the NFL, went on to an eight year MLB career with the Indians, the Red Sox, the Twins and the Colt 45's.

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Hank Aaron had 21 Sacrifice Bunts during his career int he Big Leagues.

While there have been many players who have played in more than one professional sport there are only four men who played in both the NFL/AFL and MLB in the 1960s - playing for both during the decade. With the Super Bowl upon us, this seemed like a great time to point that out, especially considering none of them are household names.

The four were Dean Look, Rex Johnston, Tom Brown and Norm Bass.

Tom Brown is an interesting story. Signed by the Senators in 1963 as a 22-year old free agent he played in 61 games. He fielded well, not committing even one error playing the outfield and first base, but the old adage of "good field no hit" took it's toll. He batted .147, and struck out nearly half the time. He gave up on baseball and while drafted by Buffalo of the AFL, chose to sign with Green Bay of the NFL. He played six seasons with the Packers including starting at Safety in the first two Super Bowls. In 71 NFL games the defensive back had 13 interceptions and returned kicks as well, adding a punt return for a TD to his stats. He finished his career with one final season in Washington.

And then there was Norm Bass. Of the four Bass had the most impact in baseball. The promising right-hander opened his career with the Kansas City A's in 1960 by going 11-11, with a 4.69 ERA. All that belies the fact he started 23 games, completed six and tossed a pair of shutouts. Winning 11 games for a team which only won 61 and finished in 8th place out of 10 teams, was pretty spectacular. At age 22 he led the team in wins.

The following season Bass's ERA ballooned to 6.09 and while he started 10 games, pitched only 75 innings and was 2-6. He would never again achieve what he promised in his rookie season. The following season, his last in MLB he pitched in only three games and finished his career 13-17. He signed with the Denver Broncos for the 1964 season as a defensive back, and got into only one game. That ended his professional career.

Johnston was an outfielder with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1964 when he came to the plate 10 times, drawing three walks and failing to get a hit. By that time he'd already tried his hand at football. In his only NFL season, 1960, he was a return man for the Steelers. He wasn't bad but evidently didn't make the grade, despite returning 12 punts and 18 kick offs for just under 500 yards. He did have a 38 yarder.

Look's career was a short one in the Bigs, spending one season with the White Sox where in 1961 he failed to get a hit in six AB's at the age of 23. He did make contact, striking out only once. He made just as big an impression the following year with the New York Titans, carrying the ball twice for a total of 9 yards before ending his professional career.

Monday, January 25, 2021

Aaron vs. Sutton - The Hammer Strikes

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Johnny Phillips of Killen, AL, who correctly identified Chuck Hinton as the player Cleveland got in return for Bob Chance and Woody Held in a trade with Washington. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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TRIVIA QUESTION: How many times did Hank Aaron lay down a sacrifice bunt in his major league career of 23 seasons?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: Chuck Hinton was the player in the deal with sent Bob Chance and Woody Held to Washington.

Don Sutton and Hank Aaron, a pair of Hall of Famers and two of the best of all time, both passed away recently. The sadness of the moment brought to mind the time the two first met. And the question of who would win that first contest, or would it be a draw?

It was on a typical April 27th night in Los Angeles when the highly touted rookie Sutton made his fourth start of the year, 1966. He entered the game with a record of 1-2, set for a two game stand with Atlanta. His opponent; the veteran Hank Fischer. Before the night was over one Hank was long gone but the other Hank would leave an indelible memory for Sutton to live with.

For Henry Aaron he would still be years away from challenging Babe Ruth for the all-time home run title. He was coming off a typical Aaron season. His 32 home runs was a little low but his .318 BA was right up there with his best averages. Eight times in his career the Hammer would hit at least 40 homers in a single season, three times he banged 44. He would do it again in 1966.

Sutton would break even in his rookie campaign at 12-12 but with a 2.99 ERA and 209 K's in 225 innings, he would prove he was in the big leagues to stay. This story however is about what would work out to be an even break.

The very first time Aaron came to bat he welcomed Sutton to the big leagues with a double. The next time he got Hamerin' Hank to fly out followed in a third at bat with a strike out. However, leading off the ninth and with Sutton pitching a shutout leading 4-0, Aaron was not going to let this youngster say he kept the Braves down.

Aaron took Sutton deep to left center field for a solo home run, making it 4-1. The blast must have shaken Sutton because two batters later he hit journeyman Lee Thomas. He did settle down and got the final outs to complete a 5-hitter, but no shutout.

Sutton would face just 34 batters in the game and allowed two of those five hits to no. 44. The Hammer was not to be denied and while his teammates may have been over-matched that night, Aaron wasn't. Both men won in their first meeting and both could claim a solid game. In the final analysis the Dodgers would win the pennant followed by losing in a four game sweep to Baltimore. The Braves finished in fifth place, 10 games back but eight games over .500.

Aaron would lead the NL in home runs with the 44 and the big leagues in RBI with 127. It wasn't until four years later that Sutton would be better than a .500 pitcher, but when he did, it was nine years in a row and 14 out of 15 seasons. He would end up with 324 wins in the modern era which was pretty amazing. Aaron did break Ruth's record in 1974 and finished with 755 home runs and an all-time record of 2297 RBI and 6856 Total Bases. A total of 38 times he led the league in a positive category at the plate. Ironically, Sutton would close his career as a broadcaster for the Atlanta Braves.

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