Baseball in the 1960's

Tuesday, March 9, 2021

The Law of Averages and the Fall from Grace; 1961 Pirates

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Chuck Riffee of Mineral, VA, who correctly identified Tommy Davis, Ron Perranoski and Jim Gilliam as the three Dodgers who finished in the top 10 in MVP balloting after the 1963 season. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA CONTEST: By answering the TRIVIA QUESTION CORRECTLY you are automatically 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 if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: When Vern Law won the Cy Young Award in 1960 he only led the league and the Major Leagues in one category. What was it?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The three Dodgers who finished in the Top 10 of the MVP balloting after Sandy Koufax won it in 1963 were Jim Gilliam, Ron Perranoski and Tommy Davis.

The 1961 Season for the World Champion Pittsburgh Pirates was more than a fall from grace. It was written in the Law. Vernon Law. In the first game since the Bill Mazeroski game winning homer in Game 7 of the 1960 World Series, the Bucs would win the opener behind Bob Friend in 1961. Despite Law pitching a masterful outing in Game Two, they lost. Law, the 20 game winner and ace of the staff in 1960 went 8 innings, allowed 7 hits and just one earned run, losing 2-1 to the Giants. It was the highlight of his 1961 campaign.

The Pirates would hold their own until June when it was evident they were not the same team as the World Series winners the year before. Actually many of the hitters had better years. Dick Stuart upped his average to .303 and banged 35 homers compared to 23 the year before. Roberto Clemente batted .351 and Don Hoak .298. Dick Groat, the 1960 NL MVP dipped from .325 to .275 and while Smokey Burgess batted .303 the bench guys fell miserably. Left Fielder Bob Skinner was on his way out as well dropping from 15 homers .273 to .268 with just three dingers.

Rocky Nelson and Dick Schoefield both hit over .300 the previous year and both fell to under .200 in the new season. The pitching, mainly the bullpen suffered dramatically both in performance and age. Three of the key relievers were past 33 while five of the pitchers counted on to start were 30-plus. And then there was Law. The change in career projection came about before the World Series.

His career was derailed by an injury to his ankle sustained on the bus trip on which the team was celebrating clinching the 1960 pennant. Law was forced to change his pitching style and pitched in pain for the rest of the season and the World Series. Because of his weak ankle, he tore some muscles in the back of his pitching shoulder during the Series. He thought the injury would heal over the winter, but he was not the same for several seasons.

The ace of the 1960 staff ended up 3-4 in 11 games (10 starts) with an ERA of 4.70. He pitched just 59 innings. The rest of the starters included falls from grace like Friend who went from 18--12 to 14-19 and Roy Face who had 24 Saves in 1960 to just 17 the following season.

Law suffered for several years winning only 17 games from 1961-1963. But a comeback was in the cards for the man they called "The Deacon." Finally in 1965 he went 17-9 with a masterful 2.15 ERA to win the NL Comeback of the Year Award. It was his last solid season and he retired 1967 two years later, with a record of 162-147.

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Tuesday, March 2, 2021

Hank Aaron V. Mike Trout - $36 Million

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Robert Ewing of Jerome, PA who correctly identified Bob Lemon as the seven-time 20-game winner on the Indians the season Herb Score was injured. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: While Hank Aaron finished 3rd in the 1963 MVP voting and Willie Mays finished 5th, the Dodgers Sandy Koufax won the Award. There were three other Dodgers who finished in the Top 10 of the voting. Who were they?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Bob Lemon was the seven-time 20-game winner on the Indians the season Herb Score was injured.

To say Hank Aaron and Willie Mays were grossly underpaid is an unbelievable understatement. In the era when Pete Rose wanted to be the "first $100,000 singles hitter," it begs the question; if Aaron were in his prime today, how much would he be worth as a Free Agent. His best season of the 1960s was arguably 1963.

I once asked Aaron during a one-on-one interview at UPI Radio, "could an MLB team even pay Henry Aaron today?" He smiled politely and said "they would find the money."

In 1963, Hamerin' Hank led the league in several hitting categories and was an outstanding defensive player who had his highest Stolen Base total of his career. In 161 of his teams 162 games he scored 121 Runs and drove in another 130. He hit 44 Home Runs and batted .319. He also stole 31 bases. He was atop of the NL in Slugging Percentage, OPS and Total Bases. Aaron collected 201 hits and there were 29 doubles mixed in. As for Run Production; Total runs accounted for minus Home Runs; 207!** The entire Braves team only accounted for 1162 which means Aaron was worth almost 20-percent of the teams run production. Aaron finished third in the MVP race for a club which finished sixth in the standings. For this he was paid $53,000.

The most comparable player today, based on a full season, is the Angels Mike Trout. In 2019, a good comparison year, Trout nearly matched Aaron in every category. He played in fewer games at 134 but hit 27 doubles, 45 homers, drove in 103 and scored 110 while batting .291. He topped the AL in On Base Percentage, Slugging Percentage and OPS while also leading the league by drawing 14 Intentional Walks. Wherein Aaron finished third in the MVP, Trout won the Award. Their fielding averages were also close with Trout leading Aaron .987-.979. But his Run Production was only 168 compared to Aaron's 207. However, he played in 27 fewer games.

A big difference is that Aaron walked less and struck out less. Aaron never struck out 100 times in a season, topping out at 97 and that was rare. Trout on the other hand, has only struck less than 100 times, once. His low was 90. During those 100-K years, Trout averaged 142 punch-outs.

The numbers were amazingly similar at nearly the same age. Aaron was 29, Trout 27. While Aaron barely made over $50-grand, Trout was paid $36 million dollars! So to answer the question of what Henry Aaron would be making in salary if he were playing in his Prime today; in the range of $36-$40 million dollars a season and the sky would be the limit. He never made more than $240,000. Trout made more than twice that as a Rookie!

There are of course other factors which would be involved but based on the strict numbers it's fair to say in 2021 and beyond a $40-million dollar a year salary would not be out of the question for the great Henry Aaron.

**- This statistic is created by adding the total number of Runs a player scored plus the total number of RBI, then subtracting the number of Home Runs since a player gets both an RBI and Run Scored with a Home Run.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

Score & Wynn; They Gave their All to Cleveland & Chicago

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Douglas King of Chicago, Illinois, who correctly identified the Cincinnati Reds as the team three great pinch-hitters played for; Red Lucas, Jerry Lynch and Smokey Burgess. 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: Who was the seven-time 20 game winner who took the mound after Herb Score was injured and went on to complete the game, beating the Yankees 2-1?

ANSWER TO TRIVIA QUESTION IN THE PREVIOUS COLUMN: The Cincinnati Reds was the common team for three great pinch-hitters; Red Lucas, Jerry Lynch and Smokey Burgess.

Two of the great pitching names in baseball had careers which channeled into the 1960s with less than spectacular endings. Both Herb Score and Early Wynn showed periods of domination on the mound and tried to carry it through to the decade of the "60s, but it wasn't to be. They can both be claimed by Cleveland and Chicago. One career a short eight seasons, the other 23 years. They were teammates for much of their careers, forever tied to each other. In Cleveland they were together from 1955-57, while from 1960-62 they hurled for the White Sox.

For Score, his story is well documented. A 20 game winner in only his second year in the big leagues finishing the first two seasons at 36-19. In the first inning a line-drive to his face off the bat of Gil McDougald, cost him much of his vision for a while and virtually ended his dominant career. Wynn took the mound the very next game. While Score did fully recover, he was never the same. Some believed he changed his delivery because he feared another such incident. Score denied it, saying he suffered an arm injury which caused him to change his delivery.

Score was so powerful he struck out 508 batters in his first two seasons. He only struck out 329 the final six seasons of his career. After the line drive he pitched three more seasons with Cleveland going 13-15 and was sent to the White Sox for Barry Latman to start the 1960 season. Never regaining his form, he was 5-10 in 1960 and 1-2 in a dozen games the next two years. He called it quits after the 1962 season and eventually wound up in the Indians broadcast booth where he enjoyed a highly praised career. He died in 2008 at the age of 75.

Early Wynn (and who could doubt that was the perfect name for a pitcher) began his MLB career in 1939 with Washington! In 1943 he was 18-12 and playing for the lovable losers in DC his record didn't get going consistently. Then he ended up in the military towards the end of WW II. Coming out of the War, he was still up and down. Winning 17 one season, losing 19 the next. Then came the change of scenery.

In 1948 he was traded by the Washington Senators with Mickey Vernon to the Cleveland Indians for Joe Haynes, Ed Klieman and Eddie Robinson. He quickly paid dividends and over the next 10 years with the Tribe he won 164 and lost 102, four times posting at least 20 wins in a season, three times winning at least 17. With Cleveland he never had a losing season until his 10th when he was 14-17 for the sixth place Indians. He still led the league in strikeouts and made the All-Star team.

The Indians shipped him to the White Sox December 4, 1957 with Al Smith for Fred Hatfield and Minnie Minoso. In 1959 at the age of 39 he led the AL in starts and Innings Pitched, winning 22 games. By the time 1960s came along he was 40 years old and NOT ready to hang them up.

Father Time has a way of changing things however and Wynn took his final four seasons into 1962 with records of 13-12, 8-2, 7-15 and 1-2. For the final season he was released and resigned by Cleveland where he ended his career. In 23 years (plus one for Uncle Sam) Wynn won exactly 300 games and lost 244. If it wasn't for the miserable years in Washington, his record might have rivaled even more of the all-time greats.

The five time 20-game winner died in 1999 at the age of 79.

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