Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, April 12, 2021

Happy Birthday Bill Mazeroski

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Steven Baily of Glen Cove, NY, who correctly the "first" accomplished by San Diego Padre Rafael Robles after he got on base in the Padres very first MLB game, was a stolen base. 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.

===============================================================
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Bill Mazeroski spent most of his time playing opposite Dick Groat and Gene Alley. There was another diminutive shortstop who was there at the same time who later went on to play in Kansas City. Who was he?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The "first" accomplished by San Diego Padre Rafael Robles after he got on base in the Padres very first MLB game, was a stolen base.

If you are lucky enough to be playing baseball on your birthday there is always the chance you will have a great gift to offer rather than receive. Sometimes the pressure will get to you but in the heat of the pennant race of 1966, Bill Mazeroski did not disappoint the Buc faithful on his birthday in Pittsburgh.

The Hall of Fame second baseman would have probably his second best day in his career on September 5, 1966. Of course nothing can top off the Walk Off home run to win Game 7 of the 1960 World Series. The Pirates were playing the Atlanta Braves in a double header this day, leading the NL by 1.5 games over the Dodgers. Manager Harry Walker would send Vern Law to the mound against the Brave's Dick Kelley.

Pittsburgh would jump on Kelley right out of the gate with four runs in the first. Maz got the scoring started with a ground ball to plate Gene Alley and then scored himself on a Jim Pagliaroni double. With Pittsburgh leading 4-3 in the third Kelley was long gone and Clay Carroll was on the hill. Mazeroski led off the inning with a blast over the wall to make it 5-3.

Pittsburgh extended its lead with four in the sixth and three in the seventh. Maz struck out in the fourth but in that sixth inning he was the master. With one out future HOFer Phil Niekro, called on in relief, gave up a single to Alley, and walks to Roberto Clemente and Don Clendenon. Maz strode to the plate with the sacks full. He promptly drilled his 15th homer of the season for a game clinching Grand Slam.

With such a big lead Walker chose to rest his second baseman and others to ready them for the second game. Maz was replaced and in second game, which the Pirates lost, He went 1-4 with a double. On the day he went 3-8, scored four runs, drove in six and hit a pair of homers including a Grand Slam. Happy Birthday Mr. Mazeroski.

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.

Monday, April 5, 2021

April 8, the 1960s - Milestones & Tragedy

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Aaron Woien, of Indianapolis, IN, who correctly stated the two teams with the most walks in 1969 were the Giants with 711, while the least walks were taken by the Padres with 423. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

===============================================================
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Rafael Robles was the first San Diego Padre to ever bat in MLB, reaching first on a ground ball error. He also accomplished another San Diego first in that inning. What was it?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The Two 1969 teams drawing the most and least walks were the Giants with the most at 711 and the Padres with the least with 423.

Some of the most memorable events happened this week in the 1960s and in particular on April 8th. For many teams April 8th meant Opening Day, which is why some of these milestones took place. Others, well, it just happened that way.

(NOTE: The previous video we inserted here was mislabeled. This is the correct video.)

1963: In his first Major League at Bat, Pete Rose drew a walk from Earl Francis of the Pirates in front of his home town Cincinnati fans, batting second. Two batters later he scored his first ever run when Frank Robinson smashed a homer. Rose would fail to get a hit that day in a 5-2 Reds win. Rose would get his first MLB hit five days later off Bob Friend in a loss. It was a single.

The Tigers picked up pitcher Denny McLain off waivers from the White Sox. McLain would become probably the last pitcher ever to win 30 games in the big leagues, five years later on his way to the World Series.

President Kennedy throws out the first pitch in the Washington Senators game for his last Opening Day appearance. Stadium vendors agreed not to show up in a labor dispute and the president did not have to cross a picket line. The Sens lost to the Orioles, 3-1 with Don Rudolph as the starting pitcher. Kennedy would fall victim to an assassins bullet seven months later.

1964: Pitcher Jim Umbricht passes away from cancer. He was the only pitcher to post a winning record the first two seasons the Houston Colt 45's existed. He was 33.

1966: The Dodgers and the Astros play the first ever MLB game on synthetic grass. It was known as Astroturf, in the Astrodome.

1968: Opening Day is postponed due to the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. It would be on this date six years later in 1974, Hall of Famer Hank Aaron, a Black man, would break Babe Ruth's MLB record for the most home runs in a career with 715. The home run coming off another Black man, Al Downing. Downing would later tell this reporter other players joked with him that Dodgers manager, Walter Alston, saved him to start against the Braves and "the Hammer."Downing went down in history as the man who gave up that famous home run.

1969: Four teams make their major league debut. The Kansas City Royals, Seattle Pilots, San Diego Padres and Montreal Expos. The Expos become the first ever non-US based team in the big leagues, the Pilots lasted just one season in Seattle before moving to Milwaukee. Lou Pinella is the first batter in Royals' history.

1969: After a long recovery from the beaning by Jack Hamilton two seasons previous, Tony Conigliaro returns to the Red Sox for his first start. He smacks a two run homer and scores the winning run in extra innings.

Monday, March 29, 2021

The Big Time Walkers; 1969

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Thomas Streib of Vero Beach, FL who correctly named Harmon Killebrew and Jim Wynn as the two players to lead their leagues in 1969 in drawing a Base on Balls. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

===============================================================
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Which two teams in 1969 received the Most and the Least walks.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Harmon Killebrew and Jim Wynn were the leaders in getting walked in their leagues. Wynn in the NL 148, Killebrew in the AL 145.

In the previous column we explored those hitters who were the free swingers in 1969; the guys who played regularly but rarely drew a walk. This week, I thought I would flip the coin and look at the players who drew the most walks in 1969. Interestingly enough, last week we learned the NL had a big edge with those free swingers. It should not be much of a surprise to tell you the AL had the huge edge on the guys who took the most Walks.

(Jim Wynn's tape measure homer at Forbes Field)

While there were 15 players in the Big Leagues who drew at least 90 walks, 10 of them were American Leaguers. Of the nine who had at least 100 Base on Balls, five were in the AL to four in the NL. The guy with the most however in either league was a smallish guy in stature standing only 5'10" and weighing just 160 pounds. By today's standards Jim Wynn was undersized. Albeit, he led the Majors in 1969 with 148 BB's and again with 127 in 1976. All told, The Toy Cannon drew more than 100 Walks in four different seasons.

Second in 1969 was Harmon Killebrew with 145. Walking Killebrew was understandable. With 100 or more walks in seven different seasons he basically spent the equivalent of three full major league seasons with a bat on his shoulder, striding to first base. For grins, if you added in his strikeouts (nearly 1700) it means he failed to make contact at the plate for more than six of his 22 years in the majors! The season after he almost ended his career due to an injury in the 1968 All-Star game, Killer came back with a vengeance with his best season ever; 49 HR 140 RBI .276 BA.

Willie McCovey, Joe Morgan and Rusty Staub round out the NL walkers, while the AL BB leaders featured Reggie Jackson, Sal Bando, Frank Howard and Carl Yastrzemski. Pitchers couldn't figure out what to do against the Oakland A's, walking Jackson and Bando more than 200 times combined. Frank Howard, like Killebrew and McCovey were easy choices to pitch around but Morgan, Yaz and especially Staub were hitters known to have a good eye and a great knowledge of the strike zone.

The five AL players bubbling under 100 BB are sort of an enigma. Today you might question issuing 90-plus walks per season to Ken Harrelson, Jim Fregosi, Don Buford, Tommy Harper and Rico Petrocelli. Not so much for the lone NL slugger to approach 100 while landing in the 90's. Ron Santo was sandwiched between two great Chicago Cubs; Billy Williams and Ernie Banks.

Followers