Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, April 19, 2021

Twins Can't Beat Those Yankees

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Dave Wright of Wilmington, DE, who correctly named 5'4" Freddie Patek sas the "other" shortstop Bill Mazeroski played with in the later years. 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: During the 1962 season when the Yankees beat the Twins 11 out of 17 games, one New York pitcher beat Minnesota five times, going 5-0. Who was he?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: 5'4" Freddie Patek sas the "other" shortstop Bill Mazeroski played with in the later years, as Gene Alley suffered through injuries.

The Minnesota Twins of 1962 proved one thing if nothing else during the season; If you can't beat the best team in the league, then you can't win the pennant. The Twins finished 5 games back of the Yankees when all was said and done. They played .500 or better against every other team in the league and close to it against against Boston (winning 8 of 18). However, against New York, which eventually went on to play the Giants in the World Series, they were a miserable 7-11, giving up 6 runs a game.

(Video of selected highlights of Twins early years.)

The Twins won 91 games and still finished second despite having a well balanced club. Every one of the regular starters belted homers in double figures but none hit .300. Vic Power's .290 topped the club. Harmon Killebrew led the parade with 48 homers and 126 RBI. Bobby Allison chipped in with 102 RBI on 29 homers. Rich Rollins and Lenny Green led the team in Runs with 97 and 96 respectively. Add the likes of Zoilo Versalles, Bernie Allen and a young Don Mincher to the mix and they were solid. Even rookie Tony Oliva, a year away from stardom chipped in getting 4 hits in 9 AB.

On the mound every regular starting pitcher finished with at least a .500 record save one; Jim Bonikowski was 5-7 in 13 Starts in his only year in the big leagues. Camilo Pasqual won 20, Jim Kaat was 18-14 and Jack Kralick was 12-11. Dick Stigman was 12-5. Today we would find it remarkable that the big three combined for over 750 innings. Pasqual with 257, Kaat 269, and Kralick 242. Amazing!

But it was the Yankees who did them in. In May and June they lost 4 of 6 and in July they dropped all three contests. On two other occasions they split a pair. They last time they played New York was in late August and they could only win two in a four game set. While the Twins played well down the stretch, they could never get closer than two games. Heading into the final week of the season they had to play six of seven games against Baltimore and won four of them to finish five games back. New York though finished strong winning 11 of 16 to capture the title winning 96 games.

The Twins would be back, again winning 91 the following year. They finished third to New York, this time beating every team in the league except the Yankees and won only 6 games this time. In 1964 they faltered miserably finishing 6th. It wasn't until 1965 Minnesota led by Mudcat Grant, Kaat and Jim Perry, plus MVP Versalles and Tony Oliva's .321 they finally finished first. By the way, this time they finally beat the Yankees, winning 13 of 18, to finish 13-5. It had to happen at some point. It was the first time in forever New York's finest finished the season below .500.

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
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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.

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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.

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.

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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.

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