Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, September 13, 2021

Darrell Evans Finally Says "YES"

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan of Berkley, MI, who correctly stated the last strikeout victim of Satchel Paige was pitcher Bill Monboquette. 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.

Just a note to add; If you look at the top right hand corner of the side bar you will see a link to daily sports scores. We made an agreement with Baseball 24 in a mutual sharing situation. Hope its helpful to fans of several sports.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: In his major league debut, who did Darrell Evans pinch-hit for?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The last player struck out in the big leagues by Satchell Paige was pitcher Bill Monboquette.

Every once in a while an athlete gets multiple opportunities but just keeps saying "no." Eventually, if the player is good enough, he makes the grade. Darrell Evans was just such a player. Evans came from a baseball family. His father was a professional fast pitch softball player, his Uncle Bob Evans played in the Cardinals organization and his grandfather Dave Salazar played in the White Sox system. Evans was destined if not reluctant.

He was drafted by the Cubs right out of John Muir High School in southern California in 1965. He chose to go instead to Pasadena City College. In January of 1966 the Yankees drafted him in the second round. He was leading both the baseball and basketball teams to championships at PCC and had hoped to get a full scholarship to USC. The latter didn't happen but he did score 12 points against the Lew Alcindor led UCLA Bruins.

Choosing to stay in college the Tigers drafted him later that year. College beckoned again as he was killing it at PCC. The Phillies and the A's drafted him in 1967. We don't know what his PCC basketball coach Jerry Tarkanian said to him but Evans was named to the school's Hall of Fame.

Later in 1967 he finally decided to become a pro baseball player and signed with the A's for $15,000. He finished the season at .326 with a pair of homers but found his way into the United States Marine Corps. A sore arm after his commitment to the military left him with a sad 1968 at .241. The A's had seen enough. They left him unprotected in December and Braves decided to take a chance for $25,000. They would never regret it.

While Evans was called up in 1969 he didn't play much. His major league debut on April 20th in the expansion 1969 season saw him pinch-hit against the Red Jim Maloney who was on fire. Maloney would pitch a six hit complete game win and Evans struggled to get a fly ball out in his only appearance. In 12 games he came to bat only 28 times and hit .231 with no home runs. But while 1969 closed out, Evans went on to a great career in the big leagues.

Before it was over "Howdy Doody," as him teammates called him, would bang 414 home runs in a 21 year big league career. He hit 41 and drove in 104 in his breakout 1973 season. He would hit 40 again playing for Detroit becoming the oldest player ever to lead the AL in homers at age 38. Evans was also the first player to hit 40 homers in each league. There were several productive seasons with the Giants, too. In 1989 he finished up where it all began in Atlanta, hitting his last 11 home runs. After his playing days were over Evans managed several minor league clubs.

Baseball historian Bill James rated Evans as "the most underrated player in baseball history."

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Tuesday, September 7, 2021

Barney's Blunder Costs Cardwell

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Ken Levasseur of Amherst, NH, who correctly stated the first strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan was Atlanta Braves pitcher Pat Jarvis. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the final strikeout victim of Satchel Paige?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Nolan Ryan's first strikeout victim was Atlanta pitcher Pat Jarvis.

Sometimes a pitcher just runs a string of bad luck, but not often as the string of bad luck Barney Schultz had in September 1961 game. Pitching for the Cubs in relief against the Phillies, Schultz just did not have it. In fact, it was one of those games where he probably left the mound, headed for the locker room and slammed his glove against the wall. And unfortunately for Schultz, it did not stop there.

The game on September 10th, 1961 started with a pair of solid pitchers. The Phils sent Robin Roberts to the mound against Don Cardwell. Chicago sent Roberts to an early shower, scoring six runs before Roberts was pulled in the fifth. Don Cardwell was pitching well up until that point as well.

Cardwell's demise came in the 7th when the Phillies scored five runs including a grand slam by Don Demeter. That blow signaled the end for Cardwell who was still in line to be the winning pitcher. That is, IF, Barney Schultz and the Pen could hold Philadelphia. It was not Schultz's day.

After giving up a single to Wes Covington, he hit Charley Smith. Then he uncorked a wild pitch. After walking light hitting Clay Dalrymple and Ruben Amaro, he was replaced by Bob Anderson. He did not record a single out. Before the inning ended all of the batters Schultz faced, scored.

The Phillies scored seven runs that inning and six in the next and won 14-6. Schultz was credited with a Blown Save and the Loss. But it wasn't over for Barney. The next night he gave up two earned runs on two hits in one-third of an inning. Following on that he pitched in his third consecutive game and took the loss pitching two thirds of an inning, giving up a run on two hits and a walk. We should point out the run was unearned.

Of course there was that other inning where Schultz did not get an out in the 9th inning of Game Three of the 1964 World Series. He faced lead-off batter Mickey Mantle with the score tied 1-1 and gave up the Walk Off homer (see video above).

The year 1961 might be Schultz's best year, 7-6, with a 2.70 ERA with 7 Saves. A few years later he had a better ERA (1.64) but was 1-3, although he did record 14 Saves. His career ended after the 1965 season at 20-20 3.63 and 35 Saves. If it wasn't for the one little stretch he might have ended up with a record over .500. Schultz died in 2015 at the age of 89.

Tuesday, August 31, 2021

McLain's 27th Gave Us Hope

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to David Wright of Wilmington, DE who correctly stated Red Schoendienst was the other Cardinal Hall of Famer who retired during the 1963 season. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the first strikeout victim of Nolan Ryan? (Question submitted by Scott Hitchcox, who doesn't remember the 60's because he was too young. Of course there are a lot of you readers out there who probably don't remember the 60's either, but for different reasons.)

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Red Schoendienst was the other Cardinal Hall of Famer who retired during the 1963 season.

September 1, 1968 was a significant day in baseball history because it was the day which gave hope there could be a 30 game winner in the modern era. Until then only Sandy Koufax had won 27 games (1966). Before that you had to look back to 1956 when Don Newcombe won 27, 1952 when Robin Roberts won 28 and no one had won 30 since Dizzy Dean in 1934. Then, here comes Denny McLain.

With 30 days left in the 1968 season McLain got lots of support against the second place Baltimore Orioles that fall day. Facing 17 game winner Jim Hardin, McLain would go the distance, limiting the O's to three runs on seven hits while striking out nine. He would run his record to 27-5.

The support came mainly from center-fielder Mickey Stanley and right-fielder Jim Northrup. Each had three hits with Northrup blasting his 17th homer of the season in the first to counter Curt Blefary's first inning homer for the Orioles. The score was tied 2-2.

Hardin didn't last long. As wild as wild could be he was gone in the second after walking four batters and uncorking three Wild Pitches!! Manager Earl Weaver had seen enough. With Hardin allowing four runs, he brought in Wally Bunker who walked one of the two batters he faced before giving way to reliable Pete Richert. It didn't matter. The game at that point had been decided.

The Tigers went on to win 7-3 and McLain had his 27th win on his way to 31 in the Tigers pennant winning season of 1968. The O's finished in second place 12 games back.

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