Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, October 11, 2021

Larry Jaster; Dodger Killer and World Series Cosmos Connection

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Steve Tighe of Monaca, PA, who correctly identified Dick Schofield as the 1960 Pirates infielder who had the same batting average during the regular season as he did in the world series; .333. ** 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 1968 who drove in the run which ended Don Drysdale's consecutive shutout innings streak of 58 2/3?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Dick Schofield as the 1960 Pirates infielder who had the same batting average during the regular season as he did in the world series; .333. Ducky went 1 for 3 in the Series, 34 for 102 during the regular season.

It is almost time for the Fall Classic once we get through the Playoffs (which did not exist until 1969) so for the next couple of weeks we'll be looking back at some interesting World Series Games of the era.

Larry Jaster struck fear into the hearts of Dodger fans and hitters during the 1966 season but there was a World Series moment in time where Jaster made ironic history. First let's explore. He became known as the "Dodger Killer" or the "Creeper" because of the way he handled Los Angeles. Against the rest of the league he was well, rather pedestrian. And then there was that whole "Grand Slam" thing which you may be surprised to learn was more than just a World Series match up.

Jaster came to the Cardinals in 1965 as a reliever about to become a starter. The Redbirds had fine pitching including ace Bob Gibson, Nellie Briles and a young rookie by the name of Steve Carlton. Throw in Ray Washburn, Curt Simmons and Ray Sadecki and you had a formidable starting staff. Jaster got into four games, started three, completed all three, won all three and finished the season 3-0 with a 1.61 ERA.

On September 17, 1965 he made his debut in relief of Curt Simmons and tossed a perfect 1-2-3 inning. It was, as history would dictate, against the Dodgers. Before the season ended he would beat Houston twice and the Giants once. When 1966 rolled around he would take aim at the Dodgers.

On April 25th he squared off against Claude Osteen. Jaster tossed a 7-hit shutout, striking out seven and walking none. He was 2-1. On the July 4th weekend he would face Los Angeles again, and again he tossed a shutout allowing just three hits in beating Don Drysdale. Jaster was now 3-2. Three weeks later he beat Drysdale again with a five-hit shutout, striking out eight to run his record to 6-2.

On August 19th, another shutout against the Dodgers. This time a five-hitter and he was now 8-3. On September 28th, in his final start of the season he faced rookie pitcher and future Hall of Famer, the late Don Sutton. Jaster ran his record to 11-5 with another shutout on four hits. Five straight starts against the Dodgers and five shutouts which combined with his one relief appearance the previous season means Jaster shutout Los Angeles 46 consecutive innings. Against the rest of the 1966 National League he was 6-5.

But it did not stop there because in the 1968 World Series Jaster came to grips with another legacy; the Grand Slam Home Run. He came in to relieve in Game 6; a game the Tigers would go on to win 13-1. The key was in a big 10 run inning, Jaster would face Jim Northrup. The significance might be lost on the average fan but not baseball historians.

Northrup came to the plate with the bases loaded against Jaster. Northrup led the majors in 1968 by hitting four Grand Slam homers. A remarkable feat when you consider the all time, life time record for Slams was set by Lou Gehrig with 23. Jaster, as history would have it, gave up two grand slams himself in 1968.

It was analytics on steroids. It was the perfect match up of the guy with the most grand slams versus the guy who gave up the most grand slams, on the biggest stage in the sport. The result was to be expected; Northrup blasted a Jaster pitch into the right field seats to clear the bases. It made the score 8-0 and Jaster was removed.

When the series ended Jaster was gone to Montreal and he set another milestone; he threw the first major league pitch in Canada. He would finish the season 1-6 and moved onto Atlanta where by the end of 1972 his career was over.

During the 1970 season it should be noted he was involved in another bit or irony. He was struggling and in a game against his old club, Montreal, he faced former Dodger Ron Fairly. Fairly hit a grand slam and a few days later Jaster was back in the minor leagues.

Jaster ended his career with a record of 35-33 and forever many places in baseball history.

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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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.

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Monday, October 4, 2021

World Series Heroics Game One 1960

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Bob Ibach of Chicago, who correctly said three of the New York Yankees in last week's column highlight, were enshrined in the Hall of Fame. ** The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: In th 1960 World Series, which Pirate infielder had the exact same Batting Average in the Series as he did during the regular season?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: There were three NY Yankee players enshrined in the Hall of Fame from last weeks column, however, ** it should be noted Yankee shortstop Tony Kubek is in the broadcasters awards section as well. The answer we were looking for though was three; Mantle, Berra and Ford. And as most of you pointed out, it's hard to imagine there are only three from that line-up.

(The highlight on this column comes at 6:31 of the above video which covers the entire series.)

Game one of the 1960 World Series was remarkable for a number of reasons. Off the top, it marked the first time Pittsburgh had been to the Fall Classic in 35 years when they lost in 4 straight to the 1927 Yankees. The new Yankees were the team of the previous decade and a new one was underway. The question most asked, "could they continue their winning ways?" Most importantly however, this game is marked by a little known fact.

Everyone who follows baseball remembers Bill Mazeroski's walk off home run in the last inning of the seventh game to win it for Pittsburgh. A series otherwise dominated by Yankee home runs and bats. Few people remember Mazeroski also hit what was the game-winning home in Game One, when the Bucs beat the Yanks 6-4.

It was certainly what New York was looking for in a hitters game except for the final score. They pounded out 13 hits to the Pirates six. Roger Maris and Elston Howard both homered, lead off hitter Tony Kubek slapped three hits as did Maris. Maris homered in the first to give New York a 1-0 lead off Vern Law. The Deacon, as he was known, won 20 games for Pittsburgh in 1960.

In the new age of baseball on television, pitching however faltered. Art Ditmar didn't make it out of the first inning as the Bucs' Bill Virdon started things off with a walk. Virdon, a future manager with the Yankees, promptly stole second and advanced to third on an error by Kubek at short. NL Batting Champion Dick Groat doubled in Virdon. Bob Skinner singled in Groat and with one out Skinner stole second, then scored on a single by Roberto Clemente. Jim Coates relieved Ditmar and brought the inning to an end, but the Bucs led 3-1.

Law sailed along until the fourth when a single by Moose Skowron drove home a run, making it 3-2. In the bottom of the fourth after a one out walk to Don Hoak, Mazeroski promptly belted an offering from Coates deep over the left field wall. It gave the Pirates a 5-2 lead and few in Forbes Field (including Mazeroski) realized it was a sign of things to come. They could not have realized either that this homer put the Pirates ahead for good; thus the game winner.

In the sixth Maz would single and come home on a hit by Virdon giving the Pirates their sixth run. New York scored in the ninth on Howard's two run home run but by then it was all over. Fireman Roy Face pitched the final two innings in relief of Law to save the win for Pittsburgh.

The rest of the series featured the things legends are made of. New York would go on to outhit, outscore, out homer and basically annihilate the Pirates in their three wins, 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0. Even in the decisive seventh game they scored 9 rungs, but with Maz's homer in the bottom of the ninth the Pirates scored 10. It was the only time Pittsburgh scored in double digits in the series.

Pittsburgh scored only 26 runs in the series. New York scored 55. The hits gap was 91-60 and the home run gap 10-4. Mazeroski hit half of those. Maz hit only 11 in the entire 1960 regular season. Mickey Mantle hit three while Maris and Skowron each banged two. When it came to pitching Whitey Ford won two complete nine-inning games with an amazing WHiP of 0.72. Pirate starters Law and 34-year old Harvey Haddix each won two games, 18-game winner Bob Friend lost a pair and little Elroy Face picked up three saves. Still it was Game One which set the tone for what had become an improbable World Series victory.

The seventh game in 1960 remains the only "walk off seventh game homer" in the history of the World Series. It's made Mazeroski a true legend and despite his amazing defensive credentials, it helped catapult him into baseball's Hall of Fame. It should be noted Yankee second baseman Bobby Richardson was voted Series MVP (the only time a player on a losing team was so honored in the World Series). However, it must be remembered the voting for the MVP takes place before the game actually ends, and if it had occurred after the game, it's highly likely Mazeroski would have won that award.

                             SEND YOUR ANSWERS TO; brillpro@gmail.com
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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, September 27, 2021

Bud Daley Puts the Yankees Over the Top TWICE; 1961

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Henry Menks, of Santa Fe, NM who correctly identified Sammy Ellis as the winning pitcher in Warren Spahn's last game. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: How many of the 1961 New York Yankee players are enshrined in Baseball's Hall of Fame?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The winning pitcher in Warren Spahn's last game was Sammy Ellis. Spahn made a brief appearance as a reliever for the Giants.

When you think of Yankee pitchers making their mark in the 1960s, you normally think of Whitey Ford.You don't think of Bud Daley. Daley however was the man who pitched the 1961 Yankees (the second greatest team of all time) into first place basically to stay. It was game 80 on the season. Just one month earlier he was toiling for the Kansas City A's. The A's traded him
to the Yankees for Art Ditmar and Deron Johnson. He was 4-8 before the trade. It was the beginning of two milestones for the lefty hurler in 1961.

(Bud Daley gets Vada Pinson as the final out of the 1961 World Series)

To put it nicely, almost any pitcher would have this claim to fame on Friday, July 7th evening in front of 29,000-plus at Yankee Stadium. The Bombers put 14 runs on the board against the Red Sox but it was Daley who was on the mound and went the distance. Bud worked quickly that game which went 2:45 despite 17 runs being scored.

He gave up eight hits, walked two and struck out three and the only deep ball he allowed was late in the game to catcher Jim Pagliaroni. Otherwise he kept Boston in check. The Yankees had a field day against four Red Sox pitchers. Gene Conley opened the game and lasted just one frame, giving up six runs. Arnold Earley went the next five and by the time he was relieved New York had scored 10 of it's 14 runs. Dave Hilman and Billy Muffett left their marks as well.

New York did what it did best but only Elston Howard homered. Bobby Richardson and Roger Maris each drove in three runs while Howard plated four more. Mantle had a couple of hits as did Bill Skowron.

While the club had won the two previous games, this win pushed them into first place. And aside from a couple days when they fell to second the Bronx Bombers pretty much clinched the AL Pennant. With this win they went on a 25-9 run, dominating the American League and heading into the World Series.

While their were many bigger names in pinstripes in 1961 including Maris and his 61 homers, Mantle's .317 and 54 HR along with Berra, Ford (25 wins) and Luis Arroyo (15-5, 29 Saves), it was a career 60 game winner named Bud Daley who put them on the train to the title in game 80. Daley finished the campaign 8-9 with New York and coupled with his 4-8 in KC, he ended the season 12-17. He picked up a win in two relief appearances in the World Series, including getting Vada Pinson to pop up as the final out in the 1961 Series.

The Orange County, California native was a two time all-star, winning 16 games in both 1959 and 1960.