Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, April 4, 2022

The Consistently Bad Red Sox Years

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Rich Klein of Grand Prairie, TX, who correctly answered Alan Foster and Andy Messersmith gave up the Long home runs to Willie Stargell which he blasted out of Dodger Stadium. 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: Who was the winning pitcher in game 163 for the Yankees when Roger Maris hit home run no. 61 off Tracy Stallard, to win it 1-0?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Alan Foster and Andy Messersmith gave up the Long home runs to Willie Stargell which he blasted out of Dodger Stadium.

From 1961-1963 the Boston Red Sox were the model of consistency. It's not the kind of consistent behavior anyone would want. In each of those three years the Red Sox won 76 games, they finished 6th, 7th and 8th. The curious thing was they finished with different loss numbers, losing 84, 85, and 86 games. In 1961 they played 163 games and had one tie. The other two seasons they failed to play the regular season 162.

The 1961 game 163 was the most controversial because it meant nothing in the standings. However, with Roger Maris sitting on 60 home runs for the season, it meant something to New York. It was also the game Maris hit home run no. 61 and gave the Yankees a 1-0 win. New York won the pennant by eight games over Detroit.

More importantly for the Boston faithful was the fact, 1961 ushered in a new era; the Yaz era. Ted Williams retired after the 1960 season and Carl Yastrzemski took over in left field. Williams, at 41, closed out his final season batting .316 and hitting 29 homers. Yaz first year saw him hit .266 with 11 homers. Hardly enough to get the chops of Red Sox fans eager for more.

It took time because the Sox would win their 76 games that year and in each of the following two years. They went through mainstays such as Frank Malzone, Jim Pagliaroni, Jackie Jensen, Pete Runnels, Chuck Schilling, Pumpsie Green, Dick Stuart, Gary Geiger, Earl Wilson, Bill Monboquette, Dick Radatz and Don Schwall before moving into 1967 when they turned it around and won the pennant.

During that stretch they never had a winning season. In 1965 they lost an even 100 games. From 1959 to 1967 they failed to break even. For eight straight seasons they were out of the race practically by the all-star break. But with the additions of players such as Joe Foy, George Scott, Mike Andrews and a center fielder named Reggie Smith, they finally got out of the second division.

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, March 28, 2022

Stargell Makes History at Shea Stadium

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Alan Drooz of San Diego, CA, who correctly answered four times in the 1960s Cincinnati Reds players led the league in most hits. Twice by Pete Rose and twice for Vada Pinson. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: In addition to hitting seven homers over the roof at Forbes Field, Willie Stargell was the first, and the only two timer to hit homers completely out of Dodger Stadium. Name the two pitchers who gave up those homers?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Four times in the 1960s Cincinnati Reds players led the league in most hits. Twice by Pete Rose and twice for Vada Pinson.

When it comes to monumental moments few players get the chance to achieve them and when it's a major player who ends up with a history of monumental moments, it becomes what baseball is all about. One of those moments occurred on April 17, 1964. It was Opening Day, the first of many Opening Days at Shea Stadium, New York. While the seasonal Opening Day took place a few days earlier, the first home-stand ever at Shea was against the Pirates on the 17th of April.

The game pitted the hapless Amazin's (before they were the Amazin' Mets) against a really good Pittsburgh team in transition. The likes of Clemente, Mazeroski and Virdon were still there but many of the players from the 1960 World Series team had moved on. The big guy on the scene however was future Hall of Famer and beloved player Willie Stargell.

The first inning saw the Bucs and the Mets go down in order. Bob Friend (little more than a year away from being a Met) was on the mound for Pittsburgh facing Jack Fisher. Everyone was waiting for that very first hit at the new yard. Would it be a Met, as most of the 50,312 fans in attendance hoped it would be? Or, would it be spoiled by some visiting Pirate.

The faithful didn't have to wait long. Leading off the top of the second inning was Stargell. Pinwheeling his bat facing the right-handed Fisher, Stargell blasted a shot deeeep to right field, some 350 feet away and history was made. The Bucs led 1-0 and it was a Pirate who went into the record books. Bob Bailey added a single in the inning to rub it in. It wasn't until Tim Harkness singled in the third a Met got a hit.

The New Yorkers would push across their first run when Ron Hunt doubled in the fourth and rode home on a single by future Bucco Jesse Gonder. In the fifth Stargell would double in another run off Fisher who lasted into the seventh before giving way to Ed Bauta. The game ended 4-3 with Friend going the distance, pitching a 7-hitter for his first win of the season. The Mets were 0-4. They would win their first game two days later.

For Stargell on the day he would go four-for-five, score two and drive in two. Known for his big hits you can follow his career at this link, and as the only man to hit home runs over the right field roof at Forbes Field more than once (he did it 7 times) "big" is a word too small for Wilver Stargell.

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

1965 Reds Blow It Down the Stretch

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Dennis Cimpl of Wauwatosa, WI, who correctly answered Ron Kline led the AL in Saves in 1965 with 29. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: In the 1960s how many times did a Cincinnati player lead the National League in hits?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Ron Kline led the AL in Saves in 1965 with 29.

Before they were the Big Red Machine the Cincinnati Reds of 1965 were just about the most awesome hitting team in the Majors. Look at it this way; they had two players reach 200 hits, every player in the starting line-up hit home runs in double figures, three guys scored 100 or more runs and two drove in well over 100, four of them hit 30+ doubles and three had at least 10 triples. Now that is awesome.

The 1965 Reds battled the entire season spending 17 days in First. If they hadn't hit the skids down the stretch, losing seven of their last eight, they might have ended up in the World Series. It was not to be. The buzz saw was the West Coast. Losing to Houston first, then three to Los Angeles and then a big win against the Giants before dropping the final three.

In seven losses they just stopped hitting. The Reds pushed across just 10 runs in the losses, but they scored 17 in the lone win against San Francisco. If they'd just have spread out those runs the pennant loomed. Sammy Ellis won that one but the rest of the hurlers were on the mark despite the losses. Maloney, Jay, McCool and Nuxhall were all solid. The hits just stopped.

Aside from the 17-2 win, the club hit only three home runs in those seven losses, all three were solo shots in the same game the reds lost 5-3. In the 17 run game they belted four in a 21 hit barrage. It seemed as if they could only put it all together for one game.

When the dust settled on the 1965 season Vada Pinson had 204 hits, Pete Rose 209 and along with Gordie Coleman all of them hit .300 or better. Deron Johnson led the club with 130 RBI along with 32 home runs, while Frank Robinson in his final season in Cincinnati led the club with 33 homers while driving in 113 and scoring 109. Tommy Harper took the team lead in Runs Scored with 126 and stole 35 bases.

Finishing in fourth place with a respectable 89-73 record the Reds sported a pair of 20-game winners in Maloney 20 and Ellis 22. Billy McCool had 21 Saves. At the end of the year Robinson was traded to Baltimore and Johnson moved from third to Left to make room for rookie Tommy Helms. The club would finish in seventh place in 1966.

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