Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, April 11, 2022

Tommy Davis Remembered

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Craig McGraw of Middletown, DE, who correctly answered Bill Stafford was the winning pitcher in the game Roger Maris hit home run no. 61. 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 on the mound for San Francisco when Tommy Davis broke his ankle?

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Bill Stafford was the winning pitcher in the game Roger Maris hit home run no. 61.

Tommy Davis, one of the best pure hitters of the 1960s died last week. We thought as a tribute we'd bring back a column we wrote about him August 2018.

At one point in his career the name Tommy Davis struck fear into the hearts of opposing pitchers. Every time he came up to pinch-hit, he shook them to their toes. Tommy Davis did some things with the bat most people have forgotten, but one thing they should never forget was his ability to hit in the pinch.

When he retired he had bested the record of a player only purists remember; Frenchy Bordagaray. Bordagaray played for several teams including the Giants during the depression years and later retired to work for the parks district in Ventura, CA, where he became a local hero. He retired with a lifetime pinch-hit average of .310. When Davis retired he was 63-197 in the pinch for a .312 record.

Davis was known for more than his pinch-hitting. in 1962 at the age of 23 he had his best year ever. His .346 BA edged Frank Robinson by four points and his 230 hits led the NL along with his 153 RBI. He also smacked a career high 27 homers. The following year he bested Roberto Clemente by half a dozen points at .326 to win his second batting title. That year he led the Dodgers to the World Series where he hit .400 with a pair of triples as Los Angeles beat the Yankees to take the title.

In 1964 he tailed off but still hit a respectable .275 but his homers and RBI dropped substantially. It was 1965 however which pretty much killed his career. On May 1, 1965 in a game against the Giants, he slid into second base awkwardly and dislocated his ankle. He was lost for the year. It opened the door for Lou Johnson who filled in admirably and became a hero when the Dodgers played the Twins in the 1965 Series.

In 1966 Davis came back to hit .313 but with only three homers and being the fourth outfielder for much of the season it was obvious he was on his way out. He played in the World Series but wasn't much of a factor as the Dodgers were swept by the Orioles in four.

The off season saw him packing his bags for New York as the Dodgers dealt him to the Mets for Ron Hunt and Jim Hickman. Derrell Griffith went along with him. He hit .302 with 16 homers in his only season in New York before he was shipped off to the American League Chicago White Sox in a multiplayer trade which brought Tommy Agee to New York. It was the trade which was key in building the Miracle Mets of 1969.

Before the decade of the 1960's ended he would also play in Seattle and Houston. He hit .271 in his only season for the Pilots who only had one season in the Northwest city. Davis would end his career with a .294 lifetime average and 153 homers. At times he set franchise records and outperformed teammates including the year of the pitcher; 1968. He led the Sox in batting that season by far at .268

A three time all-star he played for 12 teams in 18 seasons and was often bitter about it. He said he could not understand why he kept being released, or sent elsewhere. His casual style of play may have been a factor because it wasn't his bat. He stated later "the lazier I felt the better I hit." He said often he went into the clubhouse to read or shave between at bats as a DH with Baltimore.

It was a decent big league career which might have been better if not for the injury. But for two straight seasons there were few better in history, let alone the decade known as the turbulent 60's.

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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.

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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.

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.

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