Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, June 27, 2022

The Young and Younger Royals

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Kel Kissamis of Hampshire, IL, who correctly stated the Mets last win at the Polo Grounds was 9/11/63 ironically beating the former tenants; the Giants. 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.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Mets last win at the Polo Grounds was 9/11/63 beating the former tenants; the Giants.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Of the six Kansas City Royals age 30 or better in the 1969 season, three were pitchers. Who were they?

Usually when an expansion team enters Major League Baseball there is a smattering of both young and older players. The Mets for example came into the league with a lot of guys past their prime and turning the corner at 30 or better. New York brought 16 plus-30 players onto the roster in the first season. The Kansas City Royals by contrast had just six in 1969. The average age of the top eight starters, minus veteran Jerry Adair, was 25.

To be sure many were veterans already. Aside from the 32 year old Adair. Joe Foy (26) had a career with Boston, Jackie Hernandez (28) was with both the Angels and Twins, Paul Schall (26) was a four year starter with the Angels and at (24) Wally Bunker had six years in Baltimore including a 19-win season. This was a team of up and comers and young players. Ed Kirkpatrick was a real veteran at 24 having been in the majors since 1962.

Among the names who would stick around the Bigs for a while were Lou Pinella, Roger Nelson, Dick Drago, Ellie Rodriguez, Pat Kelly and Buck Martinez. Several on this team would go on to manage as well. This was a talent laden team. It must be noted the "old man" Hoyt Wilhelm was an original Royal but was traded before the season started.

While the debut club in 1969 would only win 69 games and would finish 4th in a six team division, and was just about the same for the next season, 1971 was a break out year. The Royals would finish second winning 86 games. The highlight of the 1969 inaugural season was early on when Bob Oliver collected six hits in a nine-inning game on May 4.

Just under 20,000 fans in southern California were on hand to see the Royals pound the Angels 15-1. Oliver homered off Pedro Borbon and added a double and four singles. He went 6 for 6 with three RBI and two Runs Scored. Kansas City collected 19 hits including homers by Foy and Pinella to back the 4-hit pitching of Roger Nelson. It gave the Royals as many wins (13) as the Angels had losses. It would be just a few years before the Royals became annual contenders with the likes of George Brett and Frank White, along with Hal McRae leading the way.

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Tuesday, June 21, 2022

Lou Brock's First Steal is Monumental

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Fealy of Punta Gorda Fl, who correctly stated Casey Stengel managed in 19 tie games in his career. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Casey Stengel managed in 19 tie games in his career.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: The Mets were the last team to play in the Polo Grounds as a home team. Who did they last beat at home in the final 1963 season of the Polo Grounds existence?

Most everyone who followed baseball in the 1960s remembers the horrible trade the Cubs made in basically giving away future Hall of Famer Lou Brock. Baseball fans in general know about his all-time base stealing exploits. A few may even remember the home runs he hit in the Polo Grounds. Even fewer remember the very first base Lou Brock stole.

It was a Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field in early April, 1962. Less than 10-thousand fans were in attendance, but most of them would witness the beginning of what would become one of the greatest achievements in baseball history.

Brock had led off every game for the Cubbies so far but wasn't hitting well and therefore was not getting on base. On Friday the 13th however, in April, 1962 he was not to be denied. Brock was 1/10, batting .100 as a lead off man and struggling out of the gate. In the first inning facing Ray Washburn of the Cardinals, Brock sent a blast deep into right-field for a lead off home run. It would be the first of many in his long career.

His second time up he hit a ground ball single to right. Then with Kenny Hubbs at the plate, Brock took off. Gene Oliver's throw was late and Brock had stolen base no. 1 in his career. He would add a triple in an 8-5, 15 inning Cubs win going 3/8, 3 runs scored and an RBI on the day. It was 17 years later in 1979 when he would call it a career and would add 937 more stolen bases to his record which stood until it was broken by Rickey Henderson.

Eight times he would lead the NL in base steals capping his best total with 118 in 1974. It was fitting the first stolen base came against the team he would become famous with; the St. Louis Cardinals, on Friday the 13th. It doesn't get much better than that.

Oh, that Polo Grounds home run. On June 17th 1962, just two months after his first steal, he took the Mets Al Jackson deep, clearing the wall and into the center field bleachers. At the time he was one of only three players to do that. The very next day Hank Aaron also did it making him no. 4. The others who did it were Joe Adcock and Babe Ruth whose blast landed in the old bleachers which was about the same distance.

Base stealing with Ty Cobb and Rickey Henderson and home run blasts with Aaron, Ruth and Adcock. And then there was the Hall of Fame. Lou Brock traveled in some pretty good company.

Monday, June 13, 2022

There Are No Ties in Baseball - Well ---

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Ken Levasseur of Amherst, NH, who correctly stated Bob Gibson made 34 relief appearances in the 1960s. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Bob Gibson made 34 relief appearances in the 1960s.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: How many Tie games did Casey Stengel manage in the big leagues?

The 1960 New York Yankees were known for scoring runs in bunches. With the likes of Maris, Mantle and the rest, they produced big time. Over the course of the season they scored in double figures 13 times and in the World Series in each of their three wins over Pittsburgh, they scored in double digits. However, it was in a mid-summer rainstorm the Yankees proved no match for mother nature; and the Kansas City Athletics.

Rain was in the forecast from the start on the night of June 15, 1960 at Kansas City's Municipal Stadium. And with a 28 mile per hour wind blowing and a light rain falling off and one and more promised, it is a wonder why the umpiring crew and home plate ump Joe Paparella chose to let this game go on. But go on it did.

Yankee ace Ralph Terry squared off against Dick Hall. Terry was his masterful self toiling more than eight innings and giving up four runs, only one earned. That coming on a Jerry Lumpe solo shot in the fourth. The unearned runs scored when relievers couldn't hold men on base after Manager Casey Stengel replaced Terry with one out in the eighth.

The Yanks had scored on power as usual. In the first Yogi Berra blasted a two run shot and after Bill Skowron drove home a run with a single in the eighth, Clete Boyer took Marty Kutyna deep in the ninth. New York had a 4-1 lead going into the bottom of the eighth when Terry gave way to Bobby Shantz with the bases loaded.

Norm Siebern hit a Sac Fly to drive in a run and Dick Williams drew a walk to load them up again. Shantz then walked Harry Chiti sending Russ Snyder home making it 4-3. Johnny James came in to relieve and couldn't find the plate either, walking Danny Kravitz in his final year in the big leagues, to bring home Whitey Herzog to tie the game at four-all. Andy Carey struck out to end the threat and with no one scoring in the ninth and the rain coming down, the game entered extra innings.

With only 14, 418 people in attendance few were left at this point. Neither team scored in the 10th or 11th, but come the 12th, New York broke out. Ken Johnson started the inning by walking lead-off man Kent Hadley. Mantle came up to pinch hit and drew a walk pushing pinch runner Gil McDougald to second base. When Tony Kubek tried to sacrafice them over and beat out the bunt for a single, it looked like curtains for the A's.

Yogi Berra hit into a force play driving in the go ahead run making it 5-4 and Maris finished it off with a single, plating two more, before Skowron hit into an inning ending double play. Still New York had gone ahead 7-4 and the rain kept coming. The umpires looked to calling it but the A's had a final at bat.

Ryne Duren took the mound for the Yanks and gave up a one out walk to Ken Hamlin. Pete Daley hammered a shot over the outfield wall and the A's were in business down a run 7-6. Duke Maas was brought into face Bill Tuttle and got him on a nearly game tying out to deep right. Lumpe singled to left and advanced to second when Berra's throw was off line.

The A's had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the bottom of the 12th in a game which had by now run 3:24 and with few fans in the stands, were probably wondering "what is the point?" as the rains came down. It was a wet and tired Russ Snyder who worked Maas at this point and he didn't disappoint, smacking a triple to drive in Lumpe. The A's could win it with a hit or an error.

Herzog drew a walk and Siebern was intentionally walked before Williams flied out to end the game. It was 7-7 and the umps had had enough. The game was called a tie and that was that. The Yankees would win the pennant by eight games so the tie did not matter.

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