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Tuesday, July 5, 2022

Tim McCarver; King of the Slow Speed Triples

 

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Craig McGraw of Middletown DE, who correctly identified the three over-30 pitchers on the 1969 KC Royals as Galen Cisco, Moe Drabowsky and Dave Wichersham. 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:  The three Over-30 pitchers on the debut Royals were Galen Cisco, Moe Drabowsky and Dave Wichersham.

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

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 led the American League in Triples in 1966?

 It's hard to imagine a catcher leading the league in triples but in 1966 the Cardinals Tim McCarver did exactly that. He gathered 13 of them! In fact, he's the only catcher to ever solely lead the league, either league, in triples in the history of modern baseball dating back to 1900. In 1972 Carlton Fisk tied for the league lead in the AL with Joe Rudi. No catcher besides McCarver led the majors in triples.

The 1966 season was an interesting one for the Cardinal catcher. He had been the regular at the position for the past two seasons. He played in more games this season than any other with 150, coming off his lowest of the 1960s the previous year at 113. It was his career high. He made the All-star team for the first time, he had the most hits (149) in his career, and his most at bats (543).

Despite McCarver's efforts the club finished 6th in the National League, well out of contention. The following year however, they rebounded, McCarver again shined and they won the pennant and the World Series. 

The fact McCarver hit 13 triples in 1966 was a real phenomenon.  Busch Stadium was moderately big but it wasn't like Forbes Field or Yankee Stadium with "triple alleys." It was only 386 to the power alleys and 414 to center. Interestingly enough, seven of the 13 triples were on the road. Of the 13 he hit one off of Sandy Koufax in what was the last and best year of Sandy's career. It came at Dodger Stadium. His last was on September first at home, and he hit two in the spacious Astrodome, but none in Pittsburgh's Forbes Field.

The rest of McCarver's career was involved in controversy on and off the field. Comments he made as a broadcaster infuriated several players and some fans. He was also involved in the Curt Flood trade to the Phillies which touched off the battle over the "reserve" clause.  

Despite his 1966 prowess with the league leading 13 triples, he never came close to double digits again in the three bagger department. The most he ever hit aside from 1966 was seven. His career total was 57 over 21 years or 2.71 per year. Subtract the 1966 season and you get 2.0 per year. To say it was a phenomenal season for the Cardinal catcher, would be an understatement. 

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  An athlete's guide to a better career." . 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."Beating the Slump;See it on Amazon for only $5.99

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, 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.

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

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:   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.

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  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book  An athlete's guide to a better career." . 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."Beating the Slump;See it on Amazon for only $5.99

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. 
 
 


 

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.

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:  Casey Stengel managed in 19 tie games in his career. 

EDS NOTE; Since we are trying to expand our mailing list and readership we want to build our mailing list. Readers on our email list receive the column each Monday directly into their mailbox. Please help us out by sending your email to brillpro@gmail.com. We DO NOT SELL your emails.

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.

===============================================================
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.

 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  
 ==========================================================
Need to get out of a baseball hitting slump, or a golf swing slump? Order my new book  An athlete's guide to a better career." . 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."Beating the Slump;See it on Amazon for only $5.99

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.