Baseball in the 1960's

Monday, December 5, 2022

The $100K Players in the 1960s

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan, Berkley, MI, who revealed that Lew Burdette was the Angels pitcher who pitched for the Yankees to start his career and only played for one other AL team; the Angels. 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. Please enter via brillpro@gmail.com and please put your mailing address in with the answer so we can send you the gift card in the mail.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Lew Burdette started his career with the Yankees and only played for one other AL team.

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NOTE; At the top right 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.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: The "other" Triple Crown Winner in the American League in the 1960's, Carl Yastrzemsi, finally made $100,000 a season. In what year did he first make that salary?

It may seem like a minuscule amount in today's salaried world where millions of dollars are being spent on major league players and at some point we will see a Billion Dollar Contract, but in the 1960s the goal was $100,000. So who was the highest paid player in the 1960s. It should come as no surprise, it was Willie Mays. In 1965 at age 34 Mays hit 52 homers and batted .317.

What Willie Mays made in a season in the 1960s was about what players today make in "at bat," and while all things are relative most fans believe players like Mays and Aaron were well underpaid. I had more than one encounter with Willie over the last 25 years and he has seemed to be not a pleasant individual. He seems angry, which is what others who have had the same experience have told me as well. It might be understandable that he might feel slighted that players who couldn't hold a candle to him during his say-hey days, make millions while he made less around $2 million in his career.

Briefly Mickey Mantle was the highest paid, the Mays and then for one year Sandy Koufax was top of the list. If he hadn't retired, the lefty pitcher might have been the highest paid in the decade over Mays. The list looks like this;

1960	$80,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1961	$85,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1962	$90,000	Mickey Mantle (NY AL)
		Willie Mays (SF NL)
1963	$105,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1964	$105,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1965	$105,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1966	$130,000	Sandy Koufax (LA NL) (Retired after 1966 season)
1967	$125,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1968	$125,000	Willie Mays (SF NL)
1969	$135,000	Willie Mays (SF NL) (Top Salary of the decade)

During the 1960s Hank Aaron hit 40+ homers a season five times, yet Aaron never made more than $92,500 but crossed the $100k mark in 1970 at $125k. He eventually made $240k. Frank Robinson won the Triple Crown in 1966 at age 30 but didn't reach $100k until 1967, topping out at $125 in the 60s. Juan Marichal made $115k among the top players. By the end of the decade there were several.

Pete Rose often said that knowing sluggers made $100k, he wanted to be the first $100k "singles hitter." He made in 1970 when he reached $105k.

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Monday, November 28, 2022

Why the Angels Fans Loved the Angels

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Kel Kissamis of Hampshire, IL, who revealed that Ron Perranoski was the Dodger reliever who was second to Phil Regan in Saves in 1966 with 6. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Ron Perranoski was the Dodger reliever who was second to Phil Regan in 1966 with 6 Saves.

NOTE; At the top right 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.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Which 1966 Angels player started his career with the Yankees and during a long career only played for one other AL team; the Angels?

What made the 1966 Los Angeles/California Angels so interesting they would finish in sixth place in the American League but still finish first in attendance? While the team closed out the 1966 season 80-82, 1,400,321 fans went through the turnstiles of Anaheim Stadium. Bill Rigney's team did not have a .300 hitter or a batter with at least 20 homers. Aging Joe Adcock led the club with 18 in only 83 games. The club's leading hurlers each won 13 games (George Brunet and Jack Sanford) and ace Dean Chance was 12-17. So why did the fans turn out?

The team was never in danger of winning the pennant. They rarely won or lost more than five in a row. Their highlight was in mid-June when they won 11 of 13 and were seven games over .500. They were still eight games back of the Orioles but they were in fourth place. Then they dropped three in a row to Baltimore, another to Detroit and despite a four game winning streak which followed shortly thereafter, the season was essentially lost.

They still played good baseball overall, and by the end of July they were still over .500. However they were 14.5 games back of first place Baltimore. Perhaps it was the fact the Angels, despite looking up to see down trying to overcome the Frank Robinson led Birds, never gave up. On July 30th Chance pitched the Angels to a 2-1 win over Cleveland to put the west coast team into its only day in second place. They were 13.5 back. It lasted 24 hours.

Brunet, always the hard luck pitcher would face even more hard luck in 1967 when the Angels competed for the pennant, Fregosi continued to play well and alongside Bobby Knoop they were among the best double play duos of the era. Chance would become an outstanding pitcher, especially after being traded to Minnesota. The Norm Siebern/Joe Adcock platoon was replaced by Don Mincher the following season.

It was the slugging Adcock's final season and leading the team in homers at age 38 was pretty indicative of the 1966 Angels. Let's face it, this was a team of lovable players who were at a crossroads in a region hungry for a winner not named the Dodgers. They Angels were no match for the pennant winning team led by Sandy Koufax in his final season, Don Drysdale and fav's such as Wes Parker and Lou Johnson.

They really were every bit as talented as the Dodgers but were just not ready to eclipse the upper tier of the American League. The Orioles, the Red Sox and the Tigers were way too difficult for the team from Anaheim. They were never more than 3 games under .500, and as the 80-82 record indicated they played pretty evenly through the year. They had 9 walk off wins and 9 walk off losses which is pretty darn even.

This was a club of lovable characters. There were new kids on the block like Rick Reichardt, Paul Schall, Jim McGlothlin, Jackie Hernandez, Clyde Wright and Minnie Rojas. There was a mix of real fan favorites such as Adcock, Bubba Morton, Lew Burdette, Jimmy Piersall, Jack Sanford and Ramon Lopez.

Perhaps a real indication where this team of aging vets and young stars trying to shine is how they finished. One of the clubs best games was on Sunday October 2, facing Luis Tiant and the Indians. Knoop's 2-run triple in the bottom of the eighth plated the only runs of the game to back the 5-hit pitching of Jorge Rubio (WHO?). In the ninth, facing four batters, Rubio did not allow a fair hit ball. He walked Rocky Colavito and struck out Leon Wagner, Bill Davis and Fred Whitfield.

Rubio finished his career the following season with a 2-3 lifetime record in ten total career games. The Angels were a team waiting to happen with a fan base eager to see it happen. Or so one would think. The following season they were in the race for much of the year and finished 84-77 in 5th place. Attendance: Dropped off to fourth in the American League, down to
1,317,713. Some people just can't stand a winner.

Monday, November 21, 2022

Phil Regan; Destined to be the Vulture

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Mickey Bauchan of Flint, MI, who revealed Zoilo Versalles led the AL three times in errors committed at shortstop. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Zoilo Versalles led the AL three times in errors committed at shortstop.

NOTE; At the top right 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.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: While Phil Regan led the 1966 Dodgers with 21 Saves, which pitcher had the second most on the club that season?

Sometimes a player is just out of position but someone realizes there is potential and lets him hang around until another someone realizes it too. Such is the case of Phil Regan. A starting pitcher when he arrived in the big leagues in 1960, he would split his time between starting and the bullpen. It was a common occurrence in that era. His first game in the Bigs was in relief but his second appearance was as a starter. He pitched well in a 4-3 loss to Baltimore, going eight innings and allowing eight hits and only three earned runs. He would not win a game that season.

(Video from 2019)

In 1962 however, manager Bob Scheffing decided he would pretty much be a starter. While he did occasionally pitch out of the bullpen, he'd be considered a starter. In fact, he started 71 games in three years. He just wasn't very good at it. He did win 41 games from 1961-1964 but only once was his ERA under 4.0. That season, 1963, he was 15-9 but gave up 33 homers in 189 innings. The other years his ERA was massive, with three of those five years higher than 5.00.

Then in 1966 the Tigers sent him to the Dodgers where manager Walter Alston put him in the bullpen. Regan quickly became L-A's closer. The "Vulture" as he was called baffled NL hitters and ended up 14-1 with a 1.62 ERA in 116 innings. He led the league in games finished with 48 and Saves with 21. He allowed just 6 home runs. It was a steal for Los Angeles who picked him up for journeyman Dick Tracewski. Sandy Koufax hung the nickname on him after leaving games tied 1-1 and seeing Regan come in to pitch the ninth when the Dodgers scored - the Vulture picking up the win.

Of course he was closing for pitchers Koufax and Don Drysdale at their pinnacle. The next year he still pitched well but it was a different Dodger club and his record didn't come anywhere near to his 1966 numbers. During the 1968 season he wasn't pitching well and the Cubs needed relief help. The club shipped him to Chicago where he regained his stride and led the league in Saves with 25 and Games finished. He tossed 134 innings with a 10-5 combined record and a 2.20 ERA.

That was pretty much the end of the good years. He still pitched a lot of innings for Chicago over the next few seasons but never returned to the form of those two magnificent years. He finished 96-81 with 92 career Saves and a lifetime 3.84 ERA after 13 seasons. He retired after a year with the White Sox at age 35.

Followers

Monday, December 5, 2022

The $100K Players in the 1960s

Monday, November 28, 2022

Why the Angels Fans Loved the Angels

Monday, November 21, 2022

Phil Regan; Destined to be the Vulture