Baseball in the 1960's

Sunday, March 19, 2023

The Other "F. Robby" Makes an Impact

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Mickey Bauchan of Flint, MI who correctly identified the Detroit Tigers as the team Rocky Colavito pitched against in 1958. 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: Rocky Colavito pitched against the Detroit Tigers in a game in 1958 .

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: How many players named "Robinson" played in the major leagues in the 1960s?

If ever there was a turning point in a season it came for the 1962 Baltimore Orioles at the hands of F. Robby, and we don't mean Frank Robinson. It was Floyd Robinson, the slick fielding outfielder who patrolled the outfield for the Chicago White Sox. And it came on June 1, at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore. And it came at the expense of one of the games best relievers.

The Orioles only finished with less than 80 wins twice during the 1960s. It happened in 1962 and again in 1967 with the collapse of the World Champion Orioles who had both Brooks and Frank to lead the team. The 1962 version was not a bad club. They had power with Jim Gentile's 33 homers leading the way, Brooks hit 23 and batted .303 while Russ Snyder hit .305 with Jerry Adair, Boog Powell and Jackie Brandt all hitting double figures in homers.

The pitching was fairly solid with a young Steve Barber, Milt Pappas, Hoyt Wilhelm, Dick Hall and an aging but competent Robin Roberts. They were better than the 77 wins they recorded but the end really began on the first day of June.

The O's had never been less than 5.5 games back of first and actually spent a few days in April tied for at the top of the AL. The didn't have long losing or winning streaks. Still they were pretty consistent. Then on June 1, 1962 they faced Ray Herbert and the White Sox. Pappas took the mound for the Birds.

The game was uneventful with both starters going eight innings and heading into the ninth with Chicago holding a 2-1 lead. Hall pitched a 1-2-3 ninth inning but Herbert who was still in the game was tiring. After giving up a single to Gentile he was replaced by Frank Baumann. Charlie Lau sacrificed and Turk Lown came on to pitch. Two singles later the game was tied and it was Wilhelm, manager Billy Hitchcock called on as they went into extra innings. Lown stuck around.

A scoreless White Sox 10th led to trouble for Lown in the bottom of the inning. After striking out Johnny Temple, Russ Snyder doubled. An intentional walk to Brooks Robinson brought up Wilhelm. A wild pitch put runners on second and third before Lown K'd his opposite number and Lau to end the inning by striking out the side.

The top of the 11th was when F. Robby of the American League made his play. He worked Wilhelm for a walk and then promptly stole second. After Bob Farley popped out, Charlie Smith laced a single to bring Robinson home. With Sammy Esposito at the plate Smith was thrown out trying to steal. Good thing for the O's because Esposito followed with a single and a Wilhelm knuckler got away from Lau sending pinch runner Luis Aparicio to second. The key to the inning was Smith getting thrown out as Cam Carreon struck out.

The O's went quietly in the 11th and the Sox had a 3-2 win and the O's were now six games back. Little more than week later they were 8 back and 7th in the 10 team AL. While they would get better for a couple weeks and actually move up in the standings by July 27th they were back to double digits behind the leader, 10 games off the pace. They would eventually finish the season at 77-85, 19 games back of the first place Yankees, losing their final four in a row.

Hitchcock would bring his team back in 1963 by almost identically reversing the teams 1962 record and finishing in fourth place. The O's had basically the exact same lineup as the previous year but Steve Barber turned into a 20 game winner and both Roberts and Pappas had outstanding seasons. 1963 also marked the year Wilhelm joined Robinson as a member of the White Sox in a trade which involved players who played in the above storied game.

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Monday, March 6, 2023

The Rock & The Stick Pitch Mixed

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan, of Madison Heights, MIC, who correctly identified Mickey Lolich as the World Series home run hitting pitcher who had a ridiculously high ERA the seasons before. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The answer to last weeks trivia question is Mickey Lolich.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Against what team did Indians outfielder Rocky Colavito pitch in 1958?

Every once in a while fans are treated (well treated may be a little strong) to a fielder who gets to pitch in the big leagues. A blow out game, too many double headers, an overworked relief staff can all be contributing factors. However, in late August, 1968 Yankee fans saw double. Both outfielder Rocky Colavito and shortstop Gene Michael pitched in back to back games.

For Yankee manager Ralph Houk, the excuse was too many double headers. From August 23-30, New York would play five double headers, or 13 games in about a week! That would screw up any pitching staff. So when things got out of hand, or so Houk thought, on the 25th of August The Rock was called on to pitch.

When starter Steve Barber couldn't get out of the fourth inning trailing 5-0 to the Tigers, Colavito came in with runners on first and second and one out. Facing the heart of the Tiger's order, he got HOFer Al Kaline to ground out and Willie Horton to fly out to end the rally. Over the next two innings he allowed just a walk and a hit but no runs.

In the sixth the roof caved in on the Tigers' Pat Dobson. The Yanks scored five runs including one by Colavito who had a hit in the inning. Since the club had scored one in the 4th, they now led the Tigers 6-5. Dooley Womack and Lindy McDaniel came in to shut them down. Colavito walked away with a win. 6-5.

The next day Michael the light hitting shortstop who would later become the club's GM, was called on as well. Houk was hoping for similar results but it wasn't to be. Trailing 5-1 to the Angels, Houk decided Al Downing had had enough. It started well as Michael (nicknamed "the Stick" because he was so thin) had a 1-2-3 inning striking out pitch Jim McGlothlin in the process.

The eighth inning was not so kind. An error, a hit batter, a pair of doubles and two singles later, five runs had scored and it was 10-1 Angels. He mercifully got out of it and pitched a scoreless ninth striking out Rich Riechardt in the process. In the big inning McGlothlin got revenge banging one of those doubles. Michael did go 1-1 in the game himself to raise his BA to .194. Colavito played the outfield.

That was the end of Michael's pitching career. Colavito had actually pitched once before in 1958. He tossed three scoreless, hitless innings to close out a game for the Indians. So in two appearances spread over 10 years Colavito never gave up a run in almost six innings. Before he signed with the Pirates, Michael was offered an NBA contract but turned it down. He said as a player it was his biggest mistake.

Monday, February 27, 2023

Oh for the Mound of 1968 - Guest Column

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Tim Nathan of Madison Heights, MI, who correctly identified Bobby Knoop of the Angels as the 1966 AL leader in Triples. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: The Angels Bobby Knoop led the 1966 AL in Triples.

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NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the pitcher who had the highest ERA among qualifiers in his league one year and hit a World Series home run in another year, during the 1960s?

This week we present a series of Guest Columns. If you wish to submit a column for review to be published here in Baseball in the 1960s, just send your thoughts to brillpro@gmail.com.

The Effects of the Lowered Mound by Aaron Wolen of Fishers, IN.

In the aftermath of 1968 commonly referred to as the Year of the Pitcher, when MLB scoring levels hit an all-time low during the Live Ball Era, MLB over-reacted by lowering the pitching
mound from fifteen inches to ten. The best aspect of that change was the mandate
that all mounds had to have the same height and slope starting in 1969.

The results that season were mixed. Twenty-four "qualified" pitchers had an ERA
lower than 3.00. Clearly that was a very talented group. The most improved
pitchers were Dick Bosman, who led the AL with his 2.19 ERA after struggling
previously; and Rick Wise, whose unsightly 4.54 ERA was the worst in MLB in
1968, checked in with 3.23 in 1969. Joe Coleman and Catfish Hunter individually had nearly identical pitching statistics in 1968 and 1969. Young veterans Fritz Peterson, Rudy May, Ken Holtzman, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver and Jim Palmer had their best years after 1968.

On the flip side, Don Drysdale incurred a shoulder injury and retired. Larry Jaster, a junk-ball left-hander, Joe Sparma, a hard-throwing righty, and Camilo Pascual, right-handed curveball and high fastball specialist developed command issues they could not resolve, and fell by
the wayside shortly thereafter.

Jim Hardin, George Brunet and Tony Cloninger declined rapidly, and were soon gone. Joel Horlen and Bob Veale began a gradual decline. In another contrast in style, Horlen, a skinny junk-ball right-hander, had a lifetime ERA of 2.66 through 1968, and 4.08 thereafter; Veale, a beefy (pun intended) hard-throwing lefty, went from 2.76 through 1968, to 3.88 the remainder
of his career; both were gone in the early 1970s.

Stan Bahnsen, Steve Blass and Luis Tiant saw their ERAs double from 1968 to
1969, and then made noteworthy adjustments. Bahnsen's ERA in April was 6.23,
and through the rest of the 1969 season it was 3.52, the level at which he stayed
most of his long career. The curve and high fastballs which served him well
in 1968 were ineffective in 1969, so he relied on sliders and low fastballs going
forward. Blass's ERA was 4.46 in 1969, but he improved yearly through 1972.

Tiant's adjustment was more complicated. His ERA was 7.51 through May 15th,
and 2.89 the remainder of 1969, but his overall numbers were ugly. He led the
league in losses, home run pitches and walks that year. Then he struggled two
more years before bouncing back to his 1968 level. He led the AL in
ERA in 1968 and 1972, and led in shutouts in 1968 and 1974. He transitioned
from being a hard thrower in 1968 to being a finesse pitcher in 1972.

It is difficult to determine how much of an effect the mound height had on scoring
in 1969, considering there was also expansion that year, and expansion increases
offense.

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