Baseball in the 1960's

Tuesday, April 4, 2023

Bouton's Final Game as a Yankee

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Randall Bounds of Springfield, IL who correctly identified Chico Ruiz as the player who pinch-hit for Johnny Bench in Bench's debut game. 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: Chico Ruiz was the player who pinch-hit for Johnny Bench in Bench's debut game.

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: What other player in Yankee history was involved in a trade with Jim Bouton?

The name Jim Bouton stirs a mix of emotions in not only baseball, but especially in Yankee-dom. From exposing some of the all-time greats as having feet of clay in his ground breaking book "Ball Four," to his marvelous two seasons with New York where he won 21 and 18 games and won two games in the World Series. When it all ended for Bouton as a Yank, it was unceremoniously not a bad outing. (Eds Note: There is a link to the actual game at the bottom of the column.)

The last game Bouton pitched for New York was June 11, 1968. Only 4825 fans saw him toss to a total of eight batters in a 9-5 Yankee loss to the White Sox. They also saw Mickey Mantle homer off Joel Horlen. To be sure, the Yankees were not very good in 1968. They would finish in 5th place with a record of 83-79-2, 20 games out of first place. They were not going to be any better with Bouton and they certainly wouldn't be any worse without him.

With the Sox leading 8-3 in the sixth, NY manager Ralph Houk brought in the righty to fill out some innings with the game pretty much out of hand. At least for these Bronx Bombers who left the word "Bomber" to past glories.

Bouton gave up a single to Tim Cullen, got a pair of ground outs and whiffed Buddy Bradford looking. The next inning, after Mantle's 2-run shot to make it 8-5, Bouton gave up three ground balls (one of which Mantle booted for an error) and the very last batter he faced as a Yankee, Duane Josephson, he struck out. That was it. his final line score as a New Yorker;

2 Innings, 0 Runs, 1 hits, 0 walks, 2 K's. Four days later he was sold to Seattle for $20,000 with the Yankees paying $8,000 of his $22,000 1968 salary. However, the franchise only existed on paper at that time and didn't begin play until 1969. As of June 15th, 1968 his season ended at 1-1, with a 3.68 ERA in 12 games. He was used mainly out of the bullpen in the lone season of the Pilots' existence and was traded to Houston.

Call it irony I guess that the man Bouton brought the most heat on in "Ball Four," Mickey Mantle, both made an error behind him in the final appearance and hit a home run to support him. In a matter of further irony, neither really mattered in the game, except in the line score.

Link to the actual game...

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.
brillpro@gmail.com
==========================================================
I've written more than a dozen books including at least two sports books. You can find these at my Amazon page or at my own website www.bobbrillbooks.com. Please take a look at the sports books, the western novel series or the "Tattoo Murder," which is a crime book set in Ventura, CA.

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 books after reading this column.

Tuesday, March 28, 2023

The Debut of the Bench

TRIVIA WINNER: Congrats to Jack Edwards of Oakland, CA, who correctly stated there were six players named Robinson who played in the majors in the 1960s. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Six players performed in the big leagues during the 1960s who were named Robinson.

===============================================================
NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Who was the player who pinch-hit for Johnny Bench in Bench's debut game in the major leagues?

Umpire Doug Harvey didn't know what to expect on August 28, 1967, but he made history. He was behind the plate when future Hall of Famer Johnny Bench made his major league debut. For nine innings Harvey got to watch what the baseball world would learn over the next 17 seasons; Johnny Bench was one of the greatest catchers of all time.

Bench would call what was probably a pretty good game for a nervous rookie and he caught three pitchers of varying degree. It wasn't Gerry Arrigo's day certainly facing the Philadelphia Phillies that Monday evening at Crosley Field. A typical August night before 9500 fans the Phils would beat the Reds behind Dick Ellsworth. For Bench's part, whether it was Arrigo or the rookie, can't be known. The young catcher handled 31 year old Don Nottebart and 34 year old Ted Abernathy very well.

Arrigo went five-plus innings giving up 3 ER and walking six. Not a great line score. Philadelphia sluggers Bill White, Johnny Callison and Gene Oliver did most of the damage As for the other two relievers, 2 1/3 perfect innings. Bench was settled in by then.

At the plate, it was not a good start. Batting seventh in his first game, Bench was hit-less in three at bats. His first appearance he popped out, then Ellsworth became the first pitcher to strike out the HOFer, and Turn Farrell did the same a few innings later. A fourth AB brought about a pinch-hitter who also got out.

While the first game in his career was a 3-2 loss, the next night he called a 1-0 shutout for Gary Nolan and two other pitchers. He went hit-less again in three AB, again a popfly and a pair of K's. It wasn't until the following game where he made his hitting mark. Again calling a win, 2-1 for Milt Pappas, he had a sacrifice fly for his first RBI off Chris Short. It was followed by another strikeout and then in the bottom of the seventh he rolled through a ground ball single to left off the left-handed Short.

Bench continued to struggle at the plate batting less than .150 until September 20th when he cracked his first home run. On a three hit day, his first, the Braves Jim Britton gave up the gopher ball. There would be 388 more in his career although 1967 was probably his worst season, batting .163 in 26 games and striking out 25-percent of the time. But there was no doubt about his defense. Catching almost every game after coming on, the club went 16-14 with five shutouts.

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.

ANSWER to the Trivia question in the previous column: Rocky Colavito pitched against the Detroit Tigers in a game in 1958 .

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

Followers