Baseball in the 1960's: July 2023

Monday, July 31, 2023

You Don't Mess with Andy M.

TRIVIA WINNER: The winner of this week's trivia contest is Jake Kribel of Amity, PA who knew that Willie Mays homered in the same inning ofthe Marichal-Roseboro debacle. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

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. Please put your mailing address in with the answer so if you win we can send you the gift card in the mail.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Three players on the 1969 Angels had sons who also played in the big leagues. Who were the ball playing dads?

The number 16 was a big factor for the 1969 California Angels. Two out of three times that number was on the losing side of the mark, but for one player it was the beginning of a solid career and a major milestone for baseball.

While Andy Messersmith came to the big leagues as a 22-year old rookie in 1968, 1969 was his break out year with the Angels. The fire-balling right-hander with electric stuff would make his mark, winning 16 and losing 11 in 250 innings. The Angels would only win 71 games that season and still finished 3rd in the AL West. Starting at Game 40 Lefty Phillips took over for the aging Bill Rigney and finished just under .500 the rest of the way.

For Messersmith it was a strange stat line as he pitched in 40 games, started 33, finished 5 and tossed two shutouts but managed two Saves as well. Over 250 innings he registered a 2.52 ERA while striking out 211, walking 100 and giving up just 169 hits. His 17 home runs was low for the time period.

Andy didn't get much support. Jay Johnstone led the team in hitting by a long shot at .270 and no one hit more homers than Rick Reichardt's 13. Hoyt Wilhelm and Ken Tatum led the bullpen but what Messersmith accomplished that season was pretty much all on him.

He would later be the key player in the case which ended baseball's Reserve Clause and opened the door to Free Agency as we know it today. Before then, despite a failed attempt by Curt Flood, every player was tied to the team that signed him and only that team.

Oh, by the way, the other two 16's for the Halo's in 1969? Both Tom Murphy (10-16) and Jim McGlothlin (8-16) owned the other no. 16's on the club's statistical roster that year. Another number was prominent in Messersmith's career; 20, which he won in two different seasons and had 19 wins in another.

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Sunday, July 23, 2023

The Day Baseball Got Ugly

TRIVIA WINNER: The winner of this week's trivia contest is Rich Klein of Grand Prairie, TX, who knew Preston Gomez was born in Guatamala, Cuba. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: After Roseboro left the game Sandy Koufax continued to pitch and walked two batters and gave up a home run in the inning. Who hit the homer?

To say Juan Marichal was an enigma is an understatement. In the 10 years of the 1960's he started and completed 197 games for the San Francisco Giants. Six times he won 20 or more games including 26 in 1968 and 25 in 1963. Three times he pitched over 300 innings and twice more hit marks of 299 and 295. From 1963-1969 his ERA never exceeded 2.76 and twice it was in the 2.1 range (2.13 and 2.10).

Five times the man with the most varied pitches in his arsenal, completed at least 20 games and pitched 30 complete games in 1968. Five times he issued less than 50 walks and six times he struck out over 200 batters. Amazingly his WHIP was under 1.0 four times during the stretch. He never lost more than 13 and in 1965 he tossed 10 shutouts. He would throw at any angle and at any speed.

Yet, despite all of this he is best remembered for the time he went off the warpath and smacked the Dodger's Johnny Roseboro over the head with a bat, while standing in the batters box.

It was a Sunday afternoon on August 22, 1965 and my father and my God Father and I were on our way to the Olympic Auditorium in Los Angeles to see wrestling. My father was a major fan of "wrastlin'" and the Olympic Auditorium was the place to be for that sort of thing. We were listening to the Dodger game on the radio and were appalled and shocked at what we heard as we pulled into the parking lot.

Up in the Bay Area, the Giants were hosting the Dodgers with Sandy Koufax facing Marichal. Two of the best pitchers of the era and of all-time as it would turn out, in a game both teams wanted to win as they battled it out in the closing days of the 1965 NL pennant race.

The game started off tense. Maury Wills laid down a bunt single and the second time around, Marichal decked him. Koufax returned the favor by sending Willie Mays to the ground with a high fastball. When Marichal decked Ron Fairly, umpire Shag Crawford warned both teams. An ejection was coming the next time a pitch was too tight.

What happened next is documented by both players. It was such an important game for both teams, both sides were making sure their pitcher would not be the one ejected for throwing at a hitter. They were not. It was Marichal and it came as a hitter.

In the third inning Koufax sent a pitch inside. Roseboro dropped the ball on purpose to get a good angle on Marichal who was at the plate. He positioned himself and whipped a throw back to Koufax which came dangerously close to Marichal's face. The Giant's ace said it actually did clip his nose.

Juan confronted Johnny and the two had heated words. Roseboro moved closer. The it got ugly. Marichal clubbed Roseboro over the head with his bat. Roseboro went down and both benches emptied. A bloodied Roseboro went after Marichal and kept the pounding up until Mays came out and restrained him, bringing some peace to the party. Marichal, bat in hand, was tackled by the umpire.

"I was afraid he was going to hit me with his mask, so I hit him with my bat," Marichal said in an apology a day later.

No one was in a forgiving mood. Bat versus mask. Hmmm. Doesn't seem like a match.

Roseboro got 14 stitches, Marichal was fined $1750 and was suspended for 10 games. Roseboro did sue and the case was eventually settled for $7500.

As for the game itself, a visibly shaken Koufax gave up four runs to the Giants, including two homers. The final was 4-3 but Marichal was not the recipient of the win. Ron Herbal was. The Dodgers would go on to win the pennant and the World Series over the Twins.

Believe it or not the two men later became friends. When Roseboro died in 2002 at age 69, Marichal was one of the pallbearers and a speaker at the funeral. Marichal actually spent his last season at age 37, with the Dodgers in 1975.

Tuesday, July 18, 2023

Padres Pray for Hits

TRIVIA WINNER: The winner of this week's trivia contest is Pete Matero of Amarillo, TX, who knew that Floyd Robinson's best season produced 66 extra base hits. The Prize: Starbucks Gift Card.

NEW TRIVIA QUESTION: Preston Gomez was the Padres first MLB manager. Where was he born?

Expansion teams aren't supposed to be contenders right away. Most won't offer a polished pitching staff but most will hit, at least to some degree. Then there were the players of the expansion San Diego Padres.

The year was 1969 and the new San Diego team was far from it's days of Tony Gwynn and Dave Winfield. Gwynn would toy with .400 at one point and offer a lifetime BA of .338. Winfield, before leaving for Free Agency, would hit 154 home runs and lead the NL in RBI with 118 in 1979.

But that was later and 1969 was now. By the time the 1969 season had come to a close 10 Padres came to the plate and closed the season with a BA of under .200. Included was the team's starting shortstop, Tommy Dean, at .176 in 101 games (308 plate appearances). Few were far better. Starting catcher Chris Cannizzaro stuck it out at .220 while starting second sacker, Jose Arcia batted .215.

On the positive side, powerful Nate Colbert led the team in homers with 24, batting .255 while striking out 123 times (no big deal today but back then over 100 K's was a setback). Downtown Ollie Brown led the hitters at .254, adding 20 dingers, and Ed Spiezio and former Dodger Al Ferrara had double figure home run totals with 27 between them. The basic starting lineup rounded out with Cito Gaston's .230 mark.

The Padres finished last (12th place) in nearly every hitting category in 1969 including runs, hits, doubles, walks, strikeouts, BA (.225) and every important other percentage statistic including on-base and slugging figures. They were dismal. They finished 52-110, 41 games out of first place. Only eight times did they beat an opponent by five runs or more, but lost by five runs or more 30 times!

Perhaps their season can be summed up this way. Twice they lost to opposing teams 19-0 and twice more 10-0. There were other double digit scoring losses but those embarrassments were the top of the heap for the 1969 Friars.

The pitching wasn't much better overall but the starters were not bad. Despite losing 20 of 27 decisions 21-year old Clay Kirby finished with a 3.80 ERA. In fact, the four main starters were all under 4.00 in the ERA department. Only one pitcher who pitched any kind of innings however finished with a winning record. Reliever Jack Baldschun was 7-2.

Of all the players on that inaugural team for San Diego, probably the only offensive player who went on to a strong big league career was Colbert. He hit 173 home runs during his MLB life. On the mound it was Joe Niekro who won 221 games in his career while losing 204. His brother Phil won 318 giving them a combined record of 540-478, which in itself is pretty amazing.

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