Wednesday, November 20, 2019

Sign Stealing...

          So, the recent news involving a World Series winning team stealing signs has thrown the baseball into turmoil...truly a sign of the 24 hour baseball news cycle. What should the punishment be? Should a team be stripped of its title over it? Should there be an asterisk? What does baseball need to do about it?
          My answers would be, in order: none, no and nothing.

          Look, stealing signs has been going on in baseball since the earliest games. Essentially, it is the reason for signs in the first place. When he was a shortstop in college, Moe Berg would tell his second baseman if there was a play in place by yelling out in Latin.
          If you have seen a mound conference in the last twenty years, you'll see that the catcher will sometimes keep his mask on, while the pitcher and/or coach covers their mouth while they discuss strategy. (and more often than not, the next pitch is a fastball)
          Teams look for an advantage. That's the nature of competition. So yes, a team will try to decipher third base coach signals. They will try to determine if a pitcher is 'tipping' his pitches, as in he stops chewing his gum before throwing a breaking ball, or taps his glove twice before a change-up.
          A friend and I noticed that a particular player on the Mets would hold his arms in a certain position before he would attempt a stolen base. We shared that with a Mets coach, who told us that they were aware, and they were working on it. Then he told us of another 'tell' that another player had, how he would twist his left foot when he was stealing.
          Bench players study everything during games. signs from the dugout, patterns from the third base coach, tics of the pitcher. It has been a part of the game.
          Tipping the hitter to the type of pitch has also been happening forever. There is a story that Bobby Thompson was tipped on the pitch that he hit for THAT homer in the 1951 playoff game against the Dodgers.
          Watching a game, when there is a runner on second, one will see the catcher flash a series of signs, which are coded. This is for a few reasons. First, so the runner on second can't alert the batter as to the pitch coming, and he can't see if he can take an advantage on his lead if he knows what pitch is coming.
          The catcher, if you look, also does things to keep the signals hidden, as in blocking the signs with his glove, so the third base coach, or third base dugout can see them. Most times, he will also peer up at the hitter to see if he's sneaking a peak.
         
          Does knowing what pitch is coming help the hitter? Sometimes. But several batters actually prefer NOT knowing the pitch.
          There was a story involving Rod Carew, where the opposing catcher flat out told him that they couldn't get him out, so they were just going to tell him what was coming. Carew didn't like that idea at all. But he still got a couple of hits, as Carew did.

          So, what will come of this scandal? Who knows. This current commissioner seems to be very intent on leaving his own indelible mark on the game. He does not seem to be one to shy away from making unprecedented decisions. So he might come down hard on the team in question. After all, he is apparently attempting to shut down a couple of minor leagues, along with dozens of teams. So, there really is no telling what will happen.
 
         What should happen?
          Maybe a symbolic fine for the team in question. And a strong suggestion to the teams that were 'victimized' to use better signals.


          But that's just my humble opinions.



Friday, October 4, 2019


1969…improbable, imperfect and lunar


                1969 was a wild time. Flower children, Asian War, unpopular President, moon landing, Woodstock. So much going on, and it all impacted the 1969 baseball season to some degree. Many players were called to active duty, which amounted to many players serving a week or two at camp.
                Giants outfielder Garry Maddox missed two years of his minor league career while serving in Vietnam, 1969-70. During his Army service, he was exposed to chemicals which damaged his skin. Due to this, and the pain that shaving caused him, he was the first big league player that was allowed to grow a beard. This also helped protect his very sensitive skin.

                He returned to the States and resumed his minor league career with the Fresno Giants of the California League, then made the jump from A ball to the big leagues the following season. The “Secretary of Defense” had a lengthy career, mostly with the Phillies. Many people have been credited with saying, “Two-thirds of the earth is covered with water, the rest is covered by Garry Maddox.”
                Going back a couple of big-league seasons, a few die-hards may be familiar with Roy Gleason. The twenty-year-old switch-hitter appeared in eight games for the 1963 Dodgers, never playing the field. He was used as a pinch-runner seven times, scoring two runs, and as a pinch-hitter once.
                He doubled in his only at-bat, and later scored. His career batting average is 1.000, with a 2.000 slugging percentage, a 3.000 OPS and three runs scored with one official at-bat. Not bad.
                According to baseball-reference.com, he was the 9,752nd player to appear in major league history.

                He returned to the minors, where he played for a few more seasons, but never getting that call-up again. But he had those eight games. And, since that season, the Dodgers won the World Series over the Yankees, he was eligible for, and received, a World Series ring for his efforts.
                In early 1967, he received a letter notifying him that his draft status had changed, and that he was to report to basic training. He tried to dispute, with the help of the Dodgers, but to no avail. He completed basic training, then infantry school, and was shipped to Viet Nam.
                In June of 1968, Sgt. Gleason was leading a patrol when they were caught in a firefight. The soldier behind him was killed by a bomb ‘from above’, which sent shrapnel into Gleason’s arm and leg as he was thrown to the ground by the concussion.
                Gleason returned fire, and the fight continued to rage. Many soldiers died that day. Gleason was airlifted by a chopper for aid. He spent lengthy time at several hospitals before being discharged. He left his footlocker behind, with many items that might help a homesick soldier remind them of home.
                In that footlocker was his 1963 World Series ring.
                He recovered from his wounds, but inactivity and his age worked against him, and he was never able to make it back to his baseball career.
                Long forgotten, until a chance meeting at a car dealership, between two men who attended the same high school twenty-years earlier, the story began to be re-told. Gleason, the car salesman, and Wally Wasinack, a business writer, struck up a conversation.
                Gleason shared his story with Wasinack, who was familiar with Gleason’s high school prowess. Roy hadn’t really told anyone the entire story, and Wally finally said to him, “Have you ever thought about writing any of this down?”
                They collaborated on a book, “Lost in the Sun, Roy Gleason’s Odyssey from the Outfield to the Battlefield”. They were helped by Dodger historian Mark Langill and featured a foreword by Gleason’s minor league skipper Duke Snider. The book was published in 2003.
                Mark Langill set up a ‘Welcome Home’ night at Dodger Stadium, where Sgt. Gleason was asked to throw out the ceremonial first pitch, which he did. Dodger announcer Vin Scully asked Sgt. Gleason to remain on the field, as the Dodgers came on to the field. Manager Jim Tracy then presented Roy with a duplicate of the 1963 World Series ring.


                A befitting tribute to the last major leaguer to have been awarded a Purple Heart.


                Expansion happened before the 1969 season, adding four teams, two in each league, one in each of the newly categorized divisions. Two divisions in each league, an East and a West. The winner of each division would face each other in a League Championship Series in a best of five format, which would determine the World Series opponents.
                The expansion was somewhat forced by the relocation of the Kansas City Athletics to Oakland. While baseball would reluctantly approve the move, threats of legal action, up to and including the threat to repeal baseball’s anti-trust exemption, prompted major league baseball to speed up their expansion plans. Those plans needed to include a franchise in Kansas City.
                Also added in this round was another southern California team, the first team in the pacific northwest and the first international foray by a major sport.
                The Kansas City Royals, Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres and Seattle Pilots all made their debut. But not without some controversy.
                Firstly, since four teams were added, one would reason that one in each of the new divisions would be somewhat rational. But geography forbade that. It worked in in the National League, where Montreal in the East and San Diego in the West was a natural fit.
                In the American League, both expansion teams were added to the West division, which again, made geographic sense. However, that did give a slight advantage to the ‘veteran’ teams existing in that division, as the schedule makers had each team play ninety games within their division, and seventy-two against the other.
                The Minnesota Twins won that division handily by nine games, and not to belittle that accomplishment, the Oakland A’s were the only other team in the division with a winning record. The Twins were 22-14 against the new expansion teams, Oakland were 23-13 against the same teams.
                The Royals drew a little over 900,000 fans to Municipal Stadium, to watch their fourth-place team. While posting a losing record, they did finish one game better than the Chicago White Sox, while outdrawing the Sox by more than 300,000.
                The Houston Astros negotiated a trade with the newly anointed Montreal Expos. They traded outfielder Rusty Staub to les Expos in exchange for first baseman Donn Clendenon and outfielder Jesus Alou. The trade was made in late January of 1969, and all parties seemed to be complacent.

                The Expos began to market their new team by featuring the newly acquired, red-headed, New Orleans native Staub, referring to him as “Le Grand Orange”. The city fell in love with Staub, and even after he was traded away a few years later, he always received a hero’s welcome.
                His number 10 was one of the few retired by the team.
                In Houston, however, there were some misgivings. After a few weeks, Donn Clendenon decided that he would retire, taking a position with the Scripto fountain pen company in Atlanta.
                Donn, a three-sport star at Atlanta’s prestigious Morehouse College, whose collegiate big brother was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was not willing to play for newly hired Astros manager Harry Walker, with whom Clendenon was associated with during their time together in Pittsburgh.
                Clendenon thought Walker was a racist.
                The Astros wanted the trade voided, which the Expos balked at, since they focused their marketing on Staub, who would be sent back to Houston if the trade was voided, which would cause a ripple effect of refunds and bad press in Montreal.

                Newly appointed Baseball Commissioner Bowie Kuhn weighed the options, knowing where history fell on deals like this in the past, acted in what he considered to be the ‘best interest of baseball’, and convinced the two teams to negotiate the exchange of other players, in lieu of the transfer of Clendenon to Houston.
                The teams agreed, with Montreal sending pitchers Jack Billingham and Skip Guinn (along with a reported $100,000) to Houston to complete the deal, with Clendenon returning to Montreal. He would be traded to the Mets in June and become a vital piece in their pennant run.
                This issue, which alluded to baseball’s ‘reserve clause’, would come into the forefront at the end of the year, when the Cardinals would attempt to trade star outfielder Curt Flood to Philadelphia, which Flood protested…an issue that would eventually reach the U.S. Supreme Court.
                
                But, more on that later…
                The San Diego Padres, who along with their co-expansion newbie Montreal Expos, but lost one-hundred-ten games. San Diego drew 512,970 fans to roomy San Diego Stadium. The baseball capacity for the stadium was set at 50,000, so there were many empty seats available.
                Of the four inaugural teams, the Padres by far had the most modern facilities. The other three teams had funding, and a plan in place to move to larger facilities. San Diego Stadium was built for the Chargers of the then AFL. The team relocated from Los Angeles after its inaugural 1960 season.
                Local sportswriter Jack Murphy was instrumental in convincing team owner Barron Hilton to move the team to San Diego and was also a key person in driving for a stadium for the team, who had previously played their games at Balboa Stadium. Balboa Stadium was originally built as part of the California-Panama Exposition.
                Jack Murphy, who was the brother on New York Mets Hall of Fame announcer Bob Murphy, started a campaign to have San Diego build a multi-purpose stadium, which was completed in August of 1967. The Chargers played in the first game at San Diego Stadium that fall, and the stadium was used by the Sand Diego Padres of the Pacific Coast League for the 1968 and final season.

                When Murphy passed away in 1980, the San Diego City Council, who owned and operated the venue, voted to rename it in his honor. With the modern trend of selling naming rights, the venue name was sold, and became known as Qualcomm Stadium, but the city of San Diego named the grounds “Jack Murphy Field”. But corporate law being what it is, the name Jack Murphy Field could not legally be used alongside Qualcomm Stadium.
                However, from 1997, when the stadium was renamed, until his retirement in 2004, if you listened to a Mets radio broadcast of a game from San Diego, Bob Murphy still referred to it as Jack Murphy Stadium.
                
              Baseball in Canada was a rousing success. At the turnstiles anyway. With the marketing of Rusty Staub, and a very enthusiastic fan base. The promise of a new stadium in place for when the city hosted the 1976 Summer Olympics fueled the fans passion, as they made their way to the relatively small Jarry Park. With a listed capacity of 28,456, the Expos drew over 1.2 million fans, which was tenth in the league, it placed the park at an average of 52% of capacity over the course of the season.
                To put that in perspective, the New York Mets, whose Shea Stadium had a listed capacity of 55,300, and led the majors in attendance with over 2.1 million fans, averages a 47.8% capacity.
                Plus, the Expos had early success, sort of. The won their inaugural game over those same Mets 11-10 at Shea Stadium, running Tom Seaver from the game after five innings, and earning the win over Cal Koonce. They then lost their next three in a row. They were at 2-4 when St. louis became the first team to travel to Canada for a Major League game. The Expos won that game 8-7, scoring seven runs in the first three innings off Cardinals starter Nelson Briles.
                They even had a no-hitter, as pitcher Bill Stoneman whitewashed the Phillies 7-0 in the team’s ninth game. But as mentioned earlier, those bright spots in a long season of losing baseball.
                

               In Seattle, the ownership group scrambled to get the initial funding for the franchise fee for the newly dubbed Pilots. They also struggled to secure funding from King County for a multi-use stadium. In the meanwhile, they made repairs to Sick’s Stadium, which would make do as the home park for a little while.
                Dewey Soriano, former Pacific Coast League president was able to convince William Daley, who owned the Cleveland Indians, to help underwrite the initial purchase price, with the promise of a substantial windfall upon the team’s success.
                With an eye towards the original expansion date, which was to be for the 1971 season, the Seattle group seemed to be under very good guidance. However, with the timeline advanced by two years, there was an added sense of urgency.
                Now, for Seattle to join the American League, the franchise had to compensate the Pacific Coast League for the loss of that territory, which was the league’s most successful at the time. One million dollars was due to be paid to the PCL. The same had to be done for the San Diego franchise/territory.
                Then, as the voters successfully voted to proceed with a domed stadium in 1968, the existing stadium needed major upgrading. What was once considered a crown jewel of the PCL, Sick’s Stadium was an old AAA stadium, and it was showing its age.
                As a condition of Seattle being awarded a franchise, they had to provide a ballpark with a minimum of 30,000 seats. Due to numerous delays, the stadium finally had 25,000 seats available in mid-June. But, the water pressure throughout the building was an issue, especially with crowds over 8,000. And it was reportedly non-existent after the seventh inning. (they sold a lot of beer)
                The officially listed seating capacity for the stadium at the start of the season was 25,400.
                The stadium issue, while it passed, became an issue of location. Delays befell that project as injunctions were filed, lawsuits threatened, etc. That project was forced to come to a halt. (But later revived)
                The team was losing money quickly, and it became apparent that something needed to be done.  Daley was not going to fund the impending disaster. Some front office people were let go; payroll checks were becoming an issue. The crumbling stadium was feeling worse for wear.
                Soriano began meeting in secret with a group from Milwaukee, who had unsuccessfully tried to block the relocation to Atlanta by the Braves a few years earlier. He met with car salesman Allen “Bud’ Selig, and agreed to sell the Seattle franchise to him, and Selig would then move the franchise to Milwaukee, where there was a major league stadium in place, sitting empty.
                The deal was announced during the World Series, but…the two Senators from Washington pressed the minority owners of the Pilots to decline the deal, while they tried to renegotiate a deal for themselves. Soriano and Daley had both said publicly that they would prefer to sell to a Seattle group, for less money than Milwaukee offered if need be.
                An offer was made by a local Seattle businessman for $10 million, but one of the creditors called in a $4 million loan for the initial purchase by Daley and Soriano, which called for much greater expediency than was thought.
                Spring Training of 1970 started with the nomadic Pilots unsure of where their home would be, as they toiled in Arizona preparing for the upcoming season. Aon April 1st, the Seattle Pilots ballclub was declared bankrupt, clearing the way for the franchise to move to Milwaukee.
                The team’s equipment was in a literal holding pattern in Provo, Utah, unsure whether to head west to Seattle or east to Milwaukee. The east won out, and the team became the Milwaukee Brewers.
                
               The Brewers’ name pays homage to the beer industry, obviously, and is a name that had been around from the beginning.  In 1901, Milwaukee was one of the original eight teams in the newly formed American League. That lasted one season, as they moved the franchise to St. Louis as the Browns, and then to Baltimore to become today’s Baltimore Orioles.
                (Further, the 1901-1902 Baltimore Orioles also moved their franchise to New York and became first the Highlanders, and then the Yankees)
                 
Every team in the league lost players a to Reserve Duty at some point during the season. The stars, however, lined up well for the Mets. Their players’ obligations ended during late August/early September. They were fully loaded going into their improbable pennant run.
                “They’ll put a man on the moons before the Mets win a World Series!”
                Well…

                They had the pitching. Led by a tandem of righty Tom Seaver (1967 NL Rookie of the Year) and lefty Jerry Koosman (1968 NL Rookie of the Year runner-up) the Mets would finish as the top pitching team in the National League.
                The first place Cubs began to feel the pressure of the upstart Mets. Notably during a game in New York on July 9th. The Cubs committed three errors in a 4-0 loss at Shea. In what Tom Seaver would refer to as his ‘imperfect game’, The Franchise retired twenty-four straight batters. In the top of the ninth, Cubs catcher Randy Hundley attempted to bunt for a base-hit, abut was thrown out at first by Seaver.
                The next batter, center-fielder Jimmy Qualls hit a clean single to left. Seaver retired the next two batters to complete the one-hit shutout. Years later, I heard Seaver asked how he felt after giving up that lone hit, he asked where Qualls was at the end of the game. The answer was ‘still on first base’, to which Seaver replied, ‘well, that’s all that mattered.’

                The Mets then the next night to complete a three-game sweep of the Division leaders.
Leo Durocher was asked if “These were the real Cubs that lost this game?”, to which he answered, “No, these were the real Mets that won it”.
Another turning point happened on July 30th during a miserable doubleheader against the Astros. The first game was won by Houston in historic fashion, as they became the first team to hit two grand slam homeruns in the ninth inning of a game, while scoring eleven runs on their way to a 16-3 win.
In the second game, during an eventual ten-run inning by the Astros, time was called, and Mets manager Gil Hodges emerged from the first base dugout. While many thought he was coming to visit the mound, Gil kept walking past the bump, and into left field. He walked slowly and deliberately out to left-field, where he believed Mets left-fielder Cleon Jones didn’t hustle as he should have on a hit into the corner. The two chatted briefly, and Hodges turned and walked back to the dugout, Jones falling in behind him. Ron Swoboda replaced Jones in left. The Mets lost that game, and then the next as they were swept by the Astros.

Was Hodges trying to inspire his team? If he was, it didn’t work right away, as they still played sluggishly over the next few games. However, to a man, the Mets players have always pointed to that incident as an inspiring moment for the team.
                Their offense was not exactly overwhelming. They were essentially middle of the pack…until September.
                However, from June 2nd through August 12th, the Mets were in second place. A loss to Houston on the 12th dropped the Mets to third, they recaptured second place the next day, and kept their place until September 7th.
                On the 8th, the first place Cubs came to Shea Stadium with a two and a half game lead on the upstart Mets. The Cubbies sent Bill Hands to the mound against Jerry Koosman in the opener, which the Mets won 3-2. The next night, future Hall of Famer Ferguson Jenkins faced future Hall of Famer Tom Seaver. Seaver and the Mets won handily, 7-1. The Mets were just a half a game out of first place.
                That second game of the series was infamous for an ethereal moment at Shea.
                                On September 9th, in the top of the fourth inning, as the Cubs were batting against Tom Seaver. Seemingly from out of nowhere, a black cat mysteriously appeared on the field, ran around Cub’s third-baseman Ron Santo in the on-deck circle, and then sauntered in front of the Cubs dugout.

                The cat left the field never reported to be seen again.
                The Expos were up next, with five games scheduled over the next three days. The Mets 3-2 win in the first game put them in first place. They never looked back. They were on a run of winning ten in a row, and thirteen of their next fourteen to cement their pennant. The Mets won thirty-eight of their last fifty games
                With 1969 was the first season which featured divisional play, so the Mets were the National League Eastern Division Champions. They won the pennant by eight games over the Cubs, winning 100 games. Had they played under the rules prior to this expansion season, with no divisional play, the Mets would have had a seven-game lead over the Atlanta Braves, the NL West Champion.
                The Mets swept the Braves in three games, and the Orioles did the same with the Twins, to set up the Fall Classic.
                Baltimore won the opener, 4-1, and figured that the Mets would be little more than fodder for the dominant AL champion, but it was not to be. The Mets took the second game in Baltimore, returning the Series to Shea for the middle three games.
                While Baltimore scored four runs in the opener, their bats were silent for the rest of the Series, and they still hold the American League record for the lowest batting average for a Series. They batted .146.
                And it was Cleon Jones who caught the final out, a flyball hit by Oriles second-baseman, and future Mets manager, Davey Johnson.
                The Mets, as we know, won those three more in New York to claim the four games to one victory, and setting off a celebration on the field that few had witnessed prior. The Mets were the toast of the town, and the toast of the baseball world. They appeared on “The Ed Sullivan Show,” and sang the song, “You Gotta Have Heart” from the Broadway play “Damn Yankees.”
                
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05xUOC9yvJI
                The 1969 World Series trophy is historic and unique for three reasons:
·                                                 It was the first with twenty-four teams
·                                                 It was the first with a Canadian team
·                                                It is the only one with the Seattle Pilots on it

Now, how the teams finished and made the post season is found in their team’s rankings, beginning with team batting performances, our top three in each league:
National League
American League
Reds
Twins
Pirates
Orioles
Cubs
A’s

                Then the pitching, which performed on average 29.9% better than the offense across both leagues, we have this list:
Mets
Orioles
Cardinals
Twins
Braves
Tigers

                This brings our overall Power Rankings to the following:
Orioles
American League Champion
Twins
AL West Champion
Mets
World Series Champion
Reds
3rd in NL West
Cubs
2nd in NL East

                Other items of note from the 1969 season:

                Matty Alou of Pittsburgh became the third Pirate player to amass 225 hits in a season. He was the first whose last name was not Waner, as brothers Paul and Lloyd were the first two.

                And Alou’s 183 singles stand as the second highest total in a season.

                The Mets were the first World Series champion to have collected more than 1,000 strikeouts.
                On September 12th, Jerry Koosman and Don Cardwell each win a game in a doubleheader sweep of the Pirates. The score of each game was 1-0, with each pitcher earning the only RBI for their game. That has never happened before or since.

                
                Baltimore lefty Dave McNally won fifteen straight decisions.

                Outfielder, and team leader Frank Robinson, was famed for his ‘kangaroo court’ that ruled the clubhouse for the Orioles. He would don a ridiculous judge wig, and dispense fines for various infractions, real or imagined. Things like using the last coffee cup…that’s a dollar. Having your shoe untied…that’s a dollar. It kept the club loose.

                Robinson had a reputation as a hard-nosed player, a tough competitor, and was one of the all-time greats. But there was another side that didn’t get publicized.
                During his kangaroo court in 1969, “Judge” Robinson collected $475 in various fines, which he donated to the “Pat Corrales Fund”, which was formed the help Corrales’ three children’s education costs after his wife passed during childbirth.
               
                Back to the game…baseball in the Bronx went on without Mickey Mantle, who retired in April. The “Commerce Comet” finished his career fourth on the all-time home run list.


                Reds hurler Don Maloney no-hit the Houston Astros. Astros hurler Don Wilson returned the favor, and no-hit the Reds the following day.

                Giants youngster Bobby Bonds became the first player with 30 homers and 45 stolen bases in a season.

                Teammate Willie Mays slugged his six-hundredth homer, as a pinch hitter for George Foster.

                Going back to an earlier theme, White Sox first baseman Carlos May injured his thumb severely in a military accident while on reserve duty. He lost the tip. But…my favorite Carlos May trivia bit is that he wore jersey number seventeen. When the Sox added players names to their jerseys, Carlos became the first and only player to wear his birthday on his jersey. He was born on May seventeenth. May 17.

                Houston first baseman Curt Blefary participated in a record seven double plays in one game. 

                And outfielder Jim “Toy Canon” Wynn became the third National Leaguer to reach 140 walks in a season.

                Los Angeles Dodger ace Don Drysdale retires at thirty-three with shoulder issues. Drysdale was the last active player from the Brooklyn Dodgers.

                The Mets were playing at Dodger Stadium, with Mets outfielder Ron Swoboda’s wife was home in New York, pregnant. She went into labor and their son was born.
                The odd message on the Dodger Scoreboard, where they were playing three hours behind, said,” Congratulations, Ron Swoboda, your son was born tomorrow morning”.

                Minnesota Twins second baseman (and hitting machine) Rod Carew stole nineteen bases on the season. Seven of those were steals of home.

                On May 18th, the Twins stole five bases in one inning against the Tigers, including two steals of home.
                On June 21st, the Twins scored eleven runs in the top of the eleventh inning against Oakland. That equaled a record set by the Yankees in 1928.
                Seattle Pilot first sacker Don Mincher became the only Pilot to ever appear in an All-Star game.

                The Cleveland Indians finished in last place for the first time since 1914. They finished with a record that was worse than the two AL expansion teams.
                Tribe southpaw “Sudden” Sam McDowell became the first pitcher to lead the AL in strikeouts for a last place team.

                Cubs lefty Ken Holtzman pitched a no-hitter against Atlanta, without striking out a batter. Only the second no-hitter without a strikeout. Sam Jones of the Yankees over the A’s in 1923.

                Cincinnati nave and Reds outfielder Pete Rose became the first switch-hitter to lead the NL in batting in 1968. He would win again in 1969, becoming the only switch-hitter to win consecutive batting titles. He would add a third in 1973.

                Red Sox shortstop Rico Petrocelli became the first player to hit forty homers in a season, and then never reach thirty homers in a season afterwards.

                And I know this is a stretch, but…Petrocelli and Carl Yastrzemski became the first teammates with at least ten letters in their last name to hit forty homers in the same season.

                And in Little League news, Santa Clara, California won the Little League World Series. One of the players was Carney Lansford, who would appear in the 1990 World Series, becoming the third player to appear in both.

                The June baseball amateur draft featured some very good first round picks. Jeff Burroughs, J.R. Richard Don Gullet and Gorman Thomas were all taken. But further down the draft, there were some quality picks as well. Bert Blyleven was picked by the Twins in the third round, Dwight Evans by the Red Sox in the fifth, Bob Boone by the Phillies in the sixth, Bucky Dent by the Cardinals in the ninth, Buddy Bell by the Indians in the sixteenth and Ken Griffey in the twenty-ninth by the Reds.
                Dent did not sign with St. Louis, nor did Bill Madlock, who was drafted by the Cards in the eleventh. They went through the secondary draft, with Madlock being drafted and signed by the Senators in 1970. Bucky went through his first secondary draft and was again drafted by the Cardinals but did not sign so he went through a second secondary draft and was chosen in the first round by the White Sox, with whom he signed.
                Other drafted non-signees of note were John Stearns who was drafted by Oakland in the thirteenth round, and Dave Winfield who was the Orioles fortieth round pick. Both were drafted out of high school, and both opted to take scholarships to attend college.  Stearns went to Colorado, while Winfield went to Minnesota.
                Four years later, in the 1973 draft, Winfield was the overall number one pick, by the Padres, and Stearns was the number two overall pick by the Phillies.
                
                I have seen reference made to the ’6o’s as baseball’s second dead-ball era. With the last thirty-game winner in Denny McClain and Bob Gibson’s 1.12 ERA, combined with the dominance of Koufax, if only for a short time. Hitting was becoming scarce.
                In 1968, Carl Yastrzemski led the American league with a .301 average, the lowest ever for a league leader. Baseball decided to address this by lowering the pitching mound and altering the strike zone. Combining this with the dilution of talent, by adding four teams, increasing the number of players by around twenty percent.
                With an average of ten pitchers per team, adding those pitchers, who in the previous year would not have been of major league caliber, should have increased the offensive numbers, and decreased the pitching numbers. Well they did, but not at the same pace. The pitching was statistically 4.3% below the average performance of 1968, and the offense performed a whopping 16.7% better. But overall, the pitching was still far outpacing the hitting. An average of 23% better.
                Going forward, that difference would shrink, as offense began to catch up. But for now, getting back to the season at hand. We will look at the offense, beginning with the American League, where those batters fared slightly worse than the NL hitters. The difference was 0.1%, so they are very close.
                Our initial top ten hitters were:
Player
Team
HR
RBI
AVG
RCG
Reggie Jackson
A’s
47
118
.275
1.28
Harmon Killebrew
Twins
49
140
.276
1.22
Frank Robinson
Orioles
32
100
.308
1.21
Frank Howard
Senators
48
111
.296
1.08
Boog Powell
Orioles
37
121
.304
1.10
Sal Bando
A’s
31
113
.281
1.16
Reggie Smith
Red Sox
25
93
.309
1.08
Tony Oliva
Twins
24
10
.309
1.13
Rico Petrocelli
Red Sox
40
97
.297
0.97
Mike Epstein
Senators
30
85
.278
0.98

                Ans then, as compared to their team’s average performances, we get this list:
Reggie Jackson
Above




Roy White
Yankees
7
74
.290
0.94
Carlos May
White Sox
18
62
.281
1.06
Frank Howard
Above




Ken Harrelson
Red Sox/Indians
30
92
.221
0.95
Bobby Murcer
Yankees
26
82
.259
0.91
Tony Horton
Indians
27
93
.278
0.90
Rick Reichardt
Angels
13
68
.254
0.84
Harmon Killebrew
Above




Mike Epstein
Above





                Analyzing, combining and comprehending the stats brings us to this list of the top ten offensive players:
Reggie Jackson
5th in MVP
Harmon Killebrew
AL MVP
Frank Robinson
3rd in MVP
Frank Howard
4th in MVP
Sal Bando
16th in MVP
Boog Powell
2nd in MVP
Carlos May
No MVP votes, 3rd in Rookie of the Year
Reggie Smith
22nd in MVP
Mike Epstein
25th in MVP
Rico Petrocelli
7th in MVP

                Now switching to the National League hitters, our initial top ten list is:
Willie McCovey
Giants
45
126
.320
1.22
Pete Rose
Reds
16
82
.348
1.19
Roberto Clemente
Pirates
19
91
.345
1.15
Dick Allen
Phillies
32
89
.288
1.15
Ron Santo
Cubs
29
123
.289
1.19
Jim Wynn
Astros
33
87
.269
1.12
Tony Perez
Reds
37
122
.294
1.18
Hank Aaron
Braves
44
97
.300
1.04
Cleon Jones
Mets
12
75
.340
1.13
Johnny Bench
Reds
26
90
.293
0.99

                And against their team’s performances, we get this list:
Nate Colbert
Padres
24
66
.255
0.76
Dick Allen
Above




Willie McCovey
Above




Cleon Jones
Above




Roberto Clemente
Above




Ollie Brown
Padres
20
61
.264
0.77
Mack Jones
Expos
22
79
2.70
0.96
Rusty Staub
Expos
29
79
.302
0.88
Jim Wynn
Above




Willie Stargell
Pirates
29
92
.307
1.05

                These rankings and stats help bring us to our final top ten National League hitters:
Willie McCovey
NL MVP
Dick Allen
No votes
Cleon Jones
7th in MVP
Roberto Clemente
8th in MVP
Jim Wynn
15th in MVP
Ron Santo
5th in MVP
Hank Aaron
3rd in MVP
Pete Rose
4th in MVP
Willie Stargell
21st in MVP (tied)
Tony Perez
10th in MVP

                Now, we’re going to look at the pitching, beginning with the American League, which was 0.1% off their National League counterpart performances, I present this initial top ten list:
Pitcher
Team
W-L
ERA
Svs
Jim Palmer
Orioles
16-4
2.34
0
Mike Cuellar
Orioles
23-11
2.38
0
Mel Stottlemyre
Yankees
20-14
2.82
0
Ken Tatum
Angels
7-2
1.36
22
Dick Bosman
Senators
14-5
2.19
1
Denny McLain
Tigers
24-9
2.80
0
Fritz Peterson
Yankees
17-16
2.55
0
Andy Messersmith
Angels
16-11
2.52
2
Mickey Lolich
Tigers
19-11
3.14
1
Sam McDowell
Indians
18-14
2.94
1

                Then, as compared to their team’s averages, we got this list:
Sam McDowell
Above



Ken Tatum
Above



Mel Stottlemyre
Above



Dick Bosman
Above



Andy Messersmith
Above



Fritz Peterson
Above



Denny McLain
Above



Bob Locker
White Sox/Pilots
5-6
3.14
10
Jack Aker
Pilots/Yankees
8-6
3.17
14
Moe Drabowsky
Royals
11-9
2.94
11

                And this help bring us to our final AL Pitcher top ten overall performers:
Jim Palmer
No votes
Ken Tatum
29th in MVP (tie)
Mel Stottlemyre
18th in MVP
Mike Cuellar
Cy Young Award (tie), 8th in MVP
Dick Bosman
26th in MVP (tie)
Denny McLain
Cy Young Award (tie), 6th in MVP
Sam McDowell
No votes
Fritz Peterson
No votes
Andy Messersmith
20th in MVP (tie)
Mickey Lolich
No votes

                Now, the National League initial top ten:
Tom Seaver
Mets
25-7
2.21
0
Juan Marichal
Giants
21-11
2.10
0
Bob Gibson
Cardinals
20-13
1.18
0
Steve Carlton
Cardinals
17-11
2.17
0
Phil Niekro
Braves
23-13
2.56
1
Jerry Koosman
Mets
17-9
2.28
0
Larry Dierker
Astros
2013
2.33
0
Bill Singer
Dodgers
20-12
2.34
1
Bill Hands
Cubs
20-14
2.49
0
Gaylord Perry
Giants
19-14
2.49
0
               
And compared to their teams, we get this list:
Rick Wise
Phillies
15-13
3.23
0
Juan Maricahal
Above



Larry Dierker
Above



Tom Seaver
Above



Grant Jackson
Phillies
14-18
3.34
1
Bob Gibson
Above



Phil Niekro
Above



Steve Carlton
Above



Steve Renko
Expos
6-7
4.01
0
Bill Singer
above




                Tallying, compiling and comparing brings us these final top ten performers:
Tom Seaver
NL Cy Young Award, 2nd in MVP
Juan Marichal
23rd in MVP (tie)
Bob Gibson
30th in MVP (tie)
Larry Dierker
23rd in MVP (tie)
Steve Carlton
No votes
Phil Niekro
2nd in Cy Young, 9th in MVP
Jerry Koosman
23rd in MVP (tie)
Bill Singer
No votes
Bill Hands
No votes
Gaylord Perry
No votes


                After all the calculations, figuring and such, I present my top performers in each league, which varies slightly from the BBWAA final awards.

American League


Reggie Jackson
 AL Player of the Year

Harmon Killebrew
Frank Robinson


Jim Palmer
AL Pitcher of the Year



National League


Tom Seaver
NL Player of the Year


Willie McCovey
NL Offensive Player of the Year

Juan Marichal
Dick Allen
Bob Gibson