Tuesday, September 10, 2019


THE Mike Piazza  homer

   

     Posting this on the eve of the 18th anniversary of the attacks on our soil, where thousands of innocents were killed. And many thousands more in the wake of the attack.
     Without getting political, Shea Stadium was home to the first professional sporting event held in New York after 9/11. It was a tribute, and a testament to the heroes, those that were still with us and those who perished. It was a tribute to the innocent victims. It was a testament to New York, the spirit of New Yorkers, and the resilience to refuse defeat.
     It was a game that featured remembrances, requiems and eulogies. Many, many tears. It was a somber game, quiet without a lot of drama.
     Then Mike Piazza came to the plate, the Mets a run down. Steve Karsay, who grew up in College Point, Queens, the same subway stop as Shea, on the mound for the Braves. A low fastball that caught a corner of the plate...
     What happened next, as the ball sailed to the left of the batters-eye, and over the fence was spine-tingling, goose-bump rendering and tear inducing, all at once. It was a homer that gave the Mets the lead, but did much more than that.
     It was very odd, but it seemed like the blast also brought a sense of relief. Like a giant exhalation...it revitalized the crowd, and gave the fans in attendance a reason to cheer. A reason to smile. A reason to be happy.

     In my humble opinion, this home run, one of Piazza's 427 homers ranks as probably one of the top three home runs of all time. It is, in my mind, the most important homer.

     By far.

Mike Piazza' homer after 9/11

Monday, September 2, 2019


1959…More than perfect, less than perfect, Go Go’s and scandals…


                The 1959 baseball season had some very big highlights, and some lowlights as well.

                The Los Angeles Dodgers were the ultimate winners of a very tight pennant race and had to win a best of three playoff series over the Braves to keep Milwaukee from its third straight pennant, and to bring the West Coast its first taste of post-season baseball. (They won it in two games)
                The pitching rich Dodgers faced the equally pitching rich Chicago White Sox in the Fall Classic. The “Go-Go Sox” won the pennant by five games over Cleveland. The Sox combined to steal one hundred thirteen bases, forty-five more than the runner-up Boston Red Sox.
                From 1949 through 1960, the Yankees won the American League pennant in every season but two. 1954 and 1959. Manager Casey Stengel won ten of twelve pennants. Al Lopez, manager of the 1959 White Sox also managed the 1954 Cleveland Indians, the only other manager to win an AL pennant during that time period.

                The Sox destroyed the Dodgers in the first game of the Series, winning 11-0. The Dodgers rallied back to take the second game, by a 4-3 score. The Dodgers won the first two World Series games played in California, taking a three-games to one advantage, but the Sox won the elimination game, 1-0, to send the Series back to Chicago. The Dodgers won the sixth and final game by a score of 9-3.
                Interesting to note that both teams hit for a .261 average in the Fall Classic, and the Dodgers 3.23 Earned Run Average was just a shade better than the Sox’ 3.46. So, all in all, both teams were evenly matched.
                This was the first World Series in which there were no complete games.
                But the power rankings tell a slightly different story. On paper, the top five overall teams were:
White Sox
American League Champions
Giants
3rd in National League
Braves
2nd in National League
Dodgers
World Series Champions
Reds
5th in National League (tied with Cubs)

                The further breakdown of team performances, beginning with pitching, were:
National League
American League
Giants
White Sox
Braves
Indians
Dodgers
Orioles

                And then in offense:
Reds
Red Sox
Dodgers
Indians
Braves
Tigers


                There was a small gambling scandal in the major leagues, and a bigger one in the minors.
                In Philadelphia, Panamanian born pitcher Humberto Robinson was approached by a known gambler named Harold Friedman. Friedman was alleged to have offered Robinson $1,500 to purposely lose a game against the Cincinnati Reds. Robinson, a quiet man, never accepted or even acknowledged the offer, but did mention in in secret to a teammate, who insisted that Robinson inform manager Eddie Sawyer of the offer, but he never did.

                During the game in question, the teammate told Sawyer about the incident. Sawyer didn’t act on that information initially, because Robinson was pitching very well, limiting the Reds to just three hits, hitting a double and scoring the first run of the game himself. He earned the win.
                When word got out, Humberto received congratulations and adulations from around the game, including one from Commissioner Ford Frick, for his actions on reporting the bribe attempt.
                Friedman was later indicted and ultimately sentenced to a two to five-year sentence for ‘bribery of an athletic contest’.
                Friedman was also implicated by a young woman, whose name I won’t divulge, who alleged that Friedman introduced her to three ‘very prominent’ baseball players (who were never named) for the purposes of prostitution. Or that Friedman was charged with several vice counts.

                The more serious scandal happened in the minor leagues and involved players on the Chattanooga Lookouts of the Southern Association.
                An allegation was made against players Waldo Gonzalez and Jesse Levan. Gonzalez was alleged to be tipping pitches and signals to players and coaches of the Mobile Bears, while Levan was acting as the liaison between the players and the gamblers. Both players were suspended immediately pending a further investigation.

                For his part in not reporting a bribery attempt, the National Association of Baseball President Charles Hurth suspended Gonzalez for a year.
                As for Jesse Levan, the investigation uncovered a strange scheme that he was also involved in. It had to do with foul balls, where gamblers in the stands would make wagers with patrons as to the next ball being hit foul or not. Somehow, one party was tipping the other party as to which ball would or should be foul. I know it sounds confusing, and implausible, but this was what the investigation turned up.
                For his part in that scheme, Jesse Levan and former American League catcher Joe Tipton each were barred for life from ever working for any professional baseball team, in any capacity. (Tipton was a part of the Chattanooga team in 1957, and was found to have been offered money in exchange for information and/or performance issues that may affect the outcome of the games)

                While we’re talking about the minors, outfielder Frank Howard, of the Victoria Rosebuds of the Texas League, hit a home run in 3 straight innings against the Austin Senators. That, combined with hitting .356 with 22 homers and 79 RBI in 63 games, earned him a brief call-up to Los Angeles, and then reassignment to the Spokane Indians of the Pacific Coast League.

                Howard was named to The Sporting News Triple-A All-Star Team at the season’s end. The Sporting News also named an All-Star team for the AA-A class players, as well as the B-C-D class players too. I only bring this up because for the B-C-D class players, the All-Star team second baseman was Carl Yastrzemski of the Raleigh Capitals.


                Back to the major leagues.
                The Yankee’s collapse was shocking. On May 20th, after a loss to the Detroit Tigers, the Bronx Bombers fell into last place for the first time since May 23rd, 1940. They were able to rally to a third-place finish.
                Mediocre pitching, an early season slump, and age contributed to their shortcomings.
                Mickey Mantle did steal twenty-one bases, which is the most stolen bases in a season by a player managed by Casey Stengel.

                Dodgers ace Don Drysdale homered on opening day and remains the only pitcher to have homered on opening day more than once in a career.

                The Chicago White Sox scored eleven runs in an inning against the Kansas City A’s. With the help of ten (yes, ten) walks, three errors and one hit batsman, the Sox needed just one hit that inning.
                Second baseman Nellie Fox went on a streak from July 27, 1954 and June 25, 1959 where he collected more hit by pitch than he did strikeouts.

                In Cleveland, slugger Rocky Colavito homered for times in a game, becoming the eighth player to accomplish the feat. Bobby Lowe (1894), Ed Delahanty (1898), Lou Gehrig (1932), Chuck Klein (1936), Pat Seery (1948), Gil Hodges (1950) and Joe Adcock (1954) preceded him.

                Tito Francona batted .363 but fell one at bat short of the requirement to qualify for the batting title. Harvey Kuenn eon the title with a .353 average. Under modern rues, a phantom hitless at-bat would have been added to Francona’s totals, and he would have won the title.

                In Boston, the Red Sox were the last team to break the color barrier, with switch-hitting infielder Elijah “Pumpsie” Green appeared in fifty games for Boston.

Detroit ace Jim Bunning became just the fifth American League pitcher to strike out the side on nine pitches. He joined Rube Waddell, Sloppy Thurston, Lefty Grove (who did it twice) and Billy Hoeft.

Al Kaline became the third youngest player to reach one thousand career hits. Only Ty Cobb and Mel Ott were younger.

Washington Senator slugger Harmon Killebrew became the first American Leaguer to reach an inglorious 30/30 club. That is thirty home runs and thirty errors.

Chicago Cubs shortstop Ernie Banks, on his way to a repeat Most Valuable Player award, became the first shortstop to lead the National league in home runs, and the only NL shortstop to win consecutive home run titles.

The San Francisco Giants had their second consecutive Rookie of the Year winner with Willie McCovey. Orlando Cepeda had won the previous season.

Philadelphia Phillies second baseman George “Sparky” Anderson collected 119 total bases, for a slugging percentage of .249. His 119 total bases remain the record for the lowest by a player with 500 or more at-bats.

Milwaukee’s Henry Aaron reached four hundred total bases, the most by a player in the decade. He led the league in total bases five of the previous six seasons.
He hit three home runs in a game against the San Francisco Giants, the only time that the one-time home run king hit three homers in a game.

Perfection as achieved, then lost in Pittsburgh. Twice.
We know that Harvey Haddix pitched twelve perfect innings in Milwaukee against the Braves. Then in the bottom of the thirteenth, Felix Mantilla reached on an error by Bucs third-baseman Don Hoak. After Eddie Mathews sacrificed Mantilla to second, the Pirates intentionally walked Henry Aaron and Haddix pitched to slugger Joe Adcock.
Adcock hit the ball over the fence for what should have been a home run, but Aaron, seeing Mantilla cross the plate for the win, stopped running. Adcock passed Aaron, and was technically called out, even though the game was over. The official scoring credits Adcock with a double.
While his twelve straight perfect innings remain the single game record, because he did not win the game, Haddix is not credited with a perfect game.

His teammate Elroy Face accumulated seventeen straight wins, which if you go back to the previous season, stretches to nineteen, before losing a decision to the Dodgers in the opener of a September 11th doubleheader. He would win once more to finish with a record of 18-1, with ten saves.
He still holds the record for the highest winning percentage in a season (fifteen or more decisions) at .947.

On to the season analysis, starting with the National league pitchers. Our initial list of top ten performers is:

Team
W-L
ERA
Svs
Roger Craig
Dodgers
11-5
2.06
1
Vernon Law
Pirates
18-9
2.98
1
Warren Spahn
Braves
21-15
2.96
0
Gene Conley
Phillies
12-7
3.00
1
Bob Buhl
Braves
15-9
2.86
0
Sam Jones
Giants
21-10
2.83
5
Johnny Antonelli
Giants
19-10
3.10
1
Elroy Face
Pirates
18-1
2.70
10
Don Newcombe
Reds
13-8
3.16
1
Jack Sanford
Giants
15-12
3.16
1


Then comparing to their teams, we get this next list
Gene Conley
Above



Jim Owens
Phillies
12-12
3.21
1
Vernon Law
Above



Don Newcombe
Above



Roger Craig
Above



Elroy Face
Above



Larry Jackson
Cardinals
14-13
3.30
0
Warren Spahn
Above



Harvey Haddix
Pirates
12-12
3.13

Robin Roberts
Phillies
15-7
4.27
0

That brings our top NL pitchers of 1959 to this surprising list. Including their post-season rankings.:

22nd in MVP
Vern Law
19th in MVP (tied)
Roger Craig
13th in MVP
Warren Spahn
19th in MVP
Don Newcombe
No votes
Bob Buhl
No votes
Sam Jones
5th in MVP, 2nd in Cy Young
Elroy Face
7th in MVP
Johnny Antonelli
No votes
Jim Owens
No votes

Over to the American League, where their hurlers averaged out to a 3.6% statistical advantage, we get this initial list:
Hoyt Wilhelm
Orioles
15-11
2.19
6
Camilo Pascual
Senators
17-10
2.64
0
Early Wynn
White Sox
22-10
3.17
0
Bob Shaw
White Sox
18-6
2.69
3
Jerry Walker
Orioles
11-10
2.92
4
Milt Pappas
Orioles
15-9
3.27
3
Don Mossi
Tigers
17-9
3.36
0
Whitey Ford
Yankees
16-10
3.04
2
Ryne Duren
Yankees
3-6
1.88
14
Frank Lary
Tigers
17-10
3.55
0

                Then, against their team performances, we get this list:
Camilo Pascual
Above



Bud Daley
A’s
16-13
3.16
1
Hoyt Wilhelm
Above



Don Mossi
Above



Frank Lary
Above



Ike DeLock
Red Sox
11-6
2.95
0
Jerry Walker
Above



Milt Pappas
Above



Whitey Ford
Above



Ryne Duren
Above




                And that brings us to this, also surprising, list of top AL pitchers:
Camilo Pascual
19th in MVP
Hoyt Wilhelm
No votes
Early Wynn
Cy Young Award, 3rd in MVP
Don Mossi
No votes
Frank Lary
No votes
Bud Daley
22nd in MVP
Jerry Walker
No votes
Whitey Ford
No votes
Ryne Duren
No votes

                Bear in mind that there was only one Cy Young Award given at this time, and it was awarded to Early Wynn. Only three pitchers earned votes: Wynn, Sam Jones and Bob Shaw.

                Now, on to the offensive side, where the hitters across both leagues seemed to stagnate somewhat. Ted Williams and Stan Musial each endured their worst seasons in their lengthy careers. The offense of both leagues was statistically 3.4% lower than the pitching, and the National league hitters averaged 1.5% higher than the American League.
                Starting with the national League, our initial top ten list is:

Team
HR
RBI
AVG
RCG
Henry Aaron
Braves
39
123
.355
1.30
Frank Robinson
Reds
36
125
.311
1.35
Willie Mays
Giants
34
104
.314
1.29
Eddie Mathews
Braves
46
114
.306
1.26
Ernie Banks
Cubs
45
143
.304
1.26
Vada Pinson
Reds
20
84
.316
1.27
Orlando Cepeda
Giants
27
105
.317
1.13
Duke Snider
Dodgers
23
88
.308
0.98
Charlie Neal
Dodgers
19
83
.287
1.11
Wally Moon
Dodgers
19
74
.302
1.02

               
                Then, compared to their team’s averages, we get this list:
Ernie Banks
Above




Henry Aaron
Above




Willie Mays
Above




Eddie Mathews
Above




Frank Robinson
Above




Ed Bouchee
Phillies
15
74
.285
0.99
Wally Post
Phillies
22
94
.254
1.02
Ken Boyer
Cardinals
28
94
.309
1.02
Orlando Cepeda
Above




Dick Stuart
Pirates
27
78
.297
0.97

                That brings our final ranking of top National League offensive players to this:
Henry Aaron
3rd in MVP
Ernie Banks
NL MVP
Willie Mays
6th in MVP
Frank Robinson
9th in MVP
Eddie Mathews
2nd in MVP
Vada Pinson
15th in MVP
Orlando Cepeda
19th in MVP (tied)
Ken Boyer
10th in MVP
Dick Stuart
No votes
Duke Snider
22nd in MVP (tied)

                Over to the American League, the initial top ten list is as follows:
Jackie Jensen
Red Sox
28
112
.277
1.25
Harvey Kuenn
Tigers
9
71
.353
1.16
Al Kaline
Tigers
27
94
.327
1.12
Tito Francona
Indians
20
79
.363
1.04
Minnie Minoso
Indians
21
92
.302
1.10
Mickey Mantle
Yankees
31
75
.285
1.03
Harmon Killebrew
Senators
42
105
.242
1.05
Eddie Yost
Tigers
21
60
.278
1.04
Rocky Colavito
Indians
42
111
.257
1.03
Sherm Lollar
White Sox
22
84
.265
0.87
Nellie Fox
White Sox
2
70
.306
0.97
                Nellie Fox was the American League MVP for 1959, but didn’t make the top ten in any of my rankings…

                Comparing the players to their team’s offensive output, we get this list:
Harmon Killebrew
Above




Gene Woodling
Orioles
14
77
.300
0.90
Jim Lemon
Senators
33
100
.279
0.95
Bob Nieman
Orioles
21
60
.292
0.75
Gus Triandos
Orioles
25
73
.216
0.72
Harvey Kuenn
Above




Al Kaline
Above




Jackie Jensen
Above




Bob Allison
Senators
30
85
.261
0.92
Mickey Mantle
above




               
                This brings us to our top ten (eleven) American League offensive player for 1959:
Jackie Jensen
10th in MVP
Harvey Kuenn
8th in MVP
Al Kaline
6th in MVP
Harmon Killebrew
15th in MVP
Tito Francona
5th in MVP
Mickey Mantle
17th in MVP
Minnie Minoso
12th in MVP
Eddie Yost
No votes
Gene Woodling
16th in MVP
Jim Lemon
25th in MVP
Nellie Fox
AL MVP

                With all this data, and with pitchers having the overall advantage over the hitters, my top five players in each league are still the hitters

National League


Henry Aaron
NL Player of the Year

Ernie Banks
Willie Mays
Frank Robinson
Eddie Mathews


Gene Conley
NL Pitcher of the Year


American League



Jackie Jensen
AL Player of the Year

Harvey Kuenn
Al Kaline
Harmon Killebrew
Tito Francona


Camilo Pascual
AL Pitcher of the Year