RetroSimba

How Rocky Colavito, Ken Boyer became peas in a pod

December 23, 2024 by retrosimba

During their primes, Rocky Colavito in the American League and Ken Boyer in the National were prominent run producers. At one point, the Tigers and Cardinals considered swapping them for one another.

Late in their careers, Colavito and Boyer became teammates _ with the White Sox, who got them for a pennant chase, and with the Dodgers, who hoped they’d boost a popgun attack.

Urban and rural

A son of Italian immigrants, Rocco Colavito grew up in a Bronx tenement. His father, who came to America after serving in the Italian army during World War I, was a truck driver. When Rocky was 9, his mother died, and his older sister ran the household.

Colavito was a Joe DiMaggio fan. According to the book “Don’t Knock The Rock,” Colavito “copied DiMaggio’s wide open batting stance. When he was privileged to see his idol play, he made mental notes of DiMaggio’s every movement, his every mannerism, and tried, on the field and before the mirror in the small bedroom he shared with his two older brothers, to make them his.”

In 1950, Colavito, 17, tagged along with some sandlot pals to a tryout with a Cleveland Indians scout. Colavito’s strong throwing arm earned him a contract and he entered the Cleveland farm system in 1951.

Kenton Boyer grew up in rural Missouri. His father was a laborer. His mother did laundry for others. Their home lacked electricity and indoor plumbing during Ken’s formative years, according to a 2016 biography of Boyer.

His father instilled Ken and his brothers with a passion for baseball. “Fifty-cent baseball gloves were typical gifts on Christmas Day,” biographer Kevin D. McCann noted. “Spring couldn’t come soon enough to use them and they often ran outside to play catch in the snow. When authentic baseballs were scarce, they threw homemade ones made of string and put together by their mother, or simply hit corncobs with a bat.”

In 1949, the year he turned 18, Ken Boyer impressed his favorite team, the Cardinals, in a series of tryouts. They signed him and sent him to the minors.

(All seven Boyer brothers played professional baseball. Clete, Cloyd and Ken reached the majors. Len, Lynn, Ron and Wayne stayed in the minors.)

High performance

Right-handed batters with power, Colavito and Boyer became big-leaguers in 1955 _ Rocky, an Indians outfielder; Ken, a Cardinals third baseman _ and it didn’t take long for them to achieve prominence.

With Cleveland, Colavito twice led the American League in extra-base hits. He and Harmon Killebrew each clouted a league-high 42 home runs in 1959. In a game at Baltimore that year, The Rock slammed four home runs. Boxscore

(The only other American League players with four-homer games: Lou Gehrig, 1932 Yankees; Pat Seerey, 1948 White Sox; Mike Cameron, 2002 Mariners; Carlos Delgado, 2003 Blue Jays; and Josh Hamilton, 2012 Rangers.)

Two days before the 1960 season opener, general manager Frank Lane (who, when he was with the Cardinals, traded Red Schoendienst and tried to deal Stan Musial and Ken Boyer) sent Colavito to the Tigers for American League batting champion Harvey Kuenn. “I traded a hamburger for a steak,” Lane said.

(For the multitudes of irate Colavito fans in Cleveland, Lane’s comment “may be remembered longer than Marie Antionette’s ‘Let them eat cake,’ ” Boston Globe columnist Harold Kaese suggested.)

Colavito totaled 45 home runs and 140 RBI for the Tigers in 1961 and followed that with 37 homers and 112 RBI in 1962, the year he led the American League in total bases for the second time.

Meanwhile, Boyer excelled for the Cardinals. With the exception of 1957, when he temporarily was moved to center field, Boyer had 90 or more RBI and more than 20 home runs each season from 1956-62. In that seven-year stretch, he hit better than .300 five times and won multiple Gold Glove awards.

Blame game

Following the 1962 season, frustration was high among Tigers and Cardinals followers. Neither team had been in a World Series since the mid 1940s. More was wanted from Colavito and Boyer.

Colavito’s critics pointed to his .236 batting average with runners in scoring position in 1962.

As for Boyer, he struck out 104 times in 1962 _ the first Cardinal with 100 whiffs since Steve Bilko in 1953. (By comparison, Colavito, with his 37 homers, fanned a mere 68 times in 1962, and never totaled 100 strikeouts.)

“The boo birds probably would shed few tears if Ken Boyer were dealt,” The Sporting News noted in October 1962.

A Colavito-for-Boyer deal seemed to some a good fit.

With Willie Horton in the wings, the Tigers considered Colavito expendable. With Stan Musial nearing retirement, the Cardinals needed a corner outfielder.

According to Boyer’s biography, asked in October 1962 about a possible deal for Colavito, St. Louis general manager Bing Devine said, “We’ll take a hard-hitting outfielder, but I don’t think Detroit would be willing to let Colavito go.”

The Cardinals instead made a trade with the Cubs for right fielder George Altman, who wasn’t the big bopper they expected.

Talk of a Colavito-for-Boyer deal was renewed during the 1963 season. In the Detroit Free Press, columnist Joe Falls wrote, “From all you hear, it looks as if The Rock will be wearing another uniform by the time the 1964 season rolls around _ a National League uniform, at that. The best bet is he will go to the Milwaukee Braves or St. Louis Cardinals in a deal for Eddie Mathews or Ken Boyer.”

According to Bob Burnes of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat, the Cardinals lost interest when the Tigers wanted a player in addition to Boyer.

Lowering their sights, the Tigers sent Colavito, Bob Anderson and cash to the Kansas City Athletics in November 1963 for Jerry Lumpe, Ed Rakow and Dave Wickersham. After a season with the A’s, Colavito returned to Cleveland in 1965 and led the league in RBI (108) and walks (93).

Meanwhile, Boyer enjoyed a career year with the 1964 Cardinals, driving in a league-high 119 runs, belting a grand slam in the World Series and helping the Cardinals become champions. He was named the National League Most Valuable Player Award winner.

Twelve months later, Boyer was shipped to the Mets.

To the rescue

Managed by Eddie Stanky, the 1967 White Sox relied on starting pitching (Joe Horlen, Gary, Peters, Tommy John), a strong bullpen (Bob Locker, Hoyt Wilhelm, Wilbur Wood), defense and speed (Don Buford, 34 steals; Tommie Agee, 28).

Run production was a weakness. No one on the 1967 White Sox hit 20 home runs or produced 65 RBI. Yet, in late July, the White Sox were atop the American League standings.

If they could add a proven run producer or two, the White Sox figured to enhance their chances of winning the pennant.

On July 22, 1967, the White Sox got Boyer, 36, from the Mets. A week later, they picked up Colavito, 34, from Cleveland.

The deals reunited Boyer and Colavito with Eddie Stanky. Stanky was Boyer’s first manager in the majors with the 1955 Cardinals, and he coached with Cleveland when Colavito was there in 1957-58.

Boyer hit .377 in his first 15 games with the White Sox. Against Cleveland’s Luis Tiant, Boyer’s two-out single tied the score in the ninth, and Colavito’s two-run homer in the 10th won it. Boxscore

The next night, Boyer stroked four hits and scored twice, and Colavito contributed three hits, three runs and a RBI in another win at Cleveland. Boxscore

Asked to assess the value of Boyer and Colavito, Stanky said to the Chicago Tribune, “They’ve given us extra-base punch, but just as important is the big psychological lift. You can sense this on the field and in the clubhouse.”

Boyer belted a Mike Marshall slider for a game-winning homer against the Tigers at Detroit. Boxscore

A week later, after Boyer and Colavito helped in a win versus the Athletics, Stanky told the Tribune, “I don’t know where we’d be without them, but we can’t expect Ken and Rocky to do it all by themselves. We need a couple of other fellows to start picking us up with their bats.” Boxscore

The support, however, didn’t come. The White Sox batted .215 in August and .213 in September. They fell out of first but stayed in the race.

On Sept. 13, in the 17th inning of a scoreless game against Cleveland, Boyer singled with one out. Buddy Bradford ran for him, moved to second when Bobby Tiefenauer’s knuckler eluded rookie catcher Ray Fosse, and scored the winning run on Colavito’s single. Boxscore

Two weeks later, Boyer hit a home run against Sam McDowell in a 3-1 victory that put the White Sox a game out of first. Boxscore

If the White Sox won the pennant, Boyer would face the Cardinals in the 1967 World Series, but Chicago lost its last five games and the Red Sox emerged as American League champions.

Colavito and Boyer combined to produce 50 RBI for the 1967 White Sox.

Finishing up

In March 1968, the Dodgers obtained Colavito. Two months later, they added Boyer. Though the Dodgers had stellar pitching (Don Drysdale, Don Sutton, Claude Osteen and Bill Singer), the hitters lacked pop. Their home run leader was Len Gabrielson (10). Their top RBI producer was Tom Haller (53).

Playing in the National League for the first time, Colavito struggled (.204, three homers). Boyer did better, batting .271. Though he only had 221 at-bats, he ranked third on the Dodgers in RBI (41).

The last hurrah for Boyer and Colavito as teammates came on June 3, 1968. Each had a RBI in a 2-0 win versus Bob Veale and the Pirates. Boxscore

A month later, the Dodgers released Colavito and he finished the season, his last, with the Yankees. Boyer played one more year with the 1969 Dodgers.

Both men became major-league coaches _ Colavito with the Indians and Royals; Boyer with St. Louis _ and Boyer also managed the Cardinals.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 7 Comments »

Fowl ball: Dave Parker had short stay with Cardinals

December 16, 2024 by retrosimba

A trade of Dave Parker for George Hendrick during their playing days would have been a headliner. That didn’t happen, but this did: Parker and Hendrick essentially were swapped for one another as coaches.

After coaching for the Angels in 1997, Parker became Cardinals hitting coach. He replaced Hendrick, who took the Angels coaching job Parker vacated.

Parker’s stint with St. Louis lasted one season. Though the Cardinals had the highest home run total in the National League with Parker as hitting coach in 1998, he wasn’t brought back. Manager Tony La Russa said Parker wasn’t dedicated to the job because he was spending time on the Popeyes fried chicken restaurant he owned in Cincinnati.

A success in the restaurant business, Parker capped his athletic career on Dec. 8, 2024, when a committee elected him to the Baseball Hall of Fame for his playing feats. The 16-member committee included former Cardinals Lee Smith, Ozzie Smith and Joe Torre, and Dick Kaegel, a former St. Louis Post-Dispatch reporter.

Show time

A left-handed batter and right fielder, Parker hit for average and power, produced runs and played with flair for the Pirates (1973-83), Reds (1984-87), Athletics (1988-89), Brewers (1990), Angels (1991) and Blue Jays (1991).

Nicknamed “Cobra” for the way he waved the bat before uncoiling with a quick swing, Parker was the National League batting champion in 1977 (.338) and 1978 (.334). He led the league in hits (215) and doubles (44) in 1977 and was the NL Most Valuable Player Award recipient in 1978.

A three-time Gold Glove Award winner with a powerful throwing arm, Parker played for two World Series champions (1979 Pirates and 1989 Athletics) and the 1988 pennant-winning A’s.

A career .290 hitter, he batted .314 versus the Cardinals. He totaled 2,712 hits and 1,493 RBI in 19 seasons in the majors.

(Parker respected fellow mashers. In his memoir, Keith Hernandez recalled, “Dave Parker, one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen, came strolling up to Ted Simmons and me after witnessing a round of batting practice in Pittsburgh and exclaimed, ‘You two are the hittingest white boys I’ve ever seen.’ Simmons laughed and I loved it: I’m Keith Hernandez, Hittingest White Boy.”)

Parker made his mark in other ways, too. He was one of the first ballplayers to wear an earring on the field (a diamond with a dangly cross) and one of the first to perform a showboating home run trot.

(Parker developed variations of his trot. He’d shoot at a base with his fingers as he neared it, according to the Post-Dispatch. Or, he’d trudge toward first “like a fat man up Heartbreak Hill,” Stan Sutton of the Louisville Courier-Journal noted, and slowly circle the bases. “I’ve hit over 300 of these,” Parker told the Los Angeles Times in 1989. “I deserve the opportunity to run them out any way I want.”)

Testifying in a 1985 federal drug trial regarding cocaine distribution among ballplayers, Parker detailed his cocaine use from 1976 to 1982, and identified colleagues who used the drug, in exchange for immunity.

Business decisions

In 1992, Parker sought to own a business in Cincinnati, where he grew up and still resided. According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, “A broker suggested Parker open a Burger King restaurant. Before the deal closed, the broker instead directed Parker to Popeyes because there were 18 Burger Kings in the region and one Popeyes.”

Parker and his wife, Kellye, bought a Popeyes on busy Reading Road in Roselawn, a Cincinnati neighborhood. According to the Enquirer, Parker could be found in the dining area or in the kitchen “where he regularly preps food or helps staff.”

“We call our Roselawn restaurant the colonel-killer,” Parker told the newspaper. “I think there are something like three KFCs that have gone out of business on Reading Road since we’ve been there.”

During the summer of 1996, Parker met with Terry Collins, then manager of the Astros, who were in town for a series against the Reds. Parker and Collins were teammates in the minors. Parker told him he was interested in getting back into baseball, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In November 1996, a month after the Astros fired him, Collins was hired to manage the Angels. He retained Rod Carew as hitting coach, but added Parker to the staff. Though Parker had no coaching experience, “He bring tremendous credibility,” Collins told the Times. “He knows how to win, what it takes to win. He brings the presence and knowledge of what it takes to be successful.”

Parker, 45, said to the Times, “I know I have to display clubhouse leadership. That was the understanding when I took the job.”

Or, as the Times put it, Parker was enlisted “to help give the Angels a long-needed kick in the rear end.”

Another motivation for Parker was his appearance on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot for the first time in 1997. As he told the Post-Dispatch, “With the Hall of Fame voting, I came back to baseball just to be more visible.”

Parker was assigned to be the first base coach and instruct the outfielders, a group that included Jim Edmonds.

Here’s the plan

As a player, George Hendrick totaled 1,980 hits, including 267 home runs, and never struck out as many as 90 times in a season. In his two years as Cardinals hitting coach, the team ranked a lackluster seventh in the National League in runs scored in 1996 and 11th in 1997. Worse, the 1997 Cardinals struck out more than any other team in the league.

The combination of the strikeouts and the hitters’ lack of application frustrated Hendrick. Though manager Tony La Russa was interested in having him return in 1998, Hendrick opted to leave, the Post-Dispatch reported.

In October 1997, Parker, who played for La Russa when he managed the Athletics, was hired to replace Hendrick. “Parker will be entrusted with correcting the Cardinals’ strikeout total,” the Post-Dispatch reported.

Parker told the paper, “When I played for Tony, I taught Jose Canseco a two-strike stance and he cut down on his strikeouts quite a bit (from 157 in 1987 to 128 in 1988). He also hit 17 home runs (from a total of 42) with his two-strike stance.”

By encouraging a batter with two strikes in the count to spread out his stance and cut down his swing, “You concentrate on just putting the ball in play,” Parker said to reporter Rick Hummel. “You look for the fastball and adjust to everything else.”

Working with a 1998 Cardinals lineup that included Ron Gant, Brian Jordan, Ray Lankford and Mark McGwire, Parker arranged contests during batting practice at spring training. According to the Post-Dispatch, “Coaches call out situations to the hitters and points are subtracted for bad execution, such as not moving a runner along. At the end of the competition, the losing side of hitters has to serve drinks and sandwiches.”

Parker told the newspaper, “You put it in their heads every day and eventually it gets there. You get a guy at third base with less than two outs, you don’t swing at a slider away … It’s constant repetition.”

One and done

Though the Cardinals still struck out a lot (1,179 times), they scored more runs in 1998 (810) than they did in 1997 (689).

Afterward, Parker told the Post-Dispatch, “If they want me back, I’d come back.” However, the Cardinals informed him he wasn’t wanted because his business interests interfered with his coaching duties.

“Coaching is a commitment,” La Russa told the Post-Dispatch. “I don’t know any coach who’s really outstanding that can have a conflict (of interest). The entrepreneur side of (Parker) prevented a total dedication to coaching … Coaching, if you do it right, consumes you. If you get into professional coaching and managing, if you have a business, you’d better find somebody to run it for you. He made a decision to divide his interests, and you can’t do that.”

Parker told the newspaper, “I really enjoy baseball, but I just don’t like being away from business … It’s tough being gone for eight months a year. My wife is working almost to death.”

Regarding his stay with St. Louis, he added, “If I had known it would have been so short, I never would have left the Angels.”

Mike Easler replaced Parker. Soon after, Mark McGwire sued People First Inc, distributor of a pain reliever, The Freedom Formula, saying the company falsely claimed he endorsed the product.

According to the Post-Dispatch, the lawsuit contended that “Dave Parker, who promoted The Freedom Formula, distributed the product to McGwire and several teammates (in 1998). Parker asked McGwire to pose for a photograph of him holding a bottle of The Freedom Formula. As a courtesy to Parker, McGwire posed for the picture but never consented to its use for any commercial purpose.”

(McGwire’s lawyer told the newspaper the dispute had nothing to do with Parker’s departure from the Cardinals. The suit was dropped when People First Inc. agreed to stop using McGwire’s likeness, the Post-Dispatch reported.)

Parker’s Popeyes restaurant continued to do well and he eventually opened a second one in Forest Park, a Cincinnati suburb.

Posted in Hitters, Opponents | 9 Comments »

Stubby Overmire came up big for Browns vs. Yankees

December 13, 2024 by retrosimba

(Updated Jan. 14, 2025)

A little guy with a big heart, Stubby Overmire pitched for one of baseball’s weaklings and beat up the league’s biggest bully.

On Dec. 15, 1949, the St. Louis Browns obtained Overmire from the Tigers on waivers for $10,000.

Frank Overmire got the nickname Stubby because he was short (5-foot-7, or less) and stout, and, as Joe Falls of the Detroit Free Press noted, he barely could wrap his stubby fingers around a baseball.

Relying on a dinky curve and a knuckleball, Overmire joined a cast of misfits on the 1950 Browns, a team that finished 58-96 in the American League. Against the first-place Yankees, the Browns were 5-17. Overmire won three of those _ and nearly earned a fourth.

Tigers territory

A Michigan native, Overmire went to high school in Grand Rapids and to college at Western Michigan. Even then, “I never had much of a fastball,” he told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I was winning with the curve.”

Signed by the Tigers for $500 after earning a bachelor of science degree in physical education in 1941, Overmire spent two seasons in the minors. Shortly before he turned 24 in 1943, he made his big-league debut in a start at Cleveland and completed a five-hitter for the win. “The chunky Grand Rapids youth pitched with poise and finesse,” the Free Press noted. Boxscore

Overmire followed that with a four-hitter for a win against the Browns. Boxscore

The rookie’s first shutout came against the Yankees on the Fourth of July at Detroit. In four starts versus the 1943 Yankees, who went on to prevail against the Cardinals in the World Series, Overmire crafted a 2.70 ERA. It was the start of many impressive performances in his career against the league’s top franchise. Boxscore

Championship season

Overmire won 11, including his last six decisions, in 1944, when the Tigers finished a game behind the league champion Browns. The next year, he contributed nine wins and four saves for the pennant-winning Tigers.

In the 1945 World Series with the Cubs, Overmire was the smallest player on either roster _ shorter than even Cubs left fielder Peanuts Lowrey. Getting the start in Game 3, Overmire stood tall, allowing two runs in six innings, but his counterpart, Claude Passeau, was better, pitching a one-hit shutout for the Cubs. Boxscore

“Overmire had little speed, but he was a smart pitcher,” The Sporting News noted.

He also was a likeable teammate. The Free Press deemed Overmire “hands-down winner of any popularity contest among Tigers players.”

Overmire, 28, reached a peak in 1947, with an 11-5 record, then never had another winning season. By 1949, the Tigers lost confidence in him. He totaled a mere 17.1 innings that year and had a 9.87 ERA.

Change of scenery

Being sent to St. Louis suited Overmire fine. “I’ll be glad to pitch for the Browns,” he told the Associated Press. “I certainly wasn’t being overworked in Detroit.”

Manager Zack Taylor picked Overmire to start the Browns’ 1950 home opener against Bob Feller and the Cleveland Indians, but the newcomer wasn’t up to the task. Overmire got knocked out in the second inning. Boxscore

Moved into a relief role, he was ineffective. Though his ERA for the season was 9.11, Overmire was given another chance to start on June 11 at Yankee Stadium.

What figured to be a mismatch instead was a thriller. Overmire and Vic Raschi put on a pitching clinic. Though he didn’t strike out a batter, Overmire limited the Yankees to one run, but he was a tough-luck loser. Raschi pitched a three-hit shutout for a 1-0 win.

The Yankees scored when a pair of pop flies, one by Cliff Mapes; the other by Hank Bauer, plopped in front of Browns fielders for hits in the same inning.

Joe Trimble of the New York Daily News wrote, “Runty Overmire was an amazing fellow to the Yankees … His soft stuff usually means improved batting averages, but he had the sluggers away off in their timing and the champs were mighty lucky to get the run.” Boxscore

Slow and steady

A week later, Overmire started against the Yankees again. Played before 2,824 on a Saturday afternoon at St. Louis, it was an unusual game. Yogi Berra stole a base. Joe DiMaggio went hitless and Ralph Houk got his only hit of the season.

Expertly mixing his pitches, Overmire baffled the batters, keeping the Yankees scoreless through eight. As the Post-Dispatch noted, “Overmire’s curve and tricky slow stuff succeeded where the fastball pitchers failed.”

Entering the ninth with a 7-0 lead, Browns outfielders got him trouble.

After the Yankees scored twice, they had Jackie Jensen and Jerry Coleman on base, with two outs, when Ralph Houk lifted a routine fly to left-center. Rookie Don Lenhardt and ex-Yankee Jim Delsing collided going after the ball and it fell safely for a fluke double, scoring Jensen. After Overmire walked Phil Rizzuto to fill the bases, another ex-Yankee, Duane Pillette, relieved and retired his former road roommate, Gene Woodling, on a grounder to second, ending the drama. Boxscore

On a roll

Overmire had a string of other impressive wins for the Browns in the second half of the 1950 season:

_ July 25: Starting against the Yankees at St. Louis, Overmire took a 4-0 lead to the ninth, gave up a home run to Johnny Mize and held on for a 4-3 win. Referred to by the New York Daily News as “roly-poly’ and “a little left-hander with an oversize waistline,” Overmire also drove in two runs with a single versus Vic Raschi. Boxscore

_ Aug. 5: Though he allowed seven hits and walked six, Overmire shut out the Athletics in a 4-0 win at St. Louis. Boxscore

_Aug. 20: In his first appearance at Detroit since being traded, Overmire beat the Tigers and his former road roommate, future Hall of Famer Hal Newhouser. Using an assortment of pitches described by the Free Press as “slow, slower, slowest,” Overmire gave up nine hits, walked four and threw a wild pitch, but allowed one earned run in a 6-2 triumph. Boxscore

In describing his approach to batters, Overmire told the Post-Dispatch, “When I get them looking for the curve, I slip them the knuckler, or I sneak over what I call my fastball … I am using the knuckleball a lot more this season.”

In the book “We Played the Game,” catcher Les Moss said, “No one liked catching knuckleballs, but, luckily, I didn’t think Stubby’s was that difficult to catch.”

_ Sept. 10: In a rematch with Bob Feller, Overmire prevailed in a 2-1 win at Cleveland. Feller drove in the Indians’ lone run. Boxscore

_ Sept. 17: Overmire beat the Yankees for the third time in 1950. He gave up the tying run in the ninth, but the Browns rallied against Joe Page in their half of the inning. The Yankees had five doubles (two by Johnny Mize) and a home run (by Yogi Berra) but Overmire held them to three earned runs. Boxscore

_ Sept. 24: Overmire shut out a White Sox lineup that had future Hall of Famers Nellie Fox and Luke Appling, plus slugger Gus Zernial. Boxscore

After losing nine of his first 12 decisions, Overmire won six of his last nine, finishing 9-12 for the 1950 Browns. His ERA in 19 starts was 3.13.

Fitted for pinstripes

Back with the Browns in 1951, Overmire was 1-6 but his 3.54 ERA convinced the Yankees he still was effective. On June 15, they acquired him from St. Louis for Tommy Byrne and cash.

Overmire’s lone win for the Yankees came at home against the Athletics when he started in place of sore-armed Allie Reynolds. Overmire looked shaky in the beginning, allowing singles to the first two batters. Then Allie Clark tore into a high curve.

“His towering poke looked like a certain triple,” the New York Times reported. “However, (Joe) DiMaggio was off with the crack of the bat and, sprinting with his back to the plate, snagged the ball over his shoulder just a step short of the running track in deepest left-center.”

Overmire settled down and pitched a complete game, a 3-2 Yankees victory. Boxscore

Returned to the Browns in 1952, Overmire pitched his final season with them.

Talent developer

Overmire went on to manage in the Tigers’ farm system for 16 seasons. Jim Bunning, Mickey Lolich and Mark Fidrych were among those who pitched for him in the minors.

Promoted to the staff of Tigers manager Chuck Dressen in June 1963, Overmire was Denny McLain’s first big-league pitching coach.

Years later, McLain told the Grand Rapids Press, “Stubby and I got along fine … Stubby was a heck of a guy. You could talk to Stubby off the record, and he would talk to the manager for you on your behalf. He was a trustworthy guy.”

McLain (16 wins in 1965; 20 in 1966) and Lolich (18 wins in 1964; 15 in 1965) developed into top starters with Overmire as pitching coach. When Mayo Smith became manager in 1967, he chose Johnny Sain to replace Overmire, who returned to managing in the minors. McLaim became a 30-game winner in 1968 with Sain as coach.

In the book “We Would Have Played For Nothing,” Twins slugger Harmon Killebrew noted, “I thought Denny McLain for a couple of years was about as good as any pitcher that you’d ever want to see … Johnny Sain taught him a quick curveball. It was bigger than a slider but faster than a regular curveball ,,, and that really made him an excellent pitcher.”

Posted in Games, Pitchers, Trades | 8 Comments »

Added value: How Bob Purkey did Bob Gibson a favor

December 9, 2024 by retrosimba

The Cardinals acquired right-hander Bob Purkey to be their fifth starter. It turned out they got a whole lot more from him.

On Dec. 14, 1964, the Cardinals traded Roger Craig and Charlie James to the Reds for Purkey, projecting him to join a rotation with Bob Gibson, Ray Sadecki, Curt Simmons and Tracy Stallard.

Purkey, 35, delivered 10 wins for the 1965 Cardinals, and also provided a bonus. Gibson credited Purkey with making him a better pitcher.

In his autobiography “Stranger to the Game,” Gibson said, “Purkey knew how to pitch and win. I learned more about pitching from Purkey in one season as his teammate than I did from any pitching coach I ever had.”

Pitching lessons

Gibson, 29, was the Cardinals’ ace, winning 19 in 1964 and then two more in the World Series, including Game 7, but Purkey helped him improve.

In his autobiography, Gibson said, “Purkey taught me a way to take advantage of my bad curveball. I seldom threw my curve because I was afraid of hanging it, but Purkey convinced me that a hanging curve can oddly enough be an effective pitch to left-handed hitters, who dive into (it) expecting the ball to break. So I’d leave the curveball hanging inside now and then to left-handed hitters.

“Another pitch Purkey added to my repertoire was the backup slider _ a slider that doesn’t break away from a right-handed hitter but holds its course and maybe even bends back a little like a screwball,” Gibson said in his autobiography. “Purkey explained that, especially in day games, hitters will recognize the spin on a pitch, and when they identify a slider they will instinctively lean out in anticipation of the ball breaking away from them. A quick backup slider, consequently, ought to result in broken bats and balls hit weakly off the fists.”

Gibson told Purkey he sometimes accidently threw sliders that backed up but didn’t know how to deliver the pitch on purpose.

In the book “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson said Purkey “showed me how to do it purposely by raising your arm a little too high and then throwing it like mad, as hard as you can.”

As Gibson noted in his autobiography, “So I started deliberately overthrowing the slider on occasion, and just like that I had a nasty new pitch.”

The Tigers’ Willie Horton told Cardinals Magazine it was a backup slider Gibson threw him for his 17th strikeout to finish Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Gibson said to Cardinals Yearbook he was trying to pitch a slider, but “I overthrew it and didn’t get it where I wanted. Instead of breaking outside, it went right at him. He flinched and it broke over the plate for strike three. I had missed by a big margin, but it was a good place to miss.”

In “Sixty Feet, Six Inches,” Gibson said of the backup slider, “Purkey had it perfected, but it takes a lot of guts to throw something that stays over the plate and doesn’t really do much. The vast majority of the time, I wasn’t that courageous. It’s not a pitch that children should try at home.”

Learning the craft

Born in Pittsburgh, Purkey grew up in the Mount Washington neighborhood across the river from downtown. He didn’t play for a baseball team until he was 13. Purkey took up pitching because his favorite player was the Cardinals’ Harry Brecheen. “I’d go to Forbes Field whenever (Brecheen) was pitching,” Purkey recalled to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “I admired his style, his guts.”

Purkey, 18, signed with the hometown Pirates in 1948 for $150 a month. After four years in the minors and two in the Army, he reached the majors with the Pirates in 1954 when Branch Rickey was general manager. In his first start, Purkey beat the Cardinals and held Stan Musial hitless. Boxscore

At spring training in 1955, Purkey was given special instruction to learn an extra pitch. “Rickey himself took charge and showed some of us how to throw the knuckleball,” Purkey told the Post-Dispatch.

Purkey added the knuckler to an arsenal that included a sinker and slider. “He used to throw you everything but the kitchen sink,” the Dodgers’ Ron Fairly said, according to the Post-Dispatch. “Now he throws the sink, too.”

Joe Brown replaced Rickey as general manager in 1956 and a year later he dealt Purkey to the Reds for reliever Don Gross. “The worst trade I ever made,” Brown later told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

The Reds were managed by former catcher Birdie Tebbetts, and he and Purkey clicked. Purkey, who never had a winning season with the Pirates, was 17-11 for the 1958 Reds.

“I didn’t become a pitcher until I joined Birdie Tebbetts,” Purkey explained to the Post-Dispatch. “Birdie told me I’d been a defensive pitcher, meaning I nibbled too much at the corners and fell behind too much on the ball-and-strike count. He knew I could get the ball over. ‘Be aggressive,’ he told me. ‘Get that first pitch over with good stuff on it and challenge the hitter.’ “

Under control

With the Reds, Purkey began using the knuckleball more frequently. “It took five years to develop the knuckler where I could throw it effectively in a game,” he told the Post-Dispatch.

The Cardinals’ Ken Boyer said to The Cincinnati Post, “When he gets ahead of you (with the sinker), he throws you that knuckler _ and he has a good one.”

In a September 1961 win against the Cardinals, Purkey threw five consecutive knuckleballs to Stan Musial and struck him out looking. (As usual, Musial adjusted and hit .323 with three home runs versus Purkey for his career). Boxscore

“Of all the knuckleball pitchers I’ve seen, I’d have to rate Purkey’s second only to Hoyt Wilhelm’s,” Darrell Johnson, who caught in the majors for six years, told the Post-Dispatch.

Unlike many other knuckleballers, Purkey was a control pitcher. He walked 49 in 250 innings in 1958; 43 in 218 innings in 1959.

Because batters knew he threw strikes, Purkey made sure they didn’t get too comfortable at the plate. He eight times ranked among the top 10 in the league in hitting batters with pitches. He plunked 14 in 1962. A favorite target was the Cardinals’ Curt Flood, who got struck by Purkey pitches five times in his career.

“He’d brush back his own grandma if she crowded home plate and took too firm a toehold in the batter’s box,” Bob Broeg wrote in the Post-Dispatch.

Purkey said to Broeg, “Willie Mays must have thought I was the meanest man in the league. I’d brush him back, pitch him tight, brush him back, pitch him tight.”

Highs and lows

After being fired by the Cardinals, Fred Hutchinson became Reds manager and led them to a National League pennant in 1961. Purkey, who won 16 that season, got the start in Game 3 of the World Series versus the Yankees.

Ahead 2-1, Purkey got a slider too high to Johnny Blanchard, who tied the score with a home run in the eighth, and then a slider too low to Roger Maris, who won it for New York with a home run in the ninth. Regarding the Maris homer, Purkey said to the Dayton Daily News, “It looked to me, when he hit it, like a guy swinging at a golf ball with his No. 9 iron.” Boxscore

Everything came together for Purkey the next season. He had the best winning percentage (.821) in the league, with a 23-5 record for the 1962 Reds. Purkey won his first seven decisions and was 13-1 after beating Sandy Koufax and the Dodgers on June 22. Boxscore

Purkey tore a muscle in his right shoulder at spring training in 1963. He rebounded in 1964, winning eight of his last 11 decisions and finishing at 11-9.

Wrapping it up

Starting against the Reds in the 1965 Cardinals’ home opener, Purkey’s knucklers rolled toward the plate like beach balls. Vada Pinson hit one for a three-run homer and Gordy Coleman clouted another for a grand slam. After allowing nine runs in six innings, Purkey told the Post-Dispatch, “I just did a lousy job of pitching and I had the daylights kicked out of me.” Boxscore

With a 9.00 ERA after his first four starts, the Cardinals sent him to the bullpen for a month. When he returned to the rotation, he gradually got better. For the month of July, Purkey was 3-1 with a 1.76 ERA in four starts.

A week after he turned 36, Purkey pitched well against the Astros, but lost, 3-2, to 18-year-old Larry Dierker. In his next start, Purkey shut out the Giants and beat 44-year-old Warren Spahn. Boxscore and Boxscore

In April 1966, the Cardinals sold Purkey’s contract to the Pirates and he played his final season with them. His career record: 129-115, including 103-76 with the Reds. Purkey was 17-11 against the Cardinals.

Though he experienced tragedy in 1973 when his son, Bob Jr., died of a heart ailment at 18, Purkey had a long and successful second career operating an insurance agency in the Pittsburgh suburb of Bethel Park.

Posted in Games, Opponents, Pitchers, Trades | 10 Comments »

Why Rico Carty had hoped to play for Cardinals

December 4, 2024 by retrosimba

When the Cardinals offered Rico Carty the chance to begin his professional baseball career with them, the right-handed power hitter from the Dominican Republic was receptive. Then again, Carty was agreeable to signing with any club.

Away from home for the first time, Carty, 19, played in the Pan-American Games at Chicago in 1959. Impressed by his hitting, several big-league clubs sought to sign him.

“The Cardinals made the best offer, $2,000, and I wanted to go with them,” Carty told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

Unschooled in English, Carty signed with the Cardinals and also with at least three other teams _ Braves, Giants and Pirates. “I didn’t know you couldn’t sign with more than one club,” Carty told the Associated Press.

Carty also was under contract to Estrellas, a professional team in the Dominican Republic. When the Braves made a deal with Estrellas to acquire the rights to Carty, he became a member of the Milwaukee organization and all other contracts were voided, the Post-Dispatch reported.

A National League batting champion (.366 in 1970), Carty played for 15 seasons with the Braves and five other clubs in a career marked by health and injury woes, conflict and controversies.

Finding his way

Carty had 15 brothers and sisters. His father worked in a sugar mill and his mother was a midwife. As a teen, Carty became an amateur boxer, winning 17 of 18 bouts, but quit at the insistence of his mother, according to the Post-Dispatch.

His slugging on the diamond got him to the pros, but his fielding held him back. When Carty entered the Braves’ farm system in 1960, they tried him at catcher. As Carty recalled to the Atlanta Journal, “I was really brutal catching.”

With the Austin (Texas) Senators in 1963, Carty was moved to the outfield. He produced 100 RBI and was hailed “the best hitting prospect in the organization,” according to The Sporting News.

Called up to the Braves in September 1963, Carty, 24, made his major-league debut in a pinch-hitting stint at St. Louis and struck out against Ray Sadecki. Boxscore

Big-league bat

Batting .408 at spring training in 1964, Carty made the Braves’ Opening Day roster and continued his torrid hitting.

On May 23, 1964, at Milwaukee, Carty clouted two home runs for five RBI against the Cardinals’ Roger Craig. Boxscore

Carty’s hitting, combined with his adventures in the outfield, made him the darling of the bleacher fans at Milwaukee’s County Stadium. “They cheer every move he makes,” The Sporting News noted. “He is a thrill a minute fielder, the type who starts the wrong way on a ball and winds up making a circus catch.”

For the season, Carty hit .330. Against the Cardinals, who became 1964 World Series champions, the rookie batted .343 in 18 games.

Applying the hammer

The Braves moved to Atlanta after the 1965 season and Carty became a fan favorite there, too.

“Carty can most definitely charm the fans,” Frank Hyland of the Atlanta Journal observed. “They love him and he plays them like a drum. There is perhaps no athlete in any sport who makes himself as available as Carty.”

Rod Hudspeth of the Atlanta Journal added, “Carty has a lot of ham and a little con artist in him. He knows exactly when to turn and flash the big smile to a fan wanting a snapshot, the precise time to sign autographs and milk the most mileage from them, and the opportune moment to toss a baseball into the stands and get the big crowd reaction.”

Inside the clubhouse, it was a different story. “He was not well-liked by many teammates,” the Journal reported. Columnist Furman Bisher noted, “Teammates give him wide berth, even fellow Dominicans Felipe Alou and Sandy Alomar.”

In his autobiography “Alou: My Baseball Journey,” Felipe Alou said, “About the only guy I ever saw Hank (Aaron) have a problem with was Rico Carty … Rico was easy to have a problem with. He was defiant, belligerent, constantly challenging … Rico was a brawny guy who liked to intimidate people.”

On a Braves charter flight from Houston to Los Angeles in 1967, Carty got into an argument with Aaron and it boiled over into a fight.

In his autobiography “I Had a Hammer,” Aaron said, “Carty was playing cards two rows behind me when I heard him call me a ‘black slick.’ I stood up and asked him what he said, and he repeated it … A second later, we were swinging at each other … My fist went right by his head and put a hole in the luggage rack of the plane. Our teammates finally broke it up. I think there were three guys holding me.”

Aaron and Carty each told the Atlanta Constitution he was sorry the fight happened, but Aaron added, “He called me a name that I couldn’t take, and I would have fought anybody for that. It was a matter of principle and pride … If I’m called that name again, I’ll fight again.”

Carrying on

At spring training in 1968, Carty was diagnosed with tuberculosis. While undergoing six months of treatment in a sanatorium at Lantana, Fla., Carty received a letter from Cardinals manager Red Schoendienst, who was stricken with tuberculosis shortly after he played for the Braves in the 1958 World Series. “He said I was lucky that I would not have to be cut, like him,” Carty told Ira Berkow of Newspaper Enterprise Association. (Schoendienst underwent surgery to remove part of an infected lung.)

Back with the Braves in 1969, Carty suffered three shoulder separations but hit .342, helping Atlanta win a division title. Columnist Jesse Outlar noted, “That seemed inconceivable. You simply don’t spend an entire year in a hospital, then belt major league pitching at that clip with bum or sound shoulders.”

Carty, 30, reached his peak with the 1970 Braves. He batted .423 for April, .448 for May and put together a 31-game hitting streak. Though left off the All-Star Game ballot, a flood of write-in votes from the fans made him a National League starting outfielder along with Hank Aaron and Willie Mays.

A month later, Carty got into a clubhouse scuffle with teammate Ron Reed.

The season ended with Carty as the league leader in hitting (.366) and on-base percentage (.454). He produced the highest batting average to lead the National League since Stan Musial hit .376 for the Cardinals in 1948.

Tough to take

Good times were followed by the bad. In December 1970, Carty suffered a triple fracture of his left knee, plus torn cartilage, when he collided with Matty Alou while chasing a fly ball during a game in the Dominican Republic. The severity of the injury prevented Carty from playing in 1971.

More trouble awaited.

In August 1971, while Carty and his brother-in-law, Carlos Ramirez, were in a car at a stoplight in Atlanta, two off-duty policemen pulled up alongside and accused them of being “cop-killing niggers,” the Atlanta Journal reported.

Carty noticed a uniformed officer inside a police car nearby and drove up to report what had happened. The off-duty cops followed and there was an altercation. Carty said the three white policemen beat him and his brother-in-law, using a billy club and the butt of a revolver. Carty and his relative were handcuffed and arrested on charges of assault and creating turmoil.

Atlanta mayor Sam Massell said the police actions appeared to be “blatant brutality,” United Press International reported.

Upon review, the three cops were fired by Atlanta police chief Herbert Jenkins. According to the Atlanta Constitution, Jenkins called it “the worst case of misconduct of a police officer I’ve ever seen.”

In dismissing all charges against Carty and his brother-in-law, Municipal Court Judge Robert M. Sparks Jr. said the defendants were “shamefully handled.”

Soon after, in an unrelated incident, Carty’s barbecue restaurant in Atlanta was destroyed in a fire.

Slow motion

Carty’s attempt to come back from the shattered knee and other ailments (he was hospitalized for pleurisy in 1971) was a struggle. At 1972 spring training, he said to United Press International, “When I came back after being sick with tuberculosis, it was just a matter of resting and building up my strength. Now there is pain to overcome. It does not hurt when I bat, but when I run it hurts.”

Braves manager Lum Harris told the wire service, “Rico never was a speedster, but I’ve never seen him as slow as he is now.”

Carty played in 86 games for the 1972 Braves, hit .277 and was traded to the Rangers for pitcher Jim “Pink” Panther.

The Rangers figured Carty to be an ideal designated hitter, but manager Whitey Herzog wasn’t impressed with what he saw. In the book “Seasons in Hell,” Herzog said to author Mike Shropshire, “When Rico runs from home plate to first, you could time him with a sundial.” Herzog also said he thought Carty was “crazier than a peach orchard sow.”

After a game against the Orioles, Carty told Shropshire he intentionally fouled off a pitch he thought was ball four because he didn’t want to spoil Jim Palmer’s bid for a perfect game. When Shropshire informed Herzog of this, the manager rolled his eyes and replied, “What a bunch of crap.”

According to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Herzog and Carty almost got into a dugout fistfight in June after Carty cussed Herzog for not backing him in a dispute with an umpire over a called strike. Soon after, Carty was sent packing. He finished out the season with the Cubs and Athletics.

Unwanted in the majors, Carty, 34, went to the Mexican League in 1974.

Another stab

Once again, Carty showed it was unwise to count him out. He hit .354 in the Mexican League. That impressed the Cleveland Indians, who brought him back to the majors in August 1974.

In four seasons with Cleveland, Carty batted .303, but he and manager Frank Robinson clashed. Robinson described his relationship with Carty as “a cold war,” the Associated Press reported.

Carty and Robinson soon were gone from Cleveland. Carty had one more big season, 1978, when he combined for 31 home runs and 99 RBI with the Blue Jays and Athletics.

During a road trip with the Blue Jays in 1979, a toothpick pierced Carty’s finger when he reached into a travel bag. Carty removed part of the toothpick, but the tip remained lodged under the skin.

“The thing keeps me from gripping the bat right, but they tell me it will work its way out eventually,” Carty told the Toronto Star.

The finger got infected and Carty “had to squeeze pus from his hand before hitting,” the Star reported.

Though the sliver finally was removed, his batting average sank like a martini olive untethered from its cocktail stick. He ended the season, his last, at .256.

That cost Carty a .300 career batting mark. He settled instead for .299.

Posted in Games, Hitters, Opponents | 14 Comments »

Joe Schultz: From Cardinals coach to literary protagonist

November 29, 2024 by retrosimba

Joe Schultz batted in a minor-league game when he was 14, played nine years in the majors, helped develop Cardinals prospects such as Bob Gibson and Tim McCarver, and coached for St. Louis clubs that won two World Series titles and three National League pennants.

The role that defined his baseball career, though, was his one season as Seattle Pilots manager.

In November 1969, Schultz was fired after the Pilots finished at the bottom of their division in their only American League season.

Instead of it being a footnote in his career, Schultz’s stint with Seattle became a climax because of the book “Ball Four.” In chronicling his time with the Pilots, pitcher Jim Bouton made Schultz a central figure in the bestseller.

All in the family

Though born in Chicago, Joe Schultz Jr. grew up in the family home in St. Louis on Labadie Avenue, a couple of blocks from Sportsman’s Park. His father, Joe Sr., was an outfielder who played 11 seasons in the majors, including from 1919-24 with the Cardinals. In those days, little Joe Jr. “wore a cutdown Cardinals uniform, circled the bases after games at Sportsman’s Park and slid until he was a tired tyke,” according to Bob Broeg of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

After his playing days, Joe Sr. managed in the minors, including three seasons (1930-32) with the Cardinals’ Houston farm team. During the summers, Joe Jr. joined his dad wherever he was managing.

Dizzy Dean pitched for Joe Sr. at Houston. The manager let his 12-year-old son catch Dean’s warmup throws. “I’d catch him all right _ until he really cut loose,” Joe Jr. recalled to the Post-Dispatch.

(Nearly 30 years later, when Joe Jr. managed Omaha, Bob Gibson pitched for him. So, father and son had the distinction of managing Dizzy Dean and Bob Gibson.)

In 1932, just after he turned 14, Joe Jr. made his pro baseball debut.

“My dad was managing Houston and we were playing Galveston in the last game of the season,” Joe Jr. recalled to the Kansas City Star. “He got to the ninth inning and sent me up (to bat). A left-hander named Hank Thormahlen (35 years old and a 20-game winner) was pitching. I got a single to center field. I don’t remember being nervous about it. I guess I was too young to realize what was happening.”

(After a stint as a Cardinals scout _ he was the one who recommended pitcher Mort Cooper to them _ Joe Sr. became farm director of the Pirates. He was in South Carolina to see Pirates farm teams training there when he died at age 47 of ptomaine poisoning.)

Player and teacher

As a ballplayer for St. Louis University High School and the Aubuchon-Dennison American Legion team, Joe Jr. “could pop the ball on the roof at Sportsman’s Park,” the Post-Dispatch declared.

The Cardinals signed Joe Jr. in 1936 and sent him to their farm club at Albany, Ga., where he roomed with another catcher from St. Louis, Bob Scheffing. (Like Joe Jr., Scheffing would play and manage in the majors.)

Schultz reached the big leagues with the Pirates in September 1939, but the next year, in the minors at Portland, he broke his right shoulder when he tripped over first base. Three years later, he hurt his throwing arm again. “It’s tough catching when you can’t throw properly,” Schultz said to the Post-Dispatch. “Like trying to play the piano without fingers.”

A backup catcher with the Browns (1943-48), Schultz excelled as a pinch-hitter. In 1946, he had a .516 on-base percentage (10 hits, six walks) in 31 plate appearances as a pinch-hitter. The left-handed batter hit .386 overall (22 for 57) that season.

After a year (1949) as a Browns coach, Schultz managed in the farm systems of the Browns, Indians, Reds, Orioles and Cardinals. He managed Cardinals farm teams from 1958-62. The former catcher was instrumental in the development of Tim McCarver, who played for three minor-league teams Schultz managed.

Calling McCarver “a natural born leader,” Schultz said to the Post-Dispatch, “He’s got the best hustle, drive, and most contagious winning spirit I’ve ever seen.”

After leading Atlanta to an International League championship in 1962, Schultz was promoted to the coaching staff of Cardinals manager Johnny Keane. (Thirty years earlier, Keane played shortstop and hit .324 for a Springfield, Mo., squad managed by Schultz’s father.)

Schultz coached first base for the 1964 World Series champion Cardinals. After Keane left for the Yankees, his successor, Red Schoendienst, retained Schultz and made him the third-base coach. Schultz also continued to mentor McCarver, who became an all-star with the Cardinals.

“I feel that my catching has become better,” McCarver told the Post-Dispatch in 1966. “A big reason is Joe Schultz. Schultz stays on me all the time, reminding me to work my arm up and throw strikes. He keeps driving me to work harder on defense and with the pitchers.”

(Schultz also liked backup catcher Bob Uecker. He told the Post-Dispatch, “Uecker has an excellent arm. He gives the pitcher a good target. He moves well around the plate and is an outstanding handler of pitchers.”)

In September 1968, with the Cardinals on their way to securing a second consecutive National League pennant, Schultz was named manager of the Seattle Pilots. He beat out two former Seattle minor-league managers, Joe Adcock and Bob Lemon, for the job.

No pressure

Schultz, 51, brought a relaxed, old-school style to managing the expansion club.

“I liked Joe Schultz a lot,” Pilots infielder John Kennedy said to the Everett (Wash.) Daily Herald. “He knew what he was dealing with. He wanted to win, but he was realistic enough to know that our chances of winning were also slim and none. So he took it that way. He was a fun guy to play for.”

Jim Bouton told the newspaper, “Joe was an easygoing guy, very spontaneously funny, very unintentionally funny. I don’t think he could really stomach being a baseball manager. He was much more suited to the backslapping and cheerleading that comes better from a coach.”

“Ball Four” is filled with examples of Schultz’s sanguine sayings to his players:

_ “Well, boys, it’s a round ball and a round bat and you got to hit it square.”

_ “Boys, I guess you know we’re not drawing as well at home as we should. If we don’t draw fans, we’re not going to be making the old cabbage.”

_ “OK, men, up and at ’em. Get that old Budweiser.”

On June 9, John Gelnar escaped a bases-loaded jam in the 10th inning to earn his first save in a Pilots victory at Detroit. According to Bouton, in the clubhouse afterward, Schultz told his team, “At a way to stomp on ’em, men. Pound that Budweiser into you and go get ’em tomorrow.” Then he spotted Gelnar sipping from a pop bottle. “For crissakes, Gelnar,” Schultz said, “You’ll never get them out drinking Dr. Pepper.” Boxscore

(“Some people have said I made all that stuff up,” Bouton told the Everett newspaper. “My answer is that I can’t write that well. I could never have dreamed up Joe Schultz. I’m not that clever.”)

In “Ball Four,” Bouton wrote, “There’s a zany quality to Joe Schultz that we all enjoy and that contributes to keeping the club loose.”

The Pilots won three of their first four games and continued to surprise skeptics with their play the first two months of the 1969 season. On May 27, their 20-21 record gave them a better winning percentage than the White Sox (17-19), Yankees (21-24), Senators (21-26), Angels (12-28) and Indians (10-27).

Tommy Harper, an infielder and outfielder who’d been in the majors since 1962, thrived under Schultz, who told the Kansas City Star: “At the start of the season, I called Harper in and told him, ‘Why don’t you be like Lou Brock? You can make yourself better known and earn some money. You’ve got speed. Any time you can get a jump, go ahead and steal.”

Emboldened, Harper had 73 steals for the 1969 Pilots and they led the major leagues in stolen bases (167). As Bouton noted of Schultz in his book, “He’s letting Harper run on his own and letting the guys hit and run, and he doesn’t get angry when they get thrown out stealing. It makes for a comfortable ballclub.”

The Pilots also had Don Mincher (25 homers) and Tommy Davis (80 RBI), plus a deep bullpen with Diego Segui (12-6, 12 saves), Bob Locker (2.18 ERA, six saves), John O’Donoghue (2.96 ERA, six saves) and Bouton (2-1, 3.91 ERA).

Overall, though, Pilots batters struck out too much (1,015 times, most in the league) and their pitchers gave up the most runs (799) and most home runs (172) in the majors.

After stumbling to 9-20 for July and 6-22 for August, the Pilots finished 64-98.

One and done

Though as Bouton noted in his book, “I’ve heard no complaints about Joe. I think he’s the kind of manager everybody likes,” Pilots general manager Marvin Milkes fired Schultz.

“I have no regrets,” Schultz told the Tacoma News Tribune. “I thought we did all right for the first year. The players hustled and never got into any trouble … We were an entertaining club … In the end, it’s always the manager’s fault, but I can go down in the record books as the one and only Pilots manager.”

Indeed, with ownership in financial trouble, the franchise was sold, moved to Milwaukee for the 1970 season and renamed the Brewers.

Schultz was a Royals coach in 1970, then joined manager Billy Martin’s staff with the Tigers in 1971. When Martin was fired in September 1973, Schultz became interim manager and guided the Tigers to a 14-14 record. He remained a Tigers coach on manager Ralph Houk’s staff through the 1976 season.

Asked his opinion of “Ball Four,” Schultz told Rich Myhre of the Everett Daily Herald he never finished reading it. “I wouldn’t waste my time reading the rest of it,” he said.

However, according to Bouton in his follow-up book, “I’m Glad You Didn’t Take It Personally,” Schultz said of “Ball Four,” “The more I think about it, it’s not so bad.”

Posted in Games, Hitters, Managers | 10 Comments »

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