Can't Anybody Here Play This Game?

[Donny Ballgame]

I hate to feel like I'm stealing anybody's idea, because I really like the Lovable Losers Mets thread, but here I am, starting my own. For an intro, before I start in, I'll be doing the 1962 Mets, and hopefully carrying them a long way. Secondly, this will be a semi-all sports dynasty. I have my own system for this, but certain events, particularly in college and professional football, will go a different way. If I get as far as I hope, history might even be changed.

I plan to write this in a variety of styles, trying to give the reader a complete grasp of what will happen in my major leagues. And away we go.

[Donny Ballgame]

St. Petersburg, Florida

I stood next to George Weiss, surveying the crowd of New York Mets players taking their warmup laps before their spring training workouts. Here I was, Brady Allen, the General Manager of the new NL ballclub, standing next to the man who had so skillfully built the greatest dynasty baseball had ever seen, and on the field was the man who had directed that club, Casey Stengel.

How I got to this point was a long and winding road. GM Charlie Hurth had resigned and announced his retirement from baseball, due to frustration and personality conflicts. Whispers said he was fed up with the Mets executive, Mr. M. Donald Grant. Having spent years as a scout in the stable Yankee system, I had gotten to know Mr. Weiss, who gave me the job.

“You know, when we were with the Yankees, our farm system was stocked,” he noted. He was continuing a line of conversation we’d been pursuing earlier. “Not one of these players who goes to the minor leagues will be a major threat this year, and most of them will probably never see a major league ballfield. ****, half of the men here don’t even belong on a big league ball field now. That’s strictly confidential, of course.”

“Absolutely, Mr. Weiss. But don’t you think you’re being a little pessimistic? Think of the positives. Ashburn is a vet, Thomas will hit the ball well, and Hodges is the most popular man in the majors.” Weiss nodded, then responded. “Yes, but they’ve got a year or two left. They could be the supports of the team but there is no core, and we won’t have one for the next few years. With a good season, we could maybe wind up like the Angels, but our league is stronger than theirs, and we couldn’t get as many good players as they did. I’d kill for a Ted Kluszewski on this club.”

The players broke into drills, and Casey jogged his way over to us. “You fellas know that when I was wit’ ta’ Braves in ’42, I was 6th and they fired me for it? Heck, I figure if I do’t again, they’ll make me manager of the year.” He then jogged back and began working camp. Every now and then, you could the Old Perfessor lecture his players. “Come on now Thomas, pull the ball. There you go, just like old Johnny Mize. These are the Polo Grounds, shoot for the Chinese home run. Pull ‘er, pull’er.” “You young fellers have never had it better, Thumper. Don’t whine to me about yer runnin’!” “Yer sluggish, Anderson! Ya leave yer fastball in Santurce? That championship you won down in the Bahamas has got no weight here! You too, Roadblock!”

Casey certainly had no problem speaking his mind. Before we even reached camp, he let the press know that our staff would have to be redone. Mr. Weiss was irritated that Casey didn’t even give us camp, but I hate to admit that he’s right. The whole team needs an overhaul. We had hoped that Billy Loes and Johnny Antonelli would give us a solid foundation for a bullpen, but both retired on us.

I had a quick flashback to our first meeting, where Casey got on his coaches, telling them “If there’s anybody not hustling, kiss’em goodbye! We’re here to play winning baseball, we’re capable of playing winning baseball, and we will play winning baseball.” By the time I snapped out of my reverie, pitching coach Red Ruffing was already working with the pitchers, running them through their repertoire. Some, like Bob Botz and Howie Nunn, didn’t have major league stuff, and got only words of encouragement from Red. Others, like Al Jackson, got specific, detailed instruction. “Square up, Al. You fall off to your left on the curve and tip the pitch. Square up.”

Over on the other diamond, Stengel was teaching bunting. “For god’s sake Gatewood, don’t you pop up that ball! If you pop it, we’ll get doubled! If you can’t bunt, chop down on it, get it to bounce. When you bunt, bunt down on it. Down Gatewood, down!”

By the time I got there, Ford Frick had come and gone. Mr. Weiss was not too happy to have to speak to the commissioner, who was oh-so-upbeat about our chances. Frick was sure that we would be good, very good, and that Frank Thomas would be a star. Okay, but that doesn’t make a ballclub. He had other things to do, and moved on quickly. Thank God. I have a feeling Ford Frick won’t be thinking too much of us when the pennant race comes along.

[Donny Ballgame]

Our jerseys and logo, for reference. The others of the league for 1962 are to follow.

[Donny Ballgame]

The logo of our top farm club, the Syracuse Chiefs of the International League.

[Donny Ballgame]

As a side note, the actual baseball part of this game won't begin until the 2009 version of the game comes out, but I'll use the intervening time to get all the characters introduced.

[Donny Ballgame]

The Cincinnati Reds are coming off a surprise pennant in 1961. The Reds are controlled and run by Bill DeWitt, who purchased the Reds from the Powell Crosley estate. DeWitt is respected as running a solid farm system, and has a strong pedigree in baseball, having led the St. Louis Browns to their only pennant, and making several daring trades as GM of the Detroit Tigers. All of those trades, most notably the infamous Rocky Colavito Trade, were successful, and the Tigers current strength is in large part attributable to him. His need to be the smartest man in the room might lead him to make some ill-advised trades, however...

The Reds manager is the well-regarded Fred Hutchinson. Once the youngest manager in the league, "Hutch" helped to rebuild the Detroit Tigers before being fired, and had a short stint with the St. Louis Cardinals. He was in danger of losing his job when he suddenly won the '61 Pennant in an incredibly topsy-turvy season. Entering his second full year as Reds manager, he is considered a great motivator and a skilled in-game tacticion.

[Donny Ballgame]

The Chicago Cubs are a franchise adrift. They are owned by a consumate baseball man, a true visionary, who also has some slightly absurd ideas, PK Wrigley. Wrigley's WGN television station has helped make the Cubs a Chicago fixture, despite what is now over a decade of losing.

Meanwhile, Wrigley's latest idea, the College of Coaches, has yet to emerge as a boon or a bust. It is not clear whether the system is superior to the traditional manager and assistants, exposing the players to a variety of coaching styles, or merely confuses the players and provides a lack of strong leadership. For that its worth, Casey Stengel thinks it is a terrible, terrible idea.

[Donny Ballgame]

Our fellow expansion team, the Houston Colt .45s, more commonly called the Colts, are a team with high hopes for the future. It took the efforts of a powerful syndicate, led by oil tycoon Craig Cullinan Jr. and Judge Roy Hofheinz to bring the club to Texas. It will take further efforts to bring them to basball prominence. For now, they are temporarily housed in Colt Stadium, a barnlike structure that will play host to the team while the massive Harris County Domed Stadium, or Astrodome is built.

The Astros have, however, put together an impressive staff of baseball people. Their general manager is the respect Paul Richards, fresh off a solid stint as manager of the Baltimore Orioles. He is known as a solid scout of pitching talent, and a fine baseball man in general. He'll bring in former Cubs "head coach" Harry Craft to field manage. Craft successfully managed the AAA Kansas City Blues, and less successfully managed the Kansas City A's, who were very close to being a AAA team.

[Donny Ballgame]

One team that has been on the brink of success for the past ten or so years is the Milwaukee Braves[B]. Owner [B]Lou Perini, a construction magnate who has owned the team since before World War II, brought the team to Milwaukee from Boston, won ninety games and set attendance records in the year of the move, and won pennants in 1957 and 1958, with a World Series in 1957. They came within a game of the pennant in 1959, but couldn't quite put it all together in 1960 and 1961.

Now, Perini no longer owns the Braves. That distinction belongs to Chicago insurance executive William Bartholomay. Bartholomay is currently eyeing the growing city of Atlanta as a potential site for relocation. For now, however, Bartholomay's ambitions are denied by Atlanta's lack of a stadium.

More realistic ambitions are the Braves ambitions of another pennant. Manager/GM Birdie Tebbets, a veteran manager who managed the Reds with middling success, is currently running the team. He is rightly considered to have a great eye for talent, and the Braves are in good hands with him.

[Donny Ballgame]

Perhaps the emblem of National League success, the Los Angeles Dodgers have won five pennants and two world series in the past decade. Their owner, the brilliant, controversial Walter O'Malley, the man who pulled the Dodgers out of Brooklyn and has built them a beautiful new stadium in Los Angeles, has established himself as an NL leader, and the Dodgers as their premiere franchise.

Equally critical to the success of the club has been manager Walt "Smoky" Alston. Walt is a two-time World Series champion, and a five-time pennant winner. Known as a studious manager, he is the emblem of the Dodgers. He is aided by the Dodgers brilliant GM, Buzzie Bavasi.

[Donny Ballgame]

Ever since moving west, the Giants have found themselves playing second fiddle to the Los Angeles Dodgers, who did win a world series for California. This is certainly not the scenario that Horace Stoneham had envisioned when he took the team west. Stoneham currently has a productive farm system, although his desire to act as his own general manager certainly leads him open to being robbed by the more astute baseball minds of the National League. Still, Stoneham has created an elite scouting system that has given him the upper hand in recruiting Latin American talent.

His manager, Al Dark, is a fine baseball mind who had a strong major league career. Dark is a hard-driving manager, but is well-respected by team captain Willie Mays. Stoneham feels this is his team's year, and will be badly disappointed by anything less than a pennant.

[Donny Ballgame]

It is the twilight of an era in St. Louis. As icon Stan Musial nears the end of his career, the Cardinals are aiming for one last run at the pennant. They will do so under the ownership of beer magnate Gussie Busch, who helped turn St. Louis into a one-team town.

Talented GM Bing Devine has successfully brought depth and minorities to St. Louis, building the team into a real contender. Devine faces one major problem: Gussie Busch is impatient. Devine is sure he has the team and the manager (Johnny Keane) to lead the team to glory, but the heat is on. Devine must win, and win now.

[Donny Ballgame]

No one epitomizes futility and despair more perfectly than the hapless Philadelphia Phillies. The club has won two pennants: 1950 and 1915, and remain without a world series crown. They are owned by a DuPont executive family, the Carpenters, and run by Bob Carpenter Jr., an active owner who ran the team himself for years. He has recently brought in respect John Quinn to serve as GM.

Quinn, plus fanatical, hard-driving, small-ball manager Gene Mauch, are on the verge of returning the Phillies to respectability, if returning is the word. Mauch's brilliant mind tends to overthink itself, however, and he is prone to feeling the pressure more than necessary.

[MyGiants]

Go Giants!

:P

[kevarms]

I'm interested to see how you do. I've just found out the 1967 Mets were awful but I understand they were even worse in 1962 :D
Great start. I like all the detail about the other teams. Best of luck!

[Donny Ballgame]

The Pirates are owned by one of two horse racing moguls in baseball, John W. Galbreath. The successful owner of Darby Dan Farms, Galbreath has owned the Pirates since the end of World War II, and has seen them through some awful years, some good years, and the miracle world championship of 1960.

His general manager, Joe L. Brown, worked his way up through the Pirates organization. He has placed an emphasis on farm systems and scouting as opposed to quick-fix trading. Similarly, the Pirates manager, Danny Murtaugh, is a product of the system. Murtaugh works well with Brown, and the Pirates team is well-suited to their style.

The 1960 title endeared the Bucs to Pittsburgh, and they would very much like to win another. It will be a hard road to the top, but the club's ownership is patient, and Murtaugh has the stuff to do it again.

[Donny Ballgame]

The problems facing the National League were not entirely apparent, but they were real nonetheless. First, there was the Milwaukee situation. The new owner, William Bartholomay, had no real connection to the city, and at the owners meeting to discuss how to handle the folding of the Southern League, he went on and on about Atlanta as a baseball town. Mr. Weiss considers this a tell-tale sign. More obviously, he expressed concern about stagnation in Milwaukee. Stagnation? The team is wildly popular. Atlanta as a site for possible future expansion? Yes. As a replacement for Milwaukee? God, no.

The Southern League is representative a problem felt throughout the majors. Minor leagues are going belly-up across the country. While we've got the Pacific Coast League and International League going strong in AAA, the old American Association is down to six teams, and might fold.

The low levels have taken a series of body-blows, as well. We lost the Class B Three-I League last year, and lost the old Southwest or Sophomore League shortly afterwards. Rumor holds that the Alabama-Florida League may follow suit.

Worst of all, however, was the loss of the Southern Association. Double A has always been a key developmental level for young players, and since World War II, the Southern Association had filled that role. They didn't integrate fast enough, they lost too many working agreements, and they finally collapsed last year. The result is that we are really feeling the pinch at that level. Only six teams have AA working agreements, which is completely unacceptable.

Our president, Warren C. Giles, is a capable man who has ensured parity throughout the league. He has the full support of all the owners, save possible the newcomers Bartholomay and Craig Cullinan. Even Walter O'Malley respects him.

[Donny Ballgame]

New York Yankees

The class of the AL, the Yanks are both the greatest asset and greatest weakness of the Junior Circuit. Co-Owners Del Webb and Dan Topping wield great influence in their league, and are not hesitant to use it. Their manager, Ralph Houk, won a World Series in his first season, but is under great pressure to do it again. "The Major" is expected to deliver the Yanks incredible twelfth pennant in fourteen years.

Minnesota Twins

The Twins are part of what could be the new face of the AL. 1961 was a banner year for them, as the former Washington Senators finished seventh. With a nucleus of young players, an active owner in Cal Griffith, and a talented manager in Sam Mele, the Twins seem to be the team that could unseat the Yankees. Both exciting and popular, Minnesota hopes that they will enjoy the same success Milwaukee did, rather than facing the stagnation that Kansas City suffered through.

Detroit Tigers
It seems that the Old Northwest is the source of challenges to the Yankees. The Bengals, under radio magnate John Fetzer, are one of the few AL teams with a legitimate shot at the pennant. Manager Bob Scheffing led the Tigers to an impressive one hundred win 1961 that has laid the foundation for a possible flag chase in '62.

Baltimore Orioles
Not many teams can say they ran another out of town. The Orioles can. Attorneys Jerry Hoffberger and Clarence Miles brought the old Browns into Baltimore, and promptly drained the attendance of the nearby Senators so badly that Cal Griffith fled to Minnesota. The Orioles, while not exactly great, have shown potential, and have a deep farm system. Manager Billy Hitchcock, while not expected to win the pennant, is expected to show some improvement.

Chicago White Sox
Losing Bill Veeck is always unfortunate. Twice now the brilliant Veeck has left baseball, once after losing the Browns, and now due to health problems. The new owner, Arthur C. Allyn, is at least dedicated to keeping the Pale Hose in Chicago. Manager Al Lopez, nicknamed Senor, the only man to take a pennant from the Yankees in the past fifteen years, has built a strong team in the "Go-Go Sox". Now two years removed from their pennant, the Windy City Warriors are still strong, but not quite flag-chasers.

[Donny Ballgame]

Cleveland Indians
What happened to these guys? After a strong 1950's, the organization just seems decimated. Owner William Daley is in financial trouble, the farm system is out of gas, and Trader Lane has ripped the hearts of the fans right out with the trade of Rocky Colavito. But there is hope. Talented GM and part-owner Gabe Paul has big plans for the team, and young manager Mel McGaha represents a new era for the tribe faithful.

Boston Red Sox
What is wrong with the Red Sox? After seven years of "Ted Williams and the Seven Dwarfs", the BoSox have nothing but the Dwarfs. They didn't field an African-American player until 1959, and his team has struggled. Despite this, Yawkey has owned the team since 1933, and is regarded as a baseball leader. Furthermore, he's brought in a veteran manager in Pinky Higgins, who will also act as GM.

Los Angeles Angels
The junior circuit's lone West Coast team is one with a lot of promise. Under the leadership of a syndicate headed by Gene Autry, the Halos look to become the most successful expansion club. They'll move into towering Chavez Ravine, where expert GM Fred Haney and manager Bill Rigney will try and turn the Angels into a contender.

Kansas City A's
After years of being the butt of jokes (American League? The A's belonged in the American Association for much of the 1950's), the Athletics have a dedicated owner in Chuck Finley, who acts as GM through his proxy, Pat Friday. Finley is a controversial, prickly man who has worked to restore dignity to the Athletics name. Experienced manager Hank Bauer will do the same.

Washington Senators
Baseball's return to Washington was not a grand display, but it wasn't terrible. Still, the Nats are plagued by an absentee owner in General Elwood Quesada, who has left his talented GM George Selkirk operating on a shoe-string, waiver-wire budget. Selkirk's skipper Mickey Vernon is a Washington veteran who has no desire to see this team fail.

[Donny Ballgame]

The junior circuit faces many different problems than we do. First off, they are more prone to power blocs, with owners who are more fiercely divided. Chuck Finley has thrust his way into the politics of the AL, which was long dominated by Tom Yawkey and the Dan Topping-Del Webb partnership. Secondly, there is the problem of stagnation.

The AL fell well behind the NL in the 1950's, and the rival owners are growing more and more willing to simply live off the profits of the Pinstripes. If this trend continues, attendance will drop off. Thankfully, new, competitive owners like Finley in Kansas City and John Fetzer in Detroit are starting to replace the Pete Quesada absentee, bottom-line owners.

[Donny Ballgame]

I had my first meeting with our two lead owners about midway through the exhibition season. It was a frustrating spring training game for us. We didn't execute a sac bunt that could have tied the Pirates in the ninth, and Casey was steamed up. "Can't anybody here play this game?" he was heard to shout from the dugout.

Mrs. Payson was not too upset. We had played well, and were 5-3 at the time in spring training (we would finish 10-14). "I'm sure the boys are working, and it isn't a game that counts." She was further pleased to witness the considerable fan base we had built up at our spring home at Al Lang Field in St. Pete's. We share the field with the St. Louis Cardinals (which has the added benefit of reducing long bus rides across the state), and the facilities are nothing but good.

When I was with the Yankees, we had nothing but good experiences at this place, and although Webb and Topping moved the team out to the Gold Coast, the city has taken us in. The fans come to every home exhibition to cheer us on, something that didn't happen when the Pinstripes were in town, and I haven't seen as much in any other city.

Anyway, her expectations were reasonable. "You baseball men know what you are doing. I'm not going to fire anybody early in our time, and a bad season isn't enough to get rid of anybody. Mr. Weiss has made it quite clear that this will be a long road, so just keep getting better and we'll handle the rest." She was very polite and we had a good conversation over the virtues of the hit and run.

Mr. Grant was the opposite. His voice was clipped, almost brusque. "This team represents New York, and it will represent it well. I serve as the president of the Mets for Mrs. Payson, and execute her will in this team in all respects. I think you should note that you are one of three people responsible for this team, with Weiss and Stengel being the other two. We evaluate on a five year basis. I think you should also note that it will be extremely difficult for Mrs. Payson or myself to issue any blame to the two men who built the greatest team in modern sports. I think you are sufficiently smart to understand."

It seems to me that Grant is the pit bull of the group. If I can keep myself in with Mrs. Payson, maybe keep her posted all the time, I can shield myself from Grant, who doesn't have any patience for anybody.

[Donny Ballgame]

It's here, it's here, it's here. I just set my lineups in 2K9, so here's my scouting report.

On the way back from spring training, the team stopped in Portsmouth to play an exhibition with the Boston Red Sox. That night, sitting in a hotel lobby, Casey Stengel, George Weiss, our farm director Bill Bergesch and myself decided the roster for the inaugural New York Mets. Some would go to the AAA Syracuse Chiefs of the IL, others to the Class C California League Santa Barbara Rancheros, and some of the younger players would go to the Quincy Jets of the Western Carolina League and Auburn Mets of the Penn-NY League. This is the conclusion we came to.

First Base

We’ll start Ed Bouchee against righties. As much as it pains me to platoon Gil Hodges, the man is thirty-seven. He can’t field like he used to, and we’ll only have him for a few more years. The twenty-nine year old Bouchee needs the playing time to develop his stroke.

Down on the farm, Bill tells me that Jim Marshall, who had a solid spring, agreed to go to the Chiefs. Jim can’t catch a cold, and he’s thirty. We’ll look to trade him to a team that needs depth at first. That would clear the way for Rick Herrscher, our twenty-five year old prospect. Our scouts see Rick doing big things, but he’s not our only prospect. New York native Ed Kranepool has a good baseball mind, a good sense of the ball, and a sweet swing that let him become a high school star. At seventeen, we have all the time we need to develop Ed. Big Oregonian Dick Smith was spotted playing out in the Oregon sandlots and signed to a contract. He is similar to Kranepool, and will start the year in Quincy.

Second Base
Casey wants to play defense first up the middle, and so I conceded that my favorite, Don Zimmer, is not ideal for that style. Instead, we’ll go with flashy fielder Elio Chacon. While a generally poor hitter, very little gets past Chacon. To the surprise of many, that leaves Charley Neal, our best hitter at this spot, on the bench. Neal doesn’t have the glove work that we wanted, but his great spring earned him a spot as our top pinch-hitter and utility infielder.

Our top prospect here is twenty-one year old Ron Hunt. Hunt has a good bat and is a great fielder. We hope to have him in the majors by 1965. He’ll start the year in Santa Barbara, with his sandlot pal, Rick Herrscher. This is because “Hot Rod” Kanehl had an even better spring, and his ability to play anywhere in the infield makes him a priority to get to the majors. Also, Mr. Weiss and I want Kanehl to be credible trade bait.

Third Base
I’m a little worried. We have no capable true third baseman, so we squeezed outfielder Frank Thomas into this spot. If the gamble pays off, the thirty-two year old has closed a major hole for us. If it doesn’t, we’ll have to turn to no-hit Brooklyn native Ted Schreiber, currently in Quincy, or untried eighteen year old Bobby Pfeil.

Shortstop
Another thin spot. Felix Mantilla can hit the lefties, and play the field well, but he is average against righties. The real concern is we have no true backups. Light-hitting Al Moran in Quincy is still a few years away.

Catcher
Our best position. We’ll platoon Harry Chiti and Joe Ginsberg. This is a true platoon, with Chiti hitting righties and Ginsberg lefties. They have very similar fielding and baserunning abilities, though Chiti is the smarter of the two and likely to come in late in games for his superior handling.

Choo Choo Coleman is in Syracuse, working on his swing. He fields like a cat and calls pitches extremely well. With Chiti and Ginsberg both past their prime, the twenty-three year old could yet make the majors. The scouts see even more potential out of Chris Cannizarro, although he can’t run or hit for power. Twenty-year old John Stephenson has a good arm, but doesn’t walk enough for my tastes. He’s a bad-ball hitter, and while he might survive that way in Auburn, we’ll see how he does when he starts to ascend.

[Donny Ballgame]

Outfield
Our starting outfield isn’t terrible. Well move them around, but our top three are Gus Bell, Richie Ashburn, and Joe Christopher. All of them are hustling slap-hitters, and Ashburn is still a legitimate leadoff man. If Frank Thomas falters at third, or if we get a real third baseman, Christopher will hit the bench. We carry two extra outfielder, John DeMerit, who is nicknamed Thumper for his long drives, but who can’t field well or hit good singles, and Bobby Gene Smith, another slap-hitter who can play any outfield position.

On the farm, Sammy Drake doesn’t hit well enough to make up for his lackluster fielding and is probably on his last legs, “Gentleman” Jim Hickman hits lefties well enough that he could potentially turn into an average center fielder, but is a few years away, and a trio of young outfielders (Cleon Jones, Shaun Fitzmaurice, and Danny Napoleon) present interesting possibilities for the future. Napoleon and Jones play left field, so one might be traded.

Rotation
1. Roger Craig. He is our most established pitcher, having been a starter before, with Brooklyn. We’ll look to him to lead the others.
2. Al Jackson. The young southpaw flamethrower has a lot of work to do, but could stick in the rotation. It is a measure of our lack of depth that he is our #2 starter.
3. Larry Foss. Another rookie, Foss has an easy motion that lets him chew through innings.
4. Jay Hook. Hook has solid mechanics, but tends to pick at corners and issue more walks than needed.

Mopup-Herb Moford. I don’t plan to use him very much.

Closer-Clem Labine. Clem might be nearing the end, but he knows the book on all the hitters and can slam the door when needed.

Setup-Bob Miller. We hope this fireballer can learn from Labine, and maybe one day be our stopper. We plan to use him as a fireman, and get him all the experience he needs.

Relievers-Jack Dilauro, Dick Selma, and Bill Wakefield. With these guys, Miller and Labine will get a lot of innings. Three rookies, and I don’t trust any of them.

Long Relief-Sherman Jones. Roadblock’s all right for his role. He missed our last exhibition when he burned his eye with a match. I don’t know how he did that, but you can look it up. It even made the Sporting News.

Prospects.
Jerry Koosman, Jerry Koosman, Jerry Koosman. He could start for us right now, but I don’t want to waste him on a losing team with poor defense. Our prospects basically begin and end with him. If anybody pitches well, I’ll give them a look, but I’m not too optimistic.

[Donny Ballgame]

1. San Francisco Giants
Our pick to win the National League, the Frisco Giants are our pick to win the first pennant the City By the Bay will see in the major leagues. Why? Manager Al Dark is an excellent game to game manager, which is exactly what this team needs. We like his lineup, particularly the daring decision to lead off twenty-three year old Matty Alou. If Alou gets on base, he should be able to throw off opposing pitchers and provide plenty of RBI opportunities for Orlando Cepeda and the incomparable Willie Mays. This team is so deep they sit Willie McCovey, who would be the best player on some AL teams. They’ll get good production and fielding out of all lineup spots, including catcher, where Tom Haller starts. One of the many rookie phenoms, we like Haller’s bat.

We haven’t even mentioned their pitching. Juan Marichal is due for a breakout season, and the repertoire of veteran southpaw Billy Pierce is new to the Senior Circuit. Rookie Gaylord Perry should have a similar impact. If the Giants get off to a fast start, no one will catch them.

2. Milwaukee Braves
This is a team gripped by urgency. If they don’t win now, they might never do it. Their batters are still in their prime, with Eddie Matthews, Hank Aaron, and Joe Adcock, but Warren Spahn is forty, and Lew Burdette is thirty-five. Next year, Spahn will likely be gone, and by the time new pitching comes around, Aaron and Adcock will be aging.

As much as I would like to see the Braves win, I don’t think it will happen. The Giants have too much speed and defense. Still, the teams play a series in September. It could be a Spahn-Marichal duel to decide the pennant, but I think youth wins out.

3. St. Louis Cardinals
As the end of an era approaches, the Redbirds rally themselves for one more pennant run. Stan Musial, in the twilight of his career, still has the stroke to hit fourth. His successor as leader and icon bats right behind. That’s Ken Boyer. The thirty year old third baseman is being groomed as the next superstar, and he could fill the role. The supporting cast around these two is stellar. Leadoff hitter Curt Flood, left fielder Minnie Minoso, and first baseman Bill White are all potential All-Stars.

The question rests with pitching. Staff ace Larry Jackson has never been anything more than average, and flamethrower Bob Gibson is still young. His unorthodox pitching motion calls his mechanics into question, as well. Finally, Curt Simmons may never return to his Philadelphia phorm. If these questions are all answered satisfactorily, the Gateway City could be the championship city. Unfortunately, I doubt they will be.

4. Pittsburgh Pirates
So, what about Pittsburgh? The steadiest team in the league is a hard team to pick to finish fourth, but without any real standouts, this is the best you can ask for. Sure, they’ve got the fast-improving Roberto Clemente and one of the best fielders of our generation in Bill Mazeroski. And they get steady production out of all spots in their lineup. But the Giants have Matty Alou, Willie Mays, and Orlando Cepeda. The Braves have Aaron, Adcock, and Matthews. The Redbirds have Musial, Boyer, and Flood. You need punch to win, and the Pirates just don’t have enough.

A staff of aces could make up for that, but outside of Bob Friend, the Pirates have too many question marks. Can fireman Roy Face hold up for another year? Is last year’s success story, Joe Gibbon. up to taking his turn every fourth day? Can Vern Law return to form as a losing streak stopper? The Bucs need standout performances from too many people, and I don’t see them pulling off another 1960.

5. Los Angeles Dodgers
Fifth? Fifth? Yes, we did pick Walter O’Malley’s club to finish fifth. The most successful NL club of the past decade simply doesn’t have it this year. Okay, they have speedster Maury Wills, and home run hitters in Frank Howard and Wally Moon, playing in one of the nicest parks in baseball. But they aren’t suited to their park. They need slap-hitters to drive in Wills, because their hitters won’t have close fences to swing for. Home field disadvantage will be the catch phrase this year for the Dodgers.

But by God, their pitchers will put up awesome numbers. Big, intimidating Don Drysdale and overpowering Sandy Koufax will blow by batters, leaving teams so demoralized that ordinarily average Johnny Podres will finish off home sweeps with a solid outing. None of this, though, will win a pennant in the winds of Candlestick, the cheering fans at Forbes, or the sunshine of Sportsman’s Park. It will, however, make for some darn good baseball.

6-10. The second division of the National League provides some interesting storylines. You’ve got the Colts and the Mets fighting to stay out of the basement (We give the nod to the Colts. For all Casey Stengel’s expertise, knuckleballer Ken Johnson will give Houston a good start on most days, and that’s more than the Mets can say.), the defending NL champion Cincinnati Reds trying to avoid a repeat of the Pirate experience (they won’t do it. Not enough offense.), and Gene Mauch trying to turn around the Philadelphia Phillies (seventh this year, sixth the next, first division in ‘64. Mauch’s a smart man. All in all, a great season.

So, what about the AL?

What about it? The New York Yankees will win again, beating the Detroit Tigers by five games. The M&M Brothers are too much to handle for a valiant Detroit squad that will go down fighting. Still, watch all of Jim Bunning’s starts against the Yankees closely. If he does well, the Bengals have a chance.

Nobody else in the AL comes close. The Baltimore Orioles will run a good third, but they are in disarray. The talented Cleveland Indians are in worse turmoil, and the well-led Chicago White Sox don’t have the talent needed. Then you’ve got some truly dreadful teams, like the decimated Red Sox, the hapless A's, the expansion Senators and Angels, and the improving, but not there yet Twins.

[Donny Ballgame]

Opening Day, 1962. It was kind of hard to believe it, but there we were, getting ready to take the field for the first time in history. It is quite a contrast, that the Dodgers are playing in beautiful Chavez Ravine, while we are playing in this dingy old park where the showers don’t work. God, I hope Flushing Meadows is ready for 1963. “You know this lineup needed one. Ya couldn’t get it done, though? Will ya fire me if I can’t get it done?” “Casey,” I replied, “we aren’t with the Yankees any more. We don’t have farm system excess to trade off. The best we could get was a mediocre pitcher from Boston, and I didn’t want to jump the gun and waste trade bait early.”
It would have been nice to open up against a team like Philadelphia or Chicago, but we have to get one of the best teams in the National League, and face the elder statesmen of aces, Warren Spahn in our very first game. The stadium was packed to the gills when we took the field. After all, this is National League baseball, back in New York. For the first time since the Giants left, we’ll have baseball at the Polo Grounds.

Our announcing team, Bob Murphy, Lindsey Nelson, and Ralph Kiner, told it best, so I'll let them tell it.


Murphy: Goood afternoon everybody…It’s a fine day for baseball. The crowd is here at the historic Polo Grounds to see the New York Mets face the Milwaukee Braves. I’m Bob Murphy, here with Ralph Kiner and Lindsey Nelson, giving you all the action of the first game in the history of the New York Mets.

Nelson: Well, the Mets will be starting Roger Craig, the thirty-two year old lefty from Durham, North Carolina. He’ll be facing the grand old man of National League hurlers, forty year old Warren Spahn, who won his 300th game last year. For the “book” on the starters, here’s Mr. Ralph Kiner.

Kiner: Roger’s been an occasional starter with the Dodgers, to middling success. He relies mainly on an above-average fastball to set up a late-breaking slider. He’s got good mechanics, but he won’t blow anyone away. On the other side of the diamond, Spahn has been the most consistently successful pitcher in the Senior Circuit for about ten years now, and while he doesn’t have the velocity he once did, he knows the scouting report on every hitter, and has a dizzying array of pitches, including a lights-out screwball.

Murphy: And now the lineups. Leading off for the Braves will be center fielder Mack Jones, followed by left fielder Lee Maye, and slugging third baseman Eddie Matthews. The ever dangerous Hank Aaron bats cleanup, with Joe Adcock hitting fifth at first. Catcher Joe Torre bats sixth, while second baseman Frank Bolling and shortstop Roy McMillan round out the hitters batting seventh and eighth.

The Mets will have center fielder Richie Ashburn batting leadoff, followed by left fielder Joe Christopher, then third baseman Frank Thomas. Gil Hodges will hit cleanup today, followed by right fielder Gus Bell, Felix Mantilla at short, then Elio Chacon at second and Joe Ginsberg, the catcher, to finish up the order.

Nelson: The Mets played well this spring, winning twelve exhibition games, mainly through good fielding. I think that if they hold up…well, we’ll see.

Murphy: Rookie center fielder Mack Jones is stepping into the batter’s box now, and Craig is set. He kicks, delivers, and the Mets are underway with a called strike…

[Donny Ballgame]

Welcome to the Season

Murphy: …the 2-2 with one out here to Christopher, who swings and hits a rocket down the line and towards the corner! Maye cuts it well, but Christopher is aboard with a single! The first hit in the history of the New York Mets!

…

Kiner: Spahn’s not happy. He didn’t want to load the bases there.

Nelson: Stepping in now is the former Cincinnati All-Star, Gus Bell. Spahn fires the first pitch outside for a ball.

Kiner: Some control issues, but he could be setting him up to try and get him to ground into the double play.

Nelson: Bell hits a bouncer to short, McMillan comes in and flips to second. Bolling fires to first but he won’t get him…Christopher comes home to score and the first run in the history of the New York Mets has been tallied.

…
Murphy: …and the drive by Aaron ricochets off the wall. Maye scores easily, and the Braves tally for the first time to day, here in the third. It is still 4-1, New York…

…
Murphy: …Hodges fouled off the last few, trying to feel out Niekro. The rookie kicks, delivers, and Hodges drives it way back to deep center field…home run! A three-run shot to the deepest part of the Polo Grounds by Gil Hodges! Unbelievable! The Mets now lead it, 7-3!

Nelson: Up comes the dangerous Frank Thomas. Niekro kicks, delivers, and that could be gone! It is! Back to back home runs and the Mets lead is 8-3 in the sixth!

Kiner: Both those pitches were knucklers that didn’t break, something Niekro’s got to avoid…

…
Murphy: I’m Bob Murphy, here with our very first happy recap…But the big hit was the home run by Gil Hodges, which made it 7-3, finishing off the Braves. He’s our player of the game with four RBIs. Joe Torre drove in two runs to earn similar honors on the losing squad. The final is closer than it looks, as the Braves scored two meaningless runs off of Roadblock Jones in the ninth after he was on cruise control. Once again, the Mets 10, the Braves 5. Now down to Kiner’s Korner…

[CatKnight]

Woohoo! 1-0! Time to shut down operations and go down in history as the team with the best winning percentage ever!

[Donny Ballgame]

Well CatKnight, it looks like I should have taken your advice. Wait until you see what happened in Cincy...

We went on to split the four games with the Braves, losing 6-4 and 8-5 before winning the last game of the set, 7-3. For all that, Casey was decidedly unhappy. “Spahn had no stuff in the first game. We shoulda really knocked him around. We coulda lost that one if Hodges hadn’t gotten that big hit.” Despite that, we were 2-2, and I was very happy. As well as we had done, things elsewhere took precedence.

The Chicago Cubs, already very thin on pitching, lost staff ace Don Cardwell to elbow tendonitis. He’s done for the season, most likely. It looked like the twenty-six year old was on the verge of a breakout year, but this derails him further. “Obviously I’m disappointed, but I know that this isn’t a career ender. The doctors say that I’ll be able to come back strong, so I’ll just keep working on my arm strength and aim to return to form in ’63.” The Cubs are 1-2 after a series with the Cincinnati Reds.

Governor Nelson Rockefeller personally wished Yankees manager Ralph Houk luck before the Yankees took to the road for a series in Baltimore. I wish that we could have gotten such official blessing. Not that the Yankees needed it. They swept the Orioles with ease.

The manager of the Angels, Bill Rigney, lifted his personal opening day record to 7-0 with a 6-2 victory over the Kansas City A’s.

Thus, we took to the road for the first time on April 5, heading to Cincinnati. The Reds home at Crosley Field is one of the finer parks in baseball. It is also one filled with tradition. For years, Cincy fans have proudly headed to Findlay and Western, the intersection where the field is, to cheer on their team. The first night game was played at Crosley, and so was the first All-Star Game. Furthermore, the dean of groundkeepers, Lenny Schwab, has held court at Crosley for fifty years. This is his final season, so when we landed in Ohio, I thought it was appropriate to send him a card. I was an AL man, but even I knew about the greatest of groundkeepers. So, on to the games.


April 5
Roger Craig (1-0 vs. Jim Maloney
Murphy: …the Reds are a tough squad, so they will occasionally strike like lightning, and it was catcher Jesse Gonder doing the striking. The rookie has a fine swing, and he was going to get that first home run sooner or later. That was the game-breaker, it put the Reds up 4-1 en route to their 10-2 victory. Maloney earned his first decision of the year, a victory, while Craig took the loss…

April 6
Al Jackson (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs. Jim O’Toole (0-0, 7.50 ERA)
Kiner:…down in the Korner today, we’ll be talking home runs. What makes a batter a great home run hitter? Well, Frank Robinson has a sweet Cincinnati swing, and when he gets around on a ball, it is gone. You can see that today, as Robby took three out over the fence at Crosley, all part of the 13-6 Reds victory. This one was never close, and Jackson, who took the loss for the Mets, did not have an answer for Robinson. It was a day for dingers all around, as O’Toole, the winner, gave up two longballs…

April 7
Larry Foss (0-1) vs. Bob Purkey (0-1)
Nelson: …I thought the big opportunity for the Mets came when they had runners on first and second after the Hodges sac fly scored Neal to make it 5-4. Harry Chiti hit a rocket down the first base line and Gordy Coleman made a great backhand stop to end the eighth inning. The Mets could have at least gotten Foss off the hook for the loss, and may have been able to pick up the win, but they couldn’t rally and lost 6-4…

So, we lost the games 10-2, 13-6, and 6-4. A humbling sweep after the heady experience of splitting with the Braves. Worse, we were overshadowed by both the Dodgers and the Senators. For the Dodgers, it was the opening of Chavez Ravine, They had a great day, trailing 5-0 in the seventh to Gene Mauch and the Phillies before Dedication Day karma took over. Ron Fairly hit a seventh inning home run to make it 5-2, and Willie Davis sac bunted in the winning run in the ninth. Ford Frick personally attended the ceremonies, and called the new stadium magnificent. Fairly’s home run will surely go down as a great Dodger moment.

The Washington Senators would have killed for a similar comeback. They were swept in the DC Stadium opener by the inconsistent Cleveland Indians.

Ernie Banks hit his three hundredth home run on April 6th, vs. the St. Louis Cardinals. Congratulations to Ernie, who moves into a tie for nineteenth on the all-time home run list with Chuck Klein.

The injury bug bit the Milwaukee Braves. who now face two weeks of injuries to Eddie Matthews, Lew Burdette, and Carl Willey. Some criticism has been thrown in the direction of manager Birdie Tebbets, who ran a loose camp, and may not have gotten his team adequately prepared for the season.

As bad as the bug got for the Braves, it got us worse. Ed Bouchee will miss seventeen days with a fractured finger after he took a foul tip off the thumb. That’s fine. Gil Hodges will play every day until Bouchee is back. Losing Felix Mantilla hurts more. He dove for a ground ball and separated his shoulder. Doctors say he’ll miss two months and may have damaged some tendons. We’ll move Charley Neal to short while Felix recuperates. This means call-ups for Jim Marshall and Rod Kanehl to replace them on the roster. We get a day off to recover from our sweep before heading in to Milwaukee to face the Braves, who took two of three from the Pirates despite being decimated by all the injuries.

[Donny Ballgame]

So here we were, headed into Milwaukee. First of all, I wanted to see how we would do back against the team we had split with. Secondly, I wanted to see whether Bill Bartholomay was just making noise about his attendance troubles, or if they were real. Bartholomay had claimed that his team drew fans all the way from Eau Claire back when Lou Perini owned the team, but now they had to fight just to get fans to come out from the city itself. His club was 4-3, and we would be going up against their rookie pitcher, Phil Niekro. He had made three appearances out of the bullpen, but an injury to Lew Burdette had forced him into the rotation.

April 9
Roger Craig (1-1, 5.59 ERA) vs. Phil Niekro (First start, 7.95 ERA)
First of all, Bartholomay may be right. He drew less than 20,000 to a stadium that can easily hold over 40,000. Of course, posturing about moving isn’t good for attendance. At least he had the solace of victory. Phil Niekro fanned eight and Hank Aaron hit two home runs in an 11-4 thrashing. Roger Craig left the game in the sixth, and we later learned that he had no curveball due to a blister on his finger. Pitching coach Red Kress says the only solution is a week off.

April 10
Al Jackson (0-2, 8.10 ERA) vs. Warren Spahn (0-1, 12.15 ERA)
We lost the game, but if anyone ever questions Casey Stengel as an authority on baseball, they need to be smacked. He started Don Zimmer at short because “Zim looked good in BP.” Zimmer played the position well, and while his 1-6 looks pedestrian, he hit a game-tying home run in the seventh inning. For all that, we lost the game, 10-9, when Dennis Menke doubled off Clem Labine in the twelfth inning, despite the fact that we chased Warren Spahn off the mound. Again.

April 11
Larry Foss (0-2, 11.17 ERA) vs. Bob Buhl (1-1, 7.94 ERA)
There is absolutely nothing to say here. Bob Buhl three-hit us, fanning eight, as the Braves finished the sweep. Not only that, we looked like a joke. The game was delayed by twenty minutes as Casey realized he left his lineup card at the hotel, and then realized he lost his key. Mr. Grant fumed about dignity and class. Richie Ashburn threw his bat against a wall when he got back into the clubhouse.

I got the chance to talk to Richie. He wants to steal more, and generally thinks we should play the basepaths with more aggression. Casey seemed amenable, and wants to play for one run more often. He is of the persuasion that if we can generate a run or two in the early going, we’ll build confidence, work the pitchers harder, and rally late in games.
It would seem that there is a resurgence among veterans everywhere, with Spahn being the exception. Curt Simmons picked up a screwball in camp, and is now 2-0 after a dominating 3-0 shutout of the Reds. The next day. Jack Sanford handcuffed the Dodgers, who were swept at the ‘Stick, and are now losers of seventeen straight in the City by the Bay.
Outside of the Senior Circuit, the Los Angeles Angels took a severe blow. Ken McBride broke his fibula in a car accident. The Halos ace will miss three months, and an already thin pitching staff is stretched further.

From there, we come home, to face the San Francisco Giants. Winners of five in a row, the Giants are 8-1 to our 2-8. The Polo Grounds was packed to see the team that abandoned New York play the team that replaced them. I just hoped we would look respectable.

April 12
Jay Hook (1-0, 3.38 ERA) vs. Billy Pierce (2-0, 1.13 ERA)
Two hits. That was all we got in an embarrassing 13-2 loss. Willie Mays hit two home runs, as Billy Pierce handcuffed us. What was worse, I watched the game from the owners box, and had M. Donald Grant making pointed comments all game long. “It says a lot for our judgment that we paid one hundred and twenty five thousand dollars for Mr. Hook, doesn’t it?” “There seems to be a reason the Yankees no longer desire the services of Mr. Stengel, doesn’t there?” He made sure to make all these comments out of the earshot of Mrs. Payson, who assured me that things would get better. I sure hope so.

The doctors got back to me on Mantilla. It is worse than we thought. Instead of being out two weeks, he’ll be out two months. We don’t have great infield depth, and I don’t think that we can hold up for much longer. We may need to swing a trade.

The Giants did execute a trade, picking up second baseman Jerry Lumpe from the Kansas City A’s in exchange for three reliever prospects. It looks like Horace Stoneham pulled a fast one on Chuck Finley. Lumpe can play, and let the Giants get Chuck “Iron Hands” Hiller off the field. The three prospects have impressive fastballs, and will never make the major leagues.

April 13
Herb Moford (0-0) vs. Jack Sanford (2-0)
Our offense finally showed up, and we scored four runs. Meanwhile, Herb Moford gave us a high quality start and we overcame the Giants, 4-2. There was a lot of cheering in the dugout as we celebrated our victory over the best team in the NL.

April 14
Al Jackson (0-2, 10.13 ERA) vs. Mike McCormick (1-1, 7.94 ERA)
Last year, Mike McCormick was the phenom of the National League. This year, he’s been plagued by a shoulder ailment that has made many think he is all washed up. For whatever reason, McCormick can’t shake it loose. Whatever the reason, psychological or something else, it has plagued him. Against us, it caused him no trouble, but in a hard-fought game filled with beanings and even the ejection of Gil Hodges, we managed to win, 5-4. Hodges hit a home run, and Joe Ginsberg drove in two. Bob Miller earned the win and Clem Labine the save.

Trouble, however, never waits a day. Hodges came up lame after a late-inning groundout. He twisted his ankle. Already, Gil has been playing with tape around his knee, and the doctor says he’ll need to miss nearly two weeks. This dramatically overshadows our victory over the Giants. We’ll do some shuffling to pull this one off. Jim Marshall will play for Hodges, who’ll go to the DL. Sammy Drake, who has drive in eight runs in twelve games for the Syracuse Chiefs, will come up to replace him. Because it looks like Marshall will be in the Show for a while, Rick Herrscher will get the chance to play for Syracuse.

Across town, the New York Yankees were taking two of three from the Cleveland Indians. Believe it or not, that’s a big boost to the Tribe, who had lost nineteen in a row from the Pinstripes.

The Los Angeles Dodgers seem to have recovered well from their sweep in San Francisco. They took two of three from the Cubs, in a series headlined by complete game victories from Johnny Podres and Don Drysdale, who struck out thirteen.

We had to turn around quickly from the heady experience of winning the series from San Francisco, which lifted our record to 4-9, and take on the 3-10 Phillies. Gene Mauch’s squad is off to a slow start, but their headline hitter, Johnny Callison is hitting .490 with six home runs.

April 15
Larry Foss (0-3, 12.27 ERA) vs. Art Mahaffey (0-1, 2.14 ERA)
We scratched, and fought, and scratched some more, with the top two batters in our order, Richie Ashburn and Joe Christopher, going five for ten with three RBIs between them. On an ordinary day, we should have scored ten runs, but Gus Bell and Frank Thomas went a combined 1-9. So the heart of the order let us down. Wes Covington drove in three runs for the Phils, who beat us, 6-4. Dick Selma took the loss.

The Yankees suffered a severe injury: Johnny Blanchard broke his elbow, and will miss three months. Blanchard had just won the catching job from Elston Howard, who will have to return to the starting role.

April 16
Jay Hook (1-1, 6.60 ERA) vs. Fergie Jenkins (0-3, 5.21 ERA)
We came into this game knowing what a good pitcher Fergie Jenkins is, due to his unusually large repertoire for a nineteen year old, but I don’t think anybody realized how good he could be. He’d been knocked around by St. Louis and San Francisco, so his ERA was quite large, but he corralled us, winning an 8-0 complete game shutout, and fanning five. Roy Sievers knocked in five runs as the Phils chased Jay Hook off the mound. We managed a mere three hits in this drubbing.

April 17
Roger Craig (1-2, 7.36 ERA) vs. Chris Short (0-1, 2.27 ERA)
Roger Craig made his return for us today, after missing a start due to a blister on his finger. He pitched well, but we wasted a strong performance. Chris Short struck out seven, but the game headed into extra innings. Try as we might, our anemic offense couldn’t generate a run, and we lost when Billy Klaus singled in Johnny Callison in the bottom of the tenth. Jack Baldschun earned the win, while Dick Selma took the loss.

The Chicago Cubs continued to catch bad break after bad break. While they’ve gotten off to a 9-6 start, they can’t keep losing pitchers. Don Cardwell is already done until August, and now Dick Ellsworth will miss nearly two months with a broken forearm. He was off to a solid 3-1 start, and had stepped up in Cardwell’s absence. The Cubs now have two rookies, Al Lary and George Gerberman in the starting rotation.

The Cubs aren’t the only ones with injury troubles. Tito Francona, outfielder for the Cleveland Indians, ruptured a cervical disk and will miss three months. The Tribe, at 9-5, will now turn to Walt Bond to try and plug the hole. Bond is a player with real potential, and the Indians have high hopes for him.

[Donny Ballgame]

We got a day off after the Philly series, and days off are dangerous days for dangerous minds. We don’t have any great prospects in center field, and Ed Bouchee is just a few days away from returning from his injury. Cleveland has no depth at first base, and no real punch there, either. At the moment, they are covering it by playing outfielder Willie Kirkland out of position. So I phoned up Gabe Paul, and proposed a trade: Jim Marshall for a center fielding prospect, Tommy Agee. Agee is a great prospect, but he can’t get past a Paul favorite, Ty Cline. Agee doesn’t fit the look that Paul is going for in Cleveland, and his rambunctious personality has irritated some minor league managers.

Paul laughed. “Nice joke. Did Weiss put you up to this?” I tried to play it off. “Yeah, he did. But we are interested in Agee. You guys need depth at first, and we need some more personalities in our squad.” Paul nodded. “We do, but there isn’t anybody you can give to us. This club has gotten burned too many times, and I just have a bad feeling that just like Lane is the man who traded Rocky Colavito, Gabe Paul will be the man who traded Agee.” And that was that.

Following the day off, we returned to the Polo Grounds to welcome the Los Angeles Dodgers. At 8-8, the Dodgers came in looking to fatten their record against us.

April 19
Al Jackson (1-2), 7.40 ERA) vs. Don Drysdale (2-1, 5.27 ERA)
We came up painfully short. Al Jackson was one out away from a complete game, 2-1 victory. Then Lee Walls. Wally Moon doubled. Ron Fairly singled. We were down 3-2, and lost it in the bottom of the ninth. The conclusion Casey and I came to that night was even worse: Clem Labine doesn’t have it anymore. The once fearsome stopper no longer has the fastball to come in and slam the door. Bob Miller will take up the closer role, while we try and send Labine to a team that needs some middle relief. Hopefully, we’ll never have to tell Clem, and we’ll move him before he realizes what happened.

We put Labine up on the block, but only the Angels responded. Their GM, Charley Dressen, provided an intriguing offer for Steve Bilko, but we don’t need another aging slugger who can’t field. We need center field prospects. Our scouts have scoured the outlaw leagues, but there isn’t anybody worth a hoot out there. The first amateur draft is coming up in June, so I told our scouts to look out in that direction.

April 20
Larry Foss (0-3) vs. Sandy Koufax (1-0)
Some days you eat the bear, and some days the bear eats you. Today, the bear ate us, as Sandy Koufax struck out nine batters in seven innings before leaving the game with pain in his foot. Duke Snider drove in six runs as they thrashed us, 12-4. Casey was seething. He said the club just died in the middle innings, like they expected to lose. He wants to shake things up, make a trade or two. At least Ed Bouchee will be back in the lineup tomorrow, and Sammy Drake headed back to Syracuse.

April 21
Herb Moford (1-0, 3.00 ERA) vs. Johnny Podres (4-0, 1.26 ERA)
Jay Hook was scheduled to start today, but his arm is sore, and he could barely warm up, so we gave the start to Herb. I sat in the owner’s box again, next to Mrs. Payson, as far away from Grant as possible. We talked before the game about the hot start Podres had been enjoying, and what we needed to do to win. I said we’d need to score early, because Podres had been untouchable after the first inning. Well, Gus Bell hit a first inning home run, and we took a 3-2 lead into the top of the eighth, when the Dodgers lifted Podres for a pinch-hitter. They put runners on the corners, but Bob Miller ended the threat. Like the first game, we couldn’t hold the lead. John Roseboro doubled in Ron Fairly to tie the game in the ninth, forcing the game into extra innings. Wally Moon won it in the twelfth with a three run home run off of Jack Dilauro. Ouch.

Incredibly, the Cubs lost another pitcher to injury. This time, its Bob Anderson. He separated his shoulder and will miss two weeks. That forces Jack Curtis into the rotation.

We don’t even get a day off before heading right out to San Francisco, for a game against the Giants at Candlestick Park. They’ve run three in a row since playing us last, and although the top of the order hasn’t been hitting well, they trail the Braves by a half game for the early lead. Meanwhile, our counterparts, the Yankees, have won five in a row to seize first place in the American League.

April 22
Jay Hook (1-2, 7.84 ERA) vs. Jack Sanford (2-1, 2.77 ERA)
Jay Hook took his turn today after missing the start against the Dodgers due to soreness. I half wish he had missed this one, too. He gave up eight runs in five innings as we got pounded, 9-6, scoring a few meaningless runs in the late innings. At least Ed Bouchee looked good on his return, going 2-5 and scoring twice. As a side note, Jerry Lumpe isn’t panning out in ‘Frisco. Manager Al Dark lifted Lumpe, his leadoff man, for a pinch-hitter, a move that made the second-sacker, who hasn’t been hitting well, very angry. Rumor has it that he’ll be on the block again unless he picks it up.

April 23
Roger Craig (1-2, 6.23 ERA) vs. Mike McCormick (2-1, 5.33 ERA)
Whatever mysterious shoulder ailment has been bugging Mike McCormick didn’t stop him today, as he gave up one run in a complete game thrashing. We managed a feeble three hits in the 5-1 loss. Roger Craig, meanwhile, will miss sixteen days with an ankle fracture. I talked to Casey about maybe calling up Jerry Koosman, but he pointed out that the kid is just getting into a routine in Syracuse, and we shouldn’t break it. Instead, we’ll bring up Larry Bearneath, and move Herb Moford into the rotation.

April 24
Al Jackson (0-2, 5.97 ERA) vs. Gaylord Perry (First Start)
So we get to see a rookie for the first time. Al Dark couldn’t have been more disparaging in his pre-game quotes, noting that he wants Perry to break in easy, and who better than the Mets? Let nobody say it was an easy break-in. It all started in the third inning, when Casey was tossed for yelling at the umpire. “That’s a **** spitter! The kid throws the spitter!” The ump didn’t buy it, but Richie Ashburn confirmed it. Perry gave up six runs, though he got the win. Gus Bell went down valiantly, driving in six of our eight runs. It was all meaningless, because we gave up eighteen, seven in the eighth inning off of Jack Dilauro. Good God.

[Donny Ballgame]

We flew back in late to New York, where we’ll face the Braves. Apparently, Ford Frick hates us to the point that we have to face the three toughest teams in the league without a day off. Casey is going to rest a few players for the Milwaukee series, to try and get our legs back.

It seems that Mike McCormick wasn’t making anything up about his shoulder. Ligaments are loose, and his shoulder separated while he was facing us. Doctors prescribed two weeks of rest. Its better than being Bobby Richardson of the Yankees, who broke his hip and will miss the next three months. Roy Face is the worst off of all of them. He severed ligaments in his knee and is done for the season. The longtime closer may be nearing the end of the line at thirty-four.

April 25
Larry Foss (0-4, 11.62 ERA) vs. Bob Buhl (2-0, 4.01 ERA)
Our off-day lineup gave a good accounting of themselves in a weird game that finished with Richie Ashburn playing third. We trailed, 7-2, heading into the ninth inning, when we somehow rallied miraculously to win, 8-7. Casey credited Richie with sparking the rally. It seems we match up well against the Braves, so maybe we can keep this rolling.

April 26
Jay Hook (1-3, 9.12 ERA) vs. Phil Niekro (2-2, 4.61 ERA)
Joe Adcock loves the Polo Grounds. It wasn’t that long ago when he had one of the greatest days in baseball history here, and he hit two home runs against us today, in a 7-4 loss. For our part, Richie Ashburn went down valiantly, going 3-4 at the top of the order, but Jay Hook took another loss, and Niekro went to 3-2. Casey and I are thinking about giving some of Jay’s starts to Herb Moford. He’s been pitching well, and Jay hasn’t. We’ll see how Herb does tomorrow, because they are both in the rotation with the injury to Roger Craig.

April 27
Herb Moford (1-0, 2.81 ERA) vs. Lew Burdette (3-0, 2.25 ERA)
Another nightmare of a day. Lew Burdette went the distance on us in a 7-1 victory, as we had no answers. The good news is that Gil Hodges is back in the lineup, which makes Jim Marshall expendable again. Rick Herrscher has proven he can handle Syracuse, so we’ll keep him there. With no room for Marshall in our system, and no worthwhile trade offers, we had to just cut him.

April 28
Al Jackson (0-3, 7.83 ERA) vs. Warren Spahn (1-3, 6.92 ERA)
What’s wrong with Warren Spahn? Everybody has asked this question as the grand old man stumbled early in the season, but he hurled a complete game against us, as Eddie Matthews wrecked us, going five for six with four RBIs. Nothing Casey did worked, as we got trounced. One of those RBIs was his 1,000th, lifting him into distinguished company.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Wow, and I thought my team was bad.

Good luck, you're gonna need it!

[Overbay17]

Wow! This team looks just as bad as...the 1962 Mets!. Who'da thought.:D

Just kidding. Seriously though, this is a very entertaining read, looking forward to seeing what happens next.:)

[Donny Ballgame]

NL Standings

Milwaukee Braves-18-8
Right now, the Braves are playing like the best team in the NL. Hank Aaron is hitting an incredible .416 with 10 home runs, notching 36 RBIs as the cornerstone of the most potent offense in the National League. Leadoff man Mack “The Knife” Jones has done a good job of kickstarting the offense while fulfilling his role in centerfield, and slugging first baseman Joe Adcok is clearing the bases when Aaron leaves them full, which is rare. Young catcher Joe Torre has done an admirable job in the early going, while even light-hitting second baseman Frank Bolling has found his stroke.

Most worrisome for opposing offenses, however, is that Milwaukee’s pitching has not yet reached its full potential. Warren Spahn is just emerging from an early season slump attributed to a lack of tough spring training condition, and Lew Burdette was limited through April by nagging injuries. The Braves don’t go to their bullpen often, and when their starters hit full health, they might be too much to catch.

Cincinnati Reds-15-9, 2 GB
The Reds exited April riding a five game winning streak. That winning streak had a lot to do with the emergence of Cincy’s potent offense. Don Blasingame, the leadoff man who is in charge of firing up the Reds offense, hadn’t been doing much blazing after a sprained knee derailed him. But Don is back in action, and his baserunning has provided plenty of opportunities for his double-play partner, Eddie Kasko, and the Reds signature slugging duo of outfielders Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson. Veteran left fielder Wally Post has joined that duo with a respectable six home runs through April.

It is most telling that wins for pitchers have been accumulating, even though stellar performances have been hard to come by. Jim O’Toole is 3-1 with a middling 4.50 ERA, and Jim Maloney has a similar record with an ERA of over six. This poses the question: Are mediocre pitchers being bailed out by a strong offense, or are good pitchers off to a poor start? The answer could determine the course of the Reds season.

San Francisco Giants-15-9, 2 GB
The pre-season favorites to win the flag have gotten off to something of a slow start. While the heart of the order, with Orlando Cepeda, Willie Mays, and the surprising Bob Nieman have produced (Mays has 10 home runs and Nieman 7), second baseman Jerry Lumpe is hitting an anemic .184, and Willie McCovey has not generated the hoped for platoon advantage. Rumors of a trade of McCovey have increased, including a potential trade with the Chicago White Sox that would net the Giants Nellie Fox.

For now, it looks like the Giants will have to rely on their pitching to keep games within reach so that the big blows from Cepeda, Mays, and Nieman can carry the day. That has been a sore point with manager Al Dark, who is dissatisfied with the early performance of his ace, Juan Marichal. He is equally irritated at injuries to Mike McCormick, who has not lived up to his stunning potential. Billy Pierce has found new life at 3-0, however, and improvement should not be far off. Look for the ‘Frisco Bay to host a pennant race in ’62, with a mid-September series in Milwaukee being the key moment.

Los Angeles Dodgers-13-12, 4.5 GB
The Dodgers, in opening a new stadium, hoped to usher in another new era of triumph, but have found it only in slightly greater portion than tragedy. This is not due to their offense; Maury Wills has run rampant, and the LA squad has drawn great platoon advantage out Duke Snider and Frank Howard. The bench has been stellar, too, with Ron Fairly filling in when needed.

The pitching, however, as highly touted as it was, has been inconsistent. Don Drysdale would give up seven runs one start and strike out thirteen the next. Sandy Koufax has been injured, and only Johnny Podres has been a consistent answer. No-one knows what the Dodgers will be yet: a mediocre disappointment or a pennant challenger.

Chicago Cubs-13-12, 4.5 GB
Unlike the Dodgers, the Cubs are not disappointed to be one game above .500. Instead, they are thrilled. Rookie leadoff man Lou Brock has energized the club with his four home runs and sixteen runs scored, while Ernie Banks and Ron Santo continue to pound away. The Cubs are even more optimistic because their offense has been powering the team.

The pitching looks to return to Wrigley later this summer. Ace Don Cardwell will return by August, as reports of his injury indicate that it is not as severe as first believed. Dick Ellsworth and Bob Anderson will also return to the rotation later this month. That rotation has been held together by a surprising 4-1 start from emergency starter Al Lary. If the Cubs hang around long enough, they might just start to believe…

St. Louis Cardinals-13-12, 4.5 GB
Off to a slow start they may be, but don’t you dare count out the Redbirds. The offense has been churning behind Ken Boyer and Julian Javier, even with injuries to Stan Musial and catcher Gene Oliver. Not even a slow start by Bill White has derailed the Cards.

The St. Louis pitching leaves a lot to be desired, however. Bob Gibson’s poor start has been attributed to bad mechanics, a problem endemic to the Cardinal staff, and one that has affected ace Larry Jackson and swingman Ernie Broglio. If those mechanics are fixed, St. Louis could find themselves in a pennant race.

Pittsburgh Pirates-12-12, 5 GB
For the second year in a row, the Buccos have stumbled early. Is it a less than strenuous spring, or are they simply not that good? Whatever the reason, frustration is setting in. Valiant efforts by Roberto Clemente and rookie Willie Stargell (.342/6 home runs/16 RBIs), have not been enough to lift a generally anemic April. Dick Stuart’s[B] poor .235 in the #5 start has killed many a rally, and put inordinate pressure on the Pirates pitching.

That pitching has stumbled badly. Staff ace [B]Bob Friend is 3-3 with an ERA of 5.51, and Harvey Haddix is 0-3 with an ERA of 7.66. Sources within the organization say the starters are pressing to try and bail out a poor offense. Unless something changes, the 1960 World Series will fast become a distant memory.

Houston Colt .45s-11-15, 7 GB
Now here is something that the expansioneers can be proud of. Paul Richards has built a strong squad centered around pitching, base running, and defense. Though they don’t hit home runs, the Colts have gotten a .388 average out of Billy Goodman, and a .315 average out of Joey Amalfitano. Goodman, at third, is the key to the team, generating runs when they Colts need it the most.

Runs come at a premium in Houston, mainly due to a large park and some stellar pitching. Staff ace Ken Johnson should be enough to keep the club respectable, but when you add stopper Turk Farrell, the Colts become a decent spoiler, at the very least.

Philadelphia Phillies-10-15, 7.5 GB
It has to drive manager Gene Mauch crazy to see how inconsistent this team is. The heart of the order, with Johnny Callison and Roy Sievers is productive, and Tony Taylor is getting the job done as a leadoff man, but they are weak up the middle, and nobody knows if young catcher Clay Dalrymple can maintain his hot streak.

It is the pitching that is driving Mauch crazy, however. Art Mahaffey is not pitching up to his potential, and for all his flashes of brilliance, Fergie Jenkins is pitching like a nineteen year old rookie. An injury to Chris Short has stretched the pitching further, but Short will miss just one or two more starts.

New York Mets-5-21, 13 GB
We have won one out of our last ten games, and are epically bad right now. Richie Ashburn and John DeMerit are getting on base at the top of the order to set the table, but there’s nobody driving them in. Gus Bell is killing our lineup with his .236 average in left field, and Charlie Neal is hitting a pathetic .186 at short.

Our pitching is worse. Our stoppers, Clem Labine and Bob Miller, have astronomical ERAs, and our starters have ERAs like 8.15 for Al Jackson and the unbelievable 10.30 for Larry Foss. When Casey dubbed these fellows his Amazins, he wasn’t kidding.

Our minor league potential is strong, however. Jerry Koosman is the talk of the IL, as the southpaw is 4-0 with an ERA of 1.89. Our Syracuse club is very strong, with Ken Mackenzie serving as an excellent short reliever, and Dennis Ribant turning in some good spot starts. Ron Hunt was named the IL player of the month for his .407 average. If the Senators prospects we share Syracuse with gave us any support, the Chiefs would be in first place.

Mr. Weiss, Casey, and I held an emergency meeting to rearrange our team right after the month ended. Something needs to be done. The plan is as follows. We’ll drop platooning, to try and let everybody bat as often as possible. Gil Hodges and Ed Bouchee will platoon based on pitcher. Don Zimmer will take over third base as Frank Thomas moves to the outfield to relieve the struggling Gus Bell, while Charlie Neal hits the bench for Elio Chacon.

So our lineup looks like this:

1. Richie Ashburn (CF)
2. John DeMerit (RF)
3. Frank Thomas (LF)
4. Ed Bouchee/Gil Hodges (1B)
5. Don Zimmer (3B)
6. Elio Chacon (SS)
7. Rod Kanehl (2B)
8. Harry Chiti (C)

[Donny Ballgame]

AL Standings

New York Yankees- 17-8
Guess who’s back? The Bronx Bombers are not to be denied. Despite all their weaknesses (base-running, injuries to Bobby Richardson and Johnny Blanchard, they may be aging), the Pinstripes still have the best team in baseball. Roger Maris has seven home runs. Moose Skowron has six, Mickey Mantle has seven, and Yogi Berra has six. Mantle is hitting .418 to power the team, while Ralph Terry was the Major League Pitcher of the Month in April, going 5-0 with an ERA of 2.47.

While the Yanks, with a staff of Terry, Whitey Ford, Bob Turley, and impressive rookie Mel Stottlemyre have little need of the bullpen, screwballing closer Luis Arroyo has given up just one hit and two walks in three scoreless innings, and looks better than ever before. It is very hard to pick against the Yankees to win their third consecutive pennant in 1962.

Detroit Tigers-16-10, 1.5 GB
As hard as it is to beat the Yankees, it doesn’t mean it can’t be done. If any team can do it, the Detroit Tigers can. Manager Bob Scheffing thinks his team underperformed in April, mainly due to a slow start out of the fearsome Rocky Colavito. Colavito’s slump has been more than negated by great starts from Al Kaline and Stormin’ Norman Cash, who has hit .431 through the month of April and has six home runs.

Though pitching is not a traditional Tiger strength, ace Jim Bunning is 3-3 with an ERA of 2.15, and set-up man Terry Fox has recorded eight saves. In May, the Tigers have nine games against the A’s and Senators, giving them a chance to pad their record, but they will also be sorely tested in a four game series against the New York Yankees, to be played at Yankee Stadium.

Los Angeles Angels-15-11, 2.5 GB
The Halos are one of the pleasant surprises of 1962. A slugging lineup has produced enough runs to get the West Coast expansion squad over .500, as the club has followed the lead of catcher Earl Averill, who is hitting a solid .317 with six home runs. Similarly, Albie Pearson and his .400 average means that the heart of the order always has men on base to knock in.

The major question mark remains pitching. Can Dean Chance, a rookie, hold up as the staff ace? His 2-0 start has given a big lift to the ball club, but the injury to Ken McBride means that he’ll have to keep the Angels rolling most of the summer. We’ll see how this club does over the course of a long summer.

Chicago White Sox-14-11, 3.0 GB
The Senor, Al Lopez, the only manager to beat the Yankees in a pennant race since 1948, has high hopes of doing it again. The “Go-Go Sox” pulled it off with speed in 1959, and it will have to be speed again in 1962. Stolen bases are not a Chi-Sox forte, but base-running is. Center fielder Jim Landis has scored twenty-five runs, and star shortstop Luis Aparicio has added eighteen. First base is a concern, and rumors of a trade for Willie McCovey have been cropping up in the Windy City.

The major problem, however, persists in pitching. Typically, the Pale Hose have built a decent staff around ace Early Wynn. Wynn, nearing 300 wins, has stumbled to a 2-3 record, and the rotation has stumbled with him. Unless Wynn finds his feet, the Sox may have to fight for a winning record in the summer of 1962.

Minnesota Twins-13-13, 4.5 GB
Much like the Angels, the Twins have surprised early. Not just in their record, but in how they achieved it. Everyone said that as goes Harmon Killebrew, so go the Twins, but the Killer is off to a mediocre .235 start. Instead, the top of the order has come through in the clutch. Lenny Green is hitting .335 in center field, rookie right fielder Tony Oliva has twenty RBIs[/B], and first baseman Don Mincher is hitting .317. The Twins are weak up the middle, however. Flashy shortstop Zoilo Versalles provides no pop in his bat, and rookie second baseman Jim Snyder has trouble as well.

Pitching-wise, however, the Twins are an enigma. Camilo Pascual was supposed to be one of the league’s top aces, but is off to a disappointing 1-4 start. Southpaw Jim Kaat started slowly as well. The Twins, however, should find their feet, and look to be able to continue strong throughout the summer.

Boston Red Sox-13-13, 4.5 GB
The Red Sox have managed to put themselves together after a poor start, and may come on late in the summer. Carl Yaszstremski seems to have adjusted to the major leagues, and appears unaffected by any sophomore jinx. Jim Pagliaroni is doing a good job hitting for a catcher at .284, and Pete Runnels is hitting .359 at first base. The Sox could use better hitting out of center fielder Gary Geiger, who has a weak .240, but when he comes out of his slump, he could become one of the better hitting center fielders.

The Sox pitching staff is something of an enigma. Ace Bill Monboquette has given the team five quality starts, but neither Gene Conley/B] nor [B]Earl Wilson has established himself as a reliable option. Closer Arnold Earley has struggled, and may be in danger of losing his job to veteran knuckleballer Mike Fornieles. If their pitching comes through, don’t be surprised to see the Sox peeking above .500.

Cleveland Indians-12-13, 5.0 GB
After a strong start, the Tribe have lost eight of their last ten, and slumped to seventh place. Injuries have played a role in this, as the loss of Tito Francona to injury has decimated the Cleveland outfield, but an overall lack of production has crippled the Indians. Only right fielder Willie Kirkland is above .300, and two starting outfielders are hitting below .250.

The Indians pitching has struggled as well, with Jim Perry struggling to a 5.79 ERA, and only Mudcat Grant with an ERA of below four. Dick Donovan, off to a 4-0 start, found himself on the DL with a stretched ankle ligament. The Indians are certainly capable of turning it around, and they have the talent to get back in the first division.

Washington Senators- 11-13, 5.5 GB
After a dreadful first season, the Washington Senators have rallied around manager Mickey Vernon in hopes of bringing the club to respectability. Veteran Gene Woodling has certainly settled into the new DC Stadium well, and is now hitting a very strong .311. Center fielder Jim Piersall is doing a strong job from the top of the order, as well. If the Nats get increased production out of first baseman Dale Long, their offense could really get going.

Adjusting well to the new ballpark have been ace Claude Osteen and second starter Bennie Daniels. While both have mediocre records, their ERAs are among the best in the majors. Washington’s climb to respectability is going solidly, not quite as quickly as the Angels, but solidly.

Baltimore Orioles-9-17, 8.5 GB
Now here is a disappointment. After a strong showing in 1960, the Orioles slumped in ’61, and are doing the same in ‘62. The loss of manager Paul Richards to Houston has done little to help the O’s, but this is a team with more talent than they are showing. As of right now, Russ Snyder and Brooks Robinson are providing the only offense. Fantastic rookie Boog Powell seems to have fizzled, and clean-up hitter Jim Gentile looks tired.

A talented staff is not living quite up to expectations, although they do feature a great feel-good story. Milt Pappas and Chuck Estrada have struggled, but Robin Roberts has risen to the occasion. After being cut by the Phillies and the Yankees, the veteran caught on with the Birds and has gotten off to a 2-1 start with the best ERA among starters in the major leagues. Give Robin some credit, he is a diamond in the rough. Unfortunately, the rough seems to be all this Orioles team is experiencing right now.

Kansas City A’-7-18, 10 GB
A familiar sight at the bottom of the standings, the Kansas City Athletics find themselves in exactly the same hole they were in the Arnold Johnson Years. Trader Lane did nothing to strengthen the team, and figure-head GM Pat Friday is helpless as well. Only rookie Ed Charles is anything of a bright spot on this team. In fact, let me just type out there lineup, and you can see if there are any strengths worth noting.

1. Dick Howser, Shortstop (.187 batting average)
2. Gene Stephens, Center Field (.241 batting average)
3. Gordie Windhorn, Right Field (A strong .348, but he never walks.)
4. Bill Kern, Left Field (.204, 6 RBIs. They get six RBIs from the cleanup hitter in a full month of play!)
5. Ed Charles, Third Base
6. Billy Bryan, Catcher (.169)
7. Wayne Causey, First Base (.292, the third best average on the team)
8. Charlie Shoemaker, Second Base (.238. He is one of the best infielders in the AL, however.

Finley has built a decent rotation, led by Art Ditmar and Jim Archer. Maybe with some pop in the bats and a good arm, the A’s could climb out of their current hole. Maybe.

[Donny Ballgame]

New York Mets Offices, April 29
I was in my office, poring over some reports, some newspaper articles, all sorts of things. One article, from the Sporting News, was particularly positive about our fan base. It talked about how we had grabbed hold of the Brooklyn faithful, particularly thanks to “…Gil Hodges, the king of the Mets, who can do no wrong.” Then, it included a rather odd sentence. “The Flatbush fanatics, who have filled the grounds of Old McGraw with a most undignified din, have even forgiven the hated Casey Stengel, although Stengel is soon to resign…” Well, that was news. Casey had just spoken at a Manhattan Club dinner about the long-term vision of the Mets, and he’d never indicated anything different to Mr. Weiss or myself.

“D’you hear the rumors, Mr. Allen?” I turned. It was Bill Bergesch, our minor league director. “What rumors, Bill?” “About Casey. People are saying he’s gonna resign, that he can’t handle all the losing. I think you ought to talk to him. “Relax, Bill. Casey Stengel will not resign.” The next knock on my door was Lou Niss, our PR man. “Mr. Allen, how do you think I should up the press release in case Casey Stengel resigns?” “Lou, he won’t be resigning.” My secretary told me that Mr. Grant had a message for me. “He wants to know if you have any managerial candidates in mind.

That tore it. You don’t bury a man before he’s dead, but I needed to talk to Casey personally. So I called a meeting with him. I asked him flat out. “Casey, do you plan to resign?” I expected Stengelese, the last schtick of an old man on his way out the door as a major league manager. He paused, perhaps gathering his thoughts to launch into one of his magnificent harangues, maybe thinking of a clever turn of phrase. I was too stupid at the time to recognize it as a man trying to put the truth into words. As soon as he spoke, I could feel his sincerity.

“No. Absolutely not. Now, when we make five errors and ground into four double plays, and ask me how long I can stand that type of stuff, the answer is not long. But it ain’t all that. I don’t manage for the wins, anyway. Did you hear the way those people at the Polo Grounds yell for our players? That’s one thing. But the other is what really matters. The other is the learnin’, the growin’. You see it. When Ashburn and Hodges hustle, the others pick it up. I ain’t gonna see when we’re up there with the Giants and Braves, ‘cause I ain’t got that long. But I’ll be a part of it…” He paused, gathering strength. “Most of all, though, Casey Stengel’s no quitter. I never walked out on a job, and I ain’t got the intention of walkin’ out on this one. That’s all that matters, right? ****, who’s the bigger loser, the rat who jumps off a sinking ship or the captain who goes down with it. So, you satisfied you got a manager?”

I looked him right in the eye, all doubt squelched. “I’ve got the best there is.”

[Donny Ballgame]

We prepared to take on the Reds with renewed optimism. They were a good team, second place in the NL at 15-9, and winners of five straight, but they weren’t invincible. Our new lineup, I hoped, should generate some runs.

April 30
Larry Foss (0-4, 10.30 ERA) vs. Jim O’Toole (3-1, 4.21 ERA)
We gave a good accounting of ourselves, although the new lineup managed just one run, we were tied at one after a quality start from Larry Foss. Wally Post’s pinch-hit two run home run was the difference in our 4-1 defeat.

News came over the wire after the game that the Los Angeles Angels signed Jim Marshall. He’ll be on their major league roster and back up Steve Bilko. Good for him. I felt bad when we let him go.

May 1
Jay Hook (1-4, 9.38 ERA) vs. Bob Purkey (2-1, 4.01 ERA)
Jay Hook has officially played himself out of a spot in the rotation. He gave up ten runs and got bombed as Bob Purkey dominated our lineup, five-hitting us and shutting us out. This demoralizing defeat prompted a meeting with Mr. Weiss. “Don’t be afraid to call up Koosman. We need to show we have something.” That was all he needed to tell me.

I called up Gabe Paul in Cleveland, and swung my first big deal. “Gabe, who do you want for Tommy Agee?” “More than you can offer.” “No, listen. What if I gave you Hook as a bullpen arm, tossed in Mantilla to strengthen your infield when he comes off the DL, and threw in a few minor leaguers to sweeten the pot. You need help now, Gabe, not in 1966 when Agee hits the bigs?”

“So, you’d be willing to give me a few prospects. How about Schreiber, Moran, and…Hockman?” It was so obvious. He really wanted Hickman, and was trying to pull a fast one on the rookie GM. Well, whatever he saw in Hickman, Agee was light years better. “Hickman, and it’s a deal.”

So we send Jay Hook (73/78), Jim Hickman (68/79), Felix Mantilla (79/79), Ted Schreiber (57/69) and Al Moran (61/71) for Tommy Agee (66/92). Paul clearly sees something in Hickman, who will start for Cleveland. In that respect, Cleveland won the deal because they get a pitcher and a starting center fielder, but we get a great prospect. And we don’t lose anything because we are calling up Jerry Koosman!

May 2
Jerry Koosman (5-0, 1.55 ERA for Syracuse) vs. Joey Jay (1-2, 4.46 ERA)
The Polo Grounds were packed. It was our first real “event” in the history of the Polo Grounds. Lou Niss called it Jerry Koosman Day, and he didn’t let us down. He fanned six in seven innings, allowing just one run. But we lost, because Joey Jay shut us out. It didn’t matter. I looked at Mrs. Payson in the fourth inning, when he struck out Gordy Coleman, and said “Ma’am, you are looking at the future.”

Our loss was the Reds eighth consecutive victory. Because the Chicago Cubs beat the San Francisco Giants, 8-5, it moved Cincy into first place in the National League, a game ahead of Frisco, and 1.5 games ahead of the Braves, who were swept by the Phillies. We are heading down Houston, to face the 14-15 Colts. They just swept the mighty Dodgers, and are riding mighty high. Texas papers are talking about a season finishing above .500.

5-24, three games at 14-15 Houston Colt .45s
We won our first game in Texas, 8-6, behind an Ed Bouchee home run. Herb Moford, one of our few pleasant surprises, picked up the victory. The next day, Houston beat us, 8-5, as Jimmy Wynn hit a home run and the Colts tagged up Al Jackson for his fifth consecutive defeat. That Saturday, Houston’s ace Ken Johnson hurled a complete game shutout and beat us 2-0.

We decided to shake up our lineup a bit. Don Zimmer’s horrific slump has dropped his average to .042!!! Even Charlie Neal hit better than that! We’ll try him at third! Finally, we’re going back to Gil Hodges at first, over Bouchee.

Just when it looked like Horace Stoneham was getting ready to trade Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda tore a ligament in his ankle. He’ll miss five months. It looks like the ‘Frisco rook will get a chance after all.

Bob Turley pitched a four-hit shutout of the Baltimore Orioles for the New York Yankees, who won their fifth consecutive and continued to look untouchable.

Art Mahaffey of the Philadelphia Phillies shut out the Cincinnati Reds, as the resurgent Phillies, who have won eight of their last ten, suddenly started to rally towards .500.

The Milwaukee Braves crushed the Cubs, 7-1, to move into a three-way tie for first with the Reds and Giants. All three teams are knotted up at this point, and look like the front-runners for the pennant. We don’t play a front-runner. Instead, we face the frustrated Los Angeles Dodgers, losers of seven out of their last ten and sitting at 15-16. This will be our first time at Chavez Ravine.

On our off day, the Braves and Giants opened up a key series to determine the early lead in the NL. The Reds would win all three games, including a dramatic scoring of four runs in the ninth of the first game. Frank Robinson hit a home run in all three games, and is already being talked about as a potential MVP.

[Donny Ballgame]

May 7-9
Before the game started, which would be the second start for Jerry Koosman, a general cheer broke out in our offices. Frank Lane had taken a job with the Chicago Packers of the NBA. Everyone genuinely dislikes Lane, who is no longer a force lurking to ruin a perfectly good ballclub.

Anyway, we opened up the set with a duel of southpaws: Koosman vs. Koufax. It was 0-0 headed into the ninth inning, a classic of pitcher’s duels. Koosman tired and left the game, so Clem Labine took the loss of a ninth-inning home run by Wally Moon. We lost the next two games in an equally frustrating fashion, stranding six runners in a 3-2 loss, and then eight in a 4-2 loss. At least all three games were close.

The Phillies plummeted back down to earth, losing three in a row, while the Yankees went to 24-10 and look more and more unstoppable.

May 10-12
Our next series took us back home, for a three game set against the Reds. At 22-11, Cincy was tied for first with the Giants. In Game 1, we put Jerry Koosman on the mound against Bob Purkey, but not even the Koos could be perfect every time. He gave up eight runs in seven innings, so a valiant offensive effort that netted seven runs went to the dogs. Personally, I think we left him in far too long. The next day, Herb Moford surprised everyone with a complete game shutout, striking out eleven. In the third game, we came perilously close to rallying to overcome a 5-0 deficit, but came up just short, losing 5-4. The game’s most resonating moment, however, came when Frank Robinson tried to make a sliding catch of a fly ball and dislocated his hip. He’ll miss six weeks of action. This comes just as the Reds had taken first place, and is a serious blow to their hopes.

The Chicago White Sox swept the Baltimore Orioles, surging into second place, three games behind the Yankees and a half game ahead of a tough Tiger squad. The sweep was highlighted by a dominating complete game victory from Early Wynn, who is now just five wins away from #300.

The Yankees, meanwhile, were dropping two of three to the seventh place Boston Red Sox. A slugfest in the second game saw Yogi Berra hit three home runs, but Gary Geiger answer with two of his own as Boston won, 9-7. The Bombers avoided a sweep when the M&M Brothers, Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris, each hit home runs in the third game to power a 6-3 victory. It was Mantle’s 12th and Maris’s 10th of the year.

The Detroit Tigers did their best to keep pace, taking two of three from the California Angels. Jim Bunning started the series with a complete game shutout victory, and Rocky Colavito crushed a home run in a 5-3 victory in the second game, but a rare home run out of Angels shortstop Jim Fregosi provided the difference in the third.

We got the day off, and then got ready to welcome the Houston Colt .45s to the Polo Grounds for the first time. At 17-21, the Colts are fresh off a frustrating sweep at the hands of the Philadelphia Phillies.

May 14-16
We blew a late lead in the first game, and lost 5-4, mainly due to a costly throwing error from Charley Neal. It overshadowed a strong, 3-4, 3 RBI day from Frank Thomas. The second game saw Jerry Koosman pick up his first major league victory, a complete game, one-run, five-hit gem. Charlie Neal atoned for his error in the first game by hitting a key home run in this one.

This game also saw the emergence of the Koosman K-razies, a particularly vocal group of rooters that come out to cheer on their favorite rookie, and hold up clever signs. My favorite, “It is all oh-K with the Koos!” made its first appearance today. We are developing a particularly strong group of fans, all of whom have a favorite player. Gil Hodges, obviously, is a fan favorite, but so, inexplicably, is John “Thumper” DeMerit. Once we get good, we’ll really have a fan base.

We won the series with the third game, crushing the Colts 6-1, as Al Jackson dialed up a complete game shutout. That means we have our first winning streak, our first series victory, and something to be proud of. That night, I got a call from Mr. Weiss, who has been working the business end. “Brady,” he told me, “you have to watch out for Mr. Grant. He’s coming down hard on you. I’ve been defending you, telling him you are my protégé, but I won’t be here forever. I’m planning to retire around 1964, so you won’t have too long to get things turned around after I leave. Make sure you get in close with Mrs. Payson.”

That wasn’t the only intent of his call. There would be an emergency league meeting in New York about the minor league situation on the 18th, and he wanted me to attend. I told him I would gladly do it. But first, some details to take care of.

The red-hot St. Louis Cardinals swept the Cubs, headlined by a complete game shutout from Bob Gibson, and a dominating performance from the now 6-1 Curt Simmons. That makes it six wins in a row, pulling them to within four games of the Reds.

Speaking of Cincinnati, they scratched two out of three from a scrappy Phillies squad, Despite the absence of the injured Frank Robinson, the Reds keep finding ways to win. Meanwhile, the Phillies are struggling. At 20-21, the Phils had hopes of cracking .500, but a season-ending broken wrist has sidelined their best player in Roy Sievers, who may never be the same again.

Over in the AL, the Yankees continued to separate themselves from the pack, taking three of four from the seventh place Washington Senators. Mickey Mantle, however, sprained his back and will miss nearly a month. It shouldn’t hurt the Yankees too much. Roger Maris already has twelve home runs, and Yogi Berra has thirteen. They’ll welcome the Tigers for a key three game set.

[Donny Ballgame]

So, the meeting. It wasn’t too controversial, or interesting. Ford Frick presented his re-alignment plan that would eliminate the B, C, and D classes, leaving only AAA, AA, A, and Rookie. Expansion would take place in some leagues to accommodate all of the teams. This is how individual leagues would be affected.

For the International League, a temporary expansion to ten teams would take place. One of these teams, the Arkansas Travelers, had survived the end of the Southern Association, and would play in the IL for 1963. A similar arrangement would be made for the Indianapolis Indians, survivors of the fall of the old American Association. We would buy up the Buffalo Bisons from the Phillies, and acquire our first AAA affiliate. That meant that we could sell our stock in the Syracuse Chiefs to the Washington Senators, who chose to sell that squad to the Detroit Tigers, and purchase the Toronto Maple Leafs from the Milwaukee Braves.

The IL, however, did not want to stay at ten teams. That fit perfectly with the aggressive expansion plans of the Pacific Coast League. The PCL had visions of expanding over the old territory of the American Association, and reasserting their status as the nation’s premiere minor league. Already, their expansion had taken them to Hawaii, now they would move the Vancouver Mounties to Dallas and become the Dallas-Fort Worth Rangers. In 1963, they would add the Denver Bears and Oklahoma City 89ers, and then go to twelve teams with the Travelers and Indians in 1964.

It was the lower levels that would face the most radical changes, however. It was decided that three double-A leagues were needed. That meant that the old A-Ball Eastern League would be turned into AA, joining the Texas League. The South Atlantic League would be renamed the Southern League for 1964, and become the third Double A team. The California, Carolina, and Florida State League would all move up to become A Ball, as would the Midwest League. The New York-Penn League and Northwest League were to continue operating on a short season, but now as a “Short Season A”.

Finally, the Appalachian League and Pioneer League would be converted to rookies only. As all this was going, I had been instructed to make efforts to purchase any available minor league clubs. We had already secured the Bisons from the Phillies, but had no Double-A team. I looked into buying the Williamsport Greys of the NY-Penn League, but they had already been sold to the Red Sox, who were moving them to Reading. Rumor held that Chuck Finley was looking to sell the Binghamton Triplets, but not quite yet. He remembered our interest and promised we would be first in line to buy them if he looked to sell. Great, but we need a Double-A team for 1963.

I then tried to buy the Amarillo Gold Sox from the Texas League, but no dice. They belonged to the Yankees, and Dan Topping was looking to sell. We put in a pretty high offer, but he looked me right in the eye and said “We don’t even want you to exist. Why would we sell you a minor league? Good luck with that!” In the end, we got the Orioles let us send a few prospects to their farm club at Elmira. We also snatched up four A-Ball teams. We held on to Auburn and Quincy, but exchanged Santa Barbara for Visalia and added Raleigh in the Carolina League.

It was interesting to see the political interplay, though. Ford Frick tends to let Walter O’Malley and the Dodgers dictate his actions, though Topping and the Yankees have his ear as well. We are an up and coming club, Mr. Weiss told me, so we should seek alliances with other up and coming NL clubs. That means Judge Roy Hofheinz in Houston, and any enemies of O’Malley and Horace Stoneham. PK Wrigley of the Cubs was friendly enough. He’s got some wild ideas, but as an elder statesmen, he can be a counterweight to O’Malley, who seems to have Stoneham in his pocket.

I don’t like William Bartholomay. He kept complaining about Milwaukee, and dropping hints about Atlanta as a “big-league town”. I don’t like franchise movement. Maybe we can form a pro-Milwaukee bloc…Back to the game.

[Donny Ballgame]

May 17-19
Like I said, we were bound for Candlestick for the first time. The Giants had fallen a game and a half behind the Reds, and had lost two of three to the Dodgers. They were out for blood against us, and did they ever get it. Jack Sanford gave up one run in a complete game, 14-1 victory, that saw the Giants hit five home runs, two by Felipe Alou. In the second game, we had to face Juan Marichal, who was just untouchable. We hit a few long drives that got held up in the Candlestick wind, and lost 1-0. A valiant eight-inning, one run performance by Jerry Koosman came up short again. We couldn’t score in the third game, either, losing 3-0 to Billy Pierce, who struck out seven in a 3-0 victory. The series trimmed the Reds lead back to a half game.

Meanwhile, Stan Musial of the St. Louis Cardinals fractured his ankle. He’ll miss three weeks. Earlier this season, he passed Honus Wagner to become the all-time NL hits leader. He still has an outside shot to pass Tris Speaker for #2 on the all-time list.

Despite the injuries racking up (Elston Howard/B] will now miss a month with a torn quad muscle, and [B]Yogi Berra nearly threw his arm out) and some untried starters (Nineteen year old Franky Fernandez) is the new Yankee catcher, as Johnny Blanchard was already injured), New York continued to look unstoppable. The Yanks swept the Detroit Tigers, and now lead the Chicago White Sox by 4.5 games.

It looks like the rumors of a trade of Willie McCovey are finished. He agreed to a three year contract extension that pretty much locks him up in San Francisco. We take a day off and head to Milwaukee to face the Braves. At 26-18, the Braves are looking leap right back into the lead with a sweep of us. Their rivals, the Giants and the Reds, are facing off at the same time we are.

May 21-23
We lost the first game, 3-2, in ten innings. Joe Adcock hit a walkoff home run in the bottom of the tenth. The second game was no better. Hank Aaron ripped two home runs in 9-2 rout. The third game was another start by Jerry Koosman, who would face the immortal Warren Spahn. Not even Jerry could stop the Braves this time, as we lost 6-2, with Adcock and Aaron hitting home runs. Our lone bright spot in this series was that Richie Ashburn picked up his 2500th hit. He is second in that category among active players, trailing only Stan Musial.

While the Braves were sweeping us, the Reds were dropping two of three to the Giants. The teams are now tied for first, with Cincy welcoming the Braves on Thursday. The pack has tightened up a little bit, as the St. Louis Cardinals have pulled themselves into contention. Bob Gibson has pitched complete games in his last three starts, and the Redbirds now trail by 2.5 games.

The Yankees are looking to end any pennant race over in the AL before it gets started. They have swept the A’s in a four game set, despite being decimated by injuries. Whitey Ford is now 7-1, and Bob Turley is now 8-2. At 35-13, the Yanks are on a nine-game winning streak, six games ahead of their nearest competitor.

We come home to face the Houston Colt .45s, who are now 19-28, a comfortable ten games ahead of us, but back where expansion teams belong.

May 24-26
We won the first game, 8-0, but in this horrible season even victories have their prices. Herb Moford threw his back out. He’ll miss a week, which means one or two starts. John DeMerit went 3-4 in the victory. We couldn’t gain any traction in Game 2, and lost 8-5, despite home runs from Joe Ginsberg and Don Zimmer. We did win the third game, and the series, in extra innings, 7-6, when Al Spangler booted a double play grounder into the outfield in the bottom of the tenth. That makes us 11-39, which is really a hideous record.

In the chaotic NL pennant race, the Braves took two of three from the Reds and narrowed their gap with the Giants to a mere half game, while the Reds fell to a game out and the Cardinals held steady at 2.5 back. The Yankees stumbled over in the AL, giving up a sweep to the Angels, and seeing their lead over the White Sox shrink back to four games.

May 27-29
The St. Louis Cardinals came into town, hoping to trim the Giants cushion a little bit more. The first game promised a pitcher’s duel-Jerry Koosman vs. Bob Gibson. It was a classic, and we won it in ten innings, 2-1. The Koosman K-razies went wild as their hero struck out ten batters in a nine-inning no decision. That brings us to our first profile.

Meet the Mets-Jerry Koosman
Jerry Koosman, the Mets rookie sensation, is an amiable young fellow from Appleton, Minnesota. The “Koos”, as his teammates call him, has impressed veterans and youngsters alike with his poise and grace on the mound. “Jerry works harder than anyone else. He’ll ask me to watch him on the mound, look for if he’s tipping his pitches or has a mechanical inconsistency. He’s a perfectionist.” That comes from teammate Richie Ashburn. But don’t think that the Koos has no time for fun and games. He says: “I love my job. I’m lucky enough to be playing baseball in a great town like New York. I hope to be a Met for a long time.”

Somehow, we won the second game, 6-0. Roadblock Jones made a spot start and picked up the victory. We even managed to hang on to beat the Cardinals, 6-5, with Harry Chiti hitting a walk-off home run. That was our first sweep, and it lifted us to 14-39. I even got a call of congratulations from Mrs. Payson.

Unfortunately, the victory was marred by a shoulder injury to Elio Chacon. He’ll miss two weeks recuperating, while Don Zimmer gets the start. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Braves swept the Dodgers, outscoring them 25-7. The stumbling Dodgers are now 26-26, and looking for answers.

[Donny Ballgame]

Milwaukee Braves-34-19
The Tribe is finally coming together. The Braves were a middling 24-18 before they won nine out of their last ten, seizing first place in the National League. Down the last stretch of the month, it seems that the Braves finally became what everyone has been saying they could be. Hank Aaron is now hitting .398 with 22 home runs and has won NL Player of the Month honors. Rookie center fielder and lead-off man Mack Jones is now hitting .343, and now that Eddie Matthews is healthy, the Braves seem unstoppable.

Milwaukee’s pitching is equally unbelievable. Southpaw ace Warren Spahn is 6-3, and do-it-all stopper Bob Shaw is perfect in three starts and has recorded two saves. The real story, though, is Lew Burdette. Now 10-0 with an ERA of 1.82, the hard-throwing West Virginian now has an unbelievable five complete games, and is a virtual lock to throw well over 200 innings. Manager Birdie Tebbets has his club playing like world-beaters right now, and they just might be.

San Francisco Giants-33-19, .5 Games Back
Hard-driving manager Al Dark had this to say before the season. “Anything less than a pennant is not acceptable.” He was heard to say it in drills, in scrimmages, in intra-squad games, and even the occasional barnstorming exhibition. While his stars, Willie Mays and flashy rookie Felipe Alou have faltered, Come Back Player of the Year candidate Bob Nieman has taken it to heart. Nieman is hitting .331 with 10 home runs, and is one of the most unlikely early stars of 1962. Not that Alou is doing poorly, as he has a .301 average, and Mays is slugging away with 19 dingers to offset a middling batting average of .258.

What sets the Giants apart is an intimidating rotation. After a controversial, botched first start against the Mets, Gaylord Perry has established himself and risen to a 4-2 record, shrugging off occasional spitball accusations. Billy Pierce is 6-3, but intimidating Dominican Juan Marichal is 8-3 with a 2.58, having just blown past anybody he faces. In a short series at the end of the year, Marichal is as intimidating a stopper as can be imagined, and the Giants might just get there.

Cincinnati Reds-30-21, 3 GB
The post World Series curse certainly hasn’t bothered the Reds, who actually did hold first place earlier this season. Cincy, however, has been slowed by an injury to last year’s MVP, Frank Robinson. The return of Robby will add another threat to a lineup that has suffered while batting Wally Post in the cleanup role. The Reds also need more production out of Don Blasingame, their star second baseman, if they will get their offense rolling. Gene Freese’s much publicized errors at third seem to have come to an end, so the focus will soon be back on Robinson and Vada Pinson.

The Reds also need more consistent pitching. Bob Purkey is a middling 5-4, and ace Jim O’Toole is a minor disappointment at 6-3. Especially puzzling is the 2-5 Joey Jay, who rarely has a bad start but rarely gets support. Manager Fred Hutchinson believes his club can win, he just wants more consistency.

St. Louis Cardinals-28-25, 6 GB
Ah, here lies some pressure. Manager Johnny Keene had his team just 2.5 games back last week, on the verge of slicing even further into the deficit with his lineup eying the New York Mets. Then, the Redbirds got swept. They look tired and lethargic with third baseman Ken Boyer fighting off nagging injuries and Stan Musial out of the lineup. Despite valiant diving catches from Curt Flood, the Birds came up a little bit short. Flood apparently has been arguing with his teammates, and tensions boiled over in a heated meeting that saw Flood and Bob Gibson nearly coming to blows with Boyer and Curt Simmons. For a pennant contender, this is far from acceptable.

Flood’s .316 average is no reason for the Redbirds struggles of late, and neither is Boyer’s .336, with ten home runs. Rather, a tired Bill White has seen his average plunge to .246 despite his own ten rockets, and shortstop Alex Grammas has been allowing far too many ground balls to get through, hurting Simmons and Gibson, who have been pitching exceptionally well. If Keene can’t get his team together, he could be out of a job, and the Redbirds out of a shot to win the flag.

Los Angeles Dodgers-28-25, 6.5 GB
Now, for one of the biggest disappointments in the NL, we present the mighty Dodgers. This was their year for a pennant. This was the opening of glorious new Chavez Ravine. This was the year of Maury Wills, Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and Hollywood. Well, Wills hasn’t disappointed, and will possibly steal fifty bases by the All-Star Break. He hasn’t been scoring, though, because the Dodger offense hasn’t been generating hits behind him.

Koufax hasn’t faltered either, going 4-1 in the early games. But Drysdale is 5-5, with a poor 4.09 ERA. Johnny Podres is a solid 5-3, and could have seven wins if the Dodgers bullpen was holding up. Either way, manager Walt Alston has his work cut out for him.

Second Division
The best of all the second division teams are the Philadelphia Phillies. At a surprising 26-26, they have found that Gene Mauch’s small-ball tactics are indeed generating runs, and leadoff man Tony Taylor is reaping the rewards. More reliable pitching would push the Phils up into the top division.

At 24-27, the Pittsburgh Pirates are a mystifying seventh. Just two years ago, they were world champs. Now, despite a .397 average from Roberto Clemente, the Buccos are beset by injury and disappointing performances from Bob Friend and Joe Gibbon

The two expansion teams are finally showing their fangs. Houston has ace Ken Johnson (7-3) to a solid 21-31, and even the horrendous Mets have won four games in a row.

American League
This seems pretty solidly to belong to the New York Yankees, who are off to a strong 4.5 game lead over the Chicago White Sox and Detroit Tigers. While these two teams are looking strong, the Los Angeles Angels are in fourth, just five games out and with a chance for a top-division finish in their second year. Cleveland, Minnesota, and Boston are all just a game above .500, while the surprising Washington Senators fight to stay out of the basement, above the disappointing Baltimore Orioles and Kansas City A’s.

[U]Leaderboards[/B]
As of right now, the race for the National League batting title features just Roberto Clemente and Hank Aaron, both of whom are flirting with .400. The AL race is closer, with Mickey Mantle’s .357 giving him a five point edge over White Sox right fielder Joe Cunningham. Cunningham, however, broke his ankle, and may not qualify for number of at bats. Aaron leads the home run race by three over Willie Mays, with the Hammer’s twenty-two to the Say Hey Kid’s nineteen. Roger Maris has sixteen to pace the AL, with Yogi Berra just two behind.

Aaron’s sixty-five RBIs lead the majors. He has a legitimate shot at a true triple crown, leading the majors, and not just his league. Yogi Berra is pacing the AL with 54.

With the pitchers, Lew Burdette is chasing a pitching triple crown, with his ten wins and 1.82 ERA pacing the majors. Burdette’s 38 strikeouts, however, pale in comparison to the 82 dialed in by Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Where can I sign up for the Koosman K-razies?

Very exciting stuff, it's too bad you're languishing at the bottom of the NL.

[Donny Ballgame]

May 31-June 2
Wrigley Field, for a series with the Chicago Cubs. The Cubs, with their unique College of Coaches system, are both the center of much speculation and derision. I plan to play a call on PK Wrigley while we are out in Chicago, feel him out for support about my pro-Milwaukee bloc. While once a storied franchise, the Cubbies haven’t done any better than 6th since 1947, and have shown declining attendance. Right now, they are struggling along in eighth place.

During the first game, the Cubbies handled us 3-0 behind Jack Curtis. Moe Morhardt and Ron Santo each ripped home runs in the defeat. During the game, I worked my way up to the owner’s box, hoping to find Mr. Wrigley, but he wasn’t there. I was helpfully directed to corporate offices, where I had to work my way past six secretaries, each directing me to another floor. Finally, I made it. “Mr. Wrigley, I’ve begun to doubt your existence.” It turns out he was just a very private man, but one who was glad to speak with me. I proposed the pro-Milwaukee bloc early in our conversation. “The NL, Mr. Wrigley, is a Midwest-centered league. We no longer have a squad in Boston, and we have just one team in New York. In fact, only the Phillies and the Mets could be considered East Coast teams. The Pirates, Cubs, Reds, Braves, and Cardinals are all very Mid-western ballclubs. Mid-western values have become National League values. Mid-western people are National League people. Even Houston can be considered a Midwest team.” To that, he agreed. “The American League’s primary weakness is that they have less continuity than we do. The Dodgers have been embraced by the people of LA, the Giants by the people of San Francisco, the Mets by the old Dodger and Giants fan. Chicago itself has embraced the Cubs in a way they have not the White Sox.” The trap was set.

“Mr. Wrigley, trust is the key factor. People trust National League ballclubs. Sure, we left the city, but we came back, didn’t we? It was the Athletics who abandoned Philadelphia. The Phillies stayed, and won the trust of that city. Now, the Braves have won the trust of Milwaukee, the heart of the NL, the Midwest. Is it, is it fair, to abandon that city, to violate the trust of a state and lose it forever?”

He leaned back. “Now hold on, son. We’ll come back to Milwaukee, if indeed the Braves do move to Atlanta, should Mr. Bartholomay get his way. I highly doubt he will, and conducting back-door dealing like this is highly irregular. Frankly, I’m offended.”

I could see I was getting to him, though, and I couldn’t lose him now. “Mr. Wrigley, do you even doubt that O’Malley and Stoneham operate with Mr. Giles this way all the time? Back-door dealing is a time honored part of baseball. It is how Kennesaw Mountain Landis got in to power, and how the NL was formed. More importantly, we can’t lose Milwaukee. We act with deliberation, the AL with haste. If we leave Milwaukee, maybe the A’s will move there. Maybe the Americans will take Milwaukee and San Diego, and we’ll have to expand to lesser cities. If we leave, the AL will have the entire Old Northwest to themselves, and we will have no natural rival for the Braves in Atlanta. Mr. Wrigley, we stand to lose our hard-won advantage over them in one foolish move, propagated by the California power-mongers.”

Now I had him. “Son, you are a gutsy operator. I like that. You see things in the long run. I like that too. We can’t surrender the Upper Midwest to the AL. If the matter comes up at a league meeting, I’ll appeal it that way to Mr. Giles. He always hates to concede things to the AL. For now, though, I think you need to find a way to hit Jack Curtis.”

If only the rest of the series carried the same success. Al Jackson chipped his kneecap in a 6-0 loss, knocking him out of action for two weeks. We avoided a sweep by winning the third game, 5-4, as Gil Hodges ripped a long home run. The series was a pyrrhic victory for the Cubs, though, who will lose popular young left fielder Billy Williams for the rest of the year with a severed elbow ligament. He was hitting .275 with seven home runs at the time of the injury.


It looks like Chuck Finley got rooked again. The Dodgers, hoping to patch up a weakness at first base and get back into the pennant race, called up the A’s to feel out a trade for Norm Siebern, who was hitting .275 for the Athletics. Finley, rather impulsively, said to give him third base prospect Ken McMullen and they had a deal. McMullen is a good player, but Finley could have gotten more if he wasn’t so headstrong that he won’t have a real GM. His team suffered another blow when starter Jerry Walker suffered a season ending knee injury.

The Braves swept the Reds to move back into first. Hank Aaron is the hero, having hit four home runs in the three game series to move the Braves back into first, a game ahead of the Giants. Cincy has lost six in a row and now trails by 6.5 games.

May 3-5
Gene Mauch and the Phillies are next on our hit list. The Fighting Phils are trying to get into the first division with a good series against us. They won the first game, 10-7, in 11 innings, and then dropped the second game 5-0 as Roger Craig was chased from the hill. Jerry Koosman gave us eight good innings in a 3-2 loss the same day that we won a huge battle in the amateur draft, which I’ll tell you about next. The Phils polished us off, 4-2, in the fourth game, but none of that could offset the jubilation that had taken place in the front office the day before.

Around the league, the collapsing Reds lost their ninth consecutive, dropping them 8.5 games out and basically out of the running. Right now, it looks like the Braves and the Giants are the only two teams in the running, with Los Angeles a distant third. Meanwhile, the Yankees suddenly have company in the AL. The White Sox are red hot and just two games back, while Early Wynn is one game away from the magical #300. Jim Bunning’s 9-4 record has allowed the Tigers to lurk at three games back, and what looked like a runaway might now be a summer-long struggle.

[Donny Ballgame]

While we were facing the Phillies, I was sitting in the Mets offices with Mr. Weiss, planning the Amateur Draft. We would draft players by teletype, an exciting new experience. First, we broke down the pool. By our analysis, the best player in the draft was Tom Seaver, a brilliant pitcher from Fresno, California. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the first pick. The first pick belonged to Houston, and we were almost certain that the Colts would take Tom. Unfortunately, a perfect storm derailed that selection.

Seaver started back to back days with his team trying to clinch the Southern California High School Championship, and dead-armed the second start. A Houston bird-dog saw this start and warned Paul Richards off of Seaver, recommending Denny McLain instead. We had settled on Steve Carlton due to character issues with McClain, but then it came over the teletype. Houston-Denny McClain. Next thing I knew, I was dancing around the office with Mr. Weiss, yelling and screaming. “That’s the franchise! That’s the franchise!” I even hugged Mr. Grant.

We quickly pecked out New York (National League)-Tom Seaver. In our eagerness, we nearly ruined the Phillies, who were on the clock earlier than expected. I don’t think the Phillies needed any help. With Carlton, an ace pitcher from Miami, Florida, on the board, I was certain that Gene Mauch would respond immediately with that pick. Instead, he talked himself out of the obvious selection. Carlton had struggled with some bigger schools in the playoffs, and was considered to not respond well to pressure. The other pitcher on the board who could go that high was Joe Niekro, but Mauch thought that the league West Liberty State played in was weak. Besides, he liked the thought of outsmarting the field, and went with a New Jersey sandlot player, Johnny Briggs.

Briggs was a talented left fielder, but he was nowhere near ready for the majors, and was no Steve Carlton. Chuck Finley was smart and snapped up Carlton right away, taking Steve Carlton at #3 for the Kansas City A’s. Joe Niekro fell to #4, for the Washington Senators. The Cubs surprised everyone by taking center fielder Del Unser at #5. Apparently, the Bruins are dissatisfied with leadoff man Lou Brock and want to trade him.

The Los Angeles Angels grabbed second baseman Tito Fuentes at #6. The Cuban infielder with the strong arm had impressed a lot of people in the Cuban League, but most teams thought of him as a high-second rounder, especially with some of the other players who were still on the board. The Minnesota Twins went with a college graduate, taking Graig Nettles, a third baseman from San Diego. The Pittsburgh Pirates went with Manny Sanguillen, a catcher from Panama. Apparently, the Pirates have followed the lead of the Giants and scouted the Caribbean aggressively. GM Joe E. Brown was reportedly furious that they didn’t get Fuentes.

The Boston Red Sox went with George Scott, a talented first baseman from Mississippi. Gabe Paul grabbed a hometown boy, Ohio right fielder Russ Nagelson for the Cleveland Indians. The Cardinals shocked everyone, grabbing a kid projected to be a reliever, Ray Lamb. That left joy in the office of the Milwaukee Braves, who got third baseman Sal Bando. Bando was projected to go to the Twins, who apparently wanted a college player and took Nettles instead.

The San Francisco Giants grabbed the last top-notch pitcher available with Bill Singer from Los Angeles. That left the Chicago White Sox to take first baseman Gene Stone. The Los Angeles Dodgers continued to forge their own path, taking a starter without a fastball, Roger Nelson. Most scouts say Nelson won’t get out of AAA without a heater, but the Bums always think a little differently than everyone else. Baltimore snatched up hometown shortstop Mike Belanger, the Detroit Tigers brought in southern center fielder Wayne Comer, the Reds took fireballer Billy McCool, and the Yankees drafted Rudy May to round out the first round.

We needed an infielder, so we took shortstop Bud Harrelson in the second round. Our bird-dogs liked his work ethic, and our top scouts liked his speed. A few of our scouts started a last-minute campaign for Greg Perski, a Vanderbilt graduate, but concerns about Perski’s desire led us take Harrelson. One of our scouts spotted Jon Moore, an Arizona flamethrower, playing in a pick-up game, so we took him in the third round. We took a reliever, Gary Niebauer, in the fourth, and then second baseman Denny Doyle in the fifth. We took the Irish phenom, Dylan O’Shaig, in the sixth round, not really expecting him to pan out, thus rounding out our draft.

Overall, I give us an A+. We filled two needs with Seaver and Harrelson, and have borderline prospect in Jon Moore.

[Donny Ballgame]

So with the Phillies out of the way, we headed on to Pittsburgh, to face the Pirates. Something has gone badly wrong with the Bucs, who are struggling at 28-31. I’m sure they are hungry to turn it around against us. Meanwhile, Mr. Weiss and myself are receiving pressure to start Tom Seaver, but I’m not comfortable unless he pitches a bit in the minors.

June 7-9
While in Pittsburgh, I made the decision to visit Pirates owner John Galbreath, to inquire with him about Milwaukee, but then second guessed it. If Galbreath is in with Bartholomay, which he might be, I could tip my coalition before we get going and ruin everything. Instead, I decided to go up to Syracuse to watch Seaver make his first start against the Jacksonville Suns.

In Pittsburgh, we had to give the start to Larry Foss, who gave us a darn good start. He also took the loss, 2-1, when he gave up a solo home run to Smoky Burgess in the bottom of the eighth. We got shellacked, 13-2, in the second game, as Burgess and Roberto Clemente hit home runs. Harvey Haddix handcuffed us with seven strikeouts in a complete game, 4-0 shutout for the series capper. Of course, I wasn’t there. I was watching Tom Seaver pitch a complete game, 7-4 victory over the Suns to win his first minor league start.

During our series with Pittsburgh, the unthinkable happened. The cellar-dweller Orioles took two of three from the once invincible Yankees, winning the first game of the series behind leadoff man Whitey Herzog’s home run, and the rubber match 13-2 behind four RBIs from Jackie Brandt. The next day, the Yanks lost 4-2 at home to the Senators. That same day, Early Wynn hurled a complete game shutout of the Kansas City A’s, putting the Chicago White Sox into a tie for first with the Bronx Bombers. New York’s immediate prospects aren’t great, either. Ralph Terry will miss over a month with a broken finger, which may permanently affect his grip. At least the Yanks have Mickey Mantle back in the lineup.

June 11-13
With the Pirates out of the way, we continue our Midwest road trip to St. Louis. We won the first game, 1-0, as Jerry Koosman threw a complete game shutout. We came up a little short in a furious 13-inning game the next day, but won the series with a 2-1 extra innings victory.

Elsewhere, the Yanks continued to struggle. Despite taking two of three from the Senators, they watched the White Sox sweep the A’s to take first place by a half game. The Bombers head to the Windy City for an American League showdown. Starting to creep up out of fourth place are Minnesota Twins. Surprising Frank Sullivan is 10-3 and looks to be one of the year’s most unexpected stars.

June 14-16
Elio Chacon made his long awaited return from injury today, but it did us no good. We blew a 2-0 lead in the ninth when Casey stuck with Roger Craig instead of going to the bullpen. Rookie Willie Stargell hit a home run and we lost, 3-2. The next day, the Koosman K-Razies were out in force to see their hero, and they saw yet another gem. The rookie struck out five in eight innings to earn the victory. To the surprise of everyone, we won our second consecutive series after Frank Thomas singled home the winning run in the bottom of the ninth.

The showdown in Chicago took place while we were edging out the Pirates, and it didn’t disappoint. Whitey Ford beat Early Wynn 3-0 to put the Yanks back in first in game 1, and rookie Mel Stottlemyre won for the Pinstripes in Game 2. The Pale Hose avoided the sweep as they bombed the Bombers in Game 3, 9-2, with Herb Score picking up the victory.

In our league, just as it looked like the Braves were poised to run away with the flag, they lost three straight to the Dodgers, blowing a three run lead with two outs in the ninth when Norm Siebern doubled home Willie Davis, Duke Snider, and Wally Moon in one of the games. The re-energized Giants cut the lead back to a mere game.

June 17-20
A four game set with the Dodgers. An opportunity for them to leap right back into the NL Pennant race, an opportunity for us to show how far we’ve come. In the first game, we put on our best offensive display of the year, scoring nine runs as Ed Bouchee hit two home runs. Unfortunately, Maury Wills drove in three and tallied thrice himself as the Dodgers poured in nineteen runs off our hapless pitching. In the second game, Don Drysdale didn’t pitch well, but we didn’t either, and Duke Snider hit a home run in an 8-4 beating. Norm Siebern hit a homer to help Stan Williams drub us, 5-1, leaving us to try and avoid a sweep with Jerry Koosman on the mound. Jerry’s complete game shutout gave us an 8-0 victory and our 20th victory.

Elsewhere, the surging Giants swept the Pirates to take first place from the Braves. Willie Mays was the center of attention in the first game, hitting an 11th inning home run to key the Giants 3-2 victory. Billy Pierce struck out ten batters in the second game to key a 5-2 victory, and then Felipe Alou’s four RBIs made him the hero in a 9-7 rout of the Pirates for Game 3. Backstop Tom Haller capped the rout by driving in four runs in Game 4.

In the suddenly topsy-turvy AL, the Tigers took two of three from the Yankees to put themselves into a tie for first place, as the White Sox fell back. That league, however, features the exploits of the hapless Kansas City A’s, losers of 14 in a row and owners of the worst record in the major leagues at 18-34.

[Donny Ballgame]

June 21-23
We head into Chicago to face the seventh place Cubs. We won the first game, 2-1, but faltered 6-5, as Ron Santo thrilled the Friendly Confines with a walk-off over the Ivy. The rubber match was all Cubs, who beat us down, 4-1.

The Braves leapt back into first as they continued to jockey with the Giants in the standings. The Yankees took a one game lead over the Tigers.

June 24-26
We’ve had a good month, maybe our best yet, if we can win three of our last seven, but we haven’t faced the best opposition. Now we face the mighty Giants, looking to seize first place. Game 1 was a wakeup call, as the Giants shellacked Koosman and silenced the K-Razies, 10-0. We took back our dignity in Game 2 by running Juan Marichal off the mound, but San Fran dropped us anyway, 5-4. We avoided the sweep by winning in twelve innings, 3-2. That victory kept the Braves in first by the slim margin of a half game.

June 28-30
After a day off, we headed for Chavez Ravine to meet the disappointing Dodgers. Walter O’Malley was out for blood, and his team got it, embarrassing us 13-6. They pummeled Koosman, 8-5, and then let Sandy Koufax loose to strike out 13 in a hopeless 3-0 defeat.

Elsewhere, the Braves preserved their slim half game lead over the Giants, while Yankees extended their lead to a full three games in the AL. There won’t be any June lookback, but we’ll do a full mid-season report at the All-Star Break.

July 1-3
We headed out to Pittsburgh. As good as the Pirates were supposed to be, they had stumbled all the way to eighth place, and had lost seven of their last ten. They tried to right the ship against us, and started down that road in Game 1. Bill Mazeroski drove in three runs, and every Pirate starter got a hit in a 13-1 rout. The second game was closer, but two RBIs from Bob Skinner allowed the Pirates to hang on and win, 5-4. An off day by Koosman let the Pirates complete the sweep, with an 8-1 victory.

In the increasingly dramatic NL pennant race, the Giants surged back into first, taking advantage of the Cardinals seizing two of three from the Braves. The Braves avoided a sweep, though, as Hank Aaron hit a home run in a 9-2 victory.

The Yankees, meanwhile, seem back on their feet. They swept the Indians, extending their winning streak to six and a row and securing a two game lead over the Detroit Tigers. They go next to Minnesota to face the surprising Twins.

July 5-7
We had the 4th off, which is fine, and then welcomed the Cubs as our last series before the All-Star Break. In a sloppy, error-filled series, our first half mercifully came to an end. The Cubs beat us 9-7 to win the first game, we rallied to win the second 9-8, and wilted in the third, 4-3. Both the Giants and Braves won out to reach the mid-season break, so they’ll be fresh for the stretch drive. Billy Pierce won his 200th game for San Francisco, and has been a big part of their run, but we’ll get to that.

[Donny Ballgame]

The All-Star Game was held this year at brand new DC Stadium, with President Kennedy on hand to throw out the first pitch. First, though, we were treated to a home run derby the night before. The National League entrants were Hank Aaron, Joe Adcock and Eddie Matthews of the Milwaukee Braves, Willie Mays of the San Francisco Giants, and Ernie Banks of the Chicago Cubs. The AL offered up Yogi Berra and Roger Maris from the Yankees, Norm Cash from the Tigers, Al Smith of the White Sox, and Carl Yaszstremski of the Red Sox.

The first round was a show of sheer power. Hammerin’ Hank ripped 11, two ahead of the nearest competitor, his teammate Eddie Matthews. They were comfortably ahead of the field, with Mays and Berra slipping in at five apiece, one ahead of Maris, Cash, Smith, and Banks. Aaron hit five in the second round, pacing the field again, while Matthews hit three to advance. Berra hit two, and Mays struggled to get one out of the park. In the finals, Aaron and Matthews traded home runs until Henry missed, and Eddie won the derby, 5-4.

The real interesting occurrence took place that night. Mr. Wrigley and I talked to Bill DeWitt, who had been using rumors of moving to San Diego to fuel his push for a new stadium for the Reds. DeWitt, we had figured, was an ideal candidate for our pro-Milwaukee bloc. Rather than use idealism like I had with Mr. Wrigley, I used business numbers to sway Bill. A smart man, Bill was practical. It was important, I told him, to have good cities open for expansion. The AL was hasty, and always expanded first. But if there were four attractive cities available, we could get at least two quality cities. “Right now, Mr. DeWitt, the expansion-eligible cities are Dallas, Atlanta, and San Diego. If we move to Atlanta, Milwaukee moves right up on the Americans’ list. When they expand again, they will take Milwaukee and San Diego, and maybe move the A’s to Dallas. Where does that leave us? In a real pickle. If we keep Milwaukee, though, we can always expand to Atlanta, and find a second good city to go with them.” He nodded his head. “I like a Midwest rivalry for my Reds, and we can’t lose the region to the Americans. I’m in.”

The three of us took stock of our options. We had three votes. The movement bloc, as we called them, was composed of Stoneham, O’Malley, and Bartholomay, who wouldn’t have a vote when the idea to move came to a head. That left Galbreath in Pittsburgh, Gussie Busch in St. Louis, Judge Hofheinz in Houston, and Bob Carpenter in Philadelphia. If we could sway two of them, we could block a move by a margin of 5-4. If we only got one, the Braves would have approval by that same margin.

I took charge of feeling out Hofheinz, Wrigley would go to Galbreath, and DeWitt would go to Gussie Busch. Carpenter had always been in awe of O’Malley and would probably go with the old lizard. I suggested to Wrigley and DeWitt that we would promise Hofheinz our support on an NL team in Dallas, whether he was opposed or in favor. I asked him what it was like being the only team in Texas. “We could use a rival, I’ll tell you that much. If we ever expand again, it would be nice to see a team in Dallas.” Perfect. “Judge, I know you’re new to the league politics and all, but have you noticed Mr. Bartholomay at all?” “Son, I’m new to baseball but not to people. I can read Bartholomay like a book. The man wants out of Milwaukee. Can’t say I blame him.”

I had to go for it now. “Judge, a move out of Milwaukee would be a fatal mistake for the league. We’d be surrendering the entire upper Midwest to the American League, and letting any concept of regional rivalries go away. We’d be acting on stats, not heart.”

“Son, we live in a world of facts and figures. As much as I’d like to have a team in Milwaukee, we have to live in the real world.” I nodded, but responded. “Sir, Dallas is not the ideal expansion site, based on stats. San Diego is. So would be Seattle. If we move to Atlanta, our expansion would be to those two cities. But on regional rivalries, it doesn’t make sense. San Diego would be the odd man out in California, and Seattle would be up there by itself. Should we stay in Milwaukee, and sell out to regional rivalries, we’d have to go to Atlanta, and then the two of us might be able to build a coalition for expansion to Dallas. We could let the AL take San Diego and Seattle, two big cities, but we’d have heart.”

“Son, as a judge I wasn’t a backroom dealer, but I can smell a good bluffer. I think you’ve been bluffing me this whole time, but you make some good points. I won’t promise you a vote, but I can promise you I’ll think about it.” As it turns out, we need Judge Hofheinz’s vote. Galbreath felt that we needed to take Atlanta before the Americans did, so Wrigley wisely dropped the topic. Gussie Busch simply didn’t like O’Malley, and wanted the chance to block the old man. Atlanta wasn’t looming in the immediate future, because they had no stadium, but the hour of truth would be at hand one of these days.

[Donny Ballgame]

Midseason Report, NL

San Francisco Giants-58-29, First Place

Under manager Al Dark, the Giants have found a home in windy Candlestick. This is their best season since moving west to San Francisco, and they are looking to cap it with a pennant. Young Felipe Alou is hitting .287 with 52 runs scored to claim the right field job from his brother Matty, who is serving as a top-notch pinch-hitter. Center fielder Willie Mays is hitting a pedestrian .255, but with twenty-five home runs. However, the next two Giants have surprised everyone. After it was almost certain he was going to be traded, Willie McCovey took advantage of an injury to starter Orlando Cepeda to make the job his own. Now Willie bats cleanup with a .281 average and 18 homers. Batting behind him is potential comeback player of the year, Bob Nieman. The thirty-five year old left fielder is hitting .290 with 14 home runs and has become a fan favorite in San Francisco.

It is the Giants pitchers, however, who have really stepped it up. Fiery Dominican Juan Marichal is 13-5, already matching his career best in victories, and he has hurled eight complete games. While Marichal’s year has been tremendous, he’s been overshadowed by Billy Pierce, the thirty-five year old southpaw who has electrified the league with his 11-4 start. Pierce, Marichal, and controversial rookie Gaylord Perry all made the All-Star Game. While Pierce is the feel-good story of the year, rival managers have repeatedly accused Perry of employing a spitball. For his part, Perry has denied the accusations, but the cagey North Carolina rookie has said that he often makes sure to appear to be throwing a spitter, throwing off batters who struggle against him.

The Giants have twelve games remaining against the Braves, twelve games which will surely decide the pennant.

Milwaukee Braves-58-29, .5 GB
So here it is. All the dreams of the Braves are spread out before them. A third pennant for Milwaukee, a triple crown for Hank Aaron, and a fine send-off for Warren Spahn. All they have to do is win.

Yes, the Braves are enjoying two of the most spectacular seasons ever produced. First, you have Aaron’s assault on the newly-set home run record. The popular slugger has 38 home runs at the All-Star Break, and is on pace to absolutely shatter the record that Roger Maris set last year. His .377 average leads the closest competitor by 16 points, in RBIs he leads by 21, and in home runs he leads by ten. If ever the odds favored a triple crown, they favor Aaron.

This should not be interpreted to mean that the Braves have a one-man offense. Rookie center fielder and leadoff hitter Mack “The Knife” Jones has been cutting up the league with .304 average, and the corners of the infield have sparkled with fine play from Eddie Matthews and Joe Adcock. Even young backstop Joe Torre has gotten in on the act with his .287 average.

Pitching-wise, this was expected to be the Warren Spahn Farewell Tour, and the crafty southpaw hasn’t disappointed with his 11-4 record, but he’s been overshadowed by his long-time counterpart, Lew Burdette. Burdette is an incredible 17-0 with a 1.80 ERA in 19 starts. This isn’t Spahn and Sain and Pray for Rain all over again, either. Bob Shaw’s 8-2 record anchors the rotation.

The Braves are certainly the sentimental favorites to win the pennant, but they have to play the games to get there.

Los Angeles Dodgers-50-39, 9.5 GB
“Don’t count us out yet.” That’s been the refrain of manager Walt Alston, but it seems to be a futile one. As well as the Dodgers play, they seem to be too far back to catch either the Braves or the Giants. The culprit is a lack of hitting. Maury Wills is doing his best with 39 stolen bases and 50 runs scored, but neither Jim Gilliam or Willie Davis has been able to put together the hits needed to drive him in. That means that for all the efforts of slugger Duke Snider, the Dodgers simply aren’t scoring.

That wouldn’t be so bad if the Dodgers had reliable second line pitching. At 7-3, Sandy Koufax has certainly gotten the job done, and Don Drysdale is 10-6. Unfortunately, the Dodger bullpen has lost 16 games for them, and although Johnny Podres has pitched well at 10-4, the lack of a reliable fourth starter has crippled the Dodgers. In a tough National League, only complete teams win the pennant, and the Dodgers simply aren’t one.

Cincinnati Reds-46-40, 12.0 GB
For a while it looked Fred Hutchinson and the Reds would do the unthinkable and repeat as NL champs, but Cincy simply does not have the depth and breadth of talent possessed by Milwaukee and San Francisco. This isn’t to say that they aren’t a good team; the Reds are very good. Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson have both performed well, hitting comfortably above .300 while slugging away to keep their team in contention. The problem is that Don Blasingame has struggled at the top of the order, and the Reds haven’t been setting the table. That spells doom in the NL, as most of the blasts by Pinson and Robinson have gone for naught.

After a spectacular breakout in 1961, the Reds pitching is decidedly mediocre in ’62. Ace Jim O’Toole went 19-9 last year, now he’s a middling 8-9. One time twenty game winner Joey Jay is a disappointing 4-7, and Jim Maloney has struggled to a 6-5 record. Closer Jim Brosnan has lost six games, and his struggles have contributed greatly to 11 Reds games lost by the bullpen. While a good first division club, the Reds are not pennant contenders.

St. Louis Cardinals-44-44, 15 GB
For a while, it looked like the Redbirds might make a run at the pennant, but its clear that this will not take place in 1962. Strong hitting is the Cardinals forte, with Curt Flood at .309, Minnie Minoso at .311, Ken Boyer at .305, and Stan Musial at .328. The pitchers have struggled, however. Larry Jackson is 8-9, and flamboyant Bob Gibson is 6-11. Too many runs given up and clubhouse turmoil have offset a strong offense, and the Cardinals are fading fast. Johnny Keene is being heavily criticized in the Gateway City, and rumors of a firing are not out of the question.

Philadelphia Phillies-44-44, 15 GB
The Redbirds are going down. The Phillies are going up. Gene Mauch’s squad is delighted to be sniffing .500, and is only getting hungrier as the season progresses. Not even injuries to stars Roy Sievers and Johnny Callison could stop the Fighting Phils, who have turned to Don Demeter and his surprising .340 batting average to keep the team rolling. Art Mahaffey has shown flashes of brilliance as the staff ace, and risen to a 9-5 record, while Fergie Jenkins is 7-7 at the young age of nineteen. Give some credit to Mauch, because this young team has taken on the character of their manager. They fight for every run, and have a strong shot of climbing into the top division.

Chicago Cubs-41-46, 17.5 GB
Is it time to give up on the College of Coaches? Can we please move on? The Cubs have looked disjointed all year, occasionally playing very well and then faltering. Young Ron Santo is hitting .323, with Ernie Banks hitting .299 to give the Cubbies a terrific left side of the infield, but more is needed. The injury to Billy Williams nearly crippled their season, but the Bruins have kept on. A strong managerial presence could make the difference on this team, especially with regards to pitching. A talented, oft-injured staff led by Dick Ellsworth and Don Cardwell seems to be crying out for a leader. As silly as it seems, Chicago is just a manager and a star away from being competitive.

Pittsburgh Pirates-39-50, 20.5 GB
What happened? These guys were World Champions in 1960, but now they’re cellar dwellers. Roberto Clemente is playing well, with his .361 batting average, and rookie Willie Stargell is surprising everyone with his .260. However, the Pirates haven’t been hitting well, and Clemente is the only regular above .300. That leaves the Pirates pitching, which has pitched well (no starter has an ERA of above 4.00) with nothing but losing records. Unless the holes can be patched, it looks like Danny Murtaugh’s team has gone down the tubes.

Houston Colt .45s-35-53, 24.0 GB
For all the complaints about the weakness of the NL expansion clubs, the Colts have been a pleasant surprise. GM Paul Richards has carefully built a strong club centered around pitching, and one that does not have so many holes that it can’t be rebuilt. While no Houston regular is hitting .300, ace Ken Johnson is a solid 9-6. The Colts are well suited to their style of play, which focuses on scrambling for runs and good pitching. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Colts out of the basement in a few years.

[Donny Ballgame]

New York Mets-23-65, 36.0 GB

It is time to do a little self-evaluation. Where do we need players, who can we trade, and so on. Let’s start with first base. We’ve been platooning Ed Bouchee and Gil Hodges, but neither is doing very well. Bouchee in particular is a major disappointment, as we thought he could become a solid contact hitter, but his struggles with the breaking pitches are much-publicized, and he’s seeing more and more of them. With his .229 average only slightly better than Gil’s .210, I’m starting to think that Bouchee might not be the answer. Rick Herrscher is hitting well in Syracuse, and maybe we can bring him up next year. Alternately, we could go to slap hitting Eddie Kranepool, playing for Santa Barbara. I’m thinking we might trade Bouchee to a team that needs him and go young.

At second, Rod Kanehl has won the job by default, but his terrible bat (.255, and he’s been hitting well lately) has left us wondering. Rod is twenty-eight, and he gets his hits by hustling. Ron Hunt has been hitting well for the Chiefs, and at twenty-one, he might be a solid solution, but he needs to work on his fielding before he’s ready for the majors. Hunt could be in the majors next year, but probably won’t establish himself until 1964.

Third base is an area of concern. We thought Charlie Neal would be a good hitter, but he hasn’t been. We’ve been impressed with Bobby Pfeil, but he is a ways from the majors yet. I think he might be the answer, but you never know.

At shortstop, Elio Chacon’s glove is making up for his .220 average, but barely. Don Zimmer’s frighteningly bad .120 average takes him out of the consideration for any infield slot. At the moment, our best hope is Bud Harrelson, but he’s a few years from even the high minors.

Catching is somewhere where we don’t look too bad. New York native Joe Ginsberg is doing a decent job, and Harry Chiti is a solid player as well. Our prospects are decent, with Chris Canizzaro hitting okay for Santa Barbara, but we don’t have any standouts.

In the outfield, we’ve got the heart of our team. Richie Ashburn is running out of seasons, but can play center field well. Gus Bell is in a similar situation, and Frank Thomas has been our best player this year. Both Thomas and Bell want out of New York, though. Bobby Gene Smith is a legitimate player whose been boxed out of playing time. If we trade either Thomas or Bell, he’ll get a start. Sammy Drake is a decent player, but nothing special. Our hopes rest with two good young players, Tommy Agee and Cleon Jones. Both have been playing well, and I was writing this just after getting off the phone with Cleon to tell him he should find a plane to Santa Barbara.

Our pitching needs help. Al Jackson and Roger Craig are probably on their way out of the major leagues. Jerry Koosman will be around for a long while, Herb Moford is a solid guy to have in the rotation, and Tom Seaver will be up by next year, if not late this year. That means we need two more starters. Our bullpen is young and growing, so we might get some arms this season. I like Bob Miller as a potential future closer and a guy to build the pen around.

[Donny Ballgame]

American League

We’ve got a pennant race in the American League! In one corner, you have the New York Yankees. The Bronx Bombers have been doing a lot of bombing this year, with Roger Maris hitting 28 home runs, and Mickey Mantle hitting .333. Mantle, however, has been overshadowed by Yogi Berra, who is hitting .335 with twenty home runs. Whitey Ford is 10-3, on pace to win twenty games, and rookie Mel Stottlemyre is 9-5, doing a very solid job.

All that, however, has not been enough to put away the Detroit Tigers, who trail by 2.5 games. Infield weaknesses have not hampered the Tigers, who have a deadly slugging trio of Norm Cash, Al Kaline, and Rocky Colavito. A strong rotation headed by Jim Bunning has the Tigers believing that they can win every time they take the field. Grumpy Bob Scheffing is dreaming of a pennant, and who is to say he can’t do it?

After that, you have the pack. The Chicago White Sox are five games behind, mainly because they haven’t been hitting consistently. Juan Pizzaro and Herb Score have pitched well to keep the Pale Hose in the race. Not far behind are the surprising Minnesota Twins, who have ridden a home run or bust lineup and Jim Kaat (11-3) to challenge the upper division. Rounding out the top half of the league are the Los Angeles Angels, who have gotten a great first half from backstop Earl Averill (.269, 15 home runs), and a 10-3 record from southpaw Clyde Wright.

The lower division shows quite a drop-off. While young Carl Yastrzemski has played well for Boston, only Pete Runnels is hitting above .300, and Don Schwall is the only decent pitcher available to the BoSox. The disappointing Baltimore Orioles have struggled badly, with only feel-good Robin Roberts providing the bright spot. The Cleveland Indians and Washington Senators have faced similar disappointments, while the truly dreadful Kansas City A’s have struggled to an ugly 26-63 record.

[Donny Ballgame]

The game itself was a display of sheer baseball talent. Herb Moford was to be our All-Star game representative, a manager’s choice, and his first ever All-Star Game. The quiet Kentuckian was both honored and thrilled to have the chance to represent us in the game. He was not, however, one of the starters. The leading vote-getter was Hank Aaron, who would be starting in right field.

Our lineup was:
C-Joe Torre, Milwaukee
1B-Joe Adcock, Milwaukee
2B-Frank Bolling, Milwaukee
3B-Eddie Matthews, Milwaukee
SS-Ernie Banks, Chicago
RF-Hank Aaron, Milwaukee
CF-Willie Mays, San Francisco
LF-Roberto Clemente, Pittsburgh
SP-Johnny Klippstein, Houston

Some controversy was caused by some of the Milwaukee starters. Mr. Wrigley, in particular, was agitated over Ron Santo being selected as a reserve, rather than a starter, and complained that the Braves had stuffed the ballot box. The Braves, however, had their own legitimate gripe. Mr. Bartholomay complained loudly and longly in the owners box from which we all watched the game. “How can Lew Burdette be perfect, and yet not get the start?”

The AL started:
C-Earl Averill, Los Angeles
1B-Norm Cash, Detroit
2B-Nellie Fox, Chicago
3B-Al Smith, Chicago
SS-Woodie Held, Cleveland
RF-Roger Maris, New York
CF-Mickey Mantle, New York
LF-Yogi Berra, New York
SP-Robin Roberts, Baltimore

In the locker before the game, Warren Giles apparently waxed eloquent about upholding the honor of the league. Herb asked Hank Aaron if this was unusual, but Aaron told him that his happened every year. I don’t know if Warren’s speech had any effect, but we certainly played with more fire than the Americans. Willie Mays and Joe Torre hit back to back home runs to open the game, and Eddie Matthews hit another later that same inning to give us a 3-0 lead before Johnny Klippstein even took the mound.

Torre extended the lead with a two-run single in the third, andHerb Moford pitched two shutout innings for us, drawing cheers from Mr. Weiss, Mrs. Payson, and myself. The Americans scored in the fourth when Ken Johnson gave up a home run to Yogi Berra, making it 5-1. Ernie Banks basically ended the game in the fifth with a two-run home run, and hit another in the eighth to make it 8-1. The Americans scored some respectability runs in the ninth and the final was only 8-6, but us Senior Circuit owners were pleased that our superiority had been established.

We started talking trade during the break, as well. We wound up making a trade with the hated Yankees, sending Ed Bouchee to the Pinstripes for injured catcher Johnny Blanchard. Blanchard had won the job in spring training before breaking his elbow, and Elston Howard played well enough to secure the job. We’ll end the platooning at first, and give the job every day to Gil Hodges. Blanchard makes both Harry Chiti and Joe Ginsberg expendable, so we started shopping them, as well. We sold Chiti to the Angels, but nobody wanted Ginsberg. We wanted to dump a catcher, so we shipped Choo Choo Coleman to the Washington Senators for reliever Marty Kutyna. That makes room on the roster for our first baseman of the future, Rick Herrscher.

We plan to hold on to our two remaining cards, Gus Bell and Frank Thomas, for as long as possible. That will be a deadline deal if its made at all.

[Donny Ballgame]

I think it should be noted that the players are getting more and more restless. Casey saw fit to let me now that the players had held a meeting in conjunction with the All-Star Game, and voted unanimously to request a schedule with more travel days. It isn’t that any of the players are getting tired. They think they’ve been getting the shaft for years in negotiations and want to get some concessions for once. Anyway, we came out of the break refreshed and more optimistic. We’ll have Johnny Blanchard in our lineup within a week, and Marty Kutyna will join us in mid-August.

July 12-14
Our first series after the All-Star break takes us to Texas, to face the Colts. Frank Thomas homered to provide the only run in our 1-0 victory, and Roger Craig dialed in a surprise complete game victory the next day, but the Colts avoided the sweep by chasing Jerry Koosman to win, 7-2.

The year was highlighted by its first no-hitter! Juan Pizarro of the Chicago White Sox provided the display, handcuffing the Cleveland Indians. A fireballing Puerto Rican, Pizarro once dominated the Sally League, winning their 1956 pitcher of the year, but faltered with the Braves. He has flourished since arriving with the Pale Hose, and at the young age of twenty-six, has a long career ahead of him. The no-hitter was the lone bright of the series for Chicago, as it was their only win of a three-game set in Cleveland that also saw them lose Nellie Fox for the year to a torn Achilles tendon.

Dave Philley, veteran left fielder for the Boston Red Sox, announced his retirement. Philley was a regular with the Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia A’s, and Cleveland Indians in the early 1950’s, playing in one world series. The late 50’s saw him fade to utility status, eventually gaining fame as an ace pinch-hitter for Philadelphia Phillies. He had played fairly well for the Boston Red Sox this year, but bruised his ribs going up against the Green Monster. “I’m forty-two,” he said, “and my time is up. I think it’s time to give the youngsters a chance.” Happy trails, Dave.

As we approach the trade deadline, trades are getting more and more frequent. The Los Angeles Angels, in need of a center fielder, shipped three prospects, Dick Wantz, Jerry Robertson, and second baseman Bobby Knoop to the Washington Senators for Jimmy Piersall. Deals like this are what make the Senators the laughingstock of the American League. They could’ve wrangled a little more out of the Halos, but simply chose not to. Piersall is a star, and the type of guy who can push a team over the hump. He’ll certainly help the ambitious Angels.

In the AL pennant race, the Yankees set the tone right out of the gate, mangling the Athletics in a four-game sweep. The Minnesota Twins swept the Tigers, dropping the Bengals to six games behind the Yanks. Camilo Pascual’s complete game shutout highlighted the sweep.

In the NL, the Braves lost three of four to the Cardinals, while the Giants took two of three from the Dodgers, running their lead to two games.

July 15-18

We have a chance to lift ourselves out of the ranks of the historically bad by doing well on this homestand. We have four games against the Phillies and three against the Cubs, and winning four of seven would give us a chance to win sixty games this year. A Frank Thomas home run gave us two runs in the first game, but provided the only thing to cheer for at the Polo Grounds. Fergie Jenkins went the distance and struck out nine in a 7-2 Phillies victory. We got ripped, 8-3, in the next game, and Al Jackson broke his wrist. He’ll miss a month.

Although I’d been trying to delay the callup as long as possible, that meant we had to go to Tom Seaver. He made his first start against the Phillies on the seventeenth, and he didn’t disappoint. In his astonishing first start, he struck out eight in a complete game shutout. Tom Terrific screamed the headlines. Art Mahaffey’s complete game victory took us back to earth the next day, but we actually had two good pitchers for once.

The Giants, trying to stay in first, got two great performances. Billy Pierce and Gaylord Perry struck out ten on back to back nights as the Giants took three of four from the Cubs. Milwaukee gave no ground, taking three of four from the Dodgers, although Lew Burdette finally lost

In the AL, the Tigers swept the Angels to cut the Yankee lead to four. Pressure is building on the Yanks, who lost Ralph Terry for two months to a broken ankle. That means that Terry will miss virtually the remainder of the season, so his good 9-3 start is his 1962 record. Clete Boyer’s season is over as well, with a broken hip. This leaves the Yankees looking to trade for a third basemen to get them through the season.

All of a sudden, the Pittsburgh Pirates are back on their feet. They’ve won seven in a row and are threatening to climb above .500. Bob Friend has keyed the surge with two complete game victories.

July 19-21
The 8th place Cubs came in to town, looking to bolster themselves. Jerry Koosman got us off to a solid start with a three-hitter. Gil Hodges and Frank Thomas ripped home runs in the triumph. The next day, Ernie Banks went 2-5 with two RBIs and a triple as the Cubbies took us, 6-5. Tom Seaver won the series for us by going eight innings and surrendering one run. We won it in the ninth when Rod Kanehl scored on a sac fly.

We might not have the worst record in baseball, as we are a game ahead of the Kansas City A’s for that particular honor. Meanwhile, the Pittsburgh Pirates swept the Dodgers to get within one game of .500. They’ve won ten in a row, and are surging to the top division.

The Milwaukee Braves finally stumbled. After edging Fergie Jenkins and the Phillies in the first game of a three game set, they provided no run support for Lew Burdette and got beat, and then faltered for a 4-2 loss. The Giants, meanwhile, took two of three from the Houston Colts and extended their lead to three games.

In the AL, the Detroit Tigers nipped a game closer to the hated Yankees. Norm Cash and Rocky Colavito battered the Twins and took two out of three, while the Yankees stumbled. The Bronx Bombers lost two of three to the Red Sox and needed a late-inning home run by Mickey Mantle to avoid a sweep. A three-game series in Yankee Stadium towards the middle of August is looming as the key moment in the American League race.

[Donny Ballgame]

July 22-25
We take on a key road trip to face off against the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies. Johnny Blanchard made his first appearance as a Met, and like most of our team, was helpless against Larry Jackson in a 3-0 defeat. Jackson struck out eight. The next day, Jerry Koosman went eight innings to earn the victory over Bob Gibson. Our chance to win the series was crushed beneath a complete game victory by Curt Simmons and 3 RBIs by George Kernek. Tom Seaver finally stumbled in a crushing 8-1 defeat.

In the pennant race, the Giants looked good taking two of three from the Dodgers, but the swept the Houston Colt .45s to close back to two games behind San Francisco. The Yankees and the Tigers stayed at three games apart as both continued to play well.

The Pittsburgh Pirates, surging towards the first division, suffered a serious blow. Roberto Clemente suffered a broken hip, ending his season. Clemente may never be the same again.

Catcher El Tappe announced his retirement today. Tappe had played five seasons for the Chicago Cubs, but hasn’t been getting much playing time this year. “As a member of the College of Coaches, I should be focusing on my managing, not on a playing career that is only treading water.” Happy trails, El.

July 26-28
We took Gene Mauch’s Phillies, hoping to win our thirtieth game. Unfortunately, Clay Dalrymple went 3-3 to key a 4-3 Philadelphia victory. The second game saw Jerry Koosman struggle to a 9-7 loss that saw Johnny Callison and Dick Allen hit home runs. A complete game shutout by Fergie Jenkins finished off the series.

The first of the deadline trades took place, as the Philadelphia Phillies sent prospects Jerry Johnson and Luis Peraza along with rookie Jacke Davis to the Athletics for Art Ditmar. That was something of a blockbuster, but nowhere near the magnitude of an earthshaking trade between the Chicago Cubs and the Detroit Tigers. The Tigers sent starting pitcher Pat Dobson and shortstop Dick McAuliffe to the Chicago Cubs in return for Ernie Banks! What was Phil Wrigley thinking? I know he wants to rebuild, but trading Ernie Banks! They’ve started to call in the young prospects in hopes getting experience for next year.

The Giants won the first big and late series of the year, taking two of three from the Braves to run their lead back to three games. The Giants tagged up the typically unstoppable Lew Burdette in the first game, winning 5-1. In the second game, the Braves jumped all over Juan Marichal, as Hank Aaron hit his 40th home run and Milwaukee cruised, 8-3. In a thrilling third game, Mack Jones popped out in the ninth with the tying run on third to give the Giants a three game edge.

In the AL, the Tigers gained another game on the Yankees, cutting the lead to two games. The Yankees dropped two of three to the Athletics.

[Donny Ballgame]

So, let’s recap. In the National League, the Giants and Braves are separated by a mere two games. The Braves Hank Aaron is making a run at a triple crown, trailing Roberto Clemente by one point in the batting race. Clemente’s broken hip has ended his year, so Aaron is battling a number for the crown. With 40 home runs through the month of July, he’s also making a run at the longball record.

In the AL, the Yankees lead the Tigers by three games. The Tigers, however, have put the heat on the Pinstripes by making a daring deadline deal for Ernie Banks. The two teams meet once more in mid-August for a series that will set the tone for the stretch run.

July 30-August 1]
We welcomed the St. Louis Cardinals for a three game set. In the first game, we lost 4-3 despite a strong eight innings from Tom Seaver. We lost, 3-2, in extra innings the next day. The sweep was concluded as the Redbirds bombed Jerry Koosman for an 11-3 victory.

Sandy Koufax struck out 11 in a dominant performance over the Philadelphia Phillies.

The Milwaukee Braves, chasing the Giants, swept the Cubs in a big way. Warren Spahn went the distance for his 15th win in the first game, Lew Burdette earned his 19th victory in game 2, and a 6-5 victory in Game 3 finished series. Elsewhere, the Giants dropped three of four to the Colt .45s, and saw their lead shrink to a mere half game. With the heat on, they head to Milwaukee for a crucial three game series.

August 2-4
We welcomed the Pittsburgh Pirates, who had tailed off ever since losing Roberto Clemente. We rocked the Bucs in Game 1, 10-1, picking up our thirtieth victory. A good start by Tom Seaver helped us win 4-3 in extra sessions the next day, but Vinegar Bend Mizell beat us as the Pirates evaded a sweep.

In the first game of the week’s highlight series, the Giants beat the Braves 6-2, rallying from a 2-0 deficit after Bob Shaw tired. Two Eddie Matthews home runs gave the Braves an 11-3 victory in Game 2, but San Francisco found a way to beat Lew Burdette and run their lead back to 1.5 games.

August 5-8
We headed to Cincinnati to face the third place Reds. Despite a great start from Jerry Koosman that left us tied at 1 headed to the eighth wilted underneath a Reds barrage, and we lost 7-1. We managed to pull out a 7-6 victory the next day, but two home runs from rookie Tony Perez did us in for the third game. In the final game of the set, Jim O’Toole delivered a complete game shutout.

Congratulations are due to both Duke Snider and Eddie Matthews. Both hit their 400th home runs during this series. The two remain in a tie for seventh place on the All-Time Home Run List. Gil Hodges is a mere three homers away from cracking the top ten, but Yogi Berra is coming up fast behind Hodges. Berra passed Joe DiMaggio to reach third place on the All-Time Yankee Home Run list. Though the All-Time record for home runs as a Yankee is 660, put up by the Babe, it is out of Berra’s reach.

The race goes on in the National League. Although the Giants took two of three from the Colts, including a bitterly contested fifteen inning victory, a complete game shutout by Bobby Shantz averted a sweep, and allowed the Braves, who lit up the Cardinals in a three game sweep, to cut the lead back to a half game. In the American League, both the Yankees and Tigers have been running parallel. Their four game set looms in just a week, so the climax of the AL race is fast approaching.

August 9-11
We are at home, in the Polo Grounds, to face the Dodgers. In a disappointing fifth place, the Dodgers are now just trying to salvage something out of a year where they thought they could win the pennant. Don Drysdale battered us in the first game, a convincing 5-1 Dodger triumph. The second game was all Sandy Koufax, who struck out eight as the Dodgers thumped us, 7-2. Tom Seaver got pummeled in the third game, but we hung in there, rallying around Gil Hodges and surging back, only to lose 9-8. We had been swept again.

The Yankees nosed out just a little bit, extending their lead over the Tigers to four games with a sweep of the Angels. The Giants and Braves stayed virtually even at a half game apart.

[Donny Ballgame]

A Little Bit of Unpleasantness

Hank Aaron is in the middle of what is rightfully believed to be a historically great season. He hit his 43rd home run against the Phillies, and the papers have started up an “Aaron Watch” as he chases the Roger Maris record. If he can get his batting average above .358 (he’s at .356, chasing Roberto Clemente, whose injury means his average hasn’t moved an inch), he’ll win the Triple Crown. The last player to win a Triple Crown was Mickey Mantle in 1956, and no NL player has won it since Joe Medwick in 1937. Aaron, aiming for a true major league triple crown, would be only the sixth man to achieve that feat.

One problem faces Hammerin’ Hank: he’s black. Roger Maris took enough grief, and he was a white Yankee looking to break a record held by a Yankee. He’s received death threats, crackpot letters, and had to endure racial slurs in many a ballpark. Three cities in particular have been particularly cruel to the slugger: St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Houston. Hank has one more stop to make in each of these cities, and he’s had to do it alone. While his teammates and manager Birdie Tebbetts have rallied around him, he’s had to endure passive-aggressive attacks from sportswriters who blast him as not being a team player, not hustling in the field, and fighting with his manager.

All of these attacks have been vehemently denied, not by Aaron but by teammates. One article carried in a prominent national magazine implied that first baseman Joe Adcock was the leader of the Braves, and Aaron was an arrogant figurehead. Adock and ace pitcher Warren Spahn have since refused to give interviews to that paper, and many Braves are taking vows of silence towards any magazine that attacks their star.

Worse, his own owner has failed to protect. Bill Bartholomay has not made a single public statement defending his superstar, in all likelihood because he wants to move to Atlanta and has no desire to alienate white southerners. Bartholomay’s recent comments praising Adcock, a Louisiana man, are clearly politically motivated to me and the other owners in the know, but to others seem to support the claims that Adcock is the team leader.

The worst of all, sadly, has come from Baseball Digest. The magazine has been losing ground lately to The Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. Hoping to regain some ground, the magazine ran a foolish, regrettable, disgraceful story. Aaron a Distraction? screamed the headlines. The article was a terrible hatchet piece, blaming Hank for creating a distraction that could create trouble down the stretch. I wanted to punch the man who wrote the story.

Facts are facts, however. The town of Milwaukee loves Henry Aaron. Rumors of moving aside, they love their Braves. Hank is bringing fans to the ballpark. This is a team that belongs in Milwaukee, and by God, will stay in Milwaukee. That aside, may God be with Hank Aaron. It will only get worse. In New York, it isn’t so bad. NL fans would like to see the record brought back to the league anyway, and so when the Braves come in, we’ll cheer Aaron. I hope.

[Donny Ballgame]

August 12-14
We head to Milwaukee to face Aaron and his mighty Braves. The atmosphere is different now. This is a town in the throes of a pennant race. Game One pit us against Lew Burdette, the Braves beloved twenty game winner. He’s not Warren Spahn, but his invincible first half made him a fan favorite.

I went on this trip to see Milwaukee. The fans are back, crawling from all corners of Wisconsin to see a potential pennant winner. In a real thriller, rookie Joe Torre went 3-4 with two RBIs to key a 3-2 victory. Aaron went 0-4, with no RBIs, and his average plunged to .353. The Giants didn’t play, so the NL is now in a dead heat.

The bad news for us is that Johnny Blanchard fractured his finger. He’ll miss two weeks. He wasn’t hitting that well anyway. His .234 is a real disappointment, and we’ll turn to Joe Ginsberg while he’s out.

For the second game, we started Jerry Koosman. The signs were out in force. “Welcome to Real Baseball, Rookie!” I thought Jerry did a good job, giving up two runs in eight innings. We even tied it in the top of the ninth. Then Hank Aaron struck. His walkoff home run was his 44th of the season, and his 2-4 day lifted his average back to .354. He’ll need days like that down the stretch. The third game had no drama. Aaron went 2-4 but hit no home runs, but the Braves didn’t need it in an 8-0 drubbing.

A grim year for St. Louis seems to be coming to an even grimmer conclusion. Curt Flood crashed headfirst into a wall trying to catch a fly ball, and broke a vertebrae in his neck. His season is over, as he finishes with a solid .282 average and 51 RBIs. The Cardinals are now in 6th place and slipping further.

In the AL, the Yankees have run their lead over the Tigers to 5.5 games. After they finish their series with Boston, they have a four game home stand against the Tigers, and can finish the job. Ernie Banks has struggled in his first few games in the AL, and has a weak .246 average. Already, the Yankees are planning an official welcome for him at the Stadium.

[Donny Ballgame]

I had my own skin to worry about. Mr. Weiss and myself were called into the office of Mr. M. Donald Grant to “discuss” a certain column written by Jimmy Breslin in a magazine called Sports Illustrated. I didn’t read the magazine at the time, but the discussion was what prompted me to start. Grant started out calmly. “Read it.” He said. “Not the whole article, just the headline. Worst Baseball Team Ever. Ouch.
Grant could be bitingly sarcastic, and he was on this day. “Appropriate. We were eliminated yesterday, you know.” Mr. Weiss spoke up. “Mr. Grant, you knew this was going to be a process when you got into this. We are a team without teeth. But we’ve got a future. Seaver and Koosma-”
“Are not enough. Have you read this? We are a joke!” He was on his feet now, and started yelling. “Our own manager called the team a disaster! That hustler Bill Veeck says we are worse than the Browns! The Browns didn’t survive! Look at this. Breslin treats us as a joke.” He sat down. Calmly, almost in a deadly sort of way, he looked at me. “Mr. Allen, justify yourself.”
I hesitated. “What?” He repeated it. “Justify yourself. What have you done for this team?” Mr. Weiss broke in. He was furious.
“Listen here, Grant! That man has worked with me before. He’s good. He’s very good. Look at the Agee trade! Look at Seaver and Koosman! His ideas! But more to the point, you brought me in under the impression that I could run an independent front office as president of the New York Mets, and I will not have you interrogating my general manager like this!”
Suddenly, I had a revelation. “Mr. Grant, the team is coming along. But we are in a better situation than most teams. People care. People care about the New York Mets, about every error and ridiculous play we make. They love our manager, our quirks, our failures. Would you rather be Washington, where no one cares, and nobody loves the team? We will be good. We will be great. But for now, we are loved, and we are here to stay.”
Grant glared at me. “That all you have?” I looked him dead in the eye. “Tell Mrs. Payson that the fans love us. Tell her that we will be good one day. Not now. Tell her that we have taken all the outpouring of support that was given to the Dodgers and the Giants, and that it belongs to us now. That is what she is about, the fans. You, Mr. Grant, are about the money, and may God help you, because you are not a baseball man, and you will never be one. But we have a team to run.”
I rose and left. I resolved to send exactly that in a letter to Mrs. Payson, and protect myself. She sent me a very nice reply, that he was a bulldog, that my job was safe for a few years, and I shouldn’t worry about him at all. He just wanted things to be perfect, was all. That God for Joan Whitney Payson. Otherwise, I think I would have been fired on the spot.

[Donny Ballgame]

August 16-18
We took on the seventh place Pirates. Our goal was to clear forty wins by the end of the month. Theirs was to find a way back into the first division. We gave Gil Hodges the series off to test Rick Herrscher, and Rick picked up an RBI and drew two walks in a 7-5 loss. Bob Friend gave up a mere four hits as the Pirates won the second game, 7-2. The third game was Jerry Koosman’s, who pitched well, but we committed three errors and lost 7-5.

The Braves wound up dropping three of four to the Reds. Hank Aaron didn’t play particularly well in an atmosphere of constant booing, and the pitching faltered, except for Lew Burdette, who earned his 21st victory. The Giants, meanwhile, took two of three from the Cubs and made their lead in the NL one game.

The climatic series of the AL race went the way of the Yankees. The Bombers got a complete game victory from Mel Stottlemyre in the first game. His offense jumped all over Don Mossi, scoring five runs in the first inning before coasting to a 6-2 victory. The second game had more drama, as the Yankees needed a pinch-hit single from the man we sent to them, Ed Bouchee, to score the winning runs in the eighth inning. The brooms were out in Game 3, but the Tigers and Jim Bunning avoided what could have been a fatal sweep. The Yankees lead is now six.

August 19-21
The Chicago Cubs were next up. We were on an 11 game losing streak, and had won only three of the seventeen games we’d played in the month of August. We lost our twelfth in a row, blowing a four run lead in the top of the ninth. I half expected to get another call from Mr. Grant, but he’d been staying away from me ever since the Jimmy Breslin incident. It was Tom Seaver who finally broke the losing skid, going the distance in a 3-2 triumph over the Cubbies. The triumph was short lived, because we lost the next game, 2-1, in extra innings. Elio Chacon missed second base on what would have been a tying triple.

The Braves and the Giants are back in a dead heat, heading into a three-game set in San Francisco. The teams play once more, a three-game set in Milwaukee in early September. Milwaukee is already in a state of euphoria, as a die-hard Braves fan calculated the number of plate appearances Roberto Clemente accrued before his injury, and found it to be 484, 18 short of the number required for the batting title. Barring a twenty-two point slump, Aaron will lead the major leagues in 1962. Similarly, at 46 homers, he’s got a ten home run lead over Roger Maris, and needs eighteen down the stretch to tie the record. In RBIs, Yogi Berra has narrowed the gap to 11, but Aaron, at 121, has a good chance to hold him off.

August 23-25
Our boys are playing in Houston, but even here, everybody wants to hear the Giants and Braves. People are listening to the game on radios in the stands, and our pitchers tried to sneak one into the bullpen. Casey told them to keep it in the clubhouse, but when he got ejected in the third inning, people said he just wanted to hear the big game. Not that our game was something to miss. Rookie Denny McClain went the distance to beat us, 5-1. Meanwhile, Billy Pierce was striking out nine and going the distance as the Giants beat the Braves, 3-0.

Our second game was a pathetic display of poor plate discipline, as our batters hacked away wildly in a 1-0 loss to Ken Johnson. Their second game was a gallant effort by Bob Nieman, who hit two home runs to key a 9-4 Giants victory. I didn’t even watch our third game, which we won behind a shutout from Tom Seaver, in favor of a dramatic 2-1 Braves win that saw Lew Burdette dominate the ‘Frisco offense. The series ended with the Giants in front by a full game.

August 26-August 29
Right now, the St. Louis Cardinals and Philadelphia Phillies are jockeying for a fourth place finish. The Redbirds would very much like to finish highly, and came in hungry. Maybe they were overanxious, because they were fanning at balls in the dirt as Roger Craig delivered a complete game shutout. We gave up an atrocious seven unearned runs in the second game as the Cardinals offense found itself. Stan Musial’s three run homer capped an eight run fourth inning. Home runs by Ken Boyer and Carl Sawatski keyed a 9-4 Cardinal triumph in the third game, and we dropped a hard-fought 4-2 game in fourteen innings, despite a great start from Tom Seaver.

So, that ended the month of August. Two more teams had been eliminated from the NL race, Houston and Chicago, but realistically, the only teams left in the race were the Milwaukee Braves and the San Francisco Giants. The Giants lead the Braves by just a half game, so this is already among the NL’s great pennant races.

[Donny Ballgame]

September

So as we approach the home stretch we are 35-99. One more loss and we have broken the one hundred barrier. If we can win fifteen games down the stretch, we’ll reach fifty games, but we’ve never won more than ten games in a month. I don’t think it will happen.

August 30-September 1
We meet the Houston Colts for the last time this season. We won the first game as Frank Thomas hit a three-run double in the eighth inning, but dropped the second game 4-1. That was our 100th loss, and it motivated us so much that we surged back to win the next day, 6-0, behind a complete game shutout for Al Jackson.

Over in the AL, the suddenly surging Minnesota Twins have won fourteen games in a row to reach third place. Despite a strong season from Ernie Banks, the Tigers are now 7.5 games back and do not look like they can catch the Yankees.

For the first time since just after the All-Star Break, the Milwaukee Braves are back in first place. The Tribe took two of three from the Pittsburgh Pirates. It looked like the Giants were going to pummel the Dodgers after Juan Marichal dialed up a complete game shutout, but the Dodgers won the next two games to upend their rivals and put the Braves in first.

September 2-4
We’ve got two road trips left this season. This one took us to St. Louis and Chicago, and we started it up by pitching Tom Seaver against Bob Gibson. Seaver got the win despite eight strikeouts from Gibson, and we won again the net day as Rick Herrscher hit a long home run to put us right back in the hunt for fifty games. We lost in fifteen innings, missing a chance for a sweep.

The Dodgers, continuing to play the role of spoiler, swept the Braves, highlighted by a 1-0 victory led by Sandy Koufax. The Giants didn’t do much better, dropping two of three to the Reds.

September 6-8
After a day off, we headed to Chicago to face the Cubs. Tom Seaver was the good, the bad, and the ugly, striking out 11 but giving up six runs in a 6-4 loss. George Gerberman was unstoppable in the second game, beating us 5-1, and the Cubs finished the sweep with a 5-3 victory.

Hank Aaron’s protracted slump has not hurt the Braves, who are now two games out of first place in the National League, but it has about finished his chances of breaking the home run record. His quest for the triple crown, however, remains in play, but his RBI lead over Yogi Berra has shrunk to three.

[Donny Ballgame]

The Biggest Series of the Year
By Jimmy Breslin
The bunting still hung on the rafters long after both teams had left the field. Only a few fans remained to contemplate exactly what it was that had taken place over these past three days in Milwaukee, three days that made it look like the town had hosted the state fair. Hotels had been booked weeks in advance. Parades had been held, and politicians from Oshkosh to Madison sought to prove their credentials as men of the people by shaking hands with Birdie Tebbetts. The Milwaukee Braves were playing the San Francisco Giants, and all other concerns took a vacation (perhaps to watch the games themselves). While a little over two weeks remain in the season, the feeling is that this was the decisive moment, the days of decision, as some fans started to call it.

Game One fit the greatest of archetypes; the crafty vet against the young fireballer. Lew Burdette, 22-6, with an arsenal of pitches that rivaled his wins in their number, facing Juan Marichal, the fastballer from the Dominican Republic whose fiery fastball is rivaled only by his fiery temper. But Burdette and Marichal were not the only players on the field. Milwaukee’s adopted son, Hank Aaron, trying to snap a painful slump and challenge anew for the home run crown. San Francisco’s castoff hero, Bob Nieman, and their gallant rookie, Willie McCovey.

It was that most refined of acquired tastes, the pitcher’s duel, a game so close that it could be decided by margins as razor thin as the sped of a pivot on the double play, or maybe the margin between a slow roller and an infield out. It was a game in which the entire population of Milwaukee County Stadium rose to his feet to cheer for a non-descript Hispanic shortstop, Felix Milan, whose towering double to the deepest part of the ballpark in the bottom of the seventh inning provided the game’s first run, and gave the Braves a slim lead. But Milan’s lead would not stand, as long-armed Willie McCovey doubled off the gallant Burdette to score two runs, and grim-faced stopper Bobby Bolin rendered the home team helpless for the final six outs.

Their heroes had stumbled in Game 1, but Milwaukee remained on their feet for game 2. Trailing three games, the Braves needed a victory. They put the determined Bob Shaw on the mound to face controversial rookie Gaylord Perry, of whom many managers have accused of throwing that most heretical of pitches, the spitter. But neither pitcher was the story. Battered by criticism and the whims of baseball, a haggard looking Henry Aaron lumbered to the plate four times on September 10th. Three times he hit safely. Twice the ball left the park. Aaron’s 48th and 49th home runs rejuvenated the slugger, who looked a different man when he gave his interviews that triumphant day.

In game 3, the stage was Aaron’s once again. With a seemingly unstoppable Billy Pierce on the mound, and a 3-0 lead belonging to the visitors from by the bay, it seemed the curtain had fallen on the Braves. A rally in the fourth cut the lead to 3-2, and when Aaron took center stage again, it was the fifth inning. Milwaukee trailed by that same margin, and on a 2-2 count, Hammerin’ Henry sent the sphere on a towering flight through the mid-afternoon sky into the bleachers that sit behind the deepest part of the ballpark. By the time it crashed to Earth, it seemed all of Wisconsin was roaring with approval for their adopted son. When pinch-hitter Del Crandall drew a walk in the seventh with the bases packed to give the Braves a 4-3 lead, it seemed that destiny had grabbed hold of the Milwaukee nine.

But the game of baseball has a way of defying fate. One of the most unlikely heroes of the year, Bob Nieman, brought to the Giants as a pinch-hitter, had taken his role as a team star. In the eighth inning, Nieman’s rip down the left field line carried just over Aaron’s outstretched glove and into the stands, silencing a roaring crowd and giving the Giants a 5-4 lead. It seemed that it was now the Braves who were being pushed aside by the hand of history.

Once more, fate intervened. Felix Milan looped a Texas leaguer into center, and a double play grounder by Joe Torre hit a pebble and hopped in the air, flustering the Giants infielders enough to allow both men to reach safely. It was Aaron, again, whose frozen rope scored the tying run. With the game knotted at five, Eddie Matthews ripped a ball right through the second base gap into the outfield. Torre scored, and the Braves were on top. Rico Carty added another run, and the now queasy crowd felt victory near once more.

This time, history would not take glory from the Braves. Don Nottebart closed the inning, and the Braves, down now a mere game, exited the dugout rejuvenated and proud. Aaron, the man of the hour, had hit his 50th home run earlier in the game, but in the contrasts of baseball, it was his measliest of hits that made all the difference. Sixteen games remain in the chase for the National League flag. If only all of them could be as good.

[Donny Ballgame]

September 10-12
Just in case anyone cares how the Mets did amidst all that drama, we achieved our 40th win behind Tom Seaver’s complete game shutout, beating Cincinnati. We actually followed that up with our 41st the next day, but we lost 6-4, missing a sweep.

The day after they finished their series with the Giants, the Braves rushed out to Chicago to face the Cubs. Again, the day belonged to Hank Aaron, who went 3-4 as the Braves sliced the lead of the idle Giants to a half game.

Congratulations to Minnie Minoso, who earned his 2,000th hit for the St. Louis Cardinals.

September 13-15
We are up next against the Philadelphia Phillies, sitting in sixth and straining to get into the upper division for the first time in years. Pitching with fire in his eyes, Fergie Jenkins shut us down as Philly claimed a 3-0 victory. Tom Seaver came right back with a complete game shutout of his own, but Art Ditmar went the distance to beat us in the rubber match, 2-1.

While we were playing, St. Louis was eliminated. That leaves Milwaukee and San Francisco as the last teams playing for the NL flag. The Cubs gave the Braves a lot of trouble, and took two of three from Milwaukee despite Hank Aaron’s 51st and 52nd home run. He still has a slim chance at the record.

September 17-19
We headed west, to face the Dodgers. In an epic pitching duel that saw Sandy Koufax strike out ten, Jerry Koosman two-hit LA. The Koosman K-Razies would have been proud of our 3-2 triumph. We put no runs on the board the next day in a 1-0 loss, but home runs from Johnny Blanchard and Gus Bell gave us a 5-4 win and the series. Ten games remain, and we need only six of them to break fifty wins. Unfortunately, seven are against the Giants.

San Francisco leads by a mere half-game, but they have seven games against us. Milwaukee has nine games to play, six at home and three in Pittsburgh. While Hank Aaron’s home run chase seems finished, his triple crown chase seems complete. Unless Yogi Berra makes up a seven RBI difference down the stretch, Aaron’s historic season will be accomplished. Henry has said, however, that all of it is meaningless without a pennant.

For once this year, Aaron has been overshadowed, and by the grand old man, Warren Spahn. “I’ve done it all. This is my last pennant race. I’m part of the best team I’ve every played on, and I can’t think of a better season to say goodbye. When I start on September 26 against the Reds, it will be my last regular season home game. I want to say farewell to the fine people of Milwaukee.”

September 20-22
The Giants have come to town, and manager Al Dark turned the series into a war right away. “The Braves know the heat is on. We’ll win seven games from the Mets, and I don’t think they can match that pace. The pennant will be ours.”

So Al Dark thought we were pushovers. The old Brooklyn fans at our ballpark began talking about an old pennant race from the 1930’s. Heading into the last series of the year, Giants manager Bill Terry asked jokingly of the last place Dodgers, “Is Brooklyn still in the league?” As the Bums swept the Giants to hand the pennant to the St. Louis Cardinals, cheering Brooklyn faithful serenaded the Giants with the fact that yes, Brooklyn is still in the league. Could we do that this year?

Game 1 was Roger Craig vs. Gaylord Perry. We didn’t quite have a Dodgers moment in this one, as the Giants pummeled us, 7-3. As a side note, the Yankees clinched that day. Game 2 was a different matter entirely. Jerry Koosman was on the mound, and the Koosman K-Razies were out in force. They cheered him wildly as he went eight innings, but the loudest cheers of all were reserved for Rick Herrscher, who scored four times as we ran the Giants off the field, 12-5. The cheers grew louder when we got word that Warren Spahn, in his second to last regular season start, had shut down the Cubs. The Braves were in first place by a half game.

The third game was the Gil Hodges Show. Gil scored twice and the Giants wilted underneath our onslaught. The final: Mets 8, Giants 4. Signs had cropped up at the stadium reading “New York is Back in the League!”, a reference to the desertion of the Giants and to the old Brooklyn victory. Milwaukee won again, and now led by 1.5 games.

That was the high point of the year for us. We took two of three from the Pirates, but all eyes were on our final series with the Giants. The teams were tied, with four games left. Al Dark was pleading the people of San Francisco to bring out the brooms and sweep the Mets off the face of the earth. We were selling tickets to listen to the games at the Polo Grounds.

Game 1, the brooms were out early. Jack Sanford allowed only four hits as the Giants won, 7-1. There was a sense of anger in the clubhouse, as the Giants players were whooping it up. “Thanks for all your help, guys. We really needed this one!” That particular barb was from Jerry Lumpe. Only one Giants remained quiet. Willie Mays. Mays remembered the Dodgers celebrating at the Polo Grounds and screaming that “The Giants is dead!” That happened way back in 1951.

Milwaukee played their last home game, and declared it Warren Spahn Day. Playing for their beloved veteran, the Braves prevailed, 6-2. The NL pennant race remained a tie. Many tears were shed, but Spahn rightly had the last word. “I don’t want to finish, just yet. I think I’ve got a game or two left in me. If we get to the World Series, then it is goodbye. I just want the fans of Milwaukee to know how much I love this game, and this town.”
The events of Warren Spahn Day did more than that. Judge Roy Hofheinz called me that night. “Son, I been watching that Braves game. I just thought you might want to know that baseball belongs in that city. You have my vote.” We had saved the Milwaukee Braves. Now, we needed to win them a pennant.


Game 2. We were sending Tom Seaver to the mound against Juan Marichal. Marichal took the mound in the top of the first, snarling and stomping the mound. He looked like a raging bull. The first inning was one, two, three for the fireballer. Seaver was next, striking out Jerry Lumpe to start the game. However, Felipe Alou dropped a ball in front of Gus Bell, who booted it. Alou took third and Candlestick roared. After a walk to Willie Mays, Seaver was facing Willie McCovey with one out. But Tom Terrific, as the fans were beginning to call him, fanned McCovey and got Bob Nieman to tap out.

The second and third innings followed suit. Marichal didn’t give up a hit, while Seaver overcame some idiotic fielding mistake to dig his way out of a jam. Elio Chacon finally got a hit off of Marichal in the fourth, but nothing came of it. In the fifth, Jerry Lumpe hit a warning track blast that Frank Thomas snared at the wall. The Candlestick faithful groaned. It was zero to zero after five innings.

In the sixth, though, Tom Haller set the Candlestick faithful to cheers with a three-run home run. It could have been avoided, too, if Rod Kanehl had come in hard enough on a dribbler that died on the infield dirt. That would have ended the inning.

Willie McCovey finished us off in the eighth with a towering two-run drive that made it 5-0. Marichal finished us off with ease. The Pirates, meanwhile, beat the Braves, 4-2. The Giants were in first.

We kept coming in Game 3. After Rick Herrscher drove in a run in the top of the first for us, we led, 1-0. In the ninth, Matty Alou singled to right. Gus Bell committed another error, missing on a scoop throw, and Alou reached second. Bob Miller kicked the dirt. He lowered his head, and got Manny Mota to fly out. That brought up our nemesis, Jerry Lumpe. After missing with a fastball, Miller came back with a high heater for a called strike. He went to his trick pitch, the palmball, and got Lumpe to foul off the pitch. 1-2.

Murphy-Miller kicks and delivers…swing by Lumpe, high fly carrying…carrying…to the track…to the wallllll…Thomas leaps...
Kiner-HE GOT IT!
Murphy-Thomas gets it ! And the ballgame is over! Mets 1, Giants 0…we’ll be right back with the happy recap!

But the Braves lost. It all came down to the last day of the season. All we could do was hope Milwaukee would win, and tie the Giants, forcing a decisive playoff. Jerry Koosman got the start, and never looked better than he had in warmups. Billy Pierce was similarly sparkling, and we headed to the fifth tied at zero. We finally scored when Chris Cannizzaro doubled, and dashed home on a single by Rod Kanehl, but the lead couldn’t stand up. With Pierce on first, Jerry Lumpe hit a drive back to the wall. Frank Thomas booted and bobbled it, and Lumpe circled the bases for an inside the park home run!. At that moment, I could cry. We had failed again.

But something was in the air that San Francisco night. In the eighth, the Giants went to closer Stu Miller to slam the door on the game and on the pennant. With two outs. Frank Thomas hit a fly ball that carried, and carried, and carried into the bleachers. The game was tied! Rick Herrscher followed with a double, and Don Zimmer singled him in. It was 3-2, and we were in front. The eight and ninth innings went routinely, and we won…we really won! The Braves beat the Pirates, 7-5, to force a 1-game playoff for the National League.

[Donny Ballgame]

It was a foregone conclusion, really. The Braves won, 7-2. Rico Carty drove in four runs to send Milwaukee to the World Series. Headlines in New York screamed The Mets are Still in the League! Casey grinned. Mrs. Payson hugged me. M. Donald Grant even gave me a call of congratulations. After a call to Bill Bartholomay, I received permission for a rather unique idea. On October 1, 1962, with all the Mets executives in attendance, we had a little ceremony. The pennant we ran up to the rafters still flies in our current home Shea Stadium, today. It ensures that every visitor to a Mets game will see a pennant that reads Milwaukee Braves-1962 National League Champions, and hear the story of the Amazing Mets and how they stole a pennant from the San Francisco Giants.

[CatKnight]

Awesome! That must have been fun to watch! If you can't have the crown yourself, you might as well be the kingmaker. Excellent!

[Donny Ballgame]

The final game of the 1962 season was one of those moments where Baseball Mogul transcends words on a computer screen. I could see Jerry Koosman firing away in my mind's eye, and I was watching the game with knots in my stomach, almost like I was watching a real game.

I sure picked a great year to start, what with that finish and Hank Aaron winning the Triple Crown. With any luck, the World Series will be just as wild. Thanks for reading, to CatKnight and any other readers. I appreciate and love reading all the Dynasties on this forum, and I'm glad to have a few people reading mine.

[Donny Ballgame]

World Series Preview

Hello, and welcome, sports fans. It’s time for the Fall Classic once again. Coming out of the National League this year, we have the Milwaukee Braves, having prevailed over the San Francisco Giants in a season-long, epic pennant race. They’ll face the New York Yankees, who disposed of a scrappy Tiger team to win the pennant by a comfortable ten games. The Bronx Bombers have won the American League pennant fourteen times in the past sixteen years, and have won the world series a majority of those years. One of three teams to upend the Yankees in the October Classic was Milwaukee, back in 1957. The Yanks then downed the Braves in a 1958 rematch.

The Yankee dynasty has looked mortal in recent years, not winning the pennant in 1959 and losing the Series in 1960, but a dominant performance in the 1961 classic under manager Ralph Houk, in his second series erased some qualms. Houk is trying to avoid a well-known baseball curse that no manager who won the World Series in his first year as a manager has ever repeated. That, my friends, is a curse that has struck out in weird ways. The first real victim was Frank Chance, who took the Chicago Cubs to a world series but faltered the next year. Chance’s triumph was the last time the Bruins claimed the crown.

Bucky Harris of the Washington Senators was next. Harris took the Nats to a title in 1924, but with his team leading three games to one over the Pittsburgh Pirates the next year, they suffered one of the greatest postseason collapses of all time, losing three in a row, including a Game 7 played in an eerie mist. Bill Terry of the Giants fell victim to the curse in the 1930’s. His club clobbered the Senators to win a series, but the next year, they came up short, ironically enough, in the celebrated “Brooklyn is still in the league” series. His counterpart, Birdie Tebbetts, is in his first series after years of middling managerial success.

As much as some say managers determine the series, the clubs on the field really win and lose the games. The Yankees have a deadly outfield, which combined for 112 home runs this season, That outfield of Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, and Yogi Berra forms a Murderer’s Row to rival the old pinstripe clubs of Gehrig, Lazerri, and Ruth. First baseman Moose Skowron and catcher Elston Howard only add to the carnage. All squads have weaknesses, and for the Yankees they are a relatively light-hitting infield thinned by an injury to Clete Boyer and a staff that drops off in quality after Whitey Ford. While Mel Stottlemyre had a great season, he is still a twenty year old, and Ralph Terry hasn’t pitched since July.

The Braves, surprising as it might be, are slight favorites, due to their stronger top-to-bottom lineup. While the Yanks have an outfield that is clearly better (Maris is better than Mack Jones, and any sane man would take Yogi over Rico Carty), Hank Aaron is as good a player as Mickey Mantle, and is coming off of a Triple Crown. Milwaukee also holds a slight infield advantage, mainly due to Eddie Matthews, who hit 39 home runs this year, and second baseman Frank Bolling, who chipped in a solid .284 at third base. Catcher Joe Torre is the best young catcher in baseball, as well. Milwaukee, however, shows their strength in pitching. Warren Spahn compares favorably with Whitey Ford, and most baseball men would rather have Lew Burdette on the mound than the rookie Stottlemyre. Bob Shaw provides something the Yanks do not have: a proven third option.

The Braves won the games they had to down the stretch, and crushed the Giants in the one-game playoff. The Yanks coasted down the stretch. I say momentum matters, and that pitching matters. While Murderers Row will take its toll, I think that the Braves will prevail in seven.

[PotatoOfCouch13]

Both as a Red Sox fan, and as someone that has to live with the Yankees winning in my dynasty...

LET'S GO BRAVES!!!

[Donny Ballgame]

The first game of the 1962 World Series was back in Yankee Stadium, and the fans were treated to a matchup of two legendary pitchers. Whitey Ford against Warren Spahn. Spahn, now pitching in his fourth and last World Series, had at most three starts left in him. When he took the mound, the fans knew they were seeing a gladiator on his last go-round. Ford, meanwhile, was an October institution. It was thirty-two innings since Whitey last surrendered a run in the Fall Classic, a record surpassing the immortal Babe Ruth’s. This was a clash of styles, as well. Spahn and his legendary repertoire against Ford and his classic fastball-curve combination.

Ford got an easy 1-2-3 first inning, striking out two batters. Spahn had trouble in the third, issuing a walk to Yogi Berra that loaded the bases with two outs. Bill Skowron hit a rocket to first that if it had gone free may have scored three runs, but Lou Johnson, playing for the injured Joe Adcock, stopped it. Hank Aaron led off the second with a single, but the Braves had no threats after it, and Johnson tapped into a double play to end that inning.

Spahn’s control troubles bothered him in the Yankee second, as well. He walked Ford, and Tom Tresh singled to move him over to third with two out. That brought up Tony Kubek, but Kubek did the Yanks no good and flew out. The third inning was quiet, and a Brave threat in the fourth died when Ford fanned Aaron to end the inning. In the bottom of that inning, the Yankees killed the aging warrior with a thousand paper-cuts, scoring two runs on two walks and two singles, and putting runners on the corners with one down for Roger Maris. Spahn minimized the damage, but the inning ended with a 3-0 Yankee lead.

The cuts mounted in the fifth, as a Bobby Richardson groundout made it 4-0 Yankees, after five. Spahn left the game in the top of the sixth, pinch-hit for by Del Crandall, but Crandall, like most Braves, was helpless against Ford. The Braves finally threatened in the seventh, putting Eddie Matthews on second, but Tom Tresh killed the threat with a fine backhand stop. The Yanks followed that up by finishing the job in the bottom of the inning, adding a fifth run when Moose Skowron tripled and scored on a double by Elston Howard.

With the score 5-0, the question was now how long could Ford extend his scoreless innings streak. The streak reached thirty-nine and two thirds innings, one out short of forty, before Roy McMillan tripled and scored. The Braves actually tagged up Ford for three runs that inning, but never plated the tying run. That came in the ninth, when a foolish error by defensive replacement Hector Lopez put runners on first and second with nobody out against closer Hal Reniff. Reniff, however, induced a double-play out of Mike Krsnich, and slammed the door. 5-3, Yankees win.

Afterwards, the Yankees seemed pleased, but acknowledged the job wasn’t finished. Aaron, who went a mediocre 1-4, promised that the Braves would do better the next day. That day featured a matchup of Lew Burdette and Mel Stottlemyre. The rookie had gone 15-10 for the Bombers, and his slider was one of the best in baseball. It didn’t seem to be there when the second game opened, as he hit Mack Jones with the first pitch. That set up an early run for Milwaukee, making it 1-0, Braves. It became 2-0, Braves after two when Matthews scored on a Roy McMillan single.

From there, the game was quiet through the fifth, but a buzz began to come over the stadium. The Braves had eight hits through five innings. There were eight hits in the game. The Yankee scoreboard showed nothing but zeroes through the first five innings. Immortality ended with a Tony Kubek double in the sixth, but Burdette escaped trouble to preserve the two-run lead. In the seventh, the Pinstripes finally tallied a run, as Hector Lopez doubled in Elston Howard. With two outs, Burdette bore down against pinch-hitter Bob Cerv. Cerv struck out to end the inning.

A double by Frank Bolling in the top of the eighth made it 3-1, Milwaukee, giving Burdette some breathing room. But these were the Yankees. Tom Tresh walked and Kubek sac bunted him to second. That brought up Maris, who walked. So did Mantle. Now the bases were loaded for Berra with one out. Berra hit a chopper. McMillan dove…and didn’t get it. The game was tied at three. Lew ended the inning, but his day was over as well. Pinch-hitter Howie Bedell entered the game and popped out. But the Braves kept coming back. They put runners on first and second with two outs against relief ace Jim Coates. It was Hank Aaron digging in to face him. But Aaron popped out.

The Braves turned to Tony Cloninger for the ninth, who got two outs but allowed runners on first and third. With a chance to end the game before extra sessions, Maris swaggered to the plate, but grounded out. Extra innings. The Yankees went right to Hal Reniff, determined to end the ball game then and there. Reniff went 1-2-3, and the Yankees worked their magic in the bottom of the tenth. Mickey Mantle beat out an infield single. Berra double. There were runners on first and second with nobody out and Moose Skowron at the plate. New York needed just a run to end the contest. But Moose popped up. Elston Howard was next. He grounded to first and Mantle headed for home, but was gunned at the plate. That brought up Hector Lopez, with runners on the corners. On an 0-2 count, Lopez slipped a single down the first base line, and Berra danced home with the winning run. The final was Yankees 4, Braves 3. New York led two games to none, and the Braves were floundering. The series headed back to Milwaukee with a sense of foreboding, that Game 3 was a must win for the Tribe.

[Donny Ballgame]

When the teams took the field for Game 3 in Milwaukee, there was a renewed energy. These fans had seen their Braves do the impossible to win the pennant, and had faith that their squad could take two out of three at home and send the series back to New York. Manager Ralph Houk made his first surprise decision of the series, sending Ralph Terry to pitch for the first time since July. Terry had suffered through an injury plagued season, and had missed the stretch run with a broken ankle. His opponent would be Bob Shaw, who had gone 16-7 as the third man in the Milwaukee rotation.

After two quiet innings, the Braves mounted a threat with two outs in the third. Lou Johnson doubled, and Mickey Mantle misplayed it off the wall, turning it into a triple. Terry, though, got Frank Bolling to pop up, and for a man pitching for the first time since July, looked awfully good. In the third, Milwaukee launched another two out rally, putting runners on first and second for Joe Torre. Torre’s single found the hole where Kubek couldn’t get to it, and Rico Carty scored. Hank Aaron grounded out to end the threat, but the score was 1-0, Milwaukee.

The Yankees, meanwhile, seemed unable to do anything against Shaw. He struck out the side in the fifth, and had kept the mighty Yankees scoreless through five. Terry, meanwhile, was pitching well, but not quite well enough. After getting two outs, Ralph gave up a walk to Mack Jones, which Rico Carrtyfollowed with a shot down the left field line that went for a double. Jones scored on the play, and Terry ended the inning by getting Torre to fly out.

Grimly determined, the Bronx Bombers went to work in the sixth. Tom Tresh led off with a double to the deepest part of the ballpark, and Tony Kubek dropped a Texas Leaguer into short-right field. Tresh hustled to score, and the Yankees were on the board. After two outs, a single by Berra put Kubek on second. Skowron followed that up with a liner into right that scored the shortstop, making it 2-2 heading to the bottom of the sixth.

The seventh inning saw the Yankees go to work again, this time getting their run from an unlikely hero. Pinch-hitter Ed Bouchee, acquired in midseason from the Mets, hit for Terry and launched a high home run into the Milwaukee sky. That made it 3-2. Berra led off the eighth to make it 4-2, and it seemed the Braves were done.

But Milwaukee wasn’t ready to quit just yet. Trailing two runs in the ninth and facing Hal Reniff, Frank Bolling doubled. After a groundout, pinch-hitter Howie Bedell singled him home. Mack Jones singled, putting runners on first and second with one out for Rico Carty. Bedell, on second, was the tying run. But Carty tapped to third. Lopez to Richardson to Skowron. Double play. Game over. Yankees 4, Braves 3. Milwaukee was one game away from elimination.

Both teams went back to their stoppers for game four. Warren Spahn, possibly pitching in his last game, against Whitey Ford. Spahn got a standing ovation when he took the mound in the top of the first, and quickly went to work, getting out of the first without a run. Ford did the same, and the duel was on.

The Bombers loaded the bases in the second, without a single out, but Spahn popped up Bobby Richardson, struck out Ford, and popped up Tom Tresh to end the inning. The old gladiator had life in him yet. The third saw New York threaten again, as Eddie Matthews struggled with an easy grounder, letting Yogi Berra make it to first, putting runners on first and second with two away. But Spahn fanned Skowron to end the inning.

In the fifth, New York went on the attack again. Roger Maris walked and stole second, bring Mickey Mantle to the plate with two outs and a chance to break the deadlock. Mantle walked, but Berra was next. He ripped a double down the line in left, and before Carty could get there, the M&M Brothers had both scored. 2-0, Yankees. Skowron was next, and he ripped a home run. 4-0, Yankees. As Spahn watched the ball spiral towards the upper deck, a realization settled over the stadium.

Slowly, Birdie Tebbetts stood up and walked towards the mound. He shook hands with the old warrior, and took the ball. Jimmy Breslin put it best.

“Now Spahn undertook the walk of the valiant defeated. Christy Matthewson had made it for the Giants, Walter Johnson had made it for the Senators, and now the third of that brilliant fraternity undertook his final journey from the mound to the clubhouse. As one, Milwaukee County Stadium rose to its feet, undertaking one last ovation for their gallant hero. Spahn, beaten but not unbowed, sadly tipped his cap to the admiring crowd, and broke into a jog. The crowd remained on their feet long after he had left the field, so as to say farewell.”

That was all she wrote for the valiant Braves. The final score was 6-1, and the New York Yankees were champions of the world once again. To a small crowd of reporters, Ralph Houk proudly credited his team. “They did it, they worked hard. Whenever we needed something to happen, they made it happen. We had injuries, bad breaks, whatever. We beat them all. This was a great team and we swept them.”

All the reporters were gathered in the Braves dugout, talking to the gallant Warren Spahn. In a tear-filled conference, Spahn said farewell to the game. “I gave it all I had for eighteen seasons, I played the game the only way I knew how, and now its time to say goodbye. To the people of Milwaukee, I’d only like to say thank you.” And the curtain closed on 1962.

[Donny Ballgame]

National League Summary

Standings

Milwaukee Braves 102-61 -
San Francisco Giants 101-62 1
Philadelphia Phillies 87-75 14.5
St. Louis Cardinals 86-76 15.5
Los Angeles Dodgers 86-76 15.5
Cincinnati Reds 85-77 16.5
Pittsburgh Pirates 85-77 16.5
Chicago Cubs 69-93 32.5
Houston Colt .45s 60-102 41.5
New York Mets 50-112 51.5


American League
New York Yankees 107-55 -
Minnesota Twins 97-65 10.0
Detroit Tigers 97-65 10.0
Chicago White Sox 91-71 16.0
Boston Red Sox 78-84 29.0
Los Angeles Angels 77-85 30.0
Baltimore Orioles 74-88 33.0
Cleveland Indians 70-92 37.0
Washington Senators 68-94 39.0
Kansas City A’s 51-111 56.0

[CatKnight]

Well, I'm disappointed with the outcome...but very well written! I could almost imagine being there as Spahn said farewell :)

[Donny Ballgame]

Mr. Weiss, Bill Bergesch, and myself had a postseason meeting to discuss the team. What emerged was this:

First Base
A post-season car wreck broke the wrist of Gil Hodges, and he may never be the same again. After hitting only .227 with seven home runs, people are starting to say that Gil is done. The future is Rick Herrscher, who hit .409 in 44 games. I’d be a lot more comfortable if Gil was ready to go next year, but if we have to start Herrscher, we will.

Infield
Rod Kanehl did a decent job for us here. His .229 average was anemic, but his glovework and fundamentals were sound. I would prefer to get a true third baseman so we could move Charlie Neal back to second, but we have a thin infield, and I decidedly prefer Kanehl to the light-hitting Don Zimmer, who hit .148 as our utility man. I guess Elio Chacon was acceptable at short. Again, I’d rather have someone who was a bit better, but Chacon is solid.

Outfield
The outfield was our strength this year. Richie Ashburn hit .279 to start up our offense, although his aggressive baserunning often led to him being thrown out. His defense in center was sound, and at thirty-four, he’s got a few years left in him. Gus Bell did similar work in right, but he badly wants to play for a competitor and may not be around come 1962. Veteran left fielder Frank Thomas, who led the team with fifteen round-trippers, is sadly the same way. We have some good utility outfielders, highlighted by Joe Christopher, who started over fifty games this year.

Catcher
This is a big disappointment for us. We thought we were getting a steal when we traded Ed Bouchee for Johnny Blanchard, but Blanchard spent much of his time with us injured and hit .195, while Bouchee became a big part of the world champion Yankees. Outside of Blanchard, we have no great options at catcher.

Rotation and Bullpen
The good is Tom Seaver and Jerry Koosman, both of whom had strong rookie campaigns (Seaver went 8-5, Koosman 9-17), but Roger Craig lost twenty-one games and Al Jackson went 4-18. Our lack of strong prospects means that both the rotation and bullpen will have to be built from the ground up.

[Donny Ballgame]

Season Awards Predictions

Well, we should certainly see an interesting crop of awards this year. First, let’s run down the leaders. As I’m sure all of you know, Hank Aaron won the Triple Crown this season, leading the majors in all three categories. The Triple Crown stats (.344/53/142) were not the only categories the Hammer led the majors in. With 215 hits, he topped that category, and led the NL in OBP with an impressive .440 (Mickey Mantle led the majors with a monstrous .475). Hank’s .675 slugging percentage was also good for best in the bigs, and he had the fifth best range factor of any right fielder.

Aaron’s fine season was second to none this year, but there were other top performers across the National League. Maury Wills ran wild on the basepaths, stealing seventy bases to key the Dodgers offense. The pitching was more even. Lew Burdette’s 2.19 ERA led the majors, but he didn’t pick up a circuit leading number of wins. That honor went to Don Drysdale, who won 24 for the Dodgers. Drysdale’s counterpart, Sandy Koufax, struck out 253 batters to tie for the league lead with Bob Gibson. Don McMahon led the league in saves.

Over in the AL, Roger Maris hit 43 homers to lead the league, while Norm Cash claimed the batting crown with a .325 average. Yogi Berra knocked in 133 runners to claim that category, while Luis Aparicio stole fifty-two bases. Jim Bunning narrowly missed a pitching triple crown, coming up a win short of tying Frank Sullivan of the Twins for the league lead there.

Now, on to the awards. I think that Aaron is clearly the NL MVP, although some writers have criticized his late-season slump. If the writers go insane, I could see Willie Mays winning the award, but this is Aaron’s time to shine. He’ll claim his second MVP award to date. I think sentiment will carry the day and give the Cy Young Award to Warren Spahn, but Juan Marichal’s 22-12 season is equally deserving, and I could see the award going to Don Drysdale, also.

The Rookie of the Year in the NL will be a tight race. Center fielder Mack Jones of Milwaukee hit .290 and scored 94 runs to fire up the Braves attack, but he’ll face stiff competition from Canadian Fergie Jenkins, who went 16-13 for the Philadelphia Phillies. I personally would prefer Jenkins, who was under more pressure to deliver as the keystone to the Phillies rotation. A sleeper is Willie Stargell of the Pirates, who missed most of the late season with a broken collar bone and simply didn’t play long enough to merit the award.

The National League Manager of the Year was announced last week, and some hearty congratulations go to a well deserving Gene Mauch of the Philadelphia Phillies. Mauch’s squad surprised everyone to go 87-75 and take third in the National League. There was some speculation that Birdie Tebbetts of the Braves might take the award, but the writers stuck with Mauch.

Over in the AL, the selection for MVP is tougher. Mickey Mantle is certainly a good candidate (.317, 30 HRs, 87 RBIs), but the Yankee vote will be split with Roger Maris (.281, 41 HRs, 116 RBIs). As we all know by now, Mantle doesn’t get MVP awards and they won’t likely give Maris a third consecutive award. Besides, nobody likes giving the MVP to a Yankee. I’m going to say that Norm Cash of the Detroit Tigers will win the thing with his .325 average and 33 home runs.

The Cy Young Award is an easier choice. Jim Bunning of the Tigers went 23-11 with a 2.30 ERA and is clearly the most deserving candidate. The Rookie of the Year race is more interesting. Mel Stottlemyre went 15-10 to help anchor the Yankee rotation, but Minnesota rookie Tony Oliva hit .314 with 23 home runs to help drive the Twins to their surprising second place finish. Sam Mele, also of the Twins, was named Manager of the Year, and Twins owner Cal Griffith was named executive of the year.

The Comeback Players of the Year were announced last week. In the NL, it was Billy Pierce, who resurrected his career in San Francisco after being unceremoniously dumped by his former team, the Chicago White Sox. Pierce went 21-7, his first twenty-win season since 1957, and had to overcome opposition on his own team to win the award. Some San Francisco press men were clamoring for Bob Nieman, who hit .293 with 24 home runs after having not played a full season since ’59. In the AL, Herb Score went a decent 9-6, overcoming a string of injuries start twenty-four games and post a 3.26 ERA.

[Donny Ballgame]

NL Post-Season All-Star Team


C-Joe Torre, Milwaukee Braves
The All-Star Game got this one right. Torre hit .291 and was clearly the best catcher in the NL this season.

1B-Joe Adcock, Milwaukee Braves
Once again, the All-Star Game was dead on. Though Joe missed September with a torn knee ligament, he still hit .316 with 32 home runs and may have hit fifty if hadn’t been hurt. Hopefully, he’ll recover fully.

2B-Tony Taylor, Philadelphia Phillies
Here’s one the voters missed. Tony played stellar defense all year, but also scored 100 runs as the lead-off man for the Phils. By the end of the year, he was clearly better than All-Star starter Frank Bolling or reserve Bill Mazeroski.

3B-Ron Santo, Chicago Cubs
This one is so much closer than you think. Santo took this by a hair over Ken Boyer and Eddie Matthews. Matthews hit more home runs and drew more walks, while Boyer ran the bases better, but Santo played fine defense and drove in 110 runs on a terrible team.

SS-Maury Wills, LA Dodgers
Another close one. Wills didn’t make the All-Star Game, but that was because of Ernie Banks, who is the best shortstop baseball but is no longer in the National League. Maury nips past Leo Cardenas of the Reds because he gets on base a little bit more and does more when he gets there.

LF-Johnny Callison, Philadelphia Phillies
It was a tough call, but you’ve got to give it to Callison over Bob Nieman. As great a story as Nieman was, Callison drew slightly more walks and hit for better power. His .299 average was very solid, and he keyed the Phillies down the stretch.

CF-Willie Mays, San Francisco Giants
He really has no competition. Still the best defensive center fielder in baseball, he hit 37 more home runs and is well on the way to becoming one of the best players of all time.

RF-Hank Aaron
Can’t go wrong with the Triple Crown winner. But let’s highlight Felipe Alou, who hit .300 in a fine season for the Giants, and George Altman, who hit .299 to play extremely well for the Cubs.

AL Post-season All-Stars

C-Elston Howard, New York Yankees
The AL was plagued by an instability in catchers that made it difficult to pick the best player, but Howard is the clear choice. He hit .299 with 67 RBIs and played fine defense in a year where he wasn’t even expected to start.

1B-Norm Cash, Detroit Tigers
The likely MVP, Cash’s fine season is clearly better than another terrific season out of Pete Runnels, who played very well and hit .321 for the Boston Red Sox.

2B-Nellie Fox, Chicago White Sox
This was such a mediocre field that Fox could play less than 100 games and still be the best second baseman in the league. He hit .277 in 78 games as part of a strong season for the Pale Hose.

3B-Brooks Robinson, Baltimore Orioles
In another weak field, Robinson emerges as the clear-cut candidate due to his solid defense. His omission from the All-Star game in favor of Chicago’s mediocre Al Smith is absurd.

SS-Ernie Banks, Detroit Tigers
Banks dominates a weak field and is by far the best shortstop in the league. Without him, Eddie Bressoud of Boston would make the squad. Woodie Held is another ridiculous All-Star selection made because the Indians had to have somebody on the team.

LF-Yogi Berra, New York Yankees
While you could make a strong case for Baltimore’s Russ Snyder based on his defense, Berra’s offense is too much to ignore.

CF-Mickey Mantle, New York Yankees
Don’t be silly and try and argue for Jim Piersall of the Angels. Mantle is clearly the best.

RF-Tony Oliva, Minnesota Twins
Yes, he’s better than Maris. While he doesn’t him home runs, his defense is good enough to make up for that, and he hits well for contact.

[Donny Ballgame]

Heading for the Offseason


Note: To simulate the reserve clause, I’ve extended all contracts by a year. The only free agents are those that their old teams do not want. This was tedious and I will never do it again. Hence, my solution.

There was trouble brewing in the offseason. There was always trouble. This time, it was legal. I’m sure all of you remember the old reserve clause. It was nice in its own way, stifling salaries and keeping teams intact, but legally, it was a paper tiger. Dick Stuart was the catalyst. The first baseman refused to resign with the Pirates, and looked to take his services elsewhere. The Pirates told him he couldn’t, that he could only play for them until released. Stuart, outraged, began making some noise. The story made the back pages of the Sporting News, and wasn’t a big deal, until the players found a judge who would rule in their favor. I won’t name names; that was part of the deal.

I think a few of us, me included, realized how dangerous this could get. Free Agency! We couldn’t allow that. Not true, unrestricted free agency. So we came up with a solution. Mr. Weiss and I drew up a seemingly generous proposal that would ensure the players much less than they would have gotten otherwise. The deal was this: a player was bound to the club that drafted him until he played in the major leagues for three seasons or was released. After that, a league-appointed arbitrator would provide one-bid arbitration; the player and the club each put in an offer, and the arbitrator picked one. The fact that he was league appointed would keep salaries low. That contract would last a year.

After that, players would have the option to resign or not resign with their team. If the player received a qualifying offer (in the top three of all offers from all teams), he would become a Type A Free Agent. A Type A Free Agent could either resign with his own team, or go to another team. He would, however, be limited to contracts at least four years in length, and could not sign with a club in a competing market (A Senators player could not become an Oriole, a Yankee could not be a Met, etc.). A Type B Free Agent would be free to sign any contract he wanted.

The tricky part would be making this go through. I couldn’t vote for it, as Mr. Grant had made his feelings on the Stuart case well known. Such a radical proposal would need a vote in both leagues, a majority in both leagues. It would have to be proposed by a respected baseball man. I wired my proposal to Lee MacPhail, the GM of the Baltimore Orioles. MacPhail’s father had worked in the game, and he had a sound mind. On November 15, the same day awards were to be announced, we had an emergency meeting.

In the AL, it was a straight line vote. The votes of MacPhail for Baltimore, Topping and Webb for New York, Gabe Paul for Cleveland, Gene Autry for Los Angeles, and Chuck Finley for Kansas City were enough to overcome the objections of the old-timers, 6-4. In our league, Chicago, Los Angeles, Milwaukee, San Francisco, St. Louis, Cincinnati, and Philadelphia all voted yea for a 7-3 margin. Free Cincinnati, and Philadelphia all voted yea for a 7-3 margin. Free agency would be a reality in 1963.

Note: I’ll be turning league revenue up and salary demands down, as well as monitoring all free agent signings to keep things under control.

[Donny Ballgame]

College Football-September
Note: A rather unlikely conjunction of events is about to create a perfect storm for a certain state,

Unlike many GMs, I love other sports, too. In particular, I consider myself to be a football guy. College football is my number 1 game, and by far my favorites are the Fighting Irish of Notre Dame. The team has been down lately, under Coach Joe Kuhariach, but they’ll be back, just you wait. To say this looks to be an exciting year is a big-time understatement. This looks to be the year of the Big Ten, as Michigan State, Ohio State, and Purdue are all in the pre-season Top 10.
Another team that I always root for are the Cadets of Army. The Black Knights of the Hudson have added a new coach, Paul Dietzel, and look to return to the glory days of my childhood, with Red Blaik, and Blanchard, and Davis.

AP Top 10

1. Ohio State
2. Texas
3. Alabama
4. Michigan State
5. LSU
6. Mississippi
7. Purdue
8. Duke
9. Penn State
10. Washington

Italics indicate an outcome that has been changed from real life. I use dice.

September 15
Ah, the opening of college football. Just one game today, but it was a good one. The Pittsburgh Panthers faced off against the Miami Hurricanes. Though neither team was ranked, both elevens played hard. Dashing Miami QB George Mira was the hero of a 23-14 victory.

September 22
We had a full slate of games to open the season. Because we’re in New York, the eastern teams garner the most attention. While everybody loves the Ivies, consensus holds that Penn State is the premier Northeastern power. They lived up to that consensus today, dropping an unholy 41-7 beating on the Naval Academy.

The other big Eastern game saw Army crush Wake Forest, 40-14. Coach Dietzel’s three-unit system, led by the fearsome defense of the Chinese Bandits proved unstoppable today. The Cadets have a new energy, and may be in for a great year.

The other big game saw the Crimson Tide from Alabama roll over Georgia, 35-0. This Namath kid that the Tuscaloosa squad had was really something, scoring three touchdowns.

September 29
My Cadets played a game at Yankee Stadium, with the Bronx Bombers out of town. Coach Dietzel’s Chinese Bandits stifled Syracuse, 9-2, to raise their record to 2-0. My Irish, meanwhile, went on the road and barely survived an average Oklahoma team, 13-7. A win is a win, but come on.

Riots have broken out at Ole Miss over the enrollment of African-American student James Randall. That hasn’t hampered their football team. Star Buck Randall snared an interception to key a 14-0 victory over Kentucky.

We saw the first big upset of the year, as Stanford stunned #6 Michigan State. The Cardinal were able to win because halfback John Paye darted thirty-three yards with the game-clinching touchdown. It wasn’t a good day to be from Michigan, because the University of Michigan got beat 25-13 at the hands of Nebraska.

October 7
Not a good day for either of my two favorite teams. The Notre Dame offense was downright anemic in a 25-7 loss to Purdue. We gave up a 94 yard drive, but worse, we benched our best QB. We’ve got the best arm in the country, Daryle Lamonica, on the side-lines, in favor of the merely average Dennis Szot. Come on, Kuhariach! Play the Mad Bomber!

Army was never close. The Cadets were routed, 38-8, by Michigan. There was only one big upset today; UCLA shocked #1 Ohio State 9-7. The Bruins notched the winning kick with a minute and a half left in the game.

October 13
The Cadets are back on track. Army and the Chinese Bandits beat Penn State 9-6, stopping the Nittany Lions twice on fourth down to win the ball-game. Too bad my Notre Dame Irish couldn’t do any better than a 17-6 loss to Wisconsin. Not only do they have the Braves and the Packers, the state has the Badgers, as well. That QB, Ron VanDerKellen, is really something. Our defense played well, forcing eight turnovers, but with Lamonica on the bench, our offense is nothing.

Elsewhere, there was a huge upset. Purdue, having risen to #9, ran into a scrappy Miami of Ohio squad that forced five turnovers and held on to win, 10-7. It hasn’t been a good season for the Big Ten thus far.

The Game of the Week was clear: Oklahoma against Texas. The Sooners couldn’t protect the ball against the #2 Longhorns, and two early fumbles, including one that was recovered in the endzone, gave Texas a 9-0 halftime lead. Oklahoma’s quarterback Ronnie Fletcher rallied the Sooners, and a long touchdown pass to Lance Rentzel put the Okies back in it, but Texas’s defense clamped down, and in a chippy game, the Horns prevailed. As time expired, the benches cleared into a savage brawl. Quite a rivalry, that Red River Shootout.

October 21
My Irish fell to 1-3, getting swamped 31-7 by Michigan State. At this point, I can only conclude that Coach Kuhariach is finished at Notre Dame. At least the Black Knights of the Hudson looked good, storming past Virginia Tech 21-12. In honor of their fearsome defense, the Cadets have begun wearing Coolie Hats to the games.

This was a wild week in Eastern football. Roger Staubach of Navy put on a show in dismantling Boston College, 26-6, while Penn State squeaked past Syracuse, 20-19, by virtue of a blocked field goal on the game’s final play.

Down south, two big showdowns saw the Yellowhammer State come out looking good. Alabama and that sophomore Namath wore down Tennessee to win 27-7 on the road, while Auburn held off Georgia Tech in a 17-14 thriller.

The real games were in the Midwest. Northwestern and their great coach Ara Parseighan took on Ohio State. For a while, the Buckeyes had the upper hand as Bob Klein returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, but the Wildcats rallied to win, 18-14. Purdue thrashed a hapless Michigan squad, 37-0, while undefeated Wisconsin battled their way past Iowa, 42-14.

This week saw the next installment of a thrilling rivalry between Texas and Arkansas. A short touchdown run by Danny Brabham put the Hogs up 10-0, and a late Texas rally fell short. Arkansas shot up to #1 in the polls.

At this point in the season, it looks like Arkansas, Alabama, and Northwestern are national championship favorites, with USC and Wisconsin sticking their nose in the mix as well.

[Donny Ballgame]

Sheer frustration. My computer crashed yesterday. I was able to save some of my files, but not the dynasty. A new dynasty in a new era will be coming soon, but not as the Mets. **** it.

[Xen_Antares]

Sorry to hear it, just found this. But I can say been there done that