History of Baseball - OOTP19 version

[skyballer455]

Here is another look at the Music World charts. I don't know if you recognize any of the songs, but these are the Top Ten records in the US as of the latest update, along with the hot single of the week and a few notable debuts. Enjoy:

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY AUGUST 29, 1966 - part 2

While the American League pennant chase was starting to tighten up the Cincinnati Reds put a little more ground between themselves and the second place Los Angeles Dodgers this week. The Reds, who finished with a 21 game gap on second place LA last year, moved 6.5 games up this season thanks to winning 5 of 6 this week.

Cincinnati started the week by finishing off a west coast trip with a stop in San Francisco. The Reds began the trip by winning 2-of-3 in Los Angeles and after taking 3 of 4 at the Astrodome they concluded the swing with another series win - taking 2 of 3 from the Giants.

Sammy Ellis improved to 11-9 and Pete Rose(.340,14,63) hit a 2-run single in the seventh inning to lift the Reds to a 5-3 win in the opener. Frank Robinson (.353,38,111), under pressure from Atlanta's Joe Torre(.353,25,75) for the batting lead, went 3-for-5. The Giants rebounded with a 5-4, 11 inning win the next night as Luis Zayas(.243,5,44) hit a walk-off 3-run double off Reds reliever Hoyt Wilhelm to allow San Francisco to pull out a win after the Reds plated two in the top half of the 11th. In the series finale, Claude Osteen (17-7, 2.58) took over the major league win lead with a complete game 4-hitter in a 7-1 win over Juan Marichal (10-8, 3.87) and the Giants.

Back home after a 7-3 road trip, the Reds began a 10 game homestand with 3 straight 1-run wins over visiting Philadelphia. On Friday, Gary Nolan (13-9, 3.16) and closer Billy McCool combined on a 4-hitter and 25 year old rookie Thomas Perdue delivered a walk-off pinch-hit rbi single to give Cincinnati a 3-2 victory. Frank Robinson homered, doubled and drove in 3 runs in a 7-6 win Saturday as Billy McCool, who blew the save but got the win Friday, got a 2-inning save -his 16th of the season. Another blown save on Sunday, this time from Hoyt Wilhelm who allowed the Phillies to tie the game in the ninth with 2 runs, did not cost the Reds as Vada Pinson (.319,18,75) would end the game 5-4 in the Reds favour after scoring on a wild pitch in the 11th. Frank Robinson got his major league leading 38th homerun in Sunday's win.

While the Reds were winning 5 of 6 during the week, the Dodgers only managed to play .500 ball. Los Angeles opened the week by losing 2 of 3 at home to Atlanta. The only LA win came in the middle game as Sandy Koufax (13-9, 2.16) blanked the Braves on 6-hits by a 6-0 score. One of those hits was a single from from 34 year old Atlanta third baseman Eddie Mathews. That hit was the 2500th of Mathews 18 year career, spent entirely with one franchise but with stops in Boston and Milwaukee before moving to Atlanta this year. An 11 time all-star and 1954 National League MVP, Mathews becomes the 61st player to reach the 2500 hit plateau.

After winning 2 of 3 from Atlanta the Dodgers headed up the coast for a 3-game series with their rivals from San Francisco. Game one was a pitching duel as Giants starter Gaylord Perry (10-12, 3.00) with some help from Frank Linzy (18th save) outpitched Don Drysdale (15-7, 1.79) in a 2-1 Giants victory. The Dodgers would win the final two games of the series including 7-5 on Saturday despite a 2-homer, 5 rbi game from San Francisco's Jim Ray Hart (.324,23,87). On Sunday the score was 4-1 as Koufax went the distance for his 14th win of the season. With 4 losses in 6 games this week and 8 losses in their last 12 games the Giants now found themselves 9.5 games out and seemingly fading fast.

The National League player of the week award went to St Louis Cardinals first baseman Don Mincher. The 28 year old hit .387 (12-for-31) with 2 homers and 7 rbi's in a week that saw the Redbirds win 4 of 7 and creep a little closer to .500 on the season. Mincher, who made the all-star team for the second straight year, is batting .259 with 18 homers and 69 rbi's on the season. He joined the Cardinals in 1964 after playing 3 seasons with the Chicago White Sox.

STAT OF THE WEEK - Mets rookie Tom Seaver pitched a complete game victory yesterday to improve to 13-10 on the season. The 21 year old Seaver, who headlines a collection of young pitching talent, is now tied with Cincinnati's 18 year old phenom Gary Nolan (13-9, 3.16) for the wins lead among rookies. Rounding out the top three is 21 year old Dave Boswell (10-6, 2.62) of Minnesota, who is presently sidelined with an elbow strain.


MINOR LEAGUE NOTES: The Gulf Coast League crowned it's champion this week as the first place Yankees beat the second place Cardinals 4 games to two in their championship series. The regular season batting champion was Boots Day (.320,6,16) of the Cardinals who played in 39 regular season games. Braves 18 year old Earl C Williams (.266,7,16) led in homers while Tony Solaita (.256,6,19) was the rbi leader. Those 3, along with 18 year old Cardinals pitcher Reggie Cleveland, who was 4-2 after joining the team midway through the season, would be the top prospects in the loop.

Bob Robertson (.343,39,119) won the triple crown in the Western Carolinas League. The 19 year old Gastonia (PIT) Pirates infielder led his club to a 74-52 record, good for second place in the regular season and a playoff matchup with the first place Lexington Giants. His 39 roundtrippers tied the league record set by Ken Harrelson (now with the Los Angeles Dodgers) in 1963 while Robertson's rbi total eclipsed Harrleson previous standard of 97 and his .343 batting average broke the old mark established by Tito Fuentes (now with San Francisco) in 1964. Gastonia teammate Freddie Patek(.304,2,55) also established a new Western Carolinas League record with 77 stolen bases this season. Note - the league is just 4 years old.

It was quite a finish to the Midwest League season. The Waterloo (BOS) Hawks finished first with a 72-54 record, good for a 1 game lead on both the Decatur (SF) Commodores and Dubuque (CLE) Packers. Bobby Etheridge was the hero of the 1 game tiebreaker to determine the second playoff participant. Etheridge, a 23 year old third baseman, had 3 hits including a pair of homers and drove in 5 runs in a 6-2 Commodores victory. On the season Etheridge, who has yet to advance past A ball, hit .307 with 14 homers and 50 rbi's in 107 games since being promoted from Fresno of the California League. Decatur will face Waterloo in the league championship series but the first place Hawks will be without George Scott after the 22 year old was promoted by the Red Sox to AA Pittsfield of the Eastern League.

Minor League players of the week include Walt Williams of the Amarillo (HOU) Sonics in the Texas League, Pawtucket (CLE) Indians second baseman Dave Nelson in the Eastern League, first baseman Mike Hegan of the Fort Lauderdale (NYY) Yankees in the Florida State League and 19 year old Terry Crowley of the Stockton (BAL) Ports in the California League.

[Tiger Fan]

HISTORY OF THE CLEVELAND INDIANS

After a decade and a half of hanging around the middle of the pack the Cleveland Indians are back to being relevant in the American League. Last season the Indians finished third but won 92 games for the first time since their last pennant winning season of 1951. At 87-52 they now lead the American League by 2.5 games over the Yankees and appear to be on pace for their 3rd 100-win season in franchise history and the first since 1948.

If history is any indication this seems to be about the right time for the next Cleveland dynasty. The Indians have 12 pennants and 3 World Series titles to their credit with 5 pennants and a series win coming in the mid-1920's and 6 more between 1944 and 1951. Staying with that logic you would expect the mid to late 1960's to be very good for the Indians.

The current club has 4 very good pitchers with two of them, Sam McDowell and Steve Hargan just 23 years old. McDowell already owns a Cy Young and two all-star appearances but he also missed an entire season with elbow issues. There are also a couple of very good position players just entering their prime. Mack Jones (.299,34,98) is enjoying a breakout campaign at age 27, leading the American League in homers and is second in rbi's. Meanwhile fellow outfielder Tommie Agee (.278,25,78) looks like a future star having just turned 24 last month. The key pieces are there but the Indians may lack the supporting cast for another long run of contention like they had in the twenties and forties.

Things were not always good in Cleveland. The club struggled for most of the first 2 decades of this century. They did have three second place finishes between 1901-1910 but that decade belonged to the Philadelphia Athletics. It is interesting to note that two of the 6 retired numbers belonged to players who primarily played during those two mediocre decades so Cleveland has had marquee players who lacked a supporting cast before.

In the early days it was Ed Delahanty and Ty Cobb who lived through some lean years. Delahanty joined Cleveland in 1894 and remained with the club until his retirement in 1911. The Hall of Fame outfielder played 2,828 games including 2,200 in a Cleveland uniform but never made the World Series. Cobb, baseball's all-time hits leader with 4,450 joined Delahanty on the club as a 17 year old in 1904 and would play for Cleveland until his retirement in 1928. The two time MVP endured some lean years with Cleveland but he did remain in the game long enough to appear in 5 World Series - and win 1- as an Indian.

The twenties were good to Cleveland with pennants in 1922, 1923, 1925, 1927 and 1928 and a lone World Series title in '25 with a sweep of the St Louis Cardinals. Cobb contributed a lot to the first two pennants but was reduced to a bench role for the remainder as Goose Goslin and Jim Bottomley - two others of the six retired numbers - were the key cogs of the team. Both future Hall of Famers made their debut in 1920 and led an offense that also featured shortstop Joe Sewell for the entire decade as well as Hall of Famer Jimmie Foxx, who joined the club in 1924 as a 16 year old and was just evolving into a leader for their final two pennants of the 1920s.

The Indians pitching of the 1920's revolved around George Uhle, Red Faber and Freddie Fitzsimmons. Uhle won 254 games for Cleveland between 1920-34 and also has his number retired by the franchise. The ace of the staff, he was a 7-time 20 game winner including a 27-8 season in 1923, a year after Uhle won his only Cy Young by going 24-11 with a league leading 2.51 era. Faber was a reclaimation project after the Giants gave up on him. He joined Cleveland in 1914 as a 24 year old and won 210 games, pitching for the Indians until the age of 41 in 1930. Always overshadowed by Uhle, Faber did win 22 games in 1924 and was 2-2 in 6 World Series appearances. The final member of the trio was Freddie Fitzsimmons. Like Faber he was cast aside - for him it was by Detroit - but won 18 games as a rookie with the Indians as a 23 year old in their World Series winning 1925 season. Fitzsimmons would pitch 16 years for the Indians and win 197 games as an Indian during the regular season. He would go 2-1 in World Series play including a complete game 12 inning victory to clinch Game Two of the 1925 series.

While back on the topic of the 1925 series, it very nearly was an all St Louis matchup as the Indians and Browns tied for the pennant before Cleveland won the playoff game 9-6. George Uhle pitched 8 innings on just two days rest and chipped in 3 hits and a pair of rbi's. 25 year old Jim Bottomley also had 3 hits in the game while 39 year old Ty Cobb had a pair of hits including a bases loaded triple that provided the margin of victory. As a sidenote, we would never get an all St Louis World Series. The Cardinals did their part winning 15 National League pennants before the Browns left town but the Browns never got to a Series. In addition to the playoff loss in 1925 the Browns would also finish a game back of the Indians in 1950. Even now in 1966, the Browns-Orioles franchise has yet to win an American League crown.

When the twenties came to an end so did the Indians success as with Cobb long gone and others aging the club spent the entire decade in the middle of the pack in the American League. Jimmie Foxx carried the club through the thirties but it was not until 1940 that his supporting cast was strong enough to help Cleveland claim another championship.

The 1940 team was a precurser of success to come later in the decade. Foxx, was 33 years old, but hit his age in homeruns and drove in 123 rbi's, second only to 27 year old teammate Tommy Henrich (.334,36,139) who also led the league in homers. With those two sluggers leading the offense and 22 year old Bob Feller (17-8, 3.28) anchoring a pitching staff that also included vets Bobo Newsom (17-9), Denny Galehouse (18-10) and Al Milnar (19-8) the Indians finished 6 games up on the second place Boston Red Sox. Two other key pieces that would help Cleveland enjoy success throughout the decade were 22 year old shortstop Lou Boudreau and 25 year old outfielder Jeff Heath.

1940 also gave us the first, and so far only, all-Ohio World Series as Cleveland and Cincinnati battled it out in a 7 game series. Bob Feller was outstanding in the opener, pitching a 5-hit shutout in his World Series debut as Cleveland won 6-0. Indians catcher Ed Fernandes led the offense with a pair of rbis. In the second game Jimmie Foxx hit a 3-run homer in the second inning but the real hero was Boudreau with an rbi single to score Jeff Heath in the bottom of the ninth, lifting the Tribe to a 4-3 win. Bobo Newsom got the win against Vito Tamulis of the Reds.

The Indians left Cleveland and headed south to Cincinnati with a 2-0 series lead but the Reds were a different team at home for Game Three. Reds pitcher Red Ruffing held the Cleveland bats in check while Cinicnnati hitters beat up on Denny Galehouse as the Reds won a laugher by a 10-4 count.

Game 4 ended 7-3 Cleveland but it took 11 innings to decide. After some great pitcher from Cleveland's Al Milnar and Kirby Higbee of the Reds the game was tied at 1 after nine innings. Both starters got chased in the 10th as the Indians scored two in the top half thanks to an rbi triple from Boudreau followed by Cookie Lavagetto's single. However, Cincinnati stayed alive when Les Scarsella doubled in a pair of runs to re-tie the game. Cleveland would take the lead for good Tommy Henrich doubled in Jeff Heath to start a 3-run Indians rally in the 11th.

Trailing 3 games to one the Reds kept the series going by beating Bob Feller 3-1 at home and then forced a 7th game with a wild 13-inning 11-8 win on the road in game six. Cincinnati took a 6-0 lead before the game was 2 innings old but Cleveland battled back with 6 runs of their own in the bottom of the 8th to go up 8-7. The Reds tied the game in the ninth when Bill Knickerbocker doubled in Vince DiMaggio with two out and then they scored 3 more in the top of the 12th to take an 11-8 victory.

After losing each of the last two games there was plenty of pressure on the hometown Indians heading in to game seven. It got more intense when Feller allowed a Reds run in the top of the first but Tommy Henrich answered with a 2-run homer in the home half. Feller settled down, allowing just 3 hits the rest of the way while the Indians scored 14 runs and celebrated with a 14-1 victory to win the franchise's second World Series title.

1941 was nearly another pennant as the Indians were red-hot down the stretch, winning their last 8 games of the season but they finished a game back of the first place Red Sox. It would be 3 years later before Cleveland would win another pennant, but the 1944 title started a period of 6 pennants and 1 World Series title over an 8 year span.

That Indians team had pitching led by Feller, Johnny Schmitz, Virgil Trucks, Steve Gromek and for the final couple of seasons a young Mike Garcia. However, the real strength was their offense which included catcher Sherm Lollar - a 13 time all-star - along with 9 time gold glove winner Stan Hack at first, Eddie Stankey at second, George Kell - after a trade from Boston in 1948 - at third and Hall of Famer Boudreau at shortstop. Tommy Henrich was the only outfielder to play regularly on all 6 winners, but Jeff Heath, Gene Woodling, Dale Mitchell all figured prominently at various stages during the run.

As those players aged and retired the Indians fell into a malaise. Not good enough to compete with the Yankees or other teams like the Tigers and White Sox that had brief periods of success, but also not bad enough to sink to the bottom like the Senators and Athletics. As a result the Indians spent well over a decade in a state of indecision....a little too good to deal off aging stars and retool but not good enough to warrant sacrificing youth for veterans to make a pennant run. It meant the team finished 4th, 5th or 6th in 13 straight seasons.

Some are drawing the comparison between McDowell, Agee and Mack Jones on this year's club to Feller, Boudreau and Henrich of the mid-1940s. It is hard to have faith this group can win 6 pennants like the 1940s stars did but fans in Cleveland would be happy to start with just one.



Before I get to this week's recap, here are the Indians retired numbers, and all-time franchise career leaders.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 5, 1966
DODGERS TAKE TWO OF THREE FROM REDS

The Los Angeles Dodgers would have loved to have earned a sweep of their three game weekend series in Cincinnati but taking two of three from the National League leaders kept the Dodgers in the hunt for the pennant. The Dodgers came in to Cincinnati trailing the Reds by 6.5 games and left 5.5 back.

Prior to heading the Cincinnati the Dodgers split a pair with the Mets and took two from the Pirates in Pittsburgh. The Reds also won 3 of 4 to start the week, sweeping St Louis in a 2 game set and then splitting a pair with the Cubs.

On Friday night at Crosley Field a crowd of nearly 30,000 came in expecting a pitchers duel between Sandy Koufax and the Reds Jim Maloney. They got what they expected as Koufax(15-9, 2.03) tossed a 2-hit shutout while Maloney (13-7, 2.33) allowed 7 hits in a 2-0 loss. Both Dodgers runs came in the fourth inning courtesy of Ken Harrelson's (.248,3,15) 2-run single.

After a rain day Saturday the clubs played two yesterday. Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth Frank Robinson hit his major league leading 41st homerun for Cincinnati to tie the game and force extras with Jimmy Wynn's 11th inning walk-off rbi single giving the Reds a 4-3 win. Claude Osteen and 3 Cincinnati relievers combined to limit the Dodgers to 3 hits in the game with all 3 LA runs coming on Frank Howard's(.231,17,49) 7th inning homerun.

Los Angeles rebounded with a 7-1 win in the nightcap as Bob Aspromonte (.280,8,49) and Roberto Clemente (.279,16,81) both homered for the Dodgers while Pete Richert improved to 12-6 on the season with a complete game 5-hitter.

The San Francisco Giants, trying desperately to be a part of the playoff race, won 6 of 7 during the week and are 7.5 games off the pace.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
The New York Yankees swoon continues as the Bronx Bombers lost 5 of 7 this week during a road swing and have dropped 9 of their last 14 during a stretch where they played primarily against weaker teams.

The Yankees week opened with a wasted effort by Fritz Peterson as the Yankee ace allowed just 1 run on 5 hits but fell 1-0 to Kansas City on a walk-off rbi single from Sal Bando. The next night the Yankees again lost a tough one, dropping an 8-7 decision to the A's on Rick Monday's walk-off homer in the 14th inning. It was the 5th career homer for the 20 year old Monday, who made his major league debut a month ago.

A 6-0 win on Wednesday over the California Angels was what the Yankees hoped would get them back on track. Bobby Murcer had 4 hits in the game including a homerun while veteran Whitey Ford pitched 8 innings for his 12th win of the season. However, the hometown Angels got a great pitching effort from Marty Pattin the next night and beat the Yankees 3-1.

The losing continued as the club moved on to the Twin Cities. Minnesota took the opener of a 3-game set Friday by a 7-2 score as veteran Ernie Banks homered twice to lead the Twins. Saturday Minnesota beat Fritz Peterson (15-6) by a 3-1 score but the Yankees salvaged a game from the series on Sunday with a 4-1 win behind a Mickey Mantle homerun and a Jim Bunning 3-hitter.

While the Yankees were sliding the Cleveland Indians won 4 of 7 games during the week to stretch their lead on the Yankees to 2.5 games atop the American League. Outfielder Bob Allison (.267,17,60) was the big bat for Cleveland as the 32 year old captured American League player of the week accolades after hitting .448 with a homer and 5 rbi's this week.

To start the week the Indians blasted the Chicago White Sox 14-1 as Allison had 4 hits while Tommie Agee and Bill Davis each drove in 3 runs. The score was much closer the next night but the result the same as the Indians prevailed 2-1 thanks to solo shots from Max Alvis and Jim Pagliaroni.

From Chicago, the Indians returned home for a 2-game set with Baltimore but lost them both. Willie Mays hit a 2-run homer to help lead the Orioles to a 4-2 win in the opener and Merv Rettenmund's 2-out rbi double in the 11th inning lifted Baltimore to a 3-2 win the next night. Cleveland dropped it's third straight when 4 Detroit pitchers combined on a 4-hit shutout as the Tigers won 1-0, ruining a solid outing from Indians starter Steve Hargan. The Indians righted the ship on the weekend, beating Detroit 8-5 behind 2 hits including a homer from Allison on Saturday before Denny Lemaster (17-6) blanked the Tigers 4-0 yesterday.

The Baltimore Orioles, with 6 wins in 7 games last week, are also still in the thick of the race. In 29 games since his return after missing a year with an injury, Willie Mays is batting .255 but has 8 homers and 19 rbi's. With Mays and closer Stu Miller back the Orioles are finally healthy and just 5 games off the pace. Baltimore swept a pair from Cleveland last week and now looks forward to a 4-game series with the Yankees starting today.

NEWS AND NOTES - The National League player of the week was Philadelphia Phillies catcher John Romano. The 32 year old went 10-for-16 with 2 homers and 4 rbi's last week. On the season, the 6 time all-star is batting .281 with 20 homers and 59 rbi's.

The August Monthly Awards were as follows: National League top hitter was Joe Torre (.348,26,78) of Atlanta. The 26 year old has taken the batting lead away from Cincinnati's Frank Robinson after hitting .368 with 10 homers in 27 August games. Los Angeles Dodger Don Drysdale (16-7, 1.76) was named pitcher of the month after going 6-1 with a 1.00 era in August. The NL rookie of the month went to Cincinnati infielder Ken McMullan(.246,4,37). The off-season pickup from Los Angeles hit .265 with 2 homers and 11 rbi's last month.

The American League rookie winner was Detroit outfielder Willie Horton. The 23 year old is hitting .304 with 26 homers and 76 rbi's on the season including 7 homers last month. Horton's Detroit teammate Dick McAuliffe (.250,23,65) was named player of the month after hitting .357 in August. The pitcher award was presented to Mickey Lolich (17-7, 1.57) of Minnesota. The 25 year old lefthander was 5-2 with a 1.86 era in 7 August starts.

MINOR LEAGUE NOTES - 19 year old James Erwin of the Mobile (KC) A's tossed a no-hitter in Southern League action. It came in a 10-0 win over Montgomery. Erwin, who has pitched for 3 different Class A affiliates of Kansas City this season, is 2-4 with a 5.08 era for Mobile. In the start before his no-hitter he blanked Evansville on 2 hits while fanning 10. His is the 3rd no-hitter of the season in the Southern League. James Blight of Montgomery and Asheville's Bob Moose, with a perfect game, threw the other two.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 12, 1966
LOOKING LIKE AN ALL OHIO WORLD SERIES

The Cleveland Indians and Cincinnati Reds each moved closer to clinching their respective pennants, and the possibility of just the second All-Ohio World Series is increasing. The Indians and Reds met once before, back in 1940 when Bob Feller and the Indians beat the Reds in 7 games.

The Indians won 4 of their 7 games this week, which was one better than the second place Yankees, who claimed just 3 wins in 4 games. The Yankees starting the week by taking 3 of 4 from the third place Baltimore Orioles before going in to Fenway Park and getting swept in a 3 game series with Boston. The Indians, meanwhile, took 2 of 4 at home from the Red Sox to begin their week before winning 2 of 3 from California over the weekend.

Boston second baseman Wayne Causey (.283,2,56) had 13 hits in 25 at bats (.520) with 6 rbi's to earn the player of the week honours in the American League. Causey and his Red Sox teammates have been rendered irrelevant all season as they struggle to stay at .500 despite the best offense in either league. Boston pitching, aside from Al Jackson (19-6, 2.96) and Jim Lonborg (13-8,2.45) has been just awful all year.

This week was a little different as the Red Sox opened with a doubleheader sweep of Cleveland on Labour Day. Jim Lonborg and reliever Ron Kline combined on a 6-hitter in the opener as the Red Sox beat Sam McDowell and the Indians 3-2 before taking the nightcap 6-3 as Causey and Lou Clinton each drove in a pair of runs. Cleveland would even the series with wins Tuesday and Wednesday including a 1-0 shutout as the Tribe's Steve Hargan and 2 relievers held the Red Sox offense to 5 hits. Al Jackson deserved a better fate then the loss in this one as he went the distance in the loss allowing just 4 Cleveland hits. The series ended with a 6-4 Cleveland win on Wednesday as Bob Allison had 4 hits including a homerun for the winners while Boston 3B Don Buford also had a 4-hit game.

The Red Sox then welcomed the Yankees into Fenway and put up 28 runs over 3 days to sweep the series. Friday night was a 4 hour affair that saw the teams combine to use 13 pitchers. Boston blew a 9-5 lead going into the 8th inning but pulled out a 10-9 victory thanks to an Orlando Cepeda walk-off rbi single with 2 out in the bottom of the 12th. They were back at it Saturday afternoon and Wayne Causey led the Boston offense by going 3-for-4 with 3 rbi's in an 8-6 Red Sox win. Boston blew a 6-2 lead in that game when the Yankees scored 4 in the top of the 8th inning but rbi singles from Cepeda and Carl Yastremeski in the home half of the 8th restored the Red Sox lead. On Sunday, Al Jackson (19-6) became the first 19 game winner in either league this season when he went the distance in a 10-2 Boston pounding of the Yankees. Orlando Cepeda (.328,18,60) led the way for the Red Sox with 3 hits including a homer and 5 rbi's.

While New York was getting beat up in Boston the Indians were home to the Angels. Denny Lemaster (18-6, 2.58) struck out 9 Angels in a 4-0 shutout win on Friday. Jim Pagliaroni and Mack Jones, with his American League leading 35th, homered for the Indians. On Saturday Sam McDowell (15-7) ended his personal 2 game losing streak by fanning 9 and allowing just 5 hits in a 5-1 Cleveland win. The longball was again the Indians weapon of choice as Pagliaroni, for the second day in a row, along with Bill Davis and Floyd Robinson went deep. Yesteday the Angels got to Cleveland starter Steve Hargan (14-11) early and avoided the sweep with a 7-4 victory.

The third place Baltimore Orioles now find themselves 6 games behind Cleveland after they started the week with 3 straight losses to New York. The Orioles did manage to win the final game of their series with the Yankees and took two of three from Minnesota over the weekend but time is running out this season for the only franchise (aside from the 4 1960's expansion teams) to never win a pennant.


NATIONAL LEAGUE
What a difference a week makes. This time last week there was thought the Los Angeles Dodgers might be able to make a run at the league leading Cincinnati Reds. Then the Dodgers went out and dropped 6 of 7 this week and find themselves 11 games back. As it has been for a few year the Dodgers problem is a lack of offense. In 7 games this week the Dodger pitching staff allowed 17 runs, or just under 2.5 per game but their offense scored just 11 runs during that time.

After taking 2 of 3 from the Reds in Cincinnati the Dodgers were on a high as they returned home to face the then-third place San Francisco Giants. On Monday, Don Drysdale took the hill for the Dodgers and allowed just 2-hits and 1 run - an rbi double in the 6th inning from Tito Fuentes. However, Giants starter Gaylord Perry pitched a 3-hit shutout to even his record at 12-12 as San Francisco took the opener 1-0.

The next day Don Sutton allowed just 1 run over 7 innings and the score was 1-1 until Tito Fuentes hit a 12th inning rbi single to give the Giants a 2-1 victory. Wednesday's game also ended 2-1 for the Giants despite 7 strong innings from Sandy Koufax. Leon Wagner's solo homerun off of LA reliever Larry Sherry in the top of the 8th proved the difference and made a winner of Bobby Bolin (14-8), who allowed just 1 run on 4 hits, with Frank Linzy notching his 19th save.

Things just got worse for the Dodgers from there. Friday night they lost 3-2 to Houston as the Astros scored a run in the top of the ninth to make a loser out of Dodger starter Tommy John (11-10). The Dodgers did win 3-2 Saturday with Drysdale on the hill but Sunday they lost a pair of extra innings games.

The Sunday doubleheader opened with a 3-1 13 inning loss as 20 year old Houston rookie Keith Lampard smacked a 2-run homer off of young Dodger reliever Bill Singer in the top of the 13th while in the second game LA reliever Johnny Podres issued a bases-loaded walk in the 10th inning to allow Houston to prevail 4-3.

In San Francisco, the Giants carried the momentum from their sweep of the Dodgers with 3 straight wins over the Cubs to run their winning streak to 11 games. The streak ended with a 6-5 loss in the second game of a doubleheader to Chicago on Sunday but was enough to allow San Francisco to finish the week in second place, 8 games back of the Reds. Time is clearing running out on the Giants with just 3 weeks remaining in the season. The franchise last won a National League pennant in 1938 and has never won a World Series.

The Reds, with 3 World Series titles in the 1960's already and 5 pennants in the past 8 years, seem poised for a second straight National League title. Cincinnati won all 6 of it's games this week so the Giants rally of late did little to cut into the Reds lead. There was one piece of bad news for Cincinnati as it was learned that triple crown candidate Frank Robinson suffered a strained oblique in Sunday's win over Philadelphia. It is not considered serious but he may miss a game or two.

Aside from the injury it was quite a week for Robinson as he got his 2500th career major league hit. It came on a first inning single off of Gary Bell in a 2-1 Reds win over the Mets last Monday. Robinson is the 62nd player to reach the 2500 hit mark and the second to achieve it this season. He is also on pace to achieve the first triple crown by a National Leaguer since Hack Wilson in the 1920s. Robinson is batting .350 with 43 homers and 122 rbi's. He seems to have the homerun and rbi titles locked up. It is the batting crown that is under question. Robinson is .002 ahead of Atlanta's Joe Torre and .007 up on teammate Pete Rose. Torre suffered a hamstring injury and will miss at least two weeks so his .348 mark may not change with just 3 weeks left in the season.

23 year old Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman Bob Bailey was named the National League player of the week after going 17-for-33 (.515) with a pair of homers last week. On the year the 4th year major leaguer is batting .275 with 14 homers and 37 rbi's.

In other news St Louis Cardinals catcher Tim McCarver had a 5-hit game in the Cards 5-4 win over Houston earlier this week. The 24 year old, who is batting .277 with 13 homers and 54's rbis, hit 4 singles and a double while driving in 2 runs in the win. His 10th inning rbi single proved the difference in the game as it gave the hometown Cardinals a walk-off win.

MINOR LEAGUE NOTES - Mets farmhand Fred Reahm threw the 8th no-hitter in NY-Penn League history, which dates back to 1933. Reahm fanned 14 batters to lead the Auburn Mets to a 6-0 win over the Oneonta Red Sox. The 18 year old lefthander is 8-11 with a 2.83 era for Auburn this season.


The three Class AA level leagues wrapped up regular season action this past week and the playoffs will get underway in each of them shortly. Here are the final standings and league leaders from each of the 3 loops as well as the current MLB standings.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 19, 1966
REDS LOSE ROSE

The Cincinnati Reds are closing in on a second straight National League Pennant but their chances of repeating as World Champion took a bit of a blow this week when second baseman Pete Rose seperated his shoulder in a game yesterday. The injury will keep Rose out of the rest of the regular season and he will likely miss the World Series as well. The 25 year old had been hitting .341, third best in the National League at the of his injury. With Rose sidelined the Reds will shift 26 year old Cesar Tovar (.302,8,50) from shortstop to second base and insert Cookie Rojas (.303,0,19) at shortstop.

After winning 3 of 5 games last week the Reds lowered their magic number for clinching a 4th pennant in the past five seasons to 5. The Los Angeles Dodgers, despite breaking out of a slump and winning 6 in a row, are 8.5 games off the pace and San Francisco is 9.5 back. Barring a total collapse by the Reds, the race is over.

The big story to focus on over the last two weeks of the season in the National League revolves around Frank Robinson's triple crown bid. Homeruns and rbi's are not in doubt as Robinson's 44 round-trippers are ten more than teammate Jimmy Wynn and Pittsburgh's Willie Stargell, who are tied for second, and his 125 rbi's give him a huge lead on second place Jim Ray Hart, who has driven in 100 for the Giants. It is the batting average title that may prove difficult, especially with his top two competitors for the crown both injured. Atlanta's Joe Torre is hitting .348 but may not play again this season due to a hamstring issue. Robinson, who went 5-for-14 (.263) last week is now batting .347 on the year. He is bothered by a strained oblique but has only missed 1 game due to the nagging injury. Meanwhile, Robinson's teammate Pete Rose will end the season with a .341 average due to his season ending seperated shoulder. The National League has not had a triple crown winner since Hack Wilson did 3 straight years from 1926-28. Since that time there have been 6 American League triple crowns, including 3 from Ted Williams. The most recent triple crown was accomplished in 1957 by the Yankees Mickey Mantle.

AMERICAN LEAGUE
The Cleveland Indians lead atop the American League remains a 3.5 games on the second place New York Yankees after neither club played exceptionally well last week. The Indians opened the week by taking 2 of 3 from the Kansas City Athletics but then lost 2 of 3 to the Tigers in Detroit. The Yankees went 3-3 this week and have dropped 7 of their last 10 games. The Baltimore Orioles went 5-2 for the week and are 4.5 games behind Cleveland but rapidly running out of time.

Detroit Tigers rookie outfielder Willie Horton was named American League player of the week after hitting 4 homers and driving in 11 runs in 6 games. On the season the 23 year old is batting .307 with 30 homers and 88 rbi's. He has been named rookie of the month each of the past three months.

The National League player of the week was Dodgers hurler Sandy Koufax. The 30 year old lefthander pitched a pair of shutouts this week, winning both games 1-0. He blanked the Mets on a 4-hitter before tossing a 1-hit shutout against Pittsburgh on Saturday in a game that saw Koufax fan 15 Pirate hitters. That performance moved Koufax past Cincinnati's Jim Maloney for the Major League strikeout lead. Koufax is bidding to lead the NL in K's for the 10th straight season. Koufax is already the modern day single season strikeout leader and with 2,820 in his career he is closing in on Walter Johnson's record 3,260.


MINOR LEAGUE NOTES: The Williamsport(NYM) Mets beat the York (WSH) White Roses 4 games to two to win the Eastern League title. 22 year old outfielder Robert Serrano of the Mets was named the series MVP after batting .321 with a homerun and 4 stolen bases. He progressed through 3 levels of minors this season starting with Auburn of the NY-Penn League before moving up to Class A Greenville and finally joining Williamsport in August. It marked the second straight title for the Mets AA farm club.

The Southern League series was a 4-game sweep for the Asheville(PIT) Tourists over the Columbus(NYY) Confederate Yankees. 19 year old catcher Manny Sanguillen was among the stars for the Tourists in the series.

The Texas League Series was also a sweep as the Austin (ATL) Braves proved too powerful for the Albuquerque (LA) Dodgers. 23 year old catcher Dick Hart, who spent most of the season in A ball where he hit 20 homers in 81 games for Kinston, was the hero of the series with 4 homers and 9 rbi's while batting .375. 22 year old outfielder Cito Gaston also had a strong series for the winners. It was the first Texas League title for the city of Austin, which has been a member of the league since 1956.

You can't ask for a much more dominant season than the totals put up by Red Sox minor leaguer Tony Horton. The 21 year old first baseman became the first player in Carolina League history (going back to 1945) to win the triple crown. Horton, playing for the Winston-Salem Red Sox, hit .373 with 27 homers and 84 rbi's. He also finished the season with a 25 game hitting streak, which is the 8th longest in Carolina League history. Horton started the season as the 76th ranked prospect but should climb when the list is released again next April. Winston-Salem, which won the West Division, will play the East Division champion Kinston (ATL) Eagles in the Carolina League championship series.

Another name to add to the Mets deep list of pitching prospects. 22 year old Al Schmelz was named the top pitcher in the Western Carolinas League this season. The righthander was 12-3 with a 2.92 era in his first pro season. Schmelz fanned 141 batters while walking 82 in 154 innings of work. In real life, Schmelz spent 4 years in pro baseball and pitched in 3 innings for the Major League Mets in 1967. He had no decisions and an era of 3.00 from 2 relief appearances. It appears Schmelz was a highly touted prospect of the Mets in 1967 but just never panned out.

I found this on Schmelz on a Mets messageboard from a google search. "It appeared that Schmelz had a bad year in the Minors in 1968 and got hurt. Schmelz was sent to the Mets’ Minors (AAA Jacksonville) during spring training cuts in 1968. At Jacksonville, he went 0-4 in 6 games. Sometime between May 24 and June 1 of that year, he began appearing for at AAA Vancouver (A’s) in the Pacific Coast League. He went 0-6 with Vancouver and on July 25, he was optioned from Vancouver back to Mets Class AA team in Memphis (Texas League). On Aug. 28, the Mets sent Schmelz home to Whittier, Calif., with what the Sporting News called “a sore arm.” In 1969, Schmelz appeared with Memphis (AA Mets); then was sent down to Class A (Pompano Beach). After a short time there he went to AA York (Pirates), which won the Eastern League championship with help from his relief pitching. He won a College World Series with Arizona State in 1965 and was a teammate of Tom Seaver's on the 1965 Alaska Goldpanners."

The top hitter in the Western Carolinas League comes as no surprise. Bob Robertson, a 19 year old corner infielder with the Gastonia Pirates gets the nod after winning the triple crown in that loop. Robertson played 123 games for Gastonia, batting .343 with 39 homers and 119 rbi's.

30 year old Eddie Picker of the Decatur(SF) Commodores was named the top pitcher in the Midwest League. Among the oldest players in Class A, Picker was 12-6 with a 3.02 era in 22 starts while averaging nearly a strikeout an inning. He has been in the minors, first with the Dodgers and now the Giants organization, since 1955. Picker has yet to appear in a major league game but has 117 career minor league wins.

Picker edged out 21 year old Blue Moon Odom of the Burlington (KC) Bees. Odom was 13-3 with a 2.34 era in 21 starts before moving to AA Mobile in July. He was 5-4, 2.06 at AA.

[Tiger Fan]

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 20, 1966

NOTE - Funny how you can get caught up in different things in this game. The delay for this post is because after watching the International League tiebreaker I have now felt the need to watch the International League playoff series be played out.


Quite a finish to the International League season as the Toronto Maple Leafs and Rochester Red Wings needed a 1-game tiebreaker to determine the second playoff participant. First place went to the Buffalo Bisons as the Reds AAA affiliate finished 82-65 despite limping home with a 7-8 record in Septemnber.

The Rochester Red Wings started the month of September four games ahead of the third place Maple Leafs but heading into the final weekend of the season the Wings hold on second place was just 1 game. Rochester, the Orioles affilate, would visit Toronto (BOS) in a 3 game set the final weekend.

The Leafs took the opener 3-1 thanks to a homerun from 33 year old shortstop Arnold Hallgren that accounted for all of their offense. Jim Stump, a 34 year old journeyman who pitched 4 games for the 1958 Detroit Tigers, went the distance in his first AAA start of the season to help the Leafs pull even with the Red Wings.

Toronto then went a game ahead in the standings with a 6-5 victory on Saturday setting up Sunday's game to decide who would face the Bisons in the International League Series.

On Sunday 25 year old Baltimore prospect Dave Leonard(12-10) pitched 7 strong innings for the Red Wings while the Leafs' Francis Kasheta (9-5) was even better as he held the Wings scoreless on 1 hit through 7 innings. Trailing 2-0 in the top of the 8th inning Rochester got a lead-off single from Steven Bach for just the second hit off of Kasheta. 2 batters later Kasheta's day would be over as Armando Murillo hit a line drive double to plate Bach and make the score 2-1 Leafs. Reliever Don Schwall would come in and get Toronto out of the inning with a pair of strikeouts.

We head to the top of the 9th with the score still 2-1 Toronto and the Leafs three outs away from the playoffs. Tommie Aaron, Hank's younger brother who's MLB career so far consisted of 28 games for Milwaukee over the 1963 and 1964 seasons, reached on a throwing error that allowed him to go to second base. An Artie Dillon ground out moved Aaron, who represented the tying run to third base and he would race home on a 2-out wild pitch from Schwall to tie the game and keep the Red Wings season alive.

In the top of the 10th another error allowed Rochester's lead-off man, Joseph Cintron, to reach base and the 30 year old outfielder who split the year between the Red Wings and AA Elmira would steal second for his 15 theft of the season. A sacrifice bunt would move him to third with one out and, after Aaron grounded back to the pitcher the Orioles would get an rbi single from Thomas Newton to take a 3-2 lead. Rochester would tack on another run and then 25 year old reliever Ken Sanders would close out the Leafs in the 10th to give Rochester a 4-2 win forcing the need for a tiebreaker.

Tuesday's tiebreaker to determine an opponent for the first place Buffalo Bisons took place in Toronto and featured two decent young pitching prospects. The hometown Leafs gave the ball to Luke Walker, a 23 year old who was 7-1 for Toronto since being promoted from the AA Pittsfield Red Sox. Walker was ranked the 95th best prospect in April. His opponent for Rochester would be 21 year old second year pro Bill Dillman. Dillman began the season by going 8-6 for AA Elmira before moving up to AAA where he was 3-5, 3.11 for Rochester so far this season. In real life both would go on to pitch in the major leagues but at this point in the sim each is a young prospect trying to make his mark.

Walker was the more impressive of the two on this day as he pitched 6 innings holding Rochester to just 1 run on 6 hits. Dillman lasted seven innings for the Red Wings but left for a pinch-hitter with his club trailing 4-1. Only 2 of the runs were earned and they both came on a one out homerun from Spencer Scott in the bottom of the seventh. Scott has had an interesting career. He played 7 years in the minors in real life, never advancing past AA. In the sim the catcher got 8 major league at bats as a teenager with the Chicago Cubs in 1958 and 1959. He would get his first major league hit in '58 as an 18 year old and would not get another major league plate appearance until 1965 when the now 25 year old catcher went 3-for-3 for Boston as a pinch-hitter. This season he spent the bulk of the year at AA Pittsfield but hit .286 in 19 games for Toronto and also had 3 more plate appearances in a brief callup by Boston, but he went hitless with 2 strikeouts this time up.

Back to the game, with Toronto up 4-1 heading to the 8th inning the Leafs gave the ball to Don Schwall, the 30 year old who's wild pitch cost the Leafs a chance to win their last game and avoid this tiebreaker. Schwall is not all bad, he was 4-2 with 9 saves and a 2.01 era for the Leafs this season. He also made 1 relief appearance for the parent Red Sox. He did not factor in the decision that game but his 3-7 in 65 major league appearances, mostly in relief, over his career.

Despite a pair of walks, Schwall escaped the 8th inning unscathed and the game moved on to the ninth with Toronto 3 outs away from it's second playoff berth in 3 years. The Maple Leafs are a charter member of the International League, having been in the loop continuously since 1898, but have not won a league playoff title since 1949 on a team led by a then 23 year old Harvey Haddix, who would go on to win 119 career major league games.

Barry Shetrone, a 28 year old who had a couple of very brief call-ups by the Orioles in his career, led off the 9th inning for Rochester with a single off Schwall. Robert Wetzel popped out and the Robert Halaska reached on a fielder's choice that retired Shetrone. The Red Wings were down to their final out with Tommie Aaron coming to the plate with a runner on first. Aaron worked Schwall for a walk as did the next hitter Terry Sparks and suddenly the Red Wings had the bases loaded with 2 out. Artie Dillon, a 30 year old outfielder who hit .250 during the season, cut the Toronto lead to 4-2 with a single that moved everyone up 90 feet. The lead now 4-2, Toronto elected to leave Schwall in to face Steven Bach and the Red Wing catcher orchestrated a line drive single to center field. Tommie Aaron easily scored and Terry Sparks crossed the plate with the tying run as the Leafs cutoff the throw home and gunned out Artie Dillon at third to end the inning. However, the damage had been done as Toronto gave up a 4-1 lead in the ninth inning and allowed Rochester to tie the game.

Don Nottebart, who came on in the 8th innig for Rochester, retired Bob Tillman before giving way to Ken Sanders who got the final two outs of the inning to send us to extras.

Rochester got a two-out single from Shetrone in the top of the 10th and Robert Wetzel followed with a walk but the Red Wings failed to take advantage of the opportunity. The Leafs went down in order in the 10th. On to the 11th we go and Rochester had another base run thanks to a walk by Leafs reliever Rob Snow but Snow got a pair of strikeouts to escape the inning. It was another 1-2-3 inning for the Red Wings as new pitcher Frank Bertaina set Toronto down in order in the bottom of the 11th.

Rochester gambled and lost in the top of the 12th. Joseph Cintron hit a one out single and promptly stole second base. After Shetrone, who had 2 hits already in the game, was intentionally walked, Cintron tried to steal third but he was thrown out by Toronto catcher Spencer Scott for the second out. Wetzel would fly out to end the inning.

38 year old pinch-hitter Billy Harrell was called on to lead off the bottom of the 12th for Toronto. Harrell, who has been in pro ball since 1952 and has played 166 major league games to go along with over 1200 in the minors, started the inning off with a double. It looked like Rochester's Bertaina was going to get out of the inning when he got Arnold Hallgren to fly out and Dennis Loudenback on strikes. After an intentional walk to Spencer Scott, Robert Maness loaded the bases with a bloop single. That brought Joe M Morgan (the one who managed Boston for a few years not the member of the Big Red Machine) to the plate with 2 out and a playoff berth on the line. Morgan, who is 35 and been around the minors forever but his only major league action consisted of 8 games (and 1-for-7 at the plate) for the 1956 Cincinnati Reds, hit just .175 in 123 games for the Leafs this season. He was 0-for-1 in this game after being inserted for his defense at third. Morgan would be the hero when he stroked a 2-1 pitch just past the Rochester shortstop to score Harrell and send Toronto to the playoffs with a 5-4 victory.

It was one of the very few minor league games I have watched but few, major or minor that I did watch, have rivaled it for excitement.

The International Series is presently tied 1-1 after the Bisons took the opener 9-5 and Toronto rebounded with a 5-2 win in Game Two. Chico Heron, who was 1-for-3 in the tiebreaker before being replaced by Joe Morgan, has been the star of the series so far with 2 homers, 4 rbi's and is 6-for-9 through the first two games. The 30 year old spent 9 years in the minors in real life. In the sim he started as an 18 year old and was finally rewarded with his first trip to the major leagues this season as a 30 year old. In a brief May call-up he went 0-for-2 with 2 strikeouts as a pinch-hitter and was quickly returned to AAA. With the Leafs he played 81 games this season and hit .303.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1966
PENNANT RACES WINDING DOWN

While the National League race has been decided the American League is still in doubt. The Cincinnati Reds reached the 100 win plateau this week and clinched their second straight National League crown. Meanwhile, with a week to go the Cleveland Indians hold a 2.5 game lead on the defending champion New York Yankees atop the American League.

The Indians, with a magic number of 4, have 5 games remaining. All of Cleveland's games are on the road starting with two in Minnesota before finishing with a 3 game weekend series against the Angels in California. The Yankees also finish out on the road with 3 games in Washington against the last place Senators before heading to Chicago for the weekend.

Neither of the American League contenders enjoyed a particularly successful week. The Indians split a pair at home with Minnesota before dropping 2 of three in Kansas City. New York was 3-2 at home this week as the Yankees beat the White Sox 4-2 on Tuesday before splitting a 4 game series with the Boston Red Sox.

Bad news for Yankee fans as veteran pitcher Whitey Ford was injured late in a 1-0 loss to Boston. Ford, who was working on a 3 hitter, was forced to leave the game in the ninth inning with elbow problems. He will undergo surgery this week and is expected to miss a full year which might spell the end of a great career for the 37 year old. Ford, who was 13-7 with a 3.04 era this season, is 273-138 in a major league career that includes 5 Cy Young Awards and 2 World Series titles.

The news got worse for New York on Sunday when 30 year old Dick Howser suffered a season ending calf injury. The 30 year started 130 games this season and was hitting .224. Journeyman Ronny Camacho (.242,2,13 in 52 games) will take Howser's spot at third base for the Yankees while David Wittmer (6-3) moves from the pen into the rotation to replace Ford.


Player of the week honours went to Al Kaline and Frank Robinson. Detroit outfielder Kaline went 10-for-20 with 2 homers to capture the AL award. The 31 year old is batting .296 with 27 homers and 87 rbi's on the season. 31 year old Reds outfielder Frank Robinson moved a step closer to a triple crown by going 7-for-13 with 4 homers and 7 rbi's to help the Reds clinch the National League crown. Robinson is comfortably ahead in homeruns (48) and rbi's(132) while his .352 average has him .004 ahead of injured Atlanta Brave Joe Torre. Robinson may miss the rest of the season as the Reds held him out of games Saturday and Sunday due to a mild oblique strain.


OTHER NOTES - Reds top prospect, 18 year old catcher Johnny Bench finished a strong season with the Pennisula Grays of the Class A Carolina League. Bench started 104 games and finished with a .293 batting average along with 24 homers and 78 rbi's. His numbers were good but were overshadowed by 21 year old Tony Horton of the Winston-Salem Red Sox, who won the league's triple crown.

The Pacific Coast League regular season came to an end with the Phoenix Giants finishing with the league's best record at 90-58. The Giants, winners of the East Division, relied on the league's best pitching staff including Rich Robertson(11-5) and Bob Reynolds (14-5), both of whom were promoted to San Francisco in early September. The West Division went to the Spokane(LA) Indians, who finished a game ahead of the Seattle Angels. Spokane's Jim Barbieri (.337,9,55) won the league batting title but won't be around for the playoffs as he was promoted to Los Angeles. The Indians will have the PCL's winningest pitcher this season in their rotation as Stan Williams (15-8, 3.11) will be counted on to lead them in the Pacific Series.

23 year old third baseman Bobby Etheridge of the Decatur Commodores was named the Midwest League's top player. The San Francisco farmhand hit .307 with 14 homers and 50 rbi's before a late season promotion to Fresno. In his third season, Etheridge has yet to progress beyond A ball.

20 year old Leroy Stanton had a 5-hit game for the Auburn Mets in a 9-7 win over the Oneonta Red Sox in New York-Penn League action this week. The NY-Penn League season came to an end with the Jamestown Dodgers claiming first place and they will face the Binghamton Triplets, a Yankee farm team, in the league championship series. 20 year old Dodgers 2B Billy Grabarkewitz was the star of the league, finishing first in batting average (.319) and rbi's (89) and second to Binghamton's Joe Pactwa (30) in homers with 24.

[Tiger Fan]

OSCAR ZAMORA

Reading the news article below certainly brought back some memories of my youth. As a kid growing up in Ontario, Canada I started collecting hockey cards around the age of 5 or 6 but I never saw baseball cards until I got my first packs as a 10 year old in the summer of 1975. Oscar Zamora's headshot picture -at the bottom below - was one of the first baseball cards I remember getting. I only got a few packs that summer but the following year it seemed every other pack I bought came with an Oscar Zamora card. He became one of my favourite players because of that fact, despite the fact I am almost certain I never saw him pitch in a game on tv and the other obvious fact - he was not very good. The real life Zamora bounced around the minors for a decade before finally making his major league debut in 1974 with the Cubs, prompting that headshot 1975 card and the much nicer 1976 version that I seemed to find so easily. In all, he pitched 158 games, all but 2 in relief, for the Cubs and Astros from 1974-78 and was 13-14 with 23 saves and a 4.53 career era.

I am sure we all have similar stories of relative unknowns who someone became players we followed. Here's hoping that Eastern League reliever of the year award is a sign of great things to come in this sim for one of my favourite players from my childhood.

[JaBurns]

Was the IL a 147 game schedule, or is it rainouts not made up for the season?
147 seems strange to me.

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Was the IL a 147 game schedule, or is it rainouts not made up for the season?
147 seems strange to me.

Was 147 games and looking at baseball reference the real schedule was 147 as well. Agree, it seems to be a strange number to use. The PCL in my sim for 1966 had a 148 game schedule.


Edit. Guess the IL schedule was 21 games vs each opponent

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1966

Both the Indians and Yankees had the day off so no change in the American League race. The Detroit Tigers swept a doubleheader from California, with Al Kaline homering twice in the opening game and Bob Bruce tossing a complete game 3-hit shutout in the nightcap. The victories move the Tigers 3 games above .500 on the season. Detroit has been the hottest team in the American League of late, winning 12 of their last 17 games.

In the International League Series the Toronto Maple Leafs beat Buffalo 4-3 to take a 2 games to one lead on the Bisons. Luke Walker pitched 7 innings, fanning 6 and allowing just two runs to lead the Leafs to the win. The Pacific Coast League Series also played game three today as the Spokane Indians beat the Phoenix Giants 11-4 to go up 2 games to one.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 27, 1966

The Indians moved a step closer to their first pennant since 1951 as they beat Minnesota 6-0 to open a two game set with the Twins. Denny Lemaster tossed a 4-hit gem for his 20th win of the season as the Tribe staked him to a quick 4-0 lead in the top of the first. Max Alvis' (.243,12,61) 3-run bomb off losing pitcher Jim Kaat (9-13) provided more than enough offense for Lemaster (20-7).

The Indians record improved to 97-61, 3 and a half games ahead of the New York Yankees, who were beaten 5-2 by the lowly Washington Senators. Second baseman Ronald Smith (.223,8,41) led Washington with 3 hits and a pair of rbi's. The Senators remain tied with the 1956 Kansas City Athletics and the 1962 expansion Houston Colt 45's for the most losses in a season (117). The Athletics played just 154 games to reach that total.

Other notes from today include Luis Tiant pitching 8 and two-thirds of shutout ball, allowing just 2 hits to lead his Pittsburgh Pirates past Philadelphia 3-0. The 25 year old Tiant is 11-8 with a 2.59 era on the season. In Cincinnati, the Reds blanked Houston 2-0 as Jim Maloney (18-7, 2.18) allowed just 4 hits. Frank Robinson missed his third game in a row for Cincinnati.


In AAA playoff action the Buffalo Bisons scored all of their runs in the 5th inning to beat Toronto 6-3 and even their best of seven International League series at 2 wins apiece. Bisons shortstop Blair Beatty hit a grand slam in the big inning. The real life Beatty played just 2 seasons of minor league ball but the sim version has bounced around since 1954 and has played 78 major league games in his career, batting just .178. He did win 2 World Series titles with the Reds in 1960 and 1962 but appeared only as a defensive replacement.

In the PCL, Spokane beat Phoenix for the third straight game to take a 3 games to one series lead on the Giants. This one was by a 4-2 score and needed 13 innings to decide. Frank Cernosek hit a walk-off 2-run homer, his 4th hit of the game to give the Indians the victory. The 28 year old Dodger farmhand is playing in his third straight postseason - the previous two were with AA Albuquerque in the Texas League - and has been in the Dodger system since 1961. He was promoted to AAA for the first time this season and batted .215 with 6 homers and 19 rbis in 64 regular season games with Spokane. The real life Cernosek never advanced past A ball and played just 2 seasons.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 28, 1966

The Indians lead is back down to 2.5 games as Cleveland fell 5-2 in Minnesota while the Yankees handed the Senators their record 118th loss of the season in a 9-6 New York victory.

Don Lock(.231,22,63) and Curt Blefary(.298,24,81) each homered for New York as the Yankees improved to 94-64 on the season. Cleveland's record dropped to 97-62 as Lee Stange (15-9, 3.06) of Minnesota outpitched the Indians Steve Hargan (15-13, 2.61). Max Alvis extended his hitting streak to 9 games with 3 of the Indians 9 hits on the day.

Other highlights from around the majors included Ron Santo (.326,31,93) going 3-for-3 with a homer and 3 rbi's to lead the Cubs to a 9-3 win over the Mets. St Louis Cardinal Bob Gibson (16-9, 2.37) shutout the Los Angeles Dodgers 1-0 on 6 hits. Sandy Koufax (17-11, 1.92) allowed just 5 hits while fanning 8 over 7 innings to take the loss. The 8 k's bring Koufax's total to 273 on the season, 10 more than runner up Jim Maloney of Cincinnati as Koufax bids to lead the National League in that category for the 10th straight year.

25 year old rookie Lloyd Fourroux continues to impress for the Atlanta Braves. Fourroux improved to 5-3 on the season with a 3-hit, 4-1 win over San Francisco. The converted outfielder was acquired from Baltimore in the off-season.

Frank Robinson should win the triple crown as the Reds have announced he will not play the rest of the season and might even miss the start of the World Series. The 31 year old Robinson (.352,48,132) is bidding to become the first National League triple crown winner since Hack Wilson won 3 straight in the mid-1920s.

In AAA playoff action the Buffalo Bisons beat Toronto 3-2 and now lead the International League Series by the same 3-2 count. Catcher Randy Hundley led the Bisons with 2 hits including a run scoring single that proved the difference in the contest.

Phoneix stayed alive in the PCL Series with a 9-2 pounding of Spokane. The Giants return home trailing the Indians 3 games to two. Tom Burgmeier went the distance for the second time in the series, improving to 2-0 with a 1.00 series ERA. The 23 year old, who appeared in 3 major league games for Houston as an 18 year old, was acquired by the Giants from Houston in 1964.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 29, 1966

The only American League game saw the New York Yankees fall 3 games behind the front-running Cleveland Indians following a 2-0 loss in Washington. Bob Buhl (5-17, 4.42) and reliever Al Worthington (16sv) combined on a 4-hit shutout to beat Yankee starter Fritz Peterson (17-9, 2.38). Both Washington runs came courtesy of rbi hits off the bat of Senators outfielder William Stevens. The 28 year old rookie is batting .274 in 135 at bats for Washington this season. The loss leaves the Yankees with no room for error as they are 3 back of the Indians with 3 to play. The Indians head to California for a season ending series with the Angels knowing 1 win or a Yankee loss to the White Sox over the weekend will send Cleveland to the World Series for the first time in 15 years.

Elsewhere of note, Ray Sadecki (15-15, 3.30) tossed a complete game shutout as St Louis blanked Los Angeles for the second straight game, this one by a 4-0 score. Twenty year old rookie Bobby Tolan had 3 hits, including a pair of homers, and 5 rbi's to pace Pittsburgh past Atlanta 8-7. In Cincinnati, Tony Perez(.288,22,93) hit a walk off homer for the Reds in a 3-2 win over Houston. It was the Reds 102nd win of the season.

Today was a travel day in both of the AAA playoff series.

[JaBurns]

Frank Robinson has a triple crown all but sewn up in the NL, like following this dynasty. These are all names from when I started to follow baseball but with a few interesting twists.....One I can think of right now is "What if Robinson doesn't go to Baltimore?".

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Frank Robinson has a triple crown all but sewn up in the NL, like following this dynasty. These are all names from when I started to follow baseball but with a few interesting twists.....One I can think of right now is "What if Robinson doesn't go to Baltimore?".

Thanks again for following along. I have never slowed down and focused heavily on the sixties in a long term sim before. As much as I love playing out the 1930's and 40's I am finding this to be so much more fun as, like you, these are all the names I learned as I started following the game as a kid in the early 1970s. Just wish my Tigers had Lolich and McLain for a 1968 run but doesn't look like they will contend in the foreseeable future.

As for Frank Robinson, well Cincinnati is stacked. Keeping Robinson with all of the talent they have now makes them so dominant. And it will only get worse for the rest of the National League as you still have an 18 year old Johnny Bench, a 19 year old Bernie Carbo and a 21 year old Hal McRae in the system. Pitching might become a bit of a concern going forward but they should have Don Gullett and Ross Grimsley coming in to the game in the next few years.

The Dodgers need Koufax and Drysdale to stick around and a bit more offense to show up. I don't normally play with recalc turned on so will be interesting for me to see what Koufax does after his real life career ends, which happened following the 1966 season.

The Giants should have some big years with a good balance between pitching and hitting with the likes of Juan Marichal, Gaylord Perry, Bobby Bonds, Jim Ray Hart, Willie McCovey all in their twenties.

The Mets pitching going forward is looking, well amazing I guess is the best word. The current projection for their future rotation is Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, Nolan Ryan, Steve Renko and Gary Bell.

In the American League the Orioles really need a Frank Robinson type player. They have a great rotation already and Jim Palmer waiting in the wings but they have some real holes in their offense. The Red Sox are the complete opposite. They could really use Luis Tiant, who is a Pirate in this sim, as their offense is the best in the game- even better than the Reds - and they still have Amos Otis, Tony Horton (who won the Triple Crown in the Carolina League) and George Scott in the system. Boston's pitching is among the worst staffs in baseball and I don't think there is much talent coming. Boston does have enough pieces offensively to make a deal or two for pitching so that is what they likely have to do in order to contend for a pennant. With all of their offense, I can't believe they are 5th.

[Tiger Fan]

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 30, 1966
INDIANS CLINCH PENNANT

The Cleveland Indians learned while they were on the field in California that they were American League champions after word filtered from Chicago that the White Sox had beaten the New York Yankees 3-1. That news took the sting out of the Indians 1-0 loss to the Angels as California's Marty Pattin(4-8, 4.10) tossed a 3-hit shutout.

The Indians could get nothing going offensively against the 24 year old Pattin, with just 1 Cleveland base runner advancing as a far as second in the contest. Cleveland's Sam McDowell (17-8, 2.02) - the reigning Cy Young winner - was nearly as effective, allowing 1 run on 4 hits in taking the loss. Ed Kirkpatick (.228,13,58) hit a second inning double for the only extra base hit of the contest. Kirkpatrick scored on a two out single off the bat of Angels 2B Dick Hogan (.219,15,51) for the game's only run.

The Indians still need finish out the season with two more games against the Angels but their focus now turns to the mighty Cincinnati Reds in what will be just the second all-Ohio World Series in major league history. The Indians are hoping for a repeat of the first one, when they beat the Reds in 7 games.

As for the defending American League champion Yankees, they came into the weekend knowing it was near impossible task just to force a playoff tiebreaker. New York had to win all three against the White Sox and hope the Angels swept the Tribe. Fred Valentine (.218,11,51), the 31 year old Chicago outfielder, ensured that wasn't going to happen as he paced the White Sox attack with 3 hits including a 2-run double. Chicago managed just 5 hits off of veteran Yankee pitcher Jim Bunning (17-9, 2.47) but made the most of their opportunities. The White Sox got a strong performance from Larry Jackson (6-22, 3.43) who, to say the least, has had a rough year and received little in the way of run support. In 15 of his 35 starts Chicago scored 1 run or less.

In National League play the Cincinnati Reds remain at 102 wins after running into Rico Carty and the Atlanta Braves. Carty (.331,28,96) had 4 hits including a homerun and drove in 4 runs to lead Atlanta to an 11-5 win over the Reds in Cincinnati. Reds triple crown candidate Frank Robinson did not play and will sit out the remainder of the weekend. He is one of several Reds that are banged up. Pitcher Jim O'Toole (10-9, 4.27) and shortstop Cookie Rojas (.290,0,19) are also nursing minor injuries while infielder Pete Rose (.310,10,81) is expected to miss the World Series as he recovers from a separated shoulder.

OTHER MAJOR LEAGUE NOTES - Dodgers righthander Don Drysdale (20-8, 1.80) got the win in Los Angeles's 4-3 victory over Philadelphia to give him his third career twenty win season. The 30 year old, who has 2 Cy Young Awards and 6 all-star appearances on his resume, is 185-84 over his 11 major league seasons.

The monthly awards for September were handed out. Detroit's Al Kaline (.299,29,89) and Reds outfielder Frank Robinson (.352,48,132) were named players of the month. The top pitcher awards went to Cincinnati's Jim Maloney (18-7, 2.18) and Milt Papas (15-8, 2.56) of the Baltimore Orioles while the rookie winners were Cleveland outfielder Tommie Agee (.284,29,90) and recent callup 20 year old Bobby Tolan (.318,5,20) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.


Frank Cernosek had two hits including an rbi double to help the Spokane Indians beat the Phoenix Giants 4-3 and win the Pacific Coast League playoff in 6 games. Cernosek, a 28 year outfielder, hit .385 (10-26) in the series after splitting the season between Spokane and Albuquerque. It caps quite a year for the Los Angeles Dodgers minor league system, of which Spokane is a part. Five of the Dodgers six minor league affiliates made the playoffs this year with Spokane, Santa Barbara and Ogden all winning post-season titles and the NY-Penn League's Jamestown Dodgers still in the midst of their playoff series with Binghamton. Jamestown lost 7-4 to Binghamton on Friday and trail their series 3 games to two.

The Buffalo Bisons won their 9th International League title in franchise history after knocking off the Toronto Maple Leafs in 6 games. The Bisons won game six at home 3-2 behind 6 strong innings from starter Wayne McAlpin and 3 perfect innings of relief out of 25 year old Casey Cox. Cox earned 3 saves in the series and did not allow a run in 7 1/3 innings of work. He made his major league debut this season with the Reds, going 1-1, 2.70 in 3 relief appearances in August.

Minor league awards announced today included 28 year old Art Quirk of the Elmira(BAL) Pioneers being named the Eastern League pitcher of the year. The lefthander was 10-5 with a 2.51 era before a late season promotion to AAA Rochester. The best player in the Eastern League was Williamsport(NYM) Mets outfielder Al Yates. Promoted from A ball in May, the 21 year old hit .326 with 12 homers and 54 rbi's in 73 games to nose out teammate Ed Kranepool (.353,7,49) and Pawtucket's Vern Fuller(.287,13,67) for the award.

The Appalachian League pitcher of the year went to 18 year old Boston prospect Ken Brett. The lefthander was 5-1 with a 2.58 era for the Covington Red Sox after being promoted from Oneonta of the NY-Penn League. Another Red Sox, 20 year old first baseman Frederick Wolcott, was named the Appalachian League's top player. The first year pro hit .335 with a league high 10 homers and 41 rbi's.


Albuquerque Dodgers Alan Foster was named the top hurler and the Most Valuable Player in the Texas League. The 19 year old started the season in Santa Barbara before going 11-7 with a 2.08 era for Albuquerque. He pitched 5 shutouts and 19 of his 22 starts were considered quality starts.

Tom Hall of the Charlotte Hornets outpointed Mobile A's Fred Norman for the top pitcher award in the Southern League. The 18 year old Hall, a Minnesota Twin prospect, went 11-6 with a 2.44 era before moving up to AAA Denver where he was 3-0. Hall had 208 strikeouts in 177 innings in the Southern League, which is a record for the now 3 year old loop. He also set the league single-game record when he fanned 16 Knoxville batters in a July game. Charlotte's John Donaldson was named the MVP of the league. The 23 year old second baseman hit .288 with 8 homers and 63 rbi's.

Fresno Giants righthander Larry Tolliver was named the California League MVP and pitcher of the year. The 21 year old was 14-5 with a 2.25 era for the Giants to finish ahead of Charlie Hough of the Santa Barbara Dodgers in the top pitcher voting. Hough was third in MVP voting as Santa Barbara teammate Jim Fairey claimed second place behind Tolliver.

[Tiger Fan]

MONDAY OCTOBBER 3, 1966
ROBINSON WINS TRIPLE CROWN

Despite missing the final week of the season with an injury, Cincinnati Reds outfielder Frank Robinson won the triple crown, leading the National League in batting average (.352), homeruns (48) and RBI's (132). Robinson, who led the majors and not just the National League in all 3 of those categories, becomes the first National Leaguer to win a triple crown since Hack Wilson of the Philadelphia Phillies did it three straight seasons from 1926-28.

Here are the Major League triple crown winners

1901	Nap Lajoie	PHI 18 Home Runs, .424/.472/.649, 134 RBI and 128 Runs in 575 AB, 11.5 WAR	
1922	Rogers Hornsby	STL 31 Home Runs, .437/.496/.716, 127 RBI and 124 Runs in 591 AB, 11.5 WAR	
1923	Rogers Hornsby	STL 27 Home Runs, .457/.532/.753, 135 RBI and 135 Runs in 523 AB, 12.5 WAR	
1926	Hack Wilson	PHI 34 Home Runs, .409/.496/.668, 137 RBI and 126 Runs in 585 AB, 12.0 WAR	
1927	Hack Wilson	PHI 32 Home Runs, .366/.456/.641, 113 RBI and 126 Runs in 552 AB, 10.5 WAR	
1928	Hack Wilson	PHI 42 Home Runs, .407/.482/.715, 158 RBI and 141 Runs in 600 AB, 12.3 WAR	
1932	Jimmie Foxx	CLE 50 Home Runs, .395/.490/.782, 152 RBI and 148 Runs in 547 AB, 12.6 WAR	
1939	Johnny Mize	WSH 35 Home Runs, .351/.427/.646, 140 RBI and 126 Runs in 587 AB, 7.2 WAR	
1942	Ted Williams	BOS 50 Home Runs, .397/.527/.752, 136 RBI and 137 Runs in 536 AB, 12.9 WAR	
1946	Ted Williams	BOS 33 Home Runs, .354/.499/.636, 128 RBI and 129 Runs in 539 AB, 10.7 WAR	
1954	Ted Williams	BOS 48 Home Runs, .397/.514/.718, 144 RBI and 130 Runs in 557 AB, 12.8 WAR	
1957	Mickey Mantle	NYY 47 Home Runs, .368/.501/.698, 121 RBI and 132 Runs in 516 AB, 12.9 WAR	
1966	Frank Robinson	CIN 48 Home Runs, .352/.429/.670, 132 RBI and 116 Runs in 566 AB, 10.6 WAR

Robinson's 48 homers tie him with 4 others for the 14th most homeruns in a season. The major league record is 64 set by Joe Adcock of the Phillies in 1959. Robinson's career best is 52, which he hit in 1959 and makes him one of just 10 players to hit 50 round-trippers in a season.

Here are the top 20 single season homerun leaders:

RNK     NAME            TM  HR  YEAR
1	Joe Adcock 	PHI 64	1959
2	Ernie Banks 	CHN 60	1956
3	Ralph Kiner	PIT 55	1948
4	Willie Stargell PIT 54	1965
5	Howard Murdeski	PHI 52	1945
5	Frank Robinson#	CIN 52	1959
7	Johnny Mize*	WSH 51	1947
8	Ted Williams	BOS 50	1942
8	Jimmie Foxx*	CLE 50	1932
8	Ralph Kiner	PIT 50	1950
11	Jimmie Foxx*	CLE 49	1930
11	Chuck Klein*	PHI 49	1930
11	Jim Gentile 	LA  49	1961
14	Ted Williams	BOS 48	1954
14	Al Rosen	STL 48	1953
14	Orlando Cepeda  BOS 48	1961
14	Mickey Mantle 	NYY 48	1962
14	Frank Robinson 	CIN 48	1966
19	Roger Maris 	CLE 47	1960
19	Boog Powell 	BAL 47	1962
19	Mickey Mantle 	NYY 47	1957

Robinson's 132 rbi's are tied for the 49th highest single season total with Stan Musial (1956), Lou Gehrig(1930) and Jimmie Foxx (also 1930). The single season rbi record is 166 set in 1887 by Sam Thompson while the modern day mark belongs to Joe Adcock, who drove in 160 runs for the 1959 Phillies.


A couple of major league notes today. The first involves bad news for the Minnesota Twins as 32 year old pitcher Camilo Pascual (10-8, 9sv) will be sidelined with an arm injury for 9 months. Pascual appreared in 55 games, all but 11 in relief this season, and has a lifetime record of 165-134. He won a Cy Young Award in 1958, which was the first of his two career 20-win seasons.

Orlando Cepeda led the American League in batting for the third consecutive season. Cepeda, despite being limited to 118 games, still hit 20 homers and drove in 68 while batting .326. His numbers are down from both 1964, when he hit .353 with 42 homers and 145 rbi's and last season when he batted .345 with a league leading 45 homers and 136 rbi's.


WORLD SERIES NOTES - Both the Indians and Reds have some injuries heading into the Fall Classic. Cleveland will be without Jim Perry (9-4,3.58) as the 30 year old pitcher is recovering from elbow surgery. Meanwhile, Steve Hargan (15-13, 2.60) may miss a start as the 24 year old is day-to-day with a nagging back injury.

The Reds say Frank Robinson will be ready to play in Game One after missing a week but shortstop Cookie Rojas (.295,0,21) status is unknown as he deals with a hip strain. 2B Pete Rose is close to returning from a seperated shoulder but the series will have to go deep in order for him to return.

Here are the final 1966 standings and league leaders:

[Tiger Fan]

Here are the stats for each of the World Series participants.

[JaBurns]

Ernie Banks a Twin! Say it ain’t so!
Joe Nuxhall lasted on long time did he debut as a 16 year old as in real life?

[actionjackson]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Ernie Banks a Twin! Say it ain’t so!
Joe Nuxhall lasted on long time did he debut as a 16 year old as in real life?

Nuxhall debuted on June 10th in his age 15 season at 15 years 316 days old. Because he didn't turn 16 until after the June 30th cutoff date, it is still considered his age 15 season. Isn't Ernie Banks being a Twin appropriate though? After all, he's the one who was always saying "Let's play two!". What's that? Ok, I'll show myself out...

[Tiger Fan]

Originally Posted by JaBurns

Ernie Banks a Twin! Say it ain’t so!
Joe Nuxhall lasted on long time did he debut as a 16 year old as in real life?

One of the downfalls of using 3 year ratings recalculate instead of the player development engine can be illustrated in the career of Ernie Banks. In real life Banks had the worst season of his career in 1963 when, limited to 130 games, he batted just .227 - almost .050 below his career average. I expect Banks also saw his shortstop rating decrease substantially as he moved from shortstop to 1B in real life in 1962.

In the sim he took a ratings hit that off-season and was released by the Cubs after spring training 1963. 31 year old Joe Cunningham was acquired from St Louis that off-season after hitting .266 with 7 homers and 46 rbi's in 155 games with the Cardinals. Banks had more pop, with 28 homers and 102 rbi's and batted .262 at the same age as Cunningham. I guess the Cubs decided Banks was on the downside of his career, so they cut him and gave the 1B job to Cunningham. With Jim Lemon retiring Minnesota had a hole at first base and immediately signed Banks just days after the Cubs cut him loose.

Banks has played the last 4 seasons for the Twins, batting .263 with 70 homeruns during that time. He is certainly not the player he was with the Cubs, where he made 7 all-star appearances, won 2 MVP awards and 6 gold gloves, but he has been a solid player. He was a starter in 1963 and 1964 but spent 1965 backing up Harmon Killebrew. This year the Twins gave him back the everyday first base job as Killebrew switched between third base and the outfield until Banks season came to an end in early September due to a broken wrist.

Now 35 years old, Banks may be nearing the end of the line but he lasted a lot longer than the Cubs thought he would. He also lasted longer than Cunningham - the man who replaced him in Chicago. Cunningham spent just 3 seasons with the Cubs and his numbers declined every year before retiring at the end of last season after being demoted to AAA late in the year.

Banks greatest years were with the Cubs and he remains the franchise's all-time homerun leader with 336 and among the leaders in several other categories. Every award he won came as a Cub but his Chicago career lasted just 10 seasons so in this universe the nickname "Mr Cub" perhaps may one day more rightly belong to Ron Santo or perhaps Tony Lazzeri, who played more games in a Cubs uniform than anyone else. Or maybe, Lou Brock will lay claim to the moniker, as Brock was not dealt away to St Louis and is becoming a stolen base threat at the age of 27, having just led the NL in steals two straight seasons. So Cubs fans may have lost Ernie Banks early in this sim but Lou Brock in his prime might be a fair trade off. One thing that has not changed, Banks has yet to play in a World Series.

JOE NUXHALL

Nuxhall has been around since the age of 15 but did not make his major league debut in the sim until the Brooklyn Dodgers called him up in 1952 at the age of 23. The fact that he is still pitching in 1966 at the age of 38 is nothing short of amazing since his career was interrupted by three serious injuries, one of which sidelined Nuxhall for over two years.

Originally signed by the Reds, Nuxhall won 17 games for AA Birmingham in his first pro season and by the time he was 17 he was ranked the #12 prospect in the game. Following the 1946 season the Reds sent him to the Giants in exchange for 28 year old outfielder Sid Gordon, who would go on to make 3 all-star teams and play the last 9 seasons of his career in Cincinnati.

Nuxhall's first serious injury, a torn UCL came midway through the 1947 season and he would not return until the following May. Now in Class D ball in the Giants organization, Nuxhall went 12-11 with 4 shutouts with 3 different minor league clubs in 1948. He was 16-8 for Class DE Richmond in 1949 but injury struck again early the following season costing him another 9 months on the sidelines.

Nuxhall returned in 1951 and made his first appearance at the AAA level, first with Minneapolis and later Ottawa, going 12-12 with a 3.86 era but still no call-up to the major leagues. He did get a call from the Giants at the end of the 1951 season but it was to inform Joe he had been dealt to Brooklyn along with 30 year old pitcher Jim Hearn, who lost 20 games that season in New York, in exchange for 25 year old third baseman Chico Carrasquel, who hit .297 in his first full season in the majors that summer.

With his third organization, Nuxhall again found himself in the minors to start the 1952 campaign and after time on and off the prospects list he was named the #73 prospect to start the season. After going 11-2 with a 2.58 era in 16 starts for the Montreal Royals, the Dodgers called him up and Nuxhall made his major league debut on June 22, 1952 in a 7-2 loss to the Boston Braves. Nuxhall came on in relief of Cal McLish with the Dodgers trailing 2-0 in the sixth inning and 1 out. The first batter he faced was future Hall of Famer Eddie Mathews, and Nuxhall struck him out. It didn't go as well from there as Enos Slaughter singled and Hank Aaron delivered an rbi single before Nuxhall got Johnny Pesky to fly out to end the inning. His night ended there but, except for rehab stints, Nuxhall was in the major leagues to stay.

He was used exclusively in relief that season and primarily came out of the bullpen the next two years but did make his first all-star appearance in 1953. He was the winning pitcher in the 1953 midseason classic, after having to pitch the final 5 innings in a game that went 11. He gave up a pair of earned runs and blew a save opportunity but stuck around to get the win after Billy Goodman of the Cubs hit a game winning walkoff rbi.

By 1955 Nuxhall was in the rotation and went 13-6 that year to help the Dodgers win the National League pennant for the first time since 1915. In the '55 series the Dodgers were swept 4 straight by the New York Yankees. Nuxhall started game three, allowing 5 runs, but just 3 earned, in 6 innings of a 5-1 loss.

The Dodgers finished 3rd in 1956 but bounced back to win the pennant again in 1957 as Nuxhall went 12-10. The 1957 series against Detroit went the full seven games with the now Los Angeles Dodgers losing the first three including Nuxhall and his teammates getting shutout 2-0 in Game Three, before winning 3 straight to force Game Seven. Nuxhall, who pitched 6 2/3 innings in game three, got the call to start Game Seven. He would last just 4 innings, giving up 4 earned runs and 7 hits before giving way to the pen. The Dodgers, trailing 4-2 when Nuxhall left, battled to cut the deficit to 4-3 but that is how it ended and the Dodgers would come up short in a bid for the franchise's first World Series title since 1914.

In 1958 Nuxhall was named to the National League all-star team for the second time in his career. Nuxhall pitched 1 inning in the all-star game, a 1-2-3 7th inning in which he sat down Pete Runnels, John Romano and Andy Carey in what would be a 5-4 National League win in 11 innings. The Dodgers would finish 3rd that year, 12 games back of the pennant winning Reds. 1958 was Nuxhall's best season as a Dodger as he went 18-7 and finished second in the Cy Young voting behind teammate Johnny Podres. His final start that season was a 3-1 win over the Cubs in which he tossed a complete game 5 hitter. Unknown to Nuxhall, or the Dodgers at the time, it would be his last game in a Dodger uniform.

In spring training 1959, Nuxhall suffered a serious injury, tearing his UCL for the second time in his career. The first time took 10 months to heal. This time he would miss the entire 1959 season and then learn prior to the 1960 campaign that the injury had not healed properly and he would require surgery, sidelining him for all of 1960 as well.

In October of 1960, the American League expansion Los Angeles Angels decided to select Nuxhall from the Dodgers in the 5th round of the expansion draft despite the fact he hadn't pitched in 2 full seasons. After a brief rehab stint in the minors Nuxhall joined the Angels in April of 1961 and returned to the majors after a two year absence. The Angels were surprisingly good for an expansion club and finished with a .500 record, with Nuxhall acting as the team's closer instead of his usual spot in the rotation. The closer role suited him as Nuxhall appeared in 65 games and led the American League with 19 saves. It also earned him a trip to the all-star game for the third time in his career. Nuxhall, gave up 3 hits in 2/3 of an inning but did not factor in the decision, a 5-4 American League loss.

Nuxhall returned to the rotation the following year, and despite missing a month with a broken finger, went 6-12 in 23 starts for the Angels, who had a sophomore slump and dropped to 9th in the American League with a 62-100 record.

At the age of 35 in 1964 Nuxhall had his best season as a major leaguer. He won a career high 20 games, going 20-6 with an American League leading 1.82 era. He was overlooked for the all-star team that year but finished second in Cy Young voting for the second time in his career. He was 13-15 in 1965 and 14-11 with a team leading 2.67 era this season as a 37 year old so Nuxhall is still going strong. His career record is 138-118 with 33 major league saves.