Cookie Rojas was a four-time American All-Star after joining the Kansas City Royals in 1970 and did much to establish the team’s credibility.
By Phil Ellenbecker
There weren’t too many good things to root about with the Kansas City Royals in their first couple of years. One was Amos Otis, probably their first legitimate star player. Another was Cookie Rojas. Cookie wasn’t exactly a star, but he was an All-Star, a five-time All-Star, including four straight years with the Royals from 1971-74.
It was his appearance in the 1972 Midsummer Classic to which we draw attention for the next installment in this series.
Remember how thrilled and proud you were as a Royals fan when Eric Hosmer, on the strength of a homer and two RBIs, won the 2016 All-Star Game MVP award? Well, Rojas was likely in the running for the same honor in 1972.
That’s because when Rojas pinch hit for Rod Carew in the top of the eighth inning that Tuesday night, July 25, in Atlanta Stadium, with two out and Carlton Fisk on first, Octavio delivered a homer off Bill Stoneman. That gave the American League a 3-2 lead. And it appeared Rojas had won the game — which would have given the AL two straight wins in the series for the first time since 1959. It was also the first time a foreign-born player hit an All-Star Game homer.
But the NL tied the game in the bottom of the ninth and went on to win 4-3 in the bottom of the 10th. That gave the NL 10 wins in the past 11 games and began a string of 11 straight wins on top of the senior circuit’s nine straight from 1962 to 1970.
Rojas (right) is shown heading the dugout after hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning of the 1972 All-Star game, driving in Carlton Fisk (left). Rojas’ shot gave the American League a 3-2 lead, but the NL went on to win the game in 10 innings, 4-3. (screen grab from http://www.uni-watch.com/2016/12/27/a-look-back-at-the-1972-mlb-all-star-game/ photo clip from all-star game)
So Cookie, who in a 16-year career spent seven years with the Phillies before eight with the Royals, was denied a chance to be the hero — and make his parents very proud, at least I think. I recall reading once that Cookie’s parents were in attendance and seeing their son play for the first time. But I couldn’t find confirmation for this online. But it makes a good story, and I don’t think I could make this up. Let’s go with it.
By the way, Joe Morgan won the MVP award after singling in Nate Colbert with the winning run in the 10th. It was Morgan’s lone hit in four trips to the plate, so it’s safe to say whoever drove in the winning run was up for the game’s MVP.
Rojas and Otis came to the Royals in the 1970 season in a pair of steals pulled off by general manager Cedric Tallis that helped make the team respectable ahead of schedule, placing second in the AL West in 1971 in their third year of existence. Freddy Patek, John Mayberry and Hal McRae were three other mainstays who came aboard in trades where the other team either got little in return, and/or players coming off successful seasons who were ready to go in the tank.
The success of those deals is reflected in All-Star game appearances. Otis was a five-time All-Star and Patek was selected three times, while McRae and Mayberry were picked twice each. (For more on the magic of Cedric Tallis, see the Hardball Times article, “The Royals of Sir Cedric,” by Steve Treder, at http://www.hardballtimes.com/the-royals-of-sir-cedric/.)
Otis almost entered the All-Star spotlight himself in 1970. It was Otis who fielded the ball in center field and threw home on the single by Jim Hickman that drove in Pete Rose with the winning run — a play made famous by Rose barreling over AL catcher Ray Fosse and dislodging Fosse’s shoulder from its socket. (Some say the play ruined Fosse’s career, but it really didn’t. He played eight more years and made one other All-Star team.)
Otis was the Royals’ lone All-Star in 1970. He was joined as an All-Star by Rojas in ’71, and those two were joined next year by Patek, Lou Piniella and Richie Scheinblum.
Other notes on Rojas, from his Society for American Baseball Research biography:
He was one of a handful of major leaguers who played every position in his career including pitcher.
After considering retiring following the 1970 season, at the age of 32 in 1971 he had arguably the best season of his career, batting .300, leading AL second basemen in fielding percentage with a .991 mark, and he finished 14th in MVP voting.
Hall of Fame Royals broadcaster Denny Mathews said of Rojas: “He brought the element of experience, class and big-league smarts to the team. That really helped the expansion team at the time.”
Of his own worth, Cookie said of his career: “I came in with a reputation of not being able to hit and I developed a reputation as a winning player who would do anything and play anywhere to help you win, who could not only contribute with his bat and glove but with the experience he passed along to the other players.”
Phil Mudrock, in the only inning he pitched in the major leagues, faced three Hall of Famers and retired two of them as a member of the Chicago Cubs on April 19, 1963.
By Phil Ellenbecker
Now here’s one to tell the grandkids.
About your one game in major league baseball. Your one inning.
When Phil Mudrock, after having spent seven seasons in the minor leagues, was summoned to pitch in the eighth inning for the Chicago Cubs at San Francisco’s Candlestick Park on April 19, 1963, he was beginning and ending his major league career. He gave up two hits and one run, earned.
And then the Cubs broke up the shutout in ninth, on a double by Lou Brock, who would be infamously traded to the St. Louis Cardinals next year. And then Juan Marichal retired the next two batters to end the game and even his record at 1-1 en route to a 25-8 season.
And that was that for Mudrock in the show. He finished the season in the minor leagues at the AAA level, compiling a 6-13 record with a 3.95 ERA. He was 2-4 in AAA with a 5.70 ERA in 1964. In ’65 he had a 6.00 ERA in AAA with no decision in two games and six innings. Then he was done with professional baseball.
But Mudrock left baseball knowing that he had cracked the major leagues for one inning, and in that one inning he faced five batters, and three of those batters ended up in the Hall of Fame. And the other two weren’t too shabby.
And you know what? He didn’t fare too shabbily.
The first batter Mudrock faced in relief of Bob Will was Jim Davenport, no Hall of Famer but a solid 13-year player and twice an All-Star. He doubled to right field.
Next came none other than the legendary Willie Mays, who grounded out to shortstop, with Davenport advancing to third base.
Hall Famer No. 2 was up next, and Willie McCovey made the score 5-0 by singling to right to score Davenport. McCovey moved to second on a balk by Mudrock.
(Phil was perhaps victimized by a crackdown on balks in the National League this year, in which 20 balks were called in the first 20 games. Six days earlier, Pittsburgh’s Bob Friend was called for a record four balks. Bob Shaw broke the record with five balks in a game May 4, including three in one inning, also a record.)
After McCovey came Hall of Famer No. 3, Orlando Cepeda, who grounded out to third.
Next was Felipe Alou, who before becoming a distinguished manager put together a distinguished 17-year career that included three All-Star selections. He ended the inning by grounding out to second.
So in his inning of work Mudrock retired two of three Hall of Famers.
He left a final ERA of 9.00 in the record books, but an asterisk has to be attached to that considering whom it came against.
Perhaps if you stop in at Mudrock’s Tap & Tavern in Louisville, Colorado, where Mudrock is from, you might run into Phil, and he can tell you how he stared down the likes of Mays and Cepeda. Perhaps. The establishment’s website mentions Phil and the town’s baseball heritage, but it doesn’t say Mudrock is a presence there, nor do the reviews, which are mixed.
But it looks like they have pretty good food there and a wide selection of beers. And if you do happen to run into Phil, I bet he’d be glad to tell you about the time he faced the Willies and Orlando, and Felipe and Jim.
Lou Piniella went 4 for 5 and scored the first run in Kansas City Royals’ history in their 4-3, 12-inning victory over Minnesota on opening day in 1969, Tuesday, April 8. Piniella singled in the game-winning run in a 17-inning win by the same 4-3 count the next day.
By Phil Ellenbecker
If you were a Kansas City baseball fan in 1969 starving for real baseball after a one-year hiatus — and you’d had to put up with the Kansas City’s A’s previously — then you had to have been sated after the Kansas City Royals began playing for real.
The Royals broke in with back-to-back extra-inning victories over the Minnesota Twins at Municipal Stadium — both by 4-3 margins. K.C. won in 12 innings before 17,688 on Tuesday, April 8. The next night the Royals went five innings better, winning in 17 innings before 13,171. Moe Drabowsky was the winning pitcher in the season opener, but probably the biggest hero for the Royals was Dave Wickersham, who pitched five scoreless innings of four-hit ball, walking none, before giving way to Drabowsky in the 12th.
Joe Keough brought home the winning run when he singled off Dick Woodson, making his major league debut, to bring in Joe Foy. Foy and Chuck Harrison had singled with one out and advanced to second and third on Joe Grzenda’s wild pitch. Grzenda came on to start the12th for Ron Perranoski, who’d matched Wickersham’s yeoman relief with his own 5 1/3-inning stint of one-hit, shutout ball. Lou Piniella went 4 for 5 for the Royals, kick-starting a season in which he won American League Rookie of the Year honors. Piniella, batting leadoff, scored the first run in Royals history when he doubled to start the first and came home on Jerry Adair’s single.
The Twins tied the game in the second on Graig Nettles’ homer off Royals starter Wally Bunker. They went ahead 3-1 in the sixth when Rod Carew scored on Harmon Killebrew’s ground out and John Roseboro doubled in Cesar Tovar.
The Royals knotted the game at 3 in their half of the sixth on back-to-back singles by Jim Campanis and Piniella that plated Ellie Rodriguez and Jackie Hernandez. Rodriguez triggered the rally with a two-out double, and Hernandez reached on an error by Killebrew at third.
After that Wickersham and Perranoski took over. Wickersham, who was beginning the last season of a nine-year major league career, allowed only one runner to reach scoring position in his five-inning stint. Perranoski, meanwhile, retired the Royals in order in the seventh through ninth and three of four batters the next two frames.
Hawk Taylor pinch hit for Wickersham in the bottom of the 11th and grounded out. Chuck Manuel, future manager of the Indians and 2009 World Series champion Philadelphia Phillies, pinch hit for Perranoski in the 12th and grounded out. Manuel was also making his major league debut.
Moe Drabowsky was the winning pitcher in the Kansas City Royals’ first game ever with one inning of relief and threw 4 2/3 innings of shutout relief on three hits in the second-game win.Dave Wickersham was the pitching hero in the Kansas City Royals’ opening-game win, pitching five innings of shutout relief, allowing four hits and walking none.
As in the opener, the Royals’ second-night win was keyed by stellar relief, which they needed all of. First, Steve Jones shut out the Twins for two innings after starter Roger Nelson had been pinch hit for in the fifth. Next, Bill Butler allowed only one hit, one walk and no runs over the eighth through 12th innings. Drabowsky followed with 4 2/3 innings of shutout ball on three hits before yielding to Tom Burgmeier with two out in the 17th.
The Royals made a winner of Burgmeier when Piniella singled in Hernandez with two outs in the bottom of the 17th. Hernandez walked and advanced to second on Burgmeier’s ground out to second before scoring on Piniella’s hit to left field.
The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the second. Carew singled in George Mitterwald, and Ted Uhlaender scored on an error by Hernandez. The Royals answered in the fourth. Consecutive singles by Ed Kirkpatrick, Foy and Harrison off starter off Jim Kaat scored the first run. Foy, after stealing third, tied the game on Campanis’ sacrifice fly.
Minnesota retook the lead in the fifth when Carew doubled, advanced to third on Tony Oliva’s ground out and stole home, taking advantage of Royalers pitcher “Spider” Nelson’s long windup.
(Spurred by new manager Billy Martin, it was the first of seven home swipes on the season by Carew, tied for second most in a season all time all time behind Ty Cobb’s eight in 1912. Carew had stolen 19 bases total his first two seasons and only once before had stolen home, in the minor leagues).
Foy singled in Adair with two out in the eighth, which sent the game into extra innings for a second straight night after both teams went out in order in the ninth.
K.C. advanced runners to scoring position in the 11th, 12th and 16th innings but could get no farther than second base.
Butler and Drabowsky kept the Twins out of scoring position until the 17th, when Mitterwald reached on a fielder’s choice and moved to second on a walk to Roseboro. Burgmeier was then summoned and got the third out when Uhlaender popped out to catcher Campanis. Notes from first two games
• Here was the Royals’ opening-day lineup and batting order: 1. Lou Piniella, center field; 2. Jerry Adair, second base; 3. Ed Kirkpatrick, LF; 4. Joe Foy, 3B; 5. Chuck Harrison, 1B; 6. Bob Oliver, RF; 7. Ellie Rodriguez, C; 8. Jackie Hernandez, SS; 9. Wally Bunker, P.
Oliver, Piniella, Hernandez and Rodriguez were in the 1970 opening-day lineup. Adair and Kirkpatrick were back with the club while Foy and Harrison were gone. Harrison had one last season in his five-year major league career, with K.C. in 71.
• After starting the season in center field, Piniella was back in center the next two games and in the ninth game, but those four were the only in Piniella’s career he started at that position.
• Campanis’ father was Al Campanis, the Dodgers’ executive whose racially charged comments on ABC’s “Nightline” in 1987 led to the end of his career.
• Don Denkinger, the umpire whose blown call in the 1985 World Series helped the Royals capture the title, was the third-base ump for the Royals’ opening game in 1969 and was at second the following day.
• The Royals’ attendance their first two home games couldn’t compare to what the Athletics drew in the first two games at Municipal in 1955, Kansas City’s American League debut. The A’s drew 32,147 on opening day (17,688 better than the Royals) and 21,168 the second game (plus 7,997 over the Royals).
• After sweeping the Twins in their first series ever, the Royals traveled to Oakland to meet the former team from K.C. and split four games with the A’s.
Willie Mays ranks a home run in a 10-pitch at-bat in a key pennant race game between the San Francisco Giants and Houston Astros in late 1965 as his most memorable.
By Phil Ellenbecker
Great baseball players may be known by their careers, by their seasons, by their games. Willie Mays was known for all. But perhaps more than anything, Mays is known for his moments — moments that produced great plays, at bat, on the bases, in the field. Like The Catch, his over-the-shoulder grab that robbed Vic Wertz of extra bases and the Cleveland Indians of their soul in the 1954 World Series.
That’s his best-known moment, but there are countless ones sprinkled throughout his career and throughout “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend,” by James S. Hirsch, the most comprehensive biography of Mays. Normally I don’t like it when baseball biographies get bogged down in play-by-play details, but in Mays’ case it’s pretty much essential, because he was so much about the plays, the moments.
One moment I wasn’t aware of before I read the book but that comes through as one of his finest was, for our purposes here, what I’ll call The At-Bat.
It came on Sept. 14, 1965, against the Houston Astros before a crowd of 15,415 at the Astrodome, the “Eighth Wonder of the World,” which had opened at the beginning of that season. Mays’ San Francisco Giants entered the game with a 2 1/2-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers for first place in the National League.
The Astros led 5-2 entering the ninth inning. Orlando Cepeda struck out opening the Giants’ turn at bat. Bob Burda, batting for Warren Spahn, then drew a walk and gave way to pinch runner Tito Fuentes. Astros starting pitcher Bob Bruce was relieved by Claude Raymond, a native of St. Jean, Canada nicknamed “Frenchy.” Raymond got Dick Schofield to ground out to first baseman Lee Maye, with Fuentes advancing to second.
The Giants drew within 5-3 when Jesus Alou singled to center field, driving in Fuentes. That brought up Mays.
Claude Raymond challenged Willie Mays with fastballs, and the legendary Hall of Famer tied the game with a homer on a 3-2 pitch to help the San Francisco Giants defeat the Houston Astros in a key game late in the 1965 season.
“Mays usually didn’t try for homers, but this situation was different, and everyone knew it,” Hirsch wrote. “Though he led the league in home runs (Mays hit a career high 52 that year), Raymond didn’t want to walk him, which would bring up (Willie) McCovey, the go-ahead run. So he challenged Mays with fastballs.”
And Raymond, although not imposing at 5-foot-10, 175 pounds, was equipped to do so, with a good moving fastball that helped him finish in the NL’s top 10 in saves four times in the 1960s and earn an All-Star selection in 1966.
Mays worked the count to 3-2, swinging so hard he twice went to his knees. With Alou now running on the pitch, Mays managed to stay alive by fouling off the next four pitches.
“I kept waiting for a breaking ball,” Mays said. “A curve, a slider — something other than a fastball. But that’s all he threw. Nothing but fastballs.”
And here came another, on the inside part of the plate. And out it went, a line shot deep into the left-field bleachers on the 10th pitch of the at-bat.
“TILT” went the huge scoreboard in the outfield, the flashing letters accompanying a ticking time bomb that always greeted a homer by the visiting team at the Dome.
Tilt, indeed, as the momentum had swung in the Giants’ favor, and they went on to win 7-5 in 10 innings, with Jim Davenport’s two-run single in the top of the 10th providing the final margin. Bob Bolin, relieving for Masanori Murakami (the first Japanese-born player in the major leagues) with runners on first and second, got the final two outs to nail down the win.
Mays’ homer just missed being not only dramatic but a milestone. The night before he’d hit the 500th homer of his career, leading off the fourth inning to tie the game at 1-1 in a 4-1 win.
(At the time Mays was just the fifth player in history to hit 500, trailing only Babe Ruth’s 714, Jimmie Foxx’s 534, Ted Williams’ 521 and Mel Ott’s NL-leading 511. Twenty-two others have passed 500 since. Mays finished with 660, fifth all time.)
So that’s the story, as Hirsch tells it. But digging a little deeper reveals that Mays and Raymond remember it differently. They remember not a 10-pitch at-bat, but 13, and other details don’t match.
Renowned baseball author Roger Angell wrote in a May 27, 1991, New Yorker article, “When I asked him to remember a home run,” Willie said, ‘Home run against Claude Raymond, in the Astrodome. Somebody was on first, and it tied the game. Jim Davenport won it for us in the eleventh or twelfth inning. Raymond threw me thirteen fastballs, and I fouled them off. The ball went over the fence in left-center field. What year? You’d have to look it up. Ask Claude Raymond — he probably knows it better than I do. That was the only dramatic type of home run I ever hit.’”
Thirteen fastballs? Raymond, when contacted by Angell, agreed.
“I threw Mays thirteen straight fastballs,” he said in the Angell article reprinted on the https://punkyg.wordpress.com website. “And he fouled off thirteen. Jay Alou was the base runner on first, and Mays was up there to hit a home run. All those fouls were nicks or little ticks back to the screen — nothing close to a base hit. Then I threw one more, a little inside, and Willie bailed out but opened up on the ball at the same time, the way only he could do, and it went out. I remember Paul Richards, our general manager, came up to me afterward and said how happy he was I’d gone fastball all the way. He said it was a great duel.”
So we have 10 pitches versus 13 pitches, and left field (Hirsch) vs. left-center (Mays). And four foul balls vs. 13. In the same Angell article the author quotes a Giants media person as saying Mays fouled off four pitches before “sending the ball soaring four hundred feet over the center-field fence.”
Since Hirsch devoted enough research to fill 560 pages, I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt over Mays and Raymond. Players’ recollections have a history of being iffy, as noted baseball writers and analysts Bill James and Rob Neyer have made a habit of showing. Neyer wrote a whole book (“Rob Neyer’s Big Book of Baseball Legends: The Truth, the Lies, and Everything Else”) based on refuting such remembrances.
Hirsch, in his notes, did cite Angell for his account of the homer, and included Raymond’s quote on Willie’s turning on the pitch.
In a 2004 San Francisco Chronicle article by Charles Einstein, the writer says the count went to 2-0, then Raymond threw seven straight fastballs, two for swinging strikes, four for fouls, before Willie unloaded. And since Einstein was to Willie Mays as Boswell was to Samuel Johnson, and since this squares with Hirsch, maybe we should go with this.
But 13 pitches, 13 straight fastballs? That sounds good.
Regardless, it was quite a momentous moment, evidently so if it’s the homer that came up when queried by Angell. (But maybe he forgot the one he hit leading off the 16th inning to end a historic pitcher’s duel between Juan Marichal and Spahn on July 2, 1963, winning the game 1-0.) (And Einstein brings up a tiebreaking homer in Mays’ last at-bat in the last regularly scheduled game of 1962 that pushed the Giants and Dodgers into a three-game playoff, leading to a Giants-Yankees World Series.)
(Speaking of World Series, the Giants fell short of that in 1965 when the Dodgers overtook them in the final week of the season and won the pennant by two games.)
When a grand celebration of Mays’ 40th birthday, with 700 in attendance, was held at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco in 1971, Giants announcer Russ Hodges’ call of Mays’ homer that night in 1965 “was dramatically played to a tearful audience,” Hirsch wrote.
So it was pretty special, even when ranked among many other special Mays moments.
And that was the magic of Mays. Any given game, any given inning, at bat, on base, in the field, you didn’t know what kind of awe-inspiring, slap-upside-the-head moment he might produce. And if you had to put a price on what player in history you’d pay to watch any player in history, many would say Willie would fetch the highest. Sources: “Willie Mays: The Life, The Legend,” James Hirsch, Scribner, 2010 Claude Raymond information:https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/2dfd7bf5; http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/r/raymocl01.shtml; http://baseballhalloffame.ca/inductees/claude-raymond San Francisco Giants vs. Houston Astros, Sept. 14, 1965:http://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/1965/B09140HOU1965.htm; https://punkyg.wordpress.com/2012/05/06/say-hey-happy-81st-birthday-willie-mays/; http://www.sfgate.com/sports/article/The-majesty-of-Mays-2767534.php Career home run leaders:http://www.baseball-reference.com/leaders/HR_career.shtml San Francisco Giants’ 1965 season:http://www.baseball-reference.com/teams/SFG/1965-schedule-scores.shtml
Bert Campaneris took the mound in the eighth inning and played every other position for the Kansas City A’s on Sept. 8, 1965. The A’s lost to the California Angels 5-3 in 13 innings.
By Phil Ellenbecker
Among all the promotional stunts A’s owner Charlie Finley trotted out during his infamous time in Kansas City, perhaps the most entertaining and intriguing occurred the night of Sept. 8, 1965.
Mechanical rabbits to deliver balls to the umpire, a mule mascot (dubbed “Charlie O”), sheep grazing beyond the outfield fence, green and gold uniforms — those were interesting diversions.
But that Wednesday night, before a crowd of 21,576 at Municipal Stadium, brought something more compelling, something that actually involved the playing of the game. That was the night Bert Campaneris, on “Campy Campaneris Night,” became the first player to attempt and complete playing all nine positions in a single game, against the California Angels.
Campaneris was a shining light for the A’s in Kansas City before they left for Oakland, where he became a mainstay on three world championship teams in the early 1970s. While not a superstar, he was quite solid, a six-time All-Star and six-time stolen base champion in a 20-year major league career.
That tenure shows he loved to play, and he was quite versatile, as he showed the night of Sept. 8, 1965. He started off the game at his regular position of shortstop and then moved, inning by inning, to second base, third, left field, center, right, first, pitcher and catcher. And when he took the mound, Campaneris threw right- and left-handed.
Campaneris got knocked out of game on a collision at home plate in the ninth in a game won by the Angels 5-3 in 13 innings.
Campy had only one chance in the field in the first three innings, becoming involved in the middle of a pickoff of Ed “Spanky” Kirkpatrick from his second-base position in the second inning, on a play that went 1-4-1-6.
The action picked up when Dagoberto went around the horn in the outfield in the fourth through sixth, as he caught a fly ball to left and center and then muffed a fly in right that allowed a run to score in the sixth. He caught a pop-up at first the next inning.
Things got kind of interesting when he toed the slab in the eighth. Campy reportedly went ambidextrous, so he switched from his normal righty to lefty to face righty-batting Jose Cardenal, Campaneris’ second cousin. (Cardenal said in an interview that they played baseball together constantly during their youth.) Cardenal went out second to first.
Campy then issued consecutive walks to Albie Pearson (back to right-handed) and Jim Fregosi (back to port side), followed by a single by Joe Adcock (Campy still southpaw) that scored Pearson. Campy got out of the inning when Bobby Knoop (that’s kuh-NOP, not NOOP, and righty batty so Campy so spent most of the inning as a lefty) struck out, and Billy Bryan caught Fregosi trying to steal second.
Behind the plate in the ninth, Campaneris was tested by Kirkpatrick after a leadoff single, and Kirkpatrick stole second. After Campaneris walked Tom Egan, Paul Schaal lined out to center, Kirkpatrick advancing to third. While next batter Dean Chance was striking out, Kirpatrick and Egan tried to pull a double steal, but second baseman Dick Green cut off Campaneris’ throw and gunned out Kirkpatrick at home.
Kirkpatrick was out, and Campy was out, heading off for X-rays after a collision forced him to leave the field.
(Couldn’t find a report on extent of the injury, but Campaneris didn’t return to the lineup until the following Tuesday.)
By holding on to Green’s throw, Campy prevented Spanky from increasing the Angels’ lead to 4-1, and RBI singles by Ken “Hawk” Harrelson and Green in the bottom of the ninth sent the game into extra innings. After the two teams went scoreless in the next three frames, the Angels pushed across two unearned runs in the top of the 13th, as pitcher John O’Donoghue botched a bunt to let in one run and Cardenal brought in the other with a sacrifice fly.
The A’s went out in order in the bottom of the 13th, ending what was probably one of the most memorable nights, as least by comparison, at Municipal in the 13 years the A’s called it home.
Things were back to normal at the stadium the next night, 1,271 showing up to watch the Angels beat K.C. 7-2. The A’s drew 528,344 in 1965, their lowest attendance during their K.C. tenure.
Perhaps Campy’s busy Sept. 8 night affected his concentration at bat, as he went 0 for 4. In the field, his line was five putouts, one assist and one error.
Three weeks later the A’s finished at 59-103, last in the 10-team American League, their second straight last-place finish and fifth during their time in K.C. The Angels went 75-87 and placed seventh. Musical chairs
Besides posing a challenge for Campaneris, the night also kept A’s manager Haywood Sullivan busy scratching on his lineup card as he shuttled players with Campy moving around the field. Here’s a look at the changes to accommodate Campaneris inning by inning: Second inning: Wayne Causey went from second base to shortstop in a simple position swap. Third: Another swap with Ed Charles moving from third to second. Fourth: With Campy moving to left, Jose Tartabull went to right, Charles back to third, right-field starter Lou Clinton staying in the dugout, and Green going in at second and taking Clinton’s lineup spot. Got it? Fifth: Tartabull goes back to left and Jim Landis moves over to right to make way for Campy in center. Sixth: Landis and Campy swap as Campaneris completes the outfield circuit in right. Seventh: As Campy takes first, MIke Hershberger goes to right field to replace first baseman Randy Schwartz. Eighth: Santiago Rosario comes in to play first and takes the place of pitcher Jim Dickson as Campy takes the mound. Ninth: Aurelio Monteagudo relieves Campy and takes the lineup spot of Bryan, who leaves the game to make way for Campy behind the plate. Take that, Earl
Moving on to later in Campaneris’ career, from Campy’s Society for American Baseball Research biography: “Campaneris had a great season at Oakland in 1972, leading the league in chances (795), at-bats (625) and stolen bases (52). He finished second in the AL to Boston’s Luis Aparicio in balloting for the All-Star Game. Even after Aparicio broke a finger and couldn’t play, AL manager Earl Weaver selected Texas shortstop Toby Harrah. Harrah was also unable to play because of a sore shoulder, and Weaver then selected Orioles shortstop Bobby Grich, who played the entire 10 innings in the game, much to Campaneris’ chagrin.
“Three weeks later Campaneris responded to the All-Star snub in a game at Baltimore: After collecting his third stolen base of the game in the fifth inning, he went to third on a throwing error by Orioles catcher Andy Etchebarren, then coaxed Jim Palmer into a run-scoring balk. While heading home, he looked into the Orioles dugout and tipped his hat to Weaver.” Infamy
As positive a factor as Campaneris was on the field, he’s perhaps best known for a bat-throwing incident that got him tossed out of the 1972 AL Championship Series. Again from the SABR bio:
“After the A’s won Game One, 3-2, fireworks erupted during Game Two. In the bottom of the seventh, Campaneris, who was already 3-for-3 with two stolen bases and two runs scored, was hit in the ankle by a pitch from Lerrin LaGrow. Campaneris threw his bat toward LaGrow, who ducked to avoid being hit.
With Detroit manager Billy Martin in the lead, the Tigers went for Campaneris.
“(Afterward, Martin said of his role in the fracas, ‘You bet I was after him! There’s no place for that kind of gutless stuff in baseball. That’s the worst thing I’ve ever seen in all my years of baseball. I would respect him if he went out to throw a punch, but what he did was the most gutless thing of any man to put on a uniform. It was a disgrace to baseball.’)
“Three umpires held Martin back, and home-plate umpire Nestor Chylak ejected LaGrow and Campaneris. Explaining his actions, Campaneris said, ‘My ankle hurt so bad. I knew he was going to throw at me, but people now tell me it’s better to go and fight. I don’t know. I just lost my temper.’
“Oakland’s Joe Rudi said he thought LaGrow threw at Campaneris because ‘Campy had run the Tigers ragged in the first two games, and when (Billy) Martin gets his ears pinned down, he’s going to do something about it.’ Teammate Mike Hegan said he thought Martin “wanted to light a fire under his ballclub, and Campy was the guy that they were going after because he was the guy that set the table for us. There’s no question that Billy Martin instructed Lerrin LaGrow to throw at Campaneris.’
“American League President Joe Cronin suspended Campaneris for the remainder of the ALCS, fined him $500 and left the decision about a possible World Series suspension to Commissioner Bowie Kuhn. Kuhn ruled that Campaneris could play in the World Series, but would be suspended without pay for the first seven games of the 1973 season.” Other notes
• Campaneris was one of the last players to leave Cuba for the United States before the Castro revolution made emigration extremely rare.
• The highest praise for Campaneris may have come from his old boss Charlie Finley, who said in 1980, “You can talk about Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter and Sal Bando, all those great players, but it was Campy who made everything go.”
• Other players to go nine positions in a game: Cesar Tovar, 1968; and Scott Sheldon and Shane Halter, both in 2000. Notes on sources: As with all of these “Swoonin’ A’s” articles, I relied extensively on retrosheet.org and baseballreference.com for play-by-play details. I also got some help filling in the blanks from sportseclopedia.com and parallelnarrative.com. And as be can seen above, I lifted profusely from Campaneris’ entry in the Society for American Baseball Research’s Biography Project (saber.org/bioproject), from an article that originally appeared in “Mustaches and Mayhem: Charlie O’s Three Time Champions: The Oakland Athletics: 1972-74” (SABR, 2015), edited by Chip Greene. (Behind Baseball Reference and Retrosheet, SABR’s bio project may be the next-best contribution to the internet.)
By Phil Ellenbecker
Almost three days to the day, three and four years after wild affairs took place between the Kansas City A’s and White Sox in April, the two teams were at it again on April 22, 1959.
On April 23, 1955, the White Sox clobbered Kansas City 29-6 at Municipal Stadium in just the 10th game for the A’s in their first year in the city after moving from Philadelphia.
On April 21, 1956, the A’s whipped the White Sox 15-1 at Municipal behind a 13-run second inning in which all the runs crossed the plate with two out to tie a major league record.
And on this Wednesday in 1959 the White Sox subdued Kansas City 20-6, again at Municipal. You could say clobbered, whipped, hammered, whipped, belted or any other verb associated with a barrage of hits, but subdued is more apt because of the manner in which the White Sox piled up 11 runs in the seventh inning to put this game away.
What did they actually do? Not much, at least with the bat. The Athletics put the 7,446 in attendance to sleep by issuing 10 walks.
While the ChiSox collected 16 hits in the game, they needed just one to push across the 11 in the seventh. That’s because besides the 10 walks, the Chicagos reached twice on errors, picked up more bases on a Roger Maris error, and got hit by a pitch.
The errors came on the first three batters of the inning. Only two of Chicago’s runs in the inning were earned. The White Sox drew eight bases-loaded walks in the inning. A’s pitchers had two strings of four straight walks and another of three, and one of the four-walk strings was interrupted by the hit by pitch.
The 10 walks issued by the A’s were one short of the major league record for an inning set Sept. 11, 1949, by the Washington Senators against the New York Yankees.
The A’s were actually in this one entering the seventh, trailing 8–6 after letting a 6-1 lead through two innings slip away.
Tom Morgan, Kansas City’s fourth pitcher on the day coming on in relief in the seventh, might have escaped with no damage with a little help. But Ray Boone reached leading off the inning on Joe DeMaestri’s error at shortstop, and both runners were safe when third baseman Hal Smith botched Al Smith’s sacrifice bunt attempt. Johnny Callison followed with a single for the lone White Sox hit of the inning, scoring Boone, and Al Smith scored and Callison moved to third on right fielder Maris’ error. Luis Aparicio, pitcher Bob Shaw, Earl Torgeson (Mark Freeman relieving Morgan in the middle of Torgeson’s at-bat) and Nellie Fox drew four straight walks. Torgeson and Fox brought in runs to increase Chicago’s lead to 12-6. Jim Landis hit back to the pitcher for a fielder’s choice and first out of the inning, then the walk parade resumed with Sherm Lollar, Boone, Smith and Aparicio looking at free passes around Callison getting plunked by a pitch. Each of these at-bats brought in a run, making the score 17-6. George Brunet relieved Freeman after Lollar batted and finished the inning. (Brunet was in the third year of a 15-year major league career that led to a 15-year career in the Mexican League that ended in 1989 at at the age of 54. Brunet is also noted in JIm Bouton’s “Ball Four” as the pitcher who didn’t wear underwear.)
George Brunet issued five of the 10 walks the Chicago White Sox drew in the seventh inning of their 20-6 rout of the Kansas City A’s on April 22, 1959. Brunet is pictured on his 1965 baseball card when he was with the California Angels, one of nine teams he pitched for in a 15-year major league career. The A’s were the first.
After Brunet struck out Shaw, Bubba Phillips and Fox drew two more bases-loaded walks to bring the score to 19-6 before the inning mercifully ended when Landis went pitcher-to-first for the third out.
So Landis was responsible for two outs in the inning, both on balls hit back to the pitcher.
Shaw got the victory in relief of his mentor and Hall of Famer Early Wynn, finishing with 7 1/3 innings of shutout pitching.
Bud Daley took the loss for the A’s. In 1 2/3 innings he gave up three runs that allowed the White Sox to go ahead for good, after Ned Garver allowed five runs over 3 2/3 innings and left with K.C. still ahead 6-5.
Chicago’s stellar double-play combination of Fox and Aparicio, besides drawing two walks apiece in the fateful seventh, otherwise shined with the bat. Fox, the American League MVP that year, was 4 for 5 with five RBis. Aparicio went 3 for 4 with four RBIs and three runs scored, including a three-run homer in the fourth inning off Garver.
The White Sox went on to win the AL pennant that year, ending a four-year Yankees string, and lost the World Series to the Dodgers in six games.
The A’s finished seventh in the eight-team AL for the third straight year, with a 66-88 record.
Ted Williams hadn’t played in a game since Sept. 1 when he went on a steak in which he reached base 16 consecutive times from Sept. 17-Sept. 23 in 1957. He hit home runs in his first four official at-bats starting off the streak.
By Phil Ellenbecker
Former Kansas City Royals general manager John Schuerholz once said, “George Brett could roll out of bed on Christmas morning and hit a line drive.”
With my limited Googling skills I couldn’t find any other citations, but I’d venture to say similar quotes have been uttered about other outstanding hitters. And in 1957, Ted Williams figuratively rolled out of bed and started hitting home runs, or taking a walk, or throwing in a single here or there. Whatever he did when he took his turn at bat, pitchers weren’t getting him out.
When Williams stepped up to the plate on Sept. 17, he hadn’t seen action in a game since Sept. 1, having been plagued by a chest cold that kept him in bed until Sept. 9.
“He went back to the Somerset Hotel and rested and stoked himself with vitamin pills and prescriptions and some potions of his own choosing, and browsed through his baseball and fishing literature, and tied a few fishing lines,” Edwin Pope wrote of Ted’s confinement in “Ted Williams: The Golden Year 1957.”
Williams returned to workouts Sept. 12 and suffered a slight relapse before recovering enough to pronounce himself ready to pinch hit five days later against the Kansas City A’s at Fenway Park.
Red Sox manager Pinky Higgins called on Williams to bat for pitcher Murray Wall leading off the eighth inning. Williams slugged his 34th homer of the season.
Thus began a string in which Williams reached base 16 consecutive times, including homers in his first four official at-bats.
Among many heroic feats in Williams’ career on and off the baseball diamond — including crash-landing a fighter jet as a Marine during the Korean War — this has to rank right up there and was a fitting climax to a stupendous season in which Williams became the oldest batting champion of all time — with an average of .388, which is the third-highest to lead a league since Williams became the last player to hit .400 at .406 in 1941. He’s tied with Rod Carew in 1977, behind Brett (.390, 1980) and Tony Gwynn (.394, strike-shortened 1994.)
The four homers in four straight at-bats ties with several other players for the major league record. His 16 consecutive times on base falls one short of the record set by Earl Averill Jr. in 1962 and Piggy Ward in 1893.
But we know Averill wasn’t out for a spell before beginning his streak and have to suspect Ward wasn’t, although we have no records to show it. Nevertheless, neither one accomplished their streaks at the ripe old age of 39 as Williams did, having turned that age on Aug. 30.
(And Averill did benefit by reaching on an error and a fielder’s choice, to go with seven hits and eight walks. Ward reached on eight hits, eight walks and one hit by pitch, while Williams’ streak included six hits, nine walks and a hit by pitch.)
Here’s the rundown on Williams’ streak appearance by appearance: Sept. 17: Williams deposited a 2-1 pitch from Tom Morgan into the seats to tie the game at 8-8, and the Red Sox went on to win 9-8. Sept. 18: Summoned off the bench again in the eighth, Williams batted for pitcher Frank Sullivan and was intentionally walked with a runner on first, two out and the A’s leading 2-1. Billy Consolo then ran for Williams. Boston didn’t score, and Kansas City’s lead held up as the final.
(The A’s flip-flopped consonants on pitchers of record this day, as a day after Tom Morganwas the losing pitcher for K.C., Tom Gorman was the winning pitcher this day, throwing a complete game. The pitching firm of Morgan and Gorman was together for this one year in Kansas City, and both were members of the New York Yankees during 1952-54. And according to LinkedIn there’s a nonprofit organization management professional named Morgan Gorman in Evansville, Wisconsin.) Sept. 20: After the Red Sox had the day off and then traveled to Yankee Stadium, this time Williams came off the bench leading off the ninth, again batting for Wall, and he homered off Hall of Famer Whitey Ford. Williams sat on a 2-2 high fastball for his second pinch hit homer in three trips to the plate since coming back. It started a four-run inning that was too little, too late in a 7-4 loss.
“It was the only one he ever gave me,” Williams said of the pitch he received from the 5-feet-10 Ford, who usually kept the ball low and away from Ted. “And the only reason he put that pitch there at all was because he was tired and had lost a good deal of his control.”
It was the only homer Williams had off Ford in 45 at-bats against him over his career, although Ted did have a .378 average. Sept. 21: Inserted into the starting lineup in left field for the first time since Aug. 31, Williams reached the seats in right off Bob Turley for a grand slam his second time up, after being intentionally walked in the first. Williams connected in a six-run second on a 2-0 pitch for his 15th career grand slam. Williams had two more grand slams in his career and is tied for seventh all time with 17.
So that made two homers in two straight at-bats off the Yankees’ prime hurlers. Turley was 34-13 with a 2.86 ERA in 1957 and 1958 and was the major leagues’ Cy Young Award winner (only one winner in both leagues at that time) in 1958.
Williams walked his next two times up and then left for a pinch runner in Boston’s 8-3 win. Sept. 22: After drawing yet another walk in the first, Williams made it four homers in four straight at-bats with a shot off Tom Sturvidant in the fourth that gave the Red Sox a 1-0 lead. But that was it as the Yankees prevailed 5-1.
Williams finally kept the ball in the park after his fourth-inning homer with a single to right in the sixth, then walked in the eighth. Sept. 23: In the opening game of a series in Washington, Williams singled to left field in the first and scored on a Dick Gernert’s single, giving the Red Sox a 2-0 lead on their way to a 9-4 win. He walked his next three times up, scoring twice, and was hit by a pitch before leaving for a pinch runner. Sept. 24: The Senators’ Hal Griggs finally got Ted out, retiring him on a grounder to second in a 1-2-3 first inning. But Williams homered his next time up, leading off the fourth inning for his 38th and final homer of the season, to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead. That proved to be the difference in a 2-1 win. Williams was called out on strikes and walked his final two times up.
Besides stopping his streak, the fact Griggs was able to get Williams looking in the sixth appears quite notable considering the number of walks Ted had been drawing and the respect he had from umpires on ball and strike calls (or perhaps how much he had said umps bamboozled). This was Griggs’ first start of the year after a September call-up. With a final 6-26 four-year record and 5.50 ERA, his face-downs with Williams this day, homer aside, might rank as a career highlight besides a two-hit shutout he had in 1959. (Williams was 5 for 11 off Griggs lifetime for a .455 average.)
Williams went 2 for 3 the next day and was 3 for 6 over Boston’s next three and final games, giving Ted his final mark of .388. He was 6 for 6 during his streak and 6 for 12 after that, giving him an average of .667 from Sept. 17 on.
With his hot hitting at the end of 1957, Ted Williams (left) overtook Mickey Mantle (right) for the American League batting title and became the oldest player ever, at age 39, to win a batting title. However, Mantle won the MVP award in a controversial vote.
Williams had been at .376 on Sept. 1, one point behind Mickey Mantle. With his time off and hot hitting once he came back, Ted was able to finish 23 points ahead of Mantle in the batting race. Besides winning his fifth batting title, Williams, who played in 132 games, also won his ninth slugging average crown (.731) and was second in homers,
It wasn’t enough to win him the MVP, though. Mantle took the honors, his second straight MVP and second of three, with six first-place votes and 233 balloting points to five first-place votes and 209 points for Williams. Two of the voting writers (neither one from Boston) placed Williams ninth and10th on their ballots.
The results met with disparagement from Red Sox owner Tom Yawkey and others, but this wasn’t the first time Williams might have been robbed of an MVP. He finished second to Joe DiMaggio in his 1941 .406 season and also was runner-up to DiMaggio after winning the Triple Crown in 1947. In the latter year one Boston elector didn’t even include Williams in his top 10.
The fact was, Williams’ strained relationship with writers probably cost him more than a couple MVPs. Six times he was the league leader in WAR (wins above replacement), the modern metric meant to measure a player’s overall value (and this includes defensive ability, for which Ted was not noted).
Williams was named the Sporting News’ player of the year for 1957, and MVP or not, the season was a remarkable one by his or anybody else’s standards, coming at ages 38-39 and just three years removed from the end of his career in 1960.
And it was more than Ted bargained for.
“His thoughts centered on making this his last year,” Pope wrote in “Golden Year.” “‘I hope I can just start 100 games,’ Ted was quoted, ‘and maybe play in 125, and hit .325 or a little higher.
“‘If anybody had even asked me three years ago if I would be in uniform in 1957, I’d have to say no. Sometimes, I guess, when you think you’re beginning to slip, you feel like packing up your bag and saying the hell with it. But when you get older, you think better of the game.”
Ah, the hell with it Ted, why not just go out and hit .388? Truly Golden
As you can see, besides my usual sources — retrosheet.org and baseballreference.com — I relied on Edwin Pope‘s “Ted Williams, The Golden Year 1957” to flesh out this account. I had this sitting around because I was flipping through some early 1970s issues of The Sporting News a couple years ago when I came across an ad for the book. I thought, “That looks like it would be a good book, I wouldn’t mind having it.”
I remember when I used to look through old issues of magazines and coming across stuff I’d like to order and thinking I could actually order it. But of course I couldn’t because THE MAGAZINE WAS 15 OR 20 YEARS OLD.
But that’s not the case anymore, thanks to the miracle of the internet and Amazon. If I wanted that book, by golly I could have it, right Amazon? Yes, they did have it. And it looks like they still do.
And for those of you who think you’ve read everything there is worth reading about Ted Williams, you might want to add this to your list. Pope seems to be one of those writers who did have a good relationship with Ted, and this gives the book some insight you might be missing elsewhere. And Pope, a Miami Herald legend who just died in January at age 88, did pick a heck of a season to write about, besides giving you a good overall view of Williams’ career and persona.
How locked in was George Brett, early in his third full year in the major leagues, from May 8-13 in 1976? He collected three hits in each of six games, going 18 for 26 during this span for a .692 average. His batting average rose from .277 to .396 en route to his first of three American League batting titles.
By Phil Ellenbecker
After rallying for a second-place finish behind the Oakland A’s in 1975, the Kansas City Royals broke through and took the American League West title the next year, holding off the team from the city that stole the A’s from Kansas City in 1968.
That breakthrough year also signaled the true emergence of a superstar in the making in George Brett, who’d given a glimpse of things to come by hitting .282 his rookie year of 1974 and by hitting .308 next year and leading the American League in hits and triples. The teachings of Charlie Lau were shining through.
It was perhaps the games of May 8-13 in 1976 when Brett showed he was truly something special.
Brett got three hits on May 8. And three hits again on May 9, and May 10. And May 11, 12 and 13. Six straight three-hit games. (The only other players to accomplish this feat, according to answers.yahoo.com: Sam Thompson in 1895 and Jimmy Johnston in 1923.) Brett’s average during the streak climbed from .277 to .396.
That was Brett’s high point of the season, but he was still up at .365 on June 15; at .371 on June 19; eventually tailing off to .331 on Sept. 26 before closing at .333 to beat out Hal McRae for the batting title by decimal points, on the last day of the regular season in a controversial finish. (After the game, McRae claimed that the Twins conspired to give Brett the title by letting a fly ball drop for an inside-the-park homer on Brett’s final at-bat.)
That was the first of three batting titles Brett won in separate decades, and his eruption from May 8-13 was the launching point. He went 18 for 26 during this span for a .692 average, with 16 singles, a double and homer.
During his streak the Royals went 5-1. It’d be nice to say this was the surge that sent K.C. into first place on its way to a first division title, but the fact was the Royals just treaded water during this time, as the Texas Rangers went 5-2 and remained in first place in the AL West. The Royals picked up a half-game during this time and moved within two games.
It’d also be nice to say Brett’s hits played a prominent role in the Royals’ victories. Maybe so, maybe not. In the first four games of the streak Brett either scored or drove in a run off three of his hits, with two leading indirectly to runs. In the last two games five of his hits figured directly in the scoring and one indirectly. But both of those games were blowouts, so the hits weren’t vital.
Nevertheless, 18 for 26 is 18 for 26.
Also of note is where the hits went. The play by play at retrosheet.org gives the direction for all but three of them. Nine singles went to left, or the opposite field; three singles went to center; two singles and a double to right. And note, all but three of the hits were singles.
So this indicates that Brett had yet to discover his power stroke. He hit seven homers in ’76 and 11 in ’75, although he did lead the league in triples in both years. He passed the 20-homer mark three of the next four years.
Here’s a game-by-game rundown of the streak (first two on the road, last four at home): May 8: 3 for 5, 1 run in a 6-3 win at Baltimore
First inning: Brett singled to right with one out after Amos Otis singled, went to second on John Mayberry’s ground out and to third on Hal McRae’s single. McRae was caught stealing to end the inning.
Fourth: Grounded out leading off.
Sixth: None out, singled to left after Otis singled leading off, moving Otis to third; scored on Mayberry homer, giving Royals a 5-0 lead.
Eighth: Singled to left after Otis singled for third time; Otis scored on Mayberry’s sacrifice fly, giving Royals their final 6-3 margin. May 9, 3 for 5, 1 run, 1 stolen base in 7-4 win at Baltimore
First: One out, Brett singled Tom Poquette to second; McRae singled in Poquette with two out, Brett moving to third; Al Cowens grounded to end the inning.
Third: Brett singled to left with one out, stole second and advanced to third on an error by catcher Elrod Hendricks; after Mayberry flied out and McRae walked, Brett scored on Cowens’ single, putting Royals ahead 2-1 in a five-run inning that gave them a 6-1 lead.
Fourth: Singled to center with one out; put out on Mayberry’s double-play grounder.
Sixth: Flied out to left leading off.
Ninth: Out at second leading off. May 10, 3 for 5, a double, caught stealing once in 5-4 loss to Minnesota
First: One out, lined out to third.
Third: Two out, doubled to right; Mayberry grounded out; Royals were tied 1-1 after Otis’ homer coming before Brett’s at-bat.
Fifth: One out, singled to left; caught trying to steal second as Mayberry struck out to end the inning; Twins led 4-3.
Eighth: Singled to right leading off; forced at second by McRae for second out; Royals still down 4-3.
Ninth: Royals tied the game on a triple by Freddie Patek and double by Cowens; with one out and runners at first and and second, Brett grounded out to third and Mayberry flied out.
The Twins scored in the 10th and won 5-4. May 11, 3 for 3, 1 RBI, 1 walk in 6-3 win over Minnesota
First: Two out, walked; Mayberry grounded out. Twins led 1-0 after one.
Fourth: One out, singled to left; went to third on Mayberry single; left stranded after McRae and Cowens made out. Twins led 3-0.
Fifth: Royals tied the game at 3-3 on a double by Poquette and a homer by Otis with two out; Brett followed with a single to left; Mayberry flied out to end the inning.
Seventh: One out, single to left scores Buck Martinez, puts Royals ahead 4-3; McRae singled in Otis to make it 5-3.
The Royals added an insurance run in the eighth for the final margin. May 12, 3 for 5, 3 runs, 2 RBIs, reached once on an error, 1 stolen base in a 17-5 win over Minnesota
First: One out, singled to center, moving Otis to third; stole second; Brett and Otis scored on Cowens’ double, the start of a seven-run inning off Joe Decker.
Second: Led off with a single to center; scored on a McRae single, the start of a four-run inning vs. Decker and Vic Albury.
Third: One out, reached on an error by first baseman Rod Carew, Poquette scored; scored on a double by McRae; Royals now lead 14-0.
Fourth: Grounded out to end the inning, the first scoreless inning for the Royals in the game.
Sixth: Two out, singled in White to make it 16-4.
Eighth: Jamie Quirk pinch hit for Brett.
Besides Brett, other big bats in this 22-hit barrage included Poquette, 3 for 6, 4 RBIs, 2 stolen bases, a double and a triple; Mayberry, 2 for 5, 2 runs; McRae, 2 for 2, 2 runs, 2 runs scored, 2 RBIs and a double; Cowens, 2 for 4, 2 runs, 4 RBIs and 2 doubles; and Bob “Scrap Iron” Stinson, 3 for 4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs. May 13, 3 for 4, 4 runs, a homer, 1 RBI, and a walk in a 13-2 win over the Chicago White Sox
First: Two out, single to left; after a single by Mayberry, two runs scored on McRae’s two-run triple to right; Cowens followed with a triple to left, giving the Royals a 3-0 lead.
Third: One out, solo homer, 4-0 Royals.
Fifth: After Otis’ leadoff double, grounded out to second, moving Otis to third; Otis scored on Mayberry’s single, the start of a three-run inning that gave the Royals a 7-0 lead.
Sixth: Walked with two out; scored on Mayberry’s two-run triple, expanding Royals’ lead to 9-2; they led 10-2 at the end of the inning.
Eighth: Singled to left leading off; scored on a three-run double by Cookie Rojas, 13-2 Royals.
Mayberry went 3 for 4 in the game with 3 runs, 3 RBIs and a triple; McRae was 3 for 4 with 3 runs, 3 RBIs, a double and a triple; Cowens was 2-4 with 2 RBIs. Lots of clout out of the 4-5-6 hitters in the lineup, behind Brett at No. 3. (Brett was in the No. 3 spot for each game of the streak.)
The beneficiary of all this offensive largesse was Dennis Leonard, who pitched a complete-game seven-hitter. He carried a shutout into the seventh inning as he improved to 2-1 en route to a season in which he went 17-10, the second of eight straight double-digit seasons including three 20-win seasons. (From 1975-1981, Leonard had 130 wins, most by any right-handed major league pitcher.)
As can be seen from the last two games of this streak, the Royals were capable of blistering the ball all over the park like a pinball game, with Brett and McRae in the middle of a lineup of line-drive hitters. The Royals led the AL in doubles and triples and were second in hitting in ’76. Illustrative of their attack was the opening inning of the May 13 game, when after back-to-back singles by Brett and Mayberry, McRae and Cowens followed with consecutive triples to opposite corners of the park.
The 17-5 and 13-2 pastings of the Twins and White Sox were the first of six games in which the Royals hit double digits in runs scored this season. On May 24 and 26 they routed the Texas Rangers 14-11 and 14-2 in consecutive games, the latter the first game of a doubleheader. (They lost the nightcap 5-4 in 10 innings.) On June 7 and 15, and Aug. 13, they bludgeoned Detroit 10-0, 21-7 and 15-3. On Sept. 12 they whacked the Twins again, 16-6.
So how was the May 8-13 surge by the Royals and Brett greeted by the Kansas City faithful? Not overwhelmingly. An average of 11,336 fans turned out at Royals Stadium for the four home games during the streak, topped by 13,657 for the last one on May 13. For the season the Royals drew 1,680,265, an improvement of 500,000-plus over 1975 and 300,000-plus over their previous best in 1973.
The Royals’ attendance, as they continued to establish themselves as an American League power, climbed to 1,852,603 in ’77 and topped 2 million for the first of three straight seasons starting in 1978. With the size of their stadium probably holding them back, they ranked third in the AL in attendance from 1976-80 except for ’79, when they ranked fourth.
Hi, I’ve been a Kansas City Royals fan since the time I started following sports on a regular basis, which is the year 1969, which was the year of their inception. So you could say I’ve grown up with the Royals.
Not that I can say I’ve always been a die-hard fan, following every game and sticking with them through thick and thin. I’ve been more a fair weather fan, which means lots of foul weather a lot of these years. But there have been a lot of great moments, too, and the Royals have been a big part of my sporting life, so I’d like to take this opportunity to take a look at my most memorable Royals moments and games. This is not a definitive look at their greatest moments, although some certainly qualify. Some have been done to death, some cannot be done to death enough. It’s just a personal look at what it’s been like to follow the Royals through the years.
Most of the details in these accounts came from retrosheet.com and baseballreference.org, which are the greatest contributions ever to the internet.
Almost a year to the date after Chicago had pummeled the A’s 29-6, 11 days into their inaugural season in Kansas City, the Athletics offered some payback with a 15-1 drubbing of the White Sox on April 21, 1956. It came before a Saturday crowd of 15, 608 at Municipal Stadium.
As in the 1955 April blowout between the two teams, in which the Chisox took a 14-3 lead after three innings, this one was over early. And Kansas City’s knockout blow this day was even more emphatic. A 13-run second and one more in the third put the A’s up 14-1.
What made Kansas City’s second-inning outburst especially notable was that all of the 13 runs scored with two out. This tied the major league record for most runs scored with two out set by Cleveland in a 27-3 win over Boston in 1923.
Not that Art Ditmar needed that much help. The K.C. starter, who qualified as A’s ace this year with a 12-22 record and 4.42 ERA, threw a complete-game one-hitter, allowing no earned runs while striking out three and walking five, in winning his first start of the year.
The A’s sent 17 batters to the plate in the second, and mainly they stung the Sox to death with singles – 11 of them, along with two doubles, two walks and a triple.
Art Ditmar threw a complete-game one-hitter and benefited from a lot of run support as the Kansas City A’s blew out the Chicago White Sox 29-6 on April 21, 1956.Forrest “Spook” Jacobs with 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored to spark the Kansas City offense.
Although all the runs scored with two out, the A’s jumped on Chicago starter Sandy Consuegra from the start. Jim Finigan led off with a single and advanced to third on Joe DeMaestri’s double. After consecutive ground outs by Ditmar and Vic Power, Forrest “Spook” Jacobs beat out a grounder to shortstop Luis Aparicio for a hit, bringing in the first run of the inning.
(Why Spook? Jacobs was dubbed “Spook” for his uncanny ability to dump baseballs just over the heads of opposing infielders. Also of note, he was the first player to get hits on his first four at-bats in the major leagues.)
Enos Slaughter followed with another RBI single, and Harry “Suitcase” Simpson added a two-run single. (“Suitcase” because he played with a total of 17 different negro, major and minor league teams during his professional career.)
After a walk to Gus “Ozark Ike” Zernial (“Ozark Ike” after a popular comic-strip character), Bill Fischer relieved Consuegra and Joe Ginsberg greeted him with a run-scoring single. Hector Lopez, who’d come in for Finigan as a pinch runner after Finigan turned an ankle at third in his earlier at-bat, then delivered the big blow of the inning with a two-run, opposite-field triple to right field, making the score 7-0. DeMaestri followed with his second hit of the inning, a run-scoring single, and Ditmar singled him to second.
Goodbye Fischer, hello Harry Byrd, the AL Rookie of the Year in 1952 with the A’s when they were in Philadelphia.
And hello Byrd, said Power with a two-run double. 10-0 Kansas City. Jacobs’ second single of the inning scored another run. Slaughter walked, and back-to-back RBI singles by Simpson (also 2 for 2 in the inning) and Zernial made it 13-0.
Morrie Martin, who fought in the Battle of the Bulge during World War II and received two Purple Hearts, relieved Byrd and brought an end to the lesser carnage at Municipal this day by retiring Ginsberg to end the inning.
Ditmar gave up his only hit and only run in the fourth. Earl Battey singled with one out and came around to score courtesy two errors by Jacobs at second.
Ditmar breezed after that, facing the minimum 15 batters, helped by a double play, over the final five innings.
A’s manager Lou Boudreau substituted freely after the second. Jacobs was the only position player to go all the way and finished the day 3 for 5 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Simpson was 2 for 4 with three RBIs and Ginsberg 2 for 5.
The A’s went on to finish 52-102 in the American League that season, eighth and last, with a final record of 52-102, their worst record in their 13-year tenure in K.C. The White Sox finished third, 15 games back of the Yankees, who won won their seventh pennant and sixth World Series in eight years.
Safe at home 