Jaybird's Jottings

Random Recap, August 4, 1960

This is a continuing series of “Random Recaps” I started in January. The basic format is a brief summary of the game, the lineup with their stats, odds and ends from articles from The NY Times and The Sporting News coverage, and a brief note on how the season ended for the Giants.

To determine the random game I use Research Randomizer.

Random Recap, August 4, 1960

Game 99 of 154

SF 8, PHL 7

Sandwiched in between a three-game and a six-game losing streak, this Giants victory at Connie Mack Stadium featured a seven run comeback. The Phillies treated starter Jack Sanford unkindly, knocking the six-foot righty out in the second inning. Johnny Antonelli came on in relief and struck out Pancho Herrera, but the pitch was wild. With the sacks full, Tony Gonzalez drove in the sixth and seventh runs.

Down 7-1, the Giants plated single runs in the third and fifth before exploding for five in the seventh inning. Willie Mays kept the rally going when he jarred the ball out of catcher Clay Dalrymple’s mitt. The highlight blow came off the bat of pinch-hitter Willie McCovey who belted a two-out triple that drove home the tying and eventual winning run. The 8-7 score stood up as Georges Miranda (2 1/3 IP) and Stu Milller (1/3 IP) held the Phillies scoreless.

Giants Lineup Games Played in 1960 and OPS +

Don Blasingame 2B 136 70
Felipe Alou RF 106 99
Willie Mays CF 153 164
Jim Marshall 1B 75 90
Orlando Cepeda LF 151 135
Jim Davenport 3B 112 87
Hobie Landreth C 71 79
Willie McCovey ph 101 130
Andre Rodgers SS 81 92
Bob Schmidt C 110 95

Regulars Who Did Not Play
Eddie Bressoud SS 116 86
Willie Kirkland OF 146 114

Odds and Ends:

The annual poll of baseball writers published in The Sporting News tabbed the Giants to win the pennant. SF got 131 votes out of 266. Milwaukee was second with 88 and LA 34. The additions of Don Blasingame at second and pitchers Billy Loes and Billy O’Dell were noted as improvements.

Wondering if Jones, Antonelli, Sanford and Miller had pitched themselves out in the ’59 race, and noting a lack of bench strength, The Sporting News’ J.G. Taylor Spink picked San Francisco third behind Milwaukee and LA.

Connie Mack Stadium/Shibe Park opened in 1909 and was the first all concrete and steel stadium in the majors (ballparks.com)

Tom Sheehan had taken over as manager on June 18.

In the first three games at Philadelphia, all losses, the Giants stranded 29 runners.

The Giants home attendance, 1,795,356 (23,623 average) broke the previous franchise record of 1,600,793 in 1947 and was the highest until 1987’s 1,917,863 (24,277).

Sanford started the first game of the series and was chased in the fifth.

From The Sporting News:

Bob Stevens wrote a small piece about the Giants pitching woes. From August 2 to August 7, the Phillies and Pirates scored 27 runs against them when the situation was two outs.

How did the season end for the Giants?

This win put the Giants at 51 and 46, seven games behind the Pirates and in fifth place. They lost six in a row afterwards and never kicked it in. The offense was there (106 OPS+) but the pitching, a strength in ’59, was just average (101 AERA). Struggling with control, Sanford dipped to a 3.82 ERA (league average 3.76) The fielding and bullpen also appear to have been weak spots.

Sources:
NY Times via ProQuest
The Sporting News via paperofrecord.com
Total Baseball VII, John Thorn
The Baseball Encyclopedia by Pete Palmer and Gary Gillette
Baseball-reference.com
Retrosheet.org

Moving Pictures at Giants Official Site

From the "What It’s Worth" department, the Giants official site is, for the first time I believe, using a moving images screen at the home page (screen savers, help me out with a better word for it!).

Today, or just now, it started with a puff piece on our hero Neifi Perez, then flashed to MLB’s Fantasy Baseball League, then to a promo for the home opener against the Brewers.

Seeing the image of Jason Schmidt there was a reminder that he will miss the opening day assignment. And quite frankly, if this year’s run-up to the season were a beverage, it’s tasting more and more like a flat, mass-produced, lite beer.

But hey, the Devil Rays just popped the lid on the season with an 8-3 win over the Yankees in Tokyo. Life begins!!

Willie’s Catch in ’54 Rated Best, ’57 Snare Ranked Fourth, Snodgrass in 1912 Worst

More rankings by Schwarz. The 460 feet figure he gives for Mays's catch is probably wrong. Ballpark expert John Pastier told me it was closer to 410, 420 at most.

Still, an awesome clutch catch and return throw. And don't forget Willie walked, stole second and scored the winning run in the bottom of the 10th.

Giants On The Cover Of The Sporting News

In May 1965, The Sporting News, breaking from their long-standing tradition of publishing text-based, multiple story covers, began to print one subject cover stories with a full length photo shot.

This is the fourth in a continuing series of reviews of those issues with a Giant(s) on the cover.

July 23, 1966
Gaylord Perry
Cost: 35 Cents

Picture: A smiling Perry in the locker room, sweat-soaked jersey.

Caption: Gaylord Perry. Nobleman of N.L. Hill

Page Three article entitled, Temper Tamed, Perry Now Hill Terror. Written by Bob Stevens.

Perry was 12-1 at the All-Star Break. Voted Pitcher of the Month for June with 5-0 record and .90 ERA.

Giants signed Perry for $60,000 out of high school.

He struggled in 1965. Pitching coach Larry Jansen suggested he add a slider to his repertoire. Perry added it along with a side-arm pitch.

Perry talks poignantly about this period of his life in his autobiography, Me and The Spitter. “I finally realized that mistakes are going to happen. I’m going to make them. It was time to grow up, I was twenty-seven years old and possessed a grand total of 24 victories in four major league seasons.”

Perry ran his record to 20-2 on August 20 before finishing with a 21-8 record.

Conclusion of 1966 Pennant Race

Entering the final weekend of the season, San Francisco was three back of the Dodgers with the Pirates in second place, a game and a half back. The Giants and Pirates were rained out in Pittsburgh on Friday night, forcing a Saturday double dip.

In the first contest, the Giants scored two in the eighth inning to take a 5-4 lead. In the bottom of the frame, McCovey gunned down the potential tying run at home. Marichal, with help from Ollie Brown who made a nifty catch for the final out, completed the game for his 25th victory.

In the second game, Bob Bollin came through with a one-hitter and added an rbi double. The 2-0 win and sweep eliminated the Pirates and vaulted the Giants to second place, two back of Los Angeles.

The Dodgers and Phillies game was rained out on Saturday so the race came down to the final day. If Los Angeles lost their doubleheader and the Giants beat Pittsburgh, a playoff would be needed.

Perry started the game and gave up three runs over seven innings. The game went into extra innings tied at 3. The Pirates loaded the bases in the bottom of the tenth, but Lindy McDaniel struck out ex-Giant Matty Alou to end the threat.

McCovey blasted a two run shot in the top of the 11 to give the Giants their do-or-die win. Sitting in the Pittsburgh airport, Herman Franks ballclub found out the Dodgers lost the first game but took the pennant with Koufax’s 27th victory.

Sources:

Me and the Spitter, An Autobiographical Confession. Gaylord Perry With Bob Sudyk

The Sporting News via paperofrecord.com

New York Times via SABR and ProQuest.

Computer printout provided by Steve Gietschier, Director of The Sporting News Historical Records

Marichal Builds A Baseball Stadium

Excellent article by Dave Newhouse on Juan Marichal. Topics covered are a new baseball stadium Marichal is building in his hometown in the Dominican Republic, Mays calling his shot that won the Spahn, 16-inning game in 1963, his arsenal of pitches, origin of the high-kick and his friendship with John Roseboro.

As part of my research for a piece I am working on, I read Marichal's A Pitcher's Story with Charles Einstein. Covers parts of the 1966 season. Didn't realize Marichal suffered through so many ailments and pains.

Someone needs to write a bio about this legendary player. The recent material would blend well with all the great stuff he did on the mound. My research piece is covering Wonderful Juan's record against the Dodgers at Candlestick. 21 and 1 at one point.

Good luck Juan. You're one of the greats in many ways.

Worst Play By A Third Baseman

ESPN writer and SABR member Alan Schwarz is compiling a list of best and worst defensive plays. That is a very tall order so I tip my hat to him for trying.

He mentions Bob Brenly’s infamous four errors in one inning in 1986.

No details provided so I thought I would offer them here.

Four was the loneliest number for Bob Brenly on the afternoon of September 14, 1986. A catcher by trade, the six-year Giants veteran was asked by Giants skipper Roger Craig to play third base for this Sunday afternoon game at Candlestick Park.

When they saw his beefy frame trot out to the position, a few of the 8,594 fans in attendance that day might have been crossing their fingers. In the five seasons prior to 1986, Brenly had made six errors at third and shown little range in 21 games. The 32- year old was in there for his bat.

Brenly’s troubles began in the top of the fourth. With no score, the Braves Bob Horner reached first when Brenly bobbled the grounder. After Ken Griffey singled and Rafeal Ramirez made out, Giants starter Mike LaCoss gave a free pass to Ozzie Virgil. Hoping for a double play, the Giants got the needed grounder off the bat of Glenn Hubbard. But Brenly juggled the ball for his second error of the inning and threw wildly to home for the third error. Horner and Griffey scored on the play, Virgil went to third and Hubbard to second.

Braves starter Charlie Puleo singled to drive in Virgil and Hubbard. After the second out, and a single by Ken Oberkfell, Brenly made his fourth error by misplaying Dale Murphy’s grounder. Horner then made the third out.

After the long inning was over, Brenly must have felt like walking past the dugout bench to the safety of the clubhouse. Even if no one in the park knew that Brenly had just tied a major league record for most errors in one game, they all knew he had just suffered through something terribly embarrassing.

Displaying the heart of a champion, Brenly didn’t mope. He led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run off Puleo. Then in the bottom of the seventh, he singled home Mike Aldrete and Candy Maldonado to tie the score at six all.

In the bottom of the ninth, with the game still knotted up at six, Brenly came to the plate with two out. Off Braves reliever Paul Assenmacher, he cracked the game winning home run.

Four errors, four runs batted in, goat to hero. It was a day Bob Brenly will never forget.

Spring Training Trip 2004

Random observations on a just completed trip to Florida to see three Spring Training games.

Tigers at Mets at Port St Lucie, March 17
Marlins at Dodgers at Vero Beach, March 18
Mets at Braves at Orlando, March 19

Ticket purchasing

Braves tickets were through TicketMaster. You do pay a little extra but the computerized system is a lot better than what the Mets and Dodgers offered. Dodger tickets were the old-fashioned way of calling a toll free number and picking up at Will Call. The Mets was a weird hybrid system. It starts out computerized but after you enter your credit card info, a info sign pops up and says thank you for your order. In other words, there's no way to select a seat. I followed up with a phone call and gave the lady my seating preferences. Got them in the mail. Turned out to be ok, but it's surprising to see a system like this.

Weather

After two trips to see the Giants in 2002 and 2003, my buddy Joe and me traded in cactus for grapefruits. Got very lucky with the weather. Central Florida temps were in the high 70s while the Valley of the Sun cooked in the 90s.

Tolls

If you travel around Orlando, be prepared to pay tolls, sometimes frequently. The Florida Parkway is also tolled and gave us a speedy route from Orlando to Port St Lucie and Vero Beach.

Food

Don’t eat the chicken sandwich at Holman Stadium (Dodgers).

Sports heaven

The All-Star café next door to the Braves ballpark on the Disney grounds made for a great alternative to cooking in the sun. We watched big screen TV’s that featured four NCAA games, the Braves-Mets game, the Giants-Mariners game at Scottsdale and golf action from Arnie’s nearby Bay Hill.

Lack of star power

Didn't see Piazza or Gagne and the Braves talent drain is remarkable. Lot of pressure on Russ Ortiz.

Lack of shade

Although the Mets park had a nice overhang that provided shade, there was a noticeable lack of it at the Braves Cracker Jack stadium. Our seats were upper deck and the very back row, making me think we would be in the shade. But the overhang is a set of beams that stick out providing what we jokingly referred to as timed shading. It wasn’t much by the way and somewhat perplexing.

Dodgertown

Very friendly, relaxing and historic place. Remarkable to me is the fact that the dugouts are just benches. Nuts really when you think about the lack of sun and heat protection for the players, but it seemed to be a remnant of doing things the way they have always been down there. Whether or not their new GM and owner changes this and other things remains to be seen.

Summing It Up

We first described this trip as The Anathema Tour, given that the Mets, Dodgers, Marlins and Braves have all stood in the Giants way recently. But our philosophy during these trips has been more of just kicking back and relaxing. We had a great time but there's nothing like the real thing. Spring training is just a pleasant tease.

Play ball!!

Dynamic Duos

ESPN’s Pardon The Interruption featured a segment about famous duos yesterday, a mixture of Hollywood and the Sports World. I was hoping they would mention Abbot and Costello but I guess it wasn’t in the cards.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about Giants’ equivalents.

John Day and Jim Mutrie.

The founding fathers. The course of New York’s and the National League’s history is different without them.

McGraw and Mathewson. Team and room mates. There’s no Giants dynasty without them.

Mays and Durocher. Genuine affection.

Clark and Thompson. Came up together. Spent 8 seasons as right side regulars. Embodied Giants' youth movement. Made pennant clinching play in 1989.

Magowan and Sabean. Give ‘em lots of credit for turning Giants around, but where would they be without Barry?

Me and my wife. She puts up with my crazy love affair with the Giants and baseball. Where would I be without her?

Make Opening Day A National Holiday

Apologies for not posting lately. I’ve been doing some research and just haven’t had much time for the present tense.

Got home yesterday and watched the final inning of the Giants-Cubs game. That was a pleasant surprise. I don’t recall one of their Spring Training games being televised nationally so soon in the schedule. Usually I’m surveying the TV Guide for WGN’s coverage of a Cubs-Giants game and have to wait at least a week. The ESPN announcers weren’t all that great but it sure beat Steve Stone and his homer mate.

Lastly, I support Athletics Nation’s effort to make Opening Day a national holiday! The way the lid is lifted has changed in recent years, not quite the same as when it was always in Cincinnati on a Monday or Tuesday, a day game and all that long time tradition. But it remains a huge psychological uplift, especially after a long cold winter such at this past one.

Play ball!

Go Giants!!