Spacemen Conclude 21-5 Month: Wednesday, July 30th, 1969

Scores!

CHI 4, SF 1  W-Holtzman 9-5 L-Perry 15-5  HR-Williams(10)

HOU 2, NY 0  W-LeMaster 12-10 L-Koosman 10-9  

ATL 3, PHI 1  W-Reed 11-6 L-Jackson 11-8  S-Upshaw(21)  HR-H.Aaron(35) Carty(17)

LA 8, PIT 3  W-Singer 13-8 L-Walker 3-6  HR-Oliver(20)  W.Davis 4 rbi.

STL 9, SD 1  W-Carlton 13-6 L-J.Niekro 8-9  HR-Javier(4) Maxvill(5)ISP  Javier 4 rbi.

CIN 3, MON 2  W-Ramos 5-1 L-Face 2-6  Helms 2-out 2-run walk-off single.

"Fear us!"

The Astros finished off their unbelievable July (they are idle on the 31st) with back-to-back shutout wins at New York behind Dierker and LeMaster. Behold their monthly logs: 9-15, 12-15, 10-19, 21-5. "Consistency is the hobgoblin of small minds!" opined 'Stros skipper Harry Walker. I, er, I mean Harry completely revamped the Houston line-up at the start of July and boy has it paid off. Jim Wynn moved from clean-up to lead-off, and disappointing Joe Morgan moved down to 8th from 2nd or 3rd, and they both thrived in their new spots. Also, Jesus Alou rolled away the stone and left the bench to take the 2nd spot in the line-up while the demonstrably radio-active Gary Geiger took a seat. (Alou had been so putrid early that he had gotten benched.) But that doesn't explain the pitching staff shaving almost half a run off the team e.r.a.! I have to say, in all the seasons I have played, I have never seen any team play so poorly for so long and then start beating everyone's brains in. It's truly been amazing to see. 

He has 17 rbi in July, and he doesn't give a shit what you seamheads think about the rbi stat!

At Cincinnati (Please notice that I spelled that correctly! Whee!), The Expos nursed a 2-1 lead into the 9th. After Jim Maloney was pinch hit for, the Reds brought in good luck charm Pedro Ramos in the top of the 9th. He held the fort and in the bottom of the ninth against living dinosaur Roy Face, the Reds were down to their last out when Tony Perez got on. John Bench singled to put runners on the corners, and then he shocked everyone by taking off for second! 'Spos backstop Ron Brand fired down to the keystone sack, but Bench beat the throw! (He is now 8 of 9 in steals. Go, young John!) This turned out to be crucial when Tommy Helms stepped to the plate. Gene Mauch went out to the mound to confer with his superannuated hurler, but they decided to pitch to Helms rather than a certain pinch hitter for Darrel Chaney. Helms ripped a line drive to right center, scoring both runners for the walk-off win! 

Actual picture of your Impartial Goddess with actual Andy Kosco and actual Bill Sudakis in background.

At Pittsburgh, Willie Davis continued his quietly torrid (?!) July with three singles, a double, and 4 rbi to sink the Buccos' little pirate ship. However, your Impartial Goddess's fervent wish for mayhem to befall the Dodgers came true when Andy Kosco and Bill Sudakis collided in pursuit of a foul pop fly. Kosco is lost for a week, Sudakis for two. The foul pop fell untouched. Your Goddess would visit them in the hospital but is afraid she might snicker behind her hand.

Scamper, Dal, scamper!

Finally, Dal Maxvill hit the 4th inside the park homer of the season (joining Deron Johnson (!) Alex Johnson, and Ted Savage) and it was a 3-run affair, to propel the Redbirds to further glory. They, too, are done for July, and posted their best record, 17-11, since April. Are they back? I think they are.

Pods & Pirates Go 18 Innings: Sunday & Monday, July 27th & 28th, 1969

Scores, July 27th

LA 4, CHI 2  W-Moeller 10-6 L-Selma 5-12  S-Mikkelsen(13)  HR-Santo(15)

CIN 6, NY 2  W-Fisher 9-9 L-McAndrew 6-11  S-Granger(13)  

SD 6, PIT 5 (18inns)  W-Kelley 4-2 L-Moose 2-5

STL 7, SF 3  W-Grant 7-6 L-Bolin 9-10  HR-Bonds(18) Brock(4)

MON 4, ATL 3  W-Wegener 8-7 L-Doyle 5-3  S-Face(12)  HR-Staub(23) H.Aaron 2(33)

HOU 3, PHI 2  W-Griffin 7-10 L-J.Johnson 4-16  S-Gladding(8)  HR-Allen(18) Rojas(3)


Score, July 28th

STL 10, SD 1  W-Washburn 7-11 L-Roberts 3-10  Torre 5 rbi.

The clearly crazed Dick Kelley.

After defeating the preposterous Padres in the first 3 of a 4 game set at Forbes Field, the Buccos threw their arms around the Friars and caroled, "We want you to stay forEVERrrrrr!" Well, they nearly did. As they had done the day before, the Holy Men got off to a quick lead, but of course, because they are the Padres, they let it slip away and trailed 5-4 going into the 8th. That's when Pittsburgh's ugly fielding kicked in, and the Pods tied the game on an unearned run off of Chuck Hartenstein. Who could have known then that the Padres would pull ten innings of scoreless relief out of their ears?! (Or someplace.) On and on the game went, with Frank "Double" Reberger tossing 2, Jack Baldschun doing the same, and lefty Dick Kelley contributing the last six. At last, in the top of the 18th inning, the mythical magical Jose Arcia ripped a three-bagger and came home on a sac fly by Chris Cannizzaro, the human spelling bee. In the bottom of the 18th, the Pirates put runners at the corners with two out, but Kelley whiffed Freddie Patek to finally end the festivities.  The Padres exhausted their bench, and the Pirates emptied their bullpen. It was the longest game of the season so far.

Someone got his autograph! No one knows why.

At St. Louis, the same two players who homered on Saturday--Bonds and Brock--homered again on Sunday. Both flyhawks are in the running for player of the month, along with Hank Aaron (June's winner) and Rusty Staub. But the interesting thing, besides the return to form of the Cardinals, was the S.F. catching situation. Until Dick Dietz got injured recently, they had made it all year with none of their 3 backstops ever getting so much as a split end. Then Dietz went down, followed by Bob "Hi, Bob!" Barton on Saturday. On Sunday, Jack Hiatt managed to get injured running the bases where there is no protection for the last catcher, (as there is on my Orsino board) and utility infielder Don Mason had to strap on the gear. All of this mayhem necessitated the call-up (and creation, by your multi-talented Goddess!) of 4th-string catcher John Harrell. In actuality, Harrell played in 2 games, going 3-for-6, all singles, and walking twice. And so his card is crazy-good for getting to first base with, even though I toned it down just a little. Harrell is so obscure that my 1969 Sporting News Baseball Register doesn't even have a photo of him, though it does list him. All they could think of to say about him was what junior college he attended. His moment has arrived! He will catch one game and then sit back down when Dietz returns on Wednesday. 

"Must...lose. MUST...lose...."

Jerry Johnson of the Phillies, whose main claim to fame is making me type "J.Johnson" and "D.Johnson" all the time, because you never know, Jerry might hit 20 homers and Deron might star as a starting pitcher! Or not. But anyway, he seemingly cast aside his losing ways for a while on Sunday, stopping the Astros on one hit through six innings. However, in the space of three batters in the 7th, the Spacemen plated 3 and won the game, hanging yet another loss on hapless old Jer'. Don't look now, but the Astros are just 4 games under .500 after going on a 19-4 run, and have crept to within 10 and a half games of the top. Miracle Astros, anyone?

Babe Ruth? Ty Cobb? Clint Hartung? NO, it's Ray "Hit Machine" Washburn!

And finally, the Cardinals, rounding back into April form when they went 19-4, stomped on the Padres on Monday, just to remind them that they stink. Nate Colbert's 2-out rbi single in the 9th ruined Washburn's bid for a shutout, but everyone was still rolling with laughter over Johnny Podres giving up 5 runs in the 8th after retiring the first two batters and facing Ray "the free strikeout" Washburn, who managed to single, igniting a seemingly endless rally.  The Redbirds have opened up a 3 and a half game lead again in the east. 

620 games down, 352 to go, 16 games left in July.

 

Chico Ruiz Offers Language Lessons: Monday, April 28th, 1969

Scores!

CHI 7, PHI 5 W-Hands 4-1 L-Wilson 1-2 S-Regan(5) HR-Santo(5) Joseph(1)

STL 2, PIT 1 (12inns) W-Hoerner 2-0 L-Dal Canton 1-1 

ATL 5, HOU 0 W-Reed 1-2 L-LeMaster 2-3 HR-T.Aaron(2)

LA 3, SD 2 W-Moeller 3-1 L-Roberts 1-3 S-Mikkelsen(4) HR-Colbert(2)

SF 3, CIN 2 W-McCormick 3-1 L-Merritt 1-3 S-Linzy(1) Reds turn 6 DPs!

He tomahawked it.

Since moving Ron Santo to clean-up instead of the still-homerless Ernie Banks, the Cubs have been scoring much better. They won a see-saw game against the plummeting Phils when Billy Wilson came on to cough up three late runs. Ric "Chief" Joseph, utility man and leader of the Nez Perce, launched a 3-run jack for the Quakers, but all in vain.

I am too lazy to go back through and find out, but I'd love to know how many games the Cardinals have won while scoring three or fewer runs. It's a bunch, I'm certain. The Redbirds continue to knock everybody else off the feeder, rising to 4-0 against the Buccos.

Ron Reed kicks and deals.

Ron Reed credits his first win of the season to sinking his free throws and executing the pick and roll. Teammate Tommie Aaron has already doubled his actual 1969 homer output.  He urges big brother Henry to "watch and learn!"

Your Goddess, looking an awful lot like actress Lou Doillon, declares her impartiality.

When the Padres had the nerve to show some life against the Dodgers, Walter Alston looked up from perusing the rest home's lunch menu and summoned Jim Brewer. However, Mr. Brewer allowed the bases to become loaded with Men of God and so Walter had to reluctantly go to Pete Mikkelsen again. The exhausted Mr. Mikkelsen promptly fanned an overmatched Jerry DaVanon to seal it for the Tinseltown nine as your impartial Goddess tore up her program and sighed.

Exchanging pleasantries and rotting on the bench are Chico's specialties!

In San Francisco, the Reds turned an incredible 6 double plays in 8 innings, but still lost to the Gints, 3-2. Mike McCormick staked himself to a 2-0 lead early with a 2-run triple. The Giants added a seemingly meaningless run in the 8th off of Clay Carroll, but needed it when the Reds rallied in the 9th. A 2-run single by Tony Perez made it 3-2 and chased Mr. McCormick, who went to rearrange his spice rack as Frank "Old Kerosene" Linzy came on to face pinch hitter Chico Ruiz, batting for Woody Woodward. Plate umpire "Hell" Enkeller called Ruiz out on a pitch that appeared to be well out of the zone to end the game. Chico went cuckoo and was ceremonially tossed, even though the contest had ended. Speaking to reporters after the game, he assured them that "pendejo" is Spanish for "my friend" and that he had no idea why he was ejected. Chico F***king Ruiz, you rascal!