What A Game ! ! ! : Thursday, September 18th, 1969

Scores

CHI 3, PHI 0  W-Selma 11-14 L-Wise 11-15  Selma 11 K's.

NY 4, MON 3  W-Taylor 7-3 L-Waslewski 4-3  S-McGraw(24)  HR-Clendenon 2(24) Staub(30)

STL 6, PIT 3  W-Giusti 4-4 L-Blass 15-8  S-Hoerner(14)  HR-Torre(12)

LA 3, ATL 1  W-Singer 22-8 L-P.Niekro 15-13  HR-Kosco(16)  

CIN 11, SD 3  W-Maloney 19-10  L-J.Niekro 9-14  HR-Tolan(18)

SF 10, HOU 9 (11inns)  W-Herbel 6-3 L-Guinn 0-2  HR-Menke(8) Bonds(23) Hunt(2)  Fuentes 2-out walk-off single.


Two weeks and 68 games to go.

"Why can't you just trust me?!?"

This is where it gets good, ball fans! The Giants faced the Astros at Candlestick, needing a win to keep pace with the Dodgers. The Astros stink but can be dangerous in any given game. Add to that, the Giants had to send the sketchy Mr. Bolin to the hill; despite his 15-10 record, he isn't very reliable. The Astros countered with bullpen reclamation project Wade Blasingame.

"So what if it landed in the front row. I didn't want to hit Uecker!"

Bolin went straight out there and coughed up three singles, punctuated with an error by Ron Hunt. Two runs came across, and only a double play saved the inning for Bob. In the bottom of the first, the fumble-fingered Mister Hunt, known more for being hit with baseballs than for hitting them out of the park, belted his 2nd dinger to cut the score to 2-1. But, behold! Bolin settled down, and the Giants tallied 3 in the 4th and 2 more in the 6th to take a commanding 6-2 advantage. 

The immortal Julio Gotay.

Lookin' good for San Francisco, right? Wrong. Mr. Bolin, despite having advanced to a "C", suddenly remembered who he is after retiring the first two hitters of the 7th. He walked Menke, then hit Rader to put two on. Blefary singled Menke in. Then slump-encrusted Jim Wynn, demoted to the 7th spot in the order, cued one off the end of the bat and busted it down the line. "Safe!" screamed arbiter I.C.Poorlee, because it sounded that way. Rader scored to make it 6-4, but Wynn came up lame and had to depart. At least he got his first rbi of the month. He's day to day. Johnny "Johnny Angel" Edwards greeted new pitcher Ron Bryant, brought in to face the lefty, with a single to make it 6-5, and pinch hitter Julio Gotay knocked in the tying run off of Frank Linzy, although Edwards was gunned down at third to finally end the frame. 6-6!

Drunk with success?

It stayed that way until the top of the ninth when, with Don McMahon on the mound, Doug Rader led off with a single. Curt Blefary doubled, and Tommy Davis, who had replaced Wynn, singled Rader in to make it 7-6 as the home crowd groaned. Davis, giddy with success, took off for second, but was cut down by Dick Dietz, and the rally fizzled from there. Nonetheless, the Astros handed Fred Gladding a lead to protect in the bottom of the 9th.

Is this a confident face, or what?

Ron Hunt, swinging for the fences, struck out, reminding himself to choke up and smack singles. The canny veteran Willie Mays rose to the occasion and hit a mighty fly to left center, which fell and bounced off the fence as Willie motored into third with one out! Reluctant to put the winning run on intentionally, Astro skipper Harry Walker had Gladding pitch to Willie McCovey, who grounded to third. There was nothing Mays could do but get back to the bag and watch McCovey be thrown out for the second out. The air seemed to go out of the crowd. Jim Ray Hart was the last hope for San Franciso. He lined a clean single to center, scoring Mays and causing the home crowd to go wild. 7-7! Dick Dietz struck out, and extra innings (again!) were on tap in San Fran.

"Watch this!"

The joy was short-lived when an exhausted Mr. McMahon--done in not only from all the extra innings lately, but also from handing out sweepstakes prizes--gave up a two-run bomb to Denis Menke in the top of the 10th to give Houston a 9-7 lead. The crowd gnashed their teeth and rent their garments and called McMahon unkind names as Menke circled the sacks. Gladding, given a second chance to close it out, gave up a pinch single to Tito Fuentes to lead off the bottom of the 10th, but he was erased on a double play ball by fellow pinch hitter Bobby "Call me Melissa" Etheridge. Dark clouds blocked the sun as the Giants seemed done. But wait! Clyde King sent up a third straight pinch hitter, little Don Mason, who ripped a double! Up stepped Bobby Bonds, 0-for-5, all strikeouts. Harry Walker stroked his chin and eyed Ron Hunt, an on-base machine, on deck, and decided not to walk the flailing Mr. Bonds and put the tying run on base with Mays and McCovey lurking behind Hunt. BAM! Bonds launched a Gladding pitch into the left field stands and the fans lost their minds! 9-9! Hunt then made the third out, naturally, as Walker did violence to the Gatorade dispenser. 

"I'm too sexy for my shirt...so sexy that it hurts..."

Ron "Herbal Essence" Herbel, the last man in the Giants bullpen, was made to cut short his totally organic experience and enter the game in the top of the 11th. He disposed of Hector Torres, Marty Martinez and Joe Morgan in order. On came Skip Guinn for the Astros, the man with an e.r.a. above 12, the highest by far in the entire league. Hey, there just wasn't anyone else! He managed to retire Mays, but slap-hitter Willie McCovey dinked a single and was pinch run for by kid flyhawk Dave Marshall. Jim Ray Hart, the hero of the 9th inning, stepped up and the crowd went bananas. Come on, Jim! But he fanned, and everybody moaned. Last chance--Dick Dietz. He took pitch after pitch, fouled off a few, and finally worked a walk, putting runners on first and second for Tito Fuentes, who had stayed in the game at third. Guinn delivered. Fuentes swung and lofted a dying quail into left field. Marshall steamed around third and headed for home, arms and legs pumping as the crowd held its breath and left fielder Marty Martinez scooped up the ball and fired it home. In came the ball. In came Dave Marshall. Plate umpire "Hell" Enkeller leaned forward to get a good look and called Marshall....SAFE! Astro catcher Johnny Edwards spun on his heel in frustration and stared heavenward as the Giants poured out of the dugout to mob Marshall and Fuentes. 10-9 Giants in eleven innings! What a game. The Giants now welcome L.A. into Candlestick for a three game weekend series. Hang on to your hats!

16 HR for Montreal in 2 months, 8 for the Mets in 3.

In other news, Andy Kosco's 3-run jack in the bottom of the first inning sunk Phil Niekro and the Braves, as Bill Singer made it stand up the rest of the way. In Montreal, Donn Clendenon suddenly remembered how to hit home runs, and socked two of them, including a 2-run 9th inning heartbreaker. Nonetheless, a Cardinal victory over the Pirates mathematically eliminated the Mets. One reason I chose to play '69 NL was to see whether I could make them win it again; now I have my answer, a resounding "No!" I don't think anybody could. It was truly a miracle that such a light-hitting crew won a hundred games. But who cares about that? Bring on Dodgers-Giants!

 

Sunday, August 31st, 1969 and End of Month Leader Board

Scores

ATL 2, CHI 1  W-Jarvis 14-9 L-Jenkins 15-8  S-Upshaw(25)

CIN 7, STL 3  W-Carroll 6-4 L-Gibson 16-6  HR-Tolan(11) Perez(23) 

PIT 6, HOU 2  W-Gibbon 5-6 L-Gladding 3-5  S-Dal Canton(9)  HR-Clemente(13) Morgan(13)

LA 4, PHI 0  W-Sutton 16-8 L-Jackson 12-12  HR-Sudakis(8)  Sutton 1-hitter.

MON 6, SD 4 (10inns)  W-Face 3-7 L-Reberger 5-11  HR-Staub(27) Kelly(3) Pena(3)  Staub 4 rbi.

SF 3, NY 2  W-Perry 18-6 L-Koosman 15-10  HR-Agee(16)  Perry 2-hitter.

SF 9, NY 3  W-McCormick 12-5 L-Gentry 14-9  HR-Clendenon(21) Swoboda(4) Burda(3)

August is over! 803 games played, 169 to go in my replay. The Dodgers and Giants find themselves in a virtual tie for first in the west going into September, while the Cardinals lead Chicago by 5 and a half, and the Mets by 6 and a half. The Giants posted the best record in August at 21-7, followed by the Dodgers at 20-8. The worst two teams were the Phillies and Astros at 8-20 (coming on the heels of Houston's 21-5 July. What a season.) Each team has just one cross-divisional series left, then it's all within their own division after that! Now, how about those stats...

PITCHING
NY  2.83 (least runs against, 421)
CHI  2.89 
STL  2.91 (most CG, 65. most shutouts, 18)
ATL  3.06
LA  3.23 (most saves, 32.)
SF  3.30 (least K's, 740.)
HOU  3.71 (tied for least saves, 12.)
PIT  3.71 (most K's, 939)
CIN  3.87
MON  4.48 (least CG, 24.)
PHI  4.53 (tied for least saves, 12.)
SD  4.85 (most runs allowed, 734. least shutouts, 2.)

BATTING
CIN  .270 (most runs, 660. least caught stealing, 21.)
PIT  .269 
LA  .260 (tied for most triples, 45. least times shut out, 6.) 
ATL  .255 (most home runs, 126. tied for least triples, 20. tied for most caught stealing, 41.)
SF  .253 (tied for most caught stealing, 41.)
STL  .252 (least home runs, 53.)
MON  .251
CHI  .244 (tied least triples, 20. least steals, 31.)
HOU  .241 (tied most triples, 45. most steals, 99. most doubles, 203.)
NY  .228 (least doubles, 136.) 
PHI  .225 (most times shut out, 20)
SD  .212 (least runs, 406.) 

FIELDING (avg is IP divided by errors.)
STL  14.34 (least errors, 86.)
ATL  12.88 (most DP's turned, 163.)
CHI  12.71
CIN  11.57
LA  10.20
NY  10.03
SF  9.88
PIT  9.24
MON  8.87
SD  8.76
PHI  8.70
HOU  7.91 (most errors, 150. least DP's turned, 86.)

Random team stuff:
best 1-run record SF 27-15, worst PHI 12-29
best x-inn record ATL and STL 12-6, worst  PHI 5-14

Player of the Month--Bobby Tolan, Cincinnati. He drove in 30 runs in August!

WINS: Singer-la 19-8, Carlton-stl 18-6, Perry-sf 18-6, Hands-chi 17-9

ERA: Perry-sf 1.64, Hands-chi 1.99,  Gibson-stl 2.09, P.Niekro-atl 2.14, Marichal-sf 2.17

Al "Losing Pitcher" Santorini

LOSSES: Santorini-sd 5-20, J.Johnson-phi  5-19

SHUTOUTS: Dierker-hou, Marichal-sf, Perry-sf, and Singer-la all with 6.

IP: Hands-chi 257.2, Carlton-stl  249.2, Maloney-cin 243.2, P.Niekro-atl 243.2

Her door man rocks.

K's: Carlton-stl 196, Singer-la 190, Jenkins-chi 183, Wilson-hou 178, Hands-chi 177 

CG: Carlton-stl 21, Hands-chi 20,  Koosman-ny 20, Marichal-sf 20

SAVES: Upshaw-atl 25, McGraw-ny 21, Granger-cin 17, Mikkelsen-la 16

ERRORS: Morgan-hou 34, Arcia-sd 29, Money-phi 29, Sizemore-la 29

AVG (353 ab): Rose-cin .364, McCovey-sf .355, Davis-la .347, Mota-la .347, Jones,ny .343, Hebner-pit 325, H.Aaron-atl 323, Oliver-pit .322, Tolan-cin .318, Johnson-cin .317

HR: H.Aaron-atl 40, Allen-phi 30, McCovey-sf 27, Staub-mon 27, Oliver-pit 26

RBI: Staub-mon 105, May-cin 103, McCovey-sf 97, Oliver-pit 97, H.Aaron-atl 96

RUNS: Rose-cin 114, Bonds-sf 106, Wynn-hou 104, Brock-stl 100, two tied with 89.

DOUBLES: Kessinger-chi 33, Laboy-mon 33, 3 tied with 29.

TRIPLES: Davis-la 11, Sanguillen-pit 11, 3 tied with 10.

STEALS: Morgan-hou 52, Bonds-sf 50, Wills-la 43, Brock-stl 38, Wynn-hou 30

I Got APBA'viewed !

Check out this really nicely done interview of yours truly, HERE.

Cubs and Reds Stage Miracle Rallies : Friday, August 22nd, 1969

Scores

CHI 5, HOU 4 (10inns)  W-Regan 6-6 L-Womack 4-4  HR-Blefary(11) Williams(15)  Popovich 1-out walk-off single.

SF 14, MON 2  W-Bolin 13-10 L-Robertson 9-12  HR-Hart(9)  Hart 6 rbi.

NY 6, LA 4  W-McAndrew 9-11 L-Osteen 13-8  S-McGraw(21)  HR-Jones(8)

SD 4, PHI 2  W-Santorini 5-19 L-Fryman 7-13  S-Reberger(14)  HR-Stahl(6)

CIN 6, PIT 5 (10inns)  W-Granger 7-5 L-Veale 14-9  HR-Stewart(6)ph Stargell(18)

STL 5, ATL 0  W-Taylor 8-8 L-Britton 0-1  HR-Javier(7)

Too much! The Lucky Bus!

Imagine the verbiage your Impartial Goddess may have employed when the hated Tinseltown nine plated 4 runs in the top of the first against the Mets at Shea. Imagine my colorful patois as every roll and circumstance seemed to go their way. Who knew, when Maury Wills singled in the second inning and advanced to third with one out, that the Dodgers had only one hit left in them? Who could have predicted a fly out/ throw 'em out double play to exterminate the threat and prevent Jim McAndrew from being reduced to a "D"? What peerless seer could have predicted that the Mets would score 2, and then 4 more, with the big blow coming off the bat of Cleon Jones in the form of a 3-run HR to give him 8 rbi in the last two games? Who could have envisioned McAndrew advancing to "A" status, or Tug McGraw turning in a flawless inning of relief? In any event, that's what happened. Some credit my newly trotted-out 1960s NYC transit bus, now dubbed the Lucky Bus. 

Fear the mighty Po-Po!

Second-place Chicago looked like they were going down in dismal defeat to fireballer Don Wilson and the Astros, but when he allowed two runners to reach with two out in the bottom of the ninth, and the Spacemen up 4-1, Dooley "Freaking" Womack was ladled out of the Houston bullpen to try to get Ron Santo out. Nothing doing! Ron knocked a two-run double, and then a pinch runner scored the tying run, sending the contest into extra frames. That's when Leo Durocher dusted off little Paul Popovich, who singled home the winning run. The bruins scored all five runs from the 8th inning on, to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. As for Dooley Womack, he is rumored to be on the block following several lackluster performances of late. 

Bill meets his end. (courtesy of Pepper's Dog Blog)

Not to be outdone, The Reds had a rally of their own. After being one-hit by Bob "Hi, Bob!" Veale at Cincinnati, he was setting them down again with regularity, and carried a 5-2 lead into the 9th. However, the big lefty walked a pair, and with 2 out, pinch hitter Jimmy Stewart cranked a three-run bomb to tie the game in front of the dismayed Pittsburgh crowd. "Aw that's swell!" chirped Stewart. Then in the 10th, with Veale still on the hill, Bobby Tolan, who had been mystified by the left-handed slants all day, managed a single, then took off for second. Manny Sanguillen rag-armed the throw into center field, allowing Tolan to advance to third. Up stepped slump-encrusted Lee May, who dinked a single to score Tolan, and although in the excitement Lee managed to get thrown out trying for a double, it was all the Reds and Wayne Granger needed to seal the victory.  As for the Buccos, they are sinking like a stone, and lost the services of Bill "Oh no, Mr. Bill!" Mazeroski for the next ten games while he works on his baseball magazine and rests his smashed-in face after being creamed by a fastball. Kid keystoner Dave Cash returns to the line-up in his stead. 

"Yeegh! There's something crawling up the inside of my uniform!"

Poor Atlanta. With Ron Reed and Pat Jarvis both sidelined for the moment, kid chucker Jim Britton had to toe the slab (why does that sound so gross?) against the Cardinals at Busch. He didn't do too badly, giving up 4 earnies in 7 innings and fanning 9, but Chuck Taylor blanked the teepee dwellers for the second straight start, this time on 3 hits. Asked by a scribe about his future plans, losing pitcher Jim explained, "I plan to really foul up my elbow, get traded to the Expos, make a few more futile appearances in '71, and then fade from the scene!" Oh that youthful exuberance! 

Guess who our favorite player is?

In Montreal, Jim Ray Hart exploded for 6 rbi to lead the San Franciscans past the Expos by a whopping count of 14-2. Ever since Mike McCormick's injury saved him and kept him in the rotation by the hair on his chinny chin chin, Bob "Bolin For Dollars" Bolin has done nothing but win. He hasn't pitched especially well, mind you. He just wins. Cue Reader William's views on the "W". 

"It's amazing, Mr. Stahl. There's not a scratch on you!"

Finally, the unstoppable Pods have cobbled together a real live 3-game winning streak! Of course, this also means that the Phillies' dreadful season has reached a new low, with the Friars stopping the hometown Quakers 4-2, and not only that, but Al "Losing Pitcher" Santorini scored the win! Flyhawk Larry Stahl, only in there against the lefty Fryman due to a lack of living bodies to pencil into the line-up, cranked a two-run shot for the Holy Men. He did this despite twice trying to get injured, but the Magical Protective Shield (TM) that prevents injuries to teams down to a bare minimum of participants swooped in and saved him both times. "I can't be killed!" he crowed, as the glum Philadelphia nine shambled off the field in shame.

The Phillies' team bus is here.

Astros Make it To .500 : Saturday, August 2nd, 1969

Scores, as my replay reaches the exact two-thirds point:

CHI 9, SD 5  W-Abernathy 4-7 L-Sisk 4-11  S-Regan(13)  HR-Santo(16)

HOU 10, MON 3  W-Griffin 8-10 L-Stoneman 4-11  HR-Miller(5)

NY 4, ATL 1  W-McAndrew 7-11 L-Pappas 8-6  HR-Gonzales(4) Shamsky(8)

CIN 12, PHI 8  W-A.Jackson 4-0 L-Raffo 1-3  HR-Stewart(4) Allen(20)  Reds 22 hits.

PIT 11, SF 2  W-Bunning 8-7 L-Sadecki 5-7  HR-Mazersoski(1) Oliver 2(23)  Oliver 5 rbi, Mazeroski 4 rbi.

LA 4, STL 2  W-Moeller 11-6 L-Washburn 7-12  S-Brewer(11)

So weird that a 5th place team is hogging all the headlines, but what the Astros have done in 5 weeks time is truly astounding. At the end of June, they were 31-49, 16.5 games out of first, and 15 games out of 4th. Then they promptly lost their first game of July. But since then they are 23-4, and are now 10 games out of 1st place and 5 games out of 4th. Fifth is still fifth, you may say, but they sure have been fun to play lately. Their most recent victim is expansion Montreal, whom they have drubbed 14-1 and 10-3 at Parc Jarry.  A doubleheader is scheduled for Sunday.

Right in his beer!

The Reds went into Philadelphia and smashed 22 hits against the Phillies, who had taken a 5-0 lead only to see hapless Jerry Johnson be unable to hold it. The Cincinnati crew are still not hitting homers--although reserve Jimmy Stewart did hit one Saturday, landing it right in Old Man Potter's beer cup--but they *are* finally hitting again, and scoring runs. Nonetheless, it is a real mystery why May, Perez, Bench et al are no longer finding the seats. 

"No...not the bicycle spokes! No! Please, AAAAAAAGGGHHHHH!!!"

Veteran second sacker Bill Mazeroski was reinserted into the Pirates line-up the past two games, and responded with 7-for-8, a double, a homer, 4 runs and 5 rbi. Kid keystoner Dave Cash may have to rot on the bench for a while. Jim "Easter" Bunning went the distance against the Giants, then rushed home to chase some neighborhood kids off his lawn. "It's not easy being a geezer," he opined.

He experienced occasional irregularity.

Finally, Phil Regan of the Cubs, who went the entire month of July without garnering a save, picked one up on Saturday against the preposterous Pods. "They were threatening!" he insisted, fighting down a guffaw.  

Friar Man threatens the universe.