The only thing hotter than the temperature in St. Louis was the battle for the 1967 National League pennant. It had suddenly become a three team race, two of which were the St. Louis Cardinals and the visiting Cincinnati Reds. The Reds had led the league for most of the season, but the Cardinals kept pace, never falling more than 4 1/2 games behind. It had been a two team race until the Cubs went on a tear, winning 16 of their last 19 games, including a recent 3 game sweep of the Reds. That knocked the Reds out of first place and put the Cubs into contention for the first time in several years.

At the start of this series, the Cardinals and Cubs were tied for first place and Cincinnati was starting to fade, now 5 games behind. The Cubs would give back nearly all of the ground they gained over the next two weeks, but it was this Independence Day series between the Cardinals and Reds that would set the tone for the remainder of the 1967 season.

The Cardinals seemed to be in good shape entering the series. Orlando Cepeda (.348) and Tim McCarver (.346) were chasing Roberto Clemente for the batting title, and were second and third in the league, respectively. Curt Flood was also in the mix, batting .306 at the time. Lou Brock, Roger Maris and and Julian Javier were also flirting with .300.

Milt Pappas

If that wasn’t enough for the Reds to deal with, the Cardinals starter on the night was Bob Gibson (9-6). But it wasn’t just any Bob Gibson. This was Gibson at his absolute meanest, and that meant trouble for the Reds. Gibson was coming off the worst outing of his career, giving up 9 runs in just 2/3 of an inning against the San Francisco Giants. When he took the mound, it looked like he had something to prove – we just didn’t quite know what it was.

Facing the Cardinals was veteran right hander, Milt Pappas. Pappas had recently come over to the National League after an impressive stint with the Baltimore Orioles. This was his 9th consecutive season with more wins than losses, and 10th if you are willing to include his rookie season where he went 10-10 as a 19 year old. In spite of all of his success, he always seemed to have trouble with the Cardinals.

A quick start

Gibson made quick work out of the Reds in the top of the first, as he would do for most of the game. A strikeout, an infield ground out and another strikeout and it was the Cardinals turn to hit.

And did they hit. And hit. And hit.

Lou Brock would lead off with a double, followed by singles by Curt Flood, Roger Maris and Orlando Cepeda. Before Pappas could even work up a sweat, the Cardinals had a 2-0 lead and were threating for more. Tim McCarver would hit a sacrifice fly, scoring Maris for the 3rd Cardinals run. Infield singles by Mike Shannon and Julian Javier would load the bases and end the day for the Reds starter. Don Nottebart, a former starter turned long reliever, would take over and he would be greeted rudely by light hitting Dal Maxvill who would clear the bases with a loud double in the right field gap. An errant throw allows Maxvill to score and the Cardinals now had a commanding 7-0 lead, with still only one out. Bob Gibson would extend the inning with a single.

What happens next united a team that was lacking a bit of identity, and they would need that over the coming months as they faced enough adversity to demolish a lesser team.

Thrown out

Lou Brock

Lou Brock would make the second out of the first inning with a fielders choice, forcing Gibson at second base. There was no chance of doubling up the speedy Brock. With a 7 run lead, Brock attempts to steal second base and is thrown out, ending the inning. He also angered the Reds in the process. Apparently the Reds did not appreciate Brock running in that situation, and would soon retaliate. Not once, but twice – and that was just one too many.

Gibson would shut down the Reds quickly in the second and third innings, striking out seven of the first nine batters he faced. The Cardinals would go quietly in the second, but started another rally against Nottebart in the third.

Tim McCarver and Mike Shannon would start the inning with singles, putting runners at the corner. Deciding this was the time to make a statement, Nottebart brushes back Julian Javier, inviting the ire of Cardinals fans that remember Javier paying a similar price in 1965. Javier would ground into a fielders choice with McCarver being thrown out at home. The inning would end without a further incident, but tempers were clearly heating up.

In the fourth inning, Gibson would strike out two more Reds, bringing his total to 9. He was also throwing a perfect game, retiring the first 12 Reds rather quietly.

Once too often

Nottebart would again voice his displeasure of Brock’s running in the first inning by hitting the Cardinals left fielder to start the home half of the 4th inning. If he had not dusted Javier in the previous inning, that might have passed without a response. One was fine, but two batters could not be tolerated. Somehow, the Reds forgot who was on the mound for the Cardinals.

A return message was clearly delivered in the top of the fifth inning. Bob Gibson would throw one of his best fastballs behind the head of Tony Perez, one of the leaders of the young Reds team. Just because he didn’t hit Perez didn’t mean he wasn’t sending a loud and unambiguous message: this ends here and now. But it didn’t. Far from it.

Tony Perez would fly out, but while heading back to the dugout he yelled something at Gibson.

There are two things you can’t do to Bob Gibson: cheat on the inside of the plate and bark at him. Tony Perez must not have gotten that memo.

Tony Perez

Perez and Gibson would share several verbal exchanges, both men getting more animated as they went on. The situation escalates when Orlando Cepeda comes over from first base to try to intervene, according to Cepeda’s version of the story. This move is misinterpreted by the Reds reliever, Bob Lee who comes running in from the Cincinnati bullpen.

Lee is a mountain of a man, listed at 6ft 3in and 225 pounds, but he looked much bigger at that particular moment.

Both teams ran out on the field and punches were thrown, hard and repeatedly. The scrum moved quickly into the Reds dugout and players started jumping in just as quickly as others were being thrown back onto the field of play. Even some fans got in on the conflict, helping out the home team. St. Louis police officers were soon dispatched to break up the fight, and they were eventually able to restore order, but not before several players were hurt, as was one of the officers.

The Reds manager had to be treated for lacerations from being spiked. The Reds reliever, Don Nottebart, received several facial cuts, but would stay in the game and pitch the bottom of the inning. Bob Gibson would jam the thumb on his pitching hand and it would bother him later in the game, prompting a call to the bullpen in the 8th inning. The most humorous of the injuries was to Tommy Helms, who broke a tooth – presumably the result of a Gibson punch. Helms would end the night 0-4 causing a sports writer to note that Gibson got more hits on Helms than Helms did on Gibby.

When play resumed, only one player was ejected: Bob Lee. While his actions had led to the escalation, the reason for his ejection was that he had entered the field of play illegally.

Back to the game

Orlando Cepeda

The game would continue, but it was clear that the fight had taken a toll on both teams. The Reds went quietly until the top of the 8th. Gibson was starting to struggle with his control, and the Reds started hitting him hard. After giving up 3 runs, manager Red Schoendeinst would go to his bullpen and Nelson Briles would quickly shut things down. Perhaps this was an omen as Briles would be called on to fill the spot in the rotation when Gibson lost two months to a broken leg.

The Cardinals would end up splitting the 4 game series, winning the first and last games while dropping the middle two. More important than this series, something had awakened in the Cardinals clubhouse. In a few weeks, Orlando Cepeda would stand up on a trunk and proclaim “Viva el Birdos”, and the Cardinals would go on to win the pennant and defeat the Red Sox in the fall classic. Looking back at the season, that bird might have taken flight in the 5th inning of this game. July 3, 1967.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

The San Francisco Giants and Pittsburgh Pirates were supposed to battle for the National League Pennant in 1967. At least that was the plan before the season began.

The Cincinnati Reds had a lot to say about that early in the season. They got off to a quick start, leading by as many as 4 1/2 in early June. Eventually their pitching depth would come into play and they would fade during the dog days of summer. The Reds would end up winning 87 games, but would finish 19 behind the Cardinals when all was said and done.

The first meeting between the Reds and Cardinals would be a short two game series in early May. The Reds would come into St. Louis, hoping to make a statement, as well as increasing their lead in the National League standings. The scheduling would be fortunate for the Reds as manager, Dave Bristol, would be able to use his two best pitchers: Jim Maloney (1-0) and Milt Pappas (2-1). Red Schoendienst and the Cardinals would counter with their top two starters: Bob Gibson (3-1) and Ray Washburn (0-2). You could always count on Bob Gibson to give you a good game, but it was a healthy Ray Washburn that gave Cardinals fans the most to cheer about in the early part of 1967.

May 2 – St. Louis 5, Cincinnati 0

In the first game, Bob Gibson was exceptional. The big right hander was never in trouble. Gibson would only give up two hits in this game: a leadoff double to future Cardinal Vada Pinson in the fourth and a single to Leo Cardinas in the fifth. While dismantling the Reds lineup, Gibson would fan 12 and walk 2. From the very first pitch of the game, Gibson overmatched the first place Reds, making a statement of his own.

Jim Maloney

On the other side of the diamond, the Cardinals would put pressure on Jim Maloney all night long. A single by Tim McCarver in the second inning, advancing on a ground out by Mike Shannon would set up the first Cardinal run. McCarver would steal third base and later score on a Jim Maloney wild pitch.

The Cardinals would add three more runs in the fifth inning when Mike Shannon would hit a bases loaded double, scoring all three baserunners. Roger Maris would single in Bob Gibson for the final Cardinals run in the sixth, giving the home team a 5-0 lead.

All in all, a nifty 2 hit complete game shutout for Gibson’s fourth win of the season.

But that’s not the story. That would come 22 hours later.

May 3 – St. Louis 2, Cincinnati 0

When the Cardinals took the field the next night, we expected a rejuvenated Reds lineup to try to earn a split in the short series. What we got was one of the best pitched games of the year by Ray Washburn. Finally healthy after dealing with arm troubles, the newly retooled Washburn kept the Reds off balance all night long. Where Gibson was striking out Reds hitters, Washburn was getting weak ground balls to the infield. When your infield consists of Mike Shannon, Dal Maxvill, Julian Javier and Orlando Cepeda, that is a recipe for success. Like Gibson in the previous game, Washburn would surrender only two hits: a two out single by Pete Rose in the fourth and a two out single by Chico Ruiz in the fifth.

Milt Pappas

Other than a shaky first inning, Milt Pappas was nearly as good as Washburn. The top of the Cards order would manage a small rally in the fourth inning. Just as he had done in the previous game, Mike Shannon would deliver the big blow, a bases loaded single to drive in two runs – the only runs that would be scored in the game.

As the game wore on, Washburn seemed to get stronger and stronger. Forget any hits; in the the last three innings, the Reds would get only a single base runner (on a walk). When they did hit the ball, only two made it out of the infield, both harmless fly outs to Curt Flood. It was also one of the quickest games I’ve ever heard, lasting only an hour and forty minutes.

More important, this game was something Cardinals fans had been waiting to see since 1962, a healthy and dominating Ray Washburn. We would see a lot of this over the next two seasons.

Message delivered

The high flying Reds game into Busch Stadium, hoping to extend their lead. Over two games and just under four hours of baseball, all they managed were four hits. They left St. Louis with their tails tucked between their legs, as they would several more times that unforgettable summer.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

Through the first five games of the 2011 season, the Cardinals offense has been somewhat of a disappointment. General Manager, John Mozeliak, recently explained that the team made a conscious effort to add more consistent offense, even if it meant sacrificing the defensive side of the team. We have certainly experienced the downgraded defense, but are still waiting for that upgraded offense that Mozeliak had promised would arrive. What if they never do – is that the end of the season ? What if Albert Pujols has the first bad year of his career ?

Five games into the season is a bit too early to be pressing the panic button. Instead, let’s flip through the pages of the Cardinals history book and see if we can find something that might put our minds at ease. Fortunately, we don’t have to go back too far – just to 1968.

They Couldn’t Hit Worth a Lick Either

The defending World Champion St. Louis Cardinals entered the 1968 season with the same regular starters as in 1967. They were all a year older, but only Roger Maris seemed to be getting close to the end of his career. Since this group put up some ferocious offensive numbers in 1967, expectations were high for a similar performance in 1968. The NL Pennant was a forgone conclusion – the only question was who they would play in the World Series, and did they have enough pitching to beat the Redbirds. We would know the answers to these questions soon enough, but getting there was not quite that easy.

While 1968 is fondly remembered as the year of the pitcher, the overall offensive production across the National League was down from the previous season, but not all that much. The same thing could not be said for the Cardinals. Their offense would experience power outages all summer long, often for long periods. It was not limited to just one player, as nearly the entire team’s production dropped. All except for Dal Maxvill and Mike Shannon, who defied the trend and had a good year at the plate. For Maxvill’s efforts, he would be awarded the only Gold Glove of his career.

Let’s take a look at the regular lineup and see how they did.

That is not a typographical error. Orlando Cepeda’s batting average dropped 77 points from his MVP season. As you can see, he was not the only one. Tim McCarver, Curt Flood and Lou Brock all had a tough year at the plate. The exceptions were Mike Shannon and Dal Maxvill, who both turned in solid offensive performances, relative to their career averages.

But it was so much worse than the drop in batting average suggest. Let’s take a look at the team slugging, or rather lack of it.

Not only were the batting averages down significantly, the big bats in the heart of the batting order were reduced to singles hitters. The result was a precipitous drop in runs scored, from 695 in 1967 to just 583 in 1968. Mike Shannon would lead in the team in RBIs with 79, a frighteningly low number for a team with World Series aspirations.

Poor Cepeda. For the man who had electrified the fans and helped turn the franchise into champions, 1968 was a disastrous season. As we documented a few months ago in Why Bean Ball is Bad Baseball, the likely cause of Cepeda’s problems were two times when he was hit by a pitch, late in the season. One of those errant pitches got him on the wrist or forearm, and he was not the same afterwards. We have learned that injuries to the wrist and hand can take a player a year or more to completely recover, as was the case with Julian Javier in 1965.

Cepeda felt that he had faded late in the 1967 season and worked hard during the winter break. When he arrived in St. Petersburg to start spring training in February 1968, he was bigger and stronger than we had ever seen. But it did not help the former MVP as he struggled all season long, prompting a trade to the Atlanta Braves immediately following the loss to the Tigers in the World Series. Cepeda struggled again in 1969, but the slugger returned nearly to his MVP form in 1970.

If the offense wasn’t a big part of the Cardinals return to the World Series, who was ?

The Year of The Pitcher

No discussion of the 1968 St. Louis Cardinals would be complete without looking at the amazing season turned in by Bob Gibson. No matter how many times you look at the numbers, they are just mind-boggling.

Bob Gibson

• A win-loss record of 22-9
• 1.12 ERA (a modern day record)
• 34 starts, 28 complete games
• Was not taken out of an inning that he started
• 13 shutouts
• 304 2/3 innings pitched
• 268 strikeouts
• WHIP (combined walks and hits per inning pitched) of 0.853
• 5 consecutive shutouts in June
• In 105 innings fr0m June 2 to August 4, only 3 runs allowed
• 5 times pitched into extra innings, 11 innings or more 3 different times
• Winner of NL Cy Young Award and NL Most Valuable Player

Mind-boggling, indeed. Any one of those achievements is amazing, but to think that Gibson did that all in one year is almost beyond belief.

The story does not end here. Overlooked in a new found fascination with the New York “Amazin’” Mets were three more spectacular seasons turned in by the Cardinals Hall of Famer.

• 1969: 20-13 with 2.18 ERA. 28 complete games, 4 shutouts. 314 innings pitched. 269 strikeouts
• 1970: 23-7 with 3.12 ERA. 23 complete games, 3 shutouts. 294 innings pitched. 274 strikeouts, NL Cy Young Award
• 1972: 19-11 with 2.46 ERA. 23 complete games, 4 shutouts. 278 innings pitched. 208 strikeouts.

And also worth noting

• Winner of 9 consecutive Golden Glove Awards (1965-1973)
• Set a World Series record with 31 strikeouts in 1964
• Tied a World Series record for fewest hits allowed in 3 complete games with 14 in 1967 (this is after Jim Lonborg threw a 1 and 3 hitter)
• Gibson actually posted a lower ERA after returning from his broken leg in 1967 than in his record setting 1968 season

I think you are getting the point here, but I’m including all of this additional information for a specific reason.

Correction: The Year of the Pitching Staff

Yes, it was the year of the pitching staff. While all of the spotlight fell on Gibson for his amazing season, the rest of the Cardinals hurlers were doing quite well, thank you very much. Let’s look at this another way – if three of your five starters are having career seasons, and your closer also decided to join in the “let’s have a career year” party, how could you not go to the World Series ?

That’s exactly what happened in St. Louis in 1968. While Bob Gibson was busy rewriting the history books, Nelson Briles, Ray Washburn and Joe Hoerner were turning in the performances of their careers. Especially Washburn.

Ray Washburn received a lot of attention for throwing a no-hitter against the San Francisco Giants on September 18. Yes, it was a terrific game turned in by the veteran right hander, but it was also just a footnote on a spectacular season. In any other year, Washburn would have received serious consideration for Most Valuable Player and Cy Young Award. In fact, only a few previous Cy Young Award winners in either league would post a lower season ERA than Washburn’s in 2.26 1968, and most of them were named Koufax. Unfortunately for Washburn, another of those was his teammate, and he would take home most of the metal in 1968.

Another pleasant surprise was Nelson Briles. The young right-hander had been been shopped to all of the other teams as the 1967 season got underway, and fortunately new General Manager, Stan Musial was unable to find a suitor. Briles surprised everybody when he filled in for an injured Bob Gibson, and then continued his mastery of the National League after his return. Briles 1968 proved that the previous season was not a fluke as he turned in a career year, posting a brilliant 19-11 record with an era of 2.81. He would also turn in a career year in innings pitches (243 2/3), strikeouts (151), complete games (13) and shutouts (4).

The two lefties in the rotation, Larry Jaster and Steve Carlton, would take turns wearing the “I don’t get any run support” signs. Both pitched well, especially Carlton, but the lack of Cardinals offense seemed to be particular hard on them. They aren’t going to get much sympathy from Gibson though, as he somehow lost 9 games while allowing less than 2 runs per outing. A lot less than 2.

The starters weren’t the only ones enjoying the 1968 season. Joe Hoerner, the Cardinals closer, finished the season with an 8-2 record, a miniscule ERA of 1.47. In 19 save opportunities, the unconventional left-hander would convert 17 of them, blowing just two. Both of his losses were in non-save situations.

Rookie Wayne Granger was nearly as good, after a mid-season callup. The two time Fireman of the Year with the Big Red Machine would appear in 34 games, and finish with a 4-2 record and an ERA of 2.25.

Perhaps the hero of the bullpen was co-winner of the 1967 Rookie of the Year, Dick Hughes. Hughes blew out his shoulder in spring training, but fought through the pain of a torn rotator to give the Cardinals some much needed innings. His 2-2 record is amazing, consider how badly he was injured.

Side-armer Ron Willis and new lefty Mel Nelson were also effective out of the bullpen for Red Schoendienst.

To appreciate just how good this staff was, consider this last statistic. The staff threw 30 shutouts. That’s right – 30 times the staff combined to hold the opponents scoreless. Another 31 times, they allowed just a single run. And 21 more times, they gave up 2 runs. These are not earned run, they are total runs. If you add these numbers up, you will find out that the Cardinals pitching staff and defense held opponents to 2 runs or less for just over half of the season. That is how a struggling offense managed to win 97 games and run away with the National League Pennant.

What of 2011 ?

If the Cardinals offense continues to struggle, they will have to look back at this group of pitchers from 1968 for their inspiration. We have already seen this in their first two wins of the season – a nifty 4 hit 2-0 shutout by Jaime Garcia and huge first career start by Kyle McClellan where he won 3-2. If the bats don’t wake up, it will fall on the arms of Chris Carpenter, Jake Westbrook, Jaime Garcia, Kyle Lohse, Kyle McClellan and Ryan Franklin.

Bob Netherton covers Cardinals history for i70baseball.com and writes at On the Outside Corner. You may follow Bob on Twitter here or on Facebook here.

My dad was at Royals Stadium briefly the night before I was born. He had been invited to watch the game in a luxury suite, and had been given permission by his very pregnant wife to attend the game only after he confirmed there was a phone in the suite she could call in case she went into labor. And wouldn’t you know, not too long after arriving at the stadium, the phone in the suite rings. Sorry Dad. If I had known what a great game I made you miss, I would have tried to hold out a little longer.

August 27, 1979: The Royals jumped out to a comfortable 6-1 lead against the Brewers before things fell apart in the seventh. Royals starter Rich Gale got the first two men out in the inning before surrendering three straight hits. Steve Mingori was called in, but got the hook after allowing a walk. Manager Whitey Herzog called in one of the all-time great firemen, Dan Quisenberry, but the Quiz got rocked this night. A young Robin Yount got an inside-the-parker, and all of a sudden the Royals were down 6-8. But the Royals weren’t done. In the bottom of the ninth, George Brett doubled, Darrell Porter singled him home, and it was 8-9. Al Cowens singled, then Frank White, and the game headed into extras. The Mad Hungarian, Al Hrabosky, had a perfect top of the tenth before Hal McRae, Amos Otis and Darrell Porter all had hits in the bottom of the frame to walk off with a KC win. Like I said, sorry Dad.

My dad says his father was never much of a baseball fan, but my dad caught the bug as a kid thanks to the Kansas City A’s. He listened to them on the radio while tying tomato plants on the family farm all summer. Roger Maris came to the A’s and moved into a house down the street when my dad was ten, and Dad had a new hero. He was crushed when Roger was sent to the Yankees, but it didn’t stop him from creating the Roger Maris Fan Club and getting an exclusive interview with Mrs. Maris for the club’s first newsletter. Later my dad painted the farm’s golf cart A’s green and gold. His allegiance switched to the Royals when they came to town.

Growing up with my dad and an older brother who was baseball crazy made it natural that I loved baseball growing up too. I attended one of the 1985 American League Championship Series games, but my only memory of it is wondering about the buntings adorning the stadium walls. The night the Royals won the World Series, I just remember my dad and brother going crazy and thinking, “This is apparently a really big deal.”

Bret Saberhagen & Me

I got a little older…baseball cards, family excursions to Royals Stadium, little league, George Brett, Frank White, Bret Saberhagen, Bo Jackson.

Joe Posnanski says baseball can never be as perfect as it is when you are 12 years old. On my 12th birthday, the Royals had another walk-off victory at Royals Stadium. The names had all changed except for one: Brett was still raking for KC. Hal McRae was his teammate 12 years earlier, but now it was Hal’s son Brian in the lineup. Brett hit a game-tying triple in the fourth. It came down to the bottom of the ninth, two on and two out, when 37 year-old Warren Livingston Cromartie got a pinch hit, walk-off single for the home team.

Then of course life had to get a little more complex after the halcyon days of pre-pubescence. Music fandom started taking on more importance than sports fandom. I turned inwards and awkward. Then in my late teens and early twenties my awareness of the Royals and sports in general fell off the map. I no longer understood why the triviality of sports should consume any of my time and energy. I became somewhat of an artist, if more in affectation than in practice. I moved to Des Moines for college in 1998, fell in love with a girl, and lived life in a bubble that did not include much of the world outside of campus. Sports were no longer a way I connected with anyone.

After four years in Des Moines, I spent 2002—03 in Minneapolis. I remember overhearing something about the Royals hot start in 2003 and actually having a tinge of interest and excitement. Around the same time, something unexpected happened: I started to miss Kansas City. I moved to Iowa City in 2003 when the aforementioned girl started grad school. It never did feel like a home, and I more and more longed to be back in the only place that did. I started following the Royals again as a way to connect. As I moved away from those uncomfortable but exciting years of self-actualization and discovery and into the comfortable if relatively stagnant years of my late twenties and early thirties, my love for baseball returned even stronger than it ever had been as a kid. In 2007, I moved back to live in Kansas City for the first time in a decade, and my attachment to the city and the Royals was deep thanks to the time away.

I am a full-on Royals addict now, constantly trolling for any hint of Royals news even through the off-season. I needed an outlet for my passion, for which the internet has proven perfect. I started tweeting and blogging about Kansas City baseball as a whim, then I70Baseball.com came calling asking if I’d like to write a weekly column, and apparently now I’m not just a member of SABR, but I’m going to be on a panel at the next KC chapter meeting discussing baseball and the internet! And to complete the circle, I had a son in 2007 who is already baseball crazy at three years old. The sport and the Royals already are a bond between us. He wants to play all the time, and his mom and I have to sing him “Take Me Out To The Ballgame” twice every night before he goes to sleep. I’ve come to realize that yes, baseball may be trivial, but the connections it allows between people are anything but.

Yes, this is a graph of my fandom over time.

The Kansas City A’s lifespan was brief (1955—67) and inglorious. In 13 seasons, the team never managed a winning year. Part of the problem may have been the dizzying rate of turnover of the club’s players. I can not imagine any other team has had such an itchy trigger finger when it came to swapping players in and out. One result of all the losing and the constant turnover is that there are not really any legendary KC A’s players. Some great ones played for the A’s briefly, but no player really made a name for themselves with just the A’s.

In spite of that, I wanted to take a look at what players were able to contribute the most to the A’s. I’ve compiled a completely objective list of the top 15 players by Wins Above Replacement (WAR) accrued while with the KC A’s (using Sean Smith’s implementation of WAR as found on Baseball-Reference.com). Few players were able to hang with the A’s long enough to compile much in the way of counting stats like WAR. Some players who manged even a couple of decent seasons for the A’s make the list.

Here are numbers 15 through eight on the list, to be followed by the top seven next week:

15. Roger Maris ∙ RF ∙ 1958—59 ∙ 221 GP ∙ 5.0 WAR

Maris makes this list in spite of playing basically one and a third seasons with the Athletics, which is a testament to Maris’s superb talent as well as the lack of talent that stuck in KC. Had the A’s held on to Maris, he could have been that one legendary player associated primarily with the KC A’s. That Maris was traded to the Yankees is especially galling because he wanted to stay with the sad sack A’s and loathed being dealt to the powerful Yankees. According to the recent Maris biography from Tom Clavin & Danny Peary, Maris had this to say about the trade: “It doesn’t thrill me, and it sure fouls things up. I just built a home and expected to spend a lot of time with my family. Now they’ve traded me about as far away as they could. Kansas City is my home now. I’ve got nothing against the Yankees, but I’m sorry to leave.” Game-for-game, Maris was probably the greatest KC Athletic.

14. Tom Gorman ∙ P ∙ 1955—59 ∙ 214 GP ∙ 5.1 WAR

Gorman spent most of 1946-54 in the Yankees farm system, which included stints with the Kansas City Blues from 1951—54. He was used sparingly by the Yanks from ’52-’54 before the A’s purchased his contract prior to their inaugural season in KC. Gorman was a fixture in the A’s bullpen for the next five years, and provided an occasional start. The side-armer was steady and effective: his ERA stayed between 3.51—3.83 in his first four seasons.

13. Orlando Pena ∙ P ∙ 1962—65 ∙ 100 GP ∙ 5.2 WAR

The Cuban Pena had a long and winding career that took him to eight major league teams in 14 seasons. His four years as an A was his longest stay with one team. He was pretty good in ’62 and ’63, but ineffective in ’64 and ’65 before the A’s released him mid-season. Pena became a member of the Royals organization in 1968, and pitched for the Omaha Royals in ’69, but never did get the call to pitch for the big league Royals. He spent some time on the other side of the state with the Cardinals in ’73 and ’74. A 1963 Sports Illustrated article on the prevalence of the spitball mentioned Pena: “Orlando Pena of the Kansas City Athletics, that team’s best pitcher, supposedly loads his pitches. Does Pena throw a spitter? ‘No sir,’ says Hank Bauer, who managed Pena last season…’What Pena throws is a Cuban fork ball.’”

12. Bert Campaneris ∙ SS ∙ 1964—67 ∙ 500 GP ∙ 5.3 WAR

“Campy” had a long, distinguished career, and it all started with the Kansas City A’s, and a home run on the first big league pitch he faced. (He homered a second time in his debut game, then hit just two more homers the rest of the season.) The speedy shortstop led the AL in stolen bases every year from ’65—’68, and again in ’70 and ’72. On September 8, 1965 Campaneris became the first player to play all nine positions in a game (resulting in one of the most bizarre box scores you’ll ever see) thanks to one of A’s owner Charlie Finley’s publicity stunts. Campaneris moved to Oakland with the team in ’68 and remained with them through ’76. He holds the distinction of having played the most games with the 110 year-old franchise.

From Bill James’s Historical Baseball Abstract (which ranks Campy as the 25th best shortstop of all-time): “There was a game in 1966 that symbolized what he meant to the organization. Nobody else in the lineup got a hit; nobody else, as I recall, even reached base, but Campy went 4-for-4, stole several bases, and scored 4 runs. The A’s won the game, I think 4-2 or 4-3.”

11. Bill Tuttle ∙ CF ∙ 1958—61 ∙ 450 GP ∙ 5.4 WAR

Tuttle was acquired in a 13-player swap with the Tigers. Much of his value for the A’s came in his career year of 1959: His hitting was good though not great that year (113 OPS+), and his defensive numbers were especially strong, including 17 assists from center field. Tuttle was a heavy user of chewing tobacco, which led to oral cancer later in his life. He spent much of the last five years of his life speaking to big league players about the risks of tobacco use before his passing in 1998.

10. Bud Daley ∙ P ∙ 1958—61 ∙ 118 GP ∙ 6.4 WAR

Daley represented the A’s for the All-Star games in 1959 and ’60, and was especially good for the A’s in 1959 when he posted a 3.16 ERA and 4.4 WAR. It was the only outstanding season of his career. The lefty relied on breaking balls, particularly the knuckleball and curveball.

9. Vic Power ∙ 1B ∙ 1955—58 ∙ 582 GP ∙ 6.6 WAR

Power was familiar with Kansas City and Municipal Stadium after spending ’52 and ’53 with the Kansas City Blues. He broke into the bigs with the Philadelphia Athletics in ’54 and starred at first base for the KC A’s for their first four years of existence until being dealt to Cleveland in exchange for Roger Maris. According to Bill James, “Power was a spectacular defensive first baseman, an acrobat who would dive for ground balls half way to second base” (Historical Baseball Abstract).

8. Ned Garver ∙ P ∙ 1957—60 ∙ 115 GP ∙ 6.7 WAR

Garver’s biggest claim to fame is being the only modern pitcher to win 20 games on a team that lost 100 games or more (the 1951 St. Louis Browns). The 14 year vet spent the latter portion of his career with the A’s, and pitched long and well enough in his time in KC to have the second most WAR among KC A’s pitchers. According to Garver, he was “a sinker-slider pitcher” (The Neyer/James Guide To Pitchers).

With all this talk recently about the 25^th anniversary of the 1985 World Series, I thought we should take time to look back at another Kansas City baseball championship.

True KC baseball fans know the Royals aren’t the only local team to win it all. The Kansas City Monarchs won the Negro Leagues World Series twice, in the 1924 and 1942.

And then there’s the little-remembered 1962 World Series title won by the Kansas City Athletics.

It’s probably little remembered because it didn’t really happen. But this is a minor detail we’ll dispense with right now:

In “reality,” the New York Yankees won the 1962 World Series. In that same “reality,” the Kansas City A’s finished in ninth place, next-to-last in the American League, with a 72-90 record.

But, darnit, those Yankees have 27 World Championships to their name. When it comes to Major League Baseball championships, Kansas City has one.

So, by golly, on behalf of all Kansas Citians, I’m claiming the 1962 World Series for the Kansas City A’s.

What gives me the right to do this? The simple fact that without the Kansas City A’s, the New York Yankees would not have won nearly as many world titles.

Recently on the I-70 Baseball Radio Hour, we interviewed Tom Clavin and Danny Perry, the authors of “Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero.” To research for the interview, I read their wonderful book, which was reviewed on our website here. The book reminded me that Maris, in the years before his Yankee greatness, was a member of the Kansas City A’s, and like so many members of the A’s, he was shipped off to New York for chicken feed.

The A’s and the Yankees had what was called a “special relationship.” There’s a great passage in the book describing the “relationship” in this quote from Merle Harmon, the announcer for the A’s:

Ernie Mehl was the big, tough, loud, cigar-chomping sports editor of the Kansas City Star. He was the ringleader, along with Kansas City sportswriter Parke Carroll, in getting Arnold Johnson to buy the A’s and move them to Kansas City [from Philadelphia]. Mehl was a good friend of Del Webb, who along with Dan Topping owned the Yankees. Webb made his money as a construction magnate and real estate developer, and when Johnson needed the 19,000-seat [Kansas City] Blues Stadium transformed into the double-decked Municipal Stadium in just ninety days, who do you think the contract went to? The Dell Webb Construction Company. So Johnson was beholden to Webb, and Carroll, the new A’s GM, would do anything for his good friend Yankees GM George Weiss.

How’s that for a headlock? The owner of the Yankees literally built the stadium the A’s played in. Arnold Johnson, who apparently cared little for baseball and was only involved to make money, was happy to ship players to the Yankees for not much in return, because his intention was to move the team to Los Angeles, and low attendance at Municipal Stadium would help him get out of a city lease.

If it’s beginning to sound like the plot of the movie Major League, you’ve just about got your mind wrapped around the situation.

Incidentally, the Brooklyn Dodgers beat Johnson to the punch, moving their team to LA before Johnson had a chance.

The “special relationship” continued somewhat after Johnson died and Charlie Finley bought the team in 1960, even though Finley insisted the relationship was over. The damage was done, though. The Yankees already had all of the Athletics’ best players.

Including Roger Maris, who had a pretty good season for the Yankees in 1961.

Since ‘61 is so special to Yankees fans (Maris hit a then-record 61 homers, Mickey Mantle hit 54, and the team defeated the Reds in five games for the title), I’ll leave that one alone.

We’ll take 1962.

And that makes sense, really. The 1962 Yankees included a goodly handful of players they received from the A’s for little to nothing, and four of those players – Maris, Clete Boyer, Hector Lopez and Ralph Terry – were essential to New York’s winning season and their seven-game World Series win over the Giants.

In fact, Terry – who was sent from Kansas City along with Lopez to New York for (I swear I’m not making these names up) Johny Kucks, Jerry Lumpe and Tom Sturdivant – was the 1962 World Series MVP. In the regular season, he compiled a 23-12 record with 14 complete games, 298.2 (!) innings pitched and 176 strikeouts. In the World Series he was 2-1 with a 1.80 ERA.

Lopez played in 106 regular season games for the ’62 Yanks, hitting at a .275 clip over 335 at-bats.

Clete Boyer played in 158 games for the Yankees in ‘62, batting .272 with 18 home runs. He really shined in the World Series, batting .318 with a .833 OPS. He was sent to New York for a handful of players you’ve never heard of, or the equivalent of about 15 gallons of Gatorade.

And Maris was no slouch, either. Although he didn’t quite live up to his 1961 numbers, he mashed 33 taters, hit .256 and clubbed 100 RBIs with an .840 OPS in 1962. The Yankees acquired him for two impressive names, Don Larsen and Hank Bauer, but Bauer was at the end of his career and Larsen had fallen off sharply since his one shining perfect game in the 1956 World Series.

So guess what, Yankee fans? Now your team has only won 26 world titles. We’re claiming 1962.

How do you like them Big Apples?

Matt Kelsey is a Royals writer and the content editor for I-70 Baseball. He can be reached at mattkelsey@i70baseball.com.

I started blogging because I like talking baseball. One of the unexpected benefits of that love is the occasional opportunity to review books on baseball. Recently I was asked if I was interested in receiving a copy of Roger Maris: Baseball’s Reluctant Hero, by Tom Clavin and Danny Peary. Of course I was.

One could sum up what I knew about Roger Maris (before reading this book) in about three sentences. He broke Babe Ruth’s single-season HR record in 1961. He was a Yankee in his prime and won 2 MVP awards. He spent the last 2 seasons of his career with the St Louis Cardinals. During the summer of 1998, his family was center-stage while Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa chased, and eventually broke, his record.

I read the 393-page book during a recent business trip. It was a surprisingly easy read. The main part of the book covers Maris’ 1961 season – for which he is most famous today – but the authors try to explain why Maris treated the media the way he did during that season by providing some insight into his childhood and family dynamics. Roger Maris was always a closely guarded man, not sharing personal details with just anyone, and certainly not with the media; his experiences as a youth, as well as a strong family tradition of being secretive, shaped that part of his personality.

Clavin and Peary make a reasonable case that Maris’ reticence, coupled with a new, younger breed of sports reporter who felt largely unencumbered by their predecessor’s code of keeping baseball player’s dirty laundry out of the press, were the causes of virtually all Maris’ trouble in New York. Roger did stick his foot in his mouth (and flash a prominent digit) on a couple of occasions, which didn’t help him, and the press was all too ready to publish those quotes/actions far and wide. No wonder Maris was so ready to get out of New York by 1966.

The book reminds the reader Roger Maris was much more than a home run hitter during his career. It talks about his defense (including his famous play in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series), his baserunning, and his all-around game instincts.

It also reminds us of what the game used to be like. Two separate leagues, with two separate styles of play, where players rarely jumped leagues and most major leaguers learned about the other league’s players by reading about them in the press. It’s interesting most of the 1967 Cardinals thought they knew what kind of a guy Roger Maris was based on the descriptions of him in the newspaper. They were surprised when Maris the man turned out to be nothing like the Maris they had read about.

Once Maris hangs them up following the 1968 season, Clavin and Peary take us rather quickly thorugh the remaining years of his life, touching on his Old-Timers Day appearances, his charitable work, and his business venture as a beer distributor for Anhieser-Busch in the Gainesville Florida area. The authors also talk about the effort George Steinbrenner made to repair the burnt bridges between Maris and the Yankee organization. Maris vowed never to go back to Yankee Stadium after he left the team in 1966. Steinbrenner believed a grave injustice had been done to Maris because of how he had been treated while a Yankee and really worked overtime to fix it. The description of Maris’ first appearance in the House that Ruth Built after he retired (April 1978) may bring a tear to your eye.

I try to keep it simple with book reviews. Was it well-written, did I learn something, and do I recommend it.

Was it well-written? Yes. As mentioned, it was an easy and informative read. I did get a little lost in the beginning when all the relatives were introduced and described. A flow chart would have been a nice touch. Then again, I have trouble following all the ‘begats’ in the book of Genesis, so that’s more a knock on me than anything.

Did I learn something? Yes. I learned a ton. Some examples:

• Frank Lane, GM of the Cardinals in the late 1950s, tried to trade Stan Musial. Owner Gussie Busch had to step in and stop it (page 92). Can you imagine the outcry if Lane had succeeded?
• Bob Turley tipped pitches for Mickey Mantle when Mantle was at the plate (page 132).
• Maris was the first player in the modern era to hit 50 HR in a season before 1 September (page 189).
• In 1961, Maris hit 60 HR in 684 plate appearances. In 1927, Babe Ruth did it in 687 PA. Puts the whole asterisk discussion in a different light, doesn’t it? (page 217)
• Mike Shannon had to move to 3B from RF after Maris was acquired (page 311). I suspect some of you already knew that, but I didn’t.

Do I recommend it? Yes. I found it well written and well researched. I was entertained, and the book made two cross-country flights much more enjoyable, not to mention pass much faster than they typically do.

Disclaimer: The author received a complimentary copy of this book from Simon and Schuster, Inc., and received no compensation for this review.

Celebration

Two days prior to this midweek series in San Francisco, the Cardinals had clinched the National League pennant with a 7-4 thumping of the ninth place Houston Astros. The Cardinals jumped out to a quick lead in the first inning on a single and stolen base by Lou Brock, followed by an RBI single from Curt Flood. Cardinals fans had been enjoying this productive twosome at the top of the order since Brock came over to the Cardinals in a mid-season trade with the Cubs in 1964. This would come to an end following the 1969 season, but the tandem of Brock and Flood were a big reason the Cardinals were making their third World Series appearance in the last five years.

The 1-0 lead would be short lived as Jimmy Wynn would put Houston ahead with a 2 run homer in the bottom of the first inning. The Toy Canon was one of the biggest little men in baseball history. Only 5ft 9in, Wynn had an amazingly quick swing and could hit the ball as far as anybody in his era. The only player I’ve seen hit the ball as hard and as far as Wynn is future Cardinal, Richie Allen.

The Cardinals would take the lead for good two innings later as Roger Maris belted a two run homer after a Curt Flood single. We didn’t know it at the time, but this would be the last regular season home run hit by Maris. The Cardinals would tack on two more runs in the fifth on another pair of singles from Brock and Flood. After a walk to Roger Maris, Orlando Cepeda would haunt his old team with a single to left, scoring both Brock and Flood. Maris and Flood would do more damage in the next inning, extending the Cardinals lead to 7-2. At this point, Steve Carlton would switch into “let’s get this game over and take the pennant home” mode. The Astros would score two meaningless runs, but would never get back in this game as the Cardinals. The 1968 National League Championship Pennant would return to St. Louis.

After the game, the celebration began. And continued, and continued. Even through the west coast travel day on the 16th. And apparently into the next game.

Gaylord Gets Even

A very happy, somewhat ragged Cardinals team took the field against Gaylord Perry and the second place Giants. The Giants may have just been eliminated, but they weren’t giving up, even if they were facing the game’s best pitcher in Bob Gibson (21-7). Even though Gibson was allowing a mere run per game, many young fans ask how he could have lost 9 games in 1968. This is how.

The Cardinals would go quickly in the first inning with the ball never leaving the infield. Perry had been known to doctor the baseball a bit, and when he did, there would be a large number of weak ground balls to the infield. We will never know if he was throwing questionable junk on this day, but he would pitch the game of his career.

In the Giants half of the first, future Cardinal outfielder Bobby Bonds would lead off with a fly out to Roger Maris. Next up was St. Louis native and future Cardinal Ron Hunt. Hunt would take Gibson deep for an early 1-0 lead. Ty Cline would single off a frustrated Gibson but was eliminated on a nifty 1-6-3 double play when Gibson bore down on slugger Willie McCovey.

In the second inning, Mike Shannon would draw a 2 out walk. Little did we know at the time how important that would be. The only other Cardinal base runner in this game would be little Phil Gagliano, with another 2 out walk in the eighth. Gibson would be nearly as tough as Perry though, only allowing four hits and two walks while striking out 10 – typical of his 1968 starts. Perry would be the hero of the day, recording a no hitter against the National League champs. He was simply mesmerizing, keeping the ball down and making the Cardinals hitters ground out weakly to the infield. Only two balls would leave the Giants infield: fly outs to center field off the bats of Tim McCarver and Bob Gibson.

Ray’s Turn

Ray Washburn would take the mound on Wednesday and he would face the Giants big right hander, Bobby Bolin. In many respects, Washburn was the 60′s equivalent of Adam Wainwright. He was a tall right hander, although not the towering stature of Wainwright. Like Wainwright, he had smooth delivery without a long stride, releasing the ball with an overhand motion with his trunk parallel to the ground. Also like Wainwright, he possessed a knee buckling curve ball and would use it to great effect for the next nine innings. This is where the differences end as Washburn had been plagued with injuries throughout his career. Not typical wear and tear, but freakish accidents like a broken hand when trying to field a ball hit back up the middle. They really took their toll and limited what looked like a very promising career. None of that mattered because Washburn was about to do something that not even even Bob Gibson had been able to do. Yet.

In the first inning, it was apparent that this was going to be a different Cardinals team facing the Giants. After a Lou Brock strikeout, Curt Flood would single. Unfortunately he would be erased in a strikeout throw out double play to end the inning. Giants fans took note that the aggressive playing style of the Cardinals had finally made it to the west coast.

The Cardinals would be aggressive again in the second. After a walk, Orlando Cepeda would attempt to steal second base. He would be the second victim of Giants catcher, Dick Dietz. It was just a matter of time before the Cardinals would break through.

Meanwhile, Washburn was cutting through the Giants order like a hot knife through butter. The only base runners so far were walks to Willie Mays in the first and a walk to Dick Dietz in the second.

Things would progress very swiftly until the bottom of the sixth inning when Hal Lanier would lead off the Giant’s half of the inning with a fly ball to Lou Brock in left field. Like Perry’s no hitter the day before, nothing had gone past the Cardinals infield until now. They had yet to have a hit, and it was starting to look like they might end the game still looking for their first one. To say that Washburn was in a groove was a gross understatement. This is the pitcher that we all knew Ray could be. Fans that had suffered through all of Washburn’s injuries were now savoring every pitch.

The Cardinals would finally break through in the seventh inning. After a Bobby Tolan foul out, Orlando Cepeda would single. Johnny Edwards, giving regular catcher Tim McCarver the night off, would hit a tailor made double play ball to short, but Cepeda was running hard and Hal Lanier chose instead to take the safe out at first. Mike Shannon would make Lanier pay for not turning the double play with a double to the opposite field, scoring Cepeda easily from second.

With a 1-0 lead, Washburn would face the heart of the Giants order, and that was a formidable task. Ron Hunt would lead off with a walk. Washburn would strike out Willie Mays. Wille McCovey would follow that with another walk. Jim Ray Hart would ground out to second with Javier making the sure play to first. Ron Hunt would advance to third – the only Giant to do so against Washburn. A quick strikeout of Dick Dietz would end the inning with the no hitter still in tact.

The Cardinals would get another run in the eighth inning. Dick Schofield would lead off with a double. Ray Washburn would lay down a perfect sacrifice bunt, moving Schofield to third. Lou Brock failed to drive him in with a ground out to third, but Curt Flood would come through with a single deep in the hole in short, beating the throw and then advancing to second base when the hurried throw goes wild.

The Giants would go quietly in the bottom of the eighth. Ty Cline would ground out to Cepeda unassisted. Pinch hitter Bob Schroder would ground out to first with Washburn covering on the play. Not only was Washburn throwing a no hitter, he was also fielding his position and helping his team at the plate. Dave Marshall would walk, Washburn’s fifth and the Giants’ last base runner. It was still a 2-0 game and Washburn was pitching carefully – this was a dangerous Giants team. Bobby Bonds would pop out to Cepeda, ending the inning.

The Cardinals would go quietly in the ninth. Equally as quiet was the bench around the Cardinals hurler. He didn’t need anybody to tell him that he was three outs away from immortality. More sobering, nobody had to remind Washburn that he still had to face two Future Hall of Famer’s who could tie this game if he wasn’t careful.

But Washburn was careful – very careful. His big overhand curveball had been getting infield outs all night, and so too would it help him in this last inning. Ron Hunt, who was responsible for the only run the night before, led off the inning with a ground out to second baseman, Julian Javier. Willie Mays would ground out to Shannon for the second out. Finally, big Willie McCovey would end the game with a harmless fly ball to Curt Flood in center field – only the second ball to get into the outfield.

Ray Washburn had done it – thrown a no hitter. It was the fourth no-hitter in Cardinals history, the first since Lon Warneke in 1941. It was also the first time no hitters have been thrown on successive games. This feat would happen again in 1969 with Jim Maloney of Cincinnati and Don Wilson from Houston. It has not happened since.

What an amazing two games. The Cardinals would lose the final game of the series, but that didn’t matter. After being no hit, the Cardinals rebounded and Ray Washburn delivered the game of his career – one we always knew he had in him.

The Rest of the Story

This was not the first time that Washburn had flirted with a no-hitter. In his second full season with the Cardinals, Washburn would start off with an impressive 3-0 record. On April 27, 1963, he would come very close to perfection, retiring the first 20 batters he faced. He took a perfect game into the seventh inning. A walk to Ron Fairly ended the perfect game, but the no hitter was still intact. That would end with one out in the eighth inning when Bill Skowron would hit a liner to right that nobody would be able to catch. Right fielder George Altman would hold Skowon to a single, but the no hitter was gone. Washburn would give up one more hit in the inning and then a double to Maury Wills in the ninth for a complete game 3 hit shutout. It was the best pitching performance of his young career.

Unfortunately, Washburn had lost more than a no hitter when he injured his shoulder throwing a few too many fastballs on that chilly April night in Los Angeles.

Playing through a sore shoulder, he would win his next start against the Cubs. It was another amazing performance, taking a no hitter into the seventh inning where it would be broken up by a lead off single from future Cardinal, Lou Brock. Washburn would also give up another single in the eighth inning. Working with a 4-0 lead, big Ray would get within one out of a complete game shutout. With two outs in the ninth, a tiring Washburn would give up a single, a double and then a 3 run home run to Ron Santo. Ed Bauta would finish the game, preserving the victory for Washburn, taking his record to 5-0.

As his arm troubles worsened, he would lose his next three starts. He would spend the rest of the 1963 season on the disabled list after being shut down in May. This injury would affect Washburn over the next two years.

With a little bit more digging, we find out that in 1959, Washburn had thrown a no-hitter while playing Canadian semi-pro baseball with the Lethbridge White Sox.

Bob Gibson’s amazing 1968 season overshadowed an impressive performance from Ray Washburn. Finally healthy for a full season, Washburn threw an incredible 215 1/3 innings, finishing with a 14-8 record and a 2.26 ERA. All were career highs for the big right hander. To put that ERA in perspective, only four previous Cy Young award winners had posted a lower ERA than Washburn’s: Dean Chance in 1964 and Sandy Koufax in 1963 and again in 1965-1966. If not for Gibson’s mind numbing 1.12 ERA, Washburn would have gotten more attention for the Cy Young award in 1968.

When you watched Ray Washburn pitch in the 60′s, you knew that he had no-hitter stuff. Early in his career, he could overmatch any batter with a devastating fastball. When injuries took that away from he, he developed one of the better curveballs in the game, and batters again had a hard time making solid contact on a Washburn pitch. With Washburn, it was not if, but when. And the when was September 18, 1968.