It was 43 years ago this week, Wednesday, July 4, 1973 that Eddie Bane, the Twins sparkly and sizzling draft pick in Round One of the 1973 MLB Amateur Draft, made his debut less than one month after he was drafted (June 7, 1973). The Sporting News chose him as that spring's College Player Of The Year (see link!) over players that would eventually be enshrined in the National Baseball Hall Of Fame. But he is an example of an individual whose talent could not live up to the hype, as a junkballing, Luis Tiant clone.
A PHOTO FROM MY CHILDHOOD BASEBALL SCRAPBOOK!
[above] Interesting, odd juxtaposition "photoshopping" Bane into crowd: was the Star Trib implying Bane imbibed before his debut? Or that he'd gone into the stands drunkenly believing he could pitch just fine, thank you, from that spot to the KC lineup? (Steve Schluter photo: Minneapolis Star, Thursday, July 5, 1973)
By the time the ’73 season rolled around, it had already seemed a lifetime since the Twins had last been to the postseason. Following their loss to Baltimore in the 1970 ALCS, the Twins had finished in 5th place (1971), and 3rd (1972) in the six team American League West.
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Yes, it was only $55,000 in 1973 money. But Bane sure had the satisfied look of a man who’d just gotten away with a bank robbery. And, in a way, he had…[photo VIA Minnesota Twins, from "The Twins At The Met," Bob Showers, 2009).
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The talent pool in the Minors had become shallow, with Steve Braun, Jim Holt, Steve Brye and Dave Goltz showing only mixed promise in their brief stints in the Majors. Attendance at The Met was slacking off, alarmingly. Those mustachioed sluggers from Oakland had won the ’72 World Series, and the Royals were steadily stockpiling talent down in K.C.
Something had to give. And in a move that was never contemplated in the modern cases of Bryce Harper, Stephen Strasburg, and Mike Trout (whom Eddie scouted and recommended signing when he was with the Angels), Gerritt Cole, David Price, et. al, the Twins went against common practice – long, steady seasoning through years in the minors – and decided to plug him into the starting rotation while the publicity iron was hot. It wasn’t without precedent, however.
My friend John Swol at the superb Twins Trivia site (THANK YOU, JOHN!!) contributes this entertaining excerpt of a conversation he had with Eddie a couple years ago. As it sometimes happens, the recorded phone interview suffers from a less-than-perfect feed, a bit of tinny, trebly reception. But once you get past that, it is a wonderful first-person account of his debut by the man himself, who shows himself to be a humble, nice guy. He compares himself most deprecatingly to fellow rookie David Clyde as saying "the Twins didn't hamper my development at all by starting me immediately, I was as good as I was going to be anyhow..." to paraphrase his words. He explains the reason for his relative success in college versus the Majors, with reference to his curveball deserting him after he got to the show. I think you'll enjoy this bit! If I'm you, I'd head to his site, and go to his "Interview Archives" to hear the whole interview!
My friend John Swol at the superb Twins Trivia site (THANK YOU, JOHN!!) contributes this entertaining excerpt of a conversation he had with Eddie a couple years ago. As it sometimes happens, the recorded phone interview suffers from a less-than-perfect feed, a bit of tinny, trebly reception. But once you get past that, it is a wonderful first-person account of his debut by the man himself, who shows himself to be a humble, nice guy. He compares himself most deprecatingly to fellow rookie David Clyde as saying "the Twins didn't hamper my development at all by starting me immediately, I was as good as I was going to be anyhow..." to paraphrase his words. He explains the reason for his relative success in college versus the Majors, with reference to his curveball deserting him after he got to the show. I think you'll enjoy this bit! If I'm you, I'd head to his site, and go to his "Interview Archives" to hear the whole interview!
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| The Twins went all-out, handed out this promotional photo card on debut night |
The Twins were following the lead of the Texas Rangers, who just 8 days previously sent their top pick, the aforementioned 18-year old Texas high school phenom David Clyde (no. 1 overall) to the mound against the Twins in Arlington (see draft chart below). Bane was the eleventh overall pick in the nation out of Arizona State. New Padres pick Dave Winfield (no. 4 overall) had played his first game nearly three weeks earlier, going 1 for 4 against the Astros Jerry Reuss in a 7-3 loss. I guess in the meantime, then, Bane had slow, steady seasoning in the bullpen workouts in front of coaches Vern Morgan and Al Worthington, by comparison...
He came to Minnesota with alluring numbers: 15-1 as a senior, 192 strikeouts in 140 innings pitched, and a 1.93 ERA. Overall, he'd compiled a 41-4 record in three seasons against college hitters. He was selected as The Sporting News Player of The Year, and became the Twins pick, right after Pat Rockett was chosen at no. 10 by the Braves. He thus came to Minnesota with a hunka hunka huge hype and with all the expectations that come with it.
After that, The Twins must have felt a measure of justification when Bane shut out the Minnesota Golden Gophers and fellow draftee Dave Winfield 3-0, in the College World Series
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The Game
I will merely give some basics, with the Winona Daily News of July 5, 1973 as well as the Jefferson City Post Tribune linked to supply extra detail.
The start of the game was delayed, as Owner Cal Griffith ordered the field staff and umpires to wait until the turnstiles finally saw an ebb in the walkup rate. Then, Bane went out that and threw seven good innings, gave up only three hits, three walks, one run, and one run earned. But, laughingly, my mentality as a young fan was such that I was disappointed he didn't A. get the win, and B. that he didn't toss a complete game shutout - - so, I was definitely a sucker for the hype. But Bane's performance was actually all the more impressive for the fact he had not pitched in a actual game in weeks other than the bullpen sessions with the Twins. In facing 26 Royals batters, 13 of his outs came via the groundball (including one double play), and only three outfield chances (one flyout to left field, two to center), one lineout that Bane caught, and one runner caught stealing. The rest were strikeouts, three. The only trouble he encountered was Fran Healy's one out RBI double to right, scoring Hal McRae in the third, who had reached on a single. And that was about it for K.C. fireworks that evening.
The start of the game was delayed, as Owner Cal Griffith ordered the field staff and umpires to wait until the turnstiles finally saw an ebb in the walkup rate. Then, Bane went out that and threw seven good innings, gave up only three hits, three walks, one run, and one run earned. But, laughingly, my mentality as a young fan was such that I was disappointed he didn't A. get the win, and B. that he didn't toss a complete game shutout - - so, I was definitely a sucker for the hype. But Bane's performance was actually all the more impressive for the fact he had not pitched in a actual game in weeks other than the bullpen sessions with the Twins. In facing 26 Royals batters, 13 of his outs came via the groundball (including one double play), and only three outfield chances (one flyout to left field, two to center), one lineout that Bane caught, and one runner caught stealing. The rest were strikeouts, three. The only trouble he encountered was Fran Healy's one out RBI double to right, scoring Hal McRae in the third, who had reached on a single. And that was about it for K.C. fireworks that evening.My only other memory of that game was when Bane struck out Lou Piniella, his first, in the top of the second; I also took it as a point of pride that it took until the third for Hal MaCrae to record Kansas City's first hit, that single to left. He had a STELLAR first outing against the nucleaus of what would become the Royal's first championship team (in 1976). He was replaced by Ray Corbin in the start of the 8th inning. He pitched a scoreless 8th, but then allowed Kansas City to storm ahead with four runs in the 9th, to give them a 5-4 win.
For the remainder of that year, Twins management couldn't have been at all encouraged by Eddie's output. Of his 23 games in 1973, he only started 5, ending up with an 0-5 record, an ERA of 4.92 (although his fielding independent pitching (FIP) was 3.84, suggesting he wasn't ably supported by his teammates in the field in the games he pitched). He pitched into 1976, compiling an underwhelming 7-13 lifetime record, with a 4.66 ERA in what was basically a pitching-dominated era. The American League collective ERA in 1976 was 3.52, so Bane lifetime was an entire run + above that. His time with Minnesota ended in November, 1977, when he was granted his free agency status, and signed with the White Sox. He never appeared in a ML game with them, however, and he would later be traded to the Royals, ironically, in 1980 - and again, never surfaced in the Majors.
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Baseball Reference listed Bane at 5'9", 160 lb - it was as if I were on the mound. Same size, same unimposing presence.
Note: at second base in that first game (frame 2) is Hall Of Famer Twin Rod Carew. Nice support..
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The Twins did have other choices in later rounds: Fred Lynn, Len Barker, Ruppert Jones, Eddie Murray, Floyd Bannister, LaMarr Hoyt, Mike Flanigan, Matt Keough, etc., all players that became all-star caliber guys - but the Twins tabbed Bane. Well, okay then...this was a case of the Twins not having enough diverse talent evaluation. Griffith and company were obviously seduced by the above college numbers, and without a Sherry Robertson, the former farm director around to trade notes, Calvin Griffith took the bait.
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 7/4/2012.
"So Long Everybody"- Herb Carneal
Nice job Michael and thanks for the kind words about Twinstrivia.com.
ReplyDeleteI listened to Eddie Banes first game on the radio with my dad, out in the yard in Downer, MN. LOL, William Ferris
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