Enjoy this gorgeous, color recap of the exciting '65 World Series, as told by the incomparable Vin Scully, who signed off a short time ago this afternoon after the Dodgers final regular season game of 2016. This is the latest in the continuing 1965 World Series posts. It is a collection of summaries for each of the games 1-7 from that post season between the Dodgers and Twins.
I became a Dodger fan largely because of him. And I must say, it was my pleasure to see this classy chap one last time on the MLB app. This is Classic Twins's salute to the great one, arguably the best announcer in Major League Baseball history. His is a career that has spanned post-War 1950s-era Brooklyn to the 21st Century Los Angeles of the digital age, endearing him to millions as he wove his way across the generations and the decades. Scully could adorn a baseball broadcast like no other, adding player anecdotes and figurative language in a genial, American vernacular that was accessible to people in all walks of life. He did so with an economy of words that always had the deft subtlety of one who never forgot the game is the thing. He was the added chrome and vivid detailing on the classic, Mustang Convertible. As the description from the You Tube sponsor puts it:
Our friends at the Pavek Museum of Broadcasting have done it again, posting this beautiful, crisp video from the pennant clinching game of September 26, 1965 (BBRef.) at Washington's old D.C. Stadium, later renamed R.F.K. Stadium, the first home of the new Washington Nationals
Of note: this post was largely composed live, during a sunami-like migraine before the All-Star Game in Minneapolis in 2014- with little or no editing taking place. If that doesn't qualify me as a throwback gamer, I don't know what will. I had the feeling as if the video's principal actors were putting the hurt on ME, instead of one another at old Metropolitan Stadium. Just a small diversion for me from the hullabaloo and hype engulfing the Minneapolis area.
I'd completely forgotten about this crazy melee on Saturday, April 22, 1978 (box) and was it ever. One minute rookie Roger Erickson is tossing an errant one inside, and the next thing you know, the 1968 Chicago Democratic Convention is breaking out! Bobby Grich was among the most intense, and valuable second basemen of the 1970's and 80's. He had an excellent OBP, power numbers, besides having one of the nicest, shortest swings (1972 All-Star Game video) you'll ever see. I'd choose him in a minute if compiling a fantasy all-time legends team. His SABR bio packs a pretty good punch *ahem* of info about him.
Yep - I can totally believe Rod took Dave LaRoche into storage closet
and beat the crap out of him for lipping off in a team meeting in '72
The California announcers (Don Drysdale and Al Wisk? Angel fans in the house, a little help?) were correct - Grich looked ready to punch anybody - beer sellers, ticket takers, Calvin Griffith, his own teammates, besides any of the patrons sitting near the Angel dugout throwing beverages and paraphernalia at him that day. That last was my favorite part of the video.
As it was, Twin Rich Chiles came out of nowhere to put a truly huge blind side hit on Grich, while future-Twins Ken Landreaux and Ron "Papa Jack" Jackson was seemingly everywhere . Also easily seen at the fisticuff fiesta is former Twin Lyman Bostock (#10 of Angels), and Twins Tony Oliva (coach, #6), Rod Carew (#29) and shortstop Roy Smalley (#5). The Sporting News (see mischievous Mauch grin in pdf) of May 13, 1978 asserts that is was indeed Carew that got in the quick head jabs on Grich's angry skull as he lay on the ground-some deft, stop-action views confirm that claim. The Grich quotes are doubly interesting as he implicates Twins Manager Gene Mauch as the instigator of the brushback.
And you thought charging the mound was a new thing?
Amazingly, only Grich was tossed out, the game resumed, with '65 Stars Oliva and Pascual being the only people on the premises who may have required any antibiotics or band aids. Welcome to 1970s baseball everyone, where Wild West lawlessness often prevailed (see link, "Disco Demolition"). Lost in the shuffle is this: the-then 21 year old Erickson righted himself to last 8 innings, though losing to the top lefty Tanana. It was his fourth major league start ( see popup stats), and his second against the Angels.
Look at this, and tell me Grich wasn't a bit wired as a habit...
(hover cursor on the screen to reveal audio button)
Do yourself a favor and check out this link to June 1961 Baseball Digest at my Google Docs with a superb Earl Battey article. Battey was the first Twins player ever to appear on the cover of that magazine, as the Twins first season had just begun in Minnesota just a few weeks earlier.A great piece on the first, great catcher of the Twins, who was named the top catcher on the Twins 40th Anniversary in 2000.
It's from a fantastic, mint edition which I just recently bought off Amazon. I rather fancy it as a historical document, partly because it was published just a month or so into the beginning of the first expansion era in baseball. Besides that, it really is telling as an illustration of sports journalism, circa 1961.
To wit: I truly doubt that any major sports publication today, or any magazine really, would give a damn what I thought about anything, much less pay me for ideas submitted:
[Blurb at left from "Greatest Catches" story - see table of contents in the Google scanned Table Of Contents - I wouldn't mind the money, if the offer from Baseball Digest is still valid..]
You'll notice the date stamp, "MAY 4 - 1961" on the back page, probably denoting when it was received by the store of sale. The story references the Twins first game on April 11, 1961 (BBRef box), which means the interview for the June issue was conducted very shortly after that game before it went to press.
Battey really shows himself to be an incredibly well-spoken young guy (he was 26 in 1961). I mean, this story is really chock full of intelligent, cogent, and insightful responses. The BD staff writer, Charles Dexter, included quite a few long, thoughtful quotes which made it seem at times as if Battey himself wrote the article in the first person.
My favorite sections were his insights into Twins pitchers like Camilo Pascual, Jack Kralickand Pedro Ramos, and how they comported themselves in the lockerroom. I'm only a little surprised not seeing any references to Jim Kaat. Probably indicates where the big lefty was in the staff's pecking order as the season was beginning.
An ironic section on page 15 mentions that Earl had John Roseboro as a neighbor in Compton, California at the time. Of course, all good Twins fans know that Roseboro eventually replaced Earl as the Twins everyday catcher, in 1968, after Earl and Ron Perranoski came in the Versalles/Grant trade. You can read about Earl's post-career at this SABR bio article from 2009.
I included the table of contents in the scan, plus the revised Twins and Yankees rosters as of '61 May, in addition to those for the first two expansion teams in MLB history, the California Angels and the new Washington Senators. I kid you not! If you see any articles you would like pdf scans to read, just let me know. I can try to email you a copy.
There are some nice pluses in the magazine.
See if you can recognize some of the names
of the Twins coaches (or others)
in the chart below! Yeah, just a tad jumbo, but it wasn't
displaying well at large size!
NOTE: Check out the back side of the magazine at the end of the scan: a full-color advertisement. Rather cool!
You can get a short sample of the older Earl, at this
Twins center fielder Lenny Green, up against chain link fence. Later, a concrete
grandstand would replace cheap bleachers, and the makeshift planking for steps.
The Met parking lot - the former cornfield was only partially
filled for that very first game in The Land of 10,000 Lakes.
The first Major League Baseball game in Minnesota history took place just four days after the U.S.-led Bay of Pigs invasion of Cuba. On the day of the game, President Kennedy was receiving communiques from Chairman Khrushchev, with ominous warnings against future interventions in Latin America. Also portentious that week was the Kennedy Administration's promise to the government of Laos to send about 300 U.S.military advisers into combat zones to help turn back communist insurgents in that country and others in the region; a ceasefire was in effect in Laos (Salt Lake Tribune) while the politicos assessed strategy. JFK this week also sent a private memorandum to Vice-President Johnson asking "Is there any space program that promises dramatic results that would represent a victory against the Soviets?" This would be the kick start for the greatest engineering, technical, and scientific undertaking in history - the Apollo program.
Metrodome) and Jason Kubel (2010, Target Field) will do.
Alas, the only sure win that week for Washington was secured by it's brand new American League entry. The Senators's invasion of Twins territory produced a 5-3 win that was decided in the ninth inning (BBRef). It was a sterling, close affair, with standout efforts by Minnesota's Lenny Green, Don Mincher, Camilo Pascual, Senators's sluggerDale Long, Washingtonstarter Joe McClain, and reliever Dave Sisler. The latter escaped a bases-loaded, one out situation against Minnesota in the final frame.
First, however, it was preceded by a gala welcome home for the Twins players and representatives:
The Met as it looked on April 21, 1961 (BBRef), with Camilo Pascual on the mound; watching near the home team dugout were dignitaries such as AL President Joe Cronin, MLB Commisioner Ford Frick, former NL President Will Harridge, Minnesota governor Elmer L. Andersen, and the mayors of Minneapolis of St. Paul (but not Bloomington Mayor Gordon Miklethun - the home ballpark in the city's limits apparently didn't confer upon him any special status!). Go to The Sporting News of May 3, 1961, and you'll read a rather pessimistic summary by George Moses of the Associated Press. You might think he took his lead from AL club owners still unhappy with Twins owner Calvin Griffith's push to move the franchise out of the nation's capitol. If Moses had taken the time to get the Minnesota fan's perspective (accessible in this account in the Winona (MN) Daily News of April 22, the tone would been much truer to the reality at the ballpark that day. Jim Wallace of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch ("It Wasn't That Bad") also had a nice rebuttal in his column the next day.
FIRST PITCH!
Winona (Minn.) Daily News 4/22/61
That the game only attracted 24,606 was a curious circumstance, however, given the lead-in hoopla. The forecast for that day was for temps in the 50s, with clear skies. It ended up an an overcast day, 63 D., but with no rain. So - what was up? A contributing factor may have been the absence from the starting lineup of Harmon Killebrew, who had pulled his left hamstring muscle running out a grounder in the Saturday, April 15 game at Baltimore (Twins game #4 in the '61 schedule). It was thought he would miss three weeks, but he rested for only two, reappearing in the April 29 game versus the Angels.
Minnesotan's may well have taken the attitude that without a big fly in the offing from Killebrew , the effort just wasn't worth it. Otherwise, I would posit that, despite the joy evident from acquiring a big-league team, rank and file Minnesotans just didn't have it in their mindset to take time off from work in that era, or to pull their kids out of school just to see what we now regard as history. Part of a region's character, you might say. Nevertheless, the opening ceremony was a fun spectacle, as this historic video makes clear.
The Metropolitan Stadium scoreboard during Senator
Willie Tasby's ninth inning at bat on that April 21, 1961.
Pascual pitched 8 innings that day, giving up three runs with 3 walks and 4 strikeouts (he would lead the league in that figure, 221). After giving up a long ball to first baseman Dale Long in the first, he appeared to right the ship. When Lenny Green homered to what would later become the right field bullpen to tie the game at 3, the Twins looked poised for a 9th inning rally. It wasn't to be. Washington pushed across 2 in their half of the ninth off trusty, "Old Blue" Ray Moore. Green was also the first Twins player to score in a home game, jogging home unfettered on Mincher's fourth inning bomb over the center field fence.
There are 8,000 things worth commenting upon in this short piece. But, the one I
most enjoyed was the narrator's pronunciation of "Minna-SO-tah" at the very end.
As if he was hip to the fact we have 10,000 Norwegians per acre in these parts.
Yes, a disappointing start, with nary a stampede through the turnstiles - but it wasn't a disaster. The Twins would win the next two games and the series that weekend, Sunday's game being a 1-0 shut out for Jack Kralick. Minnesota would eventually reach that coveted 30,000 attendance figure in game number 34 - a doubleheader on May 21 (BBRef, the 20th & 21 home games) versus Cleveland. Overall, they drew 1,256,723 for the 1961 season, third-most in the AL (of ten teams). Minnesota would go on to become a perennial home attendance leader in the American League, in fact, for the decade of the 1960's.
Those little tykes (Dennis Marcel, Frank Brown, members of the Washington Boys Club) certainly got a front row to history! PHOTO: Cecil (Cecil William) Stoughton
The above photo was posted by Minnesota Twins President Dave St. Peter on Twitter today, the 50th anniversary of November 22, 1963 assassination. Earl Battey shakes hands with President Kennedy at D.C. Stadium before the playing of the 1962 All Star Game. Between them stands then-MLB Commissioner Ford Frick, and Elwood R."Pete" Quesada (glasses), the new Senators chief majority owner. Off to the side (left) stands Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey and an unidentified dignitary. Do examine this You Tube video of the game. You see superb footage of not just the ceremonial first pitch, but that of Pascual pitching in the the 6th inning during the NL rally, the Rollins blooper hit, run scored, and closeups of JFK sitting in the box seats.
In it's lightheartedness, the entire scenario that included two young boys as guests stands in stark contrast to the pivotal fall approaching, i.e., the Cuban Missile Crisis, and the year to follow in the Kennedy's lives.
Above Photo from Alton Evening Telegraph 7/11/62- "Minneapolis Twins" - LOL!! (see PDF)
Battey was the starting catcher for the AL that day, going 0 for 2 at the plate in the 3-1 loss to the NL. He still shined, however, using his howitzer of an arm to throw out Roberto Clemente on an attempted steal in the fourth inning. Twins third baseman Rich Rollins also started that day going 1 for 2, scored the only AL run, and was hit by a Don Drysdale pitch (yes, Dandy Don drilling someone, quite the shock!).
Twins star righty Camilo Pascualwasthe losing pitcher, tossing 3 innings, and allowing 2 earned runs. The Sporting News (page 1) of July 21 included a great account of the game, with the circumstances surrounding their handshake in the photo, plus a black and white photo of Battey on page 2.
You can view a story with this Kennedy photo, game report included, at a newspaper PDF link to the Burlington Daily Times of July 11, 1962. One of my personal favorites, Stan Musial, was playing in his 22nd All Star Game that day, got a key hit off Camilo, and earlier had a personal audience with JFK (see Eau Claire news link PDF). Dodger shortstop Maury Wills also got a ton of press with his exploits, running wild and stealing bases. The Lima News also had a nice account and photo of the game's stars the next day.
It was the first All Star Game ever played at D.C. Stadium, the home of the new expansion Washington Senators. They had come into existence in 1961, when the original Senators franchise up and moved to Minneapolis-St. Paul to become the Minnesota Twins. D.C. Stadium would later host the 1969 All Star Game, renamed R.F.K. Memorial Stadium by then. Clem's Baseball retro stadium site is fantastic in its photographic and architectural schematics of the stadium and its history. The FIRST cookie-cutter style stadium, as the You Tube video makes plain.
Kennedy threw out the First Ball, with Lyndon Johnson standing by (left), hoping he'd be asked to throw one of his infamous curve balls in relief if needed - you'll read of the photographers caught napping at The Sporting News link above. That would include Presidential Photographer Stoughton.
Prior to handshake - President attends the 32nd All-Star Baseball Game, throws out first ball. Speaker of the House John W. McCormack, Dave Powers, Vice President Johnson, President Kennedy, Commisioner of Baseball Ford. C. Frick, Lawrence O'Brien, others . Washington, D.C., D.C. Stadium - PHOTO: Cecil (Cecil William) Stoughton
First pitch of the game below: note high pitch, where Battey sets up to receive - higher strike zones were more the norm, especially pre-1969...
Jim Kaat is one of the best to ever toe the rubber for the Minnesota Twins, winning 283 games in his pitching career. That is commendable in itself. But what has made him marketable far past the boundaries of his career is his grasp of the language of his sport, and making plain the nuances of pitching for the pedestrian fan on his baseball telecasts. This autobiography flows very nicely, and really captures the voice and humor of Kaat.
Speaking of voice, here is a podcast from a year ago, from local, Twin Cities sports radio. I think you'll enjoy his views of his old teammate Camilo Pascual and then-Twin Francisco Liriano:
Strides in straight line towards homeplate, squares off
shoulders to face the batter, in position to field the ground ball..
any wonder how Jim Kaat won sixteen straight gold gloves?
Kaat WAS the clinic........
It would be great to get the whole book to read here, but that's what libraries are for. I will say that I completely enjoyed Kaat's workmanlike, humble attitude about his career, and how completely relevant for the modern game are his theories for the craft of pitching. I loved the story of how he attempted to impart his strategies for Yankees pitcher Mike Mussina (Ch. 11), and just got a quizzical stare, as if he was nuts! Sometimes the most down-to-earth, practical truisms are the most difficult to comprehend!
Personal favorite in this excerpt? Chapter 12 (click "Contents"), "Work Fast...Throw Strikes...Stay Ahead," is a great treatise by Jim on those theories! He references Johnny Sain, Ray Miller, and some of the other renouned pitching coaches of the last 50 years. I read this book several years ago after a double hernia operation, when I could essentially do nothing, or go anywhere exept stay confined to my bed for several days. It was the best "sick" gift I've ever received (thanks to my wonderful Mother-In-Law Audrey!).
Enjoy this excerpt! As the great broadcaster ended his postgames, I say to you:
LAST UPDATED: June 26, 2017 - Originally published 4/2/13
In-season trades are rare occurrences for the Minnesota Twins. And even rarer are those that actually impacted the fortunes positively for the home nine. For Twins fans born around and after 1987, used to low-risk / low-dollar acquisitions* that numb the mind (see "Chris Speier, 1984, Bret Boone, 2005), the in-season pickups of Shannon Stewart (2003) and Kendrys Morales (2014) stood out as the exceptions. They captured the imaginations of Twins fans in terms of their audacity and potential, even if their outcome didn't exactly live up to the hype. *Trade, waiver, and free-agent acquisitions are thrown into the same kettle for the purposes of this post
But rarities like these haven't always been the case in Twins Territory.
The Twins in the 1960s had at their disposal an astute gaggle of bird dog scouts, and long-time employees like Director of Minor League Operations man Sherry Robertsonto assist President Calvin Griffith and his merry band of nepotists and drinking cronies in upgrading the Major League roster. They did this nearly every season in those early years. Which brings us to today's subject, the first major trade in Twins history.
Vic Power was traded along with young reliever Dick Stigmanto the Twins from the Cleveland Indians for right hander Pedro Ramos 53 years ago this week, on April 2, 1962. This happened as the team was winding down the '62 spring training schedule, and seemed to address the needs of both teams. At the time, parting with the talented Ramos, a fixture in the '61 starting rotation, was a significant event. He was their second starter, after staff ace Camilo Pascual, and is the trivia answer to "What Twins pitcher is credited with the first regular season win in team history?" Jim Kaat was just coming into his own that season, and would win 18 games. They also had the enigmatic lefty Jack Kralick in house. In Stigman, the Twins were glad to get a promising, young arm. But the "sexy" part of this transaction was obvious...
The news piece below from the 4/3/62 Jefferson City Daily summed up the trade, besides giving a very detailed, honest set of responses from Power himself (born Victor Power Pellot). Power was the key acquisition for the Twins , and at age 33, was joining his third organization. The Twins organization, going back TEN YEARS to their Washington Senator days (Google news item link) had coveted Power as a player. In another lifetime, as a Yankee in the early 1950s, he was in line to become the first black player for that organization. But the Bronx Bombers instead tapped Elston Howard for that role, for reasons that are now obvious. Some very transparent racism can be inferred from the Yankee brass responses, in The Sporting News piece linked here, from August 19, 1953
He had a reputation for marching to the beat of his own drummer, and was not necessarily the "company man" preferred by management. He was flashy in his dress, as well as the automobiles he drove. He was glib and candid, much to the consternation of his employees. He was conspicuous for enjoying the company of white women. And, maybe worst of all, he [GASP] made putouts at first with a sweeping, one-handed stab - unorthodoxy and panache frowned upon by the baseball lords of the day.
Each of the above infractions were decided liabilities for dark-skinned players who desired stable employment before Civil Rights legislation came into effect.
Twins Manager Sam Mele, on the other hand, stated the case for acquiring Power (to whom I devoted a "Remembering Vic Power" post some time back) in this piece:
There was a youth movement (Brainerd Daily Dispatch, 4/2/62) underway at The Met. Besides now having the green-as-a-pea kids third baseman Rich Rollins and second baseman Bernie Allen on the roster to start the season, Minnesota also had the mercurial Zoilo Versalles returning at short. Manager Sam Mele went on in the article to say "Power should be a steadying influence on the kids. They won't have to worry about making perfect throws. If it's within Power's reach, he'll come up with the ball." Griffith's concerns about his infield defense were legit, as the team ranked 8th (ten team AL) in defense in 1961; in Power, he now had his "Mother Hen" to corral those youthful slings to first.
Power himself had a little extra to add in this account, which sums up the pride and inner confidence he held for his talents:
The Brainerd Daily Dispatch revealed the Twins new mindset for what would constitute their daily lineup to begin the 1962 season. Anybody surprised at who's slotted for left field, replacing Jim Lemon? Some big, ox-strong kid, name of Harmon Killebrew:
The trade would indeed benefit the Twins in their infield defense that year, besides elevating their place in the standings. They went on to post a 91-71 record, second in the league, moving them a step closer to respectability. Power would win his fifth Gold Glove Award, and rate 21st in the 1962 MVP voting. He would also play a pivotal role in the first Twins no-hitter by Jack Kralick(story at link) on August 26 that year.
I became a Dodger fan largely because of him. And I must say, it was my pleasure to see this classy chap one last time on the MLB app. This is Classic Twins's salute to the great one, arguably the best announcer in Major League Baseball history.
