Farewell, Sam Mele

From 1966 Minnesota Twins Yearbook

Sam Mele, the second man to ever manage the Twins, died this week. He passed away at his home on Monday, May 1, in Quincy, MA., at the age of 95. He was a solid hitter and outfielder as a player, before coaching stints with the Senators and Twins previous to his becoming their manager.

He was there to lead the very first era of team glory, and was the first Minnesota Twins manager to guide his team to the post-season. The Twins were the first to break the Yankee chain of domination, euphorically winning the 1965 American League Championship, before losing to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the seventh game of the World Series.

Managerial Stats Table

Rk	Year	Age	Tm	Lg		W	L	W-L%	Ties	G	Finish	W-L%post
1	1961	39	Minnesota Twins	AL	2nd of 4	2	5	.286	0	7	7
2	1961	39	Minnesota Twins	AL	4th of 4	45	49	.479	1	95	7
3	1962	40	Minnesota Twins	AL		91	71	.562	1	163	2
4	1963	41	Minnesota Twins	AL		91	70	.565	0	161	3
5	1964	42	Minnesota Twins	AL		79	83	.488	1	163	6
6	1965	43	Minnesota Twins	AL		102	60	.630	0	162	1	.429	AL Pennant
7	1966	44	Minnesota Twins	AL		89	73	.549	0	162	2
8	1967	45	Minnesota Twins	AL	1st of 2	25	25	.500	0	50	2
					7 years	524	436	.546	3	963	3.8	.429	1 Pennant

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 5/6/2017.

He would seem to have been the ideal man to guide a young team, not only because he was relatively young (39) when he took over the managerial reins from Cookie Lavegetto in June, 1961, but also because he was patient and yet authoritative - a man who would stand by young players like Zoilo Versalles and still not put up with distractions.  No example better illustrates this than his handling of "Zee," who was far from a finished product when Mele took over in '61. Zoilo had a tendency towards inconsistency and volatility in his emotions. At one point, he and the manager had a tense confrontation in the dugout before a game, which escalated to the point that Mele him fined several hundred dollars (read up on that at the newspaper clip link following this paragraph). But once the air cleared, Mele put the outburst behind, and reinstated Versalles as the starting shortstop. Zoilo went on to become the American League MVP in 1965. It follows that Mele would deserve some credit for that success.

He is also known for a passionate, fiery, on-field demeanor, and goes down in Twins lore for an incident on July 18,1965 (Box), when he charged umpire Bill Valentine at Metropolitan Stadium, during a game versus the California Angels. You can view details of this at the Austin (MN) Daily Herald, July 19, 1965, and here at The Lake Charles (LA) American, July 19, 1965.

1966 Minnesota Twins Yearbook - click for larger view

"Let me help you adjust your tie"

More to his basic nature, however, he was apparently a strong, loyal family man, devoted to his wife and children, and well regarded in baseball circles. I find it significant that his first team, the Boston Red Sox, brought him back as a scout almost immediately in 1967 after Twins Owner Calvin Griffith fired him (see Monroe (LA) Morning News of June 10, 1967). He spent the next 25 years with Boston as a scout, before retiring in 1992.

1964 Minnesota Twins Yearbook - Click on photo for larger view

The Twins sent out a press release on Monday, stating:

“The Minnesota Twins are deeply saddened by the loss of Sam Mele,” the team said in a statement. “The former skipper was an important figure in Twins baseball history. The beloved Mele, not only led the 1965 Twins to the American League pennant, but also helped establish the importance of Major League Baseball across the Upper Midwest.”

“So long, everybody!” -  Herb Carneal

Sam Mele

Sam Mele managed the Minnesota Twins to the American League pennant in 1965, but just a year and a half later was fired by the team. Subsequently, his former team rallied to finish the 1967 season tied with the Tigers, just one game out of first place in the American League.

Jack Kralick & The First Twins No-Hitter, August 26, 1962

This post is the companion piece to "1962 Camera Day." It is one of my more enjoyable posts personally, and I hope you can take something away from it as well!

* * *

Here is my favorite photo from the whole endeavor: a picture and a piece from The Sporting News, detailing Jack Kralick's 1-0 no-hitter versus the Kansas City Athletics:

 

The entire Sporting News Story of "Jittery" Jack's gem can be found in PDF form here in page one and here in page 2. Make sure you read the bottom of page one, to view the description of the Allison catch to save the no-hitter. Below is his line as seen at BBReference:

Pitching	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA	BF	GSc	IR	IS	WPA	aLI	RE24
Jack Kralick, W (10-8)	9	0	0	0	1	3	0	4.02	28	89			0.736	1.22	4.6
Team Totals	9	0	0	0	1	3	0	0.00	28	89			0.736	1.22	4.6

Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 9/4/2013.

Some box scores (see the August 26, 1962 near-perfect game link) flow so well that they give you a good sense of the game's rhythm. Dare I say it - this game is very eye-catching in print (or on the screen, as it were) - not as pretty as say, 1960's pin up favorites Mamie Van Doren or Brigitte Bardot, but still damn pretty in the numeric, aesthetic sense. You might not believe me, especially if you clinked on the last two links, but I'm thinking ground ball hound Tommy John when I view the innings that must have flown by frustratingly quick for the Athletics batters. We all get our kicks in different manners.

The economy and effectiveness of Jack Kralick's performance are apparent - a very worthy and signature performance for the Minnesota Twins first no-hitter in Minnesota. The time of game was a 1:57, and as Kralick and Kansas City starter Bill Fischer were tossing so many 1-2-3 innings, it had to be a challenge for the stations broadcasting the contest to fit in their ads and promos. Damn!! Not enough time to advert the Thunderbird Motel, right across the parking lot on Cedar Avenue!! 

Playing into the rapid pace of this game was the fact that the K.C. batters were actually swinging away, typical of 1960's hitters - this was over  thirty years before money ball, after all. In their average lineup in '62, only Norm Siebern demonstrated above-average plate discipline, earning 110 walks; the next-highest total, 54, belonged to Ed Charles (who would go on to achieve cult hero status with the Amazin' Mets in 1969.

It was Charles who nearly ended the no-hit bid in the fourth inning,with his opposite-field drive that forced Bob Allison to reach above the right field fence in front of the bullpen (description, PDF page one above). There went the one, serious threat.

Besides Allison, also important to Kralick's success was having, quite possibly, the best defensive first baseman in modern baseball history backing him, Vic Power. As opposed to shortstop Zoilo Versalles, who was credited with handling the baseball ONCE, on a fourth inning 6-3 groundout by Bobby Del Greco (just preceding Charles's threatening flyball), Power was involved in plays resulting in 17 of the 27 outs in the ballgame. This was spectacularly achieving the goal the Twins management had in mind to stabilize the Twins infield by trading for Power (discussed in the post "A Maestro At First: Trading For Vic Power, April 2, 1962"). See the chart below for the full rundown:

[BELOW] Plays involving Twins first baseman Power,
 inning play occurred, fielder designated on 
play (pitcher 1, catcher 2, etc.)

Groundout-unassisted	third out-1st inn
Groundout: 1-3	second out-2nd inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-2nd inn
Groundout: 5-3	first out-3rd inn
Groundout: 4-3	third out-3rd inn
Groundout: 6-3	first out-4th inn
Groundout:3-1	third out-4th inn
Groundout: 4-3	second out-5th inn
Groundout: 3-1	third out-5th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	second out-6th inn
Groundout: 5-3	first out-7th inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-7th inn
Groundout: 4-3	first out-8th inn
Groundout: 1-3	third out-8th inn
Groundout: 4-3	first out-9th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	second out-9th inn
Foul fly: unassisted	third out-9th inn

                                                                          

It was obvious to both Battey and Kralick that he didn't have control of his curveball early in the contest, as seen in the Winona Daily News PDF. My pet theory is that Kralick focused much better, bereft of his "yellow hammer," so that he was even more on point spotting his sinking fastball and slider. Of course, none of this would have meant anything without Lenny Green's sacrifice fly, driving home Bernie Allen in the 7th inning.

As noted in the previous post "'62 Twins Camera Day," Kralick had been absent from the fan photo-taking activities, pregame. In keeping with his "lone wolf" persona...

This game somewhat parallels the Francisco Liriano no-hitter on May 3, 2011:  the same score, & each were thought to be either sub-par or VERY sub-par in their performance of late prior to their classics. 

Hope you enjoyed this look at the first great pitching performance in Minnesota Twins history!!

As the great broadcaster ended his post-game shows, I also say:

"So long, everybody!"

The 1st Camera Day, 1962: Day Of The Jack Kralick No-Hitter

By sheer coincidence, the Twins 1962 Camera Day landed on the very day (8/26/62, BBref Box) the franchise's first Minnesota no-hitter (post link!) was pitched, by Jack Kralick. Through the goodness of Twin Cities blogger Michael Haas (@digitalHaas, Alright Hamilton!), we have this beautiful set of photos from that historic day. They were shot by his grandfather, who attended the game that day along with Michael's mother and grandmother. We also get a sampling of Michael's thoughts at the end of this post, lending context to the photos. 1962 Twins team members Jim Kaat, Zoilo Versalles, Vic Power, Don Mincher, Dick Stigman, Ruben Gomez, Rich Rollins, Johnny Goryl, Hal Naragon, Marty Martinez, Coach Floyd Baker, and Manager Sam Mele are all present in this collection.

What is so great to me is how relatively shiny and new Metropolitan Stadium was - it was only in it's seventh season of existence, and its second as home to the Twins. The right field view is beautiful, encompassing the scoreboard, crowd, and bullpen areas. Especially nice is the Rollins / Valdivielso photo, with the first base foul territory and upper deck mezzanine in the background.

          [ NOTE: HELPS TO SINGLE CLICK PHOTO, ENLARGE FOR DETAIL! ]

My first inclination before posting these photos was to couple them with archival newspaper reports of the famous game by Kralick. After some thought, however, I felt they deserved a post of their own.  A separate blog entry will follow this week, concentrating on the original "Black Jack's" efforts.

[below: player with Rich Rollins (R) is Ruben Gomez, and not Jose Valdivielso as noted. To correct)

Ironically, Jack Kralick was nowhere to be found on the field for interested fans. The Sporting News Sept. 8, 1962 edition gave this explanation (see PDF of TSN page for extra context from that game) :

My Questions For Michael Haas: Behind The 1962 Camera Day Photos

ClassicTwins: I've always wanted to know about that blog title: "Alright Hamilton." How did that come about? How would you summarize the blog?

Michael: Oh, it's just a line from the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High," uttered by Sean Penn's character. I didn't put much thought into the title, obviously. Actually, we were a pretty legitimate blog in the pre-Twitter days. Myself and a few others tried to document the Twins fan experience and random off-topic things. You can see the archives at alright-hamilton.blogspot.com. The alright-Hamilton.tumbler.com is where I post random media very sporadically. I wish I could get back into the writing daily, but I just lost the momentum. Someday.

ClassicTwins: I get that "momentum" thing. Tell me about the photos, Michael. What’s the history behind them?

Michael: My Aunt digitized these old slides and gave some framed prints to my Mom for Christmas. My Grandpa was likely the photographer. My mom, 12 years old, is visible in the Athletics’ dugout on the left, and that’s my Grandma in the blue dress.

ClassicTwins: Very cool, a piece of family history with your grandparents and mom at the game, the photos literally a snap shot of a small part of their lives at the time. Could you give any information regarding the type of Twins or baseball fans they were – avid, casual, or otherwise? Did they make regular outings during the summers to Met Stadium to see the Twins? Do you know if they had any favorites among the players or coaching staff?

Michael: I would describe my grandparents as casual fans. I don’t remember them having much to say about the Twins while I was growing up in the 90’s. However, they must have been pretty close with the team because my Grandpa worked as an usher at Met Stadium. I’d guess my mom was the big fan of the family. I think she has a Bob Allison autographed picture around somewhere. And I know she still has her ticket stubs from games 1 and 2 of the 1965 World Series she saw as a 15 year old. I have no idea why she didn’t go to 6 and 7.

ClassicTwins: Bob Allison – perhaps the “Mr. Photogenic” of all the Twins ‘60’s guys. Does the photo set give you any particular feelings, i.e. “I wish I could have seen Earl Battey play in person,” or “Did the Twins REALLY have Harmon play left field a lot when they had Vic Power around to play first?” Or anything at all that you wonder about from that period in Twins history?

Michael: Well, the things that strike me most is the ballpark and the uniforms. I had no idea the Athletics had changed their primary colors to orange and black during their brief stay in Kansas City. It’s also interesting to see the way Metropolitan Stadium evolved over the years as they added seating. What’s most amazing to me is the fan access to the players and the field. Can you imagine what it would be like, as a 12-year-old, to stand on tobacco juice and sunflower seed shells in the dugout with the players? It would be fun to know what was going through their heads.

ClassicTwins: Great observation! I like word-pictures! So, how would you rate yourself as a fan? What was your favorite player growing up as a kid? Or now?

Michael: I’m a big Twins fan, but I’m a reasonable one. I don’t let their stinky performance affect my mental health, or anything like that. I grew up in the era of the ‘M’ hat and Kirby Puckett. I don’t actually remember either World Series title, but in every picture of me as a kid, I’m wearing a “World Series Champ” hat.

ClassicTwins Are there any particular games you’ve attended that stand out in memory?

Michael: The best two games in recent memory that I’ve attended were game 163 in 2009 and the Jim Thome walk-off bomb against Thornton and the White Sox in 2010. Every fan remembers those two games.

ClassicTwins: What do you think about Target Field (what a dump, right?)?

Michael: I like Target Field a lot. We’re four years in and it still feels brand new. In fact, I’m still learning about the best views, best seats for the money, and most excellent and secret parking spots. The only thing I dislike about modern stadiums is the separation between seating areas. They put a moat in Target Field to close off the padded seats from the regulars, and they place almost all the memorabilia in exclusive seating areas. But that’s the nature of the modern sports palace - - gotta make sure the corporations feel special.

ClassicTwins: I have no doubt many Twins fans share that idea! I loved my single visit to the Legends Club area, swanky, but I wish it would be easier to just glide through there, in particular, and see the fantastic museum-like exhibits. Great stuff, Michael! Anything else pertinent you’d like to add about “1962 Camera Day At The Met”?

Michael: That’s really all I got. But it sounds like you’ve done further research on the game and roster than I, so anything you want to add about that era would be really cool. You could just add my twitter handle I guess. Thanks a bunch. I really think the Twins have a cool circle of fans on the internet, and you’re one of them.

ClassicTwins: You show yourself a man of great judgment. 

10-4 on that handle: @digitalhaas.

Thanks again, Michael and Win! Twins! (okay, that IS how the song is properly titled!).

***

What a great thing it was, having our Mr. Haas's permission to go ahead with these gems!
As the great Twins announcer finished every broadcast, I also say:
"So long, everybody!" - Herb Carneal