Even the Braves

[petrel]

1966 World Series
October 30, 1966
Game 6


A popular activity for New York City visitors in 1966 was seeing Gwen Verdon in "Sweet Charity".

The World Series shifted back to Yankee Stadium for the final two games -- whether it ended tonight or ended the next day, baseball's finale would be held in the storybook palace at the Bronx, the home of the 20-time World Champions.

What I remember the most sitting in the "good seats" with Phyllis is hearing the organ music waft by. The New York Yankees had only gotten around to adding organ music in 1965, and it was very popular. In 1967, the Yankees had plans to install a newer and bigger Hammon organ.


The Yankees musical director, and his organ.

Baseball had been playing organ music since the 1940s. In April of 1941, the Chicago Cubs introduced the organ as sort of a stunt for one day, but fans liked the music so much that the Cubs kept the organ. In 1942, the Brooklyn Dodgers added an organist, and by now, there were organists in every major city -- except at Boston's Braves Field.

It was odd that I hadn't noticed that much until 1966. Granted, organ music wasn't like the kind of loud, annoying music you hear at ball parks today, the same dozen loud annoying sounds and sound effects that the marketers and entertainment experts believe provide "atmosphere". Rather, the organists could be a little bit creative, and they would choose what kind of music they wanted to play. Sometimes, the batters would get interesting selections when they played, or when a pitcher would take the mound -- in San Francisco, the organist would play "Maybelline" whenever Whitey Ford had an at-bat. ("A cadillac rolling on Old Glen Road/nothing outrun my V-8 Ford.") Or whenever the Senators Bob Meyer takes the mound in Washington, you might get the Oscar Meyer jingle from the organist at Comiskey Park.

Funny music wasn't the only order of the day. There was also incidental, time-killing music as well as "The Star Spangled-Banner" and "Take Me Out to the Ball Game". It was a much different experience at the ballpark than the one we're used to now.

I would end up calling Ron Stark Jr and asking if he would put an organ in at Braves Field. Stark, always out to save a buck, said "Let's just wait until the new stadium opens in '68."

(* * *)

For the visiting Giants, the toughest thing to fight would be the tendency to relax. "We hope to keep our focus," said Sam Mele of the Giants. For Game 6, he brought in Bill Kirk (24-6, 3.18 ERA, 74 K). Kirk had been on the losing end on a 7-1 loss in Game 3 to the Yankees, where he had only given up 4 ER in 4 IP and only threw 53 percent of his pitches for strikes. At 29, 1966 had been Kirk's weakest year, if you could call a 24-6 record "weak" in any respect, and teams like the Yankees could make even someone like Bill Kirk look very weak. With both teams so evenly matched, Kirk was determined not to be the goal. He would throw as hard as he possibly could.

The home team, the Yankees, started the winner of Game 3, Bob Hendley (19-2, 1.97 ERA). Hendley wouldn't throw hard, because he really couldn't anymore and didn't want to take the chance of a career-ending injury. He told reporters, "My goal is to throw smart. Everyone out here has amazing talent, but all it takes is one slip-up to make you the goat. I don't have to throw pitches fast -- I just have to throw them in the right places!"

(* * *)

The bottom of the first started the way it had started for so many of the games against the Giants -- a base running error. With two out in the bottom of the first, Don Buford of the Yankees walked, but when he attempted to steal second, Bill Heath of the Giants threw him out from behind the plate. Some reporters joked that a similar base running error would have to be written into Game 7 -- "if the Yankees got that far".

However, the Giants weren't perfect in the first two innings, either. Gene Oliver of the Yankees would reach first on a fielding error by right fielder Lee Thomas, who thought that the ball would fall foul and only half-heartedly chased it down. However, both of the other Yankees batters went down and the game was a scoreless tie after two innings.

By the end of the third, both sides knew they would be in for another pitcher's duel between the Yankees and the Giants. Neither pitcher, neither Hendley or Kirk had given up a hit after three innings. The very first hit in the game would be a single by the Giants Bob Johnson after Carl Yastrzemski had reached first when Harmon Killebrew had tried to trap the ball in the dirt and ended up running after it. The Giants, however, could not bring either runner home.

Finally, after several games of base-running errors, hitting into double plays and little else productive, Harmon Killebrew made his voice heard loud and clear. Leading off in the bottom of the 4th, he hit a home run over the left field fence for the first Yankee hit -- and run. Yankees 1, Giants 0. The Yanks couldn't score any more runs that inning, but at least they had the lead.

Hendley gave up his first hit in the game in the fifth inning, allowing a single to Bill Heath with just one out. He would also throw a pitch over the head of Gene Oliver to allow Heath to take second, but this was the only error for the Yankees pitcher in the 5th. The home team, however, went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the fifth, both teams only had one hit each, but the Yankeees had a run to show for it and still led 1-0.

The only offense the Giants could offer in the 6th was a Ken Boyer lead off single, which was negated when Yaz hit into an inning-ending double play. However, the Yankees looked very good in the bottom of the 6th. With two out, Harmon Killebrew got his second hit of the night -- a triple down the right field line. Don Buford would then follow Killebrew's hit with his second walk of the night.

Then, Buford raced towards second base! He was going to try to steal a second time! His first inning attempt ended unsuccessfully, but this time, Buford's slide managed to duck the tag made by Johnny O'Briend. Buford was safe, and the Yankees had men on second and third with two out. Unfortunately for the home team, Roberto Clemente would pop up foul near the third base line, and both teams would go into the latter part of the game.

(* * *)

Going into the seventh, and down 1-0, the Giants only had nine more outs to make something happen. Rafael DeJesus came in to play third, following the strategy of early defensive replacements in close games. The Yankees managed to protect their run as none of the Giants could get a hit off Hendley. However, in the bottom of the 7th, Jose Pagan grounded into a 4-6-3 double inning. The Giants coaching staff wasn't worried about being down a run -- they were worried that the Yankees might extend their lead before the Giants could catch up.

Ron Hunt would pinch hit for Bill Kirk in the top of the 8th. Bill Kirk's night was over, and Hunt would strike out as a pinch-hitter. Johnny O'Brien would get a base hit, but Ken Boyer grounded to Hendley to end the inning and the Giants were just three outs away from a Game 6 loss.

Bob Locker (15-5, 3.60 ERA) came in to pitch for the Giants in the bottom of the eighth. Bob Hendley was replaced with a pinch-hitter. The bottom of the eighth did not result in a single Yankees hit. It would have to be decided in the top of the 9th.

(* * *)

Don McMahon (6-0, 1.99 ERA, 33 saves) would make his first appearance for the Yankees in a week. His success in the top of the 9th had the potential of deciding whether or not the Yankees lived, or died.

Carl Yastremski, however, led off with a walk, putting the tying run on first. Yaz took a big lead to intimidate McMahon as Bob Johnson came to the plate. McMahon ignored Yaz, and Bob Johnson flew out to center field for the first out.

With Yaz still taking a big lead, McMahon turned and rifled a shot to Harmon Killebrew at first. Killebrew swept down to make the tag. OUT! Out at first base! Yastrzemski couldn't believe it! The fans at Yankee Stadium went wild as manager Sam Mele of the Giants yelled some discouraging words at the umpires, but almost couldn't be heard over the roar of the fans.

Next up was Donn Clendenon. Clendenon took McMahon up to a 2-2 count before firing a curve low and outside at Clendenon....

...Clendenon swung! And missed! Strike three! Game 6 was over, and the Yankees had won!

FINAL SCORE: Yankees 1, Giants 0

(* * *)

Game 6 was an illustration as to how a player's reputation could swing almost game by game. Harmon Killebrew, the goat of Game 5, had not only scored the game's only run, but had also hit a triple and helped pick Yastrzemski off first. Yaz, meanwhile, known for getting the crucial hit in Game 7 of the 1965 World Series, would have to wear the goat horns. "They just got a good tag. That's all."

So, for the second straight year, the Yankees and Giants would play to Game 7. Last year, it was a Halloween, too.

[petrel]

1966 World Series
Game 7
October 31, 1966
Part I

Halloween. Over the last six years, the Giants and the Yankees had played 35 times in the posteason. The Yankees held a 19-16 edge over their National League counterparts, and the year before, Game 7 had gone into extra innings. Dick Young of the New York Daily News said the two teams "were so close you couldn't slide a piece of paper between them".

The stars had come out again for this game and Game 7 was the toughest ticket in New York. You had to know someone who knew someone who knew someone who knew someone [b]important[/i] to get a World Series ticket. The New York Yankees office was frantic -- there were New York City officials, New York state officials, senators, congressmen, movie stars, titans of industry all wanting tickets. Someone, somewhere, would have to make the fateful decision regarding who got to see the game, and how good the seats were.

It wasn't as if the game would be hard to see. Of course, it was televised to within an inch of its life. Bars in New York City put "new color TV" in their expense accounts, and forked over the dough so their patrons could see the big game. There were sports parties all over the city to watch the game -- even though the TV ratings for this Series across the country were lower than they had been in 1965.

As for Phyllis and I? We had tickets. As a matter of fact, we were two seats away from big name singer Bobby Darin. We didn't chat, because even though I was a "big name" in baseball, he would have had absolutely no idea who I was. As far as the world was concerned, I was a 39-year old man watching a baseball game with his wife. Phyllis said it was one of her great baseball moments. "I was sitting next to Bobby Darin, and I know he was giving me the eye!"

(* * *)

Manager Sam Mele had gotten some bad news. Bill Kirk, who had pitched the 1-0 loss in Game 6, had fractured his wrist during the game. He had been pitching in pain, hoping the Giants could come back and win the series with Game 6, but to no avail.

The obvious choice for Game 7 was Claude Osteen. Osteen had pitched well in his Game 4 performance and had a 1-1 record in the 1966 Series. However, Mele thought that Osteen looked fatigued. "Not a lot of pep," he thought, and Mele looked elsewhere.

Mele turned to the 24-year old Fred Newman (28-1, 1.70 ERA, 94 K) for the Game 7 start. Newman hadn't pitched a game for the Giants since October 3rd, overshadowed by the other greats in the pitching rotation. Despite that, Newman had started two games in the postseason. "They've spent a lot of time figuring out Kirk and the White Rat and Gaylord," said Mele, "but I think they forgot about ol' Fred."

In the other dugout, manager Johnny Keane was playing the most important game of his life -- his employment, some said, depended on it. "We've got a ton of pitching, but I think before the season among most of the players the vote would have been unanimous. "Give a Game 7 to Proctor". Jim Proctor (30-2, 1.39 ERA) had won a Rookie of the Year and three Cy Young Awards. He was becoming the most dominant pitcher of his time. Now, he only needed a World Series ring.

Furthermore, Keane got some more fortunate news. Johnny Temple, the regular Yankees second baseman who had been out with an elbow injury, was now ready to play. Temple was 38 years old, but the pain was "manageable" as he put it. Truth be told, he was in a lot of pain, but "it wasn't so bad that I couldn't fight through it," said Temple. "This was Game 7. Yankees have to step up."

(* * *)

To say both sides were keyed up for the game was an understatement. Still, the Giants provided some early excitement in the first. In the bottom of the 1st, Johnny Temple led off with a single against Newman and Harmon Killebrew walked. Bob Skinner struck out, then bringing in Roberto Clemente. Clemente hit the ball at about six feet, and Bill Heath made a great play, whipping the ball to second and getting Killebrew out at the force-out at second, with Gene Oliver popping up to second to end the inning.

Proctor had some rough going in the early game. With two outs in the top of the second, Frank Thomas singled through the right side for a base hit. Thomas had stolen one base in the postseason in 1965 -- and stole one base during all of 1966. Suddenly, the ex-Yankee was off like a rocket and caught Gene Oliver of the Yankees napping, sliding into second. Lee Thomas then singled down the right field line and scored the first run for the Giants. Giants 1, Yankees 0.

Proctor then uncorked a wild pitch that let Thomas make it to third with two out, but Bill Heath would ground out for the third out. However, once again, the Yankees found themselves behind.

After three innings, the game had been uneventful, with the Giants getting a man on second in their half of the 3rd but not bringing him anywhere. By now, both sides knew that the fireworks happened in the middle and later innings, the pattern of all the World Series games in 1966 so far.

Bob Skinner of the Yankees finally woke the crowd up with a lead off double off Newman in the bottom of the 4th, the ball skipping just fair of the first base line. Roberto Clemente then hit the ball like a slingshot down the left field line, and after Yastrzemski had coralled the ball, Clemente was standing on third base with a triple and the Yankees had their first run. Giants 1, Yankees 1. Gene Oliver would walk, but the next three Yankees batters would go down and the home team would escape the fourth after tying the game.

Only one batter reached base in the fifth, and the Giants lone runner was negated by a Yankees double play. In the 6th inning, Carl Yastrzemski singled to right with two out, and was given the signal to go for two. But it was a bad decision to challenge Roberto Clemente's arm, and Yaz found himself tagged out sliding head first into second. The Yankees did not put a runner on in their half of the inning, and after six innings, the game was tied. Reporters knew they couldn't have written a better ending.

(* * *)

In the top of the 7th, the Giants knew that the game wouldn't stay tied for long. Donn Clendenon walked with one out, but Frank Thomas killed Clendenon by hitting into a 6-4-3 double play. Gaylord Perry later said, "It was tied, and we were confident of a win. We felt we could walk all over the Yankees, always did."

Manager Johnny Keane removed center fielder Stuart Petty for Don Buford. Keane had faced a lot of criticism over the week for platooning Buford with Bob Skinner in left field. This time, however, Keane's hunch paid off as Buford led off the bottom of the 7th with a triple. The Giants brought the infield in as they faced Jose Pagan with Fred Newman still on the mound. Pagan, who had not hit well during the Series (he would finish the Series with a .200 BA), singled to left field off Pagan to score a run to the screams of the Yankee faithful. Yankees 2, Giants 1.

The next two batters, however: Kevin Jackson and Jim Proctor -- would both ground out. With two out, and a man on first, Newman walked Johnny Temple.

Then, he walked Harmon Killebrew, turning a 1-2 count to a base on ball with three straight pitches. The bases were loaded, and the Yankees fans were ecstatic, hoping to put the Giants out of their misery at last. The next batter was Bob Skinner -- who hit the first ball to Johnny O'Brien at second. The inning was over, and the Yankees had left the bases loaded! But at least, they now had a 2-1 lead against the Giants, and with only two innings left, two runs might be enough.

In the top of the 8th, with Proctor still on the mound and needing six outs to win the World Championship, the Yankees brought in their defensive replacements: Rafael DeJesus at third base and Lee Maye in center field. Lee Thomas, the first batter, would ground to first. The Yanks were five outs away.

However, Bill Heath singled through the left side, and it was Fred Newman's turn to bat, leaving Mele with the decision to pull Newman or let him stay. Mele looked at the dugout. "We didn't look like we were beaten -- we were raring to go," Mele would say later, and he kept Newman in, who bunted Heath over to second with the second out.

Johnny O'Brien was the next batter. With the first Proctor fastball, O'Brien hit it up the middle. Base hit! Heath would beat the throw running from second to the plate, and the Giants had tied it up! Giants 2, Yankees 2. The Giants were now all out of the dugout, boisterous, shouting.

Ken Boyer would double to right field to raise the Giants spirits even higher, and silence the Yankee crowd. However, Yaz would ground to Johnny Temple at second and end the top of the eighth. Even though the Giants hadn't broken the game open, they could still do so in the 9th.

Newman remained in control. He got the first two Yankee batters out, striking out Gene Oliver. But catcher Bill Heath sensed that Newman was wearing down. Heath had already been out to the mound once and when he went to the mound a second time, manager Sam Mele hopped out of the dugout for a mound conference. Whatever Mele heard, he didn't like, and he asked for the ball. Newman had been relieved with one out remaining in the eighth inning.

Joe Hoerner (1-1, 3.46 ERA, 3 saves) was called in to pitch to Jose Pagan, who popped up to Johnny O'Brien to end the inning. The crowd held its breath as the game remain tied going into the ninth.

[petrel]

1966 World Series
Game 7
October 31, 1966
Part II

Manager Johnny Keane brought in Jim Brady (11-5, 1.91 ERA, 9 saves). In his last outing, he gave up two home runs to the Giants in just one inning, and the radio and TV fans began to pray.

However, Brady had an easy time with it in the top of the 9th. Bob Johnson grounded to third, Donn Clendenon flew to center, and Frank Thomas grounded to third to end the top of the 9th. The Yankees were now in control of the game! Two good hits could win the game and the championship!

Hoerner struck out Rafael DeJesus to start the bottom of the 9th. Manager Johnny Keane had Preston Ward pinch-hit for Brady -- but Ward grounded to third. With the final out of the first inning, Johnny Temple hit the ball hard to first base -- but it ended up right in the mitt of Donn Clendenon.

Giants 2, Yankees 2. The seventh game of the World Series would go into extra innings. It was the second year in a row, and as the fans held their collective breath, the men in the press box got new paper for their typewriters, prepared to type out the final plays of 1966, with the championship in the balance!

(* * *)

Don McMahon (6-0, 1.99 ERA, 33 saves) came out to pitch in the top of the 10th. He was the Yankees number one stopper, and if he couldn't stop the Giants, they couldn't be stopped.

Lee Thomas struck out to start the 10th, and then Bill Heath flew out to right field. Charlie O'Rourke (.265 BA, 9 hits/34 AB) came in to pinch-hit for Hoerner. Acquired in a trade at the end of July with Cleveland for Billy Hunter, the Yankees played in close, but O'Rourke singled down the first base line.

O'Rourke took a lead off first. The Yankees ignored him, as O'Rourke had never stolen a base in seven years as a spot-player. However, the Yankees were shocked as O'Rourke bolted for second. The Yankees Gene Oliver was caught completely off guard, as O'Rourke was safe -- ! The Giants had the go-ahead run on second!

Dick Phillips was called by Mele to pinch-hit for Johnny O'Brien at second. The first pitch was a ball, the second was a fastball for a called strike. But the next pitch, Phillips hit, and hit hard -- !

-- right into the glove of Harmon Killebrew at first! The Giants threat was over, and the Yankees turned to their half of the 10th.

The Giants returned favor for favor. They would go to their closer, Claude Raymond (6-0, 1.41 ERA, 26 saves). The Yankees hoped they could come out ahead, but pitchers were warming up in both innings, prepared to go to the 11th and 12th innings.

Ron Hunt came in to play second base for the Giants. First up was Harmon Killebrew. It took seven pitches -- a 3-2 count and two foul balls -- before Killebrew found the pitch he wanted, and singled to left field. The Yankees had the winning run on first.

No one would expect Killebrew to steal...and he didn't. The next batter was Bob Skinner, who struck out on three straight pitches, caught swinging for the third strike.

The next batter would be Roberto Clemente. Clemente rode the count to 3-1. Raymond chose to pitch Clemente high and outside -- but Clemente, looking for Raymond's change, wouldn't bite. Ball four, and the go-ahead run moved to second base.

Gene Oliver, the Yankees catcher, came to bat. The first pitch by Raymond was an inside fastball that nicked the corner for a called strike. The second pitch was a low-and-far away hard curve for ball one. The next pitch was a change-up, but Oliver decided not to swing, doubting he could hit Raymond's change. It was outside. Ball two.

Another inside fastball blazed past Oliver for his second strike, the count 2-2. Raymond threw a low, outside fastball that forced Oliver to check his swing in time. Oliver had the full count.

Oliver fouled off the next pitch to left field. The next pitch, Oliver fouled to right field.

Finally, Oliver found the pitch he wanted. A fastball. Oliver swung! Base hit! Lee Thomas chased the ball down in right field, and Killebrew was given the sign...head for home!

Thomas positioned himself and threw. Maybe, if Frank Robinson would have been there instead of Thomas, the throw would have gotten off faster. Killebrew rumbled into home with a hook slide, but even with Killebrew's speed, it made no difference....!

SAFE!! The winning run had scored...and the team with the best record in baseball history had finally earned baseball's greatest prize!

FINAL SCORE: Yankees 3, Giants 2 (10)

(* * *)

For the Yankees, it was the culmination of a great season, a championship for a great team playing against another great team. Years later, someone asked Johnny Keane if the Yankees would have had more trouble if Robinson had been alive. "I will say this...those guys we played in the '66 Series, they were killers, Robinson or no Robinson. That game wasn't a gimme. We earned that Championship. I might not have gotten along with the press or some of the players or management, but I wanted to kiss everyone in the world that night. It might have been the 21st Yankee championship -- but it was my first championship. And I'll always treasure it."

The Giants had gone through adversity...and had lost in the most adverse of outcomes, a one run loss in extra innings in Game 7 of the World Series. "They say that people were turned off by the Yankees and Giants," said Yaz years later. "Then if they were, they missed a great series. Those Yankees were just incredible." Yaz shook his head. "Frank, Frank, Frank...." He turned his head from the reporter, tears in his eyes. "We tried, Frank. We really tried. I hope you can forgive us."

[petrel]

November 1966
Part I

It was a crazy off-season, with quite a bit going on.

In San Francisco, Bob Swift passed away of cancer. He was the second Seals manager to die of cancer this year, after Chuck Dressen died from complications of a heart attack.

The Brooklyn Dodgers take off for a goodwill trip to Japan. Maury Wills left the club during the trip, stating that he had hurt his knee and that it needed treatment in the United States. The Dodgers went 9-8-1 against the teams of Japan -- the worst record of any American professional baseball team visiting Japan. Rumor has it that as soon as Wills's contract is up, he's going to be leaving the Dodgers at the end of 1967. It's not been a pleasant relationship for either side.

But the big, massive news was nothing that we didn't expect -- the shoe had been waiting to drop for over a year, and it fell at last. The Athletics are leaving Philadelphia.

Bing Crosby has decided to sell the club. "I couldn't bring a championship to Philadelphia, and I'm sorry," the Athletics owner stated. "With season after season of disappointment, our ability to draw fans has suffered. We have had no luck in rebuilding the club, and I believe that the Athletics have reached the point of no return -- by the time we got the club back on its feet, our ability to draw fans might be non-existent. I can only offer an apology, but I think that the consensus all around is that it's time to invoke our escape clause and leave Philadelphia."

Of course, the Philadelphia Athletics fans -- what few there were -- wailed and moaned. The Philadelphia City Council made some apologetic noises -- their hands were tied under the agreement they signed. There were a few nasty editorials from pressmen in the papers bemoaning the fact that Connie Mack's Pachyderms were going to move out of Philadelphia. Truth be told, however, most people were resigned to the move and felt it was long overdue. At least the new club, wherever it might go, might be competitive outside of Philadelphia.

The contender was a group of owners in Dallas -- but nothing had been finalized, yet. However, the new owners had already bought out the Dallas minor-league franchise and were making plans to expand Turnpike Stadium to major-league size -- they just needed to put a team there.

There was an outside chance, however, that the deal would fall through. However, the sports columnists were already referring to the "Philadelphia/Dallas Athletics".

(* * *)

First, we'll state the regular season category champions, and then the winners of the major awards:

1966 American League

Home Run Leader: Hank Aaron, Angels (41). Aaron hit one of the lowest totals for a league leader in years after hitting the highest total ever (76) in 1957. His lifetime total is 529 HR.
Batting Title: Bob Skinner, Yankees (.373). Skinner has led the leage in batting five times and has a lifetime BA of .336.
Runs Batted In Leader: Hank Aaron, Angels (139). His batting average was .286, far short of a Triple Crown.
Stolen Bases: Luis Aparicio, Angels (29). This brings his lifetime stolen base total to 307.

Earned Run Average Leader: Jim Proctor, Yankees (1.39). This is the second year in a row he's led in ERA; at 30, he's got a lot of good years ahead of him.
Strikeout Leader: Randy Weaver, Seals (266). Has a 79-130 lifetime record with the Seals.
Win Leader: Jim Proctor, Yankees (30). Struck out 116 this year.
Saves Leader: Don McMahon, Yankees (33). The second time McMahon has led the league in saves.

1966 National League

Home Run Leader: Dave Nicholson, Braves (55). He's only 26, and people in baseball expect another 50-HR season sometime soon.
Batting Title: Lou Brock, Stars (.354). His batting average has gone up every year he's played.
Runs Batted In Leader: Bob Johnson, Giants (166). Will undoubtedly cross the 1000 RBI threshold next year.
Stolen Bases: Lou Brock, Stars (51). Has led the National League in stolen bases four years in a row.

Earned Run Average Leader: Fred Newman, Giants (1.70). Lifetime ERA: 2.09.
Strikeout Leader: Dextor Magor, Brewers (254). The only highlight of a bad season for the Brewers.
Win Leader: Fred Newman, Giants (28). Lifetime won-loss record: 59-7.
Saves Leader: Don Carpenter, Braves (30). His best year as a Braves closer.

(* * *)

Major Award Winners

American League

Cy Young Award: Jim Proctor, Yankees. His fourth Cy Young. Probably the most dominating pitcher in baseball.
Most Valuable Player: Bob Skinner, Yankees: His fifth MVP award, all with the Yankees. One of the reasons the Yanks have been so dominant over the years.
Rookie of The Year: Reggie Smith, Athletics: A real head-scratcher. Hit .214 in 151 games for the hopeless Athletics. One suspects he was given the award to increase the A's resale value, but no one will be fooled.

AL Gold Gloves:

P: Jim Proctor, Yankees (2)
C: Eli Winters, Red Sox (1)
1B: Hugh Lange, Angels (1)
2B: Johnny Temple, Yankees (1)
3B: Pat MacGillegowie, Angels (2)
SS: Jose Pagan, Yankees (3)
OF: Hank Aaron, Angels (1)
OF: Ken Berry, Blues (1)
OF: Don Buford, Yankees (1)

National League:

Cy Young Award: Fred Newman, Giants. His first. Newman is only 24 years old, so it's a great accomplishment.
Most Valuable Player: Bob Johnson, Giants. The lifetime .327 batter gets his first MVP award.
Rookie of the Year: Fritz Peterson, Cardinals. A pitcher, went 17-16 for the 72-90 Cardinals.

NL Gold Gloves

P: Claude Osteen, Giants (3)
C: Joe Torre, Braves (3). This is his third straight Gold Glove.
1B: Joe Pepitone, Reds (1)
2B: Johnny O'Brien, Giants (1)
3B: Eric Morrisson, Stars (1)
SS: Bob Johnson, Giants (3). This is his third straight Gold Glove.
OF: Carl Yastrzemski, Giants (5)
OF: Howie Goss, Pirates (3)
OF: Al Kaline, Cubs (2)

[petrel]

November 1966
Part II

Frankly, starting the 1966-67 offseason was a very difficult experience for me for two reasons.

The 1966 season left me pessimistic about the long-term fate of Major League Baseball. The Braves had won 129 games -- a record in just about any year before 1960 -- but even with this monstrously superlative record, the Braves still couldn't beat the Giants and Yankees. With their powerful resources -- the Yankees were owned by CBS -- both teams could game the system. They had the money, and they had no restrictions on how to spend it. They could buy the best players, which would increase their attendance and advertising power, which would mean more money, which would mean better players, etc.

Every baseball club faced this reality. The temptation was to give up. I didn't share my thoughts with Phyllis, but I took a sort of "three day vacation" in the office, where all I did was do crossword puzzles and read books. No long-term building for the future. There was no point in it. There was no future, except the Giants and Yankees, forever and ever.

After about three days of moping and trying to figure out if I should retire, I called up Commissioner Pete Rozelle and shared some of my thoughts. Rozelle, a good businessman, invited me to league headquarters in New York where we talked.

He told me that most of the other clubs felt the same way that I did. "But it's the league rules, Pet. It takes a 75 percent vote to get some sort of revenue sharing or capping built into baseball's system. There will always be two teams in each league automatically opposed, and that will be the New York and LA teams because they can spend the most money. They bring over a couple of large-market teams to their way of thinking, and they can block any vote. I've proposed a few drafts to the holdouts, but I can't get anything through."

I asked him who the holdouts were: in the National League, it was Houston, the Giants, the Phillies and the Cardinals. In the American League, it was the Red Sox, Peaches, the Tigers, the Angels and the Yankees.

Until their minds could be changed, we could do nothing. However, Rozelle was quickly at work behind the scenes, with some changes new to baseball.

First, he informed all clubs that future hires of public relations directors would have to be vetted through the major league offices. This was not because Commissioner Rozelle wanted some sort of iron grip on the clubs. Rather, he wanted a standard of excellence in public relations. The days of hiring some ex-coach or crony would be over. From now on, clubs were expected to have expert P. R. men.

The future P. R. men of baseball were to emphasize the players as well as the statistics. They were given five "commandments" that the Commissioner's Office took very seriously.

1. THOU SHALT NOT ENTER: The press box is for working press. Every
effort should be made to bar unauthorized persons.
2. THOU SHALT NOT LEAVE: The home team public relations director, or
his assistant, should be available at all times. He should be first
to enter and last to leave. The visiting team PR director should
offer his services and be available when necessary.
3. THOU SHALT NOT BEND: The home team public relations director
should have authority and complete control over all facets of
operation and all facilities of the press box.
4. THOU SHALT NOT CHEER.
5. THOU SHALT NOT LOSE FAITH: Regardless [of] the
score...the public relations director must smile...be pleasant...and
be positive...and exude enthusiasm. The press box is loaded with
image-makers. Your image is important.

He furthermore reached a deal with Seymour Siwoff at the Elias Sports Bureau, which kept baseball statistics. The rule was "all statistics, all the time." Siwoff would be paid handsomely, but he was to make sure that no request for baseball statistics from any media source was to be turned down. Game stats would be sent to the beat reporters in each major city where major league baseball had a club, and "game previews" would be printed up for each three-day series. This would give reporters and announcers more "ammo", and more hooks upon which to hang a story.

In the meantime, Rozelle continued to work both the press and the teams to get TV revenues and team salaries under league control. But baseball was not football. Each of the 24 fiefdoms in baseball would not turn over their power to any king.

Commissioner Rozelle said, "Pet, I can put you in touch with the forces that want some change. Maybe you could do something to help out, to keep some working group on task with getting some sort of salary control."

(* * *)

So I did. I contacted each of the GMs/owners who looked positive towards salary control and we formed what we called the "Working Group". That group was:

Myself, representing the Boston Braves
Bill Dewitt, president and owner of the Cincinnati Reds
Gabe Paul, the GM of the Cleveland Indians
Phil Seghi, the GM of the Minnesota Twins
Fresco Thompson, the GM of the Brooklyn Dodgers
Ed Lopat, the GM of the Philadelphia Athletics

Our goal was to keep communications open with the holdout clubs. It was a frustrating process. We mustered every argument we could think of, but we kept getting shot down. Furthermore, there was the danger that we could become enemies of the more powerful owners in baseball, who would reflexively act to deter us.

At least, there was a core group that could make suggestions. We never met. We simply exchanged mail. Even so, it was the opportunity to form friendships, which cannot be understated in a business like this.

[CatKnight]

Honestly Pete Rozelle needs to throw the league rules out the window and declare a coup. Play it his way....or leave.

Naturally that would be cataclysmic to MLB, but if the "working group" threatened not to field teams in the 1967 season... well, something has to give. The Yankees, Giants, Stars and Angels can't really dominate if no one will play them.

I'm really surprised they have so many of the big market teams on their side. Even the Red Sox, White Sox, etc. have to realize that until something fundamental changes they're stuck in a rut....and if that rut goes on much longer, people are going to tune baseball out.

Realistically I'll bet the NFL's picked up speed in the last two or three years as fans desperate for competition are abandoning baseball in August and September. In a universe where the AFL failed, that's serious. The NFL might get it in its head to expand into the former AFL cities like Boston.

We could soon be looking at a crisis of faith outside New York similar to 1981 and 1994, when MLB lost serious ground to its rival sports.

[petrel]

November 1966
Part III

The second reason I didn't look forward to the off-season was that Free Agency was about to begin. And I knew that in negotiations, the Braves were about to take a massive, team-killing hit.

We had no fewer than thirteen contracts to negotiate. Generally, a team can expect a certain number of contracts to be renegotiated, with variance going in a standard direction. However, at the Boston Braves Baseball Club, all the dues have come home at once. Furthermore, from what I had heard, I might end up having to put on a uniform myself in 1966.

The sorry, sorry summary:

Joe Torre let us quickly know that he had no intention of staying in Boston when he could get money elsewhere. He was asking for New York money: $19.05 million in 1967. We couldn't afford that.

Gordon Massa wanted $4.95 million a year. He only played 67 games for us. We suspected we could get him cheaper after a while, so we released him.

Bob Schmidt played one game for us and wanted a $2.35 million contract. At least it was down from the $2.5 million he charged us in 1966. We let him go, but as it turned out, no one else must have wanted him either. Schmidt retired soon after.

Bernie Allen went up from $380K to an outrageous $2.95 million. I don't think he's good enough to be paid that much. We let him go.

I had the unpleasant task of dealing with Vic Davalillo's agent, who not only wanted $4.5 million for a non-regular starter, but was so obnoxious and obscene that I cut off relations with him and left Davalillo go as fast as I could. Maybe when Vic's price falls to earth his agent will be more humble.

Mickey Mantle declined the extra option year of his contract, but agreed to come back to the Braves for about $11 million. This was Mick being nice to us. We appreciated the discount, but we told Mantle that we had no ability to pay that much. But who knows? If the market's bad, he might fall into our hands again. After all, he's 34 years old.

Dave Nicholson broke away from the Braves in a New York way, asking for $18.25 million a year. We both knew that this would be the end of our baseball relationship in the near future. The same went for Joe Christopher, who asked us for $12.5 million and essentially forced us to let him go.

Dick Smith, believe it or not, only offered $5.7 million in arbitration. Dick had a .357 OBP and we thought he was worth keeping. We asked for $5.3 million in arbitration, and the Braves win arbitration and keep Dick Smith.

Don Mincher was also up for arbitration -- but he asked for $6.7 million. We couldn't take the chance of losing to the arbitrator, so we had to let Mincher go.

There was a tug of war between the Braves and Rudy Regalado. A 35 year old infielder, he was asking for $5.15 million. So we offered $2.5 million. He offered $3.7 million. We went up to $2.75 million; he offered $3.9 million. we knew where this was going, and we let Regalado go.

Howie Koplitz, ex-Brave and free-agent acquisition, wanted $14.5 million to come back for another round. We didn't have it and we didn't sign him.

Finally, Ron Herbel asked for $7.75 million for 1967. He wouldn't budge on the price. So we had no hope of signing him.

(* * *)

A summary: 13 players up for free agency or arbitration. 12 players released, including the entire outfield and six out of eight position players. Finishing with our heads above water will be very difficult in 1967.

The only good news: from sheer necessity, we fell from 87.8 million in payroll to 56.1 million. The $31.7 million should be enough to re-sign an entire outfield, at least.

(* * *)

A preview of the top free agents....

Position Players

1. Joe Torre, C, $21.6 million/6 years. .347 AVG and .431 OBP in 1966. The Yankees are jumping at the chance to sign him, and I figure Joe will be in pinstripes in1967.
2. Dave Nicholson, LF, $20.6 million/6 years. Baseball's home run king of 1966 is now talking with Houston.
3. Bob Johnson, SS, $18.4 million/6 years. The National League MVP might end up on the West Coast, as San Francisco wants to challenge the Angels.
4. Bob Skinner, LF, $18.0 million/4 years. 34 years old, .336 lifetime BA. Might end up as a Cardinal.
5. Carl Yastrzemski, LF, $17.6 million/6 years. The Giants see Yaz as a team leader and want to re-sign him.
6. Joe Christopher, CF, $14.6 million/6 years. The 29-year old center fielder is talking to the Stars. He and Lou Brock will be a tough combination.
7. Gates Brown, LF, $14.5 million/4 years. One of the best things to come out of the Philadelphia Phillies might head north to Minnesota.
8. Hank Aaron, CF, $14.2 million/5 years. This is temporary, as the Angels will probably re-sign him.
9. Mickey Mantle, CF, $14.1 million/4 years. Mickey is beloved in Chicago with his time with the Cubs -- and he might end up with the White Sox next year!
10. Don Buford, LF, $14.0 million/5 years. No one wants to sign him, and I can't figure out why.

Pitchers

1. Fred Newman, SP, $17.6 million/3 years. The NL Cy Young Award winner might jump ship to the Stars.
2. Howie Koplitz, SP, $15.9 million/3 years. The Cubs will probably counter the acquisition of Newman by acquiring Koplitz.
3. Tom Hughes, SP, $14.8 million/2 years. 25-5 for the Angels last year; he might end up a Cubbie.
4. Marshall Renfroe, SP, $12.9 million/2 years. A talented young pitcher who was 24-3 for the Yankees, but a fourth starter. The Tigers will treat him right.
5. Ron Herbel, RP, $8.9 million/3 years. Might relieve for the Cubs as they challenge the Stars for baseball supremacy.
6. Steve Blass, SP, $8.6 million/2 years. Another loss for the Phillies -- Blass might wear the Yankee pinstripes and replace Renfroe.
7. Mukisa Sato, SP, $7.5 million/5 years. The Japanese left-hander is negotiating with the Peaches.
8. Jim Owens, SP, $7.0 million/3 years. Eight years with the Brewers weigh down his record, but he still has a 3.73 lifetime ERA. Might be a Peach next year.
9. Ron Blackburn, RP, $5.5 million/2 years. This reliever might sign a contract with the Peaches.
10. Hector Maestri, SP, $5.5 million/2 years. Won 20 games for the Stars, and now negotiating with the Angels.

[petrel]

November 1966
Part IV

By the end of the month...sixteen out of twenty of these players were signed. It's a lot easier to summarize where they went:

Yankees: Joe Torre, Steve Blass
Seals: Bob Johnson
Cardinals: Bob Skinner
Giants: Carl Yastrzemski, Mukisa Sato
Angels: Joe Christopher
Phillies: Gates Brown
Astros: Don Buford
Stars: Mickey Mantle, Fred Newman
Cubs: Howie Koplitz, Tom Hughes, Ron Herbel
[b]Tigers[b]: Marshall Renfroe
Peaches: Ron Blackburn

So much for last year's dry free agent market to save us. I think the three biggest free agent stories are:

1) Mickey Mantle wearing Stars blue and white.
2) Gates Brown resigning with the Phillies, and
3) Jim Gilliam, who spent 14 seasons with the Dodgers not getting re-signed: Gilliam, an 11-time All Star, will be going to the White Sox next season.

(* * *)

Around the world:

The Cuban Adjustment Act comes into force, allowing 123,000 Cubans to apply for permanent residence in the United States.
1966 Elections
* Edward Brooke is elected as the Republican Senator from Massachusetts. Brooke, an African-American, is the first black to be elected by popular vote to the Senate in American history.
* Ronald Reagan, former B-movie actor, is elected Governor of California.
Thirty-eight African states demand the United Kingdom use force against Rhodesia.
Barbados achieves independence.

In baseball:

Yogi Berra retires at age 40.



A Yankee since 1946, Berra played 21 seasons with the New York Yankees. He never played with any other team, although his last full season was in 1959. Berra would break his wrist in 1961 and never be the same player again.

But what a player. He would earn five World Championship rings (although he would only contribute in 1954 and 1960), be named Most Valuable Player twice (1951, 1957) and be an 11-time All Star, as well as winning four Gold Glove awards. He would finish with a .288 lifetime BA and be the greatest home-run hitting catcher of all time, hitting 409 lifetime home runs.

Yogi was known for, among other things, his mangling of the English language. The funny quotes he said are almost matched by the funny quotes attributed to him. Among the more famous ones:

This is just like deja vu all over again.
Think? How the **** are you gonna think and hit at the same time.
Baseball is ninety percent mental -- the other half is physical.
Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded.
If the fans don't come out to the ballpark, you can't stop them."
It ain't the heat, it's the humility.
I didn't really say everything I said.

Yogi will work as a coach for the Yankees next year. He intends on remaining with the Yankees organization.

Second baseman Jerry Snyder retired at age 36. He played for the Senators the entire span of his career, save one year with the Orioles in 1960. A part-time infielder, he would have 2065 AB without a home run, and retire with a .213 lifetime BA.

Snyder's "accomplishment" sets the modern record for most at-bats without a home run. The all-time record holder is Bill Holbert, a catcher who played from 1876-1888: 2335 AB without a single home run.

Woodie Held retires at age 34, playing as a shortstop part-time for eight years, beginning in 1954 with the Yankees. After a year in the minors, he played for the Braves, Orioles, Braves (again) and Orioles (again). Held would finish with a .232 average, but would be on the 1956 and 1957 Braves World Championship teams as well as be named to the All-Star game in 1961 for the Orioles.
Ed Bailey retired at age 34. He had been a catcher since 1953 for the Reds and the Dodgers. He finished with a .235 average and 135 lifetime home runs, wining the Gold Glove and going to the All-Star Game for the Reds in his best year, 1960, when he hit .290.
Stu Locklin retired at age 37. He had been a center fielder since 1953, playing for the Indians and the White Sox, finishing with a .266 lifetime average and 134 lifetime home runs. He was a two-time All Star for the White Sox in 1963 and 1964.
Relief pitcher Jim Stump retired after just five seasons in baseball, playing from 1957 to 1962 with the Tigers, Seals, Senators, and Cardinals. He finished with a 22-14 record and 3.27 lifetime ERA in just 327 2/3 IP. Amazingly enough, he was a two-time All Star with the Senators in 1958 and 1959.
Gus Triandos retired at age 35. He had been a catcher since 1953 with the Yankees, Seals, Twins and Tigers. He finished with a .241 lifetime average and 110 home runs in eight years, and earned a World Series ring with the 1954 New York Yankees.

Catcher Sammy White retired at age 37, a part-time catcher since 1951 with the Red Sox, Cubs, Red Sox (again), Brewers and Indians. He finished with a .242 lifetime average in 2048 AB.
Another catcher, Red Wilson, retired at age 37. He was a catcher in 1951 and 1952, then came back in 1955 with the Chicago White Sox. In 1956, he was traded to the Athletics and remained with Philadelphia until 1966. He only had 42 home runs in 3168 AB.
Chi-Chi Olivo, a relief pitcher with the Red Sox and Cardinals, retired at age 38. Since 1953, Chi-Chi finished with a 63-68 lifetime record and 154 saves, maintaining a 3.45 lifetime ERA.
Frank Malzone, a major league third baseman since 1953, retired at age 36 after playing with the Red Sox, Tigers, White Sox, Seals and Twins. He ended his career with 1,553 hits, a .281 lifetime BA and 165 HR.

[petrel]

December 1966
Part I

It was on December 1, 1966 that the "working group" stopped progressing at a leaden pace.

I remember that I was chatting on the phone with one of the other GMs of the group. We were talking about the lock the New York and Los Angeles teams had on the financial and free agent markets. The GM (whoever he was) reiterated the same lament of the holdouts. "We plan to be spending that much money, too, someday. So we don't want to be punished along with the New Yorks and Los Angeleses."

Suddenly, a thought came to me. I directed the other GMs to ask if their owners ever planned to spend as much as or more than those New York teams which had dominated baseball for the last six years. The unanimous answer was, "No! We don't plan on ever spending as much as a Yankee team. We just want to spend enough so that we can stay competitive, and we don't intend on being punished for it."

It figured. Everyone wants to be second place in spending, but no one plans to be in first place. As long as a team thought it could come close to competing, it would hold out.

A salary penalty was a real problem. I remember writing on my notepad at my desk:

I'll bet they don't mind if the New Yorkers are punished -- the problem is they don't want to be punished with them.

Isolating New York teams because they were New York teams would never go over. It would be singling out a particular team and punishing that team for its success. It was detrimental to the very spirit of baseball, and undoubtedly, the salary penalty faced resistance for that very reason.

On the other hand, it was the debalancing of the scales that was the problem. And even so, the holdouts wanted to debalance the scales as much as the Giants or the Yankees -- their only complaint was that they wanted to put just their thumbs on the scales. The Yankees planned on putting their whole hand.

With that, I came up with an idea that:

a) punished teams for overspending, but
b) didn't punish all teams beyond a certain threshold point, and
c) got to the Yankees and Giants without penalizing them because they were the Yankees and the Giants.

The plan was this. Instead of penalizing all of the teams beyond a certain threshold...why not just penalize the worst offenders? I wrote up a new proposal where if several teams ended up beyond a certain spending level, the worst offender of those teams would be punished by fines. I called the other GMs and we began talking to the holdouts.

The holdouts believed that their owners would go for it. Their teams would not be punished, but at the same time, they'd get the thrill of putting extra pressure on the "big dogs". The amazing thing was -- we believed we finally had the numbers to make this work.

I called the Commissioner's Office and explained the plan to Pete Rozelle. He was all for it. Now that he knew what we were doing, he'd start to use the full force of the Commissioner's influence and make some calls to the owners. He told us that the critical vote would come on the 16 or 17th of December -- the last two days of Winter Meetings at Columbus, Ohio.

(* * *)

Bluntly, there was not much in the free agent market to look at. This was going to be a true rebuilding year for the Braves, so I went after minor league acquisitions:

Trades:
to Red Sox: Tito Fuentes (2B), Jason Dejban (SP)
to Braves: Jim Barbieri (RF)

Fuentes's hitting power dropped off in the transition to A-ball, and Dejban has always been strictly hit or miss. Barbieri was hitting .328 for the AA Pittsfield Red Sox.

(* * *)

Before the Winter Meetings, there were a few major free agent signings. Both Orlando Cepeda and Jose Pagan ended up with the Senators after signing multi-million dollar contracts. Aside from that, there wasn't much activity, at least not as much as in November.

What I didn't look forward to at Columbus was bumping into Bing Crosby. I was the one who had talked Bing into buying the Philadelphia Athletics. In exchange for that, he got me in on the ground floor of his MLB Films business, which was starting to make significant financial returns. I thought that he might resent that.

Instead, he seemed quite happy. "Well, Pet, I'm getting out of the baseball business," he said.

"I'm sorry, Bing. I really hoped that things would have gone better in Philadelphia."

"Don't worry about it." He smiled. "I am making a killing on this Dallas deal. Did you know I'm going to make over 200 percent on my initial investment? I haven't lost anything, and I've even picked up a few bucks on the side. Lemme tell ya, Pet...this baseball business...it's a racket. You can't lose money on it. And as soon as these Dallas fellers pay me what I want, it's a done deal."

"So it's Dallas then?"

"Oh definitely. The future owners are here in Columbus, already. They're just here to look at the property. To make up their minds. But there's an old saying -- the more someone looks at something, they more they talk themselves into buying it. Even if it is the Athletics."

[petrel]

December 1966
Part II

Of course, we spoke with the minor league club operators. We have to move our single-A ball club from Shelby in South Carolina to Statesville in North Carolina, changing the club from the Rebels to the Braves. Our club in Jacksonville, the Suns, was the only one that didn't have the nickname "Braves".

Another vote was made by the American League owners. The vote was that if the Philadelphia Athletics were sold to a club "situated west of longitude from Atlanta", then the Atlanta Peaches would move to the American League's Eastern Division and the Athletics would move to the West. For the Athletics, it would mean a better chance to thrive in the less-competitive west. As for the Peaches, they protested the move, but accepted it. They would have to console themselves with an increase in Yankees home games from six to nine a year.

But the big move was going to be the vote. The question would be who would introduce the motion, and take the fire from the other clubs?

Bill DeWitt, in his final act as Cincinnati Reds owner, made the motion in the National League. He was going to sell the club to Francis Dale, a newspaper publisher -- the National League couldn't touch him. As for the American League, no less august person introduced the new proposal than Charley O. Finley, who was not in our "working group". Commissioner Rozelle asked him to make the proposal -- and Finley foolishly accepted! Or, perhaps, he just didn't give a **** about what any owner thought of him.

Both the Giants and the Yankees protested. The Yankees said that the passing of this proposal, "means the end of the Yankees, which would have unforeseeable consequences in baseball". The Giants threatened to leave the league if such a proposal was passed.

Each league decided to take its chances. The proposal to fine the largest-spending team in each league passed by a 9-3 vote in the American League and an 11-1 vote in the National, with the Giants being the sole holdout!

(* * *)

Now that both leagues had a sense of fiscal responsibility, each league had to answer two questions on its own:

1) How high should the threshhold be, and
2) How much should the offending team be punished?

The rule was that payroll at the beginning of the year would be compared to payroll at the end of the year, and the largest number would be considered a teams "true payroll". In the National League, the team that spend the most money on payroll in the league would be fined if they spent above $160 million -- in this case, they would be fined penny for penny spent over $160 million. In the American League, the threshhold was $150 million -- but the highest spending team would only be fined three-quarters of the money spent over $150 million.

An exception was made for the present year. The New York Giants would be fined $4.9 million. The money would be split 11 ways and given to all of the other teams. New York remained sound and free to sign contracts -- the penalty would be a small bite.

For the New York Yankees, however, they took a $24.8 million dollar fine, a fine which placed them "in financial arrears" according to the New York Press. The fine also made the CBS Corporation very unhappy. Each American League team would earn $2.25 million dollars in fine money, as the Yankees fine was also distributed evenly among the other 11 American League teams.

For the Philadelphia/Dallas Athletics, the $2.25 million was enough to bring the club out of debt for the first time in years. They immediately signed starting pitchers Jim Owens and Herb Score -- their first purchases in the free agent market in years.

(* * *)

In the meantime, the Brewers will stay right where they are, in Milwaukee. Despite the second-worst record in baseball in 1966 and the lowest payroll in baseball at $25 million, the Brewers are still holding out for some kind of financial progress. I just hope they can keep holding out; they have to be taking horrible losses.

With the "redistribution of wealth" there was a blip in the free agent market as teams felt compelled to make purchases with their "free money". Hector Maestri's agent told me that he had been getting calls from other clubs and that I needed to act or lose Maestri. With that in mind, we signed Hector Maestri for $4.85 million over two years.

And of course, there were a few uniform changes: the Reds finally abandoned the "sleveless look" for next year, and have added numbers to the front of the jersey.



The White Sox move their numbers to the front of the uniform and continue with the off-blue visitors uniform.



And the Stars remove the "star" motif for a bolder visitors logo:



(* * *)

Around the world:

Walt Disney dies of lung cancer at age 65.
How the Grinch Stole Christmas, narrated by Boris Karloff, is shown for the first time on CBS.
The first Kwanzaa is celebrated by Maulana Karenga.

[CatKnight]

...Excellent, petrel. Excellent. I never would have thought of it, but it's perfect for this kind of situation.

This is a classic paradigm shift (or "thinking out of the box.") Your MLB doesn't need to stop ALL the high spenders. They need to stop ANY one team from destroying the league, be it New York, Los Angeles or Timbuktu. As the Giants and Yankees (hopefully) sink to human levels, then it'll be the Stars and Angels who suffer for a year. Once they're done it'll be someone else. (I don't forsee a point when an entire league will avoid the 150-160m spending limit.)

This doesn't really restore parity - meaning that a suffering team will get a small boost but as the other eleven clubs receive the same boost it'll accomplish little on that end, but your league is very conservative (which would be historically right on) and would shy away from what many would perceive as socialism. A tiny club lives or dies on its own merits.

Even for these weak teams, a boost at the end of season gives them- and their fans- hope. If a GM (AI) makes a DUMB decision they'll pull out of the resulting debt that much faster.

More importantly - critically - it gives us movement on top of the standings in time. There will still be dynasties, but eventually they will fall and there will be new champions and new stories to be told.

The only weakness I see is that our friend the AI doesn't know this is coming. Therefore the AI might sign ten players to five year contracts that completely destroy his payroll and ensure he will suffer for the next five years. A human GM faced with this would try to minimize the damage or, knowing he was about to take a penalty for this year, start trading or dumping contracts to get his finances back under control.

Then again, the teams most likely to be trashed by that are the teams who will have the easiest time recovering. I can live with it.

Excellent solution, pet. Excellent.
-----------

Just to make sure I understand your rules (as I may adopt them in the future)

The Giants (for example) begin the season with a $201 million payroll. They end with a $204 million payroll. We take the higher value.

The $204m is highest in the league AND over the NL's $160 million threshold, so:

Penalty: 204-160 = 44 million. This is manually withdrawn from Giants cash.

Redistribute: 44/11 = 4 million to all other NL clubs, manually added to their cash.

The AL has similar rules which you've explained.
-------------

On a side note, I'd fully expected 1966 to be the end of this great journey. You seemed to be hinting at it, with the Boston rumor he would be let go and Frank Robinson's ahistorical death. (Um...whacha gonna do with him? Did he retire in game?)

You'd expressed increasing frustration (and God knows I'd agree) with the current crisis. I'm happy that you're soldiering on, at least for now. I'm happy that you (hopefully) found a solution, which I suspect is the reason you're willing to try one more time.

You may have saved BM for me also. As you know I found nothing overly alarming in "Blitzing" - but then we saw another report ("This is weird"?) saying the Yankees were destroying his league as well. I tried a quick sim starting in 1950 and going into the 1970s. Until the NYG left they did indeed destroy the NL, then it returned to more or less normal. The Yankees would occasionally be tossed out of first...but not often. I found the idea of a long term campaign very ... frustrating.

You've now shown us at least one good way to save a league. Good job!

[petrel]

Catknight,

Thanks. My goal is to actually get the dynasty all the way up to the present year. By that point "Ron Bowman" will be in his late 80s, but still be general-managering up a storm.

You understand the rules correctly. Mind you, the rules didn't impact the Giants that much -- they were only slightly above the $160 million limit, so they took a tiny bump in their available cash. The Yankees, however, got flattened.

I figure the best time to implement the penalty was just after the World Series, so that teams in debt would appropriately release free agents back into the pool. Since the decision was made at the December winter meetings, the penalty will be implemented at the correct time next year.

It will probably be about 2-5 game years before I can tell if the rule is having any effect. Since neither the Giants nor the Yankees were impacted in resignings, I expect another Giants/Yanks World Series -- however, the Senators have a very good team and should hopefully make the AL East less of a joke than it is.

As for poor old Frank, he did have an accident in a swimming pool in 1966 at a team function in real life -- but he was saved. This time, he wasn't so lucky. (I used your "1 in 6" rule.) I was forced to retire him to remove him from the game, which means that sadly Frank wasn't considered for the MVP award, which he probably would have won out of pure sentimental value.

What might wreck the dynasty is the fact that BM08 didn't do a great job of importing my files over -- it was a real bumpy ride. The Encyclopedia doesn't populate properly, my Team Histories treat all teams as American League teams before 1966, and I somehow have two Mickey Mantles and two Hank Aarons in the all-time Leader Board. I don't blame BM08, thought -- I see this continual transfer of the universe from 06 to 07 to 08 as having minor bumps each time and that the process might crash, sooner or later.

--Pet

[petrel]

January 1967


Another long-hair band on TV.

There were two major changes and a big free agent signing to start out the new baseball year.

The biggest news was another death in a span of time that seems to be marked with death. Only two months after winning his very first World Series as a manager, manager Johnny Keane of the New York Yankees died of a heart attack on January 6th. He was 55 years old.

The New York papers -- and Yankee fans in particular -- were in mourning. Ralph Houk, the former manager of the Giants and general manager of the Yankees has agreed to step down from the head office and back into the dugout. He will be the new manager of the Yankees in 1967.

Currently, the rhetoric is laudatory regarding Keane, but years later, ex-Yankees would set the record straight. There were two reasons the Yankees players never got along with Keane. First, Keane was a stern taskmaster -- not a laid back guy like Stengel. The Yankees felt that they were being treated like a bunch of rookies, and make Keane's life tough.

Furthermore, the assessment of Keane was that he was "panicky", a person who let the stress of big games get to him. It was said that he would give up a season to win one game, and would pressure players to play even when they were hurt and in no condition to play.

I guess the stress can't get to Johnny Keane anymore. Rest in peace. Ralph Houk, good luck in the Bronx.


Johnny Keane, 1911-1967

(* * *)

During the month of 1967, some of the political talk in the office cycled around President Lyndon Johnson. Johnson certainly wasn't as popular as he had been when he whipped Barry Goldwater in a landslide victory.

Most people think that it was Vietnam that drove Johnson's popularity down. That certainly "helped". The real reason that people didn't like Johnson was that prices had gone up. We had begun to understand the meaning of the word "inflation". We could no longer pay for President Johnson's programs and a war in Southeast Asia. (Although support for both was still high in the Braves offices.)

Furthermore, Johnson became more hostile as he faced criticism from the public both because of Vietnam and the economy. In 1966, the Democrats lost 47 seats in the House to the Republicans. The momentum of "Camelot" had slowed down to a crawl, and people were talking about someone to oppose Johnson on the Democratic side in 1968. That would probably be Senator Eugene McCarthy, since the other Dems are afraid to run against a sitting president. Governor George Romney of Michigan is the front-runner among the Republicans.

(* * *)

With my prospective free agent acquisitions safe, I made another trade for a top minor league prospect:

Trades:
to Astros: Fred Rico (RF:59/78), Jerry Davanon (SS:62/78), $2 million
to Braves: Paul Ratliff (C:73/80)

The Braves get a catcher that might be worth something, and clear out space in the minor leagues.

Meanwhile, the Cincinnati Reds made the biggest free agent signing of the month: they signed Hank Aaron to a two-year, $11.4 million contract. Bill DeWitt sold the Reds to something called "617 Inc." which is a group of Cincinnati businessmen, led by Cincinnati Enquirer publisher Francis Dale. The goal is to get the Reds out of the near-basement in the NL West, and they intend to build a brand-new stadium to replace Crosley Field, which is in a bad part of town in Cincinnati which is getting worse.

What has intrigued the press, however, is a new order which has come down from Reds management: "the wearing of facial hair while a member of the Cincinnati Reds is prohibited".

It's not that I've seen an onslaught of players who look like they play for the House of David. However, I suppose Reds management is worried about some of the habit of the younger players, the guys from Rookie League who are into The Beatles and all of these other hippie groups that wear their hair long, like girls. If the world can't be adults, then baseball can. I think it's a good idea, myself. Mind you, I'm not against a well-trimmed mustache, but beards are out of the question and I still get my weekly crew-cut. The members of the Boston Braves front office look clean-shaven and respectable, and in no way will be confused with radicals. I think our players are professionals, too, and know how to carry themselves.

(* * *)

The other big news in January was that it finally happened. Bing Crosby finalized his sale of the Philadephia Athletics to Robert E. Short, the treasurer of the Democratic National Committee and former owner of the Minneapolis/Los Angeles Lakers. He will act as his own general manager.

Bing told me, "Pet, I made a good deal -- but I was very tempted to sell to my good buddy Bob Hope. Bob is interested in owning a major league franchise. I told him you would put in a good word for him if there's a change in ownership."

I told Bing I would do everything I could do to see that Bob Hope got a team, if he wanted one. There weren't any vacancies yet, but hope sprang eternal.

Oddly enough, the Philadelphia Phillies complained to the Commissioner about the move of the Athletics. Philadelphia is making noises about getting a replacement team and the Phillies are worried that some good American League team will be coaxed to share a room with the Phillies in Philadlephia.

The most amazing thing about the sale was that the Philadelphia City Council got a federal judge to sign a court owner banning Dallas from using "any logos, symbols, colors, indicia, or other paraphernalia that are the property of the Athletics, which the city of Philadelphia considers its own property".

Everyone was amazed, as no one on earth believed that the City of Philadelphia had any right to the signs, symbols, or whatever of the Athletics, given the fact that the fans treated the A's so shabbily.

Therefore, Bob Short did what he had to do, and probably what he wanted to do. He simply broke his club from the "tradition" of Philadelphia, and the club will be considered a new franchise -- just one with all of the old Athletics players on it. The club records will not be continuations of the Athletics club records, but will be brand new. Rumor had it that Bob Short wanted to ditch the Athletics history, anyway, as most baseball fans associate "Athletics" with "losers".

Therefore the new "Dallas Baseball Club" doesn't even have a name yet. Or symbols, or colors, or anything. I hope they can get all of that squared away before Spring Training: the official schedules still say "Athletics".

(* * *)

The new Dallas club went on a spending spree, spending about $14 million on players, and signing three third basemen: Eric Morrisson, Ryan Smith and Lance Verrill. I guess they figure one of those guys has to work.

They look good on paper, but the Dallas roster is filled with underperformers. Let's see how they do in the AL West this year.

(* * *)

Around the world:

Charlie Chaplin opens his final film, A Countess From Hong Kong
Lester Maddox is sworn in as Governor of Georgia.
US Astronauts Gus Grisson, Edward Higgins White and Roger Chaffee are killed when fire erupts in their Apollo spacecraft during a launch pad test.
The Doors's self-titled debut album is released.
Batman #359, "The Million Dollar Debut of Batgirl", is published.

[CatKnight]

I'd have liked to see MLB go to war with Philadelphia for control of the Athletics' legacy.

Of course, Pet made a very similar argument when he stopped O'Malley(?) from moving the Brooklyn Dodgers and made him start fresh.

[petrel]

February 1967

February was a slow month in terms of action. Most of baseball was marking time to that fateful day: "Pitchers and Catchers Report Today", circled red on every calendar.

Dallas was in celebration, glad to have a team, any team, even the ex-Athletics. On February 3rd, Dallas team management, in consultation with what must have been a thousand Texans, named their team the Dallas Spurs. Now, all they needed was a logo and uniform -- during Spring Training in Bradenton, FL, the new Spurs had been told to bring out sweat clothes, uniforms, and clothes suitable to work out in -- the team had no uniforms!

They would make eight signings in Febuary, far more than any other team. They would sign two more third basemen, including Andy Carey, who had a bad year with the Angels last year, and Todd Boling, who never had a good year, anywhere. The Pirates would be similarly busy -- with five signings -- but no one high profile.

As for high end Free Agents, Dave Nicholson and Frank Thomas remained unsigned. Thomas was going for $5.7 million. Nicholson, however, still wanted $13.2 million dollars.

(* * *)

As for the rest of the league, the only action was that the Cubs had changed their Spring Training site from Mesa, AZ to Scottsdale, AZ. Everyone else stayed put. There was the Grapefruit League, the Cactus League, and the two holdouts in California -- the Angels and Brewers.

(* * *)

This left the Braves to make their final choices. Manager Gil Hodges said, "I don't know about your outfield, Pet. You just might want to give them tennis rackets. Maybe they could hit the ball back." Right now, I had Dick Smith, Manny Mota and Joe Cunningham in the outfield, and the three of them put together couldn't win a Gold Glove.

"I still have pitching, Gil," I said. I'll try to get you some players.

As it turned out, though, I wouldn't pick up outfielders. I heard that Willie McCovey was talking to the Astros for about $5.7 million, which was close to what we might normally offer. I called Ron Stark Jr. and asked him for an exemption on McCovey. He had hit 60 home runs for the Braves in 1962.

Stark agreed, and we had Willie McCovey back at first. However, that was the final signing before we went into the opening part of Spring Training, before Spring Training games were played.

This was the time when clubs and free agents start to get desperate. Catcher Gordon Massa was sounding a bit desperate, and I didn't want the untested Rene Lachemann to start the season. We got Gordon Massa for not one, but two years at $2.7 million.

It was finally time to pick up a few good players. I figured I'd pick up two outfielders and a middle infielder. We signed Floyd Robinson for two years at $1.35 million/year. Ellis Burton didn't want to come back to the Braves, but $4 million/year convinced him.

As for a middle infilder, we found the amazing Johnny Temple, 38 years old, who had won a Gold Glove at second base the year before. His age scared most teams off, but not us, so we signed him for $3 million/year and allowed him a $3 million/year option if he wanted to come back in 1968.

(* * *)

Around the world:

The twenty-fifth amendment to the US Constitution (regarding presidential succession) is ratified.