Baseball: Past and Present

You can blame it on the Pittsburgh Pirates. I’m talking World Series night baseball which the Pirates kicked off in fourth game of the 1971 fall classic.

Of course, the Pirates weren’t really at fault. Major League Baseball came up with the bad idea and introduced it that year. Most predicted that it wouldn’t fly. But when every game eventually was scheduled to start at 8:05, what choice do fans have but to watch even through half closed eyes? When I lived in California, I had no problem: come home, turn on the television, fire up the barbeque and sit down to watch. Now that I live in Pittsburgh, I struggle to watch most of innings one through three and, if I’m lucky, wake up in time to catch innings seven through nine.

The 1971 series is famous for introducing Roberto Clemente, who hit .414 during the seven games, to a national audience, for the Pirates coming off the floor after falling behind 2-0 and for having to play and win the deciding game at Baltimore against the well-stocked Orioles who won 101 games.

The fourth game, the first at night, was the series’ turning point. After winning game three behind Steve Blass, manager Danny Murtaugh gave the nod to lefty Luke Walker. Walker retired just two batters before Murtaugh summoned the scrawny ( 6’4”; 178 lbs) but effective 21-year-old rookie Bruce Kison who pitched 6-1/3 innings of one-hit ball before giving way to Dave Guisti in the ninth. Guisti earned the save in the 4-3 nail bitter. The Pirates’, despite pounding out 14 hits couldn’t put the Orioles, who collected only four, away until the final out.

ut if you were to ask Kison for his fondest memory of the series, he might not point to his performance or the Pirates’ eventual 4-3 world championship triumph but instead to his wedding that took place immediately following the seventh game.

By prearrangement, the Pirates flew Kison back to Pittsburgh while the post-game celebration was still in progress. A police escort led Kison to the airport where a Lear jet awaited him. The flight from Baltimore took 22 minutes and landed at 7:33. Kison was 33 minutes late for his big day but no one really cared.

As seventh game winner Blass recalled, the groom-to-be Kison came up to him and in a reference to the tidy 2:10 game time, said “Thanks for making it a quick one.”

I wrote a couple weeks ago about my adventures with a computer demo, Baseball Mogul 2012 that allows for great players to be unretired and used in simulation. I wrote of signing a 44-year-old Ted Williams to play for the 1963 New York Mets and how the Splendid Splinter hit about .350, perhaps taking advantage of the short right field porch at the Polo Grounds. Williams isn’t the only comeback player who’s thrived for me. The demo allows users to play six seasons– 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, and 2011– and at almost every level, at least one former great has done serviceable work. It makes me wonder what might have been.

Here are a few players I turned to:

1951: Arky Vaughan was gone too soon, both in baseball and in life. An elite National League shortstop in the late 1930s and early ’40s, he quit in 1943 at 31 following a fight with Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher. After sitting out the next three seasons at his ranch in California, Vaughan returned to Brooklyn when Durocher was suspended for the 1947 season. Vaughan played two more years as a reserve before quitting for good in 1948 at 36 (save for one more year in the Pacific Coast League), and I got to wondering how he might have done on the 1951 St. Louis Browns. In an all-retired lineup that also featured Hank Greenberg, Jimmie Foxx, and Mel Ott, Vaughan hit over .300 for me. Maybe his talents could have kept him in baseball longer and from drowning in a freak accident in 1952.

1963: I’ll admit the game isn’t perfect. I’ve used Herb Score a couple of times in assembling 1963 teams, and twice, he’s won more than 20 games for me. One of those times, Score even won a Cy Young Award. Granted, Score was something of a virtuoso when he broke into the majors in 1955, making the American League All Star team his first two years and going 20-9 with a 2.53 ERA in 1956. But he was never really the same pitcher after getting struck by a Gil McDougald line drive in 1957 and by the time Score quit playing in 1962 at 28, he was a little-used has-been. The game disregards this, seemingly offering only Score’s peak abilities.

1975: This was the beginning of the end for the Oakland A’s, with Catfish Hunter gone to the Yankees and Reggie Jackson, Rollie Fingers, and others not long for town, rising salaries the death knell for small market Oakland. My challenge, as I saw it, was to cut payroll to keep the three-time defending World Series champs winning and in the black. To do this, I enlisted Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax. Drysdale, who retired in 1969 at 33, went 10-4 for my ’75 A’s before suffering a season-ending injury. Koufax quit after the 1966 season because of his arthritic left arm, but was supposedly throwing heat at fantasy camps into the 1980s; in my simulation, he went 15-16 with an ERA somewhere over 4.00. My revamped A’s turned a profit but fell short of the AL West-leading 98-64 mark the real ’75 team posted.

1987: I built a Baltimore Orioles team with aging veterans like Fred Lynn, Mike Schmidt, and Nolan Ryan complementing unretired stars Rod Carew, Jim Palmer, and others. Carew quit in 1985, and I figured that as a 42-year-old contact hitter, he might be capable of some good work. He proved something of a disappointment and ended the year, I think, as my pinch hitter. Palmer fared better. While in real-life the Hall of Fame pitcher’s 1991 comeback didn’t last beyond spring training, a 41-year-old Palmer went 15-11 for me in ’87. It’s a wonder he quit in 1984 at 38, just 32 wins shy of 300.

1999: I haven’t played a 1999 team yet, though I’m curious what a 46-year-old George Brett would have left. He was something of an ageless wonder, winning batting titles in three decades, and in 1999 when more than 20 players had OPS scores over 1.000, Brett might have batted .250 as someone’s designated hitter.

2011: I turned to a couple of 46-year-old former All Stars to play for my Kansas City Royals. Jose Canseco didn’t do so hot, not a surprise really, regardless of how many times Canseco has taken to Twitter claiming he could still hack big league pitching. I was more bummed that I had to release my all-time favorite player, Will Clark, who like Canseco had a batting average somewhere in the lower .200s for me. Some things just aren’t meant to be, I guess.

This 2011 World Series is thus far proving to be a showdown between two managers with polar opposite managing styles.  Both got their teams to the big game but both did so with wildly different styles.  Only time will tell which style is more effective

I find it interesting the contrast in styles as both teams are very similar.  Through no fault of either organization, St. Louis and Texas are built to score runs and rely on their starters to get them to the sixth inning where the bullpens take over.  Apart from Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals, neither team really has a dominant starting pitcher. I mean, generally speaking. Any of the starters can have one of those dominant games but the teams are not built around starter dependency along the lines of a team such as the Philadelphia Phillies. Never mind that games one and two were low scoring and pitching dominated. That can be explained by some stellar infield defense, especially from the middle of the Texas infield. Certainly, either manager would like to have a starting staff whose numbers one through three could dominate but both managers realize, especially in a short series such as a best of seven, waiting for the starter to work his way through a tough inning could be a dangerous  form of strategy.

Both managers continued to use their pitching staff as if the game was a low scoring affair as in the previous two matchups. Each had different reasons and in doing so, shone the spotlight on how different they really are. The college professor vs. the high school coach. Both wore a path from their respective dugouts to the pitching mound despite a score which ended up more like a football game than anything else. Both had different reasons for doing so.

Texas used five relief pitchers, St. Louis used four. Washington’s’ hand was being forced by the prodigious offence of St. Louis and with the knowledge that his team were equally capable of another touchdown or two. But he also knows that there is a limit to how many runs any team can score and continued to try to find someone in the bullpen that could stop the Cardinal onslaught. Obviously, he wasn’t successful last night.

Tony LaRussa had a different motivation in almost emptying out his bullpen despite the offense he was getting. He is from an older school of managing. These managerial types worry no matter what the score. They are often accused of over managing but their thinking is as follows. They worry if their team is well out in front because losing a big lead would be disastrous. They worry if they are far behind and try to come up with a way to catch the opponent and eventually win the game. If the game is close either way, they worry equally. When the game is over, win or lose, this type of manager is already planning the next day’s strategy immediately after the last pitch has been thrown. The joy for them seems to be in the intellectual pursuit of a victory. Sometimes how the game was won rather than if the game was won. Every pitch is analyzed, second guessed and fretted over.

Ron Washington seems to be more of the let the guys play and cheer them on. It’s a kids game and after the game let’s all go out for a soda and a couple of Big Macs. Nothing wrong there. His style has obviously worked well as this is the Rangers second straight World Series appearance. His Rangers might be looser than the Cardinals and he unabashedly cheers his team on with every success, minor or important. The Rangers looked tight last night which would explain the physical and mental errors which lead to the lopsided game three score, with three Albert Pujols  home runs certainly not helping things.

But I think Texas will bounce back from game three and, if not able to win the trophy, at least make the World Series interesting and hopefully a seven game affair.

The professor is deadly serious and using a surgeon’s knife to cut precisely where it is needed. The high school coach cheers on his guys and hopes to get them tomorrow. Both styles are interesting and both are legitimate. We shall see which works better in the next few days.

It started on Tuesday evening when I couldn’t log in to this Web site to schedule a post by Joe Guzzardi for publication.

I emailed the friendly tech guys here, and for the next day and a half, they couldn’t figure out the issue that was keeping my site from loading, save for an error message onscreen that the server was down.

Finally, one of the tech guys determined today that the issue had to do with the old background theme. He swapped it out, and what sits here now was originally meant as a placeholder. I like the look though, and after almost two-and-a-half years, I think we were long overdue for a redesign. Before today, in fact, there had never actually been one.

Thus, the new look will stay. Any feedback is welcome and appreciated.

Editor’s note: With this site back up and running, replete with a new look, please enjoy the latest from Joe Guzzardi.

_________________

He thought he was through in baseball forever. Whenever he tried to speak, tears came to his eyes.

I can see him yet…walking in from the left field bull pen through the gray mist. The Yankees fans recognized him right off, of course, but you never heard a sound from anywhere in the stadium. They just sat there and watched him walk in. And he took his time. He just came straggling along, a lean old Nebraskan, wearing a Cardinals’ sweater, his face wrinkled, that cap sitting on the top of his head and tilted to one side, the way he like to wear it.

Who am I to tell you how to pitch?

I’m in the Hall of Fame…and I’m proud to be there, but I can’t eat the Hall of Fame.

In 1950, after two decades of uninterrupted post-baseball tragedy that included an operation to remove his cancerous ear and abject poverty, Alexander died alone in a rented room in St. Paul. Alexander, the most tragic figure ever to wear a Major League uniform, was buried with full military honors.

1. Carlton Fisk waves it fair: Game 6 of 1975 featured enough moments to fill a list in itself, from a pinch hit home run by Bernie Carbo that tied it for Boston in the eighth inning to a catch by Dwight Evans that saved a home run in the eleventh. But it’s Fisk’s home run an inning later that lives greatest in baseball lore, with the iconic image of him waving his shot down the left field line fair (supposedly, the NBC camera man who captured Fisk doing this was distracted by a rat and froze, ignoring orders to follow the flight of a hit ball.)

2. Kirk Gibson’s home run: I’m a San Francisco Giants fan, and I still love to watch video of a hobbled Gibson fouling off pitch after pitch from Dennis Eckersley in Game 1 of 1988, then lifting a shot into the right field stands at Dodger Stadium, and staggering around the bases fists pumping. It was the only Series at-bat for Gibson, who didn’t even come out for a pregame introduction, though it spurred the Dodgers on to an upset of the heavily favored Oakland A’s.

3. Babe Ruth’s Called Shot: This might take the top spot here were it a real story. Ruth hit a home run off Charlie Root in Game 3 of 1932, and there’s a photo of Ruth supposedly pointing to the center field stands just before. It’s more likely Ruth was gesturing to Root, who swore that if Ruth really had called any shot, he’d have knocked him down. Still, teammates like Lou Gehrig backed Ruth up, and the rest of the story is history.

4. Bill Mazeroski’s Game 7 walk-off: David slew Goliath and decades later, Mazeroski got a plaque in the Hall of Fame for hitting a ninth inning home run that lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-6 over the New York Yankees in 1960.

5. Joe Carter wins it for Toronto: Maybe this doesn’t rate quite with Mazeroski for dramatics, since Carter hit his walk-off in Game 6 of 1993, though the image of him racing around the base paths thereafter is equally joyful.

6. The Catch: Willie Mays made a number of great catches in his career but none greater perhaps than what he did in Game 1 of 1954. With the New York Giants locked in a tight game versus the favored Cleveland Indians, winners of 110 games in the regular season, Vic Wertz smacked what looked like a sure triple to deep center at the Polo Grounds. But Mays caught the ball on a dead run and fired an equally remarkable throw back to keep Larry Doby from tagging up. The Giants went on to a sweep.

7. Don Larsen’s perfect game: Larsen made baseball history Game 5 of 1956 on just 97 pitches, atoning for getting shelled in Game 2. He overcame fine work from his opponent that day, Sal Maglie who allowed just two Yankee runs on five hits. Asked after the game if Maglie had made any mistakes, Dodger catcher Roy Campanella said, “Sal make mistakes? The only mistake he made today was pitching.”

8. Reggie Jackson earns the nickname Mr. October: Whoever doubted Jackson’s $2.96 million free agent signing by the Yankees in November 1976 was silenced about a year later when he smacked three home runs in the series-clinching Game 6 against the Dodgers.

9. Bill Wambsganss’s unassisted triple play: The Indians second baseman accomplished his feat in Game 5 of 1920, recounting it years later in The Glory of Their Times:

Well, Jim Bagby was pitching for us, and he served up a fast ball that (Brooklyn Dodgers pitcher Clarence) Mitchell smacked on a rising line toward center field, a little over to my right– that is, to my second-base side. I made an instinctive running leap for the ball, and just barely managed to jump high enough to catch it in my glove hand. One out. The impetus of my run and leap carried me toward second base, and as I continued to second I saw Pete Kilduff still running toward third. He thought it was a sure hit, see, and was on his way. There I was with the ball in my glove, and him with his back to me, so I just kept right on going and touched second with my toe (two out) and looked to my left. Well, Otto Miller, from first base was just standing there, with his mouth open, no more than a few feet away from me. I simply took a step or two over and touched him lightly on the right shoulder, and that was it. Three out. And I started running in to the dugout.

10. Jack Morris’s 10-inning win: Morris gave the Minnesota Twins the World Series in 1991 with his 1-0 shutout in Game 7. John Smoltz offered a Maglie-like performance with seven shutout innings in the Braves’ loss. Like Carter, it wouldn’t be overly stunning if this moment is enough to get the Veterans Committee to overlook some lifetime statistical shortcomings, not that that’s kept everyone from the Hall of Fame.

11. Grover Cleveland Alexander strikes out Tony Lazzeri: It was like something out of a movie with the aging, alcoholic Alexander nursing a hangover in the bullpen during Game 7 of 1926 before his big moment. The moment came when St. Louis Cardinals starter Jesse Haines ran into trouble in the seventh inning, and Alexander was called in to face Yankee Hall of Famer Tony Lazzeri, two outs, the bases loaded, and St. Louis leading 3-2. Alexander fanned Lazzeri on three pitches and went two more scoreless innings to give the Cardinals the title.

12. Howard Ehmke’s surprise brilliance: On the occasion of Ehmke’s death in 1959, famed newspaper columnist Red Smith wrote of how Ehmke was due to be cut by Connie Mack late in the 1929 season before begging the A’s manager that he had one more good game in him. Mack gave Ehmke orders to clandestinely scout the Chicago Cubs for a week, and the move paid off, with the 35-year-old junkballer striking out a then-record 13 batters and winning 3-1.

13. Sandy Amoros’ catch: Johnny Podres got a lot of the credit for winning Game 7 of the 1955 World Series for the Dodgers, even being named “Sportsman of the Year” by Sports Illustrated. But it was Amoros who kept things alive in the sixth inning that day, making a dramatic catch on a Yogi Berra fly ball down the left field line and then relaying a throw into the infield to double up Gil McDougald.

14. Cookie Lavagetto breaks up Bill Bevens’ no-hitter: In general, I tried to stay away from famous miscues for the purposes of this list. It’s why there’s no spot here for Bill Buckner in 1986, Mickey Owen in 1941, or Fred Snodgrass in 1912, among so many others. There’s nothing especially great about men making errors, something that could happen to anyone in extraordinarily stressful circumstances. And that’s what was facing Bevens, a journeyman, when he reached two outs in the ninth in Game 4 of 1947 with a chance at the first no-hitter in World Series history. But fellow journeyman Lavagetto found greatness of his own, smacking a double (and the final hit of his career, incidentally) to win the game for Brooklyn.

15. Relief from Walter Johnson: The Big Train was American League MVP in 1924, his case bolstered by four innings of relief and victory in the twelfth inning for his Washington Senators in Game 7 of the series

16. Bobby Richardson’s catch: The Giants looked like they had their first World Series title in San Francisco when Willie McCovey hit a screamer in Game 7 with men on second and third. But Yankee second baseman Richardson made a leaping catch and the game was over.

17. Casey Stengel’s inside-the-park home run: The Giants lost the 1923 World Series, but Stengel won Game 1 for them in style, smacking a ball into the Death Valley of left-center field at old Yankee Stadium and then running cockeyed around the bases. He said after that he felt the rubber pad in his shoe shift as he rounded second base and that he ran the way he did to keep the shoe from coming off, though he never resembled a typical player, with legs later described in his obituary that “looked like two Christmas stockings stuffed with oranges.”

18. Enos Slaughter’s Mad Dash: Slaughter scored what proved to be the decisive run in Game 7 of 1946, dashing around from first on an eighth inning single by Cardinals teammate Harry Walker and beating a late throw from Red Sox shortstop Johnny Pesky.

19. Joe DiMaggio’s inside-the-park home run: The Yankee Clipper hit what looked like a single to right in Game 4 of 1939. But Charlie Keller barreled into Reds catcher Ernie Lombardi, knocking him senseless and allowing DiMaggio to run all the way around the bases and slide by a dazed Schnozz. The Yankees closed out the sweep in short order.

20. Randy Johnson channels Old Pete and the Big Train: Johnson followed up a 104-pitch performance in Game 6 of 2001 by recording the final four outs of Game 7 to give his Arizona Diamondbacks the win over the Yankees.

Editor’s note: Please welcome the latest from Alex Putterman.

Babe Ruth accomplished quite a bit in the Major Leagues, to say the least. The game’s first—and arguably greatest—power hitter batted .342 during his career with 714 lifetime home runs. But Ruth’s consensus-signature moment didn’t count toward those totals. It was the Babe’s “called shot” on the biggest stage in baseball, the World Series, that crystallized his legend. A player who performs in the Fall Classic adds a whole extra layer to his legacy; he’s always remembered as a winner.

In honor of the soon-to-commence 2011 World Series, these are the players (not coincidentally all current- or future-Hall of Famers) at each position who had the most success when it counted most – in the World Series.

C Yogi Berra: Yogi holds World Series records for games, at-bats, plate appearances and hits, having played in more Fall Classics (13) than any man in baseball history. His team won 10 of those series, and the catcher did his part, batting .274 with 12 home runs and an .811 OPS. Johnny Bench posted similar World Series numbers (albeit in far fewer games), but Berra’s legacy is s0 closely tied to postseason baseball that this list couldn’t be complete without him.

1B Lou Gehrig: Ruth gets all the attention, but Gehrig was in many ways a more productive October hitter than his teammate. The Iron Horse’s .361 batting average and 1.208 OPS in seven World Series (of which the Yankees won six) place him comfortably atop the list of 1st base World Series performers.

2B Eddie Collins: Before the Yankees acquired Babe Ruth and dominated the ensuing 80 years of baseball, the Philadelphia A’s were the American League’s dynastic powerhouse and Collins was their best player. A career .328 World Series hitter with the A’s and later the White Sox, he beats out 1920’s star Frankie Frisch as the Fall Classic’s best 2nd baseman.

3B Home Run Baker: Another member of Connie Mack’s Philadelphia A’s and a teammate of Collins, Baker hit .375 or better in each of his team’s three World Series victories, finishing his career with a .952 World Series OPS. Honorable mention to former-Yankees 3rd baseman Bobby Brown and his .439 batting average and 1.207 OPS in 46 World Series plate appearances.

SS Derek Jeter: Jeter is the most contemporary player on this list and also one of the most deserving. He’s hit .321 career in the World Series, highlighted by an MVP performance in 2000, and his 2001 “Mr. November” home run in the wake of 9/11 is one of the greatest Fall Classic moments of all-time.

LF Babe Ruth: In three World Series starts on the mound for the Red Sox Ruth went 3-0 with a .87 ERA in 31 innings, including a 14-inning complete game in 1916. The Babe’s postseason dominance memorably continued as a Yankee outfielder; he retired with a 1.211 career World Series OPS (second all-time minimum 50 Series at-bats) and one of the most iconic moments in baseball history, the aforementioned “called shot” in 1932.

CF Duke Snider: Center field was a surprisingly difficult position to fill. Willie Mays struggled in the World Series, and Joe DiMaggio and Mickey Mantle often underperformed in October as well, while Tris Speaker and Kirby Puckett were good in the Series but didn’t get there often enough to compile viable sample sizes. That leaves Snider, who hit .286 in six career Fall Classics with 8 doubles and 11 home runs in 149 plate appearances, enough to earn him recognition here as the best ever World Series center fielder.

RF Reggie Jackson: Mr. October was perhaps the easiest choice for this list. Jackson hit .357 career in the World Series and boasts the best OPS in its history. His 1977 series was among the most remarkable ever and included arguably the best single game the Series has seen, game 6, in which Reggie hit home runs in three consecutive at-bats, each on the first pitch and each off a different pitcher. His .450 batting average and 5 total home runs in that series earned him his second World Series MVP award, making him one of three players (and the only non-pitcher) to receive that honor more than once.

SP Christy Mathewson: Matty threw 101.2 total innings in four World Series appearances, posting a .97 ERA in these outings and finishing all but one of the 11 games he started. He is second all-time to Sandy Koufax in World Series ERA and WHIP (minimum 50 innings) and first in complete games and shutouts. Mathewson’s 1905 series was essentially perfect; he threw three consecutive complete game shutouts, winning games 1, 3, and 5, in probably the greatest single-series pitching performance in the history of the Fall Classic.

SP Sandy Koufax: So I cheated and went with two starting pitchers, a righty and a lefty. I just couldn’t leave off Koufax and his .95 ERA (best all-time) in 57 career World Series innings. Along with Jackson and Bob Gibson (who would be my choice were I to add one more starter to this list), Koufax is one of three two-time World Series MVPs.

RP Mariano Rivera: 11 career World Series saves, 36.1 innings pitched in seven World Series appearances, and a .99 career ERA in the Fall Classic. One infamous blown save certainly doesn’t diminish Mariano’s unparalleled World Series career.

Editor’s note: It is my immense pleasure to present a first-ever research paper written exclusively for Baseball: Past and Present. A few months ago, Dr. Vassilios E. Haloulakos and his son George, a University of California, San Diego professor approached me about offering something here on Dodger greats Drysdale and Koufax. The following marks the culmination of a lot of hard work and, with the postseason underway, is very apropos.

Introduction

The careers of Don Drysdale and Sandy Koufax were my childhood. From 1959 to 1966, this Hall of Fame pitching duo hurled the Los Angeles Dodgers to three world championships and four National League pennants while breaking records that had stood since the early 1900s. Their dominance and personas took on a mystical aura as their diamond exploits were carried over the airwaves, uniting Southern California into a huge community of baseball fans following the games on their portable transistor radios.

This paper celebrates a special era in Major League Baseball and one that is particularly meaningful to the history of Southern California– and America, overall. When the Dodgers and Giants moved from New York to California in 1958, it not only changed the baseball landscape but placed an exclamation mark on America’s westward expansion that had begun in earnest a century before. The longstanding rivalry between the two teams peaked over the next decade, with both clubs often near the top of the National League, and for the Dodgers, the heroics of their two star hurler often gave them the edge.

Drysdale and Koufax were especially notable for accomplishing their feats at a relatively young age and in short time. Their Hall of Fame careers not only offered impressive stats but feats that are appreciable from a scientific perspective. This paper offers statistical, historical, and scientific appraisal of the Drysdale and Koufax era when perhaps the best righty-lefty pitching duo in baseball history dominated baseball and left a lasting, positive legacy in Southern California.

A Statistical Profile on the Era of Drysdale and Koufax: 1959-1966

• Koufax is first with wins, 145 and strikeouts, 2083 for all of baseball and registers a 2.68 ERA. He averages 18 wins and 260 strikeouts per season.
• Drysdale is second with wins, 143 and strikeouts, 1777 and registers a 2.98 ERA. Like Koufax, Drysdale averages 18 wins per season and is good for 222 strikeouts a year.
• Drysdale is first with innings pitched, 2316.2, and Koufax is fourth at 1961. On a per season basis, Drysdale averages 290 innings pitched and Koufax averages 245.
• During this period, Dodgers score 5412 runs in 1280 games, an average of 4.23 runs per game. During the 1965-66 pennant winning seasons, the Dodgers average less than 3.75 runs per game. This marks a steady decline in scoring evident throughout baseball during this 8-year run.
• The Dodgers lead the NL with the lowest ERA from 1963-66 as LA wins three pennants and two championships.
• The ’66 Dodgers are third best in baseball history for Net Earned Average with an ERA 0.99 points lower than the average for NL during 1966 season.

In this stretch, the Dodgers finished first in the NL four times (1959, ’63, ’65-66), second two times (1961-62), fourth (1960) and sixth (1964.) The Dodgers also had winning records every season except one, 1964 and averaged 91 wins per year, with Drysdale and Koufax accounting for 40 percent of those wins. In this period, the Cy Young Award was awarded to one pitcher annually in the majors. Drysdale won the award in 1962, and Koufax won it three times, 1963, ’65 and ’66. Los Angeles won three World Series in seven years, after making a practically annual thing of falling short in Brooklyn. World Series play, Drysdale recorded three wins with a 2.95 ERA, with Koufax doing even better, posting four wins and a 0.95 ERA.

Here’s a summary of their career accomplishments:

This chart shows the six righty/lefty duos with over 300 wins combined since 1940:

Historical Observations

The historical record affirms that Drysdale and Koufax set records while playing against the stiffest competition of the day, played their best when it counted most for their team, finished a high percentage of their starts, and were very efficient.

In pitching six consecutive complete game shutouts in 1968, Drysdale defeated three future Hall of Fame pitchers, Bob Gibson, Jim Bunning ,and Ferguson Jenkins and the defending NL Cy Young Award winner Mike McCormick. In the 1963 World Series, Koufax outpitched his mound opponent, future Yankee Hall of Fame pitcher (and all-time WS game winner) Whitey Ford by winning two games, the first and the fourth of the Series, to complete an unprecedented sweep of the two-time defending champs. Koufax set a record with 23 strikeouts in pitching two complete games.

Drysdale’s World Series ERA was equal to his career ERA of 2.95 while Koufax’s World Series ERA was 0.95, nearly two points lower than his career 2.76 ERA. With Drysdale winning three games and Koufax winning four games, the Dodgers were three-time World Series Champions in 1959, ’63 and ’65. In order, the Dodgers defeated the “Go-Go White Sox” who featured the base running of Luis Aparicio and Nellie Fox; the “M&M Bronx Bombers” of Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris; and the “Twins Murderer’s Row” led by Harmon “Killer” Killebrew. In 1966, the Dodgers held the Orioles to a meager 3.25 runs per game, comparable to their performances in 1959, ’63 and ’65, but this time it was not enough as Baltimore held LA to 0.50 runs per game in a 4-0 sweep.

Drysdale and Koufax delivered the following clutch performances in pennant-winning stretch drives:

• 1959: Koufax registers 41 strikeouts in his final three starts of the regular season that puts the Dodgers one game out of first place on August 31. Drysdale wins the second game of a double-header on September 19 that puts the Dodgers into a first place tie with six games remaining in regular season. The Dodgers finish the season in first place two games in front.
• 1963: With 11 games remaining in the regular season and the Dodgers in 1st place by one-game, Drysdale and Koufax win two games each, with Drysdale registering one shutout and Koufax shutting out the opposition in both wins. LA finishes the season in first place, six games in front.
• 1965: That September, Drysdale won 5 games, with two shutouts, and Koufax won another, with four shutouts including a storied perfect game. On the next-to-last day of season Koufax wins to clinch NL pennant for LA. At the start of the month, the Dodgers were in a first place tie. LA finished the season in first place, two games in front. The Dodger staff allowed 521 runs or 3.21 runs per game for the season.
• 1966: Drysdale won four games with two shutouts in September, and Koufax won five with one shutout. On the final day of the season, October 2, Koufax won again for a total of six wins in the final four weeks to clinch the Dodger’s third pennant in four years. For all of 1966, LA’s pitching staff allowed just 490 runs, barely three runs per game and good for a net ERA of -0.99. This latter stat means Dodger pitchers were essentially 1-run lower than the average for the National League in 1966, third best all-time.

Complete Games: Drysdale completed 167 games of 375 career decisions and Koufax completed 137 games of 252. Over the course of a 162-game season, this took pressure off the remaining starters and relievers so that the team could operate at full strength, particularly in the pennant stretch and World Series.

Efficiency: Despite record-setting strikeout performances and a high percentage of complete games, both pitchers were very efficient as measured by four critical metrics:

1. Pitch count: From 1959-1966, Drysdale and Koufax each averaged 90-115 pitches per game. There few deep counts for hitters as both men pitched into the strike zone to give batters a chance to put the ball in play. Yet they both registered high strikeouts because batters were often unable to make contact.
2. Shutouts: Both pitchers shut out the opposition in 25 percent of their wins or one shutout out of every four wins.
3. Strike-to-Walk Ratio. Both pitchers had a career strike-to-walk ratio of 3:1.
4. Total Bases-to-Total Innings Ratio . Drysdale registered a career total bases-to-total innings ratio of 1.15 and Koufax registered 1.11.

Background

Drysdale and Koufax spanned two different eras, from the Reserve Clause which bound a player to his team for life to the cusp of free agency. The joint holdout prior to the 1966 season in which Drysdale was awarded a salary of $115,000 and Koufax $125,000 presaged the the formation of a player’s union and arbitrator-sanctioned free agency that prevails to this day. In addition, Drysdale and Koufax pitched at a time when baseball was becoming a transcontinental affair. The Hall of Fame careers of both pitchers was a major factor in legitimizing the westward expansion of the game.

The 1959 season featured many signs of great things to come:

• Drysdale is NL strike-out king with 242.
• Drysdale named starter for NL All-Star Team.
• Drysdale is NL leader in shut-outs with four.
• Drysdale wins second game of double-header on September 19 that puts Dodgers into a first place tie with six games remaining in regular season.
• Koufax ties NL record with 16-strikeouts in a June night game against the Phillies.
• Koufax ties MLB record with 18-strikeouts in August versus the Giants.
• Koufax registers 41-strikeouts in his final three starts of regular season that puts the Dodgers one game out of first on August 31.

Lessons learned from “The Barber”

Both Drysdale and Koufax were influenced by Sal “The Barber” Maglie during his tenure with Brooklyn in 1956 and ’57. Maglie, whose 13-5 record and stretch-drive no-hitter in 1956 helped the Dodgers win the pennant by one game, taught Drysdale and Koufax the necessity of pitching inside and developing an effective curve ball. Maglie’s intimidating and aggressive style was adopted by both pitchers and taken to an even greater level in terms of helping their team reach the World Series four times in eight years. That Drysdale and Koufax pitched even better in the postseason was testimony to Maglie’s influence.

Maglie was noted for pitching center stage in three of the biggest games of the Fifties: Game 3 of the 1951 pennant-tiebreaker when Bobby Thomson hit the Shot Heard Round the World to win the pennant; Game 1 of the 1954 World Series when Willie Mays made his great catch off Vic Wertz; and Game 5 for the Dodgers in the 1956 World Series when Don Larsen pitched a perfect game. Drysdale and Koufax carried on Maglie’s tradition as both pitchers elevated their performances in pennant races and on the World Series stage numerous times.

Drysdale and Koufax measured accomplishments in terms of how they helped their team reach the World Series. Individual achievement was secondary. Both men expressed this in interviews and their autobiographies. For example, after the 1963 pennant was clinched, Drysdale rested to prepare for the World Series, thus sacrificing the opportunity for a 20th regular season win. He got his 20th win, though it came in Game 3 of the Series when he threw a three-hit, 1-0 shutout with nine strikeouts. Drysdale considered this the signature game of his career. In September 1965, Koufax pitched his perfect game after LA had dropped two games to the Giants and fallen into a first-place tie with them. Including Koufax’s perfect game, the Dodgers won 18 of their final 22 contests to edge the Giants by two games.

Fan Favorites

Not only did their Dodger teammates benefit financially as the Drysdale/Koufax duo pitched their team to glory but management noted that each time Drysdale pitched, LA drew an extra 3,000 fans to the ballpark while Koufax drew an extra 8,000 fans. Great things were expected to happen anytime this duo pitched and often did as evidenced by the body of their work.

The amazing thing about the Drysdale/Koufax era was that it occurred well before ESPN and saturated sports media coverage. It was truly a cultural phenomenon for its day with a very strong, pervasive presence throughout Southern California. This still resonates in the memories of all those who were present (including the authors of this paper) during those exciting years. These days, people walk around connected either to their cell phones doing e-mail or exchanging text messages while listening to podcasts.

But in the 1950s and ’60s, the Drysdale/Koufax era united Southern California into a huge community of baseball fans following the games on their portable transistor radios. People followed the box scores posted in the daily newspapers and tracked the National League standings. Conversations at family mealtimes, the workplace, school yards and casual exchanges while running errands featured the common theme of talking baseball with emphasis on the Dodgers, their dynamic pitching duo and the NL standings. People from all walks of life, including those from the Hollywood television and film industry embraced the Dodgers.

The Word’s Eye View

With the Dodgers games being broadcast on 50,000-watt, clear channel KFI 640 AM, it was possible to walk up and down the neighborhoods in Southern California from the San Fernando Valley to the beaches to to the deserts and never miss a pitch as nearly every household was tuned in, especially when Drysdale and Koufax were pitching. Since games were infrequently televised, and there were no all-news or all-sports TV stations, Vita Pact Orange Juice, a Southern California based citrus company, would sponsor Dodger final score updates on TV for every game throughout the season.

As it turned out, Dodger baseball in Southern California was initially not all that different from Brooklyn. One could go about from homes, automobiles, public venues, stores and restaurants and, as famed New Yorker baseball writer Roger Angell has written, still hear the radio voice of Vin Scully calling the play-by-play of the games just as he had done while the team was in New York. During the Dodgers first four years in LA, they played in Memorial Coliseum, and its cavernous environs required that fans get the word’s eye view from Scully. Even after moving to Dodger Stadium, fans continued to bring their transistor radios perhaps to verify what they were actually watching.

Enshrined in The Twilight Zone

As noted, the enormous and near-immediate success of the Dodgers in Southern California was largely driven by the record-setting pitching of Drysdale and Koufax. This was immortalized by Rod Serling in his classic CBS television series, The Twilight Zone in an episode titled “The Mighty Casey” originally broadcast June 17, 1960. The episode involved a fictitious baseball team named the Hoboken Zephyrs that moved west and became a dynasty noted for stalwart pitching. “The Mighty Casey” was shown not long after the Dodgers beat the White Sox in the 1959 World Series that had featured the pitching of Drysdale and Koufax amidst a dominant staff.

Here is Serling’s closing narration that makes obvious references to the extraordinary pitching of Drysdale and Koufax, as well the Dodger owner Walter O’Malley, who orchestrated the team’s move:

Once upon a time there was a major league baseball team called the Hoboken Zephyrs who, during the last year of their existence, wound up in last place and shortly thereafter wound up in oblivion. There’s a rumor, unsubstantiated of course, that a manager named McGarry took them to the West Coast and wound up with several pennants and a couple of world’s championships. This team had a pitching staff that made history. Of course, none of them smiled very much, but it happens to be a fact that they pitched like nothing human. And if you’re interested as to where these gentlemen came from, you might check under “B” for baseball– in the Twilight Zone.

Two other things are worth noting here. First, the original draft of the story featured the Brooklyn Dodgers. And in a radio adaptation of this episode in recent years, Drysdale and Koufax’s names were actually used in the closing narration, possibly in tribute to Serling.

Observations on pitching styles and techniques

Fastball

Both pitchers were blazing fast, but the key to long-term success and dominance is the ability to change speeds and create movement to keep hitters off-balance. Drysdale, noted for pitching with a sidearm motion, threw a two-seam fastball that created topspin and a bite when it landed in the catcher’s mitt. Jeff Torborg, who caught both pitchers, characterized Drysdale’s fast ball as hard hard when interviewed by Jane Leavy for her Koufax biography. Torborg observed that by contrast, Koufax, who pitched with an overhand motion threw a four-seam fastball so that his fingers would pull back on the stitching to create backspin and lift. In Torborg’s estimation, Koufax’s fastball was an easy hard because it would rise while Drysdale’s fastball would sink.

This subtle, but critical, distinction created havoc with the opposing hitters. Since both pitchers were schooled in the art of pitching inside by Maglie, this dynamic duo kept the opposition off-balance at all times. As noted, both pitchers were extraordinarily efficient in terms of throwing strikes and wasting few pitches. This further strengthened the advantage of Drysdale and Koufax because their efficiency and stamina enabled them to complete most of their starts, thus putting further pressure on opposing line-ups to score early or risk getting behind, that in turn, made most of these contests one or two-run affairs.

Curve ball

Both pitchers were able to throw very effective curve balls. Drysdale’s sweeping sidearm motion would cause his curve ball to follow a fish tail path. This would cause right-handed batters to back away from the plate for fear of being hit. (Such fear was not unfounded as Drysdale– being a star pupil of Maglie– set an NL record by hitting 154 batters in his 14-year career.) By contrast, Koufax’s overhand curveball tended to break down so sharply at the last moment that it appeared to fall off a table.

Koufax, though not afraid to pitch inside, exercised more control. In his final and greatest season, 1966, Koufax pitched 323 innings without hitting any batters. His overhand curve ball was distinctly different and this can be explained. Typically, an average major league curve ball rotates 12 to 13 times on its way to home plate. Former All Star pitcher Al Leiter, a Koufax pupil, claims that by slowing old film footage of his mentor he counts the number of revolutions on a Koufax curve ball at 14 to 15. These extra rotations help explain the very sharp breaking pattern associated with the Koufax curve ball.

A brief look at the physics of the Drysdale/Koufax pitching styles

Whenever a spinning object like a baseball travels through the air it experiences a lateral force that deflects it sideways from its normal path. This is known as the Magnus force and the resulting change in the flight path of the ball is the Magnus effect.

The direction and strength of the force is a function of how fast and in what direction the ball is spinning. For example, if a baseball is traveling at 95 MPH, the ball forces the air to flow around it, but the flow of air moving around the ball is the same as if the ball were stationary and the air was moving past at 95 MPH. If the ball is not spinning, the deflection of the air caused by the ball creates a low pressure region immediately behind the ball that is termed a wake.

The difference in pressure– higher in the front of the ball and less in the rear– creates aerodynamic drag that slows the forward speed of the ball. But without spin, there is no lateral force. But when the ball is spinning, the rotating surface of the ball crashes against the oncoming air. This causes the air on one side of the ball, specifically the side turning toward the oncoming air, to be deflected from the ball. At the same time, the air on the side turning away from the oncoming air is carried slightly further before moving away. In other words, the wake is now shifted sideways rather than immediately behind the ball.

In this instance, Newton’s law is applied because when the baseball deflects the air in one direction, the air must deflect the baseball in the opposite direction. The resulting Magnus force causes the ball to travel a curved flight path. From this, we can infer the following:

• If the spin axis on the baseball is vertically aligned, counterclockwise spin will cause the ball’s flight path to move from right to left while clockwise spin will cause the ball to travel from left to right, thus explaining Drysdale’s fishtail curve ball.
• The greater number of spins would cause the curvature of the flight path to be much sharper at the end versus the beginning. This would explain Koufax’s sharp breaking curve ball that Leiter observed had a greater number of rotations versus other pitchers.
• When the baseball is thrown with topspin, the Magnus force acts downward that causes the ball to drop as it approaches the catcher’s mitt and land hard-aided by gravity. This would explain Drysdale’s “hard hard” sinking fastball.
• When the baseball is thrown with backspin, the Magnus force acts upward that partially counteracts gravity so that the pitch falls less than it would under gravity alone. This would explain Koufax’s “easy hard” rising fastball.

Closing Thoughts

The late 1950s through the mid-to-late 1960s was a heady, almost magical period for Southern California baseball fans as the Dodgers created an equally loyal following as they had in Brooklyn. This was done in large part through Drysdale and Koufax setting records and helping win repeated championships.

The memories of this period were generated when baseball was still followed by radio. Although we have video footage of both Drysdale and Koufax, it is not as much as if their exploits were taking place now in this age of Internet streaming and 24/7 digital media coverage. But the constancy of the game, their statistical records, and recollections by their contemporaries and students of pitching have sustained an appreciation that seems to grow stronger with the passage of time. From the Baseball Hall of Fame to The Twilight Zone the superlative pitching exploits of this duo define greatness.

Baseball continues to have a mythical hold on so many generations. My father, Vassilios, considered the game part of his education in becoming an American citizen. I wrote the following in a 1996 issue of Fan: A Baseball Magazine:

My father took me to my first major league baseball game in June 1968. We saw Don Drysdale set the record for consecutive shutouts. The game also marked the first time my father sang the national anthem word-for-word in public. He had obtained his U.S. citizenship just a few years earlier. Several days before the game, I wrote out the words of The Star Spangled Banner on a small index card so that he could sing it. Twenty five years (later), on the occasion of Drysdale’s unexpected passing, Dad and I reminisced about the game. It was then that I learned Dad was still carrying that small index card I had prepared for him in his wallet.

Together, my father and I learned the game through the word’s eye view provided by Scully and have a lifetime of shared memories that remain forever linked to Drysdale and Koufax. May any baseball fan be so blessed.

_________________

About the authors

George A. Haloulakos, MBA, CFA: Teacher, Author and Entrepreneur. Chartered Financial Analyst [CFA] and consultant: DBA Spartan Research and Consulting specializing in finance, strategy and new business ventures. Award-winning university instructor. Author of DOLLAR$ AND SENSE: A Workbook on the ABCs of Investments. Hobbyist in aviation, baseball, spaceflight and science fiction. Lifetime member of Strathmore’s Who’s Who Registry of Business Leaders. Reverend Protodeacon, Orthodox Church in America. Email: Haloulakos@gmail.com

Dr. Vassilios E. Haloulakos: Award-winning educator, eminent rocket scientist and university professor. President of the California Academic Decathlon Board of Directors, Member of the West Coast University Board of Trustees and Accreditation Board Proceedings. Played key role in the design and development of numerous space projects, a dynamic national distinguished lecturer in the use of high technology in the areas of education, medicine, manufacturing and commerce. Listed in Who’s Who in the West and American Men in Science & Engineering. Author of Mathematics, the Layman and Daily Life.  Email: imveh@sbcglobal.net

Bibliography

Charmed Circle: Twenty-Game-Winning Pitchers in Baseball’s 20th Century, Mel R. Freese, McFarland & Company, 1997.
Christy Lembesis, old-time radio hobbyist, amateur baseball historian.
Close Shave: The Life and Times of Baseball’s Sal Maglie, James D. Szalontai, McFarland & Company, 2002.
Franklin Big League Baseball Electronic Encyclopedia, 1993.
John M. Deegan, baseball enthusiast and collector.
Koufax, Edward Gruver, Taylor Publishing, 2000.
Koufax, Sandy Koufax with Ed Linn, Viking Press, 1966.
Once a Bum, Always a Dodger: My Life in Baseball From Brooklyn to Los Angeles, Don Drysdale with Bob Verdi, St. Martin’s Press, 1990.
Personal collection of George A. Haloulakos, baseball hobbyist. DVDs, scrapbook of news and magazine articles, baseball cards, game programs and books.
Players of Cooperstown: Baseball’s Hall of Fame, International Ltd, 1998.
Sandy Koufax: Strikeout King, Arnold Hano, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, 1964.
Sandy Koufax: A Lefty’s Legacy, Jane Leavy, Harper Collins, 2000.
Sir Isaac and the Rising Fastball, P.J. Brancazio, page 44, Discover Magazine, July 1984.
The Best & Worst Baseball Teams of All Time: From the ’16 A.s To The ’27 Yanks To the Present, Harry Hollingsworth, S.P.I Books, 1994.
The Summer Game, Roger Angell, Bison, 1972.
The Twilight Zone Companion, Marc Scott Zicree, Bantam, 1982.
Vassilios E. Haloulakos, scientist, engineer and professor. Lecture notes on physics and applied mathematics.

Did I miss something?  No really, did I miss something in Boston?  Perhaps it was only a misunderstanding but it seems to me if memory serves that the ongoing and consistent success of the franchise after years of frustration was born out of management finally realizing that finding the right front office personnel and scouting people is the key to success for any sports organization.  Ups and downs are going to happen.  The right people ensure that the ups are more frequent.

The ownership of the Boston RedSox were right in unceremoniously dumping Terry Francona as manager and putting him out on the street. They were right in pushing GM wunderkid Theo Epstein out the door with nothing but an “if you really want to go.”  It makes a lot of organizational sense. I mean, Boston did finish last in the AL East this season didn’t they?  That’s simply not acceptable is it?

Oh wait, Boston didn’t finish last.  Not once in the Francona-Epstein years. Sure they had one of the worst Septembers in memory and didn’t make the playoffs but if I read the recent baseball history correctly, Boston had a pretty decent run from 2003-2011. Well perhaps not that good– they only won two World Series titles and were strong contenders each season in the toughest division in baseball.  I mean, most of the other 29 teams can make the same claim can’t they?

Talk about cutting off your own nose to spite your face. What exactly did Terry Francona and Theo Epstein do that was so heinous that any semblance of loyalty or good business sense was thrown completely out the window by Boston ownership?

Certainly the signings of John Lackey and Carl Crawford were ill advised, some might even say disastrous. In the case of Crawford, someone should have noticed that Crawford had a lifetime batting average of .242 in Fenway Park. Odds were that he was going to play half of his games in Fenway. His performance in Fenway was over the course of nine seasons could hardly be considered a blimp on the statistical radar.

John Lackey had an understandable distraction throughout the 2011 season with the serious illness of his wife.  Ownership should have known that such a situation was more than enough pressure and throwing a player already distracted into the wolves den which maybe should have given the Boston press pause. Lackey had never shown anything near the mental toughness needed to play in Boston or New York. Apparently ownership didn’t notice.

Some of the veteran players, David Ortiz especially, put themselves above the team with their massive egos which weren’t covered by their performance, especially in September. A manger has to count on player responsibility. The press loved Ortiz for his Big Papi stature, with performance and leadership overlooked and blame shifted elsewhere. There was little if any criticism towards a completely one-dimensional player who demanded millions yet produced nothing in September.

Terry Francona had so many distractions from prima donna players and indecisive ownership that he had little or no time to actually concern himself with what was going on during the game. Maybe it was the pills, booze, off field distractions which the Boston press has recently “uncovered” about him.

Historically, the best way to cover up an embarrassing mistake is to manufacture dirt on the innocent victim(s). I had never read anything which questioned Francona’s on field managing skills or his offield behavior. In a town where every breath is written about by someone, I find it odd that nothing had ever surfaced before.

Theo Epstein was the man who brought Boston out of their historically dismal showings.  Certainly Epstein made some questionable signings. Certainly the Boston clubhouse had too many players concerned only with their next paycheck.  Epstein had the resources to fix this problem, letting the prima donnas go by eating what has turned out to be some bad contracts. But when the rumors began to fly that Epstein wanted out of Boston, potential suitors formed a line a mile long.

Boston ownership has finally become more despised than the New York Yankees. Looks good on them.  I hope they pay for it long after Francona has landed somewhere he is appreciated and Epstein builds his next dynasty. Boston ownership decided to throw the baby out with the dirty bath water.