On June 1, (fateful) 1968, I recall waking up and hearing Win Ellioton CBS’ “Sports Central” (U.S.A. ?) and the details of Don Drysdale’s record fifth consecutive shutout.
It appeared Drysdale would be denied any record when he seemed to hit Giants’ batter and later a Dodgers player, Dick Dietz with a pitch, however, umpire Harry Wendelstedt ruled the ball hit the bat (Vin Scully: “it hit the bat said WindelSTAT!!) and Dietz flied out to Jim Fairey in short left, followed by Ty Cline grounding to first sacker Wes Parker, who threw to catcher Jeff Torborg, forcing out pinch runner, Nate Oliver
That set the stage for “Big D” getting Jack Hiatt to pop out to Parker and tie “Doc” White with that fifth consecutive shutout game. He would set a record with 56 and two thirds scoreless innings pitched, breaking the record of the great Walter Johnson.
My note today is there were 4 other shutouts pitched in the “bigs” that Friday May 31st, one a combined 12 innings entity, making five the day of Drysdale’s 5th.
Larry Jaster, Gary Bell and Mickey Lolich, who would cap ’68 the Year of the Pitcher, with 3 W.S. wins as his Detroit Tigers won the crown, hurled shutouts while 3 Angels’ hurlers, Sammy Ellis (8 innings), Minnie Rojas and Clyde Wright (2 innings each) combined for the other.
Doc White, pictured above helped the 1906 White Sox win it all, beating the (116-36) same city Cubs in six games.
Yesterday, it was great to see the one and only Barbara Eden in an episode of the seminal television show, “Perry Mason,” on MeTV.
In the episode titled “The Case of the Angry Mourner,” Eden has a romantic interest in “Harvey Delano” played by Peter Nelson.
Barbara’s most famous role, which she embraced was as “Jeannie” in “I Dream of Jeannie.”
On the show she loved a character named Nelson (Astronaut Anthony Nelson) played by the great Larry Hagman.
The beautiful Barbara Eden as “Jeannie,” is pictured above.
Today, please enjoy viewing a great episode of “What’s My Line,” from February 1953, in which Jack Benny was the mystery guest.
Panelists were Dorothy Kilgallen, Steve Allen (introduced as having a show on “another network,” by Ms. Kilgallen, Arlene Francis and Hal Block.
John Charles Daly is the show’s moderator.
Again, enjoy. I certainly did.
The Yankees, currently 4 games ahead of Boston (Red Sox) (34 games left for all three teams, who have the three best American League marks), to be at least the A.L. “4” for a second straight season and now just three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the league top seed, had two tilted “7th game W.S. or not” runs in their glorious past.
From 1937-1943, the Yankees appeared in six of seven World Series, winning all but one.
None went as far as six games, including the Yankees and Cardinals exchanging five game Series wins in ’42 (Cards won) and ’43 (the Yankees won).
Then from ’55-’64, the Yankees were in nine World Series, compiling a (4-5) mark.
Seven was operative as that many of those W.S. went the maximum seven games, while the other two were five and four games in duration.
Keller, who had the big hit in the Yankees famed comeback win in #4 at Brooklyn (Dodgers) in 1941, is also Joe Economico Sr.’s favorite player.
Keller hit the famed high wall, tuning two giving the Yankees a 1 run lead with 2 out T9, in that 4th game of the ’41 W.S.
Another interview I conducted that nice June 1986 night at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York was with Ron Hansen, then a coach with the Montreal Expos.
Ron was a fine big league player, making the American League All-Star squad for both tilts in 1960.
In my interview and in overall memory is the fact Ron Hansen, playing for the Washington Senators vs the then Cleveland Indians in “so much happened” 1968, turned just the eighth unassisted triple play in major league history.
He talked of Joe/Jose Azcue (in Strato, “Silly” would say I “ask you” for a hit, before rolling the dice for Azcue) hitting a low line drive that he snagged, then doubling Dave Nelson off second and tagging Russ Snyder to complete what was the first such play in 41 years.
Ron Hansen, pictured above.
One day, I hope soon to post some of my shows, a number forty years old.
In ’86 with the eventual, 108 wins, but so fortunate in post-season play, Mets far ahead of them, the Expos visited Shea Stadium.
Interviews with ex Mets player, Hubie Brooks, Tim Burke, broadcaster Tom Hutton and the great Tim Raines all affiliated with Montreal, now the Washington Nationals, were conducted.
Mets coach and ’69 season shortstop Bud Harrelson, who did get the W.S. ring he hoped for in the interview was a Mets interview.
Much like L.S.U. basketball (Dwight Scales, anyone?), the Expos were denied by the eventual world champions from ’79-’81. More details on each in the days ahead.
It was seventy-eight years ago today that the one and only Babe Ruth died.
Twenty-nine years passed and another iconic figure Elvis Aaron (Henry broke the Babe’s hallowed 714 career home runs mark) Presley also died on this date as have a number of other celebrated people.
Babe ruth was not only a beyond great slugger but a tremendous pitcher and that is why by a fairly wide margin, I give the nod to The Babe as baseball’s greatest player.
A post below from 2019 a post citing some other greats who died on August 16th. I add Bella Lugosi and there are others.
Red Sox pitcher, Ernie Shore is pictured above.
Another Babe moment, he walks the first batter, argues the call and is ejected from the tilt.
In comes Ernie Shore and he retires the remaining 27 batters, a perfect game.
I could well be wrong, as I can not verify every NBA final tilt since ’69 or certainly before, however I believe the Knicks Saturday June 13th NBA title clinching game victory this year, was in the first Saturday NBA final game since 1969 and certainly the first Saturday NBA title clinching game since 1960.
It also was the first Saturday night NBA final game I can recall or research to this point. (Anyone with more information, please write in).
In ’69, ABC, which tv’d this most recent one, promoted its Saturday “cast” of #6/’69 final on Sam Jones Day, as part of its Wide World of Sports package and Boston eased vs L.A. to force #7 that Monday night.
Boston won #7 (108-106) with Don Nelson “bounced high” field goal, cited here days back in remembering “Dynamite,” after his death at age 86, the big play.
In ’60, almost certainly in the day, at Boston, the Celts eased (122-103) vs the St. Louis Hawks in a Saturday game 7. of the NBA final round.
Boston 122, 3 greats had 22 points in the tilt (Boston’s Frank Ramsay led with 24), Bob Pettit of the Hawks and Bill Russell also Tom Heinsohn of the Celts doing so.
Bill Sharman, the great Bill Sharman, had half 22–eleven points in that Celts’ title clincher.
Today in otherwise or even no matter games worth noting, I link the rubber game in Chicago between the White Sox (currently ahead in the weak A.L. Central 1/8 th “job”/div and Cincinnati Reds with the so called “Field of Dreams” tilt in Iowa to be contested between the Philadelphia Phillies and Minnesota Twins.
Prominent in “The Field of Dreams” movie is the great player “Shoeless” Joe Jackson, who sadly was implicated in the supposed rigged 1919 World Series won by the Reds, clinched in game 8 (5 games to 3) and by the way, (esoteric highway) on a Thursday in Chicago.
A great player, Ed Roush went to his grave citing the fact credit was taken away from that/his 1919 Reds title.
Hod Eller won 2 games, including the game 8 clincher for the Reds in the 1919 World Series.
That series certainly had an upset result.
Eller set a W.S. record that was equaled 47 years later in another “upset W.S. that the Orioles ’66 sweep of the defending champion Dodgers.
Both Eller and the O’s Moe Drabowsky, who did so in relief, fanned 6 straight batters, a record to this day.
Remember last week when on two straight days of baseball regular season games, 4 results were repeat wins on the same day of the week and at the same city as a previous World Series clash between the teams.
Again it was Yankees “repeating” vs the Cubs in Chicago, the Red Sox (not quite the miracle 1914 Boston Braves), winning at L.A. vs the Dodgers last Sunday.
On Monday, the Cards won at Yankee Stadium and the Giants won at Texas. All repeats!
This past Sunday one W.S. redux qualified and in an opposite result and in a different city, the Tigers, by the way still in the ‘offs qualification battle in the bad records American League defeated the Giants at San Francisco.
It was a Sunday also in extra innings but thankfully without the “runner on second, none out stuff –Pete is dead, never in the not so hot Hall while the lords of baseball allow that abomination and others, including gambling at the ballpark) in 2012, just before a hurricane, that S.F. made it 2 crowns in 3 seasons with a title clinching win to complete a sweep at Detroit.
Bruce Bochy, pictured above, the Giants’ manager in 2012.
Andy B Sports 