Kuzul

Who is the better pitcher, Roy Oswalt or Cliff Lee?

Based upon the opinions of the “experts,” the answer is Cliff Lee, but based on career performance, that is not the right answer.

Lee has pitched most of his seasons in the American League, which means that he didn’t have the luxury, at least in most instances, of facing the opposing pitcher.

Oswalt has spent his entire career in one of the few professional leagues that still plays the game the way it was meant to be played. The pitcher is part of the batting order.

Cliff Lee has had some outstanding seasons.

In 2008, he was a Preacher Roe-like 22-3, with a 2.54 ERA, a 168 ERA+, and a WHIP of 1.110.

In 2005, Lee went 18-5, with a 3.79 ERA, a 111 ERA+ and a WHIP of 1.218, which was not as good as his 2008 season, but it was still a very good year.

Cliff Lee has had some pretty bad seasons.

In his first full season, which was 2004, Cliff was 14-8, but as we all know, a pitcher’s won-lost record often doesn’t tell the rest of the story.

To go along with his 14 wins, Lee had a 5.43 ERA. His ERA+ was a minuscule 80, and his WHIP was 1.503.

In 2006, Lee again won 14 games, but he gave up 224 hits in just over 200 innings.

The following season was worse, in part due to injury. Cliff worked only 97 and one-third innings, won five, lost eight, and had a 6.29 ERA.

The point is that Cliff Lee has had some of the best seasons of any pitchers in the 21st century, but he has also had some terrible seasons, which is not befitting a pitcher who ranks behind only Roy Halladay in the “experts” estimation.

No pitcher has won more games since 2001 than Roy Oswalt, who has a total of 143 wins as a Houston Astro.

Oswalt has two 20-win seasons. Lee has won 20 once.

Oswalt has a lower lifetime ERA (3.24 to 3.81), a better ERA+ (134 to 113), which helps to statistically control the designated hitters Oswalt never faced, and a lower WHIP (1.196 to 1.258),

As a National Leaguer, Lee’s ERA is 3.39, his ERA+ is 126, and his WHIP is 1.130.

Roy Oswalt has been much more consistent than Cliff Lee.

Even this season, pitching for a bad Houston Astros team, Oswalt has a 3.42 ERA, a 120 ERA+, and a 1.109 WHIP. His won-lost record should improve now that he works for the Philadelphia Phillies.

On any given day, or in any given playoff series, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt give their teams a tremendous advantage.

While it may be foolish and impossible to definitively conclude that one is a better pitcher than the other, Oswalt has been more consistent, but a disclaimer is necessary.

As New York’s other team discovered (they probably already knew from his days with the Cleveland Indians) in the 2009 World Series, Cliff Lee can dominate a team as well as Sandy Koufax (seventh game of the 1965 World Series), Bob Gibson (first game of the 1968 World Series), and Christy Mathewson (entire 1905 World Series).

The Phillies traded Lee last December. He won the only two games the Phillies won against New York’s other team. Now they have Roy Oswalt. Let’s see what happens.

Do you really think the Texas Rangers will meet the Philadelphia Phillies in November?  As Mr. Spock used to say, “fascinating.”

References:

Roy Oswalt at Baseball Reference

Cliff Lee at Baseball Reference

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Before inter-league play, the New York Yankees played the New York Mets in an annual exhibition game for the Mayor’s Trophy. The proceeds went to charity, usually sandlot baseball.

Players on both teams didn’t care much about winning the game. It was, after all, merely an exhibition game, but for the fans, it was much more, especially for one Yankees’ fan.

George M. Steinbrenner became the principle owner of what had become New York’s “other” team in 1973. His primary goal was to change that, which meant the Yankees had to be better than the Mets.

From 1974-76, the Yankees won the game, but the Mets won in 1977.

The 1978 game was played on April 27, at Yankee Stadium, before 9,792 fans who braved temperatures that dipped below 50 degrees.

It wasn’t fun for the players, who just wanted to get the game over, but Brian Doyle, a little second baseman who would become crucial to the Yankees in the World Series, was trying to make an impression on Yankees’ manager Billy Martin.

Doyle might have been the only player on either team who didn’t care how the game ended, as long as it ended quickly.

Twice, with the bases loaded and one out, Doyle made great diving stops of ground balls and turned each into an inning-ending double play.

“I was trying to show everybody I could play. I was giving 110 percent,” Doyle told reporters.

“After my first play, nobody congratulated me. I thought, well, I’m just doing my job. But after the second one, all the guys were just ragging me. It was pretty funny.”

Not to Steinbrenner, and the players knew it, especially Brian Doyle.

“That game meant as much to George as the World Series and he was up in the box.”

The game was tied, 3-3 in the 11th inning, when Mets’ catcher Ron Hodges hit a ground ball to third.

Graig Nettles, considered by some to be the best of all Yankees’ third basemen, fielded the bouncer but threw the ball about 10 feet over first baseman Chris Chambliss’ head. Hodges wound up at second when the ball went into the stands, but the Mets couldn’t score.

Sparky Lyle, in The Bronx Zoo , claimed that Nettles deliberately messed up the throw to first, an accusation that Nettles denied.

The Yankees finally won in the 13th inning when Fran Healy pulled off a successful squeeze play, scoring Jim Spencer.

George Steinbrenner cared. Most of the fans cared. Brian Doyle’s motivation was self-interest.

Admittedly, self-interest is probably the most powerful of all motivating factors, but so is pride.

The late New York Yankees owner had pride in his team. He had pride in his players, although some players lacked pride in themselves and their team.

When Brian Doyle saved the game twice, the players were disappointed. What a disgrace.

Forget that it was an exhibition game. It was a game against the Mets. That made it worth winning.

A few short years ago, the Yankees opened up the spring exhibition season against the Boston Red Sox. The game was sold out, and some fans had to pay many times face value to see an exhibition game.

It doesn’t matter if it’s a game that doesn’t count in the standings. When a player takes the field, he must care and try his hardest.

Joe DiMaggio said it best.

“There is always some kid who may be seeing me for the first or last time, I owe him my best.”

The Yankees owed their fans and George Steinbrenner their best.

References:

Post, Paul and Ed Lucas. “Some Major Leaguers Recall Embarrassing Moments.” Baseball Digest , Nov. 1999.

Sporting News , Apr. 4, 1951.

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It was one of the biggest gambles in World Series history.

Matty Alou was on third base with the potential tying run. Willie Mays was on second base with the potential World Series winning run. There were two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning.

Willie McCovey was the batter with Orlando Cepeda on deck.

New York Yankees’ manager Ralph Houk went to the mound to talk to right-handed starter Ralph Terry. It would be Terry’s choice.

Terry decided to face McCovey.

“I said: Let me go after him with good stuff, high and tight, low and away. If we fall behind in the count, then we’ll put him on and work on the next guy,”

McCovey slugged from the left side. Cepeda slugged from the right side.

During the season, McCovey batted .293 with 20 home runs in only 229 official at bats.

Cepeda batted .306 with 35 home runs in 625 at bats, but he walked only 37 times.

The logical move was to intentionally walk McCovey.

“If you have the bases loaded you don’t have much breathing room out there. You’re in the seventh game, National League ballpark and a National League umpire. There’s a lot of pressure on the umpire. Anything close, I know which way the call’s going to go,” Terry related many years later.

Left-hander Bud Daley and right-hander Bill Stafford were warming up in the bullpen, but Houk knew that it was going to be Terry.

The Yankees’ 6’3″ right-hander peered in to get the signal from Elston Howard, nodded assent, and delivered. McCovey took ball one.

Howard fired the ball back to the big right-hander.

Ralph toed the rubber and delivered.

This time, Willie made contact. Oh, how he made contact. Willie McCovey hit a tremendous drive down the right field line that went foul.

Terry heaved a big sigh of relief, but there would be no relief.

Alou led off third base, making certain to stay in foul territory, despite the fact that there was almost no chance that McCovey would hit anything near third base.

Willie led off second, trying to extend his lead as much as possible, as Terry again delivered.

McCovey made solid contact, but this time the ball wouldn’t go foul.

For a brief instant, it seemed as if Terry would give up the World Series’ winning run in the bottom of the ninth inning for the second time in three years, but it didn’t happen.

McCovey’s line drive, barely five feet off the ground, exploded into second baseman Bobby Richardson’s glove. Jubilant teammates swarmed over Ralph Terry.

Ralph Houk had guts. He went against the “book.” He almost lost. Maybe he should have lost. But he won.

It is easy to imagine what would have been written in 1962 if Houk’s move backfired.

It is easier to imagine what we would have read this week, when Ralph Houk, a New York Yankee to the end, passed away on July 21st, 2010.

References:

Lucas, Ed and Paul Post. “Former Yankee Ralph Terry.” Baseball Digest , Oct. 2005.

By JOHN DREBINGER Special to The New York Times . (1962, October 17). Yanks Beat Giants, 1-0; Win World Series :Terry Yields Only 4 Hits as Bombers Take 20th Title. New York Times (1923-Current file),1. Retrieved July 23, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006). (Document ID: 90538854).

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The American League expanded from eight to 10 teams in 1961 when the Los Angeles Angels and Washington Senators were created. A year later, the National League added the Houston Colt .45s and the New York Mets.

In 1962, the Mets were a joke. In 1969, they were the World Champions.

George Weiss was the Mets’ first general manager, and Casey Stengel was their first manager. Weiss had built the Yankees’ dynasty after World War II, while Stengel managed them to seven World Championships, including the all-time record of five in a row from 1949-1953.

Stengel’s last World Series was in 1960 against the Pittsburgh Pirates, whose war cry was “Beat ’em Bucs,” and that is just what the Bucs did.

The Yankees unceremoniously relieved Weiss and Stengel of their duties after that Series, which was one of the most one-sided of all time.

The Yankees dominated the Pirates in almost every offensive and pitching category, but statistics can lie, mislead, and create a false sense of superiority. The reality is that baseball is played one game at a time by humans, and statistics are merely numbers.

The Yankees won three games by scores of 16-3, 10-0, and 12-0, but they lost four close games, and the Pirates were World Champions. Goodbye George and Casey.

Weiss and Stengel did not have to look far for a new employer. They were hired to do for the expansion New York Mets what they had done for the Yankees.

Despite early appearances and results, they succeeded.

Weiss decided to go with name players. Gil Hodges, Frank Thomas, Richie Ashburn, Charlie Neal, Gus Bell, Gene Woodling, and pitchers Roger Craig, Al Jackson, and Vinegar Bend Mizell all were Mets in 1962. The problem was that most of them had seen better days.

The 1962 Mets lost a record 120 games while the Yankees, who rebounded from the bitter 1960 World Series loss with one of their greatest seasons in 1961. They won their second consecutive World Series in 1962.

1963 was a different story for the Yankees. They ran into Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, and old nemesis Johnny Podres in the World Series and suffered their first World Series sweep.

Meanwhile, George Weiss was building a Mets’ farm system that emphasized young, hard-throwing pitchers, while Stengel was keeping the Mets in the news by being Casey Stengel.

In 1964 Yogi Berra managed the Yankees so that Ralph Houk could become general manager because Roy Hamey, who had succeeded Weiss, lacked the baseball acumen necessary to replace the players the team needed for the Yankees to continue to dominate.

The Yankees trailed the White Sox most of the second half of the season, but with a late September rush (partially due to the impetus Phil Linz’ harmonica), they won their fifth straight pennant, a record that is rarely referred to when discussing consecutive league titles because winning the pennant is incomplete without winning the World Series.

The Mets remained what many considered to be a joke for the next few years, but in 1967 they brought up a young pitcher named George Thomas Seaver, who took umbrage at the Mets accepting losing.

Seaver was Rookie of the Year in 1967, winning 16 games.

The next season, Jerry Koosman was brought up to stay and won 19 games, but he was beaten out for Rookie of the Year by Johnny Bench.

In 1969, the Mets won it all.

From the late 1960s until the late 1970s and again from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s, the Mets owned New York.

In 1973, the Mets won their second pennant, but they were beaten in the World Series by Catfish Hunter and Reggie Jackson’s Oakland A’s.

The Yankees were now owned by George Steinbrenner, who decided that adding Hunter and Jackson to the Yankees was the right thing to do. It was. Then in 1977 and 1978, the Yankees were once again World Champions.

Following the two championships, the Yankees again fell on hard times.

The Mets were sold to owners who wanted to win and were becoming a dangerous team.

Darryl Strawberry was Rookie of the Year in 1983. Dwight Gooden was Rookie of the Year in 1984. Keith Hernandez came over from the Cardinals. Gary Carter left the Expos, and Lee Mazzilli was sent to Texas for Ron Darling and Walt Terrell.

And then it happened. Yankees fans were faced with the unthinkable and the insoluble problem. The nightmare came true.

In 1986, the Mets were going to play the Boston Red Sox in the World Series and one of them had to win.

Root for the Mets? Never. But that meant rooting for the Red Sox.

Root for the Red Sox? Never. But that meant rooting for the Mets.

But for some Yankees fans, the solution was easy, despite being distasteful.

Jim Kaat told the story of Jackie Robinson entering the victorious New York Giants clubhouse immediately after Bobby Thomson hit the most important home run in National League history to give the Giants the pennant over the hated Dodgers.

Upon entering the Giants clubhouse, Robinson kept shouting to the victorious Giants that his Dodgers were better, much better than they were.

Then he told the Giants to knock the crap out of the American League team in the World Series.

Robinson was a Brooklyn Dodger, but he was a National Leaguer.

One of the greatest, if not the greatest competitor of all time, a Brooklyn Dodger rooted for the Giants because in those days, before interleague play and free agency, one rooted for one’s league.

That is why Yankees fans had to root for the Red Sox when they played the Mets. Most didn’t.

The Yankees rule New York in the 21st century, but New York fans must never forget what happened a long time ago. You never know what can happen with baseball in New York.

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Frank “The Original” Thomas was a fine hitter and versatile defensive player whose career spanned the 1950s and 1960s. Frank was on the National League All-Star team three times.

Doc Friend: Mr. Thomas, you made your major league debut in 1951. What is the most significant difference between the game in the 1950s and the game today?

Frank Thomas: Money.

Doc Friend: That is a great answer, and it says it all. There is no need to elaborate.

Anyway, your first year as a regular was 1953, when you hit 30 home runs for a Pittsburgh Pirates team that hit only 99 home runs. The only other Pirate to have a home run total in double figures was Cal Abrams, who was not a slugger.

How difficult was it for you as a hitter without anyone in the lineup to protect you?

Frank Thomas: It was tough, but I did the best I could and let the chips fall where they may. I hit 30 home runs and had 102 RBI in 1953, which are still records for a rookie center fielder.

Doc Friend: I bet not too many fans know that fact. I certainly didn’t, and the fact that Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays were rookies just two season earlier makes the record even greater.

What are some other records that you hold?

Frank Thomas: I started at third base for the National League All-Star team in 1958 and hit 35 home runs that season, which is still a record for a Pittsburgh Pirates third baseman.

When I was with the Milwaukee Braves in 1961, we hit four home runs in the same inning. [Eddie] Mathews, [Hank] Aaron, and [Joe] Adcock hit home runs. I followed with a home run, and we set the record which Minnesota and Cleveland later tied.

I was the first player to hit the fourth home run in an inning.

In 1962 I was hit by a pitch twice in the same inning, but not too many people know that I made the last putout in the Polo Grounds against the Giants in 1957.  I also hit the first New York Mets home run in the Polo Grounds in 1962.

Doc Friend: Being a rookie is always difficult. Who on the Pirates influenced you the most when you first joined the team?

Frank Thomas: Lenny Levy, who was a coach with the Pirates, gave me good advice and always kept after me to keep improving. Frankie Gustine was like a father to me, and Ralph Kiner told me to watch how they pitched to him because that would be the way they would pitch to me.

Doc Friend: I read that you used to challenge other players to measure a distance of 60 feet, six inches and then to throw a baseball as hard as they could at you. You told them you would catch it barehanded—and you always did.

Frank Thomas: I never lost. The toughest was Don Zimmer because he knew that holding your fingers across the seam wouldn’t produce movement on the ball, so Zimmer would throw me a spitter, but I still caught it.

You see, as a kid, I played fast pitch softball without a glove and I got used to catching barehanded.

The whole thing about catching fastballs barehanded started down in Waco, Texas in 1949 when a guy from Brooklyn, Bill Pierro, dared me to catch his fastball without a glove. I caught his first three and he said he hadn’t warmed up, so he warmed up and I caught his next five.

One time when I was with the Mets, we were playing the Giants. Richie Ashburn, who was our center fielder, bet Willie Mays $100 that I could catch his hardest throw barehanded.

Willie took the challenge and I caught his first throw, but he said it didn’t count because he hadn’t warmed up. Then he said the bet should be for $10, not for $100. Willie warmed up, and I caught his throw. Willie is great.

Doc Friend: Mr. Thomas, you played in an era of superstars and you were an All-Star three times. Whom do you consider the greatest player of your era?

Frank Thomas: Willie Mays because he could beat you so many ways. He could hit, hit with power, run, steal bases, field, and throw. It was a pleasure to play against him.

Doc Friend: Who were the three or four greatest pitchers you faced?

Frank Thomas: Don Drysdale was the toughest pitcher for me. Bob Gibson and Sandy Koufax were outstanding. I could always hit Don Newcombe.

Doc Friend: The 1953 Pittsburgh Pirates won 50 games and lost 104, while the 1962 New York Mets won 40 games and lost 120.

You hit 30 home runs for those Pirates and 34 home runs for the Mets. You led the Mets in runs, hits, doubles, homers, RBI, total bases, and slugging.

How did the 1953 Pirates compare to the 1962 Mets?

Frank Thomas: Well, the 1962 Mets were a good club, but they had no pitching. The Mets could score runs, but we lost a lot of games in the seventh, eighth, or ninth inning. I wonder how we would have done if we had a closer like Mariano Rivera. Veterans like Richie Ashburn, Gil Hodges, Gus Bell, Charlie Neal, Gene Woodling, and I could do some damage.

The 1953 Pirates were a young team that would develop. If the Pirates today had stayed with the youngsters they had six or seven years ago, they would be a tough team today.

Doc Friend: In 1964 the Mets traded you to the Phillies, who were leading the league, in August. You were doing quite well for the Phillies, batting .294 with seven home runs, when you broke your thumb. The Cardinals went on to win the pennant by one game over the Phillies and Reds.

What are your thoughts about what might have been if you had been able to play the last month of that season?

Frank Thomas: Gene Mauch was the Phillies manager, and he told me that cost us the pennant. I was really hot that August, and I was hitting everything they threw me.

I was on second base, and when I tried to get back to the bag I slid headfirst. My thumb hit the pin that anchors the base, and that was it.

I put ice on the hand, stayed in the game, and got two more hits. I went back to the hotel after the game and kept icing the hand, but the ice melted and the hand blew up. At the hospital I wanted the doctor to give me Novocain so I could play, but he refused. They put the hand in a steel cast, which stopped me from playing.

Doc Friend: You played for a number of teams, including the Pirates, Mets, and Phillies. Do you identify with any one team more than the others?

Frank Thomas: No. I am grateful to have put on a major league uniform and to have been a major league player.

Doc Friend: Thank you very much Mr. Thomas for taking the time to speak with me.

Frank Thomas: You’re very welcome.

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It was a comment that received little attention during spring training, but it might have been a turning point for Mickey Mantle.

Some New York Yankees’ rookies were showing off their skills at St. Petersburg in 1956. Mickey watched the hopefuls a few minutes and then the Yankees’ 24-year-old veteran turned to a reporter.

“A lot of these young kids of ours are going to be good ballplayers.”

This was a new Mickey Mantle.

The late Shirley Povich of the Washington Post predicted that 1956 would be the year when the real, mature Mickey Mantle arrived. He wouldn’t be the Yankees’ leader, but he would lead by example. He wasn’t a kid anymore.

Povich noted that Mickey was striking out less. Yankees’ coach Bill Dickey, a Hall of Fame catcher, remarked that Mickey was getting a piece of the ball because he was not going for “the sucker pitch,” which is another way of saying Mantle was becoming more selective at the plate.

Many of the “experts” predicted that 1956 would be the year that Mickey challenged Babe Ruth’s single-season home run record.

Yogi Berra, who was considered an even more dangerous hitter, followed Mantle in the batting order.

In 1955, Yogi won his third MVP award, hit 27 home runs, and batted in 108 runs. Pitchers would be careful with Mantle, but they would not be eager to walk him with Yogi lurking in the on-deck circle.

Switch-hitting gave Mickey an advantage because curve balls always broke into him, but Yankee Stadium favored left-handed hitters, which meant that about one-fourth of the time, Mantle would have to face the cavernous left-center outfield, referred to as “Death Valley.”

Thanks to Phil Rizzuto, Mickey was one of the best bunters in baseball, but Yankees’ management realized that fans wanted to see gargantuan home runs, not beautiful drag bunts. The threat of injury was another factor.

Two weeks before the end of the 1955 season, Mickey pulled a muscle behind his knee while beating out a bunt in the pennant-clinching game at Boston.

Ben Epstein of the New York Daily Mirror wrote, “That’s when he won the pennant and lost the World Series. That knee kept Mickey out of most of the Series, remember?”

Mickey Mantle had a breakout season in 1956. On July 4, which is the unofficial mid-point of the season, Mickey had 29 home runs. He led the league in batting (.371), in runs batted in (71), and in runs scored (69).

The “experts” were right. They popular opinion was that Mickey was a very special player.

“Nobody of his era has been able to hit the ball farther, run as fast, or bunt as well as Mantle.”

Dickey, who was Ruth’s teammate, said that Ruth could hit a ball awfully high and far. So could Mantle.

He compared the awe other players had when they saw one of Mantle’s long home runs with the amazement of players who watched Ruth.

In 1956, Mickey didn’t break Ruth’s home run record. He didn’t come close, but Mickey won the Triple Crown.

He led the majors, not just the American League in batting (.353), home runs (52), and RBI (130).

It was rare. It was unusual. For once, the “experts” were experts.

Reference:

Povich, Shirley. “As High and Far as Ruth.” Baseball Digest . July 1956.

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Since 2003, the league that wins the All-Star game opens the World Series at home, which means that if a seventh game is necessary, the result of a July exhibition game determines where the deciding game of the World Series is played.

Eliminating the times that the World Series was decided by a best five out of nine series, the World Series has gone to a seventh game 35 times.

The home team has won 18 times or 51.4 percent of the time.

Comparing eras is an exercise in futility. Taking statistics out of context gives the appearance that uncontrolled variables have been controlled, but that only results in misleading conclusions.

Since the designated hitter rule (1973) and free agency have become part of the business, only the 1975 Cincinnati Reds and the 1979 Pittsburgh Pirates have won a seventh game away from home.

The home team has won nine and lost only two World Series game seven’s since 1973. Since 1982, the home team has won the last eight times.

How does having the World Series opening game at home affect the chances of winning the World Series? It is an insoluble problem.

The 1927 New York Yankees opened the World Series in Pittsburgh. We all know how that turned out.

The 1976 Cincinnati Reds opened the Series at Yankee Stadium. Nothing could help the 1976 Yankees.

During the 1950s, when the visiting team won the seventh game five consecutive times, there was no known explanation.

Maybe if Mickey Mantle were healthy, the Yankees would have won in 1955, but that doesn’t explain Brooklyn losing at home in 1956, the Yankees losing at home in 1957, and the Braves losing at home in 1958.

Of course, Don Larsen’s perfect game didn’t hurt in 1956, Lew Burdette beat his former team, the Yankees, three times in 1957, and the Yankees became only the second team to trail in the World Series, three games to one, and come back to win.

The designated hitter and free agency might shed light on “recent” results.

American League teams try to structure their team to maximize having a designated hitter. National League teams do not. Does that mean the American League has an unfair advantage?

Possibly overall, but since 1982, American League teams have won the seventh game four times. National League teams have also won the seventh game four times.

The American League has dominated inter-league play. Does that mean that American League teams sign the better free agents or do they have better farm systems, scouts, statisticians, and more money?

The National League won its first All-Star game since 1996 a few days ago. Does that mean that the NL will have a better chance of winning the World Series, especially if it goes to a seventh game, this year?

The answer is if a team has a solid pitching staff, led by Tim Lincecum or Ubaldo Jiminez or Johan Santana or Chris Carpenter, and its ace starts the seventh game, they have an advantage.

There are too many variables that cannot be controlled. All one can do is speculate, which can be dangerous. Ask some investors.

World Series Game Seven Results

1909 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Detroit Tigers. Away

1912 Boston Red Sox beat New York Giants. Home

1924 Washington Senators beat New York Giants. Home

1925 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Washington Senators. Home

1926 St. Louis Cardinals beat New York Yankees. Away

1931 St. Louis Cardinals beat Philadelphia Athletics. Home

1934 St. Louis Cardinals beat Detroit Tigers. Away

1940 Cincinnati Reds beat Detroit Tigers. Home

1945 Detroit Tigers beat Chicago Cubs, Away

1946 St. Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox, Home

1947 New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, Home

1952 New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, Away

1955 Brooklyn Dodgers beat New York Yankees, Away

1956 New York Yankees beat Brooklyn Dodgers, Away

1957 Milwaukee Braves beat New York Yankees. Away

1958 New York Yankees beat Milwaukee Braves. Away

1960 Pittsburgh Pirates beat New York Yankees. Home

1962 New York Yankees beat San Francisco Giants. Away

1964 St. Louis Cardinals beat New York Yankees. Home

1965 Los Angeles Dodgers beat Minnesota Twins. Away

1967 St. Louis Cardinals beat Boston Red Sox. Away

1968 Detroit Tigers beat St. Louis Cardinals. Away

1971 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles. Away

1972 Oakland Athletics beat Cincinnati Reds. Away

1973 Oakland Athletics beat New York Mets. Home

1975 Cincinnati Reds beat Boston Red Sox. Away

1979 Pittsburgh Pirates beat Baltimore Orioles. Away

1982 St. Louis Cardinals beat Milwaukee Brewers. Home

1985 Kansas City Royals beat St. Louis Cardinals. Home

1986 New York Mets beat Boston Red Sox Home

1987 Minnesota Twins beat St. Louis Cardinals. Home

1991 Minnesota Twins beat Atlanta Braves. Home

1997 Florida Marlins beat Cleveland Indians. Home

2001 Arizona Diamondbacks beat New York Yankees. Home

2002 Anaheim Angels beat San Francisco Giants. Home

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It was at a baseball card show in Dec. 2000, a few months after New York’s first subway series since 1956.

I had the opportunity to speak with Tug McGraw.

The father of one of my students, Becky Hisler, ran the show. The theme was, of course, the subway series.

Almost all the players signing autographs had been or were still on the New York Yankees or the New York Mets.

My son, Scott, wanted Doc Gooden’s autograph. We went into a large room where Gary Carter, Doc Gooden, and Tug McGraw were signing.

While we were waiting, Tug stood up and told a funny joke about the Yankees.

I don’t remember the joke, but the crowd, almost all Mets’ fans, roared with delight. Everyone was in a good mood so I decided to defend the Yankees, or at least tell a joke at the expense of the Mets.

“Tug,” I shouted. “Did you hear about the custody battle about the little boy who didn’t want to live with either his mother or father?”

Tug smiled. He said that he hadn’t but that he would like to hear about it.

“Okay. The judge asked the little boy why he didn’t want to live with his mother.

‘My mother beats me.’

The judge asked him why he didn’t want to live with his father.

‘My father beats me.’

The frustrated judge then asked, ‘With whom do you want to live?’

The little boy replied, ‘I want to live with the Mets because they don’t beat anybody.'”

The crowd booed me worse than the Yankees used to boo Mickey Mantle before he won the Triple Crown.

After the show, I spoke with Tug McGraw about his iconic cry, “You gotta believe.”

Doc Friend : Thanks for not holding my joke against me.

Tug McGraw : No problem, except you had it wrong. The kid wanted to live with the Yankees.

Doc Friend : The New York Mets were having a tough time of it in 1973, but the thing that struck me was that there was no dominant team in their division. Many people believed that when the injured players returned, the Mets would have a shot.

Tug McGraw : You’re right. We suffered a lot of injuries, but we thought that if we could stay close, we would win the division.

Doc Friend : How did “You gotta believe” start?

Tug McGraw : It was the day that Bud Harrelson came off the disabled list. I was kidding around with the fans before the game on July 9 when I heard that Donald Grant, the chairman of the board, wanted us in the clubhouse for a meeting.

Grant, general manager Bob Scheffing, and Yogi, of course, were there.

Grant told us that Harrelson was back, and that Jerry Grote, who had broken his wrist, was returning the next day. Grant said that we had to believe in ourselves.

I shouted, “You gotta beeleeve.” The players looked at me, and Seaver winked. I don’t know if Grant saw it, but I wasn’t taking any chances. After the meeting, I went up to Mr. Grant to tell him I wasn’t making fun of him. I really did believe.”

Doc Friend : What happened in the game?

Tug McGraw : Well, we were in last place, 12 games behind the Cubs. We were playing the Houston Astros, who always gave us trouble.

Seaver started against Don Wilson, but Lee May hit a home run in the seventh inning and Yogi pinch hit for Seaver in the bottom of the seventh.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jim Beuchamp singled home the tying run with two outs, and we won it in the 12th when Felix Millan singled home Willie.

Doc Friend : I remember that game, and even though the team still trailed the Cubs by 11.5 games, I had the feeling that this game was a turning point.

Tug McGraw : It was a big win, but we knew that we had a long way to go.

Doc Friend : What happened to “You gotta believe?”

Tug McGraw : The papers printed the story about the clubhouse meeting the next day, and “You gotta believe” started to get a life of its own.

I really think that it helped us to win. I remember that after we beat Oakland in the fifth game of the World Series to lead them by a game, the newspapers all wrote that everyone in New York really believed.

Doc Friend : How did 1973 compare to 1969 for you?

Tug McGraw : I’ll always remember 1973 as a year that we won, but nothing compares with 1969.

Doc Friend : How would you feel about the comparison if the Mets had won the seventh game in 1973?

Tug McGraw : That’s a great question.

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Arch Ward was the sports editor of the Chicago Tribune from 1930 until his death in 1955. He was a powerful, influential individual who could sell sand at Jones Beach.

In 1933, during the Great Depression, Ward argued that “baseball needed to show that it was not in a state of decadence.”

Chicago was going to have the Century of Progress World’s Fair that summer. Ward suggested that an all-star game between the two leagues would bring baseball to new heights. Some owners opposed the idea. With the help of American League president Will Harridge, the game was set for July 6 at Comiskey Park.

The National League Had to Regain Respect

Winning the game was as important as winning the World Series for the National League.

The upstart American League started business in 1901 and had dominated the senior circuit in the World Series. In 1927, 1928, and 1932, the Yankees swept National League teams, and in 1929 and 1930, Connie Mack’s Athletics were World Champions.

Some National Leaguers looked at the all-star game as a way to regain lost respect. The prevalent view was that the only way to get real respect was to win the World Series,

A Chance for Players to Meet Each Other

The all-star game gave some of the greats the opportunity to not only play against each other — it was the first time they would MEET each other.

Unless they faced each other during the exhibition season or in the World Series, many players never saw their counterparts from the other league.

Paul Waner and his brother Lloyd, two of the Pirates’ great stars, never saw Babe Ruth or Lou Gehrig until the 1927 World Series. While fans in Chicago, St. Louis, New York, Philadelphia, and Boston could see players from both leagues, that wasn’t the case in major league cities with only one team.

Future Hall of Famers

Seven of the nine American League starters were future Hall of Famers. There was Lou Gehrig at first base, Charlie Gehringer at second base, Joe Cronin at shortstop, Babe Ruth in right field, Al Simmons in left field, Rick Ferrell behind the plate, and Lefty Gomez on the mound.

The American League bench might have been even better.

Jimmy Foxx, Bill Dickey, Tony Lazzeri, and Earl Averill are all in the Hall of Fame.

National League starters included future Hall of Famers Bill Terry at first, Frankie Frisch at second, Chick Hafey in left, and Chuck Klein in right. Bench Hall of Famers were Pie Traynor, Paul Waner, and Gabby Hartnett.

The American League Wins

The American League won the game 4-2 behind the pitching of Lefty Gomez and Lefty Grove (another Hall of Famer and probably the greatest left-handed pitcher in baseball history).

Babe Ruth struck out in his first at bat. Amazingly, offensively challenged Lefty Gomez singled home the first run in the second inning.

Babe Ruth hit a two-run home run in the third for a 3-0 American League lead.

After National League pitcher Lon Warneke tripled in the sixth, Frankie Frisch hit a home run to cut the deficit to one run, but the Americans scored the game’s final run when pinch hitter Earl Averill singled home Joe Cronin.

Pitchers Hit

Isn’t it interesting that pitchers Lefty Gomez and Lon Warneke each got an important hit?

Gomez was one of the worst hitters to ever swing a bat while Warneke was a decent hitter for a pitcher.

Fans love to see the unexpected. That happened when Gomez singled home the first run in all star game history.

Isn’t the designated hitter wonderful?

References:

Higgins, Joseph. “Arch Ward” Brother Rice School. December, 2001

Arch Ward at Baseball Library

1933 All-Star Game at Retrosheet

Kieran, John. “Excitement in All Directions.” New York Times . 6 July 1933, p.17.

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On July 6, 1971, New York’s most beloved franchise, the New York Mets, announced that ace left-hander Jerry Koosman was being placed on the 21-day disabled list.

Koosman started against the Montreal Expos at Shea Stadium, but was forced to leave following only one inning of work. After the game, Mets’ manager Gil Hodges said Jerry had developed tightness in his left side.

A team spokesman told reporters, “They don’t know what it is. It could be his shoulder or his back or a virus. They don’t know what.”

In early August, Koosman threw 174 pitches in a special drill in Atlanta Stadium, where the Mets were playing the Braves. Jerry threw early batting practice to Tim Foli, Ken Singleton, Duffy Dyer, and Don Hahn.

Gil Hodges and Joe Pignatano were pleased with the performance, after which Hodges announced that Koosman would soon return. On August 9th, the lefty was reactivated as the Mets continued their pursuit of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

In his first start after coming off the disabled list, Mets’ pitching coach Rube Walker lowered Koosman’s pitch count to 80 pitches, or a little more than one-half Koosman’s regular limit.

Yes, Rube Walker, Gil Hodges, and the New York Mets put Tom Seaver, Jerry Koosman, and Nolan Ryan on pitch counts.

Seaver’s limit was 135 pitches, Koosman’s was 145 pitches, and Ryan’s was 150.

“We did have pitch counts,” Seaver said. “They weren’t mandated. Mine was 135 and I knew it, and Rube knew it. And when I got to Chicago, I told [pitching coach Dave Duncan], ‘I’m at 135.'”

Seaver and Ryan recognize that today’s teams invest heavily in “role pitchers.” If a team is paying a closer $10 million, the front office is going make sure that their manager uses him.

“There are always individuals who want to [pitch deeper in games], but aren’t allowed because of the economic ramifications of a guy blowing out his shoulder,” Seaver said. “And sometimes decisions are mandated from above.

“I want a manager who’ll go to the mound and say, ‘Kid, you’re throwing great. Go get ’em, and I’m not coming back.’ I want to see that, but you’ll never see that.”

With the passage of time, the number of teams limiting pitchers to a specific number of pitches increased, until we have today’s situation.

Contending teams remove effective pitchers from the rotation in August or September because they have pitched an artificially created number of innings. The New York Yankees, New York’s second team, did it with Joba Chamberlain, and have announced that they going to do it with Phil Hughes.

Sometimes, limiting a young pitcher’s innings is justified, but not always. Seaver has hit the nail on the head. Teams must distinguish between pitchers who can handle the load from those who cannot.

“I think they indoctrinate the younger pitchers who are coming along, and they don’t identify the foxhole guys,” Seaver said. “Some guys are 110-pitch guys, and some guys are 135-, 145-pitch guys. Not everybody is cut from the same cloth.”

References:

By MURRAY CHASS. (1971, July 7). Mets Lose, Trail by 5 1/2 Games; :Expos Win, 5-1 — Koosman Is on Disabled List. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 43. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006). (Document ID: 79675448).

By JOSEPH DURSO Special to The New York Times . (1971, August 6). Mets Lose, 2-1, in 17th :6 Braves’ Double Plays, Hit by Evans Beat Mets.. New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 21. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006). (Document ID: 79146924).

Koosman Reactivated. (1971, August 10). New York Times (1923-Current file),p. 26. Retrieved July 10, 2010, from ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 – 2006). (Document ID: 79684964).

Pitch Counts Encourage Mediocrity

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