Chauncey and Chumley's Dad

I was so saddened to hear of the passing of Tom Seaver. He was one of the all-time great pitchers and human beings in Major League Baseball. He was truly a pitcher as opposed to a thrower. He used his legs to generate power in his delivery. That also helped him preserve his arm and continue as a starting pitcher into his early 40’s. He was a student of the game and he was always focused when he was on the mound. He led by example and I do not think anyone ever had a bad thing to say about him.  

My first exposure to Tom Seaver was May 4, 1969. My buddy Chris and I went to a Sunday double header at Wrigley Field. The Cubs had a great team that year and appeared destined to go to the World Series. On the other hand, their opponents, the New York Mets, were the perennial bottom feeders of the National League. Surely, we would see the Cubs sweep the two-game set! The Mets, however, turned the tables on the Cubs and won both games by identical 3-2 scores. Tom Seaver was the starting pitcher in Game 1 and went the distance for the win. Tug McGraw matched Seaver’s performance in Game 2. I remember being stunned. How could the mighty Cubs drop two games to the lowly Mets? It was a portend of things to come. After holding onto first place most of the season, the Cubs would infamously collapse in September and the Mets would go on to win 100 games and the World Series. Tom Seaver posted an incredible 25-7 record with a 2.21 ERA.

Seaver’s career with the Mets was from 1967-1977. He was traded to the Cincinnati Reds during the ’77 season. He pitched his only no-hitter in a Reds uniform. He stayed with the Reds until the end of the 1982 season when he was traded back to the Mets. Having posted 9 wins for the Mets that year and just 5 wins for the Reds the previous season, it seemed that his star was fading. At age 39, the Mets left him off their protected list, assuming nobody would want an old pitcher with a high salary. However, the Chicago White Sox claimed Seaver in a free-agent compensation draft. Seaver, no doubt, wanted to finish his career with the Mets. My recollection is that he was fit to be tied over the fact that the Mets left him unprotected and he threatened to retire. Sox owner Jerry Reinsdorf convinced him otherwise and he joined the team. (Coincidentally, the pitcher he replaced in the Sox starting rotation was his old ’69 Mets teammate, Jerry Koosman. Seaver and Koosman were the one-two punch in the Mets starting rotation and led the team to their ’69 championship.) Seaver would go on to have a couple of fine seasons with the White Sox; 15-11, 3.95 ERA in ’84 (age 39) and 16-11, 3.17 ERA in ’85 (age 40). Remarkable! By today’s standards, he could have been the ace on just about any starting rotation in MLB. During the 1986 season, the White Sox traded him to the Boston Red Sox and he retired at the end of that season. It was wonderful being able to see Seaver pitch for the White Sox. I went to a lot of White Sox games in the 80’s and got to see him on several occasions. He won his 300th career game in a White Sox uniform, and finished his Hall of Fame career with 311-206, 2.86 ERA. He was clearly one of the greatest pitchers to play the game and I am glad I was around to follow his career.

I’ve got a lot of baseball on my mind today so I’m just going to throw it all on one post.

1) Glenn Beckert passed away two days ago (April 12, 2020) at the age of 79. He played most of his relatively short career for the Cubs (1965-1975). He was a rock-solid second baseman and part of a great middle infield with Don Kessinger. Primarily a singles hitter, he hit .342 in 1969 yet finished 3rd in the NL Batting Title. Check out this list from that year: Joe Torre (STL) .363, Ralph Garr (ATL) .343, Beckert (CHC) .342, Roberto Clemente (PIT).341, Hank Aaron (ATL) .327, Manny Sanguillen (PIT) .319, Cleon Jones (NYM) .319, Matty Alou (STL) .315, Lou Brock (STL) .313., Rusty Staub (MON) .311. I guess lowering the pitching mound from 15 to 10 inches after the 1968 “Year of the Pitcher” had a positive effect.

2) Jim Frey passed away yesterday (April 13, 2020) at the age of 88. He led the 1980 Kansas City Royals to the World Series. (They lost to Philadelphia.) He went on to manage the Chicago Cubs to their first post-season appearance in 39 years in 1984. (Cubs choked against San Diego, losing a 5-game series after winning the first 2 games.) In 1989, he was the Cubs general manager when a group of youngsters and mostly no-names won the NL East. (They lost to the Giants in the division playoffs.) During the 1987 and 88 seasons, he was a color commentator on the Cubs radio broadcasts. I spent a lot of time on the road back then and listened to a lot of Cubs games on the radio. One of my favorite moments was when, during a game, Frey was asking Lou Boudreau about the College of Coaches from the Cubs early 1960’s team. Hearing Frey pepper Boudreau with questions, Boudreau trying to offer answers suggesting the system made some sense, and Frey’s maniacal laughter after each answer made for superb radio comedy. (You’ll have to Google College of Coaches to understand what I’m talking about.)

3) Kirk Gibson - My wife sent me a post from Twitter that asked, “What is the greatest home run you’ve ever seen in person?” For me it was May 10, 1985, Chicago White Sox vs Detroit Tigers at the original Comiskey Park. It was a balmy spring evening and we were sitting in infield seats on the 3rd base side of home plate. Tom Seaver was pitching. Kirk Gibson hit a home run over the right field roof. It cleared the roof at 350 feet and was an estimated total distance of 525 feet. With my view looking down the first base line, I was able to watch the trajectory of the ball as it disappeared into the night. I’ll never forget that moment.

4) Tony Armas – This is my runner up. It occurred during a Saturday afternoon game at Comiskey Park on April 28, 1984. The White Sox were playing the Red Sox and Tony Armas cranked a line drive into the center field bleachers, only the 6th of 7 such home runs hit in the 80-year history of the ballpark. (As with Gibson’s home run, Tom Seaver was the White Sox pitcher.) Comiskey Park bleachers were small (compared to it’s North Side counterpart Wrigley Field that sports bleachers from foul pole to foul pole). They were just a small section underneath the score board in center field. The center field fence was 415 feet from home plate, but the bullpens were behind it. The actual seating area was about 450 feet from home plate. My wife and I were sitting in the outfield grandstands that day, maybe 20 feet from the bleachers. But here’s the thing; I had left my seat to get beer or food or whatever and I missed it! When I came back, my wife calmly said to me, “You should have seen this home run.” And casually pointing at the bleachers, “It went in there.” I was like, “W-H-A-T?!? There was a home run hit in the bleachers! AND I DIDN’T SEE IT!!!” At any rate, I tried finding video of that home run along with Kirk Gibson’s home run but came up empty. (The other home runs in the Comiskey Park bleachers were Jimmie Foxx (1934), Hank Greenberg (1938), Alex Johnson (1970), Dick Allen (1972), Richie Zisk (1977) and George Bell (1985).

Bill Buckner 1949-2019

It is very sad to hear about the passing of Bill Buckner. He was one of my all-time favorite Cubs players. In the early 80’s, while playing in a softball league in Chicago, I wore number 22 on my jersey in honor of Buckner. He played for the Cubs for 8 years of his 22-year Major League career (1977-1984), appearing in 974 games, about 40% of his career total. He started his career with the Los Angeles Dodgers as an outfielder. He was traded to the Cubs in 1977 and was shifted to first base due to chronic ankle problems. His hitting style was not atypical of a first baseman as he was not a power hitter. He was a contact hitter with a consistently high batting average. With the Cubs, he won the National League batting title in 1980 with a .324 average. He didn’t walk a lot, but he was an excellent doubles hitter, leading the NL in doubles in two of his seasons with the Cubs. He was also a good situational hitter which gave him the ability to drive in runs. He had more than 100 RBI’s in three seasons.  Early in the 1984 season, he was traded to the Boston Red Sox for future Hall-of-Famer Dennis Eckersley.

Unfortunately, he is most remembered for a ground ball that got under his glove and went through his legs, leading to a loss in Game 6 of the 1986 World Series. I hesitated to bring that up in this post, but I decided to mention it for purposes of trying to set the record straight. The Red Sox had taken a 5-3 lead in the top of 10th inning. Yes, they needed just three outs in the bottom of the 10th to win the World Series. However, here are a few points to consider:

·         Bad pitching: Buckner would have never been put in that situation if the Red Sox bullpen had not imploded. Calvin Shiraldi came in to close the game as a relief pitcher in the bottom of the 10th. After getting the first two outs, he fell apart. He gave up three consecutive singles, allowing a run to score. He was replaced by Bob Stanley. Stanley throws a wild pitch, allowing another run to score. Now the game is tied 5-5, and the batter, Mookie Wilson, hits a grounder that goes between Buckner’s legs for an error and the winning run scores. Three hits and a wild pitch does not put the onus of the loss solely on Buckner.

·         Bad managing: Why was Buckner in the game at this point? John McNamara’s team scores two runs in the top of the tenth to take the lead. It’s time for defensive replacements! Buckner’s ankles were so bad at that point, he could barely walk let alone field. If you watch the replay of the error, it is clear he had trouble getting his body squared up to make the play because he could hardly move his feet. His ankles were so bad, he couldn’t wear baseball spikes. He played with shoes that, if I remember correctly, were more like high-top wrestling shoes. At that point in the game, McNamara had only used nine position players. There is no way Buckner should have been playing first base in that situation when McNamara could have inserted a replacement.

·         The Red Sox had another shot: Over the years, I have sometimes heard people erroneously refer to that loss as Game 7 of the Word Series. It was, in fact, Game 6. The team loss deprived the Red Sox of winning the WS that night, but they still had another shot at it in Game 7. They did not get the job done in Game 7, losing to the Mets 8-5.

·         The Curse of The Bambino: The Red Sox had one of the longest WS droughts in history at that time (1986). They had not won a WS since 1918. Many blamed the drought on the Curse of The Bambino; the infamous “trade” at the end of the 1919 season where Red Sox owner Harry Frazee shipped Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in exchange for cash, allegedly to finance a Broadway musical. Whether or not one believes in the curse, that fact is the drought continued and that served to magnify the Game 6 loss and unjustly, Buckner’s error. (The curse was finally broken in 2004 after 86 years.)

Unfortunately, Buckner’s life was rather miserable after that. Nobody would ever let him forget that error. The media and the fans continued to perpetuate it. For several years, Buckner wanted nothing to do with Boston, but ownership eventually reached out to him and he returned to Fenway after he retired to make peace with the fans.

While his career was not quite Hall of Fame caliber, he was still an outstanding ballplayer who played hard every day. Rest in peace Bill Buckner.

Congratulations to the 2018 World Champion Boston Red Sox.

The 2018 baseball season has ended. Given that my top five favorite teams are…

1.     Chicago White Sox

2.     Chicago Cubs

3.     Milwaukee Brewers

4.     Los Angeles Dodgers

5.     Boston Red Sox

… it was not a bad season.

My observations based on my teams:

·      Chicago White Sox – Still rebuilding. Based on that, I can’t say it was a bad season, but I was hoping for a little better. 100 losses sucks no matter how you cut it. Sox broadcaster and MLB maven Steve Stone says 2020 will be the year the Sox break out. Hopefully we will see progress in 2019.

·      Chicago Cubs – I can’t say that a 95 win season is a bad season, but it was a frustrating season. They are a talent laden team that was disappointedly inconsistent all year. Although they clinched a post season slot, they could not win the division in 162 games. They had two chances to advance with game 163 against Milwaukee and a wild card game against Colorado. Back-to-back home games and they could not get it done. A classic Cubs choke that ranks 4th behind 1969, 1984 and 2003.

·      Milwaukee Brewers – I really wanted this team to go to the World Series. They seemed like such a team of destiny. I became a Brewers fan, partially because of their close proximity to Chicago (I usually attend one or two Brewers games a year) and because in 1982, I lived vicariously through that Brewers World Series team since neither Chicago teams had won a World Series in my lifetime at that point in time. (The Brewes lost in 7 games to the St. Louis Cardinals in the World Series.) Plus, given that they are a small market team, they have a wonderful fan base. Unfortunately, this year they fell short of the National League pennant in a tough seven-game series against the Dodgers.

·      Los Angeles Dodgers – My fandom of the Dodgers goes back to when I was a kid. I have always been a pitching fan and in the mid-60’s, there was no better 1-2 punch than Sandy Koufax and Don Drysdale. Along with the fact that my maternal grandmother lived and LA and I played on the Dodgers when I was in Little League, I just always had a thing for the Dodgers. Also, my nephew lives in LA and even though my sister raised him to be a Cubs fan, he is now a hard core Dodgers fan. My older son also lives in LA, but he is a Cubs fan and I think indifferent when it comes to the Dodgers.

·      Boston Red Sox – My fandom of the Red Sox goes back to the 1967 World Series.  They were the underdog favorite against the dreaded Cardinals, and lost in Game 7. In my youth, it was the most exciting World Series that I remember. In 1975, I was again a Red Sox fan when they played the Cincinnati Reds, a.k.a., The Big Red Machine. At this point in my life, I was old enough to be hanging out in bars (the Illinois drinking age was 19 back then), and I remember watching most of the action in crowded Chicago neighborhood taverns. Again, the Sox lost in seven games, but it was one of the best World Series ever with lots of great plays and many dramatic moments. The most dramatic moment came in the bottom of the 12th inning in Game 6 when Carlton Fisk hit a game winning home run. The image of Fisk waving the ball fair as he jumped down the first base line has become one of the most memorable moments in the history of Major League Baseball. Fisk later moved to the Chicago White Sox as a free agent and although he is in the Hall of Fame as a Red Sox, he actually spent more than half of his career with the White Sox and became one of my all-time favorite White Sox players. (As I write this, my younger son is in Boston visiting his girlfriend, and though he is not a Red Sox fan, at least he gets a taste of the euphoria of a World Series win.)

So as I await the 2019 baseball season, all I can say is Go Bears! Go Blackhawks! Go Bulls!