1964 Season – statistics

All-Star Game: NL over AL, 7-4 at Shea Stadium in Queens, New York     (John Callison, MVP)

World Series: St. Louis Cardinals over New York Yankees, 4-3     (Bob Gibson, MVP)

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MVP: AL – Brooks Robinson, 3B, Baltimore Orioles (.317/28/118)

NL – Ken Boyer, 3B, St. Louis Cardinals (.295/24/119)

Cy Young: Dean Chance, SP, Los Angeles Angels (20-9/1.65/207, 15 CG, 11 SHO, 278.1 IP)

RoY: AL – Tony Oliva, OF, Minnesota Twins (.323/32/94, 217 H, 109 R, 43 2B)

NL – Dick Allen, 2B, Philadelphia Phillies (.318/29/91, 13 3B, 125 R)

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Hall of Fame: Luke Appling, SS, Chicago White Sox (5th ballot)

Red Faber, SP, Chicago White Sox (VC)

Burleigh Grimes, SP, Brooklyn Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, St. Louis Cardinals (VC)

Miller Huggins, MGR, New York Yankees (VC)

Heinie Manush, OF, Washington Senators, Detroit Tigers (VC)

Tim Keefe, SP, New York Giants (VC)

Monte Ward, P/OF/IF, New York Giants, Providence Grays (VC)

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Batting Leaders:

Avg. (AL) Oliva MIN .323, (NL) Roberto Clemente PIT .339

HR (AL) Harmon Killebrew MIN 49, (NL) Willie Mays SFG 47

RBI (AL) Robinson BAL 118, (NL) Boyer STL 119

R (AL) Oliva MIN 109, (NL) Allen MIL 125

SB (AL) Luis Aparicio BAL 57, (NL) Wills LAD 53

H (AL) Oliva MIN 217, (NL) Flood STL / Clemente PIT 211

Pitching Leaders:

W (AL) Peters CHW / Chance LAA 20, (NL) Larry Jackson CHC 24

K (AL) Al Downing NYY 217, (NL) Bob Veale PIT 250

ERA (AL) Chance LAA 1.65, (NL) Sandy Koufax LAD 1.74

SV (AL) Dick Radatz BOS 29, (NL) Hal Woodeshick HOU 23

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Trends and Stats:

2 players above .330 AVG

15 players above 30 HR, 2 above 40 HR

13 players above 100 RBI

2 players above 50 SB

6 players above 200 H

5 pitchers above 20 W

11 pitchers above 200 K, 1 above 250 K

20 pitchers below 3.00 ERA, 8 below 2.50, 3 below 2.00

14 pitchers above 250 IP, 4 above 280 IP, 1 above 300 IP

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Read below for my All-Star selections.  There were no silver sluggers until 1980, so I won’t have an award to compare it to.

1964 Cincinnati Reds season

The 1964 version of the Reds was even better than the good team from the year before, but their season started off with tragedy.  Manager Fred Hutchinson, who had led the franchise to the 1961 World Series, found out he had cancer in January and battled the disease throughout the season.  He managed the Reds through July before cancer took too much toll, and Dick Sisler took over.  The team played inspired ball after Hutch left, winning 9 straight games in late September to come back from 6.5 down to Philadelphia.  However, St. Louis got hot as well, and the Reds lost their last two games to the same Phillies they’d swept earlier, eliminated on the last day of the season and finishing 1 back.

The Reds didn’t make the World Series, and Hutch succumbed to cancer that November.  The Reds would retire his number 1 the next season, and his name has lived on through the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, which still thrives in Seattle, WA.  MLB still honors him through the Hutch award, which is given away each year to the player who showcases his spirit in fighting through adversity.  Reds winners have included Pete Rose, Bobby Tolan, Gary Nolan, Johnny Bench, Ron Oester and Sean Casey.

Outfielders Vada Pinson and Frank Robinson were solid as usual, both slugging over 20 homers and knocking in 80+.  As did first baseman Deron Johnson, who was a surprise coming up from the minors.  Pete Rose had a solid sophomore season.  Catcher Johnny Edwards and shortstop Leo Cardenas were the Reds only All-Stars given the NL depth at other positions.

The rotation was deep, with 6 pitchers starting over 22 games – all 6 of them won at least 9 games.  Jim O’Toole and Jim Maloney were the aces, winning 17 and 15 games with an ERA of around 2.70.  The bullpen was great, led by Sammy Ellis who saved 14 games and won 10.

Team MVP: Frank Robinson (.306/29/96)

Best Pitcher: Jim Maloney (17-7/2.66/265)

Award Winners:

Johnny Edwards, Gold Glove

All Stars:

Edwards, Leo Cardenas

1964 MLB season in review

In honor of wrapping up 2013 Heritage, I’m going through the year it honors – 1964 in baseball. 

Highlights and Events:

There was some interesting offseason activity in the league, as Charlie Finley tried to move the A’s from Kansas City to Louisville, getting an agreement with the city that was ultimately rejected by the American League owners.  He re-upped with a 4-year lease with Kansas City, though the team would move west a few years later.

Out west, the San Francisco Giants signed three Japanese players to Minor League contracts, though only Masanori Murakami would go on to play for the Major League club.

And in New York, the Mets opened up Shea Stadium for its first action on April 17th.  The Mets lost to the Pirates in a 4-3 affair.  Dick Schofield was the first batter, popping out to Mets hurler Jack Fisher.  Willie Stargell had the first hit, run and RBI when he led off the second inning with a home run off Fisher.  Bob Friend got the first victory, going the distance and holding the Mets to 7 hits.  The new park didn’t bring about new fortunes; the Mets lost 109 games and again finished in last place.  Shea did host the All-Star game that year, with the National League rallying for 4 runs in the bottom of the 9th to take a 7-4 victory.

Baseball faced some tragedy right before the season opened – Houston relief pitcher Jim Umbricht succumbed to his battle with cancer on April 8th.  He’d made national headlines the previous year when he pitched through pain after surgery on his leg.  The Colt .45′s would eventually retire his uniform number 32 as a tribute to the pitcher.  Reds manager Fred Hutchinson also battled cancer throughout the 1964 season – he would manage the club through July before cancer took too much toll.  Eventually, Hutch succumbed to the disease in November; the Reds retired his number 1 the next season.

The Reds were inspired by their ailing manager, and were one of four teams in an incredible National League pennant race.  The Giants were the early leaders of that race, boasting a quartet of future Hall of Famers, including Orlando Cepeda (31 HR), Willie McCovey (18 HR) and Juan Marichal (21 wins).  However, Willie Mays had one of his best seasons, smacking 47 homers and knocking in 111.  He really deserved the MVP, and it looked his to take in the first half when the Giants were sitting in first place.

They faded a bit after the All-Star break; the Phillies wrestled the lead away in July and led for most of the second half of the season.  Led by a balanced team including Jim Bunning and Dick Allen, they were at the top of that pile with 2 weeks left.  After a 3-2 win over the Dodgers on September 20th, they were 6.5 games up on the Cardinals and Reds and 7 up on the Giants.  It all came crashing down at that point.  The Phillies were swept in three straight series first by the Reds, then by the Braves.  The Reds also swept 5 games in 3 days from the hapless Mets, and on September 27th – 1 week after trailing by 6+ games – they actually held a 1 game lead.

The Cardinals had played well, too, though, and sat only 1.5 games out at this point.  They swept the Phillies in a 3-game set, and the Reds cooled off by losing 2 of 3 to the Pirates.  The Cardinals took a half game lead over the Reds, and 2.5 over the Phillies.  The Cardinals inexplicably couldn’t seal the pennant against the last-place Mets, however, losing the first two games of their final series, sending NL baseball to its final day with a tie at the top and the Phillies still hanging on 1 game back.

The Phillies blanked the Reds, 10-0, to pull even with them, however the Cardinals won an “all-hands-on-deck” game. Ace Bob Gibson came on in relief to get his 19th victory of the season and clinch the title.  St. Louis was all about pitching and a balanced offense – with Gibson, Curt Simmons and Ray Sadecki all winning 18-20 games.  After Stan Musial had retired the previous season, Lou Brock (.348 average) and Curt Flood (211 hits) became the table setters for NL MVP Ken Boyer (24 homers, 119 RBI).

The American League pennant race in 1964 wasn’t as notable because it didn’t have the utter collapse by the Phillies, but it was just as close.  This was a 3-team race, with the Baltimore Orioles taking the early lead through the month of June.  The Orioles were led by league MVP Brooks Robinson, the defensive wizard who had his best offensive season, hitting .317 with 28 HR and a league leading 118 RBI – all career bests for the Hall of Famer.  Boog Powell crushed 39 homers, and Milt Pappas, Robin Roberts and Wally Bunker gave the Orioles a solid pitching rotation.

The White Sox would take over next, with their team built on Al Lopez’s motto of solid pitching and defense.  Gary Peters won 20 games for the south-siders, Juan Pizzaro won 19, Joe Horlen posted a stellar 1.88 ERA, and Hoyt Wilhelm led the best bullpen in baseball.  But a cold spell in mid-September left the White Sox 5 games behind the New York Yankees, and even a 9-game winning streak to finish the season wasn’t enough.  The Sox finished 1 game behind New York, with Baltimore 2 out.

The Yankees were again led by the best lineup in the league.  Mickey Mantle hit 35 homers, Roger Maris hit 26 in what would be his last productive season.  Elston Howard followed up his MVP campaign with 84 RBI, and Joe Pepitone clubbed 28 homers and 100 RBI.  Pitching was the Yankees weakness, but Whitey Ford pitched well, going 17-6 with a 2.13 ERA.  Jim Bouton and Al Downing also did well, winning 18 and 13 games, respectively, though the two would never be quite so productive after the 1964 season.

Some other notable milestones and accomplishments in 1964 included:

• On June 21, Bunning threw the 7th perfect game in history, and became the first pitcher to throw a no-hitter in both leagues.
• Sandy Koufax threw his 3rd career no-hitter, tying the record held by Cy Young, Bob Feller and Larry Corcoran.
• Ken Johnson of the Colt .45′s also threw a no-no against the Reds, but actually took a 1-0 loss when a 9th inning error led to a run.
• The Twins became the third team to hit 4 consecutive home runs, and the first to do so in extra innings, when Tony Oliva, Bob Allison, Jimmie Hall and Harmon Killebrew all connected in the 11th inning of a 7-3 win for the Twins.
• Bert Campaneris made his ML debut with a bang, becoming the second player with 2 homers (Bob Nieman, 1951).

Willie Mays was still the best player in the game at this point, with Hank Aaron closely behind (but Mays clearly the best in the game).  Mickey Mantle had been the best player in baseball since the mid 50′s – until 1962 or 1963.

The best pitcher in the game wasn’t so clear-cut.  I think it’s really between two Dodger hurlers at this point.  When I did this post for 1963, I picked Spahn as barely edging out Drysdale as the best pitcher in the game, despite the fact that Koufax was coming off a Cy Young / MVP year.  Drysdale was coming off a very good year in 1963 and a Cy Young season in 1962.  Spahn was bad in 1964, so it really would have been between Drysdale and Koufax at the end of the 1964 season.  I generally look at the previous 3 and 5 years when doing this, and I think Drysdale woud have a slight edge at this point.  This likely has more to do with injuries than anything else – Koufax was better than Drysdale – when he pitched.  But I had Drysdale ahead of Koufax in 1963, and Drysdale pitched 100 more innings than Koufax in 1964 (while being about a half-run less effective).  I’ll give the edge to Drysdale, with Koufax about ready to take that title away in 1965.

Read below for the World Series summary.

My 1996 All-Star selections and Silver Slugger comparison

I’m further breaking up my “what happened in baseball during that year” posts to create another post that I’ll do for each year.  This was the bottom part of my “statistics” post in the past – where I pick my own opinion of the All-star team and compare that to the silver slugger winners.  Why am I breaking it up into an extra post?  Frankly – this post has always taken too damn long to write!  I was getting stuck whenever I got to my year-end posts – I was doing a season re-cap, a Reds re-cap, and a statistics post.  The recaps and statistics posts are very long – and both have natural breaks.  I always finish the season re-caps with what happened in the postseason, so I can break that up between the regular season and playoffs.  And the statistics posts always end with my All-Star team.  This seemed like a good way to break this one up, too.  Breaking this up into 5 posts makes it a bit more manageable – both to write and probably to read.  And, it gives me a little better incentive to keep moving forward.  It’s rewarding when you finish posts – but when you get stuck, it’s the opposite!

Here’s a reminder of the premise of my All-Star selections – I pick my opinion of the best player at each position in each league.  For pitchers, I pick 3 starters and 1 reliever.  At first, I wasn’t including DH in the American League – a really good DH could bump an outfielder or first baseman if he was good enough and played some games there – but I just am not a fan of the position.  Around 1992 or so it just became too difficult to keep them out – there were times where I would have been leaving someone who was a top-3 player off the roster!

Anyways, without further ado, here’s the 1996 version:

My NL All-Stars: C – Mike Piazza, LAD (.336/36/105)

1B – Jeff Bagwell, HOU (.315/31/110, 48 2B)

2B – Craig Biggio, HOU (.288/15/75)

3B – Ken Caminiti, SDP (.326/40/130, MVP)

SS – Barry Larkin, CIN (.298/33/89, 36 SB)

OF – Barry Bonds, SFG (.308/42/129, 151 BB, .461 OBP, 40 SB)

OF – Gary Sheffield, FLA (.314/42/120, 142 BB .465 OBP)

OF – Ellis Burks, COL (.344/40/128, 197 H, .620 SLG)

SP – John Smoltz, ATL (24-8/2.94/276, 253.2 IP, Cy Young)

SP – Kevin Brown, FLA (17-11/1.89/159)

SP – Greg Maddux, ATL (15-11/2.72/172)

RP – Trevor Hoffman, SDP (9-5/2.25/111, 42 SV)

First base was the tough decision – Bagwell actually had an incredible year, but Galarraga had better numbers on the surface.  He smashed 47 homers and had an incredible 150 RBI.  But if you look at the splits, it’s really hard to argue for Galarraga.  First off, even counting his Coors numbers, Bagwell had an OBP of nearly 100 points higher – that’s tough to overcome.  But, if you look at the Big Cat’s road splits – he hit 15 homers, 47 RBI and 75 hits (not bad – but not near from Bagwell’s numbers), but hit under .250 and had an OBP of .290 (bad – that’s minor league All-Star caliber).  I don’t think you just double his road splits – he still had a very good year.  But after looking the numbers over, I actually don’t think it’s much of a debate.

The Big Cat’s teammate was in a much closer race for the always difficult 3rd outfield spot.  Bonds, with the 2nd 40-40 season ever, was clearly above the rest.  Sheff was a pretty easy 2nd spot – I’d have voted Bonds the MVP, with Sheffield close behind.  I think it’s easy that they should be in.  And on the surface, Burks is right up with them – maybe even better – but that Coors effect has to be looked at.  And 1996 was probably the peak of Coors – the average game had 15 runs scored in it whereas the average everywhere else in the NL was under 9.  Aside from those 3 guys, 2 Mets were very good – Bernard Gilkey (30 HR / 117 RBI) and Lance Johnson (21 Triples, 227 Hits and 50 steals).  But Burks was just too good in 1996.  Unlike Galarraga – he had a very good batting average and OBP.  And that average and on-base was really good away from Coors.  His OBP (.367) and SLG (.535) away from Coors were certainly at an All-Star level.  And he was phenomenal in Denver – I don’t think  just because it was Coors either – so I’d consider some benefit he had from to Coors, but not that much.  Altogether, he’s definitely ahead of Lance Johnson for that last spot on my team.  I’d actually put him very close with Sheffield and Bagwell for the 2nd best player in the league in 1996.

Kevin Brown was the only thing keeping the Braves from having all of the top 3 pitchers – though he and Smoltz were the clear top 2 in my mind.  Maddux and Glavine were both very good, especially considering the offensive output of the 1996 season.  I’d love to give Jeff Brantley the selection – he did win the Rolaids Relief Award – but Hoffman was dominant.

My AL All-Stars: C – Ivan Rodriguez, TEX (.300/19/86)

1B – Mark McGwire, OAK (.312/52/113, .467 OBP, .730 SLG)

2B – Chuck Knoblauch, MIN (.341/13/72, 45 SB, 140 R, 14 3B)

3B – Jim Thome, CLE (.311/38/116)

SS – Alex Rodriguez, SEA (.358/36/123, 215 H, 54 2B, 141 R)

OF – Ken Griffey Jr., SEA (.303/49/140, .690 SLG, 121 R, 52 2B)

OF – Albert Belle, CLE (.311/48/148, 124 R)

OF – Brady Anderson, BAL (.297/50/110, 21 SB)

DH – Edgar Martinez, SEA (.327/26/103, 121 R)

SP – Pat Hentgen, TOR (20-10/3.22/177, 265.2 IP, 10 CG, 3 SHO, Cy Young)

SP – Charles Nagy, CLE (17-5/3.41/167)

SP – Alex Fernandez, CHW (16-10/3.45/200)

RP – Mariano Rivera, NYY (8-3/2.09/130, 5 SV, 26 Holds)

Roberto Alomar was very close, but Knoblauch was just a little better.  It’s very close, though.  First base was a complete logjam.  McGwire, Mo Vaughn, Frank Thomas and Rafael Palmeiro all had excellent seasons.  Vaughn and McGwire both played some DH, but not enough I’d feel OK counting them as that position.  I went with McGwire – who was about to go on a historic home run spree over the next 5 years – as my top pick, though I’d have taken any of those other guys over Edgar if they had played some more DH.  Paul Molitor was also pretty good at DH – he led the league in hits – but not quite as good as Martinez.

Interestingly, I left league MVP Juan Gonzalez off the team.  He had some pretty ridiculous numbers – 47 homers 144 RBI – and beat out A-Rod in a really close race.  But Griffey, A-Rod and Albert Belle were all much better than him, and in the outfield, Anderson was still a little better than him, too.  I’d even put Kenny Lofton above him.  I can’t remember why – but Griffey missed a little over 3 weeks in late June / early July in 1996 – if not for that, he’d have likely hit 55 homers and would probably have been the league’s MVP.

The 3rd pitcher spot was a tight race – despite going 10-13, Roger Clemens actually had a really good case to be ahead of Fernandez.  Andy Pettitte was the Cy Young runner-up and was pretty good, too.  Also interesting – Wetteland was the Yankees closer and was the best closer in the game.  But Rivera was the best reliever in the game in 1996.

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NL Silver Slugger: C – Piazza, 1B – Andres Galarraga (.304/47/150), 2B - Eric Young (.324/8/74, 53 SB), 3B – Caminiti, SS – Larkin, OF – Bonds, Sheffield, Burks, P – Glavine ATL (.289/0/3)

The Coors Field guys got some big time love in the Silver Slugger Awards but not in the MVP voting.  I made my case about Galarraga above – the reasoning isn’t the same for Eric Young, but it’s still a bad pick in my mind.  Biggio was actually about as close to being the best player in baseball than he was to the 2nd best player at his position.

AL Silver Sluggers: C – Rodriguez, 1B – McGwire, 2B – Robert Alomar (.328/22/94, 132 R), 3B – Thome, SS – Rodriguez, OF – Belle, Griffey, Juan Gonzalez (.317/47/144), DH – Paul Molitor (.341/9/113, 225 H)

Looking at Alomar’s numbers again made me really think about picking Knoblauch above – because Alomar won the Gold Glove, too and is generally considered one of the better defensive 2nd basemen of the time.  But I’m still staying with Knoblauch – their slugging was about the same but he had an OBP nearly 40 points higher.  I made my case about Gonzalez above – and, like I said, Molitor definitely had a good year.  But Edgar Martinez was just much better.

1996 Season – statistics

All-Star Game: NL over AL, 6-0 at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia, PA     (Mike Piazza, MVP)

Home Run Derby: Barry Bonds 17     (AL over NL, 36-23)

Olympics: Cuba over Japan, 13-9 at Atlanta-Fulton county in Atlanta, Georgia, USA

*United States defeated Nicaragua in the Bronze Medal game

ALDS: Baltimore Orioles over Cleveland Indians, 3-1

New York Yankees over Texas Rangers, 3-1

NLDS: St. Louis Cardinals over San Diego Padres, 3-0

Atlanta Braves over Los Angeles Dodgers, 3-0

ALCS: Yankees over Orioles, 4-1

NLCS: Braves over Cardinals, 4-3

World Series: Yankees over Braves, 4-2

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MVP: AL – Juan Gonzalez, OF, Texas Rangers (.314/47/144)

NL – Ken Caminiti, 3B, San Diego Padres (.326/40/130, GG)

Cy Young: AL – Pat Hentgen, SP, TOR (20-10/3.22/177, 10 CG, 3 SHO, 265.2 IP)

NL – John Smoltz, SP, Atlanta Braves (24-8/2.94/276, 253.2 IP)

RoY: AL – Derek Jeter, SS, New York Yankees (.314/10/78, 104 R, 183 H)

NL – Todd Hollandsworth, OF, Los Angeles Dodgers (.291/12/59)

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MLB Amateur Draft:

Kris Benson, P, PIT (1st overall pick) – Hottest baseball wife I can think of

Mark Kotsay, OF, FLA (1st #9) – 1,700+ career Hits

Eric Chavez, 3B, OAK (1st #10) – 1,300+ career Hits, 230+ HR

R.A. Dickey, P, TEX (1st #18) – last active knuckleball pitcher as of 2012 – I can’t believe he was drafted this long ago

Milton Bradley, OF, MON (2nd #40) – 1x All-Star, craziest dude in baseball since Carl Everett

Paul Wilder, OF, TAM (1st #29) – Original draft pick of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays

Nick Bierbrodt, P, ARI (1st #30) – Original draft pick of the Arizona Diamondbacks

Jimmy Rollins, SS, PHI (2nd #46) – 30-30 club, 2007 NL MVP, 3x All-Star, 3x Gold Glove, MLB record 718 at bats in a season, 20 triples in 2007, 139 R in 2007, 4x league leader in triples, 373 career steals, 1,000+ career R

Brad Penny, P, FLA (5th #155) – 2x All-Star, 119 career W

Roy Oswalt, P, HOU (23rd #684) – 3x All-Star, 159 career W, 2x 20 wins, 2006 NL ERA champ

Travis Hafner, 3B, TEX (31st #923) – 4x 100 RBI, 2006 AL SLG champ

Juan Pierre, OF, SEA (40th #1405 – did not sign) – Decade leader in 2000′s for SB, 554 career SB (and counting), 2,000+ career hits, 980 career R, 3x SB league leader, 2x hits league leader, 4x 200 hits

Barry Zito, P, SEA (59th #1586 – did not sign) – 3x All-Star, 2002 AL Cy Young, 145-124 career record, 23 wins in 2002

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Hall of Fame: Earl Weaver, Manager, Baltimore Orioles (VC)

Jim Bunning, OF, Philadelphia Phillies, Detroit Tigers (VC)

Bill Foster, SP, Chicago American Giants, (VC)

Ned Hanlon, Manager, Baltimore Orioles {of the National League} (VC)

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Batting Leaders:

Avg. (AL) Alex Rodriguez SEA .358, (NL) Tony Gwynn SDP .353**

** – this is the only instance I’m aware of where MLB rule #10.22(a) is relevant for a batting title.  Gwynn actually fell short of the qualifying number of plate appearances by 4.  However, his average was still higher than runner-up Ellis Burks if you credited him with a fictitious 0-4 – so he took home the batting crown.

This rule was relevant this year for Joey Votto – he won the OBP title over Buster Posey despite being way below the at bat threshold.  But he was so far ahead of Posey (.474 to .408) that the rule came into play.  It was interestingly not relevant this year for the batting title – as Melky Cabrera removed himself from consideration for the title.

HR (AL) Mark McGwire OAK 52, (NL) Andres Galarraga COL 47

RBI (AL) Albert Belle CLE 148, (NL) Galarraga COL 150

R (AL) Rodriguez SEA 141, (NL) Ellis Burks COL 142

SB (AL) Kenny Lofton CLE 75, (NL) Eric Young COL 53

H (AL) Paul Molitor MIN 225, (NL) Lance Johnson NYM 227

Pitching Leaders:

W (AL) Andy Pettitte NYY 21, (NL) Smoltz ATL 24

ERA (AL) Juan Guzman TOR 2.93, (NL) Kevin Brown FLA 1.89

K (AL) Clemens BOS 257, (NL) Smoltz ATL 276

SV (AL) John Wetteland NYY 43, (NL) J. Brantley CIN / T. Worrell LAD 44

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Trends and Stats:

7 players above .330 AVG, 2 above .350 AVG (counting Gwynn)

43 players above 30 HR, 17 above 40 HR, 2 above 50 HR

50 players above 100 RBI, 15 above 120 RBI, 1 above 150 RBI

5 player above 50 SB

8 players above 200 H

3 pitchers above 20 W

12 pitchers above 200 K, 2 pitchers above 250 K

6 pitchers below 3.00 ERA, 1 below 2.50 ERA, 1 below 2.00 ERA

4 pitchers above 250 IP

4 pitchers above 40 SV

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Tomorrow I’ll post my standard All-Star selections and compare to the silver slugger winners for the year.

1996 Cincinnati Reds season

In 1996, MLB continued the new trend they’d started the year before by having an “Opening Night” of one game the Sunday night prior to all teams starting up.  This meant Cincinnati wasn’t the first game of the year any more.  They did get the first game of Opening Day in 1996 – but it ended shortly after it began.  Home plate umpire John McSherry tragically collapsed and died of a heart attack 7 pitches into the game.  Marge Schott offended the Umpires (and just about everyone else) by complaining that the game got cancelled.  She then tried to apologize by sending re-gifted flower to umpires at a future game – but none of the umpires were currently in attendance.

After running away with the Central division the year before, Schott had also fired manager Davey Johnson despite the fact he’d led the club to its most successful season since 1990.  Ostensibly, the reason for not renewing his contract was that Schott didn’t approve of Johnson living with his girlfriend (whom he married shortly thereafter).  Ray Knight was hired as Johnson’s replacement.

GM Jim Bowden found success with Ron Gant as a 1995 reclamation project – and then losing him to the evil empire of the NL Central (Cardinals).  He brought back three former 1990 World Series team members with the same thought – 2 of them with success.  Eric Davis came out of retirement after a year off and hit 26 home runs.  Joe Oliver also signed again, and he and Eddie Taubensee offered a solid platoon at catcher.  Chris Sabo didn’t pan out as well; in fact, he actually got suspended mid-season for using a corked bat.  Sabo maintained he used another player’s bat, and he was correct that his 1996 performance “was hardly an endorsement of the cork industry”.  Hal Morris, another 1990 holdover, was again a solid hitter at first base, batting .313.

Barry Larkin was again the team’s best player.  He followed up his 1995 MVP campaign with the best season of his career.  He became the first shortstop to have a 30-30 season (A-Rod and Jimmy Rollins have followed him since), with 33 HR, 36 SB, and 117 runs scored.  Unfortunately, Reggie Sanders did not have anything close to his 1995 all-star season.  Injuries limited him to just 81 games and a .251 average.

The Reds starting pitching was much worse as well.  Opening day starter and Cy Young runner-up Pete Schourek struggled to a 4-5 record before being shelved for injuries in July.  John Smiley, Dave Burba and Mark Portugal were decent, but not great.  Jeff Brantley was excellent as the team’s reliever – he posted a 2.41 ERA and saved an NL-leading 44 games.  He won the Rolaids Relief award that year.

The Reds started incredibly slow and were out of contention early.  As late as June 22nd, they were 9 games under .500 – so the 2nd half of the season was a race to .500 more than a race to the pennant.  They did have a good second half and staved off elimination until a loss to the NL Central Champion Cardinals on September 22nd put them 6.5 back with 6 to play.

Speaking of that series and of Larkin and Marge Schott – I found this photo.  This may be one of the weirder pictures I’ve ever seen.  Schott loved to impose her love of all things St. Bernard on others – though Ozzie seems perfectly OK with it here.  Barry was always classy – even though his early career was overshadowed by Smith, he had no problem paying tribute to the guy.  This was taken on September 20th, as Ozzie had announced his retirement.  Side note – those sleeveless pinstriped uniforms are my all-time favorite.

Larkin made his 8th All-Star team in 9 years, but he was the lone Cincinnati representative.  Despite being the best reliever in the NL, Brantley didn’t get the All-Star nod due to the team’s slow start – 28 of his 44 saves came after the All-Star break.

Team MVP: Barry Larkin (.298/33/89, 117 R, 36 SB, Gold Glove)

Best Pitcher: Jeff Brantley (1-2/2.41/76, 44 SV, Rolaids Relief Award)

Award Winners:

Larkin, Gold Glove & Silver Slugger

Brantley, Rolaids Relief

All-Stars:

Larkin (starter)

1996 MLB playoffs

I’m further breaking up my “what happened in baseball during that year” posts to create two more posts that I’ll do for each year.  This one was always the bottom part of my “year in review” post in the past – a summary of the playoffs.  I’m also going to break up the statistics posts – I’ll explain my reasoning when I do that post – but, in short, these posts are too long not to break up a bit more!

Division Series:

The ’96 playoffs started off with some controversy.  In the throes of the division / wild card race at the end of September, Roberto Alomar got into a heated argument over a call with umpire John Hirschbeck.  Alomar spit in the umpire’s face and was given a five-game suspension – to be served at the start of the next season.  A bunch of ugly back and forth came out afterward, but Alomar and Hirschbeck did patch things up before the start of the new year.  However, the fact that Alomar’s suspension was held off until the next season and not enforced in the next games was a source of controversy.

The division series again had predetermined seeding for the 3 division champions.  Because of this, the Yankees didn’t get home field against Texas – despite having a better record.  They also lost the opening game in the Bronx after giving up a 3-run homer to MVP Juan Gonzalez.  “Juan Gone” hit 2 more dingers in game 2 – but Derek Jeter gave an early glimpse into the playoff magic that would become his trademark.  The Yankees scored in 5 different innings, with Jeter coming all the way home from 2nd base after Dean Palmer made an error on a bunt by Charlie Hayes for a “walk-off error” in the 12th inning.

Gonzalez hit another homer in game 3 in Arlington, but the Yankees scored two runs in the top of the 9th to win the game 3-2.  Incredibly, Gonzalez hit another home run in game 4 – his 5th in the series, but the Yankees again thwarted the Rangers behind two shots from Bernie Williams to take the series, 3 games to 1.

Baltimore faced off against Cleveland – the best team in baseball and the defending AL champs.  Bobby Bonilla’s grand slam led to a route in game 1, and Alomar had a key RBI to give the Orioles a 2-0 series lead.  Homers by Manny Ramirez and Albert Belle kept the Indians alive for another game – but Alomar provided a game-winning homer in the 12th inning of game 4 to send the Orioles to the ALCS.

In the National League – the predetermined seeding ended up working out the same way the records did.  Atlanta again swept their way into the NLCS behind their talented trio – behind Smoltz, Maddux and Glavine the team gave up only 5 runs in the 3 games.  The Cardinals had a sweep of their own – beating out the Padres in 3 close games, all saved by new closer Dennis Eckersley.

Championship Series:

The NLCS was a hotly contested matchup that went to the 7-game limit.  Starting in Atlanta, Smoltz was excellent in game 1 and led the Braves to a 1-game lead.  Maddux gave up 3 early runs in game 2, but settled down until the 7th inning.  At that point, a Chipper Jones error eventually led to 5 unearned runs off of Maddux, capped by a 2-out grand slam to Gary Gaetti.  Ron Gant managed 2 home runs off Tom Glavine in the next game, and Eckersley got his 4th save of the postseason – the Cardinals had actually made it through the Braves vaunted trifecta of starters with a 2-1 lead!  The next game, a triple off the bat of Dmitri Young – who hadn’t even had enough time to qualify as a rookie yet – and a homer by Brian Jordan led the Cardinals to a win over Denny Neagle.  The defending World Champions were on the brink of elimination.

After scoring just 10 runs in the first 4 games, Atlanta’s offense woke up in game 5 – scoring two touchdowns worth of runs.  Smoltz won his 3rd game of the postseason, as he and the bullpen combined to shut out the Cardinals, 14-0, to send the series back to Atlanta.  Maddux was dominant in game 6, and the Braves evened the series to force a deciding game 7.  Glavine shut the door on the Cardinals in a blowout even more impressive than game 5.  In addition to throwing 7 innings of shutout ball, Glavine had a 3-run triple that blew the doors open in a 6-run first inning.

The Yankees-Orioles series started off in Yankee Stadium with one of the more controversial calls in Series history.  With the O’s on top 4-3 in the bottom of the 8th inning, Derek Jeter hit an opposite field fly ball toward the right field wall.  12-year old Jeffrey Maier reached over the wall in attempt to catch the ball, which  bounced off his glove over the wall to tie the game.  Orioles outfielder Tony Tarasco argued vehemently that it should have been fan interference, and replays showed he was probably right.  Three innings later, Bernie Williams hit a walk-off home run off closer Randy Myers to give the Yankees the first game of the series.

The Yankees scored twice in the first inning of game 2, but David Wells settled down and Baltimore battled back to tie the series behind a Rafael Palmeiro home run.  It was Baltimore’s turn to take a 2-0 first inning lead in the next game, and they still had a 2-1 lead going into the 8th inning.  It was all Yankees from there on out, though.  Ace Mike Mussina gave up 4 runs, capped off by a Cecil Fielder smash to knock him out of the game.  The Yankees won 8-4 in game 4 behind 2 homers from Darryl Strawberry, and a 6-run 3rd inning behind homers from Strawberry, Fielder and Jim Leyritz put the Yankees back in the World Series for the first time since 1981.

World Series:

To end their longest championship drought since Babe Ruth played in Boston, the Yankees needed to overthrow the defending champion Braves.  The Braves boasted the best starting pitching in baseball – but the Yankees had the best bullpen behind closer John Wetteland and phenom setup man – young Mariano Rivera.

It didn’t start out well for the Yankees.  Though rain pushed the game back a day, Atlanta maintained their torrid pace from the last 3 games of the NLCS.  Not even a rookie yet, 19-year old Andruw Jones became the youngest player to hit a World Series home run in the 2nd inning.  He followed that up with another shot in the 6-run 3rd, and Cy Young winner Smoltz dominated the Bronx Bombers to win his 4th game of the postseason (and 28th of 1996).  Maddux pitched 8 scoreless innings, and all of a sudden the defending champs were heading home with a 2 game lead.

Unfortunately for Atlanta, game 2 is the last World Series game they’ve won.  Glavine and Yankee starter David Cone dueled to a 2-1 game through 7 innings, before a Bernie Williams homer of Greg McMichael gave a cushion that Wetteland wouldn’t relinquish in the 9th.  I’ve always felt this game gets overlooked a bit in the history of baseball – if Cone wasn’t so outstanding, the Braves end up with an insurmountable 3-0 lead and who knows what happens to that Yankee dynasty if they don’t win the ’96 Series.

Atlanta bounced back early in game 4, taking a 5-0 lead and knocking Kenny Rogers out in the 3rd inning.  They tacked another run on in the 5th.  Denny Neagle was on a roll, but a couple of field miscues knocked him out of the game in the 6th inning and got the Yankees to within 6-3.  Manager Bobby Cox brought in closer Mark Wohlers in the 8th inning, but he wasn’t up to the task, giving up a dramatic 3-run homer to Jim Leyritz that tied the game.  The Yankees completed the comeback when Wade Boggs worked a “pinch walk” off of Steve Avery in the top of the 10th and a mistake by Ryan Klesko netted the Yankees another run and an 8-6 victory.

Smoltz was tasked with switching momentum back to Atlanta in game 5, and he was up to that task.  Unfortunately for him, so was 21-game winner Andy Pettitte.  The Braves’ hitters and fielder failed them.  The only run of this contest was an unearned one that scored due to a mixup between outfielders Marquis Grissom and Jermaine Dye.  This was the last game played at Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium.

Greg Maddux stood between New York and clinching the title at home.  And though Maddux was good, he was undone by a poor 3rd inning.  After a leadoff double and a ground out got Paul O’Neill to 3rd base, Grissom misjudged a fly ball and Joe Girardi ended up with an RBI triple.  Derek Jeter singled home Girardi, and after he stole second, Bernie Williams singled Jeter home.  The Yankees couldn’t muster any more runs off of Jeter, but that was all they needed.  After his starter gave up just one run through 5+ innings, Joe Torre pulled Jimmy Key and handed the game to his bullpen.  Rivera pitched scoreless 7th and 8th innings, and Torre brought in Wetteland to close the series.  The Braves managed a run and got the tying runner to 2nd base, but Wetteland got Mark Lemke to pop out and give the Yankees their first title in 18 years.  Wetteland won the Series MVP award after becoming the first pitcher to save all 4 wins.

1996 MLB season in review

Highlights and Events:

The 1996 looked promising as the first full season for MLB since 1993.  The season started off, however, with tragedy as home plate umpire John McSherry collapsed and died in the first game of the year at Cincinnati.  Marge Schott famously offended the Umpire’s union (and just about everyone else) by complaining that the game got cancelled.  After running away with the division the year before, Schott had fired manager Davey Johnson.  Call it karma, but the Reds – who seemingly had an even better team than the year before – finished .500 on the year.

One of the game’s favorite stars also didn’t start the season off where he expected.  Kirby Puckett was wrapping up an excellent spring training and appeared ready for a stellar 13th season when he woke up unable to see out of right eye.  He was diagnosed with glaucoma, and, sadly, was forced to retire early from the game in July.

Another future Hall-of-Famer also had his career end due to health reasons.  Tommy LaSorda had a mild heart attack in June that forced him to retire from the game just short of 1,600 wins.  One of LaSorda’s player came back from a health scare – Brett Butler missed 4 months out of the season for surgery from throat cancer, but returned on September 6th.

Ownership in St. Louis changed hands, as Anheuser-Busch sold the Cardinals to a group led by investor Bill De Witt, Jr.

Back to the field, a couple of neat things happened in the middle of May against the Mariners.  First, Dwight Gooden, suspended for the entire 1995 season for continued cocaine use, bounced back to no-hit the M’s at Yankee Stadium on May 14th.  3 days later, Chris Hoiles did something that’s never been done before or since in MLB history.  Down 3 runs with 2 out in the bottom of the 9th and the bases loaded in Baltimore, Hoiles worked a 3-2 count before hitting a walk-off home run – this is the only time this has ever happened in MLB history.

Al Leiter (3 days before Gooden) and Hideo Nomo also threw no-hitters in 1996.  Nomo’s was in Coors Field of all places!

Baseball also had some first-time venues in 1996.  The Oakland A’s actually opened the season in Las Vegas – construction to support the Raiders move back to Oakland went over and Oakland played their first 6 games at Cashman Field (they went 2-4).  A planned neutral site affair occurred in August, when the Padres hosted the Mets for a 3-game series at Estadio Monterrey in Monterrey, Mexico.  Fernando Valenzuela was, fittingly, the winning pitcher in the first game ever outside of the U.S. or Canada.

The Olympics brought the annual amateur diversion from the game – and the United States team had the most potential than any previously.  Unfortunately, the U.S. couldn’t get past Japan in the semifinals – despite clobbering them in the round robin play.  Thus they didn’t get the chance to face off against Cuba, who beat Japan 13-9 in the finals behind 3 home runs from Cuban great Omar Linares.  The U.S. did beat Nicaragua, 10-3, in the bronze medal game.

There were a bunch of milestones reached in 1996.

• Eddie Murray became the 15th (wow, how times have changed) player to hit 500 home runs.  He hit the milestone home run at home at Camden Yards off Tiger pitcher Felipe Lira.  Murray was the 3rd player to join both the 3,000 Hit and 500 HR clubs.
• After returning to his hometown Minnesota Twins, Paul Molitor joined Murray in the 3,000 Hit club.  He is the only player whose 3,000th hit was a triple.  He is also the only player to lead the league in hits the year he got his 3,000th hit – though Pete Rose led the National League in a season after collecting his entry to club 3,000.
• On a magical night on September 18th, Roger Clemens, nearing the end of his tenure with the Red Sox, tied his own record of 20 strikeouts in a 9-inning game.  Clemens gave up 5 hits and never let a runner past 2nd base in the 4-0 shutout of Detroit at Tiger Stadium.  The Rocket actually struck out 19 batters through 8 innings, and looked to have a shot at breaking the record, but he “gave up” 2 fly ball outs and a single to start the 9th.  He then got Travis Fryman to strike out to end the game and tie the record.
• Barry Bonds stole his 40th base at the end of the season to join Jose Canseco as the second player with 40 homers and 40 steals in a season.  A-Rod and Alfonso Soriano have since joined them.
• Brady Anderson hit his 50th home run of the year, becoming the first player with (separate) seasons of 50 homers and 50 stolen bases.  Bonds has since joined him.
• Mark McGwire also passed the 50 home run barrier – in only 130 games.  He led the majors with 52.

The season saw a continuation of the offensive explosion that had been building for a couple of years.  American League runs per game peaked at 5.39 (up from 5.06 the year before and 4.29 as recently as 1989) – this was the 3rd most in league history and the most since the 1930′s.  The National League had a similar, if not quite as exaggerated, increase.  Fifteen players had 3-homer games – which at the time tied the all-time record for a season.

Ken Griffey Jr. was one of those players – he hit 49 home runs and knocked in 140 runners on the year.  One of his more common RBI’s was a young Alex Rodriguez – in A-Rod’s first full year, he led the league with 141 runs scored, 54 doubles and a .358 batting average.  Jay Buhner pounded 44 HR and 138 RBI, while Edgar Martinez added 26 homers and a .327 average.  The Mariners had the best offense in baseball – scoring over 6 runs a game, or just under 1,000 on the season (993).

This wasn’t enough, though – staff ace Randy Johnson missed most of the season to a back injury and the Mariners were beat out by the Texas Rangers for the division title.  Juan Gonzalez beat out Griffey for the MVP award by slugging 47 homers and 144 RBI.  Texas had a lineup that was nearly as good as Seattle – but had a better starting staff, boasting 5 starters with double digit wins.

The Indians followed up their AL title with the best record in baseball for the 2nd straight year.  Albert Belle followed up the only 50-homer, 50-double season in history with one nearly as good.  He had 48 homers and 148 RBI.  Jim Thome (38/116) and Manny Ramirez (33/112) solidified themselves as stars, and Kenny Lofton (210 H, 75 SB) was again a force at the leadoff position.

The Yankees made the postseason again, as well – this time, though, they won the division.  George Steinbrenner fired manager Buck Showalter after he led the Yankees to their first playoff appearance in 14 years in 1995 – but suffered a disappointing walk-off playoff exit in the Division Series.  Steinbrenner hired Joe Torre, who’d won the 1971 NL MVP and had been fired from 3 managerial jobs – the same 3 teams he’d suited up for as a player (Mets, Braves and Cardinals).  Torre had seen some success as a manager; he’d taken the Braves to a Division title in 1983 and posted winning seasons in his 3 full seasons in St. Louis until being fired in the middle of 1995 for a poor record.  But he was somewhat of a controversial hire and certainly didn’t have the name that he does now.

The Yankees had a balanced team that they’d augmented through free agent pickups and players built from the farm system.  Bernie Williams and Derek Jeter – who won the Rookie of the Year award – were budding young stars.  Paul O’Neill was again the team leader, and Wade Boggs had his last All-Star season.  Tino Martinez, Joe Girardi and Mariano Duncan were all starters that were signed in the ’95/’96 offseason.  Ruben Sierra, Darryl Strawberry, Tim Raines and Cecil Fielder were all recent veteran acquisitions who gave the lineup a fearsome look against righties and lefties.  Any Pettitte nearly took home the Cy Young, leading a staff that featured Kenny Rogers, Jimmy Key, Gooden and David Cone.  After signing Roberto Alomar and getting the benefit of Anderson’s “strange” 50-homer output, Baltimore finished 3 games behind the Bronx Bombers and captured the Wild Card.

Like the Indians in the AL, the Braves successfully defended the best record in the National League.  This year, it was the third member of the Braves starting rotation who had the standout season.  John Smoltz went 24-8 and wrestled away the NL Cy Young from 4-time defending winner Greg Maddux.  As Tom Glavine had won it in 1991 – this trio of teammates had won the award in 6 straight seasons!  In reality, Glavine and Maddux were just as good as Smoltz – all three had an ERA under 3, but Maddux and Glavine had a bunch of no-decisions in quality starts.

The Padres won the West behind Tony Gwynn’s 7th batting title and an MVP season from Ken Caminiti – though in my mind, Barry Bonds or Mike Piazza clearly deserved the award.  The Dodgers were one game behind them after stellar seasons from their army of Rookie of the Year winners.  When Todd Hollandsworth took home the award, it gave the Dodgers the last 5 winners of the Jackie Robinson award – 1996 stats below.

• 1996 ROY – Hollandsworth (.291/12/59)
• 1995 ROY – Hideo Nomo (16-11/3.19)
• 1994 ROY – Raul Mondesi (.297/24/88)
• 1993 ROY – Mike Piazza (.336/36/105)
• 1992 ROY Eric Karros (.260/34/111)

The Pads and Dodgers beat out the Rockies in the team’s 2nd year in Coors Field.  But balls were still flying out in Denver!  Colorado scored a run more per game than any other NL team (5.93).  Unfortunately – they didn’t have a pitcher with an ERA under 4.90; games at Coors averaged 15 runs between both teams!  The Rockies did post some impressive individual totals, though.  After leading the league in batting a few years earlier, Andres Galarraga finished off the career triple crown by leading in homers (47) and RBI (150).  With Ellis Burks and Vinny Castilla hitting 40 homers as well, the Rockies became the 2nd team with 3 players with 40+ home runs (Atlanta, 1973) – a feat they’d match the next season.

The final playoff spot came from the Cardinals, who snagged Ron Gant (30 HR) from my Reds in the offseason.  Andy Benes was one of the better pitchers outside of Atlanta, winning 18 games to help them to 88 wins.

Best player in baseball was still an easy pick.  Barry Bonds wasn’t the NL MVP, and while Caminiti was deserving, Bonds and Jeff Bagwell were certainly was in the argument.  Bonds was still far ahead of any other player at this point.  Griffey, Bagwell, Biggio, and Frank Thomas all were in the discussion behind him.

Like Bonds, Greg Maddux didn’t take home the hardware, but even though he didn’t defend his 4th straight Cy Young award, he had a season worthy of consideration for the award.  He was still so far ahead of the pack as the best pitcher in baseball that it’s not even worth discussing someone else.

Read tomorrow for the postseason recap…

1963 Season – statistics

All-Star Game: NL over AL, 5-3 at Municipal Stadium in Cleveland, Ohio     (Willie Mays, MVP)

World Series: Los Angeles Dodgers over New York Yankees, 4-0     (Sandy Koufax, MVP)

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MVP: AL – Elston Howard, C, New York Yankees (.287/28/85)

NL – Sandy Koufax, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers (25-5/1.88/306, 11 SHO)

Cy Young: Koufax, SP, Los Angeles

RoY: AL – Gary Peters, SP, Chicago White Sox (19-8/2.33/189)

NL – Pete Rose, 2B, Cincinnati Reds (.270/6/41)

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Hall of Fame: John Clarkson, SP, Chicago White Stockings, Boston Beaneaters (VC)

Sam Rice, OF, Washington Senators (VC)

Eppa Rixey, SP, Cincinnati Reds (VC)

Elmer Flick, OF, Cleveland Indians (VC)

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Batting Leaders:

Avg. (AL) Carl Yastrzemski BOS .321, (NL) Tommy Davis LAD .326

HR (AL) Harmon Killebrew MIN 45, (NL) Hank Aaron MIL / Willie McCovey SFG 44

RBI (AL) Dick Stuart BOS 118, (NL) Aaron MIL 130

R (AL) Bob Allison MIN 99, (NL) Aaron MIL 121

SB (AL) Luis Aparicio CHW 40, (NL) Wills LAD 40

H (AL) Yastrzemski BOS 204, (NL) Vada Pinson CIN 204

Pitching Leaders:

W (AL) Whitey Ford NYY 24, (NL) Koufax LAD / Juan Marichal SFG 25

K (AL) Camilo Pascual MIN 202, (NL) Koufax LAD 306

ERA (AL) Gary Peters CHW 2.33, (NL) Koufax LAD 1.88

SV (AL) Stu Miller BAL 27, (NL) Lindy McDaniel CHC 22

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Trends and Stats:

0 players above .330 AVG

8 players above 30 HR, 4 above 40 HR

8 players above 100 RBI, 1 above 120 RBI

0 players above 50 SB

5 players above 200 H

10 pitchers above 20 W, 2 above 25 W

6 pitchers above 200 K, 3 above 250 K, 1 above 300 K

24 pitchers below 3.00 ERA, 8 below 2.50, 1 below 2.00

18 pitchers above 250 IP, 4 above 280 IP, 1 above 300 IP

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Read below for my All-Star selections.  There were no silver sluggers until 1980, so I won’t have an award to compare it to.

1963 Cincinnati Reds season

The Reds had another inductee to the Hall of Fame in 1963 – this time it was Eppa Rixey, the longtime starting pitcher.  Rixey won over 260 games in a career that spanned from the mid-teens to the early 30′s.  He was the Reds best pitcher in the 20′s, though he didn’t come to the team until just after they won the World Series in 1919.

The 1963 version of the Reds was again a good team, but again a team that really didn’t quite have the horses to win a pennant.  They were two years removed from winning the National League, but starting off slow (6-10 in April) was too much to overcome to compete.  They got back to .500 in early June, and were 6 games over .500 at the end of the month.  That actually got the team to within 4 games of the first, but after a 16-16 July, they were in 5th place, 8 games back, and effectively out of the race.  The Reds stayed in 5th, finishing 86-76, 13 games behind the eventual champion Dodgers.

This season is most notable for being Pete Rose’s rookie year.  Rose went 0-3 with a walk in his ML debut on April 8th.  He started his career 0-11 before getting the first of his 4,256 hits, a triple off the Pirates’ Bob Friend, 5 days later.  Rose ended up hitting .273 with 170 hits and running away with the Rookie of the Year award.

The Reds had some representation at the All-Star game.  Jim O’Toole had a great start to the season, going 13-6 (with 2 complete game losses to boot) and a 2.02 ERA at the break.  He was named the NL’s starting pitcher – which is something notable given the incredible year Sandy Koufax had.  Unfortunately, he didn’t have quite as successful of a 2nd half, finishing 17-14 with a 2.88 ERA.  His battery mate, Johnny Edwards, also made his first all-star game as a backup catcher.  Edwards hit 11 homers with 67 RBI, but most importantly was a Gold Glove winning catcher.  O’Toole pitched the first 2 innings, giving up 1 run, while Edwards went 0-2 as a late inning replacement.

Jim Maloney was actually the Reds’ best pitcher in 1963.  He went 23-7 with a 2.77 ERA and 265 strikeouts over 250 innings.  In a season when pitching started to take hold again, particularly in the National League, he was right up there with the best pitchers in the Senior Circuit who weren’t named Sandy.  Joe Nuxhall (15-8, 2.61) and John Tsitouris (12-8, 3.16) rounded out the Reds excellent starting rotation.

Offensively, Frank Robinson had a down year – he hit just .259 with 21 homers and 91 RBI.  Vada Pinson was the team’s true star – he somehow got left off the All-Star team despite leading the majors in hits and triples.

Team MVP: Vada Pinson (.313/22/106, 204 H, 14 3B)

Best Pitcher: Jim Maloney (23-7/2.77/265)

Award Winners:

Pete Rose, Rookie of the Year

Johnny Edwards, Gold Glove

All Stars:

Jim O’Toole (starter)

Edwards