Baseball Passings 2020

[Edgy MD]

I think it was pretty much something like this.



Scheffing: He's definitely someone the organization likes a lot. He's awful athletic for a slugger.



Winkles: He is. His legs are strong and healthy.



Scheffing: Is that his girlfriend he's talking to?



Winkles: Yeah, that's her. Name's Juanita.



Scheffing: Mmmm.



* * *



Jackson: Coach, that the Mets guy you were talking to? What was he asking about?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I tried to look into this some time back and my memory is wobbly, but the sense I got was that nobody was all that invested in the draft, certainly not to the degree they would become. The stories iirc had Casey going out to see Chilcott personally while the club was on road trip in San Francisco. The same wouldn't have been the case with Reggie and it may well have been just that.

[Frayed Knot]

Early versions of the MLB draft had them conducted in virtual secrecy (future players often wouldn't know until some time afterward that they had even been drafted much less where and by what team) in part

because the pro teams figured that if they drafted a HS kid it would tip off his potential to colleges who may have missed him but still had scholarship slots to fill. This would give the kid an option and therefore

bargaining power towards a bigger signing bonus and of course half the purpose of establishing the draft in the first place was to reduce the pre-draft bidding wars which escalated signing bonuses.



So, yeah, it certainly wasn't the highly publicized and scrutinized scientific pursuit it is today. And, as in the case of FA-gency (think George Young of the NFL Giants), there was reluctance by some to fully embrace

and/or trust this new-fangled way of doing things.

[G-Fafif]

Ann Mulvey Branca, widow of Ralph Branca, mother-in-law of Bobby Valentine. Her name often comes up in retelling of the aftermath of the Shot Heard 'Round the World, as Ralph and Ann were preparing to marry after the World Series.

[G-Fafif]

Bob Oliver, 77, 1B-OF for five teams from 1965-1975 and father of 2006 Met Darren.

[ashie62]

Almost an HOF

[Edgy MD]

You may be thinking of Al. I don't think Bob Oliver is even a Royals Hall-of-Famer.



Though he was an original 1969 Royal, and that's not nothing.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Part of the CARD CORNER series

Written by: Bruce Markusen



Excerpt:

With the Kansas City Royals newly entrenched as world champions, some 30 years after they last took the title, the timing is especially good to look at my favorite Royals card of all time. There have been a number of interesting Kansas City cards produced over the years, including the 1975 Topps card of Steve Busby (which mistakenly shows backup catcher Fran Healy instead of the young pitching ace), the 1978 card of George Brett (a very cool profile shot of the Hall of Famer sans a cap), the 1982 Fleer card of Dan Quisenberry (who can be seen in a middle of a crowded calisthenics workout), or the 1987 action-packed “Future Stars” card of Bo Jackson. They are all excellent, and all worthy of a more in-depth profile. But my first choice remains the 1972 Topps card of Bob Oliver. First off, the 1972 set is still my favorite, in part because of the bright psychedelic colors that decorated the borders of the cards. Red is not one of the Royals' primary colors, but this set makes you think that it is. Then there is the actual photograph of Oliver, which saturates us in the style of the 1970s and the old school manner of Topps photography. We see Oliver wearing a bright satin windbreaker, as so many players did in Spring Training during that era. (This must have been considered a standard way to sweat off some excess poundage accrued during the winter months.) Oliver is also wearing a helmet while taking his fielding position, in a way that is reminiscent of two of his contemporary first basemen: Dick Allen and George “Boomer” Scott. And then we have the overly exaggerated pose, with Oliver stretching his front leg far for an imaginary throw, as if he were playing in an actual game. This kind of photograph typifies the over-the-top postures that Topps once preferred. Just to add to the fun, the angle of the Topps camera creates the illusion of a first baseman's mitt that is significantly larger than what the rules would allow. Oliver's mitt appears so oversized that it could be used to cook up a pancake; it might have had the length and width of your standard kitchen frying pan. As a final touch, Topps provides us with the backdrop of Spring Training, where so many of their photographs were shot in the early seventies. The presence of bright blue skies and palm trees, not to mention what appears to be some kind of storage shed deep in the background, tell us clearly that this is a Spring Training practice field, far removed from the rigors of the regular season at Royals Stadium. When you're collecting baseball cards during the last vestiges of winter in February and March, there is nothing better than seeing cards that have been photographed in the warmth of Florida. Now that I've established my admiration for this card, it's time to tackle the subject of the card itself;

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https://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/card-corner/king-olliehttps://baseballhall.org/discover-more/stories/card-corner/king-ollie

[Edgy MD]

While it included some florescent colors, I'd call that design more "neo-Deco" than "psychedelic." The team names look like the giant names of 1920s movie palaces.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Edgy MD wrote: I'd call that design more "neo-Deco" than "psychedelic."

I like that description.

[stevejrogers]

https://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/local/rip-dan-walters-former-padres-catcher-and-sdpd-officer-dies-at-53/2311835/Former Padre catcher, and San Diego cop who was shot in the line of duty, Dan Walters

[batmagadanleadoff]

Eddie Robinson, born 12/15/1920, is the oldest living one-time major league baseball player. Robinson debuted in 1942. There are no living former major leaguers who played MLB in 1941, or earlier.

[G-Fafif]

Robinson was also the Rangers GM who sent the Mets Ron Darling and Walt Terrell for Lee Mazzilli.

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

Thanks, Eddie! What a deal for the Mets, even if it wasn't the deal they would have wanted.



The Mets tried desperately to find something to do with Mazzilli that spring. With Mookie taking over in center, Foster, Kingman, Staub, Valentine and Jorgensen taking up the corners and first base, Bamberger was talking about using Maz at second base. They needed pitching though.



The Blue Jays, Cubs and Rangers all wanted a center fielder. Mets tried for Dave Steib or Jim Clancy from Toronto and struck out; tried to get Lee Smith from the Cubs and failed, and were discussing a 3-way with Texas and Montreal that would get the Mets' Al Oliver for Maz, then Scott Sanderson for Oliver, but the Expos short-circuited that by trading direct with Texas, Oliver for Larry Parrish.



The Rangers were shopping because Mickey Rivers was out with an injury. Darling had been a first-round draft pick the previous summer and Terrell led the Texas League in wins in 81.

[bLOCKQUOTE]"We have had several conversations with Eddie Robinson of the Rangers, and when it became obvious we could not get a front-line starter, we prosed (sic) the names of Ron Rarling and Walt Terrell. Robinson said no right away. He turned us down a couple times before he agreed tonight to the deal."[/bLOCKQUOTE]

[Edgy MD]

The funny part was that, no only did they get 16 WAR out of Darling, four more out of Terrell, and 30.3 out of HoJo, it wasn't even in exchange for Mazzilli. It was in exchange for the right to hang on to Mazzilli until the Mets needed him again.



The real load on that team was Kingman. The Mets would have been a better team with Mazzilli at first, but Kingman had little trade value. And his continued tenure at first helped set up the Hernandez trade, so that was another hidden win there. Plus, the Mets got a future long-time announcer and short-time hitting coach.



And don't forget Tim Burke!

[G-Fafif]

Steve Dalkowski, the Orioles minor leaguer with the legendary stuff who never pitched in the majors, 80. From complications related to COVID-19.

[G-Fafif]

Joe Posnanski profiled Dalkowski last month as part of his Favorite Players series.

All 16 big-league teams made a pitch to him. Dalkowski ended up signing with Baltimore after scout Beauty McGowan gave him a $4,000 signing bonus, the largest allowed at the time. Yes, it's true that the other 15 teams probably also offered him the maximum bonus, but I'm not sure how many of the others paid him 12 grand under the table and bought him a new car. Anyway, that's how the story went. Whatever the Orioles paid, they undoubtedly would have paid more. An arm like that comes along once a century — maybe not even that often. “Steve is faster than any pitcher I've ever seen,” former big leaguer Billy DeMars said, “and I played against Bob Feller and Rex Barney.” The pitch was an absurdity. It's not like Dalkowski was some giant. He was a sturdy 5-foot-11, weighed 175 pounds or so, but there was something about his arm action, something about his wrist action, the baseball just jumped to light speed when it left his hand. And he had no earthly idea where it was going. Oh, he had a decent sense of the width of the plate. Of course, he wasn't exactly going to pitch to corners, but in general, his problem was not longitude. He could get somewhat over the plate. But how far over? Well, that was a problem. The Orioles would tell him to aim for the dirt in front of the plate, he'd throw the pitch nine feet over the catcher's head. There was some thought among the Orioles coaches that he simply put too much backspin on the ball and that made it rise beyond his ability to control it.

https://theathletic.com/1711134/2020/03/31/favorite-players-steve-dalkowski/?source=user_shared_articlehttps://theathletic.com/1711134/2020/03/31/favorite-players-steve-dalkowski/?source=user_shared_article

[MFS62]

Most of it was blocked by the Atlantic wanting me to sign up, so I couldn't read all of it. I remember reading he was so fast and so wild that one opposing team forfeited a game because their manager didn't want to risk a player getting hurt by his fastball.

RIP.

Later

[Edgy MD]

I read a lot about him in a book called High Heat.



Earl Weaver submitted an intelligence test to all his players. They were minor leaguers, so they didn't have much juice to complain, but a handful got the gumption to march into his office and ask wtf? He'd sit them down and re-assure them. "It's nothing personal. I'm probably not even going to look at the results and I have no intention of sharing them with anybody, but it's not fair to ask one guy to take the test and not everybody."



They'd sit there for a moment in confusion and then say, "Oh ... I get it. Dalkowski."



I think Dalkowski had his only good minor league period under Weaver. The manager had told the pitcher to not throw anything but fastballs unless he heard Weaver whistle, which was the green light allowing him to mix in breaking balls.



He'd only whistle two or three times a game, but the other players could supposedly feel the happiness radiating off of Dalkowski when he heard it.

[G-Fafif]

Bart Johnson, White Sox pitcher who appeared in every pack of baseball cards in the 1970s, 70.



https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/4/23/21233802/former-white-sox-pitcher-and-scout-bart-johnson-dieshttps://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/4/23/21233802/former-white-sox-pitcher-and-scout-bart-johnson-dies

[Guest 41Forever]

Bart Johnson, White Sox pitcher who appeared in every pack of baseball cards in the 1970s, 70. https://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/4/23/21233802/former-white-sox-pitcher-and-scout-bart-johnson-dieshttps://chicago.suntimes.com/white-sox/2020/4/23/21233802/former-white-sox-pitcher-and-scout-bart-johnson-dies

Oh my goodness, you are right! Every. Single. Pack!



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[G-Fafif]

Matt Keough, A's pitcher in the early '80s, 64.

[Edgy MD]

A heck of a young pitcher, despite never getting a lot of strikeouts, swallowed whole by the demands of BillyBall.



I once saw him throw a 14-inning complete game victory in 1980. I would imagine it's the last time any starter went that long. I'm not sure what I was doing watching an Oakland/Toronto matchup, but I guess it was the national broadcast.



Checking now and it seems that https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/TOR/TOR198005170.shtmlWOW, Dave Steib went 12 innings for Toronto also.



Toronto's secondbaseman in that game, Dámaso García, sadly appeared in this thread two weeks ago.

[Frayed Knot]

I wonder if Toronto manager Bobby Mattick got raked over the coals for pulling Steib and going to his bullpen too early in that one?

Prolly not, neither the internet nor sports talk radio were nearly as mean back in those days.





Keough was one of the pitchers that Billy Martin put through the wringer in that same year of 1980.

24 y/o at the time, Keough pitched a mere 250 innings in 32 starts/20 CG, a total which still had him trailing teammates Mike Norris [33 GS; 24 CG; 284 IP] and Rick Langford [33; 28; 290].

Steve McCatty [31; 11; 221] and Brian Kingman [30; 10; 211] (who famously racked up 20 losses that year) rounded out the staff. That's 93 complete games!! No wonder the entire team recorded just 13 Saves.

Only three games that year were started from someone other than those starting five who also combined for seven relief appearances and threw a stunning 85.4% of all Oakland innings that season.

The A's employed just 15 pitchers over the entire year and only eight of them (the above starters plus relievers Bob Lacey, Jeff Jones, Dave Hamilton) pitched as many as 20 innings. Hamilton, a 32 y/o lefty

who was in the final season of a nine-year career, was the only pitcher on the staff over 30. He, plus Lacey and Craig Minetto, started the three games NOT started by the big five. Those were also the only

three Oakland games that season started by a lefty.





And then the bills came due:

- Keough had really just one more effective year as a starter in the truncated season of '81. After that his ERA ballooned (led AL in RA & HR in '82) then kicked around in the bullpen for several seasons.

- Langford, 28 y/o at the time, went on to have two more complete seasons but was essentially done at age 30

- Norris, 25, started just 67 more games in his career over parts of three seasons

- McCatty, 26, had a terrific 1981 (2nd in CY) but was done as a starter by age 30 and out of the game by 31

- Kingman, 25, made just 35 more starts in MLB and was retired by age 28

[Edgy MD]

Trying to find out the pitch count for Keough's 14-inning marathon start, I was surprised to find out that it wasn't that unique. Langford, Norris and McCatty each had a 14-inning start of their own, also. Kingman, amazingly, was the only guy to avoid the 14-inning club.



While there are no official pitch count records, Norris later reported that he pulled his off with an economical 152 pitches. McCatty said he needed 207.

[batmagadanleadoff]

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[Frayed Knot]

A handful of other Matt Keough factoids that I hadn't previously known



- his father Marty (who survives him) and his uncle Joe (died last year) had 11 and 6 year careers in MLB in the 60s although I don't remember either one of them

- though Matt was a RHP, neither the father nor the uncle were pitchers and both threw and hit lefty

- Matt managed to snag himself a Playboy model/ZZ Top video girl as a wife, which I'm sure seemed like a good idea at the time

- Shockingly a) the marriage didn't last; and she went on to become a 'REAL HOUSEWIFE' of somewhere .. probably Orange County

- the marriage did last long enough to produce three kids including son Shane who played a couple years of minor league ball but well short of MLB

- it also produced a daughter who herself is now residing in 'REAL HOUSEWIFE'-ville somewheres in part due to her marriage to the brother of football star/bust/character Brian Bosworth

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

What cleat brand is Keough rocking? that's the important thing.

[Edgy MD]

That might be an early Mizuno logo?

[Johnny Lunchbucket]

I believe you are correct. Here's something from the Mizuno corporate site from 1970s:

https://media.mizuno.com/~/media/Images/com/heritage/1972_01_photo_sub.jpg>