The virtual 1958-68 Giants, Reds, and Cardinals (Part 9: 1965-66)
We’ve completed eight seasons of triangulated time travel:
1957-58
1958-59
1959-60
1960-61
1961-62
1962-63
1963-64
1964-65
The pinnacle of the National League standings has been the site of a sustained heavyweight slugfest between our Giants and Reds, with each so far bagging three-and-a-half pennants and coming very close nearly every time the other wins it. But for our Cardinals, it’s been eight long years of not-good-enough. Could this be the year this persistent dynamic is finally altered?
Giants: Actual Reds: Actual Cardinals: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 80 74 3 727 698 76 78 4 695 623 72 82 5T 619 704
1959 83 71 3 705 613 74 80 5T 764 738 71 83 7 641 725
1960 79 75 5 671 631 67 87 6 640 692 86 68 3 639 616
1961 85 69 3 773 655 93 61 1 710 653 80 74 5 703 668
1962 103 62 1 878 690 98 64 3 802 685 84 78 6 774 664
1963 88 74 3 725 641 86 76 5 648 594 93 69 2 747 628
1964 90 72 4 656 587 92 70 2T 660 566 93 69 1 715 652
1965 95 67 2 682 593 89 73 4 825 704 80 81 7 707 674
Giants: Virtual Reds: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 83 71 2T 747 692 73 81 5 683 637 77 77 4 640 677
1959 87 67 1T 737 615 87 67 1T 802 662 84 70 4 725 685
1960 93 61 1 709 561 76 78 6 705 666 86 68 4 661 632
1961 88 66 2 787 648 106 48 1 813 629 72 82 6 689 724
1962 103 59 1 800 632 101 61 2T 779 663 84 78 6 809 703
1963 97 65 3 726 578 100 62 1 704 540 80 82 6 664 668
1964 100 62 2 726 576 101 61 1 689 533 87 75 4 662 657
1965 99 63 1 697 587 98 64 2 843 646 85 76 5 692 622
The 1965-66 offseason: Actual deals we will make
Nov. 29, 1965: The Cincinnati Reds drafted pitcher Don Nottebart from the Houston Astros in the 1965 Rule 5 draft.
Nov. 29, 1965: The St. Louis Cardinals drafted pitcher Joe Hoerner from the Houston Astros in the 1965 Rule 5 draft.
We haven’t generally been listing the Rule 5 picks in this series, because they’re usually quite unimpactful.
But both of these guys are better talents than one usually finds available in Rule 5 drafts, and both our Reds and our Cardinals will snap them up as eagerly as their real-life counterparts. (The fact that both Nottebart and Hoerner were left off the Houston 40-man roster that fall may suggest some disarray in the Astros’ front office as GM Paul Richards and owner Roy Hofheinz quarreled, leading to the Wizard of Waxahachie’s you-can’t-fire-me-I-quit departure in December.)
Nov. 29, 1965: The San Francisco Giants drafted second baseman Don Mason from the Washington Senators in the 1965 Rule 5 draft.
And then there’s this selection. It isn’t odd on its face, as Mason is an intriguing prospect, a 20-year-old left-handed-batting second baseman who’s hit .285 with 18 homers in Class A in 1965.
But the Giants have already devoted a “bonus baby” investment to Bob Schroder, a left-handed-batting second baseman, and been forced to commit a major-league roster spot to an unproductive Schroder in 1965. Keeping Mason will require doing the same for this left-handed-batting second baseman in 1966, and while left-handed-batting second basemen are pretty cool, just how far in this direction is it prudent for a team to go?
Our Giants will draft Mason; at this point in the process there’s no downside. But in spring training, we’ll make him prove to us that he can pull his weight on the full-season roster or we’ll relinquish him.
The 1965-66 offseason: Actual deals we will not make
Oct. 20, 1965: The St. Louis Cardinals traded third baseman Ken Boyer to the New York Mets for pitcher Al Jackson and third baseman Charley Smith.
Oct. 27, 1965: The St. Louis Cardinals traded first baseman Bill White, shortstop Dick Groat, and catcher Bob Uecker to the Philadelphia Phillies for outfielder Alex Johnson, catcher Pat Corrales, and pitcher Art Mahaffey.
Our Cardinals don’t have Boyer, White, or Groat, so they can’t pull off this dramatic infield demolition engineered by St. Louis GM Bob Howsam.
Dec. 9, 1965: The Cincinnati Reds traded outfielder Frank Robinson to the Baltimore Orioles for pitchers Milt Pappas and Jack Baldschun and outfielder Dick Simpson.
Well, one might put it this way:
The Big One; a deal so notorious that more than 40 years later it remains high on everyone’s short list of All-time Bad Trades.
We’ve discussed before how clever a maneuver it was on the part of the Orioles. From the Reds’ point of view, the deal was prompted by Cincinnati Owner/GM Bill DeWitt’s concern that Robinson, his franchise player for a decade, was “an old 30” (along with a not-so-subtle undertone of discomfort with Robinson’s strong personality—read whatever racial implications into this you deem appropriate), as well as the opportunity to shore up the pitching staff following a season in which the Reds led the world in runs scored but finished fourth.
In such a circumstance, leveraging hitting surplus into pitching help was a fine strategy. But DeWitt, shall we say, whiffed on the execution: He guessed wrong in the estimation that decline was imminent for Robinson (strike one), he guessed wrong that the value garnered in this exchange was somewhere close to equivalent (strike two), and in any case he guessed wrong that Robinson’s contribution to the Reds—in terms of tangible play as well as intangible leadership—was indeed a surplus and not an essential (grab some pine).
While our version of the Reds has some pitching concerns, we’re nowhere close to being tempted to doing something like this.
The 1965-66 offseason: Deals we will invoke
Nov., 1965: The Cincinnati Reds purchased catcher Dave Ricketts from the St. Louis Cardinals.
With Ed Bailey appearing as though he’s nearing the end, this switch-hitting backup catcher is more valuable to our Reds than to our Cardinals.
Dec. 1, 1965: The St. Louis Cardinals traded outfielder Matty Alou to the Pittsburgh Pirates for pitcher Joe Gibbon.
Actually, on this date the Pirates made this one with the Giants. Since it’s our Cards who have Alou, they’ll accept Pittsburgh’s offer of the lefty Gibbon, whose peripherals in 1965 were incomparably superior to his 4.51 ERA. (Even an eight-year-old scrutinizing Gibbon’s 1965 Strat-o-Matic card could figure that out.)
Dec. 2, 1965: The San Francisco Giants traded pitcher Bill Hands, outfielder Ollie Brown, and catcher Randy Hundley to the Chicago Cubs for pitcher Dick Ellsworth.
Actually, the Giants traded Hands and Hundley to the Cubs for pitcher Lindy McDaniel and outfielder Don Landrum. But in our scenario, the Cubs don’t have McDaniel (our Cards do, and they aren’t parting with him), and we’re not sure if the Cubs have Landrum, but it doesn’t matter because our Giants don’t want him.
But as in reality, in our scenario the Cubs at this point would be struggling (even moreso than in reality), quite ready to deal marketable assets in return for high-potential young talent. This offer our Giants present is that for sure, and it’s hefty enough to plausibly command the durable, still-young southpaw Ellsworth, who’d been just so-so in 1964 and ’65 after busting out with a tremendous year in ’63.
Much as our Giants like Hands, Brown, and Hundley, our roster is so deep that the only one we have a spot for is Hands. And the resulting upgrade from Hands to Ellsworth in our starting rotation is worth this considerable price.
Dec., 1965: The San Francisco Giants traded outfielder-infielder Cap Peterson to the Washington Senators for outfielder Fred Valentine.
Valentine is a toolsy switch-hitting journeyman, but at the age of almost-31 is the type of player the still-struggling Senators would surrender for the right offer. Our Giants haven’t been able to find major league room for Peterson, but he’s a line-drive hitter with defensive versatility, and he’s just 23.
April, 1966: The San Francisco Giants returned infielder Don Mason (earlier draft pick) to the Washington Senators.
Yeah, we’re just not ready for that commitment. It isn’t you, Don, it’s us.
April, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Joe Nuxhall to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Hank Fischer.
We’re big fans of Nuxhall, who’s given us back-to-back-to-back fine years as a long reliever-spot starter in his Cincinnati career renaissance. But for 1966, he’s shaking out as our sixth left-handed pitcher, and on a staff of 10, that’s really not advisable. So we’ll exchange him for the right-hander Fischer, who isn’t as good, but is a decade younger.
April, 1966: The St. Louis Cardinals sold pitcher Bill Henry to the Philadelphia Phillies.
April, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds sold infielder Chico Ruiz to the Minnesota Twins.
End-of-spring training roster culling.
The 1966 season: Actual deals we will make
Aug. 15, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Hank Fischer to the Boston Red Sox for players to be named later and cash. (On Dec. 15, 1966, the Red Sox sent pitchers Dick Stigman and Rollie Sheldon to the Reds, completing the deal.)
Fischer does poorly in Cincinnati, and like the actual Reds, we’ll scrap him in August. The price the Red Sox are willing to pay is generous; both Stigman and Sheldon have fallen on hard times, but each is young enough to have an Act III yet to play.
The 1966 season: Actual deals we will not make
May 8, 1966: The San Francisco Giants traded first baseman-outfielder Orlando Cepeda to the St. Louis Cardinals for pitcher Ray Sadecki.
Mmm-hmm. As we put it in Blockbusters:
Branch Rickey’s famous trading maxim was, “It’s better to trade a player a year too soon than a year too late.” That’s sound wisdom, and a variant on it might be, “It’s better to trade a player when his market value is high than when his market value is low.” Buy low/sell high, in other words. Well, the Giants spectacularly botched this one in that regard.
Cepeda had been a superstar, of course, but he was coming off a season lost to major knee surgery, and it wasn’t yet clear just how fully he’d regain his form, so the Giants went ahead and dealt him while that doubt was holding his market value way down. Therefore, all they could get for him was Sadecki, who at just 25 was already in his seventh big-league season but had yet to establish himself as even so much as a consistent, dependable league-average starter.
Our Giants won’t go there.
May 11, 1966: The San Francisco Giants sold infielder Dick Schofield to the New York Yankees.
Like the actual Giants, we’ve been frustrated by Schofield’s offensive woes. But not frustrated enough to just cut him loose; we still see him contributing in a utility role.
May 20, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds sold pitcher Gerry Arrigo to the New York Mets.
Our Reds don’t have Arrigo. (And our Reds do still have Cesar Tovar.)
June 15, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds traded pitcher Joey Jay to the Atlanta Braves for pitcher Hank Fischer.
This is how the Reds actually acquired Fischer.
Aug. 16, 1966: The Cincinnati Reds purchased pitcher Gerry Arrigo from the New York Mets.
Interestingly, Cesar Tovar was not being sold and re-sold every three months in 1966.
The 1966 season: Deals we will invoke
May, 1966: The St. Louis Cardinals sold pitcher Joe Gibbon to the Washington Senators.
We still like Gibbon, but our Cards have not one but two emerging southpaws this year that will squeeze him off our staff at mid-May cut-down time.
1966 season results
Giants
We won the pennant in 1965, but that was despite three nagging problems. We have plans to address all three.
Problem No. 1 was the absence of Cepeda, and the strain that put on run production. He’s back for 1966 (though just how completely, we’ll have to find out) and ready to reclaim left field. We could move Jim Ray Hart, who handled left in Cepeda’s stead, back to right field, but that would deprive young Jose Cardenal of playing time, and he’s a multi-faceted talent we want to try to develop.
So instead, we’ll make Hart our primary third baseman (in the minors, he played mostly third, and—how about this—shortstop), easing 35-year-old Ken Boyer into a part-time role.
The second issue was the starting rotation behind Juan Marichal. We’re beefing that up with the addition of Ellsworth, and we think the enigmatic Gaylord Perry is capable of better than he delivered in 1965.
And problem No. 3 was twin offensive sinkholes in the middle infield. We’re dealing with that by sliding young Hal Lanier from second base over to shortstop, where he’ll share the position with Schofield, and we anticipate pinch-hitting liberally at this spot in the order.
At second base, we’ll introduce 22-year-old rookie Tito Fuentes, who, though he’s just a little guy, is coming off a monster Triple-A season in which he slugged .543 while playing his home games in a pitchers’ park, in a league that slugged .386.
1966 San Francisco Giants Won 106 Lost 55 Finished 1st
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B W. McCovey* 28 150 502 85 148 26 6 36 96 76 100 .295 .391 .586 .977 163
2B T. Fuentes 22 133 487 57 127 19 3 8 36 8 51 .261 .272 .361 .633 72
SS H. Lanier 23 134 344 28 79 11 2 2 28 12 37 .230 .251 .291 .541 48
3B-OF J. Hart 24 156 578 88 165 23 4 33 93 48 75 .285 .341 .510 .852 129
RF-CF J. Cardenal 22 128 374 54 108 11 3 11 32 21 45 .289 .328 .422 .750 104
CF W. Mays 35 152 552 99 159 29 4 37 103 70 81 .288 .367 .556 .923 149
LF-1B O. Cepeda 28 137 456 62 136 24 0 21 74 36 70 .298 .360 .489 .849 130
C T. Haller* 29 137 455 72 109 18 2 26 65 51 72 .240 .320 .459 .780 111
3B-1B K. Boyer 35 91 273 34 77 15 1 8 34 19 33 .282 .324 .432 .757 105
SS D. Schofield# 31 80 194 26 42 3 0 0 8 24 24 .216 .303 .232 .535 49
OF-1B W. Bond* 28 81 181 20 41 5 1 6 25 14 25 .227 .290 .365 .655 78
OF F. Valentine# 31 73 169 31 47 10 3 5 20 14 22 .278 .339 .462 .800 117
IF A. Rodgers 31 54 137 16 32 6 0 2 13 18 27 .234 .314 .321 .636 75
OF J. Alou 24 66 148 16 38 3 0 0 8 3 10 .257 .271 .277 .548 51
C B. Barton 24 43 91 1 16 2 1 0 3 5 5 .176 .216 .220 .436 20
C T. Talton* 27 37 53 8 18 3 1 3 6 1 5 .340 .364 .604 .967 159
IF R. Peña 26 21 40 3 8 1 0 0 3 3 7 .200 .256 .225 .481 33
C J. Orsino 28 14 23 1 4 1 0 0 0 0 7 .174 .174 .217 .391 6
Others 75 4 17 0 1 1 3 2 10 .227 .241 .293 .534 45
Pitchers 432 34 80 10 3 3 36 17 142 .184 .208 .240 .448 22
Total 5564 739 1451 220 35 202 686 442 848 .261 .316 .422 .737 100
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
J. Marichal 28 37 36 25 26 5 0 307 228 88 76 32 36 222 2.23 167
G. Perry 27 36 35 13 22 7 0 256 242 92 85 15 40 201 2.99 125
B. Bolin 27 36 34 10 13 9 1 224 174 85 72 25 70 143 2.89 129
D. Ellsworth* 26 31 29 7 8 9 0 179 204 92 72 17 33 104 3.62 103
D. LeMay* 27 17 15 2 2 2 0 66 84 43 36 12 28 27 4.91 76
B. Garibaldi 24 11 6 1 3 2 0 44 55 26 22 3 17 23 4.50 83
D. McMahon 36 61 0 0 10 5 7 90 76 34 27 8 39 62 2.70 138
B. O'Dell* 33 59 0 0 5 3 3 102 104 35 30 5 38 62 2.65 141
S. Miller 38 51 0 0 9 4 15 92 71 30 26 5 20 66 2.54 147
F. Linzy 25 42 2 0 6 7 4 86 92 34 28 4 29 49 2.93 127
Others 4 0 2 2 0 31 34 22 19 3 19 20 5.52 68
Total 161 58 106 55 30 1477 1364 581 493 129 369 979 3.00 124
* Throws left
Cepeda doesn’t display peak form, but he’s very good. Hart proves able to handle third base (as had Cepeda several years ago), and Boyer is productive coming off the bench. Cardenal hits well, as does catcher Tom Haller. Willie Mays finally begins to show signs of slowing down, but he remains extremely good, and Willie McCovey is as productive as ever.
Fuentes struggles with strike zone judgment but hits adequately. Our lineup overall is once again fearsome, leading the major leagues in home run production, blasting over 200 bombs for the fifth time in six years.
Ellsworth isn’t great, but he’s solid, and he fits in nicely as a southpaw fourth starter behind right-handers Bob Bolin (who’s excellent), Perry (who does bust out as a star), and Marichal (who’s utterly brilliant). Sophomore sinkerballer Frank Linzy, who worked as a starter as a midseason call-up in 1965, moves to the bullpen to replace Masanori Murakami (who’s returned to Japan) and completes a rock-solid, four-deep relief corps.
It’s an outstanding team without significant weakness. With an assist from Pythagoras, who allows us to outperform our projection by seven full games, we cruise to a glittering 106-55 record, tying the all-time franchise record for wins set way back in 1904.
In most seasons, that would be more than enough for a runaway pennant, but not this year. We do capture the flag, our fourth outright (plus one first-place tie) in nine seasons since coming West. But it turns out to be a magnificent squeaker of a race, and we’re grateful for every last bit of that good Pythagorean fortune as we sweat it out.
Reds
We’ve made minimal changes to the roster that finished second by an eyelash in 1965. Ricketts is taking over as third-string catcher, and sophomore Tommy Helms beats out Chico Ruiz for one of the backup infielder spots. Nottebart and rookie Ted Davidson will join the bullpen.
1966 Cincinnati Reds Won 87 Lost 73 Finished 5th
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B B. White* 32 144 471 81 140 19 5 21 85 59 82 .297 .372 .493 .865 129
2B P. Rose# 25 156 654 107 205 38 5 16 70 37 61 .313 .347 .460 .807 114
SS L. Cardenas 27 144 454 52 116 20 3 16 65 36 70 .256 .307 .419 .725 92
3B-1B D. Johnson 27 128 404 66 104 20 2 19 65 31 70 .257 .309 .458 .766 102
RF F. Robinson 30 155 576 124 189 36 3 47 123 75 92 .328 .410 .646 1.056 177
CF V. Pinson* 27 156 618 77 178 35 6 16 76 33 83 .288 .323 .442 .765 102
LF T. Gonzalez* 29 132 384 58 114 21 4 7 40 25 61 .297 .342 .427 .769 105
C J. Edwards* 28 98 282 24 54 8 0 6 39 31 42 .191 .266 .284 .550 47
OF T. Harper 25 99 277 45 75 11 3 3 16 27 44 .271 .337 .365 .701 88
C J. Azcue 26 93 272 24 81 10 1 8 44 15 21 .298 .332 .430 .762 102
3B T. Perez 24 99 257 25 68 10 4 4 41 14 44 .265 .302 .381 .683 82
IF T. Helms 25 69 181 24 50 7 0 3 16 7 11 .276 .302 .365 .667 78
UT C. Tovar 25 67 116 14 30 5 2 1 10 8 14 .259 .302 .362 .664 77
C D. Ricketts# 30 46 75 7 20 2 1 0 5 3 3 .267 .288 .320 .608 62
LF J. Lynch* 35 64 56 5 12 2 0 1 6 4 11 .214 .267 .304 .570 52
Others 34 5 9 2 0 1 4 2 7 .265 .306 .412 .717 90
Pitchers 417 31 67 10 2 1 18 19 131 .161 .188 .203 .391 5
Total 5528 769 1512 256 41 170 723 426 847 .274 .323 .427 .750 99
* Bats left
# Bats both
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
C. Osteen* 26 39 38 9 18 12 0 252 260 101 97 11 70 141 3.46 114
J. Maloney 26 32 32 10 17 7 0 225 174 75 70 18 90 216 2.80 141
S. Ellis 25 37 32 6 12 14 0 199 201 120 115 31 71 140 5.20 76
J. O'Toole* 29 25 24 2 5 6 0 142 139 65 56 16 49 96 3.55 111
J. Jay 30 27 12 1 6 4 1 103 118 60 58 11 44 65 5.07 78
H. Fischer 26 29 12 0 2 8 0 86 108 52 49 5 30 47 5.13 77
D. Nottebart 30 59 1 0 5 4 12 111 97 45 38 11 43 69 3.08 128
B. McCool* 21 57 0 0 8 7 19 105 76 32 29 5 41 104 2.49 159
T. Davidson* 26 54 0 0 5 4 4 85 82 41 37 11 23 54 3.92 101
J. Pizarro* 29 34 9 1 8 4 3 89 109 54 49 13 33 43 4.96 80
D. Zanni 34 15 0 0 1 1 0 25 20 9 8 2 11 20 2.88 137
D. Osteen 23 13 0 0 0 2 1 15 26 21 20 3 9 17 12.00 33
Others 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 2 2 0 1 0 18.00 22
Total 160 29 87 73 40 1438 1413 677 628 137 515 1012 3.93 100
* Throws left
Robinson emphatically vindicates our decision to keep him by delivering perhaps his greatest year, leading the majors in home runs, runs scored, RBIs, slugging, and OPS. Our hitting encounters just one problem, an inexplicably terrible year from catcher Johnny Edwards, and while we aren’t the juggernaut we were in ’65, our offense is very good, scoring the most runs in the major leagues.
On the mound, we get strong years from top starters Claude Osteen and Jim Maloney and ace reliever Billy McCool. But we also get a host of problems. Neither Fischer nor Jay are effective. Our sore-armed lefties of 1965, Jim O’Toole and Juan Pizarro, both avoid the DL this time, but neither is an ace like before, as O’Toole is so-so and Pizarro pretty bad.
But the worst problem is that young Sammy Ellis, a relief sensation as a rookie in 1964 and a 20-game winner as a sophomore in ’65, becomes extremely hittable this time around, his ERA ballooning well over 5.00.
The result is a Cincinnati team dropping to fifth place after finishing first or second for five straight years. It isn’t our Reds who challenge the Giants for the pennant this time.
Cardinals
Despite finishing in fifth in 1965, we liked what we were seeing at most positions and have made only a few alterations for ’66. Rookie left-hander Larry Jaster will compete for a spot in the starting rotation, and the Rule 5 pick Hoerner will claim a role in our bullpen.
There will be a big change in venue, as in 1966 St. Louis unveils brand-new, circular, state-of-the-art Busch Memorial Stadium.
1966 St. Louis Cardinals Won 105 Lost 57 Finished 2nd
Pos Player Age G AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS OPS+
1B L. Thomas* 30 114 275 26 62 5 1 6 29 24 30 .225 .294 .316 .610 70
2B J. Javier 29 140 414 35 95 12 5 6 35 23 57 .229 .267 .326 .593 64
SS-2B J. Buchek 24 123 358 32 85 13 5 6 36 29 90 .237 .289 .352 .641 78
3B M. Shannon 26 137 459 61 132 20 6 16 77 37 106 .288 .337 .462 .799 120
RF-1B F. Alou 31 154 633 94 211 31 7 24 92 23 48 .333 .365 .518 .883 143
CF C. Flood 28 152 563 77 150 19 5 9 61 23 45 .266 .295 .366 .661 83
LF L. Brock* 27 156 643 103 183 24 12 15 51 31 134 .285 .320 .429 .749 106
C T. McCarver* 24 146 516 64 143 18 13 11 64 34 36 .277 .321 .426 .748 106
1B-OF A. Shamsky* 24 96 257 37 63 8 1 16 42 35 52 .245 .330 .471 .801 120
SS D. Maxvill 27 112 263 17 64 9 2 0 18 25 41 .243 .307 .293 .600 68
1B-C D. Pavletich 27 83 235 28 70 14 2 8 36 18 39 .298 .348 .477 .824 127
3B-2B P. Gagliano 24 90 213 23 54 8 2 2 19 24 29 .254 .326 .338 .664 85
OF T. Savage 29 70 123 21 28 8 2 3 20 16 27 .228 .312 .398 .710 96
C B. Uecker 31 39 52 4 9 1 0 2 7 4 10 .173 .224 .308 .532 46
IF J. Williams 22 19 30 2 7 1 0 0 2 2 7 .233 .281 .267 .548 54
Others 94 9 20 6 1 1 8 7 13 .213 .272 .330 .602 67
Pitchers 410 34 68 14 1 4 26 15 154 .166 .182 .234 .416 15
Total 5538 667 1444 211 65 129 623 370 918 .261 .305 .392 .698 93
* Bats left
Pitcher Age G GS CG W L SV IP H R ER HR BB SO ERA ERA+
B. Gibson 30 35 35 20 24 9 0 280 210 90 76 20 78 225 2.44 148
L. Jackson 35 38 35 10 16 11 0 230 230 91 84 22 58 103 3.29 110
A. Jackson* 30 36 30 9 16 10 0 210 197 72 57 16 41 82 2.44 148
L. Jaster* 22 23 21 6 12 4 0 145 117 54 52 16 42 87 3.23 112
N. Briles 22 28 17 0 5 8 2 104 110 46 40 11 40 69 3.46 105
J. Gelnar 23 27 17 1 6 4 0 99 111 46 44 13 31 49 4.00 91
E. Fisher 29 60 0 0 5 5 15 86 77 30 26 4 24 47 2.72 133
H. Woodeshick* 33 59 0 0 3 0 4 70 57 17 15 5 23 30 1.93 188
L. McDaniel 30 58 0 0 9 3 5 98 80 33 27 3 29 76 2.48 146
J. Hoerner* 29 57 0 0 6 0 13 76 57 16 13 5 21 63 1.54 235
Others 7 3 3 3 2 59 48 19 16 2 19 40 2.44 148
Total 162 49 105 57 41 1457 1294 514 450 117 406 871 2.78 130
* Throws left
It isn’t a season in which everything goes according to plan. First baseman Lee Thomas slumps so badly that he loses his starting role. Second baseman Julian Javier hits quite poorly, as well, though his slick glove allows him to retain his first-string job, more or less. And The Phantom’s fellow defensive whiz, center fielder Curt Flood, wields a third slump-ridden bat.
But the parade of good news is long and boisterous. Right fielder Felipe Alou delivers his best year, leading the league in hits and finishing second in batting average. Third baseman Mike Shannon breaks through as a productive regular. Art Shamsky comes off the bench with outstanding power to grab the first-base job from Thomas. With solid years from left fielder Lou Brock and catcher Tim McCarver, and robust lefty-mashing work from platoon hitter Don Pavletich, we mount a league-average offense despite our slumps.
And this competent offense is paired with a pitching staff of rare and exquisite excellence. Ace Bob Gibson has never been more terrific. Southpaw Al Jackson, a humdrum innings-eater in seasons past, comes up with a marvelous performance of his own, combining with Gibson and veteran right-hander Larry Jackson to form an outstanding top three. Jaster and sophomore Nelson Briles provide reliable spot starting.
Hoerner is tremendous. He joins fellow lefty Hal Woodeshick and right-handers Lindy McDaniel and Eddie Fisher to form a four-man relief unit that is an impervious and dazzling gem.
No major league ball club since 1954 has presented an ERA+ better than ours. Led by this phenomenal staff (and helped a little bit by a three-win Pythag cushion), our 105 victories are the second-most in St. Louis history. We finish, heartbreakingly, in second, but there is no question that our long struggle to produce a contender is over. These Cardinals are, at last, absolutely for real.
Next time
In a suddenly new reality, we find ourselves asking if it’s the Reds who might be able to get within hailing distance of the front-runners in 1967.
Giants: Actual Reds: Actual Cardinals: Actual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 80 74 3 727 698 76 78 4 695 623 72 82 5T 619 704
1959 83 71 3 705 613 74 80 5T 764 738 71 83 7 641 725
1960 79 75 5 671 631 67 87 6 640 692 86 68 3 639 616
1961 85 69 3 773 655 93 61 1 710 653 80 74 5 703 668
1962 103 62 1 878 690 98 64 3 802 685 84 78 6 774 664
1963 88 74 3 725 641 86 76 5 648 594 93 69 2 747 628
1964 90 72 4 656 587 92 70 2T 660 566 93 69 1 715 652
1965 95 67 2 682 593 89 73 4 825 704 80 81 7 707 674
1966 93 68 2 675 626 76 84 7 692 702 83 79 6 571 577
Giants: Virtual Reds: Virtual Cardinals: Virtual
Year W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA W L Pos RS RA
1958 83 71 2T 747 692 73 81 5 683 637 77 77 4 640 677
1959 87 67 1T 737 615 87 67 1T 802 662 84 70 4 725 685
1960 93 61 1 709 561 76 78 6 705 666 86 68 4 661 632
1961 88 66 2 787 648 106 48 1 813 629 72 82 6 689 724
1962 103 59 1 800 632 101 61 2T 779 663 84 78 6 809 703
1963 97 65 3 726 578 100 62 1 704 540 80 82 6 664 668
1964 100 62 2 726 576 101 61 1 689 533 87 75 4 662 657
1965 99 63 1 697 587 98 64 2 843 646 85 76 5 692 622
1966 106 55 1 739 581 87 73 5 769 677 105 57 2 667 514
References & Resources
In case you’re wondering what a league might look like that has its top two teams combining for 211 wins, and its fifth-place team capturing 87…
I certainly haven’t “spreadsheeted” any of the other teams the way I have our three protagonists, but through this exercise, I have kept an off-the-top-of-the-head estimate of how each year’s NL standings would turn out, given the probable moves everyone else would be making in this scenario. And here’s how the 1966 National League standings might have been:
Team W L Pos SAN FRANCISCO 106 55 1 ST. LOUIS 105 57 2 Pittsburgh 90 72 3 Los Angeles 89 73 4 CINCINNATI 87 73 5 Philadelphia 71 91 6T Houston 71 91 6T Atlanta 70 92 8 New York 62 99 9 Chicago 57 105 10
Quite a peculiar outcome, no doubt: a league not only with extreme totals at both ends, but also with no team close to .500, just five clear winners and five clear losers.
My problem with the Cepeda non-trade and your projections is they are based on offense only, right? I don’t believe either Cepeda or McCovey could play in the OF and they both could not play 1B. They had to choose one or the other. Of the two, I think keeping McCovey was the right choice.
Sadecki didn’t pitch all that badly for the Giants, but was plagued by poor run support, ironic pitching for a team that had Mays, McCovey and Hart in the middle of the lineup. The big problem for the Giants was they had nobody getting on base in front of the big 3.
“I don’t believe either Cepeda or McCovey could play in the OF and they both could not play 1B.”
All the evidence we have indicates that McCovey was a horrible defensive LF, and adequate at 1B, while Cepeda was an adequate defender in LF, and average-to-good at 1B.
“Sadecki didn’t pitch all that badly for the Giants”
Over his entire 1966-69 stint with the Giants, he didn’t pitch badly. In 1966, however, he did pitch badly, very very much so.
Thanks for the kind words, will.
Re: Matty Alou. An interesting question to ponder (and I can be accused of chickening out on addressing it in this series) is to what degree Matty’s blossoming in 1966 was a function of Harry Walker’s influence, or whether Alou would have made the adjustment he did that year (adopting the huge “bottle bat” and choking up and shortening his stroke even more than it had been) and enjoyed the same remarkable results no matter where he was playing.
And, oh, just because it’s fun: one of my brothers-in-law was such a huge Matty Alou fan that he named his first son (born in the early ‘70s) Matthew, and when he was little they called him Matty.
Love this series, Steve. When I read of the Matty Alou trade though I thought what a shame. An outfield of Brock, Flood and M. Alou with F. Alou at 1B would have been a slash and dash dream. Such a team would not have had a lot of power but would sure have been fun to watch. As a lifetime Reds fan this series is enlightening and sad. I always felt the Reds had traded away a pennant or two during the 60’s, but the dominance in this series from 1961-65 is amazing. This series I think highlights the absolute importance of a good GM. It also highlights the damage a poor one can do.
A fascinating look, particularly for this Giants fan who was just discovering baseball in the mid-60’s. And I’m with you on the Cepeda/McCovey logjam; you don’t trade low, and of the two Cepeda was the better choice for LF. Even coming off an injury, you put him in LF and see how things develop.
Thanks for an unusual and entertaining trip down memory lane!
“Even coming off an injury, you put him in LF and see how things develop.”
Yeah, and what’s really weird (these being the Giants, a certain degree of weirdness is a given) is that in the early weeks of the ‘66 season that’s what they were doing. Pretty much for the first time since 1959, they were just deploying Cepeda as the primary LF and McCovey as the primary 1B, the simplest and most obvious choice, but being such, had perennially eluded the grasp of Alvin Dark. And then, boom, they trade Cepeda for Sadecki.
As far as we can tell, the advocates for accepting the St. Louis offer were Chub Feeney and Herman Franks. Stoneham wasn’t in favor, but got tired of telling Feeney and Franks no, and let them win this one. Oops.
And apparently Franks’ motivation was just that he was sick and tired of Cepeda bitching and moaning about having to play LF, something that McCovey had never indulged in, though if anyone would have the right it would have been McCovey.
I don’t know where you get a statement like “all the evidence we have indicates that……Cepeda was an adequate defender in LF”. I”m wondering if you could educate me about what that evidence is. As far as I know Cepeda only played a handful of games in LF after coming back from the knee injury before being traded. Is it possible that the Giants, and Cepeda himself, saw that he was unable to cover LF and that is what prompted the trade?
I’m describing Cepeda’s defensive capability before the knee injury, not following it. There is every reason to believe Cepeda was displaying miniscule range in the early weeks of 1966. You’re correct that it’s clear that this weighed heavily in the Giants’ decision to trade him.
But all that’s simply the details of a sell-low dynamic. It would have been vastly more prudent for the Giants to demonstrate some patience and see how well Cepeda would be moving after he fully regained his playing shape, which he did over the balance of ‘66, and certainly by 1967, when among other features of his MVP performance was an 11-for-13 as a base stealer.
The notion isn’t that Cepeda would have been a good defensive outfielder from 1966 forward. But far slower, less defensively adept athletes than Cepeda have managed to play left field in the major leagues. Cepeda could run circles around a Rico Carty, a Frank Howard, or a Harmon Killebrew. The idea that Cepeda alone couldn’t handle catching routine flies in left field is unfounded.
The dynamic was that Cepeda handled the situation in a selfish, immature manner, constantly whining and complaining about how unfair it was for him to have to play left field (something McCovey never, ever did), and the Giants spent nearly all of the 1959-66 period giving in to his peevish tantrums, the trade just being the cherry on top. A stronger organization would have been decisive and firm in doing what was best for the team, and telling Cepeda to man up and focus on helping the team win games.
Cepeda could run circles around Carty, Howard and Killebrew? Really? After the knee injury? And you know this how?
You also know that the Giants did not tell him to man up and go play LF?
Again, maybe you could educate me about your sources for this information.
Again, I believe the preponderance of evidence is that Cepeda could not play LF, McCovey was the better choice at 1B going forward and Cepeda was not going to rebuild his value with no position to play.
Think the Giants would have loved the “DH” rule about then? How many players over the years would have altered pennant races if they could play their best position-hitter? Instead some very good, maybe even great players just sat or were traded like Cepeda. One rule change might have had a big effect in some of the close races through the years.
“Cepeda could run circles around Carty, Howard and Killebrew? Really? After the knee injury? And you know this how?”
Did you watch these guys play?