Mets Baseball Cards Like They Ought To Be!: Oakland A's

Showing posts with label Oakland A's. Show all posts

Monday, November 17, 2014

1974 mfc/ '73 WORLD SERIES- A's vs. METS /Game 4

...................................................................wait for it.

Rusty's shoulder was just getting better when Mr. Met hit Staub with some card text. It was a setback, but La Grande Orange came to play and insisted on being in the line-up.

Of course, that's in Fantazyland. In real life Mr. Met didn't get a pogo stick until the very late 1970's.

Reality was a tense affair.

Sal Bando, A's team captain, discussing the Andrews fiasco with the press before game four.

Night in the city. 51 degrees and windy. 54,817 fans pack Shea Stadium. The Mets down two games to one. All the NY Press want to talk about is will Mike Andrews play?
Jon Matlack vs Ken Holtzman, both excellent southpaws, get the start.

With the wind chill it's bone cold.

"I grew up pitching in this weather. We didn't see a lot of it this season, but it didn't bother me."

Mets starting pitcher Jon Matlack, a native of Westchester, Pa.

A's owner Charlie Finley was directly involved in every facet of team management from contracts and trades, uniform design, PR work (in his case,publicity stunts), the color of the urinal cakes in the stadium,...everything.

After the 1971 season he traded outfielder Rick Monday to the Cubs for Holtzman, an excellent move. Joining a staff that featured Vida Blue and Catfish Hunter, he won 19 games in 1972 (7th in the AL). In 1973 he was an All-Star, going 21–13 (4th-best in the AL) in 40 starts with 157 strikeouts. 40 starts and 297.1 innings!, an amazin' total. Over the next 33 years only two other left-handers had as many starts in a season.

Anyone know who those 2 lefties were?

New York got things started right away in their half of the first. Lead off batter Wayne Garrett started the game with his first hit in the series that wasn't a home run. He singled to right. Felix Millan followed with what was just a perfect bunt. He dropped at the last second and rolled one to Sal Bando at third, who seemed to have misplayed everything hit his way in this series.

With Mets on first and second Rusty Staub was coming up. I've mentioned times we wished Rusty was up but due to injury he wasn't, and what a loss that was. Staub showed us why such thinking was justified. With a bad shoulder that seriously impeded his batting, he was able to adjust and launch a high liner to left that cleared the bases in a single, one armed swing, giving the Mets a 3-0 lead after three men had come to the plate.

"I hit a fastball. I hit the ball perfectly so it could carry that way [to opposite field]. I knew the wind was gusting out there. I thought, though, that it would fall between the fielders.

I was kind of surprised when it went over the fence.

I was running as hard as I could because I wasn't sure it was out.

It was the first ball I've hit out since the shoulder injury, and obviously, the wind helped." Rusty Staub after game four.

I love these kinds of diagrams. This one is trying really hard to show the trajectory that the ball went on it's way over the left field fence. Unfortunately, it looks more like a low liner to the warning track that Dick Green should have snagged.

The Mets, 11th in the National League in regular season homers, now had four World Series homers. The powerhitting A's had none.

"Even though we're not a team that plays for the big inning, the fact that we have no homers is important."

Manager Dick Williams

Rusty's blast was the beginning of the end for Ken Holtzman. The A's lefty was victorious in the first game of the series, but tonight he wouldn't get out of the first inning. After Staubs long ball Holtzman walked big John Milner, gave up a single to Jerry Grote, and was off to the warmer climes of the clubhouse showers.

In the fourth the Athletics tapped the Mets on the shoulder with a run, and in the bottom of the inning New York answered right back with a 3 run slap in the face. Staub drove in two more with a single. It could have been worse but an aggressive Jerry Grote was cut down at the plate to end the inning.

Joe Rudi continued to do his thing, which fortunately (for the Mets) only involved playing a fine left field in game four. In the fifth inning Don Hahn got a hold of one and it looked to make it into the visiting bullpen for a homer, or at worst, off the wall for extra bases.

But Rudi had this habit of getting between balls and walls, and as he did in the 1972 World Series, he went up against it and put some leather in the way.

It's deja vu all over again!

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Ya know, I could write a whole post about the Oakland Athletics owner, Charlie O. Finley. What a character of the game. Sometimes a brilliant innovator, sometimes a complete jackass, the old coot influenced baseball in more ways than you know.

In 1967 Charlie's Kansas City A's (they moved to Oakland at the end of 1967) internal workings were rumbling. It started with an incident on a A's team flight, some maligned discipline, and ended with Finley firing his manager Alvin Dark (RIP).

One of the teams best hitters, Ken "Hawk" Harrelson, was quoted saying "Finley is a menace to baseball". Hawk was unconditionally released. Harrelson was immediately snatched up by the first place Boston Red Sox, signing for $75,000.

The ramifications of Harrelson's free agency so disturbed major league owners that they amended the rules so that, in the future, a released player had to pass through waivers before becoming a free agent.

Flash forward to 1973. Although it wasn't official, it was no secret that Dick Williams would be quitting as manager of the Oakland Athletics due to the owners harsh treatment of his veteran 2nd baseman after game 2 of the World Series.

You've read in game two and game three what Mike Andrews went through.

He would return to pinch hit in game four of the '73 series to a standing ovation at Shea. Mets fans loved underdogs. This story almost trumped the New York games themselves, and did in some circles.

Andrews grounded out and the ovation continued as he came off the field. It would be his last major league at bat.

Unbelievably the very next year yet another player relations nightmare dominated the 1974 post-season. This time it involved not a backup infielder but the contract of a 25-game winner, Jim "Catfish" Hunter.

Card from WhenToppsHad(Base)Balls

In January 1974, Hunter had signed a two-year contract for a salary of $100,000 per year. The arrangement included a wrinkle: half his salary was to be paid into a life insurance fund as a form of deferred payment.

Hunter had a great season in 1974, receiving both The Sporting News's "Pitcher of the Year" award and the American League Cy Young Award after going 25–12 with a league leading 2.49 earned run average. The A's also won their third consecutive World Series.

On the day before the '74 World Series began in Los Angeles, the story broke that Finley had not paid the mandated $50,000 to the insurance company, even after receiving written notice in mid-September. Hunter reportedly planned to ask for his release from his contract as soon as the 1974 World Series was over. Like Dick Williams the year before, he had had enough.

Finley, obviously more worried than he admitted, went into the clubhouse with American League President Lee McPhail to present Hunter with a check for the amount due. Hunter refused to accept the check and told Finley that they would discuss it after the Series was over.

Hunter's statistics while he was with the Athletics were impressive: four consecutive years with at least 20 wins, and in World Series play he was undefeated at 4-0.

Catfish @ Shea!

After a month of rumors in the press, a hearing was held on November 26 in New York City in front of arbitrator Peter Seitz. On December 13, 1974 Seitz found for Hunter and declared him a free agent.

Catfish's first, personal reaction was fear. After years of being one of Charlie O's head of cattle, he said to his wife,"We don't belong to anybody now."

The baseball world went berserk--never before had a player of Hunter's caliber been available to the highest bidder at the height of his career. A three-week bidding war ensued among nearly every team in baseball.

The Yankees landed Hunter with a five-year deal totaling $3.75 million, more than three times the annual rate for the top stars in the game. The players could not help but notice what they could make on the free market. Baseball would never be the same.

How ironic that it was Charlie O's stinginess and stubbornness that would play a part in the upward explosion of player salaries.

And that's just one story.

Read this great article at Athletics Nation.

Also a great read about ol' Charlie O. here at Roger Launius's Blog.

I'll have some more to say about Mr. Finley. He was just such a brilliantly insane person.

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"I learned a little about the A's in game one and I used it to my advantage tonight." Matlack considered this game more important than the opener, which he lost in a close contest, 2-1.

"We were down two games to one going into this game and would have been just about out of it with a loss."

Jon was right and the Mets would win to even up the series at two games a piece.

Rusty Staub had such a great game four. It was really a pleasure to see, although I didn't see very much of the game at the time. I was up a tree outside Shea. I could see a part of the field but that was about it. I don't even think I stayed til the end. It really was freezing up there in the wind. I'm pretty sure I headed home after the 3 run 4th.

"Under the circumstances, my performance was unbelievably satisfying. When you've been playing in the big leagues for about 11 years and always wanted to play in a World Series, well, this is a great, great feeling."

So this game turned out to be a much needed semi-blowout. Factor in Jon Matlack firing on all cylinders and you can remove the semi.

Rusty Staub, playing more on adrenalin than anything and batting at about 60% of his potential, goes 4 for 4 and drives in 5! Imagine what Rusty could have done,...would have done, if he was a 100% healthy...

In Fantazyland we get to find out.

Okay, this might be pushing it...

I should probably save the crazy insane alternate universe fantazy cards for when we need a win.

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Credits:

Segments of the section about Charlie Finley were written by Mark Armour. of the SABR

Jim Catfish Hunter "Nicknames of the 70's" card- from Giovanni Balistreri's excellent card blog When Topps Had (Base) Balls.

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Saturday, September 13, 2014

1974 mfc/ '73 WORLD SERIES- A's vs. METS/Game 1

A 1980 mfc fleerstickerback

1973 New York Mets Fantazy Team Picture

1973 was a wacky year for the Mets. After finishing in 3rd place in 1971 & '72, I wasn't expecting much from the team.

Even with the addition of Rusty Staub and Felix Millan I figured I was looking at another 3rd place finish. Maybe second. Good for 80- 85 wins, like the two preceding seasons. I don't know why I was so
pessimistic. With our pitching I should have been more confident, but I wasn't feeling it. I was totally amazed when the team made its run and ended up in the World Series.

I was wrong and yet I was right. In an N.L. East full of struggling teams the Mets made a run and succeeded in grabbing the pennant with 82 wins, the lowest amount by any divisional winner in a full season. Wacky stuff.

Now the Oakland Athletics, on the other hand, were another story. They were the defending World Series Champions. I become somewhat familiar with them from watching the 1972 playoffs and World Series.

The Mets/Reds weren't the first teams to get into a fight in a divisional championship series .
From Wikipedia:
The year before the Athletics played in the 1972 American League Championship Series against the Detroit Tigers. One of the Series' most memorable moments came in the seventh inning of Game 2.

Oakland's Bert Campaneris was known for being a scrappy shortstop. Drafted in 1961, he became the A's regular shortstop in 1964. He hit a home run on the first MLB pitch he ever saw! In 1965 he became the first player in MLB history to play all nine positions during one game.

In the 1972 ALCS Bert led the attack on the Detroit Tigers.

Campy already had three hits, two steals and two runs scored when he faced pitcher Lerrin LaGrow in the 7th inning of game 2.

Tiger manager Billy Martin ordered a hit on Campy. After the pitch popped him in the ankle, Campaneris staggered for a moment, glared at LaGrow and then flung his bat toward the mound.

The bat spiraled five feet off the ground like an errant helicopter blade, flying towards LaGrow's head, but the pitcher ducked and the bat narrowly missed him. The benches cleared, with Detroit manager Billy Martin going after Campaneris with a vengeance.

Both Campaneris and LaGrow were ejected. The two players were fined and suspended for the rest of the ALCS, as well as the first seven games of the next season, but Campy was permitted to play in the 1972 World Series against the Cincinnati Reds.

The early 70's Oakland A's possessed a formidable lineup headed by Reggie Jackson.

Reggie did not play in the World Series the year before due to a serious injury he suffered in the 1972 ALCS. Their series with the Tigers went five games, and Jackson scored the tying run in the clincher on a steal of home. In the process, however, he tore a hamstring and was unable to play in the World Series.

But I had heard about him, and was well aware of his legendary home run in the 1971 All Star Game.

His numbers (.293, 32 HR, 117 RBI, 22 stolen bases) would net him the A.L. MVP Award for his 1973 season.

Reggie changed with the times

Jackson was joined in the lineup by standouts like third baseman Sal Bando, the fine defensive outfielder Joe Rudi, the speedy hotheaded shortstop Bert Campaneris, and the A's catcher and 1972 World Series hero, Gene Tenace.

Tenace's performance in the '72 World Series caught my eye and my imagination. He became the first player ever to hit two home runs in his first two World Series at bats. He would go on to smack out 4 dingers in the series. This was the stuff of childhood fantasies. I remember thinking who the hell is this guy? And that's something I've always loved about the post season. Even little guys, even obscure and unknown players, could rise up and be counted, make a difference, and be remembered.

Another thing I wouldn't forget: Joe Rudy's great catch on the wall in the ninth inning of game two. The As had a 2-0 lead and that grab would help keep it that way. Always a fan of the glove, I especially enjoy big catches in big games.

The A's pitching was as strong & maybe even better than the Mets, with three solid 20 game winners in 1973.

Jim "Catfish" Hunter (21–5),Vida Blue (20–9), and Ken Holtzman (21–13) led a powerful rotation.

Their bullpen was deeper. Rollie Fingers (22 saves, 1.92 ERA) and his famous mustache served as the A's ace reliever.

Darold Knowles, Horacio Pina and Paul Lindblad combined for 19 more saves. Both Knowles and Pina won 6 games each.

New York had the pitching but was not the offensive threat that Oakland was. Especially with Rusty Staub's potent bat out of the lineup, who injured his shoulder on a play in the NLCS.

Like the NLCS with the Reds,

this would not be an easy assignment.

Heres your ticket to the game, my treat! :)

1973 World Series/Game One: Mets @Athletics

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There would be five future Hall Of Famers playing in this Fall Classic. Willie Mays, Tom Seaver, Catfish Hunter, Reggie Jackson, and Rollie Fingers.

Game one was on a beautiful day at the Oakland Coliseum, October 13, 1973. The California sun was high and blinding, and this would play a part in the proceedings.

Hank Aaron, who had ended the '73 season just one shy of Babe Ruth's long standing home run record with 713, became the first active player to ever throw out a first pitch at a MLB game.

Willie Mays was no stranger to the Oakland fans. He played most of his career right across the bay on the San Francisco Giants. Willie received a huge standing ovation during player introductions.

Ken Holtzman, the tall lefty starting game one for the Athletics, was compared to the great Sandy Koufax when he first arrived on the scene in 1965. Ken went head to head against Sandy in 1966 and beat him 2-1.

Holtzman started out with the Chicago Cubs and pitched two no-hitters. He took down the Braves, 3-0, on August 19, 1969, and threw a 1-0 masterpiece on June 3, 1971, in Cincinnati.

Nevertheless, he wasn't happy in Chicago, believing that manager Leo Durocher was holding him down. He asked for and was granted a trade to the Oakland Athletics of the American League. In 1972 he won 19 games with the A's with an ERA of 2.52.
Another great year followed in 1973 as Ken won 21 games.

Holtzman pitched for 15 years in the majors. He won 174 and lost 150 with an ERA of 3.49. In the end he won nine more games than Koufax did.

Jon Matlack was on the mound for the Mets. New York ace Tom Seaver had pitched 8 plus innings two days before in the NLCS and would not be available for the first two games in Oakland.

But one thing Mets fans had developed over the long season was confidence in their pitching staff. Matlack was a great pitcher when he was "on", which was most of the time. He had a tough gig, especially since the media was spinning the story that Matlack was the first pitcher in MLB history to have a losing record (14-16) and start an opening game of a World Series.

With two out in the opening inning the legendary Willie Mays delivered the first hit of the 1973 World Series. He would be stranded at first base.

This was Willies fourth World Series. He played in the Fall Classic in 1951, 1954 (making his famous catch off Vic Wertz), 1962 and here in '73.

I entertained fantasies of World Series game heroics from Mays. I knew he was old and all, and not the player he was in the 1960's, but part of me felt it was no accident that Willie found himself in a World Series in his final year. This was fate! The Gods Of Baseball must be involved. It was his destiny to end his career by having a World Series for the ages. Big hits, great catches, walk off HRs. Or any one of those things. But it was not to be. In 1973 I found out that Willie Mays was only human.

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TIME OUT!
As I was writing this up I thought a 1955 World Series card of Willies great catch off Vic Wertz would be a cool thing to include. There were no World Series cards in the '55 Topps set. They introduced World Series cards in 1960, covering the 1959 Fall Classic.

I was torn two ways in my design. One is influenced by the actual 1955 card design. Which isn't saying much because there was only one type of card in that set, the player card. No other type of cards were included. No team cards, no rookie cards, no highlight cards, etc.

The player card format would not suit the World Series cards so the first card shown was designed from scratch, but with an eye towards "what would Topps have done if they made a World Series card in 1955?"

One thing I loved about the 1955 cards were the use of actual team logos on player cards. Topps used team logos in many of their early sets, then from 1964 to 1984 not one card design included the logos on player cards. I didn't really notice this when I was a kid, but I did notice when they were reintroduced in the '84 set.

The second card is influenced by Topps first World Series card design in the 1960 set. Some changes have been made to make it singular but you can still see the similarities.Instead of AL and NL logos I've chosen the team logos for use, like in the 55 set.

I really like the way both came out. But if I was to make a set of 1954 World Series cards ( I have no plans to but if there are suitable pictures available I'd certainly like to) I would have to settle on one design. Which card looks more likely to be a Topps '55 WS card if they made one?
If you are interested please let me know in the comments section.
I'm leaning towards the second because it's actually based on an existing Topps design. The first is just an imagined one I pulled out of my ass. But the more I see the first the more I like it. What do you think?

Which of these two designs looks more like it could be a 1955 Topps World Series card?

Back to the 1973 World Series:

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Things went smoothly for both starting pitchers up until the 3rd inning. Matlack had retired the first seven batters in a row thanks to a fine catch by Buddy Harrelson on a short pop over the infield. After getting Ray Fosse to foul out on the first pitch of the 3rd, Matlack walked Dick Green on 5 pitches.

With Green on first A's pitcher Ken Holtzman was called on to bunt him over.

He squared but the pitch was low and inside, hitting the dirt and getting away from Mets catcher Jerry Grote. Jerry was able to keep the ball in front of him by blocking it with his body.

Green took off for second but Grote pounced on the loose ball and fired a perfect bullet to Buddy Harrelson at the bag. Green was out by a New York mile.

With no one to bunt over, Holtzman was set to swing away.

The designated hitter was introduced to the American League starting this year, 1973 (the DH was not used in a championship series until 1976). As a result Holtzman batted only once during the season. He walked.

So it was a bit of a surprise when the Oakland pitcher lined a grounder down the 3rd baseline and motored to second for a double.

With two out and Bert Campaneris at the plate Matlack gathered himself and induced a nice easy grounder to second base. It looked like he would get out of the inning, but then something unbelievable happened. The ball went right through Felix Millans legs.

Millan was one of the best fielding 2nd basemen in the majors. He had only 8 errors all season long. But he came up on a very important grounder and the error extended the inning, allowing Holtzman to score.

An errant pick off throw from Matlack put Campy on second base. Joe Rudy followed slapping a single to right and Campaneris scored making it 2-0.

That was all the scoring the A's would do, and that would be all they'd need.

New York answered right back. Cleon Jones doubled into the gap in left-center in the 4th and John Milner drove him in with a line single to center. Milner took 2nd on Reggie Jacksons overthrow to the plate and it was up to Jerry Grote to bring him in.

The Metropolitan catcher squared one up and socked a fly ball to deep center. If it dropped in it was a double for Jerry and the Mets would tie the game. Reggie Jackson was playing centerfield for the first time in the '73 season. The A's regular in CF, Bill North, was out due to injury. Reggie was not known for his fielding but here in October he took off after the drive and tracked it down at a full sprint, keeping the score at 2-1 A's.

In the bottom of the 4th Cleon Jones almost lost a ball in the bright light of the sun. The NBC broadcasters thought the shot by Jesus Alou was gone for a homer. Cleon ran back to the wall as if it was outta there but had to correct himself when the ball fell out of the sun short of the wall, on the warning track. His quick reflexes enabled him to make a fine recovery and catch the fly just inches before the ball touched ground. You won't see this play on any "best catches by Mets" highlight reels but this was an excellent grab.

The Mets had another chance to tie up the game in the 5th. Jon Matlack led off with a walk but was doubled off first when Wayne Garrett popped up on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

Felix Millan followed with a powerfully deep sky shot to left. The brilliantly blinding California sun would come into play again as Joe Rudy lost it long enough that he couldn't recover.

The ball ticked off his glove and the usually suave outfielder fell on his face. On top of that, while getting up he booted the ball away from him and had to chase it down. Millan ended up on third base.

That brought Willie Mays to the plate, and if my wishes and dreams were to come true he would have hit a two run homer here and given the Mets the lead. But they didn't and Willie lifted a long fly out to right that ended the threat.

In the A's half of the 5th Buddy Harrelson flashed his trademark leather, making a great diving catch on a soft liner off the bat of Angel Mangual.

Jon Matlack had settled down and would put in 6 full innings before making way for Tug McGraw.

The A's bullpen ace Rollie Fingers would take over for Ken Holtzman in the 6th and throw shut-out ball for three and a third, matching Tug McGraw's 2 frames.

In the 8th inning there was some controversy on a unconventional play at first. Bert Campaneris, who seemed to be in the middle of everything, tried to push a bunt up past the pitcher but rolled it too close to John Milner at first base.

Milner gloved the grounder and reached to tag the A's shortstop, who squirmed like an eel on a hook to avoid him. Somehow it appeared he did just that as he flew by Milner and John flew by him. There was no call by the officials at first, finally getting a safe call from the home plate ump Marty Springstead.

A big argument was mounted by manager Yogi Berra and any Mets player in the area, but to no avail.

There were no review challenges in the game back in 1973. But if there was I feel the replays would have been deemed inconclusive.

New York had one final chance in the 9th to get back in it. With one out reliever Rollie Fingers walked pinch hitter Ron Hodges. A's manager Dick Williams pulled Fingers and went to Dickie Knowles for the final two outs. Yogi countered with pinch hitter Jim Beauchamp who had a decent season pinch hitting wise.

Here Jim roped a liner that would put Mets at 1st and 3rd, the tying run 90 feet away. But A's second baseman Dick Green climbed his invisable ladder and brought it down safely in his glove for the second out. Wayne Garret followed with a fly out to right and the A's had won a very close game, going up 1-0 on the Mets in the '73 World Series.

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As a Mets fan game one was exciting and, believe it or not, gave me hope. We held the Mighty A's to two runs with Jon Matlack and Tugger. We had Koosman, Seaver, and Stone lined up to face the Athletics. We missed Rusty's bat but there was some talk that he might be able to return from his injury before the series was over. If we could split here in Oakland we'd be in fine shape.