S-O-M 1961

1. John Mayberry, Kansas City Royals The slugging first sacker hit bombs with 2 on in the 5th, chasing Joe Coleman and in the 7th, slugged his 2nd with 1 on. Mayberry also RFD-ed an RBI single in the 1st before assaulting the fences at Tiger Stadium.  2. Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins The Killer killed a Yankee rally in Game 1 of a makeup DH in the Bronx when he caught a line-drive by Matty Alou with nobody out for a Triple Play. Sounds rather exciting, right? We haven't even discussed Game 2 yet! 3. Graig Nettles, New York Yankees Bases loaded, nobody out, top of the 8th inning in Game 2. Danny Thompson just minding his own business when he hits a screaming liner to Nettles for the 2nd TP of the afternoon. No doubt a picture of Killebrew and Nettles holding their TP balls would've made for a great picture in the next morning's Daily News. 

Game 1: Minnesota 3, New York 2 WP-Blyeven LP-Stottlemyre Harmon Killebrew turns Triple Play in 1st (Matty Alou at-bat) Game 2: Minnesota 5, New York 1 WP-Hands LP-Peterson Graig Nettles turns Triple Play in 8th (Danny Thompson at-bat) 2 TPs in a DH? Astounding! The rest of the sked, all single games, no TP's. Chicago 13, Boston 6 WP-Wood LP-Pattin White Sox 19 hits, homers by Herrmann, May. Kansas City 12, Detroit 6 WP-Dal Canton LP-Coleman John Mayberry 4-5, 2 homers, 6 RBI. California 6, Cleveland 3 WP-Wright LP-Tidrow Tom McCraw 3-5, 2 RBI  Oakland 5, Baltimore 3 WP-Hunter LP-McNally Joe Rudi, Reggie Jackson RBI singles in 7th. Milwaukee 9, Texas 5 WP-Slaton LP-Paul Dave May lead-off homer for Milwaukee, Scott also homered. Dave Nelson 4-5, 2 doubles, 3 stolen bases for Rangers.

  1. Don Gullett, Cincinnati Reds The Reds lefty ace struck out 10 Fightin' Phils as the Reds coasted to a 6-1 win. How dominant was he? He struck out Bill Robinson 4 times, Mike Schmidt, 3 times.  2. Hank Aaron, Atlanta Braves There were so many 2/3 hit performances among the NL hitters, I couldn't single out one dominant performance. Of course, there's this guy chasing the Babe. 679th career homer off Jon Matlack in 7th inning.  3. It was going well until... Cardinal CF Jose Cruz turned a routine fly ball into a game-changing 3-base error in the Cards' game against San Fran. Cruz's boo-boo with 2 on turned a 4-2 Card deficit into a 6-2 one, then 7-2 when Gary Thomasson who reached, scored on a SF. Willie McCovey would produce a 3-run exclamation point to finish off the Cards in the 9th. 

Pittsburgh 3, Los Angeles 2 WP-Briles LP-Sutton Gene Clines PH walk-off single in 9th. Willie Davis 2-out solo homer in top of 9th to tie. Chicago 4, San Diego 3 WP-Reuschel LP-Norman SV-Locker Reuschel triple, San Diego error in the 7th turn out to be the difference in the game, after late Padre rally falls short. Cincinnati 6, Philadelphia 1 WP-Gullett LP-Ruthven Gullett strikes out 10 in complete game 7-hitter. Reds score twice in 2nd, 4th, 7th.  New York 4, Atlanta 2 WP-Matlack LP-Frisella SV-McGraw Aaron HR 679 Rusty Staub, Wayne Garrett solo homers break tie in 9th. Matlack 9 k's in 8.1. 6 walks.  San Francisco 11, St. Louis 5 WP-Willoughby LP-Cleveland SV-Sosa   Giants score 4 in 1st, 3 in 6th, 4 in 9th. Willie McCovey 3-run homer in 9th. Montreal 9, Houston 3 WP-Renko LP-Forsch Expos score 8 in 4th, highlighted by 2-run homer by Ken Singleton. Rader 2-run in bottom of 9th gives him 3 HR, 6 RBI in last 2 games.

  1. Luis Tiant, Boston Red Sox "El Tiante" overwhelmed an underwhelmed team of Pale Hosers at Fenway in front of the NBC cameras at Fenway. Tiant scattered 3 hits while striking out 12 in a 13-0 mismatch. The Red Sox bats made 4 White Sox pitchers see Red early and often, collecting 19 hits.  2. Cookie Rojas, Kansas City Royals The KC second sacker struck for a pair of homers as the Royals tamed the Tigers at their home den. Rojas' first homer came with 2 outs and nobody on off Mickey Lolich to tie the score at 3 in the 7th, then he victimized the Tiger lefty again with a 2-run shot in the 9th after Paul Schaal gave the Royals a 4-3 lead with a lead-off homer earlier in the inning. Rojas also recorded an RBI single in the 5th.  3. Jeff Burroughs/George Hendrick Or, maybe I should say the Strat dice roll 2-8. Both Burroughs and Hendrick hit home runs off those card results in the late innings in their respective games. Burroughs' dramatic homer came with 2 outs in the...

Kansas City 6, Detroit 3 WP-Splittorf LP-Lolich Cookie Rojas 2 homers, 4 RBI. Paul Schaal go-ahead homer in top of the 9th. New York 5, Minnesota 4 (10) WP-Beene LP-Campbell Fred Stanley game-winning double in bottom of 10th.  Boston 13, Chicago 0 WP-Tiant LP-Bahnsen Tiant CG 3-hitter, 12 strikeouts. Red Sox 19 hits.  Baltimore 2, Oakland 1 (10) WP-Palmer LP-Holtzman Bobby Grich go-ahead RBI single in top of 10th. Texas 6, Milwaukee 5 (11) WP-Merritt LP-Linzy Jeff Burroughs game-tying solo homer with 2 outs in bottom of 9th. Tom Grieve game-winning sac fly in bottom of 11th.   Cleveland 5, California 3 WP-Perry LP-May George Hendrick go-ahead 2-run homer in top of 9th. Curt Gowdy: "Be watching tomorrow as NBC Sports brings you game 1 of the 1973 Stanley Cup Finals between the Chicago BlackHawks and Montreal Canadians, live from the Forum in Montreal. Coverage begins at 3:00 Eastern Daylight Savings Time, that's tomorrow here on NBC Sports."

  1. Chicago Cubs Rick Monday and Ron Santo each pounded out 4 hits, including a lead-off homer for Monday, while Glenn Beckert and Jose Cardenal each collected 3 hits. All told, the Cubs pounded the Pads into submission with 22 hits. Editor's Note: This bloodbath was played the day after San Diego's former NFL team was similarly destroyed by the Raiders, 63-0. Coincidence? Maybe. 2. Steve Carlton, Phillies In 7+ innings, "Lefty" allowed 6 hits, struck out 5 and walked 2 as the Phils blanked the Reds. There's also the matter of his bat, as he doubled in the 5th and hit an insurance homer in the 8th after wriggling out of a bases loaded jam in the 7th. He didn't have much to say about it afterwards, of course. 3. Doug Rader, Astros " The Red Rooster" had plenty to crow about under the dome, slugging 2 2-run homers in a 4-1 triumph over Les Expos. Rader's big night made Dave Roberts' night even better, as he scattered 4 hits in the "Stros...

  Chicago 15, San Diego 1 WP-Pappas LP-Kirby Cubs 22 hits, Rick Monday, Ron Santo 4 hits each. Cubs score 7 in 4th. Philadelphia 3, Cincinnati 0 WP-Carlton LP-Grimsley SV-Scarce Carlton, Scarce combine for 7-hitter, Carlton solo homer and double. Robinson solo homer. Atlanta 3, New York 2 (10) WP-Niekro LP-Hennigan Rod Gilbreath walk-off double in 10th scores Dusty Baker with winning run. San Francisco 8, St. Louis 4 WP-Barr LP-Gibson SV-Moffitt Bonds, McCovey homer for Giants. Houston 4, Montreal 1 WP-Roberts LP-McAnally Dave Rader, 2 2-run homers.  

Kansas City 6, Detroit 4 (11) WP-Busby LP-LaGrow See previous blog for complete story. Milwaukee 12, Texas 2 WP-Lockwood LP-Bosman Coluccio, Briggs homers for Brewers. California 6, Cleveland 5 WP-Ryan LP-Wilcox Angels rally from 5-1 deficit to stun Tribe. Nolan Ryan CG, 10 strikeouts Baltimore 4, Oakland 2 WP-Cuellar LP-Odom Boog Powell   go-ahead 2-run homer in 6th. Stars of the Night 1. Amos Otis, Kansas City. 4-6, 2 homers, double, triple, 5 RBI, 3 runs scored.  2. Nolan Ryan, California. 10 strikeouts in complete game win over Cleveland.  3. Steve Busby, Kansas City. 11-inning complete game. Retired last 14 Tigers from 7th-11th.

  On 4/27/1973, Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals no-hit the Detroit Tigers. The following is a complete rewrite.  KCR 6-13-1 DET 4-6-3  Bottom of the 1st: lead-off man Jim Northrup promptly broke up the no-hit bid with a lead-off single to center. Aurelio Rodriguez reached 1st on an error to 3b Paul Schaal, Northrup to 2nd. Rich Reese then walked to load the bases. Bill Freehan singled to left, scoring Northrup, everyone else moving a base. Gates Brown grounded into a 4-6-3 DP scoring Rodriguez.  Bottom of the 4th, 2-0 Detroit: Gates Brown walked, moved to 2nd when Norm Cash was HBP. After Dick McAuliffe flied to right, Mickey Stanley tripled home both Brown and Cash. History was not on Steve Busby's side but read on.  Top of the 5th, 4-0 Detroit: Kansas City got on the board with one out when DH Steve Hovley singled. Amos Otis then hit a 2-run homer off Jim Perry cutting the Tigers lead to 4-2. Bottom of the 7th, 4-2 Detroit: Mickey Stanley led off the inn...

1. Catfish Hunter, Oakland A's Hunter throttled a weak Indian batting order, limiting the hapless Tribe to 2 hits, striking out 6 in a 2-0 pitcher's duel at the Coliseum. Reggie Jackson helped Catfish's cause with a 2-run homer in the 7th. 2. Amos Otis, Kansas City Royals Famous Amos belted a pair of 2-run homers among his 4 hits in 7 at-bats in a 14-inning marathon at Royals Stadium. Otis's 2nd 2-run shot tied the score at 6, but Milwaukee "brewed" a 2-run rally in the 14th to spoil AO's big night. 3. Jimmy Wynn, Houston Astros. Wynn picked up where he left off in his previous game, driving in all 3 Astro runs against the Mets. Wynn drove in the 1st Astro run with a sac fly in the 1st, singled home a run in the 3rd and doubled home the last Houston run in the 5th. Wynn has 7 RBI's in his last 2 games.   

Just 3 in the American, 2 in the National on this late April day in '73 American  Texas 8, Detroit 2 WP-Broberg LP-Fryman Broberg CG 4-hitter, Jeff Burroughs solo homer Milwaukee 8 Kansas City (14) WP-Colborn LP-Garber SV-Ed. Rodriguez Johnny Briggs go-ahead double in 14th, Amos Otis 2 2-run homers for KC, 4-for-7. Oakland 2, Cleveland 0 WP-Hunter LP-Strom Reggie Jackson 2-run homer in 7th, Catfish Hunter CG 2-hitter, 6 strikeouts. National  Chicago 9, San Francisco 2   WP-Hooton LP-Bryant Cubs 5 runs in 1st, 4 in 4th. Burt Hooton CG, 8 strikeouts. Houston 3, New York 1 WP-Reuss LP-McAndrew Wynn drives in all 3 Astros runs, has 7 RBI's in last 2 games.

  Where to begin? Let's start with a future WS-winning manager: 1. Davey Johnson, Atlanta Braves He had the most home runs of the historic trio of 40+ home runs, so it was no surprise to see him go off at the "Launching Pad": 2 home runs, 5 RBI, but when the final out was recorded, the Braves were on the "7" end of a 9-7 score against the Phils. As for who did the fatal damage in Phil-Stripes, that's next on the list...  2. Bill Robinson/Del Unser, Philadelphia Phillies They had half of the Phils' 16-hit total with 4 apiece and they got their 4th hits in timely fashion, with Robinson's RBI double dropping in front of Henry Aaron for the run that scored Willie Montanez from 1st to tie it in the top of the 9th, then Unser's 4th hit (all singles) scored Robinson with the go-ahead/winning run.  3. Jim Wynn/Cesar Cedeno, Houston Astros The "Toy Cannon" started off with just a mere "pop". singling home Cesar Cedeno with a first-inni...

They say the NL is the league of 2-1 games and strategies, check out these scores:   Cincinnati 7, Montreal 0 WP-Billingham LP-Moore Jack Billingham tossed a complete game 4-hitter. (Now for the fun)  San Francisco 6, Chicago 5 (13) WP-Carrithers LP-Locker SV-Moffitt A game with Marichal and Jenkins for starters turned into a marathon, with Ed Goodson's double scoring Garry Maddox with the go-ahead/winning run in the top of the 13th. Bobby Bonds homered for the Giants. (Having fun yet? Here comes this one) Philadelphia 9, Atlanta 7 WP-Lersch LP-Niekro SV-Scarce Philly scored 3 times in top of the 9th to stun the Braves, who wasted a 2 HR/5 RBI performance from Davey Johnson. Bill Robinson and Del Unser each had 4 hits for the Phils and drove in the tying and go-ahead runs respectively in the top of the 9th. Oh, some guy named Schmidt, struck out 5 times. Los Angeles 7, St. Louis 6  WP-Richert LP-Folkers Joe Ferguson slugged a 3-run homer in the 7th, Bill Buckner, a solo h...

  Bill Singer, California Angels The Angels righty shut down the league-leading Orioles attack, holding the grounded Birds to 2 hits in a stellar effort. Singer struck out 7, including a stretch where he struck out 5 Orioles in a row from the 4th to the 6th inning. Earl Williams, Don Baylor, Brooks Robinson, Paul Blair and Terry Crowley all went down on the 3-count. Robinson would attain a measure of revenge by breaking up Singer's no-hit bid in the 7th with a run-scoring single for the Birds lone run. Merv Rettenmund would record the only other hit off Singer with a one-out double in the 8th, the last hit or runner Singer would allow in his masterpiece. Harmon Killebrew, Minnesota Twins Killebrew's power would take a back seat on this night, as he exchanged the long ball for 1 and 2-base balls, collecting 3 singles and a double on this night in Boston. Killebrew also scored 3 runs on this night, spearheading a 16-hit Twin attack. While on the other side of the Fenway dugout......

  California 3, Baltimore 1 WP-Singer LP-McNally Singer complete game 2-hitter, Brooks Robinson broke up no-hit bid with one-out single in 7th. Singer struck out 7. Billy Grabarkewitz drove in all 3 Angels runs with single in 4th and 2-run double in 6th. Oakland 14, Cleveland 0 WP-Fingers LP-Tidrow A's scored 8 times in 1st, sending 12 batters to the plate. Gene Tenace hit grand slam in 1st. Tidrow recorded only one out. Fingers pitched 8+ plus in rare start.  New York 4, Chicago 3 WP-Stottlemyre LP-Wood Yankees rallied to score 2 runs in the bottom of the 9th on a game-tying home run by Graig Nettles and a walk-off single by Horace Clarke to stun the Sox. Dick Allen's 1st inning homer accounted for all the Sox runs. Minnesota 9, Boston 7 WP-Hands LP-Siebert Twins withstood a furious Boston rally to record the win at Fenway. Harmon Killebrew went 4-5 with a double to pace the Twin attack, while the Sox managed 4 home runs including 2 by Yaz, but still fell short against the We...