A Second Time through the Order

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2010-03-01T09:27:00.001-05:00

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Yaz and a Time of Innocence

2010-01-17T22:12:00.003-05:00

On September 8th of my 1967 replay, Carl Yastrzemski hit his 43rd round-tripper of the season. In reality, Yaz hit 44 home runs en route to the last Triple Crown achieved in the majors. Yaz carried the Red Sox to The Impossible Dream with one of the most impressive final two weeks of a season. Yastrzemski immediately became a hero to thousands of 10-year-old children in New England and across America.

His previous home run high was 19 in his sophomore season of 1962. If anyone questioned such a disparity, it could be explained by Yaz's increasing maturity, his comfort achieved in the 1966 off-season after he received assurances he would not be traded by the Yawkeys, and an increased workout regimen. Steak and egg breakfasts, weekly workouts, and discipline explained such an power spike 42 years ago. Those explanations would rightfully be disbelieved in this day and age. This may lead some to think that 1967 was an innocent age. In 1967, 11,153 American soldiers died in Vietnam. Perhaps no time is truly innocent. Only in the eyes of 10-year-olds.

Baseball History Podcast

2009-09-16T21:56:00.005-04:00

Special thanks to Bob Wright and his Baseball History Podcast for sharing my post about Walt Bond with his audience. To those of you directed to this site from the Baseball History Podcast, welcome! Feel free to browse around and take in baseball history from my perspective - a Second Time through the Order. My baseball and football replays can be visited from my home page, A Second Time through the Order or from the links located to the left. My current baseball replay currently stands in the middle of the Summer of Love, the All-Star Break, 1967. Bookmark the site and enjoy the ride!

The Woodstock Nation began in Monterey.

2009-08-12T11:51:00.004-04:00

Woodstock is getting some attention in the news and in the movie theaters as its 40th anniversary approaches. The pop music festival phenomenon that culminated at Woodstock started two years earlier in Monterey, California. That festival became the springboard for the careers of two Woodstock headliners, Jimi Hendrix and Janice Joplin. Perhaps you can trace the true origins of the success of music festivals even two years earlier when the Beatles played Shea Stadium and proved that concerts could attract stadium-sized crowds. Well, I covered the Monterey Music Festival as I passed the weekend of June 16-18 in my 1967 replay. Enjoy!

Monterey, Calif. - Eight thousand people swelled the city of Monterey over the weekend for the first International Festival of Pop Music, held in the outdoor Monterey County Fairgrounds. More than 30 acts - Spanish, jazz, rhythm 'n' blues, rock 'n' roll, folk music, Indian music and multiple cross-pollination - performed in five concerts spaced through the three-day stand. Each performance in the 7,000 seat stadium was sold out (seemingly to 10,000 people).

An attentive and enthusiastic, but polite crowd greeted every musician and singer. No one shrieked or screamed, not even when Monkee Peter Tork materialized on stage to introduce Lou Rawls. Despite the crush of people, peace reigned. Long hair and short hair, youth and age, costumes conventional and exotic, all mingled happily on the fairground, a long dip of land walled by exhibit booths dotted with police. It was one of the most successful pop music events ever staged, one whose allure drew three nonperforming Beatles, two Monkees, and one Rolling Stone, all as spectators.

Organized in the brief span of 10 weeks, the festival is estimated to have netted $500,000 from the sale of television rights to ABC, ticket revenues and other sources. The money will establish a foundation to aid pop music in as yet unannounced ways. The first night's concert encompassed a variety of pop forms from Simon and Garfunkel's fragile lyrical harmonies to the electronic intensity of the Paupers, an exciting new Canadian quartet; from the emotive sould of Lou Rawls to the slick non-feeling of Johnny Rivers; from the intricate vocal arrangements of the Association to the powerhouse shouting of Eric Burdon and the Animals. The Animals, a last-minute switch for the Beach Boys, generated the most excitement of the evening with a set of five extended numbers. Burdon sang "On a Warm San Francisco Day" then shifted into s moving performance of "Gin House Blues" against the blended cacophony of three Oriental sounding cross-talking guitars. The group achieved remarkable instrumental effects during "Paint It Black" with an electric violin which ranged into potent dissonance, playing with and against the guitars.

The Saturday afternoon concert was a letdown, although it was not bad. The bill was topheavy with white blues groups and exponents of San Francisco's turned-on sound, all sounding pretty similar by the end of four hours. Big Brother and the Holding Co., a Bay Area quintet with a powerful girl-lead singer - Janice Joplin - were very good. Her voice woudl fit a woman twice her size and the songs, forged from blues, gospel and San Francisco rock elements, give here the latitude to bellow. The night-time stint opened with Moby Grape, a polished San Francisco quintet who were well receieved. Jazz trumpeter Hugh Masekela, who like Lou Rawls, has been adopted by pop music, went over well. So did the Byrds, who were not as good as they should have been. But the evening belonged to two acts - Jefferson Airplane and Otis Redding. The Airplane hit hard with Grace Slick's vocal solos on "Somebody To Love" and "White Rabbit" also working from electronic wizardy on a new number they called "The Ballad of You and Me and Prunella". "More, more" chorused the audience, who were mollifed shortly by the appearance of Otis Redding, a rhythm 'n' blues singer who stirred the crowd to its greatest excitement of the first two days. Paths between the rows of chairs were jammed wiht bobbing spectators, some of whom lapped onto the flanks of the stage, clapping and shouting along as Redding wailed through "Shake", "Respect", "I've Been Loving You Too Long", "Satisfaction", and "Try a Little Tenderness".

Sunday afternoon, Ravi Shankar, an Indian classical musician, monopolized the fourth concert of the festival with a program of Indian ragas which entranced a mutely attentive audience. Shankar plays the sitar, a many-stringed complicated instrument which he plunked to the accompaniment of a tabla, consisting of a tuned pair of drums and a tamboura, another stringed instrument which maintains a droning tone agsinst which the raga is performed. Not long ago, a concert by Shankar during a pop festival would have generated considerable disinterest. But the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Donovan and other performers have introduced Indian strains into music and into pop consciousness. Beatle George Harrison studied under Shankar for two months in India last year.

The festival wound up with a concert featuring the Grateful Dead, the Blues Project, the Who, the Jimi Hendrix Experience, the Buffalo Springfield, Scott McKenzie, the Mamas and the Papas and others.

from reviews written by Pete Johnson, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Times, June 19 - 20, 1967
for more, including first-hand accounts, visit THE MONTEREY INTERNATIONAL POP MUSIC FESTIVAL

A Musical Journey through Baseball

2009-06-30T11:48:00.003-04:00

My 1966 replay featured a jukebox to allow visitors to listen to the music of the day as they surfed through the box scores and news of the replayed season. As a child of album rock radio in the late 70's and early 80's, I am a fan of the music of the late 1960's, particularly the psychedelic era. I have a complete collection of The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, and Led Zeppelin, but many albums slipped through as the artist was better known to me through a greatest hits compilation.

Since adding the jukebox, I can now include The Beach Boys Pet Sounds, Bob Dylan's Blonde on Blonde and Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow to my music collection. Paul McCartney credited Pet Sounds as one of the first inspirations for Sgt. Pepper. When you listen to the album in its entirety, I can hear how Sir Paul was so inspired. The second track, "You Still Believe in Me", features a harpsichord and bicycle bells, something new and different in 1966. Unlike "Sgt. Pepper", Pet Sounds does have a theme that runs through the album. It tracks the bubbly infatuation phase of love from opening track, "Wouldn't It Be Nice", through realization of break up, and ultimately heart break with the finale track, "Caroline, No." Coincidentally, Brian Wilson credits The Beatles' Rubber Soul as his inspiration for Pet Sounds.

Jefferson Airplane's Surrealistic Pillow is the latest classic album that has my ear as my baseball replay is in May, 1967. "Someone to Love" and "White Rabbit" are the known quantities here, but the rest of the album is fantastic and deserves a listen from start to finish. One of the things lost as we went from albums to CD's was the completion of sides to an album. As side one of Surrealistic Pillow ends, you can just visualize someone in 1967 hearing it for the first time muttering something like "whoa". Of course, their ability to get up and turn the record over is likely very impaired.

As the baseball replay runs through the Summer of Love, I would love to hear your comments, jukebox requests, or other classic album suggestions.

Why Do Honest Ball Players Stand For Crooks in Ranks?

2009-06-03T13:28:00.005-04:00

As I began research on the 1920 season for a Diamond Mind update in light of the new treasure trove unearthed by the geniuses at Retrosheet, the above headline jumped off the pages of the May 6, 1920 edition of The Sporting News. This editorial dealt with gamblers amongst the ballplayers, but obviously a 21st century reader will think of steroid users amongst the ballplayers. This is a prime example of how I have found that research of baseball history can turn itself around to current issues.

Unfortunately, much of the article is illegible. I was lucky enough to have saved the 1920 season of The Sporting News before Google pulled the plug on the Paper of Record web site. However, some of the earlier seasons, like 1920, are not very readable. As you may suspect, most of what I could decipher read of such Victorian honor and valor to suggest that "this type of player (who throw ball games) we all know, ought to be tarred and feathered and run out of the country." The author, Mr. Reichow, continues:

Why shouldn't the players take it upon themselves to (illegible) the crooks? I think they should. Baseball is their bread and butter, and a mighty thick slice for many of them. The game has given and still gives a lot of them opportunity to go (illegible), to buy automobiles, oil leases and farms, and it will continue to do so as it remains on the square. The players who are getting their share of the plum today ought to make it a (illegible) to keep the game on the square for the boys who are growing up hoping some day to wear uniforms in the major leagues. Baseball gives players a national reputation, which is another reason why they ought to take a hand in cleaning it of dishonest players, if there are any present.

I am not going to turn this into another soapbox about performance-enhancing drugs in baseball, but it struck me kind of funny that the very same statements from nearly 90 years ago are being made by some today.

Walt Bond

2009-05-08T20:48:00.005-04:00

When I started my 1965 replay, the starting first baseman in Houston was Walt Bond, a 6'7", 228 pound hulk. Many viewed him as a younger Willie McCovey. He led the Colt .45's with 20 home runs in 1964, and was the only Houston player to have a multi-homer game. He accomplished the feat twice. However, Walt was one of the Houston players most affected by the move into the Astrodome. His power stroke stayed behind at Colt Stadium or was it something else?

Bond began his major league career in 1960 with a couple of nondescript stints with the Indians. The Indians decided leave him for a full minor league season in 1962. As a spotlight article on Bond by the Texas Baseball Hall of Fame stated:

Big Walt took it all in stride and waited for his opportunity. He never complained but a stint in the Army was to change his life in more ways than he could ever know for it was in the Army that Walt was first diagnosed with leukemia. Not being the type of person to let it get to him, all Walt could think of was finishing his required stint with the Army and returning to the Cleveland Indians. Worrying that the other players had a step on him Walter trained vigorously to get back in shape.

1962 was a disastrous season in Cleveland. By August, the team could not hit and was hopelessly out of contention. In mid-September, the Indians called on Bond who provided one of the more memorable "cup of coffee" stints with a major league club. Bond was only 1-for-8 in his first two games, but then hit two homers and drove in six runs in his third, a 10-9 victory in Kansas City. Bond continued this hot streak until season's end. In 12 games, Bond batted .380 with six homers and 17 RBI.

Yet when the 1963 season began, Bond was in Jacksonville, Fla., home of the Indians' AAA farm club. Despite Bond's heroics last September, Indians GM Gabe Paul was apparently not that impressed with Bond as he traded for two first basemen, Joe Adcock and Fred Whitfield, during the season. Even more curious, Paul purchased outfielder Ellis Burton from Houston who was not only older than Bond but was joining his sixth organization yet had amassed only 58 major-league at bats in that time. As the 1963 season closed, Walt Bond, who led the Jacksonville Suns with 25 home runs and 82 RBI, was not invited for a September call-up. Three months later, the Indians sold Bond to Houston.

Bond thrived in the middle of a light-hitting Houston lineup. His 20 home runs and 85 RBI not only led the team, but Bond appeared to be the tonic for what Houston had been lacking since its entry into the league: run-producing power at the cleanup spot. But if it wasn't for bad luck, Bond wouldn't have any luck at all. As Bill James stated in his Historical Baseball Abstract:

He finally got a chance to play, with Houston in 1964, in the worst hitters' park in baseball, and when he seemed in danger of succeeding anyway, they built a park that was even tougher.

By the end of June, 1965, Bond had a .270 average but the power had disappeared, only 4 home runs. The Astros traded for Jim Gentile which moved Bond to the outfield. But with Lee Maye in left, Jimmy Wynn in center, and Rusty Staub in right, Bond found himself squeezed out. By the end of the season, Paul Richards, who was instrumental in bringing Bond to Houston, had left the club, and his replacement, Tal Smith, traded Bond to Minnesota on the eve of the 1966 season.

Bond again found himself in Triple-A. This time in Denver, home of the Twins' affiliate. He posted impressive numbers with the Bears: .316, 18 HR, and 74 RBI. In 1967, Bond made the Twins' varsity out of spring training as a pinch-hitter, but was released when rosters were reduced in early May. Bond was surprised by the move as he had batted .313 with five RBI in 16 at-bats. He had homered to help win a game against Detroit in April. "For once in my life, I feel I did the job I was asked to do," said Bond. "Why? What did I do? What do they expect?" Bond asked manager Sam Mele, and the manager answered that the Twins kept Sandy Valdespino instead because Sandy can do more things well. "I asked Bond if he could throw, run or play defense as well as Valdespino, and Bond answered, 'No.'," explained Mele.

Walt would be faced with bigger issues. The cancer that had been in remission reemerged. Bond hooked on with a second tour of duty with the Jacksonville Suns, now in the Mets' organization, but only played in three games. He managed three hits in those games, including his last home run. Walt returned to Houston for treatment. The leukemia finally began to take its toll on the big man. Tragically, Walt Bond died on September 14, 1967 in Houston, Texas, less than a month from his thirtieth birthday.

Former Colt .45 team physician, Dr. Hatch Cummings, wrote to The Houston Post upon Bond's passing:

Walter Bond died today and I am sad because I have lost a friend and a patient. During the several years that I have known Walter, I have liked him as a person and respected him as a man. It has been my sad duty to stand by—and help when I could—while a strong proud man succumbed to a relentless disease.... He (Walter) showed the strength of character and will that only champions possess. It was an exhibition of courage, and in the best tradition of baseball.

How sad it is to think a person started the spring in the major leagues, and by autumn, he was dead. The story of Walt Bond is sad and tragic, yet also inspiring. He apparently knew his time on this Earth was limited by his leukemia diagnosis years early, yet Walt continued to live his life. The hobby of replaying baseball games may seem trivial to some, but without it, I would have missed the story of Walt Bond.

For a more in-depth article and one of my sources, please read:

http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/walt-bond/

Player Name Pronounciations

2009-04-24T16:37:00.006-04:00

A few months ago, I was watching an 1978 Angels-Yankees broadcast on ESPN Classic. The announcer made note of Angels' first base coach, Bobby Knoop, and pronounced the last name "kuh-NOPP". Bobby's playing career preceded my baseball memories so this pronunciation was news to me. I thought the pronunciation was more with a silent K. Anyhow, this created a discussion on the Delphi Diamond Mind forum Later, I was listening to a radio broadcast of the 1969 World Series and the announcer mentioned Detroit pitcher Hank Aguirre. I had to rewind because I did not recognize the pronunciation, "ah-GEAR-ee". I was pronouncing the name like Mark Aguirre, DePaul and NBA basketball player in the 1980's. His last name was pronounced a-GWIRE. So now I'm wondering how many other player names am I mispronouncing in my replay. So here goes a brief list of correct pronunciation of some players names from 1967. Please feel free to add your own, either from 1967 or otherwise.

Bobby Knoop .............Kuh-NOPP
Hank Aguirre ..............ah-GEAR-ee
Chico Salmon.............sa-MONE
Mike Cuellar...............kweyar
Marv Staehle...............STAY-lee
Dick Tracewski...........Tra-sooz-ski
Paul Schaal................SHAWL

Schaal is one of a few big leaguers whose first and last names rhyme. Others are Don Hahn and Greg Legg.

Angels pitcher Dick Wantz

2009-04-10T10:23:00.006-04:00

The untimely passing of Angel pitcher Nick Adenhart yesterday was tragic. Thanks to DirecTV's free week of Extra Innings, I watched some of Adenhart's performance while flipping around while watching the Dodgers-Padres game and listening to the brilliance of Vince Scully. Being on the East Coast, I don't hear Scully that much, and I take every opportunity to listen to Scully's words paint the unfolding story of a baseball game. However, I now wish I had paid more attention to that A's-Angels game.

The Angels went through a similar situation in 1978 with death of Lyman Bostock during that season, but unknown to most, another active Angels pitcher died young after making one appearance. I was not aware of this story until I began my replay of the 1965 baseball season. The pitcher was Dick Wantz who made only one appearance for the Angels on April 13, 1965 and one month later was dead of a brain tumor. This is from the Oakland Tribune, May 14, 1965:

Wantz, 25, a 6-foot-5, 190-pound right-hander who had appeared in only one game this season, had an operation Thursday to relieve pressure on the brain. He began experiencing severe headaches during a late April series between the Angels and Yankees in New York. When the club moved to Detroit, he was hospitalized there for a few days. He flew here (Englewood, CA) last week, and reportedly was feeling much better.

But last weekend he was hospitalized, given a spinal tap and X-rays, and a tumor was found. Wantz lived in nearby Artesia and has a young son. He was born in suburban South Gate and attended high school in Long Beach. He spent four years in the minors and had a 2-7 record as a reliever for Hawaii in the Pacific Coast League last year.

He made a strong impression on Angel pitching coach Marv Grissom, "He can be a great pitcher," Grissom said after the Angels decided to retain Wantz this year. He showed considerable promise in spring training.

1967 Uniform Changes

2009-04-08T09:35:00.013-04:00

There were a couple of uniform changes in the 1967 season. First, The Chicago White Sox, who likely hold the record for most uniform styles in baseball history, make a revision to their road uniform by changing to a script "Chicago" with "White Sox" written within the bottom part of the script "o" looping back. Their road uniforms will feature this script for the next nine years. The uniform numbers are also added to the front of the home and road uniforms. Their 1966 uniforms are shown above and 1967 below. These digital images are from Dressed to the Nines, a Baseball Hall of Fame on-line exhibit. The actual images are from Marc Okkenen's 1993 book, Baseball Uniforms of the 20th Century: The Official Major League Baseball Guide

The second change was the Cincinnati Reds who dropped the sleeve-less vest that originated in 1956. The 1966 uniforms are on top and the 1967 versions below. One of the interesting features not visible in these images is that in 1966 the back of the uniform had the player's last name below the uniform number. The 1967 candy stripe home uniforms lasted only one year.

The final uniform change is not quite as noticeable at first, but it perhaps had the biggest impact for years to come. The 1967 Kansas City Athletics were the first major league club to wear white shoes. It marked the first time a major league team wore anything other than black shoes as regular footwear. American League President Joe Cronin gave his approval for the white shoes, but indicated that if protests develop, they would be forward to the Playing Rules Committee. Stay tuned if any protests do develop.

This change is notable because as I grew up white shoes were the standard. I recall 49ers WR Freddie Solomon wearing black shoes in Super Bowl XIX in January, 1985, and thinking how slow they made him look. I think that was part of the "old school" ploy, and now, of course, wearing white shoes is considered "old school". BTW, kudos to those current baseball players, like St. Louis' Brendan Ryan, wearing sanitary socks and stirrups. Now if a player would stretch those stirrups like Frank Robinson instead of wearing them a la the 1950's. And, of course, with those white shoes to match.

Herman Franks

2009-04-01T12:49:00.004-04:00

This may be strange to say, but as I replay and research these baseball seasons, I get a feel for certain players, and in this case, managers of the era. Herman Franks became the manager of the San Francisco Giants in 1965, and he recently passed away at the age of 95. Plenty has been said about his involvement in the spying that took place during the 1951 National League pennant chase. However, one of the things I thought of after hearing of his passing was from the 1965 season. That summer, Franks received death threats for playing Japanese pitcher Masanori Murakami. From The Sporting News, July 3, 1965:

An anonymous anti-Japanese man from Missouri threatened the life of Giant Manager Herman Franks by letter, it was learned recently in Los Angeles, and the FBI is on the case. The two-page, handwritten letter, unsigned, was received by Franks in New York. The writer objected to the Giants having a Japanese (Masanori Murakami) on their team and threatened Franks. "You won't know where or when I'll shoot you," the letter read, "But I will." Franks tried to shrug it off, but coach Charlie Fox, who has a cousin in the Los Angeles FBI bureau, advised Herman to turn the letter over. The writer based his threat on the presumption that Murakami had relatives who fought against and killed Americans during World War II. The letter writer ranted that Murakami should not be in America playing America's national game. "The guy is just a crank who possibly did lose relatives or friends in the war," the Giants manager speculated. "Or possibly the guy was in the war himself and is an avowed reactionary," guessed Franks.

When Franks resigned as Giants manager following the 1968 season, his famous quote was "Is finishing second so evil?" In my replays, the Giants finished third in 1965, second in 1966, and are the pre-season favorites in 1967.

Twelve Ballparks and Counting

2009-03-27T12:45:00.013-04:00

Second post, and I'm already straying off topic but continuing with the current topic in the baseball blogosphere. This started with Russ Smith's "Seventeen Ballparks and Counting" piece and continued with Shysterball and wezen-ball. I have made trips, including a day trip last summer to NYC, for the sole purpose of visiting ball parks. My count currently stands at twelve. So here we go! My list of visited ball parks (in chronological order):

Fulton County Stadium - Hey, it wasn't pretty, but after attending several spring training games in Florida, this was my first major league stadium. Plenty of memories here, my first major league game, seeing Hank Aaron hit a home run off Al Downing on the 10th anniversary of #715, 1991, and attending the city's and my first World Series game (Game 3 of the '91 Series). I was there for the final regular season game in 1996 when Expo OF Moises Alou got the final hit in the stadium. Notable because his dad, Felipe, got the first base hit in 1966. But as a stadium, I didn't know better until I visited Wrigley Field in 1993. I finally had a point of comparison and the Launching Pad was now officially a dump in my eyes.

Candlestick Park - Enjoyed upper deck seats in center field on a beautiful August Saturday afternoon in 1987. Giants vs. Dodgers. Dravecky vs. Valenzuela. Dravecky shuts out the Dodgers, and I'm happy because Dravecky is on my rotisserie team. After his tragic injury, I am glad to say that I saw him pitch in person in his home ball park.

Wrigley Field - Visited many times since that first visit in 1993. What can I say, but this is one of my favorite places on the planet. Some people think of a tropical beach as their "happy place". I think of a cold beer at Murphy's on a summer Chicago afternoon pre and post-game.

Turner Field - My home field. Major, major upgrade over Fulton County. Best memory is witnessing the All-Century team pre-game before Game 2 of the '99 Series. We had parked ourselves at the Chop House for a few adult beverages before the ceremony. We reached our seats in time for the ceremony, but midway through, I realized I had not made that critical first trip to the rest room. If my autopsy reveals kidney damage, it was caused by waiting it out through that ceremony. Runner up is attending my first All-Star Game in 2000 and seeing what I thought would be a classic pitching duel between Smoltz and Mussina turn into a 6-for-6 night for Cal Ripken, Jr.

The Kingdome - First experience with indoor baseball, and I felt like I was in a cave. Best memory was seeing Griffey throw Ripken out at third base as Cal tried to advance on a deep fly out to the center field wall. Griffey threw a one-bounce strike to third. I thought to myself at the time that I just saw two Hall of Famers in an incredible play. A few days later, a concrete chunk fell and the Kingdome was closed. The Mariners were spared having to play the rest of their season on the road by the 1994 player's strike.

Tiger Stadium - I was fortunate enough to have a good friend score dugout level seats for the next-to-last game in September, 1999. Classic ball park. I loved the tunnel-like walkways and cat-walks high above to reach the upper deck from the concourse. The seats were so close to the action, and you could not see the Tigers dugout from our first base dugout seats due to the pitch of the field. Perhaps it was that it was late September in Detroit or more likely the fact that the scoreboard located above the third base line still had lighted footballs to indicate possession, but Tiger Stadium gave me a feeling of old time football action with the chill in the air and the shadows casting over the field. As a fan of Sparky's boys in 1984, I am glad I had the opportunity to visit the Corner.

Fenway Park - I never liked the Red Sox or Celtics growing up. My trip to Boston in 2000 changed that. At Fenway, you can visualize Williams and Yastrzemski playing on that same field. Probably because your seat is a few inches narrower and pointed straight ahead rather than toward home plate. My seat behind Pesky's Pole had a great view of the bullpens in right field. You had to lean in and turn your head to the left to see the batter. Unfortunately, I was about 10-12 seats in from the aisle to my left so I practically had to have my head in my lap to look over all the other twisted heads. We eventually moved to the SRO area along the third base line. Despite all that, I would jump on the opportunity to return. I even rooted for the Sawks in the Series.

County Stadium - The tour of retiring ball parks continued the next year in Milwaukee. The stadium reminded me of bigger Al Lopez Field in Tampa. Probably because they were both built in the 1950's. The looming Miller Park in the outfield took away from my ability to visualize that Henry Aaron and Gorman Thomas played on that same field. This trip included a trip to Wrigley and Solider Field for a Bears-Browns exhibition game.

Comiskey Park - Second best major league ball park in the city. I wish I had a chance to visit the old Comiskey. Anyhow, check another off the list. The Bill Veeck showers in the outfield were entertaining. I didn't jump in though it was warm enough.

Tropicana Field - Build in the 1980's in a hurry to lure the White Sox and Giants, the original Suncoast Dome is right up there with the Kingdome. Here's hoping that Tampa can follow Seattle's lead. I saw Clemens pitch, and there were more Yankee fans than Rays fans in the stands. I can't say much about that because that occurs in Atlanta on some days.

The Ballpark in Arlington - Good ball park which reminded me of Comiskey Park (now U.S. Cellular Field), but the "Tiger Stadium" overhang n right field makes it distinctive. I arrived early enough to take in the Legends of the Game Museum which was very enjoyable. The sports bar in center field came in handy as there was an hour and half rain delay and it was NFL Opening Day. On the field, the game was the A's vs. Rangers which was notable because they were the last two teams I had not seen play in a major league game in person.

Yankee Stadium - The threat of the wrecking ball finally motivated me to see "The House that Ruth Built". The runways and concourses that were not part of the mid-70's renovation reminded me of Tiger Stadium. You definitely had the feeling that you were at the place to be. My only regret is not making it in time to walk through Monument Garden. I have photos from this visit posted here.

The Boys of the Summer of Love begin!

2009-03-25T19:18:00.007-04:00

On St. Patrick's Day, 2009, a second time through the 1967 baseball season began. The first pitch was a strike from Washington's Pete Richert, and the season was underway. You can follow all of my second time through baseball replays at each of the seasons' sites. This blog is to share interesting off or on-field items that I uncover in my research of these re-created seasons. Some items may have a new interest after 40+ years of time, and more often than not, some items just go to show that some things, more particularly the business of baseball, have not changed much over 40+ years. I may cover news items of interest and the music from that season. Starting with my 1966 replay, a jukebox is available for your listening enjoyment as you read through the box scores and team news. Music is one of the quickest way to travel your mind through time.

Each of the recreated baseball seasons were seasons that I was too young to enjoy. As my current progression from the 1965 season continues, I will at some point reach my first baseball memory, which is the 1972 World Series. That will be a few years from now so I think at that point, I will not mind retreading through childhood memories. Many of the characters of baseball of my childhood's eye make their stage debut in 1967. Johnny Bench, Tom Seaver, Reggie Jackson, just to name a few.

As spring training, 1967 kicked off in Florida and Arizona, there was not much debate that the Orioles would repeat as American League champions. The only caveat was the youth and health of their pitching staff. That caveat pretty much covers every team, not just in 1967. The Twins were the greatest threat as Minnesota had deepened its staff with the acquisition of Dean Chance. In the National League, the consensus was that the Giants or Pirates would knock the Koufax-less Dodgers off as king of the mountain. I have not come across a definitive list of predicted finish from any publication, but Sports Illustrated and Baseball Digest leaned toward the Giants while The Sporting News tabbed the Bucs. The Dodgers were picked for the second division, but that did not concern Walt Alston too much as none of the magazines picked the Dodgers in 1965 or 1966.

This is a consensus of the predicted order of finish along with a one-line comment from Baseball Digest, April, 1967 issue:

Orioles - should win again if pitching is sound
Twins - one of the top contenders
Tigers - should be a contender if pitchers click
White Sox - hitting must show real improvement
Angels- pitching must improve for fifth
A's - may finish top of second division
Red Sox - little hope of climbing much
Yankees - another second division finish
Senators - first division still out of reach

Giants - excellent chance to win pennant
Pirates - solid club which should be in race
Braves - a pitching surprise could mean flag
Phillies - should be solid contenders if White can play early
Cardinals - will need some surprises to be solid contenders
Dodgers - will be hard-pressed for first division
Cubs - improved pitching could mean club moves to sixth
Reds - pitching must improve greatly to be contender
Mets - improving but eighth place seems tops
Astros - improving, but not enough to make first division