The Beef
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About this ebook
Harry Lockhart Jr
About the Author As a longtime baseball enthusiast and historian, I felt the need to reflect on the baseball world of the 1960s. This is an decade that not only do I cherish, but I had the opportunity to personally enjoy nearly one thousand games. As a fan and as a peanut vendor for several years this gave me the opportunity to see my heros up close. This included many of the greats of the game—people like Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Stan Musial, and Sandy Koufax, to name a few. As a native Saint Louisian, I was brought into the Cardinal Nation at a young age. Many of these stars and players from the decade have passed on, and I feel it a necessity to carry on with their contributions and their part of our national pastime. The detail of my research hopefully brings a different perspective of the game as it was some fifty years ago. If you were a kid in the 1960’s the personal touch of the times will bring back many of your own personal memories as you relive one of the greatest times in baseball history !
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The Beef - Harry Lockhart Jr
© 2013 Harry Lockhart Jr. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.
Published by AuthorHouse 2/19/2013
ISBN: 978-1-4817-1324-5 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-4817-1325-2 (hc)
ISBN: 978-1-4817-1326-9 (e)
Library of Congress Control Number: 2013902456
Topps baseball cards used courtesy of The Topps Company, Inc. For more information about The Topps Company, please see our website at www.topps.com.
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,
and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
Contents
INTRODUCTION
NATIONAL LEAGUE REGULAR SEASON WINS FOR THE 1960S DECADE
LOS ANGELES DODGERS
SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS
SAINT LOUIS CARDINALS
CINCINNATI REDS
CHICAGO CUBS
PITTSBURGH PIRATES
MILWAUKEE/ATLANTA BRAVES
NEW YORK METS
HOUSTON COLT 45S/HOUSTON ASTROS
NEW YORK YANKEES
DETROIT TIGERS
CLEVELAND INDIANS
CHICAGO WHITE SOX
KANSAS CITY/OAKLAND ATHLETICS
MINNESOTA TWINS
BALTIMORE ORIOLES
LOS ANGELES ANGELS
WASHINGTON SENATORS
CONCLUSIONTHE BASEBALL OF THE 1960S… THE WAY IT WAS!
ABOUT THE BOOK
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
img-907161927.psdIn the heat of the pennant race on 8-22-1965, veteran home plate umpire Shag Crawford (right) attempted to stop San Francisco’s Juan Marichal’s bat assault on Dodger catcher John Roseboro. (see cover). He eventually found himself at the bottom of the pile of this famous brawl. The legendary Crawford served 20 years as an NL umpire in over 3100 games from 1956-1975.
Pictured to his left is his son, former NL MLB umpire Jerry Crawford. Jerry followed in his famous father’s footsteps and retired in 2010 after 34 years of a potential hall of fame career himself.
1960 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1961 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1962 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
*Record includes 3 game regular season playoff won by the Giants 2 games to one.
1963 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1964 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1965 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1966 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1967 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1968 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
1969 MLB FINAL STANDINGS
INTRODUCTION
Since the days of Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig, and Murderer’s Row in the 1920s, major league teams have been trying to get the beef
into the middle of their lineups to excite fans with eye-popping power in an attempt to earn big profits through a dedicated fan base that creates high attendance at the stadium.
The fans have responded by showing up at ballparks across the country to see these great hitting combinations. In the 1960s, there were many great combinations like Maris and Mantle, Mays and McCovey, and Mathews and Aaron. So impressive were these combos that fans still rave about them, even today. However, most recently fans loved to watch Mark McGwire and Jose Canseco, Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz, or Matt Holiday and Albert Pujols—the millionaires of swat. Americans love power and home runs in their lineups. In fact the long ball and home run highlights are to ESPN what the German Third Reich is to the Military Channel; people turn on and tune in to these channels to for those purposes alone. However, with all the emphasis over the last hundred years on creating the beef in the middle of the lineup, how important has it been for teams that had those power combos in the middle of their lineups?
My goal is to answer the following questions as they relate to each team of the 1960s with a detailed look and an emphasis on their lineup and so-called meat, the 3-4-5 spots of the batting order.
1. What teams had the best 3-4-5 hitting combinations?
2. How did each of these team’s combinations contribute to championships?
3. Did the great combos live up to their potential?
4. Were there other factors that led to their team’s success and failures?
5. Who were the best teams of the 1960s, and why?
6. Who were the worst teams of the decade, and why?
7. Which was the better league, the National or American?
8. In an age dominated by pitching, how did the hitters survive?
9. What franchises overachieved, which underachieved, and why?
10. Who were the unusual characters that played an important role during the decade, and what did their contributions bring to the era?
THE DECADE OF THE 1960S
The decade of the 1960s was indeed a tribute to time. Outside of the baseball world, the era started with the end of the conservative 1950s Eisenhower reign, with the election of John Kennedy. Kennedy brought a flair of adventure, change, and excitement to the country. During this time, there were national threats, assassinations of our leaders, violence in our major cities, racial issues, a war, and a decade that would end in dramatic fashion by placing a man on the moon. Major League Baseball was no different in its own challenges and problems.
In 1960, baseball ushered in the perennial AL champs from the 1950s, the New York Yankees. In dramatic fashion, they would lose the 1960 World Series to the underdog Pittsburgh Pirates. By the end of the decade, the other New York team, baseball’s worst, would land their man on the moon, as the New York Mets would be the world champions of 1969. The decade would claim the lives and cut short the careers of some of