I Didn't Know He Played For: Baltimore Orioles

Last week we started a look at a new series called "I didn't know they played for..." with a look at the minor league history of my home town, Reading, PA.  This week we take a look at the major league history of the Baltimore Orioles organization.

The Baltimore Orioles started as the St. Louis Browns.  (Of course you knew that because I'm sure you vividly recall the well written, exhilarating article about the history of team names).  The Browns did not have the greatest history but they did have quite a few recognizable names play for the team including George Sisler, Don Gutteridge and Pete Gray.

The team moved to Baltimore in 1954 (which you of course also knew because you read this blog every week, right?) Since moving to Baltimore the Orioles team has become one of the key identifying features of the city.  The fresh crab cakes from the inner harbor, the historical ships and the great shopping district are just as identifiable for the area.

The Orioles teams have had some of the greatest players of all time represent their team proudly.  Frank and Brooks Robinson, Jim Palmer, Eddie Murray and Cal Ripken are the most identifiable.  Every organization has players that come through town on the way to making their mark some where else.  Sometimes the player is near the end of their career and are trying to make one last playoff run or World Series appearance.  These players are often remembered as a member of another organization but nevertheless appeared as a Brown or Oriole at some point.  Here are some of the players that you may not remember as having played for the Browns or Orioles.

Jiggs Donahue:
The name Jiggs Donahue may not resonate through the history of the game today but he played a very big part in one of the greatest upsets of all time.  The 1906 Cubs are still considered one of the greatest teams of all time.  They breezed through the National League before they ran into the crosstown rival White Sox, lovingly referred to that year as the "Hitless Wonders".  They were anything but hitless in the World Series.  Donahue was a driving force in that series playing like a man possessed.  A man who had only 25 extra base hits all year long ended up with two doubles and a triple in the upset win and drove in 5 runs.  In all Donahue played six years with the White Sox, his best being 1905.  Before he was a White Sox he was a member of the St.Louis Browns. Or more precisely, the original Milwaukee Brewers of 1901 who moved to St. Louis in 1902.  One of the contract jumpers from the National League at the start of the American League, Donahue signed with Milwaukee for 1901 and hit .316 in 37 games.  He played with the team in St.Louis in their first year there but appeared in only 30 games and hit .237.  In 1903 he was sent to the minors but resurfaced with the White Sox for 1904.

Bill Dinneen:
The first World Series in 1903 featured some of the greatest names of all time: Jimmy Collins, Fred Clarke, Tommy Leach, Honus Wagner and Cy Young.  The man who made the difference among all these  legends was Bill Dinneen.  Dinneen won three of the five games needed by the Red Sox to capture their first ever World Series title.  He continued to pitch for the Sox until 1907.  In June 1907, as the Sox were retooling for what would become the 1912-1918 dynasty, they sent their former pitching hero to the Browns for Beany Jacobson and $1500 dollars.  Dinneen would play two and a half years with the Browns before retiring.  He would go 27-24 with a 2.57 ERA in St.Louis.  Not bad considering how terrible most of those Browns teams were. Actually, the 1908 Browns also featured Rube Waddell, the former A's star, and put up a fight in the close American League race. Dinneen would go on to be a successful Major League umpire for many years after his playing days.

Charlie Root:
Despite not having won a World Series title since 1908 and not having reached a World Series since 1945, the Cubs were regularly in contention between 1908 and 1945.  Charlie Root was the ace of the Cubs' pitching staff on 4 World Series teams (1929, 1932, 1935 and 1938).  Despite being known as the man who gave up Babe Ruth's called shot, Root had a very good career, ending with a 201-160 record.  Root started with the Cubs in 1926 but before he was a Cub he was a Brown.  Root appeared in 27 games for the 5th place Browns in 1923, going 0-5 with a 5.70 ERA.  Obviously the Browns needed pitchers who could win so Root was sent back to the minors where he resurfaced three years later.

Jim Bottomley:

Photo of Jim Bottomley Courtesy of Sporting News

As hard as it may be for modern fans to believe, the St.Louis Cardinals were once the doormat of the National League.  As they came out of the darkness and into contention Jim Bottomley and Rogers Hornsby were the keys to the offense.  Bottomley even won an MVP award in 1928 as the Cardinals returned to the World Series.  But as always happens, the years go on, age catches up with the players and younger players come along.  When it was time for Bottomley to give up the first base bag he was not done with his career.  The Cardinals traded Bottomley to the Reds and after a few years finished his career with the lowly Browns.  In 2 years there he hit .285 (not bad but well below his .310 career average) and drove in 107 runs (less than what he used to accomplish in just one year with the Cardinals). Bottomley was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1974.

Dizzy Dean:

Photo of Dizzy Dean Courtesy of Wikipedia

Dizzy Dean is synonymous with the St.Louis Cardinals "Gashouse Gang" of 1934.  Dean was later a legendary broadcaster and was always known for his goofy persona.  What few people know is that the great Dean tried a come back in 1947.  He pitched 1 game for the Browns in 1947.  In 4 innings he allowed three hits and a walk but no runs and did not get a decision.

Eddie Lopat:
The Yankees, who dominated the game in the late 1940s and 1950s are mostly remembered for their offensive names like DiMaggio, Berra, Mantle, Bauer, Gordon and Rizzuto.  Often forgotten are their three aces of Allie Reynolds, Vic Raschi and Eddie Lopat.  In the 8 years that Lopat pitched in the Bronx, the Yankees won 5 World Series.  As the Yankees went for the 1955 AL pennant Lopat's record sat at 4-8.  The Yankees sent Lopat to the Orioles for pitcher Jim McDonald.  Lopat would pitch in only 10 games for the O's and went 3-4.  At the end of the season Lopat was released and retired.

Dizzy Trout:
Dizzy Trout worked with Hal Newhouser to lead the Tigers pitching staff of the 1940s.  Trout pitched in the World Series for the 1940 and 1945 for the Tigers and, although not as successful as Newhouser he was a fan favorite.  What few remember is that Dizzy, father of Steve Trout, ended his career with the birds.  Trout disappeared from the game after the 1952 season but resurfaced in Baltimore at the age of 42 in 1957.  Trout appeared in 2 games for the O's  and retired only one of the five batters he faced.  He allowed 4 hits and 3 runs in 1/3 of an inning for an ERA of 81.00.

Whitey Herzog:

Photo of Whitey Herzog Courtesy of Oriolesnumbers.com

Whitey Herzog was a Hall of Fame manager mostly with the Royals and Cardinals though he also spent time with the Rangers and Angels.  As with almost all managers, they had to be players somewhere before they became managers.  Herzog played for several teams but he played more in Baltimore than for any other team.  Herzog played two seasons (1961 and 1962) with the Orioles and hit .280 in his time there

Harvey Haddix:
Harvey Haddix was an All Star, Gold Glove winner and famously pitched 12 perfect innings before losing the game in the 13th.  He saw a lot of success with the Cardinals and Pirates, even winning a World Series title with the Pirates in 1960.  What few remember is where Haddix ended up.  In 1964 and 1965 Haddix pitched in Birdland.  After the 1963 season as the Pirates were looking for a youth movement Haddix was sent to Baltimore. He went 5-5 in 1964 and 3-4 in 1965.  His contract was sold to the Braves after the 1965 season.  Too bad.  Had he hung on one more year in Baltimore he would have gotten another World Series ring.

Enos Cabell:
Enos Cabell is one of the all time great players in the history of the Astros organization.  As Cabell matured as a player, the Astros matured as a team.  Before Cabell became an Astros legend he helped the Orioles make the playoffs.  He first appeared in the majors for three games in 1972.  His playing time increased to 30 games the next year and 80 games in 1974.  When the O's took on the A's in the 1974 ALCS Cabell saw action in three games although the A's went on to their third straight World Series win.  In December of that year Cabell was traded with Rob Andrews to the Astros in exchange for Lee May and Jay Schlueter.  It worked out for Cabell. The Astros would eventually retire his number.

Rick Burleson:
The name Rick Burleson may not stand out to casual fans, but Red Sox Nation certainly remembers him and the fans of the Angels should remember him too.  He played a big part in the success of both organizations.  The Rooster came up with the Red Sox in 1974 and finished 4th in Rookie of the Year voting (he was behind Mike Hargrove, Bucky Dent and George Brett).  In 1975 the feisty Burleson combined with Denny Doyle as the middle infield in the Red Sox first World Series team since 1967.  After his time in Boston he went on to help the Angels organization for 5 years, even playing a big part in the  classic 1986 ALCS between the Halos and the Red Sox.  Burleson became a free agent after the 1986 season.  The Orioles hadn't quite figured out what direction they were heading and despite having a young Bill Ripken in their minor league system they signed Burleson.  In 1987 Burleson would play 62 games and hit .209.  He would retire after the 1987 season.

Dwight Evans:
Jim Rice, Carl Yastrzemski and Fred Lynn.  It's a hell of an outfield but it didn't leave room for one of the most important pieces of the 1975 Red Sox.  Dewey Evans was too good to sit on the bench so Yaz moved to First Base to make room.  From 1972-1990 Evans patrolled the Fenway outfield and was there for every near victory and painful defeat.  He made one of the most unbelievably spectacular catches in the 1975 World Series.  When the Reds rallied in 1975 Game 7 Dewey watched it.  When Buckner let the ball trickle through Dewey saw it.  And when McGwire, Canseco and the Bash Brothers destroyed the Red Sox Dewey was there.  He played 2505 games in a Red Sox uniform.  After 19 years of service in the Boston organization the Red Sox were ready to move on with Mike Greenwell, Ellis Burks and Tom Brunansky.  After the 1990 season the Red Sox released Evans.  He felt he still had something left to contribute so he went to Baltimore, who experts felt were close to a big rebirth.  Instead 1991 was the tipping point downward for Baltimore.  Prior to the season they had sent three minor leaguers (Pete Harnisch, Steve Finley and Curt Schilling) to Houston for Glenn Davis.  Davis played in only 49 games that year.  Evans managed to play in 100 games and finished with a respectable .270 but his RBI (38) and Home Runs (6) were way below his standards.  Evans retired at the end of the season.


Lonnie Smith: 
Everywhere Lonnie Smith went World Series appearances (usually wins) would follow.  Philadelphia (1980), St. Louis (1982) Kansas City (1985), Atlanta (1991, 1992). Everywhere except Baltimore.  Smith had signed with the Pirates in  1993 after a successful stay in Atlanta.  At the trade deadline, with the Orioles feeling they might still catch the Blue Jays,  the Orioles sent 2 minor leaguers to the Pirates for Smith.  It wasn't a Glenn Davis bad trade (the two minor leaguers never made an impact in the majors) but Smith only played in 9 games for the O's that year.  They did not catch the Jays.  Smith played in 35 games for the O's in the strike shortened 1994 season.  When the game returned in 1995 Smith did not.  He retired.

Sid Fernandez:
Doc Gooden, Ron Darling and David Cone got the headlines as the stars of the pitching staff for the Mets of the 1980s,.  Sid Fernandez quietly succeeded.  Fernandez pitched 10 years for the Mets and won just short of 100 games for the Mets, not including the post season.  When his contract with the Mets ended after the 1993 season, Fernandez signed with Baltimore.  Sid finished at 6-6 with a 5.15 ERA in his first AL year.  He started the next season at 0-4 with a 7.39 ERA and was released on July 10, 1995.

Joe Carter:

Photo of Joe Carter Courtesy of Wikipedia

For a short while, a very brief period, there was a nice little rivalry brewing between the O's and Jays in the AL East.  From 1989 to 1993 the Orioles and Jays were fighting for the top perch.  Fans in Baltimore hated their northern neighbors and Joe Carter was the leader, the icon of that group.  After the 1997 season Carter was a free agent and he signed with the Orioles.  His stay was brief, only 85 games, and he hit only .247 but he did hit 11 Home Runs.  At the trade deadline, with the Orioles' inflated payroll and reduced results, Carter was traded to the Giants for a minor league prospect.

Ozzie Guillen:
The Orioles in the mid/late 1990s were so close to winning.  They had come up just short in 1997.  The off season of 1997-1998 was a disaster.  Their manager, an organizational legend as a player who had just won Manager of the Year, left.  With the front office realizing that their team was old and with a small window left to win the Orioles decided to mortgage the future and bring in as many veteran stars (regardless of age) as possible.  Joe Carter and Doug Drabek were signed.  Looking for a Short Stop that would allow Cal Ripken to move to Third Base, the Orioles signed Ozzie Guillen. Ozzie played all  of 12 games for the O's in 1998(mostly as a backup for Mike Bordick) and hit .083 in just 18 plate appearances. Guillen was released by the Orioles on May 1 and signed with the Braves.

Casey Blake:
Casey Blake developed into a strong defensive third baseman and good middle of the lineup hitter for the Indians and Dodgers.  When Cleveland nearly reached the 2007 World Series, Blake was at the hot corner.  When the Dodgers lost back to back NLCS to the Phillies in 2008 and 2009, Blake played a big part.  Blake's road to success was not quite that easy.  Along the way he passed through the Phillies, Tigers, Yankees and Blue Jays systems eventually ending up with the Twins.  After a short stay there Blake was waived by the Twins and on September 21, 2001 the Orioles took a chance.  Blake played in 6 games for the O's  He had 2 hits in 15 At Bats (.133) but one of those two hits was a Home Run.  Blake also stole two bases.  At the end of the year Blake was waived by the Orioles and reclaimed by the Twins ending his tenure with the O's.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

The Glenn Davis trade mentioned today was one of the worst trades in baseball history.  Curt Schilling, Pete Harnisch and Steve Finley were sent to the Houston Astros.  How many All Star Appearances did these three combine for and how many times did they  play on a World Series team?

Answer to Last Week's Question:

It is often said that the Dodgers purchased the Reading team for Carl Furillo and the air conditioned bus.  The team was not overloaded with great talent but the 1941 Reading Brooks did send a few players (other than the obvious Furillo) to the Major Leagues:

Al Campanis: Played 7 games in 1943 for the Dodgers.

Paul Cheverinko: Had already spent his time in the majors by 1941.  He played a combined 42 games in 1937 and 1938 for the Dodgers.

Buck Etchison: Would not play for Brooklyn but spent 1943 and 1944 in Boston with the Braves.  This included 109 games in the war reduced ranks of the Major Leagues.

Heinie Heltzel: Played 29 games for the 1943 Braves and 11 games for the 1944 Phillies.

Lyle Judy: Similar to Cheverinko, Judy had already played in the majors.  He spent all of 8 games with the Cardinals in 1935.

Joe Walsh: Pitcher Joe Walsh had also already spent his time in the Majors by 1941.  He appeared in 8 games for the Boston Braves in 1938.

14 Players You May Not Know from the 1960's But Should

The 1960's were bookended by two of the greatest upsets in the history of the game.  The Pittsburgh Pirates, who had not been to a World Series since 1927, surprised everyone by beating out the Dodgers, Giants and Cardinals to reach the World Series against the powerful Yankees.  If ever there was a David and Goliath story this was it.  Throughout the World Series the Pirates were outscored 55-27.  They won the close games and forced a Game 7.  Tied in the bottom of the ninth inning of Game 7 a light hitting second baseman named Bill Mazeroski hit an unexpected home run to end the series and topple the Yankees dynasty.  Following the loss Casey Stengel was fired by the Yankees.  He was told it was because he was seventy years old.  Casey told a reporter "I'll never make that mistake again."

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

The Yankees replaced Stengel with Ralph Houk and continued to dominate the American League in 1961 as Mickey Mantle and Roger Maris chased the biggest Yankee legend of them all, Babe Ruth.  As Mantle and Maris fought to top Ruth's 60 home runs, Yankees fans cheered for Mantle and booed Maris.  Mantle was viewed as a "true Yankee" and Maris was viewed as someone not worthy to carry Mantle's glove.  In the end Maris beat Ruth's record by one home run, yet commissioner Ford Frick, a big fan and previous publicist of Ruth's wouldn't let this stand.  He declared that Maris's record would go in the books with an * to draw attention to the fact that Maris had more games in the season than Ruth. 

The 1960's were a decade of continuous movement in the baseball landscape.  1962 saw the first expansion of the National League.  To compensate the National League fans in New York who were devastated over the loss of the Giants and Dodgers, the Mets were created (though based on the way they played for the first few years it seemed like a punishment rather than an appeasement).  The 1962 Mets are still the perfect example of a bumbling baseball team.  They were the true Major League version of the Bad News Bears.  Along with the Mets came the Houston Colt .45's in the National League.  The Los Angeles Angels and the Washington Senators (replacing the original Washington Senators who were now the Minnesota Twins) joined the American League in 1961.  By the end of the decade four more teams would come into play as the Montreal Expos, San Diego Padres, Kansas City Royals (replacing the Kansas City Athletics who had moved to Oakland) and the Seattle Pilots (who would very shortly become the Milwaukee Brewers). 

There were some great surprise teams who had one single year of success and gave us some of the greatest World Series of all time.  The 1960, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1967 and 1968 Series all went 7 games.  Starting with the Pirates in 1960, nearly every year had a surprise team reach the World Series (1961 Reds, 1962 Giants, 1964 Cardinals, 1965 Twins, 1966 Orioles, 1967 "Impossible Dream" Red Sox, 1968 Tigers and 1969 "Amazin'" Mets).  Although the 1964 Cardinals were listed as a surprise team, the Cardinals were truly the great team in the decade.  The St. Louis Cardinals had the most dominant pitcher of the decade with Bob Gibson, the most dominant base stealer in Lou Brock, the most dominant fielder in Curt Flood and the greatest team of the decade reaching the World Series in 1964, 1967 and 1968, each one a seven game classic.

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

With the addition of four teams to each league the Major Leagues created the divisional format for 1969.  There were now four divisions: American League East (Yankees, Orioles, Red Sox, Tigers, Indians and Senators), American League West (Athletics, Royals, Twins, Pilots, White Sox and Angels), National League East (Phillies, Cubs, Cardinals, Mets, Expos and Pirates) and National League West (Dodgers, Giants, Braves, Reds, Padres and Colt .45's).

The new format led to the first ever Championship Series rounds, a best of five series to determine the World Series participants.  The first NLCS was the Braves and the Mets (both surprises).  The first ALCS was the Twins and the Orioles.  The Orioles were supposed to destroy the comical underdog Mets.  The Orioles stuck to the script in the opening game winning 4-1 and entering the 9th inning of Game 2 tied at 1.  Then the miracle happened and the "Amazin's" went off script to win the next four games for their first World Series title.  It was the perfect end (unless you're an Orioles fan) to a decade full of unexpected World Series teams and upsets.

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Although the names of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Mickey Mantle, Roger Maris, Tom Seaver, Bob Gibson, Frank Robinson, Brooks Robinson and Henry Aaron will be the names that are remembered thirty, forty or fifty years from now (or more), every decade has tremendously talented, successful players who make wonderful contributions to the success of their teams, organizations and the league as a whole. Unfortunately many of the players who fall into this category will be forgotten, overlooked and generally ignored. Here are 14 players* from the decade you may not remember but you definitely should:

Catcher:
Jerry Grote

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Houston Colt .45's (1963-1964), New York Mets (1966-1977), Los Angeles Dodgers (1977-1978), Kansas City Royals (1981) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1981)
All Star Appearances:  1968 and 1974
MVP Voting: None
Certain pitchers have a specific Catcher they insist on having behind the plate when they pitch.  Bob Welch of the Oakland A's demanded that Ron Hassey catch for him instead of Terry Steinbach.  When Greg Maddux pitched for the Braves he insisted on having Eddie Perez catch instead of Javy Lopez. Tim Wakefield insisted on having Doug Mirabelli catch instead of Jason Varitek because Mirabelli knew how to handle the knuckleball.  Tom Seaver, one of the best pitchers of the 1960's and one of the greatest pitchers ever, insisted that Jerry Grote catch when he pitched.  It was a matter of comfort and trust.  With Jerry Grote as the Mets' Catcher, the Mets manager could relax knowing that Grote could call a game better than any Catcher, possibly ever.  Grote would think ahead of the game and envision the entire thing unfold before it happened.  If a poor or average hitter would come up in the middle innings of the game with the Mets ahead, Grote would have the pitcher give the batter a pitch to hit.  Grote believed that if the batter got a hit in the middle innings he would be satisfied with his one hit for the day and be less likely to fight as hard in the late innings.  Grote was also a master of manipulating a game.  He would look at the pace of the game and anticipate who was likely to bat in the late innings.  If it looked like a team's big hitters were likely to come up in the late innings, Grote would ease up on a few batters to get the part of the batting order he wanted to face up in the ninth.  Very few catchers have ever been able to call a game like Grote.

John Roseboro (+)

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers (1957-1967), Minnesota Twins (1968-1969) and Washington Senators (1970)
All Star Appearances:  1958, 1961, 1962 and 1969
MVP Voting:  1961, 1965 and 1966
Being a Catcher in the Dodgers organization in the early 1950's was not a very promising career path.  You were sitting behind Roy Campanella, the three time MVP, definite future Hall of Fame member and undisputed greatest Catcher on the planet.  When Campanella was paralyzed in a car accident, Roseboro was forced into action.  It wasn't the way you want to get a job but Roseboro made the best of it.  When the Dodgers moved to the west coast Roseboro went with them.  The rivalry between the Giants and Dodgers moved west with the teams.  Dodgers-Giants was always ugly but it was ugliest when they were fighting for first place. It was never uglier than August 22, 1965.  Juan Marichal, the Giants' pitcher, had a reputation as a knock down pitcher.  He knocked down Maury Wills and Ron Fairly in the first inning.  Pitching for the Dodgers was Sandy Koufax, who refused to ever throw at a batter.  When Marichal stepped up to bat, Roseboro wouldn't allow Marichal to get back to the bench without receiving a message and if the message didn't come from the mound it would come from behind the plate.  As Roseboro returned Koufax's first pitch he made sure it was close enough to Marichal's face to trim his mustache.  Marichal let Roseboro know that it better not happen again.  It did.  Marichal turned around and used the only weapon he had.  His bat.  He slammed it down on Roseboro's head at least three times and was ready to pound some more but was tackled before he could inflict more pain.  It is one of the ugliest scenes in the history of sports.  Roseboro recovered after receiving 14 stitches and missing some time.  Marichal later apologized to Roseboro and the two became close friends but the image of Roseboro vs. Marichal is the most violent image of the Dodgers-Giants rivalry.  Roseboro continued on a strong career and helped the Twins become a consistent playoff team at the end of the decade.

Firstbase:
Norm Cash

Photo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Career Teams:  Chicago White Sox (1958-1959) and Detroit Tigers (1960-1974).
All Star Appearances:  1961, 1966, 1971 and 1972
MVP Voting:  1961 (4th), 1962 (31st), 1965 (33rd), 1966 (12th), 1968 (23rd) and 1971 (12th).
When you think of American League power hitters Norm Cash is not one that comes to mind.  Yet, Cash hit a total of 377 in his career.  He never led the league and never hit more than 41 in a season.  When he hung up his spikes at the end of the 1974 season Cash was fourth in AL history behind Babe Ruth, Lou Gehrig and Ted Williams.  He has since been passed by many players as the home run numbers became inflated but those names are pretty illustrious.  Cash's best year was 1961.  He led the league in Batting Average, Hits, Intentional Walks (even more than Maris or Mantle) and On Base Percentage and set career marks in Hits, Triples, Home Runs, Stolen Bases, Runs, RBI and Batting Average.  Unfortunately that was the year Maris and Mantle battled each other to beat Babe Ruth's single season home run record.  Cash was an integral part of Detroit's 1968 World Series win.  Game 7 of the 1968 World Series was scoreless heading into the top of the 7th.  With 2 outs Cash took a 2-1 pitch for strike 2.  He turned to  the umpire and said "Come on,  it's outside".  He shook his head and took ball 3.  One strike away from moving to the 8th inning scoreless, Cash drove the next pitch to right field for a single setting off a three run rally.  The Tigers won Game 7 by a score of 4-1.

Secondbase:
Tony Taylor

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Chicago Cubs (1958-1960), Philadelphia Phillies (1960-1971), Detroit Tigers (1971-1974) and Philadelphia Phillies (1974-1976)
All Star Appearances:  1960
MVP Voting: 1963 (16th)
If someone asked you to name the top 10 Phillies of all time Mike Schmidt, Steve Carlton and Jimmy Rollins would probably be the first to come to mind.  Very few would think of Tony Taylor, yet he sits in the top ten of several Phillies historical categories.  It would be hard to argue that he had the historical impact on the organization of a Pat Burrell or Cole Hamels but Taylor worked in Philadelphia when the only people who went to Phillies games were probably there as some form of punishment.  Taylor was part of one of the most infamous Phillies teams in history.  The 1964 Phillies led the National League by 6 1/2 games with only twelve games left in the season.  For a team that had won 90 games to that point in the season winning another five or six should have been nothing.  Don't forget this was the Phillies.  After taking the 6 1/2 game lead they immediately lost the next 10 games while the Cardinals caught fire and took over first place. 

Shortstop:
Dick Groat

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

Career Teams: Pittsburgh Pirates (1952-1962), St.Louis Cardinals (1963-1965), Philadelphia Phillies (1966-1967) and San Francisco Giants (1967)
All Star Appearances:  1959, 1960, 1962 1963 and 1964
MVP Voting: 1957 (15th), 1960 (1st), 1962 (16th) and 1963 (2nd).
Few players are fortunate enough to play in a World Series Game 7 and be involved in one of the greatest moments of World Series history.  Even fewer players have that chance twice.  In the 1950's the Yankees seemed to be involved in the World Series every year.  When the Pittsburgh Pirates faced off against the Yankees in 1960 few gave the Pirates a chance.  When the Yankees took  a big lead heading into the bottom of the 8th of Game 7 everyone assumed the Pirates' magical season had ended.  Groat, the NL MVP in 1960, led the charge and drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single.  A few batters later he scored on a big, game tying, 3 run home run by Hal Smith.  The Pirates went on to win the game with the most famous series ending home run in history.  The Pirates glory days didn't last too long into the 1960's and by 1963 Groat was traded to the Cardinals. It was a great move for the Cardinals, who had fallen on hard times since their last World Series in 1946.  With Groat's leadership and steady fielding the Cardinals were able to overcome the collapsing Phillies, fight their way to the World Series and force the heavily favored Yankees into a classic Game 7. Although Groat had only 5 hits in the 1964 World Series he played a big part in helping to topple the great Yankee dynasty...twice.

Thirdbase:
Ken Boyer

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  St.Louis Cardinals (1955-1965), New York Mets (1966-1967), Chicago White Sox (1967-1968) and Los Angeles Dodgers (1968-1969)
All Star Appearances:  1956, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, 1963 and 1964
MVP Voting:  1956 (28th), 1958 (13th), 1959 (10th), 1960 (6th), 1961 (7th), 1962 (18th), 1963 (13th), 1964 (1st).
With seven All Star Appearances, five Gold Glove awards and an MVP award it would be hard to imagine Ken Boyer as a forgotten player.  Yet as the Cardinals began to dominate the decade Boyer seemed to always be the man overshadowed.  Overshadowed by Stan Musial's constant .300 average, by Lou Brock's stolen bases, by Bob Gibson's million strikeouts and, amazingly, even by Tim McCarver stealing home during a World Series game.  During his years in St.Louis Boyer was a consistent .300 hitter, consistently drove in close to 100 runs, scored close to 100 runs and hit between 25 to 30 home runs.  As the Musial era ended and the new Cardinals dynasty started Boyer was one of the few links between the eras.  In the 1964 World Series the Cardinals were viewed as lucky to have made it that far and as the Yankees threatened to take a 3 games to 1 lead the sports writers were writing their stories saying their early predictions had been dead on.  Down 3-0 in the top of the 6th the Cardinals loaded the bases with one out. Boyer stepped in and slammed a pitch to left field.  The grand slam gave the Cardinals a 4-3 lead and completely turned the series around.  That would have been a great World Series for anyone, yet Boyer wasn't done.  In Game 7 the Cardinals were up 6-0 when Mickey Mantle hit a three run home run to cut the lead in half and lead fans to believe some Yankee magic might be in the making.  But Boyer put the Cardinals back up by four with a solo home run.  The Yankees tried to rally in the 9th led by a solo home run by Clete Boyer, Ken's brother.  They became the first brothers to homer in the same World Series game.  Although Boyer has somehow been overlooked for the Hall of Fame his number was retired by the St.Louis Cardinals organization. 

Gene Freese

Photo Courtesy of MLB.com

Career Teams:  Pittsburgh Pirates (1955-1958), St.Louis Cardinals (1958), Philadelphia Phillies (1959), Chicago White Sox (1960), Cincinnati Reds (1961-1963), Pittsburgh Pirates (1964-1965), Chicago White Sox (1965-1966) and Houston Astros (1966)
All Star Appearances:  None.
MVP Voting:  None.
Gene Freese did not have a tremendously long career and it was not a tremendously amazing career but the Cincinnati Reds had an amazing season in 1961 and Gene Freese was a big part of that team.  Going into the 1961 season few gave the Reds a chance.  It was assumed the Dodgers, Giants, Braves or Cardinals would be fighting for a World Series spot and the Reds were expected to be somewhere in the bottom half of the league.  Freese held down the hot corner while having his best, most complete offensive season.  He had career highs in Runs (78), Hits (159), Home Runs (26) and RBI (87).  He also had near career highs in Doubles (23), Stolen Bases (8) and Batting Average (.277).  Freese did not have a great World Series, only one hit and three walks with four strikeouts, but none of the Reds really had a great Series.  The Yankees knocked the Reds out in 5 games and Freese never did quite play the same again.  In spring training of 1962 Freese broke his ankle.  His career was not over but he would never play another full season.


Outfield:
Curt Flood

August 10, 1968 Cover Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated

Career Teams:  Cincinnati Reds (1956-1957), St. Louis Cardinals (1958-1969) and Washington Senators (1971).
All Star Appearances:  1964, 1966 and 1968
MVP Voting:  1963 (24th), 1964 (11th), 1965 (15th), 1966 (20th), 1967 (13th) and 1968 (4th)
For students of the game it may be insane to see Curt Flood on a list of players that are unknown but sadly the casual fan doesn't hear about Curt Flood nearly enough.  The Cardinals dominated the 1960's with players like Stan Musial, Bob Gibson, Lou Brock and Tim McCarver.  Even with these hall of fame players there were several other big contributors to their decade of dominance.  No one did more for St. Louis than Curt Flood.  He was one of the best defensive players of the decade.  No one patrolled centerfield better than Flood and his seven straight Gold Gloves proved it.  Unfortunately Flood is now known for just two things and both detract from the greatness he had achieved.  First, in the 1968 World Series, just a few batters after Norm Cash started what turned out to be a game winning rally, Jim Northrup hit a fly ball to Flood.  Flood stood just outside the afternoon shadows as the ball left the bat.  He saw the ball and reacted immediately.  There was little doubt the gold glove winner had reacted right.  He took a few steps in, then headed towards left.  Flood could fly and he was moving quickly, when suddenly, he turned and started heading back to the wall.  He still had a chance to get there but he stumbled. He didn't fall but he lost about two steps.  By the time he recovered he had just enough time to throw his glove up but the ball had moved too far even for him to reach it.  The ball fell just over his head and rolled to the wall for a two run triple.  In just two bad steps Flood went from the best defensive centerfielder in the game to "that guy who couldn't catch a fly ball".  Flood played the 1969 season and even won another Gold Glove but after the 1969 season the Cardinals traded Flood and Tim McCarver to the Philadelphia Phillies.  Flood told the Cardinals he didn't want to go.  He loved St.Louis.  He loved the fans, the stadium, the organization, the city. He knew very little about Philadelphia other than the reputation it had for race problems.  This was before Catfish Hunter and before Messersmith and McNally fought for free agency.  This was the days before players had "no-trade clauses".  If a team wanted to trade you, you were gone.  Flood refused.  He told the league that he was not a piece of property they could sell without his permission.  He took his fight to the U.S. Supreme Court asking to have the "reserve clause" overturned.  He lost.  The Phillies, a bad enough team already, didn't need the extra headache and shipped Flood to the Washington Senators.  After one year in Washington Flood retired.  He fled the US and became a recluse eventually passing away in 1997.

Johnny Callison

August 10, 1964 Cover Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated.com

Career Teams:  Chicago White Sox (1958-1959), Philadelphia Phillies (1960-1969), Chicago Cubs (1970-1971) and New York Yankees (1972-1973)
All Star Appearances: 1962, 1964 and 1965
MVP Voting: 1962 (18th), 1963 (15th), 1964 (2nd) and 1965 (24th)
When the Mets collapsed at the end of the 2007 season, the Red Sox imploded at the end of the 2011 season and the Braves fell apart at the end of the 2011 season, long time fans of Philadelphia  breathed a deep sigh of relief.  It meant that they could finally stop hearing that their 1964 season was the biggest failure in baseball history.  For nearly the entire 1964 season the Phillies had the rest of the National League decidedly beaten.  With just 12 games left in the season the Phillies held a 6 1/2 game lead.  The leader of the Phillies was Johnny Callison.  As the rest of the team folded under the pressure Callison did everything he could to keep the team afloat.  Over the last twelve games Callison hit .250 with 3 home runs (all in one game which the Phillies lost) and a double, driving in 10 and scoring 7.  It wasn't enough.  The Cardinals passed the Phillies for first place and eventually won the World Series.  Callison had his best season of his long career and finished second behind Ken Boyer of the Cardinals for the MVP award.

Vada Pinson

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams:  Cincinnati Reds (1958-1968), St. Louis Cardinals (1969), Cleveland Indians (1970-1971), California Angels (1972-1973) and Kansas City Royals (1974-1975)
All Star Appearances: 1959 and 1960
MVP Voting:  1959 (15th), 1960 (18th), 1961(3rd), 1963 (10th) and 1964 (18th)
As teams develop talent and make constant adjustments to their rosters they need to make decisions to keep one player and not another.  Sometimes they decide correctly and sometimes they don't.  In the 1990's the Braves decided to keep Andruw Jones and discard Jermaine Dye.  It was the right decision.  In the 2000's the Angels chose to keep Bobby Wilson and not Mike Napoli.  That may have been a bad decision.  The 1960's Reds had to make the same decision.  The Reds surprised everyone by making the World Series in 1961 and Vada Pinson was a big reason why.  Pinson seemed to be an all around player: strong defensively, good speed and decent power.  The Reds had another talented young outfielder named Frank Robinson.  To be fair to Pinson, the Reds didn't need to get rid of Robby and they didn't suffer too much with Vada in the outfield.  Bill DeWitt, the Reds GM, decided that Frank Robinson needed to go.  When people complained DeWitt tried to explain that it would be alright because Robinson may have only been 30 but he was "an old 30".  Robinson went on to become one of the greatest players in the history of the game and Pinson became an above average player who made great contributions to the Reds organization and several other teams in his career, but he was not Frank Robinson.  Robinson and Pinson will forever be remembered as the two young outfielders who helped the Reds to the 1961 pennant but Frank is the one who gained immortality.


Tony Conigliaro (+)

Photo Courtesy of ESPN

Career Teams: Boston Red Sox (1964-1970) California Angels (1971) and Boston Red Sox (1975)
All Star Appearances: 1967
MVP Voting:  1965 (33rd) and 1966 (28th)
The 1967 Red Sox were in 4th place, only winning 4 of their last 12 games and their season was starting to fade away as they faced the California Angels on August 18th.  The score was 0-0 heading into the Red Sox half of the 4th.  The Sox needed this game to save their season.  The Sox had the heart of their order coming up.  Jack Hamilton threw the pitch to Tony C. up in the zone but got the ball too far in.  Petrocelli knelt in the on deck circle and heard it before he could process what had happened.  He ran to Tony Conigliaro as Tony C. laid face down in the dirt.  The pitch had shattered Conigliaro's face, severely fracturing the cheek bones and orbital socket.  Conigliaro was one of the great up and coming stars of the game and along with Yaz and Rico was expected to lead the Red Sox  into the postseason for a decade or more.  After Tony C. was carried off the field Petrocelli drilled a triple and scored on an error.  The Red Sox won the 1967 pennant and had a chance to win their first World Series since 1918 but without the potent bat of Tony C. in the lineup they lost game 7 to the Cardinals.  Conigliaro tried to make several comebacks but he just couldn't see the ball the same way and his numbers slipped.  He had one last great season in 1970 where he hit .266 with 36 Home Runs but he was traded to the Angels after the season as Boston started to rebuild their team.  Had Conigliaro not been injured the history of the Red Sox, the World Series, including the 1967, 1975 and 1986 World Series and the story of Major League Baseball may have been much different.

Pitcher:
Jim "Kitty" Kaat

Photo Courtesy of Minnesota Twins

Career Teams: Washington Senators (1959-1960), Minnesota Twins (1961-1973), Chicago White Sox (1973-1975), Philadelphia Phillies (1976-1979), New York Yankees (1979-1980) and St.Louis Cardinals (1980-1983)
All Star Appearances: 1962, 1966 and 1975
MVP Voting:  1966 (5th), 1967 (20th) and 1975 (28th)
Cy Young Voting#:  1975 (4th)
The rule is unofficial, but traditionally if you win 300 games as a pitcher you are guaranteed to get into the Hall of Fame.  Apparently 283 wins over a 25 year career doesn't quite cut it.  Jim Kaat was the best fielding pitcher in his era with no close runner up.  Kaat won 16 Gold Gloves as the best fielder at his position.  If you don't think fielding the ball from the Pitcher's position is tough, try following through on a pitch going 90+ miles an hour with your momentum taking you toward third base when a batter bunts a ball towards first base.  As your body falls away from the ball you have to make an immediate reaction to decide whether you are fielding the ball to throw to first or sprinting to first to cover the bag.  Not an easy play.  Just ask Danny Cox.  When the 1965 Minnesota Twins surprised everyone by reaching the World Series, Jim Kaat was their ace.  He won 18 games with a 2.83 ERA.  When the Twins faced the Dodgers in a 7th game Kaat was the obvious choice to start.  He didn't pitch terribly.  He gave up 2 runs, 5 hits and a walk in 3  innings but when you're playing a seventh game and you're facing Sandy Koufax, the manager gives you a very short leash.  The Dodgers went on to win Game 7 2-0 with Koufax only allowing 3 hits.  No one could have beaten Koufax that day.  Kaat 's 1966 season was even better, though the Twins were not.  Kaat won 25 games in 1966 and dropped his ERA to 2.75.  Kitty moved from team to team as his career progressed making the playoffs with the Phillies in 1976 and the Cardinals in 1982.  Since his retirement Kaat has been a broadcaster.  He still broadcasts live games for MLB Network and is one of the most insightful and classy broadcasters ever.

Harvey "Kitten" Haddix

Photo Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Career Teams: St. Louis Cardinals (1952-1956), Philadelphia Phillies (1956-1957), Cincinnati Reds (1958), Pittsburgh Pirates (1959-1963) and Baltimore Orioles (1964-1965)
All Star Appearances:  1953, 1954 and 1955
MVP Voting:  1953 (17th)
Cy Young Voting#: None
I didn't realize until I started minutely researching Harvey Haddix that his nickname was Kitten and that having both Jim Kaat and Harvey Haddix on this line would make a feline family.  There is no intentional theme of cats in this week's article although both Haddix and Kaat were "south paws".   Haddix was not a Hall of Fame caliber pitcher but he was better than near perfect one night.  On May 26 1959 Haddix faced off against Lew Burdette and a Milwaukee Braves team that featured some great hitters like Henry Aaron, Eddie Matthews and Joe Adcock (haven't heard of Adcock before?  Check back next week).  When Lew Burdette struck out in the bottom of the 9th it was the 27th straight batter retired, a perfect 9 innings.  The only problem was that the game wasn't over.  Although the Braves had not put a single person on base, the Pirates had been unable to capitalize on any of their own 8 hits.  The game moved through the 10th, 11th, 12th and 13th.  The Pirates put runners on base in each inning and the Braves couldn't get anyone on base until the bottom of the 13th.  The inning started off with an error by the thirdbaseman ending the perfect game but still leaving the no hitter in tact.  Three batters later Joe Adcock drilled a double to right-center field scoring the game's only run.  Haddix had been perfect for 12 innings and lost on an unearned run in the 13th inning.  Haddix made major contributions to the Pirates' 1960 miracle season.   Although he only won 11 regular season games he won 2 in the World Series.  The Pittsburgh pitching staff was abused in the 7 game series with a collective ERA of 7.11.  They lost games by scores of 16-3, 10-0 and 12-0.  Fred Green had a Series ERA of 22.50.  Harvey Haddix was the savior of the pitching staff.  His 2.45 ERA was easily the best on the team and when Bill Mazeroski drilled a home run to end the World Series Haddix was the winning pitcher, his second win of the series.

Relief Pitcher:
Moe Drabowsky

Photo Courtesy of Sports Illustrated and Getty Images

Career Teams:  Chicago Cubs (1956-1960), Milwaukee Braves (1961), Cincinnati Reds (1962), Kansas City Athletics (1962-1965), Baltimore Orioles (1966-1968), Kansas City Royals (1969-1970), Baltimore Orioles (1970), St. Louis Cardinals (1971-1972) and Chicago White Sox (1972)
All Star Appearances:  None.
MVP Voting: None.
Cy Young Voting#: None.
Before the 1990's no one ever said "I want to be a relief pitcher when I grow up."  When kids ran out on the field to choose positions for a pick up game no kid ever yelled "I got closer."  For a long time being a relief pitcher was an insult.  It was a useless position that meant you were only good enough to pitch when the other guy proved he was so bad it wasn't worth leaving him in to get knocked around anymore.  Being a journeyman relief pitcher was even worse.  It meant no team wanted you to start and no team wanted you to even do the mop up duty.  Moe Drabowsky was all of these things but he did his job well.  He would never be confused for a Hall of Fame player, or even an All Star pitcher but in Game 1 of the 1966 World Series Moe Drabowsky changed the history of baseball in just a few innings.  Since moving to Los Angeles in 1958 the Dodgers had reached the World Series four times.  Since moving to Baltimore from St.Louis the Orioles had reached their first World Series.  No one gave the Orioles a chance.  The Dodgers were dominant.  The Orioles were...well, no one knew because no one had heard of them.  Game 1 was started by Don Drysdale, big double D, the most intimidating man in sports.  The O's weren't intimidated and took a 4-0 lead.  The Dodgers started to make a rally in the 3rd inning and Moe Drabowsky came in to keep the Orioles in the lead.  With the bases loaded he struck out the first batter he faced, then walked in a run and got the final out by forcing John Roseboro to pop out.  It was the last trouble he would have on the day.  He retired the next 10 batters in a row, allowed a walk and a single, then retired the next 8 batters to end the game, striking out 11 Dodgers in the process.  Drabowsky's win set the tone for the Orioles' four game sweep and launched the glory days of Orioles baseball that would stretch into the 1980's.  For the Dodgers it was the end of the Drysdale-Koufax era and would lead to a rebuilding that would result in the Garvey/Cey/Lopes/Russell era of the 1970's.

* Author's Note:  Just as in the last few weeks, and as may be seen in the next few weeks as we move through this series of articles, I did my best to keep this to one player per position, however, the farther we move from these eras, the easier it is to forget these types of players (and even some hall of fame players).  It is important to remember as we follow the sport that the superstars are not the only ones making contributions to the success of a team.  This is not a comprehensive list of players who fall into this category from this era, it is simply my choice of players who best represented their position and have become forgotten.  Your list is probably different.  Email me yours or leave a comment.
+-For readers interested in seeing the vivid pictures of the John Roseboro/Juan Marichal incident or the results of the Tony Conigliaro beaning, they are easily found all over the internet.  I felt it was important that I not use these images for my article.  Both Tony C. and John Roseboro have become known for these two moments which lasted no more than a few minutes.  Unfortunately, Roseboro's great career and the great potential of Conigliaro, have been largely ignored and focus has been placed on the gruesome images of these moments.  It is important to remember that both players made tremendous contributions to championship seasons for their teams and their career cannot be defined by just these few moments.
#-  The Cy Young award was not awarded until  1956.  Between 1956-1966 there was one award for both leagues.  It was not until 1967 that the American and National leagues each awarded a Cy Young trophy.