I Didn't Know He Played For: New York Yankees

The New York Yankees have some of the most famous names in baseball history on their all time roster.  There are names that are synonymous with baseball and define the Yankees historic organization.  Ruth.  Gehrig.  DiMaggio.  Dickey.  Berra.  Mantle.  Maris.  Munson.  Mattingly and Jeter.  Just like every other organization there are players that are usually identified with another organization, yet have made a pit stop in the Bronx.  Here are a few players who spent some time in pinstripes that might surprise you.

Rube Oldring
When Connie Mack built his first dynasty, reaching the World Series in 1910, 1911, 1913 and 1914, the $100,000 infield is usually the first mentioned aspect of the dynasty.  If it is not the infield then it may be the pitching of Chief Bender, Andy Coakley, Jack Coombs and Eddie Plank.  Often overlooked is outfielder Rube Oldring.  Not a Hall of Fame player, Oldring patroled the outfield for 12 years for Mack's white elephants.  It is clear to say that Oldring played a pivotal role in the success of the A's.  But before he played for Philadelphia he started with the New York Highlanders in 1905.  In October of that year the A's selected Oldring as part of the Rule 5 draft and Mack cheaply added an important cog of the machine.  As Mack's finances took a dip following the 1915 and 1916 seasons his powerful group was slowly dismantled.  Oldring was released in July of 1916 and quickly signed by the New York Yankees where he finished the season.

Ira Thomas
Just like Rube Oldring, Ira Thomas was an under rated part of Connie Mack's dynasty. As the A's were dominating the American League, Thomas was behind the plate controlling the pitchers.  Thomas played 7 years for Mack but before he became an Athletic he started with the Yankees.  In 1906 and 1907 he was the backup Catcher to Red Kleinow.  He was sold to the Tigers for the 1908 season where he backed up Boss Schmidt.  He was then sold to the A's where he made his name as one of the best Catcher's in the league.

Joe Gedeon

Photo of Joe Gedeon Courtesy of Wikipedia

Joe Gedeon had a relatively short career. He played only 7 years in the major leagues, his final three with the St. Louis Browns.  He was an average player, his final season being his best.  What he is remembered for most is the reason that 1920 was his final season.  It seems that the year before, say around October, Gedeon was given some "advice".  He was told by a good friend, Hal Chase, that it would be wise to bet against the Chicago White Sox in the World Series of 1919.  He was given some specific details why he should bet that way and as a result he made some extra money.  When Charles Comiskey offered a reward for any information regarding the rumors of a fix, Gedeon stepped forward hoping to get the reward.  His reward was that he was banned from the game the same as Chase and the Black Sox.  Before he became the Browns' starting second baseman Gedeon played the 1916 and 1917 seasons with the Yankees.  Gedeon was the starter for New York during 1916 but was replaced by Fritz Maisel for the 1917 season.  He was traded to the Browns in 1917 along with Nick Cullop, Maisel, Les Nunamaker and Urban Shocker in exchange for an older Eddie Plank and Catcher Del Pratt. The key man in the deal was Urban Shocker who the Yankees would regret giving up. Eventually they would get him back in time to be a part of the first Yankee dynasty.

George Halas

Photo of George Halas Courtesy of WIkipedia

George Halas was born and raised in Chicago.  He came to be identified with that city as much as Mayor Daley or Michael Jordan.  Before he became famous in Chi-Town he played 12 games for the Yankees in the 1919 season.  The Yankees were starting to field a competitive team in 1919, they would actually be in the pennant race the next year.  During his 12 games Halas would go 2-22  (.091) at the plate with 8 strikeouts.  After his failed season with the Yankees he went back home to Chicago where he played and coached the Decatur Staleys in the NFL.  Two years later they would change their name to the Chicago Bears.  Halas would coach and own the team and become known as "Papa Bear".  Halas passed away in 1983 but his initials GSH were worn for several years on the sleeves of the Bears uniforms.

Dixie Walker
Dixie Walker is best remembered as a Brooklyn Dodger, for many reasons.  Walker was the fan favorite in Brooklyn (he was known in Brooklyn as "the people's cherce") and played a key part in the Dodgers 1941 and 1947 World Series teams.  He is also known as the man who started the petition to keep Jackie Robinson off the Dodgers' roster.  Before he became the fan favorite in Brooklyn he played in the Bronx.  Walker played 2 games for the Yanks in 1931 but became a regular in 1933, Babe Ruth's final year in pinstripes.  As Babe Ruth and Earl Combs started to age the Yankees needed new blood and they found it in the deep south with new outfielders Walker and Ben Chapman.  The two outfielders were close friends and roommates during Walker's 5 years in New York.  When the Yankees signed DiMaggio, Walker became expendable.  He would eventually wind up with the Dodgers. His time in New York at the end of Ruth's time there and in Brooklyn at the beginning of Robinson's made him the only player to have played with both Hall of Famers.

Paul Waner
Paul Waner had a Hall of Fame career spent mostly with the Pirates.  In Pittsburgh he helped the Pirates reach the World Series in 1927 only to be swept by the Yankees team that some consider to be the greatest team of all time.  As Waner aged, his talents started to decline.  As Waner tried desperately to hold on to his career, teams were looking for anyone to fill out their rosters while the stars were overseas fighting World War II.  Waner started the 1944 season with the Dodgers but was released in September.  Fighting to keep their run of pennants going, the Yankees took a chance on Waner and signed him.  He played a total of 9 games for the 1944 Yankees who failed to make the World Series for the first time since 1940.  He would hit only .143.  He would make his final appearance in 1945 with the Yankees as a pinch hitter when he drew a walk.

Sherm Lollar
Sherm Lollar would become a two time Gold Glove winning catcher, a 7 time All Star and an annual MVP candidate for the Chicago White Sox and was a favorite of manager Al Lopez.  Before he made it to the White Sox he had a chance to be the Yankees catcher.  Originally signed by the Indians, he was traded to the Yankees before the 1947 season with Pitcher Gene Bearden being the key piece returned to the Tribe.  The Yankees needed a Catcher as they searched for a permanent replacement to Bill Dickey.  As the Yankees steam roller moved on Lollar split time with Aaron Robinson and Yogi Berra.  Eventually Berra won out but Lollar went on to a strong career in Chicago.

Sal Maglie
Sal the Barber was hated in Brooklyn for years.  As the intimidating ace of the Giants during the early 1950's he frustrated the likes of Furillo, Snider, Reese and Robinson.  When his numbers fell off the Giants sent him to Cleveland who, over staffed with young arms, had him sitting on the bench.  In 1956 Maglie joined the enemy in Brooklyn where he famously was on the losing end of Don Larsen's perfect game.  The 1957 season, the last in Brooklyn, did not go well for the Dodgers.  They lost the pennant to the Milwaukee Braves.  As the season limped into September Maglie was released and signed by the Yankees.  Maglie would pitch in 6 games for New York and would go 2-0 in three starts for the team.  He would not appear in the 1957 World Series, won by the Braves in 7 games, and would only appear in 7 games for the 1958 Yankees before finishing up his career with 10 games for the Cardinals that same year.

Rocky Colavito

Photo of Rocky Colavito Courtesy of Bleacher Report

Rocky Colavito was a beloved Cleveland Indian.  When he was traded to the Tigers for Harvey Kuenn fans of the Tribe were devastated.  Some in my own family still refer to it as the worst trade in baseball history.  Although he played several years for the Tigers and even returned to Cleveland at one point, the trade still lingers.  But did you know that the final 39 games of Rocky's career were in pinstripes in 1968.  Colavito started the year with the Dodgers but was released in July.  The Yankees, at the beginning of one of their darkest periods as an organization, were looking for stars and a miracle.  In his 39 games there Colavito hit just .220.

Ken Brett
Unfortunately, Ken Brett has come to be known as "George Brett's brother" which ignores the fact that Ken was a pretty good pitcher.  He was known mostly as a member of the Red Sox, Angels and Pirates.  He became a bit of a journeyman pitcher, a fill in on depleted staffs.  After the 1975 season with the NL East winning Pirates, the Bucs traded Brett along with Dock Ellis and Willie Randolph to the Yankees.  Ellis stuck around for awhile.  Randolph became an All Star and a fan favorite.  Brett pitched in all of 2 games for the Yankees before moving on to the White Sox.  He was traded along with Rich Coggins for Rudy May.

Luis Tiant

Photo of Luis Tiant Courtesy of ESPN

The 1975 and 1978 Red Sox teams are legendary in New England.  Some might even say as legendary as the 2004 edition.  While the great grandfathers of modern Red Sox Nation could recall the pain of seeing Babe Ruth and Duffy Lewis in pin stripes and current fans can recall the horrible sight of Johnny Damon, Wade Boggs and Roger Clemens in the Bronx, the end of the 1970's had the same situation for Red Sox fans.  Luis Tiant was the ace of the staff.  He had been cast off by the Indians and Twins, discarded as finished and resurrected in Boston.  He was like found gold for the Sox.  He symbolized the Red Sox.  They were of the people, not like the rich spoiled Yankees.  After the 1978 season, the one where Bucky Dent destroyed the hopes of New England, Tiant was granted free agency.  He chose the Yankees as his new home.  Tiant pitched two years in New York and went 21-17 (although the best part of that was the 13-9 season in 1979). After the 1980 season he was again granted free agency, ending the odd sight of Tiant in New York.

Jim Kaat
Jim Kaat played 25 years in the Major Leagues.  He is remembered mostly for playing with the Twins, Phillies and Cardinals, helping each of those teams reach the post season.  Lesser known in his career is that part way through the 1979 season the Phillies released Kaat and the Yankees signed him.  Kaat went just 2-3 for New York that year but did well enough to resign for 1980.  Kaat pitched in 4 games for the Yanks that year going 0-1 with a 7.20 ERA.  Kaat's contract was then sold to the Cardinals where Kaat finished out his career, even helping the Cardinals to the 1982 World Series.

Otis Nixon
The 1980s were not kind to the Yankees.  As the team traded young talent for over the hill veterans in the hopes of regaining the magic of the 1970s, the fans watched their prospects blossom elsewhere.  Otis Nixon would become known as the base stealing threat at the top of the Braves lineup during their almost dynasty.  Most know that he spent quite a bit of time in Cleveland and Montreal before making his way to the Braves but he was almost a Centerfielder in pinstripes.  He started his career in the Majors in 1983 with 13 games in the Bronx at the end of that season. In the offseason he was dealt, along with Pitcher George Frazier, to the Indians for Toby Harrah and a player to be named later.

Jose Rijo

Jose Rijo was an All Star and World Series MVP for the Reds.  Some will remember that Rijo won the World Series MVP by beating the A's, his former team. Others may remember him as the son in law of Juan Marichal.  But Rijo was actually once a Yankee.  Rijo appeared in 24 games (5 starts) for the 1984 Yankees and went just 2-8 with a 4.76 ERA. On December 5th of that year Rijo was sent to the A's along with Tim Birtsas, Jay Howell, Stan Javier and Eric Plunk.  In exchange the Yankees received Bert Bradley and superstar Rickey Henderson.

Doug Drabek

Photo of Doug Drabek 1987 Fleer Baseball Card Courtesy of Baseball Almanac

As the Pirates became the dominant team in the AL East behind the offense of Bobby Bonilla, Andy Van Slyke and Barry Bonds, their pitching was often overlooked.  In fact, their pitching staff was just as big a reason for their success.  Starters John Smiley and Neil Heaton were sucessful but Doug Drabek was the clear ace of the staff.  Drabek won 92 games in six seasons with the Pirates. In 1990 he went 22-6 with a 2.76 ERA and won the Cy Young.  Before dominating the National League Drabek was a Yankee.  He played for the 1986 team and went only 7-8 with a 4.10 ERA in 21 starts.  On November 26, 1986 the Yankees sent Drabek to the Pirates with Pitcher Brian Fisher and minor league Pitcher Logan Easley.  In exchange the Yankees received Pat Clements, Cecilio Guante and Rick Rhoden.


Steve Trout
Steve Trout was the son of Tigers' star Dizzy Trout and a fan favorite for the Cubs in the early 1980's.(Ironic considering dear old dad helped the Tigers win the 1945 World Series.  That would be the one that began "the curse of the Billy Goat".)   When the Cubs won the National League East in 1984, Trout played a big role. Never an ace or an All Star, Trout was considered a pitcher with great potential and the Cubs fans loved him. On July 13, 1987 the Yankees were in first place by three games but wanted some extra pitching.  To get the veteran starter they needed they sent Rich Scheid, Bob Tewksbury and Dean Wilkins to the Cubs in exchange for Trout.  Trout started 9 games for the Yankees that year going 0-4 with a 6.60 ERA.  The Yankees finished in 4th place, 9 games behind the Tigers.

J.T.  Snow
Jack Thomas Snow is the son of former Los Angeles Rams legend Jack Snow.  J.T. made a name or himself in the majors by becoming a star first baseman with the Angels and Giants.  Snow helped  revitalize the Angels franchise as part of their young crop of talent in the mid 1990s and helped the 2002 Giants reach the World Series for the first time since 1989 (where they lost to his former team the Angels).  Yet before he was a young Angel, Snow was a Yankee.  Snow was a late September call up for the 1992 Yankees where he appeared in 7 games hitting .143 with no Home Runs.  On December 6, 1992 the Yankees sent Snow along with Russ Springer and Jerry Nielsen to the Angels in exchange for Pitcher Jim Abbott.

Pete Incaviglia
Better (or more easily) known as Inky, Pete is usually remembered for his time with the Rangers and for his big contributions to the 1993 Phillies team as well as the help he gave to the Orioles playoff teams of 1996 and 1997.  As the 1997 Orioles jumped out to a decent lead in the East and had a crowded outfield, they released the strikeout prone Inky in July.  The Yanks, at that time prone to add any veteran Steinbrenner liked that week, added Incaviglia on July 25.  He was used in 5 games where he hit .250 but did not show the power the Yankees had hoped for.  On August 15 he was released ending his brief stay in the Bronx.

Ted Lilly
Ted Lilly made his name as a Pitcher mostly with the A's, Blue Jays and Cubs.  He recently ended his career with the Dodgers.  Lilly spent part of 1999 in the majors with Montreal but was sent to the Yankees as the player to be named later to complete the Hideki Irabu trade.  In parts of three seasons with the Yankees Lilly was 8-12 with a 4.65 ERA.  Lilly would finish his career at 130-113.  Except for an 0-1 record in Montreal Lilly would have a winning record in every other stop of his career except the Bronx.  On July 5, 2002 the Yankees traded Lilly as part of a three way deal that included Oakland and Detroit. The Tigers ended up with Franklyn German, Carlos Pena and a player to be named later (Jeremy Bonderman).  The A's ended up with Lilly, Jason Arnold and John-Ford Griffin.  The Yankees got Jeff Weaver.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

Rickey Henderson was traded by the Athletics to the Yankees just before the start of the 1985 season.  Henderson played for the Yankees until the middle of the 1989 season when he was  traded back to the Athletics.  One of the players included in the original trade from the Yankees to the A's was also included in the second trade sending Henderson from the Yankees back to the A's.  Who was it?

Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:
Byung Hyun Kim entered the 8th inning of Game 4 in 2001 replacing Curt Schlling. Kim got a 1-2-3 8th inning, preserving a 3-1 lead.  To start the 9th Derek Jeter bunted for an out.  Paul O'Neill singled but Bernie Williams struck out putting the Diamondbacks one out away from the win.  Tino Martinez then homered to tie the game.

In the bottom of the 10th Kim came back out for the Diamondbacks who had failed to score in the top of the 10th.  Kim got Scott Brosius and Alfonso Soriano to fly out.  The next batter was Derek Jeter who hit a Home Run to give the Yankees the Game 4 victory.

The next night, in Game 5, The Diamondbacks were ahead again, this time 2-0.  Kim was brought on again to close it out.  Jorge Posada doubled to start the inning but Kim got Shane Spencer on a groundball and Chuck Knoblauch swinging.  With two out Scott Brosius hit a two run Home Run to tie the game.

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.