Ladies and Gentlemen, Your 2015 Hall of Fame Class

Much like the All Star Game, baseball gets their Hall of Fame right.  Also much like the All Star Game, the fact that so many people are so vocal and passionate about the players enshrined in the Hall of Fame also proves just how deeply embedded the game is in our national psyche.  

Unfortunately, this year's inductees make me realize my age.  All of these players were coming into the league when I was playing junior high ball and collecting baseball cards.  Let's put it this way: I'm old enough to remember Pedro as Ramon's little brother, Randy Johnson as that goofy  tall guy on the Expos, Smoltz as the young kid pitching a Game 7 and Biggio as that Catcher on the Astros who looked like he was 12.

Nevertheless, each of these players well deserves their elections and you would be hard pressed to find an argument that any of these players does not belong.  So without further ado, ladies and gentlemen, I present your 2015 Hall of Fame class:

Randy Johnson

Photo Courtesy of CBS Sports

At 6'10'' and 225 pounds it was impossible not to notice Randy Johnson.  If you didn't see him you would have heard the hiss of the terrifyingly fast moving fast ball.  Johnson was drafted by the Braves in 1982 but failed to sign (imagine if he had: Glavine, Avery, Smoltz, Maddux and Johnson). He was drafted again in 1985 in the second round by the Expos and reached the majors in 1988.  As the 1989 season neared the mid point, the Expos felt they had a chance to win now, while the Mariners were perpetually building for the future.  In what was seen as a steal for the Expos and a disaster for Seattle, the Mariners sent their only star, Mark Langston to the Expos in exchange for Gene Harris, Brian Holman and Randy Johnson.  It took less than a year for the Mariners to find out what they got.  On June 20, 1990 Johnson no-hit the Tigers.  Johnson would go 14-11 in his first full Mariners season and would establish himself as a star the following year with his first All Star appearance.  He would make 9 more in his career.  By 1995 Johnson was the most feared pitcher in the game and his dominance led the Mariners to their first ever post season birth.  He finished the season at 18-2 and in a one game playoff for the AL West title beat Mark Langston, now pitching for the Angels, whom he had been traded for years earlier.  He won his first Cy Young Award that year and finished 6th in MVP voting.  He continued to pitch for Seattle but had a rocky relationship with the ownership.  At the 1998 trading deadline he was moved to the Astros where he went 10-1 and helped Houston to the playoffs.  He signed with the Arizona Diamondbacks in the off season and immediately helped the expansion team become a contender.  He would win the next four straight Cy Young awards, three of four ERA titles and the 2001 World Series MVP (shared with co-ace Curt Schilling).  The Cy Young run ended after an injury plagued 2003 season when Johnson made just 18 starts and finished 6-8.  He returned healthy in 2004 and pitched a perfect game that year.  He was traded to the Yankees following that year and although he had a strong year, the team behind him was not the dominant Yankees of years past and the team struggled.  Johnson never seemed entirely comfortable in the big city and after the 2006 season he returned to Arizona in pursuit of 300 wins.  He had an injury plagued 2007 season but returned to win 11 in 2008.  He spent his final year with the Giants in 2009 and retired as one of the greatest pitchers in the history of the game.  It is impossible to list all of the achievements he had during his 22 year career. Suffice it to say he was without a doubt, a clear choice for the Hall of Fame.

John Smoltz

Photo of John Smoltz Courtesy of MLB.com

John Smoltz's life was chosen for him by age 4.  He would follow in the path of his mother's and father's and grandfather's chosen calling, an accordion player.  Luckily John got up the courage to tell his parents he had different ideas, although not before winning several contests with the instrument.  Smoltz grew up in Detroit idolizing Jack Morris.  His grandfather worked at Tiger Stadium for decades and would get John into the press box or on the field before batting practice.  When the Tigers won the 1984 World Series, John and his brother got a piece of the grass at Tigers Stadium, replanted it and built a shrine around it.  So when he was drafted by the Tigers in 1985 it was a dream come true.  Yet before he could fulfill his dream  of pitching with Jack Morris as a 1-2 dynamo, he was traded to Atlanta for Doyle Alexander.  At the time Atlanta was a baseball grave yard and it took John a long while to accept the fact that he would not get to pitch with the Tigers.  Smoltz reached the majors in Atlanta in 1988 and went 2-7, not exactly rookie of the year, but his follow up season saw him at 11-6 with a 2.10 ERA by the All Star Break, enough to earn him a trip to Anaheim for the Bo Jackson show.  Smoltz took the loss in the game but the remembered moment is the back to back Home Runs Rick Reuschel served up to Bo Jackson and Wade Boggs.  Smoltz would make 7 more All Star Games in his career.  Following that first All Star appearance, Smoltz would work with a strong Braves rotation that would learn how to win.  Glavine, Avery and Pete Smith joined Smoltz and veteran Charlie Leibrandt to take the young Braves from last place in 1990 to the brink of a World Series title in 1991.  Starting Game 7 in Minnesota against childhood idol Jack Morris, Smoltz pitched 7 1/3 scoreless innings to give the Braves a chance to win, but Morris came out on top with 10 scoreless innings.  The young Braves core would go on to win 13 consecutive division titles, reaching the World Series 5 times and winning the 1995 World Series.  During that long run of playoff appearances Smoltz won 15 games.  He was also the 1992 NLCS MVP and the 1996 Cy Young winner.  Smoltz missed the 2000 season with an injury and was not strong enough to crack the rotation for 2001.  He convinced Bobby Cox that he could help the team out of the bullpen and saved 10 games in the 2001 season.  He had intended it as only a partial season answer but his performance was strong enough for the Braves to make him the team's closer for a full season.  In three years as the closer he would save 154 games, make 2 All Star Appearances and finished 3rd in the Cy Young voting in 2002.  As the rest of the rotation mates (Avery, Maddux and Glavine) moved on, the Braves moved him back to the rotation where he would again shine.  The Braves post season run had come to an end by this time but Smoltz was still dominant winning as many as 16 games.  Early in the 2008 season Smoltz needed shoulder surgery, leading the Braves to give up on him.  After being released by the Braves, Smoltz had to decide whether to retire or try a comeback at the age of 42.  Not ready to go out on a sour note, Smoltz signed with the Red Sox and had to convince the Red Sox he was worth it.  It was a disaster for Smoltz.  He started the year in the minor leagues and made his season debut in June against the Nationals.  Smoltz would go 2-5 for the Sox with an ERA over 8.  He was released in early August and worried that his career was over.  Still he worked hard at home and found a mechanical flaw in his delivery.  He auditioned for the Cardinals and was able to convince Tony LaRussa that he could help the Cardinals.  He asked for just one thing, the opportunity to start two games before being exiled to the bullpen.  With a big division lead LaRussa and the Cardinals agreed.  Smoltz was impressive in the two starts, impressive enough to be included in the post season rotation plans.  With the Dodgers up 2-0 in the NLDS Smoltz appeared in relief in the third game in St.Louis. Smoltz pitched 2 innings, allowed 4 hits and 1 run as the Cardinals were eliminated.  Hoping to resign with St.Louis in the off season, he was not in the team's plans and retired.  Like Johnson he has too many accomplishments to name here but he was a clear Hall of Fame choice.

Pedro Martinez

Photo Courtesy of CBS Sports

Julia Roberts was once known as Eric Roberts' little sister.  Ken Griffey, Jr was once known as Ken Griffey's kid and Pedro Martinez was once known as Ramon's little brother.  Pedro came to the majors as a late season call up in 1992.  He appeared in 2 games and took a loss in his only decision.  After a 10-5 1993 season the Dodgers traded him to Montreal in exchange for Delino DeShields.  He immediately helped the Expos become a contender, and had it not been for the season ending strike, Pedro might have led the Expos to a post season berth.  He would spend the next three years in Montreal, making his first All Star appearance in 1996.  His final year in Montreal, 1997, saw him go 17-8 with a 1.90 ERA (best in the league) and won his first Cy Young award.  As always happens when a dominant player lands on a bad team, the press started the campaign of "what a shame he's stuck in that situation" and the Red Sox made the Expos a deal that the Expos had to take. The Red Sox sent Carl Pavano and Tony Armas to the Expos in exchange for Pedro and he made an immediate impact.  Pedro went 17-8 with a sub 3.00 ERA and helped lead the Red Sox into the post Roger Clemens era of Post Season baseball.  Pedro won the first game but the Red Sox were bounced from the ALDS by the Indians.  Pedro's season was good enough to give him a second place finish in the Cy Young race.  It would be a better year in 1999 as he went 23-7 with a 2.07 ERA, 313 K's and his second Cy Young.  Pedro started the All Star Game in Fenway Park with the legends of the league in attendance.  The "All Century Team" was revealed before the game but the legends saw the biggest cheers go to Pedro as he struck out Barry Larkin (Hall of Famer), Larry Walker, Sammy Sosa, Mark McGwire and Jeff Bagwell (with only Matt Williams reaching on an error).  He would again beat Cleveland in the first round of the post season and win a game against the hated Yankees as the rivalry between the two started to heat up.  The Red Sox would miss the playoffs in 2000, 2001 and 2002, although Pedro would continue to dominate the league.  At 18-4 and a 1.74 ERA Pedro won his third Cy Young award in 2000.  An injury plagued 2001 (7-3 in 18 starts) led to a big comeback in 2002 with a 20-4, 2.26 ERA and a second place finish in the Cy Young voting.  2003 was a turning point for the Red Sox and their rival Yankees.  A hard fought season series with boiling tempers led to an even more heated ALCS and a bean ball war.  In a now infamous scene, Pedro threw Don Zimmer to the ground during a bench clearing brawl that continued through a heated series. With a Game 7 deciding game at stake Pedro was the man on the mound and gave the Red Sox a lead into the late innings.  As all of America screamed at the television, hoping for Grady Little to get Pedro out of the game the Yankees rallied to tie the game and eventually destroy the dreams of the Red Sox nation.  It was, they said, the curse of Babe Ruth.  The 2004 Red Sox had a mantra.  "Reverse the Curse". Though late into the 4th game of the ALCS it looked like it was the same old story.  Just moments away from being swept from the playoffs the Red Sox rallied and won the game.  They kept the rally going three more games to reach the World Series where they won another four straight to end the curse once and for all.  As the biggest free agent in the wake of the win Pedro signed a big deal to go to New York.  Although Sox fans hated Pedro going to the rival city, they could at least be thankful it wasn't to the hated Yankees.  Instead, Pedro signed with the Mets.  He would be part of a big rebirth in the National League's big apple team.  He would go 15-8 and make another All Star appearance but the Mets failed to reach the post season.  2006 would be a post season appearance for the Mets but a below average year for Pedro.  At 9-8 and a 4.48 ERA it was his worst personal year to date, although he would be an All Star.  Injuries slowed his success and he would miss the post season.  The Mets could have used the help as they fell in 7 games to the eventual World Champion Cardinals.  2007 was another injury plagued year as he appeared in only 5 games, going 3-1.  He returned in 2008 to appear in 20 games but the Mets were a mess by that point and Pedro ended his New York tenure with a 5-6 record and an ERA of 5.61.  With the last two injury plagued and sub-par years Pedro failed to sign a contract in the off season and some thought his career was over.  Yet, the defending champion Phillies entered the All Star break looking for pitching help and signed Pedro to a contract for part of the 2009 season.  Pedro proved he was not done yet and went 5-1 in 9 starts, helping the Phillies win the NL East again.  Pedro started one game in the NLCS for the Phillies and went 7 very strong innings, allowing only 2 hits and 0 runs, leaving without a decision.  The Phillies advanced to the World Series for the second year in a row. With Cliff Lee, Cole Hamels and Pedro the Phillies looked to have a strong chance but Pedro took 2 losses and the Phils fell to the Yankees four games to two.  It was the last series of his career.  Although there was talk of Pedro getting another half season contract, it never developed.  He retired as one of the most accomplished and most feared pitchers of his generation.

Craig Biggio

Photo of Craig Biggio Courtesy of CBS Sports

The Astros in the mid 1980s were a great team.  A post season team.  A near World Series team.  With Nolan Ryan, Mike Scott, Glenn Davis, Billy Hatcher and Kevin Bass they were a powerful team.  In 1986 they came within a key hit of advancing to their first World Series.  By the time Craig Biggio reached the Astros in  1988 everything had gone down hill.  As the Astros rebuilt the team Craig Biggio was their lone remaining star.  He came up to the Major Leagues as a Catcher and made his first All Star team in 1991 along with Pete Harnisch, who had come over from Baltimore in the big off season trade.  Realizing the punishment that Biggio was taking behind the plate, Houston moved Biggio to Second Base.  Viewed with skepticism, it was portrayed as one more poor decision by Houston. Why would they take an All Star player and move him out of position?  All he did was make six All Star appearances at his new position and become the face of the Astros.  Never flashy, never putting up big power numbers in the increasingly important Home Run numbers, Biggio quietly led the Astros.  Five times he won Silver Slugger awards and four times he won Gold Glove awards.  By the mid 1990s the Astros organization was reborn around the "Killer B's" of Biggio, Bagwell, Derek Bell and Lance Berkman.  By 1997 the Astros were a regular contender.  In 2004 the Astros reached the NLCS for the first time since 1986 and in 2005, despite missing Jeff Bagwell, they reached the team's first ever World Series.  Although the Astros were swept by the White Sox every game was close.  Expecting a continuance of the post season runs, Astros fans were disappointed over the next few years.  Although Biggio could not lead the team back to the post season he did give the Astros fans one more big thrill as he reached 3000 hits during his final year, 2007.  4 times Biggio won player of the week.  He retired 5th all time in doubles, 6th in triples and 2nd in Hit by Pitch.  As much as Tony Gwynn is Mr. Padre, Craig Biggio is Mr. Astro.

TRIVIA QUESTION:
The 2014 Hall of Fame class included Tom Glavine and Greg Maddux, both big time post season pitchers.  Smoltz, Johnson and Pedro also proved to be big time post season winners.  Which Hall of Fame class had more post season wins?

Answer to Last Week's Question:
The 1985 All Star Game featured 16 future Hall of Famers (as of this writing).  On the American League side Henderson, Ripken, Winfield, Murray, Brett and Rice returned.  For the NL Gwynn, Sandberg, Carter and Smith returned. That made it a total of 10 returning All Stars.

Although there were six who did not return, Kirby Puckett, Wade Boggs and Mike Schmidt joined the Hall of Fame parade for 1986.

Forgotten All Star Moments: 1985 in Minnesota. Hall of Famers Everywhere.

The Baseball Eras blog has said this over and over again.  The only sport that gets the All Star Game right is baseball.  In Hockey, checking is taken out of the game meaning it becomes a different game all together.  In Football's Pro-Bowl, there are no blitzes and no defensive stunts leading to few defensive stops and an unbelievably boring exhibition of a normally exciting sport that turns into basically a 2 hand touch game.  In basketball the rules don't change but the players turn the game into a slam dunk contest with little semblance of an actual set offense.  Baseball's All Star Game understands that the point of this is not to punish the stars of the game by making them spend their three day break by playing one more game.  The point of the All Star Game is to give an exhibition of the best aspects of the entire sport.

One of the best rules that baseball has as part of this game is that every team in the league must be represented on the team.  Now, there are some that will argue this rule as taking up roster spots from those who are deserving.  I certainly understand that argument, however, every team has at least one deserving representative.  Regardless of how bad that team is there is always someone of All Star caliber.  Just because he is not as obviously deserving as your favorite player who was  "snubbed" does not mean he is not worthy of it.  You can use for an example the 1972 Phillies.  A truly terrible team that went 59-97.  That team used a total of 16 pitchers during the year.  Of those pitchers only three pitchers won 5 or more games.  Only  three others managed four wins.  That means ten pitchers on the staff managed 2 or less victories.  Still, Steve Carlton managed 27 wins for the year.  So although that team was ridiculously bad, Carlton definitely deserved to make an All Star Appearance.

Because of this rule,the fact that the All Star Game is intended to be a microcosm of one season and because you can never tell how some one's career will progress, you don't always get a list of Hall of Fame members on a team.

1985 All Star Game Logo Courtesy of Wikipedia

Yet in the 1985 All Star Game there was a Hall of Fame player everywhere you looked.  Of course there were those who did not make the Hall of Fame on the teams but even many of those still spark some pretty strong debate over whether they should be enshrined.

Here is a look at the starting lineups for the game:
American League                                                National League
Rickey Henderson, CF (Yankees, HOF)              Tony Gwynn, LF (Padres, HOF)
Lou Whitaker, 2B (Tigers, HOF snub)                Tommy Herr, 2B (Cardinals)
George Brett, 3B (Royals, HOF)                         Steve Garvey, 1B (Padres, HOF snub)
Eddie Murray, 1B (Orioles, HOF)                       Dale Murphy, CF (Braves, HOF snub)
Cal Ripken, SS (Orioles HOF)                            Darryl Strawberry, RF (Mets, Possible HOF)
Dave Winfield, RF (Yankees, HOF)                   Graig Nettles, 3B (Padres, HOF snub)
Jim Rice, LF (Red Sox, HOF)                             Terry Kennedy, C (Padres)
Carlton Fisk, C (White Sox, HOF)                      Ozzie Smith, SS (Cardinals, HOF)
Jack Morris, P (Tigers, HOF snub)                     Lamar Hoyt, P (Padres)

Two Hall of Famers and One Snub. Morris, Winfield, Molitor at 1985 All Star Game. Photo Courtesy of Twin Cities.com

The 1985 All Star Game was played in Minnesota's Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome. This was the second time Minnesota had hosted the game. The team first hosted the mid summer classic back in 1965 when the first place Twins would eventually win the American League Pennant.  The Twins fans got a sneak preview of their final painful memory of that year when Sandy Koufax got the win in the Midsummer Classic.  In Game 7 of the 1965 World Series, in the same stadium, Koufax would end the Twins' Championship hopes with a masterpiece performance.  1985 Twins fans were reminded of that immediately when Koufax and Harmon Killebrew were announced as the honorary team captains.

The Hall of Fame resumes started at the very top of both teams.  Managing the National League was Dick Williams.  Williams had guided the 1967 Red Sox to the World Series, won two World Series with Oakland and had taken the Padres to the World Series in 1984 which was his sixth overall appearance in the post season and at only half a game out of first it looked like he was headed for a seventh.  Williams was the first manager to lead four different teams to the post season.  Williams was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2008.  In the other dugout was Sparky Anderson, manager of the Tigers.  Sparky had just finished beating Williams and the Padres in the World Series.  He would one up Williams in history as well with seven post season appearances as a manager.  He led the 1984 Tigers to their first World Series since 1968.  It was Sparky's Third World Series title (1975 and 1976 with the Reds).  Anderson was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2000.

Of the two starting catchers one would be a Hall of Famer.  Terry Kennedy would make four All Star teams and two World Series teams (1984 Padres and 1989 Giants) but obviously was not a Hall of Fame player, and in fact his throwing error in the first inning of the game allowed Rickey Henderson to steal second, advance to third and eventually score.  The Hall of Fame Catcher starting the game was Carlton Fisk.  Fisk made 11 All Star Games, won the 1972 Rookie of the Year, retired as the all time leader in Home Runs by a Catcher (since passed by Mike Piazza).  Fisk was elected into the Hall of Fame in 2000 along with Sparky Anderson.  Fisk would get two at bats in the game and go 0-2.

The AL's First Baseman was a clear Hall of Famer when he retired.  The 1977 Rookie of the Year made 8 All Star Games, finished his career with 3255 hits, 504 Home Runs (one of only three players, along with Mays and Aaron, to reach both milestones).  He holds the record for most games played at First Base and played on four playoff teams, winning a World Series with the 1983 Orioles. Eddie Murray's power was feared by every pitcher in the league and as a switch hitter holds the record for most times homering from both sides of the plate in the same game. In this game he would go 0-3. Murray was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2003.   His opposing number was Steve Garvey, representing the Padres. Garvey was in his 10th and final All Star appearance.  He had also won an MVP, won four straight Gold Gloves, set the record for the most consecutive games played by a National League player and had almost single handed put the Padres in the World Series, earning NLCS MVP honors.  Garvey is not in the Hall of Fame but that is a discussion for a future series.

Second Base was one of only two positions that did not have a Hall of Fame player on either team.  Tommy Herr represented the Cardinals for the National League and Lou Whitaker  represented the Tigers for the American League.  Herr was in his first and only All Star appearance.  He was well respected in the league but injuries limited his productivity.  Vin Scully pointed out during the broadcast that Herr had already had three knee surgeries.  The Cardinals had won the 1982 World Series thanks in large part to Herr's contributions and he would help greatly in their 1985 and 1987 World Series runs. Herr would double and score a run in the game.  Lou Whitaker is a different story.  Lou would win the 1978 Rookie of the Year and make five All Star Games.  He also won 3 Gold Gloves.  Lou did not get elected to the Hall of Fame but like Garvey should get more consideration.  Lou went 0-2 in the game but he did get recognized for one odd reason.  He had forgotten to pack his uniform for the game so he borrowed some Minnesota Twins uniform pants, bought a replica Tigers jersey from the souvenir stand and had the equipment staff use a sharpie to draw the number 1 on the back.  Whitaker helped the Tigers win the World Series in 1984 and reach the ALCS in 1987.  Whitaker would retire following the 1995 season and in his only appearance on a Hall of Fame ballot received 2.9% of the votes.

Photo of Lou Whitaker Courtesy of ESPN

Both starting Shortstops would reach the Hall of Fame and would each be considered among the greatest in history at their position.  Ozzie Smith was arguably the greatest defensive Short Stop the game would ever know.  Smith won 12 Gold Gloves and made 15 All Star Games.  He defined the position of Short Stop as the small, quick, light hitting defensive wizard.  Although not known for the bat, Smith was a few months away from hitting one of the most famous Home Runs in Postseason history.  On the opposite side of the field was the opposite of Smith.  Cal Ripken changed the definition of a Short Stop.  He was tall, powerful, good with the bat.  When he debuted as a Short Stop the critics said Ripken wouldn't last a month.  His size was supposed to be a danger to him.  He surely would get crushed by a runner trying to break up a double play.  But Ripken would say at Short Stop and would set all kinds of records, including most consecutive games played.  By the time he retired Ripken would win the 1982 Rookie of the Year, two MVP awards, a World Series, 8 silver sluggers, 19 All Star appearances (including 2 All Star Game MVPs), 2 Gold Gloves (although he should have won more) and set records for the most consecutive seasons by a Short Stop with 20 or more Home Runs, most consecutive innings played, most consecutive errorless games played by a Short Stop and in the end he opened the door for players like Nomar Garciaparra, Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez to be viewed as legitimate Short Stop possibilities.  Smith was an obvious choice for the Hall of Fame in 2002 and Ripken reached it in 2007.

At Third Base for the AL was George Brett.  Viewed as a legitimate threat to hit .400, he had chased that number in 1980, and without doubt the best third baseman in the game.    Brett had been a rookie in 1974 and within a few years he was leading the Royals to their first post season appearance.  They would be a regular participant in October during Brett's tenure (1976, 1977, 1978, 1980, 1981, 1984 and 1985) and Brett was a key in their only World Series win in 1985.  He won an MVP, 13 All Star appearances and a reputation of one of the best hitters in history.  Brett reached the Hall of Fame in 1999.  For the National League at the hot corner was Graig Nettles.  A key, but terribly under rated piece of the Yankees dynasty from 1976-1981, Nettles would make six All Star Games, win 2 gold gloves and helped the Padres to their first World Series.  Nettles is not in the Hall of Fame but could be.

The American League Outfield was nothing but Hall of Fame talent.  Dave Winfield, Rickey Henderson and Jim Rice were the best of the best.  Between the three of them there were 30 All Star Games, 2 MVPs, 8 Gold Gloves, 11 Silver Sluggers, 12 Stolen Base titles, 3 Home Run Titles, 3 RBI titles, 12 post season appearances and 3 World Series titles.  Winfield was inducted in 2001.  Henderson and Rice would enter the Hall of Fame together in 2009.

The National League Outfield had one Hall of Famer, one player who should be in the Hall and another who had as much talent as anyone in the history of the game.  Starting in Center Field was Tony Gwynn, Mr. Padre.  Gwynn was a clear first ballot Hall of Fame player with 8 batting titles, 15 All Star appearances, 5 Gold Gloves and a chase of .400 that was ended at .394 because of the baseball strike.  In Right Field was Darryl Strawberry, who in 1985 was still seen as the future of the game with an endless supply of potential yet to be fulfilled.  At this point of his career the Hall of Fame was being discussed as though it was a foregone conclusion but it would not come to be.  Strawberry's personal issues led to a down fall that took numbers away from the prime years of his career.  Strawberry's troubled life stood in contrast to the Left Field Starter for the National League, Dale Murphy.  Murphy did not drink or smoke and was considered the poster boy of clean living.   Murphy would make 7 All Star Teams, win two MVP awards, 5 times win a Gold Glove  and led the league in Home Runs.

Starting on the mound for the American League was Jack Morris, the man who would win more games in the 1980s than any other pitcher.  It should be obvious that this man needs to be in the Hall of Fame but for some reason he is not.  His counterpart on this day was never truly considered for the Hall of Fame but he was certainly the deserving starter for the National League in 1985.  LaMarr Hoyt had come to the Padres in the off season from the White Sox in  a trade that sent Luis Salazar, Tim Stoddard and a young Short Stop named Ozzie Guillen to Chicago.  Hoyt had been the ace of the White Sox AL West Champion 1983 squad but rumors of drug use helped him out of town.  The White Sox may have regretted that decision because Hoyt came into the game having won his last 10 straight games. Hoyt would continue his great season going three innings in Minnesota, allowing only two hits and one unearned run to earn the victory and the All Star Game MVP.

So of the 18 men in starting positions, only 3 (Tommy Herr, Terry Kennedy, Lamar Hoyt) would not be considered Hall of Fame candidates.  5 (Steve Garvey, Graig Nettles, Dale Murphy, Lou Whitaker and Jack Morris) deserve further consideration by the Hall of Fame, 1 (Darryl Strawberry) had Hall of Fame potential but lost that chance for reasons outside the game.  That puts 9 of the starters in the Hall of Fame (Gwynn, Smith, Henderson, Brett, Murray, Ripken, Winfield, Rice and Fisk).

But the talent didn't end there.  Of course, like Tommy Herr there would be players on these teams who were in their one and only All Star Games (or maybe two) and being rewarded for a great season.  These included:
Ernie Whitt, C Blue Jays,
Damaso Garcia, 2B, Blue Jays (this was actually his second All Star Game),
Scott Garrelts, P, Giants;
Ron Darling, P, Mets,
Glenn Wilson, OF, Phillies,
Phil Bradley, OF, Mariners,
Jay Howell, P, A's (he would make three total All Star Games),
Tom Brunansky, OF, Twins,
Gary Ward, OF Rangers (would make two All Star Games,
Dan Petry, P Tigers,
Willie Hernandez, P, Tigers (he would make three All Star Games),
Donnie Moore, P, Angels,
Ozzie Virgil, C, Phillies (he made two total All Star Games)

Each bench had a group of players who were never truly Hall of Fame candidates but during their playing time they were considered among the best in the business.  These players were constantly considered All Star players or MVP candidates.  This group included:
Tony Pena, C, Cardinals (5 time All Star, 4 Gold Gloves),
Jack Clark, 1B, Cardinals (4 time All Star, 2 time Silver Slugger, part of two Cardinals World Series teams),
Tim Wallach, 3B, Expos (5 time All Star, 3 Gold Gloves),
Willie McGee, OF, Cardinals (4 time All Star, MVP, 3 Gold Gloves).
Jose Cruz, OF, Astros (2 time All Star, 3 times top ten MVP candidate, 7 times batted over .300); Pedro Guerrero, OF, Dodgers (5 time All Star, World Series MVP);
Gary Templeton, SS, Padres (3 time All Star, 2 time Silver Slugger),
Joaquin Andujar, P, Cardinals (4 time All Star),
Dwight Gooden, P, Mets (4 time All Star, Cy Young Winner, Ace of two Mets playoff teams);
Jeff Reardon, P, Expos (4 time All Star, saved over 350 games),
Fernando Valenzuela, P, Dodgers (6 time All Star, 1981 Cy Young, 1981 Rookie of the Year);
Cecil Cooper, 1B, Brewers (5 time All Star, 2 time Gold Glove Winner, 3 times finished in top 5 MVP voting).
Rich Gedman, C, Rd Sox (2 time All Star),
Lance Parrish, C, Tigers (8 time All Star, 4 time Gold Glove winner),
Harold Baines, OF, White Sox (6 time All Star),
Jimmy Key, P, Blue Jays (4 time All Star, 2 time World Series Champion),
Dave Stieb, P, Blue Jays (6 time All Star).

Then of course each bench had those who are still receiving support as potential Hall of Famers:
Tim Raines, OF, Expos (7 time All Star, 3 times top 10 MVP, 4 times led the NL in steals),
Dave Parker, OF, Reds (7 time All Star, 1981 All Star MVP, 1979 NL MVP, 3 Gold Gloves, 3 Silver Sluggers, 2 time batting champ),
Don Mattingly, 1B, Yankees (6 time All Star, 6 Gold Gloves, 3 time Silver Slugger, 1984 Batting Champion, 1985 MVP),
Alan Trammell, SS, Tigers, (6 time All Star, 4 Gold Gloves, 1984 World Series MVP) and
Pete Rose, 1B, Reds.  No explanation needed there.

Finally, the amazing collection of talent on the bench included quite a few Hall of Fame members as well:
Ryne Sandberg, 2B, Cubs (2005),
Gary Carter, C, Mets (2003),
Rich Gossage, RP, Padres (2008),
Nolan Ryan, P, Astros (1999),
Wade Boggs, 3B, Red Sox (2005),
Paul Molitor, 3B, Brewers (2004)
Bert Blyleven, P, Indians (2011).

Of course by definition the All Star Game is designed to collect the greatest talent but in 1985 it certainly seemed like one of the best collections.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

Of the 16 Hall of Fame Players mentioned in the 1985 All Star Game (Henderson, Brett, Murray, Ripken, Winfield, Rice, Fisk, Gwynn, Smith, Sandberg, Carter, Gossage, Ryan, Boggs, Molitor and Blyleven) how many made the 1986 All Star Game?

Answer to Last Week's Question:

J.R. Richard won a total of 107 career games for the Houston Astros ranking him 5th all time.  He finished one game ahead of Nolan Ryan and two ahead of his good friend Don Wilson.  You might wonder who finished ahead of him.  Here is the Houston top 10 in Wins:

1 Joe Niekro (144)

2 Roy Oswalt (143)

3 Larry Dierker (137)

4 Mike Scott (110)

5 J.R. Richard (107)

6 Nolan Ryan (106)

7 Don Wilson (104)

8 Shane Reynolds (103)

9 Bob Knepper (93)

10 Wandy Rodriguez (80)

Oh, How Different Things Might Have Been: J.R. Richard and the 1980 Astros

History is fixed.  It is unchangeable.  Nothing can change the past.  You can watch Carlton Fisk hop down the line a million times and he will still waive the ball fair.  No matter how many times Todd Worrell touches that bag, Don Denkinger is still going to call Jorge Orta safe.  Bill Buckner is never going to field that little roller behind the bag and Mitch Williams will not look back over his shoulder to see Joe Carter's fly ball being caught.

The winners and losers in the history of the game will always be winners or losers.  But this series will explore some "what if's".  What if a player who missed the World Series hadn't gotten injured?  What if a play that turned a World Series had been completed differently?

We have already looked at  the 1905 Philadelphia Athletics, the 1910 Cubs, the 1962 Dodgers, the 1968 Tigers and last week we saw how the loss of  Jim Rice may have hurt the 1975 Red Sox.  This week we will look at how J.R. Richard may have saved the season of the 1980 Houston Astros:

This was new territory for the Houston Astris.  Since 1962 when they entered the National League, only three times had they finished in the top three of their division.  In 1972 they were third but still 10 ½ games out.  In 1976 they were third, still 22 games behind the Reds and Dodgers. 1977 was another third place finish 17 games out of first.  This was different.  The 1979 Astros were actually leading the pack.  On July 4^th they had a 10 ½ game lead and had just won their sixth straight game and second straight against the Big Red Machine.  From there they stumbled.  They lost 15 of the next 17.

Photo of 1979 Street & Smith Baseball Preview Courtesy of Sporting News

They maintained the podition until August 27^th but when they lost to Montreal on August 28^th, the Reds took over first place.  Houston managed to climb back in the lead on occasion but never separated themselves by more than ½ a game.  Still, the Reds didn’t seem to be able to pull away either and with just 4 games left to play they were a game and a half back.  Two straight losses to Atlanta along with two straight Reds wins clinched the Reds victory but Houston won their final two and finished only a game and a half behind the powerful Reds.  It was the first time Houston had finished the season less than 10 games back.

There was finally a hope for next year.

Their offense could certainly have used some improvements.  Right Fielder Denny Walling had played in 82 games and hit .327 but no other regular had hit above .290.  Their power numbers were dreadful with no player in double digits (the team leader was Jose Cruz with 9).  They were a speedy group and they kept their strikeouts down.  But how did they compete with such a poor offense?

Pitching.  Joe Niekro won 21 games and J.R. Richard won 18.  Niekro was the veteran and Richard was the phenom.  This marked Richard’s fourth straight year at 18 or more victories.  His fastball was spectacular.  No one could hit it.  His improvement into a pitcher was continuing and Astros fans looked to Richard as the foundation of their future.

There was finally hope for next year.

As spring training started in 1980 Astros fans had one more reason to be excited.  This was the new era of free agency and with a few pen strokes a team could change their fortunes over night.  The Astros did just that.  They made a big splash in the free agent market adding the Reds’ leader himself, Joe Morgan and another compliment to the Niekro/Richard rotation.  In his eight years with the Angels, Nolan Ryan had won seven strike out crowns and had led the halos to their first ever division title.  When Ryan went to work he finished his job and had already gained a reputation as unhittable.

With Niekro, Ryan and Richard as a 1-2-3 punch the Astros became the favorites in the NL West.  Richard earned the opening day start against the Dodgers and got the win 3-2. He threw 8 innings, allowed only 2 hits and 1 earned run.  His second start against the Braves was not quite as dominant .  He allowed 4 hits and 1 run in 5 innings but left with no decision.   He would beat the Dodgers again on April 19^th to put him at 2-0 for the year and reduce his ERA after three starts to 0.82.  He was tremendous that day.  He allowed no runs on one hit (a  two out 4^th inning single to Reggie Smith) and three walks.

Richard dominated the month of April.  He was at 4-0 with a 1.67 ERA.  He was brought back to earth with a 1/3 innings appearance where he allowed 5 hits, walked 1 and allowed 4 runs.  On May 10^th Richard pitched 9 strong innings allowing only 7 hits (3 of them in the 4^th), 2 walks and 2 runs.  He struck out 8 Braves.  In 4 of the 9 innings  he retired the Braves in order.  After nine innings the game was tied so the Astros went to their bullpen.  The Astros were able to scratch out a run in the Top of the 11^th and would win but Richard got a no decision after throwing a great game. 

May 16 continued his stretch of tough luck.  He threw 8 strong innings and allowed only 6 hits and walked 1.  Dick Ruthven of the Phillies did even better throwing 9 shutout innings and Richard lost 3-0 dropping his record to 4-2.  The tough stretch continued to May 21 when he lost 5-1 to the lowly Mets.  While they had started May in first place by a game and a half, nearing June the Astros were now 3 games back.

Photo of J.R. Richard Courtesy of SI Kids

Then just like that, on May 26, things turned around and Richard was off again like a shot from a Colt .45.  He won against the Padres on May 26 allowing only 5 hits in 7 innings and only one unearned run.  May 31 was a complete game shutout against the Giants in which he only allowed three hits.  No Giant reached second base.  It was a dominating performance and Richard improved to 6-3.

He faced the same Giants on June 6 and the results were mostly the same.  9 innings pitched.  Complete Game.  Shut out.  Only three hits allowed.  Still no Giants reached second base.  Yet, if it was somehow possible, Richard was even more dominant this time.  0 walks.  13 strikeouts.  With one out in the second, Milt May singled.  It was the Giants’ second hit of the game.  From  May’s single until a two out single by Joe Strain in the 9^th, Richard retired 22 consecutive batters.

He threw his third straight complete game and shutout on June 11.  If you could find any weakness in Richard over the three starts it could only be that he allowed a few Cubs as far as second base in the third straight shutout but still, no one scored.   He was nearly unbeatable and his willingness to eat up innings saved the bullpen for times it was needed.  You know, on days when superman wasn’t on the mound.

But all those innings appeared to be taking a toll.  He started on June 5^th and the Astros gave him a nice three run lead in the first but the Cubs were all over Richard.  A double by Ivan de Jesus and a double by Bill Buckner  put the Cubs on the board.  The Astros scored 3 in the second giving Richard a 6-1 lead and Richard settled down.  He batted for himself in the 6^th, still ahead 6-1, but when the Astros took the field for the bottom of the inning, Richard was replaced by Joaquin Andujar on the mound.  It was a strange decision but after three complete games and a large lead, Astros fans could rest easy that J.R. could rest up for his next start.  The Astros were rolling and led the NL West by 3 games and Richard’s win over the Cubs was the second win in what would become a six game win streak. 

Richard was unusually hitable in his next start against the Reds.  He allowed two base runners in the first (on an error and a walk) but kept the Reds scoreless.  He allowed a single in the second but was able to work around it.  Art Howe gave him a 2-0 lead with a Home Run in the third but the Reds answered and it looked like Richard was struggling a bit.  He loaded the bases with two out and allowed a bases clearing double to Johnny Bench.  The Astros failed to answer and left two runners n in the bottom of the third.  The 4^th was when Astros fans started to worry.  A fly ball out, a single and a walk and suddenly Richard was removed.  Randy Niemann replaced him and immediately gave up a triple and three straight singles.  By the end of the inning the Astros trailed 7-2 and concern focused on Richard who had now left two starts early.  Richard would say it was  “arm fatigue” and with the number of complete games he threw it was no wonder.

Richard said in his autobiography: "Boy, playing the first few months of that season was fun.  The team was doing well, we were battling for first place, and we had Nolan Ryan and Joe Niekro and me pitching well."

He pitched 6 innings on July 3 and got the win to improve to 10-4 and the Astros needed the win.  Their lead in the West had shrunk to a game and a half.  The win ended a three game losing streak and the Astros would lose the next three.

On July 8 the leagues paused for the All Star Break.  It was clear that Richard, despite the three short starts recently, was the dominant pitcher in the league and he was selected to start the game for the NL in Dodger Stadium.  ABC started their coverage of the game by telling the audience as Richard warmed up, that Richard was 10-4.  “He comes in, however,”  Keith Jackson said “after struggling in his last couple of starts.  He has been experiencing stiffness in his right forearm.  He uses the word fatigue to describe it.”  Richard easily retired Willie Randolph of the Yankees on a ground ball.  He walked Rod Carew, who stole second, but he got Fred Lynn to ground out and struckout Reggie Jackson to end the first.  The NL went in order in the bottom of the first.  Richard walked Ben Oglivie to start the second but struck out Carlton Fisk and got Graig Nettles to pop out.  Bucky Dent singled to send Oglivie to third but  Richard kept the game scoreless by striking out the pitcher Steve Stone of the Orioles.

That was all for J.R.  He had impressed the country and had fans outside of Houston saying “I wish our best pitcher had a dead arm that good.”

Richard writes: "I was chosen for my first All Star team.  Finally.  Getting the start was a thrill., and the American League had so many great player.  They had Rod Carew, Carlton Fisk, and Reggie Jackson.  That's three Hall of Famers in the starting lineup.  What a powerful hitter Jackson was.  It was so enjoyable to be in that position.  I went out there thinking, This game is mine, even though I knew i wouldn't pitch that long because it was an All Star Game.  I was totally focused.  I put on a new hat and put it on just right.  I figured the opposition couldn't touch me...After the game ended with a National League win, we all rejoined our teams for the second half of the season.  I had every  reason to believe that I was in the middle of my best  season and that the second half held great things in store for me."

Still, Richard felt something wasn’t right.  He complained of pain in the arm, fatigue, discomfort.  The Astros didn’t completely ignore it but it was hard to take it seriously.  How could someone with the pain that Richard was describing pitch that well?

Richrd's biographer Lew Freedman stated: "Leading up to the All Star Game Richard wasn't even sure he wold be able to compete.  His arm felt dead and flat when he unleashed his speedy pitches.  Three days after the game while still in Los Angeles, Richard met with Dr. Frank Jobe., one of the most renowned sports medicine specialists in the United States.  While J.R. did not obtain a clear diagnosis, he said that Jobe recommended he not pitch for 30 days."

The Houston press and fans (and management) were not amused.  The rumors started.  J.R. was jealous of Ryan.  The implication was Ryan came in from nowhere with the high salary and headlines while J.R. had been with the team forever.  Yet neither J.R. or Nolan ever had anything negative to say to each other.  In fact J.R. said in his autobiography that he regretted not having more communication with Ryan and Ryan wrote the forward for the book.  There was no jealousy from J.R.  The next rumor was laziness.  Why did J.R. want to take off 30 days in a pennant race?  How could he just leave the game like that?  The Houston press was angry with him.

He started again on July 14 against the Braves.  He retired the first seven he faced then allowed a double in the third.  He retired the next 2.  He hit a double of his own in his first at bat but was left there.  But it was still there.  That odd feeling in the arm.  He walked Dale Murphy to start the 4^th but got Chris Chambliss to ground out.  It would have been a double play but an error by Craig Reynolds allowed Chambliss to reach second.  That was it.  Richard could go no further.  First Baseman Enos Cabell came over to the mound.  Cabell says: "He said, 'Man I can't feel my fingrs.  I'm throwing 100 miles per hour and I can't feel the ball.  I might kill someone."

Freedman explains: "J.R. did not want to come out for the fourth inning, and manager Bill Virdon urged him to keep trying.  Virdon apparently did not believe that J.R. was injured.  In the absence of a hard medical proof, he was a doubter.  After the game when sportswriters inquired about the reason for Richard's early departure, Astros team officials told them he had a stomach ache."

The Astrodome was a ball of confusion.  Richard seemed to be cruising and had great stuff but his arm would not allow him to go any further.  As Gordie Plodson walked to the mound to relieve him, Richard slowly walked to the dugout.  Furstrated, confused.  This was the season of his life and yet for some reason he just could not get his arm right.  There were other issues too.  His vision was blurry.  He was having trouble seeing the signs from the catcher.  His fingers felt numb.  After that last pitch he couldn’t even grip the ball.

The Astros put him on the DL and took a wait and see attitude.  Rest would fix everything.

The problem was it didn’t get better.  It got worse.  He would tell anyone who would listen how badly it hurt.  No one seemed to believe him.  He went to a chiropractor.  It didn’t help.  It just redistributed the pain.  After visiting the chiropractor he went to the Astros training facility.  The Astros were on the road but J.R. was cleared for light activity.

During the tranining session he now had a serious head ache and felt weak.  He told the doctors what he was feeling but still there was disbelief.  In moments things got scary.  Richard explained in his autobiography: I was inside the Astrodome doing a workout so I could be in some kind of shape when I came off the disabled list.  All of a sudden I felt a  high-pitched tone ringing in my left ear.  .  And then I threw a couple of more pitches and became nauseated.  A few minutes later, I threw a couple more pitches, then the feeling got so bad I was lising my equilibrium,  I went down to the Astroturf.  I had a headache, some confusion in my mind, and I felt  weakness in my body...I was lying on the floor of the Astrodome and I knew an ambulance was on its way.  Before I passed out, I had all kinds of things runnng through my mind, but the chief one was, What's wrong?"

He had suffered a stroke that was very nearly fatal.

The Astros led the division by a game and a half on July 30^th.  The lead disappeared quickly.  They lost 5 of 7 to fall half a game behind  the Dodgers.    They fell back by half a game but were able to somehow regain the lead by a half game during the losing streak.  They lost four straight, including a three game sweep by the Giants and fell behind by a game.  Richard had been replaced in the rotation by Gordie Pladson, a little used pitcher who had spent the early part of the year in the minors.    It was not pretty. He would end up 0-4 with three no decisions.  Also filling in was Juaquin Andujar, who would go 2-3 with three no decisions in his starts following Richard’s placement on the DL. 

A 10 game win streak in mid August should have put them up comfortably but it gave them only a three game lead.  The lead in the division went back and forth.  The Dodgers would go ahead and the Astros would come back.  The Astros would go ahead and the Dodgers would pull back even.

Bill Virdon was still hoping to get J.R. back but was realistic: "You don't replace a pitcher like J.R. but if there's one area  we could stand any loss, it's pitching.  We'll go with a four man rotation of Ryan, Ken Forsch, Joe Niekro and Vern Ruhle.  We're more concerned with J.R.'s health now."

Photo of 1980 Street & Smith's Official Yearbook Courtesy of Sporting News

Starting with a September 20^th, 3-2 win over the Giants, Houston went on to win 9 of 12. With just three games left in the season the Astros needed just one more win.  Their competition in the final weekend was the second place Dodgers.   Win one game and Houston made the playoffs for the first time.  Lose all three and the Dodgers would force a one game playoff for the West Division crown.

In the first game of the series, a Friday night at Dodgers Stadium, Ken Forsch faced off against Don Sutton.  Sutton struggled, working out of a bases loaded jam in the first and allowing a run in the second.  Forsch, on the other hand, retired the first ten Dodgers in order.  With one out in the 4^th the Dodgers went to work and eventually scored a run.  Sutton settled down and the game was tied 1-1 after 7.  Houston scratched out a run in the 8^th and heading into the bottom of the 9^th the Astros were just three outs away from the division title.  Jay Johnstone grounded out to start the inning and there were just two outs left.  Rick Monday followed that with a single.  In the days before closers were a part of every team, Forsch was allowed to stay in the game.  Dusty Baker grounded a ball to second base that could have ended the game but an error allowed everyone to reach safely.  If this were Boston or Chicago, talk of the curse would be rampant.  Steve Garvey flew out for the second out and now the Astros were one out away from their first post season appearance.  Next up was Ron Cey, the Penguin.  Cey punched a single to Center Field and Rudy Law, who had pinch run for Rick Monday, scored to tie the game.  A Pedro Guerrero ground ball ended the inning but the Dodgers were clinging to their season’s life by the skin of their teeth. Although Forsch had been given room to work, Tom Lasorda had removed Don Sutton for an unknown kid with a long name.  He had made his first appearance just a few weeks ago.  He got his first decision on September 30^th.  Now, in just his tenth major league appearance, Fernando Valenzuela held the season of the Dodgers in his hands.  He had pitched the 9^th and had allowed two base runners but no runs.  Playing with house money at this point, Valenzuela shut down the Astros in the 10^th.  Catcher Joe Ferguson came up with the season on the line.  He made a quick end to Forsch.  A solo Home Run to lead off the home 10^th sent the Astros home tired and defeated and the Dodgers with a sense of a miracle in the offing.

Game 2 saw 11-9 Nolan Ryan face off against 17-5 Jerry Reuss.  The Dodgers reached Ryan for a run in the second.  The Astros tied it up in the top of the 4^th and once again the tension set in.  Leading off the 4^th Steve Garvey homered giving the Dodgers another lead.  Thanks to a few strong innings and two timely turned double plays the Dodgers held that 2-1 lead through the game and although Ryan allowed only 6 hits, 2 runs and walked none in 7 innings, the Dodgers survived one more day.

Now the Dodgers were thinking miracle and the Astros were thinking disaster.

If only they had J.R. Richard to go out and clinch this thing, or at worst to shut down the Dodgers if a one game playoff were needed.  With everything on the line the Astros turned to Vern Rhule and the Dodgers to Burt Hooton.

After a walk and a steal by Terry Puhl, Hooton got through the first.  Rhule retired the Dodgers in order.   Now the Astros went to work and looked like the miracle at Chavez Ravine was being cancelled.  Cesar Cedno bunted for a single and stole second.  Art Howe attempted to sacrifice Cedeno to third but an error by Hooton allowed both runners to reach safely.  Alan Ashby scored Cedeno with a single and Craig Reynolds scored Howe with a single.  Just like that, two runs in, no one out and two on base, Hooton was gone and the season again hung in the balance.  Rhule allowed a lead off bunt single in the second but retired the next three in order.    Ruhle had already impacted the 1975 baseball season when he broke the hand of Jim Rice with an inside pitch.  Now he looked to impact the 1980 post season.   With two scoreless innings already under his belt, the Dodgers started the 3^rd with a single.  Oddly, that was all for Ruhle.  Andujar came on and retired the Dodgers.  In the 4^th, Houston added a run to take a 3-0 lead.  They needed just 18 outs to reach the playoffs.  With one out in the third Los Angeles cut the lead to 3-1 and Joe Sambito replaced Andujar.  Sambito got a double play and escaped further damage.  Fernando pitched two more scoreless innings and the Dodgers cut into the lead with a run in the 7^th.  The Astros still held the lead entering the bottom of the 8^th, cutting the out count down to 6.  A ground ball to third should have cut that count to 5 but an error allowed Garvey to reach safely.  As they had all weekend, the Dodgers made Houston pay.  The Penguin launched a two run Home Run to give the Dodgers the lead.  The Astros mounted a threat in the 9^th.  Jeffrey Leonard pinch hit to start the 9^th.  He flew out to left and the Astros had two outs left to avoid a one game playoff.  Gary Woods became the second pinch hitter of the inning and reached safely on a single.  Terry Puhl grounded to second, forcing Woods, but the Astros were able to avoid the double play and keep the inning alive.  Enos Cabell followed with a  single and Puhl moved to third.  With the tying run just 90 feet away both teams made a move.  Lasorda went to Don Sutton, normally a starter, to pitch and the Astros went to Denny Walling as a pinch hitter.  Walling grounded the ball to second base and the teams would play one more.

This was now getting worrisome.  Coming into the weekend series the Astros needed just one win.  They had won 6 of their last 7 and three straight coming in.  If they had J.R. and had they been able to win their first or second game this series they could have set their rotation for the NLCS.  Imagine Richard, Ryan, Niekro, Ruhle.  What a rotation that would have been in the playoffs.  Now, they had used Ryan and Ruhle and would need to use Niekro just to make the playoffs.  The Dodgers started Dave Goltz.  Niekro was brilliant.  He pitched a complete game allowing only 6 hits and 2 walks resulting in only 1 earned run.  Dave Goltz was not brilliant.  He allowed 8 hits and 4 runs in three innings.  Rick Sutcliffe pitched 1/3 of an inning and allowed 3 runs on 1 hit.  It was over quickly but Niekro threw the whole game. Next up would be the Phillies, who had struggled to close out their own division against pesky Montreal, however, they didn’t need the extra day to do it. 

Richard wrote: "You never really know about those things.  You'd like to think you could have made a difference.  I know I would have pitched against the Dodgers  at the end of the regular season when it came down to a one game playoff and I would have pitched against the Phillies."

If the Astros had their ace the matchups would have likely been this:  Richard vs Carlton, Niekro vs Dick Ruthven,  Nolan Ryan vs Larry Christensen.  The NLCS that followed was likely the greatest in history.  Four of the five games in the series went extra innings, including the deciding game.  Any one thing could have tipped the favor in the direction of either team.  If the Astros had J.R  Richard it is likely they would have had enough to overcome the Phillies.  Instead the Phillies scratched out a 10^th inning win in the final game to earn their name of the “cardiac kids”. 

Many of the players themselves felt J.R. was the difference.  Ryan wrote: "Philadelphia beat us and went on to win the World Series.  It is always a tough thing to assume things in hindsight, but if we had a healthy J.R. Richard down the stretch and in the playoffs, it is possible that it would have been Houston and not Philadelphia winning the series in 1980.

J.R. would try a come back in 1981 but the effects of the stroke had been too damaging.  He had suffered through a deep depression for the first few weeks after the stroke but worked hard to get back on the mound.  He tried to work through poor vision on one side and nearly got hit by a line drive back up the middle in spring training.  He would never throw another pitch in a Major League game.

Richard went through terrible times, including living on the streets of Houston under a bridge near the Astrodome.  Luckily the story has a happy ending.  Richard has found a way to love his life away from baseball and is happily married.  He often goes to games and hopes that the Astros will someday retire his number in honor of the years of service.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

J.R. Richard won a total of 107 games over 10 seasons (although only 5 of those could really be considered full seasons).  Richard never pitched for a Major League team other than the Astros.  Where does Richard rank on the Astros All Time wins leaders?

Answer to Last Week's Question:

Although he had the great numbers in the 1975 World Sereis, Pete Rose was not voted MVP of the series.  That honor went to Joe Morgan, who always seemed to come up with the most important hit, such as the series winner in Game 7.

Oh, How Different Things Might Have Been: Jim Rice and the 1975 Red Sox

History is fixed.  It is unchangeable.  Nothing can change the past.  You can watch Carlton Fisk hop down the line a million times and he will still waive the ball fair.  No matter how many times Todd Worrell touches that bag, Don Denkinger is still going to call Jorge Orta safe.  Bill Buckner is never going to field that little roller behind the bag and Mitch Williams will not look back over his shoulder to see Joe Carter's fly ball being caught.

The winners and losers in the history of the game will always be winners or losers.  But this series will explore some "what if's".  What if a player who missed the World Series hadn't gotten injured?  What if a play that turned a World Series had been completed differently?

We have already looked at  the 1905 Philadelphia Athletics, the 1910 Cubs, the 1962 Dodgers and last week the 1968 Tigers.  This week we look at how the loss of a rookie outfielder might have changed World Series for the 1975 Red Sox:

No one had predicted this.  Anyone who had would have been sent for evaluation.  Imagine it.  The Orioles had won the division every year (except 1973) since the division format had been invented.  Only the Tigers had been able to claw the birds out of the top perch.  Although Baltimore had sent Frank Robinson and Boog Powell to the Indians (suddenly the Indians looked improved) the O’s still had Brooks Robinson and that great pitching.  The Yankees had added Catfish Hunter and Bobby Bonds to a roster that already included Thurman Munson and Graig Nettles.  Even the young Brewers were improving with Robin Yount and Darrell Porter mixing with veterans George Scott and Hank Aaron.

So what did the Red Sox have?  They had arguably the best Catcher in baseball (Freehan, Munson and Bench were certainly in the discussion) but he was out of the lineup for god knows how long.  They had an aging legend in Carl Yastrzemski whose knees were shot and would be moved to First Base to save his body.  They had a pitcher that was rejected by Cleveland and Minnesota with a wind up so ridiculous it almost baffled the mind that the pitches made it to the catcher at all.  They had another pitcher that would have been rejected by Monty Python as a character too unbelievable to be part of their sketches and called himself “Spaceman”.

They also had a ton of young, unproven players.  No one was dumb enough to believe Boston had a shot at this.  Still, at the end of the first month the Sox stood at the top of the division at 7-5.  Any hope of a Boston miracle began to fade as the Sox dropped 4 straight and fell to 4^th.  A quick rally in the form of an 8-2 stretch actually put the Red Sox four games up by mid May and the focus was on the excitement of Luis Tiant and the young players.

Photo of Fred Lynn Courtesy of ESPN

There were three main youngsters that became the focus of the team: Fred Lynn, Dwight Evans  and Jim Rice. 

The opening day lineup was honestly a bit of a mess. Yaz, the man who had written the textbook on how to play the Green Monster, was at First Base.  In Left Field was Juan Beniquez with Lynn in Center Field and Evans in Right.  Catching was Bob Montgomery in place of an injured Fisk.

Friday April 18^th was a big day.  Though few saw it at the time, it would be a great day in the story of the franchise.  Facing off against the favored Orioles, Reggie Cleveland gave up 2 quick first inning runs.  Boston went in order (Beniquez, Rick Burleson, Yaz) in the first.  The O’s got another base runner in the second but Dave Duncan remained at first and the Sox came up for the second inning.

Dwight Evans grounded to Brooks Robinson at third to start the inning and Rico Petrocelli  walked.  Walking to the plate, in his first starting assignment of the year, was Jim Rice.  In the days before baseball players used weights, Jim Rice was a giant.  The theory at the time was that weights and baseball didn’t mix.  It was thought that larger muscles would interfere with the fluidity of the swing.  Rice was a challenge to that theory.  He was a football player on the baseball diamond.  He was so strong that he once broke his bat on a check swing.  Think about the physics of that moment.  His arms were so powerful that when they stopped their momentum a wooden bat continued moving, putting enough pressure to crack a solid object in two.  He demonstrated his power here with a two run game tying Home Run.  The next batter was Fred Lynn who walked.

Photo of Jim Rice and Fred Lynn Courtesy of NESN.com

In the third, Dwight Evans doubled giving the Sox the lead.  In the 4^th Rice stepped to the plate and hit his second Home Run of the day putting Boston up 4-2.  By the end of the inning Boston led 6-2.  In the 7^th Fred Lynn hit a solo Home Run.  The three youngsters (Evans, Rice and Lynn) would be 6-13, scored 3 runs, 5 RBI, a walk, a double and three Home Runs.  It was the first time all three had started together.  But try telling the Red Sox fans it was a great day as they filed out of Fenway.  Lee May, the Orioles First Baseman, had gone 2-3, with 2 runs, 7 RBI, 2 Home Runs (both with two men on).  The Sox lost 9-7, at home to a division rival.

The rookies took over the season.  It seemed that every time you looked up Fred Lynn was sliding face first on the grass or crashing into a wall to make a catch and Rice was trotting around the bases.  They were dubbed the “Gold Dust Twins” and they carried the team to win after win.  By July 28^th they were 9 games up.  The lead shrunk to 5 ½ by September 1 but they recovered and continued to win.  Lynn, Rice and Evans were everywhere.  Evans was the least successful of the three somehow.  Rice and Lynn were similar in numbers.  At the end of the year their numbers looked like this:

                                Hits        Runs      RBI         2B/3B/HR            Avg.       BB/K      SB/CS

Jim Rice                  174         92           102         29/4/22                .309        36/122  10/5

Fred Lynn               175         103         105         47/7/21                .331        62/90     10/5

It should be obvious why they were called twins.  It definitely was not because they looked alike.  Things were great.  Fisk was back in the lineup by the end of June, the kids were tearing it up and the combination of Tiant and Lee was consistently winning.  The Sox fans started seeing rings.

It was an unusual feeling.  The Boston Globe asked “What’s Right with the Red Sox”.  But this was still the era of the Curse of the Bambino.  It struck on September 21.  Facing Detroit, the Tigers had taken a 1-0 lead in the first, although with the Gold Dust Twins a one run lead was nothing.  Leading off the second inning was  Jim Rice.  The pitch came in tight on Rice.  It was too far inside and Rice did not react quickly enough.  It hit Rice on the hand, crushing the powerful hand between the ball and the bat, breaking the hand.  Rice would stay in the game and came around to score.  He walked in his next plate appearance and flew out in the 6^th.  With the Sox ahead heading into the 7^th, Evans replaced Rice in right field.    Rice was sent for x-rays and it was found that a bone was broken.  The Sox clinched their division but they would be without Jim Rice in the playoffs.

Photo of Jim RIce Courtesy of ESPN

Their first opponent would be a difficult challenge.  The A’s were the World Series Champions three times running.  They had lost Catfish Hunter since last year but they still had names like Bert Campaneris, Sal Bando, Joe Rudi, Gene Tennace, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman, Rollie Fingers and the biggest of all, Reggie Jackson.  It did not appear to be an easy task and without Rice many thought the Red Sox didn’t stand a chance.

The Sox scored twice in the first inning of Game 1 thanks to two Oakland errors.  It remained 2-0 entering the bottom of the 7^th.  Boston exploded for five runs, three of those unearned, and cruised to a 7-1 lead.

Game 2 was a bit more tense.  Reggie Jackson put the A’s out to a 2-0 lead with a 2 run Home Run and the A’s young outfielder Claudell Washington added to the lead with an RBI double in the third.  Yaz answered in the bottom of the third with a 2 run Home Run of his own and Rico Petrocelli grounded into a double play that allowed Carlton Fisk to score from third.  Tie game headed into the 4^th.  From there it seemed to be all Red Sox.  Fisk drove in Yaz with an RBI single in the 6^th.  Petrocelli homered in the 7^th and Lynn drove in Juan Beniquez in the 9^th for a 6-3 win and a 2-0 lead in the series.

We can only imagine the mood in the A’s locker room after the second straight loss. Often volatile, even when winning, we can at least be confident that it wasn’t quiet.   Without Catfish as an option, the A’s went back to their ace Ken Holtzman to try and save their season.  He had  been victimized by 4 A’s errors in Game 1 and had to work out of trouble n the 1^st inning of Game 3 but he seemed to settle down.  The game was scoreless entering the 4^th.  After 2 quick outs  Fred Lynn hit a fly ball that looked like it would get the A’s to the plate but Claudell Washington misplayed the ball and Lynn ended up on second base.  Petrocelli made them pay with a single scoring Lynn.  The A’s went in order in the 4^th and Holtzman returned to the mound.  Holtzman struck out Cecil Cooper to start the inning but Rick Burleson singled.  Juan Beniquez (Rice’s replacement) flew out for out number 2.  Denny Doyle singled to score Burleson and Yaz followed with a single. Holtzman’s day was done but the Red Sox were not.  Relief Pitcher Jim Todd gave up an RBI single to Fisk, scoring Doyle and was replaced.  Paul Lindblad came in and allowed Yaz to score on a Wild Pitch making it 5-0 Sox.  Down 6-1 in the 8^th, the A’s made one last rally when they bunched three singles and an error to score 2 but  Dick Drago came in to relieve Rick Wise and got a double play to end the inning.  The Sox had advanced to the World Series for the first time since 1967 and only the third time (1946 being the other) since 1918.

The Sox were able to win relatively easily without Rice in the ALCS but that was mostly thanks to A’s poor fielding.  Juan Beniquez, Rice’s replacement, had gone 3-12 with only one extra base hit, a double.  They would need more than that if they were going to beat the Reds of Bench, Morgan, Rose and Perez.

The Reds were heavily favored entering the World Series based on their dominant regular season and collection of future Hall of Famers.  The 1975 World Series is one of the greatest of all time with each game seemingly more surprising and exciting than the next.  Game 1 saw Luis Tiant pitch an emotional dominating game.  Tiant had been reunited with his parents for the first time since leaving Cuba.  Fidel Castro had allowed them a temporary visa to see their son pitch in the World Series. 

Boston led Game 2 heading into the 9^th inning and were on the verge of taking a 2 games to none lead until the Reds got 2 doubles, a stolen base and two runs to take the lead.  The Sox went in order in the bottom of the 9^th.

Game 3 saw a controversial end to a 10 inning game.  After trailing 5-1 the Sox fought back to tie the game only to lose on a non-call of batter/runner interference by Ed Armbrister. 

Game 4  was another win for Tiant, who was not as sharp as he had been in Game 1.  He allowed 4 runs but with a 5 run inning in the 4^th the Sox tied the series at 2 games each. 

Game 5 saw Tony Perez break out of his slump with a solo Home Run and a three run Home Run to give the Reds a 3 games to 2 lead in the series.

Game 6 was arguably the greatest game ever played.

Game 7 saw the Red Sox take a 3-0 lead and hold a 3-2 lead heading into the 7^th.  But Bill Lee had to leave when a blister formed on a finger on his pitching hand and Joe Morgan drove in Ken Griffey in the top of the 9^th to win the World Series.

Of course it is easy to say that Jim Rice would have made the difference but we can’t know that he would have made the difference.  Knowing that the series went 7 games and each game was close, Rice certainly could have made a difference.  It is not fair to say “things would definitely have happened differently if… “  There is never an absolute.  If a fielder doesn’t throw wild, our team will win.  If a runner doesn’t lose his footing turning a bag, our team will win.  It certainly would improve the team's chances of winning but it doesn’t automatically mean they will win.  So simply saying that the Red Sox would have won in 1975 if Jim Rice was in the lineup is not entirely accurate, but he certainly could have helped their chances greatly.

With that being said, let’s look at how Rice could have changed things had he been in the four losses in the World Series.  When the Red Sox were healthy and playing at their best in 1975 their lineup looked like this:

C    Carlton Fisk

1B  Carl Yastrzemski

2B  Denny Doyle

SS  Rick Burleson

3B Rico Petrocelli

RF  Dwight Evans

CF Fred Lynn

LF Jim Rice

DH Juan Beniquez/Cecil Cooper/Rick Miller/Bernie Carbo

The DH was not used in the World Series so two bats were essentially taken out of the lineup: Jim Rice and the DH.

The first loss for the Red Sox, Game 2, saw Yaz playing in place of Rice in Left Field but since Yaz was part of the regular lineup,First Baseman Cecil Cooper would have been considered the Rice replacement.  In Game 2 Cooper would go 1-5 with a double.  In fact he led off the game with the 2 base hit.  He was erased on a double play.So in his other 4 plate appearances could he have effected the game the way Rice could have?  Of course there is always the argument  that a healthy Rice could show his power at any time. so of course Rice could have changed the game in that way.  Cooper led off the third with a ground ball to Joe Morgan.  In the 5^th, he was the third out in a 1-2-3 inning.  In the 7^th, he was out number 2 in a 1-2-3 inning.  In the 9^th Cooper made the final out with a pop out to short, again part of a 1-2-3 inning.  There was no point in this game that Cooper left runners on base or killed a rally.

Game 3 had the same lineup.  Cooper was hitting in the lead off spot (Rice would normally be 4^th or 5^th in the lineup).  Cooper went 0-5 and twice he came to bat with a runner on base. In the bottom of the 5^th with two out and Burleson on first, Cooper grounded out.   The second time could be a situation where we could see Rice making a difference.  The Red Sox trailed entering the top of the 9^th.  Fred Lynn struck out to start the inning.  Rico followed with a single and after a pitching change Dwight Evans tied it with a Home Run.  Burleson followed with a single and suddenly the pressure was on.  Pitcher Jim Willoughby sacrificed Burleson to second and up came Cecil Cooper.  Imagine the pressure on the Reds had Jim Rice walked to the plate with a runner in scoring position instead of Cecil Cooper but the intimidation that could have been applied by Rice could have changed the way that game went.  Instead Cooper flew out easily to Center Field and the game remained tied into the 10^th.  Of course, you can also do the “what if” game with Ed Armbrister’s bunt in the 10^th inning as well, as in what if the umpire called him out.

Game 5 was the next loss and the lineup got juggled a little.  Yaz moved to First Base and batted third.  Taking over in Left Field was Juan Beniquez.  Beniquez would go 0-3 with a walk and a strikeout.  But were any of his plate appearances in situations where Rice could have made a difference?  Beniquez led off the game by grounding to third.  That was followed by a Denny Doyle triple.  So had Rice been in the game he was more likely to get on base, although Rice normally batted in the middle of the lineup so we can give Beniquez a pass on the lead off spot.  In the third, Beniquez was the third out in a 1-2-3 inning.  In the 6^th, with the Reds ahead 2-1 Beniquez got a 2 out walk and was stranded there.  By the time he came up to the plate again to lead off the 9^th  the Reds were ahead 6-1.  Beniquez struck out looking. 

Photo of Carlton Fisk Courtesy of Fox Sports

Finally, Game 7.  Could Rice have changed things? Again the answer is that he could flex his power at any given moment but the real question is: did his replacement miss any opportunities to change the game? Yaz again played First Base but in Left Field to start the game was Bernie Carbo.  Carbo had hit a pinch hit Home Run the night before.  That Home Run tied him with Chuck Essegian of the 1959 Dodgers for most pinch hit Home Runs in a World Series with 2.  Carbo led off the game with a double to left field.  When Denny Doyle followed with a fly ball to right, Carbo failed to advance.  It was a lack of aggressiveness on the base paths that Red Sox fans would point to as a missed opportunity.  Yaz grounded to the right side of the infield, advancing Carbo to third, although he might have scored had he advanced to third on Doyle’s fly ball out.  Burleson flew out to end the inning.  Rice was not a tremendous runner.  He stole 10 bases in  1975 but would never again break double digits in that category.  So it is unclear whether this would have differed with him on the base paths.  With only one out and Yaz coming up, Don Zimmer, coaching 3^rd base, might have held Rice at second anyways.  Carbo next came up in the 3^rd with the game still scoreless.  He worked a one out walk, moved to third on a Doyle single and scored the game’s first run on a Yaz single.  Carbo came to bat again in the 4^th.  Bill Lee singled to start the inning and moved to second on a wild pitch.  Carbo grounded to second to advance Lee to third, so although it wasn’t a base hit, it was a productive out.  Doyle and Yaz left Lee at third.   Carbo’s final at bat of the game came leading off the 6^th.  With Boston ahead 3-2 Carbo was the first out of a 1-2-3 inning.  Rick Miller replaced Carbo in left field to start the 7^th.  By the time Carbo’s spot came up in the order again the Sox were down 4-3.  Leading off the bottom of the 9^th, Juan Beniquez pinch hit for Rick Miller.  He flew out to right for the first out of a 1-2-3 inning.  Certainly the Boston approach to the game might have been different had Rice been in the game.  Rice would not have been replaced defensively by Miller in the 7^th and his presence at the plate would have made Sparky Anderson much more nervous than Juan Beniquez.  Following Beniquez’s fly ball out to start the 9^th, Boston went to the bench again and sent up Catcher Bob Montgomery to pinch hit for Denny Doyle.  Had Rice been in the game, Darrel Johnson would have had other options for pinch hitters (like Bernie Carbo) in that situation.

But the question still remains, would Rice have made the difference?  Comparing numbers is always helpful.  So as a final review to allow you to make your decision, let’s compare the numbers of Rice’s replacements to Rice’s numbers in the other post seasons he played in his career:

                                                AB/Hits Runs      RBI         2B/3B/HR            BB/K             AVG

Cecil Cooper (1975*)              1-18       0              1              1/0/0                     0/3              .056

Juan Beniquez (1975*)              1-8       0              1              0/0/0                     1/1              .125

Bernie Carbo (1975*)                2-5      2               3              1/0/1                     1/1              .200

Jim Rice (Career Postseason+)18-76   15              8              2/1/2                    9/22             .237

*-numbers used are only in situations where player was considered Rice’s replacement

+- Rice played in the 1978 playoff game to decide the AL East division as well as 1986 ALCS, 1986 World Series and 1988 ALCS.  The 1978 AL East division deciding game is technically not post season but was included as it added weight to viewing Rice’s performance in playoff situations.

TRIVIA QUESTION:

Joe Morgan was named the MVP of the 1975 World Series.  Morgan went 7-27,  including a double, for a  259 average. He also scored 4 runs, drove in 3, including the series winner, walked 5 times and stole 2 bases.

There was another major piece of the Big Red Machine who had great numbers and could have been considered for the Series MVP.  This Red went 10-27 (.370) including a double and a triple, scored 3, drove in 2 and walked 5 times. Although many feel this Red should be in the Naitonal Baseball Hall of Fame he has not been enshrined in Cooperstown yet. Who is he?

Answer to Last Week's Trivia Question:

The Cardinals and Tigers first faced each other in the World Series in 1934.  It was the Gashouse Gang vs. Hank Greenberg, Charlie Gehringer and SchoolboyRowe.  In a great, tightly contested seven game series the Cardinals  came out on top.

The 1934 World Series was Detroit's fourth World Series appearance (they had lost to the Cubs in 1907 and 1908 and the Pirates in 1909).  It was the Cardinals 5th appearance (they had beaten the Yankess in 1926 and lost to the Yankees in 1928.  They had also lost to the Athletics in 1930 but beaten the Athletics in 1931)

By the time the two faced off again in 1968 the Cardinals had won the 1942, 1944, 1946, 1964 and 1967 and had lost the 1943 World Series. The Tigers had won the 1935, 1945 World Series and had lost the 1940 World Series.

After the 1968 season both teams fell off drastically.  The Cardinals would not reach the World Series again until the Whitey Herzog era of the 1980s.  They won the 1982 World Series but lost the 1985 and 1987 World Series.  The Tigers, following the 1968 World Series, would not return to the Fall Classic until 1984.

The 1990s were a terrible era for the Tigers but saw a rebirth for the Caridnals, although no World Series appearances.

The early 2000s started poorly for the Tigers but they surprised everyone with a dramatic 2006 turn around and run through the playoffs to the World Series.  The Cardinals continued their rebirth with a 2004 World Series appearance where they faced the Red Sox.  In 2006 tehy returned to the World Series and faced the Tigers (the third time they faced off) and won their first World Series since 1982.

The Cardinals returned to the World Series in 2011 and 2013 while the Tigers returned in 2012.  Any one of those seasons could have seen a rematch as the oposing team lost in the LCS round of their respective leagues.