[Tiger Fan]

1966 IN FIGMENT BASEBALL
October 28, 1966


STARS BRING GLORY WEST
Los Angeles Captures First Coast Championship

The Los Angeles Stars completed a season for the ages, one in which they dominated Continental Association rivals, taking over first place for good on June 2 and never surrendering it as they finished two shy of the FABL single season record with 110 victories. The Stars would add four more wins in October, defeating a surprising Federal Association champion in the Pittsburgh Miners to accomplish something a west coast club had never done in any sport - win a championship in a major sport, unless of course you count the Great Western Baseball League's short-lived three year experiment as a self-proclaimed major league, which few, if any, do.

The west coast has been home to big-time professional football for two decades and baseball has been a fixture in California since 1954 when the former New York Stars and San Francisco Sailors sojourned to Los Angeles and San Francisco respectively. Each of the those clubs won a Continental Association flag- the Sailors in 1962 and again last year while the Stars won in 1964- but none of those pennants were followed up by a World Championship Series victory. As important as the series win was for fans in California, it may have been even more crucial to the psyche of teams and managers in the Continental Association, who could not be blamed for developing a bit of an inferiority complex. You see, entering the '66 series, the Federal Association representative had won seven consecutive WCS titles and ten of the previous eleven. To further rub salt in the wound, the Feds had also claimed three straight and four of the past five all-star games as well.

The Los Angeles Stars World Championship Series victory over the Pittsburgh Miners in six games, also gave the franchise sole possession of the most WCS titles in FABL history. The Stars, who last won the WCS while still based in New York in 1946, had entered the season tied with the Detroit Dynamos at nine WCS wins, but now become the first club to win ten. And looking at the talent on their roster there could be more celebrations coming for Los Angelenos in the next few years.

A recent ranking from OSA, the official scouting service of FABL, declared that five of the eight starting position players on the Stars are ranked amongst the top twenty players in baseball and three of the top eight pitchers according to OSA are also Stars. The stats certainly seemed to back up that line of thinking in 1966, as the Los Angeles Stars led FABL, and by a sizeable margin, in both scoring the most runs and surrendering the fewest.

Continental foes have to cower in fear at the fact that not only are the Stars so talented, but they are also quite young. Shortstop Lew Smith (.295,24,79) is just 23, first baseman Bobby Garrison (.296,23,118) is 24, third sacker Mel Johnson (.287,29,103) and catcher Bob Griffin (.309,11,83) are both 25. The "old men" in the lineup are 29-year-old Ed Moore (.291,31,92), who finished second in Whitney Award voting after winning it a year ago, and fellow outfielder Lou Allen (.248,24,85) who is 31. The big three on the mound are far from ancient either as Floyd Warner (19-7, 2.36) is 30, Cal Johnston (14-3, 2.75) is 27 and George Dunnigan (20-5, 2.69) is just 24. Even number four starter Paddy Williamson (17-8, 3.03), who did not crack the OSA list of top twenty hurlers, is only 26.

The Chicago Cougars won a franchise record 99 games, topping the ninety victory mark for the fourth straight season, but they still finished a distant second, 11 games back of the front-running Stars. The Cougars strength was on the mound as long-time Cougars starter Pug White (10-8, 2.43) was joined by newcomers Jim Norris (17-8, 3.49) and Hal Adams (15-8, 2.95), a pair of seasoned vets who were acquired in deals at the end of last season. The future is bright for Bill Grimm (.288,31,105) as the 22-year-old first baseman had a breakout season in his second campaign. There is talent on offense with the likes of Dode Cahill (.278,21,76), Henry Watson (.284,17,62) and Jerry McMillan (.277,18,59) but surpassing the Stars in a bid to win their first pennant since 1941 will not be an easy task going forward.

Losing seven time Diamond Defense Award winning shortstop Carlos Jaramillo (.278,8,35) for nearly two months with an injury -the club went just 19-29 during his absence- ended any hopes the [b]San Francisco Sailors{/b] might have had of repeating as Continental Association flag winners. San Francisco was 4.5 games back of Los Angeles when Jaramillo went down in early July and were 17.5 back when he returned to the lineup on September 1. Injuries also cost Whitey Stewart (18-2, 2.49) a few starts and somehow, despite his stellar numbers, the 35-year-old finished just fourth in CA Allen Award balloting.

The fourth place Toronto Wolves received an MVP season out of centerfielder Sid Cullen (.316,36,114) who became the first Wolves player to win a Whitney Award since Hall of Famer Fred McCormick won back-to-back in 1938-39. The Wolves still have some holes in their lineup and many of the key pieces like Cullen, Tom Reed (.266,15,47) and catcher Dixie Williams (.273,13,53) are on the wrong side of thirty but 24-year-old Stan Merrick (.295,15,78) looks a player they can build around. The Toronto pitching, led by Danny Horne (18-8, 2.76), Jimmy Pepper (16-8, 2.68) and Marty Bean (13-7, 3.24) looked solid.

The Cleveland Foresters, the class of the CA for the 1950s, ended a three year stay in the second division as they finished fifth at 86-76, breaking the .500 mark for the first time since 1962. The transition from the aging stars of their glory years, ones that saw the Foresters win 3 World Championship Series and 8 pennants in a 13 year stretch, is underway with rookie of the year Andy Babel (.298,11,74) heading the group ready to take over for veterans Sherry Doyal (.298,3,41) and Hal Kennedy (.266,5,57) who were fixtures for most of the championship run.

Kansas City finished sixth and below .500 for the first time since 1960. The Kings are just three years removed from their most recent pennant winning season but one can't help but feel the window is closing. Hank Williams (.276,22,67) made the all-star team for the ninth time at the age of 32 but his production dropped for the third consecutive year. Charlie Rogers retired before the season started and 39-year-old Stan Kleminski (.213,4,56) and 37-year-old Ken Newman (253,18,76) may not be far behind him.

The seventh place Cincinnati Cannons have not won a pennant since 1945 and despite having one of the best young arms in the game in two-time Allen Award winning 23-year-old Marco Middleton (20-10, 2.61) it has hard to imagine the streak being snapped soon. The Cannons outfield is a strength with Bonnie Chapin (.285,17,54), Dallas Berry (.270,30,85) and 25-year-old Mark Boyd (.234,31,82) and they may have discovered a late bloomer in 27-year-old third baseman Pablo Vazquez (.255,15,60), who impressed in his first full season in the majors.

The Dallas Wranglers suffered a drop-off in their fifth season in the big leagues, going just 67-95 after winning a franchise best 75 games a year ago. They have some talent in the farm system but it is going to be a long wait before the club is able to challenge the leaders. One bright spot was the play of 22-year-old catcher John Vance (.319,11,76), who led the CA in batting average in his third full season with the Wranglers. Another 22 year old, rookie second baseman Slick Dunn (.315,12,56) led the CA with 200 hits and became the franchise's first Kellogg Award winner.

No the Montreal Saints are not an expansion team, they just play that way. The Saints finished with just 67 wins and not ended a season higher than 7th place this decade. The woes stretch far further back than that as Montreal has not won a pennant since 1921, the longest such drought in FABL. The farm system is not that good either. Aside from 25-year-old righthander John Roberts (15-12, 3.31) and veteran outfielder Harry Swain (.283,18,81) there is very little to be excited about in Stade Montreal.

That leaves the New York Imperials to finish in last place for the third straight season. The Imperials have the worst record of any of the four 1962 expansion clubs at 245-557, 47 games behind the Minneapolis Millers who are the next worst. High draft picks have stocked the cupboards but the team needs patience waiting for them to develop. Second baseman George Love (.288,26,82) is the best of the group and already a three-year veteran with the big club. Ideally they would find a suitor for their other young star in Tony Nova who, like Love, really is only suited to play second base.

*** Fed Flag Major Accomplishment For Miners, But Fail To Erase 1901 ***

It has not been easy being a Pittsburgh Miners fan through the years. The Miners have won the World Championship Series just once in their history, tied with the Kings for the lowest total among the 16 original FABL franchises, and that was way back in 1901. No other professional team in any of the big four team sports has had such a lengthy streak without a title - heck, none of the other three sports leagues were even active the last time the Miners won a WCS.

In comparison to the WCS, the pennant drought has been a mere moment, but it still stretched back twenty-six years. While the Miners ultimately fell short once again in the WCS, they did erase the stigma of going the longest without a Fed flag -that distinction now passes on to the Washington Eagles who last won in 1946- with what only can be considered a very unexpected twenty-victory improvement over last year that resulted in the Miners first pennant since 1940.

Pittsburgh got off to a quick start, going 34-14 to start the season and with a 62-29 record at the all-star break their lead on Chicago and Boston was 12.5 games at the midpoint. They limped down the stretch, finishing the season 8-12 but still finished six games ahead of the Chicago Chiefs, who came in second. A September injury that prematurely ended the season of eventual Whitney Award winner Dixie Turner (.314,31,94) was a big factor and can be considered the latest setback to prolong that 65 year and counting WCS drought. Who knows how the Miners might have fared against the Los Angeles Stars in the series had Turner been available.

Pittsburgh seemed to succeed at every facet of the game during the regular season. The pitching staff was a mixture of experience in Jimmy Blair (15-8, 2.82), Bill Scott (15-10, 3.32) and Clarence Miller (13-5, 2.55) along with youthful exuberance provided by 22-year-old second year starter Jack Kotarski (16-8, 2.86) and 24-year-old Manny Espinosa (16-7, 3.27). Turner was without a doubt the heart of the Miners offense but the supporting cast was also strong with Earl Skains (.274,15,84), Gale Schmitt (.299,11,75) and Eddie Thomas (.288,10,84) leading the charge.

The Chicago Chiefs finished second on the strength of a 22-8 month of August that allowed them to creep to within shouting distance of a then slumping Miners team but ended up finishing six games back. Still, the 96 win season resulted in a .593 winning percentage - the best the Chiefs have seen since their dominant 1938 World Championship club. The future looks bright as they had the most productive offense in the Federal Association and aside from Charlie Barrell (.263,28,103) and Al Padgett (.257,21,83) none of the regulars in the Chicago lineup are over 28. Barrell, now 36, had a bounce back season in his second year in the Windy City after a decade in Los Angeles, and keyed a powerful heart of the batting order that also featured John Butts (.310,18,80), Bob Starr (.291,26,83) and Joe Siniscalchi (.290,25,111). The pitching, with young star Augie Hicks (16-11, 3.20) and veteran Vern Osborne (17-13, 3.40) was also solid.

The Washington Eagles have come close to ending a pennant drought that now reaches twenty years but have just not quite been able to get over the top despite having arguably the best player in the game in Tom Lorang (.304,33,100). It only feels like Lorang has been around forever as he just completed his seventh big league season but in truth he just turned 25 years of age two months ago. With George Whaley (.288,28,108), Howdy Oakes (.276,20,70) and Al Marino (.270,21,86) all in or approaching their prime there is still plenty of time for Washington to claim a flag. What the Eagles need is what it seems like they are always in a shortage of - quality pitching. There is some hope that Tom Arencibia (8-7, 3.02) can get back to the promise he displayed as a rookie before an arm injury cost him the entire 1964 season. Perhaps Jim Stewart (9-18, 3.89) was just a victim of bad luck as the run support certainly dried up for the 31-year-old who won 32 games over the previous two seasons. There is also hope that converted reliever Jack Kessler (18-6, 3.42) really is as good a starter as his 1966 record indicated.

Boston continues to be a middle of the pack team as the Minutemen ended up fourth with an 85-77 record. There is a lot to like about the club which features perhaps the best young pitcher in the game in Bill Dunlop (15-10, 2.55) as "The Tobacco Twister" won the Allen Award a season after collecting the Kellogg Award as top rookie. With Frank Kirouac (.259,34,85) being joined by two veterans with WCS experience in John Low (.275,14,53) and Joe Reed (.247,12,65) one can't help but feel that the Boston brass expected a better showing this season.

It looks like the St Louis Pioneers reign at the top of the Federal Association is officially over as the club that won three consecutive WCS titles from 1962-64 and finished second a year ago slipped to fifth place. The .506 winning percentage was the Pioneers worst showing since 1957. The pitching staff is still among the deepest in the Fed with Frenchy Mack (13-9, 2.53), Billy Hasson (10-15, 3.28), John Gibson (15-8, 3.20) and Steve Madden (9-10, 2.75) still leading the way but the offense has fallen on hard times. Bob Bell (.275,24,89) and Danny Davis (.251,19,81) continue to play key roles as does 38-year-old Jerry Smith (.280,17,51) but there are holes elsewhere in the lineup.

The defending WCS winning Philadelphia Keystones fell from a 100 win season to finishing at .500. Charlie Rushing (20-7, 2.59) was not the reason as the 31-year-old had another strong season on the mound but Jorge Arellano (11-16, 4.28) had a big drop off. Youngsters Jesse Walker (.280,27,72) and Bobby Phelps (.266,26,89) give hope for a quick turn around next season but age seems to have caught up with 36 year-old Buddy Miller (.208,2,17) as the 10-time all-star was primarily limited to pinch-hitting opportunities.

The seventh place New York Gothams continue to search for the winning elixir to bring them back to their glory days in the early to mid 1950s and there is hope they can build around a pair of young hurlers in 22-year-old Bunny Mullins (16-8, 2.95) and 25-year-old Harry Hayward (12-12, 3.61) but the offense is in desperate need of an upgrade. One bright spot there was 26-year-old outfielder Steve Burris (.265,24,77), a 1958 first round draft pick. Rookie Roy Johnson (.273,14,58) is a 23-year-old converted catcher who had a decent debut in the big leagues playing first base.

The Minneapolis Millers finished ahead of one of the non-expansion teams for the first time in franchise history. They have two exceptional homegrown talents in 22-year-old John Edwards (.254,11,63) and 24-year-old Frank Bradshaw (.274,7,72) but they need the system to continue to pump out young talent. Pitcher Jay Page (8-16, 3.93) a rule five acquisition from Cleveland, made a decent impression on a club desperate for starting pitching as a 24-year-old.

The dynasty days of the Detroit Dynamos are long gone as the team of the 1950s that won 6 pennants and 4 WCS in a seven year span is now starting to look like the awful Dynamos clubs of the mid-1930s. Virtually all the stars from the glory days are either gone or, as in the case of Roy Waggoner (.241,9,27), John Jackson (10-16, 4.05) and Bud Henderson (5-16, 5.17) fading fast. It will be a long rebuild although trades, such as those sending Jim Norris and Joe Reed away last year, have helped strengthen a farm system that produced this years Kellogg Award winner in shortstop Ben Baker (.292,13,77), who led the Fed with 37 doubles.

While the Stars shined bright in Los Angeles, the Federal Association Suns seem to be in a permanent eclipse as they finished last for the second year in a row after beginning their existence with three straight ninth place showings. Like the other three new clubs, years of drafting high in the opening round has allowed them to accumulate some prospect depth so they cling to the hope that enough of the high draft picks will pan out. Sam Forrester (.273,33,81) looks like one who has the 23-year-old outfielder has improved each of his three seasons in the big leagues.

MILESTONES AND OTHER NOTABLES
AWARDS

Toronto outfielder Sid Cullen (.316,36,114), who led the Continental Association in homeruns and finished second in the other two triple crown categories, was named the Whitney Award winner for the loop. Cullen garnered 17 of the 20 first place votes to claim his first Whitney. The other three went to Ed Moore (.291,31,92) of the Los Angeles Stars, who was last year's Whitney winner. Cincinnati Cannons pitcher Marco Middleton (20-10, 2.61) is just 23 years of age but he won his second Allen Award in the past three years. The CA Kellogg Award winner, presented to the top rookie, went to Dallas second baseman Slick Dunn (.315,12,56), who was an unanimous choice.

Dixie Turner (.314,31,94) of the pennant winning Pittsburgh Miners won his second consecutive Federal Association Whitney Award. Turner won the award despite missing the final two weeks of the season, and the WCS, with a hamstring injury.The Allen Award went to Boston's Bill Dunlop (15-10, 2.55), a year after Dunlop won the Kellogg Award. This time around the Kellogg went to Detroit shortstop Ben Baker (.292,13,77)

NO-HITTERS
Bob Reed (13-13, 3.40) became the first Minneapolis Millers hurler to toss a no-hitter, when he blanked the Philadelphia Keystones 4-0 on September 14.

200 WINS
Beau McClellan of Kansas City

2500 HITS
Paul Williams of Cleveland

2000 HITS
Tom Carr of the Chicago Cougars
Dallas Berry of Cincinnati

300 HOME RUNS
Hank Williams of Kansas City

1966 FABL ALL-STAR GAME
FEDS WIN THIRD STRAIGHT ALL-STAR GAME

Offense may down in baseball this year but that was certainly not the case in the All-Star Game as the Federal Association bats were in peak form, rapping out 19 hits as the Feds downed their counterparts from the Continental Association by an 11-5 score. It marked the third consecutive win for the Federal Association and its fourth victory in the past five years.

The Continental stars actually led 2-0 thanks to a first inning rbi single from Cleveland rookie Andy Babel and a second inning solo home run off the bat of Los Angeles Stars slugger Ed Moore. The Feds had just one him, a lead-off single from Philadelphia Keystones outfielder Harry Dellinger, through two innings but that changed quickly in the third. With Whitey Stewart of San Francisco on the mound, Federal Association bats exploded for 5 runs on 6 innings in the frame, with Earl Skains delivering a triple and John Edwards a double as part of the outburst.

The Continental stars tied the game at five with a big inning of their own in the sixth. Hank Williams and Lew Smith greeted Boston hurler John Swift with back to back singles to start the inning before Los Angeles Stars catcher Bob Griffin evened the contest with one swing of the bat, taking a Swift offering over the right field fence in Pittsburgh's Fitzpatrick Park.

It took little time for the Federal Association to answer as Bob Bell of St Louis led-off the seventh with a solo homerun to put the Federal Association ahead 6-5. Three singles and a Howdy Oakes double later and the Fed lead was 9-5. They would round out the scoring with a Jesse Walker 2-run homer in the ninth.

NOTES - Boston outfielder Frank Kirouac, who went 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs scored, was named the Most Valuable Player of the game. Kansas City outfielder Hank Williams was playing in his 9th all-star game. Only 17 players have been named to the all-star team more often. Williams has been named to the CA team every year since 1958 and, at just 33 years of age, may just have a few more all-star game appearances before his career ends.

1966 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES
STARS SHINE BRIGHT

It was a rematch of the 1923 World Championship Series - well, sort of- as the formerly New York and now Los Angeles Stars prepared to meet the Pittsburgh Miners. They were two organizations with a far different history. The Stars had won the WCS a record nine times- a mark they shared with the Detroit Dynamos- and had reached the WCS just two years ago. Pittsburgh, on the other hand, had won the WCS just once, way back in 1901, and were tied with the Kansas City Kings for the fewest WCS titles among the original 16 FABL clubs. The Miners entered with a 64 year series drought, the longest title-free stretch of any team in any of the major pro sports leagues and had not won a pennant in 25 years. They also held the worst series record in history, going to the WCS eight times but winning just one.

So clearly, no pressure on the current group of Pittsburgh Miners although to make matters worse, Pittsburgh would have to play the WCS without their best player, second baseman Dixie Turner, who would go one to be named Federal Association Whitney Award winner for the second year in a row. The 25-year-old had suffered a hamstring injury in mid-September ending his season while the Miners limped home with just 3 wins in their last 8 regular season games. The Stars on the other hand were healthy, on a 19-8 run since September 1, and were looking to be the first California based team to win a championship in a major league.

GAME ONE

The series opened at Bigsby Stadium in Los Angeles and the home side, led by catcher Bob Griffin's 4-hits and 2 rbi's jumped out to a 5-1 lead to chase Pittsburgh starter Jimmy Blair early. Floyd Warner, on the hill for the Stars, held the Miners in check until the 8th inning when he ran into big trouble allowing a lead-off double by Jack Abasi followed by singles from Gale Schmitt and Mike Whisman. Stars skipper Charley McCullough, the former big league infielder who had won a WCS title as a manager with Cleveland in 1957, quickly went to his bullpen. It wasn't pretty and reliever Paddy Williamson did let both Schmitt and Whisman score but when the dust settled the Stars still led, although only by a single run at 5-4. It held up as Williamson, aided by a doubleplay ball in the ninth inning earned the save and the Stars drew first blood with that 5-4 victory.

GAME TWO

Just as they had in the opener the Stars took an early lead in game two. This time it was doubles from Bill Bell and Lew Smith that keyed a 2-run second inning and put Los Angeles up 3-1. Pittsburgh would close the margin to just a single run but Paddy Williamson would pitch three shutout innings to earn his second save as the Stars scored an insurance run late and prevailed 4-2.

GAME THREE

Back home at Fitzpatrick Park the Miners got their first win of the series, downing Los Angeles 6-4 thanks to a 4-run outburst in the bottom of the third inning. The big blow was a two-run homer off the bat of John Moreland, a shortstop who missed the first half of the season with an injury and only hit two longballs during the regular season.

GAME FOUR

Pittsburgh evened the series with an 8-2 pounding of the vistors. Reid Barrell's bases-loaded three run double in the bottom of the 8th inning off Dewey Allcock was the key hit that put the game away.

GAME FIVE

The game one rematch between Floyd Warner and Jimmy Blair saw plenty of excited fans in Fitzpatrick Park, thinking perhaps a win today would put their heroes on the path to ending 65 years of WCS frustration. The mood turned bleak very quickly as Blair, just as he did in the series opener, got into big trouble. It was even earlier this time as the Stars plated 3 runs in the top of the first inning when Bobby Garrison smacked a 2-run triple. In Blair's defense a pair of errors right off the bat put the Miners behind the eight-ball. When the inning ended it was 3-0 and by the time Pittsburgh came to bat in the second inning they were trailing 6-0. Clyde Fisher, who made an error in the first to allow the lead-off man to reach, committed another miscue in the second to help set the stage for a three-run double from Garrison, who finished the game with 5 rbi's, tying a Continental Association post-season record.

The final score was 7-3 as Warner earned his second win of the series and Williamson closed it out for his third save.

GAME SIX

By this point you just knew, given their post-season history, that the Miners were going to lose. Even when Pittsburgh opened the scoring when game five goat Clyde Fisher scored on a ground out in the top of the third inning. Los Angeles answered when yet another Pittsburgh error set up a Lew Smith sacrifice fly. The Stars went ahead 2-1 on a Mel Johnson homerun to lead off the bottom of the fourth. Give Fisher some credit as he hit a solo shot of his own to tie things up once more at 2 in the top of the fifth but Johnson put LA ahead for good with an rbi single in the bottom of the fifth inning.

Any faint hopes of a Pittsburgh comeback disappeared when the Stars scored three times in the seventh with all runs plated on Bob Bell's two-out, bases loaded double and the game, and the series, ended with a 6-2 Los Angeles victory.

Bobby Garrison, who had the big 5-rbi effort in game five, was named series MVP after going 10-for-26 with a homer, a triple, four doubles and four runs scored in the series.

Next up a look at the Prospect Pipeline and then the 1966 recap from the gridiron.