1974 All Star Project: AL Bench

Continuing on with this project... here are the non-starting position players from the 1974 American League All Star Squad.

	Sal Bando. As you expect from a dynasty, the Oakland A's are well represented on the AL squad. Bando was the captain of the three time world champions. 1974 would be the final of his 4 career All Star selections. He was injured and did not play in the game.
	Dave Chalk. A former first round draft pick, 1974 was Dave Chalk's first full season in the majors. Looking at his stats, I have no idea how or why he made the AL All Star roster in both 1974 & 1975. In 1976 he became the last major leaguer to play a full season (at least 500 PA) and hit 0 home runs and steal 0 bases. He played third in the bottom of the eight and struck out in the top of ninth inning.
	Bobby Grich. This was Bobby's second of six total All Star game appearances. He also won four gold gloves at second of the Orioles. He replaced Rod Carew in the bottom of the third and delivered one of the four AL hits.
	George Hendrick. A member of Dick William's 1972 World Champion Oakland A's... Hendrick was appearing in his first of four career All Star games. He replaced Bobby Murcer in centerfield in the bottom of the fifth inning and singled to lead off the sixth inning.
	Ed Herrmann. 1974 was the only All Star game Ed Herrmann was ever selected for. He did not play.
	Al Kaline. Appearing in the final of his 18 career All Star games, Kaline would collect his 3000th hit and retire from the big leagues at the end of the season. He pinch hit for Gaylord Perry in the top of the fourth inning and fouled out to the catcher.
	John Mayberry. A member of both the 1973 and 1974 AL All Star teams. In 1973 he led the American League in on-base-percentage. He grounded out to first base as a pinch hitter.
	Don Money. This was the first midsummer classic appearance for Money. He would make the game three more times in the 1970s, starting at second base in the 1978 game in San Diego. He did not play.
	Darrell Porter. Like his teammate Don Money, this was the first All Star appearance for Porter. Like Money he would make three other games in his 17 year career. Also, like Money, he did not play.
	Frank Robinson. Frank made 14 different All Star rosters in the Hall of Fame career. 1974 would be his last as a player. He grounded into a fielders choice as a sixth inning pinch hitter.
	Cookie Rojas. Appearing in his fifth and final All Star game of his 16 year career. He holds the distinction as the first player born outside the United States to hit a home run for the AL in an All-Star Game in 1972. He did not play.
	Joe Rudi. A popular member to the powerful A's team, Rudi made three career All Star games, starting in the AL outfield in 1975. He replaced Jeff Burroughs in left and went hitless in two at bats.
	Jim Sundberg. This was the first of three All Star games for the six time gold glove winner. For some reason, not counting the injured Carlton Fisk, manager Dick Williams selected four different catchers for his '74 AL roster and only played one of them. Sundberg wasn't it. He did not play.
	Carl Yastrzemski. Yaz appeared in 19 different All Star games over the span of three different decades. He won the MVP of the game in 1970. In 1974 he replaced Dick Allen at first in the bottom of third inning. He collected a walk in the bottom of the eighth.

Happy Reggie Jackson Day

Born on this day in 1946... The Straw that stirs the drink.

"In the building I live in on Park Avenue there are ten people who could buy the Yankees, but none of them could hit the ball out of Yankee Stadium..."

DAHOF Top 100 -- #11 Jim Abbott

I'm going to post a fairytale today:

Once upon a time, in a far away land called Michigan, there was a little boy born to a lovely couple. Their new arrival was perfect to them in every way possible. However, sadly to the rest of the world he was somewhat less than perfect... because he arrived with an incomplete right arm.

Encouraged by his parents, this special young boy with an incomplete right arm loved sports, especially baseball. With the help of his father he learned how to throw and catch using a unique single hand technique. He practiced day and night throwing the ball against the garage until he wore out the door. As he grew, he developed into a strong and skilled athlete.

Overcoming taunts and stares while seeking no special accommodation, the boy with an incomplete right arm played with "normal" little league teams. First as an outfielder, then as a pitcher where his years of throwing a ball against that garage started to pay off. He tossed a no-hitter in his first start. His first season, he struck out at least 2 batters per inning. Soon he was the first person selected, not the last.

The boy with an incomplete right arm also played on his high school football team, not as a lineman where his missing hand would not be noticed. But as a successful and celebrated quarterback.

However it was baseball that the boy with an incomplete right arm loved. In high school he foiled all attempts to exploit his single handed method by fielding bunts without a trouble. He continued to strike people out and fire no-hitters.

Catching the eyes of big league baseball scouts, the boy with an incomplete right arm decides to decline early professional opportunities to attend college. While in college he faced and overcame the same taunts and challenges as he did in little league and high school. Soon he was honored as the best college baseball player in the land.

Before realizing his lifelong goal as a professional pitcher, the boy with an incomplete right arm was chosen to represent his country in the Olympic Games. He pitched his team to a gold medal.

Following his Olympic gold medal, this boy with an incomplete arm was selected in the first round of the big league draft. He continued to amaze skeptics after made his major league team without ever playing a minor league game.

This fairytale story closes during his big league fourth season. This boy with an incomplete arm pitches a big league no-hitter in the most famous stadium in the land. Now nobody remembers him as the boy with an incomplete right arm, but the man with the completed dream.

DAHOF Top 100 -- #31 Rod Carew

Rod Carew was born in a train in the Panama Canal Zone to Panamanian parents, who named him after the delivering doctor - Rodney Cline. He became one of the most prolific hitters of his generation. For me, he was my muse... after going hitless as a 10 year old, it wasn't until the next season, when I lowered the bat head in the batters box (imitating Rod Carew) that I finally broke thru and collected a hit in little league baseball.

Rod Carew bunted and slapped his way to 3,053 career hits. He used a variety of batting stances, sometimes changing in the middle of an at bat, to hit over .300 in 15 consecutive seasons with the Minnesota Twins and California Angels. He won the AL Batting Title seven times while achieving a .328 lifetime batting average. He was honored as American League Rookie of the Year in 1967 and won the league MVP Award in 1977. He was named to 18 straight All-Star teams, only missing the honor in his final, 1985 season.

Carew stole home 17 times in his career. He completed the feat 7 times in 1969, second to only Ty Cobb. His number 29 is retired by both the Minnesota Twins and the California Angels. In 1991, his first year of eligibility, he was elected into the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

In his Book Heart of the Order, Tom Boswell described his swing...

Thus Carew has invented a swing that incorporates almost every advantage that a contact hitter could want. He can wait until the last instant to commit his wristy, inside out swing. He's snake quick because he uses little body movement and relies on reflexes, not muscle. His bunting and unique knack for hitting smashes past a drawn-in left side complement each other.

DAHOF Top 100 -- #38 Chris Knapp

How can a long forgotten "replacement level" righthander make your Top 100 list?

Easy. Chris Knapp was from my hometown. He was the older brother of one of my Little & Babe Ruth League teammates. I rode the school bus and talked baseball with his brother for many years. I got his autograph before the game on our one trip to Comiskey Park in 1977, simply because I was bold (and loud) enough to yell his name to tell him we were from St. Joe.

Chris Knapp was the White Sox first round draft pick in 1975 out of Central Michigan University. He didn't spend much time in the minors, because he got two September appearances in with Chuck Tanner's 1975 Sox. In his major league debut he got to pitch the ninth inning of a Royals 7-0 whitewash at Comiskey on September 4th. He walked Freddie Patek to begin his big league career and struck out John Mayberry.

He started 1976 in the minors, but got called up for seven June/July appearances. He recorded his first major league win with a complete game on July 21st against the Tigers. He spent most of the memorable 1977 season in the White Sox rotation, winning 12 games, including 4 complete games. On April 24th, in Oakland, he surrendered the 349th home run of Dick Allen's career. I remember discussing it at length with his brother the next morning on the bus going to school.

After the 1977 season he was packaged up with Brian Downing and sent to the California Angels for 45 games of Bobby Bonds. His best season was with the 1978 California Angels, he won 14 games including a one-hit one-run complete game win on September 3rd in Toronto. The only thing that stood between Knapp and a no-hitter was Willie Horton 287th career home run.

He started and took the loss in Game 4 of the 1979 ALCS against the Baltimore Orioles, he only lasted 2.1 innings. A starter for most of his career, Chris Knapp had one career save in the majors. It came on May 28, 1980 against the Texas Rangers. He never actually got an out in the game. He gave up a run scoring single to Jim Sundberg and then Billy Sample was caught stealing third base to end the game. The Angels won, 7-6.

When his major league career ended at age 27 in 1980 his win loss record was 36-32.

Happy Birthday Jim Abbott

Happy 44th birthday to former major league pitcher Jim Abbott.

For those of you that do not know Jim's story: he was born without a right hand. He refused to let this "handicap" define him. He was a fantastic athlete starring in both football (as a QB) and baseball growing up in Flint, Michigan. He was drafted by the Blue Jays out of high school, but chose not to sign with them - instead going to the University of Michigan. At Michigan he was awarded the Golden Spikes Award in 1987, which is the college baseball equivalent to the Heisman Trophy. He also pitched the 1988 USA Olympic baseball team to a gold medal and was a first round draft pick (8th overall) of the California Angels. He made the the Angels big league roster during his first spring training and  went on to have a solid major league career, highlighted by his 1993 no-hitter in Yankee Stadium as a member of the New York Yankees.

I went to school with Jim Abbott. I can tell you, there was no more humble and genuine person on campus than him. If you ever get a chance to hear him speak (he is a motivational speaker) I highly recommend you do so. Happy Birthday Jimbo!

On this day.... Reggie Jackson hits #500

September 17th, 1984. Exactly seventeen years after his first major league home run, California Angels designated hitter Reggie Jackson blasts Bud Black's first pitch (a fastball) of the seventh inning into the right field seats for his 500th career home run. This will be the only run the Angels would score in the Royals' 10-1 victory.

At the time, Reggie was the only 13th major leaguer to join the 500 Home Run club. He would hit another 63 round-trippers before retiring after the 1987 season.

Reggie is elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.

Dick Williams 1929-2011

Baseball lost one of it's all-time greats yesterday. Former player and Hall of Fame manager Dick Williams died in Las Vegas from an apparent brain aneurysm. He was 82 years old.

As a player, Dick Williams was good enough to play in over 1000 games in 13 seasons at the major league level. He made three pinch hitting appearances in the 1953 World Series as a member of the Brooklyn Dodgers. In 1964 he finished his playing career as a member of the Boston Red Sox with a .260 career batting average.

It was as a manager that he became a Hall of Famer. Immediately after retiring as a player, he spent three seasons managing in the Red Sox farm system. In 1967, prior to the start of the season Williams was named the new manager in Boston. The season before taking over the team finished ninth and the franchise had not won a pennant in 21 years. His first season he led the "Impossible Dream" Red Sox to the World Series, where they lost the Cardinals in seven games. Under his command, all-star Carl Yastrzemski was stripped of the title "Captain" because Williams didn't want anyone to question who was in charge. Refreshed and focused after having the heavy yolk of peer leadership removed, Yaz went on to win the last triple crown in baseball history.

In 1972 & 1973 he managed the Oakland A's to the first two of what would be three straight World Championships. These powerful and colorful A's teams included superstars like Reggie Jackson, Catfish Hunter, Rollie Fingers, Joe Rudi, Vida Blue, Ken Holtzman, Sal Bando and Bert Campaneris. He shocked his team and the baseball world after he announced he was quitting the Oakland dynasty immediately following the 1973 World Series. The reason: Williams had had enough of owner Charlie Finely and was angry at the embarrassing attempt to remove second baseman Mike Andrews from the roster with a phantom injury after Andrews had made a pair of errors earlier in the series. The A's went on to win a third straight ring under Alvin Dark in 1974.

George Steinbrenner actually named him as the manager of the 1973 Yankees, but it never happened. Feeling jilted after giving Williams his "best wishes", Charlie Finley filed a suit in federal court to prevent Williams from going to New York. His claim was Williams was still under contract with the Athletics. Finley apparently demanded two Yankee prospects in exchange. The Yankees balked and hired Bill Virdon instead. Finley eventually relented and Williams became manager of the Angels in the middle of the 1974 season and stayed in Anaheim for 3 seasons.

Dick Williams went on to manage the Montreal Expos, where he was unexpectedly fired in the middle of 1981 season. That '81 Expos team went on to deliver the only playoff appearance in franchise history. He also managed the San Diego Padres, where he led the Padres to the 1984 National League pennant and a trip to the World Series against the Detroit Tigers. He finished his managerial career with three seasons in Seattle. The 78 wins his 1987 Mariners delivered was the most in the first 14 seasons of the franchise. In 1993, George Steinbrenner was finally able to hire Dick Williams, this time an adviser and scout. He remained with the Yankees for 10 years and undoubtedly had a hand in building the Yankees teams that won three straight World Series titles from 1998-2000.

In his 21 years as a major league manager Williams finished with a .520 winning percentage, four pennants, and two World Series Championships. He is one of two managers in baseball history to lead three different teams to World Series appearances. Dick Williams was inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame by Veteran's Committee as Manager in 2008. His Hall of Fame plaque shows him wearing an A's cap.

In addition to being a great manager, it is my opinion that Dick Williams was blessed to wear some of the most interesting and memorable (and most colorful) uniforms in baseball history.

Minor Stars: Kendrys Morales

I learned something amazing about Morales this week as I was looking up information on him. He escaped from Cuba on a raft in June 2004, it was his 12th attempt at escape. 11 failed attempts and he still had enough passion for one more. Incredible. Before you ask... Yes, his first name is correct.

Also, that is Astros backup catcher Humberto Quintero blocking the plate.

He was out.