Curt Simmons Greatest Game

With the news Tuesday, December 13 that Curt Simmons, the last surviving member of the 1950 Philadelphia Phillies Whiz Kids, had died at 93, tributes began pouring in from all over. Excellent obituaries in the Inquirer and the New York Times covered the highlights.

For Phillies fans those highlights of Simmons remarkable pitching career are familiar. A high school phenom out of tiny Egypt, PA near Allentown, Simmons signed with the Phillies for the largest bonus ever given up to that time: $65,000. With very little minor league experience, Simmons struggled to find his bearings in his first two seasons with the Phillies. He put it all together in 1950, however, and with his righthanded counterpart, Robin Roberts, pitched the upstart Phillies to the pennant. He could not pitch in the World Series, however, because he was called up to his National Guard Unit, the first baseball player called up due to the Korean War. 

Returning to the Phillies after his military duty, Simmons had an up and down career featuring a blazing fastball and some great pitching, marred by frequent arm miseries and a 1953 encounter with a lawn mower that removed part of his big toe. After 13 years with the Phillies, he was released and caught on with the St. Louis Cardinals, where he reinvented himself as a crafty, soft-tossing lefty who helped pitch the Cards to the 1964 pennant. He finally got to pitch in the World Serie that Year and acquitted himself very well.

As I said, these facts about Simmons career are well-known and well-detailed elsewhere. In my tribute to Curt, I would like to focus on one game - the greatest game he ever pitched. The game was played on May 16, 1953, at County Stadium in Milwaukee against the Braves. That day Curt pitched a one-hit shutout, to win 3-0 and deposit the Phillies, however temporarily, into sole possession of first place in the National League.

Nineteen-fifty-three was the first year for the Braves in Milwaukee, who moved there after 50 years in Boston. Despite threatening skies, an enthusiastic crowd of 23,578 was on hand for the Saturday afternoon tilt. The Phillies and Braves were tied for first place a month into the season. Simmons mound opponent was rookie lefty Don Liddle. The Milwaukee lineup featured another rookie, Bill Bruton, second year star Eddie Mathews, as well as veteran sluggers Sid Gordon and Joe Adcock. The Phillies fielded a team of mostly Whiz Kid holdovers like Richie Ashburn, Del Ennis, Granny Hamner, Willie Jones, and Simmons battery-mate, Stan Lopata.

After the Phillies went down quietly in the first, Bruton, leading off for the Braves, whacked Simmons first pitch for a clean ground single to centerfield. Bruton would be the only baserunner Curt would allow. He retired the next 27 batters in order. He struck out ten. He walked no one. After Bruton's single, he allowed only two other hard-hit balls. Braves shortstop, Johnny Logan, hit a line drive that Jones snagged at third and, in the ninth, the Phillies third sacker made another fine play to flag down catcher Del Crandall's ground smash. 

The Phillies pushed across a run in the second. With one out, first baseman Earl Torgeson singled and stole second base. Jones knocked him in with a line single to left. The Phils doubled their lead in the third when Ashburn singled to center and moved to third base when Bruton drop-kicked the ball into left. Left-fielder Mel Clark scored Ashburn with a double off the right-field wall. Another Clark double, this time off reliever Lew Burdette led to the Phillies final run in the eighth. Clark scored when Del Ennis followed with a single over shortstop Logan's head.

Simmons ended the game with a flair striking out pinch-hitter Jim Pendleton and then whiffing his nemesis Bruton.

After the game, the Braves were effusive in their praise of Simmons. "Simmons was unhittable," said Braves manager Charley Grimm. "He ranks with the great left-handers of all-time. His fastball was hopping and jumping onto the handles of our bats." Slugger Sid Gordon said, "All I did was step to the plate and hope I would get a piece of the ball." Eddie Mathews was left shaking his head. "I'm glad there is only one Simmons in the league, and we don't have to face him for a while."

Simmons was off to a great start in '53 and looked to be headed for a big season, but three weeks after this dominant performance, he ran that lawnmower over his foot and missed a month. While Curt always said that the injury did not affect his pitching, before the injury he was 7-3, with a 2.60 ERA. Afterwards, he was 9-10, 3.71.

RIP Curt. It was always a pleasure to watch you pitch, with that leg waggle and sling shot action that drove batters crazy for 20 years in the big leagues.

 

Milt Stock: Hero of Two Phillies Pennant Winning Teams

Milt Stock

On the final day of the 1950 season, the Phillies were battling the Brooklyn Dodgers at Ebbetts Field in Brooklyn with the National League Pennant on the line.  The Phillies, who had had a 7.5 game lead over the Boston Braves on September 17, had seen that lead dwindle to just one game over the surging Dodgers. A Phillies win meant they captured their first pennant in 35 years. A loss meant a one game playoff with the Dodgers the next day. Phillies ace Robin Roberts faced off against Dodger ace Don Newcombe. The game entered the bottom of the ninth tied at 1-1. Roberts walked Dodger leadoff hitter, Cal Abrams to start the inning. Pee Wee Reese singled to left moving Abrams to second. Next, Duke Snider lined a single to centerfield. The Phils' Richie Ashburn charged the ball, Abrams took off for third and as he approached third, saw third base coach Milt Stock waving him home, Abrams turned, and sped home as Ashburn launched a throw to catcher Stan Lopata. Ashburn's throw was strong and true and Abrams was out by 15 feet. Roberts then worked out of the inning.

The Phillies won the game in the tenth on a Dick Sisler three-run homerun followed by a shutout inning by Roberts. Coach Stock came under considerable criticism for sending Abrams home with no one out and Jackie Robinson due up. Stock defended his decision, “We have been scoring on plays like that all season against the Phillies because Ashburn is not a great thrower. Furthermore, Reese was coming around fast, and if I had held up Abrams there might have been a jam at third base.” Abrams said, "I think he should have held me at third." Dodger manager Burt Shotten came to Stock's defense, "Stock played it right. That's the sort of set up when you send in the big run." Brooklyn fans and the Dodgers ownership were not so forgiving. General Manager Branch Rickey, Shotten, and Stock were all fired at the end of the season.

While most longtime Phillies fans likely know that story, what many fans might not know is that Milt Stock was also highly instrumental in the Phillies winning their first ever National League pennant in 1915. Stock was a 21-year-old utility player for that Phillies team, when he was suddenly thrust into the starting lineup during the team's stretch run to the pennant. The Phillies' regular third baseman and leadoff hitter, Bobby Byrne, broke his finger fielding a throw during the first game of a doubleheader on August 23. He was replaced by Stock, who up to that time had had only seven starts all season and was hitting just .200. 

Stock proved to be a more than capable replacement. His hitting improved with regular play and his defensive play was praised by all who saw him. "Milton Stock looks great at third base," gushed the Philadelphia Public Ledger. "While he may not be as strong on defense as Byrne, he is a much better hitter and a faster and better man on the bases." Buck Herzog, manager of the Cincinnati Reds, said, "He is not only a good hitter and a fine baserunner, but he has the best pair of hands I ever saw for a third baseman." Stock also possessed a strong arm, which allowed him to play deep and cut off balls in the hole and over the bag. 

In the Sporting Life* preview of the World Series, editor Francis Richter had this to say of Stock:

J. Milton Stock is in large measure responsible for the great finish made by the champions. When Bobby Byrne was injured Manager Moran sent Stock to third base. The team had lost three straight games to Brooklyn, and unless Stock filled the gap in the infield, it was almost certain the team would slump. Stock filled the bill so well, that Moran intends to make him the regular third baseman.

In his first game as a regular, Stock had two hits, an RBI and two runs scored in a 13-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Two days later he had two hits, two walks, two runs scored, and an RBI as the Phillies defeated Cincinnati, 8-0. On September 25 in Chicago, Stock went 3 for 6 including his only homerun of the season. His twelfth inning single helped the Phillies prevail over the Cubs, 5-4. Stock had a four-hit game on October 1, scoring two runs as the Phillies beat the Boston Braves, 9-4. 

Overall, the Phillies went 31-12 in the final 43 games. all of which Stock started in place of Byrne. Byrne recovered but never got his starting position back. Stock hit .260 for the season. In the World Series he scored the winning run in Game 1, the only Series game the Phillies won. He had a poor series at the plate, however, hitting just .118.

Stock was the Phillies starting third baseman for four seasons before being traded to the St. Louis Cardinals where he enjoyed five very good seasons. He wrapped up his career with Brooklyn in 1926 and then became a coach, which set up his second date with Phillies destiny in 1950.

If you would like to read more about Milt Stock's career, you can find his SABR biography here. 

*Sporting Life, established in 1883, and published in Philadelphia by Francis Richter from their offices at 54 S. 3rd Street, was the premiere national paper chronicling baseball. It had stiff competition from The Sporting News, which was published in St. Louis. Sporting Life ceased publication in 1917 as a result of the first world war.

Raffo to the Rescue: Phillies' Rookie Reliever Has a Moment in the Sun

The 1969 Phillies were a bad team. They lost 99 games while burdened with a superstar first-baseman who wanted to be traded, an anemic offense, a weak pitching staff, and a manager who would be fired in August.  Dick Allen was the super-star, of course, and his efforts to convince the team to trade him included writing messages to the fans in the dirt around first base. Allen was still a great player, however, hitting .288 with 32 homeruns. Manager Bob Skinner tried, but could not manage Allen or get good performances from other players for the most part, and was replaced by third base coach George Myatt on August 6. Despite all this turmoil and losing, this hapless group managed to engineer a nine-game winning streak in late June and early July.

Win number nine of that streak was a career highlight for the Phillies 27-year-old rookie right-hander Al Raffo. Raffo, who was signed by then Phillies scout Paul Owens out of a Los Angeles, California winter league for $1,500, toiled seven years in the Phillies farm system, making stops at Class D Miami, Class C Bakersfield, Class A Magic Valley and Eugene, Class AA Chattanooga, Macon, and Reading, and Class AAA San Diego and Eugene, before finally being called up to the Phillies on April 26, 1969. He replaced an injured Chris Short on the Phillies roster. The 6'5" Raffo featured a fastball that moved "like a slider" and a slow breaking ball that he admitted "was often a hanging curve." Raffo made his major league debut on April 29, allowing four hits and one run in three innings of work in a game the Phillies lost 10-0. 

Raffo pitched well in his role as middle reliever and had made seventeen appearances with an 0-2 record and a 2.82 ERA through June. On July 2, the Phillies were riding an eight-game road winning streak, the longest such streak in Phillies history. The Phils were in Pittsburgh to face the Pirates. Rookie Billy Champion started for the Phillies and did not make it out of the bottom of the first. He allowed three walks, two hits, and two runs, and left with the bases loaded and two outs. Raffo came on in relief and ended the inning by getting Freddy Patek to ground into a force out. 

In the top of the second, the Phillies rallied to take the lead off their former teammate, Jim Bunning.  Raffo was right in the middle of the rally. Rick Joseph led off with a double and Larry Hisle followed with a triple. Catcher Mike Ryan walked, and Ron Stone doubled, scoring Hisle and sending Ryan to third. Terry Harmon struck out, but Raffo, who had been a slugging third baseman in high school, scorched a line drive off the glove of first-baseman Willie Stargell and down the right field line. Ryan scored easily and Stone just beat Stargell's throw to the plate. Alas, catcher Manny Sanguillan recovered to throw Raffo out trying to move up to second. The Phillies now led, 4-2.

Raffo worked out of a second and third one out jam in the second inning and then set the Pirates down quietly in the next two innings. In the fifth, he allowed an unearned run, when catcher Ryan made an errant throw in an attempt to pick off Richie Hebner. Meanwhile, Raffo helped the Phillies extend their lead in the sixth, laying down a suicide squeeze bunt to score Ryan from third. Raffo tired in the seventh, allowing his first earned run of the game on a Sanguillan double and Carl Taylor single. John Boozer replaced Raffo on the mound and the Phillies eventually won the game 14-4, scoring seven runs in their last two at bats. 

Raffo's pitching line for the game: 6 IP, 8 H, 2 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. The victory would prove to be Raffo's only major league win. His second inning single would prove to be his only major league hit. His three RBIs would prove to be his only major league RBIs. Raffo appeared in a total of 45 games for the Phillies that year. He was very effective, until he experienced a "dead arm" in August and his ERA ballooned from 2.61 to 4.11. He finished the season 1-3 with one save.

Raffo did not make the Phillies team out of spring training in 1970. He pitched two more years in the Phillies minor league system before retiring from baseball at age 30. Raffo got a degree in Spanish and began a career as a teacher and baseball coach in Tennessee. Teams he coached won multiple district championships. Raffo was named district coach of the year 10 times and regional coach of the year five times. Raffo's son, Greg, played three years in the Detroit Tigers minor league system.  In 2001, the Marion High School baseball field was renamed Raffo Field. 

You can read a full biography of Al Raffo written by Brian Englehardt here.

H/T to @PhilliesBell for reminding me the Raffo played for the Phillies.

Before the Phanatic: The Story of the Phillies First World Series Mascot, Raoul Naughton

Phillies' Mascot Raoul Naughton, 1915

One of the great pleasures of watching the Phillies run to the World Series this year, was the national exposure the television coverage provided the Phillie Phanatic. Fox Sports announcer and former Phanatic target, retired Atlanta Braves pitcher, John Smoltz was over the moon in his praise of the Phanatic, calling him the best and funniest of all the team mascots. Of course, in Philadelphia we have known this for a long time, but it is always great to see a local treasure get deserved praise on a national level. 

What even the most diehard Phillies fan may not know is that the very first Phillies World Series team, the 1915 bunch, managed by Pat Moran and led by Grover Cleveland (Pete) Alexander, also had a team mascot. He was a 17-year-old Philadelphia native with the exotic name of Raoul Naughton.

Young Mr. Naughton was afflicted with kyphosis, a curvature of the spine that is commonly known as hunchback. Naughton's condition may have been caused by a birth defect or by Scheuerman's disease which causes an abnormal curvature during a child's growth spurt. Whatever the cause, Raoul's condition could not be corrected by any then available medical procedures. 

Raoul was a huge baseball fan who liked to hang around the Phillies home park, The Baker Bowl at Broad Street and Lehigh Avenue, when the Phillies were in town. One day in August of 1914, he noticed that the Phillies then mascot, Eddie Miller, was not around. While Naughton didn't know it, Miller had died. Hanging out by the fence surrounding the field, Naughton asked Phillies outfielder, Beals Becker, about it. Naughton told Philadelphia Evening Standard reporter M'Liss, "And I say, what about this mascot business. How can you ever expect to win a World Series when you haven't got a mascot?" Becker said he didn't know and promised to ask manager Moran about it. Becker, who Naughton described as "a mighty fine chap", kept his word and after Moran met with Raoul, he hired him to be the team's mascot.

The Evening Standard reporter speculated that Naughton may have gotten the job because of his physical disability, but it may also have been because he was in the right place at the right time. The job involved the duties we would nowadays attribute to a bat boy, retrieving bats from the field and chasing down errant balls and the like. Naughton received no pay for the job, but the players grew so fond of Naughton, that they chipped in at the end of each month to make sure he took home a substantial sum. Naughton said, "Of course, if I had the money and they would take it, I would pay to be the mascot of a team like the Phillies."

When the Phillies broke out of the gate in 1915 with a 12-3 record, Raoul Naughton got some of the credit for bringing the team good fortune. The Phillies rode the good luck of what reporters began to call "Moran's Lucky Piece" to the National League Pennant with a 90-62 record, seven games ahead of the Boston Braves. The Phillies earned the right to face the powerhouse of the American League, the Boston Red Sox, who had compiled a 101-50 record. With the "Great Alexander" on the mound, the Phillies beat Boston ace Ernie Shore, 3-1 in Game 1 played in Philadelphia.

The sight of "Raoul, the Real Rooter", as the Evening Standard dubbed him, retrieving bats and balls on the field during that game inspired one attendee, the poet and baseball fan, Berton Brayel, to pen this ode to Mr. Naughton and the Phillies team.

You won't find Raoul Naughton on the scorecard any place.
He's never sent a homer soaring proudly into space,
He's never scooped a grounder and he's never caught a fly
As it hurtled swiftly earthward from a clear and azure sky.
He's never in the coaching box to yammer and to howl -
In fact, that young Raoul Naughton ain't a player-guy at all.
But that gentle Raoul Naughton if you take him, by and large,
Has the fortunes of the Phillies almost wholly in his charge.
He's the little hump backed mascot of the Quaker City team
And he surely "put it over" with a bit of vim and steam.
For in this initial contest, he was on the job for fair - 
When it comes to lucky mascots, Raoul certainly was there.
As he scares away the jinxes with a horseshoe in each hand.

Brayel goes on for several more doggerel verses to expand on his theory that the Phillies were lucky to win the game. Indeed, they probably were. The Phillies scored their three runs on just five hits, four of which were infield hits or bloopers, while the Red Sox banged out eight hits on the mighty Alexander, who managed to hold them off despite not having his best stuff. 

Brayel's poem, written for the United Press, was published in newspapers from Pittston to Pomona and gave the mascot Raoul Naughton his fifteen minutes of fame. Alas, the luck did not last as the Phillies dropped the next four games to the Bosox, in mostly low scoring affairs all decided by just one run. The Phillies would not return to the World Series for 35 years and would not win another World Series game until 1980.

After his mascot days were over, Naughton had a successful career in the restaurant business. For 15 years, he managed the old Horn & Hardart Restaurant at 1601 Chestnut Street. Keeping his hand in the game he loved, he also managed the Horn & Hardart Baking Company baseball team for a number of years. He married and, with his wife Margaret, raised his three children, Raoul, Jr., Harry, and Dian, at his home on Syndenham Street in the Logan section of Philadelphia. Raoul Naughton died of a heart attack in 1941 at the age of 44.

Phillies Best Trade Deadline Deals

Cliff Lee

As I write this blog entry, I bask in the glow of the Phillies clinching their first post season appearance in 11 years. Some of the credit for where the Phillies find themselves can be laid at the feet of General Manager Dave Dombrowski who pulled off several trade deadline deals that helped the Phillies finish strong enough to get the last wild card spot. Pitchers Noah Syndegaard and David Robertson, centerfielder Brandon Marsh and utility infielder Edmundo Sosa all arrived via deadline deals. While the Phillies gave up some players of value (catcher Logan O'Hoppe, pitcher Ben Brown, forever prospect Mickey Moniak), they gave up none of their top pitching prospects and the trades filled glaring needs and provided a boost to the team. The Marsh trade may prove to be one of long-term value, as he looks poised to be the solution to the Phillies long-standing centerfield woes for several years to come.

Despite the Phillies reputation for making bad trades, the team has actually made a number of deadline deals that were difference makers for the team. Here are a few.

2009: Cliff Lee and Ben Francisco for Carlos Carrasco, Lou Marson, Jason Donald, and Jason Knapp

Lee was good down the stretch for the defending World Series Champions and absolutely incredible in the post season, going 4-0 in the playoffs and winning two games in the World Series, which included his iconic nonchalant catch of a popup. Francisco was a useful extra outfielder.

Carrasco has had a good major league career. He currently pitches for the Mets, but it took him a long time to become a consistent winner. Marson, Donald, and Knapp disappeared quickly. Side note: I thought Lou Marson was going to be a great catcher for the Phillies. I got to watch him in spring training and the ball came off his bat with a crack that was different from the other players down there. This is why I have never gotten a job as a player evaluator.

1989: Lenny Dykstra and Roger McDowell for Juan Samuel

Trading away fan favorite Juan Samuel to the New York Mets did not endear General Manager Lee Thomas with Phillies fans, but Dykstra became one of the keys that led the Phillies back to the top in 1993, with his inspired play in the leadoff spot. McDowell pitched well for the Phillies in the two years he was here. Samuel struggled in New York and was traded away after only one season.

2008: Joe Blanton for Matthew Spencer, Adrian Cardenas, and Josh Outman

Blanton may be best remembered for his World Series home run in fourth game of the 2008 World Series, but he was a very effective pitcher for the Phillies in both 2008 and 2009. Less effective in his final 2 1/2 seasons with the club, Blanton was, nonetheless, 34-25 in his time with the Phillies, with two post season victories. Cardenas and Outman had marginal major league careers. 

2008: Matt Stairs for Fabio Castro

Matt Stairs, central casting for pinch hitter/designated hitter, wrote his name into the hearts of every Phillies fan with his playoff blast off Jonathan Broxton of the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 of the 2008 NLDS. The home run, which Joe Buck said was "launched into the night" at Dodger Stadium was a majestic Ruthian blast that no Phillies fan will ever forget. The homer provided the margin of victory for the game and set the stage for the Phillies to take the series 4-games-to-1 at home two nights later. 

2008: Scott Eyre for Brian Schlitter

When 36-year-old Scott Eyre came over from the Cubs in an August 2008 deal with the Chicago Cubs, the deal didn't make much of ripple in the news, but Eyre proved to be a very valuable "LOOGY" (left-handed one out guy) for the future World Champions. Eyre went 3-0 for the 2008 Phillies with a 1.86 ERA in 19 games and just 14.1 innings pitched. Eyre was great for the 2009 NL pennant winners as well, compiling a 1.50 ERA in 42 appearances. Eyre worked in 12 post season games for the Phillies allowing just two earned runs in 7 1/3 innings. For his efforts he has been enshrined forever in The Relief Room. 

As we go into the playoffs in 2022, Syndegaard seems likely to be relegated to long relief, Sosa is injured, and Robertson has been struggling with control. Marsh seems likely to be a key player with his centerfield defense, speed, and better than advertised hitting. Just how good the 2022 deadline deals turn out to be is yet to be determined, but it already seems they helped the Phillies get this far.

A Plea for the Return of the Complete Game

Ferguson Jenkins               Steve Carlton

This article first appeared in Here's the Pitch, the newsletter of the Internet Baseball Writers Association of America (IBWAA).

Since 1900, 34 pitchers have thrown 250 or more complete games in their Major League careers. The leader, Walter Johnson, completed 531 games between 1907 and 1927. Complete games were, of course, much more common in the early days of baseball. Only seven pitchers who started the majority of their games during or after the 1950 season appear on this list: Warren Spahn (382), Robin Roberts (305), Gaylord Perry (303), Early Wynn (289), Ferguson Jenkins (267), Bob Gibson (255), and Steve Carlton (254). Carlton, the youngest of this bunch, threw his last complete game in 1987. Since the year 2000, Hall of Famer Roy Halladay leads all pitchers with 65 complete games. Livan Hernandez is second with 39. Likely Hall of Famer Zach Greinke, who was a rookie in 2004, has just 17.

As a baseball loving kid growing up in the 1950s, I was a huge fan of the complete game. I would pour over the backs of my baseball cards looking for that CG column or a note in the blurb like, “Last year Robin led all of baseball with 33 complete games.” That “Robin”, of course, would be Robin Roberts, the Hall of Fame Phillies pitcher who accomplished that feat in 1953. From July of 1952 to June of 1953 Roberts threw 28 consecutive complete games. In those days management valued pitchers who completed what they started. Salaries were low, pitching staffs were smaller, and pitchers were expected to complete what they started.

Under baseball’s indentured servitude rules at the time, contracts were signed year-to-year. With no long-term contracts, front offices tended not to think long term. No matter really that after six straight seasons of tossing 300+ innings, Roberts lost the edge on his fastball. The object was to get the most out of your “horse” pitchers as you could and then move on. Some pitchers, like Warren Spahn, adapted well as they aged, others like Roberts struggled.

Of course, no one needs to know these statistics to know that baseball no longer values the complete game. The game has become increasingly specialized, with set-up men, closers, and even relief pitchers as “openers” for ball games over the past 40+ years. The death of the complete game is completely understandable. The object of the game of baseball is to win the game. If a team has a better chance to win the game throwing a starter for six innings and following with three relief pitchers firing 97+ mph bullets, that is the way they are going to go.

Draftee signing bonuses and long-term contracts also play a role. When you have invested a few million dollars in a young arm, you want to protect your investment. Young pitchers are kept on strict pitch counts as they progress through the minors and when and if they do get to the major leagues, the instructions are to go as hard as you can for as long as you can and then we’ll bring in the specialists. Five innings? No problem. Six innings? A quality start. Seven innings? A Hall of Famer.

I get it, but still I wonder if something more than just nostalgia value is lost when we devalue the complete game. Back when pitchers were expected to pitch complete games, they were, out of necessity, forced to learn a wide variety of pitches. Pitchers wanted to give the hitters a different “look” when facing them for the third or fourth time in a game. Pitchers like Spahn, his teammate Lew Burdette, and others developed a broad repertoire of curveballs, sliders, change ups and screwballs (and in Burdette's case a spitball) to keep the hitters off balance and extend their effectiveness on the mound beyond the sixth inning.

Major League hitters get to the Major Leagues because they can hit a fastball. Eventually, I believe they will adapt to the 100 mile an hour fastball, just as they adapted to the 95 mile an hour fastball just a few years ago. The key to getting batters out consistently is keeping them off balance. All the great flamethrowers from Christy Mathewson to Sandy Koufax to Nolan Ryan have needed more than just the fastball and each developed devastating breaking pitches. If today’s pitchers are forced to go longer in games, they are going to be required to develop a more complete repertoire of pitches and ultimately, I think the game will be better for it.

In fact, I think it is already happening. Probably the most talked about pitch in the last two years has been the cutter. The cutter, a sort of half fastball, half slider, is meant to upset the batter’s timing enough to keep the ball of the barrel of the bat. It is more of a weak contact pitch than a strikeout pitch. Another slight change off the fastball that is occurring more and more in pitcher’s repertoire is an old pitch in new clothing – the sinker. A sinker used to be a pitch for pitchers who didn’t have quite enough on their fastball, so they got movement on the ball by throwing a two-seam fastball that sunk down on the strike zone. Now hard throwers like Miami’s Sandy Alcantara have added the power sinker to their arsenal. Alcantara throws his about 96-97 mph, compared to his 98-100 fastball. The Phillies Zach Wheeler is another elite pitcher who has gone to the power sinker. Even the hardest throwing starting pitchers are recognizing that pure gas is not the only answer.

Alcantara is the poster boy for my argument for having pitchers go deeper into games and for putting the complete game back in play. He leads the major leagues in innings pitched and complete games this year. And while his complete game total of four is modest by 1950s standards, his workload has allowed him to refine an incredibly balanced pitch repertoire. Alcantara throws each of his pitches, four-seam fastball, sinker, slider, and changeup, about 25% of the time. Both Alcantara’s power and his change of speeds keep hitters off balance and have made him the premiere pitcher in the National League this year.

I would not argue that pitchers should pile up 300+ innings a year as they did in the old days. The five-man rotation, with the occasional sixth starter, seems a smart way to go, limiting the top pitchers to 30 starts and 225 or so innings seems about right. But expecting the very best pitchers to stay on the mound, attempting to finish the task they started every time out seems to me to be an unqualified good. The best pitchers get better, and the fans can look forward to discussions about their favorite pitchers throwing those two-hitters, or working out of a late inning jam, or pitching a nine-inning shutout.

The complete game is deeply rooted in the popular lore of baseball. It has had its own column in baseball statistical charts since the beginnings of the game. Time for it to make a comeback.

 

Two Guys Named Pinky Went to Third Base

Pinky Whitney and Pinky May

In their long, often frustrating, often losing history, the Phillies have nevertheless been blessed with some fine third baseman with considerable staying power. Of course, for most of the finest sustained period of excellence for the team in the 1970s and early 80s, the Phillies had the GOAT third baseman, Mike Schmidt (1972-1989). But they have also had the near Hall of Famers, Scott Rolen (1996-2002), and Dick Allen (1964-1969), and the clutch hitting Whiz Kid Willie Jones (1947-1959). Defensively, current hot corner habitue, Alec Bohm, will never make us forget any of these players, but he may eventually prove to be a solid member of this roll call. Less well known may be the two "Pinkys" who held down third base for most of 16 seasons for the Phillies during their most sustained period of awfulness, 1928-1943. The two were Arthur Carter (Pinky) Whitney, (1928-33 and 1936-39) and Merrill (Pinky) May, (1939 - 1943).

No less an eminence than Grover Cleveland Alexander called Pinky Whitney, "the greatest third baseman in baseball." Whitney, who got his nickname from a cartoon character when he was a boy, had above average range for a third baseman and was consistently among the league leaders in fielding percentage, leading the league four times. Not a power hitter, like today's prototypical third sacker, Whitney was a more than solid contact hitter. He averaged .295 in his ten years with the Phillies and reached a high of .342 in 1930. He was also an excellent RBI man, knocking in over 100 in four of his Phillies' seasons. Alexander called him "one of the most dangerous hitters in the game."

Pinky Whitney had one of his finest games at Forbes Field in Pittsburgh, on July 30, 1929. After lining out to first in the second inning, Whitney followed a Chuck Klein homerun with a home run of his own off Buccos hurler Ray Kremer in the Phillies seven run fourth. In the fifth, Whitney doubled and followed that with triples in both the seventh and eighth innings. When the smoke had cleared, Whitney had gone 4-for-5, with 3 runs scored, 2 RBIs, a double, two triples, and a home run, just a single short of the cycle. The Phillies won the game. 13-5. 

Whitney was the roommate and lifelong friend of Phillies great Chuck Klein. Klein and Whitney were rookies with the Phillies in 1928. When Whitney was traded from the Phillies to the Boston Braves in 1933, Klein is said to have broken down and cried. The Phillies brought Whitney back in 1936 and he managed one more great season, hitting .341 in 138 games. For all the losing he experienced in Philadelphia, Whitney enjoyed his time in the city and remained a fan favorite. Recalling his time there long after he retired from baseball, he said, "Old Philly, lowly Philly, it had the worst water, best ice cream, and most loyal fans in the game."

When age and injury caught up with Whitney in 1939, 28-year-old, Merrill "Pinky" May took over third base for the Phillies. May got his moniker while playing for the Cumberland (Maryland) Colts in the Mid-Atlantic League as a 21-year-old out of Indiana University. Reporters there asked him what his nickname was, and May told them a few players at Indiana called him "Pinky", so the scribes called him Pinky from there on. May had several excellent seasons in the New York Yankees minor league system but was never able to earn a spot on the Yankee roster, because veteran All-Star Red Rolfe was a fixture there. Finally, the Phillies acquired May in the Rule 5 draft after the 1938 season. He immediately took over in 1939 as the Phillies starting third baseman. 

May was the regular Phillies third baseman for the next five years. He was very much a singles hitter, averaging fewer than 25 extra base hits a season, including a stretch where he went more than 1400 at bats without a home run. May was, however, an excellent defensive third baseman. He led the league in both fielding percentage and range factor in three of his five major league seasons. He was selected to play in the 1940 All-Star game. He appeared in the game as a defensive replacement for Cookie Lavagetto and was plunked by a Bob Feller fastball in one of his two at bats in the game. 

May had one of his finest offensive games on July 15, 1939, in a Phillies. 8-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs at Shibe Park. May chipped in with four hits, including a double, and three runs batted in. His double off Charlie Root in the eighth inning drove in a run as the Phillies rallied from a 4-3 deficit to win the game. On October 3, 1943, May had four hits in a doubleheader sweep of the Pittsburgh Pirates, bringing his season average to .282.  It would be the last game May would play in the Major Leagues. He enlisted in the Navy at the end of the season. He spent the war stationed on islands in Southeast Asia. 

May returned to the Phillies in 1946 but was released in May, another fine ballplayer whose career was interrupted, and in May's case, ended, by the war. May then embarked on a 26-year career as a minor league manager with several organizations. His son Milt spent 15 years as a Major League catcher.

Two Society for American Baseball Research biographies were very helpful in writing this story. To find out more about these "two Pinkys." Pinky Whitney, by Seven V. Rice and Pinky May, by Alan Cohen.

Pinkey Whitney – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org)

Pinky May – Society for American Baseball Research (sabr.org)