Welcome to another edition Trivia(l) Tidbit Tuesday, a weekly presentation of baseball occurrences that for some reason caught The Roundtable’s eye. (I’m particularly fond of unexpected performances ,statistical coincidences or unusual circumstances.) These won’t necessarily be momentous occurrences, just events, statistics or coincidences that caught my eye.
With the All Star Game tonight, this edition of Trivia(l) Tidbits Tuesday will focus on a time when the pitchers truly dominated the All Star Game. To view earlier Trivia(l) Tidbit posts, type Trivia(l) in the search box on the righthand side of the page.
If you look back at the 93 AL/NL All Star matchups, only ten times has the game featured three or fewer combined runs – and just four of those low-scoring affairs have gone extra innings. What caught the Roundtable’s eye was that three of those ten lowest-scoring All Star Games took place in consecutive seasons (1966-67-68) and two of the four lowest-scoring extra-inning All-Star Games took place in that span. And, not coincidentally, those three All Star games preceded the lowering of the mound and shrinking of the strike zone going into the 1969 season. (The 1969 All Star Game featured 12 runs (NL 9 – AL 3), 17 hits (three doubles and five home runs.) Side note: There were three Negro League All Star games featuring three or fewer runs between 1920 and 1948.
Here are some Trivia(l) Tidbits from the 1966-68 All Star Games:
- In 1966, the National League prevailed 2-1 in ten innings;
- In 1967, the National League again won 2-1, this time in fifteen innings;
- In 1968, the National League won 1-0 in nine frames.
Over those three games (and 34 innings):
- National League hitters averaged .181;
- American League hitters averaged .149;
- National League pitchers put up a 0.53 earned run average;
- American League pitchers threw to a 1.11 earned run average.
Keep in mind, these were teams whose starting lineups featured the likes of Willie Mays, Hank Aaron, Roberto Clemente, Willie McCovey, Orlando Cepeda, Dick Allen, Al Kaline, Frank Robinson, Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew and Tony Oliva. Aaron, in fact, played every inning of all three games and went two-for-thirteen, with two singles and a walk.
A few other highlights/lowlights:
There were only 12 hits in the ten-inning 1966 game, but (despite the pitchers’ dominance) only 11 strikeouts.- Brooks Robinson had three of the total of 12 hits in the 1966 game;
- Bill Freehan caught all 15 innings for the AL in the 1967 game;
- All three runs in the 1967 game scored on solo home runs. Tony Perez (off Catfish Hunter); Dick Allen (off Dean Chance) and Brooks Robinson (off Fergie Jenkins);
- There was not a single earned run nor an RBI in the 1968 game.
1966 All Star Game
The National League triumphed 2-1, with a run in the tenth inning via a single by Tim McCarver, a sacrifice bunt by Ron Hunt and an RBI-single by Maury Wills (off Pete Richert).
- The game featured just 12 total hits, six by each squad) – ten singles, one triple (Brooks Robinson) and one double (Roberto Clemente);
- Brooks Robinson had three hits and scored the AL’s only run (on a wild pitch by Sandy Koufax);
- Some notable 0h-fers included Hank Aaron (0-4), Willie McCovey (0-3, with a walk), Frank Robinson (0-4) and Tony Oliva (0-4).
- Willie Mays, Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Willie McCovey, Ron Santo, Frank Robinson, Tony Oliva, and Brooks Robinson all played the whole game;
- AL pitchers were Denny McLain, Jim Kaat, Mel Stottlemyre, Sonny Siebert, Pete Richert,
- NL Pitchers were Sandy Koufax; Jim Bunning; Juan Marichal; Gaylord Perry.
1967 All Star Game
The National League won 2-1 in a marathon 15 innings, scoring in the top of the fifteenth on a home run by Tony Perez (off Catfish Hunter). There were just 17 hits over the fifteen innings – nine by the NL, eight by the AL).
- Carl Yastrzemski had three hits for the AL, a double and two singles;
- Bill Freehan caught the whole 15 innings for the AL. Others who played the entire game were Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron, Orlando Cepeda, Gene Alley, Brooks Robinson, Tony Oliva, Harmon Killebrew, Tony Conigliaro and Carl Yastrzemski;
- Notable Oh-fers included: Willie Mays (0-4), Orlando Cepeda (0-6), Rod Carew (0-3), Harmon Killebrew (0-6), Tony Conigliaro (0-6), Bill Freehan (0-5);
- NL pitchers were Juan Marichal, Fergie Jenkins, Bob Gibson, Chris Short, Mike Cueller, Don Drysdale and Tom Seaver;
- AL pitchers were Dean Chance, Jim McGlothlin, Gary Peters; Al Downing and Catfish Hunter.
1968 All Star Game
The National League won 1-0, scoring one run in the bottom of the first. Willie Mays opened with a single (off Luis Tiant). Mays moved to second on an errant pick-off attempt, then went to third as Curt Flood walked (on a wild pitch) and scored as Willie McCovey hit into double-play (4-6-3). And, that was it for the scoring.
- There were no earned runs in the game;
- Since the only tally scored on a double play, there were no RBIs awarded in the game;
- There were just eight hits in the game (five by the NL);
- There were 20 strikeouts (five by Tom Seaver, who faced eight batters in the seventh and eighth innings);
- No batter had more than one hit;
- Notable oh-fers included Rod Carew (0-3) and Willie McCovey (0-4);
- Roberto Clemente, Hank Aaron and Orlando Cepeda played the whole game, as did Brooks Robinson and Tony Oliva.
- AL pitchers were Luis Tiant, Blue Moon Odom, Denny McLain, Sam McDowell, Mel Stottlemyre, Tommy John.
- NL pitchers were Don Drysdale, Juan Marichal, Steve Carlton, Tom Seaver, Ron Reed and Jerry Koosman.
A Two-Fer
Don Drysdale is the only MLB pitcher to start two All Star Games in the same season – with wildly different results. (There were two All Star Games each year from 1959 through 1962.) On July 7, 1959, Drysdale started for the NL (in Pittsburgh) and pitched three perfect innings (four strikeouts) in a 5-4 National League win. Then, on August 3, 1959, he started for the National League in a 5-3 loss in Los Angeles. This time, he gave up three runs on four hits and three walks (five whiffs) in three innings.
For a whole lot more on All Star Games, click here.
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