1960s Blog Hall of Fame Results (#10)

Jim Bunning and Roger Maris are the latest inductees, joining the 29 others shown below.

Bunning was a 7-time All-Star (5 in the 1960s), and 150 of his 224 career wins came during the 1960s. During the decade, he collected 19 wins 4 times, and 17 wins twice. In 1967, he finished 2nd in the Cy Young voting, while leading the NL in strikeouts (253), shutouts (6) and innings pitched (302).

Maris was a 2-time AL MVP during the 1960s ('60, '61).  Frank Robinson was the only other player to win the award twice in that decade. Roger hit 217 of his 275 career homers during the 1960s, with 133 of them from 1960-62. Besides leading the AL with 61 home runs in 1961, he led the league in RBI in both 1960 (112) and 1961 (141). (He "dropped" to 100 RBI in 1962.) He was also an All-Star from 1960-62, and won a Gold Glove award in 1960.

Complete results:

I'm really surprised that no one but me voted this time. Had all the "good" candidates already been inducted? Or did nobody want to vote because it wasn't an anonymous poll?

Is this an "asterisk situation"? Nah, there was almost 2 weeks allowed for voting, and nothing was said about what happens if only 1 person voted, so...

With only 1 person voting, candidates received either 100% or 0%. Since the other 6 received less than 15% of the vote, they will be dropped from the ballot.

I don't think there will be another ballot after this anyway.  1) There was no interest this time. 2) With those 6 candidates dropped, and all other "names" rejected on previous ballots, there is really no one left from the 1960s to consider.  I suppose Johnny Bench could be proposed, but Tom Seaver got no votes, and Bench played less in the 1960s than Seaver.


(Click the "hall of fame ballot" label below to see all past results.
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RIP - Billy O'Dell

Former Orioles and Giants pitcher Billy O'Dell passed away on September 12, 2018 at age 85.

O'Dell joined the 1st-year Baltimore Orioles in 1954 as a bonus baby, and never played in the minor leagues.

After missing the 1955 season due to military service, he returned to the Orioles from 1956-59 (making the All-Star team in '58 and '59).

He also played for the Giants from 1960-64, winning 19 games during their NL Pennant season of 1962.

He later played for the Braves (1965-66) and Pirates (1966-67).

Baltimore Sun obituary

The Sentinel obituary

ESPN obituary
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1960s Blog Hall of Fame (#10)

It's time for another 1960s Blog Hall of Fame Election.



Last year Billy Williams was the lone inductee, joining the other 28 members in the Hall. One player received less than 15% of the vote and was dropped from the ballot, leaving 6 returning candidates this time:

Jim Bunning
Rod Carew
Curt Flood
Ferguson Jenkins
Roger Maris
Denny McLain

Added to the ballot this time are:
Tom Seaver (12-time All-Star, 3 Cy Youngs, 1967 ROY, won 25 in 1969)
Earl Battey (4-time All-Star, 3-time GG in 8 seasons (7 as starter)

Here is the voting history for all the current candidates:

Since Blogger has done away with the polls widget, please use the comments to vote. (Anonymous comments will not be accepted. Also any spammers commenting as an excuse to post their links to gambling sites, etc will be deleted, as always.)

Vote for up to half (this time 4) of the players on the ballot. The voting will close on 9/15, at which time comments will be disabled. Those receiving at least 75% of the votes will be inducted.


Click on the "hall of fame ballot" label below to see the results of all previous elections.

RIP - Doc Edwards

1960s' catcher Doc Edwards (who later managed the Cleveland Indians from 1987-89) passed away on August 20, 2018 at age 81.

Edwards' career included stops with the Indians, Athletics, and Yankees. Although mostly a backup catcher, Doc was the Athletics' primary starting catcher in 1963 and 1964, even though he played less than half of the games (due to having 4 catchers).

I first became aware of Edwards when he was the bullpen coach for the Phillies from 1970-72. Doc had been catching for the Phillies' AAA teams in '68 and '69, then was named to new manager Frank Lucchesi's staff in 1970.

In one early-season game that year, both Phillies' catchers (Tim McCarver and Mike Ryan) broke their hands in the SAME INNING. The team recalled their 2 AAA backstops the next day, and at some point activated Edwards, who appeared in 35 games, five seasons after his last big-league action.

In 1973 he began his 33-year managing career, which although was mostly in the minors, he did pilot the Indians from 1987-89.

Cleveland.com obituary

Washington Post obituary
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RIP - John Kennedy

Former Red Sox', Dodgers', and Senators' 3rd baseman John Kennedy passed away on August 9, 2018 at age 77.

Kennedy broke in with the Washington Senators in September 1962, also playing there for part of 1963. His only year as a full-time regular was 1964 with the Senators.

After that season, he was traded to the Dodgers in the Frank Howard deal. He played 2 years in LA, and 1 season with the Yankees, then spent all of 1968 in the minors.

Kennedy resurfaced in 1969 with the Seattle Pilots, and played part of 1970 with the Brewers. He played his last 4 1/2 seasons with the Red Sox, retiring after the 1974 season.

ItemLive.com obituary

The Salem News obituary

SABR biography
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RIP - Don Mason

Former Giants and Padres backup 2nd baseman Don Mason passed away on June 19, 2018 at age 73.

Mason played minor-league ball for the Senators, Giants, and Padres from 1964 to 1974.

He also played for the Giants briefly from 1966-68, and for all of 1969 and 1970.

Traded to the Padres after the 1970 season, he played a full season with San Diego in 1971, but was up and down for the next 2 seasons.

The majority of his big-league playing time came in 1969 and 1971.

Cape Cod Times obituary
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RIP - Johnny Lewis

1960s' Mets outfielder Johnny Lewis passed away on July 29, 2018 at age 78.

Lewis played minor-league ball for the Cardinals (1959-64), Mets (1966-67), and Phillies (1968). He played in the majors for the Cardinals in 1964, and for the Mets from 1965-67.

His big break came before the 1965 season, when the Cardinals traded him to the Mets for pitcher Tracy Stallard. 1965 was his only full season in the majors, and the only time he was a regular starter. He started 126 games that season, and appeared in 22 others.

After his playing career, Lewis coached for the Cardinals from 1973-89.

Pensacola News Journal obituary
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RIP - Tony Cloninger

Former Braves' pitching ace Tony Cloninger passed away on July 24, 2018 at age 77.

Cloninger was the Braves' ace for the few years between the Warren Spahn and Phil Niekro eras, but may be most remembered for hitting 2 grand slams in the same game on July 3, 1966.

He played for the Braves from 1961-68, then was traded to the Reds in the June 1968 deal that sent Milt Pappas to the Braves. After 3 1/2 seasons with the Reds, Cloninger pitched briefly for the Cardinals in 1972.

After his playing career, Cloninger coached for the Yankees for 9 seasons during the Joe Torre regime, and then worked for the Red Sox for the past 15 years.

New York Times obituary

WLOS-13 obituary
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RIP - Mike Kilkenny

Mike Kilkenny, a pitcher for the Tigers and 3 other teams from 1969-73, passed away on June 28, 2018 at age 73.

Kilkenny played in the Tigers' farm system from 1964-68, and debuted for Detroit in April 1969. He pitched 106 games for the Tigers between 1969 and May 1972.

In 1972, he played for FOUR teams (Tigers, Athletics, Padres, Indians). Those 3 trades occurred in the span of 32 days!

After pitching the 2nd half of 1972 for the Indians, he appeared in only 5 games the following season, the last coming on May 6, 1973. That was his final pro game.

Detroit News obituary

Canadian Baseball Network obituary
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RIP - Billy Connors

Billy Connors, the long-time pitching coach for the Cubs, Yankees, and others, passed away on June 18, 2018 at age 76.

Connors played on a team from Schenectady, NY that won the Little League World Series in 1954. His teammate on that squad was 1966 Dodgers' outfielder Jim Barbieri. (Barbieri was the first player to play in the Little League AND Major League World Series.) 

Connors was signed by the Cubs in 1961, and played in their farm system from 1961-67, and in the Mets' organization from 1967-69. He played 11 games for the Cubs in 1966 and 15 games for the Mets from 1968-69.

After his playing career, he was a minor-league pitching instructor from 1972-79 for the Mets and Phillies, then a pitching coach from 1980-95 for the Royals, Cubs, Mariners, and Yankees. From 1996-2012 he worked in the Yankees' player development office.

New York Times obituary

Schenectady, NY Daily Gazette obituary
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Oldest living players from 1966-70

With the recent passing of long-time Cardinal Red Schoendienst, it was said that he was the oldest living member of the Hall of Fame. Bringing that idea closer to this blogosphere, I wondered “Who are the oldest living players with baseball cards in the Topps sets that I am following?”

Pirates’ reliever Elroy Face is at the top of the list for the 1966-69 sets, at age 90. One would think Willie Mays (at age 87) is up there too, but there are 13 living players older than Mays in the 1966 set. That number drops off to 7 in the 1967 set, as 6 players had their final card in the ’66 set.

In the ’68 set, only 3 players are older than Mays. In the 1969 and 1970 sets, there is only one player older than Mays – Face (’69) and Hall (’70). (Elroy Face’s final card was in 1969. Dick Hall was not in the ’66 or ‘69 sets, but was in the ’67, ’68, and ‘70 sets.)


Here are the 5 oldest living players per set that I follow:

1966 
Elroy Face
Whitey Ford
Don Mossi
Al Worthington
Curt Simmons

1967 
Elroy Face
Whitey Ford
Al Worthington
Curt Simmons
Vern Law (10th in the ’66 set)

1968 
Elroy Face
Al Worthington
Dick Hall (6th in the ’67 set)
Willie Mays
Maury Wills

1969 
Elroy Face
Willie Mays
Maury Wills
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual

1970 
Dick Hall
Willie Mays
Maury Wills
Al Spangler
Camilo Pascual

RIP - Ed Roebuck

1950s/60s reliever Ed Roebuck passed away on June 14, 2018 at age 86.

Roebuck pitched for the Brooklyn and Los Angeles Dodgers from 1955-63, appearing in 322 games, all but one in relief. He also pitched in the '55 and '56 World Series.

In July 1963 he was traded to the Senators, and moved on to the Phillies the following April. He spent his final 3 seasons with the Phillies.

Retiring as a player following a year of AAA ball in 1967, he went on to scout for many teams, finally retiring in 2004.

LA Times obituary

Dodger Insider obituary
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Trades: "Jarvis! Tatum! Jarvis Tatum! You've all been traded!"

Another installment in an occasional series about some big trades in the 1960s: 

Ok, this wasn't in the 1960s, but it only missed the cutoff by one year, and this was just too good to pass up.

In October 1970, the Red Sox traded outfielder Tony Conigliaro to the Angels in a 6-player trade that included Jarvis Tatum and 2 other guys whose name was either Jarvis OR Tatum!
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