RIP - George Scott

Long-time Red Sox' and Brewers' slugger George "Boomer" Scott passed away on 7/28/2013 at age 69, in Greenville, MS (also his birthplace).

Scott played for the Red Sox from 1966-71, supplying power as a slugging 1st baseman (although he was the team's regular 3rd baseman for parts of '69 and '70).

After the 1971 season, George and FIVE other players were dealt to the Brewers for 3 major-league players and a minor-leaguer.  After 5 seasons as Milwaukee's 1st-sacker, he returned to Boston for 2 1/2 years, then wrapped up 1979 (and his career) with the Royals and Yankees.

Besides leading the AL in home runs and RBI in 1975, Scott also won 8 Gold Glove awards during his career.

Boston Globe obituary

from CBS Sports
 

1960s Blog Hall of Fame Results (#4)

16 ballots were cast, with Dick Allen being the lone inductee this time.

Allen never dipped below 70% during the entire election, and was the only candidate who spent any time at or above 75% after the first 5 ballots were cast. (The closest anyone else came was Billy Williams, at 71% after the 7th ballot.)

Allen joins the 20 players and 1 manager already in the Hall:

Besides Allen, the only candidate whose stock rose this time was 500-homer club member Eddie Mathews, slightly increasing his share from 59% to 63%.

Everyone else on the ballot slipped, but kept their "same order of finish" from the previous election. Warren Spahn, Billy Williams, Whitey Ford, Rod Carew, and Orlando Cepeda all saw their share decrease by 9% (actually 14% for Ford), while Jim Bunning, Roger Maris, and Ron Santo each dropped by 4%.

This was the first time write-in slots were on the ballot, and I was kind of surprised that only one voter used them. With only 6% of the vote, write-in candidates Gary Peters and Joel Horlen will not get slots on the next ballot. 

Maury Wills and Joe Torre will also be dropped from the next ballot, as they did not get the minimum 15% of the vote.  (Although Wills was listed in the poll as receiving 18%, one voter selected seven candidates (instead of the maximum of six), so their 7th player selected (Wills) was disallowed.)

Congratulations to Crash Allen!

1964 Topps Giant Cards (part 3)

As mentioned earlier, recently I went back to the same antique store, and gave Pete Ward and 3 of his pals a ride to my house.

"Callison was the hero of the 1964 all-star game." So, these cards were printed late in the season!

Left unpurchased was a Pete Ward duplicate, Luis Aparicio (have it), Al Kaline, and a few others which I've forgotten.  Kaline's on deck!

1967 Scrapbook - The All-Star Game

Here's another installment in an occasional series called "1967 Scrapbook". In 2011 I found a baseball scrapbook I had made in 1967, containing photos that I clipped from the Philadelphia sports pages that summer. Most of the photos are from the previous night's Phillies' game.

Here is what I found worthy of saving back in 1967 regarding the All-Star game, a 15-inning affair in Anaheim.

After 14 straight starting assignments (dating back to 1957), Willie Mays is an all-star reserve.

Tony Conigliaro played the entire game in right field.  A month later he was beaned, changing the course of his once-promising career.

Orlando Cepeda (who played the entire game at 1st base) runs out of room.

Tony Oliva sends the NL bench scattering with an airborne bat.  Reds' 2nd baseman Tommy Helms is 2nd from the right.

FIFTY-ONE at-bats for the NL!

Tony Perez and Richie Allen celebrate the NL victory. Allen started at 3rd base, and was replaced by Perez.  They each hit one of the two NL home runs.  Perez' dinger won the game in the 15th inning.
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1960s Blog Hall of Fame (#4)

Has it only been 6 months since the last election? This season seems like an eternity, thanks to the "efforts" of the Philadelphia Circus National League Baseball Club.


Last time, outfielders Carl Yastrzemski and Al Kaline joined the other 19 members of the Hall. Candidates receiving less than 15% of the vote were dropped from the ballot. The following 12 players are the holdovers from the last ballot:

Dick Allen
Jim Bunning
Rod Carew
Orlando Cepeda
Whitey Ford
Roger Maris
Eddie Mathews
Ron Santo
Warren Spahn
Joe Torre
Billy Williams
Maury Wills
 
The "selection committee" could not decide on who to add to the ballot this time. Instead, there is going to be a new twist. This ballot will include two "write-in" slots, so that voters can have direct input on additional players.

Remember, this is a 1960s' Hall of Fame.  Ted Williams? He played in 1960, but his career started in 1939, so I would say no. Tom Seaver?  Johnny Bench? Did they make a significant impact in the 1960s?  Stan Musial?  Frank Howard?  Bruce Brubaker? You tell me.

From among the 12 players and two write-in spots, vote for no more than 6.  For each write-in selected (if any), follow it up with a comment that includes the name of the write-in candidate(s).  Only comments from registered users will be accepted (no anonymous commenting).  [This will prevent me (or others) from stuffing the comment box with Johnny Callison write-ins! :D ] If the number of write-in boxes checked does not equal the number of players in the comments, the HOF Director will make a ruling.

The ballot remains open through July 26th (the MLB Hall of Fame weekend), then candidates receiving 75% of the vote will be inducted.

I know the likelihood of a write-in candidate being elected is small, but those receiving a certain percentage will be added to the next ballot. Plus, feel free to use the comments to campaign for your write-in choices (or for the listed players). Hey, it worked for Rico Carty in the all-star game!