Baseball in 1961

In Baltimore, Sgt. Bilko commanded his troops through Memorial Stadium; in Washington, they just slugged it out... Sens outslug Sox in 12-inning thriller It all started innocently enough in the 1st, the upstart Sens "Piercing" a longtime White Sox ace for 5 runs in the 1st and 2 more in the second on a Chuck Hinton HR. Then Jim Landis got his troubled ace off the hook by way of a 4-hit effort, including 2 triples chasing home 5 runs, 3 of which came in the 8th, tying the score at 7. In extras, Luis Aparicio doubled home Al Smith and Landis in the 10th, seemingly giving the Sox the win; in the bottom half though, pinch-hitter Gene Woodling singled home Bob Johnson, moving Willie Tasby to 3rd, who then scored on a passed ball by Sox catcher Cam Carreon. in the bottom of the 12th, Warren Hacker routinely got the first 2 outs, then Marty Keough struck with a triple, and promptly scored on Tasby's walk-off single, ending a wild night in DC(final score, 10-9). Injury report:...

When I started this blog, my intent was to share a recreation of an historic baseball season, which meant changing the actual history that existed in 1961 via the C&D of S-O-M. While that is the intent of a S-O-M player, he knows a Roger Maris 61-homer season exists in the history books, plus the trick is to create some drama which may make for a different kind of season than what was originally recorded in the history books. So to distinguish my recreate from the actual headlines, the actual headlines are at the 2 links posted.                                                                    archives.chicagotribune.com/1961/04/12/    ...

1961 AL Recreate Standings  W L GB Boston                                                               1  0    ----- Detroit                                                                1  0    ---- LA Angels                   ...

We start with a pitcher's duel in Cincy and end with a head-scratcher at the Coliseum Glen's Hobbie? Shutting out Reds The traditional Opening Day crowd at Crosley was treated to a pitcher's duel, but when the  final out was recorded, it was Glen Hobbie walking off the field a winner, as the Cubbies began their "College of Coaches" era with a academic 1-0 shutout over the Reds. Ron Santo broke up the duel with a RBI single in the 8th, scoring Richie Ashburn, while Hobbie retired the last 7 Redlegs to finish the 7-hit gem over Jim O'Toole, who allowed only 4 Cub hits. Spahn spanks Redbirds Ageless Warren Spahn added another successful opener to his resume as the Braves pounded the Cards by a 7-1 final. Hank Aaron got things started with a 2-run homer in the 1st, then Spahn started a 10-batter 3rd with a leadoff single off losing pitcher Ernie Broglio. The Bravos would score 5 in the inning, including 2-run singles by Frank Bolling and John DeMerit. Spahn we...

- Hobbie outduels O'Toole as Cubs nip Reds -Aaron, Spahn spark Brave bashing of Redbirds Full details on those games sometime tomorrow night when I finish the 2 West Coast games

The trouble with a recreation like this(1961 MLB season), is you're not really satisfied, so you start over at opening day in DC with JFK throwing out the first pitch and everything else a mere recreation. On Wednesday night, I tried it again and I think this time we may be able to make it to the end of opening week. Sens blank Sox, 2-0 After JFK's opening pitch, Dick Donovan threw quality pitches that surely would've merited the President's Seal and Coot Veal and Gene Woodling knocked in the game's only runs as Donovan outdueled Early Wynn in front of a festive crowd. Angels debut "heavenly"  Ted Kluszewski's 2-run single sparked a 4-run ninth as the newly christened Angels clipped some Oriole wings in Baltimore, 5-1. Leon Wagner provided the first Angel run with a home run in the 4th, while Jim Gentile matched that in the bottom half. Eli Grba pitched 7-1/3 strong innings for the win over Milt Pappas.  Yankees win thriller from Twins  In a...

No votes have been made on the Opening Day p-b-p, so at some point Sunday, I'll do the rundown of the Opening Day games and offer "highlights" of the games I put to a vote. I have already done 2 games on the 4/12 schedule(which were actually rained out) and I will tease you about how those 2 ended: CWS-Sens: 2 home runs by Jim Landis LAA-Orioles-Went 13 innings(that is all) I may do a live p-b-p at some point(maybe Super Bowl Sunday), so keep checking in with the blog, I'll have some surprises for you, certainly more than that "Comb-Over In Chief", who I hope doesn't have a BlogSpot account: Though, I could be exaggerating...

Through Strat-O-Matic's 1961 season cards, I will try to recreate the 1961 season and offer if necessary, play-by-play on selected games. If needed, Strat groups on FB will be instrumental in this effort. Now here's a trio of games I am considering for my first play-by-play effort: 1. Cleveland Indians-Detroit Tigers: Jim Perry carried a perfect game into the 5th inning and cruised past the usually hefty bats of the Tigers by a 6-1 score. 2. Los Angeles Angels-Baltimore Orioles: Feathers were surely ruffled as the upstart Halos stunned the O's behind the pitching of Eli Grba and the bat of Ted Kluszewski. 3. Minnesota Twins-New York Yankees: Twins scored 6 off Whitey Ford in the 1st, then Yankees caught them with 6 in the 2nd: A seven-run explosion by the Twins in the 6th sews up this Opening Day classic. These are the games I am considering for my first p-b-p, choose the game you want described by commenting 1, 2, or 3. Next order of business, game summaries, standings...