Wondrous Seasons of the Past: Dick Groat in 1960

(Note: I know this is a 1956 Topps card and not a 1960 Topps card, but they're both horizontally oriented)

Which team was probably the most unlikely World Series winner of the 1960s?  The 1960 Pirates might qualify (if it weren't for those Miracle Mets of '69).  Imagine, you know you are a good team; you did just win the NL pennant after all, and yet your opponent is the Yankees.

I'm sure just coming out of the '50s that the Yankees were considered a version of baseball royalty.  They had won championships 6 times in the last 10 years, and made it to the World Series 8 of the last 10 years.  They had the top star in the AL in Mickey Mantle, a tour de force who had not had a season with a less than 150 OPS+ since 1953.  They had the reigning AL MVP in Roger Maris and also Yogi Berra lurking as a utility player.

We know the rest of the story.  The Yankees outscore the Pirates something like 55-27 in the World Series and lose the a crazy back and forth 7th game until Bill Mazeroski led off the bottom of the 9th with a home run off Ralph Terry.  This was the first World Series in which someone from the losing squad won MVP honors (Bobby Richardson with a then-Series record 12 hits).

Dick Groat was a not a major participant during this World Series.  He only had a .500 OPS overall....the Yankees did beat the Pirates with two shutouts after all.  He did score the tying run in the bottom of the 8th on Hal Smith's 3 run home run, ultimately putting the Pirates ahead 9-7 in the 7th game, the play that had the highest change in win probability.  His single that inning originally decreased the deficit from 7-4 to 7-5 before all the theatrics really ensued.

But that's not really what Dick Groat is remembered for that year.  He was the NL MVP after all.  He did not lead the Pirates in any major categories except sacrifice hits and batting average, but he had an all-around spectacular year.  He hit .325/.371//.394 (115 OPS+) with 2 HR and 50 RBI.  That batting line seems sparse, but for a shortstop during that time period, it was pretty big.

Statistically, he finished 8th in overall Wins above Replacement (WAR), 1st in Defensive WAR,  1st in batting average, 3rd in hits, 1st in range factor/game, and 2nd in fielding percentage for a shortstop.

Intangibly, he was the captain of the team with the best record of the NL.  He also was the Lou Gehrig Memorial Award winner as baseball man of the year.

Here is what Dick Groat said about that magical year of 1960. “We had such a phenomenal year, we didn’t think anyone could beat us,” he said. “We’d come from behind 40-some times from the seventh inning on. That becomes contagious. You pretty much believe you’re not supposed to lose.”( Reference: www.baseballsavvy.com).

 So, as one of the statistical leaders and the ultimate intangible leader and tablesetter on the winning team of 1960, he truly had a wondrous season.

Wondrous (overlooked) Seasons of the Past: Sal Bando, 1973

Sal Bando is not usually a name when one thinks of dominant hitters of the '70s.  Usually there are names like Morgan, Bench, Schmidt, Jackson, and Rice that probably come to mind first.   There was a stretch from 1969-1974 where Bando was always among the best in the league.  For a full rundown of his career exploits, read my previous post.   

In 1973, though, Bando could probably lay claim to being the best hitting player in the American League.  He only led the league in two counting stats or average categories (total bases and doubles).  However, it was his well-rounded contribution that led him to leading the league in the hitting component category of WAR.  He was 8th in OBP, 3rd in SLG, 5th in OPS (2nd in OPS+), 9th in at-bats, 5th in runs, 7th in hits, 4th in HR and RBI, and 7th in BB.

If there was a category that represented hitting in an excellent manner, he was among the leaders for this year.  Historically, the raw numbers don't stack up to other luminous hitting seasons, but for this hitting era, it was excellent, especially for the American League.  During 1973, most of the great hitting years were in the National League.  What also put his great year into context was the adjusted OPS of 150+ (where 100 is league average).  This is an ballpark-adjusted figure and his increase in rank from OPS shows the difficulty in hitting the Athletics stadium  (for reference, the one year park factor for the coliseum for hitters was 88 (which I think means it was 12% harder for a hitter to hit in than the average ballpark in 1973).  Sal Bando had a great year in context and continued his power surge in the ALCS as he hit two more home runs.  

 It's not always the all-time greats of the game that rise to top of their league for a season and they are all worth remembering.

Wondrous Seasons of the Past: Dean Chance in 1964

There are times when talk of great players gets boiled down to career value, but sometimes there's a time when a good player can rise above the rest of the league for a season or two and become truly great.  Dean Chance in 1964 was that player.   During a time when the Cy Young award was awarded to only one pitcher between both leagues, Chance led in WAR, ERA, shutouts, HR/9, and ERA+ matched up against the likes of Sandy Koufax, Don Drysdale, Jim Bunning,  Whitey Ford, Juan Marichal, and Bob Gibson.

"His name is Wilmer Dean Chance, a country boy out of Wooster, Ohio, who plays pool better than Leo Lippy Durocher and beats the Yankees with more consistency than Frank Lary ever did."

He did only go 20-9, which for that pitcher's decade was not that imposing a W/L record, though he did it over an AL leading 278.1 innings with an amazing 11 complete game shutouts. He had finished 3rd in the ROY vote in 1962 and was realizing the potential in full form.

"On the night before he racked up his 20th win in 1964, Dean, never noticeably a booster for the President's Physical Fitness Program, hit the sack at 7:30.  He slept soundly, like a good boy should."

His durability was never in question as he led the AL in complete games, including five 1-0 victories, becoming the 5th pitcher ever with that many in one season.   He also increased his K/BB ratio above 2 for the first time in his career, demonstrating the most command up to his point (though it would desert him in 1966 and return in 1967).

"Chance probably has the strangest-yet most powerfully effective delivery-since Fat Freddie Fitzsimmons pitched in the thirties.  Like Fitz, Chance violates on the cardinal theories of hurling: before throwing the ball he turns his back on a hitter."

So picture a much sturdier version of Hideo Nomo with a jumping fastball who doesn't always know where it's going because "he doesn't see well out of his left eye anyhow".  Imagine if he ever put on glasses....

Dean Chance, with a season for the ages and a career to reflect upon.

All quoted passages are from the book Baseball Stars of 1965: the Dean Chance section was written by Ray Robinson.