November 8, 1966
- Triple Crown winner Frank Robinson of the Orioles is the unanimous
choice as American League Most Valuable Player. He is the first player
to win the award in both leagues.
Gold's Gym Field
The Nationals played on Gold's Gym Field this morning in weather that reminded
me more of football than softball as it was a bit nippy for these old
bones. It didn't seem to hold back the players however as it was a close game
until the last inning.The visitors (Bloom, Fulton, Altemose, Smith, Hill, Bess,
Byrd, Snider, Mills, and Gibson) were held in check by the Home boys (Merritt,
Witter, Mohan, Kline, Hearn, Simon, Lopez, Moots, Taylor, McPartlan, and Baker)
for five innings. They scored one run in the second as Duff Hill had a home run
and manged a second run in the fifth as Bess lead off and managed to score
before the inning closed. The home team didn't fare much better as they managed
a lone run in the first, second, and fifth innings. At the end of five the score
was 3-2 favor the home team.
The bats came alive for both teams in the sixth and seventh innings. The vi
The visitors scored five runs in the fifth with Terry Smith hitting the first of
his two doubles of the day. The seventh saw four more runs cross the plate as
Terry again had the big hit. Not to be outdone, the Home Team responded
with three of their own in their half of the sixth when Sammy Lopez banged out a
triple. Claude Hearn's home run was the big hit that helped produce four runs in
the seventh. Score 11-10 favor the visitors.
The difference in the game was the next two inning. Duff Hill's second home
run was the only run scored by either team in the eighth.The visitors continued
to build on their lead by scoring five more runs in the ninth with Tom Snider's
double being the big blow. With the game still close, the home boys started
strong with the first two batters reaching base. Bernie Mohans double looked to
ignite the team. Alas, it was not to be. After Bernie crossed the plate the team
was effectively shut down. The final score....Visitors 17 and Home Team
12.
Key Performances
John Fulton 4 for 5
Jim Altemose 4 for 5
Terry Smith 4 for 5 with two doubles
Duff Hill 4 for 5 with two homers
Ray Mills winning pitcher
Bernie Mohan 4 for 5 with a double
Jeff Simon 4 for 5
Jim McPartlin 3 for 4
Sam Lopez 4 for 5 with a
triple
Gessler
Clinic Field
Visiting
Team: Gonzalez*, Laffoon, King, Jacobson, Butler, Hartley, Diaz, Pepin, Marino,
Wells and Rodrigez.
Home Team:
Coffman, Herb O, Toro, Giordano, Benson, Constantine, Regan, Wise, Leversque
and Matta*.
*Manager.
The wind was
blowing hard today, hard enough to blow Dorothy to Oz. Hard enough to blow the
visiting team ball players from Winter Haven, to Kansas. Speaking of Oz, the flying monkeys
were out and they landed on the backs of the visiting team. They were shut out
in the first 2 innings and only scored 1 run, in the 3rd inning. Did
I say monkeys; they must have been gorillas riding on the backs of the Gonzalez
ten. The wind pushed inside pitches in for strikes, (on right handed hitters)
and took the strikes and moved them to the outside of the plate. The visitors had a
hard time adjusting to the conditions.
The Home
Team rode the wind, like Aladdin rode his flying carpet. They sent hits all
over the field, scoring 11 runs in 3 innings. Instead of Aladdin’s 1001 Nights, the Home
boys had 1001 hits, or so it seemed. When the last man in the lineup, Matta,
goes 5 for 5 and the next to last man in the lineup, Levesque, hits back to
back HR’s, you know you are in for a woop’n.
After 3
innings of play, the score was Grounded Monkeys 1- Flying Carpets 11.
In the 4th
inning the visiting team pried the monkeys off their backs and found a magic
lamp. When they rubbed the lamp, 8 runs appeared. Big hits came off the bats of
Jacobson, Butler, Hartley, Diaz, Pepin, Marino, Wells and Rodriguez before an
out was recorded. Fortunately, for the home team, after that eight hit barrage, the genie fled the bottle, the
next three batters were retired in order. The home team came up and answered
with 2 runs, on a HR by Giordano. Charlie who likes to hit to left field went
deep to right center field for his homer, which rolled up against the fence.
After 4
innings of play the score stood Visitors 8 - Home Team 13.
That was as
close as it would get for the visitors. The home team kept hitting like they
had the bats of Ruth, Mays, Mantle and Clemente. Tom Wise hit for the cycle. Juan
Toro was 5/6 with a HR. Herb Oesterreid had a HR and Jack Benson added a round
tripper. In fact, we wondered what was the record for HR’s, from one team, in
Winter Haven. The Home team hit 7 this game. Bob Regan added a triple.
Nice fielding
plays were turned in by Juan Toro, Herb O, Chris Constantine, Bob Regan,
Rich Marino and Ron Butler.
The Final
score was Visitors 12- Home team 27.
Leading Players:
WP: Matta
Marino: 4/5.
Jacobson:
3/5.
Butler: 3/5.
Coffman: 4/6
with a double.
Toro: 5/6
with a HR and a double.
Constantine:
3/5.
Wise: 4/5,
hit for the cycle.
Matta: 5/5.
HR’s
from Pepin, Giordano, Toro, Wise,
Levesque (2), Oesterreich and Benson.
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