1967 Replay Team-by-Team Review

American League

Boston Red Sox (Actual: 92-70, Replay: 105-57, +13)

 

The Boston Red Sox were the story of the AL in this 1967 replay. Following the first few weeks of the season where it took some time for teams to sort themselves out, Boston took over first place by the end of May and stayed there for the remainder of the season. Rather than wait to perform late-season heroics, Carl Yastrzemski (.327, 43 HR, 97 RBI's, 118 R) led the early season charge, propelling the team into first and keeping them anchored there for the duration.

While Yastrzemski's heroics in May, June, and July, he helped to hold off charges from Detroit and Baltimore, Tony Conigliaro (.279, 27 HR, 64 RBI's) stepped up to provide some timely power when it was needed in July, and August. Red Sox fans were elated to see Yastrzemski and Conigliaro provide a solid left field / right field power-hitting tandem, only to see those dreams cruelly dashed when Conigliaro was it in the face with a Jack Hamilton fastball in late August, forcing Conigliaro out of the lineup for the rest of the season.

 

With Conigliaro gone, Boston took a huge leap and signed free agent Ken Harrelson (.169, 1 HR, 6 RBI's) from Kansas City for a huge sum. Harrelson hit a homerun in his first game with his new team (he did the same thing in 1967 as well), but by the end of the season, he was being platooned as the team held on to their lead.

 

Boston led the AL in team hitting (.253), homeruns (155), and was second in runs scored (675), but their key was their pitching, which finished second in team ERA (2.96). Jim Lonborg (20-6, 2.42) and Lee Stange (17-5, 1.86) were the two key starters, with Gary Bell (13-4, 2.11), picked up in a trade from Cleveland at the end of May, providing some unexpected and much-needed help. John Wyatt (13-4, 2.90, 18 Saves) was a key performer in Boston's push that put them comfortably ahead in the AL. His 18 saves came in handy of course, but the key was his 13 wins, all in relief, the majority of which came during the months of June and July.

 

Detroit Tigers (Actual: 91-71, Replay: 94-68, +3)

 

Detroit spent a few weeks in first place in early May, but soon settled into second place and spent the remainder of the season tangling with Baltimore for the second spot in the AL. Detroit was a solid team and was in either second or third place for the remainder of the season, but could never put together a consistent and extended charge that would allow them to catch or pass first-place Boston.

Al Kaline (.321, 28 HR, 85 RBI's) was the Tiger's MVP, but he broke his hand when he slugged a water fountain in July and missed a month of the season. His absence allowed Boston to build up a ten-game lead, and even though Kaline played well upon his return, it was just too much for the team to overcome. Dick McAuliffe (.211, 103 R) finished second in the AL in runs scored, just ahead of Kaline (101 R). Eddie Mathews (.216, 4 HR, 13 RBI's) was picked up from Houston in August when Don Wert got hurt and Mathews covered third base and then first base for the Tigers, but his actual contributions were somewhat minimal.

 

Earl Wilson (21-14, 2.86) and Mickey Lolich (17-6, 2.77) were the mainstays of the Tigers' pitching rotation, with Joe Sparma (16-14, 3.21) and Denny McLain (14-17, 4.03) filling in the backend. Lolich missed almost a whole month when his reserve unit was activated during the Detroit riots, but it was McLain's inconsistency that eventually doomed the Tigers.

 

Baltimore Orioles (Actual: 76-85, Replay: 94-69, +18)

 

The Orioles won the 1966 World Series and were among the favorites heading into the 1967 season, but then injuries decimated their starting rotation and eliminated their chances at repeating. Regardless, in this replay, they managed to overcome their pitching woes and were entangled with Detroit as they fought for second place almost all season. The race between these two was so close that Frank Robinson experienced a concussion on the same day that Kaline broke his hand and both missed about the same amount of time.

Of course, any team that had both Frank Robinson (.343, 27 HR, 106 RBI's) and Brooks Robinson (.227, 19 HR, 90 RBI's) figured to be competitive, and was certainly the case here. Veteran shortstop Luis Aparicio (.236) anchored the infield and Paul Blair (.298, 30 DB, 14 TR, 14 HR, 70 RBI's) played a solid center field and batted third in the powerful Orioles lineup.

 

Jim Palmer (5-1, 3.40) pitched well when he could, but spent most of the year on the DL or recovering in the minors. Tom Phoebus (14-11, 3.30) had the most wins and was aided by early-season acquisition Pete Richert (12-5, 2.35). Mid-season call-ups Jim Hardin (9-2, 2.09) and Gene Brabender (6-5, 2.54) both pitched well when called upon. The real key to Baltimore was their bullpen. Moe Drabowsky (7-0, 11 Saves, 0.56) didn’t allow a run in the first two months of the season and only allowed eight runs (five earned) in his 80 innings of work. Eddie Fisher (3-3, 1.84), Stu Miller (3-9, 2.53), and Eddie Watt (3-0, 2.71) contributed solid performances as well.

 

Despite all the pitching turmoil and even with Frank Robinson missing a month, the Orioles improved by 18 wins over their actual 1967 season and were able to tangle with Detroit for second place nearly all season.

 

Chicago White Sox (Actual: 89-73, Replay: 81-81, -8)

 

The White Sox led the AL in pitching (2.58), nearly a half-run better than second-place Boston (2.96), but their .225 team batting average doomed them from moving to the top of the standings. Manager Eddie Stanky did everything he could in 1967 with frequent lineup changes, frequent pinch-hitters, and frequent pinch-runners to provide some offensive support to his beleaguered pitching staff, but that didn’t translate as well as it might for the replay White Sox.

Not that they didn’t try though. Chicago acquired veterans Ken Boyer (.291, 3 HR, 20 RBI's) and Rocky Colavito (.219, 3 HR, 21 RBI's) in mid-season to help bolster their attack, but only got mixed results. The infusion of these two into the regular White Sox lineup prevented younger players from getting precious at-bats. Tommy McCraw (.319, 19 HR, 70 RBI's) and Pete Ward (.203, 22 HR, 72 RBI's) provided pop, and Don Buford (.225, 36 SB) provided the speed as he moved between second and third base.

 

Joe Horlen (15-13, 1.63) and Gary Peters (18-7, 1.72) were the White Sox's primary starters, and while they had good seasons, one would think with ERA's like that their WL record would be much better. Tommy John (9-16, 3.01) could have used some additional run support as well. Hoyt Wilhelm (4-1, 1.36), Wilbur Wood (3-6, 1.80), Bob Locker (1-5, 2.34, 17 SV), and Don McMahon (4-4, 3.12) provided Chicago with an outstanding bullpen that was also negatively impacted by the lack of run support.

 

Minnesota Twins (Actual: 91-71, Replay: 80-82, -11)

 

Similar to Chicago, Minnesota spent most of the season fighting to just get to .500, something they could quite never do. Both the White Sox and the Twins would go on minor winning spurts, but just as quickly as they would get hot then they would then turn around and give up their gains, effectively ending right back where they started,

Harmon Killebrew (.307) led the AL in RBI's (117) and finished second in homeruns (44), and Tony Oliva (.268) led the AL in doubles (34), but the rest of the lineup was inconsistent. Chief among them was Bob Allison (.217, 14 HR, 53 RBI's), all numbers well short of the 1967 totals. Allison was batting fifth, behind Killebrew and Oliva, and the Twins really missed his offense, especially with Killebrew coming in second in walks in the AL with 106.

 

The Twins acquired Dean Chance (15-13, 2.75) in the off-season to lead their pitching staff but their sputtering offense helped to offset his performance, with similar results for Jim Merritt (11-11, 2.16), Dave Boswell (15-12, 3.04) and Jim Kaat (14-13, 3.28). Their ace out of the bullpen, Al Worthington (1-8, 4.20), had six blown saves to go along with those eight losses, leading to a lack of confidence that bled over into the rest of the bullpen.

 

Cleveland Indians (Actual: 75-87, Replay: 79-83, +4)

 

The 1967 Cleveland team finished in eighth place, the first time that had happened since 1915. Chicago and Minnesota's troubles allowed Cleveland to compete at the mid-level in the AL race, with the Indians moving up to as high as fourth place on several occasions.

With a solid crew of young pitchers, the Indians traded veteran hurler Gary Bell (7-1, 1.15) to Boston for Tony Horton (.281, 7 HR, 41 RBI's) and Don Demeter (.201, 1 HR, 14 RBI's). Demeter was soon hurt and allowed to return home before the season's end while Horton initially platooned at first base with Fred Whitfield (.194, 10 HR, 30 RBI's) until he was finally given the starting role at midseason. When Demeter flamed out, Lee Maye (.311, 17 HR, 38 RBI's) was given a starting role and he responded well. Max Alvis (.271, 24 HR, 73 RBI’s) did most of his damage in the first half of the season, although he sputtered toward the end of the season.

 

Sonny Siebert (12-9, 2.34), Steve Hargan (12-11, 2.36), Luis Tiant (14-11, 2.60), and Sam McDowell (8-24, 3.79) made up the core of the Indians young pitching staff, with McDowell having had the most interesting season. Imagine watching your pitcher shut out the opposition for the first three to four innings while striking out eight batters along the way. And then your pitcher can’t find home plate, walks four batters in the next inning, give up the lead, and then just as quickly goes back into strikeout mode for the next few innings, but the Indians' offense wasn't built to recover from that setback, so you accrue a 24-loss season while leading the AL in strikeouts (290) and finishing third in walks allowed (114).

 

New York Yankees (Actual: 72-90, Replay: 75-87, +3)

 

The Yankees may have "won" the lower half of the AL standings, but even then it was more like everyone else simply lost and New York was just the last team standing. They managed to avoid the lower echelons of the standings, but they also never challenged the upper half. All in all, a pretty bleak season in New York.

I knew that Mickey Mantle (.280, 28 HR, 70 RBI's) was moved to first base in 1967, but initially, I didn’t realize that Mantle played zero games in the outfield this season. A litany of injuries had slowed Mantle over the years, but his league-leading 124 walks showed that he was still feared by AL pitchers. Mantle had a designated defensive replacement / designated runner (Mike Hegan) for late-inning situations, but just getting to see Mantle to play was still a treat for baseball fans wherever the Yankees played.

 

Al Downing (13-13, 2.25), Mel Stottlemyre (12-17, 3.37), and Fritz Peterson (14-14, 3.46) provided New York with a solid starting staff, but one that couldn't overcome their lack of run support. Dooley Womack (3-3, 13 Saves, 3.13) and early-season acquisition Bill Monbouquette (6-4, 1.67) led the Yankees relief corps. Whitey Ford (1-4, 2.83) started the season and pitched well when he could, but retired when it became apparent his arm injuries were not going to go away.

 

California Angels (Actual: 84-77, Replay: 72-89, -12)

 

California started off the season by going 6-0 in Week One, but that was the end of their season's highlights as they stumbled into the bottom half of the standings soon thereafter.

California had traded away Dean Chance in the pre-season to Minnesota in return for some power-hitting in Don Mincher (.262, 14 HR, 56 RBI's) and Jimmie Hall (.231, 13 HR, 49 RBI's). Mincher had a strong start to the season, but slowed towards the end, while Hall never really got fully on track. Jim Fregosi (.295, 6 HR, 35 RBI's) was the likely Angels MVP, with strong offense to go along with his defensive contributions. Third basemen Paul Schaal (,143, 8 HR, 18 RBI's) batted lead-off for much of the first two-thirds of the season, and then Aurelio Rodriguez (.161, 1 HR, 3 RBI's) took over the lead-off spot to end the season.

 

Jim McGlothlin (11-12, 2.90), George Brunet (14-16, 2.97), and Rickey Clark (12-11, 3.16) were the main starters for the Angels, but none were able to replicate Chance. Clyde Wright (3-6, 5.06) missed much of the season, and Jack Hamilton (4-9, 3.24) struggled through the end of the season after he had injured Boston outfielder Tony Conigliaro.

 

Kansas City A's (Actual: 62-99, Replay: 70-91, +8)

 

The A's season had three different parts. Initially, they were looking to settle on a starting lineup as well as figuring out their starting rotation. Next, they settled on a lineup and a rotation, with Ken Harrelson (.249, 10 HR, 26 RBI's) taking over first base. Harrelson had been traded from Washington to Kansas City early in the season, and once given a chance to start at first base, responded by leading the A's to a mid-season charge out of last place and into the middle of the pack.

Mid-season antics on an airplane that may, or may not, have actually happened got the owner and the press involved, with the result that Harrelson got his outright release and sign with Boston for a large raise, and the air sucked out of the A's mid-season rush. The A's were slowly building their franchise from the draft and these young players all got a sniff at the big leagues this year (Rick Monday, Sal Bando, Reggie Jackson, Joe Rudi, Dave Duncan).

 

Catfish Hunter (20-12, 2.41) and Jim Nash (14-15, 3.26) led the starters, along with Chuck Dobson (8-15, 4.06). Blue Moon Odom (7-9. 4.22) got his starts in early, and the youngster was spared further losses by being sent down for a brief while and then being used out of the bullpen to further save his young arm. Jack Aker (2-4, 12 Saves, 6.62) was the 1966 Fireman of the Year but he was unable to reproduce his numbers this season.

 

Washington Senators (Actual: 75-85, Replay: 60-101, -15)

 

The Senators were supposed to have been a much better team, but they finished last in hitting and eighth in both pitching and fielding, so basically, they just found different ways to lose. For long swathes of the season, it looked like that if Frank Howard didn't hit a homerun (and he did lead the league with 46 homeruns) then there was no way that Washington could win.

Frank Howard (.250, 46 HR, 86 RBI's) led the Senators, and Ken McMullen (.238, 18 HR, 66 RBI's) helped put as best he could, but the offense dropped off pretty quickly following these two. Mike Epstein (.195, 4 HR, 24 RBI's), the 1966 Minor League Player of the Year, was acquired in an early season trade from Baltimore, but by the end of the season, Dick Nen (.218, 7 HR, 21 RBI's) had taken over at first.

 

Camilo Pascual (11-13, 2.70) and Phil Ortega (5-24, 4.11) were the two primary starters for Washington, with eleven other pitchers getting a turn to make a start. Joe Coleman (7-11, 4.51) was an early season callup and provided the opportunity to get in some starts, and Frank Bertaina (7-7, 2.36), who came over with Epstein in the trade with Baltimore, made the most of his opportunity.

 

National League

 

St. Louis Cardinals (Actual: 101-60, Replay: 89-72, -12)

 

Of course, the Cardinals not only won the NL Pennant, but they also defeated Boston in the 1967 World Series, and while the replay World Series has yet to be played, the replay pennant turned out to be much for difficult for St. Louis. In 1967, the Cardinals got healthy and got hot for the final two months of the season and won going away by a healthy 10.5 games, which also allowed them plenty of time to set up their pitching for whoever they would end up paying in World Series.

In the replay, the Cardinals hung around second place for most of the season, making a temporary charge into first place in early August, only to fall right back into second. While they were never far behind Atlanta, they waited until the final two weeks of the season to make their move, but even then, it still came down to the last day of the season before they could fully claim first place as their own. If they had of lost in Atlanta in that final game, that would have forced them to play a makeup game versus Chicago, and if they had of lost that game that would have forced a three-game play-off series versus Atlanta before either team could claim the NL pennant. St. Louis came through though when they tied the score in the top of the ninth and then won it in the tenth, an exciting ending to an exciting season.

 

Lou Brock (.267, 42 DB, 19 HR, 71 RBI's) led the Cardinals' offense and his stolen bases (56) led both leagues. Orlando Cepeda (.310, 24 HR, 89 RBI's) batted fourth and his steady bat was a force in the middle of the lineup. Around Cepeda, Curt Flood (.319, 4 HR, 56 RBI's), Tim McCarver (.305, 15 HR, 83 RBI's), and Mike Shannon (.239, 8 HR, 67 RBI's) all took turns disappearing and then suddenly reappearing as productive forces in the lineup.

 

Bob Gibson (12-10, 3.31) took a Roberto Clemente line drive off his shin in early August and missed six weeks of the season but was able to return in mid-September, just in time to help drive the Cardinals home. St. Louis led the NL in team pitching, with Steve Carlton (12-8, 2.29), Dick Hughes (11-11, 2.20), Ray Washburn (11-10, 2.78), and Larry Jaster (11-6, 2.84) all providing solid contributions. Joe Hoerner (6-4, 11 Saves, 1.93), Nelson Briles (8-8, 3 Saves, 2.42), and Ron Willis (5-7, 8 saves, 2.84) provided a solid, but not really spectacular, relief support.

 

Atlanta Braves (Actual: 77-85, Replay: 88-74, +11)

 

Atlanta was the surprise team of the 1967 replay. After having finished in seventh place in 1967, they moved into first play early and spent all summer there, occasionally fighting off incursions from NL opponents, but seemingly in control of their own destiny. At the end of the season though, injuries caught up with them, and their luck abandoned them, and they were unable to struggle through and still claim the NL pennant when they lost to St. Louis in extra innings on the final day of the season.

The Braves relied on the "different hero every day" philosophy, with different players routinely coming through with key hits. Hank Aaron (.295, 35 HR, 94 RBI's) swung the big bat, but Joe Torre (.256, 16 HR, 62 RBI's), Felipe Alou (.323, 22 HR, 92 RBI's), Rico Carty (.294, 17 HR, 76 RBI's), and Clete Boyer (.216, 22 HR, 63 RBI's) all took their turns to keep the Braves rocking. The Braves defense led the NL in double players by a goodly margin, despite not having a fielding one second baseman (Woody Woodward)  or shortstop (Denis Menke).

 

Ken Johnson (18-3, 2.25) arm wore out by the end of the season and he couldn’t pick up a twentieth win, and he eventually had to sit the final two weeks of the season. Ken Jarvis (15-8, 3.19), Phil Niekro (14-7, 1.92), Denny Lemaster (14-12, 3.16) and Johnson led the Atlanta starters and kept them in the hunt right until the very end.

 

Cincinnati Reds (Actual: 87-75, Replay: 88-74, +1)

 

In 1967, the Reds got off to a hot start, then they got overwhelmed with injuries, then they got healthy again, and with a reconfigured lineup - the nucleus of The Big Red Machine - roared back to a strong finish, where, matched with Atlanta's late-season collapse, Cincinnati tied with Atlanta for second place in the NL. At one point in Mid-May, the Reds were floundering at the bottom of the NL with Houston and New York, but fought their way through their mid-season injury period (Tommy Harper missed two months with a broken ankle and Leo Cardenas missed two months with a broken wrist), but their absences gave opportunities to Tommy Helms and Lee May.

While bouncing between first base and third, Tony Perez (.320, 31 HR, 119 RBI's) went on a hitting splurge that carried the Reds through the rough days at the beginning of the season, plus it also guaranteed him a spot in the daily lineup. Vada Pinson (.301, 24 HR, 97 RBI's) played every day and provided a second power source for the Reds, and Pete Rose (.312, 13 HR, 70 RBI's) spent time at both left field and second base as needed. Johnny Bench (.169) made his first major league appearance towards the end pf the season and moved into a full-time role immediately.

 

As a team, the Reds finished second in hitting and third in pitching, but they finished last in fielding. Gary Nolan (15-7, 2.38) was the key starter for Cincinnati but was joined by Milt Pappas (16-12. 2.99), Mel Queen (12-9, 2.46), and Jim Maloney (11-11, 2.99) to create a formidable starting squad. Behind the starters, Don Nottebart (9-5, 3 Saves, 1.62) and especially Ted Abernathy (6-5, 24 Saves, 1.56) provided key bullpen support.

 

Los Angeles Dodgers (Actual: 73-89, Replay: 87-75, +14)

 

After a World Series appearance in 1966, and after the retirement of ace hurler Sandy Koufax, the 1967 Dodgers were a bit of a mess. Maury Wills has been traded to Pittsburgh before the season, and the Dodgers infield was unsettled for much of the season. Willie Davis (.289, 8 HR, 63 RBI's) missed the first month of the season, and their outfield was never settled with the team relying on a constant stream of platoon assignments spread over a group of six different outfielders. A late-season surge saw them finish with 14 wins over their actual 1966 amount, but Los Angeles never really challenged for the top spot - it was more like they were the kings of the middle clump of teams in the NL. Al Ferrara (.277, 18 HR, 63 RBI's) provided some pop from right field, and Jim Lefebvre (.277, 18 HR, 63 RBI's) split his time between second and third base.

In Memoriam: Al Ferrara

 

In a season that featured a total of eight no-hitters, Claude Osteen (19-14, 2.94) threw a fourteen-inning (14!) no-hitter in San Francisco in late May. Osteen walked one and struck out seven along the way, and was due to be pinch-hit for until the Dodgers broke the scoreless tie with a run in the top of the fourteenth, with Gaylord Perry taking the hard-luck loss. Osteen also knocked four homeruns during the season, showing some surprising slugging skills.

 

Besides Osteen, Don Drysdale (21-13, 2.68) and Bill Singer (12-10, 2.07) carried the Dodgers, with Don Sutton (7-17, 3.46) having a hard-luck season as he has eighteen Quality Starts to go with that record. Phil Regan (5-6, 7 Saves, 2.46) and Ron Perranoski (5-2, 18 Saves, 1.47) contributed solid relief support as needed.

 

Philadelphia Phillies (Actual: 82-80, Replay: 86-76, +4)

 

The Phillies were very competitive through the first portion of the season with Jim Bunning (20-14, 2.21) and Chris Short (15-7, 2.24) anchoring the rotation, but then Short missed several weeks at midseason, and the Phillies started to settle down in the standings Their fate was further sealed when Dick Allen (.279, 25 HR, 70 RBI's) accidentally sliced tendons in his hand in late-August which required surgery, leaving Philadelphia to finish in the middle of the pack.

Besides Allen, Tony Gonzalez (.321, 7 HR, 49 RBI's) and Johnny Callison (.274, 23 HR, 84 RBI's) both made solid contributions, while the centerfield combo of Don Lock (.27 5, 16 HR, 51 RBI's) and John Briggs (.235, 10 HR, 40 RBI's, ) combined for 26 homeruns. Bill White (.261, 7 HR, 46 RBI's) missed the first month of the season due to injury, but played a solid first base thereafter, while Bobby Wine (.186, 3 HR, 30 RBI's) was a frequent pinch-hit target, but his defense at shortstop helped tighten the Phillies defense, much to the delight of the Phillies pitchers.

 

After Allen got hurt the Phillies' offense fizzled out, and many of Bunnings' late-season outings were squandered, but Rick Wise (10-10, 2.90) maintained his performance while Larry Jackson (15-15, 3.45) rose from the ashes with a strong finish to keep the Phillies competitive. Turk Farrell (2-5, 2.83) provided a strong arm out of the pen and finished with fifteen saves.

 

San Francisco Giants (Actual: 91-71, Replay: 79-83, -12)

 

I expected more out of the Giants. They did finish in second place in 1967, they had good pitching (starting and relief), and any team with Mays and McCovey in the center of the starting lineup was one to be reckoned with. Unfortunately, it never happened. They got off to a slow start, and spent several weeks struggling just to stay ahead of Houston and New York at the bottom of the standings, but then they turned it on and for a few days in August rose up as high as second place. However, they then collapsed again as they just couldn’t maintain that lofty position.

Willie Mays (.215, 25 HR, 72 RBI's) spent most of the first half of the season not just hitting below .200 but hitting well below .200. Willie McCovey (.257, 33 HR, 86 RBI's) recovered with a strong second half of the season, but his missing bat in the first half, along with Mays, ultimately doom San Francisco's season. All this, while Jim Ray Hart (.292, 44 HR, 111 RBI's) was having a season for the ages. Hart actually hit 29 homeruns in 1967, so he exceeded his actual number by 15 as he got hot right at the start of the season and managed to carry it all the way to the end.  He couldn't do it by himself though and the Giants floundered.

 

Gaylord Perry (15-17 2.53) and Mike McCormick (16-14, 2.77) saw many good pitching outings flitter away over the course of the season, while Juan Marichal (11-11, 3.67) was experiencing leg issues and missed most of the last two months of the season. Frank Linzy (1-3, 1.21) anchored the pen and finished with 16 saves,

 

Chicago Cubs (Actual: 87-74, Replay: 78-83, -9)

 

The Cubs started off in the middle of the pack and were content to stay right there, never floating down towards the bottom of the standings, but never floating upwards to challenge those towards the top of the standings either. In their own way, Chicago was kind of disappointing as well. They had a strong lineup, played good defense, and had a solid rotation, but played a largely forgettable season.

Ron Santo (.288, 28, 108) had a strong start to the season and carried the team early, but then Billy Wiliams (.252, 23 HR, 79 RBI's) and Ernie Banks (.289, 24 HR, 81 RBI's) picked up their performance for the second half of the season. Don Kessinger (.265) and Glenn Beckert (.291, 39 DB) provided solid up-the-middle defense, and Randy Hundley (.236, 9 HR, 50 RBI's) caught 150 games. They could never get rightfield settled though and went through a half-dozen candidates for the job, but none were satisfactory.

 

Ferguson Jenkins (22-11, 2.33) had a strong season, with Rich Nye (11-11, 3.36) and Joe Niekro (9-7, 3.45) sliding in right behind him. Manager Leo Durocher was willing to give a lot of pitchers opportunities, most notably Chuck Hartenstein (4-5, 9 Saves, 3.88) and Bill Stoneman (1-4, 2 Saves, 4.61), and unfortunately for the Cubs, Ken Holtzman (4-4, 3.74) spent most of the year in the military.

 

Pittsburgh Pirates (Actual: 81-81, Replay: 78-84, -3)

 

The Pirates led the NL in Team Hitting (.273), but also finished next-to-last in Team ERA (4.04), which pretty much sums up their season. Worst of all, despite leading the NL in runs scored (704), they still managed to allow more runs (726) than they scored. Luckily for Pittsburgh, Houston and New York were worse and Pittsburgh managed to avoid the cellar.

Roberto Clemente (.348, 27 HR, 114 RBI's) ) had an outstanding season and might have received serious MVP consideration had the team been any better.  Rather than platoon Willie Stargell (.285, 22 HR, 104 HR) and Donn Clendenon (.251, 15 HR, 62 RBI's) at first base, the decision was made around mid-season to just plunk Stargell in left field and Stargell provided to be a real force at the plate. Bill Mazeroski (.259, 14 HR, 67 RBI's) and Gene Alley (.293, 8 HR, 58 RBI's) provided solid defense up the middle. Jerry May (.262) was the primary catcher, but Manny Sanguillen (.239) came up for a cup of coffee late in the season.

 

Bob Veale (15-14, 4.27) and Tommie Sisk (12-13, 3.02) led the starting corps, with names like Bruce Dal Canton (1-1, 2.86), Steve Blass (3-8, 5.49), and Bob Moose (1-1. 8.74) getting shots to pitch at the Major League level. Roy Face (6-1, 18 Saves, 2.04) and Al McBean (10-1, 4 Saves, 2.15) did what they could from the bullpen, but with a Team ERA of 4.04 (eleventh in the NL), they could only do so much.

 

New York Mets (Actual: 61-101, Replay: 68-94, +7)

 

New York manager Wes Westrum spent the first half of the 1967 season weeding through the roster, trying to cobble together a reasonable lineup and starting staff, and to that end, he was largely successful. In the second half of the season, the Mets were a much tougher team, and Westrum's thanks was that he was fired with two weeks remaining in the season. The rumor mill was loudly declaring that Washington manager Gil Hodges was going to be New York's manager next season … all part and parcel leading up to a Mets World Series victory two years from hence.

Tommy Davis (.360, 17 HR, 89 RBI’s) led the league in hitting and provided a solid everyday hitter in the middle of the Mets lineup as he also led the team in homeruns and RBI's. Players like Bud Harrelson (.234), Jerry Grote (.244, 9 HR, 44 RBI's), Ed Kranepool (.260, 7 HR, 61 RBI's), and Ron Swoboda (.255, 11 HR, 58 RBI's) eventually ended up with regular starting positions.

 

New York solved one problem when Tom Seaver (18-12, 2.81) became one of the best pitchers in the game. He helped to prevent a long losing streak and singlehandedly powered the Mets to several unexpected wins. Pitchers like Jerry Koosman (1-2, 5.84) and Tug McGraw (0-2, 9.00) also made appearances, helping to set the stage for successes to come.

 

Houston Astros (Actual: 69-93, Replay: 68-94, -1)

 

Houston got off to a stronger-than-expected start and hung around the middle of the pack for the first few months of the season, but then Larry Dierker got called away for military duty and missed the second half of the season, and the Astros' hopes collapsed and the team tumbled to the bottom of the NL.

Jim Wynn (.244, 44 HR, 122 RBI's) provided the offense with plenty of pop, and Rusty Staub (.292, 41 DB, 8 HR, 75 RBI's) and Joe Morgan (.273, 10 HR, 51 RBI's) helped out as best they could, but they could only get inconsistent help from both first base and third base. Eddie Mathews (.225, 12 HR, 42 RBI's) was peddled off to Detroit late in the season, but the Astros really couldn’t just match up to their peers.

 

Mike Cuellar (17-12, 2.36), Dave Giusti (12-13, 3.92), and Don Wilson (8-14, 3.12) were the main stalwarts of the starting rotation, but they really could have used Larry Dierker (8-5, 2.81) to help round things out. Their relief staff wasn't afraid to get lit up, as tossing gasoline on a roaring fire often proved to be an ineffective plan. At least they got to play indoors on those hot Texas mid-summer afternoons.