I’ll start this 1966 NL replay update with some housekeeping.
On July 19, the Houston Astros traded once big-time slugger Jim Gentile to the Indians for Tony Curry. Gentile will finish out the year with Cleveland then retire from baseball. As for Curry, he never played for the Astros and his career was over as well.
My replay had another transaction on July 20. To alleviate the loss of Gentile, Houston traded minor leaguer Jim Mahoney to the White Sox for Gene Freese. Like Gentile, Freese is another player in his last year of his career in 1966.
Neither was a truly impactful player in 1966 but it did require digging into my American League teams to find Freese. For those wondering, I found the full 1966 transaction list here.
Now to the fun stuff!
The batsmen
Once Dick Allen received enough plate appearances to qualify, he was at the top of the leaderboards. He led in batting average, slugging and OBP. He also led the league in runs batted in. That is now being threatened. Allen has gone 4 for 21 with one rbi in the last five games.
In that time, Cub Ron Santo has taken the OBP lead with a .414 mark and Willie Stargell of the Pirates now leads the NL with 72 rbis. Willie Mays still hangs on to the lead with 20 home runs. In fact, there are four Giants in the top ten with Hart (17), McCovey (14), and Haller (14) joining him.
With a current 17-game hitting streak, St. Louis’ Lou Brock is threatening Matty Alou record of 23 for the season.
The hurlers
There’s a new king on the block!
Pittsburgh’s Vern Law has led in ERA for quite a while. However, Juan Marichal pitched a shutout, his league-leading ninth, on July 20th to put him on top. He currently leads all qualifiers with a 1.51 ERA. The more amazing stat: he maintains a 3.9 hits per game average.
Some random player stats
Philly Johnny Callison has doubled in his last seven games
In the eight games after the All-Star break, Cardinal Dal Maxvill went 18 for 33.
Since coming to the Cardinals, Orlando Cepeda (1-5-6) has homered twice in 207 at-bats.
Johnny Lewis of the Mets holds the record for most hits one game with six on June 26.
So where does that put us?
LA is still in first place but just barely. On July 20, the Pirates had a 10-game winning streak and were on the verge of tying them for the lead in a face off against them. Don Drysdale prevented that by out-pitching then-ERA leader Vern Law. The Dodger won 4-2. Drysdale helped the cause by driving in two runs.
The Giants have hit a rough patch. They were once in second place but now see themselves tied for fifth with the Reds at .500. They certainly have the hitting plus Marichal. Bobby Bolin has been solid (8-6, 3.58) but Gaylord Perry isn’t getting much support (4-10, 3.95).
I have faith that the Cardinals will pick it up despite Cepeda’s lack of power. They are now on a three-game winning streak and only one game behind the Mets. Gibson (8-7, 2.65) will need a little more support for that to happen.
Looking ahead, the Pirates have one more game with the Dodgers coming up so there is a chance to pick up a game. Along the same lines, the Cards have a four-game soon set with the Cubs and that’s a good opportunity to get out of the cellar.
Stay tuned!
