The skies were overcast with a slight hint of rain as, Carl Michael Yastrzemski, the son of a Polish potato farmer stepped to the plate for his first Major League at-bat. The previous year he had hit .339 with seven homers and 69 RBIS for the Minneapolis Millers of the American Association. The Millers were the the Red Sox' Triple-A affiliate in 1960 but now they were laid to rest and they home at Metropolitan Stadium taken over by a Washington Senators franchsie which was moving from the nation's capital to become the Minnesota Twins.
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| CARL YASTRZEMSKI |
It was a chilly 45 degrees at Boston's Fenway Park for Opening Day as the 10,277 spectators looked on.
The Fenway Faithful, were deeply concerned. Their cherished left fielder over past 19 years had retired with a flourish at the end of the previous season, hitting his 512th career homer in his final at-bat - a Hall Of Famer known to most as "The Splendid Splinter," "The Thumper," "Teddy Ballgame" and, early in his career, called "The Kid."
"Who will guard the Green Monster now?" they wondered. "Who could possibly replace Ted Williams? How could you possibly replace the greatest hitter who ever played the game?"
Wearing a big red number "8" on his back, Yastrzemski put his best foot forward and toed the same left side of the batter's box that his predecessor had. With one out in the bottom of the second and Boston trailing 2-0, he bite into a Ray Herbert fastball and stroked it down the left field line off of Kansas City Athletic hurler Ray Herbert for single.
Red Sox fans were skeptical and even more so when Yastrzemski took off for second and was caught trying to steal for the third out of the inning. They had no idea of the greatness that lay within the brawny 5-11, 175 lb frame of the 21-year-old Southampton, NY native.
Yastrzemski played in 148 games in 1961, hitting 31 doubles, six triples, 11 homers and 80 RBIs while batting a respectable .266. He went 1 for 5 in that debut with two strikeouts and two groundouts. His lone base hit was the first of 3,318 hit he would amass over a 23-year career, all with the Red Sox.
Yastrzemski didn't win the A.L. Rookie Of The Year award in 1961 but that honor did go to one of his teammates - 25-year-old pitcher Don Schwall, who posted a 15-7 record with a 3.22 earned run average in 25 games (10 of which were complete games). In the National League, the ROY award went to Cubs' leftfielder Billy Williams who, late in the season, shared the hallow ground of Wrigley Field with another future Hall Of Famer who made his MLB debut on Sept. 10, 1961.
THE KING OF THIEVES
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| LOU BROCK |
Imagine playing in your first Major League game. You're playing center field and batting lead-off against the Philadelphia Phillies. You single up the middle off of 14-year veteran Robin Roberts in your first at-bat only to be doubled off on a line drive to the shortstop. You're about to finish afternoon 1 for 5 with a pop up and three groundouts.
No problem. Your team - the Chicago Cubs - have built a comfortable lead in the 90-degree heat before knocking Roberts from the hump after four and two-thirds. And with Don Ferrarese relieving, Billy Williams has just hit his second triple of the game to increase the Cubs' advantage to 6-1 .
Then, all hell breaks loose for starter Don Cardwell, and relievers Barney Schultz and Bob Anderson as the Phillies score seven runs in the seventh inning (including a Don Demeter grand slam), then tack on six more in the eighth inning off Anderson and Don Elston, thanks in part to your throwing error (one of two errors charged to you on the afternoon and one of seven by the Cubs!)
"Tough break kid! There'll be better days," someone says to you.
Lou Brock played in four games during the 1961 season. He came to the dish 12 times and other than the single in his debut and walk later on, showed little hint of his greatness. He struck out three times and batted a paltry .091 with no stolen bases. The next two years were of little comfort. He stayed with in the Majors for good but felt uncomfortable in centerfield and right, as well as the plate, batting around .250 each year.
By the middle of the 1964 season, the Cubs had lost their patience and traded him to the St. Louis Cardinals along with Jack Spring and Paul Toth for former 21-game winner Ernie Broglio, Doug Clemens and Bobby Shantz. It turned out to be one of the worst trades in history. The Cardinals switched Brock to left field (a position he couldn't play in Chicago because of Williams), then asked him to concentrate on using his speed and steal some bases.
Brock and the Cardinals were off to the races, capturing the World Series in seven games against the Yankees and breaking Phillie fans' hearts in the process. The change of venue was so uplifting, he came in 10th place in the N.L. MVP voting in 1964.
Elected to the Hall Of Fame in 1985, Brock collected 3,023 hits, 149 homers, 900 runs batted in and made six all-star appearances. He played in three World Series (1964, 1967 and 1968), of which the Cardinals won two. Of course, he stole a few bases during his 19 years in the Bigs too - 938 to be exact, leading the league eight times. Twelve times, he surpassed the 50-mark and stole a then-record 118 in 1974. To this day, the award honoring the N.L. leader each year is name after him, despite having his all-time career stolen base mark eclipsed by Rickey Henderson.
NO RELIEF IN SIGHT
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| FRED BRUCKBAUER |
Unlike the careers of Yastrzemski and Brock, Frederick John Bruckbauer's life in the Major Leagues neither started well nor ended well. But he does share a record that can never be broken.
On April 25, the Minnesota Twins made a visit to Municipal Stadium to play the Kansas City Athletics. The former Senators started out well in their new home and were 8-2. They sent Ted Sadowski on the mound while the 2-5 Athletics countered with Norm Bass, a prospect who had made his debut in relief two days earlier.
By the end of the third inning, Sadowski and reliever Lee Stange had surrendered a 7-0 lead. The Twins got two runs back in the top of the fourth as pinch-hitter Elmer Valo grounded in a 6-4-3 double play which scored Earl Battery and Zoilo Versalles lined a single to left to score Reno Bertoia. Eventually, the Athletics drubbed the Twins 20-2.
Bruckbauer, a native Minnesotan and former University of Minnesota Gopher star hurler, started the bottom of the fourth serving up a double to left field to future Yankees and Royals manager Dick Howser then an RBI single to center to Jay Hankin and walked Jerry Lumpe before Lou Klimchock sent him to the showers with a two-run double to right.
He faced four batters, gave up three hits and walked the fourth. Three of the runners scored and Bruckbauer never retired, nor faced, another Major League batter in his life. His career ERA is recorded as infinity, an unbreakable record he shares with - among other - another New Ulm, MN native Elmer "Doc" Hamann, who pitched to seven Boston Red Sox in 1922 (three walks, a hit batsman and three hits) without recording an out.
OTHER NOTABLE PREMIERES
In all, 112 players made their debuts during 1961. There were 75 in the American League while 37 made their debuts in the senior circuit. One reason for the difference, most likely, was that the American League was expanded by two teams to a 10-team league during the season and needed new players to fill the rosters. One of the new franchises was called the Los Angeles Angels. The second was a brand new version of the Washington Senators, which popped up in D.C.
Kansas City Athletic pitcher Lew Krause was the youngest of the newcomers (slightly younger than White Sox pitcher Mike DeGerick and Indians' fireballer Sam McDowell) while Milwaukee pitcher Chi-Chi Olivo was the oldest at 33 years. Before the year was over, Olivo posted a 18.00 ERA in three games for the Braves then didn't return to the Majors until 1964.
MLB Players Who Debuted in 1961 | ||||
| NAME | HITS | HRs | RBIs | ALL-STAR |
3,419 | 452 | 1,844 | 18 times | |
3,023 | 149 | 900 | 6 times | |
1,776 | 339 | 1,187 | 4 times | |
1,726 | 151 | 706 | 6 times | |
1,591 | 200 | 758 | 11 times | |
1,355 | 60 | 461 | 1 time | |
1,273 | 159 | 682 | none | |
1,106 | 81 | 524 | 3 times | |
1,048 | 113 | 443 | 1 time | |
1,041 | 153 | 530 | 3 times | |
1,011 | 134 | 504 | 3 times | |
MLB Pitchers Who Debuted in 1961 | ||||
| NAME | W-L | ERA | SOs | ALL-STAR |
164-156 | 3.24 | 1,411 | 3 times | |
141-134 | 3.17 | 2.453 | 6 times | |
128-115 | 2.92 | 1,534 | 2 times | |
123-107 | 3.22 | 1,639 | once | |
116-117 | 3.11 | 1,065 | once | |
113-97 | 4.07 | 1,120 | none | |
88-75 | 3.40 | 1,175 | none | |
79-74 | 2.79 | 687 | none | |
72-64 | 3.53 | 700 | none | |
68-91 | 4.00 | 721 | none | |
