1960 Baseball Season

 

Recap:

As the saying goes, "Uneasy is the head that wears the crown" in the 3RBL  as for the fifth time in the six year history of the league a different franchise was crowned the champion at the conclusion of the post season tournament.  This year it was the record setting Mars Hill Mules who paired a dominating pitching staff with a smothering offense to set a league record for wins in the season.  The Mules boasted the Cy Young award winner and the MVP and the second best overall defense in the league.

 

Presley Division:

The resurgent Jersey Boys shot to the top of the standings in what was the tightest race of the three divisions.  Jersey held off the 1959 champion Pittsburgh clinching the division title on the final day of the season.  As always, Jersey was led on the offense by Willie Mays but Willie was the only Boy to hit over 20 homers and one of three who homered in double figures.  Speed was the name of the Jersey game as they led the league in stolen bases with 115, almost half again as many as the second place Calumet Sh-Booms.  Pittsburgh finished second but qualified for the Wild Card with the fourth best record in the league.  The Vikings got some disappointing performances from players they were counting on and the pre-season trade of Rich Ashburn to Jersey left them constantly searching for a lineup that would click.  Meadville finished 6.5 games back as they were led by the rock of their rotation, Warren Spahn (20-7) who seems to be a lock to win 20 each season.  They did have a surprising offensive hero as Dick Williams (.345) led the league in batting for much of the season before fading in the final month to eventual winner, Pittsburgh's Dick Groat.  In fact, for the third successive season the batting champ has played for Pittsburgh (Groat, Kuenn and Skinner) and in the season prior to that , Ted Williams of Meadville was the winner making it four in a row for the Presley Division.

 

Brando Division:

Mars Hill was the class of the league in 1960.  They set a league record in wins with 109 and led in every offensive category save OBP where they finished .002 behind Surf City and RPG where they tied Surf City at 5.2.  Pitching, however, was the area in which they truly shone as they led the league by 34 points in team ERA; led in team shutouts with 18; allowed the second fewest home runs and surrendered a whopping 83 fewer runs than the next best staff in the league.  Roger Maris was the league MVP with a slash line of .315/.390/.639 and counting stats of 44 homers, 114 runs scored and 132 RBI.  He led the league in RBI and finished second in both of the other categories.  The offense was not all Maris, however, as the reliable Ernie Banks (.259-41-124) provided the "right cross" to Maris' half of the "ole one-two" punch.

 

The staff was blessed with three 20 game winners.  Johnny Podres, (24-2 2.20) was the Cy Young winner; Bob Friend (25-8 2.55) was the top winner and Vernon Law (22-5 2.46) could have won the Cy Young award in any other season with his perofrmance.  Sam Jones (17-10 3.11) completed the quartet with what seemed to be pedestrian numbers.

 

While Lansing, Crimson and Calumet were never really in the division race, Lansing did vie for the Wild Card spot losing out to Pittsburgh in the final series.  The Songs were led on offense by the ever reliable Eddie Mathews who led the league with 51 homers while driving in 118 runs.  However, some cracks developed in the facade as the Song 3b-man fell to a .234 average and struck out 139 times, second most in the league.  The Cuban Cowby, Pedro Ramos (16-13 3.87) led a patchwork rotation but the star was Fireman of the Year Lindy McDaniel (10-6 2.06) who recorded 26 Saves.

 

Dean Division:

For the second successive season the Surf City Beach Boys finished second best in the post season tournament.  The second highest producing offense and the second lowest producing pitching staff produced the second best record to record the second consecutive Dean Division title.  

 

The offense revolved around the trio of Frank Robinson (.320-36-107), Ted Williams (.280-35-107) and Harmon Killebrew .270-29-90) who appeared to be "pumping iron" to many an opposing pitcher.  Bob Purkey (18-4 3.46) led the team in wins while Gerry Staley (7-7 2.80) led the bullpen with 17 Saves.  

 

Inland finished second, a distant 28.5 games behind, however, they did have the Rookie of the Year and hoped to cash in on first baseman Norm Cash.  Milt Pappas (10-9 3.68) was the leader of the staff while Jim Lemon (.250-29-96) led the offense.  

 

 

Post Season:

Considering the ease with which Mars Hill and Surf City rolled to their division crowns as compared to the struggle Jersey and Pittsburgh underwent, both favorites were pushed to the limit by their underdog counterpart.  Game boxes and scripts are at the left and it might be worth exploring the Mars Hill vs. Pittsburgh game 5 to see how ugly it can be when one team is on and another off at the same time.  As it was, the final two games were real nail biters as Mars Hill rallied to take the crown.