Billy Ball - a Managerial Dynasty

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APRIL 6, 1969:
NL PREVIEW: GIANTS by Bob Stevens (San Francisco Chronicle)

SAN FRANCISCO - Basically, except on high where a new manager, Clyde King, directs the operations, the San Francisco Giants of 1969 are the same pride of tigers that finished second for the past four campaigns in the National League.

The Giants have, for openers, Willie Mays, now 38 but showing only slightly the wear and tear of 18 major-league seasons; Juan Marichal, percentage-wise (170-77, .689) the greatest of all active pitchers, and walloping Willie McCovey, defending home run (36), runs batted in (105) and slugging average (.545) champion of the senior circuit.

All around them are stars and near superstars who have known the frustration and agony of two near misses in the pennant department over the span of the past four runnerup seasons.

At second base is Ron Hunt, champion of the hit batsmen last year with 25. The shortstop is Hal Lanier, defensive champion at his position (17 errors in 795 chances, .979). Hard-hitting rookie Bobby Etheridge is at third and there are capable backup infielders in young Don Mason and all-around man Bob Burda, up from Phoenix of the Pacific Coast League and a varsity roster survivor for the first time after two failures.

What the outfield lacks in depth it compensates for in power and speed, plus the leadership of the incomparable Mays, now 587 home runs along in a career that appears at least four years from the end. Power-boy Jim Ray Hart, a third baseman most of his career, has been moved permanently to left field. On the other side of Mays is potential superstar Bobby Bonds, a member of an athletic family that gave Robert, an older brother, to professional football, and Rosie, a sister, to the women's Olympic Games track squad.

In 81 games last year, his first in the major leagues, the lithe Bonds ripped nine homers and drove in 35 runs with his 78 hits. He carries the label "can't miss" in Giant society.

Besides Marichal, who has 20 or more games in five of the last six campaigns, the Giants will field three other former 20-or-more game winners - Gaylord Perry (21-8 in 1966), Mike McCormick (22-10 in 1967) and Ray Sadecki (20-11 with the world champion Cardinals in 1964).

Behind them are big Bobby Bolin of 20-game potential, and bullpen specialists Frank Linzy and Joe Gibbon. A possible rotation starting man is rookie Rich Robertson, 18-9 in the Coast League last season only two years after being big man on the Santa Clara campus.

The catching is deep with Dick Dietz, Bob Barton and Jack Hiatt. A regular for the first time last year, Dietz hit .272, the highest by a Giant maskman since Walker Cooper averaged .305 in 1947.

One basic difference between the 1969 Giants and the clubs that came before it that Mays for the first time in his career will hit lead off in the batting order, a strategy move by King that paid off handsomely in spring training.

"It gives us a chance," said King, "to get out in front right now. And, besides, there is no man alive who can go from first base to third base like Willie can. If the players behind him do the job, we'll score runs."

Another departure from the norm of Giant teams of the past will be that King will try to strike quickly on offense rather than lay back and try to live exclusively by the home run. Hit-and-run plays, bunts, double steals - the delicate manuevers for so long shunned by the power-laden Giants - will be put into play this season.

As King reasons, "Home runs got the Giants close for four year; more runs should get us there."


WILLIE MAYS

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APRIL 6, 1969:
NL PREVIEW: PADRES by Phil Collier (San Diego Union)

SAN DIEGO - The people connected with San Diego's National League expansion team are confident the Padres can win 60 of their 162 games this season. That would be 20 games more than the New York Mets won in 1962, their first season in the league.

"We have a lot more talent than the Mets had then," said Roger Craig, the San Diego pitching coach who won a fourth of New York's 40 victories in '62.
Preston Gomez, the San Diego manager, predicted the Padres would outhit the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team he coached for the past several years. And catcher Jesse Gonder, the ex-Met who was with San Diego on a tryout, said no National League expansion team ever had as much power as the Padres.

But ex-Dodger General Manager Buzzie Bavasi, San Diego's President and co-owner, said he was thinking about four years from now when he went predominantly with youth in last year's expansion draft.

Pitching and weak fielding at first base and third are San Diego's most serious problems.

The Padres' five starting pitchers - Dick Kelley, Al McBean, Dick Selma, Tommie Sisk and John Podres - combined to win only 25 games in the National League last season. Podres, in fact, was out of baseball, but the former Dodger World Series hero appears to have enough stuff to stick with his near namesakes.

Billy McCool, counted upon to be a strong help in relief, has had arms trouble this spring. The other members of the staff - Tom Dukes, Frank Reberger, and Clay Kirby - are woefully inexperienced.

The Padres didn't have a catcher with major-league experience until they traded recently for Pittsburgh's Chris Cannizzaro, a weak hitter.

However, outfielders Tony Gonzalez, Clarence Gaston and Ollie Brown; first baseman Bill Davis and third baseman Ed Spiezio all figure to hit with power. The outfield is deep in substitutes who can hit - Al Ferrara, Larry Stahl and Ivan Murrell - and Roberto Pena led National League shortstops in hitting last year, when he averaged .260 at Philadelphia.

Most of the Padres are resigned to finishing sixth and last this year in the National League's Western Division. However, ex-Met Selma made an interesting observation.

"I hope I'm still here three or four years from now," he said, "to see what happens when all these good-looking kids grow up."

The Padres have had several tempting offers for Gonzalez and Brown. But Gonzalez is one of only three lefthanded batters on the San Diego roster and the Padres believe he will feast on the steady diet of righthanders they are likely to face. Gonzalez is the lone Padre ever to hit .300 in the majors.


JOHNNY PODRES

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APRIL 6, 1969:
NL PREVIEW: REDS by Si Burick (Dayton Daily News)

CINCINNATI - The Cincinnati Reds will take the field this year with a rare blend of youth and experience - rare because the young players have the experience.

The Reds have six players with a good chance to be named for the National League's All-Star team, based on 1968 form and 1969 hopes. That doesn't include pitchers who might be good enough by election time.

Four Reds made it last year. Outfielder Pete Rose, who will be 27 April 14, drew the largest number of National League votes but didn't get to play after suffering a broken thumb. He moves this year from right field to center.

Third baseman Tony Perez, 26, has made the All-Star squad two years in succession. Tommy Helms, 27, won a starting berth at second base last season. And catcher Johnny Bench, as intelligent as a Rhodes Scholar at a tender 21, also played for the National League.

Bench, the rookie of the year, was generally rated the best young catcher to come into the majors in years. Herman Frank, then manager of the San Francisco Giants, was typical of the old-timers who, watching Bench in action, compared him as a thrower to the great Gabby Hartnett.

Lee May, 26, coming into his own as a first baseman and batter after a .290 year at the plate, also must be rated an All-Star candidate. And left fielder Alex Johnson, 26, who won a regular spot last year after playing part-time in Philadelphia and St. Louis, also will get consideration, based on a .312 average in baseball's Year of the Pitcher.

The other regulars are Woody Woodward, 26, at shortstop, and Bobby Tolan, 23, in right field. Woodward came to the Reds from Atlanta in a midsummer
trade (with pitchers Tony Cloninger and Clay Carroll) for Milt Pappas.

Woodward has inherited, at least for the time being, the job that opened up when Leo Cardenas was traded to Minnesota during the winter for lefthanded pitcher Jim Merritt.

A surprise candidate, switch-hitting Darrel Chaney, who was at Asheville in the Southern League last year, has been pushing Woodward all spring and will be kept. The 21-year-old ex-quarterback from Hammond, Ind., who turned down football scholarship offers from Notre Dame and Michigan State, could work into the regular spot.

Tolan, the young right fielder, came from pennant-winning St. Louis with relief pitcher Wayne Granger in the deal that put Vada Pinson in a Cardinal uniform. Tolan has reacted well to the opportunity. He has speed and can bunt.

Manager Dave Bristol believes his club deserves top consideration for Western Division honors in the National League. He points to the experience factor:

"Bench has that year behind him. Perez has two full years at third base. It's the same for May at first. And Helms, who was a shortstop in the minors, has his third year at second base and the best hitting with a .273 average. Now I think our guys are ready to hit when it counts against the best pitching in the league."

The Reds had a sour pitching year in 1968. Ace Jim Maloney, sophomore Gary Nolan and converted outfielder Mel Queen had sore arms last spring. Merritt, the new man from the Twins, provides an outstanding lefthanded starter.

Tony Cloninger will be in the starting rotation, too. Spot starters are George Culver, who pitched a no-hitter against Philadelphia last year; Gerry Arrigo and Jack Fisher.

Ted Abernathy was traded to the Cubs, but the Reds have an improved bullpen with Carroll and Granger.

If the pitching is as improved as Bristol and new pitching coach Harvey Haddix think it is, this is the youthful club that could be playing in the World Series.


JOHNNY BENCH

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APRIL 7, 1969:
MEET THE STAFFS - The General Managers, Managers and Coaches of the 24 Major League Ball Clubs:
AL EAST
BALTIMORE - Harry Dalton (GM), Earl Weaver (Mgr), Billy Hunter (3rd Base), Charlie Lau (Hitting), George Bamberger (Pitching), George Staller (1st)
BOSTON - Dick O'Connell (GM), Dick Williams (Mgr), Bobby Doerr (1st Base), Darrell Johnson (Pitching), Al Lakeman (Bullpen), Eddie Popowski (3rd Base), George Thomas (Coach)
CLEVELAND - Gabe Paul (GM), Al Dark (Mgr), Clay Bryant (Pitching), Luke Easter (1st Base), Johnny Lipon (3rd Base), Jack Sanford (Bullpen), George Strickland (Hitting)
DETROIT - Jim Campbell (GM), Mayo Smith (Mgr), Ted Kazanski (Pitching), Wally Moses (1st Base), Hal Naragon (Bullpen), Grover Resinger (3rd Base), Johnny Sain (Pitching)
NEW YORK - Lee MacPhail Jr. (GM), Ralph Houk (Mgr), Jim Hegan (Bullpen), Elston Howard (Hitting), Dick Howser (3rd Base), Mickey Mantle (1st Base), Jim Turner (Pitching)
WASHINGTON - Bob Short (Owner/GM), Ted Williams (Mgr), Joe Camacho (Coach), Doug Camilli (Bullpen), Nellie Fox (Hitting), Sid Hudson (Pitching), George Susce (1st Base), Wayne Terwilliger (3rd Base)

AL WEST
CALIFORNIA - Dick Walsh (GM), Bill Rigney (Mgr), Rocky Bridges (3rd Base), Marv Grissom (Pitching), Mickey McDermott (Bullpen), Mike Roarke (Hitting/1st Base)
CHICAGO - Ed Short (GM), Al Lopez (Mgr), Ray Berres (Pitching), Tony Cuccinello (Hitting), Kerby Farrell (Bullpen), Don Gutteridge (3rd Base), Les Moss (1st Base)
KANSAS CITY - Cedric Tallis (VP/GM), Joe Gordon (Mgr), Harry Dunlop (Bullpen), Owen Friend (1st Base), Mel Harder (Pitching), Charlie Metro (3rd Base), Jo-Jo White (1st Base)
MINNESOTA - Calvin Griffith (Owner/GM), Billy Martin (Mgr), Art Fowler (Bullpen), Johnny Goryl (3rd Base), Vern Morgan (Hitting), Charlie Silvera (1st Base), Early Wynn (Pitching)
OAKLAND - Charlie Finley (Owner/GM), Hank Bauer (Mgr), Joe DiMaggio (Hitting), Bobby Hofman (1st Base), Vern Hoscheit (Bullpen), Sherm Lollar (Coach), John McNamara (3rd Base), Bill Posedel (Pitching)
SEATTLE - Marvin Milkes (GM), Joe Schultz (Mgr), Frankie Crosetti (3rd Base), Sal Maglie (Pitching), Eddie O'Brien (Bullpen), Ron Plaza (Hitting/1st Base), Sibby Sisti (Fielding)

NL EAST
CHICAGO - John Holland (VP/GM), Leo Durocher (Mgr), Joey Amalfitano (1st Base), Ernie Banks (Player/Coach), Joe Becker (Pitching), Pete Reiser (3rd Base), Rube Walker (Bullpen)
MONTREAL - Jim Fanning (GM), Gene Mauch (Mgr), Peanuts Lowrey (Hitting/3rd Base), Cal McLish (Pitching), Bob Oldis (1st Base), Jerry Zimmerman (Bullpen)
NEW YORK - Johnny Murphy (VP/GM), Gil Hodges (Mgr), Yogi Berra (3rd Base), Joe Pignatano (Bullpen), Rube Walker (Pitching), Eddie Yost (Hitting/1st Base)
PHILADELPHIA - John Quinn (VP/GM), Bob Skinner (Mgr), Bill DeMars (1st Base), George Myatt (3rd Base), Andy Seminick (Hitting), Al Widmar (Pitching)
PITTSBURGH - Joe L. Brown (GM), Larry Shepard (Mgr), Alex Grammas (3rd Base), Vern Law (Pitching), Don Leppert (Bullpen), Bill Virdon (Hitting)
ST. LOUIS - Bing Devine (VP/GM), Red Schoendienst (Mgr), George Kissell (Hitting), Bob Milliken (1st Base), Billy Muffett (Pitching), Dick Sisler (3rd Base)

NL WEST
ATLANTA - Paul Richards (VP/GM), Lum Harris (Mgr), Jim Busby (3rd Base), Fritz Dorish (Pitching), Billy Goodman (Hitting), Satchel Paige (Bullpen), Ken Silvestri (1st Base)
CINCINNATI - Bob Howsam (EVP/GM), Dave Bristol (Mgr), Vern Benson (3rd Base), Jimmy Bragan (Hitting/1st Base), Harvey Haddix (Pitching), Hal Smith (Bullpen)
HOUSTON - Spec Richardson (VP/GM), Harry Walker (Mgr), Buddy Hancken (1st Base), Mel McGaha (Hitting), Jim Owens (Pitching), Salty Parker (3rd Base)
LOS ANGELES - Al Campanis (VP/GM), Walter Alston (Mgr), Red Adams (Pitching), Carroll Beringer (Bullpen), Jim Gilliam (1st Base), Roy Hartsfield (Hitting), Danny Ozark (3rd Base)
SAN DIEGO - Buzzie Bavasi (PRES./GM), Preston Gomez (Mgr), Sparky Anderson (3rd Base), Roger Craig (Pitching), Wally Moon (Hitting), Whitey Wietelmann (1st Base)
SAN FRANCISCO - Chub Feeney (VP/GM), Clyde King (Mgr), Larry Jansen (Pitching), Ozzie Virgil (3rd Base), Wes Westrum (Hitting/1st Base)