Another 1964?

Today is do or die. Win or go home. You get my drift. There will be a celebration in Chicago today. Someone will go to the playoffs after this final game.

The funny thing is, this isn't the first time that the Sox were down to the wire. They were the bridesmaid team of the fifties and sixties, mostly to the Yankees. Second place was their fate for most of those years. The Sox had great teams but always fell just short.

Take 1967. The Red Sox, Twins, Tigers and White Sox were all in range of the World Series during the final week. The White Sox finished three games back to the Red Sox, when all was said and done.

1967 was the most famous pennant race, but 1964 was the most heartbreaking. The White Sox finished one game back of the Yankees that year. One game. The Sox won 98 games in 1964, which is four more than their last World Series appearance, to that point, in 1959. The Sox won their last nine games. The playoffs seems a lock.

How did they lose? The Yankees had a late season 11 game winning streak. Heartache is not just a Cubs trait. The Cubs failures and near misses just get more publicity. The White Sox have been there too.

1955 - 3rd - 5 games back
1956 - 3rd - 12 games back
1957 - 2nd - 8 games back
1958 - 2nd - 10 games back
1959 - 1st - 5 games up
1960 - 3rd - 10 games back
1963 - 2nd - 10.5 games back
1964 - 2nd - 1 game back
1965 - 2nd - 7 games back
1967 - 4th - 3 games back

Before 1955 and after 1967, the White Sox couldn't even see first place in September with binoculars. During the stretch from 1955 until 1967, they were in the thick of the pennant race until at least the final weeks of the season, for most years.

Will this be the year that the White Sox win by one game? We will all know after tonight.

Mailbox Joys

I found an unexpected envelope in the mailbox yesterday. By unexpected, I mean I forgot about it because it came extremely fast. I wasn't expecting it until maybe Friday, since Thursday is a holiday.

This would be my first 1964 White Sox card. Years 18 through 29 were dominated by work, women and music and movie collecting. Put those in any order you like. Your list is probably true. Both of these guys look like they are straight out of 1964. Pencil-thin white guys with what looks like crew cuts and one of them has glasses. If that doesn't scream mid-60's Midwest America, I don't know what does.

These two have more in common than you might think. They both had slightly under average ERAs. They both came up in the early sixties. They both were out of major league baseball by the end of the decade. They both started their careers with the White Sox and finished with the Washington Senators. Lincoln had a secretary named Kennedy and Kennedy had a secretary named Lincoln. Ahem, well you get my drift. Lots of eerie coincidences.

Bruce Howard was on the White Sox from 1963 to 1967. He and two other players were traded to the Baltimore Orioles after the 1967 season for Luis Aparicio and two other players. In July of 1968, Baltimore traded him to the Senators for Fred Valentine. He had a career ERA of 3.18 and was 26-31 in his career. Not bad, but not great.

Frank Kreutzer was on the White Sox from 1962 to 1964. He was the player to be named later in a trade to the Senators for Moose Skowron and another player in July 1964. Frank played for Washington until 1966. He next played a major league game in 1969. He played 4 games for the Senators and was traded to the Pittsburgh Pirates. He never appeared in a game with the Pirates. Frank's career ERA was 4.40 and was 8-18 in his career. Not exactly Bob Gibson. What happened to Frank? I can't find any info so far. He either had to go down to the minors a few years to work things out or he got injured.

Anyway, I'm glad to have a card of these two 1964 rookies. It starts my 1964 team set and that can never be a bad thing. It seems like these two are a couple of hard luck pitchers. I could be wrong. The 1964 design is one of my favorites of the 1960's. It's simple and the lettering seems very inviting. I know that sounds strange, but that's how I feel about it.