Thursday, September 1, 2016

Common Denominator: Jim O'Toole

"Pitched against the Yankees in the 1961 World Series, pitched against the Phillies in the second-to-last game of the 1964 season."

Jim O'Toole was 19-9 in the 1961 season for the Cincinnati Reds and had the best ERA (3.10) of any starter. In the Fall Classic against the great New York Yankees, he was even better. Alas, he came away 0-2.

Getting the honour of the ball for game one against Whitey Ford at Yankee Stadium, it looked like a huge task. Ford had won 25 games himself in the regular season that year. And he'd pitched two shutouts vs. Pittsburgh in the Fall Classic in 1960.

Here, Ford threw another shutout. A two-hit gem. Sure, he got some nice fielding plays by Clete Boyer at third, but Whitey was just in control from the first batter he faced to the last.

Eddie Kasko singled as the second batter of the game, would you believe it? The Reds were unable to get him home. O'Toole got himself out of many jams in the game, including the home team loading the bases in the bottom of the frame. New York did not score until the bottom of the fourth when Elston Howard went the other way for a solo home run. The Yankees got their other run on another solo blast, this one by Moose Skowron in the sixth. Jim Brosnan took over for O'Toole in the bottom of the eighth after the pitcher was pinch hit for. Cincinnati's only other hit was by Wally Post in the top of the fifth. New York won, 2-0.

The teams split the next two games. Game four, like game three, was in Crosley Field in Cincinnati. O'Toole stayed with Ford again. But the Yankees started to chip away. A double play scored the only run Ford would need in the top of the fourth. With two down in the next inning, Ford walked. Bobby Richardson singled. Tony Kubek singled home a second run.

The Reds got a man on in the bottom of the frame, as they tried to square this. Dick Gernert batted for O'Toole, as he had in game one. But like in the opening contest, he could not get on. The Yankees wasted no time in salting the game away with O'Toole gone, tacking on two more runs in the sixth, and another three in the seventh. It had been a close game, but the final score was one-sided: 7-0, New York!

Jim did not get another chance to pitch in the World Series. That win put New York up three games to one. A 13-5 win in the fifth contest ended the Fall Classic of 1961. Three years later, it looked like a rematch.

The Reds headed into game #161 in 1964, having won 13 of their previous 16 contests. Cincinnati was at home, up against Philadelphia, but half a game back of St. Louis.

The Reds looked poised for their 93rd win of the year. O'Toole and company build up a 3-0 lead on Philadelphia, who looked sure to lose their 11th straight game. But a single, a walk, and another single made it 3-1. O'Toole was out of there despite going 7 1/3 and allowing just five hits. Billy McCool came in. Philly wasn't going down. A triple by Dick Allen tied the game. Allen himself scored on the third single of the inning by Alex Johnson. 4-3, Phillies.

The Reds were retired 1-2-3 in the bottom of the frame. Joey Jay, pitching for Cincinnati in the top of the 9th, gave the home team one last crack to pull it out as he got Philadelphia out on just a single. But Cincy was retired 1-2-3. When the Phillies thrashed the Reds 10-0 in the next game (The last game of the season) behind a brilliant 6-hitter by Jim Bunning, Cincinnati was eliminated from the pennant. It was the Cards, that had caught up to both the Reds and the Phillies to take the pennant. They also won the World Series in seven games over the Yankees.

 Jim O'Toole had posted the best ERA of his career that year, 2.66 (He was 17-7), but it was not enough. It was also his last great year despite posting an ERA of 2.82 in 1967 with the Chicago White Sox in limited duty.

From 1960 to 1964, Jim was 81-55 with an ERA just over three (3.18). Along with Jim Maloney, Joey Jay and Bob Purkey, he was a mainstay of a very good pitching staff that wasn't too far off what the Dodgers and Cardinals had. It was just unfortunate that Los Angeles and St. Louis dominated the 1960s in the National League (And the New York Yankees were always one tough opposition in the World Series, if you even made it that far!). Pitchers like O'Toole were denied the opportunities to bring the World Series home to their team.


References



Anderson, Dave. Pennant Races: Baseball At Its Best. New York: Doubleday, 1994. Print.

Enders, Eric. 100 Years Of The World Series. New York: Sterling Publishing Co., Inc. 2005. Print.

Golenbock, Peter. Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964. Lincolnwood, IL: Contemporary, 2000, pp. 441-445. Print.

Sports Reference LLC. Baseball-Reference.com - Major League Statistics and Information. http://www.baseball-reference.com/. Web. 03 Sept. 2016.

No comments:

Post a Comment