From Chapter 2:

1961-1965: Birds of a Different Feather

1964

Early on in Florida Manager Darrell Johnson was heard to say, “On paper this is a better club than I had a year ago.” He was fairly salivating over the anticipated pitching surplus (14 pitchers in camp, three more expected from Baltimore). His optimism was well-founded. Returning were his top three from the previous season: Nelson Chittum, Bill Short and Dave Vineyard. John Miller was back as well, hoping to reverse his second-half collapse. Bobby Scott was a recognizable face among the relief corps after his half-season in Rochester, but the key to the bullpen was the presence of Herm Starrette.

Short was the only returning southpaw, so Rochester counted a pair of lefties among its newcomers. Darold Knowles, 22, was one of the finest prospects in the Orioles’ system and did little to dispel that notion after 16-7, 2.63 performance in Elmira. He was joined by a pair of his former Double-A teammates, John Papa (11-10) and Tom Phoebus (12-7). The other lefty was George Brunet, 28, in his 11th season as a pro, having played for 19 different teams.

The pitching would need to be solid, as the offense was not expected to score a lot of runs. Johnson refused to put the “key player” tag on anyone, but conceded two key positions. Catcher was one, where Joe Pignatano had the inside track. He would be pushed by John Griffin, who spent most of the previous season with Double-A Lynchburg after his short stint in Rochester.

Shortstop was the other question mark. Mickey McGuire was not universally acknowledged as ready for Triple-A, despite an all-star year at Elmira (.315, 8, 81). “If McGuire can do the job for us at short, we are in good shape in the infield,” stated Johnson. Hedging their bets, however, the Wings went outside the organization in order to add insurance. Ron Kabbes had retired, so the Wings signed a glove man (Ron Stillwell) and a hitter (Don Buddin) to compete for the utility role.

Curt Blefary was expected to start at first, ahead of veterans Joe Altobelli and Luke Easter. The 20-year-old batted .275 with 29 home runs and 84 RBI between Class-A Greensboro and Elmira. Second base would be manned by Davey Johnson. Third was in the experienced hands of Steve Demeter, picked up in an off-season trade with Toronto. (Actually Demeter was the second choice in the deal. The Wings originally swapped Ozzie Virgil even up, but when the player Rochester was to receive balked and temporarily retired, the Wings took Demeter instead). Demeter was coming off a strong .308, 23, 105 performance between Toronto and Denver of the PCL. He had spent all of 1961 and 1962 north of the border, hitting 51 home runs over the two seasons.

Earl Robinson was the sole returning outfielder, although Joe Durham was back after a year in Richmond. Joining them in the pasture were Jim Liggett and Paul Blair. Liggett was coming off a .298, 13, 81 year at Elmira and was a solid prospect, but most of the pre-season talk centered around Blair. He hit .324 at Class-A Stockton and added 30 doubles, 10 triples, 16 home runs and 77 RBI. His blazing speed helped make him a defensive whiz and a terror on the basepaths, scoring 126 runs and swiping 60 bases in 64 tries.

Blair looked like a bona-fide performer in spring training. Chittum was the other pre-season star, allowing only one run in 32 innings. He was given the opening day start and joined in the rotation by Miller, Short, Knowles and Vineyard.

The exhibition schedule ended with 14 wins, six losses and a tie. The optimism was temporarily disrupted two days before the season began when Short, who had yet to sign a contract, was officially declared a hold-out. He stated the two sides were “quite a ways apart” in salary discussions, but signed the day of the opener in Jacksonville. The Short holdout didn’t cause him to miss his regular turn and in the campaign’s third game he took a no-hitter into the sixth inning. But the opening trip through Jacksonville and Atlanta was basically a wash, in more ways than one. The team counted two wins, two losses (including the opener, 3-2 in 10 innings) and two rainouts. Rochester returned north for its opener and the usual welcoming festivities, including a rally in Midtown Mall at which Sisler stated, “Never in ten years have I felt so good about bringing a Red Wing ballclub to this city from the southland.”

Unfortunately the team brought the inclement weather north with them. Some 11,000 tickets were pre-sold for the opener and 9,173 were in the stands when the April 29 game at Red Wing Stadium had to be called due to the rain. It was the first opener since 1936 to be postponed. The conditions were little better the next day, but the game was played, a 6-2 loss to Columbus in front of a soggy 6,383.

New front office man Johnny Clapp helped add his touch to the stadium. In order to maximize revenue, RCB was actively seeking to increase use of the stadium. There were plans in place to rent the stadium to high school football teams in the fall and Clapp was talking up the chance of midget auto races in the ballpark. (Red Wing Stadium would subsequently host a weekend of high school baseball contests as well.) The stadium had added another splashy advertising sign — this for a car wash, which featured a metal cutout of a car being “washed” through a shower of colored lights every time a Red Wing hit a home run. The front office, along with its annual bat boy contest, instituted a contest to name a Princess Red Wing, drawing 510 applications from girls between the ages of nine and 11.

Sisler and Clapp also had a hand in convincing the International League to move its offices to Rochester. Rumors to that effect had been floated ever since the IL announced it was looking to relocate from New York City. In early April it was made official: the league would establish operations in the Rochester Sheraton Hotel beginning April 27. (In May, Amerks’ GM Jack Riley was named president of the American Hockey League. He subsequently announced that he would also move his circuit’s operations to Rochester.)

The season began with veterans Altobelli and Durham riding pine so that Blefary and Blair could play everyday. Blefary made the move look good; Blair didn’t. Through the team’s first 16 games (8-8) Blefary had six home runs and 13 RBI. Blair however, was struggling below .100. But any roster moves were contingent on the mid-May major league reductions, after which Sisler could formulate his roster. He fared well on Baltimore’s cut-down day, picking up pitcher Mike McCormick and outfielder Lou Jackson. McCormick, a 25-year-old lefty, had never spent a day in the minors. He was 56-57 for the New York/San Francisco Giants in a four-year span from 1958-62, winning the National League’s ERA title in 1960. Jackson, drafted in the off-season from Toronto, was a legitimate IL performer. He hit .315, with 31 home runs and 89 RBI, for the Maple Leafs in 1963.

Cuts had to be made for the Wings to get down to their 21-man limit. Pitcher Brunet had already been moved out. Paul Blair, strong in the field and on the bases but struggling terribly at the plate (.121) was sent to Elmira, and Luke Easter deactivated and made a full-time coach. Sisler made another acquisition when McGuire was temporarily sidelined, getting shortstop Larry Burright on option from the New York Mets’ farm club in Buffalo. Burright, a strong fielder, looked to bolster the defense, which had been porous in the early going. Don Buddin, who had been one of the more notorious fielders, was cut. Burright was installed at second base and Dave Johnson shifted to shortstop.

A May 30, 19-inning home loss to Toronto dropped the team to 15-15, good for fourth place. Despite strong starts by Robinson, Liggett, Johnson and Blefary, the offense struggled to score runs. Poor defense did little to assist the pitching staff, which was repeatedly disrupted by a rainy spring that forced the postponement of nine games through early June. The unsure schedule put a strain on the bullpen, as the starters, unable to get into a steady routine, completed only two games in a stretch of two weeks. Yet Starrette was again spectacular (1.71 ERA) and Phoebus won his first four decisions.

Chittum started slow, but returned to form in June. He and Vineyard matched shutouts in a 4-0, 4-0 home doubleheader sweep against Columbus. The dual wins capped a stretch of 10 victories in 13 games. But more memorable on the night was the performance of Altobelli. Due to injuries to Robinson and Liggett, Blefary was seeing time in the outfield, with Altobelli taking his slot at first. The first baseman had three hits in the game previous to the doubleheader and repeated the feat in both the opener and the nightcap, giving him nine consecutive hits. He raised his average to .297 before bouncing into a fielder’s choice in his last at-bat of the evening.

“Baby Ruth” Blefary continued to hit home runs (league-leading 20 through June 20) and Chittum and Vineyard developed into the squad’s most reliable starters. The IL standings were claustrophobic — at least among the top five teams — and a stretch of eight wins in nine games moved the Wings into the top spot on June 21. A subsequent defeat dropped the team into a four-way tie for second; a pair of losses the next night dropped the Wings to fifth. The sterling June play was fueled by pitching, as in a three-week period Vineyard and Chittum combined to win all 11 of their starts, with 10 complete games. (A sign of the quality of Vineyard’s stuff was evidenced when, after an 11-strikeout blanking of Atlanta, the opposing manager accused him of throwing a spitball.)

Their success came at a fortunate time, as the staff was undergoing some changes. Knowles was on and off the active roster with a recurring hamstring problem. More damaging was the mid-June recall of Starrette (4-0, 1.24). His spot was filled by Vern Handrahan, acquired by the Orioles on option from the Kansas City A’s. At the same time the Wings also gained the services of outfielder John Weekly from the Houston Colt 45s.

Weekly was acquired to help fill holes in the outfield. Liggett was out — after a bout of double vision, he was examined and found to need glasses (he was nonetheless hitting .289). He would need time to adjust to the new spectacles. Robinson, who in late June moved atop the league’s batting chart at .338, remained hobbled by leg injuries. Lou Jackson, who had a stretch in which he belted four home runs in four games, was slowed as well with a sore back. (Despite the hurts, when Liggett came back, Weekly was returned to Houston after a mere 10 days in Rochester.)

Along with the strong play, another highlight of June was the appearance of recently-retired, future Hall of Famer and Cardinal great Stan Musial. Musial, who played 54 games for the Wings in 1941, gave a batting exhibition before a Polish Day crowd of 8,120, donning a Red Wing uniform with his familiar number six. He was given a gift of ten shares of Red Wing stock, becoming stockholder number 8,223.

The pace cooled slightly in July. Opposing teams began pitching around Blefary and the growth of his home run total slowed considerably. He adjusted well, however, taking over the league lead in walks and earning the IL’s Player of the Month honor for June. On July 17 the staff lost its ace when Vineyard was called up by Baltimore. The Orioles were in the thick of the pennant race and the recall was understandable. The right-hander was 10-4, with a 2.65 ERA, seven complete games, three shutouts and 100 strikeouts in 119 innings pitched. The Wings were tied with Buffalo for third place, six games behind, in what had become a four-team race.

Three days later the parent club plucked Earl Robinson (.301, 11, 38) off the Wings’ roster. He was replaced by former big leaguer (World Series’ appearances with Brooklyn and Pittsburgh) Gino Cimoli after his release by the Orioles. More players were on the move at the end of the month. Second baseman Larry Burright was traded by the Mets, his parent club, an unexpected loss for the Wings. Manager Johnson had little choice but keep Davey Johnson at shortstop and move McGuire in at second. The sole piece of good news was the return of Herm Starrette.

July’s last days featured a seven-inning no-hitter by John Miller in the second game of a doubleheader at Columbus. It was the last game of a road trip; however when the Wings came home their games were in question due to race riots in the city. The National Guard had been called in and a curfew established. The July 27 game against Jacksonville was postponed; the next night’s game was played, but with an earlier start time.

The pitching situation was shaken when the rusty Starrette, who had not seen much action in Baltimore, hurt his arm. The absences of Short, Starrette and Knowles had the team down to six healthy pitchers and the loss of Burright left the squad without a backup infielder. Yet Johnson asked for no sympathy for his young team. (He had recently missed a handful of games in order to go home to California to be with his wife, who had some complications during the birth of their fourth child, so perhaps he had a wider perspective). “Everyone undergoes personnel changes and it will always be this way,” said the Wings’ field leader. He was patient with his team, realizing the pros and cons of inexperienced talent. “Youth may cost you ball games here and there, but in the case of this Rochester club, it’s a plus in my book.” Some fans didn’t see it that way, grumbling about his unorthodox moves when they failed.

Despite concerns about the mound corps, it was the hitters that went south. The offense had been a pleasant surprise, the last team in the league to be shutout when it was blanked on July 25. But the team slumped badly at the plate in early August and eight straight losses brought fifth place Toronto onto its heels. A subsequent loss, the 10th in 11 games, dropped the Wings to 60-56 and out of the first division.

Sisler remained on his quest for another infielder but teams knew of his desperation and inflated the asking price. The best he could do for the time being was a Mexican League import.

The team had a scare late in the month when Baltimore’s Boog Powell went down with a wrist injury. If bones were broken, Blefary (who, along with Dave Johnson, was selected to play in the Aug. 17 all-star game against Cleveland) or Jackson would be called up. The O’s, in a dogfight for the American League pennant, waited for an accurate diagnosis. It turned out to be not as serious as expected and Jackson, who, as a precaution, was on a flight from Richmond to Chicago, where the O’s were playing, was re-routed to join the Wings in Columbus.

The Wings fluctuated between fourth and fifth, in a battle with Toronto for the last playoff spot. Tensions were heightened between the two long-time rivals beyond the normal level of a playoff race when the Leafs started employing an unusual infield shift against slugger Blefary. The move put the Toronto third baseman directly behind the pitcher, the uniform providing a poor background for the delivery. Sisler protested the shift with the league.

The Wings’ general manager lost the argument but finally acquired the infielder he so coveted. Purchased from Spokane was Marv Breeding, 30, who had played most of the last four seasons in the majors, three with Baltimore. Primarily a second baseman, he was nonetheless played at shortstop, allowing Davey Johnson to be moved back to his natural position at second. “I knew the big club didn’t want Johnson at short,” said Manager Johnson, “but I had to play him there because we had nobody else who could fill in.”

Johnson finally had the personnel with which he felt able to establish a set lineup. Breeding took over the leadoff slot, joining Johnson, Demeter and Altobelli in the infield, and Durham, Jackson and Blefary in the outfield. The settled lineup factored in a 10-4 road trip which including four wins in Syracuse, knocking the Chiefs from the league lead. A subsequent series-opening win at home against Toronto moved the squad into third place, a half-game ahead of Buffalo. It also gave the Wings a seemingly secure four-game margin over the fifth place Leafs as September neared. But Toronto rebounded to win the next two. A split of four games in Buffalo (both losses in 11 innings) further tightened the race. Back against the Leafs, this time north of the border, the Wings dropped three of four, including a doubleheader loss that knocked Rochester into fifth place.

It was the first of four consecutive doubleheaders. Syracuse was next, on Norton Street. Rochester was staring its fourth consecutive loss in the face, down 5-4 in the last inning of the opener, when Demeter’s two-out home run with one aboard provided the winning margin. Syracuse took the nightcap, but the next night Demeter repeated his ninth-inning magic. Down 2-1 in the second game, the veteran third baseman again hit a two-run shot to win the game, giving the Wings a twin bill sweep that moved them back into fourth.

The final four games of the season were in Buffalo and the third place Bisons were well within reach. But the home team quickly squelched those thoughts and put the Wings’ playoff hopes on thin ice by sweeping a doubleheader. With two games remaining Rochester and Toronto were tied in the standings, but fewer games played gave the Maple Leafs a slim .001 lead in winning percentage.

Rochester bounced back to win the next night, 9-5, but the news from Syracuse was not favorable as the visiting Maple Leafs were victorious as well. The Red Wings had to win their final game and have Toronto lose in order to advance to the post-season. Mike McCormick, whose five consecutive wins down the stretch made him the unquestioned staff ace, would go with only two days rest.

His performance was the stuff of fiction. He tossed a five-hit shutout, setting 10 Bisons down on strikes, as well as providing the game’s only run in the third inning, a 350-foot home run into the right field pavilion. After the 1-0 win he and a number of teammates crammed Memorial Stadium’s press box, huddled around a telephone to hear play-by-play descriptions from Syracuse. The Chiefs took a 4-0 lead, but the Leafs countered with three in the eighth. Finally, at 10:22 p.m., the final out was recorded and for the second time in four seasons the Wings took a playoff spot from Toronto on the season’s final day. It was the franchise’s 20th appearance in 31 Governors’ Cup competitions.

The youngsters had carried the team early, but the successful quest for a playoff spot was clearly a veteran production. The heroics of Demeter and McCormick were front-page material. Less noticeable but equally, if not more crucial, was the stretch drive recorded by Altobelli. Inserted at first due to his flawless defensive skills, Altobelli hit nine home runs and drove home 29 baserunners over the final month. Baltimore was due credit as well for allowing the shifts of Blefary to left and Johnson to shortstop, as well as the crucial acquisition of Breeding.

Despite creeping into the playoffs, the Wings were given a legitimate shot at knocking off pennant-winner Jacksonville. The Wings split the season series despite losing the last four games. The Suns had been hurt by recalls and their ballpark ravaged by Hurricane Dora. The tropical storm blew down the scoreboard and damaged several light towers. Because of the destruction the series would open in Rochester, with the first three games played on Norton Street.

Phoebus was given the start and behind 16 hits, four by Liggett, cruised to an 11-3 win. The next night’s contest was more competitive, as the teams battled into the 12th inning. A one-out home run by Altobelli, his second of the game, gave the Wings a hard-fought 5-4 win. Game Three did not share the suspense of its predecessor as McCormick cruised to a 5-2 win behind 12 strikeouts.

The series finally moved to the Sunshine State, but the Wings made sure it would be a short stay. Miller threw a four-hitter in the fourth and final game, a 2-0 win. Altobelli, Breeding and Pignatano (who caught all four games) all played key roles in the semi-final sweep. The Wings were given a couple of days off as they waited for a winner to emerge from the Syracuse-Buffalo series.

The Chiefs prevailed in seven and on Sept. 20, the Governors’ Cup finals opened in in MacArthur Stadium. The Chiefs, the league’s most potent offensive club, slammed three home runs, knocking ace McCormick out in the fourth inning, en route to a 7-4 win. Rochester jumped out to a three-run lead in Game Two, but the home squad cut it to 4-2 with the bases loaded and one out in the sixth. Starrette relieved starter Phoebus and after a sacrifice fly, shut the door the rest of the way, allowing no hits or runs in the final 3 2/3 as the Wings won 4-3, knotting the series at a game apiece.

The finals shifted to Rochester. Knowles went the distance in Game Three, allowing 10 hits, but stranding 11 Syracuse runners. A Demeter home run in the seventh, one of his three hits in the contest, provided the padding in a 7-3 win. Altobelli, his fellow late-season hero, played the key role the next night. The first baseman hit two out and drove in six to help in the 14-3 rout. The Wings set the stage early as the first four batters scored, on two-run home runs by Blefary and Altobelli.

A rainout gave the tattered Syracuse pitching staff a rest as it prepared to try to send the series home. The teams went into the seventh inning of Game Five tied at four, but the Chiefs scored a solo tally and the Wings could not push across the equalizer. It was the last game at Red Wing Stadium for the season, a highly-successful post-season if decided solely on gate, as the Wings drew 38,825 (average of close to 6,500) in their six home playoff contests.

In contrast, the two teams played Game Six in front of 4,223 fans at MacArthur Stadium, with an estimated quarter of that number being Red Wing fans who made the trip down the Thruway. Their team jumped out to a four-run lead, but the Chiefs rallied. With the score 4-2, bases loaded and one out in the fourth, Starrette was again called upon. The Chiefs added one more, but as before, the Rochester relief ace stifled them the rest of the way. The Red Wings won the game 4-3 and the series 4-2, the franchise’s fifth Governors’ Cup championship, and the first title of any kind since 1956. For their efforts, each man pocketed $513.

The same stalwarts that had seen to the team’s playoff spot played starring roles in the post-season triumph. Demeter hit .436, with three home runs and nine RBI, while Altobelli added four round-trippers. McCormick captured two games in the post-season, to go with his team-leading 12 regular-season wins.

The lineup was solid from top to bottom, evidenced by the fact that the team had no players named to the league’s post-season all-star squad. Dave Johnson (.264, 19, 73, 62 extra-base hits) and Curt Blefary (.287, 31, 80, league-leading 111 walks) were the top Rochester contenders for the honor, but each finished second at their positions. Steve Demeter was a runner-up as well, on the basis of his sound glovework at third and his solid offensive numbers (.266, 16, 65). Joe Altobelli’s contribution in the latter part of the season compensated for his .249, 11, 52 statistics. Lou Jackson quietly put together an outstanding campaign (.262, 23, 71) that helped the club finish first in the league in home runs.

The pitching staff did not feature an outstanding performer after Dave Vineyard’s recall (10-4, 2.65 in 17 starts), but depth was its strength. Mike McCormick (12-8, 3.29), Nelson Chittum (11-11, 3.35) and Tom Phoebus (11-9, 3.39, team-leading 149 strikeouts) all won over ten games and finished eighth, ninth and tenth in the league’s ERA standings. Billy Short (8-11, 3.39) and Darold Knowles (6-7, 3.06) had ERAs belying their sub-.500 records. Herm Starrette (5-2, 1.96) and Vern Handrahan (5-4, 2.45) were solid bullpenners.

Attendance figures solidified Rochester’s status as the best draw in the minors. The final paid count for the regular season was 245,804; the post-season total pushed aggregate gate to 284,629, well ahead of runner-up Syracuse, with just under 190,000. The Red Wings were only one of two teams in America’s minors to be over 200,000.

Yet conditions were not yet on the upswing for the league as a whole. In December, the parent Yankees moved their Triple-A operations from Richmond to Toledo. The Ohio city had been without minor league ball since 1954, when a team played its final season in the American Association. The franchise re-claimed the traditional name of “Mud Hens.” Another southern franchise — Atlanta — had an unsure future. Its gate had plummeted, as the city’s quest for a major-league club intensified. Despite its lack of a team, the city was building a new $18 million stadium. Rumors focused on the relocation of the Indians or the Pirates, but in October the Milwaukee Braves petitioned the National League for permission to move to Georgia. The city of Milwaukee howled its disapproval and the league subsequently directed the Braves to honor their lease in Wisconsin for one more season, and then move to Atlanta in 1966. The Braves subsequently bought Atlanta’s Triple-A franchise and planned to operate for one more season in the IL.

Some off-season developments looked to help ease the IL’s financial woes.The Braves agreed to pay the IL $250,000 in indemnification costs for the Atlanta territory (RCB GM Sisler was a member of the special negotiating committee). Changes in the major/minor player development plan promised to pump more dollars into minor league operations. Major-league clubs would pay salaries in excess of $700 per month starting in 1965 (from $800), and the parent club was required to play exhibition games with their affiliates, with all proceeds to go to the minor-league club. Despite the changes, IL moguls were still cautious. Club officials recommended dropping the number of games from 154 games to 140 by eliminating a good number of doubleheaders from the schedule, before compromising at 147. Legislation was also introduced that dropped the roster limit at 20 for the entire season. (The limit had been 23 for the first 30 days, then 21, and up to 37 for the last 20 days.)

Sisler figured the changes in the PDC would mean an $22,000-30,000 per year for Rochester. In addition, the Atlanta payments would come in at a rate of $35,000 a year for the next four seasons. RCB released its financial statement in late December, which showed a net loss of $12,286 for 1964. The corporation claimed $16,668 in depreciations, which meant a $4,382 cash profit. Operating income had increased, but so had expenses, including $17,000 in stadium roof repairs. Sisler summarized the season as “quite good, financially,” and due to the new fiscal arrangements, stated, “The most encouraging part of the [financial] picture is the outlook for the future.”

Copyright © 1997 Brian A. Bennett. All rights reserved. No part of this material may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system - except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages in a review to be printed in a magazine or newspaper - without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, please contact Triphammer Publishing, P.O. Box 45, Scottsville, NY 14546-0045.