From Chapter 4:

1971-1976: The Altobelli Era

1972

Tradition and common sense suggested the Red Wings would have a tough time duplicating their ’71 success. No IL team had repeated as pennant winner since the ’57-’58 Toronto Maple Leafs. For the Rochester franchise, the last back-to-back winners were the 1928-32 pennant winners. More troubling than history was the fact that the Wings had a major turnover of personnel — only six returnees from 1971. The newcomers checked in at an average age of 24, and nine players were without Triple-A experience. Among the departed were Grich, Baylor, Harrison, Ferraro, Oates, Hutto, Pena, Beene, Crowley, Leonhard and Scott.

That was not to say the cupboard was left bare. The starting pitching was anticipated to be among the league’s best, with returning hurlers Bill Kirkpatrick and George Manz joined by Dallas/Ft. Worth grads Wayne Garland (19-5) and Don Hood (11-9). Lefty Bob O’Brien (3-5 in Spokane and L.A.), one of four players acquired from the Dodgers for Frank Robinson in an off-season blockbuster, was expected to grab one of the five starting slots. Player/coach Ray Miller (reacquired from Cleveland) was called on to anchor the bullpen, assisted by Mark Weems, who was shaky in his Triple-A efforts the previous season. Terry Wilshusen, “Bullet” Bob Reynolds, Dale Speir (7-9 at Syracuse) and Dyar Miller formed the rest of the relief corps, which was, however, lacking a lefty in the mold of Mickey Scott. Newcomer Sergio Robles, another player picked up in the Robinson trade, would start behind the plate, backed by Bill Wood.

The infield was all new. Tom Matchick was acquired straight up from Milwaukee for Ferraro and took his spot at third. Veteran Jerry DaVanon (.235 as the O’s utility man) was slotted for short, John Donaldson (.290 at Toledo) at second, and highly-touted prospect Enos Cabell (.311 at Dallas/Ft. Worth) at first. Junior Kennedy, Paul Flesner and Larry Johnson were back-ups. Patrolling center field would be Richie Coggins, one of only two returning starters from Opening Day 1971. He would be flanked by Sam Parrilla in right, and home run hope Jim Fuller in left. Fuller had a monster year for Single-A Miami, hitting .326 and leading the league in runs, hits, doubles, home runs (33) and RBI (110). The fourth outfielder was Pete Watts. Despite the turnover, most IL managers expected the Wings to contend.

Not only would the players be different in 1972. As a result of the financial windfall from the 1971 championship, Rochester Community Baseball had money to spend over the winter. For the first time in several years the Wings would sport new home and road uniforms in the same season. The outfits were of the latest fashion — double knit fabric — and fancier than their austere predecessors. They were adorned with script “Red Wings” on the jersey front, with red, white and navy trim. Gone was the famous winged-baseball hat insignia, replaced by a script “R” in red with white outline, on a dark blue cap with red visor.

Money was also poured into Silver Stadium. Over 500 gallons of red and blue paint were used to coat the entire superstructure of the park. In the right field corner, a cinder-block tool shed replaced the dilapidated dark green sheds, while fresh sod covered the infield along the foul lines and behind home plate. In the general admission section, scores of cement floor slabs had been replaced. Although club directors voted down a proposal to get rid of the wooden manual scoreboard in centerfield (estimated cost: $109,000), it was rewired to prevent malfunctions that plagued the ball and strike indicator lights.

Total cost of the renovations was about $130,000, the largest single season expenditure in quite some time. But, General Manager Carl Steinfeldt stated, “we have a reputation as the finest park in the minors, and we want to keep it.” Steinfeldt also added a new assistant, hiring ex-Red Wing pitcher Ed Barnowski, whose arm problems had prematurely ended his career.

During the spring, players on the Wings were more fortunate than their counterparts at the big-league level, as the major’s pre-season preparation was interrupted by a player strike. Steinfeldt stated the Wings would go on as if nothing had happened, while Manager Altobelli went on record as being sorry for his ’71 players now in the majors and unable to play. (The work stoppage was short-lived and ended in mid-April).

The front office’s carefully-laid plans were blown apart just three days before the season opener, when second baseman Donaldson was sold to Hawaii of the Pacific Coast League for $10,000. The only infielder with Triple-A experience, he was seen as a potential .300 hitter and a steadying influence for the younger players. Steinfeldt blasted the move, reporting that he had been told by Baltimore to play 21-year-old prospect Junior Kennedy every day.

Kennedy hit .226 at Dallas/Ft. Worth the previous season, and Steinfeldt felt he should be playing at Asheville, which had replaced the Texas franchise as Baltimore’s Double-A farm team. (The city went major league when the Washington Senators moved and became the Texas Rangers.) The Orioles made it clear that they expected Rochester to be a developmental club by installing Kennedy as the starting shortstop, and shifting DaVanon to second. Kennedy had been tagged as a top prospect since his selection in the first round of the ’68 summer draft, but carried the good-field, no-hit label. Veteran and local favorite Don Fazio was not available until after school let out, when he would be done with his job as a physical education instructor.

The Wings lost their opener 3-1 in Hampton, Virginia against the Peninsula Whips (the relocated Winnipeg franchise), but a subsequent four-game win streak brought them home at 4-2. Rochester management was hoping for a crowd in the 10,000-12,000 range for the April 20 opener, which would have broken an eight-year string of sub-10,000 opening day crowds, but the chilly 45-degree day limited walk-up sales to 70 tickets, and a mere 6,450 in the stands. The Wings lost 9-6 to Charleston, but Kennedy was a bright spot, hitting a grand slam in his first Rochester at-bat. Fuller also homered, giving him five in his first seven games.

The brawny Fuller continued to astound, both in the positive and negative. He had 22 strikeouts in his first 49 at-bats, including a streak in which he struck out nine times in 10 at-bats, and 11 of 15. In between, however, he hit a 450-ft. home run out of Charleston’s Watt Powell Park considered the farthest ball hit in the stadium’s history.

In mid-May, leadoff man Coggins was spiked in the hand during a tag play at second base, resulting in 10 stitches and two weeks off. In his place the Wings called up Alonzo Bumbry from Asheville, where he was leading the Southern League with a .363 average. Considered the fastest player in the O’s farm system, Bumbry had 12 steals in 13 attempts for the Double-A squad.

An early June five-game win streak was sandwiched by losing skids of 10 and four games, and left the Wings at 24-29, in seventh place, although only five games back. Steinfeldt was “getting close” to pushing the panic button, as the Wings had no power except for Fuller. He had 10 home runs, but his strikeout numbers was reaching alarming totals. The Wings were 10-15 at Silver (only two wins in their last 11), considered the best hitters’ park in the league with its short fences and good hitting background. An experienced left-handed power hitter was seen as the solution.

The move came days later, when second baseman DaVanon was traded to California for lefty slugger Roger Repoz. Repoz, a veteran of six major league seasons, was installed in left field, and Fuller shipped down to Asheville. Despite leading the league in home runs (11) and standing second in RBI (37), he was hitting a mere .228, with 62 strikeouts in 48 games.

The Wings hit the halfway point at 35-37, in fourth place, 8 1/2 games back. When Coggins returned from his injury, and Bumbry from a short reserve duty stint, the speedy duo were installed as 1-2 in the Wings’ lineup. The pair also appeared in the International League All-Star game against Atlanta; Bumbry being named as an injury replacement. Joining Coggins as regular selections were third-sacker Matchick, batting a solid .278 and a league-low two errors, and Reynolds (5-1, 1.29).

Repoz joined the two speedburners in the outfield, leaving no room for Sam Parrilla, who was sold in mid-July to Portland. The 1971 playoff hero began the season as the regular right fielder, but a May 9 ankle injury had put him out for three weeks, and his subsequent .236 average left him unable to reclaim his job. Around the same time, despite Rochester’s standing at two games under .500 and 8 1/2 games back, the Syracuse skipper — figuring the O’s wouldn’t call anyone up — gave the Wings the advantage for the rest of the season.

The first order of business was to get into position for a playoff berth, which the Wings went about by winning six of eight, and 18 of 27. The July streak put the Wings over .500 for the first time since May 20. Rochester also reacquired the services of 36-year-old Orlando Pena from the Miami Orioles. The Cuban forkball specialist was dominating the Single-A league, with a 15-3 record that included nine complete games, five shutouts in 10 starts, 129 strikeouts in 124 innings, and a 1.38 ERA. Miami was Pena’s home and he played there because he was given the choice by Baltimore, but he was said to be anxious to come back and help the Wings in the stretch drive. (The same day the Red Wing players were given the green light to grow mustaches after Rochester management received permission from the parent Orioles.)

The league was closely bunched and seven teams were within reach of first. When the Red Wings won nine of 14 games on their longest road trip of the year, they found themselves within 3 1/2 games of the top, with the slumping first place Charleston Charlies coming to town for five games. Converted reliever Reynolds one-hit the Charlies in the first game and the next night the Wings roared back from a 4-0 deficit to win 7-4. The evening featured a pre-game home run hitting contest between manager Joe Altobelli and visiting Yankee Hall-of-Famer Mickey Mantle. Alto could only hit one of 10 pitches out, while the Mick, hitting exclusively right-handed due to a sore knee, knocked out four, including one that cleared the triple deck of signs in left field.

Pennant fever was doused slightly the next night when Charleston swept a doubleheader, but the Wings took the series when Pena struck out 15 Charlies in a 5-3 win. Pena had a no-hitter through five innings, and was afterwards accused of throwing spitballs by the disgruntled Charleston skipper.

The win put the Wings at 54-50, although still a disappointing 23-24 at Silver Stadium. Altobelli had worries other than his team’s home record. Third baseman Matchick, who recently had his streak of 53 consecutive errorless games (three short of Mike Ferraro’s team record) snapped, was suffering from a virus that left him dizzy. Altobelli had to shift second baseman Fazio to third, and installed recent acquisition Larry Eckenrode at second. There were also rumors that the O’s would recall Repoz, who had 35 RBI in 43 games.

First baseman Cabell joined Repoz and Matchick in a cumulative early-August slump, during which the Wings lost eight straight games and their hold on fourth place. Cabell went through a brutal 3-for-48 stretch, although he was not replaced in the lineup by veteran back-up Larry Johnson — the Orioles wanted the young prospect to play every day.

Fortunately Bumbry was on a tear, which reached its zenith when he had seven consecutive hits in a doubleheader sweep over Peninsula. His average was up to .344 and he had also stolen 16 consecutive bases. A second twin bill sweep of the Whips put the Wings back into fourth place at 63-60.

Rochester found itself in a see-saw battle with Toledo for the final playoff spot and September began with the Wings one game back. The new month saw help from Asheville, as league MVP Mike Reinbach (.341, 30, 104) was promoted to Rochester. The Wings finished up the season with Syracuse (one of those games Don Fazio Day, as the local favorite was retiring to become a high school baseball coach), while Toledo was playing Louisville, in a similar dogfight for first place with Charleston.

Rochester and Toledo went into the last day of the season tied for fourth. The Wings captured their game 2-1 at Syracuse (Kirkpatrick pitching a five-hitter), to finish at 76-68, five games from first. Meanwhile Louisville beat Toledo 1-0, knocking the Mud Hens out of the playoffs and capturing the pennant.
Bumbry won the batting crown at .345 and he and reliever Reynolds (8-7, 1.71, nine saves) were immediately called up by Baltimore. Steinfeldt expressed his gratitude that the O’s held off the recalls until the playoff situation was resolved.

Rochester’s post-season began in Louisville, but for in a change from previous years, the opening round was best of three. The Colonels came back to tie the opener in the eighth, and won it 3-2, with a run in the ninth after a two-out error by Kennedy. In Rochester prior to the team’s departure for Kentucky, Pena, Frank Estrada, Oscar DelBusto and Coach Chico Fernandez were in a downtown car accident in which their car was totaled.

The accident left Pena with a sore shoulder and elbow; still he pitched Game Two. The Wings blew another lead as the Colonels scored three in the seventh to knot the game at three, but Repoz’s two-run, two-strike home run to the opposite field in the 10th won the game and tied the series.

The series came to Rochester for the decisive game. This time it was the Wings turn to rally from a large deficit. They scored single runs in the eighth and ninth innings to finish closing a 7-3 deficit and send the game into extra innings. After a scoreless 10th, the Colonels scored two in the top of the 11th. Rochester cut the margin in half and had the tying and winning runs on second and third with one out, but couldn’t get them home. Catcher Estrada struck out and Kennedy popped up the first pitch he saw, and the Wings’ season was ended.

It was a disappointing ending, following the incredible 1971 season, but the team finished strong enough to make the playoffs and finished only five games out of first. The team never did acquire a consistent long ball hitter. Roger Repoz (.251, 13, 46) and Tom Matchick (.252, 11, 58) were, along with Al Bumbry (10), the only players to reach double figures in home runs. But with one-two hitters Bumbry and Richie Coggins hitting .345 and .322 respectively, the Wings finished second in the IL in hitting and fourth in runs scored.

The pitching prospects never got in stride. Wayne Garland went 7-9, 3.79 in an injury-filled year, and Don Hood was 9-10, 3.48. Bill Kirkpatrick led the starters at 11-9, 3.51, while swingman Bob Reynolds had a 1.71 ERA. Orlando Pena was an impressive 7-0, with a 0.96 ERA.

Bumbry and Matchick were named post-season all stars and both garnered Silver Gloves. Bumbry was voted the league’s Rookie of the Year. The Wings once again led the league in attendance, drawing 296,894 paid customers through the turnstiles. Syracuse was a distance second at just over 179,000, while no other team topped 116,000. (Rochester trailed only the Pacific Coast League’s Hawaii franchise in minor league attendance. The Islanders drew 305,878.)

Rochester Community Baseball again turned a healthy profit, netting $58,507. The only negative was the departure of director of promotions and special events Sam Lippa. He resigned in December 1972, following four years with the Wings. He left after “some disappointments,” adding he had been a victim “in some cases, of favoritism and broken promises.”

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.