1965 AMERICAN LEAGUE RUNOFF SERIES
Game 1:
For the first time in SPB history, a playoff was required to determine the 1965
A.L. Championship team. The Cleveland Spiders managed by Chris Williams matched
up in a best of 3 series with Gary Plunkitt's Frankfort Tigers for the right to
take their team into the 1965 World Series against N.L. champions, the Alma Rifles,
who are under the guidance of Bill Linn. Here is the full report of game # 1 which
was played at Tiger Stadium. This series was played using NetMeeting.
On a beautiful day for baseball, the Cleveland Spiders came striding into Frankfort,
In. to take on the Frankfort Tigers who were trying to claw their way to the top
rung of the A.L. This game matched two fine pitchers with lefty Pete Richert, who
had won 15 games, chosen by manager Williams to take the hill for the Spiders.
Plunkitt chose 16 game winner Earl Wilson to open the series for Frankfort.
Centerfielder Lenny Green led off the game for the Arachnids and promptly put the
Tigers in the hole by blasting a solo shot off Wilson, and giving Cleveland a 1-0
lead. Wilson then walked 2 more batters before getting out of the 1st inning. Not
a great start for the big righthander! Things remained quiet untill the bottom of
the 3rd inning, when Frankfort catcher Ellie Howard caught a Richert fastball and
planted it deep into the LF seats tying up the game at 1-1.
Wilson had settled down a bit since his shaky first inning, but in the fourth his
luck began to change once again. After whiffing hard hitting catcher Joe Torre to
lead off the 4th, Spiders big firstsacker Jim Gentile punched a single to get things
started. Fleet Johnny Lewis then coaxed a walk off Wilson. Wilson got shortstop
Gene Alley on a called 3rd strike, and then a huge error by Tiger hotcornerman Ken
McMullen loaded the bases, while allowing the weak hitting Richert to reach 1B.
Up stepped speedy Lenny Green again, and he unloaded off Wilson for the 2nd time,
with a dramatic grandslam which gave the Spiders a prominent 5-1 lead. Wilson was
visably effected by this stroke of bad luck due to McMullen's error, and after
Jerry Lumpe singled, manager Plunkitt reluctantly pulled his pitcher in favor of
reliever Steve Ridzik. Ridzik came through whiffing Tommy Helms to deliver the
Tigers from a very disastrous 4th inning. But in the 5th inning, Cleveland slugger
Leon "Cheeky" Wagner unloaded a circuit smash off Ridzik to make the score 6-1 and
give a very bleak outlook to the Frankfort faithfull.
Richert cruised into the bottom of the 5th with a rather commanding lead and appeared
right on top of things by whiffing Tiger PH Jake Wood, who led off batting for Ridzik.
Shortstop Dick Howser then doubled off the LF wall, and Don Buford singled him home to
make it a 6-2 game. Mickey Mantle stepped up and the mood was beginning to stir a bit
for the hometown hopefulls. But Richert overpowered Mantle and got him swinging for
out # 2. Hardhitting Rocky Colavito was semi-intentionally passed to put two on for
the Big Cats. Dependable Stormin' Norm Cash, former 1961 SPB MVP, then deliverd a
rather large blow to Richert sending a hanging curve over the RF wall to bring the
Tigers back to a 6-5 game, and the crowd was really coming to life. Ken McMullen
then singled, but was cut down at 2B a bit later while trying to advance on a pitch
that got away from Spider catcher Torre, for the final out of the Tigers 5th.
LH Ron Perranoski held the Spiders scoreless in 6th, which featured only a hit by PH
Joe Gaines who was thrown out trying to stretch his shot to a double, by the storied
arm of Tiger RF Colavito. Bruce Howard came on for the Spiders and got through the
6th inning stranding the tying run at 3rd.
Jim Coates entered and pitched scoreless ball for the Tigers through the 7th & 8th
innings.Howard, pitching well, opened the bottom of the 8th by walking Cash, but McMullen
hit into a FC for the 1st Tiger out. Paul Blair then doubled with McMullen stopping at
3rd, and Williams decided Howard had had enough and brought in Bob Priddy to face the
Tigers RH catcher, Howard. Manager Plunkitt then countered the move by selecting lefty
catcher Ed Bailey to bat for Elston, and Bailey tied the game by driving Priddys first
pitch into center for a basehit that scored McMullen, while Blair stopped at 3B. Wayne
Causey then PH for Coates, and delivered the winning blow against the Spiders with a
single to RF that Lewis was unable to get to. This hit gave the Tigers a 7-6 lead and
the fans were going crazy! With Bailey now on 2nd and Causey on 1st, Manager Plunkitt
sent in part time slugger Wes Covington to bat for little ss Howser, and Williams took
the dejected Priddy out for LH ace Arnie Earley.
Plunkitt called Covington back to the dugout and you could see the wheels turning. But
Wes convinced Plunkitt that he actually could hit LH's though rarely getting the
opportunity, and Plunkitt left the big guy in. He was rewarded richly as Covington
tagged Earley for a 3 run wallop that went nearly went out of the park, and gave the
Tigers a solid 10-6 lead that they never relinquished.
Lefty Jim O'Toole came in from the pen, for the Tigers in the 9th. This was a rather
surprising move, as ace closer Eddie Fisher was available to close the door, as well.
But O'Toole showed flashes of his former glory, retiring Spider PH's Chuck Hinton, Cap
Peterson, and thirdbaseman Helms with ease. Coates picked up the win with his two
solid innings for the Tigers. Howard after gaining a hold, was charged with the loss
for the Spiders, although Priddy really helped nail that down.
The second game will have Tigers ace Dave Morehead 18-4 taking on Sammy Ellis, sporting
a solid 14-8 record for the Spiders. The Tigers have gained some momentum with this
surprising come from behind win, and Tiger fans have organized a bus to bring many of
them to Cleveland for game two.
STAY TUNED!!
10/1/1965, CLE65-FRA65, Tiger Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1965 Spiders 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 6 8 1 6 1
1965 Tigers 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 5 x 10 11 1 5 1
Spiders AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG
Green cf 4 2 3 5 .261 Howser ss 3 1 1 0 .279
Hinton ph 1 0 0 0 .230 Covington ph 1 1 1 3 .273
Lumpe 2b 3 0 1 0 .264 Bowens lf 0 0 0 0 .176
Howard p 0 0 0 0 .278 Buford 2b 5 1 2 1 .330
Priddy p 0 0 0 0 .000 Mantle lf 5 0 0 0 .290
Earley p 0 0 0 0 .000 O'Toole p 0 0 0 0 .000
Peterson ph 1 0 0 0 .274 Colavito rf 3 1 0 0 .321
Helms 3b 5 0 1 0 .404 Cash 1b 1 1 1 3 .305
Wagner lf 3 1 1 1 .341 McMullen 3b 3 1 1 0 .242
Torre c 4 0 0 0 .261 Phillips cf 2 0 0 0 .253
Gentile 1b 4 1 1 0 .257 Lynch ph 1 0 0 0 .301
Lewis rf 1 1 0 0 .276 Blair cf 1 1 1 0 .215
Alley ss 4 0 0 0 .242 Howard c 3 1 2 1 .241
Richert p 2 1 0 0 .219 Bailey ph 1 1 1 1 .230
Gaines ph 1 0 1 0 .339 Wilson p 1 0 0 0 .139
Stewart ss 1 0 0 0 .228 Ridzik p 0 0 0 0 .143
34 6 8 6 Wood ph 1 0 0 0 .294
Perranoski p 0 0 0 0 .750
Burgess ph 1 0 0 0 .329
Coates p 0 0 0 0 .000
Causey ph 1 1 1 1 .312
33 10 11 10
Spiders INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Richert 5.0 6 5 5 5 6 106 56 3.31
Howard H 3, L 5-7 2.1 2 2 2 1 1 40 22 4.42
Priddy BS 1 0.0 2 2 2 0 0 4 2 2.79
Earley 0.2 1 1 1 0 0 14 9 2.25
8.0 11 10 10 6 7 164 89
Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Wilson 3.2 6 5 1 3 3 80 51 4.01
Ridzik 1.1 1 1 1 1 3 28 16 4.07
Perranoski 1.0 1 0 0 0 0 6 3 3.80
Coates W 5-0 2.0 0 0 0 1 0 22 12 0.98
O'Toole 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 11 6 5.61
9.0 8 6 2 5 6 147 88
CLE: Gaines batted for Richert in the 6th
Alley moved to 2b in the 6th
Stewart inserted at ss in the 6th
Hinton batted for Green in the 9th
Peterson batted for Earley in the 9th
FRA: Wood batted for Ridzik in the 5th
Lynch batted for Phillips in the 6th
Burgess batted for Perranoski in the 6th
Blair inserted at cf in the 7th
Bailey batted for Howard in the 8th
Causey batted for Coates in the 8th
Covington batted for Howser in the 8th
Bowens inserted at lf in the 9th
Bailey moved to c in the 9th
Causey moved to ss in the 9th
E-Wagner, McMullen. 2B-Howser, Blair. HR-Green 2(9), Wagner(41), Cash(29),
Howard(7), Covington(23). SB-Howser(41). K-Helms, Torre, Gentile, Lewis,
Alley 2, Mantle 2, Colavito 2, Phillips, Howard, Wood. BB-Lumpe, Wagner,
Lewis 3, Howser, Colavito, Cash 3, McMullen.
GWRBI: Causey
Temperature: 56, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: out to left at 11 MPH.
....................................................................................................
10/1/1965, CLE65-FRA65, Tiger Stadium
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1965 Spiders 1 0 0 4 1 0 0 0 0 6 8 1 6 1
1965 Tigers 0 0 1 0 4 0 0 5 x 10 11 1 5 1
Spiders -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Green cf 1>HR S note 1 8 9>O'Toole
Hinton ph 7
Lumpe 2b W 64/f S 13
Howard p
Priddy p
Earley p
Peterson ph 53
Helms 3b 43.1-2 S.1-3 Ridzik 7>Coates 63
k 9
Wagner lf W 7 5>HR 7
Torre c 53/gdp 4>k 3 6
Gentile 1b 2>8 S k 8>43
Lewis rf k W.1-2 W W
Alley ss 9 k k 7
Richert p 3>63 note 2 6>Perranoski
Gaines ph S.BX2(96)
Stewart ss 43
1: HR.3-H;2-H;1-H 2: e5.2-3;1-2;B-1
Tigers -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Howser ss 1>W 9 D 8
Covington ph Earley
HR.2-H;1-H
Bowens lf
Buford 2b 3/L S S.2-H 7>7 7
Mantle lf SB2 k k 63 8
63
O'Toole p
Colavito rf 8 4>k W.1-2 k
Cash 1b 2>W W HR.2-H;1-H 8>W
McMullen 3b 543/gdp W.1-2 S 46/f
Phillips cf 8 k note 1
6>Howard
Lynch ph 43
Blair cf D.1-3
Howard c 3>HR k S+e7.B-2 Priddy
Bailey ph S.3-H;2-3
Wilson p 7
Ridzik p
Wood ph 5>k
Perranoski p
Burgess ph 3/g.2-3
Coates p
Causey ph S.3-H;1-2
1: OBA.1X2(24)
Spiders IN OUT ER Tigers IN OUT ER
Richert A1 C6 5 Wilson A1 C2 1
Howard C7 D7 2 H 3, L 5-7 Ridzik C3 C8 1
Priddy D8 D9 2 BS 1 Perranoski C9 D2 0
Earley E1 E3 1 Coates D3 D9 0 W 5-0
O'Toole E1 E3 0
Game 2
Tigers Capture A.L. Honors & Advance to '65 W. S.
Bad Cats Claw Spiders Web For 2 Game Sweep of A.L. Play-Off.
Shell-shocked by their shocking 10-6 late-inning defeat at the hands of the Tigers
(their third straight defeat to end the season), the Spiders turned to late-season
hot-hand Sammy Ellis to salvage their comeback. However, constant second guessing
of that late decision to bring in lefty Arnie Earley to face Wes Covington kept them
on their heels all game.
The Tigers jumped out to an early 2-0 lead, as Ellis was wild, balking a run home.
In the bottom half of the 1st, Tigers starter Dave Morehead was even wilder, walking
two, allowing a double steal, and walking the basis full, but he K-d the dangerous
Johnny Lewis to escape the threat. In the bottom of the 2nd, Joe Torre drilled a
Morehead pitch over the center field fence to cut the lead in half, but the Spiders
were repeatedly unable to capitalize. Meanwhile, Wes Covington's ground ball allowed
Norm Cash to score in the 3rd, making it 3-1. Morehead allowed only two hits over
the next four frames, and, in the top of the 7th, the Tigers added to their lead
with a Rocky Colavito rbi single, this time off disappointing reliever Bruce Howard.
Although Mickey Lolich and Dean Chance pitched hitless ball the rest of the way, Ron
Perranoski and Eddie Fisher matched them pitch for pitch, preserving a deceptively
easy 4-1 win--and the pennant--for the Frankfort Tigers.
10/2/1965, FRA65-CLE65, Candlestick Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1965 Tigers 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 7 0 10 0
1965 Spiders 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 7 0
Tigers AB R H BI AVG Spiders AB R H BI AVG
Buford 2b 4 2 3 0 .333 Green cf 3 0 0 0 .259
Howser ss 5 0 0 0 .276 Gaines ph 0 0 0 0 .339
Cash 1b 3 2 1 0 .305 Chance p 0 0 0 0 .304
Mantle cf 4 0 2 1 .292 Lumpe 2b 2 0 1 0 .265
Colavito rf 5 0 1 1 .320 Hinton ph 1 0 0 0 .229
Covington lf 4 0 0 1 .270 Helms 3b 4 0 0 0 .373
Howard c 0 0 0 0 .241 Wagner lf 2 0 1 0 .342
Causey 3b 3 0 0 0 .310 Stewart pr 0 0 0 0 .228
McMullen ph 1 0 0 0 .241 Cunningham 1b 2 0 0 0 .316
Bailey c 1 0 0 0 .229 Peterson ph 1 0 0 0 .270
Blair cf 1 0 0 0 .214 Koppe 2b 0 0 0 0 .265
Morehead p 2 0 0 0 .123 Lewis rf 4 0 0 0 .274
Perranoski p 1 0 0 0 .600 Torre c 4 1 1 1 .260
Fisher p 0 0 0 0 .000 Alley ss 4 0 1 0 .242
34 4 7 3 Ellis p 2 0 0 0 .096
Howard p 0 0 0 0 .278
Lolich p 0 0 0 0 .071
Gentile ph 1 0 0 0 .256
Hershberger cf 0 0 0 0 .239
30 1 4 1
Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Morehead W 19-4 6.1 4 1 1 3 7 112 58 3.03
Perranoski H 14 1.1 0 0 0 1 0 14 7 3.74
Fisher S 23 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 17 10 2.21
9.0 4 1 1 4 9 143 75
Spiders INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA
Ellis L 14-9 6.0 5 4 4 4 2 114 70 4.07
Howard 0.1 2 0 0 1 0 13 6 4.40
Lolich 0.2 0 0 0 0 1 12 7 3.56
Chance 2.0 0 0 0 1 2 24 13 3.29
9.0 7 4 4 6 5 163 96
FRA: McMullen batted for Causey in the 7th
Mantle moved to lf in the 7th
Howard inserted at c in the 7th
McMullen moved to 3b in the 7th
Blair inserted at cf in the 7th
CLE: Gentile batted for Lolich in the 7th
Gaines batted for Green in the 7th
Hershberger inserted at cf in the 8th
Hinton batted for Lumpe in the 8th
Stewart ran for Wagner in the 8th
Peterson batted for Cunningham in the 8th
Hinton moved to 1b in the 9th
Stewart moved to lf in the 9th
Koppe inserted at 2b in the 9th
E-Lewis, Alley. 2B-Mantle. HR-Torre(27). SB-Lumpe(9), Wagner(8). CS-Alley.
K-Cash 2, Colavito, Covington, Perranoski, Helms 2, Wagner, Lewis 2, Torre 2,
Ellis, Peterson. BB-Buford, Cash 2, Mantle, Bailey 2, Lumpe, Wagner,
Cunningham, Gaines. SH-Morehead. HBP-Wagner. HB-Perranoski. BALK-Ellis.
GWRBI: Mantle
Sam Bowens was injured for this game and 34 more days
Ron Perranoski was ejected from this game
Leon Wagner was ejected from this game
Temperature: 64, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 15 MPH.
....................................................................................................
10/2/1965, FRA65-CLE65, Candlestick Park
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP
1965 Tigers 2 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 7 0 10 0
1965 Spiders 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 2 7 0
Tigers -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Buford 2b 1>S 31.2-3 S+e9.B-2 7>S W
Howser ss 3/g.1-2 4 6 Howard 8
1/b
Cash 1b W 3>W 5>k S.1-2 9>k
Mantle cf S.2-H;1-3 D.1-3 13 W.2-3;1-2 53
Colavito rf bk.3-H;1-2 2/fl k note 1 43
63
Covington lf e6.2-3;B-1 note 2 6>1/L Lolich
k
Howard c
Causey 3b 9 43 63
McMullen ph 63
Bailey c 2>W 4>9 W
Blair cf 8>Chance
63
Morehead p 54/SH.1-2 8 43
Perranoski p k
Fisher p
1: S.3-H;2-3;1-2 2: 1/g.3-H;2-3
Spiders -----A------ -----B------ -----C------ -----D------ -----E------
Green cf 1>43 7 53
Gaines ph W.1-2
Chance p
Lumpe 2b W 3>S 6 CS3(25)
Hinton ph 8>53
Helms 3b k 54/f 6>k 63
Wagner lf W.1-2 k S HP
Stewart pr
Cunningham 1b SB3;SB2 3/g 46/f Fisher
W
Peterson ph k
Koppe 2b
Lewis rf k 4>k 54/f 9>43
Torre c 2>HR k 7>8 k
Alley ss 1/g 31 S 6
Ellis p k 5>9
Howard p
Lolich p
Gentile ph Perranoski
8
Hershberger cf
Tigers IN OUT ER Spiders IN OUT ER
Morehead A1 C8 1 W 19-4 Ellis A1 D1 4 L 14-9
Perranoski C9 D4 0 H 14 Howard D2 D5 0
Fisher D5 D8 0 S 23 Lolich D6 D7 0
Chance D8 E5 0
Game 3
Game 4
Game 5
Game 6 Game not neccessary
Game 7 Game not neccessary