The under-achieving five through June: 1966 NL replay update

In my last post, I recapped the top five teams in my 1966 NL replay.  Today, I’ll go through the lower five and describe the highlights and lowlights. 

I cobbled together a quick “by-the-numbers” graphic for the month of June.

Also, if you haven’t seen it, here are the full standings, team standings and leaders through June 30.  Here’s a reminder of the current standings…

Two points of fact: 

• Appropriately, the top five teams in the replay currently have a winning record and the bottom five do not.
• Only one team who actually finished the season with a winning record has one currently now. More on that later. 

Let’s get started with those teams who need to make a move now if they have any chance to go the World Series.

Cincinnati Reds

35-37

The Reds should really be doing better with a fair lineup, decent defense (Cardenas is a SS-10!) and a Grade A starter in Jim Maloney.  Yet, they languish in six place. Worse still, they are a full four games behind the fifth place Phillies.

Cincy fans are currently enamored with left fielder Deron Johnson in June.  Deron tied with Ken Boyer for the June lead for homers with 5.  He’s currently at 9 for the year, 7^th in the league. Second baseman Pete Rose rapped 36 hits but that figured out to a .273 average for June bringing his average down for the season.   

The Reds pitching was solid if not spectacular in June.  Bit o’ trivia here:  Cincinnati was the only team not to pitch a shutout in June.  Sammy Ellis sure didn’t.  He continues to have the highest ERA among NL starters with an astronomical 5.71 mark.  That said, he has 6 wins (against 9 losses). 

Jim Maloney is the staff star. In seven starts in June, he went 4-2 with a 2.50 ERA.  Maloney’s season numbers (10-2, 2.21 ERA, 105 K) rank him in the top ten in all three categories. 

Finally, something happened to Cincy closer Billy McCool on June 12 for the first time in the season.  After 22 2/3 innings, he gave up his first earned run.  He’s still sitting pretty with a league-leading nine saves and a 1.24 ERA. 

To get to the top:  the top four in the lineup need to start hitting for power.  In June, Harper, Rose, Pinson and Coleman combined for zero homeruns. 

Team Leaders through June

Chicago Cubs

33-39

June was actually not a bad month for the Cubbies. They were one win away from a .500 record. 

Right fielder Billy Williams was one reason.  Billy was off to a horrendous start in April and May as one of the league’s worst hitters but he put it together for a .325 June with 16 rbis and 16 runs scored.  He’s now at .245 for the season.  Early starter Ron Santo has settled down a bit with a .242 June.  So much so that he and Ernie Banks were both taken out of three games at the same time (the Cubs managed to win one of those).  Ronnie did drive home 18 in June. 

Santo (.312) and Don Kessinger (.310) are still among the top ten in hitting (just barely at #9 and #10 respectively).  As you can see from the graphic above, catcher Randy Hundley is not.

Dick Ellsworth (DZ) is the Cubs’ lucky charm.  No matter how badly he pitches, the Cubs do their best to win.  Ellsworth posted a 5.53 ERA for June but was still the team’s wins leader at 4-1.  He’s now 8-4 for the season.  Bill Hands (D) is an innings-eater and that is about the nicest thing I can say about him in 1966.  He did win two games in June including a complete game shutout.  Ernie Broglio is 1-8 with a 5.59 ERA for the season. 

To get to the top:  Okay, let’s face it… the Cubs are way over-performing.  To do any better, Tom will have to buy some special dice that roll sixes all the time.

Team Leaders through June

Houston Astros

31-44

Outside the hapless Cardinals, the Astros had the worst record in June with an 11-18 record.  Reasons? Their poor hitting (.204) and their pitching was inconsistent. 

One pitcher who was consistent was Larry Dierker.  He collected three shutouts on his way to a 2.44 ERA for June.  With a 2.45 season ERA, he is the only pitcher from the bottom five teams in the top ten in ERA.

As for Bob Bruce, he allowed more earned runs (21) than innings (19 2/3) for June.  At 1-4, Miguel Cuellar (AXZ) can be forgiven as he posted a 2.25 ERA for the month. 

For most of the year, Jimmy Wynn was batting below .250 yet led the NL in rbis.  He was Mr. Clutch.  For June, Wynn had a solid month hitting .267 and leading  the team with three homeruns and 18 rbis.  Willie Stargell’s and Dick Allen’s hot streaks caught up to him and his 53 rbis are one below them in the leaders. 

Part of the reason for Wynn’s rbis is that leadoff man Joe Morgan continues to do what he does best.  He gets on base.  He led the NL in June in walks with 25 boosting his season lead of 63. 

As for Sonny Jackson, he once led the league in hits.  His sub-par (.248) June means he will work a little harder for that All-Star spot. 

To get to the top: Houston needs to provide Cuellar some needed support. 

Team Leaders through June

New York Mets

28-42

Overall, the Mets had a bearable June at 15-18.  As I mentioned in my previous article, they played the most games out of any team. 

Let’s get this out of the way… Ron Hunt is indeed leading the league in HBP.  He’s been plunked 14 times. 

One good reason for the Mets fans to keep coming back was thirdbaseman Ken Boyer.  He was co-leader in homeruns with five and came in third in rbis with 22.  He collected 43 hits on his way to a .321 batting average for June. 

Eddie Bressoud was surprise in June.  He hit four homers with 16 rbis and led the Mets in doubles with five in part-time play.  Cleon Jones strung together a 13-game hit streak while hitting .294 and scoring 17 times in June.

The Mets now have the services of Bob Shaw who came from San Francisco.  Shaw is enjoying the Big Apple as he is 3-1 with a 1.56 ERA since coming to the Mets.  Bob Friend is also a new acquisition by the Mets.  His ERA of 3.60 is an improvement but Mets offense need to show some support (0-3). 

For the season, Jack Hamilton is the hard-luck pitcher in that it’s too bad he get tabbed to go in (3-11, 6.19 ERA).  Spot starter Dennis Ribant has been solid (6-2, 2.52 ERA) in limited play. 

To get to the top: The Mets’ strategy of trading for pitchers seems to have mixed to good success. 

Team Leaders through June

St. Louis Cardinals

22-50

Finally, we get to the St. Louis Cardinals.  When readers see my replay standings, I think I get more questions about their performance than anything.  Considering that they actually had a winning record (83-79), they are really stinking it up!

Going into June, they were in last place with a 12-29 record.  For June, they went 10-21.  So, if you are “glass-full kind of guy”, their winning percentage DID go up.  Still, the Cardinals’ fate is pretty much sealed already by June. 

So what is going wrong for St. Louis?

For one, Orlando Cepeda isn’t hitting.  In what was supposed to be the biggest trade of 1966, San Francisco sent Orlando Cepeda to the Cardinals. A 1B-4, Cepeda has decent power and more importantly, he filled a weak spot for the team. 

That hasn’t happened.  For the month of June, Cepeda has gone 3 for 55 with one rbi. 

Other players’ numbers have dipped too.  Here some June batting averages:

• Curt Flood .189
• Tim McCarver .224
• Julian Javier .120 (worst in the league)
• Charley Smith .194

In fact, the entire team hit .179 with a league average of .239.  McCarver’s dip is especially tough as he was off to a great April and May. 

Only Lou Brock had a respectable June with a .258 mark.  Lou’s season numbers are actually pretty decent.  He’s tied with Maury Wills for the lead in steals with 29.  Hitting .282, he even has hit for power with eight homers.

Pitching had been a major issue for St. Louis but it has improved… slightly.  Spot starter Nellie Briles is still a thorn in Red Schoendienst’s side.  With an 0-8 June, he is already 1-13 with a 6.64 ERA.  Bob Gibson just doesn’t get the support he deserves (8-6, 2.48 ERA, 95 K). 

Al Jackson pitched two shutouts in June and is making improvements.  Most importantly, the bullpen (which has been an Achilles Heel) is doing so much better.  Woodeshick and Hoerner combined for one ER in 20 innings for June. 

To get to the top: Trade Nellie Briles to the Cubs

Team Leaders through June

You have read highlights from each team now. Here’s the link to all the June update posts!

It’s exciting now that the All-Star Game is less than two weeks away (on the schedule, that is… it will take me a while to play the 55 games left to break!). Keep an eye out for All-Star ballots! I am going to have you guys help decide who plays for the NL!

thanks for reading!!