#130 -- Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson

Bob Gibson and Lou Brock were my first favorite players. As such I still have a soft spot in my heart for Gibby. In fact, I'm currently passing time on my treadmill (no, not as I write this, but during this time period) watching Game 1 of the 1968 World Series. Gibby doesn't really look as intimidating as I remember, but I don't see a lot of Tigers getting good swings, either.

Gibson went to college at Creighton in his native Omaha, playing basketball and baseball. I have no doubt that he would have been top of the line in football, volleyball, lacrosse or any other sport he chose to master. When he was a kid, no one would have imagined a career as an intimidating Hall of Fame pitcher, college basketball player and Harlem Globetrotter. Gibson was sickly. He had ricketts, asthma, pneumonia and a heart murmur. Still, he was as dominating in high school and college as he would be in the National League.

His Wikipedia page said he was one of the stars of the late 50's Globetrotters. I don't know how correct that is, but it says he could hammer down backhanded dunks. I do believe the line that says he left the Globies because he got tired of the clowning. Gibby is a competitor and there's no competition in beating the Washington Generals night after night while running tricks.

When initially called up, he butted heads with Cardinal manager Solly Hemus, but Gibson made the starting rotation and stayed there for the duration of his career. I was surprised to see that he only has 251 career victories. He had several years where he just didn't get the wins commensurate with his level of pitching. For example, he was having a good 1967 going into July 15 game against the Pirates. He was 10-6, 3.52 with 119 strikeouts in 138 innings. Roberto Clemente led off the 4th inning with a smash back to the box. It hit Gibson in the lower leg and Clemente got a single out of it. He then walked Willie Stargell, got Bill Mazeroski on a fly ball and walked Donn Clendenon before they figured out Clemente's liner had broken his freaking leg! I guess Gibby was human with a broken tibia. He came back in early September and went 3-1, 0.96 in 5 starts where he allowed 2 runs once. He then went 3-0 with a 1.00 ERA and a home run against the Red Sox in the Series. Wow.

However, his stretch from 1968 (actually you could have begun it after the July 15, 1967 game against the Pirates....he was 6-1, and an ERA under 1 in 8 starts) through 1970 is similar to what Sandy Koufax had done a few years earlier and what Greg Maddux did in the mid-90's. He was 65-29, 2.13 ERA and 811 strikeouts in 913 innings in 103 starts those 9 years. That means he averaged 8.86 innings per start in a 3 year period. He had 20 shutouts in those 103 starts and 79 complete games.

In 1968 he had a stretch where he completed 19 out of 20 games. The game he didn't complete, he was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the 11th inning of a 13 inning loss. I know. You've got to be thinking, "What a wuss. Suck it up and give a little of yourself." I'd say Red Schoendienst had a lot of guts to pull him. In that stretch of 20 starts, he had 12 shutouts (5 in a row) and gave up 17 earned runs in 182 innings. His 1968 season was absolutely stupid and part of the reason now we have lowered mounds, juiced ballparks, juiced balls and juiced bats.

I'll put my respect and admiration for Gibson this way: The first National League game I ever got to see was Sunday, September 26 against the Expos. A fellow in my small town would take charter buses to St. Louis or Kansas City for a baseball game for about $15/head. My dad took me on a lot of those. This one was a big deal because it was my first Cardinal game and Bob Gibson was going to pitch. I was really hyped up. When we got to the Stadium, they announced the starting pitcher would be Darryl Patterson. Who? Dad, why isn't Bob Gibson pitching? Something about the Cardinals being out of the race. I was so PO'd about not getting to see Bob Gibson pitch that when I got home I found Darryl Patterson's 1971 card and promptly wadded it up. I'll have to look to see if I still have it and post a scan. I guess I had a little bit of Gibby's temperment as a 7 year old.

1972 Feature

July 13, 1972 was a Thursday and a light night on the schedule. In 6 games there were 4 shutouts. Gibson didn't pitch for the Cardinals, but Reggie Cleveland threw a 2-hitter at the Braves and won 2-0.

The Game of the Day was division leaders Pittsburgh (with Steve Blass coming in at 10-2) going against 12-2 Gary Nolan and the West division leading Reds. Cesar Geronimo got the Reds' first run with a 5th inning homer. Pittsburgh hadn't done much to that point, but they started getting with it. They loaded the bases, but Nolan struck out Richie Hebner to strand 3 in the 6th. Nolan then struck out Stargell and Hebner in the 8th to leave a couple on base. Bobby Tolan got a sacrifice fly in the 8th to give Nolan a little bit of breathing room. Clay Carroll pitched around a 9th inning single to close it out.

One Good Turn.....

My wife needed a long weekend, so we're in Kansas City shopping. Just for fun I check Beckett's show calendar and there's a mall show in K.C. It is not the mall she likes to hit, but she's a good sport. Hopefully I'll find some high numbers and other assorted goodies.


UPDATE:
Mixed bag of success for me. I found no 1972 cards to finish off this set. I did, however, find a few 57 and 58's in a dollar box that will work for TTM autographs (e.g., Virgil Trucks, John O'Brien, et. al.). My big haul was to eliminate about 70 of the cards on my 1970 want list. I'm up to 61% complete, which is very misleading because I still need a lot of the high dollar cards on that set.

I did save some money. One seller had just bought a complete 1956 set and a 1957 set missing only 5 cards. He priced the '57 to me at $2000 and I passed it up. I told my wife we saved $2000 and she was incredibly impressed with me. I think she'll be getting a nice dinner tomorrow night to show my appreciation for her patience while I dug through old ball cards.

#129 -- Charlie Fox

Charlie Fox

How old does Charlie look here? To me he looks like he'd have to be in his mid-60's. However, assuming it was taken in Spring Training 1971 (or in front of the bleachers at a high school football stadium), he hadn't had his 50th birthday yet. Johngy left a comment earlier about how a lot of the players looked older in this set than they do now.

Charlie was a lifelong Giant. He grew up in New York City and wanted nothing more than to be a Giant. His Baseball-Reference page doesn't list when he was signed by the Giants, but he was brought up to play 3 games in late September 1942 for the Giants as a 20 year old. He was a catcher and had a .429 lifetime batting average (3 singles in 7 at bats). It might be worth keeping track of that and see if he turns out to have the highest lifetime big league batting average of anyone in this set. He's certainly set the bar high.

His minor league career doesn't pick up again until 1946, so I'd say he spent his early 20's fighting for America's freedom. He was a backup catcher in the low minors (B and C leagues) through the 50's and never sniffed the big leagues again. He scouted until the mid-60's and then either coached with the Giants or managed in the minors until named as manager of the Giants in May of 1970.

The Giants made it to the playoffs once between 1962 and 1987, that being when Fox led them to the West Division in 1971. However, it's not like they were abject failures. They finished 2nd to the Cardinals or the Dodgers most years in the 60's. But, despite McCovey, Mays and Marichal they just couldn't get over the hump despite having the most consistent run.

The Giants crashed hard in 1972. Charlie had a tough year with the Giants finishing 5th. McCovey and Marichal were injured, Mays was finally showing his age and young players like Chris Speier, Dave Kingman and Garry Maddox weren't ready yet. They bounced back somewhat in 1973, but when they got off to a bad start in 1974, Charlie found himself not employed by the Giants for the first time in over 30 years.

He had a couple of other stints with the Expos (as a GM) and as an interim manager for the Cubs. He had a fiery temper, but he was a lifetime baseball man. There are a lot of guys out there like Fox who never have the chance to manage in the post-season or even make it to the big leagues. The thing that sets Fox aside is that 1971 season when he won the West.

P.S. I was googling Charlie Fox and came across a reference on Urban Dictionary. I've never heard his name used that way, however.

1972 Feature

July 8, 1972 was a Saturday. There were a lot of low-scoring games. The Dodgers lost to the Mets 4-1, due in part to 4 Dodger errors. Man, what with Charlie Fox being a long-time Giant and 4 Dodger errors, this post can't end too early for one Night Owl. Juan Marichal raised his record to 3-10, but he only went 6 innings allowing 1 unearned run against the Expos as poor Ernie McAnally fell to 1-11. The Angels held the Red Sox scoreless over the last 15 innings of their 17 inning game and then scored to win 4-3.

The Game of the Day is one that we just don't see any more. The Yankees took on the Twins in the Met. Mel Stottlemyre went for the Yankees against Bert Blyleven. The Twins pinch-hit for Blyleven in the bottom of the 10th. Wayne Granger relieved and gave a homer to light-hitting Bernie Allen leading off the 11th. Stottlemyre came out for the 11th and gave up a leadoff single to Danny Thompson.

Rod Carew was next up. Ralph Houk went to the bullpen for Sparky Lyle. Carew hits a dribbler to Lyle that gets Thompson to second with the tying run. Slugger Harmon Killebrew was up next. Today, there would be thought given to walking him. However, in that time managers would have even pitched to Albert Pujols instead of purposely putting the winning run on base. Lyle struck out the Killer and then fanned pinch-hitter Steve Brye. That was a 1-0 11-inning game where the starters went 10 innings. I suppose this is one of the games the Bert Blyleven for the Hall of Fame Club (of which I'm not a member) cite that could have been one of the wins that would have gotten him to 300. Instead, it looks to me like a well-pitched game that a good pitcher, Mel Stottlemyre, won.

By the way, I've tried to purposely post this at 12:34:56 PM on 7/8/09. Big Deal.

#128 -- Eddie Watt

Eddie Watt

In the stretch when the Orioles were at the top of the American League from 1969-1971, there was no better reliever in baseball than Eddie Watt, but nobody's ever heard of him. That's partly because the Orioles threw so many complete games they really didn't need a reliever. They'd carry a 9 man pitching staff and 1 of those guys would usually pitch less than once a week. Contrast that with today's game where some managers are considering carrying 13 pitchers.

In that stretch of 1969-1971, Eddie still appeared only 48 games and 55 innings on average. The Oriole bullpen also had Dick Hall, Dave Leonhard and Pete Richert all pitching effectively during that period. I mentioned the Orioles threw a lot of complete games. From 1969-71 their complete game totals were 50, 64 and 71, well over 1/3 of the total games played.

Eddie pitched 8 years for the Orioles and they went to the World Series 4 of them. He was a rookie on the 1966 championship team and was a vital cog on the 1970 championship team as well as the 1969 and 1971 AL Championship teams. After the 1973 season he was sold to Philadelphia. The O's seemed to be going through a change and there were a lot of players in a rich minor league system that were coming up. Eddie slipped a little more with the Phillies. They released him and after a few games with the Cubs in 1975 his career was over.

Eddie wasn't like today's closers. He didn't come in to great fanfare and entry music. He was more quiet and unassuming. He grew up in Iowa on a farm and never saw a major league baseball game until he saved one for the Orioles on April 12, 1966. One week later he pitched in his second game and got his first win. One week later he notched his first major league win.

His stats today don't look like they'd be good enough to make an all-star team, but Eddie was one of the best in his time.

1972 Feature

On July 5, 1972 Nolan Ryan was at it again. He threw 9 shutout innings at the Brewers and it wouldn't have been enough if Winston Llenas, pinch-hitting for Ryan, hadn't knocked in the winning run with a single in the bottom of the 9th off Earl Stephenson. Stephenson had been matching him zero for zero, but gave up the winning hit. Marty Pattin of the Red Sox and Dave McNally of the Orioles also had 5-hit shutouts.

Independence Day

I'll take my turn to editorialize. A few years ago in my church, we were having a celebration of freedom in America and they were playing the National Anthem. For some reason, I tried to put myself in the shoes of Francis Scott Key while he wrote the song.



Imagine. You're detained on a British boat in Baltimore harbor at night while your fledgling country is being attacked and invaded by the greatest power on the earth at that time. You can hear blasts and see explosions all night and you don't know what's going on.



You ask someone near sunup, thinking about seeing things were OK when the sun went down last night...



O, Say can you see

By the dawn's early light.

What so proudly we hailed

At the twilight's last gleaming.



You're worried about the flag at Fort McHenry, but you can only try to catch a glimpse over the sides of the boat every now and then because it isn't safe to put your head up.....



Whose broad stripes and bright stars

Through the perilous fight

O'er the ramparts we watched

Were so gallantly streaming.



In the darkness, you can't see if the Fort is holding or not. Every now and then when there's an explosion, it gives you a burst of light to see what's going on.....



And the rockets red glare,

The bombs bursting in air,

Gave proof through the night

That the flag was still there!



And as long as our flag is still there, the Fort is holding and everything is OK! With the raising of the flag over Fort McHenry he knew we'd held off the Brits. Imagine the relief and joy every time Francis sees Old Glory still waving on shore.



Then, Francis Scott Key poses a question and a challenge from that boat to you and me, almost 200 years in the future......



Oh, Say does that Star Spangled Banner yet wave,

Over the land of the free

And the home of the brave?



There was a time that I'd be at a ballgame and I couldn't wait for the National Anthem to be over so I could join the umpire in a hearty "Play Ball." Now, when the National Anthem is over, I'll give Francis Scott Key a quiet answer to his question: "Yes, the flag still waves over the greatest country the earth has ever known." Somehow, I think he's in a place now where what's going on here doesn't matter to him, but I'd like to think that he'd take some peace knowing everything is still OK.



That being said, I love Det. Frank Drebin as Enrico Palazzo butchering the song. While I am absolutely reverent about it at the ballpark (and think what Roseann Barr did to it absolutely sucks), I can have a good laugh at "The Naked Gun."

#127 -- Duffy Dyer

Duffy Dyer

Somehow I think Duffy disqualified himself from making the backup catcher Hall of Fame by starting over half his team's games in 1972 and 1977. However, he spent much of his career in the bullpen warming up guys like Tug McGraw, Grant Jackson and Dale Murray, and putting on the shin guards and mask to warm up a pitcher between innings when Jerry Grote, Ed Ott or Gary Carter had been on base at the end of an inning. What does a backup catcher do? One thing they don't do is grab headlines.

Duffy, however, would be one of the more famous backup catchers, partly because of his nickname and partly because of being a long-time Met. Duffy was a first round draft pick (secondary phase) out of baseball factory Arizona State in 1966 as the 9th pick. The 2nd overall pick in the regular phase was teammate Reggie Jackson.

Duffy didn't have quite the career that Reggie did. He was a rookie on the 1969 Amazin' Mets, but was at best a 3rd string catcher behind Jerry Grote and J.C. Martin. He did get one at bat in the Series without getting a hit. In 1972 he had his career highs in games, at bats, hits home runs (8), RBI and strikeouts. He didn't play as much in 1973 and didn't play in the post-season at all.

Duffy had some occasional pop in his bat, but too often he didn't make contact. Then again, the backup catcher rarely has time to get his full batting practice in, as he's busy catching guys that need to get some work in on the side. Certainly in Spring Training the backup catcher's role is purely catching and has nothing to do with hitting. He got traded to the Pirates and spent 4 years there as a backup, getting to appear in the 1975 long enough to draw a bases loaded walk off Rawly Eastwick in the bottom of the 9th to tie up Game 3. The Reds promptly scored twice in the 10th to close out the sweep. He then bounced on to Montreal and Detroit to close his career.

He's been involved in baseball all his life. He's now the catching coordinator for the Padres, but he's been a minor league manager at several different levels. One thing that's bugging him now is that he's lost his 1969 World Series ring. He had to be in the Dominican last summer and thinks someone stole it out of his locker. If anybody sees it at a show or on ebay, give Duffy a call.

I love this card because it shows a young Duffy in the classic catching pose. This looks like a spring training shot with somebody else's catching mitt lying behind him and the cool (yeah, right) windbreaker sleeves on.

1972 Feature

July 4, 1972 had a full slate of games. Many were low scoring, with 7 runs by the Expos over the Dodgers being the biggest offensive barrage. A lot of these games were well-pitched. Lynn McGlothen of the Red Sox threw a 3-hit shutout for his first big league win. Pat Dobson gave up a Dick Allen homer in the first, but coasted to a 3-hitter in a 2-1 victory over the White Sox. Dick Tidrow of the Indians and Roger Nelson of the Royals each threw 4-hit shutouts. In the National League, Larry Dierker had to scatter 8 hits to shut out the Pirates.

The Game of the Day is Tom Seaver and the Mets against the Padres in the first game of a doubleheader. Clay Kirby only lasted 2 2/3 innings for the Padres. He only gave up 2 runs and 3 hits, but he walked 4 in the 3rd, forcing in 2 runs. When you hit as poorly as the Padres and you're facing Tom Seaver you can't afford to walk guys with the bases loaded. The Mets didn't get anything else the rest of the day.

But with Tom Terrific pitching you don't usually need much. Seaver struck out 11, walked 4 and gave up only a single to Leron Lee with 1 out in the 9th. That was a problem because Big Nate Colbert represented the tying run on deck. He also represented the end of the game because he rolled into a 6-4-3 double play. Seaver threw a wonderful game here.

Also on this day was a game I remember watching on TV as an 8-year old. It was an afternoon game between the Reds and the Cardinals. Scipio Spinks was a sensation for the Cardinals that year and entered the game 5-4. He also had character, as he had a stuffed monkey he carried around for luck that he called Mighty Joe Young. I remember the Cardinals had a feature on the pre-game show about it. Joe let Scipio down that day as the Reds scored 5 off him in the bottom of the 2nd. In the 3rd, the Cardinals got a rally going and Scipio was on 1st with 1 out. Luis Melendez doubled and Scipio ran through a stop sign at 3rd and tried to score. He was safe, but on his slide into Johnny Bench, he tore ligaments in his knee and was never effective again. (The play-by-play on Retrosheet even mentions the torn ligaments.) He missed the rest of the year. I still remember the announcer (I can't remember if it was Jay Randolph or Mike Shannon) bemoaning the fact that he ran. It was something to the effect of, "When you're down by 5 in the 3rd, there's no reason for you to have your pitcher trying to score with 1 out." Makes sense to me. I guess Chien-Ming Wang wasn't the first pitcher to have his career severly interrupted by a baserunning effort.

(Oh, yes. I can also hear my wife in the background, "How can you remember that detail from a baseball game 37 years ago, but you can't remember to mail in the cable bill?" I hope I'm not the only one with that type of memory.)

#126 -- Bart Johnson

Bart Johnson

The 1970's was a decade of a lot of things. Bell bottoms, hippies, tube socks, lava lamps and the White Man's Afro. Bart Johnson had a White Man's Afro and it seemed to work for him. There's a lot of information on Bart in this interview of him and it also shows all of his baseball cards. See as the decade went along that Bart seemed to aspire to become the albino Oscar Gamble.

Bart had a heck of a lot of athletic talent. He went to BYU and, in the days before freshman eligibility on the varsity basketball team, averaged 28 a game for the freshman team. John Wooden unsuccessfully recruited him for UCLA. Bart said he picked baseball over basketball because he had Cy Young stuff pitching, but would have "only" been a solid NBA player. He'd have given Randy Denton a run for his money on the hair front. (Here's a coincidence...I was looking at Johngy's blog to see if he'd interviewed Bart and I found this Youtube interview of the Ultimate White Man's Afro, Randy Denton!)

Bart had a blazing fast ball and had a great 1971 season. He had a lot of promise and thought he'd take off in 1972, but he hit like a thud. He gave up 8 runs in an extra inning game (written up here in the 1972 Feature). He'd hurt his knee playing basketball in the off-season, told the Sox about it and they said he'd "be fine." However, they didn't want him to shelve it, so he ended up playing outfield (and batting .316) in the Sox A and AA teams.

He came back to pitch in 1973 and was so-so, probably still recovering. He got into it with the Sox in Spring Training of 1974 because they wanted him to go to the minors. He threatened to quit and work publicity for the World Football League's Chicago Fire. He even had a tryout with the Seattle Super Sonics that summer, but nothing came of it. He finally decided to go back to pitching and had a great 1974 second half where he started to fulfill his potential. From July 7 to the end of the year he was 10-4, 2.74 and had back to back shutouts in late August.

He's going to make a top of the rotation pitcher in 1975 to combine with Wilbur Wood and Jim Kaat, right? No. He herniated a disc in his lower back during a spring training game because he slipped on a wet mound. They weren't able to do much back then and he missed the whole season. He was in the rotation all year in 1976 (along with Goose Gossage) and didn't do well. By 1977, he'd lost a lot on his fast ball and it was over.

Bart's been a scout since his playing days wrapped up. He's working for the Nationals now and, from what I've seen on other message boards, he can be spotted in establishments near his Oaklawn, IL home.

1972 Feature

Lots going on July 3, 1972. Hank Aaron had a big day with a homer, double, single, 2 walks and was hit once in a 13-9 win at Houston. Rick Wise got a complete game 4-2 victory over the Reds and hit a 2-run homer. The Orioles pasted Detroit 15-3, and had a 6 run inning and a 7 run inning in the game. They had 21 hits, 16 of them were singles. The Phillies got to Don Carrithers of the Giants for 4 runs and 5 hits in the first inning. They got nothing -- no runs and no hits -- the rest of the way, but it was enough because they Steve Carlton getting his 10th win. Willie Stargell hit a 2-run walk-off homer to power the Pirates past the Cubs.

My Game of the Day is in Disneyville, where Catfish Hunter of the A's had a pitching duel with Rudy May of the Angels. The A's had pushed across a run in the 7th. The Angels hadn't gotten anything off Hunter. Bert Campaneris singled to lead off the 8th and Joe Rudi was safe when Rudy May made an error on his sacrifice bunt attempt.

Now we get the big situation of the game. A's ahead 1-0 in the top of the 8th. Nobody out. Good speed at second with Campeneris and Rudi on at first. Coming to the plate is the A's best hitter and biggest slugger, Reginald Martinez Jackson. He does something that would never be done in today's game. He lays down a sacrifice bunt. Successfully. Can you imagine Tony LaRussa asking Albert Pujols to do that? If Joe Girardi asked Alex Rodriguez to sacrifice, could he get the bunt down? However, Big Ego Reggie moved the runners along. Captain Sal Bando was walked intentionally and Mike Epstein knocked a 2-run single to break the game open. A couple of batters later Dave Duncan got another 2-run single and the A's held on to win the game 5-0. Catfish had a 2-hitter.

I had to look it up. Reggie had 4 sacrifices in 1972 and 13 for his career, but after 1972 he only got down 1 sacrifice bunt.

#125 -- Dave Cash

Dave Cash










I always liked Dave Cash. He had a lot of style, as you can see in this card. He's got the wristbands, the hat's cocked just right and he's got just the hint of an arrogant sneer as he pretends to look at the pitcher that's going to throw him a pitch. I always think of him as a Pirate, although he had his best success with the Phillies.


Dave came up and got some playing time in 1970 filling in for Bill Mazeroski. In 1971 he played half-time at second and some at third, still getting over 500 at bats. However, Rennie Stennett was coming up and Cash had to split time with him.


In 1974 Cash was part of a straight up trade within the division to the Phillies for Ken Brett. It worked out for both teams, more so of the Phillies than the Pirates. Cash teamed up with Larry Bowa to anchor the middle infield and had over 200 hits twice (and 189 the other year).


Cash retired with the highest fielding percentage for a second baseman. For a time in the 1970's, he held the record for most at bats in a season, which means he led off, played every day, played for a team that scored a lot and he didn't walk. But he didn't strike out either. He's somebody that you'd think would have good speed, but wasn't a good base-stealer, stealing 120 and being caught 74 times, just over 60%, which wasn't good for a 1970's leadoff hitter.


I always thought Dave Cash was cool. I also saw that he was part of the 1st all-black starting 9 in the majors on September 1, 1971. It's probably happened a few times since.

1972 Feature
Nolan Ryan continued his assault on July 1, 1972, by striking out 16 A's in a 5-3 win. He gave up 3 runs on only 5 hits, but also walked 3, hit Sal Bando and Bill Voss in the 7th and threw his 9th wild pitch of the year.

The Game of the Day is going to be in Fenway. Going into the top of the 9th the Red Sox have a 5-3 lead, but the Brewers scored 2 in the 8th and have momentun. All of the Red Sox runs have come on home runs, two by Ben Oglivie and one by former Brewer pitcher Marty Pattin. Don Newhauser came in to relieve in the 9th and got a grounder to short. Since Luis Aparicio had not been hitting well, the Sox were trying out rookie Juan Beniquez at short. Beniquez had a much better bat, but was a woeful shortstop. In 1971 he played 15 games at short, made 6 errors and fielded .895. He was better in 1972. In 27 games he made 14 errors, but his fielding percentage improved to .900. It's hard to field under .900. Juan never played shortstop again until a 1 inning emergency for the Angels in 1985.

Anyway, an out and a walk later and the tying run is on base. The Sox bring Luis Tiant in to face Ron Theobald. We've seen Theobald's card. He's not menacing looking and he hit like he was borrowing Eddie Gaedel's bat. Theobald did make some solid contact on Tiant, however. He did the right thing and hit a grounder to Juan ".900" Beniquez, but Beniquez handled it cleanly and it turned into a 6-4-3 game-ending double play. Theobald hits it hard, but that turns it into a double play when Beniquez fields it cleanly. Sometimes guys go against what they would normally do.