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The Colt 45's put their rookies in the Surrey House on South Main Street back then. I recall a sports anchor coming over and doing an interview with me that day. They set up a camera in my room and I was most uncomfortable – not just because I was going to start the game that night, but also because I had never been on TV before. In the ensuing years, I became much more comfortable in both arenas.
One thing I recall about that game was the adrenaline. When I was warming up, I couldn't throw anything but variations on a fastball. I would motion to the warm-up catcher that I was going to throw a curve ball and whoosh!, it sped toward him like a fastball with very little movement. Same way with the change-up and slider. I was so pumped up I couldn't throw anything slow. The first four fast balls I threw to Harvey Kuenn, leading of the game, sailed over his head and I walked him. Later in the inning, I struck out Willie Mays. Willie wasn't too excited about facing a young, wild, hard-throwing pitcher, but he almost tagged me anyway. The second strike was nearly a home run. For some reason, I threw him a change up with one strike in the count, and he hit it about 450 feet, but several feet foul. Then I threw him a slider. It sped toward his left hip and Willie bailed out. Then it broke over the inside corner for strike three. In the second inning, I gave up a two-run homer to Orlando Cepeda. After a scoreless third, I was pulled from the game and ended up being the losing pitcher. Still, it was a confidence builder. I got nine big league hitters out. It was exhilarating.
After that the team went to San Francisco and Los Angeles to finish the season. I came in as a releiver in S. F. and got the Giants out for two innings. Then, in Los Angeles , I pitched four scoreless innings, striking out big (6' 7” and 270 pounds) Frank Howard twice.
After the game, Mickey Herskowitz of the Houston Post asked me if I was scared when Howard came up and I nodded in the affirmative. “But you struck him out twice,” he said. “Well, my brother told me that he was swinging at a lot of breaking balls in the dirt,” I said. “So that's what I threw him.” Mickey smiled. “Your brother?” he said. “How old is your brother?” he asked. “Fourteen,” I said. I remember that exchange, but not much else. I was in La La Land for two weeks, and I don't mean Los Angeles . But looking back, I realize that I was introduced to pitching for an expansion team in just three outings. I pitched nine innings, gave up seven hits and two runs. I walked three batters and struck out five, and my ERA was 2.00, but I was 0-1! |
