Building a Champion: 1960 (Part 2)

In honor of the life of the Pirates' greatest general manager, Joe L. Brown, I've been chronicling how he built his first World Series team. In Part 1 I examined 1955-57, in which Brown incrementally improved a moribund franchise that had finished last in the National League four years running before he was hired in 1955. The Pirates improved slightly to seventh place in their first two seasons under Brown, employing a solid pitching staff but still struggling to score runs.

1957-58 Offseason
In his first two offseasons Brown had stood pat, waiting until games started to make major moves. This time around Brown pulled off two challenge trades with Cincinnati in December.

In the first move, righthanded knuckleballer Bob Purkey was traded for lefthander Don Gross. Gross assumed Luis Arroyo's role as the main lefty in the bullpen with Arroyo returning to AAA. Completing the pitching staff, prospects Curt Raydon and George Witt were called up to assume swingman roles while Red Swanson was sent back to the minors.

The other move was a swap of first basemen as Brown traded Dee Fondy to Cincinnati for slugger Ted Kluszewski. The objective clearly was to add power to a lineup that had finished last in home runs. Big Klu hit 171 home runs from 1953-56 before an injury plagued and unsuccessful 1957 season, and was installed as the cleanup hitter for 1958. The team's only returning slugger, Frank Thomas, moved back to third base.

In May, Brown purchased veteran hurler Bob Porterfield from the Red Sox. On June 15 which at the time was the non-waiver trade deadline, Brown pulled off his first career deadline deal. Backups Gene Freese and Johnny O'Brien went to St. Louis for slick-fielding infield prospect Dick Schofield. Completing the 1958 club, Dick Stuart forced Brown's hand by hitting 31 home runs for AAA Salt Lake City by the All-Star break when he was called up to the big leagues.

The overhaul had been gradual, but by 1958 the Pirates now employed only three of the 11 primary position players Brown inherited in 1955 - Roberto Clemente, Dick Groat and Frank Thomas.

1958 Pirates
The 1958 season was nothing less than a revelation as Pittsburgh posted an 84-70 record and finished second in the league. Using the same primary players, the team made a stunning 22 game improvement over the previous season. The Pirates stayed close to eventual champion Milwaukee through September. The fans loved it; attendance increased to 1.3 million - three times the attendance of 1955.

The pitching was a big success, finishing second in the league. Actually this staff could have been even better, as the traded Purkey won 17 games and was an All-Star in Cincinnati.

On the hitting side, the high profile addition Kluszewski - though far more useful than the man swapped for him - was either over the hill or too injured to be an effective cleanup hitter. The lineup was strengthened when Stuart replaced him in midseason. The core hitters all improved greatly, although the offense still was seventh in the league in scoring.

Although this move obviously didn't affect the 1960 team, I have to mention that on August 7 Brown signed Willie Stargell as an amateur free agent.

1958-59 Offseason
Continuing Brown's practice of trading frequently with Cincinnati (called the Redlegs at that time due to anti-Communist hysteria), Brown pulled off his biggest trade yet on January 30. The popular slugger Thomas - a three time All-Star with 163 home runs already as a Pirate - went to Cincinnati for three players: catcher Smoky Burgess, pitcher Harvey Haddix, and third baseman Don Hoak.

While Thomas was a bona fide star, two everyday players plus a starting pitcher was a shockingly good return for him. Both Burgess and Hoak were good contact hitters. Hoak lacked the departed slugger's pop but unlike Thomas was a natural third baseman and an above average fielder there. One of the best hitting catchers in baseball, Burgess was a major offensive upgrade. Haddix was a veteran pitcher with 83 wins and a career 3.66 ERA.

Brown picked journeyman Rocky Nelson in the Rule V draft to be the fourth outfielder. Stuart got a full season as the everyday first baseman, pushing Kluszewski into a reserve role.

1959 Season
Even though all the players from the Thomas trade played well, the Pirates dropped back to fourth place with a 78-76 record. They were in the pennant race for half the season but never challenged after a nine game losing streak at the end of July. The biggest problem again was a lack of power as Pittsburgh's 112 home runs were last in the league.

1959-60 Offseason
Through a combination of trades and player development, under Joe Brown the Pirates improved from a laughingstock to a team with back to back winning seasons. Now the GM had a club that only required finishing touches to be a true contender.

At the winter meetings Brown got catcher Hal Smith from Kansas City for spare parts including pitcher Dick Hall, who had been relegated to the minors for three seasons. Smith had a good throwing arm and a .280 career average, but the A's were determined to sell off their best players - around the same time they also dumped Roger Maris to the Yankees.

In a second December deal, Ron Kline went to St. Louis for pitcher Tom Cheney and center fielder Gino Cimoli. Cheney was a hard-throwing but raw prospect while Cimoli was a former All-Star center fielder. Kline compiled a 66-91 record and a 3.77 ERA with Pittsburgh. With the trade he became the first of the four core pitchers from 1955 to leave town. His replacement came in May when Brown sent prospects Ed Bauta and Julian Javier to St. Louis for lefthander Vinegar Bend Mizell, who had 69 major league wins and an astoundingly great nickname.

1960 Pirates
The results, of course, are history. Fueled by Clemente's breakout season, the same offense that had never finished better than sixth in the league in run scoring led the league in offense in 1960. Every position player had an above average year. Friend and Law both had their best seasons while the trade acquisitions Haddix and Mizell rounded out a good starting staff in front of Face, the best Pirates reliever in history. Pittsburgh also had a great defense, getting positive contributions from all of their starters. The team went 95-59, easily winning the pennant, and of course beat the Yankees in a seven game World Series.

Overall, this was a remarkable job done by Joe Brown in his first five seasons as GM. Inheriting a terrible team, he correctly identified the core players - Groat, Clemente and Mazeroski in the field and Friend, Law and Face on the mound. He gave starting jobs to two promising minor leaguers, Stuart and Skinner, and traded either veterans at their peak value or prospects for the other key players on the roster.

Of course, really all a GM can do is put his team in a position to win. The Pirates were strong enough from 1958 on that they could have finished first. 1960 just happened to be the year everything came together.

The 1979 champions are more celebrated for being more recent, but it is the 1960 club that represents the real hope for the current Pirates. It was also the team that remains Joe Brown's greatest achievement in a long career with the Pirates.

Building A Champion: 1960 (Part 1)

Former Pirates general manager Joe L. Brown died Monday morning at the age of 91. In his 22 years as GM, Brown was at the helm for the 1960 and '71 WFC teams and built the core of the 1979 champions as well. He also presided over the playoff teams of 1970, '72, '74 and '75.

Brown's tenure undoubtedly was the golden age in Pirates history. In his honor, let's take a look at how the Pirates' greatest GM built his first champion. I'll cover 1955 through '57 here and I'll follow up in the next few days with Part 2 taking you through to 1960.

An Unknown GM Takes Over
The great general manager Branch Rickey is little remembered for his end-career stint with the Pirates. Though Rickey's presence would pay dividends down the line thanks to his signing of Roberto Clemente, during his six years running the Pirates the team finished no better than seventh.

When Rickey retired in October 1955 at the age of 74, he left a team that had finished last in the National League four years in a row and not coincidentally, had finished last in attendance three years running. But it was a less cynical time, and Pittsburgh Baseball Club stockholders voted in his handpicked successor Joe L. Brown to take over as GM. Brown inherited a 60-94 club that finished last but was stocked with young talent.

1955 PiratesThis team scored the fewest runs in the league and allowed the most. On the pitching side, clearly the task was to surround the five talented one-syllable youngsters with better filler than the ineffective veterans used in '55. The lineup was more of a mess, as only Long provided better than average hitting. The rookie Clemente already was playing great defense but had a long way to go as an offensive weapon.

1955-56 Offseason
Brown's first big move was hiring Bobby Bragan as the club's new manager. He invigorated the lineup a bit by bringing up left fielder Lee Walls, moving cleanup hitter Thomas to third base. Bob Skinner was called up for a fourth outfielder role. Veteran Red Munger and career minor leaguers Nellie King and Fred Waters were called up to strengthen the bullpen, freeing up Kline to become a front line starter.

In May, Brown dumped the three poorly performing veteran pitchers from '55. Surkont was dealt for reliever Luis Arroyo and Donoso was sent to the minors. Most importantly, for Littlefield and prospect Bobby Del Greco, Brown got 1955 Rookie of the Year Bill Virdon to play center field replacing the poor fielding Lynch. Spare part Preston Ward was traded for catcher Hank Foiles. And in early July, 19-year-old Bill Mazeroski was called up to play second base.

1956 Pirates
The '56 Pirates had a winning record as late as June 25 before stumbling to a seventh place finish at 66-88. The key success was the club's pitching, which improved from last to fourth in the league as new manager Bragan relied on his top five guys to a near preposterous extent. Virdon, Walls and an improved Clemente formed a fast and contact-hitting outfield, though the offense was still just seventh in the league in scoring. Pittsburgh was optimistic about the improved club - incredibly, attendance more than doubled to 950,000. The season has to be considered a great debut for the new GM Brown as pretty much all his moves worked. He had just inherited too poor of a team to win right away.

1956-57 Offseason
Again, Brown made no offseason trades. On the pitching side, Arroyo and Bob Purkey were called up to assume key swingman roles behind the Friend/Kline/Law trio of starters. Munger was released, which made room for 20-year-old bonus baby Red Swanson to assume a regular role in the bullpen. Waters was sent back to AAA.

The Pirates opened 1957 with the same lineup as the previous year, but Brown again made a blockbuster trade in May. Long and Walls, strong middle of the order hitters in '56, were sent to the Cubs for first baseman Dee Fondy and third baseman Gene Baker. It was an apparent attempt to win in 1957 since both new players were in their age 32 seasons. Foiles caught more often this season. Skinner also assumed a greater role and was the everyday cleanup hitter by the end of the year. Thomas kept hitting in the middle of the order, starting games at all four corner positions. Freese, who hadn't hit at all in '56, again was a semi-regular player while minor leaguer Paul Smith was called up for an outfield reserve role.

1957 Pirates
1957 was a disappointing year as the Pirates' record dropped to 62-92. The pitching was decent, ranking fifth in the NL and featuring a breakout performance from Law and another steady year for Friend. But the offense was downright awful scoring the fewest runs in the league. Clemente regressed to his poor offense of 1955, while Virdon joined him in posting a below-.300 on base percentage at the top of the lineup. Skinner, Groat, Mazeroski and Foiles all hit for good contact but could not make up for the club's lack of power.

By the end of 1957, the Long/Walls trade already looked like a shortsighted mistake. Long slugged .511 with Chicago and hit a home run in over 5% of his at bats. Fondy, for his part, could still stroke line drives but had lost nearly all his power. Walls had a sophomore slump and wouldn't have helped the Pirates much in '57 but was still just 24 years old. The move was Brown's first major mistake as GM, as he gave up the best player in the deal (Long) and received two players who were in serious decline.

While the final field results make 1957 look like a lost season, Brown made one move which caused fans to have optimism for '58. On August 3, he fired Bragan and replaced him with interim manager Danny Murtaugh. Murtaugh took the 36-67 ballclub and guided them to a 26-25 record the rest of the way. After the pitching staff blossomed under Murtaugh, Brown removed the interim tag in late September.

After 1957, the Pirates had suffered nine straight losing seasons. Yet there was much optimism that Murtaugh could coax a better performance in '58 out of his talented and young club. In an upcoming post I will finish examining how Brown's moves as GM led to the 1960 World Championship.