A look back - SI: The Hottest Team in Baseball (AUG 1966)

[redsmetz]

As I mentioned in the Shamsky thread, I came across an SI article that led off with Shamsky's three home run game and then went through the roller coaster ride the Reds had that season up to that point (8/22/66 issue). It mentions the firing of Dick Sisler as manager and the trade of Frank Robinson and the hiring of Don Hefner. It gets around to Dave Bristol being hired to replace Hefner at the All Star break and Bristol's rise through the minors as a manager.

A friend of mine played in the minors with Dave Bristol, both being on the 1955 Class B Sunbury Redlegs. Don, my friend, was a pitcher and he let me and a friend go through a scrapbook his mother put together of his career at Norwood High, UC (where he holds the record still for career ERA for a right-hander) and in the minors. One was a box score for a game against the York, PA club in which an 18 year old Brooks Robinson hit a home run off of him.

To the point, Don told me that even back then, Bristol had an interest in managing and he would type up the daily reports that player manager Virgil Stallcup would write up on each player to send back to Cincinnati. It was Bristol who told Don that his manager had written that he had a "major league arm but a minor league head." It's no surprise that the Reds recognized this in Bristol and ultimately put in that position elsewhere.

I know others well versed in Reds history have shared some of the internal machinations of the club during this period. In particular I think WOY has mentioned some of the background on Sisler, Hefner and even Bristol regarding transactions that took place as well as play on the field. But it's an interesting contemporary look at one of those mid-60's clubs that had such potential, particularly this one, the first without Robinson. Enjoy!

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vau...97/1/index.htm

[westofyou]

This quote in that article resonated to me.

"What Bristol has done," says Gordy Coleman, "is to restore the self-pride and self-respect of all 25 men. They come to the park knowing that they are going to be used in some way to help win. For a professional athlete it is not enough to stand up when someone else hits a homer and to pat him on the back and shake his hand and then sit down and be through for the day. You have to get a chance to contribute, or you begin to lose your own self-respect."

Yep, the roster has 25 players for a reason and the reason needs to be noticed at all times in the long season, by managers and fans.

[traderumor]

Originally Posted by westofyou

This quote in that article resonated to me.



Yep, the roster has 25 players for a reason and the reason needs to be noticed at all times in the long season, by managers and fans.

But it sure does stink when the game you attend has 3 or 4 bench players in the lineup.