Baseball: The Genius & the Kid

The blue-and-white bus screeched to a stop outside Houston’s Astrodome, with its cargo of the hottest — and angriest — team in sport. “C’mon, dammit!” yelled Manager Herman Franks. “Go get ’em! Sic ’em! Sic ’em!” The San Francisco Giants leaped to their feet and dashed for the door. “Kill!” screamed Outfielder Len Gabrielson “Kill! Kill! Kill!” It sounded pretty funny for a base ball team. But the Houston Astros learned to believe it. The Giants scored a run in the fourth inning, another in the fifth — and with the score tied 2-2 in the ninth, Willie Mays slashed a grounder straight between the legs of Houston First Baseman Walt Bond. Never slowing down, Mays rounded first, streaked for second, and slid in safely amid a cloud of dust. Moments later, Willie McCovey slapped a single to right, and Mays scampered home with the run that gave the Giants their 13th straight victory, boosted their National League lead to 31 games. In the club house afterwards, Manager Franks smiled benignly. “Who knows?” he said. “Some day I may start thinking of myself as a genius.”

One Rung Down. Nobody had ever accused Franks, 50, of being that be fore. A roly-poly ex-catcher, he could look back over half a dozen big-league seasons and a lifetime batting average of a minuscule .199. When he coached the Giants in 1959 and 1960, sportswriters gleefully dubbed him “Dumbkopf Franks,” and Herman was so mortified that he decided to quit. But last year San Francisco Manager Alvin Dark got himself fired — for telling a newsman that Negroes and Latins are no match for white ballplayers “when it comes to mental alertness.” Back came Franks as the Giants’ manager for 1965. Most experts picked the Giants to finish no better than fifth, one rung down the ladder from last year. They had only one lefthanded pitcher on their roster — Bob Hendley — whom they swiftly traded off to Chicago. Star Slugger Orlando Cepeda (31 homers, 97 RBIs in 1964) was laid up, maybe permanently, with an injured knee. Leftfielder Willie McCovey was suffering from bone spurs and fallen arches. Even Willie Mays seemed over the hill; in 1964 he had slipped under .300 for the first time in eight years.

“We’ll do fine, we’ll do fine,” Manager Franks kept insisting. In exchange for Pitcher Hendley, he picked up Outfielder Gabrielson, a lifetime .231 hitter; last week Gabrielson was batting .305. Franks moved Willie McCovey to first base, where he could rest his aching feet—and McCovey responded by clouting 37 homers, driving in 86 runs. He promoted peripatetic (five clubs in eight years) Spitballer Bob Shaw from the bullpen to a starting pitcher’s job. By last week Shaw’s record was 16 victories, only eight defeats.

Out from Under. Then there is Willie Mays. The onetime “Say-Hey Kid” is 34 now, and his hair is turning grey, but he is still the most exciting player around—running out from under his cap on the base paths, making sensational leaping catches in the field. Appointed team captain by Franks at the start of the season, Mays made that move pay off last month when he rushed on field to break up a fight between San Francisco Pitcher Juan Marichal and Catcher John Roseboro of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Marichal drew a brief suspension for beaning Roseboro with a bat, but the punishment would undoubtedly have been worse if Mays had not intervened instantly. Since the fight, Marichal has won three crucial games, raising his season’s total to 22. At the plate, Mays has been purely phenomenal. Last week his batting average was .318. He ranked third in the National League in runs scored (with 107), second in RBIs (with 105). His 48 home runs led both leagues, gave him a career total of 501.*

Wonderful Willie was resting comfortably on the bench last week when the Giants whipped the Houston Astros 5-1 to notch their 14th straight victory —longest winning streak in 14 years in the National League. Next night the streak ended when the Milwaukee Braves clobbered San Francisco 9-1. But the Giants rebounded to shut out Milwaukee 2-0, and at week’s end they were leading the National League by 3½, with only 14 games left to play. It was not quite over yet—the Giants still had seven games to play with second-place Cincinnati, four with the fourth-place Braves. But in San Francisco, the front office casually announced that it was printing World Series tickets.

*Topped only by Babe Ruth (with 714), Jimmy Foxx (534), Ted Williams (521) and Mel Ott (511).