Ted Simmons scores four runs in his first game as the Tulsa Oilers’ “designated pinch-hitter” on April 25, 1969.
Kurt Blumenau wrote this article.
With Opening Day approaching in April 1969, the Triple-A American Association was granted authorization to introduce a significant regulation modification known as the “designated pinch-hitter.” While his team was on the field, this newly formed “tenth man” stayed on the bench and batted and ran the bases in lieu of the pitcher.1. That season, the American Association was one of five minor league teams granted permission to try several iterations of a “wild-card pinch-hitter,” not all of which were very similar to the designated hitter of today.2.
Traditional strategy was disrupted initially, and minor-league captains like Warren Spahn and Jack McKeon lamented it.3. However, managers quickly saw that there were strategic benefits to the new function. It provided a fantastic option, for example, to retain a hard-hitting catcher in the lineup while giving him a “rest day” away from crouching, kneeling, and physical contact.
Ted Simmons, a 19-year-old sensational catching prospect, demonstrated the value of a well-selected designated pinch-hitter almost a week into the Great Experiment. The future Hall of Famer was a player for the Tulsa Oilers, a farm team of the St. Louis Cardinals. He scored four runs, including the game-winning home run, as the Oilers defeated the Iowa Oaks 5-4.
Under Spahn’s direction, Tulsa entered the Friday night game with a perfect 7-0 record. Jimmy Williams’ Iowa club was three games behind first place in the six-team league with a 4-3 record.4 The Oakland Athletics were connected to the Oaks. Their captain, Williams, had spent 17 years in the wilderness and had played in portions of eighteen minor league seasons. After all, he was called up to the major leagues and spent eight years as a coach with the Baltimore Orioles, winning a World Series with the team in 1983.
The 1969 Oilers had twenty-eight players that either played in the major leagues or went on to do so.Shortstop Elio Chacon was an anomaly on the team when he came off the bench; at 32, he had been in the major leagues for seven seasons, his last one being with the original 1962 Mets.
In addition to Simmons, six other Tulsa starters made it to the major leagues: Willie Montanez at first base, Boots Day at center field, Byron Browne at right field, Leron Lee at left field, John Sipin at second base, and Sonny Ruberto at catcher. Unbeknownst to Sipin and Ruberto, their big-league debuts were less than a month away. The expansion San Diego Padres, who employed Sipin in 68 games and Ruberto in 19, received both players from St. Louis on May 22.
Joe DiFabio, a 24-year-old righty selected by the Cardinals in the first round of the amateur draft in June 1965 from Delta State University in Mississippi, got the start on the mound. DiFabio pitched at the Double-A level in 1968, going 13–6 with a 2.17 ERA; in 20 games, he went 5–4 with a 5.29 ERA in Tulsa in 1969.
Several former or prospective major league players were also employed by the Iowa 1969 team, including two of the three Lachemann brothers who played baseball: pitcher Marcel and catcher/first baseman Rene.Jim Driscoll at shortstop, Ossie Chavarria at third base, Joe Rudi at first base, Rene Lachemann at catcher, Larry Elliot in right field, Tony La Russa at second base, and Jose Morales as designated pinch hitter were the five big leaguers in the starting lineup.
Gil Blanco, a lefty who had played in 28 games for the Yankees and Athletics in 1965–1966 at the ages of 19 and 20, was the starting pitcher. Until 1971, he pitched in the minor leagues; he never made it back to the majors. Although his statistics are not full, Baseball-Reference gives him credit for a 1-12 record in 1969 while he was split between two Triple-A clubs.Six
For the first six innings of this game, Blanco dominated the Oilers, no matter what problems he had the rest of the season. During that time, the Tulsans failed to hit a ball out of the infield and went hitless.7.
The host club, meanwhile, scored a run in the first inning but might have ran out of chances to score more.In the opening inning, Driscoll, who finished 4-for-5, singled, but Browne threw him out at the plate as he attempted to score on center fielder Wayne Norton’s single. After Rudi, who hit.354 in 57 games at Iowa, singled him in, Norton took second on the throw home to give Iowa a 1-0 lead. In the third inning, Browne created history by fielding Rudi’s deep drive to right over his shoulder and throwing to second base to double off Driscoll.
