Flashback Friday: 7,118 at Goodland (1964)
The
Wisconsin Timber Rattlers set a Time Warner Cable Field attendance record of
7,722 on July 23, 2003.
That shattered the old record for the home of the Timber Rattlers.
But, until earlier this year, I didn't realize the size of the Appleton
Professional Baseball record.
Then, I discovered the picture up top in an old program.
This week's Flashback takes us back
to August 4, 1964, the day that the Foxes drew 7,118 fans to Goodland Field for
a game against the Quad Cities Angels.
Terry Galvin has the game story and the story about the Appleton debut of a
future member of The Bronx Zoo in the August 5, 1964 edition of The
Post-Crescent.
7,118
Fans See Foxes Capture 10th in a Row
Record Throng Watches Newcomer Lyle Hurl 4-Hit, 6-1 Win Over Angels
A
record-shattering throng of 7,118 witnessed the Foxes' most recently acquired
pitcher, Al (Sparky) Lyle, fire a blistering 4-hitter as the Foxes notched a 6-1
victory over the Quad Cities Angels.
The victory was the 10th straight for the Billy DeMars-managed
contingent and boosted its Midwest League lead to 2-1/2 games over the QC
Angels.
The anticipated plate onslaught of the Rick Reichardt-led Angels never
materialized as Lyle performed flawlessly before the record-breaking crowd.
Reichardt went 0-for-4 at the plate, striking out once.
He grounded out the other three times up, once each to the mound,
shortstop and second sacker.
Record
Crowd
Berken's
Piggly Wiggly night attracted the record attendance.
The crowd is the largest in the Foxes' 7-year history and is thought to
be the largest in pro baseball history here.
The Foxes and second-place Quad Cities will square off again tonight at 8pm at
Goodland Field. Max
Patkin, the clown prince of baseball will be on hand to entertain fans.
DeMars has given the starting nod to Tom Zink, 7-5 for the season, in
tonight's home stand windup.
Lyle, a curve-balling (that seemed to break at least two feet or more) southpaw,
fanned 11 and walked four.
He came to the Foxes Tuesday afternoon from Bluefield of the Appalachian
League.
The hard-throwing, slim lefty hurled shutout ball until two were out in the
ninth inning. A
walk and force out left a runner on first.
Pinch-hitter George Pena doubled to right to score the runner.
The Foxes broke loose for all the runs they needed (five) in the second inning.
Successive walks to Fred Rico, Steve Huntz and Stan Walters jammed the
sacks with no outs. Ray
Woitkowski send starter and loser Les Mundel to the showers with a line double
(ground rule) down the left field line for two scores.
John Burrows greeted reliever Harry Cutter with a sharp single to Reichardt in
center field. Walters
scored easily from third and Reichardt attempted to nail Woitkowski at the
plate. The throw
from the highly-touted bonus baby sailed over catcher Pete Gongola's head for
an error. Woitkowskiscored
easily and Burrows wound up on third.
Burrows scored moments later on a wild pitch for a 5-0 advantage.
Dave May rapped a single to left to open the Foxes' third.
May stole second and advanced to third on a bloop single by Huntz.
Walters forced HUntz at second with May crossing the plate on the play
for a 6-0 edge.
That was it for the Foxes and it seemed as though Lyle had the Angels under
control...until the ninth anyway.
FOX TALES - Rick Reichardt was honored by the Stevens Point Kiwanis Club prior
to the start of Tuesday's game.
A 55-man - woman - child delegation from Point were on hand to
witness one of Reichardt's poorest performances in professional baseball.
The former UW gridiron and diamond star went 0-for-4 and had one error.
A routine fly ball to leftcenter in the third inning by Bob Lewandowski
resulted in Reichardt's colliding with leftfielder Terry Tackett.
Reichardt, however, managed to make the catch.
Lloyd Berken, owner of the two Piggly Wiggly stores in Appleton and sponsor of
the booster game, thanked fans for turning out to make the night an overwhelming
success.
Berken quickly added, "It would be nice to see most you (fans) out here every
night that the Foxes are in town."
Henry King and Steve Caria, Foxes' hurlers, will be ready for action whenever
necessary according to Billy DeMars.
Both have been temporarily shelved with sore arms.
The large crowd was responsible, in part, for an argument in the third inning
when the Foxes broke loose for five runs.
Woitkowski's double down the line in left bounced into the crowd
(seated inside the fence up to the foul line) and bounced back onto the playing
field. DeMars
claimed that the ball was in play and should not be ruled a ground rule double.
Needless to say, the umpires stood by their ruling of the automatic
double.
BONUS
FLASHBACK:
Jitters
Fail to Stop Lyle's Top Showing in Foxes' Debut
Who
is Allen (Sparky) Lyle?
Lyle
is the Foxes most recent acquisition from Bluefield of the Appalachian League.
Lyle racked up a 3-2 log there this season, his first in organized
baseball. He had
worked 40 innings.
A southpaw by trade, Lyle was extremely nervous prior to the start of
Tuesday's Fox Cities-Quad Cities baseball game.
"Why?" The
youngster arrived on the Fox Cities scene at 3pm Monday and was immediately
greeted by Manager Billy DeMars of the Fox Cities Foxes.
DeMars' words were: "Hi, Al. Welcome to Appleton.
By the way you're pitching tomorrow (Tuesday) night."
Lyle was astonished at DeMars' words.
His thoughts ranged from the Foxes' 8-game victory string (at that time
and now a 10-game skein) to the possibility of pitching before a large crowd.
Has
Jitters
Lyle's
pre-game jitters lasted (according to Lyle himself) until the bottom of the
third inning. "I
was shaking like a leaf," he said.
"I felt real good. It
had been about six days since I worked at Bluefield and I was ready to go, all
the way."
Lyle, a native of Reynoldsvill, Pa. (about 100 miles from the Pittsburgh Pirates
and Forbes Field), was planning on telephoning his father at home immediately
after arriving here, but decided to wait until after Tuesday's game.
The hard-working, curve-balling lefthander, who appeared before a crowd of
"about 400" once, showed no signs of stress or strain before the 7,118 as he
blanked the Quad Cities Angels
for 8-2/3 innings en route to the Foxes' 10th win in
succession.
But Lyle finished with a 6-1 victory, allowing only four hits and four walks and
striking out 11.
An accomplishment such as Lyle's, under the pressure of 7,118 watchful pairs
of eyes and with the responsibility of extending a 9-game victory string, is
certainly something to call home about.
And that is exactly what Sparky did.
BOXSCORE
QUAD
CITIES - 1 AB
R H
BI
McCraw, ss
5 0
0 0
Reichardt, cf 4 0
0 0
Gongola, c
4 0
1 0
Egan, 3b
4 0
0 0
Wilkinson, 2b 4 0
0 0
Sollami, rf 2 0
0 0
Tackett, lf 0 0
0 0
Hinkle, lf
3 0
0 0
Vinson, 1b
3 1
1 0
Mundel, p
0 0
0 0
Cutter, p
2 0
0 0
Carubia, ph 1 0
1 0
Milne, p
0 0
0 0
Pena, ph
1 0
1 1
Meyers, pr
0 0
0 0
TOTALS
33 1
4 1
FOX CITIES - 6 AB R
H BI
Lewandowski, 2b 4 0
2 0
J. Matias, 1b 4 0
1 0
May, lf
4 1
1 0
Rico, rf
3 1
0 0
Huntz, ss
3 1
2 0
Walters, 3b 3 1
0 1
Burrows, c
4 1
2 1
Waitkowski, cf 4 1
1 2
Lyle, p
3 0
0 0
TOTALS
36 6
9 4
R H
E
QC 000 000 001 - 1
4 1
FC 051 000 00x -
6 9
2
E - Reichardt, Waitkowski, Huntz. 2b - Waitkowski, Matias, Pena. DP - QC
- 1. LOB - QC 0; FC - 4. SB
- May, Lewandowski.
FOX
CITIES IP
H R
ER BB
SO
Lyle, W 9 4
1 1
4 11
QUAD CITIES IP H R
ER BB
SO
Mundel*, L 1 2
4 3
3 1
Cutter 5 6
2 1
0 6
Milne 2 1
0 0
0 2
WP - Cutter, Lyle 2. PB - Gongola, Burrows. Time - 2:19. Attendance -
7,118. *-Faced four men in 2nd inning
NOTES:
Seats on the field in foul territory. THAT explains how they fit that many
people into Goodland Field.
The Rick Reichardt who is mentioned several times throughout the article is a
Wisconsin legend. Reichardt was:
A schoolboy legend at P.J. Jacobs High School in Stevens Point who earned
12 varsity letters; A fullback on the University of Wisconsin team that won the
1962 Big Ten title and barely lost to Southern Cal in the 1963 Rose Bowl; The
Big Ten leader in receptions in 1963; The Big Ten leader in batting average in
1963 and 1964; The Big Ten
leader in home runs in 1963; The top collegiate player of the year in 1964; The
player who signed the biggest bonus ever (to that point - $200,000, Remember,
this was one year before the entry draft was started).
Reichardt is in the UW
Athletic Hall of Fame and the Stevens
Point Area Senior High School Hall of Fame.
Wisconsin legend may be an understatement.
Al
"Sparky" Lyle made a very good debut for the Foxes.
Lyle would go 3-1 in six starts for the Fox Cities.
But, those would be the last games he played in the Baltimore system.
In November of 1964, Boston took Lyle in a draft and he would make it to
the big
leagues with the Red Sox in 1967.
Lyle would gain his greatest fame with the New York Yankees, a team he played
for from 1972-1978. In 1977, Lyle
won the American League Cy Young Award. In
1978, he paired up with another former Appleton Baseball Professional ballplayer
when Goose Gossage joined the Yankees.
Sparky Lyle was also known for co-writing one of the definitive baseball books
of the 1970's. He and Peter
Golenbock wrote The Bronx Zoo: The Astonishing Inside Story of the 1978 World
Champion New York Yankees.
Lyle
is now managing the Somerset Patriots in the independent Atlantic
League. He has been their only
manager since coming into existence in 1998.
Former Timber Rattlers third baseman Matt
Hagen ('03) has played for Lyle and the Patriots in since 2008.
The Pats have won five Atlantic League Championships with Lyle as the
manager, most recently in 2008 and 2009.
Speaking of championships, the Foxes won the second half of the Midwest League
split schedule in 1964 with a 42-21 record.
They went on to beat Clinton in the Championship Game.
Past Flashbacks:
October
8: In fair territory (1994)
October
15: Fans flock to see Foxes (1987)
October
22: New Park (1995)
October
29: Logo Decision (1994)
November
5: Ed Sedar, Pitcher (1985)
November
12: Abarbanel no-hitter (1966)
November
19: McCauley no-hitter (1972)
November
26: Monroe no-hitter (1975)
December
3: Conner, Smith no-hitter (1990)
December
10: Pomp & Circumstance (1940)
December
17: Opening Day (1940)
January
7: Matt Erickson: Year One (1997)
January
14: Two Hits, Two Wins (1982)
January
21: Gil Meche (1998, 1999)
January
28: 18 K's for Ryan Anderson (1998)
February
4: Goodland Field Finale (1994)